Journal 12/8

What did you do this semester in ELA that was most meaningful to you, and why was it meaningful?

Probably annotating. I didn't see the point of it last semester, but this time around I decided to buckle down and attempt to do a good job at it. This helped tremendously, and has also allowed me to see the benefits of doing it- it's a legitimately good way to reflect on the book while you're reading, and even just consistently putting in questions allows you to remember more about the contents of the book.

 

What was the most challenging thing about ELA this semester, and why?

The paper I wrote in response to The Alchemist, hands down. Even while I was writing the rough draft, I had no idea how much information I'd need to put into it in order to fully prove my thesis. What resulted was a paper that I'd say is one of the best that I've ever written(not that there are many of them, but still). I'm proud of it.

What would you like to change about ELA, and why?

If you asked me this question at the start of the semester I would say annotating, but as I said above my opinion has changed pretty significantly. So, nothing. 

What would you like to stay the same in ELA, and why?

The flexibility of projects. I love how you're able to do so many things with them, but still learn a lot by not being able to do the same kind of project more than twice.

If you have any further comments about the class, please include them.

ELA is a great and well-organized class. 

Journal 12/1

Find three heroic epithets. Explain how you think these epithets were useful to the singer of poems in the Greek oral tradition.

The Earth-Shaker, Poseidon 

2. Odysseus, master of craft and battle

3. Calypso, the bewitching nymph

Epithets were useful descriptors of the many characters throughout The Odyssey. I'm sure they served as a way for the singer and the audience to keep track of the story and easily remember the characters in it. For example, if the singer resumes the story that had stopped the day before, some of the returning listeners might've forgotten a minor character or two (I know that I did while I was reading). The singer using one of that characters' defining traits as an introduction to his or her role in that part of the story could serve as a way for the audience to remember them. Plus, it's simply a cool way to introduce the characters. I mean, some of them don't have the most noble and elegant titles, but the ones that do really do. Poseidon's epithet "The Earth-Shaker", for example, is undoubtedly an awesome title and evokes a sense of power that fits a god well.

Journal 11/17

Find two passages in The Odyssey that are examples of xenia. Compare these two passages. Be sure to cite them as well. 

The two examples of xenia that I found were when Telemachus goes to seek the counsel of Nestor (pg. 28) and when Odysseus is taken to Alcinous' palace (pg. 106). In both passages the guests are welcomed without the hosts knowing their identities, which is a staple of xenia- immediate hospitality. When Telemachus and Athena arrive at Nestor's city, they are quickly invited to sit down after being seen. Nestor's son, Peisistratus, instructs the disguised Athena: "Pray now, stranger, for it is Poseidon's feast you have happened upon (pg. 29, lines 48-49)." In Odysseus' case, Athena gathers all the Phaeacian leaders and draws their attention towards him. Alcinous eventually acknowledges Odysseus' presence, saying: "This stranger has come to my house in his wanderings. I don't know if he has come from the east or the west"..."We have a feast to prepare, and I will provide for all(pg. 107, lines 27-40)!" In both, I found that after feasting the guests were told stories and allowed to rest and bathe, along with being given a means of continuing their respective journeys. This shows the generosity and hospitable attitude of the hosts, usually high-ranking officials who aim to establish a good relationship between the people of their city and the possible wealthy outsiders. Traveling was not an endeavor to be taken on by the poor back then.   

Journal 11/11

In class, Dr. Quillin discussed the historical context within which The Odyssey was written. Using your notes on this lecture, discuss how you think why it was necessary to develop an oral tradition during the Greek Dark Ages and what you think happens to that oral tradition once it is written down.

The Greek Dark Ages involved the collapse of many different civilizations all across the mediterranean, with major trade routes being disrupted and illiteracy becoming commonplace. With that being said, I think that oral traditions were developed to preserve the culture of the area as it went through these tough times. Since many couldn't read and write, oral traditions like songs would've been a more palatable way to introduce large group of people to various stories. This also leads to the stories being changed up quite a bit- when people hear interesting things, they naturally want to spread those ideas. Through that, the stories would've become disorganized and then devalued, as their forms were constantly shifting and most likely deviating further and further from the original tellings. Writing the stories down preserves them as they were at that time, putting a stop to the constant changes. People would've continued to change the stories orally, but this wouldn't really matter anymore as long as there were written-down versions of the stories. 

Journal 11/3

This is a free post. You may write about anything that you would like. It is important, however, that you consider your audience, which includes your teacher and also your peers. Please compose a post that is appropriate for your audience.

I'd like to briefly talk about Interstellar, a movie I saw just yesterday. It is directed by Christopher Nolan, who you may know as the director of critically acclaimed films like Memento (which I haven't actually seen), Inception, and the recently-concluded Batman trilogy. Set in a bleak, dust-laden, sufficient-food-lacking near future, Interstellar follows a former NASA test pilot who is asked to pilot a spacecraft to search for habitable planets outside of the Milky Way galaxy. They do this through the use of a mysterious wormhole orbiting Saturn, which some scientists believe to be the work of beings with control of the 4th and 5th dimensions. The astronauts use the wormhole to make in two years a journey that would normally take them thousands, traveling into another galaxy and validating the movie's title. I won't say anything else about the plot as I don't want to spoil it, but as an added note you're gonna need to seriously figure some stuff out while you're watching this movie. Temporal loops? Morse code messages manifesting themselves through gravitational anomalies? Whaaat?!  Anyways, moving on. Unlike with some sci-fi movies, science doesn't go completely out the window- with the exception of a few things, it follows the rules. This is probably because Nolan hired an astrophysicist to help with writing some of it, which also makes for some pretty sweet and not-out-of-the-question space visuals. I really liked Interstellar- it was thought provoking, well-acted and at 2 hours and 49 minutes it ought to be both of those things. Gravity can't even touch this movie. 

Journal 10/27

This is the last blog post on Maus.

In IHSS, you have been learning about postmodern sociological perspectives. These perspectives are also helpful when critiquing literature.

For your blog post this week, please analyze Maus using one of the following sociological perspectives:

Functionalist

Conflict

Symbolic Interactionist 

Postmodernist

I chose the conflict perspective for this blog post. The conflict perspective involves one group/social class that has an advantage over others due to the materials and power they possess. Social control is everything here, as certain amounts of power and materials aren't equally allotted to each individual. The privileged show their power and control through exerting it over those lower than them, creating inequality and encouraging the less fortunate to attempt to level the playing field or put themselves at an advantage. Race and religion both play a part in the conflict perspective, which leads right into the main topic of this blog post: how the theory relates to Maus. Well, it's simple. The Nazis are the advantaged group, having power and control of resources. The Jews are the disadvantaged group, and extremely so, as many of them have been treated as sub-humans and killed en masse. The Nazis forced order on the Jews (thus demonstrating their power) by forcing them into the ghettos and then into concentration camps.           

Journal 10/20

On a few occasions in the book, Spiegelman writes about his concern about representing his father as a Jewish stereotype. What characteristics does his father have that seem to match up with these stereotypes, and what events in his life might have caused him to behave in this way?

Art's concern about his father Vladek's representation in the book is completely validated. Vladek perpetrates a number of commonly known Jewish stereotypes, and some of them aren't really his fault . He is very stingy with his money and food, which are respectively shown on two separate occasions. He only gives Mala, his wife, $50 a month to spend how she wants (pg. 133), even though he has more than a hundred thousand dollars in savings. He doesn't even use this money on himself, and lives life much like a pauper would. When it comes to food, at one point he argues with Art about going to get compensation from the grocery store for a half- finished box of cereal. Frugality is acceptable when someone isn't well-off, because they need money and simply can't pay for some items because of that. Vladek, on the other hand, has plenty of money to live well off of, and could easily buy the things he needs. But why is he so stingy? I think it might have something to do with the way he lived during the holocaust. I'm not simply talking about the awful conditions and lack of nutrition, but also about what Vladek himself did to survive. He bartered with guards, traded with others to get the things he needed, and generally found ways to bypass things that would otherwise bring about hardship- but he never steals from other Jews or does bad things to make it by. I think these things have parallels to the way he lives now, in that he finds the easiest ways to make it by without sacrificing too much. He also sees the potential value in things, such as with the cereal box. He tries to consider everything as a means by which to live, even though he doesn't need to do that anymore. He probably just hasn't gotten out of the habit.  

Journal 10/13

What do you think some of the challenges might be in drawing another person's story? What might be some of the advantages? Why?

For Ms. Harrison: You told me to remind you that this post isn't late, so here is the reminder. 

Well, the first thing about drawing someone's story is that the artist must make sure that what he is drawing retains resemblance to what he is told. One can't ask a soldier to recount his experience in Iraq and draw war movie scenarios instead of real combat scenarios, because they wouldn't be capturing the essence of his story. I mean, they can dramatize/ make things up, but I feel that staying faithful to the true story is important for that kind of work to be valuable. Anyways, moving on. Since everything is being drawn, the reader forms his idea about the story through the pictures being shown, making the need for them to be accurate very important. When writing a novel, the author has an ideal way that he wants his readers to picture the book in their heads, but it can (obviously) only be done through words. Maybe there's a picture here or there, but my point stays. Much of the book, including simple things like the characters' exact looks, are left to the reader's imagination. This all changes when it comes to graphic novels. If it is done correctly, that extra level of description- heavy use of visual imagery- can lend a hand to telling a story. The artist could capture, with more accuracy in the reader's eyes, the story being told to him. 

Journal 10/6

We have finished reading The Alchemist. For your blog post, you may write about anything that interests you. Though this is a free post, make sure that what you write is appropriate for a school audience.

I decided to discuss Bullritos in my free blog post- I was inspired to write about it after what has occurred over the four days we've had off. This weekend, we (John, Rains, Alex and I) ate there twice. Once after the football game, then again in the afternoon the next day. After scarfing down my burrito on the second trip there, I started to wonder: why do we like this place so much? What makes it different and so much more appealing to us than, say, Freebirds or Chipotle? Well, I broke it down into two categories:

1- Convenience

Not based only on its location, but on how quick and easy it is to get a burrito there. McDonalds is slower than the burrito masters behind those counters. I honestly think that there is some magic involved. Not only that, but they've got this genius food selection idea: you put your food specifications on a bag with all of the options next to oval spaces and check off the ones that you want. They then use this bag, which is folded flat when you pick it up, to hold your burrito (which is, of course, held in insulated paper). These bags, along with markers used to check off what you want, are on a shelf in the waiting line area of the restaurant. This really streamlines things and avoids long lines created by indecisive people who can't choose what they want when it's their turn to place an order.

2- Quality

Going back to the McDonalds reference point, you know how you can taste "fakeness"? How you can tell whether or not there is something wrong with the food you're eating? Well, that stops at Bullritos' front door. Everything in those burritos is so fresh- when you get them, you can tell that the main ingredients weren't prepared hours earlier. I've also never found any large pieces of fat, bone or other unwanted items in my grilled chicken burritos. I don't know how they do it.  The one exception to these claims is that I can't vouch entirely for the quality of their food, as I am only judging it through taste.

Anyways, I've spent way too much time writing about food. Go eat Bullritos.

Journal 9/29

For your final blog post for The Alchemist, you may write about anything that you want regarding the book. You should write at least one well-developed paragraph and use textual references to support your point(s). You should choose any element of the book that was interesting to you and that you have not yet had a chance to write about. 

Since I've already done enough complaining and nitpicking about Santiago's choices and the various story-driving elements of The Alchemist, I had to search the book to find a good question prompt to write about. The question I decided to go with is one that hasn't really been brought to any seminars (at least to my knowledge) and that I haven't really heard from anyone at all- why do Santiago's relationships oppose his goals? We've seen that this book somewhat adheres to the Hero's Journey monomyth, and in that respect some of the book's romantic elements are still applicable. He meets Fatima, quickly professes his love to her (pg. 98), and then leaves to go to the pyramids/ finish his quest. Once he had completed his quest, the book ends with her kiss- thus completing a very basic relationship structure. Nothing's wrong with that, but there was one thing that stuck out as being different from the Hero's Journey format: that the ladies Santiago wants to get with actually prevent him from completing his goal instead of being part his agenda themselves. First it was with the merchant's daughter, then with Fatima. In both situations, he is told by his mentor that pursuing them would be a distraction from his Personal Legend. In most works similar in structure to the Hero's Journey, love is presented as an additional goal to the main quest rather than as an obstacle. I found this small change to be very odd. There is also very limited dialogue and general relationship development between Santiago and his romantic interests, making the ending (and to be honest, he and Fatima's relationship as a whole) seem very phoned-in and contrived. But hey, maybe Mr. Coelho did all of this on purpose. Maybe he wanted to focus on other aspects of the story, or just didn't want to have an interwoven romantic subplot like many other books and movies whose stories resemble the structure of the Hero's Journey do. I'm not really sure. What do you guys think?

Journal 9/22

3. What is the purpose of omens in The Alchemist? Use examples from the text as evidence for your claims.

The purpose of omens in The Alchemist is to guide Santiago and other characters in the book towards their goals. Santiago basically picks what events he should consider good omens, such as when he meets the king. Omens come in the form of situations he is thrust into, whether a result of his own or others' choices. There aren't really rules governing what makes something an omen, and rather it is up to Santiago to decide. The Alchemist illustrates this when he says "And you'll get better and better at understanding omens, because the desert is the best teacher there is" (pg. 123). I'm not sure why this is a talent of any degree- wouldn't it be wise to assume that any action or situation you take part in that is morally right and lawfully acceptable be considered a good omen? Oh, wait... this is The Alchemist. Having a world with cryptic, confusing and ungoverned rules is kinda its thing. Complaints aside, omens are a way for Santiago to take meaning out of random events and use them to help achieve his Personal Legend. 

Journal 9/15

WOn page 24, the king of Salem tells Santiago, "When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it." Do you believe that this is true? Why or why not?

Somewhat. I say somewhat because the rules of this book's world make no sense at all. The king is a magical dispenser of justice pertaining to one's personal legend. When he thinks someone deserves something and it's following their personal legend, he gives it to them- or so we've seen so far. Take, for example, the story about the emeralds. We're presented with a miner who has had no luck with finding emeralds, who is about to give up and pursue something else. He really wanted to be successful, and had worked for five years sacrificing everything to try to get these minerals. He's about to give up when, lo and behold, the king swoops in and rewards the man with a huge emerald that he turned himself into. Not only can the king do that, but he also comes in the form of good ideas and solutions. But what if what someone wants very badly conflicts with following their personal legends? Those two aren't the same, as Santiago really wanted to settle down with the merchant's daughter near the start of the book but this was ruled out as straying from the correct path. The king is basically contradicting himself in saying his little spiel about the universe, and at the same time the entire personal legend concept is proven to not be the only way to go. The universe did not conspire to get Santiago hitched to that girl, even though he wanted to. Oh, but Santiago losing all his money and having to work for an entire year to get it back when he could've just gone straight to Egypt with no hassle? Pshh, that's part of his personal legend and is totally valid (sarcasm). The book makes silly excuses like that and its rules aren't grounded at all- good things and bad things blur the line between following/straying from one's personal legend, which makes no sense and just bothers me. What the king said about the universe is only sometimes true, and can apparently be overridden by the personal legend's priorities.

Journal 9/8

3. What is a Personal Legend, and why do you think this will be important in the rest of the book?

A Personal Legend is one's path that they need to follow in order to have a satisfactory life. Everyone knows at a young age what their Personal Legend is, but as they get older it is overshadowed by more likable or "realistic" expectations set upon them by others. For example, when Santiago is talking to the king he says, "Bakers have homes, while shepherds sleep out in the open. Parents would rather see their children marry bakers than shepherds" (pg. 24). The king also asks why he tends sheep instead of seeking less mobile jobs and settling down. Santiago responds that he is a shepherd because he likes to travel, prompting the king to point at the baker standing in a shop and say: "When he was a child, that man wanted to travel, too. But he decided first to buy his bakery and put some money aside. When he's an old man, he's going to spend a month in Africa. He never realized that people are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of" (also pg. 24). Santiago seems to be facing a two-way path at this point in the book- he could either try his hand at winning the merchant's daughter or follow the gypsy's advice to go to Egypt and adhere to his Personal Legend. I seriously doubt that he'll do the former because that wouldn't provide for very good reading material, but it'll be interesting to see how he interprets the advice he's been given. The Personal Legend is very important in this book, and Santiago's choices thus far seem to effect how he follows it. This makes me more conscious of every important decision he makes for the rest of the book, for each one could be either straying from the path of his Personal Legend or following it. 

Blogger Test Post

What do you hope to get out of English Language Arts this year?

I want to improve my writing and note-taking skills over this year. I still need to get better at formatting my papers in MLA, especially when it comes to citations. I also want to get better at writing for film (creating half decent stories and characters, among other things). 

Journal 5/12

Describe the primary conflict in your novel. Who (or what) is the conflict between (think man vs. self, man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. machine, etc.)?

This book embodies the man vs. nature conflict type- each story is of a survivors' past experience during the apocalypse, chronicling their attempts to escape the zombies through one way or another. The fact that the stories take place in various locales around the world makes the zombies feel more like a natural disaster than a virus. They can't be contained, no one zombie is ever developed as a character, and the easiest way to escape from them is to run. The military is practically useless against them for most of the time, and unlike your run-of-the-mill deadly virus it doesn't kill all of the people in its vicinity. If a city becomes overrun, there are still thousands of survivors in it trying to stay alive after the evacuation. This reminds me of a hurricane, earthquake or other natural disaster. After they occur, there are still many people that need to be rescued in the danger zone but could prove to be a challenge to get to. There are hundreds of different areas full of rubble and water, which could take days or weeks to thoroughly search. The zombie-filled areas would be the same way- just replace the water, concrete, wood and various building materials with seas of reanimated corpses. When it first starts out there is widespread hysteria, with various governments trying to hide their citizens from the truth. As the virus starts to spread evacuations are attempted, and many die in the process. The militaries of the world launch cluttered and inexperienced campaigns to combat the threat, although to no avail- "shock and awe" tactics prove to be useless against the zombies, who can't be scared or intimidated. Non- infected humans are driven to the brink of extinction, and after colonies are established the wars to take back land start. The book ends on a positive note with the remaining population getting back up on its feet, each character in that part radiating with an optimistic outlook on their survival.  

Journal 5/5

3) Describe the mood of your novel so far. Use quotes from the novel to support your claim.

I want to provide an explanation for how the book works before I go into the details of its content. World War Z is an anthological book, a string of different, generally unrelated stories tied together by a host/ omnipresent figure who has the stories at his/her disposal. Anthologies aren't too popular- especially in film- and it isn't often that you see them in mainstream works (as an added note, Pulp Fiction isn't an anthology film just because it isn't in chronological order). In World War Z's case, it is the "published" collection of a journalist's interviews with veterans of a zombie apocalypse, complete with a foreword addressing the fictional fabrication of the book and how its contents came to be compiled into a single, cumulative piece. That being said, the mood of the book varies depending on the person telling it. Although this variability exists the book's interviewees all come across as frantic, scared and adrenaline-fueled at one time or another, emotions which should all be givens considering what the book is about. I mean, zombies are supposed to be scary. In what is undoubtably one of the best stories from the book, a former U.S. Army infantryman sums up a battle in which all of the New York City's zombies were led through a choke point along a freeway in Yonkers, NY:

"You think that after watching all the wonders of modern warfare fall on their high-tech hyper ass, that after already living through three months of the Great Panic and watching everything you knew as reality be eaten alive by an enemy that wasn't even supposed to exist that you're gonna keep a cool f*cking head and a steady f*cking trigger finger? Well, we did!"

Don't get the idea that the whole book is just different military campaigns, but I'd say that quote has the same emotions that each different story has somewhere within it. This especially rings true for some of the more intense parts, as the feeling of fear and the gravity of the situation can really be felt. There are parents, scientists, workers and more-  different stories with different personalities and tones to them. In the time that it would take you to watch the movie, which is around two hours, you could get through at least a third of the book. I highly recommend the latter.

Journal 4/28

The product I picked for this journal entry /analysis is the "My Pillow". It was an infomercial a while back which I'm pretty sure I've seen a couple of times. It uses an appeal to pathos with its guarantee to be "the most comfortable pillow you'll ever own", and infers feelings of comfort and coziness- especially from how the man holds the pillow in his hands. An appeal to authority is shown through the inventor on the front holding it. It's saying that if the inventor himself uses it and isn't just trying to make some cash then it must be a pretty great product. Another logical fallacy I saw was the genetic fallacy. The ad has a "made in the USA" tag in the bottom right corner, which attempts to validate the product by showing the source of its production. The product is made by My Pillow Inc., which is based in Minnesota. They seem to be targeting people who have had uncomfortable sleeping experiences or just don't want to pay for Tempur- Pedic pillows- we know this because the box promises the buyer that the My Pillow will be the most comfortable pillow they've had, and also because the My Pillow is inexpensive yet assures extreme comfort a la higher-price products. The subtext of this product is that only people who buy the pillow will experience comfort to its limit. The part of the story that isn't told is that of all the other people who have tried sleeping on other brands of special pillows. This ad doesn't empower or disempower a certain group of people, which you can tell immediately after looking at it. Look at the benevolent, well-meaning man with his pillow. No aggressive marketing strategies, no statistics. Just a man and his pillow.  

Journal 4/21

 Free entry on Feed! Write about anything that you want in Feed. This is your chance to sound off about any subject in the book as well as whether you liked the book. Please write something substantial that will  encourage discussion among your peers.

One thing that really stood out to me in Feed was the peeling skin. At first I thought it was just something that went along with the book's "the environment is ruined because of the companies' complete disregard for things that aren't extremely profitable/ as efficient as possible" sort of theme, but the seminar that we had really gave me some more ideas about it. This journal will go over two possibilities and rule one of them out. First is that the degradation of society goes hand-in-hand with the degradation of the population's physical condition. This adds some symbolism to the mix, but doesn't really make sense. This book takes place over the course of about a year, and the dumbing-down of society has definitely been going on for longer than that. I mean,Titus mistakes Spanish- a language spoken by millions today- for Mayan. Also, this book wouldn't make correlations that deep. It's full of clever satire, but I wouldn't expect it to make such an unimportant part of the Feed universe serve that purpose. For those two reasons I'm taking symbolism out of the question. 

The second idea, one which I think fits into Feed better, is that the peeling skin is somehow related to the lesions. The lesions are quite influential in the story, going as far as helping to portray the personalities and motives of the characters. They are even addressed by the president in a speech,  further attaching them to the main interests of the book's population. I think that the lesions are the first stage of what soon becomes extensive skin loss, which is a sensical progression. This could be environmental or caused by the feed- I'm not really sure, and the book doesn't give many details regarding their source. This was just the idea that, in my opinion, made the most sense and fit the most snugly into Feed's world.  

Journal 4/7

NOTE (for Ms. Harrison): I accidentally blended the second and third journal possibilities together, so I hope that's ok.

I created this fake advertisement to satirize products that are meant to simplify the process of doing something and claim to make everyday life easier (or ads in general).

 

You're on your way to work. Today is an important day for you-there's a big meeting for a project that could get you promoted! As you go through your papers, making sure you've got all your important work-related documents, you notice that you have nothing to hold them together. In today's busy world, there's no room to fumble with gangly staplers- that's why your friends at Red Dog Co. created the Paperclip™. The Paperclip™ uses a strong, reliable steel that has been regarded by metallurgists and people who know things as high-quality. But, you may ask, how does the Paperclip hold up against competitors? The Paperclip™ beats out both Glue® and Tape ®, which are both regarded as inferior by statistics we're not going to list. When you buy the Paperclip™, you can say goodbye to unorganized papers and yes to your boss when he offers you that promotion.*

* The Red Dog Company is not to be held liable for meetings with superiors that do not end in promotions. 

Did our reluctance to share data frustrate or anger you? If so, buy the consumer pack! At a half-reasonable price of $199, you will be able to obtain that information quickly and easily on the go.

Analysis: rhetorical devices and three appeals 

-I used exaggeration with the "trademarked paperclip", which takes the name of a product to an extreme by it being an everyday item that, in reality, no one company holds the rights to. The same go for "Glue" and "Tape".

-I used irony while listing affirmations on the product's usefulness/reliability by credible sources, which also involves ethos. You would expect to see credible names and titles, but instead get vague descriptions. 

-I satirized the proof to back up a product by refusing to list the statistics gathered about it, also involving logos. Not showing the proof also satirizes the greed of companies, as I later mention that the viewer can pay an unrealistic amount of money to see those stats. That could, at the same time, anger the viewer at the companies' expectation that you would spend lots of money to see those stats; this ties in pathos.

Why does Shakespeare end TMoV in the way that he did? Is it fitting for a comedy?

2) Why do you think that Shakespeare ends this comedy with lover's spats between Jessica and Lorenzo, Portia and Bassanio, and Nerissa and Gratiano? Does this fit in with what we expect from a comedic ending?

I think that The Merchant of Venice had a fitting ending. Although there are some loose ends-such as how the relationships play out- it adheres to the rules of a comedy. The one thing I noticed that bugged people about this being a comedy is the lack of celebration at the end. What some didn't understand is that not every comedy has to have this, it's just a common occurrence in works of the genre. That makes it passable as a defining characteristic. The way the play ended definitely fit in comedically (it was pretty funny to see the short transition between an intense argument and the bedroom), and I don't think I could see it ending any better. 

Shylock: Comedic Villain or Tragic Character?

Is Shylock a comedic villain or a tragic character? Please use what you have learned about tragedy and comedy as well as evidence from the text to support your answer.

I believe that Shylock's character is a mixture between a comedic villain and a tragic character. He definitely portrays the stereotype of the Jewish at the time, as he is bloodthirsty and (in the court scene) seems to be incapable of being merciful; but, at the same time, is able to be sympathized with. Being that there were so many negative connotations with the Jewish at the time, he was really set apart and hated by others- this is where the tragic character element comes in. He describes the injustice and his frustration with the system of things by saying:

“If you prick us, do we not bleed?

If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us,

do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.

If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility?

Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his

sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge.

The villainy you teach me, I will execute,

and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.”

Shakespeare might not have made this character out to be sympathized with, and that little monologue could've been a way for the audience to laugh at his weakness or something. But, in a time so tolerant of different ethnicities and races as ours, we can't help but feel bad for his experience thus far. That is why I think he is a mixture of the two.

 

TMoV: Tragedy, Comedy, or Tragicomedy?

 I think that The Merchant of Venice is both a tragedy and a comedy, a combination better known by the portmanteau tragicomedy. For The Merchant of Venice to hold this title, it's got to have certain characteristics that define each genre. Tragedies have, well, tragic heroes. These are protagonists or main characters that seem to never be happy- a description that Antonio seems to fit well. Proof of this is easy to find ("In sooth I know not why I am so sad...", etc.) and is displayed quite early in the play. A comedy has a love interest, funny wordplay/metaphors, and a plot with many twists and complexities. These three characteristics show (respectively) through Portia, snarky comments regarding the Jewish, and the fact that we don't know who the true protagonist of the play is yet. It is quite clear that the The Merchant of Venice is a tragicomedy, and choosing one genre or the other to define it wouldn't do it justice. 

Antonio and Bassanio's Relationship

Analyze the relationship between Bassanio and Antonio. What is going on between them? What is the nature of their feelings toward one another? Please provide quote(s) from the text to support your position as well as its Kindle location(s).

Antonio and Bassanio's relationship is somewhat confusing. What I do know about it is that they are very close friends; Antonio gives a lot of money to Bassanio so he can make ends meet, and at another point Bassanio brings up his love life in a conversation with Antonio. From this point of view, they could just be a couple of guys who help each other out and discuss the many problems they have in their lives. Contrary to that set of information are some quotes that hint at a possible sexual relationship between the two. Antonio once says (partial quote), "My purse, my person, my extremest means, lie all unlock'd to your occasions(1.1.8)." It's pretty easy to understand what he's saying there, but it seems like Antonio's affections aren't being effectively reciprocated by Bassanio. In addition to this, Antonio is continuing to lend him money to support his endeavors- even when it comes to wooing other women. I think that Bassanio is trying to keep Antonio wondering about a potential sexual relationship between them so that he can use him for his money. If indeed he is doing this (which we'll find out soon enough), he'll be walking on thin ice if he continues to develop relationships with other women. If not, and Shakespeare is just adding in a taboo of his time period, this is an interesting way to do it.

NOTE: I had to restore my iPad over the weekend. I couldn't access my Kindle app during this time, meaning I couldn't add locations. 

Did the Renaissance Really Happen

Was the Renaissance 'a thing'? In John Green's video, he argues that the Renaissance was not really a thing (re-watch it if you forgot his argument). Do you agree? Make an argument for your side.

In the video, John Green formed his argument of how the Renaissance wasn't 'a thing' by saying that people didn't realize it was happening. He attempts to further strengthen his argument by comparing it to the climbing of the Berlin Wall, which was televised and considered a historically valuable event. This argument is pretty much invalid, because a period is known about through the events that take place within it. Of course people didn't know they were living in the Renaissance- it wasn't a singular event but a series of events spanning three centuries, which can't exactly be compared to the Berlin Wall's many scalings over the course of 20-ish years. The people who lived during that time recognized the individual events that occurred around them, such as the spread of the bubonic plague, but they didn't recognize that they were living in the Renaissance- although, thats only because the term originated in 1785. And if we're really going in-depth with this argument, what constitutes 'a thing'? 

In addition, he also adds that only a small population of Europe was really effected by the occurrences during the Renaissance, which apparently makes it completely insignificant. He is somewhat right in saying that not many were immediately effected by the changes that the Renaissance brought, but eventually many of those changes shaped art and literature in Europe. I did say somewhat right, and what sense would that make without an example of how wrong he was? An example of that is the Gutenberg printing press, which allowed the works of popular authors to be printed in the hundreds of thousands. The printing press was the groundwork for an era of mass communication, which allowed for information to be spread across Europe and increased the literacy percentages of the lower classes. The world would be vastly different had the events of the Renaissance not occurred. Most of the events that took place within this period (excluding the Black Plague) were influential in the molding of the arts, literature and technology of Europe into what they are today.