HTRLLAP Chapter 20

          'Daffodils' by Mark Slaughter encompasses the use to season to describe setting and provide information. Without the word "April," I would not have know when daffodils bloomed, nor would I probably have cared enough to find out. However, by including this one word to show the time of year, Slaughter connects the poem together, by showing both the daffodils and their state of bloom, while the reader can interpret their own Spring-ish background to the story.

I fell in love –
Taken by the innocence of 
Child-face daffodils: 

Their perky April fanfares – 
Clarion calls from yellow-ochre brass bands
Presaging, rejoicing, calling us: 

‘Here we are! Here we are! ’

HTRLLAP Chapter 19

          Geography is very important in George Orwell's Animal Farm. The farm itself is of course geography, it's size shows how even a vast area can be taken over by just one charismatic dictator, Napoleon the pig. The windmill is geography, it symbolizes the "prosperity" of Animal Farm, by showing they had the resources to built it, when in reality slave labor and existing materials were used to construct it. The farmhouse in which the pigs begin to live in once they assume more control is another method of using setting to progress the plot. The farmhouse is where the dictatorial farmer Jones lived, and when the pigs move in, it shows their final step in becoming exactly what they once despised: humans. Lastly, the barn on the farm is the last important part of geography in the novel. The barn is the last untouched, uncorrupted part of the farm. It's the only pure, healthy, and operational part of the farm that remains after the pigs take over.

HTRLLAP Chapter 18

          While reading this chapter, I realized that a baptism doesn't have to involve religion at all, but water is often a key factor. One of my favorite fiction works, Cormac McCarthy's The Road has a literary baptism that drastically impacts the father and son and the rest of the novel. When the father and son arrive at the ocean, they see a ship and the father swims out to it to scavenge for food and supplies. He obviously gets very, very wet. When he returns to land, he finds his and his son's shopping cart of supplies has been stolen. When they track down the perpetrator, the father takes everything back from the man, and more. He takes even the clothes from his back.
          This symbolic swim changed the father. Before, he wouldn't have been so severe to someone who simply stole their stuff, he would have just grabbed it back, made some threats, and left with his son. However, after he risks his life getting to the boat, he realizes that anyone who hurts his and his son's chances of survival basically needs to die. If not by his own hand, the resulting cold from being naked will do. If the son hadn't intervened and made his father give the man his initial belongings back, he would have certainly died a slow, agonizing death.

HTRLLAP Chapters 16 & 17

          One of the most memorable books I read in AP Lit last year (and totally hated at the time) was Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. There is some seriously implied sex in the novel, especially when Heathcliff and Isabella get married. Heathcliff, who has no real interest in poor Isabella, lets her become enamored with him as revenge because she is Catherine's sister in law, when all he really wants is Catherine. So they elope and get married as the ultimate act of defiance to Edgar and Catherine, and some sexy times are seriously implied here. This helps develop Heathcliff's character as brutal and ruthless, he did get married to/ have sex with this poor woman just to make Catherine jealous, and Edgar angry. It also shows he's fairly lacking in the feelings department. It also symbolizes the ending of Isabella's freedom and happiness, because she lives most of the rest of her short life essentially imprisoned at Wuthering Heights. Then she dies after Linton in born, showing Heathcliff stole her innocence and her life.

HTRLLAP Chapter 15

          Greek Mythology is some of my favorite fiction ever. It's a whole bunch of stories basically saying you should listen to people who either know what they're talking about/ have power in a situation. My favorite Icarus's Wax Wings (I don't know if this is the title, but it's what I've decided to title it). Icarus is trapped on Crete with his craftsman father, Daedalus, who makes him some wax and feather wings that he can use to fly far away from the island. Daedalus warns him not to fly too close to the sun, because the wings will melt. Icarus blows him off, flies too high, his wings melt, and he falls and drowns. (Although, because of the height he likely fell from, drowning wouldn't be his largest problem. From a certain distance, falling onto water would be more like hitting concrete because of the surface tension...) So even though Icarus "drowns," his flight was symbolic of freedom up until his wings melted. He was escaping his life and struggles, and intended to start anew elsewhere.

Poor guy. Shoulda listened to your Pops.

HTRLLAP Chapter 14

          Shrek is a christ-figure. I think. Not being too familiar with Christianity, (I have a limited background in the business with an Atheist Mumsy and an I-Work-All-The-Time Dad being my outlets to learning stuff) so I might not be super accurate here, but I'm going to try.
          Shrek is awesome. He kicks butt and does what he wants, which isn't super Jesus-y, but he does meet some page 119 criteria. He gets shot in the butt with an arrow (close enough to the side), he's in agony over his land becoming a fairy tale creature refugee camp, he is eventually good with his adorable little ogre children, he's probably in his 30s, he totally has a donkey friend, spends time alone in the wilderness, he was confronted by the "devil" (Prince Charming's nutty Mommy, in Shrek 2. This was the worst one of the four, by the way), and used to be around thieves and other various jerks.

Bam, Christ Shrek.

HTRLLAP Chapter 13

          To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is beyond a doubt very political. In Foster's words, the book isn't political, it's "political." It wasn't written to make people think just about politics, and it wasn't meant to anger people either. It's "political," a novel where the politics creep in subtly under the plot, not dominating it. In Harper Lee's iconic novel, the politics seep in when Atticus Finch is defending the black man accused of murder (whose name I do not remember...) in court. he is found guilty by (surprise, surprise) an all white jury. In the south in the 1940s/50s, this was common and racism was rampant. While Lee never goes out and says trying blacks under this screwy justice system is wrong, she implies it through Scout's unhappiness during the proceedings.

HTRLLAP Chapter 12

          The fence is James Joyce's "Araby" contains several symbols. First off, being a fence, it's job is to separate and contain something, such as animals, but it has a secondary purpose to keep other things, like unwanted visitors, out. This shows how Mangan's sister is contained, she is restricted and has little freedom from behind the fence that contains her. It also symbolizes how the unnamed protagonist is being kept out of her life, and away from her. Even further, it represents an age gap. Mangan's sister is presumably older than him and our protagonist, and is out of his reach in both friendship and love. While the fence is really only just a fence, it shows how our protagonist and Mangan's sister will never be able to really know one another.

HTRLLAP Chapter 11

          One of my favorite fiction works is And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, and it is a wonderful example of character-on-character violence, with on man, the Judge, essentially killing off ten other people single handedly for crimes they committed but could not be imprisoned for due to lack of evidence. This character-on-character violence shows the reader the severe brutality of this man, and comes off as evil and vile.
          The other type of violence, "accidental" violence, is where the author is the one to kill the characters. It seems like an accident in the novel, but really is planned and has a deeper meaning. In Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman"Willy Loman dies in a tragic car accident after he realizes his family would benefit more from the life insurance money resulting from his death than having him alive. This is accidental, author-inflicted violence because it is more tragic and heartbreaking, instead of simply violence for violence's sake.

HTRLLAP Chapter 10

          Now, if I'm remembering correctly, in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brönte, when Heathcliff proposes to Cathy's daughter Isabella, there is a violent rainstorm right before. It symbolizes the violent future the could will have together, since Heathcliff is so bitter. It helps to set the mood for the rest of the piece, as dangerous and violent.
          Not in terms of plot, weather can enhance the mood entire works. Dry, desert conditions show the desperation or depression of the characters, while constantly rainy conditions can show the boredom and disinterest of other characters.

HTRLLAP Chapter 9

Hades dwells upon the deep
The souls that die he has to keep.
As they cross the deadly river
and their souls begin to whither
he laughs and boasts
as they roast
in his fiery hell.


Zeus resides up in the sky
Over everything that can fly.
He rules the gods with bolts of lightning
his mere face can be frightening.
He can trounce
the post powerful pounce
Oh, the powerful Zeus.

HTRLLAP Chapter 8

          One piece that I also read in junior high (I think that's all I did, for a while I read through a new 200 page book everyday) is Beastly by Alex Flinn. This book is basically a modern day Beauty and the Beast, which is both a traditional fairytale and beloved Disney classic. The parallels are as follows: jerk guy has a spell cast on him to make him ugly, he must be loved to return to his normal state, a girl in a tough situation gets essentially taken prisoner, she eventually falls in love with him, has to go away, but comes back where she says she loves him and he changes back into his human form.
          I hate this book, because it's a total copout. The author barely creates any part of her own plot, so the entire novel is ironic because it's supposed to be this touching teen romance but is totally just the Disney version set in modern day. There are other books, like Ella Enchanted that allude to fairytales as well (Cinderella) that take creative license such as Ella getting run over by a horse, which deepens appreciation.

HTRLLAP Chapter 7

          While I am not exactly familiar with the bible, I was able to see some allusions in Joyce's short story "Araby." First, a priest dies in the house, a boy goes to a Christian school, a woman collects stamps for pious reasons, and the aunt says "night of Our Lord." As well, the main storyline is very much the "Adam and Eve" theme. Boy meets girl, is obsessed with girl, and would do anything for her. Then he gets off track a little. There's even a reference to an apple tree, like in the Garden of Eden, which symbolizes temptation.

HTRLLAP Chapter 6

           The work that I'm most familiar with that famously alludes to Shakespeare is The Lion King (not a literary work, I know, but good none the less). Disney writers allude to Hamlet in many ways. Mufasa is killed by his jerk brother Scar to gain power, and Hamlet Sr. is axed by Claudius for the same reason. Then, Claudius/Scar convince Hamlet/Simba that everything is their fault, and drive them to run away and eventually find friends in unlikely places. Then of course the hero Hamlet/Simba come back and kill their evil uncles to gain the power that is rightfully theirs. This theme of the hero triumphing against all odds is common in other works too, such as The Hunger Games, but is most closely related in Disney's The Lion King.

HTRLLAP Chapter 5

Intertextuality: the shaping of a text's meaning by another text.

Examples:

1. Eveline by James Joyce was very similar to that book I referred to from the introduction that I can't remember that title of. They both feature female protagonists hell bent on changing their lives for the better, and in my head, neither exactly succeeds. Eveline is stuck in Ireland with her abusive dad, and the girl from the book abandons her family who may or may not need her to learn, which she does feel guilty about. So having read the book, reading Eveline was very easy, because I knew they would have the same eventual meaning.

2. Not surprisingly, there's another book I read in junior high that that I don't remember the title or character's names but can totally remember the entire plot. This book and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and very much related to me. In the book with no memorable title, the teen protagonist breaks social norms by exiting his family's survival bunker after a supposed nuclear holocaust, while Huck Finn does the same thing, breaks social norms by running away from his guardian, his dad, and most of the aspects of his life. This breaking of social boundaries by teenage boys (or close to it, how old is Huck?) helped me connect the two novels and understand Huck Finn significantly more because his actions didn't seem so out of left field to me.

3. The Odyssey by Homer was really confusing to me freshman year until I related it to Shrek. I know, strange. I realized the basic structure is the same for both: a quest. Male protagonists going off to save princesses and have to kick butt along the way. I would never have understood a word of Homer if I hadn't been able to pull elements of Shrek into the piece to almost translate it.

Okay, this is funny. Each of these examples I used contains an older piece or classic and a newer piece. It seems like I read all the newer pieces first and used them to understand the older ones, even though they'd actually been written later!

HTRLLAP Chapter 4

All sonnets sourced from sonnet.org

Arthur J Lockhart - Lux et Umbra

In the black flower of midnight--at the heart

And midmost auricle of secrecy,

There lies the golden fire-seed that shall be

The day's broad blossom. Softly fall apart

The silken leaves of dreams; and lo! thou art,

Sweet morn of expectation, dewy-drest!

While all the spectres that the dark infest,

Soon as the East doth his keen lances dart,

Show angel faces. Why avert the shade--

The solemn vigil--the mysterious power,

Filling the soul with awe, stirring the clod,

Bidding the bones to quake? 'Tis thus arrayed

In dusky calyx lies heaven's shining flower.

Our Angel leads through gloom to show us God.

Squarish: check.

Rhyming pattern: lines 1-8, and lines 9-14. It's Petrarchan!

Message: Good can come out of darkness.

Katharine Lee Bates

Tree of Song

An idle tree, whose timber builds no ships,

Whose wilding growth is all unfit to trace

Trim parallels in park and market-place,

Yet precious for the fragrant dew that drips

From blowing sprays to comfort fevered lips,

For lilt of hidden birds, for changeful grace

Of leafy shade that sunbeams interlace,

For heaven's dear blue about the spiring tips.

The world's great highway takes no heed of it,

Though paths wind thither through the April green.

The earth's blind forces feel no need of it;

Yet was there shaped, before the shaping hours,

A subtle league and sympathy between

This rhythmic tree and all effectual powers.

Squarish: check.

Rhyming pattern: Irregular distribution of some -ips and -ace. It is Petrarchan because she changes a little on line 9, indicating a topic for the first 8 lines and a change for the last 6.

Message: Even if society perceives you as worthless, you're not.

William Baylebridge

Flesh and Spirit

No! 'twas the questing dream that first achieved her--

More sensed for knowing no material part,

More real that no false outward eye perceived her,

Too gross, but that pure eye within my heart.

Nor feigned I, as my spirit so embraced her,

These arms encumbered might; ah! could they too,

Would she not fade as vision e'er effaced her,

As loves in this weak flesh so often do?

In flesh she might escape me, might expire

In the vicissitudes through flesh that range;

But, being the shadow of my heart's desire,

She could not pass beyond me, could not change.

O paradox! Want food--you are richer fed!

Lack the coarse crumbs--you find diviner bread!

Squarish: check.

Rhyming pattern: oh look! ababcdcdefefgg. SHAKESPEAREANNNNNN.

Message: I have no idea. You think he's talking about a woman, or is it food?

HTRLLAP Chapter 3

          There are several essentials to the Vampire story, including an older man with outdated values, a young female, a stripping away of her youth, continuance of life force for older male, and the death or destruction of the woman.

The only vampire novels I'm really familiar with are the Twilight series which I read along with everyone else back in middle school. Here we go.

Old guy: 100+ year old Edward Cullen, with a set of 100+ year old values to match.
Young Female: Stupid 17 year old Bella Swan.
Youth Stripping: Bella can't feasibly be youthful when she has so many dang problems, including her obsessive love for Edward, her depression when he leaves her, struggling vampire and werewolf relationships, getting chased around by crazy Italian vampires, marrying Edward when she's not much older that 18, getting pregnant with his monster child that literally almost kills her, and eventually becoming a vampire herself. Stressful life.
Life Force Continuance: Edward is basically rejuvenated when Bella shows up and he has someone to talk to that isn't his "parents" or "siblings."
Death/ Destruction: While Bella unfortunately never really dies, her human form does get destroyed when she is turned into a vampire for real.

But really, Bella is the vampire. She strips Edward of any youth he as left, basically ruins his life for a few years, he is her reason to continue living, and she destroys his peace and happiness.

Boy, did I hate this junk.

HTRLLAP Chapter 2

Meal: The meal on the train as Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, and Effie return to the Capitol from District 12 in The Hunger Games.

The meal, despite being huge and rich, is horribly uncomfortable and awkward. Katniss and Peeta have a complicated history with food (he fed her once while she was starving), and hence are not very comfortable around each other. Haymitch isn't comfortable for anyone, being a drunk. Effie makes the situation worse, because she is from the Capitol and is essentially and idiot, thinkin the Hunger Games are a wonderful thing, causing Katniss and Peeta to resent her. As Foster says, we as humans are really only comfortable with eating around people we know and trust, so putting four essential strangers with different personalities, lifestyles and beliefs in the same train car full of food is not about to be pleasant.

HTRLLAP Chapter 1

Quest-pects (Quest Aspects):

1. Quester

2. Destination

3. Stated reason to go

4. Challenges en route

5. Real reason to go

I shall apply these to my favorite quest-ish movie: Shrek (the first one. the sequels all sucked)

1. The quester is Shrek. A middle aged (?) ogre, not too pleased with the whole being forced to share his land with idiotic fairytale creatures thing, has little self confidence, but is fairly boastful.Consequently, the questee is Fiona.

2. His destination is the castle. He has to go to the castle to retrieve Princess Fiona so Prince Ugly Short Guy can marry her. 

3. He's told to go so he can get his land back all to himself. Which in my opinion, he should have just clubbed Prince Ugly Short Guy on the head and taken back what was rightfully his, but then this wouldn't be a quest.

4. Challenges and Trials: Donkey. Everything about Donkey. The attractive lady dragon, some lava, etc. The quest back to the castle has some more entertaining challenges, such as the musical number with Robin Hood and his merry men and Shrek gets arrowed in the butt. Also, the whole Fiona is an ogre complicates matters.

5. Real Reason: I think Shrek really wants to go on this cross country adventure to explore something that isn't his swamp which is kind of overrun right now. He wants new experiences and excitement. On the way back, the reason is loooooooooooove. 

HTRLLAP Introduction

          Memory, symbol, and patterns all affect the reading of literature by letting you know what to expect. You can take your memories of something you've read previously and apply them to what you're reading currently to get a feel for the piece and perhaps give you a good chance at guessing the story. However, this may cause a different interpretation of the piece you are reading based on your ideas from the last one. Symbols affect reading literature by helping the reader put together the deeper meanings of what the author was trying to subtly convey, be it through metaphors, analogies, or other literary devices. Lastly, patterns help the reader understand basic plot lines in literature by relating them with similar works. Example of a literary pattern: boy meets girl, they fall in love, some struggle happens, then they overcome all the odds and end up together again (Nicholas Sparks, you may want to diversify your storylines juuuuust a bit...). The recognition of these patterns helps understand more difficult pieces of literature (Tolstoy, I am looking at you) by comparing the difficult piece to a pattern you know and love from easier works.
          A time when my appreciation of a piece was enhanced by understanding symbols was this silly little junior-high level book whose title I have completely forgotten, but love all the same. It's basically about this girl who's mom is dead and her dad's an alcoholic and she has to take care of her siblings when all she really wants to do is go to college and be a writer (which she eventually does, yippie!). The symbols in the piece really helped me appreciate what the author was trying to convey. The drowning of a girl in a pond was sexualized by the use of the water in said pond, and when they dredge her body out, she's totally pregnant. All dead and gross and stuff, but pregnant. At least the guy who drowned her (her lover) was sentenced to a whole lot of jail time for killing two people (because this was the early 1900s in Vermont and fetuses were people no matter what age, religion and all). Also, the whole college thing was a symbol of freedom for our main character (name also forgotten) because she could finally do what she wanted, not just cook and clean all day for her unappreciative drunkard papa and perfectly able to cook for themselves siblings.

Eveline Freewrite

          Perhaps one of the scarier things in life for those of us still in high school is the impending COLLEGE. While this sentence doesn't make a lot of sense - college being a noun and not a verb which would belong at the end of that sentence - it's still very true. College is the biggest leap of faith many of us will ever take. You're leaving home, and everything you're familiar with, to go to a big place far away to learn stuff that you don't even know if it will benefit whatever career you end up in. How terrifying. Choosing a major is basically choosing what to dedicate what feels like the rest of your life to, at 18 years old. I, at 18, am still pretty clueless as to what I'll want to do when I'm 30, 40, or 50. I have to get an education, though, so I'll pick something. Perhaps Biology, or Geology.
          The Dorm Room. A tiny space to share your most intimate personal things with someone you've never met for a whole year. How will you wake up on time? Will you hate each other? What's the bathroom situation? This is something I'm personally terrified of. Here at North, there's always a bathroom within a one minute walk, but I don't know how that will be up at Northwest. Crap. Literally.