Beautiful Quotations
Book 2 Chapter 12 Page 212
"He tightened his hold in time to prevent her sinking on the floor, but she cried out in a terrible voice, 'I shall die if you hold me! Let me fall upon the ground!' And he laid her down there, and saw the pride of his heart and the triumph of his system, lying, an insensible heap, at his feet."
Book 2 Chapter 10 Page 195-196
"It became the business of Mrs Sparsit's life, to look up at her staircase, and to watch Louisa coming down. Sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, sometimes several steps at one bout, sometimes stopping, never turning back. If she had once turned back, it might have been the death of Mrs Sparsit in spleen and grief."
Book 3 Chapter 1 Page 216-217
"He said it earnestly, and to do him justice he had. In gauging fathomless deeps with his little mean excise-rod, and in staggering over the universe with his rusty stiff-legged compasses, he had meant to do great things. Within the limits of his short tether he had tumbled about, annihilating the flowers of existence with greater singleness of purpose than many of the blatant personages whose company he kept."
Monday, October 22, 2012
Jackson J.
In Hard Times, Bounderby claims to be a self-made man: but as the story progresses we see this may not be completely true. What is Dickens saying about the self-made man through the character of Bounderby, does he exist?
Fiona M.
Significant Passages:
A) p. 131
Chapter 3 Whelp
“It was very remarkable that a young gentleman who had been
brought up under one continuous system of unnatural restraint, should be a
hypocrite; but it was certainly the case with Tom. It was very strange that a
young gentleman who had never been left to his own guidance for five
consecutive minutes, should be incapable at last of governing himself; but so
it was with Tom. It was altogether unaccountable that a young gentleman whose
imagination had been strangled in his cradle, should be still inconvenienced by
its ghost in the form of groveling sensualities; but such a monster, beyond all
doubt, was Tom.”
“The spectacle of a matron of classical deportment, seizing an
ancient woman by the throat, and haling her into a dwelling-house, would have
been under any circumstances, sufficient temptation to all true English
stragglers so blest as to witness it, to force a way into that dwelling-house
and see the matter out. But when the phenomenon was enhanced by the notoriety
and mystery by this time associated all over the town, with the Bank robbery,
it would have lured the stragglers in, with an irresistible attraction, though
the roof had been expected to fall upon their heads.”
Appreciating
Language:
A) Book 1
Chapter 3 p.16
“No
little Gradgrind had ever seen a face in the moon; it was up in the moon before
it could speak distinctly. No little Gradgrind had ever learnt the silly
jingle, Twinkle, twinkle, little star; how I wonder what you are! No little
Gradgrind had ever known the wonder on the subject, each little Gradgrind
having at five years old dissected the Great Bear like a Professor Owen, and
driven Charles’s Wain like a locomotive engine-driver.”
I
really enjoyed the language that Dickens used in this passage and how it was clear,
due to the various allusions and analogies, that it took so much time to formulate
such a descriptive paragraph, especially one so early in the book so Dickens is
still introducing characters and the setting.
B) Book 2
Chapter 11 p. 205
“Mrs.
Sparsit saw him detain her with his encircling arm, and heard him then and
there, within her (Mrs. Sparsit’s) greedy hearing, tell her how he loved her,
and how she was the stake for which he ardently desired to play away all that
he had in life. The he had lately pursued, turned worthless beside her; such
success as was almost in his grasp, he flung away from him like the dirt it
was, compared with her.”
In this
passage, I enjoyed how Dickens was able to portray so much of the two
characters, Mrs. Sparsit and Bounderby, in such a short excerpt. It is clear
through the scene and actions painted of them that they are both materialistic
characters and how Dickens is in fact making a commentary on the bigger picture
of the story and what happens in the story.
Jackson J.
Significant Passage
“Her father might instinctively have loosened his hold, but
that he felt her strength departing from her, and saw a wild dilating fire in
the eyes steadfastly regarding him.”
-
Book 2, Chapter 12, page 211
Throughout the book up until this point the symbol of fire
is used quite frequently, especially pertaining to Louisa. But it is always a
calm, controlled fire that Louisa is looking at, longing for. The narrator
always makes it seem as though Louisa does not have this fire, or passion that
she wishes she could. But now after she lets all of her emotions and troubles
that have been building up out, the fire is inside her. Not only is it inside
her however, but it is also a “wild dilating fire”, much different than the
calm fire mentioned earlier in the book. What is interesting is that this
description of fire almost always comes from the narrator and not Louisa
herself. So now that Louisa has come out of her shell, the narrator sees a
change in her. This demonstrates the narrator’s changing opinion of Louisa,
that she is evolving into a woman of passion instead of complacency.
Victoria M.
1.
P. 189 Chapter 9: Hearing the Last of it
“This again made…law to her”.
The
narrator’s sarcastic tone when elaborating on Mrs. Sparsits attitudes and
interactions toward Mr. Bounderby reveals her passive aggressive approach to
win him over and take Louisa’s place to regain her high position in society-
showing the narrator’s negative opinion of Mrs. Sparsit. Mrs. Sparsit repeatedly calls Louisa “Mrs.
Gradgrind” instead of her real title: Mrs. Bounderby. She insists that she does
not ”mean” to call her by her wrong name but seen as it is done multiple times,
it can be inferred that Mrs. Sparsit is passively and systematically degrading
Louisa to make her realize she is not worthy to even be called “Mrs. Bounderby”.
Mrs. Sparsit continues her maniacal degradation of Louisa by going as far as
making Mr. Bounderby breakfast because his time is “so very precious”. Mrs.
Sparsit is moving in on and taking over Louisa’s wifely duties. She plays it
off like she is doing Louisa a favor by making her husband breakfast but
normally, a stranger would not be so concerned if a their friend had eaten
breakfast or not. Mrs. Sparsit makes Louisa look like an inadequate wife by
doing her job as “wife” better than her. The narrator draws a paradox by sarcastically
euphonizing Mrs. Sparsits actions; she is very courteous but her actions like
calling Louisa “Mrs. Gradgrind” and pointing out all her faults like waking up
too late to make her own husband breakfast- reveals that Mrs. Sparsit has ulterior
motives and plans to sway Mr. Bounderby away from his own wife into her greedy,
open arms.
2.
How is poetic justice exhibited in Hard Times through the
character of Bounderby; what about the narrator’s tone reveals that it is in
fact, poetic justice?
Babbitt by
Sinclair Lewis takes place in 1920s American suburbia. George Babbitt is a
family man with a steady job, a house, car and possessions just like
everyone else. Babbitt has everything he could ever want but yet as the book
goes on the reader can tell he is absolutely miserable in his superficial and unfulfilling
life. In the last paragraph of the book, Babbitt reveals that he has never done
anything in life that he actually “wanted’ to do. This is reflective of Louisa in Hard Times
because although she has everything to make her happy, like a rich husband, a
large house and expensive possessions- she is not. Louisa has always done as
her father and everyone in Coketown has told her to do, never doing what she
wants, not even marrying out of love- just like George Babbitt. Both Hard Times and Babbitt warn of the
personal dangers of living a superficial life. Both books urge the reader to do
what makes them happy because
otherwise they will be doomed to the same unhappy fates as Louis and George.
Brianna M.
1.)
Significant Passage:
The narrator’s opinion of Stephen seems to
change, from almost pity in the beginning (“he took no place among those
remarkable “Hands”(66)) as his humble life is recounted, to a sort of respect
for him as having virtues above the upper class. This is especially apparent in
this passage:
Book
Two, Chapter 6, Fading Away
“[Stephen] was neither courtly, nor handsome, nor picturesque, in any respect; and yet his manner of accepting [the money], and of expressing his thanks without more words, had a grace in it that Lord Chesterfield could not have taught his son in a century.” (p. 157)
“[Stephen] was neither courtly, nor handsome, nor picturesque, in any respect; and yet his manner of accepting [the money], and of expressing his thanks without more words, had a grace in it that Lord Chesterfield could not have taught his son in a century.” (p. 157)
2.) Discussion Question: Louisa and Thomas
both grow up in the same house on the same rules, yet Louisa turns out a rather
thoughtful, kind woman and Thomas turns out to be a lazy mooch who takes
advantage of his sister. Is the reason really as he says, “a girl comes out of
it better than a boy does”? Or is there another fundamental difference between
the upbringing of Louisa and Thomas?
“Part of Your World” – Louisa has all
these “things” stored in her head, like Ariel has trinkets in her cavern, but
what she really wants is to be part of a world she has been sheltered from all
her life—the world of imagination. They both have parents who have tried to
shelter them, thinking they are doing the right thing, but actually harming
their child.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Assigned Work
Fiona: Find 2 passages of "significant" passages from Book 2 and 3, finding 2 quotations that are appreciated etc.
Brianna: Finding 1 passage of "significant" passages from Book 2 or 3, finding 1 Discussion Forum question, finding a link to an alternative text/movie clip, etc.
Victoria: Finding 1 passage of "significant" passages from Book 2 or 3, finding 1 Discussion Forum question, finding a link to an alternative text/movie clip, etc.
Jackson: Finding 1 passage of "significant" passages from Book 2 or 3, finding 1 Discussion Forum question, finding 3 quotations that are appreciated in Hard Times
Brianna: Finding 1 passage of "significant" passages from Book 2 or 3, finding 1 Discussion Forum question, finding a link to an alternative text/movie clip, etc.
Victoria: Finding 1 passage of "significant" passages from Book 2 or 3, finding 1 Discussion Forum question, finding a link to an alternative text/movie clip, etc.
Jackson: Finding 1 passage of "significant" passages from Book 2 or 3, finding 1 Discussion Forum question, finding 3 quotations that are appreciated in Hard Times
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