Commentary

My commentary was due today (because I was out last week), but I was absent today. SO here is my commentary!

The selected passage of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston mocks death. The selection takes place right outside of the town of Eatonville, FL. The town's mule has died, and its funeral has just ended.

Zora Neale Hurston makes fun of death. The line "With that the sister got mock-happy[...]" is telling the reader that the funeral of the mule was not taken seriously. It also tells the reader that it is making fun of life and death and the difference between them.

The author uses anthropomorphism as one of her techniques to convey her theme. "A circle, a swoop and a hop [...]. Close in, close in [...]" has a very rhythmic feeling. It calls to mind the chant in The Lord of the Flies when the boys are on the beach chanting "Kill the beast, slit his throat, spill the blood". In both cases, it reminds the reader of a war chant that the Native Americans did. Bringing humans away from the sophisticated, technologically advanced society we live in and taking us back to our roots as savage, primitive hunters. Hurston uses this rhythm to anthropomorphise the buzzards and make humans relate to them.

Hurston uses the idea of life to mock death as well. "[...] they closed in circles" gives this feeling of death being unavoidable and getting closer as one gets older. Also, the word circles gets one thinking about the circle of life, how one animal or plant's death can bring about the life of another. With the buzzards, the death of the mule brings about a carcass for them to eat. Thus the death of the mule brings life to the buzzards by giving them food. Once again mocking death.

Journal #5

Love & Hate

So Marie began to think of Love. Love, that warrior of time which brings about healing. The warrior that sought to make all things right in people's lives.What need has Love, except love and be loved? She stands on her pillar with her outstretched arms, drapped in a ribbon of pink chiffon. Stands swayingwith the breeze, singing with the melodies of the world. She understands maturity and life; she waits on her pedastal atop the palace gates with rose colored glasses. She waits not for something nor someone. No! She waits for readiness, acceptance, forgiveness, and patience. Marie was likely to find the rose color glasses set on her mantle or placed on her windowsil. She was cheerful and afraid too. Marie had no idea what to expect. She wanted to run and hide. She wanted to stay and fight. She knew that Love had come when she saw a man on the street walking toward her. It was Henry. Henry, the love of her life in high school. The man she never thought would come back. Yes! Henry was walking toward her with a rose! But was it for her? Or was it for the best friend standing beside her, always watching Henry with every move. Marie was going to find out in only a few minutes. She saw the look in her friend's eyes. Marie knew that rose was for her. Hate, that wounded warrior of love, had come to settle among the old friends.

Journal #4

"This was the first time it happened, but after a while it got so common she ceased to be suprised. It was like a drug. In a way it was good because it reconciled her to things. She got so she recieved all things with the stolidness of the earth which soaks up urine and perfume with the same indifference."

Syntax: short and long sentences
Word Choice: short and simple words mixed with long and elegant words
Sound Devices: recurring rec sound
All of this creates a TONE: of strength and half-heartedness, a daze, almost as if she is in a dream

Random Thought

It is so weird to think that in my short life, I have lived through two centuries. No one will be able to say that for another 88 years!
WOW!

Journal #3

I meant to post this last night, but ran out of time due to my finger.

1. "On the train the next day, Joe didn't make many speeches with rhymes to her, but he bought her the best things the butcher had, like apples and a glass latern full of candies."
Possibly speaks to the ideals of Janie's grandmother: money confused for love because you need the security of the money.

2. "Where they got off the train at Maitland he found a buggy to carry them over to the colored town right away."
Uses the word colored instead of dark, black, or African-American. Speaks to the possible theme of Janie is "looking through love's rose colored glasses".

3. "'A whole heap uh talk and nobody doin' nothin'. I god, where's de Mayor?' he asked somebody. 'Ah want tuh speak wid de Mayor.'"
God is not capitalized, but Mayor is. Speaks to recurring idea of atheism or a sinister feeling toward religion.

4. "Two men who were sitting on their shoulderblades under a huge live oak tree almost sat upright at the tone of his voice."
Recurring symbol of the tree

5. "So the put on one of her bought dresses and went up the new-cut road all dressed in wine-colored red. Her silken ruffles rustled and muttered about her. The other women had on percale and calico with here and there a headrag among the older ones."
Talking about Janie's beauty and making her sound like the queen among the peasants.

Journal #2 2/14/12

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!! :D
Rules for my dialect
1. every word that begins with th will have a "g" instead
2. instead of " ", I will use ': :'
3. every word that ends with an f will have a "ph" instead
4. every y will be turned into "ay"
5. man will be said as mayn
6. women/woman will be said as wemeyn/wemayn
7. Spelling and grammar will be sloppy and incorrect

Dialect: MADE UP

pg. 26 TEWWG revamped
"
Long before the week was down, Cali noticed her cat had stopped talking in lyrics to her. It had ceased to be amazed with her mustache and play with it. Twenty - seven months back, it told her, ':Iph ayou were smarter gan me, I would have left this dump oph a house alreaday!:'
 So Cali told it, ':Well gat's all good and well. Whay did ayou not leave sooner? Ayou do not have to be smarter gan me to know to leave. I would have left twelve ayears ago iph I was ayou. But I ain't ayou. Ayou cat are stupid. Gat's ge way gattos were raised!:'
One morning soon it called her cell phone, out of the blue, to come to the garage. It had it's luggage all ready to go.
':Can ayou help me out some?' said the cat. ':I need some moneay and a pair oph shoes and a car. I reallay need it to get out of gis place.:'
':Well, ayou can walk out oph gis place. As for the shoes, you ain't got no use for shoes! Ayou's a cat. Cat's also don't need moneay. So don't come asking for any!:'
With that, Cali slammed the door in her poor old cat's ungrateful face. The cat sulked away.
"

Journal #1 for Their Eyes Were Watching God

Journal #1 for Their Eyes Were Watching God: Reader response: How do you perceive Janie? How do you perceive the narrator? Be thorough and thoughtful and use textual evidence to defend your answer.

1.I feel that the narrator is very descriptive, but seems pessimistic at first. The narrator seems to be a feminist as well. By the end of chapter 1, the narrator has a feeling of being almost a reflection of Janie, young and care free but hit hard by life.
" Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly. ... She had come back from the sodden and the bloated; the sudden dead, their eyes flung wide open in judgment." (p.1)
"They sat there in the fresh young darkness close together. Pheoby eager to feel and do through Janie, but hating to show her zest for fear it might be thought mere curiosity."(p.7)

2.I feel that Janie is a bit of a joker. She seems to just want to have fun, laugh, and enjoy life. She is living like she is young and not letting anything stand in her way.
"'Here, Pheoby, take yo' ole plate. Ah ain't got a bit of use for a empty dish. Dat grub sho come in handy.'"(p.5)
"Janie full of that oldest human longing - self revelation."(p.7)

Post #4

1. Skeeter Phelan and Aibileen Clark are the __________ of the Help.
2. The _________ of Cinderella is to never give up on your dreams.
3. According to Mr. Unis and many other history teachers, the Wizard of OZ is a political ________.
4. "His eyes, how they twinkled, his dimples, so merry, and cheeks were rosy and his nose like a cherry" (The Night Before Christmas). This passage contains __________.
5. Cacophony is a literary term that contains ________ within it.

Post #3 Universality

The three definitions of Universality (according to Dictionary.com) are:

"1. the character or state of being universal; existence or prevalence everywhere.

2. relation, extension, or applicability to all.

3. universal character or range of knowledge, interests, etc."

(http://www.dictionary.com/)

In my own words, Universality means an idea, character, book, technique, fact, et cetera* that is commonly known and accepted by the general population. I see an example of universality in the books Their Eyes Were Watching God and 1984. These books are widely known by the general public through school, peers, friends, family, internet, and other such sources. Almost everyone you encounter today has either had to read the book for school, read it for fun, or knows about it from a friend or family member. The two books are very universal. 1984 embodies a fear felt by many around the globe at the time of its creation. The fear was the fear of communism and socialism spreading throughout the world and having it be a complete wastland of a society.

Here is a picture to help you remember:

(image credits: http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lff4krGf7Y1qgx8eao1_500.jpg)

* et cetera is a word from Latin meaning so on and so forth. Usually abbreviated etc.

Post #2

1. Pick one technique from the list you received today and create a post in which you elaborate on that technique. Explain it in detail. Why is it important? Give examples. Use images that will help you remember it. Be creative and thorough with this post so that it can be used by your peers to help them understand the term. You, in turn, can use their posts to help you

Anthropomorphism
- "when a writer gives an animal (or other living thing) human characteristics"
This helps to create a mystical ere. It also helps to convey a message.

Post #1 (February 6, 2012)

1. Which of the three books did you enjoy the most and why (again, be sure that you use enough details to demonstrate that you read the entire book)?

 

I enjoyed both Their Eyes were Watching God and 1984 the most. 1984 had a lot of twists and turns. It was also a challenge to read because it was almost like a puzzle to my mind. Especially when the guy that helps him out turns out to be a secret agent! It was a great book! Their Eyes were Watching God was very deep. I liked how she overcame so much throughout the book. For example the hurricane.

 

2. Which of the three books did you enjoy least and why?

 

I enjoyed the Stranger the least. I really did not understand the book. It felt almost too straight forward and it was hard to get into the book. I also found it very hard to analyze because it was so straight forward. I felt that it had no substance. It was dry.

 

3. If you were to write an essay on the third novel (the book not addressed in the previous two questions) what element or elements would you focus on in that essay and why do think they are important?

 

Since I wrote about all three books, I will pick 1984. I would focus on his need for independence and his free thought. I think these are important because it shows his personality and how just by being himself, he goes against society. Unlike most people, he is okay with the fact that his personality goes against society, nay, he loves it. However, he knows he must at least pretend to conform. It is very much an interpretation of how many people feel in society. They feel like they cannot express themselves because it goes against what society thinks is "cool" or "hip" or "in".

02/06/2012

FROM THIS DAY FORWARD (until otherwise specified):
This blog is for IB JUNIOR ENGLISH! :D