Jack Martin's English Journal

Establishment of dream page 16:

Georges says to Lenny:

‘Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world’

‘They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to’

American dream- Independence, having your own bit of land, money and family.

Speaking about the dream page 83:

Crooks says to Lennie and Candy:

‘You’re nuts’ ‘I seen hunderds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads’. Rejects the dream and says how ridiculous it is.

‘if you guys would want a hand to work for nothing-just his keep, why I’d come an’ lend a hand’. Crooks now says he would like to join them being as everyone’s dreams is the same and everyone’s wants change.

‘We’ll jus’ forget it’. Crooks then rejects the offer influenced by Curleys wife coming in and saying their all losers.

In many pieces of writing an emotion is expressed. This can differ depending on the writer’s aspirations and objectives for their reader. Emotions can come from the writer’s personal interpretation, opinions and feelings or the emotions he wants to create through his characters and the situations they face. I wanted to compare how similar and different emotions are expressed in two different genre of writing and understand how the writer uses language techniques to make his writing effective. The two pieces of writing I have been looking at is Titus Andronicus and WW1 poetry. Titus Andronicus is a play written by Shakespeare and the WW1 poetry consists of two different poems by different poets. The first poem being Does it matter? By Siegfried Sassoon and the second being Athem for doomed youth by Wilfred Owen. In this piece of writing I will be comparing Titus Andronicus and WW1 poetry. In order to do this I will look at the historical content and background information of each, the plot and events which happened, the emotions expressed through language devices, modern interpretation, conflicts still happening today and my own conclusion.
Titus Andronicus is a tragedy play script written by Shakespeare. It is lead to believe that it was written around 1590. The play was performed in the 17th century. The play is also considered to be Shakespeare first tragedy. A tragedy styled piece of writing is based on human suffering that invokes the audience’s enjoyment and strong emotions to be shown. We also have to remember that his work was fictional therefore the writer created the characters and emotions shown whereas the war poems were accounts from WW1 which was a real life event, however Shakespeare used a realistic character base using groups of people for example the Romans and the Goths. Titus Andronicus is established as Shakespeare’s most violent play which is very significant considering it was his first playwright. My opinion consist of that Shakespeare was trying to make a big impact on his audience and shock them through the story and emotion. He would have wanted to do this to portray the message that he has more potential, to grow in public demand with the audiences best interests in mind. This would therefore increase his plays in popularity resulting in a large viewing audience. The Elizabethan London audiences loved to watch Shakespeare plays and wanted to see violence resulting in suffering and the breaking down of characters. I think death, violence, and suffering within London was very common 500 years ago which many could relate to and enjoy viewing. What I mean by this is that death was a punishment for committing a crime and was widely celebrated and published by the London community. This relates to the fact that people enjoyed to watch people suffer. The play is built around the sheer anger and revenge the character felt towards each other and the situations they faced.

The War Poems written by Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen were subjected around World War One. Both men were soldiers for the British Army and expressed their feelings on war through poetry. Being as both men fought in the war this gave there poetry a clear message of the reality of war. These poems did change the community at home perception on war. WW1 lasted for four years starting in 1914 and ending in 1918 where 9 million soldier lost their lives. The subject of war in Britain was widely celebrated on home soil in which people would party showing off the red, white and blue flag. Young men would rush to sign up to be soldiers and would be looked down on if they didn’t by the community. As the war went on more and more young men continued to die, and slowly the perception of war at home was changed. These poems and the writing sent home to family members of the families have a huge role to play within this change of opinion on war, but the war didn’t end which the soldiers were desperate for. The emotions present throughout the poems were sadness, pain, and grief which the soldiers faced.
In Titus Andronicus Act 3 Scene 1 and the War Poetry of Wilfred Owen Anthem for Doomed Youth there is a level of desperation and to make awareness. For example in Shakespeare Titus is begging the Tribunes not to kill his sons and in the Poetry the writer wants the war to end and for people to know the truth. Due to these being personal issues similarly surrounding round death strong emotions are present. An emotion of being despair and hopelessness is linked with both texts.
In both writings the way it sounds is used to show this emotion. The use of iambic pentameter is used to show this. For example from Titus Andronicus ‘Why, tis no matter man; if they hear’. The use of iambic pentameter allows the words to flow and creates a rhythm giving the line a matter of importance and passion. This is the first line of the extract showing us that Titus started off strongly. However, the emotion of despair is shown through the breakdown of the iambic pentameter where there is a line that doesn’t fit the rhythm and has a stressed syllable. An example of this would be ‘yet in some sort they are better than the tribunes’. This gives us the evidence to suggest that Titus is giving up and losing hope and becoming weaker. It is also significant that the stressed syllable is the word ‘tribunes’ enforcing that his problem lies with them and it is really bothering him. The last line also doesn’t fit the pentameter ‘and tribunes with their tongues doom men to death’ which leaves us as readers feeling the emotion of despair being as it didn’t end strongly and also in suspense to see whether the tribunes kill his sons.
Wilfred Owen also uses the Iambic pentameter in his poem. The emotion is shown in the same as Shakespeare through lines that doesn’t fit the pentameter. What is different about the poem is that the lines not fitting the pentameter are the first lines in the first two stanzas. For example stanza one ‘what passing-bells for these who die as cattle?’. I interpreted this as the poet started of weak to give the essence of suggesting where does he start being as it is such a big, disturbing topic. This line triggered this thought and I think it was his intention which also emphasised the emotion. Throughout the stanza the iambic pentameter picked up showing an increase in confidence, but then in stanza two the first line broke the pentameter ‘no mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells’. I think this was done to show that the problem keeps coming back, people are made aware and no one does anything. The feeling of despair is present throughout the whole poem.

Emotion-Anger

Iambic pentameter is used to emphasis feelings

Act 3 Scene 2

Titus talking to Lavinia at table-Quotation:

‘This poor right hand of mine
Is left to tyrannize upon my breast,
Who, when my heart, all mad with misery,
Beats in this hollow prison of my flesh,
Then thus I thump it down.

Thou map of woe, that thus dost talk in signs!
When thy poor heart beats with outrageous beating,
Thou canst not strike it thus to make it still.
Wound it with sighing, girl, kill it with groans;
Or get some little knife between thy teeth,
And just against thy heart make thou a hole,
That all the tears that thy poor eyes let fall
May run into that sink, and soaking in,
Drown the lamenting fool in sea-salt tears.’

Personification is used suggesting the heart is a creature rather than an organ prisoned within the hollow flesh. This symbolises the emotion of pain and heartbreak which Titus is suffering through the personified heart.  The heart being prisoned suggest Titus has no answer because he is trapped also implying the emotion of loneliness.

Resource: http://hudsonshakespeare.org/Shakespeare%20Library/Synopsis/synopsis_titus_andronicus.htm

Saturninus and his brother Bassianus both claim to succeed their father as Roman Emperor. Titus Andronicus, a vastly popular general and patriot, is expected to return shortly from a successful war against, the Goths. Titus appears, mourning the loss of several sons in the campaign. A surviving son, Lucius, declares that their religion demands a human sacrifice, and he nominates Alarbus, a son of Tamora, the captive Queen of the Goths. Tamora’s plea for mercy is ignored, and Alarbus is killed. Titus is asked to choose the new Emperor. He declares in favor of the technically legitimate successor, Saturninus, the elder of the two brothers. In gratitude, Saturninus declares that he will marry Titus’ only daughter, Lavinia. Titus then turns his prisoners over to Saturninus, who comments lyrically on Tamora’s beauty. Bassianus claims Lavinia as his own betrothed, as had earlier been arranged, and Titus’ sons back him. Titus accuses them of treason for opposing the will of the new Emperor. The sons and Bassianus take Lavinia away by force, and Titus kills one of his own sons in the skirmish. Saturninus, however, seizes on the chance to reject Titus, whose popularity he fears, claiming him to be associated with his family’s treason. The Emperor then declares his intention to marry Tamora. Tamora purports to defend Titus, but, in an aside to Saturninus, she recommends that he take revenge later, when his throne is more secure. She assures him that she will see to it herself to avenge her son’s death. Saturninus therefore pretends to forgive Titus and his family. A double wedding is proposed, and a festive hunt is planned for the next day.

I’ve reviewed each material and now I’m onto linking each to my theme. My theme originally was Mans inhumanity to man but I’m not sure if this is now suitable being has the materials I studied has changed

Theme= Mans inhumanity to man.

Material I have read and watched:

1) The boy in the striped pyjamas- John Boyne

2) Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck

3) In Flanders Fields (poem)- John McCare

4) Beyond belief the moors murders- Emlyn Williams

5) Die hard- film

6) Harry Brown- film

All these materials involved the killing of people but for many different reasons, a varied range?

I’m starting to think is the theme selected still suitable for all my materials or does it need slight adjusting?

Please get back to me- Jack Martin

Resource: http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/titus/section1.rhtml

After the death of the Emperor of Rome, his two sons, Saturninus and Bassianus, ask the masses to determine who should succeed to the throne. The first invokes his natural rights as the first-born son, the second calls upon his virtue and graciousness. They are silenced by the Tribune of the People, Marcus Andronicus, who announces that the people of Rome have elected to the throne Titus Andronicus, a great general who has spent the last ten years and lost twenty-one sons vanquishing Rome ‘s enemies. Titus enters to great fanfare, trailed by four living sons and two in coffins; he brings with him the captives Tamora, Queen of the Goths, her three sons, and Aaron the Moore. Despite a desperate plea from Tamora, Titus orders, following Roman custom, that Tamora’s oldest son be ritually sacrificed in exchange for Titus’s own dead offspring.

Marcus offers Titus the scepter of Rome on behalf of the people, but Titus refuses it on account of his age. Instead, he states that Saturninus should be emperor because he is the eldest son; Saturninus returns the favor by taking Lavinia as his empress. Bassianus revolts against this, claiming that Lavinia is betrothed to him. He spirits her away, with the aid of Lavinia’s remaining brothers Lucius, Mutius, Quintus, and Martius. When Mutius intercedes with Titus on behalf of his fleeing sister, Titus strikes him down and kills him. It is only after his other sons plead with him that Titus even allows Mutius to be interred in the family tomb.

Publicly humiliated by the loss of Lavinia, Saturninus announces that he will instead take Tamora as empress. The new empress slyly advises him to accept the apologies of Titus and his sons, secretly promising Saturninus that she will help him find another day to exact revenge on the Andronici. The new emperor closes Act 1 by declaring it a love-day and inviting everyone to the court for a feast. Titus offers to organize a hunt for him the next day, and Saturninus accepts.

Stanza from the poem ‘to a mouse’

But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane,

In proving foresight may be vain

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men,

Gang aft agley,

An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,

For promis’d joy! (1st quote)

The poem sums up how everyone in the story is suffering and not succeeding in their dreams. It also shows the lost of relationships within society being as they treat people on the basis of how much work they can do and not their personality’s. ‘For promis’d joy!’ this tells us that the dreams of the characters are unreachable which is demonstrated by the word promised. This quote also shows the characters are not joyful from not fulfilling their dreams.

1) The advertisement is a public health message referring to the fast food brand McDonald’s as an example. ‘Macdeath sir?’ is the adverts message which suggests to us eating fast food like mcdonalds will lead to death. The adverts message is that fast food is bad for you and by eating a large quantity of it you could possibly die.

2) The visual techniques used in the advert is the famous McDonald’s M logo which is present at the start of the statement (question). This shows us the relation between the statement and McDonald’s but on a larger scale fast food generally. Also the colours of the word ‘macdeath’ is yellow and red which are the colours belonging to McDonald’s. The word ‘sir’ is in the colour black the colour black showing importance and the superiority.

Both of the articles are about the bill to legalise gay marriage in the UK which are both bias and in favour. Both articles share factual information for example the proposal to delay the bill. In example the first article written by Hannah Furness says ‘written to mr Cameron imploring him to delay a vote on same-sex marriage until after the next election’ , and the second article written by Juliette Jowit ‘urges the prime minister to reconsider or at least or at least delay the plans’. The second fact shared in both articles is the stating of people who wrote the letter to Mr Cameron however one of the pieces of information is incorrect due to the figures being different in each. In Hannah Furness ‘a group of 20 senior local conservatives’ whereas in Juliette Jowit ‘a letter signed by 22 current and former chairmen.