Here's a point I made about King Lear on March 25th.

"It seems like the fool is a more central character then I previously thought.
He offers an interesting dynamic with king Lear.  As Lear descends into
madness, the Fool seems more and more rational, even saying from his first
appearance how "foolish" Lear was when divvying up his property.  I'm sure that
in practice the Fool is as much comic relief as he is a voice of
reason."

Here is a response by Hyatt Hammad

"The fact that the fool is silly and crude in the begining and later becomes the
rational thinker of the group is very ironic. It really shows that someone can
be a fool in someone's eyes and be a phiolosopher and a voice of reason in
another's eyes. It also makes us question the very idea of sanity. . . is sanity contagious or transferable[?]"


Here are a couple of links for some audiofiles of Shakespearean poetry for your listening pleasure.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/audioitem/3974

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmXBs2gk7J8 
(there may be an advertisement before the actual video. If that happens I apologize)
 
The short stories I read are "Volcano", "Beautiful Monsters", "Alive", and "M&M World"

Notably, "Alive" and "M&M World" sport narratives that are not strictly linear.  The plot jumps back and forth in time as the story progresses.  Ginny in "M&M World" recalls the days before she and her husband separated while struggling with her two little (a little demanding) little girls. "Alive" has some similar moments, such as when the parents are discussing what to do in response to Nate's assumed cancer diagnosis.  Both of these short stories remind me of The Things They Carried in general.  Tim O'Brien's book of interconnected short stories constantly shifted time and place.

I find "Volcano" memorable in that it uses the concept of lucid dreaming to keep the reader guessing.  To be honest I was totally fooled when Martha Fink left the hot tub as the score of naked men came storming to it. I would have thought that actually happened if she had not woken up.  The ending is especially memorable in that Martha desperately attempts to wake herself up, only realizing that she is not dreaming.  I get the impression that Martha as a character cannot figure out who she is now that she is single. Being with one other person for such a time, I imagine, causes you to lose yourself.

"Beautiful Monsters" created a bizarre yet intriguing reality, where old age is "cured" and full grown adults are considered deviant.  The beginning of the tale drops right into the action, not giving a clue into the true nature of the world.  However, the small details here and there paint a picture little by little, effectively drawing the reader in.  The full picture is almost scary, but by that point you are already under
 
Hi, this is Trevor speaking.  First day using this website tool for my class.

By next week, I will have read the first two acts of the Shakespeare play King Lear. After the poetry from Yusef Komunyakaa's Dien Cai Dau, Shakespeare will be a bit of a transition, but not daunting I should think. I've read Shakespeare before (yes, I realize everyone has in their high school years) so it just takes a bit of a change in thinking.

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