Journal #12 Blood Wedding

Creative: Poem 

Oh my love so soft and sweet, 

I cannot believe you tricked me with deceit.

Our marriage could have been so happy, filled with joy, 

then you ran away with him, and it all was destroyed.

But I may forgive you one day my love, 

when I look down on you from heaven above.

Because forgiveness is happiness, 

and I cannot live my life without bliss. 

So live your life in pain and sorrow, 

because for me, there's no tomorrow.

Despite all the hurt you've caused me to feel, see, and hear,

I still care for you my sweet, sweet bride, I'll always love you my dear. 

Journal #11 Blood Wedding

Comparison: Compare how writers in your study have explored the themes of disguise and deceit, and with what effect?

In the book Blood Wedding a lot of conflict arises because of disguise and deceit. The tragety and meaning behind the play comes from disguise and deceit. When the bride runs away with Leonardo, she is deceiving her former fiance. By doing this the whole wedding comes after her and kills Leonardo and, in term, her former fiance. This shows that because she used deceit and was deceptive, tragety struck her life.

In the play Blood Wedding, the wife of Hjalmar lied and was deceptive. She decieved her husband into thinking that their daughter Hedvig was really his, but in reality she had cheated with Werle and that is her daughters true father. After Hjalmar figured this out he showed no love towards the daughter he thought all along, was his. Because he treated her badly and said he had no love for her, tragety struck his life right as he realized that he loved his daughter no matter what. But it was too late, his daughter had already killed herself because she thought she was a burden to the family because of this lie her mother had been stringing along her entire life. This proves that disguise and deceit causes tention and tragety in life.

Journal #10 Blood Wedding

My dear mother,
I know you are concerned about my future marriage. I am writing this to tell you not to worry, and to have faith in me. I love my Bride no matter what, she is the love of my life. I know we have only known each other for a short three years but in that short amount of time I have learned that this woman that is my fiance, is my soul mate. Your pain because of dad and brother's death pain you so much, that you are taking it out on me. You are effecting my life in a negative way right now mother. I need you to accept the loss of our family members and move on. Whether that be to find a new husband or to escape the place where you live, I need you to find some way to move on. Right now you are a bitter, nosey, rude old woman and I miss my old mom. The mom that showed me limitless amounts of love everyday, and supported me in everything I did. But this mother left me the day father and brother died. I miss her everyday. Please come back to me. I love you and miss you my sweet mother.

Your son,
Bridegroom

Journal #9 The Wild Duck

Disscusion on litterary topics: Notes from a brainstorm session on "outrageous links" between any two of the plays.





Two plays: The Wild Duck and Oedipus the King.



Possible thesis: One cannot escape the truth...



Silimarities between the books:



1. Characters' treatment of knowledge and truth seems to effect their reputation.



2. The Characters' family and background effects their treatment of knowledge and the truth.



3. Characters instinctively shift the blame or assume things of others but eventually these methods fail and they are forced to accept the truth.



Sophocles:



1. Characters are most always wrong when they make assumptions and such because they do not have evidence for their assumptions--> makes characters that made assumptions look bad to other characters and the reader.



2. Characters shifted blame to avoid physical punishment.



Ibsen:



1.When character assume things of others they have evidence to support their assumptions and are most always right. --> makes characters seem more respectable.



2. Characters shifted blame to get out of damaging their reputation.

Journal #8 The Wild Duck

Comparison: To what extent would you agree that plot should be valued more highly than style in the work.

In the book The Wild Duck it is evident that the plot of the book should be valued more highly then the style of the book. The style of the book is very simple, straight forward, and secretive. Throughout the book the author uses a simplistic style of writing that allows the reader to easily follow the plot, yet keeps them interested. This proves that even though The Wild Duck has a simple writing style, its plot makes the tragety worth while for the reader. The author also has a very secretive plot in his writing. Even though the style is simple, the author is still able to make an obviously secretive tone and plot to the tragety. This also proves that plot is more important than style. 

This also applys to Oedipus the King. In this tragety the author uses a very simplistic style with some formal language. This allows the reader to be intreagued, yet still able to follow the plot line. But the plot is what keeps the reader interested in the tragety. The author of Oedipus creates a very controvercial and interesting plot in the story by including many twists in the tragety. This proves that the plot of the tragety should be valued more than the style. 

Journal #7 The Wild Duck

Discussion on literary topics: Techniques used.

One major technique that was used was the symbol of the wild duck that was dead in Hajlamars house. This duck symbolizes the characters' ignoring the truth. Three of the characters that this is mainly aimed towards is Hedwig, Eckdal, and Hajlamar. It is aimed towards Hedwig because she was healthy, completely healthy and then now she was diagnosed that she will go blind. The duck was perfectly healthy and suddenly just got shot down and died. They were both suddenly struck with sickness and possibly death. This connection is simply a physical connection. The duck connects to the character of Eckdal because he said that he found the bird but really he did not which means he was lying. This supports that the bird symbolizes the characters' innability to speak the truth. The character of Hjalamar connects to the duck because to the bird because he is neglecting not only the truth but also his entire family. He also ignores his weight and food problem as well. He is so consumed with his own personal satisfaction he ignores others, the truth, and his weight problem. The character of Greggers is the opposite of the symbol of the duck. He symbolizes the need to tell the truth because of how he wants to be the dog that caught the duck. This means that Greggers wants to be the one to end the cycle of lying with in Hjalamars' family because he only speaks the truth. 

Journal #6 The Wild Duck

creative: poem written by a character 

Why, oh why is it so,

that my dad and I fight to and fro?

We have never got along, 

but in the end we both are wrong.

One day we might make ammends, 

but until then our anger never ends. 

He offers me a business deal,

but all I want is togetherness and a family meal.

But never will he understand,

these feelings I keep at hand.

So I guess I will keep living without a father,

because I am simply business, so why bother.  

Journal #5 The Wild Duck

Comparison: "Not rounding off, but opening out." Comment upon the way the writers deal with the ending in the relation to the whole. 

In the books Oedipus The King and The Wild Duck there is a lot of connection to the quote "Not rounding off, but opening out." For example in The Wild Duck Greggers has a terrible relationship with his father. He had not spoken or seen his father in 15 years. This was because they did not have a good relationship and were mad at each other, so Greggers closed off his communication and relationship with his father. This shows the he was rounding off. Greggers' father Werle offers Greggers a business proposition, to be partners in their family business. But Greggers does not want to accept this offer because he was rounded off from his father. This could end up being a bad thing for Greggers because it is not known that this business proposition would be a bad idea. It could end up being a blessing in disguise. But because Greggers is closed off, he will never know whether this business proposition would have been benificial to him or not. 

Another example of being rounded off and needing to open up was in Oedipus The King. Oedipus lived his whole life not knowing a VERY important fact about his wife. This fact was that his wife is also his mother. He did not know this fact until it was revealed to him by another person because he had lived a closed off life with his wife/mother. If he had opened up to his wife earlier he would have found this out earlier and he would never had gone through what he had to go through. Which means he would still be that king, he would not be blind and he would not have married his mother. 

Journal #4 Oedipus The King

Comparison: Readers are attracted to moments of intensity in a writer's work. By what means and with what effect have writers in your study offered heightened emotional moments designed to arrest the reader's attention? 

There are several points in the tragety Oedipus The King where the author writes intense moments in the work. The author does this several ways. One way the author creates this heightened emotional moment is by keeping things hidden and secretive in the work. For instance one of the most emotional and disturbing points in the book is when Oedipus finds out that he is married to his mother. This was found out by revealing a series of secrets in this scene of the tragety. By unveiling the secret that Jocasta is Oedipus' mother, the author draws many emotions out of the reader and creates a better connection between the reader and the story itself. After finding this news out that Oedipus is married to his mother, the author unveils another astonishing moment in the story. The author then informs the reader that Jocasta commit suicide. Not only this but Oedipus stabbed his eyes with his mother's brooches and is now blind. These two pieces of information that are revealed after the previous dramatic scene where Oedipus finds out he has been sleeping with his mother, add to the readers now extremely heightened emotions. 

Another instance where emotions are heightened through the unveiling of secrets is when the audience finds out the Oedipus killed the previous king. The town and reader is unknowing as to who killed the previous king, because Oedipus must find out who committed the murder, and to banish that person. But once Oedipus figures out that he committed the murder, and the audience finds out this news, everyone is completely shocked. The emotions of hatred towards this person that killed the previous king are shifted from the unknown person that did it, now to the king. This shifting of emotions creates one of the most intense moments in this tragety.   

journal #3 Oedipus the king

Creative: diary entry from Oedipus.

Dear Diary,

I found out terrible and repulsive news today... I am married and procreating with my mother. The prophet was right all along. My father is dead and I am having sex with my mother. It makes me sick! I wish that damned Shepherd would have killed me like he was supposed to, then this desgraceful thing would not have happened. My mother! Oh, my mother. She knew all along! Yet she did nothing. She had no consideration for how I might feel. I should not have ran away in the first place. I should have stayed with my previous mother and father, and never have come to Thebes! Then this would have never happened. My eyes are contaminated, disgusted, and permanently marked with the sight of my mother.. ahh.. My eyes are of no use to me after being infected by my wife... my mother! I must rid myself of my vision to get those awful pictures of my mother out of my eyes. I will use my mothers brooches and make myself blind. Then, if Zues has any pity for me, I will be rid of the terrible images I now see of my mother... my wife. 

journal #2 Oedipus The King

Discussion on litterary topics: Point of view/characters: from whose point of view is the story told?How reliable is the narrative voice? How well does the reader get to know the characters? How credible are they? How are they presented? How does the writer persuade us to like/sympathize with some characters and dislike others?

The point of view is dialogue so there is not a specific point of view. The characters are speaking to each other and there is no narration. The reliability of each character varies depending on the person. Oedipus does not seem very reliable at this point. I am not sure what to believe, of what he says and what to believe from what is said by other characters. The Profit seems more reliable to me now that the King confessed to killing the previous King. I am still a little uneasy about the profit but he is definately more reliable then the King. 

Throughout the tragety the reader gets a really good idea and insight on each character. This is done by the strong personalities that are portrayed through the characters' dialogue. The reader is able to identify who to trust, who not to trust, who they like, who they don't like, ect. 

The King and the Profit are probably the least credible of people in the tragety so far. The Profit is said to have lied in the past so there is no garuanttee that he is completely reliable and credible. The King is even less credible, he is mixed in a web of his own lies. The reader is now unable to identify whether he is lying or not any more. 

The writer presents each character a certain way. For instance, the writer presents the character of Jocasta as the peace keeper of the land. This person is portrayed as a kind, magestic, sweet person through their dialogue. On the other hand King Oedipus is portrayed as a liar that cannot be trusted. The writer has this character go back and forth between lies and truths, in order to break the trust between this character and the reader. Many other characters are portrayed as either bad and cannot be trusted or good and very trustworthy. This is accomplished by the writer stirring up lies and gossip within the story. The reader can be thrown off by lies and such, but there is always either an ability to love or hate each character from this play. 

Oedipus Journal #1

Comparison: "Although doubt is not a pleasant condition, certainty is absurd one." In the light of this statement, explore the impressions of doubt and/or certainty conveyed in a work you have studied. 

In the tragety Oedipus The King the new king of Thebes is named Oedipus. There is a tragety occuring throughout the land, which is a plague spreading and taking over the city. In order to solve this problem and to stop the killing of many citizens, the ruler(Oedipus) sends Creon(brother of Josaca) to call upon the Gods to give him the cure to this disease. When Creon returns with the news from the Gods, Oedipus is puzzled. The Gods said that they must find and kill who ever murdered the previous king of Thebes, in order to stop the disease. This puzzled Oedipus because he did not know who the man guilty of this, was. So he ordered the blind profit to come to him and tell Oedipus what man did this. Once there the profit did not want to tell the king who really did this terrible crime, but once it was pushed out of him, the profit pronounced that it was Oedipus that committed this terrible crime. 

After the profit anounces this to the entire city that witnessed this conversation, all the towns people had seeds of doubt planted in their minds. They did not know who to believe, their leader, or the trusted profit. After finding out this news, the town responds by stating, "Never will I convict my king, never in my heart."(line 572 pg 187). This line is expressing that even though there might be doubt in their minds, they state that they believe their king with all of their heart. This line clearly proves that even though doubt is unpleasant, meaning standing up to their king may be unpleasant, they still must do it because if they completely believe their king without any doubt, they could make a huge mistake. There is nothing proving that he is guilty of this crime other then the profit's word, but there is also not anything proving that he did not do it either. This is simply stating that doubt in a person that one is expected to never doubt, is not always bad. It could be bad to ignore doubt, and be completely faithful in somone without the slightest bit of doubt, if there is reason to be doubtful. 

XX Journal #2

Hush, just stop
There's nothing you can do or say, baby
I've had enough
I'm not your property

As from today, baby
You might think that
I won't make it on my own
But now I'm

Stronger than yesterday
Now it's nothing but my way
My loneliness ain't killing me no more
I am stronger

Than I ever thought
That I could be, baby
I used to go with the flow

Didn't really care 'bout me
You might think that
I can't take it but you're wrong
'Cause now I'm

Stronger than yesterday
Now it's nothing but my way
My loneliness ain't killing me no more
I am stronger

Here I go, on my own
I don't need nobody, better off alone
Here I go, on my own, now
I don't need nobody, not anybody

Now I am stronger than yesterday
Now it's nothing but my way
My loneliness ain't killing me no more
I am stronger

By Britney Spears

Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines, and Stronger by Britney Spears are similar in many different ways. One way is that they are both about ending a relationship. They both speak about becoming stronger because their relationships are ending for instance Spears says "Here I go, on my own; I don't need nobody, better off alone; Now I am stronger than yesterday; Now it's nothing but my way" and the poet of Tonight I can Write the Saddest Lines writes "What does it matter that my love could not keep her. The night is starry and she is not with me." He is expressing that he is over his relationship with this woman he is speaking about and that he is able to enjoy a starry night without her. In these two works the authors both use similar writing techniques. They both use simple phrases and images throughout their poems. But these images and lines are very effective even though they are very simplistic. They have a big impact using a lot of complicated words and phrases. They are both also speak about closure. In Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines he says "Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer and these the last verses that I write for her." in Britney Spears song she says "Now I am stronger than yesterday; Now it's nothing but my way; My loneliness ain't killing me no more; I am stronger." This is expressing that she is over him and this song is the closure to this past relationship she is singing about.

XIII Journal #1

1. The poem is about a man that had a physical or sexual experience with someone, then she becomes sad so he tells her stories to cheer her up. But then there is some distance between them which creates sadness. Then he describes how he can not express his emotions to the woman he loves, and that there is a big consequence for his inability to express his emotions, which makes him feel sadness and anguish. 

2. The man speaking could be the author, but is for sure a man. This man feels power over this woman he loves and almost thinks of her as an object.

3. This man is speaking to a women he is in a relationship with(whether it be physical or emotional) and this women is angry that he can't express his emotions. 

4. In my oppinion was written in order to be able to express his emotions to this woman he loves, who he is writing it for. He is unable to speak his emotions and feelings to his lover verbally so he wrote this poem to express them instead. Unfortunately the woman he loves has already closed up to him and will not appreciate nor accept this form of expressing his emotions to her.

5. He expresses this through the motif of liquid throughout the poem. He uses references to liquid and water frequently in the beginning to express how joyous his and the woman this poem is for's relationship has been. Then towards the end of the poem he describes his innability to open up to this woman and the motif is used less and less(and not at all in the last paragraph). He also uses the word burn in the last paragraph to show what puts out water(which is fire) just as innability to open up ruins relationships. 

Journal #3 The Handmaids Tale

In the book The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood creates the dystopian society in which the characters in the book live in, in order to make the point back when this book was published, that if people, most importantly women, do not stand up for their rights, they will lose them completely. Atwood was a radical feminist back when this book was written and was very passionate about sticking up for her rights and freedoms as an individual and most importantly, a women. This dystopian society she has created called Gilead, has such little rights and freedoms for the characters that it is almost impossible to be an individual. Atwood is stating that if women do not stand up for their freedom, they will lose their individuality and freedom. 

The society of Gilead in the book is unrealistic but it's not impossible. It is not likely that a secret government will overthrow the United States government, but it certainly is possible. Atwood creats a dystopian society that is terrible for characters in the book but that has a plossible way of life, rather then a dystopian society that is completely unrealistic and unable to ever be made. She does this in order to prove the point that this dystopian society is unrealistic but there is evidence that this could happen. She is doing this to warn people to stand up for and appreciate their rights, in order to keep them, and to prevent a dystopian society like Gilead.

Handmaid's Tale Thesis

Margaret Atwood uses the repeated symbol of red in The Handmaid's Tale to represent the imprisonment and shame experienced by all of the characters in order to illuminate that by limiting a group of people in society, you limit the whole society.

Handmaids tale journal #2

"I wipe my sleeve across my face. Once I wouldn't have done that, for fear of smearing, but now nothing comes off. Whatever expression is there, unseen by me, is real. 

You'll have to forgive me. I'm a refugee from the past, and like other refugees I go over the customs and habits of being I've left or been forced to leave behind me, and it all seems just as quaint, from here, and I am just as obsessive about it. [...] Weep. Weeping is what it is, not crying. I sit in this chair and ooze like a sponge," (227). 

In this passage the character of Offred is talking about her life in this new, cruel world she lives in now. It is apparent that she is a Dystopian Protagonist from this passage for a few reasons. For one she describes how she feels trapped and is struggling to escape not only in this passage but throughout the book. When she describes that she is being forced to leave behind habits from her past life she is expressing that she is under strict rule and that she is being forced to live the way she lives now. She also contemplates trying to escape this terrible place she lives in(in other passages), she is even more inspired to run away by her friend Moira who was able to escape. Another example of her being a Dystopian Protagonist is the way she describes how something is terribly wrong with the society in which she lives in. She expresses that she weeps in this passage and in other passages because of the terrible conditions of society. She also explains in other passages, her deep desire to run away and escape this torturous town because of how terrible her life is there. There are several moral lines that are crossed in her life, through lack of rights women have in the society she lives in. She also questions the existing social and political systems in this passage and through out the book. She explains that she misses her lifestyle from the past because of how terrible she has it now. This is because of how she describes her political system and how terrible it is. The political system gives women close to no rights in this society, which makes Offred's life a living nightmare. She questions this system and often wonders how this system came about.  Very ofter, she describes how questionable and unfair this system is and how much she desperately wants it to change.

Handmaid's tale journal #1

We are containers, it's only the insides of our bodies that are important,"(96). In this passage Offred is describing how the women in this new world are treated. When she says they are only used for "the insides of their bodies" she is referring to how the women in society are only used to make babies. That is their only job. All of the women's rights have been taken away in this new place. They are not allowed to have babies or be in a relationship with who they please, they are selected a husband to have sex with and that is where the extent of their relationships go to. They do nothing more then have sex to produce more babies. The women are forbidden to read, write, and even speak. They must do nothing but reproduce. In this passage one can see that the women in this society are being used and are restricted by the laws of a higher power. They are forced to stay in this civilization(which used to be the United States) and must obey numerous laws put into place by higher powers. It is apparent that Offred is lost and scared in her life right now. She knows what life used to be like and what precious rights they are taking away from them. In this section of the book it is shown that women in society really were used as "containers" and nothing else. This is illuminated through Offred's daily routine and how abused she is for the sake of reproducing. One event that happens in this section that demonstrates this, is when Offred must have sex with her "Commander". It is described as a duty and a job. She has no choice in whether or not she has sex or with who she does it with. It is a part of life for her. 

Journal #7 The Stranger

Thesis:  Camus uses the motif of guilt to illuminate the idea that it is human nature to not appreciate what one has until it is taken away. 

journal #6 the stranger

At the end of the text Meursault comes to the conclusion that when he dies because of his death sentence(as everyone does at one point in their lives) he will have a fresh start at a new life. After getting talked to by the chaplain, Meursault feels angry and disagrees with almost every idea he has. After being pushed too far Meursault screams at the chaplain at the top of his lungs and at that point he has an epiphany about life and his entire view on it, “Maman must have felt free then and ready to live it all again. [...] I felt ready to live it all again too,”(122). In this passage it is apparent that Meursault has realized why he has been unable to feel remorse for his mothers death. This allows him to accept his own sentence of death and feel peaceful for his final moments on earth. 

I believe that Camus wants the reader to also come to the same conclusion that he did. Throughout the book, he has hidden Meursaults true feelings and emotions about everything in life, including his mothers death. Then finally at the end of the book Camus writes that Meursault has an epiphany and allows the reader to not only see how Meursault has been secretly thinking all along, but also allows the reader to see Camus’ views on the world and his true philosophies that were somewhat hidden through out the book. 

Stranger Journal #5

Camus creates a part 1 and part 2 in the book The Stranger to emphasize Meursault's freedom getting taked away while in jail for killing an arab. He does this to give the readers a better look at Meursault as a character and to get to know him through his time in jail, as he gets to know himself. 

 

There were a few parallel ideas between parts 1 and 2. One of those ideas was the motif of time. When Meursault is contemplating during his time in jail he thinks, "Once again the main problem was killing time," (78) Meursault then goes on to describe his view on time and how it has changed since he arrived in jail. Camus uses the parallel idea of the motif of time to show how greatly his perspective on time has changed and how that changes the way he thinks and lives his life in jail. This is parallel to the motif of time used in part 1, "Twice a day, at eleven and six," (27). By using the motif of time in both parts of the book, Camus allows the reader to understand more of Meursault. They do this by finding out that Meursault has a daily routine and schedule that he never strays from, and this does not change in jail. The only thing that changes is the routine he goes by everyday without his freedom in jail. 

Another parallel idea in parts 1 and 2 is the love Marie has for Meursault. Before jail she was in love with Meursault, and she expressed it to him, even thought he would never say it back. After he was sent to jail, it is apparent in part 2 that he love for him has not died a bit, "You'll get out and we'll get married!" (75), Marie shouts this to Meursault during her visit to see him in jail. This passage illuminates that she still has her strong idea of marriage to Meursault even after he kills a man. She was also deeply in love with him before he went to jail, even when he did not love her back, "That evening Marie came by to see me and asked me if I wanted to marry her," (41). This passage shows that Marie loved Meursault enough to ask him to marry her, get turned down, and still love him after. Camus uses the parallel idea of the love Marie has for Meursault to show how Meursault changes as a character, and how his and Marie's realtionship changes through out parts 1 and 2. 

Stranger Journal 4

Meursault drastically changes as a character from section one to section two. In section one he is very unemotional and simply boring. In section two he starts to liven up which brings out some of his personality. For Instance in section two Meursault finally admits that he feels poorly about his mothers death. He may not have admitted it out loud but even thinking it to the reader is a substancial step for him, "I probably did love Maman, but it didn't mean anything,"(Camus 65). He is stating that he did have emotions that were not expressed when his mother died. He felt love for her and sadness that she was gone, but he was unable to express those feelings in part one. 

Aother instance where Meursault shows his new found personality and feelings is when he expresses his view on God, "Asking me if I believe in God. I said no." (Camus 69) This shows that Meursault does have oppinions and emotions hidden inside of him. It just takes a little effort to force those thoughts and feelings to be shown. 

Not only is there a change in the character of Meursault through his thoughts and dialogue, but also through the syntax and over all mood of the book. In section 1 Meursault is very serious and does not show any emotion or personality for the most part. The sytax of Camus' writing is also very choppy and stacato in the first section. This all changes in the second section, "I was led into a curtained room; there was a single lamp on his desk which was shining on a chair where he had me sit while he remained stnading in the shadows. I had read descriptions of scenes like this in books and it all seemed like a game to me,"(Camus 64). Not only do the sentences extend and flow more in the second section, but there is also a much greater presence of emotion in the writing in section two. In this passage there is almost a  humorous feel to the way he speaks. This is a new side to Meursault that we, the readers, have never seen before during the book. 

Stranger Journal 3

Motifs:

1. Time- "Twice a day, at eleven and six..." (Camus 27). So far in the book Camus has used the motif of time quite a lot most likely to develop the idea that people have routine schedules that limit them and force them to waist their lives away. 

2. Light- "Ablazed with sun light." (Camus 25). Camus uses the motif of light to start to give the reader the idea that happiness can bring light and brightness to anyones life. Perhaps Meursault, a very boring and sad person, will find something that will bring happiness and light into his life later on in the book? 

3. Pleasure- "I felt good." (Camus 26). Through out the beginning of the book, Camus stresses the idea that ones pleasure in life is a very important aspect to their happiness and overall well-being. Without pleasure in their life they are dead, and basically not living. Camus believes in Egoistic Hedonism?  

Stranger Journal 2

My personal philosophy: 

Truism 

1. God created the Earth and still watches over us, but only iterferes on occasion. He cannot be everywhere at once so he must watch from afar at peoples lives, until he decides to step into peoples lives and create what we call a "miracle". This is why God can not answer everyones prayers at once, only a selected few. 

2. Everything happens for a reason. There is a chain of specific events that lead up to a certain point or event in ones life, no matter what. Whether small or large, everything you do in your life, you do it for a reason. So that it will lead to a specific outcome in your life. 

3. You must create your own fate. When people are born they are not who they are until they 

make themselves who they are. They do this by creating opportunities for themselves and thriving in life. 

4. Almost everything has a scientific explination. If you take just about anything in the world, there is a scientific explination for how it occurs, will occur, ect. It can be very useful for predicting and preventing things. 

5. Hard work always pays off. No matter what it is or how hard you worked, it will eventually be worth the effort in the end. Putting in the effort in everything you do, will allow you to thrive at everything you do. 

6. Carma is real. No bad deed goes unpunished. No matter how insignificant the bad deed wa,s it will eventually come back to bite you in the butt. 

7. Good relationships in your life will help you thrive in life. With people surrounding you that are supportive and loving, you have more motivation to be a better person throughout your life. 

8. Happiness is achieved through hard work. In order to be happy you must put in hard work in every aspect of your life. In your relationships, career, ect. This will allow you to achieve great things and in term, creat personal happiness. 

9. Money and material things do not allow you to achieve happiness. The idea of them might momentarily make you happy but it is the love and good relationships in your life that you should truely value. So spend time mending your relationships, and love, rather than spending it focused on money and material items.

10. There is the ability to change within everyone. Every human being should be given a second chance in order to change their lives. If a person does one thing wrong in their life, that does not mean that there is no room for change. If you give certain people a chance, they will truely surprise you. 

The Stranger Journal #1

Summary: In chapters 1 and 2 Meursault deals with a difficult time in his life, yet he is unable to express his emotions about this traumatic event that happened to him. In this time in the book Meursault is planning and attending his mothers funeral. We also get a view in on his everyday life in chapter 2. When he is planning and attending his mother's funeral, he seems very relaxed and unemotional during the entire experience. 

Personal Reaction: I am having mixed emotions about Meursault at this point in the story. Part of me likes the character because of his humor and odd personality at times. Another part of me dislikes this character because of his lack of emotion, boredom, and nonchelant response to his mother's death. 

Analysis: By using the character of Meursault, Camus is trying to express the idea that people hide their true emotions at difficult times in their lives. He does this by having this main character of Meursault hide his true emotions of guilt and sadness under his outer appearance of boredom. For example when he Meursault says, "I felt like telling her it wasn't my fault, but I stopped myself..."(Camus 20). By Meursault thinking this, it is obvious that he has these inner feelings of guilt, yet he cannot express it to others. The main character of Meursaault is, overall, used in order to express a theme throughout the book that people hide their true emotions during difficult times in their lives. 

Research: In 1942 Algiers became the headquarters of the allied forces of North Africa. The Italians also raided Algiers on December 11, 1942. Other raids and battles also took place around this time, during WWII.

In the last two chapters of the book Their Eyes Were Watching God, an important theme that was depicted was: even when times get tough, you must to move forward with your life. 

In chapter 19, after Tea Cake gets sick, loses his mind, and attacks Janie; she was forced to kill him. Directly after she puts Tea Cake down the narrator says, "So that same day Janie's great sorrow she was in jail. And when the doctor told the sheriff and the judge how it was, they all said she must be tried that same day"(185). In this passage it is expressed that Janie never even got a single moment to grieve, before she had to progress through that day without a moment to pause. Even after murdering her husband(who she loved dearly) with her own bare hands, she must spend 3 hours in jail and face a room full of people and explain every detail of what happened. This shows that even when Janie has had the worst experience of her life at that time, she still went on with her life and did what she had to.

After shooting her husband to death and found not guilty in court, Janie must attend Tea Cakes funeral, "She went on in her overalls. She was too busy feeling grief to dress like grief"(189). Hurston uses the personification of grief to express that even though Janie was feeling a great amount of grief, she did not stop her life to grieve the death of her husband. She did what she knew was right, and attended his funeral. Even though she did not dress as nicely as she had for her ex-husband Joe's funeral, she felt more guilt towards Tea Cakes death. This lead her to have just enough will power to attend the funeral but not enough to "dress like grief" or to dress extravigantly, she simply wore overalls. The fact that Janie had had to murder the one person she loved most in the world, and then forced herself to attend his funeral afterwards, expresses the theme that even when times get tought, you must move forward with your life. 

Plot diagram:

A young man named Steve had come home from a long and stressful day of work. He had been fired from his well-paying job that day, had gotten dumped by his girl friend of two years and to top it all off, he had gotten a flat tire on his way home that afternoon. Steve was having the worst day of his life.  When he got home from this awful day all he wanted to do was collapse on his couch and enjoy a nice night of undisturbed sleep. Unfortunately he remembered he promised his 8 year old niece that he would take her out for ice cream for her birthday. This was the last thing Steve felt like doing at a time like this. So after a few minutes of self-pitying, Steve decided that just because he had a terrible day does not mean his niece must have one too. So he raced out to his car and sped over to his sister's house to take little Anna out for ice cream. After an enjoyable night of giggling, storytelling, and lots of ice cream, Steve drove home with a smile on his face and not a worry about the bad day he had, on his mind. 

In chapter 18, Hurston uses setting to develop the theme that you do not truely appreciate what you have until there is a chance it could be taken away. Hurston does this by showing Janie and Tea Cake's reactions to the setting and the hurricane that will hit them soon. 

At the beginning of the chapter there are rumors that a huricane will be hitting the town Janie and Tea Cake live in. This rumor forced many people to flee the area,"Thank yuh ever so mych, Lias. But we 'bout decided tuh stay" (156). In this passage it is apparent that Tea Cake has no doubt in his mind that there will not be a storm hitting the muck. It is also apparent that Tea Cake would risk Janie's life because "de money's too good on the muck"(156), not because he does not love her but because he does not truely appreciate her. 

Then when the huricane comes to the muck Hurston describes the setting where there was "water almost to their buttocks"(161). Even though there was so much water and danger outside of the house Tea Cake knew that the only way he could save Janie was to leave the house and walk. Tea Cake comes to the realization of how much Janie truely means to him and how much he would risk for her right before they had to leave because of the hurricane. Janie says to Tea Cake that she loves him and that all the time she spent with him was worth being in a hurricane for, so he dropped to the floor and put his head in her lap. "Well then, Janie, you meant whut you didn't say, 'cause Ah never knowed  you wuz so satisfied wid me lak dat. Ah kinda thought-" (160). This emphasizes how much Tea Cake realized he truely loves Janie, but he realizes this in a time of danger in which all he cares for(Janie) could be taken away from him at any second. Which illuminates the theme that you do not truely appreciate what you have until there is a chance it could be taken away. 

By taking her Grandmother's advice, Janie marries a wealthy man named Logan. Soon she realizes that this was a big mistake and she feels trapped in this terrible marriage. When she meets a man named Joe walking by her house, she feels he would be the perfect man to end her marriage for and run off to start a new relationship. After running off with Joe and figuring out who he truely is, Janie feels trapped in yet another awful marriage. By running off with Joe, Janie thought she would escape her dreadful marriage with Logan. This reveals that Janie had cared what society thought of her(including her grandmother), but after being cornered into her marriage with Logan, she grew up and made the independant decision to leave him for Joe. 

Pastiche: 

After Joe's offer to run off and get married, Janie was drowning in confusion. On one hand she could stay with Logan and have a financially stable life, yet a very miserable one. On the other hand she could run away with Joe and live a life of happiness, but maybe not such a wealthy lifestyle. With this tough decision Janie had to think about what Nanny would say, "Come over tuh yuh Grandma, honey. Let me teach yuh somethin about men, Janie. One thing I promised myself I would do befo' I died was tuh make sure yuh well off wid a good husban. An that's why I'm tellin yuh tuh stay wit Logan. Yuh might have yuh eye on dis Joe right now, but listen tuh me honey, soon you'll be wishin yuh had the things yuh have now that yuh can only get from a husban like Logan. So do Nanny dis one fava an I'll neva ask yuh tuh do anything fo me ever again. Please jus' stay with Logan, honey. For me, Janie". With this advise Janie knew Nanny would have told her, she made the decision to forget about Joe and to keep her marriage with Logan alive as long as she could. By letting Joe go, Janie went on with her everyday life. Even though she listened to Nanny and took the more financially beneficial route, she never got the satisfaction of knowing whether her life would have been greater with Joe. This forced Janie to leave behind the thought of Joe, and move on with her train-wreck of a marriage to Logan.

Journal #6 Their Eyes...

Alliteration: “He wouldn’t dig potatoes, and he wouldn’t rake hay: He wouldn’t take a whipping, and he wouldn’t run away.” 

Hyperbole: “The porch was boiling now.”

In this passage Jody and other people from Eatonville are on the porch socializing when Mrs. Tony Robbins, “Jody was on the porch and the porch was full of Eatonville as usual at this time of the day.” In this key passage the motif of the porch is used once again. The porch represents the guidelines on who Jody accepts and respects in town. Most of the time Joe will go out on the porch to chat with friends and other people from Eatonville. Throughout Jody and Janie’s relationship, Janie tries to gain Joe’s respect and enter the porch territory. Unfortunately every time she does when Joe is around he demands that she go inside and work. Janie learns to keep her feelings towards Jody inside and to not argue with him to make him happy. But no matter how long she bites her tongue for, she would end up never gaining Joe’s respect. 

After a long day of work and socializing with Tea Cake, he goes home and Janie relaxes out on the shop porch on her own, “So she sat on the porch and watched the moon rise. Soon its amber fluid was drenching the earth, and quenching the thirst of the day.” In this passage, Hurston uses imagery to highlight the importance of nature. Throughout the book Hurston describes nature through imagery to portray the mood at the time it is described. In this passage Janie had just finished spending the day with Tea Cake. By the way she describes the the moon’s “amber fluid” and how it was “quenching the thirst of the day” it is apparent that she very much enjoyed her day and Tea Cake’s presence. 

Some people from town, including Joe, are on the porch when Mrs. Bogle walks toward them, “She was a wind on an ocean. She moved men, but the helm determined the port.” In this passage Hurston uses a metaphor to describe Mrs. Bogle. She chose to use a metaphor to describe her to give the reader a better idea of who this woman is. By referring her to “wind on the ocean” in terms of men, the reader now understands that even though she was described as being old in the paragraph before this quote, she still has a control over men. This passage also gives the reader an understanding of how much Joe does not respect Janie, because right after Hurston describes how all the men think so highly of Mrs. Bogle, Jody orders his own wife to go inside and tend to this other woman. 

Hurston has a excellent awareness and manipulation of language. This is clearly depicted on page 91 in the book Their Eyes Were Watching God. In this passage Janie is speaking with a man that lives in town named Ike Green. There is quite a lot of dialogue in this scene which gives you a good idea of Hurston’s unique tone, sound devices, word choice, and syntax. 

The characters have a very unique dialect by using words that are not normally used in our vocabulary, in this time and area of the world. For instance she chooses words like “ah” instead of “I”, “de” instead of “the”, “mo’” instead of “more”, “ain’t” instead of “are not”, the list is endless. She uses a very interesting syntax as well. When the characters speak they normally have very poor grammar. They generally put words in the incorrect place in a sentence and have a very informal way of speaking. For example when Janie says to Ike, “Dis jubjick you bringin’ up ain’t fit tuh be talked about at all.” This sentence expresses the character’s poor grammar and vocabulary very clearly. Instead of using proper sentence structure by saying “This subject isn’t appropriate to ever talk about.”, she purposely says this sentence incorrectly to emphasize that the characters in her book are very intellectual they simply do not use proper grammar when they speak. 

By using very informal language, Hurston solidifies a very realistic tone throughout the book, through the dialogue of her characters. By using this form of speaking, the sound of the characters’ voices have a unique sound. This is portrayed in this passage through the dialogue of Jamie and Ike, “Lawd, Ike Green, you’se uh case!” When Jamie says this to Ike the interesting word choice, sentence structure, and sound of her voice gives her a southern accent, which portrays that she is from the South. By using the word "Lord" and "nigger" in this passage it is shown that the time period of this book is set in the past when there was still racial tension in the south. The sound devices, tone, syntax, and word choice Hurston uses throughout the book, emphasizes where and when this book is taking place, and gives her characters a great level of uniqueness. 

Therefore Marg began to think of love. Love, that stranger that enters your life and changes it forever. He goes unseen until that point in your life when you have found the person you will spend the rest of your life with. What happens when you find that special person? At the exact moment he finds a true connection between two people, he steps out from his mysterious and deceiving hideout where he sits and awaits his calling to enter civilization, and notifies you that you have found the One. He will always be there, and has always been there. Waiting to leave his hideout. She was expecting him to pay her a visit soon. She was anxious for that day to come. Lucky Girt! She ain’t even over the drinking age yet and love’s already found her. Marg told Girt Love might be playing tricks on her, but she refused to listen to her friend’s jealous advice. The problem was that that is exactly what Girt was doing, she was rushing Love. Similar to Romeo and Juliet rushing into their marriage. Love had reached out to her already. That’s what she thought. But others had disagreed. She would be planning her wedding and making a family in the near future, not knowing that she was too young and innocent to make that decision this early in her life. Soon people would find out about this false love. People who would not have cared about Girt before, would go to her and warn her not to rush Love. Rumor, that contagious disease, might end up benefiting Girt by helping her to not fall for Love’s cruel and deceptive tricks.  

Journal #3 ch 5-6 Their Eyes...

1. Allusion: "You can't welcome uh man and his wife 'thout you make a comparison about Isaac and Rebecca at de well, else it don't show de love between 'em if you don't." (42)

2. Motif: "When people sat around on the porch and passed around the pictures of their thoughts for others to look at and see, it was nice." (51)

3. Metaphor: "She must look on herself as the bell-cow, the other women were the gang." (41).

4. Joe expressess how he felt after seeing Walter play with Janie's hair behind her without her knowing. "He felt like rushing forth with the meat knife and chopping off the offending hand." (55). In this passage Hurston uses Imagery to truely display how much Joe cares for Janie and how jealous he can get over her. This quote portrays the angry side of Joe which the reader can see whenever he feels jealous over Janie. The image of a meat knife chopping off a hand gives the reader a clear idea of how angry Joe can get and to what extent he will go to protect his wife. This anger he possess turns into paranoia that this incident will happen again, which leads him to force Janie to wear her hair up and covered so that no one can ever touch it in the shop again. 

5. Janie and her grandma, Nanny, are talking about Janie's future, and Nanny is specifically telling Janie the type of man she should marry. "Ah wanted yuh to school out and pick from a higher bush and a sweeter berry." (13). In this passage Hurston is using a "sweeter berry" as a metaphor for financially sound men in society, that can provide for Janie. Nanny uses this metaphor to express how high of standards she has for the man Janie will marry. She wants her to have a successfull, happy, stress-free life, and the only way she can get this is to marry a wealthy man. The image of a "sweeter berry" really gives the reader an idea of how good a man has to be for Janie to marry, in Nanny's eyes. 

Journal #2 ch. 3-4 Their Eyes...

All y'all 'omen need tuh reach hiya an show how strong yuh are. We be spected to go down a bad path from de day we was born. But we needs tuh prove dem wrong and make somethin of ourselves in dis world. 

We spected tuh do workin from when de sun come up tuh when de sun come down ereday. We's black 'omen needs tuh make somethin uh aselves. No mo cookin an cleanin an workin all de day long. We make de men do dat fo us.  We 'omen are free jus like de menfolk, so dey should treat us as equals. We make dem babies an what dey do fo us? Dey make us do mo cookin an cleanin. 

We need to be strong ladies fo our chillun, yuh hear! Dey don need tuh see us cryin an moanin bout our workin. We needs tuh be examples fo dem, an step up an show dem that they can have a future much betta den ours. We be given our lives to make somthin outa dem. So be useful and show jus how powerfull us 'omen can be!

Journal #1 ch.1-2 Their Eyes...

The strong and kind hearted woman Janie is shown to be as she is older was greatly influenced by her childhood. Without any parent figures in her life when she was young, her grandmother raised her and taught her many life lessons as she grew into a fine young woman. As she is older other people gossip about her behind her back, but because of the way she was raised, Janie learned to ignore it and to live life the way she was taught to live it. That was to respect yourself. Over all, Janie would not be the strong, powerful woman she is today, without the childhood she had. 

By looking at the writting style, the use of past tense, and the understanding of hardships, one can infer that the narrator is a woman. I percieve this because of the deep understanding the writer has of Janies hardships, that a man simply could not relate to. Like the becoming of a woman as Janie describes. The knowledge the author has about this time in Janie's life could not have been described by a male. Her writting is descriptive and easy to read. She describes things to make the readers feel as if they were in the story. As if we were characters in the story, giving us the emotions the characters are feeling in the book.