Modernism: T.S. Eliot

The modernist movement in literature is one of the most important movements due to its dedication to modern life and reality of the time. The movement happened during the late 19^th and early 20^th century in accordance with the Great Depression. During this time the world was getting smaller and people realized how insignificant they were compared to the world. Literature of the time focuses on this alienated feeling and uncertainty. It also focuses on the breakdown of stability as is what happened in the Great Depression and during the World Wars. Modernist works tend to use a lot of allusions or references to something by implication in their works. One great poet of the time was T.S. Eliot. He was a poet, dramatist, and literary critic.

T.S. Eliot was a Harvard man, an Oxford man, so in general, an educated man. He got his name going in literary circles with his poem called The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock. It was considered a masterpiece and T.S. Eliot was officially a significant man of the twentieth century. He proceeded to write other great modernist pieces such as the Hollow Men which people still analyze and study today. Eliot was destined to be great. As a young child he showed off his first poem and it was immediately published in a local newspaper. This trend continued throughout his career. In 1948 he obtained a Nobel Prize in literature and that toped his literary career. They say that T.S. Eliot found his inspiration in the book called The Symbolist Movement in Literature by Arthur Symon. Eliot found this book in the Harvard library and it changed the way he looked at his literature. The poetry of Jules Laforge was in this book and the voice that the poems had took Eliot by the heart. Later when Eliot did a post-graduate program in England, he met his wife and settled in Europe. He furthered his modernization during the war and his poetry was becoming better and better. However, he did not publish many poems compared to other remarkable poets. But his poems were so incredible that the few that came out, came out as great pieces of literature. In the Hollow Men, one can see where T.S. Eliot allowed his faith to come into his literature. The Hollow Men is one of his great pieces ever. T.S. Eliot had many great works and overtime his life modernized his work and his poetry modernized literature.

URL used:
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/eliot/life.htm

The Jazz Age and Flapper Era

The wonders of the Jazz Era filled America in the 1920’s to the start of the Great Depression in the 1930’s. Jazz was started originally by African Americans but middle class white Americans made it an actual societal movement. During the 1920’s radio boomed and large scale radio stations would play jazz for hours at a time. Over time, the younger groups of people became aware of jazz and jazz officially became a pop-culture movement. Thus the Jazz Era was born. Most people are aware of Louis Armstrong, one of the main jazz artists around at the time. Dances became popular as well. The Charleston took off in tandem with its acceptance to white culture.

More stylized dance became an important part of society as well. The Jazz Era is also known for its flappers. The woman’s suffrage movement opened largely in the 1920’s after the women found the perks of a working environment during World War I. As women began to feel the need to be more equal, the flapper culture really started to show itself. This was through more and more women flaunting themselves in a manner of shorter skirts, bobbed hair, smoking in public, heavier makeup, and all around a freer atmosphere. In the 1920’s prohibition was also instilled and the flapper women tended not to follow in accordance with these laws. The flappers were responsible for pushing the boundaries of women’s “norms” new dances such as the Charleston as mentioned earlier and the shimmy came about and at the time these moves were considered scandalous. Women got jobs and held them for reasons other than family need for money, they advocated women’s voting rights, and in general caused a political havoc. The flappers also had their own ways of defining marriage, whereas before a woman could not wait to be married as soon as possible, the flappers often referred to a wedding or engagement ring as a handcuff or manacle. This shows their distaste for being tied down or under restrictions of marriage. While the flappers’ style was considered scandalous, a more toned down version became popular among non flapper women. The corset was removed from everyday wear in exchange for straight waistlines, short hair became popular and skirt length was raised above the knee. The style became more boyish other than the skirts. Overall, the flapper women had a major impact on both politics for women and culture for women. The Jazz age was a time of political and cultural change all across America.

Citations

“Flapper." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapper>.

"Jazz Age." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 05 Dec. 2010.                                <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_Age>.

Are Real or Imaginative Stories More Appealing

Generally, a library has two main sections, fiction and nonfiction. The nonfiction section is generally populated by students gathering information for research papers, projects, etc... The fiction section is full of kids and adults alike scanning the books looking for something to spend their free time reading. In this case, the nonfiction section would be the realist section. The fiction section would be the romantic section. People like to read about perfection, perfect lives, perfect conflicts that work out perfectly. It appeals to our senses. We can look at many successful books based on imagination. We have the hugely successful Harry Potter, it has many realistic conflicts however, the way these conflicts are interpreted (generally through magic) is what makes these books interesting. It is something interesting to read about because we can not ourselves fathom this world that is being described. Twilight is another series that has been very successful and used romantic ideals. There are vampires and love and werewolves and hate. Over time, people just become engrossed in this new world opened to them. I suppose there are books that have been "best sellers" in the nonfiction section but I for the life of me, can not name a single one.
Another example of imagination being more appealing than real stories is the ever fantastic world of Disney. The Disney Channel relies on their shows taking place in a plot line that most people have not themselves experienced. For example, Wizards of Waverly Place involves wizards which none of us have ever had to deal with that sort of secret. Another prime example is Hannah Montana, no one can imagine how it is to deal with two seperate lives. Phineas and Ferb is definately unrealistic, no one can build a record breaking roller coaster in one day when they are not even in high school yet. Even the Disney Classics such as Peter Pan, Cinderella, Snow White, Mulan, and even the mascot himself, Mickey Mouse are all unrealistic with idealized traits and happy stories that appeal to people. Overall I believe that Imaginative stories are more appealing because of the unrealistic and unfathomable nature of them.

Trancendental schools

This week we had to create a Trancendental school and present it to the class. The trancendentalists beleived in simplicity, connecting to nature, and individuality. Schools in our systems today have rules that limit individuality, complicated lives that are far from simplistic and often the closest we get to nature is the documentary about reproduction in biology class. Some groups had creative and innovative ways to create trancendental schools. Many had outdoor classrooms and or gardens. Some had drawings each day to decide the class schedule for that day as well as to avoid a pattern of life. I thought that this was exceedingly smart because many other groups simply let you choose what classes you take which is similar to what we have now anyways. Regarding nature many groups had bird watching clubs and classes outdoors. Many had environmental science which helps to connect to nature. For the project it was required to make a model of the school. Some had pictures, others had small scale 3-D boards.
Thinking about what a trancendental school would be like is interesting. Every student must maintain individuality and must not respond to others with feelings of jealousy, envy, or any other strong emotion. This in of itself would be extremely difficult since it is often times almost impossible not to compare yourself with others. A trancendental school however, may seem to be more laid back due to individuality and non conformity. This means that often, these model schools would have had only a few classes a day or short classes depending on the teacher's schedule for the day. There is a constant change of atmosphere for the children of these schools. When comparing this type of school to the type we have now, it is extremely different. We often have some sort of drama going on in one place or another and there are clubs that keep people together and on a similar schedule. This is the opposite of nonconformity and individuality. There are other interesting differences in the way that a trancendental school would be focused on connecting with nature and feeling your outside surroundings through calm and slow days while now we focus on how to work the next big piece of technology or study research effectively. We also have busy schedules that often keep us running around until dark or later. I find it interesting that some people lived like this at one point and right now it is impossible to imagine how they survived. Overall I think I prefer the way my life is lived now, active and conformed.

Elaboration of Transcendentalism Survey (3 examples)

It's ok to be jealous sometimes-theres always someone who has it better than you. I beleive that this is true. It is ok to be jealous of someone sometimes. The world is built on jealousy. We go to the gym not because we want to be in shape but because we want to be as skinny or skinnier than that model on the magazine cover. We are jealous that the other girl has a small figure and want the same for ourselves. The same goes for grades. When the person next to you gets a 97 on a test and you get an 81, then you get jealous of the 97 and work harder to bring up your grades yourselves. This is constructive and helps more often than not. However, there are times when one should not be jealous. It should not take over someone's mind, that is like a virus spreading. Too much jealousy leads to conflict which leads to more jealousy. Therefore, jealousy can be a constructive tool, however; there is such thing as too much. Jealousy quickly transforms to a green monster.
You should always trust yourself. I beleive this to be true as well. In school, teachers tell us to go with our intuitive answer and it will often be the correct one. I have  had first hand experience with changing my answer and changing it incorrectly so I understand where this trust comes from. It is sometimes difficult to understand that you may not think you are right but you are. It is unnerving to beleive in yourself but it is often rewarding. However, if you are trusting in yourself that you are wrong, that is correct too. Not everyone can be right all the time so trust your intuition whether it tells you that you are doing the right or wrong thing and just go with it, see what happens.
It's ok to contradict yourself; it's okay to change your opinions often. I think that this is true as well. Everyone has stated an opinion and during a conversation changed their mind. Do not be embarrassed to admit that you are wrong. Instead be embarrassed that you didn't want to admit your wrong. It makes a better person to change opinions openly and often. It gives more perspective to a situation and that trait comes in handy later in life.

Halloween: Who does this holiday belong to?

For years, on Halloween, children dress up in costumes and take a small bag (or large depending on their amount of desired candy) and go from door to door and say "Trick or Treat." Often, the parents are behind the children telling them to say please, thankyou, Happy Halloween etc... Children look forward to this holiday for the entire month of October, it is a time to be your favorite superhero, princess, movie character, animal, anything. Halloween is a holdiay dedicated mainly to children.
I can still remember my first Halloween that I got to pick out my own costume, I was five years old and I wanted to be Cinderella. So one weekend, my mother took me to the disney store in the mall and I sifted through every single costume until I found the right one. I found one that was blue with silvery lacy stuff over it and a picture of Cinderella on the front. I got a crown and some black shoes (much to my dismay since Cinderella traditionally wore glass slippers). When I finally got to Halloween I took pictures all over the place in my costume, I toted my parents all over the neighborhood claiming that I really want to go to this or that house because I just do. For years after that, my parents simply followed me around while making small talk with neighbors along the way. Often a house would give parents a beer and as a young one my parents told me that it was like their trick or treat. So parents are not the main focus of Halloween, children are.
As for adults that do not have children, they go to parties. From what I understand, these parties are just like anyother party but with a twist so that they can call it a Halloween Party. They decorate in orange and black, serve pumpkin juice that is actually just an alcoholic drink, and they dress up in skanky costumes to be different on one night of the year. I would say that children get to be different, they get candy, and they get to see their friends while adults get to either be toted around as parents, or if they are going to a party, they dress up, drink alcohol, and a large percent of them wake up in the morning with a terrible hangover. I would say that the children get the largest benefit and Halloween is definately a children's holiday.

Toulmin Topic: Phantom Regimen v. Blue Devils

For my toulmin topic I am doing one regarding marching band. The Blue Devils and the Phantom Regimen are two outstanding professional bands. My claim for my topic is, The Blue Devils perform better than the Phantom Regimen. My reason is because they are nationally acclaimed, have become national champions more than once and based on survey, their drumline is better. The drumline in a marching band helps keep the band in time and is a big part of keeping a band together. Also, the Blue Devils have more incredible patterns where as the Phantom Regimen sticks to more simpler shapes. I got a coment that shared that the Blue Devils where cooler and, what was up with all the triangles in the Phantom Regimen? This shows that people realize that the Blue Devils have more complicated shapes and therefore must work harder. Also, by popular vote, the Blue Devils have cleaner marching which means that their lines will be better and they will perform a better show. This could possibly be due to the drumline's superiority as well. A good drumline will help the people in the corps stay together and therefore have cleaner marching. Also this year on August 14, 2010, the Blue Devils were announced as DCI champions. The Blue Devils obtiained a wonderful first place with a 98.9 point score while the Phantom Regimen obtained 6th place with 93.15 points. There were 10 competing bands. The Blue Devils also won both the semi finals and the quarter finals this year as well. Overall there is enough information to prove that the Blue Devils are superior to the Phantom Regimen.

Modern-Day Faustian Story

I have decided to create my own Faustain story.
Today, women wish for happy lives and prosperity. One such women named Sarah Golit was  considered in all ways normal for she wished for these things as well. She was a single, working, mother of three who often chose the good of her children over the good of herself. On a chilly October morning she arrived to work only to be summoned to her boss's office. Her boss, Mr. Goodstein was not a good man at all. Sarah was his right-hand man so-to-speak and sadly she was catching up to him on the career ladder much too quickly. He quickly and softly told Sarah that she did not have the right work ethic (although she arrived at work early and had never taken a sick day except to take care of sick kids) and that he was letting her go. Sarah had 36 hours to pack up her personal items and be on her way. Immediately Sarah left the building and went to her car. She went to her mother's rest home where she planned on disscussing the day's events with her. Her mother was 87 and had suffered minor strokes and one heart attack prior to today. On October 30, 2009, Annie Golit passed due to a second, much more powerful heart attack. When Sarah arrived to Annie's suite and found her "watching tv" she screamed and ran out the door. The employees had not checked in on her for the past 2 days. The employee assigned to Annie was promptly fired and Sarah was left to her emotions. Like anyone would do, Sarah drove home in a daze and sat upon her bed for the next 3 hours mindlessly watching a silly cooking show that was at least a decade old. When the children arrived home on the bus they were immediately scared, their mother's face had taken on a cold, pale, stone-like quality. That evening when the children were asleep, albeit worried, Sarah was sitting in the backyard alone. At midnight, it started to rain and Sarah stayed outside under the porch where the rain did not touch her. The thunder started to roar and the lighting lit up the sky like a fluorecent light bulb. Sarah, still keeping her hard attitude, stayed outside when she saw a man walking through her yard. Her face suddenly lit up with aggression as she ran out to meet the man trespassing on her property. She held her fist high and ran to the man. His back was turned and hunched. She attempted to turn him around but the man swiftly turned and grabbed her by the arm. She saw his face and it was distorted with age, anger, and lack of sympathy. Sarah tried to scream but was somehow silenced though the man was only touching her wrist. We can not know what this man said to her only that the next day a call came from her office and offered her her job back with a promotion because her former boss had been fired for misconduct. Annie Golit was given a burial service beyond the means of both herself and of Sarah. Sarah herself suddenly aquired large sums of money that she passed off as bonuses from work and as money written off to her in her mother's will. Exactly 30 years later from her deal with whomever it was outside her house on Halloween morning, Sarah was involved in a violent car crash. Sarah passed but it was those that examined her body that were baffled for her injuries were far from consistant with car crash injuries. There was dismemberment and broken bones in her feet and skull. They found her heart completely removed though there was no entry wound to her body. We can assume what we would like from this legend; however, I personally prefer to think of it no more.

Free Write: Rhetorical Usage

Everyone has read at least one book that they really enjoyed in their lifetime. Hopefully this favorite book has more words than pictures for most people. However, these books are often recommended to other readers who in turn enjoy these books as well. What makes one book stand out over another? Why do more teenagers read fiction about love rather than nonfictional biographies about the life of John Adams? A lot of this has to do with plot; that much is obvious. Personally, I would much rather read about a girl that falls in love compared to a book about John Adam's quarrel with Alexander Hamilton. However, we must also search in the way the information is presented. Biographies are meant to give out information in the quickest and most efficient way possible. Usually, they are not presented in a form that keeps a reader extremely entertained. Fiction stories would not be sold if they were not entertaining because the only value that comes from them is possibly a few new vocabulary words. If the plot is not presented correctly, nobody will find the book interesting and therefore there is no reason to read it. This compares to the biography's typically boring way of presentation, however; it still sells because it is historical, usually accurate, and the reader obtains some sort of useful information.
Rhetorical devices are often used in these best-selling books. Some typical ones used are bathos, clichés, diction, hyperboles, and similes. Bathos is used to invoke pity. In the fictional book about the teenager that falls in love either the main character/protagonist has usually had a bad life experience that stands out among the other characters. This experience is usually beyond ordinary and the reader usually cannot comprehend it. Therefore, the sad back-story of the character makes the reader feel pity for the character and makes the reader want to identify with the protagonist all the more. Clichés are sometimes used in the plot itself. What is more of a cliché than having two teenagers, one being a social outcast, another a popular football player, fall in love? This makes the reader feel happy for the social outcast and grateful to the jock and the book automatically has a decent chance at success. Diction is of course a way for an author to identify with its readers. Diction itself is just the use of words; however, the way diction/words are used is what makes it a popular device. If the book has its characters talk in the way the readers talk, then the readers identify with the characters more. Hyperboles are simply an overstatement. This is an example of imagery that helps the reader create a mental picture and again, identify with the story's characters more. A simile is the same thing but it compares two alike things to help the reader understand a situation. The commonality in all of these devices is the use of the devices to help the reader identify with characters. That is the key. The book about John Adams is just that, about John Adams so how can the reader relate. The history cannot be changed to help the reader understand it. However, fictional books can have a plot with millions of directions that the author can chose to help the reader identify with the plot, scheme, or characters. I believe that the use of rhetorical devices to help readers identify with stories is what makes most successful books successful.

Five Stars for Ippolito's!

         I have eaten at an Italian restaurant called Ippolito's many times before. It is a chain of nicer, family friendly Italian restaurants that always has a darker, candle light atmosphere. This is the sort of place where you can go in jeans and a t-shirt and still fit in even if the people next to you are eating after a nice occasion and are wearing dressy attire. When you walk in, there is hardly ever a wait for a table because there are so many tables and then when you sit, the kids get crayons and papers and the adults get menus. When I was younger, they used to give out pizza dough to the kids to play with as well, but later they took away the dough. Also, the waiters and waitresses always have a nice tone and never push you to finsih your dinner and leave.

In general, the restaurant is a nice place to sit and have a family dinner without having to make dinner yourself and be bothered by the dogs that want some scraps from the table. The food is delicious (I prefer the pesto tortellini) and the desserts are even better. I have been there for a nice dinner before the girl scout father daughter dance when I was 7, as well as for fun just after a movie and I never feel out of place or over/under dressed. I am always full when I leave because the portions do run a little large however, they are not excessively over packed with food. The price range is about eight to fifteen dollars per person depending on if you get both dinner and dessert and if you eat from the high or low end of the menu. 

As they say, the proof is in the pudding. I myself have never been able to make tortellini quite as well as them and I consider myself to be a relatively good cook. My mother can not either and she is a formidable cook. The candle lit mood is perfect for a date but the extra lighting makes it okay for families as well. As I said earlier, the sevice is impecable and the price range is affordable, even on a teenager's budget. Overall, this is a nice restaurant perfect for most any occasion and I would reccomend it to anybody. Therefore, five stars for Ippolito's! 

Would I confess?

Mistakes have always occurred and most of the time it is a shame to admit a mistake. What if the mistake were something so terrifying that it would cause both you and your whole family shame? I find it difficult to believe that I would honestly confess to my mistake. I would most likely search for another way to get around the truth. Perhaps I would make small white lies to cover myself or maybe I would try to avoid the subject of my mistake all together. In The Crucible the confessions are mainly focused on the confessions of witchcraft. If someone is accused of witchcraft (as many were in the Salem witch trials), the person accused has the option to confess and avoid being hung or to stay with the truth that they did not commit the charge and hang for their truth. I think that I would confess. I currently have a long life ahead of me and I would like to see how it turns out. However, there is the question of whether or not the shame of my life after being accused was too great to bear. If I were unable to live life the way it ought to be lived (with happiness) then maybe there would be no point in living at all. It is honorable to die because you told the truth but I believe that it is much more satisfying to live because you had to tell a lie that someone pressed upon you. The people that confessed to witchcraft only did so because they were pressured to admit to a crime that they did not commit. If there was no pressure to admit to the charge, then no one would admit to witchcraft because the shame is too great. After being accused, one has a terrible shameful life full of people whispering about them and never truly being able to go about life as a person free of judgment. It is said that God is the only one able to truly pass judgment but that does not stop others around you from wondering how God judges. This in turn makes other people judge you. So I suppose that in conclusion, I would confess to see how my life was to turn out even if my life would be messed up after words. I think that you never know what life holds and to find out what will happen you have to live it for better or for worse.

Free Write: Analyzation of Literature

From the time when I was in third grade, reading comprehension was a key skill. When I entered seventh and eighth grade comprehension was analyzing why events were necessary to happen and how the events came about. In the beginning of high school I had to start analyzing how time periods and styles fit into a story. By the end of ninth grade I was well adapted to answering the basic comprehension and analysis questions, who, what, where, when, why, and how. These are called journalist's questions. These questions help to understand a basic plot of a story or article. However, just as my concept of analysis changed over the course of the years, it is time to add another piece to the puzzle.
Now it is time to look at the relationship between the journalist's questions. This is something that has been skirted around for the past 8 years and is finally becoming clear. There is a tool called Burke's Pentad to help analyze a story's relationships. Burke's pentad helps find relationships and meaning in events. It goes beyond the basic questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how and instead goes for what made this event special or significant. The five subjects of Burke's Pentad are act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose. The act asks what happened and what needs to be explained. Scene asks where did the act happen and what were the circumstances? The agent asks who did the event, and what the mental state of the person of action was. Agency wonders how was the event done, what instruments or means did the purpose use. The last of the five Burke's Pentad subjects is Purpose and this is a straight forward why question, why did the event or act take place. These questions need explanative answers which requires more than a few sentences.
When answering the Burke's pentad questions it is good to remember why one is answering the questions and knowing where the questions are headed. If you are writing a paper based on the event, you may want more explanative information. If you are simply providing an overview of information you may want some explanation but not too much because you don't want to overpower a summary. Lastly, if you are reading for comprehension, two or three sentences for each subject of Burke's Pentad should be plenty to get going on understanding the story or article. Overall, Burke's Pentad is a more detailed version of the journalist's questions. It describes relationships that can help the reader to understand a situation better.