For A Block - ELA Lessons for 3/23 - 3/30
For F Block - ELA Lessons for 3/23 - 3/30
Assignment: If you would like to comment on the text, you may use the questions, below. I posted the film if you would like to see it performed. Anyone is welcome.
Reading Questions
1. Compare and contrast young Vivian’s misreading of “Death Be Not Proud” with E.M. Ashford with the final discussion between Susie and Jason about “Salvation Anxiety.” Given the final scene in the play, what meaning could be derived here?
2. According to Dr. Vivian Bearing, what is the metaphysical conceit (or essence) of Holy Sonnet IX (If poisonous minerals)?
3. How does E.M. Ashford’s reading of The Runaway Bunny tie into Holy Sonnet IX and, ultimately, explain the essence of the play?
Wit (2001)
Reminder: Look at last Vlog for important info. See brief excerpt, below:
The State of Massachusetts has set guidelines about our learning experiences. At the time of this posting, there will be:
- No directed curriculum
- No deadlines
- No graded assignments
Vivian: [continuing] Will the po-
ReplyDeleteSusie: Ms. Bearing?
Vivian: [Crossly] What?
Susie: You have to go down for a test. Jason just called. They want another ultrasound.
Vivian: Knock on my door, knock next time!
Susie: Yes Madam!
Vivian: Did you see anything?
Susie: No Madam, I didn't see you lecturing to your phantoms again.
I think it was supposed to be more like this.
DeleteShe went over her helmet!
DeleteAnd now, Margaret Wise Brown's The Runaway Bunny.
DeleteOnce there was a little bunny who wanted to run away. So he said to his mother, "I am running away."
"If you run away," said his mother, "I will run after you. For you are my little bunny."
"If you run after me," said the little bunny, "I will become a fish in a trout stream and I will swim away from you."
"If you become a fish in a trout stream," said his mother, "I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you."
"If you become a fisherman," said the little bunny, "I will be a bird and fly away from you."
"If you become a bird and fly away from me," said his mother, "I will be a tree that you come home to."
"Shucks," said the little bunny, "I might as well just stay where I am and be your little bunny." And so he did.
"Have a carrot," said the mother bunny. You can only run so fast, and you can't hide forever. Even if Vivian chose full code, and they resuscitated her, she still wouldn't last much longer.
After reading the play, I thought about the way Vivian viewed life and death and the correlations she made when she was dealing with her cancer. When she was studying Donne’s Holy Sonnets and his works, most of them preached on the Salvation Anxiety, which was how Jason described Donne’s work. Salvation Anxiety is the process and paradox of Donne trying to seek salvation for his “sins” but inevitably makes the choice of not having God seek his salvation and ultimately makes him distant from God by creating complex poetry and sonnets about it. Throughout Vivian’s scholarly career, it was her job to analyze and break down Donne’s Salvation Anxiety through his poetry but as a result of knowing what she analyzed, she also starts to question and analyze her Salvation Anxiety and reflect on what life really meant for her. For most of her life, she has been neglected of love and compassion and as a result, with studying Donne’s literature, she makes her life that way: a life where there’s lack of empathy for others and relational bonds aren’t necessary. Much to the point where even in her chemotherapy, Jason and Kelekian treated her as an object for research, not something who is considered human because of Jason’s assumptions and prejudices toward his late English professor. But as Vivian goes through her first and last stages of her chemotherapy, the only people who were empathetic towards her and showed her the love and compassion she missed for so long was Susie and EM Ashford. As a nurse, Susie not only was doing her job to take care of her but also knew that Vivian needed her compassion despite Vivian’s earlier rejections of it. The same also goes for Em Ashford: she not only cared for Vivian as a student and an English colleague but much to the point where she treated Vivian as if she was her daughter. We see that both characters, in a way, gave Vivian life through their actions towards her. For instance, when EM Ashford reads the Runaway Bunny to Vivian, the story goes that every time the bunny tried to run away, he always ended up where his comfort was. For Vivian, all she thought she wanted was to be alone, away from the world, and “curl up in a little ball”. But laying in silence does she see that even in her bitter darkness and death, she was able to “go back” and find meaning and security in her life by looking to her comfort: those who cared for her until the very end.
ReplyDeleteVivian’s misreading of “Death Be Not Proud” with E.M. Ashford really emphasized her over-dedication to her studies of literature. It was in this discussion between her and the professor that revealed her obsession with learning over the chance to get real life experiences and connect with other people in the world. The final discussion between Susie and Jason about “Salvation Anxiety” was a very similar conversation. Jason was solely focused on saving Vivian for the purpose of cancer research. He wanted to keep noting information about the effectiveness and downsides of the chemotherapy treatment as it was the beginning of the discovery of cancer. He wanted to learn more about how cancer could be treated and take strides into this discovery. As a result, Jason treated Vivian more like a test subject rather than a dying patient who needs help. Susie was similar to Professor Ashford in the sense that she was looking at the situation from another point of view - the humane point of view. Susie saw the situation as Vivian is a human being who has her own rights that other people must respect. The meaning that should be derived here is the importance of seeing everything in the picture. Not only should people see the practical view, or studious part of the picture, but also the humane view and the connection to the real world.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the play, we see that Vivian fundamentally does not understand how to look at literature and life from a human point of view. Her lack of human connection leads to her misunderstanding of Donne’s sonnet Death be not Proud- she goes back to the library instead of taking Ashford’s advice and connecting with friends. Her misunderstanding then, is similar to Jason’s misunderstanding of the Donne’s Salvation Anxiety. He is unable to see the situation from a human perspective. Jason thinks about Donne and his life from purely an academic standpoint, as “great training for lab research” instead of a tragic mindset that caused him pain. Susie, on the other hand, saw Donne’s Salvation Anxiety from a more personal point of view, and wondered if he overcame his anxiety and found understanding. Both Jason and Vivian also looked at their work from a purely analytical viewpoint, as Vivian did not study poetry as a means to understand life, and Jason did not pursue medical research as a means to help people. Given the ending of the play with Susie fighting for Vivian’s choice of a DNR, the meaning that can be derived is much like what E.M Ashford had initially tried to instill in Vivian, human connection is just as important, if not more important, than pure success and academic analysis.
ReplyDelete