QUOTE:
“I started, and, for a moment, paused; for it appeared to me…there came, indistinctly, to my ears, what might have been, in its exact similarity of character, the echo…which Sir Launcelot had so particularly described” (Poe 1563).
SUMMARY:
The narrator is reading a book to Usher, but his mind might be playing tricks on him. He thinks that he is actually hearing the story happen somewhere in the mansion.
RESPONSE:
This part of The Fall of the House of Usher seems the most like a spooky ghost story to me. I know that when I’m at my house alone at night, I always hear random crashes out in my backyard, or creaks in the walls. If the narrator of Poe’s story is in a creepy old mansion that has dead bodies buried in its walls, then I can’t even imagine what it must be like to spend the night there!
I’m also taking English 46a, which is Old/Middle English, so I’ve been reading about Arthurian Tales. Finally I actually feel like I have a chance of, at least, having some sort of knowledge about one of the books the narrator is talking about! All I know is that each of the books Poe has written about in this story sound way out of my league. (And remember, I was reading this out loud to my parents. I know I was murdering the titles of the books.)
Back to my movie idea, however, I think this part of the story could actually be really creepy. Some spooky animation graphics could make the narrator’s fears come alive on screen, and could really be frightening for the viewers too! Maybe I’m just too much of a movie lover. However, I’ve really enjoyed almost all of our reading so far, and I’m glad that literature can create my own movie inside my own crazy head.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Journal #24 Edgar Allan Poe: It's Alive! The House Is Alive! MWAHAHA!
QUOTE:
“While I gazed, this fissure rapidly widened – there came a fierce breath of the whirlwind – the entire orb of the satellite burst at once upon my sight…and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the ”House of Usher” (Poe 1565).
SUMMARY:
This is when the House of Usher literally falls. It’s almost as if the house was alive, and then dies by completely disappearing into the earth.
RESPONSE:
This ending of the story becomes so frantic; I can imagine it happening like the countdown until a bomb will explode in many action movies. It almost seems like the house was alive though, I mean, what happened?! Madeline of Usher comes back and everything crumbles. Madeline also kills her brother by falling on him! He experiences so much terror from her not being dead after all, that he dies as she dies too. I would say that something seems amiss, if The Fall of the House of Usher weren’t supposed to be a fictional story meant to frighten its readers.
I said in my other journal that I’d like to see the movie, maybe, because I think it would be very dramatic and suspenseful to see everything happening at once. However, maybe I would just like to see a movie come out like next year, with all of the amazing special effects cinematographers can put in their movies. I’m not saying, however, that Poe’s story needs to rely on special effects. I just think that his explicit descriptions of everything from the atmosphere around it to the house itself, to the frightening and sickly seeming Roderick Usher, probably need some C.G.I. graphics to do them justice.
As for the house being alive, something about the grounds around the structure, as well as the large and seemingly impressive edifice itself, almost make me imagine a living house. Maybe in a movie with cool graphics, the house could even be constantly changing throughout the story! (Now I’m getting carried away!)
“While I gazed, this fissure rapidly widened – there came a fierce breath of the whirlwind – the entire orb of the satellite burst at once upon my sight…and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the ”House of Usher” (Poe 1565).
SUMMARY:
This is when the House of Usher literally falls. It’s almost as if the house was alive, and then dies by completely disappearing into the earth.
RESPONSE:
This ending of the story becomes so frantic; I can imagine it happening like the countdown until a bomb will explode in many action movies. It almost seems like the house was alive though, I mean, what happened?! Madeline of Usher comes back and everything crumbles. Madeline also kills her brother by falling on him! He experiences so much terror from her not being dead after all, that he dies as she dies too. I would say that something seems amiss, if The Fall of the House of Usher weren’t supposed to be a fictional story meant to frighten its readers.
I said in my other journal that I’d like to see the movie, maybe, because I think it would be very dramatic and suspenseful to see everything happening at once. However, maybe I would just like to see a movie come out like next year, with all of the amazing special effects cinematographers can put in their movies. I’m not saying, however, that Poe’s story needs to rely on special effects. I just think that his explicit descriptions of everything from the atmosphere around it to the house itself, to the frightening and sickly seeming Roderick Usher, probably need some C.G.I. graphics to do them justice.
As for the house being alive, something about the grounds around the structure, as well as the large and seemingly impressive edifice itself, almost make me imagine a living house. Maybe in a movie with cool graphics, the house could even be constantly changing throughout the story! (Now I’m getting carried away!)
Journal #23 Edgar Allan Poe: Just Spit It Out Already!
QUOTE:
“The writer spoke of acute bodily illness – of a pitiable mental idiosyncrasy which oppressed him – and of an earnest desire to see me” (Poe 1554).
SUMMARY:
Usher writes to the narrator of The Fall of the House of Usher about his peculiarity, which he feels requires him a friend to help cheer him up.
RESPONSE:
What a wonderful beginning for a ghost story! It seems like the setup for every scary/horror story or film, and those are always fun to read. However, it took me three different attempts at reading The Fall of the House of Usher to actually finish the darn thing! I had to finally use two different carpools with my mom and a reading during a dinner with my mom and dad to get through Poe’s story; and this was reading it out loud to them. My mom even said that many of the long-winded and almost tedious sentences were leaving her gasping for air. Maybe Poe’s story was meant to be especially scary for the claustrophobic? We did notice however, that after the “song” Usher sings, the story starts to move more quickly and a little more easily.
Now that I’ve actually read the full story, I do like it. Some of it is a little wordy, but I can appreciate the atmosphere Poe is creating with his words. It’s actually a creepy story, and I can even picture everything happening as like a little movie playing in my head. I even think my dad was saying something about a movie of this story being made with Vincent Price? Now I want to see that movie, even though I doubt it will be as good as the book! I guess now that I’ve gotten through the whole thing, to answer the question on the quiz about who dies in the story; I would say that Usher dies, his sister Madeline dies, and the house dies as well! (But I like my answer too, the dragon dies!)
“The writer spoke of acute bodily illness – of a pitiable mental idiosyncrasy which oppressed him – and of an earnest desire to see me” (Poe 1554).
SUMMARY:
Usher writes to the narrator of The Fall of the House of Usher about his peculiarity, which he feels requires him a friend to help cheer him up.
RESPONSE:
What a wonderful beginning for a ghost story! It seems like the setup for every scary/horror story or film, and those are always fun to read. However, it took me three different attempts at reading The Fall of the House of Usher to actually finish the darn thing! I had to finally use two different carpools with my mom and a reading during a dinner with my mom and dad to get through Poe’s story; and this was reading it out loud to them. My mom even said that many of the long-winded and almost tedious sentences were leaving her gasping for air. Maybe Poe’s story was meant to be especially scary for the claustrophobic? We did notice however, that after the “song” Usher sings, the story starts to move more quickly and a little more easily.
Now that I’ve actually read the full story, I do like it. Some of it is a little wordy, but I can appreciate the atmosphere Poe is creating with his words. It’s actually a creepy story, and I can even picture everything happening as like a little movie playing in my head. I even think my dad was saying something about a movie of this story being made with Vincent Price? Now I want to see that movie, even though I doubt it will be as good as the book! I guess now that I’ve gotten through the whole thing, to answer the question on the quiz about who dies in the story; I would say that Usher dies, his sister Madeline dies, and the house dies as well! (But I like my answer too, the dragon dies!)
Journal #22 Nathaniel Hawthorne: Mr. Hooper? What A Jerk!
QUOTE:
“When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best-beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and lo! On every visage a black veil!” (Hawthorne 1320).
SUMMARY:
On Mr. Hooper’s deathbed, he finally speaks about the mystery behind his veil. After he dies, the people bury him in the veil, having never removed it from his face even after he dies.
RESPONSE:
Mr. Hooper is finally revealing his reasoning for wearing the veil, and it seems like he is laying a guilt trip on everyone around him. It’s almost like he gets a great idea for a big lesson he wants to teach, but realizes that the only way it will work is if the main point of the lecture is given on his deathbed. This makes me think Mr. Hooper is narcissistic; so self-absorbed that he will even sacrifice his relationship with Elizabeth to satisfy his need to be forever known for teaching the ultimate lesson.
I wonder if it was really worth it for him to lose Elizabeth though, and all so he could prove his point that everyone is really wearing a metaphorical black veil while he wears the literal one. What a jerk! I don’t think it’s worth it in the end because I bet those people continue to act the same as if Mr. Hooper never even existed. Elizabeth most likely finds herself a regular guy to marry her, and lives happily ever after. Maybe or maybe not, but it’s not like Mr. Hooper will ever really get to see the outcome of his so-called supreme lesson, or idea, or experiment.
I think at the end of reading The Minister’s Black Veil I was actually hoping that Mr. Hooper was covering up some sort of horrible eye injury, or that the name of a woman he kills ends up tattooed across his face! I probably would have even felt bad for the guy, and would have taken his side in the whole situation.
“When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best-beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and lo! On every visage a black veil!” (Hawthorne 1320).
SUMMARY:
On Mr. Hooper’s deathbed, he finally speaks about the mystery behind his veil. After he dies, the people bury him in the veil, having never removed it from his face even after he dies.
RESPONSE:
Mr. Hooper is finally revealing his reasoning for wearing the veil, and it seems like he is laying a guilt trip on everyone around him. It’s almost like he gets a great idea for a big lesson he wants to teach, but realizes that the only way it will work is if the main point of the lecture is given on his deathbed. This makes me think Mr. Hooper is narcissistic; so self-absorbed that he will even sacrifice his relationship with Elizabeth to satisfy his need to be forever known for teaching the ultimate lesson.
I wonder if it was really worth it for him to lose Elizabeth though, and all so he could prove his point that everyone is really wearing a metaphorical black veil while he wears the literal one. What a jerk! I don’t think it’s worth it in the end because I bet those people continue to act the same as if Mr. Hooper never even existed. Elizabeth most likely finds herself a regular guy to marry her, and lives happily ever after. Maybe or maybe not, but it’s not like Mr. Hooper will ever really get to see the outcome of his so-called supreme lesson, or idea, or experiment.
I think at the end of reading The Minister’s Black Veil I was actually hoping that Mr. Hooper was covering up some sort of horrible eye injury, or that the name of a woman he kills ends up tattooed across his face! I probably would have even felt bad for the guy, and would have taken his side in the whole situation.
Journal #21 Nathaniel Hawthorne: Hooper Is Weird, But Great For Business
QUOTE:
“Dying sinners cried aloud for Mr. Hooper, and would not yield their breath till he appeared; though ever, as he stooped to whisper consolation, they shuddered…Strangers came long distances to attend service at his church” (Hawthorne 1318).
SUMMARY:
Once the rumors about Mr. Hooper spread, everyone who has sinned wants to speak with him because they think that he will understand them. Mr. Hooper becomes a celebrity, and his services become packed.
RESPONSE:
In class we discussed different possibilities for why Mr. Hooper wears the veil, and I think that it could definitely be a power issue for him. After he starts wearing the veil, he suddenly has the power to give his sermons to a crowded room of parishioners. It reminds me of Princess Diana being called the “Peoples’ Princess,” except Mr. Hooper is the “Peoples’ Minister,” not a princess. Once he has this new “mystique” with the veil, I think Mr. Hooper gets a taste of real fame, even if it is “negative” fame. But like the saying, “no publicity is bad publicity,” anything that is negative (like children being afraid of him, or people shuddering at his veil), still contributes to this fame and intrigue about Mr. Hooper.
So what if the people who seem to love him and think that he is the only one who can “save” them are all sinners? According to Jonathan Edwards, everyone is a sinner anyway! And we all remember what happened to him. I think Mr. Hooper is actually securing his job. Although the people in the village are completely disturbed and preoccupied with the veil, there are other people from miles around who are drawn to Mr. Hooper. So he’s a tourist attraction! The village has to be prospering from all the business these tourists are bringing. Mr. Hooper is a capitalist society’s dream, and all of the people in the village can perhaps live the “American dream” now because I’m assuming that they are having a huge economic boom!
“Dying sinners cried aloud for Mr. Hooper, and would not yield their breath till he appeared; though ever, as he stooped to whisper consolation, they shuddered…Strangers came long distances to attend service at his church” (Hawthorne 1318).
SUMMARY:
Once the rumors about Mr. Hooper spread, everyone who has sinned wants to speak with him because they think that he will understand them. Mr. Hooper becomes a celebrity, and his services become packed.
RESPONSE:
In class we discussed different possibilities for why Mr. Hooper wears the veil, and I think that it could definitely be a power issue for him. After he starts wearing the veil, he suddenly has the power to give his sermons to a crowded room of parishioners. It reminds me of Princess Diana being called the “Peoples’ Princess,” except Mr. Hooper is the “Peoples’ Minister,” not a princess. Once he has this new “mystique” with the veil, I think Mr. Hooper gets a taste of real fame, even if it is “negative” fame. But like the saying, “no publicity is bad publicity,” anything that is negative (like children being afraid of him, or people shuddering at his veil), still contributes to this fame and intrigue about Mr. Hooper.
So what if the people who seem to love him and think that he is the only one who can “save” them are all sinners? According to Jonathan Edwards, everyone is a sinner anyway! And we all remember what happened to him. I think Mr. Hooper is actually securing his job. Although the people in the village are completely disturbed and preoccupied with the veil, there are other people from miles around who are drawn to Mr. Hooper. So he’s a tourist attraction! The village has to be prospering from all the business these tourists are bringing. Mr. Hooper is a capitalist society’s dream, and all of the people in the village can perhaps live the “American dream” now because I’m assuming that they are having a huge economic boom!
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