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If Jesus met Nanabush

The use of a play like fashion for a story really emphasizes the dialogue between the cast rather the inner thought processes of those characters. This helps the reader establish a better view of the relationships and dialogue on a more casual fashion. The use of a play for this story works especially well due to the niche of the subject matter. The premise IS a fantastical look on how these two similar demigods like people would interact and communicate so the play format of the literature is one of the best outlets to portray this.

                             The portrayal of Jesus in this play irritates me because it doesn’t seem like an accurate representation in what we know of Jesus’ personality and way in which he converses. From what we know in how he is presented in the Bible, he speaks in riddles with a lot of conceitedness and he knows (presumably?) everything due to his deistic nature. In the portrayal of Jesus in the Nanabush play, Jesus is presented as clueless and obvious about it with openness to new beliefs. That being said, I do understand that it works for the sake of interaction between the two and how he perceives this new world as well as the fact that this is the way Native American compose stories. However, it seems that the Playwright took too many liberties on Jesus’ character so much that it distances me from perceiving it as Jesus or at least an adequate portrayal of the two demigods’ interactions. As for Nanabush, I am not knowledge enough of the stories of Nanabush to know the way in which she acts in the stories of her but I would give the Playwright the benefit of the doubt due to their culture having this demigod present in their belief system.

                             I think this play as a cultural piece directed at all people regardless of ethnicity. This piece can act well to try and create understanding between the people of either belief system as well between people of primarily Native American Culture and People of Primarily “Everyday American” Culture. The Christian mythology is commonly thought to be imbedded in American Culture as a whole, although that is mostly false, the playwright uses this notion with Jesus as a representation of an oblivious American on top of his demigod status. This use of Jesus allows the interactions between the two to be able to connect and make references not just religiously but also in two cultural paradigms.

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Winona LaDuke lecture

On Thursday, April 11th, I went to listen to a speaker named Winona LaDuke, a prominent Native American Activist, speak on the state of protesting recent government/corporation agreement attempts on major implementing pipelines on Native American reservation soil. She went in depth on how certain pipeline corporations made agreements Canada and the U.S. to build these perceived as possibly dangerous pipeline underground across the aforementioned nations. She made mention of the fact that these very pipeline corporations have done very sketchy jobs and agreements for the sake of shortcuts. Her disgruntled attitude towards both governments, with heightened distaste for Canada, provided a comedic spin on the systematic issue that plagues the monolithic governments that are just as much of an issue for the Earth than the corporations that are the catalysts for the polluting and destruction of the environment. I especially enjoyed how she made sure to critique the wrongful notion of Justin Trudeau’s being of saint level progressivity and governmental sincerity. My favorite quote of the lecture was her talking about a conversation with some anon in which they ask, “Why are you coming at Canada? And she replies with, “All my problems start in Canada.”, referring towards her early years of activism she spoke about that began protesting Canada’s corporate pipeline agreements. Her use of comedy in her speaking when talking about not so comedic issues makes the situation more digestibly and how it contrasts with her more solemn critiques like when she stated, “I should not have the military equipment I helped pay for used against me”. It is also nice knowing that this concept of placing comedy into her story telling and speaking is a very common concept in Native American Culture.

                             In regards to her overall content and main message, she made sure to provide charts, anecdotes, and statistics to how these pipelines and industries affect the environment, which is evidently shown to be damaging, while also doing the same for the destruction of our climate in general Amidst the not so pleasant seeming future, she made sure to present a picture of hope and change of tide through the powers of protesting. Something I don’t see present in mainstream media is the successes of protesting these major pipelines projects, something she made sure to explain and demonize. She showed a couple examples of protests that were successful and current protest conflicts that are favoring the sides of the people that inspired hope. She also made compelling arguments to attract people to the idea of coming to upcoming protests. She made sure to outline misconceptions that are aligned with these protests and made it rather desirable to attend. Overall, I think the lecture was nicely crafted and, as my heritage aligns with, I have a desire and almost obligation to attend protests to be voice of the people against corrupt government.

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Smoke Signals

The movie Smoke Signals is an American road journey narrative with a Native American twist. In juxtaposition to the book read in class On the Road, by Jack Kerouac, the former has a more direct and drawn out destination not only in the geographical sense but also, the character developmental sense. The movie follows a very native American rooted idea of the Hero’s Quest in the sense the two characters are put through a “Spiritual Journey” in a form of a long journey of obstacles both physically and emotionally in which they must overcome. The Kerouac novel doesn’t have as much of an orchestrated story that uses symbolism and Spiritual journey aesthetic to provide a charted beginning and end like Alexie’s film does which can be chalked up to the fiction of Smoke Signals and the nonfiction of On the Road.

                              The producer also does well to introduce the backstory of character and showing how that shapes their personality and overall decisions they make in the movie. The use of backstory allows for the actions to be given sense and correlations to other ideas. For example, Victor makes it evident that he refuses to drink alcohol which can be tied back to his distaste for his father and his alcoholism. More appropriate in explaining the affects of the hero journey and how it correlates with Victors understanding of his feelings about his father, Victor cuts off his hair to express his growth and coming to terms in the latter half of his journey, which is an action his father did after a traumatic experience his father went through. This form of tieback and obvious connections is not present in Kerouac’s novel.

                             In the movie, part of the Victors Hero’s quest, or possibly considered Spiritual Journey, is the development of his relationship with Thomas, the supporting character of Victor with an early created and very nuanced relationship. Throughout the film there are hints of their care for one another but the past of Victor causes him to resent Thomas and how he conducts himself in a way that shows the toxicity of that friendship. The journey the two undergo targets these peeves and greater arcing hatreds internalized and although it fits the buddy narrative, it isn’t until the 3rd act when you see the largest development in their care for each other. The use of the 3rd act to finish the picture is used in every theme of the movie. You only fully understand what is going on and what lessons there is to be learned by a deep analysis of the 3rd act.

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2nd Chance Commune

                             The Intentional Community I decided to present is the commune, 2nd Chance – New Beginnings, planned during 2010 and began “officially” in 2016 when they began to live together. The community takes residence in Central New Mexico presumably within a Mescalero Reservation. Their exact location is not disclosed due to beliefs of the group that have to do with the idea of being “Completely Off-the Grid” The only way in which you can acquire the specifics is deep within the acceptance process into the Communal. They do not take visitors but are open to applications for more people to get into the Community. Their basis is grounded on the idea of an eminent collapse of society not only within the U.S. but rather, across the globe. Their Mission Statement is “Endtimes and Aftertimes survival in 2016 and beyond...”. From this statement I come to the presumption that they believe the chess pieces are in place already to bring forth the “Endtimes”. Their goal isn’t straightforward and has no endgame other than beliefs to have a rebuilt safe society from after the “Enditmes”. They mean to create ecofriendly houses, “naturally built structures” in the form of both single family and communal house like fashion and do not use a system of currency rather the more primitive, yet practical for smaller groups, barter and exchange system of commerce. Although they utilize resources form the land they inhabit, they firmly believe that they do not own the land, a belief most prominently derived from the Native American common perception of habitation of nature. Oddly enough they explain that they have cellular connection and individually provided internet. Their governmental system is completely consensus based by the members, but they do have leaders and a core leadership group that will navigate changes and “legislation”. Even so they explain themselves as “Like-minded people coming together and preparing for the coming times of financial collapse and cataclysmic events that would change our world as we know it today. A cohesive group that by unity survive in the best way possible:.

                             Miscellaneous information about the intentional community is their acceptance of Alcohol and tobacco use but on very seldom occurrence. Religious/Spiritual beliefs practiced are: Ecumenical, Eclectic, and “Native American”. However, religious practice is not mandatory nor expected among followers. The expected education that the youth are given come from the parents or willing community members as a standard of educational practices is not provided. As they expect more to join the community they do not rule out the idea of changes in beliefs and structures such as schools and certain structures that they do not have yet for misc. purposes. This communal seems rather standard upon reviewal of other communes researched, however, they do have the twist of cynicism about the future of society, which is even for communes a bit outlandish. I don’t have much hope for the survival for the commune as like most, it seems too idealistic.

https://www.ic.org/directory/2nd-chance-new-beginnings/ .

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Drop City Film Analysis

The story of Drop City was incredibly eye opening to the first hand of accounts of initial communes of the 60’s. The film gave entry to the true reasons for this break from society in a way that allowed the viewer to find some inner portion of them to relate to these initial anti-status quo communalists. These people, maybe fed up with their old lives or just ready for change and experiences, embarked on doing what felt right in their hearts, living free from the norm. They had no idea that it would have sparked a mass movement across the states and mutate in the way that it did. This mutation and perversion of their idea and lifestyle in the latter stages of the communal movement and Drop City aesthetic, mixed with the need of security for security, led to the frontiersmen of the lifestyle to abandon what they created.

                                  These communalists values were built on this kind of tribe sufficiency, bringing themselves back to the roots of what it meant to be human. They based their lives on comradery, voluntary collectivism, and freedom from the shackles of American societal standards. Regarding shelter, the Drop City members mentioned the use of tops of cars and bottlecaps in their polyhedral architecture and displayed them and its effectiveness. Their construction of a community through creativity of unused products as well as trial and error engineering were incredibly creative, original for their time and an excellent use for waste. The tourism and the revenue provided through donations was also an excellent way of keeping this idealistic concept alive and those who lived their seemingly enjoyed the attention but didn’t care much seemingly for the acceptance of the society they attempted to escape from. As time passed and the movement was made trendy and mainstream, the initial inhabitants started to stray as they felt their idea was becoming skewed. One of the Drop City members, referring to this grand party at Drop City, said “I didn’t like it much but, I managed to have fun”. This pivotal event happened to be the catalyst for the original Drop City and her ideals to become no more.

                                  One of the most interesting themes presented in the latter half of the film was the contradiction of the usual conception of the original ideals of communal and bio-regional living spaces. As I knew it, drugs and braindead thinking were staples in the roots of hippie culture and escapism of American society. In the film, I was surprised to hear that although drugs such as LSD and DMT were present, it was more seldomly used then commonly perceived. One of the early members put it as they were “High on Life”. The film showed that it was the perversion of mainstream media and trendy, childish young adults wanting to live wildly that created this drug ridden, messy, and “groovy” aesthetic. Since this film, I have put into question all the stereotypes I have had of the decade trends of the 1900’s and forward for good reason.

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On the Road Analysis

In the novel, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, there was a very distinct writing style and an outlandish presentation of a story. The style that Jack uses to tell the story is through a lot of personal description of people and his beliefs of them even in clouded judgement rather than an outside view or description with a lot of jumping around in a ecstatic manner. The image that the writer initially displays through his unique format of describing to set a scene is never still and quickly comes alive through Jack’s jumping, ecstatic details of the objects and people’s actions. An example of this would be when Jack came to the door of Dean’s place Jack describes the scene, “I went to the cold-water flat with the boys, and Dean came to the door in his shorts. Marylou was jumping off the couch; Dean had dispatched the occupant of the apartment to the kitchen” (Kerouac, Part 1 Chapter 4). The paragraph in which this excerpt derives from goes on in this sporadic, vivid, format that the excerpt used does but for the sake of providing more detail and analysis I have it cut short. The writing style previously described not only provides a frantically moving image to the reader but also gives an upbeat attentive voice from the reader, thus defining the writing style as very original and Kerouac.

One of the main attractions to this novel is this road narrative that was incredibly unique for its time. This ever moving vibe really matched pitch with the beat era. The idea of always moving fits with not only the theme of freedom but with the era itself. By just about always moving, we feel this idea of constant gratification and few ties to anything in the world other than oneself and their spirit. Although this is an awkward and outlandish format to try and create a traditional quest story, Kerouac takes this seeming difficulty and turns it into a writing stepping stool exemplifying the American Dream and spirit that, like Sal envies in Dean, the reader can envy in Sal and Dean. Through this constant miles long journey the reader is taken through, although the environments and minor characters change, the people stay the same and the problems remain until they traverse the maps of their hearts to come to the destination most relieving and necessary to the happiness sought.

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HOWL Analysis

I chose to stick with an in depth analysis of the poem HOWL by Allen Ginsberg. One of the initial things that stuck out to me about the poem was the level of a preaching or heraldic vibe presented in the reading/performance. The length of each breath line especially accentuates this vibe and this word used provide this sense of bounding of words to stretch emotions and hit cords in the hearts of the readers. In the initial part of the poem, Allen Ginsburg writes, “…who lit cigarettes in boxcars boxcars boxcars racketing through snow towards lonesome farms in grandfather night…” (Ginsburg, Part 1). This quote bears example as of how bounding the words are while invoking some feeling of struggle. What I get from the rhythmic form he used in this poem is this sense of despair through the feeling of rut and hopelessness he perceives of the world while in part 1. Ginsburg seems to write this trying to plead to the reader to open their eyes to the dysfunctional world around us. This feeling bolsters as one begins reading and analyzing, my favorite part,  Part 2 of the poem.

                                  The main subject of this Part is the demon Moloch that is referenced excessively in an apocalyptic preacher like warning. As discussed in class, the demon Moloch is most associated with child sacrifice and when reading what Ginsburg blames and calls to Moloch for in the poem has to do with the destruction of youthful joy, ecstacy and creativity and forcing responsibility, conformity and profit. In the poem, Alen Gisnburg writes, “Moloch! Solitude! Filth! Ugliness! Ashcans and unobtainable dollars! Children screaming under the stairways! Boys sobbing in armies! Old men weeping the parks!” (Ginsburg, Part 2). In many of the examples of what Ginsburg blames on Moloch, it seems to be a reflection of what society forces onto youth that is mostly connotated with adults and grown up like problems and drives out concepts that are connotated with being young and free, such as creativity and excitement. Thus, society sacrifices their children (youth) to the demon of status quo. The once kids now have only to worry about commerce and responsibility and working in the system rather than expressing the feelings of idealism about the world they once had.

                                  The final part, Part 3, becomes more subtle and less apocalyptic trying to inspire hope from this doomscape he presented the world to the reader as. In this, maintaining an insightful preacherlike meter and rhythm, he shares a hand of comradery to all those reading that feel like the status quo is not for them and that have their own ideas. With the continual repetition of, “I’m with you in Rockland…” (Ginsburg Part 3), he is saying that the reader is not alone and that he is with you and that he is on your side while outlining that there are many with them as well and they should not give up hope.

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Malcolm X Interview Analysis

I chose to review and analyze the interview Malcolm X was apart of. Due to it being an interview and a performance rather poetry it is difficult to touch up on its form. The way in which he spoke to the interviewer and broadcasted his voice was different from most other interviews. Malcom X speaks of his message in a revolutionary preacher form of which he is most accustomed to. It is easily seen that the interviewer and the interviewee are hostile towards one another and Malcolm X makes sure to use this at a time to poke fun at the interviewer still keeping the interview friendly while continuing to preach his message and preventing the interviewer from deterring the true message and belittle the message that he got across. The meaning of the words Malcolm X was speaking to the interviewer and audience was that of a determined message of hope and call to arms of his brethren against the horrors and corruption found in what is perceived by him and his followers as broken, systematically oppressive governmental system. He makes sure to touch on despair and pain that people of color face and faced and build off of that by inspiring hope through means of calling to action. While the interviewer tried to sow seeds of confusion and try to catch up Malcolm X in contradictions, Malcolm X made sure to maintain his composure and keep true the message he was trying to convey turning the tide on the interviewer and his failed attempts. The way in which this dialogue is better being spoken rather read in a transcript is how it picks up the movement of his words and the hints and subtleties of passive aggression between the two in dialogue. Malcom X provides a certain level of rhythm and movement when he speaks that is just as one would expect a charismatic leader to have. He takes a hint of preacher like speaking attributes to his charismatic speaking patterns that can especially resonate with his audience and followers that cannot be picked up just off a transcript. Among this, there is not a greater flow, attempt at properly generated poetry, or formally written speech presented in the way he is speaking as the situation is within an improvised dialogue setting and not a thought out, rigid composed piece of work. The best means of communicating this performance to the people comes through the broadcasted in and visible nature of the interview.

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Analysis of Love Song and Williams

I chose to analyze the poem Love Song by William Carlos Williams. The poem, written in 1909, holds no specific meter and can be considered a work of free verse poetry. Although its hard to find a fluid pattern to speak and feel the poetry in, he does use very descriptive words and phrasing to create a picture in the readers head as they read, review, and analyze this piece of literature. Williams also makes sure to diversify the ways in which he implements descriptive features into his work. Throughout this 17-lined poem, Williams talks of colors as they are in our head, rather explain the color in depth, he allows the reader to think of their own hue of the color. For example, Williams writes, “Yellow, Yellow, Yellow” (Williams, line 4)., not providing a specific yellow described in the piece allows the readers to have an individualized picture painted in their head with the words written. Not only does he use just this specific type of descriptive writing, but also the of verbs in a memorable fashion. When he uses phrasing like “eats into the leaves” (Williams, line 5)., and “lean heavily against” (Williams, lines 7-9)., that makes the picture painted in ones head feel as if it is continuously moving, slowly and naturally. Another use of language that Williams uses that helps promote a feeling of movement and tempo comes from his repetition of words quickly after the use in the latter portion of the poem. Williams writes, “… that drips from leaf to leaf and limb to limb…” (Williams, lines 12, 13). This use of language generates this cyclical movement in the imagery created in the poem itself. Although I can not quite identify a meter or rhythm in the poem, I can sense a smooth yet whimsical way of reciting the poem as it comes off the tongue. You can feel a directness in the poem, as well, as Williams makes sure to implement the pronouns of I and You rather He, She, or They which presents more of an immediacy to the reader and personalization to the reader. Although it is obvious that the poem is speaking primarily about the feelings of love, the nuances of this writing give a feel of yearning and distance between lovers. The pureness of love is presented as it feels like a letter being written to this person “… under the wine-red selvage of the west” (Williams, line 16, 17). And the middle stanza is a description of what the world and time feels like while the distance from each other remains.

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Analysis of The Waking

The chosen poem format was the Villanelle poem format. The poem chosen is by the poet, Theodore Roethke, that was titled The Waking and was created in 1953. The poet was most known during the 1940’s through the 1960’s and held great praise. However, he also held a repressed lonely past due to abandonment issues by childhood family deaths, such as his father, that pushed him to achieve acceptance through his literature. For my explication portion of this essay, one of the most prominent take-away’s of the text is the slow drawn out rhythm seen in the villanelle format. In the A repeated text, “… and take my waking slow” (Roethke; 6, 12, 18)., there is the slow-paced wavelength like rhythm that really pops out as you read or mouth that specific text. This feeling permeates the whole piece but less impactfully than the prior discussed text. The words and phrases used do not feel at all mechanical or rigid but rather falling into the next word, next line, and next stanza. The poet does not have a problem implementing line enjambments as the poem reaches the second half but, as is difficult for Villanelles to create, there was no stanza enjambments in the piece. Although the poet creates a fluid rhythmic flow, in the initial two lines of the quatrain he makes choppy phrases that comes as a surprising impact before the repetition of the last commonly repeated A and B phrases to end the poem. In my analysis of the meaning of the poem, I get the feeling of gradual growth and discovery of wisdom. Throughout the poem, Roethke makes use of a lot of nature reference and speaks of what he deems the necessity of observing nature to make reason in ourselves. When the repeated phrase of “learn by going where I have to go” (Roethke; 3, 9, 15, 19)., it says to me to go with your instincts to guide your life. This also matches with the phrasing and fluid feeling of the rhythm in the piece. In closing of this analysis, the poet makes great use of all parts of what goes into the creation of a beautifully crafted poem. The component of fluid rhythm and a slow bouncy feeling in the lyrics and phrasing that promote similar qualities are all tied together with a meaning that provides the third perfect layer to complete an all-encompassing and emotional poem.

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Blog #1 - Introduction to Fantasy

The fires from the breath of Dragons. The clash and stings of weapons infused with the powers of the elements. The illumination of greens and blues like that of the Aurora Borealis exploding from a spell book. Concepts like these are what opened my eyes to world of literature. My favorite book, Eragon, was my introduction to my favorite genre of literature, Medieval Fantasy. The story of Eragon is a story about a young boy, named Eragon, who doesn’t know of his connections to Dragons. Upon discovering a Dragon egg that he thought to be a stone, his life begins to change from a normal boy to a boy with a destiny. The egg hatches and Eragon discovers the past of the one who takes care of him and his life spirals into a world of raising a dragon and learning what is his quest is. He is given the title Dragon Rider as he meets various people across the way to fulfilling his destiny. The enemy of the story is a Dragon Rider like Eragon named King Galbatorix that killed off all the other Dragon Riders in existence and Eragon discovers he must kill him to save the World. Through his journey he suffers various magical and emotional hardships that help him learn the necessary powers to defeat his destined enemy. These powers and skills are that of swordplay, magic, and the ways of a Dragon Rider. The story follows many common tropes of the Zero to Hero plot progression such as; a hormonal confusion love interest, rival/ friendship confusion, filling the shoes of those who come before you, and growing up. Although in retrospect this novel isn’t the most grandiose and amazing piece of fiction even in regard to just medieval fantasy, it did the job in opening my eyes to the world of literature. Going forward from the Eragon series, I have taken the time to consume a plethora of fiction art and literature. My favorite novel series’ that I have read in the genre include; The Chronicles of Narnia, Dragon Rider, The Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones. My fascination with the genre spiraled into multiple facets of entertainment and even discovered my favorite past time, playing Dungeons and Dragons. In summary, the novel Eragon was more to me then a good read to take the place as my favorite book, but was a piece of literature that I’ve grown to appreciate for helping me find my favorite aesthetic and interactive environment in multiple outlets.