Done!

This concludes another semester of journal entries! All posts below have been graded. Posts above this will come from another class next semester. Thanks for reading!

Digging

I really enjoyed the direction that this poem took. I myself am not a big fan of tradition, so to read that the speaker took a different path than "[s]tooping in rhythm through potato drills" like his father and grandfather had done, seems like good choice to me (line 8). Most think that breaking tradition is bad, but I believe breaking tradition can be for the better. The speaker seems to yet be envious of his forefathers. He states, "Through living roots awaken in my head. But I've no spade to follow men like them"(lines 27-28). So maybe he didn't follow in their footsteps, but now he can follow his own path using his pen to "dig".

My Papa's Waltz

This is the type of poem that I enjoying reading because it demonstrates an idea that makes me have emotions. I hated reading this poem because it was upsetting that something like this had happened to someone, "You beat me time on my head" (13). It is disturbing to hear this but it is good for people to have knowledge about the world than to be ignorant about such issues. One of the things in this poem that really upset me is that the father acted as if nothing had happen, "Then waltzed me off to bed" (15). To me it seems like the waltz was the boy and father dancing back and forth from the abuse to everything being fine in their lives. I know it may be hard for the boy but at sometime I would hope that he would shut the music off and end the dance between them.

In the beginning of the poem I was not sure what it was about besides the obvious that the speaker is describing this photo of his father from when he was younger. The last three lines of this poem gave it a real meaning. I found it interesting how something as simple as a photograph can rise these emotions out the speaker, “…Father, I love you, / yet how can I say thank you, I who can’t hold my liquor either, / and don’t even know the places to fish?” (13-15) This story touched me because it really shows how a parent influences their children and the effects that may have on the child. It also got me thinking about the things that I do now and how they may effect someone else. I hope that no one every sees a old picture of me and it brings up memories that want to be forgotten or bad thoughts of the person that I am.

So Mexicans are Taking Jobs away From Americans

First of all, this poem struck me as a little bit odd. It did not seem to flow like poetry that I have typically read in the past. This poem seems to read just like a letter-to-the editor in a newspaper. The views are obviously of a person that is in support of Mexicans seeking entry to the United States for the purpose of employment, as the author makes comments like “I hear... white farmers…shooting blacks and browns…I see the poor marching for a little work”(lines 20-24). I do think that this is a very pressing issue in politics today that deserves attention. I think that the author does make a point about the misconceptions that Americans have about the Mexicans seeking jobs here when he says “Do... [Mexicans] come on horses with rifles and say Ese Gringo gimme your job…do they mug you, saying I want your job” (lines 1-3)? By this the author hits on the paranoia and ignorance that some people display toward immigrants. It seems like the author’s goal is to expose the greediness of the American culture, that seems to have plenty of prosperity to go around but complains about Mexicans getting jobs here that complainers would never have a desire work anyway. I think he makes good points in the poem, but I just didn’t think that it seemed like a true poem. It didn’t draw me in or keep my attention at all.

Those Winter Sundays

I was a little confused by this poem. It begins simply enough. I think that the author is talking about when he was a boy and his father used to sacrifice and cut wood to keep his home warm during the cold winters. I almost kind of get the feeling that the author was unappreciative to his father then. He says “Slowly I would rise and dress…speaking indifferently, to he who had driven out the cold” (lines 8-11) I am unsure if the author is trying to say that he was mean to his father because the next line of the poem seems to almost have a tone of regret. The author ends by saying “What did I know of loves austere and lonely offices” (lines 13-14) I take this to mean that he was saying that he didn’t know any better as a child and that now that he has grown, he looks back wishing he would have appreciated his father’s love and sacrifice. Then again, that could be totally wrong. That is why I thought it was hard to uncover the true meaning of this poem.

“Moving Camp Too Far Away”

I thought that the poem “Moving Camp Too Far Away” was interesting. The poem begins by speaking of things that were important to Native American culture back in its glory days. I get the impression that the author is someone from present day speaking about the best parts of her culture that she has never gotten to experience. I actually can relate with the writer in her expression of loss when she states “I can’t speak of many moons...I can’t tell of the last great battle…I don’t know what it was to hunt a buffalo” (line 1-9). The writer’s personality seems like one of someone who looks at the history of her culture with great respect, and seems to mourn for what she has missed now that the cultural identity of the Native Americans has been watered down. It is kind of sad when she goes on to say what she does know of her culture today. The author states “But I can see an eagle…on slurpee cups…I can travel to powwows in campers and winnebagos…I can and unfortunately I do” (lines 11-23). The ending was my favorite part. It is very symbolic of how I am sure a lot of Native Americans feel. It seems like the things the author lists at the end of the poem are not a very proud part of their heritage, but they go one with these things because it is what they have left. It is a way to connect to the times that used to be the glory days of their culture, even if the generation of today was never able to experience that time.

Do not go gentle into the night

This poem by Dylan Thomas was fluent and easy to read because of the rhyme pattern and repetition throughout the lines. I like when they rhyme the last word of every other line because it makes the words flow well together. The repetition of, “[d]o not go gentle into the good night” (1,6,12,18) made me more conscious of the statement and to think about what it means. I do not like what I conveyed from it; that no one dies at peace with their mind or soul. The other line of repetition, “[r]age, rage against the dying of the light” also gave me a sour taste in my mouth. I felt like the author is almost in a way trying to scare us about death, and to me death is something natural that every single person needs to come to term with because eventually it will happen to them.

Fire and Ice

I enjoyed this poem because of its contrast. Robert Frost has a serious topic that is being discussed in the poem, "[s]ome say the world will end in fire," (1). The poems topic may be serious, but the speaker's tone is very monotone with no emotion. It is also intriguing because it made me think about a subject that usually does not come to mind in everyday life. I think that both ways of the world ending and us dying would be awful but the poem shows it differently "Is also great/And would suffice” (8-9). It is weird to be thinking of it as great but it made me think of other awful ways the world could end and then I realized the ice would be sufficient compared to other means of destruction.

you fit into me

This short by Margaret Atwood is simple but shocking. I thought it was fairly easy to understand the theme of this particular poem. The theme of the poem is stated right away "you fit into me" (line 1). All that the author is saying by this is that they work together. I was a little shocked by "an open eye" (line 4) because it was so blunt and in my eyes it seems quite a bit disturbing to have the image of a fish hook in yours or someone else’s open eye. By using the analogy it was a good way for the author to get the theme across to the readers because it really makes you think deeply about this hook stuck in the eye and then comparing it to the author stuck together solidly with his lover. So overall this story is short but I liked it because it gets the point across by not blatantly telling you what it is.

Coy Mistress

This poem is about a longing for a women who continually rejects her admirers' love. The speaker is persistent, insisting that she be his. "My vegetable love should grow/Vaster than empires, and more slow" (Marvell 11-12). The speaker's love grows more and more over time and almost seems to threaten her that if she doesn't return his love, her fate would be death. This poem was a bit hard to understand and I still don't think I understand it completely. Compared to "Porphyria's Lover", this poem isn't quite as dark, although it still seems to be about obsession.

Mending Wall

My reaction to this poem is that two neighbors work together to fix the fence so that each can make sure that their property lines are defined properly. The quote within the poem that is reiterated is, "'Good fences make good neighbors"' (Frost 27, 45). The importance of mending the fence (sounds like it is a annual thing), builds the bonds between neighbors as they work together to fix it. It also sounds like the speaker thinks it is somewhat non-purposeful to have a fence if you don't have cows. It also appears to me that they debate on whether they are "...walling in or walling out" (Frost 33). Are they trying to keep things in or keeps things out? It actually seems like they make a game out of this fixing of the wall. Even though my literary preference is not poetry, I somewhat enjoy Robert Frost's poems.

Those Winter Sundays

In this poem, we see distant love of a father and a child. The poem starts out "Sundays too my father for up early," (Hayden 1) this the father is demonstrating that he was a hard worker and still woke up before everyone else to warm up the rooms. The father basically says love in the simple act he does. The child, who all grown up now, realizes that he should have noticed more of all the hard work his father did for him. His father did this because he loved them, he maybe didn't show his love through spending time with his children but by working hard, providing food, and making sure they are safe. Hayden writes that "[n]o one ever thanked him." (Line 5) His father not got a thank you out of his children after all he has done. Maybe he has lots of children and thats why he has to work even harder. His child now sees how much his father loved him and wishes he could go back tell his father thank you. This relationhip between his father and son is difficult. His father showed love in different ways but his child wanted love that his father never gave him until he grows up and sees that the lack of empathy that he should have shown his father.

We Real Cool

This poem was short but has a strong meaning to it. The poem relates to the seven pool players that dropped out of school. The poem states "We Left School." (Brooks 2) The seven kids that left school thought that they are cool but are not. This kind of life style of partying and playing pool, does not lead to anywhere but an unheathly life style. We see this when Brookes writes "We Die soon." (Line 8) There daily carefree life seems to them that they are cool, but their cool life style only leads to death.

Barbie Doll

In the poem "Barbie Doll" states that this girl would rather be dead and beautiful, than alive and ugly. Most girls this day and age have the same state of mind. The poem states "You have great big nose and fat legs." (Piercy 6) Society makes you think that it is better to be dead and perfect, than alive and imperfect. It is really sad how looks are more important than intelligence and talent. The American youth doesn't have very good role models. If you take a look at the celebrities, some don't have any talent what so ever, but they are pretty and thats what the world likes to look at today. In this poem, the girl is done with being ulgy and gives into the world, so she can be pretty, and has cosmetic surgery done. Piercy writes "So she cut off her nose and her legs." (Line 17) She does this so she can fit into the world and look like a barbie herself. Now she feels that she could live a happy life but instead she died the way she wanted to look.

Photograph of my Father in his Twenty-Second Year

I liked this poem. I thought it showed deep meaning and love he had for his father. This person is looking at one of his father's photograph and sees that he has turned to be like his father. The author writes "Sheepish grin, he holds in one hand a string of spiny yellow perch, in the other a bottle of Carlsbad beer." (Carver 3-5) This photograph describes what his father liked to do and he is thankful that he has turned out like his father. We know that he is proud to be he son when Carver writes "Father, I love you, yet how can I say thank you, I who can't hold my liquor either, and don't even know the places to fish?" (Lines 13-15) He wishes that he was still alive, so he could say thank you for what his father has done for him and greatful for the way he raised him. There is a question mark at the very end of this last line. This is stating that, if his father was still alive, he would want to know where he used to fish. Sense his father is gone, he feels a bit of emptiness inside because he loved his father so much.

Digging

I enjoyed this poem because it seemed more easily read than some of the other poems. What I gathered from it was that the speaker uses his pen as a tool much like his father and grandfather used shovels. He delivers a lot of sensory images: "...cold smell of potato mold, the squelch and slap of soggy peat" (Heaney 25-26). Maybe he is embarrassed that he can't do what these older relatives can do (sweat labor). Yet I wonder if he seems grateful because thinking of how his father and grandfather handle their shovels triggers his brain to wake up, "[t]hrough living roots awaken in my head" (Heaney 27). If he is a writer maybe he gives credit to his father and grandfather for putting those images there, to enlighten him to write the words of whatever he is writing. Line 28 implies that maybe there is a lower self esteem, "[b]ut I've no spade to follow men like them" (Heaney 28). In a way he is a man but not the man he feels he should be (strong), to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.

We Real Cool

This poem appears to be about "living in the moment". It seems to have reference to peer pressure from what I got out of it. Most of the lines end in "we". Maybe it's safe to say that this has a gang type reference also. Staying out late at night, the sin, and I am not sure what Jazz June means but I think this also refers to the trouble they get themselves in eventually. I think it is symbolic of youth and rebellion.

Barbie Doll

As the title of this poem implies, "Barbie Doll" is about a young girl feeling awkward about her body. The symbolism of perfection comes into play right at the beginning. When she was born there wasn't anything different about her and any other girl. Early childhood seems to be quite normal but when she reaches puberty her body changes and she gets teased. She was smart and strong, but all anyone could see was "a fat nose on thick legs" (Piercy 11). The cliche about judging a book by its cover comes to mind and maybe that is what this poem was referring to. By the way the poem continues on, I think her parents tried to convince her that a good nature would make the remarks go away, but she gets tired of putting up with it. She takes her life because of the teasing and when the undertaker gives her a fake nose, people suddenly say "[d]oesn't she look pretty" (Piercy 23)? The last line I think refers to the fact that every woman desires to be called "pretty" no matter what the cost. In this case it cost her her life.

We Real Cool

This poem was okay. I think it is about teens being teens. Their out partying having a good time. They have left school and are experiencing new freedoms. Their realizing that life is short so enjoy today.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone

This poem is kind of sad. It is about a woman who has lost her one and only love. It describes how her life has come to an end. She lived for her significant other, they went everywhere together. That's what I gathered when she mentions "He was my North, my South, my East and West." I think they didn't spend much time apart either with the comment, "My working week and my Sunday rest." She is lonely. She doesn't want to keep on living maybe. The mentioning of the stars not wanted now, leads me to think that stars are where people look up to, and make wishes, and this person no longer wants that. She is empty.

Jump Cabling

I enjoyed this poem. I thought it it was a very sexual poem. When Pastan states, "When you lifted the hood of mine. To see the intimate workings underneath." This is refering to two people as lovers, and he is undressing her and looking at her body intimately. As he is putting the cables onto the car together, Pastan states "When we were bound together." They are referring to being together as well as connected sexually. When the car starts, I thought that she felt that she was in a fariy tale, as they finished their sexual experience. At the end Pastan states "I thought why not ride the rest of the way together?" This says that maybe it is possible that they could share their lives together. They don't know for sure, but want to ride in one car together instead of two cars so they can be as one.

"Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone"

I really enjoyed this poem and how it describes how a woman has lost the love of her life. This man ment everything to her, he was her world, her lover, her reason for awaking everyday. But described in this sentence "I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong" "Stope all the clocks, cut off the telephone." W.H. Auden. It describes in the beginning how everything stops for a moment during a funeral and everyone is quite while the body is brought out. Everyone wants love in there lives even if they dont believe they do. In the end of this poem she describes how life isn't worth living anymore. Nothing will make her happy anymore so take it all way stating in this sentence "For nothing now can ever come to any good" W.H. Auden. Some people after losing a loved one completely stop living as if life can not go on and will not be the same. This is true to a point because yes your life will be different without that person that was by your side for so long doing the thing with you, but you can still enjoy life and keep on living in a different way.

"We Real Cool"

This poem describes what life is like for a young adult who doesn't quite understand what he wants in life and is struggling to find himself. Once a child becomes overwhelmed with lifes challenges some just decide to quite school. They become involved in drugs/alcohol/partying and having unprotected sex and could get an STD. Most of these teens that quit school and dont graduate become one of these statistics. A life such as this may end soon such as stated in the last sentence in this poem "Die Soon", We Real Cool, Gwendolyn Brooks. Also the title describes that they think they are so cool cause they dont have to go to school and they can do whatever they want but in the end it could end in tragity such as death.

"The Man He Killed"

This poem deals with the struggle of a man having to kill another man because he is a soldier in a war. He describes in the begging "We should have sat us down to wet Right many a nipperkin!" The Man He Killed",Thomas Hardy. This described what would happen in a normal setting outside of war if they were to have met in a bar and just started talking, maybe shared a beer/drink together. War is a tragic ordeal and even though a solider goes into war knowing what his duties are they never really understand the reason for taking another mans life. In the ordinary world things are so different and once a soldier comes back into the normal world it is sometimes very hard for them to adapt again. They might become off guard and think someone is watching them? Become very nervous if approached by a stranger and question why they are talking to them? Kind of like childbirth woman have post-partum depression and in a soldiers eyes he could have this same kind of thing with coming back into the real world and not really understanding the purpose.

"Barbie Doll"

This poem deals alot with growing up and how the public and people view woman. How they pick apart women and that they should all be perfect like a barbie doll. The woman/girl described in this story is perfectly healthy such stated "She was healthy, tested intelligent, posssessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual desterity." Barbie Doll, Marge Piercy. She had it all but according to some mean people that made fun of her legs and nose being to big. This story describes alot what happens in todays society. How everyone should be thin and perfect and do anything they can to get there bodies to look that way: diet, exercise, botox, and surgery. In the end she becomes so overwhelmed that she cuts them off and dies trying to be something she is not. Many of todays actors/actresses have died or come close to it because of trying to make themselves look thin and beatiful for the public. We live in a cruel and sick world based on looks. Looks doesn't get you everything but sad to say in todays world it can get you alot.

Those Winter Days

I liked this poem, too. A hard working father, who seems to want to do anything for his child. The father is playing the mother role, which makes a person wonder, what happened to her. Did she die, are they divorced? The father is lonely, maybe angry that he is alone, raising a child on his own. The child fears the anger. When the poem mentions, when the rooms were warm (Hayden) he'd call- the father was up early, making the rooms comfortable for him before he rises. I think the child was probably disrespectful to his father when the poem mentions he spoke indifferenty to him.

Jump Cabling

I liked this poem. I think it focusses on the meeting of two people, coming together, becoming one in their journey of life. When you lifted the hood of mine to see the intimate workings underneath,(Paston) meaning understanding the inside and out of one another, and accepting each other for who they are. When we were bound together by a pulse of pure energy- meaning the intimacy the couple has together, they connect with each other, understand each other. The description, when my car like the princess, means how one really cherishes the other.

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been

This story upsets me because things like this actually happen and people like Arnold Friend do exist in the world. Arnold Friend creeps me and makes me sick to my stomach the way he talks to Connie, a young girl. It really bothers me when he says, "And I'll come inside you where it's secret and you'll give in to me and you'll love me--" (Oates 517). To me he is a twisted man who obviously has some problems. "I hated that he manipulated Connie by telling her that he would hurt her family if she called the police or did not come with him. It also makes me said that he tells her that they would have never done that for her. I did like the ending because I am sure that he did bad things to her and I would not want to have read them so I like that the author left it in the air.

A Worn Path

While reading the beginning of this story I really did not like it because I did not know what was going on with Phoenix Jackson. She seemed to be making no sense at all. "She did not dare to close her eyes, and when a little boy brought her a plate with a slice of marble-cake on it when spoke to him.”That would be acceptable," she said. But when she went to take it there was just her own hand in the air." I think she is out of her mind the way she talks to the scarecrow and how she talks about getting by a two-headed snake last summer during her journey. I also do not think she even has a grandson but that she has made it up for an excuse to come to town and talk to people. It just seems ridiculous because what kind of doctor would just give meds out without seeing the patient.

The Crysanthemums

I did not enjoy this story because I thought it was boring and it did not have a point to it. I thought this mostly because I did not understand the story. The man that comes and asks for directions and then aks if he can fix things seems strange to me. I feel like he was taking advantage of Elisa when he ask for some Chrysanthemums. "She whispered to herself sadly, "He might have thrown them off the road. That wouldn't have been much trouble, not very much. But he kept the pot," she explained. He had to keep the pot. That's why he couldn't get them off the road."" (Steinbeck 639). It confuses me if she is upset because she thinks he did not love the Chrysanthemums like she did or if she was just upset because he ripped her off. I just do not understand Elisa or what the point of the story is.

"Jump Cabling"

This poem is about two lovers but explained using cars. "When we were bound together" Linda Pastan. Here we see that they are talking about people, lovers? Cars can not be bound together but humans can be bound together in a way when they make love to each other. This poem starts out describing a setting were two people come together and explore each others bodies. In the end they come alive with energy. "In the tale woke with a start, " Pastan stated. This part comes to me in a meaning that she/he has had an orgasm. She/he has awaken after sometime to realized that she/he is in love with the other person. This person is willing to take a chance on this person and see what they have to offer. To live a life with this person and hope that they are willing to do the same.

A Worn Path

When I read this story I was thinking that maybe Phoenix, the protagonist in the story, was on a journey toward the end of her life. She is old and the obstacles that she is up against seem to wear her down as the story goes on. She has a vision after crossing a log and sits down to rest, she sees marble-cake and a little boy. The marble-cake gives a symbolic point of view with the chocolate of the cake representing African Americans and the vanilla or white portion of the cake representing white people. This starts to show that maybe this story is about the segregation, slavery, and poverty of the African Americans in the South. When Phoenix stealthily picks up the nickel so that the hunter doesn't notice, you know she is poor because its just a nickel. I found the fact that Phoenix wanted her shoes tied once she was in town, she wanted to look "proper" in the city amongst all the white people at Christmastime. The fact that it was the Christmas season foreshadows the free medicine given to Phoenix for her grandson, a handout that was the main reason for the long journey into town in the first place. She forgets what she is going to town for periodically, "...[i]t was my memory that fail me. My little grandson, he is just the same, and I forgot it in the coming" (Welty 454). I wondered if her grandson was the reason that she kept pushing on with her life, to make sure that he had his medicine to make him feel better.

A Good Man ...

I read "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and thought it was predictable from the start. When the grandmother talks about The Misfit and the things that he'd done to people, and the fact that he was heading to Florida like they were, you just knew that somewhere down the line they would come across him. Foreshadowing was used to let the reader know that something bad was going to happen. Just outside a town called Toomsboro, the grandmother gets her "idea" to go see this plantation that she had once visited. The house on the plantation had six columns, and there were six of them in the car. The passed a graveyard that the grandmother said was a "family" graveyard. Bailey is reluctant to take the time to find this plantation, but eventually gives in leading the reader to wonder how they would of run across The Misfit if they hadn't taken that backroad. After they had the accident, June Star says "[b]ut nobody's killed" (O'Connor 359), and she sounds disappointed. I think its funny that when Bailey and Bobby Lee go back in the woods and they hear two pistol shots, that there isn't any real emotion shown. Do they know what's going on the woods? When the children's mother and daughter are asked if they want to join her husband and son, she seems way too willing to go. Are they not aware that they are dead or does she just want to get it over with ? All in all I didn't care for the story, but I did find the foreshadowing used very interesting.

Doe Season

I thought this story was very long and drawn out. The author used extremely detailed language, describing many things that didn't seem to be an important aspect of the story. "The road crossed a stream, which had mostly frozen over but in a few spots still caught leaves and twigs in an icy swirl" (Kaplan 462). I think sentences like this unimportant on should have been left out of the story to prevent it from dragging on. In other parts of the story I did like how the use of detail for a purpose; to give a better picture of what was going on. "Her father's knife sliced thickly from chest to belly to crotch" (Kaplan 467). I also thought that the author did a good job of foreshadowing how Andy would change later on in the story. This was done with Charlie and Mac making comments about her not being ladylike or how she should have just been born a boy.

The Story of an Hour

When I read this story it reminded me of all those people out there who are stuck in a bad relationship, but in this story the wife gets out conveniently. Mrs. Mallard, who is young but has a heart problem, gets the news that her husband has passed away in an accident. She has pretty good control of her emotions, she weeps when it is appropriate but in her own privacy she experiences a joy that one may think she hadn't experienced since her childhood. She tries to reason with these feelings that overtake her as she realizes that she is now free from the burden of a loveless marriage (on her part). "There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself" (Chopin, 194). The statement seems to have two meanings, in one way it sounds like she is afraid she will be alone as she grows older, in another way it sounds like the weight has been lifted and she is free to do as she pleases living for noone but herself. The sex in this relationship seems to be more like work than of pleasure. "There would be no powerful will bending her in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature" (Chopin, 194). It seems like this would mean she had sex with her husband because he took care of her and provided for her, almost like room and board. The author does use foreshadowing in this story in paragraph 10, "[n]ow her bosom rose and fell tumultuously" (Chopin, 194). More on her physical excitement also appears in paragraph 11, "[h]er pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body" (Chopin, 194). The reader should pick up on this as one of the very first things you learn about her is that she has a heart condition.

The Lottery

The more I read this story, the less I liked it. It starts with an optimistic feel to it, with the children finishing school for the year, and people gathering in town and socializing, but it becomes mood continuously declines throughout the story. There is some foreshadowing to the mood decrease early on when the boys are gathering stones and when they nervously awaited while the men drew slips. "By now, all through the crowd there were men holding the small folded papers in their large hands, turning them over and over nervously”(Jackson 408). Later when it is determined what family has 'won' the lottery it becomes clear that this is not the type of lottery you want to win. The end of the story when the villagers are picking the stones up and Mrs. Hutchinson is getting hit in the head the story started to upset me. Their actions are foolish seeing as how they do it because it is a tradition and they do not even know the point to their cruel actions.

A Worn Path

I thought this story had lots of hidden details to it. Phoenix Jackson, an old Negro lady is walking down this path and has many problems along the way, but is always thinking about her grandson. On her path, she run into coons, wild hogs rabbits, beetles, foxes, owls, and wild animals. One statement that caught my eye was in the beginning when the Phoenix says "Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far" (Welty, page 449). I feel that Phoenix was relating back to salvery. She also sees a scarecrow in a corn field. This scarecrow I feel isn't real, but Phoenix, I think, is seeing things along the way refering to slavery and how white people used to scare her. Phoenix says she walking this great path for her grandson to get medicine because he is sick. The story states over and over in the story how old Phoenix is. I think she is just seeing things along the way. She also sees a man that points a gun at her. The man says "Doesn't the gun scare you? and Phoenix says No, sir, I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, and for less than what I done" (Welty, page 452). As the man points that fun at her, she holds very still and donesn't scare her, almost as if she was ready for something like that to happen. She sees dozens of black children playing around her. Phoenix reaches her destination and then one the nurses ask why she came and asks about her grandson. Phoenix stares silent and says "My grandson. It was my memory had left me. There I sat and forgot why I made my long trip" (Welty, page 454). This is why I believe that she was seeing things and that she was refering to slavery in the things that she describes. The doctor does give her some medicine and then old Phoenix heads back on that worn path home.

The Chrysanthemums

This story is about a farmer's wife. A hard working, lonely woman, whom meets a stranger unexpectedly. She is working in her garden, and a man in a wagon appears offering to sell her some of his trades, offering to polish her kettles, sharpen her scissors. The stranger and her get into a conversation of flowers. They both share a common interest in the planting. I think she feels a connection with him. He is actually taking time to be with her. Unlike her husband, he seems so busy with his steers.

The Lottery

"The Lottery" is a story that I wouldn't read again if I had a choice. When I read the story the first time, the excitement of the drawing and the gathering of the townspeople misled me to believe that something good was going to happen, money or a brand new wagon perhaps? But is the excitement in the near miss of death or is it the relief to get on with your life for one more year after you survive this drawing? I don't get it I guess. When I painfully read the story the second time, I saw the symbolism of the black box (death), Mr. Graves name, etc. I found a bit of irony in the quote "...but now that the population was more than three hundred and likely to keep on growing, it was necessary to use something that would fit more easily into the black box" (Jackson, 406). How is it that the population will keep growing when you are killing someone off every year, and why on earth would you move to town that exercised this particular type of ritual, when later in the story it tells of other towns doing away with "the lottery"? This was definitely a morbid tale.

Doe Season

I liked this story alot. To me, it was interesting, and made me want to keep reading it. It is about a young girl named Andy, who experiences her first hunting trip with her father, and a family friend and his son. The hunting party, except for her father, had doubts on Andy ever killing a deer. But she proves them wrong. She gets a shot at a doe, the doe runs off, and the hunt is on to try to find this doe. The doe isn't found, until the next day. But Andy had an encoutner with the doe that no one in the camp knew about. She is able to visibly see her shot and reach into the doe's wound, which she describes as "torn flesh sticky and warm." She feels the heart, warm and beating, but when Andy tries to remove her hand, she really struggles and she gets a terrible burning sensation. So, was the doe trying to let her experience pain too, like it was? She is free from the doe, goes back to camp, and the next morning they all go out to try and find it. The doe is found and is gutted out at that time by the others. Andy has a hard time watching this and leaves, which she seems, distraught.

"The Worn Path"

"She did not close her eyes, and when a little boy brought her a plate with a slice of marble-cake on it she spoke to him. "That would be acceptable," she said. But when she want to take it there was just her own hand in the air. " Eudora Welty pg 450. I start out with this quote from the story because right away we realize something isn't right with this woman? She may have dementia or have hallucinogens that she may not know of. Throughout the story shes constantly seeing things with the Scarecrow and the hunter and even her grandson, which we don't even know if he is real? When she arrives at the clinic/hospital the people ask her all kinds of questions and she doesn't answer like she had a black out like would if you had seizures. When a person has a black out they forget what they were doing and have an out of mind experience such in a way that Phoenix did. Phoenix's whole goal you would think is to get her medicine to her grandson in this story but in actuality its more about her life and the struggles she has been through. Maybe she was a slave in her earlier years? Or maybe she had family that were slaves? She talks to the nurse about how her and her grandson are the only two left in the world. Phoenix is all alone and believing that her grandson is still alive gives her the strength to make it into town and gives her something to do to pass the time.

This story is about a single,well to do woman, who spends her Sunday afternoons in a park admiring others. There is a parade of people and she almost acts as if she wants to be them in some sort of way. She is a lonely lady, hoping to meet a stranger, that she can call her own someday. Miss Brill was an observer, and enjoyed watching people. Almost as if she was a dreamer and wishing she had what others did. She is a lonely lady. A smart, intelligent woman. An english teacher who was anxious to share her experiences with her class. At the end of the story, it talks about how she was made fun of by a young couple. She left the park that day, feeling alone, sad, empty, as thought no one had a care for her in the world.

The Lottery

I did not like this story. All 300 towns people; men, women, and children all gathering around the town square as if there was a big party going on. "Children assembled first...stuffing pockets with stones...picking the smoothest and roundest stones. The men gathered next...speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. Soon the women...calling the children" (405). It took me two times of reading this story to catch that the children were collecting rocks. I guess the first time I thought that they were just being boys, collecting and comparing rocks to pass the time while the adults take care of business. I was suprised how women were allowed to participate in the drawing if they did not have a man or grown son around. While reading it the first time I was also suprised of the lack of excitement to participate in the lottery. "Guess I gotta fill in for the old man this year" (407). However after finishing reading the first time I would be less than excited too.

I Stand Here Ironing

As I was reading this story, I was really saddened. I felt bad for Emily and her mother. Emily's mother was young, at age 19 she was living in the Great depression and single at the time raising her. I felt hurt when she sent Emily away to a convalescent home so she could concentrate on her other children. Emily is not a fast learner and as pretty as the other children. She wanted to be like them. Emily would eat only very little. I believe it was because she never felt loved and that the thought of food spoiled her appetite. Her mother always felt guilty but didn't really take much action in showing Emily love. I felt that she never did work on showing her very much love even when she tried. Her mother felt it was to late and kind of just gave up. Emily could tell and showed it through her actions toward her mother. Emily did find a different kind of love in which she was good at and felt important. Emily would perform shows for crowds, and crowds would love her talent. She thought she was somebody at last. Emily just wanted her mother's love and knowing what had happened to her in the past, she would never feel that kind of love that her other siblings had. I feel that there are many children like this and it makes me feel for those children. I can't imagine what they are thinking everyday and how it will affect their lives and possibly their children. Children do need love growing up, and most importantly during those younger years. I wonder if the author had any kind of problems like this when she was younger? I liked this story, but it was sad to me.

The Storm

The Storm was a good story to me. It starts out when a storm is about to roll into their town. Alcee was just riding his horse to Calixta's house. I thought maybe he knew that Bibinot wasn't at home. It seemed as if he wasn't worried about seeing Calixta alone. I was surpised to read that Alcee and Calixta were lovers in the end. I thought Alcee and Calixta were lovers in the past. The story states in this passage "that Calixta had not seen Alcee very much since her marriage and never alone." This stuck out to me because I thought maybe they had been together before Calixta got married, and Bibinot was suspicous of them two together alone. Alcee would fasinate about Calixta's body, lips, skin, and eyes. It was like he had been dreaming about her for a very long time. Bibinot was a very good husband to Calixta. Alcee was also married to Clarisse, who he wrote a letter to in the very end of the story, that "she should not hurry back and to to stay a month longer if needed. He was willing to bear the separation a while longer." I don't think that Alcee and Clarisse were a very happy married couple, but to stay together because they had children. They were good to each other but not happy. I think secretly Alcee and Calixta are both waiting for another storm.

Graded

All posts below have been graded

"The Lottery"

I did not like this story at all at first I wasn't quite sure what was going on in my mine a lottery is a good thing. All the towns people rush to be there like its a great thing but now that I look back and reread it a little I find that its not a good thing at all and don't understand why anyone would want to have this kind of a lottery? Everyone in the town had to be there and take a piece of paper from the black box that dated back who knows how long? According to the part stating "Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head." Shirly Jackson pg 411. I was so appalled that someone would think up this sick game/lottery. From what I understand I guess its good if you don't get to be picked cause everyone gets to throw a rock at you? How long does this go on and every month? Is this a way for people if they have problems with someone to get back at them in some sick way? I guess I am confused at what was the point of this story and who would do such a thing?

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

This story is about a Grandmother, her three grandchildren, her son and daughter-in-law. They all live together and are discussing a family trip to Tennesseee to visit some relatives. The story starts out with the Grandmother discussing a newspaper article regarding three inmates that escaped from the state pen, and on their way to Florida. The Grandmother is bound and determined for the whole family to go to Tennessee, in hopes of not running into the inmates. So, the next day, the family packs up, and heads off for their vacation. The two oldest grandchildren, John Wesley, eleven years old and June Star, I'm thinking she is maybe around eight or nine, but seems to know more than she should. Both children are sassy and disrespectful. The daughter-in-law is just kind of there. She is busy with the baby, and the grandmother's son, Bailey seems to be a different character. I don't think he feels to much love for his mother. I think he just puts up with her. So they are on their way to Tennessee. They stop at a filling station for lunch and small discussion with the owners. They leave the station, and end up taking a "detour" to scenic route through a plantation. This of course is the grandmothers idea, and her and the children were able to persuade Bailey to take this detour. So the family is traveling on a dirt road, in which the grandmother was sure it was the right road, that she remembered. Turns out it was the wrong road, and entirely different road in a different state. They end up having an accident, flipping the vehicle. The daughter-in-law and baby get thrown out of the car, the grandmother is injured and the rest are okay. The family is sitting on the side of the road waiting for help and it turns out three men come across them. All three men get out and right away the Grandmother has suspicions that they are the "misfits" that have escaped from the prison. Right away there is conflict, one of the three men take the grandson and Bailey to the woods, they end up shooting them. The Grandmother is begging them, they kill her and finish the rest of the family off. I just was surprised that the ending turned out how it did. I wasn't expecting for all of them to die. The Grandmother was a talker, and I thought she could of persuaded the men off in another direction and they would of been left alone and went off on their vacation.

"The Storm

In reading "The Storm" by Kate Chopin it first appears that Calixta is a normal housewife very involved with performing her wifely duties. But while she is a devoted wife and mother she has passions of her own with Alcee Laballiere that erupt again when he gets caught in the same storm and takes cover at Calixta's house while her devoted husband and son are away in town. After reading the story a second time I realized that the title, "The Storm", may mean the stormy relationship (affair) that she has with Alcee. When Alcee and Calixta do bow to tempation, that just like the clouds of a storm dissipate and the sun comes out, their regular lives also become happier after their "sensual" needs are fulfilled. They obviously have a past but I believe that it didn't work out between them in the long term because of the different social classes that they belonged to. Alcee's words aren't slang as they appear in the text, however, Calista's are, and it appears that she is uneducated. Maybe society wouldn't allow them to be together so this affair has to exist in private to fulfill their desires while carrying on a "normal" family life within their social status. In the second paragraph of part II it reads, "She had not seen him very often since her marriage and never alone." This leads me to believe that either Bobinot didn't trust her in the presence of Alcee or she didn't trust herself. Another reference to an ongoing affair is in part II as well, "...against which his honor forbade him to prevail." This is in reference to them being together in Assumption, and from what I gather in this paragraph is that Alcee was married at that time and Calista either was or wasn't married at that time as well. They obviously have a passion together that they don't have between their own spouses and appears that when they satisfy this passion their regular family lives prosper emotionally. I think its too simple to just say that bad equals good in this story because obviously having an affair is morally wrong, however, it seems to work for all involved in this story. Even Alcee's wife makes a reference to being free or having a desire for being away from Alcee when she says, "...their conjugal life was something which she was more than willing to forego for a while." Typically when you are away from someone you love completely you miss them and want to come back in a timely manner. This statement kind of makes it seem like she is a bit happier when she is away and that she is okay to be away for a long period of time. Maybe they had an "arranged" marriage, and that is why Calixta and Alcee did not marry. The story is ironic in the fact that Bobinot is the only character happy with his life and not tempted by desire to pursue anyone other than his wife Calixta. His only simple desire is to make Calixta happy with a can of shrimps purchased from the store in town when he and Bibi arrive back home. They also take good care that they are somewhat clean from the muddy walk home.

"I Stand Here Ironing"

In this story a young mother is just trying to make it on her own raising her children and trying to do the best that she can do. I feel for her because raising children is more than a full time job you are wanting to do the best you can by them and make sure they come out on top. Because her oldest daughter Emily is slower and needs more time and effort to care for which she can not give. Because she could not care for her she sends her away. In this section of the story by Tillie Olsen pg. 284 "But never a direct protest, never rebellion. I think of our others in their three-four-year-oldness-the explosions, the tempers, the denunciations, the demands-and I feel suddenly ill. I put the iron down. What in me demanded that goodness in her? And what was the cost, the cost to her of such goodness?" is a main part of the story dealing with the ironing and Emily. Basically every working, single mother has so much on her plate and never seems to have enough time for the things she wants to do like love her children more. All little Emily wants is the love from her mother and support she deserves. In the end Emily gains back what she lost throughout her childhood and her talent show through. Even though her mother tries to give her the things she didn't think she gave her enough when she was younger, Emily tries to be strong and stand on her own two feet. Deep down I know Emily wants her mothers love more than anything in the world she could do and for her to be proud of her.

"The Storm"

In this story I see a worried mother for her husband and children not know where they are and if they are safe or not. She busy in her doing her own thing doesn't realize that there is a storm but at the last minute runs around trying to get everything together and in that moment see someone from her past Alcee. I believe these two had a past that they had both not forgotten about but just gotten sweeped under the rug. "Do you remember-in Assumption, Claixta? he asked in a low voice broken by passion. Oh! She remembered; for in Assumption he had kissed her and kissed and kissed her; until his sense would well nigh fail, and to save her he would resort to a desperate flight." Kate Chopin pg. 257. This part of the story is where they both remember once past and the feelings and emotions they both shared for each other but for some reason they couldn't have it? Both being worried about the storm and family got caught up with the familiar feel between each other and in a heat of passion made love. Although both knowing it was wrong couldn't help themselves and it meant more to both of them but no one was to ever know but them. A secret that would haunt them both. In my own beliefs this would be wrong and these two characters both know it but couldn't help themselves and the love that they once shared between them.

Rose for Emily

The story states Homer Barron liked men and it was known that he drank with the men at the Elk's Club and that he was not the marrying kind. So it's hard to not assume that Homer was gay. As far as Miss Emily being of color, I guess I didn't think she was African- American. Miss Emily was a daughter of a confederate soldier from the 1800's. In the story it talks about her "negro, leaving her house with a market basket," therefore I believe he was her slave. In the 1800's slavery was widespread in the south. The story also mentions her, Miss Emily, resembling the angels in colored church windows. The churches that I have been in, do not have angels of color. The narrator of the story is a townsperson. The tone of the story is sympathy and cautious curiosity. In the story when it is mentioned about when her father passed away, how he had been in the house for three days, until finally the doctors and minister had convinced her to let them bury him. The towns people believed she was not crazy, but was clinging onto what little she had. Emily ends up poisoning Homer Barron with arsenic. Maybe she hated men. Maybe she was bitter towards her father about ruining her previous relationships. The townspeople remembered all the young men that her father had "driven away."

The Yellow Wallpaper

The way this story starts out, I am able to tell right away that she is a anxious person. I could tell that she has many ideas that go through her head over and over again. Her husband and brother are physicians and also agree with her that she has a illness. A nervous and depression disorder that they tell her someday will get better. She and her husbad move into a rental house for the summer and sleep in this room with yellow wallpaper! She hates this yellow wallpaper. I sometimes wonder why exactly they chose that room to sleep in because she hated it so much. It drives her "crazy" everyday. She states that the color of the wallpaper "is repellent, almost revolting; smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight. It is dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulphur tint in others." She talks about this wallpaper so much that she starts to see women in the wallpaper that are unable to get of the wallpaper. She sees these women at night and in the end, the story shifts to herself being one of those women in the wallpaper. I was really surpised in the end because I didn't think that she was going to do this. She tears the wallpaper down and her husband finds her doing this and faints himself. I feel that there are people out there that are like this. Maybe not to this extent, but when something is bothering them, they will think about it so much that they go insane. I feel like she may have a little obsessive compulsive disorder. Where she is always writing down ideas and things, and she just can't stop. I feel that the author may have related herself to this story also. I think this a good text because there are so many ways to look at.

A Rose for Emily

I really enjoyed reading this short story and even though I wasn't quite sure how to go about it when it started once I finished it I was intrigued. Although I would never be OK with killing someone for any reason I understand in a way why she did it. She was so afraid to be alone and unloved in a way this made her believe someone would always be there for her. Everyone was always interested in what Emily was doing and in a way they were jealous cause of her big house and how her father had given her everything. "Now and then we would see her in one of the downstairs windows-she had evidently shut up the top floor of the house-like the carven torso of an idol in niche, looking or not looking at us, we could never tell which. Thus she passed from generation to generation-dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse." William Faulkner pg. 211. But growing up in a small town I know how neighbors are and they are always interested in someone elses business and whats going on in their lives such as in this line of the story clearly states the town was always watching her. Emily was lost in her own little world and she wanted to be loved in the end when they opened the room with the body of Homer in there you could finally realize that she would give anything to be loved by someone even kill them. With the way the body was laid out she must have laid by him many many nights just to get the feel that someone would love her and hold her in that way.

The Story of an Hour

I thought this story was very interesting because at first I wasn't sure the beginning meant when the story started out as Mrs. Mallard had a heart trouble. Clearly in the end, she died of heart disease-of joy that kills. The end of this story is sad to me because she didn't know if she loved him or not. In the end, it killed her whether it was love or not. Mrs. Mallard was a small women with slender arms. A passage in the story that really caught my eye was "Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering. She was so happy she was free but yet weeping for his death. Another one that caught my eye was "And yet she had loved him-sometimes. Often she had not." I knew that her husband must have done something very wrong to her. Not only once, but for several years. In the end, I counldn't believe that Brently was still living, and yet it was to late for him to even realize anything. This story, I felt, was sad. Mrs. Mallard died of saddness and joy. To me, the story meant how sad she was that he died and what a joy it was to her that she won't ever get hurt again.

All posts below are from the 2008 spring students. Watch for new posts from the fall 2008 students!

Dulce et Decorum Est

Check out this slideshow for the poem.

Porphyria's Lover

The man in this poem is a complete psycho, at first he seems normal and then boom he kills his lover. The man seemed normal until she confesses that she loves him, I guess he wanted to be able to love her for the rest of HIS LIFE and her saying that she loved him was not enough for him. The passage that gave me a sneak peak into his craziness was when he said, "Happy and proud; at last I knew/Porphyria worshipped me; suprise" (Browning l. 32-33). When someone uses words like "worships me", I think that is a good sign to go ahead and get out of that relationship. The man in the poem mentions her hair quiet often throughout the poem so when you find out that he strangled her with her hair it wasn't that suprising. "In one long yellow string I wound/Three times her little throat around,/And strangled her" (Browning l. 39-41). It was just really weird that her killed her with her own hair. When you look at it her hair could of been her most beautiful quality, but in the end it was actually the death of her, makes you think. All in all I thought it was kind of a twisted poem but interesting at the same time.

Stop all the clocks,cut off the telephone

I do like this poem, "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone" by W.H. Auden. It is on the rather depressing side. When you experience death first hand it does seem like life can't go on. When Auden writes, "He was my North, my South, my East, my West" (stanza 3 line 1). In a marriage this feeling is very typical. Like the old saying states, this is my better half. I know most people would feel this way if something ever did happen to their lover. I also felt so bad when I read, "I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong"(stanza 3 line 4). Just because the love of their life just died, doesn't mean the love they shared will EVER die.

"Porphyria's Lover"

This poem is about a young women who goes home to her lover. What she doesn't know, is that her lover is going to kill her. While the killer (also the women's lover in the poem) is talking about his girlfriend coming home, he makes it sound so sweet and innocent. This poem completely shocked me, I didn't think that he was going to kill her in the end. Toward the end of the poem you can tell that the lover/killer is a little psycho. He starts to sound controlling, a little threatened (because she was out), and has some insecurities. Another thing that I would like to point out is that his character makes it sound like if he cant have her than no one can, but he already does have her and that's the weird psycho part.

"Stop All The Clocks"

This is a rather interesting poem. On one hand you have the view that this is the death of a loved one, however you also have the secondary death of the relationship. The line "I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong" (S. 12), solidifies this idea. The speaker is wanting the moment to forever be remembered by the stopping of the clocks and making sure all is quiet in order for them to be able to soak the moment in. The poem also includes the customary use of light/dark to signafy death and life, "Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun" (S. 14). All in all, the class discussion hit most of the main points of the poem, and really just confirmed what I already though.

Stop All the Clocks

This poem "Stop all the clocks,cut the telephone" by W.H. Auden seems to be about this girl who has lost her loved one. He must have died because line 6 says "Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead." The woman (or whoever else you may think this person is) acts like this is the end of the world. He was my North, my South, my East and West,/My working week and my Sunday rest,/My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;/I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong. (l.9-12) When someone dies yes it is hard, but she makes everything sound like the world should stop. This was an easy poem to follow. I enjoyed reading it.
Another thing that i noticed was that the word aeroplanes is spelt differently. I dont get why it is spelt this way.

"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"

I agree with our class discussion about Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" where we talked about the overall message that this poem displays. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" (Thomas. l. 3), to me, represents the idea that no man should die without a fight. Thomas's second line, "Old age should burn and rave at close of day" also seems to represent the same idea, but enforces the fact that elders should make the most of every day they have because they don't know when it will be their last.

Some things that we didn't discuss in class that I found interesting throughout this poem are the descriptions used to characterized the different men. Words like good, grave, wild, and wise are all used and it seems that this gives the effect that the poem reaches out to ALL men and not just one type. The speaker emphasizes these descriptive words by placing them at the very beginning of each stanza, excluding the first and the last. Thomas's third line again, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light", is repeated exactly four times, the same number of descriptive words used. I think that is meant to direct the same "fight for every breath" message towards each type of man.

"Stop All The Clocks"

"Stop All The Clocks",by W.H. Auden is a poem with silence. As the reader, a feeling of complete sadness occurs throughout the poem. In the first stanza, quietness is what the writer wants you experience. Time needs to stand still and there is to be no communication with the outside world. "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone"(l. 1). All the reader should hear is the muffled tone of silence. Going on the the second stanza, the reader learns that someone has passed away. It goes on to explain that this person that passed away was everything to the speaker. "He was my North, my South, my East, my West"(l. 9). The last stanza still goes on to say how important this person was but now the imagery is bigger. "The stars are not wanted now:put out every one;/Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;" (l. 13-14). From the first stanza of listing things a person could actually do to listing things that a person can only imagine shows how the grieving process is different for everybody. The death of his/her lover became the death of everything around him/her.

Evaluation of "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone"

In W. H. Auden's poem "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone", there is a description of a woman mourning her husbands death. There are four stages of the poem. The first is silence, the second is respect, the third is the meaning of this person, and the fourth is the impact of the death. It has a very somber and silent tone. She wants respect to be shown with silence by stating "Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone"(Auden l. 2). The whole second stanza in this poem is dedicated to respect. She states "Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come" because she wants the procession to commence, so she can put the grief behind(Auden l. 4). The third stanza tells of how he meant everything to her. The third stanza uses contrast and comparison to show that it was no small impact. It was like investing a whole life savings into a stock, just to see it crash. It was like the end of the world, because "nothing now can ever come to any good"(Auden l. 16). It is a very sad poem because it shows only hopelessness.

"Do not go gentle into that good night"

"Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas
In the stanzas three, four, and five they talk about how some people approach death
Stanza three is how good men go towards the light. They seem to go towards heaven but they feel that they were not allowed enough time to accomplish more in their lifetime.
Stanza four is how wild men take death. THey do not have enough time to do what they want to. they live for each moment doing crazy things.
Stanza five is the Grave men. THey are accepting it but feel like it is unfair.
Over all everyone dies at some point and no one wants to so they keep fighting for what they want to do and never give up.

" Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone"

The mood in the poem " Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone" by W. H. Auden leaves you in a somewhat depressed state of mind. Imagine if a person were to have this outlook after someone close to them died. It would be miserable. " Poor away the ocean and sweep up the wood. For nothing now can ever come to any good. (l.15, 16) What a depressing end to a depressing poem. I would say that the poet strikes on many readers emotion when they read this poem because many people have lost someone close to them and it is never an easy time. It seems as though the character in this poem has such a deep dark outlook that they will never be able to move on and feel happy again after their loss. After losing someone life does go on and life will get better. It is just a time in one's life that may be more challenging and need more attention. In the first stanza I believe that it also signifies a moment of silence for the deceased and time to reflect on what is going on. I think everyone needs that when a loved one has passed away.

Those Winter Sundays

This poem to me is of a son who doesn't regonize the love his father shows to him and his family at first but then in the end realizes that love doesn't have to be said but can also be showed in many different ways. The poem starts of with a line that to me means his father is a dedicated man that gets up early, "Sundays too my father got up early," (page 677). Then the line, "Then the cracked hands that ached," (page 678) tells me that his father is a hard working labor man. He didn't get much appreciation for this from anyone, for the senctence, "No one ever thanked him," (page 678) said. The son explains how he would wake up when his father called, but didn't care that much to hurry and get up and work. "And slowly I would rise and dress," page (678) tells me this. I believe that the son feared of no love by the line that states, "Fearing the chronic anger of the house," (678). But in the end as the boy ages he realizes that love doesn't always have to come in the words, "I love you," but can come by showing and feeling it. The last line made me think that way, "And love's auster and lonely offices," (page 678).

The Kite Runner

The last part of the book was very interesting. It held alot of suspense in wondering if Amir jan would get to take Sohrab back to the United States. I could of almost guessed though that when he was told about Sohrab that he would feel it was his duty to take him, trying to make up for the guilt he felt from the past memories. This book holds alot of meaning to it. Not only to the story but what happens in the world around us. It is sad to get details of all the horrifying events that are going on today in everyday life. One memorable quote that I will not forget is "'For you, a thousand times over,'" (page 371). That gave me the meaning of true friendship.

The Kite Runner

The last part of The Kite Runner seemed to be something of a departure from the rest of the novel. No longer were are we watching the everyday life of Amir, but what happens when a regime takes over. Ali and Hassan killed, officials (who turn out to be Assef) taking children from orphanages.

The story ends with Amir flying a kite, and remembering how life was when he was a kid. However, with Sohrab with him, he sees an image of Hassan. "I looked down at Sohrab. One corner of his mouth had curled up just so. A smile. Lopsided. Hardly there. But there. ... I blinked and the smile was gone. But it had been there. I had seen it."... "Do you want me to run that kite for you?" ... "For you, a thousand times over." (370-71)

That smile, while not fixing all that had happened in his life, reminded him of the simpler times, when he was a child, and didn't have all the worries he has now. For that brief moment he was happy, and a kid again.♠

Dulce et Decorum Est

This whole poem brings a sense of extreme fatigue and determination. Some passages that show such feelings would be in line seven in the first stanza, Drunk with fatigue;deaf even to the hoots (Owen 7). This gives the sense of tiredness. You can picture in your mind someone stumbling around barely knowing whats going on...resembling someone drunk. It seems like in the second stanza that the reader still senses the tiredness but when the five-nines are dropped, they all have this burst of energy and determination. In the first line of the second stanza, Gas! Gas Quick, boys!- An ecstasy of fumbling (Owen 9). This whole passage shows what one will do for ones country, even if it has to haunt you in your dreams.

Dulce et Decorun Est

The poem is fitting to the thousands of soliders that are being killed in Iraq. The Author has obviously experienced war of some kind to have such a graphic image about war in his poem. I don't think the author approves of war, being that the title means sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country, and he refers to this as "The old Lie:" (27 )
When you read the title you really don't understand what the poem will be about, but as you start reading it you understand its about war, and the end ties it all together. Maybe this author experienced a war that he did not agree with. "His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin" (20) he clearly sees the war as evil, instead of feeling like he is fighting for his country.

"Dulce et Decorum Est"

"Dulce et Decorum Est"
As I was reading this essay, I kept thinking how horrible this would be to live through. Having to watch your fellow man die next to you and their is really nothing you can do for them but to watch them suffer, and then to put your friend on the back of a wagon knowing what his destiny is. What did they do to deserve this? Nothing! Except to die for their country. This essay just shows the cruelty in war and how you are fighting with all of your strength. In the lines 5 through 8 the author makes the men sound like zombies, when he says "Men marched asleep" this makes the men seem like they are programmed to just march and they don't even realize that they are loosing important things like their boots. I just cant imagine marching while being extremely tired but too scared to stop because I could be shot and be left to die. I understand dieing for your freedom and for your country if it involves freedom but to go through this and possibly watch your friend die and many other innocent people to me it seems ironic because you cant win both.

"The Man He Killed"

When I first read this story before class, I had to read this poem a few times before I understood it. The first line threw me off, “Had he and I but met…”(710). I get a sense of regret. From the title, I am able to conclude that he is feeling regret about the man that he killed. In the first four stanzas, the first lines are fragments. In the last stanza, the first line is a sentence. I think that this is because in the first four stanzas, the speaker is trying to deal with the guilt that he if feeling for killing this man and is shown through the fragmented thoughts. In the last stanza, the speaker is coming to the realization of what he has done and is the past the point of trying to rationalize it. He says, “Yes; quaint and curious was is!” (710). With the first line of the last stanza being a sentence, it is showing a shift in the poem, aka, the realization.


Another thing that I liked about this poem is that it started where it ended. It circled around and made it seem complete. In the first stanza, the speaker is talking about how he would like the sit down and have a drink in the bar with this man. In the last stanza, the speaker is once again talking about how he and the other man could meet in a bar.

The Man He Killed

As I read Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He Killed”, I viewed the speaker to be more curious about the man’s death and the idea of war altogether, alongside his regret that the death brought to him. “Had he and I but met” (M.1) describes, to me, that if he or she were given the chance to have met this man, the possibility that they could have been friends makes the person’s mind wonder. It also seems the he or she questions wither or not they would have made the same decision if they knew the man personally. “But ranged as infantry/And staring face to face/I shot at him as he at me/And killed him in his place” (M. 5-8). I agree with those members of the class who stated that this entire stanza sounds as if they are simply just engaging in these acts because it is what they are told to do. They either kill the other or they will end up killed. The third stanza attempts to explain, as the speaker searches for reasoning as to why he or she killed this man and the only response is “Because he was my foe” (M. 10). We discussed in class today that nothing, besides the dividing line of these two people, separates one from the other. ”No other reason why” (M. 16) explains that the two people have no personal rivals, but they are just doing as they are told to survive themselves. Today, war seems to get a bit ridiculous, but for some, the benefits are their only chance at survival. Though those fighting may not necessarily agree with why they are fighting, they are simply doing it because they know that later on, they will receive their portion of benefits. I, personally, have not agreed with what is continuing on today and have seen the lasting affects that leave some veterans forever traumatized, therefore, I can somewhat understand the speaker’s feelings towards his actions.

Moving Camp Too Far

Moving Camp Too Far was a very realistic poem. I've never sat and thought about Native Americans like the way she wrote about her ancestors. It's true that they can't do all of the things they once were able to do, which is sad to think about because its a part of who they are. When we discussed the layout of the poem in class today I didn't really see a pattern in it but when Jennifer pointed out that but was the shortest line the whole poem came together in a brighter light. Nila Northsun did a wonderful job of writing this poem and they way she had everything "in line". My favorite lines of the whole poem are these; "i don't know what it was to hunt buffalo or do the ghost dance"(8-10), "i can dance to indian music rock-n-roll hey-a-hey-o i can & unfortunately i do" (19-23). I think those lines of the poem alone have a great impact on the poem and they way she views things in todays society.

The Man He Killed

The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy gave me a different thought from the title, that the poem was going to be about some guy that got shot. Some one had murdered another man. The second Stanza was the only part that had to do with shooting and was the only part that deal with someone dying. After reading and talking it over in class i realized it was more to do with a soldier that was in the war. In war you have no guarantee if you will survive or n0t, and I think this poem is trying to show that people that go into war do not know what is coming for them.

The Kite Runner

When reading "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini through pages 165-212. I couldn't believe the rollercoaster of emotions I felt. One minute I was happy, when I thought Amir and Hassan would be reunited. The next minute I was crying when Amir found out that Hassan and his wife were murdered. "No," I breathed.
"-and ordered him to kneel-"
"No. God, no."
"-and shot him in the back of the head."
"No."
"-Farzana came screaming and attcked them-"
"No."
"-shot her too. Self-defense, they clamed later-"(195).
Hassan was such a wonderful person. I couldn't imagine what would happen to his son, Sohrab. Sohrab has delt with a lot of death at such a young age, not to mention BOTH parents, and his grandmother who he just meet. Hassan at least got to renite with his mother before she died. "She looked calm, at peace, like she did not mind dying now. The loss was hard on Hassan-it always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place"(188). This line sticks out a lot to me because I know exactly how it feels, because I never got the oppertunity to know my dad before he died. I think if I would have know my dad it would hurt more than I could of imagined. It's all I've ever know since I was one, is my dad was the brightest star in the sky. I could also relate with Hassan when he never knew his mother while growing up. I was very happy Hassan got to see his mother with his son. Now on a complete different note I can't believe that Amir and Hassan are 1/2 brothers! "Ali was sterile, " Rahim Khan said. (198). I couldn't believe it, if were a different setting I'm sure the truth would of came out a lot sooner. I now think that now it's Amir's way of repaying Hassan for all of the pain and sorrow he caused to him. Amir needs to find Sohrab and take him in as his own son, and not just a newphew. I know that Soraya would approve because, "The doctors said we could adopt,"(164). I can't wait to finish to find out if I'm right, it sure would be a way Amir can forgive himself for what he did to his brother.

Dulce et Decorum Est

When I looked at the title of this poem I thought that it would be confusing to read, but once I read it I found out it was very easy to follow. The last couple of lines to this poem say "The old Lie: Dulce t decorum est Pro patria mori"(27-28). This means, sweet and fitting it is to die for ones country. After you read the poem you sense that the narrator obviously does not agree with this. He capatilizes the L in Lie, which apparently tells you that he strongly disagrees with the saying. I disagree with the author, and agree with the saying.

What I picture is from all of the “Five-Nines,” a person is walking around with this gas floating in the air which is the thick green light not being able to breathe trying to find a way out of it but can’t. I later found out from our discussion in class is that the gren light is the way the people see through their mask/helmet things. This is a very strong image that I immediately think about when I see the title of this poem.

Dulce et Decorum Est

" Sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country" (887) That is the definition of the poem written by Wilfred Owen. It is somewhat ironic to read the title to this poem and know what it means and how important it was to many back when this poem was written. Back when this poem was written, many agreed that their was no greater death than to die for ones country. Today, I feel that many people's views on this may have changed a bit. While it is honorable to die for our country I believe the long war that is being fought has many people questioning " Is it worth it anymore?"
"He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning." (887) In this line of the poem I am imagining a person struggling to live. I am imagining a person that has gone to the front line to fight for their country and to fight for what they believe in. I am also imagining that this is an image that is instilled in many young soldiers minds as they fight for our country in a war that seems cannot be won.
This poem illustrates the many hardships that a soldier must endure in times of chaos and uncertainty. This is also a poem that in reality reels through a soldiers mind time and time again after having been through this type of trauma described by the author.

The Man He Killed

At first I thought this poem was about a man that was wondering why he killed this person, like he didn't understand why he was at war or what he was doing there. After discussing it in class I understand it is about a person who is regreting what he did, he is sad that he had to kill this man. "I shot him dead because-/Because he was my foe"(Hardy 9,10). I think that shows that him being a foe is the only reason he killed him. I also think the man feels bad about shooting him because he talks about the only reason he is in the military is because he was out of work and had no other option. "Was out of work-had sold his traps-/No other reason why"(Hardy 15,16). He thinks that the other man was in the same situation, was out of work and it makes him think was it worth it to join the military. Being in the military I kind of realize what the man is thinking. Like you don't have the option to think for yourself, you just do what your told without asking questions. I think the man is really feeling guilty and I think he will hesitate the next time he gets in a gun fight. Afte learning what nipperkin and half-a crown was it made sense that this poem was written in 1902.

"Moving Camp Too Far"

After discussing "Moving Camp Too Far" in class I realized that this Native American is telling of her heritage and all the things they did as part of their culture and all the things she can still do and the things she can't do. She says she "i can't speak of many moons moving camp travois I can't tell of the last great battle counting coup or taking scalps" ( 1-7), but she says "i can see and eagle almost extinct on slurpee plastic cups i can travel to powwows in campers & winnebagos" (12-16), but at the same time none of this stuff is truly the same as the olden days when her ancestors were around to experience it all. At the same time she tries to be positive and talk about the things that she can do to keep her heritage alive. "i can dance to indian music rock-n-roll hey-a-hey-o i can & unfortunately i do" (19-23). This shows that just because things aren't exactly how it was in the old days and some traditions fade there is still some traditions people can do to keep their heritage alive no matter what.

The Man He Killed

Discussing this poem gave me more detail to understand what the speaker was really feeling. My first impression was that a man would need to kill or be killed. Not knowing the life or feelings of the other he killed, he would go in a stance of thinking that it was his job, his enemy. The line "Had he and I but met," (page 710) made me believe this because he is thinking that maybe if they would of they would be friends, share interests with one another. But he can't feel this way, because he is made out to be the enemy and he has no choice. If he wanted to remain alive he were to shoot first. "Just so: my foe of course he was", (page 710) then leads me to believe he is not happy for what he has done, but confused, trying to convince himself that it is ok. Even though deep down he knows it isn't.

Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year

This is another poem that refers to alcohol. A son is remembering his father through a photograph. What the son remembers is his dad away most of the time fishing and drinking beer. I study my father's embarrassed young man's face ( 2 ). The father must of been embarrassed of his drinking problem, and that is probably what killed him. It seems the son could of been an alcoholic, but realizes he can not hold his liquor, so he chooses not to drink.
And don't even know the places to fish ( 15 ) suggest one of two things. Either the father never took the son fishing, that why he does not know of any places, or that because he is not a alcoholic and spends all day drinking and fishing, therefore he doesn't know of any places. No matter what problems the father had, the son still loved him.

My Papa's Waltz

This poem to me represents a father who has been drinking, and probably abusive to his wife, in the line suggest The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle ( 9-10 ). I think that father was abusing his wife, the son woke up, and the father started dancing with the son. The poem refers that the son does not know any better as the father then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt (15-16). Usually children in abusive homes do not know any better. Children think this is the norm, so regardless of the abusive, the son still loves his father. This is probably the only time the son gets attention from his father, and wants that attention to last even with his father being drunk.

The Kite Runner (Blog B)

This second section of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner is an extremely eventful one! Amir's selfishness is only getting worse. "It should have been just the two of us-that was the way I wanted it" (Hosseini 82) Amir states when Baba invites more people to go along with them to Jalalabad. His anger and jealousy also worsens toward Hassan. He tries to get Hassan and his father fired by creating an entire set up, making it look as if Hassan had stolen some of his birthday money and watch. "Baba came right out and asked" (Hosseini 105) and "Hassan's reply was a single word" (Hosseini 105) describes the moment that Baba confronts Hassan and Ali about the situation and to Amir's surprise, Baba didn't think twice to forgive him. "They'ed both been crying; I could tell from their red, puffed-up eyes" (Hosseini 105) was a great describtion of how the whole scheme effected both Ali and Hassan so greatly.

Not long after Ali and Hassan decide that it is time for them to leave. Amir is overjoyed until he finds out that him and Baba are also moving due to the Russian invasion. I agree with others who have said that they would have liked this novel to elaberate a bit more on the invastion because I am not very familiar with it either.

While making their way to the United States Baba and Amir encounter being lied to about their source of transportation, spending nights in a dark basement taken over by rats, traveling in the tank of a gas truck, and finally by bus, make their way to Fremont, California. It is very different for the two of them to live in the United States because they are no longer the well known and rich people they once were in Kabul. "On the floor: oranges, an overturned magazine rack, a broken jar of beef jerky, and shards of glass at Baba's feet" (Hosseini 127) was the result of the grocery strore owner asking Baba for an ID with his check. He is not used to the United State's customs yet. He is also not used to being the one receiving charity so when he acquires food stamps he is said to have "walked out of the walfare office like a man cured of a tumor" (Hosseini 131).

Baba is severly ill now. He has cancer, though he doesn't want anyone to know about it. He is also turning down the chemo as help to fight the disease. With this situation Amir is still only thinking of himself, wishing Baba would agree to the medicine so that he would still be around for him. Doctors encourages the radiation treatment, but Baba still declines the offer to better himself. I think this is his way of saying that it is time for Amir to make his own way and that he needs to start looking at the bigger picture in life.

Amir meets Soraya at the flea market and they are now engaged to get married. She tells Amir her secret while Amir holds his, telling readers "I envied her. Her secret was out" (Hosseini 165). He was about to let her know what he has been keeping in for so long, but doesn't. Hopefully he will eventually.

digging

I really enjoyed the poem "Digging" I. sounded like Seamus Heaney's grandfather was a hardworking man. "To drink it, then to it right away." p679:20, was one of the more memorable quotes. I also find it very descriptive in the way the potatoes were dug."Nicking and slicing neatly."P679:20. The grandfather was an architect when it came to harvesting potatoes. The poem was very well done

My Papas waltz

I really enjoyed this poem even though it was quite short. I captured everything that I needed to know from those four stanzas! From what I understood about it was that the little boy was getting abused.Like in the fourth stanza where it says " he beat time in my head"(Piercy 991). I am not sure if he intended it to sound like this but it sounds like he is getting beat to me! Granted yes why would he call him papa if he got abused but some people still believe that whoever abuses them are still good people. Some people think they don't know what they are doing is wrong and still love them. The only thing I don't understand is why the author sugar coats his words. I guess you could say he is almost trying to mislead you. I really enjoy reading poems as long as I can understand them. It doesn't necessarily have to make complete sense but as long as I understand it. I just hope the rest of the poems that we have to read are as easy to read as this one was!!

"Barbie Doll"

I interpreted Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” similar to the interpretations of the rest of the class. I agree that the overall message was society’s demands of females and that suicide was the result of them. When I read “dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipstick the color of cherry candy” (Piercy 2-4) I thought not only of small girls but also the way that Barbie has evolved. She has gone from bright red lipstick to glittery pink lip gloss. The stoves and irons remind me of Barbie’s dream kitchen and the dolls that did pee-pee seem to represent new dolls that other company’s have manufactured since the success of Barbie. These are all typical toys that normal girls play with, which is the beginning description of the girl in this poem. “You have a great big nose and fat legs” (Piercy 6) was the start of the girl’s self-consciousness. The whole second stanza goes on to describe her flaws: “healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (Piercy 7-9). Such characteristics were not acceptable of a female in those times so she felt that she owed the world an apology for her lack of feminism and physical appearance. The very last stanza begins out explaining what she was told to do, but after following along for so long the girl feels that it must come to an end. The person she knew herself as is being hidden and she is commanded to form herself the way that society fells females should be. “She cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up” (Piercy 17-18) to me represented her weakness and lack of desire to keep them up to par. The fact that she was dressed up in pink and white stood out to me right away because I thought of the box that Barbie is displayed in, which consists of those two colors. Also the fact that it was a nightie implies that she will be resting a long while. After the girl takes her own life everyone finds her so beautiful, thanks to the help of cosmetics. The girl they see isn’t the girl that she really was so those people may be pleased to see that she now looks like they wanted her to, but I don’t believe that her personal happy ending would relate to suicide.

Digging

This is the first poem I have read that I actually understood what the author was talking about. I think it is really nice for a person to have his father and grandfather as role models and want to duplicat thier work ethic. You can definately tell that the boy wanted to be like his father because he has memories of going to work with his father when he was younger. "Once I carried him milk in a bottle Corked sloppily with paper" (Heaney 679). I have memories just like that when I use to go to work with my grandpa. He was a very hard worker and he used to cut trees down so he could build shelves and desks, he was a carpenter and he worked like 15 hours a day. The little boy reminds me of myself. It seems the man is a little depressed that he doesn't do the same kind of hard labor his father did. "But I've no spade to follow men like them" (Heaney 697. He says that he will use his pen as a spade. Meaning he will do his work with a pen like maybe writing poetry instead of farming. Out of all the poems we have read in class so far this one is by far the best one. It has the best message and I understand why the author chooses certain words.

"Barbie Doll"

This poem is like a real life of a teenage girl. It starts off using little kid words such as "dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons..." (Piercy). Then it goes on to explain about puberty and how it is the "magic of puberty," (Piercy), which is like an oxymoron because there is nothing "magic" about puberty.
Puberty causes many bad times in a young girls life like this poem explains about the girls "...great big nose and fat legs" (Piercy). There is a lot of little things that people say to and about girls that really lower their self-esteem and make them depressed and want to commit suicide like the girl in this poem.
After the girl is dead people then notice how pretty she looks and says it aloud. I think if people wouldn't have said mean things about her in the first place then it could have saved her life. The girl finally got to look beautiful "In the casket displayed on satin she lay with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on, a turned-up putty nose, dressed in a pink and white nightie" (Piercy). Now if only she could have lived this fairy tale life alive instead of having to take her own life to get her fairy tale "barbie doll" life. Very unfortunate for this poor girl who people felt the need to make fun of her.

"Those Winter Sundays" and my thoughts!

I have never been a big fan of reading poetry, however, I’ve had a little bit of a change of heart. I really like having all the class discussion on the poems that we have read so far. None of them have been too hard to understand or follow. My favorite part is how many different interpretations that can be made on just a single poem. You are able to interpret it how you want to, and it’s really interesting seeing what other people thought the same thing meant. For example, when I read “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, I understood the poem to be about a monotonous Sundays that seemed to be the same very week. The tone of this poem seems to be slow and almost regretful, especially when the speaker says, “No one ever thanked him” (678). I also get the feeling of an indifferent relationship between the father and the speaker. When discussing this poem in class, it helped my pick up on the smaller details in the story that have a big impact. Such as the significance of the words “blueblack cold” and “chronic angers of the house.” When I first read the line “he put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,” I didn’t give it much attention (678). However, when discussing it in class, I realized how powerful the word blueback is. I might represent a bruise-like feeling. It was so cold that it hurt! There is so much power in the few words that poems use, if you take the time to figure it out.

Photograph of My Father in His Twenty Second Year

When i read this poem I automatically thought that it was about, an alcoholic father who never spent time with his kid, the narrator. I notice that an image that constantly comes to mind is the father holding a beer and holding the string of fish. This gives me the reason to believe that he is an alcoholic and someone who loves to fish. The beer and fish are brought up twice in the poem. It seems like the father never spent time with him because at the end of the poem the narrator says, "Father, I love you, yet how can I say thank you, I who cant hold my liquor either, and don't even know the places to fish" (13-15) So he must not have shown him how to fish, or maybe he has never asked him to go fishing with him. Also something else that comes to mind is maybe the narrator is an alcoholic like his father because he cant hold his liquor.
The narrator seems to be looking at a picture of his father who has either been dead for twenty two years or he was twenty two when he died. I believe that he is dead because the narrator says, "All his life my father wanted to be bold" (line 10).
This was a pretty straight forward poem.