Coraline 3.5

“Coraline” by Neil Gaiman

“Coraline” is a story about a little girl that is on a quest for adventure. She is the type of little girl that always wants to be busy learning things and gaining new experiences. She is constantly looking for attention but due to being the only child and having very busy parents she feels neglected. Later on in the book she finds a doorway that at first glance is a doorway that serves no purpose. It’s a portal to a new dimension. She meets a replica of her parents, neighbors, and animals in that other world. This is a place where her parents and neighbors are complete opposites and she feels like she is getting all the adventure and attention she craved. The worlds collide and she even loses her real parents in the process. This is a journey of a child becoming an adult.

Joseph Campbell has a book named “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” and I found a chart that represents the key points here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Heroesjourney.svg. Coraline is a hero in many ways. She not only rescued her family but she also rescued herself. Coraline got called to the adventure when she discovered that the door was open and led to some other destination. She received supernatural aid when she discovered that the cat could speak and he gave her advice to make sure to protect herself. She hits a transformation point when she experiences the difference between the real and “other world”. She begins to understand that the “other world” may seem great but she is not willing to give up her parents or real home. That was the biggest challenge and temptation and that demonstrates a sense of maturity in a child that is as young as Coraline.

Coraline’s revelation is when she returns home after being told that she must get rid of her eyes and let her “other mother” sew buttons as a replacement. Then she sees her parent’s as prisoners of the “other mother” in a mirror. She realizes that she has to return to the “other world” and save them. The transformation is when she tricks the “other mother” and finds the way to save her real parents. Atonement has to be when her family is set free and they manage to escape from the “other mother”, all thanks to her magic stone and bravery. I believe that the gift of the goddess is when she realizes that she made the right decision when she got home. She chose to live the not so interesting life that she had because it was the right thing to do. She is not willing to compromise her life or her parent’s life for a nice dinner and attention, she knew there was more to life and that’s what makes her a true hero.

After taking the Caroline Pearson’s archetypes quiz I figured out that I am an altruist. An altruist is a person who exudes selflessness. This person is a giving person, and a person that put everyone else’s needs before their own. Coraline shows some traits that are compared to the traits that an altruist would have. For example, Coraline saw her parents trapped in a mirror asking her for help. If she was any other ordinary child she would’ve been frightened and not even try just because it was scary. But being the true altruist that she is she went to rescue her parents since she caused the dilemma. On page 53 it says, “Coraline turned on the light in the hall. The mirror showed the corridor behind her; that was only to be expected. But in reflected in the mirror were her parents. They stood awkwardly in the reflection of the hall. They seemed sad and alone. As Coraline watched, they waved to her, slowly, with limp hands. Coraline’s father had his arm around her mother.” She witnesses her parents in danger and being trapped. This causes her to react and try to make things right. On page 54 it says, “She walked into her father’s study. She sat down at his desk. Then she picked up the telephone, and she opened the phonebook and telephoned the local police.” Ultimately this did no good and she had to take matters into her own hands. She had to be an altruist. She had to rescue her parents herself. This was the beginning of a true altruist hero.

Coraline has a lot to do with “Goblin Market” because they are both speaking about young women who fall into temptation and afterwards ends up hurting someone close to them because of that weak moment. It was said in Coraline on page 9, “She shut the door and put the string of keys back on top of the kitchen doorframe. ‘You didn’t lock it,’ said Coraline. Her mother shrugged. ‘Why should I lock it?’ she asked. “It doesn’t go anywhere.” If Coraline was told that the door had no significance, why would she try to go back? Well that curiosity caused her and her parents to have a harmful experience. In “Goblin Market” one of the sisters knew that she should not eat any of the things that the goblins were offering but her curiosity caused her to want a taste and that also caused harm to her and her sister who had to rescue her and jeopardize her own life. These two have that natural sense of curious adventure. They want to experience the unknown and feed off the excitement of being able to get a full experience because they feel that their lives seem so dull. A good example of a symbol is the warnings. Coraline received a warning from the cat and one sister received a warning from another sister about the fruit. These two young women are very similar.

I believe that every story needs a form of a monster to make it realistic or even relevant to anything. A monster does not have to be something that is obvious like a werewolf, or vampire. It could be a regular person that is trying to do harm and would hurt anyone with any type of regret. A monster is a person that has no morals, or values like a villain. In “Coraline” the “other mother” is a monster figuratively and later on physically when she becomes a witch. Her “other mother” leads her to believe that everything is good, and everything will be for the best interest of Coraline. But later on the “other mother” shows her true identity and her hidden agenda. This is a form of a monster because her “other mother” does not care about the well being of Coraline. The other mother only cares about conquering Coraline’s soul. People choose to constantly put monsters in books, art, even television commercials, because it’s something that everyone can relate to. I believe it’s a good idea because it helps generate the mind and warn you that monsters come in many forms. To explain it in simple terms everyone loves to be scared, and experience a true villain because a hero always emerges from those circumstances.

Rocky Horror Picture Show 3.4

Rocky Horror Picture Show

For this final project I will be writing a research paper about the musical film, “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. I have already carefully watched the film, (even though I've seen it a million times as a child) and I have also started to breakdown the film into pieces that I could explain what is really going on in the film. Its a rather long film, filled with a lot of musicals numbers (and I mean a lot of musical numbers!) Also I have started to research the old newspaper archives for reviews and what was happening in the world at that time because this film had a reputation of being very risky for its time. With that in mind I want to include the way people perceived this film at that time.

What I find interesting is that I want to include in the paper what was the heroes quest. Since this film is kind of raunchy and a comedy it may be hard to distinguish the quest but it will be very interesting to relate that with each other. Also I want to include some of the symbols and themes that are included in the film. This film has a major theme and many symbols hidden within another. So far I have just watched the film and done minimal research but I am already getting setup with more research and starting to work on this paper.

I am guessing that by 12/2 I should already have it practically done, and expecting to edit before the due date. I will be posting many sections of the paper periodically to keep the momentum of the paper interesting. So some feedback and questions while the periodic posts will help me out make it more clear and lucid.

For anticipated problems I am hoping for none, but I am already trying to edit the synopsis of the film and try not to make it so long that the reader would become bored, so currently I am trying to just focus on explaining the main parts but still capturing the film as a whole. Hopefully soon I will be able to make a post that is understandable and concise.

Idea for Final Project 3.3

For my topic I would like to research on "Rocky Horror Picture Show" I want to research the origins of the characters. For those who dont know what "Rocky Horror Picture Show" is a story of two people that stumble upon a mansion that has a group of peculiar people that has their own agenda for the two strangers.

Entry 3.2

In this video it is showing the scene where Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking after the murder of the King. She seems awake and functional but in fact she is asleep. She starts speaking about the murder. She symbolizes regret and remorse. She regrets helping and convincing Macbeth to murder the King and Banquo. The archetype is a coward. She made a decision and she was very firm about it, now she is haunted by her shadow. Which is another archetype. The shadow means that's she is sleepwalking due to the fact that her "shadow" is haunting her. Her demons are after he even while she sleeps. During her monologue she is constantly rubbing her hands because she feels that she still has the blood of the king on her hands and it wont come off. This is a form a symbolism because it shows that she had a part in the murder and now she has the "blood stains" on her hands. I find it extremely interesting that at the beginning she was the one that was completely encouraging Macbeth to do the murder. She had it instilled in his brain that he deserved the throne and he had every right to kill for it. She even emasculated him and questioned his devotion to her. So after all the manipulation and brainwashing she ended up becoming tortured by her conscience. This is a lesson to all that "fair is foul and foul is fair"

Blog Post 3.1 Macbeth Image

the link is here

This image is demonstrating a scene from Shakespeare's play named "The Tragedy of Macbeth" This image is showing the scene when Lady Macbeth is pressuring Macbeth to kill the King so he can take over the throne and become King. You can see in the eyes of Macbeth that he is perplexed, bothered, and deeply frightened to do the task. In Lady Macbeth's eyes you see no mercy. You can see determination no matter what the consequences are. She believes that since the witches told him the prophecy that no matter what happens he will be king. She wanted to be Queen so badly that she didn't care of going to the extent of murdering someone. Even the current King. In the image you can see the intimidation that she is causing and you can also see how her body language seems condescending. She is questioning his manhood and the love he has for her. She is manipulating him to kill the King to take over the throne. If you look closely you can see that she is already wearing a crown and she is not even Queen yet. Thats a example of how determined she is. You can tell by the image that he does not want to do the task anymore but she is pressuring him and it even seem threatening. Lady Macbeth falls under the Warrior Archetype. You can see that she is willing to do anything to take what she believes is rightfully hers. She also falls under the archetype of the trickster. It stated here This means that she is willing to change the current world of peace in to havoc unimaginable terror. She did that exact thing when she pressured Macbeth to kill the king. She is a woman who uses her power to make the hero weak. Macbeth unfortunately is the villain due to getting pressured to kill the king. He also killed innocent men due to his own benefit.

Blog Entry 2.2 Altruist

The Altruist

The "Altruist" is a person that is selfless. This type of person will put someone else's needs before their own. According to Carol Pearson's "The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By" I fall into this category. To find out what type of archetype you are you must answer a series of questions. There are two types of "quizzes" you can take to find out your archetype, and I took the 6 question "quiz". Pearson also has another one that consists of twelve questions ( six just seems easier right?) After taking the "quiz" I received the news that I am a Altruist and Innocent. The reason I got two archetypes is because their is a positive and a negative. The Altruist is the positive and the Innocent is the negative. I will be speaking about the Altruist in this blog because why dwell in negativity? For those who don't know or want to know more about what a Altruist is ( don't be embarrassed if you don't know, I had the same problem before looking it up here) in depth, its an unselfish concern for the welfare of others. According to a article that I stumbled upon here states "The Altruist symbolises giving and abundance, but only that type of giving which you are passionate about, not what you think the world expects of you."

"Flower Power" Bernie Boston, Pentagon, Anti-War rally '67
You can get the link here

I chose the photo entitled "Flower Power" by Bernie Boston, because I believe that it shows a amazing form of a true altruist. You may think how on earth is that photo showing a guy putting a flower in a rifle of a clearly agitated soldier relevant to a altruist? Well best believe that it surely demonstrates selflessness. The soldier can easily shoot the young man in the face and kill him. The young man is clearly aware of that but that doesn't stop him at all. He doesn't care. The young man still puts the flower in the rifle because the issue is beyond him. He is being selfless because he is in a dangerous environment trying to prove a point and trying to protect those that are not able to be there due to fear, shame, or irrelevance. The young man is stating I don't care if you kill me, just stop killing others.

Their is a great amount of symbolism in this photo. For example the flower represents earth, which represents us. A flower is something fragile, sweet, a nice gesture. So by putting something as endearing as a flower in a machine that is used to kill people symbolizes peace. It means why shoot bullets? Lets shoot flowers, lets make peace! This photo is iconic. It was in the running for a Pulitzer prize. ( I believe it should have won, but what do I know) This was a very popular photo that shocked many people because it brought awareness, which was the whole entire point of it. This photo was taken in a anti-war march at the Pentagon in 1967 due to the Vietnam War. This was when they were drafting many young men to join the war. This was also the beginning of the psychedelic era, and soon after "Flower Power" became the main symbol of the whole anti-war psychedelic era. ( not bad for a fellow altruist)

Being a true altruist doesn't mean that you have to be naked and hungry because you gave away all your clothing and food to the people that are less fortunate. Being a real altruist is being active in the sense of trying to make a difference in some one else's life because their needs seem more important than your own. This can be as small as cancelling a date because your little sister needs your help with her homework or something huge like standing up for what you believe in and being in a photo that documents a iconic event in American history. Its all about actually caring and communicating your feelings to try to get a positive result so someone else will achieve something and that is pure satisfaction for a altruist.

Goblin Market 2.1 (Revision) **Please check**

Christina Rossetti was a woman who had a very avant-garde approach to writing poems. She stepped outside the box and spoke about so many things that were not orthodox in a subliminal way. I got a brief biography of her here. Rossetti was a girl who was born in London and was home schooled by her mother. She had brothers and a sister who became very prominent artists, writers, and poets of their time. After her family went through some issues she became very depressed and decided to become a Christian. Rossetti also became some sort of a muse for her brother. 

Rossetti started writing at the tender age of seven, and her first published poem was at the age of eighteen. She is categorized as having a feminist sense of style in most of her poems. Most of her characters are women who slowly have the archetypes of heroes, and innocent people who end up transitioning to a good person or present demonstrations of selflessness. “Goblin Market” has to be one of her most well known poems. In this poem she has two women as the characters who sacrifice their lives to save each other. Also it shows a bond that two sisters have together that may seem inappropriate, I don’t believe that the text she has chosen is meant to be taken literally. For example when she mentions in the poem for the sister to suck the juice out of her body for the sake of her own life. Also this poem may seem feminist because this is really similar to the story of Adam and Eve but instead of an Adam character she chose another woman.

The plot to this story has to be compared to the tale of Adam and eve in the sense of the forbidden fruit but I believe the symbolism means much more in both tales. The tale starts with two sisters named Laura and Lizzie who collects water from a river each night. They hear the songs of the goblins as usual who sell fruits. Everyone knows not to talk or attempt to purchase anything from the goblins. The reason why is because there was a girl in the same town who ate the fruit and became very sick then eventually died. But that did not stop Laura from the curiosity and craving of the fruit. Since she did not have any money she decided to trade in a lock of her hair for a fruit. The goblins agreed and she received the fruit. She ate the fruit and became frantic and engorged the taste and experience of eating that "forbidden fruit". Laura starts craving the fruit again and was impatiently waiting for the goblins song indicating that she can buy some more fruit. To her surprise she could not hear the goblins but her sister Lizzie did hear the goblins songs. 

Afterwards Laura starts to become very sick because she does not have any more access to the fruit. Time passes and Laura is about to die so Lizzie goes to the goblins and tries to buy some more fruit with money for the sake of her sister's life. The goblins became upset because she wanted to pay for the fruit with money. Also they became upset because wanted the fruit for her sister and not for herself. With that said they become violent and forcibly make Lizzie drink the juice of the fruits and she rushes home and tells Laura to drink the juice from her body. Laura does so and by the next morning she becomes healthy.

The symbolism in the poem is all about trends. The main trend I see is details. When it comes to the fruit she makes the fruit sound so amazing and she is also very detailed about the experience that Laura is going through while eating the fruit. What I believe the symbolism is that it’s the pureness of her body, maybe her virginity. Also the fruit has to be a reference to the forbidden fruit as its stated in the bible. I believe it’s a legit analysis, considering that she converted into Catholicism.

Another symbol is the chants and cries of the goblins. Its represents the people who everyone sees doing things that we all wish we could do but know that its morally wrong. I believe that Rossetti wanted a certain reaction to the story and its confusion. The reason I say that is because a mixed review is the best because you have to link a personal experience and connection with the poem which will be resulting the ultimate reward. 

In line 20-25 it states “Our grapes fresh from the vine, Pomegranates full and fine, Dates and sharp bullaces

 For the archetypes in this poem it has quite a few. Laura has to be the Adventure seeker, the person who wants to find out what something is like, hence tasting the forbidden fruit. I believe that is Laura’s archetype because she is so tempted to try the fruit since she knew that it would have a negative impact. Maybe she wanted to see what the big deal was. Lizzie would be the hero because the selfless act that she did to save the life of her sister, Laura. If it was not for Lizzie, Laura would’ve eventually have died and Lizzie would’ve died shortly after if she did not make Laura drink the fruit’s juice out of her body.

I believe this poem is about losing their innocence like when a young girl loses her virginity before being ready, just because they become tempted. I believe that this is much more deeper. My analysis of this poem is that Rossetti is dealing with inner demons, and the only way she can cope is by writing hidden messages within the poem. I believe that she might be talking about her sexuality and how much she is trying to stay away from temptations. She knows the consequences because of her religion so she decides to shut that part of her life off. So this may seem some sort of escape for her because she can make believe that she did give into temptation but she had a very bad result afterward so she needed to be saved. Maybe this is a cry for help for the real life “Lizzie” to come and revive her.