Background painting: "Woman Writing" by 2021 Gbenga Orimoloye
Commonplace Book: a place for ideas, quotes, anecdotes, observations and information you come across during your life (personally or academically). The purpose of the book is to record and organize these ideas or quotes for later use in your life, in your business, in your writing, speaking or whatever it is that you do.
Week 10. Oroonoko, A Royal Slave
The quote on the right is a description of the execution of Oroonoko. It's detailed description of Oroonoko's execution. I chose this quote because it is very detailed and is a direct reference to death which has been effecting my life greatly. Furthermore, this passage is compact and can be analyzed over and over again.
Firstly, the title "royal slave" is a juxtaposition. Being a slave comes with either low or no status. However, being royal is associated with status and wealth. I think this title overpowers Oroonoko's name and makes me question if Oroonoko is just that....a royal slave. The way in which he was tortured and executed is that of how many slaves all over the world were castrated.
The mutilation of Oroonoko begins with "cut[ing] off his members". First his gentiles were cut off then thrown into the fire. Oroonoko is quiet during this entire painful death. I think this in itself is a powerful demonstration of Oroonoko's ability. After realizing death is inevitable he asks for a tobacco which was used by slave-owners to calm slaves. He smokes the tobacco through a pipe which is significant because pipes were only used by white men. The mere act of removing a man's gentiles is making Oroonoko less of a man. This also further depicts the extreme torture he endured. I asked myself why not just directly kill the man while reading this.
Another reason I chose this quote from Oroonoko is because I was simply disappointed in the ending. I did not want Oroonoko to be killed. I just wanted their to be a happily ever after ending. At least for once in my HUST reading. Although I was disappointed, I was left with a lot of scenarios in which the book could have ended which will make for a great adaptation paper.
Book VIII(-436-440)
Week 9
Book VIII of Paradise Lost describes Adam's version of his creation. God is speaking to Adam about his relationship with the animals and his free will. Free will is the idea that we [humans] have some choice in how we act and we are free to choose our actions. Sometime people say "the devil made me do it". This implies we had no control over our actions and Satan is the one with control. Some people also say "God knows what we are going to do before we do it". Does this speak to determinism? So did God already know Eve was going to eat from the forbidden tree? Why didn't they(God) stop her? Is it because God knew she had free will?
*I say "they" because I am not sure if God has a gender. Maybe God is non-binary?
A friend and I were talking about free will and if God truly gave humans free will. We also thought that it God in fact gave human free will was that done so we can go to him for forgiveness? I found this quote to align directly with my weekend, so it made a good quote to discuss and lay out all my thoughts.
Themes: Morals, Education,
Week 8. How To Live-or- A Life of Montaigne
The first quote pictured in the right is from Montaigne's book on friendship. Montaigne says it is easy to find a friend for superficial attributes. A superficial friend is one who lack emotions or one who you can not have in depth, meaningful conversations with. One that has no opinion and just goes with the flow. He continues to say that an ideal friend is one that is pure and reliable. I like this quote because it makes me proud to have good friends. Friends who are reliable and intelligent. This makes our friendship worthwhile,
The second quote is a good reference to the character of Montaigne. Montaigne focuses on ways to better one self. Unlike More, Montaigne shy away from politics and focuses on philosophy. More would most likely disagree because he appear to be more towards have government structure in society. Montaigne focuses more on governing the self.
Themes: Race, Inequality, Power
Week 7. American Moor by Keith Hamilton Cobb(KHC) & Re-Historicizing Race, White Melancholia, and the Shakespearean Property by Arthur Little
Choosing these quotes were fairly easy because I connected with them in my personal life and academic life. Looking back in my education career prior to attending college, I can single handily recall reading or thinking about Shakespeare. I read Romeo & Juliet in theatre class. I have never thought about Shakespeare in the context of race; however, I never liked learning about Shakespeare because it excludes 1. women and 2. black people. So actually identifying why I never connected with Shakespeare now makes sense.
Little and KHC works aims to understand race and whiteness in the Shakespeare realm. Little works focuses on racialization of the 16th and 17th century and he adds a modern commentary about modern times by speaking of Michael Brown. There work also brings into the notion of "white property". White property not in the sense of diverse representation, but an unspoken agreement among the early modern period cohort. It silently defines who gets to play, teach, and explore Shakespearean plays.
Little and KHC uses the new historicism lens to examine the early modern period. This is one of my FAVORITE lens because it helps shapes my current understanding of race, politics, power, technology, and consumption in early modern periods.
Themes: Coming of Age, Education, Identity
Week 6. Educated, Tara Westover
I like this quote because it brings the memoir full circle. Westover struggles between her new found identity as well as visiting her identity when she "crossed the threshold of my [her] father's house." No matter how much education she attains. No matter how she changes her hair, teeth, or nails she will remain her old self. She feels she is two people.
Westover speaks about this notion of two identities when she gives the Northeastern Commencement Address in 2019 about the Uninstagrammable Self. I think there is no coincidence between the two. Westover's uninstagrammable self helped her begin the process of leaving home and pursuing education. My uninstagrammable self is why I am a senior...a first generation college student.
Themes: Inequality & Power, and Gender
Week 5. Othello, Kim Hall
Othello(pg.56 line 65-82). This quote is not the words of Othello or Desdemona: however, it is a quote worth analyzing with many different lens. The speaker is Brabantio. He is attempting to understand why and how Desdemona had decided to marry Othello. He reference black magic which digs into the racism and stereotyping Othello faces throughout the play. By referencing magic, he takes freedom away from Desdemona and her power to make decisions for herself. This opens a discussion about gender and courtship in the 16th century.
I love this quote because it can be analyzed in so many ways!!
Themes: Power, Morals, Societal Duty
Week 3. Thomas More, Utopia
WK 2 8/22 Entry~ Themes:
Erasmus
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