Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Inside the bell jar
"The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath in chapters 19 and 20 is about a woman named Esther who has been depressed and considered mentally unstable and is a resident in long term psychiatric ward. The first section gives you some background of the story and introduces you to Joan who is the main character's best friend at the ward and has aspirations of becoming a psychologist after leaving the ward. Then the story cuts to the scene on the steps of the library where a man asks Esther for the time even though he has a watch, which leads to introductions and some beers and wine as courtship. At one point a lady tries to visit the man who's name is irwin, but he tells the lady that he is working. Then they proceed to the bed and have sex, she tells him that she is a virgin but he doesn't believe her until they finish. After they are done she starts to bleed badly and wants to be taken to the hospital, but all Irwin will do is drop her off at Joan's apartment and she is taken to the hospital from there. After she recovers and leaves the hospital she returns to the ward only to find that Joan is missing and chapter 20 ends with the recovery of Joan's body and Esther's departure from the ward after passing an interview of the doctor's panel.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Vogler Annotated Bibliography 10/28/08
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers. 3rd ed.
Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese, 1998. 175-194.
Summary
In the next chapter Vogler discusses the Reward stage of the hero's journey. In this stage, which often occurs after the hero has faced death and survived, it is very common for there to be a celebration often reminiscent of recounting the adventure with their friends and allies around the campfire. The next situation presented in this stage is the chance at a love affair or sacred marriage. The last and most importance purpose of this stage is the " seizing of the sword" where the hero gets his reward after surviving the ordeal. Although the reward is usually achieved through death or the willingness of the hero to risk his own life, sometimes the hero will steal the elixir Surviving the ordeal also raises the hero to a new status and initiates the hero to a new elite group that can be shown by knighting or battlefield promotions.Heroes may find that surviving death grants them new powers or better perceptions and these may prove to be the elixir that the hero gained from defying death. There are several different names given for becoming demystified and seeing clearly, however Vogler also warns of the danger of the hero traveling to the dark side of whatever he has faced in the ordeal and the danger of an inflated ego or the hero's arrogance. Next Vogler moves into a chapter on the Road Back stage of the journey which serves the purpose of rededicating the hero to his journey and restoring the energy of the story after the story was slowed down and recapped following the survival of the ordeal. This section should inflame the pace of the story and keep arousing the audience until the finish. One important aspect of this stage is the popular chase scene often involving a retaliatory villain and Vogler finishes the chapter by by describing the different variances in the chase scene from some movies and literature.
Reaction
In these chapter Vogler returns to using a wide array of films as examples that were very effective in keeping me involved in the reading. He focused mainly on action films and a few references to old romances that wouldn't be very effective with today's audience, but I think it would be more effective if he used examples from a variety of genres. Although the wizard of oz is still a good example of every stage of the story it is becoming tedious through the repetition.
Questions.
1. What are some examples of the hero chasing instead of being chased during the Reward stage of the story
2. Are there times where to survive the journey the hero must give up his physical reward while gaining him a new moral reward.
3. What are some ways besides the chase scene that you can speed the story up during the road back stage.
Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese, 1998. 175-194.
Summary
In the next chapter Vogler discusses the Reward stage of the hero's journey. In this stage, which often occurs after the hero has faced death and survived, it is very common for there to be a celebration often reminiscent of recounting the adventure with their friends and allies around the campfire. The next situation presented in this stage is the chance at a love affair or sacred marriage. The last and most importance purpose of this stage is the " seizing of the sword" where the hero gets his reward after surviving the ordeal. Although the reward is usually achieved through death or the willingness of the hero to risk his own life, sometimes the hero will steal the elixir Surviving the ordeal also raises the hero to a new status and initiates the hero to a new elite group that can be shown by knighting or battlefield promotions.Heroes may find that surviving death grants them new powers or better perceptions and these may prove to be the elixir that the hero gained from defying death. There are several different names given for becoming demystified and seeing clearly, however Vogler also warns of the danger of the hero traveling to the dark side of whatever he has faced in the ordeal and the danger of an inflated ego or the hero's arrogance. Next Vogler moves into a chapter on the Road Back stage of the journey which serves the purpose of rededicating the hero to his journey and restoring the energy of the story after the story was slowed down and recapped following the survival of the ordeal. This section should inflame the pace of the story and keep arousing the audience until the finish. One important aspect of this stage is the popular chase scene often involving a retaliatory villain and Vogler finishes the chapter by by describing the different variances in the chase scene from some movies and literature.
Reaction
In these chapter Vogler returns to using a wide array of films as examples that were very effective in keeping me involved in the reading. He focused mainly on action films and a few references to old romances that wouldn't be very effective with today's audience, but I think it would be more effective if he used examples from a variety of genres. Although the wizard of oz is still a good example of every stage of the story it is becoming tedious through the repetition.
Questions.
1. What are some examples of the hero chasing instead of being chased during the Reward stage of the story
2. Are there times where to survive the journey the hero must give up his physical reward while gaining him a new moral reward.
3. What are some ways besides the chase scene that you can speed the story up during the road back stage.
give credit where it is due
youtube extra credit: 1st a joga bonito video of divers, then a video of some of the worst dives in soccer history http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ioyt2zzm530 , and finally a video of the top ten dives of the 2006 world cup including the italy vs. australia dive i talk about in my paper http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_NU2G7A5k8&feature=related.
good deed: switched somebody's laundry and started the dryer for them.
good deed: switched somebody's laundry and started the dryer for them.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths: Interesting topic,different perspectives, world view. Weaknesses: show how cheating occurs and examples of cheating in big games, show the rules being broken, how cheating effects view of soccer, make thesis easier for a non soccer person to understand
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Annotated Bibliography 6
Vogler, Christopher. “Crossing the First Threshold and Tests, Allies, and Enemies” The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structures For Writers 3rd Ed. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. 127-141.
Summary
In this chapter Vogler explains the Crossing of the First Threshold stage of the Hero’s Journey story. You are told that the final stage of Act One is the Crossing of the First Threshold. After the Hero gets his advice and/or items from the mentor, usually he hesitates until either an inner or outer force pressure the Hero until he is pushed over the threshold and into the adventure. Threshold Guardians can appear in any part of the story, but they usually block a narrow passage forcing the Hero to confront the aspect that the Guardian represents. The Crossing, we are told is the passage between the two worlds often resulting in a crash landing into the new world.
The Tests, Allies, and Enemies stage of the story must occur in the special world and appear in stark contrast to the ordinary world, even if the Hero doesn’t physically leave the ordinary world. This new world is always more dangerous and has higher stakes. An important function of this stage is to challenge the Hero to a lesser degree than the life or death situations that he will face later. How the Hero escapes trap, their ability to judge character, their own character under pressure, and their ability to adapt to the new rules are all tested in this part. This is also a time for the Hero to establish a sidekick or team and gaining knowledge of their enemy. Watering holes, bars, and cantinas are very common in this stage as natural congregation place, which allows the Hero to recuperate, hear the latest gossip, make friends and enemies, observe, and confront. The places of congregation are also hotspots for sexual intrigue and gambling, which are very common tests of character.
Reaction
In the first section Vogler’s examples are less common examples and harder to understand, this makes the archetype of the Threshold Guardian more vague and harder to understand. In the second chapter the examples were very mainstream, and were actually the first two movies I thought of in relation to bars and cantinas for allies and enemies.
Questions.
1. What are some other places besides bars and cantinas that the allies and enemies can be found during this stage
2. Do you need a Threshold Guardian in the First Threshold stage
3. Can you think of any examples of the Tests, Allies, and Enemies stage happening before the First Threshold stage
Summary
In this chapter Vogler explains the Crossing of the First Threshold stage of the Hero’s Journey story. You are told that the final stage of Act One is the Crossing of the First Threshold. After the Hero gets his advice and/or items from the mentor, usually he hesitates until either an inner or outer force pressure the Hero until he is pushed over the threshold and into the adventure. Threshold Guardians can appear in any part of the story, but they usually block a narrow passage forcing the Hero to confront the aspect that the Guardian represents. The Crossing, we are told is the passage between the two worlds often resulting in a crash landing into the new world.
The Tests, Allies, and Enemies stage of the story must occur in the special world and appear in stark contrast to the ordinary world, even if the Hero doesn’t physically leave the ordinary world. This new world is always more dangerous and has higher stakes. An important function of this stage is to challenge the Hero to a lesser degree than the life or death situations that he will face later. How the Hero escapes trap, their ability to judge character, their own character under pressure, and their ability to adapt to the new rules are all tested in this part. This is also a time for the Hero to establish a sidekick or team and gaining knowledge of their enemy. Watering holes, bars, and cantinas are very common in this stage as natural congregation place, which allows the Hero to recuperate, hear the latest gossip, make friends and enemies, observe, and confront. The places of congregation are also hotspots for sexual intrigue and gambling, which are very common tests of character.
Reaction
In the first section Vogler’s examples are less common examples and harder to understand, this makes the archetype of the Threshold Guardian more vague and harder to understand. In the second chapter the examples were very mainstream, and were actually the first two movies I thought of in relation to bars and cantinas for allies and enemies.
Questions.
1. What are some other places besides bars and cantinas that the allies and enemies can be found during this stage
2. Do you need a Threshold Guardian in the First Threshold stage
3. Can you think of any examples of the Tests, Allies, and Enemies stage happening before the First Threshold stage
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Vogler Annotated Bibliography 10/6/08
Vogler, Christopher. “Refusal of the Call and Meeting with the Mentor” The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structures For Writers 3rd Ed. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. 49-80.
Summary
In the first chapter Vogler discusses the Refusal of the Call stage of the Hero’s Journey. The importance of this stage is showing the danger of the journey and the Hero sanding at the threshold of fear and the understandable reaction would be fear and hesitation. This stage shows the audience the risk of the adventure and that the journey is a danger filled high stakes gamble where the hero could lose his life or fortune and not just a frivolous adventure. The first way that Vogler talks about refusing the call is avoidance by the hero. They do this by hesitating, showing reluctance, or flat out refusing the call. Often the refusal is brought on by past experience and the protests continue until the Hero’s Refusal is overcome either by some stronger motivation that raises the stakes such as the death or kidnapping of a friend, or the Hero’s inbred taste for adventure or his sense of honor and pride. Also the stronger the Refusal, the more the audience enjoys seeing it overcome. The most common Refusal of the Call is the Hero listing several weak excuses that are temporary roadblocks that are removed by the urgency of the quest. Another important fact is that persistent Refusal leads to disaster. Continued Refusal is a mark of the tragic hero. If he continues to refuse the Call they will suffer the fate of a tragic hero. Only if the Hero finally accepts the Call to Adventure will they avoid the tragic hero fate. Occasionally there is also a conflicting set of Calls and the Hero will have to choose which path to travel down. Refusal of the Call is usually a negative stage in the Journey, but there are times when the Call is a temptation from a villain to get the Hero into a dangerous situation, when this happens the Refusal is a positive stage in the story. Another case of a positive Refusal of the Call is when the Hero is an artist than it is sometimes necessary for the artist to refuse the Call of the outside world to answer an inner Call. A twist on the Refusal stage is when there is a willing hero who accepts the Call without question, when this happens the Refusal is shown through the fate of other characters that represent the Refusal and show the dangers of the Journey. Once the Hero accepts the Call it is common for the Hero to encounter a Threshold Guardian who’s role is to block the Hero’s adventure to test the Hero’s commitment. A mentor can become a Threshold Guardian to try and block the Hero from going down a path to actions that society doesn’t approve of. The last thing mentioned in this chapter is the secret door phase where the Hero inevitably does something he is told not to do because of human’s inexorable curiosity.
In the next chapter Vogler discusses the Meeting with the Mentor stage of the Journey. Sometimes refusing the call can be a good choice if the Hero hasn’t had time to prepare for the unknown that the Hero is about to venture to. It is often necessary for a Mentor to appear and teach the Hero what the Hero needs to survive his adventure. The mentor can supply the items, knowledge, and confidence needed by the Hero. The majority of stories are constantly elaborating on the relationship between the Hero and the Mentor. Even if there is no contact with a physical Mentor the Hero always encounters some source of wisdom before committing to an adventure. Mentors in myth and folklore are often characters with some connection to the supernatural such as witches, wizards, witch doctors, shamans, spirits, magical creatures like centaurs, or the gods themselves. The original prototype for the Mentor archetype is Chiron the centaur from Greek mythology; unlike other centaurs who are wild and savage Chiron was a gentle and thoughtful creature, but not without a savage streak. He serves as a link between humans and the supernatural powers of nature and the gods. He taught his heroes-in-training the skills that the heroes would need as they went on adventures. The Mentor archetype is so commonly used that the writer must be careful not to fall into the stereotypes of the role and surprise the audience by defying the archetype while still representing it within the story because of the audience’s familiarity with the role. The audience doesn’t mind being mislead about the Mentor as life is often filled with surprises, so it can be acceptable to have a Hero led into a life of crime and sin; You can make the audience think that they are seeing a kind, helpful Mentor and then reveal the Mentor to be something quite different. The Hero-Mentor relationship can take a deadly or tragic turn if the Hero has violent or ungrateful tendencies, or if the Mentor changes into Villain or betrays the Hero. Another tragic ending to the relationship can be if the Mentor is overprotective of the Hero that the Mentor trained. Some stories are Mentor-driven and end with the succession of the mentor by the trainee of the Mentor. Mentors can be considered Heroes who have been down the Path of the Hero and have knowledge and experience to pass down to the next Generation of Hero. The Mentor is a role that will appear multiple times in the story and appears very frequently because of their usefulness to storytellers. No matter how the archetype is personified in the story, the Mentor’s energy is always present to advance the story and give the Hero the knowledge and tool he needs to survive his Journey.
Reaction
I found this section very engaging as it made me think about the different ways to make stories more interesting by varying these early stages and the archetypes contained in these sections. The different variations of these two stages also brought movies to my mind for each of the variations, which kept me involved in the reading and kept me engaged. Most of the examples worked for me, but might not work as examples to a large portion of the younger generation using this book. The only complaint is the constant use of the wizard of oz as an example, it would be nice to see some more variety in the main examples in the chapters, although I understand wanting to have a single constant example it becomes tempting to just skip the section when I see the headline.
Questions
1. What are some instances of the Mentor convincing the Hero to Refuse the Call?
2. What are some reasons for not having the Meeting with the Mentor until later in the story?
3. Are there times when the Hero is a mentor to a member of the younger generation and through teaching gains the knowledge and power to complete his own Journey?
Summary
In the first chapter Vogler discusses the Refusal of the Call stage of the Hero’s Journey. The importance of this stage is showing the danger of the journey and the Hero sanding at the threshold of fear and the understandable reaction would be fear and hesitation. This stage shows the audience the risk of the adventure and that the journey is a danger filled high stakes gamble where the hero could lose his life or fortune and not just a frivolous adventure. The first way that Vogler talks about refusing the call is avoidance by the hero. They do this by hesitating, showing reluctance, or flat out refusing the call. Often the refusal is brought on by past experience and the protests continue until the Hero’s Refusal is overcome either by some stronger motivation that raises the stakes such as the death or kidnapping of a friend, or the Hero’s inbred taste for adventure or his sense of honor and pride. Also the stronger the Refusal, the more the audience enjoys seeing it overcome. The most common Refusal of the Call is the Hero listing several weak excuses that are temporary roadblocks that are removed by the urgency of the quest. Another important fact is that persistent Refusal leads to disaster. Continued Refusal is a mark of the tragic hero. If he continues to refuse the Call they will suffer the fate of a tragic hero. Only if the Hero finally accepts the Call to Adventure will they avoid the tragic hero fate. Occasionally there is also a conflicting set of Calls and the Hero will have to choose which path to travel down. Refusal of the Call is usually a negative stage in the Journey, but there are times when the Call is a temptation from a villain to get the Hero into a dangerous situation, when this happens the Refusal is a positive stage in the story. Another case of a positive Refusal of the Call is when the Hero is an artist than it is sometimes necessary for the artist to refuse the Call of the outside world to answer an inner Call. A twist on the Refusal stage is when there is a willing hero who accepts the Call without question, when this happens the Refusal is shown through the fate of other characters that represent the Refusal and show the dangers of the Journey. Once the Hero accepts the Call it is common for the Hero to encounter a Threshold Guardian who’s role is to block the Hero’s adventure to test the Hero’s commitment. A mentor can become a Threshold Guardian to try and block the Hero from going down a path to actions that society doesn’t approve of. The last thing mentioned in this chapter is the secret door phase where the Hero inevitably does something he is told not to do because of human’s inexorable curiosity.
In the next chapter Vogler discusses the Meeting with the Mentor stage of the Journey. Sometimes refusing the call can be a good choice if the Hero hasn’t had time to prepare for the unknown that the Hero is about to venture to. It is often necessary for a Mentor to appear and teach the Hero what the Hero needs to survive his adventure. The mentor can supply the items, knowledge, and confidence needed by the Hero. The majority of stories are constantly elaborating on the relationship between the Hero and the Mentor. Even if there is no contact with a physical Mentor the Hero always encounters some source of wisdom before committing to an adventure. Mentors in myth and folklore are often characters with some connection to the supernatural such as witches, wizards, witch doctors, shamans, spirits, magical creatures like centaurs, or the gods themselves. The original prototype for the Mentor archetype is Chiron the centaur from Greek mythology; unlike other centaurs who are wild and savage Chiron was a gentle and thoughtful creature, but not without a savage streak. He serves as a link between humans and the supernatural powers of nature and the gods. He taught his heroes-in-training the skills that the heroes would need as they went on adventures. The Mentor archetype is so commonly used that the writer must be careful not to fall into the stereotypes of the role and surprise the audience by defying the archetype while still representing it within the story because of the audience’s familiarity with the role. The audience doesn’t mind being mislead about the Mentor as life is often filled with surprises, so it can be acceptable to have a Hero led into a life of crime and sin; You can make the audience think that they are seeing a kind, helpful Mentor and then reveal the Mentor to be something quite different. The Hero-Mentor relationship can take a deadly or tragic turn if the Hero has violent or ungrateful tendencies, or if the Mentor changes into Villain or betrays the Hero. Another tragic ending to the relationship can be if the Mentor is overprotective of the Hero that the Mentor trained. Some stories are Mentor-driven and end with the succession of the mentor by the trainee of the Mentor. Mentors can be considered Heroes who have been down the Path of the Hero and have knowledge and experience to pass down to the next Generation of Hero. The Mentor is a role that will appear multiple times in the story and appears very frequently because of their usefulness to storytellers. No matter how the archetype is personified in the story, the Mentor’s energy is always present to advance the story and give the Hero the knowledge and tool he needs to survive his Journey.
Reaction
I found this section very engaging as it made me think about the different ways to make stories more interesting by varying these early stages and the archetypes contained in these sections. The different variations of these two stages also brought movies to my mind for each of the variations, which kept me involved in the reading and kept me engaged. Most of the examples worked for me, but might not work as examples to a large portion of the younger generation using this book. The only complaint is the constant use of the wizard of oz as an example, it would be nice to see some more variety in the main examples in the chapters, although I understand wanting to have a single constant example it becomes tempting to just skip the section when I see the headline.
Questions
1. What are some instances of the Mentor convincing the Hero to Refuse the Call?
2. What are some reasons for not having the Meeting with the Mentor until later in the story?
3. Are there times when the Hero is a mentor to a member of the younger generation and through teaching gains the knowledge and power to complete his own Journey?
i-search
1. What are some of the larger themes in my memoir? (Themes such as: compassion, knowledge, economics, race, class, gender, politics, etc) Think about what your story ultimately deals with. Have fun and select some topics that you WANT to explore?
Sports
2. Now select one of those themes and brainstorm for a bit about the theme and how it appears in the cultural environment. For instance, if you choose compassion, then you may list ideas such as the Peace Movement, Humane treatment of animals, or issues related to Human Rights such as torture, genocide, etc.
Olympic regulations, history of sport, sport and immigration, soccer and society, soccer leagues and international soccer differences, history of the rise and decline of racquetball, controversy, cheating and corruption in sports.
3. Here is where you write one or two paragraphs, discussing what knowledge, experience, or background you already have about your topic, BEFORE having done any research on it. Explore your positions in regards to the topic.
There has always been large amounts of rule bending by participants to increase their position in the sport they compete in going all the way back to some of the first Olympics in ancient Greece and Rome. But in recent years (20th century- present) cheating has taken on increased levels of usage. From refs being bribed by bookies, most recently Tim Donaghy in the NBA and the ever constant fixing and investigation of lower league officials in the lower leagues of the Italian soccer leagues or trading fixed events with other refs in the Olympics, most noticeably the French and Russian skating judges in salt lake city 2002, to the use of banned substances to increase the athletes performance, like the many athletes named in the Mitchell report where it was self inflicted or like the athletes from west Germany and Russia during the cold war times and beyond where the trainers drugged the athletes with steroids in their food, and the most common of rule breaking, but least important to the sports themselves, flopping and acting to get calls.
4. Here is where you put down one or two paragraphs' worth of questions about your topic, questions you want badly, even desperately, to have answered. These questions will lead you to those sources that will answer your questions. These questions are the passionate, fiery fuel that guide you through the morass of library work, interviews, etc.
How does flopping and diving change the way that people play the games and ref the games. what does all of the cheating and corruption in individual sports change the way that the public looks at sports in general. Does the cheating and controversy lead to more people watching because they want to see for themselves if thy think the cheating happened or does it lead to more people not watching and boycotting the sport. Does the use of steroids lead to people not using steroids getting more injuries as a result of having to push themselves harder.
Sports
2. Now select one of those themes and brainstorm for a bit about the theme and how it appears in the cultural environment. For instance, if you choose compassion, then you may list ideas such as the Peace Movement, Humane treatment of animals, or issues related to Human Rights such as torture, genocide, etc.
Olympic regulations, history of sport, sport and immigration, soccer and society, soccer leagues and international soccer differences, history of the rise and decline of racquetball, controversy, cheating and corruption in sports.
3. Here is where you write one or two paragraphs, discussing what knowledge, experience, or background you already have about your topic, BEFORE having done any research on it. Explore your positions in regards to the topic.
There has always been large amounts of rule bending by participants to increase their position in the sport they compete in going all the way back to some of the first Olympics in ancient Greece and Rome. But in recent years (20th century- present) cheating has taken on increased levels of usage. From refs being bribed by bookies, most recently Tim Donaghy in the NBA and the ever constant fixing and investigation of lower league officials in the lower leagues of the Italian soccer leagues or trading fixed events with other refs in the Olympics, most noticeably the French and Russian skating judges in salt lake city 2002, to the use of banned substances to increase the athletes performance, like the many athletes named in the Mitchell report where it was self inflicted or like the athletes from west Germany and Russia during the cold war times and beyond where the trainers drugged the athletes with steroids in their food, and the most common of rule breaking, but least important to the sports themselves, flopping and acting to get calls.
4. Here is where you put down one or two paragraphs' worth of questions about your topic, questions you want badly, even desperately, to have answered. These questions will lead you to those sources that will answer your questions. These questions are the passionate, fiery fuel that guide you through the morass of library work, interviews, etc.
How does flopping and diving change the way that people play the games and ref the games. what does all of the cheating and corruption in individual sports change the way that the public looks at sports in general. Does the cheating and controversy lead to more people watching because they want to see for themselves if thy think the cheating happened or does it lead to more people not watching and boycotting the sport. Does the use of steroids lead to people not using steroids getting more injuries as a result of having to push themselves harder.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Revision plan
Edit: Better use of fanboys after commas.
Replace its thats and things with descriptions
More focus and attention to sentences
Revise: Transition better between paragraphs
Use the paragraphs to guide the reader better
Unpack the end of the conclusion
Replace its thats and things with descriptions
More focus and attention to sentences
Revise: Transition better between paragraphs
Use the paragraphs to guide the reader better
Unpack the end of the conclusion
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