1. Did you choose a film you had not seen before?
-no, I pick one I hadn’t seen after acquiring the opinion of my film major roommate.
2. Choose one of the characters. Describe the characterization. Is the character round/flat, dynamic/static? What is the character's motivation? Point to details to support your answer.
-this movie is split into the perspective of may characters, the general trend is not a reformation of character but over time we see different aspects of their character that were already present. In the policeman’s case he is introduced as a racist bigot which is true for the most part but a softer side is present as we see when he haves the black woman from a burning car.
3. What is one of the themes in the film? How is this theme portrayed?
-racism. We see it portrayed in two major way first is the embodiment despite awareness of it, and the other is an outright obsession that borders an acute paranoia of minorities.
4. How might watching film as literature (instead of simply as entertainment) change the way that you watch movies?
-reading the film as a literary work encouraged me to see mean in the film, look at the intentions of the author, and pay attention to exact word choice in dialogue between characters. Otherwise my main focus would be on entertainment.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
This story has a no direct statements of allegory and was difficult to draw symbolic conclusions from. For the most part it proceeds like a narrative with strange accuracies happening through. When Pelayo and Elisenda first stumble upon the angel they are completely perplexed on the correct course of action. This lack of personal opinion on their part cease to diminish as the story continues. Infect their overall demeanor remains stagnant from start to finish, the angel is mealy and annoyance nothing more. The main source of information comes from two sources which seem to be flawed most of the time, the neighbor woman “who knows everything about life and death” and Father Gonzaga. This situation is parallel to another issue that is intertwined in the present say social environment.
The angel represents the handicapped and mentally disabled quite nicely. The most obvious reason for this correlation is the angel’s appearance. He is different than what we refer to as normal. The second is that the angel has no means of petitioning for himself. He speaks in an “incomprehensible dialect” and makes no attempt to better his condition on his own accord. He also behaves strangely and his actions are not easily understood by the people observing him. Like when he is freed for the chicken coop he wonders about the house, they treat him as a annoyance but don’t try to comprehend this phenomena.
Pelayo and Elisenda represent the common person, me and you. Like these two, most have no opinion and no desire to form one on the matter of funding and caretaking of the mentally challenged. What dose not directly affects us we neglect and leave up to another to handle. A considerable underfunding of programs to support these people and the government’s budgets cuts in this department has a negligible effect on the average person so we pay little attention to it. But this is where our first fault is made; we have redefined what it is to be human to a likeness of being the average majority. The disabled often behave like children and some posses the mental development that falls in line with this claim. Children are easily considered human so why not the disabled. In the end the angel flies away and Elisenda is relieved to be rid of the annoyance. This strikes true with interactions most have with the mentally challenged, the quicker they escape from the situation to sooner they can rid themselves of the annoyance it is trying to communicate with someone with a less developed thought process. Is there is anything not human it’s treatment of others like Pelayo and ELsenda treat the angel.
The angel is different, just like the mentally challenged people but he still has the same needs as a person of adequate intellect. Upon his misfortunate landing into the Pelayo’s courtyard the angel is seen with tears in his eyes, he can feel pain and he understands sadness. Later on as the plot progresses and the angel is being housed in the chicken coup and can only be accessed for an admission fee. In this instance his passivity is brought into question. One of the spectators prods him with a branding iron, and he is said to respond with cries of pain, and again with tears in his eyes. A distance in time later when the dilapidated chicken finally gives way the angel is seen singing sea shanties into the wind. This shows that he is capable of dreaming, believing that he can escape the foul place and resided in one much grander. All of these examples play a role in forcing us to empathize with the angel. Most have not developed the need to help the mentally challenged just because we don’t know of the condition they are in.
This brings me to the main source of information regarding the angel, the neighbor women and father Gonzaga. These two represent a lack of free thinking and an absence possibly due to laziness in developing a personal rational for this particular situation. Specifically the neighbor is a source of false information. For instance when she tells the couple to feed the angel moth balls, this advice is followed without considering the logic of her statement. She represents taking information at face value and a cop out when it come to free thinking. By the neighbor I believe Marquez is proposing a reformation in thinking. Stop the go with the flow attitude, believing that the best will be worked out if you remain absent from the argument is absurd. This is a challenge to stop believing what you’re told though filtered media and take a stand, be the mouth of those that cannot speak.
In accordance with his vocation father Gonzaga represents the churches actions toward the mentally handicapped. The first course of action taken by the father is an exanimation of the angel to question his legitimacy as a divine being. His conclusion must pass though several persons before a final verdict is reached. This waiting period represents the reluctance the church has to accept the mentally challenged into the congregation. The disturbance might be too much of a hassle and no profit to the environment of God. On this matter the church has turned from its obligation to help all people and resorted to following the new definition on what people are. This corresponding with Father Gonzaga’s rejection of the angels’ divinity and once he made his decision he had nothing more to do with the angel.
If I have received anything from this text it is a wakeup call. It poses a present problem and called me out on the neglect of the mentally challenged. I have been passive on the issue and ultimately categorized these people differently that myself. I now have a new understanding of what it means to be human, and the mentally disable have no problem fitting into that genera.
The angel represents the handicapped and mentally disabled quite nicely. The most obvious reason for this correlation is the angel’s appearance. He is different than what we refer to as normal. The second is that the angel has no means of petitioning for himself. He speaks in an “incomprehensible dialect” and makes no attempt to better his condition on his own accord. He also behaves strangely and his actions are not easily understood by the people observing him. Like when he is freed for the chicken coop he wonders about the house, they treat him as a annoyance but don’t try to comprehend this phenomena.
Pelayo and Elisenda represent the common person, me and you. Like these two, most have no opinion and no desire to form one on the matter of funding and caretaking of the mentally challenged. What dose not directly affects us we neglect and leave up to another to handle. A considerable underfunding of programs to support these people and the government’s budgets cuts in this department has a negligible effect on the average person so we pay little attention to it. But this is where our first fault is made; we have redefined what it is to be human to a likeness of being the average majority. The disabled often behave like children and some posses the mental development that falls in line with this claim. Children are easily considered human so why not the disabled. In the end the angel flies away and Elisenda is relieved to be rid of the annoyance. This strikes true with interactions most have with the mentally challenged, the quicker they escape from the situation to sooner they can rid themselves of the annoyance it is trying to communicate with someone with a less developed thought process. Is there is anything not human it’s treatment of others like Pelayo and ELsenda treat the angel.
The angel is different, just like the mentally challenged people but he still has the same needs as a person of adequate intellect. Upon his misfortunate landing into the Pelayo’s courtyard the angel is seen with tears in his eyes, he can feel pain and he understands sadness. Later on as the plot progresses and the angel is being housed in the chicken coup and can only be accessed for an admission fee. In this instance his passivity is brought into question. One of the spectators prods him with a branding iron, and he is said to respond with cries of pain, and again with tears in his eyes. A distance in time later when the dilapidated chicken finally gives way the angel is seen singing sea shanties into the wind. This shows that he is capable of dreaming, believing that he can escape the foul place and resided in one much grander. All of these examples play a role in forcing us to empathize with the angel. Most have not developed the need to help the mentally challenged just because we don’t know of the condition they are in.
This brings me to the main source of information regarding the angel, the neighbor women and father Gonzaga. These two represent a lack of free thinking and an absence possibly due to laziness in developing a personal rational for this particular situation. Specifically the neighbor is a source of false information. For instance when she tells the couple to feed the angel moth balls, this advice is followed without considering the logic of her statement. She represents taking information at face value and a cop out when it come to free thinking. By the neighbor I believe Marquez is proposing a reformation in thinking. Stop the go with the flow attitude, believing that the best will be worked out if you remain absent from the argument is absurd. This is a challenge to stop believing what you’re told though filtered media and take a stand, be the mouth of those that cannot speak.
In accordance with his vocation father Gonzaga represents the churches actions toward the mentally handicapped. The first course of action taken by the father is an exanimation of the angel to question his legitimacy as a divine being. His conclusion must pass though several persons before a final verdict is reached. This waiting period represents the reluctance the church has to accept the mentally challenged into the congregation. The disturbance might be too much of a hassle and no profit to the environment of God. On this matter the church has turned from its obligation to help all people and resorted to following the new definition on what people are. This corresponding with Father Gonzaga’s rejection of the angels’ divinity and once he made his decision he had nothing more to do with the angel.
If I have received anything from this text it is a wakeup call. It poses a present problem and called me out on the neglect of the mentally challenged. I have been passive on the issue and ultimately categorized these people differently that myself. I now have a new understanding of what it means to be human, and the mentally disable have no problem fitting into that genera.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
symbolism
After reading the first few paragraphs I instinctively equated the angle to being a symbol. My inference was confirmed a few moment later when I finished reading the story, glanced up to the top corner of the page and saw that the section title was “symbolism.” But that realization only goes so far the real conundrum comes into play with the question, what does the angle represent? Honestly I find the answer elusive as if I’m reading the instructions to a precise procedure with the lights off. I can see bits and pieces, possibilities, but still lack confirmation in my own mind. A fancy was of saying I don’t know.
An apparent theme is the aspect of suffering and the indifference the angle bears to said aspect. I felt as if I was physical in pain while reading the obstacles the angle faced and the mal treatment he was given by the human spectators watching him in his abysmal condition. My pace of reading slowed and only drugged on as I carried myself to the next work reluctant of what atrocities it my hold for the angle. I was weighted with this since of pity, this being, possible deity, treated with such little reverence but at the same time he exhibited no actions that deserved it. He just sat, digging his whole deeper by merely existing. After surviving near death and receiving no encouragement the angel flies away bearing only the title of “annoyance.”
Going back to my un-assurance I don’t know if the angel represents anything otherworldly at all or if he just signifies our insensitivity to someone different. Seeing as the theme for the past few days in class has been the mentally challenged my mind jumps to that relation. The human’s treatment of this angle is similar to the majority’s treatment of the mentally handicapped.
An apparent theme is the aspect of suffering and the indifference the angle bears to said aspect. I felt as if I was physical in pain while reading the obstacles the angle faced and the mal treatment he was given by the human spectators watching him in his abysmal condition. My pace of reading slowed and only drugged on as I carried myself to the next work reluctant of what atrocities it my hold for the angle. I was weighted with this since of pity, this being, possible deity, treated with such little reverence but at the same time he exhibited no actions that deserved it. He just sat, digging his whole deeper by merely existing. After surviving near death and receiving no encouragement the angel flies away bearing only the title of “annoyance.”
Going back to my un-assurance I don’t know if the angel represents anything otherworldly at all or if he just signifies our insensitivity to someone different. Seeing as the theme for the past few days in class has been the mentally challenged my mind jumps to that relation. The human’s treatment of this angle is similar to the majority’s treatment of the mentally handicapped.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Define: identity
I spent several hours over the course of Friday and Saturday at the Polk museum of art. I was quite easily enamored with the artwork and ultimately the atmosphere of the place. Precise footsteps on the marble floor and the air always present with a thin layer of concentration. The experience was an intellectual high that took a spiritual turn truly transforming my mind. After some time I found myself on the second floor, spotted a chair and decided to take a rest and that’s when I say the photograph I wrote my ekphrastic on.
At first I acquainted myself with the more obvious approach, which was trying to decipher this person’s personality by the pile of their possessions lumped together in the bottom portion of the photo. Shortly I realized that no deep resolutions could be formed by such average items. He was a musician and he wore a hat but that’s what he did not who he is. That’s when the portions of this picture struck me as odd. The possessions only took up a fragment of the total area the rest being filled with a blank, black space. My interpretation being the outward appearance does not directly relate to the actual personality of a particular person. For this person, I find the photo to be an expression of identity crisis. Yes, there are these things, but there is also this emptiness, an uncertainty of his actual being. Furthermore, the photo prepossess he uses the medium of music to express his inner self and this leads him to find a purpose.
As I gaze upon my melody in the air
My eyes are drawn to what’s not there
The tangible was always fiction
Filled to the brim with nothing,
There is space, and I tell myself to leave it
It’s good, or, if only to blanken the mind it shall stay,
Familiar uncertainty, as my sight gravitates south
Oh, I’ve been here before
This is where sweet lamentations wisp away from my thoughts,
Flower then disappear
Only touching ears of those that know the sound
As a musician that performs night to an audience of day
I ask my melody, my melancholy,
What of me?
If it hadn’t responded
I still wouldn’t know the answer
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Reading for Transformation
The idea of reading for transformation is not new but, McAloon adds some very valid points most being through a Christian lenses. First of all he compares the practice of Lection Divina to the steps a pastor takes in reviewing a sermon, which is true for the most part the main point being that poems not intended to be Christian literature can be viewed as such. The idea stands rich with relevance to me at this time; a thought I have been toying with in my mind for quite some time is, is it possible to worship to a secular song? Undoubtedly I find the answer to be yes, and worship actually comes more naturally to me in this way. McAloon puts it this way, “when we pray with poetry, whether the biblical poetry of the psalms or non-biblical poetry open to Christian appropriation, we open ourselves to the possibility of spiritual experience.” He then ends his argument with a short stanza to solidify the argument.
Christ plays in the thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the father through the features of men’s eyes
Christ is everywhere so then also spiritual transformation can be found in all works Christian and secular alike. Or in the words of Professor Corrigan, “all truth is God’s truth.”
Once the Christian relation is considered and mediation is complete the next step proposed is an active application. The thought is not foreign but the probability of the average person achieving this goal is low. First the “world before the text” must be brought into question. As in how this new discovery might impact your life in a way that was previously absent. This past reflection as described by McAloon, “does not come “back” at all but moves forward into a newness of being.” The act of reading poetry should not be an acquisition of figures and notations marked for the grammatical essence but rather a means of deep relation with the goal of “reappropriation of self.” This self awareness leads to an amelioration of character and reforming of your inner self.
Christ plays in the thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the father through the features of men’s eyes
Christ is everywhere so then also spiritual transformation can be found in all works Christian and secular alike. Or in the words of Professor Corrigan, “all truth is God’s truth.”
Once the Christian relation is considered and mediation is complete the next step proposed is an active application. The thought is not foreign but the probability of the average person achieving this goal is low. First the “world before the text” must be brought into question. As in how this new discovery might impact your life in a way that was previously absent. This past reflection as described by McAloon, “does not come “back” at all but moves forward into a newness of being.” The act of reading poetry should not be an acquisition of figures and notations marked for the grammatical essence but rather a means of deep relation with the goal of “reappropriation of self.” This self awareness leads to an amelioration of character and reforming of your inner self.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
nature is
I went to Lake Bonny Park for this assignment, and I stayed there for at least 40 minutes
Why is nature beautiful?
I don’t know why, but maybe that’s it.
No one has to be told of the sensation when wind blows through the trees or when a lone drop of moisture falls from an above structure and is placed as if by fate on my lips.
All things are held together perfectly at any moment as if under constant watch.
But this is not why nature’s grasp ever holds the mind in bliss
The trees provide life, quite literally
Without nature we die
But that’s not enough
Then why
Grass grabs at my feet only for the fun of it
I tell it to stop and it listens
sometimes there’s stillness for a second
A fraction of time passes when every particle stops itself for me
I don’t know why, but I’m thankful, then the normal flow of events continues
I can’t put my finger on why I enjoy dirt under my fingernails, but maybe that’s it
The aura surrounding me has no definition; it remains nameless like it should
The aroma fills my head lingering then leaving, fresh, clean, clear, real
And then night falls but nothing changes but people
Nature just sits and waits for its opportunity to be seen again
But with nights chill and the moons glow I do not change
Thankfully that’s ok with the woods it will stay around with me as long as I take
Nature is not beautiful because it reliable
The mere existence of a single long stem of grass growing over to the water’s edge catches my eye
Insignificant, I could pull it up and no one will know
But I don’t, in it fragility compels me otherwise
Caught in the wonder that just Is, I’m just being
The blue tinted flowers and the deep green grass just is
Beautiful
Why is nature beautiful?
I don’t know why, but maybe that’s it.
No one has to be told of the sensation when wind blows through the trees or when a lone drop of moisture falls from an above structure and is placed as if by fate on my lips.
All things are held together perfectly at any moment as if under constant watch.
But this is not why nature’s grasp ever holds the mind in bliss
The trees provide life, quite literally
Without nature we die
But that’s not enough
Then why
Grass grabs at my feet only for the fun of it
I tell it to stop and it listens
sometimes there’s stillness for a second
A fraction of time passes when every particle stops itself for me
I don’t know why, but I’m thankful, then the normal flow of events continues
I can’t put my finger on why I enjoy dirt under my fingernails, but maybe that’s it
The aura surrounding me has no definition; it remains nameless like it should
The aroma fills my head lingering then leaving, fresh, clean, clear, real
And then night falls but nothing changes but people
Nature just sits and waits for its opportunity to be seen again
But with nights chill and the moons glow I do not change
Thankfully that’s ok with the woods it will stay around with me as long as I take
Nature is not beautiful because it reliable
The mere existence of a single long stem of grass growing over to the water’s edge catches my eye
Insignificant, I could pull it up and no one will know
But I don’t, in it fragility compels me otherwise
Caught in the wonder that just Is, I’m just being
The blue tinted flowers and the deep green grass just is
Beautiful
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Essence of happiness
Mary Oliver produces optimism at its finest. Someone in a state of perpetual happiness strikes me as “fake” but she pulls it off without a hitch. What she has going for her is her experience, all of which not being all too dandy and she is still to be able to cross words so fluidly without a inkling of bitterness hidden beneath. In Oliver’s shortest poem and what I consider to be the poem that most defines her to me she writes, “Someone I loved once have me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift. This statement parallel’s a verse in Romans, “all things work for the good of those who love the lord.” Of course this is something that I knew but I didn’t really have a grasp on how real this statement is until Mary Oliver told me. This leads me to the next quality that’s prevents her happy definer from vexing me, which is her writing style. She does not sit in the stratosphere and shout truth from an unknown plane, she is sitting right next to me as a friend. Nothing unusual, just a conversation between one human being and another. However, Oliver presents her points with more pristine words than the normal person but not enough to take notice every stanza.
Oliver has this passion for nature that is not subtle but is far from overpowering she writes, “me work is loving the word.” So simple, so powerful. She’s not trying to fulfill the quota of poems produced so she can make an adequate living. She just loves the world, that’s what she does and that’s what she wants to do. This ultimately fuels her personality because she’s doing what she loves. Just hanging out with the earth, having a good time.
Oliver has this passion for nature that is not subtle but is far from overpowering she writes, “me work is loving the word.” So simple, so powerful. She’s not trying to fulfill the quota of poems produced so she can make an adequate living. She just loves the world, that’s what she does and that’s what she wants to do. This ultimately fuels her personality because she’s doing what she loves. Just hanging out with the earth, having a good time.
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