What did I miss?
Sunday, November 4, 2012
third response to course material
I enjoyed watching Death of a Salesman in class very much. I like movies much more than books. Not gonna lie. They're just so much easier to take in. In a movie, it's clear when you're supposed to be confused. It bums me out that movie producers often cut out parts of books, because I'd gladly watch the movie with everything included. That said, they aren't ideal for analysis, since the interpretation of the director or whoever else adds at least one level of obfuscation from the text's original meaning(s). Salesman had a sort of pessimistic mood, similar to that of The American Dream. Both were lamenting the futility of pursuing the American Dream, in a way, I guess. I hope we continue to branch out from this area, since I'm fond of derision and negativity and it just so happens that American institutions like capitalism and the government are very fitting targets. The readings from ch4 were all similarly themed, too, illustrating either a positive or negative outlook on the American Dream. I liked reading the Langston Hughes poem. He's pretty cool. I read a compilation of his stories about Jesse B. Semple, aka Simple, a few years ago for some school thing. I'd since forgotten about him. Uhh we also did that stuff with the questions. I really liked the "Marriage" poem we read by Gregory Corso. As for learning about the questions, though, it wasn't new to me. I'd never covered it in school, but I guess I've picked up on that stuff in my 12 years of multiple choice testing experience.
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Hi Matthew! I'm glad I get to comment on your blogs! This blog has a lot of good description about the theme of the American dream and how it connects the two plays we have already read. I agree with you about enjoying movies more than books because they are easier to take in; however, I feel like movies give an easier visual image than a book does, too. Your ideas that you picked out of the Chapter 4 reading gives me a different perspective on it than I had before. I guess I hadn't really taken in any of the poems, just kind of read them as they came along. No attempts on the understanding. I guess the only thing I can see to add, is that maybe you can talk more about the blog posts. Thats what I did, mention the advantages and disadvantages of the posts. Otherwise, solid post! :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting observations, Matt. While I do agree that movies are more enjoyable to watch than it is to read books, the books do have much more to offer in the artistic sense. I do think though that movies can be good for analysis because while it does add one more level of obfuscation, it adds one more level of art also, one more level of symbolism and meaning. I agree with Morgan that I never really made the connection between the texts and our pounding of the American dream. I see many similarities in our thoughts on the course material. I do wish thought that you would keep your posts a little more formal by deleting "Uhh" and fully typing out Ch(apter.) Nice job, though.
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