Extra Credit

Oh, English.  Oh, Townzen.  Through nothing less than a miracle, I have finished the class.  However, looking back on this year, it does seem that I have in fact learned a lot more than I actually thought I did, despite the many times I have insisted on how I hadn't learned anything, and that the course was pointless.  I by the end of the course, I feel like I have learned how to analyze text for techniques much better than I did coming out of Advanced Sophomore English.   Although it's a funny thing, pretty much all through this English class, as I would be reading one of the books for the first time, I felt as if there were no literary elements, and no reason to be reading it.  I would think "this is stupid, why am I reading this?" and this only impeded my ability to look deeper into the text and find deeper hidden concepts.  I feel like if I had been told beforehand, "Yes, despite your insistent attempts to believe that there is nothing here, there is stuff in here, just look harder." that I may have searched a little more.  I know, this is an English class and there would be no point in you giving us a book to read that had nothing of importance in it.  I guess it's just that reassuring element that would have given me a reason to look harder because I would know for a fact that there was interesting concepts and techniques used in the book before going back through it in class to talk about what concepts were coming up.

Looking forward to Senior Year, I believe that in order to succeed in English, I will need to learn how to further analyze quotes, and learn how to build my analysis' upon one another better in order for them to further strengthen my point and connect to my theses better, and I feel like that is one thing that could have been taught a little better in the class.  Writing an essay I wouldn't really know where I was going at the start, and I would only really start to understand what I was trying to say and how to effectively put it into writing until I had maybe half of the paper already written.  Although I know you specifically said in class that it is extremely difficult to tell people "how to think" and how to instruct them to have the right thinking process, I feel like there is some way that this problem could be helped, like having specific questions that people should ask themselves when they are looking at a piece of writing that could help themselves along with interpreting the text better.  That may seem kind of unrealistic, its just something to put out there.  Anyways, I do feel like I have improved as a writer, and as a thinker to some degree, and I think that the rigor of IB English has contributed to that.  

Lorca Journal #3

#1  Walls in Blood Wedding represents is boundaries and restrictions.  These boundaries keep the bride from being able to be decisive in her marital/relationship affairs.  On one hand, she would marry the bridesgroom, and she would get the protection of his stable household and his wealth.  But on the other hand, she would marry Leonardo and be truly happy, despite his lack of wealth and social class.  The walls symbolize the internal struggle within the mind of the bride.

I think the symbol of flowers represents flourishing, and passion.  The orange blossom encased in wax that the bridesgroom gives to the bride represents how the loveless marriage between the bride and the groom will restrict the bride's passion and cause it to be held inside, however with leonardo, her passion will flourish.

#2  I think one of the things the horse represents is internal struggle.  The horse is worked all day, and it needs water to survive, yet it will not drink the water.  Lorca describes the water as dark and black showing that it is impure.  The water is impure, or unholy, which could represent the brides passion towards leonardo.  She would run off with leonardo, but she would be married to the groom, and this passion would probably eventually turn into adultery, making the unholy water being representative of these sinful passions.

#3 To Jack:  I liked how you mentioned independence, and individualism with the horse, it does seem like there is some kind of choice/sacrifice being made with the horse, maybe this could connect to how the bride is sacrificing wealth and security to be happy with leonardo?

To Cassi T: I thought it was interesting how you connected the horse to being something negative and how you connected it with the grim reaper.  The quotes you used seem to show that it is in fact something that the mother fears.

Blood Wedding Journal #2

Symbols:
Walls
Knives/Daggers
Flowers
Water
Horses
The Vineyard

Archetypes:
One archetype that Lorca displays is the Archetype of a mother.  Lorca displays the mother as being protective and worrisome.  We can see that this is the way she is portrayed by looking at the quote: "How I wish you had been a girl!  You wouldn't be going down to the stream now"(7).  This shows that she is worried that something might happen to her son if he goes down to the vineyard with a knife, she wants to protect him from the dangers that overcame her husband.  Lorca embodies the archetype of a mother because he uses quotes into the book that display her concern for her son, and her protectiveness against potential harm or pain.

Blood Wedding Journal #1

Anouilh:
Well, there they are. Those economically useless bundles of clothing, curled up under the Burnside Bridge. They are thinking this: Some will live; some will die in this winter wonderland.


Ibsen: 
Jack: Why are you telling me all of this?
Jill: I'm not sure.  I don't want you to have uncertainties.
Jack: Uncertainties!  And you think that telling me will all this will cause me to not worry?
Jill: None of it really matters anyway, you needn't keep all this on your mind.  Wheres Johnny?
Jack: He went to the fairgrounds to see the animals– how could you have possibly thought that telling me this would give me peace of mind!


I enjoyed working with both of the writing styles.  I liked writing in the style of Ibsen because of the subjects that seem to wander to different places and the interrupted train of thought.  I also liked using ambiguous words and sentences.  I liked writing in Anouilh's style and just reading Anouilh in general because of the sardonic tone and colloquialism of the chorus.  It seems like the colloquialism towards the reader/audience makes them feel more engaged because they are: 1. being directly spoken to, and 2. the word choice and phrasing of the chorus like Well, So, etc.

The Wild Duck Journal 3

Page 169 Hjalmar- "In that critical moment I won a victory over myself.  I stayed alive.  But you can bet it takes courage to choose life in those situations."

                Gregers- "Well, that depends on your point of view."

In this case, Hjalmar is talking to Gregers about how he almost committed suicide.  This quote shows how Hjalmar chose to be strong and overcome his impulsive feelings.  Gregers believes that it would have taken more courage to kill himself than to spare his life.

Page 171 Relling- "You see, Mr. Molvik is demonic."

In the beginning of the act, we are introduced to Relling and Molvik.  I thought this was interesting because when one describes a priest, they would not usually use the word "demonic".  When I think ot the word demonic, I think of evil, devilish, and impure.  Molvik is a priest, but through other quotes we discover that Molvik is a drunkard and alcoholic.  Relling describes him as demonic because priests are supposed to be pure and free from sin, while Molvik gets drunk.

Page 173 Hjalmar- "Yes Gina– you're a good companion for life's journey, you are"

When I read this, I thought it was interesting because even though husband and wives may describe themselves as companions to one another, it seems like the word companion might not be the right word.  When I think of companions, I think of friends, people that simply help one another or are well acquainted with one another.  Hjalmar does not appreciate her and suggests that his wife is merely a helper, or insubstantial other that he simply 'goes on' through life with.

Page 173 Hjalmar- "Hedvig, I've resolved to make your future secure.  You'll be well taken care of as long as you live.  I'll make sure you're provided with–something or other."

An interesting side of Hjalmar appears within this quote.  It suggests that Hjalmar is not dedicated to his daughter because he has not decided what he will do to give her future security.  This quote suggests that maybe Hjalmar is not as connected with Hedvig as he appears to be.

Page 174 Gregers- "I, for my part. don' thrive in marsh gas."

                Gina- "Lord knows there isn't any marsh gas here, Mr. Werle; every blessed day I air the place out"

                Gregers- "You can't air out the stench I mean"

This quote shows a tension building between Gregers and Gina.  With marsh gas being foggy, unclear, and impure, by connecting it with the Ekdal household, Gregers implies that the Ekdal household is full of lies and deceit.  When he says that you cant air out the stench of the marsh gas, he may mean that if damage is done, and things are attempted to be fixed, then there will still be some kind of remaining impurity that will linger among the relationship.  This impurity could be mistrust, or disloyalty to one another. 

The Wild Duck Journal 2

 In Act 2, Ibsen shows Hedvigs perception of Hjalmar.  Hedvig seems to look up to her father and show great respect for him.  She respects him so much that it gets to the point at which she starts to idolize her father.  When he arrives at his home she offers to take off his jacket for him, which, is not an uncommon act of kindness for family members to do for one another.  By looking at this, one may think that she is just an average loving daughter.  However, in other instances, Hedvig pictures him as being much more idealistic.  Before he had come home from the party, Hedvig is describing how her father will feel when he comes home.  "Just think, all the lovely food Daddy's eaten!  I'm sure he'll be happy and content when he comes." (139).  She automatically assumes that because he is going to an extremely fancy dinner party which he will have a good time at, and there will be nothing but good things that come from going to it.  Hedvig perceives him as a very trustworthy and respectable person.  "Out with it Daddy.  You know–all the treats you promised me." (143).  She expects him to bring her home "treats" after a long night of talking and conversing with people.  This shows she trusts him enough to know that he will keep her in mind throughout the night while he is busy talking with guests and being distracted by other matters.

The Wild Duck Journal 1

Ibsen creates many boundaries between characters and social groups/norms in The Wild Duck.  Of these,  there can be physical boundaries but the most prominent boundaries are portrayed as social, and mental boundaries.  The mental/social boundaries can be displayed as someone being uncomfortable or agitated by another person or social group.

An example of one of the boundaries Ibsen creates is the boundary between the different groups of servants.  On page 121, Ibsen uses punctuation and tone to convey this boundary.  Mrs. Sørby walks in to the  room and says "Petterson, will you have coffee served in the dining room."  She displays that she is not interested in formally addressing Petterson, and in a way gives him a command to go do something.  By taking a question– "Will you have coffee served in the dining room?" and warping it into a statement– "Will you have coffee served in the dining room." she forms her sentence in a way that makes it more likely she will get an answer that she wants.  By making the question into a statement, that Petterson will, in fact, go serve coffee, she commands him to do so and distances herself from him.  She does not allow him to espress his own answer, eliminating Petterson's individualism.  Mrs. Sørby creates a barrier between them by making Petterson inferior to herself.