Sunday, October 23, 2011

Literature Analysis 2

1. Recently released from prison, Tom Joad makes his way back home to Oklahoma only to find everyone is moving west to California. This is due to the drought and lack of work. Tom and his family set off in a rickety wagon to California. On their way they hear rumors of plentiful well paying work in the west. Come to find out, once they reach California, the work is hard and the pay is barely enough to sustain a family. This causes them to move to a government run camp that pays much better. Unfortunately at this camp Tom Joad ends up killing a police officer only because that police officer killed an innocent man. Tom Joad ends up where he was at the beginning of the story faced with time in prison for a crime that was not entirely his fault. He makes the tough decision to leave his family and go into hiding rather than suffer any more years in jail. 
2. The main theme of the novel is man's selfishness. In this story every family was only looking out for themselves. For example, in the work camps adults wouldn't even give a thought if they let a child go hungry, as long as they got food during the lunch breaks. In tough situations people don't seem to have any empathy for others.
3. The tone in Grapes of Wrath was a mix of sadness, desperation, and anger.
-"To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth..."
-"Spend all their time looking. Don't want to buy no cars; take up your time. Don't give a damn about your time."
-"If he'll take twenty-five, I'll do it for twenty. No, me, I'm hungry. I'll work for fifteen. I'll work for food. The kids. You ought to see them..."
4. The author used figurative language, symbols, simile, motifs, and setting to benefit the readers understanding of the theme of the novel. 
-"....its load of leaves tattered and scraggly as a molting chicken." (figurative language)

-"The last clear definite function of man—muscles aching to work, minds aching to create beyond the single need—this is man. To build a wall, to build a house, a dam, and in the wall and house and dam to put something of Manself, and to Manself take back something of the wall, the house the dam; to take hard muscles from the lifting, to take the clear lines and form from conceiving. For man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments." (motif-man's desire to lead is seen frequently throughout the novel)
-"....I'll pot you like a rabbit." (simile)

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Tools that change the way we think

"Back in 2004, I asked [Google founders] Page and Brin what they saw as the future of Google search. 'It will be included in people's brains,' said Page. 'When you think about something and don't really know much about it, you will automatically get information.'

'That's true,' said Brin. 'Ultimately I view Google as a way to augment your brain with the knowledge of the world. Right now you go into your computer and type a phrase, but you can imagine that it could be easier in the future, that you can have just devices you talk into, or you can have computers that pay attention to what's going on around them and suggest useful information.'

'Somebody introduces themselves to you, and your watch goes to your web page,' said Page. 'Or if you met this person two years ago, this is what they said to you... Eventually you'll have the implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer."

     I do think technology, especially the Internet has too much of a grasp on the way we think. Search engines like Google make us think we are getting universal information when they are really just giving us information focused on what they think we as individuals want to see. And sites like Facebook give us too much insight on other peoples lives. Whether we like it or not it seems that the Internet is controlling our lives. 







In Search Of

A) I learned that you really have no control over your searches online and that your searches are completely filtered to what the website thinks you want to know.
B) I don't really feel like I am getting the vast abundance of information that the internet claims to give you. I almost feel ripped off.
C) My question would be that in the future, will Internet control what we think completely? 
D) You have to be precise in what you are searching for, and you should cross reference with your friends to see what results they get.


      Overall I learned that the Internet really doesn't provide the user with the vast amount of information that they expect. In redoing the Shakespeare research I used more than one search engine. I also didn't just click on the first link that popped up. Instead, I went to the second or third page of the search engine and found a link. I feel this gave me a wider range of information. 


       I didn't really find more information about Shakespeare, but I did find a lot of articles that involve Shakespeare. For instance, I found a NY times article that used Shakespeare, and compared his warriors in his plays, like Caesar, to that of the modern soldier. I also found a lot on how people are trying to revive Shakespeare through new age plays and art. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/08/theater/08bran.html?ref=williamshakespeare

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Notes on "Hamlet"

              At the beginning of the play I had more faith in Hamlet and his duties to avenge his father. But now I am unsure. I feel Hamlet is getting less predictable and this will only hurt him in the long run. I also feel that with all the characters in general there is a lack of trust. The play seems to just be a big web of secrets that only cause conflict. I am skeptical of where this play will go.

Who Was Shakespeare?

       Shakespeare, to me, was always just a famous writer from the past who wrote popular plays such as Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. However, after a bit of research I learned facts about Shakespeare that I did not previously know. Shakespeare was born in 1564 to John Shakespeare, a landowner, a merchant, and glovemaker. These occupations weren't held in high esteem thus people feel such a writer like Shakespeare could not be born into this type of family. Regardless of what kind of family he grew up in, Shakespeare went on to become known as the "Greatest writer in the English language." I feel that even when researching Shakespeare there is always a great void. I've learned that he was a renowned writer, and i've learned a bit about his past, but I still don't know who Shakespeare is. I don't think anyone really knows the cold hard facts of who he was as a person and his true background. This causes me to only want to delve deeper into Shakespeare research.


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/merchant/shakespeare.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare

To Facebook or Not to Facebook

         I liked to think the best of all social media sites including Facebook. That is, as long as the user respects the rules and privacy of the site. However, after reading the article "Why Facebook Is After Your Kids", my optomism for social networking changed. I learned that Facebook itself doesn't even really respect your privacy so why would users respect the site in turn? From both the in class discussion and the article, I now feel that sites like Facebook aren't secure. I am now very skeptical of posting to Facebook, and am even questioning if I need a Facebook profile at all. Everyones' opinions from class caused me to question what I thought I already knew about Facebook. I can't say I feel safe about the use and privacy of Facebook now.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

(Don't) Be Hamlet

                  Hamlet's dilemma is one which many people have dealt with and still do to this day. The dilemma of choosing life or death, and which is worse. Life may be, like in Hamlet's case, full of "slings and arrows" but death may be much worse. The decision between the two really comes down to being afraid of the unkown, because that was death is.
                 I feel that although Hamlet is in a place of anguish, he should not end his life in the hopes that something better lies in the afterlife. No one knows what there is after death, or if there is anything at all. So why take the risk of ending it all and leaving behind friends, family, and life itself? Hamlet is somewhat fearful of what there is after death, and that is what keeps him from making a rash decision. "But that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country..."
                Sure Hamlet doesn't have the greatest of lives but compared to many others, he can't really complain. And Hamlet has a duty to avenge his father so he can't just end his life due to some turmoil. Hamlet should "take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them." Many are just as afraid to face their life troubles as they are to face death. If Hamlet is afraid of one more than the other it should be the fear of death because he can fix the woes in his life.
               Although I feel life is the answer for Hamlet, no one can make that decision except Hamlet himself. He is dealing with his own demons and what others say probably won't affect his final decision. "To be, or not to be- that is the question:", and I don't have a solid answer. What Hamlet's ultimate decision is will be one that only he understands.