Literature Analysis #2

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read.

                In Anton Chekhov's play Lyubov, a Russian woman returns from France to her family's estate in the 1900’s and discovers that the family fortune's been squandered. It seems the only way to save her beloved home is to sell the surrounding orchard land for development, but Lyubov cannot sacrifice any part of the property, and her despair grows as the mortgage date draws nearer. Lyubov did not save her estate. Instead, Lopahin bought the estate in the auction and decided to continue with the idea of a development to make money. The ones living in the estate all moved out.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.

                The theme of “The Cherry Orchard” would be overcoming the past. Each character have their own personal past to overcome. Lyubon has her past with the lover that cheated on her, Lopahin with his father that abused him all his childhood, Varya and the fact that she was adopted which made her feel out of place.     

3. Describe the author's tone.  Include three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

                In “The Cherry Orchard” the tones the author uses would be humor, longing, and grieving. As I read I sensed much humor between some characters, especially Trofimov and Lopahin. They were always insulting each other but in a way that made the rest laugh. Lopahin always had something to say about the Trofimov and the fact that he worked his life. He would say he didn’t understand how Trofimov could get up early in the morning just to work the day away. But beneath this Lopahin was inspired by Trofimov’s ways.

·         Lopahin: He’ll soon be fifty, and he’s still a student.

Trofimov: Drop your idiotic jokes.

Lopahin: Why are you so cross, queer fish?

Trofimov: Oh, don’t persist!

Lopahin (laughs): Allow me to ask you what’s your idea of me?

Trofimov: I’ll tell you my idea of you, Yermolay Alexeyevitch: you are a rich man you’ll soon be a millionaire. Well, just as in the economy of nature a wild beast is of use, who devours everything that comes in his way, so you too have your use.

                                                              (All laugh.)

Then there is the longing of the past and how easy things were before.

·         Oh, my childhood, my innocent childhood! This is the nursery where I slept and I used to look out at the orchard from here! Look, Mother's walking in the orchard. In a white dress.

The last tone was grieving. Lyubov expressed grief when reminded of her deceased son.

·         Lyubov: My Grisha… my boy… Grisha… my son!

My boy was lost…drowned. Why? Oh, why, dear Petya...    

4. Describe five literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone.  Include three excerpts that will help your reader understand each one.

Five literary elements that strengthened my understanding of the theme and my sense of the tone were symbolism, imagery, allegory, 

Symbolism:
The  white orchard means different things to different people. It represents Lubov's heritage and her youth. For Gaev, it's a symbol of status. For Lopakhin the cherry orchard is complicated; his attachment to Lubov makes him want to save it, while his memory of a difficult childhood urges him to destroy it. It's also a financial opportunity. Trofimov sees the orchard as a symbol of injustice, because of the way the aristocrats treated the peasants before the emancipation of the Serfs, and Anya gives up her sentimental attachment to it for a new life.

Tools That Change The Way We Think

“Internet/media/technology use” has definitely made my life simpler, most of the time. Take our weekly list of vocabulary; the internet has always been there but before I personally learned how to use it vocabulary was the old fashion way. You grab a dictionary and look up the word. Now you go on to a search engine, type in define “the word”, and poof the definition instantly. I do believe the internet has made us a lot lazier though, and I don’t think that is a good thing. Now most of us have difficulty working for something or getting things done completely. Our expectations of ourselves have lowered much.  Maybe that’s why kids in Japan stand out more than American kids. For some people though, the internet is a way to be aware of what is going on that you may not have spare time to do specifically for that.  For example, when I sign in to my yahoo email account I get a quick glimpse of what is going on around the world.

“I can feel it, too. Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.”

After reading this article I realized something. Our generation might not see anything wrong with the internet because we have grown up with it. But with those who are wiser (older), they didn’t grow up with it. So for some this may be a new thing. For those people, they realize what the internet can do to you.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/

In Search Of.

Something I learned and kind of astounded me was the fact that once the internet realizes/thinks you are showing no interest in a certain thing it erases it or gets rid of it for you. In some ways that kind of sucks. It takes away your right to make decisions just because it thinks it knows you.  This informtion makes me aware of what I search for while using the internet. It makes me wonder if my research results are unbiased.
Right now, the internet gives us links that it thinks we want to see. But how far will this go? What if in reality we are seeing things the government wants us to see making us believe we choose to see it? From know on I will definitely have much more resources. I will also try to use search engines that are not biased such as duckduckgo.com.
My method was to open three tabs using the search engine duckduckgo.com. I used the same phrase for two and a different one for the third. they were all different. I noticed there were more links that finished with .org ,.edu, or .net. When I used the filter most of them ended in .com. After researching Shakspeare with the filter then without I have realized that with unbiased things you have a greater chance to learn because things aren't sugar-coated to your liking.

Who Was Shakespeare?

• Shakespeare was probably born on April 23, 1564, but this date is an educated guess because we only have a record of his baptism three days later. His parents, John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, were successful townsfolk who moved to a large house in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon from the surrounding villages. His father became a wealthy town official and his mother was from an important, respected family. It is widely assumed that he attended the local grammar school where he would have studied Latin, Greek and classical literature. His early education must have made a huge impact on him because many of his plots draw on the classics. At 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway from Shottery who was already pregnant with their first daughter. He was the creator of The Lord Chamberlain's Men.

• I believe most of us students struggle understanding Shakespeare. But when I do understamd, it is a beautiful thing.

duckduckgo.com
Who Was Shakespeare?"
http://shakespeare.about.com/od/shakespeareslife/a/Biography.htm

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

I was what you call a late bloomer when it came to Facebook.  When it first came out I wasn’t allowed to have one. I didn’t really want one either, thought it was a waste of time and wasn’t too sure about the privacy. But I also didn’t have a phone, still don’t actually. So I thought “what the heck, why not” and made myself an account. I have learned it is a great source when it comes to socializing. The way I see it, Facebook can have a good impact in your life but it can also have a bad one; this all depends on your “maturity” level.  A great impact would be bringing families closer. My experience with Facebook has actually brought me closer to my family. I can easily keep in touch with my cousins. It is as if we are living together but not really. I have recently started talking to a cousin of mine who before this we were not as close. We don’t live too far away either; definitely driving distance. Now, at a certain time of the evening we are both coincidentally logged on and we have the chance to ask each other things like how our day went. But there can be a negative side to Facebook; and it’s not even Facebook really but how it is used.  As Dr. Preston said “Facebook is a tool, it depends on how it is used. In class today, the article stated “that 7.5 million kids age 12 and younger are on Facebook”. Let’s be honest; children 12 and under are just that children. They are easily influenced to do anything because they are still in that phase where they absorb information like a sponge. There is too much responsibility with a Facebook account and if they can’t control themselves this social network could end up having a negative impact on their lives.  

“(Don’t) Be Hamlet”

                The definition of suicide: the action of killing oneself intentionally. Hamlet, I know you may be confused, but you should not act upon a moment of anger and grief.  Committing suicide is not to be taken lightly; it is not to be taken at all.  Suicide is not an idea to dwell on, not a choice.  No matter how big the problem may be, there is always a way out.

                Your father’s death is definitely not a light topic.  It is most certainly not on that you could get over any time soon. Losing a loved one is one of the most difficult things anyone will ever face. Death is a difficult thing to understand. But that does not mean you should kill yourself so you don’t feel any pain. Dealing with your father’s death is one thing, dealing with the fact that he was murdered and you know the killer is completely different. But if you die, you won’t solve anything. Instead, you would cause grief with others.

                Then there is the “all of a sudden” marriage between your father’s killer and your mother. This marriage must bring a lot of pain. But this marriage gives you that much more reason to live. Who is going to take care of your mother from your Claudius if you are dead? Now is the time when you really want to keep an eye on him.

                Hamlet, take suicide out of your mind because all it’s doing is blurring your chance to figure out what it is that Claudius has planned. Hamlet you need to beat Claudius at his own game. You need to figure out his weakness and hurt him as he has hurt you.