Rich Dethlefs

Hendrix’s Star-Spangled Banner

rndethlefsrichard — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 22:56:38 +0000

In the last class we listened to and discussed the meaning behind
Jimi Hendrix’s version of the Star-Spangled Banner which was performed at Woodstock in 1969. Hendrix did not just play your standard version of the song. Instead, he added a ridiculous amount of distortion, some notes that were bent beyond recognition, and even began playing Taps in the middle of the performance. In my opinion, the ugliness of both the distortion and the unidentifiable notes were intended to symbolize how “ugly” America was becoming during the time of his performance. Hendrix was known for his opinions on the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War and I believe that his performance was “taking a swing” at the government so to say. Also, I believe the fact that he played Taps in the middle of this performance signifies the decline or death of our nation. Taps are traditionally played at funerals and he must have intended on causing some controversy to play them during the Star-Spangled Banner. Whatever his intentions were, Hendrix’s performance was certainly not intended to be patriotic.

“Trickster”

rndethlefsrichard — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 22:06:22 +0000

I consider a “trickster” to be anyone who has the reputation of pulling pranks or humiliating people for the sake of comedy. There are a lot of these people in the world and they perform these practical jokes for the amusement of both themselves and those around them. One example of a trickster that everyone can relate to is the class clown. Everybody had one of those kids in their high school that would pull tricks on other students or disrupt teachers in order to get a laugh. In Sherman Alexie’s novel, I believe that Victor and Sadie take the award for being the biggest tricksters. They find Dirty Joe passed out drunk and instead of helping him, decide to put him on the roller coaster. Making a complete fool out of a drunk man for the amusement of others is a perfect example of what a trickster is capable of.

Kesey

rndethlefsrichard — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 21:27:00 +0000

Throughout One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, author Ken Kesey emphasis’ the power struggle occurring between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. Before McMurphy ever entered the hospital the nurse had complete control over all of the patient’s thoughts and actions. However, once McMurphy arrived from the work-farm it became apparent that the control began to switch sides. He made it possible, for the acutes at least, to view life on the ward in a different light. Patients started to look at Nurse Ratched as just another nurse rather than some dominant force that could not be beaten. One example in the novel in which Kesey shows this control shifting is the part after they voted on watching the baseball game. McMurphy manages to get all of the acutes to gather around the blank television set and pretend to watch the World Series against Nurse Ratched’s wishes. Little victories like this one and the success of the fishing trip are prime examples of the Big Nurse beginning to lose control of her patients.

In my opinion, the struggle over control between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched goes beyond the walls of the mental hospital. I believe that this struggle signifies the greater battle that was going on in society at this time. Society was torn between issues such as the Vietnam War and civil rights movement. I feel that Kesey’s intentions were for the reader to see past the hospital and relate this novel to what was going on in America during this time period.

Lorca Prompt

rndethlefsrichard — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 03:51:46 +0000

In Blood Wedding, the way in which Lorca portrays both the ideas of love and marriage are greatly different from our modern ideas of what a marriage should be. Today society views marriage as a sacred event in which two individuals who love each other begin the rest of their lives together. However, in Blood Wedding love does not appear to be the biggest issue at hand. Instead, the priority seems to be placed on money and social status. In this story both the groom and the bride come from families who are well off financially. Although this would not exactly be considered an arranged marriage, both families play an important role in deciding what is best for the couple. The only reason the two families approve of the wedding in the first place is because they would both benefit financially and their social status would remain unharmed. It becomes clear in the play however, that the bride is madly in love with Leonardo. Even though they have strong feelings for one another the marriage would not work out under these circumstances because he is of a lower class. This just goes to show that love had very little to do with marriage in Spanish culture during this time period. Although there is still some social class discrimination in today’s culture, it is not as prevalent as it was in the past. This way true love does not allows have to be threatened by dollar signs.

Authority and Order

rndethlefsrichard — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 02:48:11 +0000

Blanca and Pedro Tercero meet for the first time in the fourth chapter of this novel. Although they are young, they end up falling in love at first sight. The problem with this is that is that their love is forbidden. This is due to tension caused by the vast differences between their social classes. The relationship remains hidden from Esteban Trueba throughout the story.

Digital Literature

rndethlefsrichard — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 05:21:13 +0000

I found the Lies Project to be an interseting form of poetry. The fact that it is a collaboration of many different ideas from many different people makes it more exciting to read compared to normal literature. It is also cool that you can add new lies on your own and interact with the site.
The Arteroids game however was frustrating for me. The words move across the screen so quickly that you can’t make any sense of them. As soon as you think you’ve made a meaningful connection the words disapear. Plus, I never liked the Asteroids in the first place.

Cortez

rndethlefsrichard — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 04:55:39 +0000

I enjoyed reading the story about Gregorio Cortez. The way he manages to elude the Texas Rangers after shooting the sheriff is quite heroic. Also, the fact that he turns himself in after they fail to catch him is honorable. However, I would be interested in reading a version of the story that was written by a native of Texas. I would bet that Cortez would not be made out to be as heroic and brave as he is in the versions we read for class.

Storytelling in Ceremony

rndethlefsrichard — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 04:30:59 +0000

Storytelling is an important part of Ceremony because it is traditional in Native American culture. Native Americans orally pass these stories on from generation to generation in order to preserve history and teach life lessons. These stories are often rythmic in ways and can sometimes be interpreted as songs. In the case of Ceremony, the stories being told are in the form of poems.

I believe that these poems are stories that have been passed down from older generations of Native Americans. They represent Tayo’s search for tradition throughout the novel. The end of the devasting drought symbolizes that Tayo has finally been accepted as a Native American.

Prompt #2

rndethlefsrichard — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 04:27:33 +0000

I think it would be crazy to say that all literature serves the same purpose. For example, comparing blues lyrics to a fairy tale would take a lot of imagination in my opinion. The blues are all about telling a down and out story while fairy tales on the other hand are supposed to teach the reader a moral or life lesson. They are also read in completely different ways. I’ve never heard a fairy tale told over the twelve bar blues.

Fairy Tales

rndethlefsrichard — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 04:14:07 +0000

I enjoyed the Grimm’s versions of the fairy tales much better than the Disney versions. The Grimm’s wrote these stories back in the days before censorship was such a big issue. This explains why they were not afraid to talk about the darker side of human nature. Would I read these versions to my 6 year-old, probably not. That is where the clean cut Disney version comes into play.

Out of the three Grimm’s tales I thought that Red Riding Hood was the best. The way it ends with a poem teaching the reader not to talk to strangers is very clever. It definately sends a stronger message than the new Little Red Riding Hood. The Langauge is also better which makes the story more appealing to an older audience.