Treatment for the Final Paper

I became interested in John Lennon's association with portmanteau and neologism after reading that he was very much influenced by James Joyce, Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll and Ronald Searle. I am looking to write my paper on the influence of these writers on John Lennon's two major works of fiction, "A Spaniard in the Works" and "In His Own Write," and how they should also be considered works of children's literature. I will also be researching his music and illustrations and how they also contribute to his "unique" style of writing children's literature.

Wonsaponatime- Lennon's Neologism

"I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?" - John Lennon of the Beatles

As a Lennon afficianado, I knew he was extreamly influenced by the fairy tales and nursery rhymes he grew up listening to and reading. One of his recent collections was a compilation of his previously unreleased studio recordings entitled "Wonsaponatime." The title was a part of a new language Lennon created while he was writing his two books, "In His Own Write" and "A Spaniard in the Works." In 1968, Lennon and Producer/Actor Victor Spinetti compiled his works and adapted them for "The John Lennon Play: In His Own Write" I found this extreamly insightful interview with Lennon and Spinetti that explains Lennon's influences for his unique style of writing.

Interviewer: There’s another thing about this boy [in the play] and that is - he won’t talk plain English. He invents his own language. Which is what you did when your books started coming out.

John: Well yeah, that was just a hangover from School, I used to make the lads laugh, with that scene, talking like that, and writing poetry - I used to write them and just give them to friends to laugh at, and that was the end of it. So when they all go down in a book, when it turns into a book or a play etc. etc. It’s just my style of humour.

Interviewer: Instead of saying, for example as I was going to, say “forsample”.

Victor: “Forsample”! yes, and “He was ASTOUNDAGHAST”!

John: Well, some of them ‘cus I was never any good at spelling, all me life, I never quite got the idea of spelling. English and writing, fine, but actually spelling the words. And also, I typed a lot of the book, and I can only do it very slowly with a finger, so the stories would be very short ‘cus I couldn’t be bothered going on. And also I’d spell it as you say it like Latin really, or just try and do it the simplest way to get it over with, ‘cus all I’m trying to do is tell a story, and what the words is spelt like is irrelevant really. But if they make you laugh because the word used to be spelt like that, that’s great. But the thing is - the story and the sound of the word.

Interviewer: A lot of people wrote about your book and said “Oh James Joyce, Edward Lear” and so on, what did you think when they said that?

John: Well, when they said James Joyce I hadn’t, I must of come across him at school but we hadn’t done him like I remember doing Shakespeare and I remember doing so and so. I remember doing Chaucer a bit, or somebody like him doing funny words, but I don’t remember Joyce. The first thing they say “Oh he’s read James Joyce”, so I hadn’t, so the first thing I do is buy Finnigan’s wake and read a chapter and it’s great and I dug it and I felt like - here’s an old friend, but I couldn’t make right through the book, and so I read a chapter of Finnigan’s wake and that was the end of it, so now I know what they’re talking about. But he just went, he just didn’t stop, yeah.

Interviewer: What actually though, had you read - that you know was important to you when you were young?

John: Only kids books, Alice in Wonderland. The poems are all from Jabberwocky [which] started me into that kick. And drawing I started trying to draw like Ronald Searle when I was about Eight. So there was Jabberwocky and Ronald Serle I was turning into by the time I was Thirteen. I was determined to be Lewis Carol with a hint of Ronald Searle.

Lennon uses this neologism to create his own unique portmanteau words; forsample (for example) wonsaponatime. Had he lived longer, I think Lennon would have been one of the greatest children's literature writers of all time, quickly moving into the realm of Hans Christian Andersen and Maurice Sendak. Here is the link to the interview if you're interested: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carousel/pob17.html

Real Life Rapunzel- Rasta Style

I was reading the Bozeman Comical (ooops, I mean Chronicle) Sunday afternoon, when a little article caught my attention. A Florida woman believes that she holds the record for World's Longest Dreadlocks. At eight feet, nine inches, her dreads may be strong enough to lift a tiny prince into a tower, but they're not nearly long enough to reach him on the ground.

Too bad, because taking care of such a head of hair isn't easy. Her locks require a bottle of shampoo and conditioner each and every time she washes her hair, which isn't often. "I used to wash it three times a week. Now I do it once a week. It's very tiring," Asha Mandela says, "Sometimes I don't have the energy." When she does wash her hair, it's an all-day affair. She wrings out her eight feet of hair and must wait hours, sometimes days, for it to dry completely. "I try not to have any errands that day," she laughs. With that much hair, Mandela must find creative uses for her hair like cradling it in her arms like a baby, or using it as a neck scarf. I bet her prince could use it as a pillow or a blanket when she steals his covers in bed!

There is even a "revisionist" (as if there is such a thing as revising a fairytale) production of Rapunzel playing in the New Victory Theater in Manhattan. In this version, the heroine sports long, dark dreadlocks after being locked away by an herbalist Mother Goethel. At one point the modern Rapunzel yells at her Prince, “Don’t pull my hair!” in an nod to the misplaced concreteness that often creeps into modernized fairy tales.

My Real Fairy Tale!

I was researching my family lineage for a paper I was writing in my American Literature I class when I found an interesting story about one of my paternal grandmother's Kilburg ancestor. Castle Vianden in Luxembourg was built atop Roman ruins in the Ardennes forest. Before the Roman's came, this land was owned by my ancestor's. They controlled all the land from the River Kyll to the Kyll forest and founded one of the oldest villages in Europe, Kyllburg. In the eleventh century, the Counts of von Viaden took control of Kyllburg and the original castle was destroyed in the fierce battle. The von Viandens, who intermarried with the Kyllburgs, then rebuilt the present castle on top of the old foundation over the course of three centuries. The photograph above is of Castle Vianden in Luxembourg. Please note the tower on the left side of the photograph.

Now to the tale~
In the year 1337, Count Heinrich II von Vianden was killed while fighing for the vatican in the Christian Crusades. Upon his death, his beautiful daughter, Marie von Vianden, inherited the title of Countess from her father, as he had no living sons. As it was the custom fo the day, the young Countess was appointed an evil Guardian. When she refused to marry her supposed protector, she was left to starve, locked in the tower of Castle Vianden. Her faithful dog managed to keep her alive for months by stealing scraps of food from the kitchen and carrying them to the tower. Eventually the Countess' fiancee, Simon von Sponhein, was led to the tower by her dog. He immediately killed the evil Guardian and rescued his betrothed. They were soon married and lived (as you might guess) happily ever after. Marie von Vianden Sponheim is buried in Cistercian Abbey, under an image of her beloved dog.

Another Tale of an Ugly Man and his Beautiful Wife

This story comes from the famous 1001 Arabian Nights. According to tradition, one tale is told each night, for 1001 nights, by King Shah Bakht's Vizier al-Rahwan in an effort to ward off the king's wrath. The Tale of the Ugly Man and His Beautiful Wife is number three hundred fifteen out of one thousand one stories.

An Arab man is roaming the desert when he comes across a very ugly man who is married to a very beautiful woman. When he asks about this "strange coincidence," the husband tells their story. A man was looking for his camel when he wandered into the beautiful woman's camp. As he tried to relieve himself, he was chased by the dogs and fell into a pit. The woman heard the noise and tried to rescue him, but she too fell into the pit. At first the village thought that the two had dissappeared together to elope, but after four days the couple was found in the pit and saved. Since the young man had no evil intentions with the beautiful woman, the only solution to save their honor was to marry the couple, quickly.

Because the man was virtuous, if ugly, he is rewarded with his new and beautiful wife. To me it seems as though the wife is being punished for being too curious when she hears a noise and comes out, alone, to inspect the situation. He departure from her cultural and sexual role, just like Bluebeard's many wives, and her curiosity combine to force this poor woman into a marriage with an ugly man.

Women are fascinated by 'Beauty and The Beast Syndrome'

I found this article in Britian's Daily Express Newspaper. I have condensed it here for your consideration.

Ugly men, according to research published this week, are a safe bet when it comes to love.

Marry an ugly man and he will never tell you your bum looks big or turn his head to gawp at prettier women. Why? Because he is so grateful that you even look in his direction.

Or so the experts tell us. According to scientists at the University of Tennessee, if you choose a facially challenged male then you are going to have a happy life. The study suggests that most ugly men who married attractive women were happy to bask in the glory of their partner’s beauty and enjoyed the prestige of having a beautiful wife.

Women have always been fascinated by The Beauty and The Beast syndrome. How else did the likes of the balding author Salman Rushdie manage to ensnare the stunning model Padma Lakshmi or “lived in” singer Lyle Lovett get gorgeous actress Julia Roberts briefly down the aisle?

I have always wondered how sane, pretty women manage to kiss a man who looks like a pig. Yet for some reason we girls insist on believing that if he is a beast there is bound to be some kind of wonderful beauty lurking beneath his pockmarked face.

Dating an ugly man is often a survivalist choice. Women don’t trust handsome guys. We think they will cheat on us as soon as our back is turned.

Simply put, ugly men try harder. They have learnt to adapt their dating skills since they were the spotty-bespectled-fat-boy in the playground. Just like a blind man learns to develop his other senses, the ugly man relies less on his looks and heightens his other traits.

As far as I am concerned, should you date an ugly man you do so at your peril. An ugly man is far more dangerous than his handsome counterpart when it comes to love.

While your cheating antenna are up when you date a gorgeous man, the ugly one charms his way under your defences. I know of one ugly man who could smell a recent divorcée/infidelity victim from miles away. He was there at the ready with his hankies, all kindness and attention.

To begin with, you feel great and ugly man is grateful. Which not only makes for better sex but also means he treats you like a princess. But gradually the power shifts.

Imagine you are both at a party – you look gorgeous, he looks, well, most definitely not gorgeous. But hang on a minute, he is with you and other women are intrigued: he must have something special, they think. When an ugly man steps out with a decent looking woman, it greatly increases his value. Suddenly other women are looking at him as if he were a hot prospect.

The point is, if a man is going to cheat on you, it makes no difference if he looks like the Elephant Man or George Clooney. Playing away is more about the ability and desire to deceive you. When it comes to getting an illicit leg-over, it is a matter of personality not looks.

Here is the link for the entire article: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/39373/Beware-the-ugly-male

Displaced Moral from Perrault's Cinderella

Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi Deng

The Moral

A woman's fine face,
Assure her high place,
In any man's court,
Whether he be fat or be short.

But what of the prince?
Does a sweet woman wince,
After seeing his bald head,
Or upon climbing into bed?

Is his face any less fair,
Because he has a back full of hair?
To a real beauty's eye.
She would have to ask why,
Princesses never marry a stud,
But always get stuck with a dud.

The Original (and still the best) Little Mermaid

Growing up, the only version of "The Little Mermaid" that I knew was Hans Christian Andersen's. I was given this exact book when I was eight, and it was one of my very favorites. The illustrations by Katie Treherne mesmerized me, and I saw myself as the curious, brave and virtuous mermaid. I always cried when she dies, but I loved her transformation into sea foam after receiving her immortal soul. If you are interested in seeing "The Little Mermaid" performed as a ballet on stage, watch the movie "Hans Christian Andersen." The performance, though shortened in the movie, is spectacular and could inspire a movie based on his ballet alone. If you have children, especially little girls, this is one of the best gifts you could give them. I still have mine, almost twenty years and ten moves later!

Hans Christian Andersen, The Movie

After watching the notoriously creepy, "The Storyteller," I remembered one of my favorite movies as a child. "Hans Christian Andersen," with Danny Kaye in the title role, is a fabulous introduction into his timeless fairytales, interwoven with songs and a stage performance of "The Little Mermaid." This feature was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1952, including a nod for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) and Best Song. I remember begging my grandmother to put in the tape, so I could sing "Thumbellina" and "Wonderful Copenhagen" again and again. Whether you have children, or still feel like a kid at heart, I urge you to see this movie. Here is the link to the original movie trailer and other info: http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/21437/Hans-Christian-Andersen/trailers

Explication of my Displaced Fairy Tale

I recently read-over my displaced fairy tale, and found even more connections than I had previously recognized. So here is my complete explication, and if my readers find any I missed, please let me know!

Ernie Davis did live happily ever-after, excepting that his ever-after was only a few short years. But all fairy tale character's die, eventually, right? Davis was born in the coal-belt, Cinderella lived among the cinders. His father died in a car accident when he was very young, like Cinderella's mother. Davis' mother remarried and he went to live with his step-father. This is a negative of Cinderella's parents, her father died and she had to live with her step-mother. I don't know whether Davis' step-father was wicked or not. He plays 3 sports in high school; baseball, basketball and football. He chooses to "try-on" football in college, which recalls Cinderella's glass slipper trial. Even though Davis should be able to receive his MVP award at the National Title awards ceremony, he is refused the privilege of attending. Cinderella, too, is refused permission to attend the Prince's ball, even though she is an available bachelorette. Davis is taunted by the Texas' team and many of the spectators at the National Title game because of his race. Cinderella is taunted by her wicked step-sisters and step-mother because she is not of the correct social class. After Davis accepted his MVP award he was forced to leave the ceremony, just like Cinderella was forced to flee the ball when the clock struck midnight. His S.U. teammates support Davis by refusing to attend the awards ceremony while Cinderella is supported by her cast of animals, the mice, the rat and the lizard. Davis finds his true destiny when he is awarded the first Heisman Trophy given to an African-American athlete; the trophy is his princess. Cinderella finds her true destiny by winning the "shoe fitting contest"; she receives her prince as her reward. The moral of the story is Davis' quote, given to the Saturday Evening Post before he died at age twenty-three. It really was a fairy tale come true for this exceptional young man.

P.S.- Go see the movie "The Express"! It's wonderful, uplifting, and reminds us all that there is a monumental difference between doing the acceptable thing and doing the right thing! The link to the movie's website is: http://www.theexpressmovie.com/