The Tempest: Act 4

Summary: After the marriage of Miranda and Ferdinand, which is blessed by the spirits Juno, Iris, and Ceres, Prospero suddenly remembers Caliban's plot against him and summons Ariel to aid him in ruining Caliban's plot.
Paraphrase: Lines 146-156
You seem to be a little disturbed sir. Don't worry, this festive performance is now over. The performer's, as was said earlier, were all deities who have now left our presence. Just like the fantastical nature of this performance, every physical thing in existence shall also disappear over time, and leave no trace of its presence behind. Our existence is not much unlike a dream.
Close Reading: Lines 148-150 "These our actors, / As I foretold you, were all spirits and / Are melted into air, into thin air;"
In this line, Prospero is addressing Ferdinand after the nymphs and reapers were finished with their dance. The first interesting thing I see in this line, is the use of the word "actors". This is an interesting word to use in this situation. Within the world of the play, the spirits that Prospero summons in this scene are real figures. It seems strange that he would refer to them as "actors". For this reason, I feel that this line is referring to the actual people acting out the play. During Shakespeare's time, this play would have been acted out without any props or special effects. This would have made it difficult for the audience to follow particularly intricate scenes, such as the one acted out by the nymphs and reapers. There would have been no way for the audience to know that the actors performing this dance were meant to be seen as spirits. This is why Prospero has to tell them that this is so. And, because Prospero is addressing another player with this line, Ferdinand, it still flows with the play. Another indication that this line addresses the audience is the last five words: "into air, into thin air,". This repetition suggests that the speaker is attempting to be very clear about what he is saying. He does not want there to be any confusion about where the spirits / actors went. Without this clarification, the audience would have been very confused as to what happened to the actors.

The Tempest

Summary: Prospero, with the help of Ariel, creates a storm which causes his former enemies along with Gonzalo, Alanso, Ferdinand, Trinculo, and Stephano to come to his island. Antonio and Sebastion plot to kill the king, while Caliban teams up with Trinculo and Stephano and plot to kill Prospero. Both are unnsuccessful, and the play ends after Miranda and Ferdiand marry and all leave the island except Ariel, who is set free by Prospero, Prospero, and Caliban.
Paraphrase: Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 132-141
Don't be afraid. This land is full of joyous and innocuous sounds. Occasionally I hear instumentals. Other times I hear voices that put me back to sleep even after I have just woke. Sometimes in my dreams, I believe that the heavens are poised to shower me with riches. However, after I wake, I see that they haven't, and I long to dream again.
Close Reading: Line 141 "I cried to dream again."
The first thing I noticed about this line, was that it does not follow the pentameter present in the rest of the work. This line only has six syllables, as opposed to ten. This fact drew my attention to this line. The second thing I looked at was what tense this sentence was in. The word "cried" establishes that this sentence is in past tense. This means that the act of crying has already occurred. The next two words in this line, "to dream", describe the reason why Caliban cried. He "cried to dream". Taken alone, this statement doesn't seem to make much sense. Dreaming is something that is easily done. We all have the ability to dream at any time, so why would Caliban desperatly cry out for dreaming? If we look at the context in which Caliban is making this statement, we can make some more sense out of it. In the two preceding lines, Caliban describes a dream he had. In this dream, Caliban saw riches about to be bestowed upon him. After waking from this particular dream, Caliban "cried to dream again." Because of the content of this specific dream, I would say that Caliban is crying not for the act of dreaming itself, but for the riches he was about to recieve in this dream. This is very important in understanding the character of Caliban. Although he is a slave in a very poor situation, he still has hopes of becoming rich and prosperous. He does not simply hope for his freedom, as Ariel does, but rather he hopes to become the rich and prosperous ruler of his island. These lofty goals explain why Caliban wants so desperatly to take down Prospero. If he simply wanted to be free and live a humble existence, he would not have attempted to usurp Prospero so hastily.

A Tempest

Summary: With the help of Ariel, Prospero conjures up a storm that brings Gonzalo, Alonso, Antonio, Trinculo, Stephano, and Ferdinand to his island. Prospero holds a ceremony with all present to celebrate the marriage of his daughter, Miranda, to Ferdinand. All the characters, except for Ariel, Caliban, and Prospero, then sail back to Europe.
Paraphrase: Act II, Scene i, Page 27
Caliban: Do you believe in being a coward? In surrender? In submission? If someone hits you once, you would allow them to hit you again. That is not the way I operate.
Ariel: That is not what I meant, and you know it. I don't believe in physical retaliation, or surrender. We need to change the person in charge. Unsettle his peace of mind, so he is forced to reevaluate his actions towards us.
Close Reading: "No violence, no submission either. Listen to me: Prospero is the one we've got to change."
In these lines, Ariel is clarifying to Caliban his position regarding their servitude. One thing I find interesting about the first sentence, is the way that violence and submission are juxtaposed. The structure of this sentence sets up this juxtaposition. By having both these words follow the word "no", it demonstrates that neither are desirable. The word "either" at the end suggests that the two words are antonymous. Looking at the denotations of these words, this is not necessarily true. However, the context in which these words appear makes this true. When Ariel refers to violence, he is referring to a violent opposition of authority. His reference to submission is referring to giving up to authority, or not opposing in any way. These are the two extreme options that Ariel and Caliban have for dealing with Prospero's authority. By stating that he does not want to pursue either of these options, Ariel is declaring that he wants to oppose the authority by non-violent means. This view starkly contradicts Caliban's plan for opposing Prospero. Caliban, as he states earlier in this act, wants to violently oppose Prospero. Caliban also states earlier in the play that he wants to be referred to as X from that point forward. Caliban's violent opposition, and his insistence upon being called X, makes me think that his character is meant to represent Malcom X. Ariel, on the other hand, is meant to represent Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I say this because of his non-violent views as well as the second sentence in the passage I have chosen. Ariel states that "Prospero is the one we've got to change." Throughout his life, Dr. King Jr. repeatedly stated that in order for blacks to gain equal rights, they had to change the way white people thought about them. I believe that Prospero, the force that is controlling Ariel and Caliban, is meant to be an embodiement of white oppression against blacks in this play. Therefore, when Ariel makes this statement about Prospero, he is really saying that the whole mindset of white people needs changing.

The Odyssey: Book 10

Summary: Near home, one of Odysseus' men opens Ailos' bag of winds, causing a storm to blow them back to the Ailoian island, where Ailos refuses to help them again. After sailing to the land of the Laistygones, where many of Odysseus' companions are killed by the powerful inhabitants, the men come to the island of Aiaia, where Odysseus earns the trust of the goddess Circe, through the help of Hermes, and she informs them that they must make a journey to Hades in order to be able to return home.
Paraphrase: Book 10, Lines 270-280
The man said something to me, and I responded to him: 'I will let you stay here with food and drink, or you may go back to the ship if you'd like. I will go alone. I feel within me a powerful urge to go.' This is what I said, and I went on my way. Once I had walked through the beautiful valleys and the massive house of the medicinally skilled goddes was in sight, the god Hermes, disguised as a young, bearded man, approached me.
Close Reading: Line 273: 'I shall go. For there is strong compulsion upon me.'
I chose this line for a few reasons. First of all, I found the use of the word 'compulsion' to be interesting. Compulsion is defined by dictionary.com as 'a strong, usually irresitible impulse to perform an act, especially one that is irrational or contrary to one's will.' Throughout this work, Odysseus is very diligent and thoughful when deciding when and how to act. The thought of Odysseus performing an act based upon impulse seems very contradictory. This lead me to examine the surrounding text more closely. The word 'upon' seemed interesting to me. This word places Odysseus' compulsion outside of himself. He does not say that he feels a compulsion, or that one is within him, but rather says that there is one 'upon' him. Therefore, this compulsion must have been placed on him by an outside force. Eight lines later, after heading out on his way, Odysseus encounters the god Hermes, who aids him. Because of this encounter with a god so shortly after Odysseus' 'compulsion' is placed 'upon' him, I believe that the gods influenced Odysseus to act. This makes sense within the context of the story, as characters are often influenced by the gods.

The Odyssey: Book Three

Summary: Telemachos, accompanied by Athene, travels to Pylos where Nestor welcomes them into their ceremony honoring Poseidon, and Telemachos asks him about his father and Nestor tells him the story of Agamemnon and informs him that he does not know the fate of Odysseus.

Paraphrase: Book 3, lines 25-34
Pallas Athene responed to Telemachos: 'You will think of some of the things you should say by yourself. The rest will be provided by the gods. You would not be alive now without the help of the gods.' After saying this, the goddess Athene led Telemachos to the Pylos gathering. The king of Pylos, Nester, was at the gathering with his sons near him, and his servants arranged a meal.

Close reading: Line 30 'and the man followed behind her walking in the gods' footsteps'
I chose this line because it exemplifies the relationship between mortals and the gods in this work. It is repeatedly stated throughout this work that anything that happens is a result of the will of one or more of the gods.  For this reason, much importance is placed upon honoring the gods through ceremony, prayer, and sacrifice as well as upon living your life based on the example of the gods. This constant influence from the gods shapes the actions of all the people present in this story. Most notably, Athene's influence is what pushes Telemachos on his journey. In this line, 'the man' is referring to Telemachos, and 'the god's footsteps' are those of Athene. Without Athene on his and Odysseus side, Telemachos would not have began his journey. At the very beginning of this story, Athene talks with Zeus and the other gods about Odysseus' fate. They decide that he has endured enough hardship and that he deserves to finally come home. This establishes the importance of the gods in this work. Without the will of the gods, this story would never have come to be. This makes me wonder about the level of importance placed upon the individual in this society. With the constant mention of the gods, and with the insistence of characters to give full credit to the gods for all successes, I wonder how genuine the actions of Telemachos and Odysseus can be. If they are always 'walking in the gods' footsteps', how genuine are the actions that they carry out? Without the presence of the gods, how would Telemachos and Odysseus be different?

"To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell

Summary: If we had all the time in the world, we could develop our love however slow we wanted to, but, time is unrelenting, and we must make the most of our love during the short time that we are alive.
Paraphrase: If we had an unlimited amount of time on this earth, your patience with our relationship would be forgiven. We could spend as much time figuring out what to do with our love as we wanted. If you were to find riches next to a goddess, I would be upset in my hometown. I would love you till the end of the time, and it would be ok if you waited till then to love me back. My small love would grow very large over a long amount of time. I would spend thousands of years adoring each of your beautiful features. I would spend the most time loving your heart. You deserve this, I would give you nothing less. Unfortunaley, we do not have forever. I am constantly reminded about the reality of time. Everything is destroyed by time, and you, my love, will eventually fall victim to time's relentless destruction. While we are young, and relatively untainted by time, we should fully embrace our love and give all of ourselves to it. Although we cannot slow time, we can make the most of it, and share a lifetime of love together.
Close Reading: 'Time's winged chariot hurrying near;'
This line is the second line of the second stanza. In the first line of this stanza, the speaker begins with the word 'but'. This begins an obvious shift in the poem. In the first stanza, the speaker espouts his love for his mistress by discussing a hypothetical situation in which they would have all of eternity to be together. In the second stanza, the speaker discusses the unrelenting force of time, and how it will eventually claim himself, his mistress, and their love. Although this notion that time will eventually destroy all seems bleak, the second line of the second stanza hints that the speaker does not necessarily view time as a negative thing. I say this because of the words 'winged chariot'. A chariot is a horse carriage used by many ancient civilizations, including Rome and Greece. In Greek mythology, the sun god Helios pulled the sun across the sky each morning using a chariot pulled by four winged horses. Performing this act every morning ensured life for all Greek people. The use of this reference doesn't seem to fit with the tone of the rest of the stanza. Perhaps the speaker is being sarcastic by using this reference. Or maybe he is hinting at the fact that he is not truly bothered by time and its destructive powers.

"This Is a Photograph of Me" by Margaret Atwood

Summary: The speaker describes what is in an old photograph, and informs the reader that she is dead in the lake in the photograph.
Paraphrase: If you look close enough at this old, worn photograph, you will see a tree, a small home, a lake and some hills in the background. I drowned in this lake. If you look very closely, you might be able to see my corpse just below the surface of the water in the center of the lake.
Close Reading: "the day after I drowned."
This is the first time that the word 'I' is used in this poem. Prior to this, there is no indication that the speaker is personally involved with the action of this poem. Therefore, this is the first line that begins constructing a self within this poem. Another function of this line, is that it defines a timeline. The only other line that discusses time is the first line. The first line describes when the photograph was taken. It says 'It was taken some time ago'. Although this is quite vague, it establishes that the photogragh is at least fairly old. When the speaker reveals that she died the day before the photograph was taken, it means that she died a day before 'some time ago'. The fact that the speaker in this poem has been dead for a while, is quite shocking. The only other poem I know of that has a dead speaker is "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner". I see some similarities between these two poems. Both discuss death in a very matter-of-fact way, as if it is not a very significant detail. In the Atwood poem, the speaker is much more concerned with describing what is in the photograph then discussing her death. Also, the use of parenthesis around the final four stanzas makes these stanzas seem trivial in importance. Perhaps this poem is trying to convey the idea that some things, such as a beautiful picture, or a found memory are more significant than death. That even death cannot destroy these things. Another possible meaning is that people endure after death. I say this because of the last stanza. The speaker says "but if you look long enough/ eventually/ you will see me.)' The fact that the speaker is able to be seen in the photograph could mean that she is still alive in spirit.