In some ways symbolism can be viewed as both stop signs and/or green lights. I know when I read something symbols tend to lead me into rabbit holes because I am a deep thinker, but symbols are also why I want to be an English teacher one day. Symbols create passion in a story. For example, Sonny's blues was a deep story for me, why? Because the music invoked a long ago passion that was restored within only reading a few words about the effects music had on the people in that story.
Symbols can help a story develop sometimes more than the characters/plot can. Another example is in Waiting for Godot. The symbols of the hats, shoes, tree and other props make it seem like the set itself is useless, but in reality...without it, we wouldn't understand the outside surroundings and how they effect the inward emotions. What would the story in Waiting for Godot be like if the characters didn't look inside their hats? What would the story be like if it didn't start off with one of the main characters trying to take of his boot?
Symbols can also hinder some stories. When watching a movie like The Labyrinth the title itself seems like a symbol. We all know what a labyrinth is, but in that movie it becomes too literal until the end, when you realize why the labyrinth was there in the first place and why the people (or symbols) were strategically placed throughout the storyline. The main character's journey is filled with props that she must use to her advantage, while also interacting with the symbols around her.
I wondered about symbols that surround me everyday. Something as simple as a handicap sign, I can understand. But then I thought, what if I were blind? What new form would such a simple sign like a handicapped symbol change into? While walking down El Prado I see many people holding books and book bags; because of that I assume that they are going to class or teaching one, but I'm probably wrong 45% of the time. Symbols can also be misleading. I know when I say something it can mean something else. Symbols are also like that. When most see a green light it means go, but in other countries it could mean something completely different.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Book made into Film
Watching Godot in class was somewhat eye opening. If you don't go into the play with an open mind you automatically shut off from the humor that occurs within the first few seconds of the play. In the movie, it seems like it goes faster on the screen as opposed to reading the story in Beckett's book. The two men in the beginning during the film seem even more in depth than I could've possibly imagined when simply reading the play in a book.
Usually I am one of those people that likes to read a story before hitting the theaters, but in this case I think the film adaptation really strikes a literary cord. I found all the characters to be astounding. It kept you wondering why the characters asked what they asked, or did what they did. At one point I felt incredibly sorry for Lucky who has to carry all of Pozzo's things. In the book for some odd reason I did not feel as sorry for him. Also, I thought it ironic that his name is Lucky...
Because we did not get to finish the film in class, I was somewhat disappointed. I really was getting into understanding the characters. The fact that the play is very "short" answered and a question is usually answered with another question leads to the assumption that this play is obviously talking somewhat about God. The title itself has the word God in it!
In my opinion the film was good. I thought it would be boring. I thought it would be like watching an old 1920s silent film. The actors did a great job at portraying the characters and they did great with what little plot was given.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
A theme picked out from Godot
Godot. G-O-D-O-T. GO-DOT. All different ways to spell Godot. Funny how one name seems to shape an entire play. A name of a man that NEVER shows up, nonetheless.
I'm going with the concept that "We are not supposed to understand what is going on." When reading the pages of this play I realize that there are meanings weaved in and out of the words on the pages, but it is left up to interpretation. But what if the interpretation is that there is no interpretation? I'm sure the author had it in his mind that after looking over all of his work he probably thought that this was an interesting piece of work. How did it become well known literature? Why are we reading it right now?
Literature is more than a beginning and an ending, it's about a journey. This play is about the journey these two men, DiDi and GoGo go through. Have you ever gone on a joy ride? Have you ever just wanted to go for a drive because you wanted to get away from it all? When doing that, there is no set destination. We just feel our way through the twists and turns of the road. Sometimes there are traffic lights to make us aware of the intersections we are facing, at other times there are absolutely no lights stopping anyone from going anywhere.
Is that what it is like for the men in this play? Is there destination chosen? Sure they know who they are waiting to see, but are they truly looking for a definite person or are they just sitting there for the mere enjoyment of each others company? I think it is a bit of both really.
I used to say to my best friend, "Oh, we'll one day be two old bitties out on our front porches playing chess and sipping on ice tea. Just the two of us." The truth is, we have no idea if that day will ever come. We don't know if we will live that long to have that "dream" come true. What we do have is a vision of what we see for ourselves in the future.
Waiting for Godot is a piece that keeps on creating. Like I said in class, God is still creating and I think this is a simple example of that in our very own hands. This book allows us to fill in the gaps that aren't concrete with ideas. It allows us to mold and shape the characters even further than what the text states.
When reading this I will remember that it's like living a journey, not about seeking a destination.
I'm going with the concept that "We are not supposed to understand what is going on." When reading the pages of this play I realize that there are meanings weaved in and out of the words on the pages, but it is left up to interpretation. But what if the interpretation is that there is no interpretation? I'm sure the author had it in his mind that after looking over all of his work he probably thought that this was an interesting piece of work. How did it become well known literature? Why are we reading it right now?
Literature is more than a beginning and an ending, it's about a journey. This play is about the journey these two men, DiDi and GoGo go through. Have you ever gone on a joy ride? Have you ever just wanted to go for a drive because you wanted to get away from it all? When doing that, there is no set destination. We just feel our way through the twists and turns of the road. Sometimes there are traffic lights to make us aware of the intersections we are facing, at other times there are absolutely no lights stopping anyone from going anywhere.
Is that what it is like for the men in this play? Is there destination chosen? Sure they know who they are waiting to see, but are they truly looking for a definite person or are they just sitting there for the mere enjoyment of each others company? I think it is a bit of both really.
I used to say to my best friend, "Oh, we'll one day be two old bitties out on our front porches playing chess and sipping on ice tea. Just the two of us." The truth is, we have no idea if that day will ever come. We don't know if we will live that long to have that "dream" come true. What we do have is a vision of what we see for ourselves in the future.
Waiting for Godot is a piece that keeps on creating. Like I said in class, God is still creating and I think this is a simple example of that in our very own hands. This book allows us to fill in the gaps that aren't concrete with ideas. It allows us to mold and shape the characters even further than what the text states.
When reading this I will remember that it's like living a journey, not about seeking a destination.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Waiting for Godot
Strange. Peculiar. Odd.
All three describe the way I feel about the Godot story. Seemingly waiting for a man that may never come is hardly interesting, but what becomes interesting is what they do while waiting for Godot. GoGo and DiDi's characters come out. I am baffled by a story such as this that begins with one of them trying to get a boot off. How does one make a story line out of a beginning like that!?
The strange part about this story so far is that the scene is simple, yet they have a way of making things complex and misshapen. They talk about the Bible and other things that in someways have nothing to do with each other, yet have EVERYTHING to do with each other.
I wonder if these two men even know Godot or if they are waiting for him like a child waits for a mailman to give him the package he's been waiting for. When Estragon states, "There is nothing to be done." Does that imply that nothing IS to literally be done throughout the entire play? Because to an outsider reading this play for the first time, it sure feels that way intentionally.
Vladimir takes on a whole new ball of wax for me. He talks, a lot. His mind seems to never stop racing with things to talk about. When Estragon doesn't feel like having a conversation the whole time , Vladimir gets frustrated and says things like "GoGo why can't you return the ball every once and awhile?" I think that's a play on words and conversation. At first when I read that, I thought he was talking to a dog. The way the conversation usually plays out, it seems more of a cat and mouse kind of dialog.
So far, from what I have read, it seems like the two men are close and support each others dreams and ambition. I think they also support each others ideas on topics, but also challenge each other to understand their surroundings deeper and more meaningfully.
Waiting for a person that may never come seems odd to me, but I also see the deeper element into why this play was a success. As I read on further and come to what will probably be an open-ended conclusion, I will be able to state more about Godot. As of right now, the play is rattling my brain and the characters are hilarious!
All three describe the way I feel about the Godot story. Seemingly waiting for a man that may never come is hardly interesting, but what becomes interesting is what they do while waiting for Godot. GoGo and DiDi's characters come out. I am baffled by a story such as this that begins with one of them trying to get a boot off. How does one make a story line out of a beginning like that!?
The strange part about this story so far is that the scene is simple, yet they have a way of making things complex and misshapen. They talk about the Bible and other things that in someways have nothing to do with each other, yet have EVERYTHING to do with each other.
I wonder if these two men even know Godot or if they are waiting for him like a child waits for a mailman to give him the package he's been waiting for. When Estragon states, "There is nothing to be done." Does that imply that nothing IS to literally be done throughout the entire play? Because to an outsider reading this play for the first time, it sure feels that way intentionally.
Vladimir takes on a whole new ball of wax for me. He talks, a lot. His mind seems to never stop racing with things to talk about. When Estragon doesn't feel like having a conversation the whole time , Vladimir gets frustrated and says things like "GoGo why can't you return the ball every once and awhile?" I think that's a play on words and conversation. At first when I read that, I thought he was talking to a dog. The way the conversation usually plays out, it seems more of a cat and mouse kind of dialog.
So far, from what I have read, it seems like the two men are close and support each others dreams and ambition. I think they also support each others ideas on topics, but also challenge each other to understand their surroundings deeper and more meaningfully.
Waiting for a person that may never come seems odd to me, but I also see the deeper element into why this play was a success. As I read on further and come to what will probably be an open-ended conclusion, I will be able to state more about Godot. As of right now, the play is rattling my brain and the characters are hilarious!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Dr. Horrible's Blog
There are so many elements I could pick and choose out of this "sing-a-long blog", but some of the main ones were: love, comedy, hate, jealousy, and death. Love: defined in this story as the love triangle between Dr. Horrible, Penny and Captain Hammer. Comedy: How we view Dr. Horrible in the beginning, but we eventually see that his sarcasm hides something much deeper than simple jokes. Hate: Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer hate each other. (They appear to be villains.) Jealousy: Again, the love triangle and the jealousy that Dr. Horrible has for Captain Hammer's popularity, even though he's self-absorbed. And Death: This occurs in the story at the very end when Penny is killed because part of Dr. Horrible's gun breaks off and lodges itself in Penny's torso, leaving her to die. All of these elements are what make it a tragicomedy!
I had heard of this "blog show" before we were introduced to it in class. I had no interest in watching it, but I'm really glad I saw it. At first, the class seemed to get a kick out of the whole idea of an "evil genius" being in love with a chick at a laundry mat. This tragicomedy had me thinking about Beauty and the Beast for some reason. As I watched it I thought of Dr. Horrible as the "Beast" and Penny as "Belle" the Beauty. Here is a man who is a true "beast" on the inside, but on the outside he is just a simple young man falling in love. The tragedy in this, besides Captain Hammer acting like a self-absorbed idiot trying to take Penny from Billy's love grip, is the fact that from the beginning it seems as though Dr. Horrible sets himself up for failure. There are several lines that suggest that he "already is living a nightmare" and at the end of the first act he says a word at the end that suggests that he is unhappy with the result of his heist and that Penny is now further out of love with him than before.
It seems that Dr. Horrible just wants to be taken seriously. He doesn't want to kill anyone to become apart of the evil league, but he doesn't have another way to become part of a group. He says to Penny in the second act, "I want to be an achiever". His idea of achieving is just being recognized and taken seriously in life. He is overlooked too often and just wants everyone to see that he really can be "horrible".
I tried to apply this singing blog to my own life. Penny's song I feel relates to how I feel right now:
Here’s a story of a girl
Who grew up lost and lonely
Thinking love was fairytale
And trouble was made only for me
Even in the darkness
Every color can be found
And every day of rain
Brings water flowing
To things growing in the ground
Grief replaced with pity
For a city barely coping
Dreams are easy to achieve
If hope is all I’m hoping to be
Anytime you’re hurt there’s one
Who has it worse around
And every drop of rain
Will keep you growing
Seeds you’re sowing in the ground
This song gives a person hope, while at the same time realizing that there are definite needs in the world that need to be taken care of, which is Penny's case it was the homeless in that city.
The struggles between Captain Hammer and Dr Horrible really meant little to me. They seemed more like two brothers fighting back and forth over a toy. Neither of them were a threat to the other. Neither Captain Hammer, nor Dr. Horrible were "good" guys. The main issue was that Captain Hammer would get recognition for his actions that never had a good meaning behind them in the first place while "evil" Dr Horrible wouldn't get recognized at all. Simply put, this is not a story of good versus evil, it's about how our own thoughts/actions can cloud the judgment of many and how we can shape others around us whether it be good or bad.
I had heard of this "blog show" before we were introduced to it in class. I had no interest in watching it, but I'm really glad I saw it. At first, the class seemed to get a kick out of the whole idea of an "evil genius" being in love with a chick at a laundry mat. This tragicomedy had me thinking about Beauty and the Beast for some reason. As I watched it I thought of Dr. Horrible as the "Beast" and Penny as "Belle" the Beauty. Here is a man who is a true "beast" on the inside, but on the outside he is just a simple young man falling in love. The tragedy in this, besides Captain Hammer acting like a self-absorbed idiot trying to take Penny from Billy's love grip, is the fact that from the beginning it seems as though Dr. Horrible sets himself up for failure. There are several lines that suggest that he "already is living a nightmare" and at the end of the first act he says a word at the end that suggests that he is unhappy with the result of his heist and that Penny is now further out of love with him than before.
It seems that Dr. Horrible just wants to be taken seriously. He doesn't want to kill anyone to become apart of the evil league, but he doesn't have another way to become part of a group. He says to Penny in the second act, "I want to be an achiever". His idea of achieving is just being recognized and taken seriously in life. He is overlooked too often and just wants everyone to see that he really can be "horrible".
I tried to apply this singing blog to my own life. Penny's song I feel relates to how I feel right now:
Here’s a story of a girl
Who grew up lost and lonely
Thinking love was fairytale
And trouble was made only for me
Even in the darkness
Every color can be found
And every day of rain
Brings water flowing
To things growing in the ground
Grief replaced with pity
For a city barely coping
Dreams are easy to achieve
If hope is all I’m hoping to be
Anytime you’re hurt there’s one
Who has it worse around
And every drop of rain
Will keep you growing
Seeds you’re sowing in the ground
This song gives a person hope, while at the same time realizing that there are definite needs in the world that need to be taken care of, which is Penny's case it was the homeless in that city.
The struggles between Captain Hammer and Dr Horrible really meant little to me. They seemed more like two brothers fighting back and forth over a toy. Neither of them were a threat to the other. Neither Captain Hammer, nor Dr. Horrible were "good" guys. The main issue was that Captain Hammer would get recognition for his actions that never had a good meaning behind them in the first place while "evil" Dr Horrible wouldn't get recognized at all. Simply put, this is not a story of good versus evil, it's about how our own thoughts/actions can cloud the judgment of many and how we can shape others around us whether it be good or bad.
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