Vocabulary #9

aficionado: enthusiast: somebody who is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about something
browbeat: intimidate, typically into doing something, with stern or abusive words
commensurate: corresponding in size or degree; in proportion
diaphanous: light, delicate, and translucent
emolument: a salary, fee, or profit from employment or office
foray: a sudden attack or incursion into enemy territory
genre: a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter
homily: commentary that follows a reading of scripture
immure: enclose or confine against their will
insouciant: showing a casual lack of concern; indifferent
matrix: an environment or material in which something develops; a surrounding medium or structure
obsequies: funeral rites
panache: flamboyant manner and reckless courage
persona: the image or personality that a person presents
philippic: a bitter attack or denunciation
prurient: having or encouraging an excessive interest in sexual matters
sacrosanct: regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with
systemic: of or relating to a system, esp. as opposed to a particular part
tendentious: expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view
vicissitude: a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant

The Performative Utterance in Hamlet

• not about a man who could not make up his mind, Hamlet made up his mind when he encountered the ghost
• confused how to commit duty of revenge, "cognitive paralysis"
• Hamlet is able to speak, but not to do. Frustrated because he seems others "doing"

Performative Ability of Language:

1. locutionary force...ability of language to deliver a message
2. illocutionary force...what is done in being said, such as denying a request, giving an order
3. perlocutionary force...what is achieved by being said, the consequences of one's utterances

• performative language connects words and reality
• Hamlet's characters develop through self-overhearing; hear themselves speaking and then gain self-knowledge
• Is this self-realization or self-creation?

To Be Or Not To Be

A few little mistakes, but here is my soliloquy. Oh yeah, and my eyes are closed to prove I'm not cheating.

Literature Analysis #3

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitxgerald

1. The story begins with a young man named Nick Carraway who begins to describe a summer from a while ago. He has just moved to New York and goes to visit his cousin, Daisy, where he sees her husband, Tom, and friend Jordan. He then learns that his cousin’s marriage is an unhappy one, because Tom has mistresses. Later on that summer, Nick goes to town with Tom, where he meets the mistresses, Myrtle. After this chaotic experience, Nick attends one of Gatsby’s outrageous parties with Jordan. Gatsby is a mysterious man, who owns the giant mansion next door to Tom. At the lively party, Nick and Jordan meet the mysterious Gatsby, who takes Jordan aside for a private conversation. Days later Nick and Gatsby go on a drive to town together where Nick learns a little more about Gatsby’s strange life. Nick later learns that Gatsby wants Nick to invite Daisy over for tea, because he is hopelessly in love with her and has been waiting years for them to reunite. Nick reluctantly agrees and Daisy comes over and is astonished to see Gatsby. After an awkward and exciting reunion their affair begins. Eventually both Daisy and Tom attend one of Gatsby’s parties which reveals Tom’s suspicion and dislike towards Gatsby. Later on Gatsby, Nick, and Jordan meet at Tom and Daisy’s for lunch. The tension is high as Tom begins to realize what is happening. The group eventually goes to town where the affair is blatantly revealed. In Gatsby’s mind Daisy must say she never loved Tom for his plan to come true. She can’t say this and Gatsby is visibly devastated, but hasn’t lost all hope. Eventually Gatsby and Daisy leave and agree to meet everyone back at Daisy’s home. As Tom, Nick, and Jordan later drive home they see a car accident up the road and stop. The woman killed in the accident is Myrtle, Tom’s secret lover. Also Tom learns that the car who killed her was the same color as Gatsby’s and they didn’t even bother to stop. Nick talks to Gatsby that night and learns that Daisy was driving the car. Tom tells George, Myrtle’s now crazy husband, that Gatsby was driving. George then goes to Gatsby’s, kills him and then kills himself. Nick has a small funeral for Gatsby, however no one attends, sadly unlike the giant parties he used to throw. Nick ends his relationship with Jordan and moves back to the midwest, because he can’t handle his disgust for the greedy people of the city life.
2. One of the main themes was the emptiness of the upper class. Nick as a wallflower observed the characteristics of not only the main characters, but also the interactions of the people at Gatsby’s parties. He noticed the empty pursuit of greed with no real emotion or empathy or purpose. The selfishness of Daisy, who allowed her desires to ruin others’ lives. Also, the carelessness of Tom who, although he said he loved Daisy, went on frequent “sprees” with other women, showing that the vow of marriage meant nothing to him. Nick but all of these together and by the end realized the overall reckless, carelessness of the upperclass.
3. Nick’s tone in telling this story is ambivalent and somewhat nostalgic. He is ambivalent towards Gatsby as a character. For example, he admires Gatsby’s dedication to make this dream transformation of “James Gatz” to “Jay Gatsby” come true. However, at times like the night Daisy hit Myrtle, and how Gatsby was so consumed with Daisy’s emotions that he paid no mind to the gravity of the situation. At this time Nick hated Gatsby. Although, Nick’s opinions went back and forth overall he had an admiration for Gatsby’s unique character which he showed through his nostalgic tone. As he reminisced on his life changing summer, his descriptions of Gatsby are always very romanticized showing Nick’s admiring nostalgia towards his old friend.
4. -Narrorator point of view: Since the story is told as Nick looking back on his experience, the audience gets his opinion of the situations. However, it is essential that the story be told from Nick’s point of view because he is the only clear-thinking, outside party to witness these events. The story told by Gatsby or Daisy would be too clouded with emotional judgements that the true story wouldn’t be told.
   -Imagery: Nick describes everything in such great detail, from the colors to the sounds. He paints a vivid picture of Gatsby’s parties and character’s facial expression, which gives just as much insight to the character’s emotions and thoughts as their words do.
   -Foreshadow: “So we drove on toward death in the cooling twilight.” (pg. 91) This quote is said right before Tom, Nick, and Jordan drive up to the scene of Myrtle’s tragic death. This line added to the building ominous tone of that chapter.
   -Juxtaposition: The juxtaposition of Gatsby and Daisy, made both of their opposing characteristics seem more extreme. Gatsby’s long, tedious planning of the perfect life he sought and the preciseness he used to execute it was quite opposite to Daisy’s emotional whim decision making process. 
   -Symbolism: This technique isn’t realized until the end, when Gatsby’s dream of blissful happiness is crushed by reality. This comes to represent the unrealisticness of the American dream and how it is essentially ruined by human’s innate greed. This theme of greed and reality vs. fantasy was evident throughout the whole novel.
   -Setting: The setting is essential because the analysis of the greedy upper class wouldn’t have made sense elsewhere. The roaring twenty’s was perfect to reveal the pointless indulgence and emotional recklessness of the upperclass.

Characterization

1. One example of indirect characterization, is when Nick first meets Jordan. He describes how with every move she makes he feels inclined to apologize. This seemingly strange descriptor, allows the reader to infer that Jordan must have an intimidating, strong presence about her. The scene where Gatsby and Daisy first reunite is filled with indirect characterization. Nick describes Gatsby’s tense body language and broken sentences. He also describes the look of awe on Daisy’s face. Without coming right out and saying it Nick reveals the excited nervousness between the two at that moment. Much more difficult to find in this book are examples of direct characterization. One is when Nick is describing his relationship with Jordan, this time rather than using a detailed description of an encounter the two had, he just goes out and says that she is the type to avoid clever men. This rare use of direct characterization maybe is to show that Nick doesn’t romanticize his relationship with her unlike he does romanticize other’s characteristics. 
2. When the author focuses on character it is usually in the form of lengthy descriptions of the character’s expressions, body language, and what the mixture of those might mean. The author never merely states the character’s dialogue. Instead he goes into detail about facial features and expressions, which emphasizes the importance of the character. For example, the first time Nick met Gatsby, the author used half of a page to describe Gatsby’s smile. 
3. The protagonist, Nick, is definitely dynamic. He is constantly changing as he takes in new information from his surroundings. He doesn’t take part in much of the story’s action, which makes him a unique protagonist, instead he is a wallflower, observing and learning. He is dynamic in his opinions of others. For example, he is never sure of his feelings for Jordan and sometimes he was in awe of Gatsby and other times he was in disgust.
4. After reading this book, I felt like I knew Nick. I felt sorry for him, in that he had witnessed all of this tragedy and everyone else more or less walked away, however he was left to deal with the remnants, being the honest, caring person he is. Due to all of the descriptive language this story really came alive to me, especially the initial description of Gatsby. “He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles that you only come across four of five times in life. It face-or seemed to face- the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.” This description of Gatsby’s smile is captivating and makes you feel as though you are looking at a real person. 
   
   

Vocabulary #8

abase: to behave in a way so as to belittle or degrade someone
abdicate: to renounce one's throne
abomination: a thing that causes disgust or hatred
brusque: abrupt or off-hand in speech or manner
saboteur: a person who engages in sabotage
debauchery: excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures
proliferate: increase rapidly in numbers, multiply
anachronism: a thing belonging to a period of time other than its, usually old-fashioned
nomenclature: the devising or choosing of names for things
expurgate: to remove matter thought to be unsuitable
bellicose: demonstrating aggression and willingness to fight
gauche: lacking ease or grace, socially awkward
rapacious: aggressively greedy or grasping
paradox: a statement that seems self-contradictory
conundrum: a confusing and difficult problem or question
anomaly: something that deviates from what is standard
ephemeral: lasting for a very short time
rancorous: characterized by bitterness or resentment
churlish: rude in a mean-spirited and surly way
precipitous: dangerously high or steep

• The cocky football player abased the little freshman who had dropped his books.
• The prince found out his father had been stealing money from the kingdom, so publicly abdicated him at the next large event.
• The government shutdown was an abomination, the public was angered at the childlike stubbornness of the politicians.
• His lecture was brusque, he would skip from one topic to the next with no logical succession.
• The little sister was known as a saboteur, she would always play pranks on her older sister, like hiding her car keys and stealing her clothes.
• The teenage boy was known for his debauchery and therefore never got a steady girlfriend.
• The family of bunnies proliferated and soon inhabited the whole woodland.
• The record player was an anachronism, in the house of otherwise modern decor.
• All the scientists gathered to discuss the nomenclature of the new elements, and fought over whose name they would choose.
• The mother expurgated all of the video games and junk food from her child's room.
• The bellicose dog lunged at the unsuspecting cat.
• The rapacious lion fought off others so he could have the kill all to himself.

Literature Analysis #1

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

1. The story begins with a young boy, Santiago, who shepherds sheep through the Andalusian mountains. He is content with this life because he enjoys to travel. However, at one of his stops he encounters and old man who claims to be a king and strangely knowns all about the boy's life. This man tells the boy to follow his "Personal Legend", so the boy sells his sheep and sails to Africa to go visit the pyramids in Egypt, like he had dreamt of.  When Santiago embarks on this journey he is soon robbed and forced to become a crystal merchant at one of the local shops. The storekeeper is wise and kind to the boy and Santiago helps bring in business and is rich in a year. He cashes his money and joins a caravan headed to Egypt to pursue his personal legend again. In this caravan is an alchemist who teaches Santiago about the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life. At a stop he falls in love with Fatima. He also has a vision of an upcoming tribal attacks and saves the village. With this news of his vision, the alchemist advises Santiago to leave again and search for his Personal Legend. The alchemist and Santiago were almost to the pyramids, but were captured. However, Santiago's strange ability to communicate with nature got them released. He eventually makes it to the pyramids and begins digging for gold. Two men beat him and when Santiago spoke of his dream the man told him that dreams are worthless. The man described a dream he had about treasure in Spain under a sycamore tree. The man described the same place where Santiago had originally dreamt the dream when he was a shepherd. Santiago returns to Spain finds the treasure there and plans to return to the oasis to reunite with Fatima.
2. The theme of The Alchemist was that Personal Legends are the only way to live a satisfying life. It also emphasizes that everything must follow their Personal Legend for the world to be in balance. The Alchemist presents a very unique theology, because it suggests that the only spirituality that is necessary is the individualistic pursuit of your Personal Legend.
3. The Alchemist is unique because it doesn't sound like a normal novel, it sounds more like a myth or fable. It's straightforward and usually focused around teaching a lesson, rather than entertaining. 

Vocabulary #7

shenanigans: secret or dishonest activity
ricochet: a hit that rebounds one or more times off a surface
schism: a split between strongly opposed sections or parties, caused by differences in opinion
eschew: to deliberately avoid using
plethora: a large or excessive amount of
ebullient: cheerful or full of energy 
garrulous: excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters
harangue: a lengthy and aggressive speech
interdependence: dependent on each other
capricious: given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior 
loquacious: talkative
ephemeral: lasting for a very short time
inchoate: just begun and so not fully formed or developed
juxtapose: to place close together for contrasting effect
perspicacious: having a ready insight into and understanding of things
codswallop: nonsense
mungo: cloth made from recycled material
sesquipedelian: given to using long words
wonky: crooked, askew
dipthong: a complete speech sound that begins with one vowel and changes to another

• The group of young boys got caught in their shenanigans and were grounded for a week.
• The basketball ricocheted off of the backboard and into the hoop, resulting in the game winning shot.
• The biology club had a schism, due to disagreements on the theory of evolution.
• My friend eschews Nike and some other stores because of their unethical actions.
• The internet has a plethora of information that is available to all.
• The ebullient cheerleaders pumped up the crowd and made for a fun game.
• The garrulous men at the coffee shop talked for hours about the weather.
• The loud preacher was known for his harangues.
• The group of friends were so interdependent that they couldn't handle a week without being together.
• The girl was originally labeled capricious, however later was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
• My grandpa is loquacious, he can talk for hours with someone he just meets on the street.
• Although the commercial was ephemeral, its catchy song stuck in my head all day.
• The team lost its first game, but blamed the loss on its inchoate status.
• By juxtaposing the movie and the book, you could tell the giant differences in plot.
• The perspicacious man was known as a good mentor because of his wise advice.
• "That's codswallop!" yelled the old man, when he discovered that gas prices had risen more.
• The house looked funny, because the constructors had accidentally put the windows in wonky. 

The Comparison's Tale

After hearing about Chaucer's other tales I have found that he keeps the same general tone and themes throughout each. In my group's tale (The Skipper's Tale) and The Miller's Tale the themes of adultery and unfaithfulness are the main backbones of the story. In both cases the wife cheats on her husband with his close friend and gets away with it, without tarnishing her reputation. This brings up Chaucer's satirical tone. Through humorous and scandalous situations he brings out the realistic theme of reputation versus actual character.

Literature Analysis #2

Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad

1. The novel opens up with a captain aboard a ship. He is new to this ship and the staff and is unsure that they completely trust him yet. One night he is alone on the deck and sees a figure in the water. The figure turns out to be a tired , naked man, who he helps board the ship. After some conversation the captain finds out that the man escaped his previous ship because he had killed a man there. The captain somehow felt connected and related to this strange man and helped him. He let him secretly stay on the ship for awhile, and even hid him when the man’s previous captain came looking for the fugitive. However, the man couldn’t stay hidden on the ship forever, so they conceived a plan and he jumped off and left. 

The next half of the story jumps to another scene were there are a few men aboard a boat having a conversation in the night. Then one of the men, Marlow, goes off on a long story, which makes up almost the rest of the novel. 

His story is about his time working in Africa. It begins with him aboard a ship traveling up the Congo river. Throughout his journey he sees the horrible brutality that the white workers show towards the natives that they have forced to work for them. Many of the natives die from being beat or overworked and malnourished, however white officials are living luxuriously in the jungle. Marlow eventually arrives to the Central Station where he finds his potential ship has sunk, so he spends months there waiting for repair to be done. In his time there, he hears more about Kurtz, a man who is looked upon as an essential part of the company. Eventually the ship is fixed and he and a few workers head up the river into the even more dense jungle. On this journey the ship is attacked by natives, but the survivors venture on and finally arrive at Kurtz’s Inner Station. They find Kurtz extremely ill and hear his stories of how he has tricked the natives into believing he is a god and then gone on raids in search of ivory. Kurtz’s assistant confides in Marlow that Kurtz was behind the native attack on their ship, he had hoped that it would scare them away and that they would leave him to continue his plans. They still get Kurtz to board the trip, but he dies on the way back. Until his death he went on about killing all Africans and his last words were “The horror-the horror”. The story ends with Marlow meeting Kurtz’s mourning fiancee and him lying to not shatter her perfect picture of Kurtz. This story fulfills Conrad’s purpose of exposing the cruelties of Europe’s rule over Africa, through countless examples of blunt brutality.

2. The main theme of the novel is the cruelty of imperialism. Over and over again Marlow observes the Company’s workers living a life of ease, only by exploiting the native population. The different types of cruelty are juxtaposed between Kurtz and the Company’s other workers. Kurtz is open about his brutality and cruel tactics to get ivory from the natives. However, the typical workers justify their work as trade and their cruel practices as helping the natives away from their savage ways.

3. Joseph Conrad has an ambivalent tone throughout the story. Although Marlow recognizes all of these acts as cruel, he does nothing to change them and justifies them as understandable. 

TALE OF A CANTERBURY TALE

My group read The Skipper's Tale, which is a strange name for a story about a merchant, a wife, and a monk. The story began describing the great friendship this monk, Don John, and this merchant shared. The two would always feast together and considered each other kin. One day the merchant was busy calculating his earnings and preparing for a trip, while the monk was taking a stroll in the garden. The merchant's wife met him in the garden and they began a secret conversation about her unhappiness in her marriage. They confessed their love for one another and Don John said that the only reason he was friends with the merchant was to be near her. She requested 100 francs from the monk and said she'd repair him however he wanted. After making this secret deal that he would give her the loan and she would repair him with sex, they hurriedly sent the merchant off on his journey. The night before the merchant departed Don John borrowed 100 francs from him. The merchant left and the secret deal was completed. When the merchant returned, he went to visit his friend Don John who told him that he had already repaired the 100 francs to his wife and that he was moving away. The merchant returned home and questioned his wife on the subject. She simply said that Don John had paid her but she already spent it all, and her husband forgave her.

1. I think that the monk is the main character in this tale. The reader learns his personality through indirect characterization. For example, his denial of his friendship with the merchant when talking to the merchant's wife shows that he is capable of lying and betraying. Also, his loaning money from the merchant to give to the merchant's wife reveals that he is manipulative and selfish. Another example is how at the end of the tale he leaves, showing that he never really loved the wife he just used her, reinforcing that he is manipulative. Overall, through the monk's actions Chaucer reveals much irony about his actual character.
2. Chaucer's purpose in this tale was to satirize society through the irony of the monk's characteristics. The monk who is publicly seen as a figure of honor, generosity, and kindness is the exact opposite behind the scenes. He lies and betray his friend, through sleeping with his wife and manipulating money out of him. The fact that in the end the monk gets away with all of this without tarnishing his public reputation is meant to show the audience that these things can be happening sub rosa, so to be more aware and less naive.