Your nose is the presupposed product of the intercorrelation between a man and a woman which come to be known as the ideology of a __ as the result of

.....known as the ideology of what, as the result of a what? ... What?!...
What does Althusser have to say about physical appearances? .. That those are all a product predesigned for us before our birth as well, just as he says our personalities are?
... I suppose sometimes when we inherit physical features that are like our parents', that aspect of our appearance could be shoved under the institution of the family :S ? Like how I got my fathers eyes, and my mothers face structure.. but my nose is unlike anyone's in my family? So how does he explain that? And how do we know which features we are going to inherit; We don't.
Don't our physical features contribute to our unique individualism? Even aside from setting our looks apart, they sometimes can add to how we act, can't they? Often times a symmetrical (aka. typically 'beautiful') looking person has more confidence or arrogance, and an unattractive person is much meeker; but then again, often times that is not the case at all. Also, when a person finds a certain feature of theirs more appealing they will often flaunt, or put more emphasis on that area.. or perhaps they would not. So wouldn't our physical characteristics create stems of our personalities.?
I do not disagree that we are all heavily influenced by many ideologies or institutions throughout our lives, but I do not think that I would go as far as to agree completely with Althusser. I feel as if he assumes people are nothing more than robots; numerous trials recreated under conformity after conformity, looking for a perfection, or ULTIMATE ideology..?

Jar -> Penis -> Vagina -> Binary Opposites -> Never-ending Confusion ----> .....

When I had to start writing the essay on the Psychoanalytic view, I was a little dumbfounded; this was definitely the most confusing type of interpretation to me thus far through the course. What helped me to finally get a grip on it (atleast I think. I suppose I will find out once I get my essay back), was the Chains of Word Associations. A person can really take the associations in any direction they please, and it helped me to see countering points in almost every word. I thought it was actually kind of interesting and amusing some of the chains I came up with, so I figured I might share some from Anecdote of the Jar:

Round:
-complete -> neat, organized -> clean -> guiltless -> no ugly thoughts -> conscience -> conscious..
-fat -> eat a lot -> give in to gluttony -> greed -> primitive trait -> Freud's Id -> unconscious.
-circle -> unbroken -> ring -> marriage -> big decision/serious -> responsibility, commitment.

Bare:
-plain -> without adornment/flash -> boring, unexciting -> conscience -> conscious.
-naked -> in full beauty -> natural -> wild (Id) --> unacceptable in public -> (against) social rule -> social rule is man-made -> unnatural.
-unconcealed -> vulnerable -> scary -> fight/flight -> natural instinct -> Id/unconscious.

Sprawled:
-stretched out -> open; laying -> sleeping -> guard is down -> vulnerable -> predation possible -> anxiety; fear
-spread out -> sexually aroused -> in want of sex -> reproduction -> natural/essential -> instinct.
-sounds like and reminded me of crawled -> enticing, alluring -> 'bad always looks more fun' -> Id/unconscious.
-ungraceful -> untidy -> unclean -> disordered, messy -> slovenly.

the wilderness rose up to it:
-the flower -> part of the wilderness -> beautiful -> wonderful scent -> alluring --> has thorns -> protection -> thorns cause pain -> dangerous (**Looks nice but is essentially bad/harmful?)
-becomes tall -> high -> standing -> proud --> standing -> governing, watching -> keeping in line/order, under control.
-becomes tall -> big -> protecting -> safe -> happy, unworried/ unparanoid

I'll stop there, I'm sure you get the idea. I just like how I can see sex, beauty, fear, danger, the mind, etc., in some of the plainest words in the poem; and some one else could come up with many more, radically different associations. The arbitrariness of language never fails to stun me.

What's that my Good Sir? You have not learned the way of the Disputatio? Why, then you should be deemed a fool.

It is a good thing my emails all get sent to my phone, otherwise I surely would have shown up for the cancelled class this morning raring to go. Well, maybe not raring to go. I would probably still have a bit of sleep left in my eyes. But that aside, I was a little sad (After I got over my initial sudden outburst in my empty house of "WOOOOO!") that class was cancelled and that I wasn't going to be able to get my biweekly dosage of literary theory and enjoy another hearty debate or discussion.

Did everyone know that one of the former medieval manners of testing in school was a 'disputatio'.? Students were graded depending on how well they could verbally argue and support a subject in an opposition. Just imagine that were still the custom; after taking Scott Pound's Literary Theory class we would all ace our way through University!

What a Shame its not....

...Optimistically, at least

after taking this class

nobody can call US fools. :)

Arbitrary is my middle name...

Well, no, my name isn't really "KaeDee Arbitrary," but there is no real reason why it couldn't be KaeDee Marie, or Kaleidoscope, or John for that matter. Instead my mother chose the simple three letter name, Ann...

I really like how Professor Pound brings a discussion up about our essay topics just after we've written them. All our confusions and realizations are still fresh on the forefronts of our mind. I think its great to get a glimpse of all the different interpretations that can be made just from one piece; it really solidifies exactly how arbitrary literature can be.


I also think its neat to wonder what exactly, like different lifestyles or experiences make different people have their specific approach to something. Like The Sleeping Giant assignment; I have been to Europe, taken a classical mythology class and have always been interested in those myths, so when I had to compare "The Sleeping Giant" to other myths I automatically wanted to compare it to those of classical mythology.

This is a picture of Medusa the Gorgon

from Classical Mythology that was

changed to stone, as was the

Sleeping Giant.

Dream Catcher!

Searching for common themes in The Sleeping Giant myth caused me to come across another myth that I have always enjoyed but had forgotten about. The Myth of the Dream Catcher has many origins in different Native Tribes but basically revolves around the same idea. A structuralist interpretation could be made on this myth just as we made one for the Sleeping Giant myth, but I bring it up simply to share the story with you. :)

The Dreamcatcher filters our dreams. It was said that a spider wove a web around a circular branch leaving a perfect circle in the middle, so that at night while we dreamt the bad dreams would be caught in the web and destroyed in morning light and the good dreams or ideas would pass through the circular centre. Or another version is that the bad dreams pass through the web and the good ones are caught in the web so they can be had again, or so the positive ideas can be brought into our lives. Also, often objects are added to the making of the dreamcatcher (for eg. rocks and feathers are traditional) and since the dreams passed through them to get to the sleeping person, they should be objects symbolic of what the person would like to see in their dreams.

After reading this myth again, I don't know about anyone else, but I hate having nightmares haha, so I'm thinking I might try to resurrect the old dreamcatcher I made when I was a kid and hope that suddenly I will begin to produce plenty more good ideas (generated from my good dreams saved up!)

Movie/Music Genres

So since you can take the structuralist view of myths and stories, etc, you must be able to take a structuralist view on things such as music and movies. Would all the different genres of movies and music like country, rap, alternative, romance, thriller, etc be described as structuralist analysis'/larger sets of conventions?... I think so...
If so, how do you break those genres down into smaller conventions? Any ideas?
There are so many different music genres for example, I don't always know how to categorize what I am listening to; some are obvious, but then others aren't... to me anyway.
Heres a short list of some:
-Blues -Children's -Classical -Country
-Electronic -Folk/Traditional -Jazz -New Age
-R&B and Soul -Rap/Hip-Hop -Reggae -Religious
-Rock -Pop -Metal -Oldies
-Alternative...

If anybody's got any ideas for this, please let me know!

Bob Dylan takes me a long way with A Simple Twist Of Fate

I really think Bob Dylan is awesome, and so as I was laying in bed listening to some music from my playlist and this song came on it kind of reminded me of how it feels to finally have meaning come to literature.
I know that the first time I looked at Wallace Stevens "Anecdote of the Jar" I had no idea what this "crazy" man was blabbing about. But as I sat there and broke it down, every piece started making sense to me, and even though my interpretation seemed drastically different from anyone else's in the class, I was proud of what I had come up with, I even had a ball of excitement swell inside me when I finished.
Although the chronology of the song is a little backwards for this intent, I hope it has a similar effect on you because it gave me a great feeling; the end of the song describes what it feels like when you frustratingly can't find meaning for something you are trying to decipher and the beginning narrates the feeling of having it all finally make sense. So here it is: Bob Dylan's "A Simple Twist of Fate":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYybKGp1ycQ&feature=PlayList&p=6FC538DBB1A83056&index=0

(I tried my very best to even make a video of it myself and upload it, but for the life of me I could not figure it out so check out the site, its worth it!)

The Definition of Us...?

Okay, First of all everyone should know that this is just my opinion and if the way I am writing seems to imply that I feel this is the only right answer it is only because it is easier to type in that form :)... so here we go!

In class the other day we discussed the defintions Homo Seriosus and Homo Rhetoricus but I never raised my hand to voice my opinion. I guess I was overcome with bashfulness because what everyone in class was saying seemed to be so much different from the way I felt after reading the terms descriptions, but I decided that I would speak my mind now on my blog.

I took the Homo Rhetoricus to be someone who creates time or reality as they want it to be created. They feel that the concept of reality is a slave to their own personal life. Also I saw it as someone who can change their personality at the snap of a finger, and uses these personalities artfully at their will in a way that will benefit them the most. This person likes to dramatize, publicize and they concede to their emotions; but I don't mean to sound like I am knocking the gift of emotion, they are part of what makes us human. When I think of Homo Rhetoricus a gypsy comes to my mind.

The way I took Homo Seriosus, it seemed those people would have a more solid foundation to base their lives on; they make up a community or a culture that has rights and wrongs, laws and customs. I also thought Homo Seriosus to be someone who strongly believes in who and what they are as an individual. Obviously characteristics slightly alter through time and experiences but as a whole I took them to be people who will not revise themselves simply because another person requests it or because it suits them on the present occasion. They don't believe reality will stop because it would accomodate their life at whatever moment. I also never considered the chauvenisitc side of this definition because the first time the word "man" was used it was in quotations, appearing to mean to me that the word can be interchangeable; man is just a common generalized term for all humans. It shouldn't be, but it is.

I would really like to hear if anyone agrees or disagrees, don't be afraid to comment!

Thumbs up for Imagination!

The age old question appears:

"What is literature?"


Majority of the population uses a concept of some sort to keep them glued together; many people rely on religion, their nation, their culture, literature, etc, as a crutch of support. But it seems that countless barrelling questions through the ages continue to tear holes in all of these beliefs. Sometimes when answers to these questions cannot be found people come across new realizations that make it often hard to defend initial ideologies. The world is ever changing; always evolving. In this way, nothing appears to ever be what it seems. A person can always know something more than what they did before. How then does anyone REALLY know when the truth is a lie?

How's that for a skewed perception of the world.

That is the beauty of the imagination; it is your own and no one can pull it out from beneath you. Literature can take you places, show you things, teach you. Teachings can be found out to be wrong over time, but how can writing that evokes the imagination ever be taken away from you and proved to be incorrect. Those images are yours forever.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not remotely suggesting not to believe in anything for fear of being corrected; I have beliefs of my own. Our beliefs help build our character. I'm just deliberating how nice it is to have the power to make something your own undoubtedly. For that I want to thank the literature of entertainment for allowing our minds to create and escape to other worlds more stable than the real one.

This painting of Salvidor Dali's just reminded me of my blog post (not the title of the painting). I just thought, even the concept of time is malleable. We count the minutes, we count the days, the months, the years. We could be put on the earth for the same span as many others and we will all age differently. For some people the time flys by and for others it rolls past like a tumbleweed in the desert. Sometimes time can even be taken away without a moments notice or a second glance.

"The Persistence of Memory" -Salvidor Dali

Intro to Literary Theory and Criticism

I created this blog for the purpose of my Intro to Lit. Theory class, so I guess we'll just have to wait for some reading material to see what kind of crazy stuff comes up.