Left Alone to Find the Way

This year in my English class, we have read Frankenstein by Mary Shelly and The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka. Both authors use the common modernism theme of  abandonment in their works. The Monster is abandoned by his creator and Gregor is abandoned by his family.  Both characters are left on their own, isolated. Although they are left alone, they still learn traits needed for socialization without actually interacting with others.

The monster, who was abandoned soon after coming to life, was able to become fully socialized without ever having a relationship. He developed feelings such as sensitivity, “I heard of the discovery of the American Hemisphere and and wept with Safie over the hapless fate of its original inhabitants” (Shelly 84).  He is also is able to come up with a plan to introduce himself  to De Lacey, “I revolved many projects; but that on which I finally fixed was, to enter the dwelling when the blind old man should be alone” (Shelly 94).

Gregor, who was previously a human, must learn to act in a way that is completely new to him. He has no one to talk to or help him since his family shows no care for him anymore. At first, he struggles and can’t even complete simple tasks like getting out of bed, “But after a repetition of the same efforts he lay in his former position again, sighing, and watched his little legs struggling against each other more than ever” (Kafka 122). Later, however he has learned to use his legs and is scurrying around the room.

Because The Monster and Gregor were able to socialize without interaction, it suggests that development of this trait is not the result of experiences in a creature’s environment. The Monster watches the family through the hole in the cottage wall and learns socialization that way, implying that you can learn socialization through observation. Gregor learns socialization neither by observation nor interaction implying that it may be a result of maturation, meaning that it naturally develops with age, and no outside sources are needed.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Comment below what you think about socialization and how it is developed!

Image Links:

https://desertlamp.com/draw-cartoon-halloween-monsters/

https://richdavis1.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/more-doodle-bug-poses/

Separation by Edvard Munch

In my English class, we have been looking at Modern and Postmodern Art along with the elements this type of art possesses.

“Separation” by Edvard Munch was painted in 1896, during the time modernism was in full swing. His painting possesses many features of modernism that make it unique and open to interpretation.

The painting displays the element of fragmentation, broken pieces put together. Some of the lines and colors are not blended together but look more like they were just placed next to one another. I believe this fragmentation occurs in reference to the relationship between the two people in the painting. Perhaps the man and woman have experienced fractures in their relationship.

There is also a sense of loss, alienation, and anxiety expressed by the man in the painting. He is standing hunched over, clenching his heart with a look of sadness washed over him. Meanwhile the woman is walking with her head up and looks to be powerfully walking with the wind. I interpreted that the woman has the power over the man in this situation and he is lonely without her and longing to be with her, or a part of what she may represent.

Another element of modernism highlighted in this work is perspective. The background of the painting is very interestingly drawn where a stroke can be used to make one object, but can also be used to make up another object. For example, the yellow brush strokes coming from the woman’s head appear to be her hair, but can also be seen as the strokes that make up the path. Also, the  black blobs in the sky can be seen as clouds or parts of the tree. The way you see a part of the image goes along with your perspective.

One last element of modernism is acknowledging a narrator of the painting.  It is hard to tell who is telling this story. Is the man telling his story of heartache, or is the woman  telling her story of power? Also, from a more abstract view, the background could be doing the speaking. It has many curly strokes, and darker colors which suggest some sort of distress is present. This theme of modernism is vignette, multiple narrators expressing their experiences with the same situation.

I am curious to hear what you thought or saw in this painting relating to these elements of modernism! Comment below!

 

Image:

https://www.edvardmunch.org/separation.jsp

Left and Forgotten…

In modernism, a common theme is alienation, and abandonment.

I have written a monologue that follows this theme of modernism.

You don’t know why, but she used to love me. That was before she left me. She loved me deeply and took me everywhere. We’ve been through everything together: thunderstorms and nightmares, good times and bad, sick days and healthier times. After all this she leaves me. How could she do that to me? I loved her and I always will. I was like a big brother to her. She would come to me when it seemed like her world was turned upside down. I was ALWAYS there, and now she isn’t here for me. My name is Ned and I’m not sure my little body can take this. My fur is wearing thin and my stitches are coming loose. You can’t hear my heart beating, not because I don’t have one, I do. You can’t hear it beating anymore because it’s broken now. I am a stuffed bear sitting on a shelf, left and forgotten.

 

Image Link:

https://www.ourstate.com/winey-bears/

 

 

I Thought I Wouldn’t Like it, but I Do

Serial. It’s my new obsession. Serial is a podcast series produced by the creators of This American Life. Each season this podcast explores a new crime that has happened. 

Initially when I was told that I had to listen to two hours worth of podcasts over the weekend, I’ll admit I wasn’t very happy. I thought about all the “better” things I could be doing and all the reasons I didn’t want to listen, but as soon as I started listening, I was intrigued by the suspense of what the narrator, Sarah Koenig, was saying.

What made the podcasts most interesting was that they are non- fiction. Listening to the stories of real people makes me, as a reader, more sympathetic and intrigued. When the characters are fictional I have feelings of sympathy and suspense; I also have favorite characters I’m routing for, but when the story is non-fiction, these feelings are amplified. Hearing about things that have happened to real people, like me, makes the events come to life and I start to imagine myself in these people’s shoes.

I especially like that podcasts are a combination of audio books and television without the qualities I dislike. I love being read to, but I often find it hard to find an audio book with a voice that has a lot of inflection. The audio versions of books I have read often have narrators with monotone voices that make it hard to listen to. I find myself dosing off on occasion and having to go back and re-listen after realizing I haven’t been engaged in what’s going on. In Serial, Sarah Koenig has a lot of inflection in her voice and I’m able to sense her feelings and emotions as she reads, which keeps me engaged. Podcasts also leave the setting, and characters up to interpretation whereas a T.V. show leaves nothing to the imagination.

I thoroughly enjoyed my listening and would highly recommend this podcast series, or a different series to listen to on a long car ride, or while you do simple tasks around the house, or while you have a cup of coffee in the morning.

 

Image Link:

https://bitcoinist.com/daily-bitcoin-fact-2-2/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Unconscious Thoughts

There are many theories as to why we dream, but one theory in particular has to do with Freud’s Theory of Dreams that said people’s dreams have an underlying and deeper meaning. The analysis of this theory looks at simple symbols and finds more complex meaning in them.   

When I was younger I used to have a recurring dream about a bouncy house. The dream was staged at a run down amusement park. Everything was black, brown and white and appeared like a movie flashback. The only colored object was a yellow Spongebob bouncy house near the back of the park. In the dream I entered the gateway and began walking down the dirt path. Once I got to the bouncy house, I climbed inside and started jumping. I was jumping all around when I suddenly fell down a hole in the corner of the bouncy house. I fell for a while and then hit a dirt floor. I looked around and I was in the middle of a circular room with a dirt floor, test tubes and pipes all over the walls, and chemicals bubbling. A scientist in a lab coat and mask came out and chained me to a wall, and then I woke up. I had this dream reoccur about ten times over the span of five months and I was very curious as to why this happened. 

Using the dream analysis website, http://www.dreamforth.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., I began to look up the significant symbols in my dream. I learned that being at a fair indicates that you have dealt with a troublesome issue in life, but want to start moving again. Jumping indicates that you are taking a risk or are making sudden progress. Pipes and tubes indicate a communication channel or pathway. 

I then linked the symbols together to come up with a reason as to why this dream occurred. Since I was at a fair, it would imply that I had dealt with a troublesome issue but wanted to move on from it. Since I was only about six when this dream began to occur, this issue probably wasn’t too great, but may have been to a six year old. I had probably hid my fruit cup or something under my bed and felt guilty that I didn’t tell my mother about it. When I started to jump, it would imply that I was taking a risk to move on and was making progress in doing so. Then, when the pipes and tubes appear at the end of the dream, which represent pathways, they would represent the pathway that I am on which is moving me away from that troublesome event. The recurring aspect of the dream would imply that the problem continued to bother me and the dream repeated to emphasize that I needed to move on. Once I stopped having the dream, it would be assumed that I had cleared my conscience and the issue was no longer relevant. 

This method of dream analysis is argued to be unreliable in some cases, but was still fun to come up with a potential reason why I may have had this dream.  

 

Image Links:

https://www.backdropexpress.com/Counting-Sheep-Poseable-Printed-Backdrop-p/psb-er-002.htm

https://architecture.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/722835/

 

Both Sides of the Story

My initial thought was that the text, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, illustrated that relationships aren’t necessary for development and interacting with others. The monster developed traits like sensitivity and was able to come up with a plan to interact with humans and introduce himself. When I proposed this idea during our class discussion, Michael mentioned that perhaps the monster actually required a lot of socialization. He brought up the point that the creature required so much socialization that he created a pseudo human interaction by watching Felix and his family from his hovel. He went further to make the point that being denied socialization can cause craziness, which is shown in the creature’s nature. After being rejected and denied socialization so many times, the creature sought vengeance, “My daily vows rose for revenge- a deep and deadly revenge, such as would alone compensate for the outrages and anguish I had endured” (Shelly 101).

This new take on the effect of relationships and socialization in the text offered a new perspective that I definitely wouldn’t have seen before. I found it very interesting to hear this take on the question and can see where Michael was coming from. After hearing his point of view, I now agree with the idea that watching others was enough to socialize the monster.

After hearing Michael’s argument, I related this new knowledge to the psychology of development and socialization. Before, I thought that a baby needed to interact with its parents in order to gain socialization. After hearing that the monster actually had socialization through a pseudo human interaction, I realized it could be possible for a baby to gain the same traits by watching television. I would be interested in seeing if there are any differences in human development based on how a baby is socialized.

Overall, I enjoyed the Socratic seminar because the open-ended questions allowed us to have a discussion that bounced ideas off of each other rather than having a bunch of separate ideas that had no relation. I liked being able to hear other people’s interpretations of the questions that differed or were similar to mine. I also enjoyed the novel as a whole and especially liked the fact that it related a lot to what I am learning in psychology: growth and development.

 

Image Link:

https://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-hear-both-sides-of-the-story/

Psychology in Frankenstein?

“The mildness of my nature had fled, and all within me was turned to gall and bitterness” (Shelly 100).

In my English class we are reading the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. When I read this quote from the novel I immediately thought about the popular question regarding whether people are born evil or if they are corrupted to become evil. I also thought of  how the creature’s changing and developing behaviors can be related to common debates in psychology. I related his behaviors to the nature vs. nurture debate. This debate discusses the extent to which your thoughts and behaviors are from genetics and to what extent they are developed from your experiences and environment.

I took this idea to Frankenbook, an online educational resource, and elaborated a bit more on how the creature specifically related to these psychological topics. I was happily surprised when my ideas were published. I had a little bit of doubt after reading many in depth and thought provoking discussions people had started. When my discussion was published I was also also began to feel like I was part of  something special. Many people have written on this cite and now my discussion is in the midst of everyone else’s. I enjoyed putting my input into Frankenbook and I hope that others comment on my discussion.

 

My entry can be found on this page: https://www.frankenbook.org/pub/book/content/3028d1a7-6c72-4604-80c7-02d8e05fbdc9

Comment what you think of my Frankenbook post down below!

 

 

Works Cited

“Frankenbook.” Frankenbook, http://www.frankenbook.org/.

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. Dover Publications, 2009.

 

Image Link:

https://www.acsh.org/news/2017/01/23/murky-history-nature-and-nurture-debate-10756

The Need to Turn the Nonliving into the Living

 

When I was younger, about 5, I had a yellow teddy bear named Ned. Ned came with me everywhere and was a more favorable equivalent to an imaginary friend since I could see him, however I still wished he was more like a person. I wanted to be able to talk to Ned and get a response. One night I was lying in bed and was staring into Ned’s black beady eyes asking him to talk to me and come to life. A week or so later, my friend Daisy had her birthday at Unbelievabills party place. The party had a wizard theme and they brought out a wand for light the cake. The wand appeared to perform real magic. I then decided that I would have my birthday party there so that I could get a wand and use it to make Ned come to life. I never acted on this idea and soon accepted that it wasn’t possible to turn a stuffed animal into a living creature, but even though he didn’t talk he was still real to me.

Victor Frankenstein was a man who also wanted make the nonliving come to life. He desired to create a new species by combining different aspects from the dead and bringing it to life. He took this desire to the next level by researching. He says that, “After days and nights of of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life . . . I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter” (Shelly 31). Frankenstein succeeded and watched the “dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs” (Shelly 35).

Just like Victor, I wanted to take something non-living and bring it to life. For me it was just a wish and a vision, whereas Victor may have gone to far when he made this dream into a reality.

Six Words Says it All

Spotlight turns on; bell tone plays.

I sing all day long; in the shower, in the hallways, and in the car. I can always be found humming the tune of a song from a Broadway show, or belting out the lyrics in my room. Theater is my passion, and with this passion comes the process of auditioning. I am constantly auditioning for various theater productions to either determine if I will get into the cast, or to determine what character I will play. For me this process if rather nerve wracking. Usually I walk into a theater with four casting directors all sitting at a long table. I walk up the stairs to the stage and introduce myself, saying my name and what song I will be singing. The lights come up and the spotlight is shining so brightly in my eyes that I can no longer see the panel of directors. I hear the bell tone (the first note of the song) play on the piano, and I know that is my cue to start singing, no matter how nervous I may be.

 

With this post, I would like to welcome my readers to my blog and I hope that this short memoir has helped you to learn a little more about me and what I enjoy doing.

https://www.sixwordmemoirs.com/story/?did=1181878

To view the site where the memoir itself was published, simply highlight the link, click right, and select “go to https://www.sixwordmemoirs.com/story/?did=1181878”.