Here, there and everywhere.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Margaret Atwood.

After reading some of Margaret Atwood's texts, I realized that she always includes Canada in them, either she describes some of the culture or important aspects (just like in "Tour-de-farce") or she just mentions the name and relates it with the rest of the text (just like in "Happy Endings"). Somehow I've learned how she admires the country she was born in and how she compares Canada with other countries such as England. I bet she is proud to be Canadian and that is one of the things I appreciate about her because instead of talking how wonderful are other countries, she talks about her natal country and makes me want to go to Canada, on the other hand, it can also be boring because everything she's relating everything with some Canadian aspects, excluding the rest of the world. But in "Tour-de-farce", even though its pretty obvious that she misses Canada, when she moves to England she realizes how much she loves her natal country but has to accept a different culture and needs to get used to it.

Post-modernism.

What I've learned about post-modernism is a way to explain reality. It looks for a way to explain that reality and is not only how humans see or understand about it. In Post-modernism, the mind tries to understand its own reality, this is why is skeptical of explanations or arguments that claim to be valid for all groups because is focused in each person and how they consider something to be valid or true.
The interpretations is essential in Post-modernism because as I mentioned before, it depends on each person how they consider something to be valid, so the interpretation is the most important thing because through them we can see what the world means to us and, therefore we can see how reality is constructed, individually.

"Post-modernism cannot on its own principles ultimately justify itself any more than can the various metaphysical overviews against which the postmodern mind has defined itself."

-Richard Tarnas (philosopher)

Atwood and post-modernism?

Relating post- modernism with Margaret Atwood, we can see that some of her texts contain a lot of post-modernism aspects in them, for example, in "Happy Endings" is not necessary to analyze if the text is valid or not because we can get a personal interpretation of that and give it our own validity. Another example is "Tour-de-farce", because in this text we can see that there are some important aspects of post-modernism such as self-awareness, intertextuality, deconstruction and pastiche.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

John Donne's poetry.

"The Sun Rising" and

"The Canonization".

During this last period, in my Literature class, we've been analyzing John Donne's poetry, and two of the poems that we analyzed are "The Sun Rising" and "The Canonization". After reading them, my impressions about Donne's work didn't change at all, because the first Donne's poem that I read was "The Flea", so I realized that he has the same "essence" in all his poems (at least in the ones that I've read). He uses a lot of rhetorical figures, and of course, his famous "wit" is always present.

Somehow, Donne uses words that seem to be simple, but when you read it again and again you realized that they can have more than one meaning. I believe that decided to use a lot of literary devices to have an unique impact in each reader, because even though he transmits a message in each of his poems, at the end, everyone can have a different interpretation because of the words he uses. There is one out of two possibilities, either you totally understood what he's saying or you didn't understand anything, and again, it is all because of the meaning of the words that he uses.

Also, Donne is recognized due to his majestically wit, included in all his poems. He had a genius way to transmit his thoughts, feelings and beliefs.

For example, in "The Sun Rising", he uses a lot of hyperbole and metaphors, and the poem is about two lovers being bothered by the Sun, in comparison with "The Canonization" that also has implied the theme of "love" and/or "couples" and it's mainly focused on that, in contrast with "The Sun Rising" that it's mainly focused on the Sun. "The Canonization" is about two individuals that are in love and they tell others to not criticize them for their love. They state that their love is indestructible and everyone can feel however they feel about it, because their love is going to be an example for future generations to follow.

Now, every time I read a Donne's poem, just by reading the title I know that is going to be about religion, death, love, women or sexuality.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Satire III

"Satire III"

During the last weeks, we've been reading John Donne's poetry in my Literature class. There was a poem that caught my attention immediately because it made me think a lot about God, devil and religion in general, this poem is called "Satire III". This poem mainly talks about man and religion.
It's interesting that in someway, Donne's poem makes me want to have a religion and do the "right thing" by following the word of God. Another interesting fact about "Satire III" is that he establishes that when human follow their temptations, they're not actually feeding their soul and that religion is the solution for everything they need.
This is related to the fact that people actually have a religion because they feel more confident and less scared of real life. Therefore, I can conclude by saying that it is essential for humanity to have a religion because it is a guide that will make them feel less afraid of their future.
What I learned about John Donne when I finished to read this poem is that he thought religion was the right thing for him and wanted to transmit that message to everyone else.
He was a person that really, really liked metaphors and we can see one in the beginning of "Satire III", when he says "Death be not proud".
My experience with "Satire III" is that at first, I didn't understand what he was talking about because his constant use of metaphor, so I had to read it again and again. Also I realized that for a lot of people, religion (how Donne describes it) is their answer and guide for everything, but not for me.

I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live as if there isn't and to die to find out that there is.

Albert Camus

"I would rather live my life as if there's a God and die to find out there isn't, than live as if there isn't and to die to find out that there is."

-Albert Camus

Friday, March 7, 2014

John Donne

In our English class we've been reading poetry lately. We've read a lot about John Donne's poems and I've discovered that his poetry is literally unique. There are not other words to describe it because when I first read "The Flea", I realized how intelligent he was for writing something with double meaning that at first sight looks really simple but when you read it again and again, you realize that its more than simple.

At first sight, when reading "The Flea", I thought that he was talking about a real flea, but once I started to analyze it, I realized the intellect of Donne's because he choose words that are not related to each other at all, but once you give them meaning, you realize that they have a lot in common and can be interpreted as something else. For example, in "The Flea", the "flea" represents marriage between a man and a women.

John Donne is famous for his wit, this means that his poems are full of multiple meanings because he uses a lot of words that have double meaning but because of the context of the other words, we can understand what he is talking about.

Undoubtedly he is different from other poets because in comparison with others, he uses a lot of "common words" in his poems that have a hidden meaning and other poems use a lot of "complex words" that can cause confusion towards the reader because sometimes we don't know what do they refer to.

My opinion about his poetry is that its universal in the way that he talks about a lot of themes such as love, war, religion, etc. I believe that he mainly used "common words" with different meanings because he thought that the importance of the message in his poems, depends on every person and their own interpretation.

"Since you would save none of me, I bury some of you."

-John Donne

”Donne is in the habit of elaborating a figure to the furthest stage to which ingenuity can carry it."

-Joan Bennett

Since you would save none of me, I bury some of you.

John Donne

Since you would save none of me, I bury some of you.

John Donne

Since you would save none of me, I bury some of you.

John Donne

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Poetry.

In Literature class, we have been reading about poetry and I would the discussions and readings have changed my point of view in some way because there are some facts I already knew about poetry. One of the things we discussed was that something becomes "poetry" when the author transmits his/her feelings in words and make them in such a perfect way because the words have rhyme without affecting the meaning of the message. I also believe that poetry is a way of interpreting the world in all its manners. The feelings you have inside are what make you write poetry and this poetry causes more feelings on the readers. Poetry is about express your feelings without saying something, is about writing those feelings.

A poem needs to have rhyme and meter because these elements are what makes a poem unique. It can also have rhetorical figures, therefore, readers will have to reflect deeper when reading the poem, and its meaning will be stronger and richer.

Personally, I prefer romantic, heartbreaking or motivational poems over all. What I like about them is that most of the times whenever you don't understand something, at the end, the important thing about reading a poem, is the interpretation you give to it.

The discussions in class made me realize the importance and purpose of poetry. I realized that poems are written based on experiences and feelings.

A poem must have poetry, if not, it wouldn't be a poem. Poetry still exists without being in a poem, because it can be created without intentions. Also, a poem becomes a poem when a man uses poetry to express his feelings, thoughts or experiences.

A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.

Robert Frost

A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.

Robert Frost

"A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness."

-Robert Frost

A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.

Robert Frost

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Semiotics and insights

The perspective that Semiotics brings me to my every day life is a new one, because it helps me with the interpretation and analysis of symbols, it also helps me to give those symbols the right meaning according to the context. Since there are a lot of words with a lot of meanings and if someone tells me "you may see a rainbow in May" or even if I read it in an article, the words "may" sound the same, but because of my knowledge acquired by society, I can give meaning to those "may" according to the context of the sentence, therefore, I can conclude that person told me that I am probably going to see a rainbow in the month of May.

In conclusion, it helps me understand better the symbols in society.

After watching Throne of Blood and after reading Macbeth, I concluded that humans are naturally ambitious and they are going to be looking for power all the time because they will never be satisfied. It doesn't even matter everything you have to do to achieve your goals, you'll always want to have the best. This means that whenever someone wants something so much, that person can even forget about his/her inner humanity, and can commit crimes such as murder.

As conclusion I learned from Throne of Blood and Macbeth, that karma exists and what you give is what you receive, so, for your bad actions, you'll receive worse things. If you kill, sooner or later the guilt is going to attack you, therefore, you're either going to commit suicide or going to be killed by someone else.

"As long as karma exists, the world changes. There will always be karma to be taken care of."

-Nina Hagen

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Throne of Blood and Macbeth

"They say dreams manifest our basest desires."

-Throne of Blood (1957)

Throne of Blood and Macbeth

Throne of Blood, a novel written by Kurosawa, is a Japanese adaptation of Macbeth by Shakespeare, except that Macbeth is derived from historical events in the eleventh-century Scotland and Throne of Blood is derived from the civil war in medieval Japan.

Many people consider Throne of Blood as an adaptation of Macbeth, others don't. However, both of them have a lot of similarities. For example, Shakespeare's play contains ideas of kingship, ambition, murder, evilness, among others. On the other hand, Kurosawa in Throne of Blood, also demonstrates how a human becomes from being a moderated person into a blinded one due to the hunger of power. Kurosawa dramatizes in Throne of Blood murder and evilness, which can be considered as themes. Other similarity between these two plays, is the encounter with the witch, however, we can infer from Kurosawa's movie, that when Washizu saw the witch for the first time his reaction towards her was serious and unrelenting, in contrast, in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth's first reaction towards the witches was of eagerly confrontation.

When Washizu met the witch, he wasn't the one that asked about the omens demonstrating that we wasn't anxious and/or ambitious about the outcome of his future. In contrast with Macbeth, Macbeth was the one that insisted the witches to tell him about his future and fame that was predicted by them. Washizu left the forest after his encounter with the witch but Macbeth didn't show an eager reaction, instead, he decided to stay and had a discussion with Banquo.

Another difference between both is that Washizu became speechless after he hear the prediction of the witch but Macbeth asked Banquo if his sons would be kings, because he was wondering about how many impediments he had to eliminate for the fulfillment of his desire: becoming king.

Another similarity between both, is the atrocities Washizu and Macbeth need to commit to achieve their purposes created due to the wicked prophecy. Washizu assassinated the Great Lord and Macbeth assassinated King Duncan. Both cracked under pressure when they decided to take away someone else's life, they also longed to have more power.

There is a similarity between Lady Macbeth and Asaji-donno, both manipulated their husband and led them take the wrong way. It is important to say that as well as their husbands, they both were ambitious, they wanted to have power. However, there is also a difference between them, Asaji-donno was not the most word-expressive woman, instead she used a lot facial expressions to imply her thoughts, this made Washizu feel vulnerable and weak. On the contrary, Lady Macbeth seemed to be very word-expressive with his husband. Asaji-donno told his husband several times that the seeking of power and crown was a conduct that shouldn't cause guilt nor pain. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth did several wrong actions, she blamed herself for causing the irrevocable sin with remorse and made his husband murder others.

It is possible that Kurosawa choose to emphasize certain aspects over other Shakespeare emphasizes because of his culture, he was Japanese and Shakespeare was English. Maybe Kurosawa adapted Macbeth in Throne of Blood, taking in consideration the interests of the Japanese society. One of his purposes was to show the world the most important values of the Japanese culture and how Japanese society decide to face situations according to their principles and values.