Category Archives: Lincoln
How about these first year exam questions?
If you think first year exams are daunting, how about this? From 1974.
FIRST YEAR ENGLISH LITERATURE, Paper II: Renaissance Drama, Leeds University 1974.
Closed book.
Time allowed: 3 hours.
- Either: (a) The idea of time seems to be very important in Shakespeare’s last plays. Describe the presentation of this idea, and indicate the nature and effect of its operation. You may, if you wish, restrict your answer to any one play.
Or: (b) ‘Her [Nature’s] World is brazen, the poets only deliver a golden.’ (SIR PHILIP SIDNEY). In what ways might this comment be applied to the works of the English Renaissance dramatists? Discuss at least two dramatists.
Or: (c) Outline the features which, in your view, are characteristic of Shakespeare’s ‘Romances’.
- Either: (a) ‘The progress of the minds of the central figures towards deeper and deeper self-knowledge, the approach to the impenetrable mystery of fate perceived in the moments of intensest suffering and action, which are also the moments of clearest insight.’ (ELLIS-FERMOR). Illustrate and discuss this aspect of The Duchess of Malfi.
Or: (b) Examine, with reference to Hamlet or to The Revenger’s Tragedy, the ways in which imagery and symbolism are used to create, and sustain, a particular tragic mood.
Or: (c) What are the features which commonly distinguish the Tragedy from the Revenge Play?
Reading list for my Edwardian Lit students, 2nd semester
READING LIST FOR MICHAEL’S GROUPS, ENL1013M, 2018
These are the main texts we will be dealing with (not necessarily in this order) so please make sure you have obtained copies and read them in advance. A schedule of the seminars will be released shortly on Blackboard.
The Hound of the Baskervilles, Conan Doyle
King Solomon’s Mines, Rider Haggard
Dracula, Bram Stoker
The War of the Worlds, H G Wells
Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K Jerome
The Diary of a Nobody, George and Weedon Grossmith
Peter Pan, J M Barrie
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
The Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen (in the Dover Thrift edition)
Poems: “Convergence of the Twain” by Thomas Hardy; “Cargoes” by John Masefield
The following short podcasts are available on YouTube: “Dracula As The Jew”; “Peter Pan And The Mother Lode”; Three Men In A Boat: A Microlecture”; “An Air That Kills: Housman’s Blue Remembered Hills”; “Dowson’s Cynara: A Microlecture”. These are at English Readings: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYJz11iRqn9CJMh4Zr7DLlA
Melvyn Bragg and others discussing the sensation novel
For students interested in the 19 century sensation novel, here’s a discussion by Melvyn Bragg and others.
“Nostalgia” (aka “The Iron Music”) by Ford Madox Ford, read by Michael Blackburn
Ford Madox Ford, 1873 – 1939.
Best known as the author of such novels as The Good Soldier and No More Parades, Ford was also an accomplished modernist poet. He enlisted with the Welch Regiment in 1915 at the age of 41, served at the front and was wounded. “Nostalgia” (with the alternative title, “The Iron Music”) is one of a number of poems that take their rise from his experiences of the Great War.
Image of Ford c/o The Ford Madox Ford Society (http://www.fordmadoxfordsociety.org).
The text is taken from Ford Madox Ford: Selected Poems, edited with an introduction by Max Saunders, published by Carcanet Press, 2003.
My interview with the Royal Literary Fund.
‘After a while most of us find we’re doing the same stuff; I tried new things.’
Listen to my interview with poet Geoff Hattersley for the Royal Literary Fund, in which I talk about my life as a poet, publisher and editor.
A Lincoln Ghost Story Evening.
Classic ghost stories come to life in an evening of supernatural tales, talks and theatre.
Some of Lincoln’s most enduring ghost stories will be brought to life in an evening of story-telling, discussion and live theatrical performance set in a historic building famous in local folklore for its paranormal happenings…
A Lincoln Ghost Story Evening, White Hart Hotel, Monday, 27 Nov, 7.30. http://bit.ly/2zff2rM
Poetry Events at Lincoln, Oct – Dec 2017
And a regular poetry reading group:
Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde at LPAC, 23 Nov 2017
This adaptation should be worth checking out (Nov 23):
Doctor Henry Jekyll is a good man and close to a neurological discovery that will chance the face of medical science. However, his methods are less than ethical, and when a colleague threatens to expose his work, he’s forced ti experiment on himself, whereupon he encounters a new friend, the brutal Edward Hyde. A thrilling adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s dark psychological fantasy adapted for the stage by Nick Lane, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde immerses you in the myth and mystery of 19th century London’s fog-bound streets where love, betrayal and murder lurk at every chilling twist and turn. Gripping. Stylist and thought-provoking, this is unmissable theatre. Go on…treat your dark side! Tickets: £12.50 Full // £10.50 Concessions // £5 LIVE PASS (Students & Under 26s) Ages: 11+
Link – http://bit.ly/2ys4rgh
Great Lives series: University of Lincoln, October 2017.
The University’s Great Lives series continues this week with lectures by Tom Heap and Sir Mark Walport.
The series, featuring high profile speakers, aims to give an insight into the achievements of leading influential figures and recognisable faces from backgrounds such as the arts, business and economics, politics, health and science as well as bringing more local leading Lecturers and Visiting Professors to the fore.
Staff and students are encouraged to attend.
Booking is advised, but there may also be tickets available on the door. Please follow the links below for more information.
Tom Heap
Tuesday 17th October, 5.30pm for a 6.00pm Lecture
Jackson Lecture Theatre, Minerva Building
TV presenter Tom Heap is a freelance broadcaster and journalist with a passionate concern for rural affairs, science and the environment. Tom presents the investigations on Countryfile – Britain’s most popular factual TV programme.
http://lincoln.ac.uk/home/campuslife/whatson/eventsconferences/tom-heap.html
Sir Mark Walport
Thursday 19th October, 11.00am for a 11.30pm Lecture
Isaac Newton Lecture Theatre, Isaac Newton Building
Recently appointed Chief Executive Designate of UK Research and Innovation, Sir Mark Walport has long been a champion for science, engineering and technology within his career including his role as Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Head of the Government Office for Science and Co-Chair of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology.
http://lincoln.ac.uk/home/campuslife/whatson/eventsconferences/mark-walport.html
All future Great Lives events can be found listed on the University website:http://lincoln.ac.uk/home/campuslife/whatson/eventsconferences/