This is a single paragraph from Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. It's an account of a man's escape from slavery and his struggle to enlighten and free others. But here it's missing punctuation.
Watch this one. It starts slow, but the end is pretty darn complex.
everything looked clean new and beautiful i saw few or no dilapidated houses with poverty-stricken inmates no half-naked children and bare-footed women such as i had been accustomed to see in hillsborough easton st michaels and baltimore the people looked more able stronger healthier and happier than those of maryland i was for once made glad by a view of extreme wealth without being saddened by seeing extreme poverty but the most astonishing as well as the most interesting thing to me was the condition of the colored people a great many of whom like myself had escaped thither as a refuge from the hunters of men i found many who had not been seven years out of their chains living in finer houses and evidently enjoying more of the comforts of life than those of the average slaveholders in maryland i will venture to assert that my friend mr nathan johnson of whom i can say with a grateful heart i was hungry and he gave me meat i was thirsty and he gave me drink i was a stranger and he took me in lived in a neater house dined at a better table read more and better understood the moral religious and political character of the nation than nine-tenths of the slaveholders in talbot county maryland
Friday, April 20, 2007
Excercise II, Hemingway
Here are a few paragraphs out of a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Of course, I've butchered them by taking out all of the punctuation. Try any or all of them.
"The Big Two-Hearted River," Part II. Complete Short Stories. New York: Scribners, 1962.
175 words
while the water was heating in the pot he took an empty bottle and went down over the edge of the high ground to the meadow the meadow was wet with dew and nick wanted to catch grasshoppers for bait before the sun dried the grass he found plenty of good grasshoppers they were at the base of the grass stems sometimes they clung to a grass stem they were cold and wet with the dew and could not jump until the sun warmed them nick picked them up taking only the medium sized brown ones and put them into the bottle he turned over a log and just under the shelter of the edge were several hundred hoppers it was a grasshopper lodging house nick put about fifty of the medium browns into the bottle while he was picking up the hoppers the others warmed in the sun and commenced to hop away they flew when they hopped at first they made one flight and stayed stiff when they landed as though they were dead
(222)
.
p 209. 309 words. This is his 3 paragraphs.
Big-Hearted River: Part I.
the train went on up the track out of sight around one of the hills of burnt timber nick sat down on the bundler of canvas and bedding the baggage man had pitched out of the door of th baggage car there was no town nothing but the rails and the burned over country the thirteen saloons that had lined the one street of seney had not left a trace the foundations of the mansion house hotel stuck up above the ground the stone was chipped and split by the fire it was all that was left of the town of seney even the surface had been burned off the ground
Nick looked at the burned over stretch of hillside where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town and then walked down the railroad to the bridge over the river the river was there it swirled against the log spiles of the bridges nick looked down into the clear brown water colored form the pebbly bottom and watched the trout keeping themselves steady in the current with wavering fins as he watched them they changed their positions by quick angles only to hold steady in the fast water again. Nick watched them a long time
he watched them holding themselves with their noses into the current many trout in deep fast moving water slightly distorted as he watched far down through the glassy convex surface of the pool, its surface pushing and swelling smooth against the resistance of the log driven piles of the bridge at the bottom of the pool were the big trout nick did not see them at first then he saw them at the bottom of the pool big trout looking to hold themselves on the gravel bottom in a varying mist of gravel and sand raised in spurts by the current
"The Big Two-Hearted River," Part II. Complete Short Stories. New York: Scribners, 1962.
175 words
while the water was heating in the pot he took an empty bottle and went down over the edge of the high ground to the meadow the meadow was wet with dew and nick wanted to catch grasshoppers for bait before the sun dried the grass he found plenty of good grasshoppers they were at the base of the grass stems sometimes they clung to a grass stem they were cold and wet with the dew and could not jump until the sun warmed them nick picked them up taking only the medium sized brown ones and put them into the bottle he turned over a log and just under the shelter of the edge were several hundred hoppers it was a grasshopper lodging house nick put about fifty of the medium browns into the bottle while he was picking up the hoppers the others warmed in the sun and commenced to hop away they flew when they hopped at first they made one flight and stayed stiff when they landed as though they were dead
(222)
.
p 209. 309 words. This is his 3 paragraphs.
Big-Hearted River: Part I.
the train went on up the track out of sight around one of the hills of burnt timber nick sat down on the bundler of canvas and bedding the baggage man had pitched out of the door of th baggage car there was no town nothing but the rails and the burned over country the thirteen saloons that had lined the one street of seney had not left a trace the foundations of the mansion house hotel stuck up above the ground the stone was chipped and split by the fire it was all that was left of the town of seney even the surface had been burned off the ground
Nick looked at the burned over stretch of hillside where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town and then walked down the railroad to the bridge over the river the river was there it swirled against the log spiles of the bridges nick looked down into the clear brown water colored form the pebbly bottom and watched the trout keeping themselves steady in the current with wavering fins as he watched them they changed their positions by quick angles only to hold steady in the fast water again. Nick watched them a long time
he watched them holding themselves with their noses into the current many trout in deep fast moving water slightly distorted as he watched far down through the glassy convex surface of the pool, its surface pushing and swelling smooth against the resistance of the log driven piles of the bridge at the bottom of the pool were the big trout nick did not see them at first then he saw them at the bottom of the pool big trout looking to hold themselves on the gravel bottom in a varying mist of gravel and sand raised in spurts by the current
Punctuation Excercises
For those who don't feel comfortable blogging about readings, here's another option. I have started to upload punctuation excercises. They're paragraphs or sentences that are not punctuated. The way to an entry is as follows:
1) Have a look at the excercise and see if you can work out how all of it or part of it should be punctuated. Bear in mind that you're not to change the wording on these, just the punctuation.
2) Write how to resolve one or more punctuation decision in the excercise. Your explanation should include several things:
a) The punctuated passage. Go ahead and give enough of the text, with punctuation, to show what you mean.
b) Any standard rules that were involved in your decision
c) Any references you used. (Copy and paste helpful URL's!)
d) Why your decision is right. Don't just cite the correct, rule, though that's a good start. Explain why the text works better, why it's clearer with that particular piece of punctuation.
1) Have a look at the excercise and see if you can work out how all of it or part of it should be punctuated. Bear in mind that you're not to change the wording on these, just the punctuation.
2) Write how to resolve one or more punctuation decision in the excercise. Your explanation should include several things:
a) The punctuated passage. Go ahead and give enough of the text, with punctuation, to show what you mean.
b) Any standard rules that were involved in your decision
c) Any references you used. (Copy and paste helpful URL's!)
d) Why your decision is right. Don't just cite the correct, rule, though that's a good start. Explain why the text works better, why it's clearer with that particular piece of punctuation.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Apocalypse Now & Heart of Darkness themes
There are many themes one might pick out of Heart of Darkness or Apocalypse Now. The following suggestions by no means cover everything. It's also possible to start with a topic or theme you find interesting and work backward -- if you want to write about race, murder, dying, class distinctions, US foreign policy, disabilities in veterans, covert operations, insanity, or many other things, you can probably find scenes and characters to illustrate whatever points you want to make. Otherwise, you might begin by picking a particularly interesting passage or scene, and analyzing it closely to unfold its rich message and to make a particular point. Or you could write about the busines of filmaking, writing, acting, or editing that went into this movie or into Heart of Darkness: why does Willard keep explaining what's happening? How does the movie relate to the book? Why does Coppola decide to show such horrible scenes and keep them in the background, like Willard casually complaining about having to track down Air Cavalry while bloody families pass by the camara, and the camara doesn't even bother to focus on them. Or you might do something similar by following a particular character or concentrate on a particular type of activity, like killing or loyalty or relations between men and women. The key in all cases is to find the point you want to make, and to pick a moment, character, or other focus that gives you the information to properly illustrate and discuss what you want to say.
As an example of a moment that one might write about, in class we returned several times to the moment when Willard slaughters the wounded vietnamese woman in the sampan. Our discussion involved various impressions of the relative value of a military objective and military discipline, and the moral injunctions against murder. Even though that scene only lasted a few moments in the film, one could write many pages about it because the characters' reactions relate to complex factors that drive important personal and political decisions. By making an observation about some general principle in the scene, one gets focus and relevance, and also gives oneself enough latitude to write a whole essay, or even more. If one just describes the scene, there might not be much to write about. But if one starts to discuss the issues of morals in a wartime situation, things get tough, and one has a chance to make a real statement. At that point, it's possible also to use historical examples or current events that relate to the point as well.
Here are a few other key moments that occur to me:
1. Williard in the hotel, the evidence of his problems, and his relation to his wife and to his mission.
2. Intelligence at Na Trang, the layers of secrecy and the motivations for the mission. Murder charges during wartime, like, say, the My Lai Massacre under Lt. Calley in Vietnam.
3. Air Cav, Kilgore's obsession with surfing, the destruction of the two Vietnamese villages, the use of Wagner and of airstrikes.
4. The USO show and bargaining the fuel for the women.
5. The bridge and the edge of actual combat.
6. The photojournalist and the reception at Kurtz's compound. What's involved in being a follower?
7. Kurtz himself -- his theories; his appraisal of war; his sanity or insanity as opposed to the sanity or insanity of Willard, Kilgore, or the folks at Na Trang.
And there are others. One might start with a current event and look for connections too.
As an example of a moment that one might write about, in class we returned several times to the moment when Willard slaughters the wounded vietnamese woman in the sampan. Our discussion involved various impressions of the relative value of a military objective and military discipline, and the moral injunctions against murder. Even though that scene only lasted a few moments in the film, one could write many pages about it because the characters' reactions relate to complex factors that drive important personal and political decisions. By making an observation about some general principle in the scene, one gets focus and relevance, and also gives oneself enough latitude to write a whole essay, or even more. If one just describes the scene, there might not be much to write about. But if one starts to discuss the issues of morals in a wartime situation, things get tough, and one has a chance to make a real statement. At that point, it's possible also to use historical examples or current events that relate to the point as well.
Here are a few other key moments that occur to me:
1. Williard in the hotel, the evidence of his problems, and his relation to his wife and to his mission.
2. Intelligence at Na Trang, the layers of secrecy and the motivations for the mission. Murder charges during wartime, like, say, the My Lai Massacre under Lt. Calley in Vietnam.
3. Air Cav, Kilgore's obsession with surfing, the destruction of the two Vietnamese villages, the use of Wagner and of airstrikes.
4. The USO show and bargaining the fuel for the women.
5. The bridge and the edge of actual combat.
6. The photojournalist and the reception at Kurtz's compound. What's involved in being a follower?
7. Kurtz himself -- his theories; his appraisal of war; his sanity or insanity as opposed to the sanity or insanity of Willard, Kilgore, or the folks at Na Trang.
And there are others. One might start with a current event and look for connections too.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Next Essay
After our dicussion in class, I wondered what I could write about. I thought about taking a scene from the movie, focus on a character,the symbolisims,tones, etc. We didn't get a chance to talk about some themes...so does anybody have any thoughts on any themes? Since I came in a little late, what did Mr. Crandall mention about the essay format? I know it has to be I think 4-6 pgs. I can't remember, so if anybody knows can you let me know...Thank you!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Apocalypse Now
I agree with most people in class about rather writing about Apocalypse Now than to write about Heart of Darkness. They are both very similar but because of Apocalypse Now, I can better understand the story since the reading was quite rough. The problem I have though, is that I can only focus on the military side to it. So, I guess I will write about how I feel about this mission. Is that ok? or do I still have to compare them both? is just hard to think of Heart of Darkness since I got lost in the reading at times, and dozed off a couple of times. Any better ideas?
Posts For Credit
By the way Mr. Crandall, these are my initial published posts. I couldn't have done it earlier due to lack of knowledge on how to post and not being able to log in. We have discussed this in class...and I hope you can accept these initial posts as credit...for however you grade us on your grading criteria. Anyhow, I'm sure it's just a formality.
I look forward to contributing more posts for the remainder of the semester...Thanks.
I look forward to contributing more posts for the remainder of the semester...Thanks.
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