In pages 31-42, Marlow starts off on his journey into the darkness. On his boat, there is a group of cannibal men, who are black, and the manager. Marlow thought the cannibals were fine men and that they were good to work with. He was surprised they did not try to eat him or his crew since there were thirty of the cannibals to five of Marlow’s men. All they did was ask for food. To respond to this, the leaders would give them brass wire that they could use to “trade” with tribes when the landed ashore. However, this was futile because there weren’t many villages, they didn’t stop very often, or the villages were hostile. They could not use the brass to obtain food so they went six months without eating.
In this section, the author uses the black and white theme. It talks about how the uncle was “the lone white man turning his back suddenly on headquarters…setting his face towards the depths of the wilderness” (32). However later in the section, Marlow says he sees the uncle was a “black display of confidence” (33) because he thinks he is evil animal with darkness in his heart. The uncle is going into the forest without a good reason.
Also in this section, the author uses the theme of work. He says how work keeps Marlow from thinking about the darkness. It keeps him from going crazy and realizing the reality of where they are going. It kept him from thinking about “the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention” (34).
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Heart of Darkness Pages 21-31
In pages 21-31, Marlow’s boat gets damages (maybe purposely) and he has to wait even longer to meet Mr. Kurtz. While Marlow waits for his boat to be repaired, he meets with a bricklayer who knows about Mr. Kurtz. After talking with him for awhile, Marlow realizes that the bricklayer’s aspirations to be the assistant manager have been crushed because of Mr. Kurtz. In addition, Marlow also has to wait for rivets to come so he can repair his boat. However, they do not come. Instead, the Eldorado Exploring Expedition comes to the area with the intention of finding treasure.
In this section, Marlow also talks about how he does not like to work, but he likes the idea behind work. It gives humans a purpose and helps them find themselves and reality. They can figure out how to live and survive in life for themselves, not for others. However, the people where he is stationed at have no drive other than finding ivory and were “like a lot of faithless pilgrims bewitched inside a rotten fence” (23). The ivory is something that causes the men to lose their ambitions and Marlow believes it is unreal. The ivory even drives people to create the Eldorado Expedition. They were sworn into secrecy and traveled by donkey, while black people would follow. He believes they were greedy, cruel, and had no drive other than finding the ivory. They had no decency and were like reckless thieves with no morals. They were “sordid buccaneers” (30).
In this section, Marlow also talks about how he does not like to work, but he likes the idea behind work. It gives humans a purpose and helps them find themselves and reality. They can figure out how to live and survive in life for themselves, not for others. However, the people where he is stationed at have no drive other than finding ivory and were “like a lot of faithless pilgrims bewitched inside a rotten fence” (23). The ivory is something that causes the men to lose their ambitions and Marlow believes it is unreal. The ivory even drives people to create the Eldorado Expedition. They were sworn into secrecy and traveled by donkey, while black people would follow. He believes they were greedy, cruel, and had no drive other than finding the ivory. They had no decency and were like reckless thieves with no morals. They were “sordid buccaneers” (30).
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Heart of Darkness Pages 10-21
In pages 10-21, the narrator and Marlow focus on the black workers and racism. Marlow describes the black people who are paddling the boat to be full of life and energy as they are singing. He even saw them to be comforting to watch. He did not see them as criminals or enemies. After seeing some of the black people building a railroad, it seemed he felt bad for them as he thought they were “black shadows of disease and starvation lying confusedly in the greenish gloom” (17). He saw how they were mistreated, starved, and exhausted. However, after Marlow talks or interacts with other people, the reader sees that most of the people are racists. People saw the black people to be ignorant and felt uncomfortable around them. For example, when Marlow talks with Mr. Kurtz, Mr. Kurtz calls the black people savages and says he dates them to death. Also, Marlow himself makes a racist comment when he says the black workers “moved about like ants” (15).
In addition to talking about the black workers, the narrator often contrasts black and white. He talks about the white pupils in the black worker’s eyes. Marlow is even surprised when he sees a white string handing around a black man’s neck. He is confused and wonders why he has it and if it symbolizes something. He also contrasts black and white when he says the jungle is black while it is surrounded with white surf. The waves drowned people in their surf and it seemed that no body really cared if someone died. To the narrator “the voice of the surf heard now and then was a positive pleasure, like the speech of a brother” (13).
In addition to talking about the black workers, the narrator often contrasts black and white. He talks about the white pupils in the black worker’s eyes. Marlow is even surprised when he sees a white string handing around a black man’s neck. He is confused and wonders why he has it and if it symbolizes something. He also contrasts black and white when he says the jungle is black while it is surrounded with white surf. The waves drowned people in their surf and it seemed that no body really cared if someone died. To the narrator “the voice of the surf heard now and then was a positive pleasure, like the speech of a brother” (13).
Monday, September 22, 2008
Poetry Response #3
“Still Memory” by Mary Karr is showing a short snapshot in the author’s childhood. She describes a typical morning with her family. Her father comes home from his nightshift as her mom is making coffee as the town is just waking up. This scene is contradicting to the title. This is not a still memory, but one with action with many descriptions. Karr describes how the “bed became unroped from its moorings” and how the flowers “open their narrow valleys for dew”. This gave me a sense of how the morning felt and I could picture how the flowers must have looked. In addition, Karr appeals to the readers senses when she describes her dad of smelling “of crude oil and solvent” and that the room smelled of coffee.
One of the things this poem is about is about the inevitability of death. The narrator of the poem is recording everything in snapshots because she is afraid there are a limited number of pictures. She illustrates this when she says that her father stood in the doorway, “not dead”, and how her parents were not “yet born each into a small urn of ash”. This shows that she has fear of them dying. Not only would she be without parents, but she would not have any money since her parents were poor. I assume the narrator of this story is Mary Karr because she said “my ten-year-old hand reaches/ for a pen to record it all/ as would become long habit”. I think this implies that she had a difficult life and expresses her hardships through her writing down daily events and thoughts. She shows very little optimism and emotion. This poem is a picture of the author’s reality that has had a lasting impression on her.
One of the things this poem is about is about the inevitability of death. The narrator of the poem is recording everything in snapshots because she is afraid there are a limited number of pictures. She illustrates this when she says that her father stood in the doorway, “not dead”, and how her parents were not “yet born each into a small urn of ash”. This shows that she has fear of them dying. Not only would she be without parents, but she would not have any money since her parents were poor. I assume the narrator of this story is Mary Karr because she said “my ten-year-old hand reaches/ for a pen to record it all/ as would become long habit”. I think this implies that she had a difficult life and expresses her hardships through her writing down daily events and thoughts. She shows very little optimism and emotion. This poem is a picture of the author’s reality that has had a lasting impression on her.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Eveline
“Eveline” is a short story about a 19 year old girl named Eveline who is about to leave to Buenos Aires with her lover, but then comes to a realization that this is not what she wants or what her mom or family would want.
Level One Question:
Where is Eveline supposed to go with Frank?
Level Two Question:
Why do did Eveline decided not to go with Frank?
Level Three Question:
If you were put in Eveline’s place, what decision would you make?
The theme of this story is that people, whether they want to or not, can sometimes feel tied to their families and cannot break away. They can feel like the have a duty to them.
This story has James Joyce’s main themes. The young woman, Eveline, lives in the declining middle-class of society. Her family has to struggle and work hard just to make it through. Eveline and Harry rarely got any money from their dad since he wasted it on alcohol. Any hard earned money was used in a pub, instead of for food, a better home, or a raise in the social class. She had to live a life without much happiness and money.
Eveline tried to get about from this boring life of “self denial and drab duties” because she wants something more. Frank becomes her escape from this environment when he asks her to go the Buenos Aires with her. She believes that if she goes with him that she will be happy and will not have any worries. However, once she is about to leave with Frank, she keeps thinking about how she promised to her mom that she would “keep the home together as long as she could” and this causes her to have an epiphany. She realizes that tradition and respect for her family is important. When she has to choose between happiness and her home, she chooses her home. She knows she has to do her duty to take care of her family as she promised. She thought she would have chosen happiness, but in reality, she had too many tires to her home and Dublin. She cannot free herself and perhaps she is afraid of uncertainties and insecurities of the outside world.
Level One Question:
Where is Eveline supposed to go with Frank?
Level Two Question:
Why do did Eveline decided not to go with Frank?
Level Three Question:
If you were put in Eveline’s place, what decision would you make?
The theme of this story is that people, whether they want to or not, can sometimes feel tied to their families and cannot break away. They can feel like the have a duty to them.
This story has James Joyce’s main themes. The young woman, Eveline, lives in the declining middle-class of society. Her family has to struggle and work hard just to make it through. Eveline and Harry rarely got any money from their dad since he wasted it on alcohol. Any hard earned money was used in a pub, instead of for food, a better home, or a raise in the social class. She had to live a life without much happiness and money.
Eveline tried to get about from this boring life of “self denial and drab duties” because she wants something more. Frank becomes her escape from this environment when he asks her to go the Buenos Aires with her. She believes that if she goes with him that she will be happy and will not have any worries. However, once she is about to leave with Frank, she keeps thinking about how she promised to her mom that she would “keep the home together as long as she could” and this causes her to have an epiphany. She realizes that tradition and respect for her family is important. When she has to choose between happiness and her home, she chooses her home. She knows she has to do her duty to take care of her family as she promised. She thought she would have chosen happiness, but in reality, she had too many tires to her home and Dublin. She cannot free herself and perhaps she is afraid of uncertainties and insecurities of the outside world.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Araby
“Araby” is a short story about a young boy who is obsessed with a girl and his obsession leads him to Araby or bazaar where he has an epiphany about himself, his desires, and the reality of life.
Level One Question:
Who does the boy get the money from?
Level Two Question:
What was the boy’s epiphany and why did he have it?
Level Three Question:
How is the bazaar symbolic?
The theme of this story is reality versus fantasy. People can sometimes be tricked by other actions or appearances and believe things that are not true. Gradually over time people will become mature and realize that love is not just a physical attraction and fantasies may never come true.
The narrator of this story is an adolescent boy who is experiencing his first love. It seems that he is only in love with her because of her looks. In fact, the only have said “a few casual words”. He thinks he knows the girl because he lays “on the floor in the front parlor watching her door” and he stalks her. He feels that he needs to go to the Araby to buy Mangan’s sister a present to show his love for this girl. He takes the trip to the bazaar late at night and with only a small amount of money when he follows his dream. This fantasy turns to disappointment as he realizes that he was a “creature driven and derided by vanity”. He comes to the epiphany that the girl was only a passion of his adolescence and was only a dream. In reality, the boy cannot have the girl because she is most likely not interested in him at all. Although he followed his dream, it turned out to be a false hope, but one that would allow him to distinguish reality from his desires.
The title of the short story, “Araby”, can be seen as a quest to the bazaar, where the main character experiences an epiphany. This is similar to the quest of the Arabs, who are primarily Muslims, when they travel to Mecca to pray. Here, they are enlightened by their prayers and religion. After they pray, they realize that they must redirect their lives in the name of their god, or cause. Likewise, the boy in the story makes his journey to the bazaar in search of something for a girl, and his purpose changed. He experiences an epiphany and realizes he has wasted time on an unattainable dream, which causes him to view himself as “a creature driven and derided by vanity; and (his) eyes burned with anguish and anger”.
Level One Question:
Who does the boy get the money from?
Level Two Question:
What was the boy’s epiphany and why did he have it?
Level Three Question:
How is the bazaar symbolic?
The theme of this story is reality versus fantasy. People can sometimes be tricked by other actions or appearances and believe things that are not true. Gradually over time people will become mature and realize that love is not just a physical attraction and fantasies may never come true.
The narrator of this story is an adolescent boy who is experiencing his first love. It seems that he is only in love with her because of her looks. In fact, the only have said “a few casual words”. He thinks he knows the girl because he lays “on the floor in the front parlor watching her door” and he stalks her. He feels that he needs to go to the Araby to buy Mangan’s sister a present to show his love for this girl. He takes the trip to the bazaar late at night and with only a small amount of money when he follows his dream. This fantasy turns to disappointment as he realizes that he was a “creature driven and derided by vanity”. He comes to the epiphany that the girl was only a passion of his adolescence and was only a dream. In reality, the boy cannot have the girl because she is most likely not interested in him at all. Although he followed his dream, it turned out to be a false hope, but one that would allow him to distinguish reality from his desires.
The title of the short story, “Araby”, can be seen as a quest to the bazaar, where the main character experiences an epiphany. This is similar to the quest of the Arabs, who are primarily Muslims, when they travel to Mecca to pray. Here, they are enlightened by their prayers and religion. After they pray, they realize that they must redirect their lives in the name of their god, or cause. Likewise, the boy in the story makes his journey to the bazaar in search of something for a girl, and his purpose changed. He experiences an epiphany and realizes he has wasted time on an unattainable dream, which causes him to view himself as “a creature driven and derided by vanity; and (his) eyes burned with anguish and anger”.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
A Good Man is Hard to Find
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a short story about a self-centered and manipulative Grandmother who eventually is the reason for her and her family’s death, yet she manages to find “good” in the man who killed them.
Level One Question:
What is the Grandmothers only son’s name?
Level Two Question:
Why doesn’t the grandmother react when her son and her grandchildren are killed?
Level Three Question:
Have you ever been manipulated into doing things that you do not want to do?
The theme of this short story is that people can be selfish and can try to manipulate situations to benefit themselves or to try to change others.
In this short story, the family takes a road trip and the kids do many things to entertain themselves and it eventually leads to the parents getting annoyed. This reminded me of when my family used to take road trips to West Virginia or to state parks in Indiana. Typically, my brother and I would listen to our own music or do our own thing for the first part of the trip until we got bored. Then, we would play games with each other for the rest of it. We would play “I Spy”, tick-tack-toe, and card games. However, by the end of playing these games with each other, we would become annoyed with one another. We should start doing things to make the other mad, such as poking the other and saying “I’m not touching you” or by calling each other names. This would cause us to make a lot of noise. In result, this would start to annoy our parents who would then yell at us. By the end of the car ride, everyone would be in a bad mood and exhausted, and because of this we did not take many long road trips when we were young. Our parents decided flying was the best decision for traveling long distances.
Level One Question:
What is the Grandmothers only son’s name?
Level Two Question:
Why doesn’t the grandmother react when her son and her grandchildren are killed?
Level Three Question:
Have you ever been manipulated into doing things that you do not want to do?
The theme of this short story is that people can be selfish and can try to manipulate situations to benefit themselves or to try to change others.
In this short story, the family takes a road trip and the kids do many things to entertain themselves and it eventually leads to the parents getting annoyed. This reminded me of when my family used to take road trips to West Virginia or to state parks in Indiana. Typically, my brother and I would listen to our own music or do our own thing for the first part of the trip until we got bored. Then, we would play games with each other for the rest of it. We would play “I Spy”, tick-tack-toe, and card games. However, by the end of playing these games with each other, we would become annoyed with one another. We should start doing things to make the other mad, such as poking the other and saying “I’m not touching you” or by calling each other names. This would cause us to make a lot of noise. In result, this would start to annoy our parents who would then yell at us. By the end of the car ride, everyone would be in a bad mood and exhausted, and because of this we did not take many long road trips when we were young. Our parents decided flying was the best decision for traveling long distances.
Rocking Horse
“The Rocking-Horse Winner” is a short story about a young boy, Paul, who lives in an “unlucky” family that is overly concerned about the need to have more money, and because of this Paul, wants to be “lucky” so he starts gambling on horse races to make money.
Level One Question:
What does the house “whisper” to Paul?
Level Two Question:
What is the significance of the rocking horse?
Level Three Question:
Do you think money brings happiness?
The theme of this story is that money does not always bring happiness and luck does not necessarily mean one will be wealthy. People who are overly materialistic often are unhappy as they find little meaning in life other than the need to obtain more tangible possessions. This was the case with the mother in D.H. Lawrence’s short story. Paul’s mother was unhappy and dissatisfied, yet she never knew what her fault was. She never spent quality time with her family and was not able to love as the center of her heart was “hard.” She found fault in everything and believed that neither she nor her husband were successful as there was never enough money to satisfy her. Instead of applying herself and being content with what she had, she always wanted more. She wanted more money to buy possessions, which she thought would buy her happiness. Since this did not happen, she blamed everything on having “no luck”. This became such an obsession and an excuse for everything that even her children and the house were “haunted by the unspoken phrase: There must be more money!”
This obsession of blaming everything on no luck and needing more money also haunted her son, Paul. It caused him to go crazy since he wanted to find a way to have luck. He would ride his rocking-horse furiously in search of luck, and on this horse he would try to figure out who would win the next derby race. When he started to become lucky with predicting the winner of the races, he could not stop thinking about the upcoming races and how much money he should bet. Paul wanted to be lucky and make money so he could give it to his mother to make her happy. The pressure of riding the rocking-horse to predict the winner of the races drove him mad. The final time he was on his rocking horse, he figured out who was going to win the next big race and he was saying the horse’s name, Malabar. He then passed out and later died, but he was right about the winner of the race. Although it brought his mother about eighty thousand pounds, it made her feel like her heart had “turned actually into a stone.”
I think it is sad how Paul’s mom negatively impacted Paul. She caused him to be worried about money all the time and made him go searching for “luck” which ended up killing him. Although he did get lucky and made great sums at horse races, it did not make his mom happy. It left her cold, callous, and incomplete.
Level One Question:
What does the house “whisper” to Paul?
Level Two Question:
What is the significance of the rocking horse?
Level Three Question:
Do you think money brings happiness?
The theme of this story is that money does not always bring happiness and luck does not necessarily mean one will be wealthy. People who are overly materialistic often are unhappy as they find little meaning in life other than the need to obtain more tangible possessions. This was the case with the mother in D.H. Lawrence’s short story. Paul’s mother was unhappy and dissatisfied, yet she never knew what her fault was. She never spent quality time with her family and was not able to love as the center of her heart was “hard.” She found fault in everything and believed that neither she nor her husband were successful as there was never enough money to satisfy her. Instead of applying herself and being content with what she had, she always wanted more. She wanted more money to buy possessions, which she thought would buy her happiness. Since this did not happen, she blamed everything on having “no luck”. This became such an obsession and an excuse for everything that even her children and the house were “haunted by the unspoken phrase: There must be more money!”
This obsession of blaming everything on no luck and needing more money also haunted her son, Paul. It caused him to go crazy since he wanted to find a way to have luck. He would ride his rocking-horse furiously in search of luck, and on this horse he would try to figure out who would win the next derby race. When he started to become lucky with predicting the winner of the races, he could not stop thinking about the upcoming races and how much money he should bet. Paul wanted to be lucky and make money so he could give it to his mother to make her happy. The pressure of riding the rocking-horse to predict the winner of the races drove him mad. The final time he was on his rocking horse, he figured out who was going to win the next big race and he was saying the horse’s name, Malabar. He then passed out and later died, but he was right about the winner of the race. Although it brought his mother about eighty thousand pounds, it made her feel like her heart had “turned actually into a stone.”
I think it is sad how Paul’s mom negatively impacted Paul. She caused him to be worried about money all the time and made him go searching for “luck” which ended up killing him. Although he did get lucky and made great sums at horse races, it did not make his mom happy. It left her cold, callous, and incomplete.
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