During class, we were talking about how the sentence length varies in "Cathedral". In the beginning, we were talking about how in the beginning, the sentences were shorter, in the middle they got longer and more complex, and in the end the were shorter again. This was attributed to the fact that in the beginning the main character was narrow minded about blind people, and not used to them. Towards the middle, his mind began to widen, and so did his sentences. In the end, his sentences shrunk again. This alludes to the fact that his epiphany can't be explained in sentences, no matter how verbose the sentences were. While other students and Mr. Allen were talking about that, the only reason I saw was that in both the beginning and the end he was talking about himself, and in the middle he was describing everything around him. Mr. Allen said that these two ideas could be layered upon each other, creating more meaning. But it raises the question how much of this is intentional by the author? Is he writing the prose, or in someways is the writing working through him.
What If: Form Had No Meaning
People told me that during English Class on Friday, one of the them main things we talked about was how form is content. But what if form meant nothing? What if how an author writes was meaningless, and it's only purpose is to be pleasing the to eyes or ears? I guess that it would be a lot harder to pick up minute meaning in the text, and it would be difficult to understand subtle things. Maybe the author would just have to be really abrupt in his writing to try and get his point across. I don't think writing would be nearly as enjoyable then. I've spent a couple hours today reading books, and if they weren't well written I don't think I would have spent that time reading them.
Connection: Kurtz and the Wizard of Oz
In Heart of Darkness Kurtz is portrayed as an almost god-like figure. We hear about him numerous times, while all the details are kept vague. The impressions that I got from him were: awesome, genius, clever, personable, awe inspiring. He is portrayed as the ideal person, but when we finally meet him, as the curtain is pulled back, we realized that he is so little than what we thought he was. He goes from an awe-inspiring figure to a weak, broken man so quickly. It’s very abrupt and hard for the reader to comprehend and make the mental transition. We also see a connection with The Wizard of Oz and Heart of Darkness as the primary purpose in both stories is to find the wizard and Kurtz respectively. The yellow brick road can be paralleled with the river. It’s interesting to see this connection as it shows that this is a common theme that shows up multiple times, whether in children’s literature or a short novel. It’s likely that the theme of searching for a almost mythical figure and then discovering he’s not that great is pretty widespread throughout literature.
Blogging Around
Marika's post was about finding a widowed image for her poem, and her struggles in making her poem just the way she wants it.
"Marika,
One thing about your post really struck me. The first was you talking about having a "brief, concise poem filled with depth and loads of images and meanings open to interprataion". Your not the only one who wants that, I would love to have my poem be exactly that. But like yours, it's not. I'm going to keep striving for that, but (not to sound pessimistic) I've realized that I can't create that perfect poem in one revision. But mine (and I bet yours too) is getting better every revision. And hopefully sometime soon, it'll be just that. And yours will be too.
-Kyle"
Emily's post was also about our poetry assignment, and how her first version of her poem didn't work out, but the second one did.
"Emily,
About the first draft of your poem-- I think it just happens sometimes when you write something, review it, get other people to look at it, etc, but it still doesn't turn out the way you hoped. I think that this kind of happens to everybody, I know that it's happened to me loads of times. Sometimes some ideas only can go so far before they get kind of used up. I'm really glad that you found another widowed image that really worked for you, and that you were able to create a beautiful poem out of. Sometimes you think something's gonna turn out great, but later you realize that it wasn't that good to begin with. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not always your fault that a piece of writing doesn't turn out awesome, often there's nothing you can do with an idea.
-Kyle"
"Marika,
One thing about your post really struck me. The first was you talking about having a "brief, concise poem filled with depth and loads of images and meanings open to interprataion". Your not the only one who wants that, I would love to have my poem be exactly that. But like yours, it's not. I'm going to keep striving for that, but (not to sound pessimistic) I've realized that I can't create that perfect poem in one revision. But mine (and I bet yours too) is getting better every revision. And hopefully sometime soon, it'll be just that. And yours will be too.
-Kyle"
Emily's post was also about our poetry assignment, and how her first version of her poem didn't work out, but the second one did.
"Emily,
About the first draft of your poem-- I think it just happens sometimes when you write something, review it, get other people to look at it, etc, but it still doesn't turn out the way you hoped. I think that this kind of happens to everybody, I know that it's happened to me loads of times. Sometimes some ideas only can go so far before they get kind of used up. I'm really glad that you found another widowed image that really worked for you, and that you were able to create a beautiful poem out of. Sometimes you think something's gonna turn out great, but later you realize that it wasn't that good to begin with. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not always your fault that a piece of writing doesn't turn out awesome, often there's nothing you can do with an idea.
-Kyle"
Metacognition: My Poem
While writing my poem, I think that the most important realization came about when I realized that two characters were necessary in poem. The two characters were necessary in order to explain the main character's story. Though originally, only the main, male character was necessary to the story, eventually the female character became involved, and it could be argued that she became just as important. Their stories weren't just to explain the other's anymore, they were both extremely important, and both held their own lesson. It took me a long time to understand this, it was more of a slow realization than an "ahah" moment. This whole thought process came about solely because of having to do a revision, and getting feedback on poem. The decision to add another character came to fruition because of my feedback to make the main character's story further. It's possible that there might have been another way to do thought, but I can't think of one that would keep the integrity of the poem the same, and I really like the way that it turned out.
Best of Week: Edgar and King Lear
My favorite observation from this week was regarding Edgar (Poor Tom) and King Lear in the forest. I've really enjoyed the actor's portrayal of Edgar, as he's multi layered and very entertaining. The observation that we made during class was that both Edgar and King Lear were crazy, with Poor Tom being crazier, yet Poor Tom wasn't actually crazy and King Lear was on his way to it. While seeing Poor Tom, we saw foreshadowing of what King Lear could become. As we saw King Lear take Poor Tom underneath his wing, it reminded me of a young child caring for a baby doll. Shakespeare shows the various levels of insanity, creating a nice contrast. I'd like to be able to use this technique in my writing, in the future.