Margaretchristian’s Blog

Respond to the following based on your reading of Act I of Rent:

1)    Describe your response to the first act of Rent.

I loved reading the first act of Rent.  It jumps right into the heart of the issues this play discusses and explores the conventional and unconventional elements of life, as well as the realities associated with this time period.

2)    Think of the topic you may want to write about for your short paper—an issue that represents a gap or border to you—and where you see it occurring in Rent. Identify the sections, characters and parts of Rent where you see this as especially important.

I think I want to write about the AIDS epidemic for my short paper.  AID is a topic that I am not very familiar with and is one of the central issues this play is focused around. Many of the characters within the play have AIDS; Collins, Angel, Rodger, Mimi and therefore is commonly talked about. Also, during the time period in which this play was written, the population of people with AIDS was growing rapidly and knowing more about it would give me a better understanding of the play.

3)    How does Rent relate to the course theme of “isolation and community” in your mind?

Rent relates to the course theme of “isolation and community” because although the poor community and characters with AIDS have each other to lean on, they are very much isolated from the rest of society, specifically the upper classes of New York City.

4)    What questions do you have about what you’ve read up to this point?

Sometimes it is confusing to keep the characters straight, but other than that I do not have any major questions up until this point.

She compares the sperm activities to a corporate manager’s role in making “executive decisions”

–this shows the have more power of the egg and therefore females

Martin recognizes that another way that the sperm has been made loom in importance over the egg is through a collection of scientific papers titled “A portrait of the Sperm.” Despite this title, sperms are actually more difficult to photograph then eggs. However, this title with the term “portrait“ associates sperm as being powerful and wealthy because that is what many associate the work “portrait” with.

Emily Martin’s, “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male- Female Roles” was confusing and hard for me to follow. I encountered a number of “gaps” and “borders” while reading this text and hope that class discussion will help smooth over the areas of confusion. 

What I think the main point Martin is trying to make is that the character and perception of the egg and sperm can be used as a metaphor to describe societies stereotype of male and female behavior.  

 Many people are led to believe that the sperm, which symbolizes a male, is more powerful than the egg, which is symbolic of a female. This parallels the gender-bias many people have today. However, as time has moved forward, many of these conceptions of the role the sperm and egg play have been proved otherwise. Martin hopes that we not forget these new conclusions and use them to help change the way the majority of people view/ understand gender relations.

This blog starts off by saying “It’s one of those books that manages to crystallize half-thought-out ideas and insights that you have but never really manage to develop. And once you get your head around the central ideas you can see how applicable these are in many different bits of the world.” When I first read this, I was wowed because it is so true. This book is successful in commenting on the idea that metaphors are much more than just a figure of speech. It highlights that they permeate throughout society and have a major influence on ones perception. Metaphors are  complex, they are grounded in experience and can have different meanings depending on the way the person intended to use them.

1) How do Lakoff and Johnson suggest metaphors are usually defined or thought of?

Lakoff and Johnson suggest that metaphors are a rhetorical device of the poetic imagination. They state that metaphors are typically viewed as characteristic of language, a matter of words rather than thought or action.

2) How do they define “metaphor”?

Lakoff and Johnson have found metaphors to be pervasive in everyday life. Therefore, metaphors are more than just a matter of language and words. They believe that the way humans think and their thought processes are metaphorical; therefore, when they use the word metaphor, they really mean metaphorical concept.

3) What do they mean by the following: “Our conceptual system is largely metaphorical”? (pg 3)

They mean that the way humans think, what we experience, and what we do every day is much of a matter of a metaphor. However, our conceptual system is not something that we are normally aware of and therefore we do not realize how metaphorical in nature humans really are.

4) What do they mean by a “metaphorical concept”? (pg 6)

Metaphorical concept means that metaphors influence the way we conceptualize life, meaning metaphors influence the way we think, act, and perceive people. The metaphorical concept is systematic and can be extended beyond the range of ordinary literal ways of thinking.

5) They write on page 11 that “linguistic expressions are containers for meaning entails that words (and sentences) have meanings…independent of contexts and speakers.” But they argue that words = ideas and ideas / concepts / beliefs arise from our context and experience. For example, how would you complete the following thought [with one word?]:

Moms are selfless. To what degree is the way you completed this sentence based on your own experience and background and from the notion (concept) of what “moms are” from the culture in which you’ve been immersed and exposed? The sentence I completed is based entirely on my own experience and background. To me my mom is selfless. Like many of the moms in my town and the areas, which I have been immersed and exposed to, my mom has made raising her children her top priority. She puts my siblings and my happiness over hers and is willing to anything to help us grow up to be the best people we can.

6) True or false: All language is figurative (metaphorical). Explain and defend your answer, providing examples.

False: Not all language is figurative. There are many words that take on literal meanings. The metaphors we use are not the actual word use, it is our own personal concept of the word we use and the way we use it.

For example, it my sentence above: Moms are selfless. That is not a literal meaning that all moms are selfless, but to me it is a word I would associate with moms, as a result of my own perception of them. However, someone with different experience, maybe a more negative experience, may associate the word mom with a word that takes on an entirely different meaning.

1)    Summarize pgs 86-111 briefly (around 100 words)

Act two opens with “seasons of love,” which is an upbeat song that encourages the celebration of life.  It is New Year’s Eve and Mark, Mimi, and Roger are all trying to pry the padlock put on their door. Maureen comes in and says that her and Joanne have broken up. Joanne enters the scene and Maureen pleads to for Joanne to get back at her.  They are unsuccessful at breaking the lock, so they try using a rope instead and it works. Collins and Angel arrive with a bottle of champagne. Mrs. Cohen (Marks mom) leaves a message on the machine wishing Mark a happy New Year. Mark, Joanne, and Maureen all talk about how happy they are with how the film of the riot turned out. Benny enters the scene and gives Roger his key back. Benny brings up his past/history with Mimi and Roger pretends not to be irritated by it. They all make a toast to sticking together, despite hard times. The scene closes with a man appears with drugs for Mimi.

It fast-forwards to Valentines Day. Roger has been living with Mimi, but talks about leaving town. Maureen brings up to Joanne how she has changed whom she is to make Joanne happy. They argue about how different they are.

The next scene takes place in Mimi’s apartment. Mimi is angry with herself because she is addicted to drugs. It is made apparent that Mimi and Roger need and want each other. Angle is very sick and dies. The scene ends with Maureen and Joanne together and Roger and Mimi together.

2)    What do you think the main theme of Rent is?

I think the main theme of rent is about coming together and making the best of live, despite the troubles and hardships that come along with it.

3)    How might this story be different if it were told through the eyes of Mimi or Joanne or Benny rather than [implicitly] Mark?

The story may be different because Mark appears to be the most stable character. He appears to be least unconventional out of the bunch. If Benny old the story, then the entire plot line and main message of the play would be different because he is not suffering or struggling the way the others are.

4)    What do you think you’ll write on for your short paper [see Assignments / Seq 3 for details?

I plan to discuss the AIDS epidemic during that time period because of it is frequently discussed in the play.

5)    What questions do you have at this point? [about Rent or the short paper]

I do not have any questions up until this point, I think mainly because I am already quiet familiar with the play.

1)     Find several “talking points” or bits of information that speak to the context of Rent, similar to what we did with The Stranger—things you need to know in order to understand Rent. [list a dozen or so of the most important to you]

·       The author Jonathan Larson was born on February 4, 1960 in White Plains, New York and died of an aortic aneurysm, January 25, 1996

·       He died on the evening of the final dress rehearsalà makes the play that much more poignant in its focus on the diseased and drug-addicted young people of New York’s East Village

·       Larson’s family was loved the arts and therefore supported/ encouraged Larson to be involved in them

·        Much like the characters in the book, Larson lived in poverty and waited tables to earn money, while working on this play

·       Rent is a celebration of life and the heroic struggle to survive

·       This play is loosely based on the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème

·       La Bohème is an opera that focuses on the experiences of bohemian artists living in Paris at the end of the 19^th century

·       The title “Rent” is important because it is derived from the idea in the play that the main characters are united in a strike against the landlord of the tenements where they live

2)     Building on work you did in sequence 1 & 2, discuss gaps and borders you might face in reading and watching and writing about Rent. If you’ve already seen Rent, either the musical and/or the film version, you can approach this from the standpoint of how you could better understand the film—or from the standpoint of someone who has never seen it. [at least 300 words]

Gaps and borders are prevalent in any piece of literature, whether it a novel, film or play. I know when I watched this movie; I faced a number of gaps and borders. Therefore, I know when I now have to read and write about Rent, I will encounter more of these obstacles. However, each time I watch the movie again or discuss various elements of the play with someone, I learn something new and gain better incite. This helps me to fill in these gaps and borders.  I am excited because I know that class discussions will help me to recognize the elements of the play that I did not pick up the previous times and answer further questions I have about the text.

This movie is especially difficult to understand the intended meaning because the story is told as a musical, it does not follow a traditional movie style where the audience creates meaning through the characters dialogue. This forces the audience to make assumptions about different characters and passages within the text.

Additionally, one border that I faced when I first watched this film was that I was very unaware of the issues discussed in it. This film opened me up to a different world. I would have understood the film better the first time, if I had some background knowledge on the context prior to watching it. Therefore, learning more about the author’s life and the historical context will help me to better comprehend the major themes within the play.

The two narrative elements I plan to focus on in my paper are Camus use of figurative language and narrative perspective to explore his theme of the absurd and existentialism in The Stranger.

 Although The Stranger is deceptively simple, consisting of very little figurative language, there are a number of metaphors that serve an extremely important purpose. Metaphors are a figure of language in which a word or phrase is applied to an objects in which it is not literally applicable.

I choose to focus on the metaphors in The Stranger because play an important role in creating meaning and reason within the text.  They help to generate a better understanding and emphasize certain elements and ideas, such as the absurd and existentialism.

I plan to focus on the courtroom and the way it represents society as a whole. Also, I will discuss the significance the sun has in the book.

I will include various quotes of when Meursault comments on the intensity of the sun and how it serves to represent how uncomfortable he is within society.

Specific passages include, during the funeral on pages 16 and 17, before he murders the Arab on page 58, and in the courtroom on page 82.

The second narrative element I will concentrate on is the use of narrative perspective and tone within the novel.  I will draw on the idea that through Camus use of metaphors that I mentioned earlier and Meursault’s narration he is successfully able to explore the philosophical themes of the absurd and existentialism, the fundamental ideas in which this book is focused around.  I will include his relationship with Marie (pg 41) and his abnormal reaction to his mother’s death.  These passages, similar to the metaphors, help to emphasis Meursault’s detachment from the world. And because this story is told in first person, the reader is limited to only Meursault’s descriptions, making his thoughts and perceptions entirely subjective. However, if the story were told from a different character in the book, there would almost be no point to the novel. Camus use of metaphors and narrative perspective all serve for the grater purpose of allowing him to indirectly express his own outlook on the world and the time period in which this story takes place. 

Two symbols that I found help Camus to better convey his message of the absurd and existentialism, were the old lady who couldn’t stop crying when she was paying respects to Meursault’s dead mother and the courtroom.

In a way, the old lady acts as a character foil to Meursault because she represents the way one would normally be expected to grieve. Her behavior contrasts the way Meursault reacts to his mother’s death and therefore accentuates his detachment from society.

 A more major symbol in the book is the courtroom. The courtroom symbolizes society. During the courtroom scene, not only is everyone trying to find reason for Meursault’s crime, but they are also trying to understand his complexities as a character.  The court trying to find the reason for Meursault’s actions, mirrors humanity’s attempts to find logical explanations for irrational events that occur in everyday life.

Lastly, Meursault constantly makes note of the intensity of the sun and heat. I know we began to touch on this when we were discussing the setting of this novel in class today; however, I am still somewhat confused on what Camus intentions were by making the sun play such an important part of the book. Maybe he does it with no real purpose at all? Or maybe to help him emphasize the fact that there doesn’t always need to be an explanation for ones actions, which compliments the notion of the absurd and that life has no meaning?  I don’t know.

What is the significance of the novel’s title? [Remember that an alternative translation of the French could be “The Outsider.”] Does the story’s title help explain its meaning?

 The significance of the novel’s title is that Meursault can be considered a stranger, an outsider of society. Meursault does not fit into societies moral standards.  Characters in the book are perplexed by his actions and responses to situations. In fact, in the entire second part of the book, society is trying to understand Meursault’s complexity as a character. During the courtroom, the spectators, judge, and jury are all trying to give reason to not only Meursault’s crime but also, his reasons for reacting the way he did to his mother’s death. However, Meursault is content with being considered an outsider to society. This is partly a result of his “absurd” tendencies, and the fact that he does not care what people think of him because of his outlook that life is meaningless.

Can you find a suggestion of theme in specific passages of dialogue or description?

 There are many references throughout the book to the fundamental themes of the absurd and existentialism, the philosophies in which this novel is centered around. This is especially true in the end of the book when Meursault is in prison. Many times he makes statements similar to,  “Well, so I’m going to die. Sooner than other people will obviously. But everybody knows life isn’t worth living. Deep down I knew perfectly well that it doesn’t matter much whether you die at thirty or at seventy…” (114).  He does not care about life enough to continue to want to living because he has the mind set that he will die eventually; therefore, why not just make it now.

What questions do you have about the novel at this point? Any points of confusion?

 As a result of the group presentations and class discussions, my questions and points have confusion have been cleared up.  I now have a greater understanding of how Meursault’s personal experiences and the historical context really play into the book, making it what it is. However, I would like to spend more time in class focusing on the end of the novel and the subtle character shifts Meursault made from the beginning of the book, if any.