Night

In Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451, there was a group of people who memorized books to keep them alive in society. Thankfully, in this day and age people are not faced with the dilemma of choosing one book to carry with them forever by memory. But what if they did? When I got asked the question of which book I would memorize, I drew a blank. I love to read. It's one of my favorite things to do. Over a summer, I usually read at least 10 books. It may sound like a small amount to avid readers, but to me that's enough to fit into my schedule. My problem is that when I read a book, I'm finished within a day or two. Because when I read a book, I only continue reading if I enjoy it, and if I enjoy it then there is nothing that can pry me away from that book (unless it's food). So even though I've read numerous books and loved them all, it would be impossible for me to sit and make a list of all of their titles. I simply just can't remember.

Most of the books that I read are what most people would consider "mooshy gooshy girly". I've traveled with Bella, Jacob, and Edward through all 4 books in the Twilight Saga. I've followed a murder case in all 8 of Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series before it became a smash hit television show (which makes me very angry because they've changed the story completely). And of course the wonderful Sarah Dessen who creates numerous books that make me cry and feel like I'm not alone in the world.

I love all of these books. Each one has brought something new to my world. The only problem is that I don't find any of them worth memorizing. Yes, they are amazing books and yes, I would definitely recommend others to read them. But if I was to choose one book to memorize to keep alive in society it would be Night By Elie Wiesel. Pretty different from my normal read, right? But I love this book more than I can describe. I've read it at least 4 times, and each time sparks new feelings and admiration for the victims of the Holocaust. This book is not only an amazing read, but it's also a true story. A true story of a real man who endured real pain. I can't explain any other feelings towards this book other than that I just adore it. Usually, my stomach and heart can't handle pain. I block out most of it in my life, even during a scary movie. But for some reason when I  read through this book I don't mind closing my eyes at the "scary parts" or flinching when something bad is about to occur. It all seems too real to me when I read the book, and for once I don't mind. This book is the only exception to my rule.

Reading Hamlet- Crystal Downing

Crystal Downing opens her essay with a strong quote, "This is the tragedy of a man who could not make up his mind." Downing is speaking of the play Hamlet. Downing's article focuses on the difficulties of interpretation in Hamlet, and uses concrete evidence as support. The article focuses on how throughout the play both Hamlet and the other characters are continuously trying to interpret his mind. Hamlet questions on how he will take action to avenge his fathers death. Should he believe the words from a ghost? He renders a mental battle over suicide and questions the meaning of existence itself in his famous soliloquy "To be or not to be." Hamlet also questions the nature of love when his mother marries within weeks of his fathers death. What kind of role model love is that? Hamlet morns his father continuously, and Queen Gertrude struggles to interpret why he does so. 

Hamlet faces interpretation when he devises a plan which he hopes will help him interpret Claudius. Claudius also devices a less formal play which he hopes will interpret Hamlet. The interpretations continue through out the entire play. At some points, Hamlets interpretations fail. Downing points out that after Hamlet discovers he murdered Polonius instead of Claudius, he does not mention his fathers murder for the rest of the two-hundered-line scene. Through continuous examples Downing proves how problematic interpretation is because it relies on the speaker/writer, and the listener and reader. It is not completely reliable; it all just depends on how it is approached. 

Crystal Downing's essay was impeccably written. It was incredibly strong in both the writing, and the evidence. She pointed out the key topics of the story and dissected them in a creative way. One of strongest statements that caught my eye was that just as Hamlet has reason to suspect the Ghost, the readers have reason to suspect Gertrude. This is true because one scene shows Gertrude telling Claudius that her son is mad. The audience is left to interpret her duplicity of whether she is putting on an act of Hamlet or Claudius? Another strong piece of evidence was her thorough connection between Wittenberg and the Protestants. That was certainly something I would not have picked up on from just simply reading the book. At first glance the essay did not seem like it would be enjoyable, but it was creative and enjoyable to read. 

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet: With Contemporary Essays. Ed. Joseph Pearce. San Francisco: Ignatius, 2008. Print.

Flowers

If Hamlet was to send a bouquet of flowers to his mother from England, he would symbolically pick specific flowers to convey his feelings to her.

A nightshade would be the first flower in the bouquet. A nightshade symbolizes deception, anger and death. Hamlet has made it perfectly clear that he is angered by all that has occurred in Denmark. The symbol of death could be taken as the death of his father King Hamlet, or the death that he plans on his uncle King Claudius. The nightshade could symbolize a remembrance for his mother of what has happened, or a foreshadowing of the death that will occur when he seeks revenge on his father.

A violet symbolizes faithfulness. Although Hamlet is in England, that will not stop him from seeking revenge on his father. The violet would prove to his mother that he will remain faithful to Denmark, and faithful to his family. Hamlet is not going to let others push him around. He still plans to be faithful and take action.

A rue symbolizes sorrow or repentance. Hamlet may now be regretting how he has acted in the past. He may regret waiting for so long to tell his mother the truth, and instead treating her with deceit like the others. Hamlet may have created an even bigger disaster by keeping his mother in the dark. If he had told her and trusted her in the first place on what was going on, maybe he could have saved everyone from the domino effect of death.

Lastly, a pansy symbolizes loving thoughts and remembrance. It is true that through out the play, Hamlet was never kind to his mother. He hated her from the beginning for marrying so quickly after his fathers death, and to his uncle no better. Now after everything has occurred, Hamlet may want to send a flower back to his mother to remind her that he does still love her.

The scene in Act IV of Ophelia passing out flowers contributes to the garden motif as a whole. Denmark is symbolized as a garden. Each person living within Denmark can be accounted as a flower, which altogether forms a garden. In Act 1 scene iv Marcellus states "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." From there on, the garden of Denmark is referred to as decaying and rotten because of the actions of the people living within it. Ophelia herself is a pure and and innocent state. Around her forms the weeds that over take Denmark. These weeds transform the garden into something foul and unclear. Ophelia symbolizes a flower herself, her brain slowly began to wither and soon she died. The scene of Ophelia passing out flowers represents that even though she may be insane, she still knows the truth. She hands a fennel and columbine to Queen Gertrude because they symbolize adultery, and Gertrude is sleeping in a bed of incest. She hands a rue to King Claudius because it symbolizes repentance. Claudius has much to repent for because he is the source of all the destruction and death in Denmark, after he committed murder. Each flower may be beautiful, but they symbolize each for rotten things. The garden motif is parallel to the appearance vs. reality motif. Although something may be beautiful on the outside, on the inside there is cruelty and deceit. 

Dante and Shakespeare Response

The Shakespeare and Dante article by The New York Times arises the popular question if Shakespeare knew the works of Dante. Personally, I did not find the argument to be strong at all. In some aspects the writer outlined the major question, but his examples were small and hard to relate to. The article mostly repeated itself and did not supply enough substance. The examples that were given were just brief quotes, which I do not think connects the two writers at all. If this is such a popular question, I believe there is probably more connections between the two writers that the author should have stated.

The strongest aspect of the argument is the conclusion. The writer ends with stating that Shakespeare did not speak Italian, and Dante's works at Shakespeare's time were still written in Italian. This proves that unless Shakespeare spoke or could read Italian, there is not a chance that Shakespeare knew Dante's works. I believe that was the strongest aspect of the argument. The article was brief and lacked stronger research to support the argument.

Dante Canto- Level 3 Gluttony

We stood at the gates and faced a banner hosted high above us,

“For those of you who spent your lives never full,

Now you must rot surrounded by indulgences without being fed a morsel.” 

A creature stood by high and proud as a bull,

He had done this many times before, no need for rehearsal.

His expressions were clear and far from dull.

He turned quickly at the site of us, and behind him swung his dorsal.

The land was colorful, and covered in food, quite different from the others.

The bull's voice rang loud, “Don't try turning back, there is no reversal."

“Master,” I asked “Won’t this cause the souls to be bothered?”

Surrounding us were souls skinny as a pin.

He responded “This is their punishment from taking from their fathers,

All they did was indulge, yes, gluttony was their sin.”

Surrounded by ice cream, alcohol, and steak,

Their bodies will wither away without any meal; breakfast, lunch or din.

Chocolate syrup dripped from the ceilings onto the tops of moist cake.

The souls are frozen in place and are only able to watch the rest, 

Creatures from the other levels come to eat on their lunch break.

I asked “What chefs cook this food?” My master replied “Ah, only the best.”

The ferryman Charon drove through but this time through a chocolate river,

As the bull creature entered issuing new souls in as guests.

They locked eyes with the current souls whose stomachs yearn for a giver.

Forever they will feel the pain of hunger

As they watch the others eat and intoxicate their livers.

This all occurred because they acted on a blunder,

They never gave but always took.

“What level do we enter next?” was all I could wonder.

The souls will forever stay frozen with a hungered look.

Their stomaches scream with a thousand hungers,

While indulgences surround them that the chef of the hell will forever cook.


a  b  c  d  e  f  g  h  i  j  k 

The sin of gluttony lies in the third level of hell. The souls who are chosen to live there are people who spent their whole lives in gluttony. They over-consumed foods, drinks, and intoxications. The third ring of hell provides an opposite punishment for the sin itself. The ring is colorful and surrounded by food. There are cakes lining the walls, steaks covering the floor, chocolate syrup dripping from the ceiling into the rivers and cakes, and alcohol fountains in every corner. The souls are frozen with no use of their muscles. They are only able to watch as all the creatures of hell indulge themselves in the delicious foods. This punishment fits the crime of gluttony because during their lifetime they lived misguided lives, so now they are being punished with the opposite lifestyle. The souls living in level three spent their lives over-indulging themselves and putting themselves in front of others desires. Now, they are forced to be eternally surrounded by the things they once abused. They must also endure watching others eat and drink, while the souls wither away to nothing. 

1920's Facts

• The 19th amendment passed allowing women the right to vote in national elections. The US was paralyzed at the beginning of the decade, by the grip of the red scare . Racial tensions were high and quotas were set for immigrants coming into America. The Klan was very active during this period ("Fun").
• Broadway reached an all time peak. Gershwin was smokin' with An American in Paris, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein created Show Boat starring Helen Morgan. Fred and Adele Astaire opened in Funny Face. There were 268 plays offered in New York City in the year 1927 ("Fun").
• October 24, 1929, bank closed - panic on Wall Street ("Fun").
• Also getting a start in this decade were radio networks. David Sarnoff's NBC and William Paley's CBS both went on the air ("Fun").
• For the women, by 1921 the longer skirt was back.  Some long and uneven at the bottom. The short skirt was popular by 1925. This period was called the Flapper Age. The fashion statement was no bosom, no waistline, and hair nearly hidden under a cloche hat. This decade also heralded the manufacturing of cosmetics. Powder, lipstick, rouge, eyebrow pencil, eye shadow, colored nails. It was all there, and plus they had their pearls ("Fun").

"Fun Facts - 1920s ." The Past Is A Blast Keeping The Flame Of The Past Alive Start Reliving   Yesterday Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://www.thepastisablast.com/funfacts/fun_facts_1920s.htm>.

Nick

Open-minded Nick
Honest, Tolerant, Quiet
Relative of Daisy Buchanan
Lover of the tennis girl, Jordan Baker, and the bonds business
Who feels intimidated by the lifestyle of his new neighbors, lonely living alone, and eager to learn the life of Gatsby
Who needs to be accepted among his new neighbors, spend more time with Jordan Baker, and fit in with this new society
Who fears loneliness, being lied to, and letting go of the tennis girl he writes his letters to
Who would like to see Jordan Baker more often, the inside life of Gatsby, and Daisy with a loving husband
Resident of West Egg, Long Island Sound
Nick Carraway