Individuality: Lost.

Sir Thomas More's Utopia (Book 2 specifically) focuses a large deal on the idealistic society, a part of an individual's imagination where everything is perfect. In the particular society More describes, the citizens of Utopia are all treated equally and find true happiness in their lives on the island. Although More may be right with this statement, after reading, I found it hard to believe that a life where everything and everyone is the same can bring true happiness to each individual.

This got me thinking about individuality and the role it plays in our lives today, as well as More's Utopia. Today, people strive to be unique and individual. Currently looking for a job after graduation, I want to make sure that I stand out to a recruiter. Most of the time this happens because I hold a specific quality that the other applicants do not. This individualism would not exist in the utopia described in our reading for this week. More states that every person receives the same rights, freedoms, jobs, education, etc. - there is no differentiation among the people. It seems that the narrator's version of pure happiness is when everyone is the same; however, I see this as more of an opinion, then a true fact.

During college, everyone always says it is a chance to find yourself. Many freshmen come into college without knowing what they want to do with their lives, may not know how to handle difficult situations, and have never had to pave a way for themselves without their parents input. Within the four years at school, each student is given a chance to grow and figure out what works for them as an individual. Rewind to the time of this utopia and it would be hard for a young person to find their own way when there truly aren't any options for them to follow. Each citizen continues down the same path as the last one did to make everything in their lives equal. Having young men and women get married at a certain age limits their time to explore their individuality and become an "us" before it can become just "me."

My final thoughts after reading More's work was: can there really be a utopia? Personally, I don't think so. Because we are fortunate enough to live in a society where individualism is important, and never lost, each person has their own perception of what a utopia would be like. Some people would be willing to sacrifice their rights and personal feelings for the good of the cause, while others would believe in themselves before the masses.

Advertising At Its Finest

Advertising is something that we are exposed to every day of our lives. Television is set up around commericals, the internet constantly has ads popping up on the side of every website you click on, billboards are located on highways or posted on various means of transportation, and every other page of a magazine is a stunning picture of a new product. These attempts at catching our attention almost go unnoticed during our everyday activities because we are so used to them. During the 1500s, advertising was done through writing and speaking. In order to convince a large group of people on an idea or a new invention, respected people in society had to either give a speech or record their ideas on paper for circulation. These prose by Sir Walter Ralegh, Drayton, and Donne all advertise the same general idea: new land and new opportunity. Each author chooses to express their persuasive argument by appealing to different aspects of this new land filled with opportunities. Sir Walter Ralegh's excerpt draws the reader in by providing vivid imagery of nature. The openning paragraph describes hills, plains, mountains, and rivers using heavy diction that is sure to stay in the audience's mind. As the first paragraph continues, Ralegh describes the land as if it were a utopia, almost with a heavenly image. It seems as though nothing negative can come out of this land and the opportunities that it presents. The second paragraph, after the first break, starts with "I will promise these things that follow, which I know to be true." This statement is self-assured and confident, encouraging the reader to believe in the narrator's thoughts and observations. With such a sentence, it seems as though a world of opportunity awaits the people who take the voyage to this new land. Ralegh goes on to describe the geographical setting of Guiana, describing it as isolated and safe. Again, these conditions make it seem as though the land is nothing short of perfection. He ends the excerpt with a religious impact. If he did not convince the audience just yet, he adds this last paragraph in to seal the deal. During this time, religion played a huge factor in society. By including words such as, "God, King, and Lord," the audience is left with a sense that this new land is meant to exist because of God's will. Michael Drayton describes a specific voyage and formats his prose differently than Ralegh. He uses short and concise phrases, formatting the text to look like more of a poem. Drayton uses simple words that have enormous meaning. For example, he starts off the prose with the phrase, "You brave heroic minds." Using the words, "brave and heroic" right away give the reader a sense of optimism and confidence. The reader no longer sees him or herself as the average commoner, but a "brave and heroic" person. Putting the reader in this light makes them more likely to continue reading on and truly believe in the words Drayton has written on the page. In lines 23 and 24, Drayton goes as far as to call Virginia "Earth's only paradise" and alludes to the Golden Age in line 37. All of these phrases are extremely appealing to an audience that may see themselves as less fortunate. Building up the new world and playing on the reader's emotions and senses will lure them into making a change for themselves since they believe it will benefit them greatly in the long run. Donne's "Elegy 19. To His Mistress Going to Bed" was the most entertaining prose for me to read. When reading this the first time it was assigned, I did not make as many connections to the new world as I did this week. Reading Ralegh and Drayton first, made the connections of expansion and discovery much more apparent in Donne's work. I think Donne was extremely clever since he played on the sexual desires of the readers, rather than on the natural beauty or religious relevance of the new land. Every man and woman have sexual desires and in the scene of the poem, Donne makes sure to use comparisons that put an image in the readers mind. If moving to a new land will exude the same passion and excitement that a sexual encounter will, the audience is much more likely to take the risk and move to a place unknown to them. Line 27 is the most powerful and truly speaks to the purpose of Donne's work. It reads, "O my America! my new-found-land." The narrator is comparing his lover to the new world. Just as the narrator is exploring the features of the woman's body, new settlers are exploring the untamed lands in America.

Shakespearan Sonnets: Ideal Love Songs

When looking at our reading assignment for this week, I was extremely pleased to see that we would be reading Shakespearean sonnets. Over winter session, I went abroad to London on the English/Theatre program. A majority of the course focused on Shakespeare's plays and I was fortunate enough to see both King Lear and Hamlet performed at various London theatres. One of my assignments was to memorize a sonnet and analyze each and every line of it so I could truly understand its meaning and appreciate every word. At first, I found this assignment to be tedious more than anything else, but soon realized how much more the sonnet spoke to me once I had a chance to digest all of it. This previous assignment definitely helped when it came time to read all of the sonnets for this week. I was able to recall some of the sonnets my classmates had memorized, along with my own sonnet, and remembered some of the close reading I had done which helped me better understand Shakespeare and his work.
The one aspect of Shakespeare's sonnets that immediately captures my attention is the raw emotion that is expressed. Unlike any other author I have been exposed to, Shakespeare seems to write exactly how he feels about a loved one in the purest and most elquoent way possible. The love sonnets that he writes would surely have any girl fall to her knees and the sonnets where he is asking for forgiveness would be difficult to refuse. They are the ideal love songs.
Sonnet 116 caught my attention while going through the first pass of the reading. During my second pass, I spent extra time on this sonnet since the first couple of lines, "Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments; love is not love which alters when it alteration finds," caught my attention. This sonnet explains, based on the narrator's point of view, what love is and what love is not. Those first several lines talk about how love is contant and never changes. Regardless of what happens between the couple or them as individual people, the love that the narrator feels for the other will never change. Lines 9-10, "Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickle's compass come," explains that love is not a time limit feeling, but will continue on forever. Even though rosy lips and cheeks may fade, the love that the narrator has for the other will remain regardless of the outer appearances. The couplet, "If there be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved," challenges the reader. The narrator is so confident of what he says and how he feels that he challenges the reader to prove him wrong. The narrator knows that true love is what he speaks of in this particular sonnet and that he cannot be proven wrong otherwise.
Many of the other sonnets that Shakespeare wrote end in much of the same way. Personally, it leaves me thinking and wondering if anyone would ever challenge the narrator of the feelings that they feel. While reading thru all of the sonnets I felt as though I was reading thru the stages of someone's rollercoaster of emotions. Each sonnet speaks of a different feeling so very strongly it is hard not to get sucked in and picture yourself being the person that is saying the very words on the page.

Taylor Swift's "Fearless" Album

When given this Wildcard assignment for the week, this was the first artist and album that popped into my head. Even though I see Taylor Swift as too fragile or sensitive sometimes, I think her songs are extremely catchy and easy for young girls to relate to. Her album, "Fearless" is all about love. Many of the songs she has written actually include the names of her exboyfriends or real situations that she has found herself in. The first song of the album is the same as the title - "Fearless." This song starts off talking about a young girl who is nervous and timid about love, yet when she is around the person that she feels most comfortable with she suddenly becomes fearless of anything. To start off the album like this, it is obvious that the song writer has a positive outlook on love and being a young girl, has many love stories to look forward to.
As the songs of the album continue, Swift starts to sing about specific instances in her life or in the lives of people close to her and their experiences with love. The second song of the album "Fifteen" talks about a fifteen year old girl who is very naive when it comes to boys and love. This connects to the album title again since this teenager is fearless when thinking about love, she is willing to believe anyone who says that they feel something for her. The girl, Abigail, mentioned in this song was acutally Swift's friend when she was younger and they both had the same thoughts about their high school boyfriends - they would end up together. The song goes on to say that looking back, the song writer wishes she knew what she knew now since not everything is so important as it seems when you are fifteen. In general, I think that many people can relate to this. In high school I always felt that little arguments or friendships were so much bigger and greater than they actually were.
The songs throughout the middle of the album are all related to the greater things about love. Some popular songs include, "Love Story," "Hey Stephen," "You Belong With Me," and "Breathe." I thought that placing "You Belong With Me" before "Breathe" was very clever, since the messages of both songs can be intertwined. The first, "You Belong With Me" is a young girl singing about how the popular boy at school is with the wrong type of girl. The singer wants him to notice her, but instead he is involved with a popular girl at school. "Breathe" is a song talking about how without that specific person in your life you feel as though you cannot get any air. Perhaps the song writer placed these two songs one after another because the person that he/she longs to be with does not notice them and makes them feel as though they cannot live without them. Again, this is a feeling that can be relatable to many young boys and girls since at a young age we all have feelings for someone else that are not reciprocated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw

Towards the end of the album, we see the heartbreak that Swift has experienced with the song "Forever and Always." This song talks about a boy who promised to always be there for her, yet broke her heart in the end. The song writer is left confused and hurt by the break up. The very last song of the album is called "Change." This is definitely a different tone than from the first song, "Fearless." At this point, the song writer has gone through all of the emotions one can feel when experiencing love and has come out on the other side a changed person. She now sees that being fearless when entering love can cause pain, but that pain can sometimes make you stronger.

Parallels Between Wyatt's Life & His Works

When reading the poetry selections by Sir Thomas Wyatt, I sensed a parallel between the events of his life, the time period in which he lived, and the messages of his poems. Wyatt wrote these poems during the Renaissance and talked about the roles of women, power, and corruption.
The two poems that caught my attention were "I find no peace" and "Forget not yet." When reading both of these sonnets, I was moved by the words and phrases and felt a powerful message. In the first sonnet, "I find no peace," the title is the perfect description of the narrator's feelings. The entire sonnet is rhetorical - the narrator feels like they are flying above the heavens in bliss, but then lies on the ground as though hitting rock bottom. It seems that the narrator is stuck in some type of lympo, never completely satisifed, yet never understanding exactly what he/she wants. According to the modern prose translation of this sonnet, the last line blames all of this strife on one particular person. This sonnet was written for that very person to feel the struggle that the narrator is feeling. My one question when reading this sonnet was: what is the cause of this conflict? Feeling imprisoned and the thought of love both crop up in the middle of the poem, yet I do not know if the narrator is actually in love with the person that causes them strife. I think that the narrator uses the illusion of a prison to further describe how trapped he/she truly feels.
The second sonnet, "Forget not yet," seems as though it was a plea to the audience to remember what the narrator has done for him/her. The first two lines read, "Forget not yet the tried intent of such a truth as I have meant." The word "truth" describes fidelity, showing that the narrator is referencing some sort of relationship between themselves and a loved one. The second stanza asks the person to remember the pursuit to win them over and obtain his/her love. The sonnet goes on to allude that the love between these two people was not always blissful since the narrator asks him/her to not forget the trials and the denials that they had to fight through in order to get what he/she wanted. The last stanza is a reminder to the narrator's love that he/she has always loved them regardless of the time that has passed and the problems that have been encountered. I can imagine that Wyatt wrote this sonnet with a woman in mind.

First Post

Hi everyone! This is my first post on my blog so hopefully this works. I created a blog once before for an education class I took freshman year. It has been a while since I've worked with Blogger and can tell that alot of the features have changed. I look forward to learning more about blogging and commenting on our readings throughout the semester.