Claude Monet’s “The Boat Studio”

The painting that I choose to write about is “The Boat Studio” by Claude Monet.

Frank finally looks up from his cubicle to see the people around him. To the left, one of his younger co workers are in the conference room with the boss, probably getting the promotion he thought he would get fifteen years ago.  Looking in the cubical right beside him, he sees two people he has been working at this death trap with for almost fifty years. All of them had stayed here, in the same cubicles with the same decorations, while newer and younger employees come in and take different promotions that have never been offered to them. Suddenly the phone rings, without really thinking about it he answers, goes through the company provided questions, listens to the person on the other end scream at him, then he finally hangs up.

After a cold lunch, five more hours of phone calls, and one promotion party for the man who had only been there for a month, Frank grabs his bag and walks slowly to his car. Getting in he sighs, as the car barely starts again. He turns the radio on, listening to an old country music station with static coming in every other word. Turning out of the parking lot, he begins the long drive home. On the way he zones out, eyes glazed over as he passes the trees, swamps, and overgrown grass. He puts on the blinker to turn into his driveway.

Walking into the house, he is immediately greeted by his golden retriever, Bud. Frank hangs his keys on a hook, puts his jacket on the rack, puts down his bag and then proceeds out the back door. He pauses and looks at the swamp, then walks down to his house boat. He made it himself, with a base, roof and sides, hollow in the middle. He detaches the boat from the dock, calls out to Bud as he jumps on at the last second. Frank begins to float in the swamp as the sun sets. He picks up his book off the floor and begins reading, in the exact spot he ended the day before.

Train Story Homework

 

On the train, I look in the mirror at the face staring back at me. How did I get here? What am I doing? I turn and grab the handle of the restroom and leave, smiling at the person in line. As I walk out the car and make my way to the last car of the train, I run through the events of the day. Honestly, this morning started off pretty boring and normal. Actually, all my mornings recently have been going this way. Every day the same thing, I wake up, ride the train to work, go sit at a boring job for eight hours, and then get back on the train to go home. It seems as if I am not even a person anymore, more like a robot just going through the motions, no new challenges, events, or discussions. Instead, it is the same thing every day, day after day.

However, last night was different. I can’t exactly explain it, but something was different about the air. Leaving work, I could feel that something was going to happen. Walking to the train station and getting on, I just shake off the feeling and get on the train. After 15 minutes of  the ride, I realize I am the only person left on the train. As the train stops again, I see a women wearing a bizarre hat and a folded up map get on along with a younger man carrying a large box. At first, I pay no attention to them. They then sit down and start talking in what I believe to be gibberish. The man turns to me and asks me where this train is headed. Finding it odd as they just got on, I answer anyway. The man thanks me then goes back to talking to the women.

Looking up, I realize I have missed my stop while answering the man. Frustrated I slump back into my seat. Feeling someone touch my arm, I turn around and see the woman. She is showing me some location on the map, trying to ask me a question that I cannot understand. Frantically searching for the man to help me, he takes the map from the woman’s gripping hand and translates. Answering the question, he then proceeds to tell me about his life. He tells me how he and his mother came to America when he was a little boy, and he lost his father a few years after that. He and his mother were going on a vacation, but it was difficult as his mother rarely wanted to leave the house. I see the box he is carrying and realize that was all they brought with their clothes in it. Throughout the train, I continue to talk to him, missing stop after stop to get off.

Leaving the bathroom, I think about the past hours spent talking to these two people. There lives are far different then mine, yet in these few hours they have taught me so much. Holding on to the sides as I walk from car to car to get to the back of the train, I look inside and see the two of them there, hunched over the map in a discussion. When I go back into the car, the young man informs me they have reached their stop. The woman then gives me a hug as she is leaving and I watch as they both step off. As the train drives off, I look out the window and see them starting to walk away. I turn back around in my seat and look for my next stop.

Poems

 

After initially reading and studying the title, I found interesting things about both of the poems. In “When I Have Fears,” by John Keats, he writes about dying young, and a concern over doing so. The speaker is afraid to die young, before doing everything that he wants and before getting everything out of his brain that he can. Moreover, he is concerned that he will be forgotten and die before he has a chance to actually do something with his life. Some initial devices that struck out to me where rhyme scheme, alliteration and metaphors. Similarly, the second poem “Mezzo Cammin,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow discusses life. The speaker feels pain about not doing all that he would have liked to do in his youth. However, he also feels hopeful about the future and what he will be able to accomplish. He knows that death is the only thing certain about his future.

The big question is what are the poems situations and circumstances, with also comparing and contrasting the two poems together. The first poem answers it by his situation being wanting to get everything done he wants to before dying.  The second poems situation is someone who has regrets about his past, yet hope for the future and certainty in death. Devices for Keats poem are rhyme scheme, imagery, alliteration and metaphors. Some examples of  imagery in the poem are “hadows with the magic hand of chance” and “Of the wide world I stand alone.” Devices for Longfellow’s poem are rhyme scheme, imagery, metaphor, and symbolism. On symbol is at the end of the poem when Longfellow talks about autumn, which is a symbol for ending of life and the end of ones journey. For my essay, I would spend one paragraph talking about imagery and the second paragraph talking about symbols.

Thesis Statement:

In “When I Have Fears,” by John Keats, the speakers situation is one of fearing death and wanting to accomplish everything they can before dying while in “Mezzo Cammin” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow the speakers situation is one of regret regarding his youth but hope regarding the future.

Topic Sentence #1:In both poems, Keats and Longfellow apply imagery in order to convey their respective situations.

detail 1: “When I have Fears”:”hadows with the magic hand of chance” and “Of the wide world I stand alone”

detail 2: “Mezzo Cammin”: “half of my life is gone, and I have let the years slip from me” and “with smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights”

Topic Sentence #2: Additionally, in the Keats and Longfellow poems both authors use symbols in order to enhance the speakers situations.

detail 1: “When I have Fears”: nights and clouds

detail 2:”Mezzo Cammin”: autumn

 

Hamlet Question

For the panel discussion, I had the question regarding the women in Hamlet. Fortunately, I happened to thoroughly enjoy this question and focusing on the characters Ophelia and Gertrude and what Shakespeare is stating through them as well as the way that the men act around them. For this blog post, I decided to tackle the question that I found most interesting during the panel discussion, the question about Hamlets madness. Overall, I believe Hamlets madness to be an act. However at times he does slip too far into the plot of madness that results in unintended consequences.

First off, I believe that for the most part Hamlet simply acts to be mad and crazed instead of actually full on falling into the madness. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet tells Horatio “as I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on,” I.v.170-172) after talking to the ghost and realizing that King Claudius murdered his father. Due to the fact that Hamlet comes out and states how he is going to act mad, it makes it hard to believe that he does fully go mad during the play. If he had not outright stated that he would pretend to be mad and not to worry or tell others about him, his actions would allow people to believe that he is mad. However, since he mentions to Horatio how he is going to act mad, it is hard for me to fully believe that he has gone completely mad. Additionally, Hamlet asks the player if “old friend, can you play ‘The Murder of Gonzago?” (II.iii.494-495), so then he can see Claudius’s reaction to tell if he really did murder his brother the king. Hamlet so carefully orchestrated this set up for Claudius, from making sure Claudius would go, to setting up the play, to watching Claudius’s reaction. Therefore, due to the fact that it would take such plotting and a sharp mind to arrange this, I do not believe Hamlet becomes completely mad. Since Hamlet mentions his plan of madness to Horatio and plots out the play that catches Claudius in the trap, I do not believe he goes completely mad.

On the other hand, sometimes I do believe that Hamlet does slip so far into his plan to act mad that he causes unintended consequences that increase his madness portreyal. For example, when Hamlet is talking to the Queen, he kills a spying Polonius stating “how now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!” (III.iv.23-24). Hamlet, while pretending to be mad to Gertrude, he kills Polonius. I firmly believe that Hamlet is simply acting mad, and while doing so Polonius has the unfortunate affect of hiding which causes him to be killed. Hamlet becomes so invested in acting mad which leads to him killing Polonius without realizing what he is doing. Likewise, another unintentional consequence of Hamlet acting mad is when Ophelia kills herself. Not only did her dad die and her brother leave, but Hamlet, who was supposed to love her, in his quest to portray madness left her all alone. When she tries to talk to her about the things he gave her, Hamlet tells Ophelia “No, not I, I never gave you aught” (III.i.96-97). One of the unplanned affects of Hamlet acting mad was leaving Ophelia that caused her to go crazy and commit suicide. While this act could have been seen as mad, I do believe that Hamlet never intentionally meant to hurt her and it was simply all an act. In conclusion, Hamlet does not go completely mad during the novel. Instead, he simply causes unintended consequences while acting mad.

After contemplating it and listening to the class discussion, I firmly believe that Hamlet was never truly mad. Due to the fact that he clearly planned out acts to catch Claudius, was coherent to the fact that he shouldn’t kill him while he is praying, and feels the affects of Ophelia’s death, I do think the madness was just an act. Hamlet throughout the play is always there at least a little bit, this leads to the fact that Hamlet does not go completely mad.

Painting No. 1

Initially examining the painting No. 1 by Jackson Pollock, I thought it looked like a bunch of paint had been splattered on the canvas. My reaction was feeling entirely unimpressed with the painting and thought how are some things considered master pieces when anyone could throw it together. However, I did like the use of the black, white, light blue paint with the little hints of red in the middle on the dull yellow canvas. The colors seem to compliment each other well as well as bringing out certain aspects of the painting. While it seems that they were all placed there by accident and a fling of the brush, they seem to all be in the exact place they were meant to be in. I think this paining is as famous as it is because of the unique use of colors and the size of it. This painting actually being 6 feet tall and 9 feet wide must be amazing and incredible to see in person. I think the immense size of the painting would make it much more overwhelming and interesting to see in person.

Nancy Sullivan’s poem seemed to perfectly sum up a reaction to the painting that one might have. She did not use flashy language or intense mood, as the painting is neither flashy nor intense. Instead, she comments on the paintings simplicity and purity, as it is simply paint. With no big meaning, symbol, or drawing, she comments on how simple and understated the painting is. However, she concludes at the end of the poem that the painting still has a meaning and a place that it is to represent or a deeper meaning despite its initial simple view. She makes her point through stating all of the understated qualities of the painting such as the fact that it does not have a name and only has a number and how the painting is simply made of just that, paint. My favorite part of the poem was the conclusion of how she not only questions how not only to consider the answer to what the painter is trying to achieve, but also the question.

 

Not School Related

Right now, it seems that life could not get any busier. Most people probably look at high school seniors thinking how nice and exciting this stage of life is. Frankly, I highly disagree. I look around at my classmates and see that it seems they all have it figured out, where they will go to school next year and what they are going to do with their life. Me, on the other hand, have no idea. In between calculus test and english papers, it seems I have to a also make time to plan and decide on my future. I am pretty sure I am about to just flip a coin and let that dictate what I will do with my future. More importantly, right now I just feel nostalgic, which is so cheesy I know, but between the hundreds of miles my friends could be spread out next year, I realize how much I will miss seeing them everyday and how I have been in class with the same people since 5th grade and 99% of them  I will not see after this year. Basically, right now I have no idea what I am doing with my future, have a lot going on with school, and am a tad stressed.

On a happier note, there are definitely some things that I am looking forward to doing this spring and summer that I do not have time to do right now. For one, reading more books. This may sound boring but ever since a young age, I love reading books. Recently, I have found a lot of books that I want to read, but between school work, activities and books I have to read for school, I do not have enough time to just read for fun. Do not get me wrong, there are some very good books I have read for english, but I would like time to read some books that are not related to school in any way. Another thing I am looking forward to doing this spring and summer is spending more time with my friends. In a few months, I will not be able to see them everyday much less once a week. As a result, I am looking forward to getting to spend more time with them instead of being overwhelmed by homework and other activities. Finally, one more thing that I am looking forward to this summer that is not in any way school related, is spending more time with my family. Unlike most teenagers, I am not one who is looking forward to moving out or can’t wait to move out. Instead, I love my family and spending time with them. Next year, I will miss all of the movie nights or family dinners that now may seem a burden, but soon I will miss. I will also miss getting to see them every day and talk to them, even if our conversation is nothing more than good morning and good night. I will truly miss both my parents and my sisters, even at times when I do not get along with them, next year.

Bad version of Hamlet

After reading this version of Hamlet, I thought it was just another bad movie. There seemed to be no real development as there is in the final version. The characters all seem a little too crazy and it seems as if it would be another laughably bad scary movie that plays around Halloween. Luckily, there were many changes that were made before the final version came out.

One of the most notable changes is the characters themselves. There were name changes, such as Ofelia changed to Ophelia. Furthermore, Polonius was called Corambis in the original play. When Polonius sent Reynaldo to spy on  Laertes, in the original Quarto Reynaldo was Montano. Additionally, in the original version of the play, the character on watch at the beginning is not even given a name. Instead, he is simply called First Sentinel. On the other hand, in the final version of the play, his name is Francisco. These character changes might seem minor, but as a whole they strongly impact the play and shape it to be what it is today. Characters names are important parts of shaping who they are, and the ideas presented through the characters is what creates the story.

Some other differences come from little actions as well as the dialogue as a whole. For instance, in the final play Ophelia is in her room sewing when Hamlet comes and finds her after seeing the ghost. However, in the original version she is simply walking in the gallery alone. This could make the crazy nature of Hamlet less drastic as in the final play, he purposely goes to her room and appears crazed. Meanwhile, in the original document, it could seem to just be an accident that he found her and his insane action could just be a reaction to seeing his father’s ghost. Additionally, in the fist act when Barnardo and Horatio first see the ghost and go tell Hamlet, changes in the dialogue greatly impact the play as a whole. The dialogue creates an atmosphere that seems more joking and trying so hard to make it seem scary, that it ends up humorous. As a result, this sets a horrible disaster of a mood for the rest of the Quarto.

As different and bad as this Quarto was, I can definitely see where the ideas presented in the final product came from. Overall, as interesting as I found Quarto 1, I will stick to the final translation that we are reading today.

Allusion and Hamartia

The most common allusion in literature that I can remember is from A Separate Peace. In the novel, the overall allusion is to the Bible. For example, in the novel the main characters Finny and Gene, represent Cain and Abel. In the novel, the story of Eden and Lazarus are recurring stories from the Bible that are alluded to in the novel. As Cain does in the Bible, Gene becomes overcome by jealousy and ultimately ends up causing Gene’s death as Cain killed Abel. Furthermore, Finny could also represent Jesus, as Finny had people looking up to him and that he lead as Jesus had his own followers as well. Additionally, the events and things that happened to Finny mirror the events that happened to Jesus in the Bible. Another example of an allusion that we use in every day life is when people use the term “achilles’ heel.” People will use this when talking about the one thing that could bring them down or their one weakness. Achilles was an important figure in Greek Mythology and was a big hero until his one point of weakness, on his heel, was found. As a result, people will use this phrase when talking about a particular weakness.

An example of of an hamartia, or a tragic flaw that leads to a hero’s downfall is Samson in the Bible. Samson’s tragic flaw was his love for Delilah. This love for her caused his downfall when after finding out that his hair was the source of his strength, Delilah’s servants shaves his head. Samson hamartia is his love for Delilah. Likewise, another example of an hamartia is in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Juliet and Romeo’s tragic flaw or hamartia, is when they both believe that their love will override all of their problems. As a result, their consuming love for each other causes them to disregard everything else and they both end up dying. This causes their hamartia to be believing their love could really conquer all.

 

Othello Versions

First off, when assigned this task for the weekly blog post I figured that it would be easy, how different could versions of the same book really be? However, after looking through a few of the different options, I noticed how none of them are the exact same and whatever we are reading in class, other than the title, has very little similar to all of these copies. I realized how the version we read in class or at home in our own books is so different because it is the finalized version, and all of these different copies were versions of the same story along the way. On similarity that I noticed between the First Folio, Quarto 1, and Third Folio is that the stories all simplify the names after mentioning it once. On the other hand, in the book that is published now the names are always spelled out completely and not simplified as they are in these versions.

The first selection I looked at was the First Folio. One of the things that immediately stood out to me when I read the title and then the story was how instead of using y’s at the end of the words, they instead would use ie. For example, in the title it says “tragedie” instead of tragedy  and later on Rodrigo says “Familie” in place of family. Additionally, lower case s is unrecognizable and are confusing as they have the appearance of an f. In the play, Iago says “felfe” which should be the word self. Later, Barbantio says “seafon”. This clearly has been changed between the final version that people read today and this version. Another difference comes from the fact that in this version, where there should be a v there is a u and vice versa. Iago says things such as “vp” instad of up, “loue” instead of love and “Heauen” instead of Heaven. These are some of the differences between the First Folio and the translation we read now that I took note of.

Likewise, I noticed some differences between the Third Folio and all of the other translations including the one used today. When dictating what scene the play is in, the Third Folio says it in Spanish. Instead of saying Scene I or III, the Third Folio says “scena tertia” which in English means the third scene. I actually liked this difference and found it interesting. Another thing I noticed in both the Third Folio and the Quarto 1, as well as the other copies, is that at the bottom of each page, there is listed the first word of the beginning of the next page. I also noticed that in most of them there are no page numbers, so this theoretically could be used as a numbering system for the book. Moreover, having the first word at the bottom could help with the flow of the book as the readers or performers would not have to pause after each page and move up to the next one. Instead, they could use the word at the bottom to flow more easily. Overall, I found looking at all of these different versions of Othello very interesting. Now a days when books are published, there are not such drastic differences copy to copy and they are all the same. Reading all of these different versions of Othello I realized how they are all unique in their own way.

Pun & Sarcasm

One example of a pun is in Romeo and Juliet, when Romeo is asked by Mercutio to dance and Romeo responds “No I, believe me. You have dancing shoes with nimble soles. I have a soul of lead Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes” (Romeo and Juliet I iv 14-15). This is an example of a homophonic pun. A homophonic pun is when two words are used that sound the same but have completely different meanings. For example, in this example from Shakespeare, Romeo uses the words sole and soul, which have the same sound but different meanings. Romeo references the soles of Mercutio’s shoes and then proceeds to create a pun by talking about his own soul. Another example of a pun is when the Clown says “why masters, have your instruments been in Naples, that they speak i’ th’ nose thus?” (Othello III i 2-3). This is a pun because when he says Naples there are two meanings, their accent or a nose disease. As a result, he mocks them and makes fun of them.

An example of sarcasm comes from the play Julius Caesar by Shakespeare when Antony uses the phrase “honorable man” (Shakespeare) in his famous speech about what Brutus did when murdering Caesar. This is sarcasm because as he keeps repeating and stating that Brutus is an honorable man, Antony conveys that maybe Brutus is not as honorable of a man as some people might think. As a result, Antony creates a sarcastic tone when talking about how honorable Brutus is. Another example is in Lord of the Flies the twins say “Wasn’t he waxy?”(Golding) when talking about Ralph’s anger. This serves as sarcasm because the twins are being purposely rude and insulting to Ralph.