Guest Blogger: Jake H.

Why Turn the Screw?
“’Give me some of your TOTS!’ ‘No go find your own!’” (Napoleon Dynamite) That right there is the enthusiasm with which we should approach getting to read Henry James’ great novella The Turn of the Screw.
So, you might be thinking that reading that whole story was a waste of time. Unless you just sparknoted the whole thing. But why would anybody ever want to do that? I don’t know why, because there is an elephant in the way…
Later that day, I got into an argument with my mom.
Just kidding.
So what’s so great about The Turn of the Screw? Well if you like poetry, you’ll love TOTS! Wait, that’s irrelevant. I should really stop doing that and get back to the elephant in the room. No, not that one. If you dislike poetry, you’ll love TOTS, because of its modern adaptations, the author’s influential life experiences, and his revolutionary use of point of view.
First, there have been numerous modern adaptations of TOTS, that are even better than the book! Deborah Kerr starred in the most highly-regarded adaptation, The Innocents, which was directed by John Frankenheimer. Rusty Lemorande put the actions of the novella in a 1960’s setting in his intriguing 1994 work of the same name. That might offer up an explanation for the governess’ strange perspective on the events in TOTS. Jeffrey Hatcher wrote a weird and probably low-budget play in which a woman played the governess and a man played every other character. More recently, the 2006 film In a Dark Place is based entirely on TOTS, as well as a very important storyline in the soap opera “Dark Shadows.” A 3-D movie about TOTS is even in the works.
Next, Henry James’ life experiences had a large impact on his writings, thus playing an important role in the greatness of TOTS. James was described as “a true cosmopolite…a citizen of the world.” (Cliff 1) He grew up listening to the ideas of people such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, friends of his father. That obviously was a key factor in his development as a writer. Also, he had no formal education; he was privately tutored for a dozen years, which explains the isolated setting of TOTS.
Finally, Henry James’ revolutionary use of point of view makes TOTS stand out from most other literary works of its era. Before his time, most fiction was written from an outside narrator’s point of view. James started a new trend of making a main character the narrator, thus giving readers a more limited knowledge and perspective of the plot of the novella. He also sparked a debate among literary critics over whether or not the Governess was “telling” the truth in her narration.
In conclusion, The Turn of the Screw is an exceptional novella because of its modern adaptations, the author’s influential life experiences, and his revolutionary use of point of view. You want more you say? Well you’ll have to look that up online yourself. There are over nine thousand reasons to read TOTS, for example: www.1227.com.

Guest Blogger: Amelia K.

Point of view is a very powerful tool for an author. It affects how the plot is laid out, how much readers know about the story, and how they feel towards certain characters.
FIRST PERSON (NARRATIVE): Countless examples of this exist: Turn of the Screw, Catcher in the Rye, and Dracula. There are many facets of the first person narrative. It can be told by major or minor character, the narrator may or may not be conscious of the fact that they are telling a story, and it can be written in stream of consciousness or as a constructed story. Often times in first person, narrators aren’t reliable. For instance Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird is only a child and doesn’t perceive things the way they really happen and Holden from Catcher in the Rye is very biased. The first person point of view gives insight into the narrator’s thought process and motivations, but also makes readers innately biased towards the narrator and biased against those the narrator dislikes.
OMNISCIENT: Just like an omniscient God, some narrators are all knowing. They know the thoughts, motives, and feelings behind every character. This is especially useful to give insight into all characters and parts of the novel. The affect of this is that the readers know a lot more than any of the characters in the novel. Brave New World was told in the 3rd person omniscient point of view which allowed us to be with Bernard, John, Lenina, and other characters. Trying to paint the picture of the future, it was effective for Huxley to choose to be able to see into many character’s thoughts. Omniscient is great for having perspective, but there is no intimacy and bias towards any characters. Also it limits the writer from being able to have mystery and have the reader be in the dark.
LIMITED OMNISCIENT: This is just like the above, but with one character. You would think that this would create bias just as first person does, and it does, but it not as strong of bias. Having the story told about them doesn’t give the same connection as having them tell you the story. The Harry Potter books are told in the limited point of view. Readers get Harry’s feelings and are biased against his enemies. Readers hate Snape, even though in the end he turns out to be good, because Harry hates Snape. If Harry Potter were told from an omniscient point of view readers would know what Dumbledore knows so they wouldn’t hate Snape. Some authors choose to have numerous characters take on the view point in different chapters. This spreads out the intimacy between characters and readers.
OBJECTIVE: This is like most movies and some novels. This is 3rd person, but the narrator can’t see into any thoughts. It is all physical descriptions and plot. This point of view is mysterious and creates a distance between readers and characters.

As you can see, point of view is a tool for authors to get their PURPOSE across. It affects the structure of the novel (is it a journal, a story being read aloud, etc), how the plot is laid out (what information is given from thoughts, should the action wait until after the reader learns about it from another character, etc), and how the reader interprets the novel (who is good and bad, what parts of the novel were important, etc). :]

Guest Blogger: Emily B.

So I’m sitting at home trying to think of a way to out do Kayla on the last blog. I think to my self “You could talk about how your grandma yelled at you…” then I was like nahhhh that is cheating. So I was trying to think about what to write about, and this is what I came up with… (Drum role please)… MORE POETRY!!! But let’s look at poetry through history and how it has changed. Everyone grab your Sound and Sense.

In chapter one “What is Poetry?” It says that, “poetry is as universal as language and almost as ancient.” If we look at the different eras we can see that it is more than Europeans throwing out some fancy words in the 1700s. There are poems from the Aryans in 1500 BC. They are sacrificial hymns which are the earliest forms of Sanskrit language. Then there is the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer in 750 BC. They have also found poems of the Shi Jing, China's earliest work of literature. Those are just a few of the earlier pieces of poetry. In ancient societies, poetry was used as a way to record cultural events or tells stories. As the years go on, more and more poetry is written because it is an alternative form of amusement.

How has poetry changed in the last thousands of years then? “But it is not primarily to communicate information that novels, short stories, plays, and poems are written. These exist to bring us a sense and perception of life, to widen and sharpen our contacts with existence. Their concern is with experience.” As it says in chapter one “What is Poetry?” poetry is written on experiences. The world has gone from war to peace to war to peace, every time a little different in its own way. So when asked how poetry has changed you have to look at what has happened in history and where the writer is from.

So every one when you complain about having to look at poetry, just imagine the people who didnt have the internet to explain it to them.

Guest Blogger: Sam P.

Poetry. Why do we have poetry? What is its purpose in life, does it even have one?

Yes.

See! Isn’t that boring! Come on, yes? That’s the best you got? Information can only go so far, can only do so much, can only inform. That’s why we have poetry, for those who want more than just information, for those who have the information and want to feel the emotion behind it as well. From what we have learned in class and from the wondrous book Sound and Sense I know for a fact that poetry is VERY important to our social life. Poetry puts writing on a higher level than simple communication and comprehension. However to understand certain poems you need the back ground. Poems are short, emotional, concise arrangements of words that make the reader who already knows the background feel and understand the topic in a way that simply cannot be done in any other form of writing. Life is more than just numbers and facts, that’s why poetry makes so much sense. You can call poetry a gateway drug if you like, It gives people an escape from the factual world while opening up people’s minds to not only see life in a new way but to think and understand life on a much deeper level. The book Sound and Sense compares people who see poetry as dull and boring to a “colorblind person who denies there is such a thing as color”.

A poem that exemplifies this is called Epigram From the French (sound and sense 395) by Alexander Pope.

--Sir, I admit your general rule
That every poet is a fool;
But you yourself may serve to show it,
That every fool is not a poet.--
(Alexander Pope)

I really like this poem, it is not ‘just’ a slap in the face, it is an educated slap in the face, a slap that makes you think “Wait, what does SOAPSTone stand for again??”. And that is why we have poetry. Well not the only reason, but a big one.

Poetry

Please comment on guest bloggers. Three are due in two weeks.

Remember, poetry is about capturing the essence of an experience. The structure of a poem is one of the techniques used to communicate the purpose.

Due Monday: read 8-11 in Sound and Sense. With "Ballad" on page 14, answer page 11 questions 1,3,7,10. With "Kitchenette" on page 16, answer page 11 questions 1,5,11, 16, and 7.

For the poetry assignment, please respond to a poem in the back of Sound and Sense using either the Didls or 5-step technique. Due Tuesday.

Guest Blogger: Kayla K.

Most classes are to continue our knowledge throughout school, so I will use a similar topic to what I used on my blog post during first semester. (Don’t worry about frying fish this time.)
It can be very confusing to entirely understand what people “really mean” when they are speaking. You may often hear someone make a comment saying, “Good Morning Beautiful!” after wiping the past night’s nasty drool off of your face or saying, “That’s Hot!” right after you pull yourself up from falling in the mud puddle. If either of those statements are taking seriously it is time to review some Literary Techniques and Figurative Language.
As a teenager I have noticed that I am late, rambunctious, and messy. Not every teenager fits into this category but the majority do. Not only teenagers live under a stereotype, but parents and many adults do also. The stereotypical parent yells at their teenager as they come home late and their room is still not clean. The typical teenager yells back in their defense and promises the laundry to be done tomorrow. To my family this conversation sounds way too familiar.
To clearly understand Literary Techniques and Figurative Language you must be able to identify it in real life terms. To help understand I will provide a weekly argument from my home and some of the language being used.
My mother, with a deep, angry and scary voice (tone) told me that I am five minutes late after curfew and a punishment was in the near future. She used an angry tone to let me know exactly how she felt about me being five minutes late. Quickly, by surprise, she laid the next topic on the reasons why I should be grounded next weekend. In her deck of evil cards she laid a simile down and the comparison of my room to a garbage dump hit me hard. The battle was not over though, with my choice of very strong diction I used the words that got the point across but nothing to burry me further into a hole. Still complaining about my room, my mom used her excellent choice of personification as she said this “Your dirty laundry is laying on your floor patiently waiting to be washed!” That statement caught me off guard as my defense was getting weak. The only thing that came to mind was an insult, but little did I know that one simple insult could end in a months worth of grounding. After my stupid little slip-up of words she quickly used an Apostrophe with the recent death of her mother. “Your Grandmother is crying over the terrible things you do!” My poor grandmother wasn’t present to defend her side, or even living! With the Apostrophe played I knew I had lost the battle, and the next month would be sad and boring.
Not only does my mother use Figurative Language and Literary Techniques to get her point across, many poets and authors use the same method. Now, in or hearing an argument, listen for the Figurative Language with comparing opposites or giving objects person like capabilities, and the other Literary Techniques of word choice and tone.


Ps. My mother is not THAT bad, and I may expand stories a little bit....

Guest Blogger: Taylor B.

Proposing Modestly

Jonathon Swift is a genius in the ways he presents and constructs his article, A Modest Proposal. First he publishes it in the newspaper alongside other “proposals” by politicians. By putting it in the middle of the paper, people who are reading it believe it to be just another proposal. As the readers are reading the proposal he makes it seem like his solution is going to be the great solution to solve everything. The reader is sucked in and keeps reading.
Then he talks about eating babies! The switch is quick and easy and you, as the reader, are repulsed by the thought. However you want to keep reading to see what he’s talking about. He gives such ridiculous suggestions that you automatically disagree with him. Then in paragraph thirty Swift proposes many solutions that would actually work. For instance “teaching landlords to have at least one degree of mercy towards their tenants” and “putting a spirit of honesty, industry, and skill into our shop-keepers”. He isn’t actually proposing that they eat babies but he shows that if politicians don’t want to face the real problems and make REAL solutions then they might be heartless enough to eat babies.

The thing that I find interesting is that politicians today aren’t much better. In A Modest Proposal he words his language in a friendly way that if you aren’t paying close attention to what he’s saying you might agree with him. Today politicians say what they think you want to hear but in reality many people want to hear the truth. In A Modest Proposal Swift is blunt and shows exactly what needs to be done (NOT eating babies, but the other solutions he offers) and maybe that’s what we need today. Maybe we need a Blunt Proposal, not something covered in fluff that everyone will like.