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.