Last Post: Looking Back

It has been a relatively fun semester and I must say, while this class had its shortcomings, I really did enjoy it. Here are some of my favorite moments:

1. The Website
I was terrified of this, especially when I found out there was a second one as a group project. But after fiddling with tripod on the individual assignment, I actually had a lot of fun. Heck, I think I'll be using this for when I start making websites of my own!

2. Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein is one of my favorite movies, and to actually read the material that inspired the movie that inspired the parody was a real treat. I found myself laughing in hindsight as much of the scenes began to make even more sense, and jokes and references I previously didn't get suddenly became hilarious.

3. The Book
While not as fun as the website or Frankenstein, I enjoyed reading the introductions to the cultures of the different periods. As an aspiring writer, having an understanding of history is helpful, as it allows one to create a more believable and immersive world, and the main textbook had cultural notes in spades. My favorite was the different problems and struggles the new industrial revolution created.

And thus concludes my blog and this class. Hope everyone has a good summer semester/much-needed vacation, and good luck in the future.

Oops...Part 1: Review Time!

It just occurred to me that I forgot to post on my blog one week, so I'm going to post twice this week to make up for it. My first post shall be a sort of course evaluation, so Prof. Hochenauer, please take this to heart.

As far as positives go, I enjoyed the fact that the course was well organized, with clear, defined objectives every week and managed to stay on schedule (Then again, since it's an online class, I suppose it comes with the territory.). The works we covered were interesting, albeit somewhat dry, but I managed to be entertained most of the time, and I actually had a blast with the website assignment. Unfortunately, the course isn't without its flaws.

I wasn't able to find any kind of grades for any of the assignments I turned in, which bothers me somewhat. Furthermore, I don't think group projects go too well in an online class. A great deal of communication is required, and since not everyone has a good internet connection, all it does is create a lot of unneeded anxiety and work.

Septimus' Suicide & The Feel of Loneliness

In the novel Mrs. Dalloway, the character of Septimus Smith particularly caught my eye. He's a shell-shocked WW1 veteran who suffers from hallucinations about his dead feidn Evans. Later, he's taken to a mental institution where he commits suicide by jumping out the window. When Mrs. Dalloway learns of his suicide, she sort of admires him for it, and "felt glad that he had done it".

This isn't surprising, as Septimus' illness was disregarded by everyone around him. The doctors didn't even bother to listen to him, Bradshaw just effectively told him to take a vacation, and nobody really helped took the time to give him any help. This doesn't seem like such a big deal today as we have a better understanding of mental illness and many ways to treat it. But still, something about Septimus' death and Mrs. Dalloway's reaction just sticks with you. Both characters feel alone and isolated, Septimus because his illness tends to push other people away, and Mrs. Dalloway's friends and family are either detached, obnoxious, or overly concerned with their own social status or self-importance. This is further reflected in the style of the novel: the stream of consciousness. Mrs. Dalloway is practically in her own little world, alone.

J. Alfred Prufrock: Is It Worth It

T.S. Elliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock appears to tell the story of a classic struggle we all have at one point in our lives: Do I dare have a sexual relationship with this person?

Throughout the entire poem, Prufrock is contemplating whether or not he should do something. He constantly runs scenarios through his head, most of them are what could possibly go wrong. For example, he seems to be fussing over his appearance, as he mentions "a bald spot in the middle of [his] hair" and is worrid about what "they" will say about him. This also seems to suggest that Prufrock is an older man, as he's worried about people commenting on "how his hair is growing thin" and "how his arms and legs are thin". The relationship he wishes to pursue could also be considered forbidden, as he asks himself: "Do I dare disturb the universe?"

But perhaps the most telling piece of evidence lies in this little snippet from line 122:

"Do I dare eat a peach?"

Peaches are symbols are sex and fertility in certain countries, especially that of females, given that they resemble an...attractive rear. I think it goes without saying that there's something more than anxiety on his mind.

"An Artist's (Re: Stalkers') Studio"

Upon reading Christina Rossetti's In an Artist's Studio, I have to say that I find the titular artist rather disturbing. Whether it was accidental or not, Rossetti has made him into a perverted stalker who single-mindedly paints different portraits of this one woman.

The most telling clue can be seen in the way the poem describes how the woman is portrayed: "not as she is, but as she fills his dream". This suggests that the artist and woman have never met, and that he regularly fantacizes about her. The poem also uses a form of repetition by having as much as 2-3 lines saying essentially the same thing, but with different words. This pulls the reader in and gives some insight into the artist's apparent fixation with this mystery woman.

Shelley & Mel

At this point, everyone has to have at least seen Mel Brooks' masterpiece Young Frankenstein at least once. Since we're looking at its source material, I wanted to talk about a few things it, as well as the movies that came before it did or contributed to the Frankenstein mythos.

The first if Igor. Today, nobody can ever think of Frankenstein without thinking about everyone's favorite hunchback. But why does he even exist? There's no mention of Victor ever having assistance making the monster. In fact, the creepy, subservient hunchback is conspiculously absent in the book. The "Igor" character was originally created for the movie with Boris Karlof and it's numerous sequels, and has since carved himself a niche in Mary Shelley's work. Whether he's serving as Frankenstein's yes-man, betraying him to Dracula in Van Helsing, or serving as the plucky comedy relief in Mel Brooks' famous work, Igor is here to stay, and we can't imagine Frankenstein without him.

Igor's main function is, obivously, Victor's lab assistant. He was possibly created as a means of properly explaining how the doctor acquired the materials needed to create his creature, as it would very difficult to do so. Igor also has a slight bumbling nature, this is to provide a bit of comedy, but is often used to explain just why the monster goes berserk. For instance, in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, EYE-gor attempted to steal the brain of Hans Delbruck for the creature, but is scared by a clash of thunder and his own reflection, causing him to drop it. Not wanting to go back empty handed, he grabs another brain. But when the monster is awakened, it's revealed that the brain is in fact "abnormal" (Abby Normal), and much laughter ensues.

Young Frankenstein also manages to preserve much of the monster's original character. While it does use the infamous "evil brain" plot everyone has grown tired of, it does it in a way that keeps at least some part of the original book. The brain isn't that of a murderer, but is simply "abnormal" (Abby Normal lol), giving the monster the mentality similar to that of a mentally handicapped child based on its struggle learning and trouble speaking. The only time the monster does anything monstrous is when it's provoked, such as when it's exposed to fire or when some insensitive jerk provokes him (as seen when the guard torments the monster with a lighter while he's in prison toward the end.). The monster's attacks are always is response to some outside source, much like how Shelley's becomes a murderer after being treated cruelly. The monster even becomes cultured and articulate like the book monster after the brain transferal procedure.

I could go on and on about Young Frankenstein, but I'll stop here.

William Blake's "Chimney Sweeper"

Here is William Blake's poem "Chimey Sweeper":

When my mother died I was very young,

And my father sold me while yet my tongue

Could scarcely cry ``'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!''

So your chimneys I sweep, & in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,

That curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd: so I said

``Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when you head's bare

You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.''

And so he was quiet, & that very night,

As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!

That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack,

Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black.

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,

And he open'd the coffins & set them free;

Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run,

And wash in a river, and shine in the Sun.

Then naked & white, all their bags left behind,

They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;

And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,

He'd have God for his father, & never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,

And got with our bags & our brushes to work,

Tho the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm,

So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.

Pretty basic poem right? Divided into stanzas four lines long, ABAB rhyme scheme. It even manages to end on a positive note. Now re-read the last four stanzas again, paying close attention to the second to last one. Basically, an angel is teling little Tom Dacre that if he's good, he'll go to Heaven when he dies. Awwww...wait...

Stop and think about that for moment. The narrator, Tom, and possibly several other children, have been given up by their families for one reason or another and forced to work as chimney sweepers. They're miserable, not surprising as it's a really crappy job with the long hours, working at dangerous heights in cramped, dark, filthy chimneys full of God-knows-what that could give them all kinds of sicknesses. And to top it off, at the time, nobody gave it a second thought!

But here's the kicker: the one positive note of the poem, is that if they "all do their duty" and "be a good boy", they'll go to Heaven when they die. Think about that for a moment, an angel is telling a child that the only good thing they have to look forward to is dying and going to Heaven! That's one step away from telling the kid to kill himself!

To further support this, each half of the poem has a distinctly different tone. The first half is gloomy and depressing. The narrator tells the story of how he was abandoned and left to labor as a chimney sweep, how he and other children were forced to sleep in soot and have their heads shaved, and how Tom dreams of everyone dying and being "lock'd up in coffins black". The second half, however if bright and cheery. An angel releases the sweepers from their confines with a "bright key", and afterwards, they all wash up and "naked and white...rise upon clouds and sport in the wind", ending of course with the angel telling Tom about going to Heaven. The poem also uses a lot of black and white imagery. With the real world being associated with black, grime, and death, much like the titular occupation, and Heaven being assoicated with white, light, and freedom.

So there you have it. What were once hopeful, kind words from a guardian angel are now bleak, depressing, and tragic.