King Lear! Ermergersh!

Journal 12: Antigone Conflict

Anouilh uses the contrasting concepts of beauty and ugliness throughout Antigone to illustrate his definition of tragedy. The obviously beautiful Ismene is constantly compared to more unconventionally beautiful Antigone. While everyone expects Haemon to be in love with Ismene, he instead asks Antigone; while everyone describes Ismene as being beautiful, the children stare at Antigone whenever she walks by. There is this ambiguity that surrounds Antigone and her level of beauty. Creon, on page 43, says that Antigone is ugly for yelling about the futility of hope; Antigone counters this by saying that one only becomes beautiful after all hope has been extinguished and all questions answered, like her father at the end of his life. This idea of beauty-after-anguish conforms to the definition of tragedy that Anouilh presented earlier in the play through Chorus, in that"nothing is in doubt and everyone's destiny is known. That makes for tranquility" (24). Anouilh is, at this point in the novel, using this contrast of beauty and ugliness to parallel the ideas of hope and futility. Those who are beautiful in Antigone's way are also hopelessly trapped, where there are no questions about their destiny or their death. They are peaceful, at rest, tranquil, and beautiful.

Journal 11: Antigone Chorus

In the beginning, the Chorus is more of a distant, storytelling character. Chorus establishes the exposition of the plot in an unbiased way. In the second reading, though, Chorus takes on more of a persona, giving his analysis on the plot of the play. Chorus comments on the structure of tragedies, and the definition of tragedies, something that you don't normally hear from a narrator-type character. And by providing insight to tragedies, Anouilh provides foreshadowing of the sadness to come and the pain the audience will feel. Chorus says that in a tragedy, "there isn't any hope. You're trapped" setting up a mood of despair and, well, hopelessness. Chorus has now set up the audience for the tragic events to come, amplifying the dramatic irony that always seems apparent in tragedies.

Journal 10: Antigone Exposition

List of Events:

1. Oedipus died
2. Eteocles took the throne and refused to give it up to Polynices
3. Polynices led a force against Thebes, civil war ensued
4. Polynices and Eteocles kill each other in battle
5. Creon takes the throne
6. Haemon, Creon's son, proposed to Antigone, who said yes
7. Creon declares that Eteocles will be buried nicely and Polynices will be left out to rot
8. Antigone dresses up in Ismene's clothes and goes to Haemon, and they fight
9. Antigone tells Ismene she is going to bury Polynices and asks for help
10. Ismene doesn't want to, so Antigone buries him alone

Most of these events that take place before the start of the play are announced by the Chorus. The events are described in an unbiased way, allowing the audience to interpret them (the war between Eteocles and Polynices, Creon's decree, etc.) however they want to. Instead of having Antigone, who is on Polynices' side, describe the events in her biased way or Creon, who sided with Eteocles– etc. That would present the plot in a one-sided way, which it is not. Anouilh was careful to do this because he wanted the play to be successful during the Nazi occupation of France, which meant his audience had two distinct audiences on both sides of the conflict. If he showed the events all from Antigone's side, then the French rebels would enjoy the show but not the Nazis. And if he showed it from Creon's side, then vice versa.
His unbiased presentation of the conflict also conforms to the rules of tragedy. Tragic conflicts are between two sides that are equally moral and right, so that in the end, it's tragic either way. So the exposition is set up so that both sides have equal footing and the plot is unbiasedly presented.

Topic Sentence

The character Mother consistently and blatantly accuses others of causing the tragic events which have filled her life, because she actually fears the possibility that she may share some of the blame.

Journal 9: Blood Wedding Themes

List of possible Themes for Blood Wedding:

In Blood Wedding, the author, Frederico Lorca, expresses the theme that...

• humans often desire most what they are unable to attain.
• As seen in the Bride and Leonardo and the Mother, the most. Even the Bridgroom shows this to some extent, by wanting the Bride who doesn't want him back.
• "wallowing" in misery can lead to destruction of yourself and others.
• Seen in the Bride and Leonardo and especially the Mother.
• one who has no family to love (and be loved by) is poor, no matter their material wealth.
• The Mother shows this and even says she is poor because she has no son. There's a lot of contrast between poor and rich throughout the play that could prove this theme.
• people are more compelled to break free from their given societal roles the more constraining their roles are.
• The Bride shows this most, because she is the one that people describe the most as being a certain way and she is the one who breaks the archetype most obviously.

Journal 8: Blood Wedding Setting

Between Act Two and Act Three, the setting changes to further outdoors than in previous acts. The three scenes in the first act all take place inside, in living spaces of the houses of the different families. In the second act, both scenes take place outside the Bride's home; The first takes place on the veranda of her house, the second takes place at the "exterior" of her house. Finally, the third act moves further into the outdoors and into the wilderness. This transition is slow but sure, and takes place as the tension of the plot builds. It seems that the transition from a civil, indoor setting to an outdoor, wild setting parallels the transition from civility to the "barbarism" of blood wars. The atmosphere becomes dark and "murky" in this first scene of Act Three, setting the mood for the dark events to follow. In theatre, it's very important to set the mood for the audience so that the climax has a greater emotional impact.

Journal 7: Blood Wedding Youth

Lorca uses many youthful characters in the second act (young men, young girls) to contrast the other characters in this act. The young characters are joyful, energetic, excited about the events in the second act. But other characters, such as the Bride and the Mother and the Wife and Leonardo, are the exact opposite. They are less exuberant about and less compliant with the wedding of the Bride and the Bridegroom. The Bridegroom goes along with the youth; He enters with the parade of young people in the first scene, and he exits with the young men in the second scene, showing that he is associated with their feelings, whereas the Bride resists and repels the young girls who try to help and laugh with her, showing her resistance to the happiness and excitement of the occasion. Similarly, the other older characters are much more anxious or unhappy throughout the second act. The exception to this would be the Maid, who is much older than the rest, but longs to dance and party with the young characters. The Bridegroom, though, flatters her and believes she should be included in the festivities. By doing this, he includes her in the youthful group, thus showing the contrast between the happy, content characters and the miserable characters in this play.

Journal 6: Blood Wedding Misery

In this play, the "miserable" characters would most obviously be the Mother, the Bride, and the Wife. The Mother displays her misery by constantly speaking of her dead son and husband, and wishing there was some better form of justice for their killers. She wants revenge that's greater than a prison cell but isn't able to because of the law, and she won't loose her only remaining son by sending him on a revenge mission. Once she has lost her final son, she only desires to be alone in her misery, which she likely achieves after the end of the play.
The Bride, displays her misery by her tone, generally, when speaking to the Maid. She seems irritated, angry, unhappy, and more after she becomes engaged to the Bridegroom. In the end of the play, she describes how her passion had been like sores on her body, and how the thing she desired to heal them as Leonardo. She had not been with Leonardo before because everyone else desired her to be with a wealthy, "good" man like the Bridegroom, and because Leonardo was already married with a child.
Finally, the Wife is obviously miserable, because she spends a lot of time in this play weeping. She is likely miserable because she is married to Leonardo, who is not a kind or compassionate man, and because she does not have a very easy life, as they are not very economically stable, apparently. It seems that she desires Leonardo to be a good man and to have a steady job and to treat herself and others well, but she is unable to change Leonardo and make him the way she wants him to be.
A less obviously miserable character is Leonardo. He is angry at everyone, all the time, which can be a manifestation of depression and misery. He yells at everyone, he works his horse to death, and neglects the feelings of others because he is so consumed by his own unhappiness. He wants to be with the Bride, and is obviously still in love with her. He cannot be with her because he is married, and because the Bride is getting married.

Journal 5: Blood Wedding Archetypes

I feel that Lorca tries to break archetypes in Blood Wedding, even though he (somewhat ironically) labels the characters with their title rather than a name. He does this to contrast their title, endowed by their culture or society, with their true feelings and desires. A great example of this is the Bride. Everyone else says she's a "good girl" and will make a "good wife" because she embroiders and keeps quiet. But she obviously breaks free of these assumptions that society has made of her by running away with Leonardo and succumbing to her desires. The Mother character is also a break from the societal norm. Generally, mothers are supposed to be loving and caring and accepting. While the Mother is loving and caring of her son, she is also very angry and revenge-driven. So when the Bride runs away, she calls (basically) for all-out war in her town and sends her son off to kill another man, something that she should be sensitive to, since her son and husband were killed. But she does it anyway.
Both of these characters illustrate how Lorca believes people are more than their given roles in society. A bride is more than just a Bride, a mother is more than just a Mother, etc. He portrays round, realistic characters and their influence in society.

Journal 3: Blood Wedding Symbols

One of the symbols I noticed emerging in the first scene was the symbol of flowers. In this scene, it is used mostly in conjunction with the idea of life. The Mother describes her husband or son as having "life like a flower in his mouth" (6), which is pretty straightforward. She also describes her husband and son later as being "two men who were like geraniums" (7) before their death. Obviously, flowers symbolize life in this scene as well as in later ones. The flowers that the Bride wears on her wedding day are symbolic of the new life she is starting with a new man, that she does not wish to start. That's why she doesn't want to marry the Bridegroom. Similarly, the vineyard the Bridegroom recently bought is described as blooming or budding in the first scene and beyond, which connects to this same idea of starting a new life. I don't believe any flowers were brought to the funeral at the end, which further proves that flowers really symbolize life. Depending on their uses throughout the rest of the play, we will see how these flowers relate to death and themes on life.

Another major symbol in this scene is girls, or the female gender. The mother talks about how she wants a girl so she can "embroider, and make lace, and be at peace"(11), and she says that she wishes her son had been a girl (7). She and her neighbor discuss how the Bride is a "good girl", and the Bridegroom makes assumptions that, because the Bride is a girl, she must have thought carefully about who she was going to marry (9). I'm not sure yet exactly what the female gender symbolizes in Lorca's play, but it does seem to have a relationship to the overarching motif of fate/destiny throughout the play. One cannot choose their gender (on another note, one also cannot change their blood), even if their mother wishes they were different. The Mother likely wishes her son had been born a girl because she feels a daughter would have a better chance of living, unlike her husband and her first son. This is proved later in the play, when the Bride tells Leonardo she won't be killed for running away but he will. By the end of the piece, almost all the male characters are dead, except the Bride's father who was not a lead character anyway. This shows some gender imbalance, that may parallel the gender imbalance that Lorca found in his time.

Journal 3: Blame

In the Wild Duck, I'd have to say that the most obvious character at fault is Gregers. Although Gregers believes he is doing the right thing (his heart is in the "right place"), he is the catalyst that springs the whole show into action. If it hadn't been for his intervention, none of the horrible things would have happened. It must be said, though, that he is not the only character at fault. In fact, almost every character plays a role in the sad events that unfold. Werle, who pressured Gina into a romantic affair and then set her up with Hjalmar. Hjalmar, who tells his daughter he can't stand to be around her and tells his wife that he is moving out from their house of deception. Relling, who insisted that everyone be kept in the dark and believing in their "life lies" to keep them happy. Gina, who chose not to tell Hjalmar of her past. Old Ekdal, who was the one convicted of a crime many years before that thrust his family into long-lasting dishonor, should not have committed the crime. And even Hedvig is to blame, because she is the one who is at fault for her own death; it was a suicide after all. And finally, if Sørby had waited perhaps one more day to give Hedvig the letter, Hjalmar might not have had the reaction that he did after having time to cool down, and none of this would have turned out so horribly. Of the truly main characters, there is no one completely free of blame, whether their actions were intentional or accidental.
The characters who actually accept their fault and realize it are Gina and Hjalmar. Gina apologizes to Hjalmar right away when he confronts her and she admits to her mistake. Hjalmar, after finding his daughter dead, takes responsibility and believes it is his fault completely. Gregers, on the other hand, refuses to accept the possibility that his actions were wrong, and Relling shifts the blame entirely to Gregers, and doesn't even give thought to his own actions.

Journal 2: Sickness

Ibsen uses the motif of sickness and disease throughout the play. Often, characters are described as being "sick" when they're not literally sick. For instance, Dr. Relling says that Gregers has "an acute case of moralistic fever" (Ibsen 178) which is almost a joke, poking some fun at Gregers. It's another way of saying that Gregers is pretentious and believes he is morally better than others, and has a desire (almost an obsession) to bring everyone else up to his level of supreme morality. 
Gregers, in turn, considers Hjalmar sick. He says to Hjalmar that "you've got an insidious disease in your system" (Ibsen 170). He means that Hjalmar is being kept in the dark, and is infected by his own unawareness. Hjalmar has no idea that Hedvig is not his daughter, nor that Gina had an affair with Werle, nor that Werle fixed them up to cover Gina's pregnancy. Gregers thinks that if Hjalmar knew the truth, Hjalmar would be enlightened and cured of his sickness. 
Ibsen uses the motif of disease to show that humans have an inherent "sickness" that is necessary for their survival. Relling calls it a life-lie, the thing that guides people through life and allows them to keep living. This same sickness, though, can create destruction and havoc, as it did in Greger's case. His "sickness" caused the destruction of Hjalmar's family and the death of Hedvig.

Journal 1: Characters

Option 2:
   Gregers Werle, arguably the main character of the entire show, has quite the false conception of himself. He believes it is his duty to reveal the truth and help people become better, morally. In doing so, he is the catalyst for the entire conflict in the show between Hjalmar and his family. He also thinks that people want him to "help" them becoming morally "better". Relling points out Gregers' fault many times, calling it "moral fever" and an obsession with his "summons to ideals". Gregers dismisses this, thinking that to change his belief in morality would make life not worth living. He does not try to change himself, nor does he think he should, and simply decides to ignore it.
   Hjalmar's misconceptions were mostly of others. He failed to realize that Gina had had a relationship with Werle and had become pregnant before marrying Hjalmar, something that would seem obvious to most married couples. And then after he found out, he gained the misconception that his daughter Hedvig was manipulating him and did not actually love him. This contradicts everything we've seen from Hedvig so far, and even after Gregers tries to persuade him otherwise, Hjalmar believes that Hedvig is simply waiting until Werle and Sørby come to collect her. In fact, he is very cruel about it all. When Hedvig dies, Hjalmar is forced to confront his irrationality, and realizes he was wrong.

Journal 3: We

   I've decided that my motif of the descriptions of people is better suited for the language section, so I'm going to address that later. As for windows, the last third of the novel didn't much expand upon that motif. The most prominent appearances of windows or glass in the end was when I-330 was placed under the Gas Bell Jar, behind a window through which the Benefactor and D-503 watched. This provides a parallel between that and the citizens of the One-State watching the "barbarians" through the glass of the Green Wall.

   I'd like to turn my focus to the motif of colors, more than just pink or yellow or blue this time. Throughout the novel Zamyatin used bright colors to describe everything; Pink, Yellow, Blue, Blood Red, Green, and more. But he never (as far as I can remember) uses black and white to describe anything. Even when he is describing race and skin color, he says "african lips" or "bronze skin" to describe people, instead of saying "black" or "white". Now, there is a quote that absolutely explained why Zamyatin did this, and it comes when O-90 is desperate to find a way out of the operation, and D-503 is in conflict about whether or not to help her. He says, "Preposterous, because white cannot at the same time be black, duty and crime cannot coincide. Or is there no black or white in life, and the color depends only on the initial logical premise? And if the premise was that I unlawfully gave her a child..." And this, THIS caused such an epiphany moment for me. Zamyatin is proposing that there is no black and white, that there is no right or wrong, that there is no one way or the other. And the color, the color is based on the original premise. So all the colors, and their connotations to D-503, is based on his original premise– his original feelings and subconscious thoughts about those colors. So of course he associates everything intimate with pink- it's based on something from his past, the original premise. Etc. Jeezum Crow I wish I had done my IOP on this.   Setting! After doing research on Zamyatin's life and the cultural setting, I know more about the parallels. For instance, Zamyatin lived through the February and October Revolutions in Russia. At first Zamyatin supported the Bolsheviks, but after they gained power, he feared their communist and totalitarian ideals. After the October Revolution, there were many years of civil war within Russia, which likely influenced Zamyatin's ideas about how there is never a "final revolution," which he states in his novel. The establishment of the Soviet Union, rising from the civil wars and revolutions, parallels the One-State, which rose after the Two-Hundred-Year-War.After the Soviet Union was established, and began to spread communist ideals, Zamyatin feared the eventual forced spread of communism to the entire world. This can be seen in his novel, with the symbol of the Integral, which will send the ideas of the One-State to other planets in the universe. And if the populations of other planets don't agree, the principles of the One-State will be forced upon them. This is much like the imperialism that was popular through out the world (including Russia) during Zamyatin's lifetime. All of this seemed very pertinent to my understanding of the setting of the novel. 

   Now, language. The end became more clear to me, whereas the middle was more confusing. There was less flip-flopping, because D-503 was more accustomed to the idea of revolt, revolution, or change in the One-State. I think this was caused by the Day of the One Vote, when people actually raised their hands to vote "No." This caused a turning point in D-503, as he realized that perhaps he was not the only one who had a "disease", or a soul, though he never mentions it in his diary. But the change can be seen in his writing, which becomes clearer and more purposeful as he describes the events that took place. Of course, the epitome of the clear and purposeful narration comes at the end, when his imagination has been eliminated. His language and style is monotone and blank, and illustrates his lack of imagination wonderfully. Even in the end, though, he still noticed that I-330 was beautiful. Perhaps this presents the idea that beauty is always knowable, and is not connected to the soul... Perhaps. 

Journal 2: We

   So last time, for motifs, I analyzed Zimyatin's use of lips. I've realized now that it's not just women whose lips are noticed (the old doctor has 'scissor-lips'). Moreover, it's not just lips that are described in depth and personified. I think that his description of people in general has become a huge part of the novel, although, I'm not sure if it falls under the category of motif anymore. It might fall more under language, since it's more like imagery. The way he describes people is no longer limited to lips, as it was in the beginning; he also describes their cheeks, their eyes, their ears, their body type, using all sorts of metaphors and similes. The old woman who works in his building has gill-cheeks, the guardian who is twice-bent like an 'S' has wing-ears, etc. His descriptions have become a way of illustrating the differences in each person, and I believe D-503 is describing them harshly, with a negative tone, because he has been trained to dislike anything that differs from societal norms. The society in the novel believes that being different, or not uniform, is ugly, which is why in the beginning D-503 spoke of wanting different noses.
   I also analyzed the use of windows as motifs in my last entry. While there's been a continued mention of windows, there hasn't been much symbolism beyond what I mentioned last time. There has, however, been more description of how many windows actually exist. Every characters' walls are windows, and they can see each other. This gets rid of the value of privacy in the One-State, which is just another dystopian characteristic.
   In my last, I discussed the color pink. But now I've noticed the prominence of the color yellow. It seems to me that everything from the past, everything "ancient" or "primitive" or natural, is described as being yellow. The yellow Buddha in the Ancient House, for instance, haunted D-503 in his dreams for some time. The yellow eyes of the beast outside the Green Wall were brought back later in I-330's "yellow eyes". Yellow is a contrast of blue, and in the beginning, D describes the things he loves about the One-State as perfect, unaffected blue (O's eyes, the sky, etc.) showing that there is a direct contrast between the One-State and nature. As the color yellow becomes more prominent, so does D's connection to (or at least his notice of ) the primitive/natural world.

   For setting, I didn't come up with much last time, except that they live in the future. It's become more apparent now just how different they are in their culture. They look back on the "Ancients", or people like us presently, pityingly. In their new society, there's no nature inside the "Green Wall" that surrounds the settlement. It appears, from descriptions, to be a glass wall with an electrified dome that stretches overhead keeping the nature and wilderness out. D-503 sees an animal on the outside, and describes overgrown forests and trees and an abundance of nature on the other side. This contrasts the new civilization, which has no nature. It also shows how disconnected the One-State is from true human nature and possibly develops a theme of how society should not strive to disconnect with their primitive past. That could also be proved through the Ancient House museum, which is used as a base for a rebellion against the government– the rebels connect with their past, with their predecessors, with their "primitive" background. Depending on how this works out in the end, this may be depicted as a good thing or a bad thing.

   Last time I analyzed the use of first person narrative, and how it could be confusing sometimes. Well let me tell you, it is even more confusing now! This narrator is so unreliable I don't even know what to do with myself. It's become impossible to tell if he's dreaming or living in the reality, and he himself says he can't tell. Half the time he's against the society, and thinking about having a soul, and then the other half he's back to normal and hates himself for having a "sickness", or soul. So I'm confused half the time, and it's killing me. Metaphorically of course. It's become really hard to tell exactly what's going on, because of the terms he uses, and his occasional habit of not explaining who or what he's talking about if he switches topics, and sometimes he just stops midsentence! I suppose Zimyatin does this to illustrate how D-503 is going kind of crazy, because all of the sudden he's beginning to question this society and culture he's considered perfect his whole life. And he doesn't know how to handle it, because he thinks what he's doing is wrong, but then he's forced to question whether or not it actually is wrong, and maybe everything else he knows is wrong... It's confusing, but that sure is an effective way to illustrate someone's stress and confusion in that kind of situation.

Journal 1: We

Motifs:
There are several motifs that have appeared so far, including the sky, metals, music, and the image of going "down". But the ones that stood out most to me so far are lips and windows. First, lips are used often to characterize women. Never men, I've noticed, but always women. For instance, O has round pink lips that make her seem innocent, while I-330 has blood red, sharp lips to show that she is more dangerous. The old woman at the Ancient House has no lips, because they are so wrinkled and sucked inside. Then windows have appeared very often, since it seems that all the buildings are made from glass. The act of "closing your blinds" is only done when you're going to have sex. It symbolizes hiding something. Similarly, eyes are compared to windows, and often D-503 talks about how I-330 closes the blinds to her eyes. This proves that she is hiding something; it makes her a mystery, and therefore, the center point of the plot.
   Another prominent motif is the color pink: There are pink slips, and D-503 describes O as being pink, and he talks about the pink bodies of women. From all of this, I think pink stands for intimacy. It illustrates D's feelings towards sex, intimacy, and the like. So I get the feeling that whenever he describes something as being pink, it must have some sort of intimate meaning to him.

Setting:
This novel takes place somewhere in the very distant future. It's after the Two Hundred Year War, so it's safe to assume that it's at least two hundred years after this novel was written. Maybe the twenty-second century. Unfortunately the overall setting isn't much described by the main character, except for his immediate surroundings. The city he lives in, part of The One State, is described as being beautiful because it is so uniform and perfect and mathematical. The descriptions of the uniformity of the society serves to show us how different the setting of the novel is from our society, and how they consider beauty the opposite of what we do.

Language:
The novel is written in journal style, so it's first person, and the main character is making entries. This can make things a lot more confusing, but also gives interesting insight to the character. Sometimes it is hard to understand the chronology of events, because he jumps back and forth between present and past tenses. He doesn't describe all of his terms or the phrases he uses, because to him, they are normal and shouldn't need definition. The reader is left to infer that the instructors are robots or that the "Benefactor" is the leader of their society.  But because it is in first person, you get to very clearly see the changes the main character goes through and all the internal conflict that occurs because he is torn between wanting freedom and "happiness" in the One State. The language he uses to describe things is very vivid and often confusing, but perhaps that's just my translation of the book. That's something that must be taken into account; it's a translation from another language, which means the wording might not be exactly the same as the original, as we learned from the Stranger.

Journal 5: Philosophy

You Only Live Once (YOLO!)
Sounds like a cliche title for my philosophy, but it does accurately describe my view on life.

1. Life's too short for secrets. If you think about it, the average lifespan is something around 70 to 80 years. That's pretty short, in perspective. The Earth is a few billion years old, and it's still young. We live such short lives, so why waste it hiding something from everyone around you? You'll feel freer when you aren't hiding yourself. *I learned this in the last few years. I used to think I had to hide certain things from my parents or my friends; now, I have very few secrets from anyone. And I feel very confident in myself, not to mention accepted by those who love me for everything about me, secrets and all.
2. Life's too long for regrets. If you're spending that 70 or 80 years of your life regretting your past, you're doing it wrong. Regrets weigh you down and make you depressed or unhappy in the long run. So decide now: Are you going to let go of all your regrets in the past, or are you going to work now to make sure you don't do things you regret in the future? Or both? *I've realized that both of these are important. If I can let go of the mistakes I've made in the past, I'm not absorbed in reliving them, and I can focus on making sure I don't make the same mistakes in the future. I've become a lot happier and a lot less concerned with things I can't fix.
3. Be brave and stand up for yourself. Don't let others knock you around, or control you, or hurt you. Stand up for yourself and say, I don't like that. It might take a lot of courage to stand up to a friend or even family, but chances are, they'll realize they were wrong and they will have respect for you for standing up for yourself. *There was a friend of mine who would push me around, literally, just to be funny. When he didn't stop, I stood up for myself and told him that I was not okay with him being physical and that it had to stop. He apologized and told me that he hadn't realized he was hurting me. Now, I feel stronger knowing that I can put a stop to the things that make me uncomfortable.
4. Doing everything is better than doing nothing. If you only have one life, then why not live it to the fullest? Do the things that you enjoy doing; and when I say do them, I mean all of them. This way you won't look back with regret and say "I wish I'd done that." *People always tell me I do too many clubs or I'm too busy all the time, but the truth is, I enjoy everything I do. I know I'll die one day, and I don't want to look back and realize I didn't live life to the fullest.
5. Know when to live in the moment, and when to plan for the future. Yes, living in the moment is important. You should always be able to stop and look around you and recognize, I am happy now. But also recognize that you have to work to make your future a happy one, too. Working hard at the right times means you can stop and enjoy life other times. Knowing when is the trick. *I always see people say they're "living in the moment", but when that means they're letting their future fall down the drain, they're going to regret it later. I work hard so that I can do what I want in the future. I also take time to enjoy the little things along the way, so that I don't look back with regrets.
6. Your happiness is the most important. Sounds selfish, I know. But never place someone else's happiness above your own. Remember that you come first. Note that this doesn't mean other people's happiness isn't important; don't purposely try to hurt someone else. But remember that you can't help others be happy if you aren't happy. *I have, in the past, been so intent on making my friends happy (even people I wasn't friends with) that I let myself slip into some serious unhappiness. I assumed that their happiness was more important than mine, and thus my self-esteem took a nose dive. This is bad, guys. Don't let that happen.
7. Nothing comes after this life, so make the most of it. You could try to throw away the rest of my principles by saying that these things won't matter in the afterlife, or whatever. According to my belief system, there is no afterlife. Since everything ends after this life, don't throw this one away. You were given this life for a reason, so go live it. *I'm an atheist, and I have been for as long as I can remember. And because I don't believe in Heaven, or Hell, or reincarnation, or Paradise, Valhalla, or anything, I feel more compelled to live a full and happy life in the time that I have here on Earth. Besides, if there is an afterlife, I'd prefer mine to be spent as a ghost, haunting my favorite places.
8. Never forget to love. This is so important, guys! The most important of all! I hope there never comes a time when people forget to love each other. Don't ever be afraid to put everything on the line for love (that is, if it's actually love– don't confuse it with infatuation). And I don't just mean romantic love, either. I mean your friends, your family, your dog, your chocolate cake! Love is love, and it exists. Don't be afraid of it. Because, even though 95% of the time it sucks, the other 5% is the most wonderful feeling in the world, and I think everyone should experience it. So do it. Love love love like it's the last thing you do, because, heck, it just might be. *Do I even need to explain where this one comes from? It's a philosophy born from a mix of Disney movies and my family, Harry Potter and chocolate cake, good boyfriends, and the wonderful friendships I've made in my lifetime.

Journal 4: End of the Stranger

At the end of the novel, Meursault realizes how futile it is to fight against death. He knows that it doesn't matter when he dies, because he will always feel the same toward death then as he does now. He believes that there is nothing after death, at that this is all there is; therefore he comes to the realization that he is indifferent to the universe because the universe is indifferent to him. The universe does not care about a single man, and there is no higher power (God) trying to intervene and save him. Because the universe is so indifferent, he comes to terms with his execution, and hopes that the crowd at his execution will be full of hateful people. This, I think, reflects how he now hates everyone else for condemning him, simply because he did not cry at his mother's funeral. He feels the universe is indifferent to him, as he is indifferent to the universe; he hates most everyone else, and expects them to hate him back. That's what I read into it, at least.
I feel like Camus supports this idea, because he doesn't seem to present it as a wrong or backwards way of thinking. The whole novel kind of leads up to this conclusion and supports it, so why would Camus write it if not to guide the reader to the same conclusion? I feel like it's a logical conclusion to come to when in Meursault's position, and that Camus correctly described a condemned man's feelings.

Journal 3: Two Parts

   I think Camus split the novel into two parts to illustrate Meursault's change in character, despite similar scenes and situations. The overall syntax of part two is longer, more flowing than part one. More comas are used, the sentences are longer, and everything seems less choppy. The voice that the narrator adopts also becomes much more personable. Meursault in part two often seems to speak to the reader, saying things like "If I can put it this way" and "Now, as I think back on it" which actually makes him more human to the reader. This is different from the first part, when he spoke very flatly about his actions.
   Also, when I look at the tabbing, it becomes very apparent that the first part was much more concerned with imagery and descriptions of Meursault's surroundings and other people. The second part reflects more on himself, and how he feels, and what he thinks others are feeling (This is obvious to me because I have more blue tabs in the first part for imagery and more yellow tabs in the second part for Meursault's characterization).
   Similar situations and scenes make appearances throughout the second part. For instance, Meursault ends up in the magistrate's office in the first chapter, just like he was in the director's office during the first chapter of part one. Later, Meursault is in his cell, looking out the small window at his view of the town and then the sea, similar to when he's in his room during part one, watching the people on the street. These scenes and situation pop up in a parallel way, but Meursault narrates them differently, to illustrate a change in his character, although it is difficult to understand why he has changed to a more open, likeable narrator. Perhaps it is because he is now in isolation, which is easier for him than being surrounded by others. Perhaps it's because his id has finally succeeded in bursting past the superego and has committed an act of violence, sparked by internal conflict in the subconscious. It's difficult to say.

Journal 2: First Person

  Camus chooses to use first person narration to create a much more ambiguous character out of Meursault. Because we see Meursault only from inside his own mind, we don't get an idea of how he appears to other people. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, we understand that Janie is very beautiful because of the omniscient narration. In The Stranger, we never once learn what Meursault looks like. We see him as being peculiar just because of the reserved way he narrates from first-person, but we have no way of knowing what other characters think of him or how he is perceived. Knowing how others perceive the main character is important in a novel, because that establishes the position the reader should take on the character. Does everyone like the protagonist? Or does everyone call him a murderous gambling sleezebag? In this case, we can't know because we don't get any insight on how other characters perceive him.
  Another interesting way that Camus manipulates the narration is through the reserved way Meursault expresses himself. He's not passionate or very driven about anything. He states what happened and how he felt very flatly. I feel like if there was such a thing as limited-first-person POV, this would be it. And this reservation creates such an ambiguous character! Like we discussed in class, there's two sides you could argue: That Meursault is grieving, or that he's a sociopath. Personally, I feel like he's totally nuts or messed up, but then again, there is evidence to support that he's depressed and grieving his mother's death. There's a lot of back and forth.
  Thematically, I think that this use of first-person can be interpreted many different ways. The fact that we can't see the main character through anothers' eyes builds the idea that in life, one is unable to see themselves through another's eyes, and therefore we should not focus so much on what others think of us. Because Meursault doesn't seem to put much thought into how others feel or think in reacting to him, aside from "I thought I shouldn't have said that." The ambiguity around the 'goodness' of the character, or how the character should be interpreted by the reader, lends itself to another theme. Maybe something more along the lines of how one must interpret themselves based their own thoughts and not someone else's, or something around that.

Journal 1: 3 Characters

1. Marie is Meursault's girlfriend, and later becomes his fiancée. She appears the day after Meursault's mother's funeral, and he takes her out on a date. Very quickly, within a couple days, she tells him she loves him and asks him to marry her. Meursault often describes her as being somewhat confusing, and he doesn't know what she wants from him. She asks if he loves her; he says it doesn't matter. She says he's peculiar, but she loves him for it anyway. This shows how Meursault's strange personality can be interpreted positively, despite how withdrawn and negative he seems to the reader. She serves as insight to another view of the main character, whom we only see through his own existentialist eyes.
2. Meursault's boss is a foil of Marie; he seems to be constantly unhappy with Meursault's peculiarities. The boss is often described as being annoyed with Meursault and Meursault doesn't care much for his boss. In chapter 5, his boss offers him an opportunity to move off to Paris, something that most young people would love. When Meursault shows no interest, his boss becomes angry and says that Meursault lacks ambition. This character shows how Meursault's personality can be interpreted negatively by the other characters surrounding him, contrary to Marie's perspective. Both these perspectives help the reader shape Meursault into a person rather than an existentialist being.
3. Old Salamano and his dog are introduced as being old and scabby and similar in looks. At first it seems that Salamano beats his dog and that they have a horrible abusive relationship, but as the story progresses and Salamano loses his dog, the reader finds that Salamano actually took very good care of his dog. This could be parallel development for Meursault and his mother, especially since his mother is mentioned whenever Salamano comes around. The general view of Meursault when he sent his mother to the home was unfavorable, but he really did it to be humanitarian. He did what was best for her, just as Salamano did for his dog, even if the general view of Salamano was unfavorable.

Journal 8: Titles

   By using the title "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Hurston automatically focuses on God. It lets the reader know immediately that there will be religious tones in the book. This way, the reader is looking out for Biblical/God allusions throughout the book, without really realizing it. The reader becomes sort of hyper-aware of those things. By choosing a quote from arguably the most intense moment of the book, it gives the reader a sudden "Aha" moment when they get to that part. It makes that part of the book feel more climactic. The title also ties in the motif of eyes that can be found in the book.
  Instead of referencing God in the title, Hurston could have referenced another important figure in the novel, like Death. The title could have been something more like "Death Lives In the West" or something, which would have put more of an emphasis on Death the whole time and all the allusions to directions that can be found throughout the novel. More importantly, it would have automatically given the novel a darker mood, because the reader would feel like it was all about Death.
   I decided to change my title to "She Turned Away." I chose this because that phrase comes up twice, applying to both of the two characters in the story. It creates a bit of ambiguity by using "She" just like Hurston uses "Their." It also makes the idea of turning away more symbolic than the literal way it appears to be in the story. And, like TEWWG, the phrase appears during a climactic part. I feel like it was the most similar to TEWWG while also applying well to my pastiche.

Journal 7: Quotes

1.     "She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight." (Hurston, 11) I chose this quote as an example of alliteration, although it has a lot more significance. This is the first moment the motif of springtime and blooms appears, which later becomes a symbol of what Janie wants love to be. All of her future relationships and marriages are compared to this scene, or at least to blossoms and springtime. This quote also uses a lot of imagery to really create a frantic, over-sexualized mood, which also connects to what Janie believes love to be.
2. "He did represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon." (Hurston, 29)  This quote relates to the last quote. This brings back the motif of the blooming pear tree, and turns Joe into a symbol by applying the tree motif to him. By saying Joe is not the blooming tree, it shows that he is not what Janie wants for love. But he does represent the horizon, which means that he symbolizes adventure and a journey. Which of course is true later on.
3. "Her hanging bosom and stomach and buttocks and legs that draped down over her ankles." (Hurston, 119)  This quote represents imagery, but also connects to earlier in the book when Joe is calling Janie old. He says that her backside is hanging down to her knees, and this is a strikingly similar description of a different woman. The comparison of the two contrasts them and highlights their differences, since Janie is still so beautiful and the other woman was old. There is also this continual, foreboding motif of age. There is a constant reminder of Janie's age: How young she is, and now, how old she is, or how old she will become.

Journal 6: Revision

   So I'm currently working on revising my rough draft. I'm focusing on making my theme really stand out, because the theme I chose is pretty obscure and inferential in Eyes. The person who read and critiqued my rough draft in class on Friday said she could not guess what my theme was from my pastiche, so I'm going to keep working on incorporating it into my piece with more literary elements. So far I've used symbolism/opposite-anthropomorphism pretty well to develop my theme, and some alliteration. I'm working on manipulating the reliability of the omniscient narrator. I think I need to next work on manipulating the mood/tone of the piece to really show the unreliability/bias of the narrator.
   Oh, and I also revised the dialect bits because my critiques said that it was hard to tell where they were from. So I worked on that, to make it more obvious. I even added the name of where the piece is set, so that should make it incredibly obvious where the dialect is from.
   I'm having trouble identifying the unifying elements in both my work and Hurston's that develop the same theme. Like, I know I'm mimicking her style well, but I feel like none of the styles I've copied directly help develop the theme. It's more just the plot structure that show the theme.
   Argh this is difficult.

Journal 5: Pastiche

   Finally Tess started to feel Disappointment. Disappointment, that hungry beast with the round gaping maw who hid deep down Inside. The unexpected force who lives in each person like a parasite without a host, and without a need for one. Why would Disappointment crave a carrier, when all persons bear him? He hides, invisible, in the small space just behind the ribs. Hides quiet and inconspicuous with his lips drawn back, waiting to devour failed expectations. Bides his time until there is an inundation of hoping or wanting or needing. She was beginning to feel the pull from his inhalation as he sucked the hope from her lungs. She was lost and alone too. Stupid Jay! He should have followed through with his enda the promise. Tess asked Mrs. Clay to look out for him, but she came back with Nothing. Those young lovins' are mighty important to the young, but they meant nothin' to old-timer Mrs. Clay. She'd keep looking out for him just until the waiting girl decided to move on with her life. She wasn't gonna do Tess' dirty work. That was what she said. But she didn't say she wouldn't help, so Tess hoped. And even if she hadn't, the next afternoon would have dashed Tess down again anyway, because no one was waiting on the stone step in front of Jay's house. Mrs. Clay who loved to share information did not make an appearance and did not give Tess any advice. Just peered out the window at Tess and frowned. Understanding, that heavy cloud, began to settle in Tess' empty lungs.

To match Hurston's style, I capitalized the same words she did, such as "Inside" instead of "West" and "Nothing" instead of "No." Hurston does this to make the "West" into a place, and to make "No" into a more powerful statement. I tried to do the same by capitalizing those words.

I also used the repetition of the 'in' sound in multiple words to really emphasize the fact that this Disappointment lives INside and comes from withIN. Instead of using alliteration like she does to create tension or discomfort, I used 'in' to really focus the reader within themselves.

Instead of using nature imagery like Hurston ("what winds can blow," etc.) I used organic imagery. I talked about ribs, lungs, lips, devouring, craving, etc., to once again emphasize the internal setting of this passage.

Hurston uses Rumor to contrast Death, by saying that Rumor is a "wingless bird" but saying that Death has feathered wings. Like this, I tried to contrast Disappointment with Understanding. Disappointment sucks the air (hope) from your lungs, whereas Understanding fills your lungs with a dense/heavy "cloud," or feeling. Both are air-related, but they have contrasting functions.

Journal 4: Manipulation of Language

Passage: Last paragraph of page 84, chapter 8.

   Many of the sentences that make up the body of the passage are short fragments, such as "Four walls squeezing her breath out" (84), which give the passage an incredibly anxious and worried tone. And yet the sentence immediately following that is much longer, and more anxious, because of the way it is ordered: "Fear lest he depart while she sat trembling upstairs nerved her and she was inside the room before she caught her breath" (84). Hurston chooses to start the sentence with the word 'fear' to instill fear immediately, and the rest of the sentence follows so chronologically it feels like you are unfolding the idea just as Janie would have. Janie realizes Joe may die soon, so she rushes to his side, all the while feeling fear. By placing 'before she caught her breath' at the end of the sentence, the sentence is much more rushed and the reader has a feeling of exactly how rushed Janie was. This is also emphasized by the fact that Hurston chooses not to use any punctuation in the sentence.
   In the next sentence, Hurston says "and then too, Jody, no Joe, gave her a ferocious look" (84) which shows the obvious difference between Joe and Jody in Janie's mind. By placing 'Jody' first, the reader sees what Janie wants to see. By suddenly changing it to 'Joe' the reader is forced to change perceptions of the character, just like Janie changed her perception of him when seeing his expression.
   After that, the sentences get shorter and more fragmented again: "A look with all the unthinkable coldness of outer space" (84), to show how Janie goes back to feeling horribly anxious once again, and is unsure of what to say now that she is in the room with Joe.
   Throughout the passage there is an alliteration of 's', most prominently in "something stood like and oxen's foot..." (84). The alliteration of 's' usually serves to give a secretive feeling, or in this case, a feeling of silence. There is silence in the room, and Janie is struggling to find a way to break it. In fact, there has been an extended silence between Joe and Janie for weeks at this point, and the alliteration of 's' illustrates that.

Journal 3: Stylistic Elements

1. "The rest of the town looked like servants' quarters surrounding the 'big house'." (page 47) Allusions to slavery are common in Hurston's narration because it's such an important part of black history.
2. "Said it was a spittoon just like his used-to-be bossman used to have in his bank up there in Atlanta. Didn't have to get up and go to the door every time he had to spit. Didn't spit on his floor neither." (page 47) The use of fragmented sentences in the narration mimics Joe's style of speaking, which lends itself to the omniscient qualities of the narrator.
3. "Her hair was NOT going to show in the store." (page 55) Hurston breaks normal grammar rules by capitalizing random words for different reasons. In this case, it's to emphasize Joe's position on Janie's hair. Other times, though, Hurston capitalizes words like "Mayor" to show the power of the mayor in the town, even when the town doesn't have one. When used within the same sentence of a lowercase "god", it seems to indicate the Mayor has a more official and powerful position than God.
4. "The flock had to wait the white-headed leader, but it was hard. They jostled each other and pecked at heads in hungry irritation." (page 61) Hurston uses parallelism in her story to show the similarities between two different ideas. For instance, in this quote the vultures are descending onto the dead mule to feast, but they must wait for their leader. This mirrors the community in Eatonville, who wants to have a 'dragging-off' party with the mules' dead body, but wait for their leader, Mayor Starks (Joe). The parallelism here compares the citizens of Eatonville with beasts, vultures, which is an idea which can be seen later in the story with the women who sit on the porch waiting for someone to come by who they can 'tear to shreds' with gossip. 
5. "She wasn't petal-open anymore with him." (page 71) This refers to the pear tree in bloom from the second chapter, when the petals of all the blossoms were opening up and Janie had her first revelations about love and marriage, etc.

Journal 2: Dialect

Asian (Korean) dialect

1. The "th" sound is turned into an "s" in many instances (Think=sink, etc.), and "d" sounds in other instances (That=Dat, etc.)
2. Misuse of the word "no" to make an action negative (You no do that)
3. Many words are discarded altogether from a sentence.
4. Phrases are clipped and to-the-point.
5. Almost always use present tense form of words (June not sophisticate like you; I get nice sweater [yesterday], etc.)
6. The ends of abbreviated words are dropped (Don't=Don', We're=We, etc)
7. Often use exclamations of emotion (Aiyaa!, Tahh!, etc.)
8. The "v" sound becomes a "b" sound

 My pastiche (more of a true story) is based on the section of TEWWG from the end of page 12 to the middle of page 13.

  "Hah, I know, I am pretty special."
  The words came out of my mouth without a thought to how Aunt Helen would react. I hoped for the best.

  Aunt Helen frowned and looked between my cousin and I in disapproval many times, before before voicing her disapproval.

  "Aii, Olibiya, you too self-center. I can hear in da word you say. You say, 'I know.' You no say dat anymore, okay?"

  "What? Wait, Aunt Helen, wait. What do you mean?"

  "You no say dat, 'I know.' Tah! You s'pose say 'Sank you, but I no sink so.' Okay? It call be modes'. You be modes'."
   Aunt Helen's words made my casual joke feel like a lead ball in my stomach.
  "Ah, Olibiya, it be okay. You no know better. But now know better. Good Korean girl be modes'. " She patted me on the knee and TJ muffled a chuckle. "You too, Tee-Jay. Good Korean boy be modes' too. So you bosse know say 'Sank you, but I no sink so' nex' time."
  "Aunt Helen, but– I mean, I didn't mean to be like that."
  "I know dat, dat why it okay. You good girl, you just need learn be modes' more. 'Special because you so beautiful. Tah, you so beautiful Olibiya."
  "Um, thank you. But I don't think so?"
  "Dat much better."

Journal #1

The narrator, from the beginning, seems to be omniscient. The narrator speaks with a lofty tone, stating (in the first two paragraphs) an inherent difference between men and women. (S)he states this as fact, although it is not proven. This omniscient presence is apparent through the rest of the chapter, as the narrator describes the actions and motivations of the other characters. The narrator notes how the men stare at Janie for her body; the women stare at her because of her clothes; Pearl laughs only because she doesn't know what else to do; etc. Only an omniscient, godlike character can be all-knowing like that.

As for Janie, at first, I expected her to somehow be better than the other women. The other women were jealous of her, as the omniscient narrator stated, and so I expected her to be more intelligent or higher status or special in some way. But, while she is better-looking and richer than the other women, she does not seem to be more educated or more cultured or much different than the women. She speaks in the same dialect and tells 'rough jokes' and doesn't seem altogether very different than the other women, even though the narrator sets her up as being someone worth envying. This surprised me. Despite her money and her looks, she doesn't seem to be (at this point) much different in nature. This could lead to some thematic ideas later.

Mini Test

1. The bulk of the plot in Their Eyes Were Watching God takes place during a ______ of Janie's.

2. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet's nurse serves as her ________.

3. "It had been a long time since I had been out in the country" (Camus, 12) is an example of this type of narrative.

4. In Othello, the character of Iago is an example of a(n) ________.

5. The use of the letter S in the phrase "sanity is not statistical" (Orwell, 194) is _______.

Ambiguity

Ambiguity, in general, is when there is something that is vague or has dual interpretations, and generally has a negative connotation. For example, when someone says, "Your parents are very interesting," it could be interpreted as a good thing or a bad thing. Ambiguity can cause teenagers a lot of stress over whether or not a winky-face in a text means something, or whether saying "I like you" means "...as friends" or "...as more-than-friends" (We all know what that's like).

It can be applied similarly in literature. When an author uses words or phrases that are ambiguous, it leaves the reader wondering exactly what they meant. The phrases or words have multiple meanings, which leaves a feeling of uncertainty in the reader. It is part of the authors' style, and their intent with the story they are telling. Shakespeare was really big on ambiguity. He used it all the time, man, like every single time. For example, the scene in Romeo and Juliet when Juliet is talking to her mother about Tybalt's death. Juliet's lines are all very ambiguous (is she saying she loves Romeo or that she hates him?) so that the mother won't find out that Romeo and Juliet were in love.

Ambiguity can apply to whole parts of a plot, or a character, not just a word. Like in 1984, the reader is constantly left wondering if O'Brian is a good guy or a bad guy, because the narrator/the author is so ambiguous about a stance on him. He is constantly described as being brilliant, kind, paternal, etc., but then he is also described as being insane, torturing people, double-crossing, etc. The reader is left feeling a huge amount of uncertainty toward him, because he is such an ambiguous character.

Here, this is one of those pictures that you see all the time that is very ambiguous:

Post #2: Persona

A persona is kind of like the voice that the author uses when they speak to the reader through a literary work. Sometimes, an author will insert themselves into a work by using a certain voice, which almost makes them into an actual character. This can allow the reader to find out things about the plot without having to infer. Instead, the author can tell the reader something directly, using the 'fictional voice' called a persona. It is not often used but can add a very interesting element to a story.

A good example of a persona is Lemony Snicket's narration in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Summer Reading

I read Eyes first, which was my favorite because I found it the most compelling and interesting. Maybe it was because this was the only book with a female protagonist, or because I simply found her story more active and engaging than The Stranger/1984, but I liked it. I read it quickly and even (shockingly) tabbed the whole thing with color-coded stickies. I think I liked the nature motifs quite a bit (the pear tree and others I can't remember right now) because they were kind of blatantly obvious. Oh, and I liked Tea Cake's character a lot too, so that made me more interested in the book.

On the other hand, I did not like the Stranger. I mean, in general, I liked all these books more than the usual summer readings we get for English. They were more compelling with thicker plots and language that was easier to understand without being too easy, you know? But the Stranger was, well, boring. It took me a very long time to finish, despite how short it was, because I just couldn't get into it! I mean, how does an author make a murder and a death sentence boring? But Camus succeeded! I totally understand that it was translated from French and that the sentence structure/word choice is supposed to reflect the tone and psyche of Meursault, but that was the most chore-like read of the entire summer.

Finally, the leftover one is 1984. I also highly enjoyed this book but found it hard to get into in the beginning. For an essay, though, I think I'd really focus on the different themes presented that surround children/marriage/families, and love/hate. A lot of interesting parts of the story lend themselves to those ideas. The horrible children, for instance, reporting on their parents or starving their siblings. And there was a lot in the novel that centered on 'hate'; hating each other, hating Goldstein, hating another country (no matter what country it was). Opposite that, though, was this idea that everyone must 'love' Big Brother, the one creating all this hate. Another aspect for an essay, I think, would be the constant internal conflict that is present all the time with all the characters, and is even given a name: 'doublethink'. It was such a complicated idea that it took me, like, over half the book to really understand it. But the confusion that the concept created in the reader was a reflection of the insanity and confusion within characters such as O'Brian, and, well, the rest of the society in the novel.