Week 14 Project Action Plan #3: Nature Comparison

For my final project, I have decided to choose the prompt:
Pick a subject: love, work, freedom, etc. Then choose two selections and discuss how that subject is discussed in those selections. Use literary devices to help frame your discussion.  

While initially I was concerned as to what readings I wanted to elaborate on, I now think that this prompt would allow me to go in-depth on how the subject "nature" is portrayed between the two readings; "The Coming Night" by William Nauns Ricks and "The Outcasts of Poker Flats" by Bret Harte.
I think its great to note that both works mention the beauty of nature in some way *the snow vs the colorfully changing sky*, however they both show different attitudes towards it. In "The Outcasts of Poker Flats", it is shown to be a merciless and unpredictable force, yet in "The Coming Night", it is portrayed as a harmonious cycle worth enjoying. For my essay I will have to, in detail, compare and contrast the two. For this I will discuss imagery and mood shift used in "The Outcasts of Poker Flats", as well as rhyme scheme, rhythm, colour imagery, and euphony in "The Coming Night". The challenge of this project will be balancing the two in the essay because one is a story and the other a poem, so lengths differ greatly. Also, the idea of nature is only briefly elaborated on in Harte's work, as compared to Rick's work where it is the actual subject of the work and is FULLY elaborated.

My thesis will fall along the lines of:

While the works, "The Outcasts of Poker Flats" and "The Coming Night" both fall along the subject of nature and it's beauty, the authors' attitudes toward it vary greatly; one argues that nature is a merciless and unpredictable force, while the other portrays it as a harmoniously balanced cycle worth enjoying.

Works Cited:

Harte, Bret. “The Outcasts of Poker Flats.” The Literature of California, edited by Jack Hicks, University of California Press, 2000, pp. 216–225.

-http://mshenglishcourses.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/123178959/205%20ricks.pdf

Week 14 Analysis: Literary Analysis on The Maltese Falcon

For this week’s writing, I will be doing a literary analysis of Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon.” I will be discussing themes throughout the book and how they are played out. From this I will also finally provide my opinion on the main character, Sam Spade, one that was very hard for me to grasp previously without reading the entirety of the novel.

Being that this novel is in a genre heavily associated with lies and deceit, it wasn’t at all surprising for me to see that it is a common theme throughout the entire book. What was surprising, however, was the fact that it seems the detective too is lying and hiding things. I know for the case of trying to dig up details from suspects this may be the case, however, on numerous instances, Spade intentionally hides information and lies for his personal interest and protection. Some instances include, in Chapter 10, Spade discusses the Maltese Falcon with Gutman and tells him he will receive a reward twice that he was actually offered by Cairo in aims to get perhaps a better deal from him and to learn more about the Falcon. Another example is in the end, Spade denies association with Brigid and even turns her in to avoid being further questioned on the death of his partner, even after confessing his love for her to her.

Another theme in this story is masculinity and the objectification of female characters. This is seen from beginning to end. Spade and his partner look “Miss Wonderly” up and down before agreeing for her to be a client. They also share snide remarks about her after she leaves, calling her “dynamite”. Another example would be Spade having an affair with Archer’s wife, Iva. He also sleeps with Brigid, but we can’t tell if he did it because he liked her, or if he’s doing it to build trust. After that he ended up searching her room also. It just seems that females are played as below the men in the novel and that they are there to be “of use” in some shape or form. Whether that be sexual, or personal interests.

From these two themes I had finally placed my opinions on Sam Spade. To me, I cannot help coining him as a corrupt cop. In the end, he hadn’t changed in my opinion. While he did put the murderer of his partner in jail, it seems he did it to protect himself from further scrutiny. He objectifies women, and he lies way too much for me to consider saying he’s doing it to further the investigation. Instead, its easier to say Spade does it to further his means.

Works Cited:
“The Maltese Falcon.” The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett, Vintage Books, a Division of Random House, Inc., 1989,

Reading Notes W14: The Maltese PART 3

Citation: "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett p 150- 216

Now that the book is complete I think it's important to look at the story as a whole.

some common themes throughout the novel include:

-lies and deceit: I think this one is pretty self explanatory. In any case with investigations involved, people lie to protect themselves or drive themselves ahead of the rest in their goals. They cover up their actions. This is seen throughout the novel and to the major plot twist that Brigid is the person that killed Sam's partner Archer.

-greed *especially monetary greed*:showed in not only Sam's actions, but everyone looking for the Falcon

-masculinity and femininity: men tend to be violent and serious while the women seem to be objectified

 -loyalty and trust: Sam constantly tests the loyalty of Brigid and a few other characters. If you are too loyal, they use it against you, if you aren't loyal enough, they ARE against you.

Important Literary Devices:

-The Maltese Falcon is considered to be a MacGuffin and is also a driving force for greed and causes lies, deceit, and violence in the novel.

-Even through the end we are still left being unsure of the true intentions of Sam's actions; a.k.a being morally ambiguous *also typical of crime and detective genres*. We don't know if he truly cares about justice, or if he is trying to save himself. We cant tell if he was telling the truth when he said that he loved Brigid also.

-Allusions include Knights of Malta and Emperor Charles V of Spain, both of which are included as the history of the Maltese Falcon.

Topic Brainstorm: Part 3

Think about a theme you see running through your life (failure is the best lesson, love is eternal, etc). Choose a reading that you think also discusses this theme (even if it reaches different conclusions about it). Explore connections between how the theme plays out in your life, and how the theme gets played out in the reading. 

I really like the idea of this submission. I like how in this project I'll be given the chance to be personal in my work. I think the hard part of this is choosing a theme that pairs well with a reading. If I were to select a theme, it will probably be about connecting deeply with nature and respecting it also. I can connect it to a few of the poems and will still need  to analyze which if I choose this topic.

Pick a subject: love, work, freedom, etc. Then choose two selections and discuss how that subject is discussed in those selections. Use literary devices to help frame your discussion.  

I still really like the idea of this topic. I think I can do well by connecting the subject of nature or perhaps even love. "Nature" is viewed both positively and negatively in the selections and for the idea of "love"  I can choose the love for other people and the steps taken to protect them.

Compare and contrast elements of two different texts. For example, explore the similarities and differences between two characters in the texts, or examine how one theme is handled in similar and dissimilar ways in two different texts. 

I think that this can be a pretty solid topic. For this submission, the element I would like to focus on would probably be descriptive language or setting. If i choose descriptive language I would compare and contrast the effects of imagery between two texts. If I choose setting, I would compare two similar settings but contrast how the narrator interprets them.

Week 13 Analysis: Close Reading on The Maltese Falcon

This week I will be doing a close reading on a paragraph of Chapter 10 in "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett. This section not only says a lot about the descriptive narration typical of crime novels, but also is great representation of the expertise and tediousness of detectives while also emphasizing what kind of person we are made to assume that Sam is. Below is the paragraph I will be analyzing today:

"In the girl’s apartment he switched on all the lights. He searched the place from wall to wall. His eyes and thick fingers moved without apparent haste, and without ever lingering or fumbling or going back, from one inch of their fields to the next, probing, scrutinizing, testing with expert certainty. Every drawer, cupboard, cubbyhole, box, bag, trunk—locked or unlocked—was opened and its contents subjected to examination by eyes and fingers. Every piece of clothing was tested by hands that felt for telltale bulges and ears that listened for the crinkle of paper between pressing fingers. He stripped the bed of bedclothes. He looked under rugs and at the under side of each piece of furniture. He pulled down blinds to see that nothing had been rolled up in them for concealment. He leaned through windows to see that nothing hung below them on the outside. He poked with a fork into powder and cream-jars on the dressing-table. He held atomizers and bottles up against the light. He examined dishes and pans and food and food-containers. He emptied the garbage-can on spread sheets of newspaper. He opened the top of the flush-box in the bathroom, drained the box, and peered down into it. He examined and tested the metal screens over the drains of bathtub, wash-bowl, sink, and laundry-tub."

As Brigid lays asleep in Sam's bed after what seems like a love-affair, he sneaks over to her apartment to search for the Maltese Falcon or at least a clue revealing where the Falcon could be. He takes extra care to fully analyze the apartment and tried to be as frugal with his search as possible.

From this we see the level of expertise Sam Spade has in terms of his detective work. he inch was checked and e left nothing for chance. He even checked the makeup jars, probing them with a jar. Not only is this a great depiction of detective work shown in many crime-related films and novels, but the writing of which is typical as well. The long, and well explained sentences match the tedious and lengthy works detectives do in investigating. The narrator becomes very descriptive during this part of the chapter and imagery plays a big role.

In terms of Sam as a character, we do know that he is a highly rated detective and we can see that in this scene. After reviewing the scene as a whole however, we are left to assume that Spade is extremely monetarily incline. Initially, Brigid, a.k.a. Miss Wonderly *alias name*, comes in as a client and pays Spade to monitor Thursby, and even  after realizing her story was false, pretended to go along with it for the money. Now, after being given a chance to receive $5,000 for the Maltese Falcon, he not only turns against Brigid, but he begins to use her, pretending to build trust and a sexual relationship so that he can gain information. It is because of which I currently am coining him as a "bad cop." Its a struggle for me to think that only because with the novel's background information, we find that Hammett created Spade's character as the fictional representation of the perfect detective that everyone strives for. Because of this, it is hard to think that detectives strive only for money and not what is just and right. I understand that detectives want to be clean with their work and not miss any details, but I'm not sure if being selfish is a characteristic that they possess. Then again, this is told in third person, so perhaps *and I hope* he isn't a bad cop, and that us as readers are just missing some information.

While this section is narration typical of crime and detective works and depicts the frugality of investigations and detectives themselves, it also gives readers an idea of Spade, and his *seemingly* true inner motivation.




Works Cited: 
“The Maltese Falcon.” The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett, Vintage Books, a Division of Random House, Inc., 1989, p. 90.

Reading Notes W13: The Maltese Falcon PART 2

Citation: "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett p 44- 149

So far, the shock seems to continue. The reader constantly is made to feel like they know more than some characters yet the reader either
1) doesn't know enough
2) has false information
3) has opposing information an is left to decide *like a detective*
 The descriptive language is selective, but very descriptive none-the-less, which is very common for detective novels such as this.

The main character, Sam spade continues to be hard to judge. He had relations with Brigid and tells Cairo it's just to get to the black bird statuette, only because Cairo is asking for it in reward of $5,000. He also lies about that number to another man he thinks may offer more, saying that he will receive $10,000 instead. I'm still not sure if i can coin Spade as a good detective. He seems to be monetarily inclined, however, in reading the background information, Dashiell created this character based off of the dream detective, so its hard for me to pin him as a bad cop just yet. In analyzing the work, its almost like being a detective as well. You kind of have to pick the most truthful sounding facts and hope it doesn't twist around later down the line.

Week 12 Analysis: The Maltese Falcon, Part 1of4

For this week’s analysis I will be focusing on the first part of my reading book, “The Maltese Falcon” by Dashiell Hammett. This week’s focus is literary devices, in which I will focus on the third person narration as well as how it connects to the detective novel genre of reading.

While the first chapter was initially just background information, in the following chapters we begin to get a feel for how this novel grabs its readers. We soon enough learn that the strict third person point of view becomes very unreliable. This is both confusing to the reader, but also enticing, since we too want to solve these detective mysteries. In the first chapter, we are introduced to Sam Spade (our main character), Miles Archer (his partner), Effie Perine (his assistant secretary, and Ms. Wonderly (his newest client), whom of which he sends Archer to help.

We later find, in the next chapter, that Archer was killed. From this we see the true third person narration. We don’t hear the thoughts of any of the characters, and only hear one side of the conversations of phone calls. While this doesn’t seem like a problem initially, after Spade returns home, two other officials come to his home and start investigating him for the murder of Floyd Thursby (the man Archer was investigating before his death). This comes as a shock to the reader as it felt as though e have been only focusing on Sam’s actions, yet the narrator time-jumps, so we miss a lot of details. While Sam claims to have been walking around town during the questioning, we as readers, don’t even know that much. We just know he went home. This makes both the narrator AND Sam Spade seemingly in-trustable but also grasps the attention of the readers.

In the second chapter, the next day, Sam returns to his office. We are then introduced to Archer’s wife, whom Sam calls precious. From their conversation as well as Effie’s remarks, we are left to assume a secret affair between the two. Also, Effie thinks that perhaps she had killed her own husband to get closer to Sam and eventually become official with him. Again, this shows that perhaps if the narrator filled us in on these details, we wouldn’t look so negatively and be judging the main character.

In chapter four, one of the biggest secrets is revealed. The client Ms. Wonderly meets with Sam and admits she isn’t who she said she is and reveals herself as Brigid O’Shaughnessy. Sam says that he already could tell that she was lying but that she had a lot of money, so he went along with it. We as readers didn’t know that Sam was steps ahead of us, but at the same time, the novel wouldn’t be as intriguing without all the shocks.

Reading Notes: The Maltese Falcon, PART B

Citation: "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett p23-43

Chapter 3- Three Women:

Spade goes into his office in the morning and sees Acher's wife. She acts flirtatious. Effie is sure that she wants to marry him and that possibly she had killed her husband to get closer to Sam. *We are left to assume an affair between them. but then again we are left to assume many things with the unreliable narrator* Goes to hotel and sees Mr. Freed the desk man. Sam seems to be hiding something and lets Freed know not to tell anyone he was around and asked about Floyd and Wonderly. He returns to his office and finds a letter from Wonderly who says to meet at a hotel/ apartment # and to ask for "Leblanc." He burns the evidence, leaving Effie upset*maybe even jealous*.

Chapter 4: The Black Bird
Sam goes to meet Wonderly... who says her name and stories are fake and that her real name is Brigid O'Shaughnessy. She tells about her "true story" *which once again, we are left to assume is true* and says she knew Floyd Thursby personally but claims she didn't kill him.Interestingly enough, Sam already knew her story was a fake *which is why he didn't tell the investigators about her during questioning*, but he was so motivated by the money that it didn't matter how false the story was..... Maybe Spade really is a "bad" cop since he's so easily corrupted.

Reading Notes W12: The Maltese Falcon, PART A

Citation: "The Maltese Falcon"  p.1-29

Chapter 1:

-Summary:We are introduced to the characters Sam, his partner Archer, his Assistant Effie, qnd a new client Miss Wonderly who is trying to rid of a man named Archer. We see how Spade reacts around women as well as around other men.

 Archer takes the Thursby case.

-Characters: Sam Spade (main character, private investigator), Miles Archer (Spade's partner), Effie Ferrine (Sams secretary), Miss Wonderly (wealthy client), Floyd Thursby (Spades target, captor of Wonderly's sister)

-Quote(s): "They're right enough....and they had brothers in her bag"-shows motivation towards money... 

-What I Noticed: Spade seems to be a ladies man, and so does Archer. The way they  speak is smooth, and Archer scales Wonderly's body with his eyes. They also talk about her after she leaves.

Chapter 2:

-Summary: Sam gets a call saying that his partner was shot dead.Maybe it was Thursby since Spade sent Archer to follow him. Sam call's Archer's wife, coining her "precious" and says "don't get too excited" after saying that he was killed. He goes home and drinks.Tom and Leutennant Dundy arrive and question him. They found Thursby dead and think Sam did it as an act of revenge.

-New Characters: Lieutenant Dundy (head of police), Tom Polhaus (another detective)

-Quote: "Twenty minutes to four. I walked around thinking things through" - shows unreliable narrator. we stay on edge due to lack of full story. We get one-sided phone calls as well as missing timelines. Makes the reader the detectives.

-What I Noticed: can we trust Spade, or anyone, if we don't know what he's thinking? (unreliable narration) Is he vengeful? What motivates him the most? Is he a "bad" or "good" cop?

Take Stock: W11

I've been pretty good at checking my announcements this week and I'm actually pretty proud of what I've done. In addition to checking the course announcements, I also took it upon myself to check the comments section on my blog for new replies. I really like this feature and like the option of jumping to comments i find helpful or interesting. Its been a decent and progressive week. I hope its good next week as well.

Weekly Review: Catching Up on a Procastinated Spring Break

This week has not only been pretty stressful in terms of catching up, its also been pretty hard in my other classes in terms of getting ahead as well. This class hasn't been difficult for me so far, but combined with my other classes, I am finding it pretty difficult managing my time. All of my classes are incorporating projects and two of them are group projects. I'm not only managing MY time, but finding time to work with others in my groups. I really need to focus on making time and planning far far ahead.

Back to this class. In terms of this class, I think I have caught up enough. My project however, I'm still yet to complete. I'm grateful for all the extra credit opportunities though and the extra few hours late deadline, as with my work and school schedule, I'm often up until 3 catching up for this class. This weeks readings were different to me. I didn't like and didn't exactly understand reading Part A, but Part B i was pretty comfortable with, despite it being non-fiction. I was lucky to have a close reading as my next analysis though as i didn't really notice many literary devices. For my project; completely rewriting it. I really have to know the prompt better, so wish me luck on that.

For next week I plan on doing more extra credit and reading ahead on my chosen book so that I can have a backup for the future busy schedule i have ahead. I will try to do things on time or in advance . *note: i have said this previously and i usually cant stick to it* I would like to do the same for my other classes as well. I plan also on opening up my schedule more for group projects.

Week 11 Analysis: Close Reading on "Affidavit#2: Shoot-Out in Oakland"

For this week's analysis I would like to do a Close Reading focusing on Eldridge Cleaver's "Affidavit#2: Shoot-Out in Oakland", a written sworn statement of fact under an oath of law describing the witnessed Oakland Shoot-Out. More specifically I would like to focus on page 98. This page consists of one long paragraph describing previous events in which cops had tried to undermine African American social progress in previous events.

The paragraph starts off with "We had noticed that whenever we staged a large fund raising event, the Oakland police would... first, try to prevent it from happening; then...would arrest a lot of party members and drain off whatever money was raised...to bail these party members out of jail." This single sentence is used to as evidence on why the shoo-out was planned. Cleaver's argument is that similar events had happened in the past, so the reasoning is the same for the shooting on 28th Street. The police wanted to shut down the Black Community Barbeque Picnic, so they tried to stop it, and after failing, pursued Black Panther members. Cleaver then recalls a time where a funding event was almost cancelled because the Oakland police said it would be a nuisance and danger to the public. After failing, police detained members on conspiracy theories. Publicity caused charges to be dropped, but not until after most of raised funds were already lost to paying legal fees and bails.

Themes prominent in this one section can be connected to racism, conspiracy, and possibly even revenge. Racism seems to be the most obvious. It is easy to see how the justice system, or at least the police force is against African American social betterment as they try to undermine their progress. Another may be conspiracy. The cops are constantly trying to find ways to shut down events, and if they can't do that they try to detain members by finding false allegations to detain them with. In terms of revenge, this can be seen in two ways. It may be one spurred on by pride from the cops and another is vengeance in the public outcries. It seems perhaps that after failed attempts to shut down events, the cops may have had the vengeful urge to continue, resulting in the arrests. This then lead to the public outcries. The crowds are now wanting revenge and justice. In the whole scheme of things, if we look as this document as a whole, this is what Cleaver wants as well. As stated in the document, Cleaver wants justice "either in the court or in the streets" showing that revenge is a never-ending and passing cycle.

Reading Notes W11: Affidavit#2: Shoot-Out in Oakland, PART B

Citation: "Affidavit#2: Shoot-Out in Oakland" -Eldridge Cleaver (link)

This is the first non-fiction piece I am writing notes on this semester for this class. Its about Oakland shootings and the police brutality toward The Black Panthers and their movement.
 Affidavit: a written sworn statement of fact under an oath of law. In this case, Cleaver is describing his experience of the Oakland shoot-out. His goal is justice for the murder of Little Bobby.

The entry starts off already on a sour note. Cleaver states that he is almost certain that the shoot-out was in direct attempts to "sabotage the Black Community Barbeque Picnic" (97). He backs this up by events in the past in which the cops or "pigs" would rip down fliers of the picnic or come up with rules to deter the event. He also provides insight on previous events in which the police have tried to ruin campaigns by accusing people of murder without proof.

This affidavit is Anti-Cop and its brave for Cleaver to write this to a jury, especially with what was going on at the time. It was the a time of racism and revolution, and African Americans were standing together and protecting each other. Even pre-shoot-out, Panthers never traveled alone, and during the shootout, they cared for each other.

I think this piece really shows how racism was shown in the police force at this time, and how hatred clouds judgement. These people were good people, supporting the community, but the cops tried to weaken their community standing,, and acted rashly and immorally, and the most important, unlawfully.

Its a shame that cops, people who we picture today as a representation of fairness and protection and truth can be the opposite.

Reading Notes W11: California 13, PART A

Citation: "California 13" -David Henderson (link) 

Audience: the audience appears to be those addressed in the opening. This long poem seems to be a letter to Isabel, Lezley, "Slim" and Len

Format: The format varies throughout the poem. For me its a bit confusing how Henderson attempts to make it flow. In the pre-reading, it mentions three segments; Warren Freeway, Tunnel Road, and Ashby Avenue, however, as i read it, it was still hard to follow. It actually seems like more than that.... multiple streets and areas are mentioned, almost like taking a drive through LA*parallelism?*.

Use of Italics: I may be wrong but it seems to me the prevalent use of italics seems as though they are representation of sound. Ina literal sense there is actual lyrics to singing or rap, not so sure, but others, like : "smog alert smog alert smog alert" (122) and "no one home in California" (123) act as descriptions of sound. when one hears "smog alert, one assumes fire alarm. And in California a slammed door is a rude awakening to "no one's home" *at least, no one that actually wants to talk*.

My take on this: I really disliked this reading. It was just to rough for me to understand. This is one of those works that make me hate poems, and also the type that i almost require class discussion to comprehend. I tried to make something work, but it seems forced to make the connections that I did.

Wikipedia Trail: From " The Maltese Falcon" to "Film Noir"

Given that for my reading project I chose "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett, it felt only right to make that the start of my Wiki Trail. The book is classified as a detective novel and was written in 1930. It takes place in 1928 San Francisco with the main character being private detective Sam "Spade." It is told in an entirely external third-person point of view. I skipped plot to not spoil the reading for myself. I learned also that there has been four films based off of the book as well as a play.

For my next link I chose "The Maltese Falcon (1941 Film)". It starred Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor and is considered a film noir. Variety called it "one of the best examples of actionful and suspenseful melodramatic story telling in cinematic form" and Bosley Crowther said it was "the best thriller of the year". It also received 3 nominations for the 14th Academy Awards and has been selected for preservation by the Library of Congress in the US National Film Registry.

Next, I chose film noir. It is a cinematic term describing crime dramas, primarily Hollywood Crime Dramas. They usually emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivation. It translates as "black film" or "dark film" but also has been argued if it can be considered an actual genre as there is no basis for genre designation.

Finally, I chose "sexual motivation" which took me to sexual desire. It is an interest in sexual objects or activities that is a drive to act out. Its interesting to think that this is what "The Maltese Falcon" is characterized to be, as in a previous analysis i even said that it seems that Sam Spade is driven to act by Brigid's sexual nature. The objectification of women may be something i will see in the novel, either negatively from men, or even as a defense mechanism or tool that women use for themselves in the book.

I think it's great that I chose this topic to learn about. That way I can have some preliminary background information before starting to read the book. I may also watch the film as a supplement to it. I tried to avoid plot, however, some spoilers made it into some of the other sections, so its interesting to see where the book goes and how Spade handles the situations that will arise. I'm also interested to see how sexual motivation is enacted in the novel.