martes, 30 de noviembre de 2010

Different Styles

Darcy and Bingley talking after the ball at Meryton

Darcy: Mr. Bingley the ball wasn’t what I expected at all. It was rather boring and that young lady Elizabeth was very annoying

Mr. Bingley: Don’t look at it that way Darcy. Jane, is the prettiest creature I’ve seen and this was a good opportunity to meet her

Darcy: Let me explain to you two things Mr. Bingley: women are nice things, but classless women aren’t. I must add Jane wasn’t charming at all. You enjoyed her company, I suppose. But I wasn’t pleased at all by the people at the ball.

Mr. Bingley: nice women are nice things, but Jane isn’t a nice woman. She has dazzled me with her smile and precious eyes. She has gone beyond to what a man could ever dream.

lunes, 25 de octubre de 2010

We tend to remember conclusions, the last experience, the end.


The man walked down the seventh floor hall. He thought of returning back to the elevator. Uneasiness, perhaps inhibition is a normal thing he thought. He had finally reached the door in which “777” was inscribed in some antique, golden typography. He was nervous-afraid- to knock on the door. Despite this, he closed his eyes while grabbing the doorknob he thought “auto da fe”.

-Good afternoon Mr. Branagh. I hope you didn’t loose yourself around the path. The building seems huge to me. Take a seat.

Kenneth nodded. He slowly settled on the divan, as the old man searched from a cup of tea and some papers.

-I understand you came here for some sort of dream that has been vexing you recently, right?

“Yes”, he said. “I dream very strange things recently. This is beginning to affect my professional life. I was recently working with Derek Jacobi on an adaption of Hamlet.

The old man interrupted, “ I’m guessing you are playing Hamlet yourself is that right?”

Once again the man was right Kenneth thought. He replied, “Yes Mr. Freud, it is a very complex character as you may know.”

The old man said, “ Would you please tell me about your dream. Please remember not to omit any details, these are very important for the interpretation.”

Kenneth began, “ I experience the feeling of leaving my body and have some peripherical vision of myself, as if I changed from being Kenneth Branagh to being another “Kenneth Branagh”. This one, is a third person “Kenneth Branagh”, are you following me?”

-I understand what you mean Mr. Branagh. This sensation or experience youre having is also known as doppelganger. I do not fancy the complicated terms we use. I apologize for interrupting your discourse.

- “Well… this “Kenneth Branagh” is the one I see through. I observe Kenneth Branagh, which is not really Kenneth Branagh. How can I make this clearer... The “Kenneth Branagh” I’m talking about has the same facial structure as me but he wears different clothes and he acts in a strange manner. The dream… I can’t recall the beginning,” the man exclaimed. The old man took note. He wrote on his notes:

Patient deals with anger, probably fear. Constant nervous gestures. Perspires continuously and grabs his hands while speaking.”

-It’s completely normal to forget about the beginning of our dreams. This occurs in everything. We tend to remember conclusions, the last experience, the end.

- The “Kenneth Branagh observer” is different from the “Kenneth branagh/ Hamlet”. Kenneth Branagh/ Hamlet says:

To be, or not to be– that is the question:
/ Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
/The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
/Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
/And, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep/
No more – and by a sleep to say we end
/The heartache and the thousand natural shocks/
That flesh is heir to – ‘tis a consummation/
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep/
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub,
/For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,/
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,/
Must give us pause.”

Just as he pronounces, “pause”, I wake up, shaking and sweating. I need to know what this dream means Mr. Freud. I need…

-As I said Mr. Branagh, you have reached the end per se. It is interesting how the end of your dream is the end of the soliloquy. However, in your dream, it is not the end itself, it is a pause just as Hamlet says. It is a pause because you have not figured out yet the meaning of your dream and therefore have not reached the end of it. I will now pose this question, who do you want to end the dream, Kenneth branagh, “Kenneth Branagh observer” or “Kenneth Branagh/ Hamlet?

Silence filled the room. Silence fills everything. Silence is a pause, the end.

Act 3 Scene II


Tenant’s performance of the playful, ironic Hamlet is my favorite. He uses facial expressions and body gestures in order to gain status inthe scene. Hamlet's main purpose is to subtlety threaten and mock Claudius. His childlike behavior and sudden change into anger reflecthis ironic tone. Another aspect I must highlight is the eloquence heuses. One must note the placement of the crown (tilted) and theattire's condition in the scene. This emphasize his stage of indifference towards authority and satirization of the king.

Act 3 Scene 1


The first video clip we see has to deal with Hamlet’s dilemma aka “to be or not to be”. The whole scene is focused on the lights management in order to provide emphasize in the actor’s facial expressions. The soliloquy is known for the deep reflections of existence it brings upon. Philosophy in the whole discourse is noticeable and the most important element of it is based upon being or acting. Acting is something we do every day but being is different because it involves living as a whole. To be is the whole itself, it is letting one to enter completely with soul and actions into totality. This is indeed what Tenant performs in this scene, he has now become Hamlet. And Hamlet is no longer Hamlet but he is now the dilemma of existence.

Drawing Connections

1. Burden
2. Infatuation
3. aberrations
4. eavesdropper
5. infantile






















lunes, 4 de octubre de 2010

Changing Styles


The end of The Great Gatsby by Cormac McCarthy:
In the future, we will try to improve, get better. But in the end, it won’t happen. It won’t happen.

The end of
The Road by F. Scott Fitzgerald:
We thought that everything was older than humanity and perhaps, anonymity, believing it would untangle the mystery that recedes upon our future.

jueves, 23 de septiembre de 2010

Liberal Blogging

The following blog entry is less conventional compared to the ones I have previously written. While I read I highlight phrases, excerpts words among other things I find interesting along the text. These may be words I’ve never seen before or quotes I believe are esthetically well written that may have some literal value.

“Look around you. Ever is a long time.

But the boy knew what he knew. That ever is no time at all.” (pg 14)

This particular phrase uses time to evoke the kid and dad’s emotions in The Road. The boy is afraid of their undecided future and possible death in the post apocalyptic scenario. It is very interesting that “ever” is infinite and cannot be determined by time. His father being the “wise” figure in the story is wrong, and the boy serves a juxtaposing character.

“The faintly lit hatchway lay in the dark of the yard like a grave

yawning at judgment day in some old apocalyptic painting.”(pg 79)

McCarthy presents to us the use of imagery by using a simile. He compares the hatchway in the dark to a grave at judgment day. I consider this comparison to be a more interesting approach to portray The Road’s scenario. It is almost a type of meta-fiction in a sense that they are referring to an apocalyptic setting while being in one.

“Then they set out along the blacktop in the gun-metal light, shuffling

through the ash, each the other's world entire” (pg 3)

This phrase is ethically good and portrays The Road’s theme completely. They are together in a vast world in which death is their nearest friend. The rough description of the “gun-metal light” suites perfectly the idea of McCarthy’s story.

Blues And Greys


The Road by Cormac McCarthy portrays the nothingness and lack of hope in society. The view of a destructor World is an universal theme. His novel incorporates “hope” as a major idea in which the boy and father struggle to survive. McCarthy says, “Barren, silent, godless” (pg 2) alluding to the common fear people feel when being lonely and uncertain, usually associated to the lack of a deity. This, is often used as a critic to search for a higher being in moments of destruction. How humans feel tiny when they realize that nature or modernism are stronger forces than us.

The Road is a painting done by pen, crayon, chalk, blues and greys. It has a strong use of emotions evoked by the kid’s questions answered by his father with negative and yet positive predictions. McCarthy says, “Are we going to die? Sometime. Not now” (page 5).

Carts Moving Along The Road= Humans Coping With Existance


As I read McCarthy’s novel I couldn’t forget Mr. Tangen’s words: “ this is a pretty easy book, you’ll read it fast.” And so far I couldn’t agree more, however, the novel has various interesting elements such as strong symbolism. The kid walking with his dad in a post-apocalyptic scenario isn’t my favorite plot to read. Despite this, McCarthy has strong character development throughout his novel and is able to use symbols to portray stronger ideas aside from a stereotypical theme.

The evident symbol in the novel is the road itself but asides from this I consider the kid’s cart to be as important. It is a more “subtle” incorporation to his text and yet reflects a deeper idea. The cart is a symbol of humanity, if the road is our life then the cart represents ourselves. McCarthy says, “One of the

front wheels of the cart had gone wonky. What to do about it? Nothing” (pg 7). This quote shows the harsh situation the boy and his dad had to face in McCarthy’s novel. The cart has one of the wheels “wonky” representing their inability to move smoothly through the road, or in their particular case: life. The cart is the only possession they have throughout the novel and it is an agent of assistance or destruction. The boy and his dad carry the cart everywhere, and they deposit their goods and the gun. Portraying how humanity has both benign and negative aspects as they live. Despite the cart’s damaged condition the boy is able to fix it. This shows how sometimes we (humans) encounter adverse situations in our road (life) and must fix our cart (step up) in order to continue moving. An example of this is the boys reaction when he is able to repair the cart and enjoy life for a short period of time. The omniscient narrator states, “It was the first that he'd seen the boy smile in a long time” (pg 9).

Stylish Road

When Redding Cormac Mcarthys novel The Road we see his style directly portrayed in his writing. Two key aspects drag my attention as i read: variation of sentence length (structure) and liberal use of grammar. Here is where one as an active reader should analyze “why” and “how McCarthy is using this particular form of wiring.

The “why” is a more complex question to deal with compared to the “how”. We must read carefully and draw connections on The Roads theme, characters, plot symbolism, setting to McCarthy’s style. Defining “why” he used a certain sentence structure or omit the use of apostrophes is a very risky task. And based on this, our hypothesis must be open to other approaches concerning “why” McCarthy uses these techniques.

Here is the “how “ must be taken into consideration. McCarthy mentions, “A dead perch lolling belly up in the clear water. Yellow leaves” (pg 7). As a example of this particular sentence structure. He gives a long description and its followed by the incorporation of a short one. The juxtaposition of these different lengths transcends esthetics, they contribute to the essence of the Road. I believe this sentence introduces us the description, the second one emphasizes the importance of this description. If we recall, “In the morning they went on. Desolate country” (pg 8)we see the same form of writing. McCarthy uses adjectives and nouns like “visual colons” in the road. By this I mean his evident contrast on a previous paragraph and the next one serve as means to highlight information. This is obviously used instead of consistent sentence structure, which would be less interesting.

McCarthy also appeals the use of a liberal employment t of grammar. When having dialogue between the boy and his father apostrophes are absent and therefore show McCarthy’s style. Most writers would incorporate them in order to note importance to their characters thoughts. I believe it is also an approach to a figurative purpose when writing. I interpret this as another way to communicate the value of nothingness. These are unnecessary standards used when facing harsh situations.

viernes, 10 de septiembre de 2010

Pros and Cons of a clever, ambitious woman


As I finished reading the Wife of bath I associated various works in which women are viewed similarly. I mentality searched for allusions to powerful female characters with cynic attitude. Among these the first two that popped into my head were Lady Macbeth and the character of Hitchcock’s Psycho. These women are ambitious and represent the dark, feminist, dominant stereotype. And I must say I’m not sure if women should be proud of characters like these. Even though I share the idea of equal rights, I consider that regardless of sex an unethical character should not be praised. Have a look into these quotes:

Eek wel I woot he seyde, myn housbonde

Sholde lete fader and moder, and take me;

But of no nombre mencioun made he,

Of bigamye or of octogamye;

Why sholde men speke of it vileinye?

For hadde God comanded maydenhede,

Thanne hadde he dampned wedding with the dede;

And certes, if ther were no seed y-sowe,

Virginitee, wher-of than sholde it growe?

She questions why someone would judge her about her several marriages and not look down to a polygamous man. The second quote questions how could judge advocate for virginity if without intercourse life would cease to exist. And here I must highlight my admiration to such sharp and logical inquiries. She is making her point constantly with disdain throughout the tale and show consistent thoughts. This proves to us, men, that women are capable of being an authority when using the right methods. People tend to underestimate women and disrespect them. And based on the Wife of Bath I see how respect is different from authority. One may obtain authority through unethical means while respect is based on morality. The Wife of Bath, however portrays an intricate character in which both aspects are seen. And I must leave you with the following question: does she obtain respect or authority? These are definitely the pros and cons of clever, ambitious women.

Parody of Courtly Love


The Miller’s Tale is a parody of courtly love, elaborately written using various techniques to ridicule “The Knight’s Tale.” The social status of the narrator and characters is indeed a way to literally and figuratively “lower” the elegance and grace of the story. The drunken narrator, lacking of manners, begins “The Miller’s tale” in a more informal fashion. This continues throughout the story as reflected by its characters and the plot itself. Chaucer alludes to “The Knight’s tale” in the story, establishing a relationship that provides the reader with further information on what’s going to be parodied.

Evidently, The Miller’s tale view on love isn’t romantic and idealized as the one seen in “ The Knight’s Tale”. This is seen in Alisoun’s adultery, demoralizing completely what courtly love. Her description of bein an average woman says, “She was a prymerole, a pigges-nye

For any lord to leggen in his bedde,

Or yet for any good yeman to wedde.” (Millers Tale) portraying a deglamorized version of women. This juxtaposes clearly the view on women seen in “The Knight’s” and “Miller’s” tale. Similarly to this, the male characters are parodied in this tale. Having a naïve man, being cheated on depicts an image completely opposite to what Arcite, Palamon and Theseus have in “The Knight’s tale.”

The most evident trait of parody created by Chaucer is the absurd ending in the story. Alisoun’s and Nicolas’s plan to see each other works initially and ends in a different manner to what they expected and yet, they are successful. John is being made fun of by the town as he tries to explain Nicolas’s lie. One can think of various lessons learned from this tell such as:

1. Never trust women

2. Do not try to explain yourself when being in ridicule, it makes it worst

3. A Knights tale will be always more interesting but less humorous to that of a carpenter´s.

“The Knight’s Tale”

lunes, 6 de septiembre de 2010

The Raven: symbol (grief) as "Nevermore" : ellipsis

After Mr. Tangen’s surprised facial expression caused by the AP Literature students´ignorance on symbols, we were assigned to read The Raven. The poem’s obvious symbol is the raven, yet the difficult aspect of the task is comprehending what it represents. In order to do execute close-reading on the poem I followed the five steps a reader must perform when analyzing literature.

The Main characteristics one must have:

Rigorous – do not skip any fragment of the text. Reading is a discipline.

Fastidious- be attentive to detail. Be attentive to the authors writing in a keen manner.

Optimistic- Consider the piece was completely done thoughtfully. Believe that patterns on structure among other literary techniques and devices were intentionally created.


The Steps

1. Read it more than once

2. Mark it up- love-what?-

3. Read last part

4. Go back to the beginning

5. Scheme for final picture

I began the journey on Poe’s writing with a dictionary by my side, I knew his vocabulary is key to understand the poem better. I was restrained from reading the stanzas fluidly, however, I wanted to be rigorous on my analysis.

Example # 1: Rigorous reading

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.” (the raven)

In order to recognize the poem’s figurative meaning of the raven I had to read it several times looking up for the definition of every unknown word I found on the way. I underlined these words throughout the whole piece and read poem several times.

Example # 2: being “fastidious”

When I finished the poem I had clearly identified it’s structure was divided into two parts: the narrators tale and description of the night and the conversation he has with the raven. This was a proof of how detailed one should be when analyzing literature. This characteristic is evidently linked with “being optimistic” while reading.

Example # 3: Optimistic readers

As previously stated The Raven is divided structurally speaking into two parts: the narrator’s description of the setting and later, his encounter with the raven. This emphasizes the importance of the raven and proves to us its symbolic meaning: grief. To argument the meaning of the raven one could support it with the desperate tone and mysterious mood Poe stresses in the poem. Another example could be the narrator’s “irrational” conversation with a bird, portraying his desperation and constant need of answers for Lenore’s death. Lenore being his lover or someone he cares for, constantly mentioned throughout the poem. The “nevermore” repetition serves as an ellipsis to the poem or aposiopesis in terms of what the narrator’s soliloquy portrays as mourning vehemently. Therefore, one can conclude the raven symbolizes grief and it was intentionally created to portray this idea.

The following link provides a similar analysis. It is more informal but I consider it another interesting approach to The Raven.

http://www.gotpoetry.com/News/article/sid=1518.html

domingo, 5 de septiembre de 2010

“Boys Don’t Cry” and “Fortune’s Fool”, phrases of love and fate

As I finished reading Chaucer’s first and second part of “The Knights Tale” two phrases came to my mind: “boys don’t cry” and “ O, I am fortune’s fool.” This citations link “The Knights Tale” with other works, emphasizing that themes are universal. In Chaucer’s story we find that love and fate are related and are characterized by Arcite and Palamon´s reactions towards their lives. Theseus has imprisoned them after conquering Thebes. This being a negative event to them turns out to be their opportunity to fall in love with Emelye, Theseus´s sister in law. One can note that destiny could be seen as negative or positive showing the subjective and idealized love described in “The Knight’s Tale”. These miserable prisoners soon fall in love with Emelye, and portray their courtly love with vehement dismay: “‘Cosin myn, what eyleth thee,

That art so pale and deedly on to see?

Why crydestow? who hath thee doon offence?

For Goddes love, tak al in pacience

Our prisoun, for it may non other be;

Fortune hath yeven us this adversitee.

Som wikke aspect or disposicioun

Of Saturne, by sum constellacioun,

Hath yeven us this, al-though we hadde it sworn;

So stood the heven whan that we were born;

We moste endure it: this is the short and pleyn.’ ” (lines 223-233) Arcite asks Palamon about his cry, while thinking it was related to their misfortune and imprisonment. Arcite´s guess was not completely wrong, fortune was their adversary but Palamon´s cry came from his passionate “first sight love”, not from anger due to his lack of freedom. The story continues with Arcite falling in love with Emelye and creating tension among them. Destiny interferes with the expected outcome of the story (or at least first part) by Chaucer’s appeal to a peripety, including Perotheus into the story. Perotheus intercedes for Palamon´s liberty and Theseus agrees under the condition that Palamon never returns back. Despite of this apparent positive fortune’s favor, Theseus posses an important question: Who’s less fortunate, a free man without seeing the woman he loves or the captive man with her close by?

Hence, I associate “The Knights tale” with “boys don’t cry” and that particular sentence in Romeo and Juliet. The Cure´s song expresses accurately the feeling of an impotent man whos in love. Yet, different in context, the man described on the song committed mistakes that lead to his misfortune. While Palamon´s and Arcite´s situation was given by fortune itself: external factors. Despite this, ¨boys don’t cry” says: So I try to laugh about it

Cover it all up with lies

I try to

laugh about it

Hiding the tears in my eyes

'cause boys don't cry”, resembling the same passionate feeling regardless of context. This might be a modern way to express helplessness of a man’s grief when faced an unfortunate event. Romeo`s quotation “O, I am fortune’s fool” reflect how courtly love deals with the men’s suffering and affection. When Romeo slains Tybalt, eventually leading to his banishment from Verona, consequently creating an unfavorable end as said in:“ For never was a story of more woe
/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

From three different pieces of art I see how grief and love are related and how fortune drastically affects men. It could be interpreted as: individual actions lead to misfortune, one’s life is ruled my fortune, or men’s future being determined by both personal and external factors.

jueves, 26 de agosto de 2010

¨Words, blank spaces, and Jim¨

As I heard Dorian Merina´s Migrations my brain recognized I had seen something like it before. The question was obvious, I tried to figure out “what “or “where” I had previously experimented a similar feeling to that provoked by “Migrations”. Nevertheless, I had to focus on the poem and left aside my disruptive unconsciousness and kept on reading. While I read the poem I found emphasis on style to be an aspect that is consistent through the whole piece. Listing objects is a way to describe a setting and portray ones thoughts. Yet, using words without an apparent continuous idea and placing them more abruptly appeals to be more interesting for the reader. This can be seen in the following excerpt:

“cherries nutmeg pepper ginger salt pork chestnuts walnuts chicueyes
thread needles thimbles cushions pins boxes
writing cases engraved with scenes of bamboo and waves
moons and mist”

Merina continues to repeat this particular “unarranged” structure in which elements are placed almost by a force similar to inertia. And by this I mean that every sentence and word falls into place unexpectedly nonetheless in harmony. The force that embodies Merina´s poem is uninterrupted from beginning to end. In terms of style, I consider “Writing cases engraved with scenes of bamboo and waves /moons and mist” characterizes the essence of “Migrations”. Moving organically from phrase to phrase generate the image of a bird flying from branch to branch. Merina´s verses emerge like the unexpected animals or trees one could encounter while traveling in the tropics. This being a key element in terms of the poems theme: the cultural backgrounds from asian slaves brought to America among others.

The background music and the narrator’s passive-constant voice highlight style. Soft beating drums with spontaneous guitar sounds recreate the poems scenario. These techniques embody “Migrations” entirely when combined with verses like:

“the simple chemistry of this
distillation of a kiss
thirst
and a word like rum

and a word like rum

and a word like…


achuete
atole
avocado
balsa
banqueta
cachuete
calabaza…” due to their natural movement. These fragments provide rhythm phonetically and visually to the poem. Of course noting that the words employed here are idoneous to the poems theme. They are words that contain sounds like the “Ch” and the spanish pronunciation of the vowels. Thus emphasizing style in another manner and contributing to the creation of ¨Migrations¨.

But this blog hasn’t ended yet, I must tell you where I had experienced a similar feeling to that of Dorian Merina´s poem. I can now recall it clearly: “ The Ghost Song” by The Doors. Jim Morrisons´s voice serves as a quasi narrator through his song, using a similar unhurried tone in which verses carry on from one another, despite their “incoherent” meaning and placement. As if he could capture instinctively his song’s essence Morrison’s voice says:
“Awake.
Shake dreams from your hair
my pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
the day's divinity
First thing you see.”


One can see how style is used in different artistic expressions and recreate a similar feeling to a reader. Both pieces use a “raw” employment of words and tone, creating a sense of constant motion, freshness and distinctive style.