Sunday, April 10, 2011
Native Son: Pages 97-156
At the beginning of Richard Wright's ,"Native Son", the main character, Bigger, believes that the color of his skin is a curse but as he accepts Mr. Dalton's job offer as his chauffeur he realizes that it may not be a curse as he originally thought. Bigger has this switch as he enters his new living quarters and discovers that he will have more opportunity than he ever dreamed of. "He lit a cigarette and stretched himself full length upon the bed. Ohhh.... This was not going to be bad at all." (Pg. 59) Now that Bigger can support himself he sees his race in a different light. One that is not filled with heists or suffering. Not only does Bigger see this new light but he also realizes that having opportunity makes him more prone to having things that match with what job he has. "A dollar watch was not good enough for a job like this; he would buy a gold one" (Pg. 59) Even with this switch Bigger still knows what he has to do and accepting the job was half the battle. Now he has to work to help his family.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Faulkner Response
William Faulkner expresses how we write in the world of today through his Nobel Peace Price Acceptance Speech. He enunciates how the people do not express the hardships that human kind have had to go through but more talk about how the tree flows through the wind instead. He frowns upon this change and tells us about our ignorance. Most importantly, he asks us to revert to our past writings. He believes that there is still hope and that he will not stand for such nonsense to happen at all.
In "That Evening Sun" we see the types of human injustice that Faulkner is trying to tell the people to go back to. Our main character in the story, Nancy, is an African American woman and although she is of a different race many see her as a positive influence and a friend which was not common for anyone to think of at all. However, others thought of her as just another black woman. This is the type of injustice that Faulkner is trying to bring others back to. Not a tree but an actual human life. A life that is going through injustices.
In "That Evening Sun" we see the types of human injustice that Faulkner is trying to tell the people to go back to. Our main character in the story, Nancy, is an African American woman and although she is of a different race many see her as a positive influence and a friend which was not common for anyone to think of at all. However, others thought of her as just another black woman. This is the type of injustice that Faulkner is trying to bring others back to. Not a tree but an actual human life. A life that is going through injustices.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
A Clean Well Lighted Place
1. I think that for the short story that Hemingway wrote, the adaptation is exactly how i personally thought the scene would take place. A very clean and illuminated place where a person can feel comfortable in the surroundings.
2. From how I took specific scenes in the short story, this adaptation is almost exactly how I think Hemingway intentions were. In the clip scenes of no belief in anything and suicide are expressed which go back to Hemingway and how he thought throughout his life.
3. I think one thing that threw the whole scene away was the way they talked which by looking at the short story I know this wasn't a place for that kind of accent in my opinion. The dialog was 100% exact but the scene could have had more meaning especially once I read the story.
4. Personally I think that there could have been a bit more revision in creating the film. It seemed as if they didn't necessarily rush but didn't put enough thought into the film at the same time which ended up hindering my overall rating of the film.
5. If I made the video I think I would most definitely change the accents and give more meaning during scenes especially when the bar needing to be polished and further explaining how that even goes back to Hemingway's thoughts. I am not saying it was horrible but it was not a masterpiece at the same time and maybe with these minor changes the whole picture would end up being a film worth watching.
2. From how I took specific scenes in the short story, this adaptation is almost exactly how I think Hemingway intentions were. In the clip scenes of no belief in anything and suicide are expressed which go back to Hemingway and how he thought throughout his life.
3. I think one thing that threw the whole scene away was the way they talked which by looking at the short story I know this wasn't a place for that kind of accent in my opinion. The dialog was 100% exact but the scene could have had more meaning especially once I read the story.
4. Personally I think that there could have been a bit more revision in creating the film. It seemed as if they didn't necessarily rush but didn't put enough thought into the film at the same time which ended up hindering my overall rating of the film.
5. If I made the video I think I would most definitely change the accents and give more meaning during scenes especially when the bar needing to be polished and further explaining how that even goes back to Hemingway's thoughts. I am not saying it was horrible but it was not a masterpiece at the same time and maybe with these minor changes the whole picture would end up being a film worth watching.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Chapter 9 Pgs 143-End
Chapter 9
In this chapter Nick tries to have everything prepared for Gatsby's funeral. He tries to call everyone he knows but is unsuccessful in inviting anyone to the funeral. We also meet Gatsby's father who talks proudly about his son and how for Gatsby to be as successful as he was he had no choice but to forget about his past and create a new life. Not the kind of thing I would like to hear from my father but obviously Henry Gatz did not know everything about his son. After all that has happened Nick decides it would be best to leave and go back home after the funeral. After an argument with Jordan he knows it is best to leave what he has here. In the end Gatsby was a man that Nick respected even if he was a lie. He had everything and nothing at the same time. His dream was to finally have Daisy but since that was his only dream when he failed, his life failed.
Tom Buchanan
"What if I did tell him? He had it coming for him. He threw dust into your eyes just like he did with Daisy's"
Tom doesn't necessarily have any good qualities. He's cocky and only cares about himself. We can prove this because he had a mistress throughout the whole novel and never cared about her or even his own wife. He only wanted someone he could use just like a tool. Once they didn't live up to his standard they were thrown away and another was bought.
Tom is as ignorant as he was in the beginning of the chapter. He does not have a clue of what really happened that day when Myrtle Wilson was killed. He even tries to make Nick feel bad about him losing his mistress which fails miserably. Tom could be describes as a wheel. His cycle never ends and nothing changes about him and his actions.
"He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it."
I like this quote because shows just how close Gatsby was to having Daisy and how he built himself up to a man of power but that wasn't enough to achieve his goal. It reminds us that you shouldn't think the past can occur once again in the present. Love and life aren't things you can just expect to rush back in to another's emotions. I myself have learned this "rule" and that is why I can relate to Gatsby and what he was aiming for.
In this chapter Nick tries to have everything prepared for Gatsby's funeral. He tries to call everyone he knows but is unsuccessful in inviting anyone to the funeral. We also meet Gatsby's father who talks proudly about his son and how for Gatsby to be as successful as he was he had no choice but to forget about his past and create a new life. Not the kind of thing I would like to hear from my father but obviously Henry Gatz did not know everything about his son. After all that has happened Nick decides it would be best to leave and go back home after the funeral. After an argument with Jordan he knows it is best to leave what he has here. In the end Gatsby was a man that Nick respected even if he was a lie. He had everything and nothing at the same time. His dream was to finally have Daisy but since that was his only dream when he failed, his life failed.
Tom Buchanan
"What if I did tell him? He had it coming for him. He threw dust into your eyes just like he did with Daisy's"
Tom doesn't necessarily have any good qualities. He's cocky and only cares about himself. We can prove this because he had a mistress throughout the whole novel and never cared about her or even his own wife. He only wanted someone he could use just like a tool. Once they didn't live up to his standard they were thrown away and another was bought.
Tom is as ignorant as he was in the beginning of the chapter. He does not have a clue of what really happened that day when Myrtle Wilson was killed. He even tries to make Nick feel bad about him losing his mistress which fails miserably. Tom could be describes as a wheel. His cycle never ends and nothing changes about him and his actions.
"He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it."
I like this quote because shows just how close Gatsby was to having Daisy and how he built himself up to a man of power but that wasn't enough to achieve his goal. It reminds us that you shouldn't think the past can occur once again in the present. Love and life aren't things you can just expect to rush back in to another's emotions. I myself have learned this "rule" and that is why I can relate to Gatsby and what he was aiming for.
Chapter 8 Pgs: 147-162
Chapter 8
In this chapter the finally know more about Gatsby's past or better said about the past of James Gatz. We learn how he meet Daisy but most importantly we see a different side of all the glamour that Gatsby has. Chapters before we saw Gatsby's mansion filled with people from room to room. This time the house is described using the words musty, dust, ghostly, dark, and pavilions. Not the words you would use for a house as amazing as Gatsby's but more for an abandoned house left to rot. Not only do we get this description of his house and past but we say goodbye to Gatsby as well. All these chapters we have been wondering what will happen and now we see that Gatsby had been holding on to thought of having Daisy and now that he can't have her anyway there's no point in Gatsby living since he himself is a dream.
George Wilson
"About three o'clock the quality of Wilson's incoherent muttering changed- he grew quieter and started Gallic about the yellow car."
Wilson is a man who respects everyone even if he is on the bottom of the food chain. When Myrtle dies tragically the side the Wilson has been trying to hold back now comes forth. He will avenge his wife even as he knows the she has been unfaithful to him.
Wilson is an example of those or are less fortunate then the people of the Eggs but still helps those who need it. Chapters before we observed how when he had a customer his eyes would light up but now the only thing he wishes to do is kill the man who ran over his wife. Unfortunately he does not know the truth and finishes off Gatsby, the man who we've gone through chapter after chapter and discovered new emotions and opinions for someone who has been lying to who he is all along.
"It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house the the gardener saw Wilson's body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete."
When I read this quote it gave me this image of mass murder. Of no one getting out alive and that once everything was complete only then would there be peace. This is what I was thinking as is the novel describes Wilson finishing his own life after completing his task.
In this chapter the finally know more about Gatsby's past or better said about the past of James Gatz. We learn how he meet Daisy but most importantly we see a different side of all the glamour that Gatsby has. Chapters before we saw Gatsby's mansion filled with people from room to room. This time the house is described using the words musty, dust, ghostly, dark, and pavilions. Not the words you would use for a house as amazing as Gatsby's but more for an abandoned house left to rot. Not only do we get this description of his house and past but we say goodbye to Gatsby as well. All these chapters we have been wondering what will happen and now we see that Gatsby had been holding on to thought of having Daisy and now that he can't have her anyway there's no point in Gatsby living since he himself is a dream.
George Wilson
"About three o'clock the quality of Wilson's incoherent muttering changed- he grew quieter and started Gallic about the yellow car."
Wilson is a man who respects everyone even if he is on the bottom of the food chain. When Myrtle dies tragically the side the Wilson has been trying to hold back now comes forth. He will avenge his wife even as he knows the she has been unfaithful to him.
Wilson is an example of those or are less fortunate then the people of the Eggs but still helps those who need it. Chapters before we observed how when he had a customer his eyes would light up but now the only thing he wishes to do is kill the man who ran over his wife. Unfortunately he does not know the truth and finishes off Gatsby, the man who we've gone through chapter after chapter and discovered new emotions and opinions for someone who has been lying to who he is all along.
"It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house the the gardener saw Wilson's body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete."
When I read this quote it gave me this image of mass murder. Of no one getting out alive and that once everything was complete only then would there be peace. This is what I was thinking as is the novel describes Wilson finishing his own life after completing his task.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Chapter 7
In this chapter much of what was obvious was now becoming realized. Tom's suspicions of Gatsby and Daisy is now in the open and he won't let that slide. He plans to confront him and when he eventually does confront him it is extremely clear that Tom is the victor in the end. When Gatsby leaves with Daisy back to the Eggs an unfortunate event had occurred. Myrtle Wilson was run over but killed by someone unexpected. Myrtle was killed by the one and only Daisy Buchanan. By the end of the chapter we discover that Gatsby will take the blame for the event that had unfolded.
Jordan Baker
"Those big movies around Fiftieth Street are cool. I love New York on summer afternoons when everyones away. There's something very sensuous about it- overripe as if all sorts of funny fruits were going to fall into your hands."
Jordan Baker is a woman who doesn't need a man to support her. As a professional golf player she has all the money she needs to be who she wants to be. When it comes to her personality she can be very forward and isn't afraid to insult someone and another persons feelings are unimportant.
" 'Was Daisy driving?' 'Yes', he said after a moment, 'but of course I'll say I was.' "
This quote really shows the real side of Gatsby. Not the sugar covered Gatsby that had been shown since chapter one. He is going to take the blame for a crime that he did not commit. This shows how Gatsby has changed since the last four to five chapters and how his love for Daisy is not infatuation but true. Even if he is still living in the past.
Jordan Baker
"Those big movies around Fiftieth Street are cool. I love New York on summer afternoons when everyones away. There's something very sensuous about it- overripe as if all sorts of funny fruits were going to fall into your hands."
Jordan Baker is a woman who doesn't need a man to support her. As a professional golf player she has all the money she needs to be who she wants to be. When it comes to her personality she can be very forward and isn't afraid to insult someone and another persons feelings are unimportant.
" 'Was Daisy driving?' 'Yes', he said after a moment, 'but of course I'll say I was.' "
This quote really shows the real side of Gatsby. Not the sugar covered Gatsby that had been shown since chapter one. He is going to take the blame for a crime that he did not commit. This shows how Gatsby has changed since the last four to five chapters and how his love for Daisy is not infatuation but true. Even if he is still living in the past.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Chapter 6 (Pgs: 97-112)
Chapter 6
In this chapter we finally get to know some useful information about Gatsby, or as we now know James Gatz. We also get to know who Dan Cody was and what he did for Gatsby. When Gatsby was young he was given a position on Cody's yacht so that when Cody was completely drunk there would be someone there to make sure he did not do something completely insane. After a brief explanation of Gatsby's past we find out that Tom is starting to have suspicions about Daisy and Gatsby so when Tom happens to join in Gatsby's weekly party he observes Daisy at all times. By the end of the chapter Daisy leaves and does not have the best time and Gatsby asks Nick for an explanation but does not realize that he is way too caught up in the past.
Dan Cody
"Dan Cody's yacht dropped anchor in the shallows along the shore."
From what we know about Dan Cody he was the one who made Gatsby part of the man who he is today. The only problem that we find with Cody is that he is an extreme drunk which is that main reason he gives Gatsby a job in the first place. In other words Gatsby is his babysitter.
Cody is a man we do not know much but we also know plenty about him. We know that he was the man who gave Gatsby an opportunity at a life with riches and not having to worry about the problems of the low and middle class. We also know that he has a very big problem when it comes to drinking which is why he needed someone like Gatsby in the first place. By the time Cody passed he had left a very big amount of money but was not able to receive it because of technicalities.
"For a while these reveries provided an outlet for his imagination; they were a satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy's wing"
This quote really stuck out to me because it showed just what Gatsby thought of the world. To Gatsby the world was something he could bend to his whim and anything was possible as long as he thought of it in his head. The really disappointing part of it all is that he thinks that he can have Daisy think back five years from now and feel the same way. He lives in a dream and doesn't want to wake up from it but believes that that is his reality.
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