Blog Post #4 Summer reading timed writing prompt

Claudia Scully English IV A Ms. Wilson 29 August 2014 Title needed?
In class timed writing prompt The selection chosen from Blindness, by Jose Saramago, strengthens the idea that the universal theme of the book is “Companionship as Salvation” by giving multiple different examples of the concept.
This selection is significant in the sense that the author goes out of his way to point out the flaws of human nature, while actually challenging its relevance in consideration with the universal theme. This is seen most clearly when Saramago writes”… for there is a difference between a blind person who is sleeping and a blind person who has opened his eyes to no purpose. These observations of a psychological nature, whose subtlety has no apparent relevance considering the extraordinary scale of the cataclysm which our narrative is struggling to relate…” (94). In other words, while he describes the difference between being ‘asleep’ and ‘blind’ very profoundly, he openly admits that it is not the purpose of the book. He goes on to explain that some of the blind internees woke up due to hunger, or impatience that others were still sleeping and therefore no one could get food. This certainly wouldn't have been as effective if the author hadn’t used the tone and diction that he did, in the sense that he sounds knowledgeable, wise, and again, profound in general. He explains that they need others to survive, they need to interact with each other—returning to the concept of true companionship being salvation.
 The clearest and most consistent example of acharacters using companionship as their salvation is found in the doctor and the doctor’s wife. (They aren’t given names.) “The doctor thought his wife had gone blind, that what he so greatly feared had finally happened…” (95). This short passages gives some insight into their relationship, and later on, how much they rely on each other, as the wife is offering her husband assistance, saying, “…you’re upset, can I get you anything…” (95). Despite all the commotion and general confusion shared by everyone in the book, the couple sticks together.



FINAL DRAFT

Claudia Scully

English IV A

Ms. Wilson

29 August 2014

The selection chosen from Blindness, by Jose Saramago, strengthens the idea that the universal theme of the book is “Companionship as Salvation” by giving multiple different examples of the concept.

This selection is significant in the sense that the author goes out of his way to point out the flaws of human nature, while actually challenging its relevance in consideration with the universal theme. This is seen most clearly when Saramago writes “… for there is a difference between a blind person who is sleeping and a blind person who has opened his eyes to no purpose. These observations of a psychological nature, whose subtlety has no apparent relevance considering the extraordinary scale of the cataclysm which our narrative is struggling to relate…” (94). In other words, while he describes the difference between being ‘asleep’ and ‘blind’ very profoundly, he openly admits that it is not the purpose of the book. He goes on to explain that some of the blind internees woke up due to hunger, or impatience that others were still sleeping and therefore no one could get food. This certainly wouldn’t have been as effective if the author hadn’t used the tone and diction that he did, in the sense that he sounds knowledgeable, wise, and again, profound in general. He explains that they need others to survive, they need to interact with each other—returning to the concept of true companionship being salvation.

The clearest and most consistent example of characters using companionship as their salvation is found in the doctor and the doctor’s wife. (They aren’t given names.) “The doctor thought his wife had gone blind, that what he so greatly feared had finally happened…” (95). This short passages gives some insight into their relationship, and later on, how much they rely on each other, as the wife is offering her husband assistance, saying, “…you’re upset, can I get  you anything…” (95). Despite all the commotion and general confusion shared by everyone in the book, the couple sticks together.

These two examples from this short selection highlight the importance of the universal theme of companionship being salvation are very diverse. The first example shows Saramago contrasting one of his own propositions and saying it is not the overlying idea of the book, and the second gives a glimpse into the doctor and doctor’s wife, who are arguably the two main characters, and how they deal with the struggle by leaning on each other. But, they come together as two places where the theme is very apparent, strengthening the book as a whole.

Blog Post #3, Black Walnut Tree Video

Katie Zimmerman , Himaja Ampolu, Eric Sette, Claudia Scully, and Anna Hayes

English IV A

Group Thesis: The black walnut tree symbolizes the author’s struggle to balance sentimental and monetary values.

Where Am I?: Ohio (blue fields of Ohio, fathers’ backyard) what season? → Fall  (“leaves getting heavier…”) inside, surroundings→ dark, emptiness, farm work, toil, mortgage, orchid, trees, poverty, cellar

Who Am I?

From point of view of the daughter who is speaking with the mother. Tired, drained, stressed, threatened, survivors, courageous, trying to problem solve, sentimental, doubtful, shameful

The mother is present in thoughts and in interactions/conversations, and the hard work of the father is also inferred.

What do I want? Keep the possession of the Walnut tree, even though they are not able to afford it.She gives a complete argument for why they should keep the tree, then does the opposite and keeps the tree. Shows us with irony?   how is the Character showing us what they want? Details? (this should get you into imagery, metaphor, conceits, metrics and other aspects of poetic language. At this point you are ready to ask again, “What is this poem about?")

Impression

The Impression we are trying to convey is the internal conflict or struggle that the mother and daughter are faced with. They are faced with the dilemma of having to pay the mortgage. The poem reminded us of the great depression, a time when many people struggled with money. The setting is in Ohio, which is stated in the poem (Fresh and generous Ohio).The debate between the practicality of selling the tree (trying in a difficult time to be wise) and the nostalgia of the meaning behind it (something brighter than money) eventually comes to an end when eventually, the nostalgia of the tree, and their roots in the land, proves to be more important than paying off the mortgage.

Costumes and Props:

The purpose of the costuming with the mother and daughter in older more rugged clothing is to convey their financial position as well as the time period we are setting it in (The Great Depression). The tree is costumed in a tree shirt and jeans to represent the branches and roots. The lighting changes from darkness to dimmed to bright to dimmed to represent the mood of the poem. The darkness to represent struggle and their dilemma, dimmed to represent their transition period, when the mother and daughter are deciding, bright to represent the choice to keep it, but darkness to end the poem because of the financial struggle they still have to face.

Himaja→ Mom

Anna→ Daughter

Claudia→ Extraneous characters

Katie → The Black Walnut Tree

Eric → Stage Crew

Words and Phrases

In our presentation, we focused on the structure, theme, and word choice of the poem. We selected specific words or phrases that best supported the purpose. We emphasized the repetition of ‘the black walnut tree’ and the ‘mortgage’ at the beginning and end of the poem in order to demonstrate the book-end structure of the poem. This purposeful structuring of the phrase ‘the black walnut tree’ reinforces it as a symbol of their father’s hard work.  Furthermore, this repetition follows the archetype of a narrative: the rising action, “we could sell the black walnut tree” (2-3) consists of the discussion about the tree; the climax focuses on the speaker’s realization that they ought to also work hard because of their ancestor’s hard work, by including flashbacks to fond memories such as, “my fathers out of Bohemia filling the blue fields of fresh and generous Ohio” (22-24). ; the poem concludes with the falling action with the repetition of the phrase the black walnut tree and the mortgage. This narrative structure supports the meaning of the poem as a whole because it shows the progression of the speaker’s decision regarding the black walnut tree.

Therefore, we attempted to mimic this narrative structure through the placement of the actors. the mother and the daughter will be center stage at the beginning of the presentation, sitting around a table. Next, the actors playing the trees, lumberman, and father will gradually enter the stage in the background and help the audience visualize the memories and thoughts of the speakers. As we reach the climax of the poem, we will turn on the lights, which will be a visual representation of “but something brighter than money moves in our blood-an edge sharp and quick as a trowel that wants us to dig and sow” (16-19). However, the lights will go back off as the speakers fail to reach a decision “so we talk, but we don’t do anything” (20-21). Finally, the presentation will end with the speakers sitting alone in the dark, in the “emptiness we’d made in our own and our father’s backyard” (28-29).

Furthermore, we emphasized the words sharp and quick. This consonance in lines 18, helps convey a feeling of decisiveness and certainty. These words stick out because they are in stark contrast to the previous indecision of the speakers. This emphasis supports the meaning of the poem as a whole because it shows how the speaker realizes that they should act and work hard, however they fail to do so and crawl back into the emptiness of the laziness.

 

Blog Post #2

Blog Post #1

The reasoning behind why I chose orange for the color of my blog is that it's bright and lighthearted, just like I want this blog to be. Sometimes blues and grays can bring someone's mood down and make them sad, which is certainly not like me. I want this blog to reflect some of the positive things about myself, my energy, being happy. Not to mention the color scheme works well with my photo, and it's always nice to have different visual aspects come together while still being aesthetically pleasing. My fonts are "Coming soon" and "Georgia." Georgia is the more commonly used font, because it's easy to read, looks professional, and doesn't take the focus off the words. My titles and headers are in Coming Soon, as it's more fun and playful, much like the rest of my blog aesthetic, without being too much, per say. As well as this, the titles being in white makes the words stand out against their background more than they might in a different color. Overall, I believe that the layout of this blog is a good visual representation of the mood I am trying to create.

http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/color_blue.htm http://tympanus.net/codrops/2012/02/19/establish-a-mood-with-typography/