5 Points for Victor!

After reading Victor's essay, I wanted to sit down and cry. Five points for Victor! The terminology used was very advanced and is the kind of vocabulary that should be used in an AP course. I fail to use such words that enhance my vocabulary, but I will try in my future papers to use bigger words and to sound more intelligent. I also liked his use of symbolism. I felt that he adapted it well to the books and explained them thoroughly. He made clear connections and did not use fluff to fill up the essay. He also completed the quota on quotes :P Overall, I thought it was a very good essay.

Pre-Hamlet

In the introduction we were asked to watch, Kenneth Branagh tells of his love for the story Hamlet written by William Shakespeare. He tells that since he was young, he had a deep love for stories full of drama and especially written by Shakespeare. I find Shakespeare hard to read at times. I read "Romeo and Juliet" in my freshman year back at my old high school in Florida. I loved the play and understood it quite easily. In addition to reading it, we also saw the movie in class and had each small part explained to us. Then we were tested on it which I wasn't so fond of.Last year, we read "Macbeth." This piece of literature was very difficult for me to read and understand. Only after watching the film, and after multiple classes discussing the play, did I come to an understanding of the play.

"Hamlet" is known to be a very long play, and I, personally, am not very good with literature. I also know that it is difficult and confusing because my older sister studied it last year, and I remember watching her night after night studying. My father, who is a genius when it comes to history and literature, can tell us any story "in a nutshell," which helps incredibly when you are trying to find the main idea of the story, or in this case play. With reading "Hamlet" I hope that we watch a film. But I hope we watch it without interruptions, because otherwise it is very confusing and difficult to understand. I also hope that we have many discussions in class so that in case if while reading i did not understand, maybe someone else did and they can explain it to me.

In regards to performing the play, I am not sure whether we are going to be performing the whole play or if we will split the book into parts like we did with "Macbeth" and then each perform our small scenes. Being an experienced dancer, i know that we will need much rehearsal time, and in order to act your part well, you will need a good understanding of the whole plot, characters, and background. Overall, I am excited to begin this piece and to perform it with my classmates.

Different Opinions

After reading this excerpt, I realized that some people had a completely different view about the book than I did. At first I too dreaded having to read a book during my vacation and have to write a summary on my own so that I would remember what I read when school began. The beginning I found boring, which didn't help the fact that I didn't want to read the book in the first place. And I have a small confession to make... after reading the first five pages, I skipped the rest of the first chapter and continued on chapter two.

At this point, the book started to interest me. I love stories that include drama, love, and suspense. I, personally, am like a little girl who loves to hear about grand parties, romance, and happily ever afters. The Great Gatsby began to depict these things and I began to read further and further into the book. On the other hand, Sonya Chung thought that the book was boring and caused her to "fall asleep" while reading it. I felt this way about the previous novel I read, The Road. Some people appreciate the difficulties of life and enjoy reading about the hardships of others, but I like to hear about fairytales.

I loved reading The Great Gatsby, and I think we should read more books like that one. Sonya Chung had a different view point which I respect but do not agree with. I know many people who had the same opinions as Sonya and I also know people who prefer fairytales to depression stories, but to each his own.

We Need Better Books

So I finished the book. I did not like it one bit. The beginning was so confusing I had to talk to other people so that they could explain to me what was going on. I made my mother read it so that she could explain everything i did not understand. (My mother is a genius at everything, especially literature.)

The fact that the father died at the end was terrible! I loved the father! He was all that the little boy had! He taught the boy everything he knew and protected and provided for him throughout the entire journey. Everything he went through for that boy and for himself just came to an end within 30 seconds. I personally thought that this book was depressing and not a good read for teeanagers who are stressing about grades, college, and just life in general.

I think for our next read we should read something with love, romance, comedy, fairies, unicorns, and etc. I liked The Canterbury Tales for that reason. Something with a nice ending in which I can go to sleep and not worry about having nightmares related to it.

Memories

Almost done with the novel, I began thinking about the next blog I had to write to please dear Mr. Tangen. The idea of having to write again and have him check scared me so I began. For this blog I did not have an idea of what to write. I was not inspired at the time I wrote it so I started looking at other people's blogs and then I took many ideas and formed it into one. B y looking at one of my classmates blogs, I saw how memories were used and I agreed and thought it was the closest idea to what I had while I was reading The Road.

In the novel, the father had lived a normal life for most of his lifetime. He had a mother, a father and a normal home. It was only until after he had gotten married and had the little boy that things started to change. People began to die off and suffer tremendously from the changes, but there was nothing anyone could do about it. (The book does not specify what exactly happened that wiped out all of the people, but we can infer that there was much suffering and change occurring.) The mother shot herself because she could not handle or adapt to the harsh changes occurring in the environment. The father on the other hand, took the boy as his life and guarded him as so.

Later in the book, the father makes references to his past life and memories in subtle ways.

seeing places and having flashbacks of how they used to be and the effects those places had on the father as a person was one of the hardest things he had to cope with. When he gives his son a coke, which he found in an abandoned vending machine, he thinks that "this is what I had in my time, but you will probably never have ever again and you will never fully appreciate it the way I do." When they went to places of the father's past, he thought, "you will never know this place to be what it was, but it kills me to see it so barren and deserted."

The father's past allows him to continue and be successful in his future. He knows about things that the little boy will never know about. He has experienced things and the company of other people, which have gone and will never return. He has lived a life that no one can ever match up with.

Life on The Road is Tough.

As I continued reading through the novel, I saw how hard living your life on the road would be. I relate it to camping. I think living on a road such as the one in the novel would be the same as a camping trip with just one other person. There are no other people there to bother you about anything. Life like that would be difficult. You start off with a surplus of food, but you do not know how much you need to save daily so that it reaches the end of the time period in which you will be nomadic.

Food would not be the only stress. You would also have to worry about safety. In the novel, the little boy and his father sleep in deserted places where they think no one will find them. When camping, you must pick a location in which you also know you will not be robbed by humans and by the more common criminals, raccoons and other animals. You would need a way to protect yourself from anything that comes your way.

Aside from these two factors, like in the novel, you must always worry about the other people whom you are with. The father in the book spends many sleepless nights watching for animals and other people who might come around and try to harm them. He many times gave his food to the child so that he could have more. You have to always be sure that the people who are accompanying you are ok.

The book stresses the love the father had for his son. In this time where they had nothing and no one else but each other, they took care of each other and kept each other company. Again I realize that this book is nothing like the poem I mentioned in the previous blog.

Always Judge A Book By its Cover!

When I got the book, The Road, I did not even want to open the book. I thought the novel would have some relation to the poem I read and had to recite in midde school called "The Road Not Taken", by Robert Frost. The cover seemed sad and colorless. To be honest, it reminded me of an old person's book, that would most likely have a huge life lesson that they could relate to,or something like that. Because in the assignment I had to read the book, I got over my laziness and began.

The beginning of the book was very confusing for me. I could not understand why everything seemed to be so empty. The author, Cormac McCarthy, describes everything as gloomy, dark, full of ashes, and lifeless; although, he does not mention why everything appears to be this way. My guesses are wars, a huge fire that wiped out the area they are in, or possibly, but with much doubt, the end of the world. Whatever really happened got exterminated all the people in the world, or most of the people, but then possessed the rest of the people still living in the world. After reading the first few pages of the book, I realized the novel had absolutely nothing to do with the poem by Frost.

McCarthy also mentioned that the two main people in the book were a little boy and his father. Where was the boy's mother? Why was she gone? Was this all of what was left of the human race after whatever happened? I continued to read and the book explained about the shooting scene and why the mother had suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth. personally, I could never make a decision like that. I naturally am a very maternal person. I take care of all of my things, I am always watching over my little sister, and I am a neat freak when it comes to my personal belongings. These are all characteristics of being a mother. I have a farm in La Calera, in which my family owns many animals. We have sheep, cows, geese, turkeys, chickens, horses and rabbits. Of these many animals, I personally own one of the bunnies and one of the horses, but I do not pay to feed them, or keep them in a sheltered home (that is what my father does.) With my animals, I always make sure they have enough food for the time I am gone, I make sure that their homes are sturdy and good enough for them to live comfortably. I also do not let them get into situations where they could easily get in danger's way. If a nuclear bomb went down or something, I could never shoot any of my animals, or shoot myself... 1) because I would be too scared to actually shoot myself, and 2) because I would always want to know that my babies are safe and ok.

In conclusion, I saw that my gut feeling was right. The cover of the book told me as a reader that the book would be weird and hard to understand. there would be many hidden meanings that only people who are prepared to teach the book would know of and understand.

Interview: Life on The Road

For how long have you been on this journey?

Did you have any companions with you?

I have been on this road for a long time.

I don't recall if I was born before,

but if not, then I was born on the road.

I can only remember my father.

He was always on the journey with me.

my mommy died when I was very young,

so I do not remember her at all.

Was the journey fun, hard, or horrific?

what did you miss the most while you traveled?

The journey was difficult to handle,

but there were also parts that I enjoyed.

As a child I enjoyed playing outside.

I loved going on adventures all day.

I also liked spending time with my dad.

The hard parts were the cold nights and scarce food.

While traveling I missed the thought of home.

I wish I would have had some company.

Was there anything that frightened you guys?

Being small, I was ignorant,

but now i'm aware of my surroundings.

My only worries were to eat and sleep.

My dad spent many night pacing around,

and always thought of continuing south.

I thought we were playing a long, hard game;

but we were actually running south.

Is there anything else you want to add?

Who else can i talk to about my trip,

if my father was the only one there.

Birds of Death

In Edgar Allen Poe's, "The Raven," he talks about the pain that comes after losing someone you love; in his case, Lenore. "Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December; And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow. From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore— For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-Nameless here for evermore." (lines 7-12) He begins by describing the solitude felt when a person has left you. Then he tells of the great pain that takes over your body. You find a million things to do to take your mind off of the tragedy, but nothing seems to be enough, or nothing seems to distract you enough so that you may be happy.

I cannot relate to the loss of a family member, but i can relate to the loss of my dog. I remember that the pain was devastating. The whole family cried and mourned for her, because she was a very important family member to us. Loneliness was felt all over the house at all times, especially when we got home from school. There was no tail wagging excitement to greet us after a long day at school. We did many things so not to be locked up in the house where her presence was the strongest, but nothing seemed to be enough.

Later in the poem, Poe brings in the symbolism of the raven. A raven is a very old literary symbol for death or darkness. When Poe depicts the raven to be on his chamber door, he means that there has recently been a death in that place. The raven seems to be mocking him in his mourning. He seems to be looking searching for another prey, which he can feed off of his or her misery. The raven says "nevermore" as if to be speaking about Lenore's return. Is this true? Could it be Poe going mad? This is a normal symptom for people who have suffered such grand tragedies. The pain they undergo is too much for them to bear; therefore, their minds play tricks on them.

Greed: The Source of All Sin

In the "Pardoner's Tale," the pardoner, begins by asking the host to provide him with food and drink before he begins his tale. Once full, he begins his introduction by talking about himself. Because of the food and wine, he began to tell about himself, and he probably told more then he would have wanted to had he been sober. He tells the people of his occupation and reveals his falsity and tricks, which he uses on the people of his hometown.

"By this gaude have I wonne, yeer by yeer,

An hundred mark sith I was pardoner.

I stonde lyk a clerk in my pulped...

And whan the lewed peple is doun yset

I preche so as ye han herd bifoore

And telle an hundred false japes moore." (lines 389-394 Canterbury Tales) This is how he makes a living and lives such a comfortable life. Before the pilgrims could show their outrage from such hypocrisy, the pardoner continues with his tale.

He starts by talking about sins. He categorizes and talks about the sins and which he believes are the worst, the most common, and the ones that have been made up by other people. He emphasizes greed as being the source of all evil. He tells the pilgrims that greed is the cause of most sins and is the sin with the worst consequences.

After he preached about greed and all of the other sins, he continued with his story. Because of his relation to alcohol, he begins his story with three rich men who sit and drink until the are drunk. While in this condition, they run into their servant who they see had been crying.

"Sire," quod this boy, "it nedeth never-a-deel;

It was me toold er ye cam heer two houres.

He was, pardee, an old felawe of youres,

And sodeynly he was yslayn to-nyght..

Ther cam a privee theef men clepeth Deeth,

That in this contree al the peple sleeth,

And with his spere he smoot his herte atwo,

And wente his wey withouten wordes mo.

He hath a thousand slayn this pestilence." (lines 670-679) With this, the servant left them.

The alcohol had impaired their judgement and had left them with crazy thoughts about the killing and the so called thief named "Death." The three brother set out to go and seek this thief, so that they could get revenge for the poor people back in the village. While on the road, the brother run into an old man. They ask him if he knew where we could find Death. He answered that it had been under the oak tree not too far from where they were standing. When the arrive at the tree, all they saw was eight bushels of gold coins gathered ontop of the roots. Was money the Death everyone had been referring too? Could this have another meaning? Had they simply not found Death yet?

The brothers knew that they could only carry the gold by night because otherwise they would be accused of being theives; therefore, they send the smallest of the brothers to the village to buy some bread and wine so they would not starve as they waited for night to come. While he was out, the two older brothers schemed to kill the younger brother when he arrived from the village. This would allow them to have more money which would soon become more land. Coincidentally, the younger brother was scheming the same plan but with a different process. He planned to poison the two older brothers and then take all of the money for himself.

Night came and the two older brothers killed the younger one before he could poison them, but in victory, the two brothers opened the poisoned wine bottles and drank the poisoned wine until they fell over dead. They had finally united with Death, but not in the way they had expected. Death had found a way to trick the boys and use their own greed against them until they killed each other on their own. The money was simply a symbol and example of greed. The brothers were the ones who finished the task, themselves.

Girl Power!

Since the beginning of time, men have been the ones in charge. In all occasions; such as, relationships, family, the workforce, and the government, women have always been second in command. For this reason the United States went through the Civil Right's Movement, in which women fought for their rights to be able to head certain working positions, to be able to apply and have the same privileges as men, and to be in charge of situations. This is what the "Wife's Tale" is mainly about.

In the tale, a handsome and proud knight rapes a young maiden. When the news gets to the king and queen, they feel that the action was absolutely unacceptable. The king, outraged, sentences the knight to be decapitated, but the queen finds it in her generous heart to challenge the knight in exchange for his survival. The king agrees to these terms and they give the knight one full year to answer a question about what is a woman's greatest desire and then they send him off. This is the first demonstration of the control women like but seldomly have.

The knight asks every woman he can find but they all respond differently. On his way back, towards the end of the year, he runs into a group of women in the woods. They all disappear except for one old woman. Desperate to find an answer, he tells the woman of what happened and that his life was at stake, then he asks the woman what a woman's greatest desire is. The woman said she knew the answer and that his life would be saved, but he had to pledge himself to her in return for the answer. This is the second demonstration of women in power. The woman used her knowledge to take advantage of the weak knight.

They rode to the castle and gave the queen the answer, which was: a woman's greatest desire is to be in control of her relationships and of her life as a whole. Like the old woman had promised, his life was saved. She then publicly asked him to marry her and after pleading with the woman to take all of his belongings instead, she refused and they were married. This is the third demonstration of women taking charge. The old woman was strong and did not let the knight's worldly possessions distract her from what she had wanted initially and what he had promised to her.

While married, the knight was noticeably miserable. The woman noticed this and asked him what was wrong. He told her the honest truth. He said that he felt ashamed to be married to such an old woman. Taking no offense, the woman gave him two choices. The first choice was for her to stay old but faithful and good to him, and the other choice was for the woman to be young and beautiful, yet she would be unfaithful to him. Not knowing what to do, the knight gave the old woman the choice to do what she felt was right. This is the fourth demonstration of women in power. The knight relied on the old woman's knowledge to make the decision which would affect the rest of his life. Because the knight gave the choice to the woman, she became young and beautiful and she remained faithful to him for the rest of their long and happy lives.

Women are very smart and capable of making great choices. Most times, they make better choices then males do. Yet because the choice is not given to them often, a woman's greatest desire is to have control and to make decisions for herself.

Old Beliefs or New Beliefs?

In the prologue of "The Wife of Bath," the wife questions her beliefs to those of others. The wife has been married to five different men, and it has been brought to her attention how this could be seen as a bad thing. She is now questioning whether this is wrong or okay.

In that time period, it is not sure what was accepted or not accepted when it came to marriages, for it does not say so in the book, but it does state "That sith that Crist ne wente never but onisTo wedding in the Cane of Galilee,That by the same ensample taughte he meThat I ne sholde wedded be but ones.Herke eek, lo! which a sharp word for the nonesBesyde a welle Iesus, God and man,

Spak in repreve of the Samaritan:“Thou hast y-had fyve housbondes,” quod he,“And thilke man, the which that hath now theeIs noght thyn housbond;” thus seyde he certeyn;" (lines 10-20 Canterbury Tales) In this part of the text, it is obvious that it was custom to marry more than once, but Jesus felt that it was inappropriate and that you could not have so many mates in one lifetime.

The wife tries to defend her past actions by telling the people that there is no place in the bible which states how many partners a person can have. She thinks that God put man and woman on the earth to procreate and multiply numerously; therefore, how can having many husbands, as she has had, be so wrong? She says, "Yet herde I never tellen in myn age Upon this nombre diffinicioun; Men may devyne and glosen up and doun. But wel I woot expres, with-oute lye," (lines 24-27 Canterbury Tales.) With this, she says that she has read and reread the bible, and she still has not found a place where the exact number is stated.

This prologue relates very well to many situations in our everyday life. We, as people, worry too much about what society thinks and accepts. We have the same problems as the wife does with changing customs. When our parents raised us, they taught us the ways in which they were taught. These teachings have been let go slightly and are not enforced as much as they used to be. This always leads to questions on what is acceptable now in society and what is not.

Black/ Dirty Hearts

Have you ever heard a story or situation between people which make you think "how in the world could they do that to each other? Well, I have. In most cases the man is the guilty figure. The story usually says that the man cheats on the girl or breaks her heart and she is devastated, but in some cases the scenario is switched around.

On the pilgrimage, they continue to tell tales of different varieties and from different people. "The Knight's Tale" was applauded by the pilgrims. They continued telling tales and drinking as the host asked a monk to proceed with another tale. The miller insisted on telling his own tale and next followed "The Miller's Tale." Because of the alcohol present, he uses very suggestive language to tell the tale. This tale questions the loyalty of a woman and the stealthiness of a man.

The tale begins with the background of two men. One man, Nicholas, studied astrology and love, while the other, John, is a rich carpenter who is overprotective of his beautiful wife named Alisuon. Alisoun has many admirers. One of these is Nicholas who manages to get her to sleep with him, and another is the church clerk, Absolon, who serenades her everynight with gifts and money in hope to win over her heart; nevertheless, Alisoun falls in love with Nicholas. She is scared that John will find out of her disloyalty, so Nicholas and her devise a plan in order to sleep together for one full night. They lie to him and make him believe that the gods are upset and will create another flood to destroy all living things. They all sleep on tubs on the roof. Alisoun and Nicholas wait until the carpenter is sound asleep, then they climb down and spend the night in the carpenters bed. How could a human find it in their heart to do this to another? Not only is Alisoun being extremely disloyal, but Nicholas is being deceitful and taking advantage of John's ignorance in order to seduce his wife.

In the last part of "The Miller's Tale," the clerk tries to kiss Alisoun but they play a practical joke on him. Later he returns and brands Nicholas in revenge for their joke. The clerk leaves here, but as if it were not enough to cheat on John, they make him look like a fool infront of the whole town when he explains why he has slept on the roof that night. How could they destroy a man so ruthlessly? How could Alisoun's conscience kick in and her not listen to it? I guess some people just have not been taught the same morals and values which they should have been taught.

All is Not as it Appears.

In sections three and four of "The Knight's Tale," mysterious things happen which only the gods can explain, but to the humans, they are just actions and things that were not what they appeared initially. The main question is what is not what it appears? In these sections, the competitions continue. Theseus, the great duke of Athens and Thebes, raises a grand stadium in tribute to the tournament which will take place in the near future. The tournament is between to men who in their past had been "sworn brothers," but now were in competition for the same maiden whom they did not even know but knew of her beauty.

As a symbol of tradition and respect, Theseus builds three temples to honor the three gods involved with this particular competition. He builds one for Venus the goddess of love, one for Mars the god of war, and one for Diana the goddess of chastity. Once completed, the three main people involved in the tournament go to each of the temples in order to ask for help and guidance. The first brother, Palamon, goes to Venus and implores her help to prove that love conquers all. She makes a sign which Palamon interprets as a positive sign, but is it as it appears? The second brother, Arcite, goes to Mars. He asks Mars to help him win the tournament by force and he too interprets what he seems to think is a positive sign from the statue. The last person, Emelye, goes to the temple of Diana. She prays to the goddess and asks her to keep her a virgin for eternity, but Diana comes to her and tells her that she must marry one of the two brothers. Emelye accepts this information and awaits for the tournament to determine her future. Will the tournament be that simple? Will there be a secret intervene from another god?

Soon after, the tournament begins. As in tradition, before the actual dueling begins, everyone feasts and drinks to their fill and the next day they proceed to the actual duel. The two armies confront each other on the field and begin to fight to their deaths. Meanwhile, the gods were intervening with the outcome of the battle. Venus and Mars were trying to help each of the brothers, while Saturn waited until the end before he intervened for himself. For the people the winning of Arcite seemed like a fairly won battle, little did they know that the god of war, Mars, made sure he did not lose. Soon after Arcite was named victorious, Saturn showed his great strength and created an earthquake which led to the fatal wounding of Arcite by his horse. Once it was announced that Arcite would die, Venus accepted victory over the battle and the gods stepped back from those particular lives. Arcite respects Palamon greatly and suggests his honor and loyalty to him. He tells Theseus that after his death, Emelye should be wedded to Palamon. This occurs in time and they both live a very long and happy life together by what they think is their own destiny, little did they know of the small interferences that occurred throughout their lives.

All is Fair in Love and War.

In Geoffrey Chauffer’s, Canterbury Tales, there are many themes and motives, which are the basis of each tale. Each tale entails a story of a life of a certain person or persons which they feel teaches a lesson. In the first two sections of “The Knight’s Tale,” I found that the two themes were love, as the main motive, and competition, as the second motive and product of love. if these are the two motives, then what could the lesson be for just in these first two sections?

The first section begins by describing a grand duke named Theseus, who governed over the city of Athens, in Ancient Greece. The character telling the tale, makes sure to take his or her time to elaborate on the greatness of this duke. He or she tells of the lands he has conquered and of the beautiful wife he married. The character also tells of his grand heart (theme of love begins) and of his great talent for battles (theme of competition).

“He was war, as he caste his eye aside, Where that ther kneled in the heighe weye A compaignye of ladyes, tweye and tweye, … But swich a cry and swich a wo they make … " who hath yow mysboden or offended? And telleth me if it may been amended,… I, wrecche, which that wepe and wayle thus, Was whilom wyf to kyng Cappaneus, That starf at Thebes -- cursed be that day! --… We losten alle oure housbondes at that toun,… He, for despit and for his tirannye, To do the dede bodyes vileynye… Hath alle the bodyes on an heep ydrawe,” (lines 897-944) These women demonstrate the great LOVE they had for their husbands; therefore, Theseus felt pity for them and rode off to Thebes to get revenge (COMPETITION). Thesues goes to Thebes, conquers the city, kills Creon (the king of Thebes), and finds two thebian soldiers fatally wounded. He heals them but sentences them to a lifetime in prison. it is here that they meet the beautiful Emelye. They see her in the garden and are enchanted by her beauty (LOVE). Because both of the brothers are enchanted, they then feel the need to have her. With just this much information on the first section, we can infer that the lesson being taught is the extent of courtly love and how loyalty can be lost even between sworn brothers. This leads to the second section.

In the second section, the gods come into the tale to take part in the battle for the fair Emelye. One of the “sworn” brothers escapes the imprisonment but is exiled. He continues to look for ways to go back to marry the beautiful maiden (LOVE). The winged-god, Mercury, goes to him in a dream and tells him to return to Athens. The second brother continues in prison but has the “honor” to see the beautiful lady daily as she pays tribute to May (LOVE). Before going to Athens, Arcite, the first brother, envies Palamon, the second brother because even though he is out of prison, he cannot see his beloved. He then makes a plan to return to Athens in disguise and to work for Emelye in order to get closer to her and to return her to his daily sight. Here he reunites with his “sworn” brother and they begin to argue and fight until, again, the duke Theaseus intervenes and suggests a duel in which the winner wins Emelye’s hand (COMPETITION AND LOVE). This section teaches the craftiness between brothers when it comes to love. With these motives and lessons it makes the title of this blog true… all is fair in love and war.

AP Literature first blog :) Migrations

The video, "Migrations," by Dorian Merina was very difficult for me to comprehend at first. I had to look at the summary below in order to really understand what the poem was expressing and describing. After having read the small caption below, I replayed the video so I could watch it with an idea of what I was watching.

In the beginning of the video, the speaker begins to describe the actual migration of people on boats. This could have a relation to Columbus, when he sailed to the americas in search of an eastern route to Asia, or it could relate to any move to another country by boat. The speaker describes different goods being taken to wherever the people are going to, such as: tapestries, silk of many colors, velvets, golds, different types of jewels, and other items they are taking with them to their new home. He uses much sight imagery to give the reader an image of what the ship/move looks like. He tells of home goods such as pots, pans, home decorations, bed ornaments and etc. they carry surpluses of these supplies which can be used to trade or simply so that they last an appropriate amount of time until the people can adjust to the findings of the new homeland.

Towards the middle of the video, he continues to describe the move, the ship, and the goods, but now he adds the variety of language. He begins to use spanish and other languages to name the same object. This shows the different places to which the people are migrating to. The differences in culture which they shall experience.

I, myself, have experienced this change in culture and migration. Last year I moved from my home of 15 years, Fort Lauderdale, to Bogota, Colombia. The change was great and hard to adjust to. I had the advantage that I spoke the language native to the country, but even with this help, it was not easy to switch from my native language of english to spanish all day long. Not only was the language hard to become accustomed to, but the culture itself was also difficult. Since I was young my parents brought me to Colombia to visit family, so I had an idea of how life was lived here but nothing could prepare me for the sudden change in environment.

Like in the video, we had to pack all of our belongings and a surplus of extra necessities which we did not know if we would find there or not. We also had to go through with the traveling. We went by plane as the people in the video went by boat. These were the relations I made to the video itself.