Literature in Film Blog #3” “To Kill a Mockingbird”

"To Kill a Mockingbird" 

While watching this film I had some of the thoughts from the film, culture, and ideology packet that was distributed recently; I quickly attempted to view the film “To Kill a Mockingbird” to observe what it revealed about society or culture. The film certainly can file under the film and society, and film and mass culture headings; in fact, the film was highly received by many. Some claim the film as “one of the best ever made” and I must agree, “Just as film works on the meaning systems of culture-to renew, reproduce, or review them-it is also produced by those meaning systems. The filmmaker, like the novelist or the storyteller, is a bricoleur -a sort of handyman who does the best s/he can with the materials at hand. The filmmaker uses the representational conventions and repertoires available within the culture in order to make something fresh but familiar, new but generic, individual but representative.” The familiar in the film is the setting of inequality between blacks and whites in the town. It is a new spin on the old topic of modern slavery. Also, the film can stand on it’s own aside from the book, but also be unified in representation.  I believe the most interesting part of the novel is the application of Atticus as a lawyer; he has the powerful belief of every man having the same rights as the one beside him. Atticus makes the decision to defend Tom. Without even knowing the magnitude of racism, Scout also defends the black man by stepping in front of the crowd before they stormed into the jailhouse where Tom was held.

Literature in Film Blog #2: "Precious"

"Precious" 

I have always been interested in the titles chosen for movies, books, and poems. Without even reading the book, poem, or watching the movie, we catch a glimpse of what something can be about. Also, we may even be able to see a possible theme within the work of art. The original title for the novel is Push. However, the film’s title is “Precious” I wonder if Sapphire had any say in what the movie could be titled, or if she had any preference.  Regardless, both titles carry a significant amount of meaning on their own. Although, I would like to read the novel eventually and see a compounded significance between the two. My best guess about the book title is that precious had two children, Mongo and Abdul. It reminds me of the movies where women are giving birth and the nurse tells them to push and give that last ounce of strength they have. Throughout the movie, Claireece has had to push through her difficulties: the abuse she receives from her mother, being raped by her father, and the feeling of non acceptance everywhere she walks.

The gravity within the title of the movie appears when we see Claireece transform from herself, to Precious. Well, that is her middle name. However, by the end of the novel she is a completely different and stronger person, with a more positive outlook on life. At the end of the movie she finds out her father dies from AIDS and she is HIV positive, but she doesn't give up there. She stands up to her mother in the welfare office and tells her that she’ll never be seen by her again. Precious strives to take care of her kids and continue her education.

Literature in Film Blog #1: “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”

“Monty Python and the Holy Grail”

Irony is the first rhetorical device/literary technique I notice in the film; furthermore, one could argue that the film’s foundation is built with bricks of irony. Starting with the irony presented in the end of the novel, we expect King Arthur and his knight to bravely retrieve the Holy Grail they have searched for the entire film. However, just before the large army storm the castle Arthur is arrested by modern police and the film ends to the investigation being started because of an old historian killed by a knight while filming. I found the historian an interesting play on time and the irony within the film.

In the beginning of the film we expect to see King Arthur riding on a powerful horse; instead, he rides along with his squire who bangs coconuts together to make the appearance of a horse riding (the introduction to the irony in the movie).The irony also adds to the comedy within the film giving the audience a few laughs. We expect the Black Knight to be brutally slain by King Arthur. Yet, after getting each limb cut off he still wants to fight King Arthur and is relentless in his obvious defeat. My favorite scene of irony includes a very cute rabbit that initially appears harmless. To my surprise, the rabbit is insanely deadly and fools the brave knights when they dare to enter the cave. I found the scene funny because of how wrong the knights were while approaching the rabbit. We expect the knights to be torn apart by the legendary beast of aarrgh, but the beast’s animator has a heart attack so they barely escape the monster.

Poetry Response #8 "Holy Sonnets: Death, be not proud" BY JOHN DONNE

Holy Sonnets: Death, be not proud

BY JOHN DONNE

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Response: 

One could argue that death is one of, or is the most popular topic discussed or analyzed in literature and human conversation; the only thing that comes to mind as talked about more than death is love. Many of Shakespeare's tragedies include both death and love (Romeo & Juliet for example). I recognized the name of this poet after this weeks homework with the one John Donne poem that had questions; admittedly, I understand why John Donne is such a popular poet after reading the two poems. “Death, not be proud” captures the theme related to the death of death itself, an idea that sends chills down my spine. In fact, the final line of the poem proves this idea “And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” In this poem death is not a symbol or a metaphor, but simply itself; if there is extinction of all species then death itself will die because nothing left can die. Therefore, the concept of death will no longer exist. Interestingly, the concept of death has been created, even though the process of dying is as natural as birth. Yet, death is not as celebrated as life. It is interesting how the poem shifts from the death of man to the death of death itself, “Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go,” my best interpretation of those lines is that the speaker is saying more life will flow within the world and there will be pleasure. However, the best of men will be taken by death eventually.

Poetry Response #7 "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" BY LANGSTON HUGHES

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

BY LANGSTON HUGHES

I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Response: 

The speaker of  poem is very nostalgic when speaking of the history negroes have towards the rivers they speak of; similarly, the tone of nostalgia allows the reader to emit a feeling of liberation. Perhaps the speaker feels liberated as well while reading. Nostalgia can be sensed in the second and third lines of the poem, “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.” Thinking of the old times gives an old time to reflect on and the speaker has to recollect those ancient memories. There is an interesting repetition of the phrase “My soul has grown deep like the rivers”, and the speaker also says the same phrase to end the poem. Perhaps the repetition of the phrase may illuminate a possible theme within the poem: With souls as deep as a river, there is no containment of the human spirit.

Langston Hughes uses deep rivers as a symbol and metaphor for freedom, connecting it to times where Africans were deemed entirely free, “I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.” The Nile is a river and the Congo is a place in Africa; additionally, the pyramids were built in Africa. Abe Lincoln is known as the figure in history who emancipated the slaves, and New Orleans is a place where black souls can thrive.

Poetry Response #6 "Those Winter Sundays" BY ROBERT HAYDEN

Those Winter Sundays

BY ROBERT HAYDEN

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he’d call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love’s austere and lonely offices?

Response: 

Starting with a different route than usual, I think the theme of this poem could have something to do with appreciation; specifically, the appreciation for family members for all they do and all they do for us. In the first stanza, the speaker says no one ever thanked his father for all of his labor, “then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.” There is also imagery within that line because we can imagine the visual given or how the crack hands would appear as if they were in front of us, and we might also hear the sounds that cracked hands might make. Additionally, the aching hands show how much the father has worked but the final line of “No one ever thanked him” shows that he never received credit for all he did. There is an interesting shift from the first stanza to the second stanza, displaying a shift from the speaker’s father to the speaker’s environment, “I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he’d call, and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house,” What’s with the paradoxes of heat and cold? The speaker can hear the cold but feel the warm rooms; in addition, the anger within the house can be another form of heat.

There is personification in the house being able to have a temper. I found it interesting of why the speaker decided to give the house that voice of anger. The third stanza shows the realization the speaker makes about his father, “Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well. What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices?”

Poetry Response #5 "Ozymandias" BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

Ozymandias

BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said- "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . .  . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Response: 

Starting with the title of this poem, Ozymandias is a name; specifically, Ozymandias is an alternative name for an egyptian Pharaoh. I gained the knowledge of the title from the annotations within the poem on the poetry foundation website. With the information presented from the annotations, I can infer that the poem is most likely about this egyptian ruler since the title is his name; indeed, before studying poetry this way I would believe that stating information that appears obvious is an obvious strategy, but I’ve learned the obvious goes a long way when studying poetry and literature through the college board lens.  The speaker of the poem mentions that he meets a traveler and then quotes what the traveler tells him, giving the poem a second person point a view since the speaker starts with “I met a traveler from an antique land”. Point of view still confuses me a bit but there is an I within that first line so a more safe approach would be to assume the first person lens instead of second person.

Imagery is the most powerful literary device used in the poem; Shelley paints a picture of the antique land and what the traveler says to him “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare. The lone and level sands stretch far away.” In order to comprehend the words we must draw from the sensory details presented; we see the “sight of the half sunk a shattered visage”, the words heard by the speakers voice, and the vision of Ozymandias being the “king of kings”. Still, the poem targets the idea that Ozymandias is not there himself, and only his remains, remain. Words such as nothing, decay, wreck, bare, and lone are used to display the nothingness. A possible theme for this poem could be that power can only be held and obtained only in the living moments; correspondingly, the birth of life could be a birth of power and death would represent the opposite effect.