The Metamophosis pg 45

Gregor coninues to grow apart from his family.  They no longer want to interact with him or help him.  Gregor is also growing weaker and has several wounds, but no one is helping him recover.  Gregor has a strong desire to be human, and he wants to be close with his family again.  He is suffering with loneliness.  He is physically an insect but still has the emotions of a human.  Although this is changing as his mind is becoming less human over time.

Heart of Darkness Essay

Since the beginning of the year, my essays have steadily improved.  My Heart of Darkness essay was my best essay so far.  The essay was clear and had smooth transitions.  The essay also had a clear and defined main idea, and I developed this idea with great detail.  This is an improvement over my Austen and Hamlet essays which were not as clearly defined.  One thing I need to work on is my proofreading.  I made several careless grammatical errors in my writing.  Overall my writing process worked very well for my Heart of Darkness essay.

The Metamorphosis pg 35

Gregor continues becoming more like an insect rather than a person.  His behavior resembles that of an insect.  He also seems to be growing apart from his family who no longer treat him like their own.  They take away all the furniture in his room.  At first he likes this, but he soon realizes that this represents his distance from humanity.  He develops the ability to climb walls.  Gregor seems to feel saddened over all that has happened to him.  

Group Discussion

At first Gregor does not fully understand what has happened.  Eventually Gregor accepts the fact that he is a giant insect, but he doesn't realize his life has completely changed.  He can no longer speak to others and support his family.  He is now physiclly limited in his ablilities.  Everyone is scared of him as well.  Gregor is closest to his sister, but even she has trouble accepting that he is an insect.  Gregor has an unstable relationship with his father, and Gregory's new form does not help their relationship improve.

The Metamorphosis

The beginning of The Metamorphosis starts the protagonist, Gregor, laying in bed.  The first line indicates that he turned into a giant insect overnight which is symbolic.  He also overslept and is late for work.  He feels discouraged about getting up and going to work, but his manager shows up at his house.  Gregory's family and boss all come to his door to make sure he is alright.  The tone of the first 25 pages is slightly depressing.  Gregor feels overburdened with everything that occurs in his life, and he questions why everyone seems to want to bother him.

Seminar

I thought the Socratic seminar worked well.  Everyone got involved, and many questions were asked. The groups resolved the questions that were asked.

2nd body paragraph

Marlow travels through a psychological journey, and this experience is like a nightmare with no consequences .  Marlow is deeply emotionally effected by the trauma he experiences.  The outcome is similar to a soldier suffering with post traumatic stress disorder.  He is unconsciously  drawn toward Kurtz.  Kurtz has a brutal and predatory nature, and he maintains an uncaring nature.  He is selfish and does not care about the effects of his actions towards others.  Marlow is from Victorian England and is not used to this type of person, but Marlow's inner darkness causes him to uncounsiously desire to become like the more free willed Kurtz.  Marlow secretly wishes he did not care about the well being of others.

1st body paragraph

Marlow experiences a difficult physical journey as he travels along the river into the darkness of the jungle. Along the way he encouters many troubles with locals and questions imperialism.  After witnessing it's horrors and damaging effects, Marlow starts to crack and realizes that imperialism must end.  Everything he sees deeply effects him.   (quote line which references the horrors he experiences) During this time Marlow is traveling towards Kurtz, and this is a metaphor for his emotional desire to be like Kurtz.  Kurtz is a selfish man who does not care about the effects his actions have on others.  This experience is also emotionally hard for him, and it leads to another venture.  The physical journey parallels with the psychological journey that Marlow endures.

Intro

Marlow goes through a physical journey and a psychological one.  He encounters problems with both.  He runs into actual danger and discovers the darkness inside him.  Marlow physically journeys into the the darkness of the jungle, but this parallels a psychological  journey that he experiences as he explores his inner darkness.