Sunday, October 26, 2014
A Game of Chess
In a game of chess, everything seems to be clean, neat, and strategic. The connotation of chess seems to show that it's a mathematical, thought-out game. In the part "A Game of Chess" in The Waste Land, the story seems to be anything from a game of chess. The first paragraph/part/verse starts out with a woman in a chair, observing her objects around her. In the page long verse, there are only three periods. The use of commas serves to make it seem like the woman is looking around quickly and taking in all of her surroundings. This passage made me wonder about who the narrator was, and if he or she was in the room with her while she is looking around. It all seems very vivid since there is plenty of imagery and full of sensory details. As the reader gets to the next page, things seem to fall apart for the woman. The passage now switches to dialogue that the lady is having with herself and she seems paranoid and scared. She hears the wind and worries about the noises. But what is she scared of? Is she scared of the man that has, "pearls that were his eyes"? Or is she scared of, "the knock upon the door"? From the last verse, she seems to try to get a grip on herself since she is able to focus on details like "hot water" and "rain". And maybe she even wants to play a game of chess to clear her head and put herself together again, since the connotation of chess is one of order. I really liked this passage; the writing style was very interesting since the reader can see the transition from order to disorder in less than two pages.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
The Dead Metaphor and Symbol
Metaphor: "Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet" (Joyce 151).
The tenor is Lily, and the vehicle is feet.
As this is the first line in the story, it sets the tone. By saying, "literally run off her feet", Joyce is showing how hectic the party will be, with people always coming in and out. The sisters and even Lily seem to constantly be running to the door and worrying about who will come in and who won't. There always seems to be people coming in and out as well.
The pace of the novel is quick too, especially with the dashes to indicate conversation and speech. This line can also emphasis the pace of the story.
The story switches from character to character quickly as well, and this can be hinted at from the quote.
Symbol: Snow
The snow is a motif/symbol in this story, as it comes up many times from the beginning and end. Snow is referenced first on the second page, and as well on the last page of the story. The snow is literal since it's winter and it's snowing. The snow is falling all over Ireland. The snow is also figurative though, since it's falling it lays a heavy covering over everything in Ireland. There is more reference to the snow at the end of the story, when guests are leaving the party. Towards the end, Gabriel and his wife Gretta, become emotional as she explains to him a story of a love that died. On the walk home, Gabriel was excited to rekindle his relationship with Gretta, but since the snow is heavy and covering everything, it seems to cover his mood too since their mood shifts since they're talking about death. Also, the heaviness of snow that's on the ground can relate to how the story changes mood and switches to a darker, more sad mood towards the end because of the talk of death. Snow also falls mostly in winter, and winter represents death.
The tenor is Lily, and the vehicle is feet.
As this is the first line in the story, it sets the tone. By saying, "literally run off her feet", Joyce is showing how hectic the party will be, with people always coming in and out. The sisters and even Lily seem to constantly be running to the door and worrying about who will come in and who won't. There always seems to be people coming in and out as well.
The pace of the novel is quick too, especially with the dashes to indicate conversation and speech. This line can also emphasis the pace of the story.
The story switches from character to character quickly as well, and this can be hinted at from the quote.
Symbol: Snow
The snow is a motif/symbol in this story, as it comes up many times from the beginning and end. Snow is referenced first on the second page, and as well on the last page of the story. The snow is literal since it's winter and it's snowing. The snow is falling all over Ireland. The snow is also figurative though, since it's falling it lays a heavy covering over everything in Ireland. There is more reference to the snow at the end of the story, when guests are leaving the party. Towards the end, Gabriel and his wife Gretta, become emotional as she explains to him a story of a love that died. On the walk home, Gabriel was excited to rekindle his relationship with Gretta, but since the snow is heavy and covering everything, it seems to cover his mood too since their mood shifts since they're talking about death. Also, the heaviness of snow that's on the ground can relate to how the story changes mood and switches to a darker, more sad mood towards the end because of the talk of death. Snow also falls mostly in winter, and winter represents death.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Reflection of Mrs. Dalloway
If I had to rate this book from 1-10, I would give it a 6.5. In my opinion, it wasn't great but it also wasn't horrible. I grew to like it more and more as I read this book, but at the beginning it was a challenge. I think that anything that is challenging is good for a person because it pushes them, so I think that even though I didn't enjoy this book that much, it was good because I was challenged. I liked Woolf's stream of consciousness writing style, but I wish it was only for 1 character because the transitions were often hard to follow. I also felt that there were too many characters as I struggled to remember names, especially at the party. There wasn't the typical rising action and climax and falling action in this book, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I like having a climax in the book because the book builds to an event, but I also appreciate how this book was different by not having that. My favorite character was definitely Septimus, because I found his stream of consciousness interesting. I thought he was different than all of the rest of the characters because of his PTSD.
I was extremely underwhelmed at the end of this book though. I thought the party would be much more interesting, but it seemed like it was just a description of different characters. It may only seem this was because of the stream of consciousness writing, because it's like Clarissa viewing all of the people walking in, but I thought the party would have a plot twist or a surprise.
I also thought this book reminded me of "The Great Gatsby" because of the party and the theme of love. Though they were written in different styles, they still had similar themes.
There are several questions I still have about the book though...
Why was it titled "Mrs. Dalloway"? Does that mean Mrs. Dalloway was the most important character in the book?
Does Clarissa still love Peter, or does she just love the past? Does Peter love Clarissa?
I didn't like the plot of this book, I often found it dull and uninteresting. But I did like that it was so different than any other book I read because of the writing style and the literary devices she uses.
If I was Woolf and writing this book, I would've added something to signal the transition between characters thoughts, like white space or asterisks. I also would have had more character development but less characters, so that the reader is not overwhelmed with character names and the main characters can have more depth. Lastly, I would've added a plot twist or climax, maybe have Peter do something drastic at the party like have him do something with his knife? Sometimes the book seemed boring because of the lack of action, so throwing something in there like that would've interested the reader more.
Like I said earlier, I did appreciate this book because of Woolf's style and techniques, but overall I didn't like the story line, so therefore it's only rated 6.5/10.
I was extremely underwhelmed at the end of this book though. I thought the party would be much more interesting, but it seemed like it was just a description of different characters. It may only seem this was because of the stream of consciousness writing, because it's like Clarissa viewing all of the people walking in, but I thought the party would have a plot twist or a surprise.
I also thought this book reminded me of "The Great Gatsby" because of the party and the theme of love. Though they were written in different styles, they still had similar themes.
There are several questions I still have about the book though...
Why was it titled "Mrs. Dalloway"? Does that mean Mrs. Dalloway was the most important character in the book?
Does Clarissa still love Peter, or does she just love the past? Does Peter love Clarissa?
I didn't like the plot of this book, I often found it dull and uninteresting. But I did like that it was so different than any other book I read because of the writing style and the literary devices she uses.
If I was Woolf and writing this book, I would've added something to signal the transition between characters thoughts, like white space or asterisks. I also would have had more character development but less characters, so that the reader is not overwhelmed with character names and the main characters can have more depth. Lastly, I would've added a plot twist or climax, maybe have Peter do something drastic at the party like have him do something with his knife? Sometimes the book seemed boring because of the lack of action, so throwing something in there like that would've interested the reader more.
Like I said earlier, I did appreciate this book because of Woolf's style and techniques, but overall I didn't like the story line, so therefore it's only rated 6.5/10.
Age
From Peter's section, "I am not old, he cried. . . He was not old, or set, or dried in the least" (Woolf 50), I began to think about age and old versus young. Age is defined by google as, "the length of time that a person has lived or a thing has existed".
Young is defined as, "having lived or existed for only a short time" and old is defined as, "having lived for a long time; no longer young".
But I think that age is so much more than just young and old. Like the poem we read in class, every year you become all of the years that you have already been. Like if you're turning 5 then you're also 4, 3, 2, and 1.
At what year does someone become old? Can someone who is 80 still be considered young? I think that young versus old has to do with your spirit and the way that you live. If you're full of life and still able to live life to the fullest, I believe that you would be considered young. If you can't do that, I believe you're considered old.
But even then, what about people who are depressed and not full of life because of their illness? How are they considered old or young? Does that have to do with a specific age?
I believe a person should be able to decide whether they're young or old. It becomes a self-reflection for them, as they have to consider what makes them young or old.
For me, I believe I am young because I'm not yet 18, which is considered a legal adult. But who made this rule, that at 18 someone becomes a legal adult? Whose call is it to make, as some 18 year olds are so much mature than others? And when I'm 18, will I be considered old because I'm a legal adult?
Maturity also plays into age; if you're immature and juvenile you're considered to be young, and if you're mature you're considered to be older.
When you think of old, you immediately think of a grandparent and when you think of young, you immediately think of a child. But there's so much in between, say from 18-70. What are these people considered?
I believe age and the idea of young and old has stemmed from society and social norms. I honestly don't think that any of this matters or that even these words should exist in our society because everyone is so different, it's hard to classify and generalize age and youth.
Young is defined as, "having lived or existed for only a short time" and old is defined as, "having lived for a long time; no longer young".
But I think that age is so much more than just young and old. Like the poem we read in class, every year you become all of the years that you have already been. Like if you're turning 5 then you're also 4, 3, 2, and 1.
At what year does someone become old? Can someone who is 80 still be considered young? I think that young versus old has to do with your spirit and the way that you live. If you're full of life and still able to live life to the fullest, I believe that you would be considered young. If you can't do that, I believe you're considered old.
But even then, what about people who are depressed and not full of life because of their illness? How are they considered old or young? Does that have to do with a specific age?
I believe a person should be able to decide whether they're young or old. It becomes a self-reflection for them, as they have to consider what makes them young or old.
For me, I believe I am young because I'm not yet 18, which is considered a legal adult. But who made this rule, that at 18 someone becomes a legal adult? Whose call is it to make, as some 18 year olds are so much mature than others? And when I'm 18, will I be considered old because I'm a legal adult?
Maturity also plays into age; if you're immature and juvenile you're considered to be young, and if you're mature you're considered to be older.
When you think of old, you immediately think of a grandparent and when you think of young, you immediately think of a child. But there's so much in between, say from 18-70. What are these people considered?
I believe age and the idea of young and old has stemmed from society and social norms. I honestly don't think that any of this matters or that even these words should exist in our society because everyone is so different, it's hard to classify and generalize age and youth.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Woolf Punctuation (page 20)
I have never seen an author use punctuation and literary devices like Woolf does, and I mean this in a good way.
While everyone in the story is dazed with this car, a sky-writing plane breaks the spell. Woolf's use of punctuation also adds variety from the previous passage for the reader.
The place where I first noticed it was in the sentence, "actually writing something! making letters in the sky!" (Woolf 20). I've never seen a writer use an exclamation mark in the middle of the sentence and then leave the next word un-capitalized. This adds a voice to the narrator and serves as an interruption, to show how surprised and excited they were to see a plane writing letters. The next sentence has a lot of alliteration, "dropping dream down" and then a list of action verbs, all separated by commas. This is a pretty sentence to read, because of the literary devices used. The alliteration paired with the action verbs emphasizes the plane and its actions. Also, the use of multiple commas (7 in this sentence), allow the sentence to carry on longer. This extension reminded me of a person's eyes following a plane, keeping their eyes on its movement. The next few sentences show Woolf's use of question marks as the viewers try to figure out what the plane is spelling. The question marks serve to show their curiosity, as well as rise to a climax about what the plane will spell out. The last punctuation mark I found interesting was Woolf's use of a semicolon, "Only for a moment did they lie still; then they moved..."(Woolf 20). The semicolon following the world still creates a short, natural pause for the reader, just like the plane paused for a second. After the semicolon, Woolf uses more action verbs to show that the plane resumed writing. By using these literary devices and punctuation, Woolf makes the reader become a part of the crowd, as she builds suspense as both the reader and crowd are waiting to see what the plane will spell out.
While everyone in the story is dazed with this car, a sky-writing plane breaks the spell. Woolf's use of punctuation also adds variety from the previous passage for the reader.
The place where I first noticed it was in the sentence, "actually writing something! making letters in the sky!" (Woolf 20). I've never seen a writer use an exclamation mark in the middle of the sentence and then leave the next word un-capitalized. This adds a voice to the narrator and serves as an interruption, to show how surprised and excited they were to see a plane writing letters. The next sentence has a lot of alliteration, "dropping dream down" and then a list of action verbs, all separated by commas. This is a pretty sentence to read, because of the literary devices used. The alliteration paired with the action verbs emphasizes the plane and its actions. Also, the use of multiple commas (7 in this sentence), allow the sentence to carry on longer. This extension reminded me of a person's eyes following a plane, keeping their eyes on its movement. The next few sentences show Woolf's use of question marks as the viewers try to figure out what the plane is spelling. The question marks serve to show their curiosity, as well as rise to a climax about what the plane will spell out. The last punctuation mark I found interesting was Woolf's use of a semicolon, "Only for a moment did they lie still; then they moved..."(Woolf 20). The semicolon following the world still creates a short, natural pause for the reader, just like the plane paused for a second. After the semicolon, Woolf uses more action verbs to show that the plane resumed writing. By using these literary devices and punctuation, Woolf makes the reader become a part of the crowd, as she builds suspense as both the reader and crowd are waiting to see what the plane will spell out.
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