How can we site The Sandman in our work cited page?

HELP!

okay so I've been trying to start this paper for a couple of days and I really want to just get it started today but I have no idea where to start. I think I just need help breaking down the assignment because I just have no idea where to start and I want to do very well.

ps I have used this website for my works cited page. You just have to enter the information and it puts it in the right citation format. thought it may be helpful.

So I was wondering, do you watch Boardwalk Empire? Thought of this class twice in the last episode. One character told his kids about the sandman (ha), and then there's the character Richard Harrow. Check out the video I linked to his name and you'll see what I mean.

Anyway, I really have been enjoying H and like I said in class the other day, the first part was quite funny to me. The second and third part is a little more sad with Benjamin's struggle and all. I marked off pages of parts I found interesting in a way that allows us to dig deeper into the meaning of what is being said. I'm sure we'll get to these parts in class tomorrow.

I also really enjoy the whole letter format, I like that the story is being told through these unspoken words. Writing a letter is very different than telling a story out loud and I enjoy how the letter format itself is a crucial part of the novel.

We can use "I" in this essay?

Our Paper

Professor,

Other than the text and citing, can we use personal experiences? Experiences that have been uncanny, unintelligible, etc...?

TURN OF THE SCREW/ACCURSED INHABITANTS

In both novel Freud veiw of the Polymorphous Perversity of sexuality is clearly seen. All children are born with this tendency which mostly gets surpressed to hetersexuality in the long run, but in both novel we see clearly that nuture played a great part in the homosexual attributes of young Miles towards quint who played the role of care taker and in turn became a love symbal. I feel that Miles had seen how Jessel acted sexually towards Quint and in turn wanted that same comfort, so he did not see Quint as a role model but as "Comfort". Strangely i can see why that Professor made that comment about sex orgy, if the kids are being exposed to the firery passion of Quint and Jessel, she may see them wanting to act; as what Miles clearly does in the Accursed inhabitants she may be wondering what about the charactor of Flora no sexual connotation was mentioned about her charactor and due to tha fact that the story is so open at times she just felt she could add orgy into the mix using Freud Polymorphous Perversity of sexuality mixed with Pleasure Principle (to aviod the pain of having to attach to different caregivers, putting their trust on the line once more).

References

The only references we're using are the Turn of the Screw, The Uncanny, and The Sandman right?

Turn of The Screw/Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly

I liked and disliked the fact that the story is so open ended. In a way, it let's my imagination roam free and make assumptions and create my own kind of story in my head. On the other hand, I wish there were more answers. I really hated the fact that the Governess is supposed to be "all-knowing", I don't like or understand how she just knows everything without any explanation. I actually found her character really annoying. She just believes that she's doing the right thing.

Out of both of these stories, I definitely liked Accursed Inhabitants a lot more, mostly because it gives a good back story to Turn of the Screw, one that seems to have been lost through the numerous narrations.

I found it helpful that we read this story after The Sandman and Freud's essay on The Uncanny. I was able to make a lot of connections between the stories myself, and the class discussions helped a lot too. The doubling of characters is something that especially sticks out to me. In both stories Freud's idea of the doppelganger is displayed very prominently. The Governess reminds me a lot of Nathaniel from The Sandman as well.

Thoughts About Turn of The Screw

My thoughts about Turn of The screw from reading it on my own and then from the last two class discussions were similar but different in some ways. When I read " Acursed inhabitants of the house of bly" before reading Turn of the Screw it confused me in the beginning but i got to understand that the characters were playing different roles right? Jessel kills herself because shes pregnant and the story was more straight forward then Turn of The Screw. James Henry actually wrote this novela in an interesting way because we actually had to really understand what was going on between all the characters since four out of six were dead. The governess is someone we had to really pay close attention to because her character seems to truly know everything. She has a strong belief that what she " knows" is cleary revelant such as her idea that the ghost exsisting and her saving Quint & Jessel. Quint is a character that gives off such a sexual vibe like having attractions for most of the other characters like the governess, Miles and Jessel. I noticed that the similarity between Turn of The Screw & The Uncanny is that they both have the theory of doubling along with familar vs. unfamiliar. I believe that Freud's writting of The Uncanny definately has similarities in which im going to include in my paper. This story was ambiguous in many kinds.

The Prestige

A really uncanny story i read is called The Prestige by Christopher Priest. Its also been made into a movie with Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, which is also really good. This story has to do with doubling as well. However unlike the Turn of the Screw in which there are a lot of missing pieces with no definitive explanation, at the end of the novel Priest does explain the uncanny parts of his novel. This makes the story in a way even more troubling, similarly as in the Sandman when Nathanial finds out the sandman is real. It also has a different twist when it comes to his version of the automaton. It's a great book and i feel one that definantly one that fits the requirements for the uncanny list.

Essay

I have a couple of questions about the essay we have to write:

1) For the essay and how we have to write about similarities to Freud's definitions of the category "das Unheimlich," we can use all the definitions from the Uncanny to compare to the novella, "The Turn of The Screw?"

2) I don't understand what you mean by, "repetition and doubling."

3) Since this story doesn't have a literal meaning, do we get points taken off if our meaning isn't exactly close to what the novel might be speaking about?

"Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly "

I definately enjoyed reading this story more than Turn Of The Screw.
I think the author does an excellent job in challenging the original story.
I like how it was almost a prequel to the Turn Of The Screw at first and then also followed the same time line and events as Turn Of The Screw but from the other side of the story, I thought it was very clever because we only get the Governess' perspective of the events that occur. Both stories were definately odd but this story I felt was alot more straight- foward with what was going on as opposed to Turn Of The Screw were it seemed hidden.
In this story as well it seems as though sex is forbidden and is associated with evil. I mean because of self-disgust Jessel kills herself because she see's no otherway. Society and the image of one's self seems to play a big role in this story. Another example of this would be when Quint and the Master are talking and when the Master says "For, y'know, Quint, just between us two,man to man: I would ather see the poor little bugger dead, than unmanly." Quint and Jessel's attachment to Flora and Miles is so strange and weird. Especially Miles and Quints effection , seems a little more than appropriate. Miles definately wants Quint, especially when he is talking to Quint and saying "Quint I only Love you." and "They vowed never to tell." It is alot more obvious in this story. In my opinion Quint seems to have some sort of sexual attraction to a lot of the characters, like Jessel the Governess and Miles. In Turn Of The Screw I had a feeling that the children did see the ghost and were just saying that didn't and also keeping secrets from the Governess, and this story definately confirmed that suggestion.

Reading both these stories, I kept thinking of the movie "The Others" and then I saw on the main class blog all the movies that were sort of a version of Turn Of The Screw and that was one of them, and now I want to see the other ones too!

I see everyone commenting about Guts Im going to read that whenever I get a chance looks pretty interesting.

I read "Guts" last night and it was pretty wild. I didn't faint though.

Two things from the story stood out to me though, being is that they relate to what we have been talking about in class.

The first being the "invisible carrot" that hangs over his friend. This reminded me of "The Turn of the Screw" and the whole theme of "knowing". The narrator's friend in "Guts" is forever wondering if his parents know and if they do what they know in regards to the carrot and why they have never mentioned it. It is so unspeakable that they wont even confront him, even as a grown man many years later? Or do they not know? Or did they find it and not realize exactly what it really was? This is similar to the Governess' wondering about what the children "know" in "The Turn of the Screw".

Also, toward the end of the short story by Chuck Palahniuk, the narrator obviously is aware that his family knows what has happened to him, but after the many affects of the situation has been dealt with, they never mention it again.  Perhaps this event is that unspeakable. This reminded me of Freud's essay "The Uncanny". On pages 130 to 132 of "The Uncanny", Freud uses the "heimlich/unheimlich" to describe secretive things, much like what has become of our narrator's experience in "Guts". The family clearly wishes that what happened remains secret and hidden, fearing that it comes into the open.

Turn of the Screw / Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly

The Turn of the Screw was one complicated story. I had to reread it like a good four times. I felt like Miles was a creepy child from the start though, like he was very mature and to me, like I thought he had a latency gay going on. I also think the Governess was out of her mind, and don't think Jessel and Quint were ghosts, but it was from her repressed sexual feelings that she was seeing them. The Governess "knew" enough to know that Jessel and Quint had some sort of forbidden relationship, something she would never have. When the Governess "sees" Jessel at the desk in the study room, she screams "You terrible miserable woman!" , I feel as if that is the Governess projecting her feelings of inadequacy onto Jessel. I feel as though there was something that the Governess wanted to prove to the Master to get noticed. Like she kept doing things to get noticed, and in a way vying for his attention. I also got the impression that what makes this story so "horrible", is that the children are being treated as not innocent, and "knowing" far more then they should for the ages of ten and eight. The short story, Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly, was a good story and anecdote to The Turn of the Screw, and really furthered my belief in Miles being attracted to males. The way Jessel spoke of herself before she "crossed over" was interesting to me too, because it was complete opposite of the type of person she was in life. Further, the way the Governess is portrayed as a strict, tight, rule abiding person gave me more insight to how she would never allow herself to be fully seduced by anyone, or ever give into her sexual desires, which gave me more more reason to believe that in The Turn of the Screw, its what makes her go mad. I also think that when Miles screams his last word, "-you devil", refers to the Governess, because she is the one who won't allow freedoms of any sort. I could be wrong and will probably read the story yet again to see if I change my feelings.

I also read Guts last night, and seriously that is what people faint over? I read it a few times and each time it got better. I don't understand what the big deal was. It reminded me of the tv show 1000 ways to die.

Guts...

Yeah, this wasn't apart of the syllabus but class today had me super curious. I won't mention any details in case anyone hasn't read/listened to it. I read it first and it was quite captivated because it's literally the weirdest and admittedly, foul thing I've ever read- kinda hard to stop. I definitely didn't faint, nor gag or get sick. I literally just went and ate dinner afterwards completely unfazed so those however many people were probably just being dramatic. But I will note that I listened to it through YouTube again and a lot of people in the audience were laughing...which is weird. I didn't take it as something humorous, I thought it was actually kind of depressing so just wondering, what did everyone else think of it? That's all.

Catching Up Post

I found On Dreams to be a very interesting read because dreams have always been appealing to me. Freud points out how his friend's gesture of paying for his cab showed up, in a way, in his own dream. It's interesting how something so small can have an effect on our dreams and can be hidden in such a strange way. I have heard writing down you're dreams helps to remember and make meaning of them but, I never would've thought they had such deep meanings.

I don't think I've ever read anything quite like The Sandman. The content of the story, from the beginning to the end, and even the way it is written, is just strange. I know we discussed in class that because it is not specifically stated, there cannot be such a simple explanation to the story as Nathaniel being insane. I do however think it's clear that there's something wrong going on in his head. Between his outbursts and his interest in Olympia, who isn't real, he simply cannot be a normally functioning person. The question of what exactly is considered normal? is not an easy question to answer, but I do believe that having feelings for an automaton excludes you from normalcy. I also thought an interesting point was when Coppola takes Olympia away from Spalanzanni, the name switches from Coppola to Coppelius. I believe this is just Nathaniel falling into one of his episodes and he is choosing to hear Coppelius over Coppola.

After hearing in class that the beginning of The Turn of the Screw was somewhat boring, i found the first few pages built an anticipation of what was later to come in the novella. It's pretty creepy how this guy keeps showing up and it seems like Mrs. Grose is holding something back. After being seen outside the window, and she went outside to that very same window to look in, I thought for sure she was gonna see him inside. That would have been eery. Then we come to find out Mrs. Grose knows who the man is and he is indeed dead. It seems things are known that aren't being shared and secrets will be exposed by the end of the story.

Because I'm so behind...(On Dreams, The Sandman, The Uncanny, and a little bit of Turn of the Screw)

I'm pretty far behind in terms of posting so I just wanted to post my notes from when I did read the followings:

On Dreams was a little hard to follow because of Freud's tendency to circle back after reaching new points. It actually reminds me how (in my own) dreams can sometimes kind of loop or just rewind after a certain point. Sometimes I find myself running through the same place or at the 'end', it just begins again- maybe that's just me? But after rereading and listening to lectures for this piece, I found that him using his own dream and thoroughly breaking it down as an example was quite interesting. I never thought our dreams could so deeply coincide with our waking life- it's exactly like deciphering a story. I do, however, think that dreams can't occasionally be understood and am totally okay with it. Thinking about how dreams are meant for us to conclude the repressed thoughts we contain or the events that occurs in our waking life, how would one explain the act of lucid dreaming? It could, yes, conclude repressed feelings/events but we could do that in waking life so it just has me thinking, what happens in lucid dreaming that doesn't happen in dreams or while awake?

The Sandman was an eerily interesting story, to say the least- class lectures helped to understand the flow or lack there of. After reading and going through notes, my main question was whether Nathaniel was having a dream (from when he's a child OR at the age he wrote the letters from the beginning), Nathaniel is simply psychotic, or if the story is strictly meant to be a work of fiction. It's written like a real event with no hints to paranormal or super fictiony detail but I would say because of Nathaniel's weird trippy rants, he's probably just out of his mind. There's definitely a type of neurosis where one has anxiety over specific things (eyes, rings of fire, daddy issues...) and thus is obsessed and relates everything to that. The story really made me think hard on what's real and what also, in real life, what triggers that behavior- because of that, I thought it was a great read. Also, I did check out the links of all sorts of spooky 'uncanny' things from the Main class blog and I couldn't even get through the second part of 99 rooms, that music is too much. I also checked out one of the videos for The Sandman update, the one that looked alot like Nightmare before Christmas, and it was a fun addition to look at when remembering the story that the nanny gave Nathaniel as opposed to his mother's hushed version.

The Uncanny was a long but informal reading. The first part was helpful with how Freud found out about the terms heimlich and unheimlich and how it is used back and forth, also, how it relates to the english version, uncanny/canny. The second and third go through examples from stories and also real life afflictions used in stories. I find it to be all analysis and very helpful to stories like The Sandman and what I'm currently reading, Turn of the Screw. So far I really enjoy Turn of the Screw, it actually wasn't all that hard because I got in about 5 chapters and I find it to be one of those stories that I wanna keep reading. The only difficulty I'm having is who is speaking at what moment, otherwise, as mentioned previously in class, alot of the people mentioned have died and I've been noticing that a lot so far.

Turn Of The Screw

The beginning of this story was really a drag! It was funny discussing in class what is scary or "inappropriate" at this time, and how it probably wouldn't seem like anything to us now. It was also interesting to talk about the time this story is told and how the child is worshipped! And how you metioned in the class blog how the child was looked at as pure and innocent.
Throughtout the story the governess is always concerned with Miles and Flora and there well-being it seems. And it seems as if evil is associated with sex or doing something out of the ordinary?
I found it pretty wierd too that right after the story begins when she sees this man, Mrs Grose knows who it is after a description of clothes and then informs the governess he is dead, but assumes that Quint is after someone. It is just wierd throughout the story how it seems like everyone knows something, but can't say. It definately is a story of hidden secrets. It just seems like sex or whatever is being hidden is forbidden to be spoken of. It was pretty freak to me at points like when the governess just saw this random guy staring at her through a tower and then through there dining room windom or any of the times she sees these ghost really, pretty freaky.

I enjoy our discussions in class, they really help clear up some confusing parts of stories, and bring up things I at first wouldn't even recognize and help understand some points that are not understood.

psychoanalysis as a source of the uncanny

we are born with unlimited possibilities/potentials

they are rapidly narrowed down after birth

this causes tremendous anxiety- we repress it

this causes all the “sexual anxiety” we experience in adult life

uncovering these repressions give us a feeling or experience of the uncanny

psychoanalysis (as a therapy) deals with those anxieties by uncovering the repressions

so psychoanalysis can itself produce an experience of the uncanny.

I thought the Turn of the Screw was a great story, I was completely captivated and constantly trying to figure out what was really goin on. I was a little confused on the time span of the story, like how long she was there experiencing the 'ghostly' encounters. I also was curious about how old the boy was, as his voice and actions seemed to mature by the end of the story. I like how it ended, however I felt a little unsettled that it never came back to the narrator and the ones listening to this story. I'm really exciied to start on the Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly for another perspective of what was going.

Im looking forward to our class discussion which always clears up questions I have.

The Untranny

An uncanny thing has components of heimlich and unheimlich. That is to say it is something at once familiar and homelike and strangely foreign and incomprehensible. The transexual embodies the nature of the uncanny perfectly. They are subjects universally familiar to both sexes, yet unlike either at all. They are both sexes and simultaneously neither sex. This is an extreamally uncanny concept.

There is also another uncanny element to the uncanniness of the transexual. It is through the definition of unheimlich: when something hidden is uncovered. When someone sees a transexual the feeling of the uncanny is undeniable. This is because we are fulfilling the meaning of unheimlich when once we recognize them as a transexual. We are uncovering a secret that is being hidden and simultaneously flaunted.

The Turn of the Screw

This novel starts off confusing because it seems like it starts out of nowhere. It doesn't explain anything and it doesn't start off how a normal story would. But eventually it starts to make sense when Mrs. Grose sees a man that she doesn't know who looks scary. He keeps watching her and she's trying to figure out who it is but can't until she starts to remember what he's wearing.

For this part I don't understand how she at first doesn't know him, but then figures out who he is, then she knows he's dead. Then after she knows he's dead she knows that Quint was looking for someone? I just thought that was weird.

The Uncanny

The essay The Uncanny, was very interesting because it gives us the insight to what hoffman was thinking when writing The Sandman.Freud gives us explanations about the doubling concept used many times between mentioning Nathaniels father, the burnings of the houses and also him falling sick. The reason was that these events were repetitive because they had a significant meaning. I couldn't understand why the events in the story were doing so untill the uncanny explained. Freud explains that their is also the concept of human vs. Inhuman between Nathaniel and olympia. All of the events that were in the timeline shows us clear that everything is happening for a reason. The example in class using female vs. Male was interesting because we had an idea or a concept that males were to be more dominant in society. Overall, I was glad the uncanny was able to point out what was unclear to me. On another note, The Turn of the Screw is already starting to get better than the beginning of the story.

The Sandman/ The Uncanny

I'm a little late for this, sorry! Going over The Uncanny in class helped a lot in making sense of The Sandman overall for me. Even though there is no explanation for the events and why they happen and if they are even actually happening, I now understand some smaller elements of the story. When Freud first brought in the concept of doubling I didn't quite understand what he meant, but i went back to The Sandman again and the chart we went over in class and it brought all of it together. All of the important aspects of the story continue to repeat themselves in order to show their importance.

Also, I find the idea that loss of eyes serves as the fear for castration very interesting. I, myself, wouldn't have made that connection, but now that it's been presented to me it makes a lot of sense. If Coppelius is supposed to be the stories "father figure" then he comes into the story at all the moments where Nathanial is trying to solidify love with another character. So his madness could stem from the fear of castration.

I'm still not quite sure that i understand the spyglass entirely though.

And I'm not sure if this correlates at all, but all the talk of eyes in class, it reminded me of the movie Coraline because in order for her to stay in her alternate perfect world she needs to sew buttons where her eyes should be. Another kind of creepy story, I don't even know if it works with our past discussion, it's just where my mind automatically went.

THE UNCANNY

Psalm 27,5. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. im fasinated that freud pick this up as an "heimlich, unheimlich" effect. the tabernacle is a place where god would meet with his people, its normally a very wholy place where the smell of sin or sin itself cannot abound, but it is wriiten that we are born in sin and shapen in iniquity (Isaiah 53:6), so its fascinating that the almighty god would dwell inside or with sinful men. holy dwelling with unholy in secret, uncanny?. pharoah naming a jew "joseph" to be second in command of egypt. joseph both jew and egyptian, uncanny? there's soo many stories in the bible that carries the uncanny effect. Iran president ahmadinejad at the world trade center, uncanny?

It was really interesting to learn how Freud's essay on Uncanny linked a very strange story Sandman to something almost everyone experienced in his/her life. "unfamiliar within familiar"- simple but interesting stuff. Freud not only showd the very negligible differnce between the most familiar and strangest things but also gave meaning to very same piece of literature(Sandman), which walter scott called madman's work. we carry the scariest thing within us , the skeleton, is also very interesting way of saying unfamiliar within familiar. most of the pictures on blogs are strange just because they are slightly different that normal. For example, babies eyes are the only different thing on his/her face which is making him/her very strange.

For the Love of Corn

http://www.anasomnia.com/

need a webcam   turn ur lights on and off in ur room and its crazy

So I just finished "H" and I feel it also ended rather abruptly and without answering many questions that it leaves the reader asking.  It actually leaves you asking even more questions.   And is the final letter, addressed "to whom it may concern" and not signed by anyone, a suicide note from Benjamin? He is released from the hospital while being weened off his medication after he has been "treated" (Elliot no longer responds to him and Elliottown has gone to the year a million- the pills and therapy have ended his hallucinations and therefore contact with Elliot). But Benjamin does not believe that Elliot is a figment of his imagination, he just believes that Elliot has left him. So when released, could he have just decided to kill himself because Elliot, the only one who truly understood him (because she was actually a part of him), had left him?

H

Where is the link for "A Cursid Inhabitance of the House of Bly"?

I had to download a new web browser to be able to get on the Blog finally.

And I'm about 3/4 of the way through "H" and its a lot easier reading that the last few readings in the sense that it's written in the way people actually  speak orally today.  Its also pretty weird in the sense that your getting all these different perspectives about whats going on from all different characters and you dont actually hear from the protagonist of the story until about half way through the book. i like the style of the story though, using letters from different characters to get a sense of whats happened instead of just telling a story in a straight narrative form. Elizabeth Shepard does a great job. You still create all the images of the story without her having to break her form of letter writing. 

THE SANDMAN

I feel everyone is on point by saying this is by far if not the most awkward story written. i forgot if it is fiction or not. but i wonder whose crazy though nathaniel or is it the writer of this literature( mad scientist or frankinstein). On a more serious note the notion of nathaniel losing his eyes as a mirror effect of castration has some validity. they say the eyes are the window to one soul so losing one's eyes could mean losing your soul( the essence of you) and for a man losing his testicle could mean losing his place as a man and more over losing the opportunity to play the role of FATHER. its funny that most of the encounters in the story is Nathaniel trying to find love and i feel its more to have childeren so he can play the domineering role as head of the household. In the book of genesis it is said that a man should leave his mother and father and shall cleave unto his own wife, with that said i feel the fear of castration has been lurking since creation and is even more previlant in the animal kingdom. so if god created the animals first and adam after could we say this tendency came from us watching them versus an inate gene. know it sounds weird but going back to dreams could it be that dreams( or memory) can travel through generation, similar to how phobias do. i know its alot to absorb.

Sandman / Uncanny

The Sandman has got to be one of the most awesomely, disturbing piece of literature I have ever read. I personally am very weary when it comes down to anything involving eyes so it had be from the start. While reading, I also took note how there would be these step backwards, repeating motifs throughout the story. What helped me the most was when that class was given with the timeline of events which had it all drawn out and made it easier to comprehend that it wasn't some coincedence, that these things were there for a specific reason. The idea of the dupilicity really opened my mind more to the story, and after that class I went back to reread it with a deeper understanding. Poor Nathanel is all I can think of. He really suffers through the story and that whole disturbing idea that nothing is what it seems really got under my skin. How could he be so far gone that he does not see what is so clear? His blindness is most uncanny to me. Clara's letter to him and her voice of reason, saying how it is mind over matter made me think. She writes how there is this power in ourselves to refrain from going down a wild path and if one thinks their going a little crazy, to start going another way. That stood out to me for some reason, because maybe Nathanel had control to back away from the bad thoughts. I also find the whole idea of uncanny really interesting. There was one picture from the blog Carnival of the Uncanny that completely disturbed my mind, the one with the monkey throwing up and someone just taking a picture of it. I don't know the reason why it just bugged me out. Something was so off? about it that it really got under my skin.

I also found a link for the essay The "Uncanny" : http://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/freud1.pdf

Coppala and Spalanzani

To me it looks like Coppola/Coppelius and Spalanzani are partners in crime. In the beginning of the story Coppola attempts to sell Nate a barometer. The latter then flips out and attacks Coppola. From this point on they begin to systematically set his life in motion in accordance with their plans. It is shortly after the attack that Nate goes back home to visit. When he returns he finds that his house has been burned down. It is noted that the fire was started in the apothcary's laboratory. An apothecary is a chemist who dispenses medical concoctions, much like a contemporary pharmicist. This too is uncanny, similar with minor differences to the original fire. Hoffmann writes," He (Nathaniel) did not think it at all remarkable
that he now lodged opposite to Professor Spalazani; neither did it appear singular when he percieved that his window looked straight into the room where Olympia often sat alone..."
Then the next major occurance in the story is Coppola returning to Nate despite the risk of being attacked by a lunatic. And he risks the visit so that he can give Nate a telescope.The telescope is essential, and symbolic. Even though its supposed to improve vision, it actually serves to ensnare Nathaniel even deeper in their plans. He uses the telescope to gaze at Olympia. It just seems like to big of a coincidence for all these things to happen by mistake. It seems much more probable that Coppelius and Spalanzani burned down the house, (perhaps even intentionally they did it in a familiar way as the first fire)oversaw his relocation, and provided him with the telescope.

" The Sandman "

I actually enjoyed this reading even though it was pretty wierd. I liked the set up of the story, how it started off in letters and then was later narrated. I enjoyed that you got different perspectives. You can see the way Nathienal invisions the reality of the situation as opposed to Lothaire, Clara and his mother who believe he is just making it up. It is a little fustrating you can not really tell if what's happening is real or fake and even though many of us would think it is an allusion, then I can't understand while in the narrated part of the story it still gives specific details and makes some parts seem like they are really happening, and this is from someone else's perspective who is telling the story like they were there it seems.
There was so many details and descriptions of the uncanny situations it's hard not to believe. One of my interperations of this story would be Nathianel had a bad experience as a child and it infected his mind like a disease and eventually drove him to insanity.
It is annoying though that you do not have a clear understanding of the story, but at least it allows you to explore and make a couple of inferences.

The Sandman

The strangeness of the story answers all the questions it has to present. For example, the fact that we are trying to decipher the real events from events that may have happened are irrelevant inquiries because "The Sandman" himself is a fictional entity according to Nathaniel's mother. Nathaniel only becomes interested in who the Sandman is after he learns of his reason of making an appearance. I feel as though the overall basis of the story is to give the reader a dream of a frightened child. I myself have had dreams where i've been another age, in a strange place, performing unnatural and uncanny actions etc. But there are significances to various events in the story.

Turn of the Screw

I found The Turn of the Screw online if anyone was still looking for it.