Kate the "Shrew"

Katherine or Kate is the shrew of the play's title and the female protagonist. She is the oldest daughter of Baptisa Minola and sister of Bianca. Kate is strong-willed and is willing to express whatever she feels regardless of others' feelings. In the beginning of the play, she is sharp-tongued and foul-tempered, and is called a shrew, in which is considered as the worst kind of woman in the time of this play. She constantly insults and degrade men all around her, which makes one think that unhappiness could be the source of it. After being called a shrew throughout society, she may be playing along and act as one because she is desperate and miserable with her life. Her dialogues and actions makes the play more humorous and entertaining as she searches for a husband. Kate feels out of place in society, but Petruchio is the first to really notice her, give her respect, and make her feel like a real person. Without Petruchio trying to tame and marry Kate along with Kate allowing Petruchio to tame and manipulate her because she desires to be wanted, like Bianca does by her suitors, the play would not have moved forward. She changes throughout the play mentally and emotionally, and probably noticed that Petruchio is manipulating and taming her. Kate wants to take this opportunity to change and start a new life even if she is being manipulated. At the end of the play, Kate has gained the position of a wife to Petruchio and an authoritative voice that she was previously denied throughout the play.

Setting The Scene

In Act 4 Scene I of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," the reader is taken to Petruchio's house in the country after his wedding with Kate. There are lots of details on how Petruchio's house looks inside and out which slowly sets the scene and weather. The current weather of the scene must be taking place in winter and really cold weather.

Grumio says in lines 13-15: A piece of ice. If thou doubt it, thou mayst slide from my shoulder to my heel with no greater a run but my head and my neck. A fire, good Curtis!

Another example of the winter season said by Grumio in lines 20-23: She was, good Curtis, before this frost. But thou know'st winter tames man, woman, and beast, for it hath tamed my old master and my new mistress and myself, fellow Curtis.

Grumio (lines 42-43): Why, therefore fire, for I have caught extreme cold.

The weather in the country is cold enough to have ice on Grumio's clothes and freezing enough to tame men, women, and beasts. On a Shakespearean stage, it wouldn't have been too difficult to display this type of season. I would say they would have lots of layers of clothes on with maybe some ice on it for visual effect. There also could be fake snow or just a fireplace where the people in the scene are shivering and their teeth are chattering. As a conclusion through language and dialogue of the characters in Act 4 Scene I, the setting is in the country and the season is winter with extremely cold weather.

Eveline's Epiphany

James Joyce's "Eveline" deals with the Joycean paralysis and epiphany. The death of Eveline's mother set in motion her desire to escape from the bad and dull life she is currently in, which consist of an abusive father and brother who left home. Eveline didn't want to end up the same way as her mother, a 'housekeeper,' but after her mother's death, she made a promise that she would take care of the household. Frank is viewed as her only escape from this reality and opens up an opportunity for a new life. During the final scene, Eveline is paralyzed as she was so close to freedom with Frank. Her mother dying words, "Derevaun Seraun," which means "pleasure ends in pain," probably affected the outcome of her final decision of whether she should go with Frank for happiness or stay to take care of the household and father. Eveline's final decision could have a combinations of many reasons ranging from her obligation to her mother to the lack of love for Frank. In the end, Eveline's epiphany is that Frank is her only escape from her grim future, but fails to act because she is imprisoned by her past.

Joycean Absences

There are perceptible absences in James Joyce's story, "Eveline" where it focuses on the main protagonist, Eveline. The first absence would be that of how Eveline's mother died and Eveline made a promise to take care of the household as she took her mother's place. The only family Eveline has left are her abusive father, whom she lives with, and her brother, who use to live at home. Her mother's inconclusive, sad life embraced her decision to escape the very same fate by leaving with her lover, Frank. The second absence is why Eveline froze when she only had to take Frank's hand for that chance of starting a new phase in her life. Eveline's subconscious was not completely ready to leave her home, family, and the promises she made to her mother. Joyce noted that Eveline was "passive like a helpless animal," a position in which society of the time period assumed women were constantly in. In the last scene of the story, the closing image is of Eveline, who is immobilized and her hards are frozen to the railing while being stripped of human will and emotion. Eveline is viewed as a lowly female during this time who must stay home to take care of her home and family. In the end, it was Eveline herself, who has casted a life sentence on herself on being a 'housekeeper'.

Sympathy For An Insect

Here are is a passage from "The Metamorphosis": 

"Hardly was he well inside his room when the door was hastily pushed shut, bolted, and locked. The sudden noise in his rear startled him so much that his legs gave beneath him. It was his sister who had shown such haste. She had been standing ready waiting and had made a light spring forward, Gregor had not even heard her coming, and she cried "At last!" to her parents as she turned the key in the lock."

"The first broadening of light in the world outside the window entered his consciousness once more. Then his head sank to the floor of its own accord and from his nostrils came the last faint flicker of his breath."

(This passage shows sympathy for Gregor as his sister, the only friend he had, finally gets sick and tired of him and locks him in his room. His room is where he spends his last moments as he fades from the world.)

In "The Metamorphosis", Kafka wants the readers to sympathize with Gregor for various reasons. First of all, prior to the insect, Gregor lead a relatively boring life, which coincidentally does not differ much from the life of an insect. Second, he sacrifices almost all aspects of fun and only desires to do work to support and provide for his family like how bees and ants do for their hives and colonies. His family probably appreciated it at first that Gregor is doing this for them, but in the long run they see him as their "slave", only doing what they want him to do so they can survive. When the transformation of Gregor from a man to an insect occurred, his family's reactions slowly change towards him. His family did many mean things to him such as throw an apple at him, yell at him, and even shutting him back into his room. As Gregor transformed into an insect, one of the lowest animal forms, he is basically no longer human as in appearance, but the absurd thing is that his family's psychological development is the least human and humane. Although Gregor's appearance has changed, Kafka clearly indicates that Gregor is still the same on the inside in terms of human feelings and needs. Gregor just wants to relate to his family, but his family doesn't give him the chance. Kafka's tranformation of Gregor into a insect symbolizes that Gregor is in another world (insect world) from everyone else (human world). Gregor struggles constantly trying to escape this insect world and into the human world trying to relate and find a sense of belonging and purpose, but desperately dies trying.

Metamorphosis Citations

In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, has sparked much critical interest during the past century because it is indefinable, complex, and undeniably unique. Casual Kafka readers and scholars alike find themselves in a state of suspended disbelief, even after a tenth read. "Can this really be happening?" they ask with more surprise than the transformed protagonist Gregor Samsa, who seems to accept his fate more readily than real-life critics or the world that surrounds him. The transformation of the character Gregor from a man to one of the most repellent insects, a cockroach, may seem exaggerated and ridiculous, becoming more so over the course of the story as the action builds and emotions become more charged. Kafka's intention, however, is to expose the explore the impoverishment of human psychology with respect to the ways in which changes in one's circumstances and conditions reshape notions of justice and mercy. While it is the subject of this character analysis, Gregor who has been mysteriously and inexplicably reduced to one of the lowest forms of animal life in this story by Kafka representing the absurd, it is Gregor's family in the "The Metamorphosis" whose psychological development is least human and humane. Gregor comes to accept, as he must, the irreversibility of his new condition. Though unwanted, there is nothing that Gregor can do to change his situation. The only action that he can, and does take, is to adjust his attitude about this unbelievable change. His family members, however, are apparently incapable of making the same kind of psychological adapation. Gregor has changed physical form, but Kafka clearly indicates that his essential being has not changed in any fundamental way. Gregor still has human feelings and needs, he still wishes to relate with his family and other members of society, and he still wishes to be responsible. Gregor belongs to the absurd world around him but, pathetically and tragically, attempts to struggle out of it into the world of humans--and dies in despair.

Evil is the Nature of Mankind

In "Young Goodman Brown," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Goodman's guide says "Evil is the nature of mankind." Throughout the story, the story itself agrees with this assertion and illustrates the statement well. In the story, "Faith" and "faith" in god and good, kept evil away from Brown. But as he ventured deeper into the forest to the altar, he sees people of the town residing with evil, which in turn causes Brown to lose all faith because those people were suppose to be "good" people. The potential for evil resides in everybody, even in people most important to Goodman Brown as he experiences and begins to see this towards the end of the story. He is too proud to acknowledge his own faults. Brown despises these people that are important to him because he sees that same trait of evil in himself. The guide's statement is very well said and Brown can't seem to face this truth and live with it, which leads to him being lonely and depressed until his death.

The Amontillado Cheeseburger & Revision

In "The Cask of Amontillado," Edgar Allen Poe gives the reader an example of the use of an unreliable narrator along with the many uses of irony throughout the story. Montresor, the unreliable narrator, tells his tale of revenge on Fortunato in effort to honor his family motto: "Nemo me impune lacessit" or "No one can attack me without being punished." Montresor invites the reader to praise his ingenuity as he tells the story from his perspective. Poe does not want the reader to feel sympathy towards Montresor because Fortunato has wronged him, but rather to judge him. By telling the story from Montresor's point of view, Poe compels the reader to look deeply into the workings of a sinister mind.

Revision

In "The Cask of Amontillado," Edgar Allen Poe utilizes an unreliable narrator who has a tendency to hold grudges and exaggerate drastically along with many uses of irony throughout the story. Montresor, the unreliable narrator, tells his tale of revenge on Fortunato in effort to honor his family motto: "Nemo me impune lacessit" or "No one can attack me without being punished." Poe employs one use of irony by calling one of the characters Fortunato, who is anything but fortunate, and dresses him like a fool since Montresor intends to make a fool of him as part of his diabolical plan. Montresor invites the reader to priase his ingenuity as he tells the story from his perspective, which in turn intensifies the effect of moral shock and terror. Poe does not want the reader to feel sympathy towards Montresor because Fortunato has wronged him, but rather to judge him. By telling the story from Montresor's point of view, Poe compels the reader to look deeply into the workings of a sinister mind.

The first thing I changed was the first sentence where I wrote "...gives the reader an example of.." because as Jodi pointed out to me, Poe is not teaching the readers about an unreliable narrator, but utilizing an unreliable narrator. I also provided an example or evidence of the irony because in the original paragraph I didnt even provide an example or evidence for the uses of irony.

I want to thank Jodi for her feedback on my paragraph and giving me advice on how to revise my paragraph to make it sound more prominent. 

Miss Emily's Facebook

Emily Grierson

Status: Emily Grierson is at home like always...

Basic Information

Network: Yoknapatawpha, Mississippi

Sex: Female

Relationship Status: In a relationship with Homer Barron

Interested In: Men

Looking For: Friendship, Dating, A Relationship, Networking

Personal Information

Activities: Teaching china-painting lessons, sleeping with the dead body of Homer, & isolation.

Interests: Homer Barron, father, &money.

Favorite Quotations: "Life's an awfuly lonesome affair. You come into the world alone and you go out of the world alone yet it seems to me you are more alone while living than even going and coming." -Emily Carr

"We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone." -Orson Welles

About Me: My name is Emily Grierson, I have been an "orphan" at a young age when my father died. My beloved Homer, "left" me suddenly sometimes ago, now I am all alone in my home with my servant. I like to be isolated in my cozy home from everyone else in town.

Contact Information

Email: EmilyGrierson@gmail.com

Aim: MissEmily

Groups

Member of: How to buy & use arsenic poison, Why wont he marry me? Commitment Issues & Solutions, Quick & Easy Steps to Making Money, China Painting & Decorating, etc.

Wall (Best with 4 posts instead of 3)

Mayor & Tax Collectors: Miss Emily, why have you refuse to pay your taxes for the past years?

Emily: "I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me. Perhaps one of you can gain access to the city records and satisfy yourselves."

Mayor & Tax Collectors: We have nothing on the books in the city of records to show that.

Emily: "See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson." 

     "Tobe!" 

     "Show these gentlemen out."

This is a basic layout of Miss Emily's facebook. Emily's privacy setting would probably on minimum settings because she probably wouldn't care who looks at her facebook and what they think of her. Her friends list will probably consist of everyone in her town, but they are just there to show that she is well-known and supposedly respected. There will probably won't be too much photos available for the public to see, since most of the other photos are hidden and only allowed to be seen by herself. Some of the pictures are probably of Emily at different ages and changes throughout her life, one with her father, and one with Homer for the public to see. I'll leave the hidden photos up to your imagination, a possible hint could be pictures of other things leading up to Homer's death and post-death. She probably has a couple applications if none. These applications might consist of personality quizzes, love tests, Notes (so she can express her thoughts and feelings like on a blog), Interview (so she can answer interview questions from others finding out more about herself), and Compare People (so she can see what people think of her and how she ranks among everyone else in town based on work related, school related, dating, and personal questions). The quotes are expressing how she feels in life and isolation after losing her father and lover, Homer. The groups that she is a member of shows what she is interested in or is trying to do. All of the other information should be somewhat self-explanatory. Overall, this is what Miss Emily's facebook might possibly look like.

Thesis: Harlem

In "Harlem" (A.K.A. "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes, he emphasizes on what happens to a dream when it is put on hold in which one should not delay his/her dreams because the more one postpone his/her dreams, the more the dreams will transform into something very different than it once was.

Free Response # 2

The poem that we read for this week that interested me the most besides Williams' "This Is Just To Say", is Brooks' poem "We Real Cool". This poem has somewhat of a straightforward message, but at the same time open to interpretation on certain line. The author ended each line with "We", it seems to be read ending each line in a soft tone. It also questions whether the seven pool players are a bit uncertain about their identities. They seem to be dropouts thinking that it is cool to leave school as stated in the 3rd and 4th lines. Since they are dropouts, they probably have some sense of their own defined selves, but not certain of the strength of it. The title "We Real Cool" seems to be created for this poem based on pride and boastfulness for leaving school.

On the other hand I would think the speaker of this poem is talking how his friends and him are "real" cool just doing what they want, but towards the end of the poem states that they are going to die soon. Does that mean, live freely and die young? It could also mean trying to do what you want in life now because any day can be your last and at least do it before it is too late and do it without regrets. I can relate to this poem in some ways except the leaving school and dying soon parts, I would actually like to get my college degrees and live long.

My Parody

Don't Be Mad

I have taken

the gun

that was in

the toolbox

and which

you were probably

saving

for someone

Forgive me

It was so tempting

so dark

and so cold

First of all, I want to make it clear that this parody poem has nothing to do with how I feel. I am not the least bit suicidal in any way. Since most of the poems we have been reading and discussing in class were about darkness, aging, and death, I've decided to do a similar topic.

My parody of Williams' "This Is Just To Say" is similar to the original poem in many ways such as similar wordings in certain lines. Both poems are similar with form, capitalization, consist of three stanzas, exact the same amount of syllables per line. The only difference would have to be the subject in each poem where the original is about eating plums where my parody is about taking one's own life in place of another. My parody isn't much of a mockery of Williams' poem, but more of a flattering poem.

The parody above has two interpretations, if not more depending how imaginative one can be. The first interpretation I had for the poem was about a housemate who is having a miserable time in his life at the moment and continuously bothering his other housemate about his problems. He found his housemate's gun hidden in his toolbox and used it to take his life so he can end his misery and pain.

The other interpretation I had in mind was about a friend who hid a gun with only one bullet in his toolbox, it was saved for someone, either it being for himself, an enemy, or his friend. I chose the words "for someone" so it can have an open discussion for who the gun and single bullet was meant for.

I couldn't really decide on which one I wanted, so I combined the two interpretations where the ending "so dark and so cold" is where the person who found the gun shot himself and his life is slowly fading away, as his vision begins to blur and the light dimming to darkness with the feeling of coldness & death creeping upon him. Hope the readers enjoy my parody =)

Digging With A Pen

Digging by Seamus Heaney is a free verse poem written in a first person narrative and has 8 stanza containing two couplets.  This poem compares a pen, spade, and gun using similes and metaphors. A metaphor is a language that directly compares unrelated subjects as in comparing one subject being or similar/equal to another subject in some way. A similes uses "like" and "as" while comparing two subjects. 

In Digging, the first two lines:

"Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests; snug as a gun."

These two lines compares a poet's pen and gun as a simile where the pen might not be as strong as a gun, but it has its own power like a gun does. The gun is a small object, but packs a punch within itself.  The pen may seem small and powerless, but in reality just as the gun, it is small, but is actually more powerful than one may think. In the poem, the speaker isn't trying to say that the pen is mightier, but just as on an equal level of that of a gun. Also the poet is trying to get across a message through writing poetry with his pen, which is merely as effective as a gun threatening someone to clearly get one's message understood. The picture presented in this portion of writing is actually a stinger gun pen, where it may look like a harmless pen, but when used right, it can transform into a gun and have a powerful impact.

The metaphor Heaney tries to get across is comparing the spade and the pen. These two tools are being used for the same purpose ("digging") in the poem.

 The metaphor is basically saying that the spade is the pen where the speaker will use the pen to dig just as his father and grandfather did with an actually spade, which represents their hard work and labor that makes up one's identity. The only difference is that poet doesn't have "[any] spade to follow men like them," so the poet uses a pen to "dig" to pass on his tradition with and through his writing. This image here represents a person using a spade digging whereas the pen can do the same "digging" resulting in a metaphorically imagery of a spade being a pen.

Free Response # 1

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot

This poem was really interesting, yet at the same time makes one thinks about the certain lines throughout the poem. After reading this through and listening to the discussion in class, the question is why the poem is called "The Love Song", the term seems to be used loosely because it doesn't really seem much of a love song. The title that Eliot gave this poem about Prufrock is that, the lines in the poem is generally the thoughts and feelings of Prufrock, which in turn is his own lyrical associations.

Prufrock doesn't really seem to interact with anyone although he talks about tea time and wanting to talk to the women that come and go talking about Michelangelo. He seems to be a reserved guy or in a coma as someone brought up the possibility last class. To me, Prufrock has no hope of being understood by others, he is like in his own personal space or sphere, which is basically his mind or consciousness. Prufrock could just be reserved and shy to talk to the women who he seems attracted or interested in. He must be uncomfortable since he is eager to talk to them, but probably afraid of not knowing what to say and leading to awkward silence.

Overall, this poem by T.S. Eliot is about J. Alfred Prufrock's thoughts and feelings as a love song where Prufrock feels insecure and isolated when it comes to interacting with women.

Poetic Form vs. Prose

Shakespeare's Sonnet 73

The third quatrain in Sonnet 73:

In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire

That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,

As the deathbed whereon it must expire,

Consumed with that which it was nourished by.

The third quatrain in prose:

I am the glowing remnants of a fire,

Which lies on the ashes of the wood that once enabled me to burn,

And will soon be consumed by my own creation.

The third quatrain in Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 is having the speaker refer himself to the glowing remnants that is aging or inching closer to his death. Like most fires, fires naturally extinguish their own flames as it sinks into the ashes, which its own burning created.

The sonnet is one of the most common forms of poetry where it follows a set of rhyme scheme and logical structure. Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 follows the traditional pattern of a Shakespearean Sonnet which is basically 14 lines consisting of 3 quatrains and a heroic couplet. The rhyme scheme for is generally ABAB CDCD EFEF GG with an iambic pentameter, meaning that there are 10 syllables per line, and every other syllable is naturally accented. The sonnet poetic form often uses a poetic diction, which is based on vivid imagery, but with each move from quatrain to quatrain leading to the heroic couplet make them a useful form for any subject.

Poetic form enables the reader to imagine the changes throughout each part of the poem by playing around with the words from rhyming schemes to structured lines. It also allows the writer to express him or herself more freely. In prose, it is so bland and straightforward, but more appropriate for most situations. Prose is basically getting straight to the point or bottom line with an exact structure. Overall, poetic form accomplishes one's thoughts expressed freely and creatively.