Edible Art

First of all as someone who has spent 2.5 years working at DQ I must expound upon DQ ice cream cakes. At DQ Glen Ellyn we have about 120 ice cream cakes on hand. We do custom order cakes. This is where a lot of the complex cakes designs come from. The cakes are totally made of ice cream (no flour/cake involved). The middle is usually a fudge "cake crunch" (a crunchy chocolate covered in fudge) or a pie crust center. The sold center help the cake hold its shape. People come in with all kinds of ideas of what they want their cake to look like. In our store there is a photo album of some of the designs our cake decorator, Terry, has made. Some of the designs include drawings of babies and alphabet blocks for baby showers, dinosaurs, trucks, and every kind of sport. A cake that was ordered recently was made to be shaped like a cat and had some plastic decorations for the tail and collar. One of the most popular ways to decorate a cake is with a "deco" set, a set of plastic items that give the cake a theme. I have decorated a few cakes for last minute orders. One of the cakes was a bowling lane drawn with colored agar gel, then at the end of the lane was a set of mini bowling pins and a bowling ball. They were set to look as if the ball was just hitting the pins and the pins were shooting in every direction. On another cake the gel was used to make the cake to look like a baseball and had mini baseballs around the perimeter. Some people even bring their own items that they want incorporated into the cake. Besides the gels special edible spray color, butter creme icing, and edible images (photos) are used for decoration. You can eat "Hannah Montana's" face, or Uncle Bob's face. The tricky part to ice cream decoration is there is a time limit before the cake needs to be refrozen. Also some of the deco items insert better into soft ice cream while gels need to be on a totally frozen solid surface.





I also looked at a website that displayed various kinds of edible art. Some of the art included Japanese packaged meals shaped to become common objects, people placed in a food"scape", and vegetable sculptures. All of these artists put their own creative twist on "edible art."

http://weburbanist.com/2009/01/08/food-art-and-food-artists/

DUPAL Gallery

This week I went to the Gallery at the Dupage Art League. The month theme was "artist's choice" so there weren't any of intentional connections between the pieces that I was expecting to find. There were some great pieces though. One of my favourites was a piece entitled, "Watercolor Knowledge." The painting was (obviously) a watercolor. It displayed very good technique with many textures, expert washes/layer building, and composition. The most amusing part of the painting is the subject is an art studio library. Shelves filled with books of painting knowledge is translated into visual prowess through the painting. The use of light is particularly well done. Its highlights seem like blinding glare naturally found on plastic book covers, while the shadows provide a wide value scale.

The other piece that stuck out to me was called "Senior Hopscotch." It was a watercolor showing a scene in which senior citizens were doing hopscotch. One of my friend's "concentration" section of her AP Portfolio explored a similar idea. She created images through graphic design that showed older people (middle age and up) rediscovering their childhoods. There were images from older people jumping rope to sword fighting. All of the images had bold contours around the people/objects giving it a coloring book feel. Also the edges of the images faded out in a cloud-like manor showing the dream state of the elderly.

Favourite Artist- today Renoir

Call me indecisive, but I find it an impossible task to pick one favourite artist. However I do find myself continually drawn to some of the same artists, styles, and concepts. One of these artists is Renoir. I love the impressionist style, and the idea of creating something beautiful out of what would seem from up close as chaotic, messy blobs of color. Renoir's paintings are beautifully rendered, and the characters and scenes found in his paintings always seem to have some story behind the faces. They seem to hold secrets, their emotions come through their eyes, as if they are calling out to you, but cannot be heard.

As much as I am drawn to traditional paintings, I am very interested in how people in the past/present continually push the definitions of art. In Jr. High my art teacher (Joe Eddy Brown*) taught us, what he called, "street art". This literally meant finding something on the street (e.g. pop cans, litter, hubcaps) or on the side of the street (old electronics, things to be discarded that had some other creative potential) and incorporating those objects into three-dimensional artwork. One time we wrote a haiku and visually "made" the poem.

For a while I put this art in a different category in my developing definition of art. I wanted to learn "real" art, aka traditional drawing and painting techniques. Lately in my art journey I have incorporated some of his "non-traditional materials" art into a series of well, let's call them paintings. Some of those art pieces used lipstick as paint, grass, tissue paper, dried roses, resin, coffee, and inkjet transfer. I think the variety of art influences has made me a "multi-personality painter." For now I'm okay with that. I am open to learning many techniques and styles, and I look forward to learning about artists that will challenge and inspire my art journey (and the journeys of my future students.)

*Page 4 has a short article about a class he taught at DUPAL http://www.dupageartleague.org/DPALdata/DPAL/Newsletters/2009/11.pdf



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Red, White, and Purple

Identity, patriotism to womanism


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For a great American novel there is a lack of any feeling of patriotism, or at least patriotic feelings toward America. Despite the fact that some of the children (generation following Celie) joined the army it was never mentioned that it was for a noble cause, for America. The only strong representation of government in the novel was from the mayor's family. Sophia was greatly oppressed by this family. Her rights were denied her and she was treated unfairly. This incident is a symbol for how the larger government mistreated African Americans at this time. Instead of glorifying America at all Walker praises the nation of Woman. Her patriotism is moved to what she calls "womanisn". The woman nation has some infrastructure of support. Sophia is able to move in with her sister when she is first pregnant, and took that opportunity later. Squeak and Celie have their woman alliances and are able eventually to get out of their oppressed situations. Shug in a way is their leader, the liaison between the woman nation and the men. She is also an enforcer of policy (ending mr.'s beating Celie). Even still she can be considered a traitor for men being her weakness. The flag of the woman nation is purple and their anthem is "Hey Sister".

Invisible Woman

Woman as objects/concepts


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Thus far in The Invisible Man I've noticed that women in the novel are surprisingly invisible themselves. Their roles in Ellison's world are limited to being objects or concepts, but never characters. At the very beginning of the novel women are completely absent and the narrator is limited to his mind space where he contemplates his own invisibility. As the story progresses the first female introduced is the nude dancer previous to the "battle royal". The men see her as an object, a source of their amusement and sick pleasure. As any other object they try to control her, fighting for her as small children fight over their favorite toy, the same toy that they immediately forget when the next exciting thing is introduced.

In the novel the next amusement was the "battle royal" where the black men are treated in the same objective manor as they are to fight each other blindly. I'm not sure Ellison could get more obvious with a metaphor, not to say it was not well done. The black men fight blind folded each being seriously damaged in the process. They do not know who is punching them so they punch the airspace in front of them as a defense. Groups of the men form, then the victim changes. This is a direct metaphor for how the black community makes enemies of themselves without seeing the consequences of their trivial fighting and all the damage they cause each other.

Later the founder of the college was introduced and with him the concept of his daughter. His daughter was ill, but her complaints were ignored and she died. Perhaps this too is a metaphor for women who were fighting for their rights, but were getting nowhere and the feminist movement was dying down. The Invisible Man was first published in 1947 as American culture was approaching the extreme suppression of the woman and the enforcement of the perfect image of the subservient housewife. Nevertheless this girl was an inspiration for starting the college. She was merely an elevated concept, not a memory of a multidimensional person.

More Metamorphosis

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The Metamorphosis was not just about Gregor Samsa's transformation into a giant insect, but about how a whole family was transformed. Once Gregor was incapacitated we see how what really seemed like the only option at the time before for Gregor to be the provider for the family, was only one route. When he could no longer work, there was as afore mentioned role reversal. Yet the role reversal was not just limited to the parent/child relationship, but to the balance of male/female dominance in the household. The sister who was first introduced as being absent was arguably the most present character in the novel. In the beginning she was simply the knock from the next room asking about her brother's condition, then she was off to call a doctor and a locksmith. She became the source of hope and redemption for Gregor. His mental state greatly depended on her kindness.

Although she was the least "able" of their family, being a teenage girl, she was the one who took it upon herself to look after her brother in his new form and be a sort of mediator between he and their parents. Unfortunately this kindness did not last and after much abuse Gregor died; but because of his metamorphosis Grete was allotted some power in the family and his survival was in her hands. This is the reversal of how he previously monetarily provided for her and hoped for her future as a violinist. His future came to her hands. I believe the major difference in outcome was not necessarily her shallowness or evil, but their lack of communication cause their relationship to dwindle. Without relationship their bond became a two way burden (p.103).

Invisible Man

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Ralph Ellison's writing in The Invisible Man reminds me in a way of Oscar Wilde's writing. He writes some very philosophically packed passages as well as pithy statements about life. In the beginning of the novel the narrator speaks in somewhat abstract stream of consciousness style about light and power.

"That is why I fight my battle with Monopolated Light & Power. The deeper reason, I mean: It allows me to feel my vital aliveness. I also fight them for taking so much of my money...In my hole in the basement there are exactly 1,369 lights...Nothing, storm or flood, must get in the way of our need for light and ever more and brighter light. The truth is the light and light is the truth."

Ellison uses the symbolism of light to take the manic man's literal need for light to show a deeper search for truth. The double entendre of the "storm or flood" sentence shows that he is not only showing how desperately he and the "junk man" want to create a most lit space, but that one should not let anything stand in the way of you and the truth. The narrator experiences this lesson later as his becomes a story of overcoming the half-truths that he has been told all his life. It also shows existential ideas that occur in this novel. Light is action and light is the truth; thus light is the truth. The narrator's action is putting the light space together, his existence is literally that action. If he is the summation of his actions then he is truly a "light seeker".

ahem *Kafka

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The role reversal in The Metamorphosis is what stuck out to me the most. Two years ago C.J. Vana and I preformed an eight minute cut from the screenplay Proof by David Auburn. The Metamorphosis has a lot of parallels to it. Proof is told with many flashbacks and even an actor plays the father in the present as he is the hallucination of the daughter after he died. Through this more complicated way of story telling you see the story of Katherine and her father. When she was a child her father raised her, however once her father's mental illness took over she had to move back in with him and be his caretaker. Later, at least in Katherine's mind, her father guides her after his death and it seems the roles reverse once again.

Similarly Gregor Samsa was cared for by his parents as a child. Then once his parents were unable to care for he and his sister the roles reversed and he took care of them. Because of their debt he took responsibility for the family' s finances. Not only that, but Kafka hints at that he took care of them physically too, as it is mentioned that he would help support his father as he walked (p112) and he was sensitive to his mother's asthma. This is parallel to Katherine's taking responsibility for her father. Gregor had the role reversal once more when he transformed into the large insect and his parents had to take charge of him once again. In both instances being reclaimed by their parental figures was not good news. For Katherine it meant she was probably afflicted with the same mental illness that her father died from; for Gregor it meant the complete end to his freedom and obviously it was no good being a bug!

Purple

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I'm feeling quite purple at the moment. Currently I'm wearing purple pants, drinking a purple berry soy shake, and meditating on The Color Purple. The pants don't fit, the drink is kind of gross, but the book is just right. I was just thinking about how Celie becomes the maker and deliverer of pants. "Wearing the pants" is supposed to show who has the power in a relationship/ who has masculine or independent qualities. These are the qualities the Celie has always lacked, and are a direct contrast to her position at the beginning of the novel when she was a subservient, used and abused woman.

The Invisible Man is such a contrast to The Color Purple. It is amazing the difference of reading a man's writing versus a woman's. Although both Walker and Ellison have similar themes of oppression and being the "mule of the world" Ellison's work is more descriptive of a brutal violence. There are fights and mugging and sick pure hatred described in vivid detail. The Color Purple is violent, yes, but I think it comes off less violent based on the speaker of the novel being pure hearted and the language being conversational. Ellison writes without a limit to the mental and physical range of the human experience. He takes you from an indifferent violent mugging, to philosophical ponderings, to a lust-filled nude dace scene, to animalistic fighting, back to a dignified speech. The violence in The Color Purple is fairly consistent throughout. The woman's writing style is more characterized by pain that sinks in, but is not said; the man's is characterized by pain that is felt and said, but does not sink in.

Cry, the Beloved Country- Absalom Bible vs. Novel

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The redemption story was repeated throughout the novel. It not only specifically alluded to the Bible, but it mirrored many stories in it as well. Kumalo originally went a great distance to tend to his "sick" sister. This is comparable to Jesus coming to Earth to heal the sick and offer redemption. When Kumalo came he found his mission was to help Gertrude out of the sinful life she was in. Gertrude was a lot like the disciples when Jesus was crucified. When it came time for her to take action with him, that is to say when they were moving back to Ndotsheni she was not to be found. Also Absalom was a lot like the character Absalom in the Bible. In the Bible story Absalom was a son of David. It was Solomon who was to get the thrown after King David, but Absalom wanted power. He rebelled against his father, the king, with his army. During the battle Absalom's hair got caught in a tree and as he hung there Joab killed him. “Now Absalom happened to meet David's men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom's head got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.” (2 Samuel 18:9) Joab said, "I'm not going to wait like this for you." So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom's heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree.” (2 Samuel 18:14) King David grieved over his rebellious and wished that he had died instead. In Cry, the Beloved Country Absalom rebelled against his father. He was punished by others (the government) for his crimes and similarly to the Biblical Absalom he hung. Through it all the father was always merciful.

The Color Purple

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The first thing I thought of when I started this book was of Toni Morrison's Beloved. Both Sethe and Celie are oppressed black women who have been severely abused by men. They are both controlled by forces beyond them. They also live in an odd secluded community of women. In a way Sophia and Shug are as Beloved is to Sethe. Sophia and Shug are everything Celie is not. They have independence from men, and love and respect from them. They stand up for themselves and do what they think. They also find some joy in life. Celie is chronically joy deprived. She has used numbness as a defense mechanism, yet because of that she has never felt real happiness. Her happiness only comes as she finds people that care about her. So far it has only been Sophia and Shug who have shown any hinting of affection. Even the church attendants don't show love. They can't accept her for who she is and how she is. Just like Sethe she has been socially quarantined.

More on the Beloved Country- the mountain

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The ultimate redemption story of the many found in Cry, the Beloved Country was that of Old Jarvis and Stephen Kumalo. I really like how Patton took a break from the story line that followed Kumalo and Absalom and at the beginning of Book II he focused solely on the Jarvis's side of the tragedy. This way it makes the reader even more sympathetic toward the Jarvis's just as the reader begins to really sympathize and root for Absalom. It is yet another way Patton shows how situations are complicated and can't be oversimplified. There is not always a right or wrong answer. Also by showing how the murder hurt Kumalo so deeply comparing him to the apathetic John Kumalo it makes the story of Jarvis and Kumalo even more touching. Patton really carves out the character of each person in the novel by using foils; John and Stephen, Harrison and Old Jarvis, Gertrude and Absalom's wife, Mrs. Lithebe and Mrs.Kumalo. Each person is compared to the other to establish how they could react and how they do. When Old Jarvis is compared to Harrison it is clear how he could be bitter and negatively react to Kumalo. The young Jarvis is compared to Jesus and to Abraham Lincoln, his death facilitated the possible coming together of Old Jarvis and Kumalo. When Old Jarvis helped the people of Ndotsheni with the milk, the land expert, and the new church he models his actions after his own son. Through the short communication that Kumalo and Jarvis have they establish a very profound relationship. Kumalo and the community mourn with Jarvis, Jarvis mourns with Kumalo. In the most memorable quote of the book, "Is there mercy?" Jarvis shows mercy and empathy. At the end of the novel the two were at the mountain together. The mountain is a symbol of being in the presence of God (allusion to Moses going to the mountain to be in the presence of God, and then receiving the Ten Commandments). Together they have experienced redemption and end together at the mountainside.

The Age of Innocence- May

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On the other hand I was initially disappointed with May. She was essentially an object- a perfect porcelain doll, cold, beautiful, and fake. She was supposed to be the example, the epitome of perfection, but she seemed to entirely lack any sort of sophistication. She seemed to lack any opinion. Edith Wharton brings up the question, "what is innocence?" May seems to be innocent. She does not know of the evil of the world, nor does she carry any guilt. Merriam-Webster (have I mentioned it's my favourite dictionary?) defines innocence as " freedom from guilt or sin through being unacquainted with evil: freedom from guile or cunning : simplicity (2) : lack of worldly experience or sophistication e : lack of knowledge." Is this really May? Going back to Little Women May is a lot like Meg. Underneath the quiet compliant girl, there is a strong woman. Both characters feel it's unattractive to reveal the strong woman side of them. Although May is innocent in many respects it is more of an appearance, and just as everyone else her innocence fades over time. Clearly May did know of evil as she was clearly aware of Newland Archer's last affair with the married woman. Also she cannot help but gain knowledge.

There is a fine line between innocence and ignorance and as we fully find out at the end of the novel she was aware. May spoke in code. She often spoke of Ellen and it was always kind and never accusatory. I thought perhaps she was just as oblivious as Charles Bovary and was encouraging the affair without knowing it. However, as revealed by Theodore after she died, she knew all along and she felt that she and Newland were speaking the same coded language. This was perhaps her way gaining some feeling of power in the relationship, whereas if she brought it up to Newland face to face she would only lose. If she were to speak to him bluntly she could cause a public disruption if their marriage fell apart. At least with keeping things hush-hush even she and Newland could pretend everything was alright. Also early in the novel May claimed that she could not be happy at another's expense. Yet, she goes to Newland to tell her that she is pregnant and before that goes to Ellen. She knew what she was asking, and although I don't think she was wrong to ask it, I bet she did feel guilt about it. Her going behind his back was also a little guileful.

The Age of Innocence- Ellen

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My feelings about Ellen Olenska and May Wellend/Archer in The Age of Innocence have changed throughout the novel. At first I distrusted Ellen because of her seemingly flirtatious nature. She was intriguing because of her daring to break from social norms. Ellen wears different fashions, speaks her opinion boldly (without encrypting it in the socially regulated language), and takes actions of her own choosing without being swayed by outside persuasion. It was disappointing to me when she claimed she wanted to fit in and be taught what to do. She seemed to blind to the trap she was welcoming. I wanted to yell, "No, Ellen, don't lose your mind to their world!" As there continued to be evidence of an affair with Beaufort I distrusted her more. Yet, her spark of individuality, and love of art won me back.

I've come to the opinion that her behavior that seemed flirtatious came from her culture of the arts she was used to in Europe. Before she came to New York she lived with the Count, around actors, writers, and painters. These people are concerned with the drama of what is said, and the effect of it. After a while being with these people (as I've somewhat experienced through Literary Festivals, Theatre productions, Speech performances, Choir, Band, and Art Festivals) one can't help but feel that one is always performing. Artsy people are intense, and always odd. They communicate dramatically, totally different than the Old New York way of putting one's opinion in the framework of the rules and regulations that have been set forth. Ellen reminds me of Jo from Louisa May Alcott's Little Woman. She is sometimes shocking, but has good intentions deep down inside. Therefore I don't take her flirtation as coquettishness. When Ellen and Archer recognized their love for each other she behaved admirably. She was self-sacrificial for the situation that was best for everyone. Her character was once again like Jo's when she cut her hair to get money that the family needed. The family was put before her desires. Like May I believe she didn't want her happiness to come from another's sadness. She ultimately showed this when she decided to move back to Europe when she found out about May's pregnancy.

Cry, the Beloved Country

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Cry, the Beloved Country has been my favorite book so far this year. It had a few obstacles while reading it though. For instance when people spoke there were no quotations. There were dash marks, but sometimes the speech was embedded in a paragraph. Also the native African languages made the reading of it more difficult, and more interesting as well. The story was one of redemption. It was beautifully written with language like poetry. Patton used repetition often as a way of reinforcing the importance of what was said. He also used it to be what I call an "echo" effect where the same phrase was repeated over and over. For instance when Stephen Kumalo came to visit his son, Absalom, at the prison he would say something to Absalom, and Absalom would weakly repeat it. It was as if he didn't know what was happening, that he like the echo was far away only distantly hearing what was said.

Cry, the Beloved Country is also similar to The Odyssey. Stephen Kumalo has to go on a long journey and as he is traveling he is constantly taken into a new direction. Before he even got on the train Sibeko, a person from Stephen's community, asks for him to look for his sister when he was in Johannesburg. Once in Johannesburg he was led astray by the boy who seemed to be helping him. Then once he found his sister and started looking for his son every time they got close to where he might be he was gone and they were lead to yet another destination. They meet many obstacles as they traveled such as the bus boycott and issues with white police authority.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

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What a great painting! It's so perfect for this book. The hideousness is the perfect representation of Dorian's soul. This book was so eerie. It gave me chills as Dorian Gray went from an innocent young man to the most cold and demon hearted individual. The Picture of Dorian Gray brought up a lot of he same themes as The Importance of Being Ernest, but they were shown in a much darker way with more serious consequences. The most obvious theme was appearance. However, unlike Madame Bovary and A Doll's House it was not concerned with how getting caught up in the trivial details of appearance (the latest fashion, a beautiful house, lovely furnishings etc.) is corrupting, but rather how appearance effects behavioral interaction. With out his unceasing youth Dorian may have learned that there are consequences to evil actions. Yet, does this excuse him? There are still consequences to his actions, many die because of him (Sibyl Vane, Basal, James, Allen Campbell) . He continues the destructive behavior because he has learned to not care the more he kills. Therefore without the bodily consequence to evil doing he only harms others. Wilde mocks society for putting their trust into appearance and not character. He simplifies women to this pursuit of appearance. Through Henry the idea of the strength of influence and mentoring is discussed. Does Henry, being Dorian's mentor have responsibility for Dorian's action? Wilde questions morality and the formation of what is or is not moral through Henry's terse speeches on society.

No Exit

"Damn! Damn! Damn!" - Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady


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In the last few months I have read three different books centered around Hell: Dante's Inferno, The Screwtape Letters, and No Exit. They were all distinctly different. These differences are reflective of the authors' time periods and messages they meant to send. Dante's Inferno was written during the Italian Renaissance. His purpose in writing the Divine Comedy was to challenge specific people in his contemporary society. The format of Dante's work was in poetry. Therefore his Hell was aimed at the more educated that would understand and appreciate his art. The Screwtape Letters was published in 1942 in the midst of World War II. C.S. Lewis's intended audience was Christians. His Hell included ideas that are at least somewhat biblically based and the issues he addresses would be familiar to a Christian audience. As evidenced by the title, the format of the book is a correspondence. His Hell is seen from one side (demon's perspective) whereas Dante's Hell is seen from a narrator, and many different characters throughout the book. Sartre's Hell in No Exit is seen from only the perspective of the sufferers of Hell. The format of the work is in a play. Thus Sartre's audience is much broader being aimed at the general public. Hell in Sartre's play is shown with a message of existentialism. His play says "we are but the summation of our actions," and "Hell is other people." C.S. Lewis's book aims to show the intricacies of the spiritual realm; and Dante's work shows the seriousness of sins on Earth. Hell means different things to different people in different settings. This is evident through these three Hell centered books as they portray different messages through the same setting through different formats to very different audiences.

A Doll's House

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"I have forgiven you."

This statement is so important for Tor to make. It has meaning on many different levels. Tor, as the paternalistic/chauvinistic man he is makes this statement as an expression of his power over Nora. He considers himself to be her guardian feels the need to forgive her as one would a child. The statement serves also as a biblical allusion. It could refer to the general theme of forgiveness in the Bible, but it could also refer to when the Lord Jesus was dying on the cross and said "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." By Tor using this statement of forgiveness to Nora for something she was not aware she needed forgiveness for, it shows that he sees himself as omnipotent and God-like. The statement is also very ironic because he is the one who needs forgiveness for his behavior toward Nora, his distrust and disrespect.

"I have forgiven you" is also a key moment for Nora. As soon as Tor makes this statement Nora goes through the door. This is symbolic of her moving from ignorance to knowledge. From this point forward she is able to think for herself and able to take action based off of those thoughts. The line "I have forgiven you" the climax of the play. From this line Ibsen is able to introduce the scandalous idea that women are people with great power and can take action.

Madame Bovary

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The theme in Madame Bovary that stuck out the most to me was the theme of escape. Throughout the novel Emma is constantly looking for an escape from her reality. This could be attributed to the death of her mother at a young age and her father’s subsequent actions that brought her into an unfamiliar environment at that very sensitive and impressionable time. His solution to Emma’s lack of a woman role model was to get her out of the situation she was in: give her an escape. From this she learned that when life gets tough or doesn’t turn out the way one thinks it should the thing to do is change one’s environment. This lesson was affirmed through every novel she read. Since she couldn’t physically change her environment when she lived at the convent she turned to the novels to be the escape for her mind. From there on Emma went from mental escape to physical escape. The next escape was once again provided by her father as he helped her “escape” from the convent. Of course, as soon as she was home she wanted to escape from home back to the convent; that is, until Charles came into the picture. To her Charles was her dream escape incarnate. He represented an ultimate escape from her childhood and from her father. But the dream could not last. As soon as Emma does not get her way with a midnight wedding she looks for escape. As an adult she finds the escape through materialism, excessive buying, moving to a new town, lovers, religion, and continuing the novels.

Tom Jones Excerpt

I'm very relieved to read some comedy. All the Hell books (Dante, No Exit, and The Screwtape Letters) were getting a bit depressing. I thinks the funniest part of the excerpt from Tom Jones was the contrast of style and action. It was so cartoony. I can imagine Henry Fielding watching two women cat fight from a distance. He turns to his companion, in eighteenth century garb of course, as he pretends to be a sports announcer, or as it just so happens to be, an epic poet. The men would chuckle, then Fielding, the snarky man he is, goes home and writes it all down. The narrator calls upon "the muse" to help him describe this event, as if it is a divine battle. This method is used in Oedipus, and Gilgamesh. Yet the miss match of language and action creates the effect of either confusion or comedy. At first reading this section I was a little confused. I wasn't quite sure what I was reading.

This same technique was used in Ella Enchanted when the stepmother, Dame Olga, writes a letter to her daughter. She describes a social event that was obviously boring to every one else in flowery language. It becomes even more humorous as the overly romantic language is misspelled in several places and the letter contains many grammatical mistakes. I'm trying to mimic this technique in a poem for Southwinds. It's a bit different though because I'm not going for a humorous effect, but rather looking at the daily routine (for some) of putting make up on in a new light of applying a protective mask. Perhaps you can tell me how successful it is once it's finished.


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The Importance of Being Earnest

I found this book ridiculous and hilarious!

A "comedy of manners" is defined as: "A comedy concerned with the social actions and behavior of members of a highly sophisticated, upper-class society. Low-class characters are normally subordinate in interest or are played against the foibles of their 'betters'. Such comedy emphasizes wit, whether true of false, and more often that not take an arch view of the love game." How closely does Earnest fit this description?

Earnest definitely fits this description. Wilde's satirical style makes practically every other line some sort of jab at society. He challenges social order, marriage, and morality through characters that are more caricatures than flesh and blood. They speak with such certainty on rules that society has unknowingly agreed upon, that it comes off as very humorous and makes one think that people are as senseless as sheep.


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The status of females in this play is atrocious. However since it is a satire it is only a representation in the extreme of how women really are considered in Victorian society. Even still the point Wilde makes is that women have no respect as being fully human. They are represented as very simple to the point of being comparatively lacking in mental development compared to the men. The young girls in the story are hung up on he idea of being married to an "Ernest". They have no consideration to the character of the men they are ready to share their lives with, quite the opposite actually. Cecily has already invented the man she wants her love to be before they even met. It's as if the women cannot distinguish between fact and fiction. They have taken the role of play write of their lives and are simply waiting for the proper man, named Ernest of course, to audition for the role. Thus they only care about the appearance of the play, the look of the characters, rather than the person who plays the role. Miss Prism is so unable to distinguish between fact and fiction that she is able to confuse a script for a baby! To her each had an equal life, each a dear creation to her. Yet this value put into a fictional world could be what gets the women by day by day. Without the script, love letters, and other general delusions the women are left in a lonely world with men who treat them as the dolls they become. They are trapped in a reality constructed with facades that must not be broken.

When Lilacs Las in the Dooryards Bloom'd

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It took reading through this poem a few times for me to understand it. At first I was getting lost in the different parts of it. There were lilacs, death's song, a coffin, a western star, a battle scene, and a singing bird. Once I read the little commentary that followed the poem that said it was about the death of Abraham Lincoln it became much more clear. What I like about the poem is what caused my confusion early on. I like how Whitman uses his description as a way to build an atmosphere; the mood is established through snippets of one scene and snatches of another. It is a poetic montage. The first image is that of the lilacs in the yard. This established the setting of late spring and a neighborhood setting. These symbolize the time of Lincoln's death in April and the neighborhood bonding that the nation experienced following his death. Later he uses spurts of emotional passages to express the feelings of mourning. The repetition of phrases helps convey that pouring of emotions: "O powerful...O shades...O great...O cruel...O harsh".

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There is also some very strong imagery, "song of the bleeding throat", later balanced out with delicate images of flowers, "O death, I cover you over with roses and early lilies." Just for kicks I looked up some flower symbolism. One website (http://www.teleflora.com/about-flowers/lily.asp) says that lilies are the May birth flower. Roses represent secrecy/ confidentiality. Perhaps that statement was meant to say, let us quietly remember the late president, and welcome the new president.

Dante's Inferno

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This book is similar to Shakespeare's plays in that it has an odd combination of the modern Christianity of the time, ancient mythology, and literary figures combined in one setting. It reminds my of dreams. There are many character that are very familiar, but they interact in a setting were it is unlikely that they wold ever meet. The characters cross cultures and time periods. The book as a whole is very anti-biblical. This could be because during this time period common people did not have access to the bible and had to rely on the small bits of Latin text that the clergy would share. It is very interesting how Dante is so literal in the punishment he chooses for the characters. It shows how sin is hurtful on Earth, but in Hell all pleasure from it is gone and all that is left is the hurtful part of the sin. I imagine Dante's Inferno was even more amusing to read to its first audience. They would be able to pick up on all the references to the people. It would be the Saturday Night Live of Renaissance Florence: political jabs with a Hellish twist.

I Want You Women Up North to Know ...Continued

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The "bourgeois poet" section is an odd shift in style. "Bourgeois" means middle class or relating toward mediocrity. The bourgeois poet could represent the average citizen, one who is in the middle ground having objectivity and the ability to distinguish right from wrong. This poet has a strong usage of metaphor. The first metaphor compares the sewing women's hands to the motions of gulls, then to lightening, then to a dance. Next the motions are compared to music, even her cough is put in a good light being "gay, quick, staccato", tremolo of pain.

The bourgeois poet then mimics the wage decrease for the women. Naming this as the reason for prostitution "for five cents (who said this was a rich man's world?) you can get all the lovin you want." The next line shows the desperate reasoning that the women have. "clap and syph aint much worse that sore fingers, blind eyes, and t.m." Clap is a slang term for gonorrhea and syph is short for syphilis. Therefore they are saying that s.t.d.'s aren't that much worse than the pain they put into the low wage labor of sewing so the money of prostitution seems worth the risk in their situation.

The Screwtape Letters

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The Screwtape Letters is an awesome book. I really admire how C.S. Lewis can intertwine deep meaning into a very interesting and relatable narrative. He does this most notably in The Chronicles of Narnia through the traditional prose format. However, in The Screwtape Letters his format is a very large part of the success of the work over all. The book is a collection of letters from an experienced demon to a new inexperienced demon. The elder, known as Uncle Screwtape, gives the younger advice on how to tempt a soul to join "their father's" (the Devil) side. We only get the letters from Screwtape, and none from the young demon. Therefore perspective is very important to the telling of this story. Everything seems so ironic because Screwtape is cheering for Hell's side of the spiritual battle. All his advice focuses on the perversion of natural and good things. The concept that he reiterates is that the demons cannot create anything, they can only take what is already created and change the intended purpose to cultivate ungodly characteristics in humans. He has a solid grasp of spiritual truths, however he has one concept that he cannot grasp that keeps him on Hell's side: the Enemy's (God's) love. His tragic flaw is that he believes that God must have some hidden motive; why else would give give such complete love and grace?



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Through the correspondence a few stories are told. The most prominent story is that of the soul that the young demon is in charge of tempting. His story starts with him as a young man and continues until his death. The reader sees his struggles and successes, presented as opposite. At the same time the young demon has his own struggles in becoming a good tempter. Uncle Screwtape tells little bits of his story on how he got to the high rank he's in over the years, as well as his pondering of the "Enemy's" true intentions.

The book has serious themes of life's struggles and temptations, while still often maintaining a very humorous tone. It always seemed odd to me how the elder demon signed his letters "your affectionate Uncle, Screwtape." They're demons, you'd think they are only evil and never "affectionate." Lewis personifies the demons very well while still maintaining logical motives for their work as tempters. Altogether I thought the book was genius! Lewis presents very deep theological concepts in an interesting and relatable way.