Presentations

Listening to people talk about what they have taken away from this class depicts what this socio-literary class has taught everyone. We have really interacted on a deeper level and now we see by these presentations that we all have enjoyed this classes ups and downs.

The book that changed my life.

I never blogged on this but to be quite honest it would have to be Retellings. It sounds corny and not original but reading James Joyce has really touched me like no other piece of writing has. I will surely be reading Ulysses on my free time this summer as well as finishing The Brothers Karamazov. This book would not have done much for me though without the inspiration of the teacher. Reading the words of Araby became a mix of a dream state of mind with conscious simple thoughts passing through. I have lived with my anxiety and wandering mind my entire life and to see my mind slow down and simply appreciate the one task of painting a mental image of James Joyce's story was inspirational.

Final Thoughts

The class in conjunction with taking psychology 100 this semester was a treat to say in the least. Both taught me things my parents (who I believe taught me the most important things in my life) never did get a chance to really explain. I have been discussing with my roommate about how people who step out into the real world after high school really do not get to live a full human life. Everybody has such strong potential. But without a well-rounded education, they truly are a one sided blade. I prefer to be the swiss army knife in this world. I want to know as much as possible about human interaction so I can take my passion for designing and building products and be able to communicate my ideas with others. This class was a very unique tool to add to my toolbox of ideas and thoughts. It gave me a lot to think about and build off of. As well as an insight into the more pure beautiful things in life. This may be the first time I have walked away from an english class feeling better about myself than I did before. And we all know that a more confident person, is a stronger person, and a better person. Thanks classmates and I won't hesitate to say hi if I notice anybody on campus =)

forgot to turn in my paper whoopsies...

John Willis
Professor Sexson
Intro. to Literature 110
22 April 2010
Life is Simply a Tulip
People these days all too often fall into the trap of suburban boredom. They know not what to do with their spare time nor how to characterize their beliefs and views. I come from an Irish heritage and as you may know, we Irish are known for being stubborn and very logical minded. The Boondock Saints film could best describe my lifestyle and mentality. The last few years I have spent quite a bit of time in a state of meditation, you could say. Constantly arguing with my mind and myself trying to decide who I truly am. Life for a man in his early twenties is surely fast, changing, and hard to keep up with. Living in the real world, being treated as an individual adult with responsibilities, truly leaves curiosity on the brain. Dissecting who I really am psychologically has been one of my greatest unanswered questions in my short, still new lifetime. Literature class with my kooky witty professor in college surely eased my mind in many a way. I was a dull, logic based, creative thinker; now I am all but square with my eyes wide open to stories teaching me about the path I will follow in life.
The thought of literature solving my paradox of who I really am never crossed my mind even for a blink. I honestly could count the number of books I have truly read, and comprehended, in my lifetime on my fingers. Then Professor quoted in class “How do we know what we think until we see what we say?”, and it hit me as I copied those very words into my notebook. Why had it taken all these years of English class for a teacher to say these words to me? Writing down your thoughts and ideas clearly connects your visual conscious mind with you subconscious. The Professor then had my attention for the remainder of the semester. Even as I am writing this story on who I will become, I am learning so much about myself while subconsciously communicating this jumbled pile of words to the audience.
Reading short stories this semester, without my anxiety of getting schoolwork done, was another rude awakening. Actually dedicating my full attention to any piece of literature is not something I had accomplished before this semester of mental growth at school. Reading the words of James Joyce’s “Araby” truly captivated my mind with how much “depth” his words portray. I could see the more depth a story was given, through words, the more your imagination worked to create the inner work of art and memory for that reading. The poem “Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock” could be summed up as the doorway into our thoughts. As I read the poem for the first time, and every time since then, I find myself in an utter state of calm, quiet, peace of mind. Something I am definitely not associated with. My mind always finds a way to stay busy. It is always working as long as I am conscious and clear of any poisons that intoxicate the body. The poem finishes off with what I call “the dreaded awakening from a good dream”; “Drunk and asleep in his boots, Catches tigers In red weather (Stevens, 877).” The poem seems to make no conscious sense as I read it but because the words seem to flow calmly as if it were a brook, suddenly I visualize a sailor drunk and sleeping outside, then I snap out of the trans once I read the words “Catching tigers In red weather(Stevens, 877).” When I first awaken from any dream I always immediately recall the last image in my head because that image woke me up. “Catching tigers In red weather” is just such an image.
Reading tragic stories and plays such as “The Lady with the Pet Dog” and “Antigone”, I began to embrace my emotional feelings as being merely human. Yes tragedy is funny, the definition of tragedy refers to the depiction of human suffering for the pleasure of an audience. But tragedy also tells a true story about the power of feelings and social dilemma’s we, as humans, encounter everyday. Love is such a powerful emotion that can overcome and suppress all other problems in one’s current life . Reading “Antigone” teaches you about fierce love and harsh intensified human emotion. In my mind I saw Antigone yelling at her sister in the first scene with Creon. Finishing the play we realize our youthful years are our passionate years. Everyday is an up or down day and until we realize we are all doomed to fail, we do not comprehend the world we live in. Before society accepts us an individual, we must first prove to society that we accept ourselves. Tragic literature captivates the naïve mind and defines whether things are worth fighting for or letting go of.
“To be or not to be- (Shakespeare, 1259)”, when read in context, is much deeper than just Shakespearean words. Although the statement could be argued to be just a simple sentence, I believe all of Shakespeare’s work seems to reflect perfection in detail. When “the prof” announced the powerful sentence fragment in class my opinions on Shakespeare became even clearer. “To exist, or not to exist (Shakespeare, 1259).” Yes, Shakespeare explained these words in the rest of the soliloquy but I could not follow in depth. Stories are all retellings, the only non-retold stories are the ones inspired by your inner fire. Through the emotions of rage and pain new stories are made and discovered. If you use your mind to make rational decisions and write a story, then you have only retold. However, if you rely on purely writing your thoughts while in a sense of irrational behavior, your mind will spit ideas out that you may have never thought about or seen before. Upon understanding this process of writing and storytelling, I have applied it to my everyday scenarios, I have found the most humanistic way of life to live.
Taking apart a young mans view of the world, an elder will say “You have no concept for what lies ahead” and children will preach “Your life has too much stuff going on”. I say my life is that of the ocean, wave after wave like day after day. The tide swells in and out similar to the moods brought about by young hormones. The only logic I have found to work well in life is Carpe Diem. Seizing this day is the only true importance to being a human. Making every moment count because it could be a moment that changes you forever. Walking into class, the professor babbling on some random topic, I find myself mentally pushing to engage. Not only because this class could be another part of the college experience to bend my mind, but bend it in a way to straighten my thoughts and ideas.




Works Cited

Chekhov, Anton. “The Lady with the Pet Dog.” Retellings: A Thematic Literature
Analogy. Ed. M. B. Clarke and A. G. Clarke. New York: McGraw-Hill, 20004.
437-448.
Joyce, James. “Araby.” Retellings: A Thematic Literature Anaology. Ed. M. B. Clarke
and A. G. Clarke. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004. 547-550.
Oates, Joyce Carol. “The Lady with the Pet Dog.” Retellings: A Thematic Literature
Analogy. Ed. M. B. Clarke and A. G. Clarke. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
449-460.
Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.” Retellings: A Thematic
Literature Analogy. Ed. M. B. Clarke and A. G. Clarke. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2004. 1215-1317.
Sophocles. “Antigone.” Retellings: A Thematic Literature Anthology. Ed. M. B. Clarke
and A. G. Clarke. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004. 1006-1043.
Stevens, Wallace. “Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock.” Retellings: A Thematic Literature
Analogy. Ed. M. B. Clarke and A. G. Clarke. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
876-877.

Debates...

The debate was upsetting, plain and simple. The argument stayed so far away from topic that honestly I had no opinion on the original statement at the end. And to be frank, it could have been quite an interesting argument if it had not been mainly one "boy" talking. That is why debates have mediators to control the unruly participants. Otherwise the idea of the presentation was fantastic. I thought it was very cool at first and had serious potential.

Note to Tim: The smartest most intellectual people in the world are not stubborn, listen and appreciate the opinions of others, and do not YELL at someone while they are trying to prove a point. Overpowering smothering of peoples thoughts is disgusting so take a look at yourself next time you are in a debate at home or in school.

Thesis Statement

I was a dull, logic based, creative thinker, now I am all but square with my eyes being opened to what stories in the past can teach me about my mistakes and the path I will follow in life.


Notes:
Tragedy... And the tragic sense of life. I feel I have found the a more beautiful realistic sense of life.
I was a dull, logic based human. I found this simple way of life to work. I am now a true human. Truly utilizing all the tools endowed physically to me for the first time. My mind has been bent,   but bent in a way it is now straight.
Literature quotes, texts.

The most tragic day

The lowest abyss I have gone had to go along with growing up living amongst the two wisest people in my life to date, my parents. My rational mind had yet to be fully developed and fighting against the simple logic of my mother psychologically shaped my youth mind. The ripe age of 17 causes many problems for men and women in their own separate ways. I was flooded with testosterone and other hormones clotting a clear decision making skill set. I would get lost in my thoughts for hours. I had suffered from depression in middle school being fat and having acne. As well as the harassment of my southern "y'all" accent, as having recently moved from Houston to New Hampshire. Thank god these hormones were not as raging as they were by this time in my life. Anyway, my story continues with a fight over something that honestly, does not mean a bit of difference today, a typical mother/son fight. My thoughts raced as to why I was constrained, why could I not be free and run wild. The irony of the fact is I was not free or able to run wild because honestly my mind had not yet accommodated these new wild drugs running through my body, made by my body. I had set out, determined to feel free. Ran out the door without my parents knowing and wearing a t-shirt and pajamas, being it was past my bedtime. Behold it was late November, the first snow had just started to fall upon my aching, inflamed face. The temperature dropped but these new found chemicals allowed me to produce rage and fire within that no snow could stop suddenly. I trekked on thinking, wondering, do lone wolves often feel these pains as cubs? The night carried on, as did i. it felt as if minutes had passed and I was wearing down. Falling off my high strength energy and slipping into a dark deep state of mind I do not wish to find again. A field I had never seen before looked peaceful on the full moon night (New Hampshire being full of nothing but woods). I went and laid in the field, looking up into the snowfall, wondering if this was the final spot. Emptiness, when it takes over, makes the mind loose consciousness of purpose and meaning to life. Soon enough I drift to sleep.

Suddenly I am awoken by a man passing by on the road wondering what I was in the field. My sudden realization and having slept off my horrid feelings taught me a lot of who i was and who i will always be. I was taken home and the police came and investigated and I explained. I had been gone four hours in 30 degree weather and was found six miles from home. I certainly had taken the path less traveled on this one.

I am a person who knows fear, loss, power and above all, passion. Passion it the true beauty behind each and every person. It is horrid that I had to come this close to death to realize what passion I possessed and the right way to use it. Humans are organisms, and like all organisms, do not evolve and develop without a positive passion for themselves.

Some of the most important quotes in my life today:

"You are strong, you are passionate, you stay positive and you will never lose in life" - MOM

"You can not appreciate great success without great loss" - unknown

I live my life now mostly by carpe diem. I look at everyday, every loss, every win, as being an important part of being human. This class has been a huge inspiration to me and even though my logic mind can be stubborn, I find it so pleasant to walk into class everyday and learn my problems, and my successes, are merely the same exact feelings man had since the beginning of known writings. Life truly is a retelling of past lives with a spin on it.

Let your passion and fire guide you, even if it can take you places you never wanted to find... You will become a stronger person and a happier one in the end.

"The tragic sense of life"

Wiki seemed to be the only resource I could find on any information About this quote. It was a book written by Miguel De Unamuno y Jugo in the twentieth century and it's relevance to our class and "The Brothers Karamazov" seems to be that both these novels were written By believers of existentialism. Wiki claims:

Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences,[1][2] generally held that the focus of philosophical thought should be to deal with the conditions of existence of the individual person and his or her emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts.[3][4] The early 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, posthumously regarded as the father of existentialism,[5][6] maintained that the individual is solely responsible for giving their own life meaning and living that life passionately and sincerely,[7][8] in spite of many existential obstacles and distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, alienation, and boredom.[9]

My own feeling on the words is that they are telling you to live your life but understand the tragic and deathly sides to your own existence. By finding humor in death people can live their lives free of fear and anxiety understanding everyday on this side of the dirt (the top side) is a day that should be utilized. But I more than likely am mistaken in claiming this.

Reading the Sparknotes of The Brothers Karamazov is like...

getting to 29,029ft on Mount Everest and discovering it's height is now an eternity.

spanking a baby for speaking its first words.

failing at a challenge.

jumping out of an airplane in your birthday suit.

finding a pot of gold under a rainbow and taking only a few coins...

Alice in 3D

Did anyone else notice how in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, That most of the names and a few words were spoken in the language of dreams. I have been infatuated with discovering meaning and reasons for what ideals we speak of everyday in class. Unfortunately like in my dreams, I can never remember the words or names to recall on them but only the vision of the person saying the word. The movie really continued on the entire theme and idea of the original book by Lewis Carroll and the previous Walt Disnified version.

3/3/10 The Lady with the Pet Dog

The lady with the pet dog definitely hit home to me. Both versions were similar but in my honest opinion, completely different experiences. I love reading excellent words flowing. Sentences looping in and out of one another, with an image being painted along the way. These stories make it hard to argue the fact that the guy was a misogynist. Yes indeed he was, but was doing harm to the woman? It seemed as if he was actually bettering her. He made her feel alive and human. He never pushed her or hurt her like her husband might have on a daily basis. She had a reason to cheat, she was not happy. and this man made her happy. Had she been madly in love with her husband and her husband truly being the man for her, she would have not been intrigued no matter how tempting the man was. Women are special in this way. They can put their logic before their sexual desire where as men often have trouble seeing the logical path due to excess blood in the one of their heads with out a brain. The story depicted the man as two-faced but all in all he knew she was married and he did not give her the image she needed to be with him. He was a savior and a rude awakening to the lady in my opinion.

misogyny - men who think the female race is inferior

sturgeon
watermelon
the lace was like scales on the skin
test- Gurov suffers an epiphany, surrounded by philistines when guy says something about sturgeon

features- told naturally, exact and rich characterization, no moral or message, based on a system of waves of moves, contrast of poetry (watermelon), the story does not end (people will alway be around, storyteller goes out to show trifles.

class discussion

Listening to the professor speak about these different types of women in history gave me yet another example of just how intertwined humans are. Since the dawn of literature and story telling the same perceptions of women have been used. From the blood sucking negative transformatives to nursing mothers of the positive element.

The hero pattern

Looking at and reading the 22-point hero pattern written out by Lord Raglan was quite interesting as it really in more than three or four ways related to every hero ever written about. Analyzing the pattern shows that "Hero's" struggle and overcome fear, rising and falling their entire life. We see and love Heros and always want to be one but the true definition of a hero is someone who often fails with spurts of great success.

This pattern is based upon The Hero: A study in Tradition, Myth and Dreams by Lord Raglan

Incidents which occur with regularity in hero-myths of all cultures:

1. Hero's mother is a royal virgin;
2. His father is a king, and
3. Often a near relative of his mother, but
4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grand father to kill him, but
7. he is spirited away, and
8. Reared by foster -parents in a far country.
9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but
10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future Kingdom.
11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor and
13. And becomes king.
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully and
15. Prescribes laws, but
16. Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which
18. He meets with a mysterious death,
19. Often at the top of a hill,
20. His children, if any do not succeed him.
21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless
22. He has one or more holy sepulchres.


taken from http://department.monm.edu/classics/courses/Clas230/MythDocuments/HeroPattern/default.htm

Dream...

I finally remembered a dream the other day and wrote it down in my phone immediately. I can NOT write in the language of dreams.

I started in a monorail (like at disney world) and was in a cat scan that was giving me a brutal headache constantly. We arrive at what looks like a parking garage that is actually an entrance to a them park ride of some sort. I am with my family and the lawyer in the movie jurassic park. My family and I all have iced coffees and are finding ways to sneak them onto the ride as the person at the ride entrance says we must dump them. After getting on the ride we start to go up and all of a sudden it shoots us like a gun out the top and for some reason I'm not buckled in. I fly out, feeling weightless, soaring, then I hit the ground next to my bed.

groundhogs day is a sad day.

Thank god I was not stuck in this day for 7+ years. Cause from start to finish it could not have been more bland with social interaction or school. All I thought about every hour was repeatedly how boring "I" was with neutral thoughts and my mellow mood continued the feeling on this gloomy day. I woke up, the sound of a rooster chirping away on my phones alarm, dry mouth, pain in my lower back from passing out on my lovesac int the living room. I migrated over to my cabinet where I popped my "popeye the sailor's spinach" pill, adderall, and managed to get into the shower. The shower was the highlight of the whole day. Thoughts raced and desires grew for things I hoped to achieve one day. I always find myself staring at myself in the mirror for some reason. I do it for a good five minutes somedays examining my defects and studying how I truly physically look. Dressing wasnt a challenge as today I was flowing casual with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt under a hoody from my school.

School started with a 8am grueling material science lab. For two hours I worked with metals on different machines testing different strengths and properties. This is the stuff I do enjoy learning about. Next was Calculus Who wouldnt love learning about derivatives and limits of a function? I was drooling, eyes half open, by the end of the fifty minute class. My last afternoon class is always the worst for me, Material Science lecture. By golly, I dont know how you can take such a fascinating subject and make half the class of 134 fall asleep. I counted 48 kids sleeping simultaneously one day. I managed to stay awake writing and taking notes constantly.

Going home and relaxing with a nice bowl of shisha in my hookah with my roommate was relaxing and calm. Smoke rings are coming easier and easier. Suddenly its time for work at 5 and I run out the door to snap into my car managing (as usual) to clock in under nine minutes from stepping out my front door a mile and a half away. After passing out scripts and counting pills for four hours I finally returned home and popped in Transformers on my home theater and let the sound effects take me to another place. Time to pass out and cap off my groundhogs day 2010.

catching tigers in red weather..

Sitting here in class listening to Sexson talk of the language of dreams, it came to me how "catching tigers in red weather" is the talk of dreams. It gives you a floaty dreamy feeling reading the words and saying them. Words are power; if you do not believe me, ask Nixon.

Imagination... The greatest loss of the 20th century.

On Monday, in class, we talked about the loss of imagination among people in our society today. Mr Sexson, as much as he is not a technical or mathematical minded person, is right in more ways than one. I am studying the science of Engineering and the kids you see struggling the most, are the ones merely trying to look at the problem and find some text book answer. Engineering is all about creativity with science.

When Mr Sexson pointed out the lack in imagination, it seemed to me he was was trying to point out how inclined people are to social interaction and relying on technology to take over the role of self thought and imagination. Yes we all still do think and imagine but the amount in which we do this is much smaller. Watching TV, surfing the web, Facebooking, and of course ::cough:: drinking... drinking... ::cough:: are all things we as youth (and even adults) do that don't require the true use of visualization and brain power. Thus we are not becoming more intelligent even though we may be in school. Our knowledge is expanding but our IQ is lowering as a society. Interesting stuff.

"Smooth Talk" certainly damaged my view.

I read the story of Connie imagining a lot of the scenery. This may be sad but for the first time in my literary understanding I saw what it meant to read. When you paint the image in your head using your imagination, you are becoming part of the story and "living" the story. I did not notice this until I saw the scene the director had painted in his head in the movie. It really was shocking to feel the difference in watching the movie vs. reading a story that gave a shady spotty scene that made you utilize your brain and "imagination" to fill in the dots. Mr. Sexson, I'm sure, deliberately is trying to to show us how much more powerful our brain power is vs. just watching a story play out. Not saying movies are bad. Of course not, they are a great past time and we need relaxing thoughtless time. In America though we have proven over the last 20 years that people are becoming "stupider" as a whole. Just my logical though process kickin' ideas around...

how do we know what we think until we see what we say?

How do we know what we think until we see what we say? Writing is the human expression of feelings and thoughts. Our brain is not as simple as a clean sheet of paper. millions of calculations and thoughts are going on constantly and it is hard to specifically analyze those thoughts while in our mind. By giving those thoughts a visual meaning that can then be manipulated we realize things our brain was too clouded to see. That is the meaning of this saying. And the beauty of the saying is that you cant understand it the first time you read it without writing it down.

oh connie.

The point brought up in class about people being upset with connie's decisions was great. We seem to be brought up in a society where we must judge peoples decisions in order to be more responsible. But as stated in the other blog we are not supposed to be one to judge a characters action in a novel and decide if they were wrong or right. You really are offending the author, because it was not your choice to say what connie would end up doing, and thus judging the words of a writer.

people watching is part of who I am.

I know this was an assignment but come to think of it, I constantly people watch. I have always found the millions of variations of human interaction as a fascination. College is a great example to see fresh adults truly express the person they will be the rest of their lives. Layers upon layers of different social classes exist in a dense environment. From the tennis players with a 4.0 to the "GEEK"s who cant wait to get their new piece of technology they ordered in the mail(myself), to the kids living in the dorms, and all the 21 year olds who make there way to the bars on Thursday night. Of course the obvious common theme is the fact that almost everybody wants to be recognized and live their life the way they want to live it with out boundaries or hinderance. The scariest thing about always studying how people interact for me is how much I question myself and reason why I cant interact the same as others. Certainly we must all have these feelings from time to time so I feel as though I am not talking to a small percentage of kids in the class.

I was once told social interaction is like a game of poker. You take a risk, making a "bet", and initiate a conversation or invitation to a social gathering with another person. The person can either "match/call" or "raise" you in the conversation. If there response is just a response with no initiative to keep the conversation going then they "call." An example would be "ok" or "yeah I can see that." If they show interest in the conversation and have good positive responses than they are "raising," thus keeping interaction going.

I really had a hard time grasping this thought of how I should act around people until I was visually explained in this method back in Middle School. One thing I have always hated is they way people look down on other people for being fat, or ugly, or dumb, or even another sex, or race before even meeting the person. Logically we all need to have a conscious and remember they have the same blood as you, the same organs and the same brain. I know America is land of the free and our core value continues to be greed. Don't misunderstand this, I am extremely patriotic but looking at how out of control our society and government is these days is upsetting. This all came from sitting in the sub watching kids interact and a few others sitting alone with a face of utter depression. I think I might go introduce myself now..