Macbeth: Act 5

In the first scene of Act 5 there is a doctor and a woman watching Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth has developed a habit of sleepwalking. After the doctor hears Lady Macbeth recite some personal thoughts out loud, he decides it is her guilt that causes her to sleepwalk. The different quotes are all recollections from the different murders. Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh! oh! oh!” (206). “Wash your hands, put on your night-gown, look not so pale: I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he cannot come out on’s grave” (208). Both these references are made while Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking. She is trying to get out what has been bottled up inside of her. Her being in a sleepy state is the only way she was going to say anything at all. As the play has progressed, there have been short scenes featuring different lords who have talked about Macbeth and his kingdom. Each time their opinion of Macbeth has changed to say he is more and more crazy. This scene with Lady Macbeth sleepwalking confirms those thoughts of the surrounding lords. The quotes are about as good as a confession anyone would be able to get that her and her husband are responsible for all the murders that have taken place in the play.

Macbeth: Act 4

At the beginning of Act 4 Macbeth confronts the three Weird Sisters. As he is talking to them, they send him three apparitions that are meant to warn him of a coming doom. Upon the third one coming down, Macbeth simply says, “Thou shalt not live, That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, And sleep in spite of thunder” (164). He sees the visions as the warnings they are and decides he is going to kill Macduff before Macduff can kill him. At this point Macbeth has had a handful of people killed and shows no sign of remorse about killing more. This shows the vast change of Macbeth’s attitudes throughout the play. At the beginning he was mindful of other people and had a sense of guilt. Towards the end when this scene takes place, Macbeth has lost that sense and has become ruthless. This scene continues with Macbeth’s increasing savage nature.

Macbeth: Act 3

Act 3 brings about the death of Banquo. After Macbeth has Banquo killed, Macbeth starts to see his spirit. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are having a dinner party with lords and other respectable people. As Macbeth goes to sit down at the table, he sees Banquo’s ghost in his seat. He starts freaking out, screaming and frightened. In order to keep people from knowing about their horrible deeds, Lady Macbeth assures everyone that Macbeth does this all the time and they shouldn’t worry. She then turns to Macbeth and convinces him he hasn’t had enough sleep by saying, “You lack the season of all natures, sleep” (144). Lady Macbeth is essentially saying that Macbeth needs sleep in order to return everything in him to normal. Macbeth is obviously feeling great guilt and pain from the murders. The reason he appears so savage is that he has just had his friend killed, yet he continues on and simply goes to sleep that night.

Macbeth: Act 2

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth carry out their murder plot in Act 2. Lady Macbeth got the two guards drunk so Macbeth could enter the room undetected and murder Duncan. As Macbeth was stabbing him, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth heard strange noises. Lady Macbeth heard an owl screeching and crickets chirping. Macbeth, on the other hand, heard voices screaming at him. Macbeth’s act of murder becomes more savage due to the fact that he could hear someone yelling out his name and he murdered Duncan anyway. Macbeth recollected about the voices saying, “Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’” (80). Macbeth continued on with, “Still it cried, ‘Sleep no more!’ to all the house: ‘Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor Shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more!’” (82). The two quotes (the voices) are trying to reach out to people in the house and get them to realize that Macbeth is killing the king while he sleeps. This frightened Macbeth greatly but it didn’t stop him from striking Duncan down in his sleep. The brutal side of Macbeth comes out here because the voices are saying what he is doing but he won’t stop the murder. He wants the crown bad enough to go against his own conscience (the voices) and kill Duncan.

Macbeth: Act 1: Scenes 4-7

Disease/Injury:
Pg 50-Lady Macbeth: The illness should attend it
Pg 60-Macbeth: That we but teach blood instructions
Pg 60-Macbeth: This even-handed justice commends th'ingredience of our poisoned chalice
Pg 62-Lady Macbeth: And wakes it now, to look so green and pale
Pg 64-Macbeth: When we have marked with blood those sleepy two

These lines that I have above are all to do with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's plot to kill the king. Basically they're going to get the two guards drunk and then kill the king with their daggers (to frame them). "When we have marked with blood those sleepy two" is basically saying when we have killed the king and blamed it on the two guards (while they're passed out I'm assuming). Now that the king is dead, Lady Macbeth can take her crown that she wants so badly. Lady Macbeth is willing to kill to get a crown, which to me shows disease in itself.

Macbeth: Act 1: Scenes 1-3

For my blogs I'm going to focus mainly on Disease and injury.

Disease/Injury:
Pg 26-Duncan: What bloody man is that?
Pg 26-Sergeant: Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody execution
Pg 28-Sergeant: Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds
Pg 28-Sergeant: My gashes cry for help

Obviously I got these from the class notes you put up considering they're pretty much verbatim. But anyway. This play is in a way centered around death. I chose to focus on disease and injury for that reason...I figured there would be a lot about it throughout the whole play. A lot of the lines having to do with injury in these early chapters are from the guards who speak to each other about visions they had (especially the dreams with the weird sisters). Later on though I think the lines are going to start to turn from casual speaking to lines about the injuries of the dead and murdered.

High Fidelity: Chapters 22-26

When Linda’s dad dies Rob doesn’t know how to react. He wants to be there for Linda but at the same time he is afraid himself. Rob isn’t afraid because of the person that died. He’s more afraid of death itself. Reading this part of the book gave me reason to think that there is more to why Rob is bad with commitment. It seems like he’s afraid of falling for someone and then losing them to death. I’m torn between whether this is an actual reason or not. For his earlier relationships I think it’s just an excuse he made up but for Laura especially I think it could be authentic.

High Fidelity: Chapters 14-21

When Rob calls his ex girlfriends I think he’s looking for reasons why he’s the way he is. He calls one and asks why they broke up, why she didn’t want to be with him. I think Rob is simply depressed and he’s looking for an excuse about why. If Rob gets an excuse for being sad, then he’ll feel better about it. Another reason he calls the girls is to see how well they’re doing. It seemed like his hopes were to see how amazing they are now and then have more reason to feel depressed. As it turns out the girls he calls aren’t doing that great and for some of them Rob is to blame. He calls hoping to hear how great they are doing only to find out that their break up affected them as well. Then instead of feeling relieved, he feels more sadness and on top of that he feels guilty. I thought the whole thing was really sad. Rob started to come off as just plain pathetic after reading this. The girls seemed either surprised or weirded out by Rob calling them. He needs to deal with his own issues and not bring people in who don’t really care about him (or for some, remember him).

Top 5 Movies To Watch With Your Friends

1. Half Baked
2. Pineapple Express
3. Knocked Up
4. Superbad
5. Austin Powers

Top 5 Top 5 Lists

Top 5 crazy moments with friends
Top 5 pissed off moments in school
Top 5 comedians
Top 5 Studio Recorded Albums
Top 5 concerts

High Fidelity: Chapters 7-13

These chapters made me think Rob is a very confused person. He never knows what he wants when it comes to women…especially Laura. When him and Laura are together, it seems like he doesn’t want to be. But then after they break up, he can’t stop obsessing over her. Mainly what makes me think this is the whole cheating situation. Rob cheated on Laura and didn’t think it was a big deal. Then later on in the book Laura cheats on him and he flips out. After they’re split up, Rob is constantly thinking about Laura and is always trying to call her to talk about her new relationship with Ian. I don’t even think he cares about his and Laura’s relationship anymore. It seems like he only wants confirmation that he was a better lover then Ian. He’s way to insecure with himself. I wouldn’t have a problem with him being upset over their relationship ending if he actually cared about her before they broke up.
Rob’s relationship with Marie confused me as well. I think he’s ridiculous about it all. He talks about how the best parts of a one-night stand are before they start and after they have ended. Marie invites Rob to her place and he is just plain awkward the whole night. It seemed like he wasn’t quite ready to be alone with her even though he kept saying that he doesn’t care about Laura anymore. I think he needs to learn what he wants and then try again with Marie. She seems like a really cool girl in the book and it kind of bothers me that he is that uncomfortable around her. Overall I feel bad for Marie because he is so weird about everything. Hopefully as the book goes on he’ll learn to boost his self-esteem a bit more.

High Fidelity: Chapters 1-6

In the opening chapters of the book we’re introduced to Rob. I have mixed feelings about Rob. He seems pretty down-to-earth, which makes me like him but then other times he seems really obsessive, which makes me steer away from him. He appears to me like a real guy that has a bit of trouble with relationships. I would have legitimate sympathy for his situation if he wasn’t so weird about it. It’s one thing to be sad about losing a girl or to think about stuff that’s happening in your life. It’s another thing entirely to make neurotic lists about everything in your life. Don’t get me wrong…I like the idea of the lists. The lists are really cool in the book but if you think about an actual person making them…that would be kind of strange. I like the book so far and I’m hoping the lists will make me learn more about Rob.

How To Read

In Nick Hornby’s article he basically says that if you don’t want to read something…you shouldn’t have to. I wish I could say I agree with him but I can’t. The article is definitely aimed towards people who’re reading for fun. When you’re in school, you usually have to read what you’re assigned and you don’t have much choice in the matter. There have been times in school where I really wish I could’ve used this philosophy. I’ve had my random times where I wanted to read a book for fun and I think I used Hornby’s thinking.
One book that had a bit of an impact on me that I read for fun was ‘Kurt Cobain’s Journals.’ I know it’s not a normal book and I know not many people would find it intellectual but I thought it was really interesting. I see my sisters and my mum when they read and I see how emotional the books can make them. That’s what the journals did for me…it made me feel happy, sad, sympathetic, etc. That’s what reading is supposed to be about, right? It grabbed my attention and made me want to keep reading.
On the other hand I can only think of one situation in particular where I started reading for fun and didn’t finish. The third Harry Potter book is the one that comes to mind. I read the first four Harry Potter books but I simply got bored towards the end of the third one and after the fourth one I had no desire to read them. My mum gave me a hard time about stopping reading them but I honestly wasn’t interested anymore. I wish I had known about this article back then so I could’ve had her read it.

Reading

When I sit down to start reading a book, I usually get really bored. I have to force myself just to finish whatever I have to read. I wish I wasn’t like this but I am. There have been a few times where I read a book and I actually wanted to keep going but that doesn’t happen too often. I’d much rather watch a movie or read a magazine then a novel. When you watch a movie, you get the visual and the entertainment aspect of it. When you read a magazine, they have a bunch of different articles and you can choose which ones you want to read. I wish I would read more but I just can’t get into it. This year I’m going to try to read an extra book or two throughout the year for myself. I actually was pleasantly surprised when I looked at the list for the books we’re reading this year. They don’t seem like old, out-dated books that you have to make yourself read. They appear to be more modern and probably a more fun read. There were a few books last year that I liked and I’m hoping this year will be the same.

Johnny Got His Gun: Chapter 18-20

In the last couple chapters of the book Joe gets a response to his morse code messages from before. The people at the hospital ask him, "What do you want?" This question kind of pissed off Joe because he didn't know how they were asking him. For all he knew they were saying, "Jeeze...what do you want?" like he was a nuisance. Despite his thought of the question Joe comes to a decision of what he wants to say. He wants to be on display for all the world to see. So they can see what war has done to him. He wants everyone to learn how brutal the outcome of the fighting can truly be. He is this product of a war. This abomination created by the people who sent him to war.

Johnny Got His Gun: Chapter 16-17

In chapter 16 Joe is given an intense amount of pain killers. Afterwards he goes into a state of confusion. During the confusion he has a dream about Christ. Joe is sent plummeting through nothing until he hears a woman crying. He then sees Jesus and walks with him. They go to a train station of sorts and sit in an area waiting for the train. While they're there, they see a group of men playing cards. Joe realizes kind of quickly that all these people in this area are waiting to die. He then gets called out in a way by one of the men because, 'He doesn't belong there.' The man says that Joe is not dead so why is he here. Then Joe explains his situation and the men think they're fortunate for being dead. It's astounding to think of someone being in such a horrible place that dead people think they have it better. Joe might as well be dead anyway. I think that's what this dream is saying...Joe was amongst all these dead people. He is on that line of life & death, and he can't do anything about it. If it were me I'd honestly want to be pushed over that edge into death.

Johnny Got His Gun: Chapter 13-15

After Joe tried to communicate through time, he realizes it's not working as well as he wanted. Then he remembers about morse code. You can speak to people through a series of clicks and holds. During this chapter a bunch of army generals go to visit him and deliver medals to him. While they're there, Joe tries to get their attention by morse code. Since he can only use his head, the nurses think something's wrong. They check all his monitors and try different things to get him to stop but nothing seems to work. No one realizes that he's trying to talk to them and eventually the nurse decides that he is 'sexually frustrated.' She makes the decision to help him release the frustration and hopefully make him feel better. Although Joe appreciates what she was trying to do, he gets really upset that he is seen as an animal to the people around him. Joe's tapping is eventually recognized, which helps out his situation greatly.

Johnny Got His Gun: Chapter 11-12

Throughout the book Joe has been completely cut off by society. He has lost all sense of communication with the outside world. Then he starts to think about the fact that he can still feel. He doesn't have to be completely cut off. Joe decides that he will keep time so that he will at least know something about his surroundings. He starts his own timing, counting the seconds by tapping his head. Then he realizes there's no way he can keep all that time in his head so he decides to go off of the sunlight that comes into the room and the rotation of nurses that come in to see him. After Johnny starts counting time, he really does feel more connected. It made me happy for him in this part of the book.

Johnny Got His Gun: Chapter 8-10

In these chapters Joe starts to face his demons. He thinks a lot about the war that he was in. He starts thinking about war in general. He poses the question, "Is it worth it?" His father talked to Joe about war and about how the kids who go there don't know what they're fighting for. Democracy is simply a word to people...they don't know what it means and they don't know why they're fighting for it. He then goes on to think about what makes fighting worth it. If someone has a personal reason for going and fighting then it's probably worth it. If someone truly knows why they are fighting and are actually passionate about the cause then I'd say it's worth it. But Joe mentions the kids who go into these wars. He talks about the death of these innocent kids...when someone is shot down in a battle, they aren't thinking about democracy and their country, they're simply thinking, "I don't want to die!" Pleading that they will live. Joe definitely doesn't think war is worth his situation. He isn't alive or dead...he has been completely mutilated by this war and he didn't even truly understand what he was fighting for. For Joe and for me...war is not worth it.

johnny Got His Gun: Chapter 6-7

In these chapters Joe is sitting in his bed and he feels a sharp pain in his side. He realizes it is a rat chewing at his flesh. Joe doesn't know what to make of the rat at first. Then he starts to think that it could not be real. At this point Joe honestly doesn't know if he is awake or asleep...if he is dreaming or if the rat is real. The rat is representative of Joe's helplessness. A rat, an animal the size of your fist is sitting there eating at his side and he can't do anything about it. He can't move away from it, he can't push it away, he can't even cry from the pain. He has to just sit there and take it. This is where the book got kind of real for me. I didn't really think about it as being that big of a deal. After-all he's still alive. But after this scene I realized how messed up it is to keep Joe alive in his horrible position.

Johnny Got His Gun: Chapter 1-5

During WW1 Joe gets hit with an artillery shell. The shell completely destroyed him. He has no arms, no legs, and for a matter of speaking no face. All Joe really has is his vital organs, a brain, and his sense of touch. Like I said before he has no face. This means he can't hear, he can't see, he can't taste, he can't smell. Joe is being kept alive by machines and nurses tending to him multiple times a day. He has a machine breathing for him and a machine feeding him. Joe can hardly even move. He talks about drowning in the chapter too. He says that when you're drowning, you're helpless. You freak out before you die because you know that there's no way for you to get out. His situation is just like that, he can't help himself. Joe can't even kill himself if he wanted to. He can't do anything. Everything for Joe is controlled by other people and he has no control over anything but his mind.

The Bell Jar: Chapter 19-20

One thing Esther does during the book is she tries to find a man to sleep with. The whole book she finds her virginity as more of a burden. As it turned out, when she actually lost her virginity it wasn't what she thought it would be. She decided it would be with Irwin just because he was willing. She didn't have any real special feelings towards him. After they had sex, Esther thought it was really anticlimactic. She didn't feel any different and it turned out to just be kind of a nuisance for her. This is a perfect example of the bell jar simply hanging above her and not going away.

The Bell Jar: Chapter 17-18

Throughout the book Esther has had problems with herself and with other people. She's battled depression & suicide, and the people & society don't help with those issues. It appears as if the bell jar is representative of Esther's depression. The bell jar keeps her trapped and makes it impossible for her to escape her depression. The bell jar kept her down and it even drove her to attempt suicide multiple times. I think it's possible for Esther to get out from the bell jar but I doubt she'll ever be able to escape it. The bell jar is kind of like the blues...it's always going to be with her.

The Bell Jar: Chapter 15-16

Due to her depression, Esther is sent to a new asylum. The woman who paid for her schooling through the scholarship paid for her mental, medical bills. This new asylum seemed much better. She has a new psychiatrist who Esther really likes. The doctor is a woman, which kind of shocked Esther. At this new asylum there are two levels. If you're showing improvement then you get moved to one area...but if your mental status depletes during your stay you are moved to another episode. Overall, this new asylum is good for Esther and the people there treat her much better.

The Bell Jar: Chapter 13-14

Esther never really knows where she fits in. Even in the first couple of chapters Esther couldn't find who she wanted to be. This, along with her experiences factor in and make her sadder and sadder as time goes on. Esther starts to become suicidal. She tries many times to kill herself. She thinks about shooting herself but then thinks about it and decides that that is a 'Man's death.' Then she tries to hang herself and fails. After this she decides to go into a crawl space under her house and takes fifty pills. Later she wakes up in a hospital with a blindfold on. Esther really doesn't know what to do with herself and thinks death is the only relief she can find.

The Bell Jar: Chapter 11-12

During this part of the book Esther goes to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Gordon. Esther hated Gordon for many reasons. The main reason is because she felt he really didn't care about her problems...he just saw her as money. Major evidence for this was when she first walked into his office she saw a picture of him and his family smiling. She saw that and thought, how ridiculous is it to tell this happy functional person my problems. One thing Dr. Gordon did for Esther was the shock treatments. It seemed like he simply wanted to do these "treatments" in order to make Esther feel better. Once she thinks she's better, he can take her money and send her on her way. This made Esther absolutely hate him. Dr. Gordon definitely wasn't helping Esther.

The Bell Jar: Chapter 9-10

In this chapter Esther heads back to Boston. You can truly see her depression now. As she's walking around she really doesn't care if stuff is in her way. She's extremely sad and traumatized from her experience with Marco. Esther still had the same clothes on. These clothes had the blood from Marco on them. Her depression is also visible through her behavior of every day activities. There was a period of time after her night with Marco where she didn't bathe...she couldn't sleep...and when she tried to read or write anything she wasn't able to do it. It's obvious her night with Marco messed her up pretty bad and I'm sure as we read more it will play a bigger role in her life.

The Bell Jar: Chapter 7-8

Esther's relationship with Constantine is pretty solid. They hit it off pretty fast and have a great time together. This is when Esther starts to realize she wants to have sex with Constantine. She has spent the book getting frustrated with people because they've had sex before marriage. She doesn't want to come off as too strong, though...so she decides she wants Constantine to seduce her. They go back to his apartment and they're drinking wine, and listening to music on the balcony. Then she goes into the bedroom and lays on the bed. Expecting him to come in and make a move she waits. Eventually Constantine goes into the room with her but he simply lays next to her and says goodnight. I was kind of confused at first...I figured they would've had sex for sure and then I thought about it and I realized he was treating her with respect. He didn't want to freak her out by making a move or anything. It's understandable from his point but I can understand Esther's frustration.

The Bell Jar: Chapter 5-6

At first Esther really liked Buddy. She had a good relationship with his mother and with him. Then when she finds out about Gladys, Esther loses respect for him. She finds him more irritating, is kind of ashamed, and wants to break up with him. After he finds out he has TB, Esther is thankful because she doesn't really have to deal with him anymore. She still likes him as a person but she is ashamed in a way...this makes it very difficult for her when he is admitted into the hospital. After he is moved into the hospital, his mother sets Esther up on a date with Constantine. I found this interesting because Buddy's mother knows how crazy he is about Esther and she still goes ahead and sets Esther up.

The Bell Jar: Chapter 1-4

When Esther is in New York, she is constantly trying to find herself. At first she wants to be like Doreen and she ends up going out and drinking a lot. Then she starts to feel depressed about what she's become and decides to try and change herself. So far her time in New York has been kind of sad and it's unclear whether she likes it or not. At the moment she doesn't like herself because she can't find the 'right personality.' Although, I could see her finding her own system and getting better.

Pleasantville

In the movie the two main characters are polar opposites at the beginning. When they show Pleasantville on TV it is seen as really appealing because of Toby Mcguire's character. You see his own life and it's pretty pathetic. He can't find the courage to talk to the girl he likes, his parents are always fighting, and his sister is for lack of better words a slut. He doesn't have to deal with all that when he's watching Pleasantville, though. He is enthralled by it and he knows everything about it. It's seen as the perfect life. Once him and Reese Witherspoon's character get sucked into the TV, you start to see the downside to the show. Everything is so repetitive it eventually becomes boring and just plain weird. Even though everything is seen as perfect, none of the people know anything and they are afraid of anything that's different. The scene in the bowling ally is a perfect example of this. It can be seen as the grey people vs the colored people.

1950s TV

The values and morals of television back in the 1950s were completely different to today's. There didn't have the references, jokes, and scenes we have today. Instead of the focus being on sex, violence, controversy, etc...the shows were much more innocent and could be watched by a whole family. You asked us to research a show from this time period. I looked up the most popular one, 'I love Lucy.' This show was simple and funny being centered around a woman and her friend who are constantly getting into sticky situations all the while trying to hide it from her husband Ricky...who in the end always finds out. It was a much simpler time for TV.

Japanese Internment Camps

During WW2 the Japanese-Americans were taken and put into camps to "ensure safety." The mind-set was that they attacked once...the citizens have the potential and ties to attack as well. It is the same with the Muslim-Americans since 9/11. I think America was justified in fearing the potential of a Japanese person but I think they took it way too far as to put them in camps. I think what they needed to realize is there are extremists in every religion and culture and just because some want to attack doesn't mean everyone does. I think it was taken way too far to drag these people out of their homes and place them in remote camps. I also think it's really ironic that America was fighting against the Germans who would round up people and throw them in death camps, but we felt the need to go ahead and throw these people in our camps.

Black Boy Chapter 17-18

While Richard is in the communist party he learns the voice he has and that other people have. He starts to realize the true power of words. Before, he used his words to display emotion but now he starts to learn that his words can draw people into a cause. This is when he truly learns the power of someone's voice and the voice of the communist power in general. I think this plays into the question we're meant to answer. I think one voice can move a crowd into action. All it takes is one person to spark an idea. Once an idea has been thought up and that person speaks it if enough people hear it and like the idea then they will start to follow it. Then they will start talking about it and more and more people will join into the idea. Eventually all it would take is the original idea-man to tell all of his followers what to do and more then likely they will do it. It is as simple as that for one person to move a group of people.

Black Boy Chapter 16

In this chapter Wright speaks out against the election of this time. He takes a ballet and writes 'I protest this fraud' in big capital letters. Richard is in the communist party now. He's also in a club of writers and painters. Richard follows the group's decisions on everything and this is why he wrote that stuff on the ballet. I think the reason that Wright is in the group is to find a place to fit in. Many people of this time period joined social movements for the same reason. Wright wrote that on the ballet in order to go along with his group and I completely understand that. Like I said, I understand why he did it but at the same time that's not really something I though Wright would do. It bothered him when he had to conform and go along with the horrible jobs but he's willing to do this.

Black Boy Chapter 15

I'm writing about the third parenthetical passage on page 265. When I read this, it didn't sound like something someone would say if they were to experience it. I read it and it sounded like someone had observed situations and then written them down like a historian. That's just how I felt...it was kind of weird to read these and think that Richard had gone through so much and ended up writing as an observer rather then the person who had actually gone through it.

Black Boy Chapter 12-14

In the end of chapter 14 Wright is reflecting on leaving the South and getting to Chicago. He starts talking about how he was born in the south and after working extremely hard and experiencing so much in life he made it to the North. He talks about how he was born in the South and how horrible the South is for a black man to live. Throughout the first part of this book, he goes through more then a lot of people go through in their entire life. He says one line in the ending paragraph that represents his experience. "This was the culture from which I sprang. This was the terror from which I fled." The first part simply explains how he was born in the South and what he had to deal with. The second part is what I said at the beginning...him reflecting on leaving the South. The terror for Richard is everything bad he had to go through. His father leaving, his mother's stroke, the countless accounts of racism and violence he had to experience. Everything built up can be expressed in that one word, 'Terror.'

Black Boy Chapter 10-11

Whenever Richard got a job, he would have to work under racist white storeowners. The problem with this is that Richard absolutely hates the idea of being inferior to anyone, especially white people. Richard needs to be subservient to his employers in order to keep jobs and get by. Like I said before, RIchard hates this idea, which is why he gets fired numerous times. I think in Wright's situation subservience is extremely necessary. I think subservience is necessary within reason, though. I feel that the white employers of this time took subservience way too far. Obviously since they are employers they need to crack down on people like Richard who work for them but they would find any excuse to fire them just because they were black. Richard needs to learn to give into his employers but the employers need to realize that Richard is human and he is going to make mistakes.

Black Boy Chapter 9

When Griggs says the line "Learn to live in the South" he is telling Richard to stop apposing everyone. Griggs is giving Wright a warning by saying this. I feel like if you live in the south in this time period and you act out like Wright does then something bad is bound to happen to you. To me Griggs saying this could be associated straight back to Wright's speech problem in the previous chapters. Wright didn't like what happened and refused to deliver the speech. It could've been a lot worse for Wright and he got lucky that no one freaked out on him over refusing to do the speech.

Black Boy Chapter 7-8

When Richard graduates from school he earns the spot of Valedictorian. When this happens he is asked by his teacher to deliver a speech at the ceremony. After Richard prepares this speech he goes to deliver it. Then the principle walks up and hands him a speech that has already been prepared for him. Wright is completely shocked...he has just put the time in to write a speech and they give him one. The reason they made a speech for him is because they're afraid of what he might say in front of the white audience members. When the principle gives him the speech Wright gets really mad and tells him he's not going to give his speech. I think he is extremely justified in doing what he did. He's obviously a good student or else he wouldn't have the oppurtunity to deliver a speech and he has obviously worked hard. It's so crappy that they would do that to him. I still don't understand what the point of asking him to write a speech was if they were just going to give him one pre-written.

Black Boy Chapter 6

One part of this chapter that really sticks out is when Uncle John and Richard have a fight. In previous chapters, mainly in the beginning, when there was a problem with Richard he was beaten and that was the end of it. When Richard does something here and Uncle Tom tries to do something to him RIchard freaks out and pulls knives on his uncle. Wright gets really mad at Uncle Tom and tries to defend himself with force because he feels his Uncle isn't really family. Wright has it in his head that only immediate family is allowed to beat the kids. It is this reasoning why Ricahrd gets confused when he sees the white guy beating the black boy. He automatically assumed the black boy was the white man's son...when he finds out differently Richard gets really mad.

Black Boy Chapter 4-5

In these chapters Wright spends a lot of time reading and writing. He loves literature obviously concidering he wrote this book. There is one part of chapter five where he reads one of his stories to his neighbor. He gets a huge rush when reading his story. The entire time he reads it the neighborgirl became more and more confused. Then at the end of the of the story she had a dumbstruck look on her face. He loved to see that. He gets a huge rush off of her reaction. Wright gets such a joy out of sharing his writing with his neighbor and I think it is because he made her think.

black Boy Chapter 3

In this chapter something major that happens is his mother has a stroke. Wright's mother has a stroke and then after some time and more complecations she ends up becoming paralytic and that's when the real problems start. I really think Wright is scared of his mother being hurt. At first he won't admit that she's been that badly hurt and then he can't get away from it. Eventually he calls for Granny because I think he's scared of not being able to support himself or anyone else for that matter. Although, he cares about his mother, he gets scared and I think it leads to him eventually not living with her. I think the reason it's hard for him to deal with is because he actually cares for his mother.

Black Boy Chapter 2

This chapter was filled with even more stuff then the first. This book is pretty intense. One major thing that stuck with me was when he told his grandmother to give him a kiss...that was kinda funny.
When Richard says it is his cultural heritage to dislike Jews I think he's telling the truth. I mean, think about it. He is never given any answers when he asks his mother or his grandmother about racial issues. So would it surprise you that when he sees people making fun of or taunting jewish people that he is going to join in. I don't think Wright actually hates jewish people...I don't even think he dislikes them. I think it was just something to do so he can fit in more.

Black Boy Chapter 1

The beginning of the book starts with Richard Wright and his family in their house. His grandmother is very sick and he is not allowed to make any noise. He makes noise and he is beaten for it. Richard spends time in front of the fire staying warm and after a while gets the idea to burn a broom's bristles. He rips them off and burns them and eventually grows bored of it. He burns the bristles and then puts them to a curtain. The curtain burst up in flames and then the house starts to burn. At this point half the house is burnt up and people are frantically trying to save everyone. Forunately, no one is hurt in the fire but his parents think he has died in the fire since he is no where to be found. As it turns out Richard is hiding under the house and after they find him he gets severely beaten. There are many times even in teh first part of this book where he gets beaten senseless. After he burns the house up they move to Tennessee where they live in a flat with one kitchen and one bedroom. After some time there their father leaves them. After his father leaves is when he says he is "hungry." At first he says he is hungry because he literally is hungry but then he finds out his father as left and his father is the one who brings food. Then he starts to say he's hungry figuratively...I think this is because he is resentful towards his father and the hunger represents his anger towards his father for leaving them. Because his father has left him and his brother have to take on many responsibilities and the hunger is eventually beaten by his own work rather then his father's.

TEWWG Richard Wright Review

Richard Wright was really negative about Huston's writing. He made points about how there is no plot and no hidding meanings. I completely disagree with him. I mean we spent days of class going over meanings and plots in this book. There were so many messages about racial insensitivity and racial tension in the book and Wright goes ahead and completely tears them all down. It's rediculous...Hurston wrote this book I think to kind of open up people's eyes and Wright goes in and disregards everything in the book. From what I hear about Richard Wright he is a good writer but he obviously didn't want to see anything decent in this book. I liked the book overall and I think Richard Wright is dumb as hell for writing this crap.

TEWWG Chapter 19-20

Things take a turn for the worst in these chapters and Janie ends up taking Tea Cake's life by shooting him. Even though Janie shoots Tea Cake out of self-defense...I think she blames herself for it. This could explain why she doesn't talk. At the trial, Janie doesn't say a word because she feels ashamed of what she has done. Shame, embarrasement, and mourning are just a few reasons for why she won't talk at the trial. After she has killed Tea Cake, she lost the respect of the people at The Muck. I find it interesting that she takes it so hard when in previous chapters she had made the bold statement saying something along the lines of, "I could die right now and my life would be complete because I had happiness with you (Tea Cake)" Now that Tea Cake is gone, she is sad and depressed. I feel like she will bounce back, though. Throughout the book Janie has had ups and downs with her moods. One minute she's happy, the next she's depressed, the next she's fighting with someone, the next they're making up. This is why I think she will bounce back from her depression and eventually she will be happy again.

TEWWG Chapter 16-18

In these chapters there was a huge hurricane that came through The Muck. First, all the indians warned the town and left. Even after hearing the Indians warning Tea Cake doesn't want to leave. Eventually everyone except for Tea Cake, Janie, and a few others had left. When the hurricane comes through the town, Tea Cake asks Janie if she regretted staying with him. She tells him that even though they might die she is glad she didn't leave. This is a huge moment for Janie, this is the time that you truly see her love for Tea Cake. Before I was skeptical because of her 'love' she had had with different men. This moment on the other hand made me realize the love for Tea Cake is true. The hurricane is a huge part of this realization. I think this huge hurricane is symbolizing God in the book. Throughout the book there are many God-fearing people. Janie was god-fearing before this but I feel like this was a huge shock for her. This was the first time she had ever 'looked at God.' Before she simply believed he was there...now she is looking him in the face and she knows he was there. Basically...Tea Cake and Janie were looking straight back at this storm or God, which Janie had never done before.

TEWWG Chapter 13-15

In this part of the book Janie and Tea Cake travel to 'The Muck' in the Everglades. In The Muck everyone works, the women, the children, and the men. Everyone does something during their time there. While they're at The Muck Janie starts to come to the realization that Tea Cake is her ideal man. She is truly in love with him. I find it interesting because when Janie was with Jody, he made her work and would abuse her if she didn't. It's different with Tea Cake, though. She loves him and is willing to work for him. In the one situation with Jody she is forced to work but with Tea Cake she wants to work for him just to keep him interested in her.

TEWWG Chapter 10-12

In these chapters, Janie starts her relationship with Tea Cakes. Janie has been married twice and didn't love either of the men. With Tea Cakes it's different, though. Even when she first met him in the store she loved him. Tea Cakes wasn't controling or neglectful, he appears to be perfect. Nanny's idea of love is all about security, not love. Nanny would much rather Janie be with someone who can pay for her to have nice things rather then for Janie to be happy with this person. Janie on the other hand is sick of being unhappy with her husband...I think Janie sees Tea Cakes as someone she actually loves, not just a husband. Although Tea Cakes isn't as wealthy as Jody, he still gives her emotional stability which she needs more then anything at this point.

TEWWG Chapter 7-9

In this part of the book Janie starts to fight back at Jody and eventually calls him out in public. When she does this she insults him by basically calling him, 'Ill-equipped.' When she does this there are many men who admired Joe standing around. There is a part in these chapters where one of the men says something along the lines of I used to admire him by the stuff he has but now I realize the stuff is cool and he's pathetic. The section where Janie talks about the angels getting jealous of men is a great representation of Janie breaking Jody down. It's basically saying that at the beginning man was greater then the angels until the angels broke them down. In Janie's situation, Janie is like the angels and Jody is like men. Jody was high and mighty until Janie came in and chopped him up and covered him in mud.

TEWWG Chapter 5-6

In this chapter Janie sees a mule who is being abused by Matt and messed around by the townspeople. She hates to see the helpless animal in this condition. She expresses how much she hates it and Jody buys the mule to give it a break. I think the reason Janie hates to see this mule being abused like this is because it reminds her of her own situation. Although, she's not being physically abused by Jody, he is breaking her down on an emotional side. She saw a lot of herself in the mule. I understand where she is coming from but at the same time I have to look at the fact that it is a mule. The mule ran away and was punished for it...no big deal. Although, I know where Janie is coming from you also have to look at it from Matt's point of view.

Super Bowl Commercials

The first commercial I'll talk about is the Comcast HD commercial that had lots of flashyness. It didn't show you people who have used it, it didn't tell you how much it was or anything. It simply had lots of bright and vibrant colors and sounds that made you want to buy their product. It was pretty rediculous.
The other commercial that I wanted to talk about was the Hyundai Genesis commercial. When it started the commercial showed the car inside and out. It showed everything about the car from the ground up. Then the anouncer started comparing it to other cars that are already out there. It talked about how it is better then the BMW and Mercedes. The idea is that this car is better then these luxury cars but at the price of a sedan. I wanted that car when the commercial was on...it obviously did it's job.

TEWWG Chapter 3-4

The main thing that stuck out to me in this chapter was the line, "From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything." This quote really stuck out for me, I read it and started thinking about it. What I got out of this line was that she's sick of things going badly for her. She just wants to turn her life around and until she dies she wants to be happy. The problem I see is that no one has happiness forever...I have a feeling that as time goes on she's going to start to have more and more problems. If you go back to the first two chapters when she walked into town and everyone judged her...I think that is where this quote is coming from. She has all these problems and she wants to forget them and 'have springtime sprinkled on everything.'

TEWWG Chapter 1-2

When Janie first got to the town people weren't too nice to her. The women sat on the porch and judged her as she walked by. No one except for Pheobe went over and said hi or asked her anything. The rest of them just sat and made jokes about her. I really liked it when Pheobe put them in their place. She basically told them to shut up and stop judging without asking. After Pheobe goes and talks to Janie you find out the full story. Going back to when Janie was a kid you can see that she had a pretty nice upbringing. Although, she was mixed race she still got along with the white kids. In fact she would play with all the white kids and didn't think anything of it. Janie didn't actually know she was black until she was 6 years old when she was shown a picture. The black kids made fun of Janie a lot because they said she lived in the white people's back yard. I couldn't really find any similarities between her childhood and adulthood experiences. She was treated the exact same when she was a kid and she was treated as an outcast as an adult.

Marcus Garvey

Marcus Garvey was the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. The organization's goal was to unite the native people of Africa in order to fight back against crimes aimed at them. Garvey stated that the only way you're to overcome a common enemy is to work together. People in the Rastafari Movement saw Garvey as a prophet. Marcus Garvey always strived to help people and obviously he did when putting together the UNIA. Obviously Marcus Garvey recieved a lot of criticism, as do all civil rights activists. Garvey's criticism was different, though...a fellow civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois called Marcus Garvey a traitor. Although, they're not entirely sure why Du Bois thought this there were some ideas that came up. One in particular confused me a little bit, the theory was that Du Bois was prejudice towards Garvey because Garvey was a carribean native and was darker skinned then Du Bois. Garvey was quoted once saying, "Du Bois is purely and simply a white man's nigger." Marcus Garvey questioned Du Bois' motives on the books he wrote and thought Du Bois sent people in to try and destroy Garvey's organizations. Even with the criticism Garvey recieved he still was an amazing man and he helped many people in the different struggling nations.