Thinking outside the box

Although Plato and Sartre had different intentions, they illuminated very similar limitations on human thought. They both use a form of symbolism to get their points across and demonstrate the power that the unknown posses. Plato used his symbols of shackles and darkness to portray the fear of the unknown in the “Allegory of thee Cave”. The chains physically limited the cave dwellers from moving and seeing for themselves what the shadows on the walls actually were. The fear was also shown in the men's rejection of the free man's assertions. They were so comfortable with their own sense of reality that they would-- and did-- kill to preserve that sense of normal.  Sartre's example was so entirely conspicuous and blatant it could not be ignored. Garcin and Estelle where given a chance to escape their hell, and yet they refused to walk out of the door. Even Inez was afraid to be thrown out. This was because they were all so desperately afraid of the unknown they would rather not explore what they do not know. It is the same fear that Plato described in his allegory which restricts the characters abilities to think and react.

Big Question

Is beauty purely in the eye of the beholder or is it possible to identify objective criteria for beauty.

Literature Analysis 3

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

1. Lord of the Flies is about young boys becoming stranded on a deserted island after their evacuation plane from Britain is shot down. Once all the boys are assembled they go about electing a Ralph as their leader and Jack in charge of the hunting. The boys enjoy themselves for a few days with no adults around and spend a lot of time playing games but soon some of the boys especially the youngest one becomes scared. A ship finally sails by but the signal fire burned out because the hunters neglected to keep it going, but they did come back with their first kill. Their fear ensues when the twins on watch find a parachute and believe it to be the beast. When they go on a search to see where this creature lies, Ralph and Jack disagree on what to do with the situation. They end up splitting the group in two. Simon has an unusual encounter with the pig head, claiming it to be the "lord of the flies". This also makes him realize that there is an evil spirit inside each of them. As Simon comes to tell the others about this epiphany, Ralph and his friend, Piggy, beat Simon to his death. Jack comes to fight them for committing such a horrible crime; during the fight, a boy named Roger rolls a huge boulder that ends up killing Piggy. The hunt to kill Ralph ensues as he hides away from his attackers in the jungle. Jack and his followers burn the forest down to make Ralph evacuate to the beach. Soon as he does, Ralph faints, figuring that he will be killed soon. As he awakes, he finds a naval officer has come due to the sight of fire. The other boys soon arrive to kill Ralph, but instead, find the officer and begin to break down. They all start to cry because they know, now, they can return home.     

2. An important theme in this novel is loss of innocence. The boys start off as care free children enjoying their time without adults playing games. But as time drags on there is no civilization to keep them from becoming savage which does happen. Their carless activities turn into rage. Insanity takes over as the plot to hunt and kill one another. A clear symbol of their loss of innocence is their use of the pig head on a stick as their idol figure. It displays a significant loss of purity.

3. The tone of Golding's narration worsens as the story goes on. He has a twisted view on the plot and it makes for a dark and savage tone. He is also very deceptive in his voice and violent when it comes to describing the actions between the boys.

4. 
Symbolism
- "The conch glimmered … a white blob against the place where the sun would rise. He pushed back his mop."
- "The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don't keep a fire going?"
- "My specs!...One sides broken"

Foreshadowing
- "There was no light left save that of the stars."
- "Ralph was aware of the heat for the first time that day…an unusual heat."
- "There isn't a tribe for you any more! The conch is gone."

Diction
- "The crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words … but the tearing of teeth and claws."
- "The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering."
- "He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling."

Imagery
- "The water rose farther and dressed Simon's coarse hair with brightness. The line of his cheek silvered and the turn of his shoulder became sculptured marble."
- "Surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon's dead body moved out toward the open sea." 
- "The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist."

Characterization
- "He was shorter than the fair boy and very fat…looked up through thick spectacles."
- "He was tall, thin, and bony; and his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness."
- "You could see now that he might make a boxer…but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil."

Hamlet and performative utterance

Hamlet as a character and a play both clearly advocate the locutionary, per-locutionary, and illocutionary techniques of communication. Not only do I go though the same steps without consciously knowing, along with self-overhearing, as Hamlet also does.

          Everything throughout the play is learned through actions and what is said. Hamlet went through many soliloquy’s of self-overhearing, the most well known was the “To be or not to be”, when he debates to himself about suicide, it gives the reader a look into his thoughts. Performative utterance, according to Austin is not a sense of true or false, but happy and unhappy, which is the performance of the illocutionary act. Words aren’t necessarily the only part of the message, just as if someone as if someone is misunderstanding of what I am trying to get across to them. Just as in Hamlet a lot of feelings are within the words being spoken through the characters. Especially in the beginning when he converses with Hamlet, his words base a feeling for the reader to grasp an understanding of the characters relationships with one another. In everyday reality words take a huge toll on what goes on. Without words our daily lives become complicated and difficult to maintain a culture of communication.

          Your words perform your actions and without performative utterance words would have less meaning. There wouldn’t be much use for communication. 

Hamlet and Beowulf (language)

           When it comes to style and usage of language Hamlet and Beowulf as characters, the two are very different. It becomes evident through interactions between other characters, how long it takes them to react to a situation, and an observation of ones own mental and emotional state.

            Hamlet’s interactions with others can be hazy. He never simply says what he means in a straight forward manner. Constantly Hamlet throws his piers through loops, twisting his meaning into metaphors to get his main idea across.            

            Beowulf and Hamlet differ in reaction time too. Hamlet ponders all the outcomes, he knows in his mind he wants revenge on Claudius but can’t bring himself to do it right away.  In “to be or not to be” he second guesses another one of his possible actions of suicide. He’s always worried about the after effects. Hamlet in contrast to Beowulf is a procrastinator. Beowulf on the other hand acts fast, when he learns of the murderous monster he reacts without hesitation and defeats Grendel. He also shows fast reaction time when he sets out after Grendel’s mother as well as the battle with the dragon.

            Another example of their differences would be the degree in which they tend to be introspective. “To be or not to be” is the most famous example of Hamlet critically thinking about his decisions. He also expresses it throughout many different monologues and soliloquies.

            Hamlet and Beowulf both use the tool of language to express themselves. This is evident through their communication with other characters, reaction times, as well as how introspective each of them is.

What I've Learned

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A major topic we have covered is the internet. It is a fairly new thing we have accommodated to our culture yet it is a fairly important one. The new generation are almost like slaves to the internet. They won't have to ever open a book to find no information, everything is now accessible do to the internet. I myself resort to a search engine when I need to look up something. But what I've also learned is that that is not always trustworthy.

Roy Christopher Notes

• The medium is the message.
• “I don’t want to get sucked up in the whole computer thing; I just want to focus on my writing.” – Roy
• Christopher went from the BMX world of interest to web design from friend influence.
• Started out as just a hobby of writing; taken over by the Internet sensation, (like a mid life crisis?)
• His work had been out and published for five years before we had responded to it.
• Christopher is now working on a book called The Medium Picture; it is about how we know our environment…… Like a fish knows water.
• The more you know about how things work the more prepared you will be.
• “it’s either programmed or be programmed.” We should not be victimized by technology but rather learn from it.
• Roy Christopher doesn’t own a smart phone. He wants his messages to be waiting for him at home.
• He does not believe in multitasking.

Literature Analysis 2

The House on Mango Street by, Sandra Sicneros
1.
The book consists of a series of events which even though they're relevant they are not tied together. In the story the main character Esperanza, who comes from a Latin family, has just moved to their new "home".  Without any real friends she decides to speak with the not so pleasant girls, Rachel and Lucy. Throughout the book however, all she really talks about is how she much she despises her house and how ashamed she is of it. She establishes her new life on Mango Street where the population is overwhelmed with Latinos, her own kind. She views others' sad lives they lead and she is determined to not end like any of them. Crimes, rape, police, arrests, child abuse were all expected on a daily basis. Never would she have known that actions such as those would affect her life and cause a great impact. The book ended with her absolute desire of moving away from Mango Street and commencing the change she needed in her life. She knows that she is the only one that can ever loosen ties with that town but never brake them.


2.
The theme of the novel is to "make a story for your life". According to Esperanza's character all she ever could do was make a story to try and let that become her reality. It later became her motivation and kept her optimism through the thick and thin.


3. 
The author uses various tones in her book considering that each passage takes place with different characters and are unlike each other in many ways.

1. Hostility: "They think we're dangerous, they think we'll attack them with shiny knives. They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake." Esperanza shows her anger in seeing a white man/woman go into the Latino community only to show fear as if they were criminals. She shows that she reflects the same fears when she goes into a white people community and yet she doesn't treat them like criminals, just goes on about her way without being bothersome.
2. Prideful: "I am an ugly daughter. I am the one nobody comes for... I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate." In this passage Esperanza shows that she has no shame in herself or of her actions. She is proud to be who she is and the way she is. She isn't afraid of what others may think, but only of herself and what she would think if she acted like someone else.
3. Confusion/Disappointment: "Sally, you lied. It wasn't what you said at all. What he did. Where he touched me. I didn't want it, Sally." In this excerpt Esperanza is behind her humiliation and disappointment to an unrealistic Sally. (She is unrealistic because she is absent at that moment) She is pouring out her feelings to something that will never really respond to all her questions or be there as support for her.

4.

• Characters: Each character came with a specific background story that helped us view more of what Esperanza was constantly being exposed to. None of the characters had a type of life that she would ever want to lead. I was able to recognize why she so desperately wanted to leave Mango Street. She wanted to avoid becoming a failure in life and ultimately being stuck in jail or at home being abused by the man she would end up marrying. For example: "Earl lives next door in Edna's basement...Earl works nights," "They are bad those Vargases, and how can they help it with only one mother who is tired all the time from buttoning and bottling and babying, and who cries every day for the man who left," "Minerva is a little bit older than me but already has two kids and a husband who left." Those are only three of the dozens of characters that were each independently introduced with their background.
• Point of View: With the story being told from a first person point of view I was able to see, feel, and develop her character within myself. Everything she spoke or thought was so real and she was willing to share the information with the readers. With her speaking the whole time of what she encountered everyday a scene was able to play in my mind causing imagery. For Example: "In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting." Here definition of her name was all the more powerful and goes more into depth of what she is facing at that moment. 
• Setting: All the sulking, depression, bad memories, pessimism was centered around that one street, Mango Street. The meaning of her lack of existence and the pain endured by Esperanza had been shaped and revolved around the street which she refused to call her home. Her goal in life was to come up with a new setting for herself and that's all she really cared for. However, Mango Street was of great significance because it was what held her back and she kept trying to push away. The strong gravitational pull would never allow her to abandon it. For example: "But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it all. It's small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath."
• Imagery:The details described in the book had my imagination painting pictures of the scenes during the sequence of the course of the book. Sandra Cisneros made some explanations into depth and that allowed me to view what the character herself was viewing as well. For example: "Up, up, up the stairs she went with the baby boy in the blue blanket, the man carrying her suitcases, her lavender hatboxes, a dozen boxes of satin high heels." The description was adequate enough to let us observe a big lady walking up the stairs with too much of what she doesn't truly need.
• Irony: Sally the very innocent girl that only wanted to brake the chains she had with her father hadn't realized that in doing so she would only find herself caught in a different set of chains. For example: "Until one day Sally's father catches her talking to a boy and the next day she doesn't come back to school.And the next." Then when she is married, "And he doesn't like her friends, so nobody gets to visit her unless she is working. She sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission." Sally only worsened her situation when she got married. She expected freedom but the only thing she received was less company and double the amount of fear.

Tools that change the way we think

The extensive use of technology of today’s era makes our society as a whole lazier. We don’t challenge ourselves as we would if technology was more of a rarity. As a high school student most of us on some assignments can slack off and use the internet as a quick out to get a good grade. It’s easy to type something into Google, read the first few links and get what you need within a few minutes. But with that said some sights provide incorrect information or can be accessible to the public giving people access to alter the information. Technology leaves more room for procrastination because now everything is about getting something done in efficient time, why drag out the research process when technology cuts down the time immensely. If technology disappeared I honestly don’t think this generation would really know what to do with themselves. It provides thousands of distractions such as Face book , which is a way of how teens now connect with others and makes communication easier just as text messaging has also done.
Per.4

In Search Of

A) I learned that you don't have any control over your searches online and that your searches are filtered by what the website thinks you want to know.
B) I don't feel like I'm getting the vast abundance of information that the internet claims to give you. I feel ripped off.
C) My question would be that in the future, will Internet control what we think? 
D) You have to be precise in what you are searching for.

      From the video I was able to learn a lot, especially on how i can make my researching become more accurate based on the preciseness i provide. I notice on my search engine i typically use Google and the first few links tend to be Sparknotes, Wikipedia, and Ask.com. I usually tend to look at the first few links and then move on but now i realized that if I spend some extra time and move on to the next few pages of suggested links.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/08/theater/08bran.html?ref=williamshakespeare

Notes on Hamlet

At the start of the play I didn't have much background information on Hamlet but I thought he would come out successful. I thought he would avenge his fathers death. But he seems to be losing composure. He's just really unpredictable and as a reader it makes me unsure of what to think of him. I've noticed that with all the characters there is a central theme of lack of trust going on which will eventually just lead to more and more conflict. As of right now I can;t tell whether Ophelia is interested in him or what her purpose is so far.

Who Was Shakespeare?

Shakespeare to me has always just been a really old famous writer, and i really only associated him with "Romeo and Juliet" when i was younger.Once I did some research on him i learned quite a bit of new facts of him. William Shakespeare was born on April, 1564 and was the oldest out of his siblings. Shakespeare married Ann Hathaway on November, 1582. Later on three daughters were included into the family, Susanna, Judith and Hamnet. There is also good evidence that Shakespeare wrote his poems and plays is that a lot of them are not signed by him or contain his name as the author. I am curious why he never wrote his name as the author on all his works and what was Shakespeare's life in depth because all of it was kept a secret. Shakespeare is perceived by students as a man with amazing writing skills. I personally find him to be an author to be looked up to as an inspiring person because his works are well known today all over the English world and genius. Although it is very difficult for me to read and understand clearly i find with more practice it gets easier.

To Facebook Or Not To Facebook

Technology has come a long way, especially with social networking. I myself have a Facebook and it is a good way to keep in touch with some friends. I have a very close friend over seas in Afghanistan fighting in the Army so Facebook makes it very convenient. But from the article, I realize that even with the privacy settings, it's not actually private. I rarely post things but now I think I will be more alert when I do. I wish more people knew this information because what people post don't need to be posted even to their "friends" let alone anyone else who could possibly be looking. By posting online the more people learn about your life which makes me a little skeptical about the whole idea.

Don't Be Hamlet

 Hamlet's dilemma is one that many people have dealt with and still do to this day. The dilemma of life or death, and which is worse. Life may be, like in Hamlet's case, full of "slings and arrows" but death may be much worse, nobody really knows. The decision between the two really comes down to being afraid of the unkown or taking your own life, because that's death is.
                 I feel that although Hamlet is in a place of anguish, he should not end his life in the hopes that something better lies in the afterlife. No one knows what there is after death, or if there is anything at all. So why take the risk of ending it all and leaving behind friends, family, and life itself? Hamlet is somewhat fearful of what there is after death, and that is what keeps him from making a rash decision. "But that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country..."
                Sure Hamlet doesn't have the greatest of lives but compared to many others, he can't really complain. And Hamlet has a duty to avenge his father so he can't just end his life due to some turmoil. Hamlet should "take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them." Many are just as afraid to face their life troubles as they are to face death. If Hamlet is afraid of one more than the other it should be the fear of death because he can fix the woes in his life.
                I feel life is the answer for Hamlet, but with that said no one can make that decision except Hamlet himself. He is dealing with his own demons and what others say probably won't affect his final decision. "To be, or not to be- that is the question:", and I don't have a solid answer. What Hamlet's ultimate decision is will be one that only he understands.

Lit analysis

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
1. After John Grady Cole's grandfather passes, his mother inherits everything because she was an only child. She becomes the sole owner of their Texas ranch. As an aspiring actress, always gone, she decides the ranch doesn't make any money. John confronts his family and a lawyer for help, but it is made clear that his mother will determine the fate on the ranch. After watching one of his mothers plays he finds no meaning and decides to leave San Antonio with his friend Rawlins. Along the way they notice a thirteen year old boy on a stolen horse following them. It was Jimmy Blevins and they allow him to tag along as they continue to ride towards Mexico. They ride into Encantada where they see a man with Jimmy's pistol in his back pocket and his horse in a mud house, they soon recapture the horse. John and Rawlins get jobs as cowboys at the hacienda de nuestra, ran by Don Hector Rocha. they are dared to tame sixteen wild horses. Not only do they succeed but John begins to fall in love with Rocha's daughter Alejandra. They began to have a secret love affair, with sneaky meetings. But unexpectedly they are arrested, and Rocha is nowhere to be found. It turns out Blevins had shot the man who stole his pistol while Grady and Rawlins were gone being cowboys on the new ranch, and they were assumed to be his accomplices. After being stabbed in prison Rawlins finds his way home back to Texas and Grady back to Rocha's ranch. Rocha found out about their secret affair and they spend one last night together. John is detirmined to get his horses back from being impounded. in a wrestling match with the captain he gets shot in the back. once he meets back up with Rawlins he is informed that his father has died. he sticks around for a while until later vanishing into "the darkening land".

2.The theme is sacred violence, which has two components - human's innate affinity for bloodshed and the futility of denying this affinity. We see examples of this human instinct once John Grady and Rawlins arrive at the La Purisima ranch.  The two Americans serve as scapegoats for a community to exercise its repressed hostilities. Alejandra uses John Grady as a pawn in her own adolescent rebellion, Rocha allows the arrest of the two men as virtual whipping boys for his daughter, Alfonsa wars against John Grady to purge the rage of her own past. Innocent in their youth, both Rawlins and John Grady never question their assumption that members of two communities can merge harmoniously. But after being expelled from the ranch, thrown into prison and unjustly accused of a crime, witnesses to the execution of a friend, beaten into submission by convicts, and stripped of their dignity, the two Americans learn that their souls are not only defined by their search of serenity and fulfillment, but also their ability to survive in the face of primal aggression. Rawlins ultimately cannot handle this duality of human nature and returns home. John Grady learns to embrace it, after being released from prison, he appropriates the violence inflicted onto him and seeks vengeance as the last step in his rite of passage. He returns to San Angelo with all the possessions with which he began his journey.

3. Cormac McCarthy's tone is shadowing coming of age. Through his words you can see how strongly he feels about it through the negative and positives.

4.