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February 28, 2006
Backstabbers
Intro to Lit Study--EL 150
Levin, That I Might Hear Thee Call Great Caesar
Levin explains the political relationship between the characters in Shakespeare's Antony & Cleopatra. To me, there is more to the mix than what Rome and Egypt had lead on. It seems that every form of communication in the play was some sort of pact of importance between the two empire.
I had the pleasure, as always, to read Mike Rubino's blog. He stated Cleopatra reference to sex and orgasms to make political alliances. She succeeded when she made an alliance with Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony.
But I think Octavius Caesar was the
Posted by KevinHinton at 8:04 PM
Opportunity Knocks
Levin, That I Might Hear Thee Call Great Caesar
Levin explains the political relationship between the characters in Shakespeare's Antony & Cleopatra. To me, there is more to the mix than what Octavius Caesar lead on. He saw what decadence have done to Antony, that it had made him weak and he decided to take Egypt.
I had the pleasure, as always, to read Mike Rubino's blog. He stated Cleopatra reference to sex and orgasms to make political alliances. She succeeded when she made an alliance with Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony.
But I think Octavius Caesar was the first Roman ruler that tried to take Egypt by force, and not going through Cleopatra's bed. When Cleopatra officialy conceded close to the end of the play she did not realize that Caesar wasn't exactly going to play nice. In fact, Caesar always wanted the Egyptian empire for himself. Levin explained that only her death would give him the empire. And in a way Caesar knew that the only way to achieve that is if Antony somehow died. Levin explains:
Caesar is shaken enough to confess that he pursued Antony's death. Yet Caesar is also relieved by Antony death, because it occasions no momentous upheaval in the order of things.
Posted by KevinHinton at 6:41 PM | Comments (1)
February 26, 2006
Kelo the Great's Blogging Collection
Intro to Lit Study--EL 150
Blog Portfolio
Coverage
From Cool and Classy to Trashy and Vain
I explain how Marjorie get her strength...which is her downfall
Death Be Not Proud...For Love Is Not Love
Donne and Shakespeare is like the yin and the yang, black and white,etc.
Dirty Politics
Shakespeare knew that love and politics do not mix.
Depth
To Bleed Or Not To Bleed
Comparing literary violence to Stephen King's The Stand... smooth.
Keep It Simple and Natural
If you break down some of this poems, they look a lot different.
The Machine Stops Here
Written in 1909? Weird.
Interaction
Where Is The Love
Denamarie and Mike' blog made me think on this entry.
From Cool and Classy to Trashy and Vain
To answer Dr. Jerz's question...
Discussion
Please Ask Where And How Warm.
Everyone had something to say about location.
From Cool and Classy to Trashy and Vain
No one liked Marjorie!
Easing Down The Road
Most likely...all of us are on a quest.
Timeliness
To Bleed or Not To Bleed
It's Seton Hill. Nothing else to do on Saturday.
Dirty Politics
I had to get this off my chest early.
Death Be Not Proud...For Love Is Not Love
Needed an extra day to think about poetry.
Xenoblogging
Mike Rubino
The Machine Stops
Mike hates his PC!
Antony and Cleopatra Act I & II
"Good Old Fashion Roman Fun"
Antony and Cleopatra Act III - V
Is anyone likable?
Denamarie Ercolani
Shakespeare's sonnet
Denamarie spark good conversation with this one
Who Really Has The Power
According to Dena...not Antony.
Andy LoNigro
Do you fear death?
I tell Andy why I don't
Wow
Ending of Antony and Cleopatra was good to him.
Elyse Branam
Antony and Cleopatra (Acts I And II)
Is Cleo smart or a "slut"
Erin Waite
The Machine Stops
Technology really got Erin steamed.
Wildcard
Moral Contridiction
Bloggin' over break.
Good and Bad News
Let's see the Steelers beat J-web (pause for laughter)
Posted by KevinHinton at 3:07 PM | Comments (0)
Blank Verse...Really?
Intro to Lit Study--EL 150
Blank Verse Blog Entry
Don't be ridiculous! Blank Verse! Really?
Making an entry this way...not easy.
Struggling to come up with words and rhymes.
I can easily think of better times.
I sit here trying to be a poet.
Looks like I am one and did not know it.
I look outside thinking of sweet old home.
In Richmond, I shall rest and shall not roam.
Preparing for the long journey down south,
words of love and affection out my mouth.
I can rest but I too, must get work done.
So my grades will not drop in the long run.
I know this spring semester will go fast,
and forget about the dead hand of the past.
Posted by KevinHinton at 2:45 PM | Comments (3)
February 25, 2006
To Bleed Or Not To Bleed
Foster, How to Read..., Ch. 11 & 13
Violence is the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings, but it can also be cultural and societal in its implications.
Foster is indeed correct... that violence in literature do mean something. Just look at the example he gave from Toni Morrison's Beloved. Sethe didn't want her children to be slaves, so she seceeded in killing one of them. We see the message in that murder, that she loved her children that death is the only clear escape for them.
Of course I have to get back to my favorite genre, horror, for this explaination. Think back at all the books, films, and word of mouth stories you have expierienced. All the seemingly random violence wouldn't be there if it had absolutely not purpose to it.
In Stephen King's The Stand, all of the violence that is interwoven in the story shows the struggle between good and evil. Just before the perilous fight, 99% of the population is killed from a man-made disease. There is also a political message in the story (Foster touch on this in the reading). This disease breaks out of an American laboratory, in a time when biological warfare is in its infancy. King definitely had a statement there. In an interview about the book he said "If ever there was a species on planet Earth ripe for the thinning, it's us."
Posted by KevinHinton at 12:26 PM | Comments (3)
February 23, 2006
Where Is The Love?
Shakespeare, Anthony & Cleopatra, Acts III-V
Like the song, Black Eyed Peas beautifully sang...Where is the love? Because I do not see it in this play. Maybe Mike was right, that the main characters have absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. In Act III, Caesar demote Anthony from the top to a senator for Athens (note that he is trying to keep him away from Egypt). He is also angry that Anthony is making Cleopatra the most powerful woman in her sphere of infleunce (in this case the East). Look at this quote:
Caesar
Contemning Rome, he has
done all this and more.
In Alexandria. Here's the matter of't
I'th'market-place on a tribunal silvered
Cleopatra and himself in chairs of gold
Were publicly enthroned; at the feet sat…
He also stated that Anthony gave his empire up for a whore (I would say that to because Anthony made Octavia choose between him or her brother, but he's the one that is dishonest.). Anthony thinks that Caesar is giving him the shorter end of the wishbone when in fact, Cleopatra is the one messing him up.
All Anthony wanted was sex and power beyond his wildest dreams and ready to face Rome for it. Little did the reader (or audience) will know that he will commit suicide because Cleopatra falsified hers. Cleopatra "commited suicide" in Act IV because she thought that Anthony will blame her for what has happened. Check out her last minutes with her "boy toy" :
Cleopatra
No more but e'en a woman commanded
By such poor passion as the maid that milks
And does the meanest chores. It were for me
To throw my sceptre at the injurious gods,
To tell them that the world did equal theirs
Till they had stol'n our jewel. All's but naught
How decietful is that... if love is suppose to conquer all, than faking her death to save herself wouldn't be necessary. I think that the love of these to were more of lust to begin with. Which brings me to the Shakespeare sonnet blog of Denamarie's. Understand that love and lust might look the same...be it will give you different results.
Posted by KevinHinton at 4:34 PM | Comments (2)
February 20, 2006
Dirty Politics
Shakespeare, Anthony & Cleopatra Acts I & II
So... what can I say about the first acts of the play? Just that sex, corruption, and politics seem to go hand in hand in this play. Just like some of the things that we see in D.C. But when love and politics comes together... it is definetly not a good mix. Caeser sees how and tells Ledipus how Rome can be affected.
Caesar
You may see, Lepidus, and henceforth know
It is not Caesar's natural vice to hate
Our great competitor. From Alexandria
This is the news: he fishes, drinks, and wastes
The lamps of night in revel; is not more manlike
Than Cleopatra, nor the queen of Ptolemy
More womanly than he; hardly gave audience, or
Vouchsafed to think he had partners. You shall find there
A man who abstract from all faults
That all men follow.
Cleopatra is known thoughout history, even in Shakespeare's time as a brilliant politician. Using her beauty to keep a good standing with the most powerful empire in the world. But her jelousy of Fulvia and Octavia may be her downfall.
Compare this play to the politics today, where the is someone trying to keep the peace. Ledipus fits this description. Caesar at this point is so convinced that Anthony will fail if he is still involved with Cleopatra. Enobarbus describes how Cleopatra's beauty captured him:
Enobarbus
I will tell you.
The barge she sat in,
Like a burnished throne,
Burned on the water;
The poop was beaten gold,
Purple the sail so perfumed that
The winds were love sick with them
The oars were silver,
Which to the tunes of the flute keep stroke
And made the water which they beat follow faster
As amorous of their strokes. For her own person,
It beggared all description: she did lie
In her pavilion-cloth-of-gold of tissue-
O'er- picturing that Venus where we see
So do you think that love can work in something like politics? Remember it is a historical tragedy!
Posted by KevinHinton at 6:27 PM | Comments (2)
February 15, 2006
Death be not proud...for "Love is not love"
Shakespeare, Let me not the Marriage of True Minds
Donne, Death be not proud
Ah, sonnets....to some it is the symbol of love, but to others it can be the use of warning and shame. But which of this two sonnets is which. Donne is obviously not talking about love. But it could be taking that way with Shakespeare...just look at this:
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
This sounds like a firm warning of how love can hurt someone. Personally I see love as a gold colored cobra... beautiful but deadly. Shakespeare is pretty much known for his look upon people in love (Look at Romeo & Juliet or Anthony & Cleopatra). So maybe this time he is warning people not to fall blindly in love. But so many people (including yours truly) do and end up hang out to dry like a wet towel. This can make people fall into suicide... here where Donne and death come in. He is right when he says that "Death, be not proud". Donne speak to it like a schoolboy being punished:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
The irony in all of this is that death itself is a mighty thing. It is the only guaranteed thing that everyone will experience. I think that Donne hates the fact that death have to be the end for some of the most terrible things that people do to each other. Death is natural but people die from some of the most unnatural causes. Nevertheless, after we die that is it with death...just eternity according to Donne. In some way I think that these two sonnets represent to two basic emotion love (or the lack of) and fear (of death). Do you feel the same way.
Posted by KevinHinton at 8:54 PM | Comments (2)
February 14, 2006
"Revenge It Was Sweet"
Coleridge,''The Raven'' -- Jerz: Intro to Literary Study (EL150)
Just think about all the people that you would like to have revenge on. This is what I call... a "pep talk" for that action. Coleridge's sonnet promotes the idea of an eye for an eye (via death). The Raven is merely the middle man for the impending action. Look at this:
Where then did the Raven go?
He went high and low
Over hill, over dale, did the black Raven go.
Many Autumn, many Springs
Traveled he with wandering wings:
Many Summers, many Winters
I can't tell half his adventures.
The Raven must represent death... and of course death is obligated to be everywhere in one way or another touch everyone. It's people who decide how death is acheived. In this case it is revenge. So what do you think death represents.
Posted by KevinHinton at 6:22 PM | Comments (1)
February 11, 2006
Keep It Simple and Natural
Poetry Selections
Looking at all of the poems that we had to read...all of them seemed to have a message of the outlook on nature and humanity. Let's look at three poem one by one shall we:
The Turtle by Vachel Lindsay
This poem was of course written for a younger audience. It just describes the basic thought that any child will think of when they imagine a pet turtle. It seem to tease the turtle becuase of the fact that the turtle did not suceed in bite the owner.
The Turtle by Ogden Nash
This one is more for adults than children. I think this line "Which practically conceal its sex" , could mean a variety of this. The "turtle" could be a person that is confused about his/her sex. But you can look at this play a different way by looking at the last line. "In a fix to be so fertile" could mean that the "turtle" could be highly interested about sex.
The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson
Ahh...reminds me of summer. I remember on my grandparent's backyard swing on the swing, play dodgeball,and numberous other activities. I think that Stevenson hit close to home when I read this play. It just shows innocence of children...how thy think about having fun and that's about it. The second stanza travels outside the immediate area and explore. Because that is what children do...explore and imagine.
How differently do you see these poems from me.
Posted by KevinHinton at 7:11 PM | Comments (2)
Cruel Valentine
Derek drove through Baltimore, as the first February snow blanketed it. Knots in his stomach formed and sweat beaded on his forehead for it was St. Valentine’s, a day, and if Derek was lucky or unlucky, a night to remember. While he maneuvered his car through the storm, he thought about Lana. That is why he went all out on Valentine’s Day this year, with a dozen of red roses and a box of rare chocolates that Lana enjoys.
The apartment building was in sight, and Derek struggled with his innermost guilt that had surely ruined his reputation as a nice guy. Nevertheless, it is swept away quickly when he made the decision that he is not going to tell Lana. Derek made it to the apartment and knocked softly. He could not make up his mind on whether to tell Lana about the secret, as the music of The Rippingtons abruptly stopped. The door swung open, as Derek focused on the woman whose perfume smelled like a tropical fruit.
“Hello, Ms. Lana.” Derek said in a soft voice.
Lana stood at the door with admiration, her red, silk, and thin -strapped dress showing off her coke-bottled figure. Her black hair barely came down to her chin and her silver necklace glittered in the fluorescent lights.
“Do come in.” said Lana.
The stronger smell of sweet potpourri hits him. Soft jazz music is playing in the background as the windows are being coated with the snow that is continuing to blanket the city. Lana’s blue eyes peer out the patio window for a split second, and a look of complete disgust came over her face.
“What wrong with you?” Derek said.
“Just the blizzard.” Lana said.
“I hope you enjoy these.”
Lana’s eyes widen with amazement and joy. She embraced a chocolate into her mouth. As she about to take another one, there is a sudden hesitation as she looks lovingly at Derek.
“Don’t want to spoil my appetite…or yours.” Lana said, afterwards giving Derek a kiss on the lips.
“You can’t spoil anything for me.” Derek said.
As Lana goes to the antique dinner table, his hazel brown eyes never leave the path that Lana slowly makes.
“I made a special dinner for us. Remember when you said that I couldn’t make that Chicken Alfredo that your mom used to make? Well, I got the recipe from her. It is not as hard as I thought” Lana said.
Derek face strained to keep straight, knowing that she doesn’t necessarily have great cooking abilities to even make oatmeal. It didn’t matter anyway, because Derek wasn’t exactly relying on the dinner to be the forefront of the evening. His attention was drawn to the bottle sitting on the table with two tall and thin wine glasses.
“Oh… I never had Merlot.” Derek said while embracing his arms around Lana’s waist. “Maybe this night will be full of surprises.”
Lana smirked. “Just wait and see.”
Derek pulled the chair out for Lana. The flames of the thin white candles danced in a yellowish-orange ambience. Derek took his seat to mentally prepare himself for the rest of the evening.
He thought about the infidelity that he had been involved in, with her best friend, Tiara. He can see himself, a week ago, in Atlantic City with her, just a complete weekend of gambling and sex. Derek have been questioning about whether or not he should come clean and see if he can somehow salvage what may be left of the relationship. Taking struggling forkfuls of the Chicken Alfredo he definitely looked worried to Lana. The taste was unbearable, but Derek had to play it off.
“What’s wrong?” she said
Derek stopped eating; the only thing that could be heard was the terrible blizzard that is wreaking havoc outside. Lana’s posture went from relaxed to tense due to his silence.
“Derek…What is it? Don’t tell me it’s the Alfredo?” She said.
“No. It’s good. It’s just that …that…I love you so much.” Derek answered.
A smile slowly appeared across her face, her posture became relaxed again. Derek sighed.
“Maybe she should find out. Just call it off between you and Tiara. She doesn’t deserve this.”
Lana took the Merlot and poured it into their glasses.
“Let’s toast to that.” Lana said while they crossed arms with the glasses in their hands.
“To love.” Derek said smiling.
Lana repeated Derek’s phrase as they sipped the Merlot. After all the wine was gone, Lana got up from the table.
“I’ll be right back.” She said.
The music was still playing as she retreated into her room. Derek is fraught about what he should do next. Now he is in a struggle with his emotions.
If you really love her, than why in the hell can’t you be honest with her.
That is one emotion, the other one is telling him…
What she doesn’t know can’t hurt her…or you!
Derek wanted peace of mind, but at the same time, doesn’t want to destroy the relationship. His head started to pound a little bit. Must be the stress. Lana walked back in with a small box in her hand and sat back down at the table.
“I got a gift for you” Lana whispered while leaning towards Derek and gave him a kiss.
“I wonder want it is.” He said when he touched the box. At that moment, Lana removed his hand.
“I need to tell you something first.”
Derek attention was fully on Lana. She seemed calm and relaxed
. “What is it?” Derek asked.
Lana paused, she smiled abruptly. Suddenly the whole entire tone to her changed.
“I know that you’re a cruel valentine.” Lana said. “How can you do this to me?”
Derek was instantly confused, his headache seemed to get worse every second past. Pressure seemed to be building against Derek’s eyes and warm fluid began to trickle down his nose. It left red drops on the white tablecloth and on his blue shirt.
“I know that you’ve been cheating on me. And don’t try to deny it. I spoke to Tiara. She told me how you to went to Atlantic City…the same place we went last Valentine’s Day!” She said.
Derek’s vision began to be distorted, Lana’s face, to Derek, swayed back and forth.
“W-W-Wait a…” Derek said.
“What did I say? You’re caught…busted!” Lana said.
At this point, Derek’s headaches became unbearable; he held his head and moaned a little bit.
“I hoped you liked the Merlot?” Lana said with the most sadistic smile that Derek had ever seen. “It’s a special poison…fast acting. That’s why I had to damn near run to the back and get the antidote.”
Derek tried to stand but it was no use, he fell to his rear, while feelings of fear and anger flow within him.
“She is trying to kill you! Do something!” Derek thought
Nevertheless, the damage had all ready been done. He remained on the floor, sitting up looking at Lana giggling and holding the box.
“I did tell you that I talked to Tiara, right. Well…let’s say that the conversation did go well for her. That’s why I just took a knife and plunged it into her black heart… and I took it out.” Lana said. She reached into the box and pull out the bloody heart; it was still dripping down her arm and on the floor as she giggled.
Derek’s fear had escalated at the sign of the removed heart, he knew that his future couldn’t be all that certain either. As blood flowed down his nostrils, he knew that he was indeed dying. Lana dropped the box and the heart and on all fours crawl to Derek, like a curious cat.
“See what I do for you? I… I loved you. So, I didn’t hesitate… got what she deserve (giggles). I think it’s you’re turn.” Lana whispered.
She suddenly pulled out a kitchen knife, and placed it at Derek’s throat. A tear trickled down Lana’s face.
“I loved you.”
Derek, with his last ounce of strength, grabbed Lana and wrestled the knife out of her hands. As the knife skipped across the floor, Lana tried to make a dash to get it but Derek was holding her back. He grabbed the knife from Lana’s grasp and as she rolled Derek over to get it, Derek plunged the knife into Lana’s stomach.
Drops of blood hit the carpet as she feel on her back, gasping for air. Derek crawled over to her very slowly.
“The antidote… tell me where is it.” He said.
There was no answer from Lana. Her blue eyes her just peered at the ceiling without any expression. Derek knew that Lana had died.
Derek rolled over to his back and looked at the ceiling. He tried to paint a mental picture for what happened, but he couldn’t comprehend.
“Maybe I deserve this. Being honest would have keep Lana and Tiara alive. I wouldn’t be dying.”
All Derek could do is sit there and wait for the inevitable. His head now felt like it is going to explode. Nevertheless he is still thinking, as the wind and the snow began to dissipate from the shadows of the city.
“Maybe if I would have been honest”.
Posted by KevinHinton at 6:11 PM | Comments (0)
February 9, 2006
Grim Poetry
Poetry Selections -- Jerz: Intro to Literary Study (EL150)
The poem written by Dickinson really have a grim feeling to it. When looking at "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" she refers to an unnamed man, who we know to be Death. She seems to be eagar to die and to be whist away for all eternity to a place. Is it heaven or hell? This could be a poem about a suicide. Some of you may doubt it....but remember Ms. Dickinson's track record for being depressed. I was interested in this poem, but at the same time feel sorry for how she must have felt. Maybe this is how we all feel sometimes and what to be "toward Eternity"
Posted by KevinHinton at 5:43 PM | Comments (0)
February 7, 2006
The Machine Stops Here
Forster, The Machine Stops
There was nothing mysterious in it. She would summon a car and it would fly with her down the tunnel until it reached the lift that communicated with the air-ship station: the system had been in use for many, many years, long before the universal establishment of the Machine. And of course she had studied the civilization that had immediately preceded her own - the civilization that had mistaken the functions of the system, and had used it for bringing people to things, instead of for bringing things to people. Those funny old days, when men went for change of air instead of changing the air in their rooms! And yet-she was frightened of the tunnel: she had not seen it since her last child was born. It curved-but not quite as she remembered; it was brilliant-but not quite as brilliant as a lecturer had suggested. Vashti was seized with the terrors of direct experience. She shrank back into the room, and the wall closed up again.
I really enjoyed this story. Some people can argue that the machine and Vashti can represent God and man. I think it is more simple than that. Since this story was written in 1909, around the same time the Wright Bros. took flight in Kittyhawk, The Machine have to represent mankind's fear of technological growth. People fear things that they don't understand and hate what they fear, like people from different cultures prehaps. Maybe the author wanted to stress the fact that our machinary and invention are just as fraile as we are.So Why do we rely on our machines to do our work for us? Is it to make us feel that we are adaquete in this forever changing society? Or is it that we just want to show off our intelletual powers in technology. We must be glad that we do not have competition. What if apes started to build cars (I'll be more impressed than jealous)? I qoute my favorite movie Spider-Man when Uncle Ben tells Peter that "With power come great resposibility." And by the looks of what we are doing to the planet, we definetly need to take the blame.
Posted by KevinHinton at 7:03 PM | Comments (1)
February 6, 2006
Good and Bad News
I have good and bad news.... Good news is for those Steeler fans out there is that they won Super Bowl XL. It is not surprising, look who they were facing.
The bad news is that J-web thing in class is that it's getting a little bit annoying. I'm confusing and the only good thing about it is that I can SEE that I'm confused (i.e. seeing the average). When I tried to do my homework my internet died and I couldn't get back on when I got it up again. Is there something I'm missing from the class? If there is please tell me. To close...Congrats to the Steelers and down with J-Web.
Posted by KevinHinton at 12:47 AM | Comments (1)
February 2, 2006
How to Build....Realism
London, How to Build a Fire
It funny that this story was chosen. Because in my American Lit. class, we were talking about literature that contain a form of realism into it. I saw it clearly in this story. Observe how London uses raw feeling into this story:
"It was a steep bank, and he paused of breath at the top, excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch."
You can feel his determination as you read this quote. Some part of this story is what this situation is. And changing it will NOT be realism. I find that London fond of nature and naturalism really take to affect in this story.
Posted by KevinHinton at 9:24 PM | Comments (0)