Monday, December 8, 2014
Independent Novels: Reflections
As you are reading the novel you selected for
the final assignment in AP Literature, don't be intimidated by the task at
hand. Your blog posts are simply another way of taking notes. Write down
your impressions, thoughts, and observations about the text. Immerse yourself
in the novel and try to gain an understanding of the driving question within
the novel as a whole. Don't be afraid to look at the work from multiple
perspectives. Analyze the
literary piece through self-observation, and support your ideas with outside
information when needed. Your blog post should reflect your
interpretation of this work. When
writing, please include the author and the title of the work within your
response. I encourage you to read the posts of your peers and ask questions to
help each focus on his/her final question for the essay.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In the book "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Zora Neale Hurston uses the pear tree to symbolize the beliefs and feelings of Janie. When Janie was younger she would often sit under a pear tree, and observe it grow and transform, much like Janie does as the book progresses. "She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom;the thousand sister-calyxes arch meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from the root to the finest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was marriage." (11, ch 2) this tree is where Janie forms all her ideas of how love should be. The tree represents how the female is to wait for the male to meet her, and the male is the dominant force in the relationship. Janie doesn't see it that way, she sees how the tree bends to meet the bee, which forms Janie's belief that love is meant to be sexual, and that both the male and the female should have mutual feelings. Janie’s views are much different than those around her, and throughout the book she searches for a man which can fulfil her ideals.
ReplyDeleteKate, I was reminded of another quote: Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.
DeleteAs I was thinking about your responses and the idea of the differences in men in the story vs. women. Janie identifies this numerous times as seen in the quote above. That would be another angle to approach with your analysis.
Kate, I'm wondering how you can use this image and symbolism of the pear tree in your final paper. Is this the big question that is presenting itself? I have a hard time not writing a novel in response to your post because this is one of my favorite books of all time. Janie is such a fantastic female character to write about and I think you have a good idea to begin with: Janie's life and the symbolism of the pear tree.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThroughout Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston you are able to see how Janie grows as a women, and as an individual. In the beginning of the book Janie marries Logan because she wants to please her Nanny. Nanny tells Janie that Logan is an ideal lover and she will grow to love him. Janie doesn’t grow to love him, and leaves him for Jody. Jody promises Janie the world, and Janie begins to think that this is what a normal relationship should be like. Until she meets Tea Cake, Tea Cake is able to make Janie be the women she is. He doesn’t force her to fit the standards of a normal women, but shows her how to be herself. Tea Cake even shows her how to shoot a gun, which crosses the gender boundaries of the time. Janie learns what she wants to become as she goes through her first two marriages, Tea Cake comes around and is able to show her that being an individual is more important than fitting into society.
Kate, I think you have identified your "big" question with this response. How the character of Janie grows and develops in her definition of ideal love, and how that is connected to the metaphor of the pear tree. I'm eager to see what you come up with and how you interpret this novel.
ReplyDeleteThe execution of Candy's old dog in "Of Mice and Men" is used to foreshadow Lennie's death at the end of the novel. Candy's dog was very old and seemed to be suffering, so the guys told Candy that the dog should be put out of his misery. Though Candy wasn't in favor of this idea, he was pressured by the other men, who claimed it was for the good of the dog. This has an obvious relation to George's shooting of Lennie. Lennie was going to be hurt by the other men, so George was actually driven by his kindness so that Lennie wouldn't die as painful a death. Though I may not agree with it, George believed he was doing the right thing for his friend. I think he was very much influenced by the shooting of the old dog. This can especially be seen through the fact that George does it himself, because after Candy's dog is shot, Candy says, "I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog." (67; Ch. 3) As strange as it may seem, George actually wanted to shoot Lennie himself because he thought he owed it to him.
ReplyDeleteJill, as you are connecting these two events from the book, are you able to see a big idea question come to light? Is there something that is presenting itself to you and causing you to ask, Why? It seems that Lennie's death is in fact unavoidable. What effect does this have on the text? How does it affect your perception of the characters at the end of the story?
ReplyDelete"Of Mice and Men" outlines the idea of the American dream through a few of the main characters. George and Lennie fantasize about the ranch they are going to own when they save up enough money. It is reiterated especially by Lennie, who, according to Curley's wife, is "so nuts about rabbits" (98; Ch. 5) He loves hearing George tell him about when they'll get to live out that fantasy. Candy also wants to take part in this by contributing money, as well as Crooks, who offers to work on the ranch. Each man thinks of their work on Curley's farm almost as useless, except to get money to move on to a better life. However, George and Lennie are different because they believe in this possibility. Because Candy is old and has a physical handicap, he is not convinced that he'll ever get to something better in life. Crooks is also hopeless, partly because he know not much is expected of him because of his color, and also because he has seen men with these dreams that have never been fulfilled. "I seen it happen too many times. I seen too many guys with land in their head. They never get none under their hand." (83; Ch. 4) The ending of the book, and consequently George and Lennie's story, seems to confirm the theme throughout the novel of the tragic reality of the American dream for many men during this time period of the Great Depression.
ReplyDeleteJill, The idea of writing about the American dream could also be used for your big idea. It seems that this book touches an multiple aspects of that dream and how certain characters embody it: Candy, Curly, Crooks, and of course George and Lennie. There are numerous characters who cannot seem to catch a break and who seem without mobility in this land of opportunity. I'm curious to see how you approach the paper.
DeleteIn George Orwell's 1984, a concept called "doublethink" is referenced repeatedly. Doublethink is a Newspeak word that when translated to conventional English means something like Reality Control. Essentially, to use doublethink is to be able to hold multiple conflicting viewpoints as absolute truth. The Party created this concept because it is essential in upholding the Ingsoc (English Socialism) philosophy. For example, an Outer Party member must employ doublethink when falsifying a document in order to believe that the falsified document is true. The only way for The Party to assert that everything they say is absolute truth is to enforce doublethink, and by doing so The Party essential controls reality itself.
ReplyDeleteDaniel,
DeleteWhat do you think you will do with this idea? How does it impact the novel as a whole? Is there more to Orwell's commentary on history and examples from the time period? What effect does this have on the reader? Do you trust the narrator? A lot to think about for your paper.
One theme Orwell uses in 1984 is the power of language over the human mind. The Party recognizes that by limiting the citizens’ scope of thought, they can preemptively eliminate unorthodox thinking, or “thought crime”. The device they use to implement this limitation is a reformed version of the English language called Newspeak. The main goal of Newspeak is to stript the langauge to a bare minimum. For example, the word “good” can be used with certain prefixes to cover the whole spectrum of goodness and badness. All “unnecessary” words are eliminated, and so is artistic expression. Another way Newspeak limits rebellious thought is by completely excluding words like “freedom”. If there are no rebellious words, rebellious thoughts are impossible.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Brave New World the words God and Lord have for the most part been replaced with the word Ford. This includes phrases such as "Oh, Ford!", “Our Ford's day”, “fordship”, and “Ford, I should like to kill him!" These show that religion has been whipped out on every level, even to how people talk. Henry Ford is held in a state of reverence. He is practically worshipped as the creator of the assembly line and mass production. Everything is mass produced in this society, even humans. Using “Bokanovsky's Process” ninety-six identical twins can be produced from one egg.
ReplyDeleteEthan, What do you think the author is trying to say with this insert? How does this affect how you read the text? What does this say about the values of the masses? I'm interested in what approach you are going to take with this paper.
DeleteSex is a major motif in Brave New World. It is frowned upon for men and women not to have multiple sexual partners every week. In this society of instant gratification, it is uncommon to have to wait a long period of time to “have” the person you desire. The government strongly encourages promiscuity so that people do not develop intimate relationships with each other. When the government produces children they make two-thirds of the female population sterile and leave one-third of them able to have children. They leave this one-third alone so that they can harvest ovaries from them. They force these women to use protection so that they do not get pregnant.
ReplyDeleteEthan, How will this be used in your final paper? What angle will you be addressing and how will you develop a question based on these two blog posts? You seem to have some similarities in the ideas, but also some differences as well.
DeleteWhen I chose this book, I was expecting more of a story line. In this novel, Woolf is mostly presenting her views on women and fiction. She shows the differences between the genders in many aspects. When she talks about the different opportunities given to women regarding education, it upset me. A Room of One's Own gave me new perspective in many different areas. I appreciate her writing and though boring at first, it's very informative. I think that because of women like her, women of today have a voice.
ReplyDeleteHaley, How does the essay format affect how you read the book? What can you say about the ideas presented of the format is not one that you care for? What are you thinking for the big question?
DeleteThroughout this novel, money is brought up several different times. Money is the reason they cant have their own rooms and don't have as much power. Money is a symbolism of power and authority. And since the women don't have power, they don't have money; since they don't have money, they don't have power. I feel like this novel is also written with extreme passion. In frustrating topics, it might come off as anger, but I feel like that anger is driven by the desire for women to have a voice.
ReplyDeleteHaley, Will money be an aspect of your paper? Will you look at historical references and how money affected women's roles in society? You may want to think about what women could hand could not do and how they were able or not able to be independent based on the rules of inheritance and money.
DeleteThis novel really highlights how self-expression, love, and free will are very important to make progress as a human being. In the late 1800s in Grand Isle, Louisiana; a place that, at that time, made it clear that women’s place was meant to been seen, not heard, a woman begins a journey of self discovery. Edna, the main character, is a reserved woman who, with the help of a free-spirited Creole woman, begins the process of self discovery. Mademoiselle Reisz, the Creole woman, is very different from the reticent Edna in that she is an expressive artist. Edna was to be a wife and mother who took care of her children and listened to her husband, she had a family but she didn't have a sense of self. Mademoiselle Reisz is an artist who spends her time with handsome models and painting pictures. However, she is alone and looked down upon by other people. Chopin uses these women as a means of depicting the different lifestyles that were put upon women at that time.
ReplyDeleteCeleste, How will you approach this topic of women in the late 1800s? Is this the direction your big question is going? There would be a lot to write about if you are examining how women are portrayed in the novel and how Edna's character embodies or defies those roles.
DeleteIn The Great Gatsby, Daisy was viewed by her worth and what she could give, not necessarily as a human with emotions and thoughts. The most dominant woman in this novel is Daisy Buchanan, who was loved by Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan. While she is fair in beauty, I think that Gatsby viewed her as a symbol of young enthusiasm. They fell in love quickly when they were younger, and were separated for the war. When Jay returned, Daisy was married; the rest of Jay's life was spent pursuing Daisy and becoming rich. The idea of being with Daisy is the reason that Jay became so possessive and mischievous, not by actually being with her. When Tom and Jay argue, they do not acknowledge Daisy's feelings, rather state their own. She does not express her own emotions, instead let the men dispute about who was making her decisions. She has been controlled her whole life by men, and she could not comprehend taking the blame for her actions.
ReplyDeleteNick Carraway, the narrator in The Great Gatsby, believes that "I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known". This is hypocritical because, while he says that he is honest, he lies to Daisy for Tom and keeps Daisy/Gatsby love affair a secret. Indeed, Nick sees right from wrong; Nick believes that he is different from these people because he doesn't want to admit that he is untruthful as well. The characters in the book are displayed as selfish beings, and Nick presents himself, as the narrator, on the outside looking in. But he thinks that he is doing the right thing keeping these secrets, to protect Gatsby.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteFor Edna, independence and solitude are almost inseparable. Because of the expectations women were faced with in society plus the limitations of law that were given to women of the late 1800s very few opportunities for individual expression, not to mention independence, were there for her. Women were expected to perform their domestic duties and care for the health and happiness of their families, they were not able to satisfy their own wants and needs. On page 10, when Adele Ratignolle is being introduced into the story, Edna says that she cannot be like other women. She claimed that other women were meant to be mothers and wives but she couldn’t find comfort in that role. When describing Adele, she says she is everything a woman should be: Womanly, Motherly, She worshipped her husband, and was the embodiment of womanly grace and charm. During her gradual awakening, Edna discovers her own identity and acknowledges her emotional and sexual desires.