Blog Portfolio 2

Welcome back to Monique's brilliant blog! Below is a collection of my blogs that all vary from each other in some ways. I took great pleasure in writing them and connecting them to dystopian books. My blogs have been separated into different categories. Before clicking on the URL to visit each post, please read the short paragraph below it which provides you with the gist of what it contains.

Coverage

Talking Back and The Sins of Silence

These links cover all the packets that I have read and analyzed. The first three links focus on the aspect of feminism. The first link contains two analyses, “Talking Back” and the “Sins of Silence”. These revolve around the poor life women led in a man’s world and how it transformed when they acted upon it. 

Klaus Barbies and Teen Mags

The second link discusses the impact that Barbie dolls and teen magazines have on youth today and how it has manipulated society’s ideal image of teens and children.

The Beauty Myth

The third link is titled “The Beauty Myth” and reflects upon the power of sexuality and why women suffer to attain this.

Blame it on Feminism

The fourth link “Blame it on Feminism” discusses the consequence that women suffer from gaining feminism; by obtaining feminism and freedom they are robbed of their true happiness that lies with men. Both “The Beauty Myth” and “Blame it on Feminism” make connections to Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

Informal Commentary on extract from The Handmaid's Tale

The fifth link is an informal commentary to a passage from “The Handmaid’s Tale”. It confers about Offred’s ambivalence towards love with the use of literary devices such as imagery, diction and tone.

How Fiction Works, James Wood

The sixth link is an analysis of “How Fiction Works” by James Wood. This analysis highlights the significance of the narrator and the term “free indirect speech”. In addition, connections to Zamyatin's We are made.

Response to The Road

The last link is my emotions and thoughts to the book The Road. I discuss the impact the book had on me and my likes and dislikes, as well as the author’s connections to the characters in the book.

 Depth

Klaus Barbies and Teen Mags

This blog discusses the popular doll “Barbie’s” and its impact in society. It also introduces a similar impact that teen magazines have on youth today. The main idea that the article focused on was how Barbie’s look like harmless toys that children play with yet in reality it plays the role of being the ideal image for teen girls. In my blog, I discuss that teens are undermined through pressure to become the perfect “Barbie” because they want to be accepted in the norms of society. I make connections to the modern world today in which it can be observed that many movies like “She’s All That”, “The Princess Diaries” and “The House Bunny” My next section conveys the similar effects that teen magazines have on girls. Teen magazines impose insecurity in girls because they display pictures of models that teens believe are “perfect” and “accepted”.

Response to The Road

This blog discusses my feelings towards The Road after I finished it. I shared my likes and dislikes about the book and some key elements that I noticed such as “hope” that was represented through fire. I also talked about the effect that Cormac Mccarthy’s style of writing had on me, and the effect of simple language and similes. I related some of my emotions to a catastrophe, the tsunami, in which I elaborated on the key fact that even today people are unaware of what they have until its gone. With this, I made a connection to the popular tv series “Gossip Girl” in which higher class teens live in a bubble, unaware of the real happenings in the world. In addition, I discussed Cormac Mccarthy’s relation to the book and why he wrote such a passionate book about the bond between a father and son.

Interaction

Handmaid's Tale Commentary (Asim)

This is a link to Asim’s informal commentary on a passage from The Handmaid’s Tale. He discusses how diction was used creatively to distinguish between the changes in tone that occur between stanzas. He also looks at it from a man’s perspective, his thesis being: “By using diction that relates to falling, a change in tone from content to disgust, and irony, Atwood foreshadows the immutable dominance man was to have over women.” This made it altogether more interesting to read as I did not interpret this extract in the same manner. I did question one point of his that he made but overall, this was an amazingly written informal commentary.

Discussion

Talking Back and The Sins of Silence

This blog discusses two experiences of a woman. The first one “Talking Back” discusses the experience of Hooks who wrote down her thoughts and opinions wherever she could. What I found most interesting was when she did become a professional writer, she was still filled with insecurity and fear from her childhood. These are the emotional results when you let a passion like this stay trapped inside of you for so long. The next one “The Sins of Silence” in which Thao teaches her daughter the principles of being a “good Hmong woman”. One of the main principals was to believe that “Silence is power” – I completely contrasted to this principal and expanded on that. A discussion was sparked from these two experiences by Pooja and Aishwarya. Pooja did not agree with some of the connections that I made between these articles and the book 1984 yet also shared some very interesting questions that I had to ponder on before replying. Aishwarya discussed her thoughts on my blog and also mentioned the similarity to Nina’s blog.   

Practice Commentary (Akash)

This links to a practice commentary done by Akash. It was very appealing to read and it seemed that Sabrina, Nina and Jorina thought so too. There were many points made that were captivating yet literary devices were lacking and I would have liked to see more of that. In addition, his thesis needed some specificity which Nina also mentioned in her comment. With some clarification in his thesis, his points would have been much clearer and easier to associate to the book. Overall though, it was enjoyable to read!

Xenoblogging

The Comment Primo:

Dystopian or Post Apocalyptic? A review on The Road (Pooja)

Pooja’s blog on “Dystopian or Post Apocalyptic? A review on The Road” has some similar and contradictory points that I felt strongly about. I expressed my views and was gladly joined by a friend, Saumya. Like me, she felt that simple diction can be used in a powerful manner yet she mentioned that simple structure and diction is used to describe the “simplicity of life” which is when I disagreed with her. Saumya also mentioned another book called “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” that contained a similar writing style which I intend to go check out. J

The Comment Informative:

Female Liberation and Female Beauty (Aishwarya)

Aishwarya’s blog on “Female Liberation and Female Beauty” mentioned many thought-provoking points yet they did not go depth hence I pointed out some ideas she could have included and expanded on to support her arguments. For example, I gave her an example she could have used from The Handmaid’s Tale about the character Janice. Linking it to The Handmaid’s Tale would have been the icing to a cake but overall, it was pleasurable to read! J

Wildcard

After reading some war poems, experiences of feminism, and The Road, I decided to write a poem about the beauty and ugliness of life. Enjoy!

Life is what people make of it.

No one sees the wonders of it till we’re gazing down at the world from the skies

And its then that we see how much we missed out on and we cry

Because life should not be lived at the bottom of the pit

Why are we are oblivious to the beauty of life but not the ugliness of it?

We see death lying silently in the mud waiting to strike

We see soldiers decay, drenched in blood after long battles at war

We see society’s standards drowning individuality

We do not see the confusing colors of butterflies’ wings

We do not hear the trees whispering in the jungle

We do not see the way a tide folds in at the break of dawn

Yet we see the waves when they crash down onto us like a tsunami

We see the butterflies when they obstruct our vision

We hear the trees when a woodcutter chops off its heart and it hits the ground

We are the selfish creations that do not understand the true meaning of life

Response to The Road

The Road was unlike any book I’ve ever read. It altogether contained a different style and each word had its own meaning and effect. Phrases like “The man” or “the son” have been expressed and written in such a meaningful way that my heart ached to read on. The relationship between father and son is so strong that when you want to put the book down, you can’t. You have to read on, you have to find out what happened even though tears are splattering all over the page. It’s like a tsunami that hurls at every possible angle and space it sees and won’t stop until it’s satisfied.

The simple similes and vocabulary used has a surprisingly powerful effect. Similes like “Gray as his heart” (27) and “They stood in the rain like farm animals” (20) are completely candid that the images created in the reader’s mind are very precise. In addition, the conversations between the father and son were short and sweet. Few words are used but the questions that are asked and the answers that are given and the short conversations they have describes the deep bond that they have.

Hope seems to be a key element that Cormac Mccarthy expresses in The Road. That’s what I liked best about the book. When he described the fire in them; the hope, the love, the goodness, there was so much of it in the hearts of the father and the son that I wanted to smack the world in the face for not giving them what they deserved.

Along their journey, memories are always sprouting up. Dreaming is always happening. I like this. I think that dreaming is another way of having hope. Having hope that you will survive. Having hope that you will reach the beach. Having hope that you will not starve. Having hope that one day this will all be over. Sometimes I feel that having hope is the lesson that God wants us to learn which is why I expected the book to have some sort of happy ending. Which it didn’t.

I hate sad endings. I hated this ending so much that when I finished reading it I threw the book across the room. Who knew that Cormac Mccarthy could stir up so much emotion in his readers? I wandered afterwards why Mccarthy decided to write such an intense yet passionate book about the relationship between a father and son. After some research I discovered that Mccarthy had a son, called John. Mccarthy says in an interview with Wall Street Journal “he’s the co-author of the book”(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704576204574529703577274572.html) “He” meaning his son, John. He states that the conversations in the book are based on the conversations Mccarthy and his son had. Learning this information made the book so much more personal that I imagined.

After reading this book, it reminded me of the saying “You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” I think if my mother read this book she would probably be much nicer as she would realize that the world is an ugly place and every moment should be cherished. This book opens the eyes of society to the ugly world that many don’t see until something catastrophic happens. For instance, the tsunami seems to be the most recent catastrophic event that has killed the lives of millions and millions of people and opened the eyes of every single person in the world. Even shows like “Gossip Girl” emphasize how oblivious teens are to the real happenings in the world. Overall this book was very different from other books I’ve read; it made me realize how lucky I was to escape the many tragic events that have happened in the world so far.

How Fiction Works, James Wood

This article written by James Wood focuses on narration and fiction. The key points that strike me include one that mentions the narrator takes on a godlike and authorized status. I completely agree with this statement as the narrator is the person who is telling this story and hence everything comes from his/her perspective. There was always something I questioned in many books which was about the narrator’s character and whose side he/she would empathize with. For example in We, the narrator was D-503 and when I was reading that book, I wondered whether D-503 could be the mentally ill person and we as readers would be reading Zamyatin novel through D-503’s eyes hence acquiring a different perspective from say a member in the Office of Guardians or the Benefactor. Perhaps the world was completely normal and the problem did not lie with the Benefactor and the One State but rather D-503. I feel that the narrator plays the most important role in a novel and Wood also mentions that the narrator can merge into the character he/she is talking about. For a narrator to not do this would be extremely difficult. Of course the narrator is actually played by the author and it would be likely to assume that the author would be bias in certain aspects hence expressing some things more opinionated then others.

The next focal point that this article revolves around is “free indirect style”. The example he provides readers with is: “Ted watched the orchestra through stupid tears.” Where is the word “stupid” coming from? Who owns this word? This is an example of free indirect style in which the author incorporates his emotions and opinions into how the character may be feeling. Without the word “stupid” it would be a standard neutral comment. Free indirect style allows the reader to view things from the character’s eyes as well as the author’s eyes. There is a gap between the author and the character and free indirect style fills in this gap!

In more serious novels, authors make it more difficult to find the gap which allows the reader to view three different perspectives. For example, Woods gives an example from Henry James novel, What Maisie knew, in which three perspectives are seen: “official parental and adult judgement on Mrs Wix; Maisie's version of the official view; and Maisie's view of Mrs Wix.” (15) Overall, fiction and narration together creates many interesting thoughts to blossom in the reader’s mind.

Informal Commentary on extract from A Handmaid's Tale

This extract clearly depicts Offred’s ambivalence towards love through the use of tone, imagery and diction. Her constant change in tone illustrates her instability that has gradually built up because of her status as a Handmaid. Atwood uses imagery and diction to support these changes in tone as well as emphasize Offred’s position in this matter.

Tone is a key device that highlights Offred’s emotion towards the situation. Her constant change in tone confirms her volatility towards love because of her status as a Handmaid. This extract begins in a stubborn tone and contains a dry wit to it: “Far lot of good it did to her.” Offred’s character has clearly developed to one with no emotion to one full of anger. This is because the only thing that makes her a woman and makes her important to the world has been taken away from her. In addition, she repeats the word “don’t” in short sentences: “I don’t want to be telling this story. I don’t have to tell it. I don’t have to tell anything, to myself or to anyone else.” Atwood uses short, snappy sentences to have an impact towards the reader and the repetition of these negative words add to that. Offred repeats these words because as a Handmaid she has lost all her importance and freedom and here she demonstrates her will to fight back.

Her tone then changes to longing and remembrance. This is incorporated with the device imagery. She describes love in a sense of realism that the reader immediately knows that she has been in love before: “We were falling woman. We believed in it, this downward motion: so lovely, like flying…” The image created in a reader’s mind is of one jumping off a cliff, her hair swooshing past her, and he eyes gleaming with anticipation as she rushes towards the bottom.

Offred’s tone then becomes desperation: “The more difficult it was to love the particular man beside us, the more we believed in Love, abstract and total.” With the repetition of “more”, the reader already knows that she is not satisfied with her life and she wants more out of it! She wants more out of love! These long sentences used with the repetition of words allow the reader to absorb the message that Offred is trying to get across.

Later on, Offred portrays her morose experience with love: “…you’d wake up in the middle of the night, when the moonlight was coming through the window onto his sleeping face, making the shadows in the sockets of his eyes darker and more cavernous than in daytime and you’d think, Who knows what they do, on their own or with other men?” There are three devices utilized in this sentence; imagery, sentence structure, and rhetorical question. The imagery created is powerful and effective and one can imagine a crazy woman crawling to the side of her man’s bed and watching him closely. If you compare this type of imagery to the one earlier mentioned about how love is like jumping off a cliff, that one portrays the happy part of love, and this portrays the consequence to love. The long sentence structure drags makes the reader tenser as the sentence drags on to the end. With imagery, this is extremely effective! Her rhetorical question at the end demonstrates what love drives you to: fear. The rhetorical question is the most powerful element in my opinion to connect to the reader because it is as if Offred is asking the reader this question. It really gets the reader to think about the situation and what she would do in Offred’s position.

Overall, this extract made efficient use of sentence structure, imagery and tone to eloquently describe Offred’s emotions as a Handmaid and how it impacted love.   

Blame it on Feminism, Susan Faludi

Every individual who gains something can never bath in that happiness for long because they are struck by what they have lost by gaining it. In this case, gaining feminism has robbed them of their main happiness which lies in the hands of men. Men continue to have high dominance over woman because women are unstable due to their desires to please and impress them. Not only have they lost this element but they have also been blamed for many things that media and books have promoted. This includes the rise in slasher movies and how abortion made acceptable makes graphic murders on screen seem alright.

In A Handmaid’s Tale , something completely opposing this situation occurred. Faludi states that gaining feminism robbed them of their happiness in men. Atwood states that losing liberation robbed them of their happiness in men. Offred and Luke were married, had a daughter and were equals to each other. When policies were set straight and freedom was robbed from all, romance was forbidden and true love was destroyed.

Megan Marshall, a Harvard-pedigreed writer says, “Myth of Independence has turned her generation into unloved and unhappy fast-trackers, dehumanized by careers and uncertain of their gender identity.” (544) “Dehumanized” is the word that struck out to me here. In A Handmaid’s Tale, losing their freedom has caused a similar effect. They are not dehumanized but they are meant to act as if they have no feelings at all, almost as if they are machines. One situation that illustrates this thought very well is when Serena Joy is lying on the bed and Offred’s head is placed in her crotch. The commander then comes in and has sex with Offred. The reason why Serena is present in the room is to firstly make sure that no romance will occur and secondly the positioning makes it seem as if Serena Joy is the woman having sex with the Commander. The fact that this is a duty to all Handmaids’ disgusts me because they have no emotion in this sexual act which is meant to be pleasurable. No romance or emotion is shown from any of these three characters.

Women have not been liberated if there is so much loss that comes out of it. Woman’s misery has only increased since feminism has risen to power. “The ranks of women protesting discriminatory treatment in business, political and personal life climbed sharply.” (545) Achieving freedom hardly proved to do anything beneficial for women overall. “Man shortage” and “Infertility epidemic” (546) that occurs is not the cause of unhappiness to woman in the last decade but rather society propaganda that stirs up anxieties in women. Women care too much for the approval of both men and society which are the two main obstacles that obstruct a woman’s way to freedom. In I AM NOT A BARBIE DOLL, “it asks that women be free to define themselves – instead of having their identity defined for them, time and again, by their culture and men.” (548)

The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf

Female beauty is used as a “political weapon against woman’s advancement” (123) When feminism rose and became recognized in the early 1970s, woman gained many things to they’re benefits; however, beauty was an element that was used against them and destroyed them psychologically. They were mentally unstable about they’re appearances and keeping their beauty intact became the main goal of every woman. Each woman has two selves; one is for society to see and judge, the other is kept hidden and trapped within, banging on the door to be freed. The Beauty Myth in some aspects took away the freedom that women had fought for so long to achieve. It made them so aware of their looks that they were vulnerable to what the society thought of them. On the other hand, due to the fact that technology had not developed as much as it has today, “an ordinary woman was exposed to few such images outside the Church.” (125) Therefore, they were less affected by the Beauty Myth. Furthermore, during the olden times, women only had to function for “the service of the divine womb.” (125) These circumstances are similarly demonstrated in A Handmaid’s Tale where romance is forbidden and the Handmaid’s duty is to reproduce.

Pressure is one of the main causes to why many women undergo surgery to become the stereotypical “beautiful”. Pressure was placed onto all women for acceptance into society and men. This again relates to A Handmaid’s Tale and can he portrayed through the character Janice. She can be described as a conformist as she is always ready to do whatever Gilead demands her to do. When she became pregnant, she was envied by all other Handmaid’s. Greed is an effect a woman obtains from beauty. Once you have had a dose of it, you need more, you become addicted. Beauty is a drug and when one sees images of beautiful women, you naturally long to be beautiful like “them” because they are accepted and respected in society. Germaine Greer described the “Stereotype”: “I’m sick of the masquerade.” (124) At first all that women do is put on a mask for society to judge them by. However, pressure and greed become increasingly elevated within themselves and they become transformed. Women become transformed into the society’s ideal being. They do not become their own ideal self. They are followers to the wants of society.

Beauty has two primary targets: society and men. Since feminism rose to power, the beauty myth has grown stronger and stronger and is out of control. “Thirty three thousand American women told researchers that they would rather lose ten to fifteen pounds than achieve any other goal.” (123) Similar to A Handmaid’s Tale, some women in the club, Jezebels, portray this idea as they have given up on themselves and become prostitutes. They have given up and become all of the Commander’s traits of an ideal woman. Pleasing the Commander is their only goal and this is done through their dressing (short, skimpy clothes), seductive behavior and cosmetics (tons of makeup).

Klaus Barbies and Teen Mags

Klaus Barbie, and other dolls I’d like to see, Susan Jane Gilman

Gilman expresses her hatred towards Barbie dolls. She fell in love with Dawn dolls which were diverse and each had their own individual look. I say “were” because unlike Barbie’s which are still very popular and played among kids today; Dawn dolls were pulled off the market in the mid 70s.  Why did Gilman hate Barbie’s so much? Before I read this article, I believed that Barbie’s were just dolls that kids play with. However, from reading Gilman’s interpretation of the effect that Barbie’s have in the society, I realized that Barbie’s have played a much bigger impact than simply entertaining children. “Barbie is not just a children’s doll; it’s an adult cult and an aesthetic obsession.” (71) There is only one factor that determines whether you have made the cut in a group, or a school, or a company - looks. Looks define your worth and Barbie’s portray this message.

The reason Gilman hated Barbie’s so much was because she stopped believing that she was beautiful, she stopped believing that she was valuable to society. Every being is beautiful. Barbie’s constrict the “every being is beautiful” thought and diminishes people who do not look plastic, stupid, blond haired and blue eyed. Barbie’s manipulate children’s mind into believing that being a Barbie is being accepted. Lindsay Lohan dyed her hair from a red-head (like Gloria, Dawn doll) to blond (like a Barbie doll). Why? She could have just wanted to explore. This thought could have been driven by an installed image in one’s mind of a Barbie doll that many believe to be beautiful and accepted. In today’s media, there are many chick flicks that demonstrate how an unattractive girl leads a sad and lonely life and then she becomes popular when she obtains a makeover. Some examples are “She’s All That”, “Princess Diaries” and “The House Bunny”.

Manipulation is also used in A Handmaid’s Tale where the government manipulates women by erasing any feelings including “love”. This is done by separating family and many women become mistresses. “Making love” is considered as “doing a duty”. When Janice becomes pregnant, she is thrilled not because she has created a baby that is hers but because she gets a reward and gets treated much better than some other mistresses. She carries a smile of triumph on her face the entire time. She simply cares about herself. The government has manipulated women into having no feelings for anyone or anything. This is similar to our world where children are manipulated into competing with other girls over beauty.

Teen Mags: How to Get a Guy, Drop 20 Pounds, and Lose Your Self-Esteem

Like Gilman’s article above, constrictions and beauty are also mentioned here. Magazines have self-constrictions and are very hypocritical. Roshanda Betts from Dallas no longer reads teen magazines because it contains racist definitions of beauty and they say “You should love yourself for who you are, and then they have the seven-day diet.” (98) Every cover for a magazine has a slim, white model and girls become paranoid and insecure with their looks. Magazines are a source of manipulation that manipulate teens into looking the right way and looking beautiful. What is the reward for being beautiful? Boys. Impressing the opposite sex is a key part of the lives of teens. Girls would do anything including sacrificing their health for the attention of a boy. Magazines promote this idea!

Furthermore, magazines include articles about depressing, tragic stories of young girls. This could consist of tales like “A girl who was raped, shot, and left for dead,” and “One girl’s battle with depression.” (98) No analysis is given regarding these articles, they are simply articles that teens are supposed to speculate on and sympathize over.

Magazines in a particular way do impose constrictions to young girls. They create insecurity, fear and sadness in teens that do not have the perfect body they display in magazines. It is disappointing how beauty seems to be constricted in yet another way. Beauty is diverse and visible in every being and magazines should start recognizing by changing the way they organize their magazine.

Talking Back and the Sins of Silence

Talking Back, Bell Hooks

This article regarding the subject of feminism is very impactful. It discusses the power of speech in the Southern Black Community and when one spoke it was considered “an act of risk and daring”. (15) Growing up in this community was every girl’s nightmare. To have an opinion meant that you were disagreeing with someone’s point and hence you were punished for it. Girls were discouraged to speak in any discussions as well as for talking back. Overall, girls were suppressed from talking in order to bring out the “right speech of womanhood”. (15)

However, in the Southern Black Community, woman did dare and did allow their voices to be heard. Although they’re voices were tuned out when giving orders, or making threats, or fussing to men, they shared speech and opinion among other woman.

Grouping together to fight for what you deserve is very courageous and fighting with someone gives you all the more confidence to do so.

Moving on, I felt extremely proud for Hooks when she said that she devoted her time to writing by doing so in cheap diaries and hiding them. By putting a pen to a page and writing something on paper shows not only evidence of one’s knowledge and opinion but also tremendous bravery and passion. When I read that her sisters found out and mocked her for it I was very shocked! I believed that her sisters also being girls would either be scared and demand her to stop or encourage her yet tell her to be very careful. I know that if I was living during that time and my sister had discovered my passion and confidence in writing. Yes, she would be very scared and tell me to stop but mocking is the last thing that she would do. As I read on, I observed how much she risked for her desire to write and how her creativity broke out of her and could not be tamed. I know that if I were living in a community like that today I would never have the ability to commit to this act of rebellion. When Hooks published her book and continued to she still did not believe herself to be a writer because she was still scared and living in her childhood. Fear and insecurity are both the results she acheived when chasing after her passion and committing to it in secret. If I were there with her today, I would tell her that every person’s childhood is a part of who they are, but does not make up the complete person that you will become. After reading this article, I knew one day she would realize this and continue to use her creativity and stand by it with confidence even if many did not agree with it.

Sins of Silence, Mai Kao Thao

This article discusses the beginning of a good Hmong woman who blossomed into something better. Thao says that her mother taught her to “Nod [her] head and say yes even [she] doesn’t agree. It’s much easier. No trouble.” (18) My first instinct when I read this statement was NO! I completely understand the fear the mother must have had if she did act and rebel. She must have also been very comfortable in this position of invisibility. She wanted to protect her daughter from any trouble and leading this life would not be bad because we were looked at as “good”. “Silence is power”, is not a statement I believe in this aspect. “Courage is power” and “Speech is power” are statements that I do believe in. One should stand up for what they believe in and fight for what they deserve that is rightfully theirs!

“My silence had killed my Self, the essence which holds and molds an individual together in order to form one complete organism.” (18) This quotation links to 1984 and connects to Winston. Winston is stuck in the middle because there are thoughts that cannot be tamed that continue to run over and over in his mind. This is hidden but as the story develops it is banging on the locked door and is opened when he finds a companion called Julia. Being silent does not allow one to fully develop into an individual.

I am thankful that in the end this girl did realize what she deserved and chased after what she believed in and not something that made her pass the test of a “good Hmong woman”. She realized that being a “good Hmong woman” had all negative aspects to it; “to ignore my identity, to swallow my pride so others can abuse me, or to shut my eyes in the face of injustice by turning the other cheek.” (19) This article really made me realized the tough times that woman had before me and I am grateful times have changed because living during that time would have been painful and unbearable. I would not enjoy the challenge that life offers that I do now.

Blog Portfolio

Welcome to Monique's brilliant blog! Below is a collection of my favorite blogs that I enjoyed writing immensely due to the many different perspectives I could connect it to. My blogs have been separated into different categories. Before clicking on the URL to visit my blog, please read the couple of sentences I have written below it which provides you with a short description of why I have written it and what it contains.

Coverage

First the Forests

This blog titled "Response to First the Forests" is the first blog that I felt was successful in communicating to my readers. Due to the fact that I had never owned a blog before, after writing two previous blogs I felt this blog was able to get across my opinions and ideas clearly and powerfully. I have raised many questions which should make you ponder about the future as well as the past. I have also included different perspectives. I connected this article to the movie "Click" which could be our potential future. In addition, I connected it to fairytales and myths as well as Christianity.

Depth

Politics and the English Language

This blog goes into depth about the element thought. I took out the key points made in this essay written by George Orwell and expanded as well as interpreted them. Due to the fact that Orwell wrote this, I linked it to his book 1984 because thought manipulation is a major theme in there. One of the ideas that Orwell mentioned in his essay was about the connection between society and language. My blog elaborates on this fact and picks out key phrases while analyzing them and relating them with examples in his book.

Interaction

The Use of Truth

This is a link to Wesley's blog where he has distinguished between objective and subjective truth very clearly. I have kindly disagreed with one of his opinions where he compares objective and subjective truth to the element innocence. Wesley has a very interesting logic by saying that "subjectivity is the loss of that innocence" I have supported my opinion by stating the definitions of what is subjective and objective truth and by using an examples of subjective and objective truths. Overall, Wesley raised many captivating questions and opinions that do stick in my mind.

Discussions

Born and raised in a North Korean Gulag

This blog is my most recent blog regarding the experience a man called Mr. Shin had in North Korea. This seemed to be the one which connected with me the most because the imagery that was created in my mind was so impactful and clear. I was able to make some parallels to We written by Yevengy Zamyatin and 1984 written by George Orwell. Furthermore, I was able to relate it to truth hence including another area that my blogs focus on. Finally, this blog relates back to my first successful blog (First the Forests) because it raises the question again "What is human?" Sabrina, Joel and Pooja wrote some very insightful comments and once they said them I automatically began to think in their perspective and agreed with many of the ideas they mentioned. Such strong ideas and concepts were able to come out of reading such a shockingly true article.

Do you believe in Magic?

This is a link to Jorina's blog where she discusses the psychology of the novel. She mentions colorations and connotations to emotions, the writing within a story and what devices it contains. She also brings in teen books like Harry Potter and Twilight which made me very eager to respond to because these are two of my favorite books that till today I continue to re-read at least 20 times :) We have a short discussion first, about the structure and what lies within a story, and then our discussion moves on to the writings of Shakespeare. Sadly it does not deepen any further than that yet I will make sure that I continue this with Jorina in person.

Xenoblogging

Freedom and Democracy

The Comment Informative:
This is a link to Nina's blog titled "Freedom and Democracy - Response". I responded to two of her blogs with this comment. It also relates to her blog before that called "Questions on Conquest - Response". Nina provided a very strong summary written in a manner that made me want to read on and find out more. Many interesting points were brought up that made me really think about freedom and democracy. I was very impressed when she questioned the authors inability of mentioning the "exceptions" She disagreed with the author and gave an argument that was very dominant that in the end I believed her over the author. I commented on her structure, pointed out the arguments and points I agreed with and made some thoughts and connections to We. Altogether, this was one of my favorite blogs that I read. :) Nina did a splendid job!

Wildcard

The following piece written below is something I wrote last year in my English class. It explains the direction of life that Gilgamesh takes when Enkidu is killed. When reading this part of the story last year I felt strongly attached to Gilgamesh because I cannot imagine what I would do if any of my best friends were killed. It was also one of my best pieces I wrote last year while practicing to write in the VIP format.

What happens to life when a friend is lost?

This excerpt demonstrates the direction Gilgamesh takes with his life when death steals his only friend, Enkidu:

              "My beloved friend has turned into clay - my beloved friend Enkidu has turned into clay." (168)

The path Gilgamesh takes with his life after the death of Enkidu is not a good one. Whilst still grieving, what his mind needs is rest and acceptance of Enkidu's death. However, he takes a different route and becomes stuck in a mud filled with sadness and grief. Unable to move on, he continuously repeats phrases like "my beloved friend has turned into clay" which shows that Gilgamesh is trying yet failing to accept life without Enkidu. In addition, it conveys that he does not want to forget his mission into bringing Enkidu back.
Furthermore, whilst Gilgamesh lives in his own world of misery, his attitude becomes stubborn as well as persistent and he works himself up into a rant when help is offered. When Shiduri advises him to enjoy life because he will "never find the eternal life," Gilgamesh gets enraged and ignores his comment by stubbornly replying:
             "Show me the road to Utnapishtim. I will cross the vast ocean if I can. If not, I will roam the wilderness in my grief." (169)

It can be noticed that "Show me" and "I will" are used in Gilgamesh's heaty response to Shiduri which informs readers his determination to bring Enkidu back. Gilgamesh still suffering from grief and overtaken by his stubborness takes the wrong path and strives to accomplish what many say is impossible. The excerpt displays evidence of his hurtful attitude towards others and additionally shows his constancy into getting what he wants. It also foreshadows to readers that Gilgamesh is tired of being told to overcome his grief when he knows he cannot and therefore is even more determined to bring Enkidu back. This excerpt allows readers to see Gilgamesh's condition after death steals away his only friend.

Born and Raised in a North Korean Gulag

This article has an extremely powerful effect and I feel entirely for Mr. Shin Dong Hyok and other members who lived in that camp. This paper was written using Orwell’s techniques; using simple words to be straightforward about the point she is making. Therefore, the impact and imagery that it was able to create was very clear.

This paper is an excellent example of the manipulation of truth. Due to the fact that Mr. Shin was born in the camp and lived there till his late 20’s, he assumed that their approaches towards him and the other members was true and a part of life. He never had a proper upbringing by his parents and hence was unable to distinguish between right and wrong. Inmates living in a “Revolutionary Zone” were re-educated and if they survived long enough they were released. This reminds me of the place that Winston (in 1984) was taken to and many others for committing thought crime. He was taken to a place where they tortured and broke him and he was released after finally believing what O’Brien told him to believe.

There is another connection to the book 1984 about marriage. Mr. Shin’s parents were matched together by the authorities and had Mr. Shin and his 22 year old brother. This is similar to the way things were done in 1984 where people were married not out of love, but to “do their duty” (have a baby). All the inmates in the camp were taught to feel nothing and to contain no emotions. They were like machines that just did what they were told to do. Furthermore, guards were told to not treat them like humans. Living under certain circumstances like this makes one eventually believe that they are not human.  This comes back to the main question that all my blogs approach, what is a human? Is it someone that contains no feelings? Someone who experiences the life in a dystopian country?

When Mr. Shin found out about the outside world, this was an analogous reaction that Winston had when him and Julia first met in the woods which resembled the “Golden Country”. To Mr. Shin, the outside world was a utopian country that was filled with happiness. This was the prod he needed to escape from the camp. D-503 from We got a prod from I-330 to escape the One State and Winston got the reason to escape once he was united with Julia.

Overall, this article has a very strong impact and is able to communicate its story very clearly with the readers. Manipulation of truth, portrayal of how one can live with no feelings and emotions as well as connections to We and 1984 can be recognized making the interpretation of the article much more interesting to read after I had done much analyzing of all these elements.  

Ability to Manipulate Truth

It is extremely easy to manipulate truth because do we really know what truth is? This question cannot be answered because until today we do not know what truth is. I have realized that our senses are not good enough to prove that something is true. My argument today was to prove using my human senses that the wooden utensil was indeed a wooden utensil. From this I learnt that we all have different perceptions and analyticities of ideas and things. Hence from this we can conclude that there are many truths. One truth does not exist. 

Truth relates to the concept: relativism. According to Dictionary.com relativism is a philosophy that holds any criteria of judgment relative, varying with individuals and environments. Does science expose truth? Some theories could be made possible in some environments but could not be applicable in others. Science lets us get closer to truth but does not reveal the truth. Is there anything that can be proved to be true without other variables being involved?

Humans lie all the time, its part of our selfish, corrupted human nature according to Hobbes. When we are re-telling an event that occurred, we are manipulating the truth because we are describing what happened based on our interpretations and our perceptions. We are biased towards ourselves thus we are technically lying. This is a reason why people raise the question of whether the Holocaust really did occur. Reviews, records, photos, these could all be manipulated to make humans believe something else. Last class, we watched a video of penguins taking flight into the skies. It seems so unbelievable that we doubt what we are seeing in front of our eyes. We make reasons to not believe in things, firstly, it was recorded on video and someone could have manipulated it. Secondly, we could be hallucinating – raising the question again whether our senses can be trusted to tell us the truth.

In 1984, the Ministry of Truth controls information and changes history; they make their own history. Due to the fact that history is constantly changing, thought crime exists and the people do not have clear memories that can go back to when they were much younger. The party has the vast power of controlling the truth and uses this to manipulate the citizens of Oceania into following orders. Truth is a complicated thing and there is no specific definition and till today we are unable to distinguish what is the truth and what is not the truth.

Use of Orwell's techniques

Applying Orwell’s techniques to pieces is quite difficult and takes a lot of thinking. His six rules are as follows:

(i)                  Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

(ii)                Never use a long word where a short one will do.

(iii)               If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

(iv)              Never use the passive where you can use the active.

(v)                Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

(vi)              Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous

The first rule requires a creative imagination and broad diction. We, according to human nature are very easily submitted to cliché and hence making an original metaphor or simile can be difficult if one is not a writer. The second rule can be easy for some yet hard for others. For those who are not so experienced writers and resort to a limited diction this rule would suit them easily. However, experienced authors/writers use long words for the reason being that it fits what they are trying to say better. The third rule is a rule that I fail to follow every time I write a piece. Many believe that the longer the essay, the better it is hence many unnecessary words can be used. The fourth rule is very impactful and useful to grab the attention of the reader. Naturally being active and to the point makes it easier to be understood and also makes the reader keen to read more. I believe the fifth rule is the hardest – sometimes a foreign phrase describes the situation better than an English equivalent could and sometimes, the foreign phrase cannot be translated to English. The last rule made me feel very confused because I did not understand the meaning of barbarous: able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering (Google Web Definitions)

All of these things must be taken into account during the editing process of any piece of writing. I followed some of these rules when I was writing my essay about coloration and connotations in We. Once editing it I observed how much more detailed and interesting my essay seemed. Orwell’s rules are not hard to follow but they are not easy either. Using his techniques to edit some speeches in class took a lot of time, effort and thinking.

Politics and the English Language

“Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it.” (1) This is the first line of Orwell’s essay and it instantly reminded me about his novel 1984. In this quotation, the key phrase is conscious action. Conscious action meaning thought. In 1984, Winston only thinks of rebelling and acting out against the Party and Big Brother. He is not the mastermind of creating a plan to rebel against them. It is only when O’Brien makes the first step and reaches out to Winston that he commits himself.

Next it discusses sentimental archaism. Archaism means a survival of something from the past. At the mentioning of this, the beautiful piece of coral that Winston bought from a prole clouded my mind. This coral was an excellent example of sentimental archaism. It is a part of history that contains a meaning that Winston struggles to interpret.

Orwell’s essay says that society and language are connected. “Our civilization is decadent”, meaning our civilization is spoilt and cannot be controlled. In addition, language is not an instrument and hence cannot be controlled. Both of these elements are in relation to each other. If civilization falls then language collapses. (“Dying metaphors”, “operators”, “pretentious diction” and “meaningless words” are all causes of language collapses.) This contradicts 1984 completely as Orwell portrays an image of a very controlled society limited in their thoughts, feelings, imagination, action and beliefs. The language that is used in Oceania is called Newspeak. Everyone must communicate with that language and all tasks are done with that language. There was the language Oldspeak but the language Newspeak was created and was constantly being perfected to show the party’s absolute power. Language and society is controlled in 1984.

This essay establishes what is essential to a story. In some clips that Orwell provides, there is a “staleness of imagery” and “lack of precision”. A captivating story like 1984 has powerful imagery and precise details. Precision can be difficult to achieve because everyone has their own private definitions. However in 1984, Orwell is sure to include detailed descriptions about any political views.

The question that continuously pops into mind is what causes the language to collapse? The answer that Orwell gives is thought. Thought influences everything that one decides to do. Thought corrupts language. Winston’s rebellious thoughts corrupt him from speaking Newspeak like every other comrade. Overall, this essay focuses on the idea of how thought can influence society and language.

Psychology of the Novel

This essay constantly brings a question to mind: Have you ever thought about how life would be without an imagination and feelings? The effect of words is so great that it causes one to develop emotions and images in our mind. I agree that this essay states that “through the connotations and colorations of the words” emotions and imagination are stirred. My essay on We that I recently turned in is precisely about this and goes into depth about how each word signifies a color and each color has its own emotion. It is the context that the word is used in that creates either a positive or a negative connation. For example, the color pink represents romance and desires yet in We the color pink is used to represent pink coupons. The pink coupons have a negative connotation because they are given out to the humanized machines when they can have sex. The purpose of these coupons is to restrict sex.

The next point that this essay focuses on is “willing suspension of disbelief” meaning whether our mind can accept the idea the author is proposing to the reader. Many fiction books consist of ideas that could not be possible in the real world yet it can be in the world the author is creating. “Willing suspension of disbelief” is a state of mind that every author wants to create in its reader. In We, Zamyatin proposes the idea of the future. It raises a question to the reader: Is this our future? Could Obama become the Benefactor and wipe out imagination and dreaming and such? Could technology develop to such an extent where it overcomes nature? Without an imagination and feelings we would be like the humanized machines in the One State. An imagination is unique in every human and cannot be controlled hence, it is banned in both of the environments in We and 1984.

After reading this essay, I have realized how difficult it is to write a captivating story. One must think of the relationships between characters, the style of writing, the structure, the conflict, the situations of suspense, the theme and so much more. A novel has a “gamelike nature”. The author has to build an idea within the story interesting enough to keep the reader playing the game. The reader’s mind is a game and the words are like passwords that allows the excitement and tension to build as you go further into the labyrinth that our brain is structured to be. Therefore this requires the author to constantly be thinking of the reader and what they want the reader to feel. What a reader thinks and believes is a communication with oneself. However what a reader feels is a communication between the author and the reader. Every point addresses feeling.

I cannot even process the idea of living a life without an imagination and emotions. We would not even be humans and this raises yet again the question of what my previous blog revolved around: What is a human?

Response to First the Forests

After the discussion and many times of re-reading this document the main question comes down to what are humans? What are animals? Where did it all start? How powerful can technology become? This document opens the doors to many new various ideas that I have never thought about before. My teacher mentioned a very interesting fact about how babies are covered in hair when they are in the womb and eat it all up before they are born. This links to two things, a) when D-503 describes his hands to be “hairy and ape like” and b) how humans are descended from chimpanzees. I will go into depth about these two points later on.

Have you ever thought that perhaps technology could become more powerful than nature itself? I had in fact thought so before this discussion. In a scene in a movie called “Click” featuring Adam Sandler they show how much their world is controlled and run by technology because technology has allowed the impossible to become possible. The One State in the novel called “We” is an excellent example of this! D-503 describes the world he lives in to be of a glass one and readers are lead to imagine the humanized machines living in a glass dome. Nature is considered to be monstrous and feared and is therefore separated from their world. Furthermore, the Integral is a space rocket being built to send off to other countries and colonize them. How does this relate to the two points I mentioned earlier about chimpanzees and D-503’s ape-like hands? Firstly “We” is an example of the future and D-503 describes his hands to be ape-like and hairy. Secondly, humans are believed to be descended from chimpanzees that are generally hairy creatures.

Does this not lead to the conclusion that our world is a cycle?

In this document it mentions “how often a protagonist wandering through a forest experiences a terrifying or enchanting loss of temporal boundaries.” (pg 8) Would you agree or disagree with this? I strongly disagree because a forest is part of nature and something God has created therefore why would he create this to be a terrifying place? Many fairytales do portray the forest to be a horrifying place and why? Again this goes back to the point of where did this all begin without looking at the Christian aspect. “Alice in Wonderland” is a great example of the forest being a frightening place yet she does meet people/animals in the forest who make her journey more fascinating and less scary. Again this raises the question of whether these people she meets in the forest are people or animals. What are they? Could it possibly be the same ‘they’ mentioned in the novel “We”.

So ask yourself, what are really people? What are really animals? And what can the future be?

Response to Questions of Conquest & Chapter VII Freedom and Democracy

The Question of Conquest written by Mario Vargas Llosa addresses a key issue; are modern cultures able to overcome the effect of previous battles that they have encountered while keeping the basis of their religion stable? Indigenos people are suppressed to carry out their goals and visions. Freedom and Democracy addresses a similar issue where they are also suppressed from having freedom of thought, emotions and actions at a young age. Both documents focus on two main elements: freedom and authority.

One striking event that supports this is the battle between Inca and the Indians against the Spaniards. Inca is the leader and has all the authority and when he is captured the Indians think the best thing to do is to let themselves be killed. This is due to the fact that a) they do not have the ability to make decisions and b) there was a loss of leadership hence leading to confusion and will to fight.

In Freedom and Democracy, it mentions that we the people are powerless in our thoughts and are unable to think for ourselves. We let ourselves make decisions on consensus of the society. By not being different and giving up spontenity we are letting ourselves to be controlled by the expectations of others. This relates to the novel "We" written by Yevgeny Zamyatin because readers are able to see through the eyes of D-503 that having an imagination and having the ability to think is considered an illness.

On Language Response

The “On Language” packet discusses Zanyatin’s knowledge and keen interest about literature. His focus revolves around poetry, prose, folk language and much more. I like how he begins his discussion with a question. It makes readers interested and eager to read more. Throughout this passage, Zanyatin expresses his beliefs very clearly and gives definitions of many new terms like “lyrical works”, “epic writers”, “folk language” and “neologisms”.


An idea that fascinated me in the first few pages was how he mentioned that the author must be entirely invisible. Now that I begin to think about this, in many of the books I have read the authors opinion is completely wiped out. Various novels that I have read are either in third person or written in perspective of the main character and therefore “all the authors comments, all the descriptions of the surroundings, the characters, the landscapes must be couched in the language of the milieu portrayed.” (178)

One of the main areas he focused on was folk language. He defined it as the “language of dialogue” and its prime source comes from the people. He used the examples and works of many old writers as well as sources like Church Slavonic sources and the published texts of the Old believers and provincialisms. I noticed that many of his observations or beliefs about literature were backed with many primary sources.

Towards the end of the discussion, he said something so simply and it struck me so powerfully. “The fewer words you use, the more you say with them, the greater the effect.” (185) I believe that this is completely true. There is a saying that the eyes are the windows to your soul, which also emphasizes the fact that you can understand and learn everything about someone without many words at all. Overall, the packet was very appealing in his conversational yet formal tone. I learnt many new terms and also thought more about things I had not thought before.