Before watching this movie, I remember reading the post on the class wiki about how the movie does not have much dialect and speech from the characters, but rather it relies on non-verbal communication, symbols and in plain terms, let's the history and story speak for itself. After watching the movie Chocolat, I couldn't agree with the above statements. With a rough guess, I might say there were about 1000 words spoken in this movie, which has to be less than the average Hollywood motion picture.
However, it was sort of refreshing to watch this movie, because there was less information to digest which made it easier to watch. As the movie unfolded, I found myself more and more interested because I had to watch and listen carefully to understand the movie at all. I couldn't rely on action scenes or long conversations between the characters to understand the movie.
Protee is a great example of a character who barely said anything, however you can learn about him regardless. One thing is that he is obedient and faithful to his masters regardless of the situation. He has a protective personality as he cares for France, the young girl. Even at the end of the movie when he is relegated to the garage, he show his character to the young girl, by tricking her into touching the hot machine. He was upset by the incident.
As far as the plot of the movie, I thought there were two sides to this movie: the part before the strangers crashed in the plane and then the part where they are guests of the family. Before, everything and everyone seems to be living in harmony. The relationships between the governor, his wife, France and Protee are all friendly and caring. The natives respect the governor and he respects them. When the guests arrive, their arrogance shows in how they treat Protee and other African natives. After they arrive, you see the relationship of France and Protee go downhill, plus the trust that the wife shows in Protee disappears as she asks her husband to give him a different job away from the house, even though he has been nothing but faithful to them.
I was upset that the travelers came because it sort of ruined the peace and harmony that was built in the first half. At the end, when France returns to Africa to find her old home, it sort of reminds everyone about the good times of her life, and it ends the movie on a happy note; however, it does not completely remove the bad taste of the events that occurred while the guests from France resided there
Weekly Response 12
(4/18)
For my final/creative project, I want to do something related to my journalism/telecommunications major. My idea is to do a three written feature stories on topics/characters that we have discussed in class over the semester.
The feature stories would be similar to stories you see published in a newspaper/website about a particular person or topic, but I would recreate them as if I was a reporter writing about these people during their particular time. I would write them as if I did a sit down interview with the person or the people associated with a time period about a story topic. The stories would all be written, but I would vary the writing styles for each in some way.
The three feature stories I would write would be about the following people/subjects:
The first story would be an obituary/biography of Ivan Ilych. It would be similar to style of an obituary you see in a newspaper, but it would be much longer and more descriptive about his life and the people in it. I would focus on topics such as his poor family relationships and his desire for material things while still trying to make it a positive article as an obituary is supposed to be.
The second story would be a reporter’s summary/analysis of the New York Armory in 1913 displaying all the modern art. The idea would not be to critique any of the work, but simply report on what happened during the show, and what kind of modern art was displayed. I would do research to make sure the facts I report on would be valid.
The third story would be an interview style with Gregor from Kafka’s Metamorphosis. It would be similar to an interview you find in a magazine where the question and answers would be written out. Obviously, I can’t actually interview Gregor, so I would make up his answers based on the questions I would ask him about his experience turning into a bug. I wouldn’t try to make up anything that we didn't see in the story.
For the presentation, I would summarize the three stories by giving highlights of each, probably a powerpoint to illustrate the themes and ideas that I found while writing them. I also would bring copies for everyone to read them if necessary.
Weekly Response 11
(4/11)
This week, we heard two presentations in class about modern art and then modern poetry. Both presentations gave past examples of each subject and how they developed from their oldest forms. Eventually both art and poetry changed to the point that they became something completely new and never seen before. The theme for each modern art and modern poetry became whatever the artist/writer wanted it to be. That is the biggest thing that I got from the presentations this week.
First, looking at modern art, this theme of painting should be what the artist wants didn't really start until the Impressionism movement in 1865. Until then, most art was very carefully designed and had specific purposes like documenting historical events or explaining people's lives. In the impressionism movement in Paris, artists began painting in a more colorful and unique style that they themselves concocted. It was at this time that art became what the artist wanted to make, and before that it wasn't. Art soon evolved into movements such as cubism, futurism and constructuralism and all these movements were designed by artists for a specific purpose of their own accord.
Similarly in the art of poetry, J. Alfred Prufrock came with a unique sense of poetry by writing his famous piece, The Love Song. In it, he writes with a sarcastic tone about topics such as love and happiness, and he includes a lot of other unique topics in his pieces. Poetry became about what the poet wanted to write. It was much more liberal than it had been in the past.
All in all, I would say both art and poetry have become much more broader in subject matter and topics than it used to be. The theme of poetry ad art being what the creator wanted them to be opened the door to more artists and poets, therefore, more ideas would be discovered than ever before. It's a good thing because more people are involved; however, that just means there is more material to dive into.
Weekly Response 10
(3/28)
Freud believed that dreams are wish fulfillments or the gift that people receive when they wish for something. Basically, he wants everyone to know that dreams are important and not just wasted thoughts for people. They are mainly positive thoughts that give people hope and justice for their current lives. Usually, dreams are made when someone does not have what they desire to have.
An example of this is Cinderella, which we see a video posted on the class wiki. She is the younger sister of three older, wicked sisters that make her do a lot of chores and tedious jobs around the house. She is definitely in a low point during her life, and she doesn't seem to have a lot to live for; however, in her song, Cinderella finds hope and joy in her life when she realizes that she has her dreams to look forward too. These dreams give her a chance to think about how the future will be a positive for her eventually, and it does when she marries a handsome princess.
Personally, dreams have helped me enjoy life when times become rough. I agree with Freud about dreams and that they are wish fulfillments. For example, my dream is to become a broadcaster for a professional sports team. If that wish gets fulfilled, I will be happy about it, but for now it is a dream. Dreams are what keep myself and others going in life because they help people forget about the present and focus on what could be in the future. This is what most young people go through as they imagine their future lives whether they have a high paying job or they might be married with a loving family. Either way, everyone has dreams to be fulfilled, and it is up to them to do what they must to make those dreams come true.
Weekly Response 9
(3/21)
The Heart of Darkness is a great novel that not only tells the story of a few individuals from the Congo, but it also gives insight to Europe's colonialism of Africa. One of the first themes that was brought up in class today about this piece was point of view. The way that people see the results of colonialism is a point of view. In this case, we have the point of view of the European colonists and the native Africans or in this story, Africans such as Marlow and Kurtz and the Europeans who own the company. European's see colonialism as a way to increase their country's power in addition to gathering natural resources for economic gain. On the other hand, the Africans see their home land destroyed and left behind utterly useless.
In the first part of novel, Marlow goes to work for the company willingly. When Marlow gets the job and his aunt encourages him that he will aid in the “civilization of savages.” This I believe is very unique because not many African's willingly participated in the company's project, and Marlow's aunt seems to discourage his action in doing so, but Marlow wants an adventure. Who can blame him really as the European's activity has to be intriguing. Plus, there is still mystery to him about the whole project when the novel begins and a symbol that represents this is the fog. It represents the truth that is clouded for Marlow and the Africans. Some of this truth is revealed when Marlow come's to the company's dock by boat, and he sees that it is in ruins. In addition, there are many remains of left over machinery all over the land. This is just an example of the destruction that the Europeans left behind.
This theme of revealing the truth of about the colonial project revolves around in the novel. It begs the question is the “heart of darkness”, the title, represent the evil of the colonists or the darkness created by their actions in the hearts of the Africans. All are good questions to ask.
Weekly Response 8
(3/7)
Today, in class we compared the original versions of the Declaration of Independence and the story of Adam and Eve from the bible to revised versions of the two that emphasized women's rights.
These two pieces discuss different issues relating to women's rights and the position of women among society and people. The new version of the Declaration of Independence is focusing on establishing that women are equal to men in society. It states that every woman should be able to do everything in society that men do. In addition, the declaration mentions how men have denied women citizenship, considering her property that doesn't have any civil rights. The biggest change in the two texts is the change from “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence to “all men and women are created equal.” All of these issues brought up and resolved make sense to me in the new declaration. Women should be able to have full rights as citizens. Marriages should be equal, and I believe they are in the present time, except back when the declaration was written, women were just expected to clean the home and bear children. As American culture has changed however, we see that women are in good position when they have the same rights as men.
The new version of Adam of Eve compared to older version in the bible discusses more of the spiritual and natural issues of the difference between men and women. For example, in the bible, it says God created mankind, male and female he created them. The feminist author claims this version of the story is negative towards women, especially because Eve fell victim to the devil and ate the forbidden fruit; therefore, it assumes that mankind was doomed because of her action. The new version places emphasis that mankind was created with good and evil already in them, and that Eve's actions did not cause evil to be part of humans. I think while these are good points by the feminist, they are missing the point. The scripture is intended to be a story of the separation of humans from God. The fact that Eve was before Adam to eat the fruit and disobey God shouldn't matter. The fact is that both Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and therefore, mankind became intrenched with sin. The civil and social issues of feminism I understand, but religious stories are not to be taken as literally in my opinion.
Weekly Response 7
(2/28)
One of the main themes in A Doll's House was man's dominance over women. We see it from the very beginning of the play where Torvald treats Nora as if she is a doll, something for him to play with and admire. He does not acknowledge that she is her own person and that she has many abilities and qualities other than her looks. In act three of the play, I think that this theme that dominates the play changes with the roles of Mrs. Linde and Nora.
First, I want to make a comparison between Mrs. Linde and Nora. They seem to have lived similar lives during their younger years. Mrs. Linde admits to Krogstad in act three that she married not out of love, but for wealth so that she could be rich and support her family. She may not have loved her husband as much as she did Krogstad, but she married him so she could support her family. Nora is in a similar situation with Torvald where she married a man with a lot of wealth. She never has said she didn't love him, but her assertiveness of borrowing money and spending it shows that she enjoys having that wealth for her and her children.
So, at the end of act three, Mrs. Linde plays a huge role in changing the theme of man's dominance. It starts where she decides to reengage her relationship with Krogstad. Krogstad agrees to remove the letter intended for Torvald in which he would find out about Nora's actions with the loan; however, Mrs. Linde says she wants to keep it there for Torvald to read. I think she realizes Nora is in the same situation she was in when she was younger, and she'd be better off without Torvald. That leads Torvald to reading the letter, and he becomes irate, which ultimately leads to Nora leaving. Honestly, I wouldn't have expected Nora to leave Torvald at the beginning, but she does in the end of the play. We learn that there is more to her and all women than being just a doll to play with. Her leaving official ends the theme of man's dominance over women.
Weekly Response 6
(2/20)
After reading the first section of The Death of Ivan Ilych, I thought of a question that I believe encompasses the story. The question is what is better in any one person's life: pursuit of a career or the pursuit of family?
When you look at Ivan’s life, he chose a life where he wanted to pursue a career. Most of that choice was made because of his obsession with the upper class lifestyle, which required lots of money. So, Ivan chose the path of furthering his career. A few of the reasons he did this were because he wanted to fit in with societal expectations that included becoming wealthy and powerful. He also was not the kind of guy who developed relationships, even with his own family. The only reason he married was to gain societal respect from his peers, not out of love. In fact, when he began to have children, it only burdened him.
At his funeral, we start to see the results of Ivan’s choices. Barely anybody attended the funeral, and the reader is told that Ivan’s life was just terrible. Ivan’s only real friend, Peter Ivanovich, knew him through his professional life, and while he seemed concerned that Ivan was dead. Even though he was technically Ivan’s best friend, he avoids any confrontation with anyone who asks him about Ivan or wanting to talk about his friend’s death.
So, Ivan chose to pursue his career over family. He used family to give himself more power and societal recognition, but in the end, one could argue that it wasn’t worth it. A question that comes to my mind when thinking about death is, “What would I want people to say about me when I am dead?” Honestly, my answer to that question would be based on my characteristics and what kind of person my friends and family thought I was. I would want my friends and family to say I was a great overall person. While any career achievements I accomplished may be important, I would argue the relationships you build in life are more important. That is why I think Ivan had a “terrible” life. There is nothing wrong with pursuing a career; however, he did so to the point where he forgot about family and friends in general, and just focused on himself and his own aspirations. That is why his funeral was barely attended, and that might be the reason that even Ivan began to rethink his life at his death.
Weekly Response 5
(2/7)
In class this week, we have been focusing on Romantic music from different classical eras and how it is used to express emotions like love. In our reading in class today, we have a scene where Gretchen is sitting in her room alone at a spinning wheel; here, she sings a soliloquy about her love and longing for Faust. Composer Franz Schubert wrote a musical adaption to this piece of literature, and because it is a love song about Faust, it fits into the category of Romantic music.
The piece starts very quiet and solemn as Gretchen sings the main chorus, which begins, “My peace is gone.” This same chorus appears several times in the piece as if to remind the listener of Gretchen's feelings of losing peace and having a sore heart; these are conditions due to her longing for Faust, who she is separated from.
The first verse of the piece is when the music starts to change. It picks up in dynamic by getting much louder and more emotional. In the first verse, Gretchen sings how distraught she has become; this explains the rise in dynamics because it creates tension and strong emotion in the music that is matching Gretchen's feelings at the time.
The second verse of the piece is more drawn out than the first verse. It starts mellow and quiet as Gretchen loving expresses features of Faust that she admires including “the smile of his mouth” and “the spell of his eyes.” The music now has a much warmer feeling and less tension as if Gretchen is happy when she is singing these lines.
After the final chorus, the third verse is like a climatic ending to the piece. The music quickly rises in dynamics and tempo as the tension of Gretchen rises. She expresses her clear desire for Faust in this verse by expressing how her bosom aches, and she longs to kiss him over and over. As this tension increase, the music's tempo and dynamics increase. The song ends with one final repeat of the chorus. Interestingly, this romantic music matches the emotion of Gretchen with a change in dynamics and tempo; it accurately portrays her feelings for Faust and her tension about not being with him.
Weekly Response 4
(1/31)
In class today when we were creating our own stanzas about Faust, my partner and I had a lot of ideas of what to write about. Firstly, when I think of Faust I think of someone who is very conflicted. For one, he is a very motivated individual who sought to do great things with his life; however, at times he seemed to be somewhat of an outsider. In his poem the Romantic Hero, he describes a man who is a great conqueror who was very strong in taking land and controlling people for his own purpose; however, he was more of an outcast with society, so he didn't have many strong relationships. This is very similar to Faust himself. So, with these ideas being said, the stanza we wrote wanted to convey these conflicting traits within Faust. We had to write a stanza that expressed his success in his individual accomplishments, but at the same time, it expressed the struggles that he incurred on an every day basis. Another thing about Faust that we wanted to include in the poem stanza was his relationship to nature. Faust seemed to have a stronger connection with parts of nature than actual people. Part of the reason I think was because of his outsider status, so he was able to relate to nature more than people. Faust relates this to his poetry especially when he compares his life and his accomplishments to nature.
On a side note, Faust's traits that I have discussed are very similar to Napolean Bonaparte. Napolean was a great conqueror as well, but he experienced the feeling of being an outsider as well. Something tells me that great conquerors were all similar in this way. They all were very self-motivated and passionate about becoming more powerful; however, they were not great people persons.
Weekly Response 2
(1/17)
We've continued to talk about the theme of freedom in class this week, and from this discussion, I believe there are two types or versions of freedom that people can attain. The first is the freedom of choice or having free will. It is about being independent and making your own decisions in life. It means that each person can control their own life and their search for happiness. The second is the freedom to not be obligated to find your own happiness, meaning it is provided for you. Each person doesn't have the ability to make their own decisions, because they are provided for all their needs through a central authority figure or ruling body.
These two ideas of freedom come from the discussion we had in class today about the Grand Inquisitor and his conversation with Jesus. The Grand Inquisitor believed in giving people happiness by providing for them, and he wanted Jesus to do that. In the parable of the desert, Jesus is tempted by the Devil, and he ignores them; however, the Grand Inquisitor believes that these temptations would have helped people be happy. For example, if Jesus had turned rocks into bread, people would be fed. If he ruled several kingdoms, everyone would have one just and peaceful ruler.
Jesus is in favor of the first idea of freedom where people have their own free will to make their own decisions. This is the same type of freedom that Harriet Jacobs and Fredrick Douglas sought when they were slaves. They wanted to be free to make their own decisions, and whether their decisions were good or bad, the fulfillment they received was from being able to be independent.
Personally, I think having the freedom to make your decisions is more fulfilling, because if you find happiness through your own effort, it is more peaceful than any controlled environment that the second freedom presents. When Jesus was preaching and gathering followers, I think he wanted people to choose to follow him, because that would be a more powerful connection rather than just gathering followers who didn't have any other choice than to follow him.
Weekly Response 1
(1/6 - 1/10)
When reading the narrative of Fredrick Douglas, I found that as he progressed in his life, starting with being a slave to becoming a free man, he became more human-like. That is, he left slavery and along with it, the notion that he was considered his master's property and became a regular human being.
At the beginning of the narrative, Douglas describes the differences he saw between him and white children. They saw their parents every day, while he can recall only seeing his mother four or five times in his life. He also never really knew his own age or could read and write while white children were educated early in their lives. It wasn't until his move to Baltimore that he said he truly felt any joy; it was after this move that be began to become more human-like. He learned to read and write as Mrs. Auld took him in and educated him, even at her husband's objection. After years of instruction, he became very educated and witty, the very thing his Master Hugh had wanted to avoid. Through this newly gained intellect, Douglas was able to gain his freedom via escape. It wasn't until he mentioned his intended wife, Anna, and his description of their marriage that I felt like he became a regular citizen of the United States. This transformation in his life brought him to the level of his former master rather than being property.
This obviously was not the common course for a slave in the United States during the 19th century. While it is fulfilling to see that Douglas changed his life for better, it is horrifying to realized what he could have endured as a slave that so many of his fellow African-Americans experienced in their lives. The slave trade in the U.S. did not end until about the year 1807. The Emancipation Proclamation wasn't signed until 1865. So, theoretically, a slave could've come to the U.S. and been a slave for 58 years. That's what makes Douglas' journey to freedom so interesting to follow, yet it took so long for him to become fully free and not property; it was half his life.
(4/25)
Before watching this movie, I remember reading the post on the class wiki about how the movie does not have much dialect and speech from the characters, but rather it relies on non-verbal communication, symbols and in plain terms, let's the history and story speak for itself. After watching the movie Chocolat, I couldn't agree with the above statements. With a rough guess, I might say there were about 1000 words spoken in this movie, which has to be less than the average Hollywood motion picture.
However, it was sort of refreshing to watch this movie, because there was less information to digest which made it easier to watch. As the movie unfolded, I found myself more and more interested because I had to watch and listen carefully to understand the movie at all. I couldn't rely on action scenes or long conversations between the characters to understand the movie.
Protee is a great example of a character who barely said anything, however you can learn about him regardless. One thing is that he is obedient and faithful to his masters regardless of the situation. He has a protective personality as he cares for France, the young girl. Even at the end of the movie when he is relegated to the garage, he show his character to the young girl, by tricking her into touching the hot machine. He was upset by the incident.
As far as the plot of the movie, I thought there were two sides to this movie: the part before the strangers crashed in the plane and then the part where they are guests of the family. Before, everything and everyone seems to be living in harmony. The relationships between the governor, his wife, France and Protee are all friendly and caring. The natives respect the governor and he respects them. When the guests arrive, their arrogance shows in how they treat Protee and other African natives. After they arrive, you see the relationship of France and Protee go downhill, plus the trust that the wife shows in Protee disappears as she asks her husband to give him a different job away from the house, even though he has been nothing but faithful to them.
I was upset that the travelers came because it sort of ruined the peace and harmony that was built in the first half. At the end, when France returns to Africa to find her old home, it sort of reminds everyone about the good times of her life, and it ends the movie on a happy note; however, it does not completely remove the bad taste of the events that occurred while the guests from France resided there
Weekly Response 12
(4/18)
For my final/creative project, I want to do something related to my journalism/telecommunications major. My idea is to do a three written feature stories on topics/characters that we have discussed in class over the semester.
The feature stories would be similar to stories you see published in a newspaper/website about a particular person or topic, but I would recreate them as if I was a reporter writing about these people during their particular time. I would write them as if I did a sit down interview with the person or the people associated with a time period about a story topic. The stories would all be written, but I would vary the writing styles for each in some way.
The three feature stories I would write would be about the following people/subjects:
The first story would be an obituary/biography of Ivan Ilych. It would be similar to style of an obituary you see in a newspaper, but it would be much longer and more descriptive about his life and the people in it. I would focus on topics such as his poor family relationships and his desire for material things while still trying to make it a positive article as an obituary is supposed to be.
The second story would be a reporter’s summary/analysis of the New York Armory in 1913 displaying all the modern art. The idea would not be to critique any of the work, but simply report on what happened during the show, and what kind of modern art was displayed. I would do research to make sure the facts I report on would be valid.
The third story would be an interview style with Gregor from Kafka’s Metamorphosis. It would be similar to an interview you find in a magazine where the question and answers would be written out. Obviously, I can’t actually interview Gregor, so I would make up his answers based on the questions I would ask him about his experience turning into a bug. I wouldn’t try to make up anything that we didn't see in the story.
For the presentation, I would summarize the three stories by giving highlights of each, probably a powerpoint to illustrate the themes and ideas that I found while writing them. I also would bring copies for everyone to read them if necessary.
Weekly Response 11
(4/11)
This week, we heard two presentations in class about modern art and then modern poetry. Both presentations gave past examples of each subject and how they developed from their oldest forms. Eventually both art and poetry changed to the point that they became something completely new and never seen before. The theme for each modern art and modern poetry became whatever the artist/writer wanted it to be. That is the biggest thing that I got from the presentations this week.
First, looking at modern art, this theme of painting should be what the artist wants didn't really start until the Impressionism movement in 1865. Until then, most art was very carefully designed and had specific purposes like documenting historical events or explaining people's lives. In the impressionism movement in Paris, artists began painting in a more colorful and unique style that they themselves concocted. It was at this time that art became what the artist wanted to make, and before that it wasn't. Art soon evolved into movements such as cubism, futurism and constructuralism and all these movements were designed by artists for a specific purpose of their own accord.
Similarly in the art of poetry, J. Alfred Prufrock came with a unique sense of poetry by writing his famous piece, The Love Song. In it, he writes with a sarcastic tone about topics such as love and happiness, and he includes a lot of other unique topics in his pieces. Poetry became about what the poet wanted to write. It was much more liberal than it had been in the past.
All in all, I would say both art and poetry have become much more broader in subject matter and topics than it used to be. The theme of poetry ad art being what the creator wanted them to be opened the door to more artists and poets, therefore, more ideas would be discovered than ever before. It's a good thing because more people are involved; however, that just means there is more material to dive into.
Weekly Response 10
(3/28)
Freud believed that dreams are wish fulfillments or the gift that people receive when they wish for something. Basically, he wants everyone to know that dreams are important and not just wasted thoughts for people. They are mainly positive thoughts that give people hope and justice for their current lives. Usually, dreams are made when someone does not have what they desire to have.
An example of this is Cinderella, which we see a video posted on the class wiki. She is the younger sister of three older, wicked sisters that make her do a lot of chores and tedious jobs around the house. She is definitely in a low point during her life, and she doesn't seem to have a lot to live for; however, in her song, Cinderella finds hope and joy in her life when she realizes that she has her dreams to look forward too. These dreams give her a chance to think about how the future will be a positive for her eventually, and it does when she marries a handsome princess.
Personally, dreams have helped me enjoy life when times become rough. I agree with Freud about dreams and that they are wish fulfillments. For example, my dream is to become a broadcaster for a professional sports team. If that wish gets fulfilled, I will be happy about it, but for now it is a dream. Dreams are what keep myself and others going in life because they help people forget about the present and focus on what could be in the future. This is what most young people go through as they imagine their future lives whether they have a high paying job or they might be married with a loving family. Either way, everyone has dreams to be fulfilled, and it is up to them to do what they must to make those dreams come true.
Weekly Response 9
(3/21)
The Heart of Darkness is a great novel that not only tells the story of a few individuals from the Congo, but it also gives insight to Europe's colonialism of Africa. One of the first themes that was brought up in class today about this piece was point of view. The way that people see the results of colonialism is a point of view. In this case, we have the point of view of the European colonists and the native Africans or in this story, Africans such as Marlow and Kurtz and the Europeans who own the company. European's see colonialism as a way to increase their country's power in addition to gathering natural resources for economic gain. On the other hand, the Africans see their home land destroyed and left behind utterly useless.
In the first part of novel, Marlow goes to work for the company willingly. When Marlow gets the job and his aunt encourages him that he will aid in the “civilization of savages.” This I believe is very unique because not many African's willingly participated in the company's project, and Marlow's aunt seems to discourage his action in doing so, but Marlow wants an adventure. Who can blame him really as the European's activity has to be intriguing. Plus, there is still mystery to him about the whole project when the novel begins and a symbol that represents this is the fog. It represents the truth that is clouded for Marlow and the Africans. Some of this truth is revealed when Marlow come's to the company's dock by boat, and he sees that it is in ruins. In addition, there are many remains of left over machinery all over the land. This is just an example of the destruction that the Europeans left behind.
This theme of revealing the truth of about the colonial project revolves around in the novel. It begs the question is the “heart of darkness”, the title, represent the evil of the colonists or the darkness created by their actions in the hearts of the Africans. All are good questions to ask.
Weekly Response 8
(3/7)
Today, in class we compared the original versions of the Declaration of Independence and the story of Adam and Eve from the bible to revised versions of the two that emphasized women's rights.
These two pieces discuss different issues relating to women's rights and the position of women among society and people. The new version of the Declaration of Independence is focusing on establishing that women are equal to men in society. It states that every woman should be able to do everything in society that men do. In addition, the declaration mentions how men have denied women citizenship, considering her property that doesn't have any civil rights. The biggest change in the two texts is the change from “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence to “all men and women are created equal.” All of these issues brought up and resolved make sense to me in the new declaration. Women should be able to have full rights as citizens. Marriages should be equal, and I believe they are in the present time, except back when the declaration was written, women were just expected to clean the home and bear children. As American culture has changed however, we see that women are in good position when they have the same rights as men.
The new version of Adam of Eve compared to older version in the bible discusses more of the spiritual and natural issues of the difference between men and women. For example, in the bible, it says God created mankind, male and female he created them. The feminist author claims this version of the story is negative towards women, especially because Eve fell victim to the devil and ate the forbidden fruit; therefore, it assumes that mankind was doomed because of her action. The new version places emphasis that mankind was created with good and evil already in them, and that Eve's actions did not cause evil to be part of humans. I think while these are good points by the feminist, they are missing the point. The scripture is intended to be a story of the separation of humans from God. The fact that Eve was before Adam to eat the fruit and disobey God shouldn't matter. The fact is that both Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and therefore, mankind became intrenched with sin. The civil and social issues of feminism I understand, but religious stories are not to be taken as literally in my opinion.
Weekly Response 7
(2/28)
One of the main themes in A Doll's House was man's dominance over women. We see it from the very beginning of the play where Torvald treats Nora as if she is a doll, something for him to play with and admire. He does not acknowledge that she is her own person and that she has many abilities and qualities other than her looks. In act three of the play, I think that this theme that dominates the play changes with the roles of Mrs. Linde and Nora.
First, I want to make a comparison between Mrs. Linde and Nora. They seem to have lived similar lives during their younger years. Mrs. Linde admits to Krogstad in act three that she married not out of love, but for wealth so that she could be rich and support her family. She may not have loved her husband as much as she did Krogstad, but she married him so she could support her family. Nora is in a similar situation with Torvald where she married a man with a lot of wealth. She never has said she didn't love him, but her assertiveness of borrowing money and spending it shows that she enjoys having that wealth for her and her children.
So, at the end of act three, Mrs. Linde plays a huge role in changing the theme of man's dominance. It starts where she decides to reengage her relationship with Krogstad. Krogstad agrees to remove the letter intended for Torvald in which he would find out about Nora's actions with the loan; however, Mrs. Linde says she wants to keep it there for Torvald to read. I think she realizes Nora is in the same situation she was in when she was younger, and she'd be better off without Torvald. That leads Torvald to reading the letter, and he becomes irate, which ultimately leads to Nora leaving. Honestly, I wouldn't have expected Nora to leave Torvald at the beginning, but she does in the end of the play. We learn that there is more to her and all women than being just a doll to play with. Her leaving official ends the theme of man's dominance over women.
Weekly Response 6
(2/20)
After reading the first section of The Death of Ivan Ilych, I thought of a question that I believe encompasses the story. The question is what is better in any one person's life: pursuit of a career or the pursuit of family?
When you look at Ivan’s life, he chose a life where he wanted to pursue a career. Most of that choice was made because of his obsession with the upper class lifestyle, which required lots of money. So, Ivan chose the path of furthering his career. A few of the reasons he did this were because he wanted to fit in with societal expectations that included becoming wealthy and powerful. He also was not the kind of guy who developed relationships, even with his own family. The only reason he married was to gain societal respect from his peers, not out of love. In fact, when he began to have children, it only burdened him.
At his funeral, we start to see the results of Ivan’s choices. Barely anybody attended the funeral, and the reader is told that Ivan’s life was just terrible. Ivan’s only real friend, Peter Ivanovich, knew him through his professional life, and while he seemed concerned that Ivan was dead. Even though he was technically Ivan’s best friend, he avoids any confrontation with anyone who asks him about Ivan or wanting to talk about his friend’s death.
So, Ivan chose to pursue his career over family. He used family to give himself more power and societal recognition, but in the end, one could argue that it wasn’t worth it. A question that comes to my mind when thinking about death is, “What would I want people to say about me when I am dead?” Honestly, my answer to that question would be based on my characteristics and what kind of person my friends and family thought I was. I would want my friends and family to say I was a great overall person. While any career achievements I accomplished may be important, I would argue the relationships you build in life are more important. That is why I think Ivan had a “terrible” life. There is nothing wrong with pursuing a career; however, he did so to the point where he forgot about family and friends in general, and just focused on himself and his own aspirations. That is why his funeral was barely attended, and that might be the reason that even Ivan began to rethink his life at his death.
Weekly Response 5
(2/7)
In class this week, we have been focusing on Romantic music from different classical eras and how it is used to express emotions like love. In our reading in class today, we have a scene where Gretchen is sitting in her room alone at a spinning wheel; here, she sings a soliloquy about her love and longing for Faust. Composer Franz Schubert wrote a musical adaption to this piece of literature, and because it is a love song about Faust, it fits into the category of Romantic music.
The piece starts very quiet and solemn as Gretchen sings the main chorus, which begins, “My peace is gone.” This same chorus appears several times in the piece as if to remind the listener of Gretchen's feelings of losing peace and having a sore heart; these are conditions due to her longing for Faust, who she is separated from.
The first verse of the piece is when the music starts to change. It picks up in dynamic by getting much louder and more emotional. In the first verse, Gretchen sings how distraught she has become; this explains the rise in dynamics because it creates tension and strong emotion in the music that is matching Gretchen's feelings at the time.
The second verse of the piece is more drawn out than the first verse. It starts mellow and quiet as Gretchen loving expresses features of Faust that she admires including “the smile of his mouth” and “the spell of his eyes.” The music now has a much warmer feeling and less tension as if Gretchen is happy when she is singing these lines.
After the final chorus, the third verse is like a climatic ending to the piece. The music quickly rises in dynamics and tempo as the tension of Gretchen rises. She expresses her clear desire for Faust in this verse by expressing how her bosom aches, and she longs to kiss him over and over. As this tension increase, the music's tempo and dynamics increase. The song ends with one final repeat of the chorus. Interestingly, this romantic music matches the emotion of Gretchen with a change in dynamics and tempo; it accurately portrays her feelings for Faust and her tension about not being with him.
Weekly Response 4
(1/31)
In class today when we were creating our own stanzas about Faust, my partner and I had a lot of ideas of what to write about. Firstly, when I think of Faust I think of someone who is very conflicted. For one, he is a very motivated individual who sought to do great things with his life; however, at times he seemed to be somewhat of an outsider. In his poem the Romantic Hero, he describes a man who is a great conqueror who was very strong in taking land and controlling people for his own purpose; however, he was more of an outcast with society, so he didn't have many strong relationships. This is very similar to Faust himself. So, with these ideas being said, the stanza we wrote wanted to convey these conflicting traits within Faust. We had to write a stanza that expressed his success in his individual accomplishments, but at the same time, it expressed the struggles that he incurred on an every day basis. Another thing about Faust that we wanted to include in the poem stanza was his relationship to nature. Faust seemed to have a stronger connection with parts of nature than actual people. Part of the reason I think was because of his outsider status, so he was able to relate to nature more than people. Faust relates this to his poetry especially when he compares his life and his accomplishments to nature.
On a side note, Faust's traits that I have discussed are very similar to Napolean Bonaparte. Napolean was a great conqueror as well, but he experienced the feeling of being an outsider as well. Something tells me that great conquerors were all similar in this way. They all were very self-motivated and passionate about becoming more powerful; however, they were not great people persons.
Weekly Response 2
(1/17)
We've continued to talk about the theme of freedom in class this week, and from this discussion, I believe there are two types or versions of freedom that people can attain. The first is the freedom of choice or having free will. It is about being independent and making your own decisions in life. It means that each person can control their own life and their search for happiness. The second is the freedom to not be obligated to find your own happiness, meaning it is provided for you. Each person doesn't have the ability to make their own decisions, because they are provided for all their needs through a central authority figure or ruling body.
These two ideas of freedom come from the discussion we had in class today about the Grand Inquisitor and his conversation with Jesus. The Grand Inquisitor believed in giving people happiness by providing for them, and he wanted Jesus to do that. In the parable of the desert, Jesus is tempted by the Devil, and he ignores them; however, the Grand Inquisitor believes that these temptations would have helped people be happy. For example, if Jesus had turned rocks into bread, people would be fed. If he ruled several kingdoms, everyone would have one just and peaceful ruler.
Jesus is in favor of the first idea of freedom where people have their own free will to make their own decisions. This is the same type of freedom that Harriet Jacobs and Fredrick Douglas sought when they were slaves. They wanted to be free to make their own decisions, and whether their decisions were good or bad, the fulfillment they received was from being able to be independent.
Personally, I think having the freedom to make your decisions is more fulfilling, because if you find happiness through your own effort, it is more peaceful than any controlled environment that the second freedom presents. When Jesus was preaching and gathering followers, I think he wanted people to choose to follow him, because that would be a more powerful connection rather than just gathering followers who didn't have any other choice than to follow him.
Weekly Response 1
(1/6 - 1/10)
When reading the narrative of Fredrick Douglas, I found that as he progressed in his life, starting with being a slave to becoming a free man, he became more human-like. That is, he left slavery and along with it, the notion that he was considered his master's property and became a regular human being.
At the beginning of the narrative, Douglas describes the differences he saw between him and white children. They saw their parents every day, while he can recall only seeing his mother four or five times in his life. He also never really knew his own age or could read and write while white children were educated early in their lives. It wasn't until his move to Baltimore that he said he truly felt any joy; it was after this move that be began to become more human-like. He learned to read and write as Mrs. Auld took him in and educated him, even at her husband's objection. After years of instruction, he became very educated and witty, the very thing his Master Hugh had wanted to avoid. Through this newly gained intellect, Douglas was able to gain his freedom via escape. It wasn't until he mentioned his intended wife, Anna, and his description of their marriage that I felt like he became a regular citizen of the United States. This transformation in his life brought him to the level of his former master rather than being property.
This obviously was not the common course for a slave in the United States during the 19th century. While it is fulfilling to see that Douglas changed his life for better, it is horrifying to realized what he could have endured as a slave that so many of his fellow African-Americans experienced in their lives. The slave trade in the U.S. did not end until about the year 1807. The Emancipation Proclamation wasn't signed until 1865. So, theoretically, a slave could've come to the U.S. and been a slave for 58 years. That's what makes Douglas' journey to freedom so interesting to follow, yet it took so long for him to become fully free and not property; it was half his life.