Reading & viewing Othello gave me a lot of reflection time on jealousy and trust. It's interesting that what someone says can so profoundly influence what we think, feel, and ultimately may do. What causes us to doubt someone we love? Without good cause (actually witnessing an act that is wrong) what causes us to distrust, or become jealous of another? I thought about this quite a bit over the last week, and the conclusion I came to is this: It's not about the person we love. The trouble with jealousy and lack of trust comes from within. It's about being unsure of yourself, feeling unworthy of feelings being reflected back by the one you love. The problems that arise from this lack of self-confidence can vary from paranoia all the way to murder (of course on the most extreme end of things). But the one thing that remains from the smallest problem all the way through to tragedy is the destroying of the relationship. More often than not, we unknowingly sabotage our relationships by bringing about the very thing we are afraid is happening. Like someone once told me "project what you want to happen". By being jealous, paranoid, and untrusting we automatically create an environment that is unpleasant and more likely than not will drive the person from our lives and possibly into the arms of someone who isn't so neurotic!
So, it has been said that before you can love someone else you must first love yourself. I didn't really understand why that was, but I do now. I have to know that I am worthy to receive love before I can truly give it, recognize it and enjoy it.
Thanks Shakespeare!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Blog 21~YouTube Scenes
I found it interesting how different the three scenes were even though they depicted the same portion of the play. I found the 1952 version to be very boring and poorly acted. It didn't hold my attention, and therefore I had a hard time understanding what the actors were saying. I also found the dialogue differed quite a bit from the version in our text. The second clip from 1981 was my favorite as far as acting and speech. I feel it most closely followed our text and I found the actors very believable, easy to follow, and able to hold my attention. The final clip from 1996 was my favorite as far as cinematography. The use of flashback and imagination scenes where Othello visualizes Desdemona with Cassio were very descriptive and portrayed how effective Iago's poisonous words were at bringing about the final tragedy.
I thought it was interesting that each clip had the setting different. The Anthony Hopkins version, for example, was filmed completely indoors. Also interesting was the use of a weapon to attempt to extract Iago's thoughts in the 1996 version.
My overall response to the clips is my amazement that 3 clips can be so different in scene and dialogue and yet be portraying the same section of play. It shows the amount of shaping a director can inject into a film. It also shows how the style of each actor can affect the scene.
I thought it was interesting that each clip had the setting different. The Anthony Hopkins version, for example, was filmed completely indoors. Also interesting was the use of a weapon to attempt to extract Iago's thoughts in the 1996 version.
My overall response to the clips is my amazement that 3 clips can be so different in scene and dialogue and yet be portraying the same section of play. It shows the amount of shaping a director can inject into a film. It also shows how the style of each actor can affect the scene.
~Blog Party Post~
Paper or Plastic? Reading from Screens Versus Paper Text
Is the delivery method of literature important? In other words: do electronic devices such as Kindle, or reading stories on-line, rather than in paper form, have a detrimental effect on the reader or the integrity of literature?
The conclusion I have come to regarding the question is this: The delivery method of literature is not the important factor in reading. It is a personal preference with some enjoying the vast versatility that comes with an electronic device such as Kindle and others preferring the feel and smell of the familiar paper book. Whether reading from screens or paper, it is the act of reading, the comprehension of what is read, and the enjoyment that comes from reading that is important.
1. Electronic reading devices allow for a vast library compactly at the touch of a screen.
With Kindle the reader has access to Amazon’s online library and has the ability to wirelessly download hundreds of titles, virtually anywhere, within seconds. The reader has access to many news publications such as The New York Times as well as foreign publications such as The Irish Times. This allows for amazing versatility in enabling the reader to have many book titles, newspaper articles and blogs available at one time, easily accessible and very portable. Electronic devices require a initial investment of $160.00 to $250.00 and each book title costs about $10.00, an expense that many would not incur when the average cost of a paperback book is much less. However, new hardcover titles would cost more than if downloaded to Kindle. For example, Diana Gabaldon’s newest novel “An Echo in the Bone-A Novel (Outlander)” is available for download to Kindle for $9.99 whereas the hardcover will cost a reader $17.55.
2. Paper texts offer familiar comfort. Manually turning the pages, the smell of a book, and the simplicity that comes from paper books are appealing to some readers. Paper texts require no batteries, they are inexpensive, and provide a permanent, tangible memory. Also, paper texts can be easily annotated whereas electronic texts cannot. While reading a textbook, the student has the opportunity to easily underline, highlight, or make notes in the margin of the text for future reference. For example, while reading Robert Frost’s “Acquainted with the Night”, I was able to make notes in the margin of my textbook regarding my feelings about the poem, thoughts of what Frost was trying to say, and underline certain parts of the sonnet that were important to me. If I had been reading the same poem from an electronic device, that would not have been possible.
3. Both paper & electronic texts deliver the same information. “As long as the text you are obtaining electronically is unabridged, there is no difference in the literature“ (Fritz). The quality or integrity of the literature is not manipulated in any way by electronic delivery. The books, magazines, blogs, and newspaper articles downloaded into an electronic device contain the same information and wording as in print. Beginning readers as well as experienced readers will have the same reading result with either delivery method.
Question for Discussion: What is your preference for reading: Paper or Plastic? Why do you prefer the method you do, and what is your prediction for the future of paper versus electronic text?
Works Cited:
Dillon, A. (1992) "Reading from paper versus screens: a critical review of the empirical literature. Ergonomics", 35(10), 1297-1326.
https://ford.ischool.utexas.edu/bitstream/2081/1156/5/Reading.htm
Fritz, Ronda, Personal Interview, November 2, 2009
Hayles, N Katherine, "Deeper into the Machine: The Future of Electronic Literature"
Saltzman, Joe "Surprise! The Written Word Is Alive and Well - Internet users favor writing as method of communication" http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2646_127/ai_54098989/
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Blog 20~Quote Response
Othello: "Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul
But I do love thee! And when I love thee not,
Chaos is come again." (Act III Scene III 98-100)
This passage is a great example of the depth of Othello's love for Desdemona. It is also a great example of a poisoned mind. A mind that has been manipulated to think ill of a woman he loves with a depth some will never understand. The footnotes say lines 99-100 mean "my love for you will last forever, until the end of time when chaos will return". It's amazing that someone can love another that much and yet still be able to believe so much ill of them. To be brought to a point of such untrust, such hurt, such irrationality. To love another so intensely and with so much esteem for them, yet believe yourself unworthy of their love in return, and therefore question your ability to hold their interest. The lack of trust comes not from their actions, but from the inability to see worth in oneself.
But I do love thee! And when I love thee not,
Chaos is come again." (Act III Scene III 98-100)
This passage is a great example of the depth of Othello's love for Desdemona. It is also a great example of a poisoned mind. A mind that has been manipulated to think ill of a woman he loves with a depth some will never understand. The footnotes say lines 99-100 mean "my love for you will last forever, until the end of time when chaos will return". It's amazing that someone can love another that much and yet still be able to believe so much ill of them. To be brought to a point of such untrust, such hurt, such irrationality. To love another so intensely and with so much esteem for them, yet believe yourself unworthy of their love in return, and therefore question your ability to hold their interest. The lack of trust comes not from their actions, but from the inability to see worth in oneself.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Blog 19~Freestyle
A quote response of sorts...appropriate for the subject matter this week I think.
WOULD HAVE LOVED YOU ANYWAY (Trisha Yearwood)
If I'd've known the way that this would end
If I'd've read the last page first
If I'd've had the strength to walk away
If I'd've known how this would hurt
(Chorus:) I would've loved you anyway
I'd do it all the same
Not a second I would change
Not a touch that I would trade
Had I known my heart would break
I'd've loved you anyway
It's bittersweet to look back now
At memories withered on the vine
Just to hold you close to me
For a moment in time
(Repeat chorus)
(Bridge:) And, even if I'd seen it coming
You'd still've seen me running
Straight into your arms
(Repeat chorus)
Sometimes you would rather have something, than nothing at all....
WOULD HAVE LOVED YOU ANYWAY (Trisha Yearwood)
If I'd've known the way that this would end
If I'd've read the last page first
If I'd've had the strength to walk away
If I'd've known how this would hurt
(Chorus:) I would've loved you anyway
I'd do it all the same
Not a second I would change
Not a touch that I would trade
Had I known my heart would break
I'd've loved you anyway
It's bittersweet to look back now
At memories withered on the vine
Just to hold you close to me
For a moment in time
(Repeat chorus)
(Bridge:) And, even if I'd seen it coming
You'd still've seen me running
Straight into your arms
(Repeat chorus)
Sometimes you would rather have something, than nothing at all....
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Blog 18~Quote Response
Roderigo: "What should I do? I confess it is my shame to be so fond, but it is not in my virtue to amend it." (Shakespeare 957).
This quote and the dialogue that followed with Iago stood out to me profoundly. This man, so infatuated with this woman, but without the strength to resist it. Unable to explain WHY he can't let her go, just knowing with ever fiber of his being that he CANT. Loving someone so much as to not be able to let go. Knowing with all your heart there will never be another feeling like that one. Knowing that as you are torn apart with the wanting and needing, you are powerless to break free from it. A chain binding your heart inexplicably to another.
Iago obviously disagrees! "Virtue? A Fig! 'Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus." (Shakespeare 958). In other words, we can do whatever we set our minds to. Maybe with other matters, but with matters of the heart? Maybe not. And really, denying your heart the object of its affection may be denying yourself an amazing gift and opportunity. Come what may, I would rather say I knew what an all-consuming love felt like, even if I didn't get to keep it, than to have denied myself that opportunity and wondered "what if".
This quote and the dialogue that followed with Iago stood out to me profoundly. This man, so infatuated with this woman, but without the strength to resist it. Unable to explain WHY he can't let her go, just knowing with ever fiber of his being that he CANT. Loving someone so much as to not be able to let go. Knowing with all your heart there will never be another feeling like that one. Knowing that as you are torn apart with the wanting and needing, you are powerless to break free from it. A chain binding your heart inexplicably to another.
Iago obviously disagrees! "Virtue? A Fig! 'Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus." (Shakespeare 958). In other words, we can do whatever we set our minds to. Maybe with other matters, but with matters of the heart? Maybe not. And really, denying your heart the object of its affection may be denying yourself an amazing gift and opportunity. Come what may, I would rather say I knew what an all-consuming love felt like, even if I didn't get to keep it, than to have denied myself that opportunity and wondered "what if".
Blog 17~Quote Response
I really enjoyed *Trifles*! A nice short play that was very easy to follow and understand (unlike Othello) :o).
My favorite part was in the beginning when Mr. Hale was describing the dialog he had with Mrs Wright. It was a bit comical to me, for some reason, that there wasn't a lot of "she said", rather it was "says she" or "says I". Such as: "I walked from there to here-then I says.." (Glaspell 839). I found this interesting because today we just don't speak that way. It seemed important to the scene that the conversation run together without much interruption from the other characters as if he was in a hurry to tell what he knew. This is the point in the play where I became very interested and couldn't wait to find out what Mr. Hale had to tell me next. I think the play was purposefully written that way to hook the reader at the very beginning.
My favorite part was in the beginning when Mr. Hale was describing the dialog he had with Mrs Wright. It was a bit comical to me, for some reason, that there wasn't a lot of "she said", rather it was "says she" or "says I". Such as: "I walked from there to here-then I says.." (Glaspell 839). I found this interesting because today we just don't speak that way. It seemed important to the scene that the conversation run together without much interruption from the other characters as if he was in a hurry to tell what he knew. This is the point in the play where I became very interested and couldn't wait to find out what Mr. Hale had to tell me next. I think the play was purposefully written that way to hook the reader at the very beginning.
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