Blog #4: "Roots" Extension Activity

Anna Hayes

English IV A

Mrs. Wilson

29 August 2014

Summer Reading Prompted Writing

            In Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries, Walter Moody attempts to understand the connection of every member of the gathering at the Crown Hotel. This was a major theme throughout the course of the novel, which is an attempt to understand how events and people can relate to one another through the smallest of details. This passage demonstrates how twelve unaware people gathered because of their “association to the events of the 14^th of January,” (342).

            This passage was located at the end of a long explanation, given by Thomas Balfour, to Walter Moody, the speaker. Walter’s tone is very doubtful of the situation, because he believes that he is not being told the whole story, although he does explain the presence of every man. This is a turning point in the novel, as the recount of past events has finally come to an end. He referred to the group, however, as a “confoundedly peripheral gathering,” in which the word “peripheral” describes how he believes to be an outsider to the situation, as it every other man in the room (342). He notices that those who would have been able to shed more light onto the situation, Anna Wetherell, Francis Carver, and Alastair Lauderback. Without this, the reader cannot fully understand that the bulk of the information came to them second-hand.

            At the beginning of this passage, the room was very quiet, and every person did not dare to speak. Moody describes it as a “silence that, for a moment, seemed to still the breath of every man” (341). This figurative language relates to the book, as many question the presence of a ghost, and the silence could be a catalyst. The image in the readers head shows the room as dead silent, so Catton uses imagery to describe the background noise to break the silence in the room, with sounds such as “an accordion, distant showing, an infrequent whoop, hoof beats” (341). This shows how the world did not stop moving around them, an important thought when, not long after, it is discovered that Francis Carver’s ship known as the Godspeed, was wrecked along the shore. This boat has been at the center of the story from the beginning, which is one of the reasons that Moody was even at the meeting. Every man in the room was connected to the ship or to Francis Carver.

            Catton’s syntax describes the thought process of Walter Moody, by inserting his thoughts and comments while describing his actions. He describes the explanation he had heard the past night, for as “disjunctive and chaotic as it was, [it] had indeed accounted for the presence of every man in the room” (341). He proceeds to look around the room, and describe every man in the room, as well as their position. This combination of syntax and imagery shows Moody’s attempt to interpret the information, as well as to connect each man to one another, and their own fault in the current situation.

Blog Post #3 The Black Walnut Tree Analysis

Group Thesis: The black walnut tree symbolizes the author’s struggle to balance sentimental and monetary values.

Where Am I?:

 Ohio (blue fields of Ohio, fathers’ backyard) what season? → Fall  (“leaves getting heavier…”) inside, surroundings→ dark, emptiness, farm work, toil, mortgage, orchid, trees, poverty, cellar

Who Am I?

From point of view of the daughter who is speaking with the mother. Tired, drained, stressed, threatened, survivors, courageous, trying to problem solve, sentimental, doubtful, shameful

The mother is present in thoughts and in interactions/conversations, and the hard work of the father is also inferred.

What do I want?

 Keep the possession of the Walnut tree, even though they are not able to afford it.She gives a complete argument for why they should keep the tree, then does the opposite and keeps the tree. Shows us with irony?   how is the Character showing us what they want? Details? (this should get you into imagery, metaphor, conceits, metrics and other aspects of poetic language. At this point you are ready to ask again, “What is this poem about?")

Impression

The Impression we are trying to convey is the internal conflict or struggle that the mother and daughter are faced with. They are faced with the dilemma of having to pay the mortgage. The poem reminded us of the great depression, a time when many people struggled with money. The setting is in Ohio, which is stated in the poem (Fresh and generous Ohio).The debate between the practicality of selling the tree (trying in a difficult time to be wise) and the nostalgia of the meaning behind it (something brighter than money) eventually comes to an end when eventually, the nostalgia of the tree, and their roots in the land, proves to be more important than paying off the mortgage.

Costumes and Props:

The purpose of the costuming with the mother and daughter in older more rugged clothing is to convey their financial position as well as the time period we are setting it in (The Great Depression). The tree is costumed in a tree shirt and jeans to represent the branches and roots. The lighting changes from darkness to dimmed to bright to dimmed to represent the mood of the poem. The darkness to represent struggle and their dilemma, dimmed to represent their transition period, when the mother and daughter are deciding, bright to represent the choice to keep it, but darkness to end the poem because of the financial struggle they still have to face.

Himaja→ Mom

Anna→ Daughter

Claudia→ Extraneous characters

Katie → The Black Walnut Tree

Eric → Stage Crew

Words and Phrases

In our presentation, we focused on the structure, theme, and word choice of the poem. We selected specific words or phrases that best supported the purpose. We emphasized the repetition of ‘the black walnut tree’ and the ‘mortgage’ at the beginning and end of the poem in order to demonstrate the book-end structure of the poem. This purposeful structuring of the phrase ‘the black walnut tree’ reinforces it as a symbol of their father’s hard work.  Furthermore, this repetition follows the archetype of a narrative: the rising action, “we could sell the black walnut tree” (2-3) consists of the discussion about the tree; the climax focuses on the speaker’s realization that they ought to also work hard because of their ancestor’s hard work, by including flashbacks to fond memories such as, “my fathers out of Bohemia filling the blue fields of fresh and generous Ohio” (22-24). ; the poem concludes with the falling action with the repetition of the phrase the black walnut tree and the mortgage. This narrative structure supports the meaning of the poem as a whole because it shows the progression of the speaker’s decision regarding the black walnut tree.

Therefore, we attempted to mimic this narrative structure through the placement of the actors. the mother and the daughter will be center stage at the beginning of the presentation, sitting around a table. Next, the actors playing the trees, lumberman, and father will gradually enter the stage in the background and help the audience visualize the memories and thoughts of the speakers. As we reach the climax of the poem, we will turn on the lights, which will be a visual representation of “but something brighter than money moves in our blood-an edge sharp and quick as a trowel that wants us to dig and sow” (16-19). However, the lights will go back off as the speakers fail to reach a decision “so we talk, but we don’t do anything” (20-21). Finally, the presentation will end with the speakers sitting alone in the dark, in the “emptiness we’d made in our own and our father’s backyard” (28-29).

Furthermore, we emphasized the words sharp and quick. This consonance in lines 18, helps convey a feeling of decisiveness and certainty. These words stick out because they are in stark contrast to the previous indecision of the speakers. This emphasis supports the meaning of the poem as a whole because it shows how the speaker realizes that they should act and work hard, however they fail to do so and crawl back into the emptiness of the laziness

Blog Post #3: The Black Walnut Tree

Blog #2: Roots Poster and Paragraphs

Blog Post #1: Establishing a Mood

The mood I chose for my blog was a more calming and natural theme, with lots of pale greens and natural colors, in order to relax the viewers' eyes. The paleness of the colors are supposed to give the blog a less aggressive vibe than if I had used a warmer color. I chose a dark grey for the font instead of straight black, so that it doesn't attract unneccesary attention, and it flows into the rest of the theme. I have a calmer personality, and do not like to be the center of attention, which is reflected in my blog. According to the article about the psychology of color, a study found that "green can improve reading ability." That can be pretty helpful, considering that this is an English blog. The monochromatic theme in the background gives the eyes a sense of unity, and the simplicity keeps the viewer focused.
My text font that I chose was "philosopher." It is a relatively simple font, which makes it easy to read, but with a little bit of variation that adds some interest to the viewers eye. I try to keep my appearance relatively simple, but I usually like to add a personal touch to every outfit I wear, as a means to personalize it. It is a little thinner than other texts, which gives it a lighter feel, and a more relaxing feel to my blog. The title used the "Pacifico" font, which adds some visual interest to the blog. The cursive of the text gives it a more feminine feel to the page. An article on Codrops says that "cursive and italics to create a lights and delightful moods on sites with woman-appeal." The addition of this font gives the blog a definite gender to the blog, as opposed to the neutrality of the green background.

Sources: http://tympanus.net/codrops/2012/02/19/establish-a-mood-with-typography/
http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/colorpsych.htm