Female Archetype

when looking online, I found this description of the female archetype:

An archetype is a model of behaviour or pattern of energy that is easily recognisable and resonant to human beings. We can identify with and relate to archetypes as they are primary characters or personalities of the human condition.

Archetypes are everywhere. They are played out in fairy tales, movies, books, T.V. shows,, in our families, work environments, and amongst our friends.

Snow White (Princess) is an archetype. Homer Simson (Fool) is an archetype...so is Mother, Father, Son, and daughter. We instantly recognise what these roles are and how they are supposed to behave.

So the feminine archetype refers to models or patterns of womanhood and feminine behavior that are easily recognisable to us.

So, after reading this article I believe that all females are archetypes in some shape or form. There is no true original archetype because each female is a "retelling" of previous females.

The Lady with the pet Dog

In class, Professor Sexson said that out of the two versions of The Lady with the Pet Dog, it is likely that most people will enjoy Joyce carol Oates' version more because it is more modern. However, after reading both versions, I actually liked Chekhov's version more. True, Oates' version is more modern and uses a more common and relateable language, but Chekhov's version seems to be written more beautifully, with a more colorful and intriguing language. Although both of the tales involve adultery, there is something mysteriously beautiful abou the story. The idea of seeing someone on the street and wondering how your life would be different if you only got to know them better is intriguing. We are surrounded be thouands of people, but rarely give a second glance to any of them, except for the select few that we already know. A simple hello and the opportunity of a blossoming friendship could change lives drastically, but the abscence of that hello leaves for pondering the unknown, the aspect of "what could have been".
Each version of the story is told from a slightly different point of view. Chekhov's version focuses more on the man's point of view, while Oates' version focuses more on the woman. Despite theses differences, both tales involve an epiphany. In the first version, the man learns to truly fall in love for the first time. "Anna Sergeyevna and he loved each other as people do who are very close and intimate, like man and wife, like tender friends: it seemed to them that Fate itself had meant them for one another, and they could not understand why he had a wife and she a husband: and it was as though they were a pair of migratory birds, male and female, caught and forced to live in different cages. They forgave each other for what they wer ashamed of in their past, they forgave everything in the present, and felt that this love of theirs had altered them both." I love the way Chekhov uses language, and even though the second story is more modern, the first is more interesting to me.
The second story also involves an epiphany, but this time it involves her coming to love herself. In the story, she has self-loathing and suicidal thoughts, but in the end she finally overcomes these notions.

Araby

I just read the story Araby, and it has left me thinking and pondering what ideas could be hidden within it. In class, it was mentioned that the story could seem boring and uneventful, and that reading the story could seem pointless. However, I think that everyone can take something from this story. I, for one, can relate to the tale. The young boy falls deeply in love with a young girl. He watches her whenever he can and admires her, but never really gets the chance to truly know her. I think we all can relate to having a huge crush on someone who barely noticed us as a young child. In this way, the story brings out re-tellings of our own lives, each unique but similar to a common theme. Also in the story is the notion of finally getting the chance to make a difference, but failing. In the story, the boy plans on buying something at the Bazaar for his love, but the shopkeepers were not inviting and so he didn't buy anything. The story ends in anger and frustration, which we can all relate to in some way. There have been times in all of our lives when we have let the attitudes of other people bring us down or ruin our days. We let others have an affect on us, when we could have easily ignored them. Also, sometimes we don't allow ourselves to have triumph and reach our full potential, such as when the young boy lets obstacles get in the way of buying the girl a gift. I know that situations like this have happened in my life, so the story is very relatable.

Similes

After going through the story A Good Man Is Hard to Find, I discovered many intriguing similes. Two of the similes that stood out to me were:

His khaki trousers reached just to his hip bones and his stomach hung over them like a sack of meal swaying under his shirt.

He was busy catching fleas on himself and biting each one carefully between his teeth as if it were a delicacy.

Both of these descriptions conjured images of disgust in my mind when I read them. This must be the concept of "grotesque" that Mr. Sexson was talking about. When I first read the story, these small grotesque details did not immediately jump out at me. Instead, the story had a way portraying a dark, gray theme throughout. I suppose that this dark theme was a result of all the minor grotesque details such as the similes all combined into one story, and that overall had an impact on me. Now going back through the story, I can see if I take the time to read each and every word and think about each sentence, there are numerous grotesque aspects throughout. For example, the first simile is very vivid and actually disgusting. When I read it, I can't help but picture a man and the image of his stomach swaying back and forth. Likewise, the second simile also brings up images of dirty things. One usually pictures a delicacy as something unique and great; a food that is delicious. But after reading this simile, I can picture the monkey picking fleas and eating them carefully. I'm a very visual person, so so I can't help but picture a clos-up view of the monkey's teeth eating the flees. Overall, can see why Flannery O'Connor's writing is described as grotesque. It contains many odd and dark elements, yet is clearly effective at porttraying that gloomy mood.

Random Ramblings

So I suppose I should get caught up on some things I haven't yet blogged about.

First of all, I found the Little Red Riding Hood Collection very intriguing.The Charles Perrault version was the story that I was most accustomed to. It was short and simple, and the only thing dissapointing about it was the moral at the end. According to Mr. Sexson, you should not detach a moral from a story. There is no moral to a story. Instead, the moral IS the story.

The Grimm story was, as expected, more violent and contained more details. I can see how this version would be less appropriate for children. In one part of the story, the wolf's belly is violently cut open. I know if I was a young girl I would be disturbed by this idea. On the bright side, little Red lived.

I really enjoyed the version called Wolfland. It was unlike any other red riding hood tale I had read, yet it was written extremely well. The story reminded me of a mix of other fairy tales, including beauty and the beast, because it involves a young girl being trapped in a large house with a beast. In Wolfland, the grandmother turns out to be a wolf, which was an unexpected plot twist, but it gave the traditional story of Little Red Riding Hood a new, unique approach. It was as if the antagonist (the wolf) and the person Little Red trusted (the grandmother) were combined into one entity.

In class on Monday, proffesor Sexson talked about how everybody's story involves three stages. The first is when everything is "hunky dorey", home with mom and dad, in a symbol of harmony and perfection. Stage two is initiation, which involves pain. It involves conflict, fear, and unknown elements come into the equation. Pain is necessary because then the situation becomes embedded into your memory. The third phase is restoration, in which you return home, and go back to where you started from with experience. Thinking about these phases, I believe Mr. Sexson is right. I can't think of any stories that don't follow this structure in some way, and my life can certainly fit into this scheme.

Finally, I read the story A Good Man Is Hard To Find. In the story, "the Misfit" is a retelling of Arnold Friend. The story is similar to the story of Connie in many ways, and also reminiscent of countless scenes in movies involving a murderer and his victim begging him for mercy. The story was also violent (all of the initial family members died). I think the story exemplified how peoples attitudes can change drastically when put into life-threatening situations. The grandmother couldn't quit talking and trying to persuade the killer that he was a good man. I think she knew that his mind couldn't be changed, but to give up without trying would be a waste. It seems like in books and movies, whenever a victim is trying to talk to a killer, they always try to persuade them that they are a good person deep down, and that killing them won't do any good. Sometimes this strategy works, but often times it fails miserably. Also, I had mixed feelings towards the grandmother in the story. She didn't even want to go on the trip, but when pointing a finger to whose fault their death was, I can't help but criticize her. She was the one who wanted to take the detour, and who caused the car accident. if she had only been quiet, they might have never run into the killers. But I guess if that had never happened, we wouldn't have a good intriguing story.

The Lottery

I just read the story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and I was quite shocked by it! Throughout the whole story, I was confused as to what exactly "the lottery" was and what the purpose of the story was. At the beginning, it seemed like the children were gathering stones to build a fort or play some kind of childrens game with. Then they all gathered in the square and began drawing pieces of paper out of a black box. I assumed that the person who drew the special piece of paper with the black dot on it would recieve some kind of surprise or reward, but I was horribly mistaken. Instead, Tessie drew the paper with the black dot, and the whole crowd stoned her to death with the stones that the children were gathering earlier! This conclusion was shocking and violent. I still don't know why it was tradition to do this every year, beacuse it just seems cruel to me, but I guess that it what makes the story interesting. If the story had ended with Tessie winning a large amount of money and going on her merry way, I probably wouldn't be reflecting on it now. I don't know the reason for the lottery, but it seemed horrible that the townspeople would all voluntarily do this with the risk of being killed. Nonetheless, it was intriguing how my perception of the story changed from the beginning, thinking that it was about children playing some innocent game, to the end, seeing that this game ended in murder.

"Landscape with the Fall or Icarus"

This painting is interesting and contains a few subtleties which would have gone unoticed at first glance. My first impression of the painting was that it portrayed an ordinary day somewhere near the mediterranean coast. However, when given a closer glance, I found some interesting elements that I had not seen before. I saw the ordinary people, sheep, and plants in the foreground, and the beautiful landscape, sea, and ships in the background. I wondered if this painting had anything special or unusual and then I saw it! In the right corner of the page is a leg in the water which must be Icarus as he is falling into the water. The poem that also has the title of the painting really fits the piece well.

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus

According to Breughel

when Icarus fell

it was spring

a farmer was ploughing

his field

the whole pageantry

of the year was

awake tingling

near

the edge of the sea

concerned

with itself

sweating in the sun

that melted

the wing's wax

unsignificantly

off the coast

there was

a splash quite unnoticed

this was

Icarus drowning

I think this poem exemplified what was seen in the painting perfectly,especially in the last two stanzas, when it speaks about Icarus being completely unnoticed. You could see the people and scenery going on with life normally as if nothing was amiss. However, if one looks closer, you could see a man drowning. This concept reminds me of our everyday lives. We can go through life without examining the smaller details and simply looking at the bigger picture and choose to be completely content. However, if we examine the seemingly normal world around us, we'll discover things and people out of order. Then if we choose to do so, we can make an impact on the world and other people's lives rather than being ignorant.

This painting and poem also reminds me of people who are bold and take risks. Icarus took a large risk by trying to escape and then flying too close to the sun. Instead of suceeding, his mission failed, but if he had suceeded, it would have been marvelous. This concept also applies to our lives. Some people go through life without taking risks, while others are brave and take chances which may or may not work. If someone takes a huge risk and suceeds, it's possible that they could make a better life for themself and gain great amounts of fame. However, if their plan doesn't follow through, they do something stupid, and don't suceed, then maybe no one will ever know about them. They might easily fall into the ocean and drown unnoticed like Icarus. So is it better to take risks with the chance of failing, or to take no risks at all with an assurance of safety? The decision is up to us in our own stories.

Psyche and Eros

I just googled the story of Psyche and Eros, and throughout it I saw elements of other stories we have read. Psyche means "soul", and Eros (Cupid) represents love, so the story is of how love and soul come together. At one point in the story, Psyche sneaks up on Eros and glances at his face, while she was specifically forbidden from looking at him and seeing his true form. This reminds me of when Mr. Sexson was talking in class on Wednesday about a common theme in stories, which is "don't look". We can see this theme in Medussa, The Wizard of Oz, and now Psyche and Eros.

At another point in the story, Psyche has to seperate types of lentils in a room as a task from Aphrodite to recieve forgiveness. In the story, ants come and help her complete her task. This was extremely similar to the Grimm version of Cinderella, in which birds help Cinderella seperate lentils. It also relates to the Disney movie version of Cinderella, in which mice help her make her dress to go to the ball. Each story involves the same concept of animals helping a desperate maiden in some task, but each story is unique and a retelling of the next.

Happy Endings

In class Mr. Sexson mentioned the concept of happy endings. He had us analyze the story of Cinderella and come up with what really happened after prince charming and Cinderella were married. Did they live happily ever after? Most likely the answer is no. It is up to our imaginations to determine what could happen after the story ends, but it is inevitable that eventually the story will end in one way: they both die. I had never really thought of looking past the generic "happily ever after" and pondering how the story must really end.

Then I read Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood, and it made me think further into the issue of happy endings. It basically fillowed this question:

John and Mary meet,

What happens next?

Well, the fairytale answer is that they both fall in love and live joyous lives, eventually ending with them both dying. However, Atwood gave many alternate versions of the story, involving suicide, lust without love, unrequited love, murder, and adultery. Certainly, this is not the kind of fairytale story we all want to here, but not every story ends happily. Atwood goes on to say that the only aythentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die.

This seems morbid, but in reality it is the truth that most of us, including myself, ignore. When watching a movie and two lovers get married and walk off the screen completely in love, you rarely think about how their story will really end: most likely in one of them dying, the other one continuing to live without their love, and then dying themselves. It's somewhat depressing to think about this. When I get married and plan to spend "happily ever after" with someone, it will be sad to think that one of us will die before the other, and every story ends in death, so my happily every after will have a bitter ending.

There is one love story, however, that has somewhat of a happier ending, and that is the movie The Notebook. True, the movie ends in the death of both lovers, but they die together in each others arms. In love stories, that seems like more of a happier ending than spending ten or twenty years of your life in sadness after your lover has died, as I have seen many of my grandparents go through.

I guess we just need to accept that, however sad it may be, there is one sure ending to all of our stories, and that is death. It is up to us to make what's comes inbetween worth it.

Strange Dreams

Last night I finally remembered one of my dreams! I was going into a big department store with my cat Sammy, and when we walked in the door, he jumped from my arms and ran away. When I went to go find him, there were suddenly gray cats everywhere that looked exactly like Sammy! Identical gray cats were everywhere I looked, and I frantically began to search for my Sammy. It was traumatizing because no matter which cat I looked at, it wasn't him, and I began to forget what he looked like because they all looked so similar. I felt like a horrible cat-owner because I couldn't recognize my own kitty! I coninued to run around the store until I woke up....and never found Sammy. It was not a great dream and I hope it never comes true!

Groundhogs Day

So, today was groundhog's day and this is an overall journal of my day!

3:36 a.m.- My alarm goes off and I really don't want to get up. I get up anyways and get dressed, wash my face, put up my hair, gather up my school stuff, and head down stairs to the front desk of my dorm to work.

4:00-8:00 a.m.- I sit at the front desk, watch the security cameras, make sure no boys are walking around the dorm, let the kitchen people in the door and give them the keys, and attempt to do some homework while I'm still so tired. I do key inventory, count money, sell stamps, give people their printouts, answer the phone, and finally my boss shows up at 7:50 to take over for me. She shows me how to do mail-forwarding and then I can leave!

8:00 a.m.- I go upstairs to my dorm, take a long hot shower, get dressed in jeans and a black-longsleeved shirt, braid my hair, and make my bed (which has a tinkerbell fleece blanket on top :). Then, my roomate Nicole and I watch the morning cartoons on Disney.

9:00 a.m.- My boyfriend David comes to my dorm and looks at Nicole and I weird for watching cartoons. Then, we go downstairs to have breakfast. I have scrambled eggs, a slice of french toast, and milk. Then I go back upstairs and take a nap while David and Nicole watch the t.v. series Chuck.

11:45-1:00-I go off to math class in Wilson Hall and learn about how to teach elementary school kids math.

1:00- I come back to the dorm and have lunch/catch up on some homework while Nicole and I watch Desperate Housewifes.

2:10-3:25- I go to my Lifespan and Human development class across campus in Cheever Hall. I pick up a white hot-chocolate on the way. In class, we talk about the birthing process and watch a lot of graphic videos showing mothers giving birth. Mothers in the class also discuss what giving birth is really like. We discuss all the steps, possible problems, and everything we need to know about birth. I seriously reconsider ever having kids because of the horrible images and stories I had just witnessed.

3:30 p.m.- I walk back to Hannon with Bree, and then go up to my room to start writing my study abroad essays, write some e-mails to people, and check facebook. I listen to my i-pod and then look for a 10-page document I had written and saved over the weekend....and discover thet it is missing! I freak out and call David to find out where it could be. After getting instructions, I still can't find it, so David starts walking over to my dorm to help me. Meanwhile, my mom calls and we talk about going to Spain this summer.

5:30 p.m.- David comes over and after about 45 minutes of searching, tells me that he can't find my document either. I become stressed! I have a ton of homework, but somehow David distracts me and we end up eating homemade red applesauce, which is delicious by the way! My mom calls again and we talk about financial aid stuff. Then David starts eating peanut butter by the spoonful while I try unsuccesfully to do homework.

9:00- David leaves so that I can actually get some homework done, and I start writing this blog while listening to country music on pandora. After this, I'm going to have to start re-writing that lost 10-page paper! It's gonna be a long night!

The end! Well, that was pretty much my whole day in a nut-shell. Happy Groundhogs day :)

Earliest Memory...and more

The first memory I can recall was at my second birthday. I remember wearing a frilly colorful dress, my hair curled, and sitting on the kitchen table in front of my cake. My relatives were all surrounding the table, getting ready to sing happy birthday to me. My dad, back when he used to have hair, sat behind me while I perched on the table. My whole family sang happy birthday to me, and when they finished, my dad told me I could take a bite of the cake. So, instead of waiting for a plate, I threw my whole face in the middle of the cake and took a moutful. I lifted my head up and my face was covered in while frosting, and there was a face-sized hole in the middle of the cake. All my relatives laughed and were surprised.

Over the weekend, I also read the three versions of Cinderella. The Disney version was very familiar and was the cinderella story I was used to. I'd heard of the Grimm version before, but had never read the whole story. I was surprised at how gruesome and violent it was, with the stepsisters cutting off parts of their feet, and birds pecking out their eyes. I can see why Disney sugar-coated the story for young children. If not, it might have been more of a horror story. The Chinese version was extremely different from both of the previous ones, and I didn't enjoy it as much, but it had an interesting take on the story. Overall, I liked the grimm version the best. Even though it was violent, it gave many details and I felt like it explained the story more fully.

Overall, the story of Cinderella is the story of "rags to riches", and there are so many modern versions and interpretations of that theme that it would be impossible to name them all. Just a few of the recent films I can think of are Ever After, A Cinderella Story, Enchanted, and Ella Enchanted.

Since this class involves alot of fairytales and retellings, it makes me think of one of my favorite movies: The Tenth Kingdom. It's actually a t.v. mini-series at 7 hours long, but it's always been one of my favorites. The story combines numerous fairytales, such as cinderella, snow white, little red riding hood, the three little pigs, and rumplestilskin, alone with many other fantasy elements. If there could be any story that involved the retelling of countless fairytales, the tenth kingdom would be that story. As far as I can tell, not many people have seen it. Nonetheless, I highly recommend it.

Eaves dropping!

Yesterday I finally got around to recording some eavesdropping at the Leaf and Bean. it was slightly hard to hear over the noise of the coffee being made, but I got the general point of the conversation. I was eaves dropping on two ladies who looked like they were in their thirties. They started off by talking about downhill skiing, and the from then the topics flowed in this order:
*Food- they wanted to go to Tai restaurant, and were also intereted in a new pizza place they heard about
*The housing market, and how much their insurance is and how the price of it has changed in the last year
* What they are going to do for Valentines Day. One of the ladies said she would rather go out and get french fries instead of going to a fancy restaurant for dinner, in order to save money.
* Then they discussed shoes, and one mentioned how she wants to walk to dinner as long as she doesn't wear "ridiculous shoes". They also discussed cute jeans, and how they want skinny jeans so they can fit boots over them.
*Being pregnant: they talked about what they ate when they were pregnant. One lady said she ate a pint of ice cream every two days for six months while pregnant.
* Finally, they discussed "UGG" boots, and how they are a waste of money

Overall, they talked about general things you would expect to hear in a conversation between two females...shoes, clothes, food, etc. Nothing was terribly exciting, but nonetheless eavesdropping on people was fun to try. I think this example helps to prove Mr. Sexson's point that people are boring, and that if you drop in on a random conversation, it is likely that you will find it boring or ordinary.