Thought Connections

  Latin American Literature Realism and Magical Realism     The theme that I feel emphasized in all the interpretations is Misery. Misery was something that all the characters felt at some point and time in each of the readings. Misery is a state or feeling of great distress or discomfort of mind or body. In the poem ‘’Walking Around’’ by Pablo Neruda, the main character is not happy at all and seems to be in some sort of misery. Pablo Neruda discusses how humans have lost their individuality because all that people want is to have is what other people have. It reads , ‘’I want to see no more establishments, no more gardens, nor merchandise, nor glasses, nor elevators (Greenblatt 2012, line 5). In this passage he is so upset about how the world has turned he appears to be in a state of misery. Nothing can make him happy unless the people change their ways of how they live. Then I believe he will be able to set his mind free from the misery that he holds.   In...

African and American Literature   The theme that was emphasized in this week’s interpretations is identity. I chose identity because it resonated throughout the stories and the poems. It also deals with the identity of one’s culture and what people perceive you to be. It also deals with the identity of you name and what that would mean. In the story ‘’Notes of a Native Son’’ it is the story of a man who does not know his father at all. He starts to go over his childhood and the situations that includes his father, however he does not know the true essence and the real identity of his father. It reads, ‘’ From what I was able to gather of his early life, it seemed that this inability to establish contact with other people had always marked him and had been one of the things which had driven him out of New Orleans’’ (Greenblatt 2012, p. 738).   When they mention the that, the character was marked I think they are trying to say that it scared him. Something terrifying must h...

 Native American Literature   The theme that I believe was emphasized in this week reading is reiteration. In all the interpretations there is a form of  reiteration . In ‘’The Night Chant’’ There was so much reiteration that the author wanted the reader to get a better understanding of how important reiteration is in a reading. It was like the author was manifesting the healing, the more he mentioned it the more it comes true and it reads, ''Happily my interior becomes cool. Happily my eyes regain their power. Happily my head becomes cool. Happily my limbs regain their power. Happily I hear again'' (Greenblatt 2012, line 50).  In this poem the author create emphasis through reiteration with an aim of creating mood and tone, revealing significance of certain information, and obtaining clarity for better knowledge of literary works.   In the story ‘’ The Conquest of Mexico ‘ ’ there was a form of reiteration, that was mentioned when the Mexicans knew t...

  Contemporary Eastern Literature  The theme that was emphasized in most of the readings from this week’s interpretations would be loneliness . Loneliness is an unpleasant emotional response to perceived isolation. Loneliness is also described as social pain—a psychological mechanism which motivates individuals to seek social connections.   In all the stories the characters experienced loneliness and seem to seek social connections.   In ‘’ Diary of a Mad Man’’ The main character thought that everyone around him was trying to eat him and he blocked everyone out and said things that made people not want to go near him. which I would imagine could be very lonely the passage reads ‘’The sun doesn’t come out. The door doesn’t open. It’s two meals a day’’. (Greenblatt 2012, p.1246). This shows how the characters thoughts has locked him away from society. The main character was never alone because he had a brother that really cared about him, but his illness and crazy ...

Ancient Eastern Literature The theme that emphasized most of the readings from this week’s interpretations would be Ritual . It seems  the characters in some of the stories are comfortable doing the same things all the time when it comes to the situations of their lives. Ritual as a theme is perfect because even if something that someone may not notice is happening constantly, it does not mean it is not some form of a ritual. I will start with "Confucius" he states that "Everything we do in life is a ritual, whether we greet each other with a handshake or mark life's important moments, such as birth and death, with special observances." (Greenblatt 2012, p.1333).   In the Poem "Plums are Falling," The main character is a woman who follows every woman's Ritual, which is to have a husband. The ritual would be learning how to cook and clean. Present yourself in a way so a man would want to marry you. These are things that are instilled in some som...

 Multicultural Literature The theme I would emphasize from this selection of readings of Multicultural literature  would be Time . I have picked time because it seems as though through all the story’s time was very important, but it was also something that the characters took for granted. In “The Metamorphosis" by Kafka he did not see how spending time with family was very important instead he saw them as a burden and only did what he wanted to do.  It reads, '' It  really  bothers  me  that  he  never  goes  out  in  the  evening ;  he ’ s  been  back  in  the  city  an  entire  week  now ,  but  he ’ s  spent  every  last  evening  at  home .  He  just  sits  at  the  table  with  us ,'' (Greenblatt 2012) . Now that he has become a bug he wished he had more conversations with his paren...