The Scarlet Letter
GENERAL
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.
This novel is about a woman named Hester Prynne who is accused of committing adultery and having a child with a man who was not her husband. She is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter for the rest of her life and is asked to reveal the father but she refuses. Hester’s husband who was believed to be dead is actually alive and plans to seek revenge on the man (the town minister: Arthur Dimmesdale) who had the affair with Hester. The rest of the novel is filled with revenge and guilt.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
The main theme I saw in this novel was that of the identity that society seems to assign to each character, whether they like it or not. An obvious example is with Hester Prynne who is forced to wear the scarlet letter, or move to a different town and forget about the letter. Hester refuses to leave town and to some this may seem odd because she could live a normal life, but to her it makes perfect sense. Leaving town would give the notion that society had won, instead she keeps the letter and wears it as a reminder of who she is and how her past actions/sins have made her who she is.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
During the time this novel was written, Puritans were renowned for their morality and religious intolerance. In the Scarlett Letter, Hawthorne through his tone shows his views on Puritan society in a disapproving way.
“being of the most intolerant brood” page 86
“the blackest shade of Puritanism” page 211
“Meagre, indeed, and cold was the sympathy” page 47
4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone.
-Personification- “The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment” page 173
-Rhetorical question- “Is there not law for it?” page 45
-Metaphor- “poor little Pearl was a demon offspring” page 88
-Oxymoron- “die daily a living death” page 153
-Anaphora- “Live, therefore, and bear about thy doom with thee, in the eyes of men and women-in the eyes of him whom thou didst call thy husband-in the eyes of yonder child!” page 65
-Simile- “The door of the jail being flung open from within there appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow emerging into sunshine, the grim and gristly presence of the town-beadle, with a sword by his side, and his staff of office in his hand.”
Allusion- “Divine Maternity” refers to the Virgin Mary and is used to describe Hester Prynne
Flashback- This entire story is basically a flashback. The narrator stumbles upon a manuscript describing the events that unfolded and he reads these descriptions to us.
Situational irony- Chillingsworth is Hester’s old husband in disguise.
Symbols- Hawthorne uses many symbols in this novel including the scarlet letter (shame and identity for Hester) and Pearl (Hester’s living scarlet letter).
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
Direct characterization: “But Hester Prynne, with a mind of native courage and activity…” and “beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion” Direct characterization seemed to give away the tiny details that were almost irrelevant, but still important enough as to help progress the story and paint a more vivid picture of each character. They were more used as descriptions of appearances whereas indirect characterization gave insight to the personalities of each character. Some examples include Hester choosing to keep the scarlet letter on as opposed to leaving town and starting a new life, and also Chillingworth’s decision to go undercover and seek revenge on the man who had an affair with his wife.
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
The diction and syntax change with the different personalities that are presented in this novel. Pearl who is younger and more contemplative asks a lot of questions but has a far less advanced vocabulary. Dimmesdale is a minister and his diction and syntax have a religious tint to them. A lot of his emotions are actually expressed through his sermons, and his guilt is prevalent in his speech and outer appearance (which we see degrade as the novel progresses).
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
Hester Prynne is a dynamic and a round character. Because of her punishment, she is alienated and becomes a contemplative thinker. She has lots of time to speculate about moral questions and human nature. This matures her character and makes her more motherly and independent. She is a round character because of the wide array of emotions and characteristics she displays such as anger, love, compassion, caring, and hatred.
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
I feel like Hester Prynne was just another character that I read because her choice to defy society is so different from what people nowadays would do. It makes her an admirable character, but hard to view as a realistic one. In today’s time, people would rather go with the flow of things than stand out.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Lit analysis #5
The Road
General
The Road is the story of an unnamed father and son’s several months journey along a road south to the coast, after the world has been almost completely destroyed. The earth has been scorched by fire and no plants or animals are alive. Only a few people have survived whatever devastating event occurred several years ago and some of the people have turned to cannibalism to survive. The father and son, travel along the road, foraging for edible canned food amidst the ruins, and trying to avoid other people. The son had been born after the devastating event and he might be about 8 years old. Ash is everywhere in the air, presumable blocking adequate light for vegetation to grow despite the frequent rain and snow. The father believes it to be October at the beginning of the story, but hasn’t been able to keep track of the days for years now. Ruins of buildings, vehicles, dead burnt trees and dead bodies are scattered across the landscape. Although the father and his son travel for several months in the story, the setting does not change very significantly. They come across some usable stuff and food in various locations, but death, devastation and distrust covered in ash is all that the earth has become. With this setting, the author creates a world seemingly void of all hope. Even when they finally reach the coast, the situation shows no improvement. The boy’s mother had committed suicide around the time of his birth, leaving the father alone with the child. The father considers his son, his only reason to live. “If he (the son) is not the word of God, God never spoke.” Several places throughout the story, the father refers to his son as his only connection to any god if one existed.
The theme of the novel is a warning that great environmental destruction could befall the Earth, but despite the desperation, we see an example of positive human existence when the father and the boy don’t feel as if they can go on anymore and all is becoming too hard, the father is able to comfort the boy by saying that things will be ok because “We are carrying the fire”. In a world that seems to have illimitable darkness this perception of “Carrying the fire” provides the father and the boy with hope to carry on. This perception of the fire and the hope that it brings is made ever brighter by the fact that they are surrounded by such darkness. The will of the father and the boy to stay alive is amazing. They are faced with many hardships and events where they could have easily given up. The true distinction between good and evil behavior is how people survived in abandoned civilization and how one encountered its hardships. The struggle between good and evil influences the main struggle of survival throughout The Road.
The tone is overwhelmingly desperate, but the mere fact the man and boy struggle without giving up to stay alive each day is a testament to man’s will to survive and perhaps to a type of faith. We are left to imagine how you could still believe in a god when he has so forsaken the place, but this is always the contemplation of mankind who has free agency. So perhaps we should always be gratefully and hopeful and in being so, some measure of joy or happiness will exist.
The author uses frequent foreshadowing and the ending is partly expected with the father dying, but a somewhat unexpected twist leaves the boy with a small amount of hope for the future with a new family. The father is frequently coughing. Ash is everywhere in the air so they wear cloth to help filter it. The father’s cough gets worse as the journey progresses and he starts to cough up blood. Other important foreshadowing is that the boy sees another boy early in the book and periodically talks about him. After the father dies, it is this boy’s family that takes the son with them. The father finally gives in to his disease and dies in the end saying he could not bear to see his son die first. The boy and his father struggle to survive through the story, as they are “good” guys “carrying the fire” looking for other good guys. In the end the son is found by other “good” guys “carrying the fire”. Although the world still remains in desperate destruction, the father’s journey is over and the boy has some hope for the future.
Characterization
The characters are mostly revealed through direct characterization. I can’t really imagine the world becoming as depicted in the book, but it is not an uncommon struggle to feel desperate and alone even in a world where survival is “easy”. I find it unrealistic that people have survived for years with absolutely no vegetation, bugs or animals. I would think that at least cockroaches would survive. The story is such an ultra-extreme depiction of an earthly condition that I question the sanity of the main character(s). They are able to survive the impossible situation carrying whatever supplies they find in a couple of backpacks and a shopping cart.
There are only two main characters in this story, the father and his son. They are developed through direct characterization as you learn who they are through their own thoughts, dialog and actions. Both the characters are quite heroic in nature. The father, although he has witnessed the almost complete destruction of the world, he struggles because of his love for his son to stay alive. The son who knows only this totally desperate world and it’s emanate dangers, trusts and loves his father and shows compassion for those they do encounter on their journey. The father in the attempt to keep his son alive keeps him away from everyone, possible even from those who could potentially help them. They are supposedly on a search for other “good” guys but the father is too paranoid and distrusting to ever find them. One person they encounter in the book grabs his son, so the father shoots him. This unfortunately seems justified as the people, they encounter are either most certainly going to die or are the people who are eating other people to survive. This no win situation for the pair only resolves itself with the death of the father. Despite the desperateness of it all, the father demonstrates that he unconditionally cares for his son. For example when the boy forgets to turn off the valve on a camp stove they found, and the gas that should have lasted for weeks is gone in a day, the father does not get mad at his son instead he takes the blame. The son also shows compassion beyond what might be expected for the situation. He encourages his father to give some food to an old man that they met on the way even though it won’t prolong his life much.
Although the father has many admirable characteristics when it comes to his compassion and caring toward his son, he is distrustful of everyone else, so it would be a little hard to get to know him. The son seems like someone who would be nice to know because he is caring and compassionate.
The characters resemble people in real life but the situation they are in is so extreme. I think the characters are developed this way to make the point that even in the most desperate situation, you are defined by your relationship and connection to someone else. Even as the father was dying he tried to pass on hope to his son by saying that his son can talk to him in his imagination after he dies. When his son asks about the little boy he had seen on the way, his father says “Goodness will find the little boy. It aways has. It will again.”
General
The Road is the story of an unnamed father and son’s several months journey along a road south to the coast, after the world has been almost completely destroyed. The earth has been scorched by fire and no plants or animals are alive. Only a few people have survived whatever devastating event occurred several years ago and some of the people have turned to cannibalism to survive. The father and son, travel along the road, foraging for edible canned food amidst the ruins, and trying to avoid other people. The son had been born after the devastating event and he might be about 8 years old. Ash is everywhere in the air, presumable blocking adequate light for vegetation to grow despite the frequent rain and snow. The father believes it to be October at the beginning of the story, but hasn’t been able to keep track of the days for years now. Ruins of buildings, vehicles, dead burnt trees and dead bodies are scattered across the landscape. Although the father and his son travel for several months in the story, the setting does not change very significantly. They come across some usable stuff and food in various locations, but death, devastation and distrust covered in ash is all that the earth has become. With this setting, the author creates a world seemingly void of all hope. Even when they finally reach the coast, the situation shows no improvement. The boy’s mother had committed suicide around the time of his birth, leaving the father alone with the child. The father considers his son, his only reason to live. “If he (the son) is not the word of God, God never spoke.” Several places throughout the story, the father refers to his son as his only connection to any god if one existed.
The theme of the novel is a warning that great environmental destruction could befall the Earth, but despite the desperation, we see an example of positive human existence when the father and the boy don’t feel as if they can go on anymore and all is becoming too hard, the father is able to comfort the boy by saying that things will be ok because “We are carrying the fire”. In a world that seems to have illimitable darkness this perception of “Carrying the fire” provides the father and the boy with hope to carry on. This perception of the fire and the hope that it brings is made ever brighter by the fact that they are surrounded by such darkness. The will of the father and the boy to stay alive is amazing. They are faced with many hardships and events where they could have easily given up. The true distinction between good and evil behavior is how people survived in abandoned civilization and how one encountered its hardships. The struggle between good and evil influences the main struggle of survival throughout The Road.
The tone is overwhelmingly desperate, but the mere fact the man and boy struggle without giving up to stay alive each day is a testament to man’s will to survive and perhaps to a type of faith. We are left to imagine how you could still believe in a god when he has so forsaken the place, but this is always the contemplation of mankind who has free agency. So perhaps we should always be gratefully and hopeful and in being so, some measure of joy or happiness will exist.
The author uses frequent foreshadowing and the ending is partly expected with the father dying, but a somewhat unexpected twist leaves the boy with a small amount of hope for the future with a new family. The father is frequently coughing. Ash is everywhere in the air so they wear cloth to help filter it. The father’s cough gets worse as the journey progresses and he starts to cough up blood. Other important foreshadowing is that the boy sees another boy early in the book and periodically talks about him. After the father dies, it is this boy’s family that takes the son with them. The father finally gives in to his disease and dies in the end saying he could not bear to see his son die first. The boy and his father struggle to survive through the story, as they are “good” guys “carrying the fire” looking for other good guys. In the end the son is found by other “good” guys “carrying the fire”. Although the world still remains in desperate destruction, the father’s journey is over and the boy has some hope for the future.
Characterization
The characters are mostly revealed through direct characterization. I can’t really imagine the world becoming as depicted in the book, but it is not an uncommon struggle to feel desperate and alone even in a world where survival is “easy”. I find it unrealistic that people have survived for years with absolutely no vegetation, bugs or animals. I would think that at least cockroaches would survive. The story is such an ultra-extreme depiction of an earthly condition that I question the sanity of the main character(s). They are able to survive the impossible situation carrying whatever supplies they find in a couple of backpacks and a shopping cart.
There are only two main characters in this story, the father and his son. They are developed through direct characterization as you learn who they are through their own thoughts, dialog and actions. Both the characters are quite heroic in nature. The father, although he has witnessed the almost complete destruction of the world, he struggles because of his love for his son to stay alive. The son who knows only this totally desperate world and it’s emanate dangers, trusts and loves his father and shows compassion for those they do encounter on their journey. The father in the attempt to keep his son alive keeps him away from everyone, possible even from those who could potentially help them. They are supposedly on a search for other “good” guys but the father is too paranoid and distrusting to ever find them. One person they encounter in the book grabs his son, so the father shoots him. This unfortunately seems justified as the people, they encounter are either most certainly going to die or are the people who are eating other people to survive. This no win situation for the pair only resolves itself with the death of the father. Despite the desperateness of it all, the father demonstrates that he unconditionally cares for his son. For example when the boy forgets to turn off the valve on a camp stove they found, and the gas that should have lasted for weeks is gone in a day, the father does not get mad at his son instead he takes the blame. The son also shows compassion beyond what might be expected for the situation. He encourages his father to give some food to an old man that they met on the way even though it won’t prolong his life much.
Although the father has many admirable characteristics when it comes to his compassion and caring toward his son, he is distrustful of everyone else, so it would be a little hard to get to know him. The son seems like someone who would be nice to know because he is caring and compassionate.
The characters resemble people in real life but the situation they are in is so extreme. I think the characters are developed this way to make the point that even in the most desperate situation, you are defined by your relationship and connection to someone else. Even as the father was dying he tried to pass on hope to his son by saying that his son can talk to him in his imagination after he dies. When his son asks about the little boy he had seen on the way, his father says “Goodness will find the little boy. It aways has. It will again.”
Monday, November 26, 2012
Lit Analysis #4 The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
GENERAL
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same.)
- Edna starts off as the wonderful wife who fulfills the role of a proper mother. They take a vacation as a family and spend their time in Grand Isle. There she meets a man named Robert and a romance begins. They end up declaring their love in the novel and we see the two grow and fall apart. Robert seeks a marriage but couldn't find it in Edna. Edna also became intimate with another man named Alcee. That connection Alcee and she had seemed like pure lust because he awoke feelings in her that lead to other realizations but no attachment Edna learns about her independence while being with these men and she tries to become the woman she always wanted to be. Her marriage seems to be fading away as she spends more and more time with her new persona. As her family is away she moves into her own home persueing her new lifestyle. Times goes by and her past is awaken when her friend Adele goes through a birth. Adele reminds Edna of the life she left behind and this leads Edna to think about things. Edna realized that in the end she was left albone, because Robert had walked out on her. She then decides to return where everything began and end her life there.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
- The theme revolves around marriage and Edna's involvement within her life. During their time period marriage, money and security was all society cared for. Love wasn't a favored characteristic in relationships because then they had different priorities and beliefs. Edna underwent a dramatic change that lead to her marriage's collapse. She became a wild and disobedient women as the novel progresses letting her true colors free. Her decision to start her life over with her lover helped the audience see that marriage wasn't of great importance for her.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
- The author's tone is gloomy and direct. She addresses Edna's feeling on marriage in the story but reveals that Edna isn't the caring, loving person a mother's supposed to be. The tone is shown when Edna speaks to her husband or when she reveals Edna's thoughts on marriage. It sounded like the relation they had faded away as Edna found herself and let her past fade away.
1) "Before dinner in the evening Edna wrote a charming letter to her husband, telling him of her intention to move for a while into the little house around the block, and to give a farewell dinner before leaving, regretting that he was not there to share it.." (Chapter 26)
2) “They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow as ministering angels.” (Chapter 4)
3) "Her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of Fate." (Chapter 7)
4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
*Symbolism: “The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude.” (Chapter VI) For the first time she feels free and is reborn.
*Dialogue: "The water must be delicious; it will not hurt you. Come." (Chapter V) He tries to convince her that she should trust in him.
*Setting: “They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow as ministering angels.” (Chapter IV) She's surrounded by the ideal mothers.
*Diction: “He pleased her; his absolute devotion flattered her. She fancied they was a sympathy of thought and taste between them..” (Chapter VII) It reveals how she feels about the situation.
*Foreshadowing: "She is not one of us; she is not like us. She might make the unfortunate blundder of taking you seriously." (Chapter VIII) Adèle Ratignolle warns Robert that Edna might take his affections seriously.
*Imagery: "A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength." (Chapter X) It shows Edna’s rebellious side.
*Irony: "She remembered the night she swam far out, and recalled the terror that siezed her at the fear of being unable to regain to shore. She did not look back now, but went on and on..." (Chapter XXXIX) Edna's death in the ocean.
*Forshadowing: "He thought it very discouraging that his wife, who was the sole object of his existence, evinced so little interest in things which concerned him, and valued so little his conversation" (Chapter 17) Shows Edna losing interest in her husband.
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
- The author uses both direct and indirect characterization because it helps the reader understand who each character is and how they are. Every reader takes in a story differently and characterization helps in developing a visual image for those who need it.
- DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION:
1) "I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself." (Chapter 16) She tells that she is in it for herself and her needs. That she wouldn't give herself up for her children.
2) "That she was seeing with different eyes and making the acquaintance of new conditions in herself that colored and changed her environment, she did not yet suspect." (Chapter 14) Edna has changed and this is being stated by showing a new person masked behind the old Edna.
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
- The diction does change because the author is adding emotional appeal to it. As you read about her romance with Robert the diction changes adding an atmosphere of mystic. She experiments many things with her lover thus changing the way she thinks, sees and feels the world. For every action she made her character changed as well as how she spoke or acted.
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
- Edna is a dynamic and round character because she shows change from the beginning of the novel to the end. Every time she encounters new people her persona changes and we see her feelings change as well. The reader was able to pick this up as they saw how she treated her husband and her lover Robert.
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
- I read a character because not everyone is as open as Edna was. She underwent a dramatic change which is understandable considering the time period, but she wasn't all there. Emotionally I saw a woman who needed to find herself and experiment the only way she could. Not everyone will see or think the way she did because putting oneself in her shoes would make you think otherwise. The ocean is where Robert and she spent some time and it's ironic how she spent her last hours there. Only a character would end there life where their grief starts not an actual person.
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same.)
- Edna starts off as the wonderful wife who fulfills the role of a proper mother. They take a vacation as a family and spend their time in Grand Isle. There she meets a man named Robert and a romance begins. They end up declaring their love in the novel and we see the two grow and fall apart. Robert seeks a marriage but couldn't find it in Edna. Edna also became intimate with another man named Alcee. That connection Alcee and she had seemed like pure lust because he awoke feelings in her that lead to other realizations but no attachment Edna learns about her independence while being with these men and she tries to become the woman she always wanted to be. Her marriage seems to be fading away as she spends more and more time with her new persona. As her family is away she moves into her own home persueing her new lifestyle. Times goes by and her past is awaken when her friend Adele goes through a birth. Adele reminds Edna of the life she left behind and this leads Edna to think about things. Edna realized that in the end she was left albone, because Robert had walked out on her. She then decides to return where everything began and end her life there.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
- The theme revolves around marriage and Edna's involvement within her life. During their time period marriage, money and security was all society cared for. Love wasn't a favored characteristic in relationships because then they had different priorities and beliefs. Edna underwent a dramatic change that lead to her marriage's collapse. She became a wild and disobedient women as the novel progresses letting her true colors free. Her decision to start her life over with her lover helped the audience see that marriage wasn't of great importance for her.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
- The author's tone is gloomy and direct. She addresses Edna's feeling on marriage in the story but reveals that Edna isn't the caring, loving person a mother's supposed to be. The tone is shown when Edna speaks to her husband or when she reveals Edna's thoughts on marriage. It sounded like the relation they had faded away as Edna found herself and let her past fade away.
1) "Before dinner in the evening Edna wrote a charming letter to her husband, telling him of her intention to move for a while into the little house around the block, and to give a farewell dinner before leaving, regretting that he was not there to share it.." (Chapter 26)
2) “They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow as ministering angels.” (Chapter 4)
3) "Her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of Fate." (Chapter 7)
4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
*Symbolism: “The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude.” (Chapter VI) For the first time she feels free and is reborn.
*Dialogue: "The water must be delicious; it will not hurt you. Come." (Chapter V) He tries to convince her that she should trust in him.
*Setting: “They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow as ministering angels.” (Chapter IV) She's surrounded by the ideal mothers.
*Diction: “He pleased her; his absolute devotion flattered her. She fancied they was a sympathy of thought and taste between them..” (Chapter VII) It reveals how she feels about the situation.
*Foreshadowing: "She is not one of us; she is not like us. She might make the unfortunate blundder of taking you seriously." (Chapter VIII) Adèle Ratignolle warns Robert that Edna might take his affections seriously.
*Imagery: "A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength." (Chapter X) It shows Edna’s rebellious side.
*Irony: "She remembered the night she swam far out, and recalled the terror that siezed her at the fear of being unable to regain to shore. She did not look back now, but went on and on..." (Chapter XXXIX) Edna's death in the ocean.
*Forshadowing: "He thought it very discouraging that his wife, who was the sole object of his existence, evinced so little interest in things which concerned him, and valued so little his conversation" (Chapter 17) Shows Edna losing interest in her husband.
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
- The author uses both direct and indirect characterization because it helps the reader understand who each character is and how they are. Every reader takes in a story differently and characterization helps in developing a visual image for those who need it.
- DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION:
1) "I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself." (Chapter 16) She tells that she is in it for herself and her needs. That she wouldn't give herself up for her children.
2) "That she was seeing with different eyes and making the acquaintance of new conditions in herself that colored and changed her environment, she did not yet suspect." (Chapter 14) Edna has changed and this is being stated by showing a new person masked behind the old Edna.
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
- The diction does change because the author is adding emotional appeal to it. As you read about her romance with Robert the diction changes adding an atmosphere of mystic. She experiments many things with her lover thus changing the way she thinks, sees and feels the world. For every action she made her character changed as well as how she spoke or acted.
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
- Edna is a dynamic and round character because she shows change from the beginning of the novel to the end. Every time she encounters new people her persona changes and we see her feelings change as well. The reader was able to pick this up as they saw how she treated her husband and her lover Robert.
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
- I read a character because not everyone is as open as Edna was. She underwent a dramatic change which is understandable considering the time period, but she wasn't all there. Emotionally I saw a woman who needed to find herself and experiment the only way she could. Not everyone will see or think the way she did because putting oneself in her shoes would make you think otherwise. The ocean is where Robert and she spent some time and it's ironic how she spent her last hours there. Only a character would end there life where their grief starts not an actual person.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Plato's Allegory of the Cave
1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?
-The allegory of the cave represents how individuals reject reality and don't understand the truth behind life.
2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
-Prisoners were the ignorant individuals, cave was a world of imagination, sun was the reality of life, darkness was the lacking of truth, and the freed prisoner was philosophers.
3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
-After a while an individual will get the opportunity to embrace the truth. One must take the knowledge and do wisely with it.
4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
-Shackles show the prisoners being held against their will to live a life that is planned for them. The cave is merely where they plan to revise it to any state they want it to be. They are trapped from reality and unable to realize what lies past the light.
5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
-The government shackles our minds by controlling everything we do and removing anything that may lead to someone discovering something.
6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
-The freed prisoner was exposed to self thinking and realization, while the cave prisoners were stuck thinking their "normal" was normal.
7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
-
8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
-Cave prisoners get freed by being exposed to freedom. Other people let them see the light and show them a new source of knowledge.
9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
-Yes, because not everything is what is seems. People could assume that just by looking at someone they were a tidy person, but when they look inside the person's backpack it seems as if a tornado had already been there.
10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?
-The allegory of the cave represents how individuals reject reality and don't understand the truth behind life.
2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
-Prisoners were the ignorant individuals, cave was a world of imagination, sun was the reality of life, darkness was the lacking of truth, and the freed prisoner was philosophers.
3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
-After a while an individual will get the opportunity to embrace the truth. One must take the knowledge and do wisely with it.
4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
-Shackles show the prisoners being held against their will to live a life that is planned for them. The cave is merely where they plan to revise it to any state they want it to be. They are trapped from reality and unable to realize what lies past the light.
5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
-The government shackles our minds by controlling everything we do and removing anything that may lead to someone discovering something.
6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
-The freed prisoner was exposed to self thinking and realization, while the cave prisoners were stuck thinking their "normal" was normal.
7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
-
8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
-Cave prisoners get freed by being exposed to freedom. Other people let them see the light and show them a new source of knowledge.
9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
-Yes, because not everything is what is seems. People could assume that just by looking at someone they were a tidy person, but when they look inside the person's backpack it seems as if a tornado had already been there.
10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?
Friday, November 9, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Who was Shakespeare?
I did a quick search to find out who William Shakespeare was.
First, I went on duckduckgo.com. Then I entered William Shakespeare. I found this website.
It does a great job with Shakespeare's biography. Click to learn more. http://www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323
Students percieve Shakespeare's writing to be this horrible hard to read literature. This all changes when they begin to read and break it down. Students begin to learn new strategies on how to better their own writing and they also learn that shakespeare can be interpreted in many different ways. The name "Shakespeare" alone evokes strong feelings. It is amazing as to how even after centuries his writing is still able to effect you the way it does. At some point in our young lives we have all read Shakespeare . It might have been a stripped down less complicated version but it was still his writing. And now as we get older, we begin to read a more abstract version that is hard to understand. You will not completely understand an act after reading it once. It will take lots of practice.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Sonnet
Men call you fair, and you do credit it,
For that yourself you daily such do see:
But the true fair, that is the gentle wit
And virtuous mind, is much more praised of me.
For all the rest, however fair it be,
Shall turn to naught and lose that glorious hue:
But only that is permanent and free
From frail corruption that doth flesh ensue,
That is true beauty; that doth argue you
To be divine and born of heavenly seed;
Derived from that fair spirit, from whom all true
And perfect beauty did at first proceed:
He only fair, and what he fair hath made:
All other fair, like flowers, untimely fade.
-Edmund Spencer
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