Blog 11

“Sir Patrick Spens” and Dudley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham” are two poems that many similarities. In “Ballad of Birmingham” the little girl remains faithful to her mother. But she ends up dying despite her mother’s efforts. In “Sir Patrick Spens” the sailor remains faithful to the King and ends up dying at sea as he attempted to do what the King told him too. The two main characters remain loyal and faithful but in the end it results in their death. Another similarity that I noticed was both the poems are similar in structure. Both poems have four lined stanzas and have a rhyme scheme of the second and fourth lines rhyme together. The pomes also share imagery. In “Sir Patrick Spens”, it says “Its fifty fathom deep,/ And there lies good Sir Patrick Spens,/ Wi’ the Scots lords at his feet” (42-44. 650). And in “Ballad of Birmingham, “She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,/and bathed rose petal sweet,/ And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,/ And white shoes on her feet.” (17-20. 956) This shows the vivid imagery. It gives us as readers a good picture of what is going on between both of the poems. Another similarity that I noticed between both of the poems is at the end of both of them they both set a gloomy mood leading up to the tragic outcome. And when the lines are revealed about the tragic such as in “Ballad of Birmingham” when it says “For when she heard the explosion,/ Her eyes grew wet and wild./ She raced through the streets of Birmingham/ calling for her child.” (26-28. 957) she knew in what had happened. And in “Sir Patrick Spens” O long, long their ladies sit… O long, long may the ladies stand,/ Wi’ their gold combs in their hair,/ Waiting for their own dear lords,/ For they’ll see them no more.” (33-36. 650) And the reason why I think that is important because, it was all leading up to the tragic outcome of the poems.

Blog 10

In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” written by Theodore Roethke, this poem can be taken in two different ways abuse or the actual waltz. At first I thought the poem was about abuse, in the poem he says “The whisky on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy;/ But I hung on like death:/ Such waltzing was not easy”. This poem can lead to a person’s interpretation of abuse or a memorable dance. The mother is also brought up and how she is upset at the boy’s behavior “My mother’s countenance/ Could not unfrown itself” Which means by the look on his mother’s face lets the boy know that she is upset.

Blog #9

I chose “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” written by William Blake because I liked both of the poems the most. A similarity that I saw between both of the poems is that both of the titles have an animal in it. That was the first thing I noticed about them. Another thing that I noticed about them is the rhyme scheme and the way both of the poems start out with questions, like who created them? “The Tyger” creates a darker image compared to “The Lamb” which seemed completely harmless and the exact opposite of the tiger. Both poems are asking a question, who created thee? Who created such an intimidating/ powerful animal and who created such a gentle animal? They both purpose one common question, if the creator who made the lamb, also created the tiger as well. The diction is similar in both of the poems and both of them are easy to read and simple. I enjoyed reading both of the poems and how they compared to each other.

Blog #8

Out of the poems the one I liked the best was “Here a Pretty Baby Lies”, written by Robert Herrick the reason why I liked the poem was because it was simple. The diction in the poem is easy, and the rhyme scheme is basic. The reason why I liked the poem the best is because of how one line at the end of the poem can change everything. That one line at the end can make you think totally different. From the last line of the poem we find out that the baby that the author gave us a visual of is in a grave. The poem has deep meaning and I like it because its straight forward and gets right to the point.

The poem that I least cared for was “Schoolsville” written by Billy Collins. One of the reasons why is I thought it was boring nothing really was going on. It seemed like a boring town. There was no surprise ending compared to the poem “Here a Pretty Baby Lies”, it just did not keep my attention and therefore I did not care for it.

Blog 7

The title “Fences” represents the story very well. Fences are both used symbolically and literally in the story, from the fences he builds between the relationships with people and the actual fence that is built in the main character Troy’s yard. The author August Wilson symbolically uses fences to represent the walls between the characters in the story. Troy has a fence up which is like his guard in every relationship he has with a person. Troy wants to keep out the things that he separates himself from but it does him more harm than good.

The reason why Rose wants a fence and the reason why it is symbolic is because, Rose loves her family and she wants to keep everyone together. “Some people build fences to keep people out...and other people build fences to keep people in.”  (Act 2 Scene 1 Line 26) she builds it to keep everyone together as a family. She attempts to keep her family inside the home. Troy, on the other hand, builds different symbolic fences of responsibility, and expects his sons to do so much and his expectations are so high that all these fences do is push people away.

Troy clearly builds the fence as a dividing line between him and his son an actual, physical barrier that separates them when in the story Cory says "Tell Mama I'll be back for my things” and then Troy says “They’ll be on the other side of the fence”. (Act 2 Scene 4 Lines 110-111)   By winning the fight with Cory, Troy in my opinion is trying to show him that he's still the and always will be the alpha male. While the fence is now a literal barrier between the two, it also is representing the emotional strain that Troy places between them.

Blog 6

Claudius: is he purely evil or is he merely a flawed human being?  I believe he is purely evil.  Claudius is a man who knows what he wants and he is not going to stop until he gets what he wants and is completely satisfied with it. In order to get what he wants he is willing to murder someone and to betray and deceive his own family and lie to his own country just to get what he wants, to be king of Denmark. Claudius has no remorse whatsoever about his actions with killing his own brother. I believe he is pure evil because he planned to kill his brother, he knew what he was doing. And he knew in order to become King of Denmark he must marry the Queen so that’s what he did. All for the title of King. He lied to everyone. He must have had everything all planned out and thought through which really shows how evil he is. And another way that he showed his pure evilness is when he said to Hamlet “In filial obligation for some term to do obstinate condolement, is a course of impious stubbornness, ‘tis unmanly grief, it shows a will most incorrect to heaven” (Act 1 Scene 2 Lines 91-950). He is telling Hamlet to stop mourning of his own father’s death and to get over it. Claudius has no feelings; he does not care about who he hurts. Claudius is a man who will go to great length and will risk everything to get what he wants.

Blog #5

Hamlet is upset for many reasons. Hamlet is angry and searching for revenge. He became very disturbed when he came to find out about his fathers death. He could not come to terms with it and he could not come out of the grief of his fathers death. His fathers death was a big shock to him and affected him a great deal. He was also upset at his mother and how quickly she became remarried, he could not accept that his mother married his uncle which further increases his problems and sadness."Like Niobe, all tears;- why she, even she,- O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason,Would have mourned longer,-married with my uncle, My father’s brother; but no more like my father Than I to Hercules: within a month; Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tearsHad left the flushing in her galled eyes, She married. O most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets It is not, nor it cannot come to good, But break my heart,- for I must hold my tongue." (Act 1 Scene 2 Lines 149-158) This quote is very significant because it describes the causes of Hamlet's pain, how much he is unhappy with the intense disgust at his mother’s marriage. It broke his heart to know of his mothers new marriage.

Blog #4

“The Lady with the Pet Dog” written by Anton Chekov, is a story about true love that a person didn’t expect to find. The story shows how if you meet that one special person in your life, your true love, nothing else seems to matter and nothing will get in the way. The story’s main character Dmitritch Gurov was a man who was unfaithful to his wife and felt that he could get any women he wanted, “In his whole nature, there was something attractive and elusive which allured women and disposed them in his favour…” (Chekov 467), until he met his one true love Anna Sergeyevna.  Everything changed after that. They fell in love with one another, even thou they were both married, they did not let that stop them from seeing each other. The story portrays the change brought about in Gurov's heart as he gets to know the amazing Lady with the dog and begins and an affair that he describes in the end as "only just beginning." (Chekov 476) For Gurov, Anna brings him a feeling he’s never felt before. “He felt profound, compassion, he wanted to be sincere and tender…” (Chekov 476).

            “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” written by D.H. Lawerence. Lawerence’s writing was much difference then Chekov, there was no indications or clues of love going on until later in the story. No one expected her to fall in love with doctor that was a surprising twist to the story. The  main character Mabel seemed to be alone in the world. The one place Mabel felt secure, comfortable and away from the world was at her mother’s grave site and that is where she saw the doctor Jack Fergusson and her feelings for him changed after that. They fell in love with each other “He had never thought of loving her. He had never wanted to love her” (Lawerence 484). Jack came in at the right time and saved her and made her feel loved and wanted. “I love you! I love you! He said in a soft, low vibrating voice, unlike himself… Kiss me she said” (Lawerence 485). Mabel was ready to start her new life with Jack, and wanted to move on with her life and start fresh.

Blog #3

“The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin has a lot of irony throughout the story. One of the examples that I noticed was “Her husband’s friend Richard was there too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when the intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallards name leading the list of ‘killed’ ” (Chopin 337). Reading that sentence in the beginning made me believe and think he was dead but in fact he never died, he was far from the scene of the crash and had no idea of a crash ever happening. Another example of irony in the story is in the beginning of the story we are informed that Louise Mallard has a heart condition, and what was ironic about that is she did not die when she found out that her husband had been killed, but she died when she saw him walk through the door and realized he was actually alive. I believe Louise was in a way happy about her husbands supposed “death”. “There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself…and yet she loved him-sometimes. Often she had not” (338). It’s ironic knowing that her enjoyments of her husband’s death lead to the fatal reaction to him being alive.

There is also Irony in the story “The Cask of Amontillado” written by Edgar Allan Poe, one of the first examples I noticed of irony is Fortunado’s name which in Italian it means good fortune and good luck, it’s ironic because as I kept reading the story I realized Fortunato does not have any good luck or fortune. One example of irony is that us the readers know about Fortunato’s death, but Fortunato has no idea why the narrator is leading him down to the vault. Another example is when the narrator becomes so concerned about Fortunado’s health, “Come,” I said with decision, ‘we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible” (Poe 526). Its ironic that the narrator cares so much about Fortunado’s health when the narrator knows he is going to be the one to kill him later.

Blog 2

“The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Gilman Perkins was about a woman who suffered from a mental illness. The narrator and her husband John rented a colonial mansion, a secluded estate for the summer hoping that it would do well for the narrator and to help her with her recovery. The narrator suffers from what her husband who is a physician, believes is a "temporary nervous depression." The narrator is living in a house in which she does not feel comfortable, in a room she hasn’t picked out, she is not allowed to leave the house, she must stay in the room up-stairs, where the bed is nailed to the floor and the room is decorated with yellow wallpaper. Her husband John said she must get bed rest and not to engage in any activity. So as the narrator spends all day in that room, the narrator begins to become obsessed with the wallpaper. “The paint and paper look as if boys’ school had used it. It is stripped off –the paper-in great patches all around the head of my bed… I never saw a worse paper in my life. One of those sprawling flamboyant, patterns committing every artistic sin”. (566) The narrator has nothing to do all day so she starts to follow the pattern of the wallpaper and she becomes so obsessed, all she does is think about it, and where the pattern leads to and where it stops “I lie here on this great immovable bed- it is nailed down, I believe- and follow that pattern about by the hour… I start, we’ll say, at the bottom, down in the corner over where is has not been touched, and I determine for the thousandth time that I will follow that pointless pattern to some sort of conclusion”. (568). Being in that room with the wallpaper, does not help the narrator at all, I believe it made her worse. Her husband John believes that would help her recover but, it made her mental illness worse as the time went on and progressed. When the narrator finally came to her breaking point with the room, the wallpaper, and everything going on around her, when she had enough of it all she ripped all the wallpaper off, “As soon as it was moonlight and that poor thing began to crawl and shake the pattern, I got up and ran to help her. I pulled and she shook. I shook and she pulled, and before morning we had pulled off yards of that paper”. (573) Once the narrator pulled off the wallpaper she felt like she was freeing herself, she felt like she was the women trapped in the wallpaper and that was the only way she could release and free herself was by tearing it down and off the walls to a clean slate.

Blog entry #1

“The Things They Carried” written by Tim O’Brien entails the journey of soldiers who were marching through Vietnam. O’Brien discusses and goes into great detail about what the soldiers carried with them. He describes the actual things they carried with them, and also describes the emotions that they felt and carried with them as well. “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity… P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets… and two or three canteens of water… Together these items weighed between 15 and 20 pounds”.(97) One thing I noticed as I was reading is O’Brien seems to most always put the weight of all the items they carried, “As an RTO, Mitchell Sanders carried the pRC-25 radio, a killer, 26 pounds with its battery… As a medic, Rat Kiley carried a canvas satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tablets… for a total weight of 20 pounds. ”. (98) I believe he did that to show the sense of baggage it had on them and how it weighed on the soldiers to carry all those things.

Not only did the soldiers have to carry all the physical weight on themselves but, they also had to carry all the emotional weight that weighed heavy on them,  it probably weighed more than the actual physical weight itself, it weighed heavy on their minds and hard on the heart. The emotional weight affected the soldiers to lose focus on what they were doing and to lose focus on their missions. One of the soldiers that carried a lot of emotional weight was First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, he carried a lot of emotional weight from the girl he loved Martha, he knew that she did not love him and it weighed heavy on his heart. He wondered why she did not love him, and he wondered and worried so much it ended up getting one of his soldiers killed because he was not looking out for him. “Lieutenant Cross gazed at the tunnel. But he was not there. He was buried with Martha under the white sand at the Jersey Shore… He was just a kid at war, in love.” (101)

The men all carried things that were most important to them, “Lee Strunk carried his slingshot; ammo… Rat Kiley carried brandy and M&M’s… but they all carried ghosts”. (100) All the men carried a burden on themselves. “The things they carried were determined to some extent by superstition. Liutenant Cross carried the good-luck pebble. Dave Jensen carried a rabbits foot. Norman Bowker, otherwise a very gentle person, carried a thumb that had been presented to him…” The men carried these items I believe to experience a feeling of sense of comfort, it made them feel a little at ease to have something to always hold on to. Lieutenant Cross carried on to the pebble that Martha gave to him, because it gave him a sense of comfort knowing that the pebble was from her.