Blog #8: Tone/ Mood

         The tone and mood espoused by the author is what gets the reader in the mindset of the piece of text. If an author is talking about the serenity of the ocean, it would not make sense for him and her to use a harsh or coarse tone. In “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath, there are definite tonal shifts in her speaking which indicates the shift in emotion throughout her poem. For instance, in the stanza “I have always been scared of you,/ With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygook/….Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You-/ Not God but a swastika” (lines 42-46). There is an evident tonal shift from the first line of the stanza to the first line of the following stanza. Plath starts off more fearful and sad in the first line and then she shifts to a more aggressive and angry tone. The tone of the author or poet indicates to the reader how he or she should be feeling when reading their piece. Successful writers are able to create a mood for their writing that can be observed from only understanding parts of the writing.

Blog #7: Diction

Diction is simply the words used by a poet. Diction is arguably the most important aspect of a poem, novel, or play, for the main reason that without diction there are no words to express content. Specific diction expresses the tone of the piece of text and also creates certain sounds to set the mood. In “Out, Out-“  by  Robert Frost, the poet makes extended use of onomatopoeia , sibilance, and alliteration, to create a sinister and powerful mood. His diction is mainly based on the sounds of the words he uses.  The poem starts off with “The buzz-saw snarled.” The poem starts off with all of the language mentioned before. The initial diction of the poem creates the sounds of the factory, setting the reader in the setting and mindset of the poem.  Poets can also use diction when it comes to length of words. In “To His Coy Mistress” the poet uses long and prolonged words at the start of the poem because he talks about unconditional time: a time that is endless and uninterrupted. As the conditions in the poem switch, and a condition is put on time, the diction changes in that its speed is no longer prolonged. Diction creates a certain flow for the piece of text.

Blog #6: Figurative Language

                Figurative language that it’s meaning is not the literal meaning of what is written. Figurative language usually has a deeper meaning on another level, usually a metaphorical level. Lines that use figurative language, specifically metaphors and similes, if taken literally can make little to no sense.  In Billy Collins’ poem “Introduction of Poetry,” figurative language is used, specifically smiles, to compare the process of analyzing a poem to common ideas. For instance, Collins states “I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide.” The word like immediately implies that the line is a simile and reading poetry is compared to holding a slide up to the light.  The line is not literally saying to hold the poem up to the light, but rather take the same approach mentally to analyzing it. In “Traveling through the Dark” the poet makes constant use of imagery as a form of figurative language to appeal to some of the five senses.  By utilizing imagery, the poet invokes emotion in the reader, making the reader emotionally attached to the dead deer. Figurative language is a powerful device in poetry because it causes people to think beyond what is literally given to them on the page. It forces the reader to take their outside knowledge and apply to what is in front of them.

Blog #5: Poetry Sounds

In “Coy Mistress” and “As I Walked out One Evening”, the structures are very reflective of the theme and the poets’ perceptions of love in relation to time. “As I walked out one Evening” has a very “sing-song” rhythm. Auden’s upbeat structure espouses his acceptance of time and the acceptance of loving with a “crooked heart.” Unlike Marvel who prolongs his poem as he hopes to prolong time, Auden’s view of time and love is more light-hearted.  In contrast, in “To His Coy Mistress,” the juxtaposition between slow and fast sentence structure outlines the overall concept of the poem that time is not endless and we must seize the day. Marvell purposefully structures his sentences in a way to slow down the reader as they are reading the poem. The slowness of the line “And the last age should show your heart” (Marvell 18) contrasts with the speed of the line “And tear our pleasures with rough strife” (43).  The lines are juxtaposed in order to express the theme of time and its affect on love. Marvell realizes that time cannot slow down or stop, therefore puts a condition on love. Even without understanding the words of the poems, the reader can get the gist of the theme of time in both poems through the particular poem rhythm and sound.

Blog #4: Symbol

Symbols are objects or ideas presented in a piece of text, where the meaning of the concept goes beyond the literal meaning. The meaning of the symbol is very dependent on the context and the plot of the piece of text. A symbol is unique to one individual story. In “As I Walked Out One evening,” Auden utilizes the symbol of the clocks to signify the curtailment of time on love. Auden states that because time limits love and makes it conditional, people must love with a “crooked heart.” A clock in another story or poem does not necessarily have this same symbolic meaning; in fact it probably does not. Contrastingly, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet the ghost actually symbolizes a character in the play. The ghost symbolizes Hamlet’s dead father that only he is able to see, because when he was in his mother’s bed chamber, Gertrude was not able to see the ghost. The Ghost could also symbolize the revenge Hamlet was searching for. Depending on the genre of the piece of text, the meaning of the symbol varies in depth.

Blog #3: Setting

In short, the setting of a piece of text places the collection of words in a set location. The setting sets the tone and mood for entire passage. The setting also allows the reader to visualize what is happening in the story; the story is able to come to life, so it’s not flat words on a page. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, for instance, the reader is aware that the majority of the play takes place in a castle. That being said, the circumstances and the mood of the play change when the setting is altered. For example, when Hamlet kills Polonius, it occurs in Gertrude’s bedchamber. Because this scene does not occur in the main hall of the castle, there is a more secretive feel to the death, hence why most of the characters were unaware that Hamlet stabbed Polonius. Also in the play, when Hamlet speaks to the ghost of his father, the setting is dark and outside during the night. The ominous setting relates to what is occurring the play. Correspondingly, in Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, the tone of the novel shifts as the characters move from one estate to the other. For instance, there is a more pretentious feel at the Pemberly house and a more sarcastic tone in the Bennet’s house. By the reader know what the setting of the story is, he is able to place the situation in the context it is supposed to be in. On a similar not, in Buckley’s performance of Oklahoma, the play was performed with a full set. There is a different feel of the minds eye when there is a complete set as opposed to a solid black wall. The setting is what gives the reader or audience member the feeling that they are part of what is going on in the story. It gives the full experience.

Blog #2: Character

            The protagonists of a piece of text are often the most well-rounded and multi-faceted characters in their context. Therefore, comparing characters such as Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice to Hamlet from Shakespeare’s Hamlet can prove rather interesting, especially because one is fiction and the other drama, and would not typically be compared. The major difference between the characters, and this could be due to their genre, is that I feel that Hamlet is more internal. This could be partly because of Shakespeare’s use of soliloquy, which is supposed to reflect Hamlet’s internal thought: “O. that this too too solid flesh would melt” (1.2.129). Hamlet considers suicide and schemes mainly internally through his soliloquies. In contrast, Elizabeth mainly talks about her feelings with her sister Jane or with Mr. Darcy. As protagonist of the stories, each of the characters has the ability to feel multiple emotions. Hamlet feels suicidal, vengeful, sorrows and many other feelings. Elizabeth is able to feel confused, witty, and bitter, along with other feelings. She is a foil with her sister Jane who only feels limited amount of feeling. The protagonist of a story is made evident through their changing emotions that dominate the story. 

Blog #1: Plot

            The Plot of a text can be argued to be the single most important element of the text. Without the plot, the content of the text does not move anywhere and nothing is really achieved because there lacks purpose. Pride and Prejudice and Hamlet interestingly have similar plot structures despite one of them being fiction and the other drama. What they have in common is that after the climax of the story is reached the falling action and denouement occurs quite rapidly. In Pride and Prejudice the climax of the story occurs when Elizabeth finally accepts Darcy’s wedding proposal. This scene can also be considered the resolution if Lidia marrying Whickham was decided to be the climax; however, either way, after each of the events, the novel comes quickly to an end. Similarly, in Hamlet the climax of the story occurs when almost all the characters in the play die, which occurs in the last act of the play. The difference with each of these pieces of text is that Hamlet as expected due to its genre, ends in tragedy whereas Pride and Prejudice has a rather happy ending in their denouements.

Turnitin.com review

After reading the comments on my essay, I definitely need work on my proofreading. There was an evident lack of checking for errors because the errors could have been fixed had the paper been read out loud.

Poetry Essay Intro

Why is it that time and love are so related? Both Andrew Marvell and W.H. Auden explore this concept in their thought provoking poetry. The poets use time as the conditional element to love, in that time limits the extent of love. However, Contrastingly to Auden, Marvell accepts the limit of time and loves through carpe diem. Auden on the other hand, espouses the limits of time and states that it in turn causes people to love with a “crooked heart.” Aside from the apparent themes of love and time in “To His Coy Mistress” and  “As I Walked Out One Evening,” the poems share distinct similarities and differences in terms of poetic structure as well as specific diction and word choice. 

2 Poems

After analyzing "To an Athlete Dying Young" and "Ulysses" there is an evident them of time in both, however the content are opposites. In "To an Athlete Dying Young," the poet analyzes what are the affects of dying young and his main point is that you don't outlive the your glory. Contrastingly, "Ulysses" explores the affects of living to an old age and living in the glory of that past. In the athlete poem, the poet talks in second person, so the poet does not truly comprehend the impact of dying young and is just talking in observation. However, in "Ulysses" the poet is talking from first hand experience because he is talking in first person. Interestingly, the lengths of the stanzas of the poems, reflect the content of a short vs. long life. Both poems have a line that slows the reader down when reading, almost like stopping time in a way. 

Ozymandias

In Percy Shelly's "Ozymandias," the fear and awe of the power of time is thoroughly expressed. From the language syntax and diction, the theme of time is effectively espoused to the audience. The punctuation of the poem is an element that really stand out because there are only 3 periods in the entire 14 line poem.  The sentences are very prolonged and almost run on like, which further expresses the theme of time. The slowness of the poem is juxtaposed by the line "Nothing besides remain" (line 12). This is the only sentence in the poem that is succinct and to the point. Aside from the way the poem is formatted and the syntax, the theme is further strengthened by the word choice and content of the poem. The poem states that time can break down even the most powerful.

Performance Choices

I performed the section of Act 2, Scene two on page 755 of the textbook and I played the part of Polonius. It was very interesting to play this particular character in the context of this scene because he has two distinguished characters within the character of Polonius. He starts of in a scheming manner as he plots with the king and the queen and then once Hamlet enters, he plays it cool without playing into Hamlet's craziness. Polonius also has to be aware that the king and the queen are hiding and listening without being obvious to Hamlet that they are spying on him. 

Page 833 #3

Shakespeare's play Hamlet, central theme is the idea of appearance vs. reality. The audience needs constantly be evaluate what is real and what is not. The truth must be deciphered from the lies. When the play begins we are introduced to this theme by Hamlet: "That can denote me truly: these indeed seem/ For they are actions that a man might play" (1.2.83-83). Emphasis is drawn to the words "seem" and "play." For the entirety of the play the audience has to "read" the characters to understand if what they appear to be are truly what their character is. We must determine if the King really does feel sorrow for his brother's death and him marrying his sister in law so close to the death. The audience also needs to determine if Hamlet is actually crazy or if its an act as he claims it to be. 

Page 832 #9 and Page 833 #7

9. Hamlet's soliloquy in Act I scene 2, lines129-159 is loaded with anger and sorrow. The sentences are filled with exclamations which further express his fury. Hamlet is fully invested emotionally in the death of his father, which in term makes his fully invested in the words he uses. In lines 149-153, the verb of the sentence come more than ten words after the subject and the sentence is interjected with strong words. His inability to finish a sentence further expouses his overwhelmed emotional state. All the of the words Hamlet uses are very truthful and trul express his feelings. He also uses figuratice language and allusions to biblical figures to further express his emotions.

7. A major conflict in the play Hamlet is the conflict between concealing and revealing, particularly relating to the characters of Hamlet and Claudius. We learn immediately as the play begins the difference between the two characters. When the play begins Hamlet Sr. is dead. There is a clear emotional difference between Hamlet and King Claudius. King Claudius makes his appearance in the play as he makes a speech in the castle fallowing his brothers. The King shows no sign of remorse as he is making his speech. He also seemed very unaffected by his brother's death, because he married his brother's wife only one month after his death. Constrastingly, a month had gone by and Hamlet was still moping around the house. We could hear the extent of Hamlet's emotions in his soliloquy ase he expresses all that he is feeling. There is an evident divide between the charcters who conceal, and those how reveal.

Page 830 #7&14

7. I think Hamlet tells his companions he is likely to put on an "antic disposition" so he lets them in on his plan. He also tells them, so if they see him acting crazy they will not think much of it, yet not let on to others that he is not actually crazy. I think his behavior is both a deliberate strategy and a natural reaction to his grief and anger, because it has elements of both sources. His plan is definitely fueled by his anger and desire for revenge But he acts crazy due to his plan, so the emotions are intermingled.

14. The assumption that underly Hamlet's response is that he has a feeling that his two friends have been sent to spy on him, because otherwise their drop-by seems rather random. He means that over thinking and questioning are not good ideas. Yes I do agree with what Hamlet is saying. The second quote suggests that there is method to Hamlet's madness. His craziness is sensible in that there is deep meaning in his craziness. I believe at this point in the play he is acting because there a clear thought pattern being put into his statements.    

Page 830 #4

The basis for both Laertes's and Polonius's objections to Ophelia's relationship with Hamlet is based on Hamlet's status. Both of them are aware that despite Hamlet's feelings, he has certain obligations to the throne, so marriage does not necessarily rely on love. They do not want Ophelia to fall in love with a man who probably wont be able to fallow through with his commitment due to the higher order of society. Polonius's argument seems less fair because it as if he is giving too much advice and his advice is too commanding in nature. Laeretes's advice is more of a warning than a command. Their treatment of Ophelia in this scene reveals the controlling nature of the characters and makes sense in the context of Polonius hiring spies to watch his children. It also expresses the idea that men are superior to women in the context of the play and women are almost submissive to the men. Class has a big role in their argument, that they both say that because Hamlet is part of the royal family, his loyalty is questionable.

Claudius and Hamlet: the Same--but Different

King Claudius and Hamlet can easily be described as the two most diverse characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Ironically, Hamlet and Claudius make use of similar speech patterns, specifically with their utilization of delayed syntax. If one is to say that the speech pattern a character uses defines that character, one would expect Hamlet to be fairly similar. However, the intentions behind specific speech pattern are what truly make each character individual.  Although both Hamlet and King Claudius make consistent use of delayed syntax, what distinguishes them as characters are their intentions for their usage; Claudius uses delayed syntax due to his deceptive manner and his manipulative intentions and Hamlet uses the device due to his sensitive manner and as a means to express himself. 

Prufrock: Section of the Poem analysis

"There will be time, there will be time/ To prepare face to meet the faces you meet" (Lines 25-56)
This specific section really sums up the entire poem because it has many significances within the context of the poem. The lines almost sounds as if he is reassuring himself in this own thoughts, which would make sense because of his indecisiveness. The entire poem seem like a random stream of consciousness that really comes together with the idea of time; which is conveniently mentioned twice in these two lines.  Prufrock is not really sure of what is real and fake, and that juxtaposition is represented by the different "faces" you make to meet people. There is no real resolution to this poem; Prufrock is still as indecisive as he is at the start of the poem. Because of his idea of time sort of being endless he is able to continue to be indecisive and continue to pretty much ramble in his own thoughts. Therefore, this section of the poem is the epitome of the general theme of the poem.

Mini Essay- Prompt 3

Without a doubt, Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress,” is centralized on the concept of time and seizing the day. However, what is interesting about this theme is not only the way he gets the message across through the actual words in the poem, but also the way his sentence structure and syntax is reflective of the theme. At various points in the poem, Marvell requires the reader to slow down and speed up while reading because of the way he forms his sentences and the punctuation he uses. In addition, emphasis is drawn to certain words relating to time, by him placing the words in a certain places in the lines of poem. 

The poem starts off with the line “Had we but world enough, and time” (line 1). Two words in particular stand out in this line: “had” and “time.” The word “had” indicates that what he is about to say is conditional; basically, there is not all the time in the world. Because “had” starts off the entire poem, emphasis is immediately drawn to this specific word. Furthermore, the sentence strategically slows down for the word “time” with Marvell’s use of punctuation. The way this first sentence is formed is only one of the ways in which Marvell incorporates the concept of time into his word choice, sentence structure, and syntax.

Another example of a way Marvell employs time in his poetry is through the intended speed of reading of each line. The slowness of the line “And the last age should show your heart” (line 18) contrasts with the speed of the line “And tear our pleasures with rough strife” (line 43). The way in which these lines are structures allows the reader to read with the speed Marvell intends him to. The contrast between slow and fast sentence structure outlines the overall concept of the poem that time is not endless and we must seize the day.  Even without understanding the words, a reader can pick up “To His Coy Mistress” and get the timely feel for the poem. 

One line from "To His Coy Mistress"

In Andrew Marvell's "To his Coy Mistress," the poem begins with a conditional statement with very intriguing syntax. "Had we both world enough, and time." The one word, "had" alone sets the tone for the rest of the stanza by showing that the scenarios about to be presented are conditional and not reality. Basically, what is to fallow is an ideal situation that does not exist or could not exist. The second part draws my attention because of its somewhat awkward syntax and punctuation. Marvell puts an intentional pause before the word time, which is the overarching theme for the poem. He slows done the pace of the poem with his punctuation as if holding time. In addition, was purposefully put as the the last word in the line to draw emphasis to that particular word. Andrew Marvell starts off his poem in a way that forces the reader to think about his intention even before the poem starts.

DW Harding- Is Collins Funny or a Nightmare?

In Pride and Prejudice, the character of Mr. Collins is a nightmare if he were a part of real life, however in the context of the novel, he a comedic character. DW Harding states that Jane Austen utilizes the situation of Mr. Collins' proposal to Elizabeth to espouse how "economic and social institutions have such a power over the value of personal relationship." Jane Austen satirizes her society by commenting on the importance of financial status with regards to marriage. According to DW Harding, Mr. Collins is portrayed as a "caricature" in the novel in order to provide the reader with comedic relief. Everything that Mr. Collins says is exaggerated and intended to be humorous to the readers in order the attack society without upsetting the reader. If the proposal had taken place in real life and Elizabeth had to go through with the marriage this would without a doubt be a nightmare. Jane Austen effectively twists the situation to make the circumstances comedic in the eyes of the reader.

What I need to work on for essays...

What I definitely need to work on for my essays is proofreading. There were a lot of grammatical issues in my essay that some more revisions would have fixed. I had a couple run on sentences as well as some sentence fragments. That was the major issue with my essay.

Best Essay

In my opinion what the most important aspect of an essay is originality. Obviously the essay has to be well written, however an essay that starts off with an original idea has far more potential then an essay that has a overused idea. With that in mind, my favorite essay would have to be D2, An Examination of Class and Economy: Austen's Molding of Mr. Hurst. By the student choosing such a minor character, originality is basically guaranteed. Furthermore the student offers complexity in the essay and is able to stay on topic through the entirety of the essay. The thesis statement alone, specifically the part "Hurst is the epitome of triviality of Austen's society's conscious aristocracy, so showing that one's wealth should not be the sole indicator of one's worth in society." I as a reader never considered this point and the fact the student is able to make the point so firmly and clearly support the point with examples is a testament to why in my opinion this is the best essay.

Sample Essays 3

I read C for Cecil, D for Danforth, and E for Eunice. My favorite was D for Danforth because I like the topic the student chose. The student is able to contrast the two novels withoug making the essay without making it sound too convolunted. The student's introduction gives the reader focus on what the essay is going to be about without going into all the individual details. I really like the title of the essay because it is short and catchy, "Faulty First Impressions." Contrastingly, C for Cecilia's title is rather long for a title and maybe gives away too much of the point of the essay. In my opinion the title of the essay should be focused yet intrigue the reader to find out more about the topic my reading the essay.

Sample Essays 2

This time I read essays A1, F1, and I1 and my favorite was F1, F for Foxglove. I felt that I1 especially jumped between too many different ideas especially because it talked about too many different characters. The student who wrote F1 really was on focus throughout the essay and made a very interesting point. In class we discussed how Jane Austen allows the reader to judge, however the student states that even though the narrator isn't the one to introduce the characters, the way the foils are set up, Jane Austin is "developing prejudice" for the reader. Without just regurgitating the discussion in class about foils, he/she developed their own opinion. In addition, the essay was very well written. However, the MLA format is incorrect because only the first quote requires Austen in the parenthesis.

Sample Essays

I read sample essays B2, C2, and D2. My favorite essay would have to be D2 because of its complexity and originality. It was very clever for the student to chose such a minor character because it pretty much guaranteed originality. The student was well spoken and used sophisticated language without making the essay seem convoluted. The student stays focused on the subject and continually brings the reader back to the main point of the essay. The student also introduces interesting ideas regarding the intentions of Jane Austin.

Your Turn to Judge

Jane Austin successfully makes her character introductions realistic in that she lessens the role of the narrator, and allwos the reader to make judgment based on their experience with the character as well as through the perception of the other characters.

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