Male and Female Models

O Pioneers!

I first read My Antonia by Willa Cather before I was scheduled to read O Pioneers! This romantic and mythic novel deals with the immigration of Swedes to Nebraska, Cather's home state. Most of her writing themes were cause/effect, English common law, Christianity, and democracy of property. Her protagonist, Alexandra can be viewed as an Amazon goddess.

The characters talk about ideas and belief such as Druidism (Nature worship). This novel deals with the concepts of "Seeing the elephant," which means pioneers going bust on the frontier and having to return to their native land, and "Rain follows the plough." What I found fascinating was the tragic Emil and Marie love story.

How Roses Came Red

Robert Herrick is a poet with very graphic images and metaphors of sexuality in his poetry. In his poem "How Roses Came Red," Herrick uses the roses as symbols for women and souls in general. "The roses at first were white," meaning they were pure, virtuous, and had virginity.

The color white is used as a symbol for virtue, goodness, godliness, and light. The roses lost their virginity and sense of virtue and became more worldly. There is also "till they could not agree or they more white should be," which could be a reference to clashing churches deciding if the roses in their congregation are more good than the other bushes.

After the roses were pure anymore, they "first came red." Red roses are also a symbol for love and red is also the color of blood, making love and pain the same color. They have lost their innocence. Whenever there is a reference to roses becoming red, it reminds me of the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, catching her card soldiers painting her roses red and ordering "Off with their heads." Parents would probably order the same execution if they caught someone being a bad influence and contaminating their white young roses.

Railroad Tracks

Male Model on a Wooden Chair

Organic vs Inorganic

Model with Candles

Cannery Row

John Steinbeck's Cannery Row is a comedy about the American Dream. Steinbeck uses a picaresque narrative with old, old storytelling. "Our father who art in nature" is a significant quote from the story. The character of Henri the Painter is used as a way for Steinbeck to make fun of modern art. The characters have a reverse work ethic. I found the part when Doc orders a beer milk shake and the excuses he comes up with for ordering one hilarious.

Benjamin Franklin, Models, and Rough Drafts

For American Literature, I finished reading Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, some Frost poems, and a Eudora Welty story. We talked a lot about Benjamin Franklin and the American Dream in class.

For British Literature, I had to read Love Melancholy and Hobbes. I also had to write a rough draft for my ten page paper on Queen Elizabeth I.

For drawing, we had two students from the class pose for us while we drew them with charcoals and pencils in class. I also had to draw a raven with a pumpkin.

For espanol, we learned the terms for household items and daily routines.

Velvet Dress

Model in a Chair

Raven & Pumpkin

Steinbeck, British Plays, and Pointilism

For American Literature, I read Cannery Row by John Steinbeck.

For art, I had to draw my lipgloss bottle using ink and only drawing dots. A fellow student in the class posed for us with his guitar on Thursday and we had to draw him.

For British Literature, I read the plays: The Duchess of Malfi by Webster and Volpone by Ben Jonson.

For Spanish, I had to memorize the days of the week and clothes I wear to church, the beach, and to school.

Volpone

In Ben Jonson's comedy Volpone, he writes in the prologue, "Here is rhyme not empty of reason. in all his poems still hath been measure, to mix profit with your pleasure," which goes along with The Defense of Poesy and could sum of the life and work of every poet. They write for their voices to be heard, to leave a legacy and make an impact on the world, to sometimes make a fortune, and "to teach and delight."

This comedy is about greedy people and how low they will go to be the benefactor of Volpone's fortune, hoping he will die at the hands of his illness sooner rather than later. They bring him gifts, including a married woman named Celia to tempt him into signing over his fortune. Volpone is onto their schemes and describes this encounter as "The vulture's gone, and the old raven's come."

There are a lot of references to Greek and the Romans. Mosca says "Let's die like Romans, Since we have lived like Grecians." Volpone says, "But angry Cupid, bolting from her eyes, Hath shot himself into me like a flame," about his lust for Corvino's wife Celia. Corvino and Mosca send her into to entice Volpone, using her female persuasion, while Mosca places Bonaro to watch from the background. Celia would rather "take down poison" than be dragged into their schemes. When Volpone tries to rape Celia, Bonaro jumps out and says "Lady, let's quit the place. It is the den of villainy." It certainly seems that way.

Guitar Model

Lipgloss

Scotland

The Great Gatsby

I first read F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, when I was in high school and got the opportunity to read it again for my American Lit: Modern class. Nick Carroway describes himself as open an uncritical to experiences. Tom is viewed as a brute and Daisy is viewed as complicated, wearing a happy face with grief behind it. Fitzgerald makes notes of a green light hanging from Daisy's dock. Gatsby is an "American Adam," with the chance to start life all over again. Gatsby keeps a schedule similar to the one in Benjamin Franklin's biography. Gatsby believes in the American dream and dreams of possessing everything. Nick Carroway tells us that Gatsby turned all right in the end.

Fall Break, Midterms, and The Great Gatsby

For American Lit, I read The Great Gatsby, and poems by Frost and Jeffers.

For Art, I had to draw a teddy bear in color pastel and draw something from one of my heritages. I chose Scottish because of my Grandma Wayment.

For British Lit, I took my midterm exam which included 2 essays, 15 matching, and 10 lines where I had to name the title of the poem and author. It was brutal. I also read a play by Elizabeth Cary and the history of King James and King Charles.

For Espanol, I had to memorize sentences with breakers, the names for clothes, and numbers 10- 1,000,000.



On Monday night, my parents and I went and saw Couples Retreat. It was alright. It was kind of dirty.



Yesterday was fall break, which I was grateful for. I spent the morning shopping with Mom and going out to lunch.

Member of the Wedding

Carson McCullers's The Member of the Wedding (1946) is about a dysfunctional family in a small Southern town awaiting the wedding day of the oldest son after a long summer, the days leading up to it, and the fall season after it. The protagonist and sometimes antagonist to herself, is a twelve year old girl named Frankie Addams who has "Anywhere But Here" fever, believes the grass is greener on the other side of her town and surroundings, and is determined to break out of the glass box she feels she is confined to. Frankie is a complex character with real emotions, who any reader of the novel can relate to in one way or another.

Frankie has problems with discovering her true self and establishing her identity. "The reflection in the glass was warped and crooked, but Frankie knew what she looked like" (2). She doesn't like the way she looks and she believes that if she was shorter, her legs were smaller, her hair longer, and her shoulders wider, she would be truly happy (2). She is afraid of the dark and decides she will "not let things make her sad and she would not care" (24). She feels her "heart is divided like two wings" (42).

Frankie is lonely, because her best friend Evelyn has moved away, her father is always working at his jewelry store, and her foster brother Honey only appears briefly (23). Her only confidantes are her cook, Berenice and her six year old cousin, John Henry. "The three of them sat at the kitchen table, saying the same things over and over, so that by August the words began to rhyme with each other and sound strange" (1). She gets tired of talking to and having to entertain John Henry, but she won't let him leave when he wants to, for fear of not having anyone else to talk to (7). If her mother had survived giving birth to her, Frankie would have adapted better to her surroundings much better, because she could ask her mom for advice about how she dealt with being a teenage girl.

Frankie is desperate for attention, even mailing her older brother candy while he was in Alaska, just for the chance that he will write her a thank-you note (5). Frankie is jealous that her older brother is getting married and is able to leave their small town while she is stuck there (2). She believes her brother and his betrothed "have a good time every minute of every day" (3). She wants to run away with them and not "return after the wedding" (5). Berenice tells Frankie, "You're going crazy. That's where you going" (34).

Frankie lives in what she feels, is the most boring town on the planet and she believes "The world seem to die each afternoon and nothing moved any longer" (1). She starts getting anxiety and claustrophobia, and tells Berenice and John Henry "the world is certainly a (small) sudden place"(4). She points out "The irony of fate," because the butterflies want to be near her windows on her house, instead of "flying anywhere" (11-12). She doesn't see any value in her own surroundings. She wishes she "could tear down the whole town" (23).

Frankie needs an adventure. She talks of going to exotic places and having new experiences, she wouldn't have if she stayed in her hometown (21). She is jealous that John Henry has seen snow, when she hasn't (7). She once saw a freak show at the fair and feels like she could fit in with that group (17). Like many kids her age, her boredom leads her to look for entertainment and excitement. She tries shoplifting, shooting guns at still objects, and a fascination with holding, throwing, and thinking of mutilating her feet with sharp kitchen knives (23-26). She recognizes that there is a restless "feeling in her" (38). When she gets that feeling, she hits "herself on the head with her fist" (41).

Frankie doesn't like her name. She is "sick and tired of being Frankie" (20). She changes her name to F. Jasmine, to be like her brother Jarvis and his bride Janice (15). She was mad at her father all summer, because he wouldn't let her share his bed anymore when she got scared at night, but now with her new personality and name, she is not mad at him anymore (46-47). Berenice tries to tell her the importance of having a good reputation based on her name, but she refuses to listen, and thinks everything associated with her name is meaningless (108).

F. Jasmine does things the old Frankie would never do, like hanging out and drinking beer at an adult bar called the Blue Moon and talking to men who are way older than she is, even making a date with one soldier (64-66). She insists that she isn't pretending and she "wanted only to be recognized for her true self" (56). She even imagines what people will say when they see her doing something in her new life (60).

Like her old self, F. Jasmine has severe emotional problems. She is overly dramatic, emotionally unstable, and obsessed with the wedding. F. Jasmine claims to be not afraid of dark anymore and she threatens to kill herself if the escape at the wedding doesn't go exactly as she plans (75). When Uncle Charles dies the day before the wedding, she worries about how his death will affect the wedding (71).
F. Jasmine seems fascinated with other people's lives while on the verge of destroying her own. She wants to know "everybody in the world," (110), probably to get their stories and pass them off as a part of her new identity. She wants her freedom and thinks if she has nothing to worry about, she will be free. Berenice tries to let her know that "We go around trying one thing or another, but we caught anyhow" (114). When she later tries to run away, she writes, "Please Papa don't try to capture me," (141) in her note.

Ultimately, when anyone's life doesn't go the way they plan or they get let down in some way, they feel a certain degree of hopelessness and depression. When it happens to F. Jasmine, she again adopts a new personality in which she calls Frances, which is probably is her given name at birth. This personality is very bitter, wanting "the whole world to die" (135) and "hates everyone and wants only to spite and shame" (136).

Frances pushes away all the people she cares about and tells them "All I wish in the world is for no human being ever to speak to me so long as I live" (140). I'm sure that many teenagers have utter that exact phrase to their parents somewhere in the world, after such an event. Berenice assures Frances she will overcome her despair, find new friends, keep her dreams until the right time, and move on with her life (140), like everyone else in the world.

Whether her name is Frankie, F. Jasmine, or Frances, she is still a relatable character for people who have gone through the troubled teenaged years and have survived. Carson McCullers writes the development of the protagonist's personality in this book as realistic. The tone of the town and the main characters are set like people who could be living in the same town and having some of the similar experiences as John Singer and Mick Kelly in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. In this novel, McCullers gives us more stream of consciousness and we are able to tell more of what the character is feeling on the inside and how her brain breaks down, making Frankie more relatable.

Source
McCullers, Carson. The Member of the Wedding. Houghton Mifflin: Boston. 1946.