I love the fall semester! I don't know about the rest of you, but I would rather poke myself in the eye repeatedly than have to go through the fall semester. I too, am not the only one who feels this way, some of my other co-griffins feel the same, only to a slightly lesser degree. There are so many contributing factors that make it so hard to get into the swing of things, and when we finally do, BAM, the semester is over. It must be the fact the summer is over, homework is starting after that nice long break, and the holidays are just around the corner and here. End of summer + Homework + Holidays = STRESS! Don't get me wrong, I love a good math equation ever now and then, but there is absolutely nothing to love about this one! Well, now that I have vented, I feel a little better. So, on that note, happy fall semester everyone! Stay optimistic!
I loved reading the Devil's Dictionary! You know it doesn't get any juicier than when the introduction to reading something tells you to proceed at your own risk because the material consists of racist, sexist, nationalist and offensive information. The title Devil's Dictionary was said to be used because there were so many other works being published at the time that were seen as "cynical", which was used in the original title or the writing. I like the latter title better because I think that it portrays Ambrose Bierce's conveying message throughout his work. I personally believe that Bierce was trying to play devil's advocate, not only for personal amusement, but to get people to think, to really really think. Playing the devil's advocate entails someone stating an opposing viewpoint, even though they know it is wrong or controversial, to get people to argue against it, to be appalled by it, and to get them to counter-argue it knowing what is right. I believe this was Bierce's intention, I do not believe that he was being a sexist pig, a racist bigot or an anarchist. He may have been doing it for a bit of fun, but I do believe for the most part, he was trying to get people to realize how the world was with all the wrongs in it, and this was his way to start to get poeple to try to do something right. However, he may not have expected people to start movements, but to get them to change their personal views and morals.
This is how I viewed reading the Devil's Dictionary, let me know what you all think of my interpretation!
For the second half of the semester, I have choosen to do entries on everything that I have enjoyed the most. All of my selections appealed to me and I have the most interest in. The first one I chose to do was John Henry. I enjoy folklore and hearing stories that are tall tales. The second one I chose to do was about the Creation of the Whites Another one I chose to write on was The Devil's Dictionary. This really cracked me up when I read it! It was definitely a jaw dropper! I had to comment on this one because of all of the controversy it caused during class and all of the arguments that were brought about by discussing it. The other one I chose to do was "The Girl from the Golden West".
Out of all of the Native American Literature that we have read, I enjoyed The Creation of the Whites the most. I did a random web search on the title of this short story, and reallys started to think about it. The Native American culture is so different from ours. It is clear that the story was revolved around Genesis, but they put a different spin on it. The Native Americans use their own experiences and cultural background and integrate it into the story. The story refers to the people as "yellow skinned" and "red skinned", obviously the way that they refered to people of different races. I love how the story explains how the different races were placed into the environmental settings that we all know they came from, the Native Americans were people who lived off of the land and the Whites were the more priveledged when it came to technology and progression. The Native Americans, or the red skinned people were sent to the west, and the Whites, or yellow skinned people, were placed on the east. The explanation of how the cultures eventually will have to merge together and call upon one another is explained through this short story. I just think that it is really cool that each culture can develop their own ideas of how they came about and tell a story so different, yet so similar based on their personal beliefs.
In a class discussion, a question was brought up whether it was more important that John Henry won or was it more that he died? I believe that it was way more important that he won the race against man vs. machine. It shows heroism amongst human achievement and drive. The story is not about a man dying or the sadness that it brought about, it was about courage and determination that he put forth to even put himself to the test. Obviously he was admired by the men that worked with him, otherwise he wouldn't have become an American legend, the story wouldn't have been passed on. In the Construction Crew Version of the ballad, the crew that he worked with claimed him to be "the best in th'lan'". Clearly they idolized him otherwise they would have not put so much faith into him to win. In the end, they mourned the death of John Henry, but they do not look at him as failing because he died. When I was finished reading the story, I did not think of John Henry being dead, but as him being immortalized as a hero.
The Girl of the Golden West
When I looked into David Belasco's "The Girl of the Golden West", I saw that it had been regarded as a melodrama. So, when seeing this, I decided to look a little bit more into this.
Melodrama's were introduced and were a typical form of theatre in the ninteenth century. Melodrama is a term that comes from "music drama" where music was used to create and increase already existing emotions for people. Music was also used to signify characters throughout the play. Good and evil are two themes that are expressed throughout the plot and also typical of melodramas. A melodrama posesses a structure of conflict, complication, and then resolution.
Other typical characteristics of a melodrama were that the story line possessed a villian, a hero, who had to overcome overwhelming and seemingly impossible odds, and a damsel in distress. There does, however, always seem to be a happy ending. Because this play "The Girl of the Golden West" takes place during the Gold Rush era, these character personalities go along perfectly. During this time, there were bandits, the good guy, the girl everyone's after, saloons, chases, gambling and drinking. All of these things added up, can heighten our interest because of the pure drama behind it all. It is said that melodrama is one of the most popular forms of playwrite to heighten our emotions.
1. How does the story start out that causes a sense of drama?
2.Can you think of any ways examples throughout the story that your emotions were peaked?
3.Who in the story played the villian? The hero? and the Damsel in distress?
4. Did the overall story line follow the structure of having conflict, compliccation and then resolution?