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?
My hell would have to be school because it causes me to have to wake up early and it is a very ordinary place. I think a mind can be hell in a beautiful place because if you are someone with a short temper and you are at Disneyland, I have a feeling that day isn't going to go so well. Picture a soldier at war, I'm sure he is in hell most of the time, but when he gets a call or a letter from his family. It probably feels like a little piece of heaven.
2. Could hell be described as too much of anything without a break?
I believe that no matter how bad things are it has to let up sometime. So no, I don't think hell can be described as too much of anything.
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?
I think the most important part of the way we perceive the setting is in the beginning when the valet and Garcin are talking and we hear all of his disgusts with the place he will be staying. I could never imagine not being able to sleep because I would be in a terrible mood all the time and not many people would want to talk to me.Garcin tries to make the most of Hell which is a good thing, but no matter what he does o make the best of it, its always going to be Hell. If I really wanted to make my life a living Hell I would have six classes and get two part time jobs. I like being able to have sometime to relax, but there wouldnt be anytime for that with two jobs and a full day of school.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Allegory of the Cave Questions
1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?
The Allegory of the Cave represents how we perceive things around us and how people with different backgrounds have different ways of seeing the same things.
2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
The prisoners, the puppet shadows on the cave wall, and the reflections in water are all key elements of imagery in the allegory.
3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
Plato believes that everyone is given the capacity to learn when they are born, but some chose not to use it. The allegory shows how people's out look can be changed by being brought out of a "cave" and into the real world.
4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
The shackles and the cave represent the small capacity of reality that the people in the cave have. The cave represents everything that the prisoners know and the shackles are keeping them from learning more.
5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
Influence from the people around you. People could know the right thing to do, but submit to peer pressure anyways in order to be accepted by those around them.
6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
The freed prisoner has been enlightened with the grace of "real life." The prisoners can't see this because all that they know is the echoes and the shadows on the wall. The freed prisoner just turns into another shadow for them.
7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
The first way is ignorance, the prisoners don't listen to their freed acquaintance's explanation of reality. The second in apathy, the freed prisoner shouldn't feel sorry for the prisoners that remain because the life that they are living is the only life that they know.
8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
The prisoners can only be freed once they become open-minded. They are freed once they are ready to be enlightened.
9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
There is certainly a difference between appearance and reality. Most things hardly ever seem as they appear.
10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?
One alternative assumption is that everyone has their own reality. Another is that there is an alternative universe.
The Allegory of the Cave represents how we perceive things around us and how people with different backgrounds have different ways of seeing the same things.
2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
The prisoners, the puppet shadows on the cave wall, and the reflections in water are all key elements of imagery in the allegory.
3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
Plato believes that everyone is given the capacity to learn when they are born, but some chose not to use it. The allegory shows how people's out look can be changed by being brought out of a "cave" and into the real world.
4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
The shackles and the cave represent the small capacity of reality that the people in the cave have. The cave represents everything that the prisoners know and the shackles are keeping them from learning more.
5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
Influence from the people around you. People could know the right thing to do, but submit to peer pressure anyways in order to be accepted by those around them.
6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
The freed prisoner has been enlightened with the grace of "real life." The prisoners can't see this because all that they know is the echoes and the shadows on the wall. The freed prisoner just turns into another shadow for them.
7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
The first way is ignorance, the prisoners don't listen to their freed acquaintance's explanation of reality. The second in apathy, the freed prisoner shouldn't feel sorry for the prisoners that remain because the life that they are living is the only life that they know.
8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
The prisoners can only be freed once they become open-minded. They are freed once they are ready to be enlightened.
9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
There is certainly a difference between appearance and reality. Most things hardly ever seem as they appear.
10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?
One alternative assumption is that everyone has their own reality. Another is that there is an alternative universe.
Brain With [4] Legs
My group is reading Great Expectations. We plan to read on our own and discuss the reading in class. Then we will come together in the end to write it up on our blogs.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Sonnet Analysis #1
Sonnet:
- Traditionally sung
- Each stanza has 14 lines
- Rhyming is not the key element
- Shakespearean Sonnet, divided into three parts
A Poetic Inquiry
My Big Question:
Why are people so quick to judge other people? Whether it be by their clothes or the way they look. Is it because they are insecure about their own flaws?
I still don't understand why people still look down upon and judge others, either by how they look or the decisions they make. Everyone has there own look and are in control of their own lives. You don't know what that person has been through or why they made the choices they have made so how can you judge them before you really get to know them?
The Sonnet I Chose:
Who are you to judge me,
Based on the way I look,
Do you always judge a story,
By the cover of the book?
Who are you to judge me,
By the way I dress and what I wear?
Who are you to judge me,
By the way I wear my hair?
Who are you to judge me,
By the things you imagine I do?
When you don't bother to figure out for sure,
What exactly is or isn't true...
That's my point,
You're no one at all,
You judge me for one reason,
So you can feel tall...
You judge me because you want to,
And because it makes you feel better inside,
Because my imperfections aren't yours,
But your flaws won't always hide...
I'm my own judge,
And you're your own too,
So judge yourself,
And the things that you do...
Because I'm tired of being judged,
By people who think they know me,
Who refuse to judge themselves,
Because they aren't as perfect as they could be...
I found this sonnet here: http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/life/poems.php?id=236563
Even though I personally am not the one being judged, I constantly see other people being ridiculed for the way they dress or on the decisions they make. So I thought this sonnet fit my big question fairly well.
Why are people so quick to judge other people? Whether it be by their clothes or the way they look. Is it because they are insecure about their own flaws?
I still don't understand why people still look down upon and judge others, either by how they look or the decisions they make. Everyone has there own look and are in control of their own lives. You don't know what that person has been through or why they made the choices they have made so how can you judge them before you really get to know them?
The Sonnet I Chose:
Who are you to judge me,
Based on the way I look,
Do you always judge a story,
By the cover of the book?
Who are you to judge me,
By the way I dress and what I wear?
Who are you to judge me,
By the way I wear my hair?
Who are you to judge me,
By the things you imagine I do?
When you don't bother to figure out for sure,
What exactly is or isn't true...
That's my point,
You're no one at all,
You judge me for one reason,
So you can feel tall...
You judge me because you want to,
And because it makes you feel better inside,
Because my imperfections aren't yours,
But your flaws won't always hide...
I'm my own judge,
And you're your own too,
So judge yourself,
And the things that you do...
Because I'm tired of being judged,
By people who think they know me,
Who refuse to judge themselves,
Because they aren't as perfect as they could be...
I found this sonnet here: http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/life/poems.php?id=236563
Even though I personally am not the one being judged, I constantly see other people being ridiculed for the way they dress or on the decisions they make. So I thought this sonnet fit my big question fairly well.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Performative Utterance: Hamlet
Performative utterance is used to explain thought in Hamlet. Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy is an example of performative utterance in the play. It is used to show the emotions of one character towards other characters. His soliloquy brings about a state of mind or affair. Hamlet’s soliloquies involve him talking to himself about his ideas and thoughts of other characters and situations. Shakespeare uses performative utterance through Hamlet’s speeches, which allows us to see his view on everyone else including Hamlet himself.
Hamlet's most famous performative utterance is “to be or not to be”. It shows us his thoughts and feelings of the characters and his thought process on whether he should commit suicide or stay alive and kill Claudius. This gives the audience the opportunity to see what Hamlet’s thoughts are about the other characters and his plot for revenge just through his words, without any action. The audience has the opportunity to think through a course of action that may or may not really occur. Shakespeare uses the performative utterance in Hamlet’s soliloquy to show his two separate plans of action. Hamlet through his soliloquies describes his plot to seek revenge on Claudius by killing him. What actually happens in the play is way different than what Hamlet describes,
Hamlet’s speeches involve a lot of action and calls for action from others. It shows us how bad he wants revenge on Claudius for killing his father and taking the throne. Hamlet’s speeches impact the whole story, because we get to see the characters and the plot according to Hamlet. while reading Hamlet’s speeches I got to experience and understand the characters in a different way. They also allowed me to view the plot of the story through one of the characters.
Shakespeare’s use of performative utterance has a big impact in the play. Through Hamlet’s soliloquies we are able to witness and listen to his inner thoughts and feelings. His soliloquies are examples of perfromative utterance because it shows us exactly what he is thinking without directly explaining it.
Hamlet's most famous performative utterance is “to be or not to be”. It shows us his thoughts and feelings of the characters and his thought process on whether he should commit suicide or stay alive and kill Claudius. This gives the audience the opportunity to see what Hamlet’s thoughts are about the other characters and his plot for revenge just through his words, without any action. The audience has the opportunity to think through a course of action that may or may not really occur. Shakespeare uses the performative utterance in Hamlet’s soliloquy to show his two separate plans of action. Hamlet through his soliloquies describes his plot to seek revenge on Claudius by killing him. What actually happens in the play is way different than what Hamlet describes,
Hamlet’s speeches involve a lot of action and calls for action from others. It shows us how bad he wants revenge on Claudius for killing his father and taking the throne. Hamlet’s speeches impact the whole story, because we get to see the characters and the plot according to Hamlet. while reading Hamlet’s speeches I got to experience and understand the characters in a different way. They also allowed me to view the plot of the story through one of the characters.
Shakespeare’s use of performative utterance has a big impact in the play. Through Hamlet’s soliloquies we are able to witness and listen to his inner thoughts and feelings. His soliloquies are examples of perfromative utterance because it shows us exactly what he is thinking without directly explaining it.
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