Sunday, February 28, 2010
What I learned from the book
Well, I guess the biggest thing I learned, other than how to better understand and find the 5 literary devices my group had, was to not trust "swarthy men" like Alec. Nothing good will come from it.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Characters
Angel Clare is a younger man. He first sees Tess at a dance, but chooses to dance with somebody else. He later regrets his decision. A little later on, he and Tess meet when Tess goes to work on the dairy farm. Angel also works there. He seems to be the one every girl on the farm loves. Tess also loves him, but denies it. He asks her to marry him a few times, and eventually Tess gives in. He leaves for work, and while he's gone, Tess is tricked into marrying Alec; partly because of a financial situation. Alec seems to be one of the more caring characters.
Alec D'urberville is part of a very noble and wealthy family. He is the one to greet Tess when she comes looking for work. He seems like a mysterious character. He knows what he wants and doesn't let things get in the way of that. He is determined to take Tess as his wife, though she refuses more than once. He takes advantage of Tess, and I'm sure other young girls, when he can.
Tess Durbeyfield was a young girl. She had long dark hair, and a lot was excpected of her. Her parents had to ask her to help provide for the family, which was not right at all at that time. At the time of this book, it was wrong for a woman to have to work. It was the man's job to provide for the family. The women, let alone the young girls of the famiy, should not be the ones to work. Though a lot was excpected of Tess, she held up just fine. She was willing to help her family out and do all that she could.Literary Devices
Literary devices are a great way to enhance ones learning while reading a book. Thomas hardy does a great job with these devices.
One literary device Hardy uses is metaphors. The book is full of them. One example is when Alec D'urberville sexually abuses Tess Derbeyfield. When he does this, he kills her spiritually. Eventually, Tess kills Alec physically because she cannot kill him in the same way that he killed her.
Another metaphor in this same scene, is the setting Hardy chooses to put the two of them in.
They are sitting in a dark, foggy forest. I believe that the forest is like Alec. This could also be representation, becaue it does not directly say "Alec is a dark, foggy forest," but I think it could also be considered a metaphor.
Another example of a metaphor is when Hardy mentions Adam and Eve. Angel Clare and Tess are the two being talked about when these other names come up.
The last example of metaphors I want to bring up is when the narator compares Tess and her countenance as "a natural carnation slightly embrowned by the season." *
Another great literary device Hardy uses is foreshadowing. There is a great example of this when Tess and Alec, again, are in the forest.
"Under the trees several pheasants lay about, their rich plumage dabbled with blood; some were dead, some were twitching a wing, some staring up at the sky, some pulsating quickly, some contorted, some stretched out-all of them writhing in agony except the fortunate ones whose tortures had ended during the night by the inability of nature to do more. With the impulse of a soul who could feel for kindred sufferers as much as for herself, Tess's first thought was to put the birds out of their torture, and to this end with her own hands she broke the necks of as many as she could find, leaving them to lie where she had found them till the gamekeepers should come, as they probably would come, to look for them a second time. 'Poor darlings- to suppose myself the most miserable being on earth in the sight o' such misery as yours!' she exclaimed, her tears running down as she killed the birds tenderly."
When Tess kills the birds, it is foreshadowing her own death; suggesting that she is killing a part of herself. The part that accepted so many years of pain. After this, Tess starts to act differently, and it eventually leads to her decision to kill Alec. When she is hung by her neck in the end of the book, it is just like when she was snapping the necks of the birds in the forest. **
Sources:
Tess of the D'urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
** www.sparknotes.com/lit/tess/quotes.html
One literary device Hardy uses is metaphors. The book is full of them. One example is when Alec D'urberville sexually abuses Tess Derbeyfield. When he does this, he kills her spiritually. Eventually, Tess kills Alec physically because she cannot kill him in the same way that he killed her.
Another metaphor in this same scene, is the setting Hardy chooses to put the two of them in.
They are sitting in a dark, foggy forest. I believe that the forest is like Alec. This could also be representation, becaue it does not directly say "Alec is a dark, foggy forest," but I think it could also be considered a metaphor.
Another example of a metaphor is when Hardy mentions Adam and Eve. Angel Clare and Tess are the two being talked about when these other names come up.
The last example of metaphors I want to bring up is when the narator compares Tess and her countenance as "a natural carnation slightly embrowned by the season." *
Another great literary device Hardy uses is foreshadowing. There is a great example of this when Tess and Alec, again, are in the forest.
"Under the trees several pheasants lay about, their rich plumage dabbled with blood; some were dead, some were twitching a wing, some staring up at the sky, some pulsating quickly, some contorted, some stretched out-all of them writhing in agony except the fortunate ones whose tortures had ended during the night by the inability of nature to do more. With the impulse of a soul who could feel for kindred sufferers as much as for herself, Tess's first thought was to put the birds out of their torture, and to this end with her own hands she broke the necks of as many as she could find, leaving them to lie where she had found them till the gamekeepers should come, as they probably would come, to look for them a second time. 'Poor darlings- to suppose myself the most miserable being on earth in the sight o' such misery as yours!' she exclaimed, her tears running down as she killed the birds tenderly."
When Tess kills the birds, it is foreshadowing her own death; suggesting that she is killing a part of herself. The part that accepted so many years of pain. After this, Tess starts to act differently, and it eventually leads to her decision to kill Alec. When she is hung by her neck in the end of the book, it is just like when she was snapping the necks of the birds in the forest. **
Sources:
Tess of the D'urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
** www.sparknotes.com/lit/tess/quotes.html
Friday, February 12, 2010
About the Author- Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy was born in Higher Bockhamtpon, on the edge of Puddleton Health. When he was about twenty-two years old, he moved to London. While in London, he started writing poems. He was engaged to a young girl, Tryphena Sparks, for a short while. Tryphena was a sixteen-year-old relative. That engagement didn't last too long, though.
Later on, he met a young lady named Emma Lavinia Gifford. Emma was the one to encourage him to consider literature as his "true vocation." Hardy took Emma's advice and started writing novels. His first book, The Poor Man and the Lady (1867), was rejected by quite a few publishers. Hardy was hurt by this and destroyed the manuscript.
Hardy's first book to be recognized was From the Madding Crowd in 1874. Tess, written in 1891, was one of his books that did have a personal tie. Most of his books did not resemble any part of his life. The book resembled the dark side of his family connection in Berkshire. In 1896, Hardy announced he was through writing fiction novels. He went on writing poems the rest of his life.
Thomas Hardy and Emma Gifford were happily married with no children for some time. While married to Emma, Hardy had, or imagined he had, affairs with other women just passing through his life. In 1912, Emma passed away, and Hardy married his secretary, Florence Emily Dugdale two years later in 1914. She was almost fourty years younger than he was.
January 11, 1928, Thomas Hardy died in Dorchester, Dorset. His body was cremated. His heart, which was supposed to be burried in the city of his birth, was stolen from the kitchen by a cat. The cat ran into the woods with the heart and did not ever bring it back.
Sources:
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/thardy.htm
Later on, he met a young lady named Emma Lavinia Gifford. Emma was the one to encourage him to consider literature as his "true vocation." Hardy took Emma's advice and started writing novels. His first book, The Poor Man and the Lady (1867), was rejected by quite a few publishers. Hardy was hurt by this and destroyed the manuscript.
Hardy's first book to be recognized was From the Madding Crowd in 1874. Tess, written in 1891, was one of his books that did have a personal tie. Most of his books did not resemble any part of his life. The book resembled the dark side of his family connection in Berkshire. In 1896, Hardy announced he was through writing fiction novels. He went on writing poems the rest of his life.
Thomas Hardy and Emma Gifford were happily married with no children for some time. While married to Emma, Hardy had, or imagined he had, affairs with other women just passing through his life. In 1912, Emma passed away, and Hardy married his secretary, Florence Emily Dugdale two years later in 1914. She was almost fourty years younger than he was.
January 11, 1928, Thomas Hardy died in Dorchester, Dorset. His body was cremated. His heart, which was supposed to be burried in the city of his birth, was stolen from the kitchen by a cat. The cat ran into the woods with the heart and did not ever bring it back.
Sources:
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/thardy.htm
About the Book
Tess of the D'urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy, is all about a young girl named Tess Durbeyfield who is out to help her family. She is out with the family's horse one day, when the horse is stabbed and killed. She feels terrible. A while after the accident, her parents find out they have, or they think they have, wealthy relatives not too far away.
Tess is sent to go meet this family and gain a relationship, so eventually these "relatives" will lend them some money. Tess runs into Alec D'urberville, and is terrified of him. She stays at the house for a little while to work, but leaves after not too long to return back home.
Tess spends the summer with her family, but then leaves to go work on a dairy farm the next year. While at the dairy farm, Tess falls in love with another worker, Angel Clare. They eventually get married, and Tess continues on with her life.
Will Tess and Mr. Clare last? What will happen? Where did Alec end up? Read the book to find out more!
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