Madness

May 10, 2009 by

In Alan Ginsberg’s poem “Howl” madness is a reoccurring motif and he uses it in many forms.  He talks a lot about the mind and what makes it “mad.”  In a way the title of the poem is also a reference to madness.  A howl is an extreme release of emotion, and is often used by humans when crazy/mad/angry.

There are two main ways in which Ginsberg uses madness in the poem.  The first is referring to some one crazy or insane and the second relates to some one filled with rage or anger.  The one common idea though is that madness causes suffering.

Madness is the state of the human spirit in Ginsberg’s eyes.  Creativity is no longer sane, it is something much more ludicrous.  The poem itself is written in a way so that it sounds like the ramblings of a mad man in some mental institution.  This idea is shown when Ginsberg says “Where you scream in a straitjacket that you’re losing the game of the actual ping pong of the abyss.”  Now to me that sounds like something a person on PCP would say and that’s just how most of this poem is.  But if you look deeper you realize that it is much more than the random ramblings of a lunatic.

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Loyalty

May 4, 2009 by

Loyalty is everything in Arthur Miller’s A view from the bridge.  Eddie’s Carbone is a perfect example.  He is a man filled with pride and this plagues his soul.  He immediately takes a disliking to Rodolpho because he does not have the same sense of self pride that Eddie does.  Even though Eddie betrayed Marco and Rodolpho, he still hates Marco and Rodolpho for not being thankful to him.  Eddie believe they should have to be loyal to him, but he does not need to abide by the same standards.

In the 1950′s, at the time when the story was written, loyalty to one’s country was taken very seriously.  McCarthyism had taken over the nation and one of Arthur Miller’s close friends had given his name up to congress as a communist sympathizer.  You can feel this betrayal when you read this play.

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Indian Camp

April 29, 2009 by

In Ernest Hemingway’s story “Indian Camp,” the Indian characters are portrayed in a very peculiar manner.  They do not talk except for the screaming pregnant wife and the young Indian who laughs at uncle George.  But why does Hemingway not make them more active characters?  It is because he uses their actions rather than their words to show their role in the story.  The wife stands for human suffering because of her continuous, terrifying, screaming and Hemingway uses the other characters reactions to that suffering to show the theme of the story.  The Indian husband cannot handle the suffering of his wife so he silently slits his throat well Nick’s father is completely immune to it as if it where not even there.  The Indian characters in “Indian Camp” are not primitive they are more genuine and authentic than the white characters in the novel.  They feel human suffering unlike Nick’s father, uncle George, or arguably even Nick.

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The armory

April 27, 2009 by

I’ve never been a person who was elegant at describing art, let alone modernist art, but you ask the question, what makes these paintings “modern?” I’ll tell you. It is the ideas behind them for one thing. Modernism is about freeing your mind from the past and creating a new artistic revolution, hence the term “modernism.” Painters, poets, and sculptors alike fly the flag of modernism and the artwork in these galleries is no exception.

Gallery A is a stunning example of modernist sculptures. Andrew Dashburg’s “Lucifer” questions religion by showing the mortality of sin. The devil’s face is nothing but a distorted version of a human’s. By doing this, Dashburg has effectively portrayed the duality of religion and mankind. This sculpture really struck me as rebellious. Another piece that drew my attention was Grace Mott Johnson’s “Chimpanzees” mostly because, for it’s time, such blunt depiction of evolution is absolutely astounding. I can only imagine what kind of outrage this would have brought among “old world” artists. The bronze sculpture/painting depicts a string of chimpanzees with the 2nd one standing, gazing at the audience of the artwork.

Another Gallery that really struck my attention was gallery G, the German, English, and Irish section of the armory show. It was very interesting to see the European side of modernism. One of the paintings that really struck me was James Dickson Innes’s “The Cactus.” It is a depiction of a desert landscape. You would expect such a piece to be very dry and bland, but Innes manages to really bring the desert to life. One of the darker paintings I saw in Gallery G was Walter Sickert’s “Noctes Ambrosianae.” It depicts a very dark and ominous lot staring down on what appears to be a theater. Many of the faces among the crowd are blotted out and the ones that are shown are sneering with apparent discontent. This painting is modern because it shows a darker side to a normally very pleasant subject, the theater.

Overall the show was very enjoyable and I hope I was able to affective explain to you exactly what “modernism” is.

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Carrie Narrator 4

April 7, 2009 by

In this section of the text, Dreiser’s narrator is very involved.  He plays the role of judge and jury as well as the all knowing genius of beauty.  He mentions how beautiful Carrie is becoming but also talks about how she pales in comparison to Mrs. Vance.  He is constantly judging.  A perfect example is when he says “It was a trying, though rather unjust thought, for Carrie had now developed an equally pleasing figure.”  Is it really his right to judge wether Carrie’s thought’s are unjust?  i think not.

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The Crossing

February 24, 2009 by

The first of the many “differences” in the poem is the idea of Whitman vs. the flood-tide.  The flood tide is representative of nature and Whitman is saying how being on the ferry shows the staunch separation between nature and man kind.  Another “difference” in the poem is Whitman verse the crowd.  With this idea Whitman is really showing how separate society is from the inner workings of the human brain.  To all these problems Whitman says that we should bring all things together.  He wants humans and nature to be one as well as humanity and society.

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wiki Whitman project

February 19, 2009 by

This was most certainly an interesting assignment.  I enjoyed being able to see what images this poem placed in the minds of other people compared to those that i imagined.  Also i liked the simplicity of the assignment.  It really brought the meaning of the poem to light for me in a way that i don’t think could have happened had i not done this assignment.  The only thing i really didn’t like about the assignment was that sometimes i found the instructions to it confusing but other than that it was a fantastic experience.

What did i learn from this assignment?  Well i definatly have a much clearer image to almost everything that whitman said in the poem and i feel that it helped me with reading the second and third part of the poem because i understand how he writes much more.

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The earthly eye

February 15, 2009 by

I chose this image because it i think it encompasses Whitman’s idea of thinking for yourself as well as his passion for the importance of nature.  The person in the picture’s eye has become planet earth which is one of the most natural images you can capture.  They see the everything for what it really is which is the idea that i really got from this poem.  Humans over complicate things when really, everything we need is in nature which is all around us.  Essentially Whitman is saying that mankind must open their minds but at the same time, not allow them selves to be told how to think.

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Emerson’s idea of learning

February 11, 2009 by

Emerson means a lot when he states “Colleges and books only copy the language which the field and the work-yard made” but essentially he is saying that it all comes back to nature and that it is pointless to read or to learn for that matter, unless you want to experience something.  Books should move you and, in Emerson’s mind, far to often are books read for the wrong reasons.  Books should enhance the reader or they’re not worth reading.  When he says this he is showing the disdain he holds towards institutions.  Creation is everything to Emerson and in his view institutions stifle creativity.

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Episode 2: return of the devil.

February 8, 2009 by

I saw the man approach,  i listened to him breathing, it was nice.  I watched him intently, studying his dress and his demeanor.  His approach startled me and the presence of his oddly snake-like cane shot shivers through my bones.  Night was hastily approaching and with every passing hour the devilish features of this man grew stronger.  He spoke to me of his encounters with my father and my grandfather and about how his escapades with them had led to the death of many an Indian.  The man terrified me, and yet i could not look away.  With terror comes fascination.  The thought of this man being an unwanted companion continued to grow in my mind, and yet, i could not avert my course nor my gaze, which was intently fixed up on the man.  We walked for a fair amount of time and i began to grow tired.  I expressed my exhaustion to the man and he offered me his cane but i dared not touch the serpent like staff.  The man told me he knew important people and this further drew my attention.  He told me he knew the governor personally and though i do not believe such nonsense his words drew me to him.  I told the man of the movement that the minister at Salem puts into my soul, and of how i could not continue with him any longer.  Surprisingly he laughed at me.  I Didn’t understand this man but never has a lack of knowledge kept me from inquiring.

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