V for Vendetta

In Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s novel, V for Vendetta, the main character, V, commits crimes and kills people in order to create a revolution to change the society he is in.  This government controls everything including what people read, watch, listen to and even where they go.  Everything is under surveillance but the signs read “For your protection”, which creates some suspicion about the true motives when the images are dark and gloomy through the novel.  V kills people that were involved in the Larkhill resettlement camp, which he was once kept in.  V destroys public places, such as The Parliament and the Statue of Justice as a form of symbolism for the people in the town, he also tortures people which is showing readers that killing people is okay as long as it for a good reason.

                As far as this book being in the form of a comic strip I feel it adds to the effect and brings out the emotions of the characters. People sometimes question whether or not a comic book is actual literature but I think that images add to the story in order the emphasize the action and emotions in the story. During  e story the pictures of the Larkhill camp and a necessity and it shows the readers what it actually happening.  When Gordon is murdered, Evey has flashbacks about her mother which creates and added effect for the reader and allows us into her mind’s eye. Also, the images throughout the novel  has small, specific details about history and culture during that time period which are interesting to find and make a connection to history and their impacts. Pictures also carry details that we as readers are able to flip back to and rewind for a small minute and make a connection between different parts of the story.

Morretti's "Graphs, Maps and Trees"

       Franco Moretti's "Graphs, Maps and Trees", approaches a different kind of way to study literature. He uses scientific methods to study literature and history as a whole. Moretti thinks that we should study literature as a big picture in order to grasp the full effect of literature, because we will only be able to read a small percentage of novels in our lifetime. He incorporates graphs into his graphs to show the reader the trends of literary history from different countries and periods of time. These trends can mark the rise and fall of certain topics and genres and he tries to analyze the reasons behind the shifts in the graphs.
       There are multiple advantages to this writing style. I think that a graph is an awesome visual aid to the reader because they can look at a whole picture instead of the writer trying to explain an experiment or trend etc. Also by having a graph is can be a tool to look at the information in different view points such as time periods v.s. genres v.s. different countries. The more data that a writer has to show, the more credible he/she is as an author. I think a disadvantage for this writing style is that the writer didn't give analysis of the graphs and instead just left them for the reader to interpret, possibly incorrectly. Also, each novel written has a specific message behind it and by grouping them together in large chunks I feel takes away from each novel their contributions to society.
       Social, biological and physical sciences have benefited from this method of scientific writing, it is unbiased and shows only obtained information and then allows for interpretation and analysis. It would make life difficult for scientists if they didn't have tools such as charts and graphs to explain their research. Finding general trends is key and then answers/reasons will follow.
         When approaching SSTLS in different light, we wonder why Gary Shytengart choose to write the book. He wanted to alarm society of the path we on with superficial priorities, technology taking over our society, and our future lack of human relationships. Another way to look at SSTLS is to see if any new literature is showing the same picture of society and sending the same message to readers.

M Butterfly and SSTLS

M.Butterfly is a movie based on the play Madame Butterfly by Henry Hwang.  The movie explores themes including gender, ethnicity, and politics which are still controversial in today’s society. A Frenchman, Rene Gallimard falls in love with a “female” opera singer and he fails to see this love in a light of reality and finds himself in a relationship with a man, in the end of the movie Gallimard kills himself.

In the movie, gender and ethnicity issues were found through the character of the “female” Chinese opera singer. In Chinese opera, the female roles were traditionally played by males, and “Butterfly” whom was male was able to pass as a female in such a way that fooled Renee for so long says that Asian men are feminine. When Rene found out his “Butterfly” was a man he didn’t love him the way he loved Rene. Today still a homosexual relationship is looked down upon by some parts of society.

Both in SSTLS and M. Butterfly gender roles are similar.  The Asian woman is small and fragile and falls for an white male. The man is seen as the protector and provider while the women is at home.  Gender roles may be the same but they are interpreted differently.  In the movie, Song points out the when an Asian woman kills herself over her love for a white man Americans see it as beautiful and Chinese feel that this is degrading to their culture.  Song asked if a blonde cheerleader killed herself over and Asian business man was still beautiful.  It is sad but somewhat true.  

I feel that its kind of strange how a book can be set in the future and the movie set in past but still have similar connections to the same themes. Maybe history does repeat itself?

SSTLS Theme brainstorm

Gary Shteyngarts’s fictional novel, Super Sad True Love Story, contains a variety of themes and ideas depicting the “modern” American society of the future.  He writes this novel interestingly through a diary, which is an idea of the future but is considered old and boring to some parts of today’s society. The theme that I found most interesting in the novel is how social media is reshaping society and what it means to be human and social.

Almost everyone in society has an apparati, which is a device that lets you shop, view ratings of yourself and others, check stocks and completely takes your attention away for society around you. “ There they were, crowded around a table, their apparati out, speaking into their shirt collars while thumbing content into their pearly devices..(83)”. Today when you see a group of friends sitting around a table they are usually talking and laughing but in this society “hanging out” means to sit together and get updates on your friends from Global Teens and other virtual applications even though they are right next to you. When a person is actually talking it is almost a surprise to others and this event is usually recorded and streamed online. It is called “verballing in real time”, in others words talking outside his apparati.

            Everything in this society is based on first impressions and people rate you in all catagories from personality to f***ability. One of the applications is called FAC, which means form a community. “ ‘ It’s, like, a way to judge people. And let them judge you (88)”. This devices takes away from dating, talking and forming bonds through personal contact. Shtyngart also emphasizes this society’s sex appeal how it great influences their daily lives and that this is the road we are headed down. This device encourages browsing a profile to find information about them which will be the determining factor of how compatible they are. This destroys self esteem because no one will have the skills to even start up a conversation and it also takes away from really knowing a person instead of viewing them as number or a stereotype. “Check it out. This girl done got three thousand-plus images, eight hundred streams, and a long multimedia thing on how her father abused her (90)”. This device knows so much about a person and elimates any sort of privacy in this society. The apparati also knows that Lenny likes to dates girls who have a history of parental abuse implying she would be someone he would like.           

This novel shows readers what would happen if  social conduct ceased to exist in the form of conversation in person. Humans will no longer enjoy spending time with each other due to one’s social status and ratings being so important.  

"All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" by Richard Brautigan

In the poem, “All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace”, Richard  Brautigan allows his readers to interpret his views of technology. In each of the stanzas Brautigan has a phrase inside quotations. These phrases can be viewed as sarcasm and thoughts of his he had while writing this poem. “ I like to think (and the sooner the better!)” lines 1-2, he opens the poem with a tone of annoyance. The reason he put these phrases in parenthesis is to show the reader that these are almost under his breath and simply thoughts instead of words actually being spoken. In lines 9-10, “I like to think (right now, please!)” I believe Brautigan is referring to society’s need to technology to be quick, efficient and always improving. He is using these parenthetical phrases to mock society’s need for a modern and convenient lifestyle through technology.  

Without interpreting the phrases in parenthesis  as sarcasm and mockery, the diction in the rest of the poem creates a message of pro-technology to the readers. Lines 3-5, “of a cybernetic meadow where mammals and computers live together” and “pines and electronics where deer stroll peacefully pas computers”, lines 12-14 have a calm and content tone.  It is as if these scenes were normal and accepted.  By pairing together things of nature and technology it makes the scenes seem natural instead of strange. Technology will free society from work will connect us back to nature while, “all watched over by machines of loving grace” lines 24-25. The technology will take care of us and nature will mess peacefully with the new modern improvements.

I believe the poem is anti-technology, the diction and parenthetical phrases jump out at the reader in order to show them that this is what Brautigan is really thinking and that he not agreeing with the poem. Nature, something that is uncontrollable and technology, which is completely controllable are paired together in hopes that readers with see the path society is on, will led to nature being mechanical. This poem was written in a time that untouched nature was beautiful and loved and society didn’t want technology to overtake their daily lives. In conclusion I believe that through Brautigan’s diction and imagery the anti-technology reading is more convincing.

Casabianca

I chose the poem called “Casabianca” written by Felicia Dorothea Hemans, because of the intense sense of imagery it contained.  This poem is about a moment in time where a brave young boy stands on board a ship about to engulfed in flames.  Hemans has vivid imagery of flames rolling along the ship and catching the flag on fire lighting up the sky.  He will not move until his father tells him to without the knowledge of the fact his father is already dead.  Heman’s lonely and heart wrenching image of the boy standing tall and brave but surrounded by death in the waters below touches the readers on an emotional level.  The young boy shows bravery and courage as he waits for his father’s reply about his task.  The young boy continued to call out to his father asking if his task had been completed, “Speak father, must I stay?".  His only answers were booming shots and flames cracking and bringing the ship under water.  The rolling flames symbolize the burning devotion and love the boy has for his father.  The fire brings death to many but life to boy’s undying love and his father’s authority.  He is not going to leave the ship unless his father tells him to do so. Even when the boys knows what is to become of his fate he stands tall and brave and waits. He is still strong enough not to leave his place on the ship even with the certainty of death.  The last explosion of the ship surrounds the boy with light and increases the boy presence and courage in the last few moments of his life.  The last lines of the poem summed the poem together flawlessly, “the noblest thing that perished there was that young, faithful heart.”  The boy’s death was heard louder than all the other deaths put together, enhancing the boy’s courage and loyalty to his father.  The ship had done its part and stood strong as long as it could with stand the heat of the battle but nothing compares to the nobility of the young boy this battle could not beat.

Fly Away Home

I choose to name my blog “Fly away Home” because it represents one of the ways I want to live my life.  All my life I have lived in the same house in a small country town.  The friends I made in kindergarten are still my closest friends today.  Besides growing up in the country, I also grew up in the ring. The ring being the show ring, I have shown animals from guinea pigs to livestock since I was four.  Showing animals has made a huge impact on my life and the direction of my future.  I learned skills such as responsibility, public speaking, interviewing, record keeping, and simply knowledge of the animals I have and partaking in their respective industries. I have won several awards from my career in showing.  I am extremely proud of myself and the person I have become; committed, hardworking, driven, and competitive.  I have been raising show cattle for 10 years now and have started my own business, it is a lot of hard work, but I love every single second of it!  What can I say, I love cows!

After completing my schooling, I want to move to the Mid-West and continue my business there because that is where this industry starts.  I have lived in same town my whole life and I want to live somewhere else, try something different.  Yes, I have been fortunate to have already seen more of this world than your average person has, but I have not lived anywhere else.  I love traveling and I cannot wait to be able to see the rest of the world but I will never forget where I came from and how I was raised.  I will carry those values and skills with me as I fly away home