Jaguar

The Jaguar is the story I enjoyed reading the most because I learned that these creatures are more than just animals who are enclosed in a zoo or an amusement park. These animals should be liberated or at least treated fairly. Now, when I go to amusement parks, I feel angry that for instance elephants are used for amusements for young kids where the kids are allowed to ride the elephants. Or for instance, when people go to see live animals perform for the amusement of animals. I want to understand when do we draw the boundaries to know when it is right to help these animals. 
The author compares the rest of the animals in the zoo including the apes, the parrots, and the tiger. The author writes that the jaguar is different and is getting the most attention from people because he has fire in his eyes. The jaguar is still mentally free, but the other animals have surrendered to become domesticated and that it is still wild and will not be concord despite that he is trapped. 

"The Snake" by DH Lawrence

In the poem "The Snake" by DH Lawrence, I can relate well with the man in the story. I feel that my reaction toward the snake would be similar. I wouldn't want to "kill" the snake, but I would definitely want to "get rid of it". In my case it is out of fear that the snake would hurt me. Ironically, similar to the author, I feel that though the snake could hurt me, I feel like I could hurt it more because I am superior. This perspective would be considered speciesisism.

I also think that the man and the snake have a very interesting relationship. According to DH Lawrence, the snake is indifferent to the man's presence (which gives off the feeling that the snake does not regard the human to be important. On the other hand, the man is conflicted about how he should react to the snake. In general, I see that the relationship portrayed between the snake and the man is unique.

She Unnames Them

In the beginning of the quarter we read Ursula LeGuin's "She Unnames Them" and discussed many different creation stories, which describe the beginning of human and animal interactions and relationships. "She Unnames Them" is a rewrite of the story Genesis. This rewrite is about Eve, who develops a relationship with the animals on Earth. She realizes that all of the animals have names, but the names were chosen by Adam and she also realizes that her own name was given to her by Adam. In an attempt to become closer to the animals, she decides to abandon her name and unnames all of the animals. What she realized is that after all of the animals were unnamed, she felt closer to them. There was a sense of understanding and a stronger connection because they all seemed to be on the same level, no one above or below the other. This story brings up an interesting topic about human and animal relationships. It seems in the beginning of the story Adam and Eve had domain over the animals. Humans had animals like cats and dogs as pets and owned sheep and cows. Eve did not want this type of relationship with the animals though, she wanted them to be her equal, which is why she abandoned the concept of names. This shows that even from the beginning of time, humans have put themselves above animals, believing that animals were made for their own benefits. In "She Unnames Them," LeGuin is pointing out that animals should be considered our equals. This relates to the topic we have discussed in class which is animal rights. A pressing issue is should animals hold the same rights as humans and why or why not? Animals were not made for humans anymore than humans were made for animals. The communication barrier between humans and animals has caused humans to use that as a reason to put themselves above animals and make reasons as to why people are superior.

Thinking Like Animals by Temple Grandin

Rarely are there any writings about the experiences and feelings through an animal's perspective because humans do not have a direct way to reading the thoughts of animals. However, due to her Autism, Temple Grandin gives the public a novel view when she explicates her comprehension of their anxiety, fears, and perception. In her article, "Thinking like Animals," Grandin utilizes her personal impediment and fuses it with her knowledge of animals, claiming that animals should be treated humanely even if they are going to be slaughtered. She describes herself as being "part human and part animal," which further emphasizes her empathy towards and understanding of animals. The text describes the similarities of animals and people with autism. She focuses on the idea of animals' fear and how they are different from humans'. In addition, she makes a correlation between her feelings of uneasiness with the cattles' sensitivity, and how a firm touch's pressure alleviates her and the animals. Grandin advocates for the animals' welfare. Cattle will die for people's consumption of red meat, but those animals can still live a life of content, saying that "we own animals a decent life and a painless death." 

I think what's particular interesting is that even thought Grandin cares and understands for animals, she understands that the need for meat is important. Rather than saving the animals, she doesn't seem to be ethically bothered by their deaths for humans. Furthermore, Grandin's perspective is interesting because many people do not encounter the same experiences that she has to live through day to day. She uses her perceptions to create a more human system for the cattle industry. Throughout her article, her experience is coupled with the animals feelings, which made the article filled with more pathos and emotion. 

The Panther translated by A. S. Kline

My favorite reading from this quarter has to be The Panther. The descriptive imagery that is depicted through the diction captivates the reader. There are many hidden meanings behind this tiny passage. One of which is how the wilderness that is locked away from the panther grasp it symbolizes his captivity. And how the panthers strong and supple strides symbolize his former past as a powerful rain forest creature. The goal of the writer was to display the inner thoughts of a caged animal and the despair that is realized when the panther figures out that there is no world beyond the bars. The audience sympathizes with the panthers plight and its desire to be free again. An example of this is shown in the third paragraph where he states that his short supple strides draws him into tightened circles which leaves him paralyzed.

The Crane Wife

My favorite story from this year was the Crane Wife which we read early in the quarter. I found this one the most interesting because of its ability to incorporate issues of speciesism and misogyny in a way that still utilized beautiful imagery and a plot line that appeals to a large audience. The story was very accessible because of the author's manner in which he linked the world of humans with that of animals. The way in which the crane wife gave herself completely to the husband when she spun her initial sail as dowry was a beautiful connection that the two shared. Then as the story develops, the author incorporates misogyny when the husband begins to exploit the crane wife for her sail making ability. The complex relationship that animals and humans shared in this story was in a sense motivational and inspiring. In other words, the way in which the man had all that he loved taken away from his because he exploited the wife was particularly eye opening: It shows the reader that if the only goal of a relationship is to get something from the other person in a selfish and non loving way, then the relationship simply cannot survive. This story was very versatile and enjoyable and I am glad that we were able to incorporate it into our study.

The Sexual Politics of Meat

This piece continues to be my favorite one time and time again throughout this course because I find it to be so accurate and interesting. I believe that this piece shows the relationship between humans and animals as one where the human is all powerful and dominant and the animal means very little to the human. This text demonstrates not only specieism but racism and sexism as well. The white man is the person in the highest ranking or position in this text. He is the one who hunts for the meat, therefore he gets to be in charge of distributing the meat. All meat goes to the men because they were considered the strongest, and needed the most protein. Then it would be divided between women and children, and then people of other races. The relationship between animals and humans is a simple one where humans use the animals for whatever they need with little thought to how it affects the animals. The relationship between human and human is one where the white man is dominant over every other person no matter gender or race.

The Jaguar

My favorite reading from this quarter is without a doubt the first part of the jaguar readings. From start to finish, it entranced me with its diligent use of diction. The first reading about the Jaguar begins in a very apt manner for the subject at hand. I found the descriptions of the lions and other animals to create a vista from which the jaguar would be the focal point of my attention. Beyond the description, the continued use of heat imagery linked to the dejected states of the animals helped to set the tone of the piece very nicely. When it comes to the part actually describing the Jaguar I found the manner in which its unbridled freedom was conveyed to be exceptional. The juxtaposition of his fiery wrath with the placated animals from before truly elucidates the message of the poem. In addition to this juxtaposition, the change in the imagery of fire from being burdening to being the life force inside the Jaguar is exceptionally effective at keeping the raw emotion going. The ending of the poem is both liberating and terribly morose. Overall I found this to be my favorite piece of literature read this year.

"The Crane Wife"

My favorite work from the quarter was probably “The Crane Wife” poem especially for the ways in which it related mistreatment of animals to misogyny. The poem is narrated from the perspective of the crane wife as she struggles to address the pain of her situation and the fact that she tries to accept it. Though she as a woman and as an animal finds companionship with a man, as many woman and animals do in vastly different ways, this relationship is a cage, limiting and binding her. Throughout the piece she makes note of how she tells “[herself], there is no pain” and how she questions why she “shudder[s] with every bump and bang of the loom.” Even when she is free from the rope that binds her, she cannot help but follow the man, forgoing freedom. Not only does this poem comment on the similarities between the institutional oppression against women and the abuse against animals, it more specifically likens the physical and emotional abuse against women with the owning of animals. Like many woman in abusive relationships, the relationship is difficult to escape much like the crane’s unwillingness to fly to freedom despite the uncomfortable nature of her “marriage.” Both the ownership of a pet and the abuse of a partner seemingly stem from a place of love initially, though it is truly from a territorial place of cruelty that harms both animals and women respectively.

The Crane Wife

The Crane Wife, an old Japanese folk tale, deals with issues of misogyny, sympathetic imagination and anthropomorphism. In The Crane Wife, an old man lives a lonely life making sails, longing for someone to share his life with. The man lives as a bachelor until one day a woman comes to his home and, while the man sleeps, she begins work on a new set of sails. The woman works tirelessly for the rest of the day until finally the sails are completed. The old man decides to take the woman as a bride and they live, happily married, for a while until the man and woman were asked to make another sail. The woman reluctantly agrees to make another sail. This sail was even better than the last and was sold for double. Eventually thought the money ran out and the weaver was commissioned to make another sail. The weaver asked his wife to please make him another amazing sail and she reluctantly agreed. After three days of being locked in the room, tirelessly working, the man eventually forced open the door and saw instead of his wife, a huge crane operating the loom with her claws and pulling her own feathers out to feed the loom. The crane turned and looked at the weaver through his wife's black eyes before turning and flying out the window.
The Japanese folk tale, The Crane Wife, criticizes humans treatment of animals, more specifically the practice of using animals to improve human life with little or no regard to animal life. However, in The Crane Wife, the subjugation of animals is expressed through the weavers subjugation of his wife.  The weaver asks his wife many times to make him another sail even though he knows that she doesn't want to. When the weaver asks his wife to make the second sail she says that creating the sails "takes so much out of [her]," but despite this she makes the sail for the weaver. Animals lack the ability to say that what humans do to them in research labs, and in factory farms take so much out of these animals, often to the point of taking the animals life. In the past, and still sadly to this day, woman are expected, by some, to serve men with out question or complaint much like an animal who cannot question or complain about the treatment they receive at the hands of humans.

Snake

"The Snake" by DH Lawrence deals heavily with the intersection of speciesism through the mans interaction with the snake. Throughout the poem the narrator struggles to fight against the speciesism that has been ingrained. He has no real reason to kill the snake, yet he finds himself torn over what the right choice is. The more he tried to resist the urge to harm the snake, the more he found himself questioning if he was afraid or showing cowardice, rather than seeing himself as brave or in the right. He ends up succumbing to the ideals of speciesism, and throws a log at the snake. The narrator had no justified reason to do any harm to the snake, especially when the snake was in the process of leaving. The poem relates the consequences of the intersection of speciesism by highlighting the random and unjustified acts of violence it creates between humans and nonhuman animals. Speciesism is what gave the narrator of the poem the ability to justify his actions against the snake, even though he immediately felt regret for what he had done. 

Alice Walker

"Am I Blue?" is a short story by Alice Walker about a beautiful white horse that lived on a large 5 acres of land next to her house. The horse, Blue, is left alone in the meadow for most of the time, only visited by his owners a few times a year. The narrator and her partner adored Blue and soon got into the habit of feeding him apples from a nearby apple tree in their yard. The act of feeding the animal caused the narrator to feel a childlike sense of amazement; as she used to horseback-ride as a child. She could tell by looking into his eyes that he was lonely. Here we see the narrator anthropomorphising Blue. Obviously the horse did not tell her directly that he was lonely, but she could simply tell by being around him. The narrator had "forgotten that human animals and nonhuman animals can communicate quite well." The story goes on to tell about another horse that had been dropped off at Blue's meadow, who we later find out we only sent there by a different owner to be impregnated. Once Blue's friend was pregnant, they took her back and Blue was left alone, distressed, and upset. The narrator easily notices this and feels sad for Blue because she knows he now has to go back to his sad and isolated life. Even when she would feed him apples, she could tell that he was different after having his friend taken away. The narrator feels a very strong sense of sympathetic imagination regarding Blue. She doesn't understand how some people have such a disconnection with nonhuman animals and believe that they don't suffer. She makes a powerful comparison to slavery and how white children raised by slaves, after having so much compassion for them, were able to feel so disconnected to them later in life when they either get sold to another family, or perhaps just when they learn how blacks were "supposed" to be treated. This is a perfect intersection of both speciesism and racism. By the end of the story, her relationship with Blue opened up her opinion on animal rights, how she feels for animals, and the torture that they endure then becomes extremely clear to her.

"As we talked of freedom and justice one day for all, we sat down to steaks. I am eating misery..."

Bisclaveret

My favorite reading from the quarter was "Bisclaveret" because of the perspective it provides. Its a strange sort of horror story, a Lord with all the power in the world is turned into a voiceless animal and shunned by all he knew. I like readings that switch the role of human and animal, it gives a really strong and sometime terrifying perspective on the way we treat animals. For instance, imagine the horror Bisclaveret must have felt being hunted down by the King's hounds. For a long time the fox hunt was just another Saturday morning activity, but this story tries to give voice to the silent fox.

Another telling point of the story is how value in animals is perceived. The king only spares Bisclaveret after he prostrates himself to the monarch. The king and mankind as an extension only see value in animals when they are servile and have some utility; I can't imagine the King sparing any foxes. Finally there's is something terrible about a free man turned into a grovelling slave. As a werewolf, Bisclaveret becomes a dog to the King, eating scraps and sleeping on the floor of his chamber, it really makes one examine the relationship we have with dogs and whether it is more one sided than we thought.

From Wolf to Human

I enjoyed reading the story, "St Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" the most. In the story, the sisters who work at St Lucy's Home try to convert the wolves into acting like human girls. This story addresses the issue of the intersection of speciesism. In several parts of the story, the wolves are jealous of Jeanette because she acts the most like a human. They hate her because she is most appreciated by the sister teachers while everyone else is forced and punished to work harder to stop acting wolf-like. "Speciesism is the idea that being human is a good enough reason for human animals to have greater moral rights than non-human animals." The narrator, Claudette, tries her hardest to convert into being a human being because she does not want to disappoint the sisters, her parents, and herself. This causes her to turn her back on Mirabella, who has the hardest time converting to being human. Claudette has transformed herself from a wolf into a human so much that she forgets the importance of her background as a real wolf. The story's message seems to be that being an animal such as a wolf is no good, and that it is necessary to be human. The issue of speciesism is that humans are the superior species and no other species is worthy enough. Humans deserve to have better rights than all the other animals. In this story, it appears that in order to be treated fairly and respectfully, the wolves must convert to human beings or else they have to face harsh consequences. This is related to how the real world works when animals go against what humans want from them, humans are capable of punishing and killing the ones that do not behave.

Am I Blue?

The short story "Am I Blue?" highlights the complex relationship between humans and animals due to the anthropomorphic properties it possesses. The goal of this writing style is to convey the emotions of sadness and anger from the horse to the humans that display speciesism by denying Blue many key elements for a horse's happiness. Taking away his mate after only a short time meant devastation for Blue and, to him, signified that his life had lost purpose. The audience connects with Blue because they understand what sadness, anger, and confusion feel like and know the pain associated with those emotions. This makes the audience pity the horse for the awful experiences he goes through. This spawns thoughts about what all animals are feeling about things humans view and humane and normal and whether they should continue the practice. For added measure the author also includes a comparison of losing his mate to that of a slave losing their partner to death or the slave trade. This examples also permits the audience to understand the pain the horse felt at that moment and this allows the institution of horse-owning to be questioned.

Prompt #6

For your blog posts this week (due May 30), I would like you all to:

1. Choose the primary reading (story or poem) you enjoyed the most.
2. Briefly analyze how it comments on the complex relationship between humans and animals. In your analysis, you can choose to engage with any of the issues we have discussed in lecture or which have been brought up in the readings, such as: the importance of the sympathetic imagination, the ethics of animal testing or of anthropomorphism, or the intersection of speciesism, misogyny, and racism.

You can opt to focus on a specific passage rather than attempting to tackle the entire text if you choose one of the longer ones.

The Panther Translation

The first translation of The Panther by Leonard Cottrell is powerful with the way it portrays the usually strong, fast, and intelligent animal, as very bored and weak in captivity. The panther's stride is described as "strong and supple" suggesting that the animal is still its powerful self, with his "noble will" that is still present within it. Then at the end of  the poem, it says "Along a nerve, awareness darts -/ arriving in his heart, it dies." At this moment, the panther completely loses his strength and spirit and it "darts" away from the panther and dies.

The second translation by A.S. Kline is much more emotionally powerful due to the words Kline chooses to describe the panther and its life in captivity. He delves more deeply into the animal's head and tries to make the audience feel what the panther is feeling and think what the panther is thinking. Kline does a good job in doing this, because by the end of it, you are left feeling sad for the panther; maybe even guilty for enjoying the zoo so much as a child. As opposed to the first translation, the panther now sees "no world" behind the bars of his cage, which seem like thousands because he can't stop pacing back and forth. Kline describes its empty restlessness as "the dance of force about a centre,/ In which a greater will stands paralysed." To the panther, his whole existence is purposeless because there is no longer hope of a world beyond its prison. 

The Panther: Cottrell vs, Kline

    In Leonard Cottrell's translation of The Panther, the reader gets a sense of a person observing a panther in a zoo - given that he says the panther is behind bars. The poem is very matter of factual and sounds as if the observer is just stating the movements of the panther, which he describes with strong physical features. He only really begins to mention emotion of the panther towards the end of the poem, where he says that the panther "...stands there numb.." Even in the last four verses, where it talks about the heart, Cottrell chooses to use words that do not emit much emotion but are again, more or less stating facts.

    In contrast to Cottrell, A.S. Kline translates The Panther using words that evoke much more emotion from the reader. Instead of simply stating what the panther is doing, he attempts to translate to us what the panther is thinking. Of course, we can never know what he is actually thinking, but Kline interprets what he could be thinking using his movements. For example, pacing in front of the bars make the panther "wearied" instead of just "a empty stare", as Cottrell puts it. Kline also uses much more adjectives when describing the panther, which allows the reader to better envision the animal they are reading about. In my opinion, this makes Kline's version of The Panther a much better read than Cottrell's.

Less Acurate, More Powerful

In class we were told that the second translation of The Panther was the more acurate version, though because of the differently arranged or replaced words, i feel like the first version conveys a stronger attitude of hopelessness and emptiness.

Let's start with the first two lines of the two translations. In the second translation, it states "His gaze is so wearied from the bars passing by, that it can hold no more." The first translation says "The weary passage of these bars has made his gaze and empty stare." The first translation takes the weariness conveyed in the moment and applies it to the motion of the bars rather than the Panther. This not only creates a tired atmosphere, but it also allows him to expand on the Panther's feelings. He choses the word Empty and changes the gaze into a stare. Emptiness is a far more powerful emotion than weariness as it conveys more than being tired. Instead of weary, the Panther is presented as being reduced to a blank void. There is nothing inside him, and we can gather that this weary environment caused this emptiness.

This void inside the Panther is exemplified further along in the poem. In the last stanza, both poems talk about something entering the panther's mind. In the second translation, it is simply an image. In the first, it is awareness. Awareness, in the context of the poem, is a much more powerful and potent term that really displays the panthers absence. The one thing that briefly flashes in his mind before vanishing counters the emptiness from earlier. It makes us believe thre is still hope for him to be conscious, to have some sense of life. Just as we think that, it dies inside of him and he reverts back to his empty, unaware self. It's far more powerful than the vague image of the second translation.

The Panther

In the first translation of "The Panther" written by Leonard Cottrell, the bars block the panther's gaze, forcing him to believe that "behind them nothing's there." Eventually, he runs around and his fast speed comes back to him, but is "numb" because he's trapped behind the bars and can't run free. He closes his eyes. Realizing that his life will never be the same, his heart "dies" in pain by the reality in which he now lives in.
Contrary to the first translation, the translation by A.S. Kline highlights the panther's awareness of his captivity, mentioning that his gaze is "wearied" from the bars. Because of the abundance of bars, he understands that he is trapped. Out of boredom, he runs around in circles, but his "greater will" is diminished, meaning that he can't do any more than just that. Sometimes when he goes to sleep, he pictures his past and is reminded that his old life is "gone."
Both of the poem translations are relatively similar. They both touch on the topic of the Panther's disbelief on his current confinement, which prevents him from running free. The main difference is that in the first one, the panther's view is blocked by the bars; while in the second one, the panther is tired from seeing only the bars. Another difference is that the panther in the first translation isn't truly aware of his situation as a captive. It seems as if he is accustomed to being captive and forgot about his past, leaving him unmotivated and his heart emotionally dead. In the other translation, the panther seems to be more nostalgic about his life when he was free. When he falls asleep, he keeps seeing his life as a free panther and knows that that life has been stolen away from him.

Animal Welfare Act

I really enjoyed reading this article for a few reasons.
1) It ties in with the Animal Testing video we watched on Wednesday
2) it ties in with some of the stories that we've read that questioned do animals deserve the same rights as humans?
The quote that specifically made me think of "Is a Dolphin a Person", was "As animals have no capacity for laws or moral judgement, I do not believe that they deserve equal rights to humans; but I do believe that they deserve equal treatment". Midgley constantly questions what exactly is a person, where do we draw the line, can they talk, can they reason? I feel like this article kind of questions the same ideas. At the end of the article, the writer even mentions morality and how this treatment of animals is unethical and as does Midgley at the end of "Is a Dolphin a Person". She says, "We seem to have reached the situation where the law will have to be changed, because it shocks morality". This article isnt just an article, its actually a petition to "End Animal Testing Once and For All- Amend the Animal Welfare Act". So, if you support ending animal testing I highly recommend signing the petition. I have attached the link below.

https://www.change.org/p/chris-van-hollen-end-animal-testing-once-and-for-all-amend-the-animal-welfare-act

Vegetarianism

I have never been a big meat eater, in fact, I have almost never liked red meat but I do enjoy fish and chicken. I've always dabbled with the idea of becoming a vegetarian and I think the video we watched on Wednesday really hit home for me. Watching what animals have to go through to feed me disgusts me and makes me sick to my stomach. So, as of yesterday morning I decided to become somewhat of a vegetarian. I think I will still eat fish every once in a while but I don't like the idea of eating actual meat anymore. This article summarizes five reasons why becoming a vegetarian is  a good choice. The one that really got me was "If you wouldn't consider eating a dog, you shouldn't consider eating pig".  Side note: pigs are actually very intelligent animals. That is why I chose to put the cooked dog in my post it disgusts me. I am not writing this post to convince you to become a vegetarian but more of an insight as to why I and other vegetarians choose to live this way. The link to the article is listed below. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/national-vegetarian-week-5-ethical-reasons-to-stop-eating-meat-10260780.html

The Panther

In the first translation, Cottrell’s word choice suggests that the panther has chosen to ignore his surroundings.

The weary passage of these bars

has made his gaze an empty stare:

as if the bars were all there are

and that behind them nothing’s there.

…

Along a nerve, awareness darts -
arriving in his heart, it dies.

The panther’s gaze is described as empty and unseeing, as though his mind his not fully present and is instead daydreaming. He has numbed himself to reality and refuses to accept it. The last two lines suggest that even when the panther is reminded of his captivity, he ignores it and lets the thought die before it can be fully processed.

In the second translation, Kline uses many descriptive to exaggerate how the panther is feeling. The panther’s gaze is so wearied from behind the thousand bars. His powerful, supple stride, that draws him round in tightened circles, is like the dance of force. His will is paralysed, and his limbs are tense and arrested. His translation provides a different perspective of how the panther feels about his captivity. Instead of distancing himself from reality, this panther has accepted it and feels defeated.

Panther

A: Analyze the first translation of "The Panther" (by Cottrell) and contrast it with your reading of the second, which we went over in class. How do the differences in how it is worded/translated affect the poem's overall meaning and impact on the reader? Support with textual evidence.

       In the first translation by Leonard Cottrell, the author describes the panther's sadness by writing, "his heart, it dies". Although this author describes that the panther's heart died,  Kline described that his heart is gone. It feels that as if it is worse to have the heart "gone" than have the heart dead because when a soul is gone- it is all ready dead. 

      The second translation by A.S. Kline, the author describes the pain the panther feels. The author uses words like "inside his heart, gone"  to describe that the panther has lost its connection to the wild. The panther has lost its inner wild and is sad because it has become domesticated. The reader can sympathize for the panther because it lost part of who he was.

  Overall both translation describe that part of the panther is gone because it is behind bars. The panther has no hope in becoming wild again and is depressed because "behind the thousand bars, no world." The author describes that behind the bars, there is no life. In addition, this quote can mean that even if the panther was set free, he has all ready lost part of him. The panther is lifeless. 

Jaguar

In "The Jaguar," other animals are actively mentioned - apes, tigers, humans and otherwise - in the zoo and are portrayed as static and lazy.  This is meant to contrast against the movements of the jaguar that has "wilderness of freedom" in his every step.  While the other animals are only compared to fire and the sun to show how degraded they are "the parrots shriek as if they were on fire... to attract the stroller with the nut," the jaguar has an inner fire, a "short fierce fuse" that makes him explosive and dangerous.  The jaguar does not acknowledge his imprisonment, "there's no cage to him," as his mind is off in the horizon and far away from the zoo.  

In comparison, "A Second Glance at a Jaguar" does not mention other beings, but goes much further into the mindset and movement of the jaguar.  The jaguar is moving, but it does not seem as smooth and elegant as the first poem.  Instead we read a jarring "hip going in and out of joint," and "his body is just the engine shoving it forward" expresses his movements like a machine but remains powerful.  Again there is fire imagery, with an inner rage that his kept alight and his head being carried "like a brazier of spilling embers." In this poem the jaguar is more in the mindset of an inherent and violent being, as he is compared to an Aztec disemboweller and a gangster, repeating a "drum-song of murder."  This seems to keep him as himself, as he is shown to be more aware of his imprisonment; the jaguar is "wearing himself to heavy ovals" and his movements have made a polished spot on the floor from his relentless pacing.  His body no longer seems like his own because his body had to adjust to the cage: "his head is like the worn down stump of another whole jaguar."  Yet "he coils, he flourishes" shows that he is still the main attraction to the watchers because he will always be an impressive hunter.

A Second Glance at a Jaguar

"The Second Glance at a Jaguar" gives a very different perspective of the jaguar compared to the first poem. In the first poem "The Jaguar", the jaguar is presented as an unending energy source, fueled by anger over his imprisonment behind bars. The jaguar in the first poem is represented as not seeing the cage that locks him in, but rather he is free inside of his mind. When compared to the rest of the animals in the first poem he is the only one to have not given up, he is still fighting for freedom. This is shown in line 19, "His stride is wilderness of freedom".
The second poem about the jaguar takes a much more realistic stance. In "The Second Glance at a Jaguar" the jaguar appears much more defeated, he has clearly been doing this dance for some time now and it is wearing on him. This is shown in lines 17 through 19, "His head Is like the worn down stump of another whole jaguar, His body is just the engine shoving it forward". The constant anger the jaguar is keeping up is taking a toll on him, and this poem represents a much deeper examination of the jaguar himself. In the first poem we are only presented with a snapshot of the jaguar, an image that the casual passerby would be subjected to. In the second we see the realistic side to the jaguars nonstop movement back and forth in his cell, how he is stuck in the rhythm of his movements, knowing that they will lead him no where.
What is prevalent in both poems is that anger that the jaguar carries inside of him. In both it is this anger that continues to drive him around and around the cage, "Muttering some mantrah, some drum-song of murder To keep his rage brightening," (lines 25-26). It is rage that propels him to continue to move, to avoid the lethargy and indifference that has infected the rest of the caged animals in the zoo.

"The Jaguar" and "A Second Glance at a Jaguar"

In "The Jaguar" all of the zoo animals are being portrayed as lazy, yawning and lying still in the sun. The sun is beating down in the animals consuming their energy. But, when the jaguar is being described, it is hurrying and moving around the cage. He seems to have a fire inside of him fueling him instead of consuming him. He has not accepted his captivity like the rest of the zoo animals, but rather, "there's no cage to him more than to the visionary his cell." He seems to have hope about a different life and even though his physical body is confined, his soul and mind are not contained within the cell.
In "A Second Glance at a Jaguar" the physical movement of the jaguar is described more compared to in "The Jaguar" which focuses more on the cats internal thoughts. In "A Second Glance at a Jaguar" the jaguar is described as powerful and ready to make a kill, but being in a cage has taken a toll on the animal. The jaguar is described as "going on like a prayer-wheel, the head dragging forward, the body keeping up, the hind legs lagging." There is nothing stimulating in the cage for the jaguar and he is described as a machine just going through the motions. But, his internal instincts are strong and would take over in any situation, similar to the jaguar in the "The Jaguar" who is still in touch with his wild side.

"The Jaguar" v. "A Second Glance at a Jaguar"

While both Edward Hughes’ poems “The Jaguar” and “A Second Glance at a Jaguar” examine the life and nature of a jaguar in captivity, they approach the subject in different ways. The most evident overarching distinction between the two is the perspective. Though both are narrated in the third person, “The Jaguar” seems to be from a perspective outside the jaguar’s cage but still within the zoo. The narrator first observes the other animals, describing how “the apes yawn” and “the parrots shriek.” They go on to note the jaguar’s audience of zoo attendees who “stands, stares, mesmerized, / As a child at a dream…” Only then does the narrator describe the jaguar’s anger and the “wilderness of freedom” that characterizes his liberating run throughout the cage. “A Second Glance at a Jaguar” however, positions the narrator alongside the Jaguar, vividly describing the motion of his body and its trajectory, stating “the hip going in and out of joint, dropping the spin with the urgency of his hurry” and noting that “at every stride he has to turn a corner.” The entire poem focuses on the jaguar himself exclusively, with no mention of the zoo or its attendees.

            “A Second Glance”, while observing the jaguar more thoroughly, also makes more allusions to the jaguar being like a machine as well as tools of human violence. Hughes heavily focuses on the components of the jaguar that hold it together noting his “hip going in and out of joint”, him “trying to grind some square /socket between his hind legs round”, and him “swiveling the ball of his heel.” He also makes direct mechanical comparisons, calling the jaguar’s body “the engine shoving it forward.” On the other hand, he also compares the jaguar to vehicles of human violence like “a thick Aztec disemboweller, / club-swinging” or comparing his tail to a “Gangster club.”

            In comparison, “The Jaguar” simply emphasizes how the jaguar’s inner anger and aggression allowing him to transcend the confines of his cage. Here he is described as having a “short fierce fuse. Not in boredom.” Hughes then suggests that “there’s no cage to him” because his “stride is wilderness of freedom.”

Behind The Bars

The first translation of “The Panther” suggests that all the panther can see are the bars in front of him, as if there was no life outside of these bars. The panther takes long and large strides around the cage as if he is full of power, yet he is numb to all of it. Every now and then a quick burst of awareness passes by him, and for a moment he knows where he is and what is happening. Soon after it comes it goes, and the awareness he once had dies and he is left numb again.

In the second translation of “The Panther” the panther is not aware of his captivity at all. To him, there is absolutely no world outside of those bars. His pace is more soft, yet still powerful, compared to the first translation of the panther. He walks in small conservative and shy circles rather than large strides like the first panther. In this translation the panther never has any recognition of where he is or the fact that there is life outside of the bars. The images that enter through his eyes quickly leave and he is left with little to no hope.

Another look at the Jaguar

The "Second Glance at the Jaguar" is characterized by a very different use of language than the original "Jaguar" piece. The imagery in the former is much more brutal and barbaric sounding. Instead of focusing on the internal freedom of the jaguar, the animal is portrayed as a machine. The animal is "Carrying his head like a brazier of spilling embers" whereas in the first Jaguar piece, the animal was described as having a "stride of wilderness and freedom". Also in the original Jaguar story, the entire zoo is described rather than just the one animal. The second glance paints the jaguar as a creature from hell that is very much just an engine. The grace that was associated with the jaguar in the original is now gone, replaced by crude verbiage and intense images of brutality. The second glance does nothing to analyze what the jaguar's mental state is as is discussed in the first story. The second glance suggests that the free minded animal from the first story is actually just another dangerous predator from which fear should arise. The two stories do share the similarity of describing the jaguar as a very powerful creature, unable to  be contained by zoo or underworld or cage. By combining the different views from each story, a fairly full picture of the true jaguar inside and out as perceived by onlookers and prey is realized. No matter which story you look at, it is very clear that this animal is not one with which people should mess.

Textual Analysis

In the poem "A Second Glance at a Jaguar" the author, Edward Hughes, expands more on the way a jaguar moves as opposed to what a jaguar thinkIn the poem "A Second Glance at a Jaguar" the author, Edward Hughes, expands more on the way a jaguar moves as opposed to what a jaguar thinks and feels. In "A Second Glance at a Jaguar," Hughes describes the movement of the jaguar by saying "the hip going in and out of the joint, dropping the spine." Hughes similar vocabulary in both poems even though they portray jaguar's very differently. In "The Jaguar," Hughes describes the jaguar's eyes as being "blind in fire" and similarly in "A Second Glance at a Jaguar" Hughes describes the eyes of the animal as "splitting embers."

These poems though similar also differ in their portrayal of jaguars. "The Jaguar," portrays the jaguar in captivity, subjugated, exploited, and desperately struggling to maintain his dignity. Hughes describes the jaguar as being in "prison darkness," which mirrors the hopeless captivity of the animal.  Hughes concludes the poem by writing "over the cage floor the horizons come" implying that the jaguar hasn't accepted his fate and and still retains his wildness.

Abuse of Topsy

In the early 1900's, a performance elephant named Topsy was the subject of a brutal and abusive execution. The elephant killed a spectator in 1902 and was soon after sentenced to death. The idea was to publically hang the elephant and to charge people admission to the show; an idea that was quickly shot down by early animal rights foundations. Instead however, the elephant was publicly fed poison, hanged, and electrocuted on film, which was later sold and is still available to be viewed. This film is a perfect case of animal abuse. Although this animal did cause the death of a human, it is in no way justified for the animal to have been triply harmed to induce death in such a public and humiliating way. The film does nothing at all to highlight on the issues of animal abuse and was instead marketed as a spectacle that the public could enjoy. The film and the story of Topsy have been brought back to the public's eye via a semi-fictional manner by the show Bob's Burgers. One episode of the show discusses the Topsy execution and fights what was at the time of the execution an accepted event. This case of animal abuse did happen a long time ago, but it does not take away from the severity of the abuse that this elephant underwent. Nowadays, abuse does not generally carry these same intensities, but it is still very prevalent for many animals (too many) just as it was for Topsy.

link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrocuting_an_Elephant
(scroll down to the video)

Panther vs. Panther

In the first translation of “The Panther,” Cottrell rhymes at the end of each line within the stanzas. For example, using words such as bars and are, stare and there, and come and numb. I guess this translation of the poem did not fully grasp on how the panther felt. Yes the panther is trapped behind the bars, but that did not scream to me how hopeless the panther was. As comparing to the second translation of “The Panther,” Kline describes the panther’s hopelessness very well. At the end, I felt no hope for the panther.

  Cottrell:

Just at times the curtain parts

quietly inside his eyes.

Along a nerve, awareness darts-

arriving in his heart, it dies.

  Kline:

Only, at times, the curtain of his pupils

Silently rises- Then an image enters,

Rushes through his tense, arrested limbs,

And echoing, inside his heart, is gone.

By comparing both of the last stanzas, I see that the word choices affect the impact it has on the reader. In Cottrell’s translation, I see that the panther is aware of its captivity. I guess using the word “it” in the last line made it ambiguous on what “it” is referring to exactly. What dies? In Kline’s translation, the buildup of the vision of freedom the panther sees suddenly vanishes. Wow! Words such as silently, arrested, and echoing made the meaning of the panther’s pain appear deep. Just as hope slowly rises in him, it quickly disappears without a trace.

"A Second Glance at a Jaguar." vs "The Jaguar"

In the "A Second Glance at a Jaguar", Hughes narrates the Jaguar in a far greater detail than his first poem "The Jaguar". In his first poem, he emphasized the resilient nature of the Jaguar by contrasting his "wilderness of freedom" with the other, more apathetic, animals. Though the Jaguar is locked behind a cage, Hughes portrayed the Jaguar's stride as a form of rebellion to his captivity.

In the second poem, Hughes maintained the resilient nature of the Jaguar as in the first poem but through a different method. Instead of comparing the Jaguar with the other animals, he uses the details of the Jaguars movement to portray the nature and characteristics of the Jaguar. Hughes uses the words such as "club-swinging, grinding, striding, shoving, swiveling, gangster" to suggest the Jaguar's aggression. However, Hughes also uses statements such as "a terrible, stump-legged waddle, his head is like the worn down stump of another whole jaguar, his body is just the engine shoving it forward, the head dragging forward, the body keeping up, the hind legs lagging" to show the Jaguar's refusal to lose his proud nature even though he is in a cage.

In both poems, the Jaguar is demonstrated as an animal of pride, strength, and highly connected with nature. The Jaguar longs to be back in his natural habitat and refuses to accept his captivity. Hughes demonstrated this idea in two different way: by comparing the Jaguar to the other animals as in poem 1, or by narrating the details of the Jaguar's stride as in poem 2.

Anti-Animal Abuse Advertisement

This Anti-Animal Abuse Campaign which was created by the Portuguese Animal Rights League protests the use of animals in circuses. Animals living in circus camps are abused, malnourished, mistreated and neglected, often being beaten, and living in small sterile cages. This Animal Rights campaign bears the slogan "Animals are not clowns," implying that despite what circus owners and patrons seem to thing, animals should not be forced to entertain humans, much like a clown would. This advertisement objects to animal cruelty on the basis that by attending circuses that rely on animals for entertainment you are in fact supporting the circuses mistreatment of these animals.  

Emptiness and Capture

A) Analyze the first translation of "The Panther" (by Cottrell) and contrast it with your reading of the second, which we went over in class. How do the differences in how it is worded/translated affect the poem's overall meaning and impact on the reader? Support with textual evidence.

In the first translation, Cottrell portrays the Panther as empty. There are alot of words that describe emptiness in the first translation, such as "empty, nothing, numb". There are some words that parallel with the 2nd translation, but Cottrell's interpretation makes the panther seem more empty than caged. The wording within the first translation doesn't necessarily emphasize his capture but moreso his emptiness and disillusionment. 

In the second translation, Kline relies heavily on the image of capture and subjugation. The second translation gives the panther the notion that it seems to be suffering more and in pain. It gives the impression of a panther who wants to escape and live its life to the fullest, but can't because of the "thousand bars". 

I think the second translation gives the idea that the panther loses its identity and loses its meaning over the course of the poem. The first translation gives more of the idea that the panther is more empty and a little bit depressed. 

The Panther
Translated by Leonard Cottrell

The weary passage of these bars has made his gaze an empty stare:
as if the bars were all there are
and that behind them nothing's there.

Strong and supple strides around
and back to their beginning come.
A swirling play of power surrounds
a noble will that stands there numb.

Just at times the curtain parts
quietly inside his eyes.
Along a nerve, awareness darts -
arriving in his heart, it dies.


The first translation of The Panther offers less pained and sad language. The overall tone is more apathetic. For example, the second translation offers a "gaze so wearied", whereas the first translation calls it an "empty stare", void of emotion. The second translation evokes more of the despair that the panther feels.  In addition, the second translation emphasizes that there are "a thousand bars.. given him", which exponentiates his pain. However the last part of the first translation evokes the image "dying", as though it is gone never again to return, whereas the second translation explains the image as "gone" implying that it can come back again.

Prompt #5

For your blog posts this week (due May 22), I would like you all to practice the textual analysis strategies we went over in section on Friday. You have two options. You can:

A) Analyze the first translation of "The Panther" (by Cottrell) and contrast it with your reading of the second, which we went over in class. How do the differences in how it is worded/translated affect the poem's overall meaning and impact on the reader? Support with textual evidence.

B) Analyze Hughes' "A Second Glance at a Jaguar." In what ways does this second take on the figure of the jaguar differ from that which we see in "The Jaguar"? What sort of continuities do you see? Support with textual evidence.

GoDaddy's Puppy Mill Commercial

Bad dog! GoDaddy pulls puppy commercial from Super Bowl

     What begins as a sad story of a lost puppy trying to find its way home, ends in an unexpected turn where the owner picks up the puppy and states "I'm so glad you made it home! Because I just sold you on this website I built with GoDaddy...Ship 'em out!" The response from the public, in my opinion, was amazing. Everyone made their way onto the internet to post their anger at the commercial. The questions that was asked is "Does GoDaddy real think puppy mills are funny?" This commercial was aired during the a Tuesday morning and the public's outrage made nationwide news. The company had planned to run the ad during the Superbowl, which I am sure would have created even more outrage. Nevertheless, a petition was started on Change.org and after over 40,000 signatures, GoDaddy pulled the commercial from the air.
     The person who started the petition stated that the commercial was "encouraging purchasing an animal online; the animal could be sold to someone who runs a fighting ring, someone who abuses animals, or to someone who cannot adequately care for the animal." GoDaddy's attempt at a light-hearted commercial featuring puppies definitely did not turn out the way they had hoped. They tried to use emotion to get the viewer to empathize with the puppy, which most viewers did of course because who doesn't love puppies, however the owner's apathetic attitude towards the puppy in the ending is more than enough to piss off any puppy-loving viewer.

Fashion Victims

This advertisement is against human cruelty towards animals all over the planet, and depicts animals still living in the wild as targets already seen only for what they could be used as, and only for the sake of humans. This image serves to portray animal mistreatment in a realistic sense that the commodities people don't think twice about are actually causing great damage to our environment and inflicting pain and suffering on the part of animals. The basis upon which this example objects to animal cruelty is most similar to that of Bentham, depicting images that cause the audience to examine the real effects of practices that seem like they are "normal" simply because they have been practiced for so long. These animals who have their own lives independent from human influence are suddenly taken out of context in their point of view as simply only beneficial for their furs, not that they should even exist to be beneficial to humans in the first place. 

It's clear that this image portray's the way we use animals as our "pupets" by controlling their bodies, movements, and activities in zoo's and circuses. This tiger is a great example about how we look at animals in cages and zoo's in a mesmerized state, but on the inside of the cage, the animal is unhappy. Like the poems of the jaguar and the panther assigned for this week, animals in zoo's lose their sense of freedom and wildness. We put them in unnatural situations where they feel foreign and out of place. The animal is surrounded by a fake environment that doesn't make them feel at home. The animals in zoo's don't have agency over their own bodies and consequently, they don't act like they do in the wild.

Elephant Abuse in Thailand

I recently stumbled across a very touching video that demonstrates the cruelty that Elephants are exposed to in Thailand. The video was created by Wildlife Friends of Thailand, which aims to rescue wild animals from unfair treatment and cruelty, prevent hunting and promote conservation of all types of wild life, and to educate the general public to stop cruelty towards animals. 

In 2012, there are 2000 wild elephants and 4000 captive Elephants in Thailand. The captive Elephants in Thailand are primarily used for tourism but they must be subjugated to abuse in order for them to become docile. The Elephants are beaten, stabbed, and are spiritually broken before they are forced to go to the cities to perform tricks for tourists. The treatment of these elephants reminded me of the movie Dumbo that Professor Frocerro showed us during lecture. The abuse that the carnival owners displayed to dumbo was on par with the abuse that is given to these real life beings.

http://www.wfft.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfINt7ry-00

Petition against Fur Farming

I received an email this week from Change.org about a Zoo in the city of Deadwood who charges $20 for 20 minutes for  petting zoo made up of wolves. I can't attach the email but I can attach some quotes from the petition. Here is a quote explaining how the petting zoo is just a scheme to make more money. "The wolf pups are trotted out for cute photos. Once the pups are too old to for the “pet-and-plays,” they will be transported back to Minnesota and eventually killed for their fur. The truth is “Fur-ever Wild” is just a side business of a fur farm. Before they make money on the furs of the animals, they exploit them for more profit at these petting zoos." The prompt asked us in what ways is the article criticizing the mistreatment of animals and I think the quote below answers perfectly. "A business model built on breeding animals for such a fate in inhumane and should be stopped. Together we can stop “Fur-ever Wild” from expanding and send a message to similar businesses their time is up." The email then ends with asking me to sign the petition. I will because though I am not a vegetarian I do believe animals can suffer and do not deserve to be raised solely for their fur and to make a profit. 

http://youtu.be/ERRlDEoHG9Y

This commercial, starring Sarah Mclachlan, asks for viewers support against animal abuse, though it seems like their argument both begins and ends there. The commercial contains many domestic animals, cats and dogs mainly, and frames them so that they appear sad. Sarah Mclachlan then comes on screen and explains how these animals are suffering. By doing this we can gather that the commercial works on the argument that an animal's rights are given because of the ability to suffer rather than their intelligence or ability to speak. The ad has no mention of any kind of animal that isn't a dog or a cat. Chickens, pigs, cows, horses, and other animals are completely invisible to this ad. This puts major emphasis on the common domestic animals, raising their importance and possibly implying that their suffering is more important than service or farm animals.

Animal Cruelty

Animal Cruelty 

This advertisement depicts animals who have been mistreated by their past owners and gives viewers the opportunity to donate money and help these animals who are in need. This particular ad engages with human cruelty to animals because it does not support the cruelty that is going on in some households. It is designed to make the viewer feel emotional and then make them want to donate and help out. I feel that this is the opposite of the novel, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell that we read in class. In this novel animal cruelty is shown through how the horse “Black Beauty” is treated and cared for throughout the novel. The process of “breaking in” a horse is where we see the first sign of cruelty towards horses. Breaking a horse in prohibits them from jumping and laying down. They have to fully submit to their owners control and have no free will. The horse in sold from person to person without any background checks or interviews being done to see if these homes would be safe for him to live in. Although I feel that Sewell does not fully support the cruel treatment of the horses, she is also not doing much to discuss how bad it is to treat them this way and how it can be stopped. The advertisement I provide below is showing examples of animals that have been treated cruelly and then it provides an opportunity for us to reach out and help them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERRlDEoHG9Y