1/26/14
Hamlet, Hamlet, Hamlet. I have to admit, I was worried about reading another one of Shakespeare's works. I read Romeo and Juliet in ninth grade, and I read Twelfth Night in 10th grade. I remember thinking that I understood Romeo and Juliet in ninth grade, but after reading barley one act of Hamlet, I have realized that I did not understand it as well as I could have. The same goes for Twelfth Night. There are so many different meanings behind one word in Hamlet, I do not even want to think of how many different uses of a word Shakespeare used in Romeo and Juliet. If ninth grade me read Hamlet like we are reading it in class, my freshman mind would have been blown. I do not think there is another book that captures the "it is all how you interpret it" concept. If you read one word a different way than another reader, then you could have a completely different interpretation and take away something else from that passage. For example, one reader can read the King's speech to Hamlet in Act 1 Scene 2 as message from a concerned fatherly figure or a person in a political situation who wants to keep an eye on the heir to the thrown. Personally, I interpreted the King's speech as the second scenario I listed. It all depends on the reader and how they look at the character.
Reading aloud in class most definitely helps me understand Shakespeare more than I would have been able to understand it myself. Watching the videos in class also helps me further understand the play. I also find it interesting to watch how the director decided to portray the characters. For example, the version we watched in class portrayed Ophelia as already having a sexual relationship with Hamlet. Kate Winslet looks worried and nervous as her father scolds her because she has already opened her "treasure" to Hamlet. I am intrigued to see how Hamlet and Ophelia's relationship pans out in the future. Hamlet seems a little to preoccupied with his dead father to even pay any attention to Ophelia.
Okay, I have to talk about that scene that we watched in class on Friday. We had yet to read the part we watched on Friday, so I had to pay close attention to make sure that I knew what was going on. The word "interesting" does not even to begin to capture the essence of that scene. The effects were strange and everything was extremely dramatized. But hey, I guess I would be yelling and stressed out if I saw my father as a ghost and he told me that he was murdered by my uncle. That is the major element that I took out of that scene. Poor Hamlet had to see his father'a ghost only to find out that the man who is now king is a murderer. Not only is he a murderer, he is a murderer who married his mother. That is a lot to take in after Hamlet has been grieving for only two months. Hopefully positive things will happen to Hamlet. However, since his father'a ghost is most likely a bad omen, it does not look like things are going to get better any time soon. We shall see what poor Hamlet has to endure in the future!
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
1/19/14
"A Sad Child"
By Margaret Atwood
You're sad because you're sad.
It's psychic. It's the age. It's chemical.
Go see a shrink or take a pill,
or hug your sadness like an eyeless doll
you need to sleep.
Well, all children are sad
but some get over it.
Count your blessings. Better than that,
buy a hat. Buy a coat or pet.
Take up dancing to forget.
Forget what?
Your sadness, your shadow,
whatever it was that was done to you
the day of the lawn party
when you came inside flushed with the sun,
your mouth sulky with sugar,
in your new dress with the ribbon
and the ice-cream smear,
and said to yourself in the bathroom,
I am not the favorite child.
My darling, when it comes
right down to it
and the light fails and the fog rolls in
and you're trapped in your overturned body
under a blanket or burning car,
and the red flame is seeping out of you
and igniting the tarmac beside your head
or else the floor, or else the pillow,
none of us is;
or else we all are.
It took me a while to find a poem that I wanted to read and analyze this month. I used the list that Mrs. Clinch gave us in the beginning of the year and looked up the poet Margaret Atwood. I enjoy reading poems that capture my interest right away and usually have a more grim or darker tone. I found "A Sad Child" to be extremely interesting. It is not a complicated read and is not that hard to understand what the poem is saying, but it is intriguing. It makes the reader think about his or herself and his or her own happiness or sadness. "You're sad because you're sad." This statements starts off the poem with a "get over it" attitude. It is like it is saying "yeah you might be sad, but so is everyone else." The next line gives a list of reasons why a person could be sad. When I read it, I sense that the speaker is giving of a know it all attitude. It is like she is trying to say that everyone is sad and that they all try to blame it on a certain reason why. In reality, everyone is sad and some people can deal with it and some people cannot deal with it. The people who cannot deal with it try to blame there sadness on something else. The speaker lists things that children can do to get over it. They can buy things to make them happy or they can "take up dancing to forget." Personally, I think this statement is relatable. I am a dancer, and I dance to release emotion and to forget about the difficulties I might be facing or the problems that I might have. When I am dancing, I truly forget about everything going on in my life for that three minute number or improv period.
The third stanza discusses that moment when every child realizes, "I am not the favorite child." This moment is the moment when a child loses his or her innocence. There is a moment when a child realizes the world is not what it seems and that he or she can disappoint his or her parents. Usually, when a child upsets his or her parents when they are young, they become upset. The moment of realizing that "I am not the favorite child" is a moment when the sadness could begin to grow in a child.
The next two stanzas describe a rather grim accident. The speaker describes a car accident, yet it also seems that she is hinting that it could be a dream. The speaker uses the words "blanket" and "pillow" to show that the sadness can consume you while you sleep or in an actual accident. When the sadness consumes you, everything becomes chaos no matter what situation you are in. My favorite lines of the poem are, "none of us is; or else we all are." I interpret that to mean either none of us are sad, or everyone is sad. Every "child" is consumed with his or her own sadness. They are so consumed that they do not recognize the sadness around them. It is usual for a child to be somewhat narcissistic. They are self absorbed and can only see their own problems. Margaret's choice to describe a child's sadness is fitting. The speaker is scolding the child for being so self absorbed in her own sadness because either everyone is sad or no one is sad at all.
"A Sad Child"
By Margaret Atwood
You're sad because you're sad.
It's psychic. It's the age. It's chemical.
Go see a shrink or take a pill,
or hug your sadness like an eyeless doll
you need to sleep.
Well, all children are sad
but some get over it.
Count your blessings. Better than that,
buy a hat. Buy a coat or pet.
Take up dancing to forget.
Forget what?
Your sadness, your shadow,
whatever it was that was done to you
the day of the lawn party
when you came inside flushed with the sun,
your mouth sulky with sugar,
in your new dress with the ribbon
and the ice-cream smear,
and said to yourself in the bathroom,
I am not the favorite child.
My darling, when it comes
right down to it
and the light fails and the fog rolls in
and you're trapped in your overturned body
under a blanket or burning car,
and the red flame is seeping out of you
and igniting the tarmac beside your head
or else the floor, or else the pillow,
none of us is;
or else we all are.
It took me a while to find a poem that I wanted to read and analyze this month. I used the list that Mrs. Clinch gave us in the beginning of the year and looked up the poet Margaret Atwood. I enjoy reading poems that capture my interest right away and usually have a more grim or darker tone. I found "A Sad Child" to be extremely interesting. It is not a complicated read and is not that hard to understand what the poem is saying, but it is intriguing. It makes the reader think about his or herself and his or her own happiness or sadness. "You're sad because you're sad." This statements starts off the poem with a "get over it" attitude. It is like it is saying "yeah you might be sad, but so is everyone else." The next line gives a list of reasons why a person could be sad. When I read it, I sense that the speaker is giving of a know it all attitude. It is like she is trying to say that everyone is sad and that they all try to blame it on a certain reason why. In reality, everyone is sad and some people can deal with it and some people cannot deal with it. The people who cannot deal with it try to blame there sadness on something else. The speaker lists things that children can do to get over it. They can buy things to make them happy or they can "take up dancing to forget." Personally, I think this statement is relatable. I am a dancer, and I dance to release emotion and to forget about the difficulties I might be facing or the problems that I might have. When I am dancing, I truly forget about everything going on in my life for that three minute number or improv period.
The third stanza discusses that moment when every child realizes, "I am not the favorite child." This moment is the moment when a child loses his or her innocence. There is a moment when a child realizes the world is not what it seems and that he or she can disappoint his or her parents. Usually, when a child upsets his or her parents when they are young, they become upset. The moment of realizing that "I am not the favorite child" is a moment when the sadness could begin to grow in a child.
The next two stanzas describe a rather grim accident. The speaker describes a car accident, yet it also seems that she is hinting that it could be a dream. The speaker uses the words "blanket" and "pillow" to show that the sadness can consume you while you sleep or in an actual accident. When the sadness consumes you, everything becomes chaos no matter what situation you are in. My favorite lines of the poem are, "none of us is; or else we all are." I interpret that to mean either none of us are sad, or everyone is sad. Every "child" is consumed with his or her own sadness. They are so consumed that they do not recognize the sadness around them. It is usual for a child to be somewhat narcissistic. They are self absorbed and can only see their own problems. Margaret's choice to describe a child's sadness is fitting. The speaker is scolding the child for being so self absorbed in her own sadness because either everyone is sad or no one is sad at all.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
1/12/14
I have finished reading the prologue of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Very very interesting. However, it was not as strange as I thought it would be. One of the first things I noticed is that the invisible man goes from talking about himself to then talking towards the reader. He doesn't say that HE feels a certain he says YOU feel a certain way. He generalizes the emotions to make it seem that the reader could feel these emotions as well. He says "you ache with the need to convince yourself that you do exist in the real world, that you're a part of all the sound and anguish, and you strike out with your fists, you curse and you swear to make them recognize you. And, alas, it's seldom successful," (Ellison 4). Statements like these make the reader question wether or not they have experienced the same feelings the invisible man feels.
The invisible man seems to act on his emotions. He is angry and frustrated that people do not or cannot open their eyes and see him. He almost kills a man because he ran into him. He almost kills him out of pure rage but then decides against it. At the end of the prologue he sates that he was not responsible for almost killing the man. He is the one who ran into him and it was irresponsible of him not to kill him to help society.
The invisible man talks about light and dark quite a few times during the prologue. I think that this indicates that there will be a constant presence of light and dark throughout the novel. The invisible man loves light because without it, he doesn't not exist. The light gives him form and it seems to make him feel visible in the invisible life he lives. One of the issues or conflicts that might be present throughout the novel has to do with light. He is taking the light energy from the Monopolated Light and Power. I find it interesting that the it is name light AND power. This could be seen as literally light and the power that gives energy. Or it could mean that light gives way to actual power. The invisible man feels more a live and it seems more powerful when there is light around him. Because to exist is to have power and without light, he would not exist.
Time. Time is an important aspect to the invisible man that I believe will be an important aspect through the rest of the novel. He is intrigued by time and learns that everyone has their own sense of time. He uses the examples of the fighters. He states, "The yokel had simply stepped inside of his opponents sense of time," (Ellison 8). Once you figure out your own sense of time and someone else's sense of time, you can become invincible. The invisible man thinks that he is invincible, so I think it will be a good point to follow his "invincibility" throughout the novel.
I have finished reading the prologue of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Very very interesting. However, it was not as strange as I thought it would be. One of the first things I noticed is that the invisible man goes from talking about himself to then talking towards the reader. He doesn't say that HE feels a certain he says YOU feel a certain way. He generalizes the emotions to make it seem that the reader could feel these emotions as well. He says "you ache with the need to convince yourself that you do exist in the real world, that you're a part of all the sound and anguish, and you strike out with your fists, you curse and you swear to make them recognize you. And, alas, it's seldom successful," (Ellison 4). Statements like these make the reader question wether or not they have experienced the same feelings the invisible man feels.
The invisible man seems to act on his emotions. He is angry and frustrated that people do not or cannot open their eyes and see him. He almost kills a man because he ran into him. He almost kills him out of pure rage but then decides against it. At the end of the prologue he sates that he was not responsible for almost killing the man. He is the one who ran into him and it was irresponsible of him not to kill him to help society.
The invisible man talks about light and dark quite a few times during the prologue. I think that this indicates that there will be a constant presence of light and dark throughout the novel. The invisible man loves light because without it, he doesn't not exist. The light gives him form and it seems to make him feel visible in the invisible life he lives. One of the issues or conflicts that might be present throughout the novel has to do with light. He is taking the light energy from the Monopolated Light and Power. I find it interesting that the it is name light AND power. This could be seen as literally light and the power that gives energy. Or it could mean that light gives way to actual power. The invisible man feels more a live and it seems more powerful when there is light around him. Because to exist is to have power and without light, he would not exist.
Time. Time is an important aspect to the invisible man that I believe will be an important aspect through the rest of the novel. He is intrigued by time and learns that everyone has their own sense of time. He uses the examples of the fighters. He states, "The yokel had simply stepped inside of his opponents sense of time," (Ellison 8). Once you figure out your own sense of time and someone else's sense of time, you can become invincible. The invisible man thinks that he is invincible, so I think it will be a good point to follow his "invincibility" throughout the novel.
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