Monday, December 9, 2013
LIFE AFTER THIS BLOG POST
This evening, I wrote an email to myself one year in the future using the website futureme.org. At first I didn't know what to say so I rambled on in a stream-of-consciousness style. Then, I decided on reminding my future-self on some of the current events in the world and in my life. I figured that in the future, I could do some comparing. I went on in the letter to talk about how I hope I am happy at whatever college I chose to attend. In conclusion, I gave a couple of inspirational words of encouragement in case I am a little down at that date in the future, and I wished myself well, which is weird to think about.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
THE PERFORMATIVE UTTERANCE IN HAMLET
Apparently, I accidentally left this post in my drafts and forgot to publish it until now. These are my notes from the essay "The Performative Utterance in William Shakespeare's Hamlet" by Fredrik deBoer.
- 1st paragraph - Hamlet's utterances provide an insight into his character and illustrate his thoughts.
- The locutionary force, the illocutionary force, and the perlocutionary force are all part of performative language that can convince someone of its meaning when a phrase is said.
- Harold Boom - "argues that Shakespeare's characters frequently develop through 'self-overhearing.' Shakespeare's characters, in this argument, overhear themselves speaking and in doing so gain knowledge.
- This "self-overhearing" occurs when Hamlet contemplates whether or not to commit suicide and when he decides whether or not to kill his uncle while he is praying or wait a little longer.
- Talking to oneself or stating something can bind that person to their word. It is additional insurance that they will come through with what they say.
- I still think that Hamlet could genuinely be mad, by seeing his ghost and through his strange behavior. I think he is traumatized by the murder of his father and might need some psychological help.
LIT CIRCLES
My literature circle read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. We shared and discussed our information while reading the book through Facebook group chats. I was in charge of identifying and explaining literary techniques in the novel.
Imagery - Used by Dickens to describe the appearance of new characters in Pip's journey.
"A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin." (Page 2) (Describing Magwitch)
"She was dressed in rich materials - satins, and lace, and silks - all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table." (Page 47) (Describing Miss Havisham)
Personification - Used by Dickens to demonstrate Pip's nerves and his childhood imagination.
"Every crack in every board, calling after me, 'Stop thief!' and 'Get up, Mrs. Joe!'" (Page 12)
"The gates and dykes and banks came bursting at me through the mist, as if they cried as plainly as could be, 'A boy with Somebody-else's pork pie! Stop him!' The cattle came upon me with like suddenness, staring out of their eyes, and steaming out of their nostrils, 'Holloa, young thief!'" (Page 13)
Diction - Used by Dickens to emphasize Joe's social standing through his poor speech.
"My father, Pip, he were given to drink, and when he were overtook with drink...he hammered at me with a wigour only to be equalled by the wigour with which he didn't hammer at his anwil." (Page 37)
Breaking the Fourth Wall - Used by Dickens to allow the audience to connect with Pip if they believe he is telling his story to them personally.
"Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day." (Page 61)
Repetition - Used by the Dickens to show Magwitch's influential comments and emphasize Pip's many thoughts.
"A boy may lock his door, may be warm in bed, may tuck himself up, may think himself comfortable and safe, but that young man will softly creep and creep his way to him and tear him open." (Page 4)
"I saw in this, that Estella was set to wreak Miss Havisham's revenge on men...I saw in this, a reason for her being beforehand assigned to me...I saw in this, the reason for my being staved off so long...I saw in this, the distinct shadow of the darkened and unhealthy house." (Page 260)
Metaphor - Used by Dickens to explain figuratively how used Pip feels by Miss Havisham and Estella.
"And it was not until I began to think, that I began fully to know how wrecked I was, and how the ship in which I had sailed was gone to pieces." (Page 278)
"I only suffered in the Satis House as a convenience, a sting for the greedy relations, a model with a mechanical heart to practice on when no other practice was at hand." (Page 279)
Simile - Used by Dickens to describe the weather and Pip's feelings in a more illustrative way.
"The wind rushing up the river shook it that night, like discharges of cannon, or breakings of a sea." (Page 269)
"With my heart beating like a heavy hammer of disordered action, I rose out of my chair." (Page 274)
Imagery - Used by Dickens to describe the appearance of new characters in Pip's journey.
"A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin." (Page 2) (Describing Magwitch)
"She was dressed in rich materials - satins, and lace, and silks - all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table." (Page 47) (Describing Miss Havisham)
Personification - Used by Dickens to demonstrate Pip's nerves and his childhood imagination.
"Every crack in every board, calling after me, 'Stop thief!' and 'Get up, Mrs. Joe!'" (Page 12)
"The gates and dykes and banks came bursting at me through the mist, as if they cried as plainly as could be, 'A boy with Somebody-else's pork pie! Stop him!' The cattle came upon me with like suddenness, staring out of their eyes, and steaming out of their nostrils, 'Holloa, young thief!'" (Page 13)
Diction - Used by Dickens to emphasize Joe's social standing through his poor speech.
"My father, Pip, he were given to drink, and when he were overtook with drink...he hammered at me with a wigour only to be equalled by the wigour with which he didn't hammer at his anwil." (Page 37)
Breaking the Fourth Wall - Used by Dickens to allow the audience to connect with Pip if they believe he is telling his story to them personally.
"Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day." (Page 61)
Repetition - Used by the Dickens to show Magwitch's influential comments and emphasize Pip's many thoughts.
"A boy may lock his door, may be warm in bed, may tuck himself up, may think himself comfortable and safe, but that young man will softly creep and creep his way to him and tear him open." (Page 4)
"I saw in this, that Estella was set to wreak Miss Havisham's revenge on men...I saw in this, a reason for her being beforehand assigned to me...I saw in this, the reason for my being staved off so long...I saw in this, the distinct shadow of the darkened and unhealthy house." (Page 260)
Metaphor - Used by Dickens to explain figuratively how used Pip feels by Miss Havisham and Estella.
"And it was not until I began to think, that I began fully to know how wrecked I was, and how the ship in which I had sailed was gone to pieces." (Page 278)
"I only suffered in the Satis House as a convenience, a sting for the greedy relations, a model with a mechanical heart to practice on when no other practice was at hand." (Page 279)
Simile - Used by Dickens to describe the weather and Pip's feelings in a more illustrative way.
"The wind rushing up the river shook it that night, like discharges of cannon, or breakings of a sea." (Page 269)
"With my heart beating like a heavy hammer of disordered action, I rose out of my chair." (Page 274)
Sunday, December 1, 2013
PRACTICE ESSAY
Bursting The Bubble
The character of Inez in "No Exit" enters hell, or Sartre's version of it as an ordinary room containing two other people besides Inez, and she initially assumes that the man who has already been taken to the room is the torturer. The life that she knew on Earth described to her that she would have to endure torture from weapons and fires so she expected the man to be the torturer because she was still in an unenlightened state of mind. Later in the play, however, through some contemplation of her surroundings, Inez is the first of the group of three to realize that the people in the room are all each other's torturers. This is illustrated through the use of irony that Inez is tortured by the love between the other two people although she is described through indirect characterization to be hateful and cruel, as seen through her reactions to the others in the room and their increasing dislike for her. Even though she was placed in an unfamiliar place, she became enlightened to her surroundings and the new reality they presented.
Like Inez, the prisoner who escapes the cave in the Allegory of the Cave was also the first one of a group of people to achieve enlightenment through critical thinking, through the realization that there was more to their world than what the eye could perceive. This was symbolized through the prisoner's freedom from shackles that had previously been containing him physically and mentally in the cave. Once outside the cave, it took some time for the prisoner to adjust to the light, just as it took Inez to adjust to Sartre's hell. In the end, both the prisoner and Inez attempted to explain their newly discovered version of reality to the others in their group of people, but the others were unable to see past their bubble of limited knowledge. Inez and the prisoner illustrated that enlightenment to a situation can only come from an analysis of one's thoughts, sometimes with the assistance of the enlightened, but never directly from the mind of the enlightened.
When presented with new surroundings, a new reality, both Inez and the prisoner in the cave adapted and attempted to help others understand. Plato's Allegory of the Cave and Sartre's "No Exit" illustrate the theme that the road to enlightenment is through critical thinking through the actions of the prisoner and the dialogue of Inez. Both characters demonstrated that they would deal with changes in their environments with insight and critical inquiry, leading them to a better understanding of their world by bursting the small bubbles of knowledge that once surrounded them.
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