Category Archives: Week 4

Glossary, Week 4

Espy

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espy

verb es·py \is-ˈpī\

: to see or notice (someone or something)

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/espy
Young Goodman Brown by Jack Lynch
“At least, there were high dames well known to her, and wives of honored husbands, and widows, a great multitude, and ancient maidens, all of excellent repute, and fair young girls, who trembled lest their mothers should espy them.”

When young Goodman Brown lost his faith after seeing his Faith there, he continued after the light and the noise. He saw people who he would normally see at the council board. In this passage, it is trying to say that these young girls will tremble if their mothers notice them in this kind of gathering.

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Homework, Week 4

Young Goodman Brown and Metamorphosis – What stood out

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Young Goodman Brown By Nathaniel Hawthorne

[48] “Faith!” shouted Goodman Brown, in a voice of agony and desperation; and the echoes of the forest mocked him, crying – “Faith! Faith” as if bewildered wretches were seeking her, all through the wilderness.

[49] The cry of grief, rage, and terror, was yet piercing the night, when the unhappy husband held his breath for a response. There was a scream, drowned immediately in a louder murmur of voices, fading into far-off laughter, as the dark cloud swept away, leaving the clear and silent sky above Goodman Brown. But something fluttered lightly down through the air, and caught on the branch of a tree. The young man seized it, and beheld a pink ribbon.

[50] “My Faith is gone!” cried he, after one stupefied moment. “There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil! for to thee is this world given.”

These three passages really stood out to me because it was like the epitome of the definition of allegory to me.

The Webster Dictionary defines allegory as:

the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence; also :  an instance (as in a story or painting) of such expression

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allegory

When he claims that he has lost his faith, it spoke to me as if he’s lost his faith in religion or faith in his beliefs. His name is Goodman Brown which is also symbolic that he is probably very faithful in his beliefs. When he realized he lost faith, the young man seized the pink ribbon. It was no longer Goodman.

I don’t think that Goodman Brown really underwent the activities that happened in the forest. It was all in the head of Goodman Brown where he eventually stopped believing and lost his faith.

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

“One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.”

This was the first paragraph of the story as well as the hook. Kafka started immediately with Gregor being transformed into a horrible vermin. It was so explicit that I had to stop myself at this first paragraph to just pull myself together because I vividly saw the brown belly and the armor-like back.

I have SO many questions based on just this one paragraph. Why was he turned into a vermin? Was it a dream? What happened?

This story just had me more and more confused as I read it. I kept trying to find clues that it was actually a metaphor for something else that may be happening in his life. Perhaps he is disabled and really can’t move around and work for the family. That is why the sister need to bring him food every day. Perhaps he just gave up in life and just laid around in his room LIKE a vermin, but not exactly a vermin. But the detailed description of his vermin-like behavior and characteristics made it very hard to continue with that belief.

Definitely an interesting read though!

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Homework, Week 4

Young Goodman Brown

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In ‘Young Goodman Brown’ we follow Goodman Brown in his journey through the woods. The story starts off with Brown saying his last goodbyes to his wife Faith before he goes off. Faith tells him that she has been having bad dreams lately, and he suggested she prays and insures her that evil will not posses her. As he goes off into the woods, he feels like he should go back and be with his wife because of her state, but continues on. AS time passes, he meets a man named , who had a cane that resembled a serpent. As they travel together, the old man continuously tried to get Goodman to hold his cane, but Goodman had a bad feeling about him so he rejects him. He noted that he reminded him of the evil. The old man encountered a woman that Goodman knew and she called him the devil. He offers his staff and the lady proceeds to go to a ceremony in the middle of the woods with the devil. Goodmans curiosity drove him to see what this ceremony was all about. He arrives and witnesses an ungodly gathering of people that lived in his village, and later finds his wife was also there.

Some foreshadowing in the story that gave us hints in how the story ends is that his wife Faith had started getting bad dreams. Maybe it was Mr Brown dreaming wondering if he is in a dream himself.
One of the symbolic objects that played a role in the story was the old man. He represented the devil because of the way he possessed everyone he encountered, except for Goodman because he stayed loyal to god, and made them go to the ceremony in the woods with his cane, which resembled a serpent, which is a symbol of satan. One ironic bit was that his wife named Faith, who is described to have a pink ribbon tied to her hair, wasn’t able to keep her faith and was tempted by the devil.

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Uncategorized, Week 4

“Young Goodman Brown” and “Metamorphosis”

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In “Young Goodman Brown,” the young Goodman Brown finally follows the devil after hesitating for a while on the way in the forest. He thinks about his wife Faith resisting him from leaving her alone that night, and his Christianity as well. However as he arrives at the place in the middle of forest, he sees all these people whom he thought they are good Christians, including his wife. After that night, he lives sad, confusing and dark life. In the last paragraph of the story, “Be it so, if you will. But, alas! It was a dream of evil omen for young Goodman Brown. A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become, from the night of that fearful dream.” He couldn’t trust his or all other people’s Christianity on the Sabbath-day after he saw people in the town followed the devil that night. He feels guilty but at the same time mistrusts Christians including his wife and himself until he dies. Therefore when he dies, “they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom.”(Last sentence)

In “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, the main character Gregor Samsa “found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin.” (Paragraph 1) He worked hard to support his family but after he transformed into an insect, his family trapped him in his room and started avoiding him. His sister Grete was the only one who took care of him even after he became terrible looking insect, but even Grete started to ignore him and feel depressed about her brother’s appearance. Gregor used to be a head and a supporter of the family but now he became an insect that causes problems and hurt the family’s feeling. In the very last part of the story, it says “And, as if in confirmation of their new dreams and good intentions, as soon as they reached their destination Grete was the first to get up and stretch out her young body.” Throughout the story, the author’s voice was very gloomy and negative, but after the family confronted with Gregor’s death, the tone and mood of the story changes to positive sound.

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Homework, Week 4

Young Goodman Brown

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“The next morning, young Goodman Brown came slowly into the street of Salem village, staring around him like a bewildered man. The good old minister was taking a walk along the graveyard, to get an appetite for breakfast and meditate his sermon, and bestowed a blessing, as he passed, on Goodman Brown. He shrank from the venerable saint, as if to avoid an anathema. Old Deacon Gookin was at domestic worship, and the holy words of his prayer were heard through the open window. “What God doth the wizard pray to?” quoth Goodman Brown. Goody Cloyse, that excellent old Christian, stood in the early sunshine, at her own lattice, catechising a little girl, who had brought her a pint of morning’s milk. Goodman Brown snatched away the child, as from the grasp of the fiend himself. Turning the corner by the meeting-house, he spied the head of Faith, with the pink ribbons, gazing anxiously forth, and bursting into such joy at sight of him, that she skipt along the street, and almost kissed her husband before the whole village. But Goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting.”

In this passage when Goodman Brown comes back into Salem village in the morning, he does not trust anyone in the village anymore. It can first be seen when Deacon Gookin gives Goodman a blessing and prays for him, but Goodman refuses the blessing and then calls Gookin a wizard. Then as he keeps walking he takes a girl away from Goody Cloyse who was quizzing her on bible verses. The dead giveaway would be when he see his wife Faith, who he loved and did not even greet her. This passage shows how much Goodman has changed during his time in the forest by the action he does when he walks into the village the next day and just loses all trust he has in people. Goodman even lost the feeling he had for his wife who he loved a lot before the time he spent in the forest.

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Week 4

Analysis On Goodman Brown and Metamorphosis

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The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka told a very sad story. A bread winner that transformed hideous monster. On the same day  of transformation he was to told by his former manager that his work performance was poor, so Gregor knew he did not have much more to live for. As time progress he grew more and more isolated from his family and his family fear, towards him grew greater as well. A family that once dependent on Gregor couldn’t go to Gregor for help, so their debt out grew their patience. Gregor family decided to get boarders or room-mates to help pay rent; which was bad idea due to the fact that they knew they were living with a  monster. This story shows the importance of family. You never know when an individual may need help  your help or when your peaceful family or  member within your family, may become strenuous or needy.

Goodman Brown is a story base is the line of faith; loss of Faith. Everything in the setting was seems real but the story went into a twist. Married man of three months and madly in love with his beautiful wife Faith. On the night of Browns voyage, the story takes and turn into becoming a fairy tale meaning; Brown was interacting and making evil laughs while trekking through the woods. During his journey Brown came across Christians that challenge his commitment to Faith; however Brown was strong and he trekked hard until he reach his destination.  Like the author asked his readers, was it just a dream or Brown really ventured  to find his faith that he left at home before the journey.

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Week 4, Week 4

The metamorphosis

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The metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was wrote in 1912. the story tells us about the transformation of human being Gregor into a gigantic insect. It’s was very interesting and strong imagination from the writer. It was noticeable that Gregor had an issue with his family. He was totally excluded from them. Gregor was a puzzled victim of sickness. I think the message behind this story is about the shift which occurs to someone and the consequences which can follow this shifting. One someone is ill and disabled, family is mostly the only thing we can rely on. In Gregor’s case was different. He had a hard time being accepted. His mother failed to cooperate with her brutal husband to deal which Gregor’s situation. This failure generated loneliness and hardship in Gregor’s feelings. The mother was hoping good for her son and tried so hard to assist, She thought it was only a temporary sickness and she even kept Gregor’s furniture hoping that he goes back to his normal life but she didn’t succeed because the father didn’t accept a bit of what happened to Gregor. It was mentioned in the story that his father bombarded him with apples which is a sign of not accepting neither Gregor nor his illness.
It was a sad story. In the beginning of the reading, I had hope for Gregor and I thought he will be helped, saved and accepted by his family. But getting to the end of the story, it shows different thing than what i was expecting.

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Week 4

Metamorphosis and Young Goodman Brown

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I think “Metamorphosis” by Frank Kafka  could be read metaphorically. This could easily represent a story of someone who got very sick and the family can’t deal with him in the condition he is in. Not only do they have to care for him (and guard him from sight), they now have to go to work since he cannot support them anymore.

Throughout the story he gets to be more and more of a burden, and he slowly gets more and more neglected.  When his mother and sister try to help him out and rearrange his room, he is spotted by his mother (who couldn’t bear to see him in that state) and she faints.

Near the end, Grete is trying to convince her parents to “get rid of it” (Gregor isn’t referred to as he at this point). At this point we see that he is nothing but a burden to the family. This can (sadly enough) be a metaphor for someone withering away in a coma. He can understand them and hears more than think, but cannot communicate with them. When they were getting near the point of “pulling the plug”, Gregor passed on, relieving the family of their tremendous burden.

 

In the first few paragraphs of “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Brown is talking to Faith, his wife. It seems that at the same time Faith could also be a personification of his actual faith.  “Faith kept me back awhile” (12) is a great line. At this point in the story the reader doesn’t know where Brown is heading, only that is something bad.  He was kept back by his wife, but also by his belief, and his knowledge that what he is doing is wrong.

Essentially Goodman is in fact a good man and changes his mind before committing the evil deed. “My Faith is gone” he cried after hearing his wife is there with the sinners. This is referring to  his wife but can also mean he lost the faith he so barely held onto moments before.

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Homework, Week 4

“Young Goodman Brown”

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In “Young Goodman Brown,” the following passage stood out and defined the story to me:

“Be it so if you will; but, alas! it was a dream of evil omen for young Goodman Brown. A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become, from the night of that fearful dream. On the Sabbath day, when the congregation were singing a holy psalm, he could not listen because an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his ear and drowned all the blessed strain. When the minister spoke from the pulpit with power and fervid eloquence, and, with his hand on the open Bible, of the sacred truths of our religion, and of saint-like lives and triumphant deaths, and of future bliss or misery unutterable, then did Goodman Brown turn pale, dreading lest the roof should thunder down upon the gray blasphemer and his hearers. Often, waking suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith; and at morning or eventide, when the family knelt down at prayer, he scowled and muttered to himself, and gazed sternly at his wife, and turned away. And when he had lived long, and was borne to his grave a hoary corpse, followed by Faith, an aged woman, and children and grandchildren, a goodly procession, besides neighbors not a few, they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom.”

After Brown’s dreadful dream, he started to view everyone differently. From his dream, he has seen what people are or could be capable of. So he distrusted the whole village, including his wife, Faith. He basically spent the rest of his life trying to avoid contact with people, for he was frightened by them.  I presume the message that Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying to give in this story is that some people have a hidden personality, and they have a great way of hiding it.

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Homework, Week 4

“THE METAMORPHOSIS” (RESPONSE BLOG)

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“The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka was a very interesting read. To me as a reader, it stood out big time because of how surreal it feels when you read it. The way Kafka wrote also used added to the surrealism. One example being the injury Gregor sustained. I could picture those apples and the apple that remained lodged in his flesh as “a visible reminder of his injury.” The struggles he had as a bug can also be pictured. He wasn’t human anymore so of course there would be massive change one main part being his image and feelings from family/loved ones.

It’s sad to see family turn against you. He was “useless” to them and he brought a burden with his transformation. With his presence as a bug, he couldn’t provide for his family and no profit could come with him there. Pretty much, it added greater struggle to the household and frustrated everyone. He morphed from being the carry of the household, to an outcast ignored by his family. What’s also messed up is the fact that his death wasn’t really noticed or mourned. His family just let it go can acted like Gregor never existed even if he was the reason the family was still living under a roof and eating.

“The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka was indeed a very interesting read. It was a nightmare at its finest. It’s something that I’d be afraid of. Losing your humanity and the love from your family. Now that’s terrifying. The word kafkaesque is defined as the nightmarish writing style of Kafka. Reading this story did in fact feel like a nightmare which is why it stood out to me. Realism in Fiction is something I like and this story brought it to me. It also brought something I fear and that is to be turned against by the people you are really close to. Luckily the chances of that happening are low but it’s still something to fear. I now just hope reading this doesn’t bring me a similar nightmare.

 

 

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