10. Unwanted Love

Penelope rose like ghost from the dead

To look upon the halls of the men who aren’t fed

She looked at a man with a grimacing smile

As her maids walked down the treacherous aisle

Remarks and shouts were thrown at the maids

But I had no care for they are renegades

They were pinched and pushed to no extent

And I looked down with my sorrow head bent

I knew my actions were not of the brave

But I was a queen and would not cave

Because I know he will one day return

For Odysseus my king oh how dearly I yearn

A suitor stands up and stares at my eyes

But I can see through his menacing lies

He says I’m beautiful without any flaws

And smile appears but only a weak cause

For a queen without a husband is like no queen at all

And I am destined to stay strong before my inevitable great fall

1. The first change I made was to change the original story into a poem, this allows the reader to see through Penelope’s view of the situation with only a few meaningful lines, leaving the rest open to interpretation.
2. The second change I made was to transition from third to first person after the first stanza. This was to show as if Penelope and the author are both trying to recreate the story, but Penelope, being a powerful queen, takes over the poem and tells the rest from her view.
3. The final change I made was to change Penelope’s sense of respect for the maids to a dislike for them, where she calls them “Renegades” to show that they are traitors. This enables the reader to understand her honest perspective of them from the first person.

9. Short and Simple Sadness

Men meat noise fury

Stare grin torn maids sorrow stop

Tears foe friend glory

Breathing heavy fear

Walking biting screech silence

Stare point grasp confused

Step forth to chaos

Man eyes hungry animal

Leave men do not care

1. The first change I made was to recreate the story as a Haiku, this enabled the reader to understand the true meaning of the keywords that define Penelope’s feelings throughout her experience.
2. The second change I made was to represent her confusion, as the reader can not distinguish whether she enjoys the suitors remarks or not. The first sentence reads “Men meat noise fury” whereas the final reads “Tears foe friend glory.” The words “friend” and “foe” show how she can not decide whether the men are enemies or safe company which contradict the word “fury” in the first sentence.
3. The final change I made was to have the title correlate to the information being presented in the Haiku. The “Short and Simple” part represents the literal structure of the Haiku, whereas the sadness ties in to her attitude being shown in the first and second sentences.

8. A Haunting Familiarity

One evening, in the halls of my husband's kingdom, I observed the reverberating noises of the suitors clanging of their forks and knives across my expensive acacia wood table.

“Your highness, what should we do about the suitors?”

“Do not fret, they are simply trying to manipulate our minds, do not succumb to their threats, for persistence and patience is their weakness.”

This was a lie. There was no weakness, the suitors wanted something, they wanted me, my marriage, and they would not stop until I was wed. I could only tell my maids what they wanted to hear, for they had no reason to be involved in such anarchy, they were only staying loyal to me and my family.

“Pardon, that suitor over there, he is big, and us maids, we are so fragile, why is he grinning at us? Are we safe in this castle?

“I am sorry, without my husband by my side, I can not promise anything, these suitors who are dressed from head to toe in ragged clothing, eat like ferocious animals, and scream like hungry vultures are unpredictable. Although I hold a crown upon my head, it means nothing when I am approached by one of the men, without Odysseus to keep me safe. Make sure to remain nonchalant, no matter what obstacles they throw at you, they must not know what we are doing. If we are to defeat them, it will have to be from the inside, where they are least expecting us. Go along now, tend to the suitors, ask if they need more lamb, or need a flask of red wine, this defeat must come slowly.”

“Your highness, I am frightened, these men, they do not care for us, they want sex and pleasure. My feelings are a needle in a haystack, where it is not me who they care about but merely what is on me.”

“My dear, your loyalty is much appreciated by me, but you must tend to the suitors, one day, when all this is over, you will thank me.”

The maids made their way down the hall and back, meanwhile being pinched and eyed by the suitors as they passed. One of the suitors stood up and leveled his eyes with mine, he pointed and shouted loudly.

“Your highness, do you not see, a suitor is calling for your attention.”

“I do not care for him, he can point all he wants for I will not give in to his will.”

“Your highness please! If you do not look, he could not only harm you, but the rest of us maids!”

With those words, I looked at him, his words gentle laying themselves upon my face. I looked down as an instinct, but a subtle smile works its way across my face, a smile that was hauntingly familiar.

1. The first change I made was to create dialogue among one of the maids and Penelope in order to invite the reader deeper into their thoughts and a firsthand experience inside the castle.
2. The second change I made was to deepen into the maids view of the situation, when she says, “Your highness please! If you do not look, he could not only harm you, but the rest of us maids!” it shows the suitors effects on another person contrary to Penelope.
3. The final change I made was to deepen into Penelope’s thoughts, where in the second stanza, she tells the maids one thing, but in her mind she reveals the lie she had said and unveils the true consequences of what would happen.

7. The Dirty Animals

One evening, in the halls of my husband's kingdom, the damn suitors, the dirty pigs, were once again making a scene in the great dining hall. The loud noises were being made purposefully, they are worthless and have nothing else to do in their lives except make someone else's worse. What a cowardly and ignorant thing to do.

One of the suitors looked into my eyes, he is nothing like a prince, a king, but merely a despicable being who holds no value in this God forsaken world. He raises what seems to be the leg of a lamb and begins eating it menacingly. I don’t know what they are trying to accomplish, for my marriage is set in stone, nothing can tear the love I hold for my dear Odysseus.

Beneath the tables, the suitors begin to stomp their feet, disgusting creatures they are, having no respect for me and the kingdom. However, I keep a steady face and take the appearance of a vulnerable queen, I do not want these animals to bear their claws upon my maids, even worse my own self.

My maids are sent off to tend to the suitors, although their company is disliked, I must not show my hatred. The dirty men pinch their behinds with their strong and thick hands, probably from all the labor they have endured, all the labor worthless men should complete, much like themselves. Nonetheless, my maids turned around and continued their way back as they were again harassed by the men.

A suitor with a leather strap wrapped around his forehead, probably of cheap material costing less than a fist of dirt, stood up and looked deep into my eyes. He shouted something and an uproar of laughter exploded upon the room. These men are clueless, they are following one another's lead, likely unaware of what is happening.

A mixture of intoxication and a man's nature made the suitor stand and point at me, meanwhile knocking the wine off the table like an ungrateful brute. Words fly out of his mouth, and to my complete bewilderment, a sudden smile appears on my face, but then quickly goes away, for I can not show emotion to a worthless animal.

1. My first change I made was to emphasize Penelope’s interpretation of her dislike for the suitors through her harsh language.
2. The words “worthless animal” displays Penelope’s utter hatred for the suitors. She again uses the words “worth a handful of dirt” to recognize what little value she holds for them.
3. Penelope focuses on jeering at the suitors background and wealth rather than on the disturbance they are making in the castle, furthering the point she is trying to make.

The Never-Ending Trail: Module 14

Recursion by definition is, "The repeated application of a recursive procedure or definition," what this means is that an image containing recursion gives the effect of perpetual growth. I created a recursive image through the photoshop platform by using parallel and perpendicular lines to give the image a recurring effect. Beneath the parallel lines, I printed the word "Recursion" in large bold letters and as the box in which the lines constructed became smaller, so did the word. This technique allowed the image to appear infinitely ongoing and slightly mesmerizing, ultimately capturing the idea of recursiveness.

6. Views From the Halls

Views From the Halls

One evening, I observed my beloved queen in a state of slight distress. The damn suitors were intentionally creating a raucous to harm her will to live. They did not want to marry her, they wanted sex, money, riches. They are men, purely men. They do not care about feelings, but merely feeling good. What they are doing, it is not right, but men will be men, and all I can do is trust that my queen will not succumb to their misleading promises.

Some of the suitors begin to stare directly at her, grimacing cunningly as if insinuating something. I sensed an immediate danger, although there had already been one the second they entered the kingdom. By being a women, I was more scared for the protection of the other maids then I was myself.

These men, these obnoxious pigs, began stomping their feet and laughing. They knew it harmed the queen and without Odysseus by her side, there was nothing she could do about their actions. The men had no sense of respect in their confined hearts, they did not feel emotion, they ate like cattle and slept like dogs. How could a woman ever like this treatment, especially a prominent queen.

Queen Penelope ordered us kindly to tend to the men and to bring more meat to suit their likings. As I walked, I felt the sweaty and mangled hands of the men grab my behind and squeeze forcefully. I spoke nothing, and continued on my way, however I made sure to quicken as to relieve myself from the especially barbarous suitors. Once I reached the end of the table, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath inwards as I turned around and followed my path back. Although it was humiliating, I needed to please Penelope for she had worked with us for every moment after Odysseus’ departure.

A suitor abruptly stood up, one of the barbaric ones I assumed, and pointed his fingers at Penelope. He kept a leather strap around his head which prevented his dark brown hair from entering his vision. Remarks of all sorts spewed from his mouth and my beloved queen looked down, however she did not appear despaired. I noticed a smile emerge across her milky white skin, maybe she to did not see the true inhumane nature of the suitors.

1. The first change I made was writing the original story from the view of a maid. This allowed the reader to perceive the situation from a view that is slightly different from Penelope’s which revealed the different views the two characters possessed.
2. The second change was to remove the second to last stanza and merge it with the last, where I did not believe the maid would have received as much descriptive detail on the suitor because she did not personally encounter him and would ultimately have a less vivid description of the man.
3. The final change was to have a reoccurring theme of comparing men to animals, where because the maids were accustomed to tending to dirty and difficult labor that included working with animals and therefore the maid viewed the men as equal to them.

5. A Queen Amidst an Army

When the clock struck its mighty sound and the moon crept upon me like a shadow in the night, I looked down upon a war zone, the faces of hungry animals who took the form of men screeching into the open air of the great dining hall. I observed the barrage of noises from the men as they ravaged with their forks and knives across my sleek wood table, battling my final strand of dignity. The noise bounces to and fro from the limestone walls of the castle like a crackling fire licking the love out of one’s heart.

One of the men gazes deep into my eyes like a serpent with its venomous fangs primed to rip my slender body to shreds. He engulfs the dark red leg of a lamb, his yellow teeth tearing the fat off the animal like a hungry lion. His short and stubby neck curl back once again as he then inserts another lamb leg inside his mouth and eats it entirely in one bite, his eyes stretched open with a fiery glare. With his bushy eyebrows upright, he grins with a sinister stare and reaches once more to eat away the remains of hope I hold for my beloved husband to return. The bloody lamb leaves a dark orange circle surrounding his unshaven beard which he then wipes off with his white undershirt as if a decrepit animal living on the dirty streets of a ghost town.

Beneath the table, the suitors stomp their feet to a music that is not being played as if marching toward an inevitable death. My maids walk along the side of the table, holding tight to their trays as the the suitors throw glances and pinch their behinds like hungry dogs being held back by a thin chain.

The men begin to make remarks at the maids as they turn around and follow their exact path back to the front of the hall as if programmed to follow orders against their will. They begin pounding their goblets on the table, the purple splatter of spilled wine embeds itself like eyes upon a beautiful face as it drips from the frayed edge of the wood onto the ground.

One suitor who wears a leather strap around his forehead like a restless explorer in search of a damsel in distress, bellows something about the maids with a mighty voice that erupts its humorous magma upon the crowd. His white cotton shirt like a lifeless goat is loosely buttoned to about midway up his sweaty and war torn chest. He keeps a hand tightly grasped to a black obsidian knife as if a lonesome warrior stuck in the empty night.

A mixture of intoxication and impulse as makes him abruptly stand up and level his eyes with mine, lamb blood dripping from his chin like unspoken words of a madman. He speaks in his noble but condescending manner and I look down directly at the stone floor as if struck by a love I do not want, but a smile creeps its way across my face like candlelight in a dark chamber. The same light remains for the next few moments, then transitions to a frown and drooping eyes, as if I had lost something I had held so dearly.

1. My first change was to create an atmosphere that had the original bland story appear in an epic and heroic manner, which I accomplished using numerous similes and descriptive details.
2. The second significant change was to remove sections of the story, including, “mixing with the purple splotches of the wine” where I felt that the recurring theme of spilled wine did not fit sufficiently within the “epic” parameters.
3. On the lines of recurring themes, I did speak about love, tenderness, and Odysseus. The first introduction to love is in the first stanza where I mentioned, “like a crackling fire licking the love out of one’s heart.” I tied in this phrase when I mentioned, “like eyes upon a beautiful face” and, “as if I had lost something I had held so dearly” which represented Penelope’s want for Odysseus to return and how she feels eternally about his voyage.