ELS Autoblog

The issue I seem to keep running up against in both Arabian Nights and the Decameron is the extent of control women have in their marriage choices. I really hadn’t thought that they would have much say in the matter of who they would or would not marry. In the Tale of Kamar Al-Zaman, not only does Kamar refuse to marry, but Princess Budur refuses her father as well. And yeah, so she gets scolded, locked up in her own little chamber, but she still gets what she wants: no husband. And when the lovely princess decides that she’s changed her mind, she’ll only marry Kamar. When I had thought of wealthy aristocratic families like this, whether Arabic or English, I had thought the daughters married who their fathers said they would marry, no questions asked. And they certainly wouldn’t get away with threats of suicide.
And in the Decameron, second […]

Original post by kaseyd

I remember reading an article for the annotated bibliography in Dr. Kennedy’s 310 class about Boccaccio’s The Decameron, and I also remember thinking that I hoped I would never have to read it. When I saw it on the syllabus for this course, I won’t lie – I was a little intimidated. I had never had an intensive study on Boccaccio but from what I heard, he seemed like an unavoidable author as an English major. When I forced myself to sit down and read The Decameron, I realized that *shock!* I actually genuinely enjoy his writing. I have a lot easier time getting through lengthy readings when they are broken down into shorter stories, and the fact that Boccaccio uses language such as “amorous sport” and “the kind of horn that men do their butting with” to describe scenes that are usually left up to […]

Original post by jendudley

The 1994 version of Little Women, directed by Gillian Armstrong, was my favorite of the three movies seen in class. I like this Jo the best, actually I liked all of the characters of this version better. And to be fair, I think it was because of the style of filming. The characters of this version were suttle in their emotions, but still got the point across. We were able to see closeups of their faces, long shots, and converstions between people. The 1933 version, filmed with a large camera that had limited movement, made the movie feel like a play, which might explain Katharine Hepburn’s over the top acting. I like how in the 1994 version we are able to be right there with the characters, from any angle. It makes their actions and emotions more believable when they are not overacting […]

Original post by khusband

I’m watching the MLB Allstar game and blogging about film…pretty cool…
First off, I have to say what a breath of fresh air the ‘94 version of Little Women was. I have seen it before, but it’s been years. I don’t remember liking as much as I do now. Then again, I’ve had Little Women on the brain for so long nothing seems quite the same as it used to. Anyway, I really enjoyed that movie today. As for Winona Ryder’s portrayal of Jo, I thought she did an acceptable job. As for some people hating her, I must say she did not have that affect on me. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I like her. I noticed while reading about this film that Ryder was nominated as Best Actress for and Oscar. Interesting. As for the rest of […]

Original post by kcannon

I thought the first topic I would cover in my blog would be about my presentation from yesterday, as well as the 2.1 presentation.
I’ve been thinking about the “weepie” film that is mentioned in the Williams essay. Today when the question was posed about what movies are “weepie” that we have seen, I really couldn’t think of any. Yes, I’ve seen movies that I’ve shed tears, however I don’t think any movies have truly given me a good cry.
And, hold the phone. A “good cry” – alright, I don’t think I’ve ever really realized what exactly that is saying. I think we’ve all heard it before, in fact, many of us have said it – a good cry. It’s exactly what we were talking about in class today, it implies that the crying is a good thing, in some […]

Original post by malbrooks

Okay, I get that Tristram is a great guy. Courageous, merciful (see previous post), cunning, etc. And maybe I’m just having a hard time following all of this (I really have no previous knowledge of medieval literature), but weren’t we just talking about the chaste knight emerging in medieval literature? For example, the Knights of the Round Table? Before the chaste knight, I realize it was accepted that an exceptional knight more or less gets what he wants when he wants it, but it seems that Tristram has done the same., which still I can swallow until he bests the chaste Knights of the Round Table. Isn’t that saying something?
Granted, I haven’t completely finished the reading yet, so if he learns his lesson in the very end I don’t know it yet. And granted, given the choice the lady refuses to leave with Tristram and wants to return to her […]

Original post by jordan

What’s the deal with this woman?

Meet Ripliee. She’s an android designed to resemble a human. (For some reason the Japanese are obsessed with building realistic android women…) She’s the result of decades of work, yet it was probably immediately apparent to you that there was something unsettling about her.
How were you able to do that? Because she ran afoul of your amygdala-induced Uncanny Valley.
The Uncanny Valley is a hypothesis concerning the way humans respond to non-human objects. Wikipedia describes the relationship as such:
…as a robot is made more humanlike in its appearance and motion, the emotional response from a human being to the robot will become increasingly positive and empathic, until a point is reached beyond which the response quickly becomes that of strong repulsion.

So once an object crosses a certain threshold, humans involuntarily begin to judge it according to a much stricter set of criteria. At this point, […]

Original post by crain2mn

Three movies based on the same book, and the 1933 version and the 1949 version seem to be the same movie only one is in color while one black and white. I mean, it makes sense that the plot to the movie is the same considering they’re adaptations of the book Little Women.  Naturally, the 1994 version is more entertaining to view (not because of the actors necessarily), because the camera moves more.  Watching a movie where the camera is pretty much stationary can be rather dull, and it makes it easier to zone out.
Some people feel that Winona Ryder as “Jo” was a mistake.  That she is “too hollywood.”  I disagree.  Katharine Hepburn and June Allyson made “Jo” into an obnoxious character, who constantly interrupted others and dominating every conversation “Jo” was in.  I have always been fond of the character “Jo” in the book; she was the character […]

Original post by Amanda

I am doing my final project on Facebook.  I am trying to decide how to incorporate it into the class.  I have two ideas so far: making a facebook page for the class or creating a facebook group.  I’m not really sure what else.  I am going to incorporate some of the applications on facebook, (there are 80-something now!) because there are some really cool ones.  I’m trying to come up with other ideas too.  I’m still brainstorming though – I am going to work on it a lot on Wednesday, since we don’t have class.  I’ll post more about it later when I think of some new stuff!

Original post by Ashley