Journal 3: Mother's
thoughts
Wretched
knife! Is my urn not full enough? The earth in my jar has yet to dry, and now,
my blood is once again poured out into it. The moon broke through the clouds and
revealed my sons mark to the Felix. Wicked bride, acknowledge the wax in your
orange blossoms. Silver doves fly and mock your wax bouqet. To sacrifice you to
my knife or to condemn you to the same kind of walls that have kept me all these
years, I do not know.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Blood Wedding Journal #3
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Blood Wedding Journal 2:
A dramatist often creates a gap between what the audience knows and what the characters know. With reference to at least two plays, discuss how and to what effect dramatists have used this technique.
Sophocles utilizes the gap of knowledge between the audience and the characters through basic cultural understanding. Dramatists are voices of their times and so, the dramatists also is in 'sync' with the times. Sophocles understood that most of his audience, if not all, would be quite familiar with the story of Oedipus. The general plot in the tragedy of Oedipus that so many people know is that Oedipus solved the terrible riddle of the mysterious Sphinx. He then, after a period of being King of Thebes, learns that he has bed his mother and slain his father. He thus tears our his eyes with his mother's hair pins and steps down from power in Thebes. Thus, with an understanding of the audience, Sophocles could manipulate the final revelation that Oedipus has in Oedipus the King. Sophocles, after revealing the truth of Oedipus' relationships, reflects the main idea through the chorus, which speaks directly to and for the audience:
Lorca manipulates the gap between the audience and the characters in his tragedy Blood Wedding, but more through the endings and beginnings of each scene and act, developing the fate and passing of time in Blood Wedding. The third act of Blood Wedding begins with a scene of Wood Cutters in the forest that the couple had supposedly run off into. This suggests an obvious passing of time because the search for the bride and Leonardo had already begun. The woodcutters reveal things like "They will track them down and kill them" (80) and that "His family of corpses in the middle of the road." This acts much like the chorus in Oedipus because they are almost accessing directly what the audience knows, however they are determined that justice will be upheld while most audiences would hope for the best in a runaway couple, lost in love because that is the pathos in the way of the logos. Lorca then manipulates this quasi-understanding of what will happen to reveal that fate is going to happen, ending the tragedy with the death of the two men.
Sophocles utilizes the gap of knowledge between the audience and the characters through basic cultural understanding. Dramatists are voices of their times and so, the dramatists also is in 'sync' with the times. Sophocles understood that most of his audience, if not all, would be quite familiar with the story of Oedipus. The general plot in the tragedy of Oedipus that so many people know is that Oedipus solved the terrible riddle of the mysterious Sphinx. He then, after a period of being King of Thebes, learns that he has bed his mother and slain his father. He thus tears our his eyes with his mother's hair pins and steps down from power in Thebes. Thus, with an understanding of the audience, Sophocles could manipulate the final revelation that Oedipus has in Oedipus the King. Sophocles, after revealing the truth of Oedipus' relationships, reflects the main idea through the chorus, which speaks directly to and for the audience:
Chorus:Sophocles has the chorus, which is a reflection of the audience, relay the information to establish what the audience should know. He acknowledges that everyone knows of "Oedipus the great,/He who knew the Sphinx's riddle and was mightiest in our state./.../Now, in what a sea of troubles sunk and overwhelmed he lies!/". The emphasis is on the revelation of Oedipus rather than the actions of Oedipus, achieved through the audience's cultural understanding Oedipus' story.
Look ye, countrymen and Thebans, this is Oedipus the great,
He who knew the Sphinx's riddle and was mightiest in our state.
Who of all our townsmen gazed not on his fame with envious eyes?
Now, in what a sea of troubles sunk and overwhelmed he lies!
Therefore wait to see life's ending ere thou count one mortal blest;
Wait till free from pain and sorrow he has gained his final rest.
Lorca manipulates the gap between the audience and the characters in his tragedy Blood Wedding, but more through the endings and beginnings of each scene and act, developing the fate and passing of time in Blood Wedding. The third act of Blood Wedding begins with a scene of Wood Cutters in the forest that the couple had supposedly run off into. This suggests an obvious passing of time because the search for the bride and Leonardo had already begun. The woodcutters reveal things like "They will track them down and kill them" (80) and that "His family of corpses in the middle of the road." This acts much like the chorus in Oedipus because they are almost accessing directly what the audience knows, however they are determined that justice will be upheld while most audiences would hope for the best in a runaway couple, lost in love because that is the pathos in the way of the logos. Lorca then manipulates this quasi-understanding of what will happen to reveal that fate is going to happen, ending the tragedy with the death of the two men.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Blood Wedding Journal 1:
Lorca's Blood Wedding, Act 1.
Lorca delves into a style unfamiliar to me, so this journal is for the purpose of clarifying Lorca's style of writing . The prevailing style of Blood Wedding is short, terse dialog, interjected with passionate thoughts and ideas expressed by the mother and other women. The men stick fast to simple words. The women delve deeper, and through this, Lorca suggest the difference between men and women; the capacity to see further? (extention of sight motif).
Bridegroom
"To cut them with."
Mother
"The knife! The Knife! Damn all of them! And the monster who invented them!"
Bridegroom
"Enough!"
Mother
"Anything that can cut into a man's body! A beautiful man, with life like a flower in his mouth, who goes out to the vineyards or to his own olive groves, because they are his, inherited . . ."
Bridegroom
"Mother, be quiet!"
In this passage, Lorca sets the son from mother. The bridegroom only relays the simple factual information such as the use of a knife to "cut them[grapes] with", but the Mother sees much more in the knife than the son, or perhaps she can remember more. She remembers and later refers to the knives, that the Felix family was involved with a knife that killed her husband. However, Lorca uses a female to expound on the life of a man. He says that man has "a flower in his mouth, who goes out to the vineyards or to his own olive groves". Here, Lorca points out the controlling nature of men through the assumption of everything belonging to the man, as in the personal olive groves and that this nature has been inherited. Contrastingly, the actual present male, the bridegroom, frowns upon this talk and wants to hush the female, once again showing the domineering tendencies of man. But, Lorca's females also are not for characterizing males. In this passage, Lorca immediately characterizes Mother. She is one who is lost in thoughts as shown in her constant tangents. She also, along with other females, manage to explore deeper into the truth of things.
Lorca delves into a style unfamiliar to me, so this journal is for the purpose of clarifying Lorca's style of writing . The prevailing style of Blood Wedding is short, terse dialog, interjected with passionate thoughts and ideas expressed by the mother and other women. The men stick fast to simple words. The women delve deeper, and through this, Lorca suggest the difference between men and women; the capacity to see further? (extention of sight motif).
Bridegroom
"To cut them with."
Mother
"The knife! The Knife! Damn all of them! And the monster who invented them!"
Bridegroom
"Enough!"
Mother
"Anything that can cut into a man's body! A beautiful man, with life like a flower in his mouth, who goes out to the vineyards or to his own olive groves, because they are his, inherited . . ."
Bridegroom
"Mother, be quiet!"
In this passage, Lorca sets the son from mother. The bridegroom only relays the simple factual information such as the use of a knife to "cut them[grapes] with", but the Mother sees much more in the knife than the son, or perhaps she can remember more. She remembers and later refers to the knives, that the Felix family was involved with a knife that killed her husband. However, Lorca uses a female to expound on the life of a man. He says that man has "a flower in his mouth, who goes out to the vineyards or to his own olive groves". Here, Lorca points out the controlling nature of men through the assumption of everything belonging to the man, as in the personal olive groves and that this nature has been inherited. Contrastingly, the actual present male, the bridegroom, frowns upon this talk and wants to hush the female, once again showing the domineering tendencies of man. But, Lorca's females also are not for characterizing males. In this passage, Lorca immediately characterizes Mother. She is one who is lost in thoughts as shown in her constant tangents. She also, along with other females, manage to explore deeper into the truth of things.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Wild Duck Journal 5:
Journal 5: Literary.
Henrik Ibsen, author of the tragedy The Wild Duck, explores the use of irony. Throughout the entire play, Ibsen reveals knowledge through Gregers' pusruit of clearing Hjalmar's "spiritual tumult". But in fact, Ibsen never directly states what he is thinking. Not even does his revealer of truth directly say what is meant. The irony is the truth comes deceptively, through Gregers' continual nagging. Also, Rellings is used as a "doctor" in the play, to sweep aside Gregers' spiritual conviction of truth and places pyschological diagnostics in place to explain the family of the Ekdals. Ironically, the same Relling places a diagnostic on Gregers, saying that he suffers from too much integrity.
Ibsen also uses dramatic irony with the Livslognen that the whole Ekdal family is living under. Livslognen is literally the Life-lie in Norwegian. This is the word that Relling assigns to the "ideals" that Gregers places on Hjalmar. However, later on, Hjalmar is talking of the ideals, and because he doesn't know that they are really the life-illusions that Rellings brought forth, he continues to live in his lie until the very end of the novel, in which Hedvig commits suicide.
Henrik Ibsen, author of the tragedy The Wild Duck, explores the use of irony. Throughout the entire play, Ibsen reveals knowledge through Gregers' pusruit of clearing Hjalmar's "spiritual tumult". But in fact, Ibsen never directly states what he is thinking. Not even does his revealer of truth directly say what is meant. The irony is the truth comes deceptively, through Gregers' continual nagging. Also, Rellings is used as a "doctor" in the play, to sweep aside Gregers' spiritual conviction of truth and places pyschological diagnostics in place to explain the family of the Ekdals. Ironically, the same Relling places a diagnostic on Gregers, saying that he suffers from too much integrity.
Ibsen also uses dramatic irony with the Livslognen that the whole Ekdal family is living under. Livslognen is literally the Life-lie in Norwegian. This is the word that Relling assigns to the "ideals" that Gregers places on Hjalmar. However, later on, Hjalmar is talking of the ideals, and because he doesn't know that they are really the life-illusions that Rellings brought forth, he continues to live in his lie until the very end of the novel, in which Hedvig commits suicide.
Journal 5: Literary.
Henrik Ibsen, author of the tragedy The Wild Duck, explores the use of irony. Throughout the entire play, Ibsen reveals knowledge through Gregers' pusruit of clearing Hjalmar's "spiritual tumult". But in fact, Ibsen never directly states what he is thinking. Not even does his revealer of truth directly say what is meant. The irony is the truth comes deceptively, through Gregers' continual nagging. Also, Rellings is used as a "doctor" in the play, to sweep aside Gregers' spiritual conviction of truth and places pyschological diagnostics in place to explain the family of the Ekdals. Ironically, the same Relling places a diagnostic on Gregers, saying that he suffers from too much integrity.
Ibsen also uses dramatic irony with the Livslognen that the whole Ekdal family is living under. Livslognen is literally the Life-lie in Norwegian. This is the word that Relling assigns to the "ideals" that Gregers places on Hjalmar. However, later on, Hjalmar is talking of the ideals, and because he doesn't know that they are really the life-illusions that Rellings brought forth, he continues to live in his lie until the very end of the novel, in which Hedvig commits suicide.
Henrik Ibsen, author of the tragedy The Wild Duck, explores the use of irony. Throughout the entire play, Ibsen reveals knowledge through Gregers' pusruit of clearing Hjalmar's "spiritual tumult". But in fact, Ibsen never directly states what he is thinking. Not even does his revealer of truth directly say what is meant. The irony is the truth comes deceptively, through Gregers' continual nagging. Also, Rellings is used as a "doctor" in the play, to sweep aside Gregers' spiritual conviction of truth and places pyschological diagnostics in place to explain the family of the Ekdals. Ironically, the same Relling places a diagnostic on Gregers, saying that he suffers from too much integrity.
Ibsen also uses dramatic irony with the Livslognen that the whole Ekdal family is living under. Livslognen is literally the Life-lie in Norwegian. This is the word that Relling assigns to the "ideals" that Gregers places on Hjalmar. However, later on, Hjalmar is talking of the ideals, and because he doesn't know that they are really the life-illusions that Rellings brought forth, he continues to live in his lie until the very end of the novel, in which Hedvig commits suicide.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
marked passages
Hialmar.
After a past like yours? There are certain claims -- I may almost call them claims of the ideal --
(*"Livslognen," literally "the life-lie." )
_____________
Gina.
You don't suppose grandfather can get on without his rabbits.
Hialmar.
He must just get used to doing without them. Have not I to sacrifice very much greater things than rabbits!
_______________
Hialmar.
Oh those two brutes, those slaves of all the vices! A hat must be procured. [ (Takes another piece of bread and butter.)]
Some arrangements must be made. For I have no mind to throw away my life, either.
[ [Looks for something on the tray.]
Gina.
What are you looking for?
Hialmar.
Butter.
_______________
[ GREGERS WERLE enters from the passage.]
Gregers
[ (somewhat surprised).]
What, -- are you sitting here, Hialmar?
Hialmar
[ (rises hurriedly).]
I had sunk down from fatigue.
Gregers.
You have been having breakfast, I see.
Hialmar.
The body sometimes makes its claims felt too.
______________________
Gregers
[ (after a short silence).]
I never dreamed that this would be the end of it. Do you really feel it a necessity to leave house and home?
The setting of most of the play is in Hjalmar's home. It is a studio with photographing equipment and photo developing equipment. It is where most of the play unfolds, and so, in this way, is a photograph development area of the whole story, where from the darkroom (the questions that the characters have) truth arises.
_____________________
Hialmar
[ (wanders about restlessly).]
Gregers.
Hialmar.
Gregers.
Hialmar.
Relling.
Gregers
[ (going).]
After a past like yours? There are certain claims -- I may almost call them claims of the ideal --
(*"Livslognen," literally "the life-lie." )
_____________
Gina.
You don't suppose grandfather can get on without his rabbits.
Hialmar.
He must just get used to doing without them. Have not I to sacrifice very much greater things than rabbits!
_______________
Hialmar.
Oh those two brutes, those slaves of all the vices! A hat must be procured. [ (Takes another piece of bread and butter.)]
Some arrangements must be made. For I have no mind to throw away my life, either.
[ [Looks for something on the tray.]
Gina.
What are you looking for?
Hialmar.
Butter.
_______________
[ GREGERS WERLE enters from the passage.]
Gregers
[ (somewhat surprised).]
What, -- are you sitting here, Hialmar?
Hialmar
[ (rises hurriedly).]
I had sunk down from fatigue.
Gregers.
You have been having breakfast, I see.
Hialmar.
The body sometimes makes its claims felt too.
______________________
Gregers
[ (after a short silence).]
I never dreamed that this would be the end of it. Do you really feel it a necessity to leave house and home?
The setting of most of the play is in Hjalmar's home. It is a studio with photographing equipment and photo developing equipment. It is where most of the play unfolds, and so, in this way, is a photograph development area of the whole story, where from the darkroom (the questions that the characters have) truth arises.
_____________________
Hialmar
[ (wanders about restlessly).]
What would you have me do? -- I am not fitted to bear unhappiness, Gregers. I must feel secure and at peace in my surroundings.
-------
Hjalmar, like Relling's had diagnosed, feels that he is biologically incapabale of bearing unhappiness. Earlier, Relling had turned away from Gregers' idea of Hjalmar's "spiritual tumult" and turned to saying it was a psychological problem. Then he goes on to say that Gregers suffers from integrity fever.
___________
Gregers.
Hedvig! Is it Hedvig you are talking of? How should she blot out your sunlight?
Ironic b'c Hedvig is the one turning blind
________
Hialmar.
It was that blackguard Relling that urged me to it.
Gregers.
Relling?
Hialmar.
Yes, it was he that first made me realise my aptitude for making some notable discovery in photography.
Gregers.
Aha -- it was Relling!
Hialmar.
Oh, I have been so truly happy over it! Not so much for the sake of the invention itself, as because Hedvig believed in it -- believed in it with a child's whole eagerness of faith. -- At least, I have been fool enough to go and imagine that she believed in it.
________
Hialmar
[ (without answering).]
How unutterably I have loved that child! How unutterably happy I have felt every time I came home to my humble room, and she flew to meet me, with her sweet little blinking eyes. Oh, confiding fool that I have been! I loved her unutterably; -- and I yielded myself up to the dream, the delusion, that she loved me unutterably in return.
WHAT? "unutterably"?
___________
Ekdal
[ (quietly).]
The woods avenge themselves
Motif of the woods/garret
_______
Gregers
[ (huskily).]
In the depths of the sea --
Referencing again to the Flying Dutchman, the broken ship.
_______
Hialmar.
And I! I hunted her from me like an animal! And she crept terrified into the garret and died for love of me! [ (Sobbing.)]
I can never atone to her! I can never tell her -- ! [ (Clenches his hands and cries, upwards.)]
O thou above -- ! If thou be indeed! Why hast thou done this thing to me?
Change of dialect?
_______
Gregers
[ (looking straight before him).]
In that case, I am glad that my destiny is what is.
Relling.
May I inquire, -- what is your destiny?
Gregers
[ (going).]
To be the thirteenth at table.
__________
Gregers
[ (calls out to HIALMAR).]
She has shot the wild duck herself!
Wild Duck Journal 4:
Journal 4: Compare how the authors have explored disguise and deceit, and with what effect.
Sophocles, in his tragedy Oedipus the King, disguises Oedipus' affliction (his fate) through Oedipus' own flaws: his pride, temper, and inability to see despite having eyes. Oedipus is still blind to his fate even when Tiresias reveals it to him. He spun a web of deceit around his own life, ignoring all the facts, and the truth of what others said to him. Likewise, Ibsen explores disguise and deceit. He disguises all the people of The Wild Duck as the Wild Duck or the clever Dog, thus leading to the point discussed in a previous journal. While the duck encompasses all the lies of the Ekdal lives, and Oedipus spins his own demise and ultimately falls to the fate of the gods, both authors manipulate what is hidden to the reader and what is hidden to the characters, spinning a juxtaposing web of lies. In Oedipus, all Grecian citizens already knew of the story of Oedipus. However, Sophocles spins the deception not around Oedipus' famous actions, but around his revelation of knowledge, of the truth, to point to the common place idiom that ignorance is bliss, but also to speak as a message to the audience that what really lies in one's path to truth is oneself.
Ibsen follows a little bit in these same steps, but he shrouds the characters with disguise and deceit to convey the emotional loss of living falsely, as in Hjalmar's case, when he is clouded into thinking that all he is doing is going to help his decent family, until he learns that Hedvig isn't his daughter.
Sophocles, in his tragedy Oedipus the King, disguises Oedipus' affliction (his fate) through Oedipus' own flaws: his pride, temper, and inability to see despite having eyes. Oedipus is still blind to his fate even when Tiresias reveals it to him. He spun a web of deceit around his own life, ignoring all the facts, and the truth of what others said to him. Likewise, Ibsen explores disguise and deceit. He disguises all the people of The Wild Duck as the Wild Duck or the clever Dog, thus leading to the point discussed in a previous journal. While the duck encompasses all the lies of the Ekdal lives, and Oedipus spins his own demise and ultimately falls to the fate of the gods, both authors manipulate what is hidden to the reader and what is hidden to the characters, spinning a juxtaposing web of lies. In Oedipus, all Grecian citizens already knew of the story of Oedipus. However, Sophocles spins the deception not around Oedipus' famous actions, but around his revelation of knowledge, of the truth, to point to the common place idiom that ignorance is bliss, but also to speak as a message to the audience that what really lies in one's path to truth is oneself.
Ibsen follows a little bit in these same steps, but he shrouds the characters with disguise and deceit to convey the emotional loss of living falsely, as in Hjalmar's case, when he is clouded into thinking that all he is doing is going to help his decent family, until he learns that Hedvig isn't his daughter.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Marked quotes
Hialmar.
"Bad ways" do you call them? Little do you know what a man goes through when he is in grief and despair -- especially a man of my fiery temperament.
________________
Hialmar.
______________
Hialmar.
Hialmar.
"Bad ways" do you call them? Little do you know what a man goes through when he is in grief and despair -- especially a man of my fiery temperament.
________________
Hialmar.
And I, too, thought my home such a pleasant one. That was a delusion. Where shall I now find the elasticity of spirit to bring my invention into the world of reality? Perhaps it will die with me; and then it will be your past, Gina, that will have killed it.
______________________
Hialmar.
I ask you, what becomes of the breadwinner's dream? When I used to lie in there on the sofa and brood over my invention, I had a clear enough presentiment that it would sap my vitality to the last drop. I felt even then that the day when I held the patent in my hand -- that day -- would bring my -- release. And then it was my dream that you should live on after me, the dead inventor's well-to-do widow.
Irony - The audience knows Hjalmar to be the one who eats the bread literally.______________
Hialmar.
Oh, the whole dream has vanished. It is all over now. All over!
____________
Hialmar.
In certain cases, it is impossible to disregard the claim of the ideal. Yet, as the breadwinner of a family, I cannot but writhe and groan under it. I can tell you it is no joke for a man without capital to attempt the repayment of a long-standing obligation, over which, so to speak, the dust of oblivion had gathered. But it cannot be helped: the Man in me demands his rights.
___________
Hialmar.
And yet, after all, I cannot but recognise the guiding finger of fate. He is going blind.
_____________
[
[Silence. HEDVIG, discouraged, looks first at one and then at the other, trying to divine their frame of mind.
]__________
Hialmar.
What is all this hocus-pocus that I am to be in the dark about!
___________
Hialmar.
I don't want to attain it. Never, never! My hat! (Takes his hat.) My home has fallen in ruins about me. [ (Bursts into tears.)]
Gregers, I have no child!
______________
Hedvig.
In the morning it's light, you know, and there's nothing in particular to be afraid of.
What we can't see is the most terrifying
________________
Monday, December 7, 2009
Wild Duck Journal 3:
Hedvig
[ (standing by the table, and looking searchingly at her).]
[ (standing by the table, and looking searchingly at her).]
I think all this is very strange.
_____________
Conversation between the Wild Duck, Ibsen, and Oedipus:
Ibsen: Morning, Sophocles.
Oedipus: Morning Henrik, g'day Duck.
Duck: Quack ('Tis a fine day for a swim. Alas, I have a wounded wing and, just like you Oedipus, I cannot take pleasure in what should be mine.)
Oedipus: Oh? What is it you mean?
Duck: Quack (I mean the blindness in your sight, the prophecy stabbing you in the back.)
Ibsen: You know, Duck, I'm not too far away from you either. You used to be a king of fowl, the Wild Duck, but now you swim in a bucket. I used to live in a great mansion, trees towering over me. Now I am a humble playwright. Although, we are still more different than alike.
Oedipus: Yes, I'd agree with Ibsen. I am similar, but still distant from all you are.
Duck: Quack (Please tell.)
Oedipus: I am the Blind Beggar. The man with lost judgement. But I have found resolution in my punishment. I see only false living in your apparent comfort. Just like your family, the Ekdals.
Duck: Quack (I know what you mean. Those Ekdals just spoil me too darn much.)
Ibsen: That isn't what is meant, Duck.
Duck: Quack Quack (Then what?)
Ibsen: You are living a life of corpulence and yet you retain your title of Wild Duck. Your Ekdals lead lives of fantasy. Hedvig, who ironically is losing sight as you lose vitality, is finding comfort in the books she gazes upon. Hjalmar, Old Ekdal's son, is working on a invention that consumes his life. Old Ekdal has been reduced to copying booklets by hand, and he still fantasizes being a lieutenant again. It is almost shameful.
Duck: Quack.
Oedipus: Alas, the duck is only that. Quack.
some marked quotes. (i have no book)
Gregers.
Hialmar.
Gina.
Relling.
Gregers.
Relling
[ (goes up to him).]
-69-
that "claim of the ideal" large as life, in your coat-tail pocket.
Gregers.
Not exactly to that. I don't say that your wing has been broken; but you have strayed into a poisonous marsh, Hialmar; an insidious disease has taken hold of you, and you have sunk down to die in the dark.
___________________________
Now, my dear Gregers, pray do not go on about disease and poison; I am not used to that sort of talk. In my house nobody ever speaks to me about unpleasant things.
___________________________
Gregers
[ (leaves the table).]
No airing you can give will drive out the taint I mean.
Hialmar.
Taint!
Gina.
Yes, what do you say to that, Ekdal!
Relling.
Excuse me -- may it not be you yourself that have brought the taint from those mines up there?
Gregers.
It is like you to call what I bring into this house a taint.
Relling
[ (goes up to him).]
Look here, Mr. Werle, junior: I have a strong suspicion that you are still carrying about
that "claim of the ideal" large as life, in your coat-tail pocket.
Gregers.
I carry it in my breast.
_________________________
Relling.Well, I'll tell you, Mrs. Ekdal. He is suffering from an acute attack of integrity.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Wild Duck Journal 2:
Heh, it happens that I misplaced my book as well as my journal 3. I am using an online version, so the version may be different from the class'.
motifs noticed: Light, illumination, lack of light, shadowing, visualizing, DUCK
Irony:
Act 2 of Ibsen's The Wild Duck is riddled with irony. Hjalmar, Hedvig's father tells Gregers that his daughter "in serious danger oflosing her eyesight" (37). So far, as a class, we have reasoned that eyes and sight in the tragedies so far (mainly Oedipus) is for seeing the truth and the physical. However, it is ironic that the young girl is the one to lose sight. Hjalmar, Ekdal's son, had failed to see his father at the party; there are items of visualizing things littered about and yet someone still loses their ability to see (the photographing tools described in the setting). Also, the Wild Duck that Ekdal reveals to Gregers is in a position of irony. As Ekdal retells the ducks story, of it being shot to the bottom of the lake and being brought up by a "clever dog". Ibsen sets up two important and juxtaposing symbols with the duck and the clever dog. The duck, a wild and untame fowl, was captured and lives comfortably in captivity, adapted to the life of living inside. However, it is still called the wild duck, playing with Ekdal's longing to go hunting again. Ironically, Ekdal refuses to go with Gregers in Hoidal to hunt in the old forests. Ibsen does this to show the illusion that Ekdal and perhaps even his whole family is living in.
motifs noticed: Light, illumination, lack of light, shadowing, visualizing, DUCK
Irony:
Act 2 of Ibsen's The Wild Duck is riddled with irony. Hjalmar, Hedvig's father tells Gregers that his daughter "in serious danger oflosing her eyesight" (37). So far, as a class, we have reasoned that eyes and sight in the tragedies so far (mainly Oedipus) is for seeing the truth and the physical. However, it is ironic that the young girl is the one to lose sight. Hjalmar, Ekdal's son, had failed to see his father at the party; there are items of visualizing things littered about and yet someone still loses their ability to see (the photographing tools described in the setting). Also, the Wild Duck that Ekdal reveals to Gregers is in a position of irony. As Ekdal retells the ducks story, of it being shot to the bottom of the lake and being brought up by a "clever dog". Ibsen sets up two important and juxtaposing symbols with the duck and the clever dog. The duck, a wild and untame fowl, was captured and lives comfortably in captivity, adapted to the life of living inside. However, it is still called the wild duck, playing with Ekdal's longing to go hunting again. Ironically, Ekdal refuses to go with Gregers in Hoidal to hunt in the old forests. Ibsen does this to show the illusion that Ekdal and perhaps even his whole family is living in.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Oedipus Journals 1-4
Point of View:
In Sophocles' Oedipus the King, the story is mainly told around Oedipus. Sometimes, Oedipus is out of the scene, and the Chorus is speaking, but only as a sort of narration to align the reader's thoughts, mainly about Oedipus.
Characters:
Oedipus begins as the almost godlike king, when he addresses the people of Thebes in their "Huddling at my[Oedipus'] altar, praying before me" (2-3). Oedipus is portrayed as the prime example of a king and a regular citizen. He shows respect to the old Priest, as he is "Helping a Priest to his feet" (footnotes for actions, before L10). Oedipus is shown as the hero who saved Thebes from the mysterious Sphynx, and I suppose Oedipus' legend is well known in the time this tragedy was written. The character of Oedipus is given the heroic traits and called to be on the plane of mortal heroes, or even gods. BUT, Tiresias, the ironically blind seer and prophet, calls down Oedipus' own curse onto Oedipus. He indirectly accuses Oedipus as being the murderer that he seeks. Through the point of view as an audience, Sophocles gives us knowledge that the characters beside Tiresias knows. This narrative voice is triumphant and showy until Tiresias and Oedipus get into their shouting match, in which Oedipus' weakness, hot headedness, is revealed. He is given to loss of control over his actions, and his ideas are unreliable as a result. Sophocles' persuades the reader to side with one character and use that person's bitterness towards others to judge. The blind seer rouses up a storm in the conversation with Oedipus, and since the reader was first given the heroic information on Oedipus, Tiresias' "radical" sayings have a negative effect on the reader. Oedipus' new rage towards Creon also creates a bias against Creon justified by Oedipus' seemingly spotless reputation.
Oedipus Journal 2: Poem by Oedipus
Bold, leaping into challenge
Whipping with undeserved dignity
Following prophecies, not escaping
forces a cringe.
An equal unmatched
to my dearest heart,
releases the hypocrite
now incapacitated.
Truth revealed through lies.
I tell myself this:
I blindly yearn
for my mother's hand.
Sunset flashing beneath the last hill
Blood, the purest of hues
smears my judgment.
I seem to have not saved Journal 3 on my computer and I have misplaced it for the moment. I'll post it when I find it.
Oedipus Journal 4: Letter to Oedipus, from Creon.
Brother, beggar, Oedipus,
Let go of the suffering you have caused. Jocasta is gone, you now fulfill Tiresias' prophecy, and the citizens will begin throwing rocks painted with their miseries at you. You yourself have upset the equality of our joint ruling. Jocasta is gone, and you have gouged your eyes, your sight, your judgement. Remember, with your eyes the suffering did not go. It is only kind of me to allow you your rest; let me take the wheel of this unsightly ship. Already, the people spit at your feet, and even ask me to drive you out! Tiresias saw, and still sees. I pray, Oedipus, that you can break from your name in your suffering and that you may, in your blindness, seek your final vision.
In your search, yield to time, and in doing so, yield to the gods' will, never fleeing them again. You never were in the place to be master over your fate. You stumbled into a slip of fate, and hardly even juggled the unwieldy position of Thebes. Your children, a result of the most hideous of acts, will follow in your shame. You have failed to do many things, Oedipus. Do not fail in leaving further change alone.
Creon
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wild Duck Journal 1:
I misplaced my journal sheet for this night, so I will just compare the expositions of Wild Duck by Ibsen and Oedipus the King by Sophocles, mainly focusing on the characters.
In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is presented as an outstanding man, rescuing Thebes from the Sphynx. However, beneath the facade of a proud king lies a confused man finding his roots. This comes out and finally his parents are no longer his parents. Just as in Sophocles' novel, Greger in Wild Duck doesn't view his father as being a father figure. He accuses him of having an affair with the maid and having ulterior motives in helping the Hjalmars. Greger Werle is like Oedipus he too loses trust in his roots, as Oedipus did when the messenger arrived. But, I feel that Greger will continue to be an impressive force throughout the play, while Oedipus fades into a pathetic creature, fated by the gods to suffer. Irony in the two plays also connects the characters. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles used dramatic irony with Oedipus' origins. In The Wild Duck, Werle says to his son "Listen, Gregers, there are so very many things that keep us apart, and yet, you know - we're father and son still. I think we should be able to reach some kind of understanding" (133). This is ironic because, from the readers perspective, the only reason that there would be a separation of significance between them is from the fathers actions. He hold grand parties, ignores a dear friend, and possibly even sleeps with the house maid. Werle then goes on to say that they need to reach an understanding. This is ironic because Greger is beginning to understand that his father had other reasons to do these things besides just pleasure.
In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is presented as an outstanding man, rescuing Thebes from the Sphynx. However, beneath the facade of a proud king lies a confused man finding his roots. This comes out and finally his parents are no longer his parents. Just as in Sophocles' novel, Greger in Wild Duck doesn't view his father as being a father figure. He accuses him of having an affair with the maid and having ulterior motives in helping the Hjalmars. Greger Werle is like Oedipus he too loses trust in his roots, as Oedipus did when the messenger arrived. But, I feel that Greger will continue to be an impressive force throughout the play, while Oedipus fades into a pathetic creature, fated by the gods to suffer. Irony in the two plays also connects the characters. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles used dramatic irony with Oedipus' origins. In The Wild Duck, Werle says to his son "Listen, Gregers, there are so very many things that keep us apart, and yet, you know - we're father and son still. I think we should be able to reach some kind of understanding" (133). This is ironic because, from the readers perspective, the only reason that there would be a separation of significance between them is from the fathers actions. He hold grand parties, ignores a dear friend, and possibly even sleeps with the house maid. Werle then goes on to say that they need to reach an understanding. This is ironic because Greger is beginning to understand that his father had other reasons to do these things besides just pleasure.
Oedipus Journals 1-4
Hi, I can use the internet again. I need to retype my journals, so I will put it up with my next journal.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
"Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines" Journal 2
RENT-Your Eyes:
Your eyes
As we said our goodbyes
Can't get them out of my mind
And I find I can't hide
From your eyes
The ones that took me by surprise
The night you came into my life
Where there's moonlight I see your eyes
How'd I let you slip away
When I'm longing so to hold you
Now I'd die for one more day
'Cause there's something I should have told you
Yes there's something I should have told you
When I looked into your eyes
Why does distance make us wise?
You were the song all along
And before this song dies
I should tell you I should tell you
I have always loved you
You can see it in my eyes
Mimi
Towards the end of the musical RENT, the protagonist, Roger, watches his love die, and sings this song as a reaction. "Your Eyes" is about the regret in not openly showing his love for her, while Pablo Neruda's poem is of accepting that he is no longer with her. Roger repeatedly expresses that he will "die for one more day", and that his song for her is dying. Through his figurative dying alongside Mimi's death, the speaker emphasizes the regert and hindsight that one has on their deathbed. In "Tonight I Can write the saddest lines", the speaker is focusing on HIS feelings towards this loss of love. He does this by constantly referring back to "I" and "My" and "Me". In "Your Eyes", the speaker also uses "I" and other personal pronouns to show that he is under more burden than she is, even though she is the one dying. The main difference between these two works is that "Your Eyes" shows that it is about regret while "Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines" is about accepting the loss.
Your eyes
As we said our goodbyes
Can't get them out of my mind
And I find I can't hide
From your eyes
The ones that took me by surprise
The night you came into my life
Where there's moonlight I see your eyes
How'd I let you slip away
When I'm longing so to hold you
Now I'd die for one more day
'Cause there's something I should have told you
Yes there's something I should have told you
When I looked into your eyes
Why does distance make us wise?
You were the song all along
And before this song dies
I should tell you I should tell you
I have always loved you
You can see it in my eyes
Mimi
Towards the end of the musical RENT, the protagonist, Roger, watches his love die, and sings this song as a reaction. "Your Eyes" is about the regret in not openly showing his love for her, while Pablo Neruda's poem is of accepting that he is no longer with her. Roger repeatedly expresses that he will "die for one more day", and that his song for her is dying. Through his figurative dying alongside Mimi's death, the speaker emphasizes the regert and hindsight that one has on their deathbed. In "Tonight I Can write the saddest lines", the speaker is focusing on HIS feelings towards this loss of love. He does this by constantly referring back to "I" and "My" and "Me". In "Your Eyes", the speaker also uses "I" and other personal pronouns to show that he is under more burden than she is, even though she is the one dying. The main difference between these two works is that "Your Eyes" shows that it is about regret while "Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines" is about accepting the loss.
Monday, November 2, 2009
XIII Journal 1
1. This poem is about the despair that is inevitable in stifling emotions. A person, man, has a sexual experience with his love, then he goes into his way of lifting her spirits when she is sad. In the distance that the couple share, a sadnress lingers. He can't express himself and thus, even though he wants to, his inability of expression has negative consequences. Another way of viewing this poem is as a euphemism of sex.
2.The reader can assume that it is a man speaking to a women, as shown by the dominating positions the speaker takes over his love. This man is a sensitive but incapable lover. He lives in a mental solitude since his loss of his woman. The man is speaking to his woman, with his 'stories to tell yo u on the shore of evening".
3.The author writes this poem to warn of love from personal experience. The tone is reminiscent and almost regretful. He shows us what NOT to do. "only a few drops are left trembling." His examples of desire, shown through the imagery of the animals and water, set a path that he regrets having walked. The end of his painful relationship, the "close[s] like a nocturnal flower" is the final end of the nature imagery, and so the end of his advice. Through this poem, the author also illustrates the objectification of women, and the childish approach that men take towards women: to this man, women are for "marking" and are "toy doll[s]".
4.The overall 'glue' of the work is the letter 's'. It is always used when the woman is mentioned, but when he focuses solely on himself, he abandons 's'. Thus, this overwhelming odds of 's' vs. non's' complements his inability to decide. The author writes in a way that literally embodies the man's emotions and feelings towards her. "something ... something ... something ..." Every something is a piece of his inability to choose words to his feelings and thoughts. However, when he mentions his woman, he can immediately go to the word "doll". This comparison between "something" and "doll" emphasizes the objectification of women
2.The reader can assume that it is a man speaking to a women, as shown by the dominating positions the speaker takes over his love. This man is a sensitive but incapable lover. He lives in a mental solitude since his loss of his woman. The man is speaking to his woman, with his 'stories to tell yo u on the shore of evening".
3.The author writes this poem to warn of love from personal experience. The tone is reminiscent and almost regretful. He shows us what NOT to do. "only a few drops are left trembling." His examples of desire, shown through the imagery of the animals and water, set a path that he regrets having walked. The end of his painful relationship, the "close[s] like a nocturnal flower" is the final end of the nature imagery, and so the end of his advice. Through this poem, the author also illustrates the objectification of women, and the childish approach that men take towards women: to this man, women are for "marking" and are "toy doll[s]".
4.The overall 'glue' of the work is the letter 's'. It is always used when the woman is mentioned, but when he focuses solely on himself, he abandons 's'. Thus, this overwhelming odds of 's' vs. non's' complements his inability to decide. The author writes in a way that literally embodies the man's emotions and feelings towards her. "something ... something ... something ..." Every something is a piece of his inability to choose words to his feelings and thoughts. However, when he mentions his woman, he can immediately go to the word "doll". This comparison between "something" and "doll" emphasizes the objectification of women
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The Handmaid's Tale Journal 1
Handmaid's Tale
"There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you re being given freedom from. Don't underrate it." (Atwood 24)
In a sense, these freedoms are just opposites of each other. The freedom to "smell . . . the turned earth, the plump shapes of bulbs held in the hands . . ." (Atwood 12) are things that she enjoyed once upon a time, but with this new life, she is restricted to the building except for their walks. Another thing that fits this juxtaposition is the white wings that all Handmaids must wear on their heads. These are "to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen" (Atwood 8) They lose the freedom of being seen and appreciated and gain the freedom from being critiqued, just on superficial terms.
To further the gain and loss of freedoms, women of this society lose choice inside of their homes, but outside of them, they gain them, which is opposite of what most societies today follow. Inside the homes, like with the Commander and his wife's sex with Offred, choice is made for each person without input. At the market, Offred and Ofglen always have the choice to take a different route. However, they always take the same one, and through this, Atwood suggests that choice takes a backseat when conditions are strange enough.
Their ultimate lack of choice is being the carrier of the Commander's baby. When they have sex, Offred is turned from an ignored woman to a very necessary tool. Just a tool. She, Offred, however, describes the sexual encounter as not rape, not "Making love", nor copulating, because of her "choice".
These passages, by showing the false gains in freedom and the loss of certain choices shows the society as becoming one that values not the individual choice, but the structure of the society. Like in the doctor scene, everything they do must somehow fit into the structure of the society. With the "signed up" for sex, the commander and his wife rule the Handmaid that they deem necessary. Society in The Handmaid's Tale is becoming frenzied with the order of things, not the things that are being done.
"There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you re being given freedom from. Don't underrate it." (Atwood 24)
In a sense, these freedoms are just opposites of each other. The freedom to "smell . . . the turned earth, the plump shapes of bulbs held in the hands . . ." (Atwood 12) are things that she enjoyed once upon a time, but with this new life, she is restricted to the building except for their walks. Another thing that fits this juxtaposition is the white wings that all Handmaids must wear on their heads. These are "to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen" (Atwood 8) They lose the freedom of being seen and appreciated and gain the freedom from being critiqued, just on superficial terms.
To further the gain and loss of freedoms, women of this society lose choice inside of their homes, but outside of them, they gain them, which is opposite of what most societies today follow. Inside the homes, like with the Commander and his wife's sex with Offred, choice is made for each person without input. At the market, Offred and Ofglen always have the choice to take a different route. However, they always take the same one, and through this, Atwood suggests that choice takes a backseat when conditions are strange enough.
Their ultimate lack of choice is being the carrier of the Commander's baby. When they have sex, Offred is turned from an ignored woman to a very necessary tool. Just a tool. She, Offred, however, describes the sexual encounter as not rape, not "Making love", nor copulating, because of her "choice".
These passages, by showing the false gains in freedom and the loss of certain choices shows the society as becoming one that values not the individual choice, but the structure of the society. Like in the doctor scene, everything they do must somehow fit into the structure of the society. With the "signed up" for sex, the commander and his wife rule the Handmaid that they deem necessary. Society in The Handmaid's Tale is becoming frenzied with the order of things, not the things that are being done.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The Stranger Journal #7: Thesis Statement
Through the motif of sleeping, the changing patterns of sleeping, the circumstances and settings in which Meursault sleeps, Camus creates a Meursault that grows from being flat and dull to thoughtful, but still stuck in his same life.
Monday, October 12, 2009
The Stranger Journal #6
Thesis stuff:
Why does Camus use an antihero?
In Part 1 vs Part 2, the lacking of sentence complexity vs the overflowing variety is a symbol of Meursault, and how is it used to portray Camus' ideas?
hmmmmm....
Thesis?
-
In the final pages of the novel, Camus brings Meursault to important conclusions. One of which is that everything is really meaningless and nothing matters, no goals exist, and an end only lies in death. "I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. . .wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution. . ." (Camus 122-3). Throughout the passage, Camus has setup Meursault as the antihero, with all the traits of a slacker and non-relatable character, causing the reader to disagree with the actions that he takes. Therefore, his conclusion is also to be rejected by the reader and Camus because of Meursault's bias towards "indifference". Camus doesn't wish for the reader to come to the same conclusion. In fact, Camus even places words in Meursault's mouth that expresses what he wishes the reader to conclude. "All the shouting had me gaspin for air." (Camus 122). Here, Camus wishes for the reader to make a connection between the motif of the sky and the things "beyond" the vast sky such as a Maker. Meursault's "gasping" is his unknowing thirst for something more in life, when he ironically concludes that he has nothing to long for in his life except his death.
Why does Camus use an antihero?
In Part 1 vs Part 2, the lacking of sentence complexity vs the overflowing variety is a symbol of Meursault, and how is it used to portray Camus' ideas?
hmmmmm....
Thesis?
-
In the final pages of the novel, Camus brings Meursault to important conclusions. One of which is that everything is really meaningless and nothing matters, no goals exist, and an end only lies in death. "I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. . .wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution. . ." (Camus 122-3). Throughout the passage, Camus has setup Meursault as the antihero, with all the traits of a slacker and non-relatable character, causing the reader to disagree with the actions that he takes. Therefore, his conclusion is also to be rejected by the reader and Camus because of Meursault's bias towards "indifference". Camus doesn't wish for the reader to come to the same conclusion. In fact, Camus even places words in Meursault's mouth that expresses what he wishes the reader to conclude. "All the shouting had me gaspin for air." (Camus 122). Here, Camus wishes for the reader to make a connection between the motif of the sky and the things "beyond" the vast sky such as a Maker. Meursault's "gasping" is his unknowing thirst for something more in life, when he ironically concludes that he has nothing to long for in his life except his death.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The Stranger Journal #5
Camus creates two parts in The Stranger as a separation between an old, flat and emotionless Meursault from a more thoughtful, self examining Meursault.
One idea in Part 1 that is paralleled in Part 2 is the idea of rising and falling action occurring with the rise and fall of the sun. In Part 1, the day of Maman's funeral, the sun was up, and it was hot. As time drew nearer to night, Meursault goes to sleep, which is one of his ways to deal with stress. In part 2, after Meursault's lawyer's defense, "the sun was getting low outside and it wasn't as hot anymore." As the sun was falling, Meursault's future was being decided, which was falling action in comparison to the courtroom questionings.
Another idea that is paralleled between the two parts is Meursault's identity reflected in the syntax of the novel. In part 1, Camus uses short, choppy sentences, rarely going beyond basic structures. In Part 2, Camus extends the sentence structure and variety in length as a reflection of Meursault's growth. In the quote "So it seemed to me that you could come up with a mixture of chemicals that if ingested by the patient ( that's the word I'd use: "patient") would kill him nine times out of ten" (Camus 111). The word "so" is used to show that Meursault is now consciously connecting things together. The interjection of parenthesis is a representation of underlying thoughts that Meursault is sometimes aware of.
One idea in Part 1 that is paralleled in Part 2 is the idea of rising and falling action occurring with the rise and fall of the sun. In Part 1, the day of Maman's funeral, the sun was up, and it was hot. As time drew nearer to night, Meursault goes to sleep, which is one of his ways to deal with stress. In part 2, after Meursault's lawyer's defense, "the sun was getting low outside and it wasn't as hot anymore." As the sun was falling, Meursault's future was being decided, which was falling action in comparison to the courtroom questionings.
Another idea that is paralleled between the two parts is Meursault's identity reflected in the syntax of the novel. In part 1, Camus uses short, choppy sentences, rarely going beyond basic structures. In Part 2, Camus extends the sentence structure and variety in length as a reflection of Meursault's growth. In the quote "So it seemed to me that you could come up with a mixture of chemicals that if ingested by the patient ( that's the word I'd use: "patient") would kill him nine times out of ten" (Camus 111). The word "so" is used to show that Meursault is now consciously connecting things together. The interjection of parenthesis is a representation of underlying thoughts that Meursault is sometimes aware of.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Stranger Journal #4
How does Meursault change from part 1 to part 2?
In Part 1, Meursault is a detached character, living only in the moment, unable to express his own feelings. However, in Part 2, he begins to explore his feelings, and recognizes his difficulty in expressing what he means. "I thought she looked very beautiful, but I didn't know how to tell her." (Camus 74)
"On my way out out I was even going to shake his hand, but just in time, I remembered that I had killed a man." (Camus 64) Here, the content suggest Meursaults developing idea of things being bad or good. Before, everything was indifferent, love was nothing, and death didn't stir him. However, now, he sees his involvement in someone's death as evil, and thus doesn't want to mess up something good. Also, there is a change in Camus' writing style and syntax. More and more sentences are less and less choppy. The reduced choppiness creates a more sensitive Meursault who has more insights into things.
"But in another, it killed time." Camus originally used many time phrases to give Meursault a strict, regimented life style, following the moment, and only living as a person of no actual thought. Now, as he is denied one of his base pleasures, he experiences a break from time." By breaking his routine, he became more individualized.
In Part 1, Meursault is a detached character, living only in the moment, unable to express his own feelings. However, in Part 2, he begins to explore his feelings, and recognizes his difficulty in expressing what he means. "I thought she looked very beautiful, but I didn't know how to tell her." (Camus 74)
"On my way out out I was even going to shake his hand, but just in time, I remembered that I had killed a man." (Camus 64) Here, the content suggest Meursaults developing idea of things being bad or good. Before, everything was indifferent, love was nothing, and death didn't stir him. However, now, he sees his involvement in someone's death as evil, and thus doesn't want to mess up something good. Also, there is a change in Camus' writing style and syntax. More and more sentences are less and less choppy. The reduced choppiness creates a more sensitive Meursault who has more insights into things.
"But in another, it killed time." Camus originally used many time phrases to give Meursault a strict, regimented life style, following the moment, and only living as a person of no actual thought. Now, as he is denied one of his base pleasures, he experiences a break from time." By breaking his routine, he became more individualized.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The Stranger Journal #3 (Motifs)
Motifs
Routine
-Quotes: "They haven't changed their route in eight years." (Camus 27)
"I worked hard all week." (camus 34)
"She had positioned herself right next tot he curb and was making her way with incredible speed and assurance, never once swerving or looking around." (Camus 43)
Camus uses the motif of being entrenched in a daily routine. Routines entail lack of change, lack of need for change, and lack of want for change. By putting the motif of routine in the novel, Camus sets up a sense of dissatisfaction with routine, and that routines aren't always the things to follow, because of the later loss of the old man's dog.
Religion
-Quotes: "While not an atheist, Maman had never in her life given a thought to religion." (Camus 6)
names of bible: "Emmanuel, who works as a dispatcher." (Camus 25) "Celeste's dripping with sweat." (Camus 26) "Marie" (Camus all over the place :D)
Meursault doesn't depict any inclinations toward or against religion, but Camus incorporates allusions to biblical things to foreshadow a later revelation that Meursalt may have.
Names
Quotes: "Marie had gone." (Camus 21)
"Maman died today" (Camus 3)
"The old people's home is at Marengo," (Camus 3)
"You see, Monsieur Meursault," (Camus 29)
"Masson tried to make him laugh." (Camus 55)
Camus uses repetition of the letter "M" in peoples name to perhaps create a connection? Also, during the beach trip, there is Masson, Meursault, Marie, and Raymond interacting actively with each other. Raymond breaks the pattern of "M" to perhaps create a disagreement between the "M" people.
Colors
Quotes: "I loocked at him and saw a tall, fine featured man with deep-set blue eyes, a long gray moustache, and lots of think, almost white hair." (Camus 64)
Routine
-Quotes: "They haven't changed their route in eight years." (Camus 27)
"I worked hard all week." (camus 34)
"She had positioned herself right next tot he curb and was making her way with incredible speed and assurance, never once swerving or looking around." (Camus 43)
Camus uses the motif of being entrenched in a daily routine. Routines entail lack of change, lack of need for change, and lack of want for change. By putting the motif of routine in the novel, Camus sets up a sense of dissatisfaction with routine, and that routines aren't always the things to follow, because of the later loss of the old man's dog.
Religion
-Quotes: "While not an atheist, Maman had never in her life given a thought to religion." (Camus 6)
names of bible: "Emmanuel, who works as a dispatcher." (Camus 25) "Celeste's dripping with sweat." (Camus 26) "Marie" (Camus all over the place :D)
Meursault doesn't depict any inclinations toward or against religion, but Camus incorporates allusions to biblical things to foreshadow a later revelation that Meursalt may have.
Names
Quotes: "Marie had gone." (Camus 21)
"Maman died today" (Camus 3)
"The old people's home is at Marengo," (Camus 3)
"You see, Monsieur Meursault," (Camus 29)
"Masson tried to make him laugh." (Camus 55)
Camus uses repetition of the letter "M" in peoples name to perhaps create a connection? Also, during the beach trip, there is Masson, Meursault, Marie, and Raymond interacting actively with each other. Raymond breaks the pattern of "M" to perhaps create a disagreement between the "M" people.
Colors
Quotes: "I loocked at him and saw a tall, fine featured man with deep-set blue eyes, a long gray moustache, and lots of think, almost white hair." (Camus 64)
The Stranger Journal #2 (World Views Tenants)
My World View
Morphism
1.Humans must give the world meaning in his/her own life - The world doesn't present special meanings to life on its own.
2.Experiences shape a person's character - Losing family members, making friends, and living, forces decisions and shapes personalities, creating learning.
3.People often do things under the delusion of self-importance - "No good deed goes unpunished" - Humans always have an ulterior motive
4.There is no predetermination in life - Anything can be changed (personal position, love, friendship, perceived destination, etc.
5.Religion clouds rational thinking - Not anti-religion, but popular beliefs in churches and religions are many times outdated, or unreasonably distorted.
6.Ultimate goal for people (still is unreachable) = bettering ones' self - Reaching Nirvana, or communion with God is not the goal in life. The goal is to reach a "Jesus morality", not "Jesus spirituality".
7.Happiness in life comes from discovering truths of ones' self - Learning what you ultimately believe is a long endeavor that brings happiness, which is why so few actually are aware of their individual belief.
Morphism
1.Humans must give the world meaning in his/her own life - The world doesn't present special meanings to life on its own.
2.Experiences shape a person's character - Losing family members, making friends, and living, forces decisions and shapes personalities, creating learning.
3.People often do things under the delusion of self-importance - "No good deed goes unpunished" - Humans always have an ulterior motive
4.There is no predetermination in life - Anything can be changed (personal position, love, friendship, perceived destination, etc.
5.Religion clouds rational thinking - Not anti-religion, but popular beliefs in churches and religions are many times outdated, or unreasonably distorted.
6.Ultimate goal for people (still is unreachable) = bettering ones' self - Reaching Nirvana, or communion with God is not the goal in life. The goal is to reach a "Jesus morality", not "Jesus spirituality".
7.Happiness in life comes from discovering truths of ones' self - Learning what you ultimately believe is a long endeavor that brings happiness, which is why so few actually are aware of their individual belief.
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Stranger Journal #1
Summary
Meursalt recieves new of his mother's death. He takes leave on work and travels to her elderly's home to take vigil and attend the funeral in Marengo. Meursalt takes a bus back to Algiers and falls asleep. After waking up the next day, Meursalt goes for a swim down at the harbor. He happens upon Marie Cardona, a crush. They go on a date to see a Fernandel movie. The next morning, Marie has left, and Meursalt proceeds to carry the day through his apartment. He watches the street below and the sky above, and the people moving through the scene.
Personal Reaction
Mersault's behavior, narration, and attitudes intrigues me and also angers me. His passiveness in life is bothersome because it is against my expectations for people to act in different situations. A death in his family doesn't manage to stir any more complex feelings inside him besides "For now its almost as if Maman weren't dead." (Camus 3), and this lack of connection to someone so close angers me because it is the opposite of how I would react. However, despite my anger towards his family behaviors, his actions towards other people intrigues me. On his date, he realizes that he gave a bad kiss, that he only treated her as an object, which is very revealing about his character. His and "Watching and noticing" of people during his people watch is very close to me, so I am curious to how he turns out through comparison to me.
Analysis
By creating the character of Meursalt; one who is detached from complex feelings and emotions, always focusing on the outside, Camus is trying to give the reader a new post to think and view from. Throughout the first two chapters of Camus' The Stranger, the actions of Meursalt follow a certain predictable flow. He is always observing people to detach from his own emotions and feelings. "What struck me[Meursalt] most about their faces was that I couldn't see their eyes, just a faint glimmer in a nest of wrinkles" (Camus 10). Camus omits eyes and replaces them with a "glimmer" to show that their is no importance in humans, that all people are just machines.
Research
Algiers, in 1942, was the headquarters of the Allied forces of WW2 in Northern Africa, as a Mock government of France in Algeria.
Meursalt recieves new of his mother's death. He takes leave on work and travels to her elderly's home to take vigil and attend the funeral in Marengo. Meursalt takes a bus back to Algiers and falls asleep. After waking up the next day, Meursalt goes for a swim down at the harbor. He happens upon Marie Cardona, a crush. They go on a date to see a Fernandel movie. The next morning, Marie has left, and Meursalt proceeds to carry the day through his apartment. He watches the street below and the sky above, and the people moving through the scene.
Personal Reaction
Mersault's behavior, narration, and attitudes intrigues me and also angers me. His passiveness in life is bothersome because it is against my expectations for people to act in different situations. A death in his family doesn't manage to stir any more complex feelings inside him besides "For now its almost as if Maman weren't dead." (Camus 3), and this lack of connection to someone so close angers me because it is the opposite of how I would react. However, despite my anger towards his family behaviors, his actions towards other people intrigues me. On his date, he realizes that he gave a bad kiss, that he only treated her as an object, which is very revealing about his character. His and "Watching and noticing" of people during his people watch is very close to me, so I am curious to how he turns out through comparison to me.
Analysis
By creating the character of Meursalt; one who is detached from complex feelings and emotions, always focusing on the outside, Camus is trying to give the reader a new post to think and view from. Throughout the first two chapters of Camus' The Stranger, the actions of Meursalt follow a certain predictable flow. He is always observing people to detach from his own emotions and feelings. "What struck me[Meursalt] most about their faces was that I couldn't see their eyes, just a faint glimmer in a nest of wrinkles" (Camus 10). Camus omits eyes and replaces them with a "glimmer" to show that their is no importance in humans, that all people are just machines.
Research
Algiers, in 1942, was the headquarters of the Allied forces of WW2 in Northern Africa, as a Mock government of France in Algeria.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Journal 9
I don't know if this theme makes much sense to you guys, but its a shot :). I might want to try this for my Pastiche.
Throughout the last two chapters of TEWWG, Hurston strongly expresses the theme of learning to love through experience.
In chapter 19, Janie tells the Docotor about her love for Tea Cake. "Docotr, Ah loves him fit tuh kill. Tell me anything tuh do and Ah'll do it." (Hurston 177) Earlier in the novel, Janie doesn't give a cahoot about any of her "lovers" (Joe/Logan). They were pressured marriages and she didn't wish to be with them. After those marriages, she had an idea of what she wanted through lack of provision. When Tea Cake comes along, Janie sees her life with him. Her love has grown from being coddled by Tea Cake without giving anything back, to, "[doing] anything" for him. Hurston suggests through this passage, that experience can be the first love or the third love, but it takes learning through experience to achieve that state.
Another passage that highlights the theme of learning love through experience is in chapter 20. Janie tells Phoeby the story of Tea Cake and then discloses that the towns folk can speak all they want. "Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and theyg ot tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves." (Hurston 192) Here, Janie shares her life in one phrase: They got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves."; Janie's life has been about finding not only herself, but also how to love. Earlier, Janie had followed Nanny's rules for love: Marry, gain property, be happy, love. She then grows through experience with Joe and Tea Cake. Once they are both gone, she is reminiscent, reflecting upon the events that led to her ever growing and constant love for Tea Cake. Hurston has Janie got through the marriages to show that lasting love is learned.
Plot Diagram:
Kaela lives with her older sister, who is widowed.
Her sister gives her insight into finding a soulmate, not without heartache.
She meets a gangster that offers her all the things she didn't have growing up as a poor little sister. She is abused and neglected. A casino owner with a white suit charms his way into her heart and marries her away from the gangster and into his hometown. She decides that she doesn't want someone who will abuse her. As years go on, the casino owner beings to ignore her and actually makes her become a waitress at his casino. She is angered at the domineering position that her husband is taking. One gambler, who arrives just before closing time, strikes up conversation. He learns that she is not living a full life. They elope once the casino owner flies off to Hawaii for a meeting. Kaela now understands what she has been missing in life; a true relationship with no consuming dependencies. Kaela and the gambler go on a boating trip. After an earthquake and whirlpool engulfs their boat, they are separated in the ocean. She lands on shore and sees his body washed up several hundred feet away, where he lies in death. She realizes that she truly loved this man and would have done anything for him. She grows old.
Throughout the last two chapters of TEWWG, Hurston strongly expresses the theme of learning to love through experience.
In chapter 19, Janie tells the Docotor about her love for Tea Cake. "Docotr, Ah loves him fit tuh kill. Tell me anything tuh do and Ah'll do it." (Hurston 177) Earlier in the novel, Janie doesn't give a cahoot about any of her "lovers" (Joe/Logan). They were pressured marriages and she didn't wish to be with them. After those marriages, she had an idea of what she wanted through lack of provision. When Tea Cake comes along, Janie sees her life with him. Her love has grown from being coddled by Tea Cake without giving anything back, to, "[doing] anything" for him. Hurston suggests through this passage, that experience can be the first love or the third love, but it takes learning through experience to achieve that state.
Another passage that highlights the theme of learning love through experience is in chapter 20. Janie tells Phoeby the story of Tea Cake and then discloses that the towns folk can speak all they want. "Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and theyg ot tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves." (Hurston 192) Here, Janie shares her life in one phrase: They got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves."; Janie's life has been about finding not only herself, but also how to love. Earlier, Janie had followed Nanny's rules for love: Marry, gain property, be happy, love. She then grows through experience with Joe and Tea Cake. Once they are both gone, she is reminiscent, reflecting upon the events that led to her ever growing and constant love for Tea Cake. Hurston has Janie got through the marriages to show that lasting love is learned.
Plot Diagram:
Kaela lives with her older sister, who is widowed.
Her sister gives her insight into finding a soulmate, not without heartache.
She meets a gangster that offers her all the things she didn't have growing up as a poor little sister. She is abused and neglected. A casino owner with a white suit charms his way into her heart and marries her away from the gangster and into his hometown. She decides that she doesn't want someone who will abuse her. As years go on, the casino owner beings to ignore her and actually makes her become a waitress at his casino. She is angered at the domineering position that her husband is taking. One gambler, who arrives just before closing time, strikes up conversation. He learns that she is not living a full life. They elope once the casino owner flies off to Hawaii for a meeting. Kaela now understands what she has been missing in life; a true relationship with no consuming dependencies. Kaela and the gambler go on a boating trip. After an earthquake and whirlpool engulfs their boat, they are separated in the ocean. She lands on shore and sees his body washed up several hundred feet away, where he lies in death. She realizes that she truly loved this man and would have done anything for him. She grows old.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Journal 8
The hurricane had just ripped through the village. "As far as the eye could reach, water and wind playing upon it in fury" (Hurston 165). Hurston uses setting to mirror Janie's life in relationships and storms, because much of Janie's realtionships can be seen as surrounded by "Water and wind . . . in fury". Hurston's setting creates a setup to Janie's revelation of "bein' dead from the standin' still and tryin' tuh laugh." (167) The standing still is what Janie initially wants to do during the storm, but that would have led to death. In her other relationships, Janie stood still, and accepted her fate as a wife to Joe or Logan. However, she decides to move between each one and finds life. Then, with Tea Cake, she continues to move, as represented in Hurston's storm. Hurston intends the reader to see that the storm is the physical realization of the test that Joe, Logan, and Tea Cake must go through, only this time, Tea Cake managed to keep Janie.
This was signed off by you, Mrs. Wecker, on Friday, sept 25.
This was signed off by you, Mrs. Wecker, on Friday, sept 25.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Journal 7 Pastiche
The day of the baseball game, Janie is left at the store when a mysterious man named Tea Cake arrives to charm her to her feet. Janie had set a latest time of 6:00 PM, but when Tea Cake arrives, she ignores her own deadline and allows him to stay until the other men arrive back from the game. Janie offered her hospitality and Tea Cake "took a seat and made talk and laughter witht he rest until closing time" (Hurston 89). Janie's acceptance of another affectionate man in her life reveals her willingness to move on officially from Joe's death. This is the moment that will decide the town's gossip for the next while. But, because nobody was around to provide their own bias towards Tea Cake, Janie chose him out of her own independent decision. This is her growth of character because she can ignore or disregard societal expectations.
However, had Janie turned Tea Cake away when he first arrived or even at the original closing time of 6:00 PM, Janie's future would be both much different and similar to what is presented in the novel.
Pastiche: Janie turns Tea Cake away out of her cynical views of life.
"Good evenin' Mis' Starks," he said with a sly grin on his face. An enigmatic spark was present in his eyes.
Janie hesitated, remembering Joe despite her own protests. She erased any creases in her apron. "Good evenin', sir." A dream floated before her, blowing away in the wind with any hopes of life.A visible flicker of doubt bolted across Janie's face.
"Oh, Ah don't mean no hurtin' to yuh. I wuz lookin' inter some smokin' tobacco'. Got any camels?"
She slid open the drawer and handed him a pack. She threw a glance at the clock showing hands near six, pointing towards the man's deep bronze hide. The light reflected off of his skin and showed beads of sweat in the heat. My, he is somethin' tuh look at. "Ah gotta close up soon, why don't you an' you'se tobacco git on out an' let me finish my duties."
"Dun' worry 'bout me, lak Ah said, I dun' wanna harm yuh," he saide, leaning on the counter with his elbows. He glimpsed the checkerboard by the chair behind Janie. "Aftuh you'se is done heah, wanna play checkers?" he said, breaking Joe's customs with one question.
"Ah'm no fool, and if this is your way of teasin' me, den you can jus' hurry on out faster, Mr. . . what did yuh say yuh name wuz?"
"Didn't think Ah would be needin' it heah. I kin see Ah'm not exactly wanted 'round heah, so you'se can skip mah short name. Yuh see, I offen come across as sweet, so Ah git called Tea Cake fuh short. But you kin skip dat and call me Woods. Mah name is Vergible Woods."]
This man sho' is lak de rest of 'em, playin' up their names tuh sound more than they are. Putting out a hightone, Janie said, "Mr. Woods, mah store is closed. G'night."
Janie spied the shadow of Tea Cake melt into the darkness as the light faded into the porch lamps and the other towns people returned from the day. She felt the regret and dreams well up and punish the middle of her throat.
Men walked past the shop and saw her gazing towards the man they all walked by. "You just remembuh Joe an' do yuh sad thing. Let me take care uh you'se store an' trouble," Hezekiah said.
However, had Janie turned Tea Cake away when he first arrived or even at the original closing time of 6:00 PM, Janie's future would be both much different and similar to what is presented in the novel.
Pastiche: Janie turns Tea Cake away out of her cynical views of life.
"Good evenin' Mis' Starks," he said with a sly grin on his face. An enigmatic spark was present in his eyes.
Janie hesitated, remembering Joe despite her own protests. She erased any creases in her apron. "Good evenin', sir." A dream floated before her, blowing away in the wind with any hopes of life.A visible flicker of doubt bolted across Janie's face.
"Oh, Ah don't mean no hurtin' to yuh. I wuz lookin' inter some smokin' tobacco'. Got any camels?"
She slid open the drawer and handed him a pack. She threw a glance at the clock showing hands near six, pointing towards the man's deep bronze hide. The light reflected off of his skin and showed beads of sweat in the heat. My, he is somethin' tuh look at. "Ah gotta close up soon, why don't you an' you'se tobacco git on out an' let me finish my duties."
"Dun' worry 'bout me, lak Ah said, I dun' wanna harm yuh," he saide, leaning on the counter with his elbows. He glimpsed the checkerboard by the chair behind Janie. "Aftuh you'se is done heah, wanna play checkers?" he said, breaking Joe's customs with one question.
"Ah'm no fool, and if this is your way of teasin' me, den you can jus' hurry on out faster, Mr. . . what did yuh say yuh name wuz?"
"Didn't think Ah would be needin' it heah. I kin see Ah'm not exactly wanted 'round heah, so you'se can skip mah short name. Yuh see, I offen come across as sweet, so Ah git called Tea Cake fuh short. But you kin skip dat and call me Woods. Mah name is Vergible Woods."]
This man sho' is lak de rest of 'em, playin' up their names tuh sound more than they are. Putting out a hightone, Janie said, "Mr. Woods, mah store is closed. G'night."
Janie spied the shadow of Tea Cake melt into the darkness as the light faded into the porch lamps and the other towns people returned from the day. She felt the regret and dreams well up and punish the middle of her throat.
Men walked past the shop and saw her gazing towards the man they all walked by. "You just remembuh Joe an' do yuh sad thing. Let me take care uh you'se store an' trouble," Hezekiah said.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Journal 6 TEWWG
Janie is thinking about Tea Cake and all the things related to him, when she is visited by a demon of sorts. "In the cool of the afternoon the fiend from hell specially sent to lovers arrived at Janie's ear. Doubt." (108) Allusions to sacred things are common in Hurtson's writing, and here, Hurston uses the allusion of a "demon" to show the plight of Janie's situation. This is an allusion to the trouble that all religious people face: questioning of faith. However, Hurston changes it and applies it to love. By raising this "question", Hurston shows that Janie is not exactly certain in the solidity of her relationship with Tea Cake. This "Doubt" is the kind that kills things at the root. Any misinformation can through a lover's doubt into separation. By these means, Hurston creates a personal conflict that Janie must face; should she trust in another man?
Tea Cake and Janie are discussing their opinions of each other on the porch in the dark, and Janie begins to question their relationship. "He's just saying anything for the time being, feelin he's got me so I'll b'lieve him. The next thought buried her under tons of cold futility." (105) Hurston's uses a shift in Point of View in this passage. Originally, Hurston writes in third person limited, but she switches suddenly to first person. These are thoughts that Janie is thinking, and Hurtson switches Point of View to show us that she is truly trying to believe these thoughts. This is also Hurston's way of telling us the story without telling us the story. This random interjection of different point of views shows the staggered feeling that Janie has in her real life. Then the quote switches back to third person limited, showing her return to reality.
Phoeby is on her way to confront Janie about allt he rumors that have been started around her and Tea Cake. "Stopped and talked a little with everyone she met, turned aside momentarily to pause at a porch or two -- going straight by walking crooked" (112). Hurston uses an oxymoron to better clarify the image of Phoeby's plan. First, Phoeby decides to talk to Janie. Hurston draws attention to the fact that Phoeby doesn't want to raise suspicion, so she has a set destination, but must make many detours, thus the "crooked" path taken to a single destination. Hurston's small insight into Phoeby, Janie's "bosom friend", through an oxymoron, further separates Phoeby and Janie from the Townsfolk by creating a wall of opinion between them.
"All the next day in the house and store she thought resisting thoughts about Tea Cake." (pg. 106) Paradox
"So they had lemonade too." (102) Syntax --b/c of the contrast between the long descriptive sentences to the short one.
"But oh, what wouldn't I give to be twelve years younger so I could b'lieve him!" (105)Repetition of the idea of age.
"Nobody else on earth kin hold uh candle tuh you, baby. You got de keys to de kingdom." (109) Pick up line of the century. :)
Tea Cake and Janie are discussing their opinions of each other on the porch in the dark, and Janie begins to question their relationship. "He's just saying anything for the time being, feelin he's got me so I'll b'lieve him. The next thought buried her under tons of cold futility." (105) Hurston's uses a shift in Point of View in this passage. Originally, Hurston writes in third person limited, but she switches suddenly to first person. These are thoughts that Janie is thinking, and Hurtson switches Point of View to show us that she is truly trying to believe these thoughts. This is also Hurston's way of telling us the story without telling us the story. This random interjection of different point of views shows the staggered feeling that Janie has in her real life. Then the quote switches back to third person limited, showing her return to reality.
Phoeby is on her way to confront Janie about allt he rumors that have been started around her and Tea Cake. "Stopped and talked a little with everyone she met, turned aside momentarily to pause at a porch or two -- going straight by walking crooked" (112). Hurston uses an oxymoron to better clarify the image of Phoeby's plan. First, Phoeby decides to talk to Janie. Hurston draws attention to the fact that Phoeby doesn't want to raise suspicion, so she has a set destination, but must make many detours, thus the "crooked" path taken to a single destination. Hurston's small insight into Phoeby, Janie's "bosom friend", through an oxymoron, further separates Phoeby and Janie from the Townsfolk by creating a wall of opinion between them.
"All the next day in the house and store she thought resisting thoughts about Tea Cake." (pg. 106) Paradox
"So they had lemonade too." (102) Syntax --b/c of the contrast between the long descriptive sentences to the short one.
"But oh, what wouldn't I give to be twelve years younger so I could b'lieve him!" (105)Repetition of the idea of age.
"Nobody else on earth kin hold uh candle tuh you, baby. You got de keys to de kingdom." (109) Pick up line of the century. :)
Journal 5 TEWWG
AGH! I woke up and remembered I have to put this on the blog instead of on paper. Sorry if there are many errors w/ my grammar and spelling.
In the introduction of chapter nine in TEWWG, Hurtson exhibits her honed awareness and manipulation of language. Right after Joe's funeral, Hurston uses Janie to show syntax, word choice, tone, and sound devices; "It was like a wall of stone and steel. The funeral was going on outside. All things concerning death and burial were said and done. Finish. End. Nevermore. Darkness. Deep hole. Dissolution. Eternity. Weeping and wailing outside. Inside the expensive black folds were resurrection and life. She did not reach outside for anything, nor did the things of death reach inside to disturb her calm. She sent her face to Joe's funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world." (Pg 88)
This is one of Hurston's best examples of use of syntax in TEWWG. At first, she uses complete sentences with a definite structure: Noun does an action, with description words. "It [Janie's face] was like a wall of stone and steel" (88). On the other side was the funeral. Hurston uses complete sentences to show the reader that the outside world is in order. Things are falling into place. People die, people mourn. However, Hurston starkly contrasts the outside world with Janie's inner turmoil. The short, stinging words appear in one word phrases. They bite with succinctness. "Finish. End. Nevermore. Darkness. Deep hole. Dissolution. Eternity. Weeping and wailing outside." (88) Hurston interrupts the logical, flowing thought of Janie at the funeral to show the real struggle that Janie is facing. Every period between every phrase puts an "Eternity" between the words. They create uncomfortable gaps that explains Janie's conflicts better than complete sentences would.
Then, toward the end of the thoughts, Hurston once agains returns to whole sentences with great descriptions. Janie quickly turns from short sinister thoughts to "rollicking witht he springtime across the world." (88) By pivoting so quickly on the emotions, Hurtson's usage of syntax effectively represents how easily Janie got over Joe's death.
Through word choice, Hurston give the reader a clearer view of the intangible things that Janie is going through. "Finish", "End", "Nevermore", "Dissolution", "Darkness", "Eternity", and "Deep hole" are all intangible, death related things. Janie is clearly thinking about death as her husband has just passed away, but Hurston's word choice identifies what Janie is contemplating. Each word is also a noun. Hurston never uses "Finished" or "Ended" because putting them into nouns creates more immediate feelings. Then she juxtapositions these morose and grievous words to fulfilling words such as "resurrection and life" and "rollicking with the springtime across the world." (88) This sudden juxtaposition shows Janie's reluctance to linger on deathly thoughts. Everything dull and lifeless that was connected to Joe is now replaced with a carefree "skip" through the world.
At first, Hurston's tone is abysmal, but then it evolves to a tone of "resurrection". Overall, however, Hurston's single tone in this passage is one of enlightenment. To achieve enlightenment, one must suffer through a period of confusion. Once that confusion is resolved, then the end is achieved. This "enlightenment" give the reader and Janie a revelation. As a reader, we have already known that Janie was a free woman, who shouldn't be held back by "Darkness" and "Dissolution", whereas Janie now sees that that wasn't the way to live. She is enlightened with new information about herself.
Once again, Hurston juxtapositions two things in this passage to create the proper image. The words of gloom (finish, end, nevermore, darkness, deap hole, etc) is juxtapositioned to Janie's arrival into reality. Hurston uses a harsh "s" sound to create discord. "FiniSH" and DarkneSS" and "DiSSolution" use the "s" sound. Hurston also uses the next phrase, "Weeping and wailing outside." (88) The "W" sound creates an impassion mindset, almost ignorant. Other words that jump to mind are "what, why, where, when, . . ." These words, when continuously repeated, cause the listener to ignore what is being said. Hurston is using this sound to show us that Janie is ignoring the "weeping and wailing." This transition between the sound devices also show Janie's transition back into reality.
In the introduction of chapter nine in TEWWG, Hurtson exhibits her honed awareness and manipulation of language. Right after Joe's funeral, Hurston uses Janie to show syntax, word choice, tone, and sound devices; "It was like a wall of stone and steel. The funeral was going on outside. All things concerning death and burial were said and done. Finish. End. Nevermore. Darkness. Deep hole. Dissolution. Eternity. Weeping and wailing outside. Inside the expensive black folds were resurrection and life. She did not reach outside for anything, nor did the things of death reach inside to disturb her calm. She sent her face to Joe's funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world." (Pg 88)
This is one of Hurston's best examples of use of syntax in TEWWG. At first, she uses complete sentences with a definite structure: Noun does an action, with description words. "It [Janie's face] was like a wall of stone and steel" (88). On the other side was the funeral. Hurston uses complete sentences to show the reader that the outside world is in order. Things are falling into place. People die, people mourn. However, Hurston starkly contrasts the outside world with Janie's inner turmoil. The short, stinging words appear in one word phrases. They bite with succinctness. "Finish. End. Nevermore. Darkness. Deep hole. Dissolution. Eternity. Weeping and wailing outside." (88) Hurston interrupts the logical, flowing thought of Janie at the funeral to show the real struggle that Janie is facing. Every period between every phrase puts an "Eternity" between the words. They create uncomfortable gaps that explains Janie's conflicts better than complete sentences would.
Then, toward the end of the thoughts, Hurston once agains returns to whole sentences with great descriptions. Janie quickly turns from short sinister thoughts to "rollicking witht he springtime across the world." (88) By pivoting so quickly on the emotions, Hurtson's usage of syntax effectively represents how easily Janie got over Joe's death.
Through word choice, Hurston give the reader a clearer view of the intangible things that Janie is going through. "Finish", "End", "Nevermore", "Dissolution", "Darkness", "Eternity", and "Deep hole" are all intangible, death related things. Janie is clearly thinking about death as her husband has just passed away, but Hurston's word choice identifies what Janie is contemplating. Each word is also a noun. Hurston never uses "Finished" or "Ended" because putting them into nouns creates more immediate feelings. Then she juxtapositions these morose and grievous words to fulfilling words such as "resurrection and life" and "rollicking with the springtime across the world." (88) This sudden juxtaposition shows Janie's reluctance to linger on deathly thoughts. Everything dull and lifeless that was connected to Joe is now replaced with a carefree "skip" through the world.
At first, Hurston's tone is abysmal, but then it evolves to a tone of "resurrection". Overall, however, Hurston's single tone in this passage is one of enlightenment. To achieve enlightenment, one must suffer through a period of confusion. Once that confusion is resolved, then the end is achieved. This "enlightenment" give the reader and Janie a revelation. As a reader, we have already known that Janie was a free woman, who shouldn't be held back by "Darkness" and "Dissolution", whereas Janie now sees that that wasn't the way to live. She is enlightened with new information about herself.
Once again, Hurston juxtapositions two things in this passage to create the proper image. The words of gloom (finish, end, nevermore, darkness, deap hole, etc) is juxtapositioned to Janie's arrival into reality. Hurston uses a harsh "s" sound to create discord. "FiniSH" and DarkneSS" and "DiSSolution" use the "s" sound. Hurston also uses the next phrase, "Weeping and wailing outside." (88) The "W" sound creates an impassion mindset, almost ignorant. Other words that jump to mind are "what, why, where, when, . . ." These words, when continuously repeated, cause the listener to ignore what is being said. Hurston is using this sound to show us that Janie is ignoring the "weeping and wailing." This transition between the sound devices also show Janie's transition back into reality.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Journal 4: Pastiche
Then Pearl started to speculate about Friendship. Friendship, the chipped mirror with multiple faces that resides in the gambling house adjacent to the Church. A mendacious monster that discovered and lived in the Ravine, and one with no bottom. Why would Friendship require anything but an eternal hole, and what man can climb away from him? Crouches vigilantly for almost no time and all time ready with his barbed net, tightening his hold when one attempts escape. Inhabiting the crevice since the light and the dark and the air touched upon his skin. She was bound to discover a fang from one of His mouths piercing into his thigh as soon as he opened his eyes. He was wounded and lonely. Adamant Jay! He needs tuh remember his old ways. Ever since he pulled away from her, he wuz a different man. She asked Harry to convince Josh to allow a meeting before he died, but Jay resisted any confrontation with his past. All these people, tryin' tuh reclaim their stake on his life, but they didn't know how tuh go bout' meeting him. He had no desire to fix broken relationships, that he had no reason to make amends. He believed this with every ounce of his soul. However, Pearl heard from Harry that that was not so, so she persisted. So, if he didn't heal any relationships, she would inevitably know, since old friends of Jay would be just outside of his home, huddled together in the rain splattering the cracked concrete patio by the shaded window of his room. Old pals that would never have tried this hard to meet him crowded into the place and stayed just away from the unlocked door. Only stood in the rain and wondered. Discord, the jaws of Eris, clamped down upon the people.
Journal 3
Quote 1: "The fact that the thought pictures were always crayon enlargements of life made it even nicer to listen to." (Pg 51)
Janie, after observing people talk in the store, comments on their thoughts and conversations. "The fact that the thought pictures were always crayon enlargements of life made it even nicer to listen to." (pg 51) In this quote, Hurston uses the metaphor of comparing thoughts of people to crayon drawings (of life). Hurston's metaphor clarifies the purity of the folks' speeches and conversations because "Crayon enlargements" are usually very basic, easily read or distinguished, and very textured. By comparing crayons to the thoughts, or ideas of people Hurtson separates the character of Janie from the rest of the towns people, perhaps foreshadowing further conflicts of opinion due to difference of character later on in the novel.
Quote 2: "Hambo said, ' Yo wife is uh born orator, Starks. Us never knowed dat befo'." (Pg 58)
After Janie had praised Joe for his rescue of the mule, the townsfolk praised Janie for her use of words. "Hambo said, 'Yo wife is uh born orator, Starks. Us never knowed dat befo'." (Pg 58) This is use of Irony because of Janie's past life as the town's subject of gossip. By using a towns person instead of the narrator to reveal this irony, Hurston can use the dialect of the people to contrast Janie to "Past Janie" with the same setting, because it is better to compare two things or people when everything else is almost the same. This reveals Janie's growth of character.
Quote 3 (Imagery): "'dat mule so skinny till de women is usin' his ribbones fuh uh rubboard, and hanging things out on his back bones tuh dry." (Pg 52)
Quote 4 (Personification): "How he pushed open Lindsay's kitchen door and . . . fought until they made coffer for his breakfast; . . . he got tired of listening to Redmond's long-winded prayer, and went inside the Baptist church and broke up the meeting." (Pg 59)
Quote 5 (Motif/symbol): "'Folkses, de sun is goin down. De 'sun-maker brings it up in de mornin', and de Sun-maker sends it tuh bed at night. Us poor weak humans can't do nothin' tuh hurry it up nor to slow it down." (pg 45)
Note to Mrs. Wecker:
I showed you the journal today before class, and you signed off your initials at the bottom. :)
Janie, after observing people talk in the store, comments on their thoughts and conversations. "The fact that the thought pictures were always crayon enlargements of life made it even nicer to listen to." (pg 51) In this quote, Hurston uses the metaphor of comparing thoughts of people to crayon drawings (of life). Hurston's metaphor clarifies the purity of the folks' speeches and conversations because "Crayon enlargements" are usually very basic, easily read or distinguished, and very textured. By comparing crayons to the thoughts, or ideas of people Hurtson separates the character of Janie from the rest of the towns people, perhaps foreshadowing further conflicts of opinion due to difference of character later on in the novel.
Quote 2: "Hambo said, ' Yo wife is uh born orator, Starks. Us never knowed dat befo'." (Pg 58)
After Janie had praised Joe for his rescue of the mule, the townsfolk praised Janie for her use of words. "Hambo said, 'Yo wife is uh born orator, Starks. Us never knowed dat befo'." (Pg 58) This is use of Irony because of Janie's past life as the town's subject of gossip. By using a towns person instead of the narrator to reveal this irony, Hurston can use the dialect of the people to contrast Janie to "Past Janie" with the same setting, because it is better to compare two things or people when everything else is almost the same. This reveals Janie's growth of character.
Quote 3 (Imagery): "'dat mule so skinny till de women is usin' his ribbones fuh uh rubboard, and hanging things out on his back bones tuh dry." (Pg 52)
Quote 4 (Personification): "How he pushed open Lindsay's kitchen door and . . . fought until they made coffer for his breakfast; . . . he got tired of listening to Redmond's long-winded prayer, and went inside the Baptist church and broke up the meeting." (Pg 59)
Quote 5 (Motif/symbol): "'Folkses, de sun is goin down. De 'sun-maker brings it up in de mornin', and de Sun-maker sends it tuh bed at night. Us poor weak humans can't do nothin' tuh hurry it up nor to slow it down." (pg 45)
Note to Mrs. Wecker:
I showed you the journal today before class, and you signed off your initials at the bottom. :)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Journal 2
Grandma's Sermon:
Tuhday, Ah come heah wid de same past as yuh befow me. Ah wuz beatin an' broken. So 'uv all yuh fella women. We bin made inta spitting cups fo' de white men an' even ow own menfolks. Ah'll be knowin yuh dun have tuh take it. But we ahw...we ahw...Dat is why Ah ast de Lawd fo' guidin' fo' us 'omen. Lawd, let us recognize the rights dat we know we deserve. Give us Strength tuh takup ow own lives. Yuh, Lawd, gone done me an' mah fellow girls all yuh must do, thruh yow mussy.
It is ow time to take up wut the Lawd gave us tuh do. We mus' stand up an' brush off owselves. Stand up an' stay standin'.
Tuhday, Ah come heah wid de same past as yuh befow me. Ah wuz beatin an' broken. So 'uv all yuh fella women. We bin made inta spitting cups fo' de white men an' even ow own menfolks. Ah'll be knowin yuh dun have tuh take it. But we ahw...we ahw...Dat is why Ah ast de Lawd fo' guidin' fo' us 'omen. Lawd, let us recognize the rights dat we know we deserve. Give us Strength tuh takup ow own lives. Yuh, Lawd, gone done me an' mah fellow girls all yuh must do, thruh yow mussy.
It is ow time to take up wut the Lawd gave us tuh do. We mus' stand up an' brush off owselves. Stand up an' stay standin'.
Defunctional Printer!
Ugh! My printer isn't working, so I'm posting my outline revision here. The format is going to be all wonky. I'm going to try and also print it out at school, but libraries are closed, so we'll see how that goes.
Justin Kim
Mrs. Wecker
IB Junior English
14 September 2009
Outline for Stalking Assignment
I)Introduction
A)Attention getter: Studies and research today shows that much of the country's population suffers from psychological disorders. Whereas many adults do not show outward signs, many children do. However, a large portion of these cases can be traced to difficult childhood experiences instead of neurological disorders.
B)Thesis: Although the Asian boy shows many outward signs of social acceptance, he is revealed, through his excessive gesticulation during speaking, insecure body language, and reactions to others, to be having difficulties fitting into a social life.
II)Body
A)Topic 1: Excessive gestures during speaking
The boy hesitates to speak, but when he does speak, a subtle effort to compensate for his general lack of participation is noticed.
a)He puts in the least amount of effort in the games as the other boys, almost always intentionally. This shows a “why care when it won't work” attitude
Along with the gestures is a loud voice.
a)Makes it seem like he is putting forward a picture he wishes others to see
B)Topic 2: Insecure body language
He is always standing a little farther away from everyone than anyone else is.
a)Shows an unwillingness to be “with the group” because he is ALWAYS standing farther away.
b)Shows his inability to become part of the group
He holds his wrists and hands at a locked position
a)Holding any body part at a locked position is a sign of discomfort, either physically or mentally. This one just happens to be a physical manifestation of his discomfort in being in an open setting with people who can judge him.
He crosses his arms often.
a)His crossed arms create a barrier between him and the rest of the world, allowing him to view the ongoing events with a self-perceived feeling of immunity to the events.
He shrugs his shoulders a lot.
a)This deflects attention from him, showing an unwillingness to cooperate or give information.
C)Topic 3: Reactions to others
Always the last to participate.
a) Shows he is indifferent to a win or a loss, but he still wishes to play.
When someone asks him to do something, he does it without question.
a) The boy's reactions to the other boys' efforts to include him in their games or activities show, paradoxically, a want and a distaste to be included.
III)Conclusion
A)Restate introduction with thesis:A simple observation of a child's behavior can reveal that he is experiencing trouble in life, and that his or her insecurities are nothing more than unresolved problems within the child's life. The boy's ineptness at fitting into a social life is apparent through his body language, speech gestures, and outward reactions to his surroundings.
Journal 1
Hey, I'm sorry for posting so late in the night, but I just got back from my PYP rehearsal about an hour and a half ago (commitment), and English wasn't the first assignment I started working on. Here is my Journal 1:
Janie strikes me as a woman who has deep struggles with who she is and who she wishes to think she is. Janie, "had come back from burying the dead", and was instantly met with criticism and jealousy on the part of the other townspeople. The men lust after her and the women gossip. These opinions outside of her family do not have any affect on her, but the things that her nanny says cause Janie to reconsider where she is going and if she has any idea what she is going to do with her life. Her nanny asks Janie to get married: "Janie, youse uh 'oman, now, so- . . . Ah wants to see you married right away" (pg 12). Janie replies by stating that she doesn't think of herself as "no real 'oman yet". Janie doesn't know where she is in life. Also, "Nanny's words made Janie's kiss across the gatepost seem like a manure pile after a rain." This shows that Janie was raised in a home with straight morals and dislikes the thought of not meeting those morals. Janie's careful consideration of Nanny's words (The fact that she felt the way she does when she imagines the kiss as a manure pile: sinful, disappointing, etc) exhibits a loyalty that she has with people close to her.
The narrator has the perspective of seeing all the actions of the characters in third person, but he/she seems to know the thoughts of Janie only. She(assuming the narrator is female), still manages to describe the other characters very descriptively through imagery, metaphors, and diction. The narrator shows that all the people of this community have the same colloquialisms ( 'oman, Ah, mout, betcha, lak, etc). Because of this all encompassing feeling of knowledge (knowledge of Janie's thoughts, all the characters' actions, etc) except for the thoughts of others, the idea that Janie must be followed is given by the Narrator.
Just a thought:
In the passage "they made burning statements with questions, and killing tools out of laughs. it was mass cruelty. A mood come alive. Words walking without masters; walking altogether like harmony in a song", the narrator describes the actions of the townspeople, even going so far as directly telling us that "a mood [had] come alive". The narrator also uses Irony(?) by saying "Words walking without masters". The words of the townspeople are are being said under no rule, no restraints, and no constraints. However, the words are being presented by the narrator, contradicting the earlier statement. Maybe this means that, through the language of the story and the position of the narrator, Hurtson will reveal reasons for a future disorderliness? (Just a thought )
Janie strikes me as a woman who has deep struggles with who she is and who she wishes to think she is. Janie, "had come back from burying the dead", and was instantly met with criticism and jealousy on the part of the other townspeople. The men lust after her and the women gossip. These opinions outside of her family do not have any affect on her, but the things that her nanny says cause Janie to reconsider where she is going and if she has any idea what she is going to do with her life. Her nanny asks Janie to get married: "Janie, youse uh 'oman, now, so- . . . Ah wants to see you married right away" (pg 12). Janie replies by stating that she doesn't think of herself as "no real 'oman yet". Janie doesn't know where she is in life. Also, "Nanny's words made Janie's kiss across the gatepost seem like a manure pile after a rain." This shows that Janie was raised in a home with straight morals and dislikes the thought of not meeting those morals. Janie's careful consideration of Nanny's words (The fact that she felt the way she does when she imagines the kiss as a manure pile: sinful, disappointing, etc) exhibits a loyalty that she has with people close to her.
The narrator has the perspective of seeing all the actions of the characters in third person, but he/she seems to know the thoughts of Janie only. She(assuming the narrator is female), still manages to describe the other characters very descriptively through imagery, metaphors, and diction. The narrator shows that all the people of this community have the same colloquialisms ( 'oman, Ah, mout, betcha, lak, etc). Because of this all encompassing feeling of knowledge (knowledge of Janie's thoughts, all the characters' actions, etc) except for the thoughts of others, the idea that Janie must be followed is given by the Narrator.
Just a thought:
In the passage "they made burning statements with questions, and killing tools out of laughs. it was mass cruelty. A mood come alive. Words walking without masters; walking altogether like harmony in a song", the narrator describes the actions of the townspeople, even going so far as directly telling us that "a mood [had] come alive". The narrator also uses Irony(?) by saying "Words walking without masters". The words of the townspeople are are being said under no rule, no restraints, and no constraints. However, the words are being presented by the narrator, contradicting the earlier statement. Maybe this means that, through the language of the story and the position of the narrator, Hurtson will reveal reasons for a future disorderliness? (Just a thought )
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