class notes (02.07-02.17)

more heart of darknessssssssssssssssssssssss...

heart of darkness alludes to dante's inferno and the garden of eden in many ways, like the geography in literature- the system of symbols will piece together and form a map, and the map will provide meaning.

 eden and hell simultaneously make for the congo.
 conrad shifts his language when finally reaching the land.
 rivers, ports, the jungle, et cetera, gets meaning from the language connected to it.

and what of the women in heart of darkness?
 there are three phases:
   maiden (the intended)
   the mother figure (the aunt)
   the crones/fates (knitters)
incidentally, the knitters are using black African hair wool (?) that shows how the company is prospering from the congo.
 another very female figure is the AFRICAN WOMAN. she represents the
   anima- the female embodiment of the land. kurtz may be attracted to her because
   she is the congo in human form.


also, the frame narrative
   sets a background or introduction to the "real" story, which is under the 
   narration of marlow. we entertained the possibility that this could be a way in 
   which conrad attempts to distance himself from the thoughts and views of Marlow,
   by essentially making himself removed a layer. (connection could be The
   Canterbury Tales, i think the only other frame story i've ever read. but yeah.)

we also spent many a day viewing apocalypse now, with martin sheen. and a young harrison ford! it took place in vietnam during the war, but otherwise was quite reflective of the novella heart of darkness.
 
 

class notes (01.31-02.04)

MEDIEVAL LITERATURE.
this literature was, obviously, written during the medieval ages. (500-1500 AD)
a lot of this literature had to do with issues concerning the church vs. the state.
allegories were used quite prevalently ::
   these are a type of extended metaphor in which objects, characters, places, et cetera, directly respond to larger ideas and meanings outside the text.
(ook i know we don't have to do links anymore, but this is just too much of a gem not to share with the world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiB4dMwDFtg JEKYLL JEKYLL HYDE JEKYLL HYDE HYDE JEKYLL, JEKYLL JEKYLL HYDE JEKYLL HYDEEeelkefjhkdsjg)
anyway, medieval allegories tended to concern themselves with the meanings of life, and death, salvation and damnation, the usual.


DANTE-
and epic poem written by dante alighieri between 1308 & 1321.
it was an allegory reflecting the view of the christian afterlife, i.e. the layers of hell, purgatory, heaven. dante's an everyman- a character made to represent all of mankind. here's a lil preview of the poem-
   -- three divisions of hell, to represent the gravity of sin
   -- seven terraces in purgatory to symbolize the seven deadly sins
   -- nine spheres of heaven to provide for paradise
yeahhhhh.

the circle thing
so the circle dealy we did illustrates a facet of archetypal and mythological criticism, specifically that there is one main story that is essentially just repeated over & over & over.
    ROMANCES are at the top, a hero starts out strong, experiences a low point, but rises up in the end. a hero is the embodiment of society's most well-regarded values.
     TRADGEDIES start at the top as well, but they usually experience a fall from grace and don't quite make it back up there again. BELLY OF THE WHALE.
     IRONIES are at the bottom and trick you a little. life will get better for me? NO jk lol.
     COMEDIES start out at the bottom, a down-on-his-luck friend then works his way up to the top and gets to end up enjoying the niceties of sex and money.


HEART OF....darkness
this is a novella. that basically means that it's written in prose, not as long as a novel, but it's not a poem or anything either. (i think we all effectively experienced this length when we figured that heart of darkness was short enough to annotate in one night, but long enough to keep you up until 3am doing so)

but yeah. basically it's a frame story, a guy talking about random stuff he did. personally i thought it was kind of boring and zoned out a great deal while reading; i'm definitely going to need the discussion in class to gain a better understanding/any understanding. but from what little i gathered, there's a lot of symbolism concerning the duality of human nature (light vs. dark, black vs. white, sunrise vs. sunset) and there seemed to be elements of naturalism and post-colonialism at work? i actually don't really know. i should probably end these notes here before i start to sound completely clueless. 

uhhhh....

outside reading xii

Outside Reading XII-
an personal essay
by Demetri Martin
Who Am I?
February 19, 2011.

 

Who Am I? is an essay written by Demetri Martin, a comedian. His comic nature comes through quite obviously in this piece, as it is written in a very informal tone and there are jokes inserted in practically every other sentence. For this reason, I don't think it would be appropriate for an AP essay, but at least it was very entertaining for me to read. 

 

Martin uses language to establish his tone in this essay. For example, juxtaposition. He starts the essay in what could potentially be a formal and philosophical way: "Who am I? That is a simple question, yet it is one without a simple answer. I am many things—and I am one thing." A reader might be gearing himself up for an interesting article, but Martin's next sentence probably clues him into the humorous aspect of the essay- he states, "But I am not a thing that is just lying around somewhere, like a pen, or a toaster, or a housewife." I don't know about you, but i lol'd.

 

Another aspect of the humor in this piece comes from the elaborate amount of detail Martin utilizes. He creates such specificity that a reader can perfectly imagine what he is describing in his mind. For instance, Martin states that "I am someone who likes to go to the park. But I am not the guy with the Labrador retriever and the tennis ball and the tattered book under his arm, who is wearing fleece and is kind of tan. I am sick of that guy and all the women who talk to him." All those details present a very specific atmosphere that helps a reader picture and find humor in his situation.

Martin also certain syntactical methods to enhance his humor. He uses parallel structure a lot; the sentences are often short and choppy. He'll then throw in a funny twist at the end. For example, "I am bravery. I am courage. I am valor. I am daring. I am holding a thesaurus." The sentences are all similar stylistically, which makes the humorous one at the end seem more funny.

mmm the end

outside reading xi

Outside Reading X-
an editorial
by Stanley Fish
What Did Watson the Computer Do?
February 19, 2011.

"What Did Watson the Computer Do?" is an editorial by Stanley Fish, discussing a new super-smart computer from IBM named Watson. 

The language he uses is smart and effective- good for an editorial. For instance, he uses a seemingly unconnected situation to relate the the computer's flaws, which turns out to be quite helpful for understanding. He tells the story of a fourth grader who was suspended for putting a "kick me please" sign on a friend's back; the school claimed that the "'incident is in violation of the Discipline Code and is classified as infraction A37 — engaging in bullying behavior.'” Fish explains that it's a part of the school's "zero tolerance policy", which "means no deviation from a precisely and narrowly formulated rule." He makes the situation seem ridiculous, which, in my opinion, it really is. Was there any real threat to this fourth grader? Was he really being "bullied"? Of course not. But the school ran a system, and the child was punished accordingly. This is what Watson computer would do.

Fish also uses imagery to accentuate the necessity of human emotion and human holism. He lists actions that one would usually classify as "bad", say, jaywalking, lying, or speeding. But he plants extraneous images in our mind- a dog in the middle of the road, an innocent person in danger, a pregnant wife in the backstreet. He forces the reader to imagine these potentially disastrous situations, which make for a better understanding of why, sometimes, rules must be broken.

And, diction. Fish is very up-front with his words, choosing quite pejorative ones. He states, right out there, "The computer I am writing this column on is a fool." Through syntax as well he makes his feelings known, often placing quotation marks around words, which question the intelligence of the computer, for example: "[The computer] has a program that directs it to finish words before I do by 'consulting' a data base of words...". By using these quotation marks, Fish downgrades the ability of the computer to do anything besides simply run through a set of predetermined functions and programs.

This tone would be appropriate for an AP essay, provided a few informalities (such as using the first-person) were taken out. It may be a little too opinionated though, as Fish is rather dry and cutting in making his point known- but there is no denying that he gets his point across, and across well.

I was drawn to this article mainly because in my computer science class, we were shown the clip of Watson playing Jeopardy against Ken Jennings, and some other guy. So there's my personal connection. The clip was actually pretty interesting- Alex Trebek was there, and the computer totally owned everyone. I was pretty awed by it, but after reading this article, I've changed my perception. The computer's ability I really can't define as "intelligence"... it has a stored database of information that it just sifts through and finds. Not to say that the advancement in technology isn't fascinating and frightfully useful, it's just different from the sort of perceptiveness that one can only experience through human interaction, sentience, and life itself.

outside reading x

Outside Reading X-
a book review
by Barbara Kingsolver
Once on This Island
February 19, 2011.

“Once, on This Island”, is a book review by Barbara Kingsolver, on T. Coraghessan Boyle’s book, “When the Killing’s Done.”

Kingsolver adopts a condescending sort of tone in this writing, evidenced by what I took to be her subtle sarcastic language. For instance, she begins the review by asking, “what could possess a man to sail to an uninhabited island, in defiance of law, and throw out vitamin K pellets as an antidote to a government-sponsored rat-poisoning program?” We as readers may be initially confused by this question, as it seems rather outlandish. Kingsolver goes on to say that other people may feel confused too, such as professional therapists or law-enforcement officers. She then says, “but no motive is beyond the grasp of an imaginative fiction writer.” By saying this, she sets up the premise that this book might be a little out-there and unrealistic.

Kingsolver also comments on how uncontrived this book may be, through her use of what details to include. Incidentally, this also shows what critical perspective she critiques with here- archetypal. She classifies the two main characters as being  “easily cut to type.” There’s the hippie character, an “emotional animal rights fanatic decked out in dreadlocks and vegetarian zeal,” and the uncaring park ranger with a Ph.D.

The diction and word-choice used in the piece may also reflect the way Kingsolver feels about this piece. She uses very informal writing, and what seem to be childish words, for instance she’ll say “gobbling down” and “a dodo-like waitress.” This makes the book itself seem less sophisticated, and not worth reading.

From reading this review, “When the Killing’s Done” reminds me of your average dystopian novel, in which powerful humans have become corrupt and there’s a strong-willed band of individuals that try to fight for what they believe is right. For instance, “1984” (suuuch a good book!!) or “Children of Men.”