Explain how Kafka's writing contributes to your understanding of the Gothic/Emprire

Kafka was creepy, weird, and confusing. He writing was totally gothic. He was jewish born and had an overbearing father. He trained as a lawer and worked in an insurence company in the castle. His life was very opressed. He wrote in German but spoke Czech. Which meant he was stuck in the middle. Also my theory was that he was also gay. Which adding in the opressive father figure and the jewish religion can create some major problems. That is why he writes of opression and the obsurdity of beuacracy of the castle.

The works we read by Kafka explain his life perfectly for me. The judgement was about an overbearing father who abused and opressed his son. The castle was about a man wandering in confusion trying to bypass the beuacracy of the castle but never able to reach his goal. My conculsion about Kafka was shown to me at the museam. There we learned about his life. Being strictly religious. Daddy issues. Many failed engagments. And best friends that he was really close to.

Although strangly enough it was not from reading that I made his connection, but from the pictures of Kafka and his actor friend. They just kinda look gay. Just the look in their eyes and something about their aura I guess. Not exactly sure. But it just explains why Kafka had so many problems with opression and depression.

Describe the Ossuary of Kutna Hora. Explain why it is creepy/sublime

The Ossuary is a bunch of skeletons and bones all piled and hung from the ceilings. I hated it. I do not like creepy things like this. I don't even watch Tim Burton because he is creepy. So this was frankly just terrible. The skulls were in massive piles at least 10 feet tall and shaped like pyramids. And bones were draped across the ceiling. It was very cold inside and it gave me the chills. The bones were put there by a mad monk who said the bones cried out to him. They wouldn't rest until they were stacked as such. So he dug up all the bones and brought them to the Ossuary.

It is creepy because it is a bunch of disturbed graves. All of these skulls stacked on top of one another and hung from the ceiling. They were the peasents who died from the plague. It is sublime because of the shear amount of bones. Thousands of them. The whole place gave me goosebumps and I left early because I did not like it in there. I thought one of the most interesting parts of it was the crest of the empire. Because all of these peasents were ruled by the empire in their life and even in death, they make up the empire.

Konopiste as a classic Gothic/Empie location and why its important.

Konopiste can be called a Empiric location because of those who lived there. Franz Ferdinand, archduke and crown prince to the Austrian empire. Konopiste held the future of the empire. It was where their hope lay and then that hope died. It was a place of refuge and hunting. Not balls or events. It was solitary.

Konopiste can be called Gothic because of the man who lived there. It is covered with animal trophies. Thousands upon thousands of them. It is a place of death and suffering. But each of those deaths meant something to the killer. Which is ironic seeing as the killer became the hunted. And his death is one that changed the world.

It is important because it was held the future Emporer of Austria. Yet it was situated in the Czech countryside. Which is interesting. 

Describe Sisi. Explain how she is a Gothic/Empire heroine.

Sisi was the Empress of Austria who suffered a horrible life. The beginning was great. She lived with freedom to do what she pleased in Bavaria. But it all changed when she was 15 and got married to the Emperor of the Austrian empire. She had to follow strict court rules and was not allowed to do all of her favorite passtimes. Her aunt took all of her children as soon as there were born but her firstborn, whom she loved most dearly, died. Which I think brought Sisi into a depression that would last her the rest of her life. When her son was 30 he murdered his lover and then commited suicide, cleaving off the rest of her royal line. Then when Sisi was 40 she was murdered by and Italian
anarchist seeking fame.

She was a free spirit trapped by the empire who dreamed of her old life. Tragedy surrounded her life with the deaths of many of her children and mostly the gothic villian of her mother in law. Sophie. Her life was sad and so was she. Sophie made sure she obeyed all of the court laws and sophistication expected of an empress. She dreamed of her past life. She dreamed that her children would have lived. And most gothic of all. She was murdered. She felt emotions that she could not express and frankly I think its a wonder that she didn't kill herself.

I learned that dreaming of being royalty is not that great and is extremely romanticized by western culture. Take it from Sisi, don't do royalty kids.

Compare and Contrast the Palaces

Schonbrunn was the summer palace of the Hapsburgs. It was built by Maria Theresa and designed with many French and baroque inspirations. It was bright and had a lot of light which hid the fact that the palace acted as a prison and buisness place. It had massive gardens and large, highly decorated rooms. However it was a cage for the Empress Sisi.

Though meant as a summer escape from the busy life of the city, for Empress Sisi it meant no privacy and a reminder of being ensared by Franz Joseph. Who spent most of his time in his office doing official buisness.

The winter palace of Hofburg was extremely large and right in the middle of Vienna. It had many rooms and was the center of the empire. It ran like a machine with Franz Joseph as its head. It was not as grand but seemed more cozy than Schonbrunn possibly due to it being the winter residence and they needed the warmth. It also felt more personal with many painting and portaits of the family. Like an actual home. Also Sisi had much more privacy here.

The English palace of Kew was probably the most pleasurable of all the palaces. It had the biggest gardens full of creatures and different flora. The house was smaller and meant as a home or a place for family, not granduer. It was somewhere that they could escape the stress of the empire and practice their various hobbies. It was in a simple style but still slightly elegant.

I think the houses reflected the lives of the people who lived there. In Schonbrunn it was made as a vacation home. But it was still near the city so people could visit Franz Joseph and its gardens were cultivated and contained. The Hofburg was more like an office building that also housed the royal family in one cozy corner. Kew was like a wonderland for children to run and play and a hove or safehouse for the family to spend time together.

Compare and contrast the various cathedrals

Vienna: Stephen's Dom

This cathedral was probably the most busy one we visited. There were people everywere which might have been because Vienna was the center of the Austrian empire, and therefore it must have a grand church. It was established by the Hapsburgs to bring in their own Bishop from Rome. It was the tallest cathedral in the world for a couple of years and many windows to give the impression of a crystal building. Lots of symbolism from the master masons working on the cathedrals, such as he good lizards and evil toads and the loyal dog wo protects God from the toads.

Prague: St. Vitus and St. George

St. Vitus was massive and I feel like it reflected the country more than Stephen's Dom. There were crests for all of the families who contributed to its building and special areas for those families to attend church. Also it was reflected in the large amount of silver. Prague was known for its silver mining and that was shown extensively. It was more of a people church than a symbol for empire.

St. George was quaint, dark, and gave me chills. maybe not as creepy as the Ossuary but definetly had some dead vibes going on. It was not as grand and it was made of mostly gray stone. It felt more like a church for monks, because of its simplicity. I feel like it was a more personal area than St. Vitus.

All of these churches were Catholic but definately had their little quirks. In Vienna you could tell it was built as a symbol for the powerful empire of the Hapsburgs. St. Vitus was something constructed to try and make a statement but it was more of a community contribution than only from he royal family. And St. George was the most simple. It was the church before the empire. Both Stephen's Dom and St. Vitus are built in high gothic style with gargoyles, flying butresses, pointed arches, and steaples. Whereas St. George seemed more glassic. It was not tall or intricate, it was a place to have church not a place for church to be had. 

Freud's contribution to understadning he Gothic/Empire

Sigmund Freud was a Viennese physician. He was particularly interested in the psyclogical study of women in the upper class. Because these women were frequently suffering from hysteria and anxiety. This was because they felt trapped. They could do very little and were trapped at home. Their lives were boreing and unfulfilling. Freud wanting to fix that. So he would have them lie on a couch, him sitting behind their head, and talk about their problems.

Freud wanted to fix the problems that the empire were causing for the women. It was the empire's rules and regulations that made them this way. Freud was a part of that system however. Insead of  coming to the conclusion that these women were suffering because they were allowed zero freedom, he tried to treat them with hoses and morphine. So our story now takes a gothic turn. The women would be bound, held, tied, and sprayed down with a hose. Pretty much just absuing these women.

But Freud did make some very important discoveries nonetheless. He was a important figure in the psycological study of the empire and why women became to make the change toward gothicism.

#6 London

Londoners seem polite. They say sorry a lot. But I think its a cover. Underneath I don't think they are actually sorry. They also seem very gossipy. Especially those tables of old ladies. They just go on and on. I was telling Emma, I think groups of old ladies should be called Gaggles. Not sure why but it just sounds right. Also another strange observation was that everyone says cheers. For everything. It's just what they say as you depart. I think London was definitely the loudest city we visited. Yes, even more so than Prague. 

In America I think we are seen as less polite, but I just think its because we don't say sorry after everything. Honestly I think generally Americans are nicer. The most prevalent version of this was the food service. All of them just seemed extra rude. 

London is nice and all but most of the customer service jobs are held by foreigners, which creates a bit of a barrier. But the food is amazing and I definitely want to go back. 

Sleep tight.

#5 Feelings, wo wo wo

Emotions were a bit of a problem during these few days. People were a bit on edge after living in such close quarters after a while. A lot may have been due to intoxication. But I feel like it was particularly American. People get drunk, have fun, then get in a big fight, brood on it the whole night, then forget it over the next couple of days but let it sit in the back of the mind, unnoticed and passive. -- According to my observations of course. My only involvement was for selfish reasons, meaning I just wanted to sleep.-- 

My emotions include, happiness, confusion, sadness, excitement, dumb, saltiness, judgmental, and joy. With the most popular in bold. Very little do I get angry or annoyed. Which is a good thing I think. I am pretty open about my emotions. My face shows how I feel most of the time. I ain't too stoic. I express my emotions by talking about them because I ain't got time for mind games. 

Normally I think I feel more enthusiastic than those around me. Also I am more proud and vain usually. Like a narcissist. I love myself lol. I blame that on society and my parents for exceptional genes. 

I think some people try to suppress their emotions, or outlet them in anger and drama. Some people just hide their emotions. Some express. Intra and extra.  

My insight is that some people just need to chill and do some self analyzing. I know what i'm about. I know my faults and actively either try to fix them or accept them depending upon their severity. But you do you. People have rights. Just know that someone is always watching. WWJD

Cheers.

#4 Prague

If a whole bunch of college students designed a city, it would be Prague. Party every day and every night. The buildings were all over the place. The streets were winding and confusing. The people are either drunk, homeless, or about to be drunk. 

My entertainment consisted of going out one night to an Irish pub and listening to Irish music. The rest of the nights consisted of laundry, face masks, and sleeping. Lets just say I did not do Prague the way most do Prague. The people in Prague were louder and spoke less English than in Vienna. It was dirtier as well. 

The building were an eclectic combination of many different styles. Modern, baroque, rococo, classical, and sometimes idk what the heck it was. Landscape had more hills than Vienna, which meant much more stairs. I think my butt will be so toned by the end of this trip. 

As I said in the first blog, I don't really expect, I just do. But I've been told was a party city, so maybe I expected to see a lot of drunken college kids, which I did. Also I knew it was under soviet control for a long period of time, so I would say I expected to see some responses to that. Such as Liberalism, drugs, art, drugs, alcohol, poetry, and frankly just some messed up people. All of which was confirmed throughout my stay. 

My conclusion was that Prague was built in many stages that are inconsistent in their planning. There are a lot of sectors and it is very confusing to the unsuspecting tourist. I feel like it was built to be built and not to have order or function. 

My cultural insights is that Prague is an old city with a history of Empire. But, because of Soviet rain and communism, Prague has become, for lack of a better word, loosey goosey. Meaning that the pendulum of history shifted from strict rules and regulations, to few rules and regulation. 

But it was cool. I met some Australians that were nice. 

And no, they don't have pet kangaroos :(

Good day mate. 

#3 Vienna

Vienna is proper. Like, if all the Grandma's of the world decided to make a city, it would be Vienna. 

Everything feels grand. And clean. The subway was small and simple. The streets were fairly straightforward. The people were quiet and polite. 

Honestly it was probably the quietest city I've ever been too. Like, no-one ever honked, and the only sound on the streets was whispering and maybe an occasional police siren. In shops people whispered. In restaurants people whispered. It seemed the only noisy ones were either us or other tourists/nationalities.

The buildings and landscape were all coordinated and organized. The parks were in key points and all were fairly clean as well. Even the subway was one of the nicest. Maybe it is newer but it was simple and maybe the most clean we went on. 

I am not exactly sure if I had any expectations of Vienna. As strange as it sounds I don't create expectations very often. So before we went, in my brain, I expected it to be exactly as it would be when I saw it. So I expected an experience of unexpectedness. 

I think the buildings reflect the culture in that it was strict rules but also grandeur. The Viennese ran an empire and couldn't afford to be inefficient. They needed everything to be set out, and just so. And that just so was elegant, grand, and impressive.

My insights were that Vienna is a city of the past. It was and is not presently an Empire, vast and rich. They were rule fallowing and practical. Which I think is interesting compared to Prague, which I feel is the opposite. 

Peace out y'all. 

Well that's Uncanny

Uncanny. The feeling that something is familiar yet incongruous. Is this a distinct element of the Gothic sensibility? I think yes. This is very important.

I think the feeling of uncanny, especially in Gothic works, was a powerful tool that could be used to make the reader feel nervous but also relaxed. It reminds a person of their Id, which is our repressed/animal actions, which, at the time, were something you simply did not do. They were the Empire. They were classy. They did not give in to beastly instincts. So when the Uncanny was introduced to the people it was wild and exciting. Just like Gothic Literature so of course they must go together hand in hand.

Goodmorning yall.

Morton and Shaw: The Blog of Ew

Morton was very long. There is one aspect. Other than that my favorite part of it was the drama. I must confess I did not finish it but after class, I decided to read the best part we discussed, the death and cover up. Which I think just shows the corruption and power of the empire. They can control/manipulate even the Pope so that Rudolph can retain a proper Catholic Burial. 

I think the way that the news travels from person to person is also interesting. How they all just dropped what they were doing in astonishment and disbelief that the Crown Prince was dead. I also thought it was interesting, Sisy's workout routines. You don't think about Royal Empresses doing push ups in private.  

But most of all I liked the cover-up of Mary, in an attempt to spare Rudolph of murdering his mistress from the public eye. How they kept her body for 40 hours. How they dressed and propped it up with a broomstick in the carriage in order to give the appearance of life. How they stole her away to the grave in the dead of night, and the diggers saying nothing of the act. How she disappeared without a trace until weeks later when an official document came out that she was buried in her family's private grave in Bohemia. 

Shaw was funny. I read just about halfway through Shaw today in my free time before we went to town. I really liked this one called "The Beast" It is very disturbing and extremely entertaining. It kind of makes me sick and extremely confused as to how the great Queen Victoria had such a disgusting father. Maybe she was gross too... Idk... I only read half of it. So basically what happened was her father, George II was an army General who loved flogging. Like actually he just sat there and got his jollies from watching the men get whipped. Which is probably one of the grossest things I have ever heard. EW. 

Secondly, would be the "start of the dynasty" which tells the tale of George I and George II. George I had a set of 3  concubines. All of whom were extremely hideous. The were called "the Elephant and the Maypole" for one were immensely fat and ugly and the other tall, skinny, and bald from smallpox. And George II, who was mentioned above, had found the ultimate wingman in nonother than his wife, Queen Caroline. She helped him pick out women for him to sleep with for over 30 years. Apparently it was to "keep him from sleeping in the same bed as her." After many years of helping her husband find women to cheat on herself with the Queen died in a poop explosion. Literally her intestines blew up covering the chamber with her partially digested meals. (Sidenote: I'm dry heaving right now) 

So in conclusion. Never wish to be a king or queen. Because they are some of the most disgusting people I have ever read about. I think what I have learned from all of this is simply how much I love America. Seriously. We are the best. We may have Trump and Hillary but I would take both of them plus Kim Kardashian to rule us over any of the royalty we have just read about. That's right. I stand with Kim. 

I'm very tired now.

#votekim2k16

#thisblogpostisnonsense

#goodnight

Flow chart of all of our Gothic Readings Thus Far

Starting form the top-left bubble and the story "The Madness of Angels" The story displays the major Gothic Themes of the Supernatural and a Disoriented Wandering. Supernatural from the foreshadowing pigeons and trash Golem. Disoriented Wandering from the hero stumbling through nighttime London.

Next we have "The Sandman" with the major themes of supernatural and darkness. Supernatural from at his fear of the Sandman, a supernatural character. And the darkness because most of the beginning of the story takes place at night.

The Castle's two major themes are wandering/disorientation and darkness. The wandering is most prevalent because the story just kind of repeats itself and the protagonist wanders around for most of the story. It really disconcerting. The darkness is from him sleeping and wandering at night. It's dark and stormy. It also represents an empire that falls into and endless bureaucracy.

The Judgement shows a fallen empire and an oppression from the empire. The protagonists father represents the empire, and at the end of the story he crashes, assumedly into death. It is an oppression because the father abuses and frankly destroys his sons will to live.

The Lonely Empress displays themes of oppression and a heroine being deceived/ensnared by a Crown Prince. Oppression from the Empire comes from her freedom being restricted by all of the court rules of Vienna. Her being ensnared comes from her husband, who she believes she loves at the beginning but slowly realizes her life sucks and she has no escape.

Themes of deceived and being tapped by the past come from Ruins of the Abbey Fitz-martin. She is deceived by a man whom she falls in love with, but he betrays and impregnates her. She is trapped by the past because of her mistakes she is shunned by the evil church people.

In Barbara and the House of Grebe, the heroine is trapped by her vanity and past love for a man who was burned and ugly.

That was a lot of analysis.

Time to do some more reading.

Later y'all.

21 Century Gothic

A Madness of Angels has probably been my favorite story to read thus far. Even though we may have only read a small bit of it, I think my brain is more accustomed to modern fantasy literature, so it just gobbled this story up.

A Madness creates 21 Century Gothic themes most notably by changing the old and crumbling abbey/castle into London, dark and decaying.

Another strong theme very prevelent is the supernatural, which takes form in the Trash Golem, evil shadows, and Electric Angels.

Lastly they book uses heavily the theme of unable to escape the past. As the protagonist mostly just wanders around for the first 25 pages having flashbacks of his previous life and what events have lead up to now.

That is all.

Time for breakfast.

Gothic Themes of Kafka

First off, the word "Kafka" sounds like a choking cat.

Kafka modernizes traditional Gothic themes by using them through something else. Example: Georg's father in "Judgement" represents the empire. And in many traditional Gothic themes, the thing that represents the empire, is obviously, the empire.

Kafka decides that he like men better as hero's than women. He also gives his stories a kind of mind-bending twist that is not present in the more classic works. Kind of like a those Inception, Matrix, and Interstellar. Leaves you sitting there like "what on earth did I just read?" I think that is his biggest difference and what makes him especially unique.

Surprise!

Honestly, I'm pretty hard to surprise. Not 100% sure if it is because of my chill nature or just because I expect the unexpected. But the most surprising thing for me would just be how outstanding this place is. It is straight up beautiful. Running through the woods in the rain. Frolicking through fields. Discovering ruins that are still unknown as to what they are. I think the most surprising thing to me is alcohol. I mean. In my life I do not frequent bars or parties, so drunken people are foreign subject for me. They are quite an interesting thing to study whilst I enjoy my water and lemon pie in the corner. Also the water pressure in the showers feels like a massage to I like that.  

Lol. 

So now here I sit after a night of observation, and a soccer game, writing this blog, which so far I believe to be a masterpiece, shout out to Ruth. 

Unpleasant Surprises would probably include, taking care of drunk people, not being able to wake up for breakfast, not really a surprise, and not enough pillows. I have about 6 pillows on my bed at home and am not used to sleeping in an empty bed.

Novelty is defined as "the quality of being new, original, or unusual." I deal with novelty by taking it in stride and embracing it. Unless I believe it to be stupid. Then I make my "I think this is stupid face" and do not participate in whatever activity it may be. I think my reactions are the same both here and home.

What I learn about myself is mostly what I already know. But I have a bad memory so everyday I wake up, do a couple things, then realize "wow! I am the best ever" 

Thanks! 

Avery Out.

Sisi: Real life Gothic Heroine

Sisi, empress of Austria was born in a Bavarian princess. She had the freedom to do what she pleased as a child. She go where she wanted, ride horses, and play with her siblings. Unfortunately all of that changed when she went with her mother and sister, who was supposed to be betrothed to the future emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph. He decided that be liked Sisi better than her older sister, and thus began a series of misfortunet events.

The Bavarian culture was loose. They could drink beer and there were very little rules. Austrian culture was the exact opposite. Everything had a rule to go along with it and many of the things that Sisi loved were now considered "Unladylike" She became caged and imprisoned in her own home. She was not allowed outside, to drink beer, or to ride horses. The worst part of it all was her evil mother in law, Archduchess Sophia, who was a nasty old witch.

Sophia was the one who arranged the betrothal. And after when Sisi became pregnant, Sophia would take her children directly after childbirth and they would normally die due to Sisi and Franz being first cousins. Ew, classic imperial incest.

So her life was thereafter, bleak, sad, and vain. She was trapped with a man she didn't love and ruled by a woman she hated. Her life was a tragedy and her sister Helen was sitting back in her home in Bavia like "dang gurl, I escaped that life by a hair"

The Gothic-ness of "Ruins"

The "Ruins" is the older and more classic of the two works provided. It seemed like a normal in love with a stranger who rapes, abandons, then heroine gets pregnant in the convent and the convent conceals, then she dies with the baby in childbirth, and haunts the man that did this to her. Classic Gothic Literature. The whole story is just full of dark and stormy nights, a ruined old abbey, with ghosts, goblins, a maiden in distress, evil church people, evil barons, being trapped in the past, and of course; rape and revenge. I'm pretty sure if you tore this book in half, it would bleed goth.

Thanks

Goodmorning.

Time for class.

My goals (Experiential Blog 1)

My personal goals for this program include but are not limited to: actually waking up for breakfast, finishing a reading before 9 o clock, comprehending that reading I have just "read." Those are all things I have not done with much luck so far. I would also like to learn some more responsibility, which I believe I am pretty good at after last night. Also organization skills could do with a bit of touching up. And lastly I would most simply like to have a reasonable amount of fun without destroying my body in the process, which seems a bit savage, but it's a concept not many can grasp. And I will achieve all of these goals using my charming mannorisms, sharp wit, incomprehensively good looks. Thank you.

Empire and Goth: What do they mean?

Empire: Empire to me means power. It means a people who have banded together to overcome their enemies and neighbors. It mean a potentate, powerful, influential, and smart enough to maintain control. Empire also means a sturdy army with faithful soldiers. It means a culture and society of people who are enough together in their thinking, that they can work together without collapsing. So this culture becomes universal throughout the empire. Each person will have ideas and practices that are similar to those around them. Empire means a group of many people who can work together to become a force that can conquer with ease.

Goth: What goth means to me is something creepy. Something sinister and unnatural. Something that can give me the chills and make the hairs on my neck stand up. It is impactful and influential and makes the heart beat at a faster rate. It is something that is a rebellion. Something that goes against the formal flow. Goes against the classic Greco-roman culture. Goes against everything people believed to be "right." It is a resistance. A gripping and enthralling counteraction to the cultural norms of a society.