For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls

      My table group did our project on the play "For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls," and it so far is one of my favorite assignments from this class. Primarily, my liking of this project pertains to how funny I thought the play actually was. I was not expecting the play to be as crude as it was at parts but I mostly enjoyed the innuendoes that are not as easily spotted. For example, I found the line, "If some sailor misses his boat, that's no reason you have to put him up in your room, You're too big-hearted, son," especially funny (especially because I had to explain it to Tori.) 
     I liked the project itself because it made me look deeper into what the play meant and forced me to try to understand the main themes the dramatist was trying to convey. I agreed with the idea that society can create images of what people should be, in this case, the idea of the perfect "southern belle" or "functional family," and this became apparent with Amanda not being happy with her life and not always being able to compose herself in a perfect, lady-like fashion when frustrated. I think the play also touched on the idea that no family is perfect and it is unhealthy for society when families try to portray themselves that way. Although the Wingvalley family was a particularly over-dramatic family, it was so that the audience would understand the idea through rude comedy. 
     From a technical aspect, I appreciated the project because it allowed me to become familiar with new forms of internet composition, such as GoogleDocs, which I enjoy because I like to seize as many opportunities as I can to become more tech-savvy because I think it is a useful skill to have. I thought the media was easy to use and I am glad I can add it into my arsenal of computer knowledge. 
     My only complaint would be the short amount of time we got to work on the project, because I wanted to make a video of us acting out part of the play because it would have been funny, but no day in the week worked for all of us. Other than that, I greatly enjoyed the project.




-Bobby R.

drama

Our class shared some thoughts on drama and I wanted to share some points I learned from this class experience.

- comedy lies between satire and romance
- two kinds of comedies are scornful comedy and romantic comedy
- these expose human folly
- comedy and tragedy are both examples of drama
- force and melodrama are oversimplified extremes
- tragedy is a plot that involves a chain of the protagonist to fall into a state of misery
- realistic drama is based off of how believable the play is delivered
- nonrealistic and realistic describe dramatic presentation
Necessary Nonrealistic Conventions:
- audience must believe a room with 30 or less sides actualy has four
- characters with different nationalities all speak the language of the audience
- the actors all face the audience
- plays strive for differing degrees of realism
- drama has 3 additional aspects that serve to add another dimension to the work.
- dramas utilize real life people and the quality of the play relies havily on their performance.

-Angela H

Group Project Response

The project that I completed within my table group helped me to learn a lot about leadership. I had to help organize our team and keep them on track so that we would not get so easily distracdted. The project at first was a challenge to me because Ihad no idea how to incorporate our voices onto the the slide show. However, after one hour of trial and error, I was able to find a way to attach the sound files to the various quotes. Although our team did get distracted alot, we were eventually able to complerte the project and do a good job on it.

We chose the play because we enjoyed the humor, and wanted to present it to the class using our own sense of humor incorporated within the powerpoint to explain our point of view. I was apprehensive at first about the results of our powerpoint, but after reading some of the comments of my peers, and the viewing their reactions as they went through the powerpoint I felt confident in our groups effort.

Overall, I enjoyed the project a lot because not only was I able to learn about how to incorporate a sound file on a text, but Iwas also able to connect with my team members on a deeper level. W were able to communicate better with each other at the end of the day, and we all had a good time together.

                                                                                                                  - Jehan T.

Frankenstein Reading Response

While reading Frankenstein, I found myself unexpectedly relating to it. I believe that the characters of Frankenstein and the creature paralleled one another, revealing the idea of Shelley that everyone has a monster within them. My thoughts so easily form into poetry;  this was one of my poems that I came up with as a reading response.

My blood runs thick
black
emotionless
for those whose souls I've wronged
angry thoughts harbored
in an unstable mind
searching for the right words
or time
or place
or space
to spew this venom
so thick
so strong
threatening
behind cringed teeth
so much hurt
so many insecurities
masked by pride
the size of Mars
relentless and hot
yet cold with regrets
unleashing this hideous Monster
I've so often called myself

- Talor T 

Frankenstein

           The pursuit of knowledge is the main theme found in the novel Frankenstein, as Victor attempts to learn beyond accepted human limits and access the secret of life. Similarly, Robert Walton attempts to go beyond previous human explorations by hoping to reach the North Pole. This desire for unknown knowledge, proves dangerous, as Victor’s act of creation eventually results in the destruction of everyone dear to him, and Walton finds himself perilously trapped between sheets of ice. Victor’s own monster leads to his death, and having learned from Victor’s example how destructive new knowledge can be Walton withdrew himself from the explorations. Knowledge is good but too much knowledge can lead to destruction, and we see this through Walton and Victor in Frankenstein. Shelly, lead me to think about how in our world we have created so many inventions due to knowledge, and how they are helpful. However, the other side is that they just reduce human effort, and lead humans to become more and more dependent on machines to function their life's.  By reading Frankenstein, I began to think more about the concept of knowledge and how too much of knowledge can be dangerous.

-Semarn K

"The World is Too Much With Us"

The last poem  that we have read in class is titled "The World is Too Much With Us" and that is what I chose to discuss in this entry's blog.
This poem is a Petrarchan sonnet that explains the materialistic world that we indulge our selves into today. It laments the loss of nature in the modern society as it states how we receive all that nature has to offer us, but then turn around and give our hearts away.  In his poem, Wordsworth implements the usage of metaphors and states that "We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!" meaning that due to our selfishness and greed, we have given away our hearts, something so precious and clean, a blessing granted to humankind.  We are not very appreciative of the benefits of life and take our blessings for granted.  In another line, Wordsworth states that "getting and spending, we lay waste our powers" meaning that we waste our time and knowledge that we were given, due to our mentality of "getting and spending".  As humans we have a purpose, but we separate ourselves from "God created" nature which results in us separating ourselves from God, therefore wasting our powers. The juxtaposition of several words such as "late and soon" and "getting and spending" displays the contradiction of materialism.  It is a destructive and corrupt blessing that may seem to bring pleasure but in reality, feeds mankind's worst quality, greed.  The overall message of the poem is that people forget to appreciate the beauty of nature because of their quest for materialistic possessions. Every aspect of life today pushes us further and further away from our true nature as human beings and closer towards a state of corrupt living.

frankenstein

hi everyone ! So we go through the letters and 5 chapters of Frankenstein !
I took out a few sentences and used allusions to enable the reader to understand in a more comprehensive manner.

"But these philosophers, whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt, and then eyes to pore over the microscope or crucible, have indeed performed miracles."

In this quote, I see biblical figures. It has an illusion to the bible. Philosophers can represent "God". In the Bible, it was written that God made Adam with dirt. "Whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt" relates to the process of how Adam was created. Next, "then the eyes to pore over the microscope" reminded me that God made every single person perfectly, unique in their own way. Right now I am taking Biology as a science class and i am currently learning about Mitosis and Meiosis. My Goodness. It is so hard to imagine that that this process of dividing a cell has so many steps in order to get to its goal and all this process only takes play in the nucleus of a cell. There are millions and millions of cells in a human body and each process that takes place is perfect. His "eyes to power over the microscope" tells me that every single aspect of humans were created carefully and that every little detail counted. By making Adam, God had "performed [a] miracle".

-Angela Hyun

"The End of Solitude"

            "The End of Solitude" by William Deresiewicz was one of my favorite pieces that we have read in class thus far. Although I myself take part in the online social networking world by using facebook, I have always thought that it creates a false feeling of how many "friends" one really has and prevents the close relationships people had before the technology developed. My generation has also disposed of many other aspects of life that existed before myspace and facebook such as the privacy of their private thoughts, longer attention spans, and the opportunity to immerse oneself in their own creativity and thoughts whenever boredom creeps upon us. Many of us have accepted checking for updates as a healthy substitute for activities as natural to the growing mind as thinking.

    Not only does this take a toll on our creativity, it raises the question, what will our generation be remembered for? All the great literary periods had their unique characteristics, as the article pointed out, but what kind of great style of writing will emerge from our generation when everyone is too busy online to express their ideas through literature? Unless we can manage to compose great poetry in less than 160 characters to "tweet" on twitter, it seems that people need to close their web browser and open their word processor and get to typing. Otherwise, we may become the real Lost Generation. 

   This is not to say that we are completely hopeless and that there is absolutely no form of art that can emerge from our constant updates about what we had for lunch. I am not proposing that we must return to feather quills and parchment in order to achieve pieces of timeless philosophy, technology changes and our means to express ourselves can change with it. The technology we have available enables us to communicate much faster than in the days of Henry David Thoreau or Oscar Wilde, and this can work as a double-edged sword. We can recieve and send ideas across the world in seconds and this gives us an advantage not even Mary Shelley could have imagined. We just need to concentrate less on artificial popularity and more on our or attention-craving psyches. 
-Bobby Rodriguez

Alice, Ulysses, and Me

As people grow older they tend to give up experiencing the nuances of life. They stick to one pattern and are not willing to try new things. However, I believe along with Alice and Ulysses that it is never, “To late to seek a newer world”. No matter what our age may be or what rules society puts upon us, we all have the ability to make our own decisions. Old age does not necessarily have to dictate the lives that we have to lead. Alice lives in a strict Victorian Society and Wonderland details the troubles she has growing up into a young lady. She has to obey certain rules of etiquette growing up and has to learn to be lady like, but these rules do not prevent her from doing what she wants to do. She continues to be an imaginative young girl and does not let her maturation process change what she is as a person. Ulysses had to go through many trials and tribulations to come back home from the long war to his wife and son. Although he is nostalgic about the many adventures and obstacles he had to overcome to reach his final destination, he was not willing to sit idly and let life pass him by. He understood that the peak of his life had passed, yet he was willing to seek newer “worlds” and try out different things. Along with Ulysses and Alice, I also feel it is important for one to stretch his boundaries and try out new things. Age should not deter one from purpose and adventure but instead should make new experiences better. Along with age comes wisdom, and this wisdom can be applied to various circumstances and events, making the experience much better. People should learn to not limit their possibilities because it is never too late to explore new challenges.

                                                                                                    Jehan T.     

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Reading Response

As I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland it inspired me to explore my own personal creativity. I believe this fictitious dream world of Wonderland, is a place most people have stored in their imagination. After finishing the book, I wrote a poem about my own personal Wonderland and what I imagined it would be like.

"My Wonderland"
Sometimes I wish I could pick up the world
when I'm feeling crushed beneath it
and find a hidden gated path
to a place that's just my secret

And in my secret place there lives
worry free enchanting creatures
full of love and peace and kindness
among some other features

It's impossible to describe this place
without some special words
whimsical, three dimensional
enticing yet absurd

And when I'm all done fancying
and my feet let out a groan
I leave my secret wonderland
and dream my way back home


Talor Thompson
P. 2

Hidden Meaning

   Katherine Anne Porter's "The Grave" is a story about the transition to adulthood and a loss of innocence. The protagonist Miranda traces this change from childhood to womanhood back to one specific day and one event. The story told by the narrator is wrapped in the history of Miranda's family, beginning with her grandmother. Miranda's grandmother moves from place to place after her husband dies. With each of these moves she uproots her dead husband's coffin to bring it with her. When she dies she wants to be buried next to him. In the description of her moving, the narrator says it is as though the grandmother moved around looking for her own burial spot. This is symbolic to the idea of a restless woman who is looking for a final place to settle down her anxiety of aging. Then the story moves on to confusion and stress that Miranda faces as she reaches her adulthood. Porter shows her confusion of yearning to be woman through various archetypes like the ring. The ring Miranda finds turns her against her tomboy clothes. She longs to go back to the farmhouse, take a bath and put on a fancy dress. The ring makes her long for luxury and a grand way of living that she has not experienced but has heard stories about as part of a legend of her family's past wealth. 

   Another element that the reader comes across in the "The Grave" is loss of innocence. It suggests the movement from innocence to knowledge, from the innocence  of the dove, to the gold ring, and to the dead mother rabbit . Miranda comes to be aware of the decay and death. Particularly in “The Grave”, Porter wanted her readers to use the process of remembering and comparing in order to understand the meaning of certain events in the story. Some years later, Miranda seemed to see her brother, again twelve years old, smiling in his eyes, turning the silver over and over in his hand. The memory “Leaps from its burial place.” And the initial vision of death, the dead rabbit which she had long ago chosen, she sees now in its true colors. That dreadful vision of death now gives way to that long ago day’s other vision of death, her unchanged brother holding the silver dove. Porter uses the various archetypes to show the depth of the story. By doing this reading along with my group I understood how literature can hold hidden meaning, and once you discover that hidden meaning then you understand the literature in a different way.      

                                                             Semarn K