A Christmas Carol (Literature Analysis Questions)

GENERAL
1.  For those unfamiliar with A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (but honestly, who isn't?), the novel revolves around Ebenezer Scrooge, a stingy and unpleasant man.  Scrooge is cynical and lonely, shunning anybody who attempts to show kindness to him and lashing out at others by default.  One Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley, his equally stingy business partner who had died seven years earlier.  Marley warns Scrooge that the life he is living will lead to suffering after death (in the form of chains he must carry as a spirit).  In order to help Scrooge escape the same fate, Marley informs him that three ghosts will haunt him over the next few days.  These ghosts are the Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.  Each ghost shows Scrooge a vision (of the past, present and future Christmases, respectively) in order to teach him some lesson.  Over the course of these visions, Scrooge is reminded of the human spirit that forms Christmas spirit.  The audience also learns of Scrooge's past and the reasons for his bitterness.  After these visions, Scrooge awakens to find that virtually no time has passed and it is Christmas morning.  He immediately goes about trying to change his ways, being kinder to others and generously offering up his wealth to those less fortunate.

Thinking Outside the Box

Jean Paul Sartre's "No Exit" and Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" are both allegories that describe the limits of the mind.  Parallels can be drawn between the two in regards to both their ideas of torture and the methods for liberation.

Although Plato's cave no doubt seems far harsher than Sartre's drawing room, the idea behind both locations is the same.  The prisoners are not explicitly being physically harmed.  Their torture is purely psychological.  It is also significant that neither the cave prisoners nor the occupants of the drawing room are initially aware of their own suffering.  In "Allegory of the Cave", the prisoners are not aware of any world beyond the shadows cast on the walls, which leaves them without anything to compare their existence to.  While the characters in "No Exit" certainly know a world outside the room, the fact that it is so apparently mundane causes them to ignore the threat at first.

Plato proposes that mental imprisonment is a product of our own cowardice, while Sartre rather bluntly states that "Hell is other people".  This creates an interesting dynamic when the allegories' characters discover the way out.  In "Allegory of the Cave", the focus is on an individual who breaks free from the imprisonment and reaches enlightenment.  However, he is not able to convince his fellow prisoners to strive for freedom as well.  His enlightenment is as personal as the torture he endured.  The characters of "No Exit", on the other hand, are never shown escaping.  Garcin reaches the open door, but turns back, presumably because he is afraid of the unknown (a theme shared with Plato).  In a way, what follows reveals what might have happened in Plato's cave had the prisoner not escaped.  Much as the prisoners would become delirious with only their own minds, the drawing room occupants turn on each other when left to themselves.  It gets to the point where (another) murder is attempted, but given that they are already dead, it does not work.

Literature Analysis: Animal Farm

I'm continuing my streak of re-reads following up my classmate's choices.  Justin Thompson's analysis is the cause of this one.  This was one of my favorite novels from freshman year (the other being Lord of the Flies).  However, I was not taking a history class that year.  I thought it would be interesting to re-read after two years of history to see if I missed any references.

Allegory of the Cave Sonnet

The world dances in a shadowy sway
And I know nothing but this wall's dark face
Freedom is simply a few steps away
But I will not break the shackle's embrace
Suddenly I am dragged into the light
It burns and it blinds but after some time
My vision resolves and I see my plight:
Our complacency; the prisoner's crime
I rush back to that decrepit cavern
My mind filled with wondrous enlightenment
But despite my joy they could not discern
What the words that they heard truthfully meant
The comfort of ignorance is a curse
Those who dwell in it are all for the worse

(I attempted iambic pentameter, but could not really figure out the stressed/unstressed structure, so I simply did 10-syllable lines.  Any tips on iambic pentameter would be much appreciated!)

Plato's Allegory of the Cave

The following are in response to these questions.

1.  According to Socrates, the Allegory of the Cave represents the process of becoming a philosopher.  He details how it is akin to realizing that the world you have always known is the shadows of reality.  A philosopher, like the prisoner emerging from the cave, finds that there is an entire world that he knew only hints of before.

2.  The key elements in the allegory's imagery are the cave, the prisoner, the shadows, and the outside world (the sun, specifically).  The cave is the prison in which the prisoner (potential philosophers and scholars, or just humans in general) is trapped.  The shadows are a twisted version of the outside world.  These shadows represent the narrow view of the prisoners.  They have some idea of reality, but only a small slice of it.

3.  The allegory suggests that the process of enlightenment or education is potentially painful, but ultimately beneficial ("And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take and take in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?).  However, after growing used to enlightenment, one feels compelled to return and share knowledge with those still in the dark.

Hamlet Essay: Performative Utterance

Despite Hamlet being the namesake of the play, as well as the perspective through which the audience views the story, he remains a remarkably cryptic character.  At times, it may seem that he is indecisive, but at others, he is evidently ready to kill at a moment’s notice.  This has sometimes been attributed to madness, or even inconsistency on Shakespeare’s part.  In truth, it is simply a matter of performative utterance, a theory developed by J. L. Austin, and applied directly to Hamlet by Fredrik deBoer in his paper “The Performative Utterance in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet”.  On a very basic level, performative utterance is the antithesis of the classic playground chant, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  It holds that words have a physical effect on people, circumstances, and intention.  This theory has a profound impact not only on Hamlet, but also on virtually anybody’s life.

Literature Analysis: Of Mice and Men

I decided to read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck after reading Matt Patel's Cannery Row Literature Analysis.  It made me want to re-read a book, but I didn't want to just copy his choice, so I chose Of Mice and Men instead.  I read it the summer before freshman year and vaguely remembered liking it.  Re-reading was interesting, especially knowing how the story ends.

Sonnet Analysis Part I

• A sonnet is a form of poem that typically has 14 lines
• The most common type of sonnet is a "Shakespearean" sonnet
• 14 lines
• 10 syllables per line
• iambic pentameter
• usually deals with the juxtaposition of two ideas by either showing tension or resolving it
• Rhyme scheme:

a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
g g

• 3 quatrains of alternating rhyme and a couplet 
• Other sonnet types:
• Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet:
• First eight lines:

a b b a a b b a

• Remaining six lines 

c d c d c d
c d d c d c
c d e c d e
c d e c e d
c d c e d c 

Sources:
 http://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/English+sonnet
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/sonnetstyle.html

Big Question

My big question(s):
What causes preferences?  Is it genetically inherent, or acquired?  Do they serve a practical purpose?

I've always found preferences fascinating.  More than anything else, they are what separates people from one another (or brings them together, in some cases).  I suppose in the end it really boils down to a nature versus nurture type of discussion, but there are a lot of sides to the question.  I'm interested to see if there is any factual answer to be found.

Growing My Personal Learning Network: Follow Up

I contacted Dr. Delahoyde from Washington State University (found through this resource).  To my pleasant surprise, I got a prompt response.  I took the opportunity to ask about some of the oddities surrounding Ophelia's death, which was a source of contention within our small group discussions.  You can check out the full conversation below:

Vocabulary: Fall List #11

Justin Thompson made another vocab Prezi.  Check it out!

affinity: a natural liking for or attraction to a person, thing, idea, etc.
His affinity for the outrageous gave him a reputation as class clown.

bilious: peevish, irritable, cranky; or extremely distasteful
The bilious decor put him into a bilious mood.

cognate: allied or similar in nature or quality
To him, apples and oranges were cognates -- both fruit, after all.

cul-de-sac: any situation in which further progress is impossible
After a lifetime of hard work, he finally reached a cul-de-sac in his chosen field.

derring-do: daring deeds; heroic daring
Through a mixture of fool-hardiness and derring-do, he emerged the victor.

Sonnet

Admittedly, I did not even know Edgar Allen Poe wrote sonnets until I saw the one Ubi Kim posted (which I saw while checking his blog to reference him in the previous post).  I thought Poe would be a welcome break from all the Shakespeare we've been doing recently.  I chose this particular one of his because while I enjoyed the imagery, there are plenty of allusions in there worthy of discussion.

"Sonnet - To Science"

Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!

Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.

Why preyest thou thus upon the poet's heart,

Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?

How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise,

Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering

To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,

Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?

Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car?

And driven the Hamadryad from the wood

To seek a shelter in some happier star?

Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,

The Elfin from the green grass, and from me

The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?

Growing My Personal Learning Network

I ran into an awkward problem while attempting to contact the learning communities I listed.  I could not find a way to get into contact with any of them.  Granted, most of them are old, so getting a reply was doubtful any way.  I had stupidly forgotten that a learning network would actually require communication.  I had a pretty good set of Hamlet resources, but an actual network was nonexistent.

So, to solve the problem, I went with what has been a classic solution for this class -- collaboration.  I went through several of my peers' blogs.  While many had the same problem I did, I eventually found a contactable and current resource on Ubi Kim's blog.  He gave me permission to use his resource (thanks!) and I sent out my email:

I blurred out the name for good measure.  If I get a reply, I'll make sure to ask if I can post the entire conversation.  Updates will come in the future!

Update: I got a response; you can see it here.

AP Hamlet Personal Learning Network

Here's the top five courses with online presence that I found studying Hamlet.  The top five are in no particular order.  I had trouble finding communities that were still active, so I chose based on the assumption that I could still contact these courses.