Patrick's Blog

A New Spin on the American Dream

2007-05-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

1) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a great movie. Its numerous themes are all intriguing to explore. While a definite moral or message can be hard to devise, it is nonetheless fun to explore different ideas. I think my favorite thing about the movie is the blatant humor centered on the two main characters’ drug usage. Their insatiable appetite to alter their perception of reality always provides for them to engage in comical situations.

2) Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo attempt to find the American Dream in the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. To them, the American Dream represents being free from the social restraints of society. From the time they leave for Las Vegas, they begin doing whatever they want. They take any drug they desire and skimp out on hotel bills. They continually keep breaking numerous numbers of laws. Some of these laws included stealing, exposing a gun in public, and disorderly conduct. They did not worry about the consequences. Raoul and Dr. Gonzo did not want to be judged by society or abide by its rules. The two characters continued pushing their luck to the limits and ended the movie free of harm and trouble. Thus, their quest for the American Dream was fulfilled.

The Importance of Being Frivolous

2007-04-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

1) I found The Importance of Being Earnest to be a fairly amusing read. I think one of the main ideas I found to be interesting was that most of the characters all have similar personalities. Jack and Algernon closely resemble each other. Likewise, Gwendolen and Cecily are quite alike. Being Oscar Wilde’s first work I’ve ever read, I like how the story seems complex and simple at the same time. The language was simple to understand as well. The storyline reminded me of Shakespeare’s comedies dealing with hidden identities in relation to romance.

2) It is easy to see that identity plays a major role in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. The two main characters, Jack and Algernon, experiment with the identity of a made-up man named Earnest to get the hearts of the two girls they have fallen in love with. This sets a very humorous tone for the rest of the play. Was Oscar Wilde trying to make a comment about society? I do not think so. Both Jack and Algernon played a very risky game, tricking both their family members and love interests. However, in the end, they got exactly what they wanted. Jack won the love of Gwendolen while Algernon won the love of Cecily. I do not think Oscar Wilde’s intentions were to show society that lying about your identity and who you are will get you what you want. Wilde’s discussion of identity should not be taken seriously. Maybe if Gwendolen and Cecily left Jack and Algernon in the end, the moral would speak more about society and how lying about who you are will only bring trouble.

Breaking Kate's Spirit

2007-04-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

1) Taming of the Shrew is one of my favorite works ever done by Shakespeare. The way Kate is treated by Petruccio is very humorous to me. It amazes me how such a boisterous and strong-willed individual lets her husband walk all over her and treat her like garbage. No person in their right mind would tolerate being starved and unfed. Since Kate did not do anything about her lousy situation, I have no sympathy for her. Kate’s “taming” is very ironic.

2) The romantic conflict between Petruccio and Kate is one of the most humorous conflicts in the play. From the beginning, we learn that Petruccio has decided to marry Kate without even seeing what she looks like. He is also warned by his friend Hortensio that Kate is a shrew. Regardless, Petruccio shows up at Baptista’s front door and begins to woo Kate. However, Kate seems to want nothing to do with Petruccio. During their first conversation together, Petruccio hilariously rebukes every statement that Kate makes with sexual innuendo. Kate is surprised that someone has finally matched her wit and lewdness. It is comical to see Kate speechless towards the end of the scene. It seems that Petruccio is to some extent a very sexually-oriented guy. Later in the play, during Kate and Petruccio’s marriage, Petruccio shows up dressed as a clown and acts like an ass during the wedding ceremony. Following the ceremony, he states that he and Kate must leave right away. This was also a source of humor. Lastly, Petruccio begins to starve Kate and deprive her of sleep in order to “tame” her. I found this also funny because no normal person would put up with such a lifestyle. Petruccio seems to thrive on control and power. He appears to be much more strong-willed than Kate. Petruccio thinks that he and Kate are the perfect match. He states “I am as peremptory as she proud-minded, / And where two raging fires meet together / They do consume the thing that feeds their fury (2.1 129-131).

A Lottery with a Terrible Reward

2007-03-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

1) Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery’ is one of my favorite short stories. It is an easy read, but enthralling nonetheless. The best part of the short story is that the reader has absolutely no idea what the lottery is about until the last few sentences. This particular work also has a dark feeling to it, which I tend to find interesting. The ending to ‘The Lottery’ is so bizarre that it is hard not to become gripped by it. Having an entire community celebrate ritualistic death is strange enough to leave me engrossed in the subject matter.

2) ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson is a very unique short story which contains a lot of foreshadowing, eventually building up to an unthinkable climax. From the beginning, with the gathering of stones and the congregation of townspeople, the reader is left trying to figure out what is going on. When the black lottery box appears, the crowd becomes hushed and nervous. It is at this moment that the tone becomes darker. The community was afraid of the box. As members of each family continually take out card after card, they are mostly silent. The occasion appeared very solemn. When the Hutchinson family was selected, Tessie pleaded that the lottery was not fair. Tessie’s pleading confirmed that something bad was in store for someone. This added more negativity to the overall tone of the story. Eventually, the awkwardly dark nature of the story climaxes when Tessie is stoned to death. I feel that the lesson Shirley Jackson is exposing deals with the inward evil of mankind that everyone harbors within. I think it also shows the horrors of menacing rituals that might be practiced in other cultures or previous time periods.

Changing of Identities

2007-03-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

1) F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘Bernice Bobs Her Hair’ was a decent read. While I felt it started off a little slow, it eventually sparked my interest. I thought it was interesting learning about each of the girls. It was surprising to keep learning about Marjorie’s evil intentions. The ending was good because Bernice eventually got revenge and came to terms with herself. Noteworthy is the fact that F. Scott Fitzgerald actually wrote this story about his younger sister. Overall, the short story was a decent read.

2) F. Scott Fitzgerald did a great job exposing both of the main characters’ identities in ‘Bernice Bobs Her Hair.” Marjorie is constantly making mean remarks with evil intentions towards Bernice. She is presented outright as a bad person. As the story continues, Marjorie appears to be helping Bernice and becoming a better person. However, in the end, Marjorie does something extremely harsh to Bernice. Thus, it is apparent that Marjorie’s identity was unchanging throughout the story. She was a spoiled, cruel girl. Bernice, on the other hand, goes through an obvious change of identity. While she appears weak and desperate throughout the entire short story, she eventually gains some courage and lashes back against Marjorie in the end. Bernice was finally able to let go of trying to be the center of attention. When she realized she had been tricked into ruining her hair, she repaid the favor to Marjorie and became a stronger woman, acting independently and proud.

Don't Analyze Wallpaper

2007-03-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

1) Charlotte Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ proved to be one of the worst readings I have come across thus far. While there are many motifs and ironic themes to be explored, I feel the material was presented in a boring manner. I cannot relate to any of the characters in the short story and found myself not really caring what happened in the end. Besides, what’s so special about a woman lying around in a room every day analyzing a wallpaper pattern? I hope that my eyes never have to lie upon such an uneventful, lackluster piece of literature ever again.

2) From the short story, we realize that the narrator keeps most of her thoughts to herself. She often is told what to do and how to think by her husband. Her husband is constantly on her mind. Unfortunately, he neglects to give her the attention and care that the narrator needs. The narrator feels that writing is one of her only outputs where she can truly express herself. She constantly focuses on the pattern of the yellow wallpaper in her room. The constant obsessing over the wallpaper eventually leads the narrator into a state of pure insanity. She begins talking about seeing another woman in the wallpaper. The woman could be a manifestation of herself. Since every day is the same for the narrator and she has to creep around the same routines every day, the woman she views in the wallpaper also has to creep around the pattern that is in front of her as well.

Ironic Sexual Meaning in The Flea

2007-02-20T12:02:00.000-08:00

1) John Donne's The Flea is a very strange piece of poetry. After analyzing the poem, I was left wondering why John Donne chose a flea to summarize his desire for sexual attention. Regardless, I feel the poem is effective in getting John Donne's hidden meaning across. While I can not say that I particularly enjoyed The Flea, it was interesting nonetheless. I feel that I am indifferent to what the speaker is trying to explain. Maybe I would have more sympathy and understanding for the speaker if he chose not to reference a flea. It appears awkward and ironic to me.

2) John Donne uses much irony in his sexually-oriented poem The Flea. Donne notices that his own blood and his love interest’s blood have been sucked by the same flea. He compares the mixing of their blood to the act of sex and asks his partner to sleep with him. The flea eventually is killed and Donne admits that he and his lover have not suffered any loss because of its death.The meaning of Donne’s poem is all about Donne’s quest to have a sexual encounter with the woman he has his eyes on. Through many metaphors, Donne ironically symbolizes ideas such as sex, marriage, and pregnancy. For example, Donne refers to pregnancy when he states, “swells with one blood made of two.” Donne likens the killing of the flea to the death of him and his sweetheart, since the flea contains both of their blood.Upon reading The Flea for the first time, it is not entirely obvious what Donne is trying to allude to in the poem. It is extremely ironic to refer to sex and desire by talking about a flea. Donne could have chosen a better symbol, but that would not make the poem nearly as interesting. By using the flea, the meaning of Donne’s poem is still clear, just hidden. The lust that John Donne is experiencing is summed up in this famous work. I believe that John Donne wanted his readers to respond to the speaker with understanding, and possibly even sympathy. When John Donne wrote The Flea, he was not allowed to be with his wife due to her higher social status and his parents’ disapproval of their relationship. Thus, in the end, when the flea is killed, it represents him and his wife realizing their true love and moving on. The flea’s death had no negative impact on their lives.

Songs of Inspiration

2007-02-12T13:32:00.000-08:00

1) I thoroughly enjoyed both Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing” and Langston Hughes’s “I, Too.” Both poems show a great deal of patriotism. Whitman’s poem gave me an overwhelming reaction of nationalism, while Hughes’s poem gave off a satisfying sense of inspiration. Both poems have a positive message, which I can definitely appreciate. While I can’t directly relate to Hughes’s thoughts (never having experienced inequality), I can understand his message and meaning. I feel that he is a very powerful writer who can really pull at someone’s heart strings.

2) Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing” and Langston Hughes’s “I, too” are two great pieces of American poetry. I enjoyed the images that Hughes painted with his word choice. From the carpenter to the boatman, Whitman offers an image of America that seems to be careless and free. Each person goes about their work, without a worry. Everyone sings in unison and Whitman offers the readers a glimpse into the American dream - working and providing a happy lifestyle. Whitman’s piece is very nationalistic and inspiring.
Langston Hughes’s “I, Too” is also a very captivating poem. However, unlike Whitman’s piece, Langston approaches his writing from the perspective of a black man who suffers from inequality. Both poems are related in the fact that they both deal with American pride. However, Whitman fails to mention the fact that discrimination existed in the time period of his poem. Thus, we can clearly see why Langston responded to Whitman as he did. Langston is not necessarily trying to discredit Whitman. He is just attempting to remind the reader of what was also happening. Langston also goes on to say that even though his character (in the poem) is not equal right now, he knows that someday he will be, and people will look back with disgust. This is one of the most emotional pieces of black poetry that I have had the pleasure to read.
In conclusion, it is easy to find many similarities and differences between the two poems. It is very intriguing when writers respond to each other through poetry. Whether you find Whitman’s poem more inspiring, or you like Langston’s better, the point remains that they are exceptional works that capture a moment in timeless pre-mass media America.