Edgar Allen Poe is known for his dark stories about murder, death, and fatality. "The Masque of the Red Death" was about a group of people getting together to celebrate in a time of disease. Death certificates were printing faster than the news; morgues were filled to maximum compacity. The Prince decided to get some of his friends together and have a big party as if the problem didn't actually exist.
It's easy to pretend like nothing is wrong when your world is falling apart. A lot of people use denial as a coping mechanism. Sometimes when i'm upset I find it easier to pretend like everything is okay, so people don't look at me differently. When I pretend like nothing is wrong and smile, I am really just hurting myself. Pretending everything is sanguine does not protect you from your issues.
Even in the happiest of places, the issue found its' way in.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
The Real Little Mermaid
Almost everyone that was a child during the 90's has seen the classic Disney version of "The Little Mermaid." The Disney version is about a little red headed mermaid who wants to be human. The flowery, sugar coated Disney version was an innocent remake of the original vulgar version, created by the Grimm Brothers.
In the original version, the Grimm Brothers do a remarkable job at describing the sheer pain of the mermaid tail being riped apart to become two legs. They also reveal a gothic love. In this version the sea witch turns the princess into a human, with conditions.
The princess must, submit her ability to speak, lose her tail, marry the strange prince, and never return to the ocean. If she tries to return to the ocean she will evaporate into the foam that washes up on shore.
When the changed mermaid goes to land she is placed into the prince's "friend- zone." It isn't long before the prince falls in love with a different lady and the sea princess is faced with a difficult choice.
Will she kill the Prince before the sun rises, or herself?
This tragic story is a strange way to explain the extremes of what love can do to a person.
It honestly seems a little ridiculous to me, I enjoy the dark story but feel as though it is lacking in verisimilitude.
What I find interesting about the story is that she is not a happy-go-lucky little girl who wants to dance around on land; she is really just a fish that can't manage to make herself happy. Love can send a person into a slump if that person does not know how to really make themselves happy. A girl does not need a man to make her life complete; everyone needs to be able to search for the positive things in their lives or they won't ever be fully satisfied.
Sometimes, when I get upset, I think about all of the bad things in life and become depressed. This often leads to hurting myself. If I could step back and accept the bad and recognize the positive things, I wouldn't get so depressed. The story may have ended differently if she were able to step back and just be happy about what she does have.
It's not an easy thing to do, but it could extend a life.
In the original version, the Grimm Brothers do a remarkable job at describing the sheer pain of the mermaid tail being riped apart to become two legs. They also reveal a gothic love. In this version the sea witch turns the princess into a human, with conditions.
The princess must, submit her ability to speak, lose her tail, marry the strange prince, and never return to the ocean. If she tries to return to the ocean she will evaporate into the foam that washes up on shore.
When the changed mermaid goes to land she is placed into the prince's "friend- zone." It isn't long before the prince falls in love with a different lady and the sea princess is faced with a difficult choice.
Will she kill the Prince before the sun rises, or herself?
This tragic story is a strange way to explain the extremes of what love can do to a person.
It honestly seems a little ridiculous to me, I enjoy the dark story but feel as though it is lacking in verisimilitude.
What I find interesting about the story is that she is not a happy-go-lucky little girl who wants to dance around on land; she is really just a fish that can't manage to make herself happy. Love can send a person into a slump if that person does not know how to really make themselves happy. A girl does not need a man to make her life complete; everyone needs to be able to search for the positive things in their lives or they won't ever be fully satisfied.
Sometimes, when I get upset, I think about all of the bad things in life and become depressed. This often leads to hurting myself. If I could step back and accept the bad and recognize the positive things, I wouldn't get so depressed. The story may have ended differently if she were able to step back and just be happy about what she does have.
It's not an easy thing to do, but it could extend a life.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Introduction
I often have a hard time finding books that spark my interest. I am highly uninterested in books that I am forced to read. No teenager enjoys being told what to do, what to think, or what to say. At a young age adults start pushing books at us that are supposed to be "interesting" to us. This is why I am so stubborn towards reading. I love to read books I pick out, not books handed to me from a dusty shelf. I love to read books from all different genres, from romance sprouting between unlikely strangers, to the secrets behind current events. I like having my own choice.
This quarter I don't just want to read, I want to enjoy the books I grab off the shelf. I want to find a lot of books that are hard to put down. Through reading, I would also like to increase my writing abilities. I believe that through a good book, a person can learn better writing skills to apply. Skills such as grammar, organization, expressing an idea, description, and tone, can be enhanced by putting a nose in the right books. I know what the Etymology teachers expect from my blog posts however, I think that if they already knew what my answer was supposed to be, there would be absolutely no point in me fulfilling the assignments. If they knew my answer, they would need to ask. I want to express new perspectives to peers, teachers, and myself through my writing and reading assessments.
This quarter I don't just want to read, I want to enjoy the books I grab off the shelf. I want to find a lot of books that are hard to put down. Through reading, I would also like to increase my writing abilities. I believe that through a good book, a person can learn better writing skills to apply. Skills such as grammar, organization, expressing an idea, description, and tone, can be enhanced by putting a nose in the right books. I know what the Etymology teachers expect from my blog posts however, I think that if they already knew what my answer was supposed to be, there would be absolutely no point in me fulfilling the assignments. If they knew my answer, they would need to ask. I want to express new perspectives to peers, teachers, and myself through my writing and reading assessments.
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