I found the discussion in class today quite interesting. I was especially captivated by people's opinions with regards to journals and diaries. Yes, I do think that a specific personality type keeps journals and/or diaries. It's definitely not the kind of thing that appeals to everyone.

Lucy Maud Montgomery was an avid diary writer, and I recall reading somewhere that she had once commented (please excuse my paraphrasing) "It is truly the lonely who keep diaries".

I could sort of relate with this statement because I kept a journal throughout most of my teen years. I was always very withdrawn, introverted and reclusive in my youth, and I never spoke (I still remain a very quiet person). I always felt that spoken words, for me anyway, were very clumsy and awkward, and I could express myself much better with a pen than I ever could with speech. To this day I feel much more comfortable expressing myself through writing than I ever would through the spoken word. Journal keeping was part of an interior landscape that I loved to escape to.

Anyway, I do think that those who do write journals are not only wanting to record events in their day to day lives, but they also may be seeking refuge within the safe pages of a diary. I think for many journal writers, their journals serve as a welcome confidante, someone who will listen unconditionally and accept without prejudice.

Hume's "My Own Life" was rather interesting to me. I know that I am not the only one who feels this way, but I find people's life stories very interesting. I guess maybe this would explain the huge popularity of shows like "Biography". Every life has a story indeed.

What caught my attention about this piece was the numerous obstacles that he faced in his publishing career. Things got off to a bumpy start, yet he persisted and ended up being very successful. As he put it, "I was ever more disposed to see the favourable than unfavourable side of things". I think that is an essential quality for anyone seeking success in any field.

I found it interesting that even way back then, sales figures were important to artists. The uncomfortable relationship between art and commerce was even an issue in the early days. Plus, I was also intrigued by the fact that whenever you release any form of art into the public, it is inevitable that you will have just as many detractors as supporters. I liked Hume's statement "I was now callous against the impressions of public folly". You really can't please them all.

Wow. I just read Wilmot's "Imperfect Enjoyment". Quite an eye opener. I found his use of language quite guttural, and even offensive at times. He speaks of sex in a very cold, mechanical way which I find unpleasant. In fact, at times I laughed openly as I read this piece, not because I found it funny, but because I found some of the lines reminded me of something you would hear on a Saturday Night Live skit. For example, "the All-dissolving Thunderbolt below". Please! Freud would have a field day with this poem. I think Wilmot thought way too highly of himself.

There was also an animalistic slant to this which I found a bit disturbing. Especially where he draws a parallel between women and "Hogs on gates". Very crude.

I was very moved by Aphra Behn's "Epitaph on the Tombstone of a Child". I just found the language of the poem so human and emotionally bare. It reminded me of a time a few years ago when I visited a cemetery in St. John's, Newfoundland. In one corner of the cemetery was a section of child graves, and it was all I could do to not start crying. It was one of the saddest, most empty feelings I've ever experienced.

I was especially moved by the final line of the poem: "spread their gay wings before the Throne, and smile". This line seemed to convey the persistance of childhood wonder, in spite of death.

I found "The Virgin" by Katherine Philips very interesting for a variety of reasons. Although I would say that the expectations of women were much more severe at that time, the one thought that kept recurring to me while I read this is how people in modern society are still faced with a number of expectations. In some ways, it seems things haven't changed that much.

I do find that there are still a number of societal norms that we are expected to follow, otherwise we are deemed "strange", "fringe", or "outcasts". Society dictates that we leave home by a certain age, get married by a certain age, have children by a certain age and have a mortgage by a certain deadline. I do believe that the expectations of women in "The Virgin" (read: proper, "nice" women) still carries over to this day, if only in a slightly different form.

I had a conversation with a female friend of mine a few years ago, and we discussed the fact that it was sad that both of us knew a number of young women who felt obligated to suppress their intellect. Many of them felt that if they appeared too intelligent, it would scare off men threatened by their intelligence. Sad, but true. Again, I find it interesting that not much has changed since the writing of "The Virgin".

I am anxious to read "Gulliver's Travels". It is one of those classics that has slipped by me over the years, one that I've wanted to read since my childhood but I never got around to it.

Does anyone else recall a made-for-TV movie adaptation of this book that was released sometime around the mid-90s? I believe it starred Ted Danson, and I recall it being a rather bizarre film.