Mar 10

I believe Light of Thy Countenance is in fact a literary work. The fact that it is a graphic novel should not sway people one way or another. I believe anything that tells a story of some sort is considered literary. Comic books, do tell a story, but in a very different manner. Light of Thy Countenance does not follow the traditional comic book trend, and therefore, I believe, would be considered "more literary" than the traditional comic books of old. What sets Light of Thy Countenance apart from old comics is the command of the language used by author Alan Moore, and the way the story is told. In older comic books, onomatopoeia is used frequently to describe situations in the story, by placing large WOOSH words, or something to that effect, across a panel. Light of Thy Countenance uses sophisticated language to describe the plot.

This leads to another reason why I believe Light of Thy Countenance is literary, because it has a very deep plot. The graphic novel describes the rise of television from feeble beginnings, to dictating our lives. But the book also uses literary tools to tell the story, such as irony. In the beginning of the story, it is believed that various people are the protagonist. First it is Maureen Cooper, then changes to Carol Livesy. In reality, television is the protagonist, describing its "rise to power," and Maureen and Carol are just tools that it used to slowly take control of our lives.

For these reasons, I believe that Light of Thy Countenance is indeed a literary work. Although the story is told very differently than other traditional works of literature, I believe the necessary literary elements are present, and could be used to classify it as a work of literature.

Mar 5

In all three works, Frankenstein, RUR, and Blade Runner, the role of gender is an important theme. Although they vary in their contributions to the plot of the work, the theme is present for all.

In Frankenstein, the role of women is intensified, as women are highly idealized and regarded as a source of happiness, but are passive towards situations in their environment. Caroline, Victor's mother, is described in the beginning of the book as having an overwhelming caring and motherly nature, as well as being immensely beautiful. She is also described by Alphonse, Victor's father, as being the perfect wife and his own source of happiness in the world. However, when she contracts scarlet fever from a young Elizabeth, she neglects her own well being to tend to her daughter. Although this act is immensely considerate, the fact that she is passive towards her own well being contributes to her death.
Elizabeth is another example in Frankenstein. Near the middle of the book, when talking to his son, Alphonse asks Victor if his change in behavior is due to the impending marriage between him and Elizabeth. Victor declines, stating that Elizabeth is his only source of happiness. On their wedding night, Victor ventures out to find the monster, who told him he would visit him, while Elizabeth elects to stay in bed. This proves to be fatal, as Elizabeth is murdered by the monster due to her passiveness towards Victor's absence.
In the book, the Monster asks Victor to create a female companion for him. This stems from the Monster's realization that he needs a female companion in his life to be happy.

In RUR, the role of women is downplayed, as there is an absence of females throughout the play, but the females that do appear are shallow minded and make bad decisions. In the play, there is a lack of female figures. Both Old and Young Rossum, the creators of the robots, were male. All of the scientists at the robot factory are male. There is even a lack of "female" robots, because there is no perceived need of female robots, as they will be thought of as "lesser" in society than male robots.
One main character, Helena, is extremely unintelligent and makes horrible decisions. She persuade the scientists in the lab to give the robots feelings and a soul, to make them feel more human. This proves to be a mistake, as this leads to the robots revolting. Helena then tries to stop the robots from creating more robots by destroying the "secret of life" for the creation of new robots. This, again, proves to be fatal as she burned the humans' bargaining chip for their survival, and the robots kill everybody.

In Blade Runner, the women are depicted as a source of happiness and love. Both Deckard and Roy have love interests, Rachel and Pris, respectively. Deckard discovers that Rachel is a replicant, but regardless, falls in love with her, and the movie ends, regardless of the version with them together. Roy's love interest, Pris, is retired by Deckard in Sebastian's apartment. The immense emotion shown by Roy as he mourns over her lifeless body shows the extent to which he cared for her. He retaliates by breaking two of Deckard's fingers, one for Pris and one for Zhora, who was previously retired by Deckard.

I believe Roy's dialogue and choice to spare Deckard is his way of showing the world that he had no original intention of doing the things he had done. I believe he did it because he was pushed too far once, and became fed up with the idea of slavery in an instant, and decided to take action towards what he felt was unfair. I believe that Roy decided to save Deckard's life because he had developed emotions. The Nexus-6 replicants were designed to die after 4 years, to prevent them from evolving and having emotions. I believe Roy did develop emotions and wanted to show that human or robot, emotions are the same in any being, and although the replicants and humans are physically different, emotionally, they are exactly the same.

Feb 23

• Both books have a fake god character. Victor in Frankenstein and Rossum in RUR. These characters try to imitate life through creation
• The monster and the robots are stronger and more intelligent than humans.
• The monster is giant, the robots are human size.
• Both the robots and the monster end up killing humans
• Both the monster and the robots are created, not born.
• The monster is ugly. The robots look like regular humans
• Victor takes body parts from graves and assembles them in his apartment. The robots are assembled in a factory.
• Victor creates a humanlike being first. Rossum senior experiments with protoplasm in order to synthesize a dog first. Rossum junior had the idea to create a human.
• Both the robots and the monster had blank stares
• Both have the ability to learn
• Both speak well
• Monster feels physical and emotional pain. Robots feel no pain at all
• Sex means nothing to the robot creators because they cant reproduce. Victor destroys the female monster because he fears they will breed a monster race
• Both Rossum senior and Victor were scholars. Rossum studied marine biology and Victor studied philosophy
• Near the end of the book, the monster had needs (emotional, social, food). The robots were designed to be independent and have little needs
• The monster was created as a science experiment. The robots were created to do work for humans
• The robots were slaves to humans. Victor was, in a way, a slave to the monster who tortured him by killing his loved ones and chasing him down
• Both the monster and the robots rebel against their creators because they felt they were desregarded

Feb 16

For my essay #2, my broad topic will be the role of gender in the novels.

The first piece of evidence is the fact that women act as a source of happiness. Throughout the novel, Elizabeth is referred to by Victor as his only source of happiness. The monster asks Victor to build him a female companion, a source of happiness for him, as he has been discovering that he is not wanted by society. Victor builds then destroys the female monster in rage against the monster. The monster retaliates by destroying the last source of happiness Victor has: Elizabeth.

The second piece of evidence is the theme of passive women. Throughout the novel, the women are extremely passive of the situations they are in. They slowly suffer then die. Caroline, Victor's mother, contracts scarlet fever from Elizabeth, but continues to care for her. She succumbs to her illness shortly before Victor leaves for college. Justine is convicted for murder. Although she is innocent, she is executed. At the end of the novel, Elizabeth waits for Victor as he checks the house for the monster on their wedding night. Later that night, she is murdered by the monster.

The third piece of evidence is man's intolerance towards ugliness. The monster, being male, is grotesque and is feared by others in society. Both Safie and the Monster are separated from the De Laceys due to a language barrier. However, Saife is strikingly beautiful and is tolerated by the family. On the other hand, the monster is feared from by Felix when he returns to the cabin.

These pieces of evidence are bound together because they all deal with the role of women in the novel. Every woman in the novel is an undeveloped character, but the women as a whole represent many themes such as happiness, passiveness, and tolerance towards ugliness.

The pieces of evidence differ because each piece, for the most part, deals with a different female. Happiness is derived from Elizabeth, while intolerance is derived from Safie. Every women is passive in nature.

The evidence complements each other because it shows the many roles of gender in Frankenstein. As the story progresses, more and more gender themes are introduced. When combined, the evidence shows readers that women have a far more important role than expected. It shows that the simplest, most flat and two-dimensional characters of the novel are symbolic of very large themes.

Feb 2

Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is unique, because the point of view changes as the story progresses. The point of view remains in third person, but transitions between specific types of third person points of view with each section of the story.

In part I of the narrative, the point of view is third person objective. The narrator is simply describing what anyone would see if they were at this scene. The narrator has no internality, and merely describes the man's looks and what it looks like the man feels, as opposed to concrete facts about who he is and what he actually feels. For example, the narrator says, "The man who was engaged in being hanged was apparently about thirty-five years of age. He was a civilian, if one might judge from his habit, which was that of a planter." The narrator say the man was "apparently about thirty-five years of age," as opposed to just saying "he is thirty-five years of age," showing the limited nature of the point of view. The first part of the narrative describes a man standing on a plank over a raging river. He has his hand bound and a noose around his neck. The narrator describes the setting and the actions of all of the characters to the best of his/her ability. In the last two paragraphs, the point of view switches to third person subjective, and the narrator briefly describes a thought going through the man's head.

Part II of the narrative uses the third person omniscient point of view. The narrator reveals the previously unknown identity of the man, giving a brief but comprehensive history of the man. The narrator also knows the location and actions being performed by each of the characters at certain points throughout the part. The man is revealed to be a wealthy, Alabama planter named Peyton Farquhar. He is a slave owner during the era preceding the American Civil War. He is visited by a soldier, and they have a quick conversation about the news. Farquhar asks the soldier what the penalty for avoiding the sentinel on the bridge would be. The soldier answers, then leaves. Later on in the night, the soldier returns to Farquhar's home, and is revealed as a Federal Scout.

Part III of this narrative uses the third person subjective pint of view. The narrator describes, in great detail, the events that take place chronologically, after part I. The narrator also knows what Farquhar is doing at any point in time and how he feels emotionally or physically. The story progresses, as the rope breaks, Farquhar falls into the river below. He evades patrols and gunfire, and eventually makes it back to his home. Just as he is about to hug his wife, he falls victim to the injuries he received during the fall and evasion. The last line of the story, Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge," reveals that Farquhar never actually escaped from the bridge. All of part III is his imagination, as is revealed by the narrator. The ending of the story is ironic, because it seems that Farquhar made it back to his home, but died of his wounds, but in reality, the scenario is his imagination, and he dies by hanging under Owl Creek Bridge.

Jan 26 lolz i forgot the second part

http://dotsub.com/view/58591756-7128-488c-bfe9-22463d46d907

This link is to a clip from The Simpsons where Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven" is brought to life. This interpretation of a classic poem in a popular television show definitely expands viewers appreciation and/or understanding of poems. In the show, Lisa recites "The Raven" for bart, and Homer is portrayed as the main character in the poem. This approach greatly improves the understanding of the poem, as there is a visual to go along with words. The humorous nature of the Simpsons adds to the understanding of the poem because people tend to remember things that make them laugh, and are likely to recite or show a peer.

I think the addition of references to poetry should be included in more television shows, especially humorous television shows. These humorous interpretations could prove to be an excellent supplement to the teaching of poetry in schools and could help to increase comprehension of vague or complex poems in children and young adults.

Jan 26

I believe that the machinima-ization of Langston Hughes's poem "Suicide's Note" adds to the meaning of the poem.

In one way, the video provides an alternate interpretation of the poem. When I read the last poem, I thought the fictional suicide note was telling the reader that the person committed suicide by drowning himself or herself. In the video, the character jumps off of a cliff to his death. Although these are both suicides by water, I only thought "kissing" the water would mean drowning, by simply walking into water or falling into a river.

The video also uses visuals to further enhance the meaning of the poem. In Hughes's three-line poem, there is very little imagery. In the video, however, the interpreted setting is made clear. The character is standing on a cliff's edge, with clear skies above and clam water below. Also, the character in the game has a helmet on to hide his face. Naturally, it would be hard to convey one's emotions with something blocking his or he face. The creator of the video has the character look down slowly at the water, signifying the character is depressed, weighing his options, and eventually choosing to end his own life.

Another way the video adds to the meaning of the poem is the background music. "Mad World" by Gary Jules is a very sad song in nature, obviously in minor key. The song is about ending one's own life and supplements the meaning of the poem. Truthfully, even after watching the video, I felt no emotional feelings while reading the poem. While watching the video, on the other hand, I feel somewhat depressed, which is, for the most part, due to the lyrics and tone of the background music.

I feel that through another person's interpretation, visuals, and background music, the machinima video greatly adds to the meaning of Langston Hughes's poem.