Prediction Blog Entry

I believe that Adele’s plan to hide all the evidence of the murder is going to fail. She will have to change her strategy. The only thing that Adele is really good at is using sex as tool to manipulate other men. I think that she is going to sleep with the judge to get what she wants. However Timar will not be able to handle the fact that she had sex with another man. He is already extremely jealous; he almost had a fight with Bouilloux. He can’t really understand that Adele needs to do that to save her life. Timar doesn’t want to share her with anyone which is why he is going to leave Adele alone.

Timar will hate Africa even more. He feels ostracized. He will consider going back to France, but it will be a really tough decision for him, because he is in love with Adele.  However, as time goes by, it will be easier for him to leave her. Adele will never stop sleeping with other men, even if she has feelings for Timar. I believe that Adele will go to jail and Timar will live happily in France.

Reading Quiz for Tropic Moon

1. What is the setting in the story? Does the setting change?
2. Who has helped Timar get a new job?
3. Who killed Thomas? Why?
4. What is the policeman's opinion about the murder?
5. What happened to Adele's husband?
6. What does Adele do for a living?
7. How is Adele planning to get a million dollars in three years?
8. Why does Adele need Timar to accomplish this plan?
9. Describe the relationship between Timar and Adele.
10. How happy Timar is with his new life with Adele?

Virtual Literary Circles: What Happens Next (Tropic Moon)

The death of Thomas is a crucial moment in the book.  One of the themes of the book is the brutal racism. Adele is the hotel owner’s wife and she seems to be very much involved in Thomas’s death. Eugene seems to be the only person that Adele is afraid of. She takes care of him and tries to help him fight his snail fever; however, she is not loyal to her husband. Thomas is a black servant that works in the hotel and he probably knows how close Adele is with her guests. Timar saw “Adele hit Thomas in the face with her fist” (10). I believe that this violent act happened for a reason.  Maybe Thomas happened to know too much about her actions and Adele didn’t want her husband to find out about them.

Timar on the other hand is mesmerized by Adele. He is not being very cautious with her and he is willing to do anything to make her happy. Adele is a very controlling and self-centered person. I believe that she is going to use Timar to accomplish everything she wants. Timar is going to struggle with his identity and eventually he will have to choose whether he wants to continue his romance with Adele or completely ruin everything and turn her in to the police. 

Imagining Argentina Photo Essay - Showing Rather than Telling Exercise Part II: Trent's Picture

Emotions: Indignation, shame, envy, hope, disgust.

 Sight

This pretentious building looks out of place amongst the other much more conservative and monotonous structures. The light red walls serve as a splash of color in this dull city.

 Sound

The sound of water splashing in the fountain is serene. You can hear the laughter of children running around and admiring the statue of Manuel Belgrano.

 Smell

The fresh and fruity scents don’t let anyone feel down on this beautiful night. The smell of a gathering at a barbecue at a local parc coming from a couple of blocks away from the center is the prescience of winter.

 Touch

The people can feel the tiny drops of water emanating from the fountain. The drops of water roll down and draw smiles on peoples’ faces.

 Taste

A couple took a nice long walk in front of La Casa Rosada to enjoy the last taste of fall.

Imagining Argentina Photo Essay - Showing Rather than Telling Exercise

Emotions: euphoria, longing, amusement, loneliness, passion.

Sight

There was ruthless passionate Argentine tango dance inside the Gaminito Café. A young woman was dancing with a handsome stranger like it was the last night of her life.

Sound

The sound of an old bandoneón was keeping the young couple dancing. The beat of the song was infectious and the audience couldn’t hear anything but the song and the woman’s high heel shoes scratching the old wooden floor.

Taste

The wine from the vineyards in Mendoza was a perfect addition to the evening. The wonderful taste made the Argentines proud, one more time, of the rich lands where they were lucky enough to be born in.

Smell

It was a hot summer day and the smell of tobacco smoke permeated the air. This unpleasant for many of us odor, surprisingly, made the place feel very welcoming and warm.

Touch

A man was caressing his wife’s arm while they were sitting at the table drinking yerba mate tea. He couldn't decide what was more heartwarming – the hot drink or the pleasant company.

La Boca, Buenos Aires

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezpz.bcls.lib.nj.us/ehost/detail/detail?sid=41f09585-4ded-471d-a62d-1bfb9b37a5ca%40sessionmgr112&vid=4&hid=124&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&authdb=imh&AN=imh536398

Literary Circle Project: Book Choices

The Stranger by Albert Camus is my top choice. On a scale from 1 to 10 I would give this book a 9. I enjoy reading detective novels that involve murder mystery stories. But this book is not a banal example of this particular genre. The protagonist in this books struggles with his identity and his beliefs. He lacks passion in his life and he doesn’t understand how people can function in this meaningless world. I believe that it is a very interesting option.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard is a book that I really wanted to read after finishing Hamlet by William Shakespeare. It would be very interesting to read a book with characters that you already know about. On a scale from 1 to 10 I would give this book a 7.

Night by Elie Wiesel is also an interesting option. Its about living during Holocaust, and I’m very passionate about this topic, because my grandfather was a WWII veteran. I believe that it would be good to remind myself  one more time about what happened during that time period. On a scale from 1 to 10 I would give this book a 6.5.

Heart of Darkness Illustration Analysis #2

“I pulled myself together and spoke slowly.

“‘The last word he pronounced was—your name.’

“I heard a light sigh and then my heart stood still, stopped dead short by an exulting and terrible cry, by the cry of inconceivable triumph and of unspeakable pain. ‘I knew it—I was sure!’... She knew. She was sure. I heard her weeping; she had hidden her face in her hands. It seemed to me that the house would collapse before I could escape, that the heavens would fall upon my head. But nothing happened. The heavens do not fall for such a trifle. Would they have fallen, I wonder, if I had rendered Kurtz that justice which was his due? Hadn’t he said he wanted only justice? But I couldn’t. I could not tell her. It would have been too dark—too dark altogether....” (71).

I believe that this illustration perfectly resembles the interaction between Marlow and Kurtz’s fiancée. The woman illustrated was “all in black, with a pale head”. She was wearing black, because she was in mourning. And even though it was more than a year since Kurtz’s death, for her “he had died only yesterday” (69). Even though, Kurtz’s fiancée does not look like a normal human being, she still looks very attractive with the feminine body shape, long eyelashes and beautiful lips. Kurtz’s intended has just one eye and it happens to be closed. I believe that it was intentional, because she does not want to see the fact that maybe she was not so important to Kurtz. “He needed me! Me!” she says to Marlow and this is where out protagonist decided to lie and agree with her, even though he “detests, and can’t bear a lie”.

The illustrator has two separated clouds around Marlow. The first one is the truth that he knows and the second one is the lie about Kurtz’s last words. Kurtz’s fiancée would simply not be able to handle the truth.

Marlow’s eyes are also very interesting. They are empty and full of darkness. Clearly, Marlow is very depressed and disappointed in life.

Marlow’s body is turned towards Kurtz’s fiancée; however she doesn’t even look at him. She seems to have this “I’m better than you look” on her face. She likes to live in her own little world, where Kurtz loves and cares about her. However, Marlow fights his beliefs not to break her heart; he does that to help Kurtz. 

"Heads on the Stakes"

Our group was inspired by a passage on page 53: “I had no idea of the conditions, he said: these heads were the heads of rebels. I shocked him excessively by laughing. Rebels! What would be the next definition I was to hear? There had been enemies, criminals, workers – and these were rebels.”

This is a very crucial part in Heart of Darkness, because the protagonist realizes that Kurtz is not that perfect as he was described earlier in the book. Marlow says that Kurtz had “heads on the stakes” right in front of his house (52). Even though our picture looks very unreal with the snow with a bunch of leaves and sticks on top, it is still really creepy and terrifying. Obviously, it would have been even scarier with actual human heads on sticks. This barbaric action just proves one more time that Kurtz is mentally unstable. 

Kurtz's Voice

When Kurtz says "My Intended, my ivory, my station, my river"(44), he almost sounds like the Gollum from Lord of the Rings, when he holds that ring. The ivory is very “precious” for Kurtz. He is controlled by these material objects. I believe that he will start on a hysterical note and then he will calm down and almost whisper. 

Making Narrative Predictions: Kurtz's Station

     The reader first finds out about Mr. Kurtz on page 15. He is “a first-class agent” and he is in charge of an important “trading post” (16). Marlow doesn’t understand how Mr. Kurtz has so much ivory.  The business is quite sketchy, and something is wrong. However, people respect Mr. Kurtz a lot.

     The accountant believes that Mr. Kurtz “will go far” (16).  He also seems to be quite afraid of the boss; he asks Marlow to tell Mr. Kurtz that “everything here is very satisfactory” (16). The accountant is not the only one who is afraid of Mr. Kurtz. On page 19 the reader gets to know the manager. The manager “fidgeted on his chair a good deal” and then later “he broke the stick of stealing wax”, which means that he is very nervous about this subject (19).  This interaction was indeed very futile, because the manager was afraid to say something wrong about Mr. Kurtz.  However, Marlow believes every single word and he starts to like this ambitious man. People almost seem to be obligated to give a good feedback about Mr. Kurtz.

     Mr. Kurtz knows and understands people really well. The Europeans want the power and the wealth, which is why everyone really wants to work for Mr. Kurtz. He gives people an opportunity to earn money, however he is the one who dictates the rules.

     I think that Mr. Kurtz treats the natives quite well, because they do so much work for him. The painting is also very self-explanatory. He basically painted “Lady Justice”. I believe that Mr. Kurtz gives the natives some hope and freedom, and then he uses them to get even richer. I don’t think that Mr. Kurtz is very sincere in his actions. I believe that he had good intentions at the beginning, but later he got the “gold fever” and his "nerves went wrong" (45). He became really paranoid about his achievments, he repeats again and again "my intended, my ivory, my station, my river, my - " (44). Everyone really believed that Mr. Kurtz was the future, but sadly he lost control over his actions.

Heart of Darkness Illustration

    “It was the same kind of ominous voice; but these men could by no stretch of imagination be called enemies. They were called criminals, and the outraged law, like the bursting shells, had come to them, an insoluble mystery from the sea. All their meager breasts panted together, the violently dilated nostrils quivered, the eyes stared stonily uphill. They passed me within six inches, without a glance, with that complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages” (13).

     The image is black and white to convey the tone of the book. Indeed, it would not be appropriate to use any colors. This is a perfect illustration for Heart of Darkness because Joseph Conrad really focuses on the black color in this book: “A black figure stood up, strode on long black legs, waving long black arms.”

     Even though, the illustration is very detailed, when it comes to the natives’ faces - it is really hard to see their facial features, especially the eyes. If you look closely, you can see that the artist did not bother to paint the actual eyes, instead he has a few blurry dark circles. Even though, the eyes are the windows to your soul, we can’t actually see anything in their eyes but the darkness.  

     The pain and sorrow are killing the “unhappy savages” from the inside. They are not only suffering from the emotional pain, but they also had to deal with the diseases and the starvation. Even though, the people on this image have weapons, “these men could by no stretch of imagination be called enemies”. They are so vulnerable, sick and depressed that they would not be able to harm you in any way. They don’t live; they just exist and wait for the end.

Hamlet Film Journal: Entry #4

Act III, Scene 2 of Hamlet includes a lot of redundant parts and lines that are not that useful in order to understand the play. At the beginning of the scene, utterly calm Hamlet gives a lot of useless instructions and advices for the actors. It is understandable that he desires to find out more about the death of Hamlet Senior, but this part is not a critical moment in the play. However, it would be better to keep a few interactions between Hamlet and the actors. Hamlet is extremely kind and respectful with them and it looks like he belongs with the actors.  It is also an important moment when you talk about the “Pretense & Performance” theme.

The conversation between Horatio and Hamlet needs to be a lot shorter as well. Hamlet cannot stop thanking him for being such a good friend. It is a significant interaction, because Hamlet asks his friend to keep an eye on his uncle. I would not exactly cut out the whole scene, but I would make it much shorter.  I have the same problem with the actors on the stage, because they are very repetative. Again, it is a critical moment in the play, but it should be a lot shorter. I would cut out a lot of lines and show the audience more of some reactions of Claudius and Gertrude to what was happening on the stage. In my opinion, it would be more entertaining and interesting.

Also Hamlet’s comments about Polonius are comparatively unimportant. No one needs to know about Polonius’s acting experience. After Hamlet realizes that his uncle, indeed, did kill his father, he starts to jump around, sing and hysterically laugh. I would cut out this part as well, because it is not that valuable.