Blog Instructions:
Make sure you are following the directions on the Blog handout that is attached to your calendar and the directions below:
Blog entries for each reading assignment are due the NIGHT BEFORE you have class. For example, your first blog post will need to be completed Sunday night 9/19 since we have class on Monday 9/20. You will earn a COMPLETION grade for these--only posts completed ON TIME will be counted. Remember, the blog will "date and time stamp" your entries so I will know if your post was, in fact, completed on time.
At the end of the unit, you will pick two of your posts to be turned in at the end of the semester to be evaluated for a CONTENT grade. Only posts completed ON TIME (see above) are eligible to be submitted.
For each reading assignment you will be expected to find and respond to ONE PASSAGE from the novel. You need to include the passage (cite it correctly) and then write a 250-300 word analysis of the quote. Go beyond the surface. Discuss the significance of the passage to the chapter or novel as a whole, OR go in-depth and do a close-reading of the passage to discuss the techniques Hesse uses AND the effect these have on YOU, the reader! Remember to use your DIDLS and SCASI notes to guide your analysis!
Also, you will be required to RESPOND to 2 of your group members’ posts. Your responses should be 100-150 words in length. In order to do this thoughtfully and well, we’d like you to try using these sentence starters to help get you started. Here they are. . .
· My idea is similar to (piggybacks on, is like, complements, etc) your idea. For example. . .
· We both think that ____________. However, I also think _____________ . Evidence from the text to support this is . . .
· You make a very good point about ______________ . However, I’d like to argue that . . . .
· Another example from the text that would also support your analysis is __________ . I think this because . . .
· Your analysis is really interesting. It made me think about (another section of the book, another text, a movie, an experience I had, a story I heard on the news, the background presentation about _______) because. . .
· I had a different reaction to this passage. I think . . .
· The other literary device/element/technique that I saw in this passage was __________. It affected mood and tone . . .
My group and I were discussing the fog of lies conversation. I thought that the way Helmer was speaking to Nora showed that he may know what she had done. It seemed suspicious that he described practically exactly what she was going through and all of her concerns at that moment. It also seemed incredibly manipulative if he does know, he put all the pressure on her for how her children turn out and the impact her actions have.
ReplyDeleteI was also thinking about the symbolism of the Christmas tree. I think that the tree represents her, she refuses to let the kids see her not doing well just like she refuses to let her kids see the tree not decorated.
While reading this past class I felt that Helmer really showed his true colors. “Helmer. Doesn’t make any difference!... You call my motives petty ; so I must be petty too. Petty! Indeed! Well, we’ll put a stop a stop to that, once and for all. [He opens the hall door and calls] Helene! (page, 43) This small excerpt from page 43 really showed how Helmer reacts when Nora goes against him. I think he’s definitely used to Nora and other women being more submissive and when they argue he is used to having his way, however here she calls him petty which sends him off as he rants in an incredibly childish way. I also believe that Helmer may be getting suspicious of Nora (especially after his rant at the end act 1, fog of lies). I think that Helmer is noticing Nora being more independent and that she is standing up for herself more than she did previously, this is leading Helmer to fight back against this by asserting himself, making decisions against what she believes just to show that he is his own man and the man in charge, this I believe is incredibly petty.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting point and I'm curious if he continues to act this way.
DeleteIbsen uses the symbol of a christmas tree to show the facade Nora maintains in order to be seen as a perfect mother and wife. The Christmas tree is never shown to the children when it’s not decorated, I think this is the same as why she never lets her children see her do things that show her weakness or anything bad, such as talking to Krogstad. Her goal, especially after the Fog of Lies conversation, is to protect her children and make sure Toravld doesn’t know that she borrowed money, forged or any of her shady dealings with Krogstad. All in all, the Christmas Tree is more than meets the eye.
ReplyDeleteThe difference of “The son of Brahmin” and the “Brahmin’s Son” is small yet important. The former, “The Son of Brahmin” \ shows that Siddhartha’s role is as a son, it is possessive and shows the priorities of Siddhartha at the beginning, his loyalty to his father. This is more of a position of ownership. The “Brahmin’s Son” shows his position. A Brahmin is a high ranking person, this expresses Siddhartha’s place in the community. This translation difference expresses the priorities of Siddhartha, “The Son of Brahmin” is about family loyalty while the other is about loyalty to the entire community, this is important to the story of siddhartha leaving for himself.
ReplyDelete“Joy leaped in his father’s heart over his brilliant son, so thirsty for knowledge. He saw great sage and priest growing in him, a prince among the brahmins” (Hesse, 4). This small excerpt from the very beginning of the book shows the perspective of Siddhartha’s father and who Siddhartha is from the point of view of those around him. All we know at this point is that Siddhartha is smart and this is a driving force throughout the book, intelligent people seek more intelligence and knowledge. This quote is also a representation of the relationship between siddhartha and his father, a relationship consisting of respect and admiration. .This I believe is why siddhartha made sure to discuss his departure with his father later in the book before leaving. What is also interesting is the last part, “a prince among the brahmins” this directly shows that it was accepted by everyone that Siddhartha would remain in the community and follow a path similar to his father’s. These few sentences show who Siddhartha has been throughout his life, a man on a journey.
ReplyDelete“‘He has reached sixty and still has not attained nirvana”’(Hesse, 15). This quote is very telling of Siddhartha’s character. He is very critical of everything around him, he casts doubt on things that are assumed to be a given. It is assumed that the elderly Samana is wise and someone to listen to, to learn from. Yet, Siddhartha realizes that this man has not attained Nirvana, so what does he know about the path to enlightenment? This also expresses how Siddhartha acts in the beginning. This can be considered incredibly rude and Siddhartha acts this question anyways.
ReplyDeleteAfter the boundaries were altered, our schools are now unrecognizable. Our demographics and the overall ambiance of our schools have completely changed. The current problem we are dealing with is that we are incredibly divided. I see groups divided along our socioeconomic, racial or ethnic differences and each individual’s former school. Our students haven’t let go of our differences, but are holding on to what separates us.
ReplyDelete“This is how much he had come to resemble the child people”(Hesse, 100). This quote is at a point where Siddhartha is reflecting on how he thinks simpler than before. What I find interesting is that Siddhartha seemed to look down on the “child people” and yet at this point he is nearly at the point of enlightenment. The fact that Siddhartha is thinking simpler when he is almost enlightened shows that he was completely overthinking his actions and his perception on the things around him. What I know is that overthinking can be truly detrimental to one’s mental health, this is a form of suffering. What we also know is that true enlightenment and nirvana is the freedom of suffering, living a life without suffering. Knowing both of these things a simpler mind must be a life more free of suffering.
ReplyDeleteBlog #1:
ReplyDeleteThe poem that I analyzed was Mother Love. The poem expresses the instinctive and automatic response that most mothers have to nurture all children, to comfort all children and care for all. What I noticed was that Rita Dove shows that she would not or mothers do not hesitate to help when a child is in need. This is shown throughout the poem,
“Toss me a baby and without bothering
to blink I’ll catch her, sling him on a hip.”
What this conveys is that it is a mother's duty is to help and to comfort any child that crosses their path. The second part of the poem seems to focus on another woman, possibly a woman who could not care for her children, forcing others to support and comfort her children.
“So when this kind woman approached at the urging
of her bouquet of daughters,
(one for each of the world’s corners,
One for each of the winds to scatter!)
And offered up her only male child for nursing”
The things I find interesting about this part of the poem are the underlying messages that I saw. Firstly, I really liked that Dove said a kind woman because many times a woman is reduced to how well she cares for her kids and since it appears she is struggling with doing so yet is still considered a nice woman, a good person. Another thing I noticed was that she offered up her only MALE child, a lot of cultures value boys over girls and I found it interesting that she put her son before her other children.
The last point I wanted to make was from the last lines of the poem,
“Poor human--
To scream like that, to make me remember.”
I saw this a representation of the pain a mother goes through when they see a child that they care for suffering, I saw this as a representation of the pain and lasting scars that a sad or ungrateful child can have on a mother.
-Gabriela Moreno P.2
I decided to write and about “The situation is intolerable”. I found this poem incredibly interesting, I really liked the last stanza, I believe it is filled with hints about the topic. I saw it as laying out how people of color are at a disadvantage and are born at this disadvantage and how you must fight back. I was most interested in this part,
ReplyDelete“So what if we were born up a creek
And knocked flat with the paddle,
If we ain’t got a pot to piss in
And nowhere to put it if we did?”
“Up a creek” is usually meant as hopeless or stuck and being born up a creek would mean that you are born stuck or in trouble, I saw this as Rita Dove laying out that people of color are put into a position that is lesser than others, that we are doomed from the beginning. I was curious about the next part about the “pot to piss in” I was not quite sure of the meaning behind it. I thought it could mean that when someone starts moving from being stuck they are still at a disadvantage that most of these people are not given and opportunity and when you are you still are not given the same opportunities as others. I also really liked the line, “Our situation is intolerable, but what’s worse
Is to sit here and do nothing.” I saw this as a reflection on the fact that so many people and even oppressed people are in denial about the issues that people face each day, they are sitting there and doing nothing, I think this is her saying that something has to be done for us to move forward.
-Gabriela Moreno
I decided to blog about ‘The House Slave’ by Rita Dove. I chose this one because I wanted to analyze the vivid and disturbing imagery in this short poem. What I found particularly interesting is that this is about house slaves and in the point of view of a house slave, there is the idea that house slaves got off easy, that they did not suffer as much as others because they were allowed in the house. However, this poem is going against that and it illustrates the emotional distress of being a slave in any way shape or form. She cannot sleep, she sees people getting beaten, she hears her sister screaming, this is suffering and Rita Dove does a phenomenal job of making the reader feel at least some of the pain of the narrator.
ReplyDeleteFor chapter five, which my group focused on for the project I wanted to focus on the morality of honor killings in this chapter. Since, this is the chapter where you realize just how gruesome this incident was I was conflicted about my perspective on honor killings. Is murder ever justified? When? And what is the author trying to say about honor killings? My beliefs on honor killings were muddied when reading this chapter due to the fact that I don't agree with their motives, I don't agree that they are completely dedicated to this motive, and I believe they were overly gruesome and violent when killing Santiago. All of these reasons I believe were put on purpose to show the beliefs of the author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. To show the gore involved with murder and the primitive aspects of violence.
ReplyDelete