Out of all the classes I have taken in high school, I can honestly say that IB Junior English has had one of the greatest impacts on me. Looking back to last year, I thought English was easy. The essays I wrote my freshmen and sophomore year would be considered humorous to me today and I got As on those papers. Although I didn't sleep for over 3 months, I do not regret taking this class. In fact, I'm glad I did. Even though I've struggled with the class, I feel like I know how to truly write an essay now. I also know how to do an actual analysis. Before it was simply stating the obvious, never stating the significance or truly appreciating the writer's style. This class has challenged me in ways I never expected. There were nights where I was up till 4 AM wishing I never took the class, but I'm happy I stayed with it. I noticed the biggest change in myself about two weeks ago when I was writing my last Lorca journal. I remember the first journal we had to do for Their Eyes Were Watching God. It took me over three hours to write because I had zero clue as what I was doing. Like I said, I didn't know how to do a true analysis. Now I can look at a text and right away, I begin to notice things I would have never seen before. By far, that's the most valuable thing this class has taught me.
As for next year, I hope to improve on my commentary skills. Writing a commentary is still extremely challenging for me and in order to be prepared for the IB test, I need to improve those skills. I also hope that next year I'll be much more prepared for the stress that comes with IB in general, especially English.
In conclusion, I am proud of the improvements I have made as a writer. This class has not only prepared me for college, but has also made me realize that English is a beautiful, yet difficult language.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Thesis Homework
1. In the play Antigone, Anouilh shows moral convictions to illustrate characterization to suggest that society views a person based on their actions, not their words.
2. In the Blood Wedding, Lorca uses internal conflict to show that control is possible through objectivity. Lorca argues that people need to sacrifice passion and morality to maintain control.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Lorca Journal 6
Act 1 -
Quote #1: "How I wish you had been a girl! You wouldn't be going down on the stream now. And we would be embroidering linens and little wool dogs." (7)
This connects with the lack of education provided by the Catholic Church to women during this time period. Education was deemed unnecessary for women and this created a divide amongst men and women. Women were expected to sit and home and embroider instead of get an education and work.
Quote #2: "His mouth was hot with silver flies." (18)
This quote, along with the rest of the poem, incorporates surrealistic aspects.
Quote #3: "Interior of the cave where the Bride lives. Upstage, a cross of large pink flowers." (27)
This connects with Spain's landscapes. Many lives in the mountains to avoid the heat. The land is also mountainous. Lastly, flowers are all over Spain and the cross could tie in with the Catholic Church.
Act 2 -
Quote #1: "But there is always guilt." (47)
Because of the Catholic Church's strict rules, many citizens felt guilt for their desires. For instance, Lorca felt conflicted and guilty about his sexuality. He battled between his religion and his desires, which could have made him feel guilty.
Quote #2: "She wears a turn-of-the-century black dress, with flowers at the hip" (53).
This ties in with the flamenco that Lorca loved. In the flamenco, women wore dresses just like this.
Quote #3: "This land needs hands that are not hired. We have to keep up a battle" (61)
This quote could tie in the with the Spanish Civil War. Many of the citizens in Spain were peasants who didn't have jobs. Also the battle aspect ties in with war.
Act 3 -
Quote #1: "Loose, weak, indecent woman--who throws off her bridal crown to go looking for a piece of a bed warmed by another woman!" (102)
This could tie in with the Catholic Church and the purity they expected of women.
Quote #2: "And water forms a sob between your quiet hands" (103)
Water sobbing can be connected to surrealism.
Quote #3: "Madeja, madeja, what will you make?"
The medaja can be viewed as being the fates, so this connects with Greek theater. Although Lorca was part of the surrealist movement, he did still incorporate Greek elements.
Quote #1: "How I wish you had been a girl! You wouldn't be going down on the stream now. And we would be embroidering linens and little wool dogs." (7)
This connects with the lack of education provided by the Catholic Church to women during this time period. Education was deemed unnecessary for women and this created a divide amongst men and women. Women were expected to sit and home and embroider instead of get an education and work.
Quote #2: "His mouth was hot with silver flies." (18)
This quote, along with the rest of the poem, incorporates surrealistic aspects.
Quote #3: "Interior of the cave where the Bride lives. Upstage, a cross of large pink flowers." (27)
This connects with Spain's landscapes. Many lives in the mountains to avoid the heat. The land is also mountainous. Lastly, flowers are all over Spain and the cross could tie in with the Catholic Church.
Act 2 -
Quote #1: "But there is always guilt." (47)
Because of the Catholic Church's strict rules, many citizens felt guilt for their desires. For instance, Lorca felt conflicted and guilty about his sexuality. He battled between his religion and his desires, which could have made him feel guilty.
Quote #2: "She wears a turn-of-the-century black dress, with flowers at the hip" (53).
This ties in with the flamenco that Lorca loved. In the flamenco, women wore dresses just like this.
Quote #3: "This land needs hands that are not hired. We have to keep up a battle" (61)
This quote could tie in the with the Spanish Civil War. Many of the citizens in Spain were peasants who didn't have jobs. Also the battle aspect ties in with war.
Act 3 -
Quote #1: "Loose, weak, indecent woman--who throws off her bridal crown to go looking for a piece of a bed warmed by another woman!" (102)
This could tie in with the Catholic Church and the purity they expected of women.
Quote #2: "And water forms a sob between your quiet hands" (103)
Water sobbing can be connected to surrealism.
Quote #3: "Madeja, madeja, what will you make?"
The medaja can be viewed as being the fates, so this connects with Greek theater. Although Lorca was part of the surrealist movement, he did still incorporate Greek elements.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Lorca Journal 5
Potential Themes:
1. The Moon symbolizes time and this is shown by his actions. The Moon walks slowly onto the stage which represents the passage of time. This ties in with the theme of being unable to escape fate or our time of death. The moon even directly says "They cannot get away!" and "They cannot escape!" (82). The Bridegroom and Leonardo may not be ready for death, but because the fates or the Moon has declared it's their time, they must die. In a way, we can examine this as being destiny. I thought of the beggar woman as symbolizing death. She is even listed as "death" in the character list at the beginning of the play. Lastly, I thought of the woodcutters as acting like a chorus, so they could symbolize the common man.
2. It seems that once the runaway couple is caught, Leonardo is captured and killed. I am still unsure how the Bridegroom died, but there could have been a fight between the two, potentially involving knives as well. I came to the assumption that the two died from the beggar woman. The beggar woman comes on stage and "opens her cloak and remains at center stage, like a great bird with immense wings" (93). The beggar woman could be representing crows with her bird-like actions, and crows are often used to symbolize death.
3. Once the Mother realizes her son is dead, she seems to be desiring peace. She starts off by saying "Here is where I want to be. And at peace" (100). This seemed a bit odd to me because the woman who is responsible for death is standing right in front of her, yet it seems like the Mother is trying to emotionally cleanse herself. Then all of a sudden, I saw a vengeful side to the Mother. Her lines at the very end of the play "through the astonished flesh, and stops there--at the place where, trembling and entangled, lies the dark root of the scream," makes it seem as if the Mother stabbed the Bride (105). I felt like Lorca wanted us to almost experience catharsis then slap us in the face again with a new death.
4. An element of tragedy I saw in the play was the fall. A character, in this case Leonardo and the Bride, follow their instincts without a doubt, and this causes them to fall. Another element of tragedy I saw was the aspect of experiencing pleasure in the pain of the character's. When the Bridegroom finally takes action and chases after his Bride, the audience experiences a moment of pleasure, even the Bridegroom is devastated by his wife leaving him. The audience may also experience pleasure when Leonardo and the Bride run away together, even though that the audience knows darkness and death is lurking around the corner.
- Following passion can be dangerous.
- People are constantly faced with the internal struggle of self control vs. indulgence.
- No matter what we do, our fate, or time of death, cannot be changed.
1. The Moon symbolizes time and this is shown by his actions. The Moon walks slowly onto the stage which represents the passage of time. This ties in with the theme of being unable to escape fate or our time of death. The moon even directly says "They cannot get away!" and "They cannot escape!" (82). The Bridegroom and Leonardo may not be ready for death, but because the fates or the Moon has declared it's their time, they must die. In a way, we can examine this as being destiny. I thought of the beggar woman as symbolizing death. She is even listed as "death" in the character list at the beginning of the play. Lastly, I thought of the woodcutters as acting like a chorus, so they could symbolize the common man.
2. It seems that once the runaway couple is caught, Leonardo is captured and killed. I am still unsure how the Bridegroom died, but there could have been a fight between the two, potentially involving knives as well. I came to the assumption that the two died from the beggar woman. The beggar woman comes on stage and "opens her cloak and remains at center stage, like a great bird with immense wings" (93). The beggar woman could be representing crows with her bird-like actions, and crows are often used to symbolize death.
3. Once the Mother realizes her son is dead, she seems to be desiring peace. She starts off by saying "Here is where I want to be. And at peace" (100). This seemed a bit odd to me because the woman who is responsible for death is standing right in front of her, yet it seems like the Mother is trying to emotionally cleanse herself. Then all of a sudden, I saw a vengeful side to the Mother. Her lines at the very end of the play "through the astonished flesh, and stops there--at the place where, trembling and entangled, lies the dark root of the scream," makes it seem as if the Mother stabbed the Bride (105). I felt like Lorca wanted us to almost experience catharsis then slap us in the face again with a new death.
4. An element of tragedy I saw in the play was the fall. A character, in this case Leonardo and the Bride, follow their instincts without a doubt, and this causes them to fall. Another element of tragedy I saw was the aspect of experiencing pleasure in the pain of the character's. When the Bridegroom finally takes action and chases after his Bride, the audience experiences a moment of pleasure, even the Bridegroom is devastated by his wife leaving him. The audience may also experience pleasure when Leonardo and the Bride run away together, even though that the audience knows darkness and death is lurking around the corner.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Lorca Journal 4
1. The character that immediately jumps out at me about being miserable is the Bride. She is snappy and quick to tell people to leave her alone or to "be quiet!" (40). It seems as if the Bride expresses her misery whenever talk of the wedding comes up, and I am assuming this is because she still loves Leonardo, but feels as if she must marry the Bridegroom to protect her economic status. It seems that the Bride's fear of letting her family down and not protecting her economic status is holding her back from indulging in the "water", or her passions. Lorca depicts this when the Bride says "And I will shut myself up with my husband, whom I must love more than anything!" (47). It's obvious the Bride does not want to shut up herself up with her husband and this is shown through her word choice of "must".
Leonardo also appears to be miserable, but I believe this is because of the same reason as the Bride. He loves the Bride, which becomes blatantly obvious when he arrives at the wedding first and says "I got married. Now you get married!" (48). I think Lorca is trying to portray Leonardo's desperation and that he is basically saying that they were both forced into marriages. Since the beginning of the play, Leonardo has also been very snappish and sulky.
3. Lorca's use of youth in the Second Act is much more apparent than the first act. It's interesting how none of the children have names and they too are archetypes. Children are often stereotyped as being innocent, so Lorca could be using these archetypes to symbolize innocence. The scene that stood out to me most in Act Two was the scene in which the two little girls are asking the Bride who got the "pin" first. This stood out to me because traditionally at weddings, whoever gets the bouquet is the first to get married, so I assumed the same concept applied for the pins. I found it off that little, innocent girls were so eager to get married. Yet the Bride, who is supposed to be having the happiest day of life, is indirectly telling the girls that marriage is horrible. Lorca could be using youth to contrast the characters. Innocent children also have less self-control, so they could contrast with the older characters by indulging in their passions.
Leonardo also appears to be miserable, but I believe this is because of the same reason as the Bride. He loves the Bride, which becomes blatantly obvious when he arrives at the wedding first and says "I got married. Now you get married!" (48). I think Lorca is trying to portray Leonardo's desperation and that he is basically saying that they were both forced into marriages. Since the beginning of the play, Leonardo has also been very snappish and sulky.
3. Lorca's use of youth in the Second Act is much more apparent than the first act. It's interesting how none of the children have names and they too are archetypes. Children are often stereotyped as being innocent, so Lorca could be using these archetypes to symbolize innocence. The scene that stood out to me most in Act Two was the scene in which the two little girls are asking the Bride who got the "pin" first. This stood out to me because traditionally at weddings, whoever gets the bouquet is the first to get married, so I assumed the same concept applied for the pins. I found it off that little, innocent girls were so eager to get married. Yet the Bride, who is supposed to be having the happiest day of life, is indirectly telling the girls that marriage is horrible. Lorca could be using youth to contrast the characters. Innocent children also have less self-control, so they could contrast with the older characters by indulging in their passions.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Lorca Journal 3
Symbols:
Knives - Lorca starts off the play with the symbol of the knife. The Mother jumps right into talking about weapons, which symbolize death and hatred. The knife could also potentially symbolize vengeance. The Mother talks about the murder and she speaks about the murder with such passion, shown in the quote “The knife, the knife! Damn the knife, damn all knives, damn the devil who created knives.” This makes the audience think that she may want to seek vengeance on however is guilty for the murders of her loved ones. The Mother seems to have a lot of pent up anger. The knife could also symbolize blood in general because with death comes blood.
Vineyard - Based off what we learned in the cultural connections, owning a vineyard is a sign of wealth, especially in rural Spain where the land is on hills and difficult to farm. Vineyards in the play could symbolize wealth and the Groom's economic status. The Groom worked hard and bought the vineyard for himself, which also symbolizes the Groom's independent and hard-working personality.
Horse: The horse and the water in the book go hand-in-hand. First, I perceived the water as representing the duende because the water is described as being "bloody" and "dark". In the article we read about the duende, Lorca used those exact words to describe the duende. As I looked closer into the text, I saw the bare essence of the duende is passion, therefore the water could be described as symbolizing passion. And because the horse and water go hand-in-hand, the horse could represent someone who does not self indulge. In the play, the horse refuses to drink the water even though he is thirsty. The horse could symbolize an internal struggle within a character who is battling his passions and desires with self-control.
Comments:
To Thomas - It's interesting how you talked about the different perspectives of death with the Neighbor and the Mother. It's strange to think that the Neighbor believes her sons are better off dead. I feel like this might actually be pretty disrespectful to Mother. I also agree with that you said about the vineyard. Wealth and status are obviously very important in the play, so this vineyard might play a key role later on.
To Olivia - I like what you said about the flowers. Flowers seem to be really important so far in the play and I never connected it to death and a new beginning before. Your ideas about the horse are also interesting. I also viewed the horse as potentially representing someone rebellious.
Knives - Lorca starts off the play with the symbol of the knife. The Mother jumps right into talking about weapons, which symbolize death and hatred. The knife could also potentially symbolize vengeance. The Mother talks about the murder and she speaks about the murder with such passion, shown in the quote “The knife, the knife! Damn the knife, damn all knives, damn the devil who created knives.” This makes the audience think that she may want to seek vengeance on however is guilty for the murders of her loved ones. The Mother seems to have a lot of pent up anger. The knife could also symbolize blood in general because with death comes blood.
Vineyard - Based off what we learned in the cultural connections, owning a vineyard is a sign of wealth, especially in rural Spain where the land is on hills and difficult to farm. Vineyards in the play could symbolize wealth and the Groom's economic status. The Groom worked hard and bought the vineyard for himself, which also symbolizes the Groom's independent and hard-working personality.
Horse: The horse and the water in the book go hand-in-hand. First, I perceived the water as representing the duende because the water is described as being "bloody" and "dark". In the article we read about the duende, Lorca used those exact words to describe the duende. As I looked closer into the text, I saw the bare essence of the duende is passion, therefore the water could be described as symbolizing passion. And because the horse and water go hand-in-hand, the horse could represent someone who does not self indulge. In the play, the horse refuses to drink the water even though he is thirsty. The horse could symbolize an internal struggle within a character who is battling his passions and desires with self-control.
Comments:
To Thomas - It's interesting how you talked about the different perspectives of death with the Neighbor and the Mother. It's strange to think that the Neighbor believes her sons are better off dead. I feel like this might actually be pretty disrespectful to Mother. I also agree with that you said about the vineyard. Wealth and status are obviously very important in the play, so this vineyard might play a key role later on.
To Olivia - I like what you said about the flowers. Flowers seem to be really important so far in the play and I never connected it to death and a new beginning before. Your ideas about the horse are also interesting. I also viewed the horse as potentially representing someone rebellious.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Lorca Journal 2
Symbols:
Archetypes:
So far in Act One of the play, it seems as if Lorca is embracing the archetypes of characters. For example, neighbors are often stereotyped as being nosy and Lorca embraces this idea. When the Neighbor is speaking to the Mother, the Mother is shocked by how much private information the Neighbor knows when she exclaims "The things some people seem to know" (14). The Neighbor seems to be informed on all the juicy gossip and goes around telling people.
Another archetype that I thought Lorca embraced was the Mother. The Mother seems to be very over protective of her son who is soon to be a husband. She worries about who he is marrying and asks him questions like "Where?" and "Do you need something?" frequently (5). The Mother is essentially portrayed as a stereotypical mother.
The last archetype that jumped out at me was the Bride. Brides are often spoiled before their marriage and this causes them to be high maintenance or even rude. The Bride acts in a very rude manner towards the Maid. She tells the Maid to "get away!" very abruptly several times without a reason (36). So far in the play, the Bride is portrayed to fit the archetype of brides being rude or spoiled.
I found it interesting that the only character who is not an archetype so far in the play is Leonardo. Leonardo possess a very similar personality to the Bride, which might cause some future problems, especially since they used to date.
- knives
- landscapes (vineyards, olive groves, etc)
- pistols
- water (rivers, streams, etc)
- horses
- children
- dreaming
- sleeping
- lullabies
- lace
- bows
- blood
- pink
- stockings
Archetypes:
So far in Act One of the play, it seems as if Lorca is embracing the archetypes of characters. For example, neighbors are often stereotyped as being nosy and Lorca embraces this idea. When the Neighbor is speaking to the Mother, the Mother is shocked by how much private information the Neighbor knows when she exclaims "The things some people seem to know" (14). The Neighbor seems to be informed on all the juicy gossip and goes around telling people.
Another archetype that I thought Lorca embraced was the Mother. The Mother seems to be very over protective of her son who is soon to be a husband. She worries about who he is marrying and asks him questions like "Where?" and "Do you need something?" frequently (5). The Mother is essentially portrayed as a stereotypical mother.
The last archetype that jumped out at me was the Bride. Brides are often spoiled before their marriage and this causes them to be high maintenance or even rude. The Bride acts in a very rude manner towards the Maid. She tells the Maid to "get away!" very abruptly several times without a reason (36). So far in the play, the Bride is portrayed to fit the archetype of brides being rude or spoiled.
I found it interesting that the only character who is not an archetype so far in the play is Leonardo. Leonardo possess a very similar personality to the Bride, which might cause some future problems, especially since they used to date.
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