Lorca Journal 4

            Lorca juxtaposes poetry and prose in Act 3 Scene 1 to show that nature is the higher power that guides peoples’ fates.  At first, the woodcutters are discussing how the bridegroom and Leonardo will find and kill each other “with the moon or without the moon” (80) which is contradictory to the poetry in this scene where nature controls their fate. Lorca uses poetry when the moon arrives for the first time and when the characters “evoke the forest” (87) which is shown by violins playing. The reader can see that nature controls the characters’ fates because moon acts as a chorus through the poetry by telling the reader that there will be death by stating “[the moon’s] cheeks will fill with crimson blood” (82). The moon is able to control this fate by summoning the “beggar women [who is] death” (86) to kill the characters and “let blood hiss softly through my fingers” (84). The use of poetry acts as a chorus and allows the reader to understand that nature guides life. 

Lorca Journal 3

            The young children in Act II help to reinforce the theme that one will suffer without following the roles of gender and obedience. The kids are constantly waiting on the bride and trying to please her. They fight over who got the first pin out of her dress because whomever got the first one is said to marry first; they want the pin  because it is drilled into people at a young age that one must be married to fulfill the duties of being a women. At one point, the mother says that “girls never leave the house” (61) and the children know this and even want it because it is all they’ve even known because they are trained to be obedient. They strive to practice their ‘women’ chores by serving the bride. They are unaware of the consequences, but are starting to be exposed to what happens when a women disobeys her duties and doesn’t be with a man in a bed have kids, which is “what marriage is” (40) all about. The bride breaks the gender roles and obedience of womanhood and instead runs off with another man on her wedding night. Although the tragic end to the Bride’s decision is not yet unveiled, it results in her suffering. The young characters help show how prominent the gender roles and obedience of a woman are to society because these values are taught at such a young age.

Lorca Journal 2

In 1913, Lorca states that “theater is poetry that rises from the book and become human enough to talk and shout, weep and despair.” In Lorca, the Mother-in-Law and the Wife sing a poem together that brings them closer together. “Wife (softly [sings]) ‘go to sleep, my flower- the horse does not want water.’ Mother-in-Law ‘go to sleep, my rose- the horse begins to cry’” (17) showing that the women have similar views to “flower[s]” and the “horse” and are able to get along well, connect and amplify their emotions through poetry. The poetic way of the words such as “with silver flies he only cried” (18) develops a tranquil emotion that soothes the child to sleep. The tranquil feeling is something that even the audience can feel and relate to. Lorca suggests that poetry is needed in plays to bring realistic emotions to the characters. In Blood Wedding, poetry is able connects the people together and allows the audience to feel like they can relate more to the play since real emotions are portrayed. 

Ibsen Journal 5

Gregers is a believer and follower of idealism while Rellings believes idealism is obsurd.

 Gregers feels that truth is the most important thing. He thinks it is his duty to make sure people know that truth because it is his “moralistic fever” (202). He convinces Hedvig to “[give] up the dearest thing [she] own[s]” (198), the wild duck, and have her grandfather shoot it for her to prove her love for her father to bring him back home for good and to realize his love for her. We can see that the wild duck is Hedwig’s most prized possession because the motif continually appears, especially when she tells people not to harm it. When Gregers thinks Hedvig “shot the wild duck herself” (213) he was excited that his plan of truth would work out even better than planned. His plan didn’t work out and even when everyone realizes the terrible tragedy of Hedvig killing himself, he is not sad or upset; he looks at the brighter side of things such as how she told the truth and, therefore, “did not die in vain” (216).

Rellings does not agree with idealist views because people need to accept and handle their own problem. Rellings leaves Hjalmar alone in his misery instead of trying to help; he thinks people should deal with the problems they face head on and allows them to take it on by themselves. He “mock[s]” (201) Gregers when Gregers discusses his beliefs of idealism and always telling the truth. After Hedvig is found dead, Rellings gets upset with Gregers for convincing her to do it and not caring that she is dead; he yells about how Gregers was always “badgering us poor people with [his] ‘summons to the deal,’” (216) discussing with Gregers his idealistic views and their negative repercussions.

Ibsen juxtaposes Rellings and Gregers to show that every solution will affect people differently, but one must accept emotions. Everything that is meant to happen will and everyone will have to deal with it one way or another. Accepting it and looking on the bright side is hard to completely do because one cannot block out every feeling of pain like Gregers portrays in Ibsen. I believe that being an idealist by telling the truth makes a person happier, but one cannot always be happy and it’s important to accept what happens, even if accepting it means being in pain for a while. Good things do not happen by themselves, they take work. Being an idealist like Gregers is not emotionally possible or physically desirable; emotions speak louder than words and it’s important to accept them to obtain true happiness.  

Ibsen Journal 4

            The social expectations of women and classes discussed in “Nobody’s Angel” by Elizabeth Langland are reflected in Ibsen and ultimately shows that interaction between the different social classes help the reader see that the gap between the social classes in not very large. People of different classes rarely married each other in the early 1800s, “Nobody’s Angel” discussed how commutation between social class is beneficial. Mrs. Sorby is a servant in Werle’s estate, but she has a public relationship with Werle where she even “[enters] with Werle on her arm” (126) at his dinner party in front of all his wealthy, high-class friends. Mrs. Sorby is treated differently than other servants by being on a wealthy man’s “arm,” is able to speak to guests and make household decisions such as “abolish[ing] [the] precious smoking privilege” (126) and is able to enforce and stand by her decision  to “abolish,” even when confronted by an upper class male. Women, especially servants, were expected to stay at home and do household chores without interfering, or even being seen. Mrs. Sorby has gained respect from the high class man and is treated almost like an equal to members of the upper class. The relationship and sense of equality between the servant Mrs. Sorby and Werle prove that when various social classes interact, it is clear that the different between the social classes are not big.

            The realism in drama incorporated throughout Ibsen allows the audience to feel like they could be part of the play. Realism is based on events that could happen in real life; these struggles are relatable to almost all people and help people become in touch with the characters on a deeper level. The characters use common speech such as “hm, what does your father say to that?” (163) which can be understood by all types people. “Hm” is how people would really talk; it is informal giving the audience the impression that they are watching people they know speak. The extensive description of props such as “a portrait camera cover with a cloth, a stand, a couple of chairs…” (179) depict real items that could be the common man’s room. Realism in Ibsen enables the audience to feel comfortable as if they are actually in the play, watching people talk and act out events that could actually be happening.

Ibsen Journal 3

9. What usually happens to wild ducks who dive for the “bottom”? Why is this important?

            Ducks dive to the murky bottom to hide from a hunter. They “bite right into the weeds” (153) the latch on to avoid being shot. These unclear depths of the water are not safe from all types of death though; often times the ducks ignore their need for air and “never come up again” (153), killing themselves. If the ducks are lucky, a “clever dog” (153) is able to quickly dive down to the bottom and retrieve the duck. Hedvig dives to the murky bottom and grabs to the weeds until she can satisfy her desire to live happily with her father’s love. Hedvig likes to have “something nice to tell [her] father when he comes home at night” (139) because it makes him happy. Hedvig always greets her father when he comes home, gives him compliments such as “you look so well [in your evening clothes]” (139), and offers to “bring” (145) her father goods such as his flute, drinks, or food in order to try and gain her father’s love. Her efforts are in vain because he pushes her away such as asking her not to use the affectionate name of “daddy” (145) when speaking to him. Hedvig is doomed to stay under the water too long and kill herself if she doesn’t let go of her goal for love or have someone save her from the murky depths. 

Ibsen Journal 2

Journal: How does Ibsen treat etiquette? Which characters follow rules of etiquette? Which characters break rules of etiquette? Which characters condemn etiquette? Give specific examples. Then, come to a conclusion about Ibsen’s argument regarding etiquette; be sure your examples justify this argument.

Ibsen treats etiquette as a symbol of class and respectability that is most important for the wealthy to follow. All the characters have both followed and broken etiquette, even if it was unintentional. Petterson tries to follow etiquette by discreetly entering the house during the party; his attempts fail when he, a manservant, must go out the main door and be seen by the guests of the party; the manservant has no respect from the wealthy people. Mrs. Sorby is a servant, but she is treated with more respect than other servants because Old Werler had an affair with her and needs to keep her trust and loyalty to help his secrets remain hidden. She shows etiquette by serving guests, but breaks etiquette by conversing with the guests and servants which is above her class, even though she is treated differently than other servants. Gregers Werle is a wealthy man by his father’s fortune, but Gregers is unable to show complete etiquette. He follows etiquette by throwing a fancy dinner party with his dad. Gregers invites a 13^th guest, Hjalmar, which is looked down upon due to superstitions; he also confronts his father for not telling him he was giving Hjalmar money which breaks etiquette. Even Haakon Werle, a respected wealthy man is unable to have proper etiquette all the time. He follows etiquette by paying Hjalmar money to help him get started in photography; but he hides from his own son that he gives Hjalamr money and kept the friends apart by creating a false fight.  Etiquette is impossible to follow all the time, even for the rich.

Antigone Journal 4

The theme that a tragic flaw of a character ends in harm if not controlled occurs in both Antigone and Oedipus the King. Antigone’s tragic flaw is her defiance to her uncle in order to bring justice to her deceased brother by burying his body. This tragic flaw differs from Oedipus’ flaw which is to find truth about the murderer of the previous king and the facts about his family. Antigone continually defies her uncle in order to satisfy her fate of burying her brother. She is relentless in this task and continues to try to succeed after she finds out she will die if she proceeds and even after her uncle gives her a chance to walk away. Oedipus also gets a chance to walk away, because the oracle says he will not tell him the information regarding his family because it is not enjoyable. Oedipus ignores the warning and pesters the oracle until the information is told. The endings both end with them getting harmed, Antigone committing suicide and Oedipus stabbing his eyes out, because neither controlled their tragic flaw so it proceeded to cause them harm.

Family cannot overcome ever situation is a theme present in Antigone and Oedipus. Even though Antigone is Creon’s uncle, he refuses to give her a special treatment with the law to avoid killing her. Creon gives her to opportunity to stop her defiance, but she continues, forcing him to condemn her to avoid the citizens of Thebes becoming dismayed with him for abusing his powers as king to protect certain people, even if it is a family member. Oedipus searches desperately for the truth about his parents. He loves his wife dearly, but after realizing it was his mother and that he unknowingly killed his own father, Oedipus is unable to overcome this situation, even though he was happy before, and stabs his eyes out in a crude attempt to un-see his actions. In both Antigone and Oedipus, family is unable to stay together to overcome all situations.

Antigone Journal 3

            The comparison of Antigone to the First Guard allows the reader to understand the acceptance that Antigone has for her death. Antigone is motivated to continue to try to bury her brother, even though she knows she will die if she does, because she believes it is fate. The Guard hurts Antigone and is motivated to bring her into the room because it is “[his] business to bring [her] in” (47). Immediately after being taken into a room by the Guard, “Antigone moves to stool and sits” (47) showing her calmness of the situation compared to the nervous Guard who “paces” (47) continually. Antigone attempts to calm the Guard, even though she should be the one pacing because she’s “going to die soon” (48), by asking him questions about his life and occupation. The Guard babbles nervously while Antigone’s responses are “barely audible” (48) because she is calmly absorbed in thought of a way to communicate to others, rather than think of a way to avoid death, because she has accepted her fate of the consequences of her actions. The indirect and direct characterization of Antigone and the Guard through movement and speech show the acceptance Antigone has for her death. Without the comparison to the Guard, Antigone’s actions could have been portrayed as depressed and uncaring of her fate; with the aid of the Guard’s nervous characterization it is clear that Antigone has accepted that her death is inevitable. 

Antigone Journal 2

“Creon. Yes, I could have done that. Only, I felt that it would have been cowardly. I should have been like a workman who turns down a job that has to be done. So I said yes.

Antigone.  So much the worse for you, then. I didn’t say yes. I can say no to anything I think vile, and I don’t have to count the cost. But because you said yes, all that you can do, for all your crown and your trappings, and your guards-all that you can do is to have me killed.

Creon. Listen to me.

Anitgone. If I want to. I don’t have to listen to you if I don’t want to.  You’ve said your yes. There is nothing more you can tell me that I don’t know. You stand there, drinking in my words. [She moves behind chair.] Why is it that you don’t call your guards? I’ll tell you why? You want to hear me out to the end; that’s why.” (35)

In this passage from Antigone, Jean Anouilh uses parallel structure and gesture to show the reader that even a young, seemingly ignorant girl, can prove her power and authority.

            While fighting with her uncle, the king, Creon, Antigone uses parallel structure by ending sentences with the same words in order to show her power and authority. She first says “if I want to,” and the next sentence ends with “I don’t want to“(10-11). The use of this repetitive structure allows her to sound educated and powerful. She is aware the she never “[said] yes,” (6) or gave her word, that she would not try to bury her brother. She rubs it in Creon’s face that she is free to make her own choices which gives her more power, in a way, than Creon who must act righteously and for the good of the people of Thebes to set a good example to keep the citizens loyal. Antigone is wise to her power and uses parallel structure to shed her youthful ignorance and prove her power and authority.

            In the middle of her fight with Creon, Antigone uses a gesture to mock her uncle and show her power. Antigone accuses Creon of being “cowardly,” (2) and he agrees. Directly after her strong parallel structure, Antigone can tell that Creon is engaged and “drinking in [her] words,” (13) and she further proves her authority by “[moving] behind her chair” (13) which is a physical gesture expressing her mockery of her uncle’s cowardliness.  After her gesture, she continued to further taunt Creon by questioning why he hasn’t “call[ed] [his] guards (14). Antigone’s gesture weakens Creon’s power and allows her to have authority and power, rather than seem like an ignorant young girl.  

                

Ali Field

YAY TRAGEDIES! 

Antigone Journal #1

            Anouilh uses the chorus to act as the parados in Antigone. The chorus describes past events such as thinking about the fact that “she is going to die” (3). The chorus also nonchalantly tells the audience what the play is going to be about such as “[Antigone] is about to rise up alone against Creon, her uncle, the King” (3). The description is not really foreshadowing because the chorus does not hint at what is to come, he completely spoils the end, leaving no surprises, including climatic scenes such as “[Antigone] is going to die” (3) and that she “wasn’t meant to hold a husband” (4). The chorus being so blatantly clear about the plot of the play creates a pathos for Antigone because we know her future of being doomed to death even though she does not. 

BNW FINAL JOURNAL!

The motif of pneumatic continued to change throughout the end of BNW. In last third of the book, pneumatic is used to describe objects, rather than women in a sexual way. While talking to one of the world controllers, “Helmholtz rose from his pneumatic chair” (229). “Pneumatic chair” is a repetition in the last part of the novel because it is frequently repeated. Pneumatic, as I found out during the middle of the novel, means plump. Being plump or pneumatic, I realized after a group discussion, is the “ultimate compliment” because being the right size or comfort is conforming to the “machine,” which is BNW’s version of a ‘perfect’ society. People who are conditioned well and conform to the society long to be called pneumatic because it means they are filling their rule as a citizen. Calling an object, such as a chair, pneumatic is very appealing and a great compliment.

The last part of BNW takes place in the Controller’s study and the lighthouse. The Controller’s study had a secret “large safe set into the wall between the bookshelves” (230). In the “safe” the Controller, Mustafa Mond, had many books including “The Holy Bible” (230). The references to religion and the discovering of Mustafa having a “Bible” shows the hypocritical views of the leader of the society that is so targeted on making everyone happy and creating a “perfect” world. If world controllers can handle religion and history and like it, then society should have the ability to access the books as well. Later, after some discussion, John decided to “[claim] the right to be unhappy,” (240) and chose to move to the lighthouse outside of the society. The lighthouse is the final resting place of John and is where he could express himself and his “unhappiness”. Upon first arriving there, John feels it is “almost too civilizedly luxurious” (244) and feels he needs to give himself more “self-discipline” (240) to purify himself for having such a “luxurious” place when he felt like he didn’t deserve it.

Huxley uses syntax to help show the change in John after leaving civilization and living at the light house. While “he was digging in his garden - digging, too, in his own mind, laboriously turning up the substance of his thought. Death - he drove in his spade once, and again, and yet again” (254). Although he was physically digging, he has an interruption of his thoughts realizing that he was , “- digging, too in his own mind,” which shocks him because he usually talks using Shakespearian language and seems sure about what he is saying. His thoughts shift to “death-,“ again his thoughts are interrupted which is shown by the syntax of the dash. Death unsettles him and makes him angry and causes him to forcefully “[drive]” the spade into the ground repeatedly.

Shakespearian language continues to be referenced in the final part of BNW. “[John’s] face lit up” (218) when he heard Mustafa speak Shakespearian. He “lit up” out of happiness from someone understanding the “beautiful” (219) language. Mustafa informs John that it’s prohibited because it’s “old” (219) and the controllers “don’t want people to be attracted by old things” (219). John disagrees with people being able to have Shakespeare, but he has no power to allow people to have it. John continues to speak regularly using Shakespeare such as yelling “’strumpet’” (257) because he feels like he can only fully express deep emotions with Shakespeare’s language because it contains passion, which the BNW society lacks. 

BNW Journal #2

The motif of pneumatic continues throughout the second part of the book; it becomes clearer what the author perceives the definition to be. Lenina comments on herself when she is talking to Bernard saying that “’everyone says [she’s] awfully pneumatic’…reflectively patting her own legs” (93). She pats her own legs which shows that pneumatic means thick. She then clarifies by asking if she’s “too plump” (93) confirming the author’s definition of pneumatic is plump, not literally gas filled like the dictionary definition. The second part of the second section of reading has fewer references to ‘pneumatic’. When it is mention again when Lenina and the Savage go to a feely and “sunk in there pneumatic stalls” (167). Huxley’s choice to use pneumatic to describe the stall is interesting because the imagery of the motif has been used strictly to refer to women in an appealing or sexual way. This could be different than the other references because John, the savage, was present and he does not come on to women like civilized men normally would.

The setting of the novel in the second part of Brave New World takes place, partly, outside of London. Bernard and Lenina go to “the Reservation” (102) which is an uncivilized society where “children still are born” (102).  Unlike the civilized community of London, the  people of the Reservation “still preserve their repulsive habits and customs... [of] marriage,…no conditioning,…Christianity,...extinct languages,… ferocious animals…and infectious diseases” (103). The ideas from New Mexico, which is where the Reservation resides, is vastly different than the pristine and exact life of London.  The Reservation contained so much “dirt” (120) that is repulsed Lenina; in a civilized community, “’Civilization is Sterilization’” (121) so no “filth” (121) is present. Linda understand Lenina’s repulsion because she was once civilized and the dirt “used to upset [her]” (120) too and makes her feel “like [she’s] living with lunatics” (121). The juxtaposition between the Reservation and the civilized community is dramatic and crucial to understand the vast differences of the living situations and culture.

The language Huxley uses continues to be descriptive during the second part. Upon finding his mom, Linda, sleeping with Pope, John describes his feelings in a way that no civilized person knows how to, with passion. He claims “his heart seemed to have disappeared and left a hole. He was empty. Empty, and cold, and rather sick, and giddy” (132). No civilized person could have felt the hatred he felt; this hatred fueled his urge to stab Pope. It is clear that Pope is also uncivilized because he acts in a peculiar way by making John “look again into Pope’s eyes” (133) after he is stabbed. John is able to feel things and say things that no civilized person can; he gets this ability from his lack of conditioning, but also from reading Shakespeare.

Shakespeare is a cultural connection to the world today and is not used in the civilized world because the library “contains only books of reference” (163) because allowing them to read other books would “encourage them to indulge in solitary amusement” (163). Really, I feel they do not allow other books because they want everyone to be clones, and books give people ideas about emotions and cultural which the civilization is trying to eliminate. John enjoys Shakespeare because the language is abstract and teaches him words to express his emotions of “hate” (132). Before Shakespeare, John felt like he “never really hated [Pope] because he had never been able to say how much he hated him. But now he had these words, these words like drums and singing and magic” (132) to help him to express a deep emotion that is banned from civilization.  

Ali Field

Brave New World Journal 1

Throughout the first section of Brave New World, motifs such as ‘pneumatic’ are present. Pneumatic, by dictionary definition, means “of or pertaining to air, gases or wind” or compressed air. I do not think of pneumatic as a positive adjective and am curious as to why Huxley chose that phrase. Huxley first uses pneumatic when describing Lenina Crowne by stating that she is “a splendid girl. Wonderfully pneumatic” (44). He uses ‘pneumatic’ as a sexually pleasing term rather than a term regarding air or gas. Huxley later states the people who return from soma-holidays return to the actual world without distractions and spend their time going from “girl to pneumatic girl” (56). He again uses it was a sexual term rather than its dictionary definition. Maybe he uses it meaning voluptuous or beautiful.

Huxley uses great imagery to describe the setting of the novel on the first page. The room of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre had a “harsh thin light [that] glared through the windows, hungrily seeking some draped lay figure… but finding only the glass and nickel and bleakly shining porcelain of a laboratory” (3). The setting also incorporates personifications by the lights “hungrily seeking.” The light seeking something through the window and only finding a pristine lab allows the reader to see how people in the novel are going to feel, because they are trapped into doing what they are trained to do and use soma to avoid feeling stress or other negative emotions, which is like finding a pristine lab rather than something that makes them truly happy.

Later, embryos are said to be “like photography film,” which is a simile, (11) because “’they can only stand red light” (11). The students then follow the director into “the sultry darkness” (11) where he “was visible and crimson” (11). I find it peculiar that Huxley would choose to say the darkness was “sultry,” or arousing, when the dark is usually considered to be scary by people nowadays. Possibly, he does this because the darkness is a good thing because they were conditioned to not be afraid of it. Also, the phrase “every one belongs to everyone else” (47) is frequently repeated in the language of the novel. Huxley chose to do this to drill to the reader the difference of the previous society to the new one.

Cultural connections, or history, are often brought up while discussing babies. Babies are no longer “viviparous,” (24) or birthed in the year 632 A.F., they are made in tubes. People do not learn about the past and the topic often causes “blood [to rush] to cheeks” (23-24) because they are embarrassed by the past, which shows that the society has been trained to believe that history is bad and that “historical facts are unpleasant” (24). Later, history is brought up again when the director told the students that “there was something called democracy. As though men were more than physic-chemically equal” (47). The latter sentence has a mockery tone set by the phrase “as though men more than physic-chemically equal” (47) which makes be feel the society laughs at their ancestors for thinking they were important or equal. The controller even states that their “ancestors were so stupid and short sighted” (45) because they wanted to keep their emotions when soma came out. History is never spoken of, accept in the rare occasion where it is mocked, because all books such as “Shakespeare” (51) and bibles were locked away from society. The world leaders keep the books are from the society because it may cause people to realize they are not truly happy and may want to rebel.

Reflection Time, Yo. Reflect on Meurault's trial and treatment by the justice system. Is his treatment fair? How do you feel about the participants in the trial (don't forget Meursault)? Do you think his treatment is realistic? 
This reflection should be at least 2, well-developed 11 sentence paragraphs and should include 4 quotations from the text.

Meursault’s trial and treatment by the justice system was not fair. Meursault was looked down upon because “sever[ed] himself from society,” (102) not because he killed a man. He was convicted of not “express[ing] and remorse” (101) after his mother died rather than murder. It is against society’s believes to not feel remorse about a family death, but it is not an illegal act worth sentencing a person to death. His lawyer even once said “’is my client of trial for burying his mother or for killing a man?’” (96)  because the trial failed to focus of the actual crime of murder.  Meursault has a different view than the rest of the French civilization and has a hard time articulating what he feels. He cannot fully understand or comprehend his emotions in his own mind, let alone express his feelings to others. He does not defend himself in trial. His lawyers get irritated when Meursault tries to talk and tell him to “just keep quiet, it won’t do your case any good” (98) because he does not say things that make him look innocent. He sounded “ridiculous” (103) when he spoke, and he knew it which is why he often kept quiet. He couldn’t articulate how the elements made him feel. He felt like the sun controlled him to murder, but he couldn’t figure out how to say this to other people. His actually case of murdering an Arab was overlooked by the court and instead he was convicted for his actions, such as not showing remorse, not crying at his mother’s funeral and not defending himself in court, which is unjust.

When witnesses were called to the stand in Meursault’s favor, they were not taken seriously because they did not give solid evidence and the court already knew they wanted to condemn the man. Thomas Perez, Maman’s ‘fiancé’ was the first witness. He did not help Meursault because Thomas “had seen [Meursault] only once” (91). Celeste was also not helpful because he claimed it was “bad luck” (92) that killed the Arab. Marie’s testimony did not help the case because it brought up the Meursault’s lack of grieve the day after Maman’s funeral. Raymond also failed to give hard evidence of Meursault’s innocence because the prosecutor asked questions of no value such as “’was he your friend’” (96).  Meursault had no way to win this trial. The jury was not impartial and the topic of the court was morals, not the actual crime. His inability to participate also made him feel like an alien at his own trial. He couldn’t say anything of value or articulate his feeling, even when given the opportunity. Sentencing to murder was unjust and unrealistic. 

Stranger Journal #2

            In chapter six of The Stranger nature affects Meursault. He states that the sun affects him when he says “the sun was doing me a lot of good” (50) and “the sun made me doze off” (51) which give the reader the knowledge that he gets affected, but not a serious affect. Later, maybe after prolonged exposure, instead of feeling good or tired, the sun started to control his actions and body. After seeing the Arabs who were out to get Raymond, “the blazing sand looked red” (53) which could be the first sign of the elements controlling him. Raymond and Meursault get in a physical fight under the “overpowering” (55) sun. The sun causes Meusault to act without control or remorse. They had been in the sun for house, so when he got to the bungalow, “[his] head was ringing from the sun” (57) and he couldn’t convince himself to go up the stairs, instead he went back to where the Arabs were. He knew he “wouldn’t get the sun off [of him] by stepping forward” (59), but he had no control to go inside. The sun caused him to have delirium and no control. Killing the Arab was not his choice; it was nature’s effect on him. He didn’t feel guilt for killing the Arab because the sun seemed to numb his guilt, like it didn’t happen because it wasn’t a conscience choice.

Ali Field

Stanger Journal #1

The Stanger has a pattern of time developing in the first chapter. Time is first referenced in the first line of the book when Mersault says “Maman died today. Or maybe yesterday” (3). His vague use of time makes it seem like he doesn’t care because he doesn’t really care to figure out when exactly his mom died. On the same page her referenced time again when he says he’ll “take the two o’clock bus” (3). His change to exact time makes me curios to why he wouldn’t try to figure out when his mom dies exactly since he seems to care about exact times. Later he finds out the walk to the church during the funeral takes ‘three-quarters of an hour” (14) which is also an exact time. I feel like he cares more about precise time when it directly relates to him and how his time is spend.

Another pattern in the first chapter of The Stranger is temperature. After the vigil was over, the sun began to go up and “start[ed] to warm [Mersault’s] feet” (12). He says little about discomfort of heat until later in the day. When the sun was high in the sky “the whole landscape shimmer[ed] with heat, it was inhuman and oppressive” (15). Mersault appears to dislike the sun because it is ‘oppressive’. He feels like it controls him and limits his choices because he feels uncomfortable to be immersed in heat. His close observations of heat help me to see how observant he is, even though he is quiet. He seems to obsess about heat more than cold and his mom is cold since she is dead and he doesn’t obsess about her either.

Colors are frequently emphasized in The Stranger. Colors such as red, white and black are noticed the most by Mersault. Red is particularly mentioned in relation to nature such as “the sky was streaked with red” (12) and “the blood-red earth spilling over Maman’s casket” (18) The repeater color of red is a dark color and reflects his dark and apathetic personality, but also shows his observances. He noticed that there were “four men wearing black in the room” (14)  the sticky black of tar, the dull black of the tar, the dull black of all the clothes and the shiny black of the hearse (17). He seems to scout out black and other dark colors. This definitely reflects the tone of darkness and carelessness of Mersault.

Light is a repeated pattern in The Stranger. In the middle of the night during the vigil, “darkness had gathered” (8) and the caretaker had turned on the light. Mersault “was blinded by the sudden flash of light” (8) and later asked the caretaker to “turn off one of the lights” (9). He could dislike the light because he dislikes sudden change, such as his mother dying. Maybe he is in shock from her death which is why he is so careless about the funeral. He also mentions “sunlight” (16) which could be both heat and light which are both things he appears to not be too fond of.

Sleep is repeated throughout the first chapter of The Stranger. He had “dozed off” (4) while on the bus to the vigil and was “getting sleepy” (7) when he arrived at the care home. Even during the vigil he had “dozed off for a while” (9). He gets tired with warm coffee and walking in the warm sun during the funeral walk to the church. Warmth and sleepiness seemed to be related to Mersault. He seems to not dislike heat all the time because, but he never mentions if he likes or dislikes sleep. He possibly likes heat when it helps him sleep. It is weird that he would fall asleep during the vigil of his mother instead of cry and be scared to sleep by her dead body. 

Mrs. Turner’s Lack of Ability to embrace her Race

            Although Mrs. Turner is black, she does not like blacks and wishes she were white. She believes whites have more power than blacks. Mrs. Turner complains to Janie about not being white and talks about how she worships her god to achieve her goal of being white, even though it is physically impossible to reach. At the end, Mrs. Turner juxtaposes her god with Tea Cake’s realistic God. This in turn causes Mrs. Turner to be upset and shows the reader that she will never be able to embrace her own race. In the passage, Mrs. Turner feels inferior to Janie and becomes so obsessed with being white that she is willing to sacrifice part of herself in order to try to become white, instead of embracing her own race.

            Mrs. Turner feels that Janie is better and more powerful than her because Janie has lighter skin. While with Janie, Mrs. Turner feels “honored by Janie’s acquaintance” (2) because Janie has a lighter skin. Lighter skin, according to Mrs. Turner, imbues the individual with more power. She then elaborates on Janie’s power by saying she “forgave and forgot snubs” (3) because “anyone who looked more white folkish than herself was better than she was” (4-5).  “white folkish” (4-5) shows Mrs. Turners inferior tone towards Janie, because Janie is lighter than Mrs. Turner. Her diction of “white folkish”(4-5) also shows how obsessed she is with the white race. Her diction of “negroid” (7) and “negroness” (8) shows that she doesn’t like to associate herself with other blacks. This is shown by her formal way of saying black which is uncommon for people of that race to refer to each other by. She most likely has fairly light skin which is why she doesn’t like to associate herself with dark skinned blacks. Mrs. Turner believes that she is inferior to Janie because Janie is light skinned. However, she believes she is superior to dark skin blacks because she has fairly light skin.

            Mrs. Turner worships her god in order to try and obtain white characteristics. Mrs. Turner’s god being lower case shows that her god isn’t the real God. Mrs. Turner Metaphorically “set[s] up her idols and buil[ds] altars” (10) to worship her god to try and become white, which is impossible. She tries to justify her god by juxtaposing her god and the real God when she says she “accepts any inconsistency and cruelty from her deity as good worshippers do from theirs” (11-12). Janie disagrees with Mrs. Turner by claiming that “all gods who receive homage are cruel” (13-14) and will “dispense suffering without reason” (14) for sacrificing part of one’s self because it is important to embrace yourself. Mrs. Turner thinks that she is “like all other believers [and] built an altar to the unattainable - Caucasian characteristics for all” (19-20), which is a hyperbole because not all believers of God wish to be white like Mrs. Turner. Mrs. Turner uses detailed imagery to elaborate on her “paradise [which is] a heaven of straight-haired, thin-lipped, high-nose boned” people. She believes that these characteristics are what everyone wants. Mrs. Turner wants to be white so bad that she believes that all blacks want to be white and can’t see that worshipping her god is not realistic or normal.

            Mrs. Turner then realizes that most blacks do not wish to be white and that she only likes Janie for her light skin; however she still refuses to embrace her own blackness. The passage has a distressed and sad tone by Mrs. Turner stating that it was “distressing to emerge from her inner temple” (28) to realize that other blacks didn’t agree with her views. The imagery of “black desecrators howling with laughter before the door” (29) with “terrible banners and swords!” (30) allows the reader to understand the wakeup call that Mrs. Turner faced when she found out that she was the only one who truly wanted to be white. She knew she was the only one who wanted to be white because of the mockery she faced, instead of people joining her worship. The syntax of the italicized phrase ‘and swords’ (30) emphasizes that she felt hurt by their cruelness of mocking of her views. She also metaphorically “paid homage to Janie’s Caucasian characteristics” (31-32) because she felt “as if she herself had become whiter” (34-35) when she was with Janie. She sees that she only likes Janie because she metaphorically becomes whiter. She doesn’t appear to feel bad because she continues to see Janie, and is still unwilling to embrace her own race. Mrs. Turner’s god is again juxtaposed with the real God when she recalls the memory of Tea Cake saying “aw, don’t make God look so foolish-finding fault wid everything He made” (38-39). Instead of feeling bad for disgracing the real God and seeing her wrongs, Mrs. Turner “hates Tea Cake for his defilement of divinity…[and] mockery of her” (35-36) and continues to not embrace her own race.

            Even with the sheer impossibility of Mrs. Turner becoming white, she continues to sacrifice herself for her god. Even when struck by her god, she believes she is doing the right thing and continues her worship. Being obsessed with becoming white makes Mrs. Turner become a person that many people do not like because she is friends with someone strictly because of their light skin, defiles the real God, and looks down upon her own race instead of embracing her own black power.

Ali Field

IB English

Mrs. Manning

October 1, 2012

Ali Field

Foreword Journal #5

            The author of the foreword, Edwidge Danticat, had discussed, like our class, why Janie allowed Tea Cake to beat her. A view that I never realized came to my attention and helped me further understand the book. Danticat discussed that Hurston may not have wanted characters who were “too holy nor too evil.” If he were too nice to her, she would praise him, but if he were too mean, then there would not have been a love story. Danticat also mentions that Tea Cake’s sins toward Janie are repented when he risked his life, and eventually died, in order to save hers.

            Hurston often used places and events that she had been to in Their Eyes Were Watching God. She also debatably wrote this book in seven weeks. Using her own experiences could have helped her write the book in such a short amount of time. Her writing the book in a mere seven weeks could also attribute to pieces of the book that were not as well written, such as Tea Cake getting rabies from a dog riding a swimming cow. It is amazing that an author could find time to write a book in seven weeks while on an anthropology trip in Haiti, but it reflects negatively in pieces of her writing.

             Danticat also brought to my attention that it has been debated whether Janie Crawford is “a good role model for women or was she solely defined by the men in her life.” Throughout the book, I, like other people mentioned in the foreword, do not think of Janie as a role model. This makes me curious if Hurston intended Janie to be a role model. At the end Hurston makes me feel like Janie is supposed to be a role model because Pheoby wants her husband, “Sam [to] take [her] fishin’ wid him after this” to spent more time with him like how Janie spent time with Tea Cake. I don’t feel like Janie became a role model until you lost her love and learned lessons throughout her life, but I still wonder what Hurston intended.

Ali Field

Journal #4 – analyzing an analytical paper

The introduction is too specific, instead of giving the techniques that support the effect of, he/she goes in depth into why the techniques support it specifically. Stating a few techniques and not going in depth would help give a more stable start and outline for the piece. He/she also brings up that the journey is long, then goes into the big mama effect, which is point of view, making me question why the journey being long mattered at all. He/she did not state the book or author in the intro.

The author had good organization in the piece. Each paragraph was specific to a technique and gave examples. Having the techniques laid out in the intro would help the reader know what to expect throughout the paper. The author used text to direct the help the reader know and understand the techniques and effect which was very helpful and effective. The short pieces of text really helped her analysis. The author went in depth with the analysis of each technique and did not just summarize the text. This piece was overall very well written, although the introduction was weak. 

Chapter 9 Mini-Commentary- Journal #3

            After being married for several years, Janie and Jody’s relationship turned sour. Jody got sick and stopped talking to Janie. Immediately after Janie gets the courage to speak with him and tell him off for his wrongs, Jody dies. Janie attended Jody’s funeral because it’s proper, not because she was grieving. “She sent her face to Joe’s funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world,” (88) happy on the inside to have the opportunity to find a ‘bud to her pear tree.’ She was “weeping and wailing on the outside” (88) to please the townspeople by pretending that she was truly sad, but on “inside…[was] resurrection” (88) of her single life and following her childhood dream of love. Her husband’s “death [did not] disturb her calm,”(88) but instead gave her power to start a fresh life. Before leaving her house, “Janie starched and ironed her face [and hid] behind her veil” (88) because she didn’t feel comfortable enough with the people in town to show her real feelings. She thinks that “all things concerning death…were done. Finished. End. Nevermore,” (88) clearly feeling ready to move on to the next chapter in her life and find her true love; the bud to her pear tree.

Ali Field

September 12, 2012

Their Eyes Were Watching God Chapters 5-6 Journal

            Jody turns out to act the opposite of the man he promised Janie he would be. He once told her that he doesn’t want to “make a dog outa [Janie,]” (29) but “make a wife outa [her]” (29) instead. He orders her around the store and orders her to do his tasks, such as “you better go fetch me dem shoes.” (57) He also makes her “keep her head tied up lak some ole ‘oman” (49) because he is jealous of other men looking at her and he “never told Janie how jealous he was (55). Instead of telling Janie how he feels, he covers up his feelings by being forceful, shutting her out of the town life, by making her stay out of the “draggin’-out” (60) because of the “passle pushin’ and shovin’ ”(60). I think he keeps her away from the dragging out because he doesn’t want her to be around other men because he’s jealous, not because of the ill-mannered pushing or the speech he is going to give.  Jody continually treats her as if she were a dog that he controls. He also says that “he was no fist fighter,” (47) but hits Janie for burning dinner, and to show the other men his power. Jody is far from the man he said he was before he became mayor.

            Janie is oppressed by her husband, Jody. When given the opportunity to give “uh few words uh encouragement” (43) in front of the town, Jody imminently jumps in her way before she has the chance to say anything. Even though, she “didn’t know if she cared to make [a speech] at all,” (43) it’s the fact that Jody didn’t give her a chance that “took the bloom off of things.” (43) Janie is not allowed to partake in the conversations around or in the store. If she shows interest or laughs, Jody tells her to go do something in the back, get something for him. Janie does what she is told and, usually “[gets] up without a word” (57) to tend to Jody’s needs. When she finally gets the courage to speak her mind, Jody cuts her off. He tells her “you getting’ too moufy, Janie” (75) when she tries to defend that being a women is not the same as being a helpless baby chicken. Jody does not seem worried that Janie will ever leave him. He doesn’t think about her when he makes decisions or orders her around. Their relationship is more like slavery, rather than Janie’s ‘pear tree’ perfect relationship.

Ali Field

IB Junior English

1^st  Literary Terms List

Dictionary.com and http://bm017.k12.sd.us/Reading/glossary_of_terms.htm

Alliteration:

Two or more words in a sentence that start with the same letter or sound. Ex. Elephants enjoy eating.

 Allusion:

A passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something either directly or by implication. “Baited by the fickle fruit” is an allusion of the forbidden fruit. (Countee Cullen, Yet Do I Marvel)

Ambiguity:
An unclear, indefinite, or equivocal word, expression, meaning, etc.: a contract free of ambiguities. The ambiguities of modern poetry.

Antagonist:

Person who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with another; opponent; adversary. Voldemort is the Antagonist in the Harry Potter Series.

Protagonist:

The leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work. Clary Fray is the protagonist in The City of Bones.

Apostrophe: Someone talking to someone/something that cannot reply, usually dead. I told my flowers how beautiful they were today.

Assonance:

Resemblance of sounds.Also called vowel rhyme. Rhyme in which the same vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables of the rhyming words, as in penitent  and reticence.

Chronology:

The sequential order in which past events occur. World War 1 came before the holocaust.

Conflict:

To come into collision or disagreement; be contradictory, atvariance, or in opposition; clash: The account of one eyewitness conflicted with that of the other. My class conflicts with my going to the concert.

Connotation:
The associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning: A possible connotation of “home” is “a place of warmth, comfort, and affection.”

Anthropomorphism:
Giving human qualities to a living thing, usually an animal. Mickey Mouse is anthropomorphic because he wears clothes.

Denotation:
The literal or primary meaning of a word. A word that names or signifies something specific. “Wind” is the denotation for air in natural motion. 

Dialect: 

A variety of a language that is distinguished fromother varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, and by its use by agroup of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially. Janie speaks with a black-southern accent, using words such as ‘somebody’ll.’

Diction:

Style of speaking or writing as dependent upon choice of words. Using ecstatic instead of happy would be a more exciting diction.

Epiphany:
Asudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality oressential meaning of something, usually initiated by somesimple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience. I’ve had musical epiphanies on the dance floor.

Euphemism:

The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression forone thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt. “To pass away” is a euphemism for “to die.”

Foil:

A person or thing that contrasts with and so emphasizes and enhances the qualities of another. Ex The earthy taste of grilled vegetables is a perfect foil for the tart bite of creamy goat cheese

Hyperbole:

Obvious and intentional exaggeration. An extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken 

literally. As in “to wait an eternity.”

Imagery:

The formation of mental images,  figures, or likenesses ofthings, or of such images  collectively. The navy blue ocean rolled of the warm beige sand of Hawaii.

Irony:

The use of words to convey a meaning that is the oppositeof its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, “How nice!” when I said I had to work all weekend.

 (especially in contemporary writing) a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes,etc., especially as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme, or emotion. It is ironic that Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that their secret could make them go mad and later in the story they do go mad.

Juxtaposition:

An act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. Countee Cullen used Juxtaposition to compare African Americans to the eternally damned Sisyphus and Tantalus.

Metaphor:

A figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in A mighty fortress is our God.

Mood:

A state or quality of feeling at a particular time: What's the boss' mood today?

A distinctive emotional quality or character: The mood of the music was almost funereal. A prevailing emotional tone or general attitude: The country's mood.

A frame of mind disposed or receptive, as to some activity orthing: I'm not in the  mood to see a movie.

Motif:

A recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., especially in aliterary, artistic, or musical work. Blood is a motif in the novel Macbeth.

Motivation:

The act or an instance of motivating, or providing with a reason to act in a certain way: I don't understand what hermotivation was for quitting her job.

Oxymoron:

A figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect.  cruel kindness and to make haste slowly are both oxymorons.

Paradox:

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.  Act I, Scene I “when the battle's lost and won” (Line 4) from Macbeth is a paradox.

Parallel Structure:

The same grammatical structure of parts within a sentence or of sentences within a paragraph. I want to swim, I want to dance, contains parallel structure with “I want” being repeated.

Personification:

A form of metaphor in which language relating to human action, motivation, and emotion is used to refer to non-human agents or objects, or abstract concepts. The weather is smiling on us today and love is blind are examples of personification.

Point of View:

The vantage point from which a story is told. In the first person or narrative point of view, the story is told by one of the characters. In the third person or omniscient point of view, someone outside the story tells the story. Their Eyes Were Watching God has multiple points of view.

Onomatopoeia:

 The use of a word whose sound suggests its meaning (e.g. clang, buzz, twang).

Satire:

 A literary technique in which ideas, customs, behaviors, or institutions are ridiculed for the purpose of improving society. Satire may be gently witty, mildly abrasive, or bitterly critical, and it often uses exaggeration for effect. Saturday Night Live is a show of satires, or making fun of behaviors of people in society.

Plot:

The action or sequence of events in a story. Plot is usually a series of related incidents that builds and grows as the story develops. There are five basic elements in a plot line: (a) exposition; (b) rising action; (c) climax; (d) falling action; and (e) resolution or denouement. In short terms, the plot in Harry Potter is an orphaned boy who survived a curse who fights through obstacles to battle the wizard who tried to murder him as a child.

Simile:

 A comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparison using like or as (e.g. She stood in front of the alter, shaking like a freshly caught trout.-- Maya Angelou) 

Text structure:

The organizational pattern an author uses to structure the ideas in a text (e.g. cause/effect, compare/contrast, description, problem/solution, sequential, goal/action/outcome, concept/definition, proposition/support).

Symbol:  A person, place, or object that represents something beyond itself. Symbols can concisely communicate complicated, emotionally rich ideas. Ex. The heart is a symbol of love.

Syntax:  The way in which words are put together to form constructions, such as phrases or sentences. Ex. Sparse are the fields, as opposed to, the fields are sparse.

Theme:  A central idea or abstract concept that is made concrete through representation in person, action, and image. Theme is not simply a subject or an activity, vice for instance, but a proposition, such as “Vice seems more interesting than virtue but turns out to be destructive.” Sometimes the theme is directly stated in the work, and sometimes it is given indirectly. There may be more than one theme in a given work. The theme of the Lorax can be depicted in many different ways, including, the technology of the world today leads the world into a synthetic, isolated, and undesirable future.

Tone:  An expression of a writer’s attitude toward a subject. Unlike mood, which is intended to shape the reader’s emotional response, tone reflects the feelings of the writer. Tone can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, playful, ironic, bitter, or objective. Langston Hughes is angry in the poem “White Man.”

Universality Appealing to readers and audiences of any age or any culture.  Ex. The Christmas Scrooge is an old man, but the lesson, you don’t what you have until it’s gone, helps the Scrooge realize that he has life and needs to do more or he’ll die without love, which applies to everyone.