“What are men to rocks and mountains?” originally spoken by Mary Bennett in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice I’ve always interpreted this in a rather Romantic way. No, not as in lovey-dovey let’s grow old together romanticism of the 21st century, but 19th century Romanticism where idealism and nature reigned supreme and people really did look at the world around them in terms of simplicity and beauty as opposed to what they can use it for. Of course that was before industrialism stripped the world into a barren wasteland and though technology and progress certainly make life easier, I’m not entirely sure it has made our world better. But I digress.
On one level, Mary (and then in the adaptation, Elizabeth’s) spoken question is literally pointing out freedoms associated with natural beauty–anticipating Elizabeth’s upcoming trip to the lake district and the escape from the soul crushing societal expectations. On another it embodies the theme of most Romantics–the search for individual freedoms and happiness among a society that places pressure on each person to maintain a certain amount of social balance. What I find interesting is the equivocating nature of the question: comparing “men” to “nature”. Men could, in fact, just refer to Elizabeth (and all the sisters’) search for ‘suitable’ husbands to save them from social ostracisim, yet “men” embodies so much more, especially in the 19th century before feminism took political correctness to a whole new level. Reaching beyond just the surface, “men” could also be “society” or “humankind”.
What is society compared to nature?
Psalm 8 cries out in verse 3 “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”
Humankind and nature have always been intertwined, and whether you want to admit it or not, nature holds a power over humankind that we cannot (and maybe should not) tame. Verse 5 continues “You made him little lower than the heavenly beings, and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hand”. It’s a matter of order, not a matter of control.
Mark 11: 23 says, “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”
Read those pronouns. “Yourself”, the mountain is a part of the action. “Done for them”, man didn’t do it–their faith in the One with more power than they did. Humankind isn’t in control.
Just as a ruler who respects his people will have a more effective reign, humankind must respect our role in creation. Throwing mountains into oceans for no reason isn’t respectful to anyone. We are not gods. We are not masters. We are not in control. We are only a part of the whole. And we are all created to do the same thing: praise the one who created us.
Questions to ponder:
How is humankind and nature intertwined?
Do I have any bad habits that need correcting to make me a better part of God’s creation?
View from UCSC campus (no, that’s not a weird haze…that’s the ocean out there! The Pacific–yes, as an Atlantic girl I had to clarify)
The NEH grant I received is a terrific opportunity not only for professional growth but for personal growth as well. For those of you who are unaware of what NEH opportunities for summer enrichment are, you should check it out at http://www.neh.gov/divisions/education/summer-programs. As a nationally funded program, NEH grants are always in danger of being cut, but there are many reasons why summer enrichment and educational opportunities are so important for teachers, especially at the K-12 level. I won’t get on my soapbox about this; I could talk for hours. What I will do is share some of our discussions and my experiences so that you can see for yourself that I’m not just on vacation in Santa Cruz.
The program I was accepted to be a part of is entitled Great Adaptations: Dickens in Literature and Film (See the program website here https://sites.google.com/site/nehdickens2014/). Before arriving in Santa Cruz it was expected that all participants (16) have the 2 primary texts read: Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol, both Dickens novels are what we refer to as the originary texts. Over the course of the next 4 weeks we will be discussing not only the core texts, but their evolutionary process in how they are adapted culturally, historically and contextually all of which will culminate in a final project which we will submit to our seminar director by September. By collaborating with a diverse group of teachers from across the nation I am able to compare ideas, incorporate strategies and brainstorm critical thinking strategies that not only help me reach my students, but also help me dig inside myself to become a better more focused educator, rejuvenated in the fall (which is vital in a profession that is under a constant barrage of internal and external negative energy).
Upon arrival I settled into my house. I am lucky enough to be staying off campus. At first I was nervous about being isolated from other seminar participants, but then I realized how fortunate I was because I have two unique roommates broadening my experience as a whole. Maggie is my landlord and she is a writing professor at a local college in Santa Cruz and Jennifer is a junior as UCSC. Jennifer has unique insight into what it is like to be a college student on this campus and has given me lots of advice on how/where/when to go places around town and the campus. She is working on campus this summer with a group of middle school students, girls, who the engineering program has designed a camp to intrigue and attract a more diverse range of applicants to their program. I look forward to more discussions with her and Maggie as the summer progresses as they are both separate from my program they give me a break from the academia and keep me firmly grounded in the “real world” of the here and now.
Back porch of where I’m staying. BEAUTIFUL and perfect for reading and writing. Calm and peaceful and sunny (believe me–I need it; it’s not exactly hot here!)
The house I’m living in is surrounded by walking trails that are beautiful. There is a pond behind the house that is very low right now because the area is in the third year of a summer drought. This places a strain on the local ecosystem (which is filled with wildlife! I cannot even count how many deer I have seen on campus and they let you get so close it is a little frightening. And don’t get me started about the Mountain Lion signs all around the place and “what to do if you see a ML”. My favorite part is that it ends with: “And people have successfully fought off mountain lions with their bare hands.” As our tour guide said today (who kind of looked like Zach Morris, I’m not going to lie), it’s only a little comforting to know that I can punch a mountain lion in the face and hopefully win…um…yeah…FORTUNATELY that seems to be unlikely. SO we’re going to go with no mountain lion sightings this trip.
The campus itself has, in addition to the wildlife, given be a broader appreciation for local produce and farming. This campus has a sustainable farm and only about 50% of the land is used so that it can sustain much of its own produce. I wish that more places could be like that. Each week the campus sets up a farmers market at the base of campus to benefit the interns and farm and about 23% of the campus dining is supplied by the on campus farm and agricultural school. I find that to be amazing, not only because they choose to do it, but also in extreme whether challenges, such as draught conditions, they still make it work. Commitment is key.
No zoom. I was this close to the doe and fawn. Actually we were closer, it just took us this long to react and pull out the cameras. Crazy amount of deer.
Which brings me back to our coursework. Being committed to our study here is vital which is why I am so excited to be here to learn. One of the things we discussed today was the concept of adaptation. There are many ways to adapt a work: From x to y, of x for y, of x through y, of x beyond y. Each of these are done for different purposes and different audiences, different contexts and different cultures. When we begin our discussion of the adaptations, we have to keep all of that contextual information in mind not only when discussing the originary, but also the adaption and how that helps us with shifting perspective. Often when we look at adaptations in a class we ask our students to compare and contrast which leads them to only one conclusion: one is better than the other; they’re alike but they’re different. That is not the type of critical thinking we really want from our students. We don’t just want them to compare and contrast we want them to look at the purpose behind the choices authors, directors, and creators make when adapting a work for those different ideas. That’s where the deep thinking occurs.
This reminds me of what a student said to me earlier this year: “Ms. Carmichael, you’ve completely ruined movies for me.” “Oh?” I responded. “Yes, I can’t just watch anything anymore. I’m always looking for meaning.” I laughed and said, “Then I’m doing my job!” I want students to look at more things this way, not just movies but every text they read they need to look for intention. If we had more people in our world thinking critically on a regular basis, decisions would be a lot wiser.
Which is the point of the seminar. I love that we will be looking at just that. Here are a list of questions the participants posed for the rest of our discussions over the four weeks and I look forward to hearing what will be said and discussed:
1) How does the idea of authorship work as an obstacle to adaptation? (intentionality and ownership)
2) How might we begin with the adaptation before the orginary text?
3) Why are we afraid of “losing the text”?
4) How can the multiple versions coexist?
5) Do we even read the orginary text? (adaptation in lieu of rather than in conjunction with)
6) How does success of an adaptation or desire to produce, adapt and reflect cultural values?
7) What are we wanting to give our students? (cultural skills)
8) What are we teaching alongside these texts—how does curriculum fit together?
9) How can we engage students in a conversation about adaptation?
10) Why do we feel we must choose the “best” adaptation?
As I continue with this program, I am excited to learn not only from my colleagues and roommates but also, hopefully, from others too. This is a broad topic and one that applies not only to literature of Dickens but to the culture at large especially to the writing culture. As a writer I see the value in adaptation, not only studying and reading adaptations but even to a degree incorporating it in your own work sometimes which is why people write books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or Emma, Mr. Knightly and Chili-Slaw Dogs. We truly do live in the ‘culture of the copy’ as Hillel Schwartz says. But is that such a bad thing?
SO many redwoods. It is SO beautiful almost everywhere I walk.
Encouraging restoration, healing, and expression through writing.
