Reflective Essay
Since I have read Infinite Jest once fully, and also a second glossing, it is rather difficult to remember when sections had the biggest impact on me. Often times, a section I read the first time through made no sense to me; however, upon a second reading, things seemed to jump off the page [...]
Final Portfolio
Blog Post #8: Wrapping it up
In thinking about the novel as a whole, I’m going to stick to my guns that Wallace’s original title A Failed Entertainment speaks volumes about the novel in general. I think Wallace’s aim was to create a gigantic piece that offered something for everyone. Doing so is impossible! In the end though, the book is [...]
Blog Post#7: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost
Seeing as were finishing the novel, there is going to be plenty of stuff to chime in about. However, since we will be posting about that later, I figured I would comment on the section I found most interesting in this section of the book.
The appearance of Hal’s father to Don Gately ties up many [...]
Thinking about Hal
I may have been a little harsh in my feelings about poor Hal Incandenza earlier. As I was driving home, a song came on that reminded me of his story. Now I don’t want to be one of those people who connects the dots haphazardly, but I think there is some nice correlation here.
Also, the [...]
Blog Post#6: Simple Melancholy
The return of Kate Gompert’s depression seems like a rather significant section in that it reveals more of Wallace’s view of depression problems.
When Kate Gompert’s mindset comes back into play, we begin to see some qualifiable differences between varying types of internal depression. Simple melancholy, or anhedonia, is the type of depression which inhibits one [...]
Blog #1- A little about me before we get Infinite
Hello all!
As most of you know, my name is Louis Cortina. This class is my last here at the College of Saint Rose. As of now, I do not have a full time job after school. I am keeping the spirit of the English degree alive in that regard I guess.
As far as my reading [...]
Some Original Old English Poetry I have nowhere else to put.
Enjoy three short poems, plus a middle english interpretation of a section of Beowulf.
“On Wyrmsele”
On Wyrmsele, Sæt-ere gesæt wið hete.
Se helsceaða wæs þone hlaford;
He, þe gefeormod hæfde mancynn.
Helwara Gastas gangon in wanre niht,
Wælhrēowan men þe gehīoldon
Heteðoncol torn to þam Ælmihtigan.
Hī gebiddaþ for niwan blisse,
Būton ne cymeð to hiera [...]
Some Fun news
I don’t know if anyone is looking at this anymore, but figured I’d share a little tidbit of news with y’all. A while ago, I brought up the Angry Video Game Nerd in my discussion of Virtual Reality. Well my friend and I, under the moniker of Slaymaker, recorded a cover version of the nerd’s [...]
Blog Post #20: Recognizing some Patterns
So i guess it is appropriate that we read this book toward the end of the course and bring it full circle to the beginning. Throughout reading this novel, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Pynchon. However, I must say that I liked this much more than that novel. Although Pynchon was very interesting, [...]
Blog Post #19: Secondary Sources
Just so everyone knows, I am exploring the virtual applications of the “World of Warcraft.” I originally intended to show the game as both “fake” and “potential” at the same time. Now, however, I am still doing that, but also leaning more toward the potential side. I will illustrate how the benefits outweigh the negatives [...]
