Q2:W6 Comments

Evan - Free Post

Ellie S - Supporting My Thesis

Theatre Review of OSLO

Over Thanksgiving break, my family and I took a trip to London. The trip was fantastic, with some of the highlights being touring Westminster Abby, walking around Oxford, seeing the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, having high tea, and going to the Royal Albert Hall to see the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform some of the best show tunes. But one of the most special parts of the trip was seeing Oslo at the West End.

Most people know about the Israel-Palestine conflict, and how hard it will be to have "peace in the Middle East." What most people don't know is there has already been an almost successful attempt at peace that looked very promising at the time: the Oslo Accords. The straight play "Oslo" is about this peace deal, a secret backchannel between Palestinian and Israeli officials set up by a Norwegian couple, trying to make to make peace. Personally, this show was really special to me because my grandmother, who was sitting next to me, had met most of the characters in real life. She said that the characters were very realistic to their actual personas, and I agree that the show lets the audience see what actually happened.

Like I said, "Oslo" is about the Oslo Accords, set up by a Norwegian couple, Terje (who looked identical to Wadsworth from Clue) and Mona, who every character loves ("without Mona this is nothing" is said multiple times) and is my favorite character. They acknowledge the fact that Norway is neutral on this matter, and talk Palestineans and Israelis into meeting each other at their home in Olso, Norway. As negotiations become more and more successful, Israel upgrades its representatives and Terje and Mona are forced to tell the upper Norwegian officials, while still trying to keep the secret from the Americans and the rest of the world until it is hopefully signed.

Jokes make what should be a tense play more relaxed, but the audience can still feel the pressure of the process. The unusually long three-hour play flies by so it doesn't feel that long. "Oslo" is truly a unique and educational show that means a lot to so many people in the world. ★★★★★

LOTF Thesis

Thesis: In Lord of the Flies, Golding parallels Simon to Jesus to contrast and significantly shine the spotlight on the rest of the boys' savage-like behavior.

Passage: "Then, amid the roar of bees in the afternoon sunlight, Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands. When he had satisfied them he paused and looked round. ... He came at last to a place where more sunshine fell. Since they had not so far to go for light the creepers had woven a great mat that hung at the side of an open space in the jungle; ... Then he bent down and wormed his way into the center of the mat." (56-57)

This passage is the first to truly show Simon's kindness to others. He is walking through the forest, and stops to feed hungry children who want his help. According to the Bible, Jesus also did this numerous times throughout his journeys. This contrasts the other boys' behavior, especially Jack's, who don't care about the littluns, and later suggest (maybe jokingly) that they kill the littluns for food. So instead of killing the littluns for food, Simon feeds them. Simon waits until they are all satisfied to go do what he wants to do.

Another significance of this passage is that this is the first time Simon is in his "special place." No one else knows about this, and Simon can kind of be at peace here. However, this is also the place where Simon meets the "beast". All the boys have their theory of what the beast is, whether it doesn't exist, it's a ghost,  or it comes from the water or air. Little do they know, as Simon finds out in this place, that the beast is a part of them.

Something worth mentioning – the next things that happen are: the kids throwing sand at Percival, Roge throwing rocks at Henry (sociopath!), and Jack painting his face for the first time to go on a hunt. This is all preceded by Simon feeding children and being at peace in the forest.

Q2:W5 Comments

Matthew - Symbolism

Robert - LOTF Response: p. 83-84

The Day that it Rained

Lupita glanced upwards towards the ever-blazing sun, always cursing her, on her daily 5-mile trip to get water. The dirt path stung her feet with bits of rock. The small, crumbling well was busy as always, and Lupita had to push her way through to fill her small bucket. Her mother wanted her home before sundown, but she had plenty of time; the sun was directly above her, burning her skin with its unwanted rays. She drank a little from the well, cooling her dry lips for about a minute, then started her trek back home. This trip was always longer than the first, as she had to be careful about not spilling her precious cargo. She glanced up again. A single vulture was searching in the sky, but he would not find anything to eat here. No, he would have to go where Lupita's father and two brothers were: about thirty miles to the north, fighting against other tribes. Ever since they had left, the sun had seemed to beat harder on her.

A noise startled Lupita, almost causing her to drop what she was carrying. There were few noises in the desert, mostly the cry of the vulture, the occasional distant gunshots and the shuffle of footsteps against the dirt and sand. This sound was not one of those; no, it was a humming sound, maybe a vehicle? The only vehicle that Lupita had ever seen was the warlord's, and she did not want to see or hear it again. She shuttered, remembering what that occurrence had started. Suddenly, unexpected, a cloud passed over Lupita. She had seen a cloud maybe once a week, but this one was the largest she could remember. Thankful for the hopefully prolonged shade from the sun, she added a bit of joy in her step, still careful not to spill. As she went over the last hill, overlooking her small village, Lupita could see the source of the mysterious humming noise: vehicles were advancing from the other side of the village, but not that of a warlord. These had strange flags on them, with red and white stripes and a square of blue in the corner with lots of stars. There were lots of men, both white and black, but in the front vehicle was, unmistakenly, her tall strong father holding the hands of her brothers. Lupita carefully placed the water down in the sand, she would come back for it later, and raced towards her father and brothers. As she got to the edge of the village, for the first time that Lupita could remember, it started to rain.

Note: I used weather symbolism in this piece, but tried to make it different from the typical story. Usually, rain symbolizes something sad, but in this small desert village, rain represents something happy, and the sun is the usual, terrible life that Lupita leads.

LOTF Response

Passage
The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went. The rock bounded twice and was lost in the forest. Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it has been killed. Then the sea breathed again in a long, slow sigh, the water boiled white and pink over the rock; and when it went, sucking back again, the body of Piggy was gone. (p. 181)

Analysis
This is the passage where Piggy dies, and the conch is destroyed. Symbolistically, this is probably the most abundant scene in the book. Piggy, who symbolized wisdom and the last shred of civilized manner among the boys, is now dead. The conch, which symbolized the civilized world and its order, is now in thousands of pieces. My prediction for the rest of the story is that the boys, somehow, will become even more wild and savage. Ralph and Samneric are the only boys that still want to be rescued, and the rest just don't care. Remeber that wildfire at the beginning of the book, when the boys weren't really organized yet, not fully? I think, now that they're not organized at all, they will set fire to the entire island.

The narrator's tone in this passage is also something to look at. What should be the most emotional scene in the entire book is just kind of monotone. Symbolizing the end of civilization within the boys, this should be one of the more heartfelt passages, but it's really not. When the conch is destroyed, that's all that is said. It's as if the conch had no real value to anyone, even the narrator. The death of the beloved character Piggy is written kind of casually. The narrator is pretty much saying "Yeah, Piggy died" with a couple more details. It makes probably the most important scene in the book seem like it wasn't a big deal at all.

Q2:W4 Comments

Gregory - Star Wars

Zoe - lotf's vivid detail of pigs

The Firings of Les Miles and Joe Girardi

Many coaches get fired for what appears to be nothing. But I want to focus on two imprudent firings: Les Miles at LSU (college football) and Joe Girardi at the New York Yankees (professional baseball). In both of these cases, it seems like one or two losses sealed their futures at their respective programs.

Les Miles and LSU started the 2016 season with a 2-2 record, which is not so great for the program. The second loss, which was against Auburn, drew censure from the athletic department at the university. However, I don't the Auburn game was really a loss; I think we actually won that game, and the officials made a mistake. Let me explain: LSU was losing 18-13, but had the ball. With as time expired, Danny Etling threw a touchdown pass to DJ Chark to win the game. But the officials said that Etling didn't get the snap off in time, and Auburn won the game. However, I think that the officials were wrong; I think the Etling did get the snap off in time, and that LSU should have won. I also think that if LSU would have beaten Auburn, then Les Miles wouldn't have been fired. This one little loss, which shouldn't have happened, skewed the minds of the LSU athletic department, and thus Les Miles was fired.

Joe Girardi's 2017 firing was really a decision by the Yankees to not renew his contract. However, I don't think this was such a smart move. This decision came after the Yankees made it all the way to the ALCS (the semifinals), but lost to the Astros, who ended up winning the World Series (the championship). Still, Joe Girardi, who was in his ninth year of coaching the Yankees, led his team to the SEMIFINALS, and the Yankees (in my mind) said: "sorry, that's not good enough." I bet that if that Yankees made it to the World Series, Joe Girardi would be returning next season. But no, being the third or fourth best team in the country just isn't good enough for the Yankees.

LOTF Response: Focusing in on Simon

As we have been reading Lord of the Flies, I have found myself focusing on Simon, and what he symbolizes. One of the things that he symbolizes sticks out to me the most: prophets, or more specifically, Jesus. Early in the book, Simon goes off to his special place in the jungle, but along the way feeds young kids (he gets fruits that they can't reach off trees for them). He also a knowledge of things that haven't happened yet. For example, in Chapter 7 on page 111, Simon is speaking to Ralph and says "you'll get back to where you came from." When Ralph asks him how he knows that, Simon is silent. During the conversation, Simon repeats the phrase two more times. But one thing he doesn't say is the word "we," so it's as if saying "you'll get back, but I won't." Somehow, he thinks (or maybe knows, we're not sure yet) that he will never leave the island. If this ends up being true, then is it possible that he could tell the future?

This is not the only symbolism found in Lord of the Flies. The character of Piggy is an obvious example of symbolism: his nickname is Piggy, and he is on an island made of pink granite, and the only animals on the island are pigs (and humans). He also seems to be the wisest of the boys, coming up with most of the ideas, and he is also the only one that wears glasses. This could symbolize that he is one of the only ones who can see what is actually there.