Literature Analysis #3

Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad


1.  The plot of the story is about a sailor named Marlow, who takes a job as a riverboat captain on the Congo. Marlow travels to Africa and then up the river to meet Kurtz, a man of great importance to the Congo. While Marlow travels up river to get to Kurtz he sees all the injustices and horrors that the Belgians committed to the local peoples. Marlow learns of Kurtz becoming deathly ill, and he become very anxious to reach Kurtz faster. Throughout the trip, they have many mechanical problems with the boat and they are also attack at one point by the natives. Marlow finally reaches Kurtz, however Kurtz is on the edge of dying. When they head back down river Kurtz hands Marlow some documents then dies. Marlow soon becomes ill himself but manages to barely survive. Later when he returns to Europe he find Kurtz's fiancée and gives he some closer by telling her that his last word was her name, when in fact they were "The horror! The horror!"


2. A major theme in the book is madness caused by imperialism and how imperialism causes all the people involved to be come "mad" someway or another.


3. The author's tone is very dark and depressing.

• "The brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of darkness, bearing us down towards the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress; and Kurtz's life was running swiftly, too, ebbing, ebbing out of his heart into the sea of inexorable time. The manager was very placid, he had no vital anxieties now, he took us both in with a comprehensive and satisfied glance: the 'affair' had come off as well as could be wished. I saw the time approaching when I would be left alone of the party of 'unsound method.' The pilgrims looked upon me with disfavour. I was, so to speak, numbered with the dead. It is strange how I accepted this unforeseen partnership, this choice of nightmares forced upon me in the tenebrous land invaded by these mean and greedy phantoms."

• "His was an impenetrable darkness. I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of a precipice where the sun never shines. But I had not much time to give him, because I was helping the engine-driver to take to pieces the leaky cylinders, to straighten a bent connecting-rod, and in other such matters. I lived in an infernal mess of rust, filings, nuts, bolts, spanners, hammers, ratchet drills -- things I abominate, because I don't get on with them. I tended the little forge we fortunately had aboard; I toiled wearily in a wretched scrap-heap -- unless I had the shakes too bad to stand."

• "The current was more rapid now, the steamer seemed at her last gasp, the stern-wheel flopped languidly, and I caught myself listening on tiptoe for the next beat of the boat, for in sober truth I expected the wretched thing to give up every moment. It was like watching the last flickers of a life."

4.  Five literary techniques that helped me understand the story more are:

Foreshadow- the fog foreshadows something bad is about to happen.

Imagery- the use of imagery lets us really get a picture of the scene.

Metaphor/Simile- gives us a way of relating what is happening or going on to something that we can understand better.

Symbolism- the river in the story symbolizes the white man/ imperialists fighting against the natural order of the Congo.

Syntax- the way the author writes brings out the eeriness of the Congo 

Tone- since the author uses a dark tone it creates a gloomy story.

"Some fifty miles below the Inner Station we came upon a hut of reeds, an inclined and melancholy pole, with the unrecognizable tatters of what had been a flag of some sort flying from it, and a neatly stacked woodpile."

"When the sun rose there was a white fog, very warm and clammy, and more blinding than the night. It did not shift or drive; it was just there, standing all round you like something solid. At eight or nine, perhaps, it lifted as a shutter lifts. We had a glimpse of the towering multitude of trees, of the immense matted jungle, with the blazing little ball of the sun hanging over it -- all perfectly still -- and then the white shutter came down again, smoothly, as if sliding in greased grooves. I ordered the chain, which we had begun to heave in, to be paid out again. Before it stopped running with a muffled rattle, a cry, a very loud cry, as of infinite desolation, soared slowly in the opaque air. It ceased. A complaining clamour, modulated in savage discords, filled our ears. The sheer unexpectedness of it made my hair stir under my cap. I don't know how it struck the others: to me it seemed as though the mist itself had screamed, so suddenly, and apparently from all sides at once, did this tumultuous and mournful uproar arise."

"I flew around like mad to get ready, and before forty-eight hours I was crossing the Channel to snow myself to my employers, and sign the contract."

Ap Term

Conflict: struggle a struggle or problem in a story causing tension.

In literature, every story from Hamlet to Harry Potter has some sort of conflict. Whether it is the internal struggle of a character or a great evil the protagonist must destroy, all stories have a conflict. The conflict is the main driving point of the story for with out a conflict there would be no story at all. If Hamlet's father never was murdered, Hamlet would have never had to avenge his death. If the Montagues and Capulets didn't have a bloody feud, Romeo and Juliet would have no problem loving each other. The conflict makes the story.

Here is a video that shows different types of conflicts in literature.




Here is a simple version of a conflict between two characters.

Thinking Outside the Box

At first glance Plato's "Allegory of a Cave" and  Sartre's "No Exit" seem like completely different stories. One being about prisoners in a cave the other about people in Hell. However at a closer look, you can see striking similarities. These include that both stories are told through dialogue between characters and that the prisoners in the cave and the prisoners in hell are both "kept in the dark" of what is happening outside their cave/second empire drawing room. In the cave, the prisoners are somewhat afraid to leave the cave. In "No Exit", Garcin  is given the chance to leave, the door opens and he can leave but he decides to stay, much like the prisoners wanting to stay in the cave afraid of being blinded by the light. Both of the writings have an allegory that covers the story. "No Exit"'s allegory is that "Hell is other people" and this is shown throughout the play by the characters tormenting each other in Hell while the devil has nothing to do with the tormenting just the other people in the room.
The Cave's allegory is that society has put chains on us for what knowledge is good and which is bad, however these chains have been on us so long and from the beginning that even when we are given the chance to break free we don't want to .

The Big Question

How do myths from different cultures and societies from around the world share similar themes, ideas, characteristics, etc...? Also, how do these myths relate to modern society and modern myths?

Hamlet Essay

Hamlet

            In the play Hamlet, the protagonist, Hamlet, is indecisive and talks about what he wants to do and how to do it but we hardly see him carrying out his plans until the very end of the play. However, these scenes of Hamlet talking to himself are a major part of the play. The importance of performative utterance in the play and my own self is that it helps us get a clearer and better picture of what we think, which helps us make better decisions for the task at hand. They also let us see into Hamlets thoughts and desires. The soliloquies give us an insight on the course of the play.

            The way Hamlet speaks is a part of the action of the play because it is our, the audience’s, way to see what Hamlet is thinking about to do next. When Hamlet talks to himself he questions what his is doing, why he is doing it, and how he will go about doing it. Most of the soliloquies foreshadow what will happen later on in the play. In the “To be, or not to be…” soliloquy Hamlet asks Ophelia to pray for him because he is about to commit a sin. The sin being murder or suicide. This foreshadows the end of the play where Hamlet kills Laertes and Claudius, as well as killing Polonius earlier on in the play and sending Rosencrantz and Guildstern to their deaths.

            When Hamlet speaks to himself, he affects the plot of the play in the way mentioned earlier. He foreshadows what is to come. Hamlet also affects the characters as well. During the “To be, or not to be…” soliloquy, Claudius is eavesdropping and when he hears the soliloquy he no longer believes Ophelia is the source of Hamlet’s depression. In an earlier soliloquy Hamlet decides to write the play and set up Claudius. This is a way his talking affects the plot as well.

            When you hear yourself talk you can see through your thoughts more clearly. You get a greater understanding of what you really want to do and how to do it. Hamlet does this in his soliloquies. He talks through his thoughts and he gets a clearer picture of what is on his thoughts. Emotions like anger and rage and distort your thoughts but by talking it out you can dilute their effects. Also another benefit of hearing yourself talk is that you tend to remember it more if you hear it, even if it is from your own mouth.

            Hamlet talks his way through his clouded thoughts and judgments. By doing this he gets a better and clearer picture from which he can decide how to act upon it. His soliloquies foreshadow what he will do in the play. Also they can affect other characters in the play and even the plot itself. By talking his thoughts, Hamlet is able to cause action in the play because if he didn’t talk, he would have remained indecisive and lost. With out performative utterance Hamlet would have been lost and made the wrong decisions on how to go about his plan of action. Performative utterance is just important in our own lives for much of the same reasons.

Hamlet Versus Beowulf

In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare has Hamlet speak differently from epic heroes such as Beowulf. Both of the two heroes speak about and highly value honor. They both seek to gain and redeem their honor.  In the epic poems such as Beowulf, the heroes think more about how people see them and how their honor is perceived by others. Hamlet is the opposite. Hamlet thinks more about how he sees his own honor. He is self-conscience about himself, while Beowulf would be proud and pompous.
The main driving force behind the plot of Beowulf is his want for more honor and recognition among the people. For Hamlet, the driving force is the want to redeem his father's and his own honor. Beowulf goes to the Danes to kill Grendel so that he may gain honor and riches. While he is there, he is very hubris and puts himself at the center of the show. His pride and honor even get himself killed when he goes to kill a dragon by his own seventy year old self at the end of the poem.Hamlet is very different.
Hamlet questions himself is he should even pursue the idea of finding out if Claudius even killed his father. Through out the rest of the play Hamlet questions himself whether or not he should continue with his plan. He questions his own honor when he hears that Fortinbras is invading his home with 20,000 troops who will all die over a piece of land they all think is worthless just for the honor of Fortinbras loosing to Hamlet's father years ago over a simple little squabble. I wouldn't say that Hamlet is a sissy and Beowulf is a man, even  though it can look like that sometimes, but Hamlet is definitely much more self-conscience and even paranoid to some extent.
Hamlet is a very different hero compared to Beowulf. Although both seek honor, Beowulf is more focused on how other people perceive his honor, while Hamlet worries about how he sees his own honor.Hamlet differs from heroes like Beowulf for that reason of how he speaks and thinks about the situations in the plot.

Major Concept

One of the major things I have learned this year is how to make a blog. I feel more able with computers and I have learned more about the internet and how people use from this class.

Note's From Roy's Talk

The main points I got from this video are:
We as  human beings cannot multi-task it is impossible.
We need to know how to use the many programs on the internet, and computers in general, or be used by them.
Also, we need to bridge the gap between generations and learn how to trust each other, as well as, work with each other.

Literature Analysis #2

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

1. Invisible Man begins with the narrator telling us the he is underground writing a story about his life. He calls himself the "invisible man" and he is an African-American. The main part of the story are flash backs on the narrator's life. He was a talented public speaker and was selected to give a speech in order to receive a scholarship. The narrator goes off to college and while he is there he is the driver for the college's trustee, Mr. Norton. Mr. Norton faints after getting a drink and when the college's president, Dr. Bledsoe hears about it he blames and expels the narrator from the school. The narrator goes out into the city of New York to find a job. When he gets one, he ends up getting hurt and he loses his conscience. When he finally wakes up, he is asked by Brother Jack, a member of a brotherhood who heard the narrator's speech, to join his brotherhood. Jack wants the narrator to become the next Booker T. Washington. The narrator works with the brotherhood for several months when a magazine interviews him. The brotherhood calls him out for using the brotherhood for personal gain and force him to work in Harlem for women's rights. After a while a small riot happens and the narrator's friend is shot and killed. The narrator leads a march in Harlem to protest his friend's death. However when he gets back to the brotherhood, they are angry at him for tying the brotherhood with his friend, who they claim to be a traitor to the brotherhood. The narrator leaves the brotherhood and goes to Harlem to speak out and protest. A large riot happens and the narrator falls down a man hole where he has stayed since. The narrator finishes by reflecting on his devotion to the brotherhood and his choice in the end.
2. The major theme in this novel is find out who you are. 
3. The author's tone is calm and to the point. He doesn't show anger at the issues in the book.
4. 5 literary techniques used are

• metaphor
• allusion
• symbolism
• simile
• diction

Tools That Change the Way We Think

The first thing I thought of when I read "Eventually you'll have the implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer." is how easy tests will be, the next thing was that if this happens no one who has this implant will ever have to try to think for themselves ever again, which can be very bad.

Extensive use of technology can make use lazier, or more efficient depending on how you use it. For me it is a little of both. When doing my homework I sometime get distracted from it because I am looking at something else and forget about the homework. However, I can also get work done faster because I have the internet right there and don't have to look up the answers in a book. Lastly, I have to say I am more connected to the world because of the internet. For example I wouldn't have known that Qaddafi was killed the other day as soon as I did.
NY Times-Qaddafi

In Search Of

Watch this video on Filter Bubbles.

 I knew that search sites filtered the information that you got to see but I never thought of sites such as a news site filtering the news to what they think you want to hear. I now see the internet as another way media can distort our reality of the world to make it seem like something that it isn't. The internet is still fine but you just have to be wary of the action behind the curtain. A question I have is how badly does these bubbles actually distort our view of the world? Also, is there a way to stop or change the filters? I will try to from now on to always search use multiple search sites, not just Google, when searching for information and news about the rest of the world.

When I re-searched Shakespeare I did a couple of things to try to widen my bubble.
The first thing i did was search "Who was Shakespeare?" on Google and Yahoo!. The the second thing I did was changed the wording of the search. I used "William Shakespeare" and "Life of Shakespeare", and I even searched "Eduard de Vere" to see what came up as well.

Overall I got more results and a wider source of information but I still wonder what more information is out there that I didn't get to see because of the filter bubbles.

Notes On Hamlet

Act III:

In Act III, Hamlet finally started his plan of avenging his father's murder. The play he wrote, which closely replicated Claudius' murdering of Hamlet S.r., worked perfectly in causing Claudius to reveal his guilt to Hamlet. Hamlet had a chance to kill Claudius but didn't fearing that he would go to Heaven if he was killed during prayer. Hamlet wanted him to be damned for all eternity. It ends with Hamlet killing Polonius and warning his mother of what he is about to do.

We see in this act that Hamlet is not the mad, indecisive guy, but the cold-hearted, cunning prince who knows what to do and how to do it.

I think Hamlet will take his time and wait for Claudius to slip up before he kills him, since he now has Claudius on the defensive and frightened.

Who Was Shakespeare?

After doing a quick search on google of "Who Was Shakespeare?" the top three site were:

1. Who Was Shakespeare?- PBS
2. The Shakespeare Mystery
3. William Shakespeare - Wikipedia

 So, who was Shakespeare?
Well we know that he was an English playwright, he was baptized  26 April 1564, and died 23 April 1616.  He married Anne Hathaway and had three children with her. He the son of a Glover and a farmer. He was the third of eight children. Also he wrote about 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems.
However, this article, opened my mind up to idea that Shakespeare was just a cover for an English nobleman.
The movie Anonymous sounds interesting enough. but the idea behind it is a little ridiculous. To  prove that Shakespeare was false their argument was that "there must have been a conspiracy to suppress the truth of de Vere’s authorship; the very absence of surviving evidence proves the case." need I say more?

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

Facebook is very popular for every age group around the world. Social networking in general has become increasingly popular over the last couple of years and is still on the rise. After reading an article in the New York Times, I learned somethings that the average user doesn't know.

• Facebook takes all the information of its users and sells that information to various companies. This allows the companies to make more specific ads, which Facebook then shows those ads to you that they think you will be more apt to buy. In short, they sell you to the industries, so the industries can sell their products to you, but you only see the products that they think you will like.
• Facebook isn't all bad though. It's a great way to meet up with old friends and communicate with current ones.
• The article really showed me that Facebook can affect ones perspective on the world if you are not careful and understand the whole picture. Don't get me wrong, I like Facebook and think it's a good way to connect with the rest of the world.

Literature Analysis

The Iliad
1. The Greeks are at war with the Trojans over Helen, who was taken from the King of Sparta. During the conquest of an ally city of Troy, Achilles has a falling out with the Greek leader and refuses to fight. The Greeks advance upon the city of Troy and the gods take sides. Athena, Hera, and Poseidon for the Greeks. Apollo, Ares, and Zeus for the Trojans. The Trojans battle with the Greeks and push the Greeks back to their boats under the leadership of prince Hector, with the help of Zeus who during the course of the battle bans all gods from participating in the battle. Patroclus, Achilles best friend, was killed by Hector. Achilles returns to the fight and kills every Trojan who gets in the way of his hunt for Hector. Hector and Achilles duels, Achilles wins and kills Hector. After some convincing by Zeus, Achilles ransoms Hector's body back to Troy, who then spend the next ten days giving their prince a rightful burial.

2. The theme of the novel is loyalty to friendship and kinship.

3. The author uses a serious tone.

4.The author uses personification, keenings, similies, metaphors, and hyperboles.