Sunday, January 30, 2011

Tennessee William's "The Glass Menagerie"


The Glass Menagerie is a complex work presented in a simple setting. I’ve studied this work before and consider it one of my favorites. Saying that, I still re-read the section assigned to find more complexity that I had not found previously. I think that I can relate to this work, and I feel like that is what makes me enjoy reading it over and over. Amanda reminds me of my own mother, although my own mother does not stress about me as much as Amanda does over Laura. Amanda obsessed over Laura’s well being, to a point that was unhealthy for both of them involved. My own mother worries about my well being, but luckily, does not hurt herself in doing so. The character of Amanda is very complex; she is also very dramatic in all that she does. When she finds out that Laura dropped out of the Business school, she becomes overly dramatic, as if the world was going to end. My own mother would probably react the same way, but I have invested a lot more in my education compared to Laura. A particular quote that reminded me of my mother was “Try and you will succeed” (page 31) because my mother always tells me this when I am questioning my abilities. Another quote I found interesting was “he had the Midas touch” (page 9) because this is a common expression today and I did not know it was common back then as well.
                One underlying aspect of this work that I always forget about when reflecting on this play is the character of the father, who never actually appears but is heavily referenced. I think it is beyond weird how obsessed the family is with a man that has left the family for greener pastures. Their father seemed like he was at one time a respectable man. At one part of the play Amanda tells Laura that “one thing your father always had plenty of was charm!” (page 18). Regardless, he left the family abruptly (or so it seems) and everyone will not forget him. His picture is still above the mantle and there are other constant reminders scattered about their apartment. Amanda even wears his robe, and it had been sixteen years since he left.
                Tom, the son of Amanda, reminded me of the narrator from Delmore Schwartz’s “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” because both characters have thoughts on the experience of seeing movies. The narrator in “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” describes going to a movie as forgetting oneself. Tom describes his desire to go to the movies often as a need to feel adventure that he does not feel in his typical life. I thought these two different uses of movies as an escape from reality to be an interesting change of pace. Personally, I do not feel as if I forget myself when I go to the movies, but I do find adventure in the tales that movies tell. In some ways, their views about movies were similar since both escaped reality, but the narrator did not feel the adventure that Tom did.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Delmore Schwartz "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities"


            I really enjoyed this short story. I felt like it was an odd perspective of writing; the narrator was dreaming of the beginning of his parent’s relationship. Often, the narrator interjected when he is coming out of his dream-like trance and actually interrupted the other people around him. He is clearly sitting in a movie theater and not paying attention to the actual movie. This is evident in the second paragraph when the narrator says “I have forgotten myself: it is always so when one goes to a move; it is, as they say, a drug.” I was oddly surprised to find out on the fourth page that the narrator who is the “I” in this piece is actually a man. This person was very emotional and I just associated the way he expressed feeling with a typical women. Saying that, I am not alluding to the fact that women are always more emotional; but I am a women and I know I am more emotional than most males I know.
            I really enjoyed this piece, as I typically like works that show the culture of the early 1900s. The Roaring 20s are my favorite time period, but I digress. Some parts where I thought this was evident were the parts where it was described what happens when the “father” first arrives at the “mother’s” house to pick her up for a date. Times have really changed and some of the mannerisms shown in this part are very old-fashioned.
            I thought it was interesting when the parents were on the merry-go-round, because it was stated earlier that the mother did not want to bother with the “riotous amusements” that were at Coney Island. It seemed like she was very into the ride because she wanted to acquire more rings and did not. I thought this showed the mother reaching a certain comfort level with the father, which is crucial in a relationship.
            I really felt like this short story relates to my life in a way. At one point in the story, the narrator leaves his dream and streams out in the movie theater “Don't do it! It’s not too late to change your minds, both of you. Nothing good will come of it, only remorse, hatred, scandal, and two children whose characters are monstrous.” I think this shows that the narrator’s parents’ marriage ultimately ends badly, which I have seen in my own life. My parents are still together, but many of my friends’ parent’s marriages have ended badly and in scandal. Of those friends, many often mention that they wish they could go back in time and tell their parents to break up before they got married at all.

Exultant: filled with or expressing great joy or triumph
“My father becomes exultant, lifted up by the waltz that is being played, and his own future begins to intoxicate him.”  page 477
Demurs: to make objection, esp. on the grounds of scruples; take exception
“My father suggests the best restaurant on the boardwalk and my mother demurs, according to her principles of economy and housewifeliness.”  page 476
Revery: the condition of being lost in though
“...scarcely as he though it would be, on his long walks over Brooklyn Bridge in the revery of a fine cigar…”  page 477

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Sylvia Plath's "Daddy"


In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” she starts off the poem in a slightly less ominous tone than she ends in. It took me roughly two or three times before I actually came to understand the undertones she created using large-scale metaphors such as Nazi Germany. I still do not know if I fully grasp the ideas she is trying to get across. I feel like she is speaking of how she constantly tried to live up to her father’s standards but finally after a long time, began to give up. At first, she uses less harsh terms to describe how she feels she needs to break free from the memory of her father, as it has had a huge effect on her life. This feeling of breaking from memory is evident in the line “Daddy, I have had to kill you.” In the fourth stanza, Plath begins to change the tone and starts describing her father in Nazi Germany terms. I may have interpreted this wrong, but I thought she was describing her father as one would describe a typical Aryan during World War II in the line “Every woman adores a Fascist, The boot in the face, the brute Brute heart of a brute like you.” The poem also dives deeper when Plath mildly describes an attempted suicide in the line “At twenty I tried to die And get back, back, back to you.” After she describes her attempted suicide, I believe she goes on describe how she married someone just like her father. She stated “And I said I do, I do” which is what led me to believe she is alluding to marriage. Also, when she talks about someone sucking her blood for seven years, I think she is referring to her husband. At the end, I feel as if Sylvia Plath tries to sum up all of her emotions before finally breaking free from all her pent up sadness and anger that she has for her father’s death. She probably built up all this anger and sadness because her father died at a time when she was still very young.

Vocabulary Words:
Luftwaffe- generic German term for air force—“ I have always been scared of you,
With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo.”

Taroc- card game consisting of Tarot cards—“ With my gipsy ancestress and my weird luck And my Taroc pack and my Taroc pack”

Chuffing- to produce noisy exhaust or exhalations—“ An engine, an engine Chuffing me off like a Jew.”

Monday, January 17, 2011

Letter of Introduction


I have limited experience when it comes to reading and writing. I never took an English class unless it was essential to my graduation from high school, and I have continued this trend throughout college. It is not that I do not enjoy English classes, because I do love reading and writing, I just never have the time to take any classes other than those required by my strict Biology major. I have read a number of great works such as To Kill a Mockinbird and Catcher In The Rye and I have written all sorts of pieces ranging from persuasive essays to short stories. I was fortunate to be a part of a school district in high school that taught me a lot about writing in general as well.
It is quite bizarre that I was asked to list off some of the particular books I have read and enjoyed, because I recently made a list of all the books I could think of reading in my life. I seldom read for fun, but I did read an immense collection throughout the past couple of years.  I always felt as if I was one of the very few people who enjoyed many of the works I read throughout high school but there were a few works that I did not like as well. Topping my list of my favorite books I have read is Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. This book was a captivating tale about the life of a fictional geisha and I enjoyed it because of the history it presented. I am a mild history buff, and found this story incredibly interesting. Another book I particularly enjoyed was 1984 by George Orwell. This book was an odd but interesting outlook on what the world could become, and I enjoyed reading about a world 100 times different from my own. One book that I can recall extremely loathing was Watership Down by Richard Adams. This book was supposed to be a political novel but used rabbits as the subjects. I can reason that I did not like this book because of the weird use of animals and also because I do not particularly like anything to do with politics.
My high school curriculum was also very big on Shakespeare. Luckily, I came to love most of his pieces that I read. I had one particular English teacher for my junior and senior years of high school and he was mildly obsessed with William Shakespeare, or so it seemed. He made learning Shakespeare easy by reading all the plays aloud during class and describing everything as we went along. He also focused on quotes, which really helped me learn how to depict what Shakespeare was trying to say in modern English.
I have discovered that over the years I have written many research papers on controversial parts of some of the books I have read. I have also written many book reviews, highlighting different aspects of works. I do not have much experience with creative writing, although I did write some poetry for high school English classes. I am usually very formal when writing emails and such, but I have contemplating blogging for an informal approach for quite some time. I am taking this English class, as it is a requirement for my Literature Humanities course. I was going to take an Italian class to fulfill this requirement but chose otherwise. My major is Biological Sciences with a minor in Psychology. I hope to attend Dental school after graduation from Clemson. I am also in my junior year and I am from New Jersey.

Short Poem:
Choosing to come to Clemson was a big decision,
Coming from so far away was hard to do,
Some of my classes could use some revision,
But I’ve learned a lot and made some friends who are new.

I’ve learned Anatomy, Chemistry and Biology galore,
And I’ve learned how fiery Tiger fans are on Saturday,
I have one and a half years to learn much more,
But I am waiting to graduate on that fine day in May!