The album “sky blue sky” by Wilco is not my favorite album. As Mr. Hughes played it to us I got so bored that I could not pay attention to the lyrics. The way the lyrics were set up with no spaces and no breaks between songs. This way of organizing the songs is confusing and is not easy to follow along with. I would not suggest that a “stream of consciousness” type of lyrics should be used again. Because it is not my favorite style of music to begin with and on top of that it is very hard to follow along with.
I do not agree with Mr. Hughes’ idea that to be a good song it has to have good lyrics. Mr. Hughes says that to like the song you have to know the lyrics. I don’t agree. There are usually about four lines of music, the vocals, which Mr. Hughes only pays attention to, the drums, the bass, and the guitar. According to Mr. Hughes the good songs have vocals, but what about a song that is all instrumental? My. Dad loves classical music, but according to my. Hughes he can’t like this because he hasn't learned all the words. The only problem with this is there are no words. In some songs I choose to learn the guitar lines instead of learning the lyrics. This just proves to Mr. Hughes that the lyrics aren’t the most important thing. Although the lyrics are poetry and are a good start to focus on for our poetry unit, they are what make the song a great song.
As far as the album went it seamed to be pretty much about the average man. It was hard to follow along and the lyrics don't quite make sense. So I did not enjoy the album and I did not feel as though it was a great assignment.
12/12/07
12/2/07
Dead Poets Society
Dead Poets Society is a film which explores the effects of poetry on well off youth. In giving it a rating from 1 to 10 I would have to break that task into two separate categories. The film as an entertainment device, so its plot, use of lighting and staging, and the film as a whole. And How well the film introduces the topic of poetry as a study unit in class. On the first topic I would give this film an 8. This is because if had an interesting plot with twists and turns with all its intricacies, and the film has a good director with actors who play a convincing role. On the second topic I would have to rate the film on I would give it a 3. I did not believe that I understand how to analyze poetry or even have a better grasp on the topic after seeing this film. I would suggest to show this film to future AP classes not to introduce the topic but to spend a few days relaxing from the hard work.
11/26/07
poem
After Apple Picking
by Robert Frost
My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass
I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
And held against the world of hoary grass.
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take.
Magnified apples appear and disappear,
Stem end and blossom end,
And every fleck of russet showing clear.
My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.
And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
The rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap
As of no worth.
One can see what will trouble
This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
Were he not gone,
The woodchuck could say whether it's like his
Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
Or just some human sleep.
by Robert Frost
My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass
I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
And held against the world of hoary grass.
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take.
Magnified apples appear and disappear,
Stem end and blossom end,
And every fleck of russet showing clear.
My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.
And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
The rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap
As of no worth.
One can see what will trouble
This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
Were he not gone,
The woodchuck could say whether it's like his
Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
Or just some human sleep.
#9
Question 1 poetry
Two poems presented were A Barred Owl by Richard Wilbur and The History Teacher by Billy Collins. Both of these poems have many similarities and differences. Most notably of these are they both explore the children mind, but in doing this one makes excuses while the other explains why this happens.
Both of the poems are from an adult’s point of view analyzing the child mind and how if a child is told fake reasoning for adult situations then there is no harm in that. For example when Wilbur writes “we tell the wakened child that all she heard was an odd question from a forest bird” (lines 3 and 4) he is saying that if excuses are made for any argument in the family to the child then it is alright and no one can complain. When Collins writes “[the teacher told the students that] the soldiers in the Boer War told long rambling stories designed to make the enemy nod off” (lines 20 to 21) he is saying that if a child cant grasp the concept of something it as alright to tell the child false information just so the child doesn’t have to think too hard. Both of these authors are saying it is alright to lie to children about facts of life because they wouldn’t understand anyway.
Some differences explored in both of these poems are the exact reasoning behind why one should lie to a child. Wilbur writes that one should lie to a child because it alleviates fear. If a child was told the truth about its parents fights the child would live in fear about another fight and would sit awake at night listening to those words. Collins writes that if one lies to a child it should be done to explain items that would not make sense to their weak minds. A teacher can make light of the situations adults face such as atomic bombs and wars so therefore the child would be better prepared to face the facts when they are actually placed in front of them.
Both of these poems posses one more difference not explained earlier, their use of literary devices. Richard Wilbur uses an animal namely an owl to cause an excuse for adult fights. He also uses extensive imagery as in “Of an Owl’s voice into her darkened room” (line 2). Billy Collins does not use many literary devices instead he makes light of the situations seen in history.
Both of these poems use lying to a child as a basis for their work. Although the exact reasoning behind each of these is different in the poems. As one last point to enhance the message of the poems literary devices are used.
Two poems presented were A Barred Owl by Richard Wilbur and The History Teacher by Billy Collins. Both of these poems have many similarities and differences. Most notably of these are they both explore the children mind, but in doing this one makes excuses while the other explains why this happens.
Both of the poems are from an adult’s point of view analyzing the child mind and how if a child is told fake reasoning for adult situations then there is no harm in that. For example when Wilbur writes “we tell the wakened child that all she heard was an odd question from a forest bird” (lines 3 and 4) he is saying that if excuses are made for any argument in the family to the child then it is alright and no one can complain. When Collins writes “[the teacher told the students that] the soldiers in the Boer War told long rambling stories designed to make the enemy nod off” (lines 20 to 21) he is saying that if a child cant grasp the concept of something it as alright to tell the child false information just so the child doesn’t have to think too hard. Both of these authors are saying it is alright to lie to children about facts of life because they wouldn’t understand anyway.
Some differences explored in both of these poems are the exact reasoning behind why one should lie to a child. Wilbur writes that one should lie to a child because it alleviates fear. If a child was told the truth about its parents fights the child would live in fear about another fight and would sit awake at night listening to those words. Collins writes that if one lies to a child it should be done to explain items that would not make sense to their weak minds. A teacher can make light of the situations adults face such as atomic bombs and wars so therefore the child would be better prepared to face the facts when they are actually placed in front of them.
Both of these poems posses one more difference not explained earlier, their use of literary devices. Richard Wilbur uses an animal namely an owl to cause an excuse for adult fights. He also uses extensive imagery as in “Of an Owl’s voice into her darkened room” (line 2). Billy Collins does not use many literary devices instead he makes light of the situations seen in history.
Both of these poems use lying to a child as a basis for their work. Although the exact reasoning behind each of these is different in the poems. As one last point to enhance the message of the poems literary devices are used.
11/15/07
Metamorphosis Essay #2
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is an allegory which depicts symbols of isolation and conformity. In the novel Gregor Samsa is turned into a bug and locked in his room where he fasts. This set of symbols contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
The bug that Samsa turns into plays the biggest role. Samsa is turned into a bug with weak little legs, no hands and a body that damages easily, but heals quickly. Gregor is refused from society and not even his family can bare to look at him. This image of a bug is in relation to non-conformity. Gregor can no longer fit into society and is pushed away for this. This shows that in real life it’s a conform or die situation and that’s exactly what happens to Gregor.
The second theme that The Metamorphosis explores is isolation. Upon being discovered Gregor’s family locks him inside his room. This Confinement inside his room is a symbol for isolation of the non-conformist in our modern world. This means that because Gregor didn’t fit up to standards set by his family, or any visitors, he could not be communicated with or even seen by many.
During Gregor’s confinement in his little room he refuses mostly all food that is put in front of him. After some time Gregor completely turns down all food and because of this he dies. The refusal of food is another symbol for non-conformity. To survive everything has to eat, Samsa learned that he did not like to eat, because of this and other physical characteristics Gregor didn’t fit in. It was this fasting that eventually led to his death.
The symbol of the bug and the fasting relate to standing out in a conformist society. The symbol of the room stands for isolation. Together these symbols explain that in our society the one who stands out will be pushed away and hopefully die to lift the burden of hiding the outsider.
The bug that Samsa turns into plays the biggest role. Samsa is turned into a bug with weak little legs, no hands and a body that damages easily, but heals quickly. Gregor is refused from society and not even his family can bare to look at him. This image of a bug is in relation to non-conformity. Gregor can no longer fit into society and is pushed away for this. This shows that in real life it’s a conform or die situation and that’s exactly what happens to Gregor.
The second theme that The Metamorphosis explores is isolation. Upon being discovered Gregor’s family locks him inside his room. This Confinement inside his room is a symbol for isolation of the non-conformist in our modern world. This means that because Gregor didn’t fit up to standards set by his family, or any visitors, he could not be communicated with or even seen by many.
During Gregor’s confinement in his little room he refuses mostly all food that is put in front of him. After some time Gregor completely turns down all food and because of this he dies. The refusal of food is another symbol for non-conformity. To survive everything has to eat, Samsa learned that he did not like to eat, because of this and other physical characteristics Gregor didn’t fit in. It was this fasting that eventually led to his death.
The symbol of the bug and the fasting relate to standing out in a conformist society. The symbol of the room stands for isolation. Together these symbols explain that in our society the one who stands out will be pushed away and hopefully die to lift the burden of hiding the outsider.
11/8/07
Metamorphosis #1
The movie Kafka by Steven Soderbergh identifies how the main character, Kafka, is struggling between two opposing ideas. In the movie, Kafka has been asked to join a secret group set to bring down the happenings inside the nearby castle by planting a bomb. He has two choices. First of all he can decide to go with it and join the revolutionaries fight, or he can choose to ignore it and try to blend in with normal society as well as he can. It’s these two opposing influences that Kafka is forced to make a decision about.
Kafka is pulled into the anti-castle world when his best friend Eduard is murdered. As a result of this a secretary at his job, who is in on the whole thing, approaches him to get him to join her group. Kafka is intrigued and wants to meet the gang, but he is not sure if he wants to go all in.
Once Kafka realizes that the group he has been inducted into wants him to go inside the castle and plant a bomb he pulls away as much as he can. It is this pulling away that may have saved his life. The rest of the group is murdered but because Kafka wasn’t there he gets away to eventually fight the fight against the castle and accomplish the goals of the group he once tried to get away from.
Kafka is torn between two sides of a conflict and he is not sure which way to go, at first he is drawn in but realizes the goals and pulls himself back. After some time Kafka realizes that if he wants to continue to live he must join the group in full force and help them out with their biggest achievement. That is killing the enemy before they kill you.
Kafka is pulled into the anti-castle world when his best friend Eduard is murdered. As a result of this a secretary at his job, who is in on the whole thing, approaches him to get him to join her group. Kafka is intrigued and wants to meet the gang, but he is not sure if he wants to go all in.
Once Kafka realizes that the group he has been inducted into wants him to go inside the castle and plant a bomb he pulls away as much as he can. It is this pulling away that may have saved his life. The rest of the group is murdered but because Kafka wasn’t there he gets away to eventually fight the fight against the castle and accomplish the goals of the group he once tried to get away from.
Kafka is torn between two sides of a conflict and he is not sure which way to go, at first he is drawn in but realizes the goals and pulls himself back. After some time Kafka realizes that if he wants to continue to live he must join the group in full force and help them out with their biggest achievement. That is killing the enemy before they kill you.
11/7/07
The Hunger Artist
All the preparation for this day had finally come. The hunger artist could finally perform his art. The day he claimed into his cage he made a promise to the cheering crowd not to come out for any reason, not even food, for another forty days, and the door was locked tight. Many people came to see the spectacle and that’s the way the artist liked it. Some of the onlookers didn’t believe his true fasting abilities and sat for hours hatching for the slightest scrap of food to be devoured by the thin man. Other true believers stood and watched with their full bellies and happy jobs. But the hunger artist with nowhere else to go stayed where he was.
This frail man who practiced his art any time he could, loved his job. The amazed children who came and felt his bony arms, the crowd of the cheer and his self-denial, and the actual act of not eating pleased him.
After the forty days he was led out of his cage and shown to the cheering crowd how small his body had become. The crowd cheered as always, and after some time the artist was shown to some food where the entire crowd toasted to his self-denial.
Several years of this wore down and the old man. He now wanted to not eat for longer, and he was tired of only going forty days. So he left the act and joined a circus. Here he was left to his own devices. There was no acting frail and he was allowed to fast as much as he wanted. With no limits he was forced to continue fasting, with this continued fasting the viewers got tired of his antics. The hunger artist was left in a cage in a small passageway to the animals and was just another obstacle in everyone’s way. It was a consensus with everyone that it would be better if he just left.
With no other choices as he was now an old man and enjoyed fasting so much he had no other choice but to stay. After the circus lost count of how many days he had been at his job so did the artist. He began to not even enjoy the few onlookers who had the time to glance at the body in a cage on the way to the animals. One day the nuisance died and it was a turning point for the cage. It could finally have an occupant who was interesting and drew a crowd of cheering onlookers, one thing the hunger artist once was able to do but had lost in his final performance in which he died doing what he once loved to do.
The cage was filled with a leopard, which was lively and jumped at the passing crowds and was especially great at feeding times when it would rip into its food and devour it. Once the circus got rid of the burden known as the hunger artist it could now thrive in everything it did.
1. Why did the hunger artist undergo his transformation?
2. Is the hunger artist a symbol for today’s society?
3. Why would the hunger artist starve himself to death just because he didn’t like to eat?
4. How would the artist survive for forty days without any food?Was the artist really that old when he died?
This frail man who practiced his art any time he could, loved his job. The amazed children who came and felt his bony arms, the crowd of the cheer and his self-denial, and the actual act of not eating pleased him.
After the forty days he was led out of his cage and shown to the cheering crowd how small his body had become. The crowd cheered as always, and after some time the artist was shown to some food where the entire crowd toasted to his self-denial.
Several years of this wore down and the old man. He now wanted to not eat for longer, and he was tired of only going forty days. So he left the act and joined a circus. Here he was left to his own devices. There was no acting frail and he was allowed to fast as much as he wanted. With no limits he was forced to continue fasting, with this continued fasting the viewers got tired of his antics. The hunger artist was left in a cage in a small passageway to the animals and was just another obstacle in everyone’s way. It was a consensus with everyone that it would be better if he just left.
With no other choices as he was now an old man and enjoyed fasting so much he had no other choice but to stay. After the circus lost count of how many days he had been at his job so did the artist. He began to not even enjoy the few onlookers who had the time to glance at the body in a cage on the way to the animals. One day the nuisance died and it was a turning point for the cage. It could finally have an occupant who was interesting and drew a crowd of cheering onlookers, one thing the hunger artist once was able to do but had lost in his final performance in which he died doing what he once loved to do.
The cage was filled with a leopard, which was lively and jumped at the passing crowds and was especially great at feeding times when it would rip into its food and devour it. Once the circus got rid of the burden known as the hunger artist it could now thrive in everything it did.
1. Why did the hunger artist undergo his transformation?
2. Is the hunger artist a symbol for today’s society?
3. Why would the hunger artist starve himself to death just because he didn’t like to eat?
4. How would the artist survive for forty days without any food?Was the artist really that old when he died?
10/23/07
Why The Future Doesn't Need Us
In Why The Future Doesn't Need Us by Bill Joy the thesis is that if humans become too reliant on robots we will let them control out lives and our survival will actually depend on these intelligent machines. To avoid becoming obsolete humans need to not increase our reliance on machines to do our jobs. If we let them do everything for us out mere existence will depend on them doing our jobs. With robots doing our jobs who needs humans and there will be the elite few who tell the robots what needs to be done, everybody else will be eliminated. Institutions are contributing to this "inevitability" by playing the machines game. They let their jobs be taken by machines, the exact opposite of what needs to be done to continue our lives as we now know them.
Huxley would agree with Joy's article. This is because Huxley's fears that too many technological advances and the oversimplification of human existence creates a dystopian society, just like Joy. Joy's argument has a strong basis. It seams plausible but some of the greater details he goes into are just his speculation and fears playing their way into his article. Joy's literary devices he uses are Rhetoric language and extensive imagery, he depicts the picture exactly in your head and therefore helps to push his ideas to greater understanding. This article connects to BNW by Joy's depiction of a dystopian society with great technological advances and an oversimplification of the human life.
Huxley would agree with Joy's article. This is because Huxley's fears that too many technological advances and the oversimplification of human existence creates a dystopian society, just like Joy. Joy's argument has a strong basis. It seams plausible but some of the greater details he goes into are just his speculation and fears playing their way into his article. Joy's literary devices he uses are Rhetoric language and extensive imagery, he depicts the picture exactly in your head and therefore helps to push his ideas to greater understanding. This article connects to BNW by Joy's depiction of a dystopian society with great technological advances and an oversimplification of the human life.
10/16/07
Harrison Bergeron
Vonnegut is satirizing current societies intellegence and memory tendencies.The story is being told from the point of view from hazel bergeron. If Vonnegut had told the story from the 1st person it would not of had the nat caring or not paying attention unintellegence that it contains.This Quote exemplifies cuttent society with its technology is no less advanced than the advanced future technology.
10/7/07
The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas is not so much a story but a description of a town. Omelas is a beautiful town with citizens and nice buildings. There is a horse race to begin summer. There is a child locked in a dirty room who only gets a little food every day and is never talked to, the child has to just sit in its own feces and pick its nose all day. For some reason this is why everyone in the town is doing so well and if the child is let out then nobody in the town would be happy anymore.
This story is about one bad thing in the town that makes the rest of the town happy. In 1984 the societies bad thing that makes everybody happy in Winston’s eyes is Big Brother. This is the only connection to 1984 I can make because The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas made no sense to me.
This description of a town uses imagery to demonstrate the happiness of everyone and the pain of the child.
5 Questions-
1. What was the meaning of the piece?
2. How did the child’s pain help the town?
3. What’s the point in including the horse race?
4. Is the child’s pain a symbol for something else?
5. What’s up with the ones who walked away from Omelas?
This story is about one bad thing in the town that makes the rest of the town happy. In 1984 the societies bad thing that makes everybody happy in Winston’s eyes is Big Brother. This is the only connection to 1984 I can make because The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas made no sense to me.
This description of a town uses imagery to demonstrate the happiness of everyone and the pain of the child.
5 Questions-
1. What was the meaning of the piece?
2. How did the child’s pain help the town?
3. What’s the point in including the horse race?
4. Is the child’s pain a symbol for something else?
5. What’s up with the ones who walked away from Omelas?
10/1/07
Asimov Reading Response
Robot Dreams by Isaac Asimov is a short story in which a robot named Elvex has dreams of ruling over other robots and he is a real man. In the end he is punished for free thinking by the destroying of his positronic brain. Similar to this in 1984 Winston Smith is a member of a conformist party. He thinks for himself in the longing for something better, as in the downfall of the party. Once the party figures this out he is brought in for questioning and torture. Throughout this his entire way of thinking is changed and he believes in the ways of the party. In both of these pieces of literature a minority of the working class have thoughts of overpowering the higher power and become themselves the higher power. Despite the main ideas of the two pieces in Robot Dreams Elvex dreams of himself taking on the strong human characteristics of knowledge and power, and most importantly the human form, while the beings he rules take all the weak characteristics such as the physical weakness of human and the form of a robot. In1984 Winston just wants to overthrow the current party in power but not necessarily become what they once were.
I believe that if George Orwell and Isaac Asimov were to meet they would agree on the main ideas of what they are trying to say but not on the details as their books take different paths into the future, such as Asimov's Robots and Orwell's Big Brother. I believe this because of how their stories differ and are similar.
I believe that if George Orwell and Isaac Asimov were to meet they would agree on the main ideas of what they are trying to say but not on the details as their books take different paths into the future, such as Asimov's Robots and Orwell's Big Brother. I believe this because of how their stories differ and are similar.
9/30/07
Goals
Top 3 colleges-
U of M Ann Arbor
U of M Dearborn
Michigan State
GPA Goal-
3.8
Goal for A.P. exam-
4
Person helping with essays-
Nobody yet
U of M Ann Arbor
U of M Dearborn
Michigan State
GPA Goal-
3.8
Goal for A.P. exam-
4
Person helping with essays-
Nobody yet
9/24/07
Post 1
-Watts' thesis is religion is not the commonly thought idea that is spread throughout our society
-Watts' view of religion is the same as his thesis; religion is taught today through churches as specific people and events, but it is much more abstract than that.
-the problem with conquering nature as viewed by watts is that we should not fight nature, we should learn how to interact with it and use it to its full potential while not causing harm. In Watts' words “We are forever “conquering” nature, space, mountains, deserts, bacteria, and insects instead of learning to cooperate with them in a harmonious order,” (pg.8, 3)
-The definition of a new “experience” in this sense is not a physical object to try to understand, but a new way to look at things or a new point of view.
-Watts sees myths as a way to put huge concepts into perspective and to shrink them into something the mind can grasp. “to most children, and many adults, the myth is at once intelligible, simple, and fascinating. By contrast, so many other mythical explanations of the world are crude, tortuous, and unintelligible.” (pg. 15, 4)
-to find ones true identity watts believes that one has to look inside themselves from a different point of view
- this reading challenges the reader to think in a different view, which is challenged of winston in 1984
-Watts' view of religion is the same as his thesis; religion is taught today through churches as specific people and events, but it is much more abstract than that.
-the problem with conquering nature as viewed by watts is that we should not fight nature, we should learn how to interact with it and use it to its full potential while not causing harm. In Watts' words “We are forever “conquering” nature, space, mountains, deserts, bacteria, and insects instead of learning to cooperate with them in a harmonious order,” (pg.8, 3)
-The definition of a new “experience” in this sense is not a physical object to try to understand, but a new way to look at things or a new point of view.
-Watts sees myths as a way to put huge concepts into perspective and to shrink them into something the mind can grasp. “to most children, and many adults, the myth is at once intelligible, simple, and fascinating. By contrast, so many other mythical explanations of the world are crude, tortuous, and unintelligible.” (pg. 15, 4)
-to find ones true identity watts believes that one has to look inside themselves from a different point of view
- this reading challenges the reader to think in a different view, which is challenged of winston in 1984
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)