blog 8 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

I enjoyed watching the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I heard a lot about it so I was excited to see it for myself. While watching it I felt slightly confused by some scenes. Although the initial scenes of drug use were very intense the underlying meaning of the movie was clear to me. Since we brought up the idea in class about finding the American dream it was easier to make opinions about why these two men were inducing these harmful acts upon themselves. They were trying to escape their painful feelings and find something new.

In the Movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas the characters Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) and Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) make beasts of themselves by taking many illegal drugs to mess things up in their heads. They hallucinate and have strange things happened to them. They become violent but do not realize that they are doing this very harmful thing to themselves because they think it is just a rush. Their actions seem immature as if they never grew up form being kids. The substances they use are very harmful to their perception and their actions. They make fools or beasts out of themselves when they experience the drugs effects. The quote “He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man” states that someone who can find something to cover up the pain can get rid of it. This statement is not true because just because you medicate emotions doesn’t mean they won’t return or disappear. Raoul and Dr. Gonzo were not relieved of their pain it was merely covered up by psychedelic thought due to their over intake of all kinds of drugs especially acid. The characters publicly humiliate themselves which doesn’t push them any closer to recovering or relieving pain they might have in their lives.

blog 7

I enjoyed reading this play. The humor was evident yet not overloaded and the characters were understandable in the play. I felt in tune with the story and could follow along pretty easily. I felt good while reading. I took the time to sit down and read it and understand the plot. I agreed with the argument that it was wrong not to like someone just because of their name. I cannot relate to something exactly like this in my life but I feel it follows along with the situation of not liking someone because of something so small and unimportant.

The discussion of identity and the formation of it in the play The Importance of Being Earnest should be taken seriously because the others thoughts and ideas are correct. Ones own identity is extremely important in life. In the play there is humor involved with the identity crisis that some of the characters are having but it doesn’t ultimately take away form the importance. The fact that Earnest is having problems with his self and who he is dramatized with humor but it is still seen as a problem and one can sympathize with him. The humor does not cover up the critical ideas regarding who we are because in the end everyone figures themselves out and the humor is not forced.

Blog 6

I enjoy the story The Taming of the Shrew. I can understand the humor in it as best I can. The story line is quick pace and the language is hard to understand because of the way it is written. The footnotes help me to follow along as best I can. One of my favorite movies is “10 Things I Hate About You” which is based off this play by Shakespeare. When reading the play I have some sense of what is going on and the personalities of the characters based on what I have seen in the movie. This clarified some things for me while I was reading.

One of the romantic conflicts involves Katharina and Petruchio. He claims he will marry Katharina but she is not exactly thrilled with the idea. He knows about her curtness and how she is very hesitant and uptight with her ways. He tries very hard to seek her out. He says in one scene, “Say that she frown; I’ll say she looks as clear/ As morning roses newly washed with dew”. He says this because in the situation he doesn’t truly want Katharina but he sys these things so that he proves he can court her. It is a humorous situation when the two converse or when he talks of how he will try to gain Katharina’s love.

Blog 5

When reading a Rose For Emily I was engrossed in the text. I think that it was a good experience for me. I felt good because I understood the story but the story had some weird content. I couldn’t relate to this story at all. I think that the story was difficult and easy to read. Some of the content was slightly difficult to decode although it became clear as I read on. I did agree with the argument of the towns people thinking that Emily was crazy and had weird things going on in her life. I think that it was definitely true that she was different than normal people.

As the story went on I felt that there were instances of foreshadowing. The references made about men in the story somewhat foreshadowed her dislike for them. When there was a reference to how Emily denied her fathers death and no one knew he was dead left some thinking for the reader to do. When Emily bought the rat poison it was indefinite that there might be a death later in the story. It seems the author wanted to prove that when the people in the town knew something was going on they should have acted on it and stopped it. It seems they could have avoided the death references. Foreshadowing was definitely evident in this story it just wasn’t clear when the actual events would occur or what the event would be. In this case it was finding the body in Emily’s bed.

Blog 4

When I was reading “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” I felt very interested in the story and what was to come of it. I was draw into the story in the beginning, although it did get slightly boring in the middle. I disagreed with the fact that the women were trying to beatify another girl by telling her how to act fake. I was not for the idea of telling other to be fake although that is what made the story interesting. This story defines society today in the world of girls and peer pressure. It was sometimes difficult for me to follow the story line of what was truly going on and where all the characters were.

Fitzgerald touches greatly on the idea of identity in “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”. He determines to give examples of how identity and its nature are present in all areas of our lives. He proves that the nature of identity is in all of us and it cannot truly be changed. Identity is static in our lives because no matter how much one changes of their physical appearance or action wise deep down they will always be the same person. Everyone is pressured into changing who they are and sometimes they fall for that change but oftentimes deep in their heart they know who they are or where they came from. Bernice’s actions in the end of the story determined that even though she felt pressured to be someone she was not she still kept who she truly was deep down. She let the actions of her true self come out and take charge.

Blog 3

This short story was very interesting to me. I found myself truly involved in what was going on based on the detail and description the author included. I think I could agree with the ideas of the speaker. He felt embarrassed for the girls and then made a quick decision without thinking about it. I have been in a situation before where I was embarrassed for someone and then acted quickly afterwards. The story was easy to read because it was about people my age and I understood the context the speaker was talking about.

The narrator in “A & P” revealed indirectly that he actually had the guts to stand up for something he didn’t even know about. The narrator started of shy and just had a watchful eye over the girls who entered the store. He wasn’t one to talk to them or converse with them in anyway because he was just a simple clerk working at the store. The narrator transforms into someone who just observed to someone who could take a stance and speak out. The revelation that the narrator experiences is indirect even to himself. He changes over the course of the story to someone who is stronger and more confident in themselves.

Blog 2

The poems for this week have taken a change in their content. Most of them involve war and death and the effects of these things on others. I think the poems were very graphic although with great description it was easier to understand the true meaning of what the author was trying to prove. I think in many cases especially when reading Silvia Plath’s poem “Daddy” I agreed with her statements and understood what she was trying to say to her readers. I couldn’t exactly relate to her experiences involving wanting to be let alone by her father. The poems were uncomplicated in their content and gist.
I believe that in Yeats’ portrayal of rape in mythology he is trying to exemplify the fact that although rape seems unimaginable it is in fact real and undermining. Since Yeats explains how rape could occur in mythology. His impressions of rape in mythology provide insight on how it was possibly not seen in the same way back then. I think it wasn’t seen as terrible in the past as it is now. This poem reveals themes such as fright, insecurity, and desperation for survival. The girl in this poem is very vulnerable. The main themes revolve around the idea of how people act the same in the past to horrible situations as they do in the present.

Blog 1

The two poems, "I Hear America Singing" and "I, Too, Sing America" are poems which I enjoyed reading. I felt the reading had menaing. I understood what the authors were trying to say. As I read I pieced apart the poem to try and understand what the author was truly saying. I agreed with the authors arguments because I knew that one author was saying that America is peaceful and in unison and the other author explained that there is a dark side to everyhting. I beleive that many things apear to work on the outside but on the inside there is always some problem. I felt I could connect with the idea of underlying problems. The reading seemed easy to read especially when truly concentrated on and when I broke it apart to reveal their meanings.
In Whitman's "I Hear America Singing" he describes the beuty of America because of the variety of people in it. Everyone has a different skill or task that they can share with the country. They work at a steady and synchronized pace even though they dont realize it. Their singing reflects how they are in tune with one another mentally and physically. In return Hughes poem, "I, Too, Sing America" describes that there is a dark side to this perfect country. Even though things may seem perfect on the outside there is always somehting on the inside that is not in tune with the rest. The people who cause these underlying problems will realize that there is also beuty under cover and they will feel shamed. Hughes' poem is s definite respose to Whitman's poem is explaining that both beuty and darkness come about in everything.