My English 121 Blog

Invisible Man

2005-04-17T18:44:00.000-07:00

While reading the Invisible Man there were many topics of race brought up. I thought that this book was very interesting because it touched upon topics of race that were very present in the time of the book, but that could be brought into context for today’s reader. As I read the Invisible Man I tried to put myself in the place of the Invisible Man. I tried to feel as if he would when he was in the north and the south. I also tried to put into perspective the fear and obedience he held for the white man.

One the biggest transformations that the Invisible Man had I think is the transition that he made in himself when he addressed a white man or woman. I suppose that he lost some of the fear that he had had in himself, especially when he slept with the white woman. I think he will always fear the white woman and man to a certain extent but by the end of the book I think that he has the courage to stand up for himself against the white man or woman. I think that this is a very big step for the Invisible Man.

In the discussion in class I picked the quote "he’s asked to set aside race and redefine himself as a brother," to help myself think about how this might be related to 2004. As I read this quote I thought about my everyday life. As I walk around campus and I see different groups of people together do we set aside our racial differences and intermix with those of different races as if we were brothers and sisters or do I see groups of African Americans together, whites together, Latinos together? As I try to examine this question I have to answer to the fact that each racial group seems to associate themselves with those of the same race. I wonder why this takes place. As I look at today’s society there are still many racist people and those who have racial views of one another that are not the same. For these people it is often difficult for them to set their racial views aside and become friends with the person of the other race. To do this just like in the book, you would have to accept each other as equal regardless of race. For many in the book and in today’s society this is very difficult. The place in today’s society that we see this take place most often is in athletics. Athletics seems to help people accept each other as "brothers" regardless of race.

Ideology and Allende

2005-03-28T18:59:00.000-08:00

Page 323

"Alba began to wonder what the hell she was doing there; the pain of her abdomen was becoming unbearable and the need to take a bath with running water was beginning to obsess her."

While reading this passage the reader became aware of the ideology of Alba and those of her social class. Alba was not worried about what was being fought for by what she was doing she was just caught in the moment and following along. As the times began to get harder Alba fell back and realized that what she was doing was out of the ordinary for her. She wasn’t stable enough to be in this situation. When times became rough and those who were suffering embraced them with thoughts that they were doing something positive Alba thought of home and the luxuries of life that she had. This shows how Alba’s manner has been so influenced by those in her social class.

As I read this passage and thought about what was going on I reflected on my own life and ideology. I noticed that much like Alba I often take for granted what I have in my daily life. There are certain things that are necessities in life and then there are many things that are luxuries. I don’t consider all of these things luxuries, but when I thought about it they are. There are millions of people who are not as well off as I am and I still want more of what others can’t even dream of. As I go through my daily life I am now going to try and focus on what I really need and what I don’t. Why do I allow these luxuries to thrive in my mind?

Rachel Blau Duplessis Question

2005-03-02T19:53:00.000-08:00

When I read poetry I always try to imagine where the poems came from. My main question to the author is: Do you know what you are going to write about before you create your poem or do you just start writing and you create a masterpiece? Do you know where your poem will end up in the end? What processes do you go through to create a poem?

Antigone

2005-03-02T19:51:00.000-08:00

I found reading "Antigone" very interesting. I think that I had read another version of this play in high school. Once I realized this I found it very interesting to compare the two plays while I was reading Brecht’s version. I personally did not really care for the reason of the war in Brecht’s version. Maybe I am partial to the first version I read and it was difficult to get certain details out of my head from it, but the war didn’t seem to have as great of a purpose in Brecht’s version.

I finally feel that at the end of the play maybe the elders agree with me. There is a section on pages 56-57 lines 1010-1090 where the elders question the reasoning of the war. The elders accuse Kreon of leading a "double war." What is meant by a double war? I think that the elders are now realizing that Kreon is not involved in this war for the benefit of the people. He is in the war to profit personally. They also are realizing that the war is devouring itself and anyone who gets in the way. Also that those who are "in need get nothing." This is not a way to rule.

Overall I really enjoyed this play and the class discussion of it!:)

Cortez

2005-02-21T17:33:00.000-08:00

While reading "Cortez" I found some very interesting facts embedded in the story. This story or tail was one that was passed on from generation to generation. It was not passed on from generation to generation because someone wrote it down and was able to reread the story numerous times to others, but because the story was told with meaning and detail by adults to children and to each other. Due to the fact that this tale had been told like this there are several variants that have been heard. There are probably more that we have not written down, but by reading the ones we read I received a pretty good representation of the overall tale.

I thought that the first variant that we read was the most interesting. This could have been because it was the first one I read or because it was the longest. After I read this one I seemed to compare all the others to it. I seemed to take it for truth and the other variants as falsifications. This can be used as a good example of how many of the people would take the different variants they heard and decide which one to retell. It is also obvious in the readings of the different variants that there are many things that were completely made up. In most cases the variants all told the same basic tale, but in spots you could see where something was completely different form all the others. This is most likely a part where someone received wrong information or they just made up something to fit that section instead of saying that they didn’t know what actually happened.

Another thing that jumped out at me was how while reading the story I noticed many different references of Cortez being compared to either Christ or being Christlike. To me this is a very strong comparison to be made. For example there were many references to biblical stories. One can be found in the first two section of the reading where there is a reference made to Juda. In another section there is a reference made to Cortez "following a star." This could be replaced with the north star and the story in the bible. I wish I knew more of what the author was really trying to say with these comparisons. In conclusion, I thought that this tale was very interesting.

Blood Wedding

2005-02-10T11:03:00.000-08:00

As I first began to read "Blood Wedding" I immediately picked up on the fact that there was something major that had to do with the knives. I wasn’t exactly sure of what was going to happen with the knives until almost the end of the play. I was completely surprised that after the bride and bridegroom got married that the bride had enough guts to run off with Leonardo. It seems to me that in that time women didn’t have a ton of authority and didn’t have the right to make their own decisions. It surprised me that the bride wasn’t greatly disciplined at the end of the play for doing this. In the end she stood against the norms of society and by doing this she killed two men.

Another thing that I found interesting in the play was how the mother completely hated knives at the beginning and then helped her son find a knife at the end of the play. I think that maybe at the end of the play the mother knows that if her son doesn’t go after his wife and fight Leonardo that he would lose his reputation in their town. I also think that the mother knows that Leonardo is a Felix and may want her only son left to try and revenge the death of her husband and other son. The bridegroom does kill Leonardo as the mother hoped, but he is also killed. I don’t think that this is exactly what the mother wanted to happen.

I also found it very interesting how the movie clips that were taken from the book helped me gain a greater understanding for the novel. There were certain things in the movie clips that I didn’t catch in the book, like how great the infatuation between the mother and son might be. Watching the movie clips also allowed me to interrupt different sections of the play in a different way. I thought this was very helpful. Overall, I thought that this play was easy to read and interesting to discuss in class.

"The Awakening"

2005-01-30T08:52:00.000-08:00

I thought that "The Awakening" was interesting, as it kept me on my toes and curious of what was going to happen next. As I read through the book I felt that Edna was desperately searching for independence and love. There were many times when she wanted to stand up for herself and she didn’t and other times when she did. As I continued to read there were times when I was so angry with the society that Edna was living in because of what was expected by Edna. In today’s society most women do not allow a male, or their husband to control them as Edna’s husband was trying to control her. Now women are more independent and have the ability to make decisions on their own, just like men. A huge difference in society now is that there are even women who support their family. Sometimes they have the better job and the higher income! Is there anything wrong with this? I do not think that there is a problem with this at all. It just shows that everyone is becoming more alike and equal!

The other major conflict in Edna’s life is her search and longing for true love. Edna is very young and has married a man who is much older than she is. The marriage doesn’t seem to have been out of love. I think there was another reason for the marriage. Edna obviously has not found true love in her marriage and is looking for it in others. She seems to have found the love that she wants when she meets Robert, but because he loves her so much he can’t be with her the way they both want. Edna is married and Robert is respecting that fact when he leaves her and tells her that he loves her. To me this is what true love is and I would hope that if there was more to the story we could somehow see Edna and Robert together!

Gilman's "Yellow Wall-paper"

2005-01-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

I must begin this blog in saying that I found this short selection quite interesting. There are so many different takes one may have after reading this selection. I thought of it in one way and then went to class and heard so many other different takes that also made sense to me. I must start by saying I am still very unsure how and what I think the real meaning of the story is but right now I am going to focus on the following section:

"And I know John would think it absurd. But I MUST say what I feel and think in some way -- it is such a relief! But the effort is getting to be greater than the relief. (Gilman 5)"

After reading this section it really makes me think about if John is really trying to help his wife or if he is just trying to control her. I do not know the type of doctors and such that were present at the time of this piece. Today we have so many doctors and great technigues to help people, but placing them in a house, forbidding them to do anything is not one of them. Many people in today's society go to therapists and doctors and the main thing that they do is talk and tell them about their problems. They are also often encouraged to keep a journal of their thoughts. This often helps the patient. It does not make sense to me that if John is a doctor why is keeping his wife looked up in the house and forbidding her to write or do anything. Fresh air also seems to make everyone feel better and I don't believe that she is even allowed to go out side at her own will.

When she does write she feels better, but the effort that goes into her writing is beginning to be too much. All the sneaking around and creeping is too much; it is beginning to wear on her mind and body. At this point she must get out. She can't continue to creep around. This I believe is when she begins to concentrate on the wall paper and tear at it. Maybe not physically right away, but internally she begins and soon all she wants to do is become free of everything. Therefore she tears at the wall paper and will escape.

Douglass' Narrative

2005-01-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

In this blog I would like to expand on a class discussion we had on Friday January 14th on Douglass. In class we took a section of the text and spoke about how we felt Douglass was feeling at that point and why he said what he said. In doing this we used the following passage from the text:

"It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast. (Douglass ch7)"

I personally feel that at this point in time Douglass is overwhlemed with everything that is taking place in his life. Douglass just had his eyes opened to the outside world by being taught to read. Before this time in his life all he knew was being a slave. He had no real idea what the world had to offer him. Now Douglass was given the chance to see what there is in the world good and bad. He now knows that being a slave is not a great thing and that there really are better things out there. He is now willing to fight and challenege what is taking place so he may become free. At this point he envy's his fellow slaves for their stupidity because now that he has this new knowledge of the outside world he can not sit back and continue with his regular life. He has changed in many ways and he is no longer happy and satisfied being a slave. He wants to be more; he wants to be free. Now that he has this new knoweledge and new ambition it is all that consumes him and all that he lives for. Each day he ponders what his next step should be and is no longer happy doing what everyone else is doing. Since he has this new knoweledge he wishes that he didn't. For him at this point in his life it is only troublesome to him and he wishes to be like his fellow slaves: stupid, or unaware of the real outside world. He also realizes that to wish to be like his fellow slaves and be a prisoner of his master he would be compared to an animal or a beast. He didn't feel this way until his new knoweledge. Unfortunately, he cannot take back what he has learned of the outside world so he must do what he can to find freedom or be unhappy. Therefore, Douglass will look for freedom.