Blood Wedding Journal #1

Blood Wedding Journal #1

Stylistic techniques (imagery, figurative language, sensory detail)

In the Blood Wedding by Federico Lorca, there is a huge number of references to flowers. They are used as similes and metaphors to represent people. The opposite is also apparent when he uses weeds and such to compare to things that are not quite as pleasant. In other words, he uses the imagery of nature to portray his comparisons and uses them to describe the characters. An example of this is when the mother refers to her lost loved ones, “My dead ones, covered with weeds, silent, turned to dust. Two men who were like geraniums.” She first uses a reference to weeds to explain the condition the two are currently in, or dead. The weeds represent nature and are used in much the same way as the flowers are. She follows this with a simile where he uses the geraniums. Geraniums are used to represent the good people that they were when they were alive. Im not sure if certain flowers have certain connotations that come with a certain breed but overall I interpreted the connotations of all flowers to be positive and represent the fruit of what nature can create. While the weeds have a negative connotation because they are known to invade gardens and sully the beauty that is there.

Flowers and nature are also used with the bride when she has to wear the ring of orange blossoms. This is slightly ironic because of her affair with Leonardo and the connotations that go with flowers. I didn’t just get one connotation, but two from flowers. I think that flowers also represent purity because they come from nature which is, when not tampered with by humans, one of the purest things on this planet. The fact that she cheats on her fiancée and yet wears a symbol of purity is ironic and adds the Lorca’s story.

Comments yo

Ben Webster

I agree with your idea that people are attracted moments of intensity.
I like that you also talked about how relatability helps people connect more with the text.

Maddie Black

Agreed. The plot is like the base of everything, including style.
Without a plot, you dont have a story, which means you wouldnt be able to have any style to begin with.
Its like asking someone if the cheese on a sandwich is more important then the bread. You cant have a sandwich without the bread! :)

Matt Merckling

I agree with this theme. The characters are clearly more content with being ignorant. Well said Matt, well said. But could the characters still glean some happiness from their situations after the truth is revealed?
for example, could Hjalmar still love Hedvig/Oedipus still love Jocasta after the fact?

My comments wouldnt show up on any of their blogs...so i just put them on here.

Wild Duck Journal #3

Wild Duck Journal #3

Personal convictions and shared beliefs, the private and the public life, sometimes seem at odds in the modern world. How did you find your chosen works touched on this conflict, and with what effect?

In Oedipus the King, there is an instance in which shared beliefs and public life butt heads. In Oedipus this occurs when the plague hits the city and in order to stop this plague, the killer of Laius must be found. The mystery of the identity of the killer is what brings about the first conflict. The first conflict is revealed when Tiresius accuses Oedipus of being the murder that he hunts. This creates the conflict between the shared belief (Jocasta and Oedipus) that Oedipus is not the killer and the personal conviction of Tiresias that he indeed is the killer. You could also argue that the belief that Oedipus was not the killer is also shared by the public because of their loyalties to him.

In Wild Duck, there is a conflict between Gregers and his father/ Relling. Gregers hates his father for cheating on his mother and for ruining Hjalmars livelihood. The conflict in this situation is between two beliefs, the first is Gregers belief that his father is corrupt and that it is his role in life to relieve himself of guilt by helping open Hjalmars eyes. The second is that of his father and Relling, a man who worked in Hoidal and also resides in the same apartment complex. They frown upon Gregers belief and his attempts to resolve his own little morale quandary. This conflict between beliefs is one of the main conflicts so far in the first 3 acts of Wild Duck and contributes extensively to the development of the plot.

Wild Duck Journal #2

Wild Duck Journal #2

“What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?” To what extent do you find this statement applicable in at least two plays you have studied?

During the span of a human life, a person can go through many experiences and occurences. Some may be good, some may be bad, some things happen everyday while others may be once in a life time opportunities. When you think back and reflect on your life, you typically only remember the exciting, notable things, things such as your first date, your first car, your first wedding…which hopefully ends up being your last, but that depends on the person. We tend to filter out things that don’t seem important, things that seem trivial or happen on a daily basis. The culmination of these important memories are what people tend to look back on, rather then the dull bits.

This is apparent in the plays Oedipus the King by Sophocles and Wild Duck by Henrick Ibsen. Playwrights typically keep their works to the point and filled with drama because their audiences are literally right in front of them, and not reading the plays at their leisure at home. In Oedipus the King, the play is packed with drama from start to finish. It starts with the plague set off by Apollo, the mystery and dramatic unraveling of the real murder of Laius and ends off with Oedipus gouging out his eyes. This sequence of events are all dramatic and keep the audience connected throughout the play.

In just the first act of Wild Duck, there is already drama, although not as constant and apparent as in Oedipus. The play starts with a dinner party and gossip amongst the servants in the household. The audience first sees the background of the Edkal family and the relationship between Edkal and his son is revealed. These parts seem to cut out anything that might be boring or unnecessary and gets straight to the point.

Wild Duck Journal #1

Wild Duck Journal #1

“Visual action can be as important on the stage as speech.” How far do you agree with this claim? In you answer you should refer to two or three plays you have studied.

I think that visual action is just as important as speech on a stage. If you take the audience into consideration, which you should, a play is like a book but acted out. The whole point of being acted out is that you have movement and action involved. This is evident more so in Wild Duck then in Oedipus, each of these plays highlights how either visual action or speech are important.

In Oedipus the King, there is a lot of speech, where Oedipus goes off on long speeches along with the chorus which also has very verbose parts in the play. The lack of action is displayed through the lack of stage direction. While there is some stage direction, it isn’t very complicated or specific, there are only stage directions for when characters enter or leave. So in Oedipus the King the speech aspect of the play is very important.

In Wild Duck, there is a lot of stage direction and sometimes this stage direction has more descriptiveness then the text itself. There are many instances where the stage directions are used to tell the reader what the scene looks like and how the characters are interacting in that scene. There is also a good amount of speech but it is balanced out by the numerous stage directions.

Oedipus the King Journal #3

Oedipus Journal #3

Diary entries from any of the characters: Oedipus

Dear Diary,

So today has been quite an interesting day. I found out that my city is having a gigantic plague and the only way to stop it, is to find the killer of Laius. I don’t think you could grasp how insanely bad this is, people are going to start dropping like flies, and its all going to be on me. On top of that, some blind prophet named Tiresias accused me of being the murderer! I mean I do vaguely remember killing a bunch of fools at a similar crossroad to where the Laius was… but that doesn’t mean I did it right? At least I really hope it wasn’t me, the prophet even said that I’d be the husband to my mom and a brother to my kids or something. Do you even know what that means? That’s like I married my mom or something, that’s nasty! And that would mean that Jocasta is my mom but there is no way on the face of this beautiful planet that Jocasta could possible be my mom and my wife. The prophet also mentioned that the killer supposedly capped his dad too. This murderer guy is messed up in so many ways, there is absolutely no way it could be me.

Things are really starting to heat up after I spoke to that old fart of a shepherd too. well, I actually might have tortured him a little and then spoke to him. He said something about me being a child that had been given away and that I was the child of Laius? This is merely further evidence against me and my legitimacy. First the old prophet and now this? And now that I think about it, Jocasta did seem very upset that I wanted to know the truth about my heritage. Could she be in on this too? Maybe I should stop worrying and being so paranoid about this. Ill sleep it off and think about it tomorrow.

Thanks diary.

Love,

Oedipus

Oedipus the King Journal #2 + Discussion Questions

Oedipus Journal #2

Readers are attracted to moments of intensity in a writer’s work. By what means and with what effect have writers in your study offered heightened emotional moments designed to arrest the reader’s attention?

In Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King, there are a number of very emotional and intense scenes. One of these moments is when Oedipus is threatening the shepherd that knows about his real parentage. Oedipus reacts angrily when the shepherd refuses to answer his questions and reveal what he knows about Oedipus’ history. The writer captures the reader’s attention by using a sense of injustice that comes with witnessing the abuse of the elderly person.

Oedipus: “So, you won’t talk willingly-then you’ll talk with pain.”  

Shepherd: “No, dear god, don’t torture an old man”

(1266-1268)

One of the most pitiable and gut-wrenching things that one can see is when an old person is being harassed or man-handled. Sophocles uses this instinct to get the reader to feel pity and even anger when seeing how Oedipus treats the old shepherd. This emotion that is invoked by the writer is one way that the readers attention is kept.

In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God a very emotional and attention capturing moment is at the end of the story, when Tea Cake who is sick and delirious in his bed I about to shoot Janie.

“The gun came up unsteadily but quickly and leveled at Janie’s breast. She noted that even in his delirium he took good aim….Instinctively Janie’s hand flew behind her on the rifle and brought it around.” (183)

In this scene Hurston uses suspense and the readers desire to see the ending of a story to her advantage. Hurston’s descriptive style and use of vivid and deliberate imagery add an aspect of suspense and makes it seem like the scene is moving in slow motion. This slowing effect allows the reader to visualize every movement and occurrence in their mind as they read and completely captures their attention.

Discussion Questions:

1.) One of the main parts of the plot in Oedipus the King are the fact that he kills his father and commits incest with his mother by sleeping with her. Could this act of incest be something that was prevalent and even normal in Greek society?

2.) There are several instances where characters that are already vulnerable and weak, are taken advantage of or are harassed for their weak traits such as when Oedipus insults the blind prophet and when he tortures the old shepherd. Could the fact that Oedipus himself was a cripple have anything to do with Sophocles life? Could he have had a crippling or weak feature that he felt insecure about?

Oedipus the King Journal #1

Point of View/Characters: From whose point of view is the story told? Does this change? How reliable is the narrative voice? How well does the reader get to know the characters? How credible are they? How are they presented? How does the writer persuade us to like/sympathize with some characters and dislike others?

In Sophocles’ play “Oedipus the King” the 3^rd person point of view is used the entire time. This 3^rd person view is maintained throughout the first part of the play. It’s a 3^rd person limited view because the reader never learns what Oedipus and Creon and the priest…etc. were thinking without them actually verbally saying it. There is no real narrative voice that can be seen except for the occasional stage direction. The chorus could be considered a narrator as well, however they are not as accurate. The reader gets to know the characters through stage directions and the vast majority of the time they learn about the characters through the verbal action that is going on and based off of what the characters say and do. The writer makes us look at Oedipus in a positive light at the beginning when he talks to the crowd and to the priests and makes him look like the all-caring benevolent ruler, but that guise is soon cast away when he begins to make rash accusations toward Creon and Tiresias. This gives him an angry and over-assuming demeanor. These accusations are what Sophocles uses to put Creon and Tiresias under a bad light and take away their legitimacy. Sophocles makes the reader sympathize for Creon because of the unjust assumptions that Oedipus makes of him, and the reader also feels some sympathy for Tiresias because not only is he blind but no one believes what he is saying.

Journal #22

Topic C: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

In Zamyatin’s We, he warns us about the dangers of a totalitarian/communistic society. The members of this society are made to be near identical machines that religiously abide to a universal schedule and work as mere pieces in the huge machine that is the One State. Zamyatin warns us of a society in which change is made impossible and there is a “final” revolution. If people are not allowed to have their own opinions and thoughts it is inevitable that they will rise up and rebel because suppressing emotions and individualism is against human instinct.

Human instinct to rebel when individualism is suppressed shows us two things: the first is that the instinct to rebel makes a society such as this unlikely and not very believable. The inevitability of dissension and rebellion removes any chance for a totalitarian machine such as the One State to exist, especially one where people all do the exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. Zamyatin may have been influenced by the industrialization that went down during the 1900’s and this translated to his factory-esque approach to the lifestyle of the ciphers in the One State. The second thing that the human instinct to rebel shows us is the hope or alternative that Zamyatin gives us. He shows us this hope in the form of the rebellion that I-330 creates. As long as human beings continue to critique and self-correct themselves and others, then a society that stands still without change will be impossible. Zamyatin’s alternative is simply that a society that stops moving is not a society at all, and one without individuality and emotions is impossible.

Journal #21

Topic B: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Character: I-330

            In the second portion of the book one of the main instigators that rebel against the One State is I-330. I-330, like all the other ciphers in the One State has been victimized through her loss of freedom and individuality. No one in the One State has any say in what happens or who leads the State. This is shown in the following quote, “The celebration was clouded by a slight disturbance wrought by the enemies of happiness, which naturally, deprives them of the right to become bricks in the foundations of the One State, renewed yesterday. It is clear to each of us that taking their voices into account would be as ridiculous as…” (131) In this quote, the One State holds the “Day of the One Vote” in which ciphers vote on a new leader, despite that new leader already being chosen before the votes were taken. The One States indifference to the ciphers that refuse to accept the Benefactor shows their victimization of the peoples of the One State. I-330 resists this society and its lack of freedom and individuality by creating “MEPHI”, an organization that is against the creation of the Integral and the spreading of “non-freedom” ideas throughout the galaxy. So far at this point the book, I-330’s resistance has been decently successful because she has managed to get hundreds of ciphers from the One State to become turncoats and join MEPHI. Her resistance is also successful because she has also swayed D-503, the Builder of the Integral and also because she has breached the Green Wall and joined forces with the more primitive and hairy race outside of the wall.

Journal #20 Topic A

Topic A: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

“At exactly 11:45, I purposefully looked at my timepiece in order to catch hold of the digits-the digits, at least would rescue me. At 11:45, before going to the usual session of physical labor, in accordance with the Table of Hours, I ran over to my room.” (62)

In the One State society, every person abides by the “Table of Hours” or a universally synchronized schedule in which every person is doing the exact same thing, at the exact same time, at all times. Every member in the One State must also report a reason for why they are not at scheduled appointments such as physical labor sessions. This excessive obsession with where every member of society is at any time reveals the paranoia of the One State society. In order to prevent individual thought and rebelliousness the government of the One State uses this system to maintain their current state of “non-freedom”. The passage relates to this section, in which D-503 writes about his daily encounters as he tries to explain the One State to a lower alien race that the Integral is on it’s way to enlighten. He is eventually seduced and “poisoned” through alcohol and nicotine by I-330. D-503 was always the epitome of the One State’s ideals and is easily shaken by I-330 and her methods. Despite all of the rules and regulations imposed by the One State, D-503’s defection along with many others that I-330 has infected lead to the conflict that will shape the rest of the story.

Journal #19

Journal #19: Post the thesis statement you have revised and are confident with in a new post.

My thesis: Camus disproves societies notion that power brings happiness by contrasting society and meursaults reactions to the loss of power, this shows that power is not essential to attaining happiness.

I think my what is that he disproves societies notion?

Journal #18

Journal #18: Personal response to The Stranger + what literary value do you ascribe to the novel (what makes a book a great work of literature and does this book achieve that)

My personal response to the The Stranger is a littled mixed. Im not going to sugar-coat it, i thought the book was terrible the first time through. The plot was so dull and flat and unattractive, things happened for no reason and as i read it i wondered "What must've happened to Meursault to make him think this way?"
I think the reason i couldnt enjoy this book from just a reading perspective was because Meursault was so consistently boring and unpredictable, that it became predictable and I even expected him to do things for no reason. I guess this book is popular for its literary merit and not its leisure reading value, so Ill just go back to Eragon for that.

The second time through, I began to recognize more of the recurring elements of the book and see some patterns to Meursaults behavior. I started to put it together more and understand it from a philosophical viewpoint, especially after having class discussions. I think the book has good literary/classroom value because of the point that its making, but personally I didnt really like it.

Journal #17

Journal #17: On your own blog post your topic and 15 quotes that connect to your topic (these quotes can connect thematically or by technique). Once collected and analyzed, write a thesis statement.

Topic: Power and its importance to society

Quotes:

Salamano:

“You can see them in the rue de Lyon, the dog pulling the man along until old Salamano stumbles. Then he beats the dog and swears at it.” (26)

“Once the dog has forgotten, it starts dragging its master along again, and again gets beaten and sworn at.” (26)

“I noticed old Salamano standing on the doorstep. He looked flustered. When we got closer, I saw that he didn’t have his dog. He was looking all over the place, turning around, peering into the darkness of the entryway, muttering incoherently, and then he started searching the street again with his little red eyes.” (37)

“He asked me if it was a big fee. I didn’t know. Then he got mad: ‘Pay money for that bastard – ha! He can damn well die!’ (37)

Raymond:

“So I let him have it. He went down. I was about to help him up but he started kicking me from there on the ground/ So I kneed him one and slugged him a couple of times.” (28)

“I’d smack her around a little, but nice-like, you might say. She’d scream a little. I’d close the shutters and it always ended the same way.” (29)

“I realized that she was cheating on me.” (28)

“He wanted to write her a letter, ‘one with a punch and also some things in it ot make her sorry for what he’s done.’ Then, when she came running back, he’d go to bed with her and ‘right at the last minute’ he’d spit in her face and throw her out. (30)

The Chaplain:

“For the third time I’ve refused to see the chaplain. I don’t have anything to say to him; I don’t feel like talking, and ill be seeing him soon enough as it is.” (103)

“As for me, I didn’t want anybody’s help, and I just didn’t have the time to interest myself in what didn’t interest me.” (111)

“At that point he threw up his hands in annoyance but then sat forward and smoothed out the folds of his cassock. (111)

“Then, I don’t know why, but something inside me snapped. I started yelling at the top of my lungs, and I insulted him and told him not to waste his prayers on me. I grabbed him by the collar of his cassock.” (114)

“His eyes were full of tears. Then he turned and disappeared.”(116)

Meursault:

“I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again.” (117)

“I realized then that a man who had lived in prison only one day could easily live for a hundred years in prison. He would have enough memories to keep him from being bored. In a way, it was an advantage.” (75-76)

“I had ended up making friends with the head guard” (74)

“if I had had to live in the trunk of a dead tree, with nothing to do but look up at the sky flowering overhead, little by little I would have gotten used to it.” (73)

Thesis: Camus contrasts Meursaults attitude to losing power with the attitudes of society (Salamano, Raymond, the Chaplain) to show that having power is not a necessary part of life.

(Very tentative. Could use a ton of work and rewording fosho.)

The Chaplain, Raymond and Salamano all exert power and react negatively to their loss of power throughout the book, while Meursault loses his power of freedom when he is imprisoned but seems indifferent and not as upset as the others. I think Camus uses this contrast in reactions to say that power isn’t everything and that it is not necessary to live a decent life.

Journal #16

Journal #16: 5 Questions

1.)  Why do you guys think Camus uses the weather, such as the sun, or sunlight, or the heat from the sun frequently? I feel like it has some significance because it is used so often.

2.) Do you think Meursault is really an indifferent, irrational and thoughtless person? A lot of people said that during one of our discussions and Wecker said that maybe we weren’t giving him enough credit and maybe there was more to him then what was on the surface.

3.) If we have to look somewhere other existentialism or absurdism, how else can Meursaults indulgent and seemingly pointless lifestyle be interpreted?

4.) What could Camus be trying to do by making Marie so foolish and naïve, or even including her in the story at all? She falls for Meursault even when it is clear that he has no romantic interest in her and only wants her for her body and the fact that she is there does nothing to contribute to the “life is pointless” theory.

5.) Throughout the story, Meursault seems to be embroiled in lots of drama; the old man that loses his dog, Raymond beating his mistress, the death of his mother. Could each of these situations be coming together to say something?

Journal #16: 5 Answers

Megan Davis:

#5 Is the idea of Meursault's forehead burning and his "veins pulsing" used to signify a change in him?  Do they represent something else?
Camus uses the idea of Meursault's forehead burning and his "veins pulsing" to display how instinct and feeling plays a large role in his decision making process. He does things because he wants to and not because they make sense.

Matt Merckling:

#4 Why does Albert Camus use words that suggest a routine when describing the events in the book?
Camus uses words that suggest a routine to stress the reasons for why Meursault is indifferent about his life. The monotony of his life may be the reason that he believes there is no reason for existing.

Tania Predovic:

1)Does Camus start the novel off with Maman's death so that we gain perspective on who Mersault is? What view of Mersault is he trying to project?
Camus starts the novel off with Maman's death to introduce Meursault as an emotionless person. He uses Maman's death as a situation in which Meursault can express his true personality.

Tate Bankston:

2) Does the symbolism of the cigarette represent freedom from society?
     (Also the motif of sleeping/tiredness)
Camus probably uses the cigarette as a symbol of Meursaults indulgence. One of the few things that Meursault does that shows that he is still human is enjoying the pleasurable things in life, such as the cigarettes.

Tanner Bean:

Is Camus trying to say something by Meursault's repititous life? if so, what?
Camus uses the repetitions and monotony in Meursaults life to express the fact that no matter what you do, the result will be the same and that trying to do anything different is futile.

Journal #15

Journal #15

I think that Camus made two parts to The Stranger because each part represents a completely different phase in Meursaults life. I think Camus does this to show that although Meursault’s life has taken a drastic turn that would make anyone breakdown, Meursault is still completely indifferent and quickly adapts to the major changes and continues living his life as if nothing had happened. I feel like this further cements a defining part of Meursaults personality and his irrational thoughts and actions.

An instance where part one and part two of The Stranger parallel each other are, towards the beginning of both parts, Meursault is put in a situation where he refuses to shoulder the blame. In part one, he has to leave work to be at his mother’s funeral and tells himself that it isn’t his fault for missing work when his boss yells at him. Similarly, in part two he kills the arab and while in the prosecuting process, he denies the blame as well, although indirectly, by “forgetting” that he is a criminal. The fact that he couldn’t believe he was a criminal or maybe even refused to believe it, shows that he doesn’t feel he is to blame for the death of the arab.

The second similarity I saw was simply the way that Meursault reacts to adversity. When his mom died and when he was put in prison, the style of the narration are not urgent of stressed, but rather nonchalant and give the reader a feeling that Meursault does not mind the predicament he is in. When his mom dies, he refuses to look at her body, doesn’t cry and seems overall emotionless about the loss. When he is put in jail, he seems to concentrate more on how he has adapted to not having cigarettes, rather then the fact that he is about to be put to death.

Journal #14

Journal #14

6 Stranger Questions:

1.) Why does Meursault sometimes leave Marie’s side? Its contradictory to what he has been doing throughout the book, which is indulge in things he finds pleasurable and not think about things that he doesn’t feel is important.

2.) Why does he hesitate to indulge in Marie? He never thought about things like that before.

3.) On page 53, Meursault demonstrates a sense of honor and fairness by telling Raymond that he should fight the Arab hand to hand rather than with the gun, why does he suddenly care?

4.) On page  55 when he says that he sees a steamer on the horizon, is he hallucinating?

5.) What is it about the sun that drives such emotion in Meursault?

6.) Why does Meursault commit the cowardly act of shooting the Arab, when he himself told Raymond not to use the gun and to fight a fair fight?

Journal #13

Read chapters 4 and 5

Journal #3: Personal Philosophy

You will demonstrate your understanding of the importance of one's world view by scrutinizing your thoughts on how the world works and indentifying guiding principles for your own philosophy.

establishes and introduces your philosophy

i. Give it a name

ii. It should connect to your principles

iii. Be creative

iv. Make it meaningful

Identify seven to ten guiding principles

i. These should be clear and thoughtful – no clichés

ii. These can be in bullet form and should be short and concise.

Explain from where your principle developed

iv. Clear explanation of why you find the principle important

Herdism

The ideas surrounding Herdism are having a defining quality about yourself. You should always have

something that allows you to stand out from the rest of the "herd" such as being the best at something or

having done something that no one else has. Herdism is the idea of not leaving life on a bad note, doing

something meaningful or something that changed the world before kicking the bucket.

1.) Never settle for anything that your not the best at.

2.) Being satisfied doesnt get you anywhere.

3.) Don't become part of the "herd" or common people.

4.) Be on your own level, not the level of everyone else.

5.) Plan ahead, do the boring stuff now, and reap the rewards later.

6.) Avoid peer pressure, always do what you know will make you better.

7.) Eyes on the prize, setbacks will happen, learn from them and keep going.

I guess if i could sum up this philosophy, its sort of like having an inferiority complex, be the best and dont let

anyone beat you. Have something that makes you more than the ordinary, average human being and take

pride in the fact that you have it. This is important because not nearly enough people are ambitious, they just take what they have and accept that its all theyre going to get. I think if more people stroved to be the best that they could be then then world would be a better place.

Journal #12

Journal #12: Part one: According to your work today in class, which translator would you argue has the most literary value and why? What elements of the text are you valuing by the decision you made?

Part two: According to the above meanings for the work "e'tranger", what title would you assign the English translation of the text and why. Go as far as to cite specific examples from the book that support your decision.

 

According to my work today in class, I would argue that Matthew Ward has a better translation because it is more authentic and matches what Camus wouldve wanted better. I feel like Gilbert tried to alter what was really being said just to make it more natural for the American readers. Things such as changing the kilometers or metric system, which France uses to the mile, which Americans use. Another thing is at the beginning of the book when Meursault refers to his mother as Maman in Wards translation and Mother in Gilberts. The two words are completely different things and make the reader feel completely different. Maman has a more affectionate tone while mother sounds very generic.

 

I would assign the english translation of the text the title "The Stranger". I wouldnt change it because i feel like it fits better then the foreigner or the outsider. Meursaults lack of a real relationship with any of his "friends" and even really with his own mother makes it seem as though he is a stranger to them all. His indifferent attitude throughout the book is much the same as a stranger would have. If i didnt know someone, or was a stranger to them, i would most likely be indifferent to their troubles and such. I feel like its better than foreigner because that makes it sound like he just came over from another country, while outsider just doesnt fit as well for me.

Journal #11

Journal #11: Talk about how your going to go about tabbing the stranger in detail.

When I’m tabbing the stranger, I probably will not be using a color coordinated system. I feel like having to remember which tab goes to what on top of actually having to think about tabbing at all ON TOP of reading the story would distract me too much from what is actually happening in the book.

So having said that, I’ll just read, if I see something that stands out like a motif, a symbol, any literary technique that I feel would help me on a future essay ill tab it, and write a brief note to myself about where I was going with the tab. Ill probably be looking at Meursault’s emotionlessness(is that a word?) and how he does things without thinking and most of the time without regret. It’s nice that I’ve already read the book once so I’ll know what’s coming.

And if I run out of room on the sticky, I’ll just write all over the book and then give it to someone when I’m done…sort of like a half-blood prince. Just keepin’ it real.

Edit: After todays class, alot of the things that i was planning on looking out for were eliminated. Until i find some new stuff to look out for, ill just continue to look for the less obvious things that not everyone noticed such as having dialogue embedded in the passage.

Journal #10

Journal #10: Identify a theme within Their Eyes Were Watching God (if you know it still has some weaknesses, make a list of questions or concerns you have about your theme below it - it doesn't have to be perfect yet). Be sure your theme is something that you can commit to writing your own vignette around. Make a list of quotes that inform that theme. Be sure to record the page number and take note of any techniques and or elements present within the quote.

Theme: Individuals who try to advance themselves through a capitalistic system end up isolating those around them.

I just used the theme that we came up with the first time we met up in groups of 4. It’s still kind of vague, “isolating” could be replaced with hurt maybe? “advance themselves” is pretty vague as well.

Quotes:

1.) In the few days to live before she went to Logan Killicks and his often-mentioned sixty acres, Janie asked inside of herself and out. (21)

2.) “Aw you know ah’m gwine chop de wood fuh yuh. Even if you is stingy as you can be wid me. Yo’ Grandma and me myself done spoilt yuh now, and Ah reckon Ah have tuh keep on wid. (26)

3.) “Whut you need two mules fuh? Lessen you aims to swap off dis one.” “Naw, Ah needs two mules dis yeah. Taters is goin’ tuh be taters in de fall. Bringin’ big prices. Ah aims tuh run two plos, and dis man Ah’m talkin’ ‘bout is got uh mule all gentled up so even uh woman kin handle ‘im. (27)

4.) “He meant to git dere whilst de town wuz yet a baby. He meant to buy in big. It had always been his wish and desire to be a big voice and he had to live nearly thirty years to find a chance. (28)

5.) “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’ Ah never married her for nothing’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home.” (43)

6.) “Take for instance that new house of his. It had two stories with porches, with banisters and such things. The rest of the town looked like servants’ quarters surrounding the “big house.” (47)

7.) “Whut make her keep her head tied up lak some ole ‘oman round de store? Nobody couldn’t git me tuh tie no rag on mah head if Ah had hair lak dat.” (49)

8.) “Well, honey, how yuh lak bein’ Mrs/ Mayor?” “it’s all right Ah recon, but don’t yuh think it keeps us in uh kinda strain?” “Strain? You mean de cookin’ and waitin’ on folks?” “Naw, Jody, it jus’ looks lak it keeps us in some way we ain’t natural wid one ‘nother. You’se always off talkin’ and fixin’ things, and Ah feels lak Ah’m jus’ markin’ time. Hope it soon gits over.”

Journal #9

Journal #9: Write a pastiche of Hurston by duplicating a theme that she uses and three stylistic elements. Use these elements with your own characters, setting, and conflict. After you finish your pastiche clarify what theme and techniques you used and how they were used in a way that mirrors Hurston's own use of them.

            “Whoosh!” an arrow wizzed by Ching’s head as he ran to the center of the courtyard.

“I got to get da revenge on Chong fo killing my dad and brudha!” he thought to himself as he beheaded guard after guard.

As he went on his rampage, Ching’s thoughts flashed back to that afternoon.

“But what can I do masta? Dey kill Dad and brudha! Exclaimed Ching

“You must do what yo inna ninja tell you to do.” Master Fou said.

Ching’s thoughts came back to the ensuing battle just in time for an arrow to pierce his left arm.

“AHHHHHH” screamed Ching. But he kept on running

“It’s okay. It’s just a fresh wound, I stronga then dis.” Thought Ching.

He finally made to the great oak door that separated him from his cousin, Chong.

With a burst he slammed the door open “I find you da finally!” he yelled.

Chong sat on the great throne that Ching’s father used to occupy. “You da fool, yo dad and brudha only want da money and riches, they don’t care fo yo family, its dey fault dat everybody die!”

“But…no dey neva do dat!” Ching fell to his knees in disbelief..his dad and brother had actually died because of greed? They left his whole family to die because of money?

Theme: Individuals that try to advance in society by taking advantage of the capitalistic will end up hurting those around them.

I matched this theme with the one that Hurston uses with the 3 husbands in Their Eyes. In this passage, Ching’s father and brother chose money over family and ultimately ended up hurting/killing them them.

The techniques I used were apostrophe, flashback, mentor, verbal irony, and dialect. The dialect that I used was similar to the way that Hurston used it because throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God, dialect is used very effectively to give a cultural aspect to the story and help the reader understand what kind of background each character had. In my story, I used Master Fou as a mentor to the protagonist, Ching. This is comparable to Hezekiah in Hurstons novel because Hezekiah often gives advice to Janie about Tea Cake much in the same way that Master Fou does with Ching. I also used apostrophe to help give some information about what kind of person Ching is. Hurston uses this strategy as well with Janie.

Journal #8

Journal #8: Find quotations for three different stylistic attributes of Hurston's writing. Explain the context of the passage (where does it occur in the book, what is happening, who is involved). Identify and describe the literary technique used in the the passage, and explain how you think it affects the text and how you read it.

Quotation #1: “Mis’ Janie,” Hezekiah began sullenly next dat, “you oughtn’t ‘low dat Tea Cake tuh be walkin’ tuh de house wid yuh. Ah’ll go wid yuh mahself after dis, if you’se skeered (102).”

This is one of many passages between Janie and Hezekiah. After one of Janie and Tea Cakes “dates” Hezekiah suggests that Janie not get too close to Tea Cake and that he would walk her home himself. Hurston uses the literary technique known as confidant to show the brother/sister relationship between Hezekiah and Janie. Mentor could also be another technique used by Hurston because Hezekiah often advises Janie on certain matters. This affects the way I read because now I think of Hezekiah as more than just a servant to the Starks and more as a 3-dimensional character.

Quotation #2: “Her next thought brought her crashing down. He’s just saying anything for the time being, feeling he’s got me so I’ll believe him. The next thought buried her under tons of cold futility. He’s trading on being younger than me. Getting ready to laugh at me for an old fool. But oh, what wouldn’t I give to be twelve years younger so I could b’lieve him! (105).

In this passage, Janie is having an internal conflict in which she debates Tea Cakes true intentions. She is unsure of whether he is just playing her or if he is serious. Her thoughts are a literary technique used by Hurston known as Apostrophe. Janie’s thoughts help the reader better understand what she is thinking, and help us understand in a way that Hurston would not be able to convey if she were to have Janie say it out loud. It also allows the reader a deeper or more intimate view of Janie’s thought process.

Quotation #3: “Well, all right, Tea Cake, Ah wants tuh go wid you real bad, but, -oh, Tea Cake, don’t make no false pretense wid me!” “Janie, Ah hope God may kill me, if Ah’m lyin’. Nobdoy else on earth kin hold uh candle tuh you, baby. You got de keys to de kingdom.” (109)

In this passage Tea Cake and Janie are about to go to a picnic that Tea Cake has been working extremely hard to make happen. At the end of the passage Tea Cake tells Janie that she has the keys to the kingdom. Hurston could be using a form of diction. By using kingdom it makes it seem like she has the keys to his world and that he is completely fallen for her. This deeper meaning in the word makes it easier for the reader to understand what is being said by just using a single word.

Journal #7

Journal #7: create a pastiche, matching Hurston' style and themes as closely as possible. After you complete your pastiche, write a statement explaining some of the decisions you made in order to match Hurston's writing and objectives.

“And so Ed’s thoughts turned to Greed. Greed, that unstoppable monster that consumes even the best of us. The one that lurks on the outside, waiting for the moment when ambition strikes. What need does Greed have for a home, when it’s home is wherever there is human desire? It sits in the deepest, darkest crevices of our minds. Sits patiently, waiting for the moment that it can turn our innocent goals and yearnings into avaricious desire. Its been sitting there since the minute we were born. He had already been taken by his addiction to success. Poor Alphonse, fighting an unending battle all by his lonesome. His friends suggested that he stop, take a break, step back and look at what he had accomplished but he refused. All his friends, forever complacent, knew only about standing still, and nothing about his struggle to always gain.  He’d never be okay as long as there was something left to acquire, to take and make his own. That’s what he thought. But his friends knew that every story must come to an end, every race must have a finish line. And even if he didn’t know, he would find out in time, for his friends had gathered with concern. No one had the nerve to ask what was going on in his mind. They just sat and waited. Ambition, that drug that keeps on giving."

I chose greed for my pastiche, for no particular reason. Other than using her sentence structure i also kept the whole passage vague, I don't specify what Al is trying to achieve or gain, i simply state that he wants something, and even when he gets it there will always be more, hence the topic of this passage: Greed.

Journal #6

Journal #6: Read closely Janie's description of Death in chapter 8. Make a list of the stylistic choices Hurston makes in the passage that begins "Death, that strange bird with the huge square toes..." and ends with "Rumor, that wingless bird..." Along with listing the decisions Hurston makes in this passage, identify the effect of each of each of these decisions. You can do this in list form: technique/stylistic choice, effect, technique, effect, etc

Decision #1: Janie thinks about Death as something that actually manifests itself as a thing or in this case a bird with big square toes.

Effect #1: This ties back to what her Grandmother believed, that Death was a real being that could decide who lived and who died.

D#2: Janie describes Death as someone on a high platform watching people from up high, like a god.

E#2: In the town, Jody was often thought of as almost a god, maybe Hurston is making Death as someone who is even higher than Jody and is judging him for his suppression and aristocratic ways.

D#3 “She was liable to find a feather from his wings lying in her yard any day now.”

E#3: The feather that may end up lying on Janie’s yard is saying that she thinks she may be paid a visit from Death soon as well.

D#4: The beginning of the passage has a sort of righteous mood.

E#4: The mood makes it seem like Jody is being judge for his previous actions by Death.

D#5: Towards the end of the passage, the mood turns to sadness and remorse.

E#5: The feeling of sadness and remorse is Janie feeling bad for belittling Jody in front of the townspeople despite him belittling her the whole time.

D#6: Janie sends Sam in to visit Jody instead of visiting him herself.

E#6: This shows Janie’s conflicting emotions about Jody. Shes angry at him for suppressing her throughout their marriage, but she also feels bad about him dying.

D#7: The people waiting outside of the Stark house gather under the trees.

E#7: Hurston uses the motif of the tree representing life, and Death being a real being in this sentence. I think the people sit under the tree so that they will be protected from death.

D#8: The fact that the townspeople had the nerve to approach the Stark house.

E#8: Jody’s power and suppression is further cemented by the fact that the townspeople are no longer afraid or in awe of him now that he is in his weakened state.

D#9: At the end of the passage Hurston uses the wingless bird to represent Death and how it was shadowing the town.

E#9: Hurston could’ve used this to get the reader to believe it was foreshadowing more deaths to come.

D#9: The medical doctors could only work with the “Godly sick”.

E#9: Hurston may be trying to say that these “doctors” are actually phonies that can only work with patients under some superstitious or fake disease.

D#10: In the passage, a “two-headed man’ is mentioned to have something to do with Jody’s health.

E#10: What or who is the two-headed man?

Journal #5

Journal #5: Post your thesis statement. Be sure it addresses what stylistic choice Hurston made, what the effect of that choice is, and why she would create that effect.

Thesis: Hurston starts her novel with the ending in order to make the reader want to know how that ending came to be. She did this to better engage the reader in the book and keep them engaged throughout the story.

Journal #4

Journal #4: Identify three patterns that appear in these chapters (but may extend through the entire book) and record the examples for each (include page number)

Pattern #1: “Blooming” is constantly used throughout the book to represent the growth and development of Janie and of her moving forward to bigger and better things in life.

Example #1:  “Oh to be a pear tree-any tree in bloom!” (pg. 11)

Example #2: “That was to say, ever since the first tiny bloom had opened. It had called her to come and gaze on a mystery. From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf buds to snowy virginity of bloom. (pg. 10)

Pattern #2: Jody, or Joe Starks constantly uses his newfound power throughout chapters 5 and 6 as if he were a white man, or even a god.

Example #1: “Take for instance that new house of his. It had two stories with porches, with banisters and such things. The rest of the town looked like servants’ quarters surrounding the “big house”. (pg. 47)

Example #2: “And then he spit in that gold-looking vase that anybody else would have been glad to put on their front-room table. (pg. 47)

Pattern #3: There are many examples where Janie is suppressed by Jody and confined to her “womanly role” and only allowed to do what Jody allows her to.

Example #1:  “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. Shes uh woman and her place is in de home.” (pg. 43)

Example #2: “Strain? You mean de cookin’ and waitin’ on folks?” (pg. 46)

Journal #3

Journal #3: Step 1-research a prominent figure from the Harlem Renaissance and write a short summary of who they are.

Duke Ellington – Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was a composer, pianist and leader of big bands known as “Harlem Stride Style” bands. He was born in 1899 and was one of the more influential Jazz musicians during the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote over 1,000 compositions and played for over 50 years. After his death his son, Mercer Ellington, continued his legacy and continued to lead his band until his son died as well. Duke Ellington is considered to be one of the greatest composers of his time.

Step 2-make a list of rules for a dialect of your creation (at least 3 for each category: pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary).

Dialect Rules – Chingalingese

Pronunciation:

·         All ‘l’s and “ll’s are pronounced with an “r” sound.

Ex. “Hello” becomes “Heyro”

·         All “da”s are pronounced like “duh”

Ex. “He do da dancing” becomes “He do DUH dancing”

·         All “th” sounds are replaced with “d” sounds

Ex.  “they” becomes “dey”

Grammar:

·         Prepositions are not used, or words that connect nouns together.

Ex.  “I very talented” should actually be “I am very talented”

·         “da” is placed in sentences where it is not usually necessary in English.

Ex. “I do da track.” Should actually be “I do track”

·         Chingalingese people never use adverbs.

Ex. “He run so quick”

Vocabulary:

·         “Ninja” is used to address fellow Chingalingese people as well as oneself or acquaintances.

Ex.  “What up ninja?”

·         “mang” is used instead of “man”

Ex. “Why you like da dog so much mang?”

·         “dog” is actually a term that means “rice”

Ex.  “Oh my gawt, I so hungry I need to eat da dog”

Step 3-pick a setting and create a dialogue between your historical figure and your imaginative figure using at least seven exchanges and correctly punctuated speaker tags.

Setting: Chingalingese person named “Ching” and Duke Ellington on their way to KFC.

It was a breezy winter afternoon in Atlanta when Duke Ellington and a very hungry chingalingese person walked by. “Hey Ching, you wanna go get some grub?” said Duke. “Yea I want da fry chicken so bad, you dink dey got da dog too? asked Ching

“uh…I don’t think KFC sells dog Ching, its called Kentucky Fried Chicken, not Kentucky Fried Dog.” said Duke.

“Shut da front door ninja!” exclaimed Ching “What da ninja got to do to get da dog?”

As Ching and Duke walked down the street, Duke began to ponder what he had just heard. “Hey Ching, why do you eat your fried chicken with dog?” asked Duke.

Ching replied “Because da dog so tasty, it melt in da mouth like candy mang.”

“Dog doesn’t melt in your mouth Ching, its chewy.”

“You don’t understand ninja! I need da dog or I when I do da track I go so slow like da fat man on Chinese New Year!”

“I suppose a fat man on Chinese New Year isn’t very fast, but I still don’t understand what dog has to do with any of it.” The two men continued to walk until they hit a fork between Panda Express and KFC.

“So, explain to me again how dogs make you run faster?” asked Duke.

“I already tell you mang, da dog so white and fluffy, it feel good in da mouth.” said Ching.

“That’s kinda nasty man, er ninja.” said Duke.

“Don’t call me da ninja, you dink you da chingalingese people?” said Ching.

“Nah man, I am definitely not chingalingese.” stated Duke.

“I no want da fry chicken no mo, I go to da Panda Express, dey give me da dog there.” said Ching