It's been a struggle lately, folks. I will admit this with hunched shoulders, baggy eyes and a frightening appetite for 500 calorie candy bars. I need a break. A spa day. Something. Spring Break? Come on, I swear the week long break is some temptation that the gods are dangling in front of my face. I can't grab the days and make them come faster. Sorry. I seem to pass through all my classes in a blur and the tiny hope is that there's a reward for all this crap and homework and period of sucky grades. Well, this class I'm progressing along quite well, but still. The weight and evil of my other classes team up to conspire against me! Its a real thing. Okay, so I'm exaggerating. I'm trying to waste space. Cool it.
Now for the real reason you were assigned to read this post. Course material, I do believe that's it. Well, let me tell you...we blew goodbye kisses to Ros&Guil. Studied some lectures from some dude(dudes?). Practiced multiple choice. I apologize, I'm listing. But I'll tell you, I'm starting to improve on my multiple choice. Practice helps, hey who knew? Somewhere in this jumbled paragraph and course material timeline we read a Post Modern lecture on the way aforementioned Ros&Guil. Sitting here on my computer, looking through the annotations I suffered through(nah), the only significant thing that I am able to pull out from the mess of my notes is that there is no dominant meaning. As long as you have the evidence, people, you can claim anything you want to, but I already knew that. I just got a post-modernist view and they're not even positive. I love the assurance.
Umm... we worked on "Eleven" by my girl Sandra Cisneros. I'm glad I put the final period on that doc and shared it. Wonder if we're going to continue with it later on in life? Things have a way of reappearing. It's insanely scary. Like when I have the same dream every couple of years or so. It makes me think that there's some hidden cubby that I haven't discovered and whatever mystery that lies within it with leave me wiser if I continue to pour over it and consider the message of it. Information that we continue to expand on, we learn more from. Science. Our genetic make-up. New discovers in our epigenomes. A world that is constantly growing and learning and my laziness disables me because sometimes I'd honestly rather stare at the blankest white wall and think about nothing. As we delve back into the books we've finished( see I thought we were done) and examine them through our critical lenses I'm beginning to wonder and anticipate about that moment when an uncharted thought enters the circle and my class has an "ooooooohhhh" moment. I don't think we're they're yet. I did have fun with the circle-Frye's "mythoi" but as a class we think too much and then I become confused and start counting down the time until class is over...yeah.
Ceremony. Alright, you punks who claim that this book is terrible. Get out! I'm enjoying this novel so far but I'm not going to get into too much detail because ahh, I need to finish my reading. Like, a lot of my reading. I do appreciate the various helpful presentations and papers we've been given to help us along this long reading journey. If I had more time and didn't work like a slave I would read them again. I will, of course...
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Oh dear, writing an open prompt response
2004-Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
In Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the struggle to identify oneself becomes a prominent issue for both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The question of this play seems to be "Who am I?" An identity confusion that alerts readers to the thought that life based on performing for others, strips them of their potential to become the individual that they were meant to be.
From the start of this play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern confuse themselves, providing evidence of their consideration of the question "Who am I" Others in the play mix the two of them up because they are in reality forgettable characters. They can be considered as one character because they present themselves in a meaningless fashion, full of repetitive questioning and memory loss. They're concerns are unimportant as other known characters in this play feel the right to order Rosencrantz and Guildenstern around.
The Player exists as the one character in Stoppard's play who has the ending figured out. He acknowledges his profession as one based on performance and the entertaining of others. He is an actor who is only defined as such when an audience is around to be influenced by his dialogue and physical actions. The Player helps to point out the differences in his character compared to that of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The Player knows he is written in a story, to perform. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are clueless and struggle with finding their own direction. They are incapable of what one would deem an easy feat. They must practice remembering their names because they have no identity. They are merely tools that perform at the bid of the master who has control of them. They were summoned to Elsinore and they came not really knowing why they followed their summons, but agreeing all the same.
Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead pushes the question of identity into the main characters of his play and his audience of readers. The question "Who am I" warns that pleasing others takes one's identity away from them because they function as an object of use for another person. An unidentifiable person is incapable of independence and must rely on the commands of others, tending to be unaware of their predicament.
*Ahh, why do I do this to myself. I'm tired of trying and then seeing failure.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Sir Tom Stoppard(1937)-Czech playwright, and former journalist who is well known for his play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which is a text full of ambiguity, absurdest elements, and bits of existentialism.
Interesting Bits/Techniques:
Setting-Lack of a defined setting in the beginning. Depending on opinion the characters might be in a caravan the entire time. But the characters exist in the Elizabethan age(Hamlet time) and travel through the forest, to Elsinore, and near the end of the text everyone is on a boat.
Imagery-More developed when describing the ship, otherwise literary technique is used sporadically.
Diction-Formal, Colloquial, Informal. Stoppard plays around with diction depending on the character and the moment.
Tone-At times meaningless, helpless, anguished, humorous...yeah.
Symbols:
Coins-randomness/against probability, issue of balance
Boat-life, are your steering or sitting in the corner sunbathing?
Forest-Evil, mystical
England-Afterlife...form of heaven
Characters:
Rosencrantz-Childhood friend of Hamlet who is summoned along with Guildenstern by the King and Queen to determine the cause of Hamlet's madness. He considers himself a gentlemen and is recognized as a peaceful, and friendly individual who seems to be unaware of his existence and the power of fate. Remains confused about his role in this play, but realizes in the end that he is a character.
Guildenstern-Childhood friend of Hamlet who is easily angered. He struggles to find the right words to support his theories. At times clueless, but he desires an answer for the questions he can't answer and is frightened by the idea of death.
Rosenstern-Identity confusion between main characters.Sexual oneness.
Player-Master actor who sets the action of the play and seems to be the only one who realize that he's stuck in a play.Able to predict the play's ending.
Everyone else who made an experience-Not as important. Sorry. Refer to Hamlet character list.
Plot:
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sit tossing a coin in an undeveloped setting. While tossing coins Guildenstern considers probability and becomes frustrated at the predictable results. He attempts to reason with himself, but further confuses the situation. The two characters are openly confused about their whereabouts but determine that they have been summoned by a messenger for some reason. After a period of time, Ros and Guil head into the forest after hearing music and happen upon the tragedians. The Player has his actors line up and offers them(as prostitutes are offered and sold for performance) to the unsuspecting Ros and Guil. When the offer is rejected the tragedians begin to leave, but Rosencrantz wants to see a play, leading to the tossing of a coin between the Player and Guildenstern. The coin lands on tails and the Player fulfills his end of the bet with a play. Suddenly, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are whisked into Shakespeare's Hamlet where King Claudius and Queen Gertrude greet them and order them to spy on Hamlet. Lost within Elsinore's castle walls, Ros and Guil pass the time playing a game of questions. They try to collect themselves and figure out Hamlet and the strange circumstances that are present in the royal family.Eventually, the characters witness Hamlet and Polonius conversing and near the end of act one, they are greeted by Hamlet.
After the conversation has ended, Ros and Guil attempt to make sense of the conversation and the issue/confusion on direction comes up. Meanwhile, Hamlet suggest a play for the actors to act out-The Murder of Gonzago. Once he's left the player addresses Ros and Guil and admits to being peeved that Ros and Guil left him and the other tragedians while they were back in the forest(lacking audience-pointless, no need for a performance). A little bit later the play is performed in front of the King, followed by the death of Polonius-Hamlet's fault, and King Claudius informing Ros and Guil that he's sending Hamlet to England and that they're to accompany him
In the final act, Ros and Guil find themselves in bathed in darkness. They're on a boat. And as usual, the two are confused and directionless. They find Hamlet sleeping on the boat and bravely open the seal of the letter Claudius sent with them and read about Hamlet's fate once the boat reaches England. The two argue about betraying their friend, but they realize they have no power and can't save their friend. The Player and his tragedians are also found on the boat. While Ros and Guil sleeps, Hamlet switches the letters and writes of Ros and Guil's death in England and then...the boat is attacked by pirates. Hamlet escapes. Ros and Guil read the letter again and death is about to hit them. Guil is afraid and upset after the Player pretends to die. Guil believes there's more to death than a fake performance and worries about disappearing. Ros is emotional. Then they are gone as they accept they'll know better next time. The play ends similarly to Shakespeare's Hamlet with Horatio's speech. Fini.
Quotes:
Player: "For some of us it is performance, for others, patronage. They are two sides of the same coin, or let us say, being as there are so many of us, the same side of two coins.”(23) Life is a performance. We're all the same in that we exist to impress others and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern exist to perform. Perform. Perform.
Guil: "All your life you live so close to truth, it becomes a permanent blur in the corner of your eye, and when something nudges it into outline it is like being ambushed by a grotesque."(39)
The truth is not always reliable. We attempt to reach for it and make our own meanings, but we're clueless. The unknown truth shocks us the most and we eventually learn that the world is bigger than we'll ever be.
Theme:
Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead raises the question that if life is a performance then an existence based solely on pleasing others to obtain personal fulfillment limit's that person's ability/opportunity to take control of his/her own fate.
In this play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are content to let the helm of their boat be steered by someone else. As unknowing characters, they question themselves and are unable to escape the fate that has already been written for them. Their futile attempts to figure out their lives and to find direction through others(the Player) appear repetitively throughout this text. They are hopeless because as they struggle to figure their roles, they are hindered by their inability to form decisive theories and decisions. They are ordered to Elsinore. Ordered to spy on Hamlet. Ordered to take Hamlet to England. They can't decide for themselves and life becomes a continual performance that also exists within the audience. Stoppard addresses the predetermined fate of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in his title and weaves in enough intellect to allow reader's to consider their own choices and actions. Who do we perform for? We are not limited to a script. We can form our own paths and bring happiness in own on ways so that we too aren't living an absurd and cyclical life.
Interesting Bits/Techniques:
Setting-Lack of a defined setting in the beginning. Depending on opinion the characters might be in a caravan the entire time. But the characters exist in the Elizabethan age(Hamlet time) and travel through the forest, to Elsinore, and near the end of the text everyone is on a boat.
Imagery-More developed when describing the ship, otherwise literary technique is used sporadically.
Diction-Formal, Colloquial, Informal. Stoppard plays around with diction depending on the character and the moment.
Tone-At times meaningless, helpless, anguished, humorous...yeah.
Symbols:
Coins-randomness/against probability, issue of balance
Boat-life, are your steering or sitting in the corner sunbathing?
Forest-Evil, mystical
England-Afterlife...form of heaven
Characters:
Rosencrantz-Childhood friend of Hamlet who is summoned along with Guildenstern by the King and Queen to determine the cause of Hamlet's madness. He considers himself a gentlemen and is recognized as a peaceful, and friendly individual who seems to be unaware of his existence and the power of fate. Remains confused about his role in this play, but realizes in the end that he is a character.
Guildenstern-Childhood friend of Hamlet who is easily angered. He struggles to find the right words to support his theories. At times clueless, but he desires an answer for the questions he can't answer and is frightened by the idea of death.
Rosenstern-Identity confusion between main characters.Sexual oneness.
Player-Master actor who sets the action of the play and seems to be the only one who realize that he's stuck in a play.Able to predict the play's ending.
Everyone else who made an experience-Not as important. Sorry. Refer to Hamlet character list.
Plot:
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sit tossing a coin in an undeveloped setting. While tossing coins Guildenstern considers probability and becomes frustrated at the predictable results. He attempts to reason with himself, but further confuses the situation. The two characters are openly confused about their whereabouts but determine that they have been summoned by a messenger for some reason. After a period of time, Ros and Guil head into the forest after hearing music and happen upon the tragedians. The Player has his actors line up and offers them(as prostitutes are offered and sold for performance) to the unsuspecting Ros and Guil. When the offer is rejected the tragedians begin to leave, but Rosencrantz wants to see a play, leading to the tossing of a coin between the Player and Guildenstern. The coin lands on tails and the Player fulfills his end of the bet with a play. Suddenly, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are whisked into Shakespeare's Hamlet where King Claudius and Queen Gertrude greet them and order them to spy on Hamlet. Lost within Elsinore's castle walls, Ros and Guil pass the time playing a game of questions. They try to collect themselves and figure out Hamlet and the strange circumstances that are present in the royal family.Eventually, the characters witness Hamlet and Polonius conversing and near the end of act one, they are greeted by Hamlet.
After the conversation has ended, Ros and Guil attempt to make sense of the conversation and the issue/confusion on direction comes up. Meanwhile, Hamlet suggest a play for the actors to act out-The Murder of Gonzago. Once he's left the player addresses Ros and Guil and admits to being peeved that Ros and Guil left him and the other tragedians while they were back in the forest(lacking audience-pointless, no need for a performance). A little bit later the play is performed in front of the King, followed by the death of Polonius-Hamlet's fault, and King Claudius informing Ros and Guil that he's sending Hamlet to England and that they're to accompany him
In the final act, Ros and Guil find themselves in bathed in darkness. They're on a boat. And as usual, the two are confused and directionless. They find Hamlet sleeping on the boat and bravely open the seal of the letter Claudius sent with them and read about Hamlet's fate once the boat reaches England. The two argue about betraying their friend, but they realize they have no power and can't save their friend. The Player and his tragedians are also found on the boat. While Ros and Guil sleeps, Hamlet switches the letters and writes of Ros and Guil's death in England and then...the boat is attacked by pirates. Hamlet escapes. Ros and Guil read the letter again and death is about to hit them. Guil is afraid and upset after the Player pretends to die. Guil believes there's more to death than a fake performance and worries about disappearing. Ros is emotional. Then they are gone as they accept they'll know better next time. The play ends similarly to Shakespeare's Hamlet with Horatio's speech. Fini.
Quotes:
Player: "For some of us it is performance, for others, patronage. They are two sides of the same coin, or let us say, being as there are so many of us, the same side of two coins.”(23) Life is a performance. We're all the same in that we exist to impress others and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern exist to perform. Perform. Perform.
Guil: "All your life you live so close to truth, it becomes a permanent blur in the corner of your eye, and when something nudges it into outline it is like being ambushed by a grotesque."(39)
The truth is not always reliable. We attempt to reach for it and make our own meanings, but we're clueless. The unknown truth shocks us the most and we eventually learn that the world is bigger than we'll ever be.
Theme:
Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead raises the question that if life is a performance then an existence based solely on pleasing others to obtain personal fulfillment limit's that person's ability/opportunity to take control of his/her own fate.
In this play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are content to let the helm of their boat be steered by someone else. As unknowing characters, they question themselves and are unable to escape the fate that has already been written for them. Their futile attempts to figure out their lives and to find direction through others(the Player) appear repetitively throughout this text. They are hopeless because as they struggle to figure their roles, they are hindered by their inability to form decisive theories and decisions. They are ordered to Elsinore. Ordered to spy on Hamlet. Ordered to take Hamlet to England. They can't decide for themselves and life becomes a continual performance that also exists within the audience. Stoppard addresses the predetermined fate of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in his title and weaves in enough intellect to allow reader's to consider their own choices and actions. Who do we perform for? We are not limited to a script. We can form our own paths and bring happiness in own on ways so that we too aren't living an absurd and cyclical life.
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