Journal 44: Black Swan

Black Swan is a masterfully done film and probably my favorite film ever. It's a psychological thriller that has to do with the art of ballet and the breakdown of a dancer in a famous studio as she strives for the lead role in the version of Swan Lake they are putting on. The movie itself is very bleak and dark, and also extremely well done. I just saw it a few days ago and I can't get over how awesome it was. The hero in the movie was very flawed and as evidenced throughout the course of the film is an unreliable narrator with a serious mental problem that is warping her perception of everything and thus making our viewing of the film unreliable. With these qualities in mind several incidents of the film occur in which we are given a warped view. Also the ending is left up to viewer interpretation which gives way to the multiple meaning. The view is wapred and we see reality break through a few times which gives us the multiple viewpoints in the film due to the protagonist's unreliability. Also the protagonist is very flawed and the entire film reveals the seemingly kind and caring protagonist has a dark and evil side to her that is responsible for the death and downfall of herself eventually. It really was a great movie and Natalie Portman was just obnoxiously good and so very deserving of that Academy Award that she won. Anyway I really liked that movie and would highly recommend it. Oh good lord I still have way too much blog to write and I really don't want to so I'm just gonna go off on a tangent here for a bit I think just to get rid of some of these word reuqirements. But yeah the film is more epic in scale than most and therefore it makes for a more fantastical story. That's about all for that.

Modernism Project

Works Cited


Sandburg, Carl. "Carl Sandburg Poems - I Am The People The Mob." Carl Sandburg - Chicago Poems - Carl Sandburg Biography. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. .

Werlock, Abby H. P. "modernism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS589&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 17, 2011).

Gaydosik, Victoria. "modernism." Facts On File Companion to the British Novel: 20th Century, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006.Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GCBNII371&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 17, 2011).

Anderson, George Parker. "modernism." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds.Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1234&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 17, 2011).

Journal #43: Blue Train anlysis

Ahhh John Coltrane. What a man. A champion among the Jazz greats even though I do prefer Miles Davis to him, but all the same you gotta respect the greats. The point of this blog is to analyze the Coltrane song Blue Train. Running in at 10 minutes it is just a brilliant piece of jazz. It starts out relatively clam and it just bursts into this hectic but somehow orderly and brilliant piece of chaos with order. You can just feel like you are in a dark but somehow just perfectly lit club with the circular tables and a main stage with Mr. Coltrane just going at it during this piece. You can see each individual piece of sweat dripping down his face and hitting the stage. His backup band is getting into as well the drummer jamming out, and the cello player standing up and just getting down with that beat. The smell of the place is not the most pleasant because it's such a small and somewhat cramped space but still it's just brilliant and the sound of that music is just overwhelming to any of the cons or negatives that are going down. You can just feel the passion of the musicians while they are playing this epic and you can feel ever ounce of their beings that they put into the music. You can just feel the heat of the place rising up as the musicians keep playing and you yourself can just feel as if you are up on the stage playing your heart out right there with these jazz legends and greats. These are just a few of the senses that I get when I'm listening to Blue Train. I really do love Jazz because there are so many different types of it that you can either just relax and chill out to our just listen to to feel the passion of the musicians as they just jam their hearts out on this stage full of strangers. So all in all Jazz is a really passionate and emotional type of music.

Realism and Modernism Simliarities

There are numerous instances in which realism and modernism are similar. Some of the more pressing similarities are the instances in which they use redemption, the realistic portrayals of their characters and the time period as well as their use of symbolism to get across their points. Through their use of thematic elements in the form of symbolism and their portrayal of characters the similarities between modernism and realism are revealed. In books like Grapes of Wrath we see the light at the end of the tunnel and are shown the underlying theme of redemption in the novel which is similar to the theme of several Realism novels, but it is presented in several Modernism writings such as the works of John Steinbeck where the theme is even more present than in most novels. This theme of redemption is prominent in most modernism writings save for some such as All Quiet on the Western Front where the theme was much more depressing and does not end with any sort of fantasy of a happy ending or a fairy tale ending. These themes were so prominent in most modernism writings that the common thematic elements of the two are easy to decipher and tell apart. The two writing styles shared much in common especially in the form of their characters. With the characters we are given people like Rose of Sharon who show us the qualities of redemption and what not in humanity while giving us hope in play with the common thematic elements that are played in to effecct with both of the types of novels. These common thematic elements are easy to reveal when put page to page with both styles of writing. Along with characters and thematic elements symbolism is rampant in both styles of writing which is made evident in the thematic elements of the Hemingway novel The Old Man and the Sea. The Sea and the fish and just about everything in that novel have a symbolic relationship with something or another like with the sea being so representative of God and the whole being of human existentialism and all of that jazz and what not. Yeah symbolism is really rich is boh types of novels but more so in the writings of men like Hemingway and Steinbeck in their powerful writings of the American front and everything. These kinds of symbolic relationships in the novels reveal to us the nature of the two writings which goes hand in hand with the many common thematic elements that are used in both types of writings such as in Steinbecks primarily. It is evident through all the others use of characters that they attempt to portray them in a manner that will get the reader to be able to sympathize with them while they are attempting to get across their message of redemption to the reader and that is the primary message and theme in the writings of both Realism and Modernism. These are the themes of the two writings.

Job Shadowing

All in all my job shadowing experience was pretty awesome. I had to go to the Illinois State Police Central HQ and followed a trooper around for the day and she explained to us some of the interworkings of police work and how you became a police officer and what sort of opportunities you had once you graduated from the police academy. All of that was pretty interesting but sadly we didn't get to go much into forensics which was what I assumed we would be talking about, but it turned out for the best really and I had a fantastic time while there. It did clear up what was required to became a state police forensics investigator and I know that I won't be going into that field, I will just be a civilian forensic analyst. Getting through the police academy sounds like a brutal 6 months and I don't think I would enjoy having to go through that, so I don't think I'll be joining the state police anytime soon, however I am still interested in going into forensics. Overall I was very impressed by what I saw on my experience especially when we got to go into the Illinois State police evidence vault and saw about half a billion dollars worth of drugs. It was insane in there. But, I digress despite not seeing any forensics work I still really enjoyed my time shadowing the state trooper and learned a lot of policework.

Journal 42: Whitman vs. Dickinson

Ok, so I hate both Whitman and Dickinson so preferably I would rather not read any of their poetry but I guess for the sake of this journal I'm going to have to pick the lesser of both evils and i would have to go with Dickinson because the fiery passion of my hate for Whitman is barely able to be contained. So yeah if having to choose I would have to go for Dickinson. They were both considered to be insane at the time and I don't know why anybody likes them now but hey whatever I guess it just further talks to my theory of human de-evolution and the decline of intelligence of humanity, but hey whatever. I mean her poems aren't that bad I guess but she was still an insane old cat lady who lived out in the woods all by herself so that couldn't have been healthy for her state of being or anything along those lines. Some of her poems aren't that bad and are somewhat enjoyable but they are still not very good and I just detest poetry as a whole if it's not modern or in some lyrics. I mean I freaking love Robert Smith and he is a modern day poet. I just sort of detest the whole old age poetry except for Dark Romanticism because that was some pretty dark and creepy stuff and I really enjoyed some of that. Otherwise however I'm not a really big fan of poetry as a whole unles it is from this day and age or it is all dark and kind of explores the whole of human psychology in an interesting and unique way. These are just some of my opinions and what not so I guess you shouldn't be too mad at me for hating on poetry and stuff cuz it just isn't for me but I feel very strongly about it so that's me and you should not judge your opinions on poetry or anything so yeah.

Superfluous Were the Sun

Dickinson's poem "Superfluous Were the Sun" is a standard Dickinson poem about time and eternity found in the fourth section of her complete book of poetry. The poem is a simple one about the nature of the sun and space. As McChesney writes "As subject, she provided an array of dichotomies: strength/ fragility; boldness/timidity; certainty/questioning; health/frailty; Christian/pagan. As an analyst, she explored her psyche untiringly, reaching conclusions and expressing those intellectual leaps in her poetry." This statement is found to be all too much true if one were to read and analyze the entirety of Dickinson's work. This poem in of itself is an analysis of the sun and how it sits in space and affects the earth.

SUPERFLUOUS were the sun
When excellence is dead;
He were superfluous every day,
For every day is said
That syllable whose faith	5
Just saves it from despair,
And whose “I ’ll meet you” hesitates—
If love inquire, “Where?”
Upon his dateless fame
Our periods may lie,	10
As stars that drop anonymous
From an abundant sky.

As the first stanza says the sun works in excess every day providing too much sunlight and heat than is necessary to sustain us. It exerts itself unnecessarily and does excellence work until excellence is dead. The poem's first stanza is just an admiration to the sun for sustaining human life and working for the good and survival of the human race as a whole.

With the second stanza talks of the human's on the planet who are kept alive by the sun and go about their lives without realizing how large of an impact it has on their lives. It sustains them and allows them to do things such as fall in love and meet with their beloved and only those who have faith realize what God did for them by giving them the sun and allowing them to live as such. The second stanza applauds those with faith and tell of how their admiration saves the sun from flickering out and lapsing into "despair."

The final stanza of the poem is about the inevitable decline and death of the sun. It talks of all the stars that eventually fall out of the night sky and how this will one day occur to the sun as it is nothing more than another star, although one that is especially important to humanity as a whole. It makes the sun seem insignificant in the larger roll of the universe but it stays relevant to humans despite this. There is one line that explains how our lives and beings rely on the fame and ability of the sun to sustain the planet and it's significance for just one planet in the entire universe.

On the surface this poem is a testament to the sun and thanks God for it and no further reading into it is required. It is easy to reveal the true meaning of the poem through a simple reading through of it and the simplicity and thankful nature of the poem are what allow it to excel and work as a poem and a testament to faith and the sun.

Dickinson, Emily. "116. “Superfluous Were the Sun.” Part Four: Time and Eternity. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. .

McChesney, Sandra. "A View from the Window: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson." In Harold Bloom, ed. Emily Dickinson, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BCED03&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 23, 2011).