Literature

Top 10 Reasons Online Learning Is For Me

Im an online junkie.  (Being online is pretty addicting, I might as well use it to my advantage)

Im modern.  (Being online is something this generation appreciates an maximizes)

I enjoy warp zones.  (Online learning requires major concentration that should disorient you from reality a bit).

Im a pathfinder.  (This is instinct, and online learning requires tracking and counter-checking of information.)

Im not a stand-up comedian.  (Im not spontaneous but Im disciplined.  I take learning seriously.)

Its all about words.

I cry at movies and I barf at roller coaster rides.  (I know how to de-stress and relate to people even if I dont see them.)

I can sleep all I want without getting caught.  (Sleep isnt the enemy in learning.)

Im FREEEE (I can be as sloppy and do anything I want as long as Im online.)

I can win any word game without time limits.  (I am resourceful.)

Top 10 Reasons Why Id Rather Be in a Traditional Classroom

Im Ms Popular.  (Socialization is a wonderful way of learning.  Im a people-person.)

Im straight.  (I believe in formal and conservative thinking.)

Im territorial.  (I follow a system that works, and that includes a schedule, a classroom and a routine.)

Im no ghost-hunter and I believe in to see is to believe.  (Its easy to pretend about something you cant be
sure about.  Its not about trust, its simply about being part of the present time and being able to acknowledge reality with your senses.)

Im a performer.  (There are other skills to tap and the traditional classroom gives that opportunity.)

Its about words with body language.  (Non-verbals speak more than the actual words.  Interaction and communication must work right to be effective.)

I love the library.  (Textbooks are part of the requirement and the rest of the other books allow me to distress.)

I can practice sleeping while my eyes are open.  (specially when tired.)

Someones watching me.  (The idea that someones supervising makes me exert more effort  to not do anything stupid.)

Go fish.  (Should play by the rules.)

Beowulf is apparently a tale of a hero who comes in the ultimate purpose of helping Danish King Hrothgar, whose land and kingdom have been assaulted and terrified by the vicious dragon named Grendel. Just like any other heroes in films, Beowulf managed to defeat Grendel with his crafty skills and physical strength. After Beowulf defeated Grendel, he meets Grendels mother, who is seductive yet dangerous, and who enthralls and curses him. With all her doings, Beowulfs decency was corrupted but which will later be regained after an ultimate battle.

I found it beneficial that some novels were made to movies. It is a significant alternative for non-readers to connect with the important themes of literature and learn about the printed text. However, some movies were not able to portray the story according to my expectations. For instance, the movie Beowulf in my own opinion unsuccessfully illustrates the theme of the book which is good versus evil. The movie gave life to Beowulf who overcomes evil through his extraordinary strengths. Though the classical poem has perhaps become something of a burden for most people maybe including me but the movie has all the ingredients that present the blockbuster action flicks from graphic violence, immense battles and fantastic graphic creatures. The description of battles and violence inside the book satisfies me visually in the movie but some of the themes, depths and substance of the poem are a little bit sacrificed. I think the animation and other visual elements were exaggerated without so much emphasis on the characters dialogues and development. Note the setting is a feudal newly Christianized world still populated by the monsters and demons of the ancient world but the characters sense of Christianity is not highlighted which is supposedly important to get the message on how good triumph evil. But it is still a great translation especially if the main purpose is to make it more accessible to all kinds of audiences.

The visual effects of the film were really great though with three-dimensional images of character. In this movie the film makers generated new animation tools where they incorporated the elements of key frame animation to capture the facial expressions of the actors and actresses. Through this technology, the scenes look more real which makes the viewers imagine the distant past so vividly. The film is apparently visually appealing perfect for the younger audience. The story though is not so faithful to the printed text.

Pride is the main theme of The Rape of the Lock and is closely connected to the follies of beau monde that esteem semblances Pope satirizes the irrational materialism of bourgeois values that objectify the human beings by giving primacy to surface over substance. Pope reveals that the central concerns of womanhood at least for women of Belindas class, are social ones. Womans joy in gilded Chariots indicates an obsession with pomp and superficial splendour, while love for Ombre, suggests frivolity. The erotic charge of this social world prompts another central concern the protection of chastity. These women, who value above all the prospect of marrying to advantage, promote themselves and manipulate their suitors. Pope makes it clear that these women are not conducting themselves on the basis of abstract moral principles, but are governed by an elaborate social mechanismof which Slyphs cut a fitting caricature. Through the use of the sylphs Pope managed to point out satirically womans excessive fondness for rank and pomp. And if they could have their way, they would maintain it even after their death.

Popes style is heroic but the invocation, the proposition of the subject, the descriptions, the moralizing sides, the speeches and the battle are practically the only structural features modeled on the epic. The mock-epic or mock-heroic is a form of satire that adapts the sophisticated heroic style of classical epic poem to trivial subject. Mock-heroic exhibits belittlement and aggrandizement. The genre originated in the classical times with an anonymous parody of Homers Iliad and was honed to a fine art in the late 17th and early 18th century Neoclassical period. One epic element of the poem is the involvement of capricious divinities in the lives of mortals. All of the following classical conventions appear in Popes poem the ambiguous dream-warning that goes unheeded prayers that answered only in parts, or with the different outcome than anticipated mischievous plotting by deities to exacerbate situations on earth. A second mock-heroic element is the descriptions of games and altercations in terms of warfare. First the card game, then the cutting of the lock, and finally the scuffle at the end, are all described with the high drama attending serious battles. Pope displays his creative genius in the dexterity with which he makes every element of the scene correspond to the recognizable epic convention. He turns everyday objectsa petticoat, a curl, a pair of scissors, and a hairpininto armor and weapons, and the allegory reflects on their real social significance in new and interesting ways. In the poem every element of contemporary scene conjures up some image from epic tradition or the classical world view. The great battles of epics become bouts of gambling and flirtatious tiffs. Greek and Roman Gods are converted into a relatively undifferentiated army of basically ineffectual sprites. The Baron, of course, is the most significant to those who worship at the altar of Belindas beauty. The ritual sacrifices that he performs in the pre-drawn hours are another mock-heroic element, mimicking the epic tradition of sacrificing to the gods before an important battle of journey. Clearly the poets purpose is neither to ridicule the heroic genre nor to provide a humorous parallel to all principal ingredients of the epic, but to diminish the affair of the lock of the hair. Pope relates into medieval theory of humor where the excess of one determines ones nature. By comparing Belindas radiance to solar radiance, he makes fun of her vanity and her pretensions.

Pope introduces the machinery of the poemthe supernatural powers that watch over Belinda are meant to mimic the gods of the Greek and the Roman traditions. Great scope for description was given by the fact that the Rosicrucian identified their sylphs, gnomes, nymphs, and salamanders at once with the pagan deities and with the Gothic fairies of the Middle Ages. While Pope found in the Rosicrucian doctrine many hints which he could develop, however, the supernatural agents of The Rape of the Lock are essentially his own creation. The creation of the sylphs allowed Popes imagination as much wider scope than before. The epic poets task of arousing admiration was particularly associated with the supernatural machinery of the poem. Pope increased the length of the poem from two cantos to five and added further allusions to the epic as the visit of the Cave of Spleen (parodying the epic visit to the underworld), the game of Ombre (parodying the heroic games), the adorning of Belinda (which parallels the arming of Achilles), and the extensive machinery of the Aerial and the sylphs. Ariel is the head of the spirits guarding Belinda. Ariel has a premonition that some calamity is in wait for Belinda. Thus to protect her, Ariel assigns different functions to the spirits under his control.In spite of all the careful vigilance of the spirits, the lock is raped. The spirits fail to do anything. The episode of Umberiel visiting the cave of Spleen gives an opportunity to the poet to satirize the evil nature and affectation of the leaders and gentleman of his society. It also serves the action of the poem, for Belinda becomes alternatively angry and sad as Umbriel empties the bag of passions and the vial of sorrows over her head. There is no finer gem than this in all the lighter treasures of English fancy. In the ultimate analysis Popes machinery remains a sure proof of his artistic excellence.

Innovative Minds Dont Think Alike and Youre Bored But Your Brain is Tuned In are two articles that talk about the human mindits capacity (or incapacity) to think outside of the box and the ironic effect that boredom do to our brains. The first article Innovative Minds Dont Think Alike by Janet Rae-Dupree talks about the curse of knowledge. The curse of knowledge is the term used to describe losing ones creativity. The curse of knowledge happens because the more people get smart at one thing, the less creative they become in the same field. Knowing this kind of information is valuable because it can prevent us from becoming the very same people that the author has described in her article, people create products that are only appreciated by them (the creators), like the large, 52-button remote that can only be operated by the design engineer. The article makes a lot of sense it provides information that would have not been noticed by common people had they not read the article.

Like the previous article, the next article, Youre Bored But Your Brain is Tuned In, is also about the human mind, specifically when the mind is bored or at its default state.  Knowing this information provides some kind of comic relief for our bored minds as it cites interesting facts about our brains and the paradox of it being active even if we are bored. Knowing this would also change our perception of boredom. Now, boredom would not just look like virtual nothingness but a legitimate state of mind.

War has always been one of the many harrowing and horrendous experiences of mankind and those soldiers who have underwent the horrors are also known to still have effects on them even after the war has long ended. But even if this is the case, nations still regale their subordinates with tall tales regarding the war and it does not matter if there can sometimes be no known logic behind its cause what matters is who wins and who receives all the wars glorious bounty. As such, different experiences regarding the war have been recorded by historians, written by novelists and imagined by literary figures in trying to put into words a war which has been experienced as most horrible by those who have fought for it.

In the poems of Emerson, Hardy, Owen and Tennyson, the different faces of war has been painted and it all shares the same face that of something which is not liked at all and which is not good at all. Emerson has regaled that soldiers go out to the front to willingly die because it is war Hardy points out that sometimes, men have to do the most atrocious and illogical of things to other men, even those they have never met and kill them because they are enemies and because it is war Owen narrates that men die and suffer horribly and it is accepted and there is nothing to be done about it because it is war and lastly, Tennyson writes that men who are deep in fear march on forward with a brave facade because they have to because it is war. Thus, what the four poets are trying to point out are the various aspects of war and that it is foolish, illogical, horrendous and a farce.

In the end, though the four have presented various depictions of the aspects of war, there is one poet that stands out among the others and this is Thomas Hardy in his poem, The Man He Killed. The persona of Hardys poem is powerful and left an impact since the scene painted before a readers eyes is something which can be a typical and common scene and yet it holds so much truth why should a man kill another man who has not done him any wrong and who he has not even met just for wars sake Though war is supposedly something which a nation seriously engages in when they are already involved, it still does not make sense to have people killed on the pretence of being enemies.

The multiplicity of the multifaceted themes in Hamlet by William Shakespeare has been itself a theme of many scholarly discussions over the centuries. Among its many aspects, the existential Hamlet with its focus on the human existence, life, death and life beyond death is perhaps the basic one that first catches our attention. When a heinous crime like murder or betrayal is committed, the natural and the moral order are disrupted the balance of life is shaken. The results that may emanate from it in the form of a cycle of crimes, natural and psychological disorders and paralysis are essentially disastrous. In such cases, the life destroyed wrongly and untimely suffers in afterlife and brings a death-in-life existence for those who were close to him on earth. The maddening emotions of revenge and remorse predominate then over the living ones and lead them to the unnaturalness of mind and action. Hamlet having from the very start murder and death, a restless apparition, a dying and degenerating soul, incest and revenge and remorse perhaps exemplifies this better than any other work of art.

From the very start, Hamlet is pale, gloomy and unhappy that is in contrast to the dazzle of the court. He likes to be alone and his lonely words unveil his mental suffering more vibrantly O, that this too too solid flesh would melt,Thaw and resolve itself into a dewOr that Everlasting had not fixdHis canon gainst self-slaughter O God O GodHow weary, stale, flat and unprofitableSeem to me all the uses of the worldFie ont ah fie . . .(I, ii. 129) It seems that Hamlet has lost the sense of life and more significantly, of lifes significance. He has been so blinded by his misery that he is unable to see the light in life. It is true that he has reasons for his this mental state-first his fathers death and secondly his utter disgust at his mothers second marriage revealed in his soliloquywithin a monthEre yet the salt of most unrighteous tearsHad left the flushing in her galled eyes,She married.(I. ii. 153)Hamlet feels intense pain at his fathers death and agony at his mothers quick forgetfulness(Knight 18). To Hamlet, his mothers move is surely infidelity and as Claudius, the king and her husband, is the brother of the late king, Hamlets father, his mothers second marriage is an incest. Hamlets agony is unbearable his father has been murdered and his mother has been dishonored forever by her act of marriage.

Hamlet sees his dead fathers apparition and talks to it. His pain is deepened by the secrets of death(Knight 18) from the restless apparition I could a tale unfold whose lightest wordwould harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood.(I, v, 15) Then he gets the hidden fact that his fathers murderer is now the king and is also the husband to his mother. Hamlets mental agony is finally and horribly intensified. Hamlet could have only recovered from the appalling mental state he presently in to the normal one if he were able to forget about his father. He could also have forgiven his mother then. But the fact that the murderer is on Denmarks throne constantly reminds him of the devilish crime. Hence forgetfulness is impossible. The irony of the Ghosts parting words are terrible(Knight 19)Adieu, Adieu Hamlet, remember me. (I. v. 91) This has a phenomenal influence on Hamlets mind and Hamlet realizes that he has been trapped by the fate and repeats Now to my wordIt is Adieu, Adieu Hamlet remember me.I have sworn t. and keeps his oath throughout the play. Life has lost meaning for Hamlet who has again lost the sense of purpose. But to Hamlet comes the command of a grave act-revenge. He is now determined to avenge his fathers murder and punish the murderer.

The disease of the longing for revenge spreads fast on Hamlets mind and soon his soul is infected. There is now only one thing that can save his soul-his love for Ophelia. He hath, my lord, of late made many tendersOf his affection to me(I, iii, 99), Ophelia admits to Polonius. But unfortunately he is also deprived of it. Ophelia deserts him, when he needs her, in obedience to Polonius command. The result is pathetic on Hamlets part as if he is mad, As if he had been loosed out of HellTo speak of horrors(II. i. 77) Now his extreme melancholia(Knight 22) leads him to abnormal behaviors. He becomes more and more cynical. His psychological disintegration is now apparent as the thought of foulness is to him the basis of lile(Knight 22)For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog(II. ii. 183).

Hamlets horror at the fact of death and disgust at life are the outward expressions of his sick soul. In his case, the illness is deeper than his loss of Ophelia, his mothers incest or his fathers death. It is not that Hamlet does not avenge his fathers murder due to his lack of courage or his hatred for bloodshed. One reason behind this is that his wits diseases(iii.ii.341)his will is paralysed and confused. Analyzing himself inwardly, Hamlet now curses and hates himself for he realizes his lack of passion(Knight 23). He hates himself the more for his futile self-hatred. He is now ambiguous to himself. Now Hamlet considers his past love for Ophelia as childish. To him, love is not anything different from sex and sex is not from uncleanliness. Being sick of the world, of man, of love (Knight 25) Hamlet denies finally the significance of humanity. His mental destruction is a speedy process. He becomes cruel to Ophelia and his mother. He finds a diabolical pleasure in tormenting the king by the murder of Gonzago and when he finds the king conscience-stricken at prayer, takes a devilish joy in the thought of preserving his life for a more damning death. It may also be his paralysed will and thoughts for which he could not kill. But he kills Polonius in error. It has been argued by many critics that death is truly the theme of Hamlet, for, besides the apparent deaths-Polonius and Ophelia die and the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are arranged by Hamlet, most significantly there is the spiritual death of Hamlet. So Hamlet focuses in his soliloquy on the terrors of an after life. But death is only one of the many themes of the play. Hamlet who oscillates between the principle of good that is love and that of evil which is loathing and cruelty (Knight 29) is only a physical representation of the inner struggle of human beings. The theme of the totality of human existence from life, death to something beyond is profoundly touched by the play.  

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Stranger are two readings that bring about the main themes of Survival and Absurd by featuring weather in the settings consequences of events as they happen. The book One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is an important reading in the history of Russian literature during Krushchev Era. Russian Literature often highlights the theme of suffering. Alexander Solzhenitsyn tries to highlight the prevailing dehumanizing conditions during Stalin reign in his book and at the face of it highlights the dehumanizing conditions of the prison camps and the lengthy hours of labor that the prisoners amount to generate, to keep themselves largely occupied. The special camps worked hand-in-glove with hard weather conditions which worsen the situations of the prison inmates. Likewise, Albert Camus The Stranger displays weather as a significant part of his book making the arguments of crime present by the protagonist fall in the Theatre of Absurd.  As an example, the motif of sun is a recurring symbol in both the books. In Solzhenitsyns One Day in the Life of Evan Denisovich, Sukhov tries to pre-occupy himself by working hard like his other brethrens in the camp. The sun highlights not only the immense work load shoulder to them under it but it also played a part of displaying time in the book. Despite severe weather conditions the prisoners are only allowed to wear limited clothes and made to work for longer hours, keeping them in dire straits. They warm only their hands because the leather boots held near the fire with will melt and steam. One of the interesting points in Solzhenitsyns book is that escape or scheming of escape from the camps by the prisoners is never mentioned. The mere thought of escape from Siberia seems intangible because of the way it has been described in context with the novel to the readers. Siberian prisons were located in the frost biting cold of minus forty degree Celsius where the political prisoners were kept with no heating facility moreover with limited clothes to wear. The prison compound was surrounded by a thick blanket of snow and treeless plains thus, making it a Devils Island of north. Although Sukhov who is a shrewd and daring peasant finds peace in bricklaying in the subzero weather until the night befalls. The weather in itself is a metaphor for prison thus, keeping all the prisoners caged in the frightful temperature. In her article Chloe Bolan stated how Tundra region serves as a quintessential prison where hunger and cold are on the look out for human bodies as their prey. Ironically, the place which Sukhov calls home is free from excruciating cold and he takes out leisure time for himself. The harsh weather condition not only adds to the misery of the inmates of the special camps but it also corresponds to the theme of Survival in the novel. Limited supply of food and indomitable sub-zero degree cold maintain the decorum of the prison. The camps inmates are punished by Volkovoi with stripping off their shirts in the sub-zero cold making them fall prey of the cold weather. Another example of such dehumanizing condition is that the prison inmates should remove their hats in subfreezing cold when passing guards. The prison protocols are laid in such a way that it keeps the inmates at bay and wholly work hand-in-glove during Stalin reign.
 
In Camus The Stranger when Meursault is tried in court for stabbing an Arab, he is asked for the reason behind his action to which Meursault answers that he never intended to kill the Arab but it happened only because of sun (Camus, The Stranger, p.102-103). The sun struck Meursaults eye, reflecting off the Arabs knife.On further revelation he says how the sun burnt his cheeks and aggravated his move to kill the Arab. It was burning, which I could not stand anymore, that made me move forward (Camus, The Stranger, p.58-59). On one hand sun intensifies Meursaults action to kill the Arab that he fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness (Camus, The Stranger, p.59). The courtroom laughs at his reply brings the banality of expression to the world. Thus, Sun as a motif sharpens the Absurd in Camus The Stranger. The blinding Sun highlights the Meursaults inability to control his emotions. Here Sun is contemplated as our natural response to the stimuli thus keeping in tact the Absurd content. Camus highlights how strong is our desire for meaning that we tend to dismiss out of hand the idea that there is none to be found. In another incident where Meursault is told by the nurse how weather affects the human body. The nurse addresses to Meursault that if he goes too slowly, he will risk his life getting a sunstroke but he paces up fast, he will work up a sweat and catch a chill inside (Camus, The Stranger, p.17). The consequence of heat is anticpated.  It affects the human body despite the speed one is travelling. To this Meursault replies She was right. There was no way out (Camus, The Stranger, p.17). Even when the protagonists mother dies, the readers are introduced to the theme of Absurd in The Stranger. Camus writes, Maman died today. Or maybe yesterday, I dont know. I had a telegram from the home Mother passed away. funeral tomorrow. Yours sincerely. That doesnt mean anything. It may have been yesterday (Camus, The Stranger, p.9). Robert Champigny sees Meursaults killing of his mothersymbolical, that he has not made a public sacrifice before the idol of the mother.He has killed the myth of the mother within himself (Camus, The Stranger, p.75).
 
Solzhenitsyns One Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich gives its reader an account of hardships faced by human beings and the strength of human spirit to endure it whether its Tartars punishment to Sukhov to draw water from well in -27 degrees or the rooted faith in God which makes him endure all the harshness. On the other hand, Camus The Stranger shows no rational meaning or order of life therefore, conforming to the Theatre of Absurd. The protagonist Meursault seems like an outsider to society which seeks to find meaning to every feat. The trial is absurd because Camus highlights societys attempt in drawing out meaning from Meursaults action. Everyone except Meursault have their own reason behind Meursaults action but none of them can be correct. When Meursault approaches the inevitable state of dying, he says the following well, so Im going to die. Sooner than other people will, obviously...deep down I know perfectly will that it doesnt much matter whether you die at thirty or at seventy, since in either case other men and women will naturally go in living (Camus, The Stranger, p.114). Meursault here exhibits to us the true notion behind existence and living.

 Both the novels highlight the theme of absurdity and fallible human conditions with the backdrop of weather as a sub-text. Whether it is Sukhov or Meursault both are pliabele by the weather conditions thus, corresponding to the plot. Hence, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Stranger truly reflect different human conditions and ones own rationale to cope with it therefore, attributing to the genre of existentialism in the latter.