The Conclusion

Disregarding the whole Cthulu thing, my ultimate feeling of the year long blog assignment was one of evolution, and of  a great journey. Well, maybe just cool, not great. From the first blog, telling all of the three people who read it about who I am, to this, the last one, I find my self stupefied, pleased, shocked and somewhat embarrassed. Stupefied that I've written so many of the damned things in the first place, pleased for the same reason, shocked that I even bothered, and embarrassed about some of my posts in and of themselves. Especially my rampant early uncapitalized I's.

Be it ranting on whichever book we happen to be reading in class, or drawing some pile o' doody art project in ten minutes and attempting to convey symbolism and/or a deeper meaning, this blog has helped to evolve and define my current writing abilities and habits. Most prominently, it has helped me to recognize connections  between literature and the world, literature and literature, literature and movies, etc... Now I can't watch a movie without my brain constantly pointing out all the little tiny plot similarities and backdoor references to classical literature and such. Which is sometimes a curse, rather than a blessing, being as my brain is already almost too hyper-critical to bear.

Beyond writing, the blog assignments have also helped improve my work ethic, due to the fact that if you miss them, your grade gets shot in the face. I only missed a couple, but I do believe I did them late for half credit or what-have-you. Sometimes they have been stressful, which is a double edged sword, and sometimes they have been so easy I almost didn't do it. “Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.”, to quote Jules Renard, a random french guy who's quote I happened to find on the internet and thought roughly applied to the paragraph I was writing. 

I guess that's it. I've come a long way thanks to this blog, and I see it not as an end, but as a new beginning. Hell, I may even blog for personal gain now. It was for the most part a fun assignment, and definitely constructive without the slightest shadow of doubt. So, with that, I bid you adieu wonderful three person mandatoraly reading audience, and farewell to you Mrs. Gilman, and adios internet.

Love, Porter Nelson.
rofl    

Reflecting on a Memorable Assignment

Buried among the myriad essays, worksheets, forms, papers, quizzes, notes, drafts, redrafts and handouts that us freshmen get swamped with, I do believe that my favorite assignment was this last outside reading taskamabober, I only generate this opinion due to the fact that the book I got stuck in with was absolutely wonderful. On the Road rocked my socks, so to speak. 

It was the perfect surrealistic partner to Slaughterhouse 5, which was also a good read, and it really rustled my jimmies, in a good way. I think that maybe, just for reading the book, my dreams of becoming a Space President Astronaut Cowboy Psychology Major will finally come true. Not really, that is a little bit far-fetched. But it does really make me want to take a roadtrip across America. If only I knew a cat as mad as Dean.   

A Good Experience with Poetry LATE

One of my "good experiences with poetry", so to speak, was reading Dante's Inferno over the summer. I had been hearing a lot about it, and being the overcritical atheist that I am, I just had to check it out. I actually found that it was a really good poem, and was shocked to find that it was actually epic, in both senses of the word. 

It lost none of it's originally intended power through the translation process from Italian to English, and Alighieri's brilliant insanity shown through wonderfully. Be it scenes of gore, death and suffering, or deeply intuitive epigrams, the poem kept me hooked. This was one of my best experiences with poetry in my life so far, and will affect me forevermore in the sense that no other poem (save Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner or Tennyson's In Memorium) will ever be as good. 


At this point in my life, the word poetry is rather synonymous with the idea of being in the home stretch, or wrapping up a period of learning. This, clearly, is due to the end of the year being nigh and such things. Beyond that, I take a rather neutral stance towards poetry. Some  poems I find shallow and pedantic, whilst others appear deep and thoughtful. 'Tis not a static thing, this brain of mine.     

Conflict in Romeo and Juliet

One conflict i noticed in R&J and found particularly interesting was that between Tybalt and Romeo. 'Twas an interpersonal conflict I reckon. Throughout the play Tybalt displays a murderous animosity towards romeo (Prince of cats, animosity, yeah I'm just that amazing), and Romeo displays an almost infantile neutrality. This only proves to push Tybalt to new heights of unbridled hatred, so high in fact that he ends up attempting Romeo's life and taking that of Romeo's best friend, Mercutio.

In my life, in your life, in absolutely everyone on earth's (sans most Buddhist monks) life, there is interpersonal conflict. From the pettiest of arguments between pals, or the most earth-shattering wars between foreign powers, it all boils down to people conflicting with people. Every society deals with conflict in different ways. Americans may settle it over a coffee and a long talk, Brits over some tea, and Japanese over a long drawn out kung-fu fighting scene; but they are all effective ways of soothing wounded pride and the like.

yeeeeaaaaaah

Romeo and Juliet: It's Everywhere!

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S77fhOlwckE


Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nochGY7YNCw

It's a pretty obvious reference, from one of my favorite video games, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

For those who can't pick up on it, you have to "poison" a man who is being hunted, and revive him later in a church once the poison wears off. Much like Juliet avoiding Prince.

Enjoy. Also, the assassin named Hides-His-Heart is a reference to The Telltale Heart, but that's a different story from a different author.

Wrapping up Great Expectations

Dickens is a deft story-weaver, he can thread many themes plots and morals into said story, but prevails throughout the entire book. Though it's hard to put a name to the concept, "home is where the heart is", "family comes first", ...etc, they all bear the same meaning. Never be ashamed of your home, it defines who you are, never let money come first- it will consume you. There comes a time in many a young one's life when he becomes embarrassed of his home (I know I have), but i have never let it consume me and drive me to break all ties with the place from witch I hail. Others let the embarrassment seethe and fester into hatred, and eventually lose any sense of belonging which they once possessed, while others still are able to shrug it off, and realize, home is where the heart is.



what did I just write? 

Great Expectations: Thoughts on Reading

The book was, for lack of a better word, engaging. Had it not been assigned, and had I read it at a leisurely pace and of my own accord, I believe I would have found it a rather delightful read. Dickens' skill as an author goes without question, and his ability to use simple hook-and-lure tactics to engage the reader is expertly demonstrated. In a word, "what larx".

As far as a "routine" goes when it comes to my reading, well there wasn't one. Haphazard and sketchily did I read the book, but I read the whole thing and never cheated. Rather, listened to the whole thing. In lieu of drudging agonizingly through the physical book's papery marshes, I had it read to me by a rather stuffy Brit with a knack for impersonating screeching old ladies. The actual efficiency of audiobooks is questionable, for it's rather easy to become quite distracted and find yourself three or four chapters into strange territory with absolutely no clear recollection of how exactly you came to be there. That being said, it was a fun time, and a much more intellectually engaging romp than The Importance of Being Earnest was.

Um..... the end?     

Great Expectations Photo Post

How does this NOT relate to great expectations? I mean come on, you would have to be a blundering fool, or an "uncouth booby" in Charles Dickian, to not see the connections blatantly displayed on the computer screen right now.
It plays into the whole theme of how Pip is told what he is to do from the very beginning of the book, and never strays from his path, especially upon receiving his expectations. He only starts to wish against his path and attempt to deviate once Magwitch enters the scene. He causes Pip to question his destiny, and to wish he had listened to Biddy and Joe, his real teachers. 

Making Connections and Posting a Picture

In my mind, Great expectations vaguely resembles parts of James and the Giant Peach. Both involve young boys living with abusive siblings who get whisked away to happiness and such. While Pip isn't exactly "happy" in his new environment, he is surely better off than he was under the rule of Mrs. Joe, Mr. Pumblechook and the like. Another recurring idea in both stories is that of the boy's "wealth" trying to be usurped by others. In Great Expectations, it is the Pockets who try to procure Pip's wealth and favor with Mrs. Havisham, and in JGP it his (aunts?) who try to take away his peach and sell it at the end of the movie.

Jaggers presenting Pip with his Great Expectations

Pip's humble and dismal beginnings

left: Herbert                                    Right: Joe

Pip's friends and loves also have a relation to the story of James, his Peach, and the quest for his parents. His friends in the peach (bugs and all that jazz) are comparable to Joe, in Pip's early life, and Herbert in the latter. Estella also has a counterpart, said counterpart being James' parents. Both are nigh unobtainable figures in which the protagonist long/lust after, but always just miss them.  

Great Expectations,the Second Stage *LATE*

Estella coming to London is a turning point in the novel. She causes Pip much grief and worry, which are feelings that pip seems to feel almost daily. She shows interest in him, then turns around and pursues other men, then drops them (to Pip's elation), and then pursues Drummel, and then, again, drops him. This sends Pip on an emotional roller coaster, and is in affect, breaking his heart.

This fits into the discussed  motif of sadness and disappointment, which from the very beginning of the novel, Pip has dealt with constantly. From his dismal town and life in the "Meshes", to his disappointing arrival in London and the receival of his "Great Expectations", Pip has truly known sadness and dissapointment, and Estella's actions only act to compound these feelings inside of him.

Question about a Passage *LATE* and the Unnamed Blog Due Friday the 4th

Question about a Passage: 

"Home had never been a very pleasant place to me, because of my sister's temper. But, Joe had sanctified it, and I had believed in it. I had believed in the best parlor as a most elegant saloon; I had believed in the front door, as a mysterious portal of the Temple of State whose solemn opening was attended as a sacrifice of roast fowls." Chapter XIV - page unknown due to electronically reading the book

My question is essentially about the allusions Pip is making, and what they mean/signify. The passage makes perfect sense up until the third sentence.

Unnamed Blog Due Friday the 4th:
Pip is referring, in this quote, to meeting Esthella and Mrs. Havisham. This day alters him in the sense that he begins to gain favor with Mrs. Havisham, which leads him into a large sum of money and an apprenticeship with Joe. Between chapters 1-9 and 10-16, Pip undergoes serious changes. Most of these are  positive changes in maturity and understanding of what goes on around him. I seem to be relating more and more to Pip's experiences as he grows older and more perceptive
My development as a person, or "character" has been spurred on by multiple events, but if I had to track down one moment in my history that made me who I am today, it would have to be my birth. Birth is the first link in the chain of life, or rather the raw metal being struck into the first link (insert witty Joe the blacksmith allusion). All events of my life have taken place because of this one momentous occasion, and it is therefor the one that began my chain. 

OLIVIA AND DARYL

what are we supposed to write here?
Daryl, comment with your conclusive statement so I can work it into my intro
ummm
yeah
lalalala
Also, who's writing the conclusion?

It's probably way too small
Blogger was fuggin up. Anyways. Here it is in all its worthless glory.