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!