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May 3, 2007

Peer Review Day: I throw this in my porfolio hey baby hey!

The title was my idea of a song of joy that this hell is almost over but I don't think it will be a chart topper. haha. Anyhow, we are feeling so productive that we have managed to correct papers, talk to family members and make sure britney spears is still a nut all at the same time. I am very sad that Vanessa will not be here to watch the Gilmore Girls with me, so we've now completed the very important tasks that all English majors must conquer, learning how to interpret numbers. Okay, so we exchanged numbers, but at least we're multi-tasking. I am cheerfully pouring happiness and glitter into the gaps of Diana's paper and she tells her gum "Screw you." See, I've learned alliteration (glitter, gaps, and gum, oh, my!), but in all seriousness, I've gotten mad help on my paper. Vanessa working in the writing center has been an asset.
Here is what's happened:
1. My thesis is being re-worked
2. She's helped me on sentence placement and grammar
3. She's given me some ways of citing my sources properly
4. I'm getting more sources on Machiavelli and Shakespeare
5. I placed all of Diana's misplaced paragraphs in happy homes.
6. I fixed some minor grammar and verb confusion
7. We talked about ways to make our arguments stronger
I'm all better now, so I'm rippin this band-aid off and callin it quits. Peace out girl scouts!

Posted by ErinWaite at 7:11 PM | Comments (0)

Blog Portfolio: The Beginning of the End is Where I'll Be

Portfolio III -- Jerz EL312 (Literary Criticism)

Wow, kids! It's been an amazing year! I've never poured out so much heart and soul into blogging or gotten so many great comments from my classmates. Vanessa and Karissa were amazing help and Valerie's blogs were always so insightful. Jay answered any questions that confused me, and everyone just made me laugh and taught me alot. As I write this I realize that I am going to be a senior and have to learn to be much more succinct. Without further a do, I saved the best blogs for last so here's my "Boardwalk themed Blog Portfolio."

The Umbrella (coverage and timeliness): I was always on time and when it came to tag-teaming lit. critics on the Gilman issue I was no exception.
Maybe I don't deserve a prize. but that's the title of my entry that was also timely and covered alot about old Greenblatt.

The Deep Ocean (depth): I was snorkeling when I wrote about my presentation and explained intertextuality The Tempest was another good one. I also let out my true feelings and called for an Intervention

Lost my lunch at Boardwalk blog carnival: Don't know if my giant comment on Vanessa's blog carnival entry came on or even if my entry came up because I have no responses. Hence, my title.

Under the Boardwalk (interaction/discussions): It's all an allusion Garson got us talking. Karissa and Mitchell really helped out on my presentation blog.

Extra cheese with those fries (xenoblogging) Comment Primo: David Moio's blog Comment Grande: Jason's

Wet and wild (wildcard): Random poetry of summer 2007

Term Projects:
My term project
My Disorghanized Draft of Final Paper I didn't know if you wanted our term paper drafts, so I just put what we'd went over last class.
Freud's the Uncanny Oral Presentation
Vanessa and Karissa look like they have the right idea, I hope to view theirs tonight and blog on our peer workshop. Here's the slot for it.

Posted by ErinWaite at 4:48 PM | Comments (0)

Rough Draft/ thesis ideas/ help?!


"From Prospero's viewpoint, Gonzalo's obedience to his master (even though it entailed Prospero's suffering and near-death) is praiseworthy because political obedience guarantees the stability of government (Yachnin 42)." While political obedience was a strong issue during Shakespeare's life, especially between the Jacobeans and the Elizabethans (going along with the government seemed to indicate going against one's own conscience, or even worse being labeled as an accomplice) I believe that Shakespeare's feelings of what justice should be is more prevalent throughout the play than just his feelings about the government and obedience alone.
From the beginning Prospero presents himself as the one who deserves to serve this brand of justice to Alonso and even his own brother. While Yachnin presents the idea that Gonzalo's obedience is "praiseworthy" because of stability to the government and is forgiving (or so it seems), he's less than forgiving to the other men who usurped him (at least in the beginning).
First, he uses Ariel to create the tempest. Then, as if that isn't quite enough, he punishes them by having dogs chase them, has Ariel's music get them lost, and all the while, he has Alonso's son (whom he was probably very worried about). It's understandable that he's being like any modern politician and trying to use Ferdinand to stabilize his political position, but the methods he uses to get the rest of his revenge seem rather like the old phrase "an eye for an eye."
While revenge is never a new concept, the thought of serving justice in this manner does seem to make the reader question how Shakespeare must have felt about how justice should have been served during his time. Furthermore, does this mean that he believed (as Yachnin suggested) that people who went along with the government were just as guilty and deserved whatever their punishment was?
To answer that question, by taking a formalist approach, the readers could look directly to the work and see various pieces of the puzzle that is indicative of such an interpretation. Prospero's thought of injustice shows that he is somewhat of a hypocrite in the fact that he's angry with his brother taking over, but he believes it's just to use Caliban and Ariel to carry out his deeds. When Ariel asks for his freedom that Prospero has promised for years, Prospero doesn't hesitate to remind Ariel of all he's done for him and keeps making him serve. This goes along with his idea of justice, but also exemplifies how Shakespeare may have seen the world himself. He also believes that Caliban owes him and thinks that because he gave him "human care (1:2, 349)" he is nothing but a savage who is lucky to receive whatever justice Prospero gives him.
On the other hand, Shakespeare also liked to show his audience a good time and give the audience a sense of relief, at least during some point of his plays, so the "happily ever after" ending does perhaps indicate that Prospero's justice did work for him. It could work in the way that he gave up some of his power and freed those he promised he would, thus not making his revenge seem so unfair. While this does show that Shakespeare may not have been favoring the "eye for an eye" method, but when Gonzalo grieves over the way he's treated people, it seems that justice is really served because he went against his conscience.
"Him that you term'd sir, "the good old Lord Gonzalo,"/ His tears run down his beard like winter's drops From eaves of reeds (Yachnin 44)." Whatever Shakespeare felt about politics is an open debate, but it is clear in the text that each member truly received some form of justice whether it be through losing a family member, surviving a storm, being enslaved, or simply feeling the burning of one's conscience. Shakespeare did make it clear that people would receive some type of justice and the same man who caused it all could easily relieve their pain, just as Queen Elizabeth was able to during his time.
Shakespeare's full intent can never be completely clear, because the audience can only view what's before them, but they can look at the government in modern society and see punishments such as the death penalty and look back to Elizabethan times and see the suffering in The Tempest and perhaps strengthen the belief that justice (no matter how one-sided) is still an issue and a representation of Shakespeare's intent to demonstrate justice that neither goes against or celebrates the "eye for an eye" method.


Posted by ErinWaite at 4:36 PM | Comments (0)

Some random poetry I felt like busting out

THE ETERNAL BLUE: SET 2

Sock puppets and holy jeans make for a mean afternoon of comedy and worship...

Blue jeans slung low
faded perfectly
cuffed below
To thee I shall protest
why ruin thy holy pants with such bad taste?

"I need a man like I need a hole in my...jeans"

I can take you
on and off
my body
drag you through the mud
and rip you
hard and fast
or...just wash you up
wear you casually
above or below
the waist
skin tight or loose
but I like you best
broken in
worn
from so much love.

Posted by ErinWaite at 4:31 PM | Comments (3)