King Lear Journal 4

"This seems a fair deserving, and must draw me
That which my father loses--no less than all.
The younger rises when the old doth fall." (3.3.23-25)

To me these lines mean that the kid only becomes the person the are meant to be in life when their parents are out of the picture. That the child can become the all mighty when the parent is reduced in their power( loses everything). In the play these lines specifically refer to the situation between the three sisters and King Lear. The father gave all he had to his daughters, his kingdom and dowery. All he did not give up were 100 knights, alas thoes ended up being taken away too, for his daughters made this a condition. SO in the play, the King loses all he had and while he lost everything his daughters gained everything. Highlighting the line, "which my father loses--no less than all." This is a blanket statement for many relationships between characters in this tragedy, when one loses, another gains. This idea of power changing hands, and who really holds the power is apparent through out the novel. I think this is very interesting, the idea of what someone can gain while and from when someone loses it all.

King Lear Journal 3

In King Lear I have chosen to track references to the stars and astronomy. Much of the beliefs and importance revolves around the stars and what they mean. In Act 1 scene 2, Edmund talks about how the stars can make a person do something they wouldn't normally do, "fools by heavenly compulsion;knaves, thieves and treachers by spherical predominance". In King Lear they use the stars to give them guidance as well as shift the blame onto something other than themselves. Edmund gives the stars power when he addresses the fact that the stars can control people and their actions. Again in act 2 scene 2, Kent addresses the influence the stars have on the people's lives at that time," Whose influence, like a wreath of radiant fire-on Phoebus' front-". When he says that the "Sun's forehead", which the sun is a star influences the place around them, that sets the world on fire, the stars have the power to control the surroundings. In both cases the stars have power over the people who worship and look to them for guidance.

King Lear Journal 2

"Then, I prithee, be merry; thy whit shall not go slipshod" (Shakespeare Act 1 scene 5, 11).
I think this quote illuminates what kind of relationship the King and his fool have. His fool calls the king "Nuncle", meaning uncle and is seen as a term of endearment. In return the King calls him boy. There relationship is much more deep than this though, as the fool constantly speaks in double entendres. Things he says can be interpreted in two ways, one being completely harmless, and the other a rude remark. His use of these shows the underlying contempt and his true feelings about the King. I think the fool sees himself in a place of protection, being the fool he can say things that no one else can say. When he says something he hides the meaning, not enabling the King to see the harsh meaning of what he said. Through all the hidden meaning the reader can see how the fool is smarter than the King. This highlights an important reason for doing this, Shakespeare relates his ideas that the higher up and not necessarily the highest and best at everything. That royalty is not as prestigious as it seems.

King Lear Journal 1

Discuss the relationship between power/wealth and love in Act 1 scene 1.

The main area we see a relationship between power/wealth and love is in the relationship and conflict surrounding King Lear and his daughter, Cordelia. He uses his power filled position as king to manipulate his daughters into telling him they love him for a piece of the kingdom. This tactic does not work on his youngest and favorite daughter Cordelia. This highlights the way that this relationship is used to get something you want. Lear uses his power to manipulate people into telling him that they love him, "Which of you shall we saydoth love us most,". Thus showing the unreal way that power and love are connected. Because his power is what he uses to be loved.
Another relationship is seen between wealth and love. We see the close link between the two after Cordelia is disowen by her father and loses her dowery. When this happens the Burgundy refuses to marry her. Thus showing the importance of money and wealth that he sets the score by in the relationship, "you have so lost a father- That you must lose a husband" (284-285).

Blood Wedding Journal 3

In Oedipus the King and Blood Wedding, both authors explore the idea of deceit. In Blood Wedding it is the story of a hidden love, and in Oedipus is the story of an untrue childhood. In Blood Wedding, the bride keeps her secrets of love and passion for Leonardo hidden from the bridegroom. When she runs off with him, it is a shock to all, "They ran away! They ran away! She and Leonardo! On the horse!" (Lorca 76). The bride lures everyone into a false sense of understanding and made them think she was happy with him husband to be. Through this deceit, Lorca create another element of interest and excitement, through the running off with a man who is not your betrothed. Another element that keeps the readers interest is that none of the characters saw it coming. This adds to the deceit and makes the blow even worse.

In Oedipus, his forged childhood and his skewed knowledge of his past. Oedipus has no clue that he had ben lied to about his life, "Polybus was nothing to you, thats why, not in blood" (Sophocles 218). Sophocles uses his character Oedipus to highlight the deceit that he feels in present in everyones life. The idea of not knowing the truth is clear in the life of Oedipus, but it goes on to highlight the way the deciet is only a big deal when you learn of it, not knowing is almost as blissful as it not being true.

Blood Wedding Journal 2

In Blood Wedding, Lorca uses very interesting images in his writing to highlight the importance of understanding the good things in life. In the beginning of Blood Wedding there is very little information to set the opening scene, "The room is painted yellow" (5), which the author does on purpose. He simply sets the scene so keep the readers focused on what is happening in the scene, and not on the scene itself. Th simplistic setting highlights the good things in life, it does this by not masking the scene. The reader can see what is going on in the scene clearly and because of this clarity it is possible to see the simple things that sometimes become hidden with extra stuff.

The imagery the author uses in his play allows the reader to see the good things in the characters lives because he leaves the scenes simple and unhampered by extra things that get in the way of what is really there. Another place in the play where we see simple imagery is on page 29, "The bride's father enters-an elderly man with shinning hair" this stage direction is simple and bare, yet the reader gets a lot out of this. Shinning hair, this image creates a sense of happiness and peace through the association we have of shinning angels. This simplistic way of setting up the scene and putting images into the readers head allows them to see what is really there, not a bunch of extra fluff. Without all the extra stuff one can see the true and good things that are now obvious. Because of this, one can see the simple amazing things that sometime get overlooked because of the scene.

Blood Wedding Journal 1

Dear Diary,

I don't know about this wedding. This is a big step, a very big step. He is a good man, I love him very much, i really do. Don't get me wrong but I am having mixed thoughts about our wedding. I try not to think about it too much, I want to spend my last days as an unmarried woman without any cares. The wedding has been set for thursday next, that is very soon. I am nervous about this. Did I mention that i have doubts?

Also, I sometimes catch myself thinking of Leonardo, staring out the window, dreaming of the past and my old life. The way he could tame and ride the wild horses, controlling them with his legs and hands. He had the more tense and set face of anyone i knew. He was always serious. Oh, I feel so guilty for what happened between us, not a day goes by where I do not think of our last day together. But he is in my past and he is not to be remembered any longer. I now have a loving bridegroom, my soon to be husband. Next thursday, oh this is so soon. And on my birthday too, my 22nd birthday. How will this work out, what does my future hold, for I can scarcely predict. Next thursday our two families will be bound and I will become a wife.

Wild Duck Journal 5

A good author does not tie up all loose ends at the end of their novel. Instead, they purposely leave the reader wondering what is going to happen, they want to keep us interested and thinking. In both Oedipus the King and Wild Duck the authors leave many questions unanswered. In Oedipus, the reader is left wondering what becomes of the newly blind man Oedipus the former king, what is the fate for his sisters/children? "Drive me out of Thebes in exile" (250). Even thought the reader has an idea of what is to happen, the author cleverly leaves out enough information to keep us guessing. A good author creates more questions in the readers mind than answers. Like in Oedipus the King, This is also the case in Wild Duck. The reader is left wondering what will become of Gina and Hjalmar after Hedvig's death. "In less than a year little Hedvig will be nothing more to him than a pretty theme for recitations"(216). Loose ends and unanswered questions are how authors usually end their books, as we can see this is the case here. Both Sophocles and Ibsen stay to the similar style that they write their plays with. The ambiguous and question filled books end just like they had written them, full of question and not very many answers.

WIld Duck Journal 4

I wanted to look at this play focusing on Hedvig, I chose to do this because I am intrigued by her and who she is as a person as well as a character. Hedvig is a fourteen year old girl, yet if the reader was not told this piece of information, I think this has something to do with the setting of Norway. " and then Daddy will be happy and things will be pleasant again. (193) When interacting with her father she seems to work very hard to make sure he is happy. The fourteen year old girl does all she does to make her dad happy, everything she ever does is only for another's happiness. The setting on Norway lends itself to the reason for this. In this day and age, the children especially the girls had to be submissive and reverent to their parents. They grew up in a society where respecting the elders is top priority, thus giving us the answer to why Hedvig acts this way. "I'll bring you dinner in, then" (180) This quote highlights the servitude Hedvig must give to her father, which the reader finds a little strange because of the way kids act today. Through the culture and societal norms in Norway at this time, The reader has a hard time relating and understanding the submissive fourteen year old girl Hedvig.

Wild Duck Journal 3

For this journal I am comparing the life of Ibsen and the similarities that he had with the character Gregers in the play, Wild Duck. Both Ibsen and his characters are from Norway. But the character most similar to Ibsen and his life story is Gregers Werle. One major thing the have in common is their family lives. Ibsen left home in 1843, and after this he did not speak to father for a long time. But he kept in touch with his mom and sister, writing them letters but never letters to his father. In Wild Duck, Gregers has just returned from 16 years of absence. "He hasn't been in town all the years I've served in this house". (119) The parallel structure between the two and their relationships also is the same for their relationships with their mothers. Ibsen continued his correspondence with his mother, through letters. In Wild Duck, we see that Gregers has a deeper connection with his mother. "She and you-you always stuck together" (132). These passages show the similarities between the author and the character, which hint that the author has incorporated some of him into the play, Wild Duck.

Wild Duck Journal 2

we all have 5,

5 senses

but when one has gone

the other 4 are not good enough.

Why is four not equal four

when you started out with 5.

How can blindness

take away your smell,

your touch, your hearing

and your

tasting?

Why is it that 4 is not 4,

when it used to be 5.

How come things lose value

when you can not see

How can seeing make you happy

if you never realized that

seeing is 1 of the 5

not the end all

be all

Wild Duck Journal 1

There is a gap between what we know as an audience in the play Oedipus and what we know in Wild Duck. In Oedipus the reader is more clued into what is going on then the characters on stage are through the dramatic irony. But in Wild Duck the reader feels distant and confused by the gap and ambiguity that the author creates in the lives of the characters past. In Oedipus the use of dramatic irony creates a want for the reader to read on, to see if the characters can discover what they already know. This technique draws the reader into the story. This is an interesting way to create interest, the reader does not finish the play to finally find out the ending, the answer, but rather to see the main characters figure out the answer. in contrast to the play Oedipus, Wild Duck is ambiguous and certain things are unclear to the reader. The author does not keep the reader as well informed, which keeps us at a distance. The gap between us and the characters creates a informal reading in which we can not get to know and understand them as well.

Oedipus Journal 4

The plot of Oedipus the King has a very purposeful plot, it is a suspenseful and drawn out method that keeps the readers attention while giving away the end result or the answer. The plot is not broken into parts, which is a understandable because the story takes place over few days and there is no real point where any action stops. The long one scene play adds to the suspense and the feeling of searching and waiting. The plot is somewhat confusing and unorganized, but this reflects the turmoil in the story of Oedipus's frantic search for the truth in combination with the prophecy. At the end of the play all has been revealed in the life of Oedipus but not so much for the other characters and others connected to him. This open ended end allows room for the readers interpretation, or even another play, which is written about Oedipus' daughter Antigone. The play only spans a day or so but it seems much longer than this, as the reader thinks it should. things in Thebes seem to move very fast, messengers and prophets coming at moments notice. The time frame is important, it reveals the power that the king has to manipulate and command the people of his kingdom showing the influence and importance that Kings had in the time of ancient Greece.

Oedipus Journal 3

The lifestyle of Ancient Greeks in very different to the lifestyle of people of today. The is especially noticeable when comparing the privacy factor of the two different worlds. In the greek culture the people were much more open, they shared their personal lives and did not distinguish so much between the private and public aspects of life. In Oedipus, the king is very open with his predicament and he shares his feelings, his findings and his life with the people of Thebes. "I'd never have come to this, my fathers murderer-never been branded: mother's husband, all men see me now" In this passage we can see the openness Oedipus has when he addresses the city he rules. His telling them breaks down the separation that people today have in their lives. Today there are clear lines between public and private affairs. This separates the two different lifestyles, giving the ancient Greek lifestyle a different kind of feel, a feel of open and a feel of a connected community that the people of today do not feel as strongly.

Oedipus Journal 2

Toward the fork, toward the crossroads. The journey has left me weary but I am soon to reach my destination. I have only a little farther to walk, only a little farther. I can see the crossroad now. I am so tired, i can not keep my head up so I let it hang down. I stare at the dirt path, at my sandaled feet stilling up the sanded road. Ahead in the haze I see a cart, i see a man I see it come closer and closer. I keep walking head hung low, then i hear voices grow louder and I look up just in time to throw myself out of harms way. I shake myself rid of the dirt and I turn to see who this inconsiderate person is. i strike the man, hard, as hard as possible. I was angry. His prod is thrust toward my head but never connects, i strike him once more. I repaid him for the close call he dealt me. On quick blow with my staff and he fell from his seat. I rolled him from the wagon headfirst and I killed him. I killed a man, I killed many men, I killed them all! I am not sorry, i am not. I have done the deed and that is it, no more thoughts shall be wasted on this, no more seconds lost. I have killed the strangers, I have killed them all.

-Oedipus April 23

Oedipus Journal 1

Point of view/ the character of Oedipus:

This tragedy is told through the eyes of King Oedipus. Form the pages I have read for this journal, the whole scene is in The King's perspective. Because the point of view is throughout the king's eyes, who we learn in a very pompous and thinks very highly of himself, puts the reader at a disadvantage. This point of view puts the reader at a disadvantage because it limits the insight they have into the scene because they can only understand the story through Oedipus' eyes. there are very few characters in this first scene, but one feels that they learn very little about any of them, the one one we learn about is the king of Thebes. Through this point of view the reader sees the person of Oedipus, the arrogant and powerful man that he perceives himself to be. This passage focuses on the things he will do for Thebes, the great things he is going to do for the community, and how he will save his people. The point of view elevates the status and importance of the King, because the passage is focused on the king and his actions. This scene is not the most credible because of the King and his heightened view of himself, and also because with only his view we can not find others credible because we can not see into their thought and find what they are saying believable. The author makes the readers not like the King even thought from what he says he is amazing and a great guy. The writer does this through the attitude of Oedipus, because of it we feel a strong dislike to the arrogant ruler of Thebes, which leads us to nt listening or believing the things he says/thinks.

Poetry 2

Hush, just stop
There's nothing you can do or say, baby
I've had enough
I'm not your property

As from today, baby
You might think that
I won't make it on my own
But now I'm

Stronger than yesterday
Now it's nothing but my way
My loneliness ain't killing me no more
I am stronger

Than I ever thought
That I could be, baby
I used to go with the flow

Didn't really care 'bout me
You might think that
I can't take it but you're wrong
'Cause now I'm

Stronger than yesterday
Now it's nothing but my way
My loneliness ain't killing me no more
I am stronger

Here I go, on my own
I don't need nobody, better off alone
Here I go, on my own, now
I don't need nobody, not anybody

Now I am stronger than yesterday
Now it's nothing but my way
My loneliness ain't killing me no more
I am stronger

By Britney Spears

Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines, and Stronger by Britney Spears are both about the same thing, the end of a relationship. Both works use very simple images and words to get their points across. Pabla Neruda and Spears construct their works with a structure that is simple and easy to understand. Both authors come right about and say what they are thinking, that they are done with their relationships and they are moving on. This meaning is not hidden to the reader. They make it very clear to us what the work of expression means. "The last pain she makes me suffer and these the last verses that i write for her" by Neruda and "My loneliness ain't killing me no more, I am stronger", highlight the simple parallel structure in the works. This structure reveals their ability to get over the relationship.

Poetry

This poem is about feeling between two people. The poem is about expression of feeling and communication. The poem is more specifically about the inability to express thoughts and the pain this brings. The speaker says that he is "Penned up between the sea and sadness". This quote expresses the speakers inability to express himself through the word "penned". We understand his trapped feeling because he compares his feelings to being in a cage. He struggles but can not get out. The use of the word sadness illuminates that the inability to express his emotions causes grief and sadness. The pain associated with in-expression shows us the negatives of not showing your feelings.

We can see that the speaker is a male and who he is talking about is a woman. We find clues to this hypothesis in the way the poem is written. the way the speaker talks, he talks with a dominance and a possessive, masculine authority." I have gone marking the atlas of your body with crosses of fire." in this quote we can make a guess this is a man, through the way this is said. He says this with authority and dominance. He references himself., this shows that he is the dominant, that he is the important one. We can tell that he is talking about a woman because of the comparisons to a doll, "Sad and gentle doll". He compares her in a lifeless controllable thing. He talks like she is under him, that she is less than he is.

This poem was written so that the author could finally say the words that he once did not know how to express. I think that the narrator was personally connected to something similar to this. He wanted to express his emotion in a poem. He writes, "I have reached the most awesome and coldest summit". This quote shows the reader that he is writing about his own life because he compares his triumph to something like a goal. He finally reached this long term goal of expression of emotion. He shows this by saying he had reached the most awesome summit. The coldest part of the quote illuminates that this is a true life experience thought the emotion this word evokes. We can see that this is real because of the emotions.

This poem was written using imagery, particularly religious imagery. "Sing, burn, flee, like a belfry at the hands of a madman". Through the image of this crazy man in the tower we imagine a person secluded in a tall tower. The image highlights the way that not being able to express your feelings cuts you off from others. The imagery suggests the outcome of not being able to show your feelings.

1984 Journal #3

Orwell is able to make his dystopian vision of total submission to to authority believable through the characters in his novel. Our protagonist in the novel 1984 does not agree with the dystopian society and the rules that Big Brother places on him and the community. Throughout the novel he goes against the rules by having an intimate relationship, thinking tyrannical thoughts and disrespecting Big Brothers authority. But at the very end of the novel, the last sentence reads, "He loved Big Brother" (297). This quote shows that the dystopian ideals have been successfully instilled into the rebellious protagonists head. They conformed the rebel. The conquering of the protagonist shows the dystopians power and highlights the believability that a society could really work this way. Orwell creates the society in which everyone conforms and agrees with the society or is extinguished.

even though in the end of the novel, out hero protagonist loses his fight against Big Brother and the community, Orwell instills a hope in us throughout the fight of Winston. He fights hard in the book to detach from the society and become his own person the reader feels hopeful that he will succeed somehow and change the community. Though this does not happen, his effort gives us hope that one day it could happen.

1984, Journal 2

The brunette girl that was once thought to be a spy by Winston, the main character but is now revealed as a secret lover of his. True love is not condoned in this dystopian society and they learn to meet in places and talk in secret. This brown haired young fair girl works in the ministry same as him in the fiction department. Her job is to create fiction in the community and to pass it off for truth. She was a quiet girl, which is why Winston originally thinks she is a spy for the thought police. She and Winston realize their desire for each other when Julia slips him a note expressing her feelings toward him. They become secret lovers where nothing is secret. Together they break the rules of Big Brothers community and they have a meaningful relationship. Together they express their feelings toward Big Brother and the society they live in. They share their ideals and their thought, the ones that are death if anyone finds out. Together they face sure death for having a meaningful relationship and thinking tyrannical thought about the community. The thought police finding them out is something the Julia and Winston risk though for the freedom of their relationship.