Assignment #10--Oedipus

The relationship between sight, truth, ignorance and darkness in the play Oedipus the King is that which has true meaning in the play. I believe sight is Oedipus's lack of belief in the oracle which foretold him that he would kill his father and have children with his mother. "As, that I should lie with my own mother, breed children from whom all men would turn their eyes; and that I should be my father's murderer"(879). This is what the oracle at Delphi told Oedipus and he felt disgusted. I also believe Oedipus didn't value his sight and he took it away by making himself blind. "For the King ripped from her gown the golden brooches that were her ornament , and raised them, and plunged them down straight into his own eyeballs, crying"(891). He made himself blind because his mother/wife committed suicide. It must have been very painful when Oedipus stabbed his eyeballs. The truth is Oedipus's investigation into his father's murderer which he learned through a shepherd to be himself. Once the truth was told to him by a shepherd he exiled from Thebes and had to leave his children. Oedipus was shocked by the truth and really couldn't believe he was the murderer. Ignorance is Oedipus's disbelieve is Teiresias statement that he is his father's killer. Oedipus only believes the shepherd who he questions. One darkness in the play is the suicide of Iocaste. Another darkness is Oedipus's blindness and exile from Thebes. The truth revealed to Oedipus about being his father's killer and married to his mother is another darkness. The kind of statement the play makes about sight, truth, ignorance and darkness primarily concerns Oedipus's fate in the play. The play has sight, truth, ignorance and darkness because of Oedipus's actions in the play.

Assignment #9

The play Oedipus the King is really a sad one. Oedipus's personal traits bring about his own downfall as king by his curiosity to find the murderer of his father King Laius in which he was the murderer. Teiresias who is the blind prophet tells Oedipus he is the murderer when he was outraged with Oedipus but Oedipus doesn't believe him until a shepherd who witnessed the murder of Laius reveals that he is indeed the murderer. Then Oedipus starts the investigation into the murder of King Laius. King Laius was also told by an oracle before this investigation that his son would kill him and marry as his wife his mother. A deadly plague battens upon Thebes because of the murder of King Laius as well. After the shepherd answered all of Oedipus's questions and Oedipus learns he is the murderer of his father King Laius, Oedipus becomes blind and is exiled from Thebes. It really disgust me to see Oedipus was married to his own mother Iocaste and even had children with her. I felt sad in the ending of the play when Oedipus said to Creon "No! Do not take them from me!"(896). Oedipus had to leave his children and it must of hurt him so bad that he had to separate from them. It's like the child welfare taking away a mother or father's children and putting them into foster home. I also was really surprised to see in the ending of the play Iocaste committed suicide by hanging herself with a cord around her neck. Iocaste probably couldn't live with the fact that Oedipus would get to realize that he is married to his mother and that's why she committed suicide. Iocaste tried to keep this a secret but Oedipus learns of this hidden truth. Overall, I enjoyed reading the play and learned a lot about Oedipus's life. Oedipus went from a happy king in the beginning of the play to a sad man exiled from Thebes in the ending of the play.

Assignment #8--Poems

Reader response criticism best suits Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" because the poem makes you think about many things while reading the text. Many things ran through my mind while I was reading this poem. Many of the words Robert Frost used in his poem made me wonder why did he write those words in the first place. Many of the words Frost's uses in his poem have some significant meaning to them. For example, when I read the second line of his poem where he states "His house is in the village though," I said in my mind, why did he leave the village to come in the freezing cold woods filled with snow to suffer himself? It doesn't makes sense to me. The only reason I believe he comes in the woods is to cut trees because you can see him holding an axe in the picture on page 748. This is where I got the idea that Robert Frost was probably a lumber man as well because of the axe he's holding. Then on lines 5 and 6 he states "My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near" makes me believe that he brought his horse to the woods to carry back lumber from the trees he cut and the horse feels odd and strange to be in the woods because he's used to being around a farmhouse. As I was reading line 8 of the poem I noticed that Frost came in the woods on December 21 which is the shortest day of the year known as the winter solstice because Frost states he came on "The darkest evening of the year." I really don't understand line 9 of Robert Frost's poem. It's pretty confusing to me up to now even though I read the line about 8 times already. I believe he regretting coming in the woods as soon as I read line 10 of the poem because he states "To ask if there is some mistake." This line makes me really believe he didn't want to come in the woods because it was too cold and he must have been freezing since it was snowing but then on line 13 he says the woods are lovely so maybe he does like the woods but probably didn't want to come on that particular day. Line 13 contains the three key words that best describes the woods which are deep, lovely and dark. When I read line 14 I believed that Frost was on some kind of mission that he had to fulfill because he states "But I have many promises to keep." Robert Frost emphasizes lines 15 and 16 which are repetitive and I believe it continues with the same idea of line 14. When I read these two lines I believed they stood for motivation so he doesn't give up on his mission. It's like saying yes I can, yes I can in your mind continuously when your running a marathon. I believe that he has many things to do before he dies when he says these two lines. When Frost uses the word "miles" in these lines I also think he means he wants to see the world before he dies. He wants to go far beyond where he lives and travel long distances around the world before he dies. One insight we gain about the poem through reader response criticism is Robert Frost likes the woods and snow because he uses the word lovely when he describes the woods and he has a gentle tone throughout the poem where he says downy flakes to describe the snow. If he didn't like snow he would of used words like messy and nasty to describe the snow falling down. Another insight we gain is Robert Frost likes horses because he carries one with him to the woods like a partner and companion. It's like going everywhere with your best friend. You never go alone you always have him or her with you where you go. Frost probably felt lonely and that's why he decided to carry his horse with him to the woods. Another insight we gain is Frost seems to have been a kind and gentle person because he uses a very easygoing and relaxed tone throughout the poem. He also looks like a kind person in the picture. Another insight we gain is Frost likes winter and nature. The setting is in the winter season and he chooses the shortest day to go in the woods which makes me feel like he really does like winter. He uses the adjectives easy and downy to describe the wind and snow which makes me feel he likes nature a lot. Another insight we gain is Robert Frost is a very committed and hard working person who keeps his promises and has his priorities straight. We can sense this in the last three lines of the poem where he mostly describes keeping promises and staying motivated with his repetitive lines. When Robert Frost says "...[M]iles to go before I sleep," he sounds like a person who doesn't like to waste time and doesn't seem lazy as well. He must have also hated sleeping because it got in his way of doing his work and duties.

Blog #7 Assignment-Critical Analysis Essay

Chris Bhairo
Professor Luke
English 102
30 April 2010

The Things We Learn In The Story of an Hour

Biographical criticism helps us gain new insights in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” through analyzing the author’s life. If we look into Mrs. Mallard’s character in “The Story of an Hour” and Kate Chopin’s life we see many resemblances between them. This form of criticism brings us to many conclusions and insights on Kate Chopin and Mrs. Mallard. Knowing Kate Chopin’s husband died we gain a sense of why she wrote this story in the first place perhaps basing it on her husband‘s death. Many of the things that happened in Kate Chopin’s life makes us pay closer attention to particular situations in the story.

One new insight about the story we gain through biographical criticism is Mrs.Mallard liked to be alone. When Mrs. Mallard heard about her husband’s death from her sister Josephine she went to her room and locked the door. She didn’t allow anyone to come inside with her including her sister who was begging her to open the door. “Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door-you will make yourself ill. No, she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window”(317). As we analyze Kate Chopin’s life we see that she also probably liked to spend time alone especially since her husband died and this could be a possible reason why Kate Chopin made Mrs. Mallard’s character seem so lonely in which most of the time in the story she’s locked up in her room grieving.

Another new insight we gain through this form of criticism is Kate Chopin hoped to one day be with her husband when she died because she describes Mrs. Mallard seeing Brently Mallard toward the ending of the story as she dies. “Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella”(317). The way Kate Chopin describes this makes me feel like she really wanted to see her husband again one last time. Through analyzing Chopin’s life we see how surprised and shocked she was by her husband’s death in 1883. It must of really hurt her to see her husband die because she had to raise six children on her own as a widow.

Kate Chopin reminisced a lot for her husband and pictured him in her head constantly after he died. We can say this about her because she describes Mrs. Mallard’s reminiscing in the story. “She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead”(317). There’s a reason she wrote this and it makes me believe that she really cared and loved her husband Oscar Chopin. Kate Chopin must of remembered the day she and her husband got married and their honeymoon together. She probably reminisced the rough and good times they had together. She perhaps remembered the first time she met and feel in love with him and she’s sad to let go of these memories. Based on Kate Chopin’s description of Mrs. Mallard reminiscing about her husband in the story really makes me look closer at this aspect and reflect on Chopin’s life.

Mrs. Mallard gained freedom when her husband died making her more independent. “Free!Body and soul free! She kept whispering”(317). At this point Mrs. Mallard seems a little more relieved but still sad that her husband died. This is probably thesame way Kate Chopin felt when her husband died. Kate Chopin must of felt more like a boss and leader when her husband died. If we analyze her life we see that she was in fact a boss in which she was an entrepreneur and business woman. Kate Chopin was making her own money and managed her life well after her husband died. At this point we see the independence she gained and the reason she describes Mrs. Mallard saying that line of text.

Kate Chopin perhaps had an illness like Mrs. Mallard had heart trouble. “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death”(316). This description makes me thinktwice and reflect on Kate Chopin’s life. It makes me believe Chopin really did have some kind of illness. She probably wanted to die from an illness as well because in the story she makes Mrs. Mallard character die in the ending from heart disease.

Kate Chopin disliked marriage and viewed it in a negative way after her husband past away. She must of felt like a loser because her marriage life was shorter than other married couples of her time which caused her to have this negative feeling toward marriage. Kate Chopin possibly had problems with her husband when he was alive and felt happy to be free from them when he died. Why did Kate Chopin make Mrs. Mallard’s character seem more happy when she used the phrase “Free! Body and soul free!”(317) with exclamation points? It makes it seem that Kate Chopin disliked marriage. Another possible reason Kate Chopin disliked marriage is because her husband died so quick in life which made her angry. She probably thought that he would of lived more longer in life but she was wrong. We really don’t know what happened in Kate Chopin’s marriage life but we know she didn’t want to be in one again.

Kate Chopin liked nature and Spring. We can sense this especially when she describes the scene where Mrs. Mallard is looking through the window in her room. “…[T]he tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breathe of rain was in the air…countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves”(316). Kate Chopin uses a very enthusiastic tone when she describes these lines of text in her story. Kate Chopin’s description of nature causes a brief transition in the story and is pretty much the only positive aspect throughout the story. She’s very interested in nature and likes to apply it a lot in her writings. She perhaps describes nature in her writings as a form of motivation and it keeps her writings strong and influential.

Biographical criticism makes us look at “The Story of an Hour” in a different perspective and a whole new way. Many of the things that happened in Kate Chopin’s life reflect upon the story and we can gain new insights for this reason. Analyzing Kate Chopin’s life makes us think more about the things she says in her story and wonder why she wrote it in the first place. We can find many hidden truths about the story from learning Kate Chopin’s background. Reading a story or another piece of literal work without knowing an author’s background makes us miss many things that would be considered very important to someone who understands and knows an author’s background.
　
Word Count:1222 words
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
Work Cited Page
Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 6th Compact ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 316-318. Print.

Assignment #6

I really learned a lot from the blogs I've been doing and enjoyed doing them rather than writing essays. I learned a lot about the stories and payed closer attention to certain aspects of the stories through the blogs. I really enjoyed doing blog#2 the most because it was easy for me to jot down my thoughts on the text. Blog#3 was a little more difficult for me because it was harder for me to get ideas to describe the characters in the story "The Things They Carried." I also like blog#4 because I gained knowledge of the author in "The Story of an Hour" through biographical criticism. I think doing blogs is the best method for anyone taking a writing class rather than doing more papers because it's easier to do than write 6oo word essays and you get feedback from other classmates on what they think of your blog which you can't get from doing papers. Doing blogs is definetly my choice rather than doing more papers. I really haven't changed they way I write my blogs knowing others read them because it's my blogs and my opinions on what I think of the texts. I write my blogs like I write real essays. I like reading other classmates blogs because I get the chance to post my opinions about what I liked in their blogs and what I'm looking for. I also get the chance to see different viewpoints of the stories from other classmates. I've viewed so many blogs from classmates who have different interpretations of the stories we've covered so far. Some classmates even have the opposite of what I write in the blog assignments. I really don't have any confusions about a text or concept. I pretty much understand the texts and concepts very well. When I first started this class I really thought it was going to be more harder and more writing than English 101 because I did a lot of written essays in English 101 compared to this class. I really thought ENG 102 involved more assignments and projects. I really thought I had to write around 4 essays and 3 major research papers with high word limits. The only thing I really find a little bit more difficult than English 101 is the Literature book we are using. Many of the stories in this book are harder to understand than the stories I read in English 101.

Assignment #5

Edgar A. Guest
It Couldn't Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.

Assignment #4--Criticism

In "The Story of an Hour" biographical criticism helps readers pay more closer attention to certain aspects of the story through the analyze of the author's life. This story would be interpreted well with biographical criticism because it helps readers feel the intensity in the story and relate certain parts in the story to the author's life. By analyzing Kate Chopin's life readers learn the rough life she had. For example, Kate Chopin was raised by her mother's family because her father died when she was young. Then in 1883, her husband died and she was left to raise six children on her own. As readers understand this aspect of her life, readers will pay more closer attention to things that reflect back to her life. For example, in the story Mrs. Mallard's husband died. This can help readers reflect back to Kate Chopin's husband's death. The grief Mrs. Mallard was filled with and felt in the story is probably the same way Kate Chopin felt when her husband died. Readers can take Mrs. Mallard for Kate Chopin and Mr. Mallard for Chopin's husband. One of the elements emphasized in the story by this approach is the pain Mrs. Mallard feels for the lost of her husband. For example, the author describes Mrs. Mallard locking herself in her room as soon as she hears the news of her husbands death. The author also describes Mrs. Mallard drinking. "...[S]he was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window"(317). This is probably the same thing Kate Chopin did when she found out her husband died as we learn through biographical criticism. Another element emphasized by this approach is the freedom Mrs. Mallard gained knowing her husband died. For example, the author says "Free! Body and soul free!"(317). Through biographical criticism we can pay more closer attention to this aspect as we can recognize Kate Chopin's freedom from her husband when he died as well. Another element emphasized by this critical approach is Mrs. Mallard's reminisce for her husband. The author states "...[T]he kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead"(317). If readers pay attention to this aspect of the story after analyzing the author's life they would probably sense Kate Chopin's feelings and love for her husband we he died. Readers would find Mrs. Mallard's reminisce for her husband the intensity Kate Chopin felt when she wrote this story. A new insight readers gain through this application is that Kate Chopin wrote this story based on her own experience when she lost her husband. Another insight readers gain is that it seems as Kate Chopin hoped to one day be together with her husband again when she died as the story describes Mrs. Mallard's husband appearing to be alive in the ending of the story when Mrs. Mallard died. Another insight readers gain is Kate Chopin likes to spend time alone by herself. For example, in the story Mrs. Mallard locked herself in her room when she learned her husband died and didn't allow anyone to come along with her. Mrs. Mallard even told her sister to go away as she was begging her to open the door. This shows how she likes to be alone which is probably true for Kate Chopin as well. From analyzing the author's life through biographical criticism, readers learn a lot of new things about the story and the author.