Sometimes I sleep so hard that when I wake up my face hurts.

Also I can never remember my dreams, which is very frustrating for me because everyone else gets to talk about their cool dreams but I'm just over here like the closest thing to dreaming I've had this past year is the occasional episode of sleep paralysis.

Anyways, I should probably get on task and write up this blog post about the American Dream.

The heck is the American Dream?
I would describe the American Dream as this outdated idea that in the United States all citizens can work to get a nice house with a yard, pursue the nuclear family dynamic, and overall be prosperous and successful. So if you work hard, you can get yourself a wife/husband and have tons of kids that you'll be able to support financially all while paying for your sweet house and other necessities. In the end you'll be pretty well off and can definitely splurge on some material goods or upgrading your appliances. In reality this outlook is super optimistic and probably can only be reached by white rich or upper middle class individuals. Not to mention the ideal family dynamic is exclusively for heterosexual couples even at this day in age.
If I could describe my American Dream is that by some miracle I'll be able to pay off my college debt before I'm middle aged.. That'd be sweet.. Oh and also not become homeless at any point, that's extra sweet.

Oh my god this is the first picture that comes up when you Google search "American family." I'm going to cry over this forever probably..

THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE AMERICAN DREAM. BLONDE HAIR, BLUE EYES, COWBOY HATS, HORRIBLE FASHION CHOICES, SOME TREES, ROSE COLORED CHEEKS, AND STACKS OF CASH. That kid's shirt is even red white and blue, see, this is it. This is the dream..

What is my definition of wealth?

I'm going to go the monetary route with this first off. I think a wealthy person is somebody who, first off, isn't in debt. If they have more money in their bank than they owe, that's really sweet and I wish they would adopt me. I guess I can look at other ways to define wealth though, such as personal satisfaction: that could be considered wealth. If you feel good, and are okay with where you are in life, you probably have some sort of wealth. 

What is America's ideas towards wealth and poverty?

SCREAMS SOMETHING ABOUT CAPITALISM. (As much as I want to sound like one of those crazy people that's like "down with capitalism" I'll spare you) 

Everyone wants to be wealthy, as a kid it is driven into you that if you work hard you will get wealthy. Some of America doesn't seem to get, however,  that there is more to getting wealthy than just hard work. I've heard people say "well they wouldn't be homeless if they got a job," which is the most naive thing you could say about people who are poverty stricken. Those who are wealthy can just say that "get a job," but if you are homeless and you have one outfit that you've worn for, as it's smell would tell you, way too long, chances are you are going to have a hard time getting near a job interview. When you look at the statistics for homeless people, many of them are veterans, mentally ill, people of color, or queer- society has even more barriers impeding their ability to become employed. America seems to be afraid of those in poverty in many cases, or are so in fear of their own wealth that somehow if they try to help these individuals financially in some way, they too will fall into poverty. So I'd say overall wealth is extremely significant to the lives of Americans since it determines who actually survives in our society to an extent. 

My attitude towards wealth and poverty:

One time somebody told me to "live for your work," when I was uncertain about a future career path. I thought this was really bizarre "live for your work," enjoy it I guess is what they meant, and I'm pretty sure I laughed at him. It was the most ridiculous thing I had been told since my dad would always remind me that in the future I would be working to live. I would be working for myself to live and I would be working to make sure my brother could live. I've always been told when my parents kick it, I'm going to be taking care of my mentally ill brother. Right now, it still feels like I have until this school year's end before I really start thinking about wealth and poverty, but right now what I do know is that I'll be working till I'm on my deathbed. Which is okay, because I'd probably get bored if I retired, but realistically I am aware of the cost for medication and living, and I want to have enough money to not only survive but make sure my family is comfortable. I've seen how poverty can hurt people and I don't want my loved ones to suffer. Honestly, I'm not sure if any of this makes sense, I kind of zoned out while writing, so sorry.

Whoa okay.. that's all the questions... sweet. Oh yeah, check out when you Google search American Family, go to images and see how it has related searches and it's like "traditional american family," "american family insurance," and then, "white american family." Like okay, who the heck loves mayonnaise flavored families that much- that's the only category by race that pops up. Like white people must have searched "american family" and then for some reason decided that the few families with people of color were impeding their search so they had to make it more specific?? I just imagine something like, "MY DISGUSTING EYES CANNOT STAND THIS, I NEED PURE WHITE FAMILIES ONLY," being screamed as they bash their fingers into the keyboard to search "white american family" like when the hell are ya gonna need that? Go look at your own family picture or something.    

You Kafka Be Kidding Me....

Sweet skull bug matches my blog..

I hate puns, so I'm just going to leave it to that and get to work with analyzing these translations to the first line of Kafka's Metamorphosis.
Here's a breakdown of my thoughts for each of these translations.

#1: As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

- This was actually a tiny bit difficult for me to read. I had to read it a couple of times because of the way it was worded and because it was something so bizarre that was stated as a matter of fact. With no punctuation its just a simple statement; you are expected to read straight through, accept what just happened, and then move on to the next sentence.
- "Gigantic insect" was also rather simple imagery. There was nothing that was used to compare the scale of his size to, we are only given the fact he was "gigantic". Although since this adjective was used before "insect" you could argue his size was compared insects in the sense that he is larger than most, however since this transformation occurred in his bed you could interpret that despite the size, it must be one capable of fitting in his bed. Either way, it's vague in my opinion.
- "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams" could have been it's own sentence if it weren't for the inclusion of "as" which seems to make this an incomplete process, as well as a minor detail to describe when the independent clause, "he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect," occurred. 
- The inclusion of "uneasy dreams" in this at all, instead of just saying "awoke" seems to be an attempt to add to the oddity, however the entire sentence appears to be more bizarre since his dreams were described with oddity or discomfort while his transformation had no such description. As if the dreams were the only significantly odd part out of this entire situation.  


#2: Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.

- Much like the first translation, it has a matter-of-factness to it. It's a statement with no punctuation to interrupt the flow of reading it. Its all one thought, no time to mentally process it until you've read it all and worded in a way that you are just supposed to accept the event that occurred. 
- The effect of uneasy is the same as before. The words used like "changed" and "giant" feel less formal, more simplified. Despite having similar denotation to "transformed" and "gigantic" the connotation makes it seem like this metamorphosis was less impressive.
- The independent and dependent seemed to have swapped here. "Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning" can serve as a sentence alone, while "to find himself changed into a giant bug" cannot. This also is not showing the development of an event, but instead states that the event occurred. "To find himself changed into a giant bug" is just a bonus to the fact he woke up. Also, having his name first, makes it seem like the introduction of the character held higher importance. 
- Translation #1 used Gregory Samsa waking up in his bed as a way to describe the setting for Samsa discovering his metamorphosis, while here it's even more vague. We aren't given any indication as to where he is, and also have no way to interpret size to some sort of scale. He's just a vaguely giant bug that woke up. Also interestingly enough, they used the name Gregory instead of Gregor. I do not feel that this made a significant impact though, since I almost didn't notice that change. 

#3: When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.

- Okay, so I know my sentences are usually way too long sometimes, but this is kind of getting obnoxious. I feel the need to read this as quick as possible without stopping because of this lack of punctuation. There could be a comma after morning or something just to break it up.
- "Enormous bug" is the significant descriptive detail here. Like #1, they also chose to use "transformed". The use of "enormous", to me, makes the transformation seem a little more impressive than it does when described by "gigantic" or "giant." 
- Like the other two, Gregor waking up was mentioned before the transformation. This translation reminds me the most of #1 structure wise, however, "When Gregor Samsa awoke," is stating this as an event that occurred, not in development like "As Gregor Samsa awoke". Despite having the event of him waking up first, the discovery of his transformation is presented as more significant since "when" serves to present the setting for this event.
- Using "troubled", to me, carries more of a negative connotation than uneasy does. When I see "troubled" I immediately think that there's some sort of distress involved, and much more severely than what I think of when I see "uneasy". 

#4: One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.

- Finally, punctuation is being used to break up the event. When reading this there feels like there is more suspense, it's less like a statement of fact, and built up to declaring the transformation to the audience. Rather than just straight up telling it. 
- "Monstrous vermin" is much more descriptive, and holds way more negative connotation. Here the audience can imagine what sort of monstrosity the character warped into, since there's still lack of clarity in what kind of "vermin" he became. It also makes you wonder, who is viewing this transformation so negatively. Is it the author, is it the character himself? It's kind of interesting since in the other translations, what he transformed into wasn't so significant, it was just the fact he was a large insect, there was no insight to help us decide how to feel about that.
-  For the first time, him waking up isn't at the forefront. "One morning, upon awakening," this is presented as any typical morning, him being conscious is now of minimal importance, even though before it was still of minor or major importance. Here it is completely just to create some sort of setting. The rest of the structure, makes all the minor parts broken up with equal importance, to build up to this ultimate event: the transformation into a monstrous vermin. 
-  This translation uses words with way more negative connotation than the other ones. The description of the transformation was rather neutral, just matter of fact, but with "monstrous" "vermin" and "agitated", the audience is presented with the idea that this metamorphosis was negative, that it was bad, not just something that happened. There's more significance in how to feel about the events that led up to this transformation as well as the transformation itself. 

Let's piece this breakdown together now: 

 Each translation has a massive impact on how this experience is conveyed to the audience. The punctuation and syntax is capable of affecting the audience's first impression and immediate understanding of  what this character's experience was. For instance, the translation of #2, made me feel like I was in the place of Gregor first waking up, the waking up part seeming to be separate from the actual discovery of metamorphosis. If I was waking up as a giant insect, I wouldn't have even acknowledged it until I was totally awake, like how #2 broke up Gregor waking up and then "to find himself a giant insect". Wake up, "oh whoa I'm a bug". It's a matter of fact statement, that doesn't impose any positive or negative connotation onto the reader, and the experience of waking up and the experience of discovering the metamorphosis are separated.
 Imagery had a huge impact on the perception of the event, making it less vague and helping to describe the situation through the senses. Translation #1 did the best at this, in my opinion, as it described when, gave insight into what the dreams were like, where this was occurring, and just what Samsa had turned into. Even though the other's did a good job with this, #1 did such without pushing some sort of emotion onto the audience by using words with neutral connotation. It evoked perception without making this situation appear to be a terrible predicament.
 Structure also had impact on what could be seen as most important to lesser importance, which can have an impact likewise to syntax with leaving an intentional, or unintentional impression on the audience. Even minor details with using words with connotation that isn't neutral have this impact, which is why I think it's important for the translators to have some sort of an idea of what the author originally intended. If the author originally presented this experience indifferently in the original text, it is crucial for the translator to try to follow by that. Translation #4 is a major example of how the overall intended impression of the text can be changed drastically just through details and the way it's structurally set up. If the author originally intended for the metamorphosis to be viewed by the audience as a negative experience, then it is suiting, but if the author originally wrote it like how it is written in the other translations, with indifference so that the audience is allowed to perceive it as they will, then that was truly lost in translation.