Literature Analysis #1 Bless Me, Ultima

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Summary: Antonio is a young boy whose family moves to Guadalupe, New Mexico. His "curandera" or herbal curer grandmother, Ultima falls ill and comes to live with them. Antonia has a lot of respect for Ultima and she plays a pivotal role on his journey to adulthood. Antonio is trying to find his identity which is difficult because of the conflicting cultures of his community and his family. Antonio is having a hard time leaving his mother when it is time for him to start going to school but also is struggling to find independence. He witnesses the murder of Lupito which greatly disturbs him. As he is dealing with school and the conflicts going on within him Ultima cures a man who has been cursed by a group of women. Their father seeks revenge and kills Ultima's owl which also causes Ultima to die. Antonio has to come to terms with this while still going to school and trying to find his place.

Theme: One of the prominent themes in this book was finding one's sense of self. Antonio didn't just have to grow up. He had to battle all sorts of both internalized and external conflicts to find himself including cultural, religious, and social identity.

Tone: The author retains a more serious and philosophical tone which mirrors the struggle Antonio faces to make sense of everything going on around him.

"Time stood still, and it shared with me all that had been, and all that was to come...."

"The day dawned and already the time of youth was fleeing the house..."

"But God didn't forgive anyone."

"Perhaps like the dream said the waters of the river had washed his soul away, and perhaps as the water seeped into the earth Lupito's soul would water the orchards of my uncles..."

Techniques:

• Foreshadowing ("Time stood still, and it shared with me all that had been, and all that was to come....")
• Aphorism: Used to send a message to the readers.
• Symbolism: Ultima's owl, Golden carp
• .Metaphor: Antonio's mother is referred to as a mother hen which represents her protectiveness over her children.
• Direct Characterization: The author gives us a generalization of how the characters are.
• Indirect Characterization: We see more about the characters through Antonio's thoughts. Also we learn about characters like Lupito through what people in the town say and what Antonio overhears.
• Synesthesia: Antonio goes through an internal change throughout the novel.
• Motif: The loss of innocence is a central idea carried out throughout the novel.
•  Diction: Anaya uses a unique blend of Spanish and English (" 'Es una mujer que no ha pecado,' some would whisper of Ultima.")

Characterization:

1. Indirect/Direct characterization: see techniques above.

2. Antonio is definitely a dynamic character. His naturally inquisitive personality leaves him constantly asking questions about what he sees and leads him to develop as a person in his journey to find answers. He goes through so much as a young boy and struggles to find his identity, but regardless of his struggles he is able to take it all in and use it to further his outlook on life.

3. The authors word choice, diction, changes with certain characters. Ultima has a distinct wise tone and broken English while speaking. The author chooses to switch between Spanish and English for Antonio's family and uses no Spanish with the characters that are indigenous to the area. This also helps to stress the familiarity and comfort between certain characters.

4. Coming away from this novel, however well written, I felt as if I had read a character. Mostly due to the fact that I was unfamiliar with anyone in Antonio's situation and with his mindset at that age. He was a very deep thinker for his young age and dealt with so many things that felt foreign to me it was hard to imagine him as someone I could truly know and understand. Regardless I felt as if I understood some of what he was going through on his journey towards growing up in a changing environment.

 

WHAT'S THE STORY?

Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations to give a highly entertaining and covertly honest portrayal of a young persons coming of age.  This novel showed all readers that in order to grow up, you have to face your fair share of rough patches. Not only rough patches in the forms of obstacles, but also within yourself and who you finally come to accept yourself to be. Dickens used a number of literary techniques to tell this story effectively including imagery and figurative language, conflict (lots of conflict), and the theme itself.

Tale Of Two Cities Lecture Notes (In Progress - video stopped working)

• Tale of Two Cities - very personal
• Frozen Deep (1857) - co-written w/ Collins
• In love w/ Ellen Turnam(sp?) - was part of family of actors
• Lucie from Tale based off her
• based most characters off of people from his real life and often made thinly veiled references in their names (Ellen played a character named Lucy)
• Public readings for profit
• established new relationship with his readers
• toured as a reader
• 1858 separated from his wife Catherine
• 1859 chapters 1-3 published
• Takes place in London and Paris
• Dickens moved their at ten because of his fathers job
• "extensive and peculiar knowledge of the city"
• "wretchedness and darkness but also great fascination"
• Saw London as a labyrinth
• extreme riches - extreme poverty
• Thought Paris was the most extraordinary place he'd ever seen
• The worlds of London and Paris (to Dickens) are very similar as stated in his opening to Tale
• It was the best of times it was the worst of times...
• France haunted by the French Revolution (1789 - 23 yrs before birth)
• had a horror of riot and mob rule
• Horrors of outbreak of riots and revolution written about in Tale

Lit Terms List #4

interior monologue: expression of a character's thoughts: an extended passage in a story or novel that expresses what a character is thinking and feeling.

inversion: a reversing of the order, arrangement, or position of something

juxtaposition: to place two or more things together, especially in order to suggest a link between them or emphasize the contrast between them

lyric: expressing personal feelings: relating to poetry that often has a musical quality and expresses personal emotions or thoughts

magic(al) realism: a style of art or literature that depicts fantastic or mythological subjects in a realistic manner

metaphor (extended, controlling, & mixed):1) an extended metaphor introduced and then further developed throughout all or part of a literary work, especially a poem. 2) controlling metaphor is a symbolic story in which the real meaning is not directly put across the whole poem or may be a metaphor for something else. 3)  mixed metaphor combination of two or more metaphors that together evoke a strange or incongruous image.

metonymy: A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as "crown" for "royalty").

modernism: Modernism is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional styles of poetry and verse

monologue: long uninterrupted speech by somebody

mood: the atmosphere created by the setting and actions of people and characters.

motif: a recurring subject, theme, idea

myth: idealized conception: a set of often idealized or glamorized ideas and stories surrounding a particular phenomenon, concept, or famous person

narrative:  a story or an account of a sequence of events in the order in which they happened

narrator: somebody who tells a story or gives an account

naturalism:  in art or literature, a movement or school advocating factual or realistic description of life, including its less pleasant aspects.

novelette/novella: short novel: a fictional prose work that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel

omniscient point of view: all-knowing: knowing or seeming to know everything

onomatopoeia: the formation or use of words that imitate the sound associated with something (buzz)

oxymoron:  expression with contradictory words

pacing:  the rhythm and speed with which the plot unfolds

parable: moral or religious story

paradox: something absurd or contradictory: a statement, proposition, or situation that seems to be absurd or contradictory

Lit Terms List #3

exposition: the portion of a story that introduces important background information to the audience


expressionism: literary movement presenting stylized reality: a literary movement of the early 20th century, especially in the theater, that represented external reality in a highly stylized and subjective manner, attempting to convey a psychological or spiritual reality rather than a record of actual events.

fable: a short story with a moral, especially one in which the characters are animals

fallacy: a mistake made in a line of reasoning that invalidates it, misconception

falling action: in a work of fiction or in a drama, the events that follow the climax and lead to the denouement

farce: absurd situation, a ridiculous situation in which everything goes wrong or becomes a sham

figurative language: speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning

flashback: a scene or event from the past that appears in a narrative out of chronological order, to fill in information or explain something in the present

foil: a character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character

folk tale: tale or legend originating and traditional among a people or folk, especially one forming part of the oral tradition of the common people.

foreshadowing: to indicate or suggest something, usually something unpleasant, that is going to happen

free verse: verse without a fixed metrical pattern, usually having unrhymed lines of varying length

genre: category of artistic works

gothic tale: is a genre or mode of literature that combines fiction, horror and Romanticism.

hyperbole: exaggeration

imagery: vivid descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses

implication: indirect suggestion, something that is implied or involved as a natural consequence of something else

incongruity: something out of place, something that does not seem to fit in with or be appropriate to its context

inference: a conclusion drawn from evidence or reasoning

irony:  something humorous based on contradiction


(Definitions from Bing.com/dictionary)

Lit Terms Remix (1-5)

1. circumlocution: indirect way of saying something, the use of more words than necessary to express something


 2. classicism: restrained style in arts, a style of art and architecture based on Greek and Roman models or principles, characterized by regularity of form and restraint of expression


 3. cliché: overused expression


 4. climax: the most important or exciting point

 5. colloquialism: informal expression, an informal word or phrase that is more common in conversation than in formal speech or writing

Lit Terms #2

1. circumlocution: indirect way of saying something, the use of more words than necessary to express something

 2. classicism: restrained style in arts, a style of art and architecture based on Greek and Roman models or principles, characterized by regularity of form and restraint of expression

 3. cliché: overused expression

 4. climax: the most important or exciting point

 5. colloquialism: informal expression, an informal word or phrase that is more common in conversation than in formal speech or writing

 6. comedy: entertainment that is amusing

 7. conflict: difference, a disagreement or clash between ideas, principles, or people

 8. connotation: implied additional meaning, an additional sense or senses associated with or suggested by a word or phrase

 9. contrast: juxtaposition of different things

 10. denotation: basic meaning, the most specific or literal meaning of a word, as opposed to its figurative senses or connotations

 11. denouement: final stage, the final stage or climax of a series of events, conclusion

12. dialect: regional variety of language

13. dialectics: tension between conflicting ideas, the tension that exists between two conflicting or interacting forces, elements, or ideas

14. dichotomy: separation of different or contradictory things

15. diction: choice of words, choice of words to fit their context

16. didactic: containing a political or moral message, instructive

17. dogmatic: expressing rigid opinions, prone to expressing strongly held beliefs and opinions

18. elegy: mournful poem, a mournful or reflective poem

19. epic: long narrative poem

20. epigram: witty saying, a concise, witty, and often paradoxical remark or saying

21. epitaph: speech or writing commemorating a dead person

22. epithet: descriptive word added to name, a descriptive word or phrase added to or substituted for the name of somebody or something, highlighting a feature or quality. (2) an insult

23. euphemism: a word or phrase used in place of a term that might be considered too direct, harsh, unpleasant, or offensive

24. evocative: stimulating memories of the past, prompting vivid memories or images of things not present, especially things from the past.

(Definitions from Bing Dictionary)

AP PREP POST 1: SIDDHARTHA

1. Analyze the literary elements in the story and how they affect the story.

2. Trace the development of Siddhartha’s character, making note of how and why he changes in his journey toward Nirvana.
(http://www.enotes.com/documents/siddhartha-ap-teaching-unit-79142)

3.What purpose does self-denial serve in Siddhartha? What about self-indulgence?
(http://www.shmoop.com/siddhartha/questions.html)
Self denial such as denying himself food or the comforts of his family and home forces Siddhartha to be in tune with only his rawest form of self. This stripping away of externalities allows Siddhartha to really tune in to his true self beyond all the comforts people hide behind. Self denial can also represent his determination to go about this journey of self discovery.

4. Identify a symbol, metaphor, motif etc. that prominently influences Siddhartha's progression as a character. (http://www.gradesaver.com/siddhartha/q-and-a/) via (http://hrobelrhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com/2013/01/ap-prep-post-1-siddhartha.html)

The river is a prominent symbol of Siddhartha's growth as a character. Quite frankly I need to re-read the rest of the book before I can elaborate on why it matters so much.

5. 22. Through what activity does Siddhartha achieve true Nirvana?

(A) Following the precepts of Gotama

***(B) Listening to the teachings of the river***

(C) Successfully recognizing Govinda

(D) Reluctantly welcoming his estranged son back into his life

(http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/siddhartha/quiz.html)

HACKING MY EDUCATION

My personal learning network goes beyond teachers (which are great!). It extends to my peers, the public, and experts.

What I want to know by the end of this semester is similar to the personal goal I spoke about in my previous post and that is to learn how to find more balance. Specifically I want to really consider our discussions about time investment and adapt it to my life.

As far as my blog goes I would love to work on video quality and how to use links more effectively.

The final question was what experiences I want to have by the time I graduate. Truthfully, I don't know. I'm not quite sure yet what I'm looking for but I want to keep my eyes and mind open to all opportunities that come way.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?

This semester as well as throughout the rest of 2014 my goal is to work on finding more balance within my life. I don't want to have to sacrifice my relationships with my family and friends for my studies or vice versa. I want to learn to keep up both ends of the spectrum in a way that leaves both the people I care about and my grades satisfied.