So Long, EE10 Blogs!

So, since Ms. Froehlich has a full schedule this semester, looks like this is the end of blog assignments. :-( This whole blogging thing is actually pretty fun. Not that anyone cares or should care, but I might keep posting. Or just celebrate one less assignment. Who knows.

Stereotypes in MAAN

Weak-willed women, pea-brained peasants, a deceitful bastard... Stereotypes abound in the play Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare. But it is less clear whether a play's stereotypes say more about the playwright or his audience. I think Shakespeare believed the stereotypes about women and illegitimate children, but he did not believe that peasants were fundamentally stupid.

One stereotype that appears in this play is that women should be quiet and submissive. One place this is seen is in the character Hero, who never seems to question or challenge the men around her. Even when, in Act 4, Scene 1, Hero is slandered by her fiancé and her father, she hardly says a word to protest her innocence; instead, she faints, and Friar Francis defends her instead. There is another woman in the play, Beatrice, who is very witty and assertive, but when she is tricked into thinking Benedick loves her, her attitude shifts. She declares, "Benedick, love on; I will requite thee/Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand" (III.1.114-115). Through this speech, Shakespeare perpetuates the view that in a marriage, a woman must defer to her husband. No counterexamples are given where a woman's confidence is seen as beneficial. Therefore, it seems Shakespeare believed that only a woman who fits the stereotype of being passive can gain a husband; women who deviate from this portrayal will not inspire love.

Another stereotype in this play is that illegitimate children are treacherous and antisocial, not because of anyone else's fault, but just because they are illegitimate. Throughout this play, it is assumed that Don Pedro is the 'good guy' and Don John is bad. Shakespeare never delves into the reasons for the battle between them; all that is discussed is the fact that Don John lost. This portrayal is far too two-dimensional to give us a proper idea of who Don Pedro and Don John are. Because Don John is illegimate, he has been excluded since birth from the high society of which Don Pedro is a member. It is even possible that as the two grew up, Don Pedro used his greater status to snub, or even bully, Don John. But in this play, we only see the adult Don John's vile characteristics, and never any reason to doubt Don Pedro's goodness. Because of this static, shallow characterization of Don John, it is clear to me that Shakespeare thought illegitimate children were inherently unsociable liars.

Although Shakespeare seems very prone to stereotyping so far, the role played by the lower-class constable, Dogberry, in this play, although stereotypical, seems less a personal bias than a tool to get laughs from his audience. Throughout the play, Dogberry handles words poorly, saying such strange phrases as, "O villain! thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption for this" (IV.2.50-51). This was used by Shakespeare for comedic relief, and it appealed to the stereotypes held by his audience. However, the role played by Dogberry in the plot of this play shows that Shakespeare did not think peasants were stupid, simply uneducated. This is shown when the upper-class, educated men, such as Don Pedro and Claudio, are fooled into believing Hero had no honor, but the 'stupid' lower-class constable uncovers the truth. When Borachio, Don John's henchman, confesses to tricking Don Pedro and Claudio, he points this irony out, saying, "what your wisdoms could not discover, these shallow fools have brought to light" (V.1.233-235). Through this part of the plot, it is shown that Shakespeare understood that although lower-class citizens were often uneducated, they were not stupid.

From a modern point of view, it is readily apparent that many stereotypes are expressed in Shakespeare's plays. Yet, if one delves into the play itself, one can see that Shakespeare used his story to challenge some of these stereotypes. So that's why we have to analyze Shakespeare so much...

(Lines numbers are based on the version at http://shakespeare.mit.edu)

This Title is a Lie

It's a question people have wrestled over for millenia, and now we, Ms. Froehlich's Enriched English class, will settle it: Is lying ever ethically or morally justified?

As a general rule, I believe not. People sometimes say lying is moral if it prevents a greater harm, but I don't think this is a valid justification; it is usually hard to know what the consequences of one's actions will be. In Much Ado About Nothing, Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio lie to trick Benedick into falling in love with Beatrice. So far, their scheme seems to be working, but it could easily have gone the other way; Benedick could have chosen to mock Beatrice for her supposed infatuation with him, or even simply have confronted her about it. Shakespeare seems to consider lying okay when done in the service of love, but if this were real life, Benedick probably would not have fallen in love, and the whole plan would have gone awry. Because we do not fully control the consequences of our actions, lying to prevent harm to others may as easily backfire as succeed.

The results of not lying may be as unknowable as those of lying, but honesty is preferable because it allows people to deal with circumstances more directly. If a person does not know the full truth about their situation, they cannot respond to it in the manner they would deem best for that situation. Because Benedick now thinks that Beatrice loves him so much as to die, he decides that he must love her in return. This love is not based on any of his own true feelings, merely the duty he feels as a result of Leonato, Don Pedro, and Claudio's lies. Shakespeare would probably say that it is good that Benedick is starting to love, no matter what the cause. But I think that true love cannot result simply because Benedick thinks it is his duty– if true love does eventually form, then it probably would have done so without any deception, just a bit later in time.

I will admit that lying may sometimes have a seemingly better result, but I don't think this is a reason to make lying in itself ethical. I'm sure people will continue to lie and try to justify it, however.

Why Everyone Should See Neil Gaiman's Movie "Stardust"

The Day the Saucers Came

By Neil Gaiman

That day, the saucers landed. Hundreds of them, golden,

Silent, coming down from the sky like great snowflakes,

And the people of Earth stood and stared as they descended,

Waiting, dry-mouthed to find what waited inside for us

And none of us knowing if we would be here tomorrow

But you didn't notice it because

That day, the day the saucers came, by some coincidence,

Was the day that the graves gave up their dead

And the zombies pushed up through soft earth

or erupted, shambling and dull-eyed, unstoppable,

Came towards us, the living, and we screamed and ran,

But you did not notice this because

On the saucer day, which was the zombie day, it was

Ragnarok also, and the television screens showed us

A ship built of dead-man's nails, a serpent, a wolf,

All bigger than the mind could hold, and the cameraman could

Not get far enough away, and then the Gods came out

But you did not see them coming because

On the saucer-zombie-battling gods day the floodgates broke

And each of us was engulfed by genies and sprites

Offering us wishes and wonders and eternities

And charm and cleverness and true brave hearts and pots of gold

While giants feefofummed across the land, and killer bees,

But you had no idea of any of this because

That day, the saucer day the zombie day

The Ragnarok and fairies day, the day the great winds came

And snows, and the cities turned to crystal, the day

All plants died, plastics dissolved, the day the

Computers turned, the screens telling us we would obey, the day

Angels, drunk and muddled, stumbled from the bars,

And all the bells of London were sounded, the day

Animals spoke to us in Assyrian, the Yeti day,

The fluttering capes and arrival of the Time Machine day,

You didn't notice any of this because

you were sitting in your room, not doing anything

not even reading, not really, just

looking at your telephone,

wondering if I was going to call.

Citation:

Gaiman, Neil. "The Day the Saucers Came." SpiderWords Magazine 2.1 (2006) 28 Nov 2007

Analysis:

The Day the Saucers Came, by Neil Gaiman, is about a day when all sorts of amazing things happen, but "you" do not notice, because you are sitting in your room, waiting for the narrator to call. Every paragraph, a new event is added, until the last paragraph when everything piles on each other, then zooms in on "you" in your room. An allusion is made in this poem is to Ragnarok, which in Scandinavian mythology is the final battle between the gods and the forces of evil.

I enjoy Gaiman's descriptions of the supernatural events. It probably is partly because I'm a fantasy geek, but also, as he writes, I can totally picture these bizarre things happening in real life, like when he describes Ragnarok, he says "...and the cameraman could/not get far enough away..." (16-17). I can imagine the headline "Breaking News: Giant Wolf Tramples IDS Tower" on a TV screen. I also find the idea of "Angels, drunk and muddled, stumbled from the bars" (30) rather interesting. He words this semi-disturbing picture very ordinarily and realistically.

The other reason this is one of my favorite poems is that the ending never fails to make me think, Aww.... This poem communicates so effectively the person's devotion to the teller of the poem; natural laws are being broken and myths vindicated left and right and it's all over the media, yet still this one person is still just sitting alone in his/her room, doing nothing but wait for his/her love to call.

EE10: Quarter One in Review

If you'd asked me at the end of ninth grade how good I was at writing, I probably would have said, "Oh, pretty good. Not perfect, or anything, but not bad, either." And my expectations for next year? "Well, it'll be different, harder, I guess, but I doubt it'll be a problem."

My first-quarter-tenth-grader response to these naïve statements? Essentially, rolling on the floor with laughter.

At the start of the year, Ms. Froehlich said that this was a writing-intensive course; she did not lie. I have discovered just how mediocre a writer I am (at least compared to where I'm expected to be at the end of the year). At the same time, I'm probably twice as good a writer now than I was at the end of ninth grade, in terms of thesis statements, attention-getters, cappers, quote lead-ins, and more. If I continue to learn at this rate (hard to guarantee, but...), I think I might actually have a shot at earning an 'A' on the last paper in fourth quarter. Also, as we've studied rebellion the entire quarter, EE10 has started to make me want to take on the middle school Language Arts curriculum. Honestly, they could have at least taught us how to write a proper outline. Outlines are so helpful, even if they are moderately labor-intensive.

Some specific goals I have for second quarter are to stop procrastinating on blog assignments; to get better at attention-getters, cappers, transitions, and ideas; and to force myself to work on a paper every day until it is due.

In short, Enriched English is a challenge, but for me it's an inspiring challenge, as nerdy as that sounds. Don't ask me about that when I'm up to my neck in English homework, though.

The Kite Runner: Post Five

To wrap up this wonderful novel, it seems proper to reflect over the book as a whole and link it to other novels and events.

Like Black Boy, this story has several characters who do not follow the norms of society. In Black Boy, Richard rebels against his family's commands and the unspoken rules of relations between whites and blacks. In The Kite Runner, Amir crosses the gap between Hazaras and Pashtuns in Afghanistan, by playing with Hassan. However, Amir is still partially swayed by his society's bias, as shown in his feelings of superiority over Hassan, and his sacrifice of Hassan's well-being for a kite. Also, both leave their homes due to their abnormal beliefs. Richard travels to Memphis, then to the North in an attempt to escape the limits placed on him by his family and Southern society. Amir leaves his home and security in America and returns to war-ravaged Afghanistan for the sake of Hassan's son, regardless of his cultural background. Indeed, many people are surprised by Amir's action:
[Amir said,] "I'm going to Kabul to find a boy."
"A boy," Wahid repeated.
"Yes." I fished the Polaroid from the pocket of my shirt... He studied the photo. Looked from me to the photo and back again. "This boy?"
I nodded.
"This Hazara boy." (Hosseini 237)
It is very unusual for a Pashtun to care about a Hazara at all, much less venture into Afghanistan for one.

In both On the Waterfront and The Kite Runner, the protagonist attempts to atone for past mistakes. In On the Waterfront, Terry helps the bosses of the corrupt union murder Joey Doyle, then testifies against the union to make up for his misdeed. In The Kite Runner, Amir allows a bully to rape Hassan, and falsely implicates Hassan in stealing money and a watch. Many years later, Amir is finally able to make up for his wrongdoing by rescuing Hassan's son from Afghanistan.

The 400 Blows and The Kite Runner are similar in that neither of their endings are certain. At the end of The 400 Blows, Antoine has escaped from the detention center and accomplished his goal of seeing the sea, but the movie ends there, without any hint of what Antoine's fate will be. At the end of The Kite Runner, Sohrab is depressed and has not smiled or spoken to anyone for months. But when Amir flies a kite for him, and is able to cut down another kite, he smiles a bit. Amir thinks, "It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make anything all right... But I'll take it" (Hosseini 371). There is no way to know if Sohrab will ever stop being depressed, and so the book leaves us stranded here, hopeful, but without certainty.

The Kite Runner: Post Four

At the start of The Kite Runner, Rahim Khan, a friend of Baba and Amir's, calls the grown-up Amir from Pakistan, and at the end of the call, he says, "There is a way to be good again" (Hosseini 2). The story then shifts to Amir's childhood, and it comes to appear that there is nothing Amir could possibly do to make up for his wrongdoings. The story now catches up to the beginning, however, and the right action for Amir to take to resolve his internal conflict is revealed.

Rahim Khan asks Amir to visit him, so Amir flies to Pakistan. When they finally meet face to face, Khan tells Amir about what has happened to him and Hassan since Amir left. When Khan came to Pakistan six months earlier for medical treatment, Hassan was taking care of Baba's old house with his wife, Farzana, and his son, Sohrab. A month ago, however, Khan received the news that Hassan and Farzana were killed by the Taliban, and Sohrab was placed in a Kabul orphanage. Khan asks Amir to go to Kabul and bring back Sohrab so he can live in an American orphanage in Pakistan. At first, Amir refuses, but eventually his conscience persuades him to return to Afghanistan. He thinks, "I wished Rahim Khan hadn't called me... But he had called me. And what Rahim Khan revealed to me changed things... There is a way to be good again, he'd said. A way to end the cycle" (Hosseini 226-227).

When Amir finds the orphanage, however, he learns that Sohrab has been taken by a Taliban official, whom Amir discovers is the bully from his childhood, Assef, who raped Hassan. Amir finally does what he should have done then: he fights Assef. He is injured horribly in his losing battle, but he and Sohrab manage to escape together.

Upon returning to Pakistan, however, they are unable to find the American orphanage Rahim Khan had described. After a few days, Amir thinks of a solution: he and his wife, Soraya, could adopt Sohrab. They go through many trials before they can adopt Sohrab and bring him to the U.S., but eventually, they achieve their goal.

By standing up to Assef and taking in the only remaining family of Hassan, Amir finally atones for his inaction 26 years ago. If he had only confessed and tried to mend the hurt he had caused right away rather than try to hide from it, he might not have had to bear his guilt for so long.