I've never read a "farewell post," so I'm not really sure what one is supposed to look like. In fact, I'm not even really sure if a "farewell post" a real thing. Well, I'm writing one now, so... if it wasn't a real thing before, it is now. Here goes...
If I wasn't required to blog for my English class this year, I probably would have never started, but now, I'm stuck in the blogosphere. I write, I follow, and I even comment from time to time. It's May, so I'm about to take a nice, relaxing blog-cation, but before I depart, I want to make sure that you know me well as a blogger. So, because it's my favorite thing to do... here are some LISTS:
Five Favorite Blogs (in no particular order)
1. Smitten Kitchen - interesting recipes, and beautiful pictures of food
2. Grilled Cheese Social - Just like Smitten Kitchen, but only grilled cheese sandwiches
(can you tell I'm a huge foodie yet?)
3. The MindBlog - It's neuroscience, but in the most interesting, easy-to-understand way possible.
4. Playbill - OKAY, it's not really a blog, but thanks to Google Reader I always get great little newsflashes or fun facts when I check it.
5. The Disney Blog - 'Nuff said.
Five Most Valuable Blogging Lessons
(greatly in part due to Liz Strauss and her Blogspertise [Blogs. Expertise. Get it?])
1. Links are everybody's friend. A blog that never links to other blogs or sources is a dead end. It has nowhere to go, and will probably not be linked or referenced often because it does nothing for the networked blogging community. Don't be afraid to link often. You'll lose nothing; it can only help you.
2. Cool-looking blogs are cooler in general. I love posts that include photography, pictures, diagrams, etc, and when blogs are visually unique (no templates) and easy to navigate with the eye, they make me want to read them.
3. Make sure your blog represents your voice. If you can picture the blogger physically saying what he or she has posted, it makes the blog so much more readable.
4. When blogs have a clear theme, when all the posts connect to some common interest, such as technology or music or eating or Japan, it ups the "followable" factor incredibly.
5. Talking. Real talking. Yeah, bloggers are real people who communicate with other real people in the real world. They live beyond their blogs. Sometimes, learning about exciting new blogs happens off the computer. This is definitely true for me.
Four Things I Still Need to Work on:
1. Draft more. I tend to crank out a whole post in one sitting, and I probably should proofread or outline a little more (THIS post WAS proofread... yay me)
2. Try to get readers. Usually I never get around to publicizing my posts on REddit or Facebook, but it's reallt not that hard.
3. My theme. If I ever get back into blogging, I need an over-arching idea that holds my posts together, because this time around, it didn't quite happen.
4. Returning the favor. Maybe the reason I don't have more readers is because I have terrible blog karma. I read plenty of posts but rarely comment...
Finally...
Seven Songs I Will Be Listening to All Summer (you should, too):
1. Sweet Pea
2. Someone You'd Admire
3. Sleep the Clock Around
4. Blue Skies
5. This Bed
6. Lux Aurumque
7. Sweet Talk Sweet Talk
...okay one more...
Have a fantastic summer, and thanks for reading!
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
The Thaw
In English we've been talking ecocritical. We recently had to reflect on our relationship with nature. At the time, my relationship with nature was going through a rough patch. April was windy and cloudy and forty or fifty degrees, which is completely unfair after one glorious week of sunny seventies in mid-March. Thus, in my reflection, I had decided that I was not very close with nature.
But wait! Yesterday, after my silk training (*cough*shamelesspromotion*cough*goseeCHICAGO*cough*) yesterday, I noticed that it was in the high seventies; It was sunny; It was breezy. I went for a short walk outside before driving home, and even after the thirty-minute drive back home and the lunch I ate indoors, I went back out to my yard to relax (instead of hide in my air-conditioned house like I normally would). Now, my relationship with nature is in a honeymoon period. The weather is being very good to me, so it's easier for me to love the weather.
In our class discussion of relationships with nature, I figured out that I'm not driven away from nature out of fear of giant animals or fear of dangerous people hiding in the landscape. Instead, my biggest problem is adverse weather... specifically... the cold (i lived in 95-degree, sunny, humid, muggy Italy for three weeks this summer and it honestly hardly bothered me!). If my feelings toward nature strongly depend on the temperature, then where does my role with the great outdoors stand? I believe that I'm not the only one who has a constantly morphing, fluctuating relationship with nature. I bet yours changes frequently, too. What's the factor that affects how you feel toward nature? Weather? Terrain? Bugs?
Finally... earthy song recommendations... it's almost Earth Day, and I think there's no better way to celebrate (anything, not just Earth Day) than with a lovely playlist. Enjoy!
•"Down to Earth" by Peter Gabriel
•"Sprout and the Bean" by Joanna Newsom
•"Woods" by Bon Iver
•"Thistled Spring" by Horse Feathers
(if you have song recommendations, GIVE THEM TO ME =] !!)
But wait! Yesterday, after my silk training (*cough*shamelesspromotion*cough*goseeCHICAGO*cough*) yesterday, I noticed that it was in the high seventies; It was sunny; It was breezy. I went for a short walk outside before driving home, and even after the thirty-minute drive back home and the lunch I ate indoors, I went back out to my yard to relax (instead of hide in my air-conditioned house like I normally would). Now, my relationship with nature is in a honeymoon period. The weather is being very good to me, so it's easier for me to love the weather.
In our class discussion of relationships with nature, I figured out that I'm not driven away from nature out of fear of giant animals or fear of dangerous people hiding in the landscape. Instead, my biggest problem is adverse weather... specifically... the cold (i lived in 95-degree, sunny, humid, muggy Italy for three weeks this summer and it honestly hardly bothered me!). If my feelings toward nature strongly depend on the temperature, then where does my role with the great outdoors stand? I believe that I'm not the only one who has a constantly morphing, fluctuating relationship with nature. I bet yours changes frequently, too. What's the factor that affects how you feel toward nature? Weather? Terrain? Bugs?
Finally... earthy song recommendations... it's almost Earth Day, and I think there's no better way to celebrate (anything, not just Earth Day) than with a lovely playlist. Enjoy!
•"Down to Earth" by Peter Gabriel
•"Sprout and the Bean" by Joanna Newsom
•"Woods" by Bon Iver
•"Thistled Spring" by Horse Feathers
(if you have song recommendations, GIVE THEM TO ME =] !!)
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Understanding Gertrude (Plus, a Musical Study Guide!)
In English we've been reading Hamlet, but we've also been analyzing scenes from different critical approaches. It's eye-opening. We see that certain lines can mean different things, or certain characters can serve entirely different purposes depending on what perspective you take when reading Hamlet. In a previous post, I wondered what makes Hamlet such an influential piece, and I think this is it. This play can be taken a thousand ways.
Rather than just assume you'll believe me saying "You can look at Hamlet from so many perspectives" over and over again, I'm gonna prove it to you. Here's the case of Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, from just a few approaches:
1. The Feminist Approach: Gertrude's okay! Feminists could argue that Gertrude is innocent because there is no concrete text that proves Gertrude knew that Claudius was her husband's killer. She may have married Claudius only as a way to keep herself close to power and able to continue to serve her kingdom.
2. The Mythical Approach: Gertrude is a bad mother. She betrayed her son, Hamlet, by marrying Claudius. She also represents an archetype of an evil woman: sensuous, eager to stay close to power, incestuous, and unfaithful.
3. The Psychoanalytic Approach: Ever heard of an Oedipus complex? Hamlet could have tamed his animosity toward his father for having Gertrude, but when his father dies and Claudius takes her hand, Hamlet gets all worked up again. His hatred for Claudius is fed by the fact that someone besides Hamlet Junior or Senior (in the prince's mind, the only two people he could accept being with Gertrude), married Gertrude.
Believe me now? Hamlet's mother could be an unfaithful and selfish mother, an innocent and responsible woman, or a character to show off Hamlet's psychological problems, all depending on what approach you take when reading Hamlet. What other approaches could you take when reading this play, and how would Gertrude's role in the story change?
SONG RECOMMENDATION: Hey There, Ophelia by MC Lars. Who needs SparkNotes when you can just listen to a 4-minute rap summary? (I wouldn't call it the finest piece of audial artwork, but it is entertaining.) Enjoy :)
Rather than just assume you'll believe me saying "You can look at Hamlet from so many perspectives" over and over again, I'm gonna prove it to you. Here's the case of Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, from just a few approaches:
1. The Feminist Approach: Gertrude's okay! Feminists could argue that Gertrude is innocent because there is no concrete text that proves Gertrude knew that Claudius was her husband's killer. She may have married Claudius only as a way to keep herself close to power and able to continue to serve her kingdom.
2. The Mythical Approach: Gertrude is a bad mother. She betrayed her son, Hamlet, by marrying Claudius. She also represents an archetype of an evil woman: sensuous, eager to stay close to power, incestuous, and unfaithful.
3. The Psychoanalytic Approach: Ever heard of an Oedipus complex? Hamlet could have tamed his animosity toward his father for having Gertrude, but when his father dies and Claudius takes her hand, Hamlet gets all worked up again. His hatred for Claudius is fed by the fact that someone besides Hamlet Junior or Senior (in the prince's mind, the only two people he could accept being with Gertrude), married Gertrude.
Believe me now? Hamlet's mother could be an unfaithful and selfish mother, an innocent and responsible woman, or a character to show off Hamlet's psychological problems, all depending on what approach you take when reading Hamlet. What other approaches could you take when reading this play, and how would Gertrude's role in the story change?
SONG RECOMMENDATION: Hey There, Ophelia by MC Lars. Who needs SparkNotes when you can just listen to a 4-minute rap summary? (I wouldn't call it the finest piece of audial artwork, but it is entertaining.) Enjoy :)
Monday, February 7, 2011
Hamlet in Disguise
I really like writing these list-format posts... Anyway, I'm reading Shakespeare's Hamlet for English right now. On Day 1 of this unit, my teacher informed the class of a few instances where this plot has inspired other works of art, so instead of talk about a play you might not have read, I thought it would be fun (yeah, this is what I consider "fun") to find popular movies, songs, or just anything you've probably encountered that are actually based on the famous tragedy.
1. Tchaikovsky wrote an Overture in F minor, called (drumroll, please) Hamlet Fantasy Overture. If you're not a classical music buff, you may have still heard this song if you've ever seen A Christmas Story.
2. More in the vein of classical music... Hamlet is an opera!!! Actually, Wikipedia told me there are seven operas based on Hamlet. In Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet, all of Act 4 is Ophelia's "Mad Scene," and Maria Callas, the queen of opera, sings it incredibly.
3. If you're a Disney fan, or have experienced any sort of childhood at all, you've probably seen The Lion King. Guess what. It's Hamlet! Simba is Hamlet, sans insanity. Scar is Claudius, the evil uncle who kills his brother to take the throne, and then grossly abuses his power and tries to take the queen's hand. Timon and Pumba? They could be Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, encouraging a responsibility-free lifestyle.
4. Then there's Sons of Anarchy, yes, a whole television series based on Hamlet. Clay is Claudius, Gemma is Gertrude, and Jax, who communicates with his dead father, is (you guessed it) Hamlet. This is not speculation... The show's creator, Kurt Sutter, has admitted that there is Shakespearean inspiration at work, and the storyline will probably follow Hamlet until the end of the series. (Oh, spoiler alert... oops...)
5. The Second City explores the possibility that Ophelia's suicide could have been avoided in this short scene.
6. Now for (not even close to) everything that's not based on Hamlet, but just couldn't keep its hands off the play:
• Calvin of the Calvin and Hobbes recites the "to Be or not to Be" soliloquy to a bowl of green mush. Then the mush starts singing and Calvin eats it...
• Legally Blonde the Musical quotes "This above all: to thine own self be true,/And it must follow, as the night the day,/Thou cans't not be false to any man" in its finale (1:30).
• Find the Hamlet quote or reference in these 2 T.S. Eliot poems! "Wasteland" "The Lovesong of Mr. J. Alfred Prufrock"
• An episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus is called "Hamlet."
• Okay I'm getting kinda sick of looking for all these... Last one! Lines from the play are quoted in movies: (500) Days of Summer, Clueless, and Shakespeare in Love, to name a few.
So, what does this mean? Hamlet is everywhere now, even though it's 400 years old. So far I've only read Act I, but this piece is just so influential. I want to do a good job reading it. Have you read Hamlet? Do you have any tips for me that could help me get the most out of reading? Finally, have you found any Hamlets in disguise that I haven't mentioned?
1. Tchaikovsky wrote an Overture in F minor, called (drumroll, please) Hamlet Fantasy Overture. If you're not a classical music buff, you may have still heard this song if you've ever seen A Christmas Story.
2. More in the vein of classical music... Hamlet is an opera!!! Actually, Wikipedia told me there are seven operas based on Hamlet. In Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet, all of Act 4 is Ophelia's "Mad Scene," and Maria Callas, the queen of opera, sings it incredibly.
3. If you're a Disney fan, or have experienced any sort of childhood at all, you've probably seen The Lion King. Guess what. It's Hamlet! Simba is Hamlet, sans insanity. Scar is Claudius, the evil uncle who kills his brother to take the throne, and then grossly abuses his power and tries to take the queen's hand. Timon and Pumba? They could be Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, encouraging a responsibility-free lifestyle.
4. Then there's Sons of Anarchy, yes, a whole television series based on Hamlet. Clay is Claudius, Gemma is Gertrude, and Jax, who communicates with his dead father, is (you guessed it) Hamlet. This is not speculation... The show's creator, Kurt Sutter, has admitted that there is Shakespearean inspiration at work, and the storyline will probably follow Hamlet until the end of the series. (Oh, spoiler alert... oops...)
5. The Second City explores the possibility that Ophelia's suicide could have been avoided in this short scene.
6. Now for (not even close to) everything that's not based on Hamlet, but just couldn't keep its hands off the play:
• Calvin of the Calvin and Hobbes recites the "to Be or not to Be" soliloquy to a bowl of green mush. Then the mush starts singing and Calvin eats it...
• Legally Blonde the Musical quotes "This above all: to thine own self be true,/And it must follow, as the night the day,/Thou cans't not be false to any man" in its finale (1:30).
• Find the Hamlet quote or reference in these 2 T.S. Eliot poems! "Wasteland" "The Lovesong of Mr. J. Alfred Prufrock"
• An episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus is called "Hamlet."
• Okay I'm getting kinda sick of looking for all these... Last one! Lines from the play are quoted in movies: (500) Days of Summer, Clueless, and Shakespeare in Love, to name a few.
So, what does this mean? Hamlet is everywhere now, even though it's 400 years old. So far I've only read Act I, but this piece is just so influential. I want to do a good job reading it. Have you read Hamlet? Do you have any tips for me that could help me get the most out of reading? Finally, have you found any Hamlets in disguise that I haven't mentioned?
Monday, November 29, 2010
Metaphorever
I hope everyone's had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I enjoyed my pie (the green bean casserole was too salty, and the turkey and ham were too... vegetarian unfriendly). But the pumpkin, apple, and pecan pies were there to make sure I didn't go hungry! I also tried a new recipe this year, and it turned out great, if you wanna try it! I loved spending time with all my family. We don't often ALL come together, and I truly enjoyed the company of loved ones, as I hope you did, too.
But now back to school... We've been talking a great deal about metaphors in English class lately. What I found interesting was that there are several categories, or tiers, of metaphors. We all know what makes a metaphor (if you don't, please educate yourself before reading on!) The stars in the sky are diamonds. My homework is poison.
HOWEVER, metaphors aren't just things we come up with to make a point. Conventional metaphors are things we use every single day. So yeah, when you win an argument or run out of time, you're METAPHORING when you say so! The first conventional metaphor my class dealt with was "Argument is War." Then we learned that life is a flame or a day or a year, and how death is a departure, people are plants, and romance is fire. These metaphors affect the way we think about these things! Our brains are just wired to think this way. The way we form moral opinions on something depends on the language we use to describe such things.
Simply the way we communicate ideas in our language affects the way we think about the concepts. In Spanish, to give birth, dar a luz, literally translates to "give to light," indicating that the "life is a fire/light" metaphor rings true in both our language and theirs. However, not every conventional metaphor reaches across languages. In English, time is money. We waste it, we try to save it, but we're always spending it on something. The same is simply not true in Spanish. I'm not claiming to have found a different metaphor (In Spanish, time is an elephant!... just kidding...), but I do know that you pass time instead of spend it (pasar tiempo). Now compare how Americans treat time to how the Spanish do. In Spain, stores close in the middle of the day for siesta. More people are out later in the night. They're not as stingy with their time as we Americans who work from 9-5 (or stay a school from 6:55 to 2:55, then rehearse til odd hours, then go home and do homework until even odder ones).
That's about the only good comparison I could come up with due to my limited language skills. Anyone else know of interesting differences in conventional metaphors across languages? I'd love to hear them :)
But now back to school... We've been talking a great deal about metaphors in English class lately. What I found interesting was that there are several categories, or tiers, of metaphors. We all know what makes a metaphor (if you don't, please educate yourself before reading on!) The stars in the sky are diamonds. My homework is poison.
HOWEVER, metaphors aren't just things we come up with to make a point. Conventional metaphors are things we use every single day. So yeah, when you win an argument or run out of time, you're METAPHORING when you say so! The first conventional metaphor my class dealt with was "Argument is War." Then we learned that life is a flame or a day or a year, and how death is a departure, people are plants, and romance is fire. These metaphors affect the way we think about these things! Our brains are just wired to think this way. The way we form moral opinions on something depends on the language we use to describe such things.
Simply the way we communicate ideas in our language affects the way we think about the concepts. In Spanish, to give birth, dar a luz, literally translates to "give to light," indicating that the "life is a fire/light" metaphor rings true in both our language and theirs. However, not every conventional metaphor reaches across languages. In English, time is money. We waste it, we try to save it, but we're always spending it on something. The same is simply not true in Spanish. I'm not claiming to have found a different metaphor (In Spanish, time is an elephant!... just kidding...), but I do know that you pass time instead of spend it (pasar tiempo). Now compare how Americans treat time to how the Spanish do. In Spain, stores close in the middle of the day for siesta. More people are out later in the night. They're not as stingy with their time as we Americans who work from 9-5 (or stay a school from 6:55 to 2:55, then rehearse til odd hours, then go home and do homework until even odder ones).
That's about the only good comparison I could come up with due to my limited language skills. Anyone else know of interesting differences in conventional metaphors across languages? I'd love to hear them :)
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Class
I've been hearing "class" a lot lately. But not always in the same way. Out of curiosity, I looked it up, and much to my surprise, "class" has twenty-nine definitions. TWENTY-NINE! So how do all these forms of class relate to me? Well, My choir is going on tour pretty soon, and we're flying coach class. The hotels we stay at won't be of the highest class, either, but it's okay because we're going to Disney World!
Most of all, I hear "class" at school. I'm a student, so I go to class every day. Even this blog is an assignment for my English class, and people in my class often read my posts. In statistics, I've heard of "classes of data," and in biology, I've heard of class as a group to categorize organisms. In social studies, I've learned about people in societies being ranked by socioeconomic class. Also, there are often merchant classes or artisan classes, or in some cases, religious classes.
Oddly enough, the first definition that pops into my mind when I hear "class" is an informal one, #14: "elegance, grace, or dignity, as in dress and behavior." This type of class never has a negative connotation. Sitting through class can be boring. Coach class flights can be uncomfortable. Your social class might not get along with another. However, the class I think of is something you can possess in almost any of these otherwise unfortunate situations. You can control the way you carry yourself and the way you react to situations, and this can make you "classy."
So, what's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear "class?" Which definition do you think applies to you most, and why? Are there any other words you've been hearing a whole lot of recently? Any that apply to more than one context?
Most of all, I hear "class" at school. I'm a student, so I go to class every day. Even this blog is an assignment for my English class, and people in my class often read my posts. In statistics, I've heard of "classes of data," and in biology, I've heard of class as a group to categorize organisms. In social studies, I've learned about people in societies being ranked by socioeconomic class. Also, there are often merchant classes or artisan classes, or in some cases, religious classes.
Oddly enough, the first definition that pops into my mind when I hear "class" is an informal one, #14: "elegance, grace, or dignity, as in dress and behavior." This type of class never has a negative connotation. Sitting through class can be boring. Coach class flights can be uncomfortable. Your social class might not get along with another. However, the class I think of is something you can possess in almost any of these otherwise unfortunate situations. You can control the way you carry yourself and the way you react to situations, and this can make you "classy."
So, what's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear "class?" Which definition do you think applies to you most, and why? Are there any other words you've been hearing a whole lot of recently? Any that apply to more than one context?
Managing Lately
Last week Carl Wilkens came to speak to my class. Before his visit, I had a very basic understanding of the Rwandan genocide -- just dates, rough numbers, definitions of Hutu and Tutsi -- so, in all honesty, I hardly considered it important. But this genocide happened in my own lifetime; the years I associate with my early childhood, others will associate with that. Wilkens really did open my eyes to that piece of history, and I'm thankful for my new appreciation of this history.
You may wonder why Wilkens's visit resonated with me so much. Think of what he has done, and then compare my own experiences. I've never set foot in Rwanda. I've never lived the midst of a genocide. I've never taken on responsibility for an orphanage. On that level, I guess I can't relate to his stories. But I have looked at a situation with positive eyes, and seeing someone else do just that and succeed comforted me. I have had doubts about my optimism. Maybe I'm just stupid and naïve. Especially this week (Warning: Next five sentences may follow "irritating rant" format!) I've been pretty swamped. Yes, I finally got my first batch of college applications turned in, but the next deadline (November 15 for CC, for anyone who's curious) is creeping up fast, and school has not relented in the least. The end of the quarter was just a time for me to find out my current grades and feel the pressure of what marks I have to maintain. Express, one of the choirs I sing in, is starting Christmas Season, so I have 2-and-a-half-hour reheasals every day after school. On top of that, Variety Show auditions are Monday, and with so many different numbers (such as the ones I've just linked) to rehearse I haven't gotten home before 8 p.m. yet this week.
I was just going through blogs on my reader account, and I came across this one. Emily reminded me of Mr. Wilkens's visit, and how inspired I felt after listening to him. I'm gonna emulate Wilkens (very consciously this week, though it wouldn't be such a bad thing to do all the time). I'm going to accept some things that I cannot change and trust that I will reap the best possible results if I work hard. My schedule this week isn't gonna change, but I can get through it, and I can enjoy it if I look at the situation the right way. Thanks, Carl Wilkens, for making this all manageable.
You may wonder why Wilkens's visit resonated with me so much. Think of what he has done, and then compare my own experiences. I've never set foot in Rwanda. I've never lived the midst of a genocide. I've never taken on responsibility for an orphanage. On that level, I guess I can't relate to his stories. But I have looked at a situation with positive eyes, and seeing someone else do just that and succeed comforted me. I have had doubts about my optimism. Maybe I'm just stupid and naïve. Especially this week (Warning: Next five sentences may follow "irritating rant" format!) I've been pretty swamped. Yes, I finally got my first batch of college applications turned in, but the next deadline (November 15 for CC, for anyone who's curious) is creeping up fast, and school has not relented in the least. The end of the quarter was just a time for me to find out my current grades and feel the pressure of what marks I have to maintain. Express, one of the choirs I sing in, is starting Christmas Season, so I have 2-and-a-half-hour reheasals every day after school. On top of that, Variety Show auditions are Monday, and with so many different numbers (such as the ones I've just linked) to rehearse I haven't gotten home before 8 p.m. yet this week.
I was just going through blogs on my reader account, and I came across this one. Emily reminded me of Mr. Wilkens's visit, and how inspired I felt after listening to him. I'm gonna emulate Wilkens (very consciously this week, though it wouldn't be such a bad thing to do all the time). I'm going to accept some things that I cannot change and trust that I will reap the best possible results if I work hard. My schedule this week isn't gonna change, but I can get through it, and I can enjoy it if I look at the situation the right way. Thanks, Carl Wilkens, for making this all manageable.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Looking into the Eyes in the Trees
I just finished The Poisonwood Bible today! The last book really has resonated with me (if you need a summary of it, here it is) and I want to discuss that. First of all, Kingsolver does not identify the narrator right away. We do figure out that it's Ruth May eventually, for she explains, "I am your bad child now gone good, for when children die they were only good" (Kingsolver 537). Ruth May has a very different voice in this book, as if she had continued to grow up, even after her life on Earth ended. Earlier in the story, Ruth May suggested that if she were dead she would be one with the trees, so the title "The Eyes in the Trees" for the chapter she narrates dead is very appropriate, and the way she watches the events invisibly and inactively likens her presence to that of a tree, unable to act in a situation.
The best part of this final book, to me, was the closure it brought. In the sixth book, we get a final word from each living daughter, and whether we readers like what they've decided or not (Rachel simply sees what she wants to, and Adah gives up her medical profession), we know that they feel some sense of resolution. "The Eyes in the Trees" gives the reader a sense of closure with Ruth May and Orleanna. When the woman Orleanna talks to at the market says that Bulungu does not exist, it's an opportunity for Orleanna to move forward with her life. Ruth May tells her, "Slide the weight from your shoulders and move forward. You are afraid you might forget, but you never will. You will forgive and remember" (Kingsolver 543), as if she is urging Orleanna to move past any pain she still feels. She can accept, without mourning, that Bulungu is gone while still acknowledging that it once did exist. We feel closure because Orleanna has guidance, but we also feel closure from hearing Ruth May once more, this time with a wider mind and greater capacity for abstract thinking, and she is content in her death (she even forgives her mother!)
P.S. I looked it up... Bulungu DOES exist! Look!
I just finished this book and had quite a few thoughts on it, but for you readers of mine out there, I've got some questions. Taking into account what the light/dark duality has signaled throughout this story, what does Ruth May mean by "Walk forward into the light?" Is the encounter with the okapi in book 7 the same encounter we first hear about from Orleanna but from a different perspective, or is it another event entirely? What is Ruth May telling her mother to forgive? Let me know your thoughts, and we can discuss!
The best part of this final book, to me, was the closure it brought. In the sixth book, we get a final word from each living daughter, and whether we readers like what they've decided or not (Rachel simply sees what she wants to, and Adah gives up her medical profession), we know that they feel some sense of resolution. "The Eyes in the Trees" gives the reader a sense of closure with Ruth May and Orleanna. When the woman Orleanna talks to at the market says that Bulungu does not exist, it's an opportunity for Orleanna to move forward with her life. Ruth May tells her, "Slide the weight from your shoulders and move forward. You are afraid you might forget, but you never will. You will forgive and remember" (Kingsolver 543), as if she is urging Orleanna to move past any pain she still feels. She can accept, without mourning, that Bulungu is gone while still acknowledging that it once did exist. We feel closure because Orleanna has guidance, but we also feel closure from hearing Ruth May once more, this time with a wider mind and greater capacity for abstract thinking, and she is content in her death (she even forgives her mother!)
P.S. I looked it up... Bulungu DOES exist! Look!
I just finished this book and had quite a few thoughts on it, but for you readers of mine out there, I've got some questions. Taking into account what the light/dark duality has signaled throughout this story, what does Ruth May mean by "Walk forward into the light?" Is the encounter with the okapi in book 7 the same encounter we first hear about from Orleanna but from a different perspective, or is it another event entirely? What is Ruth May telling her mother to forgive? Let me know your thoughts, and we can discuss!
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