CEREMONY
Author: Leslie Marmon Silko. It is worth noting that she is part Laguna Pueblo, part Mexican, and part white, giving her a unique perspective on the mixture of cultures in the south west as well as a personal connection to her hero, Tayo.
Setting: Laguna Pueblo Reservation, in Arizona. This is close to Route 66, where towns such as Gallup are located. In my notebook there is a nice map of where everything is in relation to each other.
Narrative Voice: Third person limited. We share Tayo's feelings and perceptions, though the language is not in the first person. The standard narrative is sometimes interrupted, or rather intertwined, with a Laguna legend, presented in closer to the form of oral tradition, as well as other stories told by characters we've been introduced to.
Theme: This is a story about limenal spaces and finding a way to bridge cultures and connect old and new. (that sounds cheesy. obviously there is a lot more to Ceremony but I don't know how to articulate it).
Characters:
Tayo - Half Laguna, half white, he has always been slightly shunned by his Laguna community. He returns from the war with PTSD and needs to complete the ceremony and bring the earth back into balance.
Rocky- Foil to Tayo. Tayo's "brother" who rejects Laguna culture and aspires to make his place in the white community. He is killed in WWII and his ghost haunts Tayo.
Josiah - Tayo's uncle and father figure. Completely accepts him and teaches him to respect the Laguna culture. He dies mysteriously while searching for his hybrid cattle and his ghost also haunts Tayo.
Auntie - Tayo's aunt who take care of him so she can look like a martyr. She has always ostracized him for being half white, and shamed him because of the shame her sister brought upon the family. We hate her.
Emo- he's a witch. He uses stories for evil and tries to kill Tayo and his friends.
Harley - one of many unemployed veterans who is always drinking. Yearns for the war times.
Night Swan - Josiah's almost-yellow woman. She also sleeps with Tayo. She is a powerful woman who begins Tayo's journey.
T'seh - Tayo's love. She inspires him and helps him find the cattle (she is sort of magical ). Yellow Woman.
Beautonie - Navajo medicine man who tries to cure Tayo using new ceremonies. Gives him a good start.
the Hunter - A spirit of the North, helps Tayo on his quest. Also, he can turn into a mountain lion.
Summary
Tayo returns to Laguna very sick with PTSD. He can't stop throwing up (its a metaphor for purging guilt and memories) and constantly cries for the loss of Rocky and Josiah - it might be ghost sickness.His friends are no better off, though many turn to alcohol as fake medicine. Still, they do their best for him, except Emo who is really scary and carries around human teeth as witch charms. When the Laguna Scalp ceremony fails him, Tayo meets with Betonie to see if he can heal him. He makes a good start, but predicts something greater in Tayo's future. Finally, Tayo embarks on a journey to find Josiah's hybrid cattle and return the rain to Laguna. He does so with the help of T'seh, and The Hunter (oh, they were stolen by a white man who fenced them in). When Tayo brings the cattle back, he finds that Emo has been spreading rumors about him, and its trying to stop him from completing the ceremony. This is where I get really confused....he spends the night in a Uranium mine (confronting white devils, I guess) and this...cures everything. What happens to Emo and the friends? I know a lot of them die, and I think Emo kills them, but then what happens to him? Anyway, the rain comes back at the end, and Tayo is better.
Quotes
" The jungle breathed an eternal green
that fevered men until they dripped sweat the way rubbery jungle
leaves dripped the monsoon rain. It was there that Tayo began to
understand what Josiah had said. Nothing was all good or all bad
either; it all depended."
Here is the start of a theme that everything, every person, every symbol, even every colour has two sides.
"It seems like I already heard these stories
before—only thing is, the names sound different."
So, I never understood this quote, but according to SparkNotes, she is talking about Emo killing Pinky, but also the cyclical nature of Laguna mythology and life.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Response to Course Materials 4-14-13
AP is in about a month! This reality hit me as we started designing t-shirts on Friday (cardinal red!). I feel more prepared for this exam than any other, but a few more practice APs would not go amiss. We just finished Ceremony (Emily Laub has been telling me all year that it is her favorite book, and now I finally understand why). I loved learning about another culture's symbolism and archetypes, though it makes Euro-American literature seem a lot easier to understand in comparison. I admit, I would probably never ever read American Dream in my free time, but maybe Ceremony.
I am really enjoying 5th Business. Especially since I thought it would be about a business man and I've had enough Willy Loman for one year. Maybe its just the knowledge that I don't have to annotate this one, or the peculiar voice of the main character, but I can't stop reading it! I'm afraid we won't have all the time I want to discuss it, because this is a book that I plan to keep on my shelf. Good choice Holmes!
So, thats about it....I am exhausted, so I'd like to take a moment to thank Holmes for giving us silent reading time in class several times in the past couple weeks. I really appreciate that :) Its going to be a rough month, but I feel ready. Bring it on!
AP is in about a month! This reality hit me as we started designing t-shirts on Friday (cardinal red!). I feel more prepared for this exam than any other, but a few more practice APs would not go amiss. We just finished Ceremony (Emily Laub has been telling me all year that it is her favorite book, and now I finally understand why). I loved learning about another culture's symbolism and archetypes, though it makes Euro-American literature seem a lot easier to understand in comparison. I admit, I would probably never ever read American Dream in my free time, but maybe Ceremony.
I am really enjoying 5th Business. Especially since I thought it would be about a business man and I've had enough Willy Loman for one year. Maybe its just the knowledge that I don't have to annotate this one, or the peculiar voice of the main character, but I can't stop reading it! I'm afraid we won't have all the time I want to discuss it, because this is a book that I plan to keep on my shelf. Good choice Holmes!
So, thats about it....I am exhausted, so I'd like to take a moment to thank Holmes for giving us silent reading time in class several times in the past couple weeks. I really appreciate that :) Its going to be a rough month, but I feel ready. Bring it on!
Monday, March 18, 2013
So, I got literally no criticism on this open prompt (I've run out of bad ones to re-edit), so I guess I'll just judge where it could be improved.
1984. Select a
line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel, epic poem, or play that
you find especially memorable. Write an essay in which you identify the line or
the passage, explain its relationship to the work in which it is found, and
analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.
My favorite line of poetry in the world goes "Since feeling is
first/ who pays any attention/ to the syntax of things/ will never
wholly kiss you" (cummings 1). This is the opening phrase in a poem by
e.e. cummings. It introduces the theme of impulse over mind. It also presents the premise of the poem, an appeal to his love. This
short phrase is full of rich language and deep meaning, and works an an effective introduction.
"Since feeling is first" is the first line, and it makes a powerful
assumption, that feeling trumps all other senses (cummings 1). This
condition holds true throughout the piece, as when he declares "kisses
are a better fate/ than wisdom", valuing emotion and affection over reason (cummmings
8). He reasserts the power of small emotive motions, like kisses, in his
line "-the best gesture of my brain is less than/ your eyelids'
flutter..." (cummings 11). This line, again, subverts rationalizing and reason in favor of spontaneity. Without an opening line to introduce and
establish this theme of intuition and romance, the entire poem would be
an argument, rather than evidence to an undeniable fact.
When analyzing a poem, one of the most important questions is
'who is this written for?'. In the case of "since feeling is first", it
is answered in the opening lines. As he explains "who pays any
attention/ to the syntax of things/ will never wholly kiss you", he
describes what he can offer her [the subject] that many men cannot (cummings 2). He is
confessing and he is convincing, "my blood approves", as he woos the
object of his passion (cummings 7). This line is more evidence for the motif of feeling - he seeks the approval of his own heart and soul rather than a society or authority. In the final stanza, he speaks the
vow he has been working up to all along, "We are for each other: then/
laugh, leaning back in my arms" (cummings 13).
The opening and most memorable line from "since feeling is first" is
effective because it introduces the themes and message of the poem with
conviction. The claim in the first stanza is warranted in the following
stanzas, as his message of love unfolds. These important functions of
the opening phrase are expressed artfully and skillfully. The message
comes across effortlessly, "for life's not a paragraph/ And death i
think is no parenthesis" (cummings 15). In addressing the subject of the poem and the audience, the opening line affirms the meaning of the poem as a whole.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Rosencrantz and Guildenstren Summary
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Author- Tom Stoppard: British. Absurd. Published his breakthrough show in 1967.
Summary:
ACT I. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are going nowhere fast, and they decide to take a break and flip coins. After about 99 heads, some players come along, offering to put on a show for them (or just have sex), and at this point, the impossible streak of heads finished and the coin toss turns up tails. At this point, Ophelia and Hamlet, with his stockings ungartered, rush onstage and bring us into the show Hamlet. here, Ros and Guil have a script and a purpose and a direction (for now), as Claudius directs them to "glean what afflicts him". However, as soon as the other Hamlet characters leave the stage, they run out of dialogue and begin the exasperating circles that brought them back here in the first place. Sometimes they appreciate the diversion of Hamlet characters, but other times they feel put upon and mocked by the royalty who seem so sure of their place, "Don't let them confuse you". Act 1 ends with them finding Hamlet and attempting to talk to him: it has taken them this long to find their purpose, and thus the exposition is over.
ACT II. It is traditional for the actors playing Ros and Guil to change places and even costumes, and begin reading each others lines. I guess this just adds to the absurdity and goes further with the theme of mistaken identities, putting the audience in the position that they recently mocked of not distinguishing between the two. After an unsuccessful confrontation with Hamlet and a reflection on their lack of direction, Ros and Guil are confronted by the players, who are devastated by their realization at the absurdity of a play that no one is watching, "There we were - demented children mincing around in clothes no man ever wore, speaking words no man ever said...every words vanishing into the thin, unpopulated air". In leaving them in the woods, Ros and Guil abandoned them to their own devices, and took away any measure of place, time and reason. This reflects how Ros and Guil feel, being scooped up and plopped down in one plot after the other. They break the fourth wall a lot, making the audience uneasy about their position and their sense of reality. It here becomes clear that the players understand their sense of entrapment, "We know which way the wind is blowing", while the eternally optimistic Ros and Guil still don't understand. now we get to an interesting scene where Ros contemplates his own mortality, "Its better to be alive in a box than be dead. Not that I'd like to be asleep in a box - for starters, you'd wake up dead!". He isn't quite there, but he is starting to realize what the title has told us all along. The new question raised is, are they already dead? Is the stage or the page of the book the coffin they are lying in, stagnant? They then watch the play, The Murder of Gonzago, and proceed to follow Hamlet in circles, a sense of dread becoming more and more apparent.
ACT III. They wake up on a boat, "Do you think death could be a boat?", and contemplate their limited freedoms, "One is free on a boat" (except that you can't actually go anywhere) until they try to remember why they are there. A letter is meant to explain everything. It is their last piece of reason to hold onto. "Because it is written" they know it must be true and it must lead them to their fate. They believe that they will make it to England and figure out their next purpose there, they are hopeful, but then Shakespeare, acting through Hamlet, snuffs the light and switched the letters (Because it is written). Then the players show up and Guil freaks out, again feeling the weight of eminent death, and goes to stab one of the players, to show him that he knows nothing of death, "But no one gets up after death - there is no applause....Who are we that so much should converge on our little deaths? Who are we?", "You are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. That is enough." This line is so sad, because after so much, "they are denied explanation". At the end, they reread the letter, stating that they are to be executed, and then...they disappear.
Author- Tom Stoppard: British. Absurd. Published his breakthrough show in 1967.
Summary:
ACT I. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are going nowhere fast, and they decide to take a break and flip coins. After about 99 heads, some players come along, offering to put on a show for them (or just have sex), and at this point, the impossible streak of heads finished and the coin toss turns up tails. At this point, Ophelia and Hamlet, with his stockings ungartered, rush onstage and bring us into the show Hamlet. here, Ros and Guil have a script and a purpose and a direction (for now), as Claudius directs them to "glean what afflicts him". However, as soon as the other Hamlet characters leave the stage, they run out of dialogue and begin the exasperating circles that brought them back here in the first place. Sometimes they appreciate the diversion of Hamlet characters, but other times they feel put upon and mocked by the royalty who seem so sure of their place, "Don't let them confuse you". Act 1 ends with them finding Hamlet and attempting to talk to him: it has taken them this long to find their purpose, and thus the exposition is over.
ACT II. It is traditional for the actors playing Ros and Guil to change places and even costumes, and begin reading each others lines. I guess this just adds to the absurdity and goes further with the theme of mistaken identities, putting the audience in the position that they recently mocked of not distinguishing between the two. After an unsuccessful confrontation with Hamlet and a reflection on their lack of direction, Ros and Guil are confronted by the players, who are devastated by their realization at the absurdity of a play that no one is watching, "There we were - demented children mincing around in clothes no man ever wore, speaking words no man ever said...every words vanishing into the thin, unpopulated air". In leaving them in the woods, Ros and Guil abandoned them to their own devices, and took away any measure of place, time and reason. This reflects how Ros and Guil feel, being scooped up and plopped down in one plot after the other. They break the fourth wall a lot, making the audience uneasy about their position and their sense of reality. It here becomes clear that the players understand their sense of entrapment, "We know which way the wind is blowing", while the eternally optimistic Ros and Guil still don't understand. now we get to an interesting scene where Ros contemplates his own mortality, "Its better to be alive in a box than be dead. Not that I'd like to be asleep in a box - for starters, you'd wake up dead!". He isn't quite there, but he is starting to realize what the title has told us all along. The new question raised is, are they already dead? Is the stage or the page of the book the coffin they are lying in, stagnant? They then watch the play, The Murder of Gonzago, and proceed to follow Hamlet in circles, a sense of dread becoming more and more apparent.
ACT III. They wake up on a boat, "Do you think death could be a boat?", and contemplate their limited freedoms, "One is free on a boat" (except that you can't actually go anywhere) until they try to remember why they are there. A letter is meant to explain everything. It is their last piece of reason to hold onto. "Because it is written" they know it must be true and it must lead them to their fate. They believe that they will make it to England and figure out their next purpose there, they are hopeful, but then Shakespeare, acting through Hamlet, snuffs the light and switched the letters (Because it is written). Then the players show up and Guil freaks out, again feeling the weight of eminent death, and goes to stab one of the players, to show him that he knows nothing of death, "But no one gets up after death - there is no applause....Who are we that so much should converge on our little deaths? Who are we?", "You are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. That is enough." This line is so sad, because after so much, "they are denied explanation". At the end, they reread the letter, stating that they are to be executed, and then...they disappear.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Resposne to Course Materials - March
Well, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead....again. I wish we could have had more discussion time for Ros and Guil, because I have lots of unanswered questions on that one, but we had to move on. We wrote another closed prompt, and so far I have learned:
-Organize by effects not by techniques
-Talk about Meaning
-Write a strong thesis
-A good opening will be over-scored, and poor opening, underscored.
-Recommendations are not optional
So, that was super helpful, and I can't wait to write another one and redeem myself. Now we are starting Ceremony, and if there wasn't enough repetition and circular logic in Ros and Guil, well now we have Ceremony! I am very curious about how Tayo will get in touch with his Pueblo Side. I have a feeling it will be rather... mythological. I know that Latino authors use a lot of magical realism, so that could be it. The AP exam suddenly feels a lot closer and nothing is slowing down. I am so tired. I need a break. Ms. Holmes, we need some story time (please? we've been so good!).... Good night.
-Organize by effects not by techniques
-Talk about Meaning
-Write a strong thesis
-A good opening will be over-scored, and poor opening, underscored.
-Recommendations are not optional
So, that was super helpful, and I can't wait to write another one and redeem myself. Now we are starting Ceremony, and if there wasn't enough repetition and circular logic in Ros and Guil, well now we have Ceremony! I am very curious about how Tayo will get in touch with his Pueblo Side. I have a feeling it will be rather... mythological. I know that Latino authors use a lot of magical realism, so that could be it. The AP exam suddenly feels a lot closer and nothing is slowing down. I am so tired. I need a break. Ms. Holmes, we need some story time (please? we've been so good!).... Good night.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Open Prompt Revision
My peers commented that the language was too informal and my paragraph on diction was lacking, so I sought to improve that.
The Bribery Aisle: How Wal-Mart Used Payoffs to Get Its Way in Mexico
Close Reading
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/business/walmart-bribes-teotihuacan.html?hp&_r=0
David Barstow covers a corporate maneuver south of the border in his article The Bribery Aisle. The New York Times writer used syntax, details, and diction to paint a picture of corporate greed and shady transactions south of the border.
The format of this article is much like a report - from the secret service. The introduction, "SAN JUAN TEOTIHUACÁN, Mexico — Wal-Mart longed to build in Elda Pineda’s alfalfa field. It was an ideal location..." took on the overly-intense tone of a secret service report, while some of his headlines would have been more appropriate as the opening credits to an action movie. Corporate transactions aren't typically headline news, but Barstow used his knowledge of spy films, and the knowledge that the average American is more likely to watch 007 than read his article, to bring this news story to the people. He even divides the article into 'episodes', as it were, with flashy titles such as "City of the Gods, An Altered Map, A Helpful Mayor, Getting By the Guardians (my personal favorite), A Gathering Protest, (and last but not least) Open for Business". This syntactic technique if effective, although rather inappropriate, as it is usually reserved for a DVD scene selection listing.Specific details dehumanize Wal-Mart, and bring a rich sense of setting to the already well scripted narrative. "With its usual precision, Wal-Mart calculated it would attract 250 customers an hour if only it could put a store in Mrs. Pineda’s field." This personifies Wal-Mart as a cold, calculating figure, caring only about 250 faceless customers per hour, and no compassion for Señora Pineda. More crucial details, " Protesters decried the very idea of a Wal-Mart ... They contended the town’s traditional public markets would be decimated... Months of hunger strikes and sit-ins consumed Mexico’s news media" depict how opposed the local people are to Wal-Mart, making this a civil rights and culture issue as well as a business concern.
The specific words used to describe this 'operation' further paint a picture of a sneaky, greedy, merciless corporation 'exploiting' the local Mexican people. "The plan was simple..." is a line traditionally saved for James Bond movies, but Barstow uses it to make Wal-mart's pay off sound all the more sinister and interesting.The article describes 'out-muscling protesters', implying that Wal-Mart had, not right on its side, but sheer bulldozing force. Also, 'vanquishing' small town markets compares the company to an evil wizard. This diction villainizes Wal-Mart, and alludes to the fantastical evils that saturate our pop culture.
Rhetoric techniques like diction, details, and syntax can effectively engage a reader in an epic battle of zoning rights and technicalities, if done well. This article proved that, as well as used excellent work choice and detail to villainize Wal-Mart.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Response to Course Materials - February
Rosencratz and Guildenstern are waaay too post modernist for me. Don't get me wrong, I've loved playing Guildenstern... I mean Rosencrantz..... ugh. It is obvioiusly a well thought out play, but I'd like to flatter myself and say that if I am struggling so much as an AP student who just finished Hamlet, then who actually comes willingly to watch this show be performed? It seems to me it was written to be analyzed.I thought it was a little funny how Holmes told us she was going to step back and let us do the interpreting on this one... but we're so hopeless, she has to jump in and explain whats going on every few pages. The thing about absurd-ism is that there is no balance - it is all about shock and controversy and challenge, and less about content or reader satisfaction- but maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough (after all, there are a lot of loose ends from American Dream that I never tied up). Aside from reading the Confusing Play, we got back to the AP multiple choice, which I need some practice/strategies for. The AP looks a lot closer, this side of finals. I honestly miss Hamlet - we got into such great conversations, and I loved acting it out. Our final was so much fun, because there are so many different interpretations of Shakespeare (whereas Sheppard doesn't really leave room for other interpretations). I'm sure R& G will grow on me - I like the philosophizing, its just very bizarre.
Rosencratz and Guildenstern are waaay too post modernist for me. Don't get me wrong, I've loved playing Guildenstern... I mean Rosencrantz..... ugh. It is obvioiusly a well thought out play, but I'd like to flatter myself and say that if I am struggling so much as an AP student who just finished Hamlet, then who actually comes willingly to watch this show be performed? It seems to me it was written to be analyzed.I thought it was a little funny how Holmes told us she was going to step back and let us do the interpreting on this one... but we're so hopeless, she has to jump in and explain whats going on every few pages. The thing about absurd-ism is that there is no balance - it is all about shock and controversy and challenge, and less about content or reader satisfaction- but maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough (after all, there are a lot of loose ends from American Dream that I never tied up). Aside from reading the Confusing Play, we got back to the AP multiple choice, which I need some practice/strategies for. The AP looks a lot closer, this side of finals. I honestly miss Hamlet - we got into such great conversations, and I loved acting it out. Our final was so much fun, because there are so many different interpretations of Shakespeare (whereas Sheppard doesn't really leave room for other interpretations). I'm sure R& G will grow on me - I like the philosophizing, its just very bizarre.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Hamlet: Prince of Denmark
Background: Shakespeare's most famous tragedy, though this is debated almost as much as Hamlet debates killing Claudius/himself.
A very quick summary of Hamlet, since I really need to get some sleep before this final week of finals begins.
So... the ghost of Hamlet's father appears and tells him that the new King (the old king's brother) killed the old king by pouring "poison hebanon" in his ear. Hamlet is supposed to revenge his father, but instead he goes a little crazy and bursts into his girlfriend Ophelia's closet and freaks her out. She tells her weasel-y father who makes her show her love letters to the king and queen to convince them that Hamlet is mad with love for Ophelia (its all part of Polonius' plan to put his daughter on the throne). Anyway, this plan doesn't work and just pisses off Hamlet further as he organizes for a play pantomiming King Claudius' bloody deed to be performed before the court, so Hamlet can see if his uncle really is guilty (either he didn't believe the ghost or he's just stalling). The King stands up during the play (this was a big deal back then), thus proving his guilt (or maybe he just wanted some popcorn) and Hamlet goes to confront...his mother!?!?!? After preaching abstinence to his mother, he stabs Polonius, "Ho! A rat!", thinking it was Claudius spying. This gets him carted off to England with his super fake 'friends' Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. In Hamlet's absence and in light of her father's death, Ophelia goes legitimately crazy and drowns herself. Meanwhile, Hamlet has a run in with the convenient-plot-device-pirates and returns to Denmark, leaving R and G to die. Laertes has returned from France to avenge his father, and now his dead sister, but can't seem to finish Hamlet off while brawling in Ophelia's suicide grave (yeah, its morbid). Finally, Hamlet realizes that he cannot live in Elsinore, and walks to his death, "There is providence in the fall of a sparrow" (Harry Potter Moment!). During a fatal duel with Laertes, they are both slain with a poisoned sword. Gertrude drinks from the poisoned cup intended for Hamlet, and Hamlet forces Claudius to drink his own poison before dying in Horatio's arms "Good night sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest". Bromance <3 Then, Fortinbraus, who was eluded to once in the very first scene, comes to take over Elsinore and demands that Hamlet be given the king's funeral, "Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, For he was likely, had he been put on, To have proved most royally." And Denmark is at peace, and old and young Hamlet are at rest.
Characters:
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: Hamlet is faced with the choice to avenge his father and damn his own soul, or to not act, and let his father's soul suffer in purgatory. He feels incredibly alone at Elsinore, and sometimes fears that he is part of the "something rotten in the state of Denmark". He has an intimate relationship with Ophelia, but a more intimate relationship with his mother, and an even more intimate relationship with Horatio, "I am dead Horatio" who he trusts above all others.
Claudius: Hamlets Uncle Scar, who murders his father and marries his mother. His love for Gertrude, more than his desire for power, prompts this. He tries to pray to God for forgiveness, so he is not a one-dimensional evil, but a man overcome with love.
Gertrude: Marries her husband's widow, much to the anger of her son, who frequents her bedroom chamber. She is presented as weak, be that a ploy to survive in a man's world or genuine stupidity, but in the end she is poisoned "The drink! It is the drink!", and gets whats coming to her. When Hamlet's attacks, "Frailty, thy name is woman" are a contrast to her almost flippant attitude towards remarriage, "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."
Ghost: Hamlet's father is more terrifying and demanding than loving "Mark me!". He is accepted as appearing in the opening, when he demands that Hamlet kill Claudius, but appears again (at least in Hamlet's mind) in scene 3. "Let this serve as a remembrance".
Ophelia: Represents the trapped state of Elsinore women. She is defined by her innocence and controlled by her father and brother. When she looses her innocence and becomes pregnant, she looses all sense of identity, all protection, and all control, and drowns herself. This is no secret, for the priest refuses to bury her on consecrate grounds. When she goes crazy, she sings "He is dead and gone...Tommorow is St. Valentine's Day..." with cryptic goodbyes for everyone.
Polonius: Adviser to Claudius; very sneaky but not on Hamlet's level. He will use his own children to get ahead, but just ends up stabbed through a drapery. Yup.
Laertes: Party boy, further representing the corruption of Elsinore. He is loyal, however, to his sister Ophelia (and there may be some incest there), and brawls in her grave with Hamlet. Before he dies, poisoned by his own sword, he says "Exchange forgiveness with me", and regrets killing Hamlet.
Fortinbras: Foil to Hamlet. Action guy, very in control and sure of his own desires. What Hamlet might have been had he escaped the disease of Elsinore. He recognizes this, and pays Hamlet respects before assuming the throne and giving Hamlet a fresh start.
Horatio: Our moral compass- we can trust him absolutely. He is loyal to Hamlet, who dies in his arms. Bromance <3
Themes/Motifs/Useful AP Details
Hamlet is Jesus: cock crows three times, dies for the sins of Elsinore, 30, Holy trinity...
Ophelia is a flower; pure, sweet, delicate, gilded lily? deflowered? "Sweets for the sweet", "Here's rue for you, though we may call it "herb of grace".
Poison motif: "Something's rotton in the state of Denmark", "Poison hebbanon", also, Shakespeare is obsessed with ears, because the secrets and lies are what are rotting Denmark.
Hamlet thinks All The World's a Stage and We are but Players (I know, thats from As You Like It): He wonders if we have free will or if God has already written the script. When the players do "The Murder of Gonzago" he spends about 4 pages coaching the actors on being lifelike.
Hamlet's relationship with words; he uses wit and elevated speech to put up walls and insult people. Ophelia is uniquely clever, and can work on his level, while Polonius, "Are you a fishmonger", is a victim of this mocking.
Background: Shakespeare's most famous tragedy, though this is debated almost as much as Hamlet debates killing Claudius/himself.
A very quick summary of Hamlet, since I really need to get some sleep before this final week of finals begins.
So... the ghost of Hamlet's father appears and tells him that the new King (the old king's brother) killed the old king by pouring "poison hebanon" in his ear. Hamlet is supposed to revenge his father, but instead he goes a little crazy and bursts into his girlfriend Ophelia's closet and freaks her out. She tells her weasel-y father who makes her show her love letters to the king and queen to convince them that Hamlet is mad with love for Ophelia (its all part of Polonius' plan to put his daughter on the throne). Anyway, this plan doesn't work and just pisses off Hamlet further as he organizes for a play pantomiming King Claudius' bloody deed to be performed before the court, so Hamlet can see if his uncle really is guilty (either he didn't believe the ghost or he's just stalling). The King stands up during the play (this was a big deal back then), thus proving his guilt (or maybe he just wanted some popcorn) and Hamlet goes to confront...his mother!?!?!? After preaching abstinence to his mother, he stabs Polonius, "Ho! A rat!", thinking it was Claudius spying. This gets him carted off to England with his super fake 'friends' Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. In Hamlet's absence and in light of her father's death, Ophelia goes legitimately crazy and drowns herself. Meanwhile, Hamlet has a run in with the convenient-plot-device-pirates and returns to Denmark, leaving R and G to die. Laertes has returned from France to avenge his father, and now his dead sister, but can't seem to finish Hamlet off while brawling in Ophelia's suicide grave (yeah, its morbid). Finally, Hamlet realizes that he cannot live in Elsinore, and walks to his death, "There is providence in the fall of a sparrow" (Harry Potter Moment!). During a fatal duel with Laertes, they are both slain with a poisoned sword. Gertrude drinks from the poisoned cup intended for Hamlet, and Hamlet forces Claudius to drink his own poison before dying in Horatio's arms "Good night sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest". Bromance <3 Then, Fortinbraus, who was eluded to once in the very first scene, comes to take over Elsinore and demands that Hamlet be given the king's funeral, "Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, For he was likely, had he been put on, To have proved most royally." And Denmark is at peace, and old and young Hamlet are at rest.
Characters:
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: Hamlet is faced with the choice to avenge his father and damn his own soul, or to not act, and let his father's soul suffer in purgatory. He feels incredibly alone at Elsinore, and sometimes fears that he is part of the "something rotten in the state of Denmark". He has an intimate relationship with Ophelia, but a more intimate relationship with his mother, and an even more intimate relationship with Horatio, "I am dead Horatio" who he trusts above all others.
Claudius: Hamlets Uncle Scar, who murders his father and marries his mother. His love for Gertrude, more than his desire for power, prompts this. He tries to pray to God for forgiveness, so he is not a one-dimensional evil, but a man overcome with love.
Gertrude: Marries her husband's widow, much to the anger of her son, who frequents her bedroom chamber. She is presented as weak, be that a ploy to survive in a man's world or genuine stupidity, but in the end she is poisoned "The drink! It is the drink!", and gets whats coming to her. When Hamlet's attacks, "Frailty, thy name is woman" are a contrast to her almost flippant attitude towards remarriage, "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."
Ghost: Hamlet's father is more terrifying and demanding than loving "Mark me!". He is accepted as appearing in the opening, when he demands that Hamlet kill Claudius, but appears again (at least in Hamlet's mind) in scene 3. "Let this serve as a remembrance".
Ophelia: Represents the trapped state of Elsinore women. She is defined by her innocence and controlled by her father and brother. When she looses her innocence and becomes pregnant, she looses all sense of identity, all protection, and all control, and drowns herself. This is no secret, for the priest refuses to bury her on consecrate grounds. When she goes crazy, she sings "He is dead and gone...Tommorow is St. Valentine's Day..." with cryptic goodbyes for everyone.
Polonius: Adviser to Claudius; very sneaky but not on Hamlet's level. He will use his own children to get ahead, but just ends up stabbed through a drapery. Yup.
Laertes: Party boy, further representing the corruption of Elsinore. He is loyal, however, to his sister Ophelia (and there may be some incest there), and brawls in her grave with Hamlet. Before he dies, poisoned by his own sword, he says "Exchange forgiveness with me", and regrets killing Hamlet.
Fortinbras: Foil to Hamlet. Action guy, very in control and sure of his own desires. What Hamlet might have been had he escaped the disease of Elsinore. He recognizes this, and pays Hamlet respects before assuming the throne and giving Hamlet a fresh start.
Horatio: Our moral compass- we can trust him absolutely. He is loyal to Hamlet, who dies in his arms. Bromance <3
Themes/Motifs/Useful AP Details
Hamlet is Jesus: cock crows three times, dies for the sins of Elsinore, 30, Holy trinity...
Ophelia is a flower; pure, sweet, delicate, gilded lily? deflowered? "Sweets for the sweet", "Here's rue for you, though we may call it "herb of grace".
Poison motif: "Something's rotton in the state of Denmark", "Poison hebbanon", also, Shakespeare is obsessed with ears, because the secrets and lies are what are rotting Denmark.
Hamlet thinks All The World's a Stage and We are but Players (I know, thats from As You Like It): He wonders if we have free will or if God has already written the script. When the players do "The Murder of Gonzago" he spends about 4 pages coaching the actors on being lifelike.
Hamlet's relationship with words; he uses wit and elevated speech to put up walls and insult people. Ophelia is uniquely clever, and can work on his level, while Polonius, "Are you a fishmonger", is a victim of this mocking.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Open Prompt Revision
When my peers commented on the first draft of this essay, they had a couple constructive pieces of feedback. In the introductory paragraph, my weak attempt at humor just served to confuse, so I changed that, and separated the exposition into a separate paragraph detailing the most obvious meanings of the red tent. They also said I had a pretty wimpy conclusions, largely due to the fact that I ran out of time, so I added some more connecting details that rounded out my conclusion and essay.
1970 Choose a work of recognized literary merit in which a specific inanimate object (e.g., a seashell, a handkerchief, a painting) is important, and write an essay in which you show how two or three of the purposes the object serves are related to one another.
Anita Diamant's novel The Red Tent is a retelling of the biblical
story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob. In this book, a specific inanimate
object stands as a refuge for Dinah and her mothers, a connection to
their ancestors, and a symbol of womanhood.You guessed it, the Red Tent!
Every new moon, the wives of Jacob enter the red tent for their monthly
cycle. According to their culture, women were to be separated from men
during this time.When Dinah comes of age, she is accepted into the red
tent as a young woman. Here, the fertile women spend three days in
peace; resting, praying, and singing. The red tent, in the tribe of
Jacob, was the symbol for womanhood and fertility.
In a patriarch-dominated society, the red tent symbolized refuge from
demanding and sometimes cruel men. Ruti, "whose eyes seemed permanently
blackened, was the slave-wife of brutish Laban. She found sanctuary in
the few days of the month that she spent in the red tent, where Laban
could not follow her. Even for the wives with gentler husbands, women
were expected to submit completely to their husbands, and could not talk
and joke freely in the presence of men, "In their day along in the red
tend, Jacob's wives spoke among themselves about their husband's dreams
and plans". It was also here that they were able to plot without being
overhear. When the tribe of Jacob choose to leave Laban, his daughters
steal from him his idols (gods), to take with them to their new home.
Leah hides them in the red tent. Laban searches for them everywhere
except, "his eyes fixed upon the women's tent on the edge of the camp.
It was unthinkable that a healthy man would walk inside that place
during the head of the month, among bleeding women - even worse, his own
daughters". The taboo of the tent protects them from intrusions; and
makes trespasses all the more horrible. Once his idols have been
"polluted beyond redemption" by laying in the tent, he believes their
magic to protect him is lost, and he never bothers his daughters again.
As well as being an oasis in a patriarchal world, the red tent is a
place for passing on stories. These are the women's tales; being the
only daughter of Jacob, Dinah "heard all the stories from her
mother and mother-aunts, which her brothers wouldn't be bothered to hear
or pass on". Dinah's aunt Bilhah tells her the story of how man first
learned to spin wool into thread, and Rachael tells the stories of the
births she has midwifed. Along with personal stories, the red tent is a
place where Jacob's wives carry on traditions from their grandmothers
and great-grandmothers, "The women sang all the welcoming songs while
Rachael made fine wheat-flour cake in the three-cornered shape of
woman's sex". The make sacrifices to their goddesses and welcome Dinah
into the red tent with the traditional ceremony, "they put kohl on my
eyes, and perfumed my forehead...painted my arms and legs with henna".
The red tent is a place for the women's traditions to be carried on.
The red tent literally symbolizes the isolation of menstruating women,
but within, it is a place for Jacob's wives to escape the controlling
men of their time, and share their personal histories and traditions.The strong feminine connotations of this object connect it to the
goddesses who Jacob's wives worship, and make Laban's trespass more shocking and invasive. The red tent is the women's domain where they can speak freely and pass on stories to their daughters. The red tent is a very important object with many meanings.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Response to Course Materials
Words. Words. WORDS!
We have been watching Hamlet and discussing the major themes in class. I hope we're not done yet, because I feel like we've spent lots of time just trying to decode the Shakespeare, and not a ton of figuring out what it means. For one thing, there is a lot open to interpretation here, so you can't make any decisive claims about the nature of Gertrude and Claudius' relationship, Ophelia's intelligence, or Hamlet's sexuality, as they change from actor to actor.
There is a lot of bible stuff in here, not just the 'Providence in the fall of a sparrow' monologue. So, in the beginning, there is a father, a son, and a holy ghost. Hamlet is denied thrice before the cock crows. In the end, he dies for the sins of Denmark and is given the burial of a King. He's supposed to be in his early 30s, no older than 33...He's JESUS! I KNEW IT! ITS ALWAYS JESUS! Okay, at least, in Brit Lit someone was always Jesus... and Shakespeare is British, so it makes sense. (Wait, is Shakespeare also Jesus?)
Aside from being Jesus, Hamlet has an interesting relationship with words. He loves riddles and quips and puns (maybe that is just Shakespeare having fun) and no one seems to understand him. I've heard it said that Shakespeare created Hamlet in his image...
Another motif in the play is the infection and rotting from within Denmark. There is so much treachery and murder and incest going on in the royal house of Denmark, and Hamlet suspects it is inside of him too. All I can think of is..."You're a Horcrux, Harry!"
Think about it; they are both popular, beloved young men in their worlds. Their fathers, who they her0-worship, are dead and gone. There is a great evil looming, and they feel it is inside of themselves. They are short of temper and prone to violent outbursts, yet somehow they are really good at heart. And, in the end, they each walk to their death to save others. And, their names both start with H-a-.
I found this article, "What Harry Potter Could have learned from Hamlet" http://emsworth.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/what-harry-potter-could-have-learned-from-hamlet/
So, in conclusion, Hamlet is Jesus... and Harry Potter. I can't wait to reveal my amazing realization on the AP exam :)
Words. Words. WORDS!
We have been watching Hamlet and discussing the major themes in class. I hope we're not done yet, because I feel like we've spent lots of time just trying to decode the Shakespeare, and not a ton of figuring out what it means. For one thing, there is a lot open to interpretation here, so you can't make any decisive claims about the nature of Gertrude and Claudius' relationship, Ophelia's intelligence, or Hamlet's sexuality, as they change from actor to actor.
There is a lot of bible stuff in here, not just the 'Providence in the fall of a sparrow' monologue. So, in the beginning, there is a father, a son, and a holy ghost. Hamlet is denied thrice before the cock crows. In the end, he dies for the sins of Denmark and is given the burial of a King. He's supposed to be in his early 30s, no older than 33...He's JESUS! I KNEW IT! ITS ALWAYS JESUS! Okay, at least, in Brit Lit someone was always Jesus... and Shakespeare is British, so it makes sense. (Wait, is Shakespeare also Jesus?)
Aside from being Jesus, Hamlet has an interesting relationship with words. He loves riddles and quips and puns (maybe that is just Shakespeare having fun) and no one seems to understand him. I've heard it said that Shakespeare created Hamlet in his image...
Another motif in the play is the infection and rotting from within Denmark. There is so much treachery and murder and incest going on in the royal house of Denmark, and Hamlet suspects it is inside of him too. All I can think of is..."You're a Horcrux, Harry!"
Think about it; they are both popular, beloved young men in their worlds. Their fathers, who they her0-worship, are dead and gone. There is a great evil looming, and they feel it is inside of themselves. They are short of temper and prone to violent outbursts, yet somehow they are really good at heart. And, in the end, they each walk to their death to save others. And, their names both start with H-a-.
I found this article, "What Harry Potter Could have learned from Hamlet" http://emsworth.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/what-harry-potter-could-have-learned-from-hamlet/
So, in conclusion, Hamlet is Jesus... and Harry Potter. I can't wait to reveal my amazing realization on the AP exam :)
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