English Post 9/26/12, "Shame"

The subject is the author's previous treatment of his love. The tone is a feeling of remorse. The author is regretting a past action or actions. In the refrain, the repetition and magnitude (boatloads) of shame demonstrates a regret of past actions.

English Post 9/6/12 "Semeadores"

S - Workers/ Farmers

N - The artist (Diego Rivera)

A - The people who don't work in the fields (middle, upper classes)

P - To portray workers working, perhaps who are working to hard, as one of them is bent double from the strain of his work

English Journal 9/5/12 "Good Old Desk"

Subject - His desk and its many good qualities

Narrator - Harry Nilsson; his only bias appears to be towards his desk

Audience - Anyone who will listen to his praise of his desk

Purpose - To laud an everyday object that's dependable


The Desk is a symbol for God (Good Old Desk)??
Originally, I thought it was a silly song that was just for fun, but now that I know about the symbolism, it makes a little more sense and is a great deal more meaningful.

English Journal 9/4/12

The Pinch of Poverty
(Painting)

Subject-
Poverty; affected families

Narrator-
(No narrator)
Bias; cares about poverty

Audience-
Middle to Upper classes which either ignore, glaze over, or don't know about poverty

Purpose-
To expose the world, specifically the wealthier parts of it, to poverty and its affects.


2 Artistic Choices:
-The brighter colors of the flowers and the baby wrap contrast sharply with the rest of the painting, which has much duller colors, which I think is used to draw attention to this presumably impoverished family, and how it should be noticed.
-The positioning of the girl in the foreground, who is stepping forward and away from the rest of the family, shows how much independence many children in poverty must show to support their family, further exposing the affects of poverty.

English Journal: 8/20/12

How do you define culture?
     Culture is what you are exposed to and what you absorb from your surroundings (like it or dislike it).

What makes up a person's culture?
     What they are exposed to. This can include literature, spoken stories, music, points of view, political perspectives, etc. You develop opinions about what you're exposed to, regardless of whether or not you like it.

Is culture intrinsic or extrinsic?
     Extrinsic; you can only react to what you've been exposed to.

English Journal: 8/17/12

Facts:

1. There are three people in the painting
2. The seats are gren
3. There is a special today

Claims:

1. The policeman is talking and lecturing the boy
2. The boy seated right has run away
3. This painting is of the '40's or '50's

The Pearl Response 2

The last 50 some pages of the book start off with the one moment we've all been waiting for: Kino finally gets to sell his pearl and begin his life of wealth. However, the dealers would only give him a fraction of what it is worth, and so, instead of staying and bargaining, or taking the small fortune they offer him, Kino plots to leave this town and go sell his pearl at the capitol, a scary place many miles away. What I find interesting is that Kino could've easily stormed off and come back another day after seeing that the dealers were lying. But instead, he ends up preparing to leave for the capitol and murdering someone. I just wonder why Kino didn't keep a more level head through all of this, and I think it is Steinbeck telling us a moral of the story: wealth, especially potential wealth, can drive us to let our emotions control our actions. I like how Steinbeck subtly shares this moral without coming right out and stating it.

Additionally, a question I have that has been left unanswered. How was Coyotito killed?? I thought that Kino moved and struck the man with the rifle before he could fire and silence the "coyote." But then when Kino and Juana walk back into town, Coyotito is dead, which left me wondering. And finally, who are the men that Kino kills or injures throughout the book? It's never revealed who Kino slashes in the doorway of his house, or who he kills on the path leading to his house, or who the two trackers are, or who the man on the horse with a rifle, who we seem to pay particular attention to, is. All this uncertainty could've been cleared up in a sentence or two at some point when the book wrapped up, but instead Steinbeck chooses to leave them nameless, which is interesting and as a reader quite frustrating.