Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Close Reading (T-minus 3 classes)

Time to get serious about this blogging business.

Emily Dickinson- I'm Nobody! Who are you?

I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there's a pair of us?
Don't tell! they'd advertise – you know!



The passage, in relation to the poem as a whole, is Dickinson's discovery of another 'nobody'; the later half of the poem is a reflection on how she would never want to be a 'somebody.'

I think this passage sounds great, and the narrator has such a strong voice that it can't help but come through in the reading. The repeating vowel sounds 'oh', 'ou' in the first two lines give a great sense of unity, as does the repetition of the words 'nobody' and 'you'. The fact that Dickinson is also addressing a second person gives the reader a sense of intimacy, alienating them from the 'they' (the 'somebody's) she speaks of.

Most importantly, I think that the punctuation adds to the mood of the poem. The poem is strongly iambic because of how it's punctuated--after ever stressed syllable, a dash, comma, or question mark is put into place. Through this, the reader is forced to read the poem a certain way that really adds to the poem's food. Especially through this passage, Dickens is excited upon her discovery--and through her stilted speech, this becomes apparent. There's a very urgent feel to it, like Dickinson has finally found someone to confide in and just needs to unload: again, adding to the intimacy.

Close Reading of "Rachmaninoff's Elegy"

"Rachmaninoff's Elegy" by Linda Pastan
for William Lyoo
Though only 16,
you played the piano
at your mother's funeral,
to honor her, you said,
and the music was like water
washing over a wound
each note a footfall
through a darkness
you will negotiate
for years.
For my close reading of Linda Pastan's "Rachmaninoff's Elegy," I will start with the fifth line of the poem. In that line, "and the music was like water," we find a simile. This simile, comparing the music played by the young man at his mother's funeral to water, is further extended in the next line when it is said to be "washing over a wound." Of course the wound in question is the death of the young man's mother. This simile suggests that the music he is playing has some soothing aspect of it. Nonetheless water alone is not enough to heal a wound and this is made clear in the last four lines of the poem. In line eight we find a metaphor which states that every note was a "footfall." These are not merely footfalls, but as the next line states, these are footfalls "through a darkness." A footfall is basically the sound of a foot step. These two lines create a sense of feeling lost, of feeling incomplete, and of not knowing exactly where one's place is in the world. These seem to be perfectly appropriate sentiments to be associated with a poem about a very young man losing his mother. The last two lines make clear that this type of devastating loss is not something one gets over quickly, but something one must "...negotiate / for years."
Pastan, Linda. "Rachmaninoff's Elegy." Alaska Quarterly Review 25 No 1 & 2 (2008): 214.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Introduction to "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"

1.) "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," originally entitled "A Child's Reminiscence" by Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass part of the "Sea Drift" section. 1891-2 ed.

2.) "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" is set on the beach, which is referred to in the poem as Paumanok. The poem begins with an older man whom "A man, yet by these tears a little boy again" (23). The poem is about a young boy's first encounter with death. It is also about two mated mockingbirds who make their home on the beach. In the poem Whitman gives a voice to the male mockingbird through italics; the boy in the poem interprets the mockingbird's song for us. In the poem one day the female bird leaves the nest and never comes back. The male bird in grief calls out persistently for his mate, who never returns. In the poem the male mockingbird introduces the young boy to death. Deducing from the language used in the very beginning of the poem I think that the person the young boy is grieving for is his mother: "Out of the ninth month midnight" (3). However, the poem can also be read another way, it could also be about the poet looking back at his first encounter with death and mourning that loss of innocence. There is a definite feel of the poet and his language, after all the poet was once the boy, who became the man, who eventually became the poet. And it was the experiences in life that have shaped the poet. The poem is all about the loss of innocence when a young child has his first encounter with death. It is a poem about dealing with the loss of someone close that you love.

Here is a link to the poem online http://www.bartleby.com/142/212.html

3.) I picked this poem because it is one of my favorite poems that I have read by Whitman, it is a elegy, which makes it a very sad poem, yet it is also a complex poem. Reading this poem made me think about my first encounter when grieving for a lost loved one, and I found that I could really connect with the poem. I really love Whitman's use of imagery in the poem, while reading it I can hear the sound of the ocean on a dark night. Whitman uses language to convey the movement of the waves in the lines of the poems by using enjambment. I like the fact the this poem is complex and that every time I read it I take out something very different from the poem.

4.) I would have to say that "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" reminded me of "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold (pg 104) because the setting of both poems is on a beach by the sea at night. But both poems have a deeper meaning. "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" is about grief from loss of a loved one and dealing with that grief, the young boy in the poem is questioning death and loss. In "Dover Beach" Arnold is comparing the sea to religion and faith and how it has been slowly washing away, and in his own way Arnold is coping with loss, and in his own way is grieving about the dwindling faith of religion, he seems to be questioning his own faith in the poem as well.

Introduction: Archy and Mehitabel by Don Marquis

1) Marquis, Don. The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel. Ed. Michael Sims. New York: Penguin, 2006.

I'm citing this new anthology of "Archy and Mehitabel" poems, because the annotations are really helpful and it's the most readily accessible. You can read some of the most famous poems at This site. ("The lesson of the moth" is my favorite!)

2) Don Marquis wrote pot-boiler newspaper columns in the hey-day of newspaper columns, and his "Archy" poetry spanned from 1916 to about 1922. Turning out columns was bleeding him dry and he had trouble coming up with enough to fill the space, so he invented a guest columnist, Archy, who happened to be a vers libre poet whose soul had transmigrated after death into the body of a cockroach. Archy had trouble operating all the keys on the type-writer, of course, being a cockroach, and he couldnt' use capital letters or punctuation. This gave Marquis plenty of gimmicks to take up space with, and at one point Archy became a roaming reporter, commenting on WWI from Europe or riding around in the trouser-cuff of the former czar of Russia. (If you remember your history, the Romanovs were executed during the Russian Revolution of 1917, so Marquis was cashing in on the rumors that one of them--Anastasia, Alexei, or in this case Nicholas--had escaped.) So of course, Marquis's column was mostly made up of satire on current events. Using Archy as a columnist with a unique view from the "underside," both literally and figuratively, he also explored some deeper themes and actually accidentally made capital-L Literature out of the ramblings of a fictional poetic cockroach.

3) This book is the most dog-eared and underlined book I own. I keep returning to it, and I definitely think it deserves more publicity and acknowledgment as a real classic. In Archy, Don Marquis created the most odd, endearing character. He's really an all-encompassing every-man sort of character both in spite of and because of the fact he's a cockroach. It really plays into the smallness that everybody feels sometimes. In fact, Marquis really identified with Archy and seems to frequently have spoken through him. As a guest columnist in Marquis's column, Archy was the starving artist with higher aspirations and Marquis was the big mean boss-man, reversing the role and oppression Marquis frequently felt in his career as a newspaper writer. What I'm trying to get at, I guess, is that Archy is a bug with ambition, frequently thwarted, but doing the best with what he has. And there's something in that that I think a lot of us can relate to.

4) I'm going to make kind of a leap here and say that Archy and Mehitabel is comparable to "The Hitchhikers" by Eudora Welty we read in the short stories unit. There aren't a whole lot of really obvious surface similarities--a compilation of free verse poetry written by a cockroach and a short story about a truck driver? What I'm thinking of is the kind of working class sensibility. Both Archy and Tom are pretty isolated and have seen better days. They're both kind of down on their luck and trod on by the greater workings of society. We get the information that Tom used to be a musician, and it's still something he yearns after, though. It seems something a little incompatible with his truck-driving, though, and is a kind of symbol of everything he's lost or lacking. Archy also has artistic aspirations which are extremely at odds with his status as a cockroach, yet he doggedly pursues them. Typing on a type-writer means leaping and bashing his head on the keys, but he keeps at it with a superhuman effort. So while Tom's is a story of not being able to break out of a mold, Archy's is more optimistic and expresses the possibility of transcending limitations.

Beowulf vs. Beowulf

This is my first post so I hope I'm doing this right. I have finally found some time to do this thing so I thought I'd start with something I know, movies. In this case the film based on the epic poem "Beowulf." The original epic poem dates back to between the 8th and the 11th century. The poem follows the main character Beowulf as he rescues Heorot from the beast Grendel. From there our hero battles and kills Grendel's mother. He soon goes home to become king and battles a dragon which leads to the death of the dragon and Beowulf himself. Any English major knows the story. If you watch the 2007 film you'll notice many differences, which is classic Hollywood style. To me there are seven big differences between the poem and the film. Starting at the beginning and going to the end: In the poem Grendel kills because he's a miserable beast and can't stand the happiness going on in Heorot, but in the film Grendel seems to have an ear problem as his ear throbbed when he heard loud noises. We learn in the film that Hrothgar is Grendel's father while in the poem Grendel is described as being a descendant of Cain. We get an epic battle between Beowulf and Grendel's mother that ends with his mother beheaded, but in the film we get the beginning of a love scene. That love scene ends up with a son, and that son is the dragon that attacks Hrothgar's, now Beowulf's, kingdom. It's quite different in the poem as the dragon is a real dragon and attacks Beowulf's home land that he's the king of. Beowulf's death is quite different as well. In the poem he dies from a dragon bite, but in the film he dies because he cut off his own arm to kill the dragon. In general observations, Grendel speaks and Hrothgar has no children. This is a classic case of Hollywood ruining a great piece of literature.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

"Defender of the Faith" Theory Questions

I think Philip Roth's "Defender of the Faith" is a good short story to view through the lens of cultural poetics. It's interesting because the short story shows the convergence of a people of a Jewish background with the United States Army which seems to have been a very WASPy institution back when this story is set. Roth shows us the two paths one can take when dealing with an organization whose cultural makeup is completely different than one's own. There is the way that Nathan Marx tries to do his job well and blend in as though he was just like everyone else, and then there is the way Sheldon Grossman tries to use his cultural background to his advantage within the institution. It's also interesting to look at the short story through the lens of cultural poetics because the Army is very much one of the ultimate forces of resistance in society. Someone in the Army does not have the luxury of doing what they wish to do, but must conform to the Army's strict rules and regulations.

Questions:

1. How does Sheldon Grossman attempt to resist/avoid the regulations set upon him by the Army?

2. What different values are associated with Sheldon Grossman and Nathan Marx in regards to their individual relationships with the cultural background they both share?

3. How does both Nathan and Sheldon use their cultural background to manipulate others and get what they want?

Close Reading: H.P. Lovecraft "The White Ship"

H.P. Lovecraft, "The White Ship"

Lovecraft, H.P. . "White Ship." HP Lovecraft - The White Ship. 01 Jan 2008. 26 Apr 2008 .
.

Link To Text

This selection is not the same as my previous post, which was the original text from 1919 written by the author H.P. Lovecraft. This is the song written by the band H.P. Lovecraft in 1967 that was released on their debut album during the summer of love. This song, however, has nothing to do with love or anything remotely similar. The song, written in homage to their inspiration, is a very eerie look into the writings of Lovecraft's work of 1919. The lyric poem has a very interesting tone, as it is very repetitive in its first two stanzas, as well as the next two with "the white ship" as the dominant line. The writer of the song wanted to capture the mystic journey that H.P. Lovecraft (Author) had given his character Basil Elton. The lines of the piece transcribe well against the original publication by Lovecraft. The piece includes very vivid imagery with lines "Home through the night here in my darkened room / Sails of white across the misty moon / Floating across the sky," (Line 6-8) that visualize the psychedelic nature of the times as well as the eerie nature of the short story written 48 years earlier.


Close Reading: "The White Ship" H.P. Lovecraft

H.P. Lovecraft, "The White Ship"

Lovecraft, H.P.. "The Works Of H.P. Lovecraft." The White Ship by H.P. Lovecraft. 01 Jan 2003. DragonBytes. 26 Apr 2008 .
.
Link To Text

"Out of the South it was that the White Ship used to come when the moon was full and high in the heavens. Out of the South it would glide very smoothly and silently over the sea. And whether the sea was rough or calm, and whether the wind was friendly or adverse, it would always glide smoothly and silently, its sails distant and its long strange tiers of oars moving rhythmically."

This selection, taken from H.P. Lovecraft's "The White Ship" describes a very imaginative lighthouse keep by the name of Basil Elton. This particular selection is very crucial when trying to understand the image that Elton sees when he visits the ocean in a very intimate circumstance every night on full moons. This selection describes just what he sees when the mysterious white ship appears. The author has a very keen eye for description as throughout the entire story there are numerous situations that the author describes in full detail of what is appearing before the reader. This story has a very interesting tale; when the Basil Elton's journey with the white ship has ended, he wonders if it were truly an experience of reality or was it just the imagination wandering. Lovecraft's writing describes this journey, almost similar to Homer's odyssey, as Elton visits islands that are not of this world, thus giving him the impression that it may not have been real.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

THE TEMPEST

i figured there would be a bunch of blogs on the tempest, or that what i thought i heard but i dont see any. so maybe im at the wrong blog. anyways, i went to the tempest. ive read it before and i thought i knew what it was about but i dont think i do anymore. or maybe im stupid. i think thats probably more likely than anything else. but anyways im glad it was free. there were a lot of special effects, which was nice, and girls with lots of cleavage and skimpy outfits but the actually play itself seemed watered down by this. i also couldnt really hear alot of it and i was close to the front so i dont think my hearing was the problem, althought it could have been the 90 year old woman behind me talking about how cute everyone looked. anyways, there were people acting like ostriches of some sort which was extremely entertaining, but i dont know, the overall performance seemed weak and could have been stronger. im sorry to anyone who was in the tempest because im sure your extremely nice and a great actor and everything else, but i just dont think the actually performance was that good and it was hard to pull anything out of it due to the fact that there were people running around all over the place and crazy special effects, especially for a Shakespeare play. and i guess that may be what you need to do to spice up a play thats 400 years old thats been done probably a billion times. this one just didnt do it for me. sorry.. nice outfits though. if anyones truely affended ill allow you to give me one free wedgy behind the jungle gym. -bryant scott

THE TEMPEST

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Theory Question: Paulette Jiles' "Paper Matches"

Feminism

When I think of the feminist approach to literature this poem is exactly what comes to mind. The speaker is struggling with accepting the cultural stereotypes assigned to men and women . (Not that they should neccesarily be accepted). Her aunts are washing dishes and he uncles are playing outside in the sun. The speaker questions "why are they out there[?]" (4), and the response she receives is "That's the way it is" (5). The speaker and the other women in this poem feel insignificant. They feel as if they are subject to the rules of a man's world, and they regulated to be serveants and aids to the people who are really important. The last two lines, "We come bearing supper,/ our heads on fire." (13-14), provides brilliant imagery of how frustrated these women feel. Delivering supper and washing the dishes afterwards, (inversed in this piece) are generally tasks assigned to women in patriarchal households.

1) When the speaker says that women are like paper matches, "One by one we were/ taken out and struck," (11-12), is she referring to physicle violence against women?

2) What might the men playing with the garden hoses be a symbol for?

3) One of the aunts says she has "the rages that small animals have" (7). What constructs of society might make women feel small?

Jiles, Paulette. "Paper Matches." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Ed. J. Paul Hunter.
New York: Norton, 2007. 333.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Introduction: “Chamber Music, VI” James Joyce

Introduction: “Chamber Music, VI” James Joyce

Joyce, James. "James Joyce's Chamber Music." Chamber Music. 12 Feb 2006. 22 Mar 2008 .

Link To Poem

James Joyce's sixth section of "Chamber Music" is a very eerie yet magnificent introduction to his work outside of prose. The entity of "Chamber Music" has thirty four sections that make up his epic journey through lyric poetry. His initial idea was to use the piece as lyrics set to music. Though I don't believe that this has happened entirely, the sixth section was set to music and included on Syd Barrett's 1970 solo album The Madcap Laughs. The version represents the vey haunting yet beautiful nature of the poem.

My favorite stanzas, the second and third, both exemplify the very imaginative imagery of Joyce's work, "My book was closed:/I read no more,/Watching the fire dance/On the floor. / I have left my book,/I have left my room/For I heard you singing/Through the gloom...) (Line 5-12) I came across this poem through Barrett's arrangement on his album and instantly fell in love with it. If you are curious to hear it, it will be well worth the listen.


Theory Questions: "Porphyria's Lover" by Robert Browning

Deconstruction might be an interesting approach to "Porphyria's Lover" by Robert Browning. The poem's speaker is a murderer, and, as it appears to the reader, kind of insane. Since we hear the story through him, everything's a little twisted and traditional ideas of life/death and good/evil are inverted. Yet, the poem itself doesn't seem to offer any commentary on this. If we think that what the speaker did in murdering Porphyria was "bad," then we're applying our own mindsets to the situation described, because to the last, the speaker doesn't seem to have any sense of loss or the badness of what he's done, only a sort of daring, ambiguous hush as the speaker observes "And yet God has not said a word!"

1) Examine the binaries of life/death, purity/passion, good/evil and any others that occur to you as they appear in the relationship between the speaker and Porphyria. How do they seem to invert the regular values placed on these ideas?

2) At the moment preceding Porphyria's death, the speaker says "That moment she was mine, mine, fair, / Perfectly pure and good: I found / a thing to do" and that thing was to murder her. What does it mean that he goes from seeing her as "pure and good" to strangling her with her own hair? What values is he creating for himself?

3) The poem ends "And yet God has not said a word!" We don't know why God "hasn't said a word" any more than the speaker does--it's left ambiguous whether this means consequences are still impending for the speaker or if he's operating in a sort of figurative inverted universe all his own where his actions are effectively justified. What might Browning be hoping to convey with this? Why not end with the speaker being hauled off by the police, for example?


Browning, Robert. "Porphyria's Lover." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 529-31.

Theory Questions for "Oliver Twist"

I think that a feminist theory can be related to "Oliver Twist" because there are so many female character's in the novel. There are three main women in the novel. Oliver's mother who concieved Oliver out of marriage, we don't get to much about her only that she was of noble birth and she left her family because she was pregnat, and at the time period the novel was written in aprox. the 1830's, to have a baby out of marriage was highly scandelous. There is also the character of Rose Masile who is described as all that is good and angelic, she is described as being pure and perfect. Then there is Nancy who is a prostitute, and she alone gets to decide wether she wants salvation or not, yet she choses to stay with Sikes, which results in her death.
Some questions to apply to "Oliver Twist"

1.) Why does Dicken's include Nancy? Why would Dicken's chose to keep Nancy in the position of a Prostitute through the entire story?

2.) How are the women portrayed in society in the novel?

3.) How does the feminine imagery portray Rose as being 'the perfect woman' in the story?

Intro to "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens

1.) Dickens, Charles, "Oliver Twist: The Parish Boy's Progress." Penguin BooksLtd, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England. 2002. Penguin Putnam Inc., New York, New York.

2.) "Oliver Twist" was first published between 1837-8 in a serial publication. "Oliver Twist" is a Newgate novel. A Newgate novel is a novel about crime. The genre of "Oliver Twist" is a social protest novel, a detective story, and in a way a children's story. The story is narrated by a third person omniscient narrator. The tone of the novel contains irony, and some sentimentality. In "Oliver Twist", Oliver, the main character is a young orphan who leaves the country to go to a workhouse when he is 9 years old. But when Oliver asks "Please Sir I want some more" (15). He is denied more and veiwed as a bad apple. Oliver is then 'put up for sale' and goes to work for a undertaker. But while there the undertakers young apprentice talks badly about Oliver's dead mother Oliver attacks, and is then locked up. Oliver escapes only to get in with the wrong crowd, Fagin and his boys who are criminals who rob from the rich. When Oliver discovers that these guys are morally wrong and runs after they rob some one. Thinking that Oliver is the robber he is arrested. But the old gentleman, Mr. Brownlow, takes pity and takes Oliver in. Unfortunatly for Oliver he then is kidnapped by Fagin's gang again and forced to break into a house. The whole novel contains a lot of foreshadowing, and Oliver is constantly being pursued by a man named as 'monk.' The novel concludes with all of the mysteries foreshadowed in the story being solved.

3.) What I really like about this novel is that it is hard to put it down when reading it. And though some parts of the novel are dark, some parts are highly humerous, and sarcastic. Like the character's Mr. Bumble, and the character of Master Bates. I really like the detective side of the novel, trying to solve the case as to who Monk is, and why he wishes Oliver harm throuhout the entire novel. I really like the fact that the novel's third person omniscent narrator takes the reader into the different character's minds in the novel.

4.) There are similarites between "Oliver Twist" and "Great Expectations." In both novels there are the questions of morality. The differences between right and wrong, and a young boy trying to find his way to the path of having a good morality. There is a male figure in both stories that takes the side of showing the main character what good morals are, and there is also in both novels the man showing the opposite side of having bad morals. There is also the same question of family and what makes a family and what a real family is. There are also social problems in both novels between the aristocracy, and the lower class. Both novels take on what makes a good person and the fact that no matter what social class you are born into does not reflect on what you will turn out to be as a person.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Close Reading: Claude McKay's "If We Must Die"

If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us through dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
(Lines 5-9)

This is a very powerful piece. Since the poem took place in the year 1919, a speculation of mine would be that this poem resonates the feeling of a conflict between whites and blacks because of the race riots that took place in the United States during this time period. The speaker of the poem cries out to his audience, or to his men at arms, to fight back against those that oppress them and are objective to killing them. McKay's poem evokes a strong and inspiring reaction. This is achieved through his rhyme and rhythm scheme, through alliteration as well as repetition in lines one and five. It seems as though he wants to be killed in a kind manner rather than being hung or terribly tortured cruelly. McKay strives for justice as he insists blacks to partake in the battle by stating, "O kinsmen!" Further reading indicates McKay's inspiration as well as courage to continue the quest for equality (Line 10). The tone of the poem clearly indicates a war between two races which is presumably whites and blacks. By realizing the rhyme, line structure and metaphor presentation in McKay's poem, the audience can realize that McKay wanted the black race to stand up and fight back with opposition. Referring back to the title of the poem, McKay seemed to strongly believe that if we must die, we will go out with a bang!

close reading: Shakespeare's "Not marble, nor the gilded monuments"

Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;
But you shall shine more bright in these contƩents
Than unswept stone, besmeared with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
'Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
So, till the judgement that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lover's eyes.

This sonnet explores a classic poetic theme in a classic poetic form. The english sonnet is structured as such; two sestets followed by a couplet. The concluding couplet is sometimes refered to as the turn, and as we see here it gets its name from a twist of theme, revelation, or change of mood. The rhyme scheme is abab/cdcd/efef/gg. The first two sestets build on the importance of the subject of Shakespeare's poem using metaphors and imagery. He builds an atmosphere of monuments, stone, the sword of Mars, and fire that serve to contrast the main theme of love, as expressed though the look that "dwell[s] in lover's eyes" (14). Although the first twelve lines of the poem are ambiguous as to what the subject of the sonnet will be, the effect we get from learning it is about love in the couplet makes the poem all the more enjoyable. Love is personified by Shakespeare, as he refers to it in the 2nd person throughout the sonnet. It seems as if the subject might be a woman becuase of the use of personification, but the couplet implies the subject is love in a general sense.
Intro. to "Hanging Fire" by Audre Lorde

Lorde, Audre. "Hanging Fire." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton 2007. 79-80.

2. This poem is basically about a fourteen year old girl that is sitting in her house preparing for graduation the next day and has to learn how to dance for her graduation and is frustrated because she does not know how. The speaker looks into the future and contemplates what could have been. Audre Lorde uses a lot of descriptive imagery to show how this girl is scared about growing up and becoming older.

3. I really liked this text simply because of the title that caught my eye. "Hanging Fire" or "holding" is an idiom, which means delaying, as in the delay between the firing of a gun and its explosion. I tried to consider the predicament of the speaker, who is afraid that the truth about her will be revealed when she dies. The speaker seems to not know when she will die, or how much time will pass, and there is "too much/ that has to be done" according to the second stanza (lines 20-21 ). In essence, she is "holding" fire. How much time will pass before her gun or "the truth" will explode? The answer to this question lies not in the speaker's literal death, but in the death of her silence. The speaker must resolve to identify all the parts of herself, especially that which she has kept hidden, not only from the reader, but possibly from herself. In reading this poem I believe it could be interpreted differently than I have interpreted it, but I was more or less intrigued by the title of the poem and how it relates to the structure and meaning of the whole text.

4. If I would relate this poem to one we have read in class, I would relate it to, Keats' Poem, "To Autumn." First reading over Keats' poem one could say that he is simply describing the main characteristics of autumn and the human and animal activities related to it; although, a deeper reading could suggest that Keats talks about the process of life much like Lorde's poem and the strife that the speaker is faced with in life's hardships.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Theory Question 2

Deconstruction:

Nemrov, Howard. “The Town Dump” The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 195.

Deconstruction lends itself to this poem because of the multiple meanings present in the literary work. The images and meanings can be interpreted in several different ways. While the reader can assume and choose which meaning to follow, one may not choose the correct meaning. Nemrov uses a city dump to represent an actual city but also as a reminder to not take possessions for granted; the “one man‘s trash is another man‘s treasure” complex. This entire poem is a symbol. One object is used to represent another; nothing stands for what the reader thinks it does. Since everything can be interpreted in several ways, one can never be sure of the meaning, and attempting to define what the symbols stand for would be pointless because the reader is not the author.

Critical Questions:
1.) Why did Nemrov feel it was necessary to white this poem based on symbols? Why would he not be straight and to the point?
2.) Could Nemrov have wanted to convey the point that no matter how much certain aspect of life might annoy us, every single part is important to a functioning society?
3.) What other meanings, aside from life, could you conclude this poem is about?

Close Reading: "Paper Matches" by Paulette Jiles

"Written on me was a message,
'At Your Service' like a book of
paper matches. One by one we were
taken out and struck.
We come bearing supper,
our heads on fire."
(lines 9-15)

Jiles uses the simile-turned-metaphor of a match to convey the anger and self-defeating nature of the gender roles enforced when she was a child. Matches are small, relatively insignificant items that are sold in packages, and one is indistinguishable from another. They're nothing except when they're in use, and from the very nature of the job they're put to--being burned down to nothing--they're only good for one flame. These connotations brutally pare down what Jiles saw as woman's status in society when she was growing up. It seemed to her that women were hardly more than servants and not allowed much individuality--they all had one function, one appearance, etc. Another facet of the match-comparison is that matches are passive. Someone strikes up a flame with it, but matches can't do anything of their own decision.

Jiles' anger is conveyed by the final two lines, "We come bearing supper, / our heads on fire." This continues the match-metaphor, but also implies anger directly resulting from the servitude involved in bringing in supper. If someone's angry, they might be called "hot-headed,"--Jiles' women's heads are figuratively on fire, they're so incensed at their position.

Something slightly ironic in the image is that the match's/women's usefulness starts at their heads. In the male-dominated society Jiles describes, women's heads--brains--wouldn't be very valued. That their heads are on fire in the end suggests that their anger at their position is borne out of the fact that they can think, reason and realize the limitations being placed on them, and this in turn suggests a basis for women's equality and the injustice of their situation in this poem.


Jiles, Paulette. "Paper Matches." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 333.
Response to Theory Question 1: Gender Criticism

I think that Plath wrote about an outcast because at that time, the "outcasts" were not supposed to be talked about but they did exist and by writing about them these "outcasts" knew they weren't alone. The time was considered taboo for that time period because everyone was supposed to be the same and if you were different then there was something wrong with you and no one wanted to be associated with someone wrong. I feel that a fair amount of women and family can relate to this issue because even if only 1 in every 2o women have this problem then everyone who they care for will know and hopefully try to support them.

Rebecca Zinsser

Friday, April 18, 2008

Introduction: "The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

1) Coleridge, Samuel, T. " The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner by Samuel T. Coleridge Illustrated by Gustav Ublmann. Yellow Springs: Kahoe & Spieth,1927

2) This is a very long and complex poem published by Coleridge in 1817. The poem begins with the "mariner" stopping a man on the way to his relatives wedding and compelling him to listen to his tale. The "mariner's" tale is of a sea voyage around uncharted waters. At one point the ship is guided safely by a Albatross. The "mariner", for no apparent reason kills the Albatross. His crew members force him to wear the Albatross around his neck and one by one they die. Ultimately the "Mariner" is the only survivor and he is compelled to carry on and tell all he can about his ordeal.

3) I have found this poem interesting for a number of reasons. First of all, growing up I had often heard my father say something like, "we all have our own Albatross". I never knew what he meant. Now I see it is much like saying, " "we all have our own cross to bear". To the mariner the Albatross is symbolic as his cross. I recently read a historical account of "The Essex", ( the ship of "Moby Dick"), after the wreck of "The Essex" the crew drifted aimlessly at sea and eventually resulted in cannibalism of their fellow crew members. The voyage of the "Mariner" is very similar to that of the "Essex". The Essex was a whaling ship out of Nantucket and had travelled to unknown territory around Cape Horn around the same time period. I got a feeling that maybe the Mariner's "Albatross" was a symbolic representation of this same scenario. I can think of no heavier cross to bear than eating a person.

4) I can't think of a poem that we have studied in this class that correlates with this poem. However, I would suggest reading the book " The Loss of The Ship Essex, Sunk by a Whale: First Person Accounts". I think if you do you too will make some correlations.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Theory Question 1

Gender Criticism:
Plath, Sylvia. “Barren Woman.” The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 563

Gender criticism lends itself to this poem because it emphasizes the social struggles that women of the time period had to deal with. Many women were not thought of as much. Many thought women were only good for making a house a home and having children. Plath using the term “barren” suggests the cultural values placed upon fertility. Not only is the speaker not having children, she is unable to; “empty” in a sense. The speaker will never have children, which is a very hard fact for one to accept and cope with. “Barren” also refers to the lack of the ability to create life. It is a right bestowed on the majority, and not being able to singles the speaker out. All in all, this poem represents the social standards women had to live up to and how one comes to terms with accepting they one is different.

Critical Questions:
1.) Why do you feel Plath chose to write a poem about being an outcast? Was this subject considered a taboo for the time period? Do you feel many women or families related to this situation?
2.) Why does Plath use an empty museum as a metaphor for being a barren woman? Could it be because museums are places used to house creativity and once they are empty they become somewhat pointless?
3.) Are the images of stone statues representative of the feelings one has when one finds out that they are different; solitude, alone?

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Close Reading of "The Caged Skylark" by Gerard Manley Hopkins

"As a dare-gale skylark scanted in a dull cage
Man's mounting spirit in his bone-house, mean house, dwells--
That bird beyond the remembering his free fells;
This in drudgery, day-labouring-out life's age.

"Though aloft on turf or perch or poor low stage,
Both sing sometimes the sweetest, sweetest spells,
Yet both droop deadly sometimes in their cells
Or wring their barriers in bursts of fear or rage."
(lines 1-8 of "The Caged Skylark" by Gerard Manley Hopkins)


Gerard Manley Hopkins uses sound in his poems to make meaning. Alliteration, repetition, and the occasional cacophony are key. Almost always, the sound of the words directly and overtly mirror what they mean.

In line six, the "s" sound recurs and by "sweetest, sweetest spells," this causes the poem to sound soft and sweet. Yet he uses alliteration for the exact opposite in the second line where the recurring "m" and "n" sounds drone and almost buzz, investing the line with a harsh, defiant tone. The repetition of "bone-house, mean house" makes it all the more insistent. If he had used, say, the "s" effect in that line instead, it would alter the tone and meaning of the whole poem by making it sound more soft and resigned.

My favorite line is "This in drudgery, day-labouring-out life's age." It's really hard to say, and the hyphenated "day-labouring-out" slows the line down to a crawl. All of this combines to really illuminate the kind of slow, futile, dragging imprisonment of the "dare-gale skylark" and the human soul.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Close Reading
Robert Frost
"Fireflies in the Garden"

Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,
And here on earth come emulating flies,
That though they never equal stars in their size,
(And they were never really stars at heart)
Achieve at times a very star-like start.
Only, of course, they can't sustain the part.
1928


The signifigance of this poem can be found in its tone, alliteration and ryhming. The tone of the poem is rather "matter of fact;" the speaker is assuming that the reader knows the fact that fireflies can only live three weeks before dying. The speaker's opinion on the theme of stars is that there is really only one type of actual star and those are the ones in the sky, the ones on earth seem to be cheap imitations to the speaker. Alliteration in the use of the "s" sound repeatedly keeps the image of a star in you mind but all the "s" sounds also begin to sound like a fly after a bit of reading. The comparison and relation to stars and fireflies is apparent even in the sounds of the words. The rhyming of the lines links the first three lines to how there are stars in the sky and on earth, but the next lines point out the distinct differences about how one can last and the other can not and the change in rhyming at that point is what signals the change in meaning. The rhyme is essential for understanding the poem's meaning and shift in meaning.

Kelly Gore 298
INTRODUCTION: "Cutting the Cake" by Virginia Hamilton Adair

1.) Adair, Virginia Hamilton. “Cutting the Cake.” The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Ed. J. Paul
Hunter, Allison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2007. 299.

2.) This poem was written in 1996 about a wedding day and the ritual of the bride and groom cutting the cake. The poem's main rhythem is that it has no end-points; it just flows from stanza to stanza, like one long rushing breath. That is suitable for the poem because it adds to the anxiety that the poem paints for the male or the groom when the bride chops the cake. The chopping of the cake symbolizes his freedom being chopped and the little girl bitting the head off the manikin on top of the cake symbolizes the praying mantis-like effect some women have on men.

3.)This poem is enjoyable because it begins seemingly as just a sweet poem about a wedding but then you realize it is not a happy poem about a bride and groom it is a poem essentially about the bride and how the whole day revolves around her and the power trip she acheives from it. That power trip is even shown as passing down generations as the little girl bites the head of the toy groom when it topples off the cake. There is female power present in the poem which is humerous because that freaks men out.

4.)This poem is similar to other poems we read in class that focused some deal on feminism and gender analtsis and roles. Adair focuses on the woman empowerment and ownership of a special day. In a poem we read by Plath however the focus is on how the woman cannot bear a child and the downside of being a woman. Both deal with different ways woman might think of them selves and how that in turn effects directly how a man might think about them. Also in learning about gender roles it is interesting to read how in Adair's poem the man seems frightened but gives into the submissive role, letting the bride wear the pants so to speak.

Kelly Gore 298

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Theory Questions for "Greenleaf" by Flannery O'Conner

I think feminist literary theory seems particularly applicable to Flannery O'Conner's "Greenleaf." Mrs. May is the main character, and one of only two women in the entire story surrounded by men. She is the one character to really exert her authority anywhere, and given the era it was originally published (1957), this is a little surprising. It is interesting, too, that her exertion of authority ultimately leads to her death, literally on the horns of the opposing force in the form of a bull. Questions to consider:

1) How does Mrs. May's characterization and take-charge nature seemingly oppose the traditional values of the patriarchy? Remembering that Mrs. May was forced into this position by the death of her husband, does this change anything?

2) There are two very different women in the story: Mrs. May and Mrs. Greenleaf. How do their differences illuminate the gender-role conflicts apparent in the story?

3) Mrs. May meets her end on the horns of a bull. How do she and the bull illustrate the battle-of-the-sexes motif of the story? What does it mean that there's no clear winner?



O'Conner, Flannery. "Greenleaf." The Best American Short Stories of the Century. Ed. John Updike and Katrina Kenison. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. 348-368.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Marcus White Living Room Presentations

Widows Rule in Chaucer,s Troilus and Cruseyde- Denise Bellmore Steele spoke to us about her papr. In her paper she spoke about how in chaucer,s Trolius and Criseyede widows were treated as if they are evil. In the medieval ages widows were looked down upon. If you were a widow, there is no second chance at marriage, the woman is supposed to continue her life alone. Denise's presentation was done fairly well except that she did not speak clear enough for me to fully understand what she was talking about. The basic thing she wanted to get across in her paper was how widows were treated in the Medieval ages compared with Chaucers piece, either how they differ or compare.

Twitter- A special studies major student here at CCSU by the name of Alex presented a new way of using the internet and applying literature to it. He is taking a class called Digital Literary Studies. He explained how he was working on this thing called twitter, which compares with the status updates on facebook. It is the same concept except, a person takes these little status updates and forms poetry out of them. Alex makes sure we know that there are many things a person can do with these little short words of human experience. There is a website that uses twitter and not only can a person form poems out of these words but, a person can add weird music and picking random pictures. The pictures and words can be taken off of some random person's facebook page or any other interactive website of the same type and the music is created digitally to fit the picture and words. Alex believes that there are more things to do on the internet and we should take advantage of the cool things we can do. He is thinking about writing a book using twitter but, it will be very hard because, he is taking peoples words right from their facebook pages.

Unspeakable Words Spoken: Toni Morrison , Literature Censorship and the Modern American Classroom- Sharon Kenniston worte her thesis about the censorship in the high school classroom when it came to literature. Toni Morrison's "Beloved" is still not permisable to read in the high school classroom because of its adult content. In Sharon's paper, she says that it is not right to ban great pieces of literature just because it has violence in it or adult content. By the high school level they should be exposed to things like this and react thoughfully about the events they just have read. Some people are against having violent books or things of that sort brought into a high school english class but sharon argues that some people actually are for it. Some teachers want their students to reflect thoughtfully about the scenes in the book and they want the students to be more accepting of people that are different then them. Teachers want to promote reading, not just for school but lifetime readers. By reading a book like the "Beloved" students will have a better english experience and will learn a lot about life and struggle.

Executive Boards- Margrat, a Political Science major wrote a thesis about the use of exuecutive boards and if they should be allowed. I did not really understand her presentation. She was not a well spoken person and she seemed kind of shy in fron of the audience. I did however, learn that there are these things called Executive Boards and they are policies of action that if the president signs becomes law. Margrat wanted to inform us that even though we live in a democracy there are still some dictatorship charactaristics to how things are run or some laws are passed. Goerge Bush has used many executive boards but, statistically democrats use more of them. Republicans use them as well but, only for popularity and emergency. Executive boards are said to be constitutional which is why presidents are still allowed to use them.

That was the end of the presentations, there was a brief Q&A session, Some of the questions i caught are below.

1- to alex: What do you think are the historical benefits of twitter?

response- I think it is a metaphore for the internet, which is arguably the best form of conversing. I believe robots are coming and everything will be electronic. He continued on a tangent, but he basically wanted us to know that the future is computers and digital works.

2- the second question was unclear to me but, it had something to do with the candidates. She said that the candidates were asked to attend a science debate and no word from them has been heard. Other then that there was no other questions, unless i missed one..but to the best of my knowledge that is all.

Introduction: "I Come And Stand At Every Door" Nazim Hikmet

Nazim Hikmet
“I Come And Stand At Every Door”

Hikmet, Nazim. "Poetry Of Nazim Kikmet Ran." I Come And Stand At Every Door. 01 Jan 2004. 22 Mar 2008 . .

http://www.marxists.org/subject/art/literature/nazim/icomeandstand.html

This particular selection is a very interesting text that had a profound following in many folk circles of the 1960’s. This poem, written by Nazim Hikmet, had been a staple of the anti-war protest songs arranged by various folk artists in their effort against the war. The poem was originally written as a solemn plea for humanity to live in peace, a fitting cry for justice for the young ones of our future. With poignant and chilling lines such as “I'm only seven although I died/In Hiroshima long ago/I'm seven now as I was then/When children die they do not grow…” (Line 5-8), one may come to think of Vietnam as a vivid mirror of what happened so long ago.

I particularly enjoyed how the poem is very thought provoking and it offers a very different point of view of the world and its many disturbances. Those 4 lines above, convey a very harrowing message that is still relevant today as it was in the sixties for many of the musicians who arranged this poem to their music. It was a bold, but bittersweet statement that had affected many. This poem is a powerful look into what makes literature and word such a magnificent tool to shape our lives. I also enjoy the musical arrangement by The Byrds, from their 1966 Columbia/Legacy album Eight Miles High.

I cannot really find a poem that we have read in class that deals with this particular subject. I did, however, find connections between this poem and the way Auden’s “Musee des Beaux Arts” had been constructed. Looking at a catastrophe and creating imagery from illustrations both real and fable.

Introduction to Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

1. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/barbie-doll/

Piercy, Marge. "Barbie Doll." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Ed. J. Paul Hunter, Allison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2007. 27-8.

2. Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll was written in 1973. It is a poem that reflects on the way that little girls are brought up and the images that they are taught and how reality is different than these images. A girl expects Barbie doll perfection and, once she goes through puberty and realizes that she is not like that, she spends her life trying to make herself that impossible image. She is dead at the end due to trying to look a particular way because she thinks that looking like a Barbie will bring happiness.

3. What particularly drew me to this poem was the manner in which Piercy questions what happiness really is. She makes the point more effective by relating Barbie to false happiness. Barbie is a universal symbol of perfection but one must realize that a Barbie is also fake and plastic. There is no real depth of thought or emotion that is connected to a Barbie. This point is hit home at the end of the poem when the girl in question is dead. She may have tryed to achieve looking like a Barbie but now her being is more like a Barbie than ever. She is dead and therefore has no feeling or emotion, much like a real Barbie.

4. This poem is similar to Adrienne Rich's poem Power. Both poems revolve around women seeking to achieve something that will make them powerful or more memorable. The girl in Piercy's power is looking to be attractive and therefore, achieve the power of confidence that comes with happiness. Marie Curie in Rich's poem is seeking to be a powerful woman of science. Ultimately, these goals and hopes that they carry out to become happy result in their deaths.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Intro. "Because I could not stop for Death"


Dickinson, Emily. "Because I could not stop for Death." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton 2007. 531.



In this poem, the speaker is personifies death as a nice and selfless gentlemen who takes her on a long journey in a carriage toward "eternity" as said in the last line of the poem; however, at the end of the poem and after she has finished her voyage, she then discovers that she had died a long time ago.


I happen to love all of Emily Dickinson's poems and this poems text really caught my eye. After reading it a few times it becomes clear that life is a cycle. The poem has a lot of symbolism and signifies the three stages of life: Childhood, which is recognized in the third stanza ("Children strove), youth which is represented by "the Fields of Gazing Grains" in line eleven, and characterizing the end of life, is symbolized by the "setting sun" in line twelve. On this journey, the speaker views the youthful children at play and the grass in the fields and at last, the speaker sees that the sun is setting on her journey. This is a strong stanza because it gives the reader a clue of her passing by this world. Moreover, it shows life as a cycle and uses a conflict relationship between reality and the speaker's thoughts. This poem displays a lot of tension. At first, the speaker does not realize she has died and there is mixed tones in the poem that add to the speaker's confusion. I really liked the tone in the last two stanzas, Dickinson uses a sad tone and this shows the reader that the speaker perceives reality, thus becoming very calm once she realizes her fate.


This poem could be related to, Howard Nemerov's poem, "The Town Dump." In class, we discussed that Nemerov's poem had a lot of symbolism and glorified the things of people's lives that were in the dump. When taking a closer look at Nemerov's poem, it could be said that Nemerov is summing up "results" and the city is symbolic of life in general. All of the animals in the town dump co-exist beautifully with each other. The town dump is its very own city and way of life. Just like Dickinson's poem showing life as a cycle, Nemerov's poem symbolizes life and the cycles of life and the "results" we get when we put everything together.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Intro. to "Body and Soul" by Charles Wright

Wright, Charles. "Body and Soul." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton 2007. 227-28.

This poem covers a lot of ground in each stanza using a plethera of figurative language. It reminds us how much there is to life, to not live close minded. My favorite part of the poem is the last lines,
Walk as though you'd been given one brown eye and one blue,
Think as though you thought best with somebody else's brain,
Write as though you had one hand with the last pencil on earth,
Pray as though you were praying with someone else's soul.

I enjoy these lines because they state in a short and simple manner to live with an open heart.

I like the way Wright uses metaphors and similes and his word choices. The poem is full of contradictons in that Wright states what we think we are, and says that we are not; for example, "The world's body is not our body,/ although we'd have it so." I really enjoy the Wright's style.

This poem relates to John Keat's poem "To Autumn." Wright uses the seasons to describe how we overlook the world that we are in. Keat's poem reminds us of all of the things that the changes of the seasons bring about. It reminds us that the world exists beyond ourselves as does "Body and Soul."

Intro. "The Goose Fish" by Howard Nemerov

Nemerov, Howard. "The Goose Fish." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton 2007. 234-35.

This poem begins with two intimate lovers on the beach. Then a dead, ugly goose fish washes up on the shore right before their eyes. The poem takes a turn with the appearance of this fish as the two lovers are revealed to have feelings of guilt, leaving the reader to assume a possible affair is happening here. The goose fish is said to be "smiling" at them, almost mocking their feelings for each other and their guilty consciences.

I like the turn in this poem. I also enjoy the sense of ambiguity in that we are not sure why the lovers are there or what their situation is, but there is a sense of guilt with the appearance of the goose fish. I find it rather humorous to envision to people getting intimate with each other on the beach when all of a sudden this hideous dead fish washes up and interrupts them, then the focus moves to the fish.

This poem relates to another Nemerov poem, "The Town Dump." This poem describes what one would encounter at the town dump. It glorifies the things of peoples lives, deemed as trash, all collected in one place, even referring the dump as a "city." This poem takes something ugly and makes it significant just as the goose fish is given meaning in that poem.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Introduction: "A Supermarket in California" by Allen Ginsberg

1. Ginsberg, Allen. "A Supermarket in California." Collected Poems 1947-1997. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006. 144.

link

2. In this poem the speaker imagines seeing Walt Whitman in a supermarket one night. One stanza focuses on the speaker watching as Whitman interacts with the various people inside the supermarket. Whitman asks the prices of of products, leers at the grocery boys, and samples the artichokes. In the last stanza the speaker imagines leaving the supermarket with Walt Whitman, and strolling along, "dreaming of the lost America of love."

3. This poem is really easy to find online, due to the fact that it's Ginsberg's most anthologized poem. This is probably because, unlike other Ginsberg poems, there's nothing in it that would be considered obscene or offend anyone. There are many aspects of this poem that I like. First of all Ginsberg writing a poem about Whitman is pretty cool since the poetic techniques that Whitman developed throughout his lifetime significantly influenced Ginsberg. Ginsberg is heavily indebted to Whitman when it comes to style as well as content matter. As with most Ginsberg poems his use of adjectives is something I admire. He always describes things in interesting somewhat unusual ways. The supermarket is described as a "neon fruit supermarket," and he describes himself as having a "head-ache self-conscious." Every time I read this poem I get a kick out of Whitman asking "Who killed the pork chops?"

4. This poem reminds me a little bit of "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" by John Keats and "When I Read Shakespeare" by D.H. Lawrence. Both are about art and how an audience interprets art, which is what "A Supermarket in California" is about to a certain extent. Ginsberg never knew Whitman, but based on the speaker in Whitman's poems, Ginsberg is able to construct his own imaginary Walt Whitman companion. "A Supermarket in California" also reminds me of "Taking Off Emily Dickinson's Clothes" by Billy Collins, which is not a poem we read in class but is featured in the Norton book. The comparison is pretty obvious with these two poems. In both cases the speakers are imaging that they are interacting with long dead poets.

Introduction: I, Too by Claude McKay

1)Kckay, Claude. "I,Too." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Comp. Paul J. Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. Ed. Peter Simon. New York, London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2007. 438.

2) This poem is about a black man who is clearly a slave. He speaks about eating in the kitchen and his supposed inequity to his masters. But he proclaims that he too is American.

3) What caught my eye about this particular poem is the opening line, "I, too, sing America" (1). I like that he does not say he is American too, but that he "sing[s]" America, like he supports the country and is just as American as everyone else who sings about it. The simplicity of the poem's statement and the speaker's optimism about being treated equally and not "eat[ing] in the kitchen" (13) is what lured me to write about this poem.

4) "I, Too" is compatible with "The Town Dump" by Howard Nemerov because both poems have traits that are not apparent at first glance. In "I, Too" the speaker does not appear American, but he is, and in "The Town Dump" a dump does not look like a city or to have any value, but to some organisms live there and one man's trash is another's treasure. Overall, the subjects of these poems are not similar in the slightest, but the message each portrays is similar.

Introduction: Sonrisas by Pat Mora

1)Mora, Pat. "Sonriasa." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Comp. Paul J. Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. Ed. Peter Simon. New York, London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2007. 239.

Sonrisas
I live in a doorway
between two rooms. I hear
quiet clicks, cups of black
coffee, click, click like facts
budgets, tenure, curriculum,
from careful women in crisp beige
suits, quick beige smiles
that seldom sneak into their eyes.
I peek
in the other room seƱoras
in faded dresses stir sweet
milk coffee, laughter whirls
with steam from fresh tamales
sh, sh, mucho ruido,*
they scold one another,
press their lips, trap smiles
in their dark, Mexican eyes.
--Pat Mora
From Borders, 1986.
* lots of noise

2) Sonrisas is a short poem where the speaker describes him/herself as living between two doorways. In one room a quiet setting of uptight women is described. They do not really talk or smile and stick strictly to business. In the other room a setting of loud women who are boisterous and happy is found, they are Mexicans.

3) I like this poem because it describes two different cultures through coffee, and the atmosphere women create when drinking it. I also enjoy the use of Spanish, the fact that it does not rhyme, and the image of different smiles in each culture's eyes. It made me aware of the way Mexican-Americans, or any mixed race, must feel in the world.

4) "Sonrisas" reminded me of "Living in Sin" by Adrienne Rich. The use of coffee to represent a woman's state of being/mind is a commmon factor in these two stories. "Living in Sin's" speaker let the coffee boil over on the stove top. This small neglectful element is very telling of her state in the poem. She could boil over from the patriarchal dominance of her culture. "Sonrisas" uses the coffee to explain the difference in two cultures in the same setting. In one, she shows, "quiet clicks, cups of black coffee, click click like facts, budgets, tenure, curriculum..." (3-5). Then, in the next setting we see, "sweet milk [being stirred] coffee, laughter whirls with steam from fresh tamales sh, sh, mucho ruido" (11-14). The use of image of coffee in both poems reflects the situations portrayed.

Tweet Tweet (URCAD Responce)

I'll try to keep this interesting, since I'm sure half of the class will be posting on this! (It's amazing what you can motivate college students to do with the right incentives.)

The first presentation was about Chaucer's Troilus & Criseyde. The speaker focused on the widow and her role in society, starting off with a Gloria Steinman quote: "Men should think twice before making widowhood the woman's only path to power." The basic plot of the poem is that Criseyde, the protagonist widow, must somehow balance the power and money given to her through widowhood with a relationship with Troilus, the knight that protects her. Her solution ends up being that she will keep the power by remaining a widow while continuing her relationship with Troilus for protection, but will keep the affair a secret so as to retain the respect of the society she lives in. The basic moral of the story was really very Steinman--through not only marriage, but societal constraints, men and woman imprison each other; men are expected to worship women and hold to a strict moral code, but in actuality are forcing them to become subservient.

I'll save the second presentation for last, because I want to have fun with it. (And yes--by 'have fun with it', I mean ramble pointlessly so I can put off doing my American Lit homework for just a little bit longer.)

The third speaker did a bit about censorship in high schools, focusing on Tony Morrison's book Beloved. Although the book was Morrison's key to winning a Nobel Prize, most public schools view the book as 'inappropriate'; still, the student believed it was important not only for it's historical and cultural content, but for it's ability to become a safe place to confront sexual and racial discrimination. The book, based in a post-Civil War America, follows the story of a mother that is forced to kill her child to save her from the horrors of slavery, as well as a varying cast of characters and the discrimination they face in a predominantly Caucasian / patriarchal society.

The fourth speaker discussed one of my favourite aspects of government: the Executive Article and the Peoples' naivety about it. (Somehow, I'm hoping the sarcasm in that came through online...) Basically, the second article of the Constitution is never really challenged, but the 1926 court case Myers v. US proved that the Executive Article is, indeed, constitutional. The article gives the president the power to do, really, whatever he wants; the loophole is most often used by unpopular presidents so when they can't score votes, they can use the power they already have to do what they'd like. But, of course, because this is America, we'd like to at least pretend that the people have a chance at questioning the law. In order to have an Executive Article overturned, one would have to sue the government. The case would then have to make it's way through three levels of courts, get chosen by the supreme court, and get simply void. Or, you could convince a super majority (3/4) of congress to veto the law.



But here's where things get good. Student Alex Jarvis, whom I've known in a roundabout way for a while now, is probably one of the wittiest kids I've ever know. That said, he's also currently enrolled at CCSU in his very own major which combines technology and humanities (very Life 2.0). His presentation focused on the combination of what will soon be known as "classic literature" (anything that anyone has ever physically written), and the phenomena known as Web 2.0: a movement where users, not a l33t group of geeks, controls the internet. Things like Digg, RSS, Myspace, Wikipedia, Youtube, Facebook--and even Blogger, are all allowing users to add their personal content to the ever growing pool that is cyberspace.

Now, although Alex had a lot (and I mean a lot) of interesting things to say, I'll focus on my favourite: twitter poetry.

Twittering is when at every single moment of your life, one feels compelled to let everyone around them know what is going on. Ei: "I'm walking across the room to pick up my pencil. I'm picking up my pencil. I'm walking back across the room. I'm sitting down. I'm writing. I'm writing my name. My pencil needs to be sharpened. I'm getting up," etc. Twitter.com, must like Facebook's status option, lets users post miscellaneous thoughts infinitely, and lets everyone on their friends page know instantly.

Twitter.com had quickly become and endless achieve of people's moods, feelings, and spontaneous thoughts. These little synapses of life is what, Jarvis believes, makes up poetry. His thesis is this: based on any combination of tweets (individual user twitters), one could easily write collective poetry. Simply go to twitterscan.com to search the cornucopia of tweets. Type in "bike," and you'll get a list of posts that involve bikes; type in "literature," and you'll get a post by user raewhitlock that claims "Now I don't feel so bad for throwing that guy's literature in the trash when I saw a stack of it at Starbucks recently." Ouch.

Anyway, if anyone's interested in how, exactly, I created the next poem, you can find all of the instructions on alexjarvis.pbwiki.com; I think I've used up enough space on here (I could make a living off of rambling and blogging), so I'll just post my own bit of Twitter Lit.

The Madness
Exhausted.
At home and in bed with caffeine and no lights. Should stop the madness.
Just because I'm sick doesn't mean I can't be productive.
I'm 100% convinced that limiting my pace to 24hr days is unnatural. I stay awake as long as possible, coding and consuming literature


Authors: noefool, blueeyedbanshee, angiolillo, choosetheforce
Words Used: exhausted, caffeine, caffeine, literature
Compiled by: Marissa Blaszko!


I'm not going to lie--that was way more fun than I expect my writing American Lit paper to be. A highly recommended tool for procrastination, for sure :]

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Literary Event: URCAD

Tomorrow is our Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day. Undergrads from all over campus will be presenting their work in a variety of formats (last year I moderated a panel of presentations, one of which was a film prepared by a student in anthropology who visited Ghana and chronicled the art of drum making--it was the coolest bit of undergrad "creative activity" I'd ever seen!). Any part of this would be perfect to write up on the "literary event" page. And there's free food. Here's more info from Jason Jones, who organizes URCAD:

Dear everyone,

This is just a quick note to say that tomorrow is Undergraduate Research & Creative Achievement Day (URCAD). Please announce it to your students, and encourage them to come see student work!

The full schedule is here:

http://www.ccsu.edu/urcad

Some highlights include:

The plenary session in Marcus White Living Room at 9am will feature Amanda Johnson, who has won the Burritt Library Undergraduate Research Prize. (This session includes FREE BREAKFAST!)

From 11.15-12.45, there will be a poster session in Founders Hall. (This session includes FREE LUNCH!)

At 1pm, in Marcus White Living room, a breakout panel will include Sharon Kenniston's paper on Toni Morrison & high school censorship, as well as Alex Jarvis's presentation on "Literature 2.0."

Please consider dropping by one of these events to support our students!