journal Entry 6 Stranger

Sorry this is late, I was absent from school due to being sick. Told me in class today that I could turn in this journal today.

1. Word Choice- Camus always uses short, and simple words to describe what is going on in the stranger. This helps create a certain pace in the story, since the author doesn't get bogged down in writing down long, descriptive paragraphs. It also shows a little about Mersault and how he thinks. Why doesn't Camus let Mersault have any eloquent, emotional dialogue?


2. Sentence Structure-Camus always uses short, yet descriptive sentences to convey what is going on in the story. This is important, for it helps to keep the story to the point in novel. It keeps the story focused on Mersualt's story, not giving the reader any distracting metaphors or large imagery sentences. It also helps to let the reader make conclusions for themselves. Why doesn't Camus give any longer sentences to convey a deeper meaning.


3. Images- Camus always uses the image of alcohol, lust, and smoking in the story. This helps give a light on the characterization of Mersault. Why doesn't Camus use any lighter images, such as a simple sea or a lovely abode?


4. Symbols-Camus uses the sun through out the novel. It seems that the sun is symbol of pain as it always seems to be hurting Mersault's eyes or causing him irritation. Why does Camus convey the sun as a painful symbol, rather than one that caused romance, or serinity?


5. Figures of Speech- Camus seems to make Mersault the black sheep in the novel, while all the other characters seem similar to each other: they are all more openly emotional and are happy. This helps develop a unique characterization of Mersault as well as a different outlook on life. Why doesn't Camus make a character that is similar to Mersault?


6. Rhetorical Devices- When comparing the narrator, who is Mersault, to when Mersault is actually talking, it seems that there isn't really a lot there, that it is kind of barren of any thought. This helps develop Mersault's character. Why doesn't Camus let Mersault's character deepen a little bit?


7. Patterns- Camus always makes Mersault complain about the sun and how it hurts him. This helps give away a unique metaphor and how Mersault responds to the outside world. Why does Camus make the sun work against Mersault?


8. Narrators-Camus seems to use very little dialouge in the story, and yet Mersault is the one narrating what is happening to him. This helps give incentive as to what Mersault is thinking about various issues, but keeps the other characters secret opinions a secret. Why does Camus let Mersault narrate Mersault's own life instead of telling the story or Mersault himself?


9. Structure- The days in the novel The Stranger are always going by at a rapid pace, usually having muliple days go by in a chapter. this creates a fast paced novel, and shows that it will focus only on the topics that are needed, and won't go into a lot of detail. Why doesn't Camus have a few chapters that slow the day down?

Journal Entry 5 Stranger (+ New Philosophy)

... Since my old philosophy didn't follow the old guidelines, I'll make a new one, (I thought that we could have more fun with it than was told. Forgot to check the blog, since I knew what to do, sorry!).

New Philosophy: Respectism

Note: most of these rules come from the basic foundations of chivalry.

• All who are created are provided with the potential to give respect to others- comes from chivalry, of how everyone should treat people with utmost respect.
• Respect has the power to create a peaceful coexistence. - If everybody respects one another, than there would be no reason for quarrels.
• Respect can be given, or taken - If a person does an inhonorable act, there respect is taken from them.
• The path to redemption is to respect the one who you disrespected - If a person apologizes for something they did wrong, then they can be forgiven by the other person, thus giving his respect back and earning the respect of the other person.
• Being respectful in ones life can grant you eternal peace within ones self - If you are always respectful to everyone, then you don't feel guilty or bad because you do not do any harm to them.
• This peace is the highest degree of respect - The peace created can make a person live a life of ultimate bliss, without a care in the world, since he/she does not have to worry about conflicts with others.
• If this peace is lost, it can never be obtained again. - If someone did a spectacular thing, it is almost impossible to get respect back from others as they would all hate and mistrust the person.
• One must achieve control over their physical and mental desires in order to become truly respected - If a person can't help but do inappropriate acts, then they'll never get any respect from anyone else.

Now, Mersault severly contradicts with the philosophy of respectfulism. For starters, he does not give anyone a heart-filled response, always answering in small phrases like, "I don't really care", (or something along those lines). He is always disrespecting peoples feelings, like Marie for instance, she asks consistently if he loves her and he always say that he doesn't really know. At the very least Mersault can give her a decent response. Another thing that Mersault does is he has no control over his physical desires. I mean really, he openly said that in a movie theatre he fondled Marie, he could have given her more respect and maybe just kissed her and that's it. That is his main physical desire: he lusts for Marie. Those are how Mersault conflicts with the philosophy of respectfulism.

Journal Entry 3 Stranger Philosophy

My philosophy: Gamerism

Doctrines

• All games were created to please the senses of the person.
• All games were created by one large company with different companies as its branches.
• The gamer is just a person pursuing the joy of gaming through any means.
• The gamer can either act independently or can interact with the company or other gamers.
• Even if the company is vast, flaws are still created, the company is not a perfect machine.
• There are often 2 types of gamers: players and obsessors. The players play the game just for fun of gaming, excepting the fact that the system might be flawed. Obsessors play games meticulously, and often try to correct the problems caused by the company.
• All gamers must obey the law of the company by not playing games that are ill suited for them.

Journal Entry 3 Stranger

I will be keeping track of the imagery of the sun as well as the imagery of smoking.

Sun

1. "The office overlooks the sea, and we took a minute to watch the freighters in the harbor, which was ablaze with sunlight." (Camus 25) This passage is used to appeal to the readers senses, and get a feel for the scenery.Emphasizes the harshness of the sun.

2. "We were out of breath; the truck was bumping around on the uneven cobblestones of the quay in a cloud of dust and sun." (Camus 26). This shows that even a goal can be kept from you by other things, such as the dust and the sun clouded the truck.

Smoking

1. "[...] and when I woke up I felt like having a smoke." (Camus 26) This shows that Mersault is trying to comfort himself with a smoke, and is not trying to deal with a problem, but rather find things that will make him temporarily happy.

2."I was smoking Raymond's cigarettes because I ran out" (Camus 31) This shows the continuence of Mersault finding a way to avoid direct ways to deal with problems. It also shows that he will use others to get what he wants.

3.

Journal Entry 2 Stranger

to me, at least, it seems that Mersault is just going and sleeping a lot of the time. Sometimes that's ok, but, at least to me, you would stay awake when keeping vigil over someone. So it just kind of gives me an impression that he just doesn't care about the things around him. Another thing that he did really made me want to be angry with him as well. During the vigil, he constantly complained about a little old lady that was crying because Mersault's Maman was her close friend. He just got really tired of it and wanted her to be quite. When she finnally did quite down, he basically said, 'Finally she shut up.' That made me thing that Mersault doesn't have a heart, but it also makes me feel a little sad for him because he is not being very open with others. One last thing that got me was when Mersault said that it really didn't feel like anything changed after his mother's death. That made me think that he really just didn't care about the world around him.

I think Camus would create a protagonist like Mersault to give the story a more life like feel. Everyone thinks that when a mother dies, the son or daughter is supposed to be the one that mourns the most, and is always seen with a tear-stained face, and sobs for weeks, etc. Camus shows in this that he wanted to create a story that was different then the mainstream fantasy publications. Also, Camus might have wanted to create a protagonist like Mersault in order to convey a certain message about good and evil in that there really isn't any in real life. There are only situations and how a person percieves them and gets threw them.

Journal Entry 1 Stranger

The 2 translations given of the Stranger are both translated in different ways. There are many examples in which the translations are different. One example is how in translation 1, the character states that "I can spend the night there, keeping the usual vigil beside the body, and be back here by tommorrow evening." This gives a more detailed statement of what the character is going to do. It also gives a little bit more insight into what the character thinks, for since he said "the usual vigil" this can conclude that he has either done it before, or has seen it before in his religon. In the second translation though, the character mearly states that "I can be there for the vigil and come back tommorrow evening." This does not give the reader as much detail and leaves more room for specualtion as to what the character is like. It also gives the reader a sense as if the author meant to hury the reader along this segment, maybe passing it by as unimportant.

The effect that the 2 translations give are multiple view points of the story from different translators perspectives. The reason why is because one translator might find one part of the story appealing and emphasize on it, while another mearly looks over it and just writes what is neccessary. This gives the reader a rare insight into what the book could really mean, since the translations are sometimes mearly written based on speculation.

Journal Entry 9

The structure used in Their Eyes Were Watching God is very important to the text of the novel. Take for example the beginning and end of the story. Both use a reference to the sea, in the beginning, it is a boat, in the end a net. The boat represent the beginning of a grand journey, which Janie ended up taking, accompanied by Logan, Joe and Tea Cake. She goes on this journey and endures many hardships throughout the story, from running away from her first husband, to watching her second erode away, to even having to kill her third and final husband. After all of this happend, at the end of the story, the auothor uses the net to convey how the journey finally came to an end. The net is eventually used to take Janie back from her journey and take her back to reality, when she was telling the story. Even though she wanted to stay with Tea Cake, the net shows how even though she did desire to stay with Tea Cake, being with him in her present memories is what suited her best. This is how the structure used in the beginning and end of the novel is very important.

Journal entry 8

The title is very important in Their Eyes Were Watching God. The reason why is because in the end, all of the people view God as the superior being in the novel. This can be showed by how people called God the "Ole' Massa" and how when they needed to turn to a major answer, such as whether they were going to live or perish, they turned to God, not to humanity. The reason why they might be watching for God, is so that way they could see a little bit of good in a situation, that the characters in the story would look to a bright, and optimistic future, since God is seen as in the heavens, and heaven is supposedly a wonderful place. That is how the title of the story is significant to the characters.

Journal entry 7

Mrs. Turner is heavily affected by how her husband treats her, or rather, by how her husband doesn't treat her. The man does not try to do anything to keep her back or to make her abide by any sort of rules that some men did in the early 1900's. He also did not strike her or dare to hush her up. This gave Mrs. Turner a load of confidence and superiority, since she thought that she was better than everyone else, just because no one told her that she has gone too far. In fact, Mrs. Turner even reversed what husbands usually do to their wives in that time: she struck him.

There role in marriage is to show how a marriage can end badly if the love for the pair dissappears. This can be proved by how neither Mrs. or Mr. Turner try to confront the other about issues and talk things out, all that happens is that one gets yelled at by another. Also, it is apparent that they don't particularly like spending time together, since most of the time Mrs. Turner is out and about and talking with other people, instead of being at home. One more thing that could signify how the love has run out is that the pair may consider themselves a bad pair, since only one out of the five children that they had survived to the age of 20.

This pair is very different compared to Janie and Tea Cake. For starters, Tea Cake is the one in charge of the relationship between Janie and Tea Cake, doing things like forbidding Janie from seeing Mrs. Turner, as well as hitting her just to show Mrs. Turner who is boss in the relationship. Mrs. Turner is the one in charge of her relationship, seeing as she hit her own husband, and can do what she wishes. Also, Tea Cake actually cares about Janie, such as he doesn't want her to go to work sometimes just because she is tired. Mr. Turner doesn't really care about what happens to Mrs. Turner, as shown how he did not try to help her when she was being trampled on.

Journal Entry 6

116
"The train beat on itself and danced on the shiny steel rails mile after mile."
Personification
This quote is important in pointing out Janie's feelings. When Tea Cake asked Janie to come live with him in Jacksonville, she became very happy. The train also represents a transition from the area where Janie was dominated by another, Joe, to a place where she stood on equal ground, with Tea Cake. Also, usually when people dance, they have fun and are happy, which once more shows Janie's feelings.

118
"The room inside looked like the mouth of an alligator - gaped wide open to swallow something down."
Simile
This simile shows Janie's desperation in trying to find the 200 dollars that she brought with her when she went to Jacksonville. If the money was lost forever in the room, it was almost hopeless for her to get it back, just like their is almost no hope in getting something out of an alligators mouth. The simile could also represent a final farewell to the influence of Joe, for the 200 dollars was from Joe's money, once it was gone, Joe was out of Janie's life.

117
"... so Janie never told him about the two hundred dollars she had pinned inside her shirt next to her skin."
Symbol
This symbol is the last bit of Joe that is left in the story, as well as the remaining remnants of Janie's previous life in Eatonville. Joe made a lot of money while he was mayor of Eatonville, so taking some of his money is like Janie taking Joe with her one last time. The money also represents Janie's previous life of upper class and riches, and maybe her desire to hang on to that for just a little bit longer. But once Tea Cake becomes more prominent in Janie's life, the money is no longer important to Janie, which is why she doesn't get mad at Tea Cake for gambling away her money.

Journal Entry 5

Janie has gone through many changes since the begining of the story Their Eyes Were Watching God. For starters, Janie has developed a motivation after the death of her second husband. Her motivation is now to make decisions on her own, without the guiding eye of another. Before she met Tea Cake, Janie had been controlled by her husbands Joe and Logan. She was not able to have a motivation to strike out for herself since both trie to control her, Logan by making her work, and Joe by forcing her to be a little trophy wife with no voice. With the curtain closed on her first two husbands, Janie is able to break free of the bonds set up by those two and is motivated is to follow her own decisions, in other words, choosing a husband that she wants to marry, not one predetermined by someone else, such as her grandmother.

There has also been notable changes in Janie's attitude. In the begining of the story, when Janie was married to both Logan and to Joe, whenever she was faced with a decision, she always needed to ponder it for a little while. This was due to the uncertainty inside herself, for she did not act with in mind to what she wanted, she only wanted to prevent conflict, like not arguing with Joe when he told Janie to go inside the store. Once the husbands where out of the picture, Janie was able to realize what she wanted, and therefore grew more decisive and forward in her speech. Janie also seems to be enjoying herself more for she believes that she is with the one that was meant for her, that one being Tea Cake. With Joe and Logan, she never seemed to laugh when she was with Joe or Logan, but once Tea Cake entered the picture, she always has a hard time keeping a smile off her face.

Journal entry 4

Ok, here’s my journal entry. Hope it’s good enough.
So Lisa started to dream of love. Love, the radiant figure with light flowing forth from a bright,
beaming smile who lives in the hearts of all. The master of feelings who lives intertwined within
the wants and desires of mere mortals. What need has love need for love, and who could provide
it? She hovers in heavens that houses the sleeping children, men, women. She stands at the
ready, bow taught, arrow nocked, ready to unleash a storm upon the populace. She remains ever
vigulent, waiting in the sky before time was time, and love was simply love. She was likely to find
feathers floating amongst the clouds of fantasies. She was happy and exuberant as well. Good for
James! He finally confronted the feelings welled up beyond the years. I offered my help, but was
swiftly turned away by non-seeing eyes. Anyone could have helped with depression or sadness,
but with love they were baffled. He would be all right, just as soon as he gets himself prepared
for the final shot. He was going to be with her. That was what he believed. And if he was denied
true happiness, at the institution, all would be able to recognize the staggering loneliness, the
blank expression, and the weight of sadness felt by all. People would not have thought to show
up to the meeting came and readied themselves for good or the opposite. They just grabbed a
chair and waited with baited breath. A story, those arrows, had blanketed the village.

IB English Journal entry 3

Here are the 5 literary elements that I was able to locate in Chapter 4 of Their Eyes Were Watching God:

1.
pg. 27
Consonance
"Round dust dark Ah reckon."
I believe that the author did this in order to do two different things. First off, I believe that the author used the "dust dark" consonance in order to convey to the reader that Logan would be getting back to the farmhouse around dusk instead of dark. Now, the main reason why the author doesn't just say "dusk" or "dark" is because by using this consonance, the author is giving the dialect a more real aspect. If Logan just said "dusk" or "dark", it would not have been the same as how the African Americans talked back in the late 1800's, early 1900's.

2.
pg 27
Imagery
"It was a cityfied, stylish dressed man with his hat set at an angle that didn't belong in these parts. His coat was over his arm, but he didn't need it to represent his clothes. The shirt with the silk sleeveholders was dazzling enough for the world."
This imagery matters to the story because it gives us a new look at a new character in the story, Joe Starks. Now the author didn't have to explain what Joe was wearing. She decided to use the Imagery to display certain characteristics about Joe. For one thing, the man is confident, for he is able to walk along a country road without any worry about robbers, which could be a problem for him considering he is wearing such expensive clothing. Another thing that the imagery tells us is that, yes the man is rich, but that he also set out with a purpose. If it were just one of the local rich folk that might have been in the area, they would just take in the scenery on a coach. Instead, you read about Joe going down the path with nothing but the clothes on his back. This means that the man has to be going somewhere.

3.
pg. 31
Simile
"Logan with his shovel looked like a black bear doing some clumsy dance on his hind legs."
This simile adds a little bit of comedy relief to a more serious part of the story. It also provides a little bit of insight about how the reader thinks of Logan. The reason why is because out of all of the clumsy animals the author could have chosen, she chose the strong and powerful black bear. This must mean that even though Logan might have been old and clumsy, he was still proud and strong, and that if he was roused by something, he would release a fury like that of a bear. This reasoning is justified by the death threat that Logan makes later on: "Ah'll take holt uh dat ax and come in dere and kill yuh!"

4.
pg. 30
Juxtaposition
"Ah wuz thinkin'... de way you act."
(Note: This is a long phrase, it was just shortened using the "...")
The author used this passage to point out the differences between Janie and her first husband, Logan. In the story, (at least so far), Janie had only desired to love and be loved in return. This meant that she wanted the person she married to be sweet to her and treat her well, and to be free to do her own will. This is not what Logan wanted to do with Janie. I believe that Logan wanted Janie for one reasons. That reason was to take her and basically make her into a worker, with all of insistence's of coming out and doing all of the farm work, and even going out to get Janie a mule of her own. Logan believed that all of that work would go and "make somethin' outa yuh [Janie]." This kind of thinking conflicted with Janie's free spirit, and helped to highlight Logan's desire to turn Janie into a working woman.

5.
pg. 32
Epiphany
"What was she losing so much time for? A feeling of sudden newness and change came over her. Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south. Even if Joe was not there waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good."
This passage is very important in the development of the charecter Janie. This passage shows that she figured out that she was not going to be able to handle a life that Logan could provide. To go a bit deeper, it also shows us that Janie isn't going to remember what her grandmother said about marriage and that she can be easily led away by another man if she thinks it is a little bit better than what she had. Take Logan and Joe for example. Logan wanted her to work, and stopped trying to care for her after a certain point, and Janie didn't particularly like that. Then Joe comes around, and even though he isn't exactly what she's looking for, she chooses him over Logan and runs off with Joe.

IB English Journal entry 2

There are many ways as to how the setting in Their Eyes Were Watching God affects different literary elements. It affects the atmosphere of the story in a couple of ways. The telling of the pear tree blossoming gives the reader a bit of happy and giddy atmosphere to the story, almost a little bit of a child's fantasy. Once Janie had to return to Nanny's home though, she was thrown back into reality, and the atmosphere became serious and solemn. The setting of the story also gives contrast between a couple of charecters. For Logan, he was represented in his home as a hard-working man with ties to ethics. As Janie tried to interact with Logan, he always tried to get her out and work on his property, rather than just letting her relax on the porch of the home and loving her for the sake of loving her. This causes Janie to further repel Logan, for she keeps the vision of the blossoming pear tree in her heart, . In other words, she wants someone to love her as the bee loves the pear blossom. Once Joe was introduced, Janie realized that life with Logan would not work, that she would not be able to handle an every-day routine with a man that no longer cared for her. So, she went with the man that sweet-talked her and sounded like he truly loved her. The setting in the story also affected the charecters motivation. Once more going to the pear tree, as Janie stared at the relationship between the bee and the pear tree blossoms, her motivation changed. From that point, she wanted to be truly loved, and didn't want to marry someone just for protection or because she would have a great life with someone whom she didn't love. No matter how bad it got, Janie became motivated to find the one person that she could love, the "bee" to her flower".

Journal entry 1

There is a vast difference between the language used in the narration and in the actual Dialouge in the book Their Eyes Were Watching God. The narrator helps to move the story along, and uses a formal english style. The narrator talks without the use of any kind of slang or mispronunciation of words. The actual dialouge that goes on in the story is that of ex-slaves back in the late 1800's when the slaves developed their own slang version of english. This type of english employs many sounds using "-d", "Ah" and other kinds of speech used by the ex-slaves until they got an education or learned how to talk regular english. That is the difference between the narration and the dialect.