Valley Of The Dolls Pt.II

Prompt-Pretend you get to create the music soundtrack for what you’ve been reading.

What five songs would you include? Write an explaination for each song: why

would you include it, how does the song connect to events.

**SPOILERS**

1.Valley Of The Dolls By Marina And The Diamonds

I picked this song simply because it gives a good summary of what to expect from this book. The song references a lot of what Anne, Jennifer, and Neely go through in the novel, such as sleeping to avoid pain, having different personalities, and feeling empty. It has a sort of melancholy feel that is felt throughout the entire of the novel so far.

2.Last Hope by Paramore

'I don't even know myself at all. I thought I would be happy by now', a verse from this song really connects with Neely. I picked this song to represent Neely O'Hara. Neely is the youngest of the girls and also the most talented. Neely is a singer, actress, and Broadway performer. After finding success Neely goes into a downward spiral. She jumps from husband to husband, pops pills, and quite often tries to commit suicide. As Neely nears 30 we began to see how unhappy she is with her life and how she thought that success would bring her happiness. This is Neelys song because both her and the singer (Hayley Williams) both feel as if they were mislead and need something to keep them going. For Hayley it's the band but for Neely it's her twin sons, Jud and Bud.

3.Pretty When You Cry By Lana Del Rey

I picked this song for Jennifer North. One of Jennifer's first relationships with a man after being in relationships with women, is fairly abusive. Her boyfriend/husband verbally, physically abuses her, and cheats on her. In this song Lana shows a lot of emotion about the abusive relationship and shows a line that relates a lot to Jennifer. 'I'll wait for you, babe, it's all I do babe, you don't come through babe, you never do, because I'm pretty when I cry.' This relates to Jennifer because her husband Tony always leaves for 'work' where he cheats on her and she constantly waits for him but all he ever does is abuse her when he gets back and likes how she looks when she is in pain.

4.Teen Idle By Marina And The Diamonds

This is a song of regret. This song relates to every girl. Neely regrets taking pills, Anne regrets not loving Lyon enough, Jennifer regrets never having children. 'I want to drink until I ache. I want to make a big mistake. I want blood, guts, and chocolate cake. I'm gonna puke it anyway.' The drinking and vomiting in for Neely. Neely basically has an eating disorder. She barely eats 5 meals a week and is addicted to diet pills. 'I wish I wasn't such a narcissist. I wish I didn't really kiss the mirror when I'm on my own. Oh God, I'm gonna die alone.' This is for Jennifer. Jennifer has no talent but is constantly hired because of her beauty, but at age 40 discovers that she has breast cancer and has to get a mascetomy. She then realizes that people (including herself) only loved her because of her body and that her husband will leave her because of her body change. (Her husband later decides to leave her because of the loss of her breasts. Jennifer commits suicide.)

5.Gasoline By Halsey

Once again this is a song for Neely. This song is written by someone who suffers from bipolar disorder and is about their bipolar and it really fits Neelys life. ''All the people say 'You can't wake up. This is not a dream...With your face all made up, living on a screen. Low on self esteem so you run on gasoline.'" And "Are you insane like me? Been in pain like me?". This really fits Neelys life because she simply lives on movie screens and doesn't have a real life. She appears beautiful on screen but in reality is in pain and lives her life in regret. Neely hears these voices in her head that she needs to get better but simply cannot. She is not in control of her life just like the singer.

Valley Of The Dolls

Prompt- Choose a quote you like and explain why you chose it.

'I don't think I have an identity yet.' 

The quote that I fell in love with from 'Valley Of The Dolls'. Anne says this to Lyon in the beggining of the book. 

I fell in love with this quote because because of the ideas of identities. You are never simply yourself and I feel like Anne explains this very well through out the novel so far. Each person you have met has a different version of you that they think of when they hear your name. You might believe in who you think you are but you are never truly that person to anyone but yourself. 

Another reason I fell I love with this quote was because of how I relate it to 'The Archetypes'. Each girl in 'Valley Of The Dolls' represents an archetype. Anne represents the Housewife, Jennifer represents the Beauty Queen and Homewrecker, and Neely represents the Idle Teen. While Jennifer and Neely know exactly who they want to be Anne doesn't quite know what she wants in life. She desperately wants to marry Lyon and remain a house wife while also wanting to be a Beauty Queen like Jennifer, and wanting to be a working woman in society. 

I really love this quote just because of how much it relates to myself. I feel as if identity is something that is very fluid because of how often it changes. This relates to me because as a person whenever I feel I have built an identity for myself I change as a person just how Anne has. 

Life Is Beautiful

Prompt-Based on the Holocaust literature and poetry we have read, what connections can be made between Life is Beautiful and our reading?  What events, scenes, or situations are similar or different? What is similar or different about the mood or tone of the pieces? Analyze how differences in points of view of characters create suspense or humor. How is life shown as beautiful throughout the film. Pull out at least two examples from different parts of the film and explain your rationale.

'Life Is Beautiful' and 'Night' are two pieces about the topic of the Holocaust. Despite both detailing experiences of the Holocaust they both take on very different roles to describe the experience of the Holocaust.

The film 'Life Is Beautiful' takes the role of comedy and drama to explain a family's journey through the Holocaust. To contrast that, the novel 'Night' by Elie Weisel, uses seriousness and bluntness to describe his experiences. Despite having differences in tone they both carry very similar events. Some similar events between the film and novel include the separation of families and the gas chamber 'showers'. An example of similarity in both works is that both go through the act of separation at a concentration camp. In 'Night', Elie and his father are separated from his mother and younger sister. While in the the film, Guido and Joshua are brutally separated from Dora, Guido's wife and Joshua's mum. Another example of similarity between both film and novel is the representation of gas chambers to the Jews. In 'Life Is Beautiful' Joshua among all the other children at the camp are commanded to undress and go take a 'shower', which would have ultimately led to the children to their death by gas. When Joshua escapes the Nazis he goes to his father Guido and explains to him that he ran away due to his hatred of showers, to which Guido responds by telling him to take the shower. A command that Joshua disobeyed. Guido only responds in this way to Joshua because of lack of knowledge about what 'showers' actually are at the camp. This is similar to Wiesels novel in the way that when the Jewish people and others being persecuted arrived at the camp they had no prior knowledge about the true terrors of the camp. Despite the Jews never knowing about these terrors Wiesel also fails to mention the existence of the gas chambers in any way throughout the entire piece of writing.

As previously stated, in the film 'Life Is Beautiful', Guido uses a comedic tone throughout the film to convey a sense of security to his son through out their time in the concentration camp. This is different than in the novel by Wiesel due to his blunt and honest tone. An example of a comedic act is when Guido is being taken away by a Nazi. In this scene Joshua is hidden in a small cabinet outside as he sees his father, who happens to be dressed as a woman, being marched away by a Nazi. Guido then proceeds to march goofily when he spots his son. Guido uses comedic actions to show support to this son that he isn't actually living in fear. On the other hand in Night and other Holocaust writing we see many Jews and other living in constant fear of making a mistake in front of the Nazis. Another example of comedy that shows a large difference between the two is how Guido addresses the camp to his son. In 'Life Is Beautiful' Guido explains to Joshua that the camp is actually a game where if he is quiet enough and survives that he will be awarded with a tank. When Joshua gets fed up with being at the camp Guido turns to comedy and tells Joshua that he can leave whenever he would like. Guido then proceeds to comedicly tell everyone goodbye and marches into the rain. Afterward Joshua re-quotes Guido by saying 'I can't go out in the rain! I'll catch a fever of 110!'. After this Joshua decides to stay. While in 'Night' Elie and his father never attempt to lift the spirits of anyone at the camp or each other in a comedic way and simply just try to survive. Many people in 'Night' simply want to live but do not try in any emotional way to do so. For example when the older people are terrified for their children's lives they simple tell them advice such as 'You must never lose faith, even when the sword hangs over your head...'. In Night there is simply blunt advice given to those losing faith but never an attempt as emotional as Guido's.

The film 'Life Is Beautiful', does it's job well, not only by showing an amazing story but by also living up to its title. Through out the film there are many examples of the beauties of life. One example of how life is beautiful in the film is when Guido and Joshua are taken away by the Nazis. This scene shows how life is beautiful because when Dora realizes what has happened to Joshua and Guido she immediately goes to the cattle car and asked to be sent away with her family. This shows how life is beautiful because it shows that the love you can feel for others can extend so far that you would be willing to be treated as a slave just to be remotely close to them. It shows how humanity can extend to the darkest depths of life.

Another example of how life is beautiful that is shown in the film is the sacrifice of life. In the end of the film Guido is shot and killed while trying to reach his wife and keep his son safe. This shows the beauty of a humans life because it shows how one can love another so deeply as so sacrifice their life for them. Guido sacrifices himself and his own emotions just to keep his son happy. Guido like everyone else at the camp was filled with fear, despair and sadness. Yet Guido sacrificed his feelings just to show his son that life would go on even during such dark times. 

A final act that showed us the beauties of life is the marriage of Dora and Guido. Guido is an Italian Jew, while Dora is simply Italian. When the two fall in love we can all assume that it was all viewed as taboo in Italy, due to Guido's religion. This showed us that life was beautiful because it can show that love can extend social norms. It shows how life is beautiful because we can see that despite social pressures and current events (i.e the persecution of Jews) that a non-Jew could find herself in love with someone who was deemed as less than human. Dora and Guido definitely show us how life is indeed, beautiful.