Blog Assignment #1 (IN-CLASS)
In the short story "A Rose For Emily", William Faulkner seems to uses first person narration to show the point of view. First person point of view is narrated in way where someone is telling the story from their point of view. The narration is shown vaguely in a few passages. "We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that" (Faulkner 4). Here, we can see and understand that the townspeople are telling the story. Another passage showing this idea is seen at the end. "One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair" (Faulkner 9). Through the words, "one of us", it seems most obvious that the story is being told in first person point of view. The focal character most definitely seems to be Emily. One of the passages that shows this discovery is seen in part IV. "When we next saw Miss Emily, she had grown fat and her hair was turning gray. During the next few years, it grew grayer and grayer, until it attained an even pepper-and-salt iron gray, when it sees turning. Up to the day of her death, at seventy-four, it was still that vigorous iron-gray like the hair of an active man" (Faulkner 7). This passage shows that the narrators were following the story of Emily through the term "next'. Through these stern passages, we can see that Faulkner wrote the story in first person point of view and uses Emily as the focal character.
Blog Assignment #2 (IN-CLASS)
Throughout Ernest Hemingway's entire life, his experiences, especially with war, had created major impacts on him and his writing. His tone, style, and voice all show clear examples of his attitude and outlook of life. One of Hemingway's major works in short story form, is "A Clean, Well- Lighted Place," which establishes a clear understanding of Hemingway's style. More of the many experiences he's endured, all created a depressing and gloomy point of view, mainly that had to do with war. As a young man, Hemingway volunteered as an ambulance driver in Italy, where he was injured by an explosion. Although devastated, Hemingway believed that if other people suffered and overcame such injuries, he would too. Other harmful encounters were Hemingway's relationships, which added to the dreariness in his voice of writing. Despite the depressing vibe, closer to the end of his life, he began to believe that life's ultimate goal is to find that clean, well lighted place. One particular passage from "A Clean, Well- Lighted Place," in which Hemingway's life experiences directly influence his perspective, shows his idea of life's ultimate goal. "You do not understand. This is a clean and pleasant cafe`. It is well lighted. The light is very good and also, now, there are shadows of the leaves" (Hemingway 145). His ultimate goal is seen to be clear to him, and only him. Hemingway also seemed to have the idea that if he's not the only one with a certain feeling, then it was alright. This belief seems to be true, based on his injury as an ambulance driver. "He would lie in the bed and finally, with daylight, he would go to sleep. After all, he said to himself, it is probably only insomnia. Many must have it" (Hemingway 146). Here, we see that excuse for his emotions. All through "A Clean, Well- Lighted Place," particularly in these two passages, Hemingway's writing reflects his experiences completely.
Blog Assignment #3 (IN-CLASS)
Throughout the short story “Bartleby,” Herman Melville explains a story of a man named Bartleby through an employee’s point of view. Melville chooses the employer’s point of view to tell the story, for a number of different reasons. For one, no one knew Bartleby quite like the lawyer did. The professional lawyer that narrates the story had not only hired and worked with Bartleby, but discovered that he was suffering from severe depression. This in turn, allows for the reader to get a better understanding of Bartleby’s actions, and the way people may view the character in the story. It makes the most sense for the lawyer to narrate the story, for the simple fact that neither Bartleby, nor the office staff had seen or understood the things that the lawyer had. Readers can get a better understanding of the problems that Bartleby created for not only himself, but the people around him as well; thus allowing for a clear representation of both sides of the story.
In the story, the professional lawyer refers to Bartleby as “the victim of an innate and incurable disorder.” With this, we see that the narrator doesn’t seem to believe it is even possible to help Bartleby out. Although the narrator feels bad for Bartleby, and understands that he may be depressed, he never actually helps him with anything. This is because of the fact that the narrator believes so highly that nothing can be done to help Bartleby. For readers to accept such a conclusion, any thought or idea that maybe Bartleby can be helped is lost, leaving the ending to be no big deal or surprise. It’s pretty clear that Bartleby needed help, and no one was in his life to give him any. The few people that were in his life, only became aggravated with him, and did anything they could to get him out of their way.
At the end of the short story, readers can interpret a change in the narrator, as well as a dramatic case of irony. “Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity” (Melville 34)! This line proves both irony and dynamic characteristics in the professional lawyer. Irony, because while Bartleby was alive, the lawyer did nothing to help, but the moment he dies, all remorse begins. However, it may also determine the narrator as a dynamic character because he believes that humanity needs change in that people need to help one another out. Whether or not the reader can determine if the narrator was “saved,” is almost entirely impossible to conclude, in that the lawyer had his chance to help, and he did nothing more than push him away. Consequently, readers can determine the narrator to be unreliable.
-Matteo Di Carlo
Works Cited
Works Cited
Melville, Herman. Bartleby and Benito Cereno. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1990. Print.
Blog Assignment #4 (IN-CLASS)
Throughout the “Romantic-era”,many artists, poets, and lyricists used aspects of change to enhance their style of writing, or drawing. This allowed for significant change in the form of art they created. Poets, especially, inspired by the drastic change in history, became more inspirational through the poems they wrote. What makes the poem “A Dream Within a Dream” by Edgar Allan Poe “Romantic” in this sense, is the fact that it gets you to think deeply about issues that occur each day that no one cares to elaborate. The poem gives a sense of sentimentalism, where as it describes life and its deepest most critical and emotional tribulations many people endure. Since the Romantic era focused solely on describing every day emotions that almost everyone has, but not all care to take care of, “A Dream Within a Dream” shows just this. Seeing as Romanticism valued the past, we can conclude that Poe is talking about the past in this poem with this line, “I stand amid the roar/ Of a surf-tormented shore/ And I hold within my hand/ Grains of the golden sand-/ How few! Yet how they creep/ Through my fingers to the deep/ While I weep- while I weep!/ O God! Can I not grasp/ Them with a tighter clasp?” (Lines 12-20). The “grains of golden sand” (line 15) that are seeping through his fingers, are in other words, memories that are disappearing. A key feature that stands out in this poem is irony. Poe seems so sure at first that everything is a dream within a dream, but then he questions himself. It is ironic for him to be asking when he was sore sure of himself at first. To me, it seems safe to say that Poe is trying to get a point across that nothing lasts forever. Also, in the Romantic era, many poets and painters used time and nature as inspiration. This can be seen in lines 13 and 22, “Of a surf-tormented shore/…One from the pitiless wave”. It is revealed that through Poe’s “A Dream Within a Dream”, that writers during the romantic era were defined by their surroundings and the time period they stood for.
Works Cited:
"A Dream Within A Dream." Poemhunter.com. N.p., Dec.-Jan. 2002. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. <A Dream Within A Dream>.
Blog Assignment #5 (IN-CLASS)
Ode on a Grecian Urn : John Keats
During the late 18th century, Romanticism became a newly creative from of art. Poets, as well as many other artists, began to revolve their work around nature and their deepened appreciation for it. One of the most inspiring of poets during the romantic-era, was John Keats. Keats’ particular poem, “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” uses a huge symbolic idea. Keats uses the urn as the subject of the poem, becoming the symbolism for the rest of the poem. The urn’s pictures create an everlasting love for the author of the poem- each of which symbolize the immortality of the love he creates in his mind. Keats begins his poem with many questions including, “What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape” (Keats 9). Here, Keats sets his mind to believe that the girl on the urn is trying to escape, most likely to be with him. Symbolism of the urn continues in Stanza 2, where he believes the image in the urn will always stay the same, including the beautiful season, and the fairness or youth of the “lover”, “Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave/ Bold Lover …” (Keats 15-16). Through this, the author is so certain that his lover will always be who he sees on the urn, thus continuing the symbolic evidence of immortal love. In stanza 3, Keats uses seasons to symbolize the continuous immortality, “Ah, happy, happy boughs! That cannot shed/ Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu” (Keats 21-22); Keats clearly shows immortality with the lover his mind creates of the urn’s pictures. He constantly creates the picture of forever remaining in that particular moment of bliss. Finally, in the last of the stanzas, Stanza 5, Keats explains to the reader, how the urn will forever just be. The urn will forever just be what it is, and what is seen will be seen by every generation to come, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty, -that is all/ Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know” (Keats 49-50). With this, the reader can understand that the urn will always only understand the beauty and nothing more, because it can’t understand anything more than what it is. Keats’ symbolic use of the urn, and particularly lines 49-50, explain his immortal love, while allowing the reader to experience a maturation process through the nature of his words. Clearly, the symbolism influences the reader’s view of what Keats really means throughout his poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn.”
Blog Assignment #6 (IN-CLASS)
Because I Could Not Stop For Death: Emily Dickinson
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labour, and my leisure too,
For his civility.
We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.
Since then 'tis centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.
During the romanticism era, artists became known to use their lives as major influence on their work. Poets, particularly, used their life experiences and learning to create poems that expressed how they felt. One well-known poet of her time, Emily Dickinson, provides an exact example of using her experiences to create her work. Throughout Emily Dickinson’s life, she became an introvert who wrote many more poems than she actually published. One specific piece of work from Dickinson that just about mirrored her life, was “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” In this exact popular poem, Dickinson uses symbolism to reflect a spitting-image of her life within the poem. All through the entire poem, Dickinson explains in sense how time passes quickly and death is so soon to come. She continues to speak of death in a rather positive outlook, “Because I could not stop for Death/ He kindly stopped for me” (Dickinson 1-2). Dickinson continues to speak of death in a good way because she seems to believe that death is the beginning of immortality and never-ending time, “We slowly drove, he knew no haste, / And I had put away/ My labor, and my leisure too, / For his civility” (5-8). Dickinson became an introvert soon after a major change in her life, and that change was the death of her father. The death of her father shook her drastically, and opened her mind to understand how fast time really does go by, “We passed the school, where children strove/ At recess, in the ring; / We passed the fields of gazing grain, / We passed the setting sun” (9-12). Clearly, as Emily concluded from her father’s death, time takes us all. Also she speaks of nature, since she was an avid gardener with the term “gazing grain” and its representation of death. After explaining how fast time takes us all, and how soon death takes us all, Dickinson explains that death is actually passing us instead of vice versa. In the final stanza of the poem, Dickinson explains how immortality is conceived when death begins, “Since then ‘tis centuries, and yet each/ Feels shorter than a day/ I first surmised the horses’ heads/ Were towards eternity” (21-24). Thus, relating to or similar to her sudden seclusion when discovering her father’s death. As seen, Emily Dickinson’s poem relates to most of her actual life story and the lessons she experienced through learning with pain.
-Matteo
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labour, and my leisure too,
For his civility.
We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.
Since then 'tis centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.
During the romanticism era, artists became known to use their lives as major influence on their work. Poets, particularly, used their life experiences and learning to create poems that expressed how they felt. One well-known poet of her time, Emily Dickinson, provides an exact example of using her experiences to create her work. Throughout Emily Dickinson’s life, she became an introvert who wrote many more poems than she actually published. One specific piece of work from Dickinson that just about mirrored her life, was “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” In this exact popular poem, Dickinson uses symbolism to reflect a spitting-image of her life within the poem. All through the entire poem, Dickinson explains in sense how time passes quickly and death is so soon to come. She continues to speak of death in a rather positive outlook, “Because I could not stop for Death/ He kindly stopped for me” (Dickinson 1-2). Dickinson continues to speak of death in a good way because she seems to believe that death is the beginning of immortality and never-ending time, “We slowly drove, he knew no haste, / And I had put away/ My labor, and my leisure too, / For his civility” (5-8). Dickinson became an introvert soon after a major change in her life, and that change was the death of her father. The death of her father shook her drastically, and opened her mind to understand how fast time really does go by, “We passed the school, where children strove/ At recess, in the ring; / We passed the fields of gazing grain, / We passed the setting sun” (9-12). Clearly, as Emily concluded from her father’s death, time takes us all. Also she speaks of nature, since she was an avid gardener with the term “gazing grain” and its representation of death. After explaining how fast time takes us all, and how soon death takes us all, Dickinson explains that death is actually passing us instead of vice versa. In the final stanza of the poem, Dickinson explains how immortality is conceived when death begins, “Since then ‘tis centuries, and yet each/ Feels shorter than a day/ I first surmised the horses’ heads/ Were towards eternity” (21-24). Thus, relating to or similar to her sudden seclusion when discovering her father’s death. As seen, Emily Dickinson’s poem relates to most of her actual life story and the lessons she experienced through learning with pain.
-Matteo
Blog Assignment #7 (IN-CLASS)
"I wonder if it's that simple"
Sure it's simple, writing a poem.
Once we sit,
Gather our thoughts,
And let the writing begin.
Who am I?
That's a question I don't believe I can answer completley at this point in my life.
To define yourself, is to be happy and realize what exactly you are meant for.
Nobody is really anybody.
Difficulty is really only simplicity.
But its simplicity is defined by the complications we make of it.
Only until we really think, can we answer a question like "Who am i?"
Who am I?
Why am I here?
Where did I come from?
Where am I going?
Life's greatest questions, they say.
Well I'm not looking back.
Where I am is where I am.
Where I'm going may be somewhat blurry.
But me, I'm not looking back.
Anyone can descibe themselves with who they see in the mirror,
Or what they do.
But what are we here for?
Time IS running out.
Like water racing down a drain.
Faster and faster.
It will not stop, for anyone.
Why do you continue to do what you do?
These are questions that can only be answered by the true state of happiness.
There you have it.
I sat here,
With only a few minutes left to spare.
I did it.
It's done.
I'm happy with it,
And with this state of happiness, it is just "that simple."
-Matteo Di Carlo
Sure it's simple, writing a poem.
Once we sit,
Gather our thoughts,
And let the writing begin.
Who am I?
That's a question I don't believe I can answer completley at this point in my life.
To define yourself, is to be happy and realize what exactly you are meant for.
Nobody is really anybody.
Difficulty is really only simplicity.
But its simplicity is defined by the complications we make of it.
Only until we really think, can we answer a question like "Who am i?"
Who am I?
Why am I here?
Where did I come from?
Where am I going?
Life's greatest questions, they say.
Well I'm not looking back.
Where I am is where I am.
Where I'm going may be somewhat blurry.
But me, I'm not looking back.
Anyone can descibe themselves with who they see in the mirror,
Or what they do.
But what are we here for?
Time IS running out.
Like water racing down a drain.
Faster and faster.
It will not stop, for anyone.
Why do you continue to do what you do?
These are questions that can only be answered by the true state of happiness.
There you have it.
I sat here,
With only a few minutes left to spare.
I did it.
It's done.
I'm happy with it,
And with this state of happiness, it is just "that simple."
-Matteo Di Carlo
Blog Assignment #8 (IN-CLASS)
Recently, I got ahold of the television movie Desperation, which is the movie version of the novel made famous by author Stephen King. Stephen King’s Desperation originally aired back in 2006 and re-aired on television over the years. The story takes place in the eerie, deserted Nevada town called Desperation. The basic situation or simple plot is an unknown force emitted through an evil being named Tak. Tak has taken over the town Desperation, killing all that’s in the town’s path. Tak takes a hold of a human’s mind and his physical body, erasing his original memory and replacing it with its own. By doing this, it has complete control over the person. One of the main particular person he has taken over is a policeman named Entragian that manipulates innocent people into being killed. Through fear and faith, characters such as the main tragic hero, David, the remaining people get together to rid the town of the evil force known as Tak. In the movie, the relationships between the character, particularly David and his family, shows determination, a bit of fear, and the ability to stay strong and stick together in times of trouble. The central issue, being that Tak needs to be defeated, is finally turned straight at the end of the film or novel. This occurs when David and the lasting survivors come together and use their faith as power to blow up the canyon that holds the key to Tak’s power. Finally, Tak is destroyed because of the bond that David’s faith brought upon the few other characters that overcame the monster that is Tak.
-Matteo
-Matteo
Blog Assignment #9 (IN-CLASS)
OPTION #1
Oedipus Rex consists of three parts of a dreadfully dramatic play about a King and his established fate. In Oedipus the King, King Oedipus is faced with the fate that was set for him long before he was even born. Throughout the play, Oedipus’ fate is reveled through messages from people all over his kingdom such as the shepherd and the messengers. Even from hearing the story of Jocasta about Thebes’ previous king, and Oedipus father Laios, he discovers the truth to what Teiresias explained. With the discoveries that are exposed, Oedipus is seen to reveal qualities of ignorance and obliviousness. Through the suffering from his fate, Oedipus learns multiple different things. In the end, he learns that he is indeed ignoring the truth, and that no matter what is done or known, nothing can control the promise that fate has in store for a person. Nothing is actually his fault and he realizes this because with the knowledge of his fate or without, there is no way around what is set for him. “Man is free, but fated; fated but free.” This is very true, considering no matter how free and powerful Oedipus became, his destiny came true. Oedipus understands the gods chose his fate at the end and learns he really is the one who killed his father and slept with his mother, much to his knowledge. From Sophocles’ play and story of Oedipus, I've learned exactly what the play explains. Just about everything we do happens for a reason, and no matter how we want things to turn out, they’ll only turn out the way they are supposed to. Through suffering, however, we can understand that the truth of the matter is life will carry through the way it will, no matter what changes you try and bring.
-Matteo
Oedipus Rex consists of three parts of a dreadfully dramatic play about a King and his established fate. In Oedipus the King, King Oedipus is faced with the fate that was set for him long before he was even born. Throughout the play, Oedipus’ fate is reveled through messages from people all over his kingdom such as the shepherd and the messengers. Even from hearing the story of Jocasta about Thebes’ previous king, and Oedipus father Laios, he discovers the truth to what Teiresias explained. With the discoveries that are exposed, Oedipus is seen to reveal qualities of ignorance and obliviousness. Through the suffering from his fate, Oedipus learns multiple different things. In the end, he learns that he is indeed ignoring the truth, and that no matter what is done or known, nothing can control the promise that fate has in store for a person. Nothing is actually his fault and he realizes this because with the knowledge of his fate or without, there is no way around what is set for him. “Man is free, but fated; fated but free.” This is very true, considering no matter how free and powerful Oedipus became, his destiny came true. Oedipus understands the gods chose his fate at the end and learns he really is the one who killed his father and slept with his mother, much to his knowledge. From Sophocles’ play and story of Oedipus, I've learned exactly what the play explains. Just about everything we do happens for a reason, and no matter how we want things to turn out, they’ll only turn out the way they are supposed to. Through suffering, however, we can understand that the truth of the matter is life will carry through the way it will, no matter what changes you try and bring.
-Matteo
Blog Assignment #10 (IN-CLASS)
OPTION #1
When
Henrik Ibsen wrote his famous play A Doll’s House, many considered it a
domestic drama, to later be discovered as a modern drama. Throughout his play, Ibsen created a symbolic
pattern of consistent hiding from the outside world. In the play, Nora Helmer and her husband
Torvald are seen to be some of the richest and happiest people in their town,
owning banks and being successful. However,
the Helmers, especially Nora, are seen to be disguising what they truly feel
about each other, and the things they endure.
Although happy, it is revealed to the audience/reader just how unlucky
they really are. During the course of the Helmers’ success, many different
obstacles get in the way of the “perfect” life Nora believes she has. For example, Nora is seen to hide from her
husband in many circumstances, “Macaroons? I thought they were forbidden here”
(Ibsen 894). Here, we see just how much
Nora hides from her husband. She has to
keep the macaroons that she eats away from her husband, because he doesn’t want
her eating them. This in turn shows how
Nora is unhappy and feels treated as a “doll.”
In another case where disguise is imminent, Nora borrowed money from
Krogstad, to help her family while her husband was sick, without him
knowing. This shows how afraid Nora is
of Helmer, in that she doesn’t want to do anything that will anger him or make
her feel stronger. Krogstad threatens
Nora to help him keep his job because she signed the paper in substitution of
her father. Finally, another secret that
lingers amongst the Helmers’ family, is the feelings coming from Dr. Rank. As a very good friend of Trovald, Dr. Rank
never confesses until it’s too late, that he is actually in love with Nora, “I’d
made up my mind to tell you before I –I go away, and there’ll never be a better
opportunity than this. Now you know it,
Nora. And now you know that you can
trust me more than you can trust anyone else” (Ibsen 914). It’s obvious the secret that Rank held for so
long, creates a shocking and twisted turn of emotions. With the amount of hidden feelings held
amongst the people involved in the story, irony becomes a strong literary
device to describe the matters. All the
lies, greed, and misery that the Helmers create against one another causes the
downfall of the “perfect” life that they show everyone they have. They hide all of this, in order to keep their
well-known position in the Victorian middle class. Therefore, the ever so “charmed life” that is
believed to hold true in the Helmer family, is all just a made up, fictional belief
that gets tossed around in order to hide the dark and twisted mysteries and confidences.
Works Cited
Kennedy, X.J, and Dana Gioia. Backpack Literature: An
Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Fourth Edition. Boston,
Columbus, Indianapolis, New York, San Francisco, Upper Saddle River, Amsterdam,
Cape Town, Dubai, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, Montreal, Toronto,
Delhi, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei,
Tokyo: Pearson, 2012. Print.
-Matteo
***BOLDED IN-CLASS Blog Assignments relate to the topic of romanticism.
**BOLDED Assignments: 4, 5, and 6.
* IN-CLASS Blog Assignment #7 italicized to show my poetry.
***BOLDED IN-CLASS Blog Assignments relate to the topic of romanticism.
**BOLDED Assignments: 4, 5, and 6.
* IN-CLASS Blog Assignment #7 italicized to show my poetry.
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