Film Post 3

I found this movie very interesting and made me want to read the book. When you told us about the group of English majors who actually have not read the book I was expected to be bored out of my mind, but glad I wasn't. I never really knew what the book was about before but seeing how it's about racial inequality was really surprising to me. It was also interesting to see this story unfold through the innocent perspective of a child. It seemed by doing this we begin to view the movie in a more simplistic light. Having the story told like this makes it so that we are seeing the break down of the story in a more curious and naive light. Such as Scout's father explain why she shouldn't use the N word or the children's fascination with Boo Radley while the adults though other wise. By doing this we are still able to see how complex racial inequality is (even till this day!) but by being told this way shows how clearly wrong this all is. Overall I loved the movie, even that weirdly cute ending with Boo Radley.

And what you said about how people were banning a book they've never read, which is which is extremely unfortunate and pretty ridiculous. I feel that this should be a required book to read in all high schools since it has so much to offer. All these bans on what you can and can't read is ridiculous, as high school students we probably saw worse things to one another than what is in these books. THAT'S ANOTHER THING people these days through around the N word as though it's nothing WHEN PEOPLE HAVE DIED JUST SO THAT THE GENERATION AFTER THEM WOULDN'T HAVE TO BE CALLED JUST TERRIBLE NAMES AND CAN BE TREATED RIGHT.

Film Post 2

Surprisingly this was my first time seeing Precious, for me this movie was pretty hard to watch. I don't know what got me more sad/upset, seeing Precious have to go through all of this when all she wants is a better life for herself or that her mother is a two faced bitch that could turn it on and off when they were around people. I don't think a movie ever pissed me off so much, but that's how you know they're doing their jobs right! I think it's amazing that even though we know these movies are fake that it can evoke such emotions in us, even the deep emotions it evokes in the actors as well! The complexity of abuse that this movie brought was truly amazing. I haven't seen any movie that has been able to bring the tragedy of abuse while stilling being able to portray the victim as broken but still strong and willing to fight for a future.
Right from the beginning we see Precious's mom as being abusive and vindictive towards Precious to the point where it is impossible not to be angry and hating her. But towards the end when they meet again after Precious left we see the true complexity of her character and begin to feel for her in some way. This is the part that shows the complexity and cycle that abuse and being put down has on people.

Film Post 1

On Thursday that was the second time that I saw Anthony's movie, and I was surprised at some things that I didn't notice before. One example being when the two boys were watching They Shoot Horses Don't They as the women get shot the boy that ends up taking his own life at the end has the blood splatter fade out on his head. The foreshadowing for that part was nicely done and reminds me of the short clip of that movie we saw in AP when the man face gets superimposed with that of his mother's skull. To me the only down fall of the movie was the shaky camera angles but I know that it has to do with the setting in Final Cut and that he was quickly trying to clean up the footage so the editor tends to do that to your footage if you set it too high. But since most people don't know about film editing like that i'm pretty sure no one caught it much, and if anything that sort of shaky and in and out it does actually added to some parts of the film. Overall I was well put together and Anthony did a wonderful job!

I don'y even know where to begin with Monty Python, I was completely lost since I have never seen the movie and I had missed Friday. Other than that It was pretty good, I felt a super deep connection with The Knights of Ni. As I was taking notes during the movie it reminded me of three things, an SNL skit, Robin Hood Men in Tights and Sponge Bob. Sometimes in Sponge Bob they would cut to live scenes like those in Monty Python which I wouldn't be surprised now if they have been ripped from movies like this. It seems like the connection to Robin Hood was pretty obvious since they are both ridiculous movies. And when it came to the SNL it reminded me of some of the skits or movies that the past crew members have made such as Coneheads, Wayne's Worlds, Superstar or Night at the Roxbury. It made me really miss the old SNL :( 

Poem 8: Poetry Response

Pass/Fail - Linda Pastan

You will never graduate

from this dream

of blue books.

No matter how

you succeed awake,

asleep there is a test

waiting to be failed.

The dream beckons

with two dull pencils,

but you haven't even

taken the course;

when you reach for a book - 

it closes its door 

in your face; when

you conjugate a verb - 

it is in the wrong 

language.

Now the pillow becomes

a blank page. Turn it 

to the cool side;

you will still smother

in all of the feathers

that have to be learned

by heart.

I really enjoyed this poem and felt that in someway everyone can connect and get a meaning that they need in currently in life. When coming into the poem I thought it was going to be about high school and more like the poem 'We Real Cool' but I was obviously wrong about that. In the poem Pastan automatically starts off by saying You will never "graduate

from this dream of blue books" from that I knew it had to do with college and higher education. The poem goes on to talk about a nightmare that a student is having about a test, which this literal meaning is something that everyone can connect to during some point in their life. But as I looked for a deeper meaning the part that really stood out to me was "The dream beckons

with two dull pencils, but you haven't even taken the course". This just showed me that life is always going to give us different paths to take (in reference to the two dull pencils) and the roads we choose will never be perfect; they'll have their ups and downs dull and exciting moments but it's apart of life, life won't wait for you until your ready. 

This poems seems as though it has a negative connotation connected to it but it honestly has encouraged me. It was a bad year for me and I felt as though no college would accept me and i'm so wishy washy about things that I was nervous that I would be constantly be changing my major, but it took for me to fail two classes to finally wake up and realize that I need to not worry about the future and instead of worrying about what was going on around me to focus on myself. And after doing that and working towards what I want, I got into a  college, have a major I know I will love, and i'm going to be studying in a country that I've only dreamt about going and have a job waiting for me over there. This poem just confirmed what this year has taught me and encouraged me to keep pushing for what I want and never settle no matter how hard the obstacles that come my way seem.

Poem 7: Poetry Response

An Iraqi Evening 
By Yousif al-Sa'igh 

Clips from the battlefield 
on an Iraqi evening: 
a peacable home 
two boys preparing their homework 
a little girl 
absentmindedly drawing on scrap paper 
funny pictures. 
--breaking news coming shortly. 
The entire house becomes ears 
ten Iraqi eyes glued to the screen in frightened silence. 
Smells mingle: 
the smell of war 
and the smell of just baked bread. 
The mother raises her eyes to a photo on the wall 
whispering 
--May God protect you 
and begins preparing their supper 
quietly 
while in her mind 
clips of the battlefield flicker by 
carefully selected for hope.

It's ironic that I randomly picked this poem to analyze when i've been focussing on rereading A Thousand Splendid Suns. While reading this poem I couldn't help but constantly connect it to points made in the book. In the novel we see how the war going on in Afghanistan effects each of the characters individually and get to see different side of what is going on. In the novel we see what some of the characters (Laila,Mariam,Tariq, Aziza and Zalmai) went through as a child and how this effected them overall. They lose their innocence much too soon and it is unfortunate to see that this is a common occurrence to these kids who are exposed to war.
Which in this poem it shows that these children are still holding on to their innocence and trying to keep some form of normalcy in their lives. While the mother is terrified not just for her but mainly for her children and what will happen to them, which in A Thousand Splendid Suns we also saw how the women went out of the way to do what was best for the children even if it would harshly effect them (such as when Laila decided to marry Rasheed when she found out she was pregnant and had nowhere else to go).
This poem can also show how people have no voice in what their government says or does. These innocent civilians are getting caught up in the crossfire of war (We actually can see this even with what has been going on over here in America with the riots).

Poem 6: Poetry Response

This Is Just To Say

William Carlos Williams, 1883 - 1963

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

It's honestly amazing how popular this poem is! Whenever I read it again I wonder if Williams ever thought people would pay attention to such a poem, let alone have it known till this day. I found this poem to be incredibly humorous and the whole piece to be laced with sarcasm, from the title all the way to the end. 
To me it feels as though the title seems to be the person who ate the plums is saying "Just letting you know I ate your shit again, sorry not sorry but at least I'm telling you". At first the narrator is telling the person he ate the plums where the person had left them. After that the narrator lets the owner of the plum's know that he ate the plums even though he knew that the owner was obviously saving them for some reason. The the narrator has the audacity to let the owner of the plums know who amazing those plums tasted. Ending the poem like that really makes me wonder how the owner of the plums reacted not even towards the news that their food got eaten, but to the attitude of the narrator.
This poem reminds me of how it was growing up with my brothers and cousins. Being the youngest (they are all 4-12 years older) and the only girl was pretty hard. When they were all here during the summer we would constantly be out of food, so I had to start hiding food to eat during the day. If my parents would take my brothers and I out to eat they would fight and try and call dibs of my food before I even touched it. 
So because of this I felt for the owner of the plums, since I know how it is to get your things eaten constantly and for the person who does it not to care one bit which just makes it worse.

Poem 5: Poetry Response

Ozymandias

BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

This poem was interesting and very unique, even though I felt as though it ended quite abruptly I still enjoyed it. Once the traveller spoke of the "two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand inn the desert" I knew he was most likely referring to a Sphinx. When I first read this I understood that the poem is talking about a king that ruled before and that this Sphinx is there to represent him; he treated the people of his land badly and felt as though he was one of the best rulers of all time and that his kingdom will not fall even long after he is gone. And yet I just couldn't connect this and find that deeper meaning. After that I began to read the story multiple ways to see what connects I could make (Which worked!).
When analyzing each line again I noticed the strong imagery and how and these different perceptions of the king could come into play with one another (How he is described to us, how the artist who made this Sphinx perceived him and how the king perceived himself). After making this connection I knew I was still missing something important, that's when I began reading more into the pride of the king and how he treated the citizens. After I did this that's when I really became conflicted. When reading it that last time I realized it was say that if something is built on negativity and corruption it will surely parish, but at the same time if this was the true meaning then why is the Sphinx still standing? (It's all messed up but still standing!)
I don't know maybe i'm looking to much into this and just trying to find a connection, but I feel as though I'm just missing that last piece that will connect all of the bigger points that I talked about together.