I require and charge…of an impediment” pg. 432
All along there has been a sense of foreboding around “Grace Poole” and the person on the third floor. This quote finally addresses the mystery. Jane and Mr. Rochester are in the chapel about to be married when the clergymen asks the standard question if anyone knows of any impediment of why the couple can’t be together normally there’s a pause and the ceremony continues. However, at Jane and Mr. Rochester's wedding, a person actually speaks up to declare there is an impediment and the mystery finally unfolds about the strange occurrences on the third floor
Showing posts with label By Emma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label By Emma. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2011
External beauty versus internal beauty
Throughout the novel, Brontë plays with the duplicity between external beauty and internal beauty. Both Bertha Mason and Blanche Ingram are described as stunningly beautiful, but, in each case, the external beauty obscures an internal ugliness. Bertha’s beauty and sensuality blinded Mr. Rochester to her genetic madness, and it was only after their marriage that he gradually recognized her true nature. Blanche’s beauty hides her arrogance and pride, as well as her desire to marry Mr. Rochester only for his money. Yet, in Blanche’s case, Mr. Rochester seems to have learned not to judge by appearances, and he eventually rejects her, despite her beauty. Only Jane, who lacks the external beauty of typical Victorian heroines, has the inner beauty that appeals to Mr. Rochester. Her intelligence, wit, and calm morality express a far greater personal beauty than that of any other character in the novel, and Brontë clearly intends to highlight the importance of personal development and growth rather than superficial appearances. Once Mr. Rochester loses his hand and eyesight, they are also on equal footing in terms of appearance: both must look beyond superficial qualities in order to love each other.
"I must keep in good health, and not die."
“No sight so sad…and not die” pg. 43
You get the sense of what Jane is going to be like as an adult because you can see her character already taking form. She is able to keep a strong mind when being persecuted even though the environment she is being raised in is loveless and unsupportive. Jane still manages to have a sense of self worth so that she is able to stick up for herself when she has to face Mr.Brocklehurst. Mr. Brocklehurst has the demeanor that would intimidate any child yet Jane, is able to stand up for herself with plenty of backbone and wit.
You get the sense of what Jane is going to be like as an adult because you can see her character already taking form. She is able to keep a strong mind when being persecuted even though the environment she is being raised in is loveless and unsupportive. Jane still manages to have a sense of self worth so that she is able to stick up for herself when she has to face Mr.Brocklehurst. Mr. Brocklehurst has the demeanor that would intimidate any child yet Jane, is able to stand up for herself with plenty of backbone and wit.
Monday, November 22, 2010
the blind side
“The game of football evolved and here was one cause of its evolution, a new kind of athlete doing a new kind of thing.” (Lewis, 17)
The Blind Side is about the life of Michael Oher, but in the first chapter, Lewis explains the game changing moment that occurred in the NFL with the emergence of the New York Giants’ linebacker Lawrence Taylor. Taylor was able to change the game because he was a huge man but also fast, agile, and athletic, exactly like Michael Oher. As a result he was able to put fear in the hearts of NFL quarterbacks by being able to come at them fast and furious from the right, their blind side. Lewis details the left tackle effect in a second-by-second retelling of the four-second play that ended Washington QB Joe Thiesman’s career. As a result, NFL teams had to find big, agile men to play Left Tackle to defend against the rushing Lawrence Taylors of the game. The way Lewis explains that moment allows you to understand the importance of good protection for the Quarter Back which has resulted in Left Tackles being among the most highly paid players in the game. Now that I have finished the book I can understand why Lewis went into such detail to emphasise that four second play. Without Lawrence Taylor, Michael Oher wouldn’t have made it so far, he wouldn’t have been in such high demand. Left Tackles need to be big but agile and that doesn’t happen every day. I find it amazing how a young boy can go from living on the streets, to becoming one of the highest paid players in the NHL. All of Michael’s fame is because of the kindness in a family’s heart and the position Lawrence Taylor made famous. After reading this book I now see that no matter how great you are, you will always have a blind side.
The Blind Side is about the life of Michael Oher, but in the first chapter, Lewis explains the game changing moment that occurred in the NFL with the emergence of the New York Giants’ linebacker Lawrence Taylor. Taylor was able to change the game because he was a huge man but also fast, agile, and athletic, exactly like Michael Oher. As a result he was able to put fear in the hearts of NFL quarterbacks by being able to come at them fast and furious from the right, their blind side. Lewis details the left tackle effect in a second-by-second retelling of the four-second play that ended Washington QB Joe Thiesman’s career. As a result, NFL teams had to find big, agile men to play Left Tackle to defend against the rushing Lawrence Taylors of the game. The way Lewis explains that moment allows you to understand the importance of good protection for the Quarter Back which has resulted in Left Tackles being among the most highly paid players in the game. Now that I have finished the book I can understand why Lewis went into such detail to emphasise that four second play. Without Lawrence Taylor, Michael Oher wouldn’t have made it so far, he wouldn’t have been in such high demand. Left Tackles need to be big but agile and that doesn’t happen every day. I find it amazing how a young boy can go from living on the streets, to becoming one of the highest paid players in the NHL. All of Michael’s fame is because of the kindness in a family’s heart and the position Lawrence Taylor made famous. After reading this book I now see that no matter how great you are, you will always have a blind side.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
the investigation
“So began the investigation of Michael Oher... Some college football coach had gone to the NCAA and accused the Tuohy’s of abducting Michael and showering him with possessions in exchange for becoming the future left tackle of the Old Miss Rebels.” (Lewis, 197)
It wasn’t a surprise to me when I read that an NCAA investigator was called in to investigate the adoption of Michael Oher. The competition involved in American football recruitment is huge especially with a player like Michael Oher. When his adoptive family, the Tuohys had a reputation as “boosters” for Old Miss the situation needed to be looked into. Looking from the outside in on Michael’s new life style you would see a rich, white, republican family taking in a big, homeless, African American teenager. The Tuohys gave him a place to stay, food to eat, clothes to wear, an education and a loving family. They taught him how to play football and got him a private tutor so he could be eligible for a football scholarship. You would see the tens of thousands of dollars thrown towards Michael which in the NCAA’s eyes could have been some attempt to circumvent the rules and buy Michaels’ favor. A poor black football star inside the home of a rich white booster family’s home could be made to seem scandalous, and so in came the investigator. The investigator, Joyce Thompson, said she was just trying to establish the facts of the case, but as Lewis states “the facts didn't describe the case... they had violated the letter of every NCAA rule ever written.” I feel they gave Michael more than food, clothing, and shelter. They'd given him a life. In a way I can fully understand how the NCAA would think that the Tuohys only adopted Michael because they wanted to groom him into Ole Miss’s next best left tackle, but if you look at the time line, the Tuohys took Michael in way before he showed anyone his athletic ability. The Tuohys took him off the street with a failing grade point average and no future and in my opinion just gave him the foundation to become the person he was always destined to be.
It wasn’t a surprise to me when I read that an NCAA investigator was called in to investigate the adoption of Michael Oher. The competition involved in American football recruitment is huge especially with a player like Michael Oher. When his adoptive family, the Tuohys had a reputation as “boosters” for Old Miss the situation needed to be looked into. Looking from the outside in on Michael’s new life style you would see a rich, white, republican family taking in a big, homeless, African American teenager. The Tuohys gave him a place to stay, food to eat, clothes to wear, an education and a loving family. They taught him how to play football and got him a private tutor so he could be eligible for a football scholarship. You would see the tens of thousands of dollars thrown towards Michael which in the NCAA’s eyes could have been some attempt to circumvent the rules and buy Michaels’ favor. A poor black football star inside the home of a rich white booster family’s home could be made to seem scandalous, and so in came the investigator. The investigator, Joyce Thompson, said she was just trying to establish the facts of the case, but as Lewis states “the facts didn't describe the case... they had violated the letter of every NCAA rule ever written.” I feel they gave Michael more than food, clothing, and shelter. They'd given him a life. In a way I can fully understand how the NCAA would think that the Tuohys only adopted Michael because they wanted to groom him into Ole Miss’s next best left tackle, but if you look at the time line, the Tuohys took Michael in way before he showed anyone his athletic ability. The Tuohys took him off the street with a failing grade point average and no future and in my opinion just gave him the foundation to become the person he was always destined to be.
the school factor
“If there was a less promising academic record, Mr. Simpson hadn’t seen it – not in the three decades of working with public school students. Mr. Simpson guessed, rightly, that the Briarcrest Christian School hadn’t seen anything like Michael Oher, either. And yet here he was, courtesy of the football coach.” (Lewis, 53)
I always had an idea of how insane football was in America. I knew that schools would do whatever they could to recruit the best athletes in order to put their name on state titles. I was under the impression that students would be accepted into schools with the appropriate grade point average and would need to maintain that grade in order to play sports, but in reality, the schools push the limits so much further than I ever imagined. When Michaels’ “guardian”, Big Tony, applied for Michael Oher, a kid from the poor projects of West Memphis to attend Briarcrest Christian School, a private school “in white, rich East Memphis” Michael had a grade point average of 0.6, but he was as Lewis points out “no ordinary 15 year old, he was six foot five, three hundred and fifty pounds, and had quick feet and great agility, he was an exceptional athlete.” The sole reason Michael was accepted into Briarcrest Christian School was because he could play sports. He had the football coach fighting for him and apparently that was all he needed. Although with that grade point average Michael could not play any sports the first semester, it didn’t close any doors for the second. With a grade point average of 0.6 Michael couldn’t read or write, he was going into the 9th grade and was illiterate. Not only was he illiterate but he was one of very few African Americans attending Briarcrest when he started his sophomore year. A person could either look at this as being horrible and torture for Michael, sticking him in a classroom situation that he had clearly never understood, or that it could be the best thing that could happen to him. With a student like Michael you could entice them with the possibility of playing sports. In order to play sports you needed to have acceptable and passable grade levels. I have realized that football is not just a game to these kids, it’s a way to escape, and maybe the connection between the classroom and the football field is a savior for students living like Michael Oher. It gives them a chance to go from living on the streets not knowing if you would eat another meal to being the second highest paid player on an NHL team.
I always had an idea of how insane football was in America. I knew that schools would do whatever they could to recruit the best athletes in order to put their name on state titles. I was under the impression that students would be accepted into schools with the appropriate grade point average and would need to maintain that grade in order to play sports, but in reality, the schools push the limits so much further than I ever imagined. When Michaels’ “guardian”, Big Tony, applied for Michael Oher, a kid from the poor projects of West Memphis to attend Briarcrest Christian School, a private school “in white, rich East Memphis” Michael had a grade point average of 0.6, but he was as Lewis points out “no ordinary 15 year old, he was six foot five, three hundred and fifty pounds, and had quick feet and great agility, he was an exceptional athlete.” The sole reason Michael was accepted into Briarcrest Christian School was because he could play sports. He had the football coach fighting for him and apparently that was all he needed. Although with that grade point average Michael could not play any sports the first semester, it didn’t close any doors for the second. With a grade point average of 0.6 Michael couldn’t read or write, he was going into the 9th grade and was illiterate. Not only was he illiterate but he was one of very few African Americans attending Briarcrest when he started his sophomore year. A person could either look at this as being horrible and torture for Michael, sticking him in a classroom situation that he had clearly never understood, or that it could be the best thing that could happen to him. With a student like Michael you could entice them with the possibility of playing sports. In order to play sports you needed to have acceptable and passable grade levels. I have realized that football is not just a game to these kids, it’s a way to escape, and maybe the connection between the classroom and the football field is a savior for students living like Michael Oher. It gives them a chance to go from living on the streets not knowing if you would eat another meal to being the second highest paid player on an NHL team.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
the worlds best copy cat
"You notice that popular literature, the kind of stories that are read for relaxation, is always very highly conventionalized." (pg. 21)
What Frye says in this quote is true; popular literature for any genre follows along a similar blueprint. We learn from our parents what their parents learned from their parents and so on, meaning that we have been strongly influenced by the past. As we get older we are influenced by even more, television, internet, what we see and what we hear and with that it gets harder to break the mould. In order for literature to take a new form we would have to take a very naive look at the world around us. I feel as though Frye is reiterating what he said in The Motive for Metaphor “literature doesn’t evolve or improve or progress” (pg.9) but in a different context. In The Singing School he is saying that our current literature “provide[s] only content, they don’t provide new literary forms” (pg.22) mainly because the new writers have based their writing experiences on the previous literary scholars that have shaped the mould for literature and all we are left to do is add to it.
What Frye says in this quote is true; popular literature for any genre follows along a similar blueprint. We learn from our parents what their parents learned from their parents and so on, meaning that we have been strongly influenced by the past. As we get older we are influenced by even more, television, internet, what we see and what we hear and with that it gets harder to break the mould. In order for literature to take a new form we would have to take a very naive look at the world around us. I feel as though Frye is reiterating what he said in The Motive for Metaphor “literature doesn’t evolve or improve or progress” (pg.9) but in a different context. In The Singing School he is saying that our current literature “provide[s] only content, they don’t provide new literary forms” (pg.22) mainly because the new writers have based their writing experiences on the previous literary scholars that have shaped the mould for literature and all we are left to do is add to it.
the elephant in the room
“Imagination is the power of constructing possible models of human experience.” (p.8)
I think Frye is saying that as human beings we have the conscious ability to go beyond the concrete walls of reality and imagine another world full of everything you personally want. I think Frye believes imagination to be a literary tool used to take thought outside of our everyday “world of action” and place it into a “world of imagination”. He describes imagination as being a power one could harness to create infinite stories that model our human experiences, whether they are physical or emotional. Overall, I do agree with what Frye is saying. Generally when we think of the word imagination, we think of experiences or wants that outside of our imagination are typically impossible to replicate; such as flying horses, people with magical abilities, or teleportation. Using this power of imagination writers are able to create situations and experiences that within reality are physically impossible to recreate. However, imagination is not restricted to only physical terms. For instance take Shakespeare who used his imagination to create fantasy worlds like those in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He also used his imagination to create legendary characters like Hamlet and King Lear, who although had no special powers or magical qualities, were characters that were created outside of reality. Imagination allows writers and students alike to demonstrate morals, metaphors, and messages in a number of ways. He states that “in the world of imagination, anything goes that’s imaginatively possible, but nothing really happens” I think that Frye is showing the outstanding level of consciousness that stops humans from living the imaginative life they want in comparison to the reality they created. For instance when looking at children’s books such as The Tortoise and the Hare, we know the story is imaginary, and we know these animals can’t speak; but that doesn’t take away from the message that is portrayed through the story. In regards to The Love of Learning, McCullough does not specifically reference the differences between imagination and reality. However he does mention the importance of understanding what you are reading. If you are reading something you have never personally experienced and don’t quite understand your imagination is the biggest tool you can use to grasp the idea that is being delivered.
I think Frye is saying that as human beings we have the conscious ability to go beyond the concrete walls of reality and imagine another world full of everything you personally want. I think Frye believes imagination to be a literary tool used to take thought outside of our everyday “world of action” and place it into a “world of imagination”. He describes imagination as being a power one could harness to create infinite stories that model our human experiences, whether they are physical or emotional. Overall, I do agree with what Frye is saying. Generally when we think of the word imagination, we think of experiences or wants that outside of our imagination are typically impossible to replicate; such as flying horses, people with magical abilities, or teleportation. Using this power of imagination writers are able to create situations and experiences that within reality are physically impossible to recreate. However, imagination is not restricted to only physical terms. For instance take Shakespeare who used his imagination to create fantasy worlds like those in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He also used his imagination to create legendary characters like Hamlet and King Lear, who although had no special powers or magical qualities, were characters that were created outside of reality. Imagination allows writers and students alike to demonstrate morals, metaphors, and messages in a number of ways. He states that “in the world of imagination, anything goes that’s imaginatively possible, but nothing really happens” I think that Frye is showing the outstanding level of consciousness that stops humans from living the imaginative life they want in comparison to the reality they created. For instance when looking at children’s books such as The Tortoise and the Hare, we know the story is imaginary, and we know these animals can’t speak; but that doesn’t take away from the message that is portrayed through the story. In regards to The Love of Learning, McCullough does not specifically reference the differences between imagination and reality. However he does mention the importance of understanding what you are reading. If you are reading something you have never personally experienced and don’t quite understand your imagination is the biggest tool you can use to grasp the idea that is being delivered.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)