Reflection

What I really enjoyed learning about this first semester is how to analyze the film interpretations of Hamlet and how they go about to communicate themes and symbols. I like the fact that we were studying the play through a different medium so that we were able to analyze it in different perspectives. We were able to look at the light settings, the camera focus on faces or objects, a clearer understanding of hushed speech, and what the camera excluded from its focus to understand the film director's interpretation of the play. What I also enjoyed this semester is reading T.S. Eliot's poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock. Even though I wasn't in class to learn about the poem, I was able to understand that the poem talks about the complexity of the modern man and the obsession with time. I haven't fully understood the poem yet, but it reminds me of similar works of literature like Yeats' Second Coming or Vonnegut's and Orwell's works that have a gloomy, but curious focus on the complexity of man in the early 20th century. And yes, I do like to read about early 20th century works that have that kind of perception on the complexity and grandeur of man.

Performance Choices

Though I was not there for the performances of Hamlet, I really like Ashkan's approach in playing Hamlet. Compared to other portrayals of Hamlet, he acted with a much more casual, yet cautious tone, as if he was aware of the king as his adversary, and he intended to hide his true emotions(though I do not know if that was Ashkan's intention). But, if I had the chance to act in this scene(Act I Scene II), I would play Hamlet with a much more sinister tone, similar to the language of Branagh's or Doran's Hamlet. I would use the sinister, lively tone and subtly witty language, along with a physical and emotional detachment from the king and queen, that would perfectly lead Hamlet to emotionally release and reveal to the audience his emotional volatility and fragmented thoughts in his soliloquy.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Some of the literary features that make this poem an extraordinary reading are the complexity and fragmentation that frequently occur throughout the poem. In this poem focused on time, the speaker narrates with a stream of consciousness, suggesting that he presents his thoughts and emotions without clarity nor organization.Though the reader must be knowledgeable of all the literary references Eliot includes in his poem, Eliot presents these literary allusions in anachronistic order to demonstrate the complexity and fragmentation the literary mind throughout time(though not the only reason).
In the third stanza, the narrator personifies the lingering yellow fog as a stray animal comfortably living in the lower city levels of industrial society. As yellow fog appears synonymous with poisonous gas(mustard gas, to be precise;possibly a reminder of the tragic WWI) and, hence, alludes to approaching death, the contradiction between the yellow gas and the connotation of its actions as warm and comfortable add to the complexity of the modern man. To further complicate the modern man and add to the fragmentation of the poem, in the fourth stanza, the speaker mentions the seemingly irrelevant pairs of words "toast and tea", "yellow smoke", and "murder and create". Though the combination of these words in one stanza communicates to the reader the elements and possibility of time, the words,nonetheless, form a fragmented mirror that distorts and complicates the view of the chaotic, modern world.

An Overview of Passages and Important Words

"loose and fishmonger"
Acting as the King's spy, Polonius demonstrates no respect towards his daughter in considering on "loosing" her to Hamlet. His words imply her to be a caged animal under her master's bidding and held without freedom of movement or will. To refer to using his daughter as loosing an animal, specially to spy on Hamlet, belittles and degrades Ophelia.
"To be or not to be"
Remembered and honored for its potency, this phrase deserves to be uttered with moderate pauses to emphasize Hamlet's fragmented and fractured state of mind. This rhetorical question that Hamlet repeatedly asks himself throughout his soliloquy demonstrates his confusion and emotional suffering brought on by the recent death of his father and his mother's marriage to his uncle Claudius, now crowned as King. His powerful, rhetoric words illustrate the intensity of his bewildered thoughts.
"St. Valentine's"
Her mind completely fractured, Ophelia wanders in her speech and mentions the thought of St. Valentine's as a joyous, romantic occasion for a young couple. Unfortunately, she believes she no longer has the opportunity to experience a romantic wonder with Hamlet. I imagine Ophelia uttering St. Valentine's with a tone of despair, hopelessness, and wanting.
"Give me some light"(Emphasis on "light")
Overwhelmed with the familiarity of the play's plot, the King momentarily succumbs to the guilt of his murder, his assumption of the crown and throne with bloody hands. As his guilt nearly overwhelms him, he demands the people to leave in order to regain his composure and hide any physical signs of his guilt. His words can be understood as figurative language, to ironically focus the audience's attention to the guilty King when he demands to be alone or the somber, dark conscience of the King.
"the play's the thing"
Confused by the recent knowledge he obtained about the murder of his father, Hamlet declares the play as the snare or light that will reveal and confirm whether or not Claudius murdered Hamlet's father for the throne. With the iambic pentameter having stressed(play's,thing) and unstressed(the,the) syllables, I imagine Hamlet speaking these words fluidly and wittily, with a touch of humor.

Figurative Language in Hamlet

As I mentioned last week in my blog, in literature, figurative language works to expand meanings and ideas beyond the literal sense; a writer may communicate images to highlight an aspect in the story and its relation to other characters or themes. In Hamlet, Shakespeare focuses on the sense of touch to communicate the pain and emotions of a grieving Laertes, "O heat, dry up my brains! tears seven times salt,/ Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye!" Clearly, the intensity of the metaphorical heat communicates to the reader the intensity of the grief Laertes experiences over the fractured state of mind his sister Ophelia has gone through. This metaphor also serves as an exaggeration as the intensity of the grief appears to overwhelm his thoughts. In another example, Hamlet employs a metaphor to expand beyond the literal meaning,"His purse is empty already; all 's golden words are spent". Though very much resembling a common saying, this phrase serves as a metaphor that connects the idea of words and speech with value(i.e. monetary).

Claudius and Laertes

In Act IV Scene VI, though Laertes appears infuriated and vengeful for the recent death of his father Polonius, Claudius subtly directs his words to appeal to Laertes' emotions to manipulate him and encourage him to kill Hamlet. At first, Claudius convinces Laertes that he holds no blame for the death of Polonius, despite the fact that he at first witholds the information that Hamlet killed Laertes' father. Claudius attempts to charm Laertes with benevolence and have Laertes trust him in these serious circumstances, claiming that he should "put me in your heart for friend". He attempts to appeal to the emotions of Claudius, even questioning Laertes if his father was dear to him, or if he was "like the painting of a sorrow" and not actually having remorse or grief over his father's death. By appealing to Laertes' emotions and persuading him to follow Claudius' desires with his love of his father as his motivation, Claudius clearly manipulates Laertes and directs his anger away from himself and towards Hamlet.

Hamlet's Attack on his Mother

In Act III of scene IV, the audience first witnesses the direct harshness and verbal abuse Hamlet directs towards his mother and his hatred for her immoral marriage to his uncle after the recent death of Hamlet's father. Hamlet considers the relationship between husband and wife to be strong even after death, and perceives the quickness of his mother's marriage as an immoral, selfish act that would "have my father much offended." He attempts to remind her of the love his father and she shared for each other before his death and harshly criticizes her for simply disregarding their love through her quick act of marriage, calling her "your husband's brother's wife". With this title, Hamlet reminds the Queen of the emotionally and personally strong relation she had for Hamlet's father and the immoral incest she's involved in after the death of the previous king. To further criticize her for her impurity and failure to grieve for her husband, Hamlet emphasizes the details of her immoral engagement with her husband's brother, claiming her love life is as if living "In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,/ Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love/ Over the nasty sty." With such graphic and dirty details, Hamlet compares the Queen's love life with her husband's brother to a wild animal's life, filled with dirty, vile impurity.

Sounds & Rhymes, Rhymes and Sounds

In literature, writers often focus on the sense of sound to help readers understand and see details of an object or an event occuring in the story, such as the roar of raging ocean tides. The most common forms of communicating sounds are onomatopoeia, rhyme schemes, internal and end rhymes, assonance, and alliteration. With these literary devices, a narrator may also appeal to the audience's emotions towards calm, smooth sounds and harsh, screeching, abrupt sounds. These connections are used to relate to a characteristic of an object, event, or theme, or to bring to the audience's attention a certain phrase or topic. In Frost's poem "Out, Out-", the snarling of the buzz-saw depicts a vivid, harsh sounding, predatory machine. Beyond depicting a vivid imagery, the word establishes the personification of the buzz-saw. In Shakespeare's play "Hamlet", to demonstrate his sinister tone, the Ghost of Hamlet's father uses alliteration and assonance, "Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres". The Ghost talks in a sinister tone to portray to the audience and Hamlet the cruelty and fright the afterlife holds for the dead.

Hamlet Essay: Working Conclusion

Throughout the play, Hamlet's subtle, witty remarks coincide with King Claudius' royal, reverential, yet fake language in that both characters conceal their intentions and ambitions whenever in the presence of other characters. Yet, Hamlet's short burts of language in his soliloquies onstage is permeated with emotion and reflects his disfragmented order of thought. In these scenes he reveals to the audience his true ambitions and motivations that are hinted only subtly in public. On the other hand, Claudius' lengthy, reverential language reflects his attempt to develop the facade of being a dominant, ideally paternal king who rules without association with manners that taint his royal purity, like the murder of the previous king. Hamlet's short, yet fragmented language juxtaposes Claudius' lengthy, calm language, in which Claudius deceitfully conceals his ambitions and intentions of ruling as king, even with bloodied hands.

Symbolism and Theme

Symbolism is a literary device in which a setting, event, or object is included in a story to represent a meaning beyond its literal meaning. Often, these meanings are related to the theme, which offers the main idea or belief of the story. In Yeats' poem "The Second Coming", the sphinx serves as the frequently mentioned symbol of the apocalyptic world of humanity. Depicted as a grandiose figure, the sphinx is more than merely a mythical, ancient statue; the sphinx is "born" along with the apocalyptic world after WWI and hence the poem suggests that the sphinx serves as the portrayal of a new, destructive, and terrifying figure part of Spiritus Mundi. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, a theme that frequently shows up throughout its scenes is the double layer of character, deceit. Most of the characters in Shakespeare's play develop an appearance or conceal a secret or trait from others, and then they reveal their ambitions, motives, or true character in soliloquies or in other forms. For instance, in the first Act, the Ghost of Hamlet's father reveals to Hamlet and the audience that "The serpent that did sting thy father's life/Now wears his crown", suggesting that the serpent Claudius deceived the royal family and the King's people in the death of the previous King of Denmark. Moreover, the quick marriage of Gertrude to Claudius after the recent death of Hamlet's father indicates that she does not hold loyalty and love for Hamlet's father for long, contrary to the belief of the Ghost and Hamlet, who see her quick marriage as an act of betrayal and deception.

In Shakespeare's dramatic play Hamlet, Claudius and Hamlet intertwine their ambitions and emotions into the structure of the royal language in which they speak. As the newly, recently crowned King of Denmark, Claudius attempts to develop his image as the new dominant monarch of the kingdom and father of the royal family. He heavily inflates his dominant, superior image through his elongated speeches, which demonstrate that underneath the thick layer of royal, reverential language, the new king is concealing his true ambitions and emotions. On the other hand, the mournful Hamlet reveals a much more complex pattern of speech, in public and in private. When surrounded by other people, his entire speeches consists of little words that hint at his emotions at the moment;yet in soliloquies, his phrases are short with multiple interruptions, often demonstrating his bewildered and contrary thoughts and emotions at the moment. Hence, though Hamlet and Claudius conceal their ambitions and emotions in reverential, complex royal language, Hamlet's short phrases reveal his emotional bursts of bewildering thoughts whereas Claudius' lengthy speeches develop Claudius' facade as a dominant king and father.

While Hamlet reveals his fractured, bewildered state of mind in his fractured soliloquy, the King calmly enforces his image as the new authoritative figure and father through his excessively respectful and royal language. In his first opportunity to be alone onstage, Hamlet demonstrates to the audience his bewildered and roused thoughts and emotions mourning his father's death. As revealed through his exclamatory and abrupt phrases, Hamlet's speech portrays his uncontrollable emotions, "Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd/ His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!"(1.2.131-132). Exaggerating his likeness towards suicide, Hamlet demonstrates the torturous pain that his father's death is causing him. His short exclamations for the Lord correspond with the grievous loss of his father and the quick marriage of his mother to his uncle. While Hamlet grieves in private, the King attempts to develop his false image as the new, exemplary authoritative figure and father. Much to the chagrin of Hamlet, King Claudius emphasizes the paternal qualities he demonstrates for Hamlet as his son, "And with no less nobility of love/ Than that which dearest father bears his son,/ Do I impart toward you"(1.2.110-112). Despite the fact that Hamlet is his nephew, he ignores the parental relationship Hamlet's father had with Hamlet and embraces Hamlet as his son. Through his royal, reverential language, King Claudius portrays his relationship to Hamlet as an exemplary, loving. paternal relationship.

Figurative Language

Writers use figurative language to derail their pieces of writing from monotonous, literal language to metaphorical, imaginative language that communicates ideas and feelings beyond the denotation of words. To use figurative language is to communicate the story to the reader through means of senses, exaggeration and connotation of words, and other similar means. Some common examples of figurative language are metaphors, personifications, similes, and hyperboles. In the dramatic play Hamlet, Shakespeare frequently utilizes figurative language to add to the mood and tone of the scenes and to further help the reader familiarize himself with the plot and circumstances in the scenes. For instance, to describe Hamlet's supposed reaction to the afterlife, the Ghost of his father affirms that Hamlet's hair would stand stiff "like quills upon the fretful porpentine." Through the addition of a simile, Shakespeare's play communicates to the reader a sharper, distinct image of Hamlet's hair standing sharply stiff and emphasizes the fear that Hamlet would experience if he were to be told of the afterlife.

Settings

In many plays, poems, and novels, the setting is the literary device that serves as the first platform for the reader to land upon before he interacts with the story. The setting involves the introduction of the time and place in which the plot takes place, along with the social and political circumstances surrounding the environment and its inhabitants. To develop a setting is to help the reader familiarize himself with the environment and its mood and the circumstances the characters experience. In Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, the setting is an eighteenth century rural English village, where families encourage the female youth to romance and court with the wealthy, young, socially active and revered men. In this type of setting, the reader views the social circumstances as humorous, once the author develops her satirical portrayal of this society. However, in Shakespeare's Hamlet, the setting is much more dark and ominous, as the story begins with the mourning of the previous king of Denmark. The play develops mostly in the estate of the royal family at a time before the sixteenth century.

Speech: Hamlet V Claudius

Throughout Act I of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet's speech patterns convey similarities to those of Claudius in that both attempt to conceal ambitions and emotions. For Hamlet in public, his language appears to restrain his emotions at the moment, rather only hinting at them through subtle sarcasm or humor. For Claudius, his speech patterns reflect his attempt to create his image as the new dominant, authoritative king of Denmark, whilst attempting to conceal his motives and ambitions, including the murder of his brother, the previous King of Denmark. In addition, his language leans too heavily on the proper mannerism of the royal language and the use of the royal "we", further suggesting that he wants to develop his image as a dominant monarch and that he is quite self-absorbed in his actions. On the other hand, in private, Hamlet speaks in fragmented speeches, with multiple interruptions from his bewildered thoughts, suggesting the dominant control his emotions have over his words once unrestrained.

Intro for Hamlet

In Shakespeare's dramatic play Hamlet, Claudius and Hamlet intertwine their ambitions and emotions into the structure of the royal language in which they speak. As the newly, recently crowned King of Denmark, Claudius attempts to develop his image as the new dominant monarch of the kingdom and father of the royal family. He heavily inflates his dominant, superior image through his elongated speeches, which demonstrate that underneath the thick layer of royal, reverential language, the new king is concealing his true ambitions and emotions. On the other hand, the mournful Hamlet reveals a much more complex pattern of speech, in public and in private. When surrounded by other people, his entire speeches consists of little words that hint at his emotions at the moment;yet in soliloquies, his phrases are short with multiple interruptions, often demonstrating his bewildered and contrary thoughts and emotions at the moment. Hence, though Hamlet and Claudius conceal their ambitions and emotions in reverential, complex royal language, Hamlet's short phrases reveal his emotional bursts of bewildering thoughts whereas Claudius' lengthy speeches develop Claudius' facade as a dominant king and father.

Characters

In a play or a novel, characters play the essential role of developing and progressing the plot and the structure of the story. The interaction between characters leads to conflict among one another, and these external conflicts drive the plot. To develop the characters, the narrator often does so through direct or indirect characterization to reveal their personalities and opinions through actions. Or, the character may reveal his personality, or perhaps his perception of his own personality, through a soliloquy in a play, where he is often alone to speak.
In Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth remains in conflict with another character, Mr. Darcy, and the several dialogues between the two conflicting characters develops the conflicting personalities and opinions of the two. Ultimately, Elizabeth experiences an epiphany about her perception of Mr. Darcy with the help of other minor characters. She realizes that she allowed her prejudice to immediately convey her opinion of Mr. Darcy without considering the motives behind his actions. By the end of the novel, Elizabeth appears to have matured in her relationship with Mr. Darcy. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the play helps develop Hamlet's character through the dialogue between the King and him. Throughout the dialogue, Hamlet sarcastically replies towards the new King(his uncle), showing disgust for the King's assumption of the throne in a mere two month's after the previous King's death. Afterwards, the play introduces Hamlet's soliloquy, which demonstrates Hamlet's hidden, dramatic responses to the current events and reveals to the audience the private perspective of Hamlet.

Hamlet:Act I- Claudius' Speech

In Act I of Hamlet, the play introduces the recently crowned King of Denmark Claudius with a slight confrontation between Hamlet and him. Though Claudius briefly respects the mourning of the death of the last king, he disrespects the last king's throne through his marriage to the queen, who was his sister in marriage before being king. Throughout his speech, Claudius calmly commands an authoritative atmosphere as befitting a king, as if he had assumed and controlled the position of king for quite some time. In response to Hamlet's mourning, he assumes the position as father to Hamlet and claims his "paternal" love for his son. He uses this newfound relationship as reason to demand Hamlet's stay in Denmark and not to travel back to school in Wittenburg. In short, his speech highlights the new king's attempt to appear dominant and smoothly assume the role of the king and his relationship to the kingdom and the royal family.

Structures for a Compare/Contrast Essay

Two styles of writing in which I am interested in using in a compare and contrast essay are the "element-based" and the "text-based" styles. For this blog post, I will be typing it with the text-based style in order to compare these two styles. An "element-based" compare and contrast essay consists of body paragraphs that focus on different elements of two pieces of work (i.e. diction, tone, and style). In each body paragraph, the writer focuses on one element from the two works and compares and contrasts their usage or development in each work. I view this style as the much more direct one since the purpose of a compare and contrast essay is to easily demonstrate the comparisons and contrasts of different pieces of work. Even though this style of writing typically has clear organization, the element-based essay is much more difficult to plan.
For a "text-based" essay, the body paragraphs must focus on each of the pieces of works individually. The first body paragraph must focus on the text and elements of the first piece of work, and the second body paragraph must do the same for the second piece of work. In the third body paragraph, unless the writer includes more paragraphs for each text, the writer then combines the elements of two pieces of works he is focusing on and compares and contrasts them. This type of essay structure can be difficult to use effectively since the writer delays the comparison and contrasts of the works for two paragraphs or more. Moreover, the third paragraph may be read as the simple repetition of the ideas found in the body paragraphs before it and thereby would weaken the essay if the writer does not pay attention.
Both of these styles have their advantages and disadvantages for different types of writers. For the person who loves to flush out their ideas and focus on each work individually, the text-based essay would be ideal for her. For the person who loves to be succinct, yet clear in the development of their ideas, the element-based essay would be ideal for her. Yet, these two styles involve the analysis of the basic elements that make up a piece of work and their importance in the piece. For the final comparison and contrast of the two pieces of works, the two styles of writing may be similar. The text-based style may differ from the element-based one if the writer chooses to reference an aforementioned quote in his essay in his third paragraph. Or, the text-based style may be similar to the element-based one if the writer introduces new quotes that still help analyze the elements he is comparing and contrasting between the works.

Blog on Plot

A plot is the skeleton of a novel that connects the events and characters together throughout the novel. A plot consists of an exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. In Pride and Prejudice, the exposition consists of the introduction of the Bennet family and the recent arrival of Mr. Bingley at town. In the exposition, the novel introduces the characters' interests and personalities and behavior towards others. After the exposition comes the rising action, which begins upon the first major interaction between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, who Elizabeth portrays as a conceited, ill-mannered man. The rising action includes a clash between characters' interests and opinions where conflict slowly develops. The novel reaches its climax when Elizabeth reads Mr. Darcy's letter about his attitude towards and perspective of Mr. Wickham and other recent issues; at this point, the protagonist Elizabeth Bennet realizes her false depiction of and prejudice against Mr. Darcy. As the falling action occurs, the characters take steps towards solving their conflicts and the plot begins to finish revealing the intertwinement of the events, the characters, and their ideas. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth gradually fall in love, and the risk of Lydia's damaging the family reputation through elopement without marriage has been avoided. At the denouement, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are engaged, along with Jane and Mr. Bingley, as the conflicts are resolved.

WoodChucks & Traveling through the Dark

In Kumin's poem "Woodchucks", the speaker holds a vengeful attitude towards the woodchucks in his garden. He views them as enemies destroying and conquering his property. Throughout the poem, the speaker satiates his thirst for superiority over nature's creatures while enjoying the thrill he gets from hunting the woodchucks. His shortened statements of the killings of the birds demonstrates no sympathy towards them. In contrast, in Stafford's poem "Traveling through the Dark", the speaker holds a momentary,tranquil, sympathetic moment with nature after the death of a pregnant doe. Throughout the poem, unlike the violent tone in Kumin's poem, the speaker's tone is gloomy and sympathetic, reflecting upon the deaths of a mother doe and her unborn fawn. Unlike the first speaker, The speaker in Stafford's poem understands the tranquil balance he interrupts within nature.

D.W. Harding

After reading a short piece of D.W. Harding's "Regulated Hatred", a work of analysis on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, I agree with one point he makes and disagree with another. According to Harding, Austen's work does not lean towards a strongly didactic satirical novel, but rather "a mode of existence for her critical attitudes." I agree with him because Austen develops each character with values or characteristics that she highlights as comical features. Yet, these features she demonstrates are the reflections of values from her own society during her time. She uses these characters(caricatures) as her means to criticize the complacency in her society. Yet, she refrains from exaggerating these features, though Mrs. Bennet would be the only character who seems to approach an extremely comical caricature.
I'd have to disagree with his point that Austen detests the characters she humorously exaggerates. Although she often remains very but subtly critical of her characters throughout Pride and Prejudice, we the readers do not have a clear indication of whether or not the author detests the people her characters are caricatures of. Austen does demonstrate a clear dislike for Mrs. Bennet and her simplicity, yet she uses light humor to criticize her characters rather than to assault the types of people they represent in her society.

Ideas to Improve My Essay

After getting back my first draft essay on the conflict between individuality and society, I noticed that I must address the following issues on my writing. First, a large problem that exists throughout my paragraphs is the wordiness and overuse of complex words for each sentence. I need to shorten these sentences into concise, clear ones in order to better communicate my ideas to the reader. Another clear problem is the vagueness on my thesis. Though I have had trouble putting my thesis into words, I should revise it in order to make it more understandable. The third problem with the essay is the lack of clear analysis or connection to the thesis afterwards in my body paragraphs. I should either add more analysis and connect them to the thesis(so that I don't simply present a quote and describe it,then move on), or replace my quotes with stronger ones that fit my thesis.

Working Draft on Individual vs. Society: Two Paragraphs for now

In a society, sets of moral and cultural codes exist as universally communicated standards for its people to abide to despite the codes' frequent intrusions and violations towards the individual's self-identity, privacy, and beliefs. For a society, these standards represent its interests and needs that benefit it and its people as a whole and disregard the opposing interests of individuals; rather, the status as ubiquitous standards encourages the backlash against the views that contradict society's. Yet, for the individual, social customs risk harming his individuality, his self-portrayal based on his characteristics, interests, actions, and beliefs. To contradict those codes would lead to condemnation and ostracization towards the individual.  But, despite being social beings wanting to help out their people and fearing ostracization, individuals should not relinquish their individuality entirely to the point where they merely follow what society tells them without forming opinions. Though to help a group society, individuals should partially abide to conformity, only to the extent to which their beliefs strongly contradict society's interests and preserve their identity. In Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, an eighteen century rural English society encourages young women to marry wealthy, genteel young men for the high social relations and wealth. In villages, the romantic and social scene of a ball encourages the courting of the young and wealthy. Yet, this interest in marrying for wealth, which families often encourage, leads to marriages without the consideration of love. However, the young Elizabeth Bennet asserts her individuality by refusing to marry simply for wealth and social relations, and she stands by her belief in marrying for love. Despite risking her socioeconomic status , Elizabeth saves herself for a loving, happy marriage. (rewrite thesis)Therefore, though conformity helps the needs of a group, it should be limited to the extent to which an individual's beliefs and interests outweigh the group's benefits and do not strongly contradict the group’s interests.

The social norm of marrying into wealth often dictates young women’s attitudes towards marriage without the consideration of the women’s beliefs. For the adult daughter of the Lucas family, Charlotte approaches the age at which she would not be as young as other women prime for marriage into wealth and the highly social English lifestyle. In desperation to find her partner, Charlotte quickly marries Mr. Collins for the sake of conformity, it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune”(Austen 85). Believing that marriage is the only success for young women, Charlotte completely conforms to social norms. She views marriage into wealth as economic security and thereby allows social norms to form her opinions on marriage. However, Elizabeth Bennet differs from Charlotte in her affinity to individuality. After Mr. Collins shockingly proposes to Elizabeth, Elizabeth stands by her belief in marrying for love rather than wealth, "You could not make me happy...in making me the offer, you must have satisfied the delicacy of your feelings with regard to my family, and may take possession of Longbourn estate...without any self-reproach"(Austen 74). Not only does Bennet assert her individuality in her refusal to marry based on the lack of love, but she also refuses to marry Mr. Collins to preserve her pride; she refuses to be manipulated into marriage simply to acquire her family's estate and to get rid of Mr. Collins' guilt. She decides not to be passive and conforming, but rather to be independent of social norms. In Charlotte's situation, although Charlotte conforms to the societal ideal of marriage, she manages to secure her lifestyle and socioeconomic status in her marriage to Mr. Collins with the jovial acceptance of her family; therefore, both conformity and independent interests are satisfied. Yet, in Elizabeth's case, Elizabeth's firm belief in love for marrying despite the societal pressure from her mother and acquaintances demonstrates the assertion of her own core beliefs needed in an individual to preserve their individuality and prevent social norms from completely overtaking it.

Ranking Essays

Using an essay rubric handed out during class, I ranked three sample essays today as I read the thesis, structure, evidence, analysis, and style of the essays. For the first essay, the thesis is very straightforward and understandable. Throughout the entire essay, the writer maintains a strong, logical structure with counterarguments sided along each other and smooth transitions between analyses and evidence. As a reader, I was able to read through the essay very easily thanks to its clear,smooth style of writing and the clear connections made between the analyses of evidence and the thesis. Using the rubric, I'd rank this essay as an A.
     For the second essay, the contents in the introduction was vague; the sentences before the thesis seem to be a longer re-phrase of the thesis with little detail and structured as a list. In the analyses, the writer makes some connections to the thesis, yet restate the thesis in counterarguments rather than going into deeper analysis.This essay receives a B.
      For the third essay, the writer includes mostly in his introduction an opposing technique writers generally do (" a formal introduction of characters"), and therefore puts less focus on his position. I immediately noticed grammatical errors that make the writer's ideas vague and generally difficult to communicate to the reader, too. As for the evidence, the writer introduced few examples throughout his essay. For the first body paragraphs, the writer analyzes portions of the novel without specific evidence. In some cases, the writer makes weak connections to the thesis or none at all (the ideas presented in the second body paragraph do not seem to connect to the thesis). Overall, I'd rank this essay as a C.

Individuality Vs. Society: The Extent of Compromise (A Working Intro)

In a society, sets of moral and cultural codes exist as universally communicated standards for its people to abide to despite the codes' frequent intrusions and violations towards the individual's self-identity, privacy, and beliefs. For a society or a group, these standards represent its interests and needs that benefit it and its people as a whole and disregard the opposing interests of individuals; rather, the status as ubiquitous standards encourages the backlash against the views that contradict society's. For the individual,  social customs risk tainting his individuality, his self-portrayal based on his characteristics, interests,actions, and beliefs. To contradict society's standards for the sake of individuality would lead to condemnation and ostracization towards the individual. Despite being social beings wanting to help out their people and fearing ostracization, individuals should not relinquish their individuality entirely to the point where they would be considered babbitts in modern society. Yet, to help a group society, individuals should abide to conformity, only to the extent to which their beliefs strongly contradict society's interests and preserve their identity. In Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, the second oldest daughter of five in the Bennet family, Elizabeth Bennet is considered prime for marriage into wealth and high social relations under society's standards and her mother Mrs. Bennet's interests. Due to the entail of the Bennet estate not including the five Bennet daughters, Mrs. Bennet persistently searches for opportunities to have her daughters married into wealth, thereby conforming to social standards yet also helping the family benefit as a whole. Though Elizabeth conforms by participating in common social gatherings that encourage courting for marriage, she asserts her individuality by refusing to marry simply for wealth and social relations, and stands by her belief in marrying for love. Though risking the loss of her socio-economic status and the gain of fortune, Elizabeth preserves her beliefs that reflect her individuality. And despite not immediately marrying for wealth, she and her sisters remain with a plenty of opportunities to marry, and possibly with the individual benefit of happiness. Therefore, though conformity helps the needs of a group society, it should be limited to the extent to which an individual's beliefs and interests outweigh the group's benefits  and do not strongly contradict those of the group.

Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress"

In Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress", the speaker challenges the coyness of a lady he is courting, and desires her to engage in carnal and youthful love with him rather than waiting for their love to develop slowly. The speaker emphasizes the need for rapid development of their relationship whilst "the youthful hue/ Sits on thy skin like morning dew" to take advantage of the invigoration of youth that transfers to the amorous and sensual relationships of the young. For the first half of the poem, the speaker proclaims the gradual development of their love if it were allowed to develop to eternity in an amorous tone. However, he makes a transition in the middle, claiming that the inevitable effects of time will wither her beauty and his lust for her. Thus, in the end, he makes a pragmatic argument in the end- to persuade her to engage in youthful love before time withers it away.

A Book I will Re-read

For my senior year, I would like to make the commitment of re-reading one of my favorite novels, The Catcher in the Rye by late J.D. Salinger. Since the book was one of my first novels to read and analyze at a higher education level (my transition from public to private school education), I want to understand how much I have improved throughout my years in Buckley. But I also want to re-read the novel to enjoy the aspects of the novel that influenced me to choose it- the controversial character and his plight with the corruption of adulthood tainting the innocence of kids and his own view as a savior for the kids, while he remains between the boundaries of childhood and adulthood. Once in a while, I pick up the book from my shelves and read excerpts from it. But for this year, I intend to read through at least half of it despite my senior schedule.

Blog #1

          For our first poem, we read Billy Collins' "Introduction to Poetry." The speaker in the poem wishes for his students to interact with a poem, to "press an ear against its hive" to touch and hear its vibrancy and animation, to "drop a mouse into a poem" to explore its complexity and structure, and to "waterski across the surface of a poem" to, most importantly, enjoy a poem for its style, language, and other techniques that provide a thrill to the imagination. He wants his students to have a sensuous experience, not to aggresively search for message of a poem and ignore the important details of the work
         When understanding the speaker's message, I hesitated before concluding that I had finished working on this poem. I believe Collins wrote his message in a poem in order to have readers understand his message to avoid the irony of reading "Introduction to Poetry" to simply search for its meaning and ignore the rest of its contents.

Welcome

Welcome to my nascent blog that awaits to be filled with words describing my experience in English IV. A few facts about me: my favorite book is Welcome to the Monkey House, which is more of a collection of short stories by Kurt Vonnegut, my favorite band is a spanish rock band called Maná, and my favorite snack is strawberry. Love those strawberries.