creativewordwonderer-blog

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This castle reminds me of The Phantom of the Opera because when it was built it was so beautiful and grandiose but as the elements have warn it down, its delicate nature has been exposed. This reminds me of the relationship between Christine and the Phantom. When Christine first meets the Phantom, she believes he is strong and angelic. As the novel moves on the reader and Christine sees how fragile the Phantom really is. This is why she postpones her running away with Raoul.

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I read “Vulgarity.” It’s about how entertainers are making social problems funny by using them in a vulgar light. Dr. Maya Angelou believes that this is not an appropriate way to talk about the issue. Do you find dirty humor effective in solving and issue or is it an inappropriate approach? Also Dr. Maya Angelou also writes her stories with a mix of political and personal nature. If you had to write a story what polictical problem would you pick and how would you relate it to your life?

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“If you can force one smile on your face for strangers, do if for me” I have mixed feels about this quote. The actual anicdote is about Angelou giving her mother something she had never seen. However, I have heard so often in my life things like “ You would be so much prettier if you smile.” This quote is obviously different, but it still brings up upset feeling of hiding your emotions and thoughts. This is was not the mother’s intention, but to me she is indirectly telling her daughter I know this is not who you are, but be that. She then adds the guilt part by stating do it for me. I can just here not owns parents voice.

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“I will say this of my own free will. That is not my real name”

The question is important because names and language stands out in this novel. Everyone seem to loose their own identity within the book and they will not define it with anything including a name. It’s almost if identity is not defined by a name but relies heavily on it. It is a strange dynamic to have.

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This is a video of a woman showing her viewers on how to wear an Hermes scarf on you head. I’m assuming that this is the type of scarf Anne would ware because it’s a brand that has a waiting list. I also choose this video because I feel like the book should have discussed Anne more. I wish we could have seen more of her like in the ending news clip. She is so vital to the plot, yet you can simply break her character down into the sick woman that was cheated on and died from falling in a fit of rage. I wish I could have read the book from her perspective. I feel like it would have been a lot more dynamic than Lo’s perspective. Lo is only involved in the murder because she saw blood on the screen, but Anne is part of the roots of this story. I would have liked it so much more if we got to hear more about her character.

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Discussion Question

What happened to the real Anne? Was there one? Lastly, in a boat full of creative people that work with details why has no one else noticed this woman is not Anne?

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“I can’t cope anymore Ben, ever since that burglar I’ve just been- I think I’m going mad.”

This quote is important for three reasons if the murder is real, what Lo is saying unfortunately damages her credibility. Unfortunately, when most characters look at Lo’s mental health, her PTSD and her drinking make people believe she is lying. This affects her relationships with other people and herself. She truly believes she is going crazy. If the murder is not real, her mental state could be worse then she thought. I do not believe either one of these is the case, but this is how everyone in the novel views her at the moment. This is important for the murder because they believe their tracks could easily be covered considering the information is coming from Lo. I personally have a theory. I think Lo might be solving her own murder. I think she is a ghost that is viewing her death through another person and another story. I don’t think she knows she is dead. The last page of part three leads me to this conclusion because her parents and Jude believe that she is missing. This is a far stretch I know, but I don’t think Lo is crazy. I think she’s just trying to piece the mystery of her own death together without knowing it.

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“I realized that the Box God is not just one god, but many gods in one box, and with a plastic wand, human can switch from god to god at any moment (pg 61).” This quote says a few things to me. It is a statement on religion, and on how we have lost faith and find it in other things. It also shows how reliant humans are on technology. The fact that we live by the “rules” of TV. We watch it everyday, we tune in at certain times, there are anicdotes telling us how not to act. The TV has become a new religion considering we live in a secular society. It’s a very interesting quote that comes from an outside perspective. It’s making a comment on our lives.

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I choose this video because it is cows eating outside the fence. The title of the video is “Cows Think Grass is Greener on the Other Side of the Fence.” This is exactly what Elise did. She left her home because she thought that she would be better off in India, yet it was not the place for her. She tried so hard to “find herself” and she realized the cliche that she was herself all along and didn’t need India’s godly privileges. I’m not really sure if there is a moral of the story, but if there was one it would probably be: The grass is just as green as home and it will take you a long time to figure that out. I am not sure whether to take this book at face value or look deeper, but the value of knowing one’s self is definitely a theme in this fairytale.

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Paper topic

I want to create a criminal profile of Erik. I will obviously use “The Phantom of the Opera” to do this. I will use what background information that is given in the book, connect real life criminal and diagnosis him using the DSM 5.

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I chose this photo just to reiterate the question whether monsters are natural or created. I feel like this picture represents the relationship between Erik and Christine. Erik lost his innocence simply because he was ugly. He was in freakshows for most of his life so he became what he was portrayed as. The monster that looks at the teddy bear in this photo is the way Erik views Christine. Erik is a man that lost all innocence until he viewed something that made him wholesome again.

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This is a video of one of the many actresses that have played Christine over the years. I chose this video because of the actress’s analysis of Christine. She talks about how Christine comes across very innocent, but strong in her core. I have to disagree with this analysis. I feel as though as Christine is a wishy washy young girl who plays her innocence off of everyone. I think she is innocent, but there is something scheme like about it. I feel like she uses this to her advantage especially when it comes to her relationship with Raoul. I know she is from a time where woman are not taken seriously, but the way every other character interact with her disappearance is odd. They all just laugh. I get the impression that they are laughing at Raoul because he is so in love with her, but so blind to the way she toys with him.

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“Christine, like the mistral Ofterdingen, must have made a pact with the devil (pg. 23).” I mixed up posts last class and wrote a discussion question, so now I will explain the quote I chose. This quote came from the article that reviewed Christine’s performance. I found it interesting that the article mentions a deal with the devil. This could me part of foreshadowing or that the author of the article knows something about the Phantom. This quote came quite early in the book so it is probably just starting to loop the reader into the theme of death, but it would be quite interesting if the review was telling us something about the Phantom in a sutble manner.

Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

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Discussion Question

Why is everyone in the theater so quick to believe that Erik is a ghost? Is it a mix of dramatic themes and traditions such as not saying Macbeth in the theater? Also, I don’t believe that Erik is made of death so what do we think he is? Is he a deformed man from or was he involved in an accident? Lastly, if he is a man “made of death” does that mean that real death surrounds him so he embraces that theme?

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Who is the narrator of this story? Some pieces are told through reviews and letters, but who is recounted the rest.  While they do use I in the text they are mostly seeing the story through other characters. At first I though it might be a PI just looking into the strange things that happen at the opera house, but I changed my mind. It's got to be someone invested in art and music. Someone who cares a lot more about it then just a ghost, otherwise why would they be so invested in the love triangles? And how would they understand the hierarchy between characters so well? They know details about how Raoul loves Christine and who he is to the rest of the characters. The narrator also knows about Sorelli and how she is more rounded and important than the court characters. Obviously, since she is the Principal (head dancer) she is more important than the court, but notice the difference between the way she and the court characters are described. She seems rounded out a bit more in personality. The narrator must know the ballet well to understand the dynamics of importance.

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Warning this video is graphic! This is a scene from the movie “The Fly.” This scene dipicts the final transformation of the main character as he turns into a monstrous fly. I choose this scene because after reading the article it becomes clear that humans really are monsters. Creating a monster seems to be based on social issues. Why are we so afraid to talk about race, gender, sex, politics, economics and etc. Is the monster supposed to start that conversation or it is just supposed to reinforce the fears we all have. This must be the reason we are all are obsessed with monsters. They are based off issues that we all want to honestly solve and discuss, but something prevents us from doing that. What is it? Is it our pride? Is that why humans and social issues are monsters? Why are these things so scary to us? If we sat down and metaphorically solves all of these issues what would our monsters be? Would they take the same form? I know I just posed a lot of hard questions, but it’s an interesting thing to think about. Why let our own fears keep scaring us?

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Discussion Question - Housewife

In my other courses we have read a few feminists texts and the question of enjoyment of being a housewife was real or if it was just a societal construct. The text was set in the seventies. What I want to discuss is the difference between the modern housewive and the original housewife. If a woman was an original housewife it was hard job to do. It was all about cooking, cleaning and taking care of a child. It took a lot of drive and timing to do the job. When I think of a modern housewife I don’t think of much. I think of rich mothers who don’t have much of a drive to do anything. Most of them eat out or have maids the clean and even children that spend their day in child care. I have not read the other books in the Twilight series, but Seifert’s “Bite Me” it is mentioned that Bella takes on a housewife roll. Bella has never had much drive throughout Twilight. In fact, we only know that she likes to read, cook and that she is good at science. The book never reaches deeper into her aspirations in life. It would make sense to me that Bella would fall into a modern definition of a housewife. I want to know everyone else’s opinion and if they define the modern housewife in the same way I do. Let me know your thoughts!