"Soma"

People don't want to face the real world and are never satisfied. The song hints at the way people avoid the bad things in life and try pretending like they are not there. It says, "Soma is what they would take when hard times opened their eyes." Whenever something bad was happening, people would look to a solution at hand that didn't really change or solve the actual bad thing happening. The real world around them is still there but the soma asks the problem. The song says, "Saw pain in a new way," meaning the world is still there, they just aren't seeing it clearly for what it is. Once people cover up reality with something else, this never stops. The people will never be satisfied. "And these friends, they keep asking for more." This quote shows how it is a never ending cycle in order to avoidthe bad things in life.

Sentence analysis:

1. Topic sentence and theme
2. Support #1 and connects theme to song
3. Example for support #1
4. Explanation of quote and connects to topic sentence
5. Support #2, extends topic sentence
6. Example of support #2 and quote explanation, leads to support #3
7. Support #3, back to topic sentence
8. Example of support #3
9. Sums up support #3 and connects to topic sentence

2+2=5

Subject- something is wrong in the world, [blind] conformity

Theme- People will eventually give into conformity and what society wants.

Tone- angry, negative

Loss of Innocence

Innocence to me is the naive, almost childlike, and unknowing part of a person.Innocence can be lost after and experience that exposes the person in some way to the real world around them and reality hits them.

1. The girl is naked but yet she is covering body. The way she is covering her body is her innocence but since she is naked, she is losing this innocence.
2. The shell she is standing on and her herself are very bright and white. White is usually symbolic of purity which goes along with innocence.
3. The woman looks like she is trying to cover up the girl to protect her innocence but the girl doesn't look like she wants to be covered up and the wind isn't allowing this; showing the loss of her innocence.

Don't You Want Me

In the song, there is  waitress that the man thinks is interested in him. The waitress is not interested in him at all. They broke up after five years. These are two separate interpretations of the same thing. This is possible because of mixed and conflicting signals being sent and people interpret things differently. People have different pasts and this creates biases towards what they want to protect.

An example of this in my life is when a conversation between me and my mom occurs. She thinks I am back talking and being rude and smart while I think I am just simply responding with my own opinions and feelings in a respectable manner.

Success is Counted Sweetest

Maranda, Genghis, and Jack

Subject- being close to success and then failing
Occasion- post Civil War
Audience- the successors
Purpose- to convey the feelings of failure after being so close to victory
Speaker- depressed, recluse
Tone- bitter, pesimistic

Theme- Without failure, success can not be understood.

Blackbird

blackbird- black people as a whole
broken wings- the hardships they went through in the past
light of the dark black night- hope for a brighter future

This song was a symbol for desegregation going on at the time. It makes sense for the African Americans to be represented as a BLACKbird. The song tells the blackbird to take his broken wings, which could be the historical hardships they went through as a race, and learn how to fly. The blackbird flies into the light of the dark black night. This could be a symbol for hope in a seemingly hopeless place.

The Avent Brothers "Shame"

The subject of the song is a man wanting a second chance with his lover because he has realized what he was doing wrong. The tone of the song is regretful. The feeling of regret would mean that someone feels wrong from what they've done in the past. The writer uses the word "guilt" which has a connotation of feeling remorse for what they have previously done. Regretful can also show that the person feels responsible for their wrong doings. "Blame" was used by the writer. This shows they are blaming their self for what happened and are taking up for their actions and mistakes. Regretful can be represented by being ashamed. "Boatloads of shame" was used by the writer. This shows that they are not proud and are ashamed of what they have done, supporting that the tone is regretful.

Sign Language

The single effect was advantage of ever opportunity when it arises.

Three choices the director made to add to this:

1. The soft, lovely music.
2. The guy was the only one to take a flyer from the girl and then she smiled.
3. The girl was positioned perfectly across the street so that the guy could always see her.

Love Language

The purpose of the film was to raise awareness about deaf children and to show that they are just like everyone else. The film was affective at showing this by using the interactions of the two people. The deaf girl experienced feelings that regular people do. The film left me feeling happy and cheerful because even though the girl was deaf, the boy's feelings towards her didn't change.

Good Old Desk

Subject- A desk

Narrator- Harry Nilson

Audience- People who need something to rely and depend on

Purpose: To get the audience to relate to something that is always there for them

1. Says it keeps his hopes alive
2. Doesn't tease him; only pleases him
3. A giant of all times

The Pinch of Poverty

Subject- The painting has a mother, a little boy leaning on her, a little girl, and a baby with flowers. Their clothes look old and worn. It is a rainy day.

Artist- The artist seems to care about poverty and might have seen it before in their lifetime.

Audience- The upper and middle class could be the audience.

Purpose- The purpose is to portray poverty as something sad, serious, and in need of attention.

1. The bright colors of the flowers could represent that they are the families only hope for a brighter future and to get out of poverty.
2. The bars behind the family could be a symbol for being trapped. The family is trapped in poverty and can't get out.

Culture

I  define culture as what mkeshumans different from each other. It is something that you learn through out your entire life and makes you who you are. A person's culture includes how they dress, their favorite type of music, what they eat, what they do on weekends, their religion, how they speak, how they write, where they live, and everything else that makes a person who they are.

I think culture is extrinsic. You aren't born with culture. You are born INTO culture. Parents teach their children culture from the beginning. Humans are raised in a way that carries on the traditions in their culture. A baby born in America would turn out completely different than it would if it was born in China just because of the influence of the culture surrounding it.

Runaway

3 Facts:

1.  The seats are green.
2. "Special Today" is written behind the man in white.
3. There are three people present in the painting.

3 Claims:

1. The boy is the runaway.
2. They are all engaged in a conversation.
3. The artist made the blue on the policeman's clothes and the bright red sack stand out against the lighter colors in the painting so they would be the focal points.

Pygmalion - Journal Entry 2

Why was the hostess of the party so interested in Eliza? There had to be other people she didn’t know there. And Nepomummuck definitely seemed like a fraud to me. There’s no way he was that good. If Higgins taught him, he wouldn’t end up better than him. When he said Eliza was a princess, it really showed he really was a fake considering he was way off. The whole princess idea was kind of dropped after this point. They never mentioned it again in the book. Why? I thought it was significant since this is when Higgins reached his goal.

After the party, Eliza had the mental break down.  I knew this would happen sooner or later. I felt bad for her. She realized she was just a puppet and she was so naïve about it. The two men were oblivious to her being upset, probably because they were drunk. Once Higgins saw she was hurt, I think it hit a soft spot we hadn’t seen until this point but he put up a front to cover it up.

I absolutely HATED the ending of the book for three reasons. The first was that her father randomly came back because some dead guy left him in his will because of Higgins. This part confused me and was so random. The second reason was because Eliza and Freddy got together. We knew that Freddy liked Eliza because the author kept hinting at it but I didn’t think Eliza would like him back. It was so surprising. I think she was just desperate. The third reason is that it left tons of questions unanswered. Does Eliza actually get married to Freddy? Does she ever see Higgins again? Is her father more involved in her life after his wedding?  I need answers!

Pygmalion - Journal Entry 1

Higgins got on my nerves a lot. He obviously cares about no one but himself. The only reason that he agreed to help Eliza was because he would get bragging rights from doing the seemingly impossible. If he wasn’t trying to prove a point, he wouldn’t have even thought about changing Eliza. When Eliza first showed up, he was annoyed and told Ms. Pearce to send her off. Once he thought about how it would help his business if he made a poor girl appear like she was from the upper class, he insisted that she stayed with him. I really didn’t like his character because of how inconsiderate and selfish he was.

One thing I noticed about Eliza was that she was very stubborn. Once she had an opinion on something, nothing could change it. The author made sure that we knew she was stubborn first when she wouldn’t tell how she knew Freddy’s name. I really wanted to know how she knew this too especially because the author made it seem like a big deal from the way Freddy’s mother and Eliza kept bickering about it. She was also being stubborn when she wouldn’t stop crying over nothing and she wouldn’t adjust her old ways to be like the people Higgins was like. She didn’t want to get rid of her clothes or take a bath and she was being a little dramatic about it. Well very dramatic about it.

I wondered why Eliza was being so hesitant about bathing like rich people did. The author said that she had pictures of the high class life cut out from newspapers and magazines on her walls. She envied them in a way but yet she acted like she didn’t want to become like them. Why was this? Was this significant?

The Pearl - Journal Entry 2

When the pearl was being inspected by the buyers, it was on black felt. The contrast emphasized the brightness of the pearl which brings me back to my light/dark motif. Maybe the light symbolizes happiness or “happiness” since all the pearl has brought is trouble. Kino should have just listened to Juana and gotten rid of the pearl when she said. The author said the pearl had a strange color to it which I thought could have been hinting at its underlying evilness. The magnifying glass could be representing seeing the pearl for what it truly was: evil.

The author created good imagery when Juana was walking in the darkness after trying to throw out the pearl. The moon was creating light and dark spots on the ground because of the clouds. She was in and out of darkness. I interpreted this has her conflicting emotions of wanting to get rid of the pear because it brought evil in her family but yet wanting to obey her husband and keep it.

At first I liked Kino. He was a family based man and made his wife and child a priority. Now he was putting his wants in front of them and turning evil. After he hit Juana for trying to throw the pearl out, I hated him. I never thought it would go that far. He was turning into an animal; He was no longer a human on the inside. It freaked me out when he was killing the trackers. He was so wild! It was like he was hungry for human flesh. When he looked into the pearl at the end, he was seeing his visions gone wrong which gave me hope for him but I realized he was already destroyed and ruined.

The Pearl - Journal Entry 1

When the author began the book, he described the way Kino woke up and his morning routine. I found it strange when he pointed out that Kino looked at his wife last of all things.  Was this some kind of foreshadowing for further problems in their relationship? But family was obviously really important in this culture and society since Kino was always speaking of the song of the family. I knew something would disturb the peace of the song of the family because that’s just predictable. The scorpion is what disturbed this peace which is when we learned that Coyotito is a baby boy. I wondered why the author kept us guessing at what he was. I didn’t know if he was a child or a dog until this point.

I noticed the motif of light/dark. Light was mentioned three times in the beginning with sunrise, Juana’s morning fire, and the sun was compared to an explosion of fire. When the people were asking for help from the doctor and he rejected them, the author mentioned their shadows which are darkness. Is this a motif symbolizing good things and bad things or is it more of the emotion side like happiness and sadness, which don’t necessarily mean the same thing.

I liked when the author compared the town and the way it worked to an animal. Was this done for a reason or was it just to help the reader understand? News spread through the nervous system. When Kino became the enemy after finding the pearl, the town swelled up due to infection. The author also said humans are never satisfied. I figured this was foreshadowing for Kino wanting more and more after finding the pearl.

I couldn’t figure out what the coin the pearl buyer was playing with was a symbol for. I know he was smooth and fluid when tossing it around but when he saw the pearl, he dropped it. Why? Was this just supposed to show his shock? Was this showing how the pearl is uncontrollable like how he lost control of the coin? Whichever it was, I never figured it out and I guess it wasn’t important enough to change my understanding of the book.