Time Traveling

In tune with my recent reading of The Time Machine by H. G. Wells,  I have given greater thought on how people from a different time view something a different way than a person who lives during that time sees it. As I work my way up through the history of British literature, I first thought that the texts would be alien and unrelatable to my own life in terms of the way people used to live and how they spoke. As it turns out I was very wrong about that. But I hadn't really remembered this essential point until I started reading about time travel into the future.

From reading The Time Machine, I have seen the world in a very different light. As I explored the new Earth with the Time Traveler and the unknown species and world, I began to realize how different life could be. Comparing the Time Traveler's discovery of the future Earth to how I am learning about the difference that a hundred plus years can have. I learned that the life described in my books are very different from what it is like today. I need  to get a feel for the historical context of the book. I can't forget that times were different then and I should learn about the time period to better understand the motives and behaviors of the characters. Times changes so it is important to adapt and learn to those changes to better understand a story.

When traveling in time, backwards or forewords, in a time machine or in a book, it is very important to remember that you are visiting another time and place so try not to compare it too much to current things.

See you soon--or have I already?
Emilie

Going deeper

There comes a time in every English class where all the students are assigned a hefty novel to read and not usually one of their choosing. They will spend weeks on that one text, going over the plot and symbolism and every other possible aspect of the story. By the end, the book is exhausted and the whole work is left as a carcass before the students. They know most everything about the text and there is not much left that they haven't studied about the text. After weeks of  this intensive study, only then do the students move on to other shorter texts as time allows. Wanting students to juggle more than the one big text may make the students confused and unable to fully understand both. In freshman English, we spent about 3 weeks reading Romeo and Juliet, acting out the scenes and having class discussions to better understand what was going on through Shakespeare's tough prose. Now, I have to read about five texts ever two weeks including a long text. I find it very difficult to fully appreciate and understand the texts when I have to cram in all of the analysises of all of those texts in short amount of time. I feel that a longer time is needed to understand the meaning of and the beauty of the text.

Until Next Time
Emilie