Question of the week!
Every week, I will be posting here a question or perhaps a thought that you may elaborate on and interact with each other.
- After having read both Candide and The Stranger, which character did you enjoy most and why?
- Sept 24th: Short films…why aren’t they popular in America whereas in Europe, they are more common? Of the films we watched, which one did you like most and why?
- Oct 6th: What is the Horla??
-Oct 10th: Well…we’ve been reading some crazy far-fetched short stories of the 19th century mainly dealing with the issue of fear and anxiety which lead to hallucinations and ghosts. Today, in the 21st century, those same issues still exist but have been perpetuated into more serious problems. Let’s take this recent shoot-out in Cleveland Ohio and the massacre at Virginia Tech. It seems as if being scared of mirror images, phantoms, and vampires is rather minute in comparison. Many of us fear death…..is dying while on a supposedly safe environment become the new “fear” of the times? What’s going on?
-Oct 13th: Short stories…we’ve read a few, sorry that they were all situated in the 19th century and they weren’t so happy…but which one was your favorite and why?
-Oct 20th: We’ve just watched the film “Forbidden Games”. What are things that you would consider “forbidden games” that we do today in the 21st century?
-Oct 27th: Having completed the Little Prince, what is the message you got from him? What did you enjoy about this little book or not?
-Nov 7th: From our class discussions, I get the feeling that we can relate well to the various messages Benoit Duteurtre presents in his book. What is one of his messages and what does it mean to you or maybe, what does he have to say about the 21st century?
wudaman2000 said,
September 23, 2007 at 11:16 pm
I must say the Frenchie was my pick. Story wise, Candide was awesome. However Mr. Stranger here is a wise guy when it comes to his reactions. ” no, do I have to?” ” If you insist, Okay then” not the quote from the book but the main character that’s actually not really important. This is like real life experience for me. I had a guy I knew back a few years ago and he would do the same. How you doing so and so … His reply was , good. what do you ?” Kind of arrogant if you’re the extrovert and he is the opposite. But Mr. Stranger was a pimp. The girls loved him because he held his thing down and didn’t change for NO ONE. Even the guys loved him too because they tried to bend him and he wouldn’t. Classic Ghandi like stubbornness.
abellon said,
September 24, 2007 at 5:39 pm
I would have to say Candide. Although he could not make his own decisions he was a determined person and he was loyal. He was determined to spend the rest of his life with Cunegonde and was loyal to her even though at the end of the story she was ugly. Also because you get to see a bit of Voltaire’s life through the character Candide
edsonrivas said,
September 24, 2007 at 5:46 pm
i thought that meursault (forgot how to spell that) was more enjoyable than candide. although its kinda hard to compare the two, it all depends on what you like. Candide was more of a naive charater while meursault was deep and in some ways a very strong character. We have to constantly dig for importance in meursault’s actions to get some meaning and insight on his life while candide was more of a shallow character that portrays important issues of the era. all depends on tastes, i just happend to enjoy meursault more than candide.
alm04002 said,
September 24, 2007 at 5:49 pm
As a character, I probably enjoyed Candide the most. Despite his frustrating lack of decision-making ability and his blind determination to find Cunegonde, any other character faced with such an absurd amount of adversity would certainly have provided a much less enjoyable and much more depressing read. Candide’s philosophy and personality provide a stimulating discussion, even when one is arguing against/critiquing those views.
matts14 said,
September 24, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Out of the two characters, I would choose Meursault as a more enjoyable character. The personality of Meursault is one that allows the reader to be more judgemental on his decisions compared to Candide being straight forward with his decisions. Meursault is one who makes bland and nonchalant decisions which has a side of mysteriousness and brings questions into the reader of why he acts the way he does. Through the notions of existentialism, Meursault depicts their beliefs and mindset to the fullest.
alm04002 said,
September 30, 2007 at 5:05 pm
I enjoyed the short film “Our Time Is Up” (I think that’s what it’s called). It was pretty hilarious but the plot was simple and to the point; emphasizing how when we are faced with our own mortality we realize the things in our life we’re unsatisfied with. I’m also a psychology major and a lot of the methods that the guy in the film used AFTER his diagnosis were methods of treatment for people with mental illnesses (maybe on the extreme side). Flooding is a common method to confront phobias (the turtle guy), where in a session the psychologist is supposed to bring in whatever you’re scared of so you can deal with it. Also the guy used classical conditioning with the guy who loved butts, when he said “no” or hit the guy every time he went to touch it. So the film was pretty on point psychologically but also I just thought it was heeeelarious.
I think it’s ironic that these films aren’t as appreciated in America…we like everything else accelerated (fast food, drive-through windows etc) so why wouldn’t we want our movies to be super speedy too? Americans don’t necessarily enjoy long novels as opposed to short ones…so why movies? I think it had to do with the fact that short movies tend to have less character development, less explanation of the plot, less super action and require more thinking at the end. After a short movie you’re more likely to have to think about what the message was, could you relate to it, did it strike you, etc. In the longer movies, everything is pretty much spelled out for you. Instead of spending 15 minutes engaged and analyzing, you can spend 2 hours pretty unengaged and still “get” the movie.
edsonrivas said,
October 9, 2007 at 1:42 pm
I definitely enjoyed “Our Time is Up” the most, not only because it was funny but also because it shows how how quickly the human body can break free from the monotony of life. The genre of short film in the US isn’t as developed in the cultural eye as the more popular, longer films are.
Cécile said,
October 10, 2007 at 11:45 am
Have to agree with your analysis of why Americans don’t appreciate short movies as much as Europeans do. The whole ‘how-much-you-need-to-reflect-on-it’ aspect of it all probably has something to do with it. Sad but most likely.
abellon said,
October 15, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Every one feels safe in their homes, their college campus etc. The fear is losing that controlled safe environment that we all love. Look at the past where just a simple lock was the only thing from keeping people out of your house. Now we have alarms that if you open a window or door notify you immeadiately. Campus is getting a little crazy too, you have police patroling all over, a lot of the little blue button emergency things and RAs patroling the hallways in dorms. Our fear is to not be able to feel safe in our own beds.
my favorite story thus far was Master Zac. It was a little weird, but the whole notion that his life was based around his work. He seemed to take a lot of pride in his clocks and when they did not work then he felt as if he had failed. Personally I thought all of the short stories we read were a little boring and depressing but Master Zac was not tooo horrific.
edsonrivas said,
October 22, 2007 at 5:35 pm
some forbidden games in todays world are…
-adultery
-Russian roulette?
-same sex intercourse (to some extent)
-among many others which i cannot think of at the moment
leni121 said,
October 22, 2007 at 6:18 pm
Candide, hands down. Although perhaps Mersault was more interesting as an individual because he was unlike anyone I’ve ever met, Candide’s story and every day sitations made his story way more enjoyable.
leni121 said,
October 23, 2007 at 8:56 pm
“Our Time is Up” was the best short film. The other ones were good too, but there was something more modern about the humor of this one, and also about the way it was actually filmed, the music, everything. And the message of appreciation of life was both meaningful and relevant. Why short films arent as popular here in America is unclear to me. We are a country of technology, things that are new and fresh. Perhaps we can’t be as showy as we like in fifteen minutes, and perhaps Europeans have more of an appreciation for simple meaningful flicks. Who knows? Perhpas its just a trend that works in one place and not another.
leni121 said,
October 23, 2007 at 8:58 pm
The Horla is a ghost/figment of his imagination/entity/matter of opinion. The main character certainly believed it was a ghost, or spirit, but the readers are supposed to question its existende, and the sanity of the man. But I still stand by my opinion, why can’t it be a ghost? Why can’t it be just a sci-fi story? Just because there are no aliens or vampires doesn’t mean that it can’t be a ghost story of that time period.
leni121 said,
October 23, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Fear applies to the anxiety of anything occurring you would rather not. There are actually different levels of fear, I think, from nerves to downright terror. I don’t think fear today has to do with just death, because death was always something to fear from the beginning of time. It’s been used as a punishment and a means to instill terror on a people. And I don’t think there’s any one thing that creates fear in us today. We stress and dread the negative things in life, which leads to fear.
leni121 said,
October 23, 2007 at 9:31 pm
I liked the short story, The Slap of Charlotte Corday, the best. I’ve always enjoyed tales from France in the past involving the guillotine and the law. And this was even better because it was a little freaky, what with talking heads and all. But I especially enjoyed this story because it wasn’t just another tale of fiction, there was science behind it, however far-fetched it may be, and a real effort was made to make it realistic. There was a little bit of freakiness, history, romance, it was a good read over all.
leni121 said,
October 23, 2007 at 9:50 pm
“Forbidden games” today might be things we consider taboo, inappropriate or just not right. And not in a, don’t kill someone, kind of way. Granted, that’s not right either, but forbidden games is another level of “not right.” For instance, swingers clubs. Most people are so so critical of people who choose this lifestyle, its immoral, unorthodox, the works. But at the end of the day, its not really hurting anyone. Its simply a different way people live their lives. I feel that as long as there arent repercussions on other people, people should live however they want. There are not rules or guidelines to life.
wudaman2000 said,
October 25, 2007 at 3:12 am
why isnt anyone leaving it on comments page anymore!!! GRRRR