English 104 - Introduction to Narrative
Ryan Helminiak
Prejudice Against Unique Intelligences Reveals Lack of Objective Narration In As I Lay Dying and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Category: 2 Essay: Carroll, Twain, Faulkner, Sebold | Ryan Helminiak
Darl, in Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, and Jim, in Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, allow, via their unique intelligences, the reader to clearly see where objective narration is lacking in these two novels. While it may seem like Darl and Jim’s intelligences are drastically flawed in the books because...
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Posted by rhelmini on December 08, 2003 at 09:03 PM
Projection of Desires Onto Others
Category: 10 Blog: The Lovely Bones | Ryan Helminiak
Up in her heaven, Susie has acquired the ability to project her own feelings onto others still below. "I came to believe that if I watched closely, and desired, I might change the lives of those I loved on Earth" (20). Susie's desires are often selfish, and are not necessarily...
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Posted by rhelmini on December 04, 2003 at 07:55 AM
The Living Dead
Category: 09 Blog: As I Lay Dying | Ryan Helminiak
The placement of Addie's lone entry into the novel is striking because it occurs over 100 pages after Addie has died. It is a wonder that Addie speaks at all. Words are not something that Addie is very fond of, as she often speaks contemptuously of words - "the high...
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Posted by rhelmini on November 24, 2003 at 10:17 PM
favortism vs. love
Category: 08 Blog: As I Lay Dying | Ryan Helminiak
Addie's partiality regarding her children is not a matter to question. She describes her partiality as she says, "I refused my breast to Cash and Darl after their time was up" (175) - apparently not so with Jewel. Darl confirms that "ma always whipped and petted him [Jewel] more (18),...
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Posted by rhelmini on November 17, 2003 at 10:32 PM
Huck Has Been Civilized
Category: 07 Blog: Huckleberry Finn | Ryan Helminiak
It seems like Huck is finally acquiring a mind of his own throughout the liberating experience of his raft ride. Huck's decision to liberate Jim, even if it means going to Hell, seems to evidence this ability to take a stand for what he believes. However, it is quite surprising...
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Posted by rhelmini on November 10, 2003 at 08:03 PM
Birds of a Feather Flock Together
Category: 06 Blog: Huckleberry Finn | Ryan Helminiak
Although Huck is well-aware of the slime-ball natures of the King and the Duke, Huck seems to find a way to love them in spite of it. This is probably because Huck felt a comradship with the frauds, seeing strong similarities between their nature and his own. Huck's own guise...
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Posted by rhelmini on November 01, 2003 at 07:20 PM
Huck's Bigotry
Category: 05 Blog: Huckleberry Finn | Ryan Helminiak
In Huckleberry Finn, it may sometimes seem like Jim isn't very clever, but in reality Jim has an unusual capacity for discernment. Huck is not an innocent narrator on whom we can rely for nonbiased narration. In reality, Huck is very biased against black people, and thus we shouldn't accept...
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Posted by rhelmini on October 28, 2003 at 07:22 AM
Violence as a Result of the Repression of Sexuality in Wuthering Heights and The Turn of the Screw
Category: 11 Essay: James and Bronte | Ryan Helminiak
Like a tsunami that originates from tensions at the bottom of the ocean, the repression of underlying sexual tensions in The Turn of the Screw and in Wuthering Heights causes a monstrous wave of violence. Both books are framed by the repression of sexual feelings. In Turn of the Screw,...
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Posted by rhelmini on October 23, 2003 at 08:16 AM
ADD in Wonderland
Category: 04 Blog: Alice in Wonderland | Ryan Helminiak
The communication barrier between the animals and Alice arises mainly as the result of the short attention span of the characters during dialog. Passing ideas take prominence over their present condition and they attempt to relate their surroundings to the passing idea. Communication in Alice in Wonderland is especially frustrated...
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Posted by rhelmini on October 07, 2003 at 08:14 AM
Like mother, like daughter
Category: 03 Blog: Wuthering Heights | Ryan Helminiak
If ever the faults of the mother are to recycle themselves in the life of the daughter, it happens with Catherine and Cathy. The spirits of the two are undeniably similar as both show "a capacity for intense attachments" (146) and a strong propensity to endure relationships that serve only...
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Posted by rhelmini on September 29, 2003 at 04:50 PM
Forgiveness From the Heart
Category: 02 Blog: Wuthering Heights | Ryan Helminiak
The theme of the hypocrisy of Heathcliff and Catherine's love is first revealed to Mr. Lockwood in a parable-like dream early on in the book when his dream about a sermon on forgiveness turns into a lynching. In the dream, Lockwood and the pastor both refuse to forgive the 491st...
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Posted by rhelmini on September 22, 2003 at 09:09 PM
The Net of the Flatterer
Category: 01 Blog: Turn of the Screw | Ryan Helminiak
To the end, the governess is subject to the delusion that Miles is innocent of wrongdoing that results in his expulsion from school. Even upon his confession of saying bad things to those he liked, the governess is still fooling herself by pitying Miles into a state of innocence. "Those...
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Posted by rhelmini on September 15, 2003 at 10:02 PM
practice
Category: Ryan Helminiak
practice....
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Posted by rhelmini on September 12, 2003 at 09:36 PM