Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Blog #4: Symbolism

Symbolism is a key element in conveying a theme in a story and thus is effective in evoking emotion within the reader. One way in which symbolism does this is by reducing the amount of exposition in conveying an idea or premise. For example in the poem Ozymandias,  the poet is able to convey emotion and theme without being obvious and direct like exposition. Symbols can convey ideas and emotions in an artistic and poetic manner that enhances the story without being condescending to the reader.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Essay Review for Hamlet

Overall I felt like I did alright with this essay but there are definitely a lot of improvements I can make to strengthen this type of writing. First and foremost, my quotes tended to be strong but I didn't give nearly enough specific analysis about them with quotes of specific words and phrases. I give a general overview and analysis of the quote but my essay would be much better if I chose to hone in and take apart the quote by quote. Part of the reason I didn't do this was because of my second problem. My quotes were most definitely too long and drawn out. I need to pick particular sentence or phrase out of the quote and give more analysis on it rather than putting overbearing amounts of quoted material into my paper. Overall, the largest pressing problem with my writing is that I pick broad quotes and as a result give broad analysis of them. I need to focus in and pick a small section to pick apart and truly analysis in depth.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Ozymandias and 'As I Walked Out One Evening'

Both Ozymandias and 'As I Walked Out One Evening' paint different images of how time should be percieved and acknowledged. The two poems agree about the enevidability of time itself however Ozymandias gives a grimmer image of time while 'As I Walked Out One Evening' looks fairly positively at the passage of time. In Ozymandias, the poet describes the ruins of a statue in the desert that crumbles and decays. On it's pedestol it is written "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair."(Line 10-11) The message of the poem is that while humans may think that thier accomplishments mean something, they will all eventually be destroyed by time itself, left to rumble and ruin.

'As I Walked Out One Evening'  puts a different spin on this idea. Poet notes that nothing lasts forever in the flow of time but the emotions left behind will continue after we depart from this Earth and our bodies wither into nothing. Even while everything will break and decay, time keeps moving forward and there is no use wasting time in the present. Thus "And the deep river ran on,"(Line 60) serves to say that life will continue onward, regardless.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Acting Notes

When acting out Shakespeare, it is critical to convey exactly the emotion and tone of the line in order to give a better understanding of the complex dialog. Especially now when Shakespeare language is archaic and overly verbose. For example, an actor in Act II Scene II (pg 755) might choose to play Polonius as a dumbfounded, oblivious old fool who does not understand that Hamlet is playing word games with him. This would play juxtaposition to the hidden intelligence of Hamlet. Another interpretation might cast Polonius as a quick witted old man who plays along with Hamlet who would be played as a mad man.