Semester Reflection

Over the past semester, we have analyzed many different pieces of literature. The articles of writing were, for the most part, tough to swallow and difficult to dissect. Although they were challenging, I believe they made me a much more diverse writer and taught me a tremendous amount about the meaning of literature. Going into Mrs. Cawlfield's world literature class, I thought I had literature all figured out and that the class would be a breeze. Mrs. Cawlfield proved me wrong by teaching me more about what literature does for a reader, and society as a whole. I developed a new perspective on many things because of Jonathon Swift's A Modest Proposal and William Golding's Lord of the Flies. They both made me reflect on the flaws in society and even the flaws in myself. This semester had many challenges but after completing the tasks and completing the essays, the end result was very rewarding. I struggled with annotating it and understanding the deeper meaning, but I felt as though I experienced the events themselves, and I learned so much about the world that really changes my perspective on many controversial topics.

Next semester I really want to step outside my comfort zone and expand my range of knowledge. I look forward to getting into depressing literature, and discovering my limits within writing. After the semester one final essay, I think I will feel very accomplished and will be less scared of writing my own words in future literature classes to come. Although I am confident in my idea for the essay, I am not quite sure I will be able to execute it in the way that I hope. Nevertheless, I am extremely excited to see new aspects of world literature and continue to look at my abilities, and grow as a writer. I learned more about the world than I ever expected in this class and I can't wait to expand my knowledge about literature and the world even more. The semester was hard, but rewarding all at the same time.

Lord of the Flies Symbols

What symbols are emerging? What do they mean? How are they changing?

The signal fire burns on the mountain, and later on the beach, to attract the notice of passing ships that might be able to rescue the boys. As a result, the signal fire becomes a indicator of the boys’ connection to civilization. In the early parts of the novel, the fact that the boys maintain the fire is a sign that they want to be rescued and return to society. When the fire burns low or goes out, we realize that the boys have lost sight of their desire to be rescued and have accepted their savage lives on the island. The signal fire thus functions as a kind of measurement of the strength of the civilized instinct remaining on the island.

"'History,' said Joyce's Dedalus, 'is a nightmare from which I am trying to wake.' But we do not awake. Though we constantly make a heroic attempt to rise to a level ethically superior to nature, our own nature, again and again we suffer a fall- brought low by some outburst of madness because of the limiting defect inherent in our species."(Baker XV).

Dedalus is James Joyce's literary alter ego, always appearing as the protagonist or leading character. The first quote by Dedalus "History is a nightmare from which I am trying to wake" is about how our past is constantly haunting us. The history of our lives never parts from us and is always taking over our minds. Baker claims that we can never "awake"from the nightmare of our past. We will try so hard to accomplish things in our life and rise higher in society but we always fail because we can never forget about former events.

A Modest Proposal Essay

       Satire is a literary technique that has been used for hundreds of years to get people to acknowledge their ill ways in society. When the satirist sees inequalities arise from the people they attempt to expose the communities hostile actions. Satire is a concept many struggle to understand and have a hard time comprehending the various layers. The target of the satirical piece is often never clear and the true deeper meaning of the satire is often hard to find. Humor, irony, scathing, sarcasm, folly and wit are just some of the many techniques a good satirist uses to expose what they think is societal flaw, but for the piece to be effective it must change the ill ways of society merely by exposing them and making people aware of their actions. If done right, satire targets an audience, exposes the morally dangerous actions, and in the end changes society for the better as a whole.

       There is a numerous amount of satirists in the world that expose another ill way in society everyday. It is a technique increasing becoming more popular through television shows and internet clips to entertain the people around the world. The question is where did satire begin? Why is satire so attention grabbing and used so often? In year 1729 a man named Jonathon Swift wrote a ground breaking piece that changed the ills he saw in society and the world of the literature today. His writing A Modest Proposal was the first effective piece of its kind ever. Today's satirists, such as Jon Stewart and John Oliver from the Daily Show, would be where they are now if Swift had never written A Modest Proposal. It is a brilliant piece that exposed the the arrogant people from Britain who  always wanted finer things than they had. The Modest Proposal literal meaning is not just ironic but disturbing to an extreme point. "Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess the times require) may flay the carcass; the skin of which artificially dressed will make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen." (Swift 4) Jonathan Swift talks about how the British men and women would want the nice and desirable items even if they can from the carcass of a child. He exposed how the British would do anything and not think about the labor that went into the item they are using. For example, the people of Britain would sit and stir their sugar in their tea and not even care that they are using sugar that millions of people died making it.

       Jonathan Swift used many techniques that enhanced the meaning of A Modest Proposal. Swift does a brilliant job at using irony and sarcasm throughout his piece. The title of his piece itself is ironic since the proposal he made is very immodest and presumptuous. "After all, I am not so violently bent upon my own opinion as to reject any offer proposed by wise men, which shall be found equally innocent, cheap, easy, and effectual." (Swift 9) This is a great example of how Swift used sarcasm and irony through his piece. His plan was the very opposite of innocent and was actually quite cruel. The proposal might have been cheap and effectual, but it would not have been easy to execute. "But before something of that kind shall be advanced in contradiction to my scheme, and offering a better, I desire the author or authors will be pleased maturely to consider two points." (Swift 9) Jonathon Swift made this statement to say he'd love for his audience to find a different proposal, but they would never listen to him and make a better one than his disturbing scheme.

       It was believed that an artist could correct humanity by using folly as a mirror to reflect society. When satire is used correctly people can see how ridiculous their behavior is and then correct that tendency in them. When they view the satire they may see their faults magnified in a distorted reflection. A satirical commercial named Fotoshop is a great example of how satire really targets and exposes a certain group of people. The commercial advertises a new revolutionary beauty product that hides all imperfections and makes women look like a flawless version of themselves. This piece of satire targets the morphed fashion/beauty industry but also insecure women that will take extreme measures just to look a certain way. "Why eat healthy and exercise when you can just look like you do?" (Fotoshop). The commercial is really exposing how women will go out and buy a product that makes them “beautiful” instead of actually trying to be healthy and not insecure. After women watch this video, they can reflect on how the media has altered "beauty" and realize how fast they'll go out and buy a product that will make them "beautiful".

       Satire is an effective method of literature that betters societal ills. A Modest Proposal and numerous satirical commercials like Fotoshop has proven this to be true. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift has not only impacted careers and literature of the world today, but his writing was very effective when he was trying to expose Britain their societal ills. The way Swift exposed the dangerous moral and social standards made them horrified with their actions and has changed their humanity for the better. The brilliance and cleverness of satire is what has and continues to shape today's society into a less ignorant and selfish civilization.

Reflection on Satire

In class for the past few weeks were have been analyzing satire. Satire is a attack on or criticism of any stupidity in the form of scathing humor or a critique of what the authors sees as dangerous religious, political, moral, or social standards. It was believed that an artist could correct humanity by using folly as a mirror to reflect society. When satire is used correctly people can see how ridiculous their behavior is and then correct that tendency in them. When they view the satire they may see their faults magnified in a distorted reflection. After analyzing satirist videos and commercials, I understand how the artist uses different techniques to reveal the issues in society such as sarcasm, verbal irony, wit, folly, vice and scathing humor. My fellow students found brilliant examples of satire and I feel as a class we have developed a greater understanding of how, why, and when satire is used.

Many of the satirist pieces students presented to the class were great examples of correct satire. Some examples used humor to show the flaws in society and others were very disturbing but effective.  One of my favorite pieces that was shown was named Fotoshop. The commercial advertises a new revolutionary beauty product that hides all imperfections and makes women look like a flawless  version of themselves. This satire targets the morphed fashion/beauty industry but also insecure women that will take extreme measures just to look a certain way. The commercial is really exposing how women will go out and buy a product that makes them “beautiful” instead of actually trying to be healthy and not insecure. There were many other presentations in class that were of strong satire pieces that really made me reflect on society and humanity. The satire unit was very interesting and has been an eye opening experience.

Jonathan Swift

•  Swift Grew up fatherless. He was raised by uncle because his mother could not care for him due to no steady income.
•  Born in Dublin, Ireland on November 30, 1667
• Best remembered for his 1728 book Gulliver’s Travels.
• He suffered from Meniere's Disease - a condition of the inner ear that leaves the afflicted nauseous and hard of hearing - as a child.
• Married Esther Johnson who was fifteen years his junior.

      II.            "What I am writing is not a chronicle biography," cautions Victoria Glendinning of Jonathan Swift, but rather what the early-18th-century satirist and his contemporaries would have thought of as a "character," a prose portrait in which, as she puts it, Glendinning "[circles] a little, gradually zooming in on the man himself, until the central questions about him can finally be confronted in close-up." – Victoria Glendinning

    III.           

  “We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” – Jonathon Swift

The Translator

Catherine Tate's skit, The Offensive Translator, uses comedy to expose the stereotypical perceptions of western civilization. While the world is full of different cultures, countries of western society like America and England are very ethnocentric, meaning they view their culture superior to alien groups or cultures. The literal meaning of this piece is that in today's society people don't have to know what you are talking about and they can "fake" their way through presentations, or life in a sense. The woman in this skit didn't know how to speak any of the languages but pretended she did by using stereotypical sounds to mimic the way people of different culture sound to her.

This is a video about a character, played by Catherine Tate, who is very stereotypical of different cultures. In this video it shows what people think when they hear a certain language. The video is a mockery of people of western civilization, like America and England, who are very stereotypical and uneducated about the lives and cultures of people around the world. The use of mockery in this video was put in place so people would possibly change or recognize the stereotypes they have of different cultures. The video critiques stereotypes Catherine Tate sees as dangerous moral and social standards. Folly is used extensively when the character Catherine Tate plays acts very foolish and "idiotic" to get people to open their eyes about how they think.

Cycle of the Hero's Journey Project Reflection

               During the hero poster assignment I found out a lot about the cycle of the heroes journey and how the cycle can be found everywhere. After analyzing the movie Hercules, I now further understand the series of events a hero must take in order to be a “true hero”. I’m really glad my group chose to explore Hercules because it was a perfect example of the cycle of a hero’s journey in my opinion. The movie was inspiring and did a great job at portraying what a true hero is. When looking at our movie and Joseph Campbell’s diagram of the cycle, we filled in the steps with scenes of the film after putting some thought into it. I am super pleased with the outcome of our assignment. The finished poster looked fantastic and everyone pitched in. Our central image, being the medallion of the gods, was really cool and was probably my favorite part of our poster. Each of the members in my group did a really good job of writing solid and thorough paragraphs for each of their assigned steps in the cycle. Our presentation in class went smoothly and everyone definitely knew what they were talking about.

                I am not only pleased with our poster assignment outcome but many other groups in our class. I think everyone did an amazing job on their posters and developed a lot more knowledge about the cycle of the hero’s journey than before this assignment. One of the posters I loved in particular was the group that did the movie Pocahontas. Their poster was my favorite out of my class because their poster was very clean cut and I loved the leaf cutouts in the background. They added the fun aspect into the poster and gave it an overall “whimsical” feel.  The compass used as the central image looked really pretty and precise. Their presentation was good and I thought everyone was well educated with what they were explaining. I also really liked the central image of the Back to the Future poster. The time machine looked almost identical to the one in the movie and tied their poster together well.

Reading and Writing in my Life

Ever since I was in about fourth grade, I have considered myself a writer. I have always loved creating new stories and reading them to my friends and family. When I was little, my friend Courtney and I would sit in my room and we would write all different kinds of stories.  I’d like to think I am a good writer, and on most writing assignments I do really well. Last year in Language Arts, my teacher picked my writing piece out of everyone else’s in my period because she thought it was so good. My favorite kinds of stories to write are dramas and suspenseful ones, but I also like to write music. Being a writer in the first place, writing lyrics comes easily to me. One of my songs was really good, so my guitar teacher signed me up for session with a recording studio! The song I'm most proud of is named “The Last Goodbye.” I wrote it for my best friend Courtney when she was sad. That is me as a writer; this is me as a reader. I love reading a lot. Ever since my dad would read to me as a kid, I have always loved to read. When I was a kid, my favorite books were the “Junie B. Jones” book series. I always thought me and her were twins. As I time flew by, and many books were read, my interests changed, and I become absolutely obsessed with the Twilight series. I could read about Edward Cullen and Bella Swan’s relationship for hours. I have read Twilight five times, New Moon twice, Eclipse three times and Breaking Dawn twice as well. And a couple years later, “The Hunger Games” happened. I went through the first book in one day. I loved the book so much, I went to the midnight premier of The Hunger Games, and made a t-shirt with my favorite quote on it said by Peeta Mellark, “I just keep wishing I could think of a way to show them that they don't own me. If I'm gonna die, I wanna still be me.” The Hunger Games is the most addicting book series I have ever read. I read every night before I go to bed, and whenever I can squeeze more time in. As you can tell, I really love to read.  Some people don’t really like to read, and they would just prefer to watch TV or see the movie, but for me, reading is sort of like watching TV in your head, but more descriptive and enjoyable. So as you can see, I like both reading and writing very much, and I have enjoyed both since I was at a very young age.

A True Hero

My hero has struggled and undergone many hardships, but her heart has never given up. Courageous; a hero will run into any situation head on. My hero is the bravest person I know. She will face any circumstance without backing down. Compassionate; a hero has a huge heart filled with kindness. My hero cares for everyone in her life and is the most sympathetic person I know. My hero is my mother. When Joseph Campbell talks about the mothers of the world being an example of a true hero it made me think about what someone does that makes them a hero. A hero is someone who gives their life to something bigger than themselves. Giving birth requires courage, emotional and physical strength, and determination.  As Campbell says on page 123, “One is the physical deed, in which the hero performs a courageous act in battle or saves a life.” Mother all over the world lose their lives from preforming the brave act of giving birth.

Pieces of Me

I have been a movie fanatic ever since I was little. An obsession with film is something I have dealt with my whole life. My all time favorite movie is How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. It is a romantic comedy, my favorite genre, and stars my favorite actor, Matthew McConaughey. I reason I love this movie so much is because it shows what real love is. Even though both Andy was in a way "playing" Ben, true love overcame all of Andy's ways to lose a guy in the end. On top of the over all message of love, this movie is undoubtedly hilarious. I can't watch this movie without laughing out loud in tears. No matter how many times I watch How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days it never gets old.

I love this scene in the movie because after all of Andy's tricks to lose Ben in 10 days and their "break up", they both realize they are actually in love and are meant to be together even though they deceived each other. This photo means a lot to me because it shows that true love will conquer any obstacles in the end.

My favorite song is Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Grace Potter wrote this song about a close friend of hers that passed away. I can relate to the song because I felt the same way as her when I lost my grandfather whom I was very close with. I love that this song can connect with people and is there to service the people who are hurting. Everybody has or will lose somebody dear to them and this song can help them with their grieving process. Apart from the fact it can help people going through loss, it is just a great song overall and can be listened to even when they're not grieving. 

The simplicity of the Stars music video shows the feeling behind the song and Grace Potter's true emotion. The love fact that she starts in a\the dark room where you can see all of her passion and then by the end she is out under the stars singing to her friend that is now a "star". I could connect to the way she felt because of how I felt when I lost someone dear to my heart.

In my life so far I have gotten the opportunity of experiencing many amazing things. The best experience I have ever had was going on a cruise to the Caribbean. The reason the trip was the best experience of my life isn't because of the way I got to live while I was on the ship, but because I got to explore five different island and learn about their culture and people. I got to eat their food, dress the way they dress and live the way they live. Traveling is one of the things I love to do most because I love experiencing other people's worlds. I met so many amazing people while I was visiting those islands that have made an impact on my life to a great extent. 

The beautiful island of Curacao was my favorite place I visited. The buildings were so colorful and unique. The atmosphere of this island was so happy and alive. I loved getting to experience the culture of the people in Curacao.