Quote: "Iago. Blessed fig's-end! The wine she drinks is made of grapes. If she had been blessed, she would never have loved the Moor. Blessed pudding!"(2.1.251-253)
Significance: This quote is significant because it shows that Iago's hatred of Othello is so great, the it has spread to those associated with the Moor. He cannot see any goodness in those who favor Othello, so he justifies his hatred by creating flaws in them, so he can have a legitimate reason for disliking them.
Question: Does Rodergio like Iago, or is this strictly business?
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Othello Quote Analysis
Quote: "Roderigo. It is silliness to live when to live is torment; and then we have a prescription to die when death is our physician."(1.3.303-305)
Significance:
This quote shows the characterization of Roderigo, who believes that a life of pain is no life to live, and that death would be a much better fate. I like the language used in this quote. It's not difficult to understand, yet it's not straight-forward. This is common in Shakespeare's work, although this is the first time I ever found anything positive out of it.
Question: Is Roderigo given a tragic or comedic role in the story?
Significance:
This quote shows the characterization of Roderigo, who believes that a life of pain is no life to live, and that death would be a much better fate. I like the language used in this quote. It's not difficult to understand, yet it's not straight-forward. This is common in Shakespeare's work, although this is the first time I ever found anything positive out of it.
Question: Is Roderigo given a tragic or comedic role in the story?
Friday, December 12, 2008
Essay
Nathaniel Burns-Sarno
English 10 Honors/ Mr. George
December 13, 2008
A Separate Peace: Essay Response Number Eleven
Finny’s Fall: Accident or Attack?
Emotion can be a very powerful quality for a human being to possess. It can do great good, as well as great evil, depending on how it is let out. Putting too much emotion into something can be harmful to both you and those around you, while putting too little emotion into something does not get you anywhere. Releasing emotion comes with a few risks of how those around you will interpret it. Even the slightest expression of emotion can loose a person many friends if looked at through the wrong eyes. So, it would seem that the only safe thing to do would be to keep your emotions to yourself. After doing so at first, one would feel perfectly fine, maybe even a little better. However, it would only be a temporary feeling of peace. Over time, those emotions will pile on top of each other, and the results will be disastrous. It could harm not only oneself, but also those around them. Such was the case of Gene “accidentally” causing his best friend, Phineas, to fall to what could have been his death. The cause of Phineas’ fall was clear; Gene had been bottling up his emotions at the expense of his friendship and sanity. Phineas’ fall was no accident.
Throughout the novel, it is made clear many times that Gene is envious of Phineas, who seems to be perfect in every way. He was popular, he was athletic, and his viewpoint of the world was so unique that Gene could barely understand him. Phineas seemed to have a hold on everyone around them, drawing them closer to him as if they were balls of metal caught in the field of his “magnet of charisma”. No one would know this better than Gene, who was Phineas’ best friend. However, their close relationship did not stop Gene from feeling a great deal of resentment for Phineas.
The first mistake Gene made was banishing his feelings of envy from his mind for the sake of convenience to himself. Gene seemed sure that there was no ill-will between he and Phineas. However, when Gene says, “Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little,”(25), it seems that he is trying to convince himself more than anyone else. I find it a bit odd that Gene never once expresses these feelings of envy to Phineas for the remainder of the novel. After all, Phineas was always sincere with Gene. Why could Gene not return the favor? Perhaps because that was not the kind of person Gene is. After all, telling Phineas that he envied him would be showing an emotion, and Gene seems to want to keep his emotions locked up. It is not too shocking that Gene said nothing, but still, had he made even the slightest gesture to make his feelings clear, it could very well have saved Phineas’ leg, and, in effect, his life.
Gene sees Phineas as the perfect person, even going as far to say, “It made Finny seem too unusual for-not friendship, but too unusual for rivalry.”(45) Gene, having admitted that Phineas was in competition with no one, could have taken a good step to overcoming his envy. However, knowing this fact about Phineas only made Gene envy him more, as it was a trait that few possessed. This would have been harmless had Gene made some attempt to convey his feelings. However, once again, Gene keeps quiet about his feelings. This action started him on the road to distraction, it was only natural that it would drive him through it.
Gene soon gives up his notions of Phineas being beyond rivalry by actually attempting to reach a point of competition with him by improving on the areas where Phineas needed work, such as academics. In Gene’s mind, doing so would rid him of any jealousy of Phineas by making the both of them even. Gene’s thoughts on this were:
He had won and been proud to win the Galbraith Football Trophy and the Contact Sport Award, and there were two or three other athletic prizes he was sure to get this year or next. If I was head of the class on Graduation Day and made a speech and won the Ne Plus Ultra Scholastic Achievement Citation, then we would both have come out on top, we would be even, that was all. We would be even….(52)
Gene was right to want to rid himself of his jealousy of Phineas, but he went about it the wrong way. Instead of attempting to excel everywhere that Phineas could not, he should have just been happy for his friend. Gene continuously says in the novel that he wanted to be like Phineas. Why then, could he not just be himself? That is what Phineas did, after all.
However, Gene soon goes back to his belief that Phineas is beyond rivalry after realizing that unlike Phineas with sports, academics did not come naturally to Gene. This may have been the piece of frustration that lead to his outburst of causing Phineas to fall from the tree, for it was the last feeling Gene bottled up before they all came shooting out to knock Phineas off of his perch.
The final nail in my argument that Gene intentionally caused Phineas to fall from the tree is that Gene actually felt remorse after Phineas was injured, and even tells Phineas, “I jounced the limb. I caused it… I deliberately jounced the limb so you would fall off.”(70) Most would see this as Gene expressing a false sense of “survivor’s guilt”, and saying something that he did not really mean. However, I find that hard to believe. In the past, Gene could not even bring himself to display true emotions. How could false emotions be any different?
Without a doubt, Gene caused Phineas’ accident. Whether he actually wanted to or not is still ambiguous. However, he felt the need to harm Phineas, and acted on impulse. And whether impulse is helpful or harmful, it is never accidental.
English 10 Honors/ Mr. George
December 13, 2008
A Separate Peace: Essay Response Number Eleven
Finny’s Fall: Accident or Attack?
Emotion can be a very powerful quality for a human being to possess. It can do great good, as well as great evil, depending on how it is let out. Putting too much emotion into something can be harmful to both you and those around you, while putting too little emotion into something does not get you anywhere. Releasing emotion comes with a few risks of how those around you will interpret it. Even the slightest expression of emotion can loose a person many friends if looked at through the wrong eyes. So, it would seem that the only safe thing to do would be to keep your emotions to yourself. After doing so at first, one would feel perfectly fine, maybe even a little better. However, it would only be a temporary feeling of peace. Over time, those emotions will pile on top of each other, and the results will be disastrous. It could harm not only oneself, but also those around them. Such was the case of Gene “accidentally” causing his best friend, Phineas, to fall to what could have been his death. The cause of Phineas’ fall was clear; Gene had been bottling up his emotions at the expense of his friendship and sanity. Phineas’ fall was no accident.
Throughout the novel, it is made clear many times that Gene is envious of Phineas, who seems to be perfect in every way. He was popular, he was athletic, and his viewpoint of the world was so unique that Gene could barely understand him. Phineas seemed to have a hold on everyone around them, drawing them closer to him as if they were balls of metal caught in the field of his “magnet of charisma”. No one would know this better than Gene, who was Phineas’ best friend. However, their close relationship did not stop Gene from feeling a great deal of resentment for Phineas.
The first mistake Gene made was banishing his feelings of envy from his mind for the sake of convenience to himself. Gene seemed sure that there was no ill-will between he and Phineas. However, when Gene says, “Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little,”(25), it seems that he is trying to convince himself more than anyone else. I find it a bit odd that Gene never once expresses these feelings of envy to Phineas for the remainder of the novel. After all, Phineas was always sincere with Gene. Why could Gene not return the favor? Perhaps because that was not the kind of person Gene is. After all, telling Phineas that he envied him would be showing an emotion, and Gene seems to want to keep his emotions locked up. It is not too shocking that Gene said nothing, but still, had he made even the slightest gesture to make his feelings clear, it could very well have saved Phineas’ leg, and, in effect, his life.
Gene sees Phineas as the perfect person, even going as far to say, “It made Finny seem too unusual for-not friendship, but too unusual for rivalry.”(45) Gene, having admitted that Phineas was in competition with no one, could have taken a good step to overcoming his envy. However, knowing this fact about Phineas only made Gene envy him more, as it was a trait that few possessed. This would have been harmless had Gene made some attempt to convey his feelings. However, once again, Gene keeps quiet about his feelings. This action started him on the road to distraction, it was only natural that it would drive him through it.
Gene soon gives up his notions of Phineas being beyond rivalry by actually attempting to reach a point of competition with him by improving on the areas where Phineas needed work, such as academics. In Gene’s mind, doing so would rid him of any jealousy of Phineas by making the both of them even. Gene’s thoughts on this were:
He had won and been proud to win the Galbraith Football Trophy and the Contact Sport Award, and there were two or three other athletic prizes he was sure to get this year or next. If I was head of the class on Graduation Day and made a speech and won the Ne Plus Ultra Scholastic Achievement Citation, then we would both have come out on top, we would be even, that was all. We would be even….(52)
Gene was right to want to rid himself of his jealousy of Phineas, but he went about it the wrong way. Instead of attempting to excel everywhere that Phineas could not, he should have just been happy for his friend. Gene continuously says in the novel that he wanted to be like Phineas. Why then, could he not just be himself? That is what Phineas did, after all.
However, Gene soon goes back to his belief that Phineas is beyond rivalry after realizing that unlike Phineas with sports, academics did not come naturally to Gene. This may have been the piece of frustration that lead to his outburst of causing Phineas to fall from the tree, for it was the last feeling Gene bottled up before they all came shooting out to knock Phineas off of his perch.
The final nail in my argument that Gene intentionally caused Phineas to fall from the tree is that Gene actually felt remorse after Phineas was injured, and even tells Phineas, “I jounced the limb. I caused it… I deliberately jounced the limb so you would fall off.”(70) Most would see this as Gene expressing a false sense of “survivor’s guilt”, and saying something that he did not really mean. However, I find that hard to believe. In the past, Gene could not even bring himself to display true emotions. How could false emotions be any different?
Without a doubt, Gene caused Phineas’ accident. Whether he actually wanted to or not is still ambiguous. However, he felt the need to harm Phineas, and acted on impulse. And whether impulse is helpful or harmful, it is never accidental.
Friday, December 5, 2008
A Separate Peace Quote Analysis
Quote: "I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred . Because my war ended before I even put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there."(204)
Significance:
.....He's serious? He seriously just said that? He just declared Finny to have been his enemy? Really? And he thinks he's better without Finny around? Are you kidding me? Y'know, there's a word for the kind of person Gene is in every language. In Swahili, it's "Kumbafu."(Umm...will I lose points for saying that? )I thought he was a bad person at first, but this quote proved me wrong. Turns out he was downright despicable. Why couldn't he be the one to die? Seems the meaning of "protagonist" changed in the last few years. He's just....a Kak(more Swahili). But if I saw him covered in flames, I'd probably douse him off....and if the police showed up, I'd pretend I didn't know I was using oil.
Question: So, why were Finny and Gene friends, in the first place?
Significance:
.....He's serious? He seriously just said that? He just declared Finny to have been his enemy? Really? And he thinks he's better without Finny around? Are you kidding me? Y'know, there's a word for the kind of person Gene is in every language. In Swahili, it's "Kumbafu."(Umm...will I lose points for saying that? )I thought he was a bad person at first, but this quote proved me wrong. Turns out he was downright despicable. Why couldn't he be the one to die? Seems the meaning of "protagonist" changed in the last few years. He's just....a Kak(more Swahili). But if I saw him covered in flames, I'd probably douse him off....and if the police showed up, I'd pretend I didn't know I was using oil.
Question: So, why were Finny and Gene friends, in the first place?
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
A Separate Peace Quote Analysis
Quote: "I did not cry then or ever about Finny. I did not even cry when I stood watching him being lowered into his family's straight-laced burial ground outside of Boston. I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case."(194)
Significance:
Gene seems to think that in losing Finny, he's lost himself. This gives me the impression that in their friendship, Finny had always been the leader, and Gene the follower. Since Finny is gone, Gene is left with no idea of what to do. Perhaps the whole impulse of Gene causing Finny's accident was to break away from Finny in order to make his own decisions. But know that he has the complete opportunity, he has learned that to be impossible.
Question: What will be Brinker's reaction to this?
Significance:
Gene seems to think that in losing Finny, he's lost himself. This gives me the impression that in their friendship, Finny had always been the leader, and Gene the follower. Since Finny is gone, Gene is left with no idea of what to do. Perhaps the whole impulse of Gene causing Finny's accident was to break away from Finny in order to make his own decisions. But know that he has the complete opportunity, he has learned that to be impossible.
Question: What will be Brinker's reaction to this?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
A Separate Peace Quote Analysis
Quote: "The words shocked Phineas into awareness. He whirled as though being attacked from behind. 'You get the rest of the facts, Brinker!' he cried. 'You get all your facts!' I had never seen Finny crying, 'You collect every f-ing fact there is in the world!' He plunged out the doors."
Significance:
I had become evident from the last few chapters that Finny had changed from his usually cheery demeanor. However, it is in this chapter that Finny actually exhibits full on emotional behavior. It shows that underneath Finny's uncaring attitude, there is fear; Fear of learning the truth, and even more-so, fear of accepting it. Phineas may not want to change, but it seems like he does not have a choice in the matter.
Question: What is it with Brinker wanting to know the truth so badly? Didn't he just say in this chapter that he'd accepted that Phineas had been crippled, and that was the end of it?
Significance:
I had become evident from the last few chapters that Finny had changed from his usually cheery demeanor. However, it is in this chapter that Finny actually exhibits full on emotional behavior. It shows that underneath Finny's uncaring attitude, there is fear; Fear of learning the truth, and even more-so, fear of accepting it. Phineas may not want to change, but it seems like he does not have a choice in the matter.
Question: What is it with Brinker wanting to know the truth so badly? Didn't he just say in this chapter that he'd accepted that Phineas had been crippled, and that was the end of it?
Monday, December 1, 2008
A Separate Peace Quote Analysis
Quote: "Leper had escaped from spies. I seized the conclusion and didn't try to go beyond it. I suppose all our Butt Room stories about him intriguing around the world had made me half ready to half believe something like this." (140)
Significance
This quote shows Gene lying to himself to avoid any unpleasant thoughts. Not knowing exactly what awaited him when he'd see Leper after so long, he seeks to comfort himself, so is not to worry about what could have gone wrong. This quote also shows that Gene is so good at lying to himself, that he almost believes it. Yet, I do not see this as Gene being a pathological. Rather, I see it as him hanging on to the what happiness the world has left for him. In a way, I guess he adopted a few of Phineas' characteristics.
Question: If that was Gene's best thought on the subject, what was his worst?
Significance
This quote shows Gene lying to himself to avoid any unpleasant thoughts. Not knowing exactly what awaited him when he'd see Leper after so long, he seeks to comfort himself, so is not to worry about what could have gone wrong. This quote also shows that Gene is so good at lying to himself, that he almost believes it. Yet, I do not see this as Gene being a pathological. Rather, I see it as him hanging on to the what happiness the world has left for him. In a way, I guess he adopted a few of Phineas' characteristics.
Question: If that was Gene's best thought on the subject, what was his worst?
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