Blog – Why does Esther feel such a need to sleep with Irwin? Does she feel better or different after it has happened?
Esther wants freedom, she still wants to get back at Buddy but she also feels that she needs it to gain freedom and life experience. Except for the excesive bleeding and needing to go to the emergency room I think she felt better after it happened. She stopped contact with Irwin and this also gave her a sense of freedom. She seems to have felt very pleased with herself that she was able to have a one night stand and afterwards simply walk out without getting caught in an emotional relationship of any kind. She was simply able to tell Irwin she didn't plan on seeing him again and then just hanging up the phone. So yea overall I think she feels better after it happened, and as for feeling different it may have contributed to "lifting up the bell jar" at least just a little bit.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Chapter 17-18
Blog – What does Esther mean when she says she feels trapped under a bell jar?
Esther feels cut off from the world, like she's trapped in her own little world. The bell jar comes down and cuts her off from the world so that she feels restricted, like she can't connect with anyone like she has no place. After her time at the asylum she feels as though the bell jar has been lifted up a bit and she can now get fresh air rather than her own sour used air that was with her while the jar was sealed. At first while she was at the asylum she was anti-social toward everyone else but as the bell jar began to lift she started socializing and opening up with other people a bit more, so she wasn't as isolated.
Esther feels cut off from the world, like she's trapped in her own little world. The bell jar comes down and cuts her off from the world so that she feels restricted, like she can't connect with anyone like she has no place. After her time at the asylum she feels as though the bell jar has been lifted up a bit and she can now get fresh air rather than her own sour used air that was with her while the jar was sealed. At first while she was at the asylum she was anti-social toward everyone else but as the bell jar began to lift she started socializing and opening up with other people a bit more, so she wasn't as isolated.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
chapter 15-16
Blog – Describe the new asylum Esther goes to? What might life have been like had she been forced to stay where she was?
The asylum that Esther is at seems rather nice. Its not at all like your typical asylum where they treat you like some rabid animal and try to hide you from the rest of the world. The patients are allowed to walk around the grounds and socialize and have visitors. Also the doctors seem to be more carefully selected and actually want to help the patients and they don't just treat the like dangerous crazy people. Had Esther stayed at the other hospital she likely would have been locked away with other people with similar problems and she would not be allowed out. She would have to deal with cruel biased treatment, and probably more shock therapy and perhaps worse. So overall I think Esther is very lucky to be where she is because she could easily have ended up at a far worse asylum.
The asylum that Esther is at seems rather nice. Its not at all like your typical asylum where they treat you like some rabid animal and try to hide you from the rest of the world. The patients are allowed to walk around the grounds and socialize and have visitors. Also the doctors seem to be more carefully selected and actually want to help the patients and they don't just treat the like dangerous crazy people. Had Esther stayed at the other hospital she likely would have been locked away with other people with similar problems and she would not be allowed out. She would have to deal with cruel biased treatment, and probably more shock therapy and perhaps worse. So overall I think Esther is very lucky to be where she is because she could easily have ended up at a far worse asylum.
Esther and y she's sad
Blog – What is wrong with Esther? Why does she try to kill herself?
To put it simply I feel that Esther has a problem. I also feel that she really needs help but unfortunatly at this time there isn't that much of an understanding of mental disorders and therefore there really is no way to treat them. Other than that she has a problem I think Esther is trying to kill herself because she feels that she has no purpose or future. She feels that she is in a world where everyone is constantly judging her and she has no way of getting away from that. She simply feels that there is no purpose to her life and that the days lay before her endlessly and meaninglessly and she can't bring herself to deal with that so she decides that killing herself is really the only way.
To put it simply I feel that Esther has a problem. I also feel that she really needs help but unfortunatly at this time there isn't that much of an understanding of mental disorders and therefore there really is no way to treat them. Other than that she has a problem I think Esther is trying to kill herself because she feels that she has no purpose or future. She feels that she is in a world where everyone is constantly judging her and she has no way of getting away from that. She simply feels that there is no purpose to her life and that the days lay before her endlessly and meaninglessly and she can't bring herself to deal with that so she decides that killing herself is really the only way.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Dr. Gordon and Esther
Blog – Why doesn’t Esther like Dr. Gordon? Is he hurting or helping her?
Dr. Gordon is Esther's phsyciatrist, so I feel that since there relationship is strictly prefessional I would hope that he is trying to help. Especially since he's being paid. Esther dosn't like Dr. Gordon cause she was expecting some wise, ugly old man, to examine her thoughts and tell her what was wrong and instead she gets Dr. Gordon who is young and good looking. She feels that he is arrogant and isn't helping her at all. After her shock therapy she says that she is not going back to see him again. In my opinion therapists arn't fun but you have to give them a chance to do their job, and i don't feel that Esther was giving him a chance. She immediatly assumed that he was no good and therefore acted in a hostile manner towards him. Of course what she dosen't seem to realize is that she's only making it worse for herself, because therapists take note of how you respond and even tho she thinks she's carefully concealing what information she wants to hide and she feels she can control how he views her really she's just giving more of herself away, and she's just making it worse I mean she's paying him to help her yet she won't open up and let him actually help her. So as for is he hurting her i don't think so, now do I think that shock therapy was neccesary idk, i'm not a psychatrist but i do agree that Esther has some major problems, and Dr. Gordon was probably perfectly capable of seeing that.
Dr. Gordon is Esther's phsyciatrist, so I feel that since there relationship is strictly prefessional I would hope that he is trying to help. Especially since he's being paid. Esther dosn't like Dr. Gordon cause she was expecting some wise, ugly old man, to examine her thoughts and tell her what was wrong and instead she gets Dr. Gordon who is young and good looking. She feels that he is arrogant and isn't helping her at all. After her shock therapy she says that she is not going back to see him again. In my opinion therapists arn't fun but you have to give them a chance to do their job, and i don't feel that Esther was giving him a chance. She immediatly assumed that he was no good and therefore acted in a hostile manner towards him. Of course what she dosen't seem to realize is that she's only making it worse for herself, because therapists take note of how you respond and even tho she thinks she's carefully concealing what information she wants to hide and she feels she can control how he views her really she's just giving more of herself away, and she's just making it worse I mean she's paying him to help her yet she won't open up and let him actually help her. So as for is he hurting her i don't think so, now do I think that shock therapy was neccesary idk, i'm not a psychatrist but i do agree that Esther has some major problems, and Dr. Gordon was probably perfectly capable of seeing that.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Esther and how she acts when she returns to Boston
Blog – How does Esther act when she returns to Boston? How might her night with Marco have influenced her actions?
Esther's last night in New York with Marco changed her views, she had wanted to experience the city but after Marco attempted to rape her she decided that she really didn't want any part of that, and we see this when she throws all her clothes out and watches them fly away on the breeze. However upon returning back to boston she realizes that she really doesn't want to be there either. She is also dissapointed upon finding that she did not make it into the writing class she had wanted.
Esther's last night in New York with Marco changed her views, she had wanted to experience the city but after Marco attempted to rape her she decided that she really didn't want any part of that, and we see this when she throws all her clothes out and watches them fly away on the breeze. However upon returning back to boston she realizes that she really doesn't want to be there either. She is also dissapointed upon finding that she did not make it into the writing class she had wanted.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
chapter 7-8
Blog – What does Esther want from Constantin? How does he react, and what are we to make of this reaction?
All Esther seems to want is to have sex with Constantin so that she'll be on an even level with Buddy, She wants to use him the get even but she also wants to gain knowledge. However when she makes a move by going and lying on the bed all constantin does is lay next to her until they both fall asleep. Esther is rather startled and offended by Constantin's actions, she worries that maybe he dosn't want her, maybe she's not good enough. We make of Constantin's reaction that he is respecting Esther which would lead us to think he's a good character but still we're not entirely sure.
All Esther seems to want is to have sex with Constantin so that she'll be on an even level with Buddy, She wants to use him the get even but she also wants to gain knowledge. However when she makes a move by going and lying on the bed all constantin does is lay next to her until they both fall asleep. Esther is rather startled and offended by Constantin's actions, she worries that maybe he dosn't want her, maybe she's not good enough. We make of Constantin's reaction that he is respecting Esther which would lead us to think he's a good character but still we're not entirely sure.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Esther and Buddy
Blog – What does Esther think of Buddy? What does she want from him? What does she want him to think of her?
Originally Esther idealized Buddy. She admired him, even looked up to him, and she wanted nothing more than for him to like her. Eventually they hooked up and this made her very happy but over time she came to think of him as a hypocrite, mostly because everyone viewed Buddy as being so pure when really he had had an affair with a waitress. Its not that Buddy having an affair bothered her its just that even after that and even from those that new about the affair they still viewed him as being so pure. This then made Esther feel like perhaps she needed to go out and have a fling just to even the score with Buddy. However before she could tell Buddy how she really felt about him he ended up with TB and had to go off because TB is contagious, and he made her promise that she’d write to him because he said he would be horribly lonely. So basically she once admired him but now she wants to break off the relationship.
Originally Esther idealized Buddy. She admired him, even looked up to him, and she wanted nothing more than for him to like her. Eventually they hooked up and this made her very happy but over time she came to think of him as a hypocrite, mostly because everyone viewed Buddy as being so pure when really he had had an affair with a waitress. Its not that Buddy having an affair bothered her its just that even after that and even from those that new about the affair they still viewed him as being so pure. This then made Esther feel like perhaps she needed to go out and have a fling just to even the score with Buddy. However before she could tell Buddy how she really felt about him he ended up with TB and had to go off because TB is contagious, and he made her promise that she’d write to him because he said he would be horribly lonely. So basically she once admired him but now she wants to break off the relationship.
Pleasantville
Blog – Describe one or two ways the movie is trying to make Pleasantville look appealing. How is it trying to look unappealing?
The movie tries to make Pleasantville seem pleasant, basically by telling you everything in Pleasantville is pleasant. Everyone gets the girl, Bud wins at the science fair the basketball team never misses a shot, there’s always plenty of food, no one is homeless, the list goes on and on of everything that could be pleasant. However we also see that Pleasantville is not so pleasant in that everyone is the same, nothing changes, and eventually those who are different are shunned. We also see that Pleasantville is totally unrealistic because everyone can’t win, if someone wins then someone else has to lose but of course since loosing isn’t pleasant there is not focus on those that don’t succeed, in fact we don’t see them at all.
The movie tries to make Pleasantville seem pleasant, basically by telling you everything in Pleasantville is pleasant. Everyone gets the girl, Bud wins at the science fair the basketball team never misses a shot, there’s always plenty of food, no one is homeless, the list goes on and on of everything that could be pleasant. However we also see that Pleasantville is not so pleasant in that everyone is the same, nothing changes, and eventually those who are different are shunned. We also see that Pleasantville is totally unrealistic because everyone can’t win, if someone wins then someone else has to lose but of course since loosing isn’t pleasant there is not focus on those that don’t succeed, in fact we don’t see them at all.
The Bell Jar chpt 1-4
Blog – Describe Esther’s feelings about her time in New York. Does she like it there? Why or why not?
I don’t feel that Esther particularily likes New York. It’s not that she doesn’t like New York it’s just she feels that there is some secret to the city that she can’t seem to figure out. She makes references to how she wants some of the city to rub off on her. She goes out around the city rather than going to the events that the other girls go to or the events provided by the group she’s with. She just feels lost, she can’t seem to get herself excited over being in New York like the other girls. She just feels empty and dull in a busy world.
I don’t feel that Esther particularily likes New York. It’s not that she doesn’t like New York it’s just she feels that there is some secret to the city that she can’t seem to figure out. She makes references to how she wants some of the city to rub off on her. She goes out around the city rather than going to the events that the other girls go to or the events provided by the group she’s with. She just feels lost, she can’t seem to get herself excited over being in New York like the other girls. She just feels empty and dull in a busy world.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
• Blog – Research a TV show from the 1950s and talk about the values it may have presented.
The Andy Griffith show came out in 1960, its about a widower sherif Andy Griffith and his son Opie, and they live with Aunt Bee in Mayberry, NC. This is a comedy/family show. I think the values that this show is trying to present is probly that you can still have a good family relationship even if your not in the 'typical american' family. After an iconic show like "Leave it to Beaver" where u see what everyone thought the american family should look like it was good to have a show like this that shows u that not all families have to be like that to be functional. It also shows that small towns are nice and for the most part have no crime unlike suburban america.
The Andy Griffith show came out in 1960, its about a widower sherif Andy Griffith and his son Opie, and they live with Aunt Bee in Mayberry, NC. This is a comedy/family show. I think the values that this show is trying to present is probly that you can still have a good family relationship even if your not in the 'typical american' family. After an iconic show like "Leave it to Beaver" where u see what everyone thought the american family should look like it was good to have a show like this that shows u that not all families have to be like that to be functional. It also shows that small towns are nice and for the most part have no crime unlike suburban america.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Internment Camps in the USA
Blog – Research the internment camps in California during World War II. Based on your findings, was it ethical for the U.S. to take such actions against Asians and Asian-Americans? How do these actions compare with those taken against Muslim-Americans after September 11th? How do they compare with Germany’s actions during WWII?
Honestly I don't feel that the internment camps were an appropriate course of action for the United States to take. It is my opinion that just because we are at war with a country does not mean that we need to discriminate against people with genetic ties to that country. In my opinion by setting up those internment camps we were being no better than the Nazis. Sure we didn't kill off the people we put into the camps but that still doesn't make it right that we put them there in the first place. Discrimination is a major problem even still today because it comes out of ignorance and it breeds fear and hate. People were ignorant in assuming that all germans were Nazis and that ignorance caused a lot of pain and suffering for German americans, who were often attacked and treated terribly because of their german heritage. Many of them, i'm not going to say all because that would be generalizing and the whole point of this paragraph is how generalizing is bad, did not support Hitler, infact they viewed themselves as americans not as germans, so imagine that having ur country turn on you just because you were of german descent. The same with the Japanese and Asain americans, one day your an american the next ur being shipped off to a camp because you country is affraid of you because of your background and where your family came from. We had the same problem after 9/11 with discrimination and unfair generalization. Many people just assumed that all muslims and arabs were terrorists, which of course isn't true, but because people were ignorant and jumped to conclussions, that ended up causing a wide spread fear of muslims, which really isn't fair to them because it was the terrorists who attacked us not the Muslims and I think people really need to open there eyes and see that there is a difference, and that you can't judge a whole group of people just by what a small percentage of them, that just happen to be apart of that group, believe.
Honestly I don't feel that the internment camps were an appropriate course of action for the United States to take. It is my opinion that just because we are at war with a country does not mean that we need to discriminate against people with genetic ties to that country. In my opinion by setting up those internment camps we were being no better than the Nazis. Sure we didn't kill off the people we put into the camps but that still doesn't make it right that we put them there in the first place. Discrimination is a major problem even still today because it comes out of ignorance and it breeds fear and hate. People were ignorant in assuming that all germans were Nazis and that ignorance caused a lot of pain and suffering for German americans, who were often attacked and treated terribly because of their german heritage. Many of them, i'm not going to say all because that would be generalizing and the whole point of this paragraph is how generalizing is bad, did not support Hitler, infact they viewed themselves as americans not as germans, so imagine that having ur country turn on you just because you were of german descent. The same with the Japanese and Asain americans, one day your an american the next ur being shipped off to a camp because you country is affraid of you because of your background and where your family came from. We had the same problem after 9/11 with discrimination and unfair generalization. Many people just assumed that all muslims and arabs were terrorists, which of course isn't true, but because people were ignorant and jumped to conclussions, that ended up causing a wide spread fear of muslims, which really isn't fair to them because it was the terrorists who attacked us not the Muslims and I think people really need to open there eyes and see that there is a difference, and that you can't judge a whole group of people just by what a small percentage of them, that just happen to be apart of that group, believe.
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