Beloved is a "Dead Heart"

            The words of Dead Heart portray the female singer being consoled by the male singer after she has apparently had an encounter with ghosts. The whole album is called “Five Ghosts,” which often invokes imagery of the dead. Personally I imagine it being a foggy dusk, in a small rural town. The male character is eagerly trying to piece together what it is that she saw in her encounter, but she is seemingly shaken.  She describes the ghosts as being visions of children she once knew, with “light” in their eyes, and she details the feelings of death and despair that came over her. "They were kids that I once knew... Now they're all dead hearts to you" seems to be a loss of childhood, or innocence that you once had that you long for again. A few of the lines make it clear that this ‘supernatural experience’ is actually a metaphor. The dead hearts or ghosts represent the narrator having a stirring reflection about the meaningful people and things from her past that she has realized are now “dead” to her. Various people in whose eyes she once saw “light,” the people who once had vibrant, meaningful presences in her life have faded over years into distant memories. The song’s meaning is effectively that there are many people you lose and places you leave over a lifetime, sometimes purposefully, sometimes drifting away slowly or unintentionally, and that those dead hearts and forever lost feelings haunt everyone should they choose to realize and reflect upon them.

The article I found describes Beloved as a character who forces others in the book to recognize the pain from the past before they can begin to work through it. This especially applies to Sethe. Her past of killing one child and attempting to kill the others, sweet home, and constantly having to run is always haunting her. Sethe’s past is so brutal that she is unable to accept it and look forward to the future. Beloved is there to help characters make peace with their past. From the beginning of the book she symbolizes rebirth. The presence of Beloved allows for the slow reconciliation of Sethe’s history and a new future not only for Sethe but also for Denver. Even though it seems as if Beloved is tearing down 124 she helps bring the community together. When they see that Sethe and Denver are really suffering they rush to their aid.

                  This is why Beloved is like the ghost in the song. The ghosts in the song, like Beloved, forces the woman to come to terms with her past. The ghost haunts her and reminds her kids she once knew. Beloved is a child that Sethe once knew and has come back to haunt her. Beloved is there to help Sethe let go of the past and move onto the future. This is like the song, the ghost makes the woman realize that her past is dead to her. This is the primary function of the “ghost” in Beloved and the song. This is why both of them are closely related.           

http://www.articlemyriad.com/analysis-beloved-morrison/

The Ring

I think I’m going crazy. I mean I’m seeing a therapist for the first time ever so I must be going crazy. I took the A train to downtown and then walked three blocks to 8657 Dunbar Street. I stopped in front of the door, “should I turn around?” I thought to myself, “this is good for me. Take three deep breaths and open the door.” I felt in my right pocket; it was still there.

When I walked inside I was instantly reminded of her. From the painting of a girl on her bike to the colors of the walls, it all was just like her. I waited in anticipation for my name to be called. I heard “Scott” faintly over my loud thoughts. I stepped into the office and Dr. Dever told me to take a seat. “ Get comfortable and whenever you’re ready you can tell me how you two met.”

I started out with the first time I had ever seen her. “Seven years ago, our friends were having a little party to watch the Academy Awards. I arrived early and was relaxing on the couch; eating my weight in guacamole and watching the celebrities walk down the red carpet. There were about ten people at the party, when all of a sudden, another girl walked in. I looked up and instantly thought how beautiful she was. I knew I wanted her to sit by me, so I curled up on the sofa so no one would take the spot. Finally, after pouring herself a drink and hanging up her coat, she headed over to take a seat. I sat up straight again and was like, "Oh, um, you can sit here." To my great pleasure, she did. Our first conversation was about how she had painted her apartment that weekend. I half-listened to what she was saying, but mostly I was enchanted by the way her lips formed when she talked. At the end of the party I slipped my number into her hand as we shook hands goodbye.”

“Seems like you both have a lot of history. How do you feel right now?” I said, “I feel cheated and confused. She just left without a trace, not even a single clue.” Mr. Dever asked me “What did you do the moment you realized she was gone?” “That morning I woke up to an empty bed, she had never come home that night. She had taken enough clothes so I wouldn’t notice anything was missing. The only thing that let me know she was gone was the ring she left on the kitchen table”

“Can you show me the ring?” I dug into my right pocket and brought out the shiny gold engagement ring I had proposed with. The doctor began to examine the ring when he said, “look at this” He was referring to the inside of the ring that read, ’find the map and you’ll find me.’ I began to ferociously dig around in my pockets and in my back pocket I felt a piece of paper. I unfolded the paper and it revealed a map with an X at the top.  

Sakura Ring
Nana Johnson

The Greek system IS actually about communion

            The part of Chapter 2: Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion that caught my eye was the section about how the act of communion can bring you together or even make you overcome real hang-up’s, whether it be over a dinner, a cigarette, or an alcoholic beverage. The sense of communion can help you overlook the judgement.

My Netflix addiction is starting to get dangerous considering it has been keeping me from my summer homework and distracting my twenty-four seven, but also in some kind of way it has helped me to make a better connection to this chapter. I started a new Netflix series about 2 months ago called, Greek. (This series has actually been about my twentieth one). It is about all about a couple of college kids who attend Cyprus-Rhodes University in Ohio that participate in the school’s Greek system. One of the main characters, Rusty, is in the competitive engineer program and also tries to juggle Greek life. His roommate, Dale, and a hardcore Christian, is strictly against the Greek system, their unethical behavior, their undeserved privilege, and their obnoxious parties. Rusty’s “big brother” of his fraternity and Dale often go head to head many times. Dale and Rusty get in a huge fight one day about Dale’s soon to be roommate once Rusty moves out to live in the Kappa Tao Gamma House (Rusty’s fraternity). Dale shows up to a raging Kappa Tao party to talk and work things out with Rusty when he comes across Cappie, Rusty’s fraternity big brother. They eventually become cornered and are forced to talk to each other where they share a drink, which is extremely out of the box for Dale considering he doesn’t do ANYTHING bad, like at all. The two talk for a while and eventually discover they have so many things in common (even if they were drunk). They even start to call the pair of themselves Chip and Dale.

            Another group of people who figure out their differences are the Omega Chi Delta and Calvin. Calvin, one of Rusty’s first friends in college, is a closeted gay who unexpectedly comes out in the second season. The fraternities president, Evan Chambers, who is completely okay with Calvin’s sexuality show a peace offering by inviting the whole fraternity to dinner. There they eat and chat and become more comfortable with Calvin and the idea with him living in an all guy house, even though he has never made advances toward them. Their problem gets resolved through an everyday act. The fraternity sees that Calvin does everyday stuff just like they do, such as eat dinner and play sports. It is funny how something that seems so complex can be resolved by such simplicity.

            This chapter teaches you many things, don’t judged a book by its cover (oh the irony) and if you have a problem with someone, take them to dinner first. It just might change your prospective.

Sarah Jessica Parker is all about the sex(and the city)

       I've never tried to write a sex scene but I do know for one, I'm never going to try and two, that would just be plain awkward and really weird. Although, I am going to write a blog post about sex, right now.
       In Chaper 17 (...Except Sex) of "How To Read Literature Like a Professor" we learn that if there's graphic details about sex in literature it most likely doesn't have anything to do with sex. Lets talk about SJP (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her all her sexual endeavors. We all know she starred in the famous television show "Sex and the City." Although, the name of the show had sex in it and it was practically ALL about sex...it wasn't. Carrie Bradshaw was known as the heart or her friend group made up of four single women (at least that's how it started out) in the midst of their prime years in New York City. These women are known as Samantha Jones, Charlotte York, and Miranda Hobbes and all have very different personalities. Samantha is the sex crazed, non-emotional girl of the group. Miranda is the sophisticated hard-working one while Charlotte is known as the timid and delicate flower. The four meet up weekly and talk about their sexual and emotional relationships, well they mostly consult Carrie mainly, because she writes a sex column. Are you seeing how much sex is involved? The four women openly talk about their sexual encounters and in much detail meaning; it's not about sex. Samantha who is mostly about sex finds herself jealous of the emotional relationships her friends Miranda and Charlotte have. In the end, both have children and a husband and Samantha wants it all. Same with Carrie, she has this one guy she keeps going back to, Mr. Big. It all starts with Carrie and Big having an affair but soon Big and his wife divorced and it's all up to the two of them to decide if their relationship is going to survive. Their relationship goes back and forth and at times they find themselves just focusing on the sexual part and releasing their emotional side. Nonetheless, it didn't work out that way. They yearn for the emotional side to complete the rest of their relationship. Basically, even though the show is called SEX and the City and Carrie writes a SEX column, it teaches the four women that sex is not all they need. The sex serves as a symbol for you to realize the rest of the necessities you need in your life.
       Sarah Jessica stars in another movie about men called Failure to Launch. Her career involves getting men to get the heck out of their parents house (by the way these men are in their thirties). So, in order to do that she poses as a love interest and guides them through a whole process. Eventually, they all move out and get their own girlfriends or wives. This all changes when 35-year-olds Tripps parents call Paula (SJP). Paula has one rule; she NEVER sleeps with the client. Tripp is a special case and is actually quite different from the loser looking guys she usually has a job with. Tripp is cute and has a nice job he just lives in his parents house. Tripp soon finds out the truth of Paula's job and take matter into his own hands. He only invites girls over when he wants to break up with them; they find out that he lives with his parents and they run for the hills. When Paula is invited to the house, Tripp's parents warn her of his agenda and she has to do something drastic to get things back on track. I think you know whats coming next...yup they have sex. After more ups and downs in the movie Paula and Tripp come to the realization that they really do love each other. Again, the sex just made them realize that they want a real relationship; that they really do like the emotional side of the partnership.
       Basically, this blog contains the word sex way too many times and sex doesn't exactly mean sex, it serves a bigger purpose.

High School Musical, are they really "All In This Together?"

      I've been in San Francisco for two weeks now, reluctantly looking over at "How to Read Literature Like A Professor," on my desk about every two seconds. Seeing as Sundays are our only day off from non-stop dancing I thought I would peek at my book and maybe do some homework. As I dived into the assignment I found myself surprisingly liking the book (because trust me, I have never liked any summer reading books). I started to relate the idea of the quester to myself and the hard time I had with starting my tedious summer homework.
      Thomas C. Foster starts off Chapter One: "Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It's Not)" really engaging the audience by using humorous and relatable experiences. He breaks down the parts of what a quest consist of. Each quest has at least one knight, a super dangerous road, a Holy Grail, a dragon, an evil knight, and the princess. All these things and you've got yourself a quest.
      To tell you I thought of things to relate to chapter one for hours would be a lie but I sure did think about if for a while. My inspiration for this post came fresh from my mind after re-watching High School Musical 2 for maybe the tenth time (don't judge). It's only one of my favorite movies ever so; I'm a bit biased.
      The journey starts out with 5 basic parts, (a) the quester: which in this case is young Troy Bolton. Next, (b) a place to go: the Lava Springs Country Club, the country club Ryan and Sharpay's family practically owns. (c) a stated reason to go there: Troy receives a surprising call that informs him that he has been recommended to the Lava Springs country club and the board would love to hire him. Troy kindly accepts because the need for money for senior year and college but not before he gets all his fellow Wildcats jobs at the club also to join him for the summer. (d) challenges and trials en route: Troy faces the hardships of popularity and the balance of a girlfriend and a job, all the while being sneakily pursued by Sharpay Evans. (e) the real reason to go there: after being dumped by Gabriella and being dissed by his fellow Wildcats, Troy realizes that neglecting your friends for popularity and favoritism will get you nowhere. So, in the end the protagonist does gain self-enlightenment but with the help of his team.
      Foster closes out his case by saying "always" and "never" are not words that have that much meaning in literature. I would have to agree because what if I were to travel two minutes to my mothers elementary school without a wreck or flat tire and my engine dying, is it really a quest according to Foster? There were no hardships or challenges so, how can it be considered a self-enlightening quest?
      There's one thing to ALWAYS remember, "what team?
Wildcats.
What team?
Wildcats.
What team?
Wildcats.
Wildcats.
Get you head in the game."
P.S. this is really in the movie.

P.P.S I hope you realize I could have made about twenty more song puns for the title but I chose the most popular.