My mistress' eyes

My mistress' eyes

William Shakespeare.

This speaker is very fond of his mistress. I mean "her eyes are nothing like the sun; coral is far more red than her lips' red."(885) The speaker goes on and on about how their mistress is like all of these beauties and the mistress loses every time. He does end up saying that her voice is nice. I don't really know what the last couplet meant. He says the the love he has is rare and valuable and then I don't know what the last part means. It says "any woman who has been lied to with false comparisons." Therefore, I would venture to guess that the speaker means that his earlier comparisons were false. Based on the gender theme of the unit, maybe it is saying that men likely do not say what they truly mean. It could also mean that women receive many left-handed compliments that actually would hurt their feelings. There is obviously a tone shift at line 13; there is also a shift in subject at 8, from things that the speaker "didn't like" to things they did like about his mistress. However, I am confused as to what all of this means.

Barbie Doll

Barbie Doll
Marge Piercy

"So she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up." (836). The title of the poem is barbie doll, as everyone obviously saw. A barbie doll is what people looked to as that perfect figure or that perfect look. If one does not look like a barbie doll, then they are different, and different is not good. I'm not saying that because I believe it, but because that is what society usually portrays.The grandchild was said to have a big nose and thick legs; therefore she cut them off and was then said to be pretty. This poem has that underlying meaning that each girl shoots to be that barbie doll person. However, they change something about themselves that allows other people to view them as beautiful, but they aren't any prettier. Being just like everyone else or losing the uniqueness makes the person less beautiful not more beautiful. This is why the grandchild is pictured as being in a casket. She killed her true self to be like everyone else, and in that she lost who she really was.

A Jury of Her Peers

A Jury of Her Peers
Susan Glaspell

I greatly enjoy murder mysteries; I find them extremely intriguing. However, this story was not intriguing. (sad face) The suspense was created by knowing who killed Mr. Wright, but not knowing why. However, the story seemed to focus more on the view of superiority of men over women rather than the case at hand. "Mrs. Peter's husband broke into a laugh. 'Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder, and worrying about her preserves!'" (412). Passages like this show the superiority the men believe they have over the women. One of the questions asks how it shows the men do not believe that the females are inferior, but the only way this is really shown is through the men bringing the women along. The story ends ironically because the women are viewed to be worthless, but they are the ones who discover the motive. This shows that women are not inferior to men. The sexism is extremely prevalent in this story. The fact that the women took the criticisms without even saying a word proves how the society was in the past when women had little to no importance in society.

Hunters in the Snow

Hunters in the Snow
Tobias Wolff

To start of this blog I would like to say that the characters in this short story were idiots. If your friend is dying in the back of the truck, you take them to the hospital; so obviously these characters are not really friends. Tub, Kenny, and Frank are all characterized by how they act and what they say. For example, Frank is very defensive when Kenny threatens to spread his secret. He is also very standoffish and does not respond to some of Kenny's jokes toward Tub. This characterizes Frank as a guy who has something to hide from other people. Tub's character is a stereotypical fat guy to some extent. However, most stock characters  like Tub are the bud of all the jokes and just let it go, but Tub reacted to Kenny pointing the gun at him and admitting and talking about his problem prove him to not be the stereotypical character. Furthermore, both Frank and Tub are idiots who have no concern for a man who they will be charged of killing. Even though Kenny was the jerk poking fun of Tub at the beginning, the reader becomes sympathetic toward him realizing his friends are idiots and that the farmer "told Kenny to kill the dog."(201)

Hmm...

Othello
William Shakespeare

Where did Iago go wrong? "Villainy, villainy, villainy!" (V.ii.189) I mean he was an evil man; I don't think anyone can deny that. His plan appeared throughout the whole play to be working flawlessly. Every one seemed to fall under his trap. I never realized so many people are so gullible, or that someone could really be so manipulative. Cassio and Othello were never going to be able to figure it out, so how did they? Emilia was the one who was able to reveal part of the plan. However, was Emilia the "loose end"? I feel like it isn't that easy. I thought toward the end that Roderigo would be that area that Iago went wrong, and in a sense I guess his was because of the letters; however, would they have bothered to read the letters if they hadn't already discovered the first part of the lie? I still am confused on Iago's real intentions. I'm guessing he's just evil, but I don't know. So where or who was Iago's mistake?

Dramatic Irony part 2

Othello
William Shakespeare

Dramatic irony was used throughout the entirety of the play. Emilia says in Act 4, Scene 2, "I will be hanged if some eternal villain, Some busy and insinuating rogue, Some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office, Have not devised the slander. I'll be hanged else." (130-134). In other words, Emilia is betting on some seriously evil, lying jerk to be behind all of the wicked rumors. Well turns out Emilia was speaking to the evil person himself. Even though Iago obviously knew that he was the one behind it, both Emilia and Desdemona were clueless. Until the end, every one, except Roderigo at times, seemed to be completely clueless. The audience knew Iago intentions the whole time. However, the fellow characters fell in his trap. Dramatic irony was the most frequently used literary device throughout the play. The dramatic irony lends itself to the audience's idea that every one in the play was an idiot for falling under the trap. Plus, it was a result of the story being told from the perspective of Iago.

Foreshadowing

Othello
William Shakespeare

The example of foreshadowing I am going to use is one that is fairly obvious; it is basically just telling the reader what will happen eventually. The question is when and will it truly play out that way? Well it more or less does happen as Iago had suggested. "Do it not with poison, strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated." "And for Cassio, let me be his undertaker." (V.i.191-192&194-195). In Act 5, you'll never guess what happens!? Well Iago kills Cassio, but it looks like Roderigo did it. Then, Othello strangles Desdemona, because the idiot still did not believe her. There are several other less straightforward foreshadowing examples throughout the play. There was also a sense of "I know what will happen in the end" when beginning the play. Based on the type of play, a tragedy, and who it was written by lends itself to realizing people will die in the end. The question was who and how and why? Well now we have the answers.

Dynamic Characters

Othello
William Shakespeare

In the first three acts, we saw Othello change from a calm and rational man to a man that was easily angered and no longer believed anything any one else but Iago said. In Act V, we see how Emilia fits into that role of a major and dynamic character. As Iago draws his sword, she says, "O thou dull Moor! That handkerchief thou speak'st of/ I found by fortune and did give my husband,/ For often with a solemn earnestness,/ More than indeed belonged to such a trifle,/He begged of me to steal it." (V.ii.224-228) That part of the scene as a whole shows Emilia's newly found courage. She not only stands up to her husband, but she also yells at Othello to get the point through his head that he was wronged. She does not fear her husband killing her; she tells everything she knows. What she told also helped the other characters figure out what Iago did. Emilia was the main doorway that exposed Iago, which made her a very important character in the play. Other characters also had dynamic qualities, but I felt Othello and Emilia were the two main ones.

Greatest Villain ?

Othello
William Shakespeare

How great of a villain is Iago? "Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore,/ Be sure of it, give me the ocular proof." (III.iii.360-361) I quoted this line because Iago is actually called a villain, but I do not believe that because he does not have proof of Cassio and Desdemona sleeping together he is a villain. Iago is the most extreme example of a two-faced person possible. I found it ironic when Othello and Iago were talking of how people should be what they appear to be. This is because Iago is nothing like what he appears to be to other people. I still have not been sold on the greatest villain thing, but maybe it'll all come together in the last two acts. I do not deny Iago ability to manipulate people to basically agree or do whatever he says. His ability to manipulate has made everything fall perfectly into his lap. I guess if no one ever decides to go against Iago, then he's this mass-manipulator-scary right? I mean I guess it could be. Like I said I haven't bought into the idea yet, but we will see how/if the last two scenes change my perceptive on the evilness of Iago.

The Handkerchief

Othello
William Shakespeare

So unless I just completely missed something, we first see the handkerchief when Emilia finds it. The handkerchief belongs to Desdemona and was a gift from Othello. Emilia says "My wayward husband hath a hundred times/ Wooed me to steal it, but she so loves the token,/ For he conjured her she should keep it,/ That she reserves it evermore about her/ To kiss and talk to. I'll have the work ta'en out..." (III.iii.293-297) Iago has asked Emilia to steal this possession of Desdemona, but Emilia knows how much the handkerchief means to you so she says she will make a copy. However, Iago takes the handkerchief from Emilia. Iago decides to plant the handkerchief in Cassio's room. Cassio found it there and gave it to Bianca to copy the pattern. Will she though?..I don't know. I'm not sure of the larger significance of the handkerchief, but it is a prized possession to both Othello and Desdemona. Therefore, it could just continue to be a source of frustration between Othello and Desdemona. However, I feel there is something even greater to know about this handkerchief.

Manipulation

Othello
William Shakespeare

At the end of Act 2, Iago manipulates several people to make them think differently than what is actually happening. He starts off by manipulating Cassio. Cassio is not a very good drinker, so he tries to restrain himself from partaking in the party after they won the war. However, Iago persuades him to drink with "their friends" in celebration. He then manipulates Montano into believing Cassio has a drinking problem. Montano asks, "But is he often thus?" Iago responds, "'Tis evermore the prologue to his sleep." (II.iii.109-110) Therefore, basically Iago told Montano that Cassio gets drunk every night, so Montano becomes concerned for Cassio, which leads to Montano inadvertently triggering the fight. After this Iago manipulates Othello into believing that he actually cares about Michael Cassio and does not want to rat him out. All of these manipulations lend themselves to the dramatic irony. The reader knows that all of these characters are being manipulated and that all of them believe Iago is on there side, but he's not. As readers, you wonder how they could ALL fall for Iago's tricks.

1st Impressions

Othello
William Shakespeare

As Act 1 begins, we meet Iago and Roderigo. Iago explains that he does not like Othello, the Moor. He states that a reason why is that Othello didn't make Iago his Lieutenant. Then we already begin to see Iago's tricks that he plays. Him and Roderigo go to wake Brabantio in the middle of the night yelling he's been robbed, which in a sense was true, but Iago made it sound way more serious than it was (but maybe eloping was a big deal back in the day). Othello seems to think highly of himself. At least, he knows his position and his power. He says "Let him do his spite/ My services which I have done the signiory/ Shall out-tongue his complaints." (I.ii.18-19) Othello knows that the Duke is fond of him for the service his has done for the people. Roderigo at the end of the act reveals that he still loves Desdemona. Iago seems to use this drive in making Roderigo do his dirty work. Roderigo feels Iago is loyal to him, but I find it a little iffy. These three characters are the ones mostly developed in Act 1.