Open Prompt Revision (october 10)

1973. An effective literary work does not merely stop or cease; it concludes. In the view of some critics, a work that does not provide the pleasure of significant closure has terminated with an artistic fault. A satisfactory ending is not, however, always conclusive in every sense; significant closure may require the reader to abide with or adjust to ambiguity and uncertainty. In an essay, discuss the ending of a novel or play of acknowledged literary merit. Explain precisely how and why the ending appropriately or inappropriately concludes the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.

        The relationship between the opening and closing of Stienbecks, "Of Mice and Men" is one of the most symbolic and beautifully crafted parts of the book.The final scene brings the book full circle and appropriately leaves the reader with a sense of closure, and plenty of food for thought.
        The novel opens up to a serene clearing in the woods as Stienbeck describes the scene in long graceful phrases that create a peaceful tone. This last scene has the same setting as the first, but its mood is completely different, although it is clearly reminiscent of the very first pages of the novel. Instead of a a beautiful, innocent meadow, the setting is described with a much harsher tone. Lenny watches as "a motionless heron that stood in the shallows...lanced down and plucked it [a water snake] out by the head"(Stienbeck). Stienbeck transforms the scene we once saw as a beautiful ecosystem of wildlife into something much more violent. We also see that a "a pleasant shade had fallen", unlike the water from before that had "slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight". This contrast in imagery is certainly not designed to be subtle, and foreshadows Lenny's murder--an innocent man about to be killed for his ignorance. He watches this snake, innocent just like him, about to be eaten by the heron. Both creatures of nature who, for some reason got the short end of the stick when nature chose who will survive. Death comes quickly to both who are very unaware of their fate, even right up to the very end.
        Just before Lenny's murder, George assures him that everything is fine, and forces himself to talk with his best friend one last time about their dream. Stienbeck poses the question of morality as soon as the reader realizes what's about to happen. This last question of justice before the bitter ending wraps up the book into a heart wrenching but satisfying novel due to Steinbeck's beautiful description of nature and his ability to bring the book full circle.

Response to course material Feb 10

We finished Hamlet and have moved on to Rosencranz and Guildenstern. I love the idea behind this play, but it's very confusing and I can't really see what the author is trying to get at. Seems more philosophical. It's very different from the rest of the plays we've read so far, but I really like some of the ideas it brings up, like when the characters address the audience. It reminds me of a play I just went to see with my family called "The skin of our teeth". The character in that play also addresses the audience. It also reminds me of Shakespear's "As you like it" (this is also where I got my name from hehe), when Shakespear writes, "all the worlds a stage". We havn't talked about the issue of identity much in class but so far that's seems pretty important. I mean r and g are practically interchangeable. That has to mean something, right!?

Hamlet Summary and Analysis

Summary and Analysis of Hamlet

Author

Hamlet was written by William Shakespeare. He is the author of 38 plays and dozens of sonnets. It's unknown when exactly Hamlet was written.

Setting

The play takes place in the castle Elsinore in Denmark. The time period isn't certain.

Summary

 The play starts off at Elsinore with the changing of the guards and the mysterious appearance of the ghost. Horatio comes.  Later Hamlet explains to his friends that if he begins to act crazy, to take no notice of it. Other characters are introduced along with Claudious, the king, and his wife, Hamlet's mom. Hamlets feelings for Claudious are made apparent to the audience. We meet Ophilia, who is supposedly Hamlet's lover, but who turns "crazy", after Hamlet rejects her. Ophilia was directed by her father to help manipulate Hamlet, and Hamlet is sick of all this betrayal. Hamlet stabs polonius. Laertes and Hamlet duel. Hamlet is poisened, his mom dies, pretty much everyone dies, fortinbras comes to attack Elsinore, but sees the chaos. He is left with the castle.

Characters

Hamlet

The prince of Denmark, beloved by the people. He is 30 years old and highly intelligent but distressed by the death of his father. He is driven to the point of madness by his desire to avenge his father, and constantly debates if he should kill the king although he sees moral problems with it. He also contemplates suicide throughout the play. He's very philosophical.

Horatio

Hamlets best friend! He's known to be very trustworthy.

Claudius

The kind of Denmark! His brother is Old Hamlet and shortly after his death, Claudius married Hamlet's mom. The people don't really like him, and as we find out later, he murdered his brother.

Gertrude

The queen of Denmark and the wife of Old Hamlet. Married Claudius shortly after her former husbands death. She is fond of her son Hamlet and of her new husband. Though she feels guilt about the dishonor that comes from marrying her dead husband's brother when Hamlet accuses her of it. 

Polonius

The advisor of the king. He's very involved in his children's lives and is very manipulative. He's murdered by Hamlet.

Laertes

Polonius's son. He's manipulated by his father and the king and is angry when Hamlet kills his father. He's very close with Ophelia.

Ophelia

Polonious's daughter. Young, innocent and claims to love Hamlet. May be pregnant.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Were friends with Hamlet when he was a kid. The kind brings them in to help take down Hamlet.

Fortinbras

Son of the old king of Norway. Foil to Hamlet. He is decisive and acts quickly. Attacks Elsinore at end of play. 

Style

The play has lots of lines that can be interpreted in multiple ways. For instance, Ophelia's madness/pregnancy. The audience never knows for sure what is true. This leaves much for interpretation.

Tone 

The plays tone is sort of hard to identify, but I would say it's sort of ominous. From the first scene with the ghost, and as characters are killed as time goes on.

Imagery

The plays tone is acheived through its imagery thats sort of haunting with the ghost and the large castle.

Symbolism:

Yorick's Skull

The skull Hamlet finds in the graveyard represents his fear and wonder about death. The skull represents everything that he has philosophized about death throughout the play and what remains of someone's body  and soul after death.

Flowers:

Flowers symbolize innocence in the play, especially when relating to Ophelia, who is commonly associated with violets. She is frequently compared with a flower, and describes for herself what the different flowers symbolize during the flower scene.

Quotes

"To be or not to be." The most famous quote from the play is a symbol for Hamlet's constant question of the mystery of death and his inability to decide whether he wants to be dead or alive.

 

Theme

The mystery of death

This to me was the most significant theme of the play. Hamlet's character in itself represents the mystery of death as he is constantly questioning it and speaking to other characters about it. His "to be or not to be" soliloquy is a prime example of this.

Course Material Jan 13

Lots and Lots of Hamlet...(Hey, I'm not complaining...)

I've actually really enjoyed these past few weeks. I would say now that Hamlet is my favorite of the...five Shakespeare plays I've read over the course of my high school career. I know his character has a bad rep but I think he's rather clever and interesting. As for the movies, I would say I liked the second one very much and I think it left more room for interpretation, which I liked, especially in a play with so much ambiguity that I myself have trouble deciding what to think. I think I now have a strong hold on the characters and motifs in the play and I'm definitely looking forward to this final...hahah

We also recently got back our essays from a while ago. I was satisfied with my essay, but what worries me is the time it takes me to write them. I need to practice setting a time limit for myself so I'm not caught off guard during the AP test.

Close Reading

The Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/opinion/sunday/the-road-we-need-not-have-traveled.html?ref=editorialsandopinion

        In the New York Times editorial "The Road We Need Not Have Traveled", the unidentified author urges the reader to recognize the long forgotten battle for human rights in the United States. Through the use of specific detail, syntax and diction, the author clearly succeeds in drawing in the attention of her reader to get her point across.
        The details included in this editorial are probably the best part of the argument. They are slightly relatable while also including information I'm betting most people have never heard before. The author claims that "Mr. Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in one month alone." This not only grabs the reader's attention, but plays with our emotions and adds some level of sympathy, maybe not in this case specifically, but towards all those that have had torture inflicted on them. The author continues to include details of 9/11, using a date we all remember to help her argument. Details of the crimes of course, are deliberately not included, and this makes her point plain and simple; torture is not okay--period.
        According to the narrator, the US has "in the last decade accepted too many damaging and unnecessary changes to its fundamental principles of justice and human rights." Using words like "Justice" and "human rights" are extremely useful in her argument, because most people would agree these are two good things, even though their specific definitions will very between people.
        Lastly, the author's strong use of syntax makes the article a casual, easy going conversation, despite its serious topic. The first body paragraph begins with "Let’s start with the delay." Short sentences lead up to longer ones like the following where the narrator claims that "All of the men could have been brought to trial years ago, but President Bush decided he could ignore the Constitution." 
        By utilizing the techniques found in the editorial, the author of "The Road We Need Not Have Traveled" creates a strong argument against torture in the United States.

open prompt

1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid plot summary.
        In Arthur Millers, "Death Of a Salesman", the main character, Willy Loman, is a poor business man who is constantly striving to simply be "well-liked", for he believes this will be the key to his success. His first born son, Biff Loman, is equally unsuccessful, but disagrees with his father on most things, leading to conflict between the two throughout the play. In "Death of a Salesman", Arthur Miller uses the father-son relationship between these two lead roles to present the American Dream in a negative light.
        The first conflict that started years of fighting occurs at the end of Biff's high school career, when Biff fails to graduate from High school because of failing a math class. When Biff realizes what is about to happen, he goes to see Willy, and ends up catching him in the middle of an affair Willy is having with another woman in a hotel room. Biff sees his father completely differently after this incident and wonders whether he can trust him about anything. All his life Willy has filled his son with "hot air", constantly praising him and creating the ideal, perfect world in his head. This is why it was so devastating when Biff caught him in the hotel room.
        Willy pushes superficial ideas on Biff as he is growing up, telling him that being well-liked will get him far in life, when in fact, Biff finds out this is not at all true. Because of Willy's unsuccessful business success and mistakes in parenting and his marriage, Biff is able to see the falsity of the American dream.

Summary and analysis of Death of a Salesman

Author: DOS was written by the American playwright, Arthur Miller. He also wrote other well known plays such as "The Crucible" and "All My Sons". Also...he was married to Marylin Monroe!

Setting: Late 1940's, with day dreams into Willy's past. The whole play takes place in a 24 hour period, except for the requiem, which is a few days after. It takes place in Brooklyn, and places he visits, like Boston.

Plot: Starts off with Willy Loman the Salesman, home from a trip. He complains to Linda that Biff is home and has done nothing with his life. His two sons (Biff and Happy) are upstairs talking. Throughout the play, Willy recalls times with his family in the past. (Ex. the family before Biff's big football game in high school, or when Biff walked in on Willy cheating on his wife, Linda.) Willy asks his boss if he can work as a salesman here in town, and he ends up being fired. Willy goes to visit Charley, and after asking him for more money to pay his bills that usual, he admits he was fired, and Charley offers Willy a job. Willy says no. Linda finds something in the basement with the gas pipes which leads her to believe Willy is thinking of committing suicide. Linda blames Biff and Biff tells Willy and Linda he will leave and never come back. Willy finds that the family will get 20,000 dollars of insurance money if he dies. Willy is found trying to play seeds in the backyard where there is no hope of them growing. Ben discusses the jungle with him. Willy kills himself in the end and the characters stand at his funeral for the requiem. No one but the family shows up for the funeral.

Characters:

Willy Loman: Willy never achieves this full self-actualization that the play seems to lead up to, which definitely relates to Miller's definition of tragedy. Willy is essentially a failure in all areas of his life. He was fired from a job he had worked at his whole life, he had an affair with a woman behind his wife's back, and his relationships with his children are certainly no where near healthy. Willy continues to have hope, as we see him planting seeds in his backyard, and fixing up the house. Willy has numerous flashbacks throughout the play, and we see him in anguish over his poor decisions in the past, and also reminiscing about happier times.

Linda Loman: Linda is Willy's wife. They're very close, and she often acts like a mother to him, persistently serving him milk or manipulating the family to ease his stress. She finds a pipe in the basement that she believes is his attempt at suicide, but refuses to bring this up to him. She blames Biff for Willy's unhappiness.

Biff Loman: Willy's first and favorite son. He was very popular in highschool, and preffered football over doing his schoolwork, and eventually ended up not graduating because he failed his math class. He likes to work with his hands and has a problem with stealing.  

Happy Loman: The younger of the two sons who seeks attention from his parents but is often ignored. He is very similar to his father.

Ben: Willy's older brother. Willy admires and looks up to him, and constantly asks for his advice. Ben is very successful and speaks of "the jungle". He is what Willy was constantly striving to be but never accomplished. 

Charley: Successful businessman and neighbor to the Lomans who is always trying to help Willy, although Willy always denies it. He even tries to offer him a job.

Bernard: Charlies son and Biff's foil. A nerd in highschool, bernard eventually becomes a very happy, successful man with whom Willy catches up with when Biff is back in town.

Tone and Style: The tone is somewhat pessimistic. There is such a lack of bright, happy experiences from characters in the play that the tone comes of sort of dark and depressing. Miller did a wonderful job however, in creating strong characters that make it something easy to reread.

Point of veiw: I think Miller's point of view is probably most shown through the character of Biff, who seemed to be the only one to actually learn something from the events of the play and from his father's death. He recognizes now that the American Dream and what his father strode for all his life are not necessarily good things.

Symbolism:
The Garden/Growth: Willy continually tries to plant seeds in the garden of his backyard throughout the play, which could be a symbol for the efforts he puts into his work and into fulfilling the American Dream. The buildings around his house have grown so tall that there is too much shade to grow anything at all, but Willy continues to try anyway.

Quotes:

"After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive."-Willy
This is one of my favorite quotes of the play that seems to sum it all up quite nicely. Willy worked at the firm his whole life, and when they let him go he had nothing, and wasn't even happy. This is what he got for trying to hold on to the American Dream.
“Because sometimes I’m afraid that I’m not teaching them the right kind of….. Ben, how should I teach them?” – Willy.
Willy is constantly questioning himself around Ben, wondering if he's doing things right or not.

Theme: Simply: the American dream
Willy thinks that being "well-liked" is the most important thing, and this superficial way of thinking ultimately leads to his unhappiness and suicide.