Thinking Outside the Box

Our thinking really isn’t something that we think about. No attention is paid to the validity of the things accepted as fact or to if upon further evaluation there is more to be learned. There are things that limit our thinking; and those are the things that Plato and Sartre both try to evaluate.

                In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave there are prisoners whose reality is created by others, and they are locked in place, and the only way to see for themselves what is out there is to break free, brave the unfamiliar sunlight and have the will to leave the cave they feel so safe in, then they can know reality. This tells a lot about how Plato thinks about how others think, there is the commonly accepted thing, that everyone feels safe accepting; but that isn’t necessarily the truth. And that it takes a special kind of person who can be brave enough to go away from the crowd and the comfort of these thoughts and develop their own.  Plato’s use of metaphors is how he effectively conveys his ideas about thinking, and Sartre isn’t all too different in his ways.

                Sartre’s “No Exit” follows three people who are damned to Hell; but is isn’t a normal Hell, they are in a normal room with others, at first they don’t think it will be so bad. Then they began to loathe each other, and they are unable to rest, so they are forced to live with each other all of the time, leading to Sartre’s most famous quote, “people are hell.” Sartre sees others as the limitations to our thinking, similar to Plato. There is also another scene that struck me, where the door opens, but they are too stubborn to go through the door possibly being freed.  Though it is different from The Cave, it has some striking similarities.

                Plato’s prisoners are able to leave the cave, but choose not to, because they are too afraid of what might be out there, just as the visitors in “No Exit” who don’t leave the room because they are too stubborn. These are two things that can hold back thought. Then there is the big thing, which is others; both of the stories have people what is holding back the growth and mental freedom of them. Though Plato and Sartre are different in their philosophical views and from completely different eras, they both saw what can hold back people from thinking. 

AP Term: Dialect

Different people from different places all talk differently. Even if the language itself is the same, the words, structure and tone can vary greatly. You can see differences in looking from one side of California to the other, let alone the various regions of the US. Dialects are the unique changes to language that differentiate regions, professions and social classes from each other.

Literature Analysis #3

1.   1.    Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller follows Willy, a salesman who wants his family to live and be the American Dream.  Willy strives for success and for everyone to like him, but is disheartened by his son Biff who doesn’t. Biff was really good at football in high school and could’ve played in college, but chose to not go to summer school and improve his grades.  Willy’s wife wants him to try and talk to his boss to allow him to not have to commute so far because she thinks it’s too hard on him, but when he tries to persuade his boss he fires him.  Now Willy is unemployed and thinks that his chance at success is over with and becomes suicidal, eventually killing himself in a car crash so that his money can get insurance money.

2.   2.    Don’t have unrealistic or impossible goals. Willy wants his life to be perfect, and in that perfect life wants others to change who they are to fit the mold that he has created in his mind. He see’s success as the only reason to do something, even though success has evaded him, and it is because of his unrealistic aspirations that he ends up killing himself.

3.     3.  The tone is a sad and serious one. The story revolves around a man’s downward spiral into taking his own life it’s understandable that the tone is what it is.

“After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than you are alive.” This is a sad quote from the story where Willy begins to think that his life insurance is worth more to his family than his life.

“Dad is never so happy as when he’s looking forward to something!” This quote shows how Willy doesn’t like the life he IS living, but instead only looks to what could be in the future.

“No man only needs a little salary.” This quote shows the greed in the play, and how Willy and some of the other characters are fueled but nothing but physical desires and social acceptance.

4.       4. Some literary techniques used in the play are metaphors, flashbacks, irony, symbolism and imagery. Frequently during the play the audience is sent back to events in the past, may it be Biff in high school or events in Willy’s life. It helps clarify why Willy wants what he wants and is so angry that is isn’t how he dreams it should be.

“You can’t eat the orange and throw away the peel – a man is not a piece of fruit.” Here is an example of a metaphor in the play. Here Willy talks about how you cannot use people and then leave them using an orange as a medium; it also shows the theme, because he feels as though he is being used, and is comparing himself to fruit.

“Nothing’s planted, I don’t have a thing in the ground.” Willy frequently talks about seeds and how he needs to plant some. The seeds seem to be symbolic of him thinking that he hasn’t provided his family with a future, he hasn’t provided for them; and failure is something that he loathes because it’s the opposite of what he wants.

Lastly is irony, and there are many examples of this is the play. But the most prevalent is Willy’s funeral. Willy talks about how he was successful and that in order to be successful everyone had to like you; but at his funeral hardly shows up. There is irony in a man who preaches that he is successful and that he is because people like him, having no one like him and therefore being unsuccessful.

Big Question (re-re-edited)

How does geography influence accent and social belonging?

The Performative Utterance Essay (Hamlet Edition)

                The saying goes that words have power, and the theory of performative utterance seems to solidify that conception. In Hamlet we see many examples of the powers words can have on ourselves and others, but it’s not only in Hamlet where we see this, it is relevant to people outside of the Shakespearian world as well.  We sometimes forget the powers we possess through our words, but performative utterance reminds us of it.

                For a majority of the play, Hamlet doesn’t physically act to acquire what he wants, but instead uses his words to deceive and manipulate. It takes Hamlet a long time to actually act upon the oath he swore to the ghost of his father, but there of plenty of examples before this where we see him create action and further his thinking using nothing but his words. Hamlet creates the illusion that he has gone mad without ever really doing anything, but through the way he speaks and fear he creates in others minds he looks through the eyes of others to have gone mad. This is one example of Hamlet’s use of performative utterance; without ever acting, he acts. This is a pivotal part of the play, because he without doing anything to incriminate himself, he fakes his own madness allowing him to do and say the things necessary to exert his revenge. Another example is when Hamlet talks to people who aren’t as high in society as himself, he like to remind them of that. Sarcasm and witty assaults on others intellects is one way Hamlet likes to exert his dominance over others. Overall Hamlet uses words as a means to passively (or passive aggressively) create action without literally creating the action.

                It is common place for someone to say that they should’ve done something or that they will do it in the future. These are two examples of self-overhearing that people can see in their normal lives. Telling yourself you’ll do something or promising to someone else that you will is good ways to have yourself get things done. Looking at the past and telling yourself that you’ll do something different is a good way to further your thinking and yourself. Sometimes the things we need to grow is just ourselves.

                Words can do more than they’re given credit for, they can motivate, unencourage, help others or hurt them. Sometimes acting isn’t necessary an effective grasp of language is all you need. Hamlet exhibits this throughout the play and people outside of Hamlet do as well. The line between a talker and a doer is no so clear when the talker can do without doing. They can create an illusion of madness, motivate themselves and much more. Sometimes speaking is all the action that you need to take.

Language in Literature

Language is that which makes humans human. Communication is what allows humans to convey their needs, desires and feeling so much more effectively than other creatures. Different people use it differently and for different reasons, and it’s apparent when comparing characters like Hamlet, to those found in the epics. Hamlet uses language as a means to get out his emotions and to deceive his companions, while epic heroes, such as Beowulf, are more stoic and noble with their language.

                Hamlet is a character who isn’t really concerned with keeping an image of honor and mental and emotional strength, but is in fact looking for just the opposite. While Hamlet is really insane, it is important for him to look like an emotional wreck, and for much of the play that is what he uses language to do. For instance in his “to be or not to be” soliloquy, he gives Claudius the impression that he cannot even decide whether he should continue on with life. There is another example later with Ophelia, where he portrays his mental instability by verbally assaulting her. This Hamlet isn’t really the real Hamlet, but instead is Hamlet using language as a means to achieve his goal of revenge. This isn’t something you would find epic heroes partaking in with language.

                Heroes such as Beowulf aren’t those you would find using language to persuade people to do their bidding. But instead would use language to sway people using their positive assets, like nobility and accounts of previous deeds. Such as when Beowulf comes to ask permission from the Danes to kill Grendel, he tells of his reputation and hopes that is enough, but unlike Hamlet they don’t use it as a tool of manipulation. Also epic heroes aren’t those you would expect to be expressing their emotions to others, but instead keep them to themselves; and so that is what they do, they really don’t use it language as a tool of self-expression.

                While we all use language, we don’t all use it in the same way. Some people, like Hamlet, use language as a means of manipulation and deception; and others, such as epic heroes, use language to tell of their feats and honor, and use that as means of persuasion. Language is something that’s nature reflects the nature of the speaker. So while everyone may speak the same, no person is the same, so no person will use language the same. People have certain things such as their self-image, mindset and aspirations that affect the way they use language and the nature of the usage. Hamlet and Beowulf are very different characters in very different situations, and therefore use language in almost polar natures.

Major Concept This Class Taught Me

To understand something, you really have to know how it works. Not just to see something and accept it, but to question it and want to learn why it is the why it is. Comprehending how something works can be much more complex than understanding the finished product, but if you know how something works or why it is made in a certain way over the other, you can better understand why the person made it the way they did, and it can help you to better your own pursuits. Lots of people can drive a car, but some don't know how the engine really works. Now this won't stop you from using the completed product, but when your car breaks down and you need to fix it, you're stuck.

Guest Speaker Roy Christopher

Main Points of Roy's Interview

• "The medium is the message"
• Don't let technology victimize you
• Older generations need to learn to trust the younger ones, even though that's never how has been or will be. With change comes fear.
• "Program or be programmed" Know how things work or you will be at mercy to those who do
• Technology is becoming a part of life, but you don't have to adopt all of it.
• "Multitasking is a myth" even with all the technology we have, there are still somethings that cannot really be done