Dream Country

I haven't read any graphic novels outside this class, so I'm unsure if many others have taken Shakespeare on, and how they compare to the original.  Anyway, from what I've seen/read so far in Dream Country, Gaiman is sort of faithful to A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Right away, however, we see something I don't remember in the play, with Oberon and Titania meeting with a "shaper" who has "arranged" the story.  Another thing I found interesting following this is that the events of A Midsummer Night's Dream are actually acted out as a play by the characters.  This is about as far as I've gotten so far, but I find this very peculiar.

Oberon and Titania

Wow, this one was pretty hard to follow, what with all the complicated relationships and all. My head hurts.

Anyway, the relationship between Oberon and Titania is interesting. They are clearly husband and wife, or at least a pair that loves each other. From the stuff I read from the links in Shannon's blog, I figured out Oberon is the leader of the fairies, and he's angry with insubordinate Titania. This stems from her refusal to give up a "changeling" boy to him to be one of his henchmen.

How does he deal with such insubordination? He gets Puck to put a spell on Titania that results in her falling in love with the next person/thing she sees, and we all know how that works out. Hilarity ensues, and after Oberon feels he's humiliated Titania enough through her attraction to a half-man half-donkey, he returns things back to normal.

And that is only one part of the whole Puck-doing-Oberon's-bidding-by-putting-spells-on-people angle of the play. I would talk about the others, but I think my head would explode.

Thesis

Sorry I wasn't in class to do this today. I forgot to set my alarm. Anyway, I think I want to build upon something I've written about extensively, and that would be the role of Chin-Kee in American Born Chinese. I will argue, hopefully using reviews of the work for support, that Chin-Kee is a tool employed by the author to let the reader know they are viewing a farce or charade. Said farce is, of course, Jin's denial of his identity.

So tentatively, that's what I'm doing. It could change if I don't find sufficient sources to aid my argument.

Persepolis & poem comparison

I would guess "War Is Kind" by Stephen Crane is the easiest poem to compare to Persepolis.  The panels where the reasons for Iran's radical change during the war are best for comparison.  War is made into a way of life, and the government of Iran goes as far to say "We refuse this imposed peace!"  I find that incredible.  Imposed peace?  

Anyway, a country experiencing unending war and radical nationalism somewhat compares to the Crane poem.  No, those examples aren't specifically cited in the poem, but the overall attitude that war is unavoidable and just is implied.  At least that's my interpretation.  The idea of martyrdom is present in both texts.  Marjane says "The one that struck me most by its gory imagery was: 'To die a martyr is to inject blood into the veins of society.'"  Similarly, death in war in the Crane poem is treated as a noble sacrifice, it should not be wept over.  "Mother whose heart hung humble as a button/On the bright splendid shroud of your son,/Do not weep./War is kind!" 

Blankets

Oh jeez....Well, I haven't even bought this book yet, so......yeah.

I'm sorry, I'll try to have something posted later today.  I look forward to reading it, my little group from a few minutes ago says it's very good.

Beliefs in Oranges

I am a Catholic, so I believe in the teachings of the Catholic Church.  I credit my parents for shaping my system of belief.  I have never really had an experience where my beliefs were challenged.  Sure, I've had my share of bad times like everyone else, but my faith has never come into question.

Beliefs dominate Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit.  Jeanette's mother's beliefs are firmly upheld, while most of Jeanette's gradually change or go away altogether.  Jeanette's mother is a rabid Christian fundamentalist, and remains one the entire book.  Jeanette is raised one but when here sexuality comes into question she begins to reassess herself, leaving behind her church and promises of becoming a missionary.  Perhaps most illustrative of the radical change in her beliefs is this defiant exchange with the pastor and her mother:

J: "She can go. I'm leaving the church, so you can forget the rest."

...

P: "Will you repent?"

J: "No."

Jeanette's change in beliefs is shown symbolically in her dreams (at least I think they are her dreams) with the fairy tale characters, the visit from her demon, and of course, the repeated orange references.  The fairy tale sections usually parallel the actual narrative, or foreshadow things to come.  Maybe I did not read carefully enough, but I'm still having trouble with the oranges.

Probably the big struggle for Jeanette is that her family life is pretty much destroyed, and that her first love, Melanie, will forever be out of her reach.

 

     

Thoughts on The Bluest Eye

I'll admit it: I have not gotten far at all in this book. I don't even have it with me.

However, I do recall the very curious introduction "See the house. The house is green...." While I'm not positive, I think that is the text of one of the earliest children's books. Of course, in that time, the subject of almost any kind of "mainstream" literature was white.

Now again, I will admit that I have gotten practically nowhere in the book, but I know it involves a young black girl in Hard Times, USA that wishes to be white. Perhaps she obsesses on this passage because it is so typical of white suburban life.

Working Thesis

OK, I'm on the spot here....no clue yet as to what my thesis is. Going to leaf through American Born Chinese for a minute......

I have been thinking for a while about Chin-Kee, perhaps writing about how he is there to remind Jin of his background, serving as almost an alter-ego. I'm just unsure which group of panels to use. Could I use them all? I think so, I don't think it would be too broad or difficult.

What does everyone think?

bell hooks

Wow, heavy stuff was right. I'm not too sure what to make of this. Obviously hooks has no problem speaking her mind. Her thoughts on pop culture regarding race are interesting. While it is hardly universal, she brings up the point that in many films the unfortunate ones to get killed off are black, or even that the villain is black. I did, however, take some exception to her thoughts about Darth Vader in Star Wars. I think that was kind of a stretch. During production of the film, the guy in the Vader costume did all the lines, and when it was realized he had a high-pitched, wimpy-sounding voice not befitting of a commanding presence like Vader, James Earl Jones was sought out for his great, godly voice.

I did agree, however, with her observation that white, moneyed liberals, while they may defend the underprivileged and oppressed, actually may advance racial stereotypes.

American Gothic

Since just about everybody worth their salt has attempted to interpret this work, add one more to the list!

I agree with some of what has already been discussed in class. The pair are husband and wife, and the more powerful figure in the work is the husband. He appears stern, world-weary, and strong. Considering this work is from the Depression, many people, especially rural people, were on hard times. As I said, the husband is the stronger figure in the work, and this is evidenced by a couple of things. For one, his image dominates the painting. The pitchfork reinforces this dominance. The wife is more difficult to explain. She is plain, and almost appears weak. Her gaze, just as her husband's expression, can hardly be considered happy. It looks like either fear or awe. Fear of what, I don't know, maybe losing the farm? The pitchfork? Is she in awe of her husband's strength?

Well, there's my two cents. I'm curious as to what others think of this work.

Article Response

I almost forgot to do this...

Anyway, the author of the article describes multimodality as any form of communication or learning appealing to the senses for a response. For example, everything we see, hear, touch, taste, smell can produce a variety of responses.

Multisemiotics is a bit more difficult to explain, it is in direct relation to multimodality, and I surmise it explains that a set of different reactions, responses and answers can be drawn from multimodal experiences, rather than just one definite answer.

Multiliteracies, as I understand them, are alternatives to what some might consider dull, traditional learning methods that one is able to draw from multimodal experiences, such as reading comic books as opposed to novels for a more visual learning experience.

What Is An American?

An American is anyone who lives within these borders. All Americans are unique, coming from a variety of backgrounds and ways of life. Everyone lives their own unique American experience, be they blue-collar workers, rich tycoons, or the homeless. In Whitman's I Hear America Singing, this is touched on a bit. While I have never been a fan of people being divided into groups, because I believe we are all Americans, Whitman gives each group characteristics of their respective professions. I, Too, Sing America speaks to me more in that while the narrator is treated badly due to the color of his skin, he still possesses the American spirit, pride.

My favorite team in the universe, and it's not always easy!

I don't quite know how this will turn out since I've had issues trying to insert pictures, but here goes.



One literary theory that has always interested me, in part because of the challenge, is reader-response criticism. This theory focuses on the reader or audience of a work, and how they react to and interpret it. According to the resources given, the reader identifies with the work and can react in a number of ways depending on how emotionally involved they become in the particular work.



Another literary theory that has interested me, being the history nut that I am, is biographical. Learning about the lives of famous figures is something I have always enjoyed. Our resource tells us that practitioners of this theory paint the authors of biographies as role models to students.



Well, not bad for a first blog. It's pretty late, like the fine student I am, I put this off until about 12:30 a.m. Time for bed....