May 2005 (a): how far, and in what ways, do writers present isues of self-awareness and/or self-deception in two or three of the novels or short stories you have studied?
-How do writers portray characters that go through a journey of either self-awarness and realization and aelf-deception or shying away from reality
-I believe this question focuses on style of writing, because i would use As I Lay Dying and The Bluest Eye to answer it, and I could address how in AILD there is evidence of self-awareness and self-deception particularly concerning the women in the novel, and how in TBE, here is a level of self-deception in regards to Pecola.
May 2007 (b): Literature is often about crossing boundaries, both physically and mentally. In what ways, and to what extent, does the crossing of boundaries contribute to two or three works you have studied?
-How did the writers create novels that crossed boundaries or barriers in Literature durign their times.
-i believe this focuses on style of writing also, and I would write about ASILD and TBE, because I could write about Faulkner participating in Modernism and Morrison contributing to Post-Modernism and focus on the themes that are out of the boundaries of writing for their times.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Paper 1: Random Passage
Adolescence is commonly known as a time in a person's life when they feelm most confused due to changes in their bodies, lives, and hormones. In the poem "Adolescence II" by Rita Dove she relates adolescence to new experiences, to depict how teenage life is one full of changes and and trying new things to find one's self. Confusion of the female speaker is emphasized by the not patterned structure of the poem, because there is no order, it is more free-verse.
In this poem, the speaker is the adolescent, who is describing a new experience they are having.
-One can tell that they are an adolescent due to the fact that not only is the title of the poem "Adolescence II", but because it says "the baby-breasts are alert".
-By using the term "baby", one thinks of small, developing breasts of a girl.
-One can tell that the speaker is experiencing something new, because they are in the bathroom sweating as if they are nervous. "Sweat prickles behind my knees".
This poem describes the speaker having some sort of vision or illusion of seeing three men appear. "Then they come, the three seal men..." This illusion can be linked to either the speaker being on narcotics or alcohol.
-The speaker beign on narcotics or alcohol can easily be linked ot the poem, beccause adolescence is also a time of experimentation.
-Experimenting with alcohol and drugs can cause illusions and one feeling sick, like they must be in the bathroom like the speaker. "I sit in the bathroom waiting".
-The way that the speaker eems ot think that the seal men are "waiting", can represent how the speaker and their illusions are waiting for their "high", sleepy, or drunk feeling to kick in.
There is an overall tone narvousness in the poem, which is supported by the diction used.
-"Sweat prickles behind my knees"-sweat can be linked ot nervous habit
-"I don't know what to say"-nervou about what to say or how to react
- "I clutch at the ragged holes they leave behind"- the word clutch shows that she did not want them to let them go (She felt nervous about being without them)
At the end of this poem, the speaker becomes sober again. Although they were essentially waiting for the feelings to kick in, they were unaware to the fact that they were already receiving effects, like hallucinations.
-Now they are "at the edge of darkness" which can be described as sleep
-The statement "Nigh rests like a ball on my tongue" depicts they night as a restless or, uncomfortable night, because hair on ones tongue is rather uncomfortable.
Overall this poem depicts an adolescent speaker who is trying something new, which seems to be narcotics or alcohol, which is the cause of their hallucinations.
-Dove uses diction to set the overlying tone nervousness.
-The overlying theme throughout the poem of adolecence which is defined through the experiment of trying something new and dealing with changes, like physical body changes.
In this poem, the speaker is the adolescent, who is describing a new experience they are having.
-One can tell that they are an adolescent due to the fact that not only is the title of the poem "Adolescence II", but because it says "the baby-breasts are alert".
-By using the term "baby", one thinks of small, developing breasts of a girl.
-One can tell that the speaker is experiencing something new, because they are in the bathroom sweating as if they are nervous. "Sweat prickles behind my knees".
This poem describes the speaker having some sort of vision or illusion of seeing three men appear. "Then they come, the three seal men..." This illusion can be linked to either the speaker being on narcotics or alcohol.
-The speaker beign on narcotics or alcohol can easily be linked ot the poem, beccause adolescence is also a time of experimentation.
-Experimenting with alcohol and drugs can cause illusions and one feeling sick, like they must be in the bathroom like the speaker. "I sit in the bathroom waiting".
-The way that the speaker eems ot think that the seal men are "waiting", can represent how the speaker and their illusions are waiting for their "high", sleepy, or drunk feeling to kick in.
There is an overall tone narvousness in the poem, which is supported by the diction used.
-"Sweat prickles behind my knees"-sweat can be linked ot nervous habit
-"I don't know what to say"-nervou about what to say or how to react
- "I clutch at the ragged holes they leave behind"- the word clutch shows that she did not want them to let them go (She felt nervous about being without them)
At the end of this poem, the speaker becomes sober again. Although they were essentially waiting for the feelings to kick in, they were unaware to the fact that they were already receiving effects, like hallucinations.
-Now they are "at the edge of darkness" which can be described as sleep
-The statement "Nigh rests like a ball on my tongue" depicts they night as a restless or, uncomfortable night, because hair on ones tongue is rather uncomfortable.
Overall this poem depicts an adolescent speaker who is trying something new, which seems to be narcotics or alcohol, which is the cause of their hallucinations.
-Dove uses diction to set the overlying tone nervousness.
-The overlying theme throughout the poem of adolecence which is defined through the experiment of trying something new and dealing with changes, like physical body changes.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
"As I Lay Dying" ~ Dewey Dell
Dewey Dell
Dewey Dell is the only daughter of Addie and Anse Bundren in "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner. Beginning with her name, you are given the idea of what the role of her character is, especialy after you read her first entry. "Dewey" references back to dew that is a state of weather usually in the morning caused by water/precipitation in the air that goes away, so the first part of her name has to dew with youth and the loss of youth, because the dew cannot last very long. The second part of her name "Dell" actually stands for wench. The combination of both, definitely define Dewey Dell, because of the fact that she is young and quickly loses her youth when she becomes pregnant.
It is evident, however, that Dewey Dell is too young to be a mother, because she was naive enough to let Lafe manipulate her into having sex with him and now she must play the role of the woman of the house, now that her mother, Addie is dead. Her purpose in the story is to depict the role of women during this earlier time and how it affects the bundren family (with Addie and her). Through her internal and external battles, one can conclude that women during the timeof this book (1920s?) had no rights to control everything, even their own bodies. The fact that "sexuality" is a taboo topic also contributes to how women are kept from knowledge, because without being able to talk about sexuality, girls and women will not know anything about it, like with Dewey Dell, one cannot be sure that she actually even knew what she was doing, because he does not even know what to call it on Page 27. Maybe if she would have been educated about sex, she would have known better than to fal for Lafe's "game".
Since Addie has died, Dewey Dell must take upmany of the roles of the "woman of the house", like cooking and helping out with Vardaman, he youngest brother. She is depicted as the new mother to him, by the symbolism within the story, regarding a cow. The cow represents women and especially Dewey Dell, because Vardaman goes to be with her and the cow, which shows that she is his knew mother-fogure because cows are often providers, because they are ued for their milk and provide for their young that way, and women during these times, do not have control over their bodies either.
Keywords, phrases, and symbols:
-Cow-women/mothers
-......."I am picking into your sack." And so it was full when we came to the end of the row and I could not help it. (p.27)-lack of control over her own body/male dominance
-......."how can it be room in a little tub of guts...." (p.58)-shows how she did not want to have a child, she is burdened with one, because she was manipulated by Lafe to have sex (Bundren=burden.....each of the members have some sort of burden)
-she also has a lack of knowledge and words, also described in these two wuotes, because she cannot come to the words: sex and child, or pregnant; this is either due to the lack of knowledge or a combination of lack of knowledge and her not wanting to actually say these things, because then they will seem more real and she does not wish to be associated with any of these.
Dewey Dell is the only daughter of Addie and Anse Bundren in "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner. Beginning with her name, you are given the idea of what the role of her character is, especialy after you read her first entry. "Dewey" references back to dew that is a state of weather usually in the morning caused by water/precipitation in the air that goes away, so the first part of her name has to dew with youth and the loss of youth, because the dew cannot last very long. The second part of her name "Dell" actually stands for wench. The combination of both, definitely define Dewey Dell, because of the fact that she is young and quickly loses her youth when she becomes pregnant.
It is evident, however, that Dewey Dell is too young to be a mother, because she was naive enough to let Lafe manipulate her into having sex with him and now she must play the role of the woman of the house, now that her mother, Addie is dead. Her purpose in the story is to depict the role of women during this earlier time and how it affects the bundren family (with Addie and her). Through her internal and external battles, one can conclude that women during the timeof this book (1920s?) had no rights to control everything, even their own bodies. The fact that "sexuality" is a taboo topic also contributes to how women are kept from knowledge, because without being able to talk about sexuality, girls and women will not know anything about it, like with Dewey Dell, one cannot be sure that she actually even knew what she was doing, because he does not even know what to call it on Page 27. Maybe if she would have been educated about sex, she would have known better than to fal for Lafe's "game".
Since Addie has died, Dewey Dell must take upmany of the roles of the "woman of the house", like cooking and helping out with Vardaman, he youngest brother. She is depicted as the new mother to him, by the symbolism within the story, regarding a cow. The cow represents women and especially Dewey Dell, because Vardaman goes to be with her and the cow, which shows that she is his knew mother-fogure because cows are often providers, because they are ued for their milk and provide for their young that way, and women during these times, do not have control over their bodies either.
Keywords, phrases, and symbols:
-Cow-women/mothers
-......."I am picking into your sack." And so it was full when we came to the end of the row and I could not help it. (p.27)-lack of control over her own body/male dominance
-......."how can it be room in a little tub of guts...." (p.58)-shows how she did not want to have a child, she is burdened with one, because she was manipulated by Lafe to have sex (Bundren=burden.....each of the members have some sort of burden)
-she also has a lack of knowledge and words, also described in these two wuotes, because she cannot come to the words: sex and child, or pregnant; this is either due to the lack of knowledge or a combination of lack of knowledge and her not wanting to actually say these things, because then they will seem more real and she does not wish to be associated with any of these.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
"A Sad Child"
by: Margaret Atwood
You're sad because you're sad.It's psychic. It's the age. It's chemical.Go see a shrink or take a pill,or hug your sadness like an eyeless dollyou need to sleep.Well, all children are sadbut some get over it.Count your blessings. Better than that,buy a hat. Buy a coat or pet.Take up dancing to forget.Forget what?Your sadness, your shadow,whatever it was that was done to youthe day of the lawn partywhen you came inside flushed with the sun,your mouth sulky with sugar,in your new dress with the ribbonand the ice-cream smear,and said to yourself in the bathroom,I am not the favorite child.My darling, when it comesright down to itand the light fails and the fog rolls inand you're trapped in your overturned bodyunder a blanket or burning car,and the red flame is seeping out of youand igniting the tarmac beside you heador else the floor, or else the pillow,none of us is;or else we all are.
In "A Sad Child" by Margaret Atwood, she uses imagery, metaphor, and diction to depict how some women (or a girl) may feel about becoming a woman. The speaker in this poem seems to be a girl or woman describing their feelings to a younger girl about the first time she menstruated, while also telling her feelings about the treatment of females in society.
The speaker can be assumed to be a female because of the imagery used. Dolls, a dress, sugar, and a riboon are mentioned, whoch can be easiy associated with girls. GIrls are thought of as swet, having dolls, and wearing ribbons and dresses. There is the imagery of blood which can be linked to the menstrual cycle, "in the bathroom", "trapped in your overturned body", "red flame seeping out of you". The way that the speaker ran in to go to the bathroom and abruptly says" I am not the favorite child" can be associated with a girls first menstruation due to the fact that it signifies coming of age, and usually the younger children are the favorites, makin gher not be the favorite now that she has grown. The line "trapped in your overturned body" can depict how a girl feels, because the situation is out of her control because it is a normal bodily function.
In regards to ths theory, metaphor is used in the second stanza by how it says, "buy a hat. Buy a coat or pet. Take up dancing to forget." This metaphor stands for covering up one's feelings and forgetting them. These things are distractions and material objects to cover up one's feelings. This shows how the female speaker feels that she is not truly cared bout, but given things and pushed to the side, whilethe males are not given gifts and said to just "take a pill" to cover up their emotions.
Now if you think about Atwood's writing, this menstrual cycle theory for the poem fits her sarcastic nature. She describes the experience as a horrible thin, trying to make the statement that women shouyld not let things like their bodily functions hold them back and dont let males use it against them. Basically, she is hinting at the oppression of women in society.
You're sad because you're sad.It's psychic. It's the age. It's chemical.Go see a shrink or take a pill,or hug your sadness like an eyeless dollyou need to sleep.Well, all children are sadbut some get over it.Count your blessings. Better than that,buy a hat. Buy a coat or pet.Take up dancing to forget.Forget what?Your sadness, your shadow,whatever it was that was done to youthe day of the lawn partywhen you came inside flushed with the sun,your mouth sulky with sugar,in your new dress with the ribbonand the ice-cream smear,and said to yourself in the bathroom,I am not the favorite child.My darling, when it comesright down to itand the light fails and the fog rolls inand you're trapped in your overturned bodyunder a blanket or burning car,and the red flame is seeping out of youand igniting the tarmac beside you heador else the floor, or else the pillow,none of us is;or else we all are.
In "A Sad Child" by Margaret Atwood, she uses imagery, metaphor, and diction to depict how some women (or a girl) may feel about becoming a woman. The speaker in this poem seems to be a girl or woman describing their feelings to a younger girl about the first time she menstruated, while also telling her feelings about the treatment of females in society.
The speaker can be assumed to be a female because of the imagery used. Dolls, a dress, sugar, and a riboon are mentioned, whoch can be easiy associated with girls. GIrls are thought of as swet, having dolls, and wearing ribbons and dresses. There is the imagery of blood which can be linked to the menstrual cycle, "in the bathroom", "trapped in your overturned body", "red flame seeping out of you". The way that the speaker ran in to go to the bathroom and abruptly says" I am not the favorite child" can be associated with a girls first menstruation due to the fact that it signifies coming of age, and usually the younger children are the favorites, makin gher not be the favorite now that she has grown. The line "trapped in your overturned body" can depict how a girl feels, because the situation is out of her control because it is a normal bodily function.
In regards to ths theory, metaphor is used in the second stanza by how it says, "buy a hat. Buy a coat or pet. Take up dancing to forget." This metaphor stands for covering up one's feelings and forgetting them. These things are distractions and material objects to cover up one's feelings. This shows how the female speaker feels that she is not truly cared bout, but given things and pushed to the side, whilethe males are not given gifts and said to just "take a pill" to cover up their emotions.
Now if you think about Atwood's writing, this menstrual cycle theory for the poem fits her sarcastic nature. She describes the experience as a horrible thin, trying to make the statement that women shouyld not let things like their bodily functions hold them back and dont let males use it against them. Basically, she is hinting at the oppression of women in society.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
"Ze Followa" by Seamus Heaney
The Follower
My father worked with a horse plough,His shoulders globed like a full sail strungBetween the shafts and the furrow.The horses strained at his clicking tongue.An expert. He would set the wingAnd fit the bright-pointed sock.The sod rolled over without breaking.At the headrig, with a single pluckOf reins, the sweating team turned roundAnd back into the land. His eyeNarrowed and angled at the ground,Mapping the furrow exactly.I stumbled in his hobnailed wake,Fell sometimes on the polished sod;Sometimes he rode me on his backDipping and rising to his plod.I wanted to grow up and plough,To close one eye, stiffen my arm.All I ever did was followIn his broad shadow around the farm.I was a nuisance, tripping, falling,Yapping always. But todayIt is my father who keeps stumblingBehind me, and will not go away.
COMMENTARY
In “The Follower” by Seamus Heaney, he uses metaphors to express the speaker’s feelings about his father’s labor. However, the poem can be interpreted in different ways, due to the connotative meanings within the poem. The title of this poem is connotative, because it can mean apprentice and follower as in to literally trail behind someone or follow in their footsteps depending on which interpretation you follow, different conclusions can be made, however, the things they all have in common is that the son in the follower in the first five stanzas of the poem, however, in the last one, the father has become the follower.
The way that the speaker uses nautical imagery to express his feelings towards his father’s work on the farm, shows that he truly admires him. Just like people believe that sails are beautiful. He believes that his father working is beautiful, “his shoulders globed like a full sail strung”. The way that he says his father was “mapping the furrow exactly” shows that his father was knowledgeable about his work and knew exactly what he was doing.
Last three stanza the speaker describes how as he followed his father, he never really appreciated the work his father did, but he does now, and his father has become the follower. This is when it gets tricky, because you can interpret the way he sees his father as, that now that he is old he cannot work, so he has taken the responsibility of the farm as if it were a cycle. However, another approach is that now that his father is old, he cannot work, and there for monitors his son’s work by “following” him.
My father worked with a horse plough,His shoulders globed like a full sail strungBetween the shafts and the furrow.The horses strained at his clicking tongue.An expert. He would set the wingAnd fit the bright-pointed sock.The sod rolled over without breaking.At the headrig, with a single pluckOf reins, the sweating team turned roundAnd back into the land. His eyeNarrowed and angled at the ground,Mapping the furrow exactly.I stumbled in his hobnailed wake,Fell sometimes on the polished sod;Sometimes he rode me on his backDipping and rising to his plod.I wanted to grow up and plough,To close one eye, stiffen my arm.All I ever did was followIn his broad shadow around the farm.I was a nuisance, tripping, falling,Yapping always. But todayIt is my father who keeps stumblingBehind me, and will not go away.
COMMENTARY
In “The Follower” by Seamus Heaney, he uses metaphors to express the speaker’s feelings about his father’s labor. However, the poem can be interpreted in different ways, due to the connotative meanings within the poem. The title of this poem is connotative, because it can mean apprentice and follower as in to literally trail behind someone or follow in their footsteps depending on which interpretation you follow, different conclusions can be made, however, the things they all have in common is that the son in the follower in the first five stanzas of the poem, however, in the last one, the father has become the follower.
The way that the speaker uses nautical imagery to express his feelings towards his father’s work on the farm, shows that he truly admires him. Just like people believe that sails are beautiful. He believes that his father working is beautiful, “his shoulders globed like a full sail strung”. The way that he says his father was “mapping the furrow exactly” shows that his father was knowledgeable about his work and knew exactly what he was doing.
Last three stanza the speaker describes how as he followed his father, he never really appreciated the work his father did, but he does now, and his father has become the follower. This is when it gets tricky, because you can interpret the way he sees his father as, that now that he is old he cannot work, so he has taken the responsibility of the farm as if it were a cycle. However, another approach is that now that his father is old, he cannot work, and there for monitors his son’s work by “following” him.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Mid-Term BREAK
Mid-term Break
I sat all morning in the college sick bayCounting bells knelling classes to a close,At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.In the porch I met my father crying--He had always taken funerals in his stride--And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pramWhen I came in, and I was embarrassedBy old men standing up to shake my handAnd tell me they were "sorry for my trouble,"Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,Away at school, as my mother held my handIn hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.At ten o'clock the ambulance arrivedWith the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.Next morning I went up into the room. SnowdropsAnd candles soothed the bedside; I saw himFor the first time in six weeks. Paler now,Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple,He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.A four foot box, a foot for every year.
COMMENTARY
In "Mid-Term Break" by Seamus Heaney, he uses sense 0f time and enjambment to emphasize how long the speaker's mourning of his brother's death felt. The brother spoken of in the powem can be seen as a metaphor for the dispute between Ireland and Britain. This is due to the fact that although Heaney is from Ireland, he felt that Britain and Ireland should work together as "brothers" in a sense. However, since the issues came to being, Seamus Heaney felt the separation between Ireland and Britain, which caused depression in Ireland. In other words, the death of his brother and the speaker's loss can be a metaphor for how Britain is lost to Ireland and Ireland is left with grief and violence.
Time is used in this poem to show how the speaker is depressed and empty due to the grief caused by his brother's death. The way that the speaker uses time, it shows how time just seems to go by without his brother around, because he feels empty, yet he can still remember little details from his brother's death and funeral as if it were just yesterday. "At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived" and "I saw him for the first time in six weeks". (loss of time? as in, he lost track of time due to the fact that it seems like they just go by without his brother)
Enjambment is used throughout this poem to also emphasize the emptiness and sadness that the speaker feels during the mourning of his brother's death. This is shown because as soon as he begins to re-tell his story of his brother's funeral/wake is taking place. This is because he is grieving and life just seems to pass him by without his brother.
In "Mid-Term Break" by Seamus Heaney, the speaker's situation can also be linked to Heaney's real life in another way other than in regards to the relationship between Ireland and Britain. Seamus Heaney's four year old brother actually died while he was off at college, which can clearly explain his inspiration to write "Mid-Term Break".
I sat all morning in the college sick bayCounting bells knelling classes to a close,At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.In the porch I met my father crying--He had always taken funerals in his stride--And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pramWhen I came in, and I was embarrassedBy old men standing up to shake my handAnd tell me they were "sorry for my trouble,"Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,Away at school, as my mother held my handIn hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.At ten o'clock the ambulance arrivedWith the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.Next morning I went up into the room. SnowdropsAnd candles soothed the bedside; I saw himFor the first time in six weeks. Paler now,Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple,He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.A four foot box, a foot for every year.
COMMENTARY
In "Mid-Term Break" by Seamus Heaney, he uses sense 0f time and enjambment to emphasize how long the speaker's mourning of his brother's death felt. The brother spoken of in the powem can be seen as a metaphor for the dispute between Ireland and Britain. This is due to the fact that although Heaney is from Ireland, he felt that Britain and Ireland should work together as "brothers" in a sense. However, since the issues came to being, Seamus Heaney felt the separation between Ireland and Britain, which caused depression in Ireland. In other words, the death of his brother and the speaker's loss can be a metaphor for how Britain is lost to Ireland and Ireland is left with grief and violence.
Time is used in this poem to show how the speaker is depressed and empty due to the grief caused by his brother's death. The way that the speaker uses time, it shows how time just seems to go by without his brother around, because he feels empty, yet he can still remember little details from his brother's death and funeral as if it were just yesterday. "At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived" and "I saw him for the first time in six weeks". (loss of time? as in, he lost track of time due to the fact that it seems like they just go by without his brother)
Enjambment is used throughout this poem to also emphasize the emptiness and sadness that the speaker feels during the mourning of his brother's death. This is shown because as soon as he begins to re-tell his story of his brother's funeral/wake is taking place. This is because he is grieving and life just seems to pass him by without his brother.
In "Mid-Term Break" by Seamus Heaney, the speaker's situation can also be linked to Heaney's real life in another way other than in regards to the relationship between Ireland and Britain. Seamus Heaney's four year old brother actually died while he was off at college, which can clearly explain his inspiration to write "Mid-Term Break".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
