Blog Post #18: "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Essay, Final Draft

Blog Post #17: "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Essay, Draft 1

2013 AP Open Question:



A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, recounts the psychological or moral development of its protagonist from youth to maturity, when this character recognizes his or her place in the world. Select a single pivotal moment in the psychological or moral development of the protagonist of a bildungsroman. Then write a well-organized essay that analyzes how that single moment shapes the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot


According to Joseph Campbell’s archetypal hero’s journey, the hero must complete a series of tasks to develop psychologically on a spiritual or physical quest, in order to achieve self-actualization. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston’s protagonist, Janie, sets off on her own quest for true love through a series of three marriages in order to reach her own version of self-actualization, only to explore the binary opposites of the powerful and the powerless. Although Janie is technically an adult throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God, the trials and tribulations Janie faces throughout the novel document Janie’s coming of age. Ironically, it is only when Janie kills her “true love”, Tea Cake, that she is able to ascend into self-acceptance through taking the power in her relationship, demonstrating her true loss of innocence and complete change of perspective on the world. Through this pivotal moment, Zora Neale Hurston asserts that in order for black women to achieve maturity, they must ironically break out of their societal gender and racial stereotypes by achieving the paradox of being powerful in their own will but realizing that they are trapped in the power of God.

Janie’s first call to adventure in her quest for true love occurs when her mentor, Nanny, pushes Janie into marriage with a wealthy farmer, Logan, for financial stability despite her objections that she “‘ain’t no real ‘oman yet’” (12) and that she “‘don’t love [Logan] at all’” (15). In this marriage, Nanny and society act as the powerful external forces, coercing Janie to comply with societal racial and gender roles that mark the black woman as the “mule uh de world” (14), the lowest place in society. Although Janie attempts to love Logan, she cannot because of their power imbalance; Janie is not willing to work with Logan, and Logan is not willing to “talk in rhymes” (26) with Janie. Janie crosses her first threshold when she realizes that “marriage did not make love” (25). Janie leaves Logan to continue her quest for true love with her second husband, Joe, whose innate power gives her hope that she can reach her “horizon” (32). Janie is attracted to Joe’s god-like, “white” (48) power as the mayor of Eatonville and the power she garners by being his wife. However, it is evident that this is not the type of power or love Janie desires as the symbol of the mule and the oppression of the black woman persists. Joe’s obsession with power “squeezes and tramples” (86) Janie’s voice, independent will, and individual power, isolating her from the society she longs to identify with. Through a series of tribulations and power struggles in which Janie “wasn’t petal-open” (71), Janie finally seizes back her voice by voicing her opinion in public, taking back some of her power, in a way killing Joe. Everything that Joe has built in Eatonville had been a representation of his power. When Janie speaks out and ruins this representation by sharing a vision of herself that Joe didn’t want to comply with, Joe’s overarching voice was silenced and it “cut off his breath and left his hands in a pose of agonizing protest” (87). From this point onwards, the image of the mule and oppressed black woman begin to fade, replaced by the powerful image of a blossoming flower.

By the time Janie crosses the threshold again in her third marriage with Tea Cake, she is able to achieve a marriage with a balance in power. Tea Cake is the first man willing to allow Janie to “play checkers” (96) with him on an equal playing field, symbolizing Tea Cake’s willingness to let Janie strategize their life together. Janie is finally able to freely voice her opinions and display her innate sensuous beauty, allowing her to reach her own version of true love. Still the power-couple realizes how powerless they are in the face of God, as “their eyes [watch] God” (160) when a hurricane strikes their town in an unfortunate ordeal. As a result of this unfortunate series of events, Tea Cake contracts rabies when he saves Janie from a rabid dog during their struggle. Both Janie and Tea Cake are powerless in the face of this disease and mother nature. Janie comes to accept her weakness in the face of a greater force when Tea Cake tries to kill her in a rage, still loving Tea Cake, but also loving herself enough to seize her power by killing her husband. Ironically, it is the murdering of her true love that fully results in Janie’s coming of age. In this action, Janie is able to reach emotional security. Although Janie murdered her husband, she is able to acknowledge her potent grief in which she could spend “eternity… [weeping]” (184), but is emotionally secure enough to tell society in her court proceedings that she doesn’t regret killing her husband; the powerful action had to be done. This is a stark contrast to the fake, pandering mourning Janie held after Joe’s death. It is clear that when Janie brings back the elixir to share the story with her friend Phoebe, her perspective on life has changed significantly. She no longer sees herself as the “mule” (14) of the world but a powerful, strong, independent, black woman.

Janie doesn’t end up happily-ever-after and married to the love her life like in her original
quest for an idealistic version of love. However, she is able to break imposed, societal stereotypes of being the “mule of society” (14) by seizing her power in her doomed relationship with Tea Cake. Because of this instance, Janie is able to assess her new mature place in society as a woman who has realized two things: the power of “livin’ fuh [herself]”(192) and the power of “God” (192). This paradox of freedom and entrapment, displayed when Janie “draped [the fish-net] over her shoulder” (193), draws attention to the Janie’s divided self after Tea Cake’s death.

Blog Post #16: "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Fishbowl Discussion Analysis and "Tea Cake" Extra Credit

Project:

Tea Cake Extra Credit:

Food Item: Janie's Hair (in brownie and Twizzler form)

Explanation: The topic I chose to analyze explored how power or voice (or lack of power or lack of voice) leads to the representation (or misrepresentation) of certain groups. Janie's luxurious hair is a symbol of her sexuality, femininity and her strength. However, when she is married to Joe, he forces her to tie up her beautiful hair in order to keep other men away from her beauty. This form of suppression robs Janie of her voice and thus power, strength, and womanhood. After Janie finally tells Joe all of her emotions on his death bed and Joe dies, Janie finally lets her hair down and is able to acknowledge her strength and voice through “the weight, the length, [and] the glory” (87) of her beautiful, long hair. My brownies are Janie's scalp and the Twizzlers are the strands of her hair that have finally been freed.

Recipe (found on Sallys Baking Adventures Blog):

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup whole wheat flour 
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) melted butter, plus a little extra for greasing
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup chocolate chips 
• pack of twizzlers

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 8X8 square baking dish
• Mix sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.
• Bake for about 30 minutes and let cool before slicing into squares
• chop twizzlers into appropriate sized portions
• add twizzlers to brownies once cooled

Blog Post #15: "Linguistics & 'Terence, This is Stupid Stuff'"

2009B Poem: “Terence, This is Stupid Stuff”
Prompt: The following poem makes use of the story of Mithridates VI, King of Pontus, who developed an immunity to poison. Read the poem carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze how Housman employs literary devices in adapting the story to address concerns of the late Victorian period.

First Essay Draft; Score: 6 (B -):

       In "Terence, This is Stupid," A.E. Houseman argues that Victorian upper class society is built off the backs of the poor through the pervasive metaphor of ale as an intoxicated society, the juxtaposition of images of corruption and beauty with rhyming couplets, and the ironic imagery of the poisoned meal Mithridates gleefully consumes. This ultimately asserts the paradox of Victorian society as one of extreme corrupt poverty and gluttonous privilege, highlighting the fatal nature of the wealth gap during the late Victorian period.
      A.E. Houseman continuously compares society to "ale"(24) in order to show this intoxicated nature.The speaker declares that "ale's the stuff to drink" (24) and that looking "into the pewter pot/ to see the world as the world's not" (25-26) is more "pleasant" (27) than actual society is. The speaker's lewd consumption of ale is an act of a lower class man, but ironically makes him fell like a "sterling lad" (24) until he "Wake[s] again" (36). This displays Houseman's view that the act of a poor man ultimately makes another man feel powerful. Victorian Society's wealth gap allows the rich to feel like good "sterling lads" while the impoverished must "wake again" and continue getting exploited for their work. Society is thus an intoxicated "lie" (38) that the poor must endure for the rich to reap the benefits.
     Houseman furthers society's paradox of wealth and poverty with his usage of rhyming couplets that juxtapose images of pure jubilence and corruption. The speaker introduces the drink of ale as "moping melancholy mad" (13)-- images of depressing, insane corruption-- but couples it immediately with the following line "come, pipe a tune to dance to, lad" (14). This joyful image of dancing and freedom is anything but sad and corrupt. Houseman is ultimately asserting that in order for part of society to "dance (14), the other part of society must "mope" in "melancholy".
    As Mithridates is brought a poisoned, luxurious meal in the final verse of the poem, the ironic imagery of the meal fulfills Houseman's comment on the fatal nature of the wealth gap. Eating and sharing meals is an act of intimacy and communion so it should be vile that the king's subjects have given him "poisoned meat and poisoned drink" (1.63). However, it is understandable because of their position in society and suffering while the king eats from golden chalices. The images of the "arsenic in his meat" (1.69) shows something lux and extremely privileged corrupted with t he image of poison, again showing that for wealthy society to have such nice things, the poor must be poisoned at the expense of the rich. However, as the kings subjects "shook... and stared" (73)-- their fear emphasized with the alliteration of the hissing s-- the king still survived-- "dying old" (76). With King Mithridates's survival of his people's poison, Houseman is making his final statement-- the rich will always win out no matter how poisoned the rest of the impoverished society is. At the end of the day, it is the poor subjects that "their poison hurt" (74). The ironic nature of the king's subject's poisoning confirms that when the lower class is working so tirelessly for the upper class, they are actually further rooting their low status in society, leading to their own destruction.
      Houseman's metaphor of ale to display society's intoxication with class struggles, rhyming couplets that emphasize the wealth gap, and final scenes of imagery of King Mithridates consuming a poisoned meal clearly shows that the comfort of the upper class is brought at the expense of the poor. Houseman asserts that society is an inevitable paradox of glamorous wealth and corrupt impoverishment. The rich will always win and the poor's hard work will only transform into self-destruction.

1. Structuralism:

           Structuralism relates small parts into a whole, and is a theory of humankind in which all elements of human culture-- especially literature-- are thought to be parts of a system of signs made up of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Signs and symbols are representations of meanings, feelings, and intentions. The signifier is the denotation of the word (or actual dictionary meaning) and the signified is the connotation (or evoked meaning of the word). Likewise, with images the Iconic is the actual image, the indexical is the associated image, and the symbolic is the actual word. For example, a cat would be denoted as a feline creature but it could symbolize laziness. An indexical image could be a furball, an iconic image would be the actual cat and the symbolic would be C-A-T. In manners of form, phonology, morphology and syntax are extremely important. Phonology is the importance of sound and deals with phonemes or distinct units of sound in the English Language while morphology deals with the smallest parts of words in morphemes like roots, prefixes, suffixes and infixes (can I get a "fan-bloody-tastic"?). Syntax, as we know, is the arrangement of words and sentences. For example, for emphasis an author may use inversion as a form of syntax. As a part of Content, Semantics (what is said) and Pragmatics (what's meant) are extremely important as well. All of these items make small items make a bigger whole meaning.


2. Binary Opposites found in "Terence this is Stupid Stuff":

• sad and happy
• drunk and sober
• stupid and smart
• world and world's not
• present and past
• lovely and muck
• world and old world
• good and ill
• sun and moon
• luck and trouble
• chance and sure
• heart and head
• dark and day
• he and her
• little and more
• tell and heard
• amiss and clear
• friendship and solitude

3. Thesis Statement Concerning Binary Opposites:
In "Terence, this is stupid stuff", A.E. Houseman alludes to the myth of Mithridates to parallel Terence's argument for sad poetry that serves to build a similar numbness or immunity, as Mithridates developed to poison, in order to "train" for the inherent evil and sadness in the world. The frequent use of binary opposition including oxymoron and the reversal of man's idea of optimisim, placing "ill" before "good", reinforces Terence's argument for sad poetry.
4. Sound Device Words:

• "the cow, the old cow" (7)
• "moping melancholy" (13)
• "livelier liquor" (20)
• "smack is sour" (53)
• "embittered hour" (54)
• "arsenic" (69)
• "aghast" (70)
• "drink it up" (71)
• "shook.. stared" (73)

5. Thesis Concerning Sound Devices:

In "Terence this is Stupid Stuff", A.E. Houseman asserts that immunity to life's hardships through experience by gradually shifting the diction from smooth, euphonious sounds to harsher cacophonous sounds. This parallels Terence's growing immunity to tragedy as he continues to use sad poetry as an outlet to expose himself to all facets of strife.

6. Complete Thought:

"Oh many a peer of England brews/ Livelier liquor than the Muse, And malt does more than Milton can To justify God's ways to man" (19-21).
This contributes the meaning of the work as a whole by saying that the alternative to intellectual thought or poetry is the alternative of intoxication and drunkenness offered by beer. This contributes to the overarching binary opposites of "smart and stupid".

7. Word ("Muse") and Meaning:
Definition: source of inspiration, 9 goddesses who preside over arts and sciences, deep thought, a poet (Merriam-Webster)
Root: Latin Musa and Greek Mousa--> mental power
The root of the word, Mousa, reinforces the smart vs. stupid binary opposition. The alternative to mental power is stupidity in beer. Terence is sarcastically stating that his friends believe that beer or "livelier liquor" (20) is more important than the mental facilities of "Muse" (20) or poetry. Again, this contributes to the theme that sad poetry is wise because it will expose you to the strife of life while beer is temporary pleasure and stupidity.

8.
Rhyme Scheme: Rhyming Couplets

Rhythm/meter: Iambic Tetrameter

Thesis Statements Concerning Rhyme Scheme and Meter:

In “Terence, This is Stupid Stuff,” A.E. Houseman utilizes a traditional yet powerful iambic tetrameter to reflect the simple-minded hedonism of the pub with a form that defies the serious content of what is being said. This contradiction between humorous rhyme scheme and structure and the content of what he's saying ultimately asserts the paradoxical nature of Terence's retort as a simple beer story and the forewarning that the immediate pleasure of beer is short-sighted while the slow revelations of pain through sad poetry are intellectual and rewarding over time.

9.
Anaphora:
Defintion: Repetition of beginning clauses.
Effect: Gives prominence to ideas, adds rhythm, and for persuasion.

Parallelism:
Definition: When the writer establishes similar patterns of grammatical structure and length.
Effect: Allows speakers and writers to maintain a consistency within their work and create a balanced flow of ideas as well as persuasion.

Anastrophe:
Definition: Inverted word order from what one expects.
Effect: To emphasize a word or draw attention to its inverted phrasing.

Alliteration:
Definition: Repetition of a sound in multiple words
Effect: Creates a musical effect in the text that enhances the pleasure of reading a literary piece

Antithesis:
Definition: Contrary ideas expressed in a balanced sentence.
Effect: To emphasize the idea of contrast by parallel structures of the contrasted phrases or clauses.

10. Thesis Concerning these Literary Devices:

In “Terence, This is Stupid Stuff,” A.E. Houseman utilizes literary devices such as anaphora and anastrophe to create a light-hearted, fast-paced and humorous tone that is read like a beer pub chant, contradicting the serious content of what Terence is saying. This contradiction between humorous rhyme scheme and structure and the content of what he's saying ultimately asserts the paradoxical nature of Terence's retort as a simple beer story and the forewarning that the immediate pleasure of beer is short-sighted while the slow revelations of pain through sad poetry are intellectual and rewarding over time.

11. Semantic and Pragmatic Meanings:

"The cow, the old cow, she is dead" (7).

The Semantic meaning is that the cow is literally dead. However, the dead cow is a metaphor and a mocking joke at the same time. The Pragmatic meaning for the dead cow is that the friends see sad poetry as pointless as a random cow dying. They are using this line to mock Terence's affinity for sad poetry and to state its pointlessness. This ultimately shows that a cow is only a cow for those who cannot see it for its complexity. However, for the less simple-minded (Terence), the pain of the dead cow will carry on in the future and make him more immune to the future pains of life.

12. The Argument of Terence's Friends:

The argument structured by Terence's friends is deductive. The friends identify sad poetry as "stupid stuff" when Terence"eat[s] [his] victuals fast enough...to see...[Terence] drink [his] beer"(2-4). Terence's friends associate the acts of eating and drinking with happiness and because Terence partakes in these activities, his friends conclude that he must be happy enough ( "you eat your victuals fast enough" (2).). 

On the other hand, Terence's arguments are built primarily on pathos, logos, and ethos. Pathos is evident because Terence's argument is structured around the views of his audience in a way he knows that they can understand, in this case his friends. Terence empathizes with his friends when he sympathetically concedes that beer can bring temporary bliss, but ultimately rejects this view point by rebutting that beer lacks longevity dealing with pain and melancholy. This concession and rebuttle allow Terence to construct his logos-based argument when he advises his friends to "train for ill and not for good" (48) with sad poetry instead of drinking beer to ultimately become immune to the strife of life. The audience, or Terence's friends, should find this argument credible since Terence exhibits Ethos. Terence is obviously well-educated; he is familiar with sad poetry and cites allusions like Mithridates displaying his vast knowledge of the world and history. 

Blog Post #14: Darkly Gothic Poem

What is the Significance of one word choice over another in your poem?

I chose words that specifically pertained to light and dark in order to juxtapose the light of life and hope with the darkness of death and isolation which eventually consumes the light. For example, the poem opens with, "the night falls in a heavy, suffocating cloak" (1), "the light flares once... then dies, smothered by the all-encompassing dark" (2-4) showing darkness gradually overwhelming the feeble light. At the end of the poem, I end with the single word, "sanctuary" (9), ironically showing that our pain brought by the destitution of hope and light is a sanctuary for the shadows and death.

What are some Tone words you would use to describe your intention?

• isolated
• desolate
• depressed
• solitude
• hopeless

What kind of Mood are you trying to evoke?

As evidenced by my less-than-cheerful word choice throughout my poem, I was trying to evoke a mood of desolate isolation devoid of light and hope. I wanted the audience to feel the same burden of the darkness as the speaker does. Although the speaker and the reader are separate entities that feel alone in their pain, their experience of it should be shared.

Identify any Binary Opposites

• light vs. dark
• hell vs. sanctuary
• consummation vs. desolation
• life vs. death
• companionship vs. isolation
• hope vs. hopelessness

Blog Post #13, Womaneater, Fairy Tale Presentations

Powerpoint:

Analysis Paragraphs:

 

Annotations and TPCASTT:

Blog Post #12, Maneater 2.0, Mythology Presentation

Powerpoint Presentation: Annotations and TPCASTT: Analysis Paragraphs:

Blog Post #11: A Questionable Desire, Bible Story Poem

Blog Post #10: My Dead Valentine, Literary Periods Presentation

Blog Post #9: Maneater, Critical Approaches Presentation

Blog Post #8: Midnight's Children Creative Project Power-point and Explanation

Blog Post #7: Comparison/Contrast Essay, The Namesake

Mise-en-scene Analysis:

A good scene in a film is like good food-- it's made of parts that have to be meticulously tended to-- or it will taste disgusting. Mise-en-Scene, French for what one puts into the scene or frame, is therefore, extremely important. There are 5 key elements of mis-en-scene, all present in my scene from The Namesake film (minutes 95-98).

Settings and Props:

The settings and the props are very “every day”. During the party, there are plates of food and glasses of wine. It is evident that this party is very “high end” and slightly pretentious. This makes Gogol’s discomfort in the scene more relatable. When the scene shifts to the taxi, Moushumi holds her bag defensively towards her, and it shows the couple’s tension about Gogol’s name.

Costume, Hair, and Makeup:

The scene creates a contrast between Gogol and the rest of the party through costume design choices. Moushumi chooses to sport a revealing, silver-sparkled shirt with a plunging neck-line. The rest of the group dons equally flashy and ornate clothing, each person trying their best to stand out.  On the other hand, Gogol opts for a simple, brown suit and a dark shirt with clean lines and elbow patches; his hair appears unkempt unlike the rest of the group's meticulously groomed tendrils. This subtle contrast of attire between Gogol and the rest of the party group seems to suggest that Gogol doesn't quite belong to this group, and that he doesn't care as much about material things as other people.

Facial Expressions and Body Language:

Even as the scene opens, it is clear that Gogol isn’t comfortable in the party scene. While everyone else is sprawled around chairs and lounging, Gogol stands next to his wife, slightly askew. However, he is initially relaxed and leans against the couch where Moushumi sits, clearly at ease. However, when Gogol’s wife reveals that his name wasn’t initially Nikhil, his body position changes drastically. He shifts uncomfortably with his hand over his arm and he stops leaning against the couch. His face contorts with discomfort as his eyes shift nervously from his wife to the rest of the party. It is clear that he doesn’t appreciate this outing. On the other hand, his wife and the rest of the party continue to comfortably rest in very lax positions. It is evident that the idea of a namesake is not as important to him.

Lighting and Color:

Similarly, the lighting helps create the ambiance in the two settings of the scene. In the party setting, the light is a strong key lighting from the large fluorescent lights and lamps of Astrid and Donald’s apartment. It somehow makes the mood lighter and less serious-- trivializing the idea of names. Nair makes sure to cast light in a highlighting technique constantly towards Gogol to display his apparent discomfort at their exploitation of names and identity into comical small-talk. Later, in the car-scene where Gogol and Moushumi bicker, the lighting is changed to a natural lighting-- the faces of the two actors illuminated by the traffic lights. The unnatural light is stripped away as well as their polite pretenses and Gogol’s anger towards his wife clearly displays how important his name is to him now. This is interesting because in past scenes, Gogol had been seen trivializing his name with his friends in high school also in natural lighting. This shows that, naturally, Gogol has evolved with time and now sees the value in a namesake.

Positioning of Characters and Objects within the Frame:

The camera angles Nair used to position the characters in the scene also helped to create the scene. It emphasized the newfound importance Gogol held for his name and for his father. The camera angle presents Gogol placed off to the side near Moushumi, slightly askew. The angle position makes Gogol appear as if he is not a part of the whimsical, light conversation of names-- a serious topic to Gogol. When Moushimi reveals that Gogol’s name wasn’t always Nikhil, the camera immediately presents a close up eye-level angle of him, making his background seem insignificant. It lingers on Gogol’s face as it contorts in awkward discomfort until he speaks and shifts back away once more. It is apparent that from Gogol’s facial expressions, participating in such a meaningless conversation about a name so important to him is very painful. This pain then erupts in the next setting. In the car, the camera angle once again shifts in on Gogol’s face as he angrily yells at Moushumi for revealing details of his life that were so intimate to him. The camera is even closer than it was in the past scene. It is clear that even as this small lapse of time has passed, Gogol has acknowledged even more the importance of the name his father had given him through his bursts of emotion, clearly displayed by the camera.

Blog Post #6: Free Response; "cultural, physical, or geographical surroundings shape psychological...." and Reflection

Timed Writing:

In Salmon Rushdie's Midnight's Children, Saleem Sinai is not just morally and psychologically shaped by India; Saleem is India. Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight on India's Independence from Great Britain, and his fate and character mirror India's cultural, physical, and geographical characteristics.

Saleem, raised in impossible wealth, was originally fated to poverty (his nurse switches him at birth with another baby boy). Although Saleem is raised with money, he is undoubtedly sympathetic towards the poor, believing that all people should be given equal amenities (an almost communist viewpoint). Saleem's opinions about economics display his understanding of both wealth and poverty, highlighting India's huge economic disparity. While his mother ignores the poor, as much of India's wealthy does, Saleem acknowledges poverty's presence and empathizes with it because it is a part of both him and India. Saleem's character is created as a paradox, representing both India's poverty and wealth.

Saleem's fate is not the only thing "inexplicably tied" to his country. His physical appearance resembles India's geography. Throughout Midnight's Children, Rushdie continuously harps on Saleem's giant, "cucumber nose" and oddly shaped head. The shape of Saleem's head resembles the shape of India and his nose resembles the mountains that run through it. His adoptive grandfather also had a giant nose that could sense danger--- a characteristic that his parents assumed was passed down to him. However, the reader knows that Saleem and his grandfather aren't actually related by blood. His nose is actually given to him by his British father (who his birth mother had an affair with). Britain was once a controlling part of India and Saleem's connection to it shows the powerful country's lasting impact on India. Saleem's tie to his adoptive grandfather and to Great Britain shows his tie to everyone in India, not just his own blood relations.

Saleem's nose has more of a purpose than just resembling India's geography. It has the power of sensing emotions and the future. These powers accompany Saleem's ability to hear the voices and thoughts of other Indian people. These senses overpower Saleem and allow Saleem to receive an unfiltered viewpoint of every Indian person. Saleem's own viewpoint is shaped by the viewpoints of every person in his country. When Saleem expresses changes he desires to make for his country, the audience trusts that these are the true changes that India needs and wants because of Saleem's ability to objectively view everyone's needs and desires in the country.

Saleem loses innocence and grows bitter and paranoid as the country begins to fall apart during the corrupt rule of Indira Gandhi. Saleem is haunted with nightmares and paranoid hallucinations of "green and black" surrounding a "widow" and his narration begins to fall apart and become unreliable. It is soon revealed that this green and black widow is Indira Gandhi. She orders the execution of all of India's midnight children when she learns of their special powers in fear that they will attempt to overpower her. Saleem is captured and put in a concentration camp with other Midnight Children-- some who are slaughtered. In this way, Saleem is destroying himself as Gandhi is part of India and she desires to execute him. Saleem's growing bitterness and hatred for the ruler is actually bitterness and hatred for himself.

After Gandhi is overthrown, Saleem begins to dissentegrate into ashes-- the same number of ashes as the number of people in India. When Saleem dies, he is returned to the country-- or himself-- and it becomes obvious that he is the exact embodiment of his surroundings.

***

Reflection

I need to become a deep sea diver-- not an ice skater. Once again, I only skated across subject matter; I didn't dive into it. I would give myself a 6.

I managed to have a "reasonable analysis" of how cultural, physical, and geographical surroundings shape psychological or moral traits in a character. I was even able to analysis some of the complexity and symbolism in Midnight's Children (paradox, Saleem/India, nose, Gandhi, etc.) I was then able to connect this to how Saleem was shaped by his surroundings and how Saleem viewed the world. On time, I didn't struggle since I already knew the book that I was analyzing (yay for free response!!).

Despite my basic competence in analyzing the text, I was highly lacking in many areas. My analysis was "less thorough, less perceptive, and less specific" than the 9-8 essays. For example, the 9 essay that we normed in class started off with a direct quote from the text and used "apt and specific textual support" throughout the entire piece of writing while I only slightly paraphrased what was happening throughout the text. Although paraphrasing allows the reader to understand the "gist" of what was happening, it doesn't effectively dive deep into the text-- skimping on the book's complexity. Also, although my writing used decent diction, my essay didn't have the consistent command of elements of effective composition that would warrant a score of a 7.

In order to improve, I will have to practice, practice, practice. To practice effectively, I will set three goals for myself.

1. I will familiarize myself with more texts and more in depth. One of my issues was that I forgot a lot of the details of what happened in Salmon Rushdie's Midnight's Children. If I had remembered everything that occurred in the book, I would have done a better job at analyzing its complexity. In order to improve, I'll reread my summary notes for the book and note all the places complexity occurs. This will help me become "more specific".

 2.  I will dive into the meaning of the text more (aka examine complexity!). I will attempt to notice (and to include in my essays) the deeper and less noticeable meanings that lie within the piece. As I mentioned in my weaknesses, although I scraped the surface of many of the ideas, I didn't dive into them. To do this, I may reread Rushdie's novel to try to fish out things I may have missed. I will also do this with Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake. This will come in handy later. My writing will become more "thorough and perceptive". 

3. I haven't done this for a while, but I'm beginning to use overly flowery language and unnecessary words again. I will dive straight into the main points of the passage. This will not only save time, but it will make my writing more concise. I plan to do this by allowing myself time to proof my essay. This way, I can pick out my painfully verbose sentences and send them to their deathbeds. By the time I've completed AP Lit, I'll be able to get straight to the point.

4. This isn't really a separate goal, but I want to practice writing essays with the books I plan to use for the free response (Midnight's Children and The Namesake). This way, I can utilize my books more easily. 

If I effectively accomplish these goals (and maintain them), by the time the AP test rolls around, I'll be a deep-sea diver. 

Blog Post # 5: Timed Poetry Writing for Thou Blind Man's Mark and Reflection

Timed Writing:

“Desiring naught but how to kill desire” (14). In Sir Philip Sidney’s Thou Blind Man’s Mark, the speaker reveals how he is both consumed and disgusted by desire through Sidney’s adept usage of alliteration, repetition and symbolism, making one thing blatantly clear: man often unknowingly chooses his own poison.

As the poem begins, Sidney immediately begins to use alliteration to emphasize man’s complex connection with desire through a series of accusatory phrases. Sidney highlights desire as a “ blind man’s mark” (1), and a “self-chosen snare” (1) to insinuate that desire is the target of many so it is a self-chosen trap, but it traps the "blind" "fools". Sidney's usage of these two words indicates that only men who can't see the trap and are thus "blind" "fools" to its horrible effects are the ones who are trapped. Sidney then goes on to describe desire as a “web of will, whose end is never wrought” (4). It is clear that the narrator believes desire to be a never ending trap, like it is a spider’s web but reminds the reader with the word “will” that desire is chosen so it is partially the victim’s fault. However,  the narrator also admits that he, too, bought desire with the price of his “mangled mind” and “worthless ware” (6). The narrator’s self-admittance of his diminished mental capabilities and submission to desire makes his credibility questionable and creates a paradox. The narrator rejects desire and warns of it, but he is completely enraptured by it. His desperate warnings to the audience to avoid desire is itself a desire. Man’s ability to reason and process thought on “higher things” is replaced with unbridled obsession and consumption by desire.

Sidney begins to utilize repetition to emphasize the narrator’s contradictory view on desire. The repetition of “Desire, Desire!” (5) shows the narrator bemoaning his choice at giving in to the emotion that his brought him grief that is “too long, too long” (7). Sidney’s repetition of the words “desire” and “too long” actually drags out the phrases, making them longer than they need to be. This actually creates the impression that desire does last too long as the words “Desire” and “long” seem to drag along.

However, the narrator again admits that the long lasting desire is his own doing. With the repetition of the word “vain” (10-11), Sidney reveals that desire is a form of the narrator's vanity to aspire to alluring “vain things” (10). Again, the reliability of the character is questioned as his paradox with desire is further established.

Despite the hopeless nature presented throughout the piece, a glimmer of hope displays itself towards the end of the poem Although the narrator admits to being led astray by the alluring and manipulative nature of desire, he is able to see that he sold himself to desire and "vain things" (10)  in return for a "mangled mind" (6). The last sentence restates the narrator's desire paradox, "Desiring naught but how to kill desire" (14). The narrator's recognition on the vile, evil nature of his enemy, desire, shows that the narrator now sees the evils of desire. Thus, he is no longer the "blind man" and "fool" (1) that symbolize those unaware of the evils of desire. He now possesses the vision to know that man is unknowingly choosing his own poison by giving in to desire.

***

Reflection:

I am not a poet, and I know it. I struggled much more with the poetry timed writing than with the prose writing because I had a more difficult time understanding poetry. My self score is a 6. Although I had many flaws, I had a "reasonable analysis of Sydney's usage of poetic devices". I was able to grasp some of the complexity-- i.e. paradox of desire and the symbols-- and I was able to skim the surface of Sidney's use of vanity, the narrator's hatred towards desire (but honestly, who wouldn't be able to?) and the occurrence of alliteration. I was able to use direct references from the text and "clearly express my ideas". I was "competent".

However, I failed to have a convincing argument. I did not "dive" into the text as I should have. Although I identified alliteration, I simply skirted around its purpose. I did not examine how alliteration "grouped" the insults and made the narrator appear more angry by speeding up the pace of the text. I also failed to identify the poem as a sonnet (embarrassing). In fact, I did not look at the way the poem was structured at all, which took away some of my understanding. Also, my identification of vanity once again failed to go in depth and I didn't really address the narrator's inward struggle. My analysis of the complexity in this piece was greatly lacking. My main problem in poetry comes from a lack of understanding, a lack of complexity and a lack of knowledge about poem structure. 

In order to improve upon my lackluster analysis skills, I have set three goals for myself .

1. I will familiarize myself with poetic structures and terms (What is a Sonnet?). If I actually know what type of poem I'm looking at, then I'll be able to better analyze the text. In the 5 steps to a 5 book, there is actually a section that lists out all the poetic forms and different poetry terms. I will memorize this section and look for examples of each poetic structure so that I can better identify what I'm reading.

2. I will completely divulge the complexity. Like with my prose passages, I will start looking at more poetry and I will try to find the complexity in each one through careful analysis. I will do this once a week and then check my analysis with professional ones online and see what complexity I correctly identified ore missed.

3. I will make more fluid transitions. I failed to create cohesion throughout the whole piece by tying it back to my general thesis (like the 8/9 essays did in our norming activity). By creating better transitions, I will elevate my writing and create a more connected essay that ties all my ideas up into a beautiful present for my grader. To do this, I will practice writing essay outlines with transitions included to improve on my essay cohesion.

If I accomplish all of these goals, I will soon be able to understand poets (and I'll know it).

Blog Post #4: "The Known World" by Edward P. Jones Timed Writing and Grading Reflection

Timed Writing: 

"...the eating [of dirt] tied [Moses] to the only thing in his small world that meant almost as much as his own life" (28-30). In Edward P. Jones's The Known World, the main character, Moses, is completely enraptured with the small piece of land that makes up his world. Jones unveils Moses's character as part of the land, complicating the reader's understanding of nature and rebirth through an omnipresent third person point of view, vivid details, and clear symbolism.

In the beginning of the passage, Jones's vivid detail and setting reflect Moses's calm and patient character. Moses is introduced as an impossibly hard worker. The evening "[Moses's] master died [Moses] worked well after he ended the day for the other adults" (1-2) and didn't "free himself from the ancient and brittle harness"(9) until the sun was a "five-inch-long memory of red orange" (11-12). Despite working for fifteen hours, Moses "pause[s] before leaving the fields as the evening quiet wrapped itself around him" (15-16). These small details display Moses's contemplative nature and his connection to the land. For Moses, even though he is a slave, his arduous labor is not just work-- it is a part of him and nature and he takes time to enjoy it. Moses is constantly working, but he is still fully aware of his surroundings and the events that unfold around him.

As Moses interacts with the dirt around him, the third person omnipresent point of view reveals more about his complex character, further connecting him with the land. Jones first establishes women's gender stereotypes. Women are more connected to nature and they "eat [dirt] for some incomprehensible need" (26) but the Moses is the "only man in the realm" who "ate dirt" (23-24). This shows that Moses has a stronger connection to nature than all men and even women, because he had a reason that was comprehensible for eating the dirt. Jones clearly displays the meaning of the land to Moses as he reveals Moses's beliefs through his actions and inner thoughts, using the third person omnipresent. Moses "ate the [dirt]" (28) because it helped him uncover the "strengths and weaknesses of the field" and because it "tied him to the only thing in his small world that meant almost as much as his own life" (28-30).  Moses's view on the land insinuates that his life is a part of nature.

Moses first tastes the dirt in order to control the world and nature he lives in. He knows its strengths and weaknesses and knows what seasons to plant crops, as seen in the second paragraph. However, Moses's taste of the dirt comes to symbolize more than just his practical usage of the land; it comes to symbolize the cycle of life and industrialization. For instance, the flavor of "sweetened metal" (33)  that turned into "sour moldiness" (37) in the dirt represents industrialization in the soil and the inevitable death of crops and life. Moses understanding of this unfortunate part of life creates a stronger bond between nature and Moses.

Finally, through symbols of rebirth, society, and nature, Jones completes Moses's transformation into nature. Jones creates a clear juxtaposition between society and nature as Moses travels away from "his own cabin, his woman and his boy" (54-55), away from the "sound of playing children" (62) and past the "farthest edge of the cornfields to a patch of woods" (65-66). Moses is breaking past the borders of society and delving into nature. The text even reveals that he could "hear far more clearly the last bird of the day" (63-64) when he turns away from society. This insinuates that Moses feels a much stronger connection to nature to society.

As Moses approaches the woods, he "undresse[s] down to his nakedness and lay[s] down" in the grass as it rains (81-82). When Moses becomes naked, he emulates his naked form in the womb, representing baptism and rebirth into the world as he the rain washes away "himself completely" (88). Moses is freeing himself from the restrictions of society after the death of his master and awakens to find himself "covered with dew" (90) that represents his fresh rebirth into the world. However, Moses says that as an old man, he has "rheumatism [that] chains up his body" because of "evenings such as these" (86-88), revealing the complexity of freedom in humans with nature. It is ironic that Moses's new-found freedom will later become the making of his prison.

By the end of the piece, Moses's character has been unearthed as a paradox, riddled with contradictions just as nature is. Moses is a free slave, removed yet connected to society, chained and freed by nature.

*****
Reflection:

After "norming" the example AP essays in class, I can honestly say that I feel like my essay deserved an 8. I was reluctant to give myself this score, because I didn't want to appear over-confident or conceited, but after looking over the class essays and the rubric (multiple times), I think that an 8 is the best score for my prose analysis.
Disclaimer: One of the reasons I was able to get through so much analysis was because we typed these essays and I am a much faster typist than I am a writer. I think that I would definitely have struggled with time if the essay was handwritten (because I write at a painfully slow pace due to hand cramps). 

My essay offers a "persuasive analysis" of how Jones reveals the character of Moses through literary elements and made a strong case for how the character of Moses was revealed. My thesis, "Jones unveils Moses's character as part of the land, complicating the reader's understanding of nature and rebirth through an omnipresent third person point of view, vivid details, and clear symbolism," effectively and immediately states my argument and reveals which literary elements I will be examining. I supported these literary elements with "apt and specific references" in every one of my paragraphs. I also think that my analysis was sophisticated and that I did find the complexity. Places that I found complexity with "apt and specific references" :
1. Moses's connection to the land and his role as a "free slave" via small details.
2. Moses's connection to nature with the dirt and gender stereotypes via omnipresent third person point of view. 
3. Moses's tasting of dirt, the cycle of life, and industrialization via symbolism.
4. Juxtapositions between society and nature, themes of rebirth, and paradoxes of freedom and enslavement via symbolism.

Although I did find much of the complexity used throughout the piece, I did have my own flaws. My essay was by no means error-free. I had slight grammatical errors, and the order that my arguments was presented in was quite predictable (same order as the thesis). My "effectively organized essay" with "perceptive analysis" was enough to warrant me an 8, but I think that a 9 essay requires a more sophisticated analysis than the one I had with a more effective control of language.

My goals for improvement are the same as my last ones (see blog post #3) 
1. I, Ruby Liu, shall manage my time successfully. Although this time, I didn't struggle as much with time-- I believe this was a typing/writing issues. I'll continue to time myself in intervals so that I can maximize my writing time (20 or more minutes of solid writing) and not spend eternity analyzing the piece and the prompt.

2. I will attempt to notice (and to include in my essays) the deeper and less noticeable meanings that lie within the piece. I did a better job of this, this time around. I noted the complexity in many places but I feel like I could go even more in depth. I will continue finding prose passages (via Google) and analyzing the complexity in them. This has shown improvement already.

3. I will stop boring the reader with my flowery language and unnecessary words and dive straight into the main points of the passage. I am still struggling with this. Eliminating unnecessary flair will save time. I plan to do this by allowing myself time to proof my essay in order to pick out verbose phrases. This again, relates to time management.

Hopefully, as time time progresses, I will be able to finish my essays (because they will be, unfortunately, handwritten) and I can elevate myself to a 9. 

Blog Post #3: "The Flowers" by Alice Walker Timed Writing and Reflection

Timed Writing:

"Today, [Myop] made her own path." It is only when the main character of Alice Walker's "The Flowers" decides to make her own path, that the the story's purpose becomes more evident. Walker takes the reader along for Myop's journey, using diction, setting, and symbolism to unveil the meaning of "The Flowers".

Walker introduces the story in an ambiance of happiness and innocence with her skillful use of diction. During the harvest season, the main character, Myop, has never seen days "as beautiful as these". Myop is enveloped in "excited little tremors", dances to the "tat-de-ta-ta-ta" of an imaginary song, and feels "light and good in the warm sun". Walker uses this simple diction to evoke a casual innocence from Myop and the setting. The words, "excited little tremors", "light", "good" and "warm" creates an atmosphere of an easy, carefree childhood.  The onomatopoeia "tat-de-ta-ta-ta" builds on this by adding an airy, blithe rhythm to Myop's childhood experiences.

In the third and fourth paragraphs, the setting and the diction begin to transform. Myop watches the "tiny white bubbles [of the spring] disrupt the thin black scale of soil". The disruption of the soil by the bubbles insinuates that Myop's easy childhood will be soon interrupted. Soon after, Myop "[makes] her own path" away from her home, into the woods. When Myop makes her own path to explore the unfamiliar woods, she is walking away from her current world.

As Myop journeys down her new path, things are different from her usual expeditions in the woods. She is wary of "snakes" and collects "an armful of strange blue flowers". The "strangeness of the land" makes her haunt "not as pleasant" and "the air was damp, the silence close and deep". Myop's isolation, paranoia, and strange new experiences coupled with the clever diction ("damp air", "deep silence") creates a claustrophobic sense of foreboding that prepares the reader for something dark and unexpected at the end of the story. A whole new setting is created as the diction transforms the scene from a beautiful "golden" carelessness into a "gloomy" and "damp", unfamiliar land.

Myop attempts to escape from this uncomfortable, new setting back into the "peacefulness of morning" that she knows. However, Myop is unable to escape from the inevitable and unpleasant truth. The reader's fears are confirmed in the sixth paragraph when Myop steps "smack into [the] eyes" of a dead body with a dismembered head that "lay beside him".

Myop's unpleasant surprise at encountering death is soon transformed into irreproachable curiosity as she "gaze[s] around the spot with interest". She soon discovers a "wild pink rose", a symbol of beauty and innocence. This creates a large juxtaposition to the dead body she found, a symbol of death. Myop then spots the "rotted remains of a noose". Upon seeing the noose, Myop's character transforms. Myop's innocence is "hung" when she lays down the rose and her flowers next to the decaying body. By giving up the beautiful rose and her flowers, Myop is also giving up her innocence. She places the flowers next to the body as if she is at a funeral-- for both the dead man and her innocence. For Myop, the warm, sun-lit "summer" of her youth, described at the beginning of Walker's story, is "over".

******

Reflection:

There are a lot of things you can do in 40 minutes: make tea, paint a picture, read a magazine..... write a prose essay. On Thursday, we were asked to write a prose essay after reading Alice Walker's "The Flowers" (see blog post #3 for this essay). While I didn't fail miserably in my attempts at this, I still have lots of room for improvement.

I, surprisingly, had some good aspects in my prose essay. First, I started off the essay with a quote much like the "high-scoring" example prose essay did. This is good because I wasn't simply restating the prompt. I also successfully recognized Walker's usage of imagery, diction and symbolism to foreshadow the ending of the story. I picked out the large "Bildungsroman" and loss of innocence themes. My transitions were adequate and I was able to finish my essay (although I scrambled crazily at the end).

This isn't to say that I didn't make an abundance of errors. In my introduction paragraph, I stated that Walker made the purpose/meaning of the piece more clear as Myop traveled down the path. However, I didn't actually explicitly state this meaning or purpose. Even though I revealed the meaning of "The Flowers" later on, I failed to divulge Walker's complexity immediately.  Also, my essay was rather predictable. I didn't state the little nuances and details of the piece, even if I noticed them. For example, although I stated the setting changes, I failed to note the season and time changes (summer to fall and morning to noon) and analyze their meaning. I also tend to be too verbose and fail to get to the point, while missing key analysis points (shame on me).

In order to improve, I shall, once again, practice achieving three goals I set for myself.

1. I, Ruby Liu, shall manage my time successfully. Even though I finished my essay, I scrambled crazily at the end. I spent too long analyzing the piece and then, in a mad panic, I carelessly plopped my words on the paper when I started to write. In 5STA5, it gives a very nice time-management plan that I shall use from now on when writing my essays (less than 10 minutes to read, plan and analyze, 20-25 minutes to write, and 2-3 minutes to proof read). Next time I write an essay, I'll be that kid patiently timing herself in the corner instead of frantically cranking messy words out (the legibility of my handwriting would make any English teacher weep).

2. I will attempt to notice (and to include in my essays) the deeper and less noticeable meanings that lie within the piece. As I mentioned in my weaknesses, although I scraped the surface of many of the ideas, I didn't dive into them. This goal can be combined with my multiple choice question goals when I read short prose essays or poems (delivered via Google). I will read over them multiple times and attempt to write out the complexity and subtle (but important) details of a piece. By the end of the year, I will hopefully not still be looking at things in a rudimentary manner.

3. I will stop boring the reader with my flowery language and unnecessary words and dive straight into the main points of the passage. This will not only save time, but it will make my writing more concise. I plan to do this by allowing myself time to proof my essay. This way, I can pick out my painfully verbose sentences and send them to their deathbeds. By the time I've completed AP Lit, I'll be able to get straight to the point.

I have to admit, I actually enjoyed doing this time writing (NERD). Although, it was not my best work, I was still able to gauge a lot from this experience. Hopefully, in my next reflection essay, I can happily state that I had no problem areas (oh writing gods, let this day come eventually).

Blog Post #2: AP Practice Test

After completing my first practice AP English Literature Test, I can proudly say that I did equally horribly on all passages. I missed a depressing 10 out of 51 multiple choice questions and it would be an understatement to say that I have room for improvement.

Although my incorrect to correct question ratio was quite bleak for Charles Dickens's Bleak House, I was able to discern certain strengths that I had throughout the passage. These strengths were consistent in Richard Wilbur's The Writer, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and George Herbert's The Pulley. In all of the passages, I could easily pick out symbols, themes and tones. Thus, I was able to "get the gist" of each passage. However, I cannot grasp the passage completely. Most of my issues lie in my inability to identify inferences, organizational structures, and allusions. Also, I missed nearly all of the questions that required any vocabulary of literary devices because I simply lack the knowledge of what trochaic trimeters, iambic trimeters, dactylic trimeters are (I actually got that question right, but we all know that it was a fluke). In order to improve, I plan to practice, practice, practice!

To practice successfully (because practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent), I have assigned myself three goals to help guide me to success.

1. I solemnly swear that I shall look for the complexity in a passage. I often read the passage (sometimes, skim), and get the general idea, but I don't look for the "in-depth" details or care to analyze them. Because of my lazy reading habits, I miss questions that ask for inferences and analysis. I shall now start actively marking my passages to point out possible hidden meanings or inferences. Each week, I'll pick a short excerpt of literature from my AP Literature textbook or from online and attempt to take a more scholarly, in-depth view of it. From now on, every time I read something, be it an AP Lit assignment or a fashion editorial, I shall look for the complexity!

2. Every two days, Google supplies short articles or poems. From here on out, I shall try to look for ones that are more difficult to understand (mirroring the writing style of Shakespeare or Charles Dickens), in order to challenge myself. One thing that I struggled with while taking the practice test was time management. I often found myself continuously rereading sections because I lacked basic comprehension (Dickens's Bleak House). I will time myself reading these articles/poems and then try to find the purpose, symbols, and rhetoric devices used. This way, I can train myself to read passages effectively.

3. I want to rigorously pay attention in class (take detailed notes), review class material, and to "fully" complete my homework. Although these items may sound like rudimentary and obvious things that every good student should already be doing, this is an actual goal that I would like to maintain. I am taking a lot (probably too many) AP classes and extracurricular activities this year, and as things become chaotic, I tend to skimp on the quality of my learning in classes. This year, I have created an "understanding checklist" for myself (nerdy, I know).

• What is the subject?
• Do you understand the subject?
• Can you teach the subject to someone else effectively?
• If this was for a huge project grade, would you receive 100%?

I will apply this checklist to all of the things that I learn and my homework assignments, to ensure that I complete tasks at the quality this class deserves (which is Chanel-level high-quality, of course).

This was only my first AP style English test, and hopefully it will be the worst one. In the future, I hope to proudly say that I did equally well on all passages.

Blog Post # 1: Interior Design Choices

Today, blogs are the online internet-homes for a writer's thoughts. Accordingly, Written in Rubies was built to comfortably house my ideas about literature. Welcome to my humble abode.

First and foremost, a home is meant to create an environment of comfort and familiarity. The font must act as the pillows and cushions of the house, figuratively making both the writer and the reader feel instantly more snug. How? The font applied to this blog, GFS Neohellenic, is designed to look somewhat like my handwriting, something that grows more familiar every time I write on a piece of paper. GFS Neohellenic is light and informal, creating a mood of ease. If different fonts were to be used, the blog-environment would immediately lose its comfort factor. For example, if I were to employ Times New Roman or Showcard Gothic, my home would feel more like a formal workplace or a dramatic stage (Cousins, "Establish a Mood with Typography"). Although GFS Neohellenic is designed to look slightly like handwriting, it is easily legible, simple and has average width strokes and lines, something important for the functionality of a body text. In this way, the font of the text doesn't distract from the actual content being discussed (Cousins, "Establish a Mood with Typography"). In contrast to the body text, the title of the blog acts as the giant welcome mat to the house. Employing the large font, Rocksalt, my title manages to dramatically welcome in the reader as a guest. At the same time, Rocksalt doesn't lose the integrity of the blog by still offering a familiar, homey feel through its handwriting appearance. Under the title is a comical quote written by Jane Yolen. It states, "Literature is a textually transmitted disease, normally contracted in childhood" (Yolen). This quote becomes a humorous painting in the house, reminding the reader and the writer that literature is something always passionately carried but not necessarily always taken seriously. Thus, the quote functions with as both decor and a symbol.

In order to be comfortable, a home should also be calm. If the blog used a color like red, a color commonly associated with stimuli, the house would immediately become chaotic and tense. For this reason, I chose to use muted shades of dark blues, grays and indigos in the background cloud scene, colors known to alleviate and soothe (Cherry, "Color Psychology"). On top of the picture background, the background panel of the text is a continuous and transparent white, creating an open and well-lit house. The body text is a chic black that blends into the serene, dark colors of the picture background, yet are still easily legible against the white background panel. Hints of sky blue text also position themselves throughout the blog, adding on to the relaxing effect of the blog. The colors of the text act as furniture, serving their own functionality yet still matching the house as a whole. The combined effect of the typography and color creates a perfect home, a place where my thoughts about literature can openly and comfortably express themselves.

Sources:

Cousins, Carrie. "Establish a Mood with Typography." Tympanus. N.p., 19 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Aug. 2014. <http://tympanus.net/codrops/2012/02/19/establish-a-mood-with-typography/>.

Cherry, Kendra. "Color Psychology." Psychology- Complete Guide to Psychology for Students, Educators & Enthusiasts. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2014 <http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/colorpsych.htm>.