April 2008 Archives

"Free verse (from the French 'vers libre'), also called open form verse, is distinguished from traditional versification in that its RHYTHMS are not organized into the regularity of METER; most free verse also lacks RHYME."
(Hamilton p.239)

So this sounds like an open ball game, right? Well, not necessarily so. Sure, you can write pretty much anything and say, "Here, this is a poem." In fact:

Here is a poem.

There, a free verse poem. Too bad it is pretty much a thoughtless nothing and therefore awful. It may be free from rhyme and meter, but a poet must still apply imagery and other such poetic devices to make up for the lack of rhyme and meter. Essentially, the free verse poem has to be either so good that it does not need to be confined by rhyme and meter, or it needs to be too good  to be confined by rhyme and meter.

Either is pretty challenging.

"A couplet is a pair of rhymed lines of the same length and METER. This example, from Ben Johnson's short lyric 'Still to Be Neat,' is an IAMBIC TETRAMETER couplet:

Give me a look, give me a face
That makes simplicity a grace."
(Hamilton p.226)

I am a big fan of couplets, especially when they deliver a big bang at the end. Good examples are the sonnets that we have read in class: Shakespeare's Sonnet CXXX - My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun, and Donne's Holy Sonnets - Death, be not proud.

Shakespeare, after realistically viewing the shortcomings his mistress has, he ends his disparaging sonnet with the couplet "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/As any she belied with false compare.," and Donne concludes tearing Death a new one with the couplet "One short sleep past, we wake eternally, /And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die." These couplets wrap the whole meaning together and drive the point home, and I love that aspect of them. In my own poetry writing process, I try to do the same; I try to get that dramatic effect at the end that brings the point strongly.

Go back home.

"And always Ender carried with him a dry white cocoon, looking for the world where th hive-queen could awaken and thrive in peace. He looked a long time."
(Ender's Game p.324)

After conquering the buggers' world and finding the place that the buggers left their queen, Ender finally became a savior instead of a killer. He learned about them, about their mistake and the knowledge they gained from it, and he learned that they wanted forgiveness. Ender got the chance to give them their forgiveness (even though he completely annihilated them, but it's cool). I really liked this role-reversal that Ender is given. He goes from mass murderer to savior for this alien race. Essentially it is a switch from ruthless military commander to open-minded, diplomatic negotiator. Maybe Card is showing that learning, forgiving, and accepting through talking is better than complete subjugation through force?

That's the way I see it.

Susie: (Pushing them away from the bed) Patient is no code. Get away from her!
Code Team Head: (Reading) Do Not Resuscitate. Kelekian. Shit
Jason: (Whispering) Oh, God.
Code Team Head: Order was put in yesterday.
Code Team:
-It's a doctor fuck-up.
-What is he, a resident?
-Got us up here on a DNR.
-Called a code on a no-code.
Jason: Oh, God.
(Wit p.85)

Alright, so in this scene we're introduced to the Code Team for the first and only time in the play, and their totally simplistic level of dialogue shows the lack of depth to their characters, and a lack of humanity as well. We also witness Jason, the brilliant med student, burn in flames after messing up the code. This shows how much he focused on the research and not on the patient. Susie, who was just a nurse and was definitely put on a much lower level than the others, was the only one who paid attention to the patient's wishes and brought the mistake to everyone's attention. And all throughout this ordeal, Vivian was never referred to by name. So much for her hard-earned respect and prestige as a leading John Donne scholar.

I've never read any bit of dialogue packed with so much internal meaning as this one.

"Even as he cried from the pain, Ender could not help but take vengeful pleasure in the murmurs he heard rising through the barracks. You fool, Bonzo. You aren't enforcing discipline, you're destroying it. They know I turned defeat into a draw. And now they see how you repay me. You made yourself look stupid in front of everyone. What is your discipline worth now?"
(Ender's Game p.95)

Sometimes, authority is completely wrong. Sometimes those in authority think that what they do is right and they're actually completely wrong, and they deserve to be disobeyed. I think it's safe to say that we've all dealt with such an experience, or at least we all will. The Ender-Bonzo conflict was a great example of this. I'm glad that Ender finally disobeyed Bonzo and proved his strategy wrong (although it was completely expected for Ender to be the hero). I'm interested in seeing how this will effect Bonzo's leadership in future games. I'm also interested in seeing Ender battle against Bonzo, because he noted the inefficiencies of Bonzo's battle strategies. He'll probably annihilate the Salamanders next time around.

And Bonzo will be dejected (How do you like that use of one of our vocab words?).

"'No. Of course not. So I'll put it bluntly. Human beings are free except when humanity needs them. Maybe humanity needs you. To do something. Maybe humanity needs me - to find out what you're good for. We might both do despicable things, Ender, but if humankind survives, then we were good tools.'
'Is that all? Just tools?'
'Individual human beings are all tools, that the others use to help us all survive.'
'That's a lie.'
'No. It's just a half truth. You can worry about the other half after we win this war.'"
(Ender's Game p. 35)

I keep forgetting that Ender is a six-year-old child. He might as well be 26. This is such a deep and serious conversation to have with a kid. It makes you think about how serious life must be in the setting of this book.

I like this conversation because it foreshadows a lot. "We might both do despicable things" sounds to me a lot like foreshadowing. It makes me wonder what sort of dilemma Ender and Graff might get into. It also enforces the motif that Ender is a tool to be used by these people - whoever they are - that talk at the beginning of each chapter. I think that's an effective tool in itself to establish this whole "tool" or "puppet" idea.

It's a very interesting read so far.

"Sally's focused revision (right) makes specific reference to a particular source, and uses a quote to introduce a point.  Sally still injects her own opinion, but she is offering specific comments on complex issues, not bumper-sticker slogans and sweeping generalizations, such as those given on the left."
(Short Research Papers)

I think I tend to get somewhat righteous and focus more on my opinions and beliefs as opposed to focusing on using specific references to sources. I'm good at bumper-sticker slogans. In writing these research papers for various classes (I'm currently writing an 8+ page research paper for STW), I try to focus on these sources, but I may inject too much of my own beliefs into it as well. My research paper for STW is about banning hate groups like the KKK from having First Amendment protections. It is very easy for me to get righteous against the KKK and other racists, homophobes, etc., but for this assignment it is more important to use sources to support my argument and not just appeals to reason and emotion. I try to keep this in mind and shoot for that A.

I can't wait to come home tonight and attempt to double the length of my current draft.
I can't wait for this research project to be over.

I like writing poetry.
Would you tell me if you like mine?
Any criticism is welcome. Respect is optional.

1.

 

Knock, knock, knocking on

Heaven’s door; I find that there

Is nobody here.

 

I find Heaven an

Abandoned house vandalized                                                    5

By societies.

 

There are no pearly

Gates or white angels, just spray-

Paint obscenities.

 

The tattered curtains,                                                                10

Like robes of fallen heroes,

Shivers the light beams.

 

Broken needles lie;

Among many broken things

Are my broken dreams.                                                            15

 

Specifics: Haiku format, house being a metaphor for Heaven, Heaven as a synecdoche to represent religion, Rhyme scheme for last lines - ABBCC

 

2. “To a Friend who sent me some Records”

 

As late I rambled through the record fields,   

What time the punk kid shakes the tremulous dew   

From her patch’d denim jacket;—when anew

Adventurous knights take up their dinted shields:

I saw the sweetest vinyl wild thrashing yields,                                       5   

A jet-black wax-disc; ’twas the first that threw   

Its sweets below the tone arm: graceful it grew

As is the wand that queen Titania wields.

And, as I feasted on its fragrancy,  

I thought the compact-disc it far excell’d:                                              10

But when, O Wells! thy records came to me   

My sense with their punk-rock thrash was spell’d:

Intense screams had they, that with tender plea   

Shouted of peace, and truth, and friendliness unquell’d

 

Specifics: Sonnet, parody of John Keats “To a Friend who sent me some Flowers,” Rhyme scheme - ABBA/ABBA/CDCDCD

 

3.

 

Sarcastic, short, and activist as well,

With screams of power ‘nough for mighty Thor,

Ideas that confront what we abhor,

Insatiable desire to rebel.

To march with her, to walk these streets with her,                      5

To spend late nights and weekends with this girl

In cities bathed in colored neon swirl,

I wish more oft would nights like these occur.

Companion? That would mean to understate!

This bond beyond what most could ever dream,                        10

Beyond the physical, our souls in seam,

A kind which few are able to relate.

In love, I’m bound to little Emily.

Together, we will scream in harmony.

 

Specifics: Sonnet, Rhyme scheme - ABBA/CDDC/EFFE/GG

 

4.

 

The march through Oakland made those people see.

Those people that, through use of violence seek

To force a peace and calm out there; this weak

And poorly-planned idea leads to tragedy.

Is this the future of democracy?                                     5

To send out loved ones overseas to bleed,

To force our will, was this our country’s need?

Is this our future, imperialist country?

These people - War Hawks! - saw no vote from me!

I never wanted to strike there first!                                            10

Entangled in their feud - with this, we’re cursed,

And maybe those with thirst for blood will see

Why we, to put an end to greed and hate,

Will organize and smash the state!

 

Specifics: Sonnet, Rhyme scheme - ABBA/ACCA/ADDA/EE, Line 4 too long to represent the feeling that this war has gone on too long, Line 8 switches from iamb to trochee to bring attention to the “imperialist country” claim, Line 14 too short to represent impatience with the government’s policy.

5.

People are like seashells.

There are two kinds:

One kind has a hermit crab living in them-

They shelter and protect a living, breathing thing;

They have a purpose to exist.

The other kind hold nothing within them,

And when you listen to them,

You can only hear a vast ocean of nothing.

 

Specifics: Free verse, imagery to represent the difference between authentic, caring ("shelter" and "protect") people and shallow, apathetic ("holding nothing within them") people. Spontaneous; thought up and written down several months ago while at work.

#1. Americunt:

1) A way of distinguishing the USA from the rest of the Western Hemisphere. A play on the way the far more ambiguous "America" sounds.
2) What british people sometimes refer to people from the USA as.

The band American Head Charge has a song called "Americunt Evolving into Useless Psychic Garbage." This could be the word's origin.

Example:
-Americunts, (also known as Amerifags) are Quite possibly like, totally the dumbest breed on Earth. Also note that they live in the best country on earth which is further proof that God hates you. Americans are the indigenous people a bunch of squatters sack of hammers who call America (pronounced "murka") home. A veritable melting pot of races, creeds and colours, this species has been rendered practically brain dead by being force-fed vast quantities of "stuff" and relentlessly beaten about the head with the Stupid Stick.
(From Encyclopedia Dramatica)

I chose "Americunt" because...hmmm, mainly because I like to refer to stereotypical Americans in this way. Fat, ignorant, bigoted, self-centered stupid - a stereotype like this deserves such a name. I think it's pretty witty, and I also like how the sound of the word itself is as harsh as its meaning

Note: Encyclopedia Dramatica is like a very crass Wikipedia and not to be taken seriously, so laugh a little.


#2. Power-violence:

A loosely defined sub-style of hardcore which almost completely eschews traditional song structure in favor of an all-out blitz-speed musical attack. More well-known power violence bands include Infest, Spazz, and Scholastic Deth.

It was first mentioned by name in the song "Hispanic Small Man Power (H.S.M.P.)" by genre pioneer Man Is the Bastard.

Example:

Screwdriver in the Urethra of Hardcore

• Story by Anthony Bartkewicz

An oral history of powerviolence

Annoying autobio: Late last year outside a Radio Birdman show, I met a zinester who had been the subject of a song by Black Army Jacket, one of NYC’s few contributions to the mostly regional sorta-subgenre known as powerviolence. I told him that I was planning to write this article. “Really?” he responded. “Who still cares?”

(From Decibel Magazine)

I chose "Power-Violence" because I love this style of music. It is so raw and intense; the structure and the lo-fi quality of the songs are entertaining enough. I'm in a Power-Violence band named Masochrist. My other band Shrike Beats Bee has power-violence tendencies. Whether the term is hyphenated or note is beyond my knowledge, but I think it seems more proper with a hyphen.

If anyone is curious to hear some power-violence, look up Crossed Out and Dropdead on Myspace. Pretty standard PV.

#3. Skram:

Skram is a corruption of the word screamo, first coined in 2004 by Alex Bigman, a.k.a. thebigmin, on the messageboard Cross My Heart With A Knife as a joke. Over time, people took it somewhat seriously, and has now come to be used as a less-commercially co-optable term for screamo, since that word has been bastardized into oblivion, used to describe any shitty whine-fest bands on MTV and the Warped Tour that incorporate maybe 30 seconds of screaming per song.

Typically, true skram records are pressed only on vinyl, with handmade covers, and in quantities of far less than 1,000.

Previous and less successful attempts to create a term that the mainstream media and major record companies would deem "too stupid" to steal and repackage included kittencore, and the more appropriate, kitten violence.

Superlatives:
-ultimate skram : literal meaning
-epic skram : skram that usually contains abrupt and extreme tempo and volume/distortion changes, nontraditional rock instrumentation (cellos, violins, trumpets, various other orchestral instruments), and other effects to heighten the "epic" feel of the song, these songs tend to be longer in length
-1337 skram : more obscure and elitist skram
-OOP skram : used for skram records that have gone out of print, but are still in demand, and hence, command a princely sum on eBay or board.vivalavinyl.org

Variations:
-skramo
-SKR##M)
-teh screamies
-skramz0rz (or further variations, ex: skramzei0rz0ers, the more ridiculous and over the top, the better)
-amo the little-mentioned counterpart to skramo, if screamo:emo::skramo:amo, get it?

"Yo his skramz are of high skramality....he seems influenced by early Spirit of Versailles." - SKRAM KID

Example:

k1ckthecat

12-05-2005, 08:43 PM

"in a movement against the errors of catagorization, i've heard a lot of people (in the midwest at least) rename emo/screamo bands to "skramz." it kind of sounds stupid i know, but people got sick of mentioning the terms "emo" or "screamo" and having the uneducated blurt out MCR and Senses Fail.

not only the stupid name, the devoted emo fans around here complain that doing this "abandons the name of what we love." i'm undecided, anyone care to discuss?"
(From skramz[Archive] forum on sputnikmusic.com)

I chose "Skram" because real screamo is another one of my favorite genres of music (I like some intense music). Also, I'm in a Skram band named Liberate Me! - yes, I'm in three bands. I generally refer to real screamo as Skram so people aren't like, "You listen to screamo, like My Chemical Romance?" Real screamo is different from the  popular concept of screamo, which is so loosely defined that if a band has screaming in it, someone will call it screamo.

#4. Soylent Shitfest:

A show where everybody gets together and throws shit and eats soybeans

Dude, that soylent shitfest last night was terrible.

Actually, I only wanted to throw that one in there because this is the name of the first song by my band, Shrike Beats Bee (don't ask me what exactly the song is about; it's long, complicated, and odd). Some random person apparently decided to put this into Urban Dictionary. We don't know who did it, and chances are we don't know the person, cause if it was someone we knew, they'd be like, "Dudes, I put "Soylent Shitfest" in Urban Dictionary," and we'd be like, "Why?" But it's cool nonetheless that someone we don't know knows us.

The title of my blog is from another Shrike Beats Bee song, "City Folk and People."
Say that fast with a bit of a slur.

"The periodic sentence, in contrast, is not complete in either syntax or sense until its end [...]"
(Hamilton p.190)

From Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis":
"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."

Bam. You don't know what's coming until the end (when it comes...obviously).
I really like that sentence structure. It's so good for a dramatic effect. I almost want to write every sentence that way. I just love how the whole sentence is just building up, leading you somewhere but you can't see where, and then at the very end of the sentence you finally see the big picture. I especially like the other example from Doris Lessing's "To Room Nineteen":

"It was a long time later that Susan understood that that night, when she had wept and Matthew had driven the misery out of her with his big solid body, was the last time, ever in their married life, that they had been - to use their mutual language - with each other."

It just punches you in the face right when you know it's over.

Another day of this beloved sun,
With heat that brings me beads of sweat like cured
Amnesia - Forget about that crap!
Just look - this lovely Sunn guitar amp here!
A mop to soak up melted face, I'd need -
With blame to rumbling sound-waves for this mess;
A bank heist would be needed for the funds:
The 4-by-12's, the heads - are all too much.
Whatever, Sunny days like these ahead
Are much to be desired - so I dream.

An explanation? Of course I care more about music than weather. I like to play with words as well.

Most people are excited about this sunny weather, and I'll be honest, it brings a smile to me as well.
However, that Sunn (a company) guitar cabinet (the part of the amplifier with all the speakers - four 12" speakers in this case) down the road from my house at a guitar store has me pretty excited.
They're loud.
They rock your body with sound-waves (feeling music is almost as enjoyable as hearing it).
And this one is $375 - a bit beyond me at this moment.
And then I'd have to buy a head (the part that the guitar plugs into - it brings the noise) for it. Sunn, of course.
eBay is telling me that's another $100-$200 if I get lucky.
Sunn has been discontinued since 2002, so almost everything I find is ridiculously vintage, which only brings the price even higher.

I need a second job.

"Tone designates the attitude that a literary speaker expresses toward his or her subject matter and audience... Tone is described in adjectives that express emotion or manner: it may be compassionate or judgmental, scornful or reverent, formal or casual, arrogant or obsequious, serious or ironic, irate or serene, confident or timid."
(Hamilton 156)

I think one of the most interesting aspects of a work of literature is the tone. It gives so much character to the narrator/speaker and characters through their word choices and and such. For instance, what better way can a gang leader be characterized as a ruthless murderer than by having him calmly order the execution of a rival with a simple "Take care of him?" It's a good display of showing over telling.

Go.

As a workbook assignment, we had to parody a sonnet. Steph suggested that I post this in my blog, because she felt it was pretty good, so here is the real sonnet, written by John Keats, and the parody I wrote:

John Keats: “To a Friend who sent me some Roses”

 

As late I rambled in the happy fields,   

What time the sky-lark shakes the tremulous dew   

From his lush clover covert;—when anew

Adventurous knights take up their dinted shields:

I saw the sweetest flower wild nature yields,                                        

A fresh-blown musk-rose; ’twas the first that threw   

Its sweets upon the summer: graceful it grew

As is the wand that queen Titania wields.

And, as I feasted on its fragrancy,   

I thought the garden-rose it far excell’d:                                                  

But when, O Wells! thy roses came to me   

My sense with their deliciousness was spell’d:

Soft voices had they, that with tender plea   

Whisper’d of peace, and truth, and friendliness unquell’d.

 

Parody: “To a Friend who sent me some Records”

 

As late I rambled through the record fields,   

What time the punk kid shakes the tremulous dew   

From her patch’d denim jacket;—when anew

Adventurous knights take up their dinted shields:

I saw the sweetest vinyl wild thrashing yields,

A jet-black wax-disc; ’twas the first that threw   

Its sweets below the tone arm: graceful it grew

As is the wand that queen Titania wields.

And, as I feasted on its fragrancy,  

I thought the compact-disc it far excell’d:

But when, O Wells! thy records came to me   

My sense with their punk-rock thrash was spell’d:

Intense screams had they, that with tender plea   

Shouted of peace, and truth, and friendliness unquell’d.

Still Jessie Farine. Still a freshman at Seton Hill. Still in Dr. Jerz's EL150 class. Still late often :[

However, now I'm not sure that it's not so much the fault of my procrastination. Starting this coming week, I'll be working less hours during the week, so I'll be coming home before 9-10 PM and be able to get an earlier start on homework, enabling me to do more each night.

We'll see if my work improves. If not, then let it be known that I'm a lazy procrastinator.
Next month is the experiment, and Portfolio 3 will be the result.
Third time's a charm, right?

-Coverage
These blogs include a direct quote from the assigned reading, identify the source of the quote, and links back to the course web page devoted to that reading (all of my blogs contain this, so I'll just list blogs that don't fit into any of the following lists):

Taste of innocence

Joey Two-Times: "Hey! How ya doin, how ya doin?"

I killed your mother today, and it's because she made me reflect upon myself and see my vulnerability

The Faith's In My Chest

The panda says no!

The panda says... idk

Dogs don't please me so often

Punct Art

A!D!D!!!

Shaw is the bom

-Timeliness
This blog I posted on time (agenda items need to be posted 24 hours before the class discussion):
Goin' Souf

 

-Interaction

In Goin' Souf, I received a lot of comments. The first being from Dr. Jerz, which I replied to, which then prompted many comments from my peers.

In Angel of Gawd, Greta Carroll left me a comment, which I responded to. This influenced her blog, Abandoning an Angel.

Corporate Big-Shot to Rebel Radio

Here are some blogs I responded to:

Ally's A Stickler for Grammar

Angela's These guys are goofs!

Steph's Aren't we all displaced persons?

-Depth
Very simply, these blogs show my ability to write in depth:

A Tale of Two Futures

"Nursing home" is a misnomer

Adhere to the system

Them backwards Europeans

 

"It is a measure of [George Bernard] Shaw's considerable monomania, by the way, that in 1945 he wrote to The Times on the issue of the recently deployed atomic bomb to point out that since the second "b" in the word bomb was needless [...], enormous numbers of working hours were being lost to the world through the practice of conforming to traditional spelling."
(Eats, Shoots & Leaves p. 185)

This George Bernard Shaw fellow sounds very interesting (and witty). I like his argument a lot. I've always complained about how many things the English language does that seem senseless - silent letters being one of them. I've always wished that our language spelled words phonetically, so words would be spelled how they sounded. I think this would be so painless and convenient.

We should start a word revolution.

""...Where the [period] is daddy and the comma is mummy, and the semicolon quietly practices the piano with crossed hands, the exclamation mark is the big attention-deficit brother who gets over-excited and breaks things and laughs too loudly."
(Eats, Shoots & Leaves p.138)

I giggled at this description; I probably could not have described any sort of punctuation in such a characteristic way. It is a sensible description though. I can imagine the exclamation mark, or point (for some reason, mark sounds more correct to me now), being a raucous bull in a china shop.

I can't even believe how interesting a book on punctuation can be. I'm learning - AND HAVING FUN TOO! Look at that, I'm having so much fun that I caps-locked. But truly, I am enjoying myself, reading a punctuation book at 11:30 PM. I have to admire Truss's ability as a writer, because making a book about punctuation be fun to read is quite an impressive accomplishment.

Part of my jovial mood is partly due to my brand new turntable! Old-school rules!

"In this chapter I want to examine punctuation as an art. Naturally, therefore, this is where the colon and semicolon waltz in together, to a big cheer from all the writers in the audience."
(Eats, Shoots & Leaves p. 105)

When I learned what purpose the semicolon served, I started to use it more. I started to enjoy using it (I would have used a semicolon to join those last two sentences together, but doing so would be so incredibly cliche that I would have to punish myself). I think of punctuation as an art, and the way a writer uses punctuation really adds a ton of style. I enjoy reading older texts, like most of the text from my Philosophy course, because it has that dated style of overusing commas. I especially liked the Virginia Woolf example:

As for the other experiences, the solitary ones, which people go through alone, in their bedrooms, in their offices, walking the fields and the streets of London, he had them; had left home, a mere boy, because of his mother; she lied; because he came down to tea for the fiftieth time with his hands unwashed; because he could see no future for a poet in Stroud; and so, making a confidant of his little sister, had gone to London leaving an absurd note behind him, such as great men have written, and the world has read later when the story of their struggles has become famous.
-Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway, 1925

I just overdosed on style.

"...And readers grow so accustomed to the dwindling incidence of commas in public places that when signs go up saying 'No dogs please,' only one person in a thousand bothers to point out that actually, as a statement, 'no dogs please' is an indefensible generalization, since many dogs do please, as a matter of fact; they rather make a point of it."
(Eats, Shoots & Leaves p. 81)

Punctuation humor makes me giggle sometimes.

Since I've started reading this book, I've been looking at signs and noticing grammatical errors more often. As a person that is deeply bothered by public displays of stupidity, this only serves to make the world a more painful place to experience. But I don't think punctuation determines whether a person is stupid or not, just a statement. I find it awesome whenever I racist or otherwise generally ignorant person a website, and their comments are incredibly poor in grammar and spelling. It reflects the lack of intelligence in their statements almost poetically.

Mmm-hmm.