Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Because I Could Not Stop For Death - Theory Questions

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.

I chose to look at this poem by trying to see connections between Dickinson's own life and the poem. I'm not sure how well it worked out, but I thought I'd give it a shot just to see what might happen.

1. In the third stanza, why do you think Dickinson chose the images of childhood, ripe wheat, and a sunset?
2. Emily Dickinson wrote a large amount of poems in her lifetime. Do you think the title and first line of the poem reflect anything about her?
3. What do you think Dickinson's own thoughts on death were based off this poem?

Fire and Ice - Close Reading

Fire and Ice
Robert Frost
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/robert_frost/poems/531


"Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice."

It's interesting that Frost gave different emotions to the two elements of Fire and Ice, though both the elements and the emotions fit well together. Classically, fire is seen as being passionate, while ice is seen as being distant and unfriendly. While both elements can be seen as agents of destruction, they can also be seen as symbols of rebirth. For example, when a forest catches on fire, the trees burn and the animals are killed or are forced to leave. After a little while, however, the fire goes out and the soil becomes richer from the burnt materials. During winter, the world is covered in ice. Plants die and animals hibernate, but when spring comes and the snow melts, life can begin again. It's interesting how the syllables in the lines jump between nine, eight, seven, and four. I'm not entirely sure why that would be, maybe just so he could fit everything, but maybe the staggering and jumping around of lines is supposed to show that life isn't predictable and no one knows how anything is really going to end and that the narrator's guess is as good as anyone's.

A Dream Within A Dream - Close Reading

A Dream Within A Dream
Edgar Allan Poe
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/edgar_allan_poe/poems/18847

"I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!"

The word roar in the first line, is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary Database as, "a loud and deep sound uttered by one or more persons, esp. as an expression of pain or anger." This definition carries great importance to understanding the rest of the lines, since they carry a deep sense of pain and fear. The image of falling sand, for instance, calls to mind the image of an hourglass and how time is always moving despite a person's deepest desire and fondest wishes for it to stop. Additionally, the lines seem to flow together really smoothly and give the sense that you're hearing waves when you read it out loud or at least it did for me. It's an interesting technique, especially since the poem discusses waves on a beach and it's cool that he decided to make it sound peaceful when the words themselves speak of pain and fear. It's also interesting that he chose to make the sand golden in color, instead of a dull brown or gray. Golden brings to mind the good times in life, so it might be that the narrator is lamenting growing older.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

CLose Reading of "Of the Light" by Josh Ashbery

Lines 6-11:
Yes, day may just be breaking. The importance isn't there
but in the beautiful flights of the trees
accepting their own flaccid destiny,
or the tightrope of seasons.
We get scared when we look at them up close
but the king doesn't mind. He has the tides to worry about,

I have read this poem over about 15 times now, trying to make some true sense of the few lines that are there and to be honest there is not a clear answer to what the speaker is discussing here. I have theories, but i dont really know. I chose to do a close reading of these lines because they are the most absurd and i thought that maybe if i look at them alone, it will make more sense of the poem as a whole...

To start I'll share what i think is happening: The day is just breaking, but that is not important, what is important is what is happening around the day, how each day is different and the trees respond differently to each change in weather, like the seasons. The speaker uses the word flaccid to describe the tree's destiny, then tightrope to describe seasons. These words create tension, for they are opposites and the tree's destiny goes along with the seasons. What this says about light i do not know? Then the speaker comments how "we get scared when we look at them up close." i think "we" is just people in general, and "them" refers to the tension created by the tree and seasons. The King i believe is a god-like figure to men who doesn't mind the changes for he is the one who does the changing.

Overall, i have been trying to connect this whole poem back to light, and from these lines i conclude that the poem uses light as a analogy for life. People want to trap life and stay young as long as possible. Therefore they need the days to never end, to trap light and keep it. These lines are explanations of this analogy. If anyone has a different opinion, i would LOVE to know, because i am really kinda lost with this one...

Theory Questions: Allen Ginsberg, "America"

"America" Allen Ginsberg
Cultural Poetics
I grabbed this one from an earlier post for theory presentations. from the other class. Since Ginsberg is one of my favorite poets, I figured i would end the semester with something I am familiar with.
The beat generation was truly an anti establishment way of literature. As Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs and Ferlinghetti had written in their very complex, yet almost a satirical look in the vein of post modernism, they each found their own light through their works. Ginsberg's "America" is one that resonates deeply with me. I find its lyrical structure to be very revealing, he opens his mind and captures his audience with very sincere images of his world around him.

1. Why does Ginsberg shift his tone to say that his America rather than continue to stay the voice of America?

2. Why does Ginsberg make America such a personal poem?

3. Why does Ginsberg seem to make America out to be more than just a country, more like a human being?

Close Reading of " Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"

Dylan Thomas' " Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" ( http://www.bigeye.com/donotgo.htm)

Close reading of the first two stanzas:

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night" (lines 1-6)

The first thing I noticed about these first two stanzas was the fact that every line has exactly ten syllables, and the importance of day/light and night, which are naturally contrasted in the words themselves, and by the fact that they stand out, being the last words ( except for line5) of each line. The mentioning of not going into "that good night" is significant as it is repeated multiple times throughout the poem- the word “night” signifies darkness, which brings about thoughts of the unknown, unconscious, and more importantly for this poem, death and ultimate ending. The fact that Thomas calls it a "good night" is a pun. He wants his father to not go easily into that "good night" as in the expression "goodnight", the simple saying of goodbye for the day. If his father gives into the saying “goodnight” then he is acknowledging the end. It’s interesting that Thomas sets up the words so that they can mean this expression which signifies a simple parting at the end of the day, which, seems to be a light way of referring to death. However, if you read “good night” as two separate words, it implies that the night is good, which may indicate how alluring the night, the end, is, under harsh conditions. The speaker of the poem makes a case against simply going willingly, gently into the night, instead of fighting it. He seems to be looking at other’s reactions to death, in order to set his own expectations for life and death. In the second line he says, “Old age should burn and rave at close of day”, and in the entire second stanza he speaks of wise men and their unwillingness to go gently into the night because they had not gotten to fulfill their goals and intentions during life. It’s interesting that Thomas speaks of not being able to complete life and fully live it out ( giving the impression that something else is needed before one can die), yet each stanza is composed of perfect pentameter, showing completeness and nothing lacking.

Theory questions: "Anorexic" by Eavan Boland

The poem "Anorexic" by Eavan Boland can be viewed using Gender Criticism. Although there are males with eating disorders, they tend to be more common in females. This poem is written by a woman so there is the possibility that she or someone she knew was anorexic. The poem is written in the first person referring to the narrator's body in the third person calling her a "bitch." However the disease is a male, the narrator says she will give up food and, "slip/back into him again." The poem is devoted to being thin and doing anything to stay that way. The things like breasts and hips are erased as the narrator loses these feminine qualities in her quest to be as thin as possible.

Critical questions:

1) How would this poem be viewed had this poem been written by a man or had a male narrator?

2) What is the narrator saying about herself and what message is she sending to the reader about anorexia in that she is ridding herself of feminine physical qualities to be thin?

3) Why is the disease referred to as a male and what does this say about the narrator's views on the male gender?

Theory Questions: "Beat! Beat! Drums!" by Walt Whitman

The poem "Beat! Beat! Drums!" can be read here:
http://whitman.classicauthors.net/PoemsOfWaltWhitman/PoemsOfWaltWhitman1.html

This poem should be looked at using Cultural Poetics. This theory looks at the text by the time, place, and society it is generated from. Walt Whitman wrote this poem in light of the Civil War. The poem focuses on the sounds of the drums and bugles used during the war overpowering the people and the land. Whitman was against war. By using the adjectives such as "terrible" used to describe the sounds of the instruments and the way the line "Beat! beat! drums!-- blow! bugles! blow!" is repeated over and over throughout the poem, interrupting the flow of the poem similar to how the sound of the instruments interrupted American society during the war shows his anti-war feeling. By looking at this poem using knowledge of the time it stems from and seeing it as Whitman's attempt to rile society against the war helps the reader understand the poem.

Critical questions:

1) If you did not know the poem was written in the time of the Civil War, would you assume it was about that war or a war of some type by the descriptions in the poem and the use of the drums and bugles?

2) How does Whitman use imagery to describe how he sees society being affected?

3) How does using exclamation points and the repetition of the line "Beat! beat! drums!-- blow! bugles! blow!" affect the message of the poem?

Close reading: "Barbie Doll" by Marge Percy

This girlchild was born as usual
and presented dolls that did pee-pee
and miniature GE stoves and irons
and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You have a great big nose and fat legs.

By using the word "girlchild" the poem emphasizes the fact that this child is a girl and it makes her seem unimportant as she was "born as usual." Including children's toys and using adjectives to show that these toys are small to fit the child and using the word "pee-pee" and relating the lipstick to "cherry candy" play up the youth being described in this stanza. In saying that the toys were "presented" to the girl shows that she had no choice in the matter, she was expected to play with dolls and stoves and put on play make up. The objects that the girl is given show that the girls is expected to grow up a housewife; the "dolls that did pee-pee" prepare her for having children of her own, "the miniature GE stoves and irons" will be appliances she will use to cook for her husband and iron his clothes, and the lipstick will be worn to look pleasing to him. Using the word "magic" to describe puberty exemplifies the mystery of growing up and how children don't understand what is happening to their body; it suddenly begins to change right before their eyes. Finally, the classmate criticizing the girl shows how a female's appearance is judged and how harmful it can be to a young girl's self esteem. These harsh words of the classmate come in the same line as the girl is said to hit puberty to show how the adolescent years really shape a person and how they are confused by what is happening to their body and how the words of others can affect how an adolescent views themself.

Close reading: "After Making Love" by Stephen Dunn

No one should ask the other
"What were you thinking?"

No one, that is,
who doesn't want to hear about the past

and its inhabitants
or the strange loneliness of the present

The stanzas and lines of this poem are very short and broken up. This relates to the "strange loneliness of the present" one feels "After Making Love." The feeling is described as a "strange loneliness" because usually making love is associated with a physical and emotional bond, yet this poem shows a separation that is felt after making love, when feelings are not there. By saying you don't ask, "What were you thinking?" after love making, and the repetition of how no one asks that question shows how each person carries a part of their past with them and through each person they have sex with, they carry memories of past lovers. The word "inhabitants" is an odd way to refer to the people of someones past, like they still linger in the person's mind, no matter who they are with everyone has memories inhabiting their mind reflecting back on past lovers in comparison to a present lover. The enjambment of the lines shows the quick flow of thoughts and the rush one feels after making love. By enjambing "the past/and its inhabitants" shows that hearing about someones past involves hearing about the people and past lovers in that persons life.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Theory Questions: "Slight Rebellion Off Madison"

Although we didn't read JD Salinger's "Slight Rebellion Off Madison" in class, and no one did an introduction to it on the blog, I feel as though Cultural Poetics fits it so perfectly that it's worth writing questions for anyway. "Slight Rebellion Off Madison" is one of the two short stories JD Salinger published in the New Yorker magazine that he would later expand on with The Catcher in the Rye. Here is a link to the short story if you're interested in reading it: link. If you read The Catcher in the Rye you'll be familiar with what happens in the story. Pretty much the story details Holden Caulfield going home to New York during his Christmas vacation from Pencey Prep. First he goes to the theater with his girlfriend (kind of girl friend anyway) Sally Hayes, and then later he goes ice skating with Sally. At the rink he asks her to runaway to the country with him, he gets mad when she turns down his offer, and finally after they part, he gets really drunk and calls Sally in the middle of the night to tell her that he would like to come over her house and help her trim her Christmas tree. This story is particularly appropriate to be analyzed by Cultural Poetics, because it's basically all about Holden trying to deal with all of the various constraints society puts on someone. He tries his best to resist, but he just ends up getting treated like a fool by those like Sally who are perfectly happy to embrace the restraints her culture has set for her. Maybe the lesson of the story is that resisting a society's constraints is somewhat futile, and anyone who attempts to do so will end up drunk on the floor of a men's restroom with a soaked, dripping wet head in the middle of winter.

1. What are some examples of how Holden initially attempts to follow his culture's constraints?

2. What is the significance of the conversation Holden has with Sally at the ice rink? How does she respond and how can this be related to the concept of Cultural Poetics?

3. What does alcohol and Holden's getting drunk have to do with Cultural Poetics and the ideas of constraint and mobility?

"Slight Rebellion Off Madison." New Yorker, 22 (December 1946), pp.76-79, or 82-86

theory Questions for " Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"

Literary Biography of Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gently into That Good Night"
Find the text, online, here: http://www.bigeye.com/donotgo.htm
Find one of Dylan Thomas' biographies here: http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/dylan_thomas/biography

One literary theory that applies well to this poem is the theory of Literary Biography. To put it simply, this is finding ways in which the author's life has influenced the text.
Dylan Thomas, the author of this poem, was born in 1914 in Wales. There is much that could be explained and detailed about Thomas' life, but the important information to know in relation to this poem is about where he spent his time and who influenced him. He enjoyed visiting the beautiful seashore where he grew up and he, often times, visiting on his relative's farm. Dylan's father was a school teacher and an advocate of poetry and language- one website says, "Thomas' father also gave the poet an early awareness of the native Welsh traditions, as well as the classics of English literature." It is because of his father's passion for poetry and language that Dylan was so influenced to peruse poetry. This poem, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" , is written in the year 1952, the same year that his influential father died, and it, therefore, only makes sense that this poem is directed to his father during his last days ( his father died in December of 1952). The speaker of the poem is speaking to a dying father ("and you, my father, there on the sad height"-line 16) and pleading for the dying father not to give up and just let go. Thomas admired his father and learned all about his passion in life from him and is used to seeing this man as his inspiration and stronghold and it is, therefore, painful to see him giving into death so easily.
Readers can easily understand this poem by looking into Thomas' own relationship with his father and understanding how difficult it would be to watch a man that has influenced him so much become weakly. The imagery of the poem is also, perhaps, influenced by his frequent visits to the seashore
Critical Questions:
1) In the second stanza, Thomas speaks of wise men, in the third he speaks of good mena, in the fourth he speaks of wild men, and in the fifth he speaks of grave men. Does this seem to be a progression? Based on what we know of Thomas' relationship with his father, is he at all comparing the father in this poem to these types of men?
2) What is the tone of this poem? Does it seem to be conducive to the relationship between Thomas and his own father?
3) Why are the lines, “Do not go gentle into that good night" and” Rage, rage against the dying of the light" repeated throughout the poem? What effect does it have?
4) What imagery of the poem, if any, seems to be influenced by his surroundings and experiences?

Thomas, Dylan. "Do not Go Gentle ino That Good Night." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Ed. J. Paul Hunter, Allison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2007. 275-276.

Theory Questions of "The Silence of Women" by Liz Rosenberg

Rosenberg's poem displays gender criticism ideas. The entire poem is about women becoming more vocal and demanding as they grow older. It the poem suggests this is the case because in younger years the women had to be quiet and listen to what the men have to say. The poem comments, "A lifetime of yes has left them/ hissing bent as snakes (6-7). The poem discusses patriarchal ideals and women being submissive, but as the couples grow older these roles switch. The switch in roles is seen in the line, "the chicken hatching back into the egg" (12).

This poem clearly in cooperates gender criticism ideas through discussion of roles in men and women's lives.

Questions:

1) Does this poem take on patriarchal ideals or feminist?

2)How does imagery in the poem further our understanding of these ideals?

3) Is there any symbolism in the musical references found in the poem?

Close Reading: The Hunchback in the Park by Dylan Thomas

Lines 7-13 of "The Hunchback in the Park" by Dylan Thomas

"Eating bread from a newspaper
drinking water from the chained cup
That the children filled with gravel
In the fountain basin where I sailed my ship
Slept at night in a dog kennel
but nobody chained him up."

The first image presented to the reader in this passage of the poem is the hunchback eating bread from a newspaper and drinking water from a chained cup filled with gravel. The idea of the "chains" suggests that perhaps the hunchback is imprisoned. The idea of gravel and chains gives a sense of immobility. The image of the ship suggests the antithesis, as if it represents what the hunchback long for his is freedom. The idea of sleeping in a kennel makes it seem as though the hunchback is no more important than a dog, except for the fact that no one chained him up. This comparison between the hunchback and the dog is demoralizing further because it only seems to suggest that the hunchback is only slightly higher in society than the dog.

Close Reading of "Sad Steps" by Philip Larkin.

Sad Steps: Philip Larkin


"Groping back to bed after a piss
I part thick curtains, and am startled by
The rapid clouds, the moon's cleanliness.

Four o'clock: wedge-shadowed gardens lie
Under a cavernous, a wind-picked sky.
There's something laughable about this."

Larkin employs specific diction in the first line of this poem to jolt the reader out of a poetic mindset. The words "groping" and "piss" are words that one typically wouldn't expect to find in poetry, and therefore sets the tone of the poem. He uses imagery to try to plainly describe the moon and sky with the terms "cleanliness" and "rapid clouds", but seems to struggle to define them in such a way that isn't a cliche. He begins the next stanza with the words "Four O'clock" which tells the reader that he has been awoken during the middle of his sleep cycle, which further adds to the groggy feeling of the poem of the poem. The term "Wedge-shadowed" gives a sense of fullness to the night. Imagery is further employed to describe the sky for a second time, until a shift occurs where the speaker steps back and looks at what he has been saying as laughable. He feels that there is no new way to describe things like the sky and moon, and that the idea of it is laughable.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Theory Question Gwendolyn Brooks "We Real Cool"

Brooks, Gwendolyn. “We Real Cool.” The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Ed.
J. Paul Hunter, Allison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2007. 92.

Cultural Poetics can be applied to "We Real Cool" because the theory states that literature should be looked at as a product of the time, place, and society from which it comes. The poem, written in the 1950's is a form of beat poetry. The poem as a whole is a product of that time and though period of the early fifities. The concept of live hard and die young, reminds you sort of the "Grease" mentality of the time. The poem "We Real Cool" is a product of the time in which it was wirtten.

CRITICAL QUESTIONS:
1. Does "We Real Cool" make a certain claim or statement about the time in the 1950's in which it was written?

2. What aspects of the 1950's culture affect your understanding of the poem?

3. How does the writing style in "We Real Cool" add to or takes away from the understanding of the poem?

-Kelly Gore

Theory Question on Mary, Lady Chudleigh "To the Ladies"

Lady Chudleigh, Mary. “To the Ladies.” The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Ed.
J. Paul Hunter, Allison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2007. 22-23.

The theory that can be recommended to this particular poem "To the Ladies" would be feminism/gender. The definition of feministic criticism is that all men and women are politically, socially, and economically equal. (Bressler 184). Lady Chudleigh addresses the poem and its contents to women, and after spending the first twenty or so lines pointing out how men believe a woman should behave as a wife, she then ends the poem saying to women:
"Value yourselves, and men despise:
You must be proud, if you'll be wise(23-24)."
The poem was written in 1703 and even then it was apparent to women that they were not exactly being treated equal by men who viewed them on a whole as "Wife and servant are the same(1)" Her anger and need for woman enpowerment leads her to say to despise men, according to feminism both should be equal.

CRITICAL QUESTIONS
1. How does the fact that you know the poem is written to women by a woman affect your opinion of it and it's meaning? If it were written by a man would it change your opinion of the poem?

2. Do you think the time period the poem was written in effects the understanding of the time? Is it shocking? Would the meaning of the poem for women or men change if it had been written in 2008 rather than 1703?

3. Does the stereotypical characterization of female roles in marriage affect the meaning of the poem and of journalism as a whole?

-Kelly Gore

Close Reading : The Whipping by Robert Hayden

Hayden, Robert. “The Whipping.” The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Ed.
J. Paul Hunter, Allison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2007. 49-50.

She strikes and strikes the shrilly circling
boy till the stick breaks
in her hand. His tears are rainy weather
to woundlike memories:(lines 9-12)

The poem at this point is describing the way the older woman is beating the boy, her literal actions and his equal reaction to her beatings. The use of consonance in repeating the "s" sounds in strike and shrilly and she, are placed in a rythem of how the actual blows to the boy would be spaced. Each "s" sound could be read and imagined as the next strike of the whipping from the stick until it literally breaks from the force that the woman is using it. There is also dramatic irony in the poem, by the end of it we as the audience know that the old woman is whipping the boy to purge herself "...for lifelong hidingd she has had to bear(23-24)." The boy getting beat doesn't seem to be aware of the reason why he is being beat by this face that he once "knew" and "loved." A metaphor can be found in the camparison of the boy's tears to rainy weather. And the fact that the boy is circling in an attempt to hide himself from the blows gives for a better understanding of how circling and confusing being beaten and doing the beating can be for the two. It is a good word choice because it lets you picture how the woman must have been so wrapped up and encircled by the action that she doesn't realize she's hurting the boy until after the fact. The boy on the other hand would be confused for getting beaten and the actual action could leave him dizzy and circling to get away. And the action cirlces around the speaker who seems to be remembering being beaten himself. The technical aspects of the passion really do help in understanding what the greater meaning in Hayden's poem may be.

-Kelly Gore

Theory Question

Here's a theory question post on a wierd little poem. It's anonymous and it's found on p. 209 of the Norton. It reads,

There was a young girl from St. Paul,
Wore a newspaper-dress to a ball.
The dress caught on fire
And burned her entire
Front page, sporting section and all. (209. 1-5)

This is just a funny little limerick but it is an interesting piece to look at from a feminist's perspective. The second thing we learn about the girl, after where she's from is what she is wearing. Clothing being such a stereotypical preoccupation for women, we already know that this poem is going to play with cultural attitudes towards women. The part of the paper that catches on fire is the "front page" and we can only imagine what the sporting section might be. The front page of the newspaper is always what people first look at; it's what is made specifically to catch people's attention. This is similar to the way women are made to feel they need to present themselves. The assumption is that they will be judged on attraction and material attributes before substance. Further, the sporting section is the part that all men (stereotypically) are most interested in. We brush the other stuff aside just to get to that sports section. But once this girl's dress is ruined, she is essentially ruined. Once she loses her attraction no one will be interested in he anymore according to the persona. So here are some questions:

1)Does the fact that this girl is from St. Paul contribute anything to the feminist interpretation of the poem? Does this say anything about Christianity and attitudes toward women?

2)Her dress is ruined when it catches on fire. What can the burning of he dress be a metaphor for?

3)Does the newspaper dress go beyond feminism and adress social status as well? If so, how does social status connect with cultural attitudes towards women?

*****It was a fun semester--Thanks to everyone and good luck!*******

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Theory Questions: To the Ladies

Last post! Awwwww...

Anyway, I saw this a couple of posts ago, liked it, and snatched it up for a feminist critique.

To The Ladies, by Mary, Lady Chugleigh


Nothing about this poet doesn't scream "feminine critique!" at me, except for maybe a line or two that's calling for a Marxist critique, but since we didn't cover that this semester I won't go there. The first line, "Wife and Servant are the same," sets up the tone for the entire poem and the fact that this was written in 1703 amazes me beyond words. It's very Feminine Mystique-very second wave feminism--and yet, comes 150 years before Seneca Falls. If anything, this poem proves that there is, in fact, inherent discrimination in marriage and it's not some modern-liberal propaganda. Anyway, here are the questions that I think should be asked about the poem:

1. How does Chudleigh justify her claim in the first line?
2. What message(s) is Chudleigh trying to send to women?
3. Why is Chudleigh comparing men to God? Is this a positive comparison?
4. What significance does the date hold?


ps- feel better professor...

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Close Reading: Death, be not proud

Donne, John. "Death, be not proud." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. Ed. J. Paul Hunter, Allison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2007. 533.
Find it here: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/death-be-not-proud/

“Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, Kings, and desperate men,
And doest with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charm can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die” (lines 9-14)

The speaker of Donne’s poem is mocking death from the first line to the last, thus working to diminish its power and grip over human life. In this particular part of the poem, the speaker denounces death by saying that it is the one that has to associate with “poison, war, and sickness” and really all that it does is make us sleep, and, eventually, that sleep leads to eternal life. Donne turns the sting of death on its head as he gives it no credit and, instead, says it does him good, as it is death that leads him to the ultimate pleasure of the afterlife. The line, " Death, though shalt die"( 14) is powerful because it uses the concept of death against itself ( which humbles and belittles its power)
The fact that Donne has personified death makes it easier for him to critique death and stand up to it. I enjoy this poem because I can so clearly see the speaker laughing in the face of death- the speaker of this poem comes across, to me, as incredibly witty.

It is important to note that in this Italian sonnet there is a steady rhyming scheme throughout (a, b, b, a, a, b, b, a, c, d, d, c) the whole poem. However, the last two lines ( which, I suppose, would be ‘e’ and ‘f’) do not follow this rhyming scheme, they stand alone as independent lines, not even rhyming with each other. It is interesting to note that these lines end with the two most important and crucial words in the poem, and the fact that they do not rhyme suggests the significance of the last two lines and the last words of the lines, “ eternally” and “die”, in particular- these words are meant to stand alone and stand out. These two words which do not rhyme with any other words, or with each other, infer two completely opposite happenings; one refers to the end of a life, and one refers to a life that never ends. Death is usually credited with being our worst enemy and bringing about our ultimat finish, however, Donne plays with this idea as he claims that death actually leads to a world where death is never a fear again.

Introduction: Bodega Dreams

1. Quinonez, Ernesto. Bodega Dreams. New York: Vintage Books, 2000.

2. "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez follows the life of Chino in Spanish Harlem. We get a taste of his younger years in the beginning of the book as well as his marriage to his girlfriend Blanca. Chino's best friend Sapo introduces him to Willie Bodega. What Bodega does is buy up old run down buildings, renovates them, and sells the appartments cheap to people who would serve him if he would ever need it. Bodega needs Chino to get in contact with Blanca's aunt Vera. Vera and Bodega's lawyer, Nazario, ended turning on, and killing Bodega.

3. I read this book about a month ago for a presentation and I really enjoyed it. Bodega had a dream, and that dream was to make something of his life. He did, but he trusted the wrong people. This book really comes down to trust. Trust between Chino and his wife, trust between Chino and Bodega, trust between Chino and Nazario, and even between Bodega and Nazario. Blanca left Chino "for a while" towards the end because she couldn't trust him in telling her anything straight up. Chino trusted Bodega to a certain point, but didn't trust Nazario at all. Bodega on the other hand trusted Nazario completely. That trust came down to Vera. Bodega said to Chino that Vera loved him, not her husband. Turns out she really loved Nazario. Her and Nazario killed Bodega after he trusted them so much. The element of trust rings true today as, out in the real world, you don't know who you can really trust.

4. The aspect of a dream can be compared to "Great Expectations." Willie Bodega had a dream to make something of himself to impress a woman. Pip had a dream to become a gentleman to, you guessed it, impress a woman. Bodega's dreams came true, well, until they were crushed when he was murdered by the same woman he wanted to impress. Pip's came true to a certain point. He became a gentleman, but he didn't impress Estella, nor did he become a better person.

Introduction: Death and the King's Horsemen

1. Soyinka, Wole. "Death and the King's Horseman." The Longman Anthology World Literature Vol. F. Ed. David Damrosch. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2004. 997-1017.

2. "Death and the King's Horseman" was written by Wole Soyinka in 1975. The play builds upon this story to focus on the character of Elesin, who is the King's Horseman. According to his people's tradition, the death of the Chief must be followed by the ritual suicide of the Chief's Horseman. Elesin was the horseman of the king so he must now commit suicide and be buried with him. The first half of the play shows the process of the ritual. Elesin keeps putting it off, and is eventually arrested for his own safty. The plays ends with Elesin's son committing suicide in his father's place to keep the honor of his people.

3. I had to do Acts IV-V for a presentation in my World Literature class and I liked what I read. Olunde, Elesin's son, comes home to bury is father because he got wind that the king was dead. What I found intriguing is that Olunde didn't agree with people trying to keep his father alive. He saw his father's self sacrifice as a noble gesture towards the king. He knew that his father's suicide would keep order in his people because it was a tradition to so if you were the horseman to an authority figure. The white man didn't see it that way. They saw it as a black man being foolish and throwing his life away. When Olunde saw his father alive he was very disappointed and said "I have no father..." (Soyinka 1007). I found it interesting that self sacrifice was so sacred to them that they shunned even family when they didn't go through with it, whether they were stopped by an outside source or not.

4. I suppose you can compare this to "Great Expectations" in a way, particularly self sacrifice. In the play Elesin has to make a sacrifice by killing himself, but because he hesitated, his son made that sacrifice instead. In the novel Pip makes a sacrifice in trying to get the prisoner to safety. Pip lied to the police, and abandoned his teachings as a gentleman to break the law and aid a criminal. Pip also sacrificed his home life to become a gentleman and to be with Estella. Pip's relationship with Joe was strained because of it, and he never ended up with Estella. Though Pip didn't die, his sacrifice was made.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Theory Questions on "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.


Find it online: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/barbie-doll/


The theory of gender criticism applies immensely to this poem. The poem focuses on finding self worth from physical appearance, while addressing the standards of beauty that are held for women. Women are the ones that are meant to be physically beautiful and alluring, and, from this poem we can see that these are overwhelming expectations that society has for women. This poem is understood through looking at a woman's role in the world- the thought that all she has to offer, in her role as a woman, is her beauty. The last line of the poem is particularly haunting as it bulks women as a whole and speaks of their need and expectation to be pleasing and concerned with their appearances. There is a lot to be said about our society and the pressure that has been put on women if it is not until a woman's death that she can finally stop searching and seeking the perfect image. Piercy ends her poem commenting on this fact, " To every woman a happy ending" (line 25) - she works to paint the picture that there are so many expectations for a woman that she can never be happy until she is removed from those expectations ( in this poem, that is through death), yet, even when she is dead othere still hold her to those expectations ( she is dressed up with make-up and delicate clothing).

Critical Questions:
1. The woman of this poem is first presented with dolls and miniature stoves and irons. What do these toys say about gender roles and expectations of girls early on in life? Would young boys get different toys? What would those toys say about their gender roles?
2. What is the tone of this poem? How does the speaker of this poem feel about this woman’s life? How does he/she feel about gender roles? Do you think the speaker is a male or female?
3. Why does the speaker specifically mention the fact that woman’s nightgown is pink and white, and that she is wearing cosmetics?

Intorduction to "The Birthmark"

Introduction to Nathaniel Hawthorne's " The Birthmark"
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “ The Birthmark.” Hawthorne’s Short Stories. Ed. Newton Arvin. New York: Vintage Books, 1946. 147-165.

You can find the short story online here: http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/1777/


-Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of this story, was an important early American writer who wrote in the early to middle 1800s during the romantic era. Many of his stories are allegories, as this specific one is said to be, and are influenced by his puritan beliefs. In this story, a scientist settles down and marries a beautiful woman by the name of Georgiana. One particular evening, many days into their marriage, Aylmer, the scientist, notices a birthmark on his bride's face that is very distinct and in the clear shape of a hand- he sees it is a major flaw in her beauty and it begins to haunt him every time he looks at her. While Georgiana so innocently saw it as a "charm", Aylmer corrupts her view and asks, " has it never occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?" Aylmer can no longer look at his wife without seeing this mark as a flaw; he does not see his lovely wife any longer, he sees damage. Since Georgiana sees that she can no longer have a happy marriage with this mark on her face, she allows Aylmer to remove it, no matter what the danger. While Aylmer works to redeem his wife's value and make her more lovable, the absence of the handprint from her face leads to her death.

-This story seems basic and, perhaps, bland. However, while there is not much actually going on in the story in terms of an intense and exciting plot line, the development of the characters and the sympathy that they demand from readers, along with the symbolism and moral meaning that can be derived from this text is where my appreciation for this short story lies. The characters of Aylmer and Georgiana were incredibly human to me, and the more that Aylmer became focused on changing his innocent and sweet wife instead of loving her, the more that I wanted to jump into the pages of the text and strangle him. The problems that Aylmer finds with his wife and his constant discontentment are human problems and, thus, easy to relate to. I got to the end of this short story and found myself incredibly emotionally connected to the story. I also appreciated how this story was so simple, yet was so relatable and complex at the same time because of the symbols that Hawthorne chose to use and the uncertainty of the ending. I found myself seeking to understand the symbolic nature of the hand and why Hawthorne would end his text with a mysterious laughter.

- I’m having a tough time relating this story with one that we have read this semester. I think that Hawthorne really wants his readers to come away from this text questioning many things: our control over others, our obsession with the physical world, and our definition of love. I think, in keeping these concepts in mind, one piece to compare this story to is “Porphria’s Lover” (I think we read this in class….), the men in both of these works seek to do what is best for the woman, but end up ruining them in their vain attempts of finding perfection and pleasure in the physical world of beauty.

Close Reading "To the Ladies" by Mary, Lady Chudleigh

"To the Ladies"
by Mary, Lady Chudleigh

Located in our poetry anthology on page 22 and online: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/ladies.html

The lines I looked closely at are:

"Wife and servant are the same,
But only differ in the name:
For when the fatal knot is tied,
Which nothing, nothing can divide,
When she the word Obey has said
And man by supreme law has made...(1-6)"

In this poem there is a lot of tension between the patriarchal society and the role of women. In line one a wife is metaphorically compared to a servant. Therefore the wife has no say in anything because even though she may be a lady, she is in no position of authority, her only task is to 'serve her husband. This is a very 'male' view of the time period that this poem was written in 1703. Line two continues with the only actual difference between a wife and a servant being the title of 'wife.' In line three of the poem, explicitly says 'fatal knot is tied,' which is an obvious reference to being married, however there is a paradox of a wedding, tying the knot, to being fatal. Marriage is normally associated with a positive light, a new beginning, but in this poem the speaker is saying that once your married there is no way out, and marriage is a death of any freedom. Line four the speaker points out the permanence of marriage, obviously now if the marriage is as bad as the speakers, divorce is an option. But for the speaker in the poem the only option is death itself. In line five the poet emphasises the word Obey with a capital O and the word being italicised. Obey is a very strong word the OED describes it as basically taking orders from someone in authority. The woman in this marriage has no say in anything what so ever, her only function is to take orders. Line 6 enforces the fact that men are in complete control over women. This poem is about a women in a bad marriage warning other women of the consequences of saying obey and I do... You will lose complete freedom over your life, everything you do will be because it is what your husband wanted. The rhyme in the first 6 lines is a,a,b,b,c, d.

Eavan Boland "Anorexic"

Eavan Boland "Anorexic"

1.) Boland, Eavan, The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 335-336.
You can find this poem online by going to this website: http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/eavan-boland/anorexic/


2.) I think that this poem is about ones insecurities with their looks. The narrator of the poem is uncomfortable with their body calling it a "witch". The narrator begins talking about "torching" her curves, and ruining her once womanly figure. It seems that the speaker is doing this for someone else. She says that
"How she meshed my head
in the half truths
of her fevers till I renounced
milk and honey
and the taste of lunch."
The speaker says that now whoever this other person may be, is burning, and that because she is now starved and curveless, she has learned her lesson. But, I feel that the speaker may also be talking about herself. She may be talking about the woman inside her who thought she needed to starve herself to seem attractive, or more comfortable in her skin, and now because she is starving, she is suffering the consequecnes.
Overall, I believe this poem is talking about ones insecurities with themselves, and the struggle they've had with this disease.


3.) I thought this was a pretty descriptive poem of what it is like to struggle with anorexia. You can feel the confusion and anger that the speaker feels. I liked that from just reading the poem, you can feel how much this person hates their appearance. I also have never read any poems about something like an eating disorder, and I think that people who have, or who have struggled with one, could read this and see that they were not the only one.

4.) I can honestly say this poem does not remind me of any poems I have read. If anyone knows of any please comment and let me know!!



last friday the Helix put on an International Poetry Event from 10 to 1 i think. anyways after class i went for a bit and it was really impressive. the poets there were pretty established writers and the work they read was really good. poets such as Sudeep Sen, whose has had myriads of publications and award read some of his poem and he was extremely impressive. Aimee Nezukumatathil is also a frequently published poet who appeared. Those were the only ones i saw, they were both very good. you should check them out

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Theory Questions: Shakespeare's Sonnet 130

Someone posted Shakespeare's 130th a while ago. Full text here and a bit of deconstructionism here:

Through the entire sonnet, Shakespeare is comparing a mistress to things of relative beauty like the sun, flowers, perfume... in stating that she's nothing like any of them. According to the author, the woman is this ugly, greyish creature that smells and has black wires sprouting from her head. The twist in the poem is in the last two lines, when Big Willy Shakes states that "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/ As any she belied with false compare" (Shakespeare, 13-14).

The text is really full of binary oppositions; every time Shakespeare compares a part of his mistress to an object society looks highly upon (the sun, white snow, roses, perfume, music...), the viewer assumes that the mystery woman is nothing like whatever he's comparing her to. The entire poem relies on preferences in binaries, because that's how it makes it's point. If we didn't instinctively know that the sun was brilliant or that roses were beautiful, we would completely miss the point of the poem. Because of this fact, the text clearly lends itself to deconstructionism.


Questions:

1. How does the poem fulfill its intentions of distinguishing the opposing binaries, in each individual case? (ei: white, dun; perfume, reek)

2. How do cultural 'truths' effect our view of the mistress? Is there any basis for this assumption?

3. What is the major binary in the poem?

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Close Reading "London" by William Blake

The close reading is lines 9-14:

"And the hapless soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down palace-walls.
But most, through midnight streets I hear
How the youthful harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse."

"London" by William Blake, can be found in our poetry anthology page 33. And online at: http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/2370/

This poem is part of Blake's series on innocence, in which he wrote about the bad conditions in London. Basically the poem. Blake talks about all of the sadness caused by poverty which he sees in the streets of London. In the poem he describes the people he meets/ passes on the streets.

The tone of this poem is very sad and depressing. The poem has four rhyming quatrains. The poem has an abab rhyming scheme. The poem is set in London in the poorer sections, at midnight. Line 9 talks about the sad state that the soldiers are in. I was not sure what exactly hapless meant so I looked it up in the OED and it means 'unlucky'. Interpreting this line it seems like the soldiers are just as unlucky as any one else is, the soldiers seem powerless when compared to line 10, where the blood of everyone 'runs' down the palace walls; which is personification. The palace seems to be distant on the inside from everything going on around it, including the blood on the walls outside. In line 11 the streets are talked about from a midnight point of view, when most people are sleeping, and the rest of the population comes out, like prostitutes. It is interesting that Blake chose to describe the prostitutes as youthful, because it implies that they are pretty young, like they had to turn to prostitution because they had no other possible way of surviving, or of making a living. In line 13 the young prostitute curses the birth of the baby, this line strongly suggests that the prostitute is not happy about the baby, but only sees it as another mouth to feed. Line 14 is a very interesting because the prostitutes are visited by married men whom then give any Sexually transmitted deasies to their wives. Obviously cheating on the spouse may involve the end of the marriage, but also if an STD that a wife was given by her husband from his sleeping with a prostitute could end up creating bigger, nasty problems. There is also an interesting paradox of marriage, with is thought of as a new beginning of two lives, and a hearse which is something that deals with the transportation of dead bodies.

Theory Questions: Nazim Hikmet, "I Come And Stand At Every Door"

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 .

This poem exhibits a unique ability to utilize a historical approach to the work itself. The historical aspect is essential to the poem's relevance to the surging anti-war sentiment of the 1960s. Hikmet uses the image of the bombing of Hiroshima to evoke the violent nature of war and the harsh realities that lie behind it. The poem brings up many disturbing images that capture the readers mind and allows it to show remorse for those who have witnessed tragedy such as this.

1. What specifics of the poem allow the artists of the 1960s feel that this poem was so relevant to their anti-war feelings?

2. Why does the poet use such an image of death to convey his message of peace?

3. Would you feel that this poem would be relevant in today's world?

Friday, May 2, 2008

Monday's Reading for 12:00 Class

Here is the link for Allen Ginsberg's "America" which is the reading for Monday's Theory Presentation on Cultural Poetics.

link

Theory Questions of "Living in Sin" by Adrienne Rich

"Living in Sin" by Adrienne Rich is a poem that clearly connotates patriarchal values using the feminist theory. It portrays a speaker, a woman, who believes that by simply keeping a clean house and doing her womanly duties that her marriage would be fulfilled. She states this from the opening line, "She had thought the studio would keep itself,// no dust upon the furniture of love" (1-2) This statement is followed with images of patriarchy: "a cat//stalking a picturesque amusing mouse" stairs writhing under a milkman's tramp and "sepulchral bottles" of milk. These binaries clearly show a dominance over recessive things just as men dominate women.

The statement of feminist values is further made through the actions of the man. All that the man is seem doing are self-centered. He yawns, plays the piano, looks at himself in the mirror, fixes his beard, and leaves for cigarettes. He is first described with a yawn, which shows his indifference and lack of involvement in his family life. He then takes leave of the poem and the house because he went out for cigarettes, not at all involving himself with the duties of the house. The fact that while he is doing this, the woman makes the bed and dusts. She is frustrated and her frustration is shown through the coffee boiling over.

The patriarchal standpoint of this poem is brought home at the end when she says she is "back in love again," yet dreads the morning because she knows she will have to do her duties once again.

Questions:

1) Is there a connection between daylight and her feeling of suppression?

2) How is the woman "Living in Sin?"

3) What is meant by the statement "half heresy" in line 3 before describing the perfect house?

Close Reading of "Dancing With God" by Stephen Dunn

Im doing the close reading of lines 49-54:

nice man
with whom I'd slept
and grown tired,
who danced wrong,
who never again
could do anything right.

In the poem the speaker and a man are at a dance, when a stranger asks to dance with the speaker, and the stranger is then compared to God. These lines are the aftermath of that dance. Because the dance was so blissful for the speaker, nothing can compare, especially going back to the dull norms of the previous life.

In these lines, the first technical aspect i notice is the line breaks. These lines are separate, short, and precise, paralleling the way in which people think about things. Through Dunn's short lines, the speaker's thought process is conveyed. The speaker says the man is nice, that they have slept together, but grown tired and the nature of these lines seem as if thoughts were thrown on a page as they occurred to the speaker. Therefore, the statement made that the man attending the dance with the speaker could never do anything right again is a presumption. The dance with God changed the speakers life so much, that at that moment afterwards, it was known no other man, especially the one currently with, could never measure up to the perfection of that one dance.
Also, the meter of these last lines is very strange. The lines are stagnant and hard to read for there is no rhythm to them. A very important word is the trochee "never" for not only is it a very strong word in denotation, but the sound is sharp. It is placed in the second to last line and stands on a line alone to make the point of never that much more significant.

Further, there is not a clear meter until the last line which states "could do anything right." This line is in iambic pentameter. It is almost as if the speaker's thoughts beforehand were not concrete until the realization in the last line. The combination of lines 53 and 54 create a powerful statement in its denotation which is made more powerful through the technical aspects Dunn in cooperates.

Literary Event: Great American Sidewalk Novel

I went to the Great American Sidewalk Novel yesterday. The theme was a prehistoric sci fi alien story, I think.

The writing itself was interesting to look at. There were many different fonts and colors. Some of the writing was written circularly, or zig zaggy rather than left to right. Some pictures were interspersed, the two I noticed were of an elephant and a robot.

At the time I looked at it, there were 17 “chapters”. I didn’t have time to look at all of them in depth but from what I saw, it reminded me of Mad Libs. The chapters seemed to be irrelevant from one to the next. One of the chapters had something to do with the trix rabbit. The first one had something to do with Authority as a character. I remember a quote from the paragraph said “Education isn’t for the educated but for those who had enough to pay for it.” Throughout the novel pizza came up a few times and elephants, robots, and so on.

I wish that I had the time to participate in it. I certainly will next year. It looked like a lot of fun and a great way to express yourself. Thanks to the rain, its all gone now :(

But there’s my literary event.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Theory Questions to: "Siren Song" by Margaret Atwood


Feminism Theoretical Approach


Atwood's poem, "Siren Song", introduces a heavy feminist subtext involving the stereotypes that men have about women, stereotypes that are represented by the Greek myth of the sirens. Moreover, the speaker of the poem seems to be resisting patriarchal values. Women during this time were said to be weak, subservient, and helpless and at the same time, dangerous to men and wanting to trap them into a commitment. After reading the poem a couple times it seemed to me that the poem takes a familiar myth and turns it around posing it from the siren's (women's) point of view. It could be said that it is actually a man's compulsion to always be the "hero" and save the damsel in distress and this is what ultimately leads to their destruction. Moreover, the speaker is clearly frustrated that as a female, she must perform an age old patriarchal role.

Questions:

1) What do the "sirens" in Atwood's poems symbolize?

2) After reading Atwood's poem, would you say that the poem is resisting patriarchal values, why or why not?

3) If this poem was written by a male, how would we as readers interpret the poem differently?


Atwood, Margaret. "Siren Song." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007.109.
Theory Questions: Sylvia Plath, "Daddy"

Feminist Theoretical Approach

When discussing a poem that addresses a feminist approach the first poet who comes to mind is Sylvia Plath. In her poem, "Daddy", Plath conveys that there a women who have to deal with oppressive and controlling men. The poem describes the speakers feeling of oppression as well as her battle to come to terms with the issue of this imbalance. This poem also invokes the struggle that many women have to face in a male dominated society. The main conflict in Plath's poem is male authority and control versus the right of a female to be true to herself and who she is, make her own choices and not be held down by a male domineering figure. It is clear that Plath's struggles begin with her father and then with her husband. Plath uses words such as, Luftwaffe, panzerman, and Mein Kampf, these words are used to describe her father and husband as well as all maledomination. The frequent use of the word black throughout the poem conveys a feeling of gloom and suffocation on Plath's behalf.

Questions:

1) How do the descriptions of Plath's father and husband convey to the reader that Plath feels stripped of her own self?

2) How does Plath use her life to manipulate her poetry?

3) What type of words does Plath use to convey to the reader that she may have reached a resolution towards the end of her poem? Did she find resolution? Did she find freedom?


Plath, Sylvia. "Daddy." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007.467-69.

Theory Questions for "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"

I believe that "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," by Walt Whitman, could be veiwed from a deconstructionalist theory. This is because the poem can be read from at least two different vantage points. One being the poem is about the little boy who encounters death for the first time, and therefore his loss of innocence. Another way the poem could be read is from the vantage point of the adult male looking back at the point in his life where he first encountered death. You could read the poem from the vantage point of the poet remembering one of the experiences in life that led the man to become a poet. If you wanted to you could also read the poet from the mocking bird's point of veiw. The poem contains a lot of binaries, a few examples are life and death, the moon and sun, and so on and so forth, the poem contains many.

1.) What ideas or concepts do the binaries in bring to the poem?

2.) Can you look at the poem in a different way if you approach the binaries in the poems another way?

3.) If the poem can be read two different ways, how do these two different ways work together or work against each other?
Close Reading to: John Keats, "Sonnet to Sleep"


Then save me, or the passed day will shine
Upon my pillow, breeding many woes:
Save me from curious Conscience, that still hoards
Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole;
Turn the key deftly in the oiled wards,
And seal the hushed Casket of my Soul. (Lines 9-14).


We as readers can almost interpret the meaning of the poem through its title. The initial impression I had upon reading the title of Keats' poem was that he is describing one of the most pleasurable experiences anyone can experience: sleeping! I say this only because when one sleeps, the mind is free to wander wherever it wants, there are no worries and your body is in a state of total relaxation. It is apparent that Keats is using personification; he is trying to give a human faculty to something that is abstract, something that we cannot hear or even touch. After reading the poem a few times, it becomes more evident that Keats is showing the reader there is something that he wants to forget. In the lines, "Save me from curious Conscience that still hoards..." (Keats line 11). This verse conveys to the reader that the speaker is still alive and suffering from something and the only solution is to await death. When discussing the structure of the poem, it is clear that the poem is made up of two quartets and two trios, it seems the rhyme scheme is, A-B-A-B and A-B-B. In this last stanza, we as readers can say that the author emphasizes his wishes. The last line in the stanza above is a metaphor, "casket of my soul" (Keats line 14). The author is expressing his feelings; he knows that the only option that he has is to leave what he wants behind in life. In this poem, in my own opinion, the author seems to be very frustrated; I can also sense that he feels powerless against the world and what will become of him. I find a contradiction between sadness and happiness but my general understanding of the poem is that he is simply awaiting death.



Keats, John. "Sonnet to Sleep." The Norton Introduction to Poetry. J. Paul Hunter, Alison Booth, and Kelly J. Mays. 9th edition. New York: Norton, 2007. 266.