komalfatima umar

I prefer komal, and by the way I also took that awesome header picture

[sarcasticnewyorker]

summing up this class

“what is tragedy” she asked

a thousand thoughts run through my head 

what is it, what is it

is it a moment

is it a story

is it a play

is it a life lost

is it a song

at the end of this adventure

i’ll answer the original question

tragedy isn’t just watching romeo drink the poison

it isn’t just that feeling of pain and disappointment when gatsby dies

true tragedy is waking up on tuesdays and thursdays and knowing that i wont be seeing you all

#sorryimcornyandsappy

[apbajs]

[sarcasticnewyorker]

actually to further add to my topic, maybe I want to examine gender roles and construction more specifically 

[sarcasticnewyorker]

topic

I intend to show that gender sexuality is a huge theme in Romeo and Juliet, and is presented through Shakespeare’s dialogue and Luhrmann’s presentation. It can especially be observed through the costume design of the film. 

[sarcasticnewyorker]

attempt at a sonnet

We are running out of time, like always 

Hoping through the disaster, picking up pieces

Wondering wherefore hath God picked this phase

To destroy the life we loved, time freezes

I’ll look upon thee with fiery contempt

Until the truth will finally break free

 Thou are just completing his descent

Heavenly skies have sent you for me 

I love you infinitely but you just lie 

Your purposely waste our shortened time

Can I blame thee or fate’s sharpened sword

For taking the joy I just discovered

You are an angel who is adored

By me, by god, every soul recovered

My love is my reaper, ay me

To fall in love as I fall in to a grave

My luck’s reputation precedes thee

You tell me twice and again to be brave 

My love has arrived the same time as death

You wasted our time, every single last breath

[sarcasticnewyorker]

journal for 4/23

Well besides the fact that I feel like everyone is mad at me for making them memorize the prologue, I have to say that this past Tuesday’s class might have been my favorite. I’ve loved Romeo and Juliet ever since the first time I read it in the 9th grade. At that time, I thought it was the most romantic thing I had ever read. Then I got older. I realized that these characters were more realistic then I had originally thought. I’ve always kind of related to Juliet; because in my opinion she has to deal with Romeo, who let’s admit is kind of a fuck boy. I deal with fuck boys on the daily so I relate. I

n all seriousness, Romeo and Juliet is the perfect tragedy. No matter how many times I read the play or watch Baz Luhrmann’s awesome version of the movie; I find myself hoping to god that she wakes up three seconds before and stops Romeo from drinking the poison. 

When I first read the play, I remember thinking that Friar Lawrence was such a nice guy for helping those two love birds out. Turns out he’s just a self involved human trying to gain some credit for bringing two opposing houses together. How many time have I done some shit like that? Countless. 

None the less, even though Romeo is a fuck boy, every single line of the dialogue in the balcony scene makes me melt. I mean if some guy stood outside of my house and said that shit, I would probably faint. 

I’m pretty excited to analyze this play in this class, because every time I’ve analyzed it, I learn something new. Shakespeare had layers man. 

[sarcasticnewyorker]

the break up poem

you were like summer

joyful and free

left my skin hot everywhere you touched me

and then you were autumn

beautiful but dying

we stayed strong

still far from the bottom

suddenly you were like winter

The person I knew was cold and broken

I began to resemble the dead trees

that lined the road where you left me

but spring came around and you were nowhere to be found

the flowers bloomed

and i moved on

[sarcasticnewyorker]

Journal entry #2

Modern Tragedy is not an easy read. I feel like the text keeps cancelling itself out in regards to what “tragedy” is supposed to be. He mentions the different kinds of tragedies in the world but then he says we have been horribly “misusing the word”. It’s a bit confusing. I think the most difficult part for me is the references. I know that you’re probably going to think I’m the most uncultured student that you have ever taught but I had never heard of Aeschylus, Sophocles or Euripides until this class. It’s a shame that I haven’t because Williams clearly states that greek tragedies are so unique that they could never even be recreated. I also learned that in most tragedies, it all comes down to fortune or fate. Like you said in class, tragedies must evoke both fear and pity. Fortune is the perfect villain in that sense because you feel bad for the person but at the same time, fortune could do the same thing to you. 

[sarcasticnewyorker]

Journal #1

The Susan Sontag essay provided me with ideas that I had never considered before. By trying to find meaning in every piece of art; we are diminishing the art. The only instance in the essay in which I was confused  were the examples she used. I had never heard of the “Philo of Alexandria” before the professor cleared it up for me in class. I also did have to look up several words in the dictionary. I had no idea what hermeneutics were before I read this article. I did however understand what she meant when she was referenced Marx and Freud. I really liked the line after she referenced Freud, where she states “And to interpret is to restate the phenomenon, in effect to find an equivalent for it.”. I honestly had never thought of it that before. It makes me thing to all those years of english class where we were asked to interpret reading, we were literally all saying the same thing over and over again. We were essentially “restating the phenomenon”. Then a very frightening thought occurred to me, while we were all busy trying to figure out what the art or literature meant, did we miss what it actually was? I think that’s why Professor Claman gave us this reading right in the beginning; so we don’t repeat the past mistake of over interpreting something and missing the big picture completely. In conclusion, this essay did three things for me: 

1. Make me cautious of overthinking any text I am reading

2. Expand my vocabulary immensely

3. Actually gave me something to think about days after I was done reading it

So here’s to not analyzing every single thing before I’ve even read the literature.