Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Happy Chrimbus!



Those who follow my Twitter feed, and those who pay attention to the sidebar, already know that for the last few months I've been uploading my podcasts to Mixcloud - my page, with all my uploads, can be found here. I release a new podcast more or less monthly, and I've put the last couple years' of older podcasts up as well.

I just put up a double shot of podcasts dedicated to the best music of 2014 - Party Jams #52 and #53. Those with long-ish memories might recall that I used to post the earliest podcasts on here until I received my first and only Cease & Desist letter, but so far Mixcloud seems to be a safe and legal alternative. In the years since I stopped featuring them here, I've distributed them primarily through e-mail and Twitter - anyone who wants to have access to actual downloads instead of just online streaming can e-mail me to be added to the list.

Et voila!

Friday, December 19, 2014

Final Exam - ENL 3 - Fall 2014



Below are four questions. For your final exam, please answer two of them. Each answer should be 400-500 words long, and will be worth 75 points. You have two hours to finish the exam. When you are finished, please upload your answers to SmartSite. You may leave when you are done. Have a good holiday break!
1. Color symbolism – specifically the juxtaposition of black and white – recurs throughout The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. Cite one instance of Poe’s use of color and explain its significance.

2. Both Pym and At the Mountains of Madness end ambiguously – we don’t know what Pym and Dirk Peters experience after the abrupt end of the novel, and we never learn exactly what Danforth sees after their final escape from the hidden city. Why is this ambiguity significant to the effectiveness of horror stories?

3. Both Poe and Lovecraft make extensive use of mythological imagery – in Poe’s case, through many references to real-world myths and religion, and in Lovecraft’s, through the elaboration of an intricate and original myth system. How is the use of myth significant in either of these stories?

4. Explain the relationship between At the Mountains of Madness and the idea of scientific progress.


Extra Credit
10 Points


Imagine for a moment that Edmund Burke finds himself magically alive and well in the year 2014. After watching “Too Many Cooks” he decides to write a new chapter of A Philosophical Inquiry, explaining the significance of this viral video to our understanding of the sublime. What is his argument?