This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The B-log
The following words are my direct observations and thoughts from class on Weds as dictated to me, by myself. We presented our final papers and I must say everyone did very well. Also thanks to Luke (or props, or big ups) who after class was kind enough to squire me about campus and help me make the appropriate appointment with advising staff and decipher my transcripts to figure my standing and what I have to look forward to. With this rosetta stone of paper work we figured I have much more English classes to take. This does not bother me because by the end of it, I shall learn to speak good. So again thanks Luke.
Tomorrow is the final and the end of class. I am wondering how I will do, I am also fighting the temptation to trade the keyboard for a fishing rod and head to the river. The fish can wait, for now I shall study. As I listened to the final papers be presented I realized that many of the points Dr. Sexson has been driving home have been absorbed. At the beginning of class we were all strangers, now we are comrades (not in the sense that Orwell would use it.) who have picked up many new ideas or perhaps improved existing old ones. We all stood up in the front of the class getting holes drilled into us by an audience of our peers, and shared our ideas about Mister Pip as boldly as we could. We have come to understand literature a little better and in some sense ourselves. I will say the blog was an excellent idea for the class, while I am loath to endorse a purely online class, I must say a hybrid is a cool idea. The blog serves to share ideas, notes, and stories while class time still preserves the traditional element, this distinct element provides a large part of the educational value. Besides you can't put pictures of wolves masticating carcasses and things on the black board... but in a blog, why not? The internet is a boundless land of mystery and wonder it's like a gold rush era yukon territory of information just waiting to be exploited. With that said good study hard on the final comrades.
Tomorrow is the final and the end of class. I am wondering how I will do, I am also fighting the temptation to trade the keyboard for a fishing rod and head to the river. The fish can wait, for now I shall study. As I listened to the final papers be presented I realized that many of the points Dr. Sexson has been driving home have been absorbed. At the beginning of class we were all strangers, now we are comrades (not in the sense that Orwell would use it.) who have picked up many new ideas or perhaps improved existing old ones. We all stood up in the front of the class getting holes drilled into us by an audience of our peers, and shared our ideas about Mister Pip as boldly as we could. We have come to understand literature a little better and in some sense ourselves. I will say the blog was an excellent idea for the class, while I am loath to endorse a purely online class, I must say a hybrid is a cool idea. The blog serves to share ideas, notes, and stories while class time still preserves the traditional element, this distinct element provides a large part of the educational value. Besides you can't put pictures of wolves masticating carcasses and things on the black board... but in a blog, why not? The internet is a boundless land of mystery and wonder it's like a gold rush era yukon territory of information just waiting to be exploited. With that said good study hard on the final comrades.
Paper
Stephen Atencio
Engl 123-Dr. Sexson
August 3rd, 2008
The Great Expectations of Matilda
Ernest Hemingway was once quoted as saying; “All good books have one thing in common - they are truer than if they had really happened.” This quote is exemplified by Lloyd Jones’s novel Mr. Pip, as well as in the lessons taught in Dr. Sexson’s English 123 class. In Mr. Pip the reader is delivered to the tropical setting of the island of Bougainville, a link in the chain of Islands known as the Solomon’s and more specifically into the life of a young girl named Matilda. A dispute between guerrilla natives, and a New Guinea mining firm have left the children and other villagers feeling the impact of trade embargos, and civil unrest. It is not until a mysterious and odd white man by the name of Mr. Watts volunteers to educate the children that they are offered some relief. He chooses to read to them from Charles Dickens’s, Great Expectations. As more is learned about Mr. Watts and the children it becomes apparent that this story is much more than a work of fiction to this motley bunch, but an escape from the horrors of their reality, a means of salvation, and a friend in a lonely world.
As anyone who has ever read knows, a book can be a wonderful escape from their troubles. A good story can help one escape an array of ailments, whether it simply is the mundanity of everyday life or the horrors of an island sealed off from the outside world. “Mr. Watts had given us kids another piece of the world. I found I could go back to it as often as I liked. What’s more I could pick up at any moment in the story. Not that I thought of what we were hearing as a story. No. I was hearing someone give an account of themselves and all that had happened (Jones 24). The above passage illustrates just how real this story has become for Matilda. In the midst of so much unrest and hardship she need do nothing more than tune into this story and tune out from the rest of the world. This story became so real to her that she did not even think of it as that, a story. She later goes to mention that like Pip, she never knew her father, in expressing that thought she has shared with the reader, some insight to the intimate bond she feels with Pip. This introduction to Matilda and Pip’s bond shows the reader just how close the two will be. Although it is not clear exactly how or why, it is obvious that Matilda is approaching the start of her own “Great Expectations”. This bond also serves to illustrate how powerful literature really is, A 13 year old girl living in a 1990’s oppressed tropical island setting is bonding with, and lets her life be influenced by a made up character from a novel written and set in an 1800’s Great Britain.
With Matilda’s exposure to this strange and foreign novel so comes exposure to ideals very different to those of the islanders, and specifically Matilda’s Mother. In keeping with the long standing human tradition of xenophobia Matilda’s Mother meets these strange ideas with scorn and disdain. When the parents are invited to share lessons with the class, some provide the students with very useful ideas, pertinent to island life and others share colorful stories. Matilda’s Mother however makes her anti-Watts agenda apparent and tries to insert some of her religious ideals into her lessons. It is made obvious that Matilda’s mother does not understand the profound impact that literature can have on a person’s life, yet almost paradoxically she clings to her Pigin Bible as the literal word of God. “Stories have a job to do. They can’t just lie around like lazybone dogs. They have to teach you something” (Jones 86). This passage illustrates Matilda’s Mother’s disproval of the story, but also the cultural idea that stories must be of a utilitarian nature or teach some sort of moral lesson. The story of Great Expectations holds truth even for Matilda’s mother, though she is too steadfast in her denial of new ideas to realize it. Matilda’s Mother remains embittered by the departure of her husband to work in the “white mans world”; this theme of the jilted lover may remind some of a certain Miss Havisham. One could also see Matilda’s Mother as an Estella like character, at one point in Mister Pip Matilda even follows her mother around listening to her insults to be reminded of things Estella said to Pip. Like Pip and Estella, Matilda must be separated from her mother before she can come into her “great expectations”.
“So I called myself Pip, and Came to be called Pip.” (Dickens 1) Matilda is not the only character of the story that is closely related to young Pip, but also Mr. Watts, at one point in the story Mr. Watts is confused with Pip and shot and fed to hungry pigs. “We called him Popeye” (Jones 1) both Great Expectations and Mister Pip open with similar lines and it would seem that the author did that in an attempt to illustrate the connection between the two characters. Like Matilda, Mr. Watts’s connection to this story holds more truth than people like Matilda’s Mother can possibly understand. “Those boys sitting around the fire were catching up on what us kids already heard in class. The stalemate between Mr. Watts and my mum. The preparedness of Mr. Watts to believe in one made up character (Pip) and not another (The devil). The conviction of my mum that the devil was more real than Pip. To Matilda and Mr. Watts Dickens’s words were more believable than the word of god, it was the gospel according to Dickens. This strengthens the theme of this novel and this class that literature is truth, and that the story is a supremely useful tool. Ones religion could rightfully be said to be literature, if they loved it enough, and had enough regard for the truth contained therein.
The theme of religious truth does not escape young Matilda in a final act of desperation she contemplates allowing the river to sweep her away, and in her moment of thought it does just that. As she is being washed violently about by the deluge her survival mode kicks in and she decides to live. “What would you call a savior? The only savior I knew went by the name of Mr. Jaggers. And so it was natural for me to name my savior, this log, after the man who had saved Pip’s life. Better to cling to the worldliness of Mr. Jaggers than the slimy skin of a water soaked log. I couldn’t talk to a log. But I could talk to Mr. Jaggers.”(Jones 216). Some people in a time of near death may pray to God, Jesus, or some other widely recognized deity, but not Matilda her savior is the same as Pip’s savior, it is Mr. Jaggers. Matilda has placed characters from this story on a level playing field with the gods (who after all are just characters from a different story).
As the novel draws to a close and Mr. Watts and her mother are both dead and gone Matilda is traveling to her “great expectations” via aircraft. This part is reminiscent of Pip’s journey to London. Her life is still shaped by the story of Pip even after she escapes the island. She states that the escape the story granted her and the friend that Pip provided was magic. Every one who reads has a story so very dear to them that it can reduce them to tears or give them the chills, and Matilda is no exception. She even pursues English academically writing her thesis about how Dickens and Watts changed improved her quality of life. She states also that she does not want to think about what happened to her, but she would feel remiss in forgetting it. She is again using literature to purge herself of these horrid memories, and yet preserve them at the same time by creating her own story.
The story of Matilda in Mister Pip contains many examples some mentioned, others not of just how important the story is to humans. We have recorded our myths, our victories, and our losses, and by reading other people’s stories we can relate and find our truth. We are Matilda just as she is Pip. If Mr. Dickens had not touched Matilda’s life through Mr. Watts it is hard to say what would have happened but one thing is certain, Pip provided Matilda with a dear friend at a time in her life when she desperately needed it. Matilda has been made as real to us, as Pip was to her. We seek truth, and we find it in fiction.
I pasted it over and the format was obviously loss. Read at your own risk my friends.
Engl 123-Dr. Sexson
August 3rd, 2008
The Great Expectations of Matilda
Ernest Hemingway was once quoted as saying; “All good books have one thing in common - they are truer than if they had really happened.” This quote is exemplified by Lloyd Jones’s novel Mr. Pip, as well as in the lessons taught in Dr. Sexson’s English 123 class. In Mr. Pip the reader is delivered to the tropical setting of the island of Bougainville, a link in the chain of Islands known as the Solomon’s and more specifically into the life of a young girl named Matilda. A dispute between guerrilla natives, and a New Guinea mining firm have left the children and other villagers feeling the impact of trade embargos, and civil unrest. It is not until a mysterious and odd white man by the name of Mr. Watts volunteers to educate the children that they are offered some relief. He chooses to read to them from Charles Dickens’s, Great Expectations. As more is learned about Mr. Watts and the children it becomes apparent that this story is much more than a work of fiction to this motley bunch, but an escape from the horrors of their reality, a means of salvation, and a friend in a lonely world.
As anyone who has ever read knows, a book can be a wonderful escape from their troubles. A good story can help one escape an array of ailments, whether it simply is the mundanity of everyday life or the horrors of an island sealed off from the outside world. “Mr. Watts had given us kids another piece of the world. I found I could go back to it as often as I liked. What’s more I could pick up at any moment in the story. Not that I thought of what we were hearing as a story. No. I was hearing someone give an account of themselves and all that had happened (Jones 24). The above passage illustrates just how real this story has become for Matilda. In the midst of so much unrest and hardship she need do nothing more than tune into this story and tune out from the rest of the world. This story became so real to her that she did not even think of it as that, a story. She later goes to mention that like Pip, she never knew her father, in expressing that thought she has shared with the reader, some insight to the intimate bond she feels with Pip. This introduction to Matilda and Pip’s bond shows the reader just how close the two will be. Although it is not clear exactly how or why, it is obvious that Matilda is approaching the start of her own “Great Expectations”. This bond also serves to illustrate how powerful literature really is, A 13 year old girl living in a 1990’s oppressed tropical island setting is bonding with, and lets her life be influenced by a made up character from a novel written and set in an 1800’s Great Britain.
With Matilda’s exposure to this strange and foreign novel so comes exposure to ideals very different to those of the islanders, and specifically Matilda’s Mother. In keeping with the long standing human tradition of xenophobia Matilda’s Mother meets these strange ideas with scorn and disdain. When the parents are invited to share lessons with the class, some provide the students with very useful ideas, pertinent to island life and others share colorful stories. Matilda’s Mother however makes her anti-Watts agenda apparent and tries to insert some of her religious ideals into her lessons. It is made obvious that Matilda’s mother does not understand the profound impact that literature can have on a person’s life, yet almost paradoxically she clings to her Pigin Bible as the literal word of God. “Stories have a job to do. They can’t just lie around like lazybone dogs. They have to teach you something” (Jones 86). This passage illustrates Matilda’s Mother’s disproval of the story, but also the cultural idea that stories must be of a utilitarian nature or teach some sort of moral lesson. The story of Great Expectations holds truth even for Matilda’s mother, though she is too steadfast in her denial of new ideas to realize it. Matilda’s Mother remains embittered by the departure of her husband to work in the “white mans world”; this theme of the jilted lover may remind some of a certain Miss Havisham. One could also see Matilda’s Mother as an Estella like character, at one point in Mister Pip Matilda even follows her mother around listening to her insults to be reminded of things Estella said to Pip. Like Pip and Estella, Matilda must be separated from her mother before she can come into her “great expectations”.
“So I called myself Pip, and Came to be called Pip.” (Dickens 1) Matilda is not the only character of the story that is closely related to young Pip, but also Mr. Watts, at one point in the story Mr. Watts is confused with Pip and shot and fed to hungry pigs. “We called him Popeye” (Jones 1) both Great Expectations and Mister Pip open with similar lines and it would seem that the author did that in an attempt to illustrate the connection between the two characters. Like Matilda, Mr. Watts’s connection to this story holds more truth than people like Matilda’s Mother can possibly understand. “Those boys sitting around the fire were catching up on what us kids already heard in class. The stalemate between Mr. Watts and my mum. The preparedness of Mr. Watts to believe in one made up character (Pip) and not another (The devil). The conviction of my mum that the devil was more real than Pip. To Matilda and Mr. Watts Dickens’s words were more believable than the word of god, it was the gospel according to Dickens. This strengthens the theme of this novel and this class that literature is truth, and that the story is a supremely useful tool. Ones religion could rightfully be said to be literature, if they loved it enough, and had enough regard for the truth contained therein.
The theme of religious truth does not escape young Matilda in a final act of desperation she contemplates allowing the river to sweep her away, and in her moment of thought it does just that. As she is being washed violently about by the deluge her survival mode kicks in and she decides to live. “What would you call a savior? The only savior I knew went by the name of Mr. Jaggers. And so it was natural for me to name my savior, this log, after the man who had saved Pip’s life. Better to cling to the worldliness of Mr. Jaggers than the slimy skin of a water soaked log. I couldn’t talk to a log. But I could talk to Mr. Jaggers.”(Jones 216). Some people in a time of near death may pray to God, Jesus, or some other widely recognized deity, but not Matilda her savior is the same as Pip’s savior, it is Mr. Jaggers. Matilda has placed characters from this story on a level playing field with the gods (who after all are just characters from a different story).
As the novel draws to a close and Mr. Watts and her mother are both dead and gone Matilda is traveling to her “great expectations” via aircraft. This part is reminiscent of Pip’s journey to London. Her life is still shaped by the story of Pip even after she escapes the island. She states that the escape the story granted her and the friend that Pip provided was magic. Every one who reads has a story so very dear to them that it can reduce them to tears or give them the chills, and Matilda is no exception. She even pursues English academically writing her thesis about how Dickens and Watts changed improved her quality of life. She states also that she does not want to think about what happened to her, but she would feel remiss in forgetting it. She is again using literature to purge herself of these horrid memories, and yet preserve them at the same time by creating her own story.
The story of Matilda in Mister Pip contains many examples some mentioned, others not of just how important the story is to humans. We have recorded our myths, our victories, and our losses, and by reading other people’s stories we can relate and find our truth. We are Matilda just as she is Pip. If Mr. Dickens had not touched Matilda’s life through Mr. Watts it is hard to say what would have happened but one thing is certain, Pip provided Matilda with a dear friend at a time in her life when she desperately needed it. Matilda has been made as real to us, as Pip was to her. We seek truth, and we find it in fiction.
I pasted it over and the format was obviously loss. Read at your own risk my friends.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Monday the fourth
As some of you may have noticed I was not present in class on monday, or yesterday which ever way you prefer to think of it. I had full intentions of coming to class but when 6:00 am rolled around something strange happened. I awoke with a deep churning in my stomache, still in the haze of sleep I stumbled to the bathroom, and violently ejected the contents of my stomache via my nose and mouth. I would later repeat this enough times to reduce me to a trembling heap on the floor. I felt like I was going to die, and at times wish I would have. I attribute this sudden onset illness to food posioning, thats right food posioning. I am sure you are saying yourself, "why thats the second case of it in our short time in this class". Well I completely agree, it leads me to one of two conclusions either it was a coincidence or the restaraunteurs of Bozman Montana need to change the way they prepare and handle food. It felt like half hangover half flu, but was all bad. Even today, though my stomach has stabilized I am sweating cold sweats and have an awesome headache. Anyways I am sorry to have have missed class on monday, but I will be ready to present my essay tomorrow, assuming I don't eat anything questionable by then.
Since I cannot talk about the material covered in class I will chronicle for you the events leading up to monday morning.
It was a sunday like any other, so it seemed. It was evening time and was begining to become quite hungry, so I called my friend Hannah (the defiller of my Stevens book) and suggested we get chinese food. After much deliberation we decided to go to Mongolian bbq, a place that until yesterday was considered by myself to be delicious. When we got there I decided to attempt a feat I had only dreamed about, a large bowl all meat and no noodles. Throwing caution into the wind I filled my bowl with squid, pork, chicken, and beef. In order to not appear too disgusting in the presence of my female friend I decided to throw in some vegetables. By vegetables I mean mostly jalapeno peppers and lots of 'em. The food was cooked and brought it to the table and I began to eat it. It was so delicious all that meat and peppers, it would have made Dr. Atkin's cry out of sheer joy. We left the restaraunt and life was good...... until the next morning. While I don't know which specific ingredient caused this ailment I have few theories. First the squid, it did not occur to me until now that Montana is not very close to the ocean, allowing one to deduce that the squid was not fresh. Theory two- perhaps what I suffered from was simply an accute overdose of meat and that the noodles serve to dilute this deadly ingredient making it safer to consume. My third and final theory is this, I smushed the meat into my bowl using my bare hands, I then ate vegetables out of my bowl with those same hands prior to them being cooked. Though I have flirted with raw meat before it is safe to say that since this tragedy has befallen me I am inspired to cook all meat before I consume it.
Since I cannot talk about the material covered in class I will chronicle for you the events leading up to monday morning.
It was a sunday like any other, so it seemed. It was evening time and was begining to become quite hungry, so I called my friend Hannah (the defiller of my Stevens book) and suggested we get chinese food. After much deliberation we decided to go to Mongolian bbq, a place that until yesterday was considered by myself to be delicious. When we got there I decided to attempt a feat I had only dreamed about, a large bowl all meat and no noodles. Throwing caution into the wind I filled my bowl with squid, pork, chicken, and beef. In order to not appear too disgusting in the presence of my female friend I decided to throw in some vegetables. By vegetables I mean mostly jalapeno peppers and lots of 'em. The food was cooked and brought it to the table and I began to eat it. It was so delicious all that meat and peppers, it would have made Dr. Atkin's cry out of sheer joy. We left the restaraunt and life was good...... until the next morning. While I don't know which specific ingredient caused this ailment I have few theories. First the squid, it did not occur to me until now that Montana is not very close to the ocean, allowing one to deduce that the squid was not fresh. Theory two- perhaps what I suffered from was simply an accute overdose of meat and that the noodles serve to dilute this deadly ingredient making it safer to consume. My third and final theory is this, I smushed the meat into my bowl using my bare hands, I then ate vegetables out of my bowl with those same hands prior to them being cooked. Though I have flirted with raw meat before it is safe to say that since this tragedy has befallen me I am inspired to cook all meat before I consume it.
Friday's entry- More on Tragedy
Exemplary- serving as a pattern b: deserving imitation
Tragic events in life build character. One must develop a tragic sense of life to appreciate it.
"We cannot have truth without suffering"-That quote reminds me of the myth of Odin, the Norse All-Father who had to sacrifice his eye to drink from the well of knowledge, and also was hung from Yggdrasil (the tree of life) for nine days to learn runes and spells.
It is through our own tragedies that we learn the most about ourselves. If you want your muscles to become stronger, you must break them down so they can rebuild and our personalities are no exception. We must all learn to develop the tragic sense, or the "mind of winter".
Catharsis-the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, esp. through certain kinds of art, as tragedy or music.
The cathartic effect of the tragedy is another reason why they are so important. The tragedy can leave you feeling better than before you were exposed to it. Rather than make you sad it can "purge" you of certain negative feelings or ideas and leaving you feeling refreshed.
Sarvam dukkan, sarvan anityam-Life is pain, life is fleeting.
Sophisticated minds will connect the comedy and the tragedy.
Theodicy-a vindication of the divine attributes, particularly holiness and justice, in establishing or allowing the existence of physical and moral evil. Or the justice of god.
Tragic events in life build character. One must develop a tragic sense of life to appreciate it.
"We cannot have truth without suffering"-That quote reminds me of the myth of Odin, the Norse All-Father who had to sacrifice his eye to drink from the well of knowledge, and also was hung from Yggdrasil (the tree of life) for nine days to learn runes and spells.
It is through our own tragedies that we learn the most about ourselves. If you want your muscles to become stronger, you must break them down so they can rebuild and our personalities are no exception. We must all learn to develop the tragic sense, or the "mind of winter".
Catharsis-the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, esp. through certain kinds of art, as tragedy or music.
The cathartic effect of the tragedy is another reason why they are so important. The tragedy can leave you feeling better than before you were exposed to it. Rather than make you sad it can "purge" you of certain negative feelings or ideas and leaving you feeling refreshed.
Sarvam dukkan, sarvan anityam-Life is pain, life is fleeting.
Sophisticated minds will connect the comedy and the tragedy.
Theodicy-a vindication of the divine attributes, particularly holiness and justice, in establishing or allowing the existence of physical and moral evil. Or the justice of god.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Woden's day the 30th.
So I get on this keyboard and I start typing, a few minutes later I look back and read what I have written. I see my spelling errors, my choppy fragmented sentences and my repetitive diary like speak. This you are reading is my third try at today's entry hopefully this one works. I feel compelled to say something but I don't really know what it is. I tried to go home today after class but I couldn't so I went to the book store. There I ran into Luke and his brother and we discussed books, and I purchased my very own copy of 1984 (underline eludes me today even though I had it yesterday). Instead of going home to read or continue my typical after class rituals I found myself meandering around campus deep in thought, I even tried to walk home. A not so long story short I ended up in the library on this blog, this celebrated tool of the modern age and began typing. Well since this blog is for our Engl 123 I will share some reflections on our class so far as its conclusion draws nigh. I enrolled in this class to help warm up for the fall semester, but it has primed me far more than I thought. I love English, I love books, and even for the first time in my life academics. This class, and more specifically Dr. Sexson has helped me connect those things and make them work for me. We discussed how subjects like English or philosophy will bake no bread, but I have realized that without English I would probably be in a straight jacket being spoon fed pudding by the nice man in white, that's to say it helps keep the reigns on the wild horses in my mind. I prefer the taste of pudding to bread but again I am not speaking in a literal sense, besides bread is very necessary because if you wanted to make a roast beef sandwich you could not do that with pudding. Anyways this class has opened my eyes and is helping to abate the fears that we discovered are present in my subconscious when I dreamt of third grade. So with that said I plan to see this thing out even if it takes me another four years. So in advance I thank you Dr. Sexson for re-awakening my inner English aficionado.
On to other things I realized today after seeing Jack and Gwen and "flirt" that Oedipus and Ernie share the incest theme. I don't know if maybe we already talked about this but I am just going to type on. Jack is really Algy's brother, and Gwen is Algernons cousin, ipso facto her and Jack are related and he totally wanted to marry his cousin, and even almost kissed her in the movie. While his transgression was not near as drastic or as "gnarly" for lack of a better word it still was a bit incestous. Although I am told in some parts of the rural southern states this is not that big a deal.
http://blue.utb.edu/mimosa/Handouts/T&C.htm -Rather than reword my notes on here I will just suggest you click that link it sums up what we learned the difference between comedy and tragedy are, with some additions.
I will say though the theme of the comedy containing a love story or ending in marriage is rampant. I started listing comedies with love or marriage themes in my head and found it was almost all, if not all of them. Wedding crashers, Dodge Ball, Hotrod, Freddy got fingered, Old School, Animal house, Wayne's World, Anchorman, Saving Silerman, etc etc. Since I am on the subject of movies, has anyone seen the Talented Mr. Ripley with Matt Damon? That movie is creepy.
"When we are born we cry that we have come to this great stage of fools."-Shakespeare.
We remember everything. The shudder at birth is relived when we get frightened and things. Life I guess is kind of traumatic. We are created (sometimes selfishly) by our parents, forced from the womb kicking and screaming only to be slapped on the ass and learn that we have to become slaves of a society we knew nothing about oh yeah and then you die. Life, when you look at it that way is really a strange dynamic, and really does prove that all we have is the weather because the rest is just odd and fleeting and finite. Listen to your subconscious, because down there you remember everything even third grade and the paradise lost of the womb.
Trauma-An emotional wound or shock that creates substantial, lasting damage to the psychological development of a person, often leading to neurosis.
Recognition-An awareness that something perceived has been perceived before.
Anagnorisis-The greek word for recognition, also the unfolding or denouement
denouement-The events following the climax of a drama or novel in which such a resolution or clarification takes place.
All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened. -Ernest Hemingway.
On to other things I realized today after seeing Jack and Gwen and "flirt" that Oedipus and Ernie share the incest theme. I don't know if maybe we already talked about this but I am just going to type on. Jack is really Algy's brother, and Gwen is Algernons cousin, ipso facto her and Jack are related and he totally wanted to marry his cousin, and even almost kissed her in the movie. While his transgression was not near as drastic or as "gnarly" for lack of a better word it still was a bit incestous. Although I am told in some parts of the rural southern states this is not that big a deal.
http://blue.utb.edu/mimosa/Handouts/T&C.htm -Rather than reword my notes on here I will just suggest you click that link it sums up what we learned the difference between comedy and tragedy are, with some additions.
I will say though the theme of the comedy containing a love story or ending in marriage is rampant. I started listing comedies with love or marriage themes in my head and found it was almost all, if not all of them. Wedding crashers, Dodge Ball, Hotrod, Freddy got fingered, Old School, Animal house, Wayne's World, Anchorman, Saving Silerman, etc etc. Since I am on the subject of movies, has anyone seen the Talented Mr. Ripley with Matt Damon? That movie is creepy.
"When we are born we cry that we have come to this great stage of fools."-Shakespeare.
We remember everything. The shudder at birth is relived when we get frightened and things. Life I guess is kind of traumatic. We are created (sometimes selfishly) by our parents, forced from the womb kicking and screaming only to be slapped on the ass and learn that we have to become slaves of a society we knew nothing about oh yeah and then you die. Life, when you look at it that way is really a strange dynamic, and really does prove that all we have is the weather because the rest is just odd and fleeting and finite. Listen to your subconscious, because down there you remember everything even third grade and the paradise lost of the womb.
Trauma-An emotional wound or shock that creates substantial, lasting damage to the psychological development of a person, often leading to neurosis.
Recognition-An awareness that something perceived has been perceived before.
Anagnorisis-The greek word for recognition, also the unfolding or denouement
denouement-The events following the climax of a drama or novel in which such a resolution or clarification takes place.
All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened. -Ernest Hemingway.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Ok and finally my outline of sorts for Mr Pip.
I apologize for not submitting my Pip idea yesterday but I hand wrote it and I would rather you have something semi legible. I will say though after hearing everyones wonderful ideas I am constantly unsure of which route to pursue.
The Great Expectations of Matilda-Open obviously introducing our characters of Pip and Matilda and put in perspective through a brief summary who they are, and how they are connected.
Page 24 Discuss the passage that refers to Matilda and other children being able to escape their unkind reality when ever they wanted, taking refuge in Pip's world. This obviously shows the profound impact Great Expectations had on her. This is pertinent to the story, and to the class because I would like to show the importance of fiction, to Matilda and in turn to ourselves. Als Ob.
page 216-Discuss Jaggers the log, discuss the implications of her saying he was her savior. Was literature Matildas salvation? Again this serves to illustrate the theme of the of the importance of fiction in Matilda's life, this time offering her comfort in almost a religious sense as instead of just the escape of a good story as the first passage indicates, and shows her intense connection to Pip.
page 191-Discuss passage comparing Mr. Watts belief in Pip and Matilda's mother's in Satan. This again shows the theme in a general sense of how important literature is. In more specific terms it shows that all stories contain truth pertinent to us. What works for some does not work for others. It also serves to show the difference between Matilda's Mom and Mr. Watts.
222-this passage is about Matilda leaving on her plane and coming to her expectations. It obviously is does not refer to the theme of the importance of the literature the way the others do, but I feel that it serves to bring a sort of closure, and also shows an important connection to Pip.
As I said up above I would like to essentially focus on how and why literature was important in Matilda's life, how specifically it was in her relation to a specific book, and also how this illustrates the importance of story to each and all. I am continually looking for more qoutes and examples this obviously is sort of a generalized outline.
The Great Expectations of Matilda-Open obviously introducing our characters of Pip and Matilda and put in perspective through a brief summary who they are, and how they are connected.
Page 24 Discuss the passage that refers to Matilda and other children being able to escape their unkind reality when ever they wanted, taking refuge in Pip's world. This obviously shows the profound impact Great Expectations had on her. This is pertinent to the story, and to the class because I would like to show the importance of fiction, to Matilda and in turn to ourselves. Als Ob.
page 216-Discuss Jaggers the log, discuss the implications of her saying he was her savior. Was literature Matildas salvation? Again this serves to illustrate the theme of the of the importance of fiction in Matilda's life, this time offering her comfort in almost a religious sense as instead of just the escape of a good story as the first passage indicates, and shows her intense connection to Pip.
page 191-Discuss passage comparing Mr. Watts belief in Pip and Matilda's mother's in Satan. This again shows the theme in a general sense of how important literature is. In more specific terms it shows that all stories contain truth pertinent to us. What works for some does not work for others. It also serves to show the difference between Matilda's Mom and Mr. Watts.
222-this passage is about Matilda leaving on her plane and coming to her expectations. It obviously is does not refer to the theme of the importance of the literature the way the others do, but I feel that it serves to bring a sort of closure, and also shows an important connection to Pip.
As I said up above I would like to essentially focus on how and why literature was important in Matilda's life, how specifically it was in her relation to a specific book, and also how this illustrates the importance of story to each and all. I am continually looking for more qoutes and examples this obviously is sort of a generalized outline.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
