Term Presentation

Definition: Evoking strong emotions, painfully affecting the feelings.

When I was a child, Titanic was the first poignant film I watched. This song still brings back strong, melancholy feelings.

Thinking Outside the Box

Both Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" and Satre's "No Exit" display the limitations of the human mind and our thinking, and how we often do not want to step outside our private comfort zones to achieve new ways of thinking. With the cave, the prisoners were isolated because of their chains and when one was able to free himself and see the world outside, the others refused to believe him. Comfortable with their ignorant bliss, they chose to keep their chains rather than face the unknown. The characters in "No Exit" were isolated as well and had only what each other and those surrounding them knew as knowledge. If we are ever to evolve oour thinking any higher we must listen to others besides those right next to us and not be afraid to break our chains and think of something differently even if it is uncomfortable.

Big Question

What constitutes the world of dreams and how does that influence our view of reality?

What I've Learned Thus Far...

One thing that I have taken away from this class so far this year is a sense of reality. This is my life and I'm almost ready to go out in the world and face it. This class has opened my eyes to this fact more than anything else so far and has lit  fire under me to get going on the things that I want and need to do with my life. This video ties to this because this is the project that I've been working on this year which really is following a dream I've had since I was in seventh grade. I have gotten the final push towards inspiration in getting what I want to do in my life going.

Lit Analysis 2

1. The Invisible Man starts with the narrator letting us know that he is telling us about his life while writing underground. He's a black man that dubs himself "the invisible man". The story is told through flashbacks in his life. Hewas an orator who was chosen to present a speech in exchange for a scholarship to a college. He recieves the scholarship and goes off to college where he is the driver for the school's trustee, Mr. Norton. Mr. Norton is drinking and passes out from this. Dr. Bledose, the dean, hears of this and instantly blames the invisible man and expels him promptly. He then heads to New York City in search of work. He finds a menial job and starts working, but is knocked unconscious while at work. He awakes to a member of a brotherhood who heard his speech, and asks him to join the brotherhood. He agrees. The narrator works with the brotherhood for several months before a magazine interviews him. The brotherhood is angered and blames him for using the brotherhood for his own private gain and forces him to work in Harlem for women's rights. Awhile later a riot breaks out and the invisible man's friend is shot dead. The invisible man then conducts a march in Harlem to protest his friend's untimely demise. But when he returns to the brotherhood, they are enraged that he tied his dead friend with the brotherood, because they say he is a traitor. The invisible man flees the brotherhood and travels to Harlem to protest. A larger riot breaks out and the invisible man falls down a man hole where he is to this day. He  concludes the story by reminscing on his past choices and his time spent with the brotherhood.
2. The outstanding theme present is to remain who you are in the face of adversity. 
3. The tone present is a nonchalant, uncaring tone about the events that unfolded. 

Notes On Hamlet.

My thoughts on this play have changed significantly from the start of my reading. I came into this with dread, thinking that here's another damn Shakespeare play full of language I won't understand and a flat story with little to no action or drama. I was vastly mistaken. I have now found myself heavily immersed in this drama, growing emotionally attached to the characters, especially through my pity for Hamlet and hatred for his harlotous mother and devious uncle. I'm not sure exactly where I see this play heading, but I think it will end in tragedy and I don't think that Hamlet or his mother and uncle will make it out of this play alive. I am curious to find out if I'm right.

In Search Of

2. This makes me wonder what information is being left out from my sight.
I redid my search on Shakespeare by typing in several phrases into multiple search engines this time, instead of typing in "Who was Shakespeare?" onto one single search engine. This gave me a wider view into a plethora of information previously unseen by me. I have now learned not to stop and simply rely on one search engine or even just one phrase while researching something on the internet. I've also learned that the internet is far from the most reliable source out there for any information.