13 June 2025

Episode 6.01 - Signpost: Pretty Gardens in Paint

Where we've been and where we're going, and we take a pause in a museum gallery, too!



New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we're all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/



Listener Survey Available!  Please let me know what you thought of Season 5, and get some free stuff, too!



* https://forms.gle/rZEaGFhniuv78BwF7



Thomas Gainsborough painting: Mr. and Mrs. Andrews (1750): https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/thomas-gainsborough-mr-and-mrs-andrews



Literary Terms Reviewed:



* narrative distance

* dramatic irony

* inter-textuality

* ekphrasis

* allusion

* polysemy

* sfumato



Reading Strategies Reviewed:



* Embracing uncertainty and ambiguity

* Asking why questions

* Our interpretation process: notice, significance, pattern, coherence

* Engaging our experience; engaging others



Authors & Titles Reviewed:



* Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"

* Horace, Ode 1.11

* Roman Krznaric, Carpe Diem Regained

* Rilke, "Archaic Torso of Apollo"



Concepts and Themes Reviewed:



* Carpe diem as "pluck" or "harvest"

* Accountability

* Uncertainty

* Ethics of Choice

* Ethical Attentiveness



Reading Ahead, Journey 6:



* Ursula K. Le Guin: "Vaster Than Empires and More Slow":  https://eyeofmidas.com/scifi/LeGuin_VasterThanEmpires.pdf

* Ursula K. Le Guin: "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas": https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf



Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/



CHAPTERS



00:00      Pastoral Splendour

06:38      Opening Theme

07:16      Signposting

09:19      Literary Terms

17:22      Interlude: The Andrewses

21:28      Strategies for Meaning

28:52      Interlude 2: The Andrewses

33:21      Authors and Titles

37:23      Interlude 3: The Andrewses

40:47      A Few Themes

47:43      Final Visit: The Andrewses

51:20      Closing Theme and Credits



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Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-6-01-pretty-gardens-in-paint/



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Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in be...