Universal Language

This is a version of one of my favorite scenes in Friel's Translations. It is so odd, the two say the same words back and forth in different languages. They don't understand each other and yet they know they love each other. I do honestly feel this scene expresses the quote "love is the universal language" perfectly.

Their love is childish sounding; the two have never really spoken and they know nothing about the person they claim to love. How is this possible? How can someone give their love away like that? It is so strange, yet entrancing. It is impossible to keep from getting caught up in the moment when watching this scene so maybe it was impossible for them to keep from getting caught in the moment with each other.

So while debating this scene in my mind, I have circled around one general question: is a universal language possible? I keep relating this to the question of a universal religion or faith; it seems like too many people are caught in their old ways and will never conform to something that isn't their own. But could love be considered a universal language? I guess it could be, but is love a language? I have been utterly unable to come to a conclusion.

Any thoughts?!

Writing [my meaning]

It is still difficult for me to say what my strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to writing. At the beginning of the semester, I thought my only *major* weaknesses were needing to keep my essay within the page limit and my inability to edit my work. I found out there were far more problems I would be confronted with this year....

These include but are not limited to style (too colloquial, too much passive voice, phrases are repeated all too often, etc) and form/format (paragraphs out of order, not cohesive, too many thoughts for so little space). Finding out these weaknesses actually forced me to fix one my original one about editing. By the end of the semester, I have formed a new method of editing. I write the paper and let it sit. Then re-read it and take out all colloquial language and passive voice. Once again, I let it sit. I repeat this a few more times making sure all spelling errors and such are gone as well. After all of that, I re-read it for cohesiveness - is there anything I can remove or that doesn't fit? - making sure the paper flows well. With all of this editing, I manage to fix the page length as well (majority of the time....) After all of this work is complete, I submit the paper (with shaking hands... no matter how much work I put in to the paper, there are always many other things that are wrong...)

So now, looking back over this long semester, I have found a few new strengths I hadn't been able to see. I have been able to mold my writing process, form, and style to fit with what is expected. Instead of being stuck in my ways, I am willing to change and have worked extremely hard over the semester to try and be exactly what I am expected to be. My form has even begun transforming into a strength! I have improved my transitions and stopped including every random thing that pops in my mind. This semester has helped me immensely. I know my style and all are still things I can improve. I will be working in the future to improve these weaknesses and maybe someday they will become strengths.

Over this semester I have gone from pleased with my writing to absolutely hating everything I did to once again pleased with my work. I know I have improved and know that I will continue improving. I will take this experience and grow from it.

Rereading my metaphor on my very first blog post made me laugh. I glanced back at it while writing this post to make sure I mentioned the right weaknesses and such. I had forgotten all about my metaphor. It seems so true. Writing as a battle. Still seems to be like that. I have to fight myself and convince myself to reread my paper just one more time in order to make it just that much better. It gets so very frustrating! I am happy I am improving and I hope someday I can find more joy in the writing process. I guess we'll find out soon enough....

Names

Names are given to us at birth and follow us until our dying day when a man with shaking hands carves it into a hard, gray stone that will sit above us for the rest of time. Some are chosen with familial references, others historical, and others were picked on a whim. The reasons for our name follows for just as long as the name itself.

Lucy, for example, from Jamaica Kincaid's novel Lucy, struggles with her name. She is named after Lucifer, the devil himself. Her mother chose this name for her, well, because I guess she thought of her as the spawn of the devil. Not a very motherly attitude if you ask me. Her middle name, Josephine, comes from her Uncle Joseph who was supposed to be rich. Her parents thought naming a kid after him would make him feel honored and he would, in the end, leave all of his money to the child. They then realized he was completely broke and living in a tomb. But Lucy's mother proceeded to name her beautiful baby girl after him anyways. Lucy's last name, Potter, has an even worse background. It's the name of the slaveholder who owned her relatives. Good memory to keep, huh?

My name comes from my great grandparents. I love all of the stories I hear and I find comfort in knowing I was named after two wonderful people. I was even born on their anniversary. Unlike Lucy, my name makes me feel connected to my family in a way I love and would hate to be without. This familial tie brings with it familial history that I will carry with me forever.

Names do carry with them history; it isn't a matter of whether they should or not, they just do. It's impossible to avoid. Of course, their are names that have no official history and I guess then they don't carry any with them... But for those that do, the history will always be there. I also believe that as we go through life and meet people, we begin to tie characteristics to names. I met a girl once named Julia who was really nice and sweet, so now I consider Julia's to be nice and sweet. Eh, maybe I'm just weird...

Here are a few other blogs with very similar posts to ponder =D

Caroline and Andrea

Belief and Knowledge - Religion

Re-li-gion

–noun

1. set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.

3. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.

Origin:
1150–1200; ME religioun (<>religion) <>religiōn- (s. of religiō) conscientiousness, piety, equiv. to relig(āre) to tie, fasten (re- re-+ ligāre to bind, tie; cf. ligament ) + -iōn- -ion; cf. rely

It's a pretty loaded word, isn't it? Brings up some deep, passionate feelings and beliefs. I have had many a debate simply because someone mentioned this one simple word in such a way that contradicted my meaning. But what is it really?

In a conversation about belief vs knowing (belief as in religion ; knowledge as in scientific proof and such), I came to the conclusion that belief fills the holes knowledge cannot. At least that is how it seems to work for me. If I don't know something or I find myself afraid of something, I turn to my religion for answers. It seems like that was common among at least a few others in the group (and please correct me if I'm wrong about that)

-I don't know how the world was created so I turn to the bible.

-I am afraid when I am alone in the dark so I turn to prayer.

-I worry about what comes after death so I turn to the church's teachings.

With this realization, I got to thinking. How can someone live without religion? I would surely go absolutely insane without it. ((Of course, I guess you could argue one could absolutely insane with it too...)) I really can't imagine my life without it. Does anyone have any thoughts on the topic? Or another definition of religion to ponder?

Panther

The Panther; Fierce, strong, violent, endangered

Throughout all of our discussions, we have found the panther to be almost like an alternate personality or an outside representation of Ama in the novel Power. Ama is seen in much the same light as the panther. When Omishto describes Ama for the first time, she mentions how beautiful Ama looks from a distance but as you get closer, you see her ribs and her gray hair. When Omishto describes the panther, she mentions much the same thing. As she nears the creature, she sees the scratches on it's skin and the signs of aging. The comparison between the character and the creature is very clear and is expressed often but there are other less obvious ties to the panther:

1. The endangered nature of the Taiga culture
2. The possible death of the culture
3. Omishto and Ama's tie to nature

The story leaves the panther as a general symbol, one that cannot be tied directly to anything but rather connects to almost everything. The magnificent creature plays a very important role in the novel. A different version of the novel actually shows the panther on the cover.


It is interesting to note that even after it's death, the panther plays a very important role in the novel. Only about half way through is it killed by Ama, but the consequences of that act and the mark it left on Omishto still exists and the panther continues to impact the story.

Here is a video about the florida panther I found very interesting. Some facts I found shocking: 17 were killed in 2007 and here are only about 70-100 of them left.

Omnia Vincit Amor!

How can one make them self sufficiently holy to participate in a Holy war?!

The question perplexed me as I heard it echo through the cold, silent auditorium. How is it even possible? Can a person ever be Holy enough to take the lives of other human beings? I thought the choice of life or death was meant to be only up to God?

Professor William Chester Gordon attempted to answer this question in his lecture Crusader Prologues: Preparing for War in the Gothic Age. He mentioned 6 specific tasks: confession, prayer, the blessing of weapons, the vesting of shields, the making and publishing of a will.

In the middle ages, confession was meant only to be done around Easter or when a person was on their deathbed. Taking confession before leaving for battle merely allowed the person to fight with some peace of mind. If they were to be killed in battle, they would be reassured their soul would enter the pearly gates of Heaven. In the last fifteen minutes while Professor Gordon took questions from the audience, a woman asked if the men requested forgiveness for the lives they were to take in battle. The response? No! This surprised me for a minute, but listening to the explanation, it made more sense. They honestly believed they were killing in the name of God and that those who died by their sword were meant to be killed. No forgiveness was needed.

The next step was to undo all the wrongs committed during their lifetimes. They had to improve relations with anyone they may have hurt over the years as well as return any money they may have earned unjustly. I can't imagine they actually were able to undo EVERY wrong, but I guess they must have made a pretty good effort...

Prayer was extremely important. They prayed for strength and protection from God and the saints. They even saw death and injury on the battle field as the saints method of testing those fighting. Prayers were done individually, but most were embedded in elaborate ceremonies.

The blessing of weapons was such a ceremony. Each individual celebrated the ceremony at the church with the most meaning to them. They picked the one they grew up in or wanted to be buried by or something of that sort. The blessing of arrows was supposed to be done on January 20th because that was the day of Saint Sebastian. He is said to have been shot by many arrows after being caught protecting and acting as a Christian during the Roman emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians. Seems like a strange day to pick, but I guess it works!

The vesting of the shield followed. They blessed each shield to protect both the body and soul of whoever may hold it. It was blessed in the name of the Holy Trinity.

The creation and publishing of a will was simply meant to be a way to hope for salvation and forgiveness.

(These last two seemed pretty rushed. Must have been a time constraint or something...)

A few other tid bits of information I found interesting were: some crusaders actually requested to be branded with a cross prior to battle... today tattooing is a far more common choice, crusaders did not have a "willingness for war" but rather a "hope for returning", most weapons were actually given holy names, Mary was seen as a protector who would watch over her "adopted sons" in battle, her figure was printed on flags carried out to war.

I Love Lucy!

I have found the novel by Jamaica Kincaid Lucy to be one of my favorites! I love the language, the colors, the images! I can't wait to start reading again!

The language is descriptive and makes me feel as if I am there with her; staring at the pale sun in winter or standing by the dancing yellow daffodils. The colors are vibrant and beautiful! I could picture the all yellow kitchen with the sunlight glowing through the window on the still figure with yellow hair.

I feel terrible for Lucy; she seems so upset about everything. She hates the flowers, is envious of Mariah, feels like her dreams are unfulfilled because the buildings in he new city are not what she imagined they would be, and will seemingly never really be happy. It makes me wish I could help her.

I am hoping everything improves for her as the book continues, but I have to say, I do not get that feeling. Let's just hope for the best!!

Destroying my Doubts...

"All my life I always wanted to fly. I always wanted to live like a hawk. I know you're not supposed to be jealous of anything, but... to take flight, to soar above everything and everyone, now that's living." - Hugo, "O"

"O" (2001) is a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello. The movie takes much the same course as the play; following with the same themes such as jealousy and plots. The idea of jealousy is my main focus.

In the first scene we see this when Hugo mentions he is jealous of the hawk. The dark, beautiful creature that flies above all else. It is loved by all even though it is so very different. While watching the blurred doves fly around the enclosed room, I began to make a connection. The doves are small and white. They fly in their room, following one another. They are ignored. The hawk, on the other hand, is dark and mysterious. It is brought out at every basketball game. It is beloved. This shows what Hugo thinks of Odin. He sees Odin as the hawk, flying above all else, living life on a never ending high. He comes from a different background and is different in almost every way and yet nobody fears him. They respect him. Hugo is like everyone else and is simply ignored. He is pushed aside like the white doves.

When planning and beginning to write this post, I wanted to find the exact quote from the beginning of the movie. When searching, I happened upon this one:

"All my life I always wanted to fly. I always wanted to live like a hawk. I know you're not supposed to be jealous of anything, but... to take flight, to soar above everything and everyone, now that's living. But a hawk is no good around normal birds. It can't fit in. Even though all the other birds probably wanna be hawks; they hate him for what they can't be. Proud. Powerful. Determined. Dark. Odin is a hawk. He soars above us. He can fly. One of these days, everyone's gonna pay attention to me. Because I'm gonna fly too." - Hugo, "O"

It was exciting to see my theories proven in this way, but it also made me a little disappointed. Does the movie need to state this so clearly? Can they leave anything to be inferred? It seems as if the entire movie takes out all of the questions that one could get from reading Othello. In the play, we can question if Emilia knew she was doing something wrong, but in the movie we are shown quite clearly she did. In the play, we question if Othello and Desdemona consummated their marriage, but in the movie we see that clearly as well. Now, this one small mystery I greatly enjoyed analyzing, has been proven in the most obvious of ways. It could be the point of the film; trying to keep the viewer from leaving with doubt. I just found the doubt to be part of the fun in Othello. I absolutely loved sitting after finishing reading and discussing every possibility. Analyzing Shakespeare's every word. Now I am left to deal with the obvious and it has left me feeling a little angry. Did anyone else feel the same way? Or is do you disagree?

Source for quotes: "O"