April 2013
1 post
Pride & Prejudice ... Doctor Who Style →
So I found this pride and prejudice spoof of the love affair in a season of Doctor Who. I think this really speaks to how much Jane Austen has crept into the romcom scene of modern day and also to how much her themes of love still apply to our media and love stories today.
January 2013
3 posts
My Interpretation on "Life of Pi" - by Jeff
Blog Post
During the break, I watched the movie, “Life of Pi” with my childhood friends in Korea. In the movie, I was instantly engaged when I saw the protagonist reading the book that I was very familiar with, L’etranger (The Stranger). I wound up thinking that the theme of Life of Pi had a strong correlation to existentialism, and began analyzing the movie with this thought in...
An Alienated Country (by Lizzy)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/7249849/North-Korea-secrets-and-lies.html While sitting in Asia Rising class this last past week, I have learned more about the historical background of North Korea. While the Americans dislike many traits of the North Koreans, it is mainly their leaders who are harming them. The reign of the Kim’s have been in power ever since...
Camus and Zidane
http://www.nytimes.com/iht/2006/07/12/sports/IHT-12globalist.html
In this article from the New York Times, the infamous head butt by the now retired French soccer player Zinédine Zidane during the last game of his career (2006 World Cup) is compared to Camus’ The Stranger. The writer of the article describes Zidane’s head butt as a “senseless act”; a sudden spark of rage...
December 2012
1 post
It is what it is: an existentialist song by Vic...
Article by Matt Clark
The song “It is what it is” was written by the jazz turned rock guitarist Vic Chesnutt. In it, he explores the various themes of appearance versus true identity. This can be seen in the very first few lines he sings:
I am a monster like Quasimodo
or Caliban, the natural man
Giving wild ripostes to my reflection.
One ugly morning in a rage
Father threw an...
November 2012
16 posts
"Hold Your Head Up" by Macklemore
In this song, Macklemore really emphasizes the fact that there is no “destiny”. In the lines “We have many paths in this journey
They act in different directions So when you question don’t be worried It’s not a wrong one” ,
he acknowledges that many people feel like they have set roles that they should fill and that any other role would be considered...
Black and Gold - Jeff L.
In his lyrics, Sam Sparro seems to invoke a higher power to understand the meaning of life, using a color metaphor of the night sky: black and gold. In this song, he inquires about the higher being for the purpose of his life, specifically when he sings, “And now I’m looking for a reason why/ You [higher power] even set my world into motion.” He tries to find a meaning to life through god, in...
Michael's All These Things That I've Done
The title, “All These Things That I’ve Done,” corresponds with the premise of existentialism: I do, therefore I am. Clearly, the song title is playing off this phrase. The lyric “When there’s nowhere else to run/Is there room for one more song” corresponds with the absurdity that is part of existentialism. In absurdism, there is no meaning behind one’s actions; in other words, there is not...
Happy for the Holidays? (Diew)
Every winter kids from all around the world anxiously wait to be showered with gifts on Christmas morning. However, there are many more kids that are unfortunately forced to accept the fact that they won’t get much for the holidays. Are these kids that are less fortunate subsequently alienated from our society? I believe so. These kids begin to believe that they are inferior, or not good...
Xenotransplantation
Michael
For patients with no hope of surviving, xenotransplantation has been a hotly debated topic. Xenotransplantation is the transferring of animal organs and tissues to replace defective human ones. People often connect part of their identity with their body. By replacing human body parts, are patients losing part of their human identity? The first xenotransplant occurred in 1996. A baby with...
Women: the nurturers, the virgins, and the...
“Damage a woman, and she becomes a monster. Most powerful of all is the nurturer. Without her, we are nothing.”
http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/55407/the-nurturers-the-virgins-and-the-monsters
What really is the role of women? In this article, emphasis is put on the female figure as a nurturer, claiming that, “without her, we are nothing.” Are we really nothing without nurture? In Mary Shelley’s...
Is the creature a prodigy?
In a recent article by the New York Times entitled, “How Do You Raise a Prodigy?” the writer states that the word prodigy derives from the latin word prodigium, which they define to mean: “a monster that violates the natural order”. The english word prodigy is defined as: “a person, especially a child or young person, having extraordinary talent or...
Can alienation sometimes be good?
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/terrorist-offers-hurricane-aid-us/story?id=17607455
http://www.gallup.com/poll/15439/what-frightens-americas-youth.aspx
In 2005, Gallup conducted a poll asking 13 to 17 years old what they are most afraid of in an open-ended format and with the highest percent of the vote, terrorist attacks were first on the list. Recently in an article by ABC News, Hafiz Saeed, a...
Lady Gaga the Fame Monster - Mark
http://vigilantcitizen.com/musicbusiness/lady-gagas-bad-romance-the-occult-meaning/
Lady Gaga’s videos are full of hidden messages and like The Bible can have many different interpretations. One article has a pretty convincing interpretation of her “Bad Romance” video, saying that the video is a satire that is making fun of the music industry. The video starts out with Lady Gaga emerging from a...
Monster...? - Jeff L.
Neal Bell’s play, “Monster,” presents Mary Shelley’s magnum opus Frankenstein to the public, staying loyal to its original plot. It is interesting to see how people are surprised by the play’s depiction of the nameless monster as an intellectual, naturally inquisitive, and human-like creature unlike the reinvented, popularized image of the monster in the movie “Frankenstein” as a...
My guess as to what Frankenstein means- CL
From Charltien:
Here are my thoughts on Frankenstein so far.
Let’s say that the monster represents a good person. Let’s say that this monster loves and treasures the greater good and higher morality. Let’s say that he can’t see anything else besides his own ugliness and realizes that society will reject him. The monster and Frankenstein are metaphors for responses to internal conflict.
The...
Lady Gaga and Monsters
From Ryan:
In response to the Lady Gaga video, I find it extremely interesting how she uses the worst, most-unattractive things to make something popular and beautiful. I believe that Lady Gaga is making trying to make a point that ugly things, when put together, can be used to make something “beautiful.” This reminds me a lot of Frankenstein because Frankenstein is an elegant...
October 2012
1 post
"A Bug's Life. Really."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/opinion/09leyner.html?_r=0
I found this interesting article about Kafka’s The Metamorphosis in The New York Times in which the writer of the article claims that The Metamorphosis is not fiction, but rather non-fiction. He claims that Kafka drew inspiration for The Metamorphosis from his neighbor who had a rare condition that caused him to...
September 2012
20 posts
Grace's IM Post
“I had been transformed, and now, lying restlessly in bed in the dark, I felt a kind of affection for the blurred audience whose faces I had never clearly seen. They had been with me from the first word. They had wanted me to succeed…I belong to them” (pg. 353).
This quote is from after IM makes his first speech as part of the Brotherhood. Although the speech is successful, the...
Pg. 300: “’Excuse me,’ I said, but she held her ground… I had hitherto watched only from a distance.”
I find that this passage is important because it relates to the first chapter of the book. The invisible man walks into the Chthonian with “an uncanny sense of familiarity”. This feeling of his might suggest that the Chthonian is a similar place to the hotel in the first chapter because both of...
Sophie's Post
RELATE WHAT WE’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT OUR LIVES TODAY- HOW DOES INVISIBLE MAN STILL SPEAK TO READERS IN 2012
Last Monday was the finale of Bachelor Pad 3, a reality TV show where the contestants are from previous seasons from The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. 10 men and 10 women are put in a house together for 8 weeks and vote each other off. Each contestant gets a shot at finding love and...
Matt Clark's Music video reaction
This is a response to the music videos “bad girl” and “gangnam style” in which we discussed whether or not the artists were taking elements from foreign cultures and incorporating them into their music. Personally, I think that MIA is guilty of doing so because, although the music video and the melody have middle eastern influences, the lyrics themselves don’t seem to have anything to do with...
Mary Kate's Invisible Man Post
“… what else was there to sustain our will to persevere but laughter? And could it be that there was a subtle triumph hidden in such laughter that I had missed, but one which still was more affirmative than raw anger” (xv-xvi).
When I first read this quote, it really struck me because I am a person who laughs a lot. I thought about it for a while, and I decided I agree with what it says. It is...
Andrew's Invisible Man Blog Post
I think our discussion of the Invisible Man’s self-identity is very interesting. In his desire to be part of a community or social group, he ignores his roots and who he really is. We talked a little bit about the scene with the yam vendor when he tells the vendor, “I yam what I yam!” He realizes he no longer has to follow people’s expectations of him; he only has to follow his personal desires....
"Assimilation?" - Young Woo Lee (Jeff)
In class, we discussed about how Ellison used the imagery of paint to reflect the social dynamic between two races in US society, Black and Caucasian. In Liberty Paints, the protagonist observes the procedure of creating Optic White. It is created based on a formula that mixes a murky white paint with a black chemical, which makes a whiter paint: “The idea is to open each bucket and put...
Charltien's Invisible Man Post
“I could glimpse the possibility of being more than just a member of a race. It was no dream, the possibility existed. I had only to work and learn and survive in order to go to the top” (pg. 355)
This is a passage where the narrator reveals the shift in his mindset that occurs after joining the Brotherhood. I find this passage interesting when considered in the context of the...
Vivian's Invisible Man Post
Recently, I read an article on Yahoo that leads back to the idea of being alienated in today’s society. The article mentions the disappearance of an 18-month-black boy named Amir Jennings who does not gain as much media attention when compared to other missing child cases. Monica Caison, who works at the CUE Center for Missing Persons said that “Media has always leaned toward the cute little kids,...
Ali's Invisible Man Post
Throughout the chapters we have read, the Invisible Man has struggled to pinpoint exactly what constitutes his identity. When in the hospital after his electrical shocks, he feels trapped by his own self as he says:
It was exhausting, for no matter what scheme I conceived, there was one constant flaw- myself. There was no getting around it. I could no more escape than I could think of my...
Jourdan's Invisible Man Post #1
As someone who is very interested in medicine, I was intrigued by the passage on IM’s “electrical lobotomy” and the procedure’s implication on how we treat the “other” when it comes to matters of healthcare. In this very dramatic case, a human being, IM, is being regarded as a merely disposable object on which to test a new and unconfirmed operation. Medicine...
Mark's Post
Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000105 EndHTML:0000003700 StartFragment:0000002289 EndFragment:0000003664 I’m really pissed that I didn’t get to say this in class, but I spent the whole discussion trying to find it again. It’s on page 358, when Jack and the Narrator go to the bar towards the beginning of the chapter. Before they mince words, the narrator notices a painting on the wall in the bar...
While reading Chapter 17, there was a passage where the Invisible Man tries to place a type on all the people that he sees at the meeting but he cannot: “ While the discussion continued I studied their faces. They seemed absorbed with the cause and in complete agreement, blacks and whites. But when I tried to place them as to type I got nowhere” (366). The Invisible Man tries to type the people in...
Sierra's Invisible Man Response :)
In chapter 10, when IM was offered a traditional southern black meal, he thought it was rude and stereotypical that the waiter would offer him that dish because he is black. That particular scene resonates with me because I have that same feeling when offered food or asked to do certain things like help translate Chinese to English because I am Chinese. Many times when choosing a place to eat...
I AM KIRAN MELNYK
In Invisible Man, IM feels pressured on multiple fronts concerning his identity. In the Brotherhood, his individuality is squelched, as his fellow brothers force him to speak in abstract impersonal terms. On the other hand, Ras encourages him to embrace his individuality (albeit only the “African” components). In IM’s attempts to integrate himself into various groups within society, he never...
Rachel Bachman's Response to the Interaction...
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Rachel BachmanVersion:1.0 StartHTML:0000000105 EndHTML:0000004166 StartFragment:0000002290 EndFragment:0000004130
While attending the party at Emma’s, an incident occurs that leaves every party guest, whether black or white, uncomfortable. One of the white members of the brotherhood drunkenly requests that the invisible man sing them a “real good ole Negro work song” (pg. 312). Brother Jack,...
Michael's First IM Response
Michael
Is the path to unity/freedom best achieved through violent means?
When the IM is dreaming in the prologue, the mother of the family loves her white husband, who is a slaveowner. On the other hand, her sons will kill him as soon as they get the opportunity. This juxtaposition of whether is freedom (or unifying the black community) is best achieved through violent or peaceful means...
A Passage that Resonates With Me
Alienation: A passage that relates to me
Page 359 “ ‘Master it…effective one.’”
This passage is when Brother Jack talks to the narrator about the Brotherhood and how the information they memorize should not be for the sake of memorizing it, however it should be because it is what the person believes in. Also, that a person should take charge of the cause and not let the cause bog down a person’s...
Ryan's Blog #LSS #STFL
Passage: “And it went so fast and smoothly that it seemed to not happen to me but to someone who actually bore my new name.”
IM feels that he is being forced to give up a part of himself for the brotherhood’s approval. This relates to the Gangham Style video. The artist in this video may be subject to giving up his own identity to stay relevant. In other words, he may have to “sell his sole” per...
Alienation 2012-2013 Post #1
Write a paragraph responding/reacting to our reading and discussion so far of Invisible Man.
Pick a passage that resonates with you and explain what you draw from it.
Ask a question that we haven’t addressed yet in class or that you want to delve into deeper—give your thoughts on that question.
Or, relate what we’ve been talking about to our lives today—how does...
January 2012
2 posts
KK’s Post on LA Times Article Warriors and Wusses (http://www.latimes.com/la-oe-stein24jan24,0,2968154.story)
A few months back, I read a 2006 LA Timess article called “Warriors and Wusses” by Joel Stein. The article took a relatively unusual stance by declaring that if you don’t support a war (particularly the war in Iraq), then logically you should not support the troops. This article...
How we look at time today
Today, a post on the NY Times’ philosophy blog contemplates our modern understanding of time. Lots of connections to The Stranger and Slaughterhouse-Five here, particularly in the following paragraph:
The modern time frame also generates a problem of existential meaning. The “now” of clock time is contingent. It is neutral with regard to the kind of established, historical meaning that...
December 2011
7 posts
Frankenstein's Monster and Shrek
A review of Shrek (the first one):
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/05/18/DD114132.DTL
“The title character is a big green ogre, who lives by himself in the woods. Mike Myers, speaking with a vague Scottish accent, brings wit and sensitivity to his vocal characterization of a gentle fellow who doesn’t want to know anybody, mainly because people have a way of screaming in...
What's the "appropriate" way to mourn a dictator?
There’s been a lot of commentary on how the North Korean people have been dramatically mourning the death of Kim Jong-il. Some western writers find it hard to believe that people would show so much grief for someone who oppressed them, implying that these scenes are staged or forced out of fear. The whole discussion has made me think about how Meursault from The Stranger was judged for not...
Is War "Going Out of Style?"
Today’s NY Times features an op-ed piece on the overall decline in war in the last century. Timely, given that President Obama has just declared the end of the War in Iraq. The authors, Joshua Goldstein and Steven Pinker, define “war” a certain way, and their thesis contradicts the idea from Slaughterhouse-Five that writing an anti-war book would be like writing an...
NY Times article: "In Africa, the Art of...
Listening comes up as a vital skill in both Frankenstein and Slaughterhouse-Five. (“Listen: Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time.”)
In today’s NY Times, Henning Mankel writes about the importance of listening, a lesson he learned from living in Africa, where the majority of stories are passed on orally. It felt like there were important connections to Vonnegut here,...
the black eyed peas and slaughter house five
So I was on the way to the library to study for finals, I heard Where is the Love by the Black Eyed Peas. It really seemed to go with the themes of the book and my poster. The song describes how the values of humanity have gone down the drain:
What’s wrong with the world, mama People livin’ like they ain’t got no mamas I think the whole world addicted to the drama Only attracted...
Charlie Brown and the existentialist philosophy
http://www.overthinkingit.com/2010/06/22/existentialism-peanuts-charlie-brown/
This author presents that Charlie Brown is representative of a Meursault figure. He goes through life, not wiling to change anything. He always lets Lucy take the football, is teased and never learns to throw the right away. While Charlie represents a passive person living through life, Snoopy conquers...
