Some of you may recognize this quotation since I have the exact same poster on my classroom wall!
Today, as I pondered what I was going to put up here for this week's post, I thought of a YouTube video I love, and I thought to myself, what an awesome example of anthropomorphism! I can't wait to share it with my seniors when we start studying poetry next semester! Then an epiphany descended upon me...how many other people can seriously say they have a favorite example of anthropomorphism in popular culture? 'Tis a select group, and I think many of you can count yourselves among the few, the proud, the increDIBBLE lit nerds. :) Here it is, for your viewing pleasure:
Anthropomorphism at its hilarious best (IMHO)
So this week's participation opportunity is a fun and facile one! You're going to add on to what I started here by providing extensive commentary and personal reflection (and links if you wish) whilst finishing the following sentence:
You know you're an English Lit nerd/aficionado when...
I can't wait to see what you guys come up with! This should be amusing. :) There are so many more I could add to my list, including why I favor a certain NFL team (the Baltimore Ravens, #edgarallanpoerocks), how I can't help reading into almost everything as a double-entendre, how I have to practice deep breathing skills when I see grammatical errors in published materials...
Those who have dedicated a majority of time and effort to study and enjoy our world’s literary works have inherently also become accustomed to the different point of view that comes along with a heightened awareness of the English language and its merits. This being said, there are numerous situations in which people of this sense find themselves faced with the feeling of abnormality compared to the general public. In my experience, one particular situation of this phenomena is when I utilize large words from my vocabulary that has notably been expanded from reading several novels and studying Ms. Dibble’s acclaimed vocabulary list, Dibble Diction. I am no stranger to the response of blank stares after including a particularly sophisticated term in a normal conversation. I remember a specific conversation in which I was “roasted” for using the word per se in the eighth grade, due to the fact that several of my peers were void of knowledge on this particular term. It relayed an unintended sense of superiority, causing them to react with defensive and deriding comments. Naturally, I have not used this term in a colloquial setting since.
ReplyDeleteAnother instance that can be categorized as experienced by exclusively literature nerds is one similar to my previous account. Nothing can describe the sense of solidarity as English nerds us prior Dibble students feel when we are contributing to a discussion or reading a prompt out loud in class and come across a Dibble Diction word only known by a few, and then making eye contact with the other nerds in the room knowing that it is from Dibble Diction. In those fleeting seconds of eye contact acknowledging the all-too-familiar word we are able to reminisce on the hours spent memorizing the diction and the copious amounts of stress that come along with those memories. It is truly a feeling that only the English nerds produced by Ms. Dibble’s English 2 honors class can relate to.
Lastly, one of the most common occurrences I encounter throughout my daily life that I can attribute to not only my English nerd knowledge but also the teachings of Ms. Dibble, is being able to accurately and consistently identify the Wilhelm Scream in a number of works. At least once a month I will come across a video or movie that features this iconic ululation-like sound and be able to gasp to myself as I remember the historical and cultural significance of the auditory phenomenon. It is similar to an obscure meme one would find on social media that needs varied levels of meme knowledge and understanding to comprehend and find comical, making the viewer feel validated in their comprehension. Overall, I can confidently say that I know I’m an English Lit nerd/aficionado when my relatively inclusive vocabulary is not easily understood by my peers, when I revel in the few seconds of eye contact us Dibble students share after hearing a prominent Dibble Diction word, and when I come across another use of the running gag of Wilhelm Scream in a popular video, movie, or TV show and being able to understand it’s origin and significance.
(part 1)
ReplyDeleteLiterature and everything included in it can be found everywhere in life. The English language is unique and we constantly find ways to amuse ourselves, not only with the language itself, but also with the stories created from it. Everyone, whether aware or not, experiences this- I am no exception. Thus, let’s explore the special qualities (some from personal experience!) that make up English nerd…
You know you're an English Lit nerd/aficionado when legitimately everything you hear or analyze can somehow be linked back to literature. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve quoted famous lines from novels without realizing what I’ve done. Even with my limited book selection to choose from, some lines just struck me as particularly impactful and so I started using them in daily life. I used to think that was pretty normal until I realized that my friends would just look confused about the reference I made. Such is the life of an English Lit nerd… On other occasions, I’ll be listening to someone talk and quietly think to myself about how similar they are to a character or the situation to the plot. It’s actually progressed to a point where I make mental commentary on tv shows and movies. It’s a constant compare and contrast that I can’t seem to turn off. The little nagging English conscience is always at the back of my mind, interjecting things here and there. And while it’s welcome in my opinion, I get the feeling others are slightly weirded out by it.
(part 2)
ReplyDeleteYou know you’re an English Lit nerd/aficionado when you notice and try your complete best to ignore the way some people butcher word usage. I’m not talking about honest mistakes or even slang words. People make mistakes all the time and there’s no shame in that. I can even excuse slang words- yes, they bother me sometimes, but once you grow accustomed to them, it’s not that big of a deal. What gets to me the most is how some people try to sound “smart” by using big words but then end up using them incorrectly. Sometimes, I’ll let them know in case they’re just unaware of the mistake their making but if they ignore me, it’s not really my place to make a fuss about it. That doesn’t mean I’m not bothered by it. I’m sure some other grammar sticklers in our class understand this as well. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a disgrace to the English language but for me it comes pretty close. I think that because I’ve been taught from a young age, the proper way to learn and use words that this type of thing tends to affect me more that it would other people. I’ve gotten better at ignoring it over the years but there will always be that twinge of annoyance when I encounter situations like this.
The strangest indicator by far of being an English Lit nerd/aficionado is when you start dreaming about the literature you read. To me, this takes the cake. You have to be really invested in a book to even think about it subconsciously in your dreams. To be honest, this actually happens to me fairly often. Sometimes I don’t necessarily love the book I’m dreaming about, but as long as there’s something particularly memorable, it will somehow manifest itself in my dreams. The weirdest dream yet (that I can actually remember) would probably have to be joining the Joad family on a modern day road trip and running into an ensemble cast of the craziest characters in literature (the vicious Lady Macbeth, a lovesick Romeo, etc). The most important part of being a nerd is just accepting that you are a nerd. Having your literal subconscious tell you that you’re nerdy enough to be dreaming about literature is a pretty good indicator. I don’t mind- the dreams I have are often entertaining and bizarre in the best way possible.
There are a million ways “you know you are an English Lit nerd/aficionado” that are different for everyone. The ones I mentioned just happened to be those I can remember from personal experience off the top of my head. The most important thing at the end of the day is that nerds will always be nerds. This may manifest itself in various ways but at the core, we all have this piece of us in common with one another.
You know you’re an English Lit aficionado when you begin to extensively analyze everything, and I mean everything, that you encounter. Whether it be the motives behind why someone named their dog an incredibly generic name, or why it is that a hotel has pots of hyacinths growing rather than orchids, there’s always room for a fun analytical stretch. I often find myself analyzing my surroundings when attempting to procrastinate being productive for as long as I possibly can, and it can end up being quite entertaining. For instance, in my local Starbucks, there are some pretty mediocre paintings that were presumably thrown onto the wall without much thought, however at times I like to analyze these coffee shop canvases as if I were constructing a 3E Essay. As I was studying for a Calculus test a couple of weeks ago, I realized that I had been gazing at one of these underwhelming pieces of oh-so-carefully-selected Starbucks art for quite a while. The painting was a depiction of the progression of coffee beans’ life cycles as they began as flowers, moved to become cherries, and finally became coffee beans. While redolent of a watercolor that I created at some point in elementary school, the painting brought out my inner English nerd as I proceeded to analyze it rather than complete math problems that to this day make absolutely no sense to me. I noticed that the flowers were the boldest part of the painting, the cherries were slightly less defined and had slightly dripping paint, and the coffee beans were the least bold, almost seeming to be fading away from the painting altogether. I saw this depiction of the life cycle of a coffee bean as a symbol for the development of humans in that as we become “useful” and productive members of a functioning society, we lose so much of the beauty that comes with being young and innocent. I was filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment upon reaching this conclusion, and I felt as if I had really figured out what this artist was trying to communicate to the audience. I then glanced down at my Calculus problems and realized that I had just spent about fifteen minutes pondering the meaning behind a painting that had probably been printed with the sole intention of “lightening the room” or “creating a friendly and warm environment.” Those statements in of themselves probably have the potential to be analyzed as well. You know you’re an English Lit nerd when you know that you could find a way to connect virtually anything to some type of existential question that could keep you up at night for weeks.
ReplyDeleteYou also know you’re an English Lit nerd when your friends start having to force you to come out and interact with other humans when you’re having a book marathon. Last year around November, I had spent a couple of days immersing myself in All the Light We Cannot See. I found myself rereading pages multiple times simply because I was so taken aback by the beautifully urbane style of Anthony Doerr. Upon finishing the book, I immediately reread it and cried once again after finishing it the second time. I wrote down as many of my thoughts and reactions to the novel as I could, however my brain felt as if it were going into English Nerd overdrive, and it was difficult to completely grasp all of the thoughts that were running through my head. In this span of maybe three days, I dropped all forms of social media and communication with my friends. This resulted in quite a few strongly worded texts, but I’d be an idiot if I said that the experience wasn’t worth it.
You know you're an AP lit nerd when you uncontrollably analyze every aspect of your life. When it comes to literature, the meaning of the work as a whole can often be debated between many different ideas and theories. A literature nerd dissects a book so thoroughly, that they spends hours understanding why the author paints the walls on a room blue instead of another color. Why not red? Is there a deeper meaning? Does the color in and of itself represent the very oceans of sadness running through this characters mind? Maybe the walls are blue because that’s the first color the author thought of. It’s almost impossible to tell why an author does something or paints a walls one color rather than another. It can be interpreted as opinions or even strong evidence, but it cannot be a true fact unless the author of the story itself describes why the walls are blue. So, lit nerds, knowing this fact, often take a leap when explaining and analyzing work. It’s increDIBBLE(ly) tantalizing to know that the truth cannot fully be discovered, but finding your own truth is quite exhilarating. So for me, analyzing is my literature passion, but it is also my curse. I often find myself analyzing the very people around me, as if trying to see past their fragile masks. After meeting someone, even if it’s just a short conversation, my instinct is to put them into a group. Some groups consist of “no eye contact (fake or a robot)” or “undoubtably a sociopath” or even “friend”. These groups control my actions and decide my fate with every person I meet (often but not always) and can cause me to spend less time getting to know them, and more time deciding who I think they are. I blame literature for this curse, or as some people call it a “blessing”, for I have analyzed so many pieces of work that my mind sees the world as a story. For each story comes from the minds of people here on earth, each breathe, each step, each love and each heart break is a story. We are all stories, some longing to be read, and others hoping to be lost in a sea of “better” stories. I am an AP lit nerd because I not only analyze the meaning of the work as a whole, but the meaning of the world as a whole. This curse, this blessing, is undoubtable the most curious part of a chapter in my story. -Molly Scott
ReplyDeleteYou know you're an English Lit nerd/aficionado when you actually enjoy novels like The Scarlet Letter and other tedious and esoteric novels as it presents a challenge in language. Traditionally, when reading for enjoyment, I usually try to read the first section of text closely, most fastidiously, as those few fateful pages often establish my level of interest, and, consequently, whether I complete the book or set it aside for when my literary stash depletes (and then, I grudgingly give it a second chance). Recently, however, I’ve grown an appreciation and (dare I say) love for stories that would, most definitely, violate my traditional approach to reading.
ReplyDeleteIt started last year, with the letter A. For some reason, every single word, even the most insignificant words (the the’s, a’s, and other articles), seemed profound and imbued with hidden meaning. I picked up this habit when analyzing The Scarlet Letter for the block last year, a book often described as quite… insipid. For reasons still unknown, I thoroughly enjoyed examining The Scarlet Letter and Hawthorne’s convoluted and somewhat redundant language as it cause me to pause and truly decipher what he attempts to communicate through Dimmesdale’s histrionic dialogues and other lengthy passages. Sparked by this renewed interest in more convoluted and indirect language, I thoroughly enjoyed the initial confusion when reading Heart of Darkness over this past summer. Sure, I do enjoy the occasional light read (The Artemis by Andy Weir was a favorite for the summer), but nothing can quite compare the artfully written passages of Lolita or Kafka on the Shore. Feeling truly invested in and integrating oneself into a story is a feeling unmatched by movies, television series, or any other medium, as mere words contrive their own meaning and images, interpretations that vary from reader to reader. I see Dolores Haze, the subject of H.H.’s creepy and hebephilic gaze, as she resides unaware of her stepfather’s malicious intent- his “handsomeness” ugly and her innocence bastardized. Their faces pop up in my head- Dolores, a nymph (as she is a “nymphet”), like those of Greek and Roman mythology; and Humbert, he’s more of a feeling, a sinister Cheshire cat, something irksome and worrying, waiting patiently in the dark. His love, was it truly justified? I think of Kurtz and the scent of death and Marlow in a grove of corpses. I see his struggle with the dichotomy of human nature and its savage qualities. With a close and thoughtful read of these stories, I most enjoy the complexity through oblique and indirect language and the subjectivity of themes and controversies presented in the novels. So, yes, I would read The Scarlet Letter again. For fun.
In my personal opinion, you know when your an English Lit nerd/ aficionado when everything and anything pops out on a page to you. Whether its a video or a novel or anything else that could be counted, the English Literature part of you catches every device on the page. Whether it’s an allusion, or metaphor, or a good piece of imagery, you can’t help but get excited about it. I feel that one of the most telling signs of being an English Lit nerd is feeling like you are over analyzing something, however that is hardly ever the case of course. It is extremely easy for an English Lit nerd to take even the smallest thing in a piece of literature, and expand on it and connect it with one thing after another and to eventually break out into a spectacular conversation about the inner workings of the universe. The last three days in class are an excellent show of example of all of our English nerd sides. Each day a new discussion posed a new angle on the central questions of Heart of Darkness that we have been exploring. Another thing that shows your an English Lit nerd is going back over the same pieces of work and always finding something new. Finding a new literary device or something of new significance, or anything else, finding something new and continuing to enjoy a piece again and again and again is definitely the mark of a true English Literature nerd. English Literature is something very important to life and the more one can understand and comprehend the multiple levels of English Literature, the more knowledgeable that person will become. Being an English Literature nerd is what makes learning about it so exciting and intriguing, it brings the topic life.
ReplyDeleteErik Vaughn
part 1
ReplyDelete... when I can’t remember if an experience happened to me or a character in a book (because the distinction between the real world and the fictional world is blurry at this point), when my only social media is Goodreads, when I visible cringe when I don’t see the glorious Oxford Comma, and when I’m so invested into the world of the book I’m reading that I feel like an active participant in the novel and passive onlooker to my life here on Earth.
When experiences feel more real to me in a book than they do in real life, when I’ve ran into poles, other people, pets, and into the ground -literary everything- because I forget to stop reading when I walk, and when my version of battle scars is paper cuts, do I know that I’m an English Nerd.
I read anywhere and everywhere: on the asphalt eating snack at Panther Time, sitting in my car in a random abandoned parking lot, on the toilet, and instead of doing my homework. I’ve prioritized reading above all else, which means I’m subsequently ignoring all other responsibilities including chores and homework (much to the chagrin of my parents). I’m a closet reader: reading literally inside the closet to hide my late-night reading from my parents who want me to sleep (sleeping is for the weak). When people tell me that they are exhausted from spend their nights partying, I can relate to the sleep deprivation, but my version of a perfect Saturday night is cuddling in my bed, prying my eyelids open with my fingers to fight off the physical exhaustion and read one more chapter.
I’m a re-reader. When I say that I’ve read my favorite books more than 20 times, people think I’m exaggerating to make a point. But, if you ever see me spacing out during class or walking on the street with a simultaneously blank and concentrated expression, I’m probably rereading my favorite books over in my head, even if I don’t have the book in front of me. I’ve read certain books, like Pride and Prejudice, so many times that I can visualize what my favorite passages look like in my head and read them word for word (for example the lit Drawing Room scene, “turning about the room” and being able to “write uncommonly fast” and “my good opinion once lost, is lost forever”… so fire!).
part 2
ReplyDeleteI don’t realize the passing of time until I finish a book, wondering why it’s suddenly dark out and refusing to believe that 8pm turned into 3am in a blink of an eye. Reading, perniciously and cumulatively, warps my perception of time with each turning page.
I find myself telling a story about something that happened to me and realize halfway through that, in fact, it didn’t happen to me but rather a fictional character, and when people ask me to hang out, I’d really rather go in my room, lock my door, and read until my eyes bleed. The first thing I want to know about someone is their favorite book and then I proceed to try really hard not to judge them when they say that they hate reading. My favorite app on my phone is iBooks; I organize my book collection for fun; the best gift you could give me is uninterrupted time to read.
Most of the knowledge that I have in my head is from reading. And not just stories and literary devices, but useful knowledge about life. How to use an Allen wrench when a character liked fixing cars, or what to do in the case of a massive earthquake that shipwrecks me onto the shores of Lisbon alongside Candide.
And finally, you know how people internet stalk other people? I do that too but with my favorite authors. My most recent obsessively literary stalking obsession (and subsequent fangirling) was when I figured out that Charlotte Bronte dedicated Jane Eyre to William Makepeace Thackeray, calling him the best mind and Victorian critic of their time (swoon). But then, PLOT TWIST, Thackeray had a mentally ill wife he was unable to divorce, just like Rochester’s predicament with Bertha Mason. But, Bronte didn’t know about this at all and not only wrote Rochester’s character in coincidentally eerily parallel to Thackeray's life, but she even dedicated her book to him. The whole situation is so awkward, and though it’s probably weird to fangirl about anything Bertha Mason-related, I’m getting incredibly, inexplicably excited, at the prospect of my top two favorite authors having a genuinely awkward human moment together.
I’ve read every single day for as long as I can remember. Reading is such a huge part of who I am, so consequently, being an English nerd is an integral part of my identity.
(Part 2)
ReplyDeleteNow, I don’t think you need to confront death like this to necessarily know if you’re an English Lit nerd or not. The fact that diction led to Anders’ rise and fall (literally) are enough to prove he’s definitely an English aficionado. But for the rest of us nonfiction characters in this stranger-than-fiction universe, our litmus tests to prove if we’re truly infatuated with English are different. Perhaps I wouldn’t die for English, but the fact that I remember “they is, they is, they is” in my most painful moments is a testament that I clearly appreciate great diction when I hear it. I know I’m an English enthusiast when I have a preferred method of joining thoughts together—always an em dash, never a semicolon—and I’d rather just telepathically send my thoughts than write in. Short thoughts. Like this. (Thanks, Hemingway.) A regular person probably wouldn’t create multiple Twitter threads for her review on Agustin Gomez-Arcos’s The Carnivorous Lamb, nor gleefully recite lines from “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith when she has the opportunity. She wouldn’t send a friend some 81 texts about her critique of academia’s idea that “highfalutin + convoluted= good writing.” She probably wouldn’t use the line “On earth, we’re briefly gorgeous” from Ocean Vuong’s eponymous poem as a mantra throughout her day. But you know, I would.
I probably care less about grammar than the stereotypical English fanatic-- there’s nothing like having several family members learning English as a second language to teach you that English is hard—and I don’t really mind a few colloquialisms sprinkled in an essay. But, man, do I love a good portmanteau, and would I drop anything for a well-executed zeugma. (“[They] cover themselves with dust and glory” from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is always a winner in my book.) To be an English enthusiast doesn’t mean you have to love everything about semantics, nor does it mean you have to salivate over every book of “literary merit.” To live for English is good, to die for English is a… dramatic bonus point, but, really, if something about English charms you so much that it is seared in your memory and shapes who you are, then you are an English aficionado. That something doesn’t have to be all the exceptions to the “i-after-e-except-after-c” rule. It doesn’t have to be a quote from a classic novel you’ve read five years ago to look smart but don’t quite remember the plot of. For me, my passion for English can be distilled down to one thing:
“They is, they is, they is.”
Perhaps not a deathbed-worthy phrase. But good enough for an English Lit nerd.
You know you’re an English Lit nerd/ aficionado when…
ReplyDeleteYou have no clue whatsoever how many books you’ve read in the past year. There are varying levels of being an “English nerd”; admitting you like to read, keeping track of how many books you read, and finally giving in to your bookworm-like obsession. Whenever someone asks how much you read, you reply with “a lot.” Along with being an avid reader comes a new realization- you’re subconsciously judging others who don’t read. Additionally, you find yourself surrounded with other word-hungry readers. You can’t seem to stop talking about books! And for good reason… There’s so much to explore on the pages written by people with minds infinitely different from your own. As well as reading excessively, you also read anything and everything put in front of you. You may prefer some genres, but your mind has been opened so far by previous works of incomprehensibly sumptuous masterpieces, that you couldn’t dare to refuse a new filter in which the world is cast! The addicting feeling of discovering a new universe sewn by another’s hand is too much to resist. Another most unfair question is “What’s your favorite book?” How can you choose when you can’t remember the last five you’ve read?! They’ve gone by so quickly and sure, you remember a distinct few, but once you’ve narrowed it down, how could you possibly choose just one? And so English becomes not only your biggest curiosity, but also your biggest dilemma. However complex select questions are, you don’t mind because the difficulty is what makes literature lovable. The ends justify the means, and the greatest reward is receiving the privilege to call yourself an English aficionado (as well as having an extensive vocabulary).
You know you’re an English Lit nerd when…
ReplyDeleteYou have a Shakespeare-inspired t-shirt in your wardrobe. (Mine says “she is fierce” in gold lettering, a paraphrasing of the line “she be but little but she is fierce”, from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.)
Your head is constantly swirling with puns to share with others, much to their chagrin and your delight. (My favorite English-literature-related pun is “don’t invite John Milton to game night, as with him there is always a pair-of-dice lost”. Or, Walt Whitman’s favorite breakfast cereal - O Captain, my Captain Crunch - is a close second.)
You use words like “chagrin”, and not just in reference to Chagrin Falls, Ohio (though you know about that city, as well).
You enjoy learning new vocabulary and take pleasure in seeing others use your favorite words. (You know someone is going to be your good friend if they can aptly use the words “exemplify” and “accentuate”.) You discover that you’re the only one in your friend group that enjoyed Dibble Diction, and you even keep a list of academic vocabulary in the drafts of your email account.
You jot down new vocabulary words in the margins of your papers.
You secretly enjoy writing essays for class and reading them over months later.
You appreciate an appropriately-placed semicolon, preferably with a conjunction; however, this is not a must but merely a “cherry on top” for syntax variance and punctuation.
You enjoy Harry Potter much more than the average person, and you are the antithesis of a fake fan. You know your Ilvermorny house (not just Hogwarts house --- that’s basic), can point out the dialogue flaws between the books and the movies (lemon drop vs. sherbet lemon), and study the books with the lens of an English professor, finding symbolic meaning in every page. You could write a paper simply on the color red and its role in the books (Gryffindor, wand sparks, the Weasleys’ hair color, Fawkes, etc.).
You know what a zeugma is.
You prefer that people fully write out their thoughts, rather than abbreviate phrases, when they email or text.
You stay up late, pondering plotlines for your great American novel.
Your favorite rapper is actually a “spoken word artist”, or poet. (Check out Prince EA’s YouTube channel!) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDgUAAHgsV2fFZQm2fIWBnA
You subscribe to the usage of the Oxford comma and consciously check that others use it.
You not only analyze literature but also apply analysis to TV shows and movies. You even created a plotline archetype for Hallmark Channel romance movies. (If you’d like to see it, let me know!)
You re-read books again and again, simply for the nostalgia factor.
The only black and blue you’ve ever had is the ink stain left on the side of your pinkie after writing an essay.
There is nothing more relaxing to you than curling up with a book, a fuzzy blanket, a bowl of Limon Hot Cheetos, and a large mug of milk. Nothing is more soothing than reading… except, maybe, the sensation of cold milk after eating about twenty hot cheetos.
You know you're an English Lit nerd/aficionado when…
ReplyDelete...You have prefaced a sentence as, “Sorry, I don’t mean to be a Lady Macbeth but…”
As stated in my previous blog posts, I see literature as a way to express nuances and communicate thoughts. And sometimes, sprinkling allusions in everyday conversations is how English Lit nerds communicate. In this case, I wanted to push a friend to chase after their ambitions, but not in a destructive way. My goal when referencing literature in conversation is not to be pretentious, but to allude to an inside joke that I am sharing. It is an inside joke that has gained connotations over the years and taken a place in culture.
...You went out for boba for friends and ended up forming a book club.
I do not think any of us intentionally walked into the cafe thinking, “I want to start a book club with this group of girls”. But discussing literature is honestly enjoyable, and doing it with people I care about makes it even better. Literature has a way of naturally engendering deep conversations, which makes it a great vehicle for nurturing relationships.
...You have strong opinions about how books should be organized (if you separate series or authors, we have a problem).
I do appreciate an aesthetic bookshelf, but I do not believe in looks over content. I believe the aesthetic satisfaction achieved from having a neatly organized books is rooted in pride for reading. Not in a self-righteous way, i.e. “I don’t read John Green because he’s too YA”, but in a, “I am proud of these books because they have connected with me and deserve to be on the main shelf”. Also, having opinions on how a bookshelf should be organized reflects my unique thought process. And it is great to express yourself. I personally think it is blasphemous to separate books in a series, but I know there are people out there who do. It does not make sense to me, but it does not mean I cannot find common ground. I accept there are people out there who perceive the world differently from me.
...You do judge a book by a cover and are dreaming of that nice hardcover copy.
I am the first to admit that my lizard brain loves shiny colorful things and I do not try to fight it. At the library, I do select books based on if the cover appeals to me or not. But I think a beautiful illustration only adds to the reading experience because it displays visual arts along with literature. And I love that feeling of cracking open a new hardcover book. However, there is nothing more disappointing than removing the sleeve of a hardcover and discovering the cover underneath is lackluster.
...You discover that you can host a wedding at the Malaga Cove library and start fantasizing having your wedding in a library.
https://www.pvld.org/wedding
Where else could I marry my human love as well as celebrate my literary love? Maybe not in the Malaga Cove library specifically, but the romantic idealism of getting married surrounded by books appeals to my English Lit nerdy heart. And personally, I think it would be great to be married in a library and be home among great love stories.
...You take Sparknotes Quizzes for fun.
I think they are fun, and can actually be fairly accurate. I thought I would get One Hundred Years of Solitude, but I got Sense and Sensibility instead. I felt exposed by blurb at the end reasoning why, and it is probably because this quiz was written by English nerds that speak my language and understand my thought process. And as stated in my first response, it is fun to be able to be a part of the joke and play around with the joke in a non-academic and contemporary way.
http://community.sparknotes.com/2018/09/25/what-book-title-describes-your-love-life
You know you’re an English Lit nerd when you know all the references to books made in tv shows/movies. In every good piece of entertainment, there are a multitude of pop culture references. These references help grasp the attention of viewers of all types as they provide at least one thing that anyone can key in to. One of my favorite television writers, Amy Sherman-Palladino, has mastered this art. Her three shows, Gilmore Girls, Bunheads, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, have been largely remembered not only for their characters and plot but also for their obscure references. “I live in two worlds, one is a world of books.” These are the famous first words of Rory Gilmore’s graduation speech from Amy Sherman-Palladino’s most famous show, Gilmore Girls, whose main character is a voracious reader. Because of this, there has been a plethora of book references in the show, 339 to be exact. These references ranged from well-known books such as 1984 to extremely obscure books such as The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band. While I am not as much of a book aficionado as I am a movie one, I still believe I have a breadth of titles to choose from. I remember watching Gilmore Girls my freshmen year during the times we read To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men and becoming visibly excited when I heard those titles in the show. Then in sophomore year, I caught the references to The Canterbury Tales, Brave New World, Macbeth and Lord of the Flies and felt accomplished. I think what was interesting about finding these references was that as each year passed and my book knowledge was expanded, I found myself picking up more and more references with each rewatch, and the more references I understood, the more complex and layered the show became. At the same time, I was inspired to read more books and learn more so that I could maybe someday understand all 339 reference. Gilmore Girls is one of the best tv shows I’ve seen because it is written for nerds. Sure, anyone with any type of brain level can watch it but only nerds will truly understand the punch lines and scene set-ups. Almost every snarky remark or catch phrase has some sort of reference embedded in it, and unless you can figure out the reference, the show is incomplete. I appreciate this because it makes watching the show have a purpose. All pop culture references fall into place with the literary terms we study, too. References themselves are allegories, many of them are presented as similes or metaphors, and puns are just cleaver word choice. References are so integral to so many works of media that they force us as readers to do the work and expand our knowledge of all aspects of the world. In Gilmore Girls, each reference is like a little gift from Amy Sherman-Palladino where she acknowledges our shared knowledge and thanks us for being nerds too.
ReplyDeleteView the full list of book references here:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/krystieyandoli/all-339-books-referenced-in-gilmore-girls
You know you're an English Lit nerd/aficionado when…
ReplyDelete…you always expeditiously inform someone who says “anyways” that they are grammatically incorrect.
…you’ve watched a compilation of the iconic “STELLAAAA!!” scene in popular culture (my favorite – https://youtu.be/w1UsZacx9rU).
…you geek out at the European Dream information meeting when it’s mentioned that you can retrace the steps of Marie-Laure in Saint Malo, France.
…you have a favorite, under-appreciated punctuation mark (the semicolon, of course).
…you only ever writing in Times New Roman 12-point font with no spaces between the paragraphs (Arial font is infinitely inferior to TNR).
…you have to add the Oxford comma to any list of things that doesn’t have the Oxford comma.
…you can recognize some of the most obscure lines from The Great Gatsby.
…you start suggesting naming rescue animals after iconic literary characters.
You know you’re an AP Lit nerd/aficionado when you treasure moments that spark memories of certain scenes, phrases, or even characters of novels that you’ve read. You know you’re an AP Lit nerd/aficionado when you take great joy in reading and analyzing and truly being able to understand the numerous aspects of a novel, whether it is with regard to the historical context of it or an extensive character analysis.
Being an AP Lit nerd entails being privy to all the greatest of inside literary jokes and sharing a common joy and knowledge with people similar to yourself. It’s a privilege and an honor to be branded as an AP Lit nerd, something to be immensely proud of. Once we enter the great world of literature, we step into a whole new realm full of distinct cultures spanning eons. We become better able to understand not only the book, but the book in context, and consequently, the different aspects of the world. One day you could be in pre-revolutionary China (The Good Earth), and the next day you could be in the Jazz Age of the United States (The Great Gatsby). To be an AP Lit nerd is to have the ability to enrich your mind through reading and understanding what you are reading.
You know you're an English Lit nerd/aficionado when you are thoroughly explaining how good the historical context, themes, and plot line of a book to one of your friends, only to realize that they just ignored you for a solid five minutes.
ReplyDeleteEnglish nerds sometimes sacrifice their social cognition for their devotion and enjoyment for the book they are reading. But, so what? When they fruitlessly explain a book to someone, the attempt is not something to be looked at with confusion, but with admiration. I think that it is particularly noble to inform someone on something that they might not know, sacrificing your time to talk to them hoping that they glean something from your meticulous analysis and insight from your readings. Additionally, I find it admirable that someone could be enthusiastic to the point where they must verbally express their enjoyment of the book as if they were a pot boiling over. I know that it took me years to overcome my low self-esteem to talk about the things that I loved at the time, and once I triumphed over that, I was so elated and happy to spread what I loved regardless if people were absorbing the content I was espousing. These people preach the intricacies of their book of choice with such ardor that they become comparable to one notable person. I can’t tell you who it is, but it rhymes with Besus.
I have been in this exact situation. A couple months ago, I was out with one of my friends who is also an English Lit nerd. We were having lively banter while we drank coffee, and at the time, she was trying to convince me that Pride and Prejudice was a superior work of literature to anything written during the 19th century. I thought she was outright wrong. I countered by saying that almost every single one of Dostoevsky’s novels were probably the most socially critical novels that gave valuable insight into the human psyche. When she said that she could concur because she never read anything from Dostoevsky, I spent a solid 15 minutes, taking frequent sips of coffee of course, to explain the complexity of his works from Notes from Underground to the famous Crime and Punishment. I was only until 12 minutes had passed where I visibly noticed that she was lost, but I was explaining the moral intricacies that Crime and Punishment laid out, and I was not going to stop for her because now I was so elated that I could talk about it aloud. Ultimately, there are two views to assess this scenario: One is trying to teach someone about something they never knew, the other being that it is genuinely fun to talk about something as complex and intricate as literature with LITERARY MERIT is.
Side Note: You know when you’re an English Lit nerd/aficionado when coffee is your primary food.
Self-Explanatory
You know you’re an English nerd when you start seeing literary devices in the modern world of hip hop. For example, Eminem’s new comeback album and its allusions to multiple rap icons (excluding himself) in order to satirize the new style of rap that has dominated today’s world shows the effective use of a literary device to help Eminem make his stance in his belief that everything out on the radio today is sad trash. Furthermore, the ability of literary devices to help top billboard songs sound rhythmically pleasant to listen to is often overlooked. We forget that rhymes are an essential part of almost every song that has ever existed. To truly exemplify the use of literary devices in modern songs, let’s analyze Taylor Swift’s hits. For example, in Taylor Swift’s Love Story, you simply can’t sing it without its lyrical rhymes: “Romeo save me, they're trying to tell me how to feel This love is difficult, but it's real Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess It's a love story, baby just say ‘Yes’.” As I read through these lyrics, I can’t seem not to sing it in my head (and the rhymes truly help while I’m in that process). The flow of the song is enhanced as the rhymes mark the end of one line and incorporate poetic elements within it. Furthermore, don’t forget symbolism in which many artists have utilized to make their songs relatable. For example, Love Story, while alluding to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, symbolizes Romeo as the man who society is trying to take away from Taylor Swift. The overall effect of symbolism makes the song more relatable to people in their own lives whenever they experienced a heartache or for some reason couldn’t be together. Furthermore, the theme of the song Love Story reflects the message that Taylor Swift tries to portray to the world. The theme of the song is that anyone can find true love despite any obstacles that try to prevent it. This theme is shown as Romeo’s dad continually says Romeo couldn’t even hangout with Juliet: “Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter And my daddy said "Stay away from Juliet" But you were everything to me, I was begging you, please, don't go.”, yet by the end of the song, Romeo gets his approval from his dad and tells Juliet (Taylor Swift) to go pick out a white dress (also, don’t forget the allusion to the scarlet letter which was a term used to identify people who committed crimes or sins in the 16th century. Lastly, this highly commended song of literary merit utilizes situational irony to twist the plot of the song. Everybody knows that Romeo and Juliet both die to together in a tragic ending, thus it is easy to expect the song to have a similar ending as it alludes strongly to the play, however, they both end up together in the end to form a happy ending. In summary, the use of literary devices in popular culture is extremely prevalent. English language is literally a gateway to the creation of amazing pieces of music. It’s just that we never paid careful attention. It’s everywhere!
ReplyDeleteYou know your an English Lit nerd when you constantly volunteer your extra time to read and edit your friends’s college essays even though you haven’t started yours yet. When editing is rough because they probably are questioning if they still want to be your friend or if you even have a heart since you’re tearing apart their essays rather easily. When trying your best to find and fix all the grammar mistakes, change the word choice, maybe add a splash of AP style, all while giving constructive criticism is a hobby and it’s hard to turn down an opportunity when someone says your favorite six word phrase: “can you edit this for me?” When you want to rant on someone’s instagram post that they used to when it should have been too, there instead of their, women rather than woman, than not then. When you choose to watch the movie before reading the book so that way you can’t be disappointed by how awful the movie is and can only fall in love with the book more. Yet, the opportunities are rare since you probably have read the book months or years before the movie came out. When you are still subscribed to local newspapers even though you can find articles online because journalism is dying and you want to help any media of writing for as long as you can. When you spend an unhealthy amount of time rewriting an Edmodo post, an email, a SignUpGenius, a thank you letter, because you know your writing can always improve. When on the daily you not only over analyze a word choice or sentence in a book, but also the nuances and behaviors of those in your life. When you have memorized your 15+ digit library card number just in case you managed to leave it at home and needed to check out a book. When you write in your individual copies of books often that you have mastered the key for each of your notations chaotically scattered on pages and pages of your novel: <3 means I LOVE THIS, mlg means my life goals, wp means writing prompt, jp means journal prompt, !!! means WHAT THE HELL, etc. When you foolishly decide to write your analysis in the margins only to remember that you need more space; this is why post its are your best friends. When rereading the novel brings back the same emotions, if not than more intense emotions, than before; it’s almost as if you are reading it for the first time all over again. When your journals, photo screenshot album, and walls of your room are filled with quotes, gorgeous sentences, beautiful vocabulary words, writing and journal prompts, etc. Because you know that you are an English Lit nerd when a single moment, element, word, picture, movie, poem, book, or play in an instant can inspire you to dive deeper into life’s meaning, self realization, and more.
ReplyDeleteThe moment I know I am an English Lit nerd is when I’m pissed, because there’s nothing more cathartic than to blast Juice World (Yes, I LOVE sad boy rap, say what you want, but sh*t snaps) in my Sony MDR-XB950N1 studio headphones at a full 16 bars with the bass fully boosted, while hammering away at the fifth page of my impetuous dissertation on how revolutionary the exploration and development of the comma in Victorian age writing was in allowing for the creation of every one of our contemporary civil, human, and minority rights movements. “The gods, they say, give breath, and they take it away. But the same could be said -- could it not? -- of the humble comma.”(Time Magazine) . It was that humble comma who gave breath to the ability of the oppressed to express themselves; they were bestowed with an unalienable right and ability to link, to group and to separate the words, phrases, and clauses of their nuanced experienced in a world that does not seem to acknowledge the legitimacy of their existence. For some odd reason, I’m fascinated by how something so seemingly trivial-something we teach as a basic to skill to primary school students-connects intimately with grandeur and beauty of human progress.
ReplyDeleteSee when I’m imbued with a sense of passion, of anger, of indignation, of sadness, or of any of the plethora emotions that define the human experience, my first instinct is to reach for the nearest piece of literature, a pencil, and some paper (or in the modern sense open Google Docs) and begin to express myself. For me, at it’s visceral level, a love of literature is a love of self-expression, or as Maslow would say, a form of self-actualization.
You know you're an English Lit nerd/aficionado when you think of Barnes and Noble when you hear someone talking about Del Amo Mall. You know you're an English Lit nerd/aficionado when you realize that you just went 9 hours without eating or drinking because you were too engrossed in reading the Song of Ice and Fire series (yes, this happened). You know you're an English Lit nerd/aficionado when you have enough books in your room to reach the top of your ceiling. Though these are only a few examples, there are a myriad of applicable scenarios to my life in regards to being an English Lit nerd. From literally since I’ve been able to read, that’s all I’ve been doing. I plowed through entire series at a time, made my parents take me to the bookstore at least once a week, and had them tell me to stop reading several times because they were worried it’d damage my eyesight (it probably did, to be honest). I touched a video game controller perhaps only once a month when at my cousins’ houses, as I was always more interested in books. Because of my interest in reading, I steadily progressed in my ability to do so, and was reading quite hefty novels at a rather young age, which I definitely think has made me (1) a better student and (2) a more mature human being.
ReplyDeleteThis topic makes me think of a conversation I had yesterday with a faculty member. Though it’s not exactly about the topic per se, you’ll see why I think this is relevant. She was bashing The Giving Tree, a book that many pretty much grew up on, saying that she didn't like how the kid just kept on taking from the tree and did nothing in return until the tree’s eventual death. I immediately countered by telling her that it’s probably a metaphor for a child’s relationship with its parents, and that it’s supposed to be a lesson NOT to do what’s described (also, I didn’t say this, but I really don’t think books need to be LIKED to be appreciated). She accepted my answer, and said she’s never really thought about it that way. The conversation reminded me of what I love about literature and why I love being an English Lit nerd. Literature opens up so many doors of conversation, and it would honestly be rather bland to live in a world without a medium like it to facilitate discussions. I love being able to call upon a vast supply of books I’ve read, and applying those lessons not only to conversations, but my life as well. What I love so much about reading is that books are a universal connection.
You know you're an English Lit nerd/aficionado when you talk about literature in your free time. I talk about novels with my friends all the time, either suggesting new ones or expressing feelings for ones we’ve both read. It spurs interesting discussions that I could never foresee happening otherwise, and it really makes me appreciate how much of a nerd I am (lol). In fact, a friend and I have embarked on a bet to see who can finish Ulysses first, and that’s essentially what I love about literature. I’m able to connect with likeminded people and share a common love for something that has existed for centuries.
In short, I definitely know I am an English Lit nerd because of the innate connection I feel for literature. I absolutely love being a nerd in this sense, and am so glad for all the interesting ways it’s shaped my life.