Ceremony Summary and Analysis

Setting:

• It's set in Texas on the Laguna Pueblo reservation. The land is very dry there because there is drought and it's usually just a dry place. The time is post WWII, but Tayo's memories tend to drift back to the war where he was in a jungle and the hospital he was in after. 

Author:

• Leslie Marmon Silko is part of the Laguna Pueblo, but she is half Hispanic. 

Characters:

• Tayo: Half-Laguna and half-white. A veteran from WWII who returns to the Laguna Reservation. He searches for his identity as he struggles to find a balance between part white and part Laguna cultures. 

• Rocky: Tayo's older cousin who was raised like a brother with Tayo. Rocky was involved in a lot of white culture such as playing football and going to college. He did not engage in many Laguna traditions. Rocky dies during the war.

• Josiah: Tayo's uncle who is calm and gentle. Josiah acted as a father figure to Tayo while he was growing up. He helped Tayo understand Laguna culture by telling him stories. He also had a relationship with a woman named Night Swan before Tayo left for the war. 

• Aunty: The sister of Tayo's mother. During Tayo's childhood, Aunty is very unwelcoming towards Tayo and tried to keep him and Rocky apart as much as she could, not wanting Rocky to associate with Tayo.

• Grandma: Aunty and Josiah's mother. She is very wise and some how knows more gossip then everyone else, even though she rarely leaves the house. 

• Betonie: A Navjo medicine man that Tayo goes to see to a cure for his illness. Betonie believes that ceremonies need to evolve as times change along with the culture.

• Shush: Betonie's assistant who and is associated with the bear boy of legend. Lived with bears while he was growing up.

• Ts'eh: A mysterious woman who Tayo meets while searching for Josiah's lost cattle. She and Tayo become lovers.

• Emo: Another veteran, and Tayo's rival since childhood. Emo is strongly associated with the evil witchery in the story.

Summary:

• The story begins with Tayo at home on the reservation, struggling to sleep. He flashes back to during the war where he sees the face of Josiah on a dead enemy soldier, leaving him in shock and Rocky unable to console him. He flashes back again to his time in a veteran's hospital with an extended metaphor comparing him to smoke. During his stay he was disconnected from reality, drifting in and out of communication. The story returns to the present where Tayo's friend Harley shows up on a burro and the two set off on burro and mule to the bar. While they ride, Tayo flashes back to a time when a Laguna medicine man, Ku'oosh, tries to help Tayo to no avail. He then remembers a time when him and Rocky hunt a deer and Rocky avoids the traditions involved. In the present, Tayo and Harley arrive at the bar. Next, he flashes back to a time where Harley, Emo, Pinkie, Leroy, and him were at the bar and Tayo stabs Emo with a broken beer bottle. After this story, the action switches to the time when Tayo and Rocky both signed up to join the army together. The story describes Tayo's relationship with Auntie and how he was treated growing up. She made sure to keep a distance between him and Rocky as she saw him as a disgrace. He then recalls Josiah's cattle breeding venture in which he consults Rocky who swears by modern science. Tayo recalls getting the cattle and branding them. This then leads into an introduction of Night Swan, a Mexican woman who Josiah had an affair with. She is characterized as a mysterious and promiscuous women, who is generally looked down upon. Auntie and Grandma specifically disapprove because she is Mexican. Tayo then recalls a time where he goes to Night Swan to deliver a message for Josiah and then he and her have sex, where pretty much everything in the room is blue. In the present, Rocky leaves a drunk Harley at the bar. Walking through the town, he sees a store he remembers visiting as a child and recalls various fond memories. The store is now empty so he leaves and sleeps in a barn behind Harley's grandpa's house. Tayo returns home, now feeling well enough to help around the house. As Robert takes him through Gallup he sees some homeless Native Americans. An interwoven story begins about an unknown child of a Indian vagrant, who lives in destitution and has to fend for himself. Tayo is left with Betonie, a Navajo medicine man. At first he is frightened and unsure if he is the real deal, but he talks to him about the war and his problems and feels more comfortable. Betonie takes Tayo to begin the ceremony with the help of a strange, young assistant named Shush. He explains to him how white people are only an instrument of greater witchery, and the witches want Native Americans to blame white people. The next day, they relocate to the foothills of the Chuska Mountains for the second part of the ceremony which involves hoops and sticks relating to a traditional Laguna story. Throughout the whole ceremony, Betonie explains many Laguna stories and traditions. Betonie however says the ceremony is not complete. When Tayo leaves, he runs into Leroy and Harley who have a girl named Helen Jean in the car. The four go into the bar which leads to Harley and Leroy getting drunk, and Helen Jean ditching them for another guy. Tayo returns home and he decides to look for Josiah's runaway cattle. On his search he is invited into the house of an unknown woman whom Tayo recognizes as part of the ceremony. The two have sex and Tayo leaves the next day with a refreshed spirit. He sees the cows in a fenced area belonging to a white rancher and he struggles to think they could be stolen. He cuts a hole in the fence but is overcome with fatigue, collapses, and almost gives up all hope. He then encounters a mountain lion who leads him to the cattle. While he is trying to chase the cattle towards the hole he is caught by patrolmen of the rancher while the cattle escape. They eventually decide to leave him to pursue the mountain lion. When Tayo leaves he meets an Indian hunter who takes him to the woman from before's home, where they have been caring for the cattle. Tayo leaves without the cattle and comes back with Robert to retrieve them, and both the people are gone. After awhile, Grandma says that Tayo is "cured" but he keeps having dreams of the woman. He finds her camped out and it is revealed her name is T'seh. He spends the summer with her and then she tells him Emo and white police are looking for him, trying to send him back to the hospital. T'seh has to leave and Tayo hides from place to place, evading the police. Eventually they give up and Tayo gets picked up by Harley and Leroy. He falls asleep in their car but soon finds out they were picking him up to deliver to him to Emo. He runs off to an abandoned uranium mine which he recognizes as the final part of the ceremony. Emo, Pinkie, and Leroy arrive and torture Harley, trying to bait Tayo to come out. He resists the urge to hurt Emo and therefore resists witchery. Emo and the gang eventually leave and Tayo goes home. It is later revealed Harley and Leroy die in a car crash and Emo kills Pinkie and disappear. The story ends with Grandma saying the whole story sounds familiar.

Tone:

• She uses Tayo to talk about the difficulty and anguish that goes along with being only half Native American, and characters such as Emo to create a tone of anger toward white people for their trespasses against natives. Silko seems to be saying that natives need to reclaim their native culture and learn to use white culture only where it can help them.

Imagery:

• The imagery in this novel is very vivid and usually is describing nature or giving special significance to something. Yellow and blue seem to pop up quite a bit within the novel and are obviously very important to Laguna culture.

Symbols/Motifs:

• Direction of the Wind - The wind is frequently mentioned with its direction.  Silko's exact purpose was a bit unclear to me but each direction represents something in particular that has to do with the scene.
• Storytelling - In Laguna culture stories are used to keep witchery away and evil. These stories are spun by grandmother spider. The storyline of the novel itself comes from Laguna stories, metaphorically.
• Color - The color of Tayo's eyes can be seen again and again, emphasizing his mixed heritage.  Skin color is also often talked about to emphasize their race.  The color yellow is very significant representing Corn Woman.  

Quotes:

• "It seems like I already heard these stories before—only thing is, the names sound different." - This shows the circularity of the novel and history.
• "How did you know I'd be here?" He said, still watching the cattle. She laughed and shook her head, "the way you talk!" she said. "I was here almost a week before you came. How did you know I'd be here? Tell me that first." - It shows that this is fate and is like a story that has been told before.

Theme:

• Native Americans need to reclaim their culture and integrate white culture into the changing times. 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Summary and Analysis

Setting:

• The play of Hamlet 
• In a void like place 

Author:

• Tom Stoppard, who was a British playwright 

Characters:

• Rosencrantz- the more slap-happy of the two partners, he finds joy in the little things in life and represents a person who creates their own joy and meaning in life. 
• Guildenstern- the more thoughtful of the two partners, he tries to use logic and reason from a variety of different academic fields to comprehend his situation. He fails to find the meaning he seeks and ends up looking about as dumb as Rosencrantz because of it. He represents someone who engages in the futile search for greater meaning in life. 
• Player King- the character who is most omniscient in the play, he seems to know how the plot goes and has come to terms with it. He also represents someone who accepts the dominating role of Shakespeare in modern day Western culture. 

Summary:

• The play opens with Guildenstern flipping coins, all of which land on heads. Rosencrantz bets heads each time and thus wins the coin each time. Guildenstern tries to find a logical explanation for this, but can't articulate a coherent answer. The flipping is interrupted by a traveling group of actors. Their leader makes several allusions to the idea they will perform sexual acts for money and also offers their child actor, Alfred, to be a prostitute. This makes Guildenstern very angry and he punches the player leader, or the player "King." Just as the troupe is about to leave, Guil stops the player and bets him on a coin toss, seeing as how they will do anything for money. He knows that it will always be heads so he wins every time. The player demands a different bet seeing how it is rigged, and Guil bets him that double his birth year is even. The player loses and offers Alfred as payment because he has no more money. Guil asks for a performance instead, and then it is revealed the last coin flip was actually tails. The lights change and suddenly the setting is in Elsinore, right in the middle of the events of Hamlet. They meet Claudius, who tells them to find out what is wrong with Hamlet. They struggle to understand his words or how to do this. For practice of questioning Hamlet, they play the "questions game." Then they pretend to be each other as more practice when Hamlet enters and greets them as old friends. Act II begins with the tragedians reappearing, scolding Ros and Guil for leaving them without an audience. The player talks with Ros and Guil about the play they will be putting on for the court, then talk about life and its endless march towards death. Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, and Ophelia enter continuing the action in Hamlet. The players begin a rehearsal of the play they will perform while Ros and Guil don't see the obvious foreshadowing of the events to come. There is a death of two spies wearing the exact same clothes they wear. There also is a criticism of representing death on stage by Guildenstern, while the player says characters written to die will die. The lights go off and when they come back on, Ros and Guil are on the floor in the same clothes and positions as the dead spies in the play. Claudius tells Ros and Guil that Polonius has been killed and to find his body and Hamlet. They encounter Hamlet, but are incapable of stopping him. They wake up on a boat, where Ros and Guil try to console each other about their situation. They act out their meeting with the king and discover that Hamlet is to be killed. Hamlet overhears this and switches the letter with another saying to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The pair then find the players hidden in barrels, who hid away after their play angered Claudius. They learn that they have very little freedom, and then pirates attack leaving them hiding in barrels with Hamlet gone. They discover the new letter saying they are to die, and the player goes off about death, even faking his own. The two characters try to reconcile with their situation as they fade out and the final scene of Hamlet ends the play. 

Tone:

• Stoppard's tone is a satirical one as he criticizes many different things like Hamlet, contemporary theater and Western values. He creates comedy through the confusion of the two characters, changing any kind of perspective one of Hamlet one has before reading. 

Imagery:

• The imagery on this play is very little, espicially when Ros and Guil are in the void like place. The other imagery is dominated by the play Hamlet. 

Symbols/Motifs:

• Coins - Uncontrollable and random fate 
• Wind - Guildenstern often tries to get a sense of direction using the wind, but can't. This emphasizes the confusion and absurdist aspects of the play. 
• The Tragedians - Life is a stage with no one watching you. 

Quotes:

• "Words, words. They’re all we have to go on." - Showing the big picture of the play, Ros and Guil have no idea what they're doing besides what they are told. This reflects its absurdist qualities as they struggle to comprehend and communicate, despite language is the only thing they know. 
• "Audiences know what to expect, and that is all they are prepared to believe in." - Breaks the fourth wall and shows that audiences can't distinguish between reality and plays. 

Theme:

• The stage is not real life. Stoppard directly communicates this through Guildenstern. The Player King says that theater is exactly like life to contrast this point, so the readers can see for themselves this is not true. The setting is minimal to emphasize plays are not a good representation of real life and the dialog is intentionally confusing to undermine the significance of Hamlet. The entire plot of the play is set up to distort Hamlet as a play, therefore showing despite its significance it is still not a good representation.

Response to Course Materials 7

I'm glad that we have finally moved onto novels. These are a lot more enjoyable for me than for reading a play, but seems like a lot more to annotate. This novel is pretty unusual in the way it's structured with memories merging with the present, kind of like Death of a Salesman. This structure probably has some deeper meaning that I'll get to find out about later.

The essay practice has been pretty hard for me. I have trouble writing the thesis statement. I have trouble focusing on the meaning of a piece and usually just focus on the mechanics of piece, instead of saying how they contribute to the meaning of the actual piece. Hopefully by the time the AP arrives I will have overcome this and will be able to write at least a seven.

Response to Course Material 6

The multiple choice practice was pretty difficult. I took a long time to go through them and got most of them right. The only thing I'm worried about is the time limit in having to read a mixture three poems or essays, then answer questions on them. A lot of the time the poems are a older work, so it's hard for me to understand and take in all the meaning, unless I take a long time. This also worries me about the closed prompt. Interpreting poems is pretty hard for me, especially when they are not somewhat modern. This is definitely something that I will have to work on.

We have finally moved on from Hamlet, which gladdens me greatly, onto Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I don't really get why Stoppard would choose to make a play about two very insignificant characters of Hamlet. I am happy that this is modern English and will hopefully be a lot easier to read. Hamlet seems to be pretty important, since we spent so much time with and we are reading another play that has characters from it. Hopefully all this time we spent on it will be helpful for the AP test.

Hamlet Summary/Analysis

Setting:

• The play takes place in Denmark, in castle called Elsinore. Elsinore is supposed to be a very corrupt place, where no tells the truth and everything is very deceitful  The time period is about 12th century (It never gave the exact time period). 

Author:

• Shakespeare is probably the most famous playwright in western culture and has written many other plays. He lived around the 17th century during the Elizabethan era. 

Characters:

• Hamlet - The son of the dead king Hamlet. He is the prince of Denmark and next in line for the throne. His intelligence far exceeds that of anyone else's in Elsinore. Hamlet is also very manipulative in his language and often says things that have an ulterior meaning. The play is obviously centered around him, which most of the time he spends thinking about how, where and when to kill Claudius. 
• Claudius - Hamlet's uncle who has assumed the throne after he murdered the previous king, Hamlet's dad, who is also his brother.
• Gertrude - Hamlet's mother, who is the queen of Denmark. She married Claudius very shortly after elder Hamlet died, and during the Elizabethan time, their marriage would have been viewed as incest. If she is innocent or good can be debated.
• Polonius - Adviser to Claudius. Often times he acts much dumber than he really is, which makes people underestimate him and not see him as a threat. He is the father of Laertes and Ophelia. He is very power hungry, easily seen how he tries to exploit Ophelia's and Hamlet's love for each other. 
• Horatio - He is very trusted by everyone and is Hamlet's closest friend. Many characters seek out his advice, because he is wise. He is also not as rich as most of the other characters.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - Hamlet's child hood friends. They were sent for by Claudius to figure what is wrong with Hamlet and to spy on him.
• Fortinbras - A foil to Hamlet. He is the prince of Norway, who's father is also dead. He decides not to take revenge because his uncle told him not to. He ends up with pretty much everything by the end of play when he comes in.
• Ophelia - Hamlet's lover and daughter and of Polonius. She can be viewed in two different ways: She can either be completely innocent and just crazy because her father died or she could be pregnant and know that there is no way out, so she just commits suicide.
• Laertes - Brother of Ophelia and son of Polonius. He seeks revenge on Hamlet for killing his father and being the root of Ophelia's death.

Summary:

• The play begins with the swapping of guards. Horatio enters because the guards called him because they have been seeing a ghost in the likeness of the former king. The ghost appears and says nothing. They decide to tell Hamlet about this. It is then explained the back story of old Hamlet and the challenge from Fortinbras. The next scene starts out with Laertes requesting to go back to France, which is granted. Claudius and Gertrude also berate Hamlet for still grieving for his father even though its only been a few months. They also encourage him not to go back to Wittenburg. Horatio takes Hamlet aside and tells of him of his father's ghost. Hamlet goes to sees the ghost and it tells him that Claudius killed him and to revenge him, so he can rest peacefully. He tells the guards not to mention this ever and that he will be acting like a mad man. The next act starts with Polonius telling Reynaldo to spy on Laertes. Reynaldo leaves and then Ophelia enters saying that Hamlet had been in her chamber room acting crazy. Polonius goes to the king telling him that his love for Ophelia is causing his madness. Claudius then sends for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet. When they arrive, Hamlet greets them openly and quickly realizes that they were sent for by the king. Hamlet mocks them along with Polonius. The players enter, where he formulates the plan to use a play to reflect his father's murder and see how Claudius acts. Polonius returns to the king suggests leeting Hamlet and Ophelia talk, while they watch. Hamlet quickly realizes that Polonius is watching them. The king feels threatened and decides to send Hamlet to Britain. The play within a play begins and Claudius walks out, just how Hamlet thought it would turn out. Polonius tells Hamlet to go meet with the queen. Hamlet sees Claudius praying, but decides not to kill him because he will go to heaven if he dies while praying. He then goes to see the queen and berates her for marrying Claudius so soon after his father's death. He then discover Polonius spying on them and kills him. The king sends Hamlet to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, with secret orders to have Hamlet killed. Hamlet leaves seeing Fortinbras's army going to invade Poland. This causes him to change and start to act on things, instead of just thinking about them. Ophelia goes crazy and can only directly communicate by singing. Laertes hears of his father's death and blames Claudius for his father's death, which he quickly tells him that Hamlet did it. Horatio sends a letter to Horatio that he had been captured by pirates and need his help. The king and Laertes concoct a plan to poison Hamlet during a fencing match. Hamlet and Horatio go to the graveyard, where they talk with a grave digger and Hamlet sees Yorik's skull, who was his court jester and was much like a father to him. Hamlet sees Ophelia's funeral coming and goes to hide.  He realizes that it's her funeral and jumps in the grave fighting with Laertes, while confessing his love for her. While Hamlet and Horatio are talking, Osric informs Hamlet of challenge from Laertes, which he accepts. During the duel, the queen drinks the poisoned cup that was meant for Hamlet. Hamlet is wounded by Laertes, and their swords get mixed up and then Hamlet wounds Laertes with the poisoned sword. Laertes tells Hamlet that they are both going to die and that the king is treasonous. Hamlet kills the king and imparts his last wishes onto Horatio. Fortinbras arrives and honors Hamlet. 

Tone

• The tone is very ambiguously. The scene where Hamlet tells Ophelia to go to a nunnery could either be interpreted by him calling her a whore or telling her to stay pure. The only thing that is definite is when the ghost appears in the beginning that something is rotten with the state of Denmark.  

Imagery:

• There are very few stage directions, so its mostly left up to the director of the play. The character's speeches have a lot imagery in them, especially Hamlet's soliloquies. 

Symbols/Motifs:

• Flowers - Ophelia gives everyone flowers when she goes crazy, each having a certain meaning pertaining to the person she gave it to.
• Death - Hamlet is obsessed with death and often remarks how everyone ends up exactly the same. 
• Fate - Shakespeare thinks that everyone has a predestined path that you should follow and not defy. Claudius ends up dead because he defied his path and Fortinbras is rewarded for not going through with his revenge. 

Quotes:

• "To be, or not to be; that is the question" - This quote pretty much sums up Hamlet's thoughts about life. He is to scared to die because of the uncertainty of the after life. 
• "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" - This sets a dark tone of the play, that something is not right with Denmark and obviously that the play will end badly.

Theme:

• No matter who you are, we all end up the same when we're dead. - Multiple times Hamlet remarks how everyone who dies ends up the same, buried in the ground. In the graveyard scene Hamlet asks Horatio if he thinks that Alexander the great is like this. Horatio responds with a yes, probably giving Hamlet some comfort about his inevitable fate.

Revised Prompt #1 (Open Prompt 2)

1988. Choose a distinguished novel or play in which some of the most significant events are mental or psychological; for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness. In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Do not merely summarize the plot.

Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray's appearance stays the same, while his portrait changes with his sins and time. The portrait shows what Dorian should look like. After being strongly influenced by Lord Henry, Dorian believes that beauty is the only worthwhile aspect of life. With this idea in mind, he ignores what his true self  looks like, the portrait, and only concerns himself with what he looks like. 

Dorian tells Sybil that he does not love her anymore, because her only beauty was on her acting, Dorian notices that his portrait has changed. Later, Dorian tries to reconcile with Sybil, only to learn that she had committed suicide. He dismisses her suicide realizing that his life will be lust and looks. This is where Dorian renounces all of his innocence and completely changes his personality. To deal with the loss of Sybil, Dorian leads an indulgent lifestyle. After 18 years, Dorian invites Basil over and shows him the painting. When Basil sees the painting, he is horrified. Dorian lashes out and blames Basil for it and ends up killing him with a knife.

Dorian tries to escape his guilt by going to an opium den. Dorian again has misgivings about who he is and tries to run away from what he really looks like. By the end of the novel, Dorian ends up stabbing his portrait killing himself. His battle between what he actually looks like and his image drives him crazy. 

The constant battle that Dorian has with himself and his portrait makes the novel very interesting. Lord Henry’s influence changes Dorian’s outlook on life and embodies what the portrait becomes, while still maintaining the image of an innocent boy.

Response to Course Material 5

The last response to course material! Since the last response, we have finished Hamlet and have watched two different movies of Hamlet. The first one kept very true to the play and left it up to interpretation. This was helpful for me because it helped me visualize the play and gave even more meaning to what the characters said. The second one was more modern and was definitely more entertaining, despite being four hours. This version did all of the thinking for you, which made it much more watchable. These movies definitely helped in my understanding of the play.

Once going back through the play and annotating it, I realized how just about everything in the play connected together to the whole picture. There are many themes and motifs in the play. Like Hamlet's fascination with and remarks multiple times how everyone ends up the same when they are dead. Hamlet as character is probably one of the most complex characters I have ever met. I think this speaks to how good of a playwright Shakespeare was and that 400 hundred years later, we still read his plays.