Kafka

Kafka was born in Prague, Czech Republic on June 3rd 1883 to a German speaking Jewish family. His parents were Herman and Julie Kafka. He was the oldest of six children. Later in life he studied at the Charles University of Prague. At Charles University he first started studying chemistry but he then switched to studying law. In college he was a part of a literary club that would organize literary events. In 1906 completed studies and received a Doctorate of Law.

 

After graduating college he was hired to a well acclaimed insurance company called Assicurazioni Generali. Though this job did not let him focus on his writing which was what was really important to him. He then worked for another insurance company throughout his career. Literature was his passion, as he and his close friends Max Brod and Felix Weltsch collaborated on different literary works. Throughout the years he also was a part of an asbestos factory called Prager Asbestwerke Hermann and Co. which he dedicated much of his time.

 

Kafka's works have proved to have an impact on others. Much of his literature is open ended meaning that it can have many different interpretations. His work is interesting or to some people frustrating to analyze because it is so broad no one really knows the true interpretation. Some of his works include The Metamorphosis, The Trial, and The Castle. This method of writing has sense become more popular form of writing.

 

Kafka began to suffer from tuberculosis in 1917. Though he concealed this sickness in fear of being perceived differently by the general public.  Throughout his life he suffered from depression, anxiety, insomnia, and many other defections. When his tuberculosis worsened he went back to Prague in hope of some much needed treatment though nothing seemed to work and he died in same place he was born on June 3rd, 1924. 

Works Cited: 

Nervi, Mauro. "The Kafka Project." The Kafka Project. N.p., 18 Oct. 2011. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
"Franz Kafka Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, 12 Dec.2006. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

Presentations 19-32

These last few presentations so far have been in circles 8 and 9 where fraudulent people are sent in general. So far the presentations have been very interesting to watch. When I first found out that we were going to be viewing presentations in class for the next few weeks I was wasn't looking forward to it because I thought that they would be boring but surprisingly it has been just the opposite. The first canto we viewed was canto 19, this canto stuck out to me mostly because of the punishment. The sinners are church officials generally who influence others with the aid of their high status. The punishment is to be buried head first into a hole, and the soles of your feet to be burned until a new sinner arrives and then you are pushed farther down into the hole.

The next canto that stuck out to me was canto 20. The magicians, astrologers, and diviners are sent here. Their punishment was especially terrifying. They have their heads turned around backwards and walk in circles until the end of time. Because the sinners are so deceiving their heads are turned away from the truth. The last canto I will touch on is canto is canto 26 which was presented by Noah. The visual that he presented was especially interesting. Is actual visual was a pinata. Which was two faced because half of the horse pinata was burned. Inside the pinata when you would think there would be candy there was actually vegetables. This also goes back to how the fraudulent concealers who are the sinners in canto 29 are two faced and constantly untrustworthy.
  

Dante's Inferno Presentations

When we first started the presentations I found the connection with the sin committed and punishment placed upon the person in hell very interesting. For example the people who overindulged now had to live in the excess of their waste that they have created over the span of their lives. Viewing all of the presentations so far has been very interesting. The most interesting aspect of the presentations I think has been the reaction slides. This is mostly because everyone has a different view on their canto and interprets the information differently. The visual was also interesting to see because every person designated a different meaning to their creation, whether it be an object or drawing/painting. The visual that I thought was most meaningful so far was the shopping mall interpretation. Where each level of the mall symbolized a different part of canto 11, this visual was created by Katherine. It was an interesting modern twist on an ancient concept.

I thought all of the presentations thus far have been very interesting, but the one that I remembered the most was canto 16 that Ian presented. I was amazed by the creativity that he put into his project. The video that he made was so original and nothing like I had seen in a presentation before. It most of all caught my attention and left me thinking about the real meaning behind the lines in his canto. When he attached the pictures to each verse in the canto I could really visualize all of the terrible things happening in the scene. So major props to him for totally killing that project.
This picture is from canto 16.

Dante's Inferno

In Dante's Alighieri's Inferno, Dante and his guide travel through the levels of hell. Each level of hell is designated for a certain sin and punishment which are then split up into cantos. As they travelled farther into hell, the actions and punishments became more severe. Some people were even put into hell for being overweight or being homosexual. Dante and his guide got to see first hand what hell was like by watching the people suffer in the specific level of hell. The most severe canto in hell, contained people who were fraudulent and the treacherous.

I chose to study the 29th canto. I didn't really have a very compelling reason to study this canto. Though with a little background knowledge I knew that every person in the 8th circle was alchemist, impersonator, false witness, counterfeiter, hypocrite, and so on. They are basically people who are pretending to be someone they're not. Therefore in my canto all of the people are trying to pick off their scabs and alter their appearance themselves in someway. This self damage is metaphorical to the way that they falsified themselves in real life. I am excited to make the visual most out of all of the elements of the project because I feel like it is interesting to pair a metaphorical element with a story.

HELL Reflection

At first I was skeptical about creating my own "personal hell", mostly because it is such a dark subject, and I usually try to avoid thinking about death and the after life. Though as I began writing I began to realize the underlying meaning to the assignment. The prompts got me thinking about who "deserves" to go to hell. It is really hard to decide who really deserves the grueling punishment of hell. I came to the conclusion that everyone has done something bad in life, whether they want to admit it or not. So in my hell, everyone would have to prove themselves in some way before they go to hell or to heaven. This would show their true colors, and make it easier to decide who would go to hell.
This topic leads us into our next section of Dante's Inferno. I do not know much about this book. I know from previous discussion that Inferno is Italian for hell. I also know that it is a epic poem about Dante's journey through hell.  It will be interesting to see what others interpret as hell, though I can already tell that this will be a very deep read.

Personal HELL

Everyone has done something bad in life, no person is perfect. But in the end it is about self redemption and doing more good things in life than bad. I do not believe in hell but if I were to create a personal hell most people would land themselves in an in between place like a purgatory, before they were to go to heaven or hell. This is where they would be weighted, and given time to redeem themselves and realize what bad things they have done throughout their life and what they can do to reverse their fortune. The people that have committed crimes that are unforgivable will go straight to hell. These people are people incapable of remorse, they do not feel sorry for any harm they have created on society.  

1. To get into my personal hell you would have to be a person incapable of remorse. After these people committed a crime they would not feel any guilt. People like this do not have a moral compass and are not capable of being forgiven for their sins. Theses unforgivable people are those like Austin Sigg, and James Holmes who take innocent peoples lives. Most all of rapists should automatically go to hell. Though most people that have committed awful crimes can change into a person of remorse and truly be regretful of their sins. These people that are able to redeem themselves can travel to heaven.


2. As a punishment they would be forced to watch their crime on a constant repeat played old televisions. They would see their victims faces, after they have committed the crime. They would be constantly reminded of the torture they placed on their victims. They would also be chained together pulling the "weight" of their crime, also constantly being electrocuted by the energy of their victims. There would be a sewage stench in the air and flames of fire constantly surrounding them. They would be confined to a trash slum to sleep at night only accompanied by rats and other night rodents. To make for an unpleasant sleep there would be a fire alarm sounding constantly. There would be no physical torture only intense mental torture.

3. The hell looks like a run down industrial park surrounded by a slum of trash. People in it are moping around with no purpose and miserable. It would smell of rotting flesh, death, and disease. Because of all of the fire there would be piles of dark ash on the ground and most everything would be burning or burned. There is no silence in the hell only screams of constant reminders of the their wrong doing. A sane minded person could not stand to live in this torturous zone very long without caving in. There will always be an episode of 20/20 playing in the arena.


4.There is absolutely revival and escape. If and only if someone does believe they can contribute positively to society. I can't think of anyone specific that would be able to escape, but personally I believe even the most terrible people have the possibility to change with the right guidance. Some people though that are not capable of change or simply do not want to change will live in this hell for eternity. Escape and revival are all dependent on the persons tolerance for this hell, and their willingness to change. Though people with metal illness, which the illness prompted them to commit a crime should receive the proper treatment so they have a chance to change also.

5. To represent my hell I would choose a television. This television is what is constantly reminding the people in hell of their crime because that's what is constantly playing on the tv. It would become a symbol of disappointment and shame. Though it is still there a constant reminder.


6. As I said before I would put the majority of the people in "purgatory" where they would show to either go to heaven or hell. The people that don't go to purgatory and just straight to hell would be people like James Holmes and Austin Sigg. I would also put rapists, murderers, and pedophiles in hell. Most people would be able to prove themselves and escape though few others, who would not be able to prove themselves a recovered person would have to suffer in hell for eternity. Also self entitled people would be included, these people do not contribute positively to society at all, nor give back. These greedy people deserve to go to hell.  

The Prestige

For the past few weeks we have been working on our tragic hero movie posters in class. We choose The Prestige for our movie poster. My part of the tragedy that I studied was the catastrophe. In our essays, which we turned in recently, I compared my element of the tragedy to the catastrophe in Oedipus Rex. The Prestige has a very complex plot, where two main characters are profiled, it moves between present day and flashbacks. So at some points in the movie it was very hard to understand, though after watching it a few times it all seemed to make more sense. My favorite part of the project was when we finally got to design the poster in a thematic way that related to the movie.

Blue was very for the theme of the poster because it is the color of electricity which played a huge role in the movie. Electricity is what produced the many clones of Robert Angier, the protagonist in the story. The clones in the movie are what fuelled his hubris and made him feel unstoppable, even though later on in the movie he does realize what he is doing is wrong, by killing one of the clones every night. The birds on our poster also are important because it shows how some birds (Borden, and every other clone) survive the trap and the other, darker, falling birds are the ones that didn't make it (Robert Angier). Lastly the red ball which is bouncing off of every picture shows  the obsession that Angier had with his tricks. Angier became obsessed with these tricks because he was intrigued by the reaction from the audience every time he performed it. The theme was by far the my favorite part about this project.