Transmedia Literary Analysis

I'm going to try to pave a new path for a style of literary analysis so we'll so how well it goes.

"Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller

The play opens with Willy coming home from a hard day of work and talking to his wife about his work and problems around the office

Willy's biggest concern is providing for his family.

Willy's wife is very caring and supportive of him and their two sons who are eager to make it big in business although one is disillusioned and the other is irresponsible.

Willy must commute to Chicago everyday which is tiring for him especially in his old age,

Since the story takes place in the 1940s, the American Dream is thriving and Chicago and New York is the epicenter of big business.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2585431/My-kind-town-Long-lost-footage-Chicago-1940s-surfaces-yard-sale-offering-rare-glimpse-Windy-City-70-years-ago.html

Willy talks to himself a lot and suicidal because of how sad he is that he is not as good of a salesman as he used to be. He also changes mood rapidly and lashes out on his family.

He wants the best for his family but he is frustrated because his job doesn't get him much pay. Willy likes to reminisce about his brother Ben who died some years ago. He hallucinates about Ben and has conversations with him. Willy can be heard by his family who develop a deep concern with him.

It sounds like Willy may have schizophrenia

In the end, Willy decides to take his own life and crash in his car. 

Death of a Salesman is about family and traditional values like the American Dream.

Although Willy may not be an emotionally stable person, I would call him a static character for the way he is constantly changing attitude. 

"WILLY (corning out of The Woman’s dimming area and going

over to Linda): I’ll make it all up to you, Linda, I’ll...

LINDA: There’s nothing to make up, dear. You’re doing fine, better

than...

WILLY (noticing her mending): What’s that?

LINDA: Just mending my stockings. They’re so expensive...

WILLY (angrily, taking them from her): I won’t have you mending

stockings in this house! Now throw them out!"

Biff and Happy are under a lot of pressure to become great businessmen like how their father was. There is an awkward situation between Willy and his sons because they want to be the great businessman he was but Willy is doing poorly in the business world now. He gets fired near the end of the story which makes it difficult for him to be a role model for his sons. Willy wants what's best for his sons and gives them all of his knowledge of business and pushes them to achieve greatness in the business world.

Poem Comparison Essay

          All poems are not created equal. Poetry has the ability to morph into any type of subject based on the poet's style of writing. That being said, there can also be parallels drawn between just about every poem ever written. Summons by Robert Francis and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot have many similarities in their literary elements as well as differences.
          T.S. Eliot is known for his rich literary works and provocative writing. In  The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Eliot can make the reader think beyond the words written on the paper and beyond the context it is written in. The same goes for Francis' Summons. In Francis' poem, their is a tone of desire for companionship and love. The tone is very hopeful and optimistic in its diction:"...And let you in and light a light..." and "...Come wake me up. Come any hour of night..." The narrator longs for a companion in which to explore the world with, to conquer fears with, and to be exposed to new cultures with. Much of the same thing could be said about Eliot's work. In Eliot's poem however, there is a much darker and disconsolate tone. Eliot's diction casts a dark atmosphere on the topic of the poem by using phrases like, "...I know the voices dying with a dying fall..." and, "...I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker..." (The "eternal Footman being death.) So both poems basically talk of similar topics, but what sets them apart is their underlying tone. 
            Another way Eliot and Francis are both similar and different is in their perspective about the subject. Both poets had the character's outlook towards the topic made a certain way to force the audience make inferences about them. For example, when Eliot writes "...And time yet for a hundred indecisions, /And for a hundred visions and revisions, /Before the taking of a toast and tea..." he has the audience make the inference that the narrator is an incredibly uncertain person. To be that cautious and calculated for eating toast and tea would lead the reader to believe that the narrator is near the point of  having mental issues. When Francis writes, he has his character much more optimistic and definite. With writing like, "...Make me get out of bed..." and, "You know I'm not too hard persuaded." gives the reader assurance that the narrator would definitely go out and do all these things when the opportunity presented itself. Just by changing the perspective of the character, both poets are able to get inside the reader's head to make them characterize the narrators.
          Another interesting element to the poem are how both poets insert minute details that would probably go by undetected until further analyzed. For example, the fact that Eliot has the narrator named J. Alfred Prufrock is something special. Usually big names with lengthy titles are seen in celebrities or successful big business owners. A name like J. Alfred Prufrock sounds like the lead singer of a band or a famous author. However, J. Alfred Prufrock has amounted to nothing (according to J. Alfred Prufrock.) There is irony just in the title of the narrator. That's the kind of provocative writing Eliot injects into his work to get the reader to analyze deeper. Francis does similar actions how he titles the poem "Summons." The word "summon" literally means to draw someone forth with authority leading to the idea that the narrator isn't asking for a comrade but rather demanding one. All while maintaining a very congenial and kind tone. Irony strikes again. Minuscule details in a poem are sometimes the most important in an analysis and all poems have them if you dig around deep enough. 

Transmedia Poetry

Summons
by Robert Francis

"Keep me from going to sleep too soon" Like this:


"Or if I go to sleep too soon
Come wake me up. Come any hour
Of night." Sounds like he wants this:

"Come whistling up the road.
Stomp on the porch. Bang on the door."
wikiHow: How to Kick Down a Door
"Make me get out of bed and come
And let you in and light a light.

Tell me the northern lights are on
And make me look. 

Or tell me clouds
Are doing something to the moon
They never did before, and show me.

See that I see. Talk to me till
I'm half as wide awake as you
And start to dress wondering why
I ever went to bed at all."
Why Do We Need Sleep?
"Tell me the walking is superb.
Quotes about walking:
“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” 
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, Or, How to Philosophize With the Hammer
“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” 
― John Muir, John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir
"My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the heck she is."
― Ellen DeGeneres
"Not only tell me but persuade me.
You know I'm not too hard persuaded." 

INTRO TO POETRY

1. The title is appropriate because of the fact that he is asking someone else summon him from his room. In a way he is summoning someone to summon him. Yeah
2. The tone of the poem actually seems pretty cheerful and optimistic
3. My mood when i read it was hopeful and curious because i thought that this guy has the desire to be exposed to beautiful things and he just needs a mysterious hand to come and open the door for him.
4. The shift would probably be at the end where he says, "You know I'm not too hard persuaded." This was a shift because the poem shifted to a more personal side where the narrator reveals something about himself that could have more meaning when looking back upon the things he said earlier.
5. The theme of the poem seems to be adventure and not fearing the unknown, but being optimistic about it. It could also be friendship and the value of having a companion.

Hamlet Quote Essay

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"

-Marcellus

          This quote is important because it is the first instance where a character addresses the conflict in the story. Although the conflict is not directly addressed, it still notifies the reader that the plot is developing and a problem will soon present itself. 

          The quote is uttered by a somewhat of a minor character which is probably done on purpose by Shakespeare to open up the play for the major characters. The scene that follows (almost immediately after the quote) involves the ghost of King Hamlet and Prince Hamlet who further move the plot by creating the scheme to expose the corrupt King Claudius for all of his wrong-doings. It is almost as if the plot was a small pebble on the top of a massive snowy hill and Marcellus' quote was the small nudge to get it rolling into the monstrous snowball it became.

          Not only does the quote carry much meaning and purpose, it also has complex syntax and diction that contains even more significance. First off, the fact that Marcellus only says "something" and not a particular problem leaves a lot of space for the audience to picture what the story could unfold later on. Shakespeare was also very clever to have used the word "rotten" in the quote. Of course the figurative sense is aimed to mean that an element in the story is not as it should be, but there is also a very critical literal sense. The word "rot" originates as a Germanic word and refers to the decomposition of organic matter. By saying "something is rotten" there is a literal meaning that some sort of organic matter is decaying away. This of course refers to the body of King Hamlet, but the audience doesn't know the story behind that yet, which is what makes the quote so brilliant. The syntax of the sentence is also something to be analyzed as it is (like many of the sentences in the play) ordered unusually. "State" is meant as condition obviously, but there is a reason Shakespeare didn't put it, "Something about the state of Denmark is rotten." The original syntax of the quote casts a dark atmosphere on the play and sort of nudges the audience about the play being a tragedy.

HAMLET (THE MADMAN?)

Most people would consider a murderer to be a person of the deranged or insane, and most would be right. The act of murder, even out of a hot-blooded act, is see as a rash, sudden, and superfluous. In the tragedy of Hamlet by the world renown William Shakespeare, Hamlet is an extremely misunderstood man trying to avenge his father's tragic death while dealing with several other irritating problems, especially for a person of his age. While Hamlet may be a killer, his is certainly not nuts. If anything, he is a genius, and even shows his own side of Shakespeare.

Hamlet is a normal teenager much like the rest only with much bigger problems on his plate. Not only is he the former king's son, but his own mother decided to marry the same guy who killed his dad. Aside from that being an incredibly awkward dinner each night, that would take a serious mental toll on any adolescent. Emotions ranging from sadness to anger and to confusion, Hamlet has a lot going on in his head. It would be very understandable to see Hamlet lose his head and lash out on everyone and everything around him, yet, he manages to keep calm throughout the story and bottle his rage so he can formulate a plot to cleverly avenge his predecessor's death. Hamlet's ability to control his madness and lock it behind the curtains of his poker face is a major reason why he is not the madman most believe him to be.

Some may argue that Hamlet is indeed mad for the fact that he acts so strange to the other characters. For example, when Hamlet speaks to Lord Polonius about his daughter in Act II, Scene II. Hamlet acts so odd that is make Polonius say, "...he is far gone, far gone..." While most would argue that the text here is evidence of Hamlet's madness, Hamlet is merely using the mask of madness as a ploy. When around Horatio, or the actor later on in the play, he is completely normal and charismatic. He wants to make sure all of his enemies' guards are down for when he chooses to initiate his diabolical plan. Another argument could be made about Hamlet's reaction to when he kills Polonius. Rather than being shocked at the sight of a different man bleeding to his death, Hamlet's reaction is completely indifferent. Hamlet is more angry about Polonius' intrusion than frightened by how he just killed a man who he did not intend to. While one would say Hamlet is crazy for committing an act of such lunacy, I argue back that he is simply reacting to his environment and bodily emotions. When Hamlet finally talks to his mother about everything he has been bottling up inside him, he explodes in fury. Adrenalin took over as he spewed out vulgar words of hate and disgust giving his mother the thought that he was going to kill her. Hamlet had been so quiet and calm for so long that when he finally got to vent his emotions, he couldn't hold back, much like many other teenagers will tend to do when holding a certain emotion back for too long. So when Lord Polonius show up out of nowhere, Hamlet doesn't take it as much of a shock to see him fall to the ground after stabbing him to death. His eruption of anger, frustration, and adrenalin numbed his ability to empathize at all with the "wretched, rash, intruding fool."

Hamlet is a man with many problems and issues. His psychology however, is still sound. Although he may be a killer and a devious schemer, his "crafty madness" is what makes him such an intelligent character. He is mad, but he is not a madman.

Class Notes

Performative Utterances

• deBoer expands upon J.L Austin's theory of performativity and relating it to Hamlet
• Hamlet has a negative tone throughout the entire story
• When a thought or idea is made in the mind, actions are done to reinforce that that idea
• Hamlet is unsure about his destiny to kill Claudius and reinforces his uncertainty with the soliloquies he utters
• The paper is trying to explain how words can alter a personality or thought or idea
• Raises the question of who we are and if we can truly control our fate
• Polonius is the character who controls the traffic of language in the story and manipulates characters through verbal exchange
• The scene where Hamlet catches Claudius in prayer is important because it shows what Hamlet wants 
• Hamlet didn't kill Claudius yet because he wanted to kill him in a sinful act
• Claudius has sinned so his prayers are not valid to God but Hamlet doesn't want Claudius to die while committing a holy action
• Claudius was confessing his sins to God and how he felt guilty for his actions