Journal 18 -“In Another Country”
1. What is the significance of the story’s title?
The significance in the story’s title “In Another Country” was that the characters were separated from the rest. The characters were officers and the people would yell at them that they weren’t wanted. The bond that they all had was that they all had injuries and these injuring separated them from the others. The characters were their own group of people because they were so different from everyone else, it was as if they were from another country.
2. Which character do you think best represents the “Hemingway hero”? Why?
The Hemmingway hero always suffers with grace and dignity. He is brave and always deals with situations by shrugging them off. At some point everyone is going to be faced with defeat. Hemingway has a code of how to attempt to establish values and meaning in an increasingly meaningless world. You accept loss with dignity and acceptance. The character that best represents this code is the major because he is suffering loss on more than one level. His wife has died (personal loss) and his hand injury is a physical loss. His injury is more significant than the narrators because he was a fencer and will never be able to fence again. This character suffers the most out of everyone and he deals with them the best way. These injuries have become his life. The major tells the narrator to never get married because the pain of the loss isn’t worth it in the end. He understands that defeat in inevitable and says to hold on to the things that are permanent and can’t be lost.
3. What can you infer about the photographs the doctor hangs up? What is the significance of the major’s reaction?
The photographs are fake because they were the first ones to use the machine. The photographs are there just a motivitation for the other soldiers.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Journal #17
What is the significance of the poems epigraph? How does it relate to Prufrock?
The epigraph is from Dante's Inferno. He is saying that he's not afraid of his story because no one has come back from hell. It relates to Prufrock because his story has his private thoughts.
2. Make a list of questions that Prufrock asks. Do you see a pattern/theme to these questions or are they random?
What is it?
Do I dare?
So how should I presume?
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
Shall I part my hair behind?
The pattern and them through out the questions are that Prufrock is very uncertain and self-conscience. He is never sure of anything he does. The repetition of the questions show true anxiety.
3. What do you think is Prufrock’s main flaw/problem?
His main flaw is being self-conscience. He doesn’t want to be judged and can never make a straight decision. Because of this big flaw he can never become a true person with a personality. He'll never experience love or friendship because he's so worried all the time.
4. Why do you think this is called a love song? In what way is it a love song?
It is called a Long Song because its ironic because there isn't any love at all.
The epigraph is from Dante's Inferno. He is saying that he's not afraid of his story because no one has come back from hell. It relates to Prufrock because his story has his private thoughts.
2. Make a list of questions that Prufrock asks. Do you see a pattern/theme to these questions or are they random?
What is it?
Do I dare?
So how should I presume?
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
Shall I part my hair behind?
The pattern and them through out the questions are that Prufrock is very uncertain and self-conscience. He is never sure of anything he does. The repetition of the questions show true anxiety.
3. What do you think is Prufrock’s main flaw/problem?
His main flaw is being self-conscience. He doesn’t want to be judged and can never make a straight decision. Because of this big flaw he can never become a true person with a personality. He'll never experience love or friendship because he's so worried all the time.
4. Why do you think this is called a love song? In what way is it a love song?
It is called a Long Song because its ironic because there isn't any love at all.
Journal #16
Journal 16 – Crane’s “The Blue Hotel” and London’s “To Build A Fire”
Read the following quote and discuss how it applies to the main characters in both stories. In the course of this discussion, address how each of the characters is both similar and different:
“Determinisim governs everything … The writer must study the inherited traits of individual character and the social condition of the time. Together, these elements determine the course of any action, the outcome of any life. Free will or self-determination is mostly an illusion, although chance is granted a role in human affairs. Still, even the effects of chance are obliterated in the inevitable course determined by the interaction of inherited character traits and the social environment.“
In “To Build a Fire”, the main character, the man is faced to deal with the evironement and fate. He was determined to meet up with his friends at the Lodge Cloud but he didn’t listen and pushed away fear that would kept him safe. He was too cocky in his traveling causing him to face his death. The man was warned by the old man not to go traveling alone when its below freezing but he still didn’t listen. He pushed all of these fealings of being afraid and was determined.
In Crane's "The Blue Hotel", the Swede proves that his uncomfortable feelings in a different social environment can lead to a disastrous ending. The Swede is confused with where he really is and actually thinks that he is in the Wild West where people kill each other over a silly card game. The Swede is wrong because no one has ever died in that hotel and those people are nothing like that. He becomes so socially awkward that he gets drunk and becomes a completely different person. The social environment is affected by this different person because the Swede tries to fight Johnny and beats him up. He then begins to torment a visitor who ended up stabbing him. From the beginning he thought he was going to die there and it was fate that he did end up dying.
Read the following quote and discuss how it applies to the main characters in both stories. In the course of this discussion, address how each of the characters is both similar and different:
“Determinisim governs everything … The writer must study the inherited traits of individual character and the social condition of the time. Together, these elements determine the course of any action, the outcome of any life. Free will or self-determination is mostly an illusion, although chance is granted a role in human affairs. Still, even the effects of chance are obliterated in the inevitable course determined by the interaction of inherited character traits and the social environment.“
In “To Build a Fire”, the main character, the man is faced to deal with the evironement and fate. He was determined to meet up with his friends at the Lodge Cloud but he didn’t listen and pushed away fear that would kept him safe. He was too cocky in his traveling causing him to face his death. The man was warned by the old man not to go traveling alone when its below freezing but he still didn’t listen. He pushed all of these fealings of being afraid and was determined.
In Crane's "The Blue Hotel", the Swede proves that his uncomfortable feelings in a different social environment can lead to a disastrous ending. The Swede is confused with where he really is and actually thinks that he is in the Wild West where people kill each other over a silly card game. The Swede is wrong because no one has ever died in that hotel and those people are nothing like that. He becomes so socially awkward that he gets drunk and becomes a completely different person. The social environment is affected by this different person because the Swede tries to fight Johnny and beats him up. He then begins to torment a visitor who ended up stabbing him. From the beginning he thought he was going to die there and it was fate that he did end up dying.
Journal #15
Journal 15 – William Dean Howell’s “Editha”
1. Write a sentence that summarizes the story’s overall message, and provide three direct quotes from the story that best illustrate this message.
The messae of the passage is that living in the ideal than in reality can be very dangerous to a person in how they live their life.
"I shall always love you, and therefore I shall never
marry any one else. But the man I marry must love
his country first of all”
“You thought it would be all right for my George, your George, to kill the sons of those miserable mothers and husbands of those girls that you would never see that faces of
“He told me he had asked you to come if he got killed. You didn’t expect that, I suppose, when you sent him.”
2. What tactics does Editha use to make George believe as she does about the war?
Editha threatens George that if he doesn’t go to war she won’t be with him. She persuades him in that her opinion on it being a “holy war” is true. She also threatens him by sending him a letter with her engagement ring in it which basically said if he doesn’t go to war, she won’t be with him. This resulted in him going to war even though he didn’t want too and getting killed.
3. Is there ever a time in which Editha truly understands what she has done? Does she ever experience an epiphany?
I think Editha felt a little guilty in the beginning when she was mourning her loss of her fiancé. But she never however expierenced an epiphany because she never understood what she did wrong. Even when she visited his mom like he asked, the mother tried to drill it in her that it was her fault but she wouldn’t have it. She liked her ideal world and therefore she stayed in it.
1. Write a sentence that summarizes the story’s overall message, and provide three direct quotes from the story that best illustrate this message.
The messae of the passage is that living in the ideal than in reality can be very dangerous to a person in how they live their life.
"I shall always love you, and therefore I shall never
marry any one else. But the man I marry must love
his country first of all”
“You thought it would be all right for my George, your George, to kill the sons of those miserable mothers and husbands of those girls that you would never see that faces of
“He told me he had asked you to come if he got killed. You didn’t expect that, I suppose, when you sent him.”
2. What tactics does Editha use to make George believe as she does about the war?
Editha threatens George that if he doesn’t go to war she won’t be with him. She persuades him in that her opinion on it being a “holy war” is true. She also threatens him by sending him a letter with her engagement ring in it which basically said if he doesn’t go to war, she won’t be with him. This resulted in him going to war even though he didn’t want too and getting killed.
3. Is there ever a time in which Editha truly understands what she has done? Does she ever experience an epiphany?
I think Editha felt a little guilty in the beginning when she was mourning her loss of her fiancé. But she never however expierenced an epiphany because she never understood what she did wrong. Even when she visited his mom like he asked, the mother tried to drill it in her that it was her fault but she wouldn’t have it. She liked her ideal world and therefore she stayed in it.
Journal #14
Journal #14 - E. A. Robinson Poems
Realism – The theory or practice in art and literature of fidelity to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization of the most typical views, details, and surroundings of the subject.
Read the following poems and write a detailed description for each of the title characters and explain how each is an example of the “real” instead of the “ideal.”
“Richard Cory“ (497)
Everyone in the town that Richard Cory lives in everyone looks up to him. He is seen as the perfect man and its shown through the nice clothes he wears and how smart he is. This makes the story ironic because Richard goes home to kill himself. This shows that no one actually knows whats going on, on the inside. It was very ironic because everyone thought he was perfect and he went home to kill himself. A theme of this story would be to not judge a person by what you think is on the outside. No one ever really knows what’s going on behind closed doors.
“Miniver Cheevy” (497)
Minivery Cheevy dreams of living in a different era of knights and romantics. He loves the days when people rode horses and used swords. He dreams of life where everyone is romatic. He became a drunk because all of these dreams could not be fulfilled. The life that he wanted to live wasn’t possible. His life became empty and all he thinks about is the life he’s not living.
“Mr. Flood’s Party” (498)
In this story, Mr. Flood is having a party for himself. This is not the ideal party because it is only himself. He’s old now and doesn’t have any friends. The story explains that all the doors are shut and will never open. I believe that he did something unforgivable and therefore everyone shut him out of their lives. Mr. Flood gets drunk because when he is like that, he gets to have a party and thinks all of his friends are there. In reality, Mr. Flood is just a lonely old drunk.
Realism – The theory or practice in art and literature of fidelity to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization of the most typical views, details, and surroundings of the subject.
Read the following poems and write a detailed description for each of the title characters and explain how each is an example of the “real” instead of the “ideal.”
“Richard Cory“ (497)
Everyone in the town that Richard Cory lives in everyone looks up to him. He is seen as the perfect man and its shown through the nice clothes he wears and how smart he is. This makes the story ironic because Richard goes home to kill himself. This shows that no one actually knows whats going on, on the inside. It was very ironic because everyone thought he was perfect and he went home to kill himself. A theme of this story would be to not judge a person by what you think is on the outside. No one ever really knows what’s going on behind closed doors.
“Miniver Cheevy” (497)
Minivery Cheevy dreams of living in a different era of knights and romantics. He loves the days when people rode horses and used swords. He dreams of life where everyone is romatic. He became a drunk because all of these dreams could not be fulfilled. The life that he wanted to live wasn’t possible. His life became empty and all he thinks about is the life he’s not living.
“Mr. Flood’s Party” (498)
In this story, Mr. Flood is having a party for himself. This is not the ideal party because it is only himself. He’s old now and doesn’t have any friends. The story explains that all the doors are shut and will never open. I believe that he did something unforgivable and therefore everyone shut him out of their lives. Mr. Flood gets drunk because when he is like that, he gets to have a party and thinks all of his friends are there. In reality, Mr. Flood is just a lonely old drunk.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Journal #13
Journal #13 – Edgar Lee Masters Epitaphs (p. 502)
Read “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” and answer the following questions.
1. What object symbolizes George Gray’s life? How is this object representative of him?
The object that symbolizes George Gray’s life is the boat waiting to go out and sail. The boat represents him because it has been docked its how life and will never go out into the water. This represents George was because his whole life he has been too scared to do anything. George is too scared to take any chances fearing that they will result in a bad consequence where as the boat is the same way because it is worried about bad weather. The sail of his boat was never opened so the chance to enjoy the sea was never taken where as George was the same way because he never took a chance at love or anything exciting.
2. How was Lucinda Matlock’s life different than George Gray’s? How do you interepret the last line of the poem?
The life of Lucinda Matlock’s is very different from George Gray’s in that she enjoyed life and took every chance possible. Throughout her life, she had many years of excitement by trying all the new things and taking the chances that fulfilled her life. This is very different from George because George’s life ended unhappy and unfulfilled where as Lucinda’s was the opposite. Lucinda accepted that life was short and lived every day like it was her last. The last line of the poem was advice that life must be lived to the fullest or else as you die, you will look back and be happy with everything you have done.
3. How are “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” examples of realism?
George Gray and Lucinda Matlock are perfect examples of realism because they both lived the average every day lives of normal people. Both of them were described as normal and never had anything spectacular happen to them. Although the two were completely different in their views on how to live their lives, they were both realistic. George lived and died with the same common problem that many have in that they didn’t live to their ful potential and instead stayed inside in fear of losing. Lucinda lived a happy and fulfilled life just like thousands who live their lives to the ful potential and die with happiness.
Read “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” and answer the following questions.
1. What object symbolizes George Gray’s life? How is this object representative of him?
The object that symbolizes George Gray’s life is the boat waiting to go out and sail. The boat represents him because it has been docked its how life and will never go out into the water. This represents George was because his whole life he has been too scared to do anything. George is too scared to take any chances fearing that they will result in a bad consequence where as the boat is the same way because it is worried about bad weather. The sail of his boat was never opened so the chance to enjoy the sea was never taken where as George was the same way because he never took a chance at love or anything exciting.
2. How was Lucinda Matlock’s life different than George Gray’s? How do you interepret the last line of the poem?
The life of Lucinda Matlock’s is very different from George Gray’s in that she enjoyed life and took every chance possible. Throughout her life, she had many years of excitement by trying all the new things and taking the chances that fulfilled her life. This is very different from George because George’s life ended unhappy and unfulfilled where as Lucinda’s was the opposite. Lucinda accepted that life was short and lived every day like it was her last. The last line of the poem was advice that life must be lived to the fullest or else as you die, you will look back and be happy with everything you have done.
3. How are “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” examples of realism?
George Gray and Lucinda Matlock are perfect examples of realism because they both lived the average every day lives of normal people. Both of them were described as normal and never had anything spectacular happen to them. Although the two were completely different in their views on how to live their lives, they were both realistic. George lived and died with the same common problem that many have in that they didn’t live to their ful potential and instead stayed inside in fear of losing. Lucinda lived a happy and fulfilled life just like thousands who live their lives to the ful potential and die with happiness.
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