First Day

I still haven’t unpacked...

I should probably get on that.

But today has just been too full!

We started off going to our separated classes at 8:00 am BST (I that might stand for something like British Standard Time, now that I think about it). I’m taking Dr. Bill Rankin’s class, which is Literary Criticism. He went over the syllabus and then did a quick overview of the background of Literary Criticism, which I thought was very interesting. I’m constantly seeing examples of the Hegelian Dialectic in every class I take, especially when we do overviews. The history of literary criticism starts out with a Classical/Medieval period (know one actually knows when this period starts, because their isn’t much literature on the subject until the Middle Ages, but it continues until about 13th Century CE). That period was primarily filled with metaphysical thought, which is thought that flows beyond the physical and into the spiritual. There was an geocentric, God (or gods) - controlled view of the universe. Everything was affected by God or gods. If it rained, Zeus was angry. Spring was caused by Demeter being happy that her daughter, Persephone, was back for a visit from Hades. And so forth.

In the Modern Period of Literary Criticism (13th Century CE - 19th Century CE), however, there is a shift toward a more physical point of view. The advent of the modern sciences, for one thing, helped bring this along. Everyone was obsessed with reality, with structure. Painters wanted to make sure human bodies had correct proportions and that muscles were drawn correctly. Modern medicine began to be researched. The world was now heliocentric, because it had been proven. There was only one way to look at things: the right way.

But in the Postmodern Period (19th Century CE - Present), the period we are currently in, or trying to move beyond, there was a pendulum swing back to the metaphysical. New age philosophy and alternative medicine and many other things are becoming more and more popular with people as they try to rebel against the cold hard facts of the Modern Period. Though astrology isn’t held with the same kind of respect as it was in the Classical Period, people still check out their horoscopes today. And, eventually, the pendulum will swing back, and we’ll find new ways of revisiting the realistic, physical-minded thought of the Modern Period.

After the first class, everyone got together and we went to Linacre College (I lied to you before - it wasn’t Exiter, but Linacre where I was to get a £4 lunch). We didn’t exactly stroll through the Oxford Parks. We booked it behind Jeff and Bill because we were running late and they wanted to have time to do a proper class. They opened it up, once we got to the classroom, and explained much of the syllabus to us, as well as the Experiential Reflections we need to do (I can’t wait to get started on those!). We then had a bit of a discussion concerning Individualism vs. Communtiy and talked about the Vietnam War and church shopping (in two different conversations. The debate was lively and quite enjoyable. We have some very differing views all across the board and I think I’m going to learn a lot.

Next we had lunch. I had some lasagna and some lovely chips (fries) as well as a few other things. Then I went with T’auna, Stacie, and Rebekah to Primark, where they sell £4 shirts and other things. I didn’t buy anything, but I think I will be visiting there quite soon again in search of my very own raincoat (I’ve borrowed my mom’s and while it’s lovely and has gotten many compliments already, I’d really love one of my own).

I hung around the houses for most of the rest of the afternoon, once we got back, but then, around 5:30, we decided to go to On the Hoof to get sandwiches, but it was closed for the day. We did however, get some help from the owners of a panini shop called Le Parisien. They were just hanging out by their car because, as they told us later, it’s really slow during the last hour of business, so they don’t make any more bread and sell what is left of the sandwiches, paninis, and pastries to anyone that happens in. I got a Roasted Turkey and Bree sandwich with basil. They cooked it right there and it was hot and delicious. On the way back to the houses (it’s only a 2 minute walk to Le Parisien), we ran into a group of Italian boys and one of them held up his hand to me and said, “How you?” And, slightly surprised at his friendliness, I slapped his hand and said, “Good!” It was quite an adventure. And I hope to have many more like it.