blog #4

The introduction of this short story really captures the reader because there is an image of a man, in the midst of war, about to die. This offers the reader the ability to absorb what is happening before delving into the very complex plot that lies ahead. However, there is not enough information given to the reader to understand what the story is actually about.

When the story begins, it is in the third person point of view allowing the reader to get the image of the setting in mind. This perspective sets up for the moment when Farquhar’s thoughts and feelings finally become relevant and expressed. At the beginning of the second part, Farquhar is finally introduced and the story of why how he got to the bridge is explained. Bierce then goes deeper into telling the pain Farquhar was feeling on his wrists because of being hung which takes the narration away from his thoughts for a moment, and more on the physical struggle of that moment, then tells in great detail how he got to be there as if Farquhar is remembering the events for one last time before he actually passes.

By continually switching around what point of view is being used, Bierce is able to create a more complex plot and leave the reader on the edge of their seat as it is unknown what twist is going to come next. By switching tenses, it also allows for different parts of the story to be told at different times, thus information that is important for the beginning is not revealed until the end allowing for ambiguity into what is actually happening to Farquhar.

blog #3: Suicide and Shakespeare

Langston Hughes’s poem Suicide Note is a very short, deep poem that talks about a man deciding to commit suicide. In this particular medium of the poem, it is being machinima-ized to greater embody the tone and seriousness behind this work of literature. By being presented with graphics from the popular video game “Halo,” it shows the lonesomeness that can take over one’s soul when in desolate places where no one is around. Also, by using the song “Mad World” by Gary Jules, the tone is revealed as being one of sorrow and contemplative thoughts because the song is about suicide. The words of the poem appear just as the song lyrics “drown my sorrow, no tomorrow…I find it kind of funny, I kind of sad…” as the character looks down into the river before jumping in. Thus, the machinma version keeping in line with the original vision Hughes had for this poem. Overall, this version of the poem adds to the original literature by setting the mood of the poem before actually showing the lyrics on the screen. As a viewer, I felt the sorrow the character was feeling by seeing the open, vast spaces and hearing the desolate lyrics of the song playing. Then when the poem verses finally appeared on screen, the impact was much more powerful because I felt I had made a connection with the character already.

This comic strip uses William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” to create a satire of the woman’s beauty. In this particular picture, you notice it is raining outside, and that infers bad, ugly weather. The poet is reading to this woman Shakespeare’s sonnet to try and gain affection from her, yet she is detested that she be compared to such bad weather. This comic strip appears to be very satirical which is common in today’s pop cultural era where the entertainment industry (movies, TV, novels, music, and even comic strips) play off of popular culture from the past as well as current events.

back to nature

“All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace” by Richard Brautigan is a very satirical poem about how technology is destroying our world. This begins in the first stanza, line 3, where a “cybernetic meadow” is imagined then goes on to say that animals and computers would “live together in mutually programming harmony.” The tone of this poem, so far, is completely ironic because essentially it would be impossible for the cyber world to take over the beauty of mother nature. This satire continues in the second stanza when “deer stroll past computers as if they were flowers.” Such phrasing sets up thoughts that technology has become to quintessential to our everyday lives that animals, too, now can completely disregard such things as computers in nature because it has become somewhat natural. Finally, the last stanza closes with talk of a “cybernetic ecology” where all are “watched over by machines.” Essentially, we as a human race, are already being watched over by technology because of the strong attachment to our cell phones, laptops, televisions, etc.

Contradictory to this point of view, Brautigan’s poem could be taken in such a way that one thinks technology is beauty that cannot be replaced and now has become “natural” to us as a human race. This begins in the first stanza with the parenthetical note in lines 1-2 “(and the sooner the better!)...“mutually” will animals and technology be one with each other. The poem continues with another note in the second stanza “(right now, please!)” which conveys the idea that technology is ready to be one with nature so that “deer [can] stroll...past computers” and not think twice about how the flowers they once knew are now large rectangular, man-made pieces of electronics. Finally, the last stanza almost insists that technology and mammals will live together in nature one day because it “has to be!” because it is the new “natural” ideal for humans, so other animals, therefore, should accept it as well.

Although both interpretations of this poem are compelling, I believe that Brautigan is truly anti-technology and conveys this through irony and satire. With the 21^st century upon us, and technology at every bit of our finger tips, we as a human race have lost our connection with the natural world around us. We are more concerned with what e-mail we need to check on our Blackberry or what song to play next on our iPod. I think that it is through this satirical tone that Brautigan conveys his wish that humans connect back with nature.

Lifeless hand stretched out for love

John Keats : This Living Hand

This living hand, now warm and capable Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold And in the icy silence of the tomb, So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights That thou wouldst wish thine own heart dry of blood So in my veins red life might stream again, And thou be conscience-calm'd—see here it is— I hold it towards you.

John Keats (1795-1821) 1819?

In John Keats poem, “This Living Hand” there are three vivid images which are portrayed and help to convey the meaning behind this piece of literature. The living hand, tomb, and blood all work together to show the difficulty he is having finding/falling in love with another. The poem starts with the image of this living hand which seems to be outstretched for another which shows that he is yearning for love. Yet, this idea of being open to love changes when, in line 3, the image of the tomb arises creating the idea that he is trapped in this cold, icy place where love cannot reach him and he, similarly, cannot reach love. The tomb he is trapped in is not a wooden box so to say, but rather his own body, thus, portraying the idea that it is he who is restricting himself from finding love. Keats then goes on to describe the third image of blood in line 5. The first time blood appears in the poem, it is said to be in his dry heart; this dryness comes from being trapped in the tomb and hidden from love, and, although he tries to reach for it, it always seems to be just beyond what he can grasp. His heart is continually closed off from love, thus he has seemed to become frozen in the cold, icy tomb of his body. Yet, line 6 shows optimism as he has hope that one day this dry blood within his veins will be of “red life” again when he is finally able to reach out to the one he loves and feel the same love back. Thus, the poem ends with the image of the hand again, still outstretched for his love to hopefully grasp it back one day.