Saturday, February 26, 2011

Anton Chekov

Chekov was born on the 17th of January 1860, in Taganrog, Russia. He studied medicine in Moscow, and wrote at the same time. We wrote a lot even during this period, publishing his first story in a newspaper in 1880. He wrote stories with tragedy, but he always added comedy as well. He became a doctor, and worked as one for a while, even though he wrote enough to survive on writing. However, his career in medicine had an impact on his writing. In 1887, he published his first set of books. Chekov wrote mainly about Russian life, and he was successful in describing that period of time in Russia.
"Anton Chekhov." TheatreHistory.com. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.theatrehistory.com/russian/chekhov001.html>.
Chekov wrote about Russian small towns, and the little troubles that occurred. His characters are often hopeless, and his stories deal with societal issues and people’s morals. However, he did not want his writing to be intended as a rebellion or a moral voice. In his stories, though the characters might be suffering, they never try to free themselves, but they surrender to their predicaments.
Liukkonen, Petri. "Anton Chekhov." Www.kirjasto.sci.fi. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.
<http://kirjasto.sci.fi/tsehov.htm>.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Death of a Salesman -Play- Units

Unit 1: Page 9 to middle of Page 10 This unit is about Willy working in New York, and how he was trying to drive, but found it hard.

Willy’s Objective: To seem like everything’s alright
Linda’s Objective: To make Willy admit that he is not alright- to make him relax.

Unit 2: Middle of page 10 to end of page 11 This unit is on an argument over the children. Willy thinks that the children are lazy.

Willy’s Objective: To get out his frustration over his children, who he sees as disappointments
Linda’s Objective: Calm down Willy, and to take care of everyone.

Unit 3: Page 12 In this unit Willy complains about their living conditions, in particular he complains about the neighborhood.

Willy’s Objective: To blame others for his problems, to convince Linda it’s not his fault.
Linda’s Objective: Calm down Willy and make him see that other people cannot be always be blamed.

Death of a Salesman- The film

I didn't see the end of the movie but here's what I got:

Objective of Willy in Scene 1:
Willy tries to keep his wife from noticing that he was spying at his sons in the room across them. He also tries to make her not feel anxious , that he is not hurt, as she seems to suggest.
3 characters who against the subtext
Willy: He is offered a job by one of his neighbours, and he acts insulted, telling him that he has a good job, though he had been complaining about his job just before.
Uncle Ben: He was acting like he was impressed by the performance of Willy’s son, Biff, but in the end he brings him to the ground, so he was really unimpressed.