ENGLISH 200

"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

2007-05-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

Both the film and the novel begin with the following quote from Dr. Johnson: "He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." How do the main characters go about making beasts of themselves and does it really relieve their pain?

I thought the movie “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” was interesting to say the least. It was definitely a bit scary and probably gave a real perception of what it’s like to be tripped out on drugs! I’m really into health and working out so I thought these guys were gross because they had no care for their bodies or lives and just lived without a sense of reality. If I hadn’t been looking for symbolism or film devices like you mentioned before the movie, I probably wouldn’t have noticed them. I’m glad you brought it to our attention because it made me realize how important the camera angles and shots really were to each different scene.

The main characters in the film take immense amounts of drugs to escape the real world. While men are stereotypically supposed to responsible and reliable, these men are the opposite. Because they have a problem dealing with the obligations of being an adult, they take drugs and are reduced to a care-free state. They lose their ability to properly function and are almost not human-like, but more like wild animals. While these drugs relieve the stresses of every day life for a period of time, they eventually wear off and the men are forced to be in a normal-state once again. Drug use become an on-going cycle as the men take them immediately after they come down from one high, and are once again thrown into an escape world. This problem could not go on forever because it would eventually lead to serious damage or potentially death. In reality, taking these drugs is worsening their pain worse because it keeps them from being productive and ever facing the real world. These characters have the ability to care for nothing in the world which makes them almost unreal and more like beasts than like men.

The Importance of Being Earnest

2007-04-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

The characters in an Oscar Wilde play often sound alike--they sound like their author. Are the witticisms of Wilde's characters a distraction to the plot or do they actually help to build the individual characters?

Oscar Wilde did a great job with this play. It was fun to read because of the satire and really kept my attention. My only problem with the drama was that I had to read it over because I was easily confused (maybe I’m just stupid?). When Algernon and Jack both start playing Earnest it gets harder to understand. Despite that, it was one of my favorite reads of the semester. Oh and it’s a good think Jack found out Gwen was his cousin before he went to marry her!

The characters in The Importance of Being Earnest sound very similar. Because the play moves so fast, I don’t think it really has time to take away from the plot, but does make the characters seem unrealistic in a sense. Their conversations move so fast and everyone is constantly joking which doesn’t always occur in normal conversation. The witticisms do however, make the play quite funny. Wilde's characters are quite alike yet each character takes on a different personality. Just as we discussed in class, Algernon has more of a smart-ass humor while Jack’s style is more serious. I think the difference in style between the characters makes it humorous as they interact together, allowing the reader to notice the distinction. Algernon and Jack feed off of each other as Jack plays off of Algernon’s humor when they discuss the cigarette case. Jack’s wittiness makes him appear more mature while Algernon looks like a wise guy. The witticism’s in this play not only enhance the plot but build each individual character as well.

Taming of the Shrew

2007-04-08T19:21:00.001-07:00

This story was hard to read at first and was a little confusing but once I read it over I understood it pretty well. I enjoyed the text I just think Kate is stupid. When the story begins, she seems so mean and strong yet by the end she lets a man control her and treat her like crap! I don’t really feel bad for her because she could have gotten out of the situation or avoided it from the beginning. Petruchio’s act of “taming” Kate is also weird; he is one of those control freaks that takes advantage of weaker women. Who would ever settle for being starved??

From the beginning of The Taming of the Shrew, the romance between Petruchio and Kate is quite humorous. He agrees to marry Kate before ever even meeting her, knowing that she has a reputation of being mean and a shrew. Immediately her wittiness draws his attention as she verbally argues back to his smart remarks. He continually challenges Kate in hopes of squashing her pride. Although Kate protests, he picks and announces his choice of a wedding date then shows up late and is dressed like an idiot. Kate’s reputation is one of strong-will; however, she lets Petruchio control and over power her own thoughts and feelings. Petruchio attempts to tame Kate by starving her, ripping her dress, and not allowing her to have new clothes. He compares his act of dominance to that of a falcon, "My falcon now is sharp and passing empty. And till she stoop she must not be full-gorg'd, for then she never looks up her lure. Another way I have to man my haggard, To make her come, and know her keeper's call, That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites That bate and beat, and will not be obedient. She eats no meat to-day, nor none shall eat; Last night she slept not, nor to-night she shall not." His idea of taming Kate is more like owning her. Their relationship is humorous in the sense that Petruchio acts witty yet stupid, but it is a shame that Kate, a supposed “strong” woman, lets her husband walk all over her.

The Lottery

2007-03-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

I did not like this story! It definitely tricked me into thinking the lottery was a real money-type of lottery and not a symbol of death. I found the text easy to follow, just the ending weird. I have never heard of such a ritual and don't know why and culture would want to take part in such a tradition. It seemed like people wanted to speak up to stop the ritual but were unable to because of the time period. Men were obvious in control of the women and there wasn't much venturing outside of the norm. I felt bad that the children had to watch such a horrific act!

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a suspenseful short story with a rather weird and puzzling ending. Several literary devices are evident throughout the story, irony and foreshadowing being two of the most obvious. The text opens up in a small town with a population of barely 300. As an old ritual, there is a lottery every summer and each member of the community gathers in anticipation of who will draw the winning piece of paper. Tesse Hutchinson pulls the winning piece and while the reader expects her to be excited, she begins to yell, “It’s not fair!” The irony of the story is revealed when the lottery turns out not to be a token of money, but death through stoning to the “lucky” winner. While this ending may sound bizarre, there are several examples of foreshadowing that give clues to what is about to happen. Mr. Summers, the man in charge, owned a coal business- hence the reason for all of the stones. The box that held the lottery tickets (papers) was black, likely signifying death. People were late to the lottery and very quiet, likely because they were scared of the cruel ritual.Out of season, the black box was kept in Mr. Grave’s barn – grave being another reference to death. As Mr. Summers is about to draw the slip of paper, several people in the crowd speak of ending the lottery and mention other towns that have quit the tradition; this signifies that they probably don’t think the lottery is a good idea. At the end of the story, the stones are described as heavy and large. Mr. Hutchinson is given pebbles instead of the big rocks because he obviously would not want to be part of killing his wife. He therefore, is given pebbles which would do much less harm.

There are themes and lessons throughout the story that reveal what life may have been like during this time. Men were obviously dominant over women and women were obviously content in their role. Tesse was fine participating in the lottery until the bad luck was brought upon her, portraying that either she was scared to speak up or was simply, a hypocrite. Rituals and traditions were also extremely valued in this culture. A major lesson to be learned from this text is that there is a variation between cultures and their traditions. Freedom today is widely accepted and is much different than the strict, somewhat barbaric ways of the past.

Bernice Bobs Her Hair

2007-03-20T05:50:00.000-07:00

“Bernice Bobs Her Hair” was a little longer for a short story but I enjoyed it because I could relate to it. My first year at college, I lived with five girls who persuaded me one night to cut my own hair. I tried to angle my hair and also give myself bangs. Needless to say, it turned out horrible and I had to get my hair chopped off in order to make it look somewhat decent again. One of my roommates would constantly call me “Evan”, implying that I looked like a boy. It started to really get to me so in the middle of the night my best friend Laura cut the bottom of the mean roomates hair. In the morning we all agreed that enough was enough with the hair!
F. Scott Fitzgerald does an excellent job at representing the nature of identity in “Bernice Bobs her Hair”. Although there are certain values and beliefs that form ones identity, this story shows that we can alter our identities. At the beginning of the story, Bernice is boring, shy and unpopular. There are several examples in the text that refer to her as plain and easily overlookd, just as the ever popular Warren does below, “Much as Warren worshipped Marjorie, he had to admit that Cousin Bernice was sorta dopeless. She was pretty, with dark hair and high color, but she was no fun on a party. Every Saturday night he danced a long arduous duty dance with her to please Marjorie, but he had never been anything but bored in her company”.
Bernice is comfortable in this identity until she overhears her cousin and aunt talking about her. This becomes a major turning point in the story because Bernice goes through a formation. After confronting Majorie, her cousin agrees to help her and turns her into a more of a “girl”. Bernice’s makeover gives her more confidence and caused others to look at her differently as well. Warren’s outlook even changed; he described her as pretty and complimented her make-up as well as her attire. As the story progresses, it is assumed that Bernice almost steals some of Majorie’s light. Warren asks Bernice to a party, not Majorie, and Majorie almost seems offended. She brings up Bernice’s pick up line which refers to cutting her hair into a bob and in front of everyone, Bernice backs up her statement and agrees to go through with the haircut in order to save herself from a lie. Bernice’s image goes from pretty to ugly, the hair having an extreme effect on her confidence. It is assumed that she has lost her “new” identity and will never change from the dorky girl that she really is inside; however, Bernice does something completely out of character. In the middle of the night, she sneaks into her jealous cousin’s room and chops Majories hair off. She then takes the locks of hair, flees the house and throws the hair on Warren’s frontsteps. It is now that we realize who Bernice really is; she is no longer scared or shy nor is she vulnerable and willing to let others walk all over her. Therefore, it is plausible to say that identity can be changed despite some of the values we may always have inside.

A&P

2007-03-20T05:48:00.000-07:00

A&P by John Updike was fun to read because it is different than anything else we have looked at. I enjoy short stories much more than poetry which made this read an enjoyable one. A&P is written in first person narrative form with Sammy, the main character, working in some type of convenience or grocery store. He becomes preoccupied when three women walk in, provacitvely dressed in bathing suits, outfits inappropriate for his store. The setting then, is a warm summer day, and Sammy reveals his interest in the females within the first few lines: "She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs. I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not. I ring it up again and the customer starts giving me hell." There are examples found throughout the story that show of Sammy's obvious interest in the females; however, this is not the main point of the story.
Although Sammy realizes the girls are dressed in beachwear, he fails to see anything wrong with their apparel. There are always signs like "No shoes, no shirt, no service" on doors of stores, and the girls are obviously not abiding by these rules, "They didn't even have shoes on. There was this chunky one, with the two-piece -- it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale so I guessed she just got it ." Sammy realizes first what is important, the girl has no shoes on and is voilating a rule at his place of employment; however, instead of bringing this to her attention he is sidetracked by his sexual desire. This trend continues throughout the whole story and because Sammy fails to say anything to the girls about their outfits, his boss jumps in and says something himself. A lot is revealed about Sammy's character as he feels a need to defend the women and removes his apron, resigning from his job on the spot. Sammy hopes to impress or show some appreciation toward the women, but he turns around to find them gone, oblivious to what just occured.
After reading A&P, we can conclude that Sammy was a man who stood up for what he believed in. While others may not agree with his actions, he felt the need to take a stand toward the women and their wardrobe, despite the regulations of his occupation. He is let down when the women do not take note of his actions and we may say he goes through some transformation at this point in the story. The disappointment he faces may cause him to make a different choice next time.

Blog 2

2007-02-20T17:59:00.000-08:00

What does Yeats hope to accomplish with his portrayal of a rape from mythology? What themes does this poem reveal about the present through its portrayal of the past?

1) I liked this poem because it left room for interpretation. I believed that it had something to do with Greek history but I know little about that time period and assumed I was just unaware of an event it was pertaining to. What I found most puzzling about this poem was that it was a sonnet written about rape. The other sonnets we read in class were either about poetry or love and the theme of this poem was completely different. This work appealed to me because it is so bizarre! The reference of a swan and a rape makes for a weird combination and I read it several times before drawing any conclusions.
2) The first thing that stuck out about this poem was its sonnet form. We talked about the separation of the octave and the sestet which applies to “Leda and the Swan”. This poem was particularly hard for me to dissect and then comprehend. I think there are several ways it could be interpreted and I am going out on a limb with some of my conclusions. I believe Yeats intertwined several themes including the ideas of power and history. His word choice was specific in order to portray the power during rape so he chose “action” words like beating, mastered, sudden blow, shudder, etc. The theme of power is intensified when he makes the woman seem weak. He does this by choosing words that show no strength – vague, helpless, and terrified. Another important theme evident in the sonnet is the idea of history, the present and the past. He speaks of Agamemnon dying which I believe relates to Greek mythology and maybe the Trojan War, “The broken wall, the burning roof and tower, And Agamemnon dead”. I can’t specify exactly what Yeat’s hopes to accomplish through this work but I can infer that it has something to do with Greek mythology in the past. He might be relating rape to the birth or death of Greek civilization and be trying to tie it in with something modern. I believe he gives many sexual images of rape but never gives a direct meaning to his sonnet.

Blog One

2007-02-13T18:42:00.000-08:00

What does the last line of Hughes's "Dream Deferred" imply? What does Hughes see as the consequences of a dream deferred?

1) One of the main reasons poetry is so intriguing is that there is always room for interpretation. A prime example rests in Hughes’s “Dream Deferred” through the use of the word deferred. While I really enjoyed the poem, I found it hard to determine if he was referring to his dream as a liability or as something he kept putting off. I came to the conclusion that he meant both. I think Hughes was describing a dream that he felt obligated to, something he did truly care about but that he constantly threw on the back burner. I liked this use of the word defer because I could relate it to my athletic career. Field hockey has always been my passion but once I entered the collegiate level, my priorities changed. Although I loved the game, I constantly put other priorities in front of it and started not to focus on my dream. When I got to that exploding point, I chose not to stick to my dream and fulfill it, but to quit and take the easy way out.

2) Through Hughes’s last line of “Dream Deferred” I think he is implying that we get to a breaking point when it comes to dreaming. We can only put goals and dreams off for so long before we get to a point where we have to make a decision. For dreams to become reality, it often takes a lot of work, time and effort with no certainty that the dream will even come true. I think that the “explosion” Hughes refers to is like a wake up call. It is screaming, “You want this! You can do it; it’s not too late!”. The line before refers to a deferred dream as a heavy load and then asks if it instead, is an explosion. Therefore, I think he is stating that the explosion is a good thing, the opposite of a heavy load. Throughout the poem, the deferred dream is constantly referred to as either a good or bad thing: it drys up or it runs, it is like rotten meat or syrupy sweet.
The consequence of a dream differed is reaching that breaking point. A dream can be pushed to the side but eventually it’s going to die away or we’re going to work toward conquering it. The end of this poem is about making that choice, and I think Hughes is implying that although we may have put a dream off for some time, if we want it badly enough, that explosion will persuade us to achieve it.