Sports Literature Fall 2018

I felt like analyzing Midnight in Paris was one of my most enjoyable classes of the year personally. It was good to get away from literature and briefly touch on film for a change, so I enjoyed it. From the article we only really talked about topic, the left to right duality with left being "good" and right being "bad". Just in that one paragraph alone, so many film elements were mentioned and what they mean to the film. There are too many to talk about in just one blog post, but his class must have been intense analyzing all of the aspects he brought up. One of the film perspectives was the idea of dominance when someone is higher on the screen and this was reflected a lot in the movie. Gil's fiancee was often shown towering over Gil because she always got what she wanted in the movie and was a negative influence on him. Something else I found interesting was the color contrast in the movie. When he was in his regular life, everything was light and almost bland...

The scene that I wanted to talk about in the film Midnight in Paris  is around the 45:00 mark when the characters are looking at the huge paintings on the wall. I found this scene very interesting because Gil tried to assert his dominance about his knowledge of the paintings and this did not impress the other characters that he was with. The first part of the scene that we see is when they are in the huge white room with the Monet paintings on the walls. The paintings seemed to stretch across the walls and it was as if they were windows looking into different places of the world. Additionally, it was very zoomed out and the characters were in a particular part of the frame so that the focus was places on the paintings. Moreover, Gil seems to control where the camera moves because as soon as he is done talking, he walks to the left or right and goes out of where the camera is shooting. Additionally, he will also try to push Inez in that direction, showing that the director was cle...

In Gilead, I found the author's style of writing to be especially interesting. The writing was not especially structured, as it lacked some standard writing conventions. First, the author does not follow standard grammar for dialogue. Instead, it is written out, stating what is said as its own sentence. This adds a sense of realism to the book. It makes it feel like the book was really written as a letter, and not as a book with the intention of publication. The second characteristic of Gilead that adds realism is the lack of chapters. Chapters would make it seem as if the book was planned out in advance, something uncharacteristic of a letter. By simply writing freely,  Robinson makes Gilead feel authentic.

Midnight in Paris Although I was not in class for discussion of the movie, I watched the film and want to express some of my opinions on one of the scenes.  One scene that I found particularly interesting was at the beginning of the 30 minute mark.  Gil and Inez meet Inez's parents at the store, and Inez's mom tries to convince the couple to buy an antique armchair.  The chair, which costs upwards of $20,000, is too expensive for Gil and he looks for excuses to not purchase the chair.  Inez, on the other hand, is intrigued by the piece of furniture and mimics her mother's fondness of the item.  We begin to see the relationship between Gil and Inez's parents become distasteful, as their clear discrepancy in values is evident.  Inez and her family value material goods more than Gil, which leads to a greater divide in their relationship. This scene was an important part of the movie as it helped lay the groundwork for this theme of a diverging relatio...

The Sun Also Rises has many cyclical themes specific to each character. A few examples: Jake continually struggles with his manhood, Brett goes from guy to guy, and Robert never learns from his rash financial or romantic decisions, the list goes on. I will focus on the day to day cycle in this novel that affects all characters: heavy drinking. Jake introduces us to his love of alcohol in his office, which has a downstairs bar. Robert calls it a “good place,” and Jake agrees, “there is a lot of liquor,” implying that quality of a place can be measured by quantity of liquor. In the next chapter, he invites a girl to his table by asking her “what will you drink,” and she selects “Pernod,” an “imitation absinthe,” which is unbelievably strong. We are then introduced to Paris’ club scene, and like all clubs, it is motivated by alcohol. Brett and Jake take full advantage of the liquor, while Robert is less enthusiastic. The next morning, Jake invites a chauffeur to have a drink with hi...

Midnight in Paris Scene Analysis In class, we discussed the bedroom scene at 58:54. The one-sided dynamic between Gil and Ines in terms of affection is displayed clearly here. Gil is looking for affection, pulling Ines in. Ines is visibly not interested in cuddling with her partner and immediately deflects Gil's attempt at intimacy. The first hotel room scene (8:22) is a precursor to the later bedroom scenes. Gil and Ines are not on the same page about their plans for the trip and their feelings about the other couple. Ines is focused on the logistics of hanging out with this other couple and defending Paul and his intellectual capabilities. For half the movie, when it is shot in the present, Gil is completely under the control of Ines. Always following along on the activities Ines wants to do. Gil is his own man when he visits the past; that's why he is so enamored with it.

In the movie, Midnight in Paris, a particular scene that was interesting was 31:50. In this scene, Gil is with Inez and he is trying to show her where he goes at night, back to the 20s. Gil is clearly on the right side of the screen while Inez is on the left. Since right is usually associated with good and left is more bad, this is reflective of how Inez is the negative part of the relationship. The body movements are also very clear in the scene. Inez is playing with her hair in an angry way, her hand motions are directed left negatively and she has her arms crossed in a very negative way. This makes Gil look much better because he is calmer and not as stressed. It is clear she does not believe him or trust him or really enjoy the relationship at that moment.

This week in class we discussed Midnight in Paris, its relationship with  The Sun Also Rises , and how to critically analyze a movie. At around the 30' mark of the movie, Gil, Inez and Inez's parents are in a furniture store looking at a wooden chair that Gil and Inez could have possibly used in their home that they were going to buy in the United States. The chair costs 18,000 euros, and the trio have a discussion about the chair and its worth. Inez, with the overwhelming support of her parents, believes that the chair is worth the steep price for the chair's value and rarity. Gil, on the other hand, cannot stand the thought of spending so much on a simple chair. This scene is related to the conversation we had in class about class distinctions and the way it guides characters' behaviors throughout the film. Gil and Inez start out on the center of the screen almost aligned and Inez's mother starts on the right side of the screen. As Gil mentions "keeping e...

In this week's class, we talked about Midnight in Paris , and the two opposing theories that Gil is going insane or Gil truly is going back in time. In the first shot, we see Gil and Inez from afar in the real world, near the ponds that Monet used as inspiration in his paintings. Inez is on the left while Gil is on the right. When the camera comes close to them, it flips. Gil is now on the left, while Inez is on the right. Gil moves closer to Inez and pulls her in for a kiss. Inez before he kisses her says, "You're in love with a fantasy." Gil replies, "I'm in love with you," and then kisses her. One interpretation we can take from this is that we as the viewer first see Gil on the right as right. If we suspend our disbelief, Gil could be a time traveler. But if we look closer, Gil appears on the left, and is in love with a fantasy, while Inez, on the left, is the reality of this. Similarly, if we aren't paying attention, we're likely ...

On the topic of The Sun Also Rises, there are many themes associated with this novel and so many questions to be asked. Upon reading the first 4 chapters what stands out to me the most is the power the women have in the novel. It seems like they've manipulated the two main male characters into getting whatever they want. Cohn gets played by his former wife and is currently being used by his girlfriend, while Jake is lead on a string by Brett. I find this very interesting, and it makes sense considering the time period. Women weren't typically working and mostly reliant on men to make a living. However, in the case of Brett, working as a nurse she probably could provide for herself, so why does she continue to lead Jake on? Jake is always making spites at Cohn but he's just as much of a sucker as he is in the end. All of the themes in this story seem to be about the relationships between the characters.

In this week's blog post I wanted to focus on the relationships of the characters in Ernest Hemingway's, The Sun Also Rises. What I find interesting in the story is the scene where Jake finds out that Cohn had gone to meet Brett at San Sebastian in Spain, "Brett looked at me ' I say,' she said, 'is Robert Cohn going on this trip?' 'Yes. Why?' 'Don't you think it will be rough on him?' 'Why shoud it?' 'Who do you think I went down to San Sebastian with?' 'Congratulations,' I said" (Chapter 9, Page 89). Jake has been in love Brett for such a long time now and Cohn is a friend of Jake's. So a question remains... Is there a reason why Jake wasn't told earlier that Cohn and Brett had spent time in San Sebastian. Cohn knows that Jake has been in love with Brett ever since he has met her. Is Cohn really a friend of Jake's? After Jake finds out about the news he decides to mess around with Cohn. I...

In the most recent reading from "The Sun Also Rises", Hemingway begins to explore the bullfights in Pamplona. When Jake, Bill, Robert, Brett, and Mike arrive at the bullfight, Jake admires the fight, specifically the skill of Romero, one of the bullfighters. The way that Romero is described shows the value that Jake gives to people that he deems to have a true talent. In class, we discussed that Jake is very bitter and jealous of specific aspects of his friends. In comparison to this bitterness, I found his attitude towards Romero to be very interesting. Jake seems to be genuinely impressed by Romero's talent, and Jake admires and respects this skill. For a comparison, Jake is unable to respect Robert's boxing ability. I found two potential explanations for this fact. First, Jake might not respect Robert's ability because he has never seen it. Jake witnesses Romero fight the bull, and can see that he does so with elegance and skill. Jake may simply not believe R...

In this weeks blog post, I want to discuss the repeated theme of alcohol in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises .  Alcohol is prevalent in almost all of the characters' social lives.  When they go out, the night is often consumed by the use of alcohol, many times leaving characters overly intoxicated.  For instance, when Jake goes out with Cohn and Brett in chapter 3, after hitting a couple bars, he describes his state as being "a little drunk. Not drunk in any positive sense but just enough to be careless," (Hemingway p. 29).  We can further analyze this quote by dissecting why and what impact alcohol has on the characters. In my opinion, the characters use alcohol as a means to wash away the pain of their miserable lives.  Jake, along with others, constantly expresses the dissatisfaction that he has with his life.  He is always complaining and has a bleak view on the world.  Brett is similar to Jake, and when see this when she tells him, "Oh, darling, I...

For this week's blog post, I wanted to focus on the two things: how Jake and Cohn have a very weird relationship and how bull fights are related to both The Sun Also Rises and Death In The Afternoon. In terms of the relationship between Cohn and Jake, we see that Jake is very critical of Cohn. While Cohn was once the boxing champion of Princeton, he was also made fun of for being Jewish. Even Jake will make casual comments about his nose being so big. When Cohn was boxing, Jake comments, "This increased Cohn's distaste for boxing, bit it gave him a certain satisfaction of some sort, and it certainly improved his nose" (Hemingway 1). Clearly, with the time period being in the 1920s, Hemingway is not afraid to write anti-semitic comments. With World War I just ending and World War II about to begin, the Holocaust is about to begin which would make sense why there was so much hostility against Jewish people. However, this isn't to say that there isn't any more an...

In this weeks class, I found the book intriguing how the Green Knight spared Gawain's life. I do believe that the green knight was spared his life because of the green girdle that he was given. The girdle was supposed to protect him from everything and make him invincible. Although the green knight says he did not kill him for not telling the truth about the girdle, I believe it is actually the girdle that saves his life. I also find it very interesting how the green knight wears the green girdle after the whole interaction with the green knight is over. The book says, " But I shall look at it often as a sign of my failing." The green knight wears the green girdle to remind himself his failure of the deal he had with the lord. He failed the deal when he did not give the lord the green girdle. 

In Fitt 4 of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , Gawain's loyalty is showcased on multiple occasions. At the beginning when the guide offered Gawain a "way out" in exchange for not fighting the Green Knight, Gawain refused even under the threat that no one survives an encounter with the Green Knight. Even thought the guide ditched Gawain, probably fearing the Green Knight's reaction when Gawain finds him to challenge him to a battle, Gawain continued. The second occasion of Gawain's loyalty being shown is when the Green Knight drops the axe towards his throat the second time. Although he flinched the first time, a natural human reaction to getting your head cut off, Gawain was true to the deal he made with the Green Knight a year before. Gawain knows that he does not have whatever power the Greeen Knight has that powered him to walk out of the room a year ago holding his head after having it cut off.  This being said, only being reminded about flinching once is loy...

I found it interesting how we made the comparison table for the loving scene, hunting scene, and fighting scene. While it might not work in pairs of three the exact same way for every book, comparing and contrasting seems to allow for a lot ideas for writing an essay.  One thing I found particularly interesting was the similarity between the hunting and loving scenes. The deer were an easy catch. When Lady Bertilak first talks with Gawain, it is easy for him deflect her. The boar was a more difficult catch, and Bertilak had to wrestle with it to kill it. Likewise, it was harder for Gawain to avoid Lady Bertilak's advances. He no longer pretended to sleep and Lady Bertilak talks more on love and tries to convince Gawain that it's his duty to perform courtly love. Gawain still deflects her. But the fox is the hardest to catch and it is deceptive. Instead of Lady Bertilak trying to make Gawain sleep with her, she offers the girdle which would allow Gawain to live. Because this ...