Good Bye to the Jar

I know this is my second blog of the night but I have another thought process I would like to follow...
I was thinking about “Anecdote of a Jar”. I agree with some of my fellow classmates who have just about had it with this poem, but I also think Dr. Pound made a good point today about how it is good to look at one poem with so many theories. I am going to be frank with you, this poem is not one of my favourites. I still remember the frustration that came with the first assignment with it. It was so abstract, yet we were supposed to find meaning from it? Yet we all did it, and we thought we had put the jar behind us.
However, two weeks later it showed up again. This time I followed a similar idea to the first one I had written about and I thought it was a good idea to have us look at a poem from two separate angles. So, I guess I came to terms with the idea.
But on the third time I remember sitting thinking how are we supposed to come up with something new? I remember sitting on my couch trying to write this essay and I was SO frustrated because I kept arriving at similar ideas to the ones I had previously written about. I suppose there is nothing wrong with that besides that fact I felt there was nothing left there to write about. I eventually did come up with something different. I however, came to a unified theme during the psychoanalysis essay. I understand how it’s not supposed to happen, but I felt really good about my argument. Maybe it just didn’t fit with the theory; I guess I’ll have to wait to find out. Regardless, it was this perceived success meat with being told it was not as great idea as I thought it was that added to my frustration.
And then I thought about it. Even though I am ready to say good bye to the jar, I think looking at this poem so many times strengthened our abilities to use the theories. When we use a new theory with a new work, it’s all so new it’s hard to know if we are going in the right direction. But in using the same poem time and time again there was a sense of familiarity. Although we, at least I know I don’t, get it right every time it’s at least a little easier to see where you’ve done a wrong.
So it with these ideas I say thank you and good bye to the jar.

Refreshing Theory

I really, really enjoyed today’s class. I found the texts I had read so far pretty easy to understand. I think. However, I found today’s class explained them even better. For the most part I think I get this theory and it is quite a refreshing feeling:). Dr. Pound was really good at explaining the theory, especially in the sense of the real world. Connecting it to how we felt about our life situations really solidified some of the ideas for me. Although I never really liked Marxism, I think I’m starting to understand it. Which is funny because I remember last year we learnt about it in Sociology, History, English and Social Work. I was, for the most part, Marxismed out. But the look at the theory this year is an eye-opener to how it’s applied. It is one thing to understand the theory or where it originates from and another to be able to apply it. As a result, I am rather looking forward to the upcoming essay.

I don't really think I have more to say on this right now, other than I am looking forward to expanding the knowledge in Thursday's class.

penis envy, thought process and dreaming

So here are my thoughts so far on Psychoanalysis....
First off, I never took Intro to Psychology. Therefore my knowledge of Freud is very limited coming into this course. When I first read Klages’ article I was not thrilled with the whole penis envy thing. For me the basics in Freud’s theory is really hard to get my head around. No wonder women were in a lesser role with theories like this kicking around. However, I will agree with the fact that without this we would not be where we are today and I do get some of his dream analysis.
I think I agree with psychoanalysis and dream interpretation. There is this girl, and we used to be friends. Now she hates my guts and liked to make my life unpleasant. Anyway...recently I became slightly obsessed about the whole things and I was mad at myself for not confronting the issue sooner. All I could think about for days was this confrontation and then I started to have dreams about her. Sometimes it was similar to how life is, sometimes I confronted her and sometimes it was completely arbitrary. Finally I had a dream that we resolved our issues and you know what? The issue stopped bothering me. So I think our dreams are a way our conscious and unconscious works through issues.
On another note...Today I discovered my conscious thought process is like the one that is described for the unconscious. Normally when I’m having a conversation I have to explain how I relate my topics. To the people I am talking with the conversations sometimes seem all over the map, but it makes sense to me. My links are not always obvious but they are there. Exactly how Dr. Pound was explain signifiers.
Finally...So I think I understand Freud, however Lacan’s articles were extremely confusing to me. I am unsure of where to being with this essay...I hope I’m not the only one!!

how they get us....

Something I’ve noticed since our class on Tropicana is that so many organisations use binary opposites in their advertising. Here are some examples...
A&P: we’re fresh obsessed. By bringing our attention to the fact that fresh is at the center they are alluding to the fact that they are not un-fresh. We wouldn’t realise how fresh it is we didn’t know what it wasn’t.
Pet Valu: Better Pet Nutrition. By saying better nutrition we are drawn to think of the foods that are not as good for our pets. When we read this slogan we immediately think of the food that is not so good, and therefore go in and buy the better nutrition.
MasterCard: There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else there’s MasterCard. The structure here would probably be value, and by allowing us to think about the things, like spending time with loved ones and making snow angels, we are wrapped up in the idea. As a result we send credit on things to fulfill these needs.
I don’t know if I have these ideas completely right, but I know I have noticed that many organisations use this technique in advertising.