Ebbing Elizabeth

"Who is that lovely girl? And suddenly he realised that it was his Elizabeth, and he had not recognised her, she looking so lovely in her pink frock!... Richard and Elizabeth were rather glad it was over, but Richard was proud of his daughter. And he had not meant to tell her, but he could not help telling her. He had looked at her, he said, and he had wondered, Who is that lovely girl? and it was his daughter! That did make her happy. But her poor dog was howling." (Woolf 194)

To ebb-(of an emotion or quality) gradually lessen or reduce

The true Elizabeth is ebbing. Her desire to assume a profession is receding like a wave. In this passage, her father is shown dousing away her unique qualities until she is nothing left but a “lovely girl” like her mother. On page 136, Elizabeth decides that she “would become a doctor, a farmer, possibly go into Parliament”. These aspirations are what make her different from Clarissa, which Miss Kilman likes about her. However, at the end of the book, all Richard acknowledges about Elizabeth is her aesthetics. Elizabeth loves her father very much, and is “devoted” to him; having him be proud of her for anything makes her feel so happy that she would probably attempt to look her best more often to gain his approval more, never mind studying to become a doctor. Elizabeth’s dog, symbolic of her inner intelligent self, howls and is shut up, not to be shown to the rest of society. The old, innocent Elizabeth who wore pure white dresses is now replaced by this girl who wears pink frocks “well above the ankles” with her hair “done in the fashionable way” (169). Surely, at this time in history, females like this won’t be wishing to have day jobs. Clarissa doesn’t work, though unattractive women like Miss Kilman do. Elizabeth is seemingly doomed to be like the former. Just when it seems like she’s about to make it out of the water, Elizabeth’s individuality ebbs back, as her ocean of a mother consumes her.

Septimus & Shakespeare & Sordidity

“Here he opened Shakespeare once more. That boy’s business of the intoxication of language- Antony and Cleopatra- had shriveled utterly. How Shakespeare loathed humanity- the putting on of clothes, the getting of children, the sordidity of the mouth and the belly! This was now revealed to Septimus; the message hidden in the beauty of words. The secret signal which one generation passes, under disguise, to the next is loathing, hatred, despair.” (Woolf 88)

This passage helps the readers truly experience the change that Septimus had gone through due to the war. His current analysis of Shakespeare makes him hate it, as his views on life become more pessimistic and bitter. The “secret signal” described is like the codes that he hallucinates now, as on page 21. With his PTSD, Septimus applies his wartime codes that he had received to his current life events. The “message hidden in the beauty of words” is what his life used to be like. Pre-war, he was a charming young man in a promising world, which is the beauty of words. However, after going to the war, Septimus finally finds the hidden message that discloses the reality of human nature and what the world is actually like. Cold and cruel.

I also think it’s strange how he uses the word “sordidity”, even though it is not a real word. However, sordid is a word and means “to be dishonest or dirty”. It’s symbolic of how Septimus is immersed in his own world that he built off an established environment. He is living off his own creations, like his vision of Evans and codes that are taken out of the context of the past.

On a less dramatic scale, I sort of feel the same way as Septimus- kind of, not really, but a little bit. In freshman year, when we first began reading Shakespeare, I was really excited because his works are universal, and I thought it would be so cool to be reading such high level of literature like the older students. The more analysis (or hidden messages) our class covered about the book, the more depressing the work seemed to be. Like Septimus, I soon developed a more dark perspective on life and society. Needless to say, Romeo and Juliet did not seem like such a cute love story, after all.

Septimus is absorbed in his past and the war.

Tone is Like Identity

Why do Alexander, Tan, Alexie, and Angelou use different tones in their pieces? Alexander’s tone is bitter, as she describes herself as “fractured” and “a mass of faults”. Tan sounds desperate as she recounts her “terrible disappointment” of a Christmas. Alexie uses humor to talk about his childhood as a “goofy reservation mixed drink”. Angelou is very anticipatory in her illustration of the “near-sacred quiet” during the boxing match. Ultimately, each author’s choice of tone is to support the purpose of the piece. Alexander’s bitterness is used to show the thoughts of a conflicted woman who is having an identity crisis. She expresses all of her harsh self-judgments to show just how troubled and confused she is about herself and her background. Tan’s desperation echoes the anxiety her teenage self must have felt during this specific event. It shows how embarrassed one little girl became solely because she was ashamed of her own culture and just wanted to fit in. Alexie’s humor masks all the pain he felt all the times when his father became obliviously drunk and when he left the family. He is hurt by his father’s actions, but he still wants to accurately portray the sort of meaningful relationship they did have. Angelou’s anticipation exemplifies the raw tension everybody in her piece felt. This event was clearly a significant event to all who were there, as its outcome would determine everybody’s status and fate in the world. All of these pieces have one thing in common: the characters are confused about their identities. However, there are many ways that this message is portrayed through to maintain another underlying purpose. The authors’ tone is just like their identities, all are different but in the end, everyone is trying to say the same thing.

Analyzing Amy's Ashamedness

I had just finished reading Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks”, and I must say- it is basically my life. I can definitely relate to Tan’s teenage life because I am a teenager, and I am an ABC (American Born Chinese) with parents from Asia. The tofu and squid that she oh-so-eloquently described as “stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges” and “bicycle tires” (Tan 95) are common dishes in my household, so I don’t think of them as described. However, Tan’s description is only depicting how outsiders like Robert and his family would see them. As a result, it is quite interesting how quick Tan is to criticize “all [her] favorite foods” like this (95). Having grown up eating these foods, she must have never really thought about them in this manner until she wanted to think and be like Americans.

Unlike Tan, I never really grew up ashamed of my culture. My family still maintains many traditional customs, and I never think twice about letting people see them. I think a part of the reason why Tan wanted to be “the same as Americans girls” is the environment she grew up in. Oakland, California in the 1960s (when Tan was 14 years old) had a 2.1% Asian population, and Troy, Michigan in the 2010s (when I was 14 years old) had a 13.3% Asian population. Conclusively, growing up in areas with different Asian population densities plays a role in ethnicity acceptance. I became more accepting of my culture, as it was more prevalent in the environment I lived in, unlike Tan's. But at least Tan eventually embraces her Chinese heritage. It's better than her letting go of it all. Kudos to her mother for instilling this sense of pride in her.

This is supposed to look like bicycle tires.

Enabling Disabled Mannequins

The mannequin business is really tricky. After watching the Pro Infirmis video, I began to question why stores don’t just use a variety of mannequins in their shops. After all, a Cambridge University study found that “women prefer brands whose advertising reflects their own identities” (Amed, Imran). If this is the case, retailers should just begin making their mannequins more varied and different. However, I soon found out that there are mass-producing mannequin factories. Although each mannequin is hand-crafted through a series of processes, they are all shaped by the same molds. Having a mold restricts the variety of figures mannequins can be modeled after. So the reason why mannequins all look whole, perfect, and the same is not because retailers truly want to discriminate people with disabilities from being commercialized, but because it would take more time and effort. It’s true that molds could be created to have different body shapes (i.e. curved torso or missing limbs) but that will still limit the options for body shapes that mannequins could have. Consumers would be seeing the same disabled figures, and still not be able to experience the whole scope of disabled peoples’ physique. We even saw in the video that the artist crafted the new mannequins from already-made mannequins kind rather than from new molds. If some stores truly care about incorporating disabled people in their advertising, they could create different molds or alter their current mannequins to have them look different. As of now, all flawed mannequins with missing parts and damages are thrown out, but if enough people are concerned about this topic, this could change. 

Resources: 

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25319920 

http://www.businessoffashion.com/2013/03/the-fashion-industry-still-has-an-image-problem.html

As you can see, the mannequins all look the same because they are made from the same molds. This is a look inside the mannequin factory.

Brooding Bennie

Dear Diary,

I am so excited! This is my very first diary entry! Hot dog! I decided to start this because it seems like a lot of fun! I plan to fill this notebook up with pages and pages of entries so that when I become a renowned doctor, it will be worth a lot!

While I am this excited, today, Asagai came over and gave me “some records and the colorful robes of a Nigerian woman”. They are so beautiful! Asaigai even had them brought all the way from Africa! Isn’t that just the most thoughtful thing ever? Even George has never done anything like this, though he has enough money to buy all the robes in Nigeria probably. Anyway, Asagai helped me put a robe on and said that I look like a “queen of the Nile”! But then he had to mention that I have “mutilated hair”. It’s only because I have my hair fixed to look more presentable. I mean, I can’t have my hair looking like a rat’s nest! Though now that I think about it, this is a form of assimilation. Oh no! I can’t have him thinking I’m an assimilationist; that would be horrible! Maybe later I’ll cut my hair to look more natural. Then Asagai will have to approve of me! I can’t stand it when he makes fun of me. I really want to impress him and connect with my African roots. In fact, I’m going to go cut my hair right now! I will talk to you later, Diary!

Sincerely,

Bennie

Corruption as Big as the Ritz

The Diamond as Big as the Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a very unrealistic story about a family whose undeniable corruption is brought on by materialism. The Washington family comes from a long line of depraved people that goes back almost as far as Moses (or rather, George Washington) as a result of their accidental immense wealth. In fact, Braddock Washington claims that “Water is not good for certain races-except as a beverage” (Fitzgerald 93). Clearly, he believes that he is from a much superior race than other people. This story, much like most other “once upon a time” fairytales, portrays an improbable situation to convey its theme: everyone has a perverted perspective on life when it’s all about the money and wealth. The reality of having a diamond as large as the Ritz hotel is very unlikely, much like pink elephants, but it serves as a hyperbole to today’s corrupted wealth. Even though this story was published in 1922, it is still relevant today. Fitzgerald’s use of rhetoric like allusion allows us to point out the flaws of society; people may be able to obtain luxury, but their demoralization will ultimately lead to their demise. In this case, Kismine and Jasmine, who have lived their whole lives in a home where men are kept in a “large cavity in the earth” (93), are doomed to live in the city of Hades, which alludes to the underworld where everything is bleak and poor. Instead of the usual diamonds and servants, they will have to succumb to rhinestones and working.

This is the Ritz. Imagine a diamond as big as it.