Unpacking the Question

1) Compare uses and/or abuses of power as a theme in novels or short stories you have read. Say what this theme and its presentation contribute to each work you discuss.
-Find themes about power in the books, and talk about its presentation and whether it was good or bad.
-Theme of power
-Darkness at noon, Bluest Eye
2) Say what the titles of some individual works you have studied indicated to you at the outset. In what ways were your first impressions reinforced or altered as you read and explored each work?
-Identify first impression of book from title. Say how that idea changed or was reinforced throughout the book.
-Theme (ideas about book), mood, motif (depends on book/title)
-Darkness at Noon and Bluest Eye

The War in Eastern Europe Commentary

Passage W Outline
I. Introduction
Thesis: In the passage from The War in Eastern Europe, John Reed creates an exciting mood that contradicts the actual dismal circumstances in order to promote the universal theme that war often causes soldiers to lose their emotional health.
II. Body
a. Exciting mood
i. Fast paced
1. “We were off!”
2. Constantly in new places: Novo Sielitza, Romania, Bucovina
3. Even the slow horse ride, waiting for Ivan happens fast for the reader
ii. Adrenaline
1. Lots of descriptions
2. Flowing sentences, ideas shifting constantly
3. Even riding to war, these men are happy- joking about Ivan
4. Feel powerful- compare self to “Zeus”
b. Mood contradictory to events
i. Descriptions don’t make sense
1. Cannon is “leisurely”
2. Soldiers are dying, being shot at, described as “minute figures running about”
3. “Puffs of smoke unfolding” instead of homes being destroyed
4. No emotional attachment or realization about horrors of war
ii. Descriptions lack emotion
1. Wounded come in “steady stream”
a. Natural, positive connotations
b. Plentiful, positive connotations
2. Go through village of “great brown soldiers,” implies less than human, not seen as individuals
c. Theme- loss of emotional health
i. Soldiers often return from war with PTSD, can’t live with transition from pressures of war
ii. Living surrounded by death and destruction is hard
iii. Soldiers compensate by not allowing themselves to really feel the effect of their experiences
1. Notice towers “dazzling in the sun”
2. Don’t really describe the wounded or dead as individuals, just something in the background to notice, not care about
iv. Mood exciting because soldiers filled with adrenaline, focused on action, ignoring feelings- cause destruction to emotional health
III. Conclusion

Character Analysis "Dewey Dell"

Dewey Dell, like most of the Bundren children, is only slightly educated. Instead of describing her thoughts and feelings in detail, Dewey Dell is better at recounting experiences that instill those senses in the reader. For example, when she talks about Lafe, her lover, she is caught between feeling manipulated and captivated, so instead of describing his effect on her in detail, she simply remembers him picking cotton into her bag so they could be together. Dewey Dell is also very consistent and almost obsessive. For example, when Doctor Peabody comes to look at Addie, Dewey Dell, for almost a whole chapter, only thinks “he could do so much for me” (58).
From other characters, we learn that Dewey Dell is indeed obsessive and intense. Cora comments on how she is constantly fanning her dying mother, trying to keep her to herself (25). As the family begins their journey to bury Addie, many of the neighbors along the way notice Dewey Dell’s intensity; Samson says, “If her eyes had a been pistols, I wouldn’t be talking now” (115). They realize that she follows others or holds onto ideas without question, and she is also creepily quiet.
In this story, Dewey Dell faces many internal conflicts. Her intensity hints at her respect for the rules (and God?), but her pregnancy, and implied pre-marital sex, don’t conform to her otherwise innocent lifestyle. As a daughter in the Bundren family, she has to deal with grief for her mother, which she demonstrates by fighting more than anyone else for her dying wish: to be buried in Jefferson. She often remains on the side lines while the boys do the action. Dewey Dell is a quiet but complex character that works hard to undo what she feels she has done wrong.
Dewey Dell can best be described as intense, pregnant, and confused. A baby could definitely symbolize her life because she is young and innocent, yet somehow gets into trouble. She seems to do things without really thinking them through and that gets her into a moral dilemma, which is a very immature and childlike tendency. Dewey Dell is dependent on others; she lets men control her life (maybe society makes her) and she follows her dead mother’s demands without once questioning them. She is stubborn and trusting at the same time, just like a baby. Of course, she is also pregnant, which is another reason why the symbol works for Dewey Dell.

Red Fox Plog #4

“Red Fox” Commentary

In the poem “Red Fox,” Margaret Atwood creates a conceit comparing a fox to impoverished women to promote the theme that society unjustly works to oppress women and the poor. The fox represents poor women, and the speaker continually demonstrates anger at society’s view of poverty. This poem promotes sympathy and aid for impoverished women by condemning society’s opinion of them.
The fox in this poem is starving; it is “lean” and desperate, and there are “slim pickings.” This is a widespread problem, and the rich, powerful members of society first try to deny the problem that poverty causes by promoting the idea that those who are starving become morally rich. Atwood rhetorically asks, “Why encourage the notion of virtuous poverty?” to question society’s perception of the poor as honorable. She condemns this idea by stating, “It’s only an excuse for zero charity,” which points out the selfishness of the rich.
Atwood contrasts this idea of poverty with the reality of desperation. “Absolute hunger corrupts absolutely”; hunger will cause humans to stray from their normal behavior. People actually become more selfish when faced with death, as Atwood’s allusion to the story “Hansel and Gretel” harshly points out. The speaker then comments that it is understandable to turn to crime to survive because “we’d all” do the same thing. However, right after that Atwood ironically says, “or so says the fox,” which negates the sympathy just displayed towards the poor. This explains once again society’s idea that the poor are actually deceptive and disgusting, but the problem should be ignored.
Atwood primarily uses sarcastically negative and condescending diction to portray society’s view of the fox, or poor women. Words and phrases such as “sly,” “trickster’s eyes,” “adept at lies,” and “thief and rascal” describe the destructive tendencies of women. These impoverished women can’t be trusted; a woman will use her “white knife of a smile” to act kind and trustworthy only to use that trust against the innocent. Atwood’s tone during these descriptions is bitter. The poem ends stating that these poor women don’t deserve “one more chance, or other life,” which the speaker, originally admiring and sympathetic of the fox, clearly does not actually believe.
Atwood uses the metaphor that describes starving women as a “lean vixen” to trigger sympathy and understanding for their situation. At the same time, she condemns the treatment of these poor people by society. These women need help because they are losing their humanity simply trying to survive.

"The Frontier of Writing" Plog #4

From The Frontier Of Writing
Seamus Heaney
The tightness and the nilness round that space
when the car stops in the road, the troops inspect
its make and number and, as one bends his face

towards your window, you catch sight of more
on a hill beyond, eyeing with intent
down cradled guns that hold you under cover

and everything is pure interrogation
until a rifle motions and you move
with guarded unconcerned acceleration—

a little emptier, a little spent
as always by that quiver in the self,
subjugated, yes, and obedient.

So you drive on to the frontier of writing
where it happens again. The guns on tripods;
the sergeant with his on-off mike repeating

data about you, waiting for the squawk
of clearance; the marksman training down
out of the sun upon you like a hawk.

And suddenly you're through, arraigned yet freed,
as if you'd passed from behind a waterfall
on the black current of a tarmac road

past armor-plated vehicles, out between
the posted soldiers flowing and receding
like tree shadows into the polished windscreen.


Commentary:
In "The Frontier of Writing," Seamus Heaney uses a conceit comparing editing to a border checkpoint to emphasize the freedom writing offers and the satisfaction of being accepted. Heaney explains the tensions associated with writing publicly, but the same metaphor that describes the extreme scrutiny of critics also reveals the ultimate appeal of writing.

The extended metaphor in this poem compares publishing, the final step of writing, to a border checkpoint. In both the literal and symbolic sense, this puts the person being inspected at the mercy of a ruthless system. The original tone within this conceit is nervous. Diction such as "tightness", "inspect", "interrogation", "guarded", and "emptier" help to create this tone. Heaney uses this nervous tone to express a serious dislike for the troops, which symbolize editors. He shows the soldiers as less than human; Heaney says "a rifle motions," and he uses rifle instead of soldier to point out that the soldier's only power is in his gun. He mentions the "guns on tripods," and compares the snipers to hawks, which once again states the troop's lack of humanity, but it also shows that the editors are ready to shoot, and they assume they will have to. He sees critics, publishers, and editors as evil, emotionless killing machines, determined to block writers from their honest, innocent work.

Heaney then shifts to a tone contrasting to the tension felt early in the poem. When he says, "suddenly you're through," the tension lifts instantly, and the freedom and opportunity that writing provides is expressed. He calls the road after the block the "frontier of writing," which implies that writing can be limitless and full of opportunities. Heaney describes the freedom that being allowed through the block or finally accepted by publishers cause; it's "as if you'd passed from behind a waterfall on the black current of a tarmac road," which explains the lack of blocks on a writer when he (or she) receives a clean slate. When something gets published, and you simply start over again from scratch, and that experience is cleansing but difficult, like passing under a waterfall.

This poem demonstrates the appeal of writing. Heaney says, "where it happens again." The speaker is willing goes through the hell of intense scrutiny and humiliation to feel the freedom when he comes out the other end. While in the moment, the troops are terrifying, but as you pass they become harmless memories. The freedom of the "frontier of writing" pulls people back in; they will put up with all sorts of danger and tension to experience that extreme freedom.

"Mid-Term Break" Plog #3

Mid-term Break

I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close,
At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.

In the porch I met my father crying--
He had always taken funerals in his stride--
And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.

The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram
When I came in, and I was embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my hand

And tell me they were "sorry for my trouble,"
Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,
Away at school, as my mother held my hand

In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.
At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived
With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.

Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,

Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple,
He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.

A four foot box, a foot for every year.

Commentary:

In the poem “Mid-term Break,” Seamus Heaney creates a blank tone to promote the theme that sudden loss causes shock and makes people act differently. The speaker, a college student, returns home for a break to attend the funeral of his 4 year old brother. He experiences the ultimate, untimely loss of a family member, and his observation of the many emotional responses to that loss emphasizes the strange reality of a world that doesn’t contain a loved one.
The speaker notices the emotions of others, but he seems to simply observe, because he lacks the typical emotions caused by the loss of a family member. The title of the poem, and the first stanza, imply that the “break” is a vacation. Usually students are very impatient when they are about to leave school for home, and the speaker exhibits this behavior as he waits “all morning” to be picked up, “counting bells” and keeping close track of the time. Heaney then surprises us with the fact that the speaker actually has a “break” to attend a funeral. The young man sees his father cry uncharacteristically, but he shows no sign of the same level of sadness. He feels embarrassed instead, as old men offer their condolences. Instead of feeling the sadness and depression normally caused by death, he registers the reactions of others; I picture him staring blankly ahead. He barely does any action; his mother “held my hand in hers,” because the boy is too shocked to reach out. Both parents already experience grief, but the son merely observes them. The father cries and the mother “coughed out angry tearless sighs.”
The speaker’s analysis of his brother’s body shows distance and more observation, which continues to contribute to the blank tone. The young man once again notices details such as the time when the ambulance with his brother’s body arrives. He calls the body a “corpse” which demonstrates an emotional detachment from the body. The mood changes as the speaker walks into the calm, “soothing” room; the brother starts to feel the overwhelming sadness, but he continues to study the corpse. He observes that the little boy is “paler now,” and the “now” shows the sudden realization that the boy is dead, that now is different from the boy he saw six weeks ago. He sees the little boy in his coffin, but remembers the boy laying sleeping in the same room very recently. He studies the body, noticing the “poppy bruise” and lack of “gaudy scars.” Until the speaker walks into the room, he doesn’t feel the full extent of the loss of his brother. He walks around blankly, in shock, until the realization that his 4 year old brother will never again to run around in the street, full of liveliness.
The speaker’s blank tone and calm observance of his brother’s funeral represents the effect of sudden loss on people. He remains in shock until the last line, “A four-foot box, a foot for every year.” This is the precise moment when the speaker realizes that this little boy is never coming back.

The Sun Rising Plog #2

The Sun Rising
by John Donne

BUSY old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on us ?
Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run ?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
Late school-boys and sour prentices,
Go tell court-huntsmen that the king will ride,
Call country ants to harvest offices ;
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.

Thy beams so reverend, and strong
Why shouldst thou think ?
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long.
If her eyes have not blinded thine,
Look, and to-morrow late tell me,
Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine
Be where thou left'st them, or lie here with me.
Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear, "All here in one bed lay."

She's all states, and all princes I ;
Nothing else is ;
Princes do but play us ; compared to this,
All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy.
Thou, Sun, art half as happy as we,
In that the world's contracted thus ;
Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that's done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere ;
This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere.

Commentary:
In "The Sun Rising", John Donne creates an annoyed and angry tone that shifts to accepting to promote the theme that love is more important than anything else in the world. The speaker, speaking to the sun through apostrophe, first feels that the sun is imposing on his life, but then he welcomes the warmth and power of the sun as a way to help his love prosper. This poem is utterly romantic, though Donne still manages to show his condescending and angry side.
In the very beginning of the poem, Donne uses apostrophe, addressing the sun as though it is barging in on his blissful, quiet moments with his lover. Donne ironically begins a very poetic and romantically titled poem basically yelling at nature; the sun forces people to work, to get out of bed, etc. Diction such as "old fool," "unruly," and "wretch" creates the impression that the speaker is angry. In this stanza, the speaker just wants the sun to go away.
In the second stanza, the speaker acknowledges that he can't ignore the sun. He considers his love to be more important than his dislike of the sun. Throughout the stanza, Donne uses language related to the bedroom, such as "lie here with me" and "all here in one bed lay." Donne puts up with the sun because he would rather have his lover. He says, "But that I would not lose her sight for so long," which exaggerates his need for his lover. He can't stop looking at her for the length of a wink. Overall, Donne still promotes an annoyed tone, but it is more balanced by his love, which clearly is very important to him.
In the last stanza, Donne's tone changes to accepting. He welcomes the sun, saying "shine here to us." Instead of butting in, the sun now accentuates their love. Donne realizes that it's the sun's job to "warm the world," and so by warming their hearts through love, the sun is actually slave to their love. This stanza is much more positive, but Donne still retains a condescending tone as he tells the sun that it revolves around his bedroom in the last line. Obviously Donne values love, but he actually goes as far as saying it is the most important thing in the universe. He can ignore the sun and all other obligations that come with morning because the simple pleasure of being with his love is of utmost importance.
Donne gets angry at the sun and at nature, but this poem shows his thought process. He develops his anger into an understanding of what he values in the world. If we can all pinpoint the one thing in this world that we value most and go after it, devoting everything to that one thing, I'm sure we would all be much happier.

IB Plog #1 "The Good-Morrow"

John Donne "The Good-Marrow"

I wonder by my troth, what thou, and I
Did, till we lov'd? Were we not wean'd till then?
But suck'd on countrey pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the seaven sleepers den?
T'was so; But this, all pleasures fancies bee.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desir'd, and got, 'twas but a dreame of thee.

And now good morrow to our waking soules,
Which watch not one another out of feare;
For love, all love of other sights controules,
And makes one little roome, an every where.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let Maps to other, worlds on worlds have showne,
Let us possesse one world; each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appeares,
And true plaine hearts doe in the faces rest,
Where can we finde two better hemispheares
Without sharpe North, without declining West?
What ever dyes, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none doe slacken, none can die.


Good Morrow Commentary

In “The Good-Morrow,” John Donne creates a certain, loving tone to promote the theme that love is the only necessary thing in life. He develops the confident tone primarily through metaphors and diction. John Donne is so certain of the power of his love that he believes all he needs is his lover, and life will be complete.
Donne’s certainty in the strength of his love is emphasized by his contrasting uncertainty that was present before he met his love. In the beginning of the poem, Donne uses many questions to demonstrate the doubt present in his earlier life. Later in the poem, Donne says, “true plain hearts do in the faces rest,” which is a metaphor explaining how souls can be expressed through someone’s eyes. Donne knows his lover so well he feels that he can study her heart by looking at her face. The hearts are “true” and “plain”; Donne is confident that his love is open and reciprocated.
Donne creates a loving tone primarily through metaphors in the second stanza. He begins the stanza with, “And now good-morrow to our waking souls,” which compares their souls to waking people, who are usually refreshed and happy. Those words also create an image of a sun-soaked bedroom, so I envision Donne waking lover, completely satisfied and absorbed in his love. Donne goes on to say that their love “makes one little room an everywhere.” He uses hyperbole to explain the power and satisfaction of love; once again, his tone is completely absorbed in the love contained in one small room. He never has to leave because the room is “everywhere.”
Donne uses metaphors and specific language to create an enthralled and certain tone. This promotes the theme that love is all you need because Donne is so perfectly content in his love.

Act of Resistance

Patti, Kristin, and I all love animals, and we are very concerned about animal rights. Both Patti and Kristin have dogs, but I really want one, if that counts. We wanted to perform an act of awareness that would alert people to mistreatment of animals. Shelters often have to kill unwanted dogs that they can’t afford to keep alive, and puppy mills are partly to blame. They breed dogs for profit, so lots of puppies don’t get enough to eat and they can become physically disabled from being forced in small cages for so long. All three of us found this very sad, and we wanted to raise awareness to help save the unwanted puppies that often get stuck in shelters. 99% of the puppies sold in pet stores were born in puppy mills, so if you are considering getting a new pet, we want you to make sure you know where the dog came from. Buying a dog from the Humane Society or adopting one from a shelter may be more expensive, but you could be saving that dog’s life and telling the companies that breed dogs simply for profit that they are involved in a cruel, unwanted business and you as consumers are standing for animal rights. To spread this message, we decided to take my neighbors’ dog on a walk while informing people about buying puppies. They came over to my house, and we made a sign for Trent (my neighbor’s dog to wear). It said “Adopt a Puppy.” We figured we’d get some questions and maybe convince people to adopt more wisely. Trent was adopted from a shelter, and his first home was pretty abusive. We wanted to tell the people that we passed while on the walk that they could save another dog like Trent. There weren’t too many people walking around this morning (it hadn’t started snowing yet but it was pretty cold), but a few of them seemed interested. I know not too many people are trying to get a new puppy right now, and we weren’t lucky enough to run into someone actively looking for a dog to adopt, but we spread the word, and hopefully convinced someone to save a puppy that really needs it.

The Boycott

SO I went and saw the play tonight, and I liked it overall, but it didn't seem as funny to me as the actual play Lysistrata. It seemed a lot more concerned and depressing than the original, because the play we read didn't stress about the war so much. The women basically said, yep i'd like my husband home more, and then proceeded into their strike. In The Boycott, the actor describes in detail how global warming and the lack of a solution makes her feel. That was pretty depressing, even though most of the play was funny. It actually related back to the original pretty well, and overall I liked the frog and the weird characters and the song. I guess mostly the play was...interesting.

Lysistrato

The Pinky and the Brain video is pretty funny, but it's actually a lot more pessimistic than the actual Lysistrata play. Still, I laughed out loud at some points. Clearly, the video only relates to the taking of the Akropolis part of the actual plot since no one wants to have sex with mice, but the voiceovers are entertaining. They allude to the wine and water oath and many other parts of the play. So, it's flawed but definitely funny. The major theme in this video would have to be that mice can do everything but take over the world. In Lysistrata the major themes point to the idea that people can do anything if they all work towards the same goal. So I guess there's a bit of a difference there. Also, Brain's Lysistrato is funny but not because of the ridiculous amount of sexual puns that are present throughout the actual play- I think it's mostly the play references, if I hadn't already read Lysistrata this video might be just plain dumb.

Pinky and the Brain in Lysistrata

Cooperation Works!

One of the major themes that I discovered during my reading of Lysistrata was that cooperation has many values and definitely can achieve what individuals can't do alone. The women of the play work together to pledge abstinence; all of them make a sacrifice so that the entire country can benefit from the resulting Peace. The men and women then unite to fight against each other. The men's firepots and the women's water just cancel each other out. When everyone decides to finally work as one whole, that's when peace s finally achieved. The women started the strike, but the men all had to agree, and the Spartans and Athenians had to reach a compromise. When all of this was cooperatively done (with Lysistrata overseeing, as she had been doing all play), Peace was at last within reach. Basically, all people have to do is truly want the same thing, and Lysistrata realized the way to make every man and woman of Greece to desire nothing more than peace.

Fue al Restaurante

The language in Lysistrata was the most important and entertaining part of the play. The puns and underlying symbolism throughout the play made a relatively simple plot into a very funny play that we can all learn from. Whether it's Kinesias saying "I was up before I was up"(88) or Lysistrata reminding the Athenians that "On that great day, your only allies were Spartans; your liberty came at their hands, which stripped away your servile garb and clothed you again in Freedom!"(103), language is very present in Lysistrata. In the first example, Kinesias uses a sexual reference to describe his painful desire (I found it very funny). Lysistrata uses a more graceful metaphor to describe the beauty of freedom and friendship. Language is used to different ends throughout the play, but it is used consistently to add drama and comedy (at different parts) to the otherwise straightforward plot.

Billy la Bufanda

So class today was pretty interesting. I thought the discussion taught me a lot about the expectations in college; all i have found from other colleges about English has been the names of required courses. Still, it wasn't very intimidating. I really feel prepared, and I think I'd do well if I ever had to go to a UWM class. I think IB English maybe doesn't have us practice writing about a lot of our individual ideas, but we do get a lot of other practice putting what we want to say in an organized format. So anyway, interesting, but not scary at all. Even though I'm pretty sure all of us could easily pass the placement test...

Predictable much?

Lysistrata started with a very interesting idea, but I found that the plot didn't provide many surprises. There was definitely a lack of twists and turns; obviously the women would agree to the abstinence and eventually win. What made me like the play was not the story or even the original idea (though I found it very interesting) but the way the story was treated. The language, especially the puns, is what made the story fun to read, and I think the editor did a great job making this ancient story entertaining to present audiences. I guess this goes to show that the storyline is not nearly as important as the treatment of the original idea, or interpretation by the editor/director/reader.

Wow, No One Died!

This play was much more positive than all of the others we have read. No characters die, and everyone actually seems to get what they want in the end. The women get peace, the men get sex, and the enemy prisoners get freedom. This definitely leads to themes that see the human race in a more positive light. Lysistrata shows us the strength of women, and also the ability of the human race to adapt to change and find compromises. I personally enjoyed this change. I like to think that people can fight for peace and win.

Props in Lysistrata

There were actually quite a few props used in Lysistrata, and they all contributed to some sort of symoblic meaning or they were central to the plot. Basically every prop was essential to the story; there wasn't a lot of excess in details in the script, unless you count the very large amounts of characters. Props were used when the men first climbed to the Akropolis with their pots of fire (symbols of sexual desire?) and again when Myrrhine kept leaving to fetch the cot, mattress, etc. These props are easy to remember because they contribute to the play very noticably. The only other really present prop are the clothes that the characters constantly strip out of.

Akropolis

It feels like there wasn't a very prominent setting in the play. I know it took place at the Akropolis, and that has symbolic significance within the play, but the characters don't really interact with their surroundings, just each other (and their clothes). So it seems like any director making this play could just have a nice building in the background and the set would be taken care of.
Yep, so the setting was very simple, but it helps explain how the women first took a stand by trying to control the money. I guess that says that men mostly care about money and sex, and that's what the women took away with their abstinence. So the Akropolis made sense with the play, but besides as an explanation and further evidence of the women's increasing power, it was not a very important aspect of the play in my opinion.

Mirror Opposites

All of the characters in Lysistrata seem to fit into very simple categories. There are men and women and Athenians and Spartans, and everyone is pretty much similar within the categories. What's more, there are drastic differences between the groups, to help distinguish them. The Spartans all talk like "country bumpkins" and the Athenians talk with more intelligent diction. The men are obviously physically similar, but they also value strength and power. Even the words that men and women say to each other demonstrate the opposing characteristics of the two groups. For example, Lysistrata explains the women's willingness to help the men get out of the war and says "We deem it a duty. For friendship's sake." The Commissioner replies, "Well, forsake this, friend: I DO NOT WANT TO BE SAVED, DAMMIT!" The two sexes seem unable to agree on anything because they are so completely opposite.