piano lesson journal 6

I liked how Doaker tries to be a leader but he doesn't do it in a rude and obnoxious way. He tries to lead by example and be sort of a silent, but powerful leader. A lot of times Boy Willie just blows and Wining Boy and the other characters just blow him off and treat him like he's a pushover because he isn't as loud and rude as the rest of them. And you can tell he struggles with the way he thinks is appropriate to act, and his feelings towards the other characters and his need to be heard. I think people can relate to how doaker feels trying to get others to listen to him.

my comment:

1 comments:

Olivia said...

I agree that certain things show that this play takes place awhile ago but i don't agree that it's because of their attitudes towards women. Treating women like objects and womens rights is a very modern and current problem in many other parts of the world, and there are plenty of men who act like that today in our society. (* note: i was absent for a few days so that's why my journals are out of order) 

piano lesson journal 5

I noticed that Berniece is a strong character with a strong personality. And even though she has some issues and she can't let go of the past and there are a lot of negative things, I think that she is a good symbol for women. And I really like the part where she is speaking to Avery and she talks about how men always go around and say yeah it's ok if i'm single and they think it's good cause they're men but when a women is single people are like oh how are you going to get by without a man to take care of you. And I love Berniece's attitude when she basically tells Avery off and says that she doesn't need some man to take care of her, she can take care of herself and she'll get married when she's good and ready. it's my favorite part so far.

my comment:

Olivia said...

I agree that their perspectives about women seem different and the place of a women and womens rights could contribute to a theme later on (* note: i was absent for a few days so that's why my posts are out of order) 

piano lesson journal 4

I thought it was interesting how they talk about the history of the piano from slave times and that a lot of the characters like Berniece and Boy Willie are named after some of their ancestors. Maybe the author did this to try and get across a theme that history repeats itself? and he's comparing the characters in the current story to characters from slaves times. And it might highlight the ways that society and the family has changed, but also the ways that they haven't and they repeat their same mistakes.

my comment:
I'm not sure that Lymon really loves Berniece, I think he was just dissapointed about his night and that it wasn't fun like Boy Willie's and he just wanted someone to be with.


(* note: i was absent for a few days, so that's why my journals are out of order) 

piano lesson journal 7

I thought that it was interesting how Lymon is interested in Berniece since he came with Boy Willie and they don't get along very well. But you can also tell that Lymon's character is different from Boy Willie and he's trying to do the right thing more by how he talks about getting a job and staying in the north. There wasn't a lot of characters in this scene and it was pretty short. It mostly revolved around Berniece and Boy Willie and Lymon. I think it's interesting how Maretha is there and she's a child but a lot of adult problems are going on and we hardly ever hear from her so I wonder if she will become important later or if, in those days the children were supposed to mostly stay quiet.

my comment:

Olivia said...

I agree with the part about Berniece. I don't think she will end up with either one of those guys. I like what she was saying to Avery when she was talking about being independent and how a woman doesn't need a man to get by. And i think that's more of her character.

piano lesson journal 3

Today I thought the reading went kind of slow, it's difficult to follow all the dialouge. I found it interesting how doaker seems kind of upset that all these family members are just coming into his house and eating his food and all that without ever paying him and I agree that that would be annoying. And also it's interesting how Wining Boy says he gave up playing piano and I wonder how music will be important later on in the story.

(my comment)

Olivia said...

I agree with the fact about women. I thought it was interesting how they kept talking about how they'd been married but then those women were just gone?

November 18, 2010 8:59 PM

piano lesson journal 2

Today's reading went better than yesterday's reading, I think the story becomes easier to read as you get used to the language and context. One thing that I noticed was how little the setting is described. Since this is written to be preformed as a play the audience would simply see the setting. Whereas in a novel the author typically goes into great deal about the setting and that often plays a huge role in the meaning of the story. So I find it harder with this story because we know so little about the setting it's hard to picture it. It's more telling and less showing.

(my comment)

Olivia said...

Good insight. I wonder if we will learn more about Berniece and Boy Willie's history as to why they fight so much and i also wonder if other siblings will come into play?

cry the beloved country

1. The first thing I tabbed was on page 275 he said "...clouds, for it was exciting to see them after weeks of pitiless sun." And I tabbed it because of the "pitiless sun" that phrase has been repeated a bunch of times and it just keeps coming up so I think it is a symbol. it's also personification because he's saying the sun has no pity and maybe it ties in with the fact that there seems to be no mercy and there's no mercy for absalom in his case.
2. Another thing I tabbed was page 279 he says that "...sound, of streams and rivers, all red with the blood of the earth" and then a couple sentences later he says "That evening they all came out in the pale red light of sunset, ..." And I thought it was interesting how he keeps using the color red, and I know I've heard that other places in the book as well so I thought it was another interesting repetition that he has this color of red as a symbol. It's kind of a powerful color so that's interesting. I think maybe he uses words like red and blood to evoke an image of like war and pain and suffering because that's going on a lot. And also maybe heat because of the pitiless sun he keeps describing as well.