In which time period is Louise Gluck’s Averno set?
I believe Averno takes places during WWII. There are some clues that the time period is fairly modern, such as the mentioning of subways and new drugs for depression. Furthermore, Gluck writes of things being said in a German accent or in German while she also writes of war—another clue that the poem can also be seen as a commentary on WWII. On page 63, the narrator also says that she does not want to be burned, which seems to refer to the Holocaust.
What is the tone of this book?
The tone of the book is very contemplative, but also painful and morose. Since it is writing about Persephone and her rape, it has a dark tone to it, even though some of the imagery is very beautiful.
Describe the narrator(s) and what is of value to them?
Throughout the entire poem, the narrator seems to value nature a great deal. It is a common theme throughout the book, and even though some of the nature imagery is used as a metaphor for rape or war, the narrator seems to have an intimate relationship with nature. The narrator also seems to value the innocence of childhood, since the loss of Persephone’s innocence seems to cause deep pain for the narrator. The narrator also seems to value life and love, and the idea that one must make the best of their life before they die. At times, the narrator seems to feel that she lacks love or does not want to live, but I believe she makes it clear that one must try to find the means to value their own life and those they love.
What kind of relationship does the Persephone narrator have with the earth in Gluck’s work? Cite at least one passage to back up your argument.
It seems that the Persephone narrator makes it clear that she once had an intimate and positive relationship with nature before the rape. After the rape, the relationship the narrator once had with nature is dead, and she no longer belongs to the earth. For instance, she writes, “When death confronts her, she has never seen / the meadow without the daisies. / Suddenly she is no longer / singing her maidenly songs / about her mother’s / beauty and fecundity. Where / the rift is, the break is. / Song of the earth, / song of the mythic vision of eternal life— / My soul / shattered with the strain / of trying to belong to the earth—“
To what does the final verse on page 16 refer?
The final verse on page 16 says, “returns home / stained with red juice like / a character in Hawthorne—.” This verse refers to the fact that Persephone eats the pomegranate before she is released from Hell. It also could refer to the fact that she is stained from the rape with blood.
Cite a passage in the text where the narrator second-guesses her own voice by reconsidering the way in which to describe something. Why would an author show such a thing?
One passage in which the narrator does this is: “When I was a child, I suffered from insomnia. / Summer nights, my parents permitted me to sit by the lake; / I took the dog for company. / Did I say “suffered”? That was my parents’ way of explaining / tastes that seemed to them / inexplicable: better “suffered” than “preferred to live with the dog.” Through doing this, the narrator seems to show more about her parents and what they thought about her childhood. The narrator shows that her parents influence the way that she talks and thinks about who she is, but as she gets older, she realizes that some of what they said about her had to do with their own insecurities and embarrassments.
What are some key differences between Part I and II of the book; how is Persephone the Wanderer figured differently in each?
Some of the key differences between Part I and Part II are that Part I seems to be more about life, death, and love, with an intimate relationship with nature, whereas Part I seems to show more of a loss in faith of nature, along with a commentary on war, government, and the contemporary happenings of the time. In Part I, Persephone the Wanderer seems more didactic, telling the story of the myth and debating over what really happened. It also seems to be harsher on Persephone, saying that she is having sex while we suffer the winter. In Part II, Persephone is dead and the poem is more about Demeter, Persephone’s mother. Sex does not concern us here, and the violence of the earth and war is more prominent.
How do you understand the ancient myth differently after reading Gluck’s interpretation?
Gluck’s interpretation seems to give the Persephone myth a very modern significance. The myth becomes a story of every girl who has been subjected to rape, and it allows the reader to relate to the story on a very human and personal level. I understand the myth more as a story of a terrible thing that could happen to any young woman.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Writing Assignment 8 Journal Entry
What are the implications of designing a piece which joins the imaginary (characterization) and the real (current event)?
I believe one of the main implications with constructing this kind of story is the personal bias that can accompany the piece. Although it is a piece that is trying to portray the history accurately, it is through the eyes of one person with one perspective. Although it can show the personal and human aspects of the history extremely accurately, in only shows one side, or one perspective.
Have you read any authors who do this regularly in their writing? If so, which authors?
I have not read historical fiction for a very long time. I used to read it when I was much younger, but I do not remember the names of the books or the authors who wrote them.
As a reader, how can one determine how reliable the depictions are in a piece of literature which presents itself as autobiographical?
I believe that there is no real way that you can be sure that a narrator or author is being entirely accurate in their depictions. A reader can research the event that took place that the author is writing about, but even history has different biases, viewpoints, and opinions. One must take the account for what it is, and believe that it is, at the very least, an account that is very real to that person.
Are there more “reliable” forms for depicting/communicating real historical events, especially to future generations, than the personal account? If so, what might they be? If not, why not?
As mentioned before, I believe there is bias in all historical pieces. History is or is based on personal accounts, so, in reality, there is no other form for depicting or communicating historical events.
What impression did the writings on the walls of the Museo Storico della Liberazione di Roma have on you?
The writings on the walls were very disturbing and saddening in some ways, but they were also very inspirational and moving. I was blown away by the valor of what they wrote, of their ability to maintain their pride and honor in a time of such extreme dehumanization. It inspires others to have a passion and to defend it at all times.
Why did you choose to write about the event you did for this piece?
I decided to write about the Rwandan Genocide because it is a subject that I have been extremely interested in during the past few years, and I know a fair amount about its history. With the current happenings in Sudan and Bosnia, the topic also provides a historical event that can be applied to the tragedies of today. I think that, like the Holocaust and other genocides, the Rwandan genocide should be remembered so that we can stop and prevent them from happening again.
I believe one of the main implications with constructing this kind of story is the personal bias that can accompany the piece. Although it is a piece that is trying to portray the history accurately, it is through the eyes of one person with one perspective. Although it can show the personal and human aspects of the history extremely accurately, in only shows one side, or one perspective.
Have you read any authors who do this regularly in their writing? If so, which authors?
I have not read historical fiction for a very long time. I used to read it when I was much younger, but I do not remember the names of the books or the authors who wrote them.
As a reader, how can one determine how reliable the depictions are in a piece of literature which presents itself as autobiographical?
I believe that there is no real way that you can be sure that a narrator or author is being entirely accurate in their depictions. A reader can research the event that took place that the author is writing about, but even history has different biases, viewpoints, and opinions. One must take the account for what it is, and believe that it is, at the very least, an account that is very real to that person.
Are there more “reliable” forms for depicting/communicating real historical events, especially to future generations, than the personal account? If so, what might they be? If not, why not?
As mentioned before, I believe there is bias in all historical pieces. History is or is based on personal accounts, so, in reality, there is no other form for depicting or communicating historical events.
What impression did the writings on the walls of the Museo Storico della Liberazione di Roma have on you?
The writings on the walls were very disturbing and saddening in some ways, but they were also very inspirational and moving. I was blown away by the valor of what they wrote, of their ability to maintain their pride and honor in a time of such extreme dehumanization. It inspires others to have a passion and to defend it at all times.
Why did you choose to write about the event you did for this piece?
I decided to write about the Rwandan Genocide because it is a subject that I have been extremely interested in during the past few years, and I know a fair amount about its history. With the current happenings in Sudan and Bosnia, the topic also provides a historical event that can be applied to the tragedies of today. I think that, like the Holocaust and other genocides, the Rwandan genocide should be remembered so that we can stop and prevent them from happening again.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Week 9 Reading Entry: Levi
How does the poem opening the work affect how you read the main body of the text?
The poem serves as a kind of warning for the reader before entering into the main body of the text. It seems to make the reader anxious or nervous about what they are going to read, as they can already tell that they might be made uncomfortable by its content. It also seems to make the reader realize that they should not take for granted what they have, which for some readers, could make them feel guilty as they begin to read Levis account of the death camps.
Sum up what the poem is saying in one sentence.
The poem says that the people who did not experience the death camp and who continue to live comfortable lives must remember the atrocities that happened during the Holocaust and recount them to others in order to keep such an event from happening again.
What are the key characteristics of the narrator which Levi chooses to present in this work; how would you describe the narrator?
Levi describes the narrator as being young, inexperienced, naïve, unrealistic, moderately rebellious, skeptical, and lacking hope. I would describe the narrator as being intelligent and sympathetic, but fairly pessimistic and hopeless.
Does this add to or take away from your ability to sympathize with the narrator?
There is no instance in which I would not sympathize with someone who experienced living in the death camps of the Holocaust. Even if the narrator had many negative characteristics, I would still sympathize with him, because he is human, and no human should be subjected to an experience like the death camps. The characteristics of this narrator in particular did not affect how much I sympathized with him. I simply saw him as a human who had to live through the closest thing to Hell on earth.
Which moment(s) in the text stand out or make the strongest impact on you? Why?
“…and even the teachers of the little school gave lessons until the evening, as on other days. But that evening the children were given no homework.” (21)
• Everyone knows what is going to happen, and even though they carry out their lives as usual, they know that the children will be taken away the next day.
“Dawn came on us like a betrayer; it seemed as though the new sun rose as an ally of our enemies to assist in our destruction. The different emotions that overcame us, of resignation, of futile rebellion, of religious abandon, of fear, of despair, now joined together after a sleepless night in a collective, uncontrolled panic.” (22)
• Portrays the way that it seems like the whole world has turned its back on him, that there is no aspect of his life or of the day that gives him hope in that moment.
“Sooner or later in life everyone discovers that perfect happiness is unrealizable, but there are few who pause to consider the antithesis: that perfect unhappiness is equally unattainable.” (23)
• Strangely hopeful comment in which he shows that even in the worst of situations that no man should have to experience or can imagine experiencing, there is no way that one can be truly unhappy.
“Next to me, crushed against me for the whole journey, there had been a woman. We had known each other for many years, and the misfortune had struck us together, but we knew little of each other. Now, in the hour of decision, we said to each other things that are never said among the living. We said farewell and it was short; everybody said farewell to life through his neighbor. We had no more fear.” (25)
• Moment of deep human compassion between strangers in a time of despair.
“When we finish, everyone remains in his own corner and we do not dare lift our eyes to look at one another. There is nowhere to look in a mirror, but our appearance stands in front of us, reflected in a hundred livid faces, in a hundred miserable and sordid puppets. We are transformed into the phantoms glimpsed yesterday evening.” (32)
• Effectively shows how dehumanized each man feels, to the point at which they can no longer look at each other.
“He has understood; he now gets up, approaches me and timidly embraces me. The adventure is over, and I feel filled with serene sadness that is almost joy. I have never seen Schlome since, but I have not forgotten his serious and gentle face of a child, which welcomed me on the threshold of the house of the dead.” (37)
• Moment of deep human compassion between strangers in a time of despair.
“We Italians had decided to meet every Sunday evening in a corner of the Lager, but we stopped it at once, because it was too sad to count our numbers and find fewer each time, and to see each other ever more deformed and more squalid. And it was so tiring to walk those few steps and then, meeting each other, to remember and to think. It was better not to think.” (43)
• Shows how any efforts to form communities and support groups within the death camps are dashed by the sadness of seeing others die or be in the process of dying.
The poem serves as a kind of warning for the reader before entering into the main body of the text. It seems to make the reader anxious or nervous about what they are going to read, as they can already tell that they might be made uncomfortable by its content. It also seems to make the reader realize that they should not take for granted what they have, which for some readers, could make them feel guilty as they begin to read Levis account of the death camps.
Sum up what the poem is saying in one sentence.
The poem says that the people who did not experience the death camp and who continue to live comfortable lives must remember the atrocities that happened during the Holocaust and recount them to others in order to keep such an event from happening again.
What are the key characteristics of the narrator which Levi chooses to present in this work; how would you describe the narrator?
Levi describes the narrator as being young, inexperienced, naïve, unrealistic, moderately rebellious, skeptical, and lacking hope. I would describe the narrator as being intelligent and sympathetic, but fairly pessimistic and hopeless.
Does this add to or take away from your ability to sympathize with the narrator?
There is no instance in which I would not sympathize with someone who experienced living in the death camps of the Holocaust. Even if the narrator had many negative characteristics, I would still sympathize with him, because he is human, and no human should be subjected to an experience like the death camps. The characteristics of this narrator in particular did not affect how much I sympathized with him. I simply saw him as a human who had to live through the closest thing to Hell on earth.
Which moment(s) in the text stand out or make the strongest impact on you? Why?
“…and even the teachers of the little school gave lessons until the evening, as on other days. But that evening the children were given no homework.” (21)
• Everyone knows what is going to happen, and even though they carry out their lives as usual, they know that the children will be taken away the next day.
“Dawn came on us like a betrayer; it seemed as though the new sun rose as an ally of our enemies to assist in our destruction. The different emotions that overcame us, of resignation, of futile rebellion, of religious abandon, of fear, of despair, now joined together after a sleepless night in a collective, uncontrolled panic.” (22)
• Portrays the way that it seems like the whole world has turned its back on him, that there is no aspect of his life or of the day that gives him hope in that moment.
“Sooner or later in life everyone discovers that perfect happiness is unrealizable, but there are few who pause to consider the antithesis: that perfect unhappiness is equally unattainable.” (23)
• Strangely hopeful comment in which he shows that even in the worst of situations that no man should have to experience or can imagine experiencing, there is no way that one can be truly unhappy.
“Next to me, crushed against me for the whole journey, there had been a woman. We had known each other for many years, and the misfortune had struck us together, but we knew little of each other. Now, in the hour of decision, we said to each other things that are never said among the living. We said farewell and it was short; everybody said farewell to life through his neighbor. We had no more fear.” (25)
• Moment of deep human compassion between strangers in a time of despair.
“When we finish, everyone remains in his own corner and we do not dare lift our eyes to look at one another. There is nowhere to look in a mirror, but our appearance stands in front of us, reflected in a hundred livid faces, in a hundred miserable and sordid puppets. We are transformed into the phantoms glimpsed yesterday evening.” (32)
• Effectively shows how dehumanized each man feels, to the point at which they can no longer look at each other.
“He has understood; he now gets up, approaches me and timidly embraces me. The adventure is over, and I feel filled with serene sadness that is almost joy. I have never seen Schlome since, but I have not forgotten his serious and gentle face of a child, which welcomed me on the threshold of the house of the dead.” (37)
• Moment of deep human compassion between strangers in a time of despair.
“We Italians had decided to meet every Sunday evening in a corner of the Lager, but we stopped it at once, because it was too sad to count our numbers and find fewer each time, and to see each other ever more deformed and more squalid. And it was so tiring to walk those few steps and then, meeting each other, to remember and to think. It was better not to think.” (43)
• Shows how any efforts to form communities and support groups within the death camps are dashed by the sadness of seeing others die or be in the process of dying.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Writing Journal: Dialogue
What is the reason you chose the option (a, b, or c) you did?
I chose option c because it was the only painting that depicted a story that I roughly knew. Since these paintings are religious, I didn’t want to make up a story that did not have at least some parallels to the religious story. I wanted my story to be somewhat accurate. I didn’t look up any extra information about the story, so I was still able to be creative, but I needed some sort of guideline to get my writing started.
What is challenging about writing dialogue, especially when you are reliant on it for character development?
The most challenging part of writing dialogue is showing rather than telling. Since I was reliant on the dialogue or thoughts of the characters to provide the character development and to push the story forward, I had to tell the story through the dialogue while trying to convey a natural conversation and natural thoughts. This was extremely difficult for me.
Do visual works add or detract from your ability to be imaginative in your writing and why?
I think visual works can add to my ability to be creative when I can relate to them. However, with this assignment, since all the paintings were of religious stories (something I know very little about) it detracted from my writing. Rather than being as imaginative as I could, I wanted to make sure that I was doing the story justice and was not being blasphemous or sacrilegious.
What are some of the most notable differences between the cities of Rome and Naples; do you think the place has an effect on how you write? If yes, how so, and if not, why do you think it is irrelevant?
Unlike Rome, Naples does not take very good care of its old churches, buildings, and monuments. It seems like their upkeep is not as constant, allowing for plants to grow out of church rooftops and such, but it adds a certain charm to the city. I also thought that the people in Naples were friendlier than the people in Rome. The food is much cheaper and just as good, if not better. Naples is just as busy as Rome, but there seems to be more activity and liveliness. I do not think Naples had an effect on how I wrote my story, mainly because I wrote my story in Rome, but also because I was not writing about Naples. Regardless, however, I think my writing is unaffected by where I am—it changes over time, but this is not because of my location.
I chose option c because it was the only painting that depicted a story that I roughly knew. Since these paintings are religious, I didn’t want to make up a story that did not have at least some parallels to the religious story. I wanted my story to be somewhat accurate. I didn’t look up any extra information about the story, so I was still able to be creative, but I needed some sort of guideline to get my writing started.
What is challenging about writing dialogue, especially when you are reliant on it for character development?
The most challenging part of writing dialogue is showing rather than telling. Since I was reliant on the dialogue or thoughts of the characters to provide the character development and to push the story forward, I had to tell the story through the dialogue while trying to convey a natural conversation and natural thoughts. This was extremely difficult for me.
Do visual works add or detract from your ability to be imaginative in your writing and why?
I think visual works can add to my ability to be creative when I can relate to them. However, with this assignment, since all the paintings were of religious stories (something I know very little about) it detracted from my writing. Rather than being as imaginative as I could, I wanted to make sure that I was doing the story justice and was not being blasphemous or sacrilegious.
What are some of the most notable differences between the cities of Rome and Naples; do you think the place has an effect on how you write? If yes, how so, and if not, why do you think it is irrelevant?
Unlike Rome, Naples does not take very good care of its old churches, buildings, and monuments. It seems like their upkeep is not as constant, allowing for plants to grow out of church rooftops and such, but it adds a certain charm to the city. I also thought that the people in Naples were friendlier than the people in Rome. The food is much cheaper and just as good, if not better. Naples is just as busy as Rome, but there seems to be more activity and liveliness. I do not think Naples had an effect on how I wrote my story, mainly because I wrote my story in Rome, but also because I was not writing about Naples. Regardless, however, I think my writing is unaffected by where I am—it changes over time, but this is not because of my location.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Juvenal Reading Entry
How is the concept of wealth developed in Juvenal’s satires? How is this different or similar to that of Twain’s development of the same subject in Innocents Abroad?
Juvenal describes the concept of wealth as something that lends to hypocrisy, immorality, and crime. He writes of the uncivilized nature of rich people, their frivolity, and their complete disregard for those who suffer as a result of their indulgences. Twain, however, talks much more about the effects that wealth has on relationships between people and institutions, which you see a little bit in Juvenal’s piece. Whereas Juvenal is much more blatant about his anger at the rich, Twain satirizes the dichotomy between the wealth and power of the church and its followers, patrons and their artists, and the like. For instance, he writes of how the Medici practically let their artists, like Michelangelo, starve. Juvenal also writes of a similar theme—for instance, the dinner party with patrons and artists in which the artists are served different food and different bread as they wait foolishly for the praise that they desire and deserve.
What role does hypocrisy play in relation these concepts of wealth in both authors’ satirical works?
Juvenal writes about the hypocrisy in the dichotomy between how “civilized” rich people believe themselves to be and how they actually act. For instance, even though patrons believe themselves to be more civilized, they throw parties, are ruthless, act like children, and practically starve their clients. The clients are also hypocrites, as they foolishly hope to be treated well and practically grovel at the feet of their patrons rather than preserve their pride and honor. Twain, however, targets the Church’s hypocrisy instead, writing of their extravagant and wasteful tendencies while they let the people starve. There seems to also be something inherently hypocritical in the church’s decision to be extravagant when it preaches piety and humbleness to its followers. As mentioned before, Twain also speaks of the hypocritical nature of the relationship between patron and artist, in which the patron lets the artist starve and live an exceedingly poor life while the patron reaps all the benefits of his or her labor.
How are the themes of sedition and free speech in Juvenal similar/different to those in Twain’s satire?
In Twain’s piece, he pokes fun at the fact that Italians lack free speech. In other words, they have no control over their own government and do not seem to wish to take up the reigns and govern themselves. Juvenal seems to make fun of the fact that when most people speak out, they have nothing of real importance to say, and if they do, they will be “torched.” He seems to think that free speech is a good thing as long as you have something worthwhile to say.
How are artists, poets, and patrons of the arts depicted similarly/differently by the two authors?
Both writers depict patrons and the arts in very similar ways. Twain and Juvenal seem to agree that the relationship between the patron and the artist is one of the powerful taking advantage of those who are not. Both writers satirize the extravagant lifestyles that patrons take on while they let their artists or clients starve and grovel at their feet. However, Twain seems to be a little more forgiving of the artists, whereas Juvenal takes on a much more ruthless point of view by satirizing they way that artists have lost their honor. For him, the artists are letting the patrons take advantage of them, which causes Juvenal to lose respect for the arts.
What is “noble” according to Juvenal’s narrator?
Juvenal’s narrator believes that nobility is much more than a name and a title. He believes that a noble person will not be selfish or greedy, will respect the law, will love their family, will respect the Senate, fight for what they believe in, respect God and respect freedom.
Cite a passage from each of the four satires by Juvenal which amused you and say why. What literary mechanisms or rhetorical devices did Juvenal use for each of these?
“You will get yours pretty soon, when you go and undress in your bathroom, trying to ease your gut’s distending burden of peacock.” (p 22)
hyperbole
“You get a rotten old apple, the kind that is given a monkey all rigged out with a helmet and shield, and afraid of whipping while he is being trained to toss the spear from a goat’s back.” (p 61)
parody, mock heroics
“If a man’s going to law, the first thing he has to consider is, do you have eight slaves, a littler, companions in togas walking ahead as you go?” (p 96)
hyperbole, parody
“Possibly you despise unwarlike Rhodes, perfumed Corinth. You are perfectly right, of course; what harm can be done you by young men who shave not only their shins but their armpits?” (p 105)
Sarcasm, parody
Juvenal describes the concept of wealth as something that lends to hypocrisy, immorality, and crime. He writes of the uncivilized nature of rich people, their frivolity, and their complete disregard for those who suffer as a result of their indulgences. Twain, however, talks much more about the effects that wealth has on relationships between people and institutions, which you see a little bit in Juvenal’s piece. Whereas Juvenal is much more blatant about his anger at the rich, Twain satirizes the dichotomy between the wealth and power of the church and its followers, patrons and their artists, and the like. For instance, he writes of how the Medici practically let their artists, like Michelangelo, starve. Juvenal also writes of a similar theme—for instance, the dinner party with patrons and artists in which the artists are served different food and different bread as they wait foolishly for the praise that they desire and deserve.
What role does hypocrisy play in relation these concepts of wealth in both authors’ satirical works?
Juvenal writes about the hypocrisy in the dichotomy between how “civilized” rich people believe themselves to be and how they actually act. For instance, even though patrons believe themselves to be more civilized, they throw parties, are ruthless, act like children, and practically starve their clients. The clients are also hypocrites, as they foolishly hope to be treated well and practically grovel at the feet of their patrons rather than preserve their pride and honor. Twain, however, targets the Church’s hypocrisy instead, writing of their extravagant and wasteful tendencies while they let the people starve. There seems to also be something inherently hypocritical in the church’s decision to be extravagant when it preaches piety and humbleness to its followers. As mentioned before, Twain also speaks of the hypocritical nature of the relationship between patron and artist, in which the patron lets the artist starve and live an exceedingly poor life while the patron reaps all the benefits of his or her labor.
How are the themes of sedition and free speech in Juvenal similar/different to those in Twain’s satire?
In Twain’s piece, he pokes fun at the fact that Italians lack free speech. In other words, they have no control over their own government and do not seem to wish to take up the reigns and govern themselves. Juvenal seems to make fun of the fact that when most people speak out, they have nothing of real importance to say, and if they do, they will be “torched.” He seems to think that free speech is a good thing as long as you have something worthwhile to say.
How are artists, poets, and patrons of the arts depicted similarly/differently by the two authors?
Both writers depict patrons and the arts in very similar ways. Twain and Juvenal seem to agree that the relationship between the patron and the artist is one of the powerful taking advantage of those who are not. Both writers satirize the extravagant lifestyles that patrons take on while they let their artists or clients starve and grovel at their feet. However, Twain seems to be a little more forgiving of the artists, whereas Juvenal takes on a much more ruthless point of view by satirizing they way that artists have lost their honor. For him, the artists are letting the patrons take advantage of them, which causes Juvenal to lose respect for the arts.
What is “noble” according to Juvenal’s narrator?
Juvenal’s narrator believes that nobility is much more than a name and a title. He believes that a noble person will not be selfish or greedy, will respect the law, will love their family, will respect the Senate, fight for what they believe in, respect God and respect freedom.
Cite a passage from each of the four satires by Juvenal which amused you and say why. What literary mechanisms or rhetorical devices did Juvenal use for each of these?
“You will get yours pretty soon, when you go and undress in your bathroom, trying to ease your gut’s distending burden of peacock.” (p 22)
hyperbole
“You get a rotten old apple, the kind that is given a monkey all rigged out with a helmet and shield, and afraid of whipping while he is being trained to toss the spear from a goat’s back.” (p 61)
parody, mock heroics
“If a man’s going to law, the first thing he has to consider is, do you have eight slaves, a littler, companions in togas walking ahead as you go?” (p 96)
hyperbole, parody
“Possibly you despise unwarlike Rhodes, perfumed Corinth. You are perfectly right, of course; what harm can be done you by young men who shave not only their shins but their armpits?” (p 105)
Sarcasm, parody
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Week 6 Writing Entry: Satire
Why did you choose the character(s) you did for this assignment?
Throughout my two years in college, I have always been upset and angry with some of the things that go on in the Greek system. That is why I chose to satirize a sorority girl (and the Greek system at large). My character, or narrator, is fairly stereotypical, and I am mostly satirizing her shallowness and naïveté. I am also satirizing the nature of Greek parties, which are, in my opinion, overly crowded, disgusting, and unpleasant events to attend, with beer spilled all over the floor and some of the drunkest people you will ever encounter. As many of us know, date rape is a fairly rare, but unfortunate occurrence that can happen at Greek parties, another fact that angers me greatly. I chose to incorporate this into the story so that the satire would have a clear message or moral, and so that, in the end, you do sympathize for the narrator, even though she has been satirized for the majority of the story.
What was the most challenging part of writing a satirical piece?
The most challenging part of writing this piece was to make a transition from a satire into the serious ending. I wanted to make it clear that I was not satirizing rape, but that I was angered by the way that some men in the Greek system (and other places as well) will take advantage of naïve sorority girls who don’t know any better. I was making fun of her shallowness and naïveté, but also showing how it ultimately gets her into trouble.
Is your character “round” or “flat”?
My character is fairly flat throughout the entire story, but you know that she will no longer be a flat character after that night. She is rather one-sided throughout the entire story, but the reader is forced to sympathize with her at the end, even if they felt nothing for her until that point.
Did you return to Twain’s excerpt while developing your own satirical piece?
I did not turn to Twain’s excerpt very much while I was developing my piece. The only thing I really took inspiration from was his satirizing of the narrator himself. I decided to incorporate this into my own story, as I liked the way that the reader sees the story through the narrator’s eyes even though the narrator is ultimately being satirized.
Throughout my two years in college, I have always been upset and angry with some of the things that go on in the Greek system. That is why I chose to satirize a sorority girl (and the Greek system at large). My character, or narrator, is fairly stereotypical, and I am mostly satirizing her shallowness and naïveté. I am also satirizing the nature of Greek parties, which are, in my opinion, overly crowded, disgusting, and unpleasant events to attend, with beer spilled all over the floor and some of the drunkest people you will ever encounter. As many of us know, date rape is a fairly rare, but unfortunate occurrence that can happen at Greek parties, another fact that angers me greatly. I chose to incorporate this into the story so that the satire would have a clear message or moral, and so that, in the end, you do sympathize for the narrator, even though she has been satirized for the majority of the story.
What was the most challenging part of writing a satirical piece?
The most challenging part of writing this piece was to make a transition from a satire into the serious ending. I wanted to make it clear that I was not satirizing rape, but that I was angered by the way that some men in the Greek system (and other places as well) will take advantage of naïve sorority girls who don’t know any better. I was making fun of her shallowness and naïveté, but also showing how it ultimately gets her into trouble.
Is your character “round” or “flat”?
My character is fairly flat throughout the entire story, but you know that she will no longer be a flat character after that night. She is rather one-sided throughout the entire story, but the reader is forced to sympathize with her at the end, even if they felt nothing for her until that point.
Did you return to Twain’s excerpt while developing your own satirical piece?
I did not turn to Twain’s excerpt very much while I was developing my piece. The only thing I really took inspiration from was his satirizing of the narrator himself. I decided to incorporate this into my own story, as I liked the way that the reader sees the story through the narrator’s eyes even though the narrator is ultimately being satirized.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Week 6 Reading Entry
List all the institutions and figures satirized in Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad excerpt on travels in Rome. How is each depicted by Twain? (ie. Italian clergymen: hypocritical, having penchant for violence, miserly, exploitative of public goods and Italian people).
Louis Napoleon: determined to make improvements and strengthen France
Italy: frivolous, decadent, owned/dominated by the church, magnificence, misery, wretched, princely, worthless
Church: dominating, rich, powerful
Jesuit Church: wretched, poor, appealing, pathetic, possesses incredibly rich and dazzling churches
Florence: blasphemous
The Medici Family: tyrannical, cursed, smugglers
Titian, Tintoretto, Paul Veronese, Raphael: idols, masters
Andrea del Sarto: glorified his “princes of pictures,” deserved to be left to die
Raphael: prostituted, desperate, groveling
Dominican friars: suffering, noble, charitable, pure, unselfish
One fat friar: extravagant, lively, entertaining
Citiavecchia (and its people): dirty, vermin, ignorant, indolent, impartial, quiet, unpretending, uncleanly, hot, without a patron saint
Papal states: poory educated people, poorly advanced, dense
America: free from church, independent, efficient, educated people, wealthy/well-off, organized, free from corruption, unfashionable, sparsely populated, equality, self-governed, ignorant, cleanly, wise, good business, retribution, lovely
Church of St. Peter: big, uniform, vast
Christians: all-loving, sacrificial, enduring pain, soothing, persuasive
Coliseum (ancient Roman Empire): reserved, royal, majestic, grandeous, decayed, entertaining, holy, theatrical, magnificent, ruthless
Marcus Marcellus Valerian: splendid, deserving merit, playful, expressing gaiety, seeking admiration, having bad taste, displaying levity, wholesome, instructive
Judge Oliver: young, sorrowful, never complaining, mildest-mannered, poet
Michelangelo: boring, ubiquitous, over-done
Museum (Vatican) guide—Frenchman: idiotic, eager to show strange things, taking delight in exciting admiration, passionate, weak, animated, impatient, fraudulent, overzealous, gullible, ingenuous, unsuspecting, long-suffering
William H. Neligan: undoubting, unquestioning simplicity, matter-of-fact
Cite six moments in the text where Twain’s word choice creates humor; identify which word(s) in each of these citations provokes amusement or “surprise” in the reader. What are the devices Twain is employing to achieve this effect? (ie. “. . . then by nipping their flesh with pincers – red-hot ones, because they are the most comfortable in cold weather; then by skinning them alive a little . . .”).
“And now—However, another beggar approaches. I will go out and destroy him and then come back and write another chapter of vituperation…Having eaten the friendless orphan—having driven away his comrades—having grown calm and reflective at length—I now feel in a kindlier mood.” (192)
Devices: writing of his own emotions as he is writing the satire, including ridiculous anecdotes of eating orphan beggars
“I suppose it will be sent up and filed away among the criminal archives of Rome, and will always be regarded as a mysterious infernal machine which would have blown up like a mine and scattered the good Pope all around but for a miraculous provincial interference.” (195)
Devices: equated a joke to something that could literally blow up, including the Pope in the explosion
“There is nothing here to see. They have not even a cathedral, with eleven tons of solid silver archbishops in the back room; and they do not show you any moldy buildings that are seven thousand years old; nor any smoke-dried old fire screens which are chef d’oeuvres of Rubens or Simpson, or Titian or Ferguson, or any of those parties; and they haven’t any bottled fragments of saints and not even a nail from the true Cross. We are going to Rome. There is nothing to see here.” (195)
Devices: making the objects of pride and joy of the Church sound completely unappealing and gross, even though people worship them, making fun of the fact that these are the things we come to see when we go to churches or cathedrals
“…there [America], if a man be rich he is greatly honored, and can become a legislator, a governor, a general, a senator, no matter how ignorant an ass he is—just as in our beloved Italy the nobles born noble idiots.” (198)
Devices: equating figures of power in America to asses and nobles in Italy to idiots
“but—but—I see by your looks that you do not believe the things I am telling you. Alas, my character is ruined, and I am a branded speaker of untruths!” (200)
Devices: employing his own emotions again, addressing the reader, showing self-consciousness
“A matinee for the little folks is promised for this afternoon, on which occasion several martyrs will be eaten by the tigers. The regular performances will continue every night till further notice. Material change of program every evening. Benefit of Valerian, Tuesday, 29th, if he lives.” (212).
Devices: making gladiatorial games and killings seem entertaining and exciting, making the loss of life seem trivial
Louis Napoleon: determined to make improvements and strengthen France
Italy: frivolous, decadent, owned/dominated by the church, magnificence, misery, wretched, princely, worthless
Church: dominating, rich, powerful
Jesuit Church: wretched, poor, appealing, pathetic, possesses incredibly rich and dazzling churches
Florence: blasphemous
The Medici Family: tyrannical, cursed, smugglers
Titian, Tintoretto, Paul Veronese, Raphael: idols, masters
Andrea del Sarto: glorified his “princes of pictures,” deserved to be left to die
Raphael: prostituted, desperate, groveling
Dominican friars: suffering, noble, charitable, pure, unselfish
One fat friar: extravagant, lively, entertaining
Citiavecchia (and its people): dirty, vermin, ignorant, indolent, impartial, quiet, unpretending, uncleanly, hot, without a patron saint
Papal states: poory educated people, poorly advanced, dense
America: free from church, independent, efficient, educated people, wealthy/well-off, organized, free from corruption, unfashionable, sparsely populated, equality, self-governed, ignorant, cleanly, wise, good business, retribution, lovely
Church of St. Peter: big, uniform, vast
Christians: all-loving, sacrificial, enduring pain, soothing, persuasive
Coliseum (ancient Roman Empire): reserved, royal, majestic, grandeous, decayed, entertaining, holy, theatrical, magnificent, ruthless
Marcus Marcellus Valerian: splendid, deserving merit, playful, expressing gaiety, seeking admiration, having bad taste, displaying levity, wholesome, instructive
Judge Oliver: young, sorrowful, never complaining, mildest-mannered, poet
Michelangelo: boring, ubiquitous, over-done
Museum (Vatican) guide—Frenchman: idiotic, eager to show strange things, taking delight in exciting admiration, passionate, weak, animated, impatient, fraudulent, overzealous, gullible, ingenuous, unsuspecting, long-suffering
William H. Neligan: undoubting, unquestioning simplicity, matter-of-fact
Cite six moments in the text where Twain’s word choice creates humor; identify which word(s) in each of these citations provokes amusement or “surprise” in the reader. What are the devices Twain is employing to achieve this effect? (ie. “. . . then by nipping their flesh with pincers – red-hot ones, because they are the most comfortable in cold weather; then by skinning them alive a little . . .”).
“And now—However, another beggar approaches. I will go out and destroy him and then come back and write another chapter of vituperation…Having eaten the friendless orphan—having driven away his comrades—having grown calm and reflective at length—I now feel in a kindlier mood.” (192)
Devices: writing of his own emotions as he is writing the satire, including ridiculous anecdotes of eating orphan beggars
“I suppose it will be sent up and filed away among the criminal archives of Rome, and will always be regarded as a mysterious infernal machine which would have blown up like a mine and scattered the good Pope all around but for a miraculous provincial interference.” (195)
Devices: equated a joke to something that could literally blow up, including the Pope in the explosion
“There is nothing here to see. They have not even a cathedral, with eleven tons of solid silver archbishops in the back room; and they do not show you any moldy buildings that are seven thousand years old; nor any smoke-dried old fire screens which are chef d’oeuvres of Rubens or Simpson, or Titian or Ferguson, or any of those parties; and they haven’t any bottled fragments of saints and not even a nail from the true Cross. We are going to Rome. There is nothing to see here.” (195)
Devices: making the objects of pride and joy of the Church sound completely unappealing and gross, even though people worship them, making fun of the fact that these are the things we come to see when we go to churches or cathedrals
“…there [America], if a man be rich he is greatly honored, and can become a legislator, a governor, a general, a senator, no matter how ignorant an ass he is—just as in our beloved Italy the nobles born noble idiots.” (198)
Devices: equating figures of power in America to asses and nobles in Italy to idiots
“but—but—I see by your looks that you do not believe the things I am telling you. Alas, my character is ruined, and I am a branded speaker of untruths!” (200)
Devices: employing his own emotions again, addressing the reader, showing self-consciousness
“A matinee for the little folks is promised for this afternoon, on which occasion several martyrs will be eaten by the tigers. The regular performances will continue every night till further notice. Material change of program every evening. Benefit of Valerian, Tuesday, 29th, if he lives.” (212).
Devices: making gladiatorial games and killings seem entertaining and exciting, making the loss of life seem trivial
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Week 5 Writing Journal Entry
Why did you choose the character you did for your piece?
For this piece, I took inspiration from Jane Austen’s novels. Jane Austen does a wonderful job of creating complex characters, particularly female characters, who have to struggle through the pains of society in 18th century England. This helped me design my character, Katherine, an unmarried, lower-middle class girl in her early 20s who must marry well for the sake of her family.
What are some of the challenges you found in creating a convincing, complex character?
I think one of the biggest challenges in writing about Katherine was to create an internal conflict that was convincing. I wanted to make her dilemma believable without it being inaccessible to the reader. It was also very difficult for me not to use dialogue. The only dialogue in my piece is dialogue of Katherine’s, as no one else speaks throughout the entire story. For me, dialogue is a big part of how I show things about a character in order to make them convincing. It is also very difficult to keep the reader interested without dialogue.
When designing your character, did you attempt to offer the reader something familiar, unsettling/unusual, or a combination of the two? Why did you make this choice and what mechanisms did you employ to achieve this goal?
I used a combination of things that were familiar to the reader and things that were unusual in designing my character. Of course, the parts that are unusual about my character are everything about the time period in which she lives. I chose a time period that is unfamiliar to the reader because I find it interesting to learn about how people lived during a different time. These historic aspects can be fairly successful in drawing in the reader. However, I chose to employ some things about Katherine that were familiar to the reader, since you need the reader to be able to relate to your character in some way. For this, I wrote about the pressures of family and of society, a topic with which many of us are familiar. These topics span the centuries, as they can cause constant struggles that humans have to deal with every day.
For this piece, I took inspiration from Jane Austen’s novels. Jane Austen does a wonderful job of creating complex characters, particularly female characters, who have to struggle through the pains of society in 18th century England. This helped me design my character, Katherine, an unmarried, lower-middle class girl in her early 20s who must marry well for the sake of her family.
What are some of the challenges you found in creating a convincing, complex character?
I think one of the biggest challenges in writing about Katherine was to create an internal conflict that was convincing. I wanted to make her dilemma believable without it being inaccessible to the reader. It was also very difficult for me not to use dialogue. The only dialogue in my piece is dialogue of Katherine’s, as no one else speaks throughout the entire story. For me, dialogue is a big part of how I show things about a character in order to make them convincing. It is also very difficult to keep the reader interested without dialogue.
When designing your character, did you attempt to offer the reader something familiar, unsettling/unusual, or a combination of the two? Why did you make this choice and what mechanisms did you employ to achieve this goal?
I used a combination of things that were familiar to the reader and things that were unusual in designing my character. Of course, the parts that are unusual about my character are everything about the time period in which she lives. I chose a time period that is unfamiliar to the reader because I find it interesting to learn about how people lived during a different time. These historic aspects can be fairly successful in drawing in the reader. However, I chose to employ some things about Katherine that were familiar to the reader, since you need the reader to be able to relate to your character in some way. For this, I wrote about the pressures of family and of society, a topic with which many of us are familiar. These topics span the centuries, as they can cause constant struggles that humans have to deal with every day.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Week 5 Reading Journal
Reviewing the excerpt from George Eliot’s Middlemarch list 5 words which most concisely describe each of the following characters: Dorothea, Mr. Casaubon, and Will Ladislaw. Use a dictionary if you can’t come up with the exact word you’re seeking. (Hint, if your 5 words for each character are all fairly synonymous you are not reading carefully enough.) Then cite sentences from Eliot’s text which “show” the reader something about each one of the three characters. Write a matching sentence which “tells” the reader the same concept for each.
Dorothea
Proud/Vane
Lonely
Religious
Confused
Tragic
“I am sorry to add that she was sobbing bitterly, with such abandonment to this relief of an oppressed heart as a woman habitually controlled by pride on her own account and thoughtfulness for others will sometimes allow herself when she feels securely alone” (180).
Dorothea is a woman who is often lonely, she has an unhappy life and is unhappy with her marriage, but must uphold her pride and resilience when she is around others. The only time she really thinks of others is when she is alone, showing that she only thinks of others when she believes she can benefit from their company.
Mr. Casaubon
Learned
Boring
Eager
Unaffectionate
Unchangeable
“He was as genuine a character as any ruminant animal, and he had not actively assisted in creating any illusions about himself” (183).
He is completely fake and does not even attempt to make others believe otherwise.
Will Ladislaw
Timid
Polite
Charming
Good-Humored
Competitive
“But the idea of this dried-up pendant, this elaborator of small explanations about as important as the surplus stock of false antiquities kept in a vendor’s back chamber, having first got this adorable young creature to marry him, and then passing his honeymoon away from her, groping after his mouldy futilities (Will was given to hyperbole)—this sudden picture stirred him with a sort of comic disgust: he was divided between impulse to burst into scornful invective” (192).
Will Ladislaw believes Mr. Casaubon to be boring, full of unimportant and useless remarks, and undeserving of his wife. He finds it comical and disgusting at the same time, and is tempted to insult Mr. Causabon at all times because of his great dislike of him.
In Eliot’s opinion (found in On Realism), what are some of the author’s most important responsibilities when designing characters for fiction?
Eliot writes that she will “give no more than a faithful account of men and things as they have mirrored themselves in my mind” (113). She writes that characters must be accepted as they are, and that they must be tolerated, pitied, and loved. You must tell the truth in your writing, as falsehood is the easy way out. She also emphasizes that writing about characters must contain deep human sympathy, that there must be some familiarity with those characters so that the writer and the reader can identify with them (114-116).
Do you think she “practices what she preaches” in Middlemarch? Why or why not?
I definitely believe that Eliot practices what she preaches in Middlemarch. Her characters are very complex, as they possess a wide variety of characteristics and qualities that define them. Sometimes it can be confusing or “hazy,” but this is the way real people are. She does an extremely effective job of portraying real people, with all their faults and virtues, and that is something that truly draws in the reader. For me, I could imagine these people and relate to some of their emotions, touching on what Eliot called the “fibre of sympathy connecting me with that vulgar citizen…” (116). I love the way that, even if you greatly dislike a character, Eliot will make you feel sympathy for or a connection with that character, forcing yourself to question your own qualities. It seems that through learning and reading more about these seemingly real characters, we can also learn a lot more about ourselves.
Dorothea
Proud/Vane
Lonely
Religious
Confused
Tragic
“I am sorry to add that she was sobbing bitterly, with such abandonment to this relief of an oppressed heart as a woman habitually controlled by pride on her own account and thoughtfulness for others will sometimes allow herself when she feels securely alone” (180).
Dorothea is a woman who is often lonely, she has an unhappy life and is unhappy with her marriage, but must uphold her pride and resilience when she is around others. The only time she really thinks of others is when she is alone, showing that she only thinks of others when she believes she can benefit from their company.
Mr. Casaubon
Learned
Boring
Eager
Unaffectionate
Unchangeable
“He was as genuine a character as any ruminant animal, and he had not actively assisted in creating any illusions about himself” (183).
He is completely fake and does not even attempt to make others believe otherwise.
Will Ladislaw
Timid
Polite
Charming
Good-Humored
Competitive
“But the idea of this dried-up pendant, this elaborator of small explanations about as important as the surplus stock of false antiquities kept in a vendor’s back chamber, having first got this adorable young creature to marry him, and then passing his honeymoon away from her, groping after his mouldy futilities (Will was given to hyperbole)—this sudden picture stirred him with a sort of comic disgust: he was divided between impulse to burst into scornful invective” (192).
Will Ladislaw believes Mr. Casaubon to be boring, full of unimportant and useless remarks, and undeserving of his wife. He finds it comical and disgusting at the same time, and is tempted to insult Mr. Causabon at all times because of his great dislike of him.
In Eliot’s opinion (found in On Realism), what are some of the author’s most important responsibilities when designing characters for fiction?
Eliot writes that she will “give no more than a faithful account of men and things as they have mirrored themselves in my mind” (113). She writes that characters must be accepted as they are, and that they must be tolerated, pitied, and loved. You must tell the truth in your writing, as falsehood is the easy way out. She also emphasizes that writing about characters must contain deep human sympathy, that there must be some familiarity with those characters so that the writer and the reader can identify with them (114-116).
Do you think she “practices what she preaches” in Middlemarch? Why or why not?
I definitely believe that Eliot practices what she preaches in Middlemarch. Her characters are very complex, as they possess a wide variety of characteristics and qualities that define them. Sometimes it can be confusing or “hazy,” but this is the way real people are. She does an extremely effective job of portraying real people, with all their faults and virtues, and that is something that truly draws in the reader. For me, I could imagine these people and relate to some of their emotions, touching on what Eliot called the “fibre of sympathy connecting me with that vulgar citizen…” (116). I love the way that, even if you greatly dislike a character, Eliot will make you feel sympathy for or a connection with that character, forcing yourself to question your own qualities. It seems that through learning and reading more about these seemingly real characters, we can also learn a lot more about ourselves.
Monday, January 29, 2007
An Unexpected Adventure Writing Entry
What did you learn from writing this piece?
I’ve learned through this piece that it is often very difficult to write a story that has a fairly complicated series of events. This is because it is difficult to tell a complicated story to readers that have not had the same experience while keeping them interested and able to follow the story. I also feel that it is difficult for me to write a story in first person that has me as the narrator without having it sound like “I did this, then I did that.” However, I think I learned how to write better using this point of view, and hopefully it will inspire me to do it more often. I also learned that even my own personal experiences can be like fables, and writing about them helped me realize that even they can have morals behind them.
Cellini/Aciman Reading Journal Entry
How do the two authors portray themselves differently in their autobiographical works?
In Cellini’s autobiography he seems to portray himself as a person who is making a mark on the places he lives and goes in
In contrast, Aciman writes as though he is constantly humbled by
Which one is more conscious of the reader’s presence (wants to make a particular impression on audience)? Why do you say this?
I think Cellini is more conscious of the reader’s presence and wants to make a particular impression on the audience for the same reasons that I stated above. Aciman seems to want to make the reader just as enchanted with Rome as he is, but Cellini shows that he wants the reader to think particular things about him (i.e. that he is talented, heroic, brave, intelligent, special, etc). Cellini also addresses the reader directly at times, which is certainly successful at engaging the reader further. For instance, he writes, “Now as far as the few honours that I myself have won for my family—living the sort of life that we know is lived today, and by means of my art, although it does not amount to much—I shall talk about them in the appropriate place” (17). Here, Cellini is guiding the reader through his story, making sure that the reader understands what he is telling and what he plans to tell in the near future. For me, Cellini’s piece speaks to me as a story-telling, with addresses to the reader, dialogue, and flare. Even though Aciman does a great job of describing things, he does not engage the reader as much as Cellini does.
Which author is more convincing or believable? Why?
I think Cellini is more convincing because he really does show more than he tells. He does this through dialogue, through occasional mentioning of places, through a tone and a voice that comes off as someone telling you a story in person. He even shows some negative qualities about himself from time to time during the course of his writing, like his tendency to be a little conceited or rude. Rather than simply describing a city and how it affects him—like Aciman—Cellini focuses more on people and characters within the cities that the reader can easily imagine. Cellini’s unique and personal characteristics are revealed more in his writing than in Aciman’s, which for me, makes the story much more convincing and believable.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Machiavelli Writing Journal Entry
What process did you use to select and narrow down anecdotes to use in your piece?
When I started writing my fable, I first turned to the handout on constructing a fable that was given to us. I initially brainstormed about the context and the context elements, thinking of a good way to set up the story with a strong character and strong themes. I also decided what I wanted my reversals to be before I started writing, for I knew that the reversals were the most important elements of a fable, as they help convey the message or the moral. After coming up with reversals, I was able to think of an explicit moral, and after those steps had been completed, it was fairly easy to come up with the anecdotes for the other elements of the story.
Is your Resolution positive or negative?
My Resolution is both positive and negative. It is positive for the couple in my story that was used by the main character, Melinda, but was negative for Melinda herself. I like this choice, as I believe there is a reversal in the reader’s opinion of Melinda as a character. Initially, one feels sorry for Melinda because of how hideous she believes she is, but by the end, you feel little sympathy for her as a result of her greedy actions.
What is the Moral?
There are three morals in my story. The first moral, which has to do with my first cycle of the fable structure, is that one should not openly trust strangers. Cynthia and John agree to follow Melinda to her cottage where she promises them more delicious oranges, leading to the spell that is cast upon Cynthia and the “kidnapping” of John. The second and third morals, which have to do with the second cycle of the fable structure, are that one should not try to break apart true lovers and that one should not be overly greedy. Melinda believes that she can make John fall in love with her because of her new beauty, but she fails at this, for John loves Cynthia. She also tries to call upon the witch to solve her problems, but because of her greed and neediness, she is turned back into her original, hideous state.
Do you think your Reversal comes off successfully; does it “surprise” the reader? Why or why not?
I think my final reversal does come off successfully. I think that it conveys the moral well, and that the reader doesn’t necessarily expect Melinda to call upon the Witch again or for the Witch to come and reverse the spell.
Did you return to Machiavelli’s fable as an example and point of reference while you constructed your piece?
I never really turned to Machiavelli’s fable as a point of reference, mainly because his fable was a satirical piece, and mine was not. The handout on fable structure, however, was fairly helpful, and our discussions in class about how to structure fables were also very helpful. Sometimes I would think of Machiavelli’s piece when I was writing, but his style and tone was so different than mine that I did not take much inspiration or advice from it.
What was the most challenging part of the assignment?
The most challenging part of the assignment was including two fable cycles in one two to three page story. At first, I did not think I could achieve this, but somehow I was able to fit it all in. I’m glad I was able to do this, for I realized that the most important morals of my story (the ones in the second cycle) would not be able to be conveyed without the second reversal.
Do you feel better prepared to construct your next story after having done this assignment? Why or why not?
I think this assignment has prepared me for the construction of my next story to some extent, but I also feel that the fable has such a unique structure that it will not necessarily apply to my future story-writing. However, just the fact that I had to work within the restrictions of the fable structure has helped me, as it forced me to write in a style that I had never used before.
When I started writing my fable, I first turned to the handout on constructing a fable that was given to us. I initially brainstormed about the context and the context elements, thinking of a good way to set up the story with a strong character and strong themes. I also decided what I wanted my reversals to be before I started writing, for I knew that the reversals were the most important elements of a fable, as they help convey the message or the moral. After coming up with reversals, I was able to think of an explicit moral, and after those steps had been completed, it was fairly easy to come up with the anecdotes for the other elements of the story.
Is your Resolution positive or negative?
My Resolution is both positive and negative. It is positive for the couple in my story that was used by the main character, Melinda, but was negative for Melinda herself. I like this choice, as I believe there is a reversal in the reader’s opinion of Melinda as a character. Initially, one feels sorry for Melinda because of how hideous she believes she is, but by the end, you feel little sympathy for her as a result of her greedy actions.
What is the Moral?
There are three morals in my story. The first moral, which has to do with my first cycle of the fable structure, is that one should not openly trust strangers. Cynthia and John agree to follow Melinda to her cottage where she promises them more delicious oranges, leading to the spell that is cast upon Cynthia and the “kidnapping” of John. The second and third morals, which have to do with the second cycle of the fable structure, are that one should not try to break apart true lovers and that one should not be overly greedy. Melinda believes that she can make John fall in love with her because of her new beauty, but she fails at this, for John loves Cynthia. She also tries to call upon the witch to solve her problems, but because of her greed and neediness, she is turned back into her original, hideous state.
Do you think your Reversal comes off successfully; does it “surprise” the reader? Why or why not?
I think my final reversal does come off successfully. I think that it conveys the moral well, and that the reader doesn’t necessarily expect Melinda to call upon the Witch again or for the Witch to come and reverse the spell.
Did you return to Machiavelli’s fable as an example and point of reference while you constructed your piece?
I never really turned to Machiavelli’s fable as a point of reference, mainly because his fable was a satirical piece, and mine was not. The handout on fable structure, however, was fairly helpful, and our discussions in class about how to structure fables were also very helpful. Sometimes I would think of Machiavelli’s piece when I was writing, but his style and tone was so different than mine that I did not take much inspiration or advice from it.
What was the most challenging part of the assignment?
The most challenging part of the assignment was including two fable cycles in one two to three page story. At first, I did not think I could achieve this, but somehow I was able to fit it all in. I’m glad I was able to do this, for I realized that the most important morals of my story (the ones in the second cycle) would not be able to be conveyed without the second reversal.
Do you feel better prepared to construct your next story after having done this assignment? Why or why not?
I think this assignment has prepared me for the construction of my next story to some extent, but I also feel that the fable has such a unique structure that it will not necessarily apply to my future story-writing. However, just the fact that I had to work within the restrictions of the fable structure has helped me, as it forced me to write in a style that I had never used before.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Machiavelli Reading Journal Entry
How is the Context set in Belfagor; are there the standard European “three context elements” present in the story following the initial setting? If so, what are they?
Belfagor is set in Florentine history, with a holy man who believes that the misery of men is caused by their wives. It is also set up within Hell, where the judges of Hell along with Pluto are the ones left with the task of discovering the truth or falsity behind this belief. Belfagor, the archdevil, is sent into the world to recover the truth. I believe the three context elements are present in the story following the setting. It seems that they are the three daughters that Belfagor (Roderigo) possesses and that Gianmatteo comes to exorcise. The first is the daughter of Ambruogio Amidei, the second is the daughter of King Charles, and the third is the daughter of King Louis VII. These three context elements are what drive the story and its characters forward.
Which sentence begins the Turning Point in the story?
I believe the turning point of the story begins with, “Roderigo, on the other hand, seeing no way out of his dilemma, and knowing that his infernal powers were limited by his agreement, decided to flee at all costs; one morning he escaped on horseback through the Gate of Prato, which was near where he lived” (424). This is the point at which Roderigo becomes truly vulnerable, setting up the context in which he must ask Gianmatteo for help.
What are the Actions of the main character (I’m not looking for every detail here, but the general core Actions which move the story forward)?
The general actions of Roderigo are 1) being sent into the world by Pluto, the king of the underworld, to find out the truth about the pains of marriage; 2) marrying Onesta and falling madly in love with her; 3) going bankrupt as a result of spending all his money on Onesta’s needs; 3) fleeing Florence; 4) asking Gianmatteo to protect him and promising to make him rich in return by possessing women and having Gianmatteo exorcise him; 5) possessing three separate women and only promising to be exorcised from the first two; 6) refusing to be exorcised by Gianmatteo from the daughter of King Louis VII, as he wishes to show that he can give and take away as he pleases; 7) fleeing from the celebration that Gianmatteo organized because of the mention that the noise and processions were his wife coming to reclaim him.
Is there a Moral and if so where does it fall in the story and is it explicit?
I think the moral of the story is that the pious, wise, and humble peasant man will always persevere against the over-indulgent “archdevil” or heathen. This moral falls at the end of the story and it is the most explicit in the last paragraph, as it states, “Thus, Belfagor, on his return to Hell, testified the evils that a wife brought into a household. And Gianmatteo, who knew more about such things than the devil, returned home a happy man” (429).
What is the Reversal in the story? Is there more than one; if so, what are others?
There are three reversals in the story. The first is when Belfagor becomes vulnerable as a result of his bankruptcy and flees Florence. The second is when Belfagor refuses to be exorcised from the daughter of King Louis VII, knowing that Gianmatteo will be hanged if he does not cure her. The third and final reversal is when Gianmatteo figures out the way to win against Belfagor, by having the king arrange this procession that will cause Belfagor to flee. Here, Gianmatteo forces Belfagor to flee by mentioning his wife, the character who also caused the first reversal in the fable.
What is the Resolution?
The resolution is that Belfagor returns to Hell to testify about the evils of marriage and Gianmatteo returns home a happy man.
What did you like most about Machiavelli’s piece?
My favorite part of the story was the dialogue, mainly between Belfagor and Gianmatteo. I liked the way Machiavelli used dialogue to develop the plot and to tell us more about the characters and their relationship.
Belfagor is set in Florentine history, with a holy man who believes that the misery of men is caused by their wives. It is also set up within Hell, where the judges of Hell along with Pluto are the ones left with the task of discovering the truth or falsity behind this belief. Belfagor, the archdevil, is sent into the world to recover the truth. I believe the three context elements are present in the story following the setting. It seems that they are the three daughters that Belfagor (Roderigo) possesses and that Gianmatteo comes to exorcise. The first is the daughter of Ambruogio Amidei, the second is the daughter of King Charles, and the third is the daughter of King Louis VII. These three context elements are what drive the story and its characters forward.
Which sentence begins the Turning Point in the story?
I believe the turning point of the story begins with, “Roderigo, on the other hand, seeing no way out of his dilemma, and knowing that his infernal powers were limited by his agreement, decided to flee at all costs; one morning he escaped on horseback through the Gate of Prato, which was near where he lived” (424). This is the point at which Roderigo becomes truly vulnerable, setting up the context in which he must ask Gianmatteo for help.
What are the Actions of the main character (I’m not looking for every detail here, but the general core Actions which move the story forward)?
The general actions of Roderigo are 1) being sent into the world by Pluto, the king of the underworld, to find out the truth about the pains of marriage; 2) marrying Onesta and falling madly in love with her; 3) going bankrupt as a result of spending all his money on Onesta’s needs; 3) fleeing Florence; 4) asking Gianmatteo to protect him and promising to make him rich in return by possessing women and having Gianmatteo exorcise him; 5) possessing three separate women and only promising to be exorcised from the first two; 6) refusing to be exorcised by Gianmatteo from the daughter of King Louis VII, as he wishes to show that he can give and take away as he pleases; 7) fleeing from the celebration that Gianmatteo organized because of the mention that the noise and processions were his wife coming to reclaim him.
Is there a Moral and if so where does it fall in the story and is it explicit?
I think the moral of the story is that the pious, wise, and humble peasant man will always persevere against the over-indulgent “archdevil” or heathen. This moral falls at the end of the story and it is the most explicit in the last paragraph, as it states, “Thus, Belfagor, on his return to Hell, testified the evils that a wife brought into a household. And Gianmatteo, who knew more about such things than the devil, returned home a happy man” (429).
What is the Reversal in the story? Is there more than one; if so, what are others?
There are three reversals in the story. The first is when Belfagor becomes vulnerable as a result of his bankruptcy and flees Florence. The second is when Belfagor refuses to be exorcised from the daughter of King Louis VII, knowing that Gianmatteo will be hanged if he does not cure her. The third and final reversal is when Gianmatteo figures out the way to win against Belfagor, by having the king arrange this procession that will cause Belfagor to flee. Here, Gianmatteo forces Belfagor to flee by mentioning his wife, the character who also caused the first reversal in the fable.
What is the Resolution?
The resolution is that Belfagor returns to Hell to testify about the evils of marriage and Gianmatteo returns home a happy man.
What did you like most about Machiavelli’s piece?
My favorite part of the story was the dialogue, mainly between Belfagor and Gianmatteo. I liked the way Machiavelli used dialogue to develop the plot and to tell us more about the characters and their relationship.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Ovid Writing Journal Entry
Why did you choose the characters you did for your myth?
I knew I wanted to write my myth about some object that is very common in our modern-day world. I decided to write a myth about lightning rods, and it was only natural to include Zeus in my story. I always think of birds perched on top of lightning rods, so I thought I would include that imagery in my piece, and incorporate nature. Because of this, Daphne was a character that also seemed natural to include, as she was a nymph who turned into a tree in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
Did you find the employment of metaphor in your piece challenging or natural?
The employment of metaphor was not very challenging to include in my piece. I like to use metaphor a lot when I write creatively, and once I had chosen what the main subject of my myth (lightning rods) was going to be, the rest came fairly naturally.
How did your choice of point of view from which you told the myth impact the telling of it and what response do you expect your readers to have because of it?
I think the point of view for my story will prove interesting to many of my readers. The story is written from a first person omniscient point of view, and sometimes the narrator switches to first person or second person. The narrator of my myth is the son of a goddess himself, so we know that he is at least part god. His mother is also a friend of Zeus in this story, so I think the point of view makes the reader side with Zeus, and wish that Zeus could find some way to save Daphne from Marcus. I believe that my readers will feel as though the son of Ceres is actually telling them this story, which would mean that they, too, know this god in some way.
Why did you choose to or not to include dialogue between the characters in your piece?
I chose to include dialogue when Marcus stumbles upon Daphne in the fields where she picks flowers. I did this because the scene from Hawthorne’s Demeter/Persephone myth in which Hades steals Persephone away inspired this similar plot development. I liked when Hawthorne used dialogue between Hades and Persephone in his retelling of the myth, as it made it easier for the reader to make conclusions about what kind of person the characters were. I also think that dialogue can make a story more interesting, as the dialogue itself can speak to the reader rather than having a narrator retell the story.
What was the most challenging part of this assignment?
The most challenging part of this assignment was the length restriction. My myth is over two pages, and if I wanted to, I think I could really flesh out this piece and make it even longer. Even though my myth is a half page over the suggested length, it was very hard for me to keep it shorter than three pages.
I knew I wanted to write my myth about some object that is very common in our modern-day world. I decided to write a myth about lightning rods, and it was only natural to include Zeus in my story. I always think of birds perched on top of lightning rods, so I thought I would include that imagery in my piece, and incorporate nature. Because of this, Daphne was a character that also seemed natural to include, as she was a nymph who turned into a tree in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
Did you find the employment of metaphor in your piece challenging or natural?
The employment of metaphor was not very challenging to include in my piece. I like to use metaphor a lot when I write creatively, and once I had chosen what the main subject of my myth (lightning rods) was going to be, the rest came fairly naturally.
How did your choice of point of view from which you told the myth impact the telling of it and what response do you expect your readers to have because of it?
I think the point of view for my story will prove interesting to many of my readers. The story is written from a first person omniscient point of view, and sometimes the narrator switches to first person or second person. The narrator of my myth is the son of a goddess himself, so we know that he is at least part god. His mother is also a friend of Zeus in this story, so I think the point of view makes the reader side with Zeus, and wish that Zeus could find some way to save Daphne from Marcus. I believe that my readers will feel as though the son of Ceres is actually telling them this story, which would mean that they, too, know this god in some way.
Why did you choose to or not to include dialogue between the characters in your piece?
I chose to include dialogue when Marcus stumbles upon Daphne in the fields where she picks flowers. I did this because the scene from Hawthorne’s Demeter/Persephone myth in which Hades steals Persephone away inspired this similar plot development. I liked when Hawthorne used dialogue between Hades and Persephone in his retelling of the myth, as it made it easier for the reader to make conclusions about what kind of person the characters were. I also think that dialogue can make a story more interesting, as the dialogue itself can speak to the reader rather than having a narrator retell the story.
What was the most challenging part of this assignment?
The most challenging part of this assignment was the length restriction. My myth is over two pages, and if I wanted to, I think I could really flesh out this piece and make it even longer. Even though my myth is a half page over the suggested length, it was very hard for me to keep it shorter than three pages.
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Reading Journal Entry Myths
How is the theme of transformation envisioned differently in Metamorphoses than in Invisible Cities?
In Metamorphoses, the theme of transformation is envisioned in a much more concrete way than in Invisible Cities. In Ovid’s myth, he uses descriptions of literal transformation as explanations for the way things have come to be. For instance, Ovid writes, “And hardly had she finished, when her limbs grew numb and heavy, her soft breasts were closed with delicate bark, her hair was leaves, her arms were branches, and her speedy feet rooted and held, and her head became a tree top…My tree at least you shall be! Let the laurel adorn, henceforth, my hair, my lyre, my quiver: Let Roman victors, in the long procession, wear laurel wreaths for triumph and ovation” (975). Here, Ovid uses the theme of transformation very literally to explain why laurels are used in the Roman procession and why Apollo is always adorned with them. In contrast, Calvino uses the theme of transformation in an abstract way in his descriptions of the invisible cities. There is always a transformation in the mood of his descriptions, as there is often a contrast between something that is positive about the city and something that is negative. In this way, the transformation actually happens within the reader, as our ideas and perceptions of the invisible cities are transformed through these shifts.
What are some of the similarities you notice between the two texts?
In Metamorphoses and Invisible Cities, both authors use very rich and descriptive language. In addition, there is a sense in Ovid’s and Calvino’s works that the settings of their stories are completely imaginary and incomprehensible to the reader. The stories seem to take place in some kind of mystery land that the reader has not experienced. For instance, Ovid writes, “The Golden Age was first, a time that cherished of its own will, justice and right; no law, no punishment, was called for, fearfulness was quite unknown, and the bronze tablets held no legal threatening; no suppliant throng studied a judges face; there were no judges, there did not need to be” (964). This is a time that is completely incomprehensible to the reader, as none of us have lived through a time that did not need fear or law or punishment. Similarly, the reader has trouble understanding Calvino’s descriptions of cities: “…but what was bizarre has become usual, what seemed normal is now an oddity, and virtues and faults have lost merit or dishonor in a code of virtues and faults differently distributed. In this sense nothing said in Agaura is true…” (67). However, even though both authors seem to create a setting that is completely foreign to the reader, the stories of the people and their interactions within the settings are easy to imagine. In the end, both works include a component of human interaction and feeling with which many of us can identify. An example of this would be stories of fruitless pursuit or lust, one in which Apollo chases after Daphne and ultimately cannot have her in Metamorphoses (972) and one in which men chase after a women and are only trapped in the city of Zobeide in Invisible Cities (45).
How would you describe the relationship between gods and humans in Ovid’s work? Why?
It seems that in Ovid’s work, the relationship between gods and humans is a constant power struggle. In some cases gods have control over humans and can exert their will, and in other cases, the gods have very human characteristics and are unable to control fate. For example, Ovid writes of the creation of humans: “The stones the man had thrown turned into men, the stones the women threw turned into women, such being the will of God” (971). In contrast, Gods are given very human characteristics in Metamorphoses. This can be seen in the story of Apollo’s love for Daphne, as was mentioned above, and in the story of the Deification of Caesar. In the Deification of Caesar, Venus is shown as having very human emotions, as she does not wish for Caesar to be killed and made into a god in order to justify his son (989). In this story, she cannot stop the deification of Caesar, as the Gods could not “shatter the iron mandates of the ancient sisters,” therefore making her less powerful and more human (990). Even though the Gods do have some power over humans, they are also fallible and have very human emotions.
Does the creation myth in Ovid’s work resemble any other creation myths you are familiar with and in what ways?
For me, Ovid’s creation myth seems to resemble the Christian story of Genesis. This can be seen mainly in the beginning of the reading, in which Ovid writes, “Till God, or kindlier Nature, settled all argument, and separated Heaven from earth, water from land, our air from the high stratosphere, a liberation so things evolved, and out of blind confusion found each its place, bound in eternal order, the force of fire, that weightless element, leaped up and claimed the highest place in heaven… (962). In this myth, there is one god that does create the world, creating something out of nothing. He shapes the world into what it is now, what is very similar to Genesis. Also, in Ovid’s description of the flood, the fact that one man and one woman create all other humans greatly reminds me of Adam and Eve in Genesis.
What is Ovid’s tone in this work?
It seems that Ovid is very removed from his work. I believe that there is little tone that actually comes from Ovid himself, as many myths are objective and do not necessarily include one omniscient narrator that is attempting to invoke his own emotions or opinions into the story. It seems that Ovid is simply telling the story, as if the myth is common knowledge, without any bias or distinct opinion.
In what ways are the versions of the Demeter/Persephone myth different from one another?
The difference that was most striking between the two works is that Homer’s version of the Demeter/Persephone myth is a poem whereas Hawthorne’s version is prose, or like a story. Because of this, Homer version was more formal and contained words that I did not recognize, whereas Hawthorne’s piece was an easier read. Also, Hawthorne spent a lot more time developing the relationship between Persephone and Hades, whereas Homer did not.
Are the figures drawn in a different light and if so, describe how.
In Hawthorne’s version, Persephone was portrayed as being very naïve and a lot younger than she was in Homer’s version of the myth. I thought this was an interesting choice, as it puts more of the blame on Persephone for her kidnapping. In addition, whereas Demeter was a God in Homer’s version, Demeter was simply a powerful woman with no truly divine qualities. Yes, she did have control over what grew in the land where she lived, but she was never directly referred to as a God. Lastly, in Hawthorne’s version of the myth, Hades, or King Pluto, is portrayed in a much better light. The reader actually is sympathetic toward Pluto by the end of the story, as Persephone develops a much closer relationship with him in Hawthorne’s piece.
In Metamorphoses, the theme of transformation is envisioned in a much more concrete way than in Invisible Cities. In Ovid’s myth, he uses descriptions of literal transformation as explanations for the way things have come to be. For instance, Ovid writes, “And hardly had she finished, when her limbs grew numb and heavy, her soft breasts were closed with delicate bark, her hair was leaves, her arms were branches, and her speedy feet rooted and held, and her head became a tree top…My tree at least you shall be! Let the laurel adorn, henceforth, my hair, my lyre, my quiver: Let Roman victors, in the long procession, wear laurel wreaths for triumph and ovation” (975). Here, Ovid uses the theme of transformation very literally to explain why laurels are used in the Roman procession and why Apollo is always adorned with them. In contrast, Calvino uses the theme of transformation in an abstract way in his descriptions of the invisible cities. There is always a transformation in the mood of his descriptions, as there is often a contrast between something that is positive about the city and something that is negative. In this way, the transformation actually happens within the reader, as our ideas and perceptions of the invisible cities are transformed through these shifts.
What are some of the similarities you notice between the two texts?
In Metamorphoses and Invisible Cities, both authors use very rich and descriptive language. In addition, there is a sense in Ovid’s and Calvino’s works that the settings of their stories are completely imaginary and incomprehensible to the reader. The stories seem to take place in some kind of mystery land that the reader has not experienced. For instance, Ovid writes, “The Golden Age was first, a time that cherished of its own will, justice and right; no law, no punishment, was called for, fearfulness was quite unknown, and the bronze tablets held no legal threatening; no suppliant throng studied a judges face; there were no judges, there did not need to be” (964). This is a time that is completely incomprehensible to the reader, as none of us have lived through a time that did not need fear or law or punishment. Similarly, the reader has trouble understanding Calvino’s descriptions of cities: “…but what was bizarre has become usual, what seemed normal is now an oddity, and virtues and faults have lost merit or dishonor in a code of virtues and faults differently distributed. In this sense nothing said in Agaura is true…” (67). However, even though both authors seem to create a setting that is completely foreign to the reader, the stories of the people and their interactions within the settings are easy to imagine. In the end, both works include a component of human interaction and feeling with which many of us can identify. An example of this would be stories of fruitless pursuit or lust, one in which Apollo chases after Daphne and ultimately cannot have her in Metamorphoses (972) and one in which men chase after a women and are only trapped in the city of Zobeide in Invisible Cities (45).
How would you describe the relationship between gods and humans in Ovid’s work? Why?
It seems that in Ovid’s work, the relationship between gods and humans is a constant power struggle. In some cases gods have control over humans and can exert their will, and in other cases, the gods have very human characteristics and are unable to control fate. For example, Ovid writes of the creation of humans: “The stones the man had thrown turned into men, the stones the women threw turned into women, such being the will of God” (971). In contrast, Gods are given very human characteristics in Metamorphoses. This can be seen in the story of Apollo’s love for Daphne, as was mentioned above, and in the story of the Deification of Caesar. In the Deification of Caesar, Venus is shown as having very human emotions, as she does not wish for Caesar to be killed and made into a god in order to justify his son (989). In this story, she cannot stop the deification of Caesar, as the Gods could not “shatter the iron mandates of the ancient sisters,” therefore making her less powerful and more human (990). Even though the Gods do have some power over humans, they are also fallible and have very human emotions.
Does the creation myth in Ovid’s work resemble any other creation myths you are familiar with and in what ways?
For me, Ovid’s creation myth seems to resemble the Christian story of Genesis. This can be seen mainly in the beginning of the reading, in which Ovid writes, “Till God, or kindlier Nature, settled all argument, and separated Heaven from earth, water from land, our air from the high stratosphere, a liberation so things evolved, and out of blind confusion found each its place, bound in eternal order, the force of fire, that weightless element, leaped up and claimed the highest place in heaven… (962). In this myth, there is one god that does create the world, creating something out of nothing. He shapes the world into what it is now, what is very similar to Genesis. Also, in Ovid’s description of the flood, the fact that one man and one woman create all other humans greatly reminds me of Adam and Eve in Genesis.
What is Ovid’s tone in this work?
It seems that Ovid is very removed from his work. I believe that there is little tone that actually comes from Ovid himself, as many myths are objective and do not necessarily include one omniscient narrator that is attempting to invoke his own emotions or opinions into the story. It seems that Ovid is simply telling the story, as if the myth is common knowledge, without any bias or distinct opinion.
In what ways are the versions of the Demeter/Persephone myth different from one another?
The difference that was most striking between the two works is that Homer’s version of the Demeter/Persephone myth is a poem whereas Hawthorne’s version is prose, or like a story. Because of this, Homer version was more formal and contained words that I did not recognize, whereas Hawthorne’s piece was an easier read. Also, Hawthorne spent a lot more time developing the relationship between Persephone and Hades, whereas Homer did not.
Are the figures drawn in a different light and if so, describe how.
In Hawthorne’s version, Persephone was portrayed as being very naïve and a lot younger than she was in Homer’s version of the myth. I thought this was an interesting choice, as it puts more of the blame on Persephone for her kidnapping. In addition, whereas Demeter was a God in Homer’s version, Demeter was simply a powerful woman with no truly divine qualities. Yes, she did have control over what grew in the land where she lived, but she was never directly referred to as a God. Lastly, in Hawthorne’s version of the myth, Hades, or King Pluto, is portrayed in a much better light. The reader actually is sympathetic toward Pluto by the end of the story, as Persephone develops a much closer relationship with him in Hawthorne’s piece.
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Calvino Writing Journal Entry
The theme that was easiest to use in my writing was “death/after-life.” For me, I have read a lot of literature that uses death or after-life imagery, as this imagery also often has a religious connotation associated with it. It was easy to borrow such imagery not only from Calvino, but from past works I have read. It was also much easier for me to write the city descriptions when I had a theme with which to begin my writing as a base. The theme provided a common thread that I could incorporate into the description—not only in the imagery, but also in the development of a plot.
The most difficult part of the assignment was writing the description of the city without a pre-determined theme. I struggled with this, as it was much more difficult to choose just one city in my imagination. Ultimately, I built on an image from my childhood, and the description of the city became much easier to build from there. Occasionally I was able to borrow language from Calvino in my descriptions, and incorporating some of my favorite phrases from his writings was very helpful in bringing out my creativity. Other times, I simply did not borrow from anything and wrote what came to mind, as there was a certain flow that guided my writing.
Rome does seem like a kind of invisible city to me, as it is full of strange and extreme contradictions. Contradiction is definitely a theme I would choose to describe Rome. The graffiti on the historic buildings, the small cars that zoom by the Coliseum, and the black market vendor sellers who set up near the Campo de Fiori’s historic vegetable market. It all gives the sense that Rome is a fantasy city, unique and secret to anyone who lives outside its limits. I think Rome would also provide great inspiration for descriptions of other invisible cities.
The most difficult part of the assignment was writing the description of the city without a pre-determined theme. I struggled with this, as it was much more difficult to choose just one city in my imagination. Ultimately, I built on an image from my childhood, and the description of the city became much easier to build from there. Occasionally I was able to borrow language from Calvino in my descriptions, and incorporating some of my favorite phrases from his writings was very helpful in bringing out my creativity. Other times, I simply did not borrow from anything and wrote what came to mind, as there was a certain flow that guided my writing.
Rome does seem like a kind of invisible city to me, as it is full of strange and extreme contradictions. Contradiction is definitely a theme I would choose to describe Rome. The graffiti on the historic buildings, the small cars that zoom by the Coliseum, and the black market vendor sellers who set up near the Campo de Fiori’s historic vegetable market. It all gives the sense that Rome is a fantasy city, unique and secret to anyone who lives outside its limits. I think Rome would also provide great inspiration for descriptions of other invisible cities.
Calvino Reading Journal Entry
Writing Assignment #1:
1. A) Diomira
B) “…and from the terrace a women’s voice cried ooh!”
C) home, shelter, happiness
2. A) Isidora
B) “…buildings have spiral staircases encrusted with spiral seashells.”
C) wanting
3. A) Dorothea
B) “…four aluminum towels rise from its walls flanking seven gates…”
C) quantity, newness
4. A) Zaira
B) “…hanged usurper’s swaying feet…”
C) movement
5. A) Anastasia
B) “…one morning your desires awaken all at once and surround you…”
C) sin
6. A) Tamara
B) “tiger’s passage”
C) fakeness, mystery
7. A) Zora
B) “…your gaze runs over patterns following one another as in a musical score…”
C) remembering
8. A) Despira
B) “…an embroidered saddle with glittering fringe between two spotted humps…”
C) separation, opposites
9. A) Zirma
B) “city’s spires”
C) repetition
10. A) Isaura
B) “…the rock’s calcareous sky.”
C) controlling water/nature, domination
11. A) Maurilia
B) “…young ladies with white parasols in the place of the munitions factory.”
C) missing
12. A) Fedora
B) “…a possible future became only a toy in a glass globe.”
C) fantasy
13. A) Zoe
B) “…the rumble of wheels from the howl of wolves?”
C) confusion
14. A) Zenobia
B) “undecipherable”
C) undistinguishable
15. A) Euphemia
B) “golden muslin”
C) story-telling
16. A) Zobeide
B) “…streets wound about themselves as in a skein.”
C) fruitless pursuit
17. A) Hypatia
B) “…crabs were biting the eyes of the suicides.”
C) loneliness
18. A) Armilia
B) “underground veins”
C) wonder
19. A) Chloe
B) “a tattooed giant”
C) disconnection
20. A) Valdrada
B) “railed parapets”
C) consequence
21. A) Olivia
B) “…fringed cushions on the seats by the mullioned windows.”
C) illusion
22. A) Sophronia
B) “…the death-ride with crouching motorcyclists…”
C) fragmentation
23. A) Eutropia
B) “declivity”
C) renewal, rebirth
24. A) Zemrude
B) “…gaze down along the drainpipes and we can no longer detach it from the cobblestones.”
C) monotony
25. A) Agiaura
B) “…punctilious regard for rules…”
C) falsehood
26. A) Octavia
B) “spider-web city”
C) danger
27. A) Ersilia
B) “…spider webs of intricate relationships seeking a form…”
C) emptiness
28. A) Baucis
B) “long flamingo legs”
C) detachment
29. A) Leandra
B) “Gods of two species”
C) conflict
30. A) Melania
B) “…a hundred thousand king’s sons fallen in low estate and awaiting recognition.”
C) infinity
31. A) Esmeralda
B) “…dominating from every point of their airy paths all the points of the city…”
C) perpetual newness
32. A) Phyllis
B) “onion dome”
C) elusiveness
33. A) Pyrrha
B) “yellowish dust flies”
C) all-knowing
34. A) Adelma
B) “…kaleidoscope of eyes, wrinkles, grimaces…”
C) death, after-life
35. A) Eudoxia
B) “arabesques”
C) divinity
36. A) Moriana
B) “…the shadows of dancing girls with silvery scales swim beneath the medusa-shaped chandeliers…”
C) hiding
37. A) Clarice
B) “chipped grimcracks”
C) torment
38. A) Eusapia
B) “…lathers the cheekbones of an actor learning his role, studying the script with hollow sockets…”
C) ambiguity, underworld
39. A) Beersheba
B) “fingernail-cuttings”
C) idealism, perfection
40. A) Leonia
B) “…street cleaners are welcomed as angels…”
C) cleanliness v. waste
41. A) Irene
B) “…a hazy glow smells like a milky sponge…”
C) generality, similarity
42. A) Argia
B) “worm tunnels”
C) darkness, Hell
43. A) Thekla
B) “…he sees cranes putting up other cranes…”
C) industry, technology
44. A) Trude
B) “…looking through the same goblets at the same swaying navels…”
C) trap, imprisonment
45. A) Olinda
B) “flow of lymph”
C) never-ending growth
46. A) Laudomia
B) “eggplant-colored barracans”
C) life vs. death, insignificance
47. A) Perinthia
B) “…the order of the gods is reflected exactly in the city of monsters…”
C) perverse divinity
48. A) Procopia
B) “…a stretch of blue sky shaped like a trapeze…”
C) overwhelming
49. A) Raissa
B) “…the bent heads at least conceal the gentle grim gaze…”
C) simple pleasures
50. A) Andria
B) “…cogs in a meticulous clockwork…”
C) connection, consequence
51. A) Cecilia
B) “…driving a tinkling flock along the walls…”
C) ambiguity
52. A) Marozia
B) “…transparent as a dragonfly…”
C) rebirth
53. A) Penthesilea
B) “…a street if scrawny shops with fades amid patches of leprous countryside…”
C) vast emptiness
54. A) Theodora
B) “progeny”
C) dominance
55. A) Berenice
B) “fried squash flowers”
C) justice v. injustice
The narrator in Calvino’s work is Marco Polo. Historically, Marco Polo was a great traveler and discoverer, going to many places that not many men had ventured to before. In Calvino’s work, there seems to be an overarching theme of old versus new, a world in which he morphs different times and eras together into his stories of invisible cities. Perhaps Calvino chose to have Marco Polo be the narrator in order to stay with this theme, linking the past with the present and creating an imaginary world in which time knows no boundaries. Having Marco Polo be the narrator of stories of invisible cities also implies that there is still much to be discovered in the world, which gives the reader hope that they can make discoveries just as Marco Polo did.
Occasionally Calvino changes the point of view of his descriptions of cities from first person narrative, first person omniscient, and third person narrative. I believe Calvino does this so that the reader can imagine the cities from different points of view, either as cities visited by Marco Polo himself, cities visited by Kublai Khan in his own imagination, or as cities visited by the reader (him)herself. The different points of view also give a sense of who is actually able to visit the cities: Marco Polo or the reader. In the third person narrative, it seems possible for the reader to visit the invisible cities whereas in the first person narrative or first person omniscient, the cities seem more distant or inaccessible. Moreover, perhaps the changes in point of view have to do with the fact that, in reality, all fifty-five invisible cities are the same one. The reader does not fully discover this fact until near the end of the book, and the changes in point of view could be a way to confuse the reader initially in order to eventually lead them to the conclusion that Marco Polo is talking about a single city.
1. A) Diomira
B) “…and from the terrace a women’s voice cried ooh!”
C) home, shelter, happiness
2. A) Isidora
B) “…buildings have spiral staircases encrusted with spiral seashells.”
C) wanting
3. A) Dorothea
B) “…four aluminum towels rise from its walls flanking seven gates…”
C) quantity, newness
4. A) Zaira
B) “…hanged usurper’s swaying feet…”
C) movement
5. A) Anastasia
B) “…one morning your desires awaken all at once and surround you…”
C) sin
6. A) Tamara
B) “tiger’s passage”
C) fakeness, mystery
7. A) Zora
B) “…your gaze runs over patterns following one another as in a musical score…”
C) remembering
8. A) Despira
B) “…an embroidered saddle with glittering fringe between two spotted humps…”
C) separation, opposites
9. A) Zirma
B) “city’s spires”
C) repetition
10. A) Isaura
B) “…the rock’s calcareous sky.”
C) controlling water/nature, domination
11. A) Maurilia
B) “…young ladies with white parasols in the place of the munitions factory.”
C) missing
12. A) Fedora
B) “…a possible future became only a toy in a glass globe.”
C) fantasy
13. A) Zoe
B) “…the rumble of wheels from the howl of wolves?”
C) confusion
14. A) Zenobia
B) “undecipherable”
C) undistinguishable
15. A) Euphemia
B) “golden muslin”
C) story-telling
16. A) Zobeide
B) “…streets wound about themselves as in a skein.”
C) fruitless pursuit
17. A) Hypatia
B) “…crabs were biting the eyes of the suicides.”
C) loneliness
18. A) Armilia
B) “underground veins”
C) wonder
19. A) Chloe
B) “a tattooed giant”
C) disconnection
20. A) Valdrada
B) “railed parapets”
C) consequence
21. A) Olivia
B) “…fringed cushions on the seats by the mullioned windows.”
C) illusion
22. A) Sophronia
B) “…the death-ride with crouching motorcyclists…”
C) fragmentation
23. A) Eutropia
B) “declivity”
C) renewal, rebirth
24. A) Zemrude
B) “…gaze down along the drainpipes and we can no longer detach it from the cobblestones.”
C) monotony
25. A) Agiaura
B) “…punctilious regard for rules…”
C) falsehood
26. A) Octavia
B) “spider-web city”
C) danger
27. A) Ersilia
B) “…spider webs of intricate relationships seeking a form…”
C) emptiness
28. A) Baucis
B) “long flamingo legs”
C) detachment
29. A) Leandra
B) “Gods of two species”
C) conflict
30. A) Melania
B) “…a hundred thousand king’s sons fallen in low estate and awaiting recognition.”
C) infinity
31. A) Esmeralda
B) “…dominating from every point of their airy paths all the points of the city…”
C) perpetual newness
32. A) Phyllis
B) “onion dome”
C) elusiveness
33. A) Pyrrha
B) “yellowish dust flies”
C) all-knowing
34. A) Adelma
B) “…kaleidoscope of eyes, wrinkles, grimaces…”
C) death, after-life
35. A) Eudoxia
B) “arabesques”
C) divinity
36. A) Moriana
B) “…the shadows of dancing girls with silvery scales swim beneath the medusa-shaped chandeliers…”
C) hiding
37. A) Clarice
B) “chipped grimcracks”
C) torment
38. A) Eusapia
B) “…lathers the cheekbones of an actor learning his role, studying the script with hollow sockets…”
C) ambiguity, underworld
39. A) Beersheba
B) “fingernail-cuttings”
C) idealism, perfection
40. A) Leonia
B) “…street cleaners are welcomed as angels…”
C) cleanliness v. waste
41. A) Irene
B) “…a hazy glow smells like a milky sponge…”
C) generality, similarity
42. A) Argia
B) “worm tunnels”
C) darkness, Hell
43. A) Thekla
B) “…he sees cranes putting up other cranes…”
C) industry, technology
44. A) Trude
B) “…looking through the same goblets at the same swaying navels…”
C) trap, imprisonment
45. A) Olinda
B) “flow of lymph”
C) never-ending growth
46. A) Laudomia
B) “eggplant-colored barracans”
C) life vs. death, insignificance
47. A) Perinthia
B) “…the order of the gods is reflected exactly in the city of monsters…”
C) perverse divinity
48. A) Procopia
B) “…a stretch of blue sky shaped like a trapeze…”
C) overwhelming
49. A) Raissa
B) “…the bent heads at least conceal the gentle grim gaze…”
C) simple pleasures
50. A) Andria
B) “…cogs in a meticulous clockwork…”
C) connection, consequence
51. A) Cecilia
B) “…driving a tinkling flock along the walls…”
C) ambiguity
52. A) Marozia
B) “…transparent as a dragonfly…”
C) rebirth
53. A) Penthesilea
B) “…a street if scrawny shops with fades amid patches of leprous countryside…”
C) vast emptiness
54. A) Theodora
B) “progeny”
C) dominance
55. A) Berenice
B) “fried squash flowers”
C) justice v. injustice
The narrator in Calvino’s work is Marco Polo. Historically, Marco Polo was a great traveler and discoverer, going to many places that not many men had ventured to before. In Calvino’s work, there seems to be an overarching theme of old versus new, a world in which he morphs different times and eras together into his stories of invisible cities. Perhaps Calvino chose to have Marco Polo be the narrator in order to stay with this theme, linking the past with the present and creating an imaginary world in which time knows no boundaries. Having Marco Polo be the narrator of stories of invisible cities also implies that there is still much to be discovered in the world, which gives the reader hope that they can make discoveries just as Marco Polo did.
Occasionally Calvino changes the point of view of his descriptions of cities from first person narrative, first person omniscient, and third person narrative. I believe Calvino does this so that the reader can imagine the cities from different points of view, either as cities visited by Marco Polo himself, cities visited by Kublai Khan in his own imagination, or as cities visited by the reader (him)herself. The different points of view also give a sense of who is actually able to visit the cities: Marco Polo or the reader. In the third person narrative, it seems possible for the reader to visit the invisible cities whereas in the first person narrative or first person omniscient, the cities seem more distant or inaccessible. Moreover, perhaps the changes in point of view have to do with the fact that, in reality, all fifty-five invisible cities are the same one. The reader does not fully discover this fact until near the end of the book, and the changes in point of view could be a way to confuse the reader initially in order to eventually lead them to the conclusion that Marco Polo is talking about a single city.
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