Thinking Outside The Box

Notes:

Extended metaphor: A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.

This is a example of an extended metaphor and it's entertaining so I thought it would be easier to understand the meaning of an extended metaphor if it was entertaining. At 4:30 is where the metaphor actually starts!



Allegory: A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

I thought this was kind of funny... It pretty much summarizes the Allegory of the Cave, except for the free prisoner getting beat up. But it says what is symbolized throughout the story. So yeah.

Thinking Outside The Box:

In the two texts, from Plato and Sartre, you see that a person's thoughts and mind sets are very limited and biased. People try to take the easy way out or staying in their comfort zone. What we all don't know is what lies upon the bigger picture, whether that is positive or negative, we as an individual will decide. In Plato's Allegory of The Cave, the free prisoner goes through the pain to take the chance to find out what is really out there, something more than just a shadow. The others end up not believing the "truth" because it is something they have never heard of or are used to hearing. The freed prisoner, in the end, just leaves the rest unknowing of what lives they could have had. In "No Exit", three people or sinners are put in a room, no windows, no exit, spending eternity with each other. They all want significant but different things, usually things to make themselves feel better or to make them feel like they are wanted, needed, or superior. The excerpt explains that Hell is other people itself, possibly because other people portray the things you do not want to see. I think, especially in our generation, we are getting too used to the fact that everything we want is in the palm of our hands, technology increasing more and more, making it so that all the information is given to us in a split of a second. Moreover, everyone tries to avoid the things they don't want to hear or the things we don't want to do. What if you knew that there is SOMEONE out there in the world that has the answer you are looking for..? What if you have the answer to a question someone else has been longing to figure out..? There are so many 'What ifs..' mostly because we haven't taken the time to truely find out the "truth" in what we want to know. If every person took the courage and did the things it takes to find the right answer we may have less problems in the world. All of this, in the end is hard to sum up, so much goes through your mind about what you could have done, what you want to do and so on. Even though you know that the answer or your possible fate is waiting within reach, some of us take a long time to realize it and some of us even struggle to let go of the past and look to the future. If more people were able to forgive, take a deep breath and believe that everything will be alright, would all the problems in the world be decreased? If Garcin, Estelle, and Inez could realize who they actually are/were could Hell not be as bad as it seems? But when do you truely know if you have accepted yourself for who you are and what you have done? It is hard to say there is an actual solution to the limitation of our thinking since we are doing much more that we know, but at the same time less than we should. So I believe that from the two readings, you get a grasp of human flaws and ways we can expand our thoughts but when one problem is solved, there will always be another problem waiting to be solved.

Literary Techniques:

In "No Exit", the tone throughout the paly is very dark, gloomy, unclear because of the dark emotions and the "hell" they are in. Compared to the Allegory of the Cave, Sartre's message was told more indirectly, like a puzzle to be solved, where Plato made it more straightforward from our thoughts and reality. There are different levels of understanding for the Allegory of the Cave, teaching us  lesson and the audience possibly getting the same main point but getting different thoughts and ideas from it. "No Exit" was more hard to connect with but more so to take it in, just take the information in that acceptance of yourself is needed in order to take the next step.