9/30/2013
My legs are covered in bruises, and I can barely move my body. I'm positive people think I was kicked in the leg due to the giant bruise on my right knee. However, I was not beaten, and I did not fall down a hill. I actually started to learn my solo yesterday. My solo is to the song "Bottom of the River" by Delta Rae. Words cannot describe how much I love this song and how great the dance makes me feel(even though my stamina is not up to par, and I'm breathing like a dog only a minute in). At the beginning of the session with my teacher, he went into detail about the song and about its meaning. It seemed like he had sat down and analyzed it just like any piece of literature we would analyze in class. He wanted to look at the song from every possible angle so that we could portray the story that the song illustrated. After a lengthy discussion we decided to focus on the idea that a woman is possessed and believes that God is going to come for her baby. In order to save her baby, she goes to the river to baptize him, but in reality she drowns the baby. I am going to analyze a portion of the song to see if that section goes along with the main story my teacher and I came up with. Here is the portion of the song:
If you get sleep or if you get none
The cock's gonna call in the morning, baby
Check the cupboard for your daddy's gun
Red sun rises like an early warning
The Lords gonna come for your first born son
His hairs on fire and his heart is burning
Go to the river where the water runs
Wash him deep where the tides are turning
One word that describes this passage is "warning." The first two lines of the passage say that no matter how much sleep the woman gets the rooster is going to wake her up early in the morning. No matter what, the rooster is going to call to bid her to her duties. I had a little trouble interpreting the next line, "Check the cupboard for your daddy's gun." I asked myself, "Why would she need a gun if she is planning on baptizing her son?" I believe that the voice that is telling her to "baptize" her baby is telling her to grab a gun for protection. If anything goes wrong, then the woman has the gun. The line could also take an even darker turn if there could be a possibility that the woman will wake up from her dreamlike state and realize what she has done to her baby then she would need the gun to use it on herself. (And I did not think this song could get any darker!) The word "warning" comes into play with the next line. The red sun is rising early in the morning as a warning to the woman. She needs to hurry and baptize her son before the Lord takes him away. The line, "His hairs on fire and his heart is burning," connects to the idea of damnation. The baby is damned if the mother does not baptize him in the river. The words "fire" and "burning" remind me of hell. The baby will go to hell if the woman does not save him. The woman must go to the river and wash him DEEP. She does not need to put the baby in the water and then take him out. She must push him deep into the river. If she does not push him deep into the river, then the baby cannot be saved. The woman is possessed to believe that she is doing the right thing in trying to save her son when in reality she is killing him.
I absolutely love this song, and I am ecstatic that I get to interpret this song not only in the way of analyzing literature, but in movement with my body. I can analyze the song and create movements that portray the deeper meaning of the song. This is why I love to dance, and love to express myself through dance. It allows me to analyze a song with movement and with expression, and allows me to portray is with my body not just with words.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
9/26/13
"Frog Autumn" By Sylvia Plath
Summer grows old, cold-blooded mother.
The insects are scant, skinny.
In these palustral homes we only
Croak and wither.
Mornings dissipate in somnolence.
The sun brightens tardily
Among the pithless reeds. Flies fail us.
he fen sickens.
Frost drops even the spider. Clearly
The genius of plenitude
Houses himself elsewhere. Our folk thin
Lamentably.
I would like to start off by saying that Sylvia Plath's poems are extremely interesting to read. They are not completely straight forward, and it is hard to figure out the meaning of the poem by only reading it once. It was difficult to pick out one poem from the long list of her poems, but "Frog Autumn" stuck out to me. I not only picked it because it was one of the shorter poems, but I picked it because after I read this poem and continued looking at other poems in the list, I could not get "Frog Autumn" out of my mind. The title itself is what drew my attention. "Frog Autumn." Autumn is the season that comes after summer, and it is usually a transition season where weather begins to change and elements of life begin to change. But why did Plath add the word frog? The definitions of frog are: 1. tailless amphibian with smooth skin with long legs for leaping 2. person who is characterized as repulsive in appearance or character 3. a french person 4. thing used to hold something 5. raised area on a surface. When I first read the word "Frog" I thought this poem could possibly be about a frog, the amphibian, in autumn. After looking up the definition, I think that definition number four could be the possible definition that goes along with the poem as a whole.
I decided that before I could analyze this poem, I needed to define the words that I did not know. Here is the list of definitions I found:
1. palustral: living in or pertaining to marshes
2. dissipate: scatter or disperse
3. somnolence: sleepy state; sleepiness
4. pithless: weak; lacking strength
5. fen: low, marshy area; frequently flooded area of land
6. plenitude: abundance
7. lamentably: deplorably; unfortunate manner; deserving strong condemnation
Without looking up these words, I would not have been able to fully understand the poem. In the first line of the poem, Plath uses the word mother. I believe that mother could be referring to mother nature because the summer is growing cold. Mother nature is turning cold blooded as fall and winter approach. Insects begin to die when the weather turns cold. Plath seems to be utilizing the word palustral to create a marshy, dark, cold, swamp imagery for the environment. The people who live in the marshy home live in the middle of nature. They are being affected by mother nature just as the insects and the weather are. It does not seem to have a positive connotation because the imagery is dark and damp. The mornings during autumn disperse in a sleepy state indicating that nature and life and in the swampy area are in a sleepy state. This puts an image in my mind of an early morning when the sun is rising and the grass has dew on it and it is cold and damp and there is a slight fog in the air. The mornings seem to scatter without anyone noticing. The shift to colder weather has put everyone in a sleepy dreamlike state. The sun rises late like it is in no hurry to light up the sky indicating a perpetual dreamlike state. The flies are dying, and the plants are weakening. The "he" before fen seems to give it a human like quality. The life of the marshy are begins to sicken as the cold weather descends in the area. Even the genius spiders begin to die. They attempt to house themselves in places that they hope are safe from the cold, but even the most genius insects cannot save themselves from the frost of the coming season. The family is also affected. The folk thins in an unfortunate manner. When I read this line, I think of family members retreating into themselves during the cold months. They tend to be in a sleep like state, and want to be by themselves. They want to survive on their own during the changing season.
The definition of "Frog" that best fits this poem is: a thing used to hold to something. Elements in the swampy area try to hold on to life during the shift of mother nature. The weather is changing and life seems to be dying. The spiders try to hold on to life, but even the genius spiders cannot survive the changing season. Overall, this poems seems to shine a negative light on the changing season. It describes a swampy area with life dying all around. Families disperse, and nature and organisms seem to be in a sleep like state. I love this poem, and enjoyed reading it. I love the eerie feeling it gives to autumn. I always thought of winter as being the season where everything dies. But now, I can picture an early fall morning that is quiet and serene. Life seems to be still and silent, and even though everything seems to be dying, the morning has a peaceful quality that I can relate to when I think of autumn.
*definitions found on google.com definitions*
"Frog Autumn" By Sylvia Plath
Summer grows old, cold-blooded mother.
The insects are scant, skinny.
In these palustral homes we only
Croak and wither.
Mornings dissipate in somnolence.
The sun brightens tardily
Among the pithless reeds. Flies fail us.
he fen sickens.
Frost drops even the spider. Clearly
The genius of plenitude
Houses himself elsewhere. Our folk thin
Lamentably.
I would like to start off by saying that Sylvia Plath's poems are extremely interesting to read. They are not completely straight forward, and it is hard to figure out the meaning of the poem by only reading it once. It was difficult to pick out one poem from the long list of her poems, but "Frog Autumn" stuck out to me. I not only picked it because it was one of the shorter poems, but I picked it because after I read this poem and continued looking at other poems in the list, I could not get "Frog Autumn" out of my mind. The title itself is what drew my attention. "Frog Autumn." Autumn is the season that comes after summer, and it is usually a transition season where weather begins to change and elements of life begin to change. But why did Plath add the word frog? The definitions of frog are: 1. tailless amphibian with smooth skin with long legs for leaping 2. person who is characterized as repulsive in appearance or character 3. a french person 4. thing used to hold something 5. raised area on a surface. When I first read the word "Frog" I thought this poem could possibly be about a frog, the amphibian, in autumn. After looking up the definition, I think that definition number four could be the possible definition that goes along with the poem as a whole.
I decided that before I could analyze this poem, I needed to define the words that I did not know. Here is the list of definitions I found:
1. palustral: living in or pertaining to marshes
2. dissipate: scatter or disperse
3. somnolence: sleepy state; sleepiness
4. pithless: weak; lacking strength
5. fen: low, marshy area; frequently flooded area of land
6. plenitude: abundance
7. lamentably: deplorably; unfortunate manner; deserving strong condemnation
Without looking up these words, I would not have been able to fully understand the poem. In the first line of the poem, Plath uses the word mother. I believe that mother could be referring to mother nature because the summer is growing cold. Mother nature is turning cold blooded as fall and winter approach. Insects begin to die when the weather turns cold. Plath seems to be utilizing the word palustral to create a marshy, dark, cold, swamp imagery for the environment. The people who live in the marshy home live in the middle of nature. They are being affected by mother nature just as the insects and the weather are. It does not seem to have a positive connotation because the imagery is dark and damp. The mornings during autumn disperse in a sleepy state indicating that nature and life and in the swampy area are in a sleepy state. This puts an image in my mind of an early morning when the sun is rising and the grass has dew on it and it is cold and damp and there is a slight fog in the air. The mornings seem to scatter without anyone noticing. The shift to colder weather has put everyone in a sleepy dreamlike state. The sun rises late like it is in no hurry to light up the sky indicating a perpetual dreamlike state. The flies are dying, and the plants are weakening. The "he" before fen seems to give it a human like quality. The life of the marshy are begins to sicken as the cold weather descends in the area. Even the genius spiders begin to die. They attempt to house themselves in places that they hope are safe from the cold, but even the most genius insects cannot save themselves from the frost of the coming season. The family is also affected. The folk thins in an unfortunate manner. When I read this line, I think of family members retreating into themselves during the cold months. They tend to be in a sleep like state, and want to be by themselves. They want to survive on their own during the changing season.
The definition of "Frog" that best fits this poem is: a thing used to hold to something. Elements in the swampy area try to hold on to life during the shift of mother nature. The weather is changing and life seems to be dying. The spiders try to hold on to life, but even the genius spiders cannot survive the changing season. Overall, this poems seems to shine a negative light on the changing season. It describes a swampy area with life dying all around. Families disperse, and nature and organisms seem to be in a sleep like state. I love this poem, and enjoyed reading it. I love the eerie feeling it gives to autumn. I always thought of winter as being the season where everything dies. But now, I can picture an early fall morning that is quiet and serene. Life seems to be still and silent, and even though everything seems to be dying, the morning has a peaceful quality that I can relate to when I think of autumn.
*definitions found on google.com definitions*
Sunday, September 22, 2013
9/22/2013
Throughout the week, our class has been having an insightful discussion about the novel, Winesburg, Ohio. Doing the seminar in smaller groups was a good choice. I liked how there was a bigger chance of someone having the opportunity to make their claim and have a chance to explain it without having to worry about someone else needing to talk. Doing the seminars in smaller groups allowed for more in depth conversations about the individual stories, and helped me look at the stories in a new light.
My group did our seminar over the story "Adventure." I thought our discussion went extremely well, and we all brought up good points that showed our close reading of the text. One of the points that we talked about was the point about the words "walk" vs. "run" not only in "Adventure," but throughout the entire novel of Winesburg, Ohio as a whole. While I was reading the book, I indexed, circled, and underlined the word walk like a madman. Every time the word came up (which was a lot), I would think to myself, "This is an important word that has a much deeper meaning, and I am going to find out what that meaning is." The word walk is important because it shows up in about every story in the novel. Many characters end up walking up and down the roads of Winesburg, and many go outside to walk and gather their thoughts. I think walking represents confusion, being unsure, and being troubled with aspects of life. When a character walks, he or she is confused or unsure of his or her thoughts. However, when a character runs, he or she is certain and acting on impulse. He or she is not thinking about the consequences or the causes of his or her actions, but letting his or her impulses make the decisions. The first time I figured out the significance of the word "run" was in "Adventure." The narrator states, "Without stopping to think of what she intended to do, she ran downstairs through the dark house and out into the rain. As she stood on the little grass plot before the house and felt the cold rain on her body a mad desire to run naked through the streets to possession of her," (Anderson 111). At this point, Alice is not thinking, but doing. She is letting her impulses make decisions for her that she would not normally make. The Alice stops and realizes what she is doing. She collapses to the ground and begins to crawl on her hands and knees back to her house. Her impulses scare her so much that she can't even get up and walk back to her house. She has to crawl on her hands and knees because she is defeated and mortified. She crawls back to her house and accepts her truth. She accepts her fate of being alone for the rest of her life and gives up hope. This is the truth she accepts which makes her a grotesque.
There are so many other interesting points that I could talk about from my group's discussion as well as other groups' discussions. I enjoy doing seminars like this because they help me further understand the stories and look at them with a new point of view.
Throughout the week, our class has been having an insightful discussion about the novel, Winesburg, Ohio. Doing the seminar in smaller groups was a good choice. I liked how there was a bigger chance of someone having the opportunity to make their claim and have a chance to explain it without having to worry about someone else needing to talk. Doing the seminars in smaller groups allowed for more in depth conversations about the individual stories, and helped me look at the stories in a new light.
My group did our seminar over the story "Adventure." I thought our discussion went extremely well, and we all brought up good points that showed our close reading of the text. One of the points that we talked about was the point about the words "walk" vs. "run" not only in "Adventure," but throughout the entire novel of Winesburg, Ohio as a whole. While I was reading the book, I indexed, circled, and underlined the word walk like a madman. Every time the word came up (which was a lot), I would think to myself, "This is an important word that has a much deeper meaning, and I am going to find out what that meaning is." The word walk is important because it shows up in about every story in the novel. Many characters end up walking up and down the roads of Winesburg, and many go outside to walk and gather their thoughts. I think walking represents confusion, being unsure, and being troubled with aspects of life. When a character walks, he or she is confused or unsure of his or her thoughts. However, when a character runs, he or she is certain and acting on impulse. He or she is not thinking about the consequences or the causes of his or her actions, but letting his or her impulses make the decisions. The first time I figured out the significance of the word "run" was in "Adventure." The narrator states, "Without stopping to think of what she intended to do, she ran downstairs through the dark house and out into the rain. As she stood on the little grass plot before the house and felt the cold rain on her body a mad desire to run naked through the streets to possession of her," (Anderson 111). At this point, Alice is not thinking, but doing. She is letting her impulses make decisions for her that she would not normally make. The Alice stops and realizes what she is doing. She collapses to the ground and begins to crawl on her hands and knees back to her house. Her impulses scare her so much that she can't even get up and walk back to her house. She has to crawl on her hands and knees because she is defeated and mortified. She crawls back to her house and accepts her truth. She accepts her fate of being alone for the rest of her life and gives up hope. This is the truth she accepts which makes her a grotesque.
There are so many other interesting points that I could talk about from my group's discussion as well as other groups' discussions. I enjoy doing seminars like this because they help me further understand the stories and look at them with a new point of view.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
9/15/2013
In chapter eighteen of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley quotes a passage from "Tintern Abbey." I believe Shelley uses this section of the poem to show Victor Frankenstein's connection to nature and the difference between Henry and Victor. In this part of the book, Victor is talking about his journey with Clerval. He talks about how the nature and scenery calm him and help him feel better. Victor states, "I seemed to drink in a tranquility to which I had long been a stranger," (Shelley 138). In "Tintern Abbey," Wordsworth talks about how he has been absent for five years. He has come back to a place that he now views differently. It is almost like he is looking at scenery from a different point of view similar to the point of view of stranger.
The part of the poem that Shelley selected comes from the third section of the poem that we discussed in class. In the third section of the poem, Wordsworth travels deeper into his memory and talks about what he has gained and what he has lost when coming back to the Abbey. Similar to Wordsworth, Victor is dealing with inner thoughts of what he has to lose and what he has to gain. In chapter eighteen, Victor must decide if he should finish creating the female creature or to ignore the creature's request and hope that he does not come after him. During this stressful time, Victor finds solace in nature and in his friend Henry Clerval.
Shelley uses this part of the poem to describe Clerval directly. Victor is delighted that Henry is eager to see the world and to travel. This part of the poem illustrates how Henry feels about nature. He is in awe by the scenery and consumed by nature. Henry seems to represent a younger version or healthier/happy version of Victor. Victor used to find solace in nature when he was younger, and still finds solace in it when he is not feeling well. However, Henry is more excited to see the world and all it has to offer. In my mind, I connect this to Wordsworth and his sister. Wordsworth's sister represents a younger version of Wordsworth that can still be awed by nature. Wordsworth has grown and is less amazed by nature. The feeling he gets when he sees nature is calm and more subdued than when he was younger. I believe that Victor feels the same way about Henry. Victor is dealing with the creature and the threats the creature made against him. Victor can be relaxed by nature, but he is not excited or amazed by nature. On the other hand, Henry is happy and energetic and excited to see what the world has to offer. Shelley states Wordsworth, "Their colours and their forms, were then to him An appetite; a feeling, and a love," (Shelley 140). Henry has an appetite for nature and to see the world. He is hungry for it. Henry and Wordsworth's sister are similar because they are young and adventurous. Victor and Wordsworth are similar because they have gone through hardships and have grown up and now view things differently than they did when they were younger. Shelley uses this poem to describe Henry's connection to nature compared to Victor's connection. I believe she also uses it to parallel Wordsworth and Victor, and Henry and Wordsworth's sister.
In chapter eighteen of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley quotes a passage from "Tintern Abbey." I believe Shelley uses this section of the poem to show Victor Frankenstein's connection to nature and the difference between Henry and Victor. In this part of the book, Victor is talking about his journey with Clerval. He talks about how the nature and scenery calm him and help him feel better. Victor states, "I seemed to drink in a tranquility to which I had long been a stranger," (Shelley 138). In "Tintern Abbey," Wordsworth talks about how he has been absent for five years. He has come back to a place that he now views differently. It is almost like he is looking at scenery from a different point of view similar to the point of view of stranger.
The part of the poem that Shelley selected comes from the third section of the poem that we discussed in class. In the third section of the poem, Wordsworth travels deeper into his memory and talks about what he has gained and what he has lost when coming back to the Abbey. Similar to Wordsworth, Victor is dealing with inner thoughts of what he has to lose and what he has to gain. In chapter eighteen, Victor must decide if he should finish creating the female creature or to ignore the creature's request and hope that he does not come after him. During this stressful time, Victor finds solace in nature and in his friend Henry Clerval.
Shelley uses this part of the poem to describe Clerval directly. Victor is delighted that Henry is eager to see the world and to travel. This part of the poem illustrates how Henry feels about nature. He is in awe by the scenery and consumed by nature. Henry seems to represent a younger version or healthier/happy version of Victor. Victor used to find solace in nature when he was younger, and still finds solace in it when he is not feeling well. However, Henry is more excited to see the world and all it has to offer. In my mind, I connect this to Wordsworth and his sister. Wordsworth's sister represents a younger version of Wordsworth that can still be awed by nature. Wordsworth has grown and is less amazed by nature. The feeling he gets when he sees nature is calm and more subdued than when he was younger. I believe that Victor feels the same way about Henry. Victor is dealing with the creature and the threats the creature made against him. Victor can be relaxed by nature, but he is not excited or amazed by nature. On the other hand, Henry is happy and energetic and excited to see what the world has to offer. Shelley states Wordsworth, "Their colours and their forms, were then to him An appetite; a feeling, and a love," (Shelley 140). Henry has an appetite for nature and to see the world. He is hungry for it. Henry and Wordsworth's sister are similar because they are young and adventurous. Victor and Wordsworth are similar because they have gone through hardships and have grown up and now view things differently than they did when they were younger. Shelley uses this poem to describe Henry's connection to nature compared to Victor's connection. I believe she also uses it to parallel Wordsworth and Victor, and Henry and Wordsworth's sister.
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