Figurative Language in Mark Doty’s Broadway

This Spring, Broadway is going GREEN!

Mark Doty’s poem Broadway uses figurative language in a tale of a man’s experience going across Broadway and encountering two (implied) homeless people. The man shows kindness to both of them by even giving them the time of day. One homeless person was asking for change, he instead takes her hand and walks with her. The other was simply reciting a poem, asking for no return. The man empties the change out of his pockets for him. This brings meaning to the poem that outshines the setting itself in my opinion. Those asking for money need compassion, and those full of compassion need money. Though the connection to Broadway escapes me, the larger theme is presented by the use of comparison in figurative language.

I have read and heard that big cities are all about connections. Perhaps one could look at this poem as just another connection found on one of several city streets. The speaker does not get anything in return from any of these people but still feels it necessary to share the experience. As if he was writing a post card and lacked a way to describe the city. Besides that I could really see this being set anywhere. The connection of people in cities is all I could imagine as I read this.

Budget It Up!

Moneyz

Monthly Budget

 

Total Income: $1,200 a month until I get a job. Then it could be as much as $2,000 a month.

Housing and Utilities: $678.33 per month (Included in school payment) http://www.scad.edu/admission/tuition/2009-2010.cfm

Transportation: $80 a month including any home visits I may take. I don’t have much need to use my car that often in Atlanta. With Marta I can pay $40 a month for a student discount leaving $40 extra (or roughly two tanks of gas) for emergency situations or a trip home (which averages at just under a tank and a half). http://www.itsmarta.com/howto/fares.htm

Groceries/Meal Plan: Meal Plan amounts to $453.33 a month. After that I can live off the usual cheap college food. Eight cups of Ramen at 26 cents a cup, 8 servings of canned food at $2.19 a can equates to $19.06 a month.  Thus giving me a total food cost of $472.93 a month (ouch).

Entertainment: If I was to go to the movie theater three times a month at an average of $8.50 a screening,and use netflix at $17.99 a month that equates to . Add an additional $150 for buying clothes every now and then and going out to eat and you have a total entertainment cost of $193.49.

Savings: $50 a month seems like a reasonable amount to put into savings.

Total Expenses: $1474

Budget Balance: Without Job: -274.75  With Job: $525.25

Reccomendations: I have to reduce entertainment costs. Though I doubt going to the movies less would help much. Reducing entertainment costs wouldn’t make much difference if I got so depressed from lack of movies that I killed myself. I would manage as long as I could though.

lol witty kitties

Wit Questions

1. Vivian’s opening monologue informs us that she is a professor of seventeenth century poetry specializing in the poetry of John Donne. She breaks the fourth wall by directly addressing the audience, letting them know that perhaps the way we view her in this play might not be her at her best. She comes off as humorous and not exactly distraught over the fact that she is dying of cancer as she warns us that the events we are about to see will not be pretty like you average Shakespearian play. I am not sure I would like her as a professor; she says a lot of things that I don’t understand at first.
2. Knowing what happens at the end of the play, it is my belief that the doctors know that this will probably not save Vivian’s life and just value it as an opportunity for a fascinating experiment. Though they do encourage Vivian to be strong in typical doctor fashion. I do think Vivian has hope that this can save her or else she probably wouldn’t have gone through with the treatment in the first place.
3. This part of the play serves two purposes. One, it introduces the Flopsy Bunny book that becomes integral to the ending of the play when Vivian’s old professor reads it to her as opposed to the work of John Donne. Two, it shows how Vivian’s relationship with her father and how he taught her is what led her to her love of John Donne, who would end up teaching her many words.
4. Irony in its simplest form is (in my interpretation) when someone presents something or says something that is the opposite of or contradicts the true meaning of what they are trying to do. In Wit irony comes into play when we discover that despite it seeming like the doctor’s just really really wanted Vivian to live another day, they actually were more concerned with research, leaving most of the humanity of the situation outside the door. This is similar to the description of Vivian’s life as a professor. More about the research than the human side of things.
5. She discusses how John Donne presents life and death but as she comes closer to the end and those words become experiences and lose their connection with the literary world. As Vivian begins to lose her sense of being she loses her sense of literature and use of language. The language becomes primal, in a way, through her actions.
6. As Vivian is losing the battle to cancer, she is losing everything else about her life as well. Her strong and unforgiving nature seems to all but disappear. When she remarks on how the medical students are being “taught” her case, it is a portrayal of how she is losing everything about her life to this disease.
7. We are told through stories that Jason tells and also some remarks by Vivian herself that as a professor she “wasn’t exactly a cupcake”. She is described as someone who cares more about her research than her students and seems to have no desire to become friends with anyone or show sympathy. Most notable is a story in which Vivian refuses to give a student an extension on her paper despite the death of her grandmother. Vivian has done everything she can to isolate herself, leaving no one to visit her in the hospital.
8. She seems to grab the concepts of both fear and forgiveness from John Donne’s work. Although by the end of the play I don’t think it has much affect on her feelings of death as much as her natural reactions. By the rejection of a recital of John Donne’s work and the acceptance of Flopsy bunny, we are given a different message entirely (one of love).

1. It is clear that Vivian misinterprets Professor Ashford’s meaning. She means that scholarly acts and sentimental acts should be independent of one another not that you should completely devote yourself to one completely as Vivian does to being a scholar. We see that Professor Ashford did indeed hold a sentimental side at the end of the play when she comes to visit Vivian and speaks of her love for both her and her grandchild.
2. Jason and Vivian both seem to care more about their careers than those involved in their personal lives. It is harder to see this in Jason as a lot of the play (culminating in his miscall of the code) is about him learning to not be this way. It is implied that he might have learned how to be like this from Vivian but his relationship with her before he became a doctor is downplayed.
3. It is only natural that after being on her own for so long that Vivian would feel weird if someone offered to do something for her (or in this case take complete care of her) even in her dying hours. She seems to be removed from some natural human reactions. Such as how disturbed she is when she sees two students mocking the subject of seventeenth century poetry. She is offended but can’t really say why. She prefers instead to point out how their criticism is slightly witty.
4. To think that Jason sees Vivian as “purely” research would be oversimplifying his character. Sure at the end he calls the wrong code but it is clear he has realized what he has done. He does treat her like a human (though it is hard to know if he does this just to humor her). There is a strong sense of guilt Jason feels at the end, causing him to stop the emergency team. He respects her wishes before the very end.

1. Guilty would be the word I imagine. She feels bad for not letting that girl have an extension on her paper so she could mourn her grandmother. This moment along with assuredly several others where Vivian valued research or education over human need has caused her guilt. Though she can’t seem to admit it.
2. I do not think that Susie is not intelligent. If anything she might be more intelligent than Vivian or the doctors around her. She has the ability to balance both humanity and her work into one cohesive thing. Something that most other people in the play have a hard time doing.
3. I would like to think that Susie has a profound effect on Vivian before she passes on. As stated earlier, she balances the two sides of her job well and takes good care of Vivian. Vivian seems to learn from Susie leading to the guilt she alludes to from her past. Susie truly cares for Vivian for the entire length of the play, something you can’t say for Jason.

1. I don’t feel like this is the way to treat patients. They essentially use Vivian for research by providing her false hope. If they had just asked Vivian in the first place if she would like to do this for the benefit of medical science. That would have been the right way to go about things. Vivian doesn’t seem very angry when all is revealed. I would say it was because she is slowly dying throughout the entire play, she would know that the chemo wasn’t helping.

1. With death fast approaching, it is only appropriate Vivian reads “If poysonous mineralls”. She discusses the struggle of death and accepting God or his forgiveness. Vivian hiding under her covers in the play and moving away from human kindness is a sign of fear, the same one the speaker experiences. She is afraid of how God will see her.

1. I do agree that the speaker is hiding behind this wit and is afraid of what is to come. I feel that assessment connects much more to the personal story of Vivian then her own theory. If no such connection exists, why would this part even be in the play? Vivian has been running away from human kindness her whole life and now she is afraid of how God might judge her when she dies.
2. The play is called Wit because of the emphasis the play puts on different types of knowledge and what it means to be intelligent. The irony of the play is that neither Vivian nor the doctors have the wit they need to treat each other like they should. The both find this at the end of the play after Vivian dies.
3. Salvation anxiety fits Vivian pretty well. She is brilliant, and in a way, knows her own brilliance. However, she cannot accept or understand the power of God (or death) and it strikes incredible fear in her. She is not over dramatizing things; it is a very scary thing to experience. She is so brilliant that it frustrates her to not know what will happen next.
4. With the play’s entirety in mind, I can’t say that the soul and body are indeed connected. Vivian refers to herself as if she has just become a dead lab rat or something but really that is just how people are treating her. She still feels, she still thinks, she still is always Vivian. Vivian walking into the light at the end of the play and the connection of “always following” seen in the bunny book push the notion that the body and soul of a person are connected and will always be with you. The soul inhabits the body but the body is not necessary.

1. Once you get enraptured in the puzzle, you will never solve it. The ultimate puzzle is finding a way to not let something like this consume you. As we see, one who becomes consumed in the work forgets the outcome and the good that could come from it. Both Vivian and Jason learn to regret this line of thinking and rightly so.
2. Vivian reverts back to lessons from Professor Ashford, in discussing how to read poetry. She tries to do it properly but still views it as wrong. This provides a double meaning for her apology. One, because she felt she still never got it right (both the poem and life). Two, to apologize for all she feels guilty for.
3. The story of the bunny reflects upon the entire play and Vivian’s life. In a way, the story contains the secret that Vivian was looking for. The comfort of the soul is what Professor Bearing was trying to explain to Vivian in the flashback and she reads it to Vivian in hopes that she will finally get it (the audience can assume she does and dies in peace). The rejection of John Donne (fear) and the acceptance of the bunny story (Hope and comfort in death) is the point of the entire play.

Tone in Anne Bradstreet’s “The Prologue”

Real Talk

I think the message of Anne Bradstreet’s poem is not one of gender equality. I think if anything she wants more gender recognition than anything else. She has come to recognize that women are capable (sometimes more capable) than men of producing great art.  She asserts that all the men she has known in her life instead of creating art, have just scorned and belittled her for attempting to do so.  She is not saying she is equal to men. She is saying that she is already above most men and she wants people to recognize her art without the unnecessary and unintelligent arguments of men trying to put her down.

The change in tone in the last three stanzas appears when the speaker argues that the Greeks were aware of the artistic abilities of women and if they were aware of this then the men of today are essentially lying to themselves.  She pleads that the men of the world begin to acknowledge the artistic accomplishments and works of women without scorn or criticism of their gender. Women have not done the same to them. The tone becomes considerably more sad and pleading then the slightly angered tone that begins the poem. Almost as if she is tired of fighting for her writing to be recognized, she begins to simply plead that men pay attention and call off their useless campaigns of criticism. One could almost see this as a failure on her part to prove her point because she essentially puts herself below men to get them to recognize her but what else could she do?

Fake AP Prompt Response (“A Loaf of Bread”)

This is a loaf.

Both Harold Green and Nelson Reed consider themselves “moral men”. In a detailed and well-written essay explain the morality of the two characters and how the author uses characterization to show us that morality.

Harold Green and Nelson Reed are the primary focus of James Alan Mcpherson’s “A Loaf of Bread”. Nelson Reed is a man who comes from a poor background and believes that everyone should have equal treatment while Harold Green is more middle class and believes that in terms of a business, the owner should have the right to treat and charge people however he wants. This moral quandry between the two men defines their characters. Nelson is defined as a man with heroic qualities who will fight for his rights and is looked up to by people while Green is defined as a family man who truly believes that what he does is right and that no one can tell them otherwise. 

The connection seen between the two characters at the end puts them on the same (or at least complacent) level. Mr. Reed offers to pay for a loaf of bread that Mr. Green gave Mrs. Reed earlier in the day for free. Mr. Reed paying the price of the bread and Mr. Green giving it away for free early shows a common connection between the two (one that transcends any racial boundary implied earlier in the story). Both Mr. Green and Mr. Reed were stubborn with their morals, so stubborn that it caused problems in their home life and (though not explicitly presented) weighed down on their souls. At the end both characters break from their strict moral codes and seem at peace with one another. The two characters grow once they see themselves on a morally equal level.

Writing Topic #1: Bartleby The Scrivener

Pertaining to this assignment.

Early on a sunday morning the speaker of Herman Melville’s Bartleby The Scrivener discovers that his eccentric and extremely unwilling office worker Bartleby has indeed been living in the offices themselves.  To some readers, it would seem obvious that the speaker’s reaction would be one of either horror or extreme annoyance, “the final straw” as it were. However, the speaker does not react in this way, instead he reacts with a feeling of great sadness and perhaps guilt for how he had thought of Bartleby before.
By discovering Bartleby’s possessions (blanket, soap, cheese, etc.) our speaker comes to the conclusion that both he and Bartleby “were sons of Adam” (pg 382) i.e. that they are both human. This comment (Christian in nature, which sets up the speaker’s good will we see later) shows the speaker making some sort of connection with Bartleby, which obviously throws him for a loop as he never expected such a thing to ever happen.

This moment dictates the speakers actions through the rest of the story, particurarily that of the ending. That is not to say that it induces pity exclusively (though it is a strong factor). Most people would seem to be content to just throw Bartleby out and be done with him without thinking twice about the situation. The only one who has the power to do this is the speaker, yet he can’t bring himself to throw something he knows to be human, something that must have some sort of feeling under his blank statuesque exterior out on to the street like common trash.

It is in the speakers good nature, to fight and care for Bartleby’s almost hidden humanity at the end of the story. Without discovering his possessions and therefore his connections to Bartleby, there is no reason to believe he wouldn’t have thrown Bartleby out on the street the very next day while thinking nothing of it. Essentially, the story would have no challenge to the speaker and this challenge, this confliction between career and human kindness is what Bartleby The Scrivener is all about.

A.C. Bradley’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” Summary (Part I)

A.C. Bradley Pictured (I didn't have a lot to work with here)

A.C. Bradley begins by stating that Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the last of the four great tragedies. One of which is Hamlet.  He goes on to compare Macbeth to Hamlet stating that they are similar in their initial appeal (involvement of supernatural elements without the same spectacle of greek tragedies)  but are different in how they portray tragedy. He is quick to mention that the viewer has a closer connection with the characters of Macbeth because they are not as outright evil as characters in Hamlet. (Going back to the introduction where it is stated that the fear the play produces comes from questioning of ones self). He also mentions that the pace and flow of language of Macbeth is quicker, enhancing the tragedy.

He then goes on to talk about the atmosphere Macbeth puts off (notable that he states it is a “rule” that every Shakespeare play must have it’s own unique atmosphere). He makes note that a frequent sign of evil in Macbeth is mention of darkness. Now, while many plays feature the theme of darkness leading to or being caused by evil, Macbeth is notable for it’s use of light to break up the darkness. The light dimly shimmering in the dark is intended to give an image of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. We know they are not completely evil (dark) and what scares us is the good still somewhere inside of them (light). He pushes that blood is another use of imagery that is important throughout the play, almost as if it stains the pages itself. Blood is important because of it’s liquid nature. It is strewn throughout the play, marking everything Macbeth touches with shame and guilt.

Then Bradley discusses the use of dramatic irony in Macbeth stating that is perhaps the best use of it ever. Several quotes and precise timing decisions incite a sense of dread in the audience because they know something bad is coming, though the characters in the play do not. The fear builds up over time, not through scary use of the witches or extreme violence but with building tension and foreshadowing that causes the viewer unimaginable worry.

Witchcraft, King James, and Daemonology in Macbeth

Sabrina conjured up spirits in this cat.

In Reginald Scot’s “The Discovery of Witchcraft”  he addresses the concept of witchcraft from a view of what could only be described as religous common sense. That is to say, his general point is that  people claim witches bring upon the problems of the world such as sickness, failing crop, and even bad weather but don’t realize that these come from a fair and balanced God who does all things (even bad) in his name. To Reginald, this might as well be a fact rather than what he believes. The idea of witches directly contradicts the idea of Jesus, therefore witches cannot exist to a Christian.  He goes on to list incidents in which people can pretend to be witches or pretend other people are witches for their own personal gain. People will find anything to blame something on and witch scares are just a culmination of misplaced belief and fear in Reginald’s eyes.

In King James’ “News from Scotland” and “Daemonology” we see quite a different view on witches but not one that I believe is as well informed or thought out. King James states clearly that he believes in God and witches but never really gives a logical reason for how they coexist. He takes more of a “one of God’s mysteries” stance on the whole situation (which kind of contradicts his point. He believes that witches are people who have dealt in devil’s works in an attempt to bring evil to this world in opposition to God. It seems if anything King James has just bought into the whole witch craze. He speaks of women tortured until they confessed demonic connection, well of course they would admit that to stop being tortuted.  The most important thing King James brings up in terms of Macbeth is one of the ways in which witches enact their evil misdeeds: by influencing men. Perhaps the witches in Macbeth appear closer to King James vision than I once thought…or a mix of sexism combined with fear and confusion towards God caused men to blame their troubles on whoever made them angry.

Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus tackle Free Will as Nathan Kerce applies it to Macbeth

2paths1bike

Martin Luther: Martin Luther takes a view that when given free will the “heart” will always take the road of evil.  Using quotes from Genesis, he tries to push the fact that the notion of free will is nonexistant in Christianity and is more of a “get out of jail free” card for corrupt members of the church rather than an essential part of the human condition.  He claims that free will and sin are inherent with one another. There is nothing there to seperate the two. It is not called free will if a good man only does good things his entire life. Free will is only used to describe situations of sin.

Erasmus: On the other side of the coim, Erasmus believes in the standard Christian concept of free will. He directly points out the fault in Luther’s argument. Specifically referencing the quotes he uses from Genesis. Instead of writing about the human race as a whole, he believes that the quotes reference of specific weak men who will fall to sin when given the option of free will. He defines free will as “a power of the human will by which man be able to direct himself towards, or turn away from, what leads to eternal salvation.”  Instead of free will leading you away from sin, Erasmus believes it only gives you the option of sin. The common belief.

Macbeth: The concept of free will is a large factor in Macbeth. Macbeth, our hero, is given a taste of power and desires more. He has desires to gain more power but would never admit it. He has these desires combined with the evil pull of the witches. Throughout the play he is tempted by evil and eventually succumbs to it by murdering the king.  As a literal example, Macbeth technically works more with Martin Luther’s frame of mind. Macbeth could be seen as fated from the beginning and all “free will” could be defined as the sole reason that Macbeth sins in his mostly comfortable situation.  Though, in my opinion, I don’t believe that Macbeth really falls on either side of the coin. It is much more frightening and tragic for Macbeth to choose evil over good when he could have just as easily gone the other way. If Macbeth does stray more towards Martin Luther’s definition of free will then the majority of the play’s strengths and challenging questions simply disappear.

Macbeth Introduction Summary XVIII-XXI

From what I gather, Robert S. Miola is trying to say that the rhythmic style of the play is very quick paced so that all events can feel as if they are tied to or revolve around the murder. I think maybe Macbeth goes from a hero to a sort of anti-hero and the quick pace is making a point of just how fast that can happen.

The play allows to experience the “thrill and misery” of evil (which becomes it’s driving force). The play loses it’s power once you eliminate or tone down the evil side to characters such as in William Davenant’s adaptation. There has been debate over the true nature of the witches. Are they demonic or are they human? A lot of adaptations seem to refer to the Witches as supernatural creatures but doing that seems to once again lose the effect of evil. It is always more frightening to see evil in a human than it is in a mythical creature. Just as Hitler is more frightening than Scar from The Lion King.  The original play is sort of unclear about the witches nature, perhaps to make a viewer worried.

Two adaptations are described, one from Akira Kurosawa and the other by Welcome Msomi. Their stories seem to differ greatly but both have two major factors: Royalty and evil. It seems that through every adaptation of Macbeth there has been one constant, it focuses on the mystery of evil. Sure, there have been several adaptations that interpret the mystery in less frightening ways but the overall point of Macbeth is for you to question your own desires, leading to fear.