GROUPTHINK

Well after discussing our poems, it turned out that Michelle and I had the same understanding of my poem. We both believed it to be talking about earth and its growth. And we were also confused whether it was talking about a woman or not..
Then after we discussed Michelle's poem, we both came to two different conclusions. She interpreted that it was discussing discrimination issues and political difference. I interpreted it as racial issues.

Gridlock # 1 In You the Earth by Pablo Neruda

TPCASTT: Poem Analysis Method:
title, paraphrase, connotation, diction,
attitude, tone, shift(s), title revisited and
theme 


Title -of poem means : In You the Earth, possibly relating to nature. Something so natural of a woman that is natural beauty. Mother Nature held close to your heart. Caring about the earth. Having earth inside you can be interpreted as being raw and natural.


Paraphrase- parts of the Poem:  "Little rose, roselet"(lines 1-3) The rose can be the literal meaning of a small rose that is beginning to bloom. It begins as a small rose bud then begins to blossom. The rose bud can also mean a small little baby."tiny and naked, it seems as though you would fit in one of my hands, as though I’ll clasp you like this and carry you to my mouth," (lines 5-10) The baby is so small it needs to be carried around before it begins to walk. "but suddenly my feet touch your feet and my mouth your lips: you have grown," (lines 1-14) The relationship is growing stronger and stronger. "your shoulders rise like two hills, your breasts wander over my breast, my arm scarcely manages to encircle the thin new-moon line of your waist:" (lines 16-20) Admiring the beauty of nature and a woman's body. "in love you loosened yourself like sea water: I can scarcely measure the sky’s most spacious eyes and I lean down to your mouth to kiss the earth." (lines 21- 23) Slowly fell in love with earth and it's full beauty. I believe it has a double meaning in such a way that earth is represented as a woman.


Connotation- of some of the words – changing literal meaning to implied or associated values : The first three lines already have a double meaning. "Little rose, roselet," referring to a rose bud and in my interpretation a baby or a woman.

Attitude- What is the attitude of the author, characters or yourself? : As I read the poem I felt like it was a man talking about mother earth and her beauty. Explaining how the years go by and the seasons change, mountians grow, sea level rises. I also interpret this poem how it is a man speaking about a woman and how hes watched her grow up.




Shift- At first we think or feel one way – then there is a shift: identify the shifts and explain them : At first it feels like a man is talking about mother nature and as time goes, she changes and begins to blossom/age. A shift would be how at first as you read the poem it feels like it is talking about nature then it makes you think it is talking aboyt a woman and ger beauty as well as she grows to become a beautiful woman.



Title Revisited -Any new insights on meaning or significance of title? : My opinion still hasn't changed much. I still think it is talking about mother earth and a woman at the same time. Many a slight of a difference how I interpreted right now would be that man speaking in the poem may be talking about how someone holds love for earth/ nature close to their hearts.


Theme : Inspiration. The man speaking is inspired by the growth of earth or the woman he is referring too.

Seventh Reading

In You the Earth - Pablo Neruda

Little

rose,

roselet,

at times,

tiny and naked,

it seems

as though you would fit

in one of my hands,

as though I’ll clasp you like this

and carry you to my mouth,

but

suddenly

my feet touch your feet and my mouth your lips:

you have grown,

your shoulders rise like two hills,

your breasts wander over my breast,

my arm scarcely manages to encircle the thin

new-moon line of your waist:

in love you loosened yourself like sea water:

I can scarcely measure the sky’s most spacious eyes

and I lean down to your mouth to kiss the earth.

My response- I believe this poem has a double meaning to it. The first meaning leans towards mother nature and the circle of life. But then if you image a man can be referring to woman's body as well. I find this to be an odd poem, but at the same time I love how it has a double meaning. Because each person will think differently about the poem. In my opinion the two most common topics to come up would be mother nature/ circle of life and a man referring to a woman's body. 

Literature Analysis #2

Carrie by Stephen King

GENERAL

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same)
- Carrie is a high school senior who lives with her mom in the city of Chamberlain. Her mother is a very religious woman and tries to protect herdaughter from committing any type of sin. It all started when Carrie was showering right after gym and she happened to get her first menstrual period ever. She had no idea what was happening to her since her mother never informed her about it. She believed she was bleeding to death and five girls began to tease her. Carrie fell to her feet in tears after being harassed and having sanitary napkins thrown at her. Ms. Dejardin ( p.e teacher) comes out of her office after listening to a bunch of commotion. She stops the harassment and dismisses everyone in the locker room. She helps Carrie to clean herself up and to pull it together. Carrie is sent home for the rest of the week. The principal latter brings in Chris's ( main girl leading the harassment) dad to let him know that her daughter is being punished with a weeks worth detention and will not be attending the spring prom. Her dad is a lawyer and tries to fight back with the principal but in the end Chris didn't get any less of her punishment. Sue feels bad for everything Carrie has been through in her life with the teasing and wants to bring justice to Carrie. Tommy (Sue's boyfriend) was encouraged by Sue to ask Carrie to prom. Sue wanted to give Carrie the best night of her life. Carrie accepts the invite and goes on making her dress and preparing everything. Her mother doesn't accept the idea that a boy asked her to a dance and goes even more mad about how her daughter is the devils child. The night of prom has finally come and it is time to get glam'd up for a good night out. Chris and Billy have conjured up an evil plan to sabotage the night for Carrie and Tommy. They planned out to have two buckets of pig's blood held up on top of the stage, for when the prom king and queen are named then the blood will spill on them. how ironic that Carrie and Tommy are crowned prom king and queen. The blood is spilled on them both and they are humiliated. One of the buckets fell and hit Tommy on the head, knocking him unconscious. Carrie is raging inside and runs out of the gym, she find the water hydrant's (3) and releases the screws. Causing the water pressure to go down. Carrie is on a rampage now. She returns inside and with her TK power she closes all the doors shut and turns on the sprinklers. The room is soaking wet. Because of the bands set up, water and electricity do not go together. It turns out that several students are electrocuted to death. The gym begins to catch on fire and all the students are stuck inside. Carrie somehow gets out and is on a killing spree now. She attacks several places in Chamberlain while on her way home to see her mother. She arrives home and kills her mother slowly, until there was no beat left. Her mother tried killing Carrie by stabbing her, and ended up stabbing Carrie in the shoulder. Carrie is now bleeding to death slowly. She leaves her home and heads to an open field and ends up lying there to her death. Sue goes out to find Carrie and try to help her, even though she killed her boyfriend and caused everything in town. Sue is there for the final moments of Carries life. The town has no real reason to keep going anymore. The town was blown up and many students died that night. The local businesses have stayed down since the harm was done. Since the night of prom the town has lost the reason to live and keep going.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
The theme of the novel revolves around <i>revenge</i>. Carrie is vengeful towards everyone who gave her the worst of time.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The novel has an eerie mood to it. But it has a since of evil and is twisted. " I looked around and saw Joise Vreck holding onto one of the mike stands. He couldn't let go. His eyes were bugging out and his hair was on end and it looked like he was dancing. His feet were sliding around in the water and smoke started to come out of his shirt.
He fell over on one of the amps- they were big ones, five or six feet high- and it fell onto the water." (pg 178)
- This is an example of a scene were Josie was electrocuted to death. It feels twisted how he died.
" A sudden smothered sound that might have been a half-scream came from her mouth, and she leaned forward and pulled violently on the cord with both hands. It came loose with slack for a moment, making her think that Billy had been having her on all this time, that the rope was attached to nothing but thin air. Then it snubbed tight, held for a second, and then came through her palms harshly, leaving a burn.
The moment were Chris pulls the ropes to release the buckets of pig's blood to fall and smother Carrie and her date Tommy. The few seconds that she pulls violently, life is flashing before her eyes. How Billy is manipulative to her and now she notices what cruel act she is committing to Carrie. But she still follows through on this act.

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

Anecdote- " It was reliably reported by several persons that a rain of stones fell from a clear blue sky on Carlin Street in the town of Chamberlain on August 17th. The stones fell principally on the home of Mrs. Margaret White damaging the roof extensively and ruining two gutters and a downspout valued at approximately $25. Mrs. White, a widow, lives with her three-year-old daughter, Carriette. Mrs. White could not be reached for comment.

Dialect- Carrie; " Why didn't you <i>tell</i> me?" she cried. " Oh Momma, I was so <i>scarred! </i>And thr girls all made fun and threw things and-"<br />
This example is showing Carrie's humble way of speaking. Throughout the novel when Carrie speaks she appears to be very humble and monotone. It is until towards the end of the novel were she begins to express herself more.

Imagery- "She hated her face, her dull, stupid, bovine face, the vapid eyes, the red, shiny pimples, the nests of blackheads. She hated her face most of all." pg. 44
Carrie is giving a detailed explanation of how she looks.

Denotation- &nbsp;From <i>Ogilvie's Dictionary of Psychic Phenomena:&nbsp;"Telekinesis</i>&nbsp;is the ability to move objects or to cause changes in objects by force of the mind. The phenomenon has most reliably been reported in times of crisis or in stress situations, when automobiles have been levitated from pinned bodies or debris from collapsed buildings, etc." pg 44

CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
Carrie is a flat / static character. She doesn't show much expression of emotions throughout the novel. Most of her emotions that are being expressed is when she uses her TK power and that reasoning for her power is because she is under stress or emotionally unstable.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction. After reading this novel I feel like I Carrie myself. As I was reading it felt like I was in novel myself just watching everything happened right before my very eyes. I did feel so very real. And I could feel the emotional pain/stress Carrie was undergoing. I found it hard for myself to stop reading because I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. In the end I was unhappy because even though Carrie dies, the ending just wasn't that intrresting. I was more bummed. Unsatisfied. I feel like it just wasn't a good ending

Notes for Spring Break Books

Slaughter house 5

- "everythng was beautiful nd nithi ng hurt

:third person

:billy..
Bombing of dressden-prisoner if war, taken in slaughterhouse five
Goes thru war, prisoner of war, awkward character
His wife is fat ndd dusgustiong, felt forced to marry her, felt sorry for her
Was blamed for killing anothrt guy
Imagines his own assination..
... Board demensions,,, crazy creatures.. Ppl see them as babies ndd othrts see them as old ndd practicaly dead.
Big motif," so it goes" big theme!
Does own illustration in novel
Metaphors are used a lot
"SO IT GOES"
Humorous/dark humor

Kafka on the Shore

Lit tech-
Scene in the library and picks a record that reads "Kafka on the shore" novels relates to music in some since...
Two plot lines
1) Kafka, 14/15 years old, running from home.. Mother/sister ran from home when he was 4 . Yearns to meet his mom/sister..
2) naturo casara- runs away and collects cats... Older man
-two plot lines begin to emerge together towards the end of the novel
When Kafka was a child. Father said, when you kill you'll run off and have sex w/ your mother
Cats play a big part..
Magical realism
Kafka murders Johnny walker.. Chapter before Kafka is in blood and doesn't know why,, then later it is scene that Kafka is murdering his father

Life of Pi

Summary-
about a young man namrd pacine, aka pi
Is an odd boy, grows up in India, family owns a zoo. Similes being used EXTREMLY! Relating yo zoo
Wants to serve God, Hindu,
Kinda believes God, then goes to a Mosc , joins all three religions, all three men meet ndd he feels bad cause he just wants to serve God
- on a boat w/ a tiger moving to Canada, a tiger, hyena, monkey..to sell
Richard Parker-
Tiger symbolizes learning to over come something ..
Territorial dominance,
Circus ring master- symbolize dominance..
Humans/ animals love there territory. Need there space to function normally,

Notes on introduction to Macbeth

- anitheros : kinda selfish, to do there own thing and not really be bothered.
- post-modernism: hero that is a hero but ...
-king has a halo.. Has if holy
- Macbeth: a dark play, sinester, wicked, literally/symbolically,
-wicked witches serve as greek toruses.
- steamin, rotting shitting and twisted..
-1606: written
James the I : fascinated by witchcraft
- factual elements: inherent by Banquo/ flaunce
-Murder ocurred...
-Macbeth 1040-1057
-Macbeth killed Dunken the I then Macbeth killed by Dunken's son Malcolm.
- England vs Scotland
- King James uniting England and Scotland in there interity
- Macbeth murders the king and cant live with his actions
-Macbeth is like an animal. A creature of his own ambition. Doesnt have much of a heart and feelings like a normal human
- Witches / withcraft : "fair is foul and fould is fair" - paradox
-paradox: self contadictory
- Witches associated with dark and death
-satanic missions at night, gather by graves to conduct y
Their potions and evil crafts
- Young Gooman Brown (short story)
- Need for witch craft???
-Create an alienated character to break the social norms..
- 1604- witchcraft became a big deal at this time..
A book of Mormon...
-Evil spirits, condem them by hanging
- Devil was very real and believed he was trapping them into his evil.
- Witches were capable to perform what was presented in Macbeth.. Commit evil twisted doings..
- shadenfroid: getting pleasure of someones failures..
- self deception: makes a hero a fallen hero
- message of the play.. Devil feeds us temptation

- The Thane Of Cawdor !
-Theme in play :

Carrie by Stephen King -lit circle

Open essay person

1)  A major theme with in the novel is revenge. Provide examples to support the theme of the novel, Carrie.

2) Frequently a work of literature will concern itself with a major transformation ina character. In this case Carrie discovers her power of telekinesis. In a well-organized essay, explain the nature of the transformation and the relationship Carrie has with her power and the town.

3) Write an essat that revolves around a major theme in the novel Carrie, by Stephen King. Provide evidence to support your ideas. Avoid plot summary.

4) Coming the end of a novel, a consistent mood should have been created and our consciousness of certain aspects of life should have been intensified or even altered. Discuss the mood(tone) of a novel (Carrie) you have read and point out the ways in which the story intensified your consicousness of certain aspects of life or altered your views.