Power and the Glory Background Info

Hi Everyone,

I hope you check this!

Greene actually wrote the book when he was in exile in Mexico due to a libel suite by a young Shirley Temple. Greene wrote an unfavorable review of her performance in a magazine and as a result, faced legal actions. Since the crime was "severe" he was threatened with jail if he was to return to England. As a result, his publisher financed his trip. Most of the characters in PandG are based on real characters who he met when he was there. Please make sure that you research the political background of Mexico during this time before you read tonight. Thank goodness for the internet!

Poetry

My two favorite poems in the packet were "How to Change a Frog Into a Prince" by Anna Denise and "Fat is Not a Fairy Tale" by Jane Yolen. I really liked how both authors put their own spins on the fairy tales that we all know so well.

For Anna Denise's poem, "How to Change a Frog Into a Prince," the prominent literary devices that I picked up on are tone, allusion, and conceit. Unquestionably, this poem alludes to the fairy tale of "The Princess and the Frog," in which the frog turns into a prince after the princess kisses it. However, unlike what happens in the fairy tale, in the poem, the frog must undergo a transformation that takes quite some time before he becomes the prince. For this reason, I classified the tone as somewhat serious and didactic. Throughout the piece, the speaker is instructing the reader how to change the frog into a prince. The poem is literally comprised of sentences that give the reader step-by-step instructions. For example, the poem reads, "Start with the underwear. Sit him down...Be gentle. Avoid the words awkward and gawky." The last most important literary device is conceit. I think that the poem is really a metaphor for anyone undergoing some kind of transformation. Because the frog does not automatically become a prince, Denise means to say that people should be patient when they experience some kind of change. The last four sentences of the poem played a big role in making me think that this was Denise's overall message.

For Jane Yolen's poem, "Fat Is Not a Fairy Tale," the prominent literary devices are tone, allusion, anaphora, and euphemism. In each stanza, Yolen alludes to a variety of fairy tales, such as "Sleeping Beauty," "Snow White," "Hansel and Gretel," "Rapunzel," and "Beauty and the Beast." For each of the fairy tales, she changes one word, so as to put her own spin on the titles. For example, instead of "Snow White," she says "Snow Weight." These twists definitely contributed to the comical tone of the poem. Yolen's use of euphemism is also prominent in the poem. For instance, she says, "wasp-waisted," "pillowed breast," and "fingers plump as sausage" instead of simply saying "fat." Finally, the last literary device that stuck out for me was the anaphora. Yolen begins each of the three stanzas with "I am thinking of a fairy tale." For me, this had the effect of making the tone conversational, in addition to comical. As I read each successive stanza, I felt like the speaker was sitting in a big chair, telling me the poem, instead of reading it; in other words, the anaphora made the poem feel like an actual fairy tale instead of simply a poem. By putting her own twists on every fairy tale mentioned in the poem, Yolen means to say that regardless of what someone looks like, they can still live his or her own fairy tale. The last stanza of the poem made me think that this was Yolen's message.

Purpose of the Novel

I'm shocked that no one has posted anything here yet. So I guess I'll get it going. Of the four possible choices I definitely agree with number four (4) the most. I don't think this novel is very realistic. All the details about the murder are just too coincidental/perfect for it to be possible. Especially that he never actually gets caught even though everyone is on to him. I agree that this novel is symbolic of "man" in general. It captures the essence of man on a number of levels. Firstly, we have the progression of ideas that has occurred throughout time as it relates to the perspective on life. All of the philosophies that we studied in class that arise in the text have at one point been considered realistic possibilities and considered as fact. Overall, in the way that these ideas are introduced they are not necessarily judged but rather explained. These explanations are conveyed through character dialogue and action and serve to weigh their pros and cons rather than to show their effects.

Crime & Punishment

So, i know we aren't supposed to blog so i doubt anyone will look here but i had some questions/wonderings on the reading.... First of all something i noticed is that Dostoy keeps on using the word "latter" even when there arent two things being mentioned or at least when there is no need for clarification. So im not sure if this is to reference again the dualities and whatever like Raskolnikovs inner struggle or if its just a russian literature thing. Something else that bothered me a lot is that there wasnt really a transition into the new landlady, like i know everyone hated the first one but we as the reader didnt really get an introduction to the new one other than in Raskolnikovs delirious state. Another thing that i really was semi-confused about was Razumikhin's unbelieveable willingness to help Raskolnikov, like i get that he is lonely but isnt that a bit much? It seems like Raskolnikov has a lot of people on his side even after he has committed an act of murder (which i dont look down on him for) but i think it is beginning to mess with his conscience.

Crime and Punishment

I always find writing the opening sentence for these blog posts annoying, so I'll just jump straight into my review of C&P through an existential lens.

The two main characters of the first two chapters, Raskalnikov and Marmeladov, are searching for meaning in their lives. Both are muddling around and acting in somewhat strange manners. Marmeladov is quite drunk and trying to find pity despite having performed actions that he himself views as inexcusable. Raskalnikov is wandering around, planning something, and reviewing himself. He is constantly analyzing what is going on around him and inside his head, but this analysis is somewhat disconnected from his actions. Basically, both men are unsure what to do with their lives and are mentally and metaphorically lost without some purpose in their lives. So my question is, will either of them find their purpose? (Does anyone else think of Avenue Q when reading that sentence?) Or will they be lost forever?

The End of the Dead

The Ending of the Dead:

It feels, perhaps, like we have been talking about this forever-, which is at once frustrating and fascinating. A large part of Joyce’s beauty, true beauty is in the universality of that message and in the way in which he renders it. It is so universal, say, that at alternate times in ones’ life, the language, the ending, the story, holds a different meaning. A choose your own adventure for the heavy-duty literary types, or as Foucault said, Headed toward death, language turns back upon itself; it encounters something like a mirror; and to stop this death which would stop it, it possesses but a single power: that of giving birth to its own image in a play of mirrors that has no limits, "Language to Infinity But as we Millburnites are a group wholly uncomfortable with ambiguity and lack of control, I can only offer these two interpretations as in reference to the commonly asked What does it mean?
It could stand as a negative reading- meaning that in this moment of self-actualization, Gabriel chooses to sacrifice his sense of self- to be more like Michael Furey, leading to his ultimate paralysis. Some readers are skeptical of the sincerity of the moment, wondering exactly how “generous” his tears actually are, critiquing his bitterness at Gretta’s appearance. They further this reading by stating that “swoon” here relates to the unconsciousness of death, and mark the ending as depressing.
But then there are readers like me, who read The Dead and get tears in their eyes, who staunchly defend the final paragraphs as some of the most beautiful in all of literature, who feel the ending with every last fiber of their beings. Because, to us, the end of The Dead is transcendent. Because in that moment of realization and self-actualization, of heightened awareness and simply being, Gabriel puts the world into perfectly placed perspective. We are all part of this human condition. We will all experience love and loss and failure. We will all know disappointment and joy. We will all be uncertain and sometimes frightened, or even plainly scared. And in knowing this, in channeling this feeling of connection, there is, even in the bleakest of hours, hope.
And hope inspires. It inspires actions and ideas, gestures and feelings. Life is a remarkable reckless wonder. And that’s enough to make this reader swoon.

So let’s say goodbye to James Joyce and hello to Holiday break. I’ll miss you but I hope you each have a wonderful time! Relax and enjoy!
And get excited for axe murderers and Siberian prisons, prostitutes with hearts of gold and gritty hot St. Petersburg! Crime and Punishment is next!

Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet...

What does the opening of this story mean? I'm not trying to completely cop out of answering the question, but I don't think that the line "Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet" has much hidden meaning. One of the key words in the sentence is "literally," and I think we are to interpret the sentence literally as it is written. Lily is breathless and ragged from running up and down the stairs in order to set things up for the big event. I think that Joyce uses Lily merely to set the scene, and he employs this line to show a hectic beginning to the evening.

I have a feeling that this won't be such a popular opinion, since it's not based on a real deep reading of the text, but while it's tempting to tie this in to some larger theme of life being entirely overwhelming, I really don't think Joyce intended for this line to mean much more than the literal words on the page.