english blog

Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas

2007-05-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

1. I think that it is very interesting that we watched a film in class and are analyzing the criteria of it. However, I did not really enjoy this film. I found the whole idea of it very disgusting, however I do see how it fits what exactly we are trying to accomplish by studying film.

2. Since reading the novel, The Great Gatsby, I have always thought of "The American Dream" as being the search for money and wealth. However, in the context of this movie, I feel as though it does have to deal with this, but deals more with the idea of inner fullfillment and the desire to feel great. This is why the characters are trying to get themselves high off of anything they can, but this only provides temporary fullfillment. This is exactly how the characters go about making beasts of themselves, because they take this idea of feeling high off of drugs to an extreme level. They become high to the point that they don't feel good anymore. At points they feel as though their life is ending and are very often sick from it as well. Duke's discussion of "the high-water mark" affects my interpretation of the film, because it makes us, the audience, see that he does realize what the drugs are doing to them and that they are not achieving their idea of the "American Dream" through them.

The Importance of Being Earnest

2007-04-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

1. I absolutely loved reading this play, much more than reading Shakespeare. I found it easier to understand and much more enjoyable. The plot of this play is very exciting and also very humorous. In a way it applies to me because when I was little I used to pretend I was someone else sometimes, like most little kids do. I would pretend by name was Michelle and I had a whole story and a whole different life behind it. My parents used to play along with this game with me and would call me by this name when i was pretending to be her. So, in a way, you could say that I once was a bunburyist.
2. In this play by Oscar Wilde it is extremely concerned with the issue of identity. This deals with the idea of the bunburyist and how Jack and Algernon were pretending to be "Earnest". The concern with this is which exactly is the identity that they relate the most to. When you are pretending to be two different peopel for so long, it comes to a point where you are a little of both. But which one is really you? How can you identify who you really are if you are constantly trying to be two different people? I feel as though these boys are trying so hard to pretend to be Earnes that they cannot actually identify with who they really are. Also, Cecily is so in love with the idea of Earnest that she frames an entire relationship around him. When Algernon comes to her, pretending to be Earnest, she is instantly in love with him because of her made up relationship. All of these duplicate identities are necessary to create this play. In the end, Jack learns that his real name is actually Earnest, the one he has been pretending to be all along, which i feel shows that both identities of a bunburyist contribute equally to who you become.

Shrew

2007-04-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

1. This play is very interesting so far, and also extremely humorous. It is very similar to the movie "10 Things I Hate About You", one of my favorites. As I have been reading, I constantly relate the characters to those in the movie, which helps a lot in remembering which character is which. The language is a big confusing and takes a while to understand, but overall I am really enjoying it so far.
2. My favorite conflict that has occurred so far is the trick being played on Sly by the Lord. Sly is a drunkard who the Lord finds asleep and decides to play a trick on him, convincing Sly that he himself is a Lord with a beautiful wife, and his lower class life is nothing but a crazy dream. The Lord orders his Page to dress up as Sly's wife and along with the other servants, the Lord acting as one of them, they succeed in convincing Sly that he among the highest rank in society. At one point, Sly asks the Page to get into bed with him because he is convinced that he is his wife. The Page makes up an excuse that it goes against the doctors orders and Sly continues to believe the nonsense that is being fed to him. Visitors appear for the Lord and he has them perform a comedy for Sly. Sly, feeling as though this is a normal thing reacts out of boredom, when in reality he would most likely enjoy this if he thought that he was still amongst society's lower class. The Lord finds so much humor in this devilish trick he has concocted and I am very intrigued to keep reading and find out what happens when Sly realizes the truth in this situation. That his so called "dream" is real and that his so called "wife" is actually a man.

The Lottery

2007-03-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

1. To me, this short story, "The Lottery", was not very enjoyable. I've also read it in high school and didn't enjoy in then either. I know it happened a long time ago and they thought by stoning someone to death it would bring a good harvest, but I feel like it is a very ridiculous thing to do. This was a very easy and quick read and did not resonate anything in my personal life.

2. In this short story there is some foreshadowing that gives us hints to what the ending will be. In the beginning when everyone is gathered in the square, it talks about the children and all the stones that they have selected. Some of them are described to have piles of stones ready and waiting. This clues us into the fact that the loser of the lottery will be stoned to death. Also, Tessie Hutchinson forgot that the lottery was that day and almost missed it. She came late, but if she had not come at all, they would have continued without her. Ironically, she was the one who was stoned to death. If only she did not come, someone else would have been sacrificed in her place. Also, Mrs. Hutchinson's remark when it was her husbands turn to pick his paper, "Get up there, Bill". She seemed very confident and the others laughed. This also foreshadowed that someone in her family, the someone being Tessie herself, would be the one to be stoned. She does not say anything after he gets the paper, but as soon as she realizes her husband has the one with the black dot, she claims that he did not receive a fair chance and was not given enough time to choose the right paper. Before this she was very confident. This was not really foreshadowing but just goes to show her change in mindset as soon as she realizes it might be her to be stoned. The ending is not a surprise in this story because of the clues that Shirley Jackson gives us throughout it, mainly in the beginning.

Bernice Bobs Her Hair

2007-03-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

1. I found this short story to be interesting and quite humorous. In a way, Bernice reminded me of myself as a child, and my friend Beth as Marjorie. She used to tell me what to wear and how to do my hair, seeing as though i had absolutely no sense of style when i was young and she had an older sister to give her advice. However, her requests on my appearance weren't out of selfishness like Marjorie's. My favorite part was the ending when Bernice got revenge for everything that Marjorie did to her.

2. In this short story, Fitzgerald represents the nature of identity as physical qualities and popularity. You must be popular with the guys, every guy, not just the popular ones. You also need to be confident and in order to achieve confidence within yourself, you need to look perfect so that you aren't self conscious about your appearance. I agree with this statement, but don't agree that these two things help you identify yourself as a person because if you do this, you are conforming to the popular wishes of society, not of yourself. I also feel as though identity is something that can be changed, but not by physical qualities. They have effect on it but I don't think that they themselves cause your identity to change. Significant things that happen in your life and simply just growing and becoming older influence a change in your identity. Bernice physically changes throughout the story, however, her identity itself does not change. We see this because she doesn't bob her hair because she wants to, only because Marjorie wants her too. She is still dull but only attracts boys because she is simply using pre-rehearsed lines. When she realizes that all of Marjorie's help has been out of selfishness, she leaves immediately, knowing that she has no place there and does not feel herself there. She seeks revenge, fulfilling a desire within herself, and chops her cousins hair.

A & P

2007-03-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

1. Overall, I found this story and interesting and easy-read and could definitely see it actually happening. It did resonate something in my personal life because at a previous job I had, a very similar scene happened on a much more extreme level. One of my old managers often said things that were usually very out of line. My friend Sean was working behind the concession counter and a very cute girl approached and our manager mentioned something to her about her appearance. My friend Sean thought it was very out of line and quit right there on the spot. However, I don't know whether he did this because he felt some kind of a connection or attraction to the girl or just because he was sick of our managers tendencies, but as I was reading this story, I was reminded of this incidence.

2. This reading was a story about a young male, Sammy, who worked at a grocery store called the A & P. In the beginning of the story, when the three girls walked in, scantily dressed in their bathing suits, Sammy was extremely critical towards the girls. Not one of the remarks he made towards the girls was positive, until he saw the leader of the "sheep". At this point, Sammy makes a complete transformation. He thought this girl was breathtaking and did not have a single bad thought about her. He kept fantasizing about her which made him feel as though she was rare and perfect. In his mind, he refers to her as "Queenie". When his boss confronts her and her friends about how they are dressed and tells them that it is inappropriate, Sammy takes such offense to this because he has overly justified it in his mind. He thinks that his manager is completely out of line and quits right there on the spot. He has become so incredibly wrapped up in this girl and the image he has created of her in his mind that reality is not an issue to him any more. As soon as he realizes that the girl is gone, it hits him and his "stomach sinks" because he knows that he let his daydreaming of this beautiful girl influence this decision, and now she is gone and he is without a job. Because of all of this, the narrator reveals that not only does he not really enjoy his job and is bored doing it which causes him to day dream, he is easily influenced by outer appearances and also makes extremely rash decisions.

"The Flea" & "Woman's Constancy"- John Donne

2007-02-20T21:35:00.000-08:00

1. I enjoyed these two poems by John Donne because their ironic nature made them quite humorous. In "Woman's Constancy" he describes how falsehood often exists in marriage vows that were made in fear of both god and the other partner and in "The Flea" he describes an ironic situation where no matter how hard this woman tried to escape the speaker pursuing her, fate had a hand in keeping them together. I agreed with both of his descriptions even though neither of them resonate anything in my personal life. I aslo felt that "The Flea" was much easier to comprehend than "Woman's Constancy".

2. Both of these poems written by John Donne are based on irony. In "Woman's Constancy" it discusses how even though you can love someone one day, that can all change. When making marriage vows, they are sometimes made in fear of God and fear of your partner. When you do this, you are perjuring yourself and now you are bound for life. In this poem, the speaker is completly in love but realizes that the love that his partner has for him may be based upon lies and falsehood and he feels betrayed by this. The irony is apparent in the last line when he states that it is a possibility that his love is also based upon falsehood and may change tomorrow. The title is also very ironic because it is referring to constancy when in fact love is clearly not always constant. In Donne's poem, "The Flea", the speaker is pursuing a woman who doesn't want him. Along comes a flea and all of the irony begins. The flea bites both the speaker and the woman and now has the blood of both of them inside of it. Now, ironically, the two of them are together, inside of the flea, which eternally bonds them. The woman also wants to kill the flea, but if she were to do this, she would not only be killing the insect, but she would be also killing a part of her unwanted lover and most ironically, herself.

"Dream Deferred"

2007-02-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

1. Langston Hughes' poem, "Dream Deferred", was simple and concise which made it very easy to comprehend, however, behind all of its simplicity is a whole lot of meaning. I strongly agree with this poem and even though it does not apply to me personally, I have seen the effect that Hughes describes of a "dream deferred" take place in people whom I know and love. It's always sad when you see someone who is living a life with a dream deferred because it not only affects their life but their children's lives as well. This poem is also very inspirational in the sense that it makes you want to conquer your dreams so that these possibilities that Hughes describes don't happen to you.

2. In this poem, Hughes implies many possible consequences of a dream deferred by using similes. In lines 2 and 3, he describes a dream deferred as drying up, being forgotten about, and fading away. Next, he alludes to a dream deferred as "festering like a sore", meaning that it's hanging over your head and burning at you every day, making you feel inadequate that you did not fulfill your dream. In line 6, a simile of rotten meat is used, giving a disgusting quality to a dream deferred, again making you inadequate. However, Hughes gives us another consequence which is the possibility of our dream crusting and sugaring over. By this, he is telling us that sometimes an unfulfilled dream can be bitter sweet and that even though we are unhappy we have given up our dream, good things can come out of it that would not have the possibility of occurring if we had continued to pursue our dream. He also says that it could be like a "heavy load", or baggage that we drearily carry every day. Finally, this brings us to the last line of Hughes poem, "or does it explode?". This occurs when someone lets a dream deferred take over their life or the life of someone else. This can be seen when an adult feels inadequate for not fulfilling their dream and lives vicariously through a child by pushing them to complete their dream for them even though this is not the child's dream at all.