Beloved

    Now that I have finally read and watched Beloved, I definitely get a better jist of this masterpiece. The scenes in the movie that corresponded to the scenes in the book fit well together but that doesn't neccessarily mean they were played out to the best of their ability.
    The first scene that I would want to discuss would be an opening scene where Paul D steps into Sethe's house and is overcome by an eerie feeling. Personally, the book gives more detail on this and I'd expect it to be a little bit more creepier. Instead they just added a red glow and shakiness. The scene didn't really creep me out that much mostly because it looked really fake. Especially the red light. So they most definitely could have done a better job at portraying it but I understand they didn't have much to work with.
    Now don't even get me started on the scene where Paul D is battling it out with the ghost. I mean, come on. Could a little baby ghost really do all of that and then all of them acting as if it never happened even though their kitchen is completely trashed? The only thing that actually managed to creep me out about the scene was Denver's cynical little smile. It sort of caught me off guard and yeah, woo. Glad that was over. Terrible scene though. He's literally yelling at the ghost. Like dude, who are you yelling at? And then it disappears. And all Denver is worried about is the damn biscuits. Makes no sense but it was an alright scene.
    Next, I'd like to give them credit for getting most of the scenes where they have sex right. Paul D and Sethe go at it a lot, but isn't Paul D not supposed to like it that much? I remember in the first scene where they do it, he says he didn't really enjoy it yet he still continues to have sex with her? Yeah, makes total sense.
    One thing that really got me though was the scene where they find Beloved. Isn't she supposed to be coming out of a river under a tree instead of at their front door? I feel like they were way off on that. Plus, I don't understand why that scene would've been so difficult to recreate. They just screwed that up completely in my opinion.
    They seem to portray all of the characters very accurately though. Especially Beloved. Though her behavior is pretty creepy, I guess the book does no better in relieving that. But for the most part, it was a good movie. I understand it was hard to get all of the details in just right but they did a fair job. Way to go Oprah!

well...

Well, I feel like it was a close call. Both sides
had good points and
supported their ideas well but ultimately, I feel
as if we won. We
mostly one because we brought on some key
points that the other side had trouble going against. They'd bring up ideas but often at
times their
point seemed invalid to the argument. They
mostly held up the same key
points and didn't really come up with anything
new while we kept the ideas flowing. I doubt either sides were that well
organized but we
managed to get our ideas down in the time
provided and deliver them
fairly smoothly. So yeah, I think this one goes to
us.

Does the past ever really die?

The past never stays dead, no matter how badly you'd want it to. This is true in Sethe's case because it seems as if she is reliving the past all over again. And now Beloved is claiming to be Sethe's dead daughter? A bit too weird. As Sethe goes on, she has these memories that remind her of the past, like the one where her mother died and she tried to run to her dead body to identify the marking on it but she was pulled away by Nan. Sethe's past seems to haunt her still and it's evident that she will not run away from it any longer.

In The Piano Lesson, Berniece and Boy Willie's past don't seem to leave them either and it was the fact that they brought their past back up that ended up saving them from Sutter's ghost. I think this is probably I sign that no matter what, you shouldn't forget about the past because you wouldn't be the person you are today without out.

As for me, I have my own past to deal with. I was 7 years old when my father passed away. I watched him die right in front of me and I remember attempting to run to him but my mother held me back and wouldn't let me. I couldn't believe what had happened. I just wanted to run over there and make sure that my dad was okay, but I guess then I didn't know any better. He had been crushed by a tree and it still stays with me to this day even though it's been over 10 years. It changed my life and my families life completely and a day doesn't go by that I don't think about it. Some days are worse than others but to answer the question, no. The past never dies.

The Debate

I have to say, I feel like the debate got really heated towards the end there and I agree, I wish we had more time. I felt as if everyone had ideas to bring to the table and at times we were even debating over each other but all in all, I gotta say that we won. Mr. B, great ideas there and great speaking to get your point across but I feel as if you only managed to stick to 2 points and repeated yourself. On the other hand, we brought up new ideas every time for why the book should be taught. You definitely had good rebuttals for them but eventually you drew the same conclusion that was supported by little evidence and based solely off of your own opinion. But hey, that's just my opinion. I feel as if we should get more time though towards the future to actually allow everyone to speak and express their own ideas.

Ironic Hipster

Well, in this rage comic right hurr, the guy obviously tells his friend how he hates hipsters and we all know hipsters supposedly did things "before" they were "hip". His friend, being the dumbass that he is, says he did all that stuff before the hipsters. This one pretty much explains itself, you know?

Dear Mr. Twain...

Dear Mr. Twain, 

                  I gotta say, I really love your books. Especially your usage of dialect and just making your characters come to life. I'm reading Huckleberry Finn at the moment and boy, what a story. I'm around chapter 26 right now and I have to say, I'm glad we're discovering how good of a person Huck really is. At first, I felt as if he was just another bad kid, like Tom Sawyer, but he's so much more than that. The fact that he tells Mary Jane about the money and finally decides to escape from the dauphin and the Duke is a big step for him. It sort of was perfect timing for the Wilk's brothers to finally show up though and expose the frauds. I just feel like even with that, they still weren't able to expose them fully, which it should've been evident. In this I can definitely tell that Huck is selfless and instead of keeping the money like he could've, all he cares about is escaping with Jim. I can see that Huck and Jim's relationship is growing and there's a lot more trust between them now. Huck is developing into a very deep character and finally showing how good of a person he really is. I guess the only thing I don't like at this point is that the dauphin and the Duke manage to find their way back to Huck. They sort of annoy me so yeah. But so far, great story, dude. 

                                                                                                                               Sincerely,

                                                                                                                            Dajana Dubric

Huck Finn

So pretty much at this point, Huck and Jim are still found with the dauphin and the duke. They're rehearsing lines of Hamlet but obviously, they don't know too much about it, but Huck still seems to find all of this very interesting. We're then taken over to a scene where some man has killed another and a mob forms to lynch him. Huck witnesses this and it sort of still shows the whole idea that there is chaos and drama wherever he goes. After that, the duke and the dauphin post flyers that they will perform a play but they don't seem to do too well. They then post another one, but only intended for men. The performance is short though and the crowd feels as if they were ripped off, but tend to take it out on the other towns people, claiming that the play was actually good so that they get ripped off as well. They earn well over 400 dollars but make their escape on the third night. Huck also witnesses a circus, where one man is doing a dangerous task. While everyone else is cheering though, Huck can't bare to watch because he is afraid for the mans life and doesn't understand why anyone would want to do anything so dangerous. Jim is now complaining that he's always tied up while everyone else leaves and goes out. They enter into the next town and find out about some guy who has just died but left an inheritance for his two brothers. The duke and the dauphin take this opportunity and go to the Wilks', claiming to be the two brothers. The plot works and they both receive 6,000 dollars. Huck feels great disgust towards them and how low they can be in performing something so terrible. This shows that Huck is a truly good person and even though he has done many things to lie and run away, he still has a conscience and manages to keep a hold of his morals.

Othello Questions

1. Evidence that is added to the case now is that Iago claims that Cassio has told him he has slept with Desdemona.

2. I feel as if it was way too planned out and perfect timing for Iago. I mean, there are some instances where that could just be a major spot on timing thing but the actuality of something like that happening isn't too great. The handkerchief is very important because it is sort of like a symbol of Othello's love for Desdemona. Othello tells the story of how his father gave it to his mother and it was supposed to be some type of magical handkerchief which is supposed to keep Desdemona in love with Othello which to me just proves how insecure he really is.

3. He feels as if there is no forgiving a "whore" and Iago has pretty much convinced him that all of these accusations are true.

5. Emilia and Desdemona are both very loyal to their husbands and not willing to cheat on them for any reason.

6. The speech where Othello calls Desdemona a cunning whore of Venice who would only marry Othello but in all actuality, she has been extremely faithful to him.

       Part V
1. The events that led to Iago's demise would have to be when all of them are in Desdemona and Othello's room where Desdemona lays dead and they are having a conversation on the handkerchief and Emilia brings up that she was the one who gave Iago the handkerchief in the first place and that is pretty much when they all realize that Iago has been the one behind all of this.

4. I would say that a lot of factors play into Othello wanting to kill Desdemona. Mostly because he feels betrayed and extremely hurt and also seeks revenge but I also feel as if his pride gets in the way.

5. He is saying that he didn't necessarily love in the wisest fashion but he did love her deeply.

6. I feel as if it does because you get to see his noble side which is very calm and collected instead of frantic and in a trance like state and he seems to have recovered from his jealous passions that caused him to kill his wife.

I'm running out of titles here...

So I guess the article that I would have to find the most compelling would probably be by E. R. Dodds. I felt like that one caught most of my attention and made the most sense to me. I strongly believe that Oedipus uncovers the human illusion of happiness and the human thirst for wanting to solve every riddle, just like this dude mentions. I feel like all of the other articles make good points but I guess I sort of had some trouble seeing exactly where they were going but this one went straight to the point, which I liked. The most compelling point that he brings up is the one of how if every man could do what Oedipus did and uncover the truth, we all would be able to see human life as the gods and time sees it. I feel like that's pretty much right. That we are all just stuck in this illusion of life and most of us are too afraid to uncover it and see it for what it really is.

Oedipus Questions

1. Tiresias seems to give massive detail into Oedipus' guilt. He describes how he is his own downfall and that he killed his father alone. I felt as if at that point, Oedipus should have realized that what Tiresias was saying was true but he needed more proof I guess? It was very long and dragged out but it definitely helped build suspense and also pity towards Oedipus.

3. I do agree with this but I also feel as if he should have known sooner. Why wait that long to try to uncover the mystery? Why not want to find out which man you killed in the first place? I feel as if though these events could have possibly been prevented but then again, I don't feel as if he had much control over these things until it was too late.

5. I feel as if Jocasta is sort of in between. She is a queen and we don't necessarily see her develop too much until she realizes that Oedipus is her son. She also isn't stuck up like a queen usually would be. We see her develop more of a personality when the shepherd and messenger are uncovering the truth of Oedipus' birth.

6. Dramatic irony is when the words and actions of the characters have different meaning than what they are meant to mean. Examples that I find in this play would be when Oedipus says he's going to kill the man that murdered King Laius when in all actuality, the man he is searching for is himself. The audience is then aware of this while the character goes on and on, making you feel pity for him.

7. It sort of gives the audience an advantage of being creative and imagining in their own minds how everything went down but more of a disadvantage because people like to see that sort of stuff. Sure, it may be pretty gruesome but it just adds more intensity to the play.

8. He blinds himself because he claims that his eyes have never been able to see anything but pain and the will never see happiness or fortune.

9. I actually feel really bad for him at this point and sort of like him a bit more. I wouldn't say he got what he deserved because I don't think anybody deserves to go through anything that dramatic.

11. It leaves me with pretty much the same attitude that I've always had towards the gods. That they are all knowing and really can see everything that goes on. In a way they sort of do but life isn't easy. And it doesn't always end on a happy note.

12. The normal person would say that it would but I don't. I feel as if now that they finally have found the man who killed King Laius, the land and the people will now prosper in his exile.


Theme Statement: People tend to be blind to what is so clearly brought to light.

.....

So I guess we're onto reading plays now? Sweet. Well this dude, Oedipus, is pretty arrogant and worst of all, he doesn't even  realize. You know what else he doesn't seem to realize? The fact that it's because of him in the first place that his people are now suffering. Nice one, man. How ironic. And he probably looks like an idiot when he finds out the killer is himself.
So not only is his hamartia the reason for why he killed his so called father but also the reason for why pain and suffering is upon his people and supposedly himself. I haven't necessarily seen any catharsis yet so I'm guessing that's more towards the end of the play? And I'm guessing pathos is used because even though this guy is really cocky and has brought all of this upon himself, you should sort of still feel sorry for him.