"It usually happens when I hear someone talking in Espanol. You see, I don't do Espanol either. I use to do Espanol, but it got me in a lot of trouble." (Herrera 175)
-In this quote Herrera is talking about speaking spanish. It's interesting that through the whole book he speaks so much of his culture but only at times like these shows his experience with it. The fact that he gets in trouble for speaking spanish is an interesting thought because that proves his point that American culture is so oppressive when doubled with a different culture such as chicano. The way he speaks about not being able to speak spanish seems kinda of reserved, he doesn't necessarily feel bad about it, its just easier.
"The explosion was the secret. The flavor, let's call it a flavor; it set out on its own. So fast, so alive - it disappeared. Then, I appeared."
-The above quote is from Herrera's last stanza in the last piece of work in the book. The piece is called "How to Make a Chile Verde Smuggler." While there are many different meanings that could be taken from this passage it struck me he was talking about his creation into the world, possibly his conception and birth. How he was made out of this "flavor" or this overpowering force, and it is what makes him and drives him. This could be love, although in the beginning he mentions the chiles from Food City and the "flavor" he speaks of could be related so, possibly, he is referring to his culture, because chiles are a very large part of chicano cuisine and one that he enjoyed. If this is the case he is trying to say that he is his culture, he is what makes it up, it lives inside of him and inside of his family and friends, He smuggles that culture around with him at all times, kindof like smuggling a chile....or being a chile verde smuggler.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
"Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler"-J.F. Herrera (152-174) QR
"The Madonna also said that Tomasa needed 'un picaso' to be born: a pinch, a prick, a tony hole so she could burst forth. Three years later, blam, I was there." (Herrera 170)
-This quote explains how some people in Herrera's culture used their religion to get on top. Herrera doesn't seem to either dislike or like this in anyway. Similar to many of Herrera's opinions, he doesn't really feel particularly invested in it. It is his religion, yes, but who is he to judge how other people use it? This theme of non-judgemental thoughts about people is reoccuring throughout the book but, interestingly, only with people of the same culture. When it comes to other cultures he is overly critical.
"Hanoi knew what he was talking about. She knew it. She relaxed her thick left arm, took a breath, and called the dude with the white corduroy loafers." (Herrera 171)
-The above quote eludes to the enchilada sillouettes that Herrera talks about very often. The way that Herrera explains the mutual understandings between all these old friends makes you get a sense of the depth of their community and how tightly wound it is. The way that Hanoi responds to the demands of other people in the book is an interesting parrallel to draw with Herrera's mother, another prevalent woman character.
-This quote explains how some people in Herrera's culture used their religion to get on top. Herrera doesn't seem to either dislike or like this in anyway. Similar to many of Herrera's opinions, he doesn't really feel particularly invested in it. It is his religion, yes, but who is he to judge how other people use it? This theme of non-judgemental thoughts about people is reoccuring throughout the book but, interestingly, only with people of the same culture. When it comes to other cultures he is overly critical.
"Hanoi knew what he was talking about. She knew it. She relaxed her thick left arm, took a breath, and called the dude with the white corduroy loafers." (Herrera 171)
-The above quote eludes to the enchilada sillouettes that Herrera talks about very often. The way that Herrera explains the mutual understandings between all these old friends makes you get a sense of the depth of their community and how tightly wound it is. The way that Hanoi responds to the demands of other people in the book is an interesting parrallel to draw with Herrera's mother, another prevalent woman character.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
"Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler"-J.F. Herrera (131-151) QR
"Of course, I am lying again. When you are down, like we've been, money is never the answer. By the time the bills roll in, we've transformed into being "espirituales." We've conned ourselves into a crazier gear than the one we were living in." (Herrera 136)
-This quote shows how Herrera believes that everything in his life has changed him forever. Being poor has made it so money won't help him. He believes that his position in society has made him so seperate from everyone else that now he is in a completely different "gear." He lives a life seperate from the rest of the world, him, his close companions against the world.
"Jim smiles at me. I mumble and stretch to one side. Sirens and hipsters shoot by the neon-spoked dreamy night. How about a smoke?"
-The above quote shows Herrera's discomfort in this situation. Jim for some reason seems to make him uncomfortable and shifty, which is shown through the nervous tone in his writing. The way Herrera touches on the "neon-spoked" night but avoids talking about it by saying "how about a smoke" lets the reader know he has many more thoughts about the idea of "sirens and hipsters."
-This quote shows how Herrera believes that everything in his life has changed him forever. Being poor has made it so money won't help him. He believes that his position in society has made him so seperate from everyone else that now he is in a completely different "gear." He lives a life seperate from the rest of the world, him, his close companions against the world.
"Jim smiles at me. I mumble and stretch to one side. Sirens and hipsters shoot by the neon-spoked dreamy night. How about a smoke?"
-The above quote shows Herrera's discomfort in this situation. Jim for some reason seems to make him uncomfortable and shifty, which is shown through the nervous tone in his writing. The way Herrera touches on the "neon-spoked" night but avoids talking about it by saying "how about a smoke" lets the reader know he has many more thoughts about the idea of "sirens and hipsters."
Thursday, May 17, 2007
"Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler"-J.F. Herrera (106-130) QR
"How to roll up your catholic pleated skirt & look favorable, How to make braids out of anything even masa, or calcetines, How to take a two by four and make skates, surfboards" (Herrera 110)
-This quote is from the Notes on Other Chicana & Chicano Inventions. It shows Herrera's ability to see things realistly, just the way they are. He mentions catholic pleated skirts and your attention is once again brought to religion and the stress it puts on his culture. Rolling them up is a way of combatting that part of the culture. Making braids out of anything is also a way of saying that through all of the different difficulties in his cultures, arise being able to make the best out of anything even a "two by four."
"Ain't nothing better, than pulling over - after the pizca in Fresno, on the way to the next one in Delano. On a hot day leave the troke running..." (Herrera 114)
-The above quote explains how Herrera feels about this sense of freedom he gets when he's on the road. It's as if he's escaping from everything that his culture and all the cultures around him bring onto him. The way he says "troke", however, helps you to remember that even with this sense of freedom he stills feels weighed down by his accent, and a constant reminder of his life. This is in no way saying that he wishes he weren't chicano and isn't assuming it is bad to be chicano, but the way he describes his way of life makes him seem like at times he would just like to be a person, not a white person, not a chicano person, just a person in general with no affiliation to some particular culture or obligation.
-This quote is from the Notes on Other Chicana & Chicano Inventions. It shows Herrera's ability to see things realistly, just the way they are. He mentions catholic pleated skirts and your attention is once again brought to religion and the stress it puts on his culture. Rolling them up is a way of combatting that part of the culture. Making braids out of anything is also a way of saying that through all of the different difficulties in his cultures, arise being able to make the best out of anything even a "two by four."
"Ain't nothing better, than pulling over - after the pizca in Fresno, on the way to the next one in Delano. On a hot day leave the troke running..." (Herrera 114)
-The above quote explains how Herrera feels about this sense of freedom he gets when he's on the road. It's as if he's escaping from everything that his culture and all the cultures around him bring onto him. The way he says "troke", however, helps you to remember that even with this sense of freedom he stills feels weighed down by his accent, and a constant reminder of his life. This is in no way saying that he wishes he weren't chicano and isn't assuming it is bad to be chicano, but the way he describes his way of life makes him seem like at times he would just like to be a person, not a white person, not a chicano person, just a person in general with no affiliation to some particular culture or obligation.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
"Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler"-J.F. Herrera (81-105) QR
"The invisble skull on the desolate hills of every California town opens its jaws of arranged imprisonments and decapitations. But, who listens?" (Herrera, 83)
-This quote is Herrera expressing his thoughts about the communities of California, and the world. The invisible skull is the mass culture that everyone is so imprisoned in and that seems to take everyones independence and along with it their happiness. The way the jaw of the skull opens is to Herrera a stirring in society but do they actually stir or do they just like the idea? No one truly listens to the poets lyrics, they just take novely in the idea of poetry, not the unique meanings of the words and emotions.
"This sounds religious and pious again, a bad Chicano habit." (Herrera, 86)
-The above shows Herrera really identifying with something that makes Chicano's different in his mind, makes his community unique. He doesn't necessarily despise it even though he calls it a "bad habit", he is only trying to express that it's something that defines him, and his relatives, his culture. The way he describes this habit and religious and pious is interesting because the words have very similar meanings so it must be that he is trying to draw attention to this religious factor. He doesn't necessarily embrace it but states it as a fact. Simply something that happens whether you try or not.
-This quote is Herrera expressing his thoughts about the communities of California, and the world. The invisible skull is the mass culture that everyone is so imprisoned in and that seems to take everyones independence and along with it their happiness. The way the jaw of the skull opens is to Herrera a stirring in society but do they actually stir or do they just like the idea? No one truly listens to the poets lyrics, they just take novely in the idea of poetry, not the unique meanings of the words and emotions.
"This sounds religious and pious again, a bad Chicano habit." (Herrera, 86)
-The above shows Herrera really identifying with something that makes Chicano's different in his mind, makes his community unique. He doesn't necessarily despise it even though he calls it a "bad habit", he is only trying to express that it's something that defines him, and his relatives, his culture. The way he describes this habit and religious and pious is interesting because the words have very similar meanings so it must be that he is trying to draw attention to this religious factor. He doesn't necessarily embrace it but states it as a fact. Simply something that happens whether you try or not.
Monday, May 14, 2007
First Paragraph for Comparison Paper
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and The Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler by Juan Felipe Herrera are both realist novels with romantic writing in the form of prose, and vignettes. They are both also about the authors’ growing up in America in a Chicano community. The books have very different feels, Cisneros is very fluid, with each piece pertaining to the last in a drawn out, visual story of her life. Herrera on the other hand is eclectic, showing the actual chaos of his life through the chaos of his writing. Both of the books also have one thing in common, they are incredibly relevant to today’s society. The way that children with all types of ethnic backgrounds are feeling growing up in America in contemporary times is shown in both books even if it wasn’t exactly the same time period when the books were written. The feeling of being trapped is one felt by many children today, with all privileges and all types of cultures. The American society has a way of strangling a person in their world, making them a prisoner in their life. The books show this feeling through incredible descriptive words and ideas. Both House on Mango Street and Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler are wonderful literary pieces to explain life in America today, and to show the way that writing can be so different but show the same thing so well.
"Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler"-J.F. Herrera (56-80) QR
"Get horny with the wrong images...argue about salt...fear roses..." (Herrera 61)
-This quote comes from a poem titled Things Religion Makes Me Do. The way the author lists all of these things that are strange and out of place makes you believe maybe its his religion that is strange and out of place. Getting horny with the wrong images is simply his way of saying that it makes him believe things he shouldn't, care about things that don't matter. Arguing about salt is his way of saying his religion creates superstitions like the fear of roses, silly things that he believes are real and that make him argue for them and for his way of life.
"A woman asked me what writers influenced me, who did I read? I said, my mother. Lucha Quintana. Have you heard of that writer? The woman's neck twisted. No, she wanted to know "what writers"! She wanted to ask the usual worn phrase. Ginsberg, Anrtaud, Nervo, Lorca, Neruda, Popa, Hikmet, Rodnati, Walker. These are the shadows - I should have told her." (Herrera 69)
-The above quote shows you an interaction between Herrera and the people around him. He doesn't understand his "fame" in the writing world. He doesn't understand why, if people think he is special, which you should be to be famous, why they don't accept his differences, or even care about them. When he is asking the woman if she's ever heard of his mother it is a question he already knows the answer to but has meaning to him. To ask if she knows of her writing is to make her writing something that SHOULD be known and therefore something acceptable by the society as what he can base his writing on and what is allowed to be his favorite.
-This quote comes from a poem titled Things Religion Makes Me Do. The way the author lists all of these things that are strange and out of place makes you believe maybe its his religion that is strange and out of place. Getting horny with the wrong images is simply his way of saying that it makes him believe things he shouldn't, care about things that don't matter. Arguing about salt is his way of saying his religion creates superstitions like the fear of roses, silly things that he believes are real and that make him argue for them and for his way of life.
"A woman asked me what writers influenced me, who did I read? I said, my mother. Lucha Quintana. Have you heard of that writer? The woman's neck twisted. No, she wanted to know "what writers"! She wanted to ask the usual worn phrase. Ginsberg, Anrtaud, Nervo, Lorca, Neruda, Popa, Hikmet, Rodnati, Walker. These are the shadows - I should have told her." (Herrera 69)
-The above quote shows you an interaction between Herrera and the people around him. He doesn't understand his "fame" in the writing world. He doesn't understand why, if people think he is special, which you should be to be famous, why they don't accept his differences, or even care about them. When he is asking the woman if she's ever heard of his mother it is a question he already knows the answer to but has meaning to him. To ask if she knows of her writing is to make her writing something that SHOULD be known and therefore something acceptable by the society as what he can base his writing on and what is allowed to be his favorite.
Friday, May 11, 2007
"Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler"-J.F. Herrera (29-55) QR
"What are we renewing? From what to what? How long-suffering is the transition?" (Herrera 32)
-This is an interesting quote because it shows you Herrera's deeper more thoughtful, less eclectic side. He is talking about life after death..."rising from the ashes", being reborn. His question for his friend Victor, that he is writing this letter to is why would you need to be renewed? After death why would you want to have to be turned into something else, and how long would this transition be. For Herrera that renewal is a painful idea, so why stand all that suffering for so long? What then is the point of death in the first place??
"What have we learned from our Capitalism? The decapitation of our joys? The desire for simulations of consciousness?" (Herrera 43)
-Here, Herrera is trying to figure out why America is the way it is. The societys that put aside all of their joys and livelihoods for this normal persona, this Capitalist ideal. Why do people have to constantly pretend to always be in the now and care about the now, the "consciousness"? This consciousness is the reason for people never seeing what they truly want, the reason people always put it on hold as if it doesn't matter. Why do they have to pretend to want these mundane things that "simulate consciousness" and make you believe you're part of some wonderful fast paced world???
-This is an interesting quote because it shows you Herrera's deeper more thoughtful, less eclectic side. He is talking about life after death..."rising from the ashes", being reborn. His question for his friend Victor, that he is writing this letter to is why would you need to be renewed? After death why would you want to have to be turned into something else, and how long would this transition be. For Herrera that renewal is a painful idea, so why stand all that suffering for so long? What then is the point of death in the first place??
"What have we learned from our Capitalism? The decapitation of our joys? The desire for simulations of consciousness?" (Herrera 43)
-Here, Herrera is trying to figure out why America is the way it is. The societys that put aside all of their joys and livelihoods for this normal persona, this Capitalist ideal. Why do people have to constantly pretend to always be in the now and care about the now, the "consciousness"? This consciousness is the reason for people never seeing what they truly want, the reason people always put it on hold as if it doesn't matter. Why do they have to pretend to want these mundane things that "simulate consciousness" and make you believe you're part of some wonderful fast paced world???
"Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler"-J.F. Herrera (1-29) QR
"Step ahead, be careful - the ice, you can slip." (Herrera 6)
-The way the author says this at the beginning of his poem about dropping his burdens is kindof a way of warning the reader. It makes the reader feel what hes feeling, that life is constantly on the edge, never stable. You could always fall, something could always go wrong. It gives the reader a heads up in a way for his poem to come, like the power of it is so great you might fall and slip into it like on ice. It also sets a tone of caution, of unpredicatability, of spontaneaity to the poem that you wouldnt feel without this line at the beginning.
"I worry about smiling obituaries...I worry about monolingual emergency signs..." (Herrera 28)
-This is part of a poem where the author simply lists over and over again "I worry..." and then whatever one of the things he worries about is. The funny thing about this poem is that much of it makes alot of sense. He worries about things that shouldn't happen, or that if they happen are probably worth paying attention to. The two worries above are good examples. Why would an obituary smile? To him that is something that you should be worried about, a person that spends all their time with dead people, yet smiles anyway. Monolingual emergency signs are also a worry because if they're monolingual some people will not understand them and therefore possibly be hurt, or is that for a reason??? He asks alot of indirect questions that have logical obvious answers but just are not thought of as important because they are so normal....or not ridiculously strange.
-The way the author says this at the beginning of his poem about dropping his burdens is kindof a way of warning the reader. It makes the reader feel what hes feeling, that life is constantly on the edge, never stable. You could always fall, something could always go wrong. It gives the reader a heads up in a way for his poem to come, like the power of it is so great you might fall and slip into it like on ice. It also sets a tone of caution, of unpredicatability, of spontaneaity to the poem that you wouldnt feel without this line at the beginning.
"I worry about smiling obituaries...I worry about monolingual emergency signs..." (Herrera 28)
-This is part of a poem where the author simply lists over and over again "I worry..." and then whatever one of the things he worries about is. The funny thing about this poem is that much of it makes alot of sense. He worries about things that shouldn't happen, or that if they happen are probably worth paying attention to. The two worries above are good examples. Why would an obituary smile? To him that is something that you should be worried about, a person that spends all their time with dead people, yet smiles anyway. Monolingual emergency signs are also a worry because if they're monolingual some people will not understand them and therefore possibly be hurt, or is that for a reason??? He asks alot of indirect questions that have logical obvious answers but just are not thought of as important because they are so normal....or not ridiculously strange.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Interview
Interviews being conducted through Melissa Larson who is forwarding emails to others.
(only 7 questions because the start of a dialogue will bring more questions and answers)
-How long have you been attending the Burning Man
Festival?
-What do you feel are the highlights of the festival?
-Does attending Burning Man change your view of your
life after and before the festival?
-What would you say are the biggest changes you make
when at Burning Man in terms of emotional and living
changes.
-Are there specific feelings that you associate with
arriving at the festival and leaving the festival?
-What do you think are the main things that make the
festival counter culture, or different? (if you agree
it is, if not I'd love to hear your thoughts)
-Is there anything else that you think would be
beneficial to my project??
(only 7 questions because the start of a dialogue will bring more questions and answers)
-How long have you been attending the Burning Man
Festival?
-What do you feel are the highlights of the festival?
-Does attending Burning Man change your view of your
life after and before the festival?
-What would you say are the biggest changes you make
when at Burning Man in terms of emotional and living
changes.
-Are there specific feelings that you associate with
arriving at the festival and leaving the festival?
-What do you think are the main things that make the
festival counter culture, or different? (if you agree
it is, if not I'd love to hear your thoughts)
-Is there anything else that you think would be
beneficial to my project??
Monday, May 7, 2007
Selections from "A House on Mango Street" - Sandra Cisneros QR
"..the third floor, the paint peeling, wooden bars Papa had nailed on the windows so we wouldn't fall out. You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing. There. I lived there." (Cisneros, 748-The House on Mango Street)
-This type of writing that Cisneros has such an incredible dominance over just shows you every emotion in an image. It brings to life the words and makes you see straight out of the eyes of the narrator. Its almost as if Cisneros doesn't have to say "it made me feel like nothing" because the reader feels like nothing just reading it. You hear the nun's voice and you feel the shame that makes this girl and yourself feel so small and useless. This is also a good quote just to show the way that many people feel about their lives, in America or anywhere else. America especially however because of this expectation of living that we seem to have.
"She likes looking at the walls, at how neatly their corners meet, the linoleum roses on the floor, the ceiling smooth as wedding cake." (Cisneros 749-Linoleum Roses)
-Once again Cisneros draws you into the life of Sally. This girl who, desperately trying to get away from her father, her life, her emptiness, got married too young and now is taking pride in the only thing she has, her possessions. This quote shows an extreme of women in society. It shows the prison many of them lived in during their marriages and the desperation that they had which, in turn was translated into a strange artificial love for things such as ceilings, and walls, and lamps and rugs.
-This type of writing that Cisneros has such an incredible dominance over just shows you every emotion in an image. It brings to life the words and makes you see straight out of the eyes of the narrator. Its almost as if Cisneros doesn't have to say "it made me feel like nothing" because the reader feels like nothing just reading it. You hear the nun's voice and you feel the shame that makes this girl and yourself feel so small and useless. This is also a good quote just to show the way that many people feel about their lives, in America or anywhere else. America especially however because of this expectation of living that we seem to have.
"She likes looking at the walls, at how neatly their corners meet, the linoleum roses on the floor, the ceiling smooth as wedding cake." (Cisneros 749-Linoleum Roses)
-Once again Cisneros draws you into the life of Sally. This girl who, desperately trying to get away from her father, her life, her emptiness, got married too young and now is taking pride in the only thing she has, her possessions. This quote shows an extreme of women in society. It shows the prison many of them lived in during their marriages and the desperation that they had which, in turn was translated into a strange artificial love for things such as ceilings, and walls, and lamps and rugs.
topic for Paper #2
A comparison of two very different books, Dharma Bums and The Great Gatsby. Focusing on particular characters and parallels of how realism creates an avasion to life commitment, creates the tendency to drift. Characters will be compared: Japhy, Ray, Nick, Gatsby (possibly to japhy)
Sunday, May 6, 2007
"Seeing" - Annie Dillard (Second half) QR
"..daughter carefully shuts her eyes whenever she wishes to go about the house, especially when she comes to a staircase, and that she is never happier or more at ease than when, by closing her eyelids, she relapses into her former state of total blindness." (Dillard 702)
-This quote is when the author is discussing a book she read about people who are blind and are given their sight through surgical procedures. The way that she talks about these people seems to make you think she envys these people. They are discovering something completely new and wonderful to them. Everything in the world is beautiful to them, every color different and new. She envys this because to her the world is just a blur, she wants that new discovery, that special love for something new. At the same time she realizes how much easier it would be to be able to avoid all that. Never have to deal with seeing, never have to watch yourself do something, watch yourself fail, be able to have an excuse for not loving some small thing the way that people like thoreau do.
"I stood on the grass with the lights in it, grass that was wholly fire, utterly focused and utterly dreamed. It was less like seeing than like being for the first time seen..." (Dillard, 706)
-The author finally finds what shes looking for. Something so beautiful to her that it seems to be reflecting back, awakening her life. She feels "seen" for the first time, by herself, by the world. To her the lights she sees are something shes worked to see, theyre hard to see because its hard to let yourself completely believe in that beauty that is so encompassing.
-This quote is when the author is discussing a book she read about people who are blind and are given their sight through surgical procedures. The way that she talks about these people seems to make you think she envys these people. They are discovering something completely new and wonderful to them. Everything in the world is beautiful to them, every color different and new. She envys this because to her the world is just a blur, she wants that new discovery, that special love for something new. At the same time she realizes how much easier it would be to be able to avoid all that. Never have to deal with seeing, never have to watch yourself do something, watch yourself fail, be able to have an excuse for not loving some small thing the way that people like thoreau do.
"I stood on the grass with the lights in it, grass that was wholly fire, utterly focused and utterly dreamed. It was less like seeing than like being for the first time seen..." (Dillard, 706)
-The author finally finds what shes looking for. Something so beautiful to her that it seems to be reflecting back, awakening her life. She feels "seen" for the first time, by herself, by the world. To her the lights she sees are something shes worked to see, theyre hard to see because its hard to let yourself completely believe in that beauty that is so encompassing.
Friday, May 4, 2007
"Seeing" - Annie Dillard (first half) QR
"But I don't see what the specialists sees, and so I cut myself off, not only from the tottal picture, but from the various forms of happiness." (Dillard, 694)
-The above quote just shows how Dillard is trying to explain how, because she has no specific love for anything her world is very small. She doesn't see specifics or large pictures, she only sees her life, bland and unexamined. She can't enjoy anything, any form of happiness because to her nothing is special, nothing is beautiful in ONLY her eyes. Because she cant see any of those things that people with special loves sees she simply refuses to see anything in particular and walks around in a haze.
"Thoreau, in an expansive mood, exulted, 'What a rich book might be made about buds, including, perhaps, sprouts!' It would be nice to think so." (Dillard, 694)
-This further shows the authors desire for some type of belief that clouds her judgement. She wants to believe just to believe and be able to have complete faith in something. The way thoreau is so in love with his work that he is fascinated with every single aspect of the smallest things such as peas and sprouts is a type of metaphor for her life. Her life has nothing small and fascinating in it, which in term tends to belittle her life making her feel small and unimportant herself.
-The above quote just shows how Dillard is trying to explain how, because she has no specific love for anything her world is very small. She doesn't see specifics or large pictures, she only sees her life, bland and unexamined. She can't enjoy anything, any form of happiness because to her nothing is special, nothing is beautiful in ONLY her eyes. Because she cant see any of those things that people with special loves sees she simply refuses to see anything in particular and walks around in a haze.
"Thoreau, in an expansive mood, exulted, 'What a rich book might be made about buds, including, perhaps, sprouts!' It would be nice to think so." (Dillard, 694)
-This further shows the authors desire for some type of belief that clouds her judgement. She wants to believe just to believe and be able to have complete faith in something. The way thoreau is so in love with his work that he is fascinated with every single aspect of the smallest things such as peas and sprouts is a type of metaphor for her life. Her life has nothing small and fascinating in it, which in term tends to belittle her life making her feel small and unimportant herself.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac(Quote Responses) 223-end
"The government had tried to fight it, sent a thousand men in with pack string supply lines that then took three weeks from Marblemount fire camp, but only the fall rains had stopped that blaze and the charred snags, I was told, were still standing on Desolation Peak and in some valleys." (Kerouac, 227)
-This quote, although it could very possibly be an accident, is an interesting metaphor to the book. The way that the fire surges on destroying everything, and no one can stop it except nature could be related to the way that suburban culture expands and grows. The way the main stream rips through society kindof like a fire. I'm sure, of course, that this is mear coincidence but the quote still provokes an interesting thought. Because this quote is directly before when Smith is starting to work for old Happy in the mountains is this him giving up on trying to change things, giving in to the power of the fire?
"'And this is Japhy's lake, and these are Japhy's mountains,' I thought, and wished Japhy were there to see me doing everything he wanted me to do." (Kerouac, 229)
-The above quote is interesting because it shows how even though at some points in the book Smith disagrees with Japhy he ends up thinking of his quest around the mountains as a tribute to Japhy. The fact that Smith sometimes seemed to look down on Japhy shows that maybe in Japhy's absence Smith has has realized that he enjoys many of the things Japhy does, and even if he doesn't he respects them. Smith manages to make himself feel close to Japhy by just doing what Japhy wanted him to, it's as if Smith were looking for a way to get Japhy back, to reconnect to what seems to be the best friend he ever had.
-This quote, although it could very possibly be an accident, is an interesting metaphor to the book. The way that the fire surges on destroying everything, and no one can stop it except nature could be related to the way that suburban culture expands and grows. The way the main stream rips through society kindof like a fire. I'm sure, of course, that this is mear coincidence but the quote still provokes an interesting thought. Because this quote is directly before when Smith is starting to work for old Happy in the mountains is this him giving up on trying to change things, giving in to the power of the fire?
"'And this is Japhy's lake, and these are Japhy's mountains,' I thought, and wished Japhy were there to see me doing everything he wanted me to do." (Kerouac, 229)
-The above quote is interesting because it shows how even though at some points in the book Smith disagrees with Japhy he ends up thinking of his quest around the mountains as a tribute to Japhy. The fact that Smith sometimes seemed to look down on Japhy shows that maybe in Japhy's absence Smith has has realized that he enjoys many of the things Japhy does, and even if he doesn't he respects them. Smith manages to make himself feel close to Japhy by just doing what Japhy wanted him to, it's as if Smith were looking for a way to get Japhy back, to reconnect to what seems to be the best friend he ever had.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
The Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac(Quote Responses) 200-223
"I think death is our reward. When we die we go straight to nirvana Heaven and that's that." (Kerouac, 202)
-This is said by Smith when Japhy and him are discussing, like they frequently do, their different opinions on buddhist teachings, and their own opinions derived from them. Ray and Japhy have just had their huge 3 day send off party for Japhy and are also discussing why when everyone has so much fun, you wake up feeling "sad and seperate" from everyone else. The way that Smith thinks about death reflects the way he feels about life. He feels life is such torture that death is your reward for going through it. He also believes there is no judgement and that this "nirvana Heaven" reflects biblical heaven but without the pearly gates, and entrance requirements. This just shows his desire for unquestioned acceptance, and understanding that you see him struggling for throughout the book.
"Adoration to emptiness of the divine Buddha bead." (Kerouac, 219)
-This is the one prayer Smith says over the beads Japhy gave to him. He's on his way to his mountain and is hitchhiking through California and Oregon to get to the Cascade Range on the "skirt of Canada." This prayer pays tribute to the incredible nothingness of Buddha, and the simple emptiness that is Buddhism. The bead of course is not what is empty or divine, but what stands for buddhism. In buddhism everything is everything else, they are all the same, so therefore if one thing is empty so is the bead, so is Smith, so is Japhy. This prayer was appropriate because he's getting ready to go to "his mountain" and he needs to remember the importance of that emptiness and respect that when he gets to that mountain nothing will be there for him because everything is nothing, he is nothing.
-This is said by Smith when Japhy and him are discussing, like they frequently do, their different opinions on buddhist teachings, and their own opinions derived from them. Ray and Japhy have just had their huge 3 day send off party for Japhy and are also discussing why when everyone has so much fun, you wake up feeling "sad and seperate" from everyone else. The way that Smith thinks about death reflects the way he feels about life. He feels life is such torture that death is your reward for going through it. He also believes there is no judgement and that this "nirvana Heaven" reflects biblical heaven but without the pearly gates, and entrance requirements. This just shows his desire for unquestioned acceptance, and understanding that you see him struggling for throughout the book.
"Adoration to emptiness of the divine Buddha bead." (Kerouac, 219)
-This is the one prayer Smith says over the beads Japhy gave to him. He's on his way to his mountain and is hitchhiking through California and Oregon to get to the Cascade Range on the "skirt of Canada." This prayer pays tribute to the incredible nothingness of Buddha, and the simple emptiness that is Buddhism. The bead of course is not what is empty or divine, but what stands for buddhism. In buddhism everything is everything else, they are all the same, so therefore if one thing is empty so is the bead, so is Smith, so is Japhy. This prayer was appropriate because he's getting ready to go to "his mountain" and he needs to remember the importance of that emptiness and respect that when he gets to that mountain nothing will be there for him because everything is nothing, he is nothing.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
1st Paragraph for Dharma Bums Paper
Japhy in the book The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac is the leading spiritual voice in the book. However, Japhy has very conflicting ideas within his spirituality. Japhy tends to use some ideas selectively instead of the devout following of all of his beliefs, which he defends so exuberantly. Japhy does this because of his desire to become enlightened, like the people who’s philosophies he adopts. His impatience for a personal revelation is what brings him to constantly jump between realist and romantic personal views. He does however, try to defend every view he has ever adopted, because of his fear that it might be the one that in the end will lead him to enlightenment. This of course makes Japhy seem very hypocritical at times. Reading the book you see the tension within Japhy around the subject of his beliefs and which ones to follow at which times.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Notes for CCC
-Annual festival held week before labor day about 120 miles north of Reno, Nevada.
-"specatator free" zone, every person is expected to contribute to the community
-"Don't let it hit the ground" is a mantra to demonstrate the zero impact that the temporary city leaves on the desert, many stay to clean up after festival
-commerce-free community, no cash transactions, community relys on gifts/bartering only
-Began in 1986
-"specatator free" zone, every person is expected to contribute to the community
-"Don't let it hit the ground" is a mantra to demonstrate the zero impact that the temporary city leaves on the desert, many stay to clean up after festival
-commerce-free community, no cash transactions, community relys on gifts/bartering only
-Began in 1986
The Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac(Quote Responses) 172-199
"I ate the banana and threw the peel away and said nothing. 'That's the banana sermon.'" (Kerouac, 174)
-This is something Smith says to Japhy when they're discussing nirvana. Smith thinks nirvana is simply there, unspoken, nirvana is in life itself. Japhy only partially agrees thinking that nirvana has a physical type of manifestation. Earlier he describes a monk reaching enlightenment through being pushed on the ground. Japhy thinks that nirvana is the same, is happens in response to some type of stimulation, while Smith thinks it is simply there in the absense of thought.
"Japhy was mad as hell and really jealous." (Kerouac, 185)
-This quote is Smith describing Japhy after meeting Japhy's sister's fiance. For some reason Japhy is very jealous and keeps trying to intimidate his sister's fiance. He talks quite a bit about their sex life which today would seem inappropriate. He also hints to having sex with his sister, which is probably just a crazy Japhy tactic of intimidation, but still very strange, and you can tell hes most likely on some kind of drugs, or just a little out of his mind with "freedom."
-This is something Smith says to Japhy when they're discussing nirvana. Smith thinks nirvana is simply there, unspoken, nirvana is in life itself. Japhy only partially agrees thinking that nirvana has a physical type of manifestation. Earlier he describes a monk reaching enlightenment through being pushed on the ground. Japhy thinks that nirvana is the same, is happens in response to some type of stimulation, while Smith thinks it is simply there in the absense of thought.
"Japhy was mad as hell and really jealous." (Kerouac, 185)
-This quote is Smith describing Japhy after meeting Japhy's sister's fiance. For some reason Japhy is very jealous and keeps trying to intimidate his sister's fiance. He talks quite a bit about their sex life which today would seem inappropriate. He also hints to having sex with his sister, which is probably just a crazy Japhy tactic of intimidation, but still very strange, and you can tell hes most likely on some kind of drugs, or just a little out of his mind with "freedom."
The Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac(Quote Responses) 150-171
"Suddenly I was exhilarated to realize I was completely alone and safe and nobody was going to wake me up all night long." (Kerouac, 154)
-This quote is when Smith is by himself in the countryside traveling. It's a very different world he lives in where to be alone is to be safe. Today to be alone in the wilderness brings thoughts of Blair Witch and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Back then, however, to be alone was to be secure, ensured of an undisturbed existence which is in the end what Ray is searching for. However, Ray is searching for that in a working society, searching for the inner peace where he can be completely safe and secure and not technically alone.
"Inside I saw the beautiful simplicity of Japhy's way of living, neat, sensible, strangely rich without a cent having been spent on the decoration." (Kerouac, 164)
-Smith envies Japhy's life when he sees the way he lives. It's easier for Smith to think of Japhy's life as a type of chaos, with no happiness, no richness to it, just sex, ecclectic theory, etc. Now seeing Japhy's hut he realizes that while Japhy lives a strangely unorganized existence the shear simplicity of his life organizes it all for him. His happiness comes from having his studies, his neat living, and his unorganized mind.
-This quote is when Smith is by himself in the countryside traveling. It's a very different world he lives in where to be alone is to be safe. Today to be alone in the wilderness brings thoughts of Blair Witch and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Back then, however, to be alone was to be secure, ensured of an undisturbed existence which is in the end what Ray is searching for. However, Ray is searching for that in a working society, searching for the inner peace where he can be completely safe and secure and not technically alone.
"Inside I saw the beautiful simplicity of Japhy's way of living, neat, sensible, strangely rich without a cent having been spent on the decoration." (Kerouac, 164)
-Smith envies Japhy's life when he sees the way he lives. It's easier for Smith to think of Japhy's life as a type of chaos, with no happiness, no richness to it, just sex, ecclectic theory, etc. Now seeing Japhy's hut he realizes that while Japhy lives a strangely unorganized existence the shear simplicity of his life organizes it all for him. His happiness comes from having his studies, his neat living, and his unorganized mind.
Monday, April 16, 2007
the Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac(Quote Responses) 120-149
"After all a homeless man has reason to cry, everything in the world is pointed against him." (Kerouac, 122)
-The above quote is a little contradictory to the way that Smith has thought in the past about being homeless. At the start of the book when Ray is traveling to Santa Barbara on the train he seems to think that being homeless is not only a good thing but that he chooses to be. This begs the question, why is he upset about being homeless later in the book. Could it be because he's no longer with Japhy, and has been changed by him?
"I felt I was a blank being called upon to enjoy the ecstacy of the endless truebody." (Kerouac, 142)
-This quote is a description of when Ray is spending all of his time meditating, "thinking nothing", and trying to be free. He likes the feeling of being nothing because then he doesn't have to aspire to being any one type of person. This nothingingness helps him start to reach what he describes as ecstacy. To Smith the "endless truebody" is a person so pure, and undisturbed that they are forever true and pure and spirtually at rest.
-The above quote is a little contradictory to the way that Smith has thought in the past about being homeless. At the start of the book when Ray is traveling to Santa Barbara on the train he seems to think that being homeless is not only a good thing but that he chooses to be. This begs the question, why is he upset about being homeless later in the book. Could it be because he's no longer with Japhy, and has been changed by him?
"I felt I was a blank being called upon to enjoy the ecstacy of the endless truebody." (Kerouac, 142)
-This quote is a description of when Ray is spending all of his time meditating, "thinking nothing", and trying to be free. He likes the feeling of being nothing because then he doesn't have to aspire to being any one type of person. This nothingingness helps him start to reach what he describes as ecstacy. To Smith the "endless truebody" is a person so pure, and undisturbed that they are forever true and pure and spirtually at rest.
Friday, April 13, 2007
The Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac(Quote Responses) 94-120
"all of them imprisoned in a system of work, produce, consume, work, produce, consume..." (Kerouac, 97)
-This is a quote that shows the quintesential idea that the Dharma Bums had about modern society. It's such a one after the other, always the same, cookie cutter lifestyle. It imprisons people and makes them feel as if they're in a cage. It's the opposite of what Japhy and his community idealize, the complete freedom and spontanaeity.
"not the Zen intellectual artistic Buddhism he loved - but I was trying to make him see that everything was the same." (Kerouac, 115)
-This quote is when Ray is talking about San Francisco Chinatown and how Japhy for some reason doesn't embrace the buddhism because it is traditional. This kindof shows Japhy's confusion about his spirituality. Yes its not the weird "zen buddhism" he's used to but it's the basis for his "religion." Japhy seems to have an inate fear of anything that he can fail at. His buddhism is made up by him to cater his own life, so that he always is able to follow whatever guidlines because he makes them himself.
-This is a quote that shows the quintesential idea that the Dharma Bums had about modern society. It's such a one after the other, always the same, cookie cutter lifestyle. It imprisons people and makes them feel as if they're in a cage. It's the opposite of what Japhy and his community idealize, the complete freedom and spontanaeity.
"not the Zen intellectual artistic Buddhism he loved - but I was trying to make him see that everything was the same." (Kerouac, 115)
-This quote is when Ray is talking about San Francisco Chinatown and how Japhy for some reason doesn't embrace the buddhism because it is traditional. This kindof shows Japhy's confusion about his spirituality. Yes its not the weird "zen buddhism" he's used to but it's the basis for his "religion." Japhy seems to have an inate fear of anything that he can fail at. His buddhism is made up by him to cater his own life, so that he always is able to follow whatever guidlines because he makes them himself.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
The Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac(Quote Responses) 72-94
"if you don't know how to handle a chopstick and stick it in that family pot with the best of 'em, you'll starve." (Kerouac, 73)
-This quote is the idea that if you can't figure out how to just go for something like everyone else. You can't live never getting involved, or committing yourself to anything. This relates to both Japhy and Smith because Smith needs to be able to let in Japhy, and Japhy as well needs to be able to let the world in. Both Smith and Japhy have issues with their personal lives because of their conflicting interests, they both have ideas that they go back and forth between.
"I looked and saw crazy Japhy who'd climbed for fun to the top of a snow slope and skied right down to the bottom, about a hundred yards, on his boots and the final few yards on his back, yippeeing and glad." (Kerouac, 87)
-The above quote shows Japhy's freedom with life, and his enjoyment of the smallest things. Smith wants to learn how to get such huge pleasure from such small, seemingly unimportant things. Japhy simply takes life as it is, he doesn't want to spend such a long time strenously hiking down in the snow so he slides. That is what it takes to just be able to watch life and love it as it goes by. Smith needs to learn that for his own sake because he is constricted, sexually, mentally, physically.
-This quote is the idea that if you can't figure out how to just go for something like everyone else. You can't live never getting involved, or committing yourself to anything. This relates to both Japhy and Smith because Smith needs to be able to let in Japhy, and Japhy as well needs to be able to let the world in. Both Smith and Japhy have issues with their personal lives because of their conflicting interests, they both have ideas that they go back and forth between.
"I looked and saw crazy Japhy who'd climbed for fun to the top of a snow slope and skied right down to the bottom, about a hundred yards, on his boots and the final few yards on his back, yippeeing and glad." (Kerouac, 87)
-The above quote shows Japhy's freedom with life, and his enjoyment of the smallest things. Smith wants to learn how to get such huge pleasure from such small, seemingly unimportant things. Japhy simply takes life as it is, he doesn't want to spend such a long time strenously hiking down in the snow so he slides. That is what it takes to just be able to watch life and love it as it goes by. Smith needs to learn that for his own sake because he is constricted, sexually, mentally, physically.
Monday, April 9, 2007
The Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac(Quote Responses) 49-72
"and in that far-off look in his eyes, that secret self-sigh, I saw he was back home again." (Kerouac, 52)
-This quote describes Japhy's feeling at the sight of Matterhorn mountaiin. Ray is watching Japhy and sees him at the sight of Matterhorn remember his home and sees Japhy's vulnerability around that. The quote also shows just how emotionally invested Japhy is in these hikes, and how this is deeply part of his life. In the quote Ray is realizing how seriously Japhy takes these hikes, and how serious it is for him to do it first hand like he was the original adventurer.
"straggling a bit occupying side and center and other side of the road like straggling infantrymen." (Kerouac, 55)
-This quote shows the three men on their way up the mountain walking on the road to the trail. The way he describes them as infantrymen makes you think of them as attacking the mountain...making it theirs. It also shows the way that each of them is going for themself by straggling, occupying different sides of the road, it just shows how in this moment before the initial climb they are all seperately analyzing their goals. Each having seperate desires for the climb, seperate dreams.
-This quote describes Japhy's feeling at the sight of Matterhorn mountaiin. Ray is watching Japhy and sees him at the sight of Matterhorn remember his home and sees Japhy's vulnerability around that. The quote also shows just how emotionally invested Japhy is in these hikes, and how this is deeply part of his life. In the quote Ray is realizing how seriously Japhy takes these hikes, and how serious it is for him to do it first hand like he was the original adventurer.
"straggling a bit occupying side and center and other side of the road like straggling infantrymen." (Kerouac, 55)
-This quote shows the three men on their way up the mountain walking on the road to the trail. The way he describes them as infantrymen makes you think of them as attacking the mountain...making it theirs. It also shows the way that each of them is going for themself by straggling, occupying different sides of the road, it just shows how in this moment before the initial climb they are all seperately analyzing their goals. Each having seperate desires for the climb, seperate dreams.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
The Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac(Quote Responses) 24-49
"It was the most amazing leap I ever saw in my life, except by nutty acrobats. Much like a mountain goat, which he was, it turned out." (Kerouac, 25)
-The above quote shows the ironical nature of the way that Kerouac describes Japhy. These two sentences are said right after Alvah and Smith go to Japhy's hut with wine for the night. The way that Smith describes Japhy shows his confusion about him, and his wonder at that. He sees him as something unhuman, and full of suprises that aren't actually that suprising because Smith has grown accustomed to suprise with Japhy.
"I regarded lust as offensive and even cruel." (Kerouac, 29)
-Smith shows the reader the he is starting to doubt his type of Buddism. Japhy's way of life is beginning to look very appealing to Smith. This quote is not just him describing lust but him describing his beliefs. At one point he believed that abstinence was good, as were his beliefs, now meeting Japhy and hearing Japhy's point of view he is realizing that lust isn't as bad, and by realizing he is thinking of lust as offensive and cruel he is also thinking of his views as offensive and cruel.
-The above quote shows the ironical nature of the way that Kerouac describes Japhy. These two sentences are said right after Alvah and Smith go to Japhy's hut with wine for the night. The way that Smith describes Japhy shows his confusion about him, and his wonder at that. He sees him as something unhuman, and full of suprises that aren't actually that suprising because Smith has grown accustomed to suprise with Japhy.
"I regarded lust as offensive and even cruel." (Kerouac, 29)
-Smith shows the reader the he is starting to doubt his type of Buddism. Japhy's way of life is beginning to look very appealing to Smith. This quote is not just him describing lust but him describing his beliefs. At one point he believed that abstinence was good, as were his beliefs, now meeting Japhy and hearing Japhy's point of view he is realizing that lust isn't as bad, and by realizing he is thinking of lust as offensive and cruel he is also thinking of his views as offensive and cruel.
Friday, April 6, 2007
research for CCC
www.burningman.com
http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=635
http://www.francesfarmersrevenge.com/stuff/archive/oldnews5/burningmanfestival.htm
http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=635
http://www.francesfarmersrevenge.com/stuff/archive/oldnews5/burningmanfestival.htm
The Dharma Bums-Jack Kerouac(Quote Responses)
"...a prayer by Saint Teresa announcing that after her death she will return to the earth by showering it with roses from heaven, forever, for all living creatures." (Kerouac, 5)
-This quote from the book Dharma Bums happens when the narrator is traveling to Santa Barbara and meets a skinny bum whom he gives food and later dubs the Saint Teresa Bum. This quote just shows how the narrator is taking all of his experiences with him. He references the quote about Saint Teresa many times later in the book. He does this because this quote is a quote that symbolizes hope. Saint Teresa is telling him that she will always be there in the roses, and always be there for all living creatures.
"I warned him at once I didn't give a goddamn about the mythology and all the names and national flavors of Buddhism, but was just interested in the first of Sakyamuni's four noble truths, All life is suffering." (12)
-The above quote explains the narrator's view on culture. To him he'd rather concentrate on the main ideas, and create his own. The quote shows that he is even slightly defensive and doesn't want to learn about the mythology of his beliefs. This is probably because he wants to create his own mythology, his own stories for why All life is suffering.
-This quote from the book Dharma Bums happens when the narrator is traveling to Santa Barbara and meets a skinny bum whom he gives food and later dubs the Saint Teresa Bum. This quote just shows how the narrator is taking all of his experiences with him. He references the quote about Saint Teresa many times later in the book. He does this because this quote is a quote that symbolizes hope. Saint Teresa is telling him that she will always be there in the roses, and always be there for all living creatures.
"I warned him at once I didn't give a goddamn about the mythology and all the names and national flavors of Buddhism, but was just interested in the first of Sakyamuni's four noble truths, All life is suffering." (12)
-The above quote explains the narrator's view on culture. To him he'd rather concentrate on the main ideas, and create his own. The quote shows that he is even slightly defensive and doesn't want to learn about the mythology of his beliefs. This is probably because he wants to create his own mythology, his own stories for why All life is suffering.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Are These Actual Miles? - Raymond Carver (Quote Responses)
"Leo tries to pull the two pieces of his shirt together, tries to bunch it into his trousers." (Carver, 589)
-Leo in the story, "Are These Actual Miles?", is a man whose life is completely out of control. This of course parallels him well to previous characters such as Neddy in "The Persistence of Desire", or the main character of "The Swimmer." All of these men have lost all control of their lives, they seem to be desperately grabbing at fragments of control and stability. When Leo tries to pull the remnants of his shirt into his trousers its a metaphor for him trying to pull his life together, just temporarily, all for appearances, so that the car salesman doesn't see how out of control he is. Leo is already so emascilated by Toni's disregard for him that he can't be set down another notch by having the man that slept with Toni think lowly of him. This theme of men having such masculinity issues may stem from the idea of the erupting feminism in that time, and the way that women were no doubtedly treating the men...with indifference that is.
"He remembers waking up the morning after they bought the car, seeing it, there in the drive, in the sun, gleaming." (Carver, 590)
-The love that Toni and Leo once had in this story is represented by the convertible. When he remembers the car, new and gleaming in the sun, it's Leo remembering how their life used to be so serene, gleaming, like that new car, not too exciting but enough that everything in comparison seemed obsolete, all the other cars didn't look as good. Now the car is being used against him. His love is being abused, his life is falling to shreds like his shirt.
-Leo in the story, "Are These Actual Miles?", is a man whose life is completely out of control. This of course parallels him well to previous characters such as Neddy in "The Persistence of Desire", or the main character of "The Swimmer." All of these men have lost all control of their lives, they seem to be desperately grabbing at fragments of control and stability. When Leo tries to pull the remnants of his shirt into his trousers its a metaphor for him trying to pull his life together, just temporarily, all for appearances, so that the car salesman doesn't see how out of control he is. Leo is already so emascilated by Toni's disregard for him that he can't be set down another notch by having the man that slept with Toni think lowly of him. This theme of men having such masculinity issues may stem from the idea of the erupting feminism in that time, and the way that women were no doubtedly treating the men...with indifference that is.
"He remembers waking up the morning after they bought the car, seeing it, there in the drive, in the sun, gleaming." (Carver, 590)
-The love that Toni and Leo once had in this story is represented by the convertible. When he remembers the car, new and gleaming in the sun, it's Leo remembering how their life used to be so serene, gleaming, like that new car, not too exciting but enough that everything in comparison seemed obsolete, all the other cars didn't look as good. Now the car is being used against him. His love is being abused, his life is falling to shreds like his shirt.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Persistence of Desire-John Updike (Quote Responses)
"And either she had grown slimmer of he had grown more tolerant of fat. Her thick ankles and the general obstinacy of her flesh used to goad him into being cruel." (Updike, 562)
-The above quote is a comment made by the main character of the short story, Clyde. He sees an old love again and descibes her in this quote. This love, Janet, manages to show a strange side of Clyde. A completely vulnerable side to him that you wouldn't necessarily see otherwise. It also shows that while he loved her he wasn't always great to her. He admits to making fun of her weight because of the unchanging sturdiness of her body. This in turn tells alot about the story because although he desires her, and feels he needs her, he doesn't think she's perfect. He even hides behind the idea that he's doing it to make HER happy, not himself.
"her authority in the world peripheral to the world of love in which she was so servile." (Updike, 566)
-Again Clyde is describing Janet and her qualities here. He implys that in their relationship he was completely in control of her. This in turn hints to how the story will end. At first you believe that maybe she'll simply ignore him, and try to avoid the situation, but when he says that you know that he expects her to do as he wishes. It's also a strange notion to think that in life you can be completely in control, but in love not at all. In logical terms love is a part of life so if youre in control of your life shouldnt you be in control in the face of love?
-The above quote is a comment made by the main character of the short story, Clyde. He sees an old love again and descibes her in this quote. This love, Janet, manages to show a strange side of Clyde. A completely vulnerable side to him that you wouldn't necessarily see otherwise. It also shows that while he loved her he wasn't always great to her. He admits to making fun of her weight because of the unchanging sturdiness of her body. This in turn tells alot about the story because although he desires her, and feels he needs her, he doesn't think she's perfect. He even hides behind the idea that he's doing it to make HER happy, not himself.
"her authority in the world peripheral to the world of love in which she was so servile." (Updike, 566)
-Again Clyde is describing Janet and her qualities here. He implys that in their relationship he was completely in control of her. This in turn hints to how the story will end. At first you believe that maybe she'll simply ignore him, and try to avoid the situation, but when he says that you know that he expects her to do as he wishes. It's also a strange notion to think that in life you can be completely in control, but in love not at all. In logical terms love is a part of life so if youre in control of your life shouldnt you be in control in the face of love?
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
The Swimmer-John Cheever (Quote Response)
"He had an inexplicable contempt for men who did not hurl themselves into pools." (Cheever, 1490)
-The above quote is a very good description of the type of person Neddy Merrill, the main charachter, is in the story. It shows that he believes you should come at life head on, not slowly approach it. The fact that Cheever uses the word "hurl" just shows you that he's trying to show you the lack of control that Neddy idolizes when approaching life. Although it says earlier that Neddy "dives", Cheever then uses the word hurl when describing Neddy's feeling towards this. The fact that Neddy doesn't like men that go slowly into a pool just shows that he believes he "hurls" himself. This can be interpreted as him believing he takes life head on, or the water of a pool head on.
"He saw then, like any explorer, that the hospitable customs and traditions of the natives would have to be handled with diplomacy..." (Cheever, 1491)
-The way that Neddy thinks of himself as an "explorer" really shows you his view on life. To Neddy life is uncharted territory, just as his adventure is, and you need to go through it in a diplomatic way to not upset the "natives", or the people you cross in your life. This also shows that Neddy isn't quite in his right mind, because although his observation is correct, these "natives" are actually people he knows, and it seems strange for him to talk about them as objects that need handling.
-The above quote is a very good description of the type of person Neddy Merrill, the main charachter, is in the story. It shows that he believes you should come at life head on, not slowly approach it. The fact that Cheever uses the word "hurl" just shows you that he's trying to show you the lack of control that Neddy idolizes when approaching life. Although it says earlier that Neddy "dives", Cheever then uses the word hurl when describing Neddy's feeling towards this. The fact that Neddy doesn't like men that go slowly into a pool just shows that he believes he "hurls" himself. This can be interpreted as him believing he takes life head on, or the water of a pool head on.
"He saw then, like any explorer, that the hospitable customs and traditions of the natives would have to be handled with diplomacy..." (Cheever, 1491)
-The way that Neddy thinks of himself as an "explorer" really shows you his view on life. To Neddy life is uncharted territory, just as his adventure is, and you need to go through it in a diplomatic way to not upset the "natives", or the people you cross in your life. This also shows that Neddy isn't quite in his right mind, because although his observation is correct, these "natives" are actually people he knows, and it seems strange for him to talk about them as objects that need handling.
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