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.