So I am writing all these after my classes are finished, I am in my dorm, typing on the computer, trying to give as much details as I can manage, and I can first tell you that the courses are literally to my heart's desire!
First, in literature, we were told that we ate going to learn about Shakespeare's comedy: Much ago about Nothing since we are going to College, which is one nearby St. Clare's, to watch the show. Just the thought of that gave me shivers of excitement! We first were given most of the characters of the play, along with one of the many lines they have said, and in groups, we have to try figure out what happened and the relationships between people and people. It was really challenging, and actually... we didn't manage to get anything aside from the fact that there was a guy called Claudio and he was in love with a woman called Hero, and that there was this... Don John, who is just determined to ruin everything.
Then in English class, we were taught about the rhetorical devices. We had classes like this in 120, and that is one of the advantages I hold here. We were taught about how important the rhetorical devices are, about how they give a good impression on the readers or listeners and how crucial it is to utilize them and how much they benefit you. The devices, according to our teacher Alex (we also had an Alex as our teacher back in 120!), was invented during the Greek and Roman times. At the particular era, it wasn't easy to make your thought or your beliefs spread wide since there were no radios, no TV, no internet (pretty obviously) so the public speeches had to be even memorable, even more persuasive, and even more rhythmic, and therefore the invention of the rhetorical devices like similes, metaphors, rhyming, alliteration, repetition, opposites, etc.
There are also some of which I had just learned:
Tricolon: It is basically the rule of three, by using everything in three
Captatio benevolentiae: to be persuasive by being modest
Polysyndeton: using two "ands" instead of commas to add rhythm to the spoken texts
Allusion: By quoting others to create a sense of deja vu, or familiarity
And there are a lot more, but I explain them all, it would be more like an English lesson than a journal! Then we got a small part of the script of Much ado about Nothing, just to see if we can spot any of the rhetorical devices, and there were a lot of them! No wonder Shakespeare's plays can be passed on for ages! Now I am so looking forward to the show for tomorrow.
During the free time, I trekked (on a bus. Ouch) again to the center of Oxford, determined to catch the Oxfam second-hand bookshop. Well... If I have to compare it with the Rare Books section of the Blackwell Bookshop, it is not that impressive, with the small number of books it holds, but one thing was notable, the thick scent of old books were unmistakable... Exquisite smell it was.
Next to the Oxfam Bookshop was an antique store with a lot of marvelous stuff inside, with hard back books, hardback notebooks, compasses, book holders, fountain pens, seal wax and stamps, masks, etc. they were amazing, but devastatingly expensive, I could only drool and do some window shopping...
I also went to the Boodleian Library Giftshop, where I was struggling about buying more bookmarks and souvenirs because there were things like these:
Unlike yesterday, I set off for the way back to dorm earlier than yesterday since I wanted to catch dinner.
Our camps also have excursions. They are like larger activities, and every week, we can choose to go to one excursion for free, and you can pay extra money if you want to have more far trips. For example, on Thursday, there will be a Mama Mia Musical (hey isn't this alliteration); a trip to Stratford, the birthplace of Shakespeare, and a trip to the Thorpe Amusement Park on Saturday. Today, I went to the activities office, planning to sign myself in the Stratford and Thorpe Park (I wanted to go to both; actually, I also wanted to attend Mama Mia, but it would be too expensive, paying for two excursions. So hard to make a choice...) But I got informed that the trip to Stratford was full already, so I signed up for both Mama Mia and Thorpe Park. They are going to be awesome and I knew it!
Something about my class: Since in St. Clare's, a lot of people come in large groups (unlike me), a lot of people are from Argentina or Italy, and when they were talking in Spanish or Italian, I would have trouble understanding them because OF COURSE I WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND! And also as much as I know, there are no students whose native tongue was Chinese except me, so in school there was no one with whom I can speak Chinese. It was nice and bad at the same time because sometimes I feel left out and lonely but it also meant that I will have less chance to dive into Chinese mode! In spite of the language barriers, my classmates are all nice, and they called my name and greeted me when seeing me, and I just get guilty when I couldn't remember their names!
Much ado about Nothing on tomorrow, and I can't wait!
Some of the more pictures I took during the walking tour:
This is all for today.
07/04/2017
During the free time, I trekked (on a bus. Ouch) again to the center of Oxford, determined to catch the Oxfam second-hand bookshop. Well... If I have to compare it with the Rare Books section of the Blackwell Bookshop, it is not that impressive, with the small number of books it holds, but one thing was notable, the thick scent of old books were unmistakable... Exquisite smell it was.
Next to the Oxfam Bookshop was an antique store with a lot of marvelous stuff inside, with hard back books, hardback notebooks, compasses, book holders, fountain pens, seal wax and stamps, masks, etc. they were amazing, but devastatingly expensive, I could only drool and do some window shopping...
 |
| You have to read the declaration before you enter the Boodleian Library. It is fascinating. |
Unlike yesterday, I set off for the way back to dorm earlier than yesterday since I wanted to catch dinner.
Our camps also have excursions. They are like larger activities, and every week, we can choose to go to one excursion for free, and you can pay extra money if you want to have more far trips. For example, on Thursday, there will be a Mama Mia Musical (hey isn't this alliteration); a trip to Stratford, the birthplace of Shakespeare, and a trip to the Thorpe Amusement Park on Saturday. Today, I went to the activities office, planning to sign myself in the Stratford and Thorpe Park (I wanted to go to both; actually, I also wanted to attend Mama Mia, but it would be too expensive, paying for two excursions. So hard to make a choice...) But I got informed that the trip to Stratford was full already, so I signed up for both Mama Mia and Thorpe Park. They are going to be awesome and I knew it!
Something about my class: Since in St. Clare's, a lot of people come in large groups (unlike me), a lot of people are from Argentina or Italy, and when they were talking in Spanish or Italian, I would have trouble understanding them because OF COURSE I WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND! And also as much as I know, there are no students whose native tongue was Chinese except me, so in school there was no one with whom I can speak Chinese. It was nice and bad at the same time because sometimes I feel left out and lonely but it also meant that I will have less chance to dive into Chinese mode! In spite of the language barriers, my classmates are all nice, and they called my name and greeted me when seeing me, and I just get guilty when I couldn't remember their names!
Much ado about Nothing on tomorrow, and I can't wait!
Some of the more pictures I took during the walking tour:
07/04/2017
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