TIMED WRITINGS

each of the timed writings assigned have been written out by hand, which i told you in class. If you need to see any of them I carry them with me in my notebook :)

Toni Morrison v.s The Bluest Eye

After having watched the interview, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to write about. This was mainly because most of the interview had nothing to do with the book, it only made reference to other books which Morrison has published. I still have no clue what to write about, but I guess I must write about something or receive a 1.

Within the interview, Morrison talked a lot about how at times there were white slaves along with African American slaves, and even though their social classes were equal, the white people still felt and acted superior to the African American slaves. This is only partially the white peoples fault; the African Americans could have done the same thing or at least could have stood up for themselves when this thought of inferiority was beginning. We see the same situation occurring in the book. Many of the African Americans undergo much unnecessary abuse and torture. It is understandable that at the time, white men felt superior; therefore, they did not treat the African Americans very nicely, but the amount of abuse could have been reduced by at least 40% had the African Americans stood up for themselves and for the few amount of rights which they had.

Toni Morrison gave me the impression that she doesn't feel pity for the African Americans, rather, she applauds those who made their lives by fighting for every right they had. In the interview, she also spoke about researching the era, which she was writing about. This allowed her to be sure of all the aspects which took place in those tough eras. I'm sure The Bluest Eye contains much historical fact even if the characters and plot are fiction.

White equals Beauty?

As I continued reading the rest of the novel, I noticed some things that were out of line or abnormal to what usual happens in literature and/or life. Each of Morrison's character's lives in The Bluest Eye, full of hardships which they must deal with in their own ways. The young black women were the ones who seemed to suffer the most at the time due to bad upbringing and/or abuse. Some aspects of the novel seemed odd and did not follow their usual symbolism.

The first was the color white. In the small amount of literature I have studied, white means clean, innocent, or pale/ lifeless (with a bad connotation.) The characters in the novel such as Geraldine make it seem as if colors of any type were bad. They made it seem as if it made one look unclean and unworthy of the privileges of the life of the "whitemen". The white women were subject to abuse, rape, and many other terrible things, but they didn't exactly help themselves either. The African American society could have revolted to the white people, but because it was drummed into them and they saw themselves as inferior, they did not have the spirit to fight and win a battle against the whites. Morrison then shows how the colors represent happiness (when Pauline makes love to Cholly) rather than white which lacks any color and/or life.

The seasons also seemed to have opposite meanings in the book than they do in most literature. The book begins with Autumn, which is when Pecola's child dies. Autumn is seen as the time of the crops, of harvesting; therefore, one would assume that it would be a time in which children would be born, but in the book, it has the opposite effect. Spring, a time of joy and rebirth, is of the worst times in the novel. In this time Pecola is raped and there is much fear in the village due to the abuses occurring at the time. The moodiness of the earth during these changes can be seen as symbolism for the moodiness and misery of the African American girls at the time who suffered constantly, yet still went on with their lives as if nothing were wrong.

So Like Usual I Interpreted the Text Wrong.

As I began reading the book, The Bluest Eye, I thought the book was going to be about slavery, racism, and depression of the African Americans. Simply from the title, I thought, okay maybe it's about the life of a white girl with "blue eyes" and the life of an African American girl during the time of slavery and how their lives were so different, and that in the future they could possibly become friends and cause much turmoil. I was completely off; as in, no where near!

As I began to read, I felt like I was in a maze! I began reading the first page and nope, that wasn't meant to be the first page of the story. Then I flipped to the next part and was so confused as to why in the world we would be reading a book that sounds as if it had been written by a toddler and the last part of that section simply blew my mind away. I thought Mr. Tangen had lost it or something, but then, I flipped to the next page and surely enough there was the extremely dense story awaiting me. In only the first page, I noted so much symbolism I figured I was going to die because if this is how the story is beginning then I could only imagine how it would continue. "Quiet as it's kept, there were no marigolds in the fall of 1941. We thought, at the time, that it was because Pecola was having her father's baby that the marigolds did not grow." (Morrison introduction) Oh my goodness gracious me! What kind of father would do that to her daughter! I understand that it occurred in greek mythology but even then the father was not aware that he was sleeping with his own daughter!

Now back to the intelligent AP analysis of this page. I found four items which related or symbolized each other. I italicized these words in the quote above to illustrate my point. The marigolds symbolize fertility in the time in which this story takes place. Apparently at this time it could have been winter due to the lack of fertile grounds, or it could simply be symbolizing the barren girls of the land. After that, we run into the quote, "It was a long time before my sister and I admitted to ourselves that no green was going to spring from our seeds... We had dropped our seeds in our own little plot of black dirt just as Pecola's father had dropped his seeds in his own plot of black dirt." (Morrison Introduction) This quote conveys that the earth, black dirt, and/or plot is referring to the mother trying to be fertile and that the seeds can only be the children which they are trying to conceive. Saying "black dirt" is a very derrogatory way of describing your own daughter. From this, we can infer that this book will not only be full of symbolism, but also full of racism, which leads to awful situations in which we can only understand a small potion of why or how they happened.

Why Darkness?

Why must we always read depressing books! Why can't there ever be happy endings! I say we should just read Disney stories. I'm sure Victor (mine would be too long and too much of a summary due to the fact that I know all of the stories by heart; therefore, making it a not so good essay) can still write an amazing essay about the millions of disney princesses who go through distress, learn about themselves, and find their true loves while they are at it. Well I guess I will never win this battle with Mr. Tangen because I don't think I will ever be able to convince him to do such a thing.

If there are two things that I value the most, they are honesty and justice, which go hand in hand. If something were to happen, wether it be good or bad, I would want to know exactly what happened, why it happened, and what is being done about it. I don't appreciate people who try to sugarcoat things or who try to "beat around the bush." The truth is black or white; no in between colors. Although this is my opinion, this may not apply to everyone. Some people may have good intentions, but it depends on the person they are talking to wether it is the right thing to do or not. In the end of the novel, Marlow sugarcoats an ending to Kurtz's wife making it sound much more happy and fluffy and romantic. If Mrs. Kurtz wanted this we will never know, but it seems to have been an ok thing to do. It made the ending seem not so harsh to her and maybe to Marlow himself. The problem is that if she finds out the truth later on, Marlow is the one who will look terrible! I noticed this happen in other times throughout the book, where Marlow overexaggerated things or added details which werent likely to have happened, but because we did not go with him on the real journey, we cannot make any statement contradicting what he says.

"It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It!" -Maria Suarez

As I began The Heart of Darkness I thought, "Oh great, another depressing book about racism and social classes that I can't even understand or enjoy because of the manner in which the speak and just the book in itself." Yes, I was right (but only for the first 16ish pages.) Then things started to change, not much, but slowly.

The book began talking about the setting and how things worked when you lived on a ship and etc. Conrad used much sight imagery to depict the setting; therefore, I as a reader had a clear picture of where the story was taking place (at the time because the setting could change any minute especially due to the fact that they are on a boat.) The narrator made that life seem rather boring and monotonous. Always doing the same things and following the same routines. His descriptions were bland and lifeless making me want to poke my eyes out because I thought the rest of the book would follow in the same way.

But then I started thinking of what it would be like to live on a ship for most of my life. I would find that life as a challenge. I, as a person, constantly need to be moving and doing things or I go insane! Even when I listen to lectures I most of the time am picking at my hair which is not out of disrespect or boredom, it's just because I cannot stay still and concentrated on one thing for more than 5 seconds. Life on a ship would be hard for me, but it would be like a never ending adventure. Trying to find different things to do, finding a million ways to do something or not to do something, making stories and pretending something like the titanic was happening. I would make my life on the ship entertaining.

Although that is what I would do, the book differed completely. The book began with a small description of some of the characters, one of the most important being Marlow, a seaman and a wanderer. On pages 15-17, Marlow started to tell his story of how he became captain of a ship and what his story was of how he got there. The story in itself was so boring but the way Marlow described each feeling made you feel them aswell kind of like 'pena jena' (I think thats how you spell it) in spanish. Marlow used all types of imagery so that we could see what he was seeing, hear what was going on, and feel how nervous he must have been on this knew journey he had embarked on. Although the book is not of the most exciting, Conrad did an excellent job using imagery and feelings to make the reader connect to the characters.

Anya's Light Bulb Finally Came On!

While we read the play I didn't realize any situations in which a character went through anagnorisis (when a character in a book or a play makes a critical discovery.) When I read the description of what the next blog was to be about I HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO DO! I thought I was going to have to reread the whole play again just to find one scene where it occurred! Thank goodness for the presentation we all had to do of the play! It just so happened that in the scene I had to present, Anya realized that she needed to get rid of the Cherry Orchard and all the strings attached to it or she would never come out of the debt or it would be a long time before she did. This happens as the family is out and leaves Anya and Trofimov alone to talk about the fate of the orchard, and she finally tells him that she must get rid of all ties she has with it and why it will cause her much grief if she stays with it. Of course during our presentation, we adapted the scene to a modern day in Plantation, Florida, but the moral and lesson stayed the same.

Talk About Spastic!

In Act 3 (actually throughout the whole play), the characters in "The Cherry Orchard" are extremely spastic. I meant to point this out in earlier blogs, because it happens all of the time in the play, but I would begin discussing a different topic and then completely forget about it. I found the play extremely confusing due to this odd feature Chekov decided to add to his play. As I read, I feel my brain trying to sort out 20 different stories that belong to 20 different characters which somehow need to mesh together and come out to one ending and make sense; therefore, successfully creating and finishing the play.

Thank goodness for youtube!!!!! The videos of the play helped to keep track of the many different paths which each character tended to follow. The video also made the play seem like more of an extremely dramatic movie, which made it easier to follow and remember. Sometimes when you read, you tend to misread words or entire phrases, or you can misinterpret what the author is trying to portray through his characters. The video made sure that through facial expressions and actions the watcher would receive the exact message the author was trying to give in the book (that is if the director received the right message and creates the movie giving the right message.)

The play also helped me understand the characters and what happened in the play (particularly our scene.) Having to act out a character is a hard task, not only do you have to memorize lines and dress as the person, but you also must enter into that characters mind set. You have to understand why he/she did what he/she did and must be able to portray the scene in a way that makes sense and can relate to the persons way of thinking.

Blonde Moments

While reading Act 2, I could not believe how most of the characters related to me during my blonde moments (sorry Rachel and all others who are blonde.) Most of the people in the play find an odd way to incorporate something about them at a time where it has nothing to do with the subject taking place. This could be seen as being an airhead, or simply not paying attention and wanting to take part in a conversation.

BERTHA: (with a frowned face) Ahh I told your father he would not be ready. That indolent old man. Did my granddaughters come?

CLAUDIA: yes, they must be in the kitchen. (sits down on the couch, looks closely at some reading glasses on the table) I remember when my grandfather first bought those, it was such along time ago. Do you remember mother?

This "blonde moment" should be an art! How can people take a perfectly ordered and normal conversation and turn it in a random and completely different direction? This is where I see the difference between real life and the play. In real life, you can only really do this one or two times in a conversation, while in the play, it happens in almost every other sentence. When someone begins to do this in a real conversation, being that it is a somewhat intelligent conversation and taking place with somewhat intelligent people, the other people will see that person as a "blonde" or they will just stop the conversation after that spontaneous comment. I found the play hard to follow due to the random comments of the people and the many turns in the conversations, but I continued to watch the BBC production and follow along with the book, which helped tremendously.

Slowly but Surely, Social Class is Improving

In Act 1 of The Cherry Orchard, we see a slight improvement in the social class issue. I did not read the book version of the play, because when I saw all of the names and etc, I decided to watch the BBC video version instead. From what I saw in the video, the "help" or maids were extremely outspoken and self-centered. Usually, and from what we have read about in Pride and Prejudice and Huckleberry Finn, the "help" is very quiet and does not give an opinion unless asked or spoken to. They do not disagree with anything their "masters" say, and if they do, then they do it in a way, in which it does not seem as if they are contradicting you but rather somehow agreeing with whatever you are saying.

The first act shows quite a few of these instances of abruptness from the maids. When Anya is telling Dunyasha about her trip, she cuts her off and does not let her finish. She then begins telling her about her own problems and what had been happening in her absence. Although they still had to be respectful, and whatever the masters did was "the law," they had more freedom than that of the maids in the previous works of literature that we have read.

Mother Earth

2 strikes!

I must be honest and say that I did not understand this article. It spoke about the language Mark Twain used in the book "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." From what I understood, the people who were analyzing the book and who wrote or took part in the creation of this article think that the voice Twain used was not his own. Along with the many other arguments and convictions held towards Twain's use of inappropriate language, this is a valid but useless argument. If some scholars do not agree with the book, then they do not have to read it. Teachers should be able to teach the book without a problem; afterall, history books also give detailed explanations and examples of how life was for the african americans in that era.

The people who analyzed the book do have a point and I agree with them completely, but this book is a classic for a reason and they cannot simply change it just because they feel uncomfortable teaching it or because they feel it is disrespectful.

Ooooooooooh I Read a Bad Woooooooord!!!

By simply reading the title of the article, "New Huckleberry Finn Edition Censors 'N-word,' " I already had a pretty good idea of what I would be reading. As I began to read, different scholars expanded on why they thought that the racist words such as "nigger" and "injun" should be changed for more common and less hurtful words. They were very persuasive and had a very valid point. One of the best arguments that struck me was "The n-word possessed, then as now, demeaning implications more vile than almost any insult that can be applied to other racial groups," he said. "As a result, with every passing decade this affront appears to gain rather than lose its impact."At this point I completely agreed with them.

Having been raised in the United States, it has been drummed into me my whole life that everyone is equal. No matter if you are rich or poor; or if you differentiate in race, religion, or gender, everyone should be treated with respect and dignity. I am not sure if my peers here have the same point of view that I have, for they have been taught that social classes are important and that you should associate with the people outside of your social class as little as possible. This change was one of the hardest for me to overcome when I first moved here. Because of ballet, many of my friends apart from school are from lower social classes, and it breaks my heart not being able to invite them over as much as id like or go to their neighborhoods when they invite me. I saw the idea to remove these terrible words and replace them with synonyms as a splendid idea.

As I continued reading, the point of view of the article changed. Different scholars put forth what they thought and also made valid arguments. The argument which changed my point of view completely was "The point of the book is that Huckleberry Finn starts out racist in a racist society, and stops being racist and leaves that society. These changes mean the book ceases to show the moral development of his character. They have no merit and are misleading to readers. The whole point of literature is to expose us to different ideas and different eras." This scholar agrees with the problems the language gives and how hurtful they can be, but that does not mean that children need to be babied until they are adults. If we did not have texts with this grave dialect, then we would not know what it was like to live in other eras. I believe they should keep the language and just make sure that the students understand what the words mean and the era in which the book tok place.