My Intentions for a "Hunger Game's" Assignment (Blog #4)

Intentions for my “Hunger Game’s” Essay

In this blog I will be discussing my upcoming and final assignment for my English 102 class.  For this assignment I must write a three to five page essay from the point of view of a character, from Suzanne Collin’s novel The Hunger Games (excluding the novel’s protagonist, Katniss Everdeen).  I must write two scenes from this character’s perspective; one that overlaps a pre-existing scene, and another that is entirely “imagined” (not contained in the novel).  Finally, there must be an “idea” at stake in both scenes, which should be shown “through the interaction of characters, action, or description” (Dr. Rogers-Cooper).  Now, that the assignment has (I hope) been clarified, I will discuss my intentions for this essay.

I intend to write my essay from the point of view of Prim Everdeen, Katniss’ younger sister.  The overlapping scene I plan on choosing is the the scene where Katniss takes the place of her younger sister in the Hunger Games, which is an annual “game,” where an all-dominant government pits children against each other, to the death, as a reminder of their power.  The “imaginary” scene that I’d like to write will take place as Prim watches her sister take part in the Hunger Games.  Specifically taking place as she watches Katniss trapped in a tree as the other “contestants” await her below.  The “idea” that I wish to convey in this essay is “guilt’s relation to sacrifice.” This may relate closely to what many people refer to as “survivor’s guilt.”  Finally, my biggest challenge to this choice I’ve made for my essay is that it forces me to write from the perspective of a twelve-year old girl, which I am obviously not, and have never been. 

Works Cited

Rogers-Cooper, Justin. “Assignment Three.” Jrc’s LaGuardia ENG 102-Summer 2012. Blogspot. Web. 31 July 2012.

My response to the online article "Racist Hunger Games Fans are Very Disappointed"

A New Medium used to Expand Racism

After reading the online article “Racist Hunger Games Fans are very Disappointed,” I could best describe my feelings as those of utter disgust.  I’ve never been totally ignorant to believe that there aren’t people in this world with racist tendencies however, it’s disturbing when you read about so many instances compacted into one article. It’s also interesting (sad) that so many people are using this relatively new found technology (the world wide web), to show their disturbing displays of ugly, racism.  Finally, I find it rather “mind-blowing” to think of the great lengths people will go to in order to be racist.  The Hunger Games, in my opinion could be considered a novel to be read for pure enjoyment (I would say this especially can be said about the film adaptation), yet people have found a way to use the casting of actors and actresses of color to push their racist agendas.  One of these people, Joe Longley tweeted “EWW rue is black??  I’m not watching” (“Racist Hunger Games Fans are Very Disappointed”).  Again , a statement that I would describe as utterly disgusting.

Works Cited

Longley, Joe (@Joe_Longley).  “Racist Hunger Games Fans are Very Disappointed.” Dodai Stewart. 26 Mar. 2012.   Web. 30 July 2012.

My version of a Frank O'Hara poem, "Inside Out"

In this blog I’ve attempted to write my own version of a Frank O’Hara poem.  The poem is based on my own reading of Frank O’Hara’s, Lunch Poems and an in-class discussion.  I’ve attempted to focus on the “rules” that were discussed: Be descriptive, use exaggerated images, style, an arrogant tone, free verse, to be disgusting and disturbing, a focus on the body, with references to pop culture and art.  My poem is entitled “Inside Out.”

Inside Out

MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING is missing

“I don’t understand this” hits me with hot Cafe Bustelo breath,

a tepid tuna-fish chaser follows as he hastily holds Anne Frank in my face

“Ironic you idiot”

(Races through my mind 3x)

A singular “THANKS” burns as It escapes my pursed lips

I’m back inside by the time I reach the school’s exit

(Bloated like LaGuardia’s painted portrait)

The sun’s now warming my paunch, passing through the cotton-poly blend like oily 

paper

I implore my liver to apply the piercing rays like a heating pad on a pulled muscle

The lack of response causes me to curse

Svedka, Saki, Sapporo Light, Steven Spielberg

                           (and Captain HOOK)

bang-a-rang!  Purple painted pants on that hip-hop hipster

Takes me back to The Charleston, Plymouth gin, personal pan pizzas,

the Knicks

Vs.

the Celtics

And the falafel farts wafting in from around the corner

My kidneys burn as I hurry past Court Square wine

                                                                              (& LIQUOR)

Wilde and Bertrand Russell follow behind me like shadows

While in front, just beyond the beggar with his ‘bitty bottles

Chester Himes and d’Holbach wait on the corner of Eleventh

The fruity little Frenchman refusing to look at his black face

                                                                           (Determined)

I give the beggar a dollar 

My mind goes to the price of Purell 

                             (travel-size)

89¢, and the awareness of my stomach surfaces 

BURP

FART

                                                                                            (relief)

Pandora picks Louie CK as the smell of poor man’s pine-sol fills my nose and throat

The septic smell takes me to a bodega in Sunset Park as fearful sounds fly from

a Puerto Rican with a bull-whip WILD from his want of rum, and men, and women

CRACK!

CRACK!

CRACK!

I cross the street in my memory

(worried)

Now I enter my apartment

I’ll pour a warm Grolsch

I’ll read something by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Sleep with my hat on

(insides will settle away)

2012

Notes on "Notes on Love and Marriage"

Notes on “Notes on Love and Marriage”

An Analysis 

By

Hans Freiwald

July 3, 2012

In this blog I will discuss the web article “Notes on Love and Marriage” by Michael Vance.  In this article Michael Vance dissects “The Importance of Being Earnest” by first comparing it to its author, Oscar Wilde, which he refers to as someone “for whom the regular rules for society don’t apply” (“Notes on Love and Marriage”).  He often refers to “The Importance of Being Earnest” as a satire, which he states “can be compared to a caricature in its ability to point up flaws and distinctive features by enlarging and expanding upon them to the point where they dominate the portrait and give it a distinctly comic dimension” (Vance).  So what is it that Vance states Oscar Wilde is making a “caricature” out of?  Well, It’s in the title of his article, “Love and Marriage.”  Is this true?  I would say that yes, it absolutely is.

Already, in the first scene of “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Wilde begins to analyze the institution of marriage in Algernon’s discussion with his manservant Lane.  Wilde writes:

Algernon: Why is it that at a bachelor’s establishment the servants invariably drink the      champagne?  I ask merely for information.

Lane: I attribute it to the superior quality of the wine, sir.  I have often observed that in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand” (“The Importance of Being Earnest” 6).

Essentially what Wilde is saying is that after marriage the romantic love no longer exists.Why purchase cheap champagne?  Because you no longer posses the desire to impart upon your partner the “finer” things in life (and of course this would also imply that through the loss of love for the other, you’ve also stopped loving yourself- you also now drink cheap champagne).  Though Vance doesn’t point out this dialogue specifically, he does point out other examples that come to this same conclusion.

Vance references Lady Bracknell’s visit to a woman who was recently widowed, and how she looked “altered.”  We then read on to find out that “altered” in this instance refers to looking better and even appearing younger.  So Wilde is satirizing marriage by stating that without it we can actually posses more youth and virility.  Finally, Wilde makes satire from the mere idea of proposing marriage.  Vance states that “for both women, marriage to anyone with another name would have been inconceivable even though they freely professed great love for the men who had asked them for their hands” (“Notes on Love and Marriage”).  With this I believe Wilde was showing the flaws in what society deemed were important factors in choosing whom one should Marry, and Vance is pointing out that this was Wilde’s intent.

Works Cited

Vance, Michael.  “Notes on Love and Marriage: Perspectives from Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest an analysis.”  May 2000. Web. 3 July 2012.

Wilde, Oscar.  “The Importance of Being Earnest.” New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2006. Print.