Part I:
My thoughts are quite scattered abot the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. While it is about the American Dream and symbolism runs abound in this movie, the drug trips and the overall weirdness of the movie was a little too much for me, as it kinda prevented me from actually absorbin the symbolism. I'm not saying the movie's bad nor am I saying it's film of the year, it's just I found it way too odd to actually dig too deep into it. It is a comedy, and the way that the main characters act is comedy all in its own right. I mean, we all laugh at misfortunes that happen when somebody's drunk or high, there's no denying it. But my main gripe about this movie was that it appeared to be a little too strange, even for my open mind. I was trying to make sure my eyesight wasn't getting affected by warped reality that overtakes this movie.
Part II:
"He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." Found at the beginning of the movie, this quote can be viewed as ironic to the movie. While both characters do make savage beasts of themselves, it doesn't seem to take the pain away from being a man. In fact, it could add onto it if some very bad events happen. The reason that Duke and Gonzo make beasts of themselves is painfully obvious, since the many drug trips they take are the main reason. Throughout the movie, while under the influence of these said drugs, they begin to do not only some odd things, but they also do some brutally savage things, usually on Dr. Gonzo's end. Usually this included his knife and some death threats against a few innocent people and even against Duke himself. But a few other things happen during their drug trips, like when Duke though that Gonzo completely abandoned him during his recovery from a drug trip. In short, deception, death threats, and no control over their own selves are what make them savage beasts. But to be honest, it didn't really take away the pain of being a man, as the drugs were only a temporary detour to escape pain. Sooner or later, the detour returns to the main road. The same goes with escaping pain and suffering through drugs, as they do have to live with what has happened. Even though whatever happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas, the events are forever imprinted into their subconscious. This could be viewed during Duke's final (yet most twisted) drug trip where he actually had a tape recorder, playing back events that have happened. The pain can only be increased from what Duke and Gonzo have done. Sure, drugs might escape it at first, but in the long run, it adds more pain to the pain that they have previously. So when man makes a beast of himself, he can eliminate the pain of being man, but when beast reverts back to man, the pain returns twice as hard.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Blog No. 7, April 19th
Part I:
The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the best plays I've actually read, and not just because of the fact that it's short. I liked this play a lot because of the way the plot is set up in this story. Wilde plays around with identity in this play by having the two main male characters being "Bunburyists", or leading double lives. Since this play is a comedy and the characters are leading double lives, most can assume that nothing good will come out of this. Many people could easily recognize the plot because it's been used in many ways in different stories and even on sitcoms that we see every day on TV. Because the plot is very familiar, I was able to connect with the story better and I could pretty much guess what could happen from such predicaments. But the way he ties in both Algernon and Jack's lies made the play even better, and I found the play very funny because of that. Wilde does use wit very well in this play, whether the jokes are right in plain sight or they're covered up but can be deciphered when people think about it.
Part II:
Wilde plays around with the subject of identity throughout the entire story. As seen in earlier short story assignments, it could be viewed that identities are never actually set in stone. Anything or any event can alter one person's identity to other forever. Wilde does this very well by concealing his main views with a very humorous plot. After all, it can be quite funny when the characters of a story try to pretend to be something they aren't. Jack's lie seems to go over quite well, that is until Algernon decides to Bunbury and pursues Cecily. But as the plot unfolds, the girls do figure out that both men were lying and they won't marry the men until they are christened and their names' are changed to Ernest. Living lies and pretending to be something the person isn't is a conflict all by itself. It's a conflict that happens within the characters themselves, and it deals with truth versus fiction. A conflict of identity by trying to pose as a different person instead of being truthful from the start. Perhaps if Algernon and Jack were truthful from the beginning, this whole mess may not have happened and perhaps they'd be wedded. But by messing around with their true identities, the women weren't in love with the men. Rather, they were in love with Ernest, who was nothing but a name before Jack found out his true name was Ernest all along. Wilde shows these consequences of messing around with one's identity in a way that people will be able to understand but at the same time in a humorous way that people will seem to enjoy.
The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the best plays I've actually read, and not just because of the fact that it's short. I liked this play a lot because of the way the plot is set up in this story. Wilde plays around with identity in this play by having the two main male characters being "Bunburyists", or leading double lives. Since this play is a comedy and the characters are leading double lives, most can assume that nothing good will come out of this. Many people could easily recognize the plot because it's been used in many ways in different stories and even on sitcoms that we see every day on TV. Because the plot is very familiar, I was able to connect with the story better and I could pretty much guess what could happen from such predicaments. But the way he ties in both Algernon and Jack's lies made the play even better, and I found the play very funny because of that. Wilde does use wit very well in this play, whether the jokes are right in plain sight or they're covered up but can be deciphered when people think about it.
Part II:
Wilde plays around with the subject of identity throughout the entire story. As seen in earlier short story assignments, it could be viewed that identities are never actually set in stone. Anything or any event can alter one person's identity to other forever. Wilde does this very well by concealing his main views with a very humorous plot. After all, it can be quite funny when the characters of a story try to pretend to be something they aren't. Jack's lie seems to go over quite well, that is until Algernon decides to Bunbury and pursues Cecily. But as the plot unfolds, the girls do figure out that both men were lying and they won't marry the men until they are christened and their names' are changed to Ernest. Living lies and pretending to be something the person isn't is a conflict all by itself. It's a conflict that happens within the characters themselves, and it deals with truth versus fiction. A conflict of identity by trying to pose as a different person instead of being truthful from the start. Perhaps if Algernon and Jack were truthful from the beginning, this whole mess may not have happened and perhaps they'd be wedded. But by messing around with their true identities, the women weren't in love with the men. Rather, they were in love with Ernest, who was nothing but a name before Jack found out his true name was Ernest all along. Wilde shows these consequences of messing around with one's identity in a way that people will be able to understand but at the same time in a humorous way that people will seem to enjoy.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Blog No. 6, Apr 9th
Part I:
So far, The Taming of the Shrew is quite good. I have read this book before, and reading it for the second time reminds me of how much I liked it when I read it the first time. First of all, Taming of the Shrew is a comedy, and I always love to have a good laugh, and for me, this one hits home. Shakespeare basically decided to make a comedy based on relationships, which many can relate to, especially when people are able to compare that to relationships we see on TV sitcoms at times. The main plot in this story is that Petruchio marries a girl for her money but she is metaphorically a shrew. The idea that a man would marry into money even if the girl acts like a devil is definitely funny, and that's what I like about the story. After all, it shows how insane some be can be in other's eyes. I wouldn't marry someone who is ruder than Simon Cowell on one of his bad days, but then again people do crazy things, especially when money is involved. But that's the whole reason I find this funny, since who'd be that crazy to do something like this, and it also foreshadows that some weird predictaments could happen when living with a shrew.
Part II:
A good way to look at the humor that exists in the text of the play is by looking at the relationship of Petruchio and Katharina. For example, in the first act of the story, Petruchio is traveling and is wanting to gain riches. After Hortensio mentioned about Katharina and her being in a rich family, it imeediately sparked Petruchio's interest and he wanted to mary her. However, the humor of this is that nobody can actually believe that somebody would even consider marrying such a shrew and they all think he could be crazy, since each and every time they mention her and her shrewd nature, he simply ignores the fact and increases his want to woo her. One could view him ignoring this fact as being crazy, because a man would have to be incredibly patient to deal with a shrew like Katharina. This can be seen in the second act as well, when A good way to address the idea of humor in the text and/or subtext is by looking at the relationship between the two main characters: Petruchio and Katharina. The situation that is happening throughtout the first three acts already shows some humor. In the first act, it can be revealed that Petruchio is only after one thing on his journey, money and riches. When Hortensio mentions the rich Katharina to Petruchio, it sparks his interest and wishes to marry her; ignoring all other outside factors. The humorous part about this is that Hortensio and the others keep mentioning that she is pretty much the devil and her shrewd nature, but PetruchioPetruchio meets Katharina for the first time. The humor in the text is very obvious, as Katharina slings insult after insult at Petruchio, but each time she does, Petruchio always comes back with a suggestive saying. It's humorous in the sense that it seems like Petruchio is very oblivious to Katharina's shrewdness, yet she keeps trying to insult him. But he keeps his ground in a sort-of perverted way, which makes it quite humorous. But one of the very humorous things about this play happens in Act Three, during which Gremio describes what happened at the wedding and how Petruchio showed his shrewd nature. The humor is that Petruchio played a role as the "Worst Groom Ever" by doing all sorts of completely ridiculous things at a wedding, including hitting the priest with the book. The bizarreness of Petruchio's action only adds to the already hilarious plot that is unfolding between him and Katharina.
So far, The Taming of the Shrew is quite good. I have read this book before, and reading it for the second time reminds me of how much I liked it when I read it the first time. First of all, Taming of the Shrew is a comedy, and I always love to have a good laugh, and for me, this one hits home. Shakespeare basically decided to make a comedy based on relationships, which many can relate to, especially when people are able to compare that to relationships we see on TV sitcoms at times. The main plot in this story is that Petruchio marries a girl for her money but she is metaphorically a shrew. The idea that a man would marry into money even if the girl acts like a devil is definitely funny, and that's what I like about the story. After all, it shows how insane some be can be in other's eyes. I wouldn't marry someone who is ruder than Simon Cowell on one of his bad days, but then again people do crazy things, especially when money is involved. But that's the whole reason I find this funny, since who'd be that crazy to do something like this, and it also foreshadows that some weird predictaments could happen when living with a shrew.
Part II:
A good way to look at the humor that exists in the text of the play is by looking at the relationship of Petruchio and Katharina. For example, in the first act of the story, Petruchio is traveling and is wanting to gain riches. After Hortensio mentioned about Katharina and her being in a rich family, it imeediately sparked Petruchio's interest and he wanted to mary her. However, the humor of this is that nobody can actually believe that somebody would even consider marrying such a shrew and they all think he could be crazy, since each and every time they mention her and her shrewd nature, he simply ignores the fact and increases his want to woo her. One could view him ignoring this fact as being crazy, because a man would have to be incredibly patient to deal with a shrew like Katharina. This can be seen in the second act as well, when A good way to address the idea of humor in the text and/or subtext is by looking at the relationship between the two main characters: Petruchio and Katharina. The situation that is happening throughtout the first three acts already shows some humor. In the first act, it can be revealed that Petruchio is only after one thing on his journey, money and riches. When Hortensio mentions the rich Katharina to Petruchio, it sparks his interest and wishes to marry her; ignoring all other outside factors. The humorous part about this is that Hortensio and the others keep mentioning that she is pretty much the devil and her shrewd nature, but PetruchioPetruchio meets Katharina for the first time. The humor in the text is very obvious, as Katharina slings insult after insult at Petruchio, but each time she does, Petruchio always comes back with a suggestive saying. It's humorous in the sense that it seems like Petruchio is very oblivious to Katharina's shrewdness, yet she keeps trying to insult him. But he keeps his ground in a sort-of perverted way, which makes it quite humorous. But one of the very humorous things about this play happens in Act Three, during which Gremio describes what happened at the wedding and how Petruchio showed his shrewd nature. The humor is that Petruchio played a role as the "Worst Groom Ever" by doing all sorts of completely ridiculous things at a wedding, including hitting the priest with the book. The bizarreness of Petruchio's action only adds to the already hilarious plot that is unfolding between him and Katharina.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Blog No. 5, Mar 21st
Part I:
I enjoyed reading both of the stories required for Thursday's class. Both of these stories had some degree of suspense to them, which can bait the reader into the story. And it definitely did for me, because as I was reading both of these stories, I kept telling myself "What the heck is going to happen? I MUST KNOW!!!" Plus, "A Rose For Emily" kept throwing me off on what was going to happen, which made it even more enjoyable to read. Just when I think I have the ending figured out by predicting what will happen, the story does something different. It makes me wonder what's going to happen next. It is as clear as day that Miss Emily dies somewhere near the end, because she's dead in the introduction to the story and it sort of calls a flashback to her life in the story. But how does she die is what I was always wondering. It's suspense... keeping the reader guessing about what's going to happen, which I enjoyed doing. The same goes for "The Lottery". Reading through this, I already was sucked into the story, thinking "Who's going to win the lottery?" But then my initial thoughts changed when the Old Man said that people weren't like they used to be. Then I got a sudden uneasy feeling that something is not going to end well, since people want to win this lottery. And of course, greed and not losing with dignity can definitely fall into place, which made me think somebody's not going to get a happy ending. But who? Both of these stories had me constantly guessing what's going to happen to who, and I definitely enjoyed that. I recommend both of these stories for people who likes suspense but hate stories that are really, really long.
Part II:
Both of these stories have one thing in common, suspense, as stated in the first part of the blog. "The Lottery" is a good example of a story that builds up to the ending by being foreshadowed by text at an earlier point in the story. "The Lottery" actually had two separate suspense moments that manifest themselves throughout the entire story. The first one that probably most readers are going to notice right away is the lottery itself. That's what the story is about, these people in a traditional annual lottery that they want to win. Initially, readers are going to get sucked into story thinking "Who will win the lottery?". Which makes sense, since everything seems quite calm and people are waiting for the big moment to happen. When the lottery actually begins, the moment of suspense then builds up, but then the story takes a bit of an unexpected twist. There happens to be a winner in the story, but then Tessie Hutchinson suddenly shouts out that the drawing wasn't fair. Then the entire lottery started over again. This now sparks the other moment of suspense, that Tessie was able to get them to restart the lottery. Now, because of people's general need for greed and wanting to win when something like the lottery is in play, this made me think that something bad is definitely going to happen. This confirmed that moment of suspense when Old Man Warner commented on people aren't being the way that he remembered. That definitely will make people think something bad is going to happen. And turns out, something bad does happen. Now it ends up as Tessie being the winner of the re-drawing and this makes the population rather ticked off at her. Then the people actually throw stones at her and the story ends with her commenting "it isn't fair". By Tessie's first commenting on the lottery not being fair, it foreshadowed that something awful was going to happen to her in the end. A lesson can actually be taken from this story, and it's a simple one: Don't try to change something like a lottery winner just because you want the prize yourself. If you do and the re-drawing winner ends up being that person, people are going to get a little ticked off at the person. And only bad will come out of a situation like this.
I enjoyed reading both of the stories required for Thursday's class. Both of these stories had some degree of suspense to them, which can bait the reader into the story. And it definitely did for me, because as I was reading both of these stories, I kept telling myself "What the heck is going to happen? I MUST KNOW!!!" Plus, "A Rose For Emily" kept throwing me off on what was going to happen, which made it even more enjoyable to read. Just when I think I have the ending figured out by predicting what will happen, the story does something different. It makes me wonder what's going to happen next. It is as clear as day that Miss Emily dies somewhere near the end, because she's dead in the introduction to the story and it sort of calls a flashback to her life in the story. But how does she die is what I was always wondering. It's suspense... keeping the reader guessing about what's going to happen, which I enjoyed doing. The same goes for "The Lottery". Reading through this, I already was sucked into the story, thinking "Who's going to win the lottery?" But then my initial thoughts changed when the Old Man said that people weren't like they used to be. Then I got a sudden uneasy feeling that something is not going to end well, since people want to win this lottery. And of course, greed and not losing with dignity can definitely fall into place, which made me think somebody's not going to get a happy ending. But who? Both of these stories had me constantly guessing what's going to happen to who, and I definitely enjoyed that. I recommend both of these stories for people who likes suspense but hate stories that are really, really long.
Part II:
Both of these stories have one thing in common, suspense, as stated in the first part of the blog. "The Lottery" is a good example of a story that builds up to the ending by being foreshadowed by text at an earlier point in the story. "The Lottery" actually had two separate suspense moments that manifest themselves throughout the entire story. The first one that probably most readers are going to notice right away is the lottery itself. That's what the story is about, these people in a traditional annual lottery that they want to win. Initially, readers are going to get sucked into story thinking "Who will win the lottery?". Which makes sense, since everything seems quite calm and people are waiting for the big moment to happen. When the lottery actually begins, the moment of suspense then builds up, but then the story takes a bit of an unexpected twist. There happens to be a winner in the story, but then Tessie Hutchinson suddenly shouts out that the drawing wasn't fair. Then the entire lottery started over again. This now sparks the other moment of suspense, that Tessie was able to get them to restart the lottery. Now, because of people's general need for greed and wanting to win when something like the lottery is in play, this made me think that something bad is definitely going to happen. This confirmed that moment of suspense when Old Man Warner commented on people aren't being the way that he remembered. That definitely will make people think something bad is going to happen. And turns out, something bad does happen. Now it ends up as Tessie being the winner of the re-drawing and this makes the population rather ticked off at her. Then the people actually throw stones at her and the story ends with her commenting "it isn't fair". By Tessie's first commenting on the lottery not being fair, it foreshadowed that something awful was going to happen to her in the end. A lesson can actually be taken from this story, and it's a simple one: Don't try to change something like a lottery winner just because you want the prize yourself. If you do and the re-drawing winner ends up being that person, people are going to get a little ticked off at the person. And only bad will come out of a situation like this.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Blog No. 4, Mar 14th
Part I:
The assigned reading for Thursday "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" was very good. I can honestly say that this is one of the best works I have read for this class. Probably the reason I think it's so good is that it definitely relates to life for some girls in a sense. As shown, Bernice wasn't one of the "popular" girls, and Marjorie wasn't quite keen of Bernice's anti-social and quite "awkward" company. So she ends up trying to help Bernice become more popular-like with the boys. It can definitely seem familiar to people as this is something that has probably happened in high school or something. The story mostly is a struggle of identity and asks us: "Who the heck are we"? Bernice goes through this typical journey of identity throughout the story, much like what some students go through in high school, especially those labeled as unpopular. This is why I feel it's such a great short story. It can tie into people's lives very well, especially those in high school. It does teach a valuable lesson of identity that most people can learn without having to go through similar events that Bernice had to face.
Part II:
Fitzgerald sees the use of "identity" as something that can easily become manipulated. It is not set in stone in any way, shape, or form. Especially in a world where judgement on people is passed every day, identity can change in a heartbeat. For example, say there is a girl in school who is very popular, she's a "queen of the world" type of person. Then all of the sudden, this girl has to get braces and her appearance and voice change. Odds are, people will say that she looks like a geek. So her identity to the general public has greatly shifted from queen to geek in seconds flat. In the story "Bernice Bobs Her Hair", however, this change of identity is the complete opposite. Bernice takes a radical change from an anti-social, awkward girl into a perfect princess so to speak. She also seemed to be quite shy around boys at the beginning of the story. But this shy identity is soon destroyed when she finally gains the attention of the boys at the dances. This change from awkwardness to being the perfect girl wasn't the only change her identity takes in the story. Near the end, when Bernice was pretty much pushed into actually bobbing her hair, thus destroying her image, she goes into Marjorie's room in the middle of the night and cuts off both of her pigtails and leaves them on Warren's porch before she leaves. This shows a change in Bernice's identity in that she has changed from her normal timid self. After what Marjorie has done to her newfound popularity, she decided to take action and do a very gutsy thing to her cousin. This shows that she's no longer a shy girl but rather one who wants to take charge of her own life now. And revenge on Marjorie for backing Bernice into a corner would be one way to show her new identity.
The assigned reading for Thursday "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" was very good. I can honestly say that this is one of the best works I have read for this class. Probably the reason I think it's so good is that it definitely relates to life for some girls in a sense. As shown, Bernice wasn't one of the "popular" girls, and Marjorie wasn't quite keen of Bernice's anti-social and quite "awkward" company. So she ends up trying to help Bernice become more popular-like with the boys. It can definitely seem familiar to people as this is something that has probably happened in high school or something. The story mostly is a struggle of identity and asks us: "Who the heck are we"? Bernice goes through this typical journey of identity throughout the story, much like what some students go through in high school, especially those labeled as unpopular. This is why I feel it's such a great short story. It can tie into people's lives very well, especially those in high school. It does teach a valuable lesson of identity that most people can learn without having to go through similar events that Bernice had to face.
Part II:
Fitzgerald sees the use of "identity" as something that can easily become manipulated. It is not set in stone in any way, shape, or form. Especially in a world where judgement on people is passed every day, identity can change in a heartbeat. For example, say there is a girl in school who is very popular, she's a "queen of the world" type of person. Then all of the sudden, this girl has to get braces and her appearance and voice change. Odds are, people will say that she looks like a geek. So her identity to the general public has greatly shifted from queen to geek in seconds flat. In the story "Bernice Bobs Her Hair", however, this change of identity is the complete opposite. Bernice takes a radical change from an anti-social, awkward girl into a perfect princess so to speak. She also seemed to be quite shy around boys at the beginning of the story. But this shy identity is soon destroyed when she finally gains the attention of the boys at the dances. This change from awkwardness to being the perfect girl wasn't the only change her identity takes in the story. Near the end, when Bernice was pretty much pushed into actually bobbing her hair, thus destroying her image, she goes into Marjorie's room in the middle of the night and cuts off both of her pigtails and leaves them on Warren's porch before she leaves. This shows a change in Bernice's identity in that she has changed from her normal timid self. After what Marjorie has done to her newfound popularity, she decided to take action and do a very gutsy thing to her cousin. This shows that she's no longer a shy girl but rather one who wants to take charge of her own life now. And revenge on Marjorie for backing Bernice into a corner would be one way to show her new identity.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Blog No. 3, Mar. 7th
Part 1:
Both of the assigned readings for Thursday were both quite strange but at the same time I liked them. For example, "The Yellow Wallpaper" confused me quite a bit at first when I sat down and read it. But after re-reading it, I was better able to figure out what the main driving point of it was. It actually connected somewhat to my life, as currently I'm suffering from an illness. The narrator of this story starts by having a more normal illness, affecting physical health but as the story progresses this illness gets better but a new one is made... a mental illness. A & P was definitely a weird but humorous short story that made me laugh, especially near the end. A & P helps show the point that we humans don't exactly think straight, especially when it comes to the opposite sex. As these three girls in swimsuits came into the A & P, the narrator's boss tells them that the girls are inappropriately dressed. Just that alone caused some sort of strange thought to enter the narrator's head, and quit his job just because of what his boss said. After he left the A & P, the narrator couldn't even find those girls anymore. Which means he just quit for nothing. While it does sound stupid, it ties into the tradition that people do stupid things when dealing with the opposite sex.
Part 2:
For this part of the blog assignment, the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" will be discussed. As stated in the first part of the blog, the narrator apparently starts out in this story very sick, physically anyways. Not being able to move around much in the place where her friend John has temporarily decided to stay, she begins to notice some very strange things. Mostly, this is because of the hideous wallpaper that exists in the room where she is held. At first, she really just doesn't like the wallpaper, and that seems to be a rather sane opinion. However, as her physical illness begins to heal, she begins to adapt a mental illness, as is shown when she believes that the designs of the wallpaper are actually moving. She reveals her extreme dislike towards the wallpaper near the end of the story by going completely insane and she just starts tearing it up. The transition from having a physical illness to going completely insane due to wallpaper is the transformation that the narrator is going through throughout the course of the story.
Both of the assigned readings for Thursday were both quite strange but at the same time I liked them. For example, "The Yellow Wallpaper" confused me quite a bit at first when I sat down and read it. But after re-reading it, I was better able to figure out what the main driving point of it was. It actually connected somewhat to my life, as currently I'm suffering from an illness. The narrator of this story starts by having a more normal illness, affecting physical health but as the story progresses this illness gets better but a new one is made... a mental illness. A & P was definitely a weird but humorous short story that made me laugh, especially near the end. A & P helps show the point that we humans don't exactly think straight, especially when it comes to the opposite sex. As these three girls in swimsuits came into the A & P, the narrator's boss tells them that the girls are inappropriately dressed. Just that alone caused some sort of strange thought to enter the narrator's head, and quit his job just because of what his boss said. After he left the A & P, the narrator couldn't even find those girls anymore. Which means he just quit for nothing. While it does sound stupid, it ties into the tradition that people do stupid things when dealing with the opposite sex.
Part 2:
For this part of the blog assignment, the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" will be discussed. As stated in the first part of the blog, the narrator apparently starts out in this story very sick, physically anyways. Not being able to move around much in the place where her friend John has temporarily decided to stay, she begins to notice some very strange things. Mostly, this is because of the hideous wallpaper that exists in the room where she is held. At first, she really just doesn't like the wallpaper, and that seems to be a rather sane opinion. However, as her physical illness begins to heal, she begins to adapt a mental illness, as is shown when she believes that the designs of the wallpaper are actually moving. She reveals her extreme dislike towards the wallpaper near the end of the story by going completely insane and she just starts tearing it up. The transition from having a physical illness to going completely insane due to wallpaper is the transformation that the narrator is going through throughout the course of the story.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Blog No. 2, Feb 21st
Part I:
A good chunk of the poems that I read were pretty good and held my interest. A couple of them (being Donne’s poems and Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress”) I had read before and had studied the meaning of the poems before. Marvell’s poem deals with the fact that we have no idea how long any of us have for this world. We could all die tomorrow. So, Marvell shows a powerful message, that if two people are in love, they should seize the day and make love while there’s still time. Of course, in my opinion, some couples do this irregardless of even knowing that the world could end at any point. Donne’s poems are more romantic in nature, as shown with “The Flea”. The flea bit both people of the couple and now the blood is mixed. Donne even states that if the woman kills the flea, then not only will it die, but the two will also die as well, because the Flea carries their blood. So in a way, the flea can be seen as a baby. Donne’s poems are some of my favorites due to his views on romance, love, and sex. His poems definitely have spoken to me. Frost’s poems are also good in my view, as they also deliver powerful messages about chance and our world. We could die at any time and even accidents can happen at any time, as shown in “Out, Out…” when the boy’s hand was cut off by the saw. In a way, it has affected my thinking to take more charge and seize the day. Usually, I don’t take many risks in life, and these poems do give me the motivation to go out there and be a bit more daring. After all, if this world ends, some things in my life will be left unfulfilled. Cummings’s poems kind of caught me a bit off guard at first. The way his form is can easily confuse some people, especially those who are more formal. But I still like his poems for a couple reasons, and one of them being his form. It’s so wacky that it’s original, but it’s not just the form. When I read “since feeling is first”, I figured out exactly why Cummings does the poems this way. Form means nothing when the message can still be deciphered… and I was able to still see these messages. The only other poem I liked out of the bunch was Larkin’s “This Be The Verse”. Although it gives quite a negative feel, I was able to connect with the message well. He states the simple phrase of “like father, like son”… that history tends to repeat itself. I tend to make the same mistakes my dad made when he was my age, and because of that I could be considered “screwed up” because of it. But it’s bound to happen. As stated in the poem, the only way to make sure your children don’t get screwed up is to not have them in the first place. The other poems for Thursday’s reading I’m not a big fan of, mostly since I was able to connect a lot better with some of these other poems.
Part II:
For this assignment, I have decided to discuss about Cummings’s form and content and how he decides to merge them together. Oftentimes, people judge too harshly on the form of a certain piece of literature. But it most cases, it doesn’t matter what the form of literature is as long as it doesn’t mess up what the poem’s main point is deriving at. For example, if somebody posted “my GoD, dis pom SUX!!!” many will see this form of writing as atrocious. But look deeper into what the person is trying to say. Bad form can still portray a message that can be clearly understood. In this instance, it would be “My God, this poem sucks!” It isn’t easy to see why Cummings writes the way he does until a person reads one key poem of his. “since feeling is first” is the poem where most people will be able to understand why Cummings chooses the form that he does. His main theme is to use form in a way that is not proper but at the same time it’s used to enhance the main points or themes of his poems. As stated earlier, if people understand what the poet is trying to say, why should form matter? Cummings puts this to good use in all of his poems. Another good poem to show how meaning is easily understood through sloppy form is through “i like my body when it is with your”. Clearly, Cummings is expressing how he loves his lover’s body and how he likes having sex with her. Most people should be able to understand that, even though his form is plain bad. But even with the extra spaces, poor capitalization, unneeded hyphens, and other mechanical errors in form, Cummings uses it to further express his poem’s themes and meanings. In most cases, his poems are slightly easier to understand if people are willing to overlook the questionable form.
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