Final Blog Entry

During this class, I really learned how to really interpret books in a differemt way. I can understand better of the monomythic procedure of stories. Things I never noticed, I can now see. I think out of all the symbolisms, the stories, and special presentations from the professor's wife, I really did love learning about the Hero's Journey.

My favorite blog that i did was the Hero's Journey on my favorite books. Since I am a big fan of True Blood, what better way to do the project than on one of the books. Although it was difficult since it's a monomyth and not a "duomyth", much time was needed to differentiate the two different stories in the book. I was able to re-read and notice these points of when the Hero goes through her changes. It was also a lot of fun to see just the journey instead of just the plot.

The most interesting blog during this semester was the Professor's archetype. The fact that he was a Magician and an Orphan seems very fascinating to me. His blag had inspired me to do much more research on myself to figure out why my archetypes were what they were. His explanation of why he didn't believe he was an orphan made me think why i had the archetype of being a dark magician. The magician had described himself perfectly while me being the altruist was really on point of myself.

This semester was an interesting all the way through, and  I am thankful I had such a great professor to teach me.

✖True Blood ✖

Dead To The World: Sookie Stackhouse Series #4

         Dead to the World is the fourth installment in the Sookie Stackhouse Series, or is the fourth series in the HBO Original Series, True Blood. If you are a fan of True Blod and have not read the books or want to know what's going to happed next, you may want to stop reading now. This book has two plots in which in one part, Eric is cursed and can't remember who he is, and the other where Jason goes missing and no one knows where he is. I will discuss the plot of Eric and the curse.

    This book has the Hero with a THousand Faces, or the hero's journey within the book in a huge way. We first will start with the Departure, the Initiation then finally the Return.

    The Call to Adventure begins when Sookie is driving home from the bar, Merlotte's on New Year's Day and sees a naked man running down the road. That naked man, turns out to be Eric Northman, Sheriff of Area 5. What surprises Sookie mmore is that he doesnt remember who he is. The Refusal of the Call is when Sookie tries to call Pam, his second-in-command to come and get him. She says she will have to come tomorrow night to see him. For the night, Eric spends the night at Sookie's in the "hidey-hole" she'd built for Bill when they were still together. The Supernatral Aid is when Pam arrives and tries to explain what might've happened to Eric which is he is cursed by witches. Jason is around to ask that they pay Sookie for keeping Eric. The Crossing of the First Threshold is when Sookie goes to Holly, another barmaid from Merlotte's because although she is not a witch, she is a Wiccan. She helps Sookie by telling her there was a small coven located near Shreveport, which is the area where Eric's bar, Fangtasia, is located. Sh also finds out the same day that her brother has gone missing. His truck  Sookie then walks in the Belly of the Whale by going into Fangtasia, and notices something is off. She steps inside and sees the fangbanger, Belinda inside on the floor bleeding. Sookie runs up to her and says that everyone fought to the death. The witches put a spell on Belinda to where her leg muscle had expanded to be longer than what it was so that she would recieve a horrible, horrible cramp. The same was done for another fangbanger, Ginger, but she hit her head on the lip of the sink and died. Sookie then is told it was a witch named Hallow who broke in and set the curses. She explained how she was as strong as a vampire and proved it by taking a dolly and bending it to a u-shape. 

    We then get into the second part of the journey which is the Initiation. The Initiation is where, in my opinion, where all the biggest events happen.

    The Road of Trials begins when she call Alcide Herveaux to ask for his help and she goes with him to meet with the pack leader to gain some support and help. They go to a woman named Addabelle who is the "vice-president" of the pack, worried that she wasn't around the night before, to ask for some help but they see in front of her bridal shop her mother's car. When they step to the door, they find Addabelle's dead body with blood splattered all over a dress. When the cops come tp investigate, Alcide and Sookie have to lie and say they were engaged so that way, they had a legitimate reason to be at the bridal shop instead  of what the real reason was. As Sookie heads home, she meets with the "Goddess", whom that is Eric, and she then deals with the Goddess as the Temptress. Sookie explains to Eric that she had a bad day and needed a shower. As she showers, Eric joins her and continues on by washing her. The night goes on with the two of them having sex. The Atonement with the father is when Hallow walks into the bar while Sookie is working, and cannot deny this is her. Hallow proceeds to put up posters of Eric in the bar to have anyone contact her if someone sees him. Sam has a meeting with Hallow who speaks to Sookie, and she makes up a story like she has seen him before, but he was just another pretty face.

Blog Entry 3.5: Coraline

         In every book, there is a process that the protagonist must go through. They are almost the same in every story, if not switched around a little bit. The Hero’s Quest, an interpretation written by Joseph Campbell, is said to identify the hero goes through in a story. In the text, Coraline, many of the different parts of the Hero’s Quest are identified. Some are small parts of the quest, while others can be very big. The Hero’s Quest is broken up into 3 parts being the Departure, the Initiation and the Return.


         This is something important to a reader because sometimes it helps the reader understand the story much better. The steps describe what it is the hero must go through to get to the next step. This also makes identifying each part of the story easier, being that they are mainly used in most stories. This is something to care about because once you understand the parts to the quest, it helps the book make sense and the reader never really has to wonder why the hero, or main character is doing what they are doing.


         The Departure in Coraline is pretty distinct. First, the Call to Adventure is seen. The Call to Adventure is when the hero’s life is going to change, whether they are aware of it, or not. In the story, the Call to Adventure is when Coraline and her family move into the new home. She discovers the door, but is not fully aware of its use to her. The Refusal of the Call is when the call is given but refuses to go on the adventure.  She is sleeping one night and hears a slow “.... kreeee... ...aaaak”.  (pg. 10) She sees a black shape scurrying in the dark into the corner by the door, and she turns on the light. When she sees the door slightly open she doesn’t pay any mind.  Another example is when Coraline speaks to the old man upstairs. The old man says he has a message for her from the mice. the message was, “Don’t go through the door.” Coraline has no idea what it means and continues going about her way. The Supernatural Aid is when the hero is given an artifact, item, or has a physical someone or something to help her with the upcoming quest. When Coraline is visiting with Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, they read her tea leaves, and she is warned that she is in terrible danger. Miss Spink then gives her a small stone with a hole all the way through it.  She is excited about the warning and begins going back home. The Crossing of the First Threshold is when the hero actually crosses into the new world they were called to, and then are in the new world where the rules and limits are unknown to them. This occurs when Coraline is alone in the house, bored, and she grabs the keys to the door. Except when she opens the door, she doesn’t see a brick wall, she sees a long, dark hallway. She travels down the hall, and realizes its her home b ut her mother and father have buttons for eyes. This is when The Belly Of The Whale is presented. This point is when the hero seperates from her real world to the alter world. The hero is wiling to go through a metamorphosis. When Coraline realizes that her other world is better, she has a feeling of not wanting to go back. Her other mother makes a delicious chicken, fried potatoes and peas. She describes it as the best tasting thing she ever ate. She visits the other neighbors and then returns home to her other home.


The Initiation is sort of mixed up in the story but can be very distinct if read deeply. The Road of Trials is when the hero must go through a series of steps to make the transformation. Coraline returns back to the other world noticing that her parents have been kidnapped and she sets out to save them. She realizes that the other mother is quite evil, and wants to keep Coraline forever. The Meeting with the Goddess is shown when the cat explains to her that the other mother just wants something to love and keep. She has nothing in the other world, so she does whatever it takes to make the person stay.The Woman as a Temptress can be described for the other mother. The other mother speaks to Coraline about what they were going to do for the day, and Coraline refuses. The other mother decides that she needs to learn manners, and throws Coraline behind the wall of the mirror. There Coraline meets with the spirits of the other children the other mother consumed. (Consumed meaning she fed on their souls and took their hearts.) The Atonement with the Father is where the hero confronts the person who has the ultimate power in the story that being the Other Mother.


















http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth

Blog Entry 3.4

          Since i can't make a wiki page for any of the Sookie Stackhouse series, i'm pretty much stumped. I am pretty much stuck doing the monomythic essay for one of the books. Maybe i will be able to do a wiki page for the monomythic essay. Hopefully it hasn't been done yet.

- Research to see if it has been done
- Finish the book before the deadline and break up what i have read so far into the different parts.
- All should be done before the deadline of 12/9

Blog Entry 3.3

         So far, i have been reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. If you are aware, this is also the hit series, True Blood on HBO. I have read the first 6 novels and is working on the 7th; I am also readin the 7th as we speak. Since I have been reading this, i am going to try and base my final project aroungd this.

          I was thinking of a wiki page, but it seems like it will be too overwhelming for me. I was also thinking of doing the default project, but it doesn't seem very challenging and is very boring. Hopefully, I will be able to figure out what to do.

Blog Entry 3.2: Macbeth

          In this video, this is a scene from MacBeth where the witches for see his future of being Thane then King. They also explain that Banquo is also going to become something powerful like Macbeth. He becomes excited to hear the news and asks the witches to tell him some more. One of the witches seduces him a little bit, then disappear from him. He goes to look for them but instead, sees Banquo. Banquo says that maybe he's just seeing things and should forget about it. They are Weird Sisters and shouldn't be believed. A few moments later, someone walks into the scene and says that the Cawdor is to be killed for being untrue. It is then there that Macbeth is pronounced Thane of Cawdor.

          There are some archetypes such as the Fool and the Witches. Macbeth is the fool, for letting himself become drunk with power. Later on in the story, he starts to kill people so that way he can get to the top. This also makes you wonder; if the witches had never said anything , would any of this had ever happened? If he never knew about it, would it still come to be? His mind was overtaken by the Witches to believe what they wanted him to believe. The Witches are the other archetypes, especially since these women are really "witches". They control the events that have not yet-to-come and make it seem as though they are good people by telling their futures. They trick their victims into thinking that they must do these horrible things to become powerful.

Blog Entry 3.1: Lady Macbeth

         

( Image Source )http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/.a/6a00d8341c58f853ef010536c8f7ea970c-popup



          This picture is of Lady MacBeth sleepwalking while her maid and doctor watch her. While she is sleepwalking, they notice she is also washing her hands like there is something there that she can't get rid of, and all the while she is saying, "Out, damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why, then, 'tis time to do't..." She is full of so much guilt, that it has driven her mad. She speaks in her sleep of killing Banquo, but she never actually kills him. What she feels is the guilt and tyranny she pushed onto Macbeth to make him do these horrible crimes. She, earlier on, had expressed that she wishes to be "unsexed" so she would have the strength to do such a dastardly deed. She realizes though, that she couldn't kill King Duncan because he reminded her of her father while he slept.

         

          The symbol that I believe really is apparent in the scene is purification by water. It is as though it will erase any sin or guilt from the hands that did it. So she continually tries to clean her hands as to hopefully get rid of the thought that keeps forming in her head.

          Another symbol is light and dark. While Lady Macbeth was sleepwalking, the maid notices that she would always have a candle with her to keep away the dark. This shows that she was afraid of what might happen if she were to be alone in the dark, knowing what she had caused. Her maid had also said to the doctor that, "She has light by her continually; 'tis her command." She was once drawn into the darkness when she was trying to help Macbeth be king, but once it was done, she had the light to draw it away. She no longer wanted to be in the dark anymore.

Entry 2.2: The Dark Magician & The Altruist

          Upon taking this archetype assessment, it was concluded that my main archetype is the Altruist ( CareGiver ), and my negative archetype was a Dark Magician. I love this picture to describe a Dark Magician and an Altruist... even though it is something else, it really speaks to me. The Altruist, being the woman in white, can describe her light side; someone who cares for others more than herself. The Dark Magician looks innocent but she is very evil with no feelings for anyone but herself, and her conquest to make changes that are for her only.
         
          I can understand being an Altruist because sometimes I do help others when they are in a time of need. I love to make people feel better when they need someone or something. I am a very deep person, and can hardly ever turn down a sad face. I guess I get it from my father. The Dark Magician kind of surprised me, being that I don't see myself as being such a bad person or someone who wants to make changes for themselves. Since they are described as someone who is selfish, it would completely contradict my being an Altruist. After figuring this out, I see some more research is going to be needed to figure out what this all means.

          The reason I chose this image is because, one, I love fantasy art and two, this image shows two completely opposite women with different outlooks on life, and they are drawn perfectly to describe my two opposite archetypes.

This image definitely helps with the contradiction of my findings... What do you think ?

Blog Entry 2.1: Goblin Market

          Rosetti was a woman who did not marry nor have children. She was proposed to twice, but later cancelled because she would find something wrong with the man; whether it was revering to Catholicism, or other religious reasons. At the age of 14, she suffered a nervous breakdown and left school. She also was a huge supporter of ending slavery, having women's right and suffrage. Goblin Market is said to have been written about sin, redemption and sexuality. This may have all been due to the charity work that she did in the St. mary Magdalene church. It was said to be a place where former prostitutes could stay and eat. Goblin Market may have been inspired from this because of the "fallen women."

          Goblin Market is about 2 women who are sisters and are doing household chores together. One of the sisters, Laura, hear the sounds of goblins screaming to buy their fruits. her sister, Lizzie says no, because you are never to be tempted by such creatures. Laura sneaks away to see the fruits and offers a lock of her hair to give for the fruit. When she eats the fruit, she describes it as "Sweeter than honey from the rock, Stronger than man-rejoicing wine, Clearer than water flow'd that juice;" (129-131). She eats her fill then picks up a seed from the fruit. As time goes by, she can no longer hear the goblins crying out and she begins to become weak and brittle, like she is aging rapidly. Lizzie sees this and tries to plant the seed but it doesn't grow. She then takes a silver penny to buy the fruit from the goblins, and to take home to eat, but the goblins become mad. The begin to beat her and try to force her to eat the fruit, but Lizzie doesn't open her mouth for anything. Inside, she smiles because she knows it will all be for a good cause, and that she will be ok as long as she doesn't open up. Finally, the goblins stop beating her, and run off. Dirty, bruised, scratched, and sticky from the juices of the fruit, she runs home to Laura and tells her to lick the juices from her face to help. laura reacts so violently, that Lizzie believes that she is to be dead. The next morning, Laura is rejuvenated and all is well again.

          There were many symbols, such as the fruit that literally poisoned Laura. It can be described as being "forbidden" or being sinful. By eating the fruit, she signed her own death wish. Temptation is especially key. Hearing the sound of the goblin's  I think Rossetti was trying to show how sinning and temptation can get you in trouble, and the only way to overcome it is to suffer the way out. I believe she thought it was the only way to become "pure" again.

          I think the Goblin archetype woud be the destroyer, because they try to kill Laura with the fruit and knowing she would go through a "withdrawal" without it, she would die. Laura would be the fool and the virgin, because she honestly thought there was no harm in trusting the goblins and eating their fruit even when her sister warned her. She would also be considered the virgin because clipping a lock of her hair and a teardrop more precious than a pearl can be looked at as losing her virginity. Since virginity was always considered as something precious, losing it would make you impure. Lizzie would be described as the wise-(wo)man because she knew what to do to make it home to Laura, and save her life. She was wise to keep her mouth closed when the goblins forced her to eat, and she was smart to just keep strong until they decided to stop.

Blog Entry 1.2: Interenet Research

                           Dreamtime

                     by Elizabeth Keimach
               

                      I walk with wonder
                      in the land of Fae,
                The dreamtime of my childhood,
                   For there dwell faeries
                    Of magic and mystique.
                  So step silently and watch
                   As they glisten and fly
                       On silvery wing
                     To unknown destinies.  

(http://www.carolineevans.net/images/lavender_fairy.gif (Link to picture shown )      
(Keimach, Elizabeth Dreamtime. Poem: http://www.angelfire.com/stars3/larika/index2.html)



        

          When you think of fairies, who are the first people that you think of? Cinderella with her Fairy Godmother or maybe Peter Pan with TinkerBell; either way, they fall under the same category. There are many different types of faires but we will just talk about them as a whole instead of individually.

          I visited many sites but couldn't really find anything that was precise. I chose Wikipedia as my nesting ground for the fairies in general, but later on will go in depth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy#Fairies_in_literature_and_legend
  
          Fairies, or Faeries, Fae are said to be mythological creatures that are full of mischief. Some are good while other can bring upon death. They were first introduced in short stories that we would later on know as "Fairy Tales." But some time later, they would be replaced with wise women or motherly figures. Generally, FAiries are described as human in appearance but have magical powers. They were never depicted as having wings, for they flew with magic. Now in modern cultures, they have insect or butterfly wings. There were many different beliefs as to where they originated from. They were believed to be either dead, elementals, demoted angels, demons, humans, babies' laugh, or pagan deities. (Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy#Fairies_in_literature_and_legend)

          Fairies have been mentioned in many stories, ranging from A Midsummer`s Night Dream by William Shakespeare to Cinderella by the Grimms Brothers. In one instance, the Fairy Queen, Titania, was mischeivious and caused trouble. In another instance, the fairy in Cinderella helped a young woman who was abused by her stepmother 3 nights of freedom & beauty. Thus in  turn, she would be free from her prison of a home.

          I liked using Wikipedia because it gave a look into the topic as a whole instead of seeing it as one-way. Many people always believed that they were just little creatures with magic and mischief, but they could also bring upon death and torments of kidnapping.

          Mischeivious, deadly, beautiful and interesting, fairies are something that i believe will be a good topic for this course. For something that no one really puts any thought into, except as just winged creatures, I will bring forth what these Fairies are all about...

Blog Entry 1.1

Hello All !

        My name is Alexis Diaz & I am a Photo Major in LaGuardia CC. This is my 3rd semester & I'm hoping to graduate to transfer to a prestige art school, such as F.I.T. to pursue my dream as a fashion photographer. If you would like to know a little bit more about me, don't hesitate to ask.