"English Sem" is a two-semester course for 1 high school credit and an opportunity for six college credits open to seniors.
First semester covers readings from exploration and colonial days to the Civil War. Second semester encompasses authors from the Civil War to the present. Students are required to do college-level writing and literary interpretation throughout the year.
One part that stuck out to me was on page 353 when it talks about how nature does not see everyone as important. It says, "When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples. Any visible expression of nature would surely be pelleted with his jeers." In this passage, it identifies the idea that nature sees no one person as important and them being there or not does not make a difference. Even getting angry about it would not make a difference to nature.
Its like the poem we read; when the person is talking to the universe and saying that they're here and trying to get the universe to get it to give the person something. They universe in return says that even though the person was created does not mean that the universe owes them anything. Nature and the universe does not owe the people living in and around it, simply because they are alive and existing.
On page 346-347-348, it is explained that they come upon another shore, and the people on the shore don't come and save the men because they think that they are just fishing, so all they do is wave and get a bunch of people to wave at them. Eventually they had to go back to seea. Let me note that these are tourists at a nice hotel, probably on vacation. Then later on page 358 the correspondent sees "a man running along the shore. He was undressing with most remarkable speed. Coat, trousers, shirt, everything flew magically off him." He comes into the ocean to save the crew members that aren't strong enough to make it all the way to shore. Eventually they found out that the oiler, Billie, had died trying to make it. The correspondent explains the beach when they finally get to the shore. "It seems that instantly the beach was populated with men with blankets, clothes, and flasks, and women with coffee-pots and all the remedies sacred to their minds. The welcome of the land to the men from the sea was warm and generous...". So these people are showing care and love and doing whatever they can to take care of these men while the tourists taking vacation by a hotel didn't do anything but wave. Honest mistake, or was there something more to it?
I just want to say that Billie dying on the shore was sad but also a point of naturalism. The correspondent kept saying how unfair it would be for nature to make him go through all this just to have him die and that is exactly what happened. A happy ending would have been they all make it and are safe, but they had Billie do all that work to survive and come so close to safety just to die right on the shore. It expresses the sad truth that nature/life does not care how hard you worked. Everyone dies eventually.
A pretty bleak moment of this story is when the correspondent remembers the stanza of the poem about the soldier in Algiers. With the whole soldier lay dying, lack of woman's nursing, dearth of woman's tears thing that's going on it just seems that human life pretty much sucks. It is portrayed really sadly here, with no women around and somebody dying, and it is pretty unsettling (for me at least, and probably others) to read about a person dying and not being able to return to their native land.
The use of such detailed imagery when describing anything except for the men in "The Open Boat" is significant evidence to suggest that Crane is trying to place more importance on the outer details such as the nature and environment around the men. By doing this, he takes away the emphasis that authors usually put on their characters when making them seem much more important than the rest of the objects and details of the story. On page 344, "The birds sat comofrtably in groups, and they were envied by some in the dingey, for the wrath of the sea was no more to them than it was to a covey of prairie chickens a thousand miles inland"(pg.344). The description here takes emphasis away from the men in the story, making them seem as important as any other point that Crane brings across.
Yes, and think about what is being said about the birds. What does that do to the typical hierarchy placing humans in a superior position to animals/nature?
The use of such detailed imagery when describing anything except for the men in "The Open Boat" is significant evidence to suggest that Crane is trying to place more importance on the outer details such as the nature and environment around the men. By doing this, he takes away the emphasis that authors usually put on their characters when making them seem much more important than the rest of the objects and details of the story. On page 344, "The birds sat comofrtably in groups, and they were envied by some in the dingey, for the wrath of the sea was no more to them than it was to a covey of prairie chickens a thousand miles inland"(pg.344). The description here takes emphasis away from the men in the story, making them seem as important as any other point that Crane brings across.
When he was younger he never saw this soldier dying as something extremely important. He said it did not even make him feel sad and it "was less to him than the breaking of a pencil point." However, he came to the conclusion that the soldier was a human being, a living thing and he felt sad for him. He realized that the soldier's death was real. Death was an actuality and he felt sorry for that soldier.
The narrator states that "These waves were most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall" when referring to the rough ocean that the crew is in. It is also stated that the captain was buried in "profound dejection and indifference" (342). After becoming hopeful that someone would be coming to rescue the crew the first time around, and they realize that it isn't so, the reading says "the light-heartedness of a former time had completely faded... it was easy to conjure pictures of all kinds of incompetency and blindness and indeed, cowardice,"(346). Words with negative connotations like " bitter and bitter" (347) and "rage" (347) are used repetitively throughout the story. Additionally, the crew members question frequently why they have been allowed to become so close to land if only to drown at sea. They thought, "If I am going to be drowned-if I am going to be drowned-if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life?", and a similar thought reappears on the top of pages 350, 351, and 353.
The narrator states that "These waves were most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall" when referring to the rough ocean that the crew is in. It is also stated that the captain was buried in "profound dejection and indifference" (342). After becoming hopeful that someone would be coming to rescue the crew the first time around, and they realize that it isn't so, the reading says "the light-heartedness of a former time had completely faded... it was easy to conjure pictures of all kinds of incompetency and blindness and indeed, cowardice,"(346). Words with negative connotations like " bitter and bitter" (347) and "rage" (347) are used repetitively throughout the story. Additionally, the crew members question frequently why they have been allowed to become so close to land if only to drown at sea. They thought, "If I am going to be drowned-if I am going to be drowned-if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life?", and a similar thought reappears on the top of pages 350, 351, and 353.
"Their back-bones had become thoroughly used to balancing in the boat and they now ride this wilt colt of a dingey like circus men" (347). I am not sure if this is entirely true of the times, but when I think of circus men, I think of uncivilized men. Circus men have gotten used to the harsh conditions and grossness of the circus like the sailors have gotten used to the little boat on the terrible ocean. This is a statement of even though they are getting more used to the boat, they are still very uncivilized and not on the same level as they would be on land.
"A singular disadvantage of the sea lies in the fact that after successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it just as important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective the way of swamping boats" (342). Crane uses this passage to show the power of the sea, and the helplessness of the men in the boat. By directly comparing the fight of these men in this story to the fight that humanity has with nature, humans aren't doing so well. Numerous times throughout this story the waves are shown to have considerable power over the men. These examples of waves and the above quote, show that humanity doesn't have any power that can triumph nature when we are placed in a true survival situation. We are subjected to the same rules that natures has in place for the rest of the animals.
In the beginning of the story the ship is compared to a Bronco. The Bronco is described to always be working(342). Since the ship which the men are on is like the Bronco it is safe to assume the ship is also supposed to fight endlessly. Since men have to control the ship to stay alive the men also have to work endlessly to survive. I feel as if having to fight waves that are like outrageously high fences(342) that's a pretty bleak outlook.
"On the distant dunes were set many little black cottages, and a tall while wind-mill reader above the. No man, no dog, nor bicycle appeared on the beach. The cottages might have formed a deserted village." Crane uses this passage to show how lonely and helpless these men were out at sea. The color black is usually connected with dark things that have no meaning of hope. This image of the empty cottages are used to show how helpless humans are actually becoming. This is to show how humans don't have any advantages in the game of life than any other animal.
Crane portrays a very bleak outlook of human life towards the end of the book. On page 356, Crane writes, "It merely occurred to him that if he should drown it would be a shame." After this sentence ends, so does the paragraph. The author does not expand upon death and the fear it could bring. He makes death sound cold and miserable. On the top of page 357, Crane writes, "The coldness of the water was sad; it was tragic." Here I think Crane is using the water as a symbol for death and displays to cold outlook of death in naturalism.
One part that stuck out to me was on page 353 when it talks about how nature does not see everyone as important. It says, "When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples. Any visible expression of nature would surely be pelleted with his jeers." In this passage, it identifies the idea that nature sees no one person as important and them being there or not does not make a difference. Even getting angry about it would not make a difference to nature.
ReplyDeleteIts like the poem we read; when the person is talking to the universe and saying that they're here and trying to get the universe to get it to give the person something. They universe in return says that even though the person was created does not mean that the universe owes them anything. Nature and the universe does not owe the people living in and around it, simply because they are alive and existing.
DeleteOn page 346-347-348, it is explained that they come upon another shore, and the people on the shore don't come and save the men because they think that they are just fishing, so all they do is wave and get a bunch of people to wave at them. Eventually they had to go back to seea. Let me note that these are tourists at a nice hotel, probably on vacation. Then later on page 358 the correspondent sees "a man running along the shore. He was undressing with most remarkable speed. Coat, trousers, shirt, everything flew magically off him." He comes into the ocean to save the crew members that aren't strong enough to make it all the way to shore. Eventually they found out that the oiler, Billie, had died trying to make it. The correspondent explains the beach when they finally get to the shore. "It seems that instantly the beach was populated with men with blankets, clothes, and flasks, and women with coffee-pots and all the remedies sacred to their minds. The welcome of the land to the men from the sea was warm and generous...". So these people are showing care and love and doing whatever they can to take care of these men while the tourists taking vacation by a hotel didn't do anything but wave. Honest mistake, or was there something more to it?
ReplyDeleteI just want to say that Billie dying on the shore was sad but also a point of naturalism. The correspondent kept saying how unfair it would be for nature to make him go through all this just to have him die and that is exactly what happened. A happy ending would have been they all make it and are safe, but they had Billie do all that work to survive and come so close to safety just to die right on the shore. It expresses the sad truth that nature/life does not care how hard you worked. Everyone dies eventually.
DeleteA pretty bleak moment of this story is when the correspondent remembers the stanza of the poem about the soldier in Algiers. With the whole soldier lay dying, lack of woman's nursing, dearth of woman's tears thing that's going on it just seems that human life pretty much sucks. It is portrayed really sadly here, with no women around and somebody dying, and it is pretty unsettling (for me at least, and probably others) to read about a person dying and not being able to return to their native land.
ReplyDeleteThe use of such detailed imagery when describing anything except for the men in "The Open Boat" is significant evidence to suggest that Crane is trying to place more importance on the outer details such as the nature and environment around the men. By doing this, he takes away the emphasis that authors usually put on their characters when making them seem much more important than the rest of the objects and details of the story. On page 344, "The birds sat comofrtably in groups, and they were envied by some in the dingey, for the wrath of the sea was no more to them than it was to a covey of prairie chickens a thousand miles inland"(pg.344). The description here takes emphasis away from the men in the story, making them seem as important as any other point that Crane brings across.
ReplyDeleteYes, and think about what is being said about the birds. What does that do to the typical hierarchy placing humans in a superior position to animals/nature?
DeleteThe use of such detailed imagery when describing anything except for the men in "The Open Boat" is significant evidence to suggest that Crane is trying to place more importance on the outer details such as the nature and environment around the men. By doing this, he takes away the emphasis that authors usually put on their characters when making them seem much more important than the rest of the objects and details of the story. On page 344, "The birds sat comofrtably in groups, and they were envied by some in the dingey, for the wrath of the sea was no more to them than it was to a covey of prairie chickens a thousand miles inland"(pg.344). The description here takes emphasis away from the men in the story, making them seem as important as any other point that Crane brings across.
ReplyDeleteHow did the narrator feel about the soldier when he memorized the poem in school? And now? Why the difference?
DeleteWhen he was younger he never saw this soldier dying as something extremely important. He said it did not even make him feel sad and it "was less to him than the breaking of a pencil point." However, he came to the conclusion that the soldier was a human being, a living thing and he felt sad for him. He realized that the soldier's death was real. Death was an actuality and he felt sorry for that soldier.
DeleteDefinitely bleak and unsettling details. Now lets see if anyone can find description and imagery that add to this feeling in a subtle way as well.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator states that "These waves were most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall" when referring to the rough ocean that the crew is in. It is also stated that the captain was buried in "profound dejection and indifference" (342). After becoming hopeful that someone would be coming to rescue the crew the first time around, and they realize that it isn't so, the reading says "the light-heartedness of a former time had completely faded... it was easy to conjure pictures of all kinds of incompetency and blindness and indeed, cowardice,"(346). Words with negative connotations like " bitter and bitter" (347) and "rage" (347) are used repetitively throughout the story. Additionally, the crew members question frequently why they have been allowed to become so close to land if only to drown at sea. They thought, "If I am going to be drowned-if I am going to be drowned-if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life?", and a similar thought reappears on the top of pages 350, 351, and 353.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator states that "These waves were most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall" when referring to the rough ocean that the crew is in. It is also stated that the captain was buried in "profound dejection and indifference" (342). After becoming hopeful that someone would be coming to rescue the crew the first time around, and they realize that it isn't so, the reading says "the light-heartedness of a former time had completely faded... it was easy to conjure pictures of all kinds of incompetency and blindness and indeed, cowardice,"(346). Words with negative connotations like " bitter and bitter" (347) and "rage" (347) are used repetitively throughout the story. Additionally, the crew members question frequently why they have been allowed to become so close to land if only to drown at sea. They thought, "If I am going to be drowned-if I am going to be drowned-if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life?", and a similar thought reappears on the top of pages 350, 351, and 353.
ReplyDelete"Their back-bones had become thoroughly used to balancing in the boat and they now ride this wilt colt of a dingey like circus men" (347). I am not sure if this is entirely true of the times, but when I think of circus men, I think of uncivilized men. Circus men have gotten used to the harsh conditions and grossness of the circus like the sailors have gotten used to the little boat on the terrible ocean. This is a statement of even though they are getting more used to the boat, they are still very uncivilized and not on the same level as they would be on land.
ReplyDelete"A singular disadvantage of the sea lies in the fact that after successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it just as important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective the way of swamping boats" (342).
ReplyDeleteCrane uses this passage to show the power of the sea, and the helplessness of the men in the boat. By directly comparing the fight of these men in this story to the fight that humanity has with nature, humans aren't doing so well. Numerous times throughout this story the waves are shown to have considerable power over the men. These examples of waves and the above quote, show that humanity doesn't have any power that can triumph nature when we are placed in a true survival situation. We are subjected to the same rules that natures has in place for the rest of the animals.
In the beginning of the story the ship is compared to a Bronco. The Bronco is described to always be working(342). Since the ship which the men are on is like the Bronco it is safe to assume the ship is also supposed to fight endlessly. Since men have to control the ship to stay alive the men also have to work endlessly to survive. I feel as if having to fight waves that are like outrageously high fences(342) that's a pretty bleak outlook.
ReplyDelete"On the distant dunes were set many little black cottages, and a tall while wind-mill reader above the. No man, no dog, nor bicycle appeared on the beach. The cottages might have formed a deserted village."
ReplyDeleteCrane uses this passage to show how lonely and helpless these men were out at sea. The color black is usually connected with dark things that have no meaning of hope. This image of the empty cottages are used to show how helpless humans are actually becoming. This is to show how humans don't have any advantages in the game of life than any other animal.
Crane portrays a very bleak outlook of human life towards the end of the book. On page 356, Crane writes, "It merely occurred to him that if he should drown it would be a shame." After this sentence ends, so does the paragraph. The author does not expand upon death and the fear it could bring. He makes death sound cold and miserable. On the top of page 357, Crane writes, "The coldness of the water was sad; it was tragic." Here I think Crane is using the water as a symbol for death and displays to cold outlook of death in naturalism.
ReplyDelete