Topic Brainstorm

My first project idea would be to write about Imoinda from Oroonoko since the relationship between her and Oroonoko was interesting to me. The writing prompt about choosing a female character to focus on would guide me well in writing a thorough paper about the subject.

My second idea is to do the first prompt about two different poems. I'm thinking I could write about a poem from Wordsworth and a poem from Keats since I'm a tiny bit familiar with their works. I might actually pick a poet I'm not aware of in order to make the assignment more interesting, especially if I liked their poetry more.

My third idea would be to write about Tartuffe by Moliere since I remember that play from a drama class that I've taken previously. I didn't analyze it vary thoroughly since it wasn't necessary, but it would be fun to go back and do since the ending of that play bothered me immensely to the point where I can't describe it with words. I would choose the prompt about how it reflects the period which it was written in and what it reveals about the cultural behavior contemporary to it.

A fourth idea would be to write about Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener since I had to write a paper about it last semester and admittedly didn't do that well since I was very busy with moving houses at the time and didn't get to read the material as closely as I needed to. For this one, I would most likely choose the prompt about exploring the relationship between the elements of the section and character development.

My Feedback Thoughts

With feedback, the most important thing I've learned is that you can't take it personally. Teachers and fellow students are trying to help, not offend. Maybe some people are less sensitive than others and might be extra harsh in comparison to others. Conversely, some people might be too sensitive and restrain themselves from giving back any useful feedback. Either way, until someone can learn to receive feedback without taking it personally, they won't be able to apply everything as best as possible. This extends beyond schoolwork too. In life, feedback is a resource to improve. You'll even get feedback about who you are about as a human being. Personally taking offense of it or not, what someone does with that resource is up to them.

Mentality aside, the most useful literal feedback I've received regarding schoolwork would be: Be mindful of clarity. Sometimes you might think you've explained an idea well, but if it isn't written in a way where a five year old with the English ability of an adult can understand it, anticipate potential criticisms about how clear your ideas are.

Week 2 Analysis: Literary Analysis of Poem 145 by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Poem 145 (Page 262)

Reading through this poem, I interpreted the poem to be encouraging a hesitant eye when looking at art or anything else that would typically be deemed as beautiful. The painting is referred to throughout the poem as both a "snare" and a "trap" (lines 1 & 4). Keeping the note in mind at the start of the poem providing context, "She endeavors to expose the praises recorded in a portrait of the poetess by truth, which she calls passion," De la Cruz feels as though the painting of herself is deceitful. From her point of view, this painting of herself is a trap since it makes herself look more attractive than she feels she is. The "clever arguments of tone and hue" are details of the painting that were altered to make her look more attractive, and she considers it to be manipulative (line 3). She feels as though the painting ignores all of her life experiences and any hardships that shaped her into who she is as expressed in the lines "flattery has tried / to overlook the horrors of the years" (lines 5-6). She doesn't want to view herself in a way that lies to her and pretends as though her whole life is better than it was. Her tone throughout the poem is consistently one of refusal and criticism born from the initial doubts she had from seeing the painting. I believe the last two lines of the poem were her throwing out or destroying the painting for the insult it has inflicted upon her. If I take away the context that went into inspiring her to write this poem, the poem still has a theme of being hesitant when appreciating art since it might try to deceive you. With the way art is placed into a gallery and appreciated by society, there is an expectancy to appreciate famous pieces of art. It's as though once a piece of art is unanimously praised, it's effectively true and can potentially shape the views of those who didn't think the art was anything special yet were told that it was. This can lead to their senses being caught in the snare, and manipulated. And this indoctrination of ideas as to what makes art beautiful can destroy the subjectivity of art and any unique interpretations and appreciation of art.

Reading Notes W2: Behn, Part B

Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, (225-246)

• Caesar's owner, Trefry loved to talk about love (225)
• Trefry speaks about a slave girl who he can't bring himself to use force against because her modesty and weeping are too tender to him (225)
• Trefry asks Caesar to go by the cottage of the "fair slave" girl he mentioned, but insisted that he should not approach or else he would fall in love instantly. (225)
• Caesar assured Trefry that he couldn't fall in love with her, and he thought if his heart was perfidious to love so soon after Imoinda then he should have his heart removed. (225)
• The fair slave, Clemene, turned out to be Imoinda (226)
• Oroonoko and Imoinda wanted nothing more than each other (226)
• The narrator said that they couldn't admire Clemene enough upon learning she's actually Imoinda (227).
• Caesar and Clemene got married and had a child (227).
• Caesar wanted liberty for him and his wife, and Trefry promised it would happen eventually. He claims they're just waiting for the governor. Caesar began to have doubts and feared that Treafry wanted to delay the process as long as possible to keep Caesar's child as a slave (227).
• The English had disputes with the Indians which created fear of going to Indian Towns (232).
• Naked Indians brought the narrator, Caesar, and the rest of the group to their houses and fed them food. (233)
• Caesar learned so much about what went on between the Indians and the English that there was no more fear (235).
• Caesar speaks like a captain or king when questioning why they should be slaves (236)
• It was agreed that they would seize a ship and try to fight for their freedom, since death would at least be more brave than a life of slavery (237)
• The governor pretended to be a friend to Caesar, but was now the only violent man against him (238)
• Trefry tagged along as a mediator (238).
• They fought brutally and the English would cry out "yield, yield; and leave Caesar to their Revenge" (238).
• Imoinda wielded a bow with a quiver full of poisoned arrows (238).
• Caesar said there is no faith in white men; honest men can't live among them (239)
• Caesar and Tuscan's actions showed fatal proof how far they would go (239)
• Caesar was whipped and showed little to no reaction. He believed the governor was faithless (240).
• The governor almost died of a wound from the poisoned arrow (240)
• The council concluded that Caesar should be hanged to serve as an example for all slaves (241)
• Trefry told Byam his command did not extend to his lord's plantation (241)
• Caesar kills Imoinda after thinking that she would be vulnerable after he gets his revenge and would end up being captured, violated, and then killed. He cried, she smiled, and he killed her. (242-3)
• He grieved at her side for two days before resolving to finish his revenge (243)
• Caesar tells everyone they can leave and tell the faithless governor that is arm is too feeble to to obey his heart and follow through with killing him (244)
• Caesar almost died but received medical care to keep him alive despite his wound (245)
• Banister was going to tie up Caesar but Caesar said he would remain still. He said "if you whip me, be sure to tie me fast." They threw him into a fire and cut him into pieces

Sor Juana Ines De La Cruz, De La Cruz Poems, (225-246)

Poem 145: The poem made me feel like it was trying to address a collective approval of art. As if to say we should stop believing a renowned piece of art is great simply because it's in a gallery and someone tells us that it is great. Not everything ages indefinitely through time, lasting forever. Some pieces of art lose their beauty over time and become insignificant, maintaining their admiration simply by people being told it was great.

Poem 164: The speaker of the poem has come to the realization that their words and feelings aren't getting across nor persuading their lover. They feel like their lover would only understand them if they could magically look straight into their heart. Someone must have told the speaker's lover that they were being unfaithful or have done something wrong. The speaker wants their lover to know that no matter what they here, it isn't true. They hope that their past experiences together can give their lover faith that they really wouldn't have done anything to hurt them.

Poem 92: The speaker is claiming that men don't make sense in what they expect of women. If a woman is difficult to get with, they're criticized, but if they change their mind and give you a chance, they're criticized for changing their minds easily and not standing by their own decisions. If a woman treats their man badly the man will complain, but if they treat their man well they will be mocked. When a man causes a woman to sin as desired, they'll want them to be angelic afterwards. Once the woman is with a man, there is this expectancy that they must be very reserved and modest whereas the man can do whatever he pleases. A double standard is pointed out that it's unacceptable for a woman to sell her body for money, yet it's okay for a man to pay for that same woman's services. Men are terrible since they want a woman to change while pursuing them, yet they want them to revert back as soon as they're with the woman.

Reading Notes W2: Behn, Part A

• Aphra Behn was the first professional woman writer in England. Another English writer, Virginia Woolf, said that Aphra Behn gave women "the right to speak their minds" (198)

• Oroonoko is a novella by Aphra Behn about a prince named Oroonoko. The novella tantalizes readers with the fiction of a narrator who witnesses much of Oroonoko's adventure. The novella makes a case against slavery (prior to abolitionism) while presenting the prince as a victim of enslavement.
• Little known about Behn's early life; she created a fictional genealogy for herself which made things even more confusing.
• She married a German merchant named Johannes Behn
• Restoration to the English throne of Charles II (Theater enthusiast) allowed for the period called "the Restoration" where theatrical innovation and creativity occurred.

              Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, (198-224)

• Last part of his adventures took place in a Colony in America named Surinam in the West-Indies (201)
• Coramantien, also called "a Country of Blacks" was an English fort and slave trading station in West Africa (203)
• Prince Oroonoko was called a Moor, which was used in the period to refer to Muslims or dark-skinned peoples (204)
• Oroonoko became general when the general he fought beside was killed with an arrow to the eye (204)
• Narrator claims to have been a witness to many of Oroonoko's "mighty actions" and assures us readers that "the most illustrious courts" couldn't have produced a "braver man" (204)
• Oroonoko speaks both French and English (204)
• Oroonoko had very ebony skin, eyes and teeth white like snow (205)
• Imoinda is the daughter of his foster father, the dead general
• Imoinda told the king things wont work because she was another's and that would mean he would be committing a great sin (208).
• Imoinda tried to calm him before telling who it was. He said whoever it is she would name should die (208).
• He led her into the bath anyways (208).
• When Oroonoko tried to visit Imoinda and found she wasn't there, he fell into madness (208).
• Oroonoko believed it was just and lawful as her husband to retrieve her from the Palace of the King's women (209).
• Imoinda could only think of Oroonoko as she was forced to do as asked by the King
• Onahal agreed to be a messenger for Oroonoko, to let her know what he said (211).
• Aboan informed Oroonoko how effective Onahal was in aiding Oroonoko's love with Imoinda (212)
• Onahal singled out Aboan and confessed her passion for him and said she would be ready for him at midnight (213).
• Imoinda fell from her carpet into Oroonoko's arms and was then sent to her apartment and the King told Oroonoko if he were to be found in the court one more time, he would be killed for disobedience (213).
• Onahal became worried since Oroonoko's stay was crucial in order for her to be with Aboan (213)
• The king wanted spies to keep an eye on Oroonoko (214)
• Onahal led Oroonoko to Imoinda where they got to spend alone time together. Imoinda's virgin honor was still intact. (214)
• Armed men sent by the king tried to barge in, but Oroonoko guarded the door with an ax and warned them to leave unless they wish to die. They advise Oroonoko to leave for his own safety (214-5)
• Imoinda told the king Oroonoko broke in to her apartment. The king decided to sell her and Onahal as slaves instead of killing them. (215).
• Oroonoko tells the messenger there is no account of revenge to be adjusted and that Oroonoko would hope to die first (217).
• Oroonoko was excited to be on a ship for the first time (219).
• Oroonoko was betrayed and locked up on the ship, to be sold as a slave (220)
• Prince Oroonoko felt a lot of grief and kept thinking about Imoinda and "that fatal night" (222).
• Narrator decides to refer to Oroonoko as "Caesar" going forward since that's how we was known in "our Western World" as his slave name (224).