Facebook, you old gatherer of personal information

To make people aware of what we are attempting to build we decided to create a profile page for the project on Facebook. The entire affair takes about 10 minutes. You simply log in with your account and go to https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. Now you follow the step by step process and your band, cat, plant or whatever you think deserves its own FB page can be seen by the rest of the social network..
There is one little thing I should mention. As the creator of the page you now have an alias on FB. That alias is your created page. Why is this important? You only can like other pages as your page if you are using that alias.
For example: you are in a band called The advanced readers and create your FB page. After you are finished you want to like a band of one of your friends. To do that you will have to go to the top of the FB page and click on the gear symbol and simply click on the alias that you want to use under Use Facebook as. And that is all that there is to it.
It is an easy method to advertise bigger projects in which you might be involved. And since FB has millions of users, people might get interested who are not already in your friends list.

Wikispaces: a frustrating uncertainty

As I established in one of my previous posts, working with Wikispaces is not very difficult. You need some time to get used to how it works and if you have some experience it will come in handy. But this post is not about what working with Wikispaces is like. It is about how publishing with Wikispaces is a test of your patience.
I reported that you need to pay one dollar to verify your account in order to make your wiki public. After my teacher was kind enough to pay the dollar via Googlewallet we expected to just simply make click in the permissions section and we'd be online so to speak. But neither me -the creator- nor my teacher -admin herself- were able to do exactly that. So I gave up and started to search for an alternative. I was not interested in using an online platform that made it so difficult to publish a simple wiki. Especially when they are advertising how easy and free it is.
And just moments ago -when I was checking just for fun- I was able to make it public. I honestly do not know what made the difference. All of a sudden I was able to change the permission settings. On the one hand I'm glad -mainly because I had no time yet to start the new wiki-, on the other hand it would have been nice of them to drop a note on how long after paying you will have to wait.
I still have mixed feelings about Wikispaces. I like it as a working platform and the options for visual customization help to create a more individual wiki. But the hole process to finally get your work published is excruciating. Especially if you do not have a credit card an therefore can not pay. If Wikispaces adds more payment services and works out its little kinks it could become a powerful online tool. Till then you will have to know what you are doing and what you want from your hosting service. There are many free alternatives.

Edgar Allan Poe - The Raven

Edgar Allan Poe

Date of birth/place of birth: January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts

Family background (children, wife/husband): His mother passed away when he was still very young and his father left the family shortly before that. In 1836 he married his 13- year- old cousin Virginia Clemm and in 1847 his wife suddenly died, leaving Poe childless.

Education: He visited the University of Virginia from 1820 until 1827. In 1829 he enlisted in the West Point Military Academy, but was expelled a year later.

Famous works: short stories: The Fall of the House of Usher

                                               The Gold Bug

                                               The Tell- Tale heart

                          Poems:          The Raven

Additional information: Two of his most common themes in almost all of his works were loss and death. He not only wrote fictional short stories and poems, but also non- fictional essays, such as The philosophy of Composition, where he examined his own methodology and writing style. He died shortly after his wife’s death in 1849 and the actual cause is still unclear. After he passed away his reputation was hurt, when his literary rival Rufus Griswold claimed that Poe was mentally ill, a drunkard and a womanizer. Poe was not recognized as a writer when he was still alive and he had a lot of financial problems, but now he has become one of the most famous American writers.

Dark Romanticism

Dates: 1815- 1840

Background information: This era is connected industrialization, slavery and the market crisis of 1837. Dark Romanticism had traces of the British gothic tradition. In this era the dark side of the soul and human abysses were portrayed in literature.

Main stylistic devices: Main stylistic devices of that time were short pieces of text, taboo themes in novels, horror scenarios and the so called unity of effect that was mostly shaped by Poe. Unity of effect means that every stylistic device is meant to emphasize one special effect of the story that should stricken the reader.

Famous and most influential authors and books: Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whiteman, Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson

The Raven

Publishing date: 29^th of January 1835

Place: New York in the Evening mirror

Reactions: After the poem was published Poe became a national celebrity and people identified him with the poem. He was therefore soon given the nickname “The Raven”. Shortly after the first publication the poem was often imitated, parodied and reprinted, but it still did not brought financial success to Poe.

Summary: The first person narrator sits in his bed chamber on a chair and mourns the death of his beloved one, named Lenore. Suddenly there is a tap on his window. The narrator stands up and opens the window and a raven enters the room. It silently flies into the room and sits upon the door.  The narrator than asks the raven for its name and the raven replies with the word ‘Nevermore’. The narrator is surprised that the bird can talk and somehow starts to think about his deceased loved one again.  The raven constantly repeats the word ‘Nevermore’, leaving the narrator agitated and confused about the raven’s intention, not knowing where it came from and who send it.

Pride and Prejudice

Title: Pride & Prejudice
Publishing Date: it was first published in 1813

Reactions: Austen’s first version of this novel was called “first impressions” and was finished in 1797, though it was refused from publication. After it was rewritten, renamed and published in 1813 it sold quite well, though critics barely paid attention to it. It was altogether agreed, that Austen managed to quite accurately represent the daily life and society in the 19^th century.

Summary: Elizabeth Bennett is quick witted, free spirited and confident in her own opinions. Her family is not especially wealthy and her three younger sisters lack any sense of propriety, not to mention her mother, who is obsessed with marrying off her five daughters.

Mr. Darcy is a handsome bachelor and heir to one of the biggest fortunes in Derbyshire. Brought up with high morals and decorum, he has a strong sense of what is right and proper and what is not.

When these two people with different upbringings meet, misunderstandings occur and there are a lot of prejudices that need to be overcome, before these two get closer. They confront each other with their worst character trades, reflect on themselves and have to revise some of their opinions. But of course, just when you think all’s going to be well, there is nothing like family to mess things up again… 

Information on the author

Name: Jane Austen

Date/Place of birth: 16^th December 1775 at Steventon

Education: She was privately educated at first, before going to Boarding school. She wasn’t able to finish though, because her family couldn’t afford sending her (and her sister) to school anymore. She acquired further education at home by herself and under the guidance of her father.

Famous Works: Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Sense & Sensibility

Additional information: Jane Austen was born the seventh child of a clerical family. She had 6 brothers and a sister whom she was very close to. Her family was not at all rich, but all the children were encouraged to study and develop their creativity. Austen never married and stayed with her family, who were very supportive of her. Her brother Henry was the one who helped her publish her books. Austen died on the 18^th July 1817, four out of her six finished novels had been published during her lifetime (Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma), while the other two (Northanger Abbey, Persuasion) were published post-mortem.

A Modest Proposal – Jonathan Swift

Swift’s ironical pamphlet whose full title is „A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick“ is an attempt to deal with the huge amount of starving children that Ireland is confronted with during the 18^th century and whose parents are too poor to nourish them. As a solution to this problem, Swifts suggests that the children should be fattened up and then sold as food to rich Irish people at the age of one. Swift argues that this way not only the children will be saved from a sad childhood but also the families will earn a little extra income and the wealthy population will have a new culinary experience. In addition, the author comes up with some data about his attempt to solve Ireland’s poverty and he suggests some recipes for preparing a child as a delicious meal.

Information on Jonathan Swift

Name: Jonathan Swift

Date of birth: November 30, 1667 in Dublin

Education: Swift studied theology at Dublin University and did his Master of Arts in Oxford

Famous works: A Tale of a Tub, The Battle of the Books, Gulliver’s Travels

Additional information: Swift also published some works with several pseudonyms (f.ex. Isaac Bickerstaff, A Dissenter, A Person of Quality, A Person of Honour, M.B. Drapier). Also, he was politically involved first with the Whigs and, after being disappointed by their politics, Swift supported the Tories. 

Information on A Modest Proposal

Full title: A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick

Publishing date: 1729 as a satire

Reactions: Some people thought that Swift's attempt is not ironic at all.

The early 18^th century

Dates: beginning of the 18^th century

Background information: This century was influenced by the Enlightment and thus the 18^th century also is the beginning of the modern period. The end of this century saw the French Revolution being a major event in the European history. Even though the industrialisation only started in the second half of the 18^th century, there were already some traces noticeable during the early stages of the 18^th century.

Main themes: social upheaval, reversals of personal status, political satire, geographical exploration

Famous authors and books: 1719 – Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, 1726 – Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, 1740 – Pamela by Samuel Richardson, 1749 – Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

A Modest Proposal can be read here:

http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html

Further information can be read here:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/modestproposal/summary.html

http://www.articlemyriad.com/analysis-summary-modest-proposal/

http://checkplease.humorfeed.com/issues/0201/20051024swift.php

http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/swift/porter1.html

http://www.localhistories.org/18thcent.html

Oscar Wilde - The Importance of Being Earnest

Information on the author

Name: Oscar Wilde
Date of birth/place of birth: 16.October 1854, Dublin
Education: He studied classics first at Trinity College, Dublin and later on at Magdalen College, Oxford.
Famous works: The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Lady Windermere's Fan
Additional information: Even though Oscar Wilde married Constance Lloyd in 1885 and had two kids with her, he actually had a love affair with his friend Lord Alfred Douglas. Lord Alfred’s father sued him in 1895 for “gross indecency” (i.e. homosexual behavior) and Wilde was sentenced to two years in Prison and hard labour. Upon his release two years later he was more or less bankrupt and exiled himself to france, where he stayed under a false name till his death in 1900.

Information on The Importance of Being Earnest

Title: The Importance of Being Ernest

Publishing date: The premier was in February 1895

Place: St. James Theatre, London

Reactions: The play was well received by the Audience, because of its humor and wit. The critics of Wilde’s time however criticized that it didn’t touch any major social or political issue and was basically described as trivial. Though they recognised its wit and charm, some claimed a lack of emotion within the play.

Summary: The play tells the story of Jack Worthing, who leads two lives. On one hand that of a respectable landowner and guardian to Miss Cecily Cardew and on the other hand that of his imaginary, irresponsible brother Ernest in London. His problems start, when he falls in love with Gwendolen Fairfax, who only reciprocates his feelings because she thinks his name is Ernest. Now Jack has to figure out how to get out of this charade without losing Gwendolen in the process. Another problem arrives, when Jack’s friend Algernon Montcrieff, upon hearing the truth, thinks it a brilliant idea to visit Jacks home in Hertfordshire pretending to be his brother Ernest. There he falls in love with Cecily, who finds him intriguing as well, but mostly because she now thinks his name is Ernest. Chaos ensues in which lies are revealed, secrets are unraveled and in the end it turns out that there actually is a brother called Ernest.

Victorian Age

Dates: 19th Century (Reign of Queen Victoria, 1837 – 1901)

Background information: One of the major influences during that time was the growing industrialisation and with that a general notion of change. The gap between rich and poor widened, people had a feeling of social injustice. Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution and with that a lot of people began to question the importance of traditional institutions such as the church.

Main Themes: One of the most prominent themes during that time were e.g. love, hard work pays out in the end, i.e. virtue will be rewarded and wrongdoers will be punished.

Famous authors and books

Oscar Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray)

Charles Dickens (Great Expectations, Oliver Twist)

William Butler Yeats (The Second Coming)

You cannot cough like a long term smoker and write at the same time

And then I got sick. On December fourth a nasty cold forced me to stay in bed. I coughed like I had been smoking three packs a day for at least ten years. Needless to say, it was not my idea of having a good time. The constant battle to stop my vocal cords from leaving my throat kept me busy for the next six days. So, no work was done on my part.
Feeling slightly better, I started to think about the wiki. The navigation bar had to be revised because there was simply too much content on it. Also, the links to the different sites needed an overhaul. And I had to start adding the templates for our authors, books and literary periods.
Sadly I have to report that I was not yet capable of achieving these new goals. Having a severe cold for over a week really threw me of. I'm still getting back on my working schedule. I hope after the holidays I will be finished with my plans concerning the wiki.