There's a new addition to our list of listening websites. A colleague of mine has kindly sent me the link to booksshouldbefree.com, where you will be able to find many audiobooks in English. It is going to be permanently linked to this blog, on the sidebar, under the heading 'Listening websites"
You may have seen the book covers that adorn one of the corridors of our school. They talk of a writer and her work, of a woman and her personal demons, of someone who left too early, but who had the time to leave her mark on English-speaking poetry. Her name was Sylvia. Sylvia Plath.
50 years ago, on 11 February, 1963, Sylvia killed herself. A month before, she had published her only novel, entitled 'The Bell Jar', one of her most remarkable works, whose covers are the main subject of the exhibition "Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar: 50 years in covers". Elena Rebollo, a teacher in the English Department, is currently working on her PhD thesis, where she analyses the different editions currently existing of Sylvia Plath's works in Britain and in the USA, marking the fiftieth anniversary of her death.
As we are celebrating the month of the book and our love of reading, it is just the perfect occasion to celebrate Sylvia Plath's life and work, beyond feminist debates, controversies and simplifications of her as a person and as a poet and author. Let's just get this chance to learn something about her.
First, a short bio:
Early Life
Poet and novelist Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932, in Boston,
Massachusetts. Sylvia Plath was a gifted and troubled poet, known for the
confessional style of her work. Her interest in writing emerged at an early age,
and she started out by keeping a journal. After publishing a number of works,
Plath won a scholarship to Smith College in 1950.
While she was a student, Sylvia Plath spent time in New York City during the
summer of 1953 working for Mademoiselle magazine as a guest editor. Soon
after, Plath tried to kill herself by taking sleeping pills. She eventually
recovered, having received treatment during a stay in a mental health facility.
Plath returned to Smith and finished her degree in 1955.
Relationship and Published
Poetry
A Fulbright Fellowship brought Sylvia Plath to Cambridge University in
England. While studying at the university's Newnham College, she met the poet Ted Hughes. The two married in 1956 and
had a stormy relationship. In 1957, Plath spent time in Massachusetts to study
with poet Robert Lowell and met fellow
poet and student Ann Sexton. She also taught English at Smith College around
that same time. Plath returned to England in 1959.
A poet on the rise, Sylvia Plath had her first collection of poetry, The
Colossus, published in England in 1960. That same year, she gave birth to
her first child, a daughter named Freida. Two years later, Plath and Hughes
welcomed a second child, a son named Nicholas. Unfortunately, the couple's
marriage was failing apart.
Legacy
Much to the dismay of some admirers of Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes became her literary executor
after her death. While there has been some speculation about how he handled her
papers and her image, he did edit what is considered by many to her greatest
work, Ariel. It featured several of her most well-known poems, including
"Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus." He continued to produce new collections of Plath's
works. Sylvia Plath won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for Collected Poems.
She is still a highly regarded and much studied poet to this day.
The story of Sylvia Plath—her troubled life and tragic death—was the basis
for the 2003 biopic Sylvia starring Gwyneth Paltrow in the title
role.
(source: www.biography.com)
Here's one of her poems for you to read and to listen to, read by Plath herself.
You do not do, you do not do
Any more, black shoe
In which I have lived like a foot
For thirty years, poor and white,
Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.
Daddy, I have had to kill you.
You died before I had time--
Marble-heavy, a bag full of God,
Ghastly statue with one gray toe
Big as a Frisco seal
And a head in the freakish Atlantic
Where it pours bean green over blue
In the waters off beautiful Nauset.
I used to pray to recover you.
Ach, du.
In the German tongue, in the Polish town
Scraped flat by the roller
Of wars, wars, wars.
But the name of the town is common.
My Polack friend
Says there are a dozen or two.
So I never could tell where you
Put your foot, your root,
I never could talk to you.
The tongue stuck in my jaw.
It stuck in a barb wire snare.
Ich, ich, ich, ich,
I could hardly speak.
I thought every German was you.
And the language obscene
An engine, an engine
Chuffing me off like a Jew.
A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen.
I began to talk like a Jew.
I think I may well be a Jew.
The snows of the Tyrol, the clear beer of Vienna
Are not very pure or true.
With my gipsy ancestress and my weird luck
And my Taroc pack and my Taroc pack
I may be a bit of a Jew.
I have always been scared of you,
With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo.
And your neat mustache
And your Aryan eye, bright blue.
Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You--
Not God but a swastika
So black no sky could squeak through.
Every woman adores a Fascist,
The boot in the face, the brute
Brute heart of a brute like you.
You stand at the blackboard, daddy,
In the picture I have of you,
A cleft in your chin instead of your foot
But no less a devil for that, no not
Any less the black man who
Bit my pretty red heart in two.
I was ten when they buried you.
At twenty I tried to die
And get back, back, back to you.
I thought even the bones would do.
But they pulled me out of the sack,
And they stuck me together with glue.
And then I knew what to do.
I made a model of you,
A man in black with a Meinkampf look
And a love of the rack and the screw.
And I said I do, I do.
So daddy, I'm finally through.
The black telephone's off at the root,
The voices just can't worm through.
If I've killed one man, I've killed two--
The vampire who said he was you
And drank my blood for a year,
Seven years, if you want to know.
Daddy, you can lie back now.
There's a stake in your fat black heart
And the villagers never liked you.
They are dancing and stamping on you.
They always knew it was you.
Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through.
12 October 1962
---------------------
The Bell Jar is, as we said before, the subject or Elena Rebollo's exhibition and Plath's only novel. It was originally under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas" in 1963. The novel is semi-autobiographical with the names of
places and people changed. The book is often regarded as a roman à clef, with the
protagonist's descent into mental illness paralleling Plath's own experiences
with what may have been clinical depression. Plath committed
suicide a month after its first UK publication. The novel was published under
Plath's name for the first time in 1967 and was not published in the United
States until 1971, pursuant to the wishes of Plath's mother and her husband Ted Hughes. The novel has been
translated into nearly a dozen languages.
(source: wikipedia)
Here you have some of the covers you will find at the exhibition:
Don't miss the chance to have a look at the covers at the LIBRARY CORRIDOR of our school to find out how much meaning and how much work there is behind a carefully planned and designed book cover.
A film was made in 2003 about Sylvia Plath and her relationship with Ted Hughes, which didn't have the approval of their children. Interesting to see anyway, though. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Daniel Craig.
'And by the way, everything in life
is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to
improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.'
Last Monday we were lucky enough to learn a lot of things about Chicago from a true Chicagoan who lives in Spain: Brian Enquist, from Pearson Longman.Unfortunately, many of you could not be there. So here is a short summary of Brian's really interesting talk.
The city
is an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, telecommunications, and
transportation. Chicago is one of the most important Worldwide Centers of Commerce and
trade.
Chicago's notability has found expression in numerous forms of popular
culture, including novels, plays, films, songs, various types of journals (for
example, sports, entertainment, business, trade, and academic), and the news
media. The city has many nicknames, which reflect the impressions and opinions
about historical and contemporary Chicago. The best-known include: "Chi-town,""Windy City" and "Second City."
(source: wikipedia)
Many films have been shot here, some of which are: Transformers, The Blues Brothers, Home Alone, Risky Business, Batman or The Untouchables:
Chicago has a very characteristic skyline, dominated especially by to of the most famous skyscrapers in the world, HANCOCK TOWER and, above all, WILLIS TOWER (oh, wait! Maybe you know it by SEARS TOWER)
The Willis Tower (aka Sears) John Hancock Tower
Frank Lloyd Wright is one of the most important architects of the United States, and his first works can still be seen in Oak Park, in Chicago: the Prairie Houses
Chicago is unique, as it is full of art: some of the landmarks of the city are the Art Institute, or the Millenium Park, where you can find the Jay Pritzker Pavillion for some live music, or the famous statue of The Bean (see video below), not to mention the famous Crown Fountain or The Picasso, a statue offered by Pablo Picasso to the city of Chicago.
Chicago Art Institute
Let's take a stroll around downtown Chicago. Watch the documentary below:
Why is Chicago where it is? What has made Chicago be what it is? Click here for a brief history of the city.
Brian also talked about a poet, Carl Sandburgh, who wrote a famous poem about Chicago. Here it is:
CHICAGO
HOG Butcher for the World, Tool
Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight
Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big
Shoulders: They tell me you are wicked and I believe
them, for I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
luring the farm boys. And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes,
it is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill
again. And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces
of women and children I have seen the marks of wanton hunger. And
having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city,
and I give them back the sneer and say to them: Come and show me
another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse
and strong and cunning. Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job
on job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little
soft cities; Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for
action, cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
Bareheaded, Shoveling, Wrecking,
Planning, Building, breaking, rebuilding, Under the smoke, dust
all over his mouth, laughing with white teeth, Under the terrible
burden of destiny laughing as a young man laughs, Laughing even as an
ignorant fighter laughs who has never lost a battle, Bragging and
laughing that under his wrist is the pulse. and under his ribs the heart
of the people, Laughing! Laughing the stormy, husky,
brawling laughter of Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be
Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads
and Freight Handler to the Nation.
Chicago is a melting pot, full of people from different nationalities: Polish, German, Italian, Irish, Mexican or Swedish. It is also THE CITY OF BLUES! Don't leave Chicago before going to one of its Blues bars!!
Here's one of the iconic blues songs you can hear everywhere you go in Chicago, when you go explore its vibrant nightlife: SWEET HOME CHICAGO, originally written by Robert Johnson:
Well, I hope you have found some good reasons to go to Chicago. And if you still need some, what about this one? FOOD!!! Have a slice of the typical Chicago style pizza.
We are finally in April. And, as you know, it is the month when we celebrate the joy of reading: the existence of the BOOK.
And we want to celebrate with you. That's why we are preparing many interesting activities for you to participate. So PLEASE JOIN US!!! We would be very happy to share our passion for reading with you.
Here's the calendar of activities for the English Department:
Monday 15 to Friday 19 April:
Exhibition “Sylvia Plath's The
Bell Jar in covers" at the library corridor.
Monday 15 April:
English: Talk on Chicago (Aula Exámenes Uned), at 4:45 & 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday 16 April:
Guided visit to the exhibition on Sylvia Plath by it's author, our colleague Elena Rebollo. 5:30 p.m. (in English)
Monday 22 to Friday 26 April:
Activities with students:
In English, French, German, Italian & Portuguese: Ponle portada a tu libro favorito (Choose a cover for your favourite book)
English: “In Their Own Voice”, poems reading and watching
Tuesday 23 of April:
Reading flashmob at the Plaza Mayor - 7.30 p.m.
Bookcrossing: inauguration of our bookcrossing point. Come bring a book you want to swap.
As April 23 is said to be the day when William Shakespeare died, and, as you know, I have a passion for him, allow me to end this post with one of my favourites among his sonnets. Enjoy, and happy month of the book!!!
SONNET 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments.
Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the
remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests
and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's
unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy
lips and cheeks
'I don't think there will be a woman Prime Minister in my lifetime' M. Thatcher as education secretary in 1973.
Dear students & members of this blog,
A piece of shocking, though not unexpected, news, has hit Britain today. One of its most controversial, yet indispensable political figures of the last century, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, died earlier today of a stroke. She was in office from 1979 to 1990, being the first woman to lead the Conservative Party and to serve as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the one who has stayed in office the longest (three consecutive terms). Right before she entered no. 10 Downing Street for the first time ever, in 1979, she pronounced these famous words, paraphrasing St. Francis of Assisi: "Where there is discord, may we bring
harmony. Where there is error, may we bring
truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is
despair, may we bring hope." But the fact remains that the country was never more divided than when she was in office. Still today, Britons don't agree as to what her legacy is, and if her work had a positive or a negative impact on the nation. Whatever the case, and regardless of opinions and political affinities, she was certainly a key figure in the British history of the 20th century. The older generations must know who she was and what she was like and what she meant for Britain. The younger generations might never have heard of her. So here you have some information on her life and her political history, so that you can have your own opinion on her impact and her relevance.
Obituary: Baroness Thatcher
Here you have the highlights of MrsThatcher's life:
LIFE OF MARGARET THATCHER
13 October 1925 - Born Margaret Hilda Roberts in Grantham, Lincolnshire
1951 - Married businessman Denis Thatcher
1959 - Becomes MP for Finchley
1970 - Made minister for education
1975 - Elected Conservative leader
1979 - Becomes UK's first female prime minister
1982 - Falklands War
1983 - Elected prime minister for second time
1984 - Survives Grand Hotel bombing
1984-5 - Takes on unions in Miners' Strike
1987 - Wins third term in Downing Street
1990 - Resigns as prime minister
1992 - Stands down as MP and accepts peerage
2002 - Retires from public speaking
8 April 2013 - Dies after suffering a stroke
Margaret Thatcher for dummies: click here for more info if you don't know much, or know nothing at all, about the former PM.
As it was pointed out before, there have been countless reactions to Baroness Thatcher's death, from those which stated that 'she ruined the country' to those that thought of her as a 'pioneering figure for women everywhere'.
Mixed reaction to former PM's death
As for her funeral, Baroness Thatcher is to have a ceremonial funeral - a step short of a state funeral - with military honours to be held at St Paul's Cathedral in London. The funeral parade will begin at Chapel of St Mary Undercroft at the Palace of Westminster. A hearse will take the body to the RAF Chapel at the church of St Clement Danes on the Strand. Baroness Thatcher's coffin will be transferred to a gun carriage and drawn by the Kings Troop Royal Artillery to St Paul's Cathedral. The route (see picture below) is to be lined by all three armed forces.
.jpg)
