Monthly Archives: November 2018

From the beginning of “The Metamorphosis,” I was instantly reminded of the movie The Fly (1958).  The Fly is of the science fiction genre – a universal literature that began in the early 1800’s, as a reaction to the growing ambivalence to science and technology which deals with how these elements have changed people, for better or worse.  

In The Fly, the victim Andre Delambre mutates to a human fly with matter transmitter (Mr. Delambre’s own invention).  His “metamorphosis” was due to a fly accidentally going into his machine and mixes their atoms. Though it is unknown how Gregor Samsa underwent his metamorphosis, there are still similarities and differences between the two characters that don’t include both being turned into bugs.  

For example, Kafka states that Gregor had started to behave more like a cockroach in that “it appeared his words were no longer comprehensible” (216) and becoming less sensitive to pain.  For Mr. Delambre, since the beginning of his mutation, he couldn’t speak; however, major behavioral changes occurred a few days after his mutation. In Mr. Delambre’s case, he had a fly’s head and arm, but still had the brain of a human which was slowly becoming the brain of a fly.  Gregor’s behavioral change happened quicker than Mr. Delambre’s considering that Gregor was a full cockroach whereas Mr. Delambre was half fly, half human.

Mr. Delambre’s humanity is slowly but surely slipping away whereas Gregor still has humanity intact through his thoughts and emotions.  Gregor still feels proud that he was able to financially help his family in the past and is embarrassed that he can’t help them now thus showing that Gregor still considers himself as part of the family.  On the other hand, Mr. Delambre’s mind is slowly deteriorating. At one point, he couldn’t differentiate the fly’s mind from his and went on a spiral, destroying/erasing all of his work.

Because of each man’s metamorphosis, they lost something they loved.  Gregor did his best to adjust to his new bug life; however, his family does not accept him.  His mother cannot look at him without fainting and his father is just angry at Gregor. Mr. Delambre does not have the same situation considering his wife, Mrs. Helene Delambre, tries her best to find the fly that went into the machine to reverse the mutation.  However, the fly is never found and Mr. Delambre convinces his wife to kill him (he would rather be dead than an insane hybrid). Both men are killed by a loved one, but Gregor’s death isn’t by choice.  His father kills Gregor because he misunderstands Grete (Gregor’s sister) and thinks Gregor attacked the mother.  

–Do you think that Gregor is more powerful BEFORE or AFTER his metamorphosis? Explain your response.

–How is Gregor’s family transformed in the wake of his metamorphosis?

–At the end of the second section of the story, Gregor’s father pelts him with apples. What do you think this episode is about?

–Gregor emerges from his room one last time when he hears his sister playing her violin for the lodgers. What is the significance of this? What meaning does music hold for Gregor here?

–Ultimately, what do you think Gregor’s metamorphosis means? What does it mean to be transformed into a giant bug?

–Explain your understanding of Gregor’s death. How/why does he ultimately die?

The views of the society can vividly shape the consciousness and perception of little elements of the past life to the point of obscurity. Whereas, the story of Lu Xun distinctly commemorates the association of nostalgic views and tastes of the past that appear merely new ones observed with a new distinct and radical social elements of life. In case of the author, the aspect of the society transpired by different ways of living in industrialized North and urban South parts of China eventually shifted his perceptions of a hometown, as well as, the tastes which either changed or remained untouched. Likewise, the whole reality of social aspects of the story can correlate to the perception of any aliens living in the states and visiting their homelands from time to time.
Strangely as it may sound the life in the states like New York with a diverse ethnic population from all over the globe can thoughtfully shift the perception of a world as a whole. Where the indefinite variety of cuisines, recipes, and dishes among various cultures with unique names may often excite yet, further confuse nostalgic flavors of childhood. Likewise, the discovery of new flavors may also result in the change of a taste which can make the native dish seem tasteless or lacking. Nevertheless, the lifestyle and perception of different ethnic groups and the city as a whole assuredly form the social aspects which impact the cyclic living and socialization with peers. In other words, with time passed the life in such communities ultimately becomes natural whereas, the presence in the countries of origin seems more secluded and tedious. Consequentially, ones moved back, the society in the place of birth may undergo through a shift of perception of one’s citizen into a mere foreigner. Hence, irreverently turning their attitude and treatment, which often sensed through envy and sometimes contempt caused by the idea disloyalty to one’s state. Associating with the story, both Lu Xun and Weifu experienced precisely the same effects. Whereby, the people of their homeland viewed them as strangers thus, treating them carelessly. Eventually, mesmerizing the place to the point where the home becomes a foreign land, utterly different from one’s memories.

From the start of the story, I related to the melancholy tone when Lu Xun did not recognize his home town and felt like a stranger. After returning from the North back to his home town, Xun thought he would see people he knew from his past, or at least know his way around. To his surprise, everything was different except one wine shop. This change was talked about through out the story and had played a major role in how Lu Xun felt being back home.

From the age of 3, my family would rent a summer home in Arrowhead Lake community, located Upstate. I basically lived there for two months every year and absolutely loved it. The community had multiple swimming pools, 4 beaches, and many other kids that came repeatedly for the summers. In addition to all that, the community had many activities like tennis and even a swim team that held practice everyday. What I didn’t mention was that my grandparents that live in Russia would come and babysit me and my brother the whole time we were in Arrowhead.

In 2016, my grandparents couldn’t make it any more. So my family resorted to having my other grandma watch my brother for the summer. That year was also the year I started working and could only come up to Arrowhead on the weekends with my parents. But it was not the same. Since I didn’t live there and only came for one and a half days every week, I couldn’t attend the activities I grew up too. My childhood friends also had jobs, and some completely stopped coming. That summer was the worst for me, coming to my second home and realizing my youth days were over.

I still visited Arrowhead, maybe once or twice a summer in 2017 and 2018.

“I felt that the North was certainly not my home, yet when I came South I could only count as a stranger.”

Frederick Douglass’s narrative (published in 1845) is in the form of a memoir that thoroughly documents his own personal life and experiences, specifically focusing on his experiences as a slave.

Slaves were brutally forced to work under horrible conditions for as long as their captor deemed fit. The most common occupation for these unfortunate souls were as farmers. Men and women worked their entire lives tirelessly with practically no leniency or breaks. God forbid if a slave would commit a mistake. Punishment was typically carried on by a person referred to as the overseer. These punishments were always severely damaging and the most common one inflicted was flagellation. Slaves were tied to trees and struck viciously by a whip until flesh stripped from bone. A child slave would purposely be separated away from their mother because slave owners believed that this would be the best way to control them – by replacing a slave’s family with themselves. Slaves had no beds, blankets, clothes, and barely any food.

The idea of teaching a slave was extremely revered. Slave owners did not want slaves to have any opportunity whatsoever to overcome their miseries. They believed that slaves must stay ignorant in order to be tamed. If a slave would be caught reading or writing then they would be given a punishment.

Frederick Douglass escaped slavery by crossing the border into the northern part of America. Slavery was outlawed in this region which meant that he was safe here. He later became an abolitionist – an advocate of the movement to end slavery.

As an extension of our study of Modernism, for this  assignment you will be exploring Modernism in visual art through a visit to one of the two NYC museums listed below:

Museum of Modern Art (www.moma.org) 11 W.53rd Street

Go to information desk with your CUNY student ID to receive free admission.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (www.metmuseum.org) 1000 Fifth Avenue

Pay as you wish!

At the museum, you will select one piece of work created between 1890 and the beginning of WWII in 1939 that you believe can be described as modernist. It might be helpful to keep in mind that impressionism, expressionism, cubism, and surrealism are all streams of modernism. On our course blog, post an image of the work (either a photograph taken by you at the museum or an image found online) and a post of 400-500 words about the work.

Be sure to include the following elements:

–Basic information about the artist.

–A description of work you selected.

–An analysis of how this work reflects the aesthetic preferences associated with Modernism.

–A description of the context in which you encountered the work.

–An explanation of what drew you to this piece.

–Any questions you have about the work.

In order to receive credit for this assignment, your work must be posted to our course blog by Sunday, December 2nd.   Posts that contain material taken from another source without proper attribution will not receive any credit.

*Please retain proof of your visit to the museum to be submitted to me in person  or electronically via email no later than Wednesday, December 5th.

–The story’s narrator is revisiting a place he once lived. Explain the significance that this “revisiting” has in relation to the themes of the story.

–What is the connection between our narrator and Weifu? Why do you think so much of the story is spent on Weifu’s life, while the narrator shares very little about his own life experiences?

–Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?

–Weifu recalls when he and the narrator used to pull the beards off religious statues in the Temple when they were younger. What is the significance of this memory?

–Describe an instance of filial piety in the story. What is its significance?

–What aspects of this short story seem to you to be particularly modernist?

The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a masterpiece poem that relates the struggle of man trying to fit in the society that he is living in. The foggy environment that describing in the poem shows his level of melancholy. He is certainly not happy about what life is offering to him. He feels insecure and believes that he won’t be understood. Things like time and people view of him seem to have crucial importance to him. Also, he pretends to know very well the people around him, yet he can’t engage with them. He finds women specially, shallow and superficial by mentioning twice their commenting on the Michelangelo painting.
While reading this poem of T.S Eliot the thing that strikes me most is how important is the desire for people to be appreciated by others. The same as now people are worried about their physical appearance and how people view them. Social media just amplified this feeling even more. People create their ideal life on social media which is most of the time far from their reality. An important theme of the poem is the time. Young, we usually believe that we have time to do things or believe that it is not the right time to certain things. In reality we postponed those actions just because we are afraid of the outcome and the judgement of others. Therefore, we settle in our situation and by the time we realize it, it is too late to make a change.
At a personal level, this poem is a perfect illustration of me coming newly to the United States of America. The language and the difference of culture constitute a huge obstacle to immigrant to fit in. Engaging with American people was quite challenging. I was worried about my level of English, my accent or even the clothes I wore. I was really concerned about the way they will see me if I open up. Time later showed me that I should have been myself from the beginning. I would have probably done things better that I have done.

–The poem opens, “Let us go then, you and I….” Whom do you think the speaker is addressing here?
–What is Prufrock’s relationship to time?
–Look at the description of the yellow smoke in the second and third stanzas of the poem. What do you make of this description?
–“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” laments Prufrock. What do you think this line means?
–Describe the overall mood of the poem. What feelings does it leave you with?
–In the final lines of the poem, the speaker shifts from “I” to “We.” How do we explain this shift?

Rabindranath Tagore was born in 1861 in calcutta. He belongs to a rich family, so he went to London to Complete his study and he came back without completing it. He is the first non European to win the Nobel Prize in literature.  He wrote many stories and drama and one of them is Punishment. This story talk about a small family in bangladesh.   In this story there are two brothers who works to feed their family and their wives just stay home and take care of household things. One day dukhiram killed his wife because he was very tired and it was long day for him and after killing her  she blamed everything on brothers wives. At last she confessed everything  and she get hanged.  Through this story we can say that women has no right to speak, they do what there husband told them to do. It clearly show than when he says that you can get another women but not  other brother. we can imagine that how much respect they give to women. I also read the text “A vindication of the rights of women ” by  “Mary wollstonecraft “in this short  story it show that women has no right their job is to just make there family and husband happy by making food for them. Aslo women were not allowed to go outside to get education and  work outside. when I was in India I saw that women just stay home and do their works , they cannot go to buy even single thing. I read stories in which women has no rights and they  cannot go out and also they get married at very early age and they were not asked if they want to marry that guy or no, while men have every right but women were not allowed to go against anyone. during that time women have restrictions not to do this or that while men has all freedom they can enjoy their life but women has to sacrifice everythings . The writing style of  Tagore always continued to bring strong characters of women in their stories. But  as the time passed things are getting changed people were becoming more aware and now  they send their girls to school and they were getting education.  Also they have equal rights as men. I think we all are equal and everyone should be treated with equal respect and there should be no discrimination about race or gender.