Beach and Surfing

In Rutsky’s article, “Surfing the Other: Ideology on the Beach,” Rutsky argues that the film Beach Party is centered around how teenagers do revolve around sex and love versus drugs and acting out against the law. He also talks about how teenagers want to live their lives and not focus on work. He says, “he beach is represented as a place of freedom, where the responsibilities of work, school, and marriage are temporarily suspended in favor of the playful hedonism of parties, surfing, teenage sexuality, and romantic flings” (14). He’s relating to the first part of Beach Party when the teenagers are at the beach while they are on their break just relaxing and having a good time. They are not thinking about what is going on at home or what they have to do when they get back because they are focusing on the youth ideologies. However, the two characters that focus on the adult ideologies branch out of the crowd. Dolores and Frankie think about love and marriage and how they, specifically Dolores wants to wait to have sex until after marriage. Ironically, the other teenagers are getting frisky on the beach around where she is. I believe that Rutsky has a clear argument because the teenagers are focused on youth ideologies. They are dancing to rock and roll, surfing, and being frisky while they should be dancing to square music, walking on the beach, and having proper conversations with the opposite sex (Beach Party).

Later on in the article, Rutsky says that the main reason for the intriguing sense of the movies comes from the “combination of music and dance-and the image of sexuality and freedom associated with them” (17). The music and dance captures attention because it’s the new fad and an oppositional ideology. The music and dancing goes against the social norm and what the older adults believe is proper dancing. The dancing, which involves a lot of twisting the hips and shaking the rear end, is sexual. It attract the opposite gender which is the second reason of captured attention. I agree with Rutsky because the characters are revolving around what’s going on at the beach versus thinking in an adult way by thinking of work and bills. The teenagers on the beach are more concerned with surfing, sitting by the fire and singing, and getting frisky with one another. 

Youth in College

Today in class we watched a silent film called The Freshman. It's about a young boy who is about to leave from college and he wants to be popular. He wants to have friends swarming him at all times. He wants to feel important. Harold has the desire to fit in and be popular just like Cady from Mean Girls. He desires the affections of his peers but doesn’t really know how to get there. Also, when he is at college, he thinks everyone likes him which shows false consensus. He might think that everyone really likes him and what he does but as a matter of fact, he’s really the clown that everyone laughs at. He gets his ideas of popularity from a movie that he has just seen. As Adorno says, “film [is the] central sector of the culture industry” (33). Movies influence people’s perception of how things will be. For instance, the film Harold sees makes him think that if he is on the football team and acts like the main character, he will be instantly popular. However, that’s not really how things work. On a different note, I noticed the youthful clothing is a lot different than what we see nowadays. In The Freshman the girls are more proper—long dresses, stockings, and little make-up. Our culture has clearly changed. In Mean Girls the popular girls wear short skirts, high heels, and more makeup. But where did these ideas come from? How did it change? 
In the two articles from today, both autobiographies acknowledge that movies have affected them, it’s just the way in which they are affect differs. In “My Movie Autobiography” the speaker states that she “wanted to be like Peter Pan” just because of the movie she watched. The speaker feels like she is a part of the shows she sees. For instance, when she is out on a Friday night, she sees a show about “beautiful women” and feels like them until she gets home and looks in the mirror and reality stares right back at her (“My Movie Autobiography”). In the other article, the speaker feels the same in a sense, but the shows give him more of a thrill after a gruesome scene with a machine gun (“The Effects the Movies Have Had on Me”). I find it interesting that the two speakers seem to vary in how they are affected. One lives in a false world until confronted by reality, while the other can hold onto images for a long as he needs (“The Effects the Movies Have Had on Me”). One thing that I found really interesting is when the speaker in “The Effects the Movies Have Had on Me” talks about how criminals can get their ideas from movies. Honestly it totally makes sense. That’s why some people say that young children shouldn’t play video games that take place in a war or watch movies with strippers or crime in them. Because of their youth, they can be swayed to think some things are good while others are not. If that is what they grow up on, it becomes their culture, it becomes what they revolve around. 

How We Function

Today in class we watched Mean Girls!! It really helped the three hour class go by a lot faster. We started with going over what we think ideology, culture and hegemony mean. That lasted a lot longer than I thought it could. BUUTTT back to the main point....the movie Mean Girls has examples of ideology, culture, and hegemony which are shown through high school. Ideology is a social term where you can stick to the status quo (dominant ideology) or where you can oppose it (oppositional ideology). In the movie, Cady has to find where she belongs. She starts traditional school and has to find friends and her path. As she does so, she gets help from people that keep her on the dominant ideology. For example, when Cady debates on whether or not to join the mathletes, her opinion is swayed because Janis tells her it is “social suicide.” Cady wants to fit in, she doesn’t want to be an outsider especially in her new situation. Next, culture is a particular way of life influenced by surroundings such as media, religion, politics, books, etc. Her old culture revolved around the African animals and the “fertility vase of the Ndebele Tribe.” Now she is supposed to only wear pink on Wednesdays, wear her hair up once a week, and track pants on Fridays. Her culture is controlled by hegemonists named Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith. They control the school. The other junior girls look to them for fads and how to act. For instance, when Regina’s shirt gets cut, the next day, all the girls have cut holes in their shirt. They know at heart it’s stupid, but they have such a desire to fit in that they put aside their thoughts, and match Regina. 

In “Flapper Americana Novissima” by G. Hall, I saw immediate connections to Mean Girls. He states, “her gait was swagger and superior” (Hall 772) which made me think of when Regina and the plastics are walking into the school with their hair waving in the wind because they know they are cool. Also he notes how girls are “insecure” (776) which is when the plastics are in Regina’s room looking at the mirror commenting on how their hips are too big or their pores are too big and Cady has to jump in and say she has bad breath in order to fit it. The ideas that both Hall and Frith dabble on revolve around how teenagers get dressed up in order to have fun and fit in. Another connection is that they are always wanting to be with boys. Hall says that the teenage girls are “found in classes where there are most boys” (775) and Frith comments on dating and how it could give girls the “bad girl” (185). The teenage girls dress to impress the boys because they are interested in them and want their attention. Overall, the conception of teenagers/flappers revolves around the same thing--how the girls look and how they act. 

Here we go again.....

So my first assignment for my Youth Culture and Visual Media class was to write 250 in response to a few articles and I was like HEYYY I've got this easy! And you know what? It was! I mean it wasn't easy in the sense of thinking and understanding the articles, but it was easy in the sense that I knew the time it would take me, and how to think about it. Anyways, these responses aren't very good sooo hopefully the one tonight will be. 

Anyways, our articles were about ideology, culture, and the culture industry. Ideology and Culture—two words that have evolved from the late eighteenth century to now. To start, Grossberg notices how ideology started when people “wanted to bring the new scientific method to an understanding of the mind” (Grossberg 2). To solve complicated questions, ideology was created. However, it changed when Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels thought that ideology was more expressionism. In the end, Grossberg connects their ideas to the earlier ones when both groups were looking for the answer. They both wanted to attain “knowledge” (Grossberg 3). Again as we travel through time, ideology gains different connotations.  Ideology, as I understand, is how we solve problems or the path we take to solve problems. It’s when we use current knowledge to solve problems that in return, answer complicated questions. However, I believe it can be used in different ways. Ideology gives me two different vibes—one: how we solve problems and two: the nonrealistic way of doing things. Culture on the other hand, according to Williams, started as “an abstract process or the product of such a process” (4). I agree with the idea that came later stating that culture is what you are born into in a sense. It is how the world around you works—what you believe in, how you celebrate events, music, etc. Culture surrounds us and makes us who we are. 

In reading Adorno’s article, I understand that culture industry is what we consume based off of what is going on in the current time and where we are living; however, we are not controlling the market. I had actually never thought of it that way. I always have thought that the consumers are in control. But designers make it first, throw it at us, and see what we give and take. They’re baiting us to see if we like worms or grasshoppers better. But the industry seems to be on a loop. Adorno says it “fuses the old and familiar into a new quality” (1). For instance: overalls. Overalls were very popular in the 90s and even the 00s. They went out of style and now when you go to a store you see overalls! Except they are short and have holes in them because that is what young adults think is attractive or hip or what-have-you. They threw the overalls back on the line and added what we as consumers think looks good. Adorno tells us that media, specifically movies, is the “central sector of the culture industry” (3). That is how the culture industry works. They create the situation in which we decide what we want.

Flashback Grendel Style

AP Literature Open Question: 

Select a line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel, epic poem, or play that you find especially memorable. Write an essay in which you identify the line or the passage, explain its relationship to the work in which it is found, and analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.

One, if I actually saw this on the exam I might cry. Which is why it's a good idea to blog on it. Blogging on difficult things before the exam make me less nervous for the exam and prepare me for everything that could come. However, I will still cry if the prompt is similar. 

If I did get this prompt I would write on Grendel by John Gardner. Can you guess which line I would use?? Yes! You're right!! "Tedium is the worst pain" is the main line that sticks in my head. Maybe because it's the easiest one to really say and I couldn't exactly talk about how he cries for his mom all the time. Alright here we go. So, tedium refers to something that takes a long time and can be enervating. For Grendel those tasks that are long and enervating are frustrating and "the worst pain". But don't the acts that are tiresome to certain people different than those that tire another person? Why yes of course! That's why this line is effective. We all have something that drives us bonkers. For instance my dad HATES standing in line waiting to check out at the grocery store and it's probably bad that I laugh at his frustration but this is where he relates to Grendel. This stupid boring task is what drives them both crazy. Gardner is trying to relate Grendel to us because there aren't a lot of things that we share in common with Grendel. We aren't furry and scary looking, we don't eat people (hopefully) we don't yell at chasms, and we aren't angsty teenagers. Ehh well ok, maybe I take back that one but still, we don't share a lot of things in common with him. By Gardner's reaching out, we are able to identify more with Grendel and understand what he's going through. But that's exactly what the point is. We aren't supposed to be similar to Grendel. We are supposed to see the differences between humans and animals just like Grendel does. He sees that humans are awful creatures that pillage through other villages and kill dogs and cows and start wars and burn things down for no good reason. But when Gardner is talking about tedium, he wants us to connect with Grendel to show one of the small similarities that humans and animals share. 

Snow Falling on Cedars Part II

In the end, I really enjoyed Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson and I plan on reading it again in a few years. My favorite part is how Guterson made it a frame narrative. We didn't get all the background information at once so we couldn't jump to conclusions, and we didn't go through the entire trial before we learned the background information. The way Guterson slowly reveals the background information changes your opinion on who did what and how it happened. For instance Guterson is talking about Kabuo's past and how when he was in training he easily took down a man with just a stick. The jury then thinks this is a good point at which they use against Kabuo and claim correlates perfectly with Carl's head injury. We also see that Kabuo's flat emotion and brisk stature are really from how he was raised and trained as a soldier to be. In the end, we learn that Kabuo  is just like the rest of the fishermen of San Piedro. The fishermen have an unspoken law--one does not board another's boat unless there is an emergency and you always help another fisherman. If you aren't doing that you let them be and carry on your fishy ways. After Ishamael finds the boat papers, he learns that Carl most likely went overboard after a big ship went by leaving behind a huge wake which could've caused him to slip or fall or what have you. After we learn this we learn that Kabuo had helped Carl earlier that night by replacing his battery. Many saw this before as a cover up of the murder.
On a different note, Kabuo and the other Japanese people believe that Kabuo is the first to blame because he is Japanese due to the still-residing tension between the two cultures. Before World War II, they got along because of the common hobby of farming strawberries. The strawberries brought them together. Strawberries are a weird fruit and symbol don't you think? The seeds are on the outside, and it's red with a little green on the top, and the inside is white. Strange, right? So how I see it is that the seeds on the outside resemble the start of the growth of a new relationship. The Japanese and American's have the seeds handed to them; in other words they have the chance to change their relationships with each other. The red symbolizes all the trouble they've gone through and the green shows how on top of all the hate comes peace. Then once you break the barrier and get inside the strawberry there is white aka innocence. Kind of a backwards journey--you don't usually end with innocence. In San Piedro's case they have to earn their innocence by building back their naivety. Both cultures have to plant the strawberries in order to try and find their old sense of innocence. They have to start going backwards to what things used to be. Which is what you do after a war or tragedy--get things back to normal. Kind of a weird way of looking at it, but hey it works.

Romantic Comedies

Have you noticed the pattern of young men falling in love with someone and then there is a dramatic twist and somehow they end up together even though all along you knew they would be together in the end? That's because it's the unspoken code (if you will) of romantic comedies. When we started learning about romantic comedies in class, my classmate who sits next to me and I said, "this is a great excuse to go home and watch Netflix tonight!" But it's actually true. While going through the romantic comedies I've seen, I noticed the pattern. I mean of course a romance movie there are going to be two people that fall in love, but what I didn't notice was how there is always a twist. For instance in The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey, in the beginning it's a young man who is getting married. Yet there is a twist, Jennifer Lopez isn't the bride. At first she is the wedding planner. Actually I guess there are two twists, the second one and more important one is that in the end, Jennifer Lopez ends up falling in love with Matthew McConaughey. Ha ha so funny I know...unless your the bride who just got dumped...that's another story. But why do we do this? We all know in the end they will somehow by the grace of God be together. Maybe because we are teenagers that have "nothing to do after school" (which is never ever the case ;D ) or you're adults who after a long day at work want to come home and instead of watching the news or something that will actually benefit you, you watch a stupid romantic comedy in which you don't have to think. Or maybe it's because we dream about having some crazy love story of our own because we all know that usually falling in love isn't that funny or twisted. Either way, romantic comedies are a great way to watch other love stories and laugh at the same time. So tonight when you get home, instead of playing a board game or working out or being healthy because we always do that, go home, watch a romantic comedy, and vegg out and laugh. Stay romantically friendly, my friends.




oh and Happy Easter!!

A Prayer in Spring

OH, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.
Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,	5
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.
And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,	10
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.
For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,	15
But which it only needs that we fulfil.

This lovely poem was written by Robert Frost in 1915. I figured with spring on the horizon it would be nice to do one about spring!! One thing I've noticed about myself is that one day I look outside and I see barren brown branches and then the next day, I see nothing but green!! Right?? Am I the only one that misses the change?? That's why this poem really stuck out to me--it's asking that we take a moment and be happy with everything else. Frost starts, "give us pleasure in the flowers to-day" (Line 1) not tomorrow but today. What this reminds me of is the day lily. They only bloom for one day, and then new ones come the next. Frost is advising us to enjoy each daily bloom because they will bring different beauty each day. He continues, "give us not to think so far away/ as the uncertain harvest" (Lines 2-3). We should not think about what will come in the summer nor the fall. We should not think about what we will have to harvest in the autumn. We should be thinking about those daily lilies that only come once a year in the spring, and only bloom for one day. Then we are encouraged to be "happy" because of the "happy bees" that "swarm dilating round the perfect trees" (Lines 7-8). The bees are happy because they know it's spring. Spring for bees is their harvest season. It's what they look forward to in the fall because they are the ones that get to spread the growing beauty through pollination. In a way, they start the harvest. Without pollinated plants, what fruit shall you harvest come fall? The bees are in their happy place because they know that they are bringing the day lilies to life and bringing everything else that goes with spring too. And same with the birds! The birds carry seeds and drop them which causes whatever that seed was to plant itself and grow. It's the circle of spring. The birds plant the seeds, the bees pollinate the seeds, and the humans harvest what the seeds produce. He concludes that love "is reserved for God above" because God is the one who made all creatures great and small, wise and wonderful. God created this circle because it's how we all live. Frost is trying to show us how we should be thankful for all the creatures, big and small, that help us get to where we are happy and buzzing around trees ready for harvest. He's praying that he will wake up and see the day lilies and see the buzzing bees and see the flying birds all at work. So tomorrow, wake up, walk outside (maybe with a jacket..it's still pretty cold in the morning) stand there and just listen. Just listen to the buzzing bees, the flying  birds, spring coming to life. Look out your car window as your drive to work or school and look at the budding trees and the day lilies. They only ever come out once, and you don't want to miss something that you'll only ever get to see once. 

Invisible Man Part 2

On Friday, my seminar group had the Eviction-Woman section. To start, I want to talk about John Brown because I didn't get to in the seminar and that's one of the things I researched. John Brown comes into play when the narrator and Brother Jack are about to make one of their first big speeches in front of a crowd together. The crowd is singing, "John Brown's body lies a-mold'ring in the grave" and they repeat it and repeat it. John Brown wanted to abolish slavery and in the process of doing so, he raided a federal arsenal with 21 men in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. After he was convicted and hanged, Henry David Thoreau said, "He did not recognize unjust human laws, but resisted them" and "No man...has ever stood up so persistently and effectively for the dignity of human nature." Those two quotes really caught my attention because the crowd seems to be singing this song as a praise song which is interesting because I'm not really sure what they are trying to get at. I mean, John Brown is one of the reasons things are the way they are. I mean yes the raid was in the late 1800s but he still got his foot in the door and did something. Either they are mocking him for what he did (which I highly highly doubt) or they are singing a song of happy remembrance (which seems much more like it). I also think John Brown could be a parallel to the narrator in some ways because the narrator is trying to make a dent in society just like John Brown.

On a different note, let's talk about women. To start, Mary and Mother Mary. I see them as complete parallels. Mother Mary was at Jesus's side while he was hung on the cross and while he redeemed others. After he was hung, she almost died in mourning and she surrendered her maternal rights. The Pope said that she was the "foundation of confidence." Now don't you see it??? When the narrator was lost and didn't know what path to take, Mary guided him there. She "raised" him as he grew into the new man. Like we talked about in the seminar, the hospital scene was a rebirth, just like God in a way rebirthed himself, and then he had Mary to raise him to be who he was supposed to be! She is where it all started again for him. Lastly, I want to make a stretch between Emma and Ema (ee-mah). At church, I learned that Ema means mother, therefore, Emma could also be a motherly figure to the narrator....but it's more of a stretch. Basically, both can be motherly figures to him, but Mary does most of the work.

Be there or Be Square and Fourteen lines.

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say
'I love her for her smile—her look—her way
Of speaking gently,—for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day'—
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee,—and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry,—
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity. 

Hmmm, it's a square and fourteen lines!! It must be a sonnet!!! 

This sonnet is by Elizabeth Barret Browning and it's her fourteenth sonnet. Browning was born in 1806 and became the oldest of twelve. Her father owned a sugar plantation in Jamaica but she and her family stayed in England. While growing up, she read Shakespeare and when she was twelve she wrote her first poem. She secretly published An Essay on Mind and Other Poems in 1826. Sadly, she developed a lung problem that caused her to stay behind as her father sent her siblings to help with the plantation. It actually worked out really well for her because she hated slavery. She met her husband after he wrote her a letter about one of her poems. They eloped and had a son when she was healthy enough to. Her sonnets, which are said to be the best, were written before her marriage. 

Basically this sonnet is Browning saying how she does not want to be loved for her idiosyncrasies, but for who she really is. She is most likely writing this sonnet to Robert when she was wondering about his love for her. When men write sonnets, they typically talk about a woman who will pay them no attention and talk about how beautiful she is and sometimes even compare her to the moon. Browning on the other hand is writing about how she wants to be loved--conditional love in a way. But I don't blame her. I don't want to be loved for my appearance, I want to be loved for who I am. She starts, "Do not say/'I love her for her smile—her look—her way /Of speaking gently" (Line 2-4). Those are all just little things. It has nothing to do with what she believes in. For instance, say this man loves her because she's drop dead gorgeous. Say this man has slaves. What then? She is against slaves and he is for it. That could cause a problem, don't you think? She knows she won't always look the same, but she knows she will always be the same. She says, "For these things in themselves, Beloved, may/Be changed, or change for thee" (Lines 7-8). She knows what's coming. She knows that in a few years, she will be old, frail, and not as beautiful. She's basically saying, "Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful?" (Thank you Lana Del Ray). Even though she knows somethings don't last forever, she just wants to be loved " through love's eternity" (Line 14). 


"Elizabeth Barrett Browning." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.

Romeo and Juliet

This past weekend my family and I went to the Shakespeare Tavern to see Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet! It was AMAZING! And I really enjoyed seeing the different interpretation. I have seen both movies and enjoyed them both however seeing it live was much more fun. Also, in the movies, Juliet has been much more mature than I had imagined her to be. She is only fourteen and should not have that strong of a head on her shoulders. This is probably the main reason I fell in love with the play--the actress who played Juliet even though she was in her twenties, was able to catch Juliet's essence of young love and immaturity. She's not supposed to be mature and know what she's doing. She is supposed to be really young and caught up in love! And that's what the actress was able to show! Also, Romeo of course was attractive because you can't have an ugly Romeo...that just doesn't exist. Well...it shouldn't. On a different note, I wish that we had read this play this year and not four years ago. I would have had a much better understanding of it but if that means taking out Hamlet forget it. I noticed how a lot of symbols or allusions went over my head when I first read it. During the play I laughed here and there realizing the little sassy parts and what was actually being said. I'm trying to recall exactly which parts those were, but I cannot. And you know what?! When Romeo killed Tybalt there was blood!! I was like noo....they'll just act it out but they had some little doohickey that made them look like they were actually bleeding!! It was great. A great surprise. I also saw a lot of connections to Hamlet. Probably because Hamlet is in everything. Corruption was really the main key. In Hamlet, Hamlet is challenged by Ophelia--the woman he loves who he believes to be innocent. Likewise, Romeo falls in love with the "fair" Juliet who is also innocent. However, both Ophelia and Juliet lead Hamlet and Romeo to their doom. With each of their deaths, Hamlet and Romeo take drastic action which in the end kills them. So where does the corruption start? Does it start with falling in love with a woman? Or falling in love with a woman who you believe will be innocent for the rest of her life? If the second, it's because a woman who is innocent has to be enlightened at some point in her life and then men cannot accept that she can be that way. The innocent flower must always need protection and be innocent. Without the innocence, the woman is practically nothing. In the end, they all die....if you didn't already know. But it's weird comparing the two....go back and read Romeo and Juliet and look for the pieces of Hamlet. They're pretty cool.

The Mean Ole Hamlet

At first I liked Hamlet and I felt bad for him. Now things have changed. In Act III, he is extremely rude to Ophelia and his mother! Like shame shame, Hamlet!! Didn't you listen to your father when he said to let her be and that heaven would deal with her?! Yes they have betrayed him but that certainly does not mean they deserve to be bashed in front of everyone! I also didn't think he was going mad, but now I'm starting to change my mind. I mean wouldn't you go a little bit crazy after your mother started sleeping with your uncle and the woman you once loved lied to you? I would probably be more than a little mad. During the play Hamlet has written, he asks his mother is she likes it or not and she responds, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" (line 221). Gertrude knows that Hamlet is criticizing her and is trying to make herself look and feel better about how she loved the King and how she loves Claudius now. But then in the very last act, I went back to feeling bad for Hamlet. I mean, his dad was murdered, the woman he loves kills herself, his mom marries his uncle, his uncle accidentally poisons his mom, and Fortinbras shows up to either take the kingdom or he's just passing through. Pretty stinky last couple of months of living. One part that really really stuck out to me is when Claudius lets Gertrude drink out of the poisoned chalice. If he really truly loved her, wouldn't he make her stop? Couldn't he command her to stop? I guess there isn't much really to do because he would've given himself away but he could have offered her a different chalice or asked her to wait until the match was over. But before all of this, Hamlet gets slashed with Laertes's sword, so we all know he's going to die because the sword has been poisoned. Why does Claudius want Hamlet dead so bad? Why does he have to let Gertrude drink from the chalice? I mean, c'mon. There's no way you will live after killing your nephew and wife. Someone is bound to find out which only sets up the domino effect of everything else.

Overall, I really enjoyed this play. Much more than I thought I would. The hardest part for me was figuring out what everyone meant because it's so weird hearing how differently we speak. I did have fun finding the little things Shakespeare did like the double meanings. It was kind of like a puzzle so he give us a bunch of ways to read it and we have to chose which way we want to see things. In the end I feel bad for everyone but Claudius because he really started everything. Hamlet loses most everyone he loves, Ophelia is drawn into madness with her father's death and Hamlet having said he never loved her, Gertrude being betrayed by the man she thought loved her, it's just a sad play. But a really good one at the same time. Now I want to go see it live!!

Hamlet: The Moral Judge

Throughout the play, Hamlet is constantly judging someone for what they have done whether it be Gertrude sleeping with his uncle or his uncle murdering his father. He is infuriated with Gertrude and basically sets her equal to a whore. He says, "She married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!" (line 156) And of course he has to take revenge on his uncle by killing him. I mean how else would you react to your mom forgetting about your father in a matter of weeks and moving on and pretending like everything is just fine and dandy and sleeping with her husband's brother which is basically a crime but it doesn't really matter because she's the queen. Yes I know, big ramble. But a great point was brought up by a classmate--"He judges everyone else on their actions and decisions. Yet he murders Polonius and is planning on murdering Claudius. Is he one to judge?" After he murders Polonius, he really has no right to judge. When he murders him, he believes it's Claudius. It's really one big accident that happens because Hamlet doesn't stop and think like he always does and just acts abruptly. When it comes to Ophelia, he says, "get thee to a nunnery" (line 121) but he can mean two things. He either means get yourself some help because you're an awful person, or he means get yourself there so we can have some help. They both work, but looking at this morally, he's telling her she needs to be forgiven for all the wrongs she has done. Some classmates brought up the fact that he plays God a few times. He thinks he is too! He says, "Then I must be their scourge and minister" (line 196). One in the way of sending Ophelia to get help, and two punishing Claudius for killing another man who happens to be his father. Hamlet thinks to himself, "when he is drunk asleep, or in his rage...then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven, and that his soul may be damned and black as hell" (lines 89-95). Hamlet is pretty much saying, "Stop. You shall not pass go. Do not collecteth two hundred dollars. Get thee straight to Hell!" I tried to make that Shakespeareanish but I'm totally not even close to what he would say. He wants to catch him at a bad time when his head is swarming with bad thought so he goes straight to hell. But then what happens to Hamlet if he is killed with all of these thoughts swarming his head before Claudius? Will he go to Heaven because he was trying to save Ophelia, save his mother, and avenge his father's death? ORRR will he go to hell because he's calling Ophelia and his mom whores and plotting to kill Claudius?? The fight can go both ways thanks to Shakespeare's genius double-meaninging (if that even is a word) of every single word.

Credit goes to everyone who helped on the "Moral Judge" poster.

What does it mean to be invisible?

Invisibility-- not being seen; not able to be seen. or are we just not looking hard enough? :-D

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is an interesting book. It's actually a pretty hard read so far. But it's getting better. To me, it's one of those books that you give to a friend and say read until the 8th chapter and if you still do not like it then put it down. The word invisible is a pretty interesting one. And the fact that the narrator has NO NAME makes it even better because it shows how he is just a nobody. He has no label.

In the last couple of chapters I have read, the main character is having trouble figuring out what is right and what is wrong. Well at least he is right now. Who knows what's down the road. At the moment, he is on the way to find a new job after getting expelled. When one of the trustees comes down from the north, the narrator takes him on a tour of the school's property. When they get back, Dr. Bledsoe is furious that the narrator showed the trustee the bad parts around the school. He claims there were "enough decent homes and drives" to show the trustee (138) and that he shouldn't have shown him the "slum" (138). He wants to lie to the trustee about what is around the school. The narrator does not. The words of his grandfather that he claims have stuck with him all this time go with what he's been doing-- "overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let'em swoller you till they vomit" (16). His grandfather is basically telling him to kill them (the white people) until they "vomit" all of the kindness back up. The narrator is struggling-- he wants to follow his grandfather, wants to do what the trustee wants, but upsets Dr. Bledsoe in the process. He cannot make anyone happy!

The part that really stuck out to me recently is when Dr. Bledsoe says to him, "You don't exist--can't you see that?" (143). Three words: exist. see. invisibility. You cannot see something that does not exist. He cannot SEE that. He didn't say "you're missing the point" he said "can't you see that." What a coinkydink.The way Ellison uses the words exist and see here amazed me. I don't know if I'm explaining it well but it makes sense in my head. It reminds me of Hamlet and how he uses words to mean two or more different things at once. Then again, everything is Hamlet, right?

"Facing It"

Recently in class we have been preparing for our big exam by doing multiple choice corrections. I am terrible at them. I have no idea why. Last year I typically did well when we practiced but for some reason this year I have gotten a lot worse. If you think about it, it should really be the opposite. I should be improving. Buuut no. Then again I guess it makes sense. But I guess I just have to face it. (Buddumpchhhh get it?)

The most recent practice we did is a poem about the Vietnam Veterams Memorial which is in Washington, D.C called "Facing It" by Yusef Komunyakaa. It's pretty sad but it's also a great way of explaining how the wall affects veterans and families. At first the speaker explains how he gets lost "inside" (2) the walls. When he's lost, he finds himself trying not to cry. The wall reminds him of the hardships he endured at war. Before he came, he knew that seeing the wall and fading inside of it would bring back strong emotions. The speaker never directly says that which shows that he had tried to prepare especially when he says, "I said I wouldn't" (3). The fact that he compares himself to a "bird of prey" (7) parallels to what he was in the war. When he was a solider, he probably felt like bird always looking for either a dead, dying, or alive victim to devour. The small creatures fear the birds that eat them. But at the same time, everyone out there was a bird of prey which cannot exactly provide the best comfort. The speaker talks like when he is looking at the wall, the wall is holding him ever so tightly in his grasp but when he turns away, it lets him go. The speaker can potentially be saying that when he's there at the wall, his mind is infected with all these swarming memories but as soon as he's ready to turn away, they leave. He might be commenting on how we aren't affected by all the details of a memory every day but how we are when we focus and return to a certain state of mind. As the speaker reads over the "58,022" (14) engraved names, he seems to be looking for his own. He even is "expecting" (15) to see it as if he's still amazed at how he is still alive. I mean, considering how many people were killed during this war and being a survivor and going back to "visit" everyone has to make you think that you're still with them. But is he wishing he had died with them? Thinking about everything those soldiers had to come back to after putting themselves out  there and seeing things that we don't even want to ever think about makes me wonder if the speaker had wished he had died there versus coming back. As he touches the name of a fellow soldier, the moment rushes back to him when he was with that soldier. The fact that the veteran is strong enough to even go back and be okay after a tsunami of feelings and memories already shows a lot about his character. The idea of "Facing It", it being the war, being the emotions, being the memories, has to be one of the hardest things the speaker has to do after the war. The wall captures him and his mind. In a split second, it springs back all of the feelings the speaker had. "Facing It" is one of the hardest things the speaker has to do.

Weeding the Garden

Shakespeare: The name I cringe at because we all know reading anything from this time period is not exactly easy. I mean I don't exactly remember much of Romeo and Juliet other than watching the old version and the Leonardo DiCaprio one. I vaguely remember reading a few lines, and stopping to translate it to modern English, and then starting again. But as we've gone on reading and gotten farther into Hamlet and I'm having a much easier time understanding what is going on. It's like Spanish class. You just have to try to flip the switch to change what you think like normally. But also watching it and reading it at the same time has helped a lot too. I can hear how each of the characters sounds which helps me to understand the tone a heck of a lot better.

Skipping over the ghost and Claudius address to the Royal court, I want to talk about Hamlet. First of all, I feel terrible for Hamlet. Absolutely terrible. I mean it can't get much worse than your uncle becoming your dad and taking over the throne. He just sounds completely heartbroken. He says, "'tis an unweeded garden/ that grows to seed: things rank and gross in nature" (135-136). He is seeing nothing but death and evil overgrowing in what used to be a beautiful garden. When I think of  garden, I think of my grandmother's garden that is always full of the most beautiful flowers in the spring and butterflies are all around. But I also think of my grandfather's vegetable garden that's just a skip and a jump down from my grandmother's. His garden always is growing something. Whether it be tomatoes, or eggplant, or raspberries which just happen to be my favorite. It's always providing. If we go off of the providing idea, while the King was alive, he was the garden that supplied his kingdom with goodness and nutrients. He was the reason they were able to live so happily and enjoy the butterflies. But now that Claudius has come into the picture, he has taken over that garden that was once able to provide for everyone and all it is now is dead. The evilness has not been taken away from the garden. But who tends the garden?? Is it Gertrude?? Hamlet's mother that has betrayed her late husband and married his brother? Why yes it must be! Behind every happy man is a happy wife! As some say: "Happy wife, happy life!" And this might just be me, but I feel the woman secretly has control over her husband most of the time. Flashback: Nora controlled Torvald with ease. She was manipulative by the way she danced for him or put on shows. She tempted him. Gertrude can be the same way! Hamlet remembers that Gertrude would "hang on him/ As is increase of appetite had grown" (143-144). Gertrude was probably the mastermind behind the thrown. And while we are comparing the two, if Nora had others that she flirted with, Gertrude probably did as well. Claudius perhaps. It's all one big loop between the garden and who tends the garden. But if this little tangent is right, what will become of the kingdom? Will Hamlet take over Gertrude's role of tending the garden since she can't see what has grown right under her nose? Or will he let it collapse as he still mourns the death of his godly father? 

Bilbo Bagginses

Ok, I admit it. I'm a Hobbitee. Not a Whoovian, a Hobbitee. Yes, I know--kind of strange. But I cannot get enough of The Hobbit. Bilbo just cracks me up. And so do all of the dwarves. But what I've never really thought about until recently is their journey--a hero's journey. But what else could it be, I mean c'mon, most journeys can be argued to be hero's journeys. But see The Hobbit is a peculiar case. Can it be divided into three different journeys with the movie or is it just one? Ok, this is where I have a big confession. It's pretty bad too. I haven't even read The Hobbit yet. I'm breaking one of my own rules!!! I am usually very good about reading the book before I see the movie but this time I was dragged into seeing the movie. So I didn't really have much time to prepare. So for now, I am just going to analyze The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Then I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the second one (if you haven't, go see it now. it's amazing).

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Digital image. IMDb. N.p., 11 Dec. 2012. Web. 19 Jan. 2014.

Alright. So, at the beginning, Bilbo meets Gandalf-the wizard- and then dwarves start to show up at Bilbo's cute little Hobbit-hole. While they are there, Bilbo learns of their problem--they need to reclaim their mountain. There we go. The first step already done--he know's their problem. Secondly, he learns why it's an issue. The dwarves don't have a home and they want their gold back because dwarves are greedy and who wouldn't want their gold back?! Third: When Bilbo is asked to go as the "burglar," he reads the contract and is terrified after he realizes he could be burnt to death he passes out right then and there. When he comes to, he backs out of the entire journey because he is scared. But then, he overcomes the fear of leaving his home and going on an adventure and runs after the dwarves. In this he completes step five as well, he cannot go back and commits to the new life he has agreed to. And then of course, with the new life, he has to play around to find where he should be. When he is out in the mountains, he has to get some horses back from some trolls. Because he is nimble, he is able to sneak around the trolls as they prepare for their meal. The old Bilbo would never have done this. Heck, he would have never been in this situation! In the process, the dwarves have to come rescue him and in the end, it's Bilbo that saves them from the trolls. Actually, that can be argued. According to Gandalf, Bilbo saved them, but according to others, Gandalf is the one who split the rock so the trolls would turn to stone. Either way, Bilbo was smart enough to stall. With the trolls out of their way, they move onto where the trolls would have been looking for whatever can be useful. This is one of Bilbo's biggest changes because now he gets a sword. Sweet, little Bilbo that once needed a handkerchief now has a sword. Sounds like a major change, yes? A lot of this stuff can be arguable so I'm going to skip a lot of the good stuff because I don't think it's really necessary. Step Eight: They are captured by trolls!! However the trolls do not see Bilbo. Well one does, and then they tumble into the depths of the cave and we meet Gollum!!! Sorry, I love him and his riddles. I quote him with my step-brother allllll the time. It's precious. ;) And Sméagol of course. How can you not like him.  In the game with Gollum/Sméagol, Bilbo almost dies. However, the reason he lives is because he finds the ring (BUM BUM BUMMMM). He's not really sure what to do with it at first. When he realizes he cannot be seen while he is wearing it, he uses it to his advantage and follows the dwarves and Gandalf out of the cave. One of the dwarves makes a comment about Bilbo going home and Bilbo takes the ring off so he is seen again and says that he is staying. Right after, the Orcs come. So right after Bilbo reestablishes that he wants to say he regrets his decision because he is pretty sure that he is going to die. In the battle with the Orcs, the dwarf who is in charge tries to kill the mighty Orc. In doing so he gets himself knocked out and almost beheaded. Bilbo, being the new Bilbo, goes and defends the head dwarf, completing step eleven--the last minute troubles. He again is able to stall enough for Gandalf to call for help. Now, Bilbo has completed his last step. Or what I'm going to call his last step for now. He has mastered stalling! And fighting with a sword and basically just being the complete opposite of what he was before step one. Bilbo has finished part 1 of three and has more to overcome and more to stall for. Soooo now to see what else he does, you need to go see The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. Because it's just as amazing. If not better. 

Lips and Eyes

Lips and Eyes
By Thomas Carew

In Celia's face a question did arise,
Which were more beautiful, her lips or eyes?
"We," said the eyes, "send forth those pointed darts
Which pierce the hardest adamantine hearts."
"From us," repli'd the lips, "proceed those blisses
Which lovers reap by the kind words and sweet kisses."
Then wept the eyes, and from their springs did pour
Of liquid oriental pearl a shower:
Whereat the lips, moved with delight and pleasure,
Through a sweet smile unlock'd their pearly treasure
And bad Love judge, whether did add more grace
Weeping or smiling pearls to Celia's face.

Today in class it was suggested that we research a poet from around Shakespeare's time to prepare us for Hamlet. In doing this, I came across Thomas Carew, who was born in 1595 and lived until 1640. He died really young compared to what we see people live to today. However, he grew up around England and became a secretary to Sir Dudley Carleton and became a part of an embassy.
So when I read the first line, I am curious. Who is Celia? Is it Sir Dudley Carleton's wife that Carew made comments about? He clearly cannot decide whether he likes her eyes or her lips more. They seem to satisfy him in different ways. When Carew personifies Celia's eyes, they are fighting a battle. They want to be considered more beautiful than her lips. Same goes for the lips-they want to end up on top. Carew seems to be seduced by both. The eyes break through hearts that are expected to be impenetrable hearts no matter who is it. The fact that Carew compares them to darts makes me think that they can be thrown at anything and anyone and still make a mark. However, when I think of eyes getting called "darts" I think of that look I used to get from my parents when I was serving at church, sitting up front and talking and then I would look over and see my mom in the pew and she just had this look and her eyes were daggers. There is no way a child has never gotten that from his or her mother. I still get it all the time! Mainly when I'm talking at church still but that's not the point. It just seems more negative than positive to me.I guess that also goes back to breaking through any heart. Or the looks Celia gives are just so capturing that the speaker cannot break away from her.The lips on the other hand, excite Carew. Carew apparently had many troubles with certain sexual remarks and mistresses. Going along with that, the talk of lips is very sexual. After the lips give their statement, the eyes cry! They full on cry! They cry because they feel that they have lost the argument. The eyes know that even though they can break through any heart, that the lips ultimately bring the love. And the lips seem to think they have won as well! They dance and frolic over Celia's face. However, the speaker seems to still be having trouble when he/she says "whether did add more grace/ weeping or smiling pearls to Celia's face."  It seems that even when Celia is upset, her eyes are still beautiful and when she smiles it's as if she is full of treasure--pearls. But what can this mean! The only thing I can think of is that it's going to be a continuing battle for the lips and eyes.


Jokinen, Anniina. "Life of Thomas Carew." Luminarium.
        23 March 1997. 8 January 2014.
        <http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/carew/carewbio.htm>