Fabulous Flyting

flyte (or flite - spelled either way):
Strife; dispute; abusive or upbraiding talk, as in fliting; wrangling.

In Dr. Sexson's words, flyte is an insult that provokes in a colorful and comical way.

Being quite intrigued with the fact that there is a web site that has Shakespearean insults, I figured that I would search a bit more and find some of my favorite insults from several films (and ones that I didn't know were my favorites) to share with all of you. How this pertains to Literary Criticism, I don't know quite yet, but perhaps I will make a valid point at the end of this blog. We were speaking of flyting in class, so this must have something to do with something...right?

The Princess Bride: "You miserable, vomitous mass." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUee1WvtQZU
O, Brother Where Art Thou: "You two are just dumber than a bag of hammers."
Wayne's World: "Benjamin is nobody's friend. If Benjamin were an ice cream flavor, he'd be pralines and dick."
Anchorman: "You are a smelly pirate hooker. Why don't you just go back to your home on Whore Island?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag8g96qsdaI

Ooooh, look what I've found in my searching. Youtube has it all. Check it out; they even have a Volume II if one desires more cinematic insulting. There is even my favorite scene from 2005's Pride and Prejudice. Love-ly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESEafXDiCMs&feature=related

Okay, so no epiphanies came from these clips; just some laughs. Perhaps I'll be a good student and post some of my notes from Monday, September 8th:

Important Dates:
October 17th - Test #1
November 14th - Test #2
December 18th (8 am) - Final Exam

Amazon.com has Charles Kaplan and William Anderson's book Criticism: Major Statements, which Dr. Sexson recommends reading.

Rhetoric vs. Poetics: What is the difference?

Articles to look up:
Aristotle's "Poetics": http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/Aristotle/Poetics.html
Dante's "Letter to Can Grande": http://www.english.udel.edu/dean/cangrand.html
Sir Philip Sidney's "An Apology for Poetry"
Shelley's "Defense of Poetry"