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Saturday, April 16, 2011

Jumbled or Jambled?

As hard as it, when reading SlaughterHouse Five, most of us were confused at first as to what is going on and slowly, most of us got used to the storyline and started to understand what was happening, because like what the heck at first most of us were lost. Now coming to the point, yes a visual of what SlaughterHouse Five is about is very helpful becuase the effects that are done in the editing process makes it easier to visualize the storyline rather than confuse the audience. But if it was performed on stage, the viewers would be like "what on Earth is happening here" if it was there first time watching the play, in my opinion. That's what I would totally say if it was my first time watching it to. It would not work well as a play because, as I have said before everyone would be confused, but other than that how the play will be executed would be very difficult for the performers becuase it would have to be very clear to them how they visualize the warps and how to properly execute them while using the time effectively and not making it look all jumbled and jambled up. When I was in the process of making the basics of my stop animation (taking the pictures), and came the time to take pictures of the warping scene, I thought what I was trying to visualize would not work out (doubting my abilities) and it would look all jumbled and jambled, but when it came time to edit the pictures, I could increase the speed, slow it down, and even have the pictures spin continuously, which looked much better opposed to clicking the pictures and just leaving them as is. In all, nobody would want to watch something they don't understand and that looks professionally undone.

By: Puja

Friday, April 15, 2011

Through a Blink of an Eye

Arms over her head making a peak in front of her face, with her toes curled around the ledge ready to dive into the pool, she dives, loses balance and falls into the pool, sinking slowly and slowly to the bottom of the pool trying to communicate as her brain turns off as seconds pass by. Suddenly everything goes blank and sounds of clapping and singing arise from the midst of nowhere: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR PUJA, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU." It was Puja's 16th birthday. The house was filled with guests during this joyous event. The flashing lights of the camera were blinding everyone's eyes and her mouth was stuffed with cake and so was her face. There were Aunties and Uncles shocking us teenagers by revealing their true inner selves at events such as this. Unravelling through the many presents and admiring the wonderful job of wrapping gifts done by her uncoordinated friends who are always lost, she looks at one of the golden foil wrapping paper, admiring her reflection through the mirror while brushing her teeth half awake in the stroking heat on the terrace of her house in India. The open roofs, the beautiful smell of her mother’s hometown, and the black cow (or bull) that sits under the tree, are just so remarkably beautiful. As she walks down the cement stairs watching each and every step very carefully, she turns around and waves to her uncle as she finishes checking in and moves toward security check and toward the terminal on her way back to Canada from the Delhi Airport.

Tralfamadorian Society..


The central government is imaginary for there is no need for control since everyone follows the Tralfamadorians principle of enjoying the moment, they do not think ahead, or plan for they live in the spur of the moment as we are all bugs trapped in amber. They live in the present; choose to focus on the pleasant aspect of any moment for they ignore the future.


Humans have a defined culture since they conserve the past but the Tralfamadorians do not....

Opinion about Earthlings: Huge millipedes with baby like legs at one end and old people’s legs at the other. Considers free will, and emphasizes on this concept. Focuses on a moment at time, are mentally incapable of visualizing and interpreting the various stages of life at one stretch. The planet is very unique among other 31 planets.

Humans develop emotions, and attachment to other humans or object if in contact for a long time. They are very incapable of handling death or non-existence of a person for they show extreme emotions at that stage.

History and Views: Tralfamadorians have a unique history of having no history for they live in the moment, chooses to focus on the positive, and ignores the negative for they believe that each moment is structured that way and to let it happen. They have adapted to seeing their life in one stretch, they predict the path of each star in the Universe, its origin to its destruction.

Tralfamadorian Language: The novels are laid out in groups, similar to clusters of stars. Each grouping symbolizes a situation or scene. They read it all at once, emphasizing their focus on the whole stretch of moments rather than one. Communication is telepathic through the exchange of waves. A keyboard type instrument was devised to translate foreign languages so that the response can be telepathically communicated to the zoo viewers.
View on death: When someone pass away, they only appear to die for they livein every other moments. If you compare it to the human's society, it is true for moments and memories from the past operate the same.

Education: The Tralfamadorians do not believe in education since it molds the mind to plan and prepare for the future which contradicts the principles of free will as said by the humans. They acquire common knowledge from experience such as not to touch a hot object, or to stay away from danger. They are taught not step out of the atmospheric realm, for they are bound to be sucked into vaccum...But they are very curious creatures for they observe the behavior of other planet’s inhabitants, and this is done by a specimen (usually done by taking a sample being from the area). Similar environments of their particular habit is recreated to observe their response and to see if there is any physiological or psychological responses to the environment.

A zoo was created for placing these specimens so that there is a control environment for observation and experimentation.

Continuation of life: There were 5 types in Tralfamadore, each designed to carry out a   process in the creation of an organism. Their visible differences are evident in the 4th dimension.

Peace and War: The Tralfamadorians believe that events are inevitable, seeing the negative and the positive helps them to appreciate the present for the world ends not by an atrocious war but by an accident. An explosion!! Moments are structured for some days, there is horrific war in Tralfamadore, and some days are filled with peace.

-Parvathy







Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Slaughter House-Five Video


I decided to make a stop motion animation during the start of this blogging assidnment and now finally here it is all done. Its not the greatest video but I tryed my best and I just hope you all like it. Enjoy!! :)

Possible Endings..and Transitions

Well!! We know that the world ends because of an explosion for which the Tralfamadorians are responsible. When I was reading the novel, I felt as if many scenes could lead on to a climax. For this post, I wanted to list all these possible situations..


1. We all remember Billy being thrown into the swimming pool so that he learns how to either through swim or sink method. Well what if a transition occurs when he sinks down, light slowly diminishing, and he feels painless. Then there is a smooth transitions to when Billy is in the shower in one of the prison camps for he was lost in the moment.


2. We see Billy Pilgrim warming up under a blanket for the furnace has broken down, we see Billy complaining of his bossy daughter with her Edwardian piano like legs, he feels as if he was a zoo animal trapped and he could remove the blanket to see his son, Robert, staring hysterically into empty space in his bedroom....


3. Lake Placid Mental Institute, 1948, Billy is placed in morphine for people thought he went crazy during his final year at the Ilium School of Optometry!!!He is placed near Eliot Rosewater who fantasizes Kilgore Trout's creation. We are told of their wild adventures discussing the various science-fiction stories of Trout, a robot with bad breath, a tree which grows money and so on... We can then smoothly jump to 1948, three years after the war in the veterans' hospital, where he is pretends to be happy about seeing his future wife, Valencia.


 Wee see a lot of transitions between postwar and prewar episodes which Vonnegut ties it in flawlessly into the narrative. 


4. He is travelling on a train back in 1944 to attend his father's funeral in Ilium. The trains were slow, he was disgusted by the poor conditions..He got to sleep peacefully three hours from Ilium..This moment of silence and calm can be connected to another similar moment which occurs when he sleeps peacefully standing up along with the hobo for they were both not permitted to sit within the boxcar.

By:Parvathy

Monday, April 11, 2011

Vonnegut's life...

Slaughterhouse-five was bashed, criticized, evaluated, and frowned upon by many for its negative themes, and political views. I think that this is a masterpiece of a genius whose perspective on life and war sets him from the rest for he was not taught Shakespeare or contemporary literature. Traces of his life answers the questions which puzzles the readers of Slaughterhouse-five.

Steps..

1. He was born in Indiana, Indianapolis to Kurt Vonnegut Sr, and Edith Lieber on November 11, 1922. He had a German background which was ironic for he ridiculed his country men in the novel for he was not proud of his family history. His father attended the Institute of Technology in Massachusetts (Architecture). 

2. He attended the Cornell University and majored in Chemistry. I think his unique perspective comes from his inexperience in the literary world for he never planned to be an author. During his education at Cornell, he enlisted in the US army. 

3. He was captured in the Battle of Bulge on December 19, 1944 and around that time, his mother committed suicide. I think the guilt that evolved from his absence when his mother needed him prompted him to focus on the concept of death which is evident in the novel. We see Valencia dying in an accident while hurrying to reunite with Billy who has survived a plane crash, we see Roland Weary die of gangrene, Wild Bob and the hob has the same fate, his accomplices in the plane along with his father-in-law, Edgar Derby, the two scouts who were a part of the Three Musketeers, the Tralfamadorians die for the world is destroyed. This focus on death, I think explains his mentality as if he is wishing or planning for his inevitable death as an act of forgiveness. His insecurity as a child, and his helplessness when his mother passed away fired his sense of grief and remorse. 

4. He witnessed the fire bombing of Dresden which is very evident in the novel and the extremes of the war is evident as "there were too many corpses to bury. So instead the Germans sent in troops with flamethrowers. All these civilians' remains were burned to ashes."

5. After the war, he attended the University of Chicago (Anthropology), and the University accepted one of his novels as thesis for his original one was rejected.


6. He was then offered a teaching occupation at the University of Iowa (1950s), and it was during that time he started to write Slaughterhouse-five, his life changing novel.


7. In 1960, he married Jane Marie Cox, but the couple divorced in 1970. He later remarried Jill Krementz, and this unorthodoxy is revisited in the novel when he engages in a relationship with Montana Wildhack after leaving Valencia.


All these individual moments in his life shaped him, and therefore Billy Pilgrim, for I consider a Vonnegut as a genius who raises numerous questions for which answers are limited. 
By:Parvathy

Friday, April 1, 2011

THE WARPS... I COUNTED IT

Let's see, ever since this year started, time is one thing I never had. The assignments, projects and everything else.... Well, we were introduced to a different outlook on time and how structured a moment is!!!!!!!!! Tralfamadorians belive that human's believe in free will and see one moment at a time. Well, we do! Tralfamadorians, on the other hand, see an entire stretch of events laid out infront of them and they take it for as it is as we are all bugs trapped in amber.


Tralfamadorians think humans see through a pipe which extends and they cannot interpret curves or other twists and turns in their life. The narrative jumps around everyhwere from wedding nights to wars, from the optometrist's office to the Grand Canyon, from the prison camp to the veteran's hospital, from Ilium to Dresden............


I agree with the fact that Vonnegut used the phrase "time warp" and "time travel" to connect the passing of various moments in his life but I was curious to see how many times Billy warped in time according to Vonnegut (and what is revealed to the audience)?


The WARPS:
(italics-taken from the text; my interpretation of the situation)


1. Billy became first unstuck in time while WW2 was in progress. He was a chaplain's assistant! - Billy describes his uselessness with the title as the assistant. A reference is given as Billy having no friends, and how he practices a meek faith which correlates with Howard W. Campbell's description of the American military and its citizens.


Billy was given an emergency furlough home because his father was shot dead by a friend while they were hunting deers. One of his time warps relates to his adventure back on a train to visit his father for a last time. The narrative and one of the time warps connect, which can be an evidence that this might be the imagination of one of the greatest's minds or the darkest humor portrayed by Vonnegut.


2. He obeyed orders to go overseas to Luxembourg. This was in December of 1944, during the last German attack of the war. The audience is introduced to the hopelessness of war where soldiers are poorly equipped; Billy was not issued a steel helmet and combat boots. The Three Musketeers unwillingly welcome Billy who should not have joined the war....Billy Pilgrim who looked like a filthy flamingo survived an enemy attack with the help of Roland Weary for Billy wanted to die amidst the cold, hunger, and the incompetence for he repeated, "You guys go on without me!"


 He moves on after the attack, and stops at a forest. He was leaning with his eyes closed and his head tilted back. His attention passed from life to death, which was violet light (p 43). 


3. And then he swung into life again and stopped. He was a little boy taking a shower with his hairy father at Ilium YMCA. 


4. He traveled in time to 1965. He was 41 years old and visiting his ailing mother at Pine Knoll, an old people's home. His mother inquires, "How did I get so old?"


5. He traveled in time to 1958 where he was at a banquet in honor of a Little League team of which his son Robert was a member. 


6. He blinked and traveled to 1961, at a New Year's Eve and he was heavily drunk. His unorthodoxy to Valencia is evident when he involves himself with another woman.


7. Billy finds himself back in WW2 and was being shaken by Weary. Billy was dragged and flattened by Weary who wanted to be deemed heroic. Billy hallucinated of wearing clean and dry shoes which emphasized the anti-heroic and tragic side of war.


8. His hallucinations leads him to the Chinese restaurant in Ilium of 1957. He was elected President of the Lions Club and he was asked to speak which he does!


9. He was back with Weary who was going to beat him up if he did not wake up. Weary continues to hit Billy but notices the German soldiers who were witnessing the scene. Both Billy and Weary are captured and are kept as prisoners in a stone cottage and Billy falls asleep.


10. He wakes up in his optometry office in Ilium. He seems disoriented as his female patient inquires whether he is fine.


11. He closes his eyes to be waken up by Germans for falling asleep with the other war prisoners. The soldiers marched and photos were taken of them as evidence to show how miserably equipped American soldiers were. 


12. He warps in time to 1967, and on his way to the Lions Club luncheon meeting, and he passed streets which looked like Dresden after the attack, and then he listens to the interpretation of a Marine officer about the Vietnam War. The Major told that Robert's group, the Green Berets, were doing great and that he ought to be proud. 


13. Back in war. Continued walking until they reached Germany where they were regrouped according to status and packed in boxcars. He intervenes with Wild Bob who later dies, and he witnesses the unclean and unhygienic side of war but Wild Bob mentions that he has seen worse. 


14. He traveled in time to 1967. Prepares to be captured by Tralfamadorians! He watches a movie backwards. He enters the saucer and he bombards them with Earthling questions! 


15. The acceleration of the saucer pushed Billy back into the boxcar crossing Germany. The conditions  were pathetic, and Weary dies and mentions his murderer BILLY! He reaches the camp and is told to take off his clothes. We are introduces to Edgar Derby and Paul Lazzaro. Their clothes were being cleaned!!


16. He zooms back to infancy. He was bathes by his mother and he feels the comfort which he compares to the present drastic environment.


17. He is then a middle-aged optometrist who was playing golf. He went out to take the ball out of the cup...


18. He was strapped to s chair in the flying SAUCER to TRALFAMADORE! They explain the Earthling's perspective on time and free will for they have been observing our species. He reads the Tralfamadorian novel, where the life is laid out as a stretch!


19. He took a trip to the Canyon. His insecurity as a child is evident when he feels afraid and longs for his family's protection. 


19. He takes another trip to Carlsbad Caverns. 


20. He found himself back in the war, and he was off the shower. He got his clothes back and put on the coat. Germans laughed at his appearance. The British men were eager and pleasant. They made war look stylish and fun. They were welcoming to American prisoners and put on a play (Cinderella) for the guests. Billy laughed too much and was then put on morphine and placed in the prisoner's hospital.


21. He had a hallucination where he considered him a giraffe and later falls asleep.


22. He woke up in the veterans' hospital near Lake Placid, New York (springtime, 1948). He was placed there for being crazy when he was enrolled in the Ilium School of Optometry. He meets Eliot Rosewater who has a collection of science fiction and he introduces Billy to Kilgore Trout. They both found life meaningless and putrid and was trying to reinvent themselves. Billy avoids his smoking mother who was welcomed by Eliot! They discuss of Valencia, Billy's bargain for a good life. 


23. Derby was waiting with Billy in the prisoner's hospital and the Englishmen renders credit to him for being alive. 


24. Travels back to veterans' hospital and inquires whether his mother had left and meets with Valencia even though unwillingly. 


25. Billy travels in time to the zoo in Tralfamadore. He was 44 years old and was displayed naked for the aliens were all curious and waiting outside of the zoo. His questions about time and peace are answered by them.


26. He then time warps to his wedding night with Valencia. 


27. He travels back to the prison hospital again, and encounters the dark face of the American soldiers.


28. He then time travels to his night with Valencia again. 


29. He then jumps to his train ride to attend his father's funeral. 


Meanwhile Lazzaro is brought to the prison hospital after trying to steal an Englishman's belonging. We are introduced to Campbell's speech as per the guard translating.


30. He then travels in time to 1968 to the present where Barbara scolds him for acting childish. 


31. After Barbara left, he time travels to the zoo in Tralfamadore, and Montana was brought for him. We learn about their relationship.


32. He returns to the present but goes on to practice and sees the patient. People consider him to be ill because of his odd behavior in retelling the tales of Tralfamadorians to the patient. 


33. He travels back to the prison hospital, and we are introduced to Lazzaro's hit list. 


34. He then experiences his death as he foresaw through his Tralfamadorian experience. 


35. He swings back into life again, back to 1945 after his life was threatened by Lazzaro. They were asked to meet other prisoners in the theater for an election. They left for Dresden. They reached the Slaughterhouse-five after overcoming the terrain and the extreme.


36. He travels to 1975 (25 years later) where he encounters an expected plane crash as told by the Tralfamadorians. 


37. He then closes his eyes to travel back to 1944. He is back with Weary and wants to give up this pursuit.
Meanwhile, he is taken to a small private hospital and he dreamed a million things!


38. He thought of his first day after reaching Dresden, and the work Derby and him did before Dresden was bombed. Campbell was a visitor and they took refuge on a locker while Dresden was being bombed. 


39. He woke up to see Barbara arguing! 


40. He retaliates his meeting with Trout in 1964. 


41. He traveled back to the night Dresden was destroyed. (177)


42. He travels to the zoo where Montana is placed. 
He relives the Dresden bombing and how he took refuge under the enemies (German innkeeper). We are told of his encounters with Rumfoord in the private hospital. He then is visited by his daughter.


43. He traveled in time to when he was 16 years old, in a doctor's waiting room (189). 


44. He traveled back in time after the Dresden bombing. They were looking for souvenirs of the war (194).


45. He then sees himself as an optometrist. 


46. He then traveled to his private hospital in Vermont. He was then taken by his daughter (201).


During this scene, we are aware of Billy's conscious decision to announce the Tralfamadorian ways of living to the world. He goes on to the book store.


47. He is later back in Tralfamadore with Montana Wildhack and we see the same prayer as in his optometrist's office. 


The narrative goes on to describe the aftermath of the Dresden bombing!
By:PARVATHY