Lit. Word

In dramatic or literary work a decisive moment that is of maximum intensity or is a major turning point in a plot.

Like the battle scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II when Harry fights Lord Voldemort.

Thinking Outside the box

The limitations of our thinking can be looked at in several differant ways, two famous philosophers Plato and Sartre have developed their beliefs on why our thoughts are limited to what we think we know.

In Plato's Allegory of the cave the prisoners are shackled into the cave, not by themselves, but by society, their "captors". The cave and shackles are extended metaphors for the restraints ignorance puts on us. On the other hand Sartre writes in his play No Exit that people put themselves in their own cave of ignorance, in this case it's hell. The characters in the play put themselves in hell because of their own actions and have therefore now put limitations on themselves.

In order to be relieved from the cave of ignorance, in the Allegory, the prisoners must be released from the cave by the captors and explore for themselves. In No Exit, the characters must abandon their former beliefs and learn to listen.

Plato characterized the people in the cave as ignorant themselves, the refuse to listen when someone attempts to tell them about the outside "real" world. Sartre characterized the man and women in the play to be opposites of one another and also to be very hateful people, so they're more apt to be ignorant and reluctant to listen. In the end all characters end up unhappy, it's only by releasing our shackles and exiting the confines of their own personal hell can they begin to think for themselves and find what is "real".

Kafka on the Shore Lit Anal 3

1) Kafka on the shore is about a young boy who runs away from home on a journey to find his mother and his sister. While he's out he may have fulfilled a prophecy told to his father; that his son would sleep with his mother and sister. Kafka finds himself while he has run away and learns more than he ever could have in school. But there is another story going on at the same time, the story of Nakata, an old man who has an uncanny ability to find lost cats due to the fact he can communicate with them. There are many characters through out the story who could be someone else which creates the magical realism genre along with other factors.

2) The theme of the story is that you cant escape whats meant to be. There's a lot of magical realism and suspension of disbelief in the story but the story remains modern at the same time. There are highly sexual tones used through out the novel as well.

3) We learn about the Oedipus prophecy that Kafka will have sexual relations with his mother and sister which is a major foreshadower of whats going to happen when he runs into two women that could possibly be his mother and sister. But at the same time do to the magical realism factor, there are many unexpected elements of the story that just pop up with no warning, like Cl. Sanders talking to Nakata.

Improved Big Question

What role do conspiracy theories play in our society? Do we use them as an explanation for things we don't understand?

Allegory Of The Cave

An allegory is defined as a symbolic story, Plato's Allegory of the Cave is just that. The Allegory of the Cave is an extended metaphor for human ignorance and search for knowledge, the men are shackled in a cave kept from outside knowledge and it's not until their captors release a prisoners shackles is he able to explore what is real and discover the greater good. Of course when he tells the other prisoners what he's discovered he is shunned. Ignorance at its finnest. Plato uses figurative language to extend the metaphor even further, symbols such as the shackles are used, and the allegory is told through a conversation which extends the metaphor of learning.

The BIG Question

What are the conspiracy theories behind JKFs assassination and could the be true?

Revised Hamlet Essay

Some of what we say causes action, this idea is called performativity.  This concept is debated greatly in many  analyses of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. Do his thoughts and words cause him to act, or when he performs his soliloquies is he simply “self- overhearing” with no consequences?   Hamlet is bound by his performative utterances and the whole play is impacted by them through the actions that are carried out.

                Hamlet is bound by his word, this is the perlocutionary effect of his own vows, and also the perlocutionary effect of what his father’s ghost told Hamlet to do. The perlocutionary effect is part of the Theory of Performativity  developed by J.L. Austin, other parts of this theory include locutionary and illocutionary forces. The locutionary force is what is being said and the interpretation of it on the receiving end, the illocutionary force is what is done in being said, whether it’s giving a command or making a promise, and the perlocutionary force is the effect of what was said. Hamlet is told by his father’s ghost that he was murdered by Claudius, locutionary force, Hamlet vows to get revenge, illocutionary force, and the rest of the play is all the perlocutionary effects. Therefore, the performative utterances in the beginning are the driving force behind the plot, Hamlet now has to kill Claudius and face all consequences that come with his vow to do so.

                But the question still rests, do Hamlet’s thoughts portrayed in his soliloquies have perlocutionary effects? Hamlet never wavered in his decision to gain revenge on Claudius for his father’s murder, he may have pondered the different options and philosophically analyzed life and its worth, but Hamlet’s decision was made and set in motion the moment he vowed it to his father’s ghost. Throughout the play Hamlet’s thoughts are never put into action and his thoughts never produce any outcome. Hamlet’s soliloquies are simply Shakespeare’s frequently used way of developing the character through “self-overhearing,” a concept developed by Harold Bloom. Self- overhearing is a way for characters to analyze their own thoughts and actions, but it’s not only Shakespeare’s fictional characters that indulge in this practice, everyone in reality does as well.

                We find ourselves self-overhearing in all different situations, whether it be thinking before bed or trying to learn from the mistakes we make. Self-overhearing is that voice in our head, and by analyzing and understanding that voice we come to learn about ourselves, the reality we live in, and how to better ourselves. Whether we choose to put our thoughts to action or not dictates whether there are perlocutionary effects. But, we have all experienced the consequences of our thoughts at some point. We can think things or achieve different things because of what we have told ourselves during self-overhearing.

                Memory serves as another form of self-overhearing, we take our experiences and learn from them, reflecting back on them can change our own reality. Reflecting on past events can give us certain expectations to live up to and therefore change the results we expect. For example, Hamlet stabbed Polonious, who was hiding behind a curtain, thinking it was Claudius. If Hamlet were to reflect back on this memory, learn from it, and put himself up to a new standard, the next time he assumed Claudius was hiding behind a curtain he would know to check beforehand.  Another example is a student who fails a test because she didn’t study. The next time a test approaches the student will tell herself she must study because she doesn’t want to fail again, therefore she studies and passes. Her reflection and expectation changed her own reality.

Our own self-overhearing often changes our reality, in the case of Hamlet, self-overhearing is simply a tactic of characterization and dramatization. But, the plot and characters are all heavily influenced by performative utterances, and the perlocutionary effect of oaths made in the beginning of the play.

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Performative Utterances in Hamlet

                Some of what we say causes action, this idea is called performativity.  This concept is debated greatly in many  analyses of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare.  Is Hamlet bound by his performative utterances? Do his thoughts and words cause him to act, or when he performs his soliloquies is he simply “self- overhearing” with no consequences?  

                Hamlet is bound by his word, this is the perlocutionary effect of his own vows, and also the perlocutionary effect of what his father’s ghost told Hamlet to do. The perlocutionary effect is part of the Theory of Performativity  developed by J.L. Austin, other parts of this theory include locutionary and illocutionary forces. The locutionary force is what is being said and the interpretation of it on the receiving end, the illocutionary force is what is done in being said, whether it’s giving a command or making a promise, and the perlocutionary force is the effect of what was said. Hamlet is told by his father’s ghost that he was murdered by Claudius, locutionary force, Hamlet vows to get revenge, illocutionary force, and the rest of the play is all the perlocutionary effects. Therefore, the performative utterances in the beginning are the driving force behind the plot, Hamlet now has to kill Claudius and face all consequences that come with his vow to do so.

                But the question still rests, do Hamlet’s thoughts portrayed in his soliloquies have perlocutionary effects? Hamlet never wavered in his decision to gain revenge on Claudius for his father’s murder, he may have pondered the different options and philosophically analyzed life and its worth, but Hamlet’s decision was made and set in motion the moment he vowed it to his father’s ghost. Throughout the play Hamlet’s thoughts are never put into action and his thoughts never produce any outcome. Hamlet’s soliloquies are simply Shakespeare’s frequently used way of developing the character through “self-overhearing,” a concept developed by Harold Bloom. Self- overhearing is a way for characters to analyze their own thoughts and actions, but it’s not only Shakespeare’s fictional characters that indulge in this practice, everyone in reality does as well.

                We find ourselves self-overhearing in all different situations, whether it be thinking before bed or trying to learn from the mistakes we make. Self-overhearing is that voice in our head, and by analyzing and understanding that voice we come to learn about ourselves, the reality we live in, and how to better ourselves. Whether we choose to put our thoughts to action or not dictates whether there are perlocutionary effects. But, we have all experienced the consequences of our thoughts at some point. We can think things or achieve different things because of what we have told ourselves during self-overhearing.

                Memory serves as another form of self-overhearing, we take our experiences and learn from them, reflecting back on them can change our own reality. Reflecting on past events can give us certain expectations to live up to and therefore change the results we expect. For example, Hamlet stabbed Polonious, who was hiding behind a curtain, thinking it was Claudius. If Hamlet were to reflect back on this memory, learn from it, and put himself up to a new standard, the next time he assumed Claudius was hiding behind a curtain he would know to check beforehand.  Another example is a student who fails a test because she didn’t study. The next time a test approaches the student will tell herself she must study because she doesn’t want to fail again, therefore she studies and passes. Her reflection and expectation changed her own reality.

Our own self-overhearing often changes our reality, in the case of Hamlet, self-overhearing is simply a tactic of characterization and dramatization. But, the plot and characters are all heavily influenced by performative utterances, and the perlocutionary effect of oaths made in the beginning of the play.