Q2 Blog Post 3

For my last post, I will examine a short story I read recently, The Secret of the Growing Gold by Bram Stoker, author of Dracula. It describes a man who seeks revenge on a rival family after his daughter is murdered.
Stoker eases into the tale with a myriad of descriptions and thoughts on the two families in question, the Brents and the Delandres. Looking through the reading, this appears to shrewdly address the issue that many writers seem to struggle with: how one starts a story. I have observed other writers employ this technique, namely Flannery O'Connor; it appears to snowball the background details into character action.
It is clear that his writing (at the very least) appears to flaunt his years spent on mastery of language, his scholarly devotion to it. Though he wrote this in 1914, the amount of Shakespearean references and influences detectable in even the opening page seems to blatantly showcase this. This deference to the principles of literary mastery makes the story both difficult to follow and brilliantly rich with detail.
The story takes an arc that would not surprise anyone who's read Dracula previously: a dark one. The daughter returns from the dead and commits a ghastly, supernatural murder using her hair. Although Stoker showcases human nature through the vulnerability of both Mr. Brent and the victims of his daughter's final deed, the most discernible angle he takes is one of providing a horror story. I would certainly recommend the read to those who enjoy dark fiction.

The Importance of Being Earnest i.e. the Last Post of the Year

The Importance of Being Earnest comes to a conclusion, and I enjoyed how it turned out. It made me rethink Oscar Wilde's writing style -- just not in any earth-shattering way; ironically, the story certainly wasn't as earnest as the other book of his that I've read, The Picture of Dorian Gray.

What made the Importance of Being Earnest an interesting read was its word-by-word richness: Although the story is quite short, Wilde seemingly does not waste a word. He's also an expert at dialogue (as any good playwright should be) and endows his characters with a colorful yet concise vocabulary with which to work.

The downright silliness of the characters -- and of Algernon in particular -- creates a comedic tone that Wilde commits to throughout, creating irony in every possible situation. The primary way he instills this irony is in revealing conflicting motives of the characters, showing how they attempt to mask these motives, and what issues are created as a result of this contrast in points of view.

The Importance of Being Earnest is something of a snapshot, only around 60 pages long (in my Amazon Nook), and Wilde does brilliantly to cram as much irony and absurdity as possible in those pages. The brevity of the text only serves to illustrate Wilde's ability to self-restrain and trim his own work; I doubt that anyone would say that Wilde doesn't have the imaginative capacity to adapt this into the world's silliest novel. But perhaps the shortness of the story is indicative of his writing nous; the funniest T.V. shows today are 20 minutes long -- comedy is best suited for clever bursts. And after reading this, its hard not to say Wilde knows what he's doing.

TIBE Blog Post 3

The next portion of The Importance of Being Earnest that I read ventures to Jack's country house, where Cecily and Miss Prism are speaking. Miss Prism is trying to get Cecily to take a German lesson, but Cecily resists. The opening of this act (Act II) exposes the nature of Cecily and Miss Prism through dialogue. In this conversation, Cecily is shown to be a young girl with a free spirit, while Miss Prism seems to be inclined to back up Jack's sentiments--to have Cecily "improve in all areas". Jack is Cecily's uncle, and is presumably the primary caretaker of Cecily.

A Mr. Ernest Worthing drops in, Jack's alter ego created for "Bunburying". However, we discover that this is Algernon, coming to both mock Jack for his lies and profess his interest in Cecily. Cecily has heard innumerable things about Ernest, mostly that he is a troublemaker who "lives only for pleasure". Despite hearing this (and having never met him), she is drawn to him and expresses excitement at his arrival.
Jack returns to the country house, dressed in clothes of mourning. Attempting to kill off Ernest entirely, he tells those in the house that Ernest is dead, but "Ernest" enters the room soon after to Jack's disgust.
I left it with "Ernest" forcing his stay at Jack's to last a week and expressing his love for Cecily. Despite the bizarreness of an uncle and niece being together (Cecily is still under the impression that "Ernest" is Jack's brother), Cecily reciprocates these feelings, accepting his proposal soon after. However, to bolster the hilarity and irony of the situation, Cecily says that she has always wanted to marry an Ernest and cannot see herself with a person with another name. The "Bunburying" that got Jack into a situation has now gotten Algernon into a similar bind.  

"Up In Michigan" Is a Riveting Short Read

I take a break from my admittedly slow-moving read, The Importance of Being Earnest, to discuss an different Ernest. I thoroughly enjoyed "Up in Michigan", a short story by Ernest Hemingway that I read earlier this week. Read the brief narrative here.
The story chronicles a young girl, Liz, and her love for Jim, a man she sees frequently but interacts with only on occasion. Particularly interesting about this one is that it is Hemingway's first story, a marker for how his writing has developed over the years. However, the pragmatism that characterizes his best-known works is clear in "Up in Michigan". Hemingway writes in choppy yet informative sentences and spares the meager sappiness that often typifies cookie-cutter novel description. As is evident in the passage below, he maintains relatively detached and unbiased from his omnipresent perch as a narrator, and reveals plenty without intricate writing.

Liz liked Jim very much. She liked the way he walked over from the shop and often went to the kitchen to watch for him to start down the road. She liked it about his mustache. She liked it about how white his teeth were when he smiled. She liked it very much that he didn't look like a blacksmith. . . Liking that made her feel funny.

All the time now Liz was thinking about Jim Gilmore. He didn't seem to notice her very much. He talked about the shop to A.J. Smith and about the Republican Party and about James G. Blaine . . . Liz wanted to make something special for Jim to take but she didn't finally because she was afraid to ask Mrs. Smith for the eggs and flour and afraid if she bought them Mrs. Smith would catch her cooking. It would have been all right with Mrs. Smith but Liz was afraid.

The story deals with love, lust, and the illusions the two present. Liz is enamored of Jim, but bases her obsession with him solely on seeing him every so often.
In the end, it is revealed that Jim is similarly attracted to Liz, but Liz is petrified by this notion. When Jim eventually goes for her, Liz is very uncomfortable and resists even though she wants him to continue. She is shaken by the sexual experience the two go on to have, and is in tears afterwards.
Hemingway provides a complex commentary on male and female behavior. Although Liz appears to be far more interested in Jim than he is to her, Jim is the one who is forceful in their interaction and instigates their sexual contact.
Additionally, Hemingway offers a fable-like lesson to the reader; he implies that desires and passions can evaporate when the leave the head and enter reality, a doctrine clearly manifested in Liz's reaction to Jim's aggressiveness.

The Importance of Being Earnest Post 2

The second portion of The Importance of Being Earnest that I have read delves further into the characters, Jack in particular. Determined to propose to Gwendolen, he waits for her mother (Algernon's aunt) to leave the room before bringing up their relationship. Gwendolen immediately professes that she reciprocates Jack's love for her. However, under the impression that Jack's name is in fact Ernest, she states that she was drawn to him chiefly because of his name. The passage below is what follows.

JACK: I don't much care about the name of Ernest . . . I don't think the name suits me at all.
GWENDOLEN: It suits you perfectly. It is a divine name. It has a music of its own. It produces vibrations.
JACK: Well, really, Gwendolen, I must say that I think there are lots of other much nicer names. I think Jack, for instance, a charming name.
GWENDOLEN: Jack? . . . No, there is very little music in the name Jack, if any at all, indeed. It does not thrill. It produces absolutely no vibrations . . . I have known several Jacks, and they all, without exception, were more than usually plain. Besides, Jack is a notorious domesticity for John! And I pity any woman who is married to a man called John. She would probably never be allowed to know the entrancing pleasure of a single moment's solitude. The only really safe name is Ernest.
JACK: Gwendolen, I must get christened at once--I mean we must get married at once.

Wilde's tone is especially comedic in this passage-- he calls heavily upon dramatic irony. The audience is aware that Ernest's real name is Jack whilst Gwendolen bashes the name extensively and dismisses it as boring. At the end of the above exchange, Jack even makes a Freudian slip, saying that he must get christened (a way of changing one's name in 19th century England).
When Gwendolen accepts Jack's marriage proposal, he learns that he must now win the approval of Gwendolen's parents. In an interrogation demonstrative of etiquette in 19th century England, Gwendolen's mother, Lady Bracknell, inquires Jack for seemingly benign information. While the first few questions seem to indicate her approval, the marriage is cast in doubt when Jack admits that he is without parents, causing Lady Bracknell to call him "careless" despite it being out of his control.
I read on to discover the fate of the engagement.

The Importance of Being Earnest First Blog Post

The Importance of Being Earnest is written in the form of a play; it was designed at the time for the stage rather than to be read as a novel. This style provides a unique opportunity for the author to paint his picture in an nontraditional manner.
The most significant structural difference from the typical novel is the absence of description. Almost all characterization and plot development are expressed through dialogue, which Wilde fills with lush vocabulary and palpable emotion. An additional byproduct of this form of writing is a noticeably more present style- little is left out in the characters' interactions, providing more insight into their nature than most novels.
The unique approach that marks Wilde's writing is highlighted by the following passage.

JACK: I am in love with Gwendolen. I have come up to town expressly to propose to her.
ALGERNON: I thought you had come up for pleasure? . . . I call that business.
JACK: How utterly unromantic you are!
ALGERNON: I really don't see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I'll certainly try to forget the fact.

Wilde demonstrates Algernon (the last speaker) to be a pragmatist and a cynic, while showing Jack to be a more traditional romantic. The liveliness of the dialogue, like that of the exchange I have provided, keep me turning the pages (or, rather, pressing the button on my Barnes and Noble Nook®). 

Wilde demonstrates Algernon (the last speaker) to be a pragmatist and a cynic, while showing Jack to be a more traditional romantic. The liveliness of the dialogue, like that of the exchange I have provided, keep me turning the pages (or, rather, pressing the button on my Barnes and Noble Nook®). 

Thus far, I have learned that Jack is a man who is dubious about his identity. He goes by both Jack and Ernest. He uses the two names to get out of situations, saying he needs to go visit "Ernest" when he is in fact avoiding someone. He has come to the city to both propose to Gwendolen and to visit with Algernon, who is hosting his aunt. The interaction sthe two have seems to indicate that the two are friends, but they pry at each other's words and are unafraid to criticize each other's decisions or opinions.
I am enticed and excited to continue reading- I'll get back to you on what happens next.