Oedipus Rex- Prologue and Scenes 1&2

Abstract
     Oedipus is is the King of Thebes, and ruler overall. He orders Kreon to visit two different shrines and see what the gods want him to do about his town. Oedipus needs answers from the gods because his city is dying from a plague. Kreon is days late from him travels and this worries Oedipus. Once Kreon gets home he tells Oedipus that they must kill everyone because they need to avenge the death of Laios and figure out who killed him. Oedipus doesn't agree with this thought completely.
       Oedipus demands that any people that know about Laios's death must speak up. If they do they'll receive an award. Oedipus is determined to find the murder. He expresses that the penalty for killing Laios is that the murder is not allowed in any homes in the city of Thebes. The murder will also not be allowed in the church and never be spoke to by Oedipus Rex.
       Oedipus orders all his workers to be under oath and tell what they know about Laios's death. Kreon doesn't show up to this which makes Oedipus suspicious because he was the one who spoke of the murder in the first place.
      Oedipus then talks to Teiresias and begs him to tell Oedipus who the murderer is, but Teiresias refuses to talk. Oedipus figures out that Kreon made all this up so that he could get the throne, which angered Oedipus even more. Kreon says he didn't kill Laios, but Oedipus doesn't believe Kreon. He talks to his wife, Iokaste, about it and she says that Kreon never lies. This just make Oedipus even more angry because his wife isn't on his side of this fight. Kreon claims that Oedipus killed Laios which is actually his father. The reason why Oedipus did this is so he would be with his mother. Oedipus can't believe that Kreon would say something like that and wants him killed.



Response
    This whole story is based on the thoughts that Oedipus is thinking. Everything that he does is based on his emotions even if has nothing to back up his belief. I feel that Oedipus's anger is what gets the best of him. Just because Oedipus is ruler means he can do whatever he wants no questions asked. Most people in the city of Thebes don't challenge his decisions, except for Kreon. Kreon feels as though he really knows whats right and the indeed Oedipus is the murder of Laios. Kreon says this because he knows that this will anger Oedipus and get him off topic of thinking that Kreon killed Laios. All the tactics used by Kreon are psychological. He wants Oedipus to have to think deeply and maybe even have self doubt so then Kreon won't be killed. This is just one instant when the psychology comes into play in this story.
      As I began to read even more I found that the theory that Sigmond Freud developed is represented. Kreon claims that Laios was indeed Oedipus's father. So he believes that Oedipus killed his father, Laios, so that he could be with his mother. It just so happens that his mother is that one that his is also married to and had a son with. So as you can see Freud's theory is present in this story.

Poetry Entry #2

My Last Duchess

        This poem is based on Alfonso II who was a duke of Ferrara in Italy and loved his duchess very much. He had her painted on a wall. This painting is admired by the duke. He expresses how alive she looks in the painting and how he wants to show it off to those who enter his home. 

         The duke then begins to talk about his duchess and her characteristics. She had a heart that was easy  to make happy. Her skin was very pale and flush. Then the duke starts to tell a story about the duchess being in the orchard and she was lost. A guy with a horse helped her out of the orchard and she blushed as she said thank you. This happened often that she would flirt with other guys. 

          The Duke talks about how the Duchess should be happy with him because she is with someone who has a nine-hundred year old name. He starts to order her around and tell her what she should do. The duchess doesn't like this at all. She becomes unhappy and eventually leaves him.

My Papa's Waltz

        This poem is about a boy that is waltzing with his father, who has been drinking whiskey. As he's dancing with his dad he's trying to ignore the smell of the whiskey that is taking over the air. They danced and danced until the pans in the kitchen ell off the shelves. Then the boy's mother came in with a frown on her face, not too happy at what she saw. The father's hands were worn and battered. As the boy stood with his father he was a lot shorter and his ear rubbed on his dad's belt buckle. As they continued to dance the father took the boy to his bed.

Poetry Enrty #1

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time By Robert Herrick

            I feel like this title says a lot. The first part of the title is “To the Virgins…” This is written to people who don’t take chances or experience much in their lives therefore making them virgins. The next part of the title says, “to Make Much of Time” which is saying live your life and don’t be so cautious all the time.

            The first stanza talks about how you should cherish what you have now because the next moment you know it could be gone. Then it goes on to say in the second stanza that every day you get closer and closer to heaven. This gives you even more of a reason to live your life and try new things all the time. As the poem progresses it talks about how your youth is the best time of your life, even though you’ll go through things that aren’t easy. It only makes you a better person. In the last stanza it expresses that you must use your time you have in life and not regret anything. As you go through your life you’ll lose your youth and you don’t want to have to stay stuck in one place because you were never adventurous.

I wandered lonely as a cloud By William Wadsworth

            The poet is thinking about himself writing poetry and how he must think and wonder to figure out what he wants to write about. He finds himself staring at these daffodils and how they are so blissful. They dance in the breeze and all through the day and night. He talks about how there must be ten thousand of them that just dance and move. All these daffodils make him inspired to write his poetry unlike him sitting at home on his couch, but if he thinks of the daffodils he is inspired to write once again.

Annabel Lee By Edgar Allen Poe

            The narrator is in love with Annabel Lee, which is a maiden that lives in a kingdom by the sea. Annabel and the narrator have been in love forever; since they were little. Annabel Lee was the most loving person and loved with so much love.

            The angels of the high heavens wished for the love between these two to be taken away. By taking this love away this killed Annabel Lee because that’s what she lived for. Annabel Lee’s death saddens the narrator and he will never leave her side. He will always love her whether she’s physically with him or not.

            Everything that the narrator sees reminds him of Annabel Lee, like the stars and the moon makes him think of her and her beauty. When night comes he lies down next to her tomb and falls asleep with her by the sea, which is where they spent most of their time together.

            

The Red Convertible By Louise Erdrich

Abstract
         Henry and Lyman are brothers that live on an Indian Reservation. Lyman is the brother that has all the luck. He does various jobs and ends up owning a the diner that he first started working at as a bus boy. One day a tornado hits the diner. Lyman isn't too worried though because he gets insurance money for it. One day Lyman and his brother take off to buy a red convertible they saw. They take this car on a trip all the way up to Alaska, because they picked up a girl who needed a ride there. Once they get home Henry is called to the Vietnam War. Henry finally returns home after three years and appears to be different. He doesn't speak or stop moving around. Lyman wants Henry to look at the convertible, so Lyman goes out and breaks parts and bangs it up so Henry will have to fix it up in order to drive it. Henry finally gets all fixed up and they go for a drive. Henry insists that Lyman take the car for himself, Lyman says no, and they begin to fight. Lyman agrees to take it finally. Henry and Lyman stop along this river and start drinking. Henry says he's going to go for a swim, but the current carries him away. Lyman can't believe this and he pushes the car into the river after Henry.


Response

         “The Red Convertible” is a story that truly depicts the horror that a family goes through when having a member of the family go to war. Henry and Lyman are brothers and have a close relationship with each other. They get their money together and decide to buy a red convertible to share. This red convertible is that representation of their relationship. Henry and Lyman’s relationship starts out in good condition, just like the newly bought car. Then they take it on a road trip to Alaska. The car needs some fixing up, but still remains nice.

            Henry is called to war and has to leave behind his brother and car. This shows that he leaving or kind of abandoning his relationship with his brother. While Henry is away Lyman tries to write to him, but the enemy intercepts the letters and Lyman is pretty sure they never get to Henry. In this part of the story to can see the relationship is falling apart, so is the car. Lyman begins disassembling the car and taking out parts and re-doing them. This again proves that the red convertible represents Henry and Lyman’s relationship.

            After three years Henry finally returns home. He isn’t the same at all. He won’t talk and he is very jumpy, and can’t sit still. He continues to not talk or be social for many weeks. The only thing that intrigues him is the color television that Lyman bought for his mother. He likes this because it’s so real and doesn’t look like the past.

            One day Lyman goes out to the convertible and destroys it and breaks parts to see if Henry will notice. After a few months pass Henry finally notices and yells at Lyman for not keeping it nice. So Henry begins to fix it and re-do it. This represents that start to Lyman and Henry mending their relationship. After lots of hard work Henry finally gets the car running, and their relationship becomes mended and well.

            One day they take the newly fixed car out on a drive. Henry all of a sudden becomes white and furious. Lyman knows exactly what’s happening. Henry figured out that Lyman purposely broke parts and hurt the car so Henry would fix it. Henry explains that Lyman must have the car, but Lyman refuses. They stop the car and begin fighting. Finally they stop and laugh about it and Lyman says he’ll take the car.

            Henry says he’s going to swim quickly in the river along the side of the road where they stopped. Lyman hears Henry splash into the river but then it becomes silent. Lyman rushes to see what’s wrong. He finds that the current in the river has taken Henry and he can’t fight it. This saddens Lyman. Lyman goes and gets the car and puts in neutral and let’s in dump into the river. This is the end of the car and the end of Lyman and Henry’s relationship.

The Things They Carried By Tim O'Brien

Abstract
         Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is that narrator in this story. He is telling the lives of soldiers during the Vietnam War. He explains what everyone carries and why. Henry Dobbins was a big man and he carried extra rations of food. Dave Jensen carried personal hygiene items. Ted Lavender carried tranquilizers like dope. Norman Bowker carried a diary and Kiowa carried a Bible. There were many others things that these men all had to carry that didn't differ between each other, but the things listed above were some things that differed depending on the person. Jimmy Cross always carried pictures of Martha and her letters. He would read them ever night. Whenever Jimmy was at war he would find himself day dreaming about Martha. This cost him a man on day. He wasn't paying attention and Ted Lavender was coming back from the bathroom and was shot down. This was a wake up call for Jimmy and he realized he couldn't dream about Martha any longer.


Response
           The character’s names in the story “The Things They Carried” are representative of their attitudes and what they carried with them in war. Another thing to look at is the significance of the title throughout the story. When looking at facts about Tim O’Brien I found that he served in the Vietnam War. I can evaluate this story on these things pointed out above and how they all have symbols in the story.

            The character that stuck out to me the most was Ted Lavender. Lavender is known to be a scent that is calming and relaxing. This idea is also represented by the things that Ted Lavender carries with him while are war. He carries dope and other tranquilizers. This is just like relaxing and calming him down so he feels no emotion or pain. So as you can see Ted Lavender’s name represents what he is carrying.

            Another name I found that represents what they’re carrying is Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. As Jimmy explains in the story is that he loves Martha, who is a junior at Mount Sebastian. While he is at war he finds himself day dreaming about Martha, and not focusing on his job. This is why I think Tim O’Brien named him Jimmy Cross because he’s crossed between war and someone he loves. He is trying to do two things at once, but it’s not working because one of his soldiers dies.

The title “The Things They Carried” makes you think it’s just going to be a story about people who carried some kind of object. In this story the people are soldiers at war and they are carrying guns, ammunition, food, and things to stay alive. But not only did they pack these things they had personal belongings that represented them as a person. One guy carried a bible because he was deep into his religion. One guy carried extra food because he was large in size. It wasn’t just objects and material things they carried, but also memories and mental blocks. They carried memories of people who had died that they had seen, but got to the point that they could block it out. They also carried the thought to duck and run anytime they heard a gunshot. These men were trained to do this and they carried that training with them to fight and stay safe.

All the experiences found in this book we so surreal. It made you think that you were actually in the war while reading the story. Tim O’Brien was able to make this story so real because he fought in the Vietnam War, which this book was written about. I think that the characters and the events that took place within this story are modeled after what Tim saw. I’m guessing that all the characters were his friends and were in his troop.

Everyday Use By Alice Walker

Abstract
          There is a girl named Maggie and she has a sister named Dee. They aren't treated the same at all by their Mama. Dee is the skinny beautiful girl that everyone likes and she gets everything handed to her by her mom. On the other hand Maggie gets nothing, and appear different than others because she was burned in a fire. Dee is sent to college by her mother, and years go by and Dee comes back to visit. She has changed her name and dresses in African style clothing, also with her is her new husband. Dee starts taking old objects from the past. She takes a dash and some quilts. The mom see that Dee won't take cure and pass on the family heritage with the quilts so Mama takes them from Dee. Dee can't believe this is happening. Mama then gives the quilts to Maggie because she knows that Maggie will pass the heritage on to future generations by her sewings.


Response

            “Everyday Use” was a story that I thought was a good explanation of how women live their lives. If you think about the title and what it means, it defines women. Women are thought to be the ones who do the house work; they cook, clean, sew, etc. This is exactly what Mama had done all her life in this story. She passes these same trades onto Maggie. Maggie is the less-fortunate girl in the family. Her sister Dee is pretty and smart. The only reason Maggie is less-fortunate is because when she was younger the house started on fire and Maggie couldn’t get out of the house without getting her skin burned. At the start of the story Mama never pay attention to Maggie and this view transforms throughout the rest of the story.

            Mama never had an education and she wanted one of her daughters to have one, so she sends Dee to college. This was what Dee wanted because she always complained about living on a farm and doing outside work. Dee comes back years later and has changed her appearance. Mama doesn’t like the change and Maggie never really liked Dee in the first place.

            When Dee is looking around the house she sees objects that represent where she’s from. She asks Mama if she can have a hand carved butter churn and a dasher. Then she goes up into Mama’s room and takes the old quilts and garments from a chest. She explains how she is going to display all this stuff at her house. Mama doesn’t like this is idea at all and snatches the quilts from Dee’s grasp and gives them to Maggie. This angers Dee, and she says that Maggie won’t appreciate the quilts because she’ll use them for “everyday use”. Mama explains that Maggie knows how to fix them or re-sew a whole new quilt if needed.

            The term, “everyday use” is not a bad thing like Dee makes it sound. If you use something for everyday use that means it’s important to you. It means that you value whatever it is and want to make sure you’re reminded of it every day of your life. So when Dee refers to everyday use being bad she’s actually thinking illogical.

            The reason mother takes the quilt from Dee and gives them to Maggie is because she knows that the heritage of the family will live on. She knows that Maggie will be able to sew quilts to pass on to her family and so on. If she had given the quilts to Dee she would never pass them on and eventually they would be thrown away or sold to someone who had no appreciation for them.

            Not only does Mama transform throughout this story, but so does Dee. First of all she changed her name because her old name represented oppression. Dee also changes her lifestyle and her looks. By doing this Dee is losing her heritage and how her life is defined. Heritage is a key part of this story and that’s why Mama wouldn’t let Dee take the quilts. She knew that Dee wouldn’t appreciate them as much as Maggie and she wouldn’t take care of them as well.

The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara

Abstract
            Sylvia is a young girl living in the "slums". Throughout the neighborhood there are many other kids; most of them are cousins to Sylvia. None of these kids receive any education because their parents never have time to worry about them. Miss Moore is a large black lady who mentors these kids. She takes them on educational field trips. Sylvia always dreads going with Miss Moore because she's boring. All the kids get ready and take a trip into the city to fifth avenue. Once they get to fifth avenue they are all in shock to see all the nice clothing and toys in the windows. Miss Moore said that they could go into the toy store and look around but Sugar and Sylvia hesitate because they feel out of place. At the end of their visit to the toy store Miss Moore asks what they leaned and Sugar says that she learned that one toy boat is the same amount of money that could support their family's cost of food for a year. 


Response

            While reading, “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara I felt it was all based on money and the social class of people. The criticism I immediately felt related to this story was Marxism. At the start of the story you know from the word choice that the narrator must not be well educated. The first few words are, “Back in the days when…” this shows that proper grammar is not being used. Whenever I read and hear someone with poor grammar or vocabulary I think that means they’re not well educated, which in this story is true. Sylvia the narrator lives in the “slums” they way Miss Moore states it. This makes Sylvia part of the lower class of socioeconomic standing.

            It is apparent that education is not important to these kids or their parents. When the children are talking to Miss Moore they talk about how they don’t know where their parents are. In one case one of kids says he doesn’t even have a home. This shows you just how poor the value of education is to these families because their parents don’t even manage to take them to school. In the story Sylvia states that she doesn’t even live with her mother. She lives with her aunt. Her mother lives up the street in an apartment with another lady. Sylvia states that she doesn’t know what they do but she suspects they sit around and drink.

            The children go on a field trip into the city with Miss Moore one day. She hands Sylvia five dollars to pay for the cab. This make Sylvia excited and she can’t imagine what she could all buy with this money. At one point in the story she wants to stop the cab and get out and run away with the money. This just shows how in need Sylvia is for money and how sacred it is to her.

            They arrive on Fifth Avenue and see that there are many people roaming the streets. The stores are all expensive and Miss Moore tells the children that the will walk around and look in the windows at all the different things to buy. At one point a kid spots a toy boat and the price says a thousand some dollars. The children can’t believe that someone would pay that much for a toy. Miss Moore tells the children that they can go into the toy store and look around. All the kids rush through the door eager to get in, but once Sylvia and Sugar reach the doors they stop. The feel like their being looked at as they enter. They are different than the others in the store. They also notice that the store is quiet. They expected it to be loud with songs and children playing with toys. This is such an experience for Sylvia and the other children because their families don’t have money for toys. They can barely supply their families with food. That is why they are so astonished with the toys and how expensive they are.

            When all the children are done looking they all come outside. Miss Moore asks them what they thought of the store and what they learned. Surprisingly Sugar speaks up saying that the cost of the sailboat could pay for what all the children eat in one year. Sugar expresses how she can’t understand why anyone would ever pay that much for a toy. This is the turning point in the story because this is the whole reason Miss Moore took them in the field trip. So they could see how others live and how people use their money on different things.

            As the story ends Sylvia starts thinking about how people become rich and why can’t she? It ends up all coming down to education. You must have a good education in order to get a good job and make money. Sylvia sees how people with money live better lives and are happier. I think this is turning point for Sylvia and will inspire her to learn more so she can get to where people are that she saw on her field trip that day in the city. She even states it at the end of the story that, “But ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin.” This shows that Sylvia is determined to be better than her mother and the people that live in the slums.