A Midsummer Night's Dream as the classical play was the most interesting to me of the traditional pieces that we read. It seemed to have the sunniest disposition and entertaining plot. It had a little humor, drama, and romance. The graphic novel that I enjoyed the most was that of American Born Chinese. I liked seeing the three "different" stories woven together. These pieces were on the lighter side compare to Night and Maus, and therefore more enjoyable in my opinion.
I would still consider myself a fan of graphic novels...just not of the ones we read in this class. Blankets didn't really appeal to me because I am neither in love or very religious.
I think I have grown as a reader. I have learned to look more deeply into the meanings of words and wonder and infer why the author would choose certain words or descriptions. I think that I have become a better reader, and am able to pick out important information.
The graphic novels were far easier for me to get through than the plain texts. I found it most challenging to read The Bluest Eye and Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. I felt I had no real personal connection to the pieces, therefore I couldn't become as involved in the story. I'm not trying to be racist when I say that if I were black or lesbian, I may have enjoyed or understood those pieces better. Those readings did broaden my horizon slightly... making me diverge from my normal science fiction and fantasy reads.

It’s All in Good Fun

Father and child relationships cannot be defined by black and white or love and hate. Instead, such kinship needs to be viewed as gray areas. Theodore Roethke's poem “My Papa's Waltz” displays a fine line between physical abuse and love. The relationship in Craig Thompson's Blankets reveals a hint of psychological abuse followed by a content and loving relationship.  Although there is a hint of abuse in these texts, the relationships are healthy.

Roethke’s word choice may hinder the idea of a loving relationship between the father and child, but overall the general undertone of the poem is that of playful and reckless behavior after the father returns home from work.  Theodore’s father worked in a greenhouse, which would explain the caked dirt on his hands and the battered knuckle. Although the subject of the poem may not have been Theodore Roethke, he may have taken details of his childhood and portrayed them in his poems.   Theodore’s decision to use the word “papa” in the title instead of “father” gives the poem a more endearing feel.

The father had whiskey on his breath, but there was no indication that he was a violent drunk.  He was simply unsteady on his feet, and when he missed a step, his belt buckle would knick the ear of the child. 

The mother had her face in a frown, but for good reason.  It was not because her child was being beaten, but because her dishes were falling from the shelf. I know my mother would do more than just frown at me for breaking dishes.  I am certain she or many other mothers would not stand by while their child is beaten so blatantly before her.  If a mother would just stand by for whatever reason, I doubt there would be a simple frown on her face.  There would be more emotion tearing at her.

Recently, in my psychology of genders class, we discussed abuse.  Most victims are female, but male victims should not be overlooked.  One of our speakers, named Eric, said that it was not something he could come out and confess to his mother. He could only hint at it—and hope she understood.  When the truth came out about his abuse, his mother claimed she would have done something more for him, had she known.   

A “romp” has several meanings, but the main definition is of a fun or light-hearted affair. I highly doubt any form of abuse would be described as happy amusement, especially by the abused. 

In this video “My Papa’s Waltz” is dissected quickly for literary and grammatical significance.  This poem, like many others are open to interpretation even if the author has a set meaning for them.  When assessing a poem, the only reason it becomes real or obtains meaning is because “…we believe them and believe in them” (Shapiro 174).

          

  “…The poem need not be read exclusively as a positive or a negative portrait of this family moment. Surely this was a moment characterized by conflicting emotions for the speaker: love and fright; excitement and concern; a rough tenderness. Family relationships are seldom simple, seldom one-dimensional…”

(McKenna 37).

   This is a very true statement.  Depending on experiences of individuals, the interpretation of the poem would differ. 

In the beginning of Blankets, Craig puts up a visual front in order to portray the father as a sinister character.  As seen below, the physical features of the father are menacing and sharp.  Take his nose for example; it is hooked and sharp—giving the impression of a not-so-friendly personality.  When the father first makes an appearance in the doorway of the boys’ bedroom, he is nothing but a large shadow that blocks the light.   

In comparison to the boys’ faces, which are predominantly white and without excess ink, the father’s face has dark lines throughout it and one cannot even see his eyes.  This gives an ominous feel to the entire demeanor of the father. 

The father in Blankets is a burly man, whose strength is exemplified by how massively he is drawn.  He may not have been that large in real life, but his presence may have been so commanding that he seemed that large. 

What needs to be taken into consideration about this scene is that we were only showed one instance of interaction between Craig and his father at this point. 

The final pages of Blankets illustrate how Craig’s father really was.  The eyes of a child can put a scary mask on anything.  Now, with the eyes of an adult, Thompson is able to understand that his father was not as frightful as he once was. 

In the frames below, one can see how some simplistic features have changed on the father.  He has a slight smile throughout those panels and has lost those dark lines that were etched across his brow by Craig Thompson’s childhood imagination.    

In a series of studies done by Pennsylvania State University, a strong correlation occurred between paternal involvement with biological sons and the sons’ lack of anxiety and anger.  With fathers spending more time with their sons, anxiety and anger decreased (Molenaar et al 267).  This provides evidence that the child in Roethke’s poem, and Craig would have had better dispositions while spending time with their father’s.  I believe that a father’s embrace hold comfort in it, and an outsider cannot judge unless they have a complete understanding of the relationship. 

In “My Papa’s Waltz,” one can tell that the child in enjoying his or herself while gallivanting around the house with his or her father figure.  In Blankets, Craig’s father was never meant to seem so sinister.  Although he is drawn with sharp features, he was later drawn with a sunny smile that illustrates how Thompson grew to understand his father. 

Fathers play a crucial role in the lives of their children, in both positive and negative ways, but that cannot be determined easily. The relationships portrayed in “My Papa’s Waltz” and Blankets are those of healthy dispositions. Even though there are some faults in the states of their relationships, they share positive bonds. 

Works Cited

McKenna, John J. “Roethke’s Revisions and the tone of My Papa’s Waltz.” ANQ 11:2            

(1998): 34-38

Molenaar, Peter C. M., SinClair, Katerina O., Rovine, Michael J., Ram, Nilam, Corneal,          

Sherry E. “Analyzing Developmental Processes on an Individual Level Using             

Nonstationary Time Series Modeling.” Developmental Psychology 45 (2009):            

        260-271 

Shapiro, Johanna. “Can Poetry Be Data? Potential Relationships Between Poetry and             

Research.” Families, Systems, and Health 22 (2004): 171-177

Thompson, Craig.  Blankets. Ed. 5. Marietta: Top Shelf, 2005.

 

I really like the plot of A Midsummer Night's Dream, but Neil Gaiman's version was a bit too chaotic for me to follow easily. When I first started reading this piece I was thrown off when Shakespeare bounded into the panels. I had to reread that to understand he was going to be a part of this as well.
I'm not a fan of the graphics. They are done exceptionally well, but there are just subtleties that bother me...such as the nose of a character (mostly Titiana) would be drawn so sharp, and can't help but think of her as mean... when in the other version I thought she was noble and stubborn. Now I see her as kind of snotty.
The idea of being unsure who the audience is makes me wonder. Take that twisted idea and put it into reality. Who is watching who? And who is acting for who? EVERYONE! Well, I'm not trying to put paranoid thoughts into your head, but think about it. At some point, whether we like it or not, someone will watch us... not in a creepy way, but in a general sense. A stranger on the street, a parent, etc. And we all change ourselves even a little bit to fit in...even if we claim we're individuals.
Puck and Oberon were the main audience in my opinion (besides ourselves). They witness the mischief they have sown in both the lovers and with Titiana and Bottom. But how could we not be the overall audience when we watch Oberon and Puck as well as everything else?? It's slightly twisted because then you can think about Shakespeare's role. He wrote the play, did he not? He had to have known what people's reactions would have been... and the observation of people in general would have given him insight on what to write and how to write it.
I would need to learn more about Shakespeare to know if what was written was actually fact... until then I'll just assume that it was based on actual events (such as the death of his son).

In the manga edition of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, the deaths in general (the majority of which are stabbings) are far more comic than need be.  I'm not saying that they are funny, but the way the characters are depicted... their eyes too buggy and round... it just seems like the deaths are taken too lightly.  Even the drawings lack the darkness that should be there when facing a formidable thing such as death.  Overall, the story was not taken as seriously in the manga, as it was in the original.

The relationship between Oberon and Puck makes me think of "bromance."  Their relationship consists of Puck trying to please Oberon, while Oberon being stern, finds enjoyment in the acts of his friend/servant.  In the ballet of a Midsummer Night's dream, Oberon comes on stage and dances by himself for a moment, then invites Puck out to dance as well.  Once Puck joins in, Oberon steps back and enjoys the show.  This shows what their friendship is.  Puck provides the entertainment for Oberon, and Oberon provides the means for Puck to do so.  

Adaptations of Shakespeare's works allow today's society (in its many forms) to understand the language, plot, and story lines in ways that are different from the past.  Because of the many variety of medias Shakespeare's plays have taken on, a broader audience can be reached.  

Puck's Dance, shows alot about Puck's character.  He is playful and mischievous, yet graceful and sly.

HELENA
How happy some o'er other some can be!
Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.
But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so;
He will not know what all but he do know:
And as he errs, doting on Hermia's eyes,
So I, admiring of his qualities:
Things base and vile, folding no quantity,
Love can transpose to form and dignity:
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind:
Nor hath Love's mind of any judgement taste;
Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste:
And therefore is Love said to be a child,
Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.
As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,
So the boy Love is perjured every where:
For ere Demetrius look'd on Hermia's eyne,
He hail'd down oaths that he was only mine;
And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt,
So he dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt.
I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight:
Then to the wood will he to-morrow night
Pursue her; and for this intelligence
If I have thanks, it is a dear expense:
But herein mean I to enrich my pain,
To have his sight thither and back again.

I thought this passage was an insight to anyone's mind.  Don't we all have doubts about our own qualities, and compare our own attributes to others?  Shakespeare gave Helena the use of beautiful words to not only express her pain, but her jealousy and in doing so... he explained how her thought process of winning Demetruis back would work.  The words do a happy "pop" to me, they jump, in an almost merry way.  To get the same information across to the audience in "modern English," it would take many more words.  Here, the passage pokes at our curiosity and informs us at the same time.