GretaCarroll

Sigmund Freud, the famed psychologist, recognized the power of words: 

“Words have a magical power. They can bring either the greatest happiness or deepest despair; they can transfer knowledge from teacher to student; words enable the orator to sway his audience and dictate its decisions. Words are capable of arousing the strongest emotions and prompting all men's actions.”

 Few people will deny the magical sway that word can have.  In EL 150: Introduction to Literary Study, I have tried to better understand and control this power innate in language.  Reading Sharon Hamilton’s Essential Literary Terms has provided me with a better understanding of the tools I have with which to manipulate words, such as alliteration, syntax, and onomatopoeia.  Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game (besides being a very good book) showed me the writing strategy of a master author to show with words, and not tell.  Learning about suffixes, roots, and prefixes gave me a better understanding of the mechanics behind language.  Blogging helped me to discover the university mind-set and reflect on my own thoughts and on my classmates'.  There is more to literature then just reading a book and saying “what a good book!”  Writing blog entries and picking a specific quote showed me that.  Thinking about what one has read and the strategies the author used in writing opens up a whole new world of possibilities.  Getting blogs in on time was sometimes very difficult and stressful, but getting my ideas out there in a written form where my classmates can review them has really helped me to think critically and see that there is so much more to literature than I previously thought.  I don’t think I will ever be able to read a book the same way again.  I hope to take what I have learned about words and literature and “transfer knowledge from teacher to student” in the future; however, I will not be the student, but the teacher.     

Coverage: These are examples of entries in which I included a quote from the assigned reading and linked my blog back to the course webpage.

·         Sometimes We Just Need to Read a Good Children’s Book

·         It’s not a matter of unpleasantries, it’s more a matter of false assumptions

·         Only the Good Can Be Manipulated

·         Redefining Onomatopoeia

Timeliness:  These are examples of blogs which were posted 24 hours before class or reflections which were posted before class.

·         Being in charge is risky business

·         The Suspense of Science Fiction

·         All About the Vulcan Logic

·         Welcoming in the New—a Good Idea, and Saying Goodbye to the Old—Fluff

Interaction: Some of my entries got the wheels turning in my classmates’ heads, check out our discussion.

·         Ok, Ok, I admit it, planning before writing is important!

·         Sometimes trying hard just screws you up! 

·         “Meaning-of-life Garbage”

Depth: These entries really demonstrate the magic of words.

·         Card’s Lesson on Blogging

·         I May Be Weak, But At Least I’m Not Peter

·         Shakespeare Should Learn How to Count!

·         Alliteration is very valuable, even Valentine uses it!

·         A Writer’s Toolbox Is Never Complete Without (syn)Tacks!

Discussion: The first step is reading and considering the text myself, the next is to get some second opinions.  Here are some discussions I participated in, which were sparked by a peer’s blog entry.

·         Jessie’s Ruthless Tone

·         Maddie’s It’s a kid eat kid space station—the worst school ever created

·         Angelica’s the end

·         Angelica’s Themes

·         Kaitlin’s Humor in Tragedy: It Does Exist

·         Angela’s In Good Company

·         Angela’s Clowns and Literature Don’t Mix

Other Entries and Reflections:  This is a mishmash of blogs you don’t want to miss!  Check out a couple of my other reflections, learn my created word (which will, no doubt, be popping up in dictionaries soon), watch a video on Yahoo, learn some slang, and read my poetry!

·         Just because it’s free (verse), does not mean it’s easy!

·         Write in your own style, don’t copy!

·         Was Emily Dickinson Hyperdemophobic?

·         A Man After Lynne Truss’ Heart

·         Searching for new words on urbandictionary.com, an interesting experience

·         Out My Window

·         For Your Reading Pleasure…I Hope

Poetry Portfolio:

I. Sonnet I

Upon your face there rests a sort of smile.

A special sparkle lights your dark brown eyes,

Because I have been gone for a long while.

I realize your mouth shall speak no lies.

Your greeting is the best hello of all.

I dream that more behave as kind as you,

Who never lets the shade of sadness fall.

Pollution has not crept in your pure dew.

Thus showing me with pride your brand-new toy,

You wish alone for favor in my praise.

Upon receiving it you prance with joy,

And look at me with your adoring gaze.

You climb upon my lap to lick my face,

With crooked tail which wags about fast pace.

II. Sonnet II

So many years ago you walked the earth.

A pen, you brandished, knife, as you used it—

Designing new, words never at a dearth,

Born under Bess, you were a perfect fit.

Still little children recognize your name,

Mature with age, they stammer out your praise.

Exalting you, the greatest ever came,

Some love to study every single phrase.

But some salute not to your sly morals.

A wife, you had, yet many more in bed—

Rumors abound—you caused Marlowe’s fun’ral.

Do we naively eat all we are fed?

Your history smirks, not answering, lest

We, Shakespeare, name as English’s very best.

III. Librarian

 Leaning languidly, loving language liberated luxurious letters

Intermitted interruptions introductorily intrigue

Blessed bliss broken, but benevolence beguiles

Rescuing, respect rendered, received rarely

Accomplishment achieved, aid again and again

Real reading, raw reason, remains remote

Irrational interest in “innovative” ideas instead insist illiteracy

Assaying aimless assaults afflicting adolescents,

Nourishing knowledge, nestled neatly, knowing need never-ends. 

IV. Versailles

Walking these halls

Listening to the mutterings of the past

Hearing the music, the steps, the calls

I catch the whisper of a suppressed dream, oh so vast

In this land of mirrors, I cannot help but glance

Wondering who was the greatest and the last

To, in front of this vanity, dance.

I long to glimpse the future, but on it slides

In this chateau of France.

Where was I when I noticed this ebbing tide?

Why will it not pause or wait?

I am not ready to continue on the other side.

But even if unprepared, it will come, my fate

Hoping I shall make a difference as those in this house of state.

V. Language

Pieces of hope,

despair,

communication,

life,

Fill me up

to the brim.

Emotions rage

from the words.

All one can feel

brought through

one thing alone,

language.

Maddie’s entry on Margaret Edson’t Wit made me consider the purpose behind includingthe story of The Runaway Bunny.  The reading of the book to Vivian really touched me as it did Maddie.  It conjures up memories from childhood.  Here is Vivian, alone and dying and her professor comes back and reads her a children’s story.  In the end, Vivian does not want to hear Donne’s poems recited, it is a simply story of love that she wants to hear.  Donne’s work so full of questions that never are answered serve as no comfort for Vivian.  It was peace that Vivian needed which Susie and The Runaway Bunny gave her, not resuscitation for a continued struggle. 

From Margaret Edson's Wit:

“Vivian: So.  The young doctor, like the senior scholar, prefers research to humanity.  At the same time the senior scholar, in her pathetic state as a simpering victim, wishes the young doctor would take more interest in personal contact.

                Now I suppose we shall see, through a series of flashbacks, how the senior scholar ruthlessly denied her simpering students the touch of human kindness she now seeks” (Edson 47-8).

Facing death makes one contemplate.  In this case, Dr. Bearing (Vivian) is regretting her lack of compassion for her former students.  She begins to understand how it must have felt for them.  She relates to Jason and Dr. Kelekian, they are scholars like her after all.  Yet, they, like her, have chosen to distance themselves from humanity—Dr. Bearing by constantly analyzing Donne (or going through one of her old lectures again), the doctors by focusing more on their research than the patients themselves.  It is the nurse, Susie, who is portrayed as unintelligent and witless, who comforts Dr. Bearing and respects her wishes.  In Wit, it’s almost as if there is a correlation between kindness and less mental capacity.  Maybe, Jason is right when he said “…you can’t think about that meaning-of-life garbage all the time or you’d go nuts” (Edson 61); however, Dr. Bearing seems pretty sane to me, right up to the end.          

I found Angelica’s quote and blog on Card’s Ender’s Game for two reasons.  First it made me consider Ender’s search for identity.  I don’t think Ender ever truly doubted he had potential, although he did doubt whether he should be the chosen one.  But Ender definitely did discover himself, and learning who he was and his identity did not just come from his good experiences, but also from the bad.  Being tricked into exterminating the buggers (or at least seemingly to have) allowed Ender to really appreciate the value of life and the similarities between both humans and buggers later.  If you want to read more about the effect of bad events on shaping one’s life read Stephanie’s blog.    

Secondly, I found the quote she chose interesting because in a way it relates back to my blog entry. Once again in this quote, it is showing how Ender could be “easily controlled” if he is convinced he is helping the people he cares about.  It is Ender’s compassion that allows him to be used, and why Peter was not the one for the job.  Yet, by showing how devious Peter is, Card is not supporting a lack of morals.  He seems more to saying that while being kind opens one up for problems, based on the how Ender finds himself in the end, that it is better to be as Ender or Valentine than to be as Peter.  

Chelsea’s blog on Hamilton’s Essential Literary Terms made me consider how easy it is to write free verse versus other more structured types of poetry.  And while, I like free verse like Chelsea does and enjoy writing it, I think that she is oversimplifying free verse by saying it is easy to write.  Just like in a sonnet, every word, comma, and pause has to serve a purpose.  Granted, one doesn’t have to worry about rhyming, but with such freedom the author needs to be more careful that they aren’t running away with their thoughts and not focusing on the concise nature of poetry.  Every single part of the poem needs to be packed with meaning, and that meaning needs to put there on purpose.  Without a structure to control you, it is easy to forget that.    

From Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game:

“’…when you never know the Earth itself, when you live with metal walls keeping out the cold of space, it’s easy to forget why Earth is worth saving.  Why the world of people might be worth the price you pay.’

                “So that’s why you brought me here, thought Ender.  With all your hurry, that’s why you took three months, to make me love Earth.  Well, it worked.  All your tricks worked” (Card 243).

                This is such a cynical view.  It is not the bad in Ender that the teachers can manipulate, it is the good.  As soon as they manage to ground the good out of Ender, when he stops caring about others, their power over him is gone.  But when compassion rules Ender they can manipulate him into doing horrible things (such as unknowingly killing a whole race).  I’m not sure what the lesson here is supposed to be.  I mean yes, in the end, Ender “saved” the world and is a hero.  He even finds out that he didn’t exterminate all the buggers (certainly a good thing).  However, despite the happy ending, it was Ender’s kindness which allowed others to trick him into doing bad things.  It’s almost like Card is saying being good makes one easy to control. 

From Sharon Hamilton's Esssential Literary Terms:

“Editors also indent blank verse lines that are shared between two or more speakers and number them as one line, to show that the dialogue reflects a close meeting of the characters’ minds” (Hamilton 238).

Almost every time I have read a Shakespeare play in school and then been required to quote things from the text, I invariably am confused by the line numbers.  I’d count out the lines and do my best to figure out the line number of what I wanted to quote and then there would be more lines then possible numbers.  In the end, I would be so frustrated trying to uncover the answer to this mystery that I would just use a different quote.  But no more, Hamilton has explained the cause of my predicament.  Some lines share line numbers if they are related.  For example, one set of shared lines in Romeo and Juliet “show how closely attuned Romeo and Juliet are to one another’s thoughts and rhythms, almost as if their hearts are synchronized” (Hamilton 238).  It is comforting to know that Shakespeare (and the modern editors of his work) actually do know how to count, and in fact, that they are purposefully choosing to share the lines for very good reasons.     

Jessie’s blog entry made me consider the role of authority in Card’s Ender’s Game.  In the book, not only does Ender see Bonzo’s ineffectiveness, but he also questions the authority of the adults and teachers.  He sees them as the enemy, who cause all his problems (which they do).  And interestingly, the adults in many ways don’t think they are right, they realize what they are doing is unethical, but they do it anyway.  They believe that the end justifies the means.  Maybe Bonzo thought that his wish to trade Ender away justified his actions too.  Peter could be right about these buggers after all, maybe they never will come, and the adults are just messing up children.  It presents some very interesting questions about authority—somebody needs to be in charge and no one can ever be 100% sure his actions are correct, so where does that leave us?  Being a leader really is a risk. 

I, like Stephanie, love Alliteration and am certainly glad that it is discussed in Hamilton's Essential Literary Terms.  I frequently try to make my titles alliterative, for example, “Pessimistic Pregnancy”.  I think alliteration helps the reader remember whatever the author wants to better.  It also helps drive home the point, if the reader misses the idea the first time the continuous repetition will hopefully catch his attention and help him realize the importance of the idea.  Alliteration is a powerful tool, one that even Valentine, the genius 10 year old from Ender’s Game picks up on, “Valentine had a knack for alliteration that made her phrases memorable” (Card 135).  What’s even better about alliteration is that it is a relatively simple literary tool; just about any writer can employ alliteration at least to some degree of effectiveness.