Critical reading, creative writing in English

Exercises from a course in 19th century Aesthetic prose.

Aesthetic Prose: a Writing Intensive Course

Exercise One. The Impressionistic Portrait

Using the pieces by Swinburne, Pater and Hardy etc which we looked at in today's class to guide you,
choose a female (or male subject) and describe her/him in an impressionistic style. Your subject can be a
figure in a painting or photograph (in which case provide a copy of the image if you can), or s/he can be
an historical figure or a celebrity (e.g. pop star, soap star, actor, model).

Your description should be one to two typed paragraphs in length and should not exceed one side of A4.
Font should be 12 pt (ie approximately the same as I have used here) and spacing no narrower than in
this document.

Bring your piece to class for next week (Week 2 Monday 1st Oct) prepared to read it aloud. This exercise
will be collected in for informal assessment and can be revised in the light of this for submission in your
portfolio.

You should also include some comments on your response to this exercise in your logbook. What
challenges did it present to you? How did you deal with them and what is your assessment of the final
result?

Exercise Two. Impressionistic Criticism

Using the pieces by Swinburne which we looked at in today's class as a gui.de, choose any writer with
whom you are familiar, and, with reference to a specific work or works by him/her, sum up what seem to
you to be his/her characteristics in one to two paragraphs of impressionistic criticism.

Exercise Three. Impressionistic Autobiography.

With Pater's 'The Child in the House' as a guide and using the third person, write two
paragraphs from your own or someone else's early autobiography. (In the second instance ... this can be
a real or fictional individual.) Describe an incident, impression or group of impressions which had a
formative effect on your own or your chosen subject's
consciousness of life.

Exercise Four.

Write an analysis of the following passage from Pater's Plato and Platonism answering the questions

What seems to you characteristic about this extract of Pater's prose? (You should identify key ideas,
images and stylistic devices).

What for Pater characterises Plato as a philosopher? How does Pater illustrate his argument?

Exercise Five. Oscar Wilde's fairy stories.

Either: write either the opening or a scene from a fairy story of your own making using themes and
stylistic devices which seem to you characteristically Wildean.

Or: write an analysis of the following passage from 'The Young King' identifying themes and stylistic
devices which seem to you characteristically Wildean. You may link this discussion to other of Wilde's
stories if you want to.
Exercise Six. Vernon Lee.

Answer both question 1 and 2.

1. Write a precis (summary) of the plot of' A Wicked Voice' in not more than 150 words.
Include a word count.

2. Either Write a paragraph in the voice of Count Alvise in 'A Wicked Voice' giving your impression of
Magnus.

Or write a paragraph on Vernon Lee's attitude towards the past.

Exercise Seven (Week 8). Beerbohm and Beardsley

Either using the pieces by Beerbohm and Beardsley as a guide, and with reference to the portrayals of
the toilette or levee, write a short scene based around the theme of getting dressed-up or made-up

Or write an examination of the theme of personal adornment in the pieces by Beerbohm and
Beardsley.

Exercise Eight (Week 9). Arthur Symons

Using the piece by Symons on Walter Pater as a guide, write a short evaluation of one of the prose writers
we have studied on this course to date. (You may, if you wish, mention other of the set writers in order to
compare and contrast them with your chosen subject.)

Your description should be one to two typed paragraphs in length and should not exceed one side of A4.
Font should be 12 pt (ie approximately the same as I have used here) and spacing no narrower than in
this document.

Exercise Nine (Week 10). W. B. Yeats

Using the Yeats's 'The Autumn of the Body' as a guide, write a short essay linking some aspect of
creativity with symbolic imagery drawn from one of the four seasons.

© Writing in the Disciplines Project, QMUL 2003