Semester Reflection

This semester has been a different one for me is a few ways. I think I have definitely grown as a writer and have learned to accept new ways of learning. Comics had a huge impact on my semester. We went through a few different comic books and when we started the first one, I wasn't too excited. As we continued on with the first one and in to the next two or so, comics began to grow on me some what. I gained a better understanding for them and also gained more acceptance for this type of literature. I went in with the attitude that comics were dumb and had to relevance to my learning, and I came out with a whole new perspective. I actually enjoy comics (to an extent) now and have learned how to read them through the use of symbolism and such. This was definitely a challenge at the start of the course, but it got easier as the semester went on and actually became enjoyable. I feel as though I have improved my writing in a couple ways, but the one that stands out the most is i finally learned how to write a thesis! YAY! Only took me several years, but I finally grasped the concept of what a thesis is and how to actually write one and make my paper a successful one. I think my favorite texts were probably The Bluest Eye and Oranges because I think there are many people out there that could relate to both, weather it be being the outcast all the time or being controlled my someone in an absolute insane way. I really enjoy fiction, but fiction that could potentially be non fiction. I definitely think I responded to these to texts in the most positive manner, but thats not to say these were the only two I enjoyed. I struggled a lot with A Midsummer's Night Dream, but I don't think thats too suprising. Though the story is good (after looking at interpretations) the language was quite a struggle. It called for a lot of re-reading and still sometimes I wasn't sure what was going on. I'm not really concerned with this though because I feel like its something that needs practice. I feel the more I read novels such as Shakespeare, the better understanding I will eventually gain. I think the language takes a lot of getting used to. I really liked how we came up with our own thoughts about texts, then shared them with our classmates. I really think this helped a lot in understanding the texts and getting different perspectives on them. I disliked the seminar thing we did the most. I thought it was interesting to hear people's thoughts, but I also thought it was hard because a lot of the ideas were the same (since we were talking about the same parts with a lot of people) so I felt like there wasn't enough for everyone to say. Not that it isn't a good idea, it just wasn't one of my favorites. I think I have no doubt been challenged in my critical thinking and my close reading skills and I think it will really help me in the long run. I have learned to focus on a particular section and pick it apart and really make something of it. I didn't really know what to expect for this class because I had no idea what it was going to entail so I cant really say that I was hoping for much more. I really ended up enjoying this class because, although challenging at times I really learned a lot more than I ever expected. 

Gaiman vs. Shakespeare

Gaiman's text and Shakespeare's text are very different. For one, Gaiman's text is in the form of a comic. If this were a few months ago my views may be different, but after reading a few comics so far this semester I have gained more of a liking for them, so in this case I found Gaiman's text a lot more interesting than just reading Shakespeare's play script. Another thing that was different about Gaiman's text was the language that was used. Gaiman used more modern English, so obviously it was easier for me to understand. Though the concepts of Shakespeare's play were interesting and a lot of times just insane, it was often times hard for me to grasp those concepts and understand what exactly was going on, due to the Old English Language that he used. Both plays were comedic, which is why I was able to enjoy both, but once again the language in Shakespeare's version was much more difficult to interpret which made it a little less enjoyable because I was having to think about what exactly every line meant. I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion about the Gainan's interpretation and I'm sure many people out there think it is destruction of Shakespeare's original version. I, on the other hand enjoyed it quite thoroughly and I do think, it gave me somewhat of a better understanding of Shakespeare's original. For example, I found the whole love triangle with Lysander, Hermia and Demetrius to be quite difficult to keep up with at times. But, in Gaiman's version it was straightforward. This quote in particular, tells pretty much exactly what is going on with out all the confusion,

 

                        That one up there, Lysander, 

                        he loves her, Hermia, but her dad, 

                        wants her to marry the other

                        one, Demetrius, see?

 

Instead of having in interpret every line of Shakespeare's play in order to know what exactly is going on, in Gaiman's version it is a little more straight forward, and for people like me that dont understand Old English, it is much easier to grasp. 

 

I enjoyed both versions, but I found Shakespeare's version much more complex and difficult to interpret, where as Gaiman's version I was given pictures and it was written in words I could better understand.

ACT 1, Scene 1 

Helena

How happy some o'er other some can be!

Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.

But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so;

He will not know what all but he do know:

And as he errs, doting on Hermia's eyes,

So I, admiring of his qualities:

Things base and vile, folding no quantity,

Love can transpose to form and dignity:

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;

And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind:

Nor hath Love's mind of any judgement taste;

Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste:

And therefore is Love said to be a child,

Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.

As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,

So the boy Love is perjured every where:

For ere Demetrius look'd on Hermia's eyne,

He hail'd down oaths that he was only mine;

And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt,

So he dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt.

I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight:

Then to the wood will he to-morrow night

Pursue her; and for this intelligence

If I have thanks, it is a dear expense:

But herein mean I to enrich my pain,

To have his sight thither and back again.

My interpretation of what it is Helena is trying to say:

Helena feels she is just as good as Hermia, but apparently Demetrius does not agree. Demetrius doesnt know Helena loves him, he is too caught up in and in love with Hermia. As Demetrius is busy admiring Hermia, Helena is admiring and in love with Demetrius. I think she is trying to say that Demetrius is only seeing Hermia's beauty and what is on the outside, rather than what she is like on the inside. The only judgment Demetrius has is what he sees of Hermia, and that is beauty for which he has fallen for. She speaks of the immaturity of boys and the fact that Demetrius is committing perjury. She talks about how Demetrius looks at Hermia, but he took oaths that he was only Helena's. As soon as he fell for Hermia, all his oaths and vows he made disappeared and soon meant nothing.  She says she is going to tell Demetrius that Helena is leaving to run away with Lysander to get married. She thinks if he finds out about Hermia's flight, Demetrius will come back to her.

Titania and Oberon

This play was not interesting to me in the slightest and I'm going to have to say I had no idea what was going on throughout the majority of this play. I read it and even watched it and both left me confused. I had a lot of trouble remembering all the characters, which kind of makes it difficult to keep up with what was going on and to examine the relationships between characters. One relationship that I sort of understood and found some what interesting was the relationship between Titania and Oberon. Oberon is the king of the fairies and Titania is the Queen, aka his wife. Titania kidnaps an Indian prince, who Oberon wishes to make his knight. This causes conflict with the relationship between Titania and Oberon because Titania refuses to give up the prince. Titania refuses to sleep with her husband, until he rids the idea of making the boy his knight. As a sort of revenge Oberon puts a spell on Titania, making her fall in love with a creature that is half human half donkey. Oberon tricks Titania, while under the spell, convincing her to give him the boy and she does willingly. When she awakes from the spell the two reunite happily. I thought it was interesting how the two just forgave each other after the arguments they had and after Oberon took the fairy prince to be his knight...Yeah but over all I was pretty confused with what was even going on and with who for most of the play. 

Research Paper Thesis

The thesis I will be basing my research on has to do with self image and how media effects people in a negative way. I will be looking at The Bluest Eye, The Dove Ad, Emerson's quote, and then some articles, videos and websites that I will find on my own to relate to this thesis. 

Poem vs. Persepolis

I chose to compare the poem "On Being Asked to Write a Poem Against the War in Vietnam", by Hayden Carruth, and the book Persepolis. These two pieces of literature can be very closely compared. The fact that both pieces talk about War is the first way they are a like, but it goes much deeper than that. Both pieces bring about this feeling of numbness to to war and death. Death becomes "the norm" because it happens so often. In the poem the author mentions not only the Vietnam War, but a few other wars as well. His attitude gives the reader a sense that he is used to War. He grew up around war and was even in a war, and being surrounded by so much death and violence, war simply becomes an extremely normal thing. Like in the poem, the same goes for Persepolis. The story takes place during the Iranian Revolution, where the violence is horrendous. Prisoners being tortured, people being killed, yet instead of being saddened and shocked by what is going on (like they were in the start of the war), the characters in this book soon become numb to what is going on around them. It is not that they don't honor and respect those that die for them to stand up for what they believe, because this is not the case at all. They honor these people completely, but no longer does people being killed upset them, as much as it once did, because it is what they are used to. They hear of people being tortured and killed everyday, which is no longer out of the ordinary, but in fact quite ordinary. War simply a way of life. This conflict of war, in both pieces, forges an identity of numbness. Characters are simply no longer being effected on a  daily basis by the death and violence around them. Instead, this is a way of life they have accepted and become accustomed to. 

Balnkets!

The first panel I found interesting and would like to discuss is on page 13 where the boys are getting in trouble for not going to sleep. I found it very interesting how Craig's dad gets so much bigger than the boys as he's yelling at them. I think this is to show his authority over them and I think it does a very good job at showing this.

The next panel I would like to talk about is page 32 when Phil is watching Tom and Jerry. I think this is sort of comparing the relationships of Tom and Jerry to Phil and Craig. It seems as if Craig doesn't like his little brother much and in the panel you see Phil says "Run Jerry Run!". And then you see Craig say, "I hope Jerry runs off a cliff". So, I definitely think the author is trying to relate the two relationships at this point in the story in some way. 

The final panel I would like to discuss is on page 190, but is something I also noticed a lot throughout the entire book. I found this book to be very multimodal, especially in the sense that I feel like I can hear everything going on in the book. On this page especially when it says "sniff sniff" by Ben's face. I felt like I could completely hear the sound of this especially because of the winter scene this panel takes place in, when its common to get the sniffles when it is so cold out. Also, when Raina's sister is attacking Craig, sitting on his back. You see the words "pat pat" and "ha ha ha" as she's hitting him on the back and joking around with him.