Parent/Child Relationships: "The Shawl"(Rosa & Magda) and "The Metamorphosis" (Gregor & family)
Gender Conflicts: "Child's Play" (growing into adulthood) and "Doll House" (roles of men & women)
Love and Relationships: "Doll House" (Helmer & Nora) and "The Dead" (Gretta's love for Michael and Gabe)
Revenge and Honor: "Child's Play" (inevitable growth into "traditions")
Power/Powerlessness: "Ladies and Gentlemen" (Jews & Nazis) and "The Fly" (the fly and the boss) and "Dolls House" (Helmer & Nora)
Death/Mortality: "Ladies/Gentlemen," "The Dead,"(death of love and marriage) and "The Fly"(death of fly, son, 'boss')
Changing Traditions: "Dolls House,"(Nora leaving) and "The Metamorphosis"(Gregor's family fending for themselves)
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Mansfield's "The Fly"
A boss and an old man spend some time together and the boss's son who died in WWI is brought up.
The boss tries to resurface old feelings of anger and guilt but he can't; he tries to cry but he is unable.
He sees a fly drowning in ink and saves it once yet continues to drop ink on it until it dies.
After all of this he cannot remember "for the life of [him]" what he was thinking about.
Theory:
The fly is the son and the boss is inevitable fate at war
The boss is unable to cry because of his anger and past draining emotions. He is lost
Woodfield (old man) is a reminder of the past
Themes:
You shouldn't forget what is lost.
Some one can only take so much struggling until they can't go on
Power vs. Powerlessness
-The boss
-The people
-will & determination; fate & death
The boss tries to resurface old feelings of anger and guilt but he can't; he tries to cry but he is unable.
He sees a fly drowning in ink and saves it once yet continues to drop ink on it until it dies.
After all of this he cannot remember "for the life of [him]" what he was thinking about.
Theory:
The fly is the son and the boss is inevitable fate at war
The boss is unable to cry because of his anger and past draining emotions. He is lost
Woodfield (old man) is a reminder of the past
Themes:
You shouldn't forget what is lost.
Some one can only take so much struggling until they can't go on
Power vs. Powerlessness
-The boss
-The people
-will & determination; fate & death
Kafka's "The Metamorphisis"
Gregor is a young hardworking business man who brings home the money and provides for his mother, father, and sister. One morning Gregor wakes up and he has suddenly transformed into a bug of some sort. After his transformation, no one pays him any attention other than his sister and that is only to feed him. Over time everyone forgets about Gregor and pays him no attention; he just stays locked inside of his room. Gregor's family is not even concerned with the fact that their son has become a bug. The only thing that concerns them is that they now must go out and get jobs and support themselves. As Gregor's neglect continues he begins to deteriorate. He is no longer fed and trash is thrown into his room. Ultimately Gregor's family decides he is not their son and he is not needed. Gregor dies from his hunger and from a broom beating from the house maid. After his death, his family continues on with their lives as though nothing happened.
Theme: One major theme of this story is to not let others walk all over you. People need love and nourishment to carry on living
The irony of the story is Gregor's family was the pests living off of him and now that he is actually a bug they want nothing to do with him and don't even consider him family.
Theme: One major theme of this story is to not let others walk all over you. People need love and nourishment to carry on living
The irony of the story is Gregor's family was the pests living off of him and now that he is actually a bug they want nothing to do with him and don't even consider him family.
James Joyce's "The Dead"
Overview
"The Dead" is about a young man named Gabriel who attends a Christmas dinner party with his wife and friends. He must give a dinner speech which he feels he is over qualified for. In the end of the story his wife reveals to him that she is still in love with her childhood sweetheart who in a way died for her. Gabriel knows he has never lived up to this love and quite frankly never live up to it.
Gabriel has an epiphany about his wife being in love with another man that he could never live up to.
Dead= the young boy, death= Gabriel and Gretta's marriage, cold and death jokes, dying= the aunts (old and tired)
Gabe fails to have successful encounters with women
Miss Ivors and his wife
Setting: Christmas time with loved ones
Significance of snow- New beginnings, the snow covers the past of Michael, the dead lover, but his memory is not forgotten
"The Dead" is about a young man named Gabriel who attends a Christmas dinner party with his wife and friends. He must give a dinner speech which he feels he is over qualified for. In the end of the story his wife reveals to him that she is still in love with her childhood sweetheart who in a way died for her. Gabriel knows he has never lived up to this love and quite frankly never live up to it.
Gabriel has an epiphany about his wife being in love with another man that he could never live up to.
Dead= the young boy, death= Gabriel and Gretta's marriage, cold and death jokes, dying= the aunts (old and tired)
Gabe fails to have successful encounters with women
Miss Ivors and his wife
Setting: Christmas time with loved ones
Significance of snow- New beginnings, the snow covers the past of Michael, the dead lover, but his memory is not forgotten
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Terms 3
Character
-a fictional representation of a person
Characterization
-the way writer's develop characters and reveal those character's traits to readers
-can also be revealed in characters thought and actions
Round Characters
-well developed; closely involved in the story
Flat Characters
-barely developed; stereotypes
Dynamic Characters
-grow and develop throughout the story
Static Character
-unchanging characters
Foil
-a supporting character whose role is to highlight a major character by presenting a contrast with him or her
Symbol
-a person, object, action, place, that holds deeper meaning in addition to its literal meaning
-a fictional representation of a person
Characterization
-the way writer's develop characters and reveal those character's traits to readers
-can also be revealed in characters thought and actions
Round Characters
-well developed; closely involved in the story
Flat Characters
-barely developed; stereotypes
Dynamic Characters
-grow and develop throughout the story
Static Character
-unchanging characters
Foil
-a supporting character whose role is to highlight a major character by presenting a contrast with him or her
Symbol
-a person, object, action, place, that holds deeper meaning in addition to its literal meaning
Ichiyo's "Child's Play"
Higuchi Ichiyo (1872-1896)
Historical context
-1600-1800s: Japan functioned under military dictatorship
-Edo Period: calm while leading a period of extraordinary expansion in the economy
-Tanka: ancient style of poetry that speaks to the modern soul ( written for special occasions)
CHARACTERS
Midori (main girl)
Shota
Chokicki (bad guy)
Omaki (Midori's sister)
Nobu (who Midori likes, bad guy)
"Child's Play" is about the hardships and harsh reality of no longer being a child and becoming an adult. The children in this story see adult situations and experiences but they do not understand what these things truly mean. Most of the story revolves around prostitution and the children know what it is but don't understand the severity of it. The experience new emotions with one another both good and bad. And in the end they have all had to grow up out of their childish ways.
Historical context
-1600-1800s: Japan functioned under military dictatorship
-Edo Period: calm while leading a period of extraordinary expansion in the economy
-Tanka: ancient style of poetry that speaks to the modern soul ( written for special occasions)
CHARACTERS
Midori (main girl)
Shota
Chokicki (bad guy)
Omaki (Midori's sister)
Nobu (who Midori likes, bad guy)
"Child's Play" is about the hardships and harsh reality of no longer being a child and becoming an adult. The children in this story see adult situations and experiences but they do not understand what these things truly mean. Most of the story revolves around prostitution and the children know what it is but don't understand the severity of it. The experience new emotions with one another both good and bad. And in the end they have all had to grow up out of their childish ways.
Terms 2
Modernism
- a literary study that has a radical break with literary forms of the past in the experimental, avant-garde style of writing prevalent between WWI and WWII (the lost generation)
Post Modernism
- A literary study that turned away from modernism, emphashing the lack of profoundity- nothing can be recognized as inherently significant (must be put into context)
Modernization
-Industrial progress often associated with "westernization"(technology, industrial, political structure, & mass culture
Scientific Rationalism
-end of 19th century belief that scientific knowledge makes the universe more rational and predictable (modernism is the response to scientific rationalism)
Dadaism
-cultural movement raised during WWI primarily involved in art, literature, and graphic design that rejected prevailing standards (not intended to be liked)
Realism
-literature movement that depicts subjects as the appear in everyday life
Surrealism
-features the unexpected juxtaposition of elements
- a literary study that has a radical break with literary forms of the past in the experimental, avant-garde style of writing prevalent between WWI and WWII (the lost generation)
Post Modernism
- A literary study that turned away from modernism, emphashing the lack of profoundity- nothing can be recognized as inherently significant (must be put into context)
Modernization
-Industrial progress often associated with "westernization"(technology, industrial, political structure, & mass culture
Scientific Rationalism
-end of 19th century belief that scientific knowledge makes the universe more rational and predictable (modernism is the response to scientific rationalism)
Dadaism
-cultural movement raised during WWI primarily involved in art, literature, and graphic design that rejected prevailing standards (not intended to be liked)
Realism
-literature movement that depicts subjects as the appear in everyday life
Surrealism
-features the unexpected juxtaposition of elements
Ibsen's "The Doll House"
Historic considerations
-Ibsen: Norway's foremost dramatist
-Based on real life events
-Roles of men and women
-Tuberculosis of the spine: Syphyllis
-Women had few rights
Plot
-Exposition: new job, her friend Christine, relationship dynamics
-Complications: loan, sickness, Helmer's power
-Climax: opening and reading the letter
-Resolution: Nora leaves
"The Doll House" mainly brings up relationship themes and strongly argues the roles of men and women during this time period. Helmer, a prestigous banker, has a lot of control over his wife Nora, whom he speaks to and treats like a child. He calls her pet names and speaks down to her. The problems begin when a fellow banker, Krogstad, beings black mailing Nora for a loan she took out from him to save her husband's life. In the end of the story Helmer finds out what all Nora has been up to and becomes extremely angry with her and blames her for making him look bad. It is only when Helmer realizes everything is going to be ok and forgives Nora that she realizes how she is being treated by her husband. She realizes she is basically nothing to him and leaves, leaving Helmer alone dumbfounded.
It seems the main theme of this story is the struggle of identity and the roles of men and women. Helmer never took into consideration that Nora's actions were for him. And young and naive Nora never saw her life clearly.
-Ibsen: Norway's foremost dramatist
-Based on real life events
-Roles of men and women
-Tuberculosis of the spine: Syphyllis
-Women had few rights
Plot
-Exposition: new job, her friend Christine, relationship dynamics
-Complications: loan, sickness, Helmer's power
-Climax: opening and reading the letter
-Resolution: Nora leaves
"The Doll House" mainly brings up relationship themes and strongly argues the roles of men and women during this time period. Helmer, a prestigous banker, has a lot of control over his wife Nora, whom he speaks to and treats like a child. He calls her pet names and speaks down to her. The problems begin when a fellow banker, Krogstad, beings black mailing Nora for a loan she took out from him to save her husband's life. In the end of the story Helmer finds out what all Nora has been up to and becomes extremely angry with her and blames her for making him look bad. It is only when Helmer realizes everything is going to be ok and forgives Nora that she realizes how she is being treated by her husband. She realizes she is basically nothing to him and leaves, leaving Helmer alone dumbfounded.
It seems the main theme of this story is the struggle of identity and the roles of men and women. Helmer never took into consideration that Nora's actions were for him. And young and naive Nora never saw her life clearly.
Terms
Defining drama
-Tragedy
-Comedy
-Soliloquy: monologue of private thoughts
-Monologue
-Aside: brief comments that reveals thoughts by speaking directly to the audience without being heard by other characters
Plot
-Four stages of a plot
-exposition: sets story into motion
-complications
-climax
-resolution
-Tragedy
-Comedy
-Soliloquy: monologue of private thoughts
-Monologue
-Aside: brief comments that reveals thoughts by speaking directly to the audience without being heard by other characters
Plot
-Four stages of a plot
-exposition: sets story into motion
-complications
-climax
-resolution
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