Justice and The Law

One segment of Billy Bud that the class seemed to find particularly interesting was the deliberation scene. After completing the movie, we began discussion about that trial and its significance. Two main points of interest that were considered were Danskurt's quote and the difference between justice and the law. We reflected on how everyone on the ship felt guilty, in one way or another, for the death of Billy. However, although we agreed that justice and the law should go hand in hand, it seemed that this movie did not represent this point. Are there any instances today where this still applies? Or has the law evolved to more fairly handle criminals?

Mike B.

Billy Bud, Day 1

Hello all, just wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts in relation to the first part of the movie? It'd prob be good to discuss it fairly well on the blog seeing as we'll be tested on in afterward. I'll just give a brief plot synopsis for the first half an hour or so -

Billy Bud is a ship's mate on the English merchant ship, the rights of man. He seems to be very adept at the skills of a sailor. His captain soon sees a warship on the horizon, and immediately knows it will be impressing his men soon. He avoids their advances as long as he can, until an officer from the man of war boards his ship and inspects his men. He sees Billy Bud, and takes him aboard. We soon find out that Billy does not know how old he is or where he was born. He was found in a basket, seemingly dropped off by parents who could not care for him. This indicates a possible wanderer lifestyle that brought him to the merchant ship in the first place.
It becomes apparent that Billy has adapted well to his duties on the new ship. However, he is horrified to see a sailor whipped in public for no reason. He simply cannot understand the logic of whipping an innocent man, and becomes disturbed. He recognizes the power and no-nonsense attitude of the man who ordered the whipping (Captain John Claggart). In the mess hall, Billy meets several other ship mates, including an old Danish man who has the task of showing him the ropes. Billy reveals that he stutters profoundly in certain occasions, a behavior he rationalizes by saying it only occurs when he cannot find the words for an emotion. Another sailor named Jenkins picks a fight with him for this, though Billy makes quick work of him. The two compromise, though right after it ends Claggart investigates the feud and emphasizes his authority. He is angered by Jenkins for the fight, and proves this further when he knocks over Billy Bud's and several other food bowls during mealtime and makes him clean it up even though he is very sick.

That's all I have for today's viewing. Feel free to comment on any emerging themes/motifs, plot characteristics, etc.

-Colin

May 27 Minutes

Today we continued talking about Ethan Brand:

We started off with a continuation of our discussion on what the unpardonable sin was that Ethan Brand was searching for. It was decided that it was intellect taking precedence over morality as well as a preson's decision to expel himslf from the rest of humanity. When Ethan returned to the kiln, he no longer cared about others and is basically no longer human. This is symbolized by his heart turning to marble. 

We also discussed the part in the story in which Ethan sacrafices himself into the fire and becomes high-grade lime. With this, Hawthorne is saying that even though he is dead, he is putting his atoms back to work. Ethan Brand is more useful dead than alive. The concept of death being a return to nature is very romantic.

We talked about why Ethan even bothered to return to the kiln. Brand returns as a sort of closure to his journey. He began his search for unpardonable sin after talking to the devil he saw in the flames of the kiln and he ended his journey in the same place. The fire in the kiln represents a contained version of hell, in which Brand willingly throws himself into. 

We ended our discussion with a debate over whether a person is innately caring or caring is learned through experience.

Feel free to elaborate on the above topics. 

-Julie S

May 19 minutes

After Mr. Laz being absent for a few days we got right back on track with 'The Minister's Black Veil' -- we talked about how the veil not only alters others perceptions of Mr. Hooper, but also taints everything he sees as well. Here are some more bullet points from today's discussion:
-he does a church service, funeral and wedding all in one day (elements of life, daily ritual, beginning and end)
-corpse doesn't actually shudder, everyone wants to look for a reason for wearing the black veil-- however Mr. Hooper never looses his reputation
-this is an indictment of Hawthorn's ancestors -- the Puritans
-people act as if they have no sin -- holding it inside their hearts
-gothic image = Mr. Hooper being buried wearing the black veil
-would it have been honorable to reveal the sin (take away the veil)? -- Possibly, however would not prove Hawthorne's point -- God is the only one who knows
-"earth, too, had on her black veil" -- Romantic perception ~ earth and humanity go hand in hand

HW: Refresh on 'The Birthmark'

-Sammi

Philosophy of Composition contd.

While we stopped talking about Poe's philosophy of composition in class, I felt there might be some potential for further discussion online. One of the things we discussed was how the technique of the writer sets them apart from is. The fact that "nevermore" came to Poe naturally is what separates him from the average writer. I would have to agree. However, I think that it is irrelevant how an artist got to the point of creation. All that matters is what the artist created and how much of his emotions, his person, his soul, if you will, was expressed in the work. I mentioned William S. Burroughs as an example of this. William S. Burroughs' writing, especially his masterpiece "Naked Lunch" is incoherent, disjointed, and generally disregards most rules of the structure of the English language or fiction writing. However, despite its technical faults it is a masterpiece. In fact, the technical faults are largely irrelevant in my opinion. I'd say that the technical faults would even aid the book. What most importantly matters is that the book is an earnest expression of emotion. Even Anthony Burgess, who was well-trained on the so-called "classics" of English literature and was a fan of "Naked Lunch" as well. I would say that an immensely well-trained person, who knows all the tricks of the trade in writing, who can rhyme extraordinary melodically, but writes of nothing emotionally heartfelt or powerful is inferior to one who lacks said training, writes in grammatically incorrect sentences, writes in barely readable scratches, but puts his soul into his writing. (Excerpt of "Naked Lunch")
I've found that emotional expression overrides technical finesse is a belief more common in music criticism. Many musicians have lacked technical finesse, yet created immensely well-respected works. Perhaps the best example of this would be the band "My Bloody Valentine" and their album "Loveless." "Loveless" routinely makes the rounds of best albums of all time list and is considered an unrivaled masterpiece in the shoegaze genre, despite having been made with a low budget and certain technical complications. For instance The guitarist and composer, Kevin Shields, wasn't skilled at guitar playing in the traditional sense and therefore relied on using a few key chords and the whammy bar. As is apparent, however, if one listens to the album, is that it's practically bursting at the seams with emotion. (Song from album)
Film also has similar works. The French New Wave produced very cheaply made films that were immensely emotional. The film "400 Blows" is perhaps the greatest example of this. (Trailer)
So that's my opinion. What's yours? What importance do you feel technique holds on how competent (for lack of a better word) a work of art is.

-Alexander

The Raven and Other Things

This is probably one of the busiest times in our high school academic careers right now, but I thought it'd be prudent to resuscitate the blog for the time being. We've been going over the Poe packet in class the past week or so, and so far we've read the Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of the Red Death, the Fall of the House of Usher, and the Raven. We have discussed that the first three short stories rely heavily on Gothic themes and the human psychological condition. The Raven continues these themes, in a narrative poem format.

In class today, we discussed several aspects of the poem. One, it explores the effect of grief and how people may try to relieve themselves of this. The narrator of the poem finds solace in books of forgotten lore, trying to use rationality and logic to fix an emotional problem. Two, there are two prominent symbols in the poem - the Raven, and the bust of Athena. The Raven sits atop the bust at one point in the poem, showing its dominance over wisdom. Three, we explored the repeating "Nevermore." This one word, quothed by the Raven throughout the poem, is the only thing it can say. The author is aware of this, but nonetheless he continues to ask it questions that can only be answered with "Nevermore." We came to the conclusion that the narrator did this to convince himself of Lenore's fate, since he was in a state of denial.

We will continue to discuss this poem tomorrow. Feel free to discuss anything Raven related here as well.

-Colin

April 27, 2009

Today in class we began our discussion about "A Psalm of Life" by Henry Longfellow. The class agreed that the poem is progress oriented, but also that the poem is about living in the present and abandoning worries of what is to come in the future. This is interesting because progress is based on the understanding of what is needed or could be needed and how to accomplish this for the future. Without looking into the future and what may be required, projects that lead to progress would be more dificult to imagine and progress would take a much longer period of time. Another point that we discussed was that the reason why people don't live in the present is because they are too busy worring about what progress they are going to make as individuals. Without planning ahead, people become more uneasy and therefore worry about the future rather than living in the moment. This means that, in today's society, progress and the present go hand in hand. This makes for an interesting paradox within the poem.
-Jen