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How Literature Plays with the Brain is the first book to use the resources of neuroscience and phenomenology to analyze aesthetic experience. For the neuroscientific community, the study suggests that different areas of research—the neurobiology of vision and reading, the brain-body interactions underlying emotions—may be connected to a variety of aesthetic and literary phenomena. For critics and students of literature, the study engages fundamental questions within the humanities: What is aesthetic experience? What happens when we read a literary work? How does the interpretation of literature relate to other ways of knowing? |
"An original interdisciplinary study positioned at the intersection of literary theory and neuroscience." -- Johns Hopkins University Press |
"Armstrong’s book is a testament to the value of the arts and the humanities since their processes and productions generate ideas that are literally the physical (neurobiological) stuff of which we are made." --Gregory F. Tague, SEBL Journal |
"Armstrong explores the ways that neuroscience and literary theory can be mutually illuminating about the processes of reading and about the aesthetics of literary response. He makes explicit some of the most vital, yet heretofore overlooked, connections between the aims of literary criticism and cognitive neuroscience. There are wonderful insights in How Literature Plays with the Brain, and it is clearly the work of a strong critic who is well educated on both sides of the science-humanities divide." -- G. Gabrielle Starr, New York University |
ISBN: 978-1421410029 |
Tour and News |
Van Cynical Mailbag: Proposing a Father-Son National Championship, your questions answered |
What I learned from watching last weekend's televised Silly Season father-son tournament for golf's big names is something I already knew from when my son, an aspiring mini-tour player, got turned down for sponsor's exemptions for PGA Tour and tournaments in favor of, say, the sons or grandsons of famous pro golfers. |
"Dad," Mike Van Sickle joked, "you should've won a major." |
Yeah, that's on me. My bad. |
At least, I think he was joking. |
Stewart and Connor Cink won the Father-Son Challenge. It's a TV show because it's filled with big-name golfers. The requirement for getting in the field, as my son outlined, is having won a major. There were 20 teams in the event, featuring 12 Hall of Fame golfing greats. More power to them. What airs is what TV can sell. But that event begs a question, doesn't it? Who really is the best father-son golfing combo in America? Or the world? |
Forget this Silly Season show. Why not have a real, honest-to-goodness father-son (or daughter) championship open to anyone, pro or amateur, to settle the issue? There are probably plenty of PGA Tour players who haven't won majors who could team up with their sons and kick the behinds of these Father-Son Challenge entrants (some of whom qualify as ceremonial golfers, let's be honest). There may be top-notch amateurs who could compete with their sons or fathers, too. |
There are some existing parent-child tournaments but none is even close to a true national event. Cleveland Golf and Golf Magazine sponsored one early last year, but it was limited to a small field and was more of a travel event (Spanish Bay and Pebble Beach were part of the tournament rotation) than a serious tournament. Several travel companies host similar outings as a way to sell you a big-ticket trip, and several golf associations and PGA sections also hold local or regional father-son tourneys. There is no granddaddy of father-son golf events, however. |
The USGA last year announced that it was discontinuing its obsolete public links championship and adding a two-man team championship in its place. A parent-child national championship is one glaring thing missing from the USGA's championship menu. It wouldn't be that difficult to set up eight qualifying sites around the U.S. to determine half the field. The other half could be invitees, current or former PGA Tour players who would be deemed to have the appropriate pedigree by a panel of tournament chairmen. The qualifiers join the exempt teams for 36 holes, the field is cut to the low 16 teams, and then they play 36 more holes. |
The winning team then could brag that yes, they are the best parent-child duo in the country. They'd be national champs. Maybe the Cink guys would win that, too. I know they'd have a lot of fun trying. So would all the potential challengers. All we need is a family-oriented sponsor with deep pockets and we've got a national championship, a purse and a TV deal. You could have the final 36 holes conclude on a Monday and a Tuesday so Golf Channel, which has no live golf to show those days, might be enticed. I can already see the promo spot in which a scowling Gary Nicklaus, standing just in front of Jack Nicklaus, tells Daniel Trevino, standing just in front of Lee Trevino, "My daddy can beat your daddy!" |
Yeah, I'd watch that telecast. It wouldn't have to be shown during the Silly Season. There wouldn't be anything silly about it. Just real dads, real sons and real golf -- sounds like a good time. |
The following questions were just extracted from the Van Cynical Mailbag with a very powerful winch. Thanks for writing: |
Van Cynical, How much would golf balls, clubs and bags cost if they weren't given to professionals all over the world? -- Mike@mander4us via Twitter |
Should I add, "he said bitterly" to the end of your question? A valid point, Mike, but you know how retailing works. Once they establish their margin, they're not going back. Plus, American buyers have been brainwashed to believe that the more expensive an item is, the better and more desirable it is. We're a bunch of suckers. And what's the actual production cost of a $4 golf ball? I don't know but I'll guess 15 cents. |
Van Sickle, With no status to start the 2013 season, can Jordan Spieth win back-to-back Rookie of the Year Awards ala Steve Stricker's back-to-back Comeback Player of the Year Awards? -- Jim Hopkins via Twitter |
I can see starting the 2014 season during the 2013 calendar year has messed with your head, Hoppy. There's a certain perverse logic that I almost understand. And that scares me. I think what you're really asking is, Can Jordan Spieth travel back in time and prevent himself from inventing a time machine? The answer to both of those questions is, No. |
Vans, With the men's and women's U.S. Open on the same course (Pinehurst No. 2) in consecutive weeks this summer, how long before we see a real co-sanctioned PGA, LPGA and Champions tour event? -- HappyGolfPug via Twitter |
If you're talking Silly Season stuff, we've already had the glorious history of the live-on-tape-from-a-month-ago Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge. If you mean a real co-sanctioned actual honest-to-gosh tournament that pits men, women and seniors against each other rather than as teammates, the answer is never. The PGA Tour isn't going to cut the gals and old guys in on a piece of its much-much-much bigger action. You'll see a merger between the American and European tours to create a super-tour, or cats and dogs living together, to quote Dr. Peter Venkman from "Ghostbusters," before you see your suggestion. |
Van Cynical, How does the tour work around the independent-contractor thing as many top players cut back their schedules? Will it end up leading to a reduced tournament schedule or a tiered system where we don't care about most tournaments? -- Brian Rosenwald via Twitter |
Eventually, it probably will lead to one of the options you mention, B.R. For now, the PGA Tour has strategically spread out its "bigger" events, effectively forcing the game's best players to play every so often and give the appearance of unilaterally strong fields. You've got the World Match Play at the end of the West Coast Swing, the World Golf Championship event at Doral during the Florida swing in March, the Players in May, and major championships in April, June, July and August. September catches the finish of the FedEx Cup series. So there's pretty much at least one big-deal tournament from February through September, and that gets us to football season. Mission accomplished, sort of. |
Vans, I'm a week late on this but how do they determine which 16 players tee it up in Tiger's World Challenge event? Did Phil decline an invite? -- MLE via Twitter |
If you thought the formula was that Tiger invites 15 guys he's pretty sure he can beat, you're wrong. The 11 highest-ranked players who accept invites tee it up. Five sponsor's exemptions are also awarded, including one to Tiger, of course, and one to the defending champ. My invite once again got lost in the mail. Dang. |
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At what age would you expect a child to be asked to learn this off by heart? |
(97 Posts) |
Greythorne Sun 02-Dec-12 11:07:26 |
...and be asked to recite it in front of the class? |
The Hare and the Tortoise |
Rushing is useless; one has to leave on time. To such |
Truth witness is given by the Tortoise and the Hare. |
"Let’s make a bet," the former once said, "that you won’t touch |
That line as soon as I." "As soon? Are you all there, |
Neighbor?" said the rapid beast. |
"You need a purge: four grains at least |
Of hellebore, you’re now so far gone." |
"All there or not, the bet’s still on." |
So it was done; the wagers of the two |
Were placed at the finish, in view. |
It doesn’t matter what was down at stake, |
Nor who was the judge that they got. |
Our Hare had, at most, four steps or so to take. |
I mean the kind he takes when, on the verge of being caught, |
He outruns dogs sent to the calends for their pains, |
Making them run all over the plains. |
Having, I say, time to spare, sleep, browse around, |
Listen to where the wind was bound, |
He let the Tortoise leave the starting place |
In stately steps, wide-spaced. |
Straining, she commenced the race: |
Going slow was how she made haste. |
He, meanwhile, thought such a win derogatory, |
Judged the bet to be devoid of glory, |
Believed his honor was all based |
On leaving late. He browsed, lolled like a king, |
Amused himself with everything |
But the bet. When at last he took a look, |
Saw that she’d almost arrived at the end of the course, |
He shot off like a bolt. But all of the leaps he took |
Were in vain; the Tortoise was first perforce. |
"Well, now!" she cried out to him. "Was I wrong? |
What good is all your speed to you? |
The winner is me! And how would you do |
If you also carried a house along?" |
Greythorne Sun 02-Dec-12 19:14:52 |
We have spent quite a bit of today on this. 3 bursts of 10 mins, trying to get the first 4 lines learnt. |
DD is not impressed. |
pointythings Sun 02-Dec-12 19:18:51 |
Well, DD1 did the whole of 'The Night Before Christmas' when she was not quite 5. She was still at nursery then (I deferred entry to primary until the term she turned 5 due to childcare reasons). She did fine. |
But this poem is several levels above, and most of all DD was doing her bit because she wanted to perform. |
I think there is an enormous difference between learning essential grammar by rote and learning endless swathes of text. I learned French and German this way, and if you add in a fundamental understanding of how a language works (knowing what verbs, adverbs, adjectives, clauses etc. are) plus punctuation, you're actually equipped to learn pretty much any language. It certainly enabled me to learn Arabic in my 20s. |
Learning poetry off by heart on the heart hand strikes me as mostly useless - OK, it trains memory, but that's about it. It certainly doesn't train anyone to appreciate the beauty of poetry - they could do that just as well by studying a poem, understanding it, and then reading it out loud - with the understanding adding expression. |
I am very glad my DDs are not in the French system, I would not be happy about this and I'd be just as stuck with it as the OP is. |
lljkk Sun 02-Dec-12 19:53:24 |
I would be impressed if 11yo DD could memorise that poem. |
I'd faint with shock if my 8yo could learn it all. |
Greythorne Sun 02-Dec-12 20:01:09 |
My French DH keeps saying to me, "it doesn't matter if she doesn't understand it, she just has to learn to say it" which makes me feel worse, not better. |
DeWe Sun 02-Dec-12 20:05:24 |
Yes, OP, I agree about the language, I hadn't thought of it that way. |
They'll learn it phonetically without any knowledge of the meaning, which seems pointless. |
CecilyP Sun 02-Dec-12 20:10:49 |
In your translation, I would say that it is full of vocabulary that I wouldn't expect a 5 year old to know - I mean, who takes a 'purge' in this day and age? So if it is similar in French, I would expect it to be very hard to learn - and that is without even considering the length of the piece. |
NonnoMum Sun 02-Dec-12 20:17:50 |
Yup - French system seems crap to me... |
CecilyP Sun 02-Dec-12 20:19:46 |
OP, what would happen if you refused? |
Rosa Sun 02-Dec-12 20:33:09 |
Mine is in year 1 But in Italy so 6/7. . They have short poetry /ryhmes. But. O way anything like this. I would also prefer my child to understand what they are learning. |
Greythorne Sun 02-Dec-12 21:17:42 |
Rosa - how do they learn verb conjugation in Italy? |
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