Lit Analysis Great Expectations

Like I have said in the past,  I feel like I will never come away from a book like I have met a person

GENERAL
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

The story starts off with Pip, a 6-year-old who lives with his sister and her husband.  One day, he meets a convict, steals food to feed him, and lets him go.  He is soon invited to play with a rich woman's adopted daughter and falls in love with her.  Years later, he is well on his way to becoming a gentleman (Expectation One).  Pip now lives in London and has a huge dept against him.  One day, he gets 500 pounds from a mysterious benefactor (Who later reveals himself to be the convict) [Expectation Two].    Pip tries to help the convict escape but they are caught.  The convict dies and Pip becomes ill.  An old friend nurses him back to health.  Pip decides to go visit the rich woman's house ruins.  There is Estelle, rich, beautiful, and looking for love.  They live happily ever after.  A definite fulfillment of the author's purpose.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

The theme of Great Expectations is Hopes/Dreams.  Pip, from the beginning  wanted to have a happy life with Estelle.  He wanted everything to happen perfectly.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

Dark and Gloomy.

-Always fog around

-Plants in the garden are dead

-Everything is told from a sort of dark point of view4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

1.Setting- The story takes place in England

2.Genre- Coming of age/realism

3.Narrator Point of View- Story told by Pip

4.Symbolism- Everything in Miss Havisham's garden is DEAD
5.Imagery-Shadows always pop up when Estelle is around

6.Mood- Dark and Gloomy

7.Tone- Same as the Mood

8.Writing Style- Always having a deeper meaning within the writing

9. Allegory- The whole story can be taken as a simple love story or of how a boy grew up in London; along with many other possibilities

10.Antagonist- Not a definitive antagonist; actually, there are several throughout the story CHARACTERIZATION 
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

There is NO direct characterization in the story, as it is narrated by Pip.  Every description of a character is told through Pip's eyes.  

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)? 

The entire story is based on Pip so there are no character changes to take place.3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.

The protagonist is static in my opinion.  Pip doesn't really change throughout the story.  He is, however, round.  He has many characteristics to work with.4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.

Like I have said in the past,  I feel like I will never come away from a book like I have met a person..

Hidden Notes???

Over the past couple days, colored letters in the journals have formed phrases semi-related to the class.

-Find The Jokers
-Collaboration is not Cheating.  Don't get left behind.
-Your Rewards are Waiting
-This life is your life.  Don't give up.  Somebody has found the path.  Yay Ashlie.

Where does he plan to go with is?

Quote of the Day Nov. 29

Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking.   -Black Elk

Great Expectations Summary

-The story starts off with a 6-year-old boy named Pip
-He lives in the Britain with his sister and her Husband.  (His sister is a bit mean but Joe is really nice to him)
-One day, Pip meets an escaped convict.  He steals food from his sister so that the convict wouldn't starve. (Important later on)
-Miss Havisham, a rich old lady that lives in a mansion, invites Pip to come over.
-Once Pip gets there, he realizes that he was having a play date with Estelle, Miss Havisham's adopted daughter.
-Pip soon develops a crush on her. (a very BIG one)
-As soon as Pip is in his teen years, he begins a smithy apprenticeship to learn how to be a gentleman (Expectation One)
-Pip has a busy life in London.  His depts pile on and on.
-Estella is busy off becoming a lady and becoming more and more beautiful than ever.
-One day, Pip gets 500 pounds from a mysterious benefactor, who said he was soon to reveal himself.
-One night on Pip's 23rd birthday, a man approaches him.  Apparently, the mysterious benefactor was the convict Pip had helped. (Expectation Two)
-Since Abel Magwitch (the Convict) is here against the law, Pip decides to get him out of the country.  They decide to sneak into Germany.
-Right before the plan goes into effect, Pip sees Estella go and marry Pip's nemesis   The escape plan fails, and Magwitch is sentenced to death.
-Pip gets sick.  Pip's childhood friend, Joe, nurses him back to health.
-Pip decides to go ask Joe if he can marry his childhood friend, Biddy.  As Pip gets there, he is disappointed, as Joe and Biddy had just married.
-Pip moves to Cairo.
-Now working at a Shipping Company set up by his friend, he raises in the ranks.  After 11 years, Pip becomes a partner.  He sends money to Joe and Biddy, who have now had a kid named Pip as well.
-Pip decides to visit Miss Havisham's house one more time.  While there, he sees Estella.
-She was now single and has regretted throwing away the love of Pip.
-They get back together.
THE END

Quote of the Day Nov. 28

What we see depends mainly on what we look for.   -John Lubbock

Quote of the Day Nov. 27

My motto is: Contented with little, yet wishing for more.   -Charles Lamb

Thinking Outside the Box (No Exit Step 4)

Plato and Sartre both have very unique methods of going about this topic.  Plato sees the limitation of thinking as slaves against a wall with nothing more to live about.  What you would look forward to would be a new crack in the wall.  Your reality is shadows casted by puppeteers  nothing more.  Their solution would be to stay still, do nothing, expect nothing.  Sartre addresses the same subject by using hell.  The characters just couldn't comprehend where they were.  A basically empty room doesn't give them much.  The three characters wouldn't have much of an escape either.  Their only option would to become friendly towards one another.  A massive cave in the middle of nowhere and hell are both uses of an extended metaphor, as both are extremely hard or impossible to come by.

No Exit Summary (Step 1 & 2)

SUMMARY
-A scene from a drawing room with Second-Empire furniture
-3 couches reside inside as well as a bronze mantlepiece
-A man walks inside (Garcin) along with a valet
-Garcin questions the valet about the room, the rules of the place, and what was beyond the walls
-The valet leaves and immediately brings in another person, a woman by the name of Inez
-Inez is "tortured" when she sees that it is Garcin inside the room and not the woman she wanted (she's a lesbo)
-Inez and Garcin have tension right away, Inez has no interest in Garcin
-The valet brings yet another, Estelle
-Inez takes immediate interest in Estelle while Estelle takes immediate interest in Garcin
-Estelle is all about fashion, wanting everyone to notice her looks
-They begin to figure out that the three of them are in Hell
-The three of them reveal a little about their past life
-Garcin was a journalist in Rio that got shot for his ideas
-Inez was a postal worker
-Estelle was a poor girl who married a wealthy man and died of pneumonia
-After scenes back on Earth are shown, their real stories come out
-Garcin was an man-whore
-Estelle had an affair
-Inez lived with her cousin and his wife and ran away with the wife
-After this is revealed, they understand why they were put together
-Garcin tortures Inez, as she wants him to love her.  Estelle tortures Inez, as she wants to be with her.  And Inez tortures Garcin, as he wants Inez's approval
-The three don't know what to do, since sleep and nighttime don't exist in Hell, so they collapse onto the couches and stay on them for eternity.

QUESTIONS
1. Hell can be anywhere, anything, any time period for that matter.  My hell would be a white space, no walls, no ceiling, no nothing, extending indefinitely.  All I know is that hell would be horrible.
2.Ravenous sex?  ummmm....  yeah... Hell can be described as not enough of anything...
3.A teen's daily habits are almost hell as it stands.  Almost anyone can relate to having something seem like hell

Quote of the Day Nov. 26

Independence is happiness.   -Susan B. Anthony

Quote of the Day Nov. 25

If there is to be any peace it will come through being, not having.   -Henry Miller

P.S. Christmas in one month :D

Lit Analysis The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

First off, all of Doctor Preston's previous students have read this.  I have not.  I didn't have Preston the first time around so I believe I am allowed to do this particular book for a Lit Analysis.

P.S. Also note that I returned the book already so I am unable to put down page numbers for any of the examples.  I can refer to the general areas of the story but that is about as specific as I can get.  sorry about that.

GENERAL 
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
The story begins with a small boy named Amir.  He lived in a poor household with his father (Baba) and their 2 servants by the names of Ali and Hassan.  Ali and Hassan were father and son respectively   Both moms were gone, Amir's mom died in childbirth; Hassan's mom had run away.  Amir began to notice that Baba began to show more affection towards Hassan which, of course, made Amir jealous.  The two boys decided to join a kite fighting tournament (Amir saw this as the perfect opportunity to get his father back).  Amir wins it and tells Hassan to retrieve the defeated kite.  Hassan does but gets raped in the process.  Amir sees it happening but freezes up and doesn't know what to do.  Baba remains affectionate towards Hassan and Amir becomes very jealous.  Amir devises a plan to get them sent away and it works.  Pretty soon, a war starts up.  Baba and Amir travel to California but lose their wealth in the process.  Baba contracts cancer and arranges a marriage with a girl Amir had fallen in love with.  Baba dies and Amir is called back to Afghanistan by a guy named Rahim Khan.  Amir is informed that the Taliban had murdered Hassan and his wife and that their son was somewhere in Kabul (Also that Hassan was Amir's half brother).  Amir finds the kid and they begin talking about how much they have in common while watching kites fly in the air.  The author defiantly fulfils his purpose in this one.  He gets his point across in a relatively short novel.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
The theme of the novel is warfare.  The whole book is based around a war in Afghanistan, that is just the icing on the cake.  The conflict between Amir and Hassan, between Amir and Baba, and even between Amir and himself.  The whole book has conflict. 
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
Tender:  Baba spending his life savings on Amir's wedding right before he dies.  Amir saving Sohrab to fix his sins against Hassan.

Ironic:  Baba betrayed his friend even though he talked about honor and principles.  Amir gets a scar on his lip just like Hassan.
4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
1. Personification: "At parties, when all six-foot-five of him thundered into the room, attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to the sun."
2. Metaphor: "Kites were the one paper-thin slice of intersection between those spheres"
3. Flashback: "Hassan and I used to climb the poplar trees in the driveway of my father's house and annoy our neighbors by reflecting sunlight into their homes with a shard of a mirror."
4. Simile: "Our apartment is built like a train, narrow in the front with rooms extending out to the back."
5. Foreshadowing: "Mama turns into a stork.  Keep them safe, she says, There's going to be a storm."
6.  Symbolism: The building of the kite shows the bond of friendship between Hassan and Amir.
7.  Atmosphere: A chronic tense atmosphere with very very few happy times
8. Suspense: Hassan feels sick when he believes he will never talk to Amir again.
9. Digressive Time: The changing of the subject often like the guilt of Amir towards Hassan
10: Progressive Time: The chronological order of the book.
CHARACTERIZATION 
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
Direct Characterization:
-The introduction of Hassan, Ali, Baba, and Amir are all direct characterization.

Indirect Characterization: 
- Rahim informing Amir about Hassan being his half brother.
- Could not find another example :(

The author uses direct characterization much more than indirect characterization.  I feel this a very good approach and left me with a lasting impression of them.

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?
The author's syntax/diction doesn't change because the focus doesn't change.  
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
The protagonist is dynamic.  He goes from liking Hassan to hating Hassan to hating him once again.  Amir is also a flat character.  Not much to him in the sense that he is a kid from a poor family, can't really add to that.
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
As always, I feel like I will never walk away from a book like a met the person.  The book just doesn't do that to me. 

The Kite Runner Notes

The Early Years in Kabul
-Protagonist is Amir
-Lives in a poor household with his father(Baba) and 2 servants (Ali and Hassan)
-The two servants were father(Ali) and son(Hassan) as well.  Amir's mother had died in childbirth and the Hassan's mother had run off
-Many things create conflict in the household.  The two servants are from an ethnic minority while Amir's father likes Hassan more than his own son
-The two boys decide to join a kite fighting tournament (the kite strings are coated in tar and glass)
-Amir wins the tournament and Hassan chases down the defeated kite
-Hassan obtains it but runs into three guys (Wali, Kamal, and Assef).  Assef rapes Hassan while Kamal and Wali watch.  Amir doesn't know what to do and just stands there while watching the crime take place
-Both boys agree to not tell anyone about the incident
-Amir begins to feel guilty about it, especially when his father begins to feel even more affectionate towards Hassan
-Amir becomes very jealous and puts a wad of cash and a watch under Hassan's bed.  Baba is alerted to this and Hassan (feeling generous and not wanting Amir to get in trouble) confesses.  Hassan and Ali are sent away

The Freemont Years
-War hits Afghanistan
-Things get worse and worse.  Spies are everywhere
-Amir and Baba pack up, sneak across the border, and fly to California
-Everything is harder in California.  Amir tries very hard to make enough money for basic living
-Amir falls in love with a young girl(Soraya) at a flea market
-Baba works at a gas station for long hours
-His health begins to deteriorate and is found by Amir to be coughing up blood
-Now diagnosed with cancer, Baba arranges Amir's marriage with Soraya

Return to Kabul
-After Baba's death, one of his old friends(Rahim Khan) calls Amir.  He invites Amir to come back to Afghanistan saying that he can make things good again
-Rahim tells Amir that Hassan and Farzana(Hassan's wife) had moved back into Baba's old house.  The Taliban had came in and murdered Hassan and Farzana.  Their daughter was now in Kabul somewhere and needed saving.  Rahim also says that Hassan was Amir's half brother
-Sohrab isn't in the orphanage.  In fact, he is being held by a Talib official, who just so happens to be Assef.
-Amir and Assef have a fist fight and Sohrab uses a sling shot to blind Assef.  The two escape
-It is almost impossible for Amir to adopt Sohrab because the death of Hassan and Farzana was never recorded
-Amir tries to put him in an orphanage until the papers go through but Sohrab attempts suicide
-The novel ends with the two sitting at a park, watching kite fighting; now closer than ever

Quote of the Day Nov. 24

Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine.   -Christina Rossetti

Allegory of the Cave Sonnet

To start off, a sonnet is composed of 14 lines.  It has a rhyme scheme of a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-e-f-e-f-g-g spread out over 4 stanzas.

Burning with temperatures not near zero,

Prisoners against their reality,

The free escapes being their heroes,

Doubting any spirituality.

For lingering for time and time again,

Never to escape the deadly cave's hold,

This bland cave may very well seem inhumane,

The Prisoners fed nothing but old bread mold.

My light casting across all them old souls,

The shadows are all they will ever see,

Held in place; the chain is what controls,

Can't get out; even with the skeleton key.

While this may be their only form of life,

Their dreams come on to be extremely rife.

Yea...kinda sucks but I'm horrible at poetry

Black Friday

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day, most major retailers open extremely early and offer promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season, similar to Boxing Day sales in many Commonwealth Nations. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many non-retail employers also observe this day as a holiday along with Thanksgiving, giving their employees the day off, thereby increasing the number of potential shoppers. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005,[1] although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate,[2] have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time.[3]
The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.[4][5] Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black".[4][6]
For many years, it was common for retailers to open at 6:00 a.m., but in the late 2000s many had crept to 5:00 or even 4:00. This was taken to a new extreme in 2011, when several retailers (including Target, Kohls, Macy's, Best Buy, and Bealls[7]) opened at midnight for the first time.[8] In 2012, Walmart led several other retailers in announcing it would open its stores at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day,[9] prompting calls for a walkout among some workers.[10]

(Curtsy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping))

All I know is that by 7 am, the crowds were gone.  Most of the Mall had a lot of people, but not enough to inhibit shopping.

Turkey Day

The original Thanksgiving appears to have been an offshoot of the harvest festivals, or harvest-home ceremonies, in England. During these ceremonies, people set aside days specifically for the purpose of thanking God for their plentiful harvest. There were also Thanksgiving harvest festivals in some European nations, such as the Erntedankfest in Germany, a tradition still continued today. 

It remains hotly debated where and when the first Thanksgiving actually came about. 

Thanksgiving is traditionally associated with the arrival of the Pilgrims. During the early 17th century, all religion in England was strictly dictated by the government, and all were required to conform to severe religious restrictions. Individual beliefs and independent ways to worship were forbidden, punishable by jailing, torture and even execution. Seeking escape from religious suppression, a group known as the Pilgrims departed England on the ship Mayflower. 

They arrived at Plymouth Rock in southeastern Massachusetts in December 1620, but due to native hostility, moved further along the coast to Cape Cod, where they were greeted more cordially. These Indians, the Wampanoag, helped the new colony to survive, by showing the colonists how to plant corn (maize) and how to catch alewives, a type of herring, to use as a fertilizer when growing pumpkins, beans, etc. Just under a year later, in 1621 and following a successful harvest, they celebrated their bounty as well as their new freedom with a huge feast - thus was Thanksgiving started. For this first harvest festival, lasting some three days, the colonists invited the Wampanoag people, to show their gratitude. It is believed that the natives also supplied much of the food, particularly venison. 

It is believed that the first "Day of Thanksgiving" actually occurred before the arrival of the Pilgrims. This festival was completely religious in nature, and did not involve any feasting. On 4 December 1619, a group of settlers from England arrived at Berkeley Plantation on the James River, now known as Charles City, Virginia. This group dedicated this day of their arrival as a Day of Thanksgiving to God. 

So it can be seen that, while the US celebrates Thanksgiving based on the Pilgrim festival, towns or countries called days of thanksgiving several years before that event. Those days were usually called to celebrate a specific event, rather than an ongoing celebration. 

It is even believed that the holiday occurred earlier: some sources say it was celebrated on 8 September 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida. This story has its origins in the fact that Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles invited the Timucua Indians to a celebratory meal in St Augustine after a thanksgiving Mass celebrating his and his crew's safe arrival. This was the first recorded celebration of a meal specifically for thanksgiving. 

Other claims to the first Thanksgiving include:

• The 1513 landing of Juan Ponce De Leon in Florida
• Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's service of thanksgiving in the Texas Panhandle in 1541
• Two other claims for thanksgiving observances in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 and 1610
• There is a Canadian claim that the first thanksgiving was Martin Frobisher's 1576 thanksgiving on Baffin Island.

In 1863 Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday by President Lincoln. 
It was officially changed to the fourth Thursday in November when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president.

(Curtsy of http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_where_and_how_did_Thanksgiving_originate)

Quote of the Day Nov. 23

First keep peace with yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.   -Thomas Kempis

Quote of the Day Nov. 22

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.   -William Blake

Quote of the Day Nov. 21

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.   -Thomas Carlyle

Quote of the Day Nov. 20

If you really love someone and care about that person, you can survive many difficulties.   -Calvin Klein

Metaphor vs. Allegory

Metaphor's Definition

Allegory's Definition

The Difference


A Metaphor is an expression while an Allegory is a comparison.  An Allegory can be also known as an extended metaphor.  Allegories focus on the finer points of the topic and can be in a variety of arts.  Metaphors are generally seen in just literature.  A basic summary of what is found in the links above.

The Package Movie Collaborative Working Group

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Package-Movie/435510933164631?sk=wall&filter=2&ref=notif&notif_t=wall

Follow us as we craft a short film from the ground up.  We go through the process of writing a script and coming together to create ideas.  Filming sometime over Winter Break.

Quote of the Day Nov. 19

It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.   -Amelia Barr

Plato's Allegory of the Cave

1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?
A prison house.  The fire is the sun to them as the prisoners are chained to a wall and have never seen the light of day.
2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
The key elements are the shadows.  All the prisoners ever see are shadows from objects and people in front of the flame.  The shadows are the prisoners' reality.
3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
We are taught what we need to know and nothing else.  It is like we don't have our own opinion.  We must learn what is decided and we can't branch of from that.
4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
The prisoners can't see anything but the wall and shadows in front of them; their reality.  The cave dwellers are gods to the prisoners in theory.  They can make anything a reality through shadows.  The prisoners can't see anything so everything is a reality if it is a shadow in front of them.
5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
A lot of things shackle our mind, in fact, everything shackles our mind.  There is always something inhibiting our mind, whether it is the internet, a higher authority, or something as simple as a piece of paper.  Our minds can't see everything and never will.
6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
Freed prisoners get the whole picture.  They know what reality actually is, not just a bunch of shadows.  The freed prisoners know what actually creates the shadows and why they are created.  It is a whole new world to them.
7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
Confusion is when the freed prisoner comes up and tries to explain the reality that is real to the still tied up prisoners.  This puts doubt in their mind of what to believe, the new guy or the reality they had faced their whole life.
8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
There are two possible ways to escape.  The prisoners can either have good fortune to help themselves somehow free themselves of their chains or tune into the already freed prisoners explain the world around them.  The "actual" reality.  All the prisoners can do is imagine what the world actually looks like.
9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
There is a gargantuan gap between reality and appearances.  What you appear as can be as different from reality as you can make it.
10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?
I feel that Socrates is correct with his assumptions.  There is a distinction between the two.

Quote of the Day Nov. 18

Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel. -Augustus Hare

Quote of the Day Nov. 17

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. -Robert Kennedy

Quote of the Day Nov. 16

Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself. -Robert Green Ingerson

Quote of the Day Nov. 15

I am an idealist. I don't know where I'm going but I'm on my way. -Carl Sandburg

Quote of the Day Nov. 14

Never be afraid to sit awhile and think. -Lorraine Hansberry

Bill Nye the Science Guy (Oppa Science Style)

Couldn't resist posting this

Quote of the Day Nov. 13

Home is where the heart is.   -Pliny the Elder

Ed, Edd and Eddy Are Dead

Ed, Edd, and Eddy are Dead

Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy was one of Cartoon Network's original programs created back in the late '90s. It's a pretty simple, wholesome show about three kids (all named some variation of Edward) who ... really, they just spend a lot of time trying to scam the other kids on their block. They're kind of assholes. OK, so maybe it's not so wholesome.

The rest of the time they spend on other common teenager activities.

The Theory:

You know what else isn't wholesome? Dead kids. This theory proposes that all the children on the show are actually dead, and the neighborhood they live in is purgatory. But then again, they said the same thing about Lost and it turned out to be bullshit (mostly).

Why It's Not That Crazy:

For one thing, some of these kids already look like they're dead: Pretty much everyone in this neighborhood has weird skin tones or odd-colored tongues, like corpses might have.

More like Dead, Deadd and Dea- no?

But then there's the fact that there are no adults in the show: They're mentioned, but never seen. You do see vague silhouettes of adults on a few occasions, but they never move (yeah, that's not creepy or anything). The closest thing to an adult we ever see is Eddy's older brother, whom they meet the only time in the entire show's history when they leave their neighborhood/purgatory. However, the guy turns out to be a complete piece of shit, meaning that it's totally feasible that they were simply visiting him in hell.

He lives in the circle reserved for goatee sporters.

This would also explain why the setting of the show is so hard to pinpoint: In one episode, the kids are seen using a typewriter, despite having been shown using a computer in another, and they seem to know what a cassette tape is, unlike most teens of the 2000s. The theory holds that this is because each one came from a different period in American history:

Knowyourmeme.com

Rolf, the weird kid with the inexplicable Eastern European accent, died in the early 1900s in a farming accident. Johnny, the one whose best friend is a plank, comes from the 1920s, when owning a piece of wood with a face painted on it made you the most popular kid on the block. Jimmy, the sickly kid with yellowish skin, died of leukemia in the 2000s, and so on.

The theory also alleges that there's one set of characters who aren't dead, but not alive either. The antagonistic Kanker sisters, who frequently abuse and berate all the other kids on the show, are actually demons placed in purgatory to torture them. Coincidentally, they are the only regular characters who have pink tongues ... just like non-dead people do.

This....actually makes sense.... 

Sonnet-Winter Light

Sorry I got this out so late.  I got busy with other stuff and had to memorize this very quickly.  Could have done it without stalling if I had a bit more time.

Quote of the Day Nov. 12

A man of courage is also full of faith.   -Marcus Tullius Cicero

Lit Analysis # 3 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Before you got on my case about the last two lit analyses being on books we already read, listen to what I have to say.  We read them, did an essay or two, and moved on.  We didn't go in depth as these lit analyses are allowing us to do.  This is why I am rereading them.

GENERAL
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

My notes are in one of the posts below this one.  As for explaining on how the narrative fulfills the author’s purpose; The author (Mark Twain) did, in fact, continue the story after The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is sort of like Man vs. Nature.  It is Huck Finn versus the world as he goes about on his adventures.  Leaving his civilization for something other than safety set him apart from the rest and exposed Huck to all the dangers in this world.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

The whole book is filled with episodes filled with comedy.  Everything has something funny about it.  Huck dressing up as a female, the con artists prancing around naked, even the dialogue alone.  Never, ever, do you hear Huck crack on joke during any of the occasions.  He stays serious through the novel which, in my opinion, gives the author’s tone of the novel to serious.
4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

1)      Motif: Huckleberry Finn’s youth is a great motif for childhood.  Huck and Tom’s age leads to a sense of freedom and play to their actions.  It makes the overall novel “light”.

2)      Symbolism: The Mississippi River is the main symbol in the novel, the symbol of freedom.  It is life moving on, opportunities missed, progress.  It is the ultimate symbol.

3)      Narrator Point of View: The whole novel is written in Huck’s point of view.  This makes it feel like the reader is actual in the story and gives the novel a more “human” approach

4)      Writing Style: First person is a writing style original to Mark Twain.  It has proved inspiration to many other writers.

5)      Setting: The choice of the Mississippi River brings a lot of possibilities with all the roads Huck could take.  Twain made, possibly, the most open ended novel I know

6)      Diction: Twain picked words like “nigger” to really punch the reality of the situation into our minds.  It gives a clear understanding of what type of word the novel takes place in

7)      Syntax: Twain also builds his sentences in the olden type way.  “Who Dah?” and “Whar is You?” are just some examples

8)      Characterization: Using ethnicity and stereotyping as strong points, Twain crafts the characters through the novel to be more like southerners

9)      Style: Twain picks up on the styles of language of both Whites and African Americans.  The White sentences contain no grammatical errors and the African American ones are full of them

10)   Speech: In order to downgrade slaves, Twain has Jim talk in such a way as not having any education what so over.  This means talking like this. ” Don't you blame yo'self 'bout it”

CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

I could not find one instance of direct characterization in the novel as the whole thing is through Huck’s eyes.  Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, was what Huck thought of it.  The whole novel is Huck’s perspective of things.
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?

The entire novel is based through the eyes of one character so there is nowhere for this change to occur
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.

I feel that Huck is dynamic.  He learns how to deal with certain situations and what the power of friendship is.  He also learns to get over ethnicity and the other things that come with it.  This leads to Huck being a flat character.  There is not much to him.  He is a country boy and that is about it.
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.

Not really.  I feel like I will never come away from a book feeling like I met the main character or any other character for that matter

Quote of the Day Nov. 11

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.   -Aesop

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Notes

Summary

-Huck Finn is living in Missouri, being “sivilized” by Miss Watson and her sister, a widow.

-Huck spends most of his time hanging out with Tom Sawyer

-Miss Watson owns a slaved named Jim (important to the rest of the story)

-The two guys had found $6,000 each recently (Last novel)

-Huck feels bad about having the money so he turns it in the the Judge

-That night, Huck’s father (everyone thought he was dead) shows up and demands money from Huck

-After arguing for a while, Huck’s dad kidnaps him and they both go to live in a shack by the river

-Huck decides that he doesn’t want to stay with his dad and fakes his death

-He eventually finds an island (Jackson’s Island) and stays there for a couple days

-While there, he finds Jim, Miss Watson’s slave, who had run away as well

-They come up with a plan to make their way to free states

-As they leave the island, Jim finds a dead man.  Jim tells Huck not to look at him and they begin to raft down the river

-They come across a steamship (during a thunderstorm) and, while aboard, discover 3 robbers

-Huck escapes and the steamship sinks during the storm, along with the 3 robbers

-They continue to float down the river and enter heavy fog.  When they come out of it, they stop to ask where they are and had past Cairo

-They get back on the river.  A bit later, a steamboat crashes into the raft.  Huck and Jim are separated

-Huck makes it to shore in the midst of two feuding aristocratic families

-During Huck’s stay, a large battle takes place and many members of both families die

-Jim finds Huck and they build another raft

-As they sail down the river, they pick up two men (who turn out to be con artist)

-They plan to rip people off by performing a play (which turns out to be a man pouncing around naked)

-They barley escape and head down stream again

-They come across a funeral session and pretend to be brothers of the deceased man to gain his inheritance (only the con artists do)

-Huck gives in and tells the niece about the con artists’ plan and they hide the money

-Huck, Jim, and the 2 guys leave as things begin to get tense

-When Huck is distracted, the two men sell Jim and then waste all the money on whiskey

-Huck leaves in search of Jim

-He finds the farm and when confronted by the farmer, is mistaken to be Tom Sawyer, the farmer’s nephew

-Tom eventually comes and pretends to be his little brother

-They locate Jim and Tom decides to come up with an elaborate escape plan

-The plan happens but ends up with Tom getting shot

-Jim gets caught and is ready to be executed but the doctor reveals that Jim helped him save Tom

-The boys reveal their true identities and it is also revealed that Miss Watson died so he had been set free

-Jim finally tells Huck that the dead guy they had found was actually Huck’s father

-Huck sets west with the $6,000 the judge decided to give back

THE END

Sonnet Analysis Part 1

When we did this analysis in class we didn't get very far so I decided to look up sonnets on the Internet.

-Sonnets originated in Italy
-They almost always have 14 lines
-Sonnet was derived from sonetto meaning "little sound" in Italian
-it follows a strict rhyme scheme and structure
-Shakespearean sonnets follow the rhyming scheme a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g
-Sonnets are usually written in Iambic Pentameter

Big Question

My big question is not one relating to most of us. In fact, it doesn't relate to 99% of us. Practically only Sarah and I, which kinda makes my big question not so significant. But, alas, it is a question and it does pertain to me. 

"How do you make a camera dolly that can work on straight track as well as curved?" Now, I know that this is a filmmakers question and that it probably has a really simple answer and I am just not getting it, but it is a really hard question in my mind. The wheels on a camera dolly have to be able to roll smoothly and without a sound as for the camera not the pick up the jiggles or the audio of it. It has to also be long enough to get the super awesome shots that glide around.

 I don't want to pay for a $2,000 camera dolly, as that is out of my budget. Preferably, I would want one less than $100 so that is probably in the DIY range. I will get back to this as I do some more research on the topic.

Character Study

I was debating whether I should post this or not and I decided that it would work nicely with my blog. A story we did in class to help develop characters.

Topic: Procrastination

Procrastination is horrible in my opinion.  It is what stops me from completing some of my videos or what makes me stop in the middle of them for not wanting to continue...  Homework is a biggie and procrastination goes hand in hand with  it.  I am going to challenge myself to complete my lit analysis today and have another one done by next weekend.  I am also going to challenge myself to have as much or more posts than the Class blog by the end of the semester.  Take that procrastination!

Quote of the Day Nov. 10

One must always maintain one's connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it.   -Gaston Bachelard

Quote of the Day Nov. 9

Perfection is the child of time.   -Joseph Hall

Quote of the Day Nov. 8

Where words are restrained, the eyes often talk a great deal.   -Samuel Richardson

Quote of the Day Nov. 7

A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.   -Henrik Ibsen

Quote of the Day Nov. 6

True friendship ought never to conceal what it thinks.   -St. Jerome

Vocab List #11

Affinity- relationship by marriage
Bilious- of or indicative of a peevish ill nature disposition
Cognate- of the same nature
Corollary- A proposition inferred Immediately from a proved proposition with little or no additional proof 
Cul-de-sac - a pouch
Derring-do- a daring action
Divination- The art or practice that seeks to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge due to the interpretation of omens 
Elixir- A substance capable of prolonging life indefinitely 
Folderol- a useless accessory 
Gamut- an entire range or series
Hoi polloi- the General populace
Ineffable- incapable of being expressed in words 
Lucubration- to study by night 
Mnemonic- intended to assist memory
Obloquy- abusive language
Parameter- an independent variable used to express the coordinates of variable point and functions of them
Pundit- a learned man 
Risible- provoking laughter
Symptomatic- having the characteristics of a certain disease but arising of a different cause 
Volte-face- a reversal in policy

Quote of the Day Nov. 5

I know of no way of judging the future but by the past.   -Patrick Henry

Growing my PLN

I posted to an old/outdated blog telling them to come to my blog if they were intrested in expanading a Hamlet study.  Hopefully something is initiated because of this.

Winter Light - My choice of Sonnet to Study

The corn bent down in broken-spined decay
as she thickly squelched her way to what she hoped
was fresher mind, clear of a stuffy day
spent in a house where all resolve had moped.
In movement, mud, cold, steely winter air,
she sought to shed the skin of that day’s self.
She’d bitched at him; she knew she wasn’t fair,
but his acceptance of their place upon life’s shelf
tore anger from her ribs like leonine jaws.
It spewed, it spattered, stained everywhere she walked.
She knew regrets to come should give her pause,
but his patient face made self-possession balk.
So she labored through the frozen field of corn
waiting for redemption to be borne.

-Karin Gustafson

Quote of the Day Nov. 4

Outward judgment often fails, inward judgment never.   -Theodore Parker

Quote of the Day Nov 3

Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.   -Phillips Brooks

AP Hamlet PLN

The start of a personal learning network:

1) http://millsenglish.com/wordpress/?cat=16

Goes over previous Hamlet essays and has Hamlet videos to watch.

2)http://domingoaplitblog2010.blogspot.com/2010/03/embassy-of-death-essay-on-hamlet.html

A blog with an essay on Hamlet.  "Students" (I am making a guess here) respond to the ideas and ask questions about Hamlet.

3)http://aplove.blogspot.com/search?q=hamlet

Another blog with very short summaries of each act.  Good for cramming, which is bad....ironic

4)http://www.outreach.washington.edu/openuw/asp/transform.asp?course=Hamlet&xml=hamlet_intro1

Summaries of the scenes and acts with quizzes on each one.  Good study resource.

5)http://www.english.upenn.edu/People/PeterStallybrass

An English professor giving an analysis of Hamlet.  What more could I ask for?

Vocab Definitions

aficionado - noun a serious devotee of some particular music genre or musical performer; a fan of bull fighting
browbeat - verb discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate; be bossy towards
commensurate - adj. corresponding in size or degree or extent
diaphanous - adj. so thin as to transmit light
emolument - noun compensation received by virtue of holding an office or having employment (usually in the form of wages or fees)
foray - noun an initial attempt (especially outside your usual areas of competence); a sudden short attack; verb briefly enter enemy territory; steal goods; take as spoils
genre - noun a class of art (or artistic endeavor) having a characteristic form or technique; a kind of literary or artistic work; an expressive style of music; a style of expressing yourself in writing
homily - noun a sermon on a moral or religious topic
immure - verb lock up or confine, in or as in a jail
insouciant - adj. marked by blithe unconcern
matrix - noun mold used in the production of phonograph records, type, or other relief surface;the formative tissue at the base of a nail; the body substance in which tissue cells are embedded;a rectangular array of elements (or entries) set out by rows and columns; an enclosure within which something originates or develops (from the Latin for womb)
obsequies - noun a funeral rite or ceremony
panache - noun a feathered plume on a helmet; distinctive and stylish elegance
persona - noun (Jungian psychology) a personal facade that one presents to the world; an actor's portrayal of someone in a play
philippic - noun a speech of violent denunciation
prurient - adj. characterized by lust
sacrosanct - adj. must be kept sacred
systemic - adj. affecting an entire system
tendentious - adj. having or marked by a strong tendency especially a controversial one
vicissitude - noun mutability in life or nature (especially successive alternation from one condition to another); a variation in circumstances or fortune at different times in your life or in the development of something