Thursday, December 13, 2012

A Christmas Carol: by Charles Dickens

I collaborated with Erika Snell.

1. In this book Ebenezer Scrooge is living a horrible life. He's not honest with those around and doesn't quite live a happy life. So one night he is visited by three ghosts: ghost of Christmas past, present, and yet to come. On each visit they show a glimpse of what Scrooge's life was, is, and will be like. Scrooge is confounded and scared and doesn't really know what to make of it. He however looks within himself and finds the true spirit of Christmas.
2. I believe the theme of this book is to learn from your past in order to change your present and gain a better future. Scrooge had somewhat of a happy childhood, but as he grew up he became dark and aloof. He was not an honest man, and didn't associate with them either considering who his partner was. However once the ghost of Christmas yet to come showed Scrooge that he will eventually die with nobody by his side he realized what an idiot he was being by being so distant and dishonest. He changed his ways to have the hope that a brighter future would be his.
3. The tone the author used came across as comical to me. I thought it was hilarious that in the beginning of the story he was so set making sure that we knew Scrooge's partner, Marley, was dead. He even made allusions to Hamlet to make us believe, as if we wouldn't have! “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” The author made Scrooge a cold person, but he wrote in a way so that we didn't think of the whole story as dark and 'unreadable'.
4.


  • allusion: referenced Hamlet in the beginning so the audience would believe Marley was dead
  • analysis: obviously showed when breaking up the different Christmas' to see how Scrooge was
  • analogy: when Dickens wrote that Marley was as dead as a door nail
  • argumentation: Dickens was able to make the audience believe Marley was dead with truth
  • denouement: wrote that Scrooge made up with his family and treated Tiny Tim as his own
  • evocation: used with the ghost of Christmas past brought Scrooge to his past
  • imagery: author used great details to explain each situation
  • motif: a ghost, different each time but fighting for the same cause
  • poignant: audience feels when it's learned that Scrooge dies alone
  • suspension of disbelief: were the ghost always perceived as real?


CHARACTERIZATION
1. Direct: "External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him." & "Scrooge, referring to Marley's ghost which he believes is a hallucination from food poisoning." These quotes show that Scrooge isn't really affected by anything. He stays who he is and isn't really open to anything else.
Indirect: "Scrooge returned. 'It's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people's. Mine occupies me constantly.'" & " "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy." These quotes show the growth that Scrooge goes through. He begins without a care in the world besides his own of course and then how he changes for those around him and show the spirit of the holiday.
2. The author is basically always focused on who Scrooge is and what he does with his life so the syntax and diction doesn't change all that much. He used language not many of us use today, but it was easily understandable. The author's use of adjectives was very high as well because he often explained everything in great detail to really get the feel of the story.
3. Ebenezer Scrooge is definitely a round, dynamic character. There really wouldn't be much of a story without him being this way. If he had stayed the cold, cynical person he was after the journey with the ghosts, then we would know where he would end up, dead and alone. This is not how a Christmas story should be told so the author had him grow up and become a man that truly lives his life so we can picture a better future for him.
4. After reading this book I feel like I read a character. This is how I feel when I read most stories, unless I get so caught up that I find myself wanting to meet them. Scrooge turned out to be a great guy, but he is not necessarily someone I need in my life so I find myself at a distance when thinking about his character.

Literary Analysis: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

I collaborated with Alex Lane.

1. Robin Hood is a man that helps out whoever he finds that needs help the most. It takes place in the medieval era. Story starts with Robin Hood being declared an outlaw for hunting the King's deer. He meets Little John, wrestles him, wins, Little John joins Robin. Robin wins the shooting match, wins the Golden Arrow, then rubs it in the Sheriff's face. Robin's band grows as he meets more merry men. They all go to church and meet Friar Tuck. King Richard comes to Sherwoood. Robin Hood goes to his Cousin, a prioress, with a fever. She cut his arm then ran and locked the door behind her leaving Robin to bleed to death. Eventually Little John comes and rams the door down but Robin is too weak and with his last ounce of strength he shoots an arrow out the window and tells Little John to bury him where it lands.

2. The essential theme of the adventures of Robin Hood is good versus evil. Robin and his men are always pictured as good-hearted, even to those from whom they rob. As he gathers men to be part of his merry band, they vow not to harm women or children, and, "when the people began to find that no harm was meant to them, but that money or food came in time of want to many a poor family, they came to praise Robin and his merry men, and to tell many tales of him and of his doings in Sherwood Forest, for they felt him to be one of themselves."

3.His narrative delivery has a gentle tone that contrasts well with the rough characters, reminding the reader that Robin Hood's story is a legend. There's lots of fighting, but the emphasis on Robin's cleverness and his code make it a classic.

4. Rhetorical Question-"Now how about we get some ale into the hands of these Merry Men?"
Oxymoron- Little John.
Hyperbole-"Those that stood around saw the bravest display of fighting with a staff ever seen in Nottingham."
Simile-"He Fell like an angel from the sky."
Alliteration- "All Hail our Hooded Hero"
Flashback- "I am sorry i killed that forester as a youth, but I am not sorry i killed you Guy of Gisbourne."
Irony-"I believe you draw a better bow than that coward Robin Hood, who dared not come today." The Sheriff talking to Robin Hood in disguise.
Symbolism- Robin Hood winning the Golden Arrow was symbolic in that it showed no matter how many obstacles the sheriff would throw at him Robin would always come out on top.
Symbolism- Shooting the arrow out the window = Robin wanting to be one with the force that guides his arrows true.
CHARACTERIZATION 
1. Direct: Robin Hood- "No one who went to jolly Robin for help ever left empty handed." Jumps out and tells you Robin is generous and jolly.
Little John-"The large man stood a head taller than Robin and boasted Robin couldn't best him." Tells the reader Little John is large in stature and likes a challenge.

Indirect:The Tinker- "..came at Robin with more furry then Robin had ever seen.." Tells of how furious the Tinker was when Robin stole from him, yet the Tinker sings lovely ballads and is a very kind individual.
The Prioress- She is cousins with Robin Hood and was said to be  nice throughout the book, but at the end she cuts Robin and he bleeds to death. very dynamic and indirect.

2. The diction and syntax change with the different personalities that are presented in this novel. Robin who is smaller and better with the bow displays his skills when necessary. Little John is boastful and his diction and syntax have a hint of cockiness to them. A lot of his emotions are actually expressed through challenges, and his arrogance is shown as he worries how others view him (which we see degrades as the novel progresses).

3. Robin Hood is very static. He is known as the good guy throughout the whole story. Always very clever in the way he thinks and plans things out. Never changes as the story progresses. However he does have tons of great traits which are displayed throughout the book. He is round in the fact that he steals and resists authority.

4. No, Robin Hood in my mind will always be a legend. Almost a fairy tale. Although with the movie that came out not too long ago I did get a more realistic view on what Robin Hood could have resembled if he were real.


Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

I collaborated with Ryan Nguyen on this because i ran out of time to read another book.


1. The play begins with Willy Loman returning to his house in Brooklyn after a failed sales trip. Linda, his wife, asks him to talk to his boss, Howard Wanger, about working in New York so he wouldn’t have to travel. Willy and Linda argue over their son Biff who, according to Willy, has yet to make something of himself. Willy departs to the kitchen as Biff and his younger brother, Happy, reminisce about their younger years. As Biff and Happy, dissatisfied with their lives, dream about buying a ranch out West, Willy begins to daydream. In Willy’s daydream he praises his sons, children in the dream, for washing his car. Still in the dream Willy confides in Biff and Happy that he is going to open his own business one day, even bigger than his neighbor’s, Charley. Charley’s son, Bernard enters looking for Biff, and Willy comments that although Bernard is smart, he is not “well liked”. A younger Linda enters and Willy boast about his hugely successful business trip. Linda, however, is able to coax out of him that the trip was only meagerly successful and soon he won’t be able to make payments on their appliances and car. From nowhere Willy hears the laughter of his mistress, which leads him off on another daydream, this time off her.
Willy soon fades from the daydream of his mistress back to his prior dream. Willy begins to fade from daydream to daydream and eventually shouts at his daydreams. Happy attempts to calm Willy down but Willy continues to shout. Willy begins to shout his regret about not going with his brother, Ben, to Alaska. Charley enters and they begin to play cards. Charley offers Willy a job but Willy refuses feeling the offer was more of an insult. Willy then imagines Ben entering and telling him he must catch the train soon to go to Alaska. Confused, Charley questions Willy who intern yells back at him. Charley leaves and Willy begins to slip off into daydreams once again.
Linda finds Willy outside and Biff and Happy begin to discuss Willy’s condition with their mother. Biff and Happy offer to take Willy to a nice restaurant that night.
The scene changes to Willy and Howard in Howard’s office. Willy tries to talk to Howard about working in New York and Howard, who appears rather uninterested, rejects the idea. Willy launches into a lengthy rant about Dave Singleman, a legendary salesman. Howard leaves with the remark that Willy should take sometime off and as Howard leaves the younger Linda, Ben, and Biff enter each talking of past events. Ben leaves and Bernard rushes in, eagerly awaiting Biff’s big football game. Charley enters to tease Willy about the game and Willy chases him off. The lights dim on this portion of the play.
Charley’s secretary asks Bernard to quiet down the still yelling Willy. Charley enters and sees Bernard off. Willy asks money that Charley usually loans him and Charley, again, offers Willy a job. Willy again takes this as an insult and again refuses.
Biff and Happy are chatting up girls at Frank’s Chop House and Biff tells Happy that he waited six hours for Bill Oliver and Oliver didn’t even recognize him. Biff wants to clear up the illusion that he was a salesman for Oliver but at that moment Willy enters and blurts out that he had been fired. Happy cuts in with remarks suggesting Biff’s success, and Willy eagerly waits good news. Biff yells at Willy for not being able to listen and again Willy drifts off into a dream. Only once Biff claims that he might be receiving money from Oliver and his partner does Willy return to reality. Biff becomes more irritated and shouts at Willy and in return Willy hits Biff. Biff and Happy argue about their father till both of them leave.
A flash back arises with Willy and his mistress flirting. A knock at the door causes the mistress to hide in the bathroom. Biff enters telling Willy that he failed math. Willy tries to usher him out but when Biff imitates his math teacher’s lisp the mistress laughs and Biff uncovers the affair.
Back again in the Loman kitchen Happy enters looking for Willy. He finds Biff and Linda and Linda begins to scold the boys, slapping away Happy’s flowers. She yells at them for abandoning Willy and Biff leave to find Willy. Biff finds Willy planting seeds by flashlight and supposedly talking to Ben about a $20,000 proposition. Biff brings Willy inside and Willy once again becomes angry over Biff’s failings. Happy attempts to calm Biff but Biff and Willy erupt into a full blown argument. Everyone in the house hold eventually goes to bed except Willy who renews his conversation with Ben. Linda calls out to Ben and all anyone can hear is Willy’s car speeding away.
Linda and Happy stand in shock after Willy’s poorly attended funeral. Biff states that Willy had the wrong dreams and Charley defends Willy as a victim of his profession. Biff invites Happy to go out West with him but Happy decides to stay in New York. Linda asks Willy for forgiveness for being unable to cry. She beings to sob, repeating “we’re free….”
  
2. The theme of the novel is the failure of the American Dream. Willy believed whole-heartedly in it and it inevitably causes him nothing but dispair.
3. The tone of the play can be considered gloomy and rather depressing. Willy’s hallucinations and the tendency of the play to take place either at night or in the rain contribute to this tone.
4. · Symbolism – “What the hell is that seed?” (pg 127) Seeds are Willy’s attempts to prove his worth. His last ditch attempts to grow vegetables at night symbolizes his shame of not being able to provide for his family.
· Foreshadow – “From the darkness is heard the laughter of a woman.” (pg 37) The laughter of the woman is foreshadowing the laughter of Willy’s mistress with betrays him to Biff.
· Allusion – “Smell the stink from that apartment house!” (pg 17) The apartments are an allusion to the early days of urban development in New York and sets the time period of the play
· Characterization – “He is past sixty years of age, dressed quietly.” (pg 12) Throughout the play stage direction and descriptions are offered to the actors but not the audience. A view of how the writer views his own characters.
· Conflict – “Don’t you care whether he lives or dies?” (pg 123) Willy’s conflict is with himself and his hallucinations but this causes secondary conflicts that the rest of the Loman family must deal with.
· Epilogue – “Linda doesn’t react. She stares at the grave.” (pg 136) At the end of the play a requiem is written in. It acts very much like an epilogue providing information about after the end of the play.
· Euphemism – “Ah, it’s a dog’s life.” (pg 99) This is used to express the same level of distaste as more fowl language.
· Foreshadow – “The Woman enters, laughing.” (pg 116) Nearly every hallucination in the play is a flashback to a period in Willy’s life where he was much happier than he is currently.
· Point of View – “The curtain rises.” (pg 1) The fact that this is a play complete with stage direction and instructions to the actors makes it that you, as a reader, is something other than the audience. The actors act, the audience watches, and we read as more of the director of the play who knows exactly what is happening.
· Tragedy – “I can’t cry.” (pg 139) I’m not sure if this play is considered a tragedy but it certainly seems like it is.
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Direct
“…she more than loves him, she admires him…” (pg 12)
“He is past sixty years of age, dressed quietly.” (pg 12)
Indirect
“I’m tired to death.” (pg 13)
“I’m the New England man.” (pg 14)
Direct and indirect characterizations have different purposes in this work because it is specifically a play. The direct characterization is meant for the actors so that they could imitate the character and the indirect is meant for the audience during an actually production of the play.
2. When the author focuses on a character description in this case it is generally through stage direction not in actually dialogue of the play. So the diction and syntax become much simpler and more directed towards specific people, the actors.
3. I feel like the protagonist is a static flat character. It doesn’t seem like their character values really change over the course of the play nor does it seem like Willy, the main character, have the full gambit of characteristic that a person should have.
4. I feel like I have read a character but that is not it is poor characterization. It is because it is a play, meant to be acted in front of an audience by actors, not so much read like a novel. The actors bring the character to the characters, not the piece of literature itself.

“The curtain rises.” (pg 1)


Monday, December 10, 2012

Literary Analysis A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

General:

1) In the beginning of the novel you are introduced into the hatching facility in London where they are creating five different levels of intelligence in humans. They used a factory like method of preparing the different humans. They also have programs for the kids once they start growing to implement a brainwashing method so they do not want to read but they will only want to do what they are trained to do. We switch over to Lenina who is talking to one of her friends about being almost exclusive with Henry. Bernard finds out about this and he is a bit mad so he tries to get Lenina to go with him somewhere and she accepts. They go to a reservation but the director is upset with how Bernard has been acting and is going to exile him when he returns. At the reservation Lenina and Bernard see the world where it has people that actually show signs of aging and illness. They meet a person named John who was born by a person named Linda who was ostracized because she would sleep with anyone. John learned to read by reading Shakespeare and another book about science. Lenina and Bernard want to take John back to the World State but he will only come if he can bring Linda. They head back to the World State and the director almost exiles Bernard but then he is ashamed that he had a kid with Linda. John becomes very popular in the World State and Lenina becomes really confused about her feelings toward John because he does not want to have sex with her. Bernard becomes really popular with the ladies by having John at his house but when John does not show up for one of the parties his social level plumits. Lenina tries to seduce John but it does not work and responds by being mean and saying bad things to her. John gets a call that his mother Linda is on her death bed, so he heads down to her. John gets mad at some kids who say Linda was not beautiful and starts a riot by throwing soma out of a window. John, Bernard, and Helmholtz are arrested and so Bernard and Helmholtz both take their exile while John hides away in a light house. People of the World State find out about John and all rush the light house saying he should be whipped. Lenina comes up to him and tries to hug him and in an outbreak of emotions there is an orgy that takes place. John becomes disgusted that he has fallen into the society of the World State that he hangs himself.

2)With all of the power that the World State has on its citizens there is a price that must be paid. With this so called "perfect" society there is no freedom in what you can do. So with that being said there can never be a perfect society or Utopia that can come if citizens want a free will and the ability to make their own choices in what they can and cannot do.

3)The author focused on a satirical rendition of how a "perfect" society could be. With a free country people are able to share themselves however that may be. “I like being myself. Myself and nasty.” The way the government in this story is able to brainwash everyone they have makes it seem like a perfect society but there is no way anyone can change. “Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly -- they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.” 

4) - Symbolism - “All that happens means something; nothing you do is ever insignificant.”
      - Allusion - “Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment. If you have    behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time. On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.”
      - Foundation - “No social stability without individual stability.” 
      - Foreshadow - “...reality, however utopian, is something from which people feel the need of taking pretty frequent holidays....” 
      - Satire - I ate civilization. It poisoned me; I was defiled. And then," he added in a lower tone, "I ate my own wickedness.” 

Sunday, December 9, 2012