Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Overall Experience
The overall experience that I have gained throughtout this six week class is more than what I thought it would be when I registered. I thought that it would be just another class where I could get through not really paying attention and not learning any of the material that was talked about in class. This is how I usually act when I have to take anything that is not a science class. I used to think that the only classes that really were worth learning something were science classes, and I guess that is because, like I said before there is a wright and a wrong answer. Literature classes were not something that you learned anything new in, you just read books and discussed them. This semester of English 123 has changed my opinion on that whole way that I thinking. I have learned how to really think about what I am reading and how to try to interpret what the author is trying to get across to me. Before, I would just read the assignment and wouldn't even care what it was saying. To really understand what an author is saying you need to research the author and discover where the author was at in his or hers life. You also need to know stories from the past, and stories from the time that poem or paly was written in, you must be educated. This is a must if you want to get all of the hidden and uncovered punches that are tucked away in the words. The main thing is to know stories so that you GET WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!
Fantasy
Fantasy came up in lecture on Monday and I just wanted to talk a little bit about this. Mr. Sexson talked about the Wizard of Oz and how all of the characters in Oz were actually the people that were the farm hands working on the farm back in Kansas. This made me think of all of the other fantasy stories and movies that I have read or watched. Thinking back on most of them I have realized that they are based on reality. Just like our dreams are usually based loosly on something that is going on in our lives. An example of this other than the Wizard of Oz, is the story of Cinderella. In the story she is living with such a desperate need to fit in and be loved that she has a fairy Godmother and has all of these elaborate things done for her. This fantasy gives all of the people living lives just as Cinderella does in the story a sense of relief that their lives will get better and somthing great will come to them. Really all of real life is one big fantasy, by saying this I mean that everyone really is not happy with where they are in their lives at this very moment. There is 
always something more, or something better that you fantasize about.
always something more, or something better that you fantasize about. Seize the Day
This saying has been a major point during the last couple of weeks in this class. Seize the Day or Carpe Diem, is an example of how you should live your life. In the two plays that we have read, The Tempest, and Hamlet these are large parts of them too. In the Tempest your are suposed to live life to the fullest and get every part of knowledge that you can because you don't have any idea what is next to come. Miranda is living everyday as if she has not ever lived before because everything is new and exciting to her. In the play, Hamlet, seize the day is just displayed in a different way. The main thought in this play is to do something, not to just sit there and let things happen to you. My mother always said that if you want cookies you have to go make them. This saying is not just somethi
ng she would say when I literally wanted cookies, but when I would talk about other things that I wanted. For example when I was little I wanted to be a Doctor, and my mother said to go make cookies, meaninig to take every moment and make it into something that will help the cause. It took me a long time to take her advise, but since I have I am now going to do what I have always wanted, and go to PA School to achieve my dream. 
ng she would say when I literally wanted cookies, but when I would talk about other things that I wanted. For example when I was little I wanted to be a Doctor, and my mother said to go make cookies, meaninig to take every moment and make it into something that will help the cause. It took me a long time to take her advise, but since I have I am now going to do what I have always wanted, and go to PA School to achieve my dream. 
Loss of Innocents
The losss of innocents can be thought of in many different ways. You can think about it as the very first time that you lost your sexual virginity. You can also think of it as the first time that you were able to read a book all by your self, or the first time that you tied your shoes for the first time without any help. This is your education virginity, which is taken away from you every time that you learn something. All of the stories and retellings that we have read over
the course of this class are takeing away out educational virginity, becuase they are teaching us things that we didn't know before, and they are makeing us think about things in different ways that we would have never thought about before. In the Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood stories we talked about how they are talking about sexual virginity, but know that I have learned some ways to think about the different stories I am begining to think that these stories are not just talking about sexual virginity, but educational virinity also. These young girls are starting to become wise to the world, and learn different things about their families, as well as the people and the places around them. In Little Red Riding Hood she learns the ways of the world from the wolf, and looses her educational virginity.
the course of this class are takeing away out educational virginity, becuase they are teaching us things that we didn't know before, and they are makeing us think about things in different ways that we would have never thought about before. In the Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood stories we talked about how they are talking about sexual virginity, but know that I have learned some ways to think about the different stories I am begining to think that these stories are not just talking about sexual virginity, but educational virinity also. These young girls are starting to become wise to the world, and learn different things about their families, as well as the people and the places around them. In Little Red Riding Hood she learns the ways of the world from the wolf, and looses her educational virginity.What I Know Not That I Didn't Know Before
What I Know Now That
I Didn’t Know Before
In this class I have learned many things; I have also had many things that I thought I knew switched around on me. For example I didn’t know that there were different versions of the Disney fairytales, I had no idea of all of the different schemes and sounds that a poem can follow, and I didn’t know that Shakespeare would interest me. One of the major lessons that I have learned is that the only thing that is ever boring is the person saying that something is boring, and this is because they don’t get it.
Retellings are everywhere, every story that I have read is a retelling of something else that has already been told in the past. While growing up I only knew the Disney versions of the fairytales. I was what a psychoanalytic study would call sheltered. When I started reading the very first stories of the Cinderella cluster I didn’t really like them, because they were not the Disney version that left me feeling all warm and cuddly inside. These different retellings of Cinderella were violent, and grotesque. When we talked in class our discussion about the different versions I realized that the Disney story was not doing me justice, it was just telling me what I wanted to hear. Bruno Betteleheim talked about how Charles Perrault’s version of Little Red Ridding Hood did not do justice. He said this because at the end of the story there was a moral, and according to Betteleheim there is no moral of a story, because the moral of the story is the story itself. While reading and watching the Disney versions I always put a moral to the story, and know when I read all of the retellings and also reread the Disney versions I know not to put a moral on the end of the story because, the moral of the story is the story.
Fairytales are for young kids; at least that is what I used to think. After taking this class I have learned that fairytales are not just for young kids, but that they are for teenagers and adults too. Most of the stories that we have read were about a teenager going through a life change, which was most often puberty. They all have an initiation, separation, and a transformation in their story line. For example in Beauty and the Beast, Bell meats the beast, then she is held at the castle, and finally she is released but at that point there has been a transformation and she ends up staying at the castle with the beast. This is true in real life too, school is the initiation step, college is the separation step, and the transformation is when you are done with college you get a real job and actually want to grow up. I personally think that people go through three puberties in life and each has an initiation, a separation, and a transformation in them. The three puberties that a person will go through in life are one in the teenage years, two after college, and three growing old. For this reason I think that fairytales are made for everyone, not just kids, but teenagers and adults too.
The poetry section of the class was great for me because I really had no idea of all of the different sounds, and rhythms that a poem could have. I also didn’t know that a poem didn’t have to rhyme. I was very lucky to be assigned the poem called My Last Duchess, because it is a dramatic monologue. I didn’t know what a dramatic monologue was, but I have learned that it is a poem where a narrator is talking to a silent listener. This poem really captured my attention because it was so much like a real story that had happened in real life. The poem along with the real story didn’t actually say that Alfonso killed his passed wife, but there were many hints saying that he did. The poem says words like “sitting there as if she were alive,” and “half-flush that dies along her throat.” This last line almost tells the reader how he killed her. My Last Duchess really related to me because I feel that I am kind of like the narrator in the poem, in the way that I like to control things that are going on around me. This is the exact reason that I picked my major of Neuroscience and Chemistry. In these sciences there are write and wrong answers, and there are exact ways in which experiments are to be done. In poetry each and every poem can be interpreted differently by different people. The only one who knows the exact write answer is the poet themselves. Everyone else that is reading or interpreting the poems can’t loose.
The Shakespeare unit that we have finished up with was the one that I was least excited about. I thought that Shakespeare was dumb and boring. The reason that I had this mind set was not because I didn’t like Shakespeare, but it was because I didn’t’ understand it. In high school I just skimmed the surface of the Shakespeare that was required of me to read, and I never really got involved with it. For example I thought that Shakespeare only wrote romances, because the only play that I really paid any attention to was Romeo and Juliet, and this was because there was a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio in it. Reading the Tempest and Hamlet I realized that most of the plays do have a romance in them, but that is not the major story going on in the play. The Tempest was a comedy, and I was surprised to find out that something that was written 400 years ago was funny today. The reason for this is that many of the things that I found funny are things that still relate to life today. For example Miranda in the Tempest is a very innocent and naive young girl; I related this to my friend Jill who is also naive. For example, before Jill came to college, she had never put gas in her own car before which is like Miranda never having seen a man her own age before. I think that by relating what Shakespeare wrote 400 years ago to modern day events is how Shakespeare intended the plays to be read and remembered. This thinking came from the couplet that he wrote at the very end of the poem Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day and that is “so long as men can breathe and eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” In the poem and in the plays he is talking about different things, but the meaning that I have learned is that if you write it down it will live forever.
The major things that I have learned in this class are to live every day and every moment. You have to do something; don’t just let things happen to you. Every story is a retelling of another story, and life is just another retelling. Everyone is living a story; the only thing that will help is to know many other stories to help guide us through story we are living.
I Didn’t Know Before
In this class I have learned many things; I have also had many things that I thought I knew switched around on me. For example I didn’t know that there were different versions of the Disney fairytales, I had no idea of all of the different schemes and sounds that a poem can follow, and I didn’t know that Shakespeare would interest me. One of the major lessons that I have learned is that the only thing that is ever boring is the person saying that something is boring, and this is because they don’t get it.
Retellings are everywhere, every story that I have read is a retelling of something else that has already been told in the past. While growing up I only knew the Disney versions of the fairytales. I was what a psychoanalytic study would call sheltered. When I started reading the very first stories of the Cinderella cluster I didn’t really like them, because they were not the Disney version that left me feeling all warm and cuddly inside. These different retellings of Cinderella were violent, and grotesque. When we talked in class our discussion about the different versions I realized that the Disney story was not doing me justice, it was just telling me what I wanted to hear. Bruno Betteleheim talked about how Charles Perrault’s version of Little Red Ridding Hood did not do justice. He said this because at the end of the story there was a moral, and according to Betteleheim there is no moral of a story, because the moral of the story is the story itself. While reading and watching the Disney versions I always put a moral to the story, and know when I read all of the retellings and also reread the Disney versions I know not to put a moral on the end of the story because, the moral of the story is the story.
Fairytales are for young kids; at least that is what I used to think. After taking this class I have learned that fairytales are not just for young kids, but that they are for teenagers and adults too. Most of the stories that we have read were about a teenager going through a life change, which was most often puberty. They all have an initiation, separation, and a transformation in their story line. For example in Beauty and the Beast, Bell meats the beast, then she is held at the castle, and finally she is released but at that point there has been a transformation and she ends up staying at the castle with the beast. This is true in real life too, school is the initiation step, college is the separation step, and the transformation is when you are done with college you get a real job and actually want to grow up. I personally think that people go through three puberties in life and each has an initiation, a separation, and a transformation in them. The three puberties that a person will go through in life are one in the teenage years, two after college, and three growing old. For this reason I think that fairytales are made for everyone, not just kids, but teenagers and adults too.
The poetry section of the class was great for me because I really had no idea of all of the different sounds, and rhythms that a poem could have. I also didn’t know that a poem didn’t have to rhyme. I was very lucky to be assigned the poem called My Last Duchess, because it is a dramatic monologue. I didn’t know what a dramatic monologue was, but I have learned that it is a poem where a narrator is talking to a silent listener. This poem really captured my attention because it was so much like a real story that had happened in real life. The poem along with the real story didn’t actually say that Alfonso killed his passed wife, but there were many hints saying that he did. The poem says words like “sitting there as if she were alive,” and “half-flush that dies along her throat.” This last line almost tells the reader how he killed her. My Last Duchess really related to me because I feel that I am kind of like the narrator in the poem, in the way that I like to control things that are going on around me. This is the exact reason that I picked my major of Neuroscience and Chemistry. In these sciences there are write and wrong answers, and there are exact ways in which experiments are to be done. In poetry each and every poem can be interpreted differently by different people. The only one who knows the exact write answer is the poet themselves. Everyone else that is reading or interpreting the poems can’t loose.
The Shakespeare unit that we have finished up with was the one that I was least excited about. I thought that Shakespeare was dumb and boring. The reason that I had this mind set was not because I didn’t like Shakespeare, but it was because I didn’t’ understand it. In high school I just skimmed the surface of the Shakespeare that was required of me to read, and I never really got involved with it. For example I thought that Shakespeare only wrote romances, because the only play that I really paid any attention to was Romeo and Juliet, and this was because there was a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio in it. Reading the Tempest and Hamlet I realized that most of the plays do have a romance in them, but that is not the major story going on in the play. The Tempest was a comedy, and I was surprised to find out that something that was written 400 years ago was funny today. The reason for this is that many of the things that I found funny are things that still relate to life today. For example Miranda in the Tempest is a very innocent and naive young girl; I related this to my friend Jill who is also naive. For example, before Jill came to college, she had never put gas in her own car before which is like Miranda never having seen a man her own age before. I think that by relating what Shakespeare wrote 400 years ago to modern day events is how Shakespeare intended the plays to be read and remembered. This thinking came from the couplet that he wrote at the very end of the poem Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day and that is “so long as men can breathe and eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” In the poem and in the plays he is talking about different things, but the meaning that I have learned is that if you write it down it will live forever.
The major things that I have learned in this class are to live every day and every moment. You have to do something; don’t just let things happen to you. Every story is a retelling of another story, and life is just another retelling. Everyone is living a story; the only thing that will help is to know many other stories to help guide us through story we are living.
Connections
There are many different connections that I have made between some of Shakespear's plays and reference to the Bible. I have noticed that many of the hidden subliminal messages and some of the things that are not the main points that are talked about when discussing the plays are infact almost exact stories out of the Bible. For example in the play The Tempest, when Caliban is telling the other men how to take over Prospero and overthorw him he says that you must first take away his books. He says that Prospero's books are the only thing that gives him his power, because without his books he is just a simple man. This is just like in the Bible where Sampson gets his hair cut off and he looses all of his strength. The books in the Tempest and Sampson's hair are examples of the comparison between Shakespear's plays and the Bible. The next example is that in Hamlet he is made the scapegoat and is expelled from the kingdom and sent to England to be killed. In the Bible Jesus is made the scapegoat by accounting for all of the sins of mankind and he is 
hung on the corss. I am not sure if these simularties are just by coincedience or because they were ment to make people think about how life is just another retelling of the story of the Bible but just in a less intense way.
hung on the corss. I am not sure if these simularties are just by coincedience or because they were ment to make people think about how life is just another retelling of the story of the Bible but just in a less intense way. Scapegoat
This word came up in class on Monday and I thought that is was very interesting becuase I use it all of the time and I really have no idea what is means. I looked it up in the dictionary and found out that it is defined as one who is made to bear the blame of others. The second meaning in the dictionary is a definition from the Bible, and that says that the word meaning came from the Old Testament where all of the sins from the children of Isreal were confessed over the head of a live goat and then that goat bearing all of the sins of the children was sent to live in the wilderness. The more that I looked up this term scapegoat I realized that Christianity has many different scapegoats in it. The major one being Jesus who died on the cross for all of the sins of mankind. In the play Hamlet, did not have as deep of meaning as in the Bible, but Hamlet was made a scapegoat. It was made clear that Hamlet died, and acted the way that he did becasue of the people around him. Towards the end of the play he was blamed for all of the wrong that was happening in the kingdom. Once this happened he was expelled from the community and sent to England
to be killed. This is a classic example of the phrase and meaning behind the phrase of scapegoat. The term scapegoat has many different versions that are used in language on a daily bases, so the next time that you use the term scapegoat, whipping boy, fall guy, or patsy remember that there is a real meaning and definition that comes along with these words.
to be killed. This is a classic example of the phrase and meaning behind the phrase of scapegoat. The term scapegoat has many different versions that are used in language on a daily bases, so the next time that you use the term scapegoat, whipping boy, fall guy, or patsy remember that there is a real meaning and definition that comes along with these words. Hamlet
Hamlet the play was very interesting to be because the things that are happening to Hamlet in the play happen to people every day just in like I said was happening in the Tempest. Deception, greed, and revenge are all things that most people will confront in their lives sometime or another. The deception is when the new king (the uncle) kills the old king Hamlet Sr. This new king decieves the whole country when he takes the thrown without even an ounce of remorse. This brings up the matter of ethics, which deception, greed, and revenge all contribute to in some sort. Ethics as defined in Wikipedia is the values and customes of a person or of a group. As human beings we all have a ethical code not to kill or inflict harm on other people, this is my own opinion. With that said, then comes in greed which is harming other people around you, so that is not ethical in my mind. Finally revenge is obviously not ethical because getting back at a person for harming you will most likely be by you harming this other person. Ethics is what Shakespear was hinting at when he wrote this play. In my mind that is why Hamlet dies in the end, along with most of the other people. The new King dies, because he killed (not ethical), Laretes dies because he has taken revenge against Hamlet (not ethical), and Hamlet dies for the same reason, and that is REVENGE. Personaly I think that Shakespear writes these plays to be read and learned from in the same way that fairytales are ment to be read and learned from. 
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
The Tempest
The word tempest means a storm. The wikipedia explaniation of the play is a comedy, but lately it is being stated as a romance. I agree with both. The love story is the overall and constnet setting of the play, but the comedy is interwoven throughout the entire play. Before reading this play I didn't have any idea that Shakespeare wrote comedy. I thought that he only wrote very sad and love stories. This is because I had only really payed attention to the play called Romeo and Juliet, and this was only because there was a movie made of it that had Lenarod DiCaprio in it. He used to be the in thing. Getting back to the Tempest, I found it very interesting that words that were written about four hundred years ago are still funny today. I guess that times haven't changed that much, no matter what my parents and grandparents say. HA! HA! The parts of the play that are funny are things that are related to everyday events that we encounter now in these "modern" times. These events have changed throughout time, but the deeper meaning is still the same. This leads me to the point that the word modern really has no meaning. If something that was written four hundred years ago still makes sense today and can still be related to life in today's society then it cannot be a modern time that we are living in today. When these plays and poems that are written many years ago start to not make sense or are totally unrelateable to life, that is when we can call today modern.
Class Poems
The poems that were presented in class were all very interesting. I liked how each and everyone had it's own style and sound. Every poem sounds very different, not just by the words, but by how the different words are stressed and how they are combined. The part of the poems that I really was taken back by was that almost all of the poets that my classmates talked about were depressed. I had no idea that so many people who have made such an impact on literature were so unhappy. Depression is a serious medical condition that is cused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. There is help today wiht modern medicine, but at the time that many of these poems were written there was not any sort of treatment.
I was also interested in the fact that Dayle's poet was in to a cult type of thing. C
ult is a cohesive group of people dedicated to a belief or religion that the community or culture around them doesn't think of as part of the mainstream according to Wikipedia. I find it very interesting that this poet who was not considered a very rational person could be published in literature and many people don't even blink an eye when they read his poems. On the other hand there are many people that will not let their kids read Harry Potter becuase of the Wizardry involved. JK Rowling is a perfectly normal person who has kids of her own, but some people who consider her writing to be evil. The big misunderstanding is that she doesn't mean them to be evil, s
he just wants to get kids to read and to enjoy them for entertainment. Change
Ovid's Metamorhposis veiw on death was something that I wanted to write about because I have recently lost one of my very best friends. Her name was Sara Vigen and she got into a car accident on May 5, and passed away. I was haveing a really hard time dealing with everything that was going on in school and in my personal life now that she is gone. I was begining to act very resentful of people and of my religion. I was not headed in the write direction. When Mr. Sexson stared to talk about how Ovid's Metamorphoses describes death I realized that I agree completely. Nothing ever dies, it only changes. This line really helped me get through a tough time and I will remember this through out my entire life. A metamorphoses is a change which is exactly what I believe happens when someone dies. I don't believe in reincarnation, the belief that something is made flesh again, but a metamorphoses. An example of this would be the fact that if you write something down it will live forever in literature and in memories. The poem, Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day, says in its last couplet, "so long as men have eyes and eyes can read, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee." That says almost the same thing as nothing ever dies it only changes. The only thing is that you have to write it down. Sara was a great person who loved poetry, and she has changed into memories and Literature, she had not died. 
Control
This blog goes along with my posting of the poem that I was assigned to me and that was My Last Duchess. I wrote at the bottom the my prestentation that I compare this poem to people today because of the fact that at the job there is a controll that is not there in the home. At home a person really doesn't really have the controll that they wish they had, you can say that you can control your family, but in real life there is no such thing as control over your family.
My family is the perfect example of this sense of control. When I was growing up we went of a vacation every summer. We would either go to Disney Land, or to a Lake, or some place like that. At that time my two sisters and myself were all small and listened to everything my parents said. Their word was the LAW. A few years passed by and we were growing up, we didn't listen to what my Mom and Dad told us to do. They had lost total controll of their family and they things they said and the way that they act. We suddenly stopped going on vacation each summer, and the excuse was that my parents were just to busy with work to take any time off.
I see myself falling into this controll pattern. After getting involved with this poem I realized that I am like Alfonso. I am like him because I like to control the things around me. An example of this is my major. I majored in Neuroscience, and Chemistry, and in these sciences there is a sense of control that I have because there is a exact way that things need to be done, and the instructions are very black and white. This class has been very difficult for me because there is no real write and wrong way to do something, and the instructions are all gray. I feel like I have lost control and this is not something that I like. I am glad that I have taken this class because it made me realize that I need spots of gray in my black and white world.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
My Last Duchess
My Last Duchess is a dramatic monologue written by a British poet and playwright by the name of Robert Browning. He is one of the most famous Victorian poets. A Victorian poet is one who wrote literature in the time when Queen Victorian ruled which was from 1837-1901. While growing up Robert Browning attended many privet schools, but ended up hating school, and finished his schooling through a personal tutor. His College career only lasted one year, and then he decided to grow up. Marriage was next for this poet, and his wife was Elizabeth Barrett who was also a Victorian poet. Elizabeth was so famous that she influenced many people, one of which was Emily Dickinson. Together Robert and Elizabeth had one son whom they called Robert Wiedmann Barrett Browning. Elizabeth died a few years later. Robert Browning was not famous during the time that Elizabeth was alive, he was just known and being Elizabeth Barrett’s husband. Finally he started to make some money off of his poetry and now is known all ov
er the literature world as himself, not just Elizabeth Barrett’s husband. He is mostly known for two things, Men and Women, and Dramatis Personae.
This specific dramatic monologue, My Last Duchess, first appears in his Dramatic Lyrics along with his most famous poem of all, “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.” The beginning of My Last Duchess starts with a person talking to a silent listener. The word Ferrara precedes the monologue which indicates that Alfonso II the fifth Duke of Ferrara is probably the narrator. In Real life Alfonso II was married to Lucrezia de Medici who in their terms was from “new money.” He hated this because in his mind his family had been around and respected for hundreds of years, “old money,” so obviously he was better than her. Alfonso II only married her because she came with a huge dowry. Lucerzia died very mysteriously, and many people thought it was a murder. Alfonso II then remarried to a well known lady who was from an “old money” family. The silent listener in the monologue is thought to be this new bride’s uncle’s chief of entourage who was in charge of arranging the marriage.
The narrator in the monologue mentions first a personal belonging, the painting on the wall. He then goes on to talk about the women in the painting who was his last wife that is dead now. He also makes it very clear who painted it for him, Fra’ Pandolf (fictional character). Just by how the monologue starts we realize that this man is a very self praising person talking only about his belongings and the things he can control. The narrator goes on to talk about that little sparkle in her eye and the slight flush look that she has in the painting. The feeling the speaker gives off seems to be very angry when he says that it was not her husband who gave her this glow or sparkle, but it was everyone she passed on a daily basis. Obviously she was made to smile to easily, because she would smile at even the lowest of pheasants. This is not acceptable, because, didn’t she know that who he was? He has a name that is nine hundred years old, and she treated him the same as she treated the pheasants. Finally he told her to stop, but she kept doing it, because she probably didn’t even know what she was doing. He got so mad, at the fact that he couldn’t control her and her actions that he gave a command and all the smiling stopped, which means that he had her killed so that he would never be treated on the same level as the lowly pheasants again. Alfonso II told the listener this story, either to warn the listener of how his new wife should act, or to brag about how much control and power he had. The very end of the monologue he draws attention to another personal belonging, a sculpture, which shows that he is wrapped up in all things that he can own or control.
er the literature world as himself, not just Elizabeth Barrett’s husband. He is mostly known for two things, Men and Women, and Dramatis Personae.This specific dramatic monologue, My Last Duchess, first appears in his Dramatic Lyrics along with his most famous poem of all, “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.” The beginning of My Last Duchess starts with a person talking to a silent listener. The word Ferrara precedes the monologue which indicates that Alfonso II the fifth Duke of Ferrara is probably the narrator. In Real life Alfonso II was married to Lucrezia de Medici who in their terms was from “new money.” He hated this because in his mind his family had been around and respected for hundreds of years, “old money,” so obviously he was better than her. Alfonso II only married her because she came with a huge dowry. Lucerzia died very mysteriously, and many people thought it was a murder. Alfonso II then remarried to a well known lady who was from an “old money” family. The silent listener in the monologue is thought to be this new bride’s uncle’s chief of entourage who was in charge of arranging the marriage.
The narrator in the monologue mentions first a personal belonging, the painting on the wall. He then goes on to talk about the women in the painting who was his last wife that is dead now. He also makes it very clear who painted it for him, Fra’ Pandolf (fictional character). Just by how the monologue starts we realize that this man is a very self praising person talking only about his belongings and the things he can control. The narrator goes on to talk about that little sparkle in her eye and the slight flush look that she has in the painting. The feeling the speaker gives off seems to be very angry when he says that it was not her husband who gave her this glow or sparkle, but it was everyone she passed on a daily basis. Obviously she was made to smile to easily, because she would smile at even the lowest of pheasants. This is not acceptable, because, didn’t she know that who he was? He has a name that is nine hundred years old, and she treated him the same as she treated the pheasants. Finally he told her to stop, but she kept doing it, because she probably didn’t even know what she was doing. He got so mad, at the fact that he couldn’t control her and her actions that he gave a command and all the smiling stopped, which means that he had her killed so that he would never be treated on the same level as the lowly pheasants again. Alfonso II told the listener this story, either to warn the listener of how his new wife should act, or to brag about how much control and power he had. The very end of the monologue he draws attention to another personal belonging, a sculpture, which shows that he is wrapped up in all things that he can own or control.
This monologue is so true today as it was in the Victorian Era. I compare the subject of control that Alfonso II had over the people around him to the workplace. Today many working families do not go on vacations. They say that they just can’t leave their job for a period of time, or that they are so busy they just can’t spare an extra moment. I think that the real reason for the lack of vacationing is that people do not want to go on vacation with their families because they can’t control how their families will act or how they will talk, but in the work place these people usually do have control over how their part of the job is run. They have more control in the workplace than they do at home, so they really don’t like going home to a house where they don’t have control. 
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Retellings by the English 123 Class
I rea
lly liked all of the stories that everyone wrote and presented. I thought that everyone put tons of effort and time into their stories. Listening to the different presentations they all were pretty obvious what other story they were trying to play off of and what they were going for with each of them. The one that wasn't very clear to me was the story that Patrick wrote. During class I really didn't get it, but when I went home and thought about it I really started to like it. The way that I understand his story is that the city is the wolf and the main person in the story is Little Red Riding Hood. I thought this was a really cool way to look at things because I kind of feel the same way. I am going to be moveing to Phoenix Arizona next spring to 
attend PA School. I have lived in Montana my entire life, and most of that in Belt Montana where everyone knows everyone else. The population of Belt is about 800-1000 people, this doesn't even compare to Phoenix. Bozeman is the largest place that I have ever lived in and even this doesn't compare to Phoenix. I feel that I related with Patrick's story because when I have to move out of my safe little corner of the world I will be intimidated by the level of the City and the rate at which it functions at, just like the main person in his story.
lly liked all of the stories that everyone wrote and presented. I thought that everyone put tons of effort and time into their stories. Listening to the different presentations they all were pretty obvious what other story they were trying to play off of and what they were going for with each of them. The one that wasn't very clear to me was the story that Patrick wrote. During class I really didn't get it, but when I went home and thought about it I really started to like it. The way that I understand his story is that the city is the wolf and the main person in the story is Little Red Riding Hood. I thought this was a really cool way to look at things because I kind of feel the same way. I am going to be moveing to Phoenix Arizona next spring to 
attend PA School. I have lived in Montana my entire life, and most of that in Belt Montana where everyone knows everyone else. The population of Belt is about 800-1000 people, this doesn't even compare to Phoenix. Bozeman is the largest place that I have ever lived in and even this doesn't compare to Phoenix. I feel that I related with Patrick's story because when I have to move out of my safe little corner of the world I will be intimidated by the level of the City and the rate at which it functions at, just like the main person in his story.
This is a picture of a part of Belt, MT that I found on the internet.
The Soldier and the Nurse
Last November a young nursing student named Jill was working at a hospital in Billings, Montana
. She was going to graduate in just one short month. Everything was going her way, and her life was falling into the frame that she had always imagined. The one thing that she didn’t have was a boyfriend, or husband. Her father really made this an issue. When she would talk to him on the phone, he would always ask if she had met anyone yet, or if she would like to be set up with someone when she came home to visit. This thought about a serious life change had never crossed Jill’s mind. She only thought about graduating and eventually joining the army so she could help the injured solders who had gone down in battle.
. She was going to graduate in just one short month. Everything was going her way, and her life was falling into the frame that she had always imagined. The one thing that she didn’t have was a boyfriend, or husband. Her father really made this an issue. When she would talk to him on the phone, he would always ask if she had met anyone yet, or if she would like to be set up with someone when she came home to visit. This thought about a serious life change had never crossed Jill’s mind. She only thought about graduating and eventually joining the army so she could help the injured solders who had gone down in battle.The month flew by and Jill finally graduated. She passed her national board exam with flying colors; she was a very smart young lady. There were job offers given to her from all around Montana, but Jill passed them all up so that she could join the army. Her father really didn’t like this turn her life was taking because, now there is no way she will find a husband to settle down with. Even thought Jill’s father didn’t like her choice she went ahead with it, and came out of basic training feeling great about her self. With the United States in a war against terrorism Jill’s skills were in great demand. She was quickly sent off to Iraq to work in a field hospital.
Jill had been working there for close to three months, and it was starting to wear her down. She was working 20 hours a day, with no time for her self. One morning the sky was very overcast and even though the clock said 11:00 in the morning it felt more like 11:00 at night. With the weather acting so strange there was no question that something bad was going to happen. The weather was right, a huge battle broke out just ten miles from the field hospital that Jill was stationed at. Solders were coming in by the hundreds with injuries, and there was total chaos in the hospital. Jill was runnin
g around trying to be in three places at once, and then she saw a solder being carried in on a stretcher. She only caught a glimpse of him, and then he was gone. This pandemonium in the hospital went on for the rest of the day and into the night. Finally the solders stopped coming in and Jill could catch her breath.
While on a break Jill remembered the feeling that she got when that solder on the stretcher was carted passed her, and just thinking about him gave her the same feeling again. She suddenly knew that she needed to find out who this man was. Jill searched the entire hospital until she found him. His name was Duane and he had such a horrific injury to his face that it was wrapped in gauze and his face could not be seen. She was just staring at him, and that same feeling came back to her. She couldn’t figure out if it was fear or just butterflies. Suddenly he opened his mouth and barked orders at her to get him some water. He went on and on with all sorts of orders for her, he was not a nice man. After she had spoken to him, Jill decided that it was fear that she felt when Duane was around.
The weeks passed, and Jill found her self paying attention only to Duane and not to anyone else, he had consumed her every thought. Finally her time served in Iraq was coming to an end. She was given her release papers and had decided to go home to her father in Geraldine, Montana. The day that Jill was supposed to leave the field hospital, Duane gave her one last order, and that was to come live with him in Boston at his house and take care of him. Because Jill was still filled with fear when she was around him she could only say yes. She called her father and told him what she was going to do, and they flew to Boston to start Duane’s recovery.
The house that they drove up to was huge, and had a great big lawn and garden surrounding it. Duane still had his face all bandaged up, so Jill had never seen his real face. The days went on and Duane was very bitter and short to Jill. She couldn’t understand why she had come to Boston with such a mean man that she didn’t even know. One morning Duane was playing fetch with his dog, and the moment Jill was in sight Duane instantly got mean and snapped at the dog. Jill went to the dog to comforted him, then she went to scold Duane, but the next thing that she knew they were kissing. It was the best thing she had ever felt. She felt totally free. After the kiss Duane started to relax around Jill and treat her with respect and gratitude. A week passed and they were falling in love. Jill couldn’t believe it; she was falling in love with a man that she had never seen his face before.
One more month went by, and Duane asked Jill to marry her. She instantly said yes, but then hesitated and said “but I have never seen your face before.” She didn’t know if she could love someone with such a bad injury on their face. Duane was heart broken, but he said that there is only one way to find out, and he took off the bandages. Jill’s mouth dropped wide open, and then she ran into his arms yelling “I L
ove You.” Duane had terrible scars all over his face, but Jill didn’t care. They got married and lived a very long life together. At the wedding Jill’s father had made the comment that, “Wow, a beauty can really love a beast!”
Jill had been working there for close to three months, and it was starting to wear her down. She was working 20 hours a day, with no time for her self. One morning the sky was very overcast and even though the clock said 11:00 in the morning it felt more like 11:00 at night. With the weather acting so strange there was no question that something bad was going to happen. The weather was right, a huge battle broke out just ten miles from the field hospital that Jill was stationed at. Solders were coming in by the hundreds with injuries, and there was total chaos in the hospital. Jill was runnin
g around trying to be in three places at once, and then she saw a solder being carried in on a stretcher. She only caught a glimpse of him, and then he was gone. This pandemonium in the hospital went on for the rest of the day and into the night. Finally the solders stopped coming in and Jill could catch her breath.While on a break Jill remembered the feeling that she got when that solder on the stretcher was carted passed her, and just thinking about him gave her the same feeling again. She suddenly knew that she needed to find out who this man was. Jill searched the entire hospital until she found him. His name was Duane and he had such a horrific injury to his face that it was wrapped in gauze and his face could not be seen. She was just staring at him, and that same feeling came back to her. She couldn’t figure out if it was fear or just butterflies. Suddenly he opened his mouth and barked orders at her to get him some water. He went on and on with all sorts of orders for her, he was not a nice man. After she had spoken to him, Jill decided that it was fear that she felt when Duane was around.
The weeks passed, and Jill found her self paying attention only to Duane and not to anyone else, he had consumed her every thought. Finally her time served in Iraq was coming to an end. She was given her release papers and had decided to go home to her father in Geraldine, Montana. The day that Jill was supposed to leave the field hospital, Duane gave her one last order, and that was to come live with him in Boston at his house and take care of him. Because Jill was still filled with fear when she was around him she could only say yes. She called her father and told him what she was going to do, and they flew to Boston to start Duane’s recovery.
The house that they drove up to was huge, and had a great big lawn and garden surrounding it. Duane still had his face all bandaged up, so Jill had never seen his real face. The days went on and Duane was very bitter and short to Jill. She couldn’t understand why she had come to Boston with such a mean man that she didn’t even know. One morning Duane was playing fetch with his dog, and the moment Jill was in sight Duane instantly got mean and snapped at the dog. Jill went to the dog to comforted him, then she went to scold Duane, but the next thing that she knew they were kissing. It was the best thing she had ever felt. She felt totally free. After the kiss Duane started to relax around Jill and treat her with respect and gratitude. A week passed and they were falling in love. Jill couldn’t believe it; she was falling in love with a man that she had never seen his face before.
One more month went by, and Duane asked Jill to marry her. She instantly said yes, but then hesitated and said “but I have never seen your face before.” She didn’t know if she could love someone with such a bad injury on their face. Duane was heart broken, but he said that there is only one way to find out, and he took off the bandages. Jill’s mouth dropped wide open, and then she ran into his arms yelling “I L
ove You.” Duane had terrible scars all over his face, but Jill didn’t care. They got married and lived a very long life together. At the wedding Jill’s father had made the comment that, “Wow, a beauty can really love a beast!” Thursday, May 31, 2007
Smooth Talk and The Golden Chariot
The "golden chariot" that Arnold Frined was driving in the story Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?, and the "golden chariot" that Arnold Friend was driving in the movie Smooth Talk usually would not have made me think twice about the color similiarity, but after I had thought about it and then realized that Hati had driven a golden chariot, it made more sense. The golden chariot is a sign of a bad person, or a bad character. The author can talk about the character they are describing, and subtally a person can determine if that person or character is good or evil just by these different linkes to other stories or myths. After makeing that connection I read the story of The Pied Piper of Tucson and in this story Charles Howard Schmid Jr. also known as Smitty, also drove a "golden chariot." Once I read about his car I was sure that he was the evil character in this story. The golden charoits that Arnold Friend drives, and the one that Smitty drive are different of course from the on
e that Hati drives, but they are similar in many ways.
e that Hati drives, but they are similar in many ways.The main similarity is the color, but the other similarities are about the feeling that the chariot gives off. The feeling like something dangerous and mysterous has just driven up beside you gives you shivers all up and down your back. Connie kind of gets this feeling and so do the girls that were associated with Smitty. That feeling is not just in books and movies, but when a person knows that they are doing something that they shouldn't be doing they also get that feeling. I think that this is one of the major feelings that all of these stories are trying to get across, the feeling that doing something off limits is adventerous.
Just like in this cartoon, Sam knows that serving sharks is off limits, and dangerous, but is feels so good to escape something like that so people do it time and time again.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Where are you Going, Where Have You Been?
In this story I really liked how Joyce Carol Oates made a mental picture of the "BAD GUY." She described him as just kind of a greeser. For example the sterotype bad guy with dark
hair and mirror refelcting sunglasses. I couldn't tell from the begining what story this one was retelling, but by the end I could see that it was a retelling of many different stories, for example there is a wicked stepmother part like in Snow White, an evil sister part like in Cinderella, and a big bad wolf part like in The Three Little Pigs. Here is an example of what I picture a wicked stepmother, and the evil sister to look like.
hair and mirror refelcting sunglasses. I couldn't tell from the begining what story this one was retelling, but by the end I could see that it was a retelling of many different stories, for example there is a wicked stepmother part like in Snow White, an evil sister part like in Cinderella, and a big bad wolf part like in The Three Little Pigs. Here is an example of what I picture a wicked stepmother, and the evil sister to look like.
I also liked this story because it is a story about something that your parents tell you not to do everyday while you are growing up, and that is NOT TO TALK TO STRANGERS!!! I can't count the number of times that my parents told me this. I was just looking on the web about talking to strangers, and I found these lyrics about talking to strangers that are kind of interesting. http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Never%20Talk%20to%20Strangers.
This story also ends with a very vague ending. It gives the reader the chance to think about what happens next, or what else could happen. I think that once Connie gets into the car she beats the crap out of Arnold Friend and his friend Ellie is afraid of what might happen to him so he drives off and leaves Arnold Friend for the police.
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