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.