annjanlee

Hello! My name is Anna Lee and I am a second-year. I am undecided about my major, but also enjoying my time here at UCD. Some of my hobbies are playing the ukulele and playing tennis.

[tayleirobinson]

I’m sure by now that every one in class has heard of this “magical” color-changing dress. But there is actually science behind why some people see it one way and some people see it another way. It all has to do with how the lenses in our eyes interpret the light coming into them. So the dress has been proven to be blue with black lace, but many people physically just cannot see it as anything other than white with gold lace. This dress kind of makes me think about the way people view pieces of literature. We form opinions based on how our brains interpret the words coming in as we read them. This is why every one will always have a slightly different opinion on the things they read. I also think similarly to the dress, after a while of looking at a piece of literature, the way you see it could start to change. 

[werocksanaaa-blog]

Writer's Choice

"There are no facts, only interpretations."-Friedrich Nietzsche

This specific quote reminds me of Natalie Goldberg’s One Plus One Equals a Mercedes-Benz. My interpretation of this chapter was that it discussed looking at things in different ways, having new perspectives on things, which is exactly what I think the quote is getting across. The quote is also saying that there is no such thing as correct facts because it’s the way we look at things, what we want to be correct. The example Goldberg used was that 1+1 could equal anything, it didn’t have to be 2. The quote is just a more straightforward way of saying what Goldberg was trying to get across in this chapter. Goldberg uses examples to get across her point, while this quote makes it clearer what it’s meaning is. The way we choose to look at things is what we end up believing, we don’t just go based of off facts, sometimes it’s our religion or our superstitions as well.

[alexibrown]

Writer's Choice-The benefits of silence

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/opinion/sunday/the-cost-of-paying-attention.html?_r=0

The article shows that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find spaces in public where there is no commercial chatter of the ads, and the news. Such places that have been claimed by commerce. The only way to cut yourself off from the distracting chatter is by staring into your I-phone with headphones on. But this should not be the case since silence is such a highly prized commodity.  As the article describes the endless benefits of silence they come to the conclusion that, “…one consumes a great deal of silence in the course of becoming educated”. If silence became a more protected recourse such as water and purified air then there would in turn be a greater level of education, creativity and human interaction. The silence is not limited to the literal sense but also includes ads that are posted everywhere that seem to occupy people’s minds. In the classroom is our time to feel the silence of commerce since at all other points in the day the chatter is able to reach us. The time in the classroom gives our brains the time to immerse in the silence and focus on literature in a pure state without our heads clouded with interruptions from the world.

[martinezbel-blog]

Eugenics: alive and well in the USA

The California State Auditor recently found that female inmates in California’s prison system were being sterilized without consent, often with coercion. The…

I watched this short clip on eugenics thinking about NLMG. Here we see women in prison being targeted and forcibly sterilized without consent. The practice of eugenics is still well and alive to this day. I connected it to NLMG for obvious reasons, one being who is able to reproduce and who is not. Another reason I chose it was to further think on the prison type ideas we have spoken about in class. Are the kids in Hailsham any different than these prisoners? Does Hailsham qualify as a prison even though it does not have the physical characteristics? How does a person kept in captivity prevent or protect themselves from eugenics? Is eugenics good or bad? and so forth. It is a very short clip anyway, nice, sweet, short and straight to the point. Enjoy!

[annjanlee-blog]

Writer's Choice

http://www.you-think-too-much.com/bookish-thoughts/the-terror-of-intimacy-and-a-review-of-gone-girl/

Recently, my roommate came to me with a quote by Tony Kushner she came across while reading Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. If you have not experienced the story (by novel or film adaptation), it essentially depicts a set of thrilling events regarding Amy and Nick Dunne as their marriage crumbles and Amy disappears. I thought Flynn's use of Kushner's quote that reads:

     Love is the world's infinite mutability; lies, hatred, murder even, are all knit up in it; it is the inevitable blossoming of its opposites, a magnificent rose smelling faintly of blood.

did a good job at summing up the relationship of the couple, as I had seen it in the movie. All the suspense, I feel, comes down to the fact that Nick and Amy could not overcome their irreconcilable differences. I also felt, however, that their might be more to the quote, so I decided to google it and came across some interesting things.

Love in the context of "infinite mutability," I think, refers to how it can overshadow everything that can actually terrify in reality. In a way, Kushner's idea of muting "lies, hatred, murder" could come off optimistic, but the fact that it can be "infinite" also suggests that it could be limiting and dangerous at the same time. For the purposes of the story, this could portray the level of complexity in Amy and Nick's relationship. Although they were very intimate with one another, Nick points out, they were also not very knowledgeable about each other. This implies that although they were married and had a high level of intimacy, Amy and Nick did not have a very stable relationship, meaning these things could also have been what drove them apart. The "inevitable blossoming" of this "magnificent rose smelling faintly of blood" gives readers a perception of terror in the name of love. The "inevitable" and the faint, little hint of "blood" can be daunting. These things suggest that although we are not aware of it, there could be a relationship between love and terror. Love could mask terror or it could result in terror, giving all of these possibilities that ultimately gives us something to think about.

[annjanlee-blog]

Love Writing for Writing Itself

In the chapter “Don’t Use Writing to Get Love,” from Writing Down the Bones, author Natalie Goldberg advises writers against using writing as a means to an end. Writers, according to Goldberg, tend to confuse the acts of “living and writing” (Goldberg, 57). This cannot be a good thing because “being alive is unconditional” whereas writing is not (Goldberg, 57). Writers should recognize that they are alive and do not need to use writing to prove their existence, but rather as a form of expression. Despite all the things we are going through, writing does not need to be an “excuse” or way of gathering “attention” just so we feel noticed or loved (Goldberg, 57). Instead, writing can be a way of focusing on something creative or important, a way of knowledge.

In a course like ENL 3 and for our purposes, this advice can prove to be beneficial. When we realize that we have what Goldberg refers to as the “support” or the “care” of our peers, we can begin to write what we actually think instead of what we would like to say for a specific agenda. Without “low self-esteem” or the need for someone to openly praise us, we can begin to live and write separately (Goldberg, 57). That is, taking out any attempts to gain personal support and writing expressively overall. If everyone taking this class feels comfortable enough sharing their opinions and thoughts, the expression of those ideas through writing will eventually become easier. We will feel less self-conscious about our writing and be more aware of the importance of our own writing and voices.

From personal experience, writing can be difficult and especially when trying to avoid making it sound like a call for attention to something specific. For example, there seems to be a great tendency in writing to make arguments that only speak for one side of the story. It is, after all, easier to write about things that make more sense or that we are more comfortable with. It can be intentional, pushing one idea forward as a result of evidence that seems to line up with that one particular claim. In some cases, however, it may not be intentional to draw attention to that one argument. Maybe that dominant argument just has more evidence overall and seems to be the most convincing, pushing specific ideas forward. However, it ultimately indicates that we forget that writing could take on various angles in order to be more effective than it may already appear. And most of the time, it seems, putting the focus on one larger claim could be avoided simply by presenting other arguments that work as well. “Writers get confused,” like Goldberg suggests, which begs the question: does the writing present one argument or multiple arguments that contribute to a larger idea overall? As writing can be hard, we can mix the two up, much like mixing up living and writing. Writing, in terms of living, is writing for a purpose and trying to prove a point. Whereas writing, in terms of writing itself, is writing about things that are important, that can be different, and pulling those ideas together for some sort of knowledge.

When we make the mistake of using writing to fulfill our need for support or an agenda, we take away the ability of writing to convey our actual thoughts and maybe even new knowledge. The fact that before we “needed support” and “needed care,” but are actually capable of freeing our writing from fear of judgment and letting it teach others, shows that writing can be more effective as an end within itself (Goldberg, 57).

Bibliography

Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones. Boston: Shambhala, 1986. Print.

[annjanlee-blog]

Analysis Review

C3 – Confusing idea, whetherdue to syntax, logic, or underdevelopment.

Excerpt – “As there exists no information regarding what actually happened, audience members can see that Caliban can be good-natured as well and Prospero even cruel too.”

Revision – Because Shakespeare does not offer any information about what happened between Prospero and Caliban in the past, audiences cannot simply assume Caliban as a monster because of his apparent hostility and Prospero as more human because of his apparent righteousness. Rather, audiences should see past their judgments on what Shakespeare or the characters make of each other, and that Caliban could be good-natured and Prospero cruel even.

Y2 – Quotations that have potential but aren’t yet analyzed.

Excerpt – “Prospero refers to Caliban as a “slave, whom stripes may move” and recalls how he “lodged” Caliban, giving him “human care” (Act I, Scene II). The way Prospero associates Caliban with whips and the care he provided Caliban implies how Prospero views him as an inferior monster, but also how readers can also perceive him to be animalistic.”

Revision – Prospero, at one point, recalls the “human care” that he provided Caliban, his “slave, whom stripes may move.” Prospero’s treatment of Caliban as a slave indicates his superiority, but his reference to the word “human” suggests that he perceives Caliban as something non-human, what audiences might also consider monster-like, which implies that Caliban’s character really amounts from what others think about him.

[annjanlee-blog]

Poetry: Science vs Humanities

http://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2008/12/22/venus-hottentot-and-the-irony-of-science/

“One of the other good choices made by Obama’s inaugural planners was inviting Elizabeth Alexander to compose and deliver a poem. It’s not a well-established tradition. Only two other Presidents have featured poets at their inaugurations: John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton. And, of course, the mere mention of “poetry” gives folks an opportunity to burnish their anti-intellectual credentials by pulling excerpts out of context and proudly proclaiming that they don’t get it.”

“You can guess where that’s going to go. Of all the things the world needs right now, “more mockery of science by humanities-oriented intellectuals” is not one of them. Yes, yes, we know: science is cold, and clinical, and dehumanizing. It also gave us penicillin, not to mention Mentos & Diet Coke, so cut some slack, okay? At the end of the day, anti-intellectualism is still anti-intellectualism.”

“But upon reflection, I decided that my first reaction was unfair. As Hilzoy very astutely points out, the poem’s opening in Cuvier’s voice is honestly beautiful and affecting, where it could have been nothing more than sarcastic. The beauty of science can coexist with a shriveled heart.”

“More importantly, as scientists we need to be able to take a little honest critique now and then and learn from it. Although anti-science attitudes within the humanities can often be little more than a cheap pose, that doesn’t mean that science shouldn’t ever be examined critically. Georges Cuvier’s crazy theories (he was also wrong about elephants, evolution, and continental drift, but did have some good ideas about dinosaurs) are just as much a part of the history of science as Newton or Darwin. And the impulses behind them are as real today as they ever were.”

 The importance of Sean Carroll’s post about the irony of science to our understanding of “The Venus Hottentot” is that it shows us the importance of reading Elizabeth Alexander’s work without any expectations and before forming any opinions, using textual evidence to support alternative ways of thinking about the poem. I think we do go through similar phases that Carroll talks about. We might get intimidated by hearing the word “poetry,” because it requires knowledge, precision, and patience in order to fully understand it without taking anything out of context. Then, we might begin to read it and criticize the author for their writing. When we first read Cuvier’s part about science and the beauty of it, we might start to criticize Alexander’s so-called hate on science and how unethical it can be. Or, we might assume that Alexander supports Cuvier and believes that science is beautiful too. However, like Carroll points out, we might begin to realize how unfair our responses were. This allows for critique, analysis on the text at hand instead of automatic opinions about the content of the poem. Overall, this can be important for Alexander’s work, because it is meant to be thought-provoking. It is meant to draw attention to the complexity of Cuvier’s science-oriented mind and then, Baartman’s character and tragic life. As a result, audiences can start to wonder what more there is to science and to civil rights. Analysis of the text and critique of the content leads to the bigger ideas that Alexander hopes to depict. Reading from a science point-of-view or a humanities standpoint would not get us very far.

[annjanlee-blog]

Literary Adaptation

     Introduction. In my literary adaptation of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, the United Kingdom still exists as a dystopia successfully eradicated of disease by the power and use of human clones. My version of the story still follows Kathy as she grows up at Hailsham, the boarding school where she begins to discover the importance of her special childhood. As readers can gather towards the end of the novel, the stress Hailsham puts on students and their creativity in areas such as art and writing was primarily meant to show how clones had souls and should be treated humanely. Without the artwork and the mysterious element behind Madame and her Gallery, perhaps Kathy’s curiosity and recollections would not have helped her learn the importance of her childhood. To create a new understanding of how Hailsham and creativity plays a role in Kathy’s realizations, I will adapt a version that changes the purpose of art for the children. Without the pressure of creating art and the uncertainty behind it, Kathy along with the other children will not question the purpose of art as a result. In other words, Kathy will not have realized that she too could have a soul by the end of the novel.

    Adaptation. No one has ever seen the Gallery. No one needed to, because the fact was Madame came every week to collect our artwork. Not only did she praise our work, Madame always paid a fair wage for each piece. Madame was a short, thick woman. Although she always wore a dark, tailored suit, Madame always had a smile on her face and made jokes that everyone laughed at.  All the children spoke highly of her because of her cheerful demeanor, always happy unlike the other people who visited. Every week, the guardians would go through our artwork and pick a few of the best to sell to Madame. Unlike some of the other kids who just made their best piece of art in hopes of getting it sold, I actually enjoyed creating works that Madame might have high regards for. Most of the time, though, I think art was just a way of killing time for students before they were old enough to start their donations. I mean, really, that is why we were at Hailsham and that is what we end up doing anyways.

    There was this one time Madame came to Hailsham and picked out my painting and Ruth’s poem as the best works. We were paid handsomely and this would continue throughout my time at Hailsham until I was old enough to move out. I am thankful that Madame was nice to all the children as she gave us all something to do and even the little cash that we earned turned out to be helpful. The art was a good distraction for the time we were being prepared as donors and the money was especially valuable in my first few years as a carer trying to figure everything out. I will never forget how thoughtful Madame was and how simple everything was with her.

    Analysis. In the original text, Kathy begins to question what the gallery really embodies. Kathy’s curiosity allows her to see how it “fits with a lot of other things that are puzzling” (Ishiguro). The other girls, too, begin to have suspicions about Madame, who was not very well known and always had a “chilly look” (Ishiguro). Much like the need to put puzzle pieces together, the significance of their uncertainty about the Gallery and of Madame’s feelings towards them push the girls to find some answers, which for Kathy was figuring out that the artwork had everything to do with donations. Eventually, the girls collectively plan to prove the “theory” that Madame was “scared” of them, which actually turns out true, to their surprise and dismay (Ishiguro). The girls are hurt that Madame was shaken up by their presence, but more importantly, Kathy reflects on how the incident helped her realize she was different, “something troubling and strange” (Ishiguro). Similar to how disproving hypotheses can lead you to better truths, the disconnects that Kathy recognizes ultimately help her understand that her childhood was not as simple as the guardians made it look, but rather something special or at least much more complicated.

    With the adaptation, the text does not present as much confusion about Madame and the Gallery. In other words, Kathy cannot see Madame’s business as anything but a business that purchases student artwork as a simple means of giving students something to do in the meantime. All we can know from the adaptation is how good-natured Madame was and how artwork was sold in exchange for money that the students could use later on. The students still grew up, Kathy still became a carer, and she will still die after her donations. What we do not get from the adaptation, versus the original, is Kathy’s realization that creativity at Hailsham meant something to the progressives in this dystopia who wanted to show that human clones too had souls. This suggests that Madame, her peculiar nature, the Gallery, its empty meaning, and the strangeness behind creativity are very important features that are not merely recollections, but realizations.

    These features present the necessary anomalies in not only Kathy’s understanding, but the readers’ knowledge of how art can shape the human clone and its soul. As a result of these changes, one can begin to suspect that art could depict the soul of a human clone and that Hailsham, although it never successfully proved that clones did have souls, could have been on the right track about it.

[annjanlee-blog]

Analysis 4: Fill-in-the-Blanks

By describing Catherine/Giovanni both as “having a masculine spirit” and “masculine Desires,” Bianchi and Cleland seem to support characterization by physical appearance or how Catherine’s actions make her manlier instead of brave or intelligent as she draws her gun for protection. However, the fact that Catherine’s “lesbian body” was found to be “so far from any unusual Magnitude,” even after suspicion of physical differences in homosexuals, contradicts this notion. This evidence implies instead that perhaps Catherine’s body, or her appearance as Giovanni has nothing to do with her sexual orientation and various inclinations. This means that Catherine’s homosexuality could stem from something else—maybe something that happened that has shaped her character, and encourages readers to consider the division between appearance and reality—how things that appear to be real might not necessarily be an accurate representation of reality.

[annjanlee-blog]

Writer's Choice

http://onlyagame.typepad.com/only_a_game/2015/02/the-wikipedia-knows-nothing.html

"Can someone who looks up a topic on the Wikipedia be said to have access to knowledge on that subject?"

"In the first place, any time we refer to the Wikipedia, we have no way of knowing whether the information recorded there has been mischievously altered by someone, effectively at random. The open editorial policy means that we can never eliminate this possibility, which gives us reason to doubt the accuracy of anything read there. Furthermore, while the content policy means that any claim posted must be referenced to some other source, there are limited standards of quality control regarding this referencing: it is perfectly possible to accurately reference inaccurate claims, for instance. So we can also doubt that Wikipedia, by itself, provides any basis for legitimate justification."

"This does not make Wikipedia useless: it functions as a giant ‘dial-a-geek’, whereby you can get an informed opinion via a random unknown nerd or cluster of nerds. It is likely to be correct when the information is straightforward (historical dates, for instance). But beyond trivia, its epistemological claims become increasingly sketchy. It certainly could contain factual information – but you can never be sure that what you are looking at does, if you don't have some other point of reference."

This post and these quotes relate to our class as we continue to write analytically. Obviously, we do not have to worry about alterations to the text itself as we have it in front of us, but we do have to worry about the observations we make (like the information on a Wikipedia page) and how that can mislead us to think specific ways and form certain opinions. Our observations alone are not enough for our knowledge claims. How do we know what we know when it can mean something completely different? In this case, analysis requires evidence or another source for a convincing argument. To strengthen our literary analyses, we must have textual sources of evidence.

[annjanlee-blog]

Analysis 3

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-american-sniper-trial-20150204-story.html

In her Los Angeles Times article titled “’American Sniper’ fame could complicate Chris Kyle murder trial,” Molly Hennessy-Fiske reports on the possibility of recent movie-adaptation success of Chris Kyle’s book American Sniper affecting the trial of his murderer Eddie Ray Routh. Throughout the article, the author does not explicitly argue how the film will or will not impact the murder trial, but only that it might, as the title suggests. Hennessy-Fiske’s position does not really help paint a less black and white representation of how the movie has affected its audiences and maybe she did not because it was not her intention as she was merely “reporting.” In any case, her report on the “fame,” “publicity surrounding Kyle,” and “emotions” resulting from the “sensational” film, “an Oscar-nominated movie,” actually implies that “American Sniper” will have some sort of effect on the trial. It is uncertain what the film’s effect on Routh’s trial will be, but there certainly will be some impact. This certainty, in comparison to the author’s lack thereof, comes from the “voir dire” process that the author herself takes note of. Hennessy-Fiske uses law professor Geoffrey Corn’s knowledge of how the process works to pick jurors who “can set aside preconceived notions and judge the case based on the facts and the law” to show that Routh can still get a “fair trial.” However, the author does not consider that even jurors who have seen “American Sniper” or read Kyle’s book are not necessarily disqualified as “potential jurors.” It is not to say that the jurors who will be narrowed out will already have formed personal or political stances on the issue and make the trial difficult, but that the movie will have an impact on those who have already seen it and have some say in Routh’s fate.

[annjanlee-blog]

Notes 4

Looking back at my first analysis and the feedback I received, I would have to agree that the implications I pointed out were leaning more towards observations. Had I gone further, looking at the observations from different angles, I think I would have been able to come up with actual implications that could then be analyzed. I think this struggle comes from the assumption that a text appears one way and can only be interpreted in a certain way. In other words, fear of distorting the meaning of the text all together. One thing I did notice, however, is that an implication or getting at an implication can be a lot easier or more meaningful when there is textual evidence to support it. For example, I found the second piece of evidence could really drive what the first piece of evidence was saying. It also made my claims much more interesting, bringing in more ideas. For improvement, I would have to consider our class discussion on Mignolo and specifically about objectivity. I think that by avoiding interpretation of the text in just one way, considering all the other possibilities, would really allow for better, more engaging, and knowledgeable literary analysis.

[annjanlee-blog]

Analysis 2: 2-3 on 2

Text – The Tempest

  Pre-writing –

  Binary or Division: Looking at the relationship between Caliban and Prospero, there exists the division between monsters and men. Readers might initially classify Caliban as monster-like compared to other characters, but later realize that Caliban’s inhumane actions and words are very much human-like too.

  Complication: Caliban claims that he was once nice to Prospero, but has been forced to stop when Prospero locked him up. Prospero, on the other hand, claims that Caliban tried to rape Miranda, forcing him to imprison Caliban. This ambiguity leaves the binary insufficient, because audiences can see Caliban as an animalistic creep, good-natured, or both even.

  Evidence + 2-3 Implications # 1:

“I must eat my dinner.

This island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother,

Which thou takest from me. When thou camest first,

Thou strok’st me and made much of me, wouldst give me

Water with berries in ’t, and teach me how

To name the bigger light, and how the less,

That burn by day and night. And then I loved thee

And showed thee all the qualities o' th' isle,

The fresh springs, brine pits, barren place and fertile.

Cursed be I that did so! All the charms

Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!

For I am all the subjects that you have,

Which first was mine own king. And here you sty me

In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me

The rest o' th' island.” (Act I, Scene II)

  Caliban’s description of how Prospero petted him, took care of him, gave him water, taught him words, and put him in a cave shows how Prospero treats him like an animal. This implies that Caliban can be a knowledgeable being, but is also shaped by the way Prospero treats him.

Caliban’s claims of the island, how Prospero took it, and how Prospero locked him up implies that Prospero has wronged him and he has reasons to be angry.

  Evidence + 2-3 Implications # 2:

“Thou most lying slave,

Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have used thee,

Filth as thou art, with human care, and lodged thee

In mine own cell till thou didst seek to violate

The honor of my child.” (Act I, Scene II)

Prospero’s calls Caliban a liar, piece of filth, and rapist with very little evidence, which implies that Prospero perceives him as such, but readers cannot be too sure about this image of Caliban.

Prospero also associates Caliban with whips, recalling how he took in and cared for Caliban, which further implies Prospero’s view of him as an inferior monster, who audiences can perceive as animalistic.

  Claim: In one or more of the implications, audiences can see how Caliban perceives himself initially, and Prospero perceives Caliban throughout the play as animalistic and needy. However, audiences also begin to see how Prospero’s possible misconceptions and mistreatment of Caliban also play a big role in Caliban’s dehumanization.

  Analytical Paragraph –

     In The Tempest, there seems to be a distinction between monsters and men. Regarding the division between Caliban and Prospero, readers might believe Caliban to be monster-like and Prospero to be human-like. However, audiences may begin to realize the insufficiency of the binary as the history between Prospero and Caliban remains ambiguous. Caliban claims he stopped being nice to Prospero once Prospero took his land and locked him up. Meanwhile, Prospero claims he imprisoned Caliban after Caliban tried to rape his daughter. As there exists no information regarding what actually happened, audience members can see that Caliban can be good-natured as well and Prospero even cruel too. Prospero refers to Caliban as a “slave, whom stripes may move” and recalls how he “lodged” Caliban, giving him “human care” (Act I, Scene II). The way Prospero associates Caliban with whips and the care he provided Caliban implies how Prospero views him as an inferior monster, but also how readers can also perceive him to be animalistic. Prospero also calls Caliban a “lying slave,” “filth,” and a creep who sought “to violate the honor of [his] child” (Act I, Scene II). Overall, Prospero’s argues that Caliban lies and once tried to rape Miranda, but without any evidence, which implies that his perception of Caliban does not have very much substance. Throughout the play, Caliban can be perceived as animalistic and needy, but Prospero’s possible misconceptions and mistreatment of Caliban plays a big part in how we perceive Caliban, which leads us to believe in his inhumanity. As a result, we as readers cannot simply use binaries as a way of comparison and definition.

[annjanlee-blog]

Notes 3

Character: Boatswain

Brief description: As the ship’s officer, in charge of the deck crew and boat, Boatswain offers a logical way of thinking, without emotions getting in the way and rash decisions being made during the storm. Boatswain only wants to do his job and in the end, really cares that the king and his men are safe.

Sparknotes excerpt: Boatswain appears only in the first and last scenes of the play. Boatswain’s has good character and appears to be competent, almost cheerful, when he offers practical knowledge over weeping and praying during the shipwreck scene. When Boatswain awakens in the end, he does not seem shocked about the fortunate outcome (Character List).

Response to Sparknotes excerpt: Sparknotes does not explore how Boatswain goes about doing his job, which distinguishes his level of logic from the rest. Boatswain dismisses the importance of the king and his entourage during the shipwreck, and speaks honestly in favor of getting everyone out of the storm (Act I, Scene I). This may seem like Boatswain lacks care for the king and his men, but really displays Boatswain’s care for everyone’s safety. Readers can sense this at the end when he expresses happiness for the safety of the king and his men (Act V, Scene I). Boatswain was willing to upset royalty, especially Gonzalo, in order to do his job right. Even Gonzalo understood the nature of Boatswain’s attitude, saying that Boatswain is the type to survive the shipwreck, but be hanged in the end for upsetting the king and his men (Act I, Scene I). Unlike the others, Boatswain remains aware of the situation, which is why he does not appear shocked at what happened and how things came to be in the end (Act V, Scene I). Boatswain, his audacity, devotion, and awareness, gives him both logic and good character.

Reflection: The Sparknotes listing of Boatswain did not really influence my perception of Boatswain or The Tempest. The description, did however, offer a broad view of Boatswain, which allowed for deeper insight of his character. Reading for conversancy, only allows us to describe Boatswain in terms like Sparknotes did. However, looking closer at his character and how Gonzalo viewed him, I could see the reason why he acted the way he did initially and reconnect his reaction at the end to his overall character.

[annjanlee-blog]

Analysis 1: 3-4 on 1

Text: The Tempest

Pre-Writing -

Quotation:

“Knowing I lov’d my books, he furnish'd me

From mine own library with volumes that

I prize above my dukedom” (I.II).

  Mini-summary of immediate context:

Prospero recalls how Gonzalo kindly helped him and Miranda get some food and fresh water after they arrived on the island. Gonzalo, who was chosen to send Prospero and Miranda off, actually gave them clothes and other necessities. In this quote, Prospero notes that Gonzalo understood his love of books and snuck Prospero some of his personal books that he values more than his title as duke.

  Mini-summary of broader context:

At the beginning of this scene, Prospero reveals to Miranda how and why they got to the island. Prospero tells Miranda that 12 years ago, he was the Duke of Milan and was driven out by his evil brother Antonio with the help of the king of Naples. Prospero also talks about they were helped onto the island by Gonzalo.

  One focal word or phrase:

“dukedom”

  Strand of evidence to which focal word belongs:

“volumes that I prize above my dukedom”

  2-3 binaries, divisions, concepts, or themes relevant to quotation:

Concept – books symbolize power

Division – power of knowledge/power of title

Theme – power and control of it

  2 possible implications of quotation:

Prospero, besides explaining their way of survival, notes that Gonzalo did this out of the kindness of his heart, which implies that they would not have survived without Gonzalo’s charity.

Additionally, because Prospero’s livelihood depends on his books, the quote also implies that they would not be alive had they not had the books and Prospero’s knowledge.

  2 possible implications of focal word:

Comparing his most treasured books to his “dukedom,” Prospero implies that knowledge and improving one’s studies is more valuable than being duke.

Another implication of Prospero’s use of the word “dukedom” is that even after losing most of what he used to own such as wealth and power, Prospero can throw this word out easily because it does not mean everything to him. Gaining his title back may be important, but it does not mean everything to him.

  Reference to one other moment in the text that provides additional insight:

When Prospero explains to Miranda how Antonio came to power, he also refers to his “dukedom,” saying how his “library was dukedom large enough” (I.II).

  Analytical Paragraph –

      In Act I Scene II, Prospero explains to Miranda how Antonio drove them out of Milan and Gonzalo helped them survive on the island. Prospero remembers how Gonzalo saved him some books from his own library, which he claims are worth more than “dukedom” (I.II). In this comparison that Prospero makes, Prospero’s books appear to be more meaningful than being duke, which begins to create a division between the power Prospero has as a result of knowledge and the power from Prospero’s title as duke. Seeing how much more important books and knowledge are to Prospero, this division may contradict with the assumption that Prospero’s goal is to get his title back and perhaps he has motives and goals beyond that. This possibility is further evident when Prospero reveals to Miranda that his “library was dukedom large enough” when Antonio came to power (I.II). Prospero’s use of past tense implies that his most valued books may have been enough for him, but perhaps not any longer. Audiences can see how Prospero values his books over dukedom, but also how they, alone, might not be enough for him. If Prospero favors power of knowledge over power of dukedom, but those things are not enough for him, then there are probably other results from the tempest that he would like to see.

  Reflection –

       The process I chose was to first read for conversancy and then chose a stanza to look at more closely. When looking closer at the stanza, I was then able to narrow down on a sentence and key word, which allowed me to find something meaningful out of what was said and how it was said. Although it was easy to point out the division between power of knowledge and power of dukedom, it was also a struggle to explain specifically how the example works as evidence without being too general.

[alexibrown]

Adaptation:

At times as writers we get far to wrapped up in the little things and forget about the big picture. Or we may just be writing about every thing that pops into our heads because it is not clear to us yet what the big picture might be. In any case when one’s writing goes off onto...

[annjanlee-blog]

Actually, I think your writing about writing makes a lot of sense! Sense, in the sense that you have a point and you do not stray from that point. I also think that sometimes we are just so caught up in trying to prove a point with so many details that we forget to reconnect those ideas with the main argument or claim. As a result, it seems like we are going on and on about something completely unrelated. That tangent, I suppose, resembles a marriage or commitment because you stick with it and that's that.