Saturday, March 14, 2015

Livin' The Dream!

My idea of the American Dream is complete financial security, and to be able to enjoy it with people I love. I would also add a flexible schedule, so I could leave work to travel and do other things I enjoy whenever I please. I would love to travel all over the United States doing things outdoors such as fishing, boating, hiking, etc., and I would want to take all of my closest friends along with me. My definition of wealth has two aspects. The first is having lots of money - enough to be able to retire and continue to live how you want for the rest of your life. The second aspect has to do with family and friends. A truly wealthy person has people whom they love to share their money and adventures with.

I feel like most Americans' ideals about wealth and poverty are split. However, most feel that wealth has to do solely with money. Some feel that having a lot of money is a result of hard work and it is commendable, and poverty is a result of lack of work and should be condemned. Although some people have certain advantages in accumulating wealth, this is where I stand. However, some people think that most of the upper class is born into wealth and has much greater opportunities to gain and maintain their status, while members of the lower class are born into poverty and do not have the opportunity to make it out. These people most likely believe that wealth is not necessarily all that commendable, while poverty is not due to the impoverished person's decisions and is due more to the environment they are born into. This debate comes up a lot in politics. Democrats usually side with the latter point of view and Republicans usually side with the first point of view.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Nothing Really Mattress

#1
- The diction is casual, almost discreet as if nothing important happened.
- The fact that he was transformed into a giant insect comes at the end, making it seem the least important.
- The uneasy dreams create a relatable scene, the gigantic insect is vivid and easy to imagine.
- The structure makes the fact that he transformed seem unimportant as opposed to the morning he awoke, and the uneasy dreams.

#2
- The diction is less descriptive
- It flows nicely, like a short and simple sequence of events.
- It seems like a happy scene, not as scary or intimidating as the others.
- The structure is very laid back, almost like a minor addition to an account of daily events.

#3
- The diction places more importance on the event that occurred. Anticipation is created by using the word "when."
- Troubled dreams comes before the morning, placing emphasis on the tragedy of the situation.
- "Troubled dreams" create a sense of discomfort. "Enormous bug" also creates a disturbing image.
- Structure adds to the feeling of discomfort and fear.

#4
- The diction creates suspense and fear.
- The use of all the commas with the frightening diction adds to the suspense and creates a feeling of fear.
- "Monstrous vermin" creates a terrifying image; very scary imagery.
- Structure helps build suspense up to the final part of the sentence where he was "transformed into a monstrous vermin."


The literary choices in the first translation make the event seem somewhat casual. However, the use of the word "insect" creates a sense of peculiarity and fear. In the second translation, the literary choices are similar, but I would argue that the events seem even more casual or discreet. The terminology and chronology in the third translation sort of takes the fear out of the sentence and almost makes it seem playful. The fourth translation is simply terrifying. I feel like he is still in a nightmare when it is translated in this way. This definitely strikes the most fear into the reader. As we see, the shift of literary devices in each translation can shift the meaning of each from casual to playful to terrifying, all depending on the connotation of each.

I would not argue that one is more effective than the other, because they are each effective in their own way. If the goal was to make the translation seem intense and terrifying, I would definitely argue that the fourth translation was the most effective. This is because the use of stops (commas) builds suspense and the diction (monstrous vermin) creates very scary mental images. However, if the goal was to make the incident seem as discreet as possible, I would say that the second translation was the most effective. This is because it is concise, there are no breaks in the sentence, and the imagery is less vivid than the others. The effectiveness of each translation varies depending on the intent of the original author.

This shows that texts can be interpreted in very different ways depending on the translation. If the book is translated with a different tone from the original text, it could completely change the meaning of the story through its literary aspects. The more a reader reads a certain translation, the more astray they could become. This is why translating texts accurately is so difficult yet so important. It is also why there is so much controversy about the translations of very significant works of literature such as religious texts (I have had personal experience reading different translations of the bible). I suppose the only way to obtain an authentic understanding of a translated text is to learn to read it in its original language.