Is This Goodbye?

Well, this will be the last blog post I will ever write. I may come back occasionally and post bits of information on interesting topics, but for literature, I’m done. I’m just glad to get this final blog out of the way and not have to worry about it later. Although these blogs takes up so much of my time, I did enjoy these assignments and overall, it helped me a lot on my writing and analytical skills. So for this last post, instead of talking about my favorite books, arts, etc. I am going to criticize the books that I despise the most.

The #1 book that I despise the most is Their Eyes were Watching God. Many readers aren’t use to the language the author uses thus making the plot difficult to follow. For me personally, English isn’t my native language and to read a novel that’s written in southern dark slang is almost impossible. It’s like having someone with a southern accent try to read Shakespeare. (You get the picture.) The difficulty of the language and grammatical structure makes the plot harder to comprehend but once you get use to it, it will be easier. Just have to read it out loud 20 times.

The second book that I hated reading was A Tale of Two Cities. The book was too long for me and I can’t stand any book that is over 300 pages. It’s just not for me. The novel was a long and tedious read. You just want to get it over with so you don’t really pay attention to the small and important aspects of the novel. There wasn’t anything interesting in the novel unless you are a French revolution fanatic. Not only was the book long, the structure was even more confusing. It is divided into three separate books and in a different time and setting for each. Throughout each book, there was a shift between characters. You are starting to get what the characters are presenting but then it shifts to a different character with a different perspective. There were too many characters and I forgot most of them. The structure affected the plot a lot and made it more complicated.

The era and genre of a specific novel impacts your opinions on a book and is a major factor in determining whether you liked or hated it. From Divine Comedy to Frankenstein to Hamlet and finally The Secret Agent, the style of the work written in an early time varies from works that are written in modern time. It is a lot easier to understand, and the structure isn’t as strange. But as Ms. Healey says; “You don’t have to like a book for it to be a great book.”

So is this farewell? Will we see each other again? I guess this is it. This was a fun experience but it felt more like writing a prompt rather than blogging your opinions. If I did blog about what I think everything now and then, I would be in a lot of trouble. But I will be back once in a blue moon and post some interesting ideas. This blog may become my personal engineering website in the future. But for now, I bid thee farewell!

American Gothic

As I was researching and looking for topics for my final English paper, I came across a famous painting that everyone has seen or heard of before. It was the American Gothic. A lot of people know what it is but doesn’t really understand the origin, history and meaning of the master piece. Therefore, in this blog post I am going to give a solid analysis of the painting.

       The painting American Gothic, was painted by Grant Wood. He was known for his home-state paintings and this work was a result from the Regionalism Movement. The movement was a reaction and resistance to Europeans attempt to depict American life. If you noticed in the painting, the style of clothes they wore, the setting they are in, and the troubled emotions expressed suggests that they are in the Great Depression Era. The man is wearing a black jacket, with glasses and what seems like 1900’s clothing, and his stern facial expression is what stands out. The women is in her middle ages wearing a black with white dotted patterns and her face shows fear perhaps sadness. There isn’t a lot of emotion the women is showing compared to the man.

       So what does the painting mean and how does it symbolize life? Well, the man holding the pitchfork represents the immovable demeanor the he shows. He stands firmly to protect his land and refused to let anyone take it from him. Although his farm may be failing economically, he has no intentions of leaving. The man uses the pitchfork as sort of a prop to give the viewer an understanding of his position. He is gripping the pitchfork, his livelihood in his right hand and it could not be pried from him. Moving from the stance, the traditional black attire both of the people wore was unusual since farmers rarely wear black. The color black represents the economic state that they are in. There is not much shown about the woman in the painting but we all could assume that she is suffering through the same fate as her husband.

       A few things to take notice are the patterns on the woman’s dress and how the house was built. They all show Gothic qualities. The pattern on the woman’s dress is the same on the window and the house was built in an old-fashion manner. Grant Wood is trying to convey the message that American culture is not always what it seems.

       So how does this all have to do with literature? This work of art conveys a common theme shown in many great literary works; the man’s undying will to achieve and not let others take away your pride.

Music and Mirrors. The reflection of art

In these past few days in Spanish class with Dr. Taylor, we are talking about Georges Bizet, who went from a music prodigy to a famous writer of the opera. Our class mainly focuses on his most famous work, Carmen. I feel like I could talk about this for my blog since my research paper for AP Literature is coming up soon and I still need a few works to write about. Plus the main focus of this work is based on music, the Flamingo dance to be exact.

       Bizet was raised in a music family and destined to be a star in writing music. Yet later throughout his life, his music received negative receptions and he gave up this interest and began writing for a local theatre. Carmen was his best work yet and it became a classic.

 I’m not going to spoil the movie since it’s such a good movie so I am only going to give a brief synopsis and interpretation. This movie explains the unlawfulness and corruption of modern love. A jealous solider meets a flirtatious women which ultimately ends up in a tragic consequence.

       In the movie, Bizet uses the image of reflection to show the reality or fantasy of the events that occurs in the film. The reflection may be a vision or fictional event that goes on in the audience’s minds. The reflection is a symbol which represents art and life. It is used as a metaphor. There exists a huge gap between fantasy and reality and Bizet is using the reflection of an image to connect the gap between the two.
       Art is reflected in this movie. The creation of Carmen mainly emphasize the dance each character does and how music is incorporated in their lives.