Blog Post 13: Discover yourself

The first thing we notice is all the problems we run into with Milkman while hes hunting. Hes with a group of older, stronger, faster, more experienced men. AT first Milkman comes out trying to impress the other guys, until he notices he is hunting in a dark area with a pack of dogs. Milkman must find a solid way to blend into the darkness and move smoothly like Calvin so he can ensure he will live he thinks. One of his harder times is when the dogs begin following a bobcat and Calvin takes off running after the pack. At one point Milkman gives it all he has to catch up and keep up with Calvin as they move uphill. At some point while he is trailing, Milkman notices this is his breaking point. Surprisingly, instead this is the turning point for Milkman in the chapter that gives him confidence, strength, and a desire to keep up, yet Guitar attempts to strangle him from behind with wire, and Milkman manages to get free just as the hounds appear and chase off Guitar. In this chapter Milkman does some searching to find out who he really is. Milkaman feels judged by the town folk due to there own opinions. It is not until later in the chapter, when Milkman has gone on this great hunt and beaten Guitar that he begins to actually calm down. Instead of vieweing everything through aggressive lens, he now looks at stuff openly. A important part of the hunt helped with this, the moment when he came to the realization that the hounds were actually communicating with their owners. Instead of the hounds just making random sounds and stuff, he notices that they are actually sending messages to there owner. Milkman begins to actually look at the situation through a fresh perspective, and in turn actually earns the respect of the hunters. At the ending, milkman is pointed to a place run by a pretty girl that might take his mind off other stuff by the hunters.

Blog Post 11: First Corninthians into...Second?

During chapter 9 we see Corinthians is an middle aged women. Corinthians is mature, educated, and well experienced/traveled. Even with all these traits she never became a successful person. Even thought she worked hard to marry well and to get a good, respected job, she didn't succeed in any of it. Corinthians is looked at as the most educated sister in the family and Milkman looks up to her for this reason. After all of this, she became a maid for a well-known poet. Corinthians and her mother lied about her job to others. Even though Corinthians is a maid, she never dressed like it. Her uniform for work was never worn outside her job, and she wore high heels when going out in public. Throughout her life she has problems and struggles because she is always trying to live up to others expectations for herself, rather then her own. Since she did not meet her friends and family's expectations, she is ashamed of herself and it changes her character. Towards the end of this chapter Ruth struggles to decide if she will keep living with her man, who is not approved of by society, or go be succesful on her own. In the end, she decides to stay with Porter, which I think is a good choice because she kept saying he was someone who her father would keep her away from. Therefore, she wanted to keep him secret. Personally, I think that she makes her statement clear that shes done caring and trying when she enters her own home and completely ignores what Milkman and Macon are discussing.. Why should she keep acting and trying to be good as her family wanted if she could never meet those expectations.

Blog Post 10: Chaptahhhhh 5

Discuss Pilate's association with magic in the chapter. Cite all the magical aids she uses to achieve her ends. Is her magic always benevolent magic?

Pilate uses "magic" for a few reasons in this chapter. The first example is the voodoo doll. “Pilate put a small doll on Macon’s chair in this office.  A male doll with a small painted chicken bone stuck between its legs and a round red circle painted on its belly” (Morrison 132). In this quote, Pilate is trying to use the magical aid of the voodoo doll to prevent Macon Junior form aborting Ruth's baby.
The second time the association with magic is brought up is because of Pilates lack of a naval. The text says "Child, wheres your naval. It's for people who were born natural" (Morrison 143). Pilate always keeps her bellied covered when she goes out looking for a job so shes not turned away due to her strange deformity. But then she found a job and got married to man. She carries around a green sack later in the chapter that symbolizes the devil and/or magic. Pilate not having a naval symbolizes her being helped by the devil and not needing affirmation. The voodoo doll Pilate used is a sign of the devil also. This doll prevented Ruth from killing her baby, therefore doing something beneficial. Her magic isnt always bad. Pilates magic is what helped Milkman live.

Blog Post 9: Little Limpy

Milkman strives towards being the opposite of his dad throughout the book. He does not want to be compared to or looked at like his father Macon Dead. Milkman at one point hits his father just showing how much he despises him. As Milkman grows up, one of his legs does not grow at the same pace as his other. This throws off his balance on each side causing him to limp down to the side with the shorter leg. This is where Milkman's limp came from. Milkman limp is a good symbol of himself and his name. Milkman has not been able to take pride in his name due to his upbringing. The limp he has causes him to feel insecure about himself, and whens hes asked about it he has a harsh comment on page 62. Once milkman learned that his limp made him different from his father, he learned to make better of it. Throughout chapter 3 Toni talks about 10 years of his life. He slowly begins to breakup Guitars and his relationship. They were raised differently, and now that affect is taking place. Later in the chapter, Ruth is telling a story of what happened at the wedding and Macon Dead starts being rude and calling her stupid. Macon got irritated and slapped Ruth in the face, so Milkman got up and punched Macon. Now that Macon is all worked up and angry, he tells them about his relationship with Ruth. This chapter is a roller coaster ride.

Blog Post 8

From what I noticed while reading through the first chapter, everybody has equally important names. Whenever a character was introduced or talked about, both the first and last names were usually given. I think Toni wanted to give as little details about the physical appearance as possible, letting the name make each character unique. When Toni spoke about all the members of the dead family, she used both the first and last names, and even the nickname and birth name of the Milkman. Toni wanted to show the importance of names, therefore she gave all the characters equally important names.

 In chapter one so far, it seems as if Males are more worthy then women. The main example I saw of gender importance was when Pilate was more interest in his first nephew then he was in his own daughter. If you are more concerned in your nephew then you are in your own daughter, then there is a clear reason. In this case it is gender importance. Due to the time in which this book was written, so far it makes sense that men were looked at more then women. The book was written in the 1940's.

In this chapter the other thing that stood out was family legacy. Just like Parris liked his good reputation in the town, family legacy is treated the same way. Mr. Macon talks about how his sister dresses poorly and says he wont allow it so it wont affect his name. The chapter showed how they took there family's legacy seriously.

Crucible Portfolio: Act 4

Literary term
Comic Relief- A humorous/joking part or scene in a serious literary work or drama, especially a tragedy, intended to relieve the dramatic tension or heighten the emotional impact by means of contrast.
 "A bellowing cow is heard, and Tituba leaps up and calls to the widow: Aye, sir! That's him Sarah!" (Miller 1320)
Tituba hears a cow outside the prison while being talked to by Herrick. Noticing Herrick had been drinking a little and was a little tipsy, along with Sarah Good, she decides to capitalize on the moment. In the previous scene of the play it was very tragic and there were many deaths in the town. After having the crowd/reader in a down mood the other wants to lighten it up a little and add some comedy to shift the focus. This Literary term gives the play another side. Instead of always being serious and tragic, now the author incorporates a part that isn't negative/depressing.

Quotation Elation
"Elizabeth-quietly: Let me talk to him. Excellency.
Parris- with hope: You'll strive with him? She hesitates
Danforth- Will you plead for his confession or will you not?
Elizabeth-I promise nothing. let me speak with him."
These quotes are important to the text because it makes the audience predict what will happen next. They want to know what John and Elizabeth will decide. Will they lie and confess for something they haven't done to save they're lives? Or will they stick to the truth and keep they're high risk of being hung. When Danforth and Hale come to the jail asking Elizabeth to convince her husband to 'confess', so the Court wont hang them, it makes everyone shocked about whats happening. Depending on what Elizabeth and John decide, the town will change greatly. The reason Danforth and Hale came to propose this is because the whole town had turned on the court, not wanting them to hang anybody else or see any more deaths.

Characters
 Elizabeth- Elizabeth is John Proctors wife. In this act she is beat up and unhealthy due to being tied up and thrown in jail waiting for there sentence. Throughout the play Elizabeth has been know to be a honest and upright woman. She is also loyal to her husband.
Purpose- Her purpose in this Act was to convince John Proctor to confess to Witchcraft. In return theyre lives could be saved.
Outcome- Proctor signs the confession, but then backs out of it because he does not feel just doing so and cant overcome his conscience. Elizabeth supported him in his decision, instead of trying to persuade him otherwise.