Strange Texts

Monday, January 23, 2012 Book Buzz: Why Read Moby-Dick? Book Buzz: Tension City, Why Read Moby-Dick? : I love it--it's now a book. Why Read Moby-Dick? Nathaniel Philbrick is a great writer in his own right. I really enjoyed his book about the whaleship Essex --it completely captivated me, and I usually don't like non-fiction at all. The author of this article calls the book "a passionate and convincing text." There is no personal opinion on Moby Dick itself. But check out this "argument." If I had a student write this, I would have the student express why the quote proves the point: "but when he quotes Melville, the text soars and Melville’s prose becomes Philbrick’s best argument for reading the book: 'While gliding through these latter waters that one serene and moonlight night, when all the waves rolled by like scrolls of silver; and, by their soft, suffusing seethings, made what seemed a silvery silence, not a solitude...

Matthew Butcher English 412(G) Dr. Colvin 6 December 1993 The Relation of Hamlet and the Oedipus Complex The psychology of William Shakespeare's Hamlet has always been full of debate. Hamlet's actions have always been given new and interesting motives, mostly psychological in respect. In the twentieth century this century, a new psychoanalytic approach has identified Hamlet's motives in an entirely new way. Critics and psychologists of this century have deemed Hamlet's actions to be rooted in the Oedipus complex. First, the story of Sophocles' Oedipus is the foundation for what psychologists have termed the Oedipus complex. In the story, Oedipus inadvertently murders his father, then marries his mother. Psychologists say that at a young age everyone has "sexual" feelings for the parent of the opposite sex. Freud's libido is the energy that moves the individual to seek pleasure and he defines it ...

From DC's 80-Page Giant #9 starring the Flash. Goofy Captain Boomerang wants to rob banks but that stupid Flash won't let him. So he builds a boomerang-shaped rocket to send Flash off into space. He then goes to try robbing another bank. If I had enough money to build a boomerang-shaped rocket, and one capable of blasting into space, and one capable of carrying a 180-pound superhero (without any thought of aerodynamics) into space... I wouldn't need to rob any freaking bank! This was even before the moon landing, so Captain Boomerang would have a technology he could sell and make freaking billions. If I were Flash, I would have told him that.  

Gracepoint and the Meaningful Red Herring by Matthew Butcher, M.A. Murder mysteries are sometimes too easy. In order to put off the audience, the investigation proceeds chasing down the likeliest of subjects. The audience, however, follows these red herrings, avenues to make us look away from the real clues until we are surprised with a satisfying, twisting ending. In reality, the audience knows these are red herrings. Whether it’s because we just think it’s too easy, or we look at the clock and realize it’s too soon in the show, we know these are false leads. We follow because we know they are dropping clues that we need for the real killer. Gracepoint , a ten-episode murder mystery, used a few red herrings that led deeper into the mysteries of the town. However riveting, these revelations did little to reveal the actual killer. What they did reveal, though, is a far more satisfying culmination to the mystery. For several episodes, the mystery focused on that enigmatic...