| Trial of 'Frankenstein' |
[Nov. 19th, 2006|08:44 pm] |
After Friday's trial of 'Frankenstein', I decided to judge each of the aspects of the book myself. First is the innonence/guilt of Dr. Victor Frankenstein. To begin, it is definitely true that Victor was curious about more than what was in existence in that time. His mind had an itch to discover the unknown and see what it was. Because of that, it was inevitable that he would try to create something. Science is always progressing and does not really stop for anything unless it's extremely unethical. Some could argue that this creation was extremely unethical to try and do but it was done so that's that. Victor was just a person who helped science evolve. Granted, he has to take some sort of responsibility as the creator of this being. One could definitely argue that Victor took this whole discovery of the unknown too far. He made something that he was not able to keep control of once he made it. That is a problem, but ultimately I don't think Victor thought that things would turn out this way if he were to create a creature.
Next is the guilt/innocence of the monster. Obviously, the creation of himself was completely not up to him. What was up to him was the killings that he proceeded to do throughout the novel. It is understanble the complete isolation he felt because society shunned him away. People/ creatures who are treated in this way do rebel against society and become violent so I don't think the creature really had any other fate. He killed those that would hurt his creator the most because this was the only way he could think of to make Victor realize what he had done. It is hard to say if the creature could live on in society being shunned in the way that he was without striking out and killing someone.
Lastly is the fate of the society. It is easy to put blame on society and say that it is their fault because they did not accept him. But society was very predictable in its actions. They were scared of this big creature that was coming into their town. For all they knew, he was completely dangerous and had intentions to do all harm. Society was just protecting itself from the unknown. They knew only how to shun those who were absolutely different than them so its unfair to say that the perpatrator in this situation was absoultely society.
All in all, if I had to decide, I would say that it is Victor who is guilty. He created something and did not realize the implications of what he was about to do. Even though he was furthering the knowledge and discovery of science, I think he took it way too far. Creating a creature with a mind but no sense of social skills was absolutely irresponsible and I dont even think Victor thought about that when making this monster. My decison would have to be that Victor is the guiltiest of all. |
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| Human research |
[Nov. 12th, 2006|08:33 pm] |
I wanted to expand on the idea that was brought up in class about the extent of human research into the science of people and the creation of them. To me, the book Frankenstein is what I would imagine happening if a person were to create some sort of creature. This creature steps into society knowing absolutely nothing about it. The creature's inability to be accepted and to understand the world around him would most likely lead to violence. This relates to the creature killing Victor's youngest brother because he wants revenge on Victor. I just see the entire situation turning out completely wrong even for the sake of scientific discovery.
In general, I think that is a bad idea to research into human nature in a way as to actually create a creature that was not brought into this earth via pregnancy and birth. Something of this sort no one can predict the effects of and what it will do. Even though I do not see the creation of a creature in the near future, it is definitely something to ponder.
Even though it is something I disagree with, scientific discovery is something that will never stop. I do feel that it would be naive of humans to not try and figure out the mysteries of the earth and people and such. As people, we are always looking deeper and we want to know the inner workings of things. Because of this curiousity, scientific research and provocative ideas such as cloning will never cease. As long as people are questioning ideas and pushing norms, this type of research will probably never be stopped. This thought is equally exciting as well as scary. |
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| What is a Poet? |
[Nov. 3rd, 2006|10:41 am] |
When writing my journal in class about what a poet is, this is what I had originally put: After reading William Wordsworth's selection of "What is Poet", I would say that I completely agree with his definition. First, a poet is a person who holds more information and knowledge about the nature of people and the way of living. With this increased knowledge, a poet is therefore able to ponder on life and express his feelings in a unique way. Also, as Wordsworth says, a poet seems to have a fire and desire within him to express in words the events he encounters on a daily basis. Walking among a pretty lake can be a poet's muse to express this beauty in such breathtaking words that not every man can do. Basically, I think a poet is someone who has a heightened awareness of human nature and is on a different level of thinking and expressing his emotions compared to any other person.
My paper was then commented on by several students which made me think about my definition of what a poet is. The first student said that he believed that poets don't possess any more knowledge or intellect than that of the average person, but have a heightened sensory perception which allows them to see something in a different light. I do agree with this statement. I could see how it is more of a heightened sense of your surroundings rather than just intellect in general. The second student brought up the fact that the comment made by the previous student is a core arguement for the 'meaning' of a poet. He pointed out that how is it possible to assume that a poet knows more about everything, therefore making him a true poet? He too says that there is a better sense of awareness in certain people and that makes them a poet. The last student agreed moreso with my original thought. She felt that poets definitely are a mental step ahead of others around them and see things that the average people don't. She wrote that poets may be on drugs, have pshycological problems or anything else, but something that alters their frame of mind from that of a normal human being.
After reading these comments, I would have to say that poets do have a heightened sense of awareness to their emotions rather than intellect in general that make them a poet. Their ability to connect with things around them and express that is the workings of a poet. I agree with all these students comments in some way but I do think that my original thought is still my belief of what a poet is: a person with a heightened awareness of human nature and who has a higher level of thinking to be able to express this awareness in a unique way. |
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| Canto 1 of Don Juan |
[Oct. 29th, 2006|08:12 pm] |
After reading the rest of the Canto 1 of Don Juan, I would have to say that I enjoyed this piece of literature. Byron wrote this selection very well and it definitely kept me entertained. The way which he introduces all the characters and basically puts the poem into these rhyming stanzas makes it very enjoyable to read. I found the actual set up of the poem to be very favorable. I liked how Byron seperated the events into stanzas, almost like each stanza was a different chapter in this 'book' about Don Juan and the romantic trouble he gets into. I especially enjoyed how Byron was able to uphold rhyming throughout the entire selection. Not only did it give all the words a smooth flow to them, it made it more enticing to read. As for the plot itself, Byron did well in keeping a reader interested. The entire situation of Don Juan being interested in an older married woman and their attempts to keep their attraction for each other secret gave the story quite a plot.
As for Johnny Depp's portrayal of Don Juan, I too found this to be funny and enjoyable. The movie gave the plot a more comical twist, and put a spin to any situation that Don Juan was put in. The scenes of the movie flowed just like the stanzas of the poem which helped it resemble the words of Byron more. All in all, Byron wrote a light and easy read as well as as interesting piece of work. Also, Johnny Depp's portrayal of this character brought Don Juan and his mischief to life. |
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| Rime of the Ancient Mariner |
[Oct. 19th, 2006|12:52 pm] |
Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner was an interesting and unique poem to read. The poet definitely showed where he inserts the supernatural into his writing. Reading the poem, I felt like the theme of the poem was surrounded around the idea of moral wrongdoing and the effects it will have on you. When the mariner killed that albatross for absolutely no reason, and then continued to place it on his neck, everything went completely downhill. He was basically cast in a world of loneliness because of his malicious act and is left with no one but himself. He spends many lonely days and becomes extremely dejected. Finally, the mariner begins to realize that everything in nature has its place and needs to be appreciated. Nothing deserves to be treated the way the mariner treated that albatross. Once the mariner realizes this, his endless journey that we really do not know the true length of finally comes to an end.
Because of the occurences in the poem and the fact that the mariner is brought back into the cycle of life after he realizes what a wrong thing he did is why I believe that the point of the poem is wrongdoing and the consequences of it. After killing the albatross, his life went completely downhill. I think that the albatross can be substituted for anything in someone's life that they misuse or maliciously act towards for no given reason. And because of this action, it takes them away from the cycle of society and into their own dejected world. Coleridge is trying to show the consequences of such actions, but he takes it a step further and adds the supernatural feel to the poem.
I think the theme of this poem is very true and maybe even relates to Christianity as far as sinning and how it will bring your life down. I like how Coleridge chose to show this idea through the killing of an innocent animal and a man's initial inability to understand that nature has a purpose in this world too and is not there for the destroying of inconsiderate others. |
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| "I wandered lonely as a Cloud" |
[Oct. 13th, 2006|01:32 pm] |
This week on Wednesday, I had to do my poetry reading of William Wordsworth's "I wandered lonely as a Cloud". I had originally come across this poem in high school and found it to be very interesting. Sometimes, a poem does not have to be overly complex and obscure-thought provoking for it to be a great poem to me. I loved the light tone in which the poem was written and all the bright and happy imagery that I experienced while reading the poem. That is why I had chosen this poem to further analyze and read to the class for my assignment.
Until I had to read Dorothy Wordsworth's "Grasmere Journals", I had no idea that this was where the whole idea of the daffodils had come from. They had encountered a beautiful sight of daffodils and looked in awe of the view. It was interesting to see how Dorothy had written these daffodils to look like and how much William took this idea, embellished upon it and made it into this beautiful poem. Getting two different perspectives, one through narrative form and another through a more imaginitive poem, was a neat way to experience in my mind the sight that they laid their eyes upon.
One concept that Wordsworth uses with writing this poem is the idea of sublime. This is where there is something awe-insipiring or majestic that can be seen in the poem. For Wordsworth, he used nature to show this concept. For this poem, it was obviously the daffodils that he was describing the beauty of. He wrote of how their dancing beauty seemed to stretch for ever and ever. Then, he writes of how now when he is alone and has nothing but his thoughts, his mind always brings him back to the image of those glorious daffodils and how much happiness it gave him to be in their prescence. This is truly something sublime. Wordsworth was so much in awe of the sight that it will never leave his long term memory and he can go back and revisit it whenever his soul needs to experience a sense of happiness and joy. |
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| Bride and Prejudice |
[Sep. 29th, 2006|10:18 am] |
Yesterday afternoon, I saw 'Bride and Prejudice'. Before I get into any kind of analysis with the film, I would have to say that I enjoyed it. First, I loved how the Indian culture and dancing was completely incorporated into the movie because I find India to be beautiful as well as the interesting culture of it. I enjoyed all the 'dance numbers' and singing. The movie was quite funny, even though at times it was cheesy. It definitely is a good movie to watch to get a bit of a different spin on an old-time favorite book like 'Pride and Prejudice'.
There were several ways that the film deviated from the book. First, there were only four sisters in the movie while there are five in the book. That was the first thing I saw. The background of each character also deviated from the plot line of the book. For example, in the movie, we find out that Darcy allegedly fired Wickham after his mother, Darcy's nanny, had passed away. Therefore, Darcy left Wickham with nothing. We of course find out that this is not true. But in the book, the story line is that Darcy denied Wickham what Darcy's father originally intended for Wickham in his will. Another deviation related to this is the truth between Darcy's sister and Wickham. In the movie, he actually got her pregnant when she was 16. It is understandble why something like that would not be in the book because those types of things were probably unspoken of at the time if the female was not wed. One more straying from the book I noticed was the scene when Lolita learns of Wickham's past. In the book, Elizabeth learns the truth of Wickham through a letter from Mr. Darcy. In the movie, Darcy comes to her home and tells her everything. I guess it would make more sense to have them face to face because a movie is more visually stimulating.
There were of course similarities between the movie and the book, even if they were not exactly the same. The film verson of Mrs. Bennet was just as gossipy and eager to marry off her daughters to the richest suitor. Mr. Bennet was the more relaxed of the two just as in the book. I felt that the awkward relationship of Elizabeth and Darcy in the book could definitely be seen in the movie. Their love/hate relationship was portrayed very accurately. It began with a disliking of Darcy by Lolita for his arrogance and judgements. Slowly, Darcy began to become extremely interested in her, but she did not seem to be phased by it. Eventually, their situation came to the peak when he asked her to marry him but she refused. Then ultimately, the two ended up together. The quirky and hostile relationship of these two characters in the book came across quite well in the movie, or at least I think so.
All in all, 'Bride and Prejudice' was an entertaining movie. Of course if the viewer is looking for something that completely parallels Austen's book, this would not be the movie to watch. Nonetheless, it gives an interesting spin to a book that we all know and love. |
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| Austen and dialogue |
[Sep. 28th, 2006|08:21 am] |
After class on Monday, something that someone said struck me enough to write an entry on it. Someone mentioned how a major way in which the reader finds out the personalities of the characters as well as the plot is through the dialogue of the characters moreso than Austen just narrating the events. I never had thought of that until I stopped and analyzed the reading.
The book begins with Mrs.Bennet setting up the plot where a wealthy man, Mr. Bingley,has come to town and how much she would love him to meet her daughters. Through her conversation with Mr. Bennet, we learn of her gossipy and social character, and we see that Mr. Bennet is more on the sarcastic side. That is just the beginning ways in which Austen uses the conversations of her characters to get all her points across in the book rather than have a narrator tell the story in third person.
Another scene in which Austen uses this concept is when after Elizabeth shoots down Mr.Darcy's wedding proposal, he gives her a letter. In this letter, the reader learns all about the reason why Mr. Darcy sort of "broke up" Jane and Mr. Bingley. Not only that, we learn the entire history of Mr. Wickham and his schemes. Instead of just having a narrator describe the events in third person, Austen adds a unique touch by making everything happen through dialogue. It is a great approach to writing and made reading the book more interesting for me. |
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| Reading for Friday |
[Sep. 21st, 2006|02:23 pm] |
I wanted to stop by and leave a few comments about the reading through Chapter 31 that we have to do for tomorrow's class. Personally, this set of chapters is the least interesting part of the book to me. Basically, in this section of the book, Austen gets into her various subplots of the book and steers away from Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's relations, or lack thereof. Granted, some of the plot lines are interesting but I just love reading where Darcy and Elizabeth encounter each other and the banter that ensues.
First, we learn that after Elizabeth's refusal to marry Mr. Collins, he and her friend, Charlotte Lucas make plans to wed. That seemed like the most random thing to happen, but I guess it makes sense. He was looking for a wife and if neither Elizabeth nor her sisters would do for him, he just went for Charlotte instead. This definitely leaves Elizabeth a little mad, and it is strange to think that one day her friend will be the lady of her family's estate, now that she has married the man who will inherit it after the death of Mr. Bennet.
We also come to find out that Mr. Bingley has left and does not plan on coming back to town for quite some time. This leaves Jane in much distraught so she goes to stay with the Gardiners in London. Also, Elizabeth starts to take a liking in Mr. Wickham which does not work out because he has supposedly become interested in a woman by the name of Ms. King. Elizabeth does note that she obviously did not love him because it was not that hard for her to accept that future plans with him would not work out after all. She then eventually goes to visit Charlotte and her husband Mr. Collins in their home, even though she really does not want to.
Of all the random subplots that develop in these chapters, the one I liked the most was during Elizabeth's visit to the Collins. This was when they were invited to dinner by Lady Catherine De Borough. The entire dinner conversation was something that I just found hilarious. First of all, Lady Catherine is the biggest snob of a woman ever, and she definitely does not hide that fact. She assumes that Elizabeth and her sisters were very neglected children because they did not have a governess, which is sort of true, but not to the extent that Lady Catherine makes it seem like. Then when asking Elizabeth how old she is, Elizabeth does not answer her in a straightforward manner, something that Miss de Borough is obviously not used to. If I could have, I would have given Elizabeth a high five for that one(Im a dork, I know)because she completely showed Lady Catherine up and didn't take the rudeness that was given to her.
This section of reading definitely had a lot of subplots and only at the end of it did Mr. Darcy come into play where he and Elizabeth shared some banter. Of course, my favorite parts of the book are all the interactions between those two so I am biased. That's the only reason why I found this part of the reading not as enjoyable, but still comical nonetheless. |
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| Regency House Party |
[Sep. 19th, 2006|04:49 pm] |
Before class on Monday, I had never heard that there was this documentary/special called Regency House Party. If I had, I would have definitely watched it by now. The idea of relationships as well as the courting process itself in society during the time period of Pride and Prejudice is something that I find very interesting. It is quite a bit different than the dating process now and very intriguing to analyze.
Back then, I guess it is safe to say that things were much more simple. As a base for any potential relationship, one's social status made all the difference. Like Pride and Prejudice points out, a wealthy single man must be in want of a wife, and not only that, but a single woman is looking for a wealthy single man to wed. Not to say that wealth does not make a difference in our world today, but I do not believe that it is absolutely essential in an effective and successful relationship. The show definitely points out the importance of social status as it goes into detail of every person, what kind of money they have, and what kind of chances they have at finding 'love' because of their accrued or inherited wealth.
I really enjoyed watching this show and I hope that we are able to watch more of it in class because I would actually want to see the courting process take place. I want to see how 'going on dates' or whatnot was done back then. I would like to see how much the social status of each person played a part in what kind of person of the opposite sex was interested in them. The entire concept is just something that I find very interesting to watch. |
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| Pride and Prejudice |
[Sep. 17th, 2006|11:18 pm] |
After reading the first twelve chapters of Pride and Prejudice, I can safely say I am very excited that this class is studying that book. I have read the book before and absolutely loved it. Of course, being a female probably helped significantly. I love all the characters and their unique personalities like Mr. Bingley's warm personality, Elizabeth's strong character, and Mr. Darcy's initial 'too good for anyone' aura. It is in a way quirky how badly Mrs. Bennet wants to marry off her daughters, but back in those days, it was completely legitimate. Daughters needed to be married off to good suitors, and it was especially important for a mother if she had five daughters as Mrs. Bingley does to find men to marry them.
I am excited for us to talk about it in class as well as hear the opinions of my classmates. |
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| "January, 1795" |
[Sep. 15th, 2006|03:13 pm] |
The most interesting piece that we have had to read this week was "January, 1795". At least for me it was. As soon as I started reading it, I enjoyed the repetitive rhyming and flow of the poem. For starters, I liked that the language and word choice was not hard to understand at all. When I read poetry, I like to know what is actually being said, not necesarrily always be critically thinking to figure out the theme that is being portrayed. For just that reason, I already favored this poem.
The theme of unfairness in society and the lack of opportunites that honest people are given is something that I agree with, and it was definitely evident in the late 18th century. The poem begins with an image of the slippery roads, sick people who walk them, the freezing homeless people, and geniuses that are starving. Just with this stanza, you can already tell that the poem has a gloomy tone to it. Next, the poet writes of the big and warm mansions as well as the soldiers who are out fighting and dying. The poem ends with speaking of the hardworking and truthful men who cannot rise any higher in society, and the scoundrels who are not shy to lie their way to the top.
In each stanza, one thing counteracts another. This works to show the hypocrisy in society. The elite few have everything they want and even more while everyone else struggles so hard but cannot seem to accrue any kind of decent living. The people who are honest and work for what they get sometimes cannot reach their goals but the people who scheme their way through life are somehow able to. I would definitely have to agree with that statement. I would say that it was probably more prevalent in society back then because people have much more opportunities now. Those who are honest have room to succeed as well. All in all, I enjoyed reading this poem because I found the message of it to be interesting. |
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| Progress of Women in Society |
[Sep. 6th, 2006|07:33 pm] |
Reading the internet selection that Professor Kimberly assigned to us about "Women's Status in Mid 19th Century England" got me thinking. In all truthfulness, never have I realized just how far women have come in the last one hundred and fifty years or so. Here I am at Georgia Tech, studying and gaining experience so that I have the future ability to support myself financially, and a hundred years back, something like this for a woman could not even be imagined. It is very strange to think about the idea that I very well could have been born a century ago and would be living a completely different life. There would be no college in my future. My life would basically revolve around the plan of finding a husband, having kids, and being a suitable and obidient wife. Now, in no way do I criticize the idea and values of a family, it just seems as though the women back then really had no other choice. There will be one day when I settle down and have a family as well, but because of the opportunities that are given to me and other females of this era likewise, we have the ability to pursue our own dreams first and realize who we are before we begin to settle down.
Reading about how men basically own their wives after they are wed definitely surprised me. It did not so much surprise me that this was society at the time, but moreso that somehow logic was found in all this. It is initially ridiculous to think that a woman did not have grounds to divorce her husband if he cheated, but thinking about it, it makes sense. Once a woman married, she belonged to her groom. Basically, the man could do absolutely anything he wanted, which the article explains such as spending his wife's money on prostitutes and such. Therefore, the woman would have nowhere to go even if she did divorce her husband because he owned everything she had. In general, it just seems like this time period consists of men who do as they please, and women who follow the man's every word because they are dependent on a man to live a suitable life.
Of course this blog may not be as much of an interest to the guys of the class because in society, man usually has the more powerful role and it might be a little harder for them to understand what any of this might be like for a woman. I mean, I am a girl and I cannot imagine having to live life this way! Although I am proud to say that women are definitely taking steps to change that and show that we too, are a key factor in society and the innerworkings of it. |
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| Entry 1 |
[Aug. 31st, 2006|02:07 pm] |
Following the class discussion on "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell", I decided to pull out my favorite proverbs from Hell and analyze them more. Hearing everyone's opinions on the various proverbs made me want to further write on the topic matter in my journal.
The first proverb that I want to write about is "What is now proved was once, only imagin'd". To me, this means that what once was only dreamt and thought of, now can actually be seen and done. This is definitely true in everything that is around us, especially in the technological sense. The thought of space travel was once only an idea. As time has progressed, the imaginations of many people made it possible for the travel and study of space. Before Christopher Columbus sailed the seas in search of new land, it could only have been thought of. Possible land across the oceans was something that was not proven until people set out to do so. This proverb is timeless because there will always be concepts that we now can only imagine that are eventually proved in the future, even if it is not in our lifetime.
The next proverb that I found interesting is “He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence”. Even though many of the students in the class brought this proverb up, I too found it true so I want to discuss it. The irony is definitely present as the Proverbs of Hell contain such wise words about acting on one’s desires. We as people, are only given one life here on Earth and with this life, we have many desires that we would like to fulfill. Sometimes, we are too scared or not courageous enough to chase after these desires. According to the proverb, the choice to hide our desires is the worst decision we can make. We must be able to go after what we want, especially if we want it bad enough. I completely agree with the point that this proverb is presenting. There is no purpose of our life if we shy away from anything we want. Therefore, we never reach our full potential unless we wholeheartedly go after what we want.
The last proverb I want to discuss is “If others had not been foolish, we should be so.” These wise words are something that people must pay attention to. Even though life is about making mistakes and growing from those mistakes, some things can always be avoided. When looking at the mistakes of the people in the past, we are given the possibility to learn from their misfortunes so as to not put ourselves in the same situation. This must be viewed as an opportunity. The progression of people in general stems from the fact that we learn from the others that lived before us on effective and ineffective ways to do something or make decisions. In history, we learn from the mistakes of other countries that maybe entered a war blindly and were not prepared enough to defend themselves. Military definitely studies the successes and failures in the past to avoid making the same mistakes. All in all, this proverb just addresses that fact that we must learn from everything that has come before us to not repeat the same misfortunes. |
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