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.