Predictions About What Winston Will Do Next

Winston just finished his journey to the proles live. He saw the girl from the fiction department and is now is positive that she is a spy. He just got back to his flat and is certain that soon Big Brother will come for him. Right before Winston falls asleep he thinks about O’Brien. Now that Winston knows he has been discovered by the girl in the fiction department, he may possibly approach O’Brien the next day before Big Brother vaporizes him. He could tell O’Brien the truth about what he feels about the party.

I believe that Winston is going to approach O’Brien. I also believe that Winston is correct that O’Brien is on his side. In addition, I predict that Winston will find a way to live in the apartment above the pawn shop. If Winston can sneak away to live there, he will be able to make some plans about how to overcome Big Brother because there is no telescreen there. Also, he will be able to learn more from the man who owns the pawn shop about the past. I believe he will do this because he had this thought on the back of his mind when he was talking to the man. He knows how dangerous it is, but I predict that he will find a way.

I do not believe that Winston will resume his daily life of hiding for two reasons. The author is starting part two of the book which means that there will be a dramatic change. Winston cannot go back to his regular life without hiding from Big Brother because the girl from the fiction department saw him in the proles neighborhood, which is extremely suspicious. Big Brother vaporizes anyone who looks suspicious for a second, so Winston feels the Thought Police will not continue to allow Winston to live. 

Reflect on the Ministry of Truth. What is being critiqued about Orwell’s society? Our own?

Winston works at the Ministry of Truth which is responsible for making the news, entertainment and education. His daily job involves him rewriting history so that everything Big Brother says in the present matches up with the past. Winston has to rewrite history. This is his favorite part of the job. For example, in this chapter Winston fabricates a story about a comrade Ogilvy who has unwavering faith for the party. Winston fabricates a man and knows that this is impossible to do in his world: “It struck him as curious that you could create dead men but not living ones” (47). In this quote Winston states that he can fabricate a life from nothing, but he cannot create living ones. The living people are so robotic and already dead through their unwavering faith that life is gone from them.

By describing the Ministry of Truth Orwell critiques how the dystopian society constantly lies to its people and that there is no truth to be found: “Most of the material that you were dealing with had no connection with anything in the real world, not even the kind of connection that is contained in a direct lie” (41). The dystopian society has no truth to it anymore. The party simply makes up facts and the people believe it. This critiques how ignorant people will be likely to believe anything, even if that thing is as far from the truth as possible.

In our own society there are many ignorant people who believe anything that is told to them once. In political elections the candidates take advantage of people’s ignorance and try to sway them one way or another based on their opinions that they deliver as facts. The real truth does not lie in one source.  Orwell critiques how people believe everything they hear if it is from a “reliable source”. Yet, even reliable sources do not always contain the truth. Orwell believes that people should be less ignorant and impressionable. 

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick

Gather ye rosebuds which ye may, 1

Old Time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today

Tomorrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun, 5

The higher he’s a-getting,

The sooner will his race be fun,

And nearer he’s to setting.

That age is best which is the first,

When youth and blood are warmer;

But being spent, the worse, and worst 10

Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time;

And while ye may, go marry;

For having lost but once your prime, 15

You may forever tarry.

                Herrick describes a maiden’s life as one to be cherished and used wisely otherwise she will grow old without a husband; he intensifies this position by symbolizing the maiden or virgin’s life with a rosebuds. In the first stanza Herrick describes that a maiden must “Gather ye rosebuds which ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today Tomorrow will be dying.” He describes both the life of a rose bud and the life of a maiden here. Rose buds will die so you have to gather them quickly. Yet, he speaks of a virgin/ maiden here too, because if she does not act, tomorrow this beauty will die.

                In the next stanza the speaker uses the path of time to describe how a virgin must hurry to marry. He describes “this race be run And nearer he’s to setting.” The speaker describes this path of time for both the rose buds and the maidens. The rose buds will come and go with time, but the virgin will not. The virgin will not be able to rebirth like the rose buds. The virgin needs to marry quickly before time runs out.

                The speaker then goes on to say how young age is so important and that being older will change the situation. He explains the rose bud connection here. He says, “That age is best which is the first,

When youth and blood are warmer; But being spent, the worse, and worst Times still succeed the former.” Young age is the best for marrying, and this option dies with time. Time will succeed the maiden. The youth and blood of the maiden are compared to the rose buds because rose buds are red and young.

                The speaker sums up his advice in the last paragraph. He says that the maiden must hurry and marry “for having lost but once [her] prime, [She] may forever tarry.” Once the virgin grows old she will not be desirable anymore. She must act now. 

"Mind" by Richard Wilbur

Mind in its purest play is like some bat 1

That beats about it caverns all alone,

Contriving by a kind of senseless wit

Not to conclude against a wall of stone.

It has no need to falter or explore; 5

Darkly it knows what obstacles are there,

And so may weave and flitter, dip and soar

In perfect courses through the blackest air.

And has this simile a like perfection?

That mind is like a bat. Precisely. Save 10

That in the very happiest intellection

A graceful error may correct the cave.

Wilbur describes the mind as a lonely, dark, entity with hope for change. Throughout the whole poem he compares the human mind to a bat. This furthers his argument that the mind works alone with boundaries, but has the possibility of escaping.

He starts off the poem by stating blatantly that the “Mind in its purest play is like some bat” (1). Without any schooling or changes to the mind, it acts like a bat. He goes on to explain that this is because it “beats about it caverns all alone,/ Contriving by a kind of senseless wit/ Not to conclude against a wall of stone (2-4). The mind goes around in the same place. It encircles the same ideas as a bat encircles a cave. Also, he speaks as the mind as using a senseless wit. This oxymoron explains that while the mind is intelligent, we encircle ideas that are meaningless to our lives. Also, he believes a mind is like a bat because we stay alive inside the dangerous cave.

In the next stanza, Wilbur continues this comparison. He says the mind “knows what obstacles are there” (6). The mind stays inside its comfort zone with fear of the unknown. Although it has “senseless wit”, the mind does not use this attribute to be imaginative because it is too aware of boundaries. This relates to a bat because a bat knows his boundaries of a cave. It could be dangerous for the bat to leave the cave, but why is it dangerous for the mind to leave its comfort zone?

In the last stanza, Wilbur defends this simile by addressing it to the reader directly. He goes on to elicit hope, about both the mind and the bat. He says that “That in the very happiest intellection/ A graceful error may correct the cave (11-12). He says that if the mind or the bat takes a risk, things will change. The cave and the world can be corrected. He believes if the mind makes a graceful error or takes a risk, new knowledge and imagination will come. Also, if a bat leaves the cave, nothing horrible will happen to it either.

Wilbur passes many ideas to a reader quickly with this simile than he would have if he did not use figurative language.

King Lear Act IV. Who is the most villainous character and why?

King Lear is an extremely bleak play that seems to show no hope for the future. Picking the most villainous character is an extremely difficult task because there are different kinds of evils in this play, and some villainous characters have excuses for their treachery.
In my opinion, Goneril and Regan are the most villainous characters because they are so malicious without a reputable cause. They trick their father, who raised them graciously, into giving them reign over England. Then, even though Lear is weak, they seek his death because they believe him to be an annoyance in their lives. Lear asked for absolutely nothing from them except to travel and stay with his knights. He may have caused a ruckus when they would not allow him that, but that is his only offense, and it is completely justifiable. They force him out into a storm and then order his death. Lear may be growing old and losing his wits, but he was never malicious to his daughters. They have no legitimate reason to kill him. Also, what will they receive once the deed is done? Absolutely nothing because he has no power anymore. These sisters are so evil that they will set out to kill their own blood for the fact that he proves to be a small annoyance in their rise to complete power.
Also, Goneril may prove to be more villainous than Regan because she seeks her husband’s life. She wants to kill him to be with another man, Edmund. Albany, her husband, proves to me no aid towards her hunt for power because he condemns her for her actions against Lear. This is reason enough for Goneril to seek his life.
Edmund is high up on the list of villainous characters, but I am able to sympathize with him more than Goneril and Regan. Edmund deceives his brother, his father and basically everyone he comes in contact with. Yet, he has a reason to be bitter towards the society he lives him because he is excluded from it for being an illegitimate child. Also, Edmund deceives others to rise in power. This is extremely villainous, but it is a motive. I think Goneril and Regan to be more villainous than Edmund because at least there is a reason for his evil. What is Goneril and Regan’s reason?

Explication of "Gathering Leaves" by Robert Frost

Gathering Leaves

Spades take up leaves 1

No better than spoons,

And bags full of leaves

Are light as balloons.

I make a great noise 5

Of rustling all day

Like rabbit and deer

Running away.

But the mountains I raise

Elude my embrace, 10

Flowing over my arms

And into my face.

I may load and unload

Again and again

Till I fill the whole shed, 15

And what have I then?

Next to nothing for weight,

And since they grew duller

From contact with earth,

Next to nothing for color. 20

Next to nothing for use.

But crop is a crop,

And who’s to say where

The harvest shall stop?

Robert Frost describes the process of gathering leaves as a part of the harvest which gives him no gratification. The poem takes us through the time consuming process of gathering leaves. At the end of the poem, the speaker is left with nothing but a shed full of dull, weightless leaves. Yet, the speaker knows that gathering leaves is essential for the harvest.

The speaker starts off the poem by saying that it is a difficult process to gather leaves: Spades take up leaves no better than spoons, And the bags full of leaves Are light as balloons” (1-4). The spades used for gathering leaves are inefficient if they take up leaves as well as spoons. Also, the bags full of leaves weight nothing, yet it took a long process of using inefficient tools to get the leaves in the bags. Thus, even though the speaker spent precious time gathering leaves, he only has a weightless bag to show for it.

In addition to having no product to show the work done, the leaves are extremely uncooperative. The speaker says, “But the mountains I raise Elude my embrace, Flowing over my arms And into my face” (8-12). Frost personifies the leaves here. He says they avoid his embrace and care and instead they fight back, making the job of gathering leaves even harder. Frost uses interesting diction here when he refers to the leaves as “mountains” when he previously described the leaves as weightless. Although the leaves are weightless in measured weight, they feel heavy when they are gathered because they do not stay in the bag.

The stanza relates to the emotion that King Lear shares with his daughters Goneril and Regan. Lear raises his daughters with care and gives them everything they ask for, yet they show absolutely no gratitude. Instead, they intend to take away the little power he has left. This relates to the leave because the speaker does so much work harvesting the leaves, but they fight back and are unyielding.

Furthermore to the leaves being uncooperative, the end of this process does not leave the speaker with some sense of accomplishment or happiness. He is left with “nothing for weight” and “nothing for color”. Gathering the leaves gives him nothing. This related to the emotion in King Lear. Lear gives his heart and soul to his daughters and they return this kindness to him with greed. Lear gets no gratification or help.

The last stanza exemplifies the overall theme well. The speaker describes the leaves as “Next to nothing for use. But a crop is a crop, And who’s to say where The harvest shall stop?” (21-24). The leaves are useless once they are brought into the shed. Yet, the speaker must continue this necessary process. He says a “crop is a crop” so it must be gathered. There is no escaping the process of gathering leaves. The speaker wishes the harvest and task of gathering leaves would stop, but he knows that is a mere dream. This relates to the emotion in King Lear of growing older. Lear wishes his aging would stop, but it is inevitable and part of the circle of life. Gathering leaves is an inevitable and ungratifying , but there is no escaping it. 

King Lear's and My Relationship with Nature

                King Lear’s life is falling apart. Once he gives away his powers to his two daughter, Regan and Goneril, they strip the king of everything he has including his knights. Lear believes that having his knights helps separate himself with the animals in nature: “Allow not nature more than nature needs,/ Man’s life is cheap as beast’s” (2.4.307-308). Lear understands that a man without anything superfluous is no different than a beast. He wants to be more than just an animal in nature.

                After Goneril and Regan continue to refuse King Lear a place to stay with his nights, he gets trapped in a dreadful storm. Lear believes that this storm is caused by his daughter’s ungratefulness. He thinks that nature will punish those who sinned. He says that nature should “Find out their enemies now” (3.2.54). He wants Goneril and Regan to be punished by nature. Lear knows he has been sinned against more than he has sinned so he is confused as the why nature is taking its wrath out on him. He also believes that nature makes man fearful: “”The wrathful skies/ Gallow the very wanderers of the dark/ And make them keep their caves” (3.2.45-47). He believes that nature not only terrifies man, but it also punishes sinners.

                I personally have an ambiguous relationship with nature. I love taking walks outside and hiking, but I am fearful of some parts of nature including bugs, animals and other elements. I love the beauty in nature but I do not embrace all parts of nature. Since I do believe in the idea of karma, I can relate to Lear’s theory that nature punishes those who have sinned. Yet, I do not agree because this idea does not hold true in reality. Sinners are not punished by nature. Also, I definitely agree that nature scares man forcing him into shelter. The elements such as rain, lightning and animals are not friends for humans.