| Further in class discussion about Frankenstein's Trial |
[Nov. 19th, 2006|08:13 pm] |
I enjoyed the trial that had been held in class on Friday even though we've discussed superficially about the topic due to the end of class time.
Being on the side of defeding society, I strongly felt that society do not have a big fault for the crime that the monster committed. Society is made up with people in general, and the people with diverse education, physical appearance, morality, opinions, etc. are in that society; however, most of all those people shunned the monster that Frankenstein created. Why did they? It is a human nature that people become passive and denfensive against a creature with monsterous physical features. People find no necessity to talk to him or be a friend with him. People only seek self-interest even though I feel that people only implicitly express that. Because they are not interested in talking and meeting the monster without any evidence that the monster is harmless.
What I want to say is that Victor should have been taken care of all. Before he made the creature, he had to concern about the physical appearance and education. The monsterous creature is just an infant who does not know anything with just a humongous body size, and he learns how to communicate through listening other families talking instead of Victor teaching him. All parents are responsible for their children before their children can fit into the society with established morality. Therefore, I feel that Victor is mainly responsible for the crime that the creature has committed. |
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| Frankenstein's relevance to today's world |
[Nov. 12th, 2006|11:34 am] |
it seems to me that Mary Shelley's novel portrays many various possible themes that are relevant in today's society. Even though Many erratic behaviors occur in Frankenstein that provide the reader with encounters that would not happen in colloquial life, it can still be relevant in today’s world.
Frankenstein introduces unexpected events and creates a sense of relentless horror for the reader. As I read the book or watch movie, i felt that Victor focused more of his life toward scientific experiments than human relationship. Victor’s thirst for knowledge started as a young child and only became greater as he was introduced to new teachings. I know that he had the inspiration to invent or discover something through vivisection.This action provides an example of how people can become too involved in their work and lose track of what is most important in life; which can easily happen in today’s fast paced world.
To me, having a good relationship with my family and friends is more crucial part of my life; however, I felt somehow guilty when i was readint this book because I felt that I did not care about my family lately because of incredible amount of work in school. Old people, especially my grandparents and relatives have been always said that isolating yourself from the world only causes dilemma's that cannot always be fixed and made into an enjoyable outcome. I did not really care that much on this comment; however, it becomes more clear and understandable at this point of my life. |
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| Poetry |
[Nov. 5th, 2006|01:46 pm] |
We were discussing about the poetry and how poetry works and communicates to readers in the class.
The most significant factor that poets should consider in writing is not facts but the truth. The audiences must receive "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling" from their conincidential experience. I agree that the experiences play role much more than than learning in the world of poetry. Good poetry should be insightful and beautiful and be able to appeal to humans' emotions. Understanding poems' deep insigts and meanings with the heart instead of head is only happening after the poem provide certain satisfaction to readers. What you know is a greater influence, and "it communicates before is it understood." One more interesting quote by Oscar Wilde, "a poet can survive everything but a misprint" tells that a single word can change the entire poem's purpose or meaning that misrpint is not acceptable in poetry. |
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| Lord Byron Analysis |
[Oct. 28th, 2006|05:21 pm] |
As I read Lord Byron's biography in the book, it seems to me that Lord Byron is a man whose passion for life seemed unequaled by any of the other Romantic figures because of his demonstration of personal character in his literature works and in his life.
Lord Byron’s most notable contribution to literature, the Byronic Hero, possessed many qualities that Byron himself portrayed in colloquial life. The most prominent characteristic that links Lord Byron to his literary characters is his passionate manner by which he pursues life. Whether in the pursuit of women or adventure, the life of Lord Byron and his Byronic Hero holds many similarities. The way that Lord Byron sought pleasure for himself by his own means was another way which he resembled his literary characters. This attitude of self-reliance is a distinguishing characteristic of both Lord Byron and his literary figures
Lord Byron’s moodiness was a trait that links him with his fictional characters as well. Much of this moodiness was brought on by Byron himself, who ceaselessly got himself into troubling situations through his reckless tendencies. The most notable is his affair with his own half-sister. This brought much grief to Byron as it caused many of his friends and supporters to abandon him. This led to the feeling of alienation which Byron shared with his Byronic Hero. These are just a few of the other characteristics that Lord Byron and his fictional characters have in common.
Though not all of Lord Byron’s characteristics are manifested in his characters, there are many similarities between the two. The many resemblance’s that Byron and his characters share only serve to prove what an interesting figure that Lord Byron was and it makes his literature all the more compelling. |
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| Coleridge's works compare to Wordsworth |
[Oct. 22nd, 2006|05:36 pm] |
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's place in the canon of English poetry rests on a comparatively small body of achievement: a few poems from the late 1790s and early 1800s and his participation in the revolutionary publication of Lyrical Ballads in 1797. Unlike Wordsworth's emphasis of idealization of nature and joyful life of humans, Coleridge's poems often favor musical effects over the plainness of common speech. I personally like Coleridge's poems more than Wordsworth's because I somehow can follow his rhythm of musical effects in a colloquial manner. Wordsworth's poems are sometimes ambiguous for me to understand fully because he idealized nature in so many various ways; however, Coleridge mainly focuses to imply the relationship between human and nature. It was hard for me to understand that concept at first, but once I have acknowledged that, I could see that in some examples like "Frost at Midnight," Dejection: An Ode" and "Nightingale." In the last two examples, I could find that he stresses the division between his own mind and the beauty of the natural world.
Within those simplicities, "The Rime of Ancient Mariner" seems one of the profound and complicated poem. The first reason is that Coleridge is nevertheless an important structural support. His emphasis on the imagination, its independence from the outside world and its creation of fantastic pictures. The second reason is that this poem has a repetitive rhyme and musical rhythm, but it seems like it's not a colloquial speech.
Overall, I think that The intentional archaisms of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and the hypnotic drone of "Kubla Khan" do not imitate common speech, but instead it creates more strikingly stylized effect to the poem. |
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| The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Analysis |
[Oct. 18th, 2006|10:49 pm] |
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The Lyrical Ballads were written and published jointly by Coleridge and his good friend William Wordsworth (1770-1850). The first thing I've noticed in this poem is that The mariner's tale, told in the first-person, is set in a third-person narrative about a wedding. This demonstrates how the poet uses the first person narrative voice to make the tale more vivid and moving. By seeing and examining the ideas of crime and punishment in the poem, and the poet's attitude to the natural world seems to be the main theme or the purpose of the poem. When the mariner shoots an albatross, he does it casually and without animosity. Yet this impulsive, destructive act is his undoing. One cannot have something without destroying something else. Likewise, destruction leads to the creation of something new. The loss of the mariner's ship, shipmates, and his own former self ultimately leads to the regeneration of the mariner. In addition, it seems like that Coleridge focuses in the poem on humanity's relationship to the natural world. It is definite that the killing of the albatross brings dire consequences on the mariner. In a larger sense, it is not his killing of the bird that is wrong, but the mariner's—and by extension humankind's—callous and destructive relationship with nature that is in error. Therefore, I think the main purpose of the poem is to provide the idea of underlying Christianity in the supernatural world because Supernatural beings appear in the poem as symbolic or allegorical figures, representing the forces of nature, life, death, and retribution. The mariner confronts these figures and must ultimately appease them in order to obtain his salvation. |
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| Wordsworth's poems |
[Oct. 12th, 2006|05:53 pm] |
This week, we have analyzed William and Dorothy Wordsworth's poems and the sublimes underneath the poems. I went through few poems and found out the main sublimes and themes. It seems to me that Wordsworth mainly explores ideas about the intensity of passion humans can feel for each other, as well as how this human emotion is affected by the natural world surrounding them. Wordsworth explores the human feelings of fear and morbid fantasy that strike him from time to time. As we have discussed in the class, he seems to focus more on sublime influenced by nature rather than by common people. He expresses his feeling of insignificance compared to gorgeous nature.
Also, he seems to concentrate and probably had a deep thought about immortality of humans. For example, William Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality" is rife with Romantic
symbolism as well as many of the author's own viewpoints on his society. He makes a point that death is something that humans cannot avoid but only to face it. The theme of this
poem incorporates these Romantic ideas as well as his own views on mortality and spirituality to give the reader an overview of his world and the sense of hope he holds for The ode begins by discussing nature as a metaphor for purity and the ability to dream. "There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream, The Earth, and every common sight, To me did seem Appareled in celestial light…"(1-4) These lines are a prime example of the use of nature to symbolize purity as an image and demonstrate his purity of childhood and expresses remorse at the loss of that purity as people age and distance themselves from God. This idea is connected with the sublime in a common people. |
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| Marriage in Pride and Prejudice |
[Oct. 1st, 2006|12:50 pm] |
I found that there are seven different marriages presented in the novel. Excluding the Gardiner and the Lucas, it seems like that the remaining five marriages contrasts each other to reveal Austen’s opinions and thoughts on the subject of marriage.
The marriage between Darcy and Elizabeth reveals the characteristics which constitutes a successful marriage. In the beginning, Elizabeth and Darcy were distant from each other because of their prejudice. The series of events which they both experienced gave them the opportunity to understand one another and the time to reconcile their feelings for each other. Thus, their mutual understanding is the foundation of their relationship and will lead them to a peaceful and lasting marriage. I see this as not typical marriage because Darcy's social status was higher than Elizabeth's; however, one who bags for marriage is Darcy, and before mutual understanding between two, Elizabeth even refuses Darcy's propose because of his insult toward her family. This relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy reveals the importance of getting to know one’s partner before marrying. The marriage between Jane Bennet and Bingley is also an example of successful marriage. Jane Austen, through Elizabeth, expresses her opinion of this in the novel: "....really believed all his [Bingley] expectations of felicity, to be rationally founded, because they had for basis the excellent understanding, and super-excellent disposition of Jane, and a general similarity of feeling and taste between her and himself." (Chapter 55)
Obviously, Lydia and Wickham’s marriage is an example of an bad marriage. Their marriage was based on appearances, good looks, and youthful vivacity. This is typical way of having prejudice.Once these qualities can no longer be seen by each other, the once strong relationship will slowly fade away. I have experienced this even though I am still young, I tend to look at physical appearance first, then I now realize that it would not hold the relationship long enough for marriage. As in the novel, Lydia and Wickham’s marriage gradually disintegrates; Lydia becomes a regular visitor at her two elder sister’s homes when "her husband was gone to enjoy himself in London or Bath." Through their relationship, Jane Austen shows that hasty marriage based on superficial qualities quickly cools and leads to unhappiness.
While I was reading this novel, I really thought about ideal marriage. Even though time has been passed, and we might have different criteria for ideal marriage, I still think that the ideal marriage at that time is pretty close to my ideal marriage based on reading and discussion in the class. |
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| Love in Pride and prejudice |
[Sep. 23rd, 2006|10:53 pm] |
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In Pride and Prejudice, love seems to be the main theme. The courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth is established, and I see this is cherished. As in any good love story, the lovers must elude and overcome numerous obstacles, beginning with the tensions caused by the lovers’ own personal qualities. Elizabeth's pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first impression, while Darcy's prejudice against Elizabeth’s poor social standing blinds him, for a time, to her many virtues. I am not sure that everyone do this, but I personally misjudge people at the first sight, and I know this is not good. However in social life, the first impression seems to be really significant, especially during the interview or meeting. Austen, meanwhile, poses countless smaller obstacles to the realization of the love between Elizabeth and Darcy, including Lady Catherine’s attempt to control her nephew, Miss Bingley’s snobbery, and Mrs. Bennet’s idiocy. In each case, anxieties about social connections, or the desire for better social connections, interfere with the workings of love. Darcy and Elizabeth's realization of a mutual and tender love seems to imply that Austen views love as something independent of these social forces, as something that can be captured if only an individual is able to escape the warping effects of hierarchical society. This tells us that Austen see love more realistically. In hierarchical society, Austen's view on love appealed strongly to me, and I understand Austen's position easily. In my opinion, what makes the love confusing and ambiguous is that love is sometimes realistic but sometimes idealistic. |
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| Rights of Women |
[Sep. 16th, 2006|11:21 pm] |
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Among the readings that we did last week, I found that most of the writers mentioned about Rights of women and how those rights should be enforced. Hannah More is a woman writer whom I was interested. Especially, she was discussing about strictures on the Modern System of Female Education. I agree on the quote that she said "it is a singular injustice which is often exercised towards women, first to give them a very defective education, and then to expect from them the most undeviating purity of conduct." Even though women did not receive the same education that men received at that time, the society expected purity out of women. In my opinion, purity and morality are also the subjects that come from the proper education; however, high expectation towards women is just prejudice of the society, I believe. For example, we learn stuff like health in school in order to prevent diseases and to maintain purity as society expects. She was giving a sarcastic view toward the practical use of female knowledge, with a sketch of the female character, and a comparative view of the sexes; however, prejudice applies to writings as well. Without any improvement in understandings of women and proposing the high quality of practical life, women always received less attention compare to men, and the quality of their life is mostly lower than men. Nowadays, I see that has been improved that women receive more and more attention, and their roles to society are constantly increasing. |
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