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Conjoined

In the poem Conjoined by Judith Minty, there are literary devices used to capture her feelings, She uses literary device known as metaphors to explain her feelings towards an unhappy marriage. Through out the whole poem she explains how the unhappy marriage is being compared to all of the other things that have been conjoined together. 

     Minty uses three metaphors, each comparing marriage to a "freak" of some sort. While being conjoined isn't necessarily a bad thing, the poet's word choice shows how it is not a successful or a healthy one, just as her marriage. Minty gives her readers something to think about other than the happily ever stories after one usually hears in reference to marriage. The first metaphor she utilizes an analogy to compare her marriage to a wedding cake (lines 1-4). The cake is a monster, with two beasts in one skin. The couple is fighting for their space, pressing against one another. The lines could also interpret as two wholes trying to form one another human being. She uses the term "deformed". Marriage is supposed to be a combination between two people who, through years of bonding, grow to know one another so well they are almost like one. By using the word "pressed," it seems as if this bond was being forced between the speaker and her husband and therefore it grew to be "flat" and "deformed," which gives it more of a negative meaning to the marriage which resembles something like clingy, along with the fact that Minty calls it a "monster", revealing that the speaker is going through a painful and dreadful marriage. 

     The second metaphor is used to compare her marriage to a two-headed calf, "an accident, like the two-headed calf rooted in one body." From these choice of words, we can see that her marriage was not meant to work out, and sort of occured by fault. The marriage is then to Siamese twins, "or like those other freaks, Chang and Eng, twins joined at the chest by skin and muscle, doomed." This could illustrate a picture of a circus sideshow in the readers mind. It lends a sense of silliness to the idea of marriage, as well as a sense of a lack of  performance in the marriage. The example of conjoined twins describes the agony and pain of being joined physically with someone without getting away from them. These twins go through life never alone, never with one moment of peace. To feel the agitation of knowing they can never be seperated from one of the other is beyond the patience of what most people can handle. Such a permanent joining of two uniquely different beings drives the image of suffering into the mind. 

      The three examples of bad deformed unions lead into the third stanza where the real story of the unhappy marriage becomes known. The woman feels the man moving around in the house below her. She knows he can sense her moves. “Do you feel the skin that binds us together as we move, heavy in this house?”(10-11) is another reference of two combined into one. They slink around on different levels of their home as if hiding from one another, but know exactly where the other is at all times. This shows that they are connected under the skin by their marriage just like the onion example. They are unable to be separated just like the twins example.

     The main emphasis created in these metaphors is used to show the lack of peace that the twins and married couple share.  These metaphors show that she feels "conjoined" to her husband and she cannot escape him. Such anguish is felt in these words, “To sever the muscle could free one, but might kill the other.” The reference of being cut apart and separating the two is brought out so plainly and so skillfully that feelings of remorse surface for the pair. Escape is out of the question as the couple is connected. This escape though has entered into mind even with the cost of the life of the other member. “We cannot escape each other.”  The perfect ending for this dreary poem. It is the logical conclusion and finalizes the whole assumption of this poem. The two becoming one in matrimony, forever joined now under the skin. The finality of the whole poem of the two becoming one “Conjoined” entity brings such gloom over the reader.There is nothing to be done, as there is no escape.

     As you can see Minty uses metaphors through out the entire fifteen lines of her marriage poem. Although many poems about marriage are full of life and happiness, but this one has a cloud of gloom and doom hanging over it. It is a sad piece of artwork that shows the unhappy side of a bad marriage. Pity and remorse are two emotions that come to the surface when reading. A short and compact poem that has many emotions packed in very tightly. It forces thoughts and revisions to come into mind. 

Maus

Maus was a comic based book that was written about the holocaust by Timothy Sexton, he also Art Spiegeman wrote . He demonstrated how to write a comic literature book that showed some presentation and subject towards the Holocaust . In his comic book he did not use human characters, instead he used animals known as mice. Spiegelman's success in avoiding charges of trivialization may possibly lie in his artistic choice to treat the Holocaust through metaphor.” Instead of making the characters in Muas II as humans but animals, he was able to avoid the questioning of the audiences if this is actually what happens in the Holocaust itself. Also, the audience are allow to not take the story into believing that it is the actual occurrences of the Holocaust. Sexton supported that “tradition-ally, the use of animal characters in an allegory are intended to draw stark distinctions between character types.” Animals tend to categorize and demonstrate who is who in the storyline. The readers could distinct that the Jews are the mice and the Germans are the cats. A writer that goes by Ian Johnston writes an article on the book,  Johnston discusses the possible protagonist of the novel.  He points out that Vladek at times seems like the main character, but unlike a true main character, he does not resolve his conflict through his own personal skills, rather he survives the Holocaust through pure luck.  Also, he does not even seem to learn anything from his experiences, as shown by his racism to the black guy in the novel. There were two pictures that were compared to each other about the comic book, one of the pictures were with mickey mouse the famous disney character and another picture of a box. The pictures had a characteristic towards the holocaust. The writing style he chosen brought this upon the topic.

Cats Cradle Postmodernism

Cats Cradle is a book that shows and has details that it is a post modernism novel. It shows a religion called Bokonism  and it demonstrates religion and post modernism if you closely read the text. So far into the text of Cats Cradle there is no meaning thus far which is a post modernism text book. Post modernism was found during the 18th century, and it was a movement that tried to delete modernism.  Post modernism does not essentially have a rounded center on it and has no one controlling source which it originates from. The Cat’s Cradle specifically used the example of Bokonism to show that the book is indeed post modernism.The founder of Bokononism was Lionel Boyd Johnson, whose name was corrupted by the island dialect and later become Bokonon. Bokononism contains the postmodernist misreading, combination and anarchy at once. Bokonism has a book and the text shows "All of the true things that I am to tell you are shameless lies." Vonecut's opinion on religion is actually drawn out that people always have a way to try to find some special thing to believe in. "Truth was the enemy of the people, because the truth was so terrible, so Bokonon made it his business to provide the people with better and better lies." so by deleting the false statements and the lies that the society displayed, they become very powerful. The characters in Cat’s Cradle who came up with Post modernism came to believe that science is the power in everything which can also be shown in a movie known as (Angels and Demons), science dominates the society also religion plays a big part in todays society. Obviously, these ideas of post modernism came from the scientist in the book. They intend to delude the people in the book by using these ideas. So while I was reading this book, I came to a conclusion that all of the books that we have read as a class have some ideal relationship to all the other books with religion and society. It seems rather boring and we suspect the same essay topic over and over again, but that is my opinion.

Brave New World Topic

There are many arguments to discuss about in this novel Brave New World. For my argument I would have to state that in Brave New World they manipulate the children as well as the adults in this society. The video that Sir Ken Robinson made on youtube gave any details and points on the society of today children based on the education that we are given. Not only that but there are all of these distractions that practically brainwash the children in todays era. Another comparison to Brave New World would be George Orwell's novel 1984. In Sir Ken Robinson's video he explains that the children are all based and related upon each other is because of their age group. This connects with Brave New World because the people in Brave New Worlds society are born in a certain manufactured way, not only that but they are manipulated to learn very certain things. They are also manipulated to do certain things, they are built for a specific job in Brand New World, their destiny is basically chosen for them once they are born.
In 1984 by George Orwell's there are also connections to Brave New World, they control people but in a different manner. Brave New World would conquer the people but in a pleasuring manner, and 1984 has agony and pain written all over it. In 1984 their society is based upon history and they change the ways of the humans living in their time era. They kept the people like that so it can be an organized society so they wouldn't have to worry about people being themselves. From the start of the day to the end of the day they are under complete surveillance and if they utterly disobey the rules they are instantly vanished away. Both of these video and book make excellent connections and parallels to Brave New World.

RSA Animat

In the video Sir Ken Robinson explains his theories on changing the education, by doing so he attracts the audience with detailed illustrations that clear his point easier. There are ways in fact that there are similarities to the society of Shakespeare's last novel Brave New World. The video and the novel go hand to hand, they are both based on society and the nature of human beings. In chapter 10 there is a quote that can briefly support what Sir Ken Robinson is explaining."The greater a man's talents, the greater his power to lead astray. It is better that one should suffer than that many should be corrupted. Consider the matter dispassionately, Mr. Foster, and you will see that no offense is so heinous as unorthodoxy of behavior. Murder kills only the individual-and, after all, what is an individual?". In the beginning of the video Sir Ken Robinson explains in the first minute that cultural is one of the keys, we should all form together and build a stronger education base for the future sakes of our children's children. The quote from chapter 10 questions what are individuals considering the fact that The Brave New World is a community based society. This is all based upon globalization and coming together as a unity. Sir Ken Robinson also explains that they used better methods during their education years, so it back tracks time like the book setting. The last key point was the age group of the students, he gives details how they are "organized based on factory lines" and they are put in "batches" like a community. Brave New World has a very similar structure of community like this RSA Animate video.