Literature Circle 1 Discussion Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion my group had on A Thousand Splendid Suns especially in the way in which we corresponded in our interpretation of the text. For example, throughout the text the theme of covering up or veiling was applicable to both a small and large scale. The speaker claims, "A few moments later, he pushed back the blanket and left the room, leaving her with the impression of his head on her pillow, leaving her to wait out the pain down below, to look at the frozen stars in the sky and a cloud that draped the face of the moon like a wedding veil” (Hosseini 70). This passage is incredibly important in the way that it paints a symbolic picture within the mind. Moon has the denotation of anything that one could desire. Thus, the speaker uses a simile to describe the covering up of the moon as a way of covering up her desire of progression. This is because the "frozen stars", which are representative of the traditional stagnation within Afghan society are in direct contrast from the moon. Therefore, the wedding veil is covering up the progression of women that Mariam so desperately seeks. This theme of covering up is seen again when the speaker claims, "Jalil had taught he  that gray clouds got their color by being so dense that their top parts absorbed the sunlight and cast their own shadow along the base. That's what you see Mariam jo, he had said, the dark in their underbelly" (Hosseini 28). Gray has the connotation of old age and tradition. Thus, the clouds can be seen as representations of the strict patriarchal society in Afghanistan and the people that contribute towards it. It is also very interesting to note that the gray clouds absorb the sunlight. Throughout the text, cold and icy weather is connoted for the stagnation of women, so sunlight can be seen as a direct contrast to that which is progression. The fact that the clouds are absorbing this sunlight is representative of the covering up of progression by the strict hierarchy of tradition and patriarchy in Afghanistan. This quote also relates to the theme of covering up in the form of pregnancy. The "underbelly" of the clouds can be seen as the womb that is personified by the strict hierarchal patriarchy in Afghanistan. The woman are essentially the embryos and babies within this womb and in a sense are being shielded from the light. Lastly, although this book is centered in Afghanistan, there seems to be some unifying Christian elements that are displayed. For example, the speaker claims, "She rolled up the legs of her trousers to the knees, crossed the stream, and, for the first time in her life, headed down the hill for Herat" (Hosseini 28). This quote displays the concept of heaven and hell in the way that Mariam moves in a downward direction, which could indicate a movement from heaven to hell or on a larger scale from the Garden of Eden to Earth. 

Norton/Expulsion Discussion Thoughts

This is one of my favorite sections of the book, and I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion on it. One of my favorite quotes from the section was "Then in my mind's eye I see the bronze statue of the college Founder, the cold Father symbol, his hands outstreched in the breathtaking gesture of lifting a veil that flutters in hard, metallic folds above thef ace of the kneeling slave; and I am standing puzzled, unable to decide whether the veil is really being lifted or lowered more firmly in place; whether I am witnessing a revelation or a more efficient blinding". I thought this quote was so perfect for the book because it truly portrays the mysterious nature of the text on whether or not the university is truly good for the narrator or not. This also brings into the prominent theme of perception versus reality. For example, the black men see the statue through both ways; however, white men could only see it in the way that the veil is being lifted because they have not experienced the hardships of slavery. Another quote that I thought was incredibly interesting was when Mr. Norton was unable to see the "ragged river dozing on the seat beneath the shade of a clump of trees". He even claimss, " Oh! No, I can't see it for the trees" This quote truly exemplifies how the trees and the garden that the white men have created are simply symbols of further oppression for the blacks within the university. For example, when the narrator takes Norton to the unfamiliar grounds outside of school he claims, " there were not trees and the air was brilliant". I think that this is so interesting to note that without the trees (a product of the white man) the narrator feels so free and independent. Thus, it seems as though Norton is blinded by his own work in a sense, which further relates to the theme of perception versus reality. The trees can also be taken to a further figurative level in the way that they could represent an allusion to the Garden of Eden. In a sense, Ellison is portraying the loss of innocence and rebirth that Norton seems to under go. For example, "As we carried him toward the Golden Day one of the men stopped suddnely and mr. Norton's head hung down, his white hari dragging in the dust". Dust has the denotation of human remains and thus relates to the transformation that Norton undergoes after talking to true blood and loosing his innocence. Also, white generally has the denotation of purity and innocence. Thus, the fact that it was being dragged in the dust indicates a sense of shedding or transition from one stage to another.

Liberty Paint Discussion Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed the socratic seminar on the Liberty Paint section of Invisible Man because of the multiple interpretations of this section. One of the main points that I truly liked during the discussion was Antoine's point of the narrator's journey and its relationship to Dante's Inferno. For example, Lucius Brockway could be an allusion to Lucifer or the Devil. Not only this, his workshop is located beneath the industrial factory three stories down as if one is literally and figurative walking down towards hell. Another correlation to Dante's Inferno is seen during the hospital scene. This scene contains many correspondences to circle Six, where Dante portrays the heretics and their fiery chests similar to the iron lung which the invisible man describes as "fiery". Lucius Brockway's positioning within the factory was also incredibly interesting to me as he is located at the very bottom and claims that " right down here is where the real paint is made. Without what I do they couldn't do nothing, they be making bricks without straw..." Essentially, Brockway is the foundation for the "pure" liberty paints. This is so ironic and contradictory considering that the perfectly white paint must be created with black droplets and by a black man himself in a basement. Looking farther than the racism problem, one can also see that the important theme of individuality vs. community. For example, the Optic White paint is created by adding black to the middle of the white paint to make it glossier. Thus, one can imagine an eyeball like symbol which is a smaller circle within a larger circle. This symbol definitely portrays a common motif throughout the book, which is the influence of a larger community over the individual. For example, we see this through the university, industrial paint, brotherhood etc. It seems as though the narrator is constantly influenced by a larger force around him or a community that seems to strip away his individuality until the end of the novel. Not only this, this scene also portrays an evident rebirth within the text. For example, at the beginning of chapter 12, after the hospital scene, the narrator claims, " When I came out of teh subway, Lenox Avenue seemed to careen away from me at a drunken angle, and I focused upon the teetering scene with wild, infant's eyes, my head throbbing". Also, before the beginning of chapter twelve, the speaker notices a "young platinum blonde [who] nibbled at a red Delicious apple as a station lights rippled past behind her. The train plunged". The fruit is an obvious allusion to the Genesis, which could indicate a loss of innocence within the narrator because of his transformation. Lastly, it is interesting to note that the narrator makes another plunge as if he is moving in deeper towards another layer of hell if you wanted to correlate this back to Dante's inferno.

"The World is Too Much With Us; Late and Soon" by William Wordsworth

The World is Too Much With Us; Late and Soon
William Wordsworth

THE world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:

Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. 










William Wordsworth, one of the founders of Romanticism, emphasizes the importance of nature within his poem. Just a little background on Romanticism, the movement places grave importance on the inequality of industrialization, government, and social classes. Not only this, the movement has a strong obsession with nature and it's effects.

Starting in the first two lines of the poem the speaker claims, "The world is too much with us" and "getting and spending". The first phrase "The world is too much with us", when read aloud, we notice an alliteration of the "u" sound. This creates a crowding effect within the phrase that points to the larger point of the poem of the world being too complicated and too much for the speaker. The phrase "getting and spending" could be a reference to the consumerism that plays a role within the current "world" that the speaker is describing. In addition, the fact that the speaker uses "getting and spending" as gerunds indicates their almost never ending nature as if this type of society is a continual progression.  In the next line, the speaker claims, "Little we see in Nature that is ours". This phrase seems to indicate the loss of inspiration and ownership of nature that society had previously had. The speaker then moves on to say "We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!" The speaker seems to use a sarcastic tone because sordid has the denotation of moral distaste and contempt while boon has the denotation of a reward of some sort. Thus, the contradictory nature of the phrase elucidates the speaker's contempt with current society. In the next 3-4 lines, the speaker compares elements of the nature he holds so dearly such as the "sea" and "winds" to "sleeping flowers". The speaker uses personification to exemplify the message of society not adhering to the influential powers of nature anymore. In the next couple lines, there seems to be a shift in tone when the speaker claims, "...Great God! I'd rather be/ A pagan suckled in a creed outworn." Paganism is a primitive form of religious belief, which makes this phrase so interesting because it is as if the speaker wishes he could become more obsolete. In the next couple lines, we learn why he would want to be a pagan. The speaker claims, "Have glimpses that would be less forlorn". The speaker seems to be saying that paganism would allow him to have glimpses of how nature should be perceived with all it's great power and importance. In the last two lines, the speaker alludes to "Triton" and "Proteus" which are greek sea gods who have the power to influence the sea. This allusion help promotes the speaker's want to go back and appreciate the powers of nature.

Hamlet Act 2 Thoughts

This is definitely one of the larger acts in the novel in which there are two scenes. Just to recap, Polonius sends his servant Reynaldo to France with money and notes for Laertes. However, his primary motive for sending him is so he can spy on Laertes. After Reynaldo leaves, Ophelia enters with an upset attitude. She tells her father that Hamlet came to her, grabbed her, and sighed heavily but did not speak to her. Polonius thinks that Hamlet is madly in love wit her but must distance himself from her because of Polonius. polonius believes that his lack of love causes Hamlet's weird mood and goes to Claudius to tell of his opinion. One of the main questions that I had with the Act was what is the purpose of Hamlet acting so madly in love for Ophelia? For example, in Act 2 Scene 1, Polonius claims, "Affection, put! You speak like a green girl/Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. Do you believe his "tenders" as you call them."Tenders is an important word in this scene that has a multitude of denotations such as a boat used to ferry people and supplies to and from a ship or a rail car connected to a steam locomotive to carry fuel and water. These denotations are so interesting because they display how the "tender" is used to carry out a specific task that connects two aspects that are distanced from each other. Maybe Hamlet is using Ophelia as his tender to connect himself with Polonius in order to carry out his task of restoring the order within the Danish society. This is further exemplified through the connotation of the color green which is how Ophelia is described. Green has the connotation of inexperience and thus represents Ophelia's ability to be taken advantage of. Another question that I had about this scene was what Hamlet's true motive or rather the ghost's true motive is within the Danish society. In act 1 scene 1, Hamlet claims to "obey" his mother on not going to Wittenberg. Similarly, in Act 2 Scene 2, Ophelia claims to "obey" her father on not going to see Hamlet anymore. The word obey is used throughout the text and has an interesting denotation which is to behave in accordance with a general principle or natural law. During this time, order and structure was everything and was modeled after teh Great Chain of Being which displays the hierarchy and order that society should follow. It is interesting to note that this Great Chain of Being is completely corrupt with much disorder in the Denmark system. For example, the throne was not passed on to Hamlet who was the rightful heir and even more disorder is caused by the Ghost. This theme and motif of disorder combined with the denotation of obey places light upon the potential purpose of Hamlet's actions which are to restore order within the Danish society through revenge for his ghostly father.

Hamlet-Act 1 Scene 2 Thoughts

Act 1 Scene 2 of Hamlet is an incredibly important scene in the play because it is the first time we truly get to see Hamlet for who he is and understand his inner thoughts. During this scene, Claudius (King of Denmark) is marrying Hamlet's father's former wife Gertrude in a close time span of the former king's death. Just to give a brief synopsis, during this scene Claudius sends ambassadors to Norway and urges Hamlet to stay here rather than study in Wittenberg for university.

During Claudius's soliloquy, he claims, " Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen,/Thy imperial jointress to this warlike state." It is interesting to note Shakespeare's use of the word "state" throughout the text. State has a multitude of denotations which include the condition of a person or thing, rank or status, style of loving, and even the partial condition of the mind. All of these denotations can be used and applied to the sentence as if Shakespeare has meant to put that many layers within the writing of his text. For example, the warlike "state" could be a reference to the partial condition of Hamlet's mind in which he is incredibly hostile towards Claudius. Also, Claudius uses a myriad of paradoxes within this soliloquy such as "With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage". This use of paradox and contradictory structure indicates the deceptive nature of Claudius as if he is truly trying to manipulate those around him. After the King speaks with Polonius, we hear Hamlet's very first line in which he claims "A little more than kin and less than kind."This line definitely portrays Hamlet's viewpoint towards this manipulative king who seems to disdain him for taking the place of his father. Similar to the double meaning seen in word state, Gertrude claims "Do not forever with thy vailed lids/Seek for thy noble father in the dust." Dust has the denotation of human remains and the dry particles of earth. Thus, Shakespeare is yet again using this multiple meaning that could portray the deceptive nature of Gertrude. This deception is further exemplified through the theme of seeming vs. is-ing. For example, Hamlet claims "Seems, madam? Nay it is. I know not seems/Tis not alone my inky cloak, (good) mother..." In this scene, I think Hamlet aptly describes a reocurring theme throughout the text which is the idea of perception versus reality or otherwise known as appearance versus truth. Even in the very structure of the Denmark throne, there seems to be some disorder and chaos because Hamlet is not chosen to take the place of his father. Yet, Claudius is still trying to those in Norway that the kingdom is stronger than ever. It is also interesting to note that Claudius allows Laertes to leave while Hamlet is not allowed to. This reveals an important character trait about Claudius in which he likes to stay in control. In a sense, he is in control of everything except Hamlet. We also notice that Hamlet worships his father as a "Hyperion" which is a sun god. In this way, we can see that Hamlet is willing to sacrifice anything in order to please his father.

Invisible Man-Chapter 1 Thoughts

Aside from the prologue, the first chapter of any piece of literary merit is important in foreshadowing some important themes and motifs that are revealed through the rest of the text. Just a brief summary of this first chapter: the narrator is supposed to be delivering a speech to the "white folk" that explains how there should be an advancement in the treatment of black Americans around the nation. To his surprise, he is told to take place in a "battle royal" type of fight in which he has to fight other black men for the entertainment of the white folk. There is also a scene in which black Americans are told to fight for fake gold coins on an electric rug in order for the white men to be entertained. The narrator does eventually give his speech, and is rewarded with a calfskin briefcase with a scholarship to a state college. 

I think the death of the narrator's grandfather is incredibly important as a foreshadow. For example, the grandfather claims, "Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome em with yeses, undermine em with grins, agree' em to death and destruction, let em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open."Throughout his life, the grandfather was incredibly meek and accepting towards the white men as if he was a "spy". This is parallel to how the narrator feels towards the white folk throughout the chapter. In fact, the grandfather seems to describe this general submissiveness as "treachery". Treachery has the denotation of a betrayal of trust as if submitting to the white men is breaking ties with the black Americans around him. One of the scenes that I think is incredibly interesting is the scene of the blonde lady dancing as a "creature [who] was completely hypnotized". Creature connotes being under the complete control of another. In this sense, she seems to be under the complete control of the white men that pedestal her as a form of entertainment. However, the difference between her and the black men is that she is white. In this way, maybe this text is not merely about the struggle of racism but rather the struggle of obtaining an egalitarian society from a pervasive standpoint. As I've started to index, I have noticed that the speaker constantly compares himself to a "drunken man". Being drunk causes one to lose the ability to control one's own behaviors, thus it seems as though the narrator is in a constant state of being drunk because he is unable to control his own behaviors with the dominancy of the white men. The speaker also claims, "The boys groped about like blind cautious crabs crouching to protect their mid-sections, their heads pulled in short against their shoulders, their arms stretched nervously before them, with their fists testing the smoke-filled air like the knobbed feelers of hypersensitive snails." Throughout this chapter, Ellison refers to most of the characters through an animalistic parallel. For example, crabs are only able to move side to side, which could indicate a sense of stagnation for the black men who are unable to progress within this society. However, it is interesting to note that both the white men and the black men are given animalistic characteristics, which could be the speaker's way of foreshadowing the eventual equality between everyone.