Happy Thanksgiving!

There are so many things to be thankful for in life, let today be the day you spend time with family and friends and Cherish the time you have with them! Have a happy thanksgiving! :)   

thinking outside the box

Notes:
-there are 4 characters trapped in "hell" but Hell isn't described as the place you are in, but more of the people you are surrounded by.
-Valet, Garcin, Estelle, and Inez
-they all desperately want out of the well decorated room.

1.Think about the place you have chosen as your hell. Does it look ordinary and bourgeois,

like Sartre's drawing room, or is it equipped with literal instruments of torture like

Dante's Inferno? Can the mind be in hell in a beautiful place? Is there a way to find peace

in a hellish physical environment? Enter Sartre's space more fully and imagine how it

would feel to live there endlessly, night and day:
- Hell would be a place where no matter how hard I try I can never succeed. This place could look ordinary like college, or a work place. I think that Hell is something that you as an individual create, if you are constantly down about certain places, or people then yes you are going to feel "in Hell" when you are in the presence of those things. I fear failure to succeed in life,which is why I am stressing about college so much, so living in a place where I can't succeed night and day would ultimately make me go insane. I think that this is what drives many people to believe their lives are hell.

2.Could hell be described as too much of anything without a break? Are variety,

moderation and balance instruments we use to keep us from boiling in any inferno of

excess,' whether it be cheesecake or ravenous sex?
-Varietys offer change, and options rather then just having the same thing for a long period of time. I think that if you endure anything for a long amount of time you will begin not to feel the same about it. Everyone needs a blanance in life or they will begin to question things and may begin to not get the joys out of life and feel as if they are in Hell.

3. How does Sartre create a sense of place through dialogue? Can you imagine what it feels

like to stay awake all the time with the lights on with no hope of leaving a specific place?

How does GARCIN react to this hell? How could you twist your daily activities around

so that everyday habits become hell? Is there a pattern of circumstances that reinforces

the experience of hell?
-Garcin didnt take my classes seriously that I would be in my personal Hell. Hell would be where I easily get annoyed with myself for letting myself be there.

4. Compare how Plato and Sartre describe the limitations of our thinking and imply solutions to the problem.
-The ability to learn and educate yourself is the main focus of both. In "The Allegory of the Cave" Plato describes how one must gain the knowledge to leave the cave and become free, while in "No Exit" Sartre wants his characters to learn that they are not happy and to change things. They both want their characters to take learning things and gain knowledge to better themselves. I feel that both authors believe eduacation is the key to becoming a better person and overcoming being a prisoner or being in Hell.  
They both use lots of literary devices throughout their pieces.
Characterization is a big one in "No Exit" since the whole play is in dialouge.
Imagery is a commonly used element in both of the pieces because Plato uses imagery to describe the cave and the light, and Sartre decribes the room and the people.
Irony is another used element. They both use irony because they both are talking about somewhat ironic things.

Allegory of the Cave sonnet

Shackles and chains keep us here
staying here forever without a care
we see the light but won't go near
for we are prisoners and cannot bare

the tangles and struggles of common things
the free come and speak
content with life we don't hear the rings
and we don't listen because we are to weak

but something changed
for now we see
the ways the freed have managed
and we too want to be free

knowledge is all the power you need
so just take the lead

Brain with 5 legs

My group is going to collaborate in and out of class. We plan to be on a reading schedule so we can stay on task and discuss things. We also plan on breaking up certain tasks so we can all gain a good understanding of the book!

Allegory of the Cave study questions

1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?
-The cave is something that restricts freedom, and it is a metaphor for the things that are reality.
2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
-The prisoners, the chains, and the cave are all main elements of imagery. These things bring a dark feel to the story but give you a vivid image of what is there.
3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
- Plato suggest that everyone has the potential to do great things, he thinks people should take opportunities.
4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
- Shackles represent the restrictions we have and how we can’t break free from them. The Cave is the reality of it all.
5.  In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
- In today’s society many things shackle people’s minds. For me I think I care to much about judgment, so I limit myself with the things I do, because of the way I think it may be perceived.
6.  Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
-The freed prisoner is confused why the cave prisoner doesn't care he is limited. The freed prisoner is living "real life" while the cave prisoner is just in the shadows of the cave.
7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
-The prisoners not being able to see they are being limited by the cave, and then refusing to listen to the freed prisoner when told about the realties outside the cave are the two way of lack of clarity.
8.  According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
-Going outside the box and breaking away from structure allows a prisoner to become free. This suggests that they can only be enlightened by others who have already been freed.
9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
-Yes I agree, this is because people can put up a front to disguise the way they really are around certain people. If one sees a scary looking person walking down the street no one will approach them, although in reality they could be one of the nicest and most trustworthy person ever. I think that you must learn to distinguish appearances and reality in order to really get to know people.
10.  If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?
-Everyone can have their own version of a reality, one could see something and would  believe something without any thing to back it up, these would be the alternatives of having a difference between appearances and reality.

brain with 200 legs 2.0: mindmaps & strategy

3. I feel that a mind map is a very neat and creative way for ideas to be passed around. I feel that a mind map would be a real project because it seems quite confusing, and by the looks of some of them if you want a good one it would take a lot of time. I think that if we all contributed as a class that we could create a good mind map. I know that the mind map that is for the literature analysis was pretty cool, it allows  a quick and easy way to see who is reading the same things I am interested in.

4. I liked many of the concept maps because of the organization, I am not really sure how to search for different ones but I like the way the home page is set up, Each is a step that you follow, its almost like following a recipe.

5. This article is so crazy! I mean I figure by the time you are older you have read many books, but this is something much different! 7 hours of sleep and 4 hours of reading a day? Even when I am reading a book and cant put it down I don't think I spend 4 hours reading it in one day. I think that this is very interesting, this person is obviously addicted to reading. I wonder if they ever go to a movie premiere for a book, and read a different book while watching the movie? I think this is crazy, but I mean reading is a good thing, I just don't know if I would be able to keep all the different titles and characters separate from each other after reading so many books!

We hang together

I like to take active reading notes, so writing them out is easier then continuously switching tabs.. 

Hamlet remix

Locutionary acts:
-the meaning of something said.
-a speech act.
-voicing words to someone, for them just to hear.
-the comic strip above is a perfect example because she is telling him something and he is listening.

Illocutionary:

-is the act performed by a speaker.

-represents a state of affairs.

-"I pronounce you man and wife" is another example.

- The picture above represents it because the man is saying not to litter and he is putting trash into the garbage. He is speaking and doing actions at the same time. 

Prelocutionary:

-Persuading, frightening, convincing, or annoying are all examples.

- the consequence for saying something.

-people get a certain effect or feeling from someone saying something.

-The example above is good because it shows that as everyone is saying something someone is thinking and understanding in their own ways.

These all relate to Hamlet because as a character he uses all these of ways of speaking and acting. With certain characters he would act upon his actions, but then with others he would just say something to get a reaction out of them, like he did often with King Claudius.

A POETIC INQUIRY

If we all lived in a "perfect" world would there be such a thing as true happiness, or would it just be considered the normal day-to-day feeling? Would life be boring if nothing went wrong, and there was no excitement? Does having rough patches in life truly help us become better and wiser individuals?

here is a sonnet that I feel relates to my big question, I think that it relates because it is about emptiness, and if we all lived in a perfect world we would all feel empty. I think that Wilson captures this image in his sonnet, which is why I chose it. Although he describes a world that sounds peaceful, and nothing could go wrong,   I think that if we lived in that world we would just be bored and not really have any emotions about anything.

Emptiness
by : Jim Wilson

I hear the wind chimes in the summer breeze,
a gentle wind triggers the melody,
a curious jay pausing on the chimes,
a mid-day thief so cautious he’s clumsy.

Calm and clear, I perceive appearances,
as the dance and display of my own mind.

The river flowing swiftly past my home,
where does it come from, whither does it go?

Child like, my mind provides an answer,
dust dancing in rays of summer sunlight.

A dog barks, the leaves rustle, clouds go by,
a shimmering wind in a field of dreams.

The cornucopia of emptiness
endlessly manifesting her mercy.

Hamlet essay

Hamlet essay
       In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare creates complex characters that are at first difficult to decipher. Through close examination of each character we can conclude there is a method to Shakespeare’s madness, and we all are more like Hamlet then we could have expected. Many sites, that are meant to help people read Hamlet easily, just wind up giving us the answer that Hamlet himself is crazy. Instead of just taking their word for it us, as a class, questioned it and decided that maybe Hamlet isn’t crazy, his character is just misread constantly throughout the play.

         In the “Performative Utterance” by de Boer we learn that Hamlets “madness” is something that can be easily questioned. Hamlet makes quick witty reactions to things, which lead us to believe he is sane, and can make logical decisions. De Boer questions whether or not Hamlet has problems with his locutionary force (unable to act on an action). When we relate this back to the play we begin to realize that maybe Hamlet just had an odd way of expressing himself. Today we don’t call the people with locutionary force problems insane, we just classify them as shy and reserved individuals. It is difficult to believe Hamlet to be “mad” when you think about his character in this way. Believing Hamlet to be “mad” would almost be like calling every individual mad who ever had a problem expressing themselves.

        Speech is something that doesn’t portray Hamlet as crazy in any way. When we read his soliloquies they are full of emotion and depth. In “to be or not to be” he is fully aware of everything and we can really see how sane he is in it. Memorizing this soliloquy allowed us to see Hamlet as a different character for the first time. It gave us a better understanding that the things going on in his mind aren’t “mad” they are just normal thoughts everyone may have on the matter.

         Comparing Hamlet to people today allows us to see that although Hamlet is hundreds of years old he is a complex character that is very relatable to everyone. My thoughts run me back to the question of did Shakespeare want Hamlet to be relatable to the common people for generations to come? I think the answer is yes, and no. Hamlet is a man who wants to get revenge for his father’s death, which any person would rightly want to accomplish if their father was poisoned. On the other hand Hamlet is a Prince, and it is pointed out many times throughout the play, which makes me skeptical whether he meant to be relatable or not. Hamlet is meant for the audience to be wondering and maybe even be confused at the end, and Shakespeare does a good job at confusing his audience as the play goes on, which allows you to remain thinking about the play even when you aren’t watching/reading.
    
      Hamlet, and Hamlet the character are both very complex, and it takes looking back a couple times to try and understand certain characters actions. Even though this play took place so many years ago, many character’s, especially Hamlet, are relatable to aspects of people’s lives. Through discussions, essays/articles, Sparknotes, and reading the play itself we can gain many different perceptions of the character Hamlet. My understanding of Hamlet is that he is just a man who doesn’t know how to express himself, and this is why many people perceive him as mad. In the end we can all be considered mad if we think about it, we aren’t much different from Hamlet himself.