The Individual in Society Pre-Reflection

1. When humans are in isolation, they go crazy.  We need people around us to share our feelings, emotions, opinions, and everything in between with.  One example of this from our readings so far this year is in Twelfth Night  by Shakespeare when Malvolio is isolated in a cell for being crazy even though he knows that he is sane.  However after a short amount of time alone, he begins to question if he really is crazy like everyone seems to believe.
2. In order to feel human,  individuals need relationships, connections, feelings/emotions,  happiness, a "fulfilling life," and a purpose in life (can be self-determined).  This question reminds me of the whole unit from freshman year "What do we need in order to live a fulfilling life?" and one of my all time favorite projects that I've done in school was my dream board.  The dream board demonstrates what we need in order to feel human because it shows everything that we desire in life to feel "normal" and live life (as a human).
3. When we don't take responsibility for our actions, we face all kinds of consequences.  A big consequence that many people face is internal guilt, which can continuously eat away at a person until their weak and can't do anything anymore.  A real life example of this that many teenagers face is when their parents get mad at them for doing something wrong and instead of punishing the teen, the parent says they are simply "disappointed" with whatever the problem seemed to be.  This is worse than physically facing your actions because you cant really make up for or fix whatever you did wrong, you are just left feeling bad about yourself.
4. A lack of compassion and understanding leads to prejudice and stereotyping.  A perfect example of this is from the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."  You need compassion and understanding to comprehend the different things that different people may be going through to avoid stereotyping and prejudices when you dont really even know what is going on.

Twelfth Night: Option 3 Act 4 Reflection

Although Act IV, scene iii was not particularly lengthy, nor full of important information, if I were the playwright, I would keep it in.  By keeping this scene in the play, it becomes more apparent to the audience Olivia's deep rooted love for Cesario, so much that she desires to marry him.  It also exemplifies how well Viola has been at deceiving the whole cast throughout the play, because even Olivia, who has fallen deeply in love with Cesario, cannot tell him apart from his(her) twin brother. Lastly, I would keep this scene in the play because it ties up some of the loose ends from Act IV scene  i when Feste the Fool and Sir Andrew bring Sebastian to Lady Olivia as Cesario.  Although this scene is not as important as some of the other scenes in the play, I find it very important and continuing the storyline of the play as a whole.

Shakespeare's Messages About Gender

In many of Shakespeare's plays, he expresses very interesting ideas about the roles the different genders hold in society, and more specifically in romantic settings.  Shakespeare's messages about gender roles through his play Twelfth Night  are still very necessary for society to consider today because there is still a constant battle for power among genders in the world today.
One big concept that Shakespeare focuses on in his play Twelfth Night, connecting genders and love/relationships is who holds the dominant power in the relationship.  When talking to Cesario about his romantic feelings for Olivia, he says "There is no woman's sides/Can bide the beating of so strong a passion/As doth give my heart; no woman's heart/So big, to hold so much" (II.iv.103-106).  In this quote, Orsino is projecting his idea that females just aren't able to love or express their love as predominantly as men, and as a result are simply weak.  On the opposing side of Orsino's argument, Viola, as Cesario says "We men say more, swear more, but indeed/Our shows are more than will; for still we prove/Much in our vows but little in our love" (II.iv.128-130).  This quote gives an interesting perspective on the topic at hand because she is standing up for females, while being seen as a guy by the world, solidifying the importance of her argument that although men are determined in the proclamation of their love, all it truly is is a proclamation and nothing more.    
These arguments are very important today because in society, males and females are seen through very stereotypical eyes that males are the dominant ones in relationships.  In one example from class today, "Happily Ever After: Perpetuating Stereotypical Gender Ideals" we see that even from very young ages, children are being taught how relationships should be, forcing them into the mold right from the get go.  Also, in "Shakespeare Gender Swap!" is is being exemplified how strongly the female and male stereotypes are held true in society, because even people who are on the "gender movement" still bash on women for doing the same actions that men are praised for.  The lessons about gender identity that Shakespeare is portraying in his plays are very important to society today.  

Diving Into the Wreck SPOTTTS Analysis

S - The subject of this poem is scuba diving and exploring sunken ships in the ocean.
P -
I got ready to go scuba diving.
Unlike others who go exploring together, I am alone.

There is a ladder on the side of the ship
Scubadivers use it to get on the ship
Everyone else thinks its just for looks

I get into the water
Walking in flippers is a struggle
The ocean is never ending

The deeper I go, the darker it is
I have to get used to it all alone

The ocean is overwhelming and distracting
Breathing is different under water

I came to explore the wreck
And what happened to it and what it holds

I came to see the wreck itself

This is where mermaids and mermen live

The ship has sank but it is still teeming with life and interesting things

We are discovering the story of the shipwreck

O - The occasion of this poem is a scuba diving trip where the scuba diver is exploring a sunken ship
T -  The title of the poem is "Diving Into the Wreck," the significance of this title is that it explains and sets the tone for what the whole poem is about
T - The tone of this poem is fearful in the beginning because the scuba diver is exploring the ocean and the wreck all alone, and then towards the end of the poem the tone becomes more interested as the scuba diver is submerged in the ocean and exploring the wreck
T - The theme of the poem is that there is a lot more to things than people see on the surface.  I believe that this is the theme because the speaker knows that there is more inside the shipwreck itself, and there is a whole story behind how the ship got to where it is now.
S - The speaker is a scuba diver who is interested in exploring a sunken ship.

The Awakening Literary Criticism

Article 2: Feminist or Naturalist? By Nancy Walker

The main point of Nancy Walker's literaty critique of The Awakening is that Kate Chopin purposely made Edna Pontellier completly unaware of what she was doing and what was occurring in her life. One example of this is in the very beginning of the book, Edna is completly against Creole society, "A characteristic which distinguished them and which impressed Mrs. Pontellier most forcibly was their entire absence of prudery. Their freedom of expression was at first incomprehensible to her, though she had no difficulty in reconciling it with a lofty chastity which in the Creole woman seems to be inborn and unmistakable" (Chopin 12). But gradually as the novel goes on, Edna begins to transform into the sensual aspect of the society without realizing it.  Her whole "awakening" appears to be in connection to her sexuality, and the Creole people are described by Walker as "openly sensual."  A second example of Edna's oblivion is at the very end of the book. She tells Victor and Mariequita that she will be back to have a meal with them, and although we don't know if she really meant it, she still became unaware of her surroundings and abilities while swimming out in the ocean. Greatly supporting the idea of Nancy Walker that Edna was oblivious and completly unaware of her life when searching for her true "awakening."

The Awakening Chapter 31-39 Dialectical Journal

“I always feel so sorry for women who don’t like to walk; they miss so much-so many rare little glimpses of life; and we women learn so little of life on the whole” (Chopin 144).	In this quote, Edna is comparing her love for walking to her love of freedom and desire to escape the restraints of society.  She does this by discussing a topic that majority of women tend not to like, but she particularly enjoys, and adds in unique descriptions that very accurately describe both aspects; taking walks and living freely.  Also, the topic of walking alone represents Edna’s awakening because in the society, women were expected to always be accompanied by men, and not walk for enjoyment.  However, Edna embraces every aspect of the activity.
"The years that are gone seem like dreams - if one might go on sleeping and dreaming - but to wake up and find - oh! well! perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one's life" (Chopin 151).	In this quote, Edna is talking to Doctor Mandelet indirectly about her awakening. By bringing up sleep and dreaming versus being awake in this quote, Chopin is comparing Edna's awakening to being awake, and all the time before this in her life as her sleeping or dreaming about life, not actually living it.  Also, in the second half of the quote, Edna is overcome with this realization about her life and how she has been living it up to this point, and how unhappy she is.  The significance of this is that Edna finds herself no longer scared of being shut out from society, but rather scared of being stuck in the oppressed society for the rest of her life, unable to do what she really wants to do.
“She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again” (Chopin 157).	This quote is in the last few lines of the book, while Edna is out in the water for her death.  In the whole book leading up to this point has been Edna’s increasing desire to escape from and not have to deal with the life that she is currently living.  She has gotten to the point where she feels that this is her only choice left.  Another reoccurring factor that has been foreshadowed throughout the book has been the involvement of water, which has now lead up to her death by water.

The Awakening Chapter 21-30 Dialectical Journal

"That's what I want her to do.  She won't go to the marriage.  She says a wedding is one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth.  Nice thing for a woman to say to her husband!" (Chopin 89).
In this quote, we see Mr. Pontellier's attitude towards his wife, as well as another perspective of her negative view of marriages and relationships now since she has lived for so long in the Creole society.  By openly telling other people Mrs. Pontellier's actions against wedlock, Mr. Pontellier is opening up to the town that his wife is falling out of traditional expectations.  Also, this shows Edna's personality because she has become so against the idea of marriage that she won't even go to or support a marriage of her "own people".

"'You are too lenient, too lenient by far, Leonce,' asserted the Colonel. 'Authority, coercion are what is needed.  Put your foot down good and hard; the only way to manage a wife.  Take my ford for it.'  The Colonel was perhaps unaware that he had coerced his own wife into her grave" (Chopin 96).
In this quote, we see a slight flashback to the way in which Edna was raised.  Throughout her whole childhood, she saw her mother treated in the "traditional" way, harshly, unfairly, and without any freedoms.  And the idea that this treatment eventually led to her death, must create very strong opinions in her head about this extremely unfair of wives by their husbands.  Also, the beginning part of this quote could be foreshadowing for harsh treatment put upon Edna by Mr. Pontellier because he was influenced by her father to treat her more strictly.

“It was his being, his existence, which dominated her though, fading sometimes as if it would melt into the mist of the forgotten, reviving again with an intensity which filled her with an incomprehensible longing”(Chopin73).

In this quote we see how greatly Robert's departure is effecting Edna in her day to day life. This concept of Robert leaving is a reoccurring theme that has been seen since when he first left. This demonstrates how badly Edna wants to break away from the social norms because she desires what she is expected not to do, and longs to be with Robert.