Neuromancer Geography and Setting Analysis

Neuromancer by William Gibson sets place in Chiba, Japan which is somewhere near Tokyo. As the story unfolds, Case (the main character) describes the the area he lives in as an underground city called Ninsei or Night City. It is a very dark and gloomy area where a lot of illegal activities occur. Night City lives in its own world of drug dealers and prostitutes. There are a lot of different ethnic groups living in the area ranging from native people of Japan, hispanics and a group called the Sprawl. Night City is a place for people that have lost their way and hope to find a place to hide from the real world. It is a place of death and possible a place where people look for dying. This is proven by the fact that Case has accepted the fact he might die living in this area.

Throughout part 1, Case mentions “The Matrix” frequently throughout the story. It is a place where a person can escape from the real world and let their mind wonder in another fantasy. Case states that it is a weightless experience where the mind has left the body. To me, it seems like this is like the movie The Matrix with Keanu Reaves. In the movie, Neo (Keanu Reeves) plugs into the Matrix which takes him into a digital world. This is the same instance with Case. Case enters the Matrix frequently and is always looking for its familiarity.

When you compare the two different areas, they seem to have their similarities and differences. When looking at their similarities, they both seem to be places where people can escape from the real world. Night City is a place full of drugs and murders where Case has accepted the fact he could possible die there. The Matrix is a place where Case lets his mind become with weightless entity and leave everything tied to the Earth. When looking at their differences, Night City seems a place for lower level of citizens to travel to when the higher level world throws them out. The Matrix seems to be a place for people that live in a higher class. However, why does Case live in this baron area if he is able to go into the Matrix?

Point of View in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

The short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce draws the reader through an an interesting chain of events. The story begins in a 3rd person objective point of view. Through this point of view, Bierce is able to set up the narrative for the reader. The reader is able to get a sense of the characters, setting and time period of the action. All these elements create a sense of anxiety and anguish in the reader. We don’t know why, but we can’t imagine the reasons for this man to be hanged. Bierce skillfully transitions the point of view at the end of the fourth paragraph to 3rd person limited. This point of view limits the story to just one person. The reader gets the mans last thoughts longing to see his family and hope to escape into the river below.

In part 2, the story transitions into a flashback and the reader gets a name and the background of the main character. The point of view is still in 3rd person limited because it still focuses on one person of the story. This helps draw the reader father into the story and helps the reader relate to the main character. The reader is able to imagine this mans family and understand how he ends up at Owl Creek Bridge.

In part 3, the reader travels back to the present and find our main character falling off the bridge into the river. A series of events unfold still keeping the point of view fixed on one person and keeping the reader absorbed in the story. When we get to the last sentence of the story, the point of view switches back to 3rd person objective and we are left in shock that the main character is dead. We are led to believe that the character is going to survive, but Bierce messes with the reader. Bierce keeps the reader fixed on the events unfolding in the story, but doesn’t allow the reader to realize that he is changing the story from reality to imagination. Through the point of view techniques, Bierce is able to create a story where we can relate to the main character, but still keep our interest in this devastating story.

Poetry in Pop Culture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdW1CjbCNxw

Walt Whitman's Poem, America, is used in this Levi's commercial. The poem is recited throughout the entire commercial, except for the last two lines of the poem. The commercial gives a fantastic visual aid to the poem and really enhances the meaning of what the poem is trying to portray. After watching the commercial, it gave me a new insight into the meaning of the poem and a better appreciation for Walt Whitman's poetry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwJ-ppxCGPk

Robert Frost's poem, Nothing Gold Can Stay, is recited in the movie The Outsiders. During this scene, Ponyboy Curtis recites it to Johnny Cade. Like the poem, Ponyboy Curtis is talking about the ups and downs people experience in life. Life is a struggle and everyone has to take them as they come. After watching this scene, it helped me establish a better meaning of Robert Frost's poem. Scenes like this in pop culture help me look at poetry in a new light.

Anti-Technology or Pro-Technology

When looking at the poem from an anti-technology standpoint, one can understand that the author thinks that nature and technology are two separate entities that work against each other. As an important part of modern day society, technology is continually being worked on and improved. As Braudigan says we are “all watched over by machines of loving grace,” meaning that someday technology will become so advanced that machines will watch over us like they are gods. We will be forced back to into an animal-like state and embrace our primitive selves.

However, when analyzing the poem from a pro-technology standpoint, Braudigan could also be stating that nature and technology form a joined partnership. Braudigan thinks that technology is a fantastic thing for our society and it should be joined in “programming harmony” with nature. Technology is the future and it should be something that is embraced with nature. Braudigan wants all these things to hurry, implying that he wants us to move past our arguments against technology and embrace it as part of our new way of life.

When I read this poem, I found myself looking at this poem as if it were a message against technology. The one piece of evidence that convinced me the most was stated in the last stanza. The author states that we will be “watched over by machines of loving grace.” I kept reading this line over and over and realized that Braudigan is trying to say that technology is starting to grow faster than we expected and it will soon take over us. Technology is going to turn into a “Big Brother” in a sense and it will watch our every movement. All freedom in our lives will be gone. Technology will one day take the place of us and we will be forced back into our true animal-like selves.

Adrienne Rich - "Diving into the Wreck" Imagery

Adrienne Rich - Diving into the Wreck

List of Images

-The Book of Myths -mermaid

-The Ladder -camera

-Knife

-water/ocean

-the wreck

-his wetsuit

In Adrienne Rich's Diving into the Wreck, there are countless images throughout each stanza. Even with all of these images, there are three images that work coherently with each other: the ladder, the ocean and the wreck. Unlike the other images, the ladder has a whole stanza to itself which means there must be a lot of meaning to it. When looking at a ladder, its main purpose is to help us move up or down from tall objects. Looking at the use of the ladder in this poem, it is stated it “always there hanging innocently”. When ladders aren’t being used, they are just there sitting there “innocently” and you over look it. In the diver’s case, it is waiting there for for him so it can take him into a different world then his own and that world is the ocean. The ocean is big, scary, and mysterious to the diver. From above the ocean, one doesn’t know what is beneath. A world of surprises can await anyone. For the diver, the ocean is a mystery and is strange to him. The diver has to adjust to this new world and has to learn how to move in this vast world. The ocean keeps sinking the diver farther and farther down like its devouring him. The diver gradually gets lost into it and forgets his purpose. The diver realizes what happens to him and remembers his purpose: go to the wreck. The wreck is in the title of this poem and what the diver is trying to find. When looking at the wreck in a literal sense, it is an actual object that holds a ton of meaning to it. The wreck symbolizes the lost lives of countless people and all the disasters that have happened out in the sea. The mention of “ribs” gives it an even more human like feel. These three images are huge throughout the poem. The ladder transports the diver into the ocean. The ocean transports the diver to the wreck and the wreck shows us all what disasters bring to the world.