Why do great novels, poems and plays move us and excite us? How can they change the way we look at ourselves and the world? What do these authors have to teach us? Why do they matter? There are no better answers to these questions than those provided by the authors themselves. We want to let them speak. Professing Literature is not a broad summary of major works. Instead, it will zero in on one or two key passages, looking at them closely in order to figure out what is at stake. The goal will be to appreciate an author’s brilliance by seeing him or her in action. We will unpack key phrases, images and metaphors and we will consider the techniques the writer uses to make ideas come alive.
EP23 - Knaves Or Jacks? | Dickens, Great Expectations
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations. It takes many years and great disappointment for Pip to understand what happened to him. The protagonist of Dickens’ novel lives amid hope and fear, unaware of who it is that shaped his life and what he should really value. His story is about coming to terms with his responsibility, forgiving the ones who had hurt him and learning to see and accept the truth.
We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.
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Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema
Opening Segment Music: "The Diary" by CJ-0
You can also send comments and questions to Professing Literature via Text Message. Click here! (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1247708/open_sms)
24 Jun 2024
EP22 - Until the World Is Mended | A Reflection On J.R.R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien is one of the most beloved writers in the English tradition, though that popularity is a source of frustration to many supposedly sophisticated critics and scholars. However, his fans and his detractors alike often miss not just how carefully constructed his fiction is but how seriously it explores perennial human concerns: death, change, sacrifice, guilt, creation. Above all, his writing reflects a profound sense that though the world is broken it is beautiful and good and destined for ultimate renewal.
We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.
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Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema
Opening Segment Music: "The Birth of a Planet" by Falls
You can also send comments and questions to Professing Literature via Text Message. Click here! (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1247708/open_sms)
21 Jun 2024
EP21 - Twin Compasses | Donne, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
John Donne, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. John Donne came of age in a high culture whose notions of love were shaped by writers like Philip Sidney. Donne’s own love poetry, though, was very different. Scandalously frank, experimental, intellectually complex, Donne disdains the traditional conventions. Whether praising the beloved or excoriating her, whether writing to a nameless woman in the days of his bachelorhood or the wife to whom he became devoted, Donne strives for emotional realism and intimacy.
We love hearing from all of you. Please email us at ProfessingLiterature@protonmail.com.
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Theme Music: "Nobility" by Wicked Cinema
Opening Segment Music: "A Love that Once Was" by Jakob Gavin Luke
You can also send comments and questions to Professing Literature via Text Message. Click here! (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1247708/open_sms)
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4.9 / 5
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