thought entry 11

I think the kind of music that Merrick would listen to would be all types of music, with all different kinds of beats. I think all he would be concerned about is the lyrics and what they mean to him and the world around him. Even though Merrick had a rough childhood and life, I think that he would listen to music with lyrics about what life would be like if he didn’t look the way he did. Merrick is not the type of person who would sulk and listen to depressing music. He would look at the positive side of things.

Some songs I think that Merrick would like are:

When she believes – Ben Harper
“How good it must feel
To be so young, young and free
And a song that pleases a queen
Will always please me
Now I
I have heard the wisest of wisdom
And I
I have dined in palaces and kingdoms
But nothing is as beautiful
As when she believes”

Make the Most – Brett Dennen
“and in the morning, when I rise
one question, that feels like the sun in my eyes
am I making the most of this life?
so much trouble and so much strife
and in my guilty hour
through all of my shame
when all my love is run sour
I have no one else to blame
cause it finds me through the mask I wear
and I see it through it my eyes closed
but still I can not bare to stare into my worries and my woes
theres comfort in self loathing and its easy to slip into it
but still I must learn to lead my life with no regrets
all the time it all moves in the same direction
so don’t let it pass you by
because It moves so fast , theres no time for perfection
so make the most of this life”

The Great Escape – Patrick Watson
“Bad day, looking for a way
Oh, looking for the great escape
Gets in his car and drives away
Far from all the things that we are
Puts on a smile and breaths it in and breaths it out
He says bye-bye, bye to all of the noise
Oh he says bye-bye bye to all of the noise”

Add comment March 24, 2009 bears11

Writer’s Memo Seq. II

I learned a lot about how our society is very judgmental, and many people are self-conscious because of this. Also, even if the person is not being judge, there is always that thought in the back of people’s mind, “what will people think of me”. I learned that a persons opinion about someone has the power to change how a person acts or feels about themselves. Writing this paper just made is more clear to me how people act, or even how Erik acted, due to how they are viewed because of their appearance.

The only difficult thing about writing this paper was explaining how Erik is not the only one in society that had behaved in such a way due to his appearance. It was challenging at first to show how Erik is related to society, like young girls or men.

I liked writing this paper because I am very interested in this topic. However, the idea of it frustrates me so much. Over the years I have learned not to judge people because of their appearance. Even though it is a struggle for me, I try everyday to get to know a person and not just look at their physical appearance. Everyone has a story and you cannot just assume you know them by looking at them.

I hope my reader thinks twice in the future, and tries hard not to base an opinion off of just a person’s appearance. I hope that the realize how much it can affect a person. I also hope that it a reader feels self-conscious about themselves, they realize that they should not care what others think about themselves. Every is equal and no body is better or more perfect than anyone else.

Add comment March 20, 2009 bears11

Thought Entry 10

My broad topic is judgment/appearances. This topic plays a huge role in Notes from the Underground and also in the Phantom. If we did not have eyes, no judgments or appearances would be made. Our eyes focus on people’s appearances, characteristics, and mannerisms. If we don’t like something or think someone is not “normal” then we immediately judge them without really knowing who they are. In the Notes from the Underground, Dosteovsky talks about how people complain and moan/groan because they want to be heard and feel sorry for. The man in the Notes from the Underground immediately judges the people who do that. I think that is unfair because he does not know what kind of person they are and secondly, I think that complaining is in our human nature.
Another example I have from the Phantom would be the Erik’s appearance. If appearances did not mean so much in this world I do not think Erik would live his life like he did. It is our immediate instinct to judge people on appearances before we really get to know them. I am not going to lie, I have done it, but hey – we all have done it.

Add comment February 26, 2009 bears11

Reflection On Group Projects

The main thing that I learned from the group discussions was The Phantom of the Opera was inspired by the structural, cultural, and history of the actual Paris Opera house the Palais Garnier. I also learned that many things inspire people in different ways. Events that occur, often inspire us or provide us with information that we had not known. The group projects made the Phantom of the opera seem more clear to me. Now, I understand why some things happened, and even the behavior of the people at that time.

Add comment February 25, 2009 bears11

Thought Entry 9

I think that Dostoevsky is going on about how his life is miserable and basically everyone is ignorant. However, he does believe that there are a few normal, true men out there. I think that he is trying to compare his life to everyone else’s life. He does not respect himself and is disgusted with himself; he basically sulks in his corner of sadness. He feels bad for himself, but at the same time thinks he is very intelligent and always right. One point that I thought was very interesting in this passage was when he said the 19th century man can find pleasure in a toothache because he likes to hear himself complain to his family and friends, so they know how much pain he is in. I think this point is very true today too. People constantly complain about pain or what stake they are in just in order for other people to hear about it.
I think that this might relate to the Phantom because the phantom and the underground man, secludes themselves from the world and think that everyone is ignorant. They also feel miserable and depressed about themselves and their appearance. This reminded me of the Phantom a lot. I feel that these two men have a similar outlook on life and will constantly pity themselves.

Add comment February 23, 2009 bears11

thought entry 8

After reading the end of the Phantom of the Opera I was a bit puzzled. I did not really see it ending that way, but I didn’t hate it. For some reason I thought that Christine was going to end up with Erik, but maybe I just wanted that because I felt so bad for him. He loved Christine so much and to love someone that much and not get any bit of love in return is heartbreaking. I didn’t really like the part of the novel where the Persian and Raoul are stuck in the torture chamber and they are in the room full of mirrors. To me it seemed random and like it came out of no where. I would much rather like a fighting scene, I think it would make the novel a lot more intense. That part was the only part I didn’t really like about the ending. In the epiloque I liked how they answered some of my questions I still wasn’t sure of by the end of the novel. I feel without the epilogue the ending would interpret different meanings for everyone. The ending is quite sad and I do feel bad for Erik, because of what he has been through. However, either way, whatever decision Christine made, someone would have been heart-broken.

Add comment February 19, 2009 bears11

Thought Entry 7

I am going to argue with Raoul because at this part of the novel he is annoying me.

“You need to stop and think about what you are actually doing, and who you are risking your life for” I yelled at him

“Why do you think I should stop searching for Christine, the love of my life?” Raoul answered

“First of all, you need to get over your obsession with Christine. She is not who she says she is. While you are obsessed with Christine, she is obsessed with Erik. So, it makes no sense for you to say that you will die for her!”

“She is not obsessed with Erik! And she loves me, she told me”

“And do you really think that she got kidnapped, or she ran away?”

“Of coarse she got kidnapped, why would she run away!”

“I Don’t know Raoul, you might want to think over that one, maybe it was planned.” I responded

“Planned?! Are you serious. We had our own plan for the two of us. She would never do anything like that to me!” Raoul fired back

I continued to tell him that he needed to stop risking his life just for Christine because he might get hurt in the end. Whatever I said would not get through to Raoul. He did not listen to me, and I don’t think he ever will.

Add comment February 17, 2009 bears11

thoughty entry 6

when I was searching on flikr for pictures the word I chose to search was obsession. I think that The Phantom of the Opera has a lot to do with obsession. For example, Raoul is obsessed with Christine and the people of the opera house are basically obsessed with this opera ghost. The pictures that I came across didn’t really go along with what I was thinking. However, I came across one picture that made me think of something different. This picture was simply of an eye; this person was looking at something/someone out of the corner of their eye. This made me think of the fact that people are always watching. We use our eyes to determine what we think. We see things that we may become obsessed with. Without our eyes, many things would be different in our lives. This picture did help me think of a possible topic; something that has to do with eyes and how the things we see with our eyes make us feel.

1 comment February 15, 2009 bears11

Thought Entry 5

If I was stuck in a mine shaft the person from Phantom of the Opera that I would want with me would have to be Raoul. He always takes everything seriously and never laughs it off like all of the other people do in the opera house. He puts clues together and works out possible solutions to the problem. He would help me the most if I was in that situation because he would put the clues and hints together and come up with a plan to help me or get my our of the mine shaft. I feel like if I were to be stuck with any other of the members that work in the opera house, they would either not take it seriously, or completely panic and not know what to do. Raoul would do everything he could to figure out how to get out.

Add comment February 12, 2009 bears11

Seq. 1 – Writer’s Memo

This painting inspired me in many ways. For one, my story is about a painting, so this painting represents the actual painting in the short story. This made it very easy for me to write my story. My story is about a girl who paints her own paradise, which is this actualy image, and she ends up getting stuck there.

The thing that was most difficult when writing my paper was figuring out the ending. I wanted it to be good and all make sense. It was hard for be to decide how Abby was going to get out of the painting. I had many ideas going through my head but I wanted to think of the best one. I also had a little trouble trying to be as clear as possible when writing my paper.

The thing that I like most about writing my paper is the fact that it was all my decision. I could make the characters do, be, or feel whatever they wanted. It was completely up to me, and the story line could go wherever I wanted it to.

Add comment February 9, 2009 bears11