Monday, February 24, 2014
Myth Reflection - Myhtic conventions in "The Big Lebowski"
While trying to think of modern narratives that follow mythical structure and archetypes, I found that most pop culture icons that have some childhood significance to me have strong roots in the mythic tradition, specifically the Joseph Campbell archetype of the “rugged individual , leaving home in search of some new knowledge, over coming daunting trials and finally returning home with new knowledge and some reward for his endeavors. Obviously comic books, science-fiction, and fantasy narratives enact this structure serially. From Bob Kane’s Batman to Frank Miller’s adaptation of Wolverine, and even Tarantino’s character the Bride; the mythic heroes journey is a prevalent tradition and a somewhat required aspect of compelling drama.
However I was able to think of one narrative that takes the Joseph Campbell model of the hero’s quest and subverts the essential plot conventions of myth. The Cohen Brother‘s film, “The Big Lebowski” follows the heroes journey in the sense that it is a man taken from his normal environment who embarks on a series of extraordinary tasks that are supposed to lead to a reward and some sort of new found knowledge. However events of the narrative lead to no real resolution other than that there’s a quest that is completed but no real knowledge gained . All of the knowledge gained by the Dude’s labors are usually some sort of misinformation leading one horrible choice into another which follows throughout the film. While the series of unresolved events is what drives the comedy aspects of the plot, it is the persistent use of resolving and then deconstructing plot twists that makes the story of The Dude a unique mythic journey. In many ways it can be viewed as a type of pseudo myth in that it relies on the deconstruction and subversion of mythic archetypes. To understand just what the hell it is I’m rambling about, I suggest the next time you have 2 hours to yourself you make a White Russian, put on your most comfortable pjs and robe, kick back and enjoy the “ Dude abide.”
However I was able to think of one narrative that takes the Joseph Campbell model of the hero’s quest and subverts the essential plot conventions of myth. The Cohen Brother‘s film, “The Big Lebowski” follows the heroes journey in the sense that it is a man taken from his normal environment who embarks on a series of extraordinary tasks that are supposed to lead to a reward and some sort of new found knowledge. However events of the narrative lead to no real resolution other than that there’s a quest that is completed but no real knowledge gained . All of the knowledge gained by the Dude’s labors are usually some sort of misinformation leading one horrible choice into another which follows throughout the film. While the series of unresolved events is what drives the comedy aspects of the plot, it is the persistent use of resolving and then deconstructing plot twists that makes the story of The Dude a unique mythic journey. In many ways it can be viewed as a type of pseudo myth in that it relies on the deconstruction and subversion of mythic archetypes. To understand just what the hell it is I’m rambling about, I suggest the next time you have 2 hours to yourself you make a White Russian, put on your most comfortable pjs and robe, kick back and enjoy the “ Dude abide.”
Monday, February 17, 2014
poem 2
The second poem is a Star Wars themed paradoy of Whitman's "Oh Captain!My Captain" . Couldn't help myself.
Lord Vader! Lord Vader! The Falcon is gone;
We have scanned each rock ,yet our prize we have not
The cloud city is near, their leader I hear, overflows with an Imperial Fear,
Where Captain Solo seeks friendly port, he’ll instead be met by a corrupted cohort
But O heart! heart! heart!
Jabba the Hutt has no heart!
So my Lord in a carbonite casket
We shall deliver the captain
Fallen cold but not dead.
Lord Vader! Lord Vader! Young Skywalker shall fall,
Arriving- for you , His X-wing has come, as expected alone as one,
For you Lord the trap has been readied, and lured will be Skywalker, slow and steady,
For him his captured companions will call, and with our elaborate snare he will end up in the
Carbonite lair
Lord Vader! Lord Vader!
This button push beneath you
And in icy cement on Lando’s deck
Will Palpetine’s trophy lay
Fallen cold but not dead
Lord Vader does not answer, the silence settles like some pale stillness through the ship
Lord Vader is not harmed, though he did re-arrange Luke Skywalker’s right arm.
Aboard the ship the storm troopers come and go speaking of Michelangelo
From fearful trip, and the dark lord’s lethal force grip,
Admiral Piett follows in silent tread
For Lord Vader was pretty pissed that he did make Skywalker dead
Lord Vader! Lord Vader! The Falcon is gone;
We have scanned each rock ,yet our prize we have not
The cloud city is near, their leader I hear, overflows with an Imperial Fear,
Where Captain Solo seeks friendly port, he’ll instead be met by a corrupted cohort
But O heart! heart! heart!
Jabba the Hutt has no heart!
So my Lord in a carbonite casket
We shall deliver the captain
Fallen cold but not dead.
Lord Vader! Lord Vader! Young Skywalker shall fall,
Arriving- for you , His X-wing has come, as expected alone as one,
For you Lord the trap has been readied, and lured will be Skywalker, slow and steady,
For him his captured companions will call, and with our elaborate snare he will end up in the
Carbonite lair
Lord Vader! Lord Vader!
This button push beneath you
And in icy cement on Lando’s deck
Will Palpetine’s trophy lay
Fallen cold but not dead
Lord Vader does not answer, the silence settles like some pale stillness through the ship
Lord Vader is not harmed, though he did re-arrange Luke Skywalker’s right arm.
Aboard the ship the storm troopers come and go speaking of Michelangelo
From fearful trip, and the dark lord’s lethal force grip,
Admiral Piett follows in silent tread
For Lord Vader was pretty pissed that he did make Skywalker dead
Poem 1
For the first poem I played around with writing from another person's perspective similar to what we did in class. While I was doing this I was watching the Walking Dead so I added the apocalypse element. Also if you play the song "The Artist in the Ambulance " by the band Thrice you'll notice that the words flow well with the songs melody.
The Artist in the Apocalypse
Late night I wake up to the sound of squeals,
Decomposed fingers grab at my heal
The world goes black before I, see an Angel hacking
Off The, head of a creature, that was a first grade teacher
He spills some gas and strikes a match,
I hope this is our final dash
Now I lay here owing my life to a stranger
With a giant knife, who shows me how to run and fight,
Keeps me safe and warm at night,
But then the walkers come again,
Like punishment for an unspoken sin
Grab your bag and don’t look back
Run until you cannot run no
More
Because I, have finally let you down,
I know, that this could be more than just
Scavenging, old, scraps
All we know is what the survivors unfold
All we know is what the survivors unfold
All I know is what the elder one once told
You have to lead not follow
Late night I wake up to the sound of squeals,
Decomposed fingers grab at my heal
The world goes black before I, see an Angel hacking
Off The, greedy hand of death and fate, allowing passage to escape
The artist of the apocalypse, is giving me a second chance I
Know
That I will never let you down.
The Artist in the Apocalypse
Late night I wake up to the sound of squeals,
Decomposed fingers grab at my heal
The world goes black before I, see an Angel hacking
Off The, head of a creature, that was a first grade teacher
He spills some gas and strikes a match,
I hope this is our final dash
Now I lay here owing my life to a stranger
With a giant knife, who shows me how to run and fight,
Keeps me safe and warm at night,
But then the walkers come again,
Like punishment for an unspoken sin
Grab your bag and don’t look back
Run until you cannot run no
More
Because I, have finally let you down,
I know, that this could be more than just
Scavenging, old, scraps
All we know is what the survivors unfold
All we know is what the survivors unfold
All I know is what the elder one once told
You have to lead not follow
Late night I wake up to the sound of squeals,
Decomposed fingers grab at my heal
The world goes black before I, see an Angel hacking
Off The, greedy hand of death and fate, allowing passage to escape
The artist of the apocalypse, is giving me a second chance I
Know
That I will never let you down.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Poetry Analysis Essay
Jordan Puga
Professor Wexler
English 495
Feb 10, 2014
Andrew Marvell’s poem “To His Coy Mistress” contains themes of love, lust, courtship, and sensuality. These themes are expressed through the manipulation of figurative language, specifically the use of the objective correlative. Throughout the poem, Marvell uses numerous instances of suggestive images that convey an emotion or idea that is not identical to the stated object or symbol of the text. Marvell’s execution of the objective correlative allows the speaker of “To His coy Mistress” to express sentiments of sensuous desire and the rejection of social convention through a call to action that is never directly stated but implied through symbolic allusions.
The first portion of Marvell’s poem establishes the convention of dating and courtship that would have been the custom of Marvell’s time. The convention of courtly culture would have dictated that the woman was to essentially be gazed upon from afar by the man that desired her, leading to a lengthy courtship, eventual marriage, and finally consummation. The speaker of the poem rejects this convention through the conceit that time and the fleeting condition of the human experience are to grand a determiner of the quality of one’s life, therefore the courtly convention should be negated by indulging one’s sensuous inclinations.
This sentiment of indulging in sensual pleasure is first established through the line, “Had we but world enough, and time,/This coyness, Lady, were no crime”( 1,2). The line establishes that the speaker understands that there is a conventional design to be followed, and that any sexual expectation must be “coyly” concealed. The speaker goes on to express that given “a hundred years” he would continue “to praise” and “gaze” upon “ every part” of the woman , never breaking the convention of physical distance and sexual repression of courtly culture (13, 14, 17). However the speaker goes on to reveal that although the idea of dedicating vast amounts of time to the object of one’s affection is a romantic notion, it is not a practical one and is instead illogical to wait for what may never come rather than act and make it happen.
The second portion of Marvell’s work conveys the inevitability of facing one’s mortality and serves to suggest that inaction and repression of one’s desires is a great tragedy in the scheme of existence. The speaker states that “ at my back I always hear/ Time’s wing chariot hurrying near,” creating a personified image of time that suggests mortality is constantly chasing or approaching the speaker and the mistress (21,22). The speaker goes on to suggest that if they continue the convention of concealing their sensuous desires in a “marble vault,” the “long preserved virginity” of the mistress will only be experienced by “ worms” ( 27,28). The speaker concludes this premise with the ironic claim that “The graves a fine and private place,/ But none, I think, do there embrace” (31,32). The construction of the second portion of Marvell’s poem uses numerous instances of the objective correlative to convey a sense of urgency and creates a call to action. The images of preserved purity being experienced in terms of death and decomposition suggest the futility of repression while serving to further compel the mistress of the work to give in to inhibition.
The final portion of the work insinuates that the speaker and mistress adhere to temptation and desire while they are young and “willing” like “amorous birds of prey” (35,38). This portion starkly contrasts with the second portion in that although time and death is still approaching, it is the act of pleasure and sensuality that allows the two lovers to transcend the fear of mortality. While the second portion expresses the absence of love and sensuality in death, the third portion highlights the beauty of passion despite the always impeding presence of mortality. The speaker asks his mistress to combine their “ strength, and sweetness” into one “ball of pleasure,” enabling the two to experience a satisfaction that may not make time “ stand still” but instead “run” with all the joy and satisfaction that comes with sensual indulgence (39,40). Ultimately the third part of the poem functions to resolve the speakers conceit which was stated in the first portion. Essentially the speaker is saying that courtly culture is romantic, if you have all the time in the world, but since they do not, they must experience all that they can with the little time they have together.
Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” is an excellent example of how the objective correlative functions in a poetic work. Marvell uses figurative language and objective symbols to insinuate the speakers sexual desires with out ever directly stating it in the work. Marvell is able to cleverly disguise the intent of the speaker by manipulating the image of time in order to elevate the notion of satisfaction through pleasure and sensuality.
Professor Wexler
English 495
Feb 10, 2014
Andrew Marvell’s poem “To His Coy Mistress” contains themes of love, lust, courtship, and sensuality. These themes are expressed through the manipulation of figurative language, specifically the use of the objective correlative. Throughout the poem, Marvell uses numerous instances of suggestive images that convey an emotion or idea that is not identical to the stated object or symbol of the text. Marvell’s execution of the objective correlative allows the speaker of “To His coy Mistress” to express sentiments of sensuous desire and the rejection of social convention through a call to action that is never directly stated but implied through symbolic allusions.
The first portion of Marvell’s poem establishes the convention of dating and courtship that would have been the custom of Marvell’s time. The convention of courtly culture would have dictated that the woman was to essentially be gazed upon from afar by the man that desired her, leading to a lengthy courtship, eventual marriage, and finally consummation. The speaker of the poem rejects this convention through the conceit that time and the fleeting condition of the human experience are to grand a determiner of the quality of one’s life, therefore the courtly convention should be negated by indulging one’s sensuous inclinations.
This sentiment of indulging in sensual pleasure is first established through the line, “Had we but world enough, and time,/This coyness, Lady, were no crime”( 1,2). The line establishes that the speaker understands that there is a conventional design to be followed, and that any sexual expectation must be “coyly” concealed. The speaker goes on to express that given “a hundred years” he would continue “to praise” and “gaze” upon “ every part” of the woman , never breaking the convention of physical distance and sexual repression of courtly culture (13, 14, 17). However the speaker goes on to reveal that although the idea of dedicating vast amounts of time to the object of one’s affection is a romantic notion, it is not a practical one and is instead illogical to wait for what may never come rather than act and make it happen.
The second portion of Marvell’s work conveys the inevitability of facing one’s mortality and serves to suggest that inaction and repression of one’s desires is a great tragedy in the scheme of existence. The speaker states that “ at my back I always hear/ Time’s wing chariot hurrying near,” creating a personified image of time that suggests mortality is constantly chasing or approaching the speaker and the mistress (21,22). The speaker goes on to suggest that if they continue the convention of concealing their sensuous desires in a “marble vault,” the “long preserved virginity” of the mistress will only be experienced by “ worms” ( 27,28). The speaker concludes this premise with the ironic claim that “The graves a fine and private place,/ But none, I think, do there embrace” (31,32). The construction of the second portion of Marvell’s poem uses numerous instances of the objective correlative to convey a sense of urgency and creates a call to action. The images of preserved purity being experienced in terms of death and decomposition suggest the futility of repression while serving to further compel the mistress of the work to give in to inhibition.
The final portion of the work insinuates that the speaker and mistress adhere to temptation and desire while they are young and “willing” like “amorous birds of prey” (35,38). This portion starkly contrasts with the second portion in that although time and death is still approaching, it is the act of pleasure and sensuality that allows the two lovers to transcend the fear of mortality. While the second portion expresses the absence of love and sensuality in death, the third portion highlights the beauty of passion despite the always impeding presence of mortality. The speaker asks his mistress to combine their “ strength, and sweetness” into one “ball of pleasure,” enabling the two to experience a satisfaction that may not make time “ stand still” but instead “run” with all the joy and satisfaction that comes with sensual indulgence (39,40). Ultimately the third part of the poem functions to resolve the speakers conceit which was stated in the first portion. Essentially the speaker is saying that courtly culture is romantic, if you have all the time in the world, but since they do not, they must experience all that they can with the little time they have together.
Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” is an excellent example of how the objective correlative functions in a poetic work. Marvell uses figurative language and objective symbols to insinuate the speakers sexual desires with out ever directly stating it in the work. Marvell is able to cleverly disguise the intent of the speaker by manipulating the image of time in order to elevate the notion of satisfaction through pleasure and sensuality.
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