The little papers that could(n't)

Formally late Analysis

The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien

1. The main character, named Tim O'Brien (its supposedly an autobiography), is put through many various and rather extreme scenarios with his Alpha company as they are called. The entire story is told with the aid of items or ideas that are representative of the mental status of the protagonist's cohort. The story is broken into many different sub-sections dealing with key aspects of the plot. The first section deals with introducing what men carry to calm them down or help them remember. Marijuana, knives, gum, and pantyhose are talked about in the exposition. Each item is supposed to describe the charecter they belong to. The individual who chews the gum is the most on edge, and jittery etc. In this section, a man named lavender gets killed in action and the company commander blames himself for his death. In the second section, a platoon mate of two show that the life on the front wasn't too bad. In "Love" a man named Cross is seen to be back with his wife or lover, while in the the field, he explains how men pass the time playing games or talking to women. However, it gets darker when another platoon member is killed and his remains are grotesquely displayed. The next few sections are about coming to grips with the gravity of the situation they were in. This refers to the anger that the individuals experience in the platoon. A few argued over the loss of a knife for example. But in the latter sections they express gratitude and appreciations in harder times as the trivial pursuits of general life escapes them. He goes into the first time he had to end a life, which was traumatic and took much of his willpower to bear it so he claims he didn't! In a war zone he never once had to take a single life. He is haunted by apparitions and ghosts of the men he fought with through the story, none of them were happy for their deaths. He goes through the ennding of the story bearing the weight of death as well as the burden of knowing his friends had died while he lived.

2. Everyone has their own vices, everyone is different in what they believe and how they uphold their lives. That doesn't make anyone less human than another, it is simply an excuse to call yourself different from societal norms.

3.The protagonist is constantly changing, he takes his vows of nonviolence very seriously, however is overcome with a variety of emotion that aren't indicative of a pacifist life style. This shows that the ferality and ferocity of war can take its toll on any number of people in any number of ways.

4. Juxtaposition of subtle kindness with descriptions of gore. Ethos of basic human emotions being relayed to the audience. Red herring of random points being thrown in to dilute plot severity or arguments. Anesthesia in describing the "metallic" taste of blood. Imagery of both horror and love to explain the innate dichotomy. Paraphrasing employed to ignore bluntly saying individuals dying. paradox of a nonviolent war. Allusion to the life outside of war and to biblical thingamabobs.


1. He was jumpy, he hardly could sit still, and he looked too young to be in the army as direct characterization. Maybe I could look forward to a family when I return, and I imagined they wouldn't make it too far on their own both indicate habits and tendencies of the speaker. The discretion between using one type of characterization or another determines which character Tim O'Brien wanted to show as superior or thoughtful. Usually he gave those with Socratic thought higher status  in the platoon.

2. The protagonist definitely changes his point of view depending on some characters. when he is tired with a fellow soldier, he tends to be harsher or abrupt with his statements, but when left to his thoughts and sadness, he becomes more florid and wordy.

3. The protagonist is a parabola. predictable and formulated with the intent of glorifying his exploits while explaining the symbolism and chronic sadness involved with war, the harsh mistress. You could blatantly see what was going to come next in his responses, but it wasn't erratic, it had set rhythms a sort of emotional cadence.

4. The protagonist was way to planned out to be seemingly human, as an autobiography I expected the character to be representative of a human instead of a Shakespearean character. The extended soliloquy-esque thoughts reminded me of someone who had far too much time in their hands, instead of someone who was in a war zone.

Gridlock

Seventh Reading: Morning Song

Primarily, I viewed this piece as a heartwarming piece without any particular theme about it. However, the second and third times reading, I was slightly annoyed at the repetitiveness of the task, but I was catching on to subtle imagery of gentle caresses of maternal love. Over the next few reads I tried connecting the syntax to the concept of maternal instinct and devotion. And somewhere around the pointless addition of making the robe Victorian, I figured all the little attentions to detail are homage to the selfless devotion of parental care for a child. The fear associated with the abrupt awakening of the narrator attests to the care that this poem wishes to idealize.

Five steps (little ball of sunshine) (saved as draft instead of posted as bad karma i suppose)

Originally, I planned on this break being relaxing, however I did not take into account the homework and other events I had to attend that accumulated in the surprise early morning events that left me groggy over the extent of the vacation. Not to mention I have not been in town for a majority of the break resulting in a mixture of boredom, loneliness and stressful occurrences resulting in fatigue headaches and soreness.

My five steps were: relaxing, resting, sociality, efficiency in dealing with work, and enthusiasm when I return. I have to admit however, the only passable aspect I have achieved is dealing with work. And even that I wouldn't regard as being efficient.

Act 5 notes

1.       Scene 1

a.       Lady Macbeths unclearabe conscious?

1.       Lady Macbeth has a tendency to sleepwalk, observed by a woman and doctor.

2.       Lady Macbeth walks into their conversation, moaning of the murders of Banquo and Lady Macduff.

3.       Says she will never get the blood off her hands.

b.      Reactionary phase.

1.       The Doctor and maid are concerned for her mental safety, as if they believe she is mad and incapable of the murders.

2.       Scene 2

a.       Military preparation

1.       Scotsman are outside the Castle where Macbeth is hulled up, planning the attack.

2.       The English are marching on Macbeth to end his tyranny. Led by Malcom.

3.       Starting the assault near the Birnam Wood. Macbeth is insane.

3.       Scene 3

a.       In fevered anger, Macbeth gets a new ego.

1.       Boasts that Malcom cannot do harm to him due to them being women.

2.       “none of women born can harm you”

3.       Takes the witches prophecy too literally.

b.      May be underlying paranoid, wears his armor despite the battle being possibly far off.

c.       Diverts his attention to his wife.

1.       He mandates a doctor to cure after the doctor states she is delusional.

2.       Bed ridden, possibly fell ill to a deathly conscious.

4.       Scene 4

a.       The English Lords decide to cut down and carry trees to the keep as to disguise their numbers.

b.      What was that about the forest moving?

5.       Scene 5

a.       Macbeth orders to celebrate their victory early.

b.      A woman’s cry is heard and Lady Macbeth is pronounced dead.

c.       Macbeth says the tomorrow, tomorrow speech

1.       Possibly in remorse of how his life had been foolish, full of thoughtless ambition.

d.      A messenger comes in and states the woods have begun to move

1.       Macbeth Is both angry, scared and ready to give up.

6.       Scene 6

a.       The battle starts for the keep outside.

b.      The trees are dropped.

7.       Scene 7

a.       Macbeth is an animal

b.      Fights with the ferocity of a man marked with death.

1.       He strikes down Prince Sward in the battle.

8.       Alarmus

a.       Macduff seeks to kill Macbeth with feral ferocity.

9.       Alarmus again

a.       Duncan and lord Siward enter the castle to look for a possible victory plan.

10.   Scene 8

a.       Macduff finds Macbeth, after insults, and Macbeth sort of repenting for killing his family, they fight.

b.      They fight so hard they break out of the scene, non-yielding.

11.   Siward, and Malcom are in the hall, they have claimed victory as theirs.

a.       Siwird finds his son is dead, and praises him a good warrior, and blessed in his fall of battle. Not seeming to be sad.

b.      Macduff enters with Macbeths head.

c.       Malcom states the tyranny of Macbeth is over, and Scotland is free of unjust rule.

The Great Crossroads Of Should and Would

First of all I would like to point out the situational irony of how we are going through a crossroads section of side learning while learning about Macbeth, a play featuring Hecatate the goddess of crossroads.

     Selfless devotion to a cause in which you take great pride and joy cannot truly be called work. The Crossroads of Should and must describes a central mantra in which you should live the happiest moment of your life doing what you feel happiest in. Or else, the career is not correct and it is more of an obligation than a passion that will live beyond you. Yet, conversely you cannot leave what you already have to scour every inch of the world to see what you want. This is where the mantra-like balance comes in; you must support your existence while still financing your exploits as to find how to enjoy your work.

     As a continuation, getting to this point can be quite easy. Elle Luna states you can't be held back by doubt. There shouldn't be very many negatives to exploring something you would enjoy doing, if it is indeed productive. Take a step back; in respects to your life, nothing can influence the actions you take more than yourself. If you can learn to harness your creativity in your solitude, you may direct your influence into whatever form suits you. And in this respect, your creations will epitomize you as a human being and you will become one with your work.

Macbeth: the one sided game of chess

In the classic Shakespeare play, we see the lordships of Scotland, in eternal conflict killing and finding retribution for an unyielding cycle of violence. Similar to a chess game, each piece has its own specific purpose, and set of movements to allow a wide variety of actions to take place. This is quite similar to Macbeth, except, there is no opposing pieces, no opponent, just internal conflict. We see Macbeth, the primary piece in the story. The experiences he goes through determines the path of the story, as he is the primary character. Similarly we can see Lady Macbeth as the queen. She is not bound by the guilt that holds Macbeth into place, nor is she rooted to the spot under suspicious acts, she can move the most freely through the seems, micromanaging the actions on the board. Next we have the two who fled. The Knights Malcom and Donnalbane have the most erratic patterns of movement, they are the most opportunistic, and pounce on the opportunity to flee to the other boards edge. The Witches fall under the category of bishops. It is a shame the numbers do not match up, but as they are set adjacent to the king and queen piece, making their council most heard. The rooks, with predictable, slow, and ultimately limited movements are Banquo and Macduff. In their mild ambition, Macbeth predicts their movements, and ultimately tries to have both killed. The pawns, Finally, are the murderers, Lords, and sub characters such as the king of England, or the anonymous doctor who do not outwardly have much character potential, but still hold game changing consequences if guided strategically.

act 4 reading notes

1.       Scene 1

a.       Witches three surround a boiling cauldron; Hecatate is present and is approving of their work.

b.      They add occult strange items to the pot, Strange emphasis on the trinity of signs. Grotesque items such as human extremities and organs, as well as a baby.

c.       Macbeth appears.

1.       Wonders if the witches can divulge the meaning of the prophecy.

2.       First apparition summoned is a head. It floats out to warn Macbeth of Macduff, to which Macbeth is not surprised.

3.       The second is a bloody child, He/She states Macbeth has no need to fear the bloody retributions of any woman.

4.       The third apparition is of a child wearing a crown and holding a tree (?). He states Macbeth need not worry until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill. Possibly geographic regions. Sketchy warning at best.

5.       Finally, a lineage of kings with the ghost of Banquo appear, they were not supposed to, so Macbeth is taken aback and in anguish.

d.      Macbeth asks the witches the meaning of the final vision, they cackle and dance as to “lift his spirits” and vanish.

e.      Lennox appears, and makes it clear the weird sisters were only visible to Macbeth, Macbeth then curses their spontaneity. It is learned that Macduff flees to England, so Macbeth vows to kill him.

2.       Scene 2

a.       Lady Macduff and her child are talking to Ross.

1.       It is clear Lady Macduff finds her husband’s fleeing to be inopportune, and hazardous to the family.

2.       Feels betrayed, as if Macduff left them behind. She tells her children that he is dead.

3.       The children perceive otherwise, and when confronted by murderers, a child of Macduff is killed. (protecting his families honor?)

b.      In shock and fear, Lady Macduff flees from the murderers screaming there is a murder afoot.

c.       Exunt

3.       Scene 3

a.       Macduff and Malcom’s bonding moments.

1.       Malcom debates Macduff’s honesty, he fears he was sent by Macbeth.

2.       Macduff understands, and they list off their loyalties and qualifications, however what convinces Malcom at the end is Macduff’s sorrow for the destroyed country Macbeth has left in his reign.

3.       Malcom States he is no candidate for the throne.

b.      A doctor enters.

1.       He states there is a group of individuals with the detriment of evil souls.

c.       Ross enters as a messenger.

1.       He states Scotland is in a state of peril and that they should return to right the wrong. But then Duff asks how his family is. Ross originally says they live and are well, despite the king’s aggressions.

2.       After a while of talking, Macduff agrees to return in force to free the country.

3.       Ross buckles and admits Macduff’s family is dead. Duff is anguished.

d.      Malcom pleads he turn the anguish into hate for Macbeth.

 

Act 3 Notes

1.       Banquo’s downfalls

a.       Begins to talk to Macbeth about how his line was to eventually take the crown. Witch prophecy.

b.      Banquo begins to get ambitious, rationale: why not now? Why wait for the prophecy.

c.       Macbeth starts to catch on to the subtle caution exhibited by Banquo

2.       Murderous response

a.       Macbeth gets assassins to kill Banquo before a feast to mourn over the death of king Duncan

1.       Possible illusion to death upon death? Disorder in the state?

b.      Sends them, they kill Banquo, but fail to kill Fleance.

c.       Converses with Lady Macbeth over the discomfort of Banquo’s actions. They agree to make him feel welcome (foul is fair) in order to dispose of him.

3. The murderers/ response

a. he murderers do the deed, but fail to kill Fleance.

b. Microsoft Word is killing me

c. Macbeth is horror stricken at the sight of Banquo sitting on the throne.

4. Repercussions

                a. He is called slightly deranged by His Lady as to cover his expressions.

                b. Macbeth agrees, recovering from his panic.

                c. Hecatate meets with the witches and scolds them for tampering with destiny. She will make Macbeth feels falsely secure.

                d. Lennox and others believe Macbeth is a tyrant, and is responsible for death.

5. Macbeths further courses.

                a. He catches wind of plans to be overthrown with the aid of England and will not tolerate it.

                b. others wish to end Macbeth’s reign.