Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Post Modernism Semester Final Part Two
Works Cited
The All American Rejects. "Move Along." Rec. 2004-2005. The All American Rejects. 2005. MP3.
Langley, John. "Introduction to Post Modernism." Lecture. Pleasant Plains High School, Pleasant Plains. May 14, 2010. Mr. Langley's Digital Classroom. Mr. Langley. Web. May 2011.
Quinn, Edward. "postmodernism." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gfflithem0656&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 23, 2011).
Swift, Taylor. "Forever and Always." Fearless. Taylor Swift. 2008. MP3.
“Was the Song “Forever & Always” by Taylor Swift Written for Joe Jonas?” Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo! Inc., 2011. Web. 24 May 2011.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Modernism Project
Works Cited
Grimke, Angelina W. "Trees." Old Poetry. Old Poetry. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
Langley, John. "Introduction to Modernism." Lecture. Pleasant Plains High School, Pleasant Plains. Apr. 2010. Mr. Langley's Digital Classroom. Mr. Langley. Web. Apr. 2010.
Malamud, Bernard. "The Magic Barrel." (1958). Bernard Malamud, The Magic Barrel. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
Quinn, Edward. "modernism." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gfflithem0508&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 29, 2011).
Taylor, Karen L. "modernism." Facts On File Companion to the French Novel. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CFN346&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 29, 2011).
Werlock, Abby H. P. "modernism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS589&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 29, 2011).
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Journal #42: Jazz Music and Imagery
The Harlem Renaissance was a new literary culture by African Americans. It started in the 1920's and became very popular during that time until the 1930's. It consisted not only of poems, short stories, and books, but also music. The most popular music that came out of this was jazz music. Music alone acts like a story, but especially jazz music. Jazz music can paint a picture for the listener and the player. One can simply listen to the song, and interpret what the composer is trying to get across.
In English class, we listened to a certain jazz song and tried to picture what the song was "painting." This is my painting. This is my interpretation of the jazz song.
The song was like many solos combined into the song, along with an introduction and conclusion played by all of the instruments. It started off slowly, and I pictured people sitting at a dimmed restaurant. There is a low murmur of voices in the background. When the saxophone starts, I picture a sad person telling a story to someone. Putting in many details about their own life. Then as more instrumentalists solo, such as the piano, trumpet, and trombone, I picture more people telling their stories. The faster the solo, the happier their story seems to be. But with each happy story comes a sad story. At the end of the song, all the instruments play slowly and sadly. This makes me think of people agreeing on sad times. Consolling each other about their lives. Then the song ends with the drummer, playing lightly on a cymbol, and playing very quietly. Again, the restaurant is filled with the low murmuring of voices, just like the beginning.
There are many ways to paint a picture from a song. One may think about people dancing. One may think about a certain landscape or environment. There are many different interpretations of the song, many different paintings. However, this is my interpretation, my painting of the song.
In English class, we listened to a certain jazz song and tried to picture what the song was "painting." This is my painting. This is my interpretation of the jazz song.
The song was like many solos combined into the song, along with an introduction and conclusion played by all of the instruments. It started off slowly, and I pictured people sitting at a dimmed restaurant. There is a low murmur of voices in the background. When the saxophone starts, I picture a sad person telling a story to someone. Putting in many details about their own life. Then as more instrumentalists solo, such as the piano, trumpet, and trombone, I picture more people telling their stories. The faster the solo, the happier their story seems to be. But with each happy story comes a sad story. At the end of the song, all the instruments play slowly and sadly. This makes me think of people agreeing on sad times. Consolling each other about their lives. Then the song ends with the drummer, playing lightly on a cymbol, and playing very quietly. Again, the restaurant is filled with the low murmuring of voices, just like the beginning.
There are many ways to paint a picture from a song. One may think about people dancing. One may think about a certain landscape or environment. There are many different interpretations of the song, many different paintings. However, this is my interpretation, my painting of the song.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Realism vs. Modernism
Modernism is a literary period that happened after the Realism literary period. Both of these literary period have similarities and differences with each other. Realism dealt like the name implies with reality. Stories, poems, and songs were developed around actual events and existing types of people. The hero was the average person, a real person, with flaws and inner beauty. The literary period was mainly developed around the society at the time. Modernism is the movement away from tradition, a new form of expression. "In other words, modernism inscribed a particular sense of radical rupture with the past and a perception of cultural crisis. Modernity, as Jurgen Habermas says, "revolts against the normalizing functions of tradition: modernity lives in the experience of rebelling against all that is normative." The normative changes associated with modernity include a sense of cultural crisis brought on by World War I and the sense that the new 20th century put the world closer to the apocalypse; Western notions of progress and superiority were breaking down" (Werlock). Realism and Modernism have similarities and differences.
The hero in realism and modernism are quite similar. In realism, the hero was the average person, and the average person was not perfect in any way. In modernism, the hero is not perfect either. In modernism, the hero had obvious flaws, but his character did not make him the hero. It was his ability to act calmly and gracefully in a difficult situation. That is what made him the hero. In realism, the hero was not always the "superman" or "batman" of the day. They were just a plain person in a situation. Like modernism, the actions and composure in a difficult situation or problem made the hero. This is how modernism and realism are similar.
However, modernism and realism differ in how they portrayed society. Modernism basically showed a society that was rebelling against tradition, while realism simply showed how society dealt with the normalities of life. Realism talked about the traditions of characters, how they lived, and what they dealt with. Modernism was rebelling against traditions of the realism generation. "Well-held precepts and norms for religion, sexuality, gender, and the family of the past Victorian world were also collapsing. Conflicts over racial, gender, class, religious, and colonial systems of oppression were moving to the fore. Large-scale migrations from rural areas into overcrowded urban centers and technological change also were causing cultural dislocation, and a preeminent modernist figure became the alienated and nihilistic self in a usually urban world" (Werlock).
The last thing that makes realism and modernism similar yet different is the themes. Realism showed life how it was with much detail, and sometimes, this depiction came off as sad, disappointing, and depressing. Modernism also has this theme, because of the effect World War I played on the literary period. People lost hope and heart, and this made the literature from this period depressing and hopeless. However, in modernism there was always a glimmer of hope at the end of the poem or story. Realism did not always have this. Modernism had hope, even if it was only a very small shred, at the end of the story differing it from realism.
Works Cited
Werlock, Abby H. P. "modernism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS589&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 25, 2011).
The hero in realism and modernism are quite similar. In realism, the hero was the average person, and the average person was not perfect in any way. In modernism, the hero is not perfect either. In modernism, the hero had obvious flaws, but his character did not make him the hero. It was his ability to act calmly and gracefully in a difficult situation. That is what made him the hero. In realism, the hero was not always the "superman" or "batman" of the day. They were just a plain person in a situation. Like modernism, the actions and composure in a difficult situation or problem made the hero. This is how modernism and realism are similar.
However, modernism and realism differ in how they portrayed society. Modernism basically showed a society that was rebelling against tradition, while realism simply showed how society dealt with the normalities of life. Realism talked about the traditions of characters, how they lived, and what they dealt with. Modernism was rebelling against traditions of the realism generation. "Well-held precepts and norms for religion, sexuality, gender, and the family of the past Victorian world were also collapsing. Conflicts over racial, gender, class, religious, and colonial systems of oppression were moving to the fore. Large-scale migrations from rural areas into overcrowded urban centers and technological change also were causing cultural dislocation, and a preeminent modernist figure became the alienated and nihilistic self in a usually urban world" (Werlock).
The last thing that makes realism and modernism similar yet different is the themes. Realism showed life how it was with much detail, and sometimes, this depiction came off as sad, disappointing, and depressing. Modernism also has this theme, because of the effect World War I played on the literary period. People lost hope and heart, and this made the literature from this period depressing and hopeless. However, in modernism there was always a glimmer of hope at the end of the poem or story. Realism did not always have this. Modernism had hope, even if it was only a very small shred, at the end of the story differing it from realism.
Works Cited
Werlock, Abby H. P. "modernism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS589&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 25, 2011).
Friday, April 1, 2011
Job Shadowing Experience
On March 31, 2011, Pleasant Plains High School juniors did job shadowing. I happened to job shadow an engineering firm: Crawford, Murphy, & Tilly Inc. This is a civil engineering firm, and their main areas of specialty are highways and bridges, aviation, water and waste water, and land development. Because of the job shadowing experience, I know more about what I do and do not want to do later on in life.
Some of my family members are civil engineers, which means I knew the basics of what people do with that job. Civil engineers deal mainly with construction of roads, construction or buildings, constructions of sidewalks, bridges, and parking lots. They also design runways for airplanes and jets. Civil engineering is probably one of the more common forms of engineering, because it is used for everyday life. Even though it is one of the more common types of engineering, it is not exactly the most interesting forms of engineering, in my opinion. At CMT, we were able to talk to engineers who dealt with highways, bridges, water plants, and computer designing the structures. We also were given a summary of the civil engineering field. I already knew some of this information, so I was not "wowed" by all of this. Also, because I knew the basics of the field, I pretty much knew what to expect. In this way, the job shadowing did meet my expectations.
From this experience, I know for certain that civil engineering is not a possible career for me. I find this field somewhat boring and uninteresting; and I do not want to do something that I do not enjoy and find boring for the rest of my life. That would be a waste of time, quite frankly. This job experience did help me to eliminate one field of engineering that I do not want to major in.
I really did not gain much from this experience except for a confirmation. I confirmed that I do not want to be a civil engineer. That is about it.
To make this perfectly clear, Crawford, Murphy, & Tilly Inc. is a very good engineering firm. I think they do their jobs well. All I am saying is that civil engineering is not for me. Just to make things clear by my blog.
Some of my family members are civil engineers, which means I knew the basics of what people do with that job. Civil engineers deal mainly with construction of roads, construction or buildings, constructions of sidewalks, bridges, and parking lots. They also design runways for airplanes and jets. Civil engineering is probably one of the more common forms of engineering, because it is used for everyday life. Even though it is one of the more common types of engineering, it is not exactly the most interesting forms of engineering, in my opinion. At CMT, we were able to talk to engineers who dealt with highways, bridges, water plants, and computer designing the structures. We also were given a summary of the civil engineering field. I already knew some of this information, so I was not "wowed" by all of this. Also, because I knew the basics of the field, I pretty much knew what to expect. In this way, the job shadowing did meet my expectations.
From this experience, I know for certain that civil engineering is not a possible career for me. I find this field somewhat boring and uninteresting; and I do not want to do something that I do not enjoy and find boring for the rest of my life. That would be a waste of time, quite frankly. This job experience did help me to eliminate one field of engineering that I do not want to major in.
I really did not gain much from this experience except for a confirmation. I confirmed that I do not want to be a civil engineer. That is about it.
To make this perfectly clear, Crawford, Murphy, & Tilly Inc. is a very good engineering firm. I think they do their jobs well. All I am saying is that civil engineering is not for me. Just to make things clear by my blog.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Journal #42: Emily Dickinson vs. Walt Whitman
Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman wrote poetry during the time period between Realism and Modernism. Walt Whitman's poetry focused on Self, while Emily Dickinson's poetry focused on life and had a connection to her life in particular. If I had been a reader during their time period, I would rather read Emily Dickinson's poetry over Walt Whitman's poetry. There are some very simple reasons for this, which I will now explain in the following paragraphs.
First off, Emily Dickinson's poetry is much easier to understand. Her poems have a literal meaning that is comprehensible when one first reads the poem. Then, the metaphorical meaning is easily tied to the literal meaning, and it is obvious what Emily Dickinson is talking about and trying to accomplish through her poetry. Walt Whitman's poetry is much more complicated than it needs to be. His literal meaning comes out as narcissistic and egotistical rather than informative or entertaining. He talks about his life, but in a self-absorbed way, that is not enjoyable to read. His Everyman idea complicates his poems and though it seems to relate everyone, it only relates his own life to something of the material world. His poems do not include the cheery aspects of life as Emily Dickinson's poetry does. When she talks about heart break, she speaks of it gently and almost brightly, while Whitman mentions it in a dark way, which is more depressing than it is re-healing or relieving.
Also, I dislike the topics of Walt Whitman's poetry. He talks a lot about sexual relationships between him, men, and women. Some of his metaphors discussing this topic do not seem to actually connect to the topic at hand. This makes his poetry confusing and not entertaining in the least. Emily Dickinson talks of love, heart breaks, and men, but in a way that is not so dark and confusing. She talks of how she dealt with these things; how she felt through these situations, not that she constantly longs for these things and obsesses over them, as Walt Whitman does. Because of these things, I dislike Whitman, and would much rather read Emily Dickinson's poetry any day than I would Walt Whitman's poetry. That is all I have to say about that.
First off, Emily Dickinson's poetry is much easier to understand. Her poems have a literal meaning that is comprehensible when one first reads the poem. Then, the metaphorical meaning is easily tied to the literal meaning, and it is obvious what Emily Dickinson is talking about and trying to accomplish through her poetry. Walt Whitman's poetry is much more complicated than it needs to be. His literal meaning comes out as narcissistic and egotistical rather than informative or entertaining. He talks about his life, but in a self-absorbed way, that is not enjoyable to read. His Everyman idea complicates his poems and though it seems to relate everyone, it only relates his own life to something of the material world. His poems do not include the cheery aspects of life as Emily Dickinson's poetry does. When she talks about heart break, she speaks of it gently and almost brightly, while Whitman mentions it in a dark way, which is more depressing than it is re-healing or relieving.
Also, I dislike the topics of Walt Whitman's poetry. He talks a lot about sexual relationships between him, men, and women. Some of his metaphors discussing this topic do not seem to actually connect to the topic at hand. This makes his poetry confusing and not entertaining in the least. Emily Dickinson talks of love, heart breaks, and men, but in a way that is not so dark and confusing. She talks of how she dealt with these things; how she felt through these situations, not that she constantly longs for these things and obsesses over them, as Walt Whitman does. Because of these things, I dislike Whitman, and would much rather read Emily Dickinson's poetry any day than I would Walt Whitman's poetry. That is all I have to say about that.
Emily Dickinson
"POOR little heart! Did they forget thee?
Then dinna care! Then dinna care!
Proud little heart! Did they forsake thee? 5
Be debonair! Be debonair!
Frail little heart! I would not break thee:
Could’st credit me? Could’st credit me?
Gay little heart! 10 Like morning glory
Thou’ll wilted be; thou’ll wilted be" (Dickinson).
This poem by Emily Dickinson relates to her feelings and her life. Supposedly, Emily Dickinson's heart was broken by a someone who did not love her in the same way that she loved him. Because of her embarrassment and shame, she secluded herself in her house. I believe that this poem conveys her feelings on this tragic experience. In the first stanza, Dickinson states the problem. "POOR little heart! Did they forget thee?
Then dinna care! Then dinna care" (Dickinson)! This translates to "poor little heart, did they forget about you? Then do not care. Be care free!" This is Emily's way of telling herself to forget about the heart break. Do not worry over it. Do not stress herself about it. Do not care that it happened. In the next stanza, she says "Proud little heart! Did they forsake thee? 5
Be debonair! Be debonair" (Dickinson)! This translates to "Proud little heart, did they leave you? Then do not show your sadness. Be prideful. Act as if nothing happened. Be debonair!" Though her heart was broken, Dickinson is trying to forget about it. She is trying to hide it, to show people that she is perfectly fine. She is pretending not to care. The next stanza states, "Frail little heart! I would not break thee:
Could’st credit me? Could’st credit me" (Dickinson)? This translates to "Frail little heart, I would not break you or hurt you. Can you credit me to this?" Emily Dickinson is then saying that she would not hurt herself. She knows what she wants and needs, and she would not do anything to hurt herself. Basically, up to this point, Emily Dickinson has confronted her broken heart, convinced herself to let it go and be strong and prideful. And she has put confidence into herself to guard herself. The next stanza says, " Gay little heart! 10 Like morning glory
Thou’ll wilted be; thou’ll wilted be" (Dickinson). This translates to "Happy little heart, like temporary morning glory, you will be wilted." This last stanza brings the poem back around in a circle. She says here that it is still wilted from the event; as much as she tried to forget about it and not be affected by it, she cannot, and she is still hurt by the heart break. The words that really give this poem the meaning it has and tells a story are the adjectives describing her heart. She starts with poor, then goes to proud, then goes to frail, then goes to gay, meaning happy. Her poor heart is hurt by the heart break. She tries to hide it and show that she has a proud heart. This does not heal it, so it is a frail heart still in danger of being broken again. The last one, gay heart, seems to be good for her, but the ending lines show that it is only a charade. In the end, Emily Dickinson is still hurt and affected by her tragic heart break.
Works Cited
Dickinson, Emily. "Poor Little Heart" Bartleby.com. Bartleby.com, 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2011.
Then dinna care! Then dinna care!
Proud little heart! Did they forsake thee? 5
Be debonair! Be debonair!
Frail little heart! I would not break thee:
Could’st credit me? Could’st credit me?
Gay little heart! 10 Like morning glory
Thou’ll wilted be; thou’ll wilted be" (Dickinson).
This poem by Emily Dickinson relates to her feelings and her life. Supposedly, Emily Dickinson's heart was broken by a someone who did not love her in the same way that she loved him. Because of her embarrassment and shame, she secluded herself in her house. I believe that this poem conveys her feelings on this tragic experience. In the first stanza, Dickinson states the problem. "POOR little heart! Did they forget thee?
Then dinna care! Then dinna care" (Dickinson)! This translates to "poor little heart, did they forget about you? Then do not care. Be care free!" This is Emily's way of telling herself to forget about the heart break. Do not worry over it. Do not stress herself about it. Do not care that it happened. In the next stanza, she says "Proud little heart! Did they forsake thee? 5
Be debonair! Be debonair" (Dickinson)! This translates to "Proud little heart, did they leave you? Then do not show your sadness. Be prideful. Act as if nothing happened. Be debonair!" Though her heart was broken, Dickinson is trying to forget about it. She is trying to hide it, to show people that she is perfectly fine. She is pretending not to care. The next stanza states, "Frail little heart! I would not break thee:
Could’st credit me? Could’st credit me" (Dickinson)? This translates to "Frail little heart, I would not break you or hurt you. Can you credit me to this?" Emily Dickinson is then saying that she would not hurt herself. She knows what she wants and needs, and she would not do anything to hurt herself. Basically, up to this point, Emily Dickinson has confronted her broken heart, convinced herself to let it go and be strong and prideful. And she has put confidence into herself to guard herself. The next stanza says, " Gay little heart! 10 Like morning glory
Thou’ll wilted be; thou’ll wilted be" (Dickinson). This translates to "Happy little heart, like temporary morning glory, you will be wilted." This last stanza brings the poem back around in a circle. She says here that it is still wilted from the event; as much as she tried to forget about it and not be affected by it, she cannot, and she is still hurt by the heart break. The words that really give this poem the meaning it has and tells a story are the adjectives describing her heart. She starts with poor, then goes to proud, then goes to frail, then goes to gay, meaning happy. Her poor heart is hurt by the heart break. She tries to hide it and show that she has a proud heart. This does not heal it, so it is a frail heart still in danger of being broken again. The last one, gay heart, seems to be good for her, but the ending lines show that it is only a charade. In the end, Emily Dickinson is still hurt and affected by her tragic heart break.
Works Cited
Dickinson, Emily. "Poor Little Heart" Bartleby.com. Bartleby.com, 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2011.
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