Group 4 Presentation
Group 4's movie was extremely unique and well made. The images that were shown were most definitely great representations of Nabokov. All the chess scenes were cool, and it took me a while to get that as she read the book Nabokov's chess piece moved because the game of worlds had begun. The escape from Zembla scene was really funny, and I enjoyed the other little plays within the movie. The whole thing was kind of set up like a frame story would be, which was great since Nabokov employs that technique within some of his works as well.
Group 6 Presentation
This presentation was my favorite of the lot. It was extremely creative, and it was interesting to see each person's unique representation of a character and what they would have written. The characters portrayed in this presentation were Humbert, Lolita, Shade, and Kinbote as the commentator. There were 4 different poems/pieces, which corresponds with the 4 cantos of Shade's poem. I liked that they Incorporated our class list into their pieces, as well as some of the blogs of their fellow classmates. The poem written from Shade's point of view was my favorite because it was quite entertaining and funny. Like Shade's poem, it was rhymed. And I thought it was interesting that he is writing from his own afterlife, whereas in the novel he writes about the death of his daughter. Each person did a great job of embodying their character and writing in the way that their characters really would. It was obvious that they put a lot of time into it, and I enjoyed it a lot.
Group 6 Presentation
Like all of the other presentations, group 6's was quite entertaining. They looked at the way fairy tales were incorporated into Nabokov's Lolita. Some of the ones they played out were little red riding hood, the little mermaid, snow white, beauty and the beast, sleeping beauty, Frankenstein, and the story of Actaeon. The use of pictures from the computer as scene backdrops was creative, and the cops excerpt from the end was funny. The part where the guys were watching little girls at play was comical as well.
Overall, the presentations were great. Super creative as well as entertaining.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Presentatoin Day 1
Group 1 Presentation
I really liked how each person played a character from a Nabokov book, and how the different scenes were meant to be Nabokov's thoughts while he was writing on his note cards. I thought that it was really creative, as well as funny. Each person did a good job of portraying the character that they were supposed to be. My favorite one had to have been the portrayal of drunken Shade, since we all know that he has an alcohol problem. The back and forth portrayal of the scene between Humbert and Quilty in the enchanted hunters was really funny as well, and that is quite possibly my favorite scene in the book simple because of its humour.
Group 2 Presentation
I thought that group 2's presentation was really creative as well. The characters of Dolores (Lolita), Humbert, Kinbote, Quilty and Hazel Shade were all played and brought together in a talk show like setting. Kinbote's bit was obviously hilarious because he is so full of himself and has something to say about everything. Hazel Shade's character was quite interesting, and creepy, as well. The fact that they included Vivian Darkbloom (ie Vladimir Nabokov) as the interviewer was clever. A discovery that they included that I found interesting as well was the comparison of each character to a character in Greek mythology. Lolita was compared to Persephone because both girls were raped, and although crude, it was funny when she said, "Well at least I get some!" Of course Kinbote compared himself to Zeus, the almighty king of the Gods.
Group 3
That was ours
I really liked how each person played a character from a Nabokov book, and how the different scenes were meant to be Nabokov's thoughts while he was writing on his note cards. I thought that it was really creative, as well as funny. Each person did a good job of portraying the character that they were supposed to be. My favorite one had to have been the portrayal of drunken Shade, since we all know that he has an alcohol problem. The back and forth portrayal of the scene between Humbert and Quilty in the enchanted hunters was really funny as well, and that is quite possibly my favorite scene in the book simple because of its humour.
Group 2 Presentation
I thought that group 2's presentation was really creative as well. The characters of Dolores (Lolita), Humbert, Kinbote, Quilty and Hazel Shade were all played and brought together in a talk show like setting. Kinbote's bit was obviously hilarious because he is so full of himself and has something to say about everything. Hazel Shade's character was quite interesting, and creepy, as well. The fact that they included Vivian Darkbloom (ie Vladimir Nabokov) as the interviewer was clever. A discovery that they included that I found interesting as well was the comparison of each character to a character in Greek mythology. Lolita was compared to Persephone because both girls were raped, and although crude, it was funny when she said, "Well at least I get some!" Of course Kinbote compared himself to Zeus, the almighty king of the Gods.
Group 3
That was ours
Our Group (#3) Presentation
We had a difficult time coming up with a presentation topic. Initially we had played with the idea of doing a kind of skit or play type of thing where each person would play a character from one of Nabokov's books, and then possibly making the setting "Humbert Land." After discussing it, we couldn't decide how we would go about doing that and incorporating the theme of discovery into it.
The next idea that got brought into play was a game. After all, Nabokov is quite fond of games, especially chess. We initially came up with an extremely confusing idea in which there would be a question regarding 5 topics (memory, time, illusion, framing, and coincidence). Somehow we were trying to make the answer for each question correspond in a way with all of the other questions. However, a number of the group members found the game too confusing, and we figured it might be too confusing for the class as well so we nixed that idea. Next, we talked about doing a kind of jeopardy type game or possibly a cranium kind of thing where a representative from each team would come up and try to act out, draw, or sculpt something for their team to guess. This is similar to what we ended up with, but felt that we needed to participate more in the game, and so we decided to do the acting ourselves.
First we decided that we wanted the last question to be an anagram composed of the first letter of each answer. So we came up with the word "lepidoptera." It was a word that we thought would be relatively hard to guess, although that didn't end up being the case. From there, we decided on answers who's first letters begin with letters in the final word and have to do with discoveries (a lot of them were literary allusions that we discussed in class) from the novels. Once we came up with those, each person was assigned certain ones to act out or draw, and we went from there.
The next idea that got brought into play was a game. After all, Nabokov is quite fond of games, especially chess. We initially came up with an extremely confusing idea in which there would be a question regarding 5 topics (memory, time, illusion, framing, and coincidence). Somehow we were trying to make the answer for each question correspond in a way with all of the other questions. However, a number of the group members found the game too confusing, and we figured it might be too confusing for the class as well so we nixed that idea. Next, we talked about doing a kind of jeopardy type game or possibly a cranium kind of thing where a representative from each team would come up and try to act out, draw, or sculpt something for their team to guess. This is similar to what we ended up with, but felt that we needed to participate more in the game, and so we decided to do the acting ourselves.
First we decided that we wanted the last question to be an anagram composed of the first letter of each answer. So we came up with the word "lepidoptera." It was a word that we thought would be relatively hard to guess, although that didn't end up being the case. From there, we decided on answers who's first letters begin with letters in the final word and have to do with discoveries (a lot of them were literary allusions that we discussed in class) from the novels. Once we came up with those, each person was assigned certain ones to act out or draw, and we went from there.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Infinite Cats and Rungs
Last night my little sister, a senior at Bozeman Highschool, asked me to help her pick out a book to analyze for her AP English author paper. The paper has a required length of 10 to 15 pages, and can be on basically any significant book pre-approved by the teacher. Although they are not limited to it, each student was handed an extremely long list of suggested books to chose from. It included many expected authors, such as Jane Austen and Mark Twain, but to my surprise included a book from Vladimir Nabokov as well. It was not Lolita, quite arguably his most famous novel, but Pale Fire!
Upon seeing this I was taken aback. Had we not just written a short essay on the extreme complexity and never ending discoveries to be made in this very novel on our last test? How could any student, much less a highschool student with an extremely limited knowledge of literature, be expected to analyze Pale Fire in 15 pages or less? The thought is absolutely absurd! One could not even write a great analyses about the index in 15 pages, much less the whole book.
I just found the thought of attempting to write such a paper amusing, in fact it makes me chuckle. I know that if I had chosen it as the book to write my paper on when I was in the same class, I would have panicked and absolutely gone out of my mind. You would be quite unpleasantly surprised after doing even a minute amount of research. If I had to write a paper analyzing the entire novel now, even after all of our conversations in class about the novel, I would still go crazy. One would have to write an entire book in order to even begin to shed light upon the infinitely deep shadows that make up Pale Fire.Whoever put that book on the list has obviously either never read it, or just not understood even the most basic parts of it. A book with infinite levels of understanding and never ending supply of cats to be taken out of the bag is most definitely not a good candidate for this paper.
Upon seeing this I was taken aback. Had we not just written a short essay on the extreme complexity and never ending discoveries to be made in this very novel on our last test? How could any student, much less a highschool student with an extremely limited knowledge of literature, be expected to analyze Pale Fire in 15 pages or less? The thought is absolutely absurd! One could not even write a great analyses about the index in 15 pages, much less the whole book.
I just found the thought of attempting to write such a paper amusing, in fact it makes me chuckle. I know that if I had chosen it as the book to write my paper on when I was in the same class, I would have panicked and absolutely gone out of my mind. You would be quite unpleasantly surprised after doing even a minute amount of research. If I had to write a paper analyzing the entire novel now, even after all of our conversations in class about the novel, I would still go crazy. One would have to write an entire book in order to even begin to shed light upon the infinitely deep shadows that make up Pale Fire.Whoever put that book on the list has obviously either never read it, or just not understood even the most basic parts of it. A book with infinite levels of understanding and never ending supply of cats to be taken out of the bag is most definitely not a good candidate for this paper.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Lolita vs Lilith
I stumbled upon something interesting that kind of connects with Lolita being presented as an Eve like character.
While going through names that sound similar to Lolita, I found the name Lilith. It is of Babylonian origin, and means "belonging to the night." I thought that was kind of funny because night or darkness generally represents evil and can be used to represent temptation, and Lolita is most definitely characterised as a temptress. However, that is not all. According to middle aged legends, Lilith was also the names of Adam's (as in Adam and Eve) first wife. I don't come from a particularly religious family, so I'm not sure if that is generally taught when speaking about Genesis, but this was news to me. Apparently, as the legend goes Lilith refused to obey Adam, and as a result she was turned into a demon and Eve was created to take her place.
I just found this interesting because it ties into my paper topic in kind of a weird way.
While going through names that sound similar to Lolita, I found the name Lilith. It is of Babylonian origin, and means "belonging to the night." I thought that was kind of funny because night or darkness generally represents evil and can be used to represent temptation, and Lolita is most definitely characterised as a temptress. However, that is not all. According to middle aged legends, Lilith was also the names of Adam's (as in Adam and Eve) first wife. I don't come from a particularly religious family, so I'm not sure if that is generally taught when speaking about Genesis, but this was news to me. Apparently, as the legend goes Lilith refused to obey Adam, and as a result she was turned into a demon and Eve was created to take her place.
I just found this interesting because it ties into my paper topic in kind of a weird way.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Test 2 Study Guide
1. When does Gradus first come into the story?
In the first word of Shade's poem (his character is a function of the poem itself)
2. Who are the main three characters according to Kinbote?
1. Kinbote
2. Shade
3. Gradus
3. What do the daughters of Judge Goldsworth and the Zemblan Royal family have in common?
Their names are alphbetically arranged according to the letter that they start with
4. Beauty + pity = art
5. What type of butterfly lands on Shade right before he is shot?
A Vanessa Atalanta
6. According to Kinbote, what is it that gives Shade's poem reality?
His own commentary
7. What two primary Shakespearean plays could the title of the book possibly come from?
1. Timon of Athens
2. Hamlet
8. What does "kinbote" mean in Zemblan?
king killer (Botkin = dagger/stilleto)
9. What is the password?
pity
10. How does Shade predict his own death?
In the last refrain of the poem (the gardener)
11. Where in the poem does Hazel commit suicide?
The exact center (line 500)
12. Who gives Gradus a ride to Dulwich Lane to kill Kinbote?
Gerald Emerald
13. Ultima Thule means what?
"ultimate land"
14. What was the title that Kinbote thought Shade should give to his poem?
Solus Rex ("sun king"; also a chess problem)
15. Who translated, albeit poorly, Timon of Athens into Zemblan?
Jack Conmal
16. According to the index, what is Zembla?
A distant northern land
17. What word game does Shade like?
Word Golf , an example of which can be found in the index changing one letter at a time to form a new word (from last to male in index)
18. Who is the toilest?
T.S. Eliot
19. What is the misprint on which Shade had based life everlasting?
white "mountain" instead of white "fountain"
20. What does Kinbote think the last line of the poem should be?
I was the shadow of the waxwing slain (A repetition of the first line of the poem)
21. What is the one thing that Kinbote says he cannot forgive?
treason
-->Shade says he can forgive everything other than not having read the assigned text
22. Just this. Not text, but texture.
23. What are the names of the two books (the first and last) at Judge Goldsworth's house?
1. Forever Amber
2. The Prisoner of Zenda
24. Kinbote is like who?
Hazel Shade -- both have a tendency to reverse words
25. What does "Bretwit" (pg. 180) mean?
Chess intelligence
26. Zembla = resemblance
27. IPH
Institution for the Preparation of the Hereafter
28. How many days does it take to write each of the Cantos?
3-7-7-3
29. What is Kinbote's supposed wife's full name?
Paradisa Duchess of Payn and Moan
30. Ampersand
& (brought with the dropping of the rubber band)
*READ THIS ARTICLE* http://www.tnr.com/article/books/bolt-the-blue
In the first word of Shade's poem (his character is a function of the poem itself)
2. Who are the main three characters according to Kinbote?
1. Kinbote
2. Shade
3. Gradus
3. What do the daughters of Judge Goldsworth and the Zemblan Royal family have in common?
Their names are alphbetically arranged according to the letter that they start with
4. Beauty + pity = art
5. What type of butterfly lands on Shade right before he is shot?
A Vanessa Atalanta
6. According to Kinbote, what is it that gives Shade's poem reality?
His own commentary
7. What two primary Shakespearean plays could the title of the book possibly come from?
1. Timon of Athens
2. Hamlet
8. What does "kinbote" mean in Zemblan?
king killer (Botkin = dagger/stilleto)
9. What is the password?
pity
10. How does Shade predict his own death?
In the last refrain of the poem (the gardener)
11. Where in the poem does Hazel commit suicide?
The exact center (line 500)
12. Who gives Gradus a ride to Dulwich Lane to kill Kinbote?
Gerald Emerald
13. Ultima Thule means what?
"ultimate land"
14. What was the title that Kinbote thought Shade should give to his poem?
Solus Rex ("sun king"; also a chess problem)
15. Who translated, albeit poorly, Timon of Athens into Zemblan?
Jack Conmal
16. According to the index, what is Zembla?
A distant northern land
17. What word game does Shade like?
Word Golf , an example of which can be found in the index changing one letter at a time to form a new word (from last to male in index)
18. Who is the toilest?
T.S. Eliot
19. What is the misprint on which Shade had based life everlasting?
white "mountain" instead of white "fountain"
20. What does Kinbote think the last line of the poem should be?
I was the shadow of the waxwing slain (A repetition of the first line of the poem)
21. What is the one thing that Kinbote says he cannot forgive?
treason
-->Shade says he can forgive everything other than not having read the assigned text
22. Just this. Not text, but texture.
23. What are the names of the two books (the first and last) at Judge Goldsworth's house?
1. Forever Amber
2. The Prisoner of Zenda
24. Kinbote is like who?
Hazel Shade -- both have a tendency to reverse words
25. What does "Bretwit" (pg. 180) mean?
Chess intelligence
26. Zembla = resemblance
27. IPH
Institution for the Preparation of the Hereafter
28. How many days does it take to write each of the Cantos?
3-7-7-3
29. What is Kinbote's supposed wife's full name?
Paradisa Duchess of Payn and Moan
30. Ampersand
& (brought with the dropping of the rubber band)
*READ THIS ARTICLE* http://www.tnr.com/article/books/bolt-the-blue
Paper One Topic
I started out with two ideas on what to write my first paper on. The first of which was brought up in class by John, and it was the relationship of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" to Lolita. I had just read this play in my world lit class, and one could make a number of connections between the two. First off, either Humbert or Quilty could be compared to Prospero. Both manipulated things in a way so as to cause certain events to happen. In the end like Prospero, Humbert comes to see that what he did was not necessarily as good as he had originally intended it to be.
The second paper topic, and the one I am going to pursue is the inclusion of Genesis in Lolita. There are numerous instances in which Lolita is compared to Eve, and in which Humbert compares himself to Adam. He represents himself as an innocent man tempted by Lolita into taking a bite of the sweat flesh of "knowledge." Humbert blames her more than once in the book for his fall into a world of chaos. There are a lot of other religious images strewn throughout the book as well. My focus, however, is going to be on how Lolita is connected to Eve in the story.
The second paper topic, and the one I am going to pursue is the inclusion of Genesis in Lolita. There are numerous instances in which Lolita is compared to Eve, and in which Humbert compares himself to Adam. He represents himself as an innocent man tempted by Lolita into taking a bite of the sweat flesh of "knowledge." Humbert blames her more than once in the book for his fall into a world of chaos. There are a lot of other religious images strewn throughout the book as well. My focus, however, is going to be on how Lolita is connected to Eve in the story.
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