Blog Post

Chapter 6:

Joe is in Antarctica, enlisted in the navy as a manager radio operator. Joe has been flying, because his pilot died during a 5 day journey between bases.
Why does Chabon shift points of views?

Bruna: He is writing during world war 2 and wanted duel perspectives

Toast: symbolic, joe is not touched with reality any more

Sarah Jane: Joe has a lot of hatred towards Germans

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Quote

Joe tries to land the plane and crashes it and limps out of the plane, and decides that he does not want to kill the Germans. As he attempts to throw his gun, “The American Raised the Gun up across his chest as if to fire in the sky..... the Geologist..... misinterpreted the situation ….. the American had been in the act of tossing the pistol aside.”(pg.464) Mecklenburg is a non violent person who is high on medicine trying to stay awake, preparing for the man (Joe) who was going to kill him. Mecklenburg tackles Joe by mistake and accidentally gets shot.

David: people often act before they think about something

Sarah Jane: following orders, indoctrinated

Toast: Sound of gone gets lost

Mr. Neal: Nothingness, irony Joe in reality kills a German and its not cinematic, but a wrestling match between a Scientist and Artist

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How does Chabon make the last scene very sad?

Joe: hurt ankle, shot in shoulder, and treading through rugged terrain

German: shot, dead weight

Joe is determined to save the German who he just shot.

Jake: “The shock and fragrance of life, steaming red life”- visually riveting, trail of blood

Toast: Mecklenburg’s death is more tragic than the deaths of him family because he did it with his own hands

Courtney: Joe wants to desperately wants to change the situation

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What does Ice represent?

Jake: Vengeance, Hatred
Sarah: Joe has been in a spiritual Antartica while in New York
Mr.Neal: Lack of connection, solitude

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Antarctic expedition, Joe comes across an abandoned hut and sees, a frozen penguin, berries, radio, morphine

Pg. 467-468
“Although the man’s parachute was far beyond his reach. the man was smiling, and pouring a cup of tea.”
-similar to picture Thomas drew
-moving on from family
-needs to return to his own son
-high on morphine
-closure
-forces the reader to compare both Joe’s
-hits reality and understands life

Poorest super hero was Radioman who can travel through radio waves. The Gold key represents when you care about other people and less about yourself and parallels Joe’s situation. Connection between chapter 6 and 7 to the beginning of the book.

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He must learn to think before acting, I personally accuse by brother automatically before assessing the situation.

The next scribe post is Amanda

Sammy and Tracy's first kiss

4/19/11

• Rosa knew Sammy was Gay
• Joe knew but did not want to considerate
• Joe is selfish
• We never really know really who Tracy Bacon is. He is mysterious
• Mysterious origins in comics- power and greatness
• Mysterious origins in real life-  messy problems

p.352

• sammy works at observation deck in the night shift to be somewhat involved in the military
tone of moment of sammy and tracys first kiss:

• electricity- figuratively and literally
• on top of the world
• romantic
• naive
• surprising
• epic and cinematic- like super hero
• symbol for sparks
• homosexuality in the dark so secretive on top of the world. closeted at this time- night
• cigarette- gemstone of heat. make it precious just like the moment
• not threatening- warm and interesting like rosa and joe

p.353

• sparks last sentence
• manly and powerful
• movie its
• “hot” literally
• sparks symbolicly romance

p.380

middle paragraph to the end
tone:
on top of the world, closed off world
the motif of heat is there again- flame
optimistic- own world, future
natural- different intensity
fantasy vs. reality
undertone that they are in the dark

Scribe Post 4/13/11

To start class today, we began by looking for 3 paragraphs of regular plot, 3 paragraphs of style, and three moments that seem insignificant, but are actually quite important.

Here are the moments that the class came up with:

1. p. 287-288: Moment of plot: Letter received from Superman's comic book publisher accuses Kavalier and Clay of copyright infringment
2. p. 208: Moment of style: Descriptive moment talking about inter-twined paths and how it all fits into the story of K&C
3. p. 262:  Moment of desperation wanting brother back
4. p. 255: Sammy is struggling with sexuality when he feels pang of jealousy when seeing Joe and Rosa
5. p. 216: talking about escapist and its importance to K&C
6. p. 275:  Moment of plot:  Joe creates hero, Luna Moth because of his feelings for Rosa.
7. p. 253: Moment of plot:  Joe and Rosa share a moment with an instant connection.  They have their own made up dream language that only they can understand because of their connection.  
1. Sammy see this and also have this connection through language, and now Joe and Rosa have one now and Sammy and Joe's relationship
2. Right before the kiss, "moths scattered"
1. Moth = Death, decay
1. Foreshadowing the decay of the relationship between Sam and Joe
8. p. 178-179:  Moment of hyperbolic description when the Escapist is trapped.  Important line:  "His (Joe's) sense of bureaucracy, of being powerless to help or free his family..."
1. Joe has repeatedly tried to free his family from Prague by going to the consulate but is blocked by "red tape"

and the next scribe post is,  SJ

Figurative Language

4/22/11
- We began class by finding good examples of figurative language.
- "figurative language is language of comparison," - Mr. Neal
- Pg. 372, "Boyfriend...in the other."
- Words "boyfriend" and "moth" connect; they both are evolving, both have sense of entrapment, meaningful, sudden.
- We wrote in our writing journals about this quote and wrote our own analysis of it and shared with the class.
- We watched a short movie trailer for Kavalier and Clay and saw the delineation of one's perception of the novel.
- We did the same process of analysis for page 165, "There was a dank...knock them dead." This was followed by another writing entry in our writing journals.

Symbols in Parts I and II of Kavalier and Clay

What is the Golem Symbolic of?
The Golem serves as a saviour to Josef and Sam because it is the hopes of them becoming rich through creating a comic book. They both want money and despite the fact that they will use it for different reasons, their goals are pretty similar. Golem is an emblem of hope.

The Golden Key is symbolic of freedom. Freeing yourself from your bonds is the ability to make the thing that is hindering you (society, people, YOURSELF,etc.) less important. Being able to have closure on your problems and regard them as steppingstones rather than the “orange warning cones”.

And the next Scribe is BRUNA!

Scribe Post April 2011

Notes on Kavaleir and Clay:

• What are you confused by:
• How does he get to new york?
• travel restrictions put on Jews, he only get to certain places Lithuania still offers travel passes to Jews, goes to japan, then to u.s because they accept people from japan--restrictions on Jews were gradual (curfew, can’t live certain places, walls on neighborhoods, ghettos, taking Jews out)
• Secret society-cabala came out of Prague---golem made out of river clay acts as protector of Jews. Germans were into cult and wanted to find it.
• To find it they acted as census people and asked what their names were and if they were Jewish---they would put star of David on peoples window.
• process of elimination, narrowed it down to 2 apartments P.44-5 “His face took...”---rips up the records of the Jews because he didn't want it to fall into the hands of the Germans
• Activity on figurative language:
• P.49(middle-third paragraph “A generation....”
• Thought apartment was empty, but it was a brothel. Kornblum knew the prostitutes. Stayed for the night. Ask the kids and they know where the window of the apartment is where no one has been seen. Being compared to a young, blank planet. Empty window-empty planet undiscovered, attraction--gravity. Kids have the knowledge, adults don’t. Intensity added to the window by comparing it to a planet.
• P.58 (second paragraph) “For some reason...”
• Description, gone back into parents apartment, dad has collection of oddities. Giant has tailored suit--needed it to put on golem because in Judaism no clothes on corpses. Labels have fathers name on them. Hyphens compared to stylized bolts of lightning. Writing fast hyphens can be curved, connects two words, lighting connection between ground and sky. His father is very important to him. Striking to him how they need to leave. They are in a shit storm. Reading the writing of a dead man--knows his family can die at any moment.

The danger in Prague forced Joe to escape his hometown and leave his family behind. According to wikipedia, 277,000 Jews were killed in Prague. 345,000 people in total. Joe could sense what was coming. Leaving your family behind in a brutal situation is a tough decision I know I wouldn't be able to make. Would you

Scribe Post: February 1

English Notes February 1, 2011

Final Discussions on K & C

-Sammy decides to leave; he is going to L.A. to pursue the lifestyle he wishes

-Joe tells Sammy can’t leave, because Joe just bought Empire Comics; Sammy responds he may be able to participate from afar

-Rosa crying while preparing sleeping arrangements—she has the opportunity to reclaim her lover but is losing her husband and good friend

-Sammy re-writes the card to say, “Kavalier and Clay.”

-In what ways does this resolve major conflicts and issues?

-Sammy is forgiving Joe and has welcomed him back into his life. He and Joe are a “brotherhood” once more.

-Card may also represent the golden key. Sammy sacrificed for Joe and is now going to claim his own life.

-Issues of Sammy’s sexuality are more clearly defined. Joe is aware of Sammy’s preferences and –in some ways- the Senate hearings were a relief for Sammy in terms of “coming out.”

-The end of the book brings more stability and clarity for Rosa and the other relationships—Sammy to Joe, Joe to Tommy, and Rosa to both men

-Parallel story: Mayflower sacrifices everything he owns for the freedom of another, Big Al… In the primary story, Sammy sacrifices a lot for Joe. He led the life Joe was supposed to lead for a while (husband to Rosa, father to Tommy).

-Golem goes from being light to heavy.

-What is Chabon trying to show with the change in weight?

-The Golem is now heavy with pain of loss, with souls of families.

-Golem was used for to protect Jews; millions of lives filled with suffering or loss are in box.

Scribe Post 1/19/11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TemK6CF6lF0&feature=related

Yesterday, brave Beaver Country Day children trekked into the unknown. Some call it vast, some call it beautiful, others call it dangerous, but to Joe Kavalier it is simply Antarctica. In part 5 of Kavalier and Clay, Chabon decides to focus on Joe and his life in the Navy at a base in Antarctica. While Joe isn’t fighting arms to arms in Europe with Nazis, it seems as though he gets his chance. After a tragic carbon monoxide poisoning leaving only Joe and another solider, who goes by Johnny, it seems as though they will never get rescued. One long, cold, wintry day, Joe hears German over the radio. Immediately in his state of cabin fever he tells Johnny that he wants to go after the German, who ends up being a geologist. Johnny fixes up his sea plane and the two head off, midair Johnny dies of a bursting appendix. Joe seems to survive and continues on to clash with fantasy meeting reality. All Joe has ever wanted was to kill a German, and while the one he finds is a geologist no less, there is no stopping him. It is when the two meet that Chabon’s focal point changes to the German geologist, we find that the geologist is fond of Americans and is excited to be able and talk in German, “no less” to a young and educated man. A scuffle breaks out, which in short, Joe kills the German. As he drags the corpse through the tundra, it does not dawn on him until he has reached his destination, that he has murdered a man. In that moment, it breaks Joe’s heart to realize what he has done. Leaving his parents behind, Thomas dying, not saying goodbye to Rosa without knowing she was pregnant with his child had not broken his heart until then. The moment Joe struck the German’s head, reality met his fantasy world, the dream of punching Hilter, just like the Escapist does is suddenly not fulfilled. We then find Joe slowly drifting into depression and drug use. In the cabin that he used, tourists later find the picture of Houdini that Thomas drew for Joe, discarded. By leaving it behind, Joe has left go of his family just like he did when he burnt Rosa’s letters and pictures of their child, Thomas.

THE END

P.S. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq4XILM4Etg
Alexys-wanna pick this up?