8/29/13
I am only seven pages in of Winesburg, Ohio, and I am already in love with the book. I find it to be mysterious, and I think that it holds an abundance of deeper meaning that can be interpreted in any way the reader wants to interpret it. Today in class, we were not even able to finish the first story which is only five pages long because we went into great detail as to what we thought the text was trying to say. There is no space to write anything else in the margins of those five pages because they are filled with my own interpretations as well as different interpretations that my classmates came up with that I did not think about.
One of the interesting aspects of the book that I have noticed so far is the repeating of certain words. While reading the "The Book of the Grotesque" in class today, I circled the words: window, bed, and woman. These three words are mentioned quite often in ONLY the first five pages. I wonder how many more times they will be repeated throughout the book.
The one word that I circled the most was the word bed. The bed seems to be the old writer's sanctuary. He calls a carpenter and asks him to raise the bed so that he can look outside the window. Since he wants the bed, his sanctuary, to be raised higher, it seems like he wants to be closer to the heavens. He knows that he is soon going to die, and he wants to be able to see the beauty outside of the window before he goes. After seeing the grotesques passing before his eyes, he gets out of bed to write after seeing a certain grotesque. The narrator presence states, "Although it was a painful thing to do, he crept out of bed and began to write," (Sherwood 5). This indicates that the grotesque he saw had enough influence to urge the man to get out of his sanctuary and write. This grotesque had the power to take the old write out of his safe haven, so that he could write down the truths of the grotesques.
Another aspect of the first story or chapter is that the narrator is unknown. Who is the mysterious identity narrating the old writer's story? When beginning the story, the reader does not know that the story is in first person. I could not tell that it was being written from the first person perspective when I began reading it. All of a sudden, the word I is presented, and the reader realizes that there is some sort of narrator telling the old writer's story. The narrator seems to be a presence. The narrator does not seem to be any certain human in the story or relating to the story. The narrator seems to be just a presence who wants to tell the story of the old writer.
I am looking forward to reading further into the novel. I enjoyed finding the deeper meaning of the first story, so I cannot wait to see what the rest of the stories are like and find out what they mean.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
8/28/13
One of my favorite movies of all time is Pride and Prejudice (2005). I have probably watched it over twenty times, and I am not exaggerating. I have read the book, and I think that the movie is an accurate adaptation of the book. To be completely honest, I watched the movie before I even read the book. But after watching the movie, I knew I had to read the book, and I loved the book as well. I think it is quite interesting how directors try to portray the story. The way they dress the characters, set up the lighting, portray relationships, etc. are completely thought out and intended.
An interesting fact about me is that I love watching the commentaries with the directors and/or actors. Watching the commentary shines a light on the decisions the directors make and why they make those decisions. After watching the commentary on the Pride and Prejudice DVD, I looked at the movie a different way. I noticed lighting in certain places that was supposed to make a statement. I noticed how symbols were present throughout the movie that hinted to the overall plot of the movie. Watching the commentary helped me analyze and understand the story even more than I had before.
Symbols are present in the movie that allude to different aspects of the movie as a whole. In the commentary, Joe Wright, the director, commented on the first shot of the film. The film opens on a shot of Elizabeth Bennett walking to her house while reading a book. Wright presents the idea that Elizabeth is in fact reading the story that is about to take place. She is actually reading the love story that is about to happen. Most people would not notice this or interpret this on their own. But after finding out that Elizabeth is reading her own story, one can come to the conclusion that Elizabeth is smart and enjoys reading and reading about stories of love, but she is headstrong and will not marry unless she is truly in love. The beginning shot could imply that she is ignorant about the fact that she is soon to fall in love. She is blindsided and does not expect to have her own love story. An interesting symbol that shows up in the film is mirrors. In the opening scene, Elizabeth looks through a window seeing her mother and father talking. Wright comments that the window symbolizes fails of perception. He says that Pride and Prejudice is all about, "seeing people through windows of your own understanding." The people in the story are blinded by their pride and their prejudices. Elizabeth looks at Mr. Darcy through eyes of her pride and prejudice. She is blinded by her love for him because she lets her pride get the better of her. Events throughout the movie cause Elizabeth to have certain prejudices and feelings against Mr. Darcy. She thinks him to be an awful man full of pride when she does not know his whole story. It amazes me that one little symbol like a window can actually mean so much more than a square one can look through.
The commentary highlights introduces many more ideas than just symbolism in the move. That is why I love commentaries. The commentaries help the watcher understand something he or she might not have understood, or allows him or her to catch something they never noticed. I highly recommend watching the commentaries if you want to look at the movie or story itself in a different way.
One of my favorite movies of all time is Pride and Prejudice (2005). I have probably watched it over twenty times, and I am not exaggerating. I have read the book, and I think that the movie is an accurate adaptation of the book. To be completely honest, I watched the movie before I even read the book. But after watching the movie, I knew I had to read the book, and I loved the book as well. I think it is quite interesting how directors try to portray the story. The way they dress the characters, set up the lighting, portray relationships, etc. are completely thought out and intended.
An interesting fact about me is that I love watching the commentaries with the directors and/or actors. Watching the commentary shines a light on the decisions the directors make and why they make those decisions. After watching the commentary on the Pride and Prejudice DVD, I looked at the movie a different way. I noticed lighting in certain places that was supposed to make a statement. I noticed how symbols were present throughout the movie that hinted to the overall plot of the movie. Watching the commentary helped me analyze and understand the story even more than I had before.
Symbols are present in the movie that allude to different aspects of the movie as a whole. In the commentary, Joe Wright, the director, commented on the first shot of the film. The film opens on a shot of Elizabeth Bennett walking to her house while reading a book. Wright presents the idea that Elizabeth is in fact reading the story that is about to take place. She is actually reading the love story that is about to happen. Most people would not notice this or interpret this on their own. But after finding out that Elizabeth is reading her own story, one can come to the conclusion that Elizabeth is smart and enjoys reading and reading about stories of love, but she is headstrong and will not marry unless she is truly in love. The beginning shot could imply that she is ignorant about the fact that she is soon to fall in love. She is blindsided and does not expect to have her own love story. An interesting symbol that shows up in the film is mirrors. In the opening scene, Elizabeth looks through a window seeing her mother and father talking. Wright comments that the window symbolizes fails of perception. He says that Pride and Prejudice is all about, "seeing people through windows of your own understanding." The people in the story are blinded by their pride and their prejudices. Elizabeth looks at Mr. Darcy through eyes of her pride and prejudice. She is blinded by her love for him because she lets her pride get the better of her. Events throughout the movie cause Elizabeth to have certain prejudices and feelings against Mr. Darcy. She thinks him to be an awful man full of pride when she does not know his whole story. It amazes me that one little symbol like a window can actually mean so much more than a square one can look through.
The commentary highlights introduces many more ideas than just symbolism in the move. That is why I love commentaries. The commentaries help the watcher understand something he or she might not have understood, or allows him or her to catch something they never noticed. I highly recommend watching the commentaries if you want to look at the movie or story itself in a different way.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
8/25/2013
Earlier today, I decided to clean out my bookshelf. I spent the morning going through piles upon piles of books laying around my bookshelf. I decided to put all of the books by the same author in separate piles. I was looking through my Agatha Christie pile when I found a book that I had read at the beginning of the summer, Murder on the Orient Express. For those who have not read it, I highly recommend it. Those who enjoy mysteries will find it to be an interesting story, and for those who enjoy plot twists and surprises will enjoy it even more. Stumbling upon this book made me think of all of the characters and the unexpected twists and turns that occurred in the book. While I was thinking about the plot, a thought occurred to me. The victim vs victimizer theme present in Frankenstein is also present in Murder on the Orient Express.
In Frankenstein, the roles of victim and victimizer switch throughout the book. I realized that the roles of victim and victimizer also switch throughout the Murder on the Orient Express. The story is centered around detective Hercule Poroit. He is traveling on a train full with people from different social classes and different parts of the world. On the second night, Mr. Ratchett is murdered in his compartment. Ratchett was stabbed twelve times. Poroit takes charge of the investigation, and begins searching the train and interviewing the passengers. The reader follows Poroit's journey which includes finding clues, discovering alibis, interviewing suspects, and keeping an eye for the murderer.
At the beginning of the novel, Mr. Ratchett is presented as the victim. Even thought the reader does not particularly like Mr. Ratchett's character the reader feels bad for Mr. Ratchett because the poor man was murdered in his sleep. However, it is discovered later in the novel that Mr. Ratchett is actually a man named Cassetti. Cassetti kidnapped and murdered a little girl named Daisy Armstrong many years ago. At this point in the novel, the reader no longer feels that Mr. Ratchett is the victim. The reader feels that Mr. Ratchett got what he deserved for killing an innocent child. WARNING: SPOILER ALERT. If you actually want to read this book, do not read any further! Once Mr. Ratchett is identified as Cassetti, Poroit begins to discover that the passengers on the train are connected to the Armstrong family. One by one, the reader begins to see the passengers as the victims. These poor people knew the innocent little girl who was murdered, and they all adored her. At the end of the novel Poroit comes to the conclusion that everyone on the train plotted to kill Mr. Ratchett together which is why he had twelve different stab wounds. By the end of the novel, the reader does not feel bad for the victim, the person murdered, he or she feels bad for the victimizers, the murderers. However, the victim/victimizer role could be different depending on the reader's point of view. The reader can look at Mr. Ratchett or Cassetti as the victimizer. He murdered an innocent child and got what he deserved. The reader can look at the twelve murderers on the train as the victims. These twelve people were connected to this poor child and suffered for many years. After making the connection from the Murder on the Orient Express to Frankenstein, I believe that the victim vs victimizer theme is a theme present in multiple novels, and can be interpreted in many different ways.
Earlier today, I decided to clean out my bookshelf. I spent the morning going through piles upon piles of books laying around my bookshelf. I decided to put all of the books by the same author in separate piles. I was looking through my Agatha Christie pile when I found a book that I had read at the beginning of the summer, Murder on the Orient Express. For those who have not read it, I highly recommend it. Those who enjoy mysteries will find it to be an interesting story, and for those who enjoy plot twists and surprises will enjoy it even more. Stumbling upon this book made me think of all of the characters and the unexpected twists and turns that occurred in the book. While I was thinking about the plot, a thought occurred to me. The victim vs victimizer theme present in Frankenstein is also present in Murder on the Orient Express.
In Frankenstein, the roles of victim and victimizer switch throughout the book. I realized that the roles of victim and victimizer also switch throughout the Murder on the Orient Express. The story is centered around detective Hercule Poroit. He is traveling on a train full with people from different social classes and different parts of the world. On the second night, Mr. Ratchett is murdered in his compartment. Ratchett was stabbed twelve times. Poroit takes charge of the investigation, and begins searching the train and interviewing the passengers. The reader follows Poroit's journey which includes finding clues, discovering alibis, interviewing suspects, and keeping an eye for the murderer.
At the beginning of the novel, Mr. Ratchett is presented as the victim. Even thought the reader does not particularly like Mr. Ratchett's character the reader feels bad for Mr. Ratchett because the poor man was murdered in his sleep. However, it is discovered later in the novel that Mr. Ratchett is actually a man named Cassetti. Cassetti kidnapped and murdered a little girl named Daisy Armstrong many years ago. At this point in the novel, the reader no longer feels that Mr. Ratchett is the victim. The reader feels that Mr. Ratchett got what he deserved for killing an innocent child. WARNING: SPOILER ALERT. If you actually want to read this book, do not read any further! Once Mr. Ratchett is identified as Cassetti, Poroit begins to discover that the passengers on the train are connected to the Armstrong family. One by one, the reader begins to see the passengers as the victims. These poor people knew the innocent little girl who was murdered, and they all adored her. At the end of the novel Poroit comes to the conclusion that everyone on the train plotted to kill Mr. Ratchett together which is why he had twelve different stab wounds. By the end of the novel, the reader does not feel bad for the victim, the person murdered, he or she feels bad for the victimizers, the murderers. However, the victim/victimizer role could be different depending on the reader's point of view. The reader can look at Mr. Ratchett or Cassetti as the victimizer. He murdered an innocent child and got what he deserved. The reader can look at the twelve murderers on the train as the victims. These twelve people were connected to this poor child and suffered for many years. After making the connection from the Murder on the Orient Express to Frankenstein, I believe that the victim vs victimizer theme is a theme present in multiple novels, and can be interpreted in many different ways.
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