My Daemon

I just took a quiz that was supposed to tell me what type of animal my daemon must be, and I must attest to quizzes being full of crap! It said that my daemon would be a domestic house cat, and as much as I love cats, mine especially, the personality of a cat is VERY far from my own personality. So I have decided to chose my own, with the help of my bestest, Megan.

We actually just had a conversation on Sunday about what our daemons would be. She decided that hers would be a moose (a hilarious conversation followed about taking a moose around with you everywhere, and how convenient it would be to have it pack stuff for you) and mine would be a dog. We were thinking something soft and sweet, so we ultimately decided some sort of spaniel, perhaps a springer. Or a snow leopard, it was a tie. I think that probably the spaniel would be most like me, but I've always wanted a snow leopard, so that had to be in the mix.

Then, we started discussing what they would be doing at the time. We were watching Desperate Housewives, gasping and yelling at the screen all the while and we were wondering if they would be sitting calmly next to each other or yelling like we were. Probably, they would be upset too, because they are connected to us, but they might be the voice of reason, like Pan was for Lyra. Who knows? All I know is that I want one real bad.

PS- a snow leopard is NOT the same as a cat!

The Golden Compass, the first time...

After listening in class to Taylor talk about how upset she was when reading the ending, I thought that I would share the first time I read the first book, The Golden Compass. It was a present from my friend Terri last Christmas, and I was so excited to start reading it. I read mostly at night in bed, with my cat Tigger sitting on my chest, in front of the book, her usual spot. When I came to the first place where the Gobblers tried to separate Lyra and Pan I couldn't stop crying. It upset me so much that I had to stop reading and just pet Tigger for quite awhile. I felt so silly, because when I told my mom this the next day, her reply was "You know it's just a book, right?" But it wasn't to me, it seemed so real, and at that moment I felt so connected to my cat that it was unreal. I never really shared this with many people because I tend to get really upset in books and movies whenever an animal is in danger. I have always been sympathetic to their troubles and trials, but not only is Pan an animal, he is Lyra's soul. This connection touched me so deeply that even in the movie, which was one of the worst portrayals of a book that I have ever seen, it still affected me. Luckily I went with my best friend who has known me most of my life, and is used to my crying. I wonder though if there is something to this drastic reaction? Am I just sensitive, or is there something to be said for a close connection to animals, or more specifically to my cat Tigger?

I Sang as Happy as a Clam

I sang happy as a clam
That sleeps low on the ocean floor,
Then suddenly something swam
A walrus, in all his dark lore;
Coming near, across the beach,
Waddling and sliding almost in reach.

As natural as the sun that sets
And rises on the very next day,
It collides into the ocean met
With colors that soon do not fade:
Alighting the sky with fire and light,
Which are soon not forgotten, whatever your might.

The clams before him scurried in fright
As the walrus before them grinned in glee,
They swam and swam with all their might
But one fell and skinned his knee;
He cried- and cried- but none did come
To save him from the walrus’ gum.

And now, when I read from Carroll
Sitting upon my couch in strife,
I think of this story of the unlucky fellow
Which shows us the sadness of his life;
And then my mind with longing brims,
To swim with the clams and somehow win.

My favorite chapter from Through the Looking-Glass is both my favorite and my least favorite. I really dislike Tweedledee and Tweedledum, mostly I think because they really scared me as a child and I've never really gotten over it, but my favorite part of all is the poem 'The Walrus and the Carpenter.' It is just so funny to me. I picture the movie version of course in my mind when I read it, thinking of the song and the clams dancing behind them completely unaware. I picture them as young clams, perhaps teenagers who know what they are doing is wrong, but do it anyway because all of their friends are. Then after their untimely deaths, I imagine their parents, devastated and angry. I would like to think that the part that Tweedledee does not tell us is when they get revenge on their children's murderers. That is the part I would have loved to read, even more than the original poem. The conversation following this is really interesting as well. Alice originally likes the Walrus best because she believes that he shows remorse, but then is reminded that he ate the most, liking the Carpenter instead. To chose a favorite is a childish thing to do, that all of us cannot help doing. It is human nature to find the thing most appealing, and to attach yourself to it. It cannot be helped, at any age. Who ever has watched a movie and said 'this is my favorite part' is guilty of it. It's like an epidemic.

The truth about Zeus...

Another of my previous blogs I thought pertained to the class. As I've been looking over my notes to study for the upcoming exam, I realized how many times that Zeus was mentioned. Now, I'm posting this so no one gets the wrong idea bout him, and actually thinks he's a nice guy...

The entire time I was reading 'The Metamorphoses' of Ovid all I could think about was how big of a jerk Zeus was! I couldn't believe how many women that he had raped, and how every other story was about his atrocities. I had a naive view of him, the view of him from the Disney's 'Hercules', and reading these stories led me to understand who he really was, and that his wife was not as horrible as everyone thought she was. I think it's understandable for her to be angry when her husband was out every weekend with another woman. I would be angry too. I think the most horrible part about his raping sprees was that all the women that he raped were not only virgins, they were also rejected and humiliated by their fathers afterwards. I cannot imagine being raped, then because of it being excommunicated from my family. How horrible!! I personally hate Zeus because of this, and will never be able to watch Disney's 'Hercules' again!

Friday, November 7

is for Shakespeare.














Films to check out:

• Dreamchild: starring Ian Holm
• Alice Through the Looking Glass with Kate Beckinsale

history/ mystery- Freudian slip
Sunderland vs Wonderland

Tweedledum and Tweedledee:

• Red Knight
• dreams
• Alice cries/ real to cry

weeping Beauty tears to diamonds= art

Talbot:

• enters world of dreams
• dream aftermath pg 182-8
• mistake about the Christmas carol: it's an undigested piece of meat, not cheese (pg 186)

terrors transformed into art:

• fairy tales
• The Fall
• Pan's Labyrinth


• "Out, out brief candle. Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that frets and struts his hour and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." ~Macbeth
• breaking the magical spell with reality

3 iconic women:

1. Alice
2. Dorothy
3. Lyra

"they are plucky heroines going through the same things" ~Dr. Sexson

• they are: curious, brave and Innocent
• at the end you are supposed to be taller at the end, like Windsor tells you at the end of Pilate's

Shakespeare's 7 stages of man:

1. infant
2. school-boy
3. lover
4. soldier
5. justice
6. Pantaloon
7. second-childhood

• there is always confusion when waking from a dream
• enjoying childhood is different when you are an adult, you will never have the same experiences again, how many times have you said 'it's just not the same?'

Monday, November 3

is for rose.














Sunderland:

• pg 28-9: moral codes and influences
• adults 'get it'
• Mary Ann Cotton: (pg 204-7) killed 15-21 people
• The Frighteners: if you're gonna kill people, be the most notorious and horrible, or in other words, be the best
• Nabokov was the first person to translate 'Alice' into Russian, and his love for it can be found in his works, especially Lolita
• Finnegan's Wake loved Alice

Influenced by Alice:

1. Matrix
2. Mrs. Miniver
3. Monty Python
4. The Beatles
5. Jefferson Airplane
6. Pink Floyd

Quaker Oat's BoxDreams:

• Kubla Khan was inspired by STC's opium-induced slumber
• 'The Educated Imagination' by N. Frye
• 'The Idiot' by Dostoevsky

Wednesday, October 29

is for quiddage.







Walter Pater:

• "our lives are composed in a handful of moments"
• La Vie Boheme!!!!

What have I read for 4 hours?

1. Harry Potter (14 hours)
2. Twilight (8 hours)
3. Golden Compass (5 hours)
4. Ovid's Metamorphosis (6 hours)
5. Wuthering Heights (4 hours)
6. probably many more that I can't think of!

animated- amima (soul/ spirit)

Jack in the Beanstalk was very different than the Mickey Mouse version that I remember from childhood... "and they lived happily ever after"

Monday, October 27

is for poppy.







Alice in Wonderland:

• Raquel's suite #1 from Bach- also is featured in Pride and Prejudice
• "All the arts conspire to the condition of music" ~Walter Pater
• 'The Matrix' and '4 Quartets' are both based upon Alice
• Caterpillar: satire, sarcasm, cynicism, irony, parody
• eviscerating: disemboweled

My Book and Heart:

• Aesop's fable about ant and grasshopper
• William Bennett: wrote morals
• Mary and Martha from the bible
• What is needful?
• portal to another world
• art is improved by technology
• Oscar Wilde: 'life imitates art'
• things are real because you have heard about them
• esotericism: can't understand it

Wednesday, October 22

is for opium induced slumber.

Originality:

• Angela Carter: novelist 'the tiger's bride'
• Does this exist?

Beauty and the Beast:

• 'psycho sheep of butte'
• 'the madwoman in the attic' is about Jane Eyre by Charolette Bronte
• feminism
• most important story because all others are likened to it
• Stuart Weber- musician

Friday, October 17

is for the Northern Lights.









Linda Sexson guest speaker:

• Is there such a thing as children's lit?
• Didactic: morals (reveals the nature of the divine god), etiquette, nature (what is it?)
• pragmatic: practical lessons, which is usually a good thing
• all of this can be turned into humor
• politics today are about hatred
• metaphysical/physical- speculative: they want the child to ask questions
• Literacy: when a child becomes literate and curious they begin to be less of a child
• all children's lit has to do with adult nostalgia: longing for home, what adults wish to experience again
• books of nature lead to thinking about god:

1. influence from protestant Reformation (reading)
2. Enlightenment (deism vs theism) or (rationalism vs irrationalism)

• intended for the 'unsaved' that they considered 'children' or little adults
• John Goode: children's author
• facsimile: made to look exactly like the old one
• Noah Webster: speller before dictionary in 1824, regulated American language
• imaginative literature: Bluebeard for children? historically, psychologically, interesting, didactic, training for life, ambivalence

Wednesday, October 15

is for magic.







Beauty and the Beast:

• last word in B & B is VIRTUE
• was written for a magazine published for young women
• this word is helpful because it shows you what you are supposed to get from it
• Letter A in the grammar books for children: "In Adam's fall we sinned all" because children were born into a world of sin
• Iphigenia was a sacrafice for Agamemnon's war

Monday, October 6

is for the Lambton Worm.

Cupid and Psyche:

• Eros= erotic love
• Talking donkeys: Mr. Ed, Apuleius, Balaam
• The talking mule: Bottom from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
• 'shift from what's being said to how it's being said'
• "oh I come from a land from a far away place..." Arabian Nights
• "It was so and it was not so..." 'true and not true..." "happened and didn't happen..."
• reminds us of:

1. Beauty and the Beast- Beast
2. Cinderella- Sisters
3. Snow White- Beauty/ Jealous
4. Hans My Hedgehog- searching for lost husband, man-suit
5. Midsummer Nights Dream- Oberon, Bottom, and Titania
6. East of the Sun- searching for lost husband

voluptuous: pleasure, bliss, joy. daughter
Virago: mother in law

Cinderella:

• spoonerisms
• the ending of the Perrault (has a moral) and Grimm's (feet-cutting fun) versions are different

Friday, October 3

is for the Knight, White that is.










Hans My Hedgehog by Grimm Bros
'Where the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak

The Little Mermaid

• original- Hans Christian Anderson- Disney
• Walt changed it to make it happier, children probably wouldn't have liked it as much if they wouldn't have lived happily ever after
• But we say: give em the original, even if it's horrible
• "I have room to contradict myself"~ Walt Whitman
• I personally like both the happy and the sad, the happy because it has the song 'Les Poisson' and the sad because it's more realistic
• The continuing stories of: 'The Frog Prince Cont.' and 'Little Mermaid 2'
• realistic novel- sad and 'real life' is low mimetic
• all stories end in some sort of death
• "comedy is a transcendence of tragedy" ~Dr. Sexson
• "You have to earn your happy ending" ~Dr. Sexson

Cinderella:

• Cinderella (low to high) is the reverse of tragedy (high to low)
• ashypelt
• John Millington Synge: 'Irish Playwright'
• where do these stories come from? How did they get into everyone's heads?

1. migration- oral tradition
2. archetypes and collective unconscious

Cupid and Psyche:

• Venus: Aphrodite/ Rome and Greek

Wednesday, October 1

is for Jabberwocky.











Hans My Hedgehog:

• lost in the forest and find a house
• father hating the child (Oedipus)
• East of the Sun
• Judges story about 'Jephthah's daughter' and a rash promise
• Beauty and the Beast
• Transformation of the beast
• the #3 is important
• iron shoes
• daughter willingly giving herself for her father
• husband and wife have a child (monster baby)
• selfish longing for children- not caring if it's a monster

Motifs:

• formulas- language: repetition of phrases
• ugly duckling and negative outlook on self

marriage: the passing of property from one man to another- all marriage is abduction

Rose Daughter

Beauty

Rosemary's baby

Kafka's Metamorphosis

'willing suspension of disbelief' -STC

the motif of the beast marriage/ husband

• bear
• frog
• beast
• hedgehog

acts of violence lead to their happiness

reversal- Chaucer's Wife of Bath

crazy guy in HS-

• Mariner Dave
• Jesse Cheney: he was the 'crazy kid' from my HS. But he really wasn't crazy at all, he was a nice guy who was tortured because he was different. But one year, my best friend and I came to his birthday party and we were the only people there.

Monday, September 29

is for Iorek Byrnison.









Jung: depth psychologist

archetypes in all stories:

• self
• shadow
• anima and animus

pg 116-7 of Frye "We have associated archetypes and myths particularly with primitive and popular literature. In fact we could almost define popular literature, admittedly in a rather circular way, as literature which affords an unobstructed view of archetypes. We can find this quality on every level of literature: in fairy tales and folk tales, in Shakespeare (in most of the comedies), in the Bible (which would still be a popular book if it were not a sacred one), in Bunyan, in Richardson, in Dickens, in Poe, and of course in a vast amount of ephemeral rubbish as well. We began this book by remarking that we cannot correlate popularity and value. But there is still the danger of reduction, or assuming that literature is essentially primitive and popular. This view had a great vogue in the nineteenth century, and is by no means dead yet, but if we were to adopt it we should cut off a third and most important source of supply for archetypal criticism."

trashy lit:

• Harlequin Romance
• Fabio

ephemeral rubbish:

• an obstructed view of the myth
• they are really important to high modernism (literature)
• archetypes are all clear even in these low-class books
• in the world of FTs

19th C Romantics thought that high literature wasn't the only lit:

• popular lit
• written lit
• oral lit

archetype: manifestation of these constant/reoccurring themes that are found in all humankind

symbolic interactionism

tabula rasa: 'blank slate' theory

'Ode on Intimations of Immortality' W. Wordsworth

'education isn't telling people what they don't know, it's reminding them of what they do know'

Louise von Franz

the definition of reading is 'reading in'

Obituaries are about death, or language

The Smothers Brothers 'Santa Claus is dead'

'Are we reading the times or the eternities?' ~Thoreau

Hippolytus ~Euripides

clique is a filler

'la la land'~ dream world REM sleep

DREAMS: take reality and make it real

sparagmos: the ripping and shredding of human flesh

constellations: ursa major and minor (big and little dipper)- callista (from the name Callisto)

cave drawings

literal to anagogical: level of thought for reading into it N.Frye

Groundhogs Day- based on an Asian philosophy- return come back to the same thing eternally until we get it right

Bowing is a sign of infinite respect- to recognize the divine

The fall of Humpty Dumpty represents all falls:

• Adam and Eve
• Wall street
• Troy
• etc

Friday September 19- Friday September 26

is for the old Red hen.










Fairy Tale Displacements

Taylor's Blog- newspaper article


Humpty Dumpty:

• All the King's Men-
• All the President's Men
  

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again."

Rapunzel

As I was catching up on some notes for class I made an interesting discovery. Apparently one of Disney's upcoming films will be Rapunzel! There is even a wiki site about it. Kristin Chenoweth is said to play Rapunzel (which excites me to no end because I LOVE her!) and Dan Fogler is to play the prince. It says that it is to be based upon the Grimm's version, but we shall see how true they keep to the story. But whatever they do to it, it might be a good idea to keep it in your sights for a fun movie to see in the year 2010!

6 impossible things before breakfast...

1. getting up without my alarm
2. going to the gym in the morning instead of the evening
3. eating meat
4. watching the news
5. not drinking coffee
6. doing homework

6 degrees of separation between Alice and Oz

I only need one degree to connect Alice and Dorothy...

Lost Girls, both of them, including Wendy appear in this graphic novel.

three Questions

What is a child?

To me, a child is someone who can play barbies, mermaids and littlest pet shops and make it be real to them, as my sisters and I did as a child. To be able to make believe and make it come true, to be able to believe without question, and accept without explanation.

What is a book?

A book is a portal to another world. In a book you can travel on the Beagle with Charles Darwin, get on platform 9 3/4 to Hogwarts and live on the moors with Heathcliff and Cathy. You can experience things and discover new worlds that you couldn't anywhere else. It is a magical experience to read a book.

What is nature?
It is all around us, from the air we breathe to the grass we walk on. My favorite scene in nature is definitely the beach because it is where the world it the most beautiful.

STUDY GUIDE 2

Books:

• endings from the Tatar book:

1. Snow White: "The wicked woman let out a curse, and she was so paralyzed with fear that she didn't know what to do. At first she didn't want to go to the wedding feast. But she never had a moment's peace after that and had to go see the young queen. When she entered, Snow White recognized her right away. The queen was so terrified that she just stood there and couldn't budge an inch. Iron slipped had already been heated up for her over a fire of coals. They were brought in with tongs and set up right in front of her. She had to put on the red-hot iron shoes and dance in them until she dropped to the ground dead." pg 94
2. Sleeping Beauty: "No sooner had the prince touched Briar Rose's lips than she woke up, opened her eyes, and smiled sweetly at him. They went down the stairs together. The king, the queen, and the entire court had awoken, and they were all staring at each other in amazement. The horses in the courtyard stood up and shook themselves. The hounds jumped to their feet and wagged their tails. The doves pulled their heads out from under their wings, looked around, and flew off into the fields. The flies began crawling on the walls. the fire in the kitchen flickered, flared up, and began cooking the food again. The roast started to sizzle. The cook slapped the boy so hard that he let out a screech. The maid finished plucking the hen. The wedding of Briar Rose and the prince was celebrated in great splendor, and the two lived out their days in happiness." pg 104
3. Rumpelstiltskin: "On the third day the messenger returned and said: 'I couldn't find a single new name, but when I rounded a bend in the forest at the foot of a huge mountain, a place so remote that the foxes and hares bid each other goodnight, I came across a little hut. A fire was burning right in front of the hut, and a really strange little man was dancing around the fire, hopping on one foot and chanting: 'tomorrow I brew, today I bake, Soon the child is mine to take. Oh what luck to win this game, Rumpelstiltskin is my name.' You can imagine how happy the queen was to hear that name. The little man returned and asked: 'Well, Your Majesty, who am I?' The Queen replied: 'Is your name Conrad?' 'No, it's not.' 'Is your name Harry?' 'No, it's not.' 'Could your name possibly be Rumpelstiltskin?' 'The Devil told you that, the Devil told you!' the little man screamed, and in his rage he stamped his right foot so hard that it went into the ground right up to his waist. Then in fury he seized his left foot with both hands and tore himself in two." pg 130
4. The Frog Prince: "When they had covered a good distance, the prince heard a cracking noise behind him, as if something had broken. He turned around and cried out: 'Heinrich, the coach is falling apart!' 'No, My Lord, it's not the coach, But a hoop from round my heart, Which was in sheer pain, When you were down in the spring, Living there as a frog.' Two more times the prince heard the cracking noise, and he was sure that the coach was falling apart. But it was only the sound of the hoops breaking from around Faithful Heinrich's chest, for his master had been set free and was happy." pg 122
5. Rapunzel: "The prince wandered around in misery for many years and finally reached the wilderness where Rapunzel was just barely managing to survive with the twins- a boy and a girl- to whom she had given birth. The prince heard a voice that sounded familiar to him, and so he followed it. When he came within sight of the person singing, Rapunzel recognized him. She threw her arms around him and wept. Two of those tears dropped into the prince's eyes, and suddenly he could see as before, with clear eyes. The prince went back to his kingdom with Rapunzel, and there was great rejoicing. They lived in happiness and good cheer for many, many years." pg 114
6. Jack and the Beanstalk: "But Jack jumped down and got hold of the axe and gave a chop at the beanstalk which cut it half in two. The ogre felt the beanstalk shake and quiver, so he stopped to see what was the matter. Then Jack gave another chop with the axe, and the beanstalk was cut in two and began to topple over. Then the ogre fell down and broke his crown, and the beanstalk came toppling after. Then Jack showed his mother the golden harp, and what with showing that and selling the golden eggs, Jack and his mother became very rich, and he married a great princess, and they lived happily ever after." pg 144

• pgs discussed from Talbot (28-9, 134, 137, 182-3, 184-5, 186, 204-7, 209)
• Alice chapters:

1. Humpty Dumpty
2. Wool and Water
3. Tweedledee and Tweedledum
4. Caterpillar
5. Morals discussed

• Book and Heart movie and Linda's lecture

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. What is the name of the illustrator from Alice? -Tenniel
2. What is the last word in Beauty and the Beast? -virtue
3. Who wins after death? -the worms
4. Who triumphs over the worms? -art
5. Oscar Wilde said that 'Life imitates _________? -art
6. 5 themes in class? -1) history, 2) myth, 3) coincidence, 4) art, and 5) dreams
7. Who does the white knight represent in Alice? -Lewis Carroll
8. 'How doth the little busy bee's parody in Alice? -'how doth the little crocodile'
9. What beautiful food does the mock turtle sing to Alice about? -soup
10. What is the Mad Hatter's answer to 'How is a raven like a writing desk'? -I haven't the slightest idea
11. Besides Shakespeare, the most quoted writer in English lit is? -Lewis Carroll
12. ________ is a depersonalized ___________, and ____________ is a personalized ________? - myth, dream, dream myth
13. Suitcase with many compartments/ Humpty Dumpty and the Jabberwocky -portmanteau
14. Who is the rudest of all the flower's according to Stephanie? -violet
15. Animated contains which word meaning soul? -anima
16. Who is the volcano in The Looking Glass? -Alice
17. Where does Alice live in all of us/ what did Phillip Pullman say that dust represented to him? -collective unconscious
18. When Alice first shrinks, how short does she get? -2 times, 10 inches
19. Title of deleted Alice and Wonderland chapter? -the wasp and the wig
20. How does Alice offend the mouse? -by mentioning Dina, the cat
21. During the Protestant Reformation what was one of the main idea in children's lit? -to teach moral values
22. The first bible was published in what language? -Algonquin
23. Before Darwin, what 2 animals were used to spark curiosity about evolution? -monkey and mammoth
24. What 19th C invention sparked reading after the Protestant Reformation? -the Gutenberg Press
25. Why did they think that hatter's were mad/ what is the fallacy found here? -Because of the mercury they used/ misplaced concreteness
26. Anagram of a chapter title of Sexson's choice...
27. What does the white rabbit drop at the beginning when he scares her, that later makes her shrink? -white gloves and a fan
28. What do Beauty's tears turn into in the film version we watched in class? -diamonds
29. When reading a story, trust the ________ and not the ________ said D. H. Lawrence. -tale, teller
30. Lewis Carroll's nickname in school inspired which character in Alice (think stutter)? -the Dodo
31. What is 'I'm interested in it because it's interesting'? -tautology
32. Goodie Two Shoes is the emblem of _________ that adults lack? -perfection
33. According to Tweedledee and Tweedledum, if Alice is part of their dream, they what are they? -ditto, ditto, ditto
34. What image from the walrus and the carpenter was also in Rebecca's dream? -flying pigs
35. A big theme of an English class tends to look into the _____ side of things? -dark
36. Who was the most prolific serial killer in 19th C England? -Mary Ann Cotton
37. Who were the 2 primary ghosts that appeared in Talbot's book? -Sid James and The White Lady
38. Maybe Lewis Carroll based his Jabberwocky poem upon this legend? -the Lambton worm
39. The last line of Alice and Wonderland is? -'Life, what is it but a dream?'
40. What do the first letters of the last poem of Through the Looking Glass spell? -Alice Pleasance Liddell, and acrostic
41. Walter Pater said 'all art aspires to the condition of ______'? -music
42. The text informs _______? -reality
43. What is Tweedledee's favorite word? -contrariwise

'Lost Girls'

I was doing research for my part in our group presentation and I stumbled across a very interesting graphic novel. 'Lost Girls' written by Alan Moore, and drawn by Melinda Gebbie, features 3 archetypal women, Wendy from Peter Pan, Alice from Wonderland and Dorothy from Oz. Apparently, from what I read, they all meet up and discuss how their stories represent their sexual awakenings. Alice is an old woman, Dorothy is in her 20s and Wendy is in her 30's. Not quite what I imagined they all would talk about if they ever met, but very interesting. I will have to check it out sometime and see how it plays out. The wiki site.

Lolita in the strangest places...

I was catching up on the episodes of gossip girl that I have missed today and heard the strangest thing. Chuck Bass, one of the main characters, was helping search for a girl that was on a mission to lose her virginity in a local bar, and as they quickly found out, to a much older man. (she was only 15) When he used his contacts to find Serge's address and referred to him as 'Humbert Humbert.' It is refreshing to know that even the writers of a trashy teen show (that I don't usually admit to watching while in public) have read Lolita, or at least read enough to know who he is and make an appropriate reference. Well done Gossip Girl!

My final paper topic

I think I'm going to write about dreams. Mainly focusing on Alice and Oz. It should be really interesting I think. And fun.

My dream

Since everyone is sharing their dreams, I will share a few of mine.

DREAM 1:

I am in a white dress, getting married. My family and friends are all around me helping me get ready. I look at myself in the mirror, I look pretty, but am confused. What is going on? How did I get here? And most importantly, who am I marrying?

My mom comes up to me and pulls me away from everyone else, I try to question her but she is talking. She says "your father and I are so happy. We didn't think you were ever going to get married and we are so happy that you finally are." I try to tell her that I don't know what is going on, but she won't listen. The pastor comes in and tells us it's time.

The flower girl enters first, then my bridesmaids, then the door shuts and the music starts. My dad looks nervous, he's starting to cry tears of happiness. The doors open and we start to walk down the isle. There are flowers everywhere, it looks like a fairyland. Then, I look up to the front and see...
Ryan Rowe.

The prom king from my junior year of high school. He is a good guy, a great guy, but I haven't thought about him since graduation. Strange, I think. Then he meets my eyes and looks so excited. I think, huh, it's like he knew we were getting married and I didn't. My dad says in my ear, "I know that you aren't happy about this, but your mom and I think it's the right thing to do." I ask "am I pregnant?" He laughs and says "no. Your mom and I think he will be a good match for you. We know that you have reservations, but that's too bad." I gasp, and look at him horrified. He just smiles a tight-lipped smile and urges me forward.

I shove away from him and run out the doors of the church, into a brier patch. The thorns are stabbing me and pulling at my dress, but I keep running. Suddenly there is a wall in front of me, I turn and it's behind me too. Panicked, I look around and it is surrounding me. Then I wake up.

I have had this dream at least 3 times a week for the last month. I have no idea what it means, why I'm having it over and over and why Ryan Rowe.

DREAM 2:

I had this dream the night before my lit crit test. I had been up until 4 studying and I made a joke about how if you don't know the answer, it's probably either 'Walter Pater' or 'anagogy.' And the dream....

My friend Zack from back home came to visit me, and since I hadn't seen him in a long time I was really excited. He came up to me, gave me a hug and asked me how I was. I said 'anagogy!' He was like, um ok... and then he asked how school was going and I replied 'Walter Pater!' Suddenly we were in the backyard of my best friend Leslie, in the pool (that she doesn't have btw) swimming and her parents Bob and Mary Lou came outside to say hi. She said that she was going to call Leslie and see how she was. I said 'Does she know the answer to anagogy and Walter Pater? Have her call me!'

And then I woke up. Strange? I think so!

Marriage as an abduction

This is a post that I did for Classical Lit that I found relative to the Fairy Tales we have been discussing:

Hades and Prince Charming....
Are Hades and Prince Charming, alike? Or very different?Both 'abduct' their loves and take them off into the sunset. It can be argued that Hades did it against Persephone's will, and the Princess' that Prince Charming rescue want to be taken, but do they really? Because it is not possible for us to ask them, we must infer. For Cinderella, Rapunzel and even Sleeping Beauty, the Prince was rescuing them from a life of captivity and slavery. Cinderella was forced to cook and clean for her evil step family, Rapunzel was kept captive in a castle, and Sleeping Beauty didn't want to marry the Prince, she was in love with someone she met 'once upon a dream' (although they were the same person, she didn't know that yet). But for Princess' like Belle, Snow White and Mulan, they were perfectly happy before they were taken. The Beast made her stay locked in his castle and didn't let her leave, the Prince was too late in rescuing Snow White, because the hunter had already done that, and was probably happy living with the dwarves. And Mulan didn't need to be rescued because she rescued him, which probably means she could rescue herself too. I'm beginning to think that Prince Charming isn't quite as magical as I once believed him to be, and I'm thinking that he maybe is more like Hades than we ever could have imagined as children!

Sunderland

When I first realized that this book not only was 300 pages long, but a graphic novel, I was not impressed. I really thought that I was going to hate it, but once I started reading I couldn't put it down! I love how Talbot used history, pictures, and a fascinating storyline to keep me riveted. He not only is a brilliant author, he is an amazing writer as well. I marked so many pages that it is unreasonable for me to talk about all of them, but my favorite was story 'Jabberwocky,' not only because the wonderfully used aspects of intertexuality, but because it was hilarious and fun! For black and white, it was incredibly detailed and eye-catching. The story of a young boy fighting a monster and proving himself is timeless, but this one is particularly great. I just love the poem I think. This is certainly some great nonsense if I do say so myself.

Jabberwocky

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:

Long time the manxome foe he sought—

So rested he by the Tumtum tree,

And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"

He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

Through the Looking Glass

My very favorite part of this book was not even in the book at all, it was the poem at the beginning called 'Christmas-Greetings [From a Fairy to a Child], and it goes as such:

LADY dear, if Fairies may

For a moment lay aside

Cunning tricks and elfish play,'

Tis at happy Christmas-tide.

We have heared the children say---

Gentle children, whom we love---

Long ago, on Christmas-Day,

Came a message from above.

Still, as Christmas-tide comes round,

They remember it again---

Echo still the joyful sound

Peace on earth, good-will to men!

Yet the hearts must child-like be

Where such heavenly guests abide;

Unto children, in their glee,

All the year is Christmas-tide.

Thus forgetting tricks and play

For a moment, Lady dear,

We would wish you, if we may,

Merry Christmas, glad New Year!

Not only is this poem festive to the season, it is beautiful and magical. I love Carroll's imagination; he could take the form of a fairy and write to a child. This makes him like a child himself because he could believe like one.