Friday, July 30, 2010
Blog 15: Marjane Satrapi-Persepolis
This graphic novel was a great read. It held my interest the whole time. At first in opening the novel I thought great, another comic book. But it definitely is not a comic book. It is easy to follow and the pictures give even more image to the story. I learned a lot about the history of Iran. Marjane was a very brave girl and I assume that she is a very brave woman now. I think it was a great idea for her to put her story in a graphic novel.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Blog 12: Quote Response Satrapi
Before this sequence of frames, Marji has been helping her maid Mehri write letters to the boy next door that she is in love with. Marjis' dad find out and goes to the boy (Hossein) next door. In this following sequence he lets it be known that Mehri is their maid and not their daughter.
(First clip) Father: "I am your neighbor. I would like to have a few words with your son."
(Second Clip) Father: "Ok, I'll get to the point: In know that Mehri pretends she is my daughter. In reality she is our my maid."
Hossein: "Really?"
(Third Clip) Father: "Do you want to continue seeing her?"
Hossein:"Ehh..."
(Fourth Clip )(without any hesitation, Hossein gave all the letters he had received to my father.)
Father thinking to himself: "But this is Marji's handwriting."
(Fifth Clip) Father to Marji: "Tell me what these are!"
Marji: Letters!"
Father: "Why didn't you tell us anything?"
(Sixth Clip) Father: "You must understand that their love was impossible."
(Seventh Clip) Marji: "Why is that?"
Father: "Because in this country you must stay within your own social classes."
(Eighth Clip) Marji: "But is it her fault that she was born where she was born??? Dad, are you for or against social classes?"
(Ninth Clip) Marji narrating: "When I went back to her room she was crying. We were not in the same social class but at least we were in the same bed."
(Satrapi 36-37)
The words that stand out to me are when her father says, "Because in this country you must stay within your own social classes." It is important because it points out just how harsh the government was. That you would be punished for going outside of your social class is wrong. Yes, there are people here in the U.S. that may look down on a lower social class if they are in a higher one, but we are free to choose what social class we can date. It just shows how strict the government was and even though Marji's parents didn't agree with the way things were going, they still felt they needed to follow such rules to keep as much peace as possible. In the 8th clip you can see how upset Marji is and it is illustrated so well. The image of her with her hands on her head and a look of discouragement on her face shows her feelings about the situation. This is important to the novel because it just shows how the rules were so harsh and how a child like Marji didn't understand. I am sure a lot of children were lost on the rules and why they were rules. I think it shows the frustration Marji felt in what was going on all around her. This interests me because I am not one to really read and learn about other things that are happening or have happened in this world. I have been spoiled by living in the United States all my life. Things like this just make you realize how good we have it in America.
(First clip) Father: "I am your neighbor. I would like to have a few words with your son."
(Second Clip) Father: "Ok, I'll get to the point: In know that Mehri pretends she is my daughter. In reality she is our my maid."
Hossein: "Really?"
(Third Clip) Father: "Do you want to continue seeing her?"
Hossein:"Ehh..."
(Fourth Clip )(without any hesitation, Hossein gave all the letters he had received to my father.)
Father thinking to himself: "But this is Marji's handwriting."
(Fifth Clip) Father to Marji: "Tell me what these are!"
Marji: Letters!"
Father: "Why didn't you tell us anything?"
(Sixth Clip) Father: "You must understand that their love was impossible."
(Seventh Clip) Marji: "Why is that?"
Father: "Because in this country you must stay within your own social classes."
(Eighth Clip) Marji: "But is it her fault that she was born where she was born??? Dad, are you for or against social classes?"
(Ninth Clip) Marji narrating: "When I went back to her room she was crying. We were not in the same social class but at least we were in the same bed."
(Satrapi 36-37)
The words that stand out to me are when her father says, "Because in this country you must stay within your own social classes." It is important because it points out just how harsh the government was. That you would be punished for going outside of your social class is wrong. Yes, there are people here in the U.S. that may look down on a lower social class if they are in a higher one, but we are free to choose what social class we can date. It just shows how strict the government was and even though Marji's parents didn't agree with the way things were going, they still felt they needed to follow such rules to keep as much peace as possible. In the 8th clip you can see how upset Marji is and it is illustrated so well. The image of her with her hands on her head and a look of discouragement on her face shows her feelings about the situation. This is important to the novel because it just shows how the rules were so harsh and how a child like Marji didn't understand. I am sure a lot of children were lost on the rules and why they were rules. I think it shows the frustration Marji felt in what was going on all around her. This interests me because I am not one to really read and learn about other things that are happening or have happened in this world. I have been spoiled by living in the United States all my life. Things like this just make you realize how good we have it in America.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Blog 13: Quote Response
I shoot the Hippopotamus
With bullets made of platinum,
Because if I use leaden ones
His hide is sure to flatten 'em.
Hillaire Belloc (pg.544)
This is a short and to the point poem. It is interesting how he rimed platinum with flatten'em. It's a cute poem and a testament to how tough the poet thinks the body of a hippo is. I like poems that rime and are cute like this.
With bullets made of platinum,
Because if I use leaden ones
His hide is sure to flatten 'em.
Hillaire Belloc (pg.544)
This is a short and to the point poem. It is interesting how he rimed platinum with flatten'em. It's a cute poem and a testament to how tough the poet thinks the body of a hippo is. I like poems that rime and are cute like this.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Blog Entry 12: Poem Paraphrase
Robert Bridges "Triolet" (581)
When first we met, we did not guess
That Love would prove so hard a master;
Of more than common friendliness
When first we met we did not guess.
Who could foretell the sore distress,
This irretrievable disaster,
When first we met?—We did not guess
That Love would prove so hard a master
When we first were introduced to each other we did not see love for each other. We saw us being friends and that was all. We did not know that we would fall in love and it would be in charge of us and complicate things. We had just hoped to be friends but it turned into love and love overpowered us and complicated things.
When first we met, we did not guess
That Love would prove so hard a master;
Of more than common friendliness
When first we met we did not guess.
Who could foretell the sore distress,
This irretrievable disaster,
When first we met?—We did not guess
That Love would prove so hard a master
When we first were introduced to each other we did not see love for each other. We saw us being friends and that was all. We did not know that we would fall in love and it would be in charge of us and complicate things. We had just hoped to be friends but it turned into love and love overpowered us and complicated things.
Blog 11: Quote Response
This is taken from Robert Frosts' poem "Acquainted with the Night." (576)
I have been acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain-and back in rain.
I have out walked the furthest city light.
I chose this poem because of its simplicity. It's meaningful, but easy to understand. This poem is in the form of a sonnet and Terza Rima. I would say that this poem is about someone who is always traveling always moving and does not really have a home to go to. This person seems to travel mostly at night and therefore knows it well. The person also seems to be isolated from other people whether it is by choice or not I am not sure.
I have been acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain-and back in rain.
I have out walked the furthest city light.
I chose this poem because of its simplicity. It's meaningful, but easy to understand. This poem is in the form of a sonnet and Terza Rima. I would say that this poem is about someone who is always traveling always moving and does not really have a home to go to. This person seems to travel mostly at night and therefore knows it well. The person also seems to be isolated from other people whether it is by choice or not I am not sure.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Blog 10: Song Quote Response
"All our lives we've dreamed about it
Just to find that it was never real
This sure ain't no great Valhalla
Coming closer each turn of the wheel
Forlorn, adrift on seas of beige
In this our Golden Age"
Just to find that it was never real
This sure ain't no great Valhalla
Coming closer each turn of the wheel
Forlorn, adrift on seas of beige
In this our Golden Age"
(Gray)
What words leap out as important? It think the whole passage in itself it important. This isn't a poem this is a song and the rest of the song is just as meaningful. This is the very start of the song and to me it starts out hard hitting from the beginning. All our lives we dreamed about it just to find it was never real make you go wait a minute, dreamed about what? And then you have the part saying this sure ain't no great Valhalla and you think oh okay, Valhalla is kind of a fairytale place and the song is saying and this isn't like that. And the rest of the lines in this passage just point out how we are kind of forlorn and lost right now even though this is our Golden Age.
How is this passage important to the poem? I think that this passage is very important to the song because it opens it up to what is to come.
What interests you about it? I guess it is a dark song once you get into it. But I guess what I like about it is the song put together with the music. The first time I heard the song I wasn't so sure about the sound and the voices, but it really does make the song what it is.David Gray is a great writer and singer in my opinion. And even though this is a song, I would say if you read it and never heard the song before you would not know much of a difference between it being a poem and song except for the chorus.
What words leap out as important? It think the whole passage in itself it important. This isn't a poem this is a song and the rest of the song is just as meaningful. This is the very start of the song and to me it starts out hard hitting from the beginning. All our lives we dreamed about it just to find it was never real make you go wait a minute, dreamed about what? And then you have the part saying this sure ain't no great Valhalla and you think oh okay, Valhalla is kind of a fairytale place and the song is saying and this isn't like that. And the rest of the lines in this passage just point out how we are kind of forlorn and lost right now even though this is our Golden Age.
How is this passage important to the poem? I think that this passage is very important to the song because it opens it up to what is to come.
What interests you about it? I guess it is a dark song once you get into it. But I guess what I like about it is the song put together with the music. The first time I heard the song I wasn't so sure about the sound and the voices, but it really does make the song what it is.David Gray is a great writer and singer in my opinion. And even though this is a song, I would say if you read it and never heard the song before you would not know much of a difference between it being a poem and song except for the chorus.
Blog 8: Poem Paraphrase
For a Lady I Know pg.424
There is a lady of the white class
When she thinks about what heaven might be like
She sees the white people still being full of laziness
And the black people doing all of the hard work
There is a lady of the white class
When she thinks about what heaven might be like
She sees the white people still being full of laziness
And the black people doing all of the hard work
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Blog 7: Freestyle
"Fenjin was baffled by his teacher, who looked ferocious and muttered to himself mysteriously, and whose jaundiced face was covered with dark puckers. For the first time Fenjin thought of Mr. Chiu as an ugly man." (Ha Jin pg.170)
I took this quote from the short story "Saboteur." This story is about a man who is put in jail for something he did not do. This man had been stricken with acute hepatitis before being put in jail. Well, the man gets out after 2 days, but is still very upset with the police in detaining him on false charges and also detaining his lawyer and treating him badly. The first thing the man does is go to all of these different restaurants and eat, but he only eats a little bit and moves on to the next restaurant. When it says for the first time Fenjin thought of Mr. Chiu as an ugly man, my initial thought was that it was because of his being ill from the hepatitis. Then I realized it had more meaning. Mr. Chiu was out with a vengeance and the sight of it was so ugly. I don't think that Fenjin knew that Mr. Chiu was trying to spread his hepatitis around, but he did see that he had a hate that was not good. It is only the end where you find that people died and hundreds became ill from acute hepatitis that you realize how far Mr. Chiu was taking his vengeance and how meaningful it was for Fenjin to say that he was an ugly man.
I took this quote from the short story "Saboteur." This story is about a man who is put in jail for something he did not do. This man had been stricken with acute hepatitis before being put in jail. Well, the man gets out after 2 days, but is still very upset with the police in detaining him on false charges and also detaining his lawyer and treating him badly. The first thing the man does is go to all of these different restaurants and eat, but he only eats a little bit and moves on to the next restaurant. When it says for the first time Fenjin thought of Mr. Chiu as an ugly man, my initial thought was that it was because of his being ill from the hepatitis. Then I realized it had more meaning. Mr. Chiu was out with a vengeance and the sight of it was so ugly. I don't think that Fenjin knew that Mr. Chiu was trying to spread his hepatitis around, but he did see that he had a hate that was not good. It is only the end where you find that people died and hundreds became ill from acute hepatitis that you realize how far Mr. Chiu was taking his vengeance and how meaningful it was for Fenjin to say that he was an ugly man.
Blog 6: Quote Response
"Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going at first." (O.Henry pg.162)
I particularly like this quote in the story, because it gives you a sign of what's to come. All along throughout the story you know that this couple has hardly any money. And you know that they love each other and would sacrifice most precious thing for each other. So when he says this after seeing her hair has been cut off, you know that maybe what he bought was for her hair. And knowing that they have no money, mostly likely he did indeed sell his watch to pay for the present, not knowing that she sold her hair to pay for a chain for his watch. It's just irony at it's best.
I particularly like this quote in the story, because it gives you a sign of what's to come. All along throughout the story you know that this couple has hardly any money. And you know that they love each other and would sacrifice most precious thing for each other. So when he says this after seeing her hair has been cut off, you know that maybe what he bought was for her hair. And knowing that they have no money, mostly likely he did indeed sell his watch to pay for the present, not knowing that she sold her hair to pay for a chain for his watch. It's just irony at it's best.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Blog 5: Freestyle
I was thinking the other day about how I like to listen to music more then read books. If you think about it, a song is like a short story. It might not be a clear story, but there are some short stories that have not been real clear that I have been reading lately, which I have to interpret myself. Just like these short stories, songs can have symbols in them ( a certain word in the song) that you might hear and go, oh this is what that means. Just like there are great writers of literature that affect how we think and feel, there are great writers of music that can affect how we think and feel as well. Just a thought! : )
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)