Bianca

Bianca's character in The Taming of the Shrew is a flat character. She doesnt move the play forward but sets the reason for the plot. She may not be important to moving the play forward but she is the reason why the shrew is to be tamed. She is the sister of Katherine and her foil in the play. Even her relationship with Lucentio is the foil to Katherines relationship with Petruchio. Bianca is not a interesting character. She stays the same throughout the play and even her feelings for Lucentio are the same throughout the story because she always felt more for him out of all the men who tried to be with her. She also is in the play but not as a main charater. She is important for the plot of the play but not in moving play forward.

setting the stage

In Shakespeare’s plays he uses language to set the scene such as what time of day it may be. In act 4 scene 5 of The Taming of the Shrew Shakespeare uses this langue to tell that it is day time in the scene. We learn this because of the conversation between Katherine and Petruchio when they argue how the moon isn’t out, it is the sun. Petruchio says “Good Lord, how bright and goodly shines the moon!” and Katherine replies “The moon? The sun! It is not moonlight now.” So because of this conversation the audience knows it is day time even if they may not be able to see that it is day. These hints help create less confusion in when the scenes are taking place. Also in the scene another hint to show that it is day time is when Petruchio says “Good morrow” to Vincentio when he enters the scene

Eveline response

In the story “Eveline” by Joyce Eveline the protagonist has a decision to make which is either go with her boyfriend Frank to Buenos Ayres or stay with her abusive father where she says “It was hard work-a hard life”. But when the chance comes for her to finally leave to have a good life she decides not to go. Throughout the story she struggles with her decision. She is unsure of her decision and asks herself “Was that wise?” She goes through aspects of her life like her job that she said she wouldn’t miss that much and her house which seemed like something she wasn’t quite ready to let go. She says “Perhaps she would never see those familiar objects again which she had never dreamed of being divided.” But then she has an epiphany and she realizes that she has to escape. This comes to her when she thinks bout the time of her mother’s death. “She stood up in a sudden impulse of terror. Escape! She must escape!” But when her and Frank are at the boats she doesn’t leave. I think she does this because she feels she still has a responsibility to follow her mother’s wishes to keep the house together. All her family has left and she is all her father has left and if she leaves then her house and family would have been separated. Although she wanted to go with Frank she felt a duty she had to uphold and role to take as a caretaker.

Sympathy for Gregor?

I think Kafka did want his readers to sympathize with Gregor in “The Metamorphosis”. There is a lot to sympathize to with Gregor. Up until he turned into an insect he was the provider for his family and they depended on him greatly. Then when this metamorphosis occurred they seemed to have forgotten all together that Gregor even existed and all he has done for them. They neglected him not even calling him by his name or trying to accept this new appearance he has. Also his father through an apple at him which is one cause of his death and non of his family members even cared to try and take it out or notice that because of it, he was not eating and withering away.

But the passage I think shows the most sympathy for Gregor is when his sister wants to get rid of him and Gregor’s death. The scene where they want to get rid of him is the final straw where they want absolutely nothing to do with him his own family the people who are suppose to take care of you through whatever. This is a very sad thing to hear a family member say especially since Gregor still understood what they were saying and he still felt like he was Gregor, the only difference being his body. After his sister does this “Hardly was he will inside his when the door was hastily pushed shut, bolted and locked….she shouted ‘At last!’ to her parents as she turned the key in the lock”. This shows how much they wanted to get rid of him that they locked and bolted the door. This was to show now they were done with him and didn’t want anymore to do with Gregor. His sister even yelled happily that he was gone. The reason I think this should show sympathy for Gregor is because it shows how his family turned their back on him just because of physical appearance. And it started the very first time they say him as an insect and it just got gradually worst.

Also I thought his death showed sympathy because he dies alone knowing that his family no longer wants him and he again is sacrificing himself for his family (so he is no longer a burden) yet they never sacrificed anything for Gregor. Even before he dies he still thinks positively of his family. “He thought of his family with tenderness and love”. After hearing how they think he must go because he was the “root of all our problems” he still loves his family.

Kafka citation

In his story "The Metamorphosis," Kafka presents a the transformation of Gregor Samsa from a human being into an enormous insect. Gregor has changed physical form, but Kafka clearly indicates that his essential being has not changed in any fundamental way. Gregor still has human feelings and needs, he still wishes to relate with his family and other members of society, and he still wishes to be responsible. As this character analysis of Gregor in "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka suggests, his mother, father, and his sister have not changed form, but their metamorphoses are the most profound because they demonstrate how easily one’s beliefs, values, and basic treatment of others can be compromised because of a failure to adapt psychologically. This new development causes them to turn on him. In his new state, Gregor is particularly vulnerable to his family member’s abuses. His parents and sister, the people who should accept him unconditionally and protect him according to the traditional code of family relationships, are those who abuse him the most. His beloved sister concludes that he should be disposed of, because he isn't really Gregor. His father heaves an apple at him with such force that the apple lodges in his back and becomes infected. Eventually Gregor deteriorates and dies. When Gregor woke up as an insect, his essential identity had not changed; he did not begin to change in his heart until other people's attitudes toward him changed as a result of the metamorphosis of his appearance. What ultimately killed Gregor Samsa was not the physical experience of becoming an insect; it was people's cruelty to him as a result.

Hawthorne free response.

Hawthorne shows through Young Goodman Brown that all people have evil in them which Is why he losses faith in humankind by the end of the story. I believe that when the guide says “Evil is the nature of mankind” the story does agree with this assertion because of how Young Goodman Brown sees people after he leaves the forest. His realization of this evil present in every person is when he says “‘My Faith is gone!’ cried he, after one stupefied moment. ‘There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil! For thee is the world given.’” So here young Goodman Brown realizes that not all people are good and many have evil sides. He sees this in the forest, where there is evil, and he sees people from the town in the forest as well who are suppose to be these good figures, such as Goody Cloyse. So when the guide points out that “Evil is the nature of mankind” Brown starts to see it more and more. Also when he is in town after this realization he has become very bitter and sees the truth of everyone. He says “When the minister spoke from the pulpit …with his hand on the open bible, of the sacred truths of our religion….then did Goodman brown turn pale, dreading, lest the roof should thunder down upon the gray blasphemer and his hearers.” This is now how Goodman brown sees these people are suppose to be pious people but in actuality they have encountered evil. So because of this it shows that evil is the nature of mankind.

revised plath paragraph

In the poem “Daddy” Silvia Plath uses Holocaust imagery to show her relationship with men in her life. Her comparisons of the holocaust and her past male relationships, mostly pertaining to her father and husband, articulates the cycle of abuse she has experienced with the male figures in her life. Plath compares herself to Jews from the holocaust and you can see that in the quote, “I thought every German was you. /And the language obscene/ an engine, and engine/ Chuffing me off like a Jew. A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen. /I began to talk like a Jew/ I think I may well be a Jew.” This quote reveals the kind of mistreatment Plath feels she has received from men because Plath illustrates her being the victim as Jews shown when she says “ Chuffing me off like a Jew…..” and her father being the mistreating German Nazis. Also the quotes “I thought every German was you” represents the kind of fear she had from these she men she compared to as German Nazis. Jews were afraid of Nazis because of the horrible treatment they put on them and when she says this line it compares the same fear men have made her feel. It also says “A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz…” Here she is comparing the trauma of oppression these men in her life have made her experience and relating it to the trauma of the genocide of the Jews. But it is more a relation to the felling rather than the actual physical treatment Jews had. Through Plath’s imagery she is trying to get sympathy from her readers about her situation and in the Holocaust Jews were sympathized with because of there horrible treatment form the Nazis. The imagery portrays her feelings of abuse she has felt through the years of her life from the men she was supposed to have trust the most.


How I revised this paragraph was first I checked the grammar and spelling and changed any mistakes. Then what I did to improve the content was I explained the quote I used in more depth and I introduced the quote since in class it was said to not just “drop quotes” which is what I did in the first paragraph. These are really the only changes I made to improve my paragraph.

paragraph on Plath- original

In the poem “Daddy” Silvia Plath uses Holocaust imagery to her relationship with men in her life. Her comparisons of the holocaust and her past male relationships, mostly pertaining to her father and husband, articulates the cycle of abuse she has experienced with the male figures in her life. “I thought every German was you. /And the language obscene/ an engine, and engine/ Chuffing me off like a Jew. A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen. /I began to talk like a Jew/ I think I may well be a Jew.” Here Plath shows her comparison of her being the victim as Jews were and her father being the mistreating German Nazis. She is comparing the trauma of oppression these men in her life have made her experience and relating it to the trauma of the genocide of the Jews. But it is more a relation to the felling rather than the actual physical treatment Jews had. Through Plath’s imagery she is trying to get sympathy from her readers about her situation and in the Holocaust Jews were sympathized with because of there horrible treatment form the Nazis. The imagery portrays her feelings of abuse she has felt through the years of her life from the men she was supposed to have trust the most.

Miss Emily Facebook

Basic Information:

networks: Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi

sex: female

relationship status: married

interested in: men

lookin for: friendship



Personal Information:

activites: china painting, not paying taxes, spending time with my cousins

interests: I like to stay at home, spending time with my cousins, and use poisons for people who displease me.

favirote music: opera and classical

favorite books: Frankenstein, Dracula, The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison

About me:

I like to stay home alot. I enjoy painting china in my house. I lost my father when I was younger and that was very hard on me even till this day. Tax collectors are my enemy. And I had a fiance until he left me, which in the end turned out worst for him then it did for me....

friend: Hey emily how are you? I never see you are always at home. By the way how is Homer I havent seen him for a while. Where did he disapear to?

Miss Emily: I am doing fine...and as for Homer. Well you wont be seeing much of him anymore.

friend: Oh why is that? Is he ok?

Miss Emily: ........

As for the rest of Miss Emily's facebook she would only have one picture in her album and very few friends, since she never is out of her house. I put Married on her relationship status because she wants so badly for Homer to commit to her that at least on Facebook it can become somewhat of a reality for her. Also for her interests i put her main activites in the story but they are rather blunt. For her favorite book I put Dracula to show how the story was Gothic.

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

In the story of “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez he writes about a man with wings who appears in a couple’s backyard. The next door neighbor calls this man with wings an angel and so to the town he is now seen as an angel. But he is not the typical image that most people imagine an angel to look like which is how Marquez challenges conventional depictions. “He was dressed like a ragpicker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather….his huge buzzard wings, dirty and half plucked, were forever entangled in the mud.” This image of the angel that Marquez gives to us is very different than the typical image people think of.

When I think of an angel it is beautiful, majestic, has white sparking feathers and is young. Instead in the story the angel is old and balding and the wings don’t even sound beautiful but are “buzzard wings…forever entangled in mud.” These two images are total opposites and what Marque wants to show through these differences is society shouldn’t always believe conventional ideas because things can always be different.

Also how the priest sees the angel shows this. Because the angle doesn’t speak Latin, looks too human, and doesn’t “measure up to the proud dignity of angels” the priest believes he is not an angel. But just because thing don’t fit a certain criteria doesn’t mean they are not so. Marquez also show that society follows these conventions so much that we don’t even leave ourselves open to think things could be different. We just automatically see that it’s different and disregard the possibility of it being a truth like what the priest does.

The reason I think Marquez says “A Tale for Children” is because that is the age where we learn these conventions and through this story he is saying there is always the possibility that things can be different so be open to them. There is no set way or answer to anything and if you learn that as a child then you can learn and experience so much more in life.

free response #2

In my free response this week i want to talk about the poem "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks. I really likes this poem and its different approach to saying live life because everyone dies. It is a poem about a group of 7 people who are at a place to play pool. They are a group of young people who are careless and do whatever they want. They are not in school, stay out late, drink, dance, and sing. They live life but in a careless way. They dont do the good things society thinks most young people should do. This is why i really like this poem because it is really about doing what you want even if it is seen as good or bad to society as long as your having fun and living life. Who doesnt want to be able to live life without think about all the restrictions society puts on us. If you dont go to school, be home at a reasonable hour, or do thinks in a cetain order you are seen as bad and then outcasted. This poem represents breaking these boundaries because death is inevitable so do what you want to do even if it is not socialy accepted.

Digging imagery

In the poem “Digging” by Heaney he uses metaphor and imagery to show that his life will be very different than the history of his family’s life work. I choose the first picture for this poem because i really thought it showed the image Heaney wanted to get across about digging. Which was that it was hard work and this represents something about his father and himself. Even though digging was hard work, his father loved it. Just like it would be hard for Heaney to choose another path than digging but he loves writting. Despite this difference he shows that he greatly respects his fathers work and that digging has been a legacy of the family when he says “By God, the old man could handle a spade/ just like his old man” But Heaney wants to pursue writing and do great in it just like he thinks his father and grandfather have been great at digging.

The second image i picked was of a man writting and i thought this represented the other part of the image which was his love of writting and how writting was his form of digging. The difference of his father and him is where he shows his love of writing and how much he wants to excel in it because he compares it to his fathers love of digging. He shows this when he writes “But I’ve no spade to follow men like them./ Between my fingers and my thumb/ the squat pen rests./ I’ll dig with it.” And his fathers love of digging is shown in the 6th stanza.

This poem also shows his acceptance that he won’t be able to follow his family legacy of digging. But even though he is choosing a different path he is still doing his own “digging” through writing about their history. He shows that writing can also be an act of excavation but his excavation is of history and trying to find the perfect words to descried and write about that history.

Poem Parody

Sorry

I have taken
your heart
that is so
very naive

in which
you were probably
saving
for someone special

your love
sweet and unconditional
next time
choose wiser

The poem I created imitates "This Is Just to Say" by Williams but is different in many ways. In Williams poem he talks about taking a plum from someone and then later rubbing it in their face. My poem is of much more serious content because instead of taking a plum he is taking someones heart and rubbing in the womens face for letting him. Here my poem shows the same idea Williams has but in a much more serious content. Because a parody is a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing but Williams poem was not serious. It was more like he was leaving a note for some roomate making fun of eating his saved plum but in my poem i take a serious situation and make fun of it so in a way it switches. I took williams non serious poem and made it serious while also making fun of it. I tried to keep everyline the same number of syllables in each line but they are off on some. The content is mostly what i tried to make parody of while still trying to maintain the same form.

free response #1

In class we went over the Sylvia Plath’s poem called “Metaphors”. I really liked this poem not only for its creativeness in talking about pregnancy and the emotions that come with it but also because it reminds me how important poetry and writing can be. The reason it does that is because I feel that being able to use metaphor to talk about the subject of pregnancy, or any subject of that matter, is so much more effective and powerful to get across an idea (in this case to show how pregnancy can be very scary). She shows that it can be very scary by saying "Boarded the train there's no getting off." This line not only shows the finalization of being pregnant but it also shows the nervousness that comes with such a huge life change. I don’t think this would have been as meaningful if not put in this manner. And this very much relates to the week one assignment of prose vs. form but for me I really didn’t see it until this poem, which is why I liked it so much. It makes me think that all these different forms of writing really do make a difference in ones understanding of an idea and how that understanding can affect them. It’s crazy to me that through nine lines she can explain pregnancy and the baggage of being pregnant but still doing it so creatively. She was creative by using the symbol of nine in everything about the poem and how that relates to the nine months of pregnancy. Also by using the metaphors of big things to show that she was talking about pregnancy. The poem just really makes me appreciate writing and poetry even more.

1st blog assignment: prose vs. form

Sonnet 73 couplet in prose:
Since you now know that death comes for everyone you have to love life. So live up every moment before you die.

The reason form is more powerful than prose is because it can be left up to interpretation for a deeper meaning. You can get more depth and meaning out of only a few lines or words whereas in prose it is given so plain that there is no sense of other meanings. Changing this couplet to prose for me took away the depth of the idea being shown through the sonnet. The form of ABAB CDCD EFEF helped build up to the couplet GG and helps you to see that the couple shows the lesson learned in the sonnet because it is different and separate. Even though each quatrain is talking about different things they still related. Each quatrain goes from season, to day, to fire all relating to the meaning of death and the significance of life.

If you change this form to prose it takes away the significance of the buildup ultimately also taking away the meaning and beauty of the poem. Prose sometimes takes away how a poem can be like art because it is like being hand fed the significance instead of looking at it and trying to find the purpose of the piece for yourself. Form shows patterns and rhythms that tell as much about the poem as the words can.

Ultimately form provides better understanding of the author’s purpose because it can be interpreted and looked at through so many angles that you are given a full understanding of the writing. Whereas prose just gives you a straight forward answer that you almost no longer need to search for other meanings.