"ME" Anaylsis- Portfolio

During this eight week class, I feel as I have grown a lot in my writing. I started off rough, but with hard work and help I made progress. With my first blog, I felt confident; however, once I received my feedback my confidence went out the door! With my feedback I saw I need for improvement in all areas. My Kafka blog shows the improvements I made in all of the areas of the writing guide. My Kafka blog drives me to step out of my comfort zone in my writing and push the limits.    

In Carlos and Kafka Analysis, I show little improvement. This blog demonstrates me mastering clarity and organization. Although I show development in other areas, other writings show more growth and demonstrate the progress. A Midsummer Night’s Dream-Remix and Re-Kafka Analysis are examples of great visuals. Not only does the two blogs serve for great visuals, A Midsummer Night’s Dream-Remix blog provides illustration on using sources that are reliable and correct citation while the Re-Kafka Analysis shows a great thesis.

As an overall performance, I feel A MidsummerNight’s Dream is my best blog. It has some grammatically errors but I think it was well written and showed my ability to incorporate outside sources to convey my thoughts. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, taken as a whole, show evidence of my growth as a writer. I still have to improve with grammar and being able to convey effectively a comparative analysis and with the knowledge and tools I gain from this class, I am confident I will master the areas where I am weak. Not only have I gain valuable information on MLA citation, how to search for reliable sources, and critiquing my own writing, I gain the privilege of meeting new people and building friendships. I enjoyed the class and I am happy to see my improvements. I came a long way from my first blog, Kafka, and I plan on continuing my development as a writer. I did it! You did it! We did it!!   

Remix- Kanye West "Gold Digger"

Jasmine Paden

Women have been portrayed in the media, music, and society in numerous of ways over several years. With the media and music having a massive impact on society’s outlook, Ray Charles’ influence in the 60’s and Kanye West’s influence in the media today, contributes to the stereotypes placed on women. Many may have heard the expression “gold digger” and while it is a common term use now to describe certain kinds of women, Kanye West illustrates the meaning and shows how views of women has changed from the 60’s using Ray Charles’ “I Got a Woman.”

Women in the 60’s were viewed as the caregivers and were often were at home while the husband went out to work. In Ray Charles, “I Got a Woman”, he is singing about a woman who is there for him when he needs her to be. He also sings about the woman knowing her place, “She knows a woman place. Is right there now in the home.” Ray is depicting the woman as being there for him in several of ways, sexually, emotionally, and financially. Regina states, “Ray Charles sung about a woman who pleased him and who made that her priority.” Fast-forward almost fifty years to Kanye West’s “Gold Digger”, we see changes in roles and views of women.

The phrase “gold digger” is a woman who is willing to be with a man because of his finances. A gold digger wants the best things in life and flocks only to men with money. Urban dictionary presents different point of views of the meaning gold digger. One writer writes a gold digger is, “Any woman whose primary interest in a relationship is material benefits. A woman who cares more about a man’s bank account than she does about the man.” There is a vast difference in how Ray talks about his woman than Kanye. Kanye uses a sample of Ray’s “I got a woman” and in the being of his song changes the words of Ray’s version of describing a good girl that would do anything to a woman only looking for a man to things for her, financially. The lyrics changes to, “She take my money, when I’m in need. Yeah she’s a triflin’ friend indeed. Oh she’s a gold digger way over town That digs on me.”

Women image in the 1960’s changes from being there, helping, and providing for her man to now wanting to be on the receiving end. Regina argues, “In modern pop culture women aren’t being sung about in the way Ray sung about women anymore.” The sampling of Ray Charles song shows the opposite of what Ray was singing about. There are many interpretations that can arise from the sampling of Ray Charles song. Many can argue the era of music has change from Ray Charles’ mo-town era of just dominant male groups and woman being in the background to now hip-hop and the exportation of women. Another key point about Kanye’s song is in the third verse he raps about a woman being with a man that is not wealthy but when he gains wealth chooses to leave and be with a white girl. There are so many arguments that could be drawn from this remix. The more you listen to both songs, the more there is to compare.          

 

Work Cited:

Kanye West. Gold Digger. Def Jams Recording, 2005. Audio.

Ray Charles. I Got a Woman. Columbia Records, 1965. Audio.

Regina. "Where The Hell Am I?." "I Got a Woman" - Black Women and Negative Stereotypes. 6 July 2006.  . 26 June 2012.

Undefined. "Urban Dictionary." undefined. 1999-2012.  . 26 June 2012.

Re-Kafka Analysis

                                               

It has been an ongoing fight for men and women to be looked at as equal. Women fought for voting rights, jobs, equal pay, and more. Women fighting for equality have existed for years and slowly women rights have increased. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka not only demonstrates specified gender roles in society, he also uses Grete to illustrate how the gender boundary limits growth. A feminist critic could view Grete’s roles before and after Gregor’s change as Kafka’s way of promoting balance in gender roles.

            Gregor’s sister, Grete, illustrates the way majority of society viewed gender roles in the 1900’s. Grete portrays, in the beginning, a shy girl. “From the neighbouring room on the right the sister was whispering to inform Gregor: “Gregor, the manager is here.”(I) Grete also was without any worries and did not have any responsibilities. “She had probably just got up out of bed now and had not even started to get dressed yet.”(I) Grete’s change from the nurturing, innocent, care-free girl to a stronger young adult is shown throughout her brother’s transformation.

            Gregor’s transformation causes him to lose his ability to work and provide for his family. Because of his parents’ age, Grete is now stepping in to help the family. Gregor has now lost his role as being the family provider and has become dependent, while Grete is forced to grow up and take care of the family. Kafka shows concerns if a girl should and can carry on responsibilities of taking care the family and working. Kafka describes Grete’s hobbies as an encumbrance making her incapable of taking on important roles. Kafka writes, “Should his sister earn money, a girl who was still a seventeen-year old child and whose earlier life style had been so very delightful that it had consisted of dressing herself nicely, sleeping in late, helping around the house, taking part in a few modest enjoyments and, above all, playing the violin?”(II) Although Kafka raise this concern, he explains how she dealt with the challenge, “In the first two weeks his parents could not bring themselves to visit him, and he often heard how they fully acknowledged his sister’s present work; whereas, earlier they had often got annoyed at his sister because she had seemed to them a somewhat useless young woman.”(II)    

Gregor’s transformation caused Grete to step up because of his inability to work; this changes her gender role as a female. Although her role seems to only be taking care of her brother, she gains value within the family. Kafka states, “He often heard them praise his sister’s current industry, whereas they had previously complained a great deal about her, as she had then seemed to them a rather idle girl.”(II) Slowly Grete is shown appreciation and is getting recognition.

            The author expresses, through Gregor’s crisis, how the norm of gender roles can hinder both male and female. Gregor worked so hard at a demanding job to provide for the family, “what a demanding job I’ve chosen!”(I) while Grete lived careless day to day. Grete shows her new found strength when she stands up and tells her parents how she feels about her brother. Grete aggressively explains, “Things cannot go on any longer this way. Maybe you don’t understand that, well I do. I will not utter my brother’s name in front of this monster, and thus I say only that we must try to get rid of it.”(III)

Kafka, Franz. Metamorphosis. Trans. and Ed. Stanley Corngold. New York: Bantam, 1972. Print.

A Midsummer Night's Dream- Remix

In the world of myths and legends, fairies, and young love are different worlds Shakespeare uses in A Midsummer Night’s Dream to display love. With the help of magic love juice, Demetrius, Lysander, and Titania falls erratically in love with the first person seen. Love takes on many views, meanings, and obstacles. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the play brings to light in a comical way how people handle and take love. The film closely ties in the same story line and ideas as the play in some ways the same and some ways a little different.

In the movie, the relationships between men and women conveyed the same ideas. In the play we see Hippolyta portraying the typical traits that men stereotyped a woman. She seemed submissive in allowing Theseus to take her hand in marriage on conditions that weren’t based on love. Although Hippolyta and Theseus characters were not depicted in the film, their relationship in A Midsummer Night’s Dream was expressed in a different way. In the beginning of the play, love is forced and troubled. “I woo’d thee with my sword. And won thy love, doing thee injuries”(I i). Theseus showed love that was obligated and conquered. Because Hippolta was obligated to marry Theseus, it showed how things where forced because of status, title and position. A.D Spencer states, Theseus does not discuss a concept of actual love but of the right to marry the defeated Amazon, the now submissive party. In the movie we see Oberon and Titiania displaying Thesesus and Hippolyta relationship after years have passed. The movie gives an idea how the relationship will be with years past and to come.

During the play Helena’s character was in love with Demetrius who in return was in love with someone else. She sought after his love even after he continually turned her down, “The more I love, the more he hateth me (I i).    One could say Helena was a fool in love; however, Demetrius was also in love with someone who was not in love with him, Hermia.

In the film, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and also the play Hermia stands up to her father and profess her love for another man other than her father (Egeus) choice. As Theseus is explaining Demetrius as worthy gentleman, Hermia replies, “So is Lysander.”(I i) In the time period of the play, men were viewed as superior to women and as Samantha Warren states, in all aspects. For this era, a woman being anything other than submissive to a man was not the norm. Typically the woman was view as the one that displayed feelings while men suppressed their feelings and showed love in other ways then emotionally. The middle of the play entails love that flickers, complications, and confusion. Lysander states, “The course of true love never did run smooth” (I i), and with Oberon and Puck trying to fix love things become more complicated. Throughout Puck’s quest to fill Oberon orders to cause Demetrius to fall in love with Helena, his mistake causes the wrong person to fall in love, Lysander. With this mistake we see love as a farce, Helena utters, “Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born?” (I ii) Puck also says, “Lord, what fools these mortals be!” (III ii) Women are known to think with their emotions before a man. With Lysander and Demetrius falling deeply in love shows traits that are normally associated with females.

Even with all the twist in turns the play makes and the film, love prevails in the end. A Midsummer Night’s Dream investigates and looks at the nature of romantic love and its pursuit. The pursuit can make us foolish. The love comedy showed how to overcome difficulties and how simple falling in love can be. Maybe this is where we get the cliché, “love at first sight.”

Work Cited:

AMidsummer Night’s Dream.28 Nov. 2005. Film.

Shakespeare, William. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Literature Drama: Craft & Voice. Ed.    Delbanco, Nicholas. New York, NY. 2010. (184-219). Print.

Spencer, A D. "An Analysis of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream: Does True Love Exist?" Love is for the Fairy Tales. 29 Aug 2009. 7 June 2012.

Warren, Samantha. "Shakespeare On Gender Roles." British/UK  Fiction. 10 Jan 2011.  . 14 June 2012.