I left for Bildungsroman class in a pretty good mood because I felt confident I could finish the paper without a big panic by this evening.
William gave the first presentation. He asked if Dickens is making a statement that people are born good or bad traits or if they are molded by circumstances.
The focus was on the differences and similarities between David and Uriah.
I said David progresses quietly like Dickens said of Canada.
Is David like Uriah?
I said David acts humble while Uriah says he's humble but Uriah comes from a clearly lower position as is evidenced by his accent.
Could David have become like Uriah?
I said David is classist in his portrayal of the extremely poor taking advantage of each other. He does the same thing with the servants and the message seems to be that socially conscious upper class people need to change the economic conditions so the poor will behave better.
Ramanpreet gave the second presentation.
Does Dora asking to be seen as a child wife mean she's formed or does she need to mature?
I said David doesn't want a more mature Dora. He wants Dora to be Agnes.
Professor Jaffe said there is nature versus nurture but there is also influence.
She talked about Sorites paradox, which asks how many pebbles make a heap? Uriah Heep is a heap. Not formed and clammy.
She said, "Props to Christian for asking if Uriah is Jewish." There is a Uriah and David story in the Bible. David saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof and she was very beautiful. Uriah the Hittite was Bathsheba's husband and King David cuckolded him with her. David then tried to cover it up by arranging for Uriah to be killed in battle. Then David married Bathsheba and they had a child.
There is heepiness in the urban description of the dirty river shore when David and Mr. Peggotty are following Martha, the fallen woman.
What is David relative to Uriah in terms of form?
David was born with a caul, which is supposed to be good luck. He does have a fairly lucky life.
I asked why people say that Steerforth seduced Emily. There is no real evidence that he lured her away from Yarmouth. Maybe she seduced him or maybe they just decided to leave together. She wanted to be a lady. He mentioned to David that she could be a lady. Maybe he just wanted to play Pygmalion. I held my hands out to the side and declared that he's a Byronic figure. The professor pointed out my body language and said that I do that as if him being a Byronic figure explains everything. I said he plays by different rules and it's justified in a novel. Oz agreed with me and had a bit of an argument with the professor. She asked how he could agree with me when we are in the age of "Me too!" I think the professor just likes to play devil's advocate to challenge us.
The professor asked the class if anyone would have sex with Ham and nobody raised their hands. Then she asked who would have sex with Steerforth and at least half of us raised our hands, including the professor.
There is homosocial bonding between David and Steerforth.
David reveals more than he knows.
Subjectivity is complicated.
In the end the head person who is writing the autobiography is in the clear.
I stopped at Freshco on the way home to buy bananas.
I weighed 83.2 kilos before lunch at 15:10.
I tried to take a siesta but couldn't sleep. I stayed in bed for an hour to rest.
I weighed 84.2 kilos at 16:45.
Over the next hour I finished my essay while reading it out loud and correcting little parts that stuck out the wrong way.
I boiled a potato and heated gravy and two chicken drumsticks.
I was ready to upload my essay just before dinner, but was blocked from getting onto Quercus because of U of T's new security protocols. I followed the links to get the DUO Mobile app for my phone but discovered that my Motorola is not compatible with the DUO app. I decided to put it off until after dinner because otherwise it would get cold.
I ate while watching the fourth season finale of The Beverly Hillbillies.
Jethro messes around in Granny's love potions and Jed decides that he needs more schooling. He's already got a sixth Grade education but now it's time for college. They go to Drysdale but he and Jane say it's too late in the year to start at a college. However, when Jed suggests finding a college for him back home, since Drysdale doesn't want Jed to take his money out of his bank, he says he'll find him something in Beverly Hills. Because he doesn't think Jethro will ever earn a diploma, Drysdale promises that when he gets one he can be vice president in charge of Jed's money.
Jethro goes looking for a college on his own and walks into a school of business that just happens to be in danger of closing because of lack of funds. It's essentially a school for women who want to become secretaries but when Jethro hands her a wad of money the dean enrols him. Jethro shows up for his first class dressed like someone from a 1930s college movie with a full length raccoon pimp coat and a big letterman sweater and a boater hat, because that's what he saw Buster Crabbe wear. Jethro fumbles every lesson, including answering the phone so the dean decides to get rid of him by graduating him that day. So Drysdale has to keep his promise and make Jethro a vice president. Jethro decides to hire all the girls at the business school, including the dean, as his secretaries.
Meanwhile Elly May is jealous that Jethro gets to go to college and so she enrols in something called a karate school. When she gets there she thinks the teacher is attacking her and so she beats him up and he gives her a black belt.
Dean Frisbey was played by Louise Lorimer, who started her career on Broadway in the 1920s. In the 1930s she gained small supporting roles in movies. During WWII she performed for the troops in the USO. She played Stagecoach Sal in the Hopalong Cassidy TV series. She played George Baxter's mother on the sitcom Hazel.
I tried again to download the phone app but it still wouldn't work. There was security key option and I thought it meant getting a key code but it turns out it's a physical key. I was starting to worry that I wouldn't be able to upload my essay within the deadline. I tried the UofT Help Desk on the chance that it would still be open at 21:30. Luckily they didn't close until 22:00 and so the person was able to help me but it was a complicated process. I had to go onto Zoom and show her my U of T identification card via my webcam. Then she put in a temporary override so I could bypass the security protocols that night. Tomorrow I would have to go down to the Help Desk at the Robarts Library and get the security key. It took a few minutes for the override to kick in and so I was able to upload my essay at around 22:30.
I searched for bedbugs and found none.
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