Graphic Novel questions pg. 1014

1. The illustrations do not protray Gregor in a very grotesque way. The fact that Gregor is drawn with a human head greatly takes away from his transformation and undermines my original picture of him. I don't think that Kafka ever intended for Gregor to be part human and part bug. If Gregor did still have a human head in Metamorphosis, the family would probably not have been as disgusted by his appearance and then would have been more likely to talk to him. The illustrations are in black and white to make everything seem more primitive, depressing, and to represent the two dimensional characters in the story.

4. The faces of the family are caricatures like Gregor and they actually appear more grotesque to me than Gregor's face does. Perhaps this is meant to reflect their inner personalities, of which Gregor's is the most considerate.

Heart of Darkness and Metamorphosis

Gregor's ridiculous and unrealistic reaction to his to transformation is due to the society that he lives in and the life he has been trained to live. Gregor has been raised to conform to his society and he has lived every day in a robotic routine dictated by the society that has never been broken. Therefore, he doesn't know how to react when something happens to him that isn't controlled by his society. Furthermore, he has neglected his own personal needs for so long and essentially been an ant, with his only purpose being his work. So while his body was human, his mind was like a bug. But now, his body has turned into a bug and, although his mind is still thinking like a bug who has to work, he is unable to control basic movement of his legs, meaning that his mind is rebelling.

Heart of Darkness #6.1

Although Kurtz's painting is meant to represent justice, with the woman bringing light and seeing everything equally since she is blindfolded, Conrad uses it as an ironic symbol. It can be assumed that Marlow would disagree with the painting's intended meaning because of the frequent sarcasm that he uses to tell his story. In the context of the story, the woman no longer represents justice, but she instead represents the white Europeans who are taking over Africa and enslaving the natives. The Europeans claim to be bringing light, knowlege, and civilization to the darkness and, in some cases, may actually believe it. The woman in the painting who represents the Europeans is blindfolded, meaning that the Europeans do not realize and see the true evil nature of their actions. Furthermore, the sinister look that the light casts on the woman's face reveals that although the Europeans believe they are doing good by enslaving the Africans and "civilizing" them, they are in fact bringing out their evilness and increasing their savagery.

Heart of Darkness #2.1

Marlow starts off with an account of London in old times because he wants to compare London to Africa. He does this by saying that England used to be uncivilized just like Africa and, and so the Romans colonized England just like the English colonized Africa. The civilized cultures always think that it is their duty and their right to "civilize" the ignorant and less capable cultures. The civilized cultures think that they know what is best and so they ignore the protests of the cultures they are destroying.

Tone/Mood

Tone is shown through diction and is very important in a poem because it influences the poem's mood, which in turn influences the reader's interpretation of the poem. For example, in "Daddy" by Slyvia Plath, the tone is very resentful, bitter, and regretful. Grasping the poem's tone and mood prevents misunderstanding the poem. Because of the tone in this poem, it is made clear to the reader that this is a very serious poem and allows the reader to understand the speaker's inner struggles.

Diction

Diction, or an author's choice of words, influences the sound of a poem, which influences the poem's tone, which influences the poem's mood and the reader's interpretation of the poem. In Ozymandias, for example, the author starts off by using very delicate words, such as "antique" and "sculptor," which gives the poem a feeling of remembrance and thoughtfulness. Then, when the king is quoted, the words become stronger and a tonal shift occurs. The words in the quote connote power and dominance, which affect the tone. But then the words become quiet again in the last few lines, emphasizing time's subtle dominance over everything, even things as mighty as King Ozymandias.

Imagery/Figurative Language

In the poem "Pondering," E.E. Cummings, uses such vague language that it is difficult for the reader to decipher what he really means, but the reader is still able to obtain clear imgages from the author's descriptions. For example, "motheaten forum" (2) is an example of imagery because it paints the picture of a very old, dusty, neglected place and contributes to the setting of the poem. The personification of the stone is an example of figurative language because stone cannot literally cling to anything, but it implies a desperate and pitiful state.