5/4/14

Siren Song
By Margaret Atwood

This is the one song everyone
would like to learn: the song
that is irresistible:

the song that forces men
to leap overboard in squadrons
even though they see the beached skulls

the song nobody knows
because anyone who has heard it
is dead, and the others can't remember.

Shall I tell you the secret
and if I do, will you get me
out of this bird suit?

I don't enjoy it here
squatting on this island
looking picturesque and mythical

with these two feathery maniacs,
I don't enjoy singing
this trio, fatal and valuable.

I will tell the secret to you,
to you, only to you.
Come closer. This song

is a cry for help: Help me!
Only you, only you can,
you are unique

at last. Alas
it is a boring song
but it works every time.

   I am currently sitting in the dressing room of the Georgia International Convention Center. I am here for KAR( a dance competition). I chose this poem because one of my contemporary dances is about sirens. The dance is about one siren who falls in love with a man. Sirens are supposed to lure men into their death, not fall in love with them. Throughout the song, the group of sirens attack and eventually kill the siren who went against the rules and fell in love. This poem is exactly what we try to embody in our dance.
   The song of the siren is irresistible. The song is the sirens weapon. They use it to lure sailors into the water and eventually to their death. The song forces men over the edge of their boats. The men "see the beached skulls" but the song is too irresistible.  No one knows the song of the sirens because they are all killed. I find it interesting that the speaker would say "and the others can't remember" because there are usually no survivors. Another interesting component of this poem is that the speaker refers to herself as a "bird". The speaker is squatting on the island like a bird waiting for her prey. So maybe this poem is not about typical sirens? Maybe this poem is about majestic birds who sit on the island. However, it could also be a reference to a weak animal. When I think of the word "bird", I think of a little blue bird or a fragile, harmless bird. I do not associate the word bird with an eagle or a vulture. I believe that the word bird is used to make the sirens look like prey when in reality they are the predators. The speaker states that they are sitting in a trio. This reminds me of the movie "O Brother Where Art Thou". The sirens in the movie are a group of three woman. They wait on a little island/swamp area waiting for men to travel by.
   There is a juxtaposition with the words "fatal and valuable". But if you think about it, fatal and valuable is a phrase used quite often. Are weapons fatal? Yes, but they are valuable in war. The next stanza portrays the speaker luring the listener in. The poem itself is the Sirens' song. The poem is drawing the reader in and forcing them to continuing reading for more. The song seems like a "cry for help" but this could be the Sirens' song. The siren is luring the reader in by portraying themselves as helpless and in need of saving. The last stanza captures this idea perfectly. It says, "alas it is a boring song but it works every time."  The reader has been drawn into the poem. The siren finds calls for help "boring", but it is the only way to draw people into her trap. It also works every time which shows that Sirens always get why they want. They fake and mock calls for help in order to draw people in.
    Well I have finished analyzing the poem, and we already went and performed our Sirens dance(it went really well). Off to a long day of dancing.

4/27/14

   Besides the fact that my British accent is extremely rough, I am enjoying reading "the Importance of Being Earnest" in class. It is entertaining to listen to everyone attempt a British accent.  I have to be honest, I did not think that this play would be as entertaining as it is. Everything is completely turned around in this play which makes it enjoyable. It is a lighthearted play that is interesting to read. I am looking forward to finishing the play so we can all find out how this big mess plays out. At this point, Jack is Ernest, Algy is Ernest, and Ernest is in a love triangle with Gwendolen and Cecily. Everything is backwards and nothing makes sense. Wilde chooses to portray his feelings on marriage, society, and religion through the use of comedy. The lively characters add to his humorous portrayal of these views.
   Wilde begins Act One by discussing the subject of marriage. Algy talkes about how marriage makes the quality of champagne go down. Marriage should be happy and should make everything better including champagne. People do not expect champagne to get worse after marriage. Algernon explains that marriage is not a good choice because it brings qualities down. Wilde presents contradictions throughout the play. In the first act, a comment is made that the lower class should be setting the example. In the real world, the higher class is the class that should be setting examples. Marriage is continuously bashed by making it out to be awful and boring.
   In the second act, the church is undermined and there is commentary on religion. The priest is able to change is sermon for joyous acassions or melancholy occasions. This is a comment on the quality of the message he is trying to get across. The church is able to change their message to fit any circumstance or situation. Both Jack and Algernon say that they will swing by the church to be baptized in a short twenty or so minutes.Baptisms are usually long and large ordeals for a family or person. This is when they accept Christ as their savior. Jack and Algernon are undermining the importance of this event by saying they will just swing by when they can, or they hope it only lasts about twenty minutes.  We are only a few pages into Act Two, so I am expecting many more comments on other social issues.
  The characters make this play. I enjoy Lane's character. It is funny to see how Lane agrees with Algernon no matter the situation. He takes the blame for all of the mistakes Algernon makes without a second thought. I do not like Algernon. I think he is a funny character to read, but I do not like is Pompous attitude. Cecily and Gwendolen both annoy me. BOTH of them want to marry a man named Ernest because they believe that Ernest is an interesting man! Cecily has made up a completely irrational life with Ernest(Algernon). We all laugh in class when either Gwendolen or Cecily speak about their Ernest because it sounds ridiculous! But hey, there are always ridiculous situations and people in a comedy.

4/20/14

SPOILER ALERT(I will be talking about my Lit circle book: Snow Falling on Cedars. Do not read this blog if you plan to read the book). Okay I have to be honest, in the beginning, I was a little disappointed with the novel I chose for my lit circle. Everyone else seems to be so passionate about their novel, and I like my novel but I do not LOVE it. I chose the novel Snow Falling on Cedars, and I expected it to be a thrilling murder mystery! However, I soon found out that murder is not the center focus of the novel. The novel begins in the middle of the the trial of a Japanese American who is convicted with killing Carl Heine. The novel jumps between the life of Carl Heine, the life of Kabuo, the life of Hatsue and her relationship with Ishmael, and so much more! I have read half the book, and it seems that the author has given me so much information, yet I still do not have all the information to connect the dots!
   In out first lit circle, my group and I discussed the fact that the author did not write the novel chronologically. He wrote it so that each chapter focuses on a different person and a different point of view to the story. When I first started reading the novel, I was frustrated with the way it was written because I did not like all of the interruptions! I just wanted to find out who the murder is!  Now that I have gotten through half of the book, I have gotten used to the different aspects and points of view, and I now realize how important it is that the book is written this way. The author gives the reader so much information about the people on the island and the people related to the murder, so the reader will be able to try to figure out the results of the trial. I personally cannot decide who killed Carl! My lit circle group and I at this point in time do not think Kabuo killed Carl. We believe that he is a man who has been marked and hardened by war. He knows the sins he has committed, and it seems that he would rather stay in jail to pay for these sins. Although he has every motive to want to kill Carl, I think this solution would be too obvious. All good murder mysteries have a plot twist in the end. I think Kabuo has made mistakes and has sinned in the past, but I think he is innocent of killing Carl.
  I want to clarify that I do not dislike this novel at all! I actually enjoy learning about the history of the treatment of the Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor in a fictional story. The novel is growing on me, and I am finally getting into the characters and into the story. I know understand how it is written and how the different points of view and details of the different relationships are necessary! I looks forward to reading the rest of the novel and finding out who the murderer truly is!

3/31/14


  One of the most interesting aspects of the novel Invisible Man is that everything and I mean everything is flip flopped.  The colors white and black are flip flopped.  Not only are they contrasted throughout the ENTIRE novel, they have switched connotations and meaning.  The color white usually symbolizes purity, light, knowledge, and enlightenment.  BUT NO.  Ellison decides to make black symbolize all of these qualities.  The color black usually symbolizes darkness, confusion, and altered reality.  However, in this novel, white seems to be the color of the blind.  In the beginning, the students at the battle royal are blind folded with WHITE blindfolds.  The Battle Royal is not a pure or enlightened activity.  They poor students are blinded by the white blindfolds as they battle each other in front of the WHITE men.  Throughout the novel, the narrator seems to only be able to concentrate when he is in darkness.  At the end of the novel, the narrator is living in his cave underground.  It is in this darkness that he can truly see.  The narrator states, "And I awoke in the blackness.  Fully awake now, I simply lay there as though paralyzed," (Ellison 570).  The narrator is "fully awake" in the blackness.  He has finally awaken from a dreamlike state.  He has realized that he is invisible and he needs to do what he wants and stop obeying other people.  I talked about in my previous blog how the Liberty Paint episode shows the contrast between white and black.   The narrator fully understands that the black paint is black and blames the man for trying to trick him because the paint is supposed to be white.  However, when the narrator looks at the white paint, he becomes confused.  He thinks his eyes are playing tricks on him causing him to see the grey specks in the white paint.  White is supposed to be clear and pure white.  The narrator is always unsure of himself when he is confronted with the color white.  In contrast, when he is faced with the color black, he is aware of what is going on and knows what the reality is.
   Today during seminar, we discussed the hanging mannequins.  The point was brought up that the hanging is similar to that of lynching slaves. There is another element that is flip flopped in this section.  The hanging mannequins are actually hanging white women.  The slaves who were lynched were black and usually men.  The fact that the mannequins are not only white but women should be noted.  This could be another comment on women in the novel.  This contrast could be presented because the hanging of the mannequins is taking place in the north while lynching took place in the south.  In the riot scene, Ras orders the hanging of the narrator and calls the narrator a traitor.  Ras could be calling the narrator a white woman.  He has betrayed his own race and has turned into not only a white person but a white woman.  There are so many contrasts and elements that are flip flopped in this novel.  It would take 200 blogs to be able to discuss all of the contrasts let alone all of the other details of the novel!

3/31/14


  Over the past week, we have been having some interesting discussions on the novel Invisible Man.  Due to an art field trip, I missed the seminar about the Liberty Paint and Hospital episode.  However, in the other seminars, we have made connections back to this episode, so it is an important episode on the novel.  I believe this episode is so important because it is a transition period for the narrator.  The Liberty Paint episode seems to be the narrators last ditch effort to succeed according to his beliefs as a young college student.  The hospital episode is a transition period.  What exactly is the narrator transitioning to?  Well that question was debated on A LOT during the Eviction/Women seminar.
  Before I get ahead of myself, I would like to talk about the Liberty Paint episode.  There are many contrasts during this episode.  There is the definite contrast between white and black.  These colors are not only contrasted, their qualities are flipped.  Throughout the whole novel, white is blinding while people can only see in black or in darkness.  The narrator states, "All were the same, a brilliant white diffused with gray.  I closed my eyes for a moment and looked again and still no change," (Ellison 205).  Usually, it is easy to tell whether or not a color is purely white.  White is clean, bright, and easily recognizable.  It is interesting to note that the narrator is confused when looking at the white paint.  White usually stands for enlightenment, but it is making the narrator confused.  However, the narrator is not confused when he is starring at black paint.  The narrator states, "But when I looked into the white graduate I hesitated, the liquid inside was dead black.  Was he trying to kid me?" (Ellison 200).  The narrator is certain that the paint is black,  He does not doubt himself when looking at the black paint.  He believes that the man could be trying to trick him.  However, when the narrator is looking at the white paint, he doubts himself.  He thinks his own eyes are playing a trick on him.  When the narrator is faced with darkness and the color black, he is certain of himself.  When the narrator is faced with brightness and the color white, he becomes wary and uncertain.  This connects to the end of the novel.  The narrator is certain that he is invisible and he knows who he is and how he wants to live when he is in the darkness of his cave.  He was not able to figure out who he was when he was in the bright light of the world above.
   During the Eviction/ Women seminar we discussed whether or not the hospital episode was a transition or a rebirth.  Personally, I did not see the episode as a complete rebirth.  The narrator did completely lose his identity and had to start fresh, but I believe some of his old beliefs and tendencies are still present.  For example, when the narrator is eating the yams on the street, he realizes that he did not come to New York to enjoy yams on the side of the street.  He remembers that there is a specific reason he is in New York.  After this moment, he falls into the trap of the brotherhood.  This is why I read the hospital scene as more of a transition than a rebirth.  Yes the narrator loses his identity because he is given a new name, but he still has the same tendencies and follows other people like he did before the hospital scene.

3/30/14

Night Poem

Margaret Atwood

There is nothing to be afraid of,

it is only the wind
changing to the east, it is only
your father          the thunder
your mother          the rain

In this country of water
with its beige moon damp as a mushroom,
its drowned stumps and long birds
that swim, where the moss grows
on all sides of the trees
and your shadow is not your shadow
but your reflection,

your true parents disappear
when the curtain covers your door.
We are the others,
the ones from under the lake
who stand silently beside your bed
with our heads of darkness.
We have come to cover you
with red wool,
with our tears and distant whispers.

You rock in the rain's arms,
the chilly ark of your sleep,
while we wait, your night
father and mother,
with our cold hands and dead flashlight,
knowing we are only
the wavering shadows thrown
by one candle, in this echo
you will hear twenty years later. 

  I am starting to love Margaret Atwood's poetry. I never heard of her before I stumbled upon her poetry a few months ago. My favorite kind of poetry is dark poetry that is weird, different, and eerie. The poems I have read by her have fit these descriptions so far. For this month, I decided to analyze Night Poem. 

   The title itself leads the reader to believe that the poem will be dark and eerie. The word "night" connotates to many things.  During the night, creatures come out that would not normally show themselves in the day. It is hard to see at night so images and objects are distorted and can be mistaken for something else. The first line in the poem creates a sense that something not right is  happening. Personally, when I hear someone say "there is nothing to be afraid of" then there is most likely something to be afraid of. Especially when a person comes out of the darkness of the night saying everything is ok. Whoever the speaker is seems untrustworthy.  The speaker says it is only the "wind changing to the east" and the father which is thunder and the mother which is rain. The wind is changing its direction. This means that the wind could be unstable or the wind could be taking a new path. The father is thunder which is loud and strong. The mother is rain which can be light and cleansing or can be violent and harmful depending on the storm. These parents of the night are intertwined with nature. Meaning that nature can come to live at night. 
   The next stanza discusses all of nature. Nature seems to have a saggy or sullen mood. The moon is "beige". It does not glow a bright white like one would think of the moon. It resembles a "damp..mushroom".  Nature takes on more creature like qualities during the night. One of my favorite lines in this poem is "and your shadow is not your shadow but your reflection". Such a great line! This implies that people are their shadows. People have both positive qualities during the daylight and negative qualities during the night. A shadow self is a negative energy that is completely opposite of a person. Yet the speaker is saying that this shadow is the reflection. You are who you are bad qualities and all. This all becomes evident  at night.
  The next stanza is equally creepy and equally awesome. The speaker is saying that they are the new parents. They are the parents that appear when you shut your door at night. When you are locked alone in your room, they come out to stare at you.  They come from under the lake which means that they are damp and soggy. They probably look like they were dragged from the lake. They cover the child with "red wool". Red stands for violence and blood. Personally I find wool to be itchy and uncomfortable, so this piece of fabric is not comfortable or pleasant. The new parents cover the child with whispers and tears. Everything looks perfect during the day, but during the night, the real issues and problems emerge from the darkness. "You will rock in the rain's arms" means that the child will be rocked by his night mother. The child's night parents wait and watch. They have a "dead flashlight" which means they have no light to see. This could men that the night parents are not enlightened. They are blinded by the darkness. They cannot truly see the child they hold. However, they know that they are only shadows. They cannot be seen in the full sunlight. They can only be seen with one candle light. They lurk in the shadows wanting what they cannot have. Nature itself must want to consume the child at night to have for its own. Nature cannot have the child during the day in the light. At night, nature becomes distorted and people become their shadow selfs. Their negative qualities are reflected just as nature's negative qualities are reflected. 

3/9/14

   Wasn't that times writing on Friday great?! I kid I kid. I know that timesd writings make everyone said and dread the entire hour we must sit and write until our hands fall off.  Mrs. Clinch tires to boost our spirit with her fairy powers, and that definitely makes us laugh before we dive into the question sitting in front of us.  Although I was dreading the times writing on Friday, I took away many different viewpoints of Hamlet after writing the essay. I was surprised to see that there were three options to choose from on the prompt sheet. I chose the question having to do with a tragic figure and how they impose suffering on those around them and how they add to the overall tragedy of the play.
   After reading Hamle, I came to the conclusion that I did not like Hamlet as a character. I thought he was a hypocrite and way too judge mental for his own good. I mean come one buddy, you murdered Polonius, yet your damning Ophelia for telling one four worded lie? Give her a break! She has to follow her father in the society she is has to live in. (Sorry for the mini tangent. Since I played Ophelia in our group project, I now have a soft spot for her and her situation).  ANYWAY. After reading the question about the tragic figure, I realized Shakespeare probably made Hamlet a tragic figure to add to the tragedy of the play. He did not make Hamlet a jerk just to make him a jerk. He made Hamlet impose suffering on the other characters to create a tragedy.
   A way to read the play, is to read it in a way so that you can see that Hamlet is the one who causes everyone's death in the play. Besides King Hamlet's death, Hamlet either directly or indirectly causes the death of every other character. For example, he causes the death of Ophelia(here comes my soft spot again).  Personally, I believe that Hamlet and Ophelia were in love. I also believe that they had been intimate. First Hamlet tells her he doesn't lover her and that he never loved her. Then,  he insults her and makes awfulinnuendos toward Ophelia. Not only does he take their love away, he KILLS HER FATHER without an apology! Ophelia goes crazy due to her fathers death and her situation with Hamlet. In the end, I blame Hamlet for Ophelia stowing herself.
   Hamlet not only causes Ophelia's suffering and death, he causes the death of everyone else and his own death in the end.  After watching the Branagh version, I believe that Hamlet knew the drink was poisoned. Hamlet is always the smarted character in the room. He should have know that the cup was poisoned, yet he did not stop his mom from drinking out of the cup. It is as if he wanted her to die for her sins. He could care less by that point. He causes his own death by not taking the action of Claudius's murder until the very end. He was too calculated and too worried about playing God, so he caused everyone to suffer when he could have just killed Claudius!