Twinkle

"Sanjeev pressed the massive silver face to his ribs, careful not to let the feather hat slip, and followed her." So reads the last line of Lahiri's short story This Blessed House. Does this line underscore the fact that because Sanjeev has chosen a woman who is ensconced on the kind of pedestal we have for women in Western culture (beautiful, sexy, mysterious, stylish, capricious--see: Julia Roberts, Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie, Winona Ryder, to name a few), he is destined to be a servant rather than a master?

Stone and Wood

Plaid, Stripes and Camouflage

Remnants of a Dream

Oscar

Before it becomes irrevelant...

For any of you who partake in watching the television show gossipgirl (and for those who don't but want to see some literary jargon in action)...

The most recent episode circa Monday the 17th showcased an existentialist theme in a delightful way. Choice, which is quite Meursault-esque and that it will land a character in prison makes the connection even a bit more spooky...

Choice #1: Vanessa and Chuck invite Nate over to the gallery under the ruse that it's an emergency. Then an FBI guy steps out of the shadows wanting to talk to Nate about his father (who is back in town, after having ran away to Dominica, turns out he was planning to hold Nate and Nate's mother for ransom to make money to support himself, anyway...).

Choice #2: Nate decides to talk and reveals where his father is. He arrives before the FBI to persuade his father to turn himself in and be accountable for his actions rather than run away again.

Choice #3: Nate's father decides to go peacefully with the FBI and turns himself in.

Another interesting note with some of the feminist theory, when Nate convinces his father, he says something along the lines of "be a man" and face it. Wowsers patriarchal binary thought really is everywhere.

By the way, can't you tell I just love using ellipsis... :)

Modern art and the Argument from Intimidation

I dearly hope this doesn't give away my identity, but as I was reading I came across something I thought was really interesting. In the post about Camus's quotes, there was one that was commented on a couple of times dealing with abstract art. Ironically, while I was reading yesterday I came across another view of abstract art. It has to do with the idea of the Argument from Intimidation. Simply put, this is when someone sidesteps an argument by bringing the moral character of the other person into question. It would go something like this:

"You believe that? Well, only the immoral could fail to see that Candidate X's argument is false."
Or: "Only cowards can fail to agree that life is a sewer."
Or: "Only the most primitive mind could not see that THAT idea is severely outdated."

And of course, all of these sayings would be accompanied by eye rolls, sighs, and looks of unbelief at your stupidity. With this kind of arguing, the person utilizing the Argument from Intimidation is not refuting the claim that's being made, but merely attacking the person that's making the claim. It's a shallow form of argument, and only practiced by those who really don't know what they're talking about.

That said, here's an excerpt from my book:

"As an example of an entire field of activity based on nothing but the Argument from Intimidation, I give you modern art -- where, in order to prove that they do possess the special insight only possessed by the mystic "elite," the populace are trying to surpass one another in loud exclamations on the splendor of some bare (but smudged) piece of canvas."

So this might be off topic, but I was wondering what people thought of this idea. Is modern art all it's cracked up to be? Or is it just a scam of people trying to convince both themselves and others that they're more intelligent than they truly are?

Hudson Catholic's Photo Essays

Hey, West Lit. Survey Mavens,

Please check out Hudson Catholic's site; some of the students have posted their photos and quotes on line for comment. Also, there's a Facebook link to Me, Myself, and I's photo essay. Feel free to post yours on our site or on your sites with links, too--unless you don't want me to see. . . .

On Friday, Kyle and Ashley were giving me sass in class for having used my own name as my blog name. So I started wondering, what is the novelty behind a code name? Is it something with which to hide behind so that you can say things without being held accountable? Or is it a way to seperate yourself from people's ideas of who you are and allowing yourself to truly be heard? By using my own name am I, as Kyle suggested, "defeating the purpose?"

I know this doesn't directly relate to the Stranger (or maybe it does, those crazy existentialist are hard to keep up with) but it was on my mind nonetheless.

Camus' Quotes

As we finish our unit on The Stranger, please comment on one or more of these quotes by Camus that you can find at this site:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/albert_camus.html

Our Times and Camus Times

Is the philosophy of existentialism still relevant today? We live in a world of sweeping changes, new technology, access to more information than ever before. A global community has replaced small and isolated communities. Where does choice and responsibility come into play in the present times?

Your Photographs

Feel free to put any photographs that you've found/taken that reflect The Stranger on our blog. We'd also love it if you explained how the photograph reflects the themes.

Do You Consider Yourself an Existentialist?

Monday, we'll be discussing what "existential themes" really are. After our discussion, do you feel that you sometimes (or perhaps, most of the time) view the world as one who considered him/herself an existentialist does? Please explain.

Works of Art

Please comment (fairly extensively) on one or more works of art that you viewed at the St. Louis Art Museum on Friday. How did this work affect you--emotionally or otherwise. Explain.

The Stranger. . .through the Feminist Lens

In applying a feminist lens to your reading of Camus' The Stranger, what results do you get?

Lacan and Meursault

And then again, is Meursault stuck in the Mirror Stage? Because of some dysfunction in his relationship with his mother, does he still attempt to control the world by perceiving it as merely a physical extenstion of himself?

The Characters We Love to Hate. . .or Do We?

As she stated in class, Brittni hates Meursault. In her reflection, she writes that he "reminds (me) of the characters in movies that are trying to hard to be indie". But what I appreciate about her insight is that although she dislikes Meursault, Brittni sees relative merit in Camus' novel. Another interesting point that Brittni brings up in her reflection: did Meursault shoot the Arab "largely due to a build up of repressed emotion"? Kyle Ellison's group discussed that the murder was an assertion of Meursault's masculinity. And then again, Brittni sees a parallel between Salamano and his dog and Meursault and his mother. How do you connect these connections? Or do you?

Sartre and Responsibility

Existentialist thinker Jean Paul Sartre said that basically, we are responsible for everything except for the fact that we are responsible for everything. In other words, we do choose--"we alone confer meaning on an alarm clock in the morning, we alone decide what is moral or otherwise; we alone decide on our own future or its significance". What do you think?

Meursault and the Present

Anyone notice how Meursault seems to be consistently in the present, mainly concerned with intaking and describing sensory data? Any comments?

Death

Hey guys,

So in adv. lit. survey we read that last page about Camus view on death..well i agree with some of what he wrote..i just kinda wanted to get a blog going about this just to see peoples opinion. O and i started reading some of the stranger its actually pretty good.

HEY JOKERS

okay so I'm in contemporary lit...and we have been reading "Bleachers" by John Grisham...some may say an easy read like Kyle..but Whatevs its pretty good i just finished it last night...and they whole theme throughout the story is what is greatness? So I want to know what you think Greatness is...

I'm a decider....i decide....to decide

Just thought it'd be a good idea to address Bush's Address to the Nation last night. I'm sure some people watched this 13 minute speech, considering it blocked out most stations. Either way, here's the link, and i would like to hear everyone's opinion on this. I do, also, have an opinion, of course, however, i don't want my initial post to start anything positive/negative, we'll see how far we can get without doing just that: Good Luck Comrades! :)

http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video08.html?maven_referralObject=3110640&maven_referralPlaylistId=&sRevUrl=http://www.foxnews.com/

Inherently good = born into innocence?

There's been good discussion over the concept of man being inherently good, and it sparked a thought of mine. We accept the phrase innocence of a child as easily as we welcome air into our lungs. We don't question it. They don't know any better.

If the two ideas are concurrent, then man's goodness is conditional with a child's innocence. Here's my question: is a child of pure innocence when it kills small animals for fun (don't laugh, this is much more common than one would think, and only an example); not because they are necessarily of evil presence, but because they know no better? Does the child's "innocence" cancel the evil of murder and inhuman slaughter?

This question is not of my opinion, one way or the other. Just a thought.

I suppose i should title this

In our class discussion today, we briefly touched on the genre of romanticism. I've always wondered, what exactly do you guys believe? If we were all writers during the romantic period, would you fall under that heading? 

My biggest question involves the idea that man is inherently good. Do you believe this idea, or do you uphold a more "pessimistic" view of the human race? 

Calling on Your Blake Expertise

It's your friends in Mass.! We're beginning Grendel by John Gardner and the novel cites Blake at its beginning: "And if the Babe is born a Boy/ He's given to a Woman Old,/ Who nails him down upon a rock,/ Catches his shrieks in cups of gold."

What's this all about? I was hoping having read Blake's Marriage recently, you might be able to give us some insight. You can comment on our blog as well www.aplitathc.blogspot.com and if you've read Grendel, even better!

Selling Your Soul to the Devil

The last phase of our Hell unit will consist of examining the Faust legend: its German origins and later adaptations, including excerpts from Marlowe, Goethe, and Mann. And maybe we'll watch an SNL skit or two, for the sake of lightening up what can be a very dark topic: the sale of your soul to the devil. Take a look at Rembrandt's depiction of the Faust legend. What do you feel/notice/think when you look at this piece?

Mm, Opium. Delish.

I've been thinking about Mrs. Coleman's section of Blake that she found "freaky". The one where all the strong animals mate with the weak and then dismember them while continually stroking/licking them affectionately. Then they devour them.

First I was thinking about how completely morbid, but kind of compelling that is. This brought me to question why it is that people find horrible things so engrossing. Like car crashes and seriel killers. What draws us to them?

Also, on a completely different(ish) note, my dad was telling me that up until about 1922 Opium and Heroin were sold over the counter. I look back at some of Blake, and even Dante's writing and wonder if that had an influence. I mean, these were Godly men of the Catholic church, but if they didn't know that the drugs had the affect they do, it's totally feasible that they used them to "open their doors of perception" right? Like Blake's visions and such....

Blake's Religion

William Blake was very concerned with the archetype (remember that word?) of the creator--whether it be God, the artist, the poet. . . whatever. This image depicts the demiurgic figure Urizen. (A demiurge is the creator or craftsman of the universe.)

The beginning of the Marriage of Heaven and Hell reads:


The Argument

Rintrah roars, and shakes his fires in the burden'd air;
Hungry clouds swag on the deep.
Once meek, and in a perilous path,
The just man kept his course along
The vale of death.Roses are planted where thorns grow,
And on the barren heathSing the honey bees.
Then the perilous path was planted,
And a river and a springOn every cliff and tomb,And on the bleachèd bonesRed clay brought forth;
Till the villain left the paths of ease,
To walk in perilous paths, and drive
The just man into barren climes.
Now the sneaking serpent walks
In mild humility,
And the just man rages in the wilds
Where lions roam.
Rintrah roars, and shakes his fires in the burden'd air;
Hungry clouds swag on the deep.
As a new heaven is begun, and it is now thirty-three years since its advent,
the Eternal Hell revives.
And lo! Swedenborg is the Angel sitting at the tomb: his writings are the linen clothes folded up. Now is the dominion of Edom, and the return of Adam into Paradise. See Isaiah xxxiv and xxxv chap.

Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence.
From these contraries spring what the religious call Good and Evil. Good is the passive that obeys Reason. Evil is the active springing from Energy.
Good is Heaven. Evil is Hell.

As you can see, Blake views Hell as a symbolic, not necessarily negative state. How does Blake's view of Hell differ from Dante's and which version is closer to your beliefs?

Gods power

Tonight something was brought to my attention. Does God make our fate or do we? Well, i got into a car accident nothing major just a couple scratches. What made me think was my mom. She said, "I believe in God, and that what happens is fate." See i was on my way to go see my boyfriend, when this happened. I guess it was his way of telling me to not go. See my mom didnt know that i was and it was a white lie. Thinking about all of this now, i came to the conclusion that he didnt want me out there. That i shouldnt lie anymore. This whole thing just made me think about what we are learning and the decisions that people make. I still wonder if it really is him making our fate or do we push ourselves in the direction that he wants us to go??

Shadows

Deep in the shadows of hell, you hear the screams and cries of the people down there. Through all the levels people that have killed, cheated on their spouse and even those unbaptized.
They see what they have done and hope one day they can live the peaceful life of others in heaven with God. Will they ever be able to arrive in the beautiful skies?

"This is hell Dante, not your personal fantasy."

(Sandow Birk's picture of Greyon from Dante's Inferno)

Don't know if you remember, but I showed you a few photo copies of artist's conceptions of Dante's Inferno. I recommend checking out this movie trailer for Sandow Birk's film that dramatizes the Inferno using puppets. Here's a description from the web site:

DANTE’S INFERNO has been kicking around the cultural playground for over 700 years. But it has never before been interpreted with exquisitely hand-drawn paper puppets, brought to life using purely hand-made special effects. Until now. Rediscover this literary classic, retold in a kind of apocalyptic graphic novel meets Victorian-era toy theater. Dante’s Hell is brought to lurid 3-dimensional, high-definition life in a darkly comedic travelogue of the underworld — set against an all-too-familiar urban backdrop of used car lots, gated communities, strip malls, and the U.S. Capitol. And populated with a contemporary cast of reprobates, including famous — and infamous — politicians, presidents, popes, pimps. And the Prince of Darkness himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whHDbGeJcts

lies

here's something i wrote in my math journal after witnessing a classmate lie to the teacher. as boredom with the lesson had already set it, i began observing her rather than taking notes (not very constructive, but what can you do?) feedback anyone?

to spit out the words

matching the rhythm of heartbeat

to a system of muttered flaws

choking on the truth still caught in your throat

clasping moist palms to cold surfaces

eyes dart left. eyes dart right.

the air is thick with answers

visible only when tongue trips, pulse races.

heavy limbs move like molasses

through ever-thinning oxygen

a ticking clock that never existed

sounds more like an eminent explosive

time hangs alone in silence.

you do not speak. you do not move.

muscle meets newly dampened lip

a wayward smile, and you are safe.

thought it might somehow tie in to dante. exploring the sin of lying? rather loose connection but i tried. 

Sociopaths in Tuesday night TV

While I was watching the season finale of The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family tonight, our discussion from class about sociopaths popped back into my mind.

When Lauren said that Ricky lured girls to him by making them feel sorry for him, it became incredibly clear that Ricky is a sociopath. He has no guilt about his promiscuity or getting Amy pregnant, but feigns a conscience to become closer to Grace.

Anyway, although not everyone is familiar with the show, I thought it might make an interesting point to consider. His character exhibits many behaviors that fit exactly with what we mentioned in class.

Circles of Hell

So i took the test and like many i got purgatory. But as i read the questions, i wondered why they are based off certain things. Why not real life situations like if you able to do this would you? It just got me thinking about how he can base a quiz off of little known questions. Or did he actually know what he was doing??? Like Ms. Coleman said could he really be reincarnated?

Youth in "Where Are You Going"

One of the things that struck me most about the short story was the accurate portrayal of adolescence. It's stereotypical somewhat, but stereotypes begin for a reason. Connie could be any one of my classmates - checking herself whenever she can and very confident in her vitality and beauty. She malls with her friends, flirts and charms. She doesn't hate her mother, but is just in a constant stuggle with her as is typical for teenagers because parents nag and teens don't care. She has a sibling rivalry, but not really because she's not actively participating in it - just constantly is annoyed by the comparing between she and June. Even her staying at home to lie around and dry her hair rather than enjoy time with her family is familiar.

This is important mainly because it makes her ultimate lure to her death so painful to read. Even if she's not remotely likeable, she's realistic. She could very easily be anyone you know, and that brings home what you may already know: that this was a real event, that this did happen to real people.

Just found it effective.

“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” as a Title

Anyone with thoughts on the meaning of the title of this story? I thought it was somewhat similar to “A Clockwork Orange” where the question “What’s it going to be then, eh?” is constantly asked. Alex goes through the whole novel figuring out (mostly subconsciously) what he is going to do with his life. Here, Joyce Carol Oates asks Connie what her past has been and what her future will be. Connie’s past doesn’t seem to amount to much. She and her sister are opposite stereotypes: June is the plain, well-behaved, “boring” type; Connie is pretty, vain, and much more wild than her sister. He hasn’t done much with her life so far, and she doesn’t seem to have any plans for it. The arrival of Arnold Friend on her doorstep forces Connie to make a decision that will change her life. She can either stand up for herself, call the police, and risk Arnold coming in the house after her, or admit that she has no spine and go to Arnold, even though she realizes that he will rape her and probably kill her anyways ("I'm not going to see my mother again. She thought, I'm not going to sleep in my bed again."). She choses her future when she walks out the screen door and leaves her family and safety (and possibly life) behind.

Dante's Inferno Links

Here is a fun link to a test that will tell you exactly where you belong in Dante's HELL!

http://www.4degreez.com/misc/dante-inferno-test.mv

And here is another link from the University of Texas at Austin. that archives all things Divine Comedy, including artists' renditions, verses read in the original Italian, links to annotated versions of the Inferno, and summaries and interpretations of the cantos. It's called Danteworlds. Check it out!

http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/utopia/index2.html

The Serial Killer as Inspiration

Link to the story of Charles Schmid, the Pied Piper of Tuscon, upon which Joyce Carol Oates based her story, "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?"


http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/schmid/sand_1.html

Joyce Carol Oates says, in reference to being inspired to write by the stories of serial killers, ". . .the serial killer is, abstractedly, an analogue of the imagination's caprices and amorality; the sense that, no matter the dictates and even the wishes of the conscious social self, the life or will or purpose of the imagination is incomprehensible, unpredictable."

She mentions the archetype of Death and the Maiden, Bob Dylan's It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, and the story of Charles Schmid as inspirations for her story. In light of Oates's explanation, what are your thoughts on her story/her inspiration/the imagination?

Openly amazing

Imagine flying in the sky behind a comet in the corona that we on earth know as it's tail.



I think this having watched Treasure Planet Recently.

Symbolism

As my name suggests, I have a number of questions regarding "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" mostly about the symbolism in the story. First of all, what exactly were the girls doing when they were supposed to be at the mall? Any reference to thoae times are vague and have a very "I'm doing something that I know is wrong" feeling. Also, what do you think the music was symbolizing in the story? Music was refered to multiple time throughout the story and seemed to be a sort of escape route to me, but maybe not. Next, what was with Arnold's name? That was definitely not random. In my opinion, when you slur the first and last names together it sounds like "an old friend." As far as his friend Ellie, why does this guy have a girl's name and is his sole purpose to make Arnold look less strange in comparison? Also, why did he promise not to enter her house as long as she didn't call the police and do you think he really would have entered the house if she did? What does this represent? I know that it sounds like I didn't understand this story at all, but I did. I just like asking questions. ; )

Friend

In that "Where you are going," (or howevere the title is) I feel that the Friend guy is suppose to be Satan and the guy in the car Beezlebub. When he talks to the girl it feels like he is trying to, or did, brainwash her into getting her out of the house. I also felt that he was an illusion of some sort. From a short distance he looks like a man of her dreams, but when she started to really look at him she noticed that parts of him weren't real (like his height, parts of his face...). This is what I thought when I read it. If you agree or disagree feel free to blog or email me about what you think.

Irony--the Easy Way Out?

Well, here's a toss-off random post that could be interesting to respond to:

Irony is the easy way out. It's an anti-opinion, an opinion without taking any chances.

Do you agree or disagree? Why?

(We'll just pretend John Milton or Omar Khayyam said it instead of Jack White.)

Class of '09 Shoutout

Figure someone had to make the first post. Either way, this is for all of Ms. Coleman's 3rd hour(Or other hours i suppose =b) Advanced Literature Survey class. Stay active, lets get some chats goin, we only got 1 semester. Feel free to open some posts up, with any questions regarding anything we're reading, or anything YOU'RE reading, send me an e-mail, it's listed under my profile(Which i am more than happy to share with you, so feel free to read), and lets get right too it!

God as a Mastermind

I Don't think of God as one mastermind that plays around with us humans for his own enjoyment. I think this Quatrain almost has a feel that the writer believed in some sort of pre-destiny. I believe people choose who they want to be, they make certain decisions who make them who they are. I think it has an undertone of death..as in "slays" translated more literally is killed, and "one by one back in the closet lays." The closet to me is sort of like a symbolic coffin, to life and a game god has played.

Re: The Great Chessmaster

I agree with Khayyam’s view of such a manipulating creator, assuming that a Creator of any kind really does exist. In a world full of so much innocent human suffering (for references see the Conflict in Darfur, the refugees from the recent earthquake in China and the people starving in Myanmar because their government won’t allow for foreign aid after the tidal wave there), it is hard to believe in the supposed benevolence of any sort of God. For example, the belief that the bad things that happen to the world are actually trials testing our faith in the Christian God simply don’t account for the sheer amount of violence, suffering and death throughout the Christian and non-Christian world alike.
However, the part of Khayyam’s vision that I disagree with is the random nature in which the creator moves the pawns across his chessboard. Something that I have learned in my nineteen plus years on this earth is the overwhelming power of karma. Everything happens for a reason, and if you harm another in any way, you will eventually receive your comeuppance. Accordingly, I do not believe that the creator always randomly chooses a few pawns to pick on; clearly some of those involved are deserving of the injustices presented to them.

The Great Chessmaster

Omar Khayyam's quatrain 69 from the Rubaiyat reads:


But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays
Upon this Checker-board of Nights and Days;
Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays,
And one by one back in the Closet lays.

In other words, Khayyam envisions a capricious creator who, after tiring of playing games with his human inventions, places them back into a darkened closet (death?). Do you agree with Khayyam's view of God? Why or why not?