English Escapades: Week Eleven: I Have No Idea What's Happening Anymore

Hello Internet!
Alright, so I'm clearly not back on my normal posting schedule yet, but I'm getting there! With a bit of luck, my next update will be on time. In other news, essays are making my life extremely chaotic again; let's get on with things so I can get back to studying!

Gender Identities in Medieval Literature: This week, my classmates discussed magic and gender in the middle ages. Almost everyone has heard of the witchhunts that doomed many medieval women, but did you know that some medieval men practiced magic too? Male magicians, or mages, were mostly college dropouts who recorded spells for protecting their wealth and seducing women. They weren't criminalized like witches were, but the church didn't approve of them for fairly obvious reasons. They also, for whatever reason, had an obsession with acquiring horses.

Fantasies of Youth: Fair warning: I am about to make some relatively controversial points. This week, my classmates and I read and analyzed The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. Now, as a child, I was heavily discouraged from reading The Golden Compass due to the rumor that it contained anti-Christian sentiments. Therefore, I went into the book expecting to hate it. I...didn't. Don't get me wrong, I harbor a strong dislike for Philip Pullman; he strikes me as arrogant, hypocritical, and even rather ignorant. However, I enjoyed his story and its characters. In addition, while The Golden Compass is blatantly anti-church, its narrative actually presents a compelling argument for Christianity. And it's worth noting that at some points in history, even the church has been anti-church (that's how Protestantism came about). Overall, what I'm trying to argue is that instead of banning The Golden Compass, Christian families should read the text together and carefully examine how it fits with their faith.

Writing for Children: Fun fact about me: I'm a Type One Diabetic. Additional fun fact about me: for years, I've wanted to write a dystopian novel where children with disabilities are the protagonists. This week, I got to write the first chapter of that novel for in-class workshopping, which was absolutely awesome. I also got to read A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly, which was...interesting. I'll leave it at that.

Advanced Creative Writing Tutorial: So. Last week, my tutor and I were talking about my novel, and we realized that in order for my plot to work, I needed to revise a major worldbuilding detail. This meant that I would basically need to rewrite my entire novel. I'm not going to lie, that realization triggered a minor mental breakdown, and I spent most of my Thursday evening questioning if I even wanted to be a writer. Fortunately, some self-reflection showed me that I truly do want to be an author, even though my path won't be easy. I pulled myself together and came to class this week with a fresh attitude and a character map for my novel. My tutor and I spent the session going over this map and exploring how I can proceed with my novel from here.

As if my classes weren't enough, I decided to also dedicate my Tuesday night to improving my writing. In other words, I attended a workshop on flash fiction, where I learned about a relatively new form of prose and wrote a very brief story based on my experiences working in a cheese plant. All in all, there are worse ways to spend an evening.

On Wednesday, I went back to one of my favorite events in Bath: Jane Austen dancing. As always, I had a wonderful time skipping and twirling across the dance floor. I even managed to stumble through a strange figure-eight maneuver that I learned in the last five minutes of the class, which I consider an accomplishment! I really enjoy regency dancing and I'm hoping to teach it to some friends and family when I get back to the states.

Riverside Walk in Bath (Because even I'm getting bored with all this text)

Thursday night, my friends and I got together to eat pizza and design our characters for our upcoming dnd game. It was an absolute blast, and I look forward to throwing my brand new tiefling bard into battle. That's all there really is to say about that.

Finally, on Friday, my peers and I went on a trip to the Cotswolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near Bath. The first stop of the day was the Broadway Tower, the Cotswolds' highest castle. After downing a tasty glass of hot chocolate to brace myself against the chill, I climbed the steps to the top of the tower. It was insanely windy at the top, but the stunning view was worth it.

Hot Chocolate: The Best Weapon Against the Chill

Broadway Tower

Looking Out from the Peak of the Cotswolds

Once my friends and I had had our fill of the wind, we set off down the trail from the tower to the town of Broadway. Surprisingly, the public path took us straight through several muddy sheep pastures. I can't imagine an American sheep farmer letting strangers wander through his fields, but the practice is evidently quite common in England. In any case, my friends and I made it into Broadway muddy but mostly unscathed. We took a brief walk through the town, then caught the bus to Bourton-on-the-Water, a tiny town where I bought a delicious bacon and cheese pastie for lunch. My friends and I spent a while wandering around the canal that runs through the town, then boarded the bus to our last stop of the day: Chavenage House.

Bourton-on-the-Water

Chavenage House is an Elizabethan manor packed full of quirky history. During my visit there, I saw several rooms where the show Poldark was filmed, an authentic 17th century tapestry, a medieval fireplace with a secret compartment behind it, and a stuffed warthog. I even got to see the room where Oliver Cromwell stayed when he was traveling the country to gain support for beheading King Charles. I also learned that the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty is actually about a cannon that the Royalists accidentally broke during the English Civil War. My visit ended with cream tea, scones, and some playtime with the spaniels that live the manor--which, as you can probably guess, was an excellent experience. In fact, my entire day in the Cotswolds was an excellent experience, and I highly enjoyed it.