ELS Autoblog

As I stated in class yesterday, I love the book Little Women. The first Louisa May Alcott book(s) I read was actually Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom. I still have the falling apart copies my mother gave me as she told me they were the first books she had read and fallen in love with. Likewise, I fell in love with those books and I quickly began reading any Alcott book I could get my hands on. As an author, Alcott is one of my favorites.
I feel I have a lot to ponder since class yesterday. I have been contemplating why I’m one of these nuts that likes Little Women so much. When others in the class expressed some of their oppositions to the book, such as it being too sweet, I completely understand where they are coming from. I just […]

Original post by kcannon

I’ve been meaning to blog this for quite a while now.

What does everyone else think of this video? I saw it (partially) as a statement on the media’s influence over us, but perhaps it’s also saying something about human nature. What makes it so sad? The very end, or everything leading up to it? (Or do you even think it is sad?) Just something to think about.

Original post by arynna

I just finished watching the 1933 version of “Little Women,” and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the film did an excellent job portraying each of the central characters accurately; especially Katharine Hepburn as Jo. The only thing that was a little off-putting was the fact that the actresses were quite obviously older than the characters they were playing. However, I can understand the film makers desire to choose talented actresses over ones that simply looked more the part. Although the film was definitely corny in parts…so was the book, so I suppose that isn’t a legitimate critique. I think it’s very easy to take a not so great book and turn it into a film; however adapting a classic such as “Little Women” for the big screen is no small feat, and I think that overall the 1933 version was quite […]

Original post by ellie

Looking at the Lancelot reading again I want to parallel the evil dwarf with the evil Jinn of the Arabian Nights. That’s pretty obvious– they’re both wretched, tricky creatures, even if the Jinn is not that bright, not to mention their hideous physical features. Is this a ridiculous statement, though? Should this be regarded as possible evidence of the Arabic influence on Western medieval literature, or is the depiction of such a villain pretty universal, so much so that the attempt to draw this parallel is pretty worthless?
What’s going on with the Decameron? I’ve never seen so much un-chivalrous behavior in my life. For example, many of the stories of Day Two dealing with people who run into misfortune only to find themselves incredibly lucky (usually wealthy) one day actually deal with people who have engaged in unseemly behavior and brought misfortune on themselves at some point. There’s the pirate who […]

Original post by jordan

This post is a bit random, but after watching Miller’s Crossing I decided to rent another Coen brothers film. I chose Barton Fink—and wow. What a film.
I wanted to talk about it for a bit, even though it’s not technically part of our class material. Since I watched it, which was a few hours ago, so many parts of it have been continuously running through my mind, I suppose trying to find some clarity. There are a few parts that definitely stand out in my mind, though. If you haven’t seen it yet, quit reading and go rent it. For real.
First of all, towards the end when the hotel is burning and Charlie returns. I can only imagine that the hotel is now symbolic of hell, maybe it […]

Original post by malbrooks

Okay, so I’m a little behind in the blogging world. It looks as though most of my blogging will have to be done on the weekends, seeing as though I spend most of my quality time during the week on 95 driving to my classes (fantastic). So forgive me if I’m speaking about topics that have already been discussed, but I have things to say so here I go!
Miller’s Crossing. I feel as though that first scene says so much about the progression of the movie: the plot and the characters, as we have already mentioned in class.
We talked at length about the ice cube sound, so I won’t go too deeply into that. I do have to say, though, that it was a brilliant way to tie together two constants […]

Original post by malbrooks

Prompted by today’s class discussion, I decided to look into some of Camille Paglia’s work. I was expecting to find some Gloria Stienem-esque academic talking about how tectonic patriarchal forces compel women to empty the dishwasher. Turns out my conception of her writing couldn’t be further off target. She certainly doesn’t seem to think particularly highly of men, but a large part of her work seems to be a reaction against the gender-equity brand of feminist thought that pervaded 70’s, 80’s, and early 90’s. I came upon a list of her quotes and was surprised by their blunt, unapologetic nature. Some excerpts:
Leaving sex to the feminists is like letting your dog vacation at the taxidermist.
Woman is the dominant sex. Men have to do all sorts of stuff to prove that they are worthy of woman’s attention.
Teenage boys, goaded by their surging hormones run in packs like […]

Original post by crain2mn

Ok. Let’s reveal another interesting fact about me to open this post. My parents named me after Katharine Hepburn. Except they didn’t like how she spelled her name. So they changed the second a to an e. So I’m really not named after Katharine Hepburn. Plus I’ve never seen her in a movie in my life. And let me just tell you, after watching this 1933 version of Little Women, I really do not want to be associated with her. I’m sure she’s probably done some really good movies (unless my parents were just crazy when they named me) but she sucked in this one (In my own opinionated and well chosen words.) I hated how unfeminine and tomboyish she was. I know Jo is supposed to be tomboyish, but Hepburn takes it to the extreme. Very extreme. The book Jo loved to do boy […]

Original post by khusband