Domenico+II

el 16 de Marzo Before reading this book I wasn't skeptical and I didn't anticipate it, I had never even heard of Zora Neale Hurston before--probably because we didn't read any of her essays in our book "one hundred great essays" last year. Nevertheless, I entered this book with an open mind, and I was very pleased after the first two chapters. The dialect reminds me of Huckleberry when he used his southern accent to say "injuns"(maybe i spelled that wrong) and although it is tough to read at times, I feel as if this new language pulls me deeper into the story. This aspect is not the only thingthat pulls me deeper into this book. I enjoy Zora's use of metaphors and similes--"They don't know if life is a mess of corn meal dumplings, and if love is a bed quilt!". To me these rhetorical devices are meant to be understood the first time you read them. Of course you can look deeper in to the origin of quilts and see why love connects, but for me, I enjoy how I can read this book with a sort of fluidity (hamlet was a lot of stop and go). I like how the story is being told to Janie's best friend Phoebe. I think this will allow Janie to open up and we will see the honest depiction of the plot. Also because this person is a friend, the mood will mirror Janie's actual feelings; compared to 1984, When winston was excited he found that article talking about the three men who rebelled who were caught in broad daylight, he had to keep a stale facial expression to keep his secret locked inside his mind. I do not believe that will happen in this book. I can't wait to read on.

There is a song by the Shirelles called Mama Said. In the song they talk about a young girl who falls in love. she believes her eyes are wide open and she has found the one, but the mom doesn't agree. the mother says the girl will find someone who will truly love her some day, and this parallels with what the Janie's grandmother is telling her. Mama said, mama said. [|mama said]

el 18 de marzo I guess I didn't know Nanny as well as I thought. In the beginning I thought she had the kindest heart (Ah couldn't love you no more if ha had uh felt yo' birth pains mah-self pg 19) but she is showing her true resilience in these next two chapters. Nanny knows Janie needs her for support, but Nanny also has Janie's best interest in mind; Janie needs to grow up fast. This is why I believe she barks out more commands than sympathetic suggestions to Janie in Chapter 3. Towards the end of the chapter when Janie begins to cry, Nanny basically tells her in a "stern mien" (pg 19) to stop crying because it isn't solving anything and her mind will change soon enough.

One thing I continue to wonder about is how the title is going to connect with the book. I am not sure what type of god she is talking about. Maybe its Jesus Christ and maybe its a collective group of greek gods. For instance, I noticed Janie's name reminding me about something for a while, then I finally remembered today. "Janie" looks a lot like the Greek god "Janus" The month of January was named after him (shout out to all of the January birthdays). Back to the point, He was a god who had two faces, so he was always looking into the past and future. This gave him a double persona, because he knew what he did and what he was going to do, but this brings up a question... what is Janus doing in the present!? It seems to me like he would always be in a state of confusion trying to make decisions--that he knew he would have to make--and then looking back at them as they drifted into the past. He is also associated with gates, and time. Two other motif's that we see already in the first four chapters of TEWWG. To connect Janie with Janus, Janie is constantly in a state of confusion. This entire story is told as a flashback(looking into the past)--because Janie is telling it to Pheobe--and maybe because their "eyes were watching god" she is looking into the future, anxious on how she will be evaluated on judgment day. Another time when Janie connects to Janus is when she meets Joe starks--the dashing man, who is dressed almost as nice as Jay Gatsby, walking down the dirt road. He woes her by throwing the initiative of a relaxed happy life at her "You behind a plow!...A pretty doll baby lak you is made to sit on the front porch and rock and fan yo'slef and eat p'taters dat other folks plant just special for you." These slick words are resulting in Janie looking towards the future to find out which decision is best. She knows she isn't happy with the horse faced, long toenail Mr. Killicks, but she does not know too much about this new man Joe Starks. I hope she made the right choice by running off with him. [|Janus]

el 21 de marzo Joesph Starks is truly living up to what his name implied. According to Jeana, he is portrayed to be strong; powerful; massive and robust just from his last name. With all of these definitions fitting into the category of power, it only seems appropriate to view Jody as a selfish, power-hungry jerk who will metaphorically decapitate anyone who threatens his reputation or position--King Henry VIII. Many of Jody's tactics are vivid in other power-seekers throughout history. For example the connection I made in my moodle discussion about almost every president appealing to their followers by having a wife coincides with Jody obtaining Janie as his wife. A book lays out the rules to obtaining and maintaining power (48 Laws of power by Robert Greene). Some of the laws in this book fit exactly with Jody's character. To begin with, the first law in the book is "Never outshine the master". Basically the idea states that if you want to maintain power you hold, you need to exile anyone who seems to be in route to competing with you. This happened when Jody caught Henry Pitts selling ribbon cane. Jody had ribbon cane for sale at the store, so there was no use for Henry to sell some as well. Before this situation became exponnentially worse, Jody ordered him to leave. Now this sets an example for anyone else who tries to "outshine the master". This is Jody comprehending and exercising true power.

El 24 de marzo It was joe starks who once said "she's uh woman and her place is in de home" (pg 52). Ever since then, more and more examples have surfaced--with joe and every other citizen of the town--where every living creature is destined to fulfill a specific role and nothing else. One example is the way Matt Bonner treats his mule. In this historical era, mules were vital to farmers. If the mule couldn't lead a plow, the farmer wouldn't have any crops; there would be no way to get money, or feed all of the other animals that lived on the farm as well. Any normal person would praise this mule, but Matt did the complete opposite. Whether it was giving him small rations of food, or selling him for a measly five dollars, Matt worked this mule into the ground. I can't understand the lack of sympathy that was eminent in this time period.

This type of relationship between man and mule--even man and woman--reminds me of my favorite TV show: I Love Lucy. There is a part in chapter six where Joe wants to go drag out the body and Janie asks if she can tag along. Joe tells her "But you ain't goin off in all dat mess uh commonness. Ah'm surprised at you for askin." (pg 71) Joe simply thought Janie understood that she needed to keep her distance from his business affairs. I feel like this is Janie trying to reach out and get involved with everything Joe does, because she wants to love him, but we all know Joe is a business man before anything else. In I love lucy, this happens in almost every episode. Ricky Ricardo is a big singing star--he even has a club where he preforms all of the time--and his nights are usually spent at big events with women everywhere. This always makes Lucy jealous, so she asks Ricky if she can tag along. Ricky always says no--even though she sneaks in sometimes--because he is adhering to that historical time period; His wife's place is in the home, and he expects her to keep it that way. While their relationship was comical on set, it was deadly behind closed doors. There have been multiple reports about Ricky abusing Lucy, and I could see Joe doing this to Janie any time she gets out of line.

el 25 de marzo Only two books have made me exclaim "Dang" as I was reading--Gatsby (when myrtle got hit by that car) and Frankenstein (when the creature was swiftly approaching Victor up in the mountains with superhuman speed). Now I can add chapter 7 to that list of books. This chapter was so crazy. It was almost as if Janie was a ticking time-bomb and Joe simply ran out of time. I know I already used this, but Janie is on the right track to ruling the world someday. She is showing traits that my book "the 48 laws of power" advocates using. Specifically this is rule #24 Play the Perfect Courtier. This rule needs patience--which janie has too much of if you ask me. It says to gain power over someone above you Talk less to allow the other person to expose flaws within themselves, alter your style according to the person you are dealing with, Be self observant, and master your emotions. Once all of these traits are in line all that is left to do is attack at the Achilles heel of the master and assume your place on the throne. Janie did this to a T. Her "emotional patterns were like shade patterns in the woods" (pg 91) she observed his image and pinpointed his weaknesses "When you pull down your britches, you look lak de change uh life." (pg 95). The reason this effected Joe so much is because she exposed his weaknesses in front of the entire town. Kudos to you Janie

In chapter eight, I was shocked by Joe's stubbornness, "Ah knowed you wasn't goingtuh lissen tuh me. You changes everything but nothin' don't change you--not even death.103" This told me he was a true static character even though he changed his persona in the last moments of his life (when he made new alliances 98) inside he was stayed as hard as a rock. This reminds me of Emily Gierson from "A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner". Although this was the creepiest short story I've ever read, Emily's static nature mirrors Joe's in some aspects. For example Joe kept his own views above everybody else's even when he was on his death bed; and Emily kept her relic of a house in that same spot even when the town sent eviction notices every week. http://images.imagestate.com/Watermark/http://static.mediaroller.com/covers/297971449.jpg.jpghttp://images.imagestate.com/Watermark/1215563.jpg://http://images.imagestate.com/Watermark/1215563.jpg/Watermark/1215563.jpg// // el 31 de marzo // // ﻿Oh Ms. Turner how you are living up to your last name. She is a very interesting woman. At first I didn't think she was black because of how she spoke about black people, but I double checked on google and she is in fact black; she just has a very light complexion--Just like Me! So if she needs to she can pass as a white woman. "Mrs. Turner, like all other believers had built and altar to the unattainable--Caucasian characteristics for all. pg 178"I feel like this metaphor/hyperbolye boosts her ego higher than Willy Loman's, and really shows the reader that she believes she is white. But you can never change who you are on the inside.... //

// This reminds me of one of my favorite movies. Whitehttp: //static.mediaroller.com/covers/297971449.jpgChicks! In the movie Marlon and Shawn wayans are two police detectives who need to solve a big case to get back into their chief's good graces. They needed a way to blend in, so they dressed up as white women. Both the Wayans brothers and Mrs. Turner aren't accepted in a certain type of society--they want more. So they find a way to change their skin complexion and they are instantly placed on the upper echelon of the society in which they live. In White Chicks they have a great time living the high life, but in the end their cover is blown. In the end they realize it was fun to act a different way, but you cannot hide the true person within for too long. I hope Mrs. Turner learns this http://l/covers/297971449.jpg as well.

http://http://eddieraysmoviereviews.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/cujo-25th-anniversary-edition-20070912112212093-000.jpg/2011/01/cujo-25th-anniversary-edition-20070912112212093-000.jpg el 4 de abril http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c31/jdm333/tv/officerun3.jpg This chapter was very suspenseful! I knew all along that the flood was going to be torture for Janie and Tea Cake. The first red flag came up when Tea Cake questioned the wisdom of the Indians. I've seen a lot of western movies, so I know that you always listen to an Indian; it's almost as if they are spiritually connected to the earth. They told Janie, bluntly, "hurricane coming." I didn't even agree with Tea Cakes reasoning he used to stay in the muck. "Indians don't know much uh nothin, tuh tell the truth. Else they'd own this country still" (pg 191). This blindness makes me nervous, because Tea Cake is so confident he takes ignorant risks. Him being stuck in the muck was an ignorant risk--he didn't understand how powerful and disastrous this hurricane was. Another ignorant risk lies on each face of those die he plays with so much. I hope the game with Motor boat was his last. He needs to protect Janie, which leads me to my connection....

A crazy dog about to maul an innocent woman reminds me of the movie "Cujo". This is a movie about a rabid dog (st. bernard) who goes on a suspenseful killing streak. There is a specific part in the movie where the dog attempts to kill a woman named Donna and her son Tad; he is fighting with every ounce of energy in his body, but the characters are locked in a car outside of their house. This part reminds me of the scene in TEWWG when the devilish dog is approaching Janie with a dreadful look in his eyes--"Ah'm never tuh fuhit dem eyes. He wauzun't nothin all over but pure hate."



el 6 de abril Chapter 19 had so much foreshadow in it that I knew something ominous was lurking around the corner. I knew the book was going to end soon and this made me think about the first few pages of chapter one. "She had come back from burying the dead. Not the dead of sick and ailing with friends... She had come back from the sodden and the bloated; the sudden dread, their eyes flung wide open in judgment.pg3" I wanted to know what made her come back. Was there going to be another storm? Would Tea Cake get too deep in the next dice game? Maybe Tea Cake literally would have a time where he was stuck in the muck and Janie would have to leave him for the buzzards. I honestly didn't know, so I continued reading. I noticed something was wrong with Tea Cake because of his stream of consciousness was all over the place. At one point Tea Cake suggested going back,"Ah nevaa did like round heah." pg 206. But then on page 214, he is convincing Janie that he needs to stay just one more week. When I saw this I knew something was wrong mentally. Then when dr. diagnosed him with rabies i knew he was done for.(I guess the cujo reference was a great one after all). I didn't feel bad when Tea Cake attempted to shoot Janie or when Janie actually hit Tea Cake, because that wasn't really Tea Cake. It was more like some confused animal, looking for a way to release its anger.

This reminds me of my favorite tv show--The office. There is an episode where one of the workers, Maridith, is in danger. A bat has snuck into the office and it is threatening to fight her. Dewight is her night in shining armor because he enters the room and traps the bat. the problem is, that the bat is trapped right on Maridith's head. It ends up biting her, but they don't take her to the hospital. everything is fine for the rest of that episode. Then in the next episode, Michael (Steve Carell) hits Maridith with his car and breaks her pelvis. Then one of the other workers infects all of the computers because she was trying to download porn. Then an Arab looking man comes to the door--he is really the computer tech guy--and michael mistakes him for being a terrorist. All of these little mishaps are considered to be omens hinting that they disturbed a sacred Indian burial ground. This ends up being false, but Maridith really did have rabies and because Michael ran her over with his car he actually saved her life, because they were able to catch it early. I feel like if Janie and Tea Cake were to go back the first time He mentioned it--and his mind was healthy--they would have caught the disease early and he would have survived.

