Reading Stanley Fish on Milton or Reading Milton: Which Do You Prefer to Do?

“Perhaps a class in literary theory will not be taught in the future,” I said, to which my colleague replied, “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that. . . .” She believed that theory came between the writer’s work and the reader, interfering with a pure reading. Although the movement to let literature “speak for itself” is growing, undergraduates should learn theory because it opens texts in a variety of ways, it makes students aware of their own cultural approach, and, according to theorist Terry Eagleton, it allows for a “democratic impulse” in the study of literature. Writers of books on theory agree that not only does the study of theory illuminate texts, but it also makes students much more open to their own thought processes. Charles E. Bressler says that “there is no such thing as an ‘innocent’ reading of a text” (xiii), and Eagleton says that “we would not know what a ‘literary work’ was” without some use of theory (x). Still, for many professors, theory is not their first choice in approaching literature. They would prefer reading Milton to reading Fish on Milton. With a well-planned course, literature does not have to be sacrificed on the altar of theoretical criticism. This presentation will concentrate on these elements of a good course in theory

Narrative Authority in Hawthorne\u27s The Ambitious Guest

August 28, 1826, a landslide in the White Mountains of New Hampshire caused the death of the Samuel Willey family when they left their home for a shelter. The slide split to either side of the house, leaving it intact while burying the family in the shelter. Hawthorne published the event as a short story in the New-England Journal, changing many aspects. Taking such liberties suggests that Hawthorne intended to use the account as fodder for his Romantic agenda: to present [the] truth under circumstances... of the writer’s own choosing or creation. A close examination of the text reveals that Hawthorne takes the liberties necessary not only to engage his audience, but also to control their responses. He does so by using a variety of narrative techniques. The most obvious instance of narrative authority in The Ambitious Guest is the intrusiveness of the narrator who begins a paragraph with Let us not suppose. Immediately the narrator has caught the reader as a collaborator in the formation of the story. The reader is also encouraged to participate in interpretation. In The Ambitious Guest, the omniscient narrator encourages the reader to foretell the ending. The most subtle of Hawthorne’s narrative devices, however, is the diegetic shift in which the focus changes from the narrator to the character of the young man, who was not part of the real tragedy. Hawthorne has made him real by shifting from the words of the narrator looking into the young man’s mind to the very words of the young man framing his future. Hawthorne has no need to employ some of his other Romantic techniques, such as the use of the supernatural or paranormal; instead, he masterfully uses narrative techniques that subtly change reality

Social Spaces: Family Secrets, and Today\u27s Students

Southern women writers of literature uncover family secrets of dysfunction, abuse, violence and hierarchical rigidity as seen in the works of Eudora Welty, Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker

Narrative Authority in Hawthorne\u27s The Ambitious Guest

August 28, 1826, a landslide in the White Mountains of New Hampshire caused the death of the Samuel Willey family when they left their home for a shelter. The slide split to either side of the house, leaving it intact while burying the family in the shelter. Hawthorne published the event as a short story in the New-England Journal, changing many aspects. Taking such liberties suggests that Hawthorne intended to use the account as fodder for his Romantic agenda: to present [the] truth under circumstances... of the writer’s own choosing or creation. A close examination of the text reveals that Hawthorne takes the liberties necessary not only to engage his audience, but also to control their responses. He does so by using a variety of narrative techniques. The most obvious instance of narrative authority in The Ambitious Guest is the intrusiveness of the narrator who begins a paragraph with Let us not suppose. Immediately the narrator has caught the reader as a collaborator in the formation of the story. The reader is also encouraged to participate in interpretation. In The Ambitious Guest, the omniscient narrator encourages the reader to foretell the ending. The most subtle of Hawthorne’s narrative devices, however, is the diegetic shift in which the focus changes from the narrator to the character of the young man, who was not part of the real tragedy. Hawthorne has made him real by shifting from the words of the narrator looking into the young man’s mind to the very words of the young man framing his future. Hawthorne has no need to employ some of his other Romantic techniques, such as the use of the supernatural or paranormal; instead, he masterfully uses narrative techniques that subtly change reality

The impact of early stages of COVID-19 on the mental health of autistic adults in the United Kingdom:A longitudinal mixed-methods study

We used mixed methods to learn about the nature and drivers of mental health changes among autistic adults in the United Kingdom during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. In quantitative analyses, we examined the nature and predictors of change in depression, anxiety and stress, prospectively measured in 70 autistic adults at Wave 1 (just before the United Kingdom’s first lockdown) and Wave 2 (10–15 weeks into the United Kingdom’s first lockdown). Retrospective Wave 2 reports of mental health change were also analysed for these 70 participants. For the qualitative analysis, 133 participants (including the 70 from the quantitative analyses) provided reports on their experiences of the pandemic at Wave 2. In quantitative analyses, retrospective reports indicated that participants’ mental health worsened, but prospective data showed a different picture, with overall anxiety and stress scores reducing between Waves 1 and 2. Nevertheless, the mental health impact of the pandemic on autistic adults was variable, with a sizable minority reporting a significant decline in mental health. Qualitative analysis yielded four themes that contributed to mental health changes: (a) adjusting to changes to the social world, (b) living with uncertainty, (c) disruptions to self-regulation, and (d) barriers to fulfilling basic needs. LAY ABSTRACT: During the COVID-19 pandemic, high levels of depression, anxiety and stress have been reported in the general population. However, much less has been reported about the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of autistic people. What we did: In the present study, we investigated how the mental health of autistic adults in the United Kingdom changed during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, 133 participants completed an online survey at two different time points. Of the 133 participants, 70 completed the survey at the first time point just before the onset of the national lockdown. This allowed us to look at changes in their mental health, from before the lockdown to 10 to 15 weeks during lockdown. All participants (133) told us about their experiences of the pandemic. What we found: While many autistic adults told us that their mental health worsened, people’s experience varied. For some autistic adults, aspects of mental health (e.g. anxiety, stress) actually improved. Participants also described social changes that had occurred, at home and in the outside world. They described feelings of uncertainty during the pandemic, and discussed how the pandemic had affected some of their previous coping strategies. Participants also told us about their difficulties in accessing healthcare services and food during the early stages of the pandemic. In our article, we discuss these findings and focus on what needs to change to ensure that autistic people are better supported as the pandemic continues

Symptom recognition and perceived urgency of help-seeking for rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases in the general public: A mixed method approach.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are improved if the disease is treated early. However, treatment is often significantly delayed as a result of delayed help-seeking by patients who fail to recognise its symptoms or the need for rapid medical attention. Two studies were conducted to investigate the role of symptom recognition in help-seeking for the symptoms of RA and compared this with angina and bowel cancer. METHODS: A qualitative interview study with 31 individuals and a survey of 1088 members of the general public (all without RA) were conducted. Both studies used vignettes describing the symptoms of RA, bowel cancer and angina. Participants made causal attributions and rated the perceived seriousness of the symptoms and the urgency with which they would seek medical help if confronted with these symptoms. RESULTS: Only a small proportion of participants in both studies recognised the symptoms of RA, whereas the symptoms of bowel cancer and angina were readily recognised by many participants and considered to be more serious and to require more rapid medical attention (Z values of 14.7 to 34.2, p<.001). CONCLUSION: Accurate symptom attribution and the perception that symptoms are indicative of a serious underlying condition are both important drivers for rapid help-seeking. In the case of angina and bowel cancer, recent campaigns have promoted not only recognition of symptoms and their seriousness, but also emphasised the consequences of not seeking timely help. Our results suggest that these consequences should also be addressed in any public health campaign for RA. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Longitudinal clusters of pain and stiffness in polymyalgia rheumatica: 2-year results from the PMR Cohort study

Objectives. To investigate potential subgroups of primary care diagnosed patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) based on self-reported pain and stiffness severity over time.Methods. 652 people with an incident PMR diagnosis were recruited from English general practices and completed a baseline postal questionnaire. They were followed-up with a further six questionnaires over a two-year period. 446 people completed 2-year follow-up. Pain and stiffness were reported on 0-10 numerical rating scales. Latent class growth analysis was used to estimate the joint trajectories of pain and stiffness overtime. A combination ofstatistical and clinical considerations was used to choose the number of clusters. Characteristics of the classes were described. Results. Five clusters were identified. One cluster represented the profile of ‘classical’ PMR symptoms and one represented sustained symptoms that may not be PMR. The other three clusters displayed a partial recovery, a recovery followed by worsening and a slow, but sustained recovery. Those displaying classical PMR symptoms were in better overall health at diagnosis than the other groups.Conclusions. PMR is a heterogeneous condition, with a number of phenotypes. The spectrum of presentation, as well as varying responses to treatment, may be related to underlying health status at diagnosis. Future research should seek to stratify patients at diagnosis to identify those likely to have a poor recovery and in need of an alternative treatment pathway. Clinicians should be aware of the different experiences of patients and monitor symptoms closely, even where there is initial improvement

What Can Charcoal Reflectance Tell Us About Energy Release in Wildfires and the Properties of Pyrogenic Carbon?

Here, we explore how charcoal formation under different heating regimes and circumstances leads to chars of different physical properties. In order to do this, we have undertaken (1) carefully controlled laboratory experiments that replicate the different heating regimes that might be experienced during a wildfire and (2) two experimental wildfires where heat variations were monitored across the burn from which resulting charcoal has been studied. The charcoal properties were assessed using charcoal reflectance that measures the light reflected back from the charcoals structure and which links to changes in its structural properties. We find that increased total heat released during combustion positively correlates with increased charcoal reflectance and that this is evidenced from both our laboratory experiments and experimental wildfires. Charcoals that related to lower total heat release were found to have more lignin remaining than those subjected to greater heating indicating that charcoals formed in lower energy regimes are likely to be more susceptible to post-fire degradation. We conclude that charcoal reflectance may make a useful metric with which to determine the distribution of energy delivery across a burned area and that this may be utilized to inform both variations in fire severity and enable the prediction of long-term C budgeting for different types of wildfire

Living on a flammable planet: interdisciplinary, cross-scalar and varied cultural lessons, prospects and challenges: Table 1.

Living with fire is a challenge for human communities because they are influenced by socio-economic, political, ecological and climatic processes at various spatial and temporal scales. Over the course of 2 days, the authors discussed how communities could live with fire challenges at local, national and transnational scales. Exploiting our diverse, international and interdisciplinary expertise, we outline generalizable properties of fire-adaptive communities in varied settings where cultural knowledge of fire is rich and diverse. At the national scale, we discussed policy and management challenges for countries that have diminishing fire knowledge, but for whom global climate change will bring new fire problems. Finally, we assessed major fire challenges that transcend national political boundaries, including the health burden of smoke plumes and the climate consequences of wildfires. It is clear that to best address the broad range of fire problems, a holistic wildfire scholarship must develop common agreement in working terms and build across disciplines. We must also communicate our understanding of fire and its importance to the media, politicians and the general public. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’