Journal #8

Part 1: I think Hurston settled on the title she did because it has a strong connection throughout the book but actually comes into play near the end. So the whole time reading the book the reader can make connections to it, and then near the end it creates a powerful impact. Also it connects to the cover art of one of the editions (not sure which) but it shows god coming out of the sky and a lake below with a storm brewing and god holding lightning bolts so it further strengthens the theme in the book of power and how to achieve freedom. Which I think is incredibly important because Hurston has a lot of the male characters die who have power over Janie and yet god who has ultimate control and can't die remains in power so the humans watch him with their eyes. It alters my reading of the novel by adding a religious aspect which brings up all of the connotations I have about religion and that affects me entire reading of the book.

Part 2: Hurston could have chosen the title The Animals of the Muck and this would be similar to Hurston's original title because it comes up later and still relates to power in the sense that the animals display different levels of power and foreshadow when power is out of their control and when it isn't. This would have a different effect than the actual title because this title focuses more on nature, so in a way the religious aspect is not as important. This title impacts the importance of nature throughout the novel, so all of Hurston's imagery would become more important, however in a sense if one believes that god created nature then Hurston's original title already does that and more. Also this title would affect how the reader views the novel because it shifts from religion to nature so all of the connotations the come about with nature will now be more relevant than connotations with religion.

Part 3: The title of my paper is "A Boardwalk and Clams". I think this is the strongest possible title because it serves several purposes. This first is that it sets the tone for nature, by mentioning clams nature becomes the focus rather than religion like in Hurston's novel. The opening of the pastiche is all about nature so the reader knows to take it as important because the title is about nature. The second purpose it serves is that clams is another name for money so it sets up the setting of the boardwalk and the money that flows on it so while making nature of importance is also tells about the setting of the story and informs the reader that money will be part of the conflict of the pastiche. Also clams are mentioned more than once both as creatures and money so the title relates throughout the novel to the reader can make connections to it.

Journal #7

7 techniques

1. Foil

"Yes sir boss Jim said without hesitation. The Boss looked to Arnold for a response. Arnold, who was struggling to find his tongue, simply nodded" Garcia

"You'se different from me. Ah can't stand black niggers" Hurston

2. Contrast

"Out of the blue much larger dog swooped in an snagged the largest piece of meat and slowly walked off, uncontested" Garcia

"So he picked out the eyes in the ceremonial way and the feast went on" Hurston

 3. Anthropomorphism

"The dogs finally found a trash can, knocked it over, and carried out a search and rescue mission of any edible scraps that could be found" Garcia

"In the air of the room were flies tumbling and singing, marrying and giving in marriage" Hurston

 4. Imagery

"Each time creeping nearer and nearer to the boardwalk as the night went on" Garcia

"The people all saw her come because it was sundown" Hurston

 5. Dialect

"I want my 2,000 clams by the endah tomorra night, or ya heads will roll gentlemen" Garcia

"S'posin' Ah wuz to run off and leave yuh sometime" Hurston

 6. Personification

"However the tide knew all to well it would never reach as far as it wanted to" Garcia

"Every morning the world flung itself over and exposed the town to the sun” Hurston

 7. Allusion

"The pair strolled into 'Luciano's Butcher Shop' and swiflty let themselves into the back room" Garcia

"Booker T.? He wuz a great big man, wusn't he?" Hurston

Analysis of quotes

3. Anthropomorphism is significant because throughout the novel Hurston uses it on animals such as on flies and on the buzzards. By adding human characteristics to animals it becomes easier for the reader to connect to the situation and be impacted by it. Through this method Hurston can use animals to create an extreme version of human society to contrast and criticize it.

4. Imagery plays an important role in the book because it shows nature as character and uses nature to play into several themes. For example throughout the novel nature takes power away from the characters and plays into the theme of where does power come from, do we give it to ourselves and are we given it. Also nature its universal so its easier for everyone to connect to nature rather the something that.s specific to the south.

7. Allusions play a major role in the novel because it creates a sense of realism within a fictional story. If at times the readers doesn't believe what's happening and thinks it ridiculous, allusions serve as a connection back to reality. Also in the story when they name characters after certain people it creates even more depth and characterizes the person in a way that is difficult to do otherwise.

Journal #6

I decided to do most of my revisions based on flow and how well someone else could read it and make sense of it. Also I made a lot of revision to make more allusions, I renamed a lot of my characters to connect with history as well as renamed certain locations within the story. Hopefully the revisions I made will make the story more interesting and show the techniques that Hurston uses better. I also added some things so that I could write my statement of intent easier. All in all I think the revisions process helped a lot and I look forward to doing it more in class

Journal #5

Pastiche

But Suzanne began to dwell on Sympathy. Sympathy, that yellow-bellied monster that is met too often by those blessed with things out of their control. The powerful monster that can overtake a man like a parasite that cannot be killed. Why does He need a host to survive, what protection does man offer him? He travels the world incognito, as if his identity is more important than what He actually does. He observes the daily lives of people, waiting for the time when He is summoned to spread his terrible guilt. He often times wondered the who, what, when, where, and why of his next victim, it pleased him. She knew that her son would soon be met with these troubles, that her son would soon be invaded by this parasite. She was scared and alone. My dear sweet Henry! Why must the world be so cruel as to create such differences between social classes? She sent his father, Rodger, to warn him, but Henry was playing with toys and wouldn’t pay attention. The teachers at school were good at educating without regard for social class, but they couldn’t help Henry with what he was about to experienceL. He knew all he had to do was to look past material goods and find what’s on the inside of people. He would be alright. The first day of school wouldn’t be that bad he thought. But Rodger remembered his first day of school, and shared this with Suzanne, so they both knew the inequality Henry might face. Even if he hadn’t, she would have found out the next day because all of the other parents mobbed the parking lot of the school to see their children off. People, who under normal circumstances would have never approached Suzanne, judged her. They just sat in their cars and stared. Doubt, that infectious disease, had planted it’s seeds in Suzanne’s mind.

Decisions

1. In the passage on page 84, Hurston provides several links in that passage to contrast the two scenarios easier, so in this passage I made sympathy like a parasite and then near the end of the pastiche used the word infectious in the hope that the link would make the connection easier to make

2. In the passage on page 84, Hurston had the narrator use the dialect of one the characters, I would guess as a tool to reconnect the reader to the characters while in an emotional scene while still having the narrator speak, and in my pastiche I added a smiley face which is part of my dialect so that the reader knows what the character is feeling and they can connect better to the character.

Journal #4

Chapter 7  Page 79

Syntax: The syntax is important especially in the beginning of the passage because most of the sentences are simple. I associate simple sentences with being tired and not really wanting to talk. So I think Hurston made most of the sentences simple to give the impression that the characters are tired not only because of old age, but also of their marriage. Later in the page when Janie is even angrier at Joe her sentences get more complex and I think Hurston did this to show that Janie is still young and has fight left in her.

Word Choice: The diction Hurston uses especially near the end of the page is important. When she writes "Then Joe Starks realized all of the meanings and his vanity bled like a flood," the word "bled" has several connotations. Whenever I think of blood I think of death, so in a way Hurston is showing that while Joe is losing vanity, he is also beginning to lose his life, and that comes up again later when he actually dies. Also bleeding generally has connotations of being bad, however bleeding in some cases is good, for example in the olden days people believed bleeding could cure illnesses and in today's society people give blood to save lives, so in that sense Hurston is showing that this moment is good for Joe and will help him grow as a person

Tone: The tone of the passage I think is dictated mostly by the syntax that Hurston uses. The short choppy sentences as opposed to long, elaborate sentences make the entire scene different. Again the short sentences give the passage a more tired tone, as a well as frustrated. Rather than getting incredibly angry the characters simply disagree with each other and jab at each other. Hurston does this to create a tone that allows the writer to connect with the scene more. Almost everyone can remember a time when they were tired and frustrated and rather than articulating a long and complex refutation they just simply disagree.

Sound Devices: Hurston uses and alliteration when she writes "You big-bellies round here and put out a lot of brag, but 'tain't nothin' to it but yo' big voice." The alliteration of "b" is used because if one looks at the shape of it, it looks like a body with a large stomach, I think Hurston used the b to keep the idea of large stomachs in the reader's mind without them actually realizing it. More specifically the alliterated b applies directly to Joe because Janie says he has a b "big-belly" so Hurston is characterizing Joe by saying he has a large stomach and then impacts it with the alliterated b.

Journal #3

Five quotations
1. "Yeah, Matt, dat mule so skinny till de women is usin' his rib bones fuh uh rub-board, and hangin' things out on his hock-bones tuh dry"(pg 52) Hyperbole

2. "Every morning the world flung itself over and exposed the town to the sun" (pg 51) Imagery and maybe personification?

3. "Nobody had ever thought of street lamps and some of them said it was a useless notions" (pg 44) The street lamp is a symbol (human power over god)

4. "You'se uh stinkin' lie, Sam, yo' feet ain't mates. Y-y-y-you!"(pg 52) Dialogue that aided showing that the character was upset

5. "Five dollars" Joe rolled his cigar in his mouth and rolled his eyes away indifferently. "If dat mule is wuth somethin' to you, Brother Mayor, he's wuth mo' to me" (pg 57) foil

Analysis
3. The third quotation is important to the book because the street lamp acts as a symbol for human's and an individual's power over god. Later in the text Joe gives a speech about how the sun goes up, and down, as a result of the "sun-maker's" actions, which I think is a symbol for God. This process is entirely out of the individuals control and in a larger sense out of human control. The street lamp acts as humans taking that power back from God, seeing as the sun provides light, but now humans don't need to sun to have light. This plays into the recurring struggle with God that the characters in this book have. Especially Janie, so I think it is interesting that Joe is the builder of the street lamp and symbolically defies God while Janie is on her own journey to defy God and take back control. I think Zora Neale Hurston put this in as to contrast the two journeys

5. The fifth quotation is important because the foil shows the difference between Joe and the rest of the people that live in the town. Cigars are generally associated with class, and in this case serves as evidence that Joe is on a different level than the rest of the people. I think Zora Neale Hurston put this in to show that when certain people get some power back from God, they themselves believe that they are more powerful than others. Basically they forget where they came from, their roots. I also think that Hurston put this interaction specifically to show that when people let power go to their head bad things happen, for example Janie enjoys talking with the people in the town and Joe doesn't want her because he thinks they are better than them and then Joe dies.

Journal #2

Rules of dialect (of my own creation)
1. All sentences must end with an exclamation mark followed by either a period or question mark
2. Greetings such as "hello" will become "hullo"
3. Males will include a :) in their sentences to show they are always smiling
4. Females will include a ;) in their sentences to show they are always smiling
5. The first letter of every sentence will not be capitalized
6. The dictionary.com word of the day must be used  (today's is cordate)
7. If a word ends with 2 s's then a t must be added to the end of the word

Dialogue/Narration (based on page 12)
E.j. dela Cruz walked around Bridgeport Village knowing one thing with certainty. Even though this one thing may be nearly impossible, he was going to do it. He was going to get a free entree at Qdoba for kissing someone while paying. E.j. walked into Qdoba, slicked his hair back, and surveyed the area.

"hullo ladies :)!." E.j squealed.

The pitch of his voice was so high, the entire population of the restaurant immediately turned to view the person that had just spoken. When E.j. had been going over this in his head around Bridgeport Village, he had imagined it nothing like this. All he could think about at this point was his past self shaking his head at his present self for squealing in such a way that he might attract a lady.

E.j.'s face looked like he had just found out that he really wasn't Fillipino and was, in fact, only Chinese. The possibility that this was true drained E.j. of most of his confidence, because without his Fillipino heritage and culture, he would lose most of his identity. All of the women in the room suddenly understood  what was going on with the person that had just walked in. E.j. was aware of this and with the wink of an eye; he was back on his game. He knew his identity was not lost and he would use it to his advantage.

"sooo ladies, has anyone had cordate adobo before :)?."

"what is adobo?. Sounds like a Fillipino dish that was heavily influenced by Spanish culture =)!."

A woman in a bright red coat had spoken, and E.j. knew who he would ask right away. E.j. didn't want to admit that adobo comes from Spanish cuisine, even though he knew in his heart that Spain was vastly superior to the Philippines. His mind jumbled by this, he could only think of one thing to say to her next.

"will you kisst me so I can get free food :)!."

"no, not in a million years =)!."

The End.

Journal #1

From the first chapter I perceived Janie as a relaxed, but at the same time tired, woman. Janie recognizes this and his able to laugh about it which led me to think of her as more of a wise person than her peers. "'Ah'm tryin' to soak some uh de tiredness and de dirt outa mah feet.' She laughed a little" (pg. 4) This shows to me that Janie is using her feet to represent her body and in a larger sense her soul. She gives the impression later in the first chapter of having a lack of care towards the gossip going around town about her. In reference to the gossip "'Tain't worth the trouble to me. You can tell 'em what Ah say if you wants to" .This to me indicated that Janie had matured past her peers which would suggest that she had encountered something on her journey that caused her to mature further.

From the first chapter I perceived the narrator as a philosophical person that would rather contemplate ideas than give examples that are actually happening in the novel, those examples are filled in by Janie. For example the narrator states "The people all saw her come because it was sundown. The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky." (pg 1) Without any real explanation of who "he" is and what he did I felt as though I was reading a hypothetical situation that was supposed to prepare me for the events to come rather than actually moving the plot forward. As well the narrator used diction that gave a calming and relaxing mood to the text, "Words walking without masters; walking altogether like harmony in a song" (pg. 2) This simile to music brought in all the feelings of what music it to me, and because of that I was instantly relaxed because that's what music does to me. Especially smooth jazz.

Post #4

1. "Nights dark beyond darkness, and the days more gray each one than what had gone before. Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world" (McCarthy, The Road)

2. "He held the boy's hand as they stumbled through the woods" (McCarthy, The Road)

3. "New Rule: Don't pretend Twinkies are healthy now, just because you can get the 100 calorie size. Here's the miracle: It's smaller. Here's how to make your own at home: Cut an old Twinkie in half. Here's how to make it healthy: Throw both halves in the garbage and eat a carrot." (Maher, The New New Rules)

4. "Sorry. For what? For being friends? 'I was there, too, you know,' said Ender" (Card, Ender's Game)

5. "We" is this type of genre

Answer Key
a. Narrator
b. Fiction
c. Simile
d. Satire
e. Dialogue

Post #3 Chronology

Chronology is basically the order in which events occur based on the time when they occurred. Authors tell stories in varying forms of chronological order to emphasize certain events over others. An example of chronology from the summer reading would be how "We" is told in chronological order of events so the reader can see the transformation of D-503 as a character better than if the events were not told in chronological order. An example of a movie that is told not in chronological order is "Memento". It is not told in chronological order to allow the viewer to experience what the character experiences with the inability to form short term memories.

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Post #2 Flashback

Flashback: A flashback occurs when the author tells a story that happened previous to the beginning of the current story. Flashbacks add information about characters and add to the depth of the character and tension of the plot. Flash backs are important because with out them knowledge of the character in the story is limited to just what happens in the story and their entire past is lost. Flash backs give reasons as to why characters make certain decisions.



Lost had about a million flashbacks (and eventually flash forwards and flash-sideways) throughout the series giving the characters great depth.

Post #1

1. The book that I enjoyed the most reading over the summer was "The Stranger" for several reasons. The first being that I was able to relate to the character and some of his opinions. Meursault spends a lot of time in the book just thinking about people and I found that very interesting. I also enjoyed the book a lot because Meursault spends a lot of time analyzing his environment and at the time I was reading it I was hiking in the Eagle Cap wilderness so while Meursault was having trouble feeling emotions towards his environment I was experiencing nature in a way that I never had before. These contrasts made me have a more emotional connection to the story being told as well as because I was hiking I didn't have any electronics so I had a lot of time to think about the story. Overall it was my favorite book from the summer because it allowed for me to think about more than just the literal interpretation and I was able to connect it with what I was experiencing.
2. The book that I enjoyed the least was "Their Eyes Were Watching God" mainly because I didn't feel a connection to the story and the way some of the characters talked irked me. I was able to make some connections to the story, but on a deep emotional level I was unable to, and this made me dislike the story because I didn't care what happened to the characters. When Janie faced hard times with her husbands I felt a lack of emotion that made it more like reading for an assignment rather than reading because I truly enjoyed the story. The reason that really made me dislike the book though was the grammar that some of the characters used while talking. Normally I don't mind poor grammar and misspellings because I know I do it all the time, but the way they talk just made me annoyed to the point where I didn't want to connect with the characters, which also lead to me not caring about what happened to them. Besides that I thought that Tea Cake's fate was very interesting and I thought that that part of the story was very creative and interesting to read.

3. If I were to write an essay on "We" my focus would be on the word choice by Yevgeny Zamyatin in the novel. More specifically, the author often uses words that draw emotion out in a society where emotions don't play a major role. And the author's word choice reflects well what is going on in the story, for example when D-503 begins to feel more and more emotions his vocabulary serves as a good contrast to what he is feeling and what he felt previously. As well as the real world application of ideas in the "We" such as the operation in the end can be related the movies such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" in which memory deletion is readily available to the general public and if the government wanted to abuse the power they could and people wouldn't be able to realize it because they could delete the memory of it. This is especially scary because as the human brain is studied more and more and especially the more memory is studied the greater the possibility of ideas such as these becoming a reality.