Big Question Revised

Why is there not a universal language? What are the benefits of having different languages unique to specific areas of the world, and what are the disadvantages to this? How does the use of different languages cause us to see the world in different ways?

Thinking Outside the Box

In both Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and Sartre’s “No Exit” people are limited on what they know due to isolation. In “Allegory of the Cave”, the people are chained down, the chains a symbol of their narrow minds. The prisoners are prisoners because they want to be, when one is freed and sees the world around them they become enlightened. In “No Exit”, the people are also isolated and rely on others for their knowledge. They could be enlightened by those around them but never really know what was out in the world and experience things for them selves. Both Plato and Sartre make the point that to gain knowledge you can not rely on your surroundings like the prisoners, or on the people nearest you like in “No Exit”, you must broaden your horizons and want to gain knowledge outside ones comfort zone.
Plato focuses on the ignorance of people and to the prisoners, to a certain point the phrase ignorance is bliss applies to them. They are imprisoned but that is what they know and given the chance, they prefer to "bear those ills [they] have then fly to others [they] know not of." In "No Exit" the characters are there by their own will. They were not forced there like the prisoners. Sartre's "No Exit" contains characters who despise each other, but their distaste for each other is a reflection of their dislike for specific aspects of themselves reflected in this play. They have characteristics they are not proud of but that are made apparent in the play.
Comparing Plato's and Sartre's works, there are many differences and similarities. Both would most likely agree that to really learn you must not stay stationary; you must go beyond your comfort zone to "the undiscovered country".

The Scarlet Letter

1. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story about a woman named Hester Prynne. The story takes place in seventeenth century Boston. Hester is sent to America by her husband who is supposed to meet her there but when he doesn’t arrive, it is believed that he was lost at sea. Hester then has an affair with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and becomes pregnant. Hester is punished publicly for her affair and is forced to wear a scarlet “A” on all of her clothing. She refuses to give away her lovers identity so he will not be publicly disgraced as well, although Arthur punishes himself mentally and physically. Hester’s husband arrives in town and is defiant on getting revenge. Hester and Arthur plan to leave to Europe with their daughter Pearl so they can have a family, when Arthur joins Hester and Pearl and publicly reveals himself Pearl kisses him and he drops dead. Hester and Pearl leave and no one knows what happened to them. Later on Roger Chillingworth passes away and Hester returns home and lives in her old little cottage. Pearl married in Europe and continued to live there with her family. Hester eventually dies and is buried next to her love Arthur.

2. The theme of the novel is human nature and how the effects of how other people view someone can ruin them. Hester stayed strong while being scorned by the entire town for doing the human thing, looking for love after her husband was believed to be dead. Arthur Dimmesdale struggled under the guilt he felt for not coming forward and facing the disgrace with Hester and paid for it in many ways.

3. The tone of the novel is honest and makes a point. You know what the characters mean when they speak.

a. “Better had he died at once! Never did mortal suffer what this man has suffered”
Chillingsworth is speaking to Hester about how Arthur would be better off dead then what he put himself through in his guilt.

b. “Let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart”
A woman speaks of Hester, she makes the point that Hester will always have to live with what she did, so why broadcast it to the world.

c. “God gave her into my keeping,” repeated Hester Prynne raising her voice almost to a shriek. “I will not give her up!”
Hester believed it was God’s will for her to have Pearl and was not going to let anyone take her child from her.

4. Symbolism: The rose bush that grew outside the church stood for survival.
Irony: Arthur Dimmesdale is punished more then Hester, just in a different way.
Style: Hawthorne’s style is strait forward and helps readers comprehend what they are reading.
Imagery: descriptiveness helps paint a picture of what is meant by an author. “A bodily disease, which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part."
Metaphor: Hawthorne helps the reader relate to what is being said by comparing it to something else.

Myth

Myth: A traditional story about heroes or supernatural beings, often attempting to explain the origins of natural phenomena or aspects of human behavior

An example of a myth is Hercules:

"Allegory of the Cave" Intro

Plato’s, “Allegory of the Cave” is a thought provoking extended metaphor. He uses prisoners to symbolize today’s hoi polloi, and shackles to represent ignorance. We find so much comfort in being set in our ways that it restricts us from seeing what is really out there. To the prisoners the shadows on the wall are their real world but when a prisoner is let free he sees the world through new eyes. If we educate ourselves and try things we aren’t used to or that isn’t normal, we will be unchained and enlightened like the escaped prisoner.

Big Question

Why doesn't the world use the same language?

Hamlet Essay 2

In Hamlet, he has several major soliloquies where he speaks out loud to talk himself through his problems. Self- overhearing helps him sort through his problems and decide what actions to follow through with based on his decisions. Personally, my self-overhearing is similar where as, it helps a lot to walk myself through any obstacles I may have. Austin’s performative utterance shows in Hamlet’s character because his words are actions, only being spoken. When reflecting on experiences, the mood of the atmosphere can drastically change the way you look back on that memory at a later time. The lecutionary force in Hamlet is prominent in the character Hamlet, much of the book he is getting through problems that could ultimately make or break him.
Hamlet if faced with a countless number of problems and feels as if there is no one he can truly turn to for help. Claudius gets even his best friends to, in a way, to betray Hamlet by spying on him and reporting back to the King. Also Hamlet is in a great deal of distress because of his fathers passing and his mothers’ remarriage to his horrible uncle. Hamlet would not be able to overcome these situations if he wasn’t able to talk himself through them. The performative utterance his words take on affects the play as a whole, and Hamlets character greatly. The action of speaking to himself out loud of his problems gives him a sense of sanity. Ideas many times sound better in your head, but when hearing them out loud it helps you to see if your ideas on how to solve your problems sound sane to the outside world as well as the world inside of your head.
For myself, working through problems helps me tremendously. Going over how to solve situations helps me learn more about myself. In the process of making important decisions I reflect on the type of person I want to be and where the different paths I can take, based off of the situation, will lead me. This can get me through any major decision; it is the smaller ones that seem to be my biggest obstacles. Being one of the most indecisive people ever, I always need a second opinion on the smaller decisions like what shirt to buy or where to go to lunch with friends. The problem with the smaller choices and why I am able to make bigger ones on my own is because when thinking of where to eat you don’t have to reflect on your self, except for what kind of food you like. Going over your problems, or decisions you must make, it always helps to talk your way through it and to consider every outcome.
When waking up in the morning in a bad mood, you set your day up for disaster. When going in to a test saying you’re going to fail, you will almost certainly do worse then the goal grade you were hoping to achieve. The mood you’re in and the attitude you have towards something is a sign of what you will achieve that day, or on that test, compared to the goal you have set for yourself. For Hamlet, he promised his father’s ghost he would avenge him and he passionately followed through with that promise. All though it was not easy, he worked his way through it by reflecting on his decisions like in the “To be or not to be” soliloquy where he had already decided not to kill himself but was making sure he had made the right decision. The air about your promises can be a symbol early on if you are going to follow through with your words, strive to meet your goals, or if you will willingly fall short of them.
So, in the end the benefits for talking through your problems and happily verbally committing to your goals in life will get you much farther then if you have a bad attitude and lazily look at where you want to be compared to where you are. The prelocutionary force is powerful and when pursuing the effect your words have on you and others you can get anywhere you want to be.

Hamlet and Beowulf

            In any different time period, the language differentiation from one story to the next will be prominent.  Hamlet and Beowulf are no exception to this.  Their thoughts and out looks on like are like night and day, a big part of this difference is a reflection of the influences the authors had and the culture they came from.  Linguistically and culturally the play and old epic story are very different.  These widely known stories were written in very different times and they reflect upon the era they were created in.

            In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there are several long soliloquies where Prince Hamlet speaks to himself and looks closely at his life and his feelings towards different situations.  He ponders decisions he has already made, “For in that sleep or death what dreams may come” this shows his fear of what is after death even though he has already chosen not to commit suicide.  Shakespeare’s characters, such as Hamlet, are very in depth and think things through rather then act impulsively.  He may not be considered a hero for his show of braveness or saving his people, but he was a thinker.  He knew what he wanted and has the patience to wait it out for the perfect opportunity; in the play this would be killing his uncle Claudius.

            Beowulf is considered an epic hero.  In the time that Beowulf was originated to be a hero was the gallant man who saved everyone from the monster.  To avenge your family and friends was a thing to praise and things or people who were different were exiled.  The culture Beowulf is from can be considered a very old fashion one, and Beowulf would be the knight in shining armor.  “I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons; therefore, to heighten Hygelac’s frame and gladden his heart, I hearby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad.”  This is quoted by Beowulf and is an illustration of how nobleness was everything in his time.  To make his fight fair against a monster he chose not to use weapons, even though the monster was much larger and stronger then him.

            While Hamlet thinks his actions through and can take months to act on his desires, Beowulf is impulsive and brave.  Beowulf is skillful at fighting, but you have to interpret his true thoughts and feelings through his actions.  The problem with this is why Beowulf acts brave, is it sincere or are his actions simply what society expects them to be.  Prince Hamlet is wildly different, when society thinks he is crazy he mocks them and

makes the point that, “I am glad of it. A knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear.” This comes from a conversation he is having with Rosencrantz and could translate to, I’m glad you don’t understand me because if I spoke so you could understand I would be considered as dumb as you. This reply to Rosencrantz, comes off as Hamlet being mad.

            The epic hero of Beowulf and the thinker of Hamlet are to extremely different people.  This has to do with the language the author uses in the stories.  If Shakespeare had written Beowulf he might have shown his self reflection but in the time period the story is from, this would completely change Beowulf as a hero.  The era an author lives in drastically effects the way an author writes, their syntax, diction, and their rounded characters.  For Hamlet and Beowulf, the fact that they came from two very different times is well known to anyone that has read both stories.

This year..

This year one major thing I've learned is from Hamlet, especially the "to be or not to be" soliloquy.  This showed me that when you doubt you can learn or memorize something, looking at it from all points of view helps tremendously.  Also the more you research about it and the more you go over and over it the faster what seems like a foreign language becomes one that you can decipher for yourself.  Not looking at things so seriously but having an air of lightness around memorizing the soliloquy helped me so much and kept me from getting so frustrated. Knowing what your reading and saying helps you understand what your memorizing and can make a huge difference.  

Roy Christopher Video Chat Highlights

"Program or be programmed" this is a very meaningful quote I took away from the chat. We must embrace technology and lean about the tools we use.  Another thing that stuck out to me was how he said technology is what we make of it.  If we focus on what we are supposed to be doing we can learn almost anything we want to, but if we are distracted by web sites like Facebook, you can make no progress in what you set out to achieve. Lastly, the most important point he made in my opinion was, the fact that the older generations must trust the younger ones in moving the world forward technologically and that so much can be accomplished as we continue to advance.   The video chat was very interesting and really made me think, especially about the points above.