What Dreams May Come Response

THE REST IS A PAPER COPY I TURNED INTO YOU :)

Character-Ann Collins marries Chris and is the woman who captured Switzerland, witnesses her children's and husband's death, goes mentally insane, and then kills herself. She ends up in Hell and then is saved by Chris to which they then live in Heaven forever with eachother
Chris Nielson is a doctor who marries Ann Collins, he has a great sense of humor but witnesses his children's death and dies himself in a car wreck. He journeys into Heaven but after his wife kills herself, he goes to Hell to save her and bring her back to Heaven with their children.
Leona- animal missionary who is actually Marie's dream lady who helps Chris to see the world of heaven and witness other people's dream realities
Doc-death missionary who is a doctor and turns out to be Chris' son, he helps Chris realize he is truly in heaven and helps him to find Ann
Albert-psychiatrist,

Cranes by Peter Meinke Response

The symbol of the cranes reveals the meaning of the story that even though love is forever, time can cut everything short and cause 2 people's love for eachother to end here on earth.  The cranes on the ground were a symbolism of the couple's love here on earth.  Although the cranes will not live forever,  there love for one another will continue on to eternity.  When the cranes plunged upwards toward the sun, this process symbolized the souls of the couple after they die and how they will float up to heaven and be together once again.  The crane is a very calm, peaceful creature which symbolizes the life and death of the couple.  The meaning of the couple's lives and love is told with how the cranes live and prosper in the moment.  Time is a very precious part of life that needs to be taken with great care and used wisely. If this subject is not taken advantage of the way it is supposed to, one's love with another will be cut short and be almost useless.  The short life span of the cranes tells how time is short and life only happens once, so make the most of it. 

Personal Response to Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville

He is able to evoke such strong emotions because of the fact that we know of the feelings of pity, lonliness, and isolation, we are able to see the author's perspective towards Bartleby.  Although Bartleby very much isolates himself from the rest of the group, the narrator as well as one of the character's obviously are somewhat hurt for Bartleby and want to help him, although they just dont quite know how to help someone who isolates themselves.  Bartleby's eccentric character and inscrutable personality has great universal appeal because of the fact that most people feel guilty towards Bartleby since he is  poor and doesnt associate with others.  Our natural response to this type of behavior is sympathy towards the isolated character and to try to reach out and help in any way possible.  Although both the narrator and the other scriveners were not able to help Bartleby's distorted perpetual ways, this creates more empathy, sympathy, attention, and interest to the character of Bartleby to where people want to learn more about his character and personality. 

Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville Character Analysis

Character Analysis

Narrator-elderly man, ambitious lawyer, "safe man"seldom loses temper, level headed and industrious, calm and sane until he meets Bartleby, has a soft spot for him. 

Bartleby-strange scrivener, weird, lonely doesnt try to fit in, very isolated, drives everyone else crazy because he would rather not do what everyone else does, 

Turkey-copyist, short pursy Englishman, energetic, 60 years old, right hand man who is getting old, he is a very good worker in the morning but has a bad temper by the afternoon. makes more mistakes then

Nippers-copyist, opposite person of turkey, he is younger and works best in the afternoon, usually has stomach problems in the morning and has a bit of ocd to make him always change the height of his desk

Gingernut-office-boy, doesnt really accept Bartleby but always runs to go get ginger nut cakes for the other copyists thats how he got his name 


Questions

1. His attitude towards Turkey, Nippers, and GingerNut is that he knows them very well known and knows them inside out. this affects his relationship with Bartleby by always asking the 3 for their opinion about him. 
2.  He exhibited that he would never lose important papers, and that he was very neat,respectable, and forlorn. He was very thorough and did an extraordinary quantity of writing.
4.  Bartleby is quite different than the average human being. He always distances himself and always says "Id rather not to".  The 3 other scriveners just follow what the narrator does and dont try to change any relationship between them and Bartleby.  Most of his isolation is self imposed but is imposed by the three other scriveners.
5. The other employees treated him as if they were better than him.  They didnt really care to begin a relationship with him and isolated him.  Bartleby followed by always refusing to go with them anywhere. 
6. He wrestles with his conscience by trying to decide if he should just let Bartleby do his own thing and defy him and let him create something great, or if he should take action and do something about his defiance and refusal.  IN the end he pities him and makes exceptions for him. 
7.Bartleby evokes the reader's sympathy by telling us that he is very poor, but evokes anger and frustration by telling us that Bartleby always says "hed rather not to" do whatever the other people do. 
8.Well after Bartleby refuses to change the ways of the Narrator's business, the narrator begins to accommodate to him and makes exceptions for him.  The narrator begins to like Bartleby more after getting to know him. 

Multiple Choice
1. A
2. D
3. E
4. A
5. B
6. A
7.E
8. E
9. A
10. D

Nea Characterization In Saving Sourdi by May-Lee Chai

Indirect
"some men got drunk and i stabbed one of them. I was eleven"- shows how Nea wasn't scared of anyone even at a young age and was very protective of her sister
"I was certain we would at last find the life we deserved"-hopeful for a change and prosperity
"just the two of us, so we could talk about things like boys at school"-very close relationship with her sister sourdi
"I never thought of him as a fork in the road dividing my life with sourdi from sourdi's life with men" doesnt appreciate or like duke, feels lonely and replaced
"i took out the pack of cigarettes id stolen from ma's purse and lit one" shows the stress and how upset she was about her sister
"Ma found that recipe she wanted, that special delicious recipe she was looking for"- is a very good, convincing liar on the top of her head
"its a matter of life and death"-very dramatic
"she had made her choice, and she hadn't chosen me"- felt replaced and all alone, like her sister had given up all hope and nea felt terrible that there was nothing she could do
"i wish i was a naga"-wants to protect sourdi and make everything okay

Direct
chews her nails when nervous
has no remorse for stabbing the man, wants to kill him
is the younger sister of sourdi
is very emotional
felt as if she was a wicked girl
was glad she stabbed the man
jealous of her sister's beauty
fast runner

Killings Short Story Analysis

Plot Structure for Killings

Setting-Merrimack Valley, MA in late summer though fall
Character-Matt and wife Ruth, Strout and Maryann, Steve and Frank, and Willis
Conflict-Man vs Self, his conflict was what to do about Strout, whether to kill him or let him be
Rising Action-Matt was carrying the gun and planning to kill Strout
Climax-The climax was right before Matt kills Strout
Falling Action-Matt kills Strout and disposes of the body. Cleans up the murder and goes home.
Resolution-Matt and Ruth are in bed. Matt deals with the killing that he did for Ruth.

A Rose For Emily Short STory Plot Diagram

A Rose for Emliy

Plot is not in chronological order.  It begins at the resolution and flashbacks to the conflict, climax, and resolution.
Exposition-Paragraph 60, last line when the police find the dead body in the attic with her grey hair and pillow indention next to it
Setting-1931 in an older, conservative town, mostly in Miss Emily's House or right outside of it
Character- Miss Emily is an old, fat, partially crazy woman who killed her husband/lover right before she died herself; the negro was a black man who took care and brought food to Miss Emily, he didnt talk very much;Homer Barron was Emily's love who ran out on her, he could make her laugh and had a great sense of humor
Conflict-the townspeople wanted to expose Miss EMily and basically ruin her until there was nothing left, they wanted to destroy her privacy (external, man v man)
Rising Action-People of the town felt sorry for her since she just lost her father and sweetheart, they called her "poor Miss Emily" to show their sympathy for how badly they treated her as well as others
Climax- the lady makes everyone think she will kill herself with poison if they don't stop trying to get into her business, makes it worse since everyone wants to know what will happen to Miss Emily
Falling Action-Miss Emily dies herself, people finally get to look inside her house and be nosey with it
Resolution-everyone finally leaves Miss Emily to rest in the ground, and she will no longer be bothered anymore

Short Story Plot Notes

• Plot?
• The procession of events that unfold throughout a story
• A means of revealing character
• A beginning, a middle, and an end
• The significant acts or experiences in a story
• Basic Plot Structure
• exposition is the point in the plot where the reader learns everything he needs to know in order to understand the text
• setting and character are established here
• example-boy loves girl (now in indiana)
• conflict or inciting incident is the point when the protangonist is first introduced to a problem to solve
• example-secret rival boy causes girl to leave boy
• Rising action is the process by which the conflict develops and is usually worsened
• Example-boy's efforts to regain girl drive her into the arms of rival boy
• Climax is the turning point of the conflict in the story, the peak of suspense, the moment where everything changes
• example- boy confronts girl with the ugly truth about rival boy
• falling action is the process by which the conflict is made better
• example-girl is disgusted with both boys, but slowly allows boy to regain her trust
• resolution is point at which the problem conflict is resolved
• Example-boy gets girl back
• Types of conflict
• internal-conflicts related to character's beliefs, ideas, imagination or emotions that orgininate from inside the character
• external-conflicts related to the character's physical condition that orgininate from outside the character
• man vs man, man vs nature, man vs machine/technology, man v self, man v god, man v society, man v animal
• Plot doesnt have to be chronological
• in medias res0middle of things, begins in middle
• flashback-plot strategy in which important plot elements are learned in retrospect
• various orders of events
• begin at climax, flasahback to behin then conclude
• begin at conflict, flashback to exposition
• begin at resolution, flashback to climax or conflict or exposition
• keep important details hidden until the end, then flashback to fill them
• Good stories have multiple plots
• frame stories-stories within a story
• internal and external stories
• point of view-each charactre has his or her own plots
• subplots-plots that are of less importance but which are related to the main plot of a story

Analysis on Friends

• setting is monica and rachel's apartment
• conflict is ross is nervous for dinner and wants to go but noone will get ready
• rising action is all the arguments that arise till they get dressed to go, argument with the seat, and the message from richard, and the phoebe mess on dress, rains,took underwear
• climax is richard has a girl on his answering machine
• falling action is
• resolution is

Dirty Harry by Gorillaz Poetry Analysis

First of all, this poem is about a war in which takes place in Apghanistan or Iraq.  The speaker is a soldier.  In the first stanza, he references the poor people (alliteration), to represent his innocent enemis which he must fight against.  he knows that the US is powerful and they have no chance of winning.  Dancing is a fun time/ memory for the speaker so is why is repeats it in the 6 and 7 line.  The first and second stanza are exact copies of eachother to get across to the reader than this is an important message and he wants the readers to know that times have gotten more complicated and advnaced then back in the day when all he did was dance and enjoy life. 
In the third stanza,  the speaker states he has is act right, which is included in his back pack.  This means his act always has to be up to date and readily available at all time in case one of the poor people acts up.  He references an allusion of Nimoy which was a star trek host of a game show about what the truth really is,  which may show how the speaker wants to know the exact truth behind this war.  the fourth stanza states a peace loving decoy, which are total opposites.  The speaker feels as if he is a decoy to distract the poor people from seeing America's true standpoint.  His orders of robot-likeness are show and is told to strike without asking any questions.  This makes the speaker feel like a robot and shows to readers how stressed and upset he is over this war.
The fifth stanza shows the soldier's characteristics and post tramautic stress disorder after being very on edge at all times with the war.  he doesnt know who is out to kill him or destroy his life.  He makes a reference to a type of car in which Americans fill up with gas, and tells how he is the reason they are able to drive everywhere.  In the 6th stanza, he shows his missing for home and how he only has 90 day visits and recovery periods till he has to go back and fight for his country.  he shows the greediness that consumes americans with how they have such better living conditions and products than the ones that fight for their freedom.  he shows the injustice between the war and America and how much they dont realize what he does for them. 
In the 7th stanza, he references PTSD that overcomes him especially at night and how his cost of life is expendable apparently to the american government.  He doesnt feel appreciated or worth anything.  He references bush with his flight suit on and how this is a tactic he used to advance as president.  He doesnt like bush, and feels as if bush is only using him like a "pawn so he can advance" (lines 47-48).  Lastly he states that he remembers when times were simpler and when he had good memories, instead of these terrible war times.  he just wants to go back to dancing and being happy. 

What I Said by Norman Stock Poem Analysis

This poem uses runon sentences to create a dramatic effect in the poem's words.  This causes readers to pay more attention to what the speaker is actually saying.  Since the poem was written after 2002, the author notes a "terror" which i believe this to be talking about 9/11 and the attack on the twin towers.  In lines 2, 3, and 4, you can see the upset and sadness in the speaker's words with how she went home and cried.  In line 5, she repeats the words why.  This may be to show the author's confusion on why this even happened in the first place, since there was not much knowledge on why this happened in the city of New York.  Throughout the rest of the poem, she asks herself how this could even happen since we have air traffic control and military bases that monitor the sky.  In line 8,  she asks what will happen next and how are we supposed to live with such destruction in the city.  She feels as if this could happen, something even worse could happen.  She uses repetition with  the words "its impossible" to show how something this terrible was so unexpected by the general public such as an allusion back to the "unsinkable" Titanic sinking.  In line 12, she references back to the title when saying "i said and I said".  The 13th lines states "after the terror yes and then i said let's kill them." After i read this line, my thoughts about the poem changed drastically.  I feel as if the use of runon sentences were an effect to create drama about how the American society was so upset and terrorized after such an event, when millions of people in other countries are dying due to the war taking place in their own country.  I feel as if the author is trying to create the point that Americans were very hypocritical because they wanted to kill the group of people who were responsible for this.  Killing hundreds of people of the same culture as the men who did this is just as bad as what they did to us.  Hence the author's use of repeating the same words and ideas throughout the poem. 

Occupation by Eliza Griswold Poem Analysis

Do prostitutes represent American society, culture, and way of life? Who are the prostitutes it talks about, because back in the day, prostitutes were not known for the same things as they are today.  Kabul sounds like a type of Turkish or Muslim town which is where burkas originated.  Burkas could symbolize secrecy, modesty, and culture of Muslim society.  Bread and 15 cents was the same in such a poverty filled town in the middle east.  "taking a man to bed" is the proper way of stating a sexual relationship in American society.  On the 4th line, it says "their husbands dead" which may represent how greedy and foolish and selfish Americans are especially having starving children and a dead husband.  The author could be trying to show how filthy Americans are and how disrespectful they are to one another.  IN the fifth line, the word "occupation" could refer to the American way of prostitution.  In this sense, prostitution could symbolize all things evil in American society and how this evil is being carried over seas to disrupture the Muslim culture of peace, serenity, and modesty.  it shows the poverty and desperation within the town and how life needs to be sacrificed for.  Line 7 was the most arguable because it uses repetition from line 9, and shows how tin symbolizes a cheap metal that is reusable and wasteful.  Line 8 doesnst make any sense except for the fact that man would go for the younger boys, leaving the girls alone.  This exntire line represents the Muslim calm serenading lifestyle and shows how girls were worth much more before the idea of prostitution was introduced to their culture. 

Discussion Questions for Seventeen by Andrew Hudgins

1. This title focuses on the idea of a moment in time that forever changed the author's life. Seventeen was a year that was very important to the author and is the year that this story was written upon, therefore is a rite of passage when comparing the story to the title.
2. He describes the dog as tipping off the side, scrambling, scraping, and tumbling across the hot asphalt as if he was very helpless and innocent. He said the dog was shivering, moaning, and flinching which gives great detail into how the reader is trying to portray the dog to its readers. Readers get a clear image of dog falling off the bed instead of the author just saying the dog fell off the truck. He wants sympathy for the dog and its cruel owner.
3. The speaker seems very caring and loving towards animals. He has very initiative and upfront personality, especially his thoughts towards the terrorizing owner of the dog. The driver is a very uncaring, cruel man who should not own animals because he is not gentle with them. He is a very angry, old man. The poem shows each of these characters through the words spoken to each other, and what happens after the dog falls.
4. The killing of the dog is a very symbolic action to how the speaker cares for the dog. He is trying to put it out of a miserable previous life with his previous owner, since it will only suffer more from the wounds it received from the fall. The killing of the dog could also represent rebirth and a higher power like a heaven that the dog will go to so that it is not in pain anymore.

I feel as if this poem is similar in "Traveling in the Dark" because it shows a life form dying, and the importance of making a decision based upon the betterment of the dying.  In this poem, the speaker shows no doubt in what it should do to the dog to help take away the dog's suffering.  This shows the author's maturity at 17 years of age and his ability to make a clear decision on what is best for the dog, not what he wants for the dog.  This significant point in the author's life may reference an important decision one might make at 17 years of age, such as college, high school, growing up, or career decisions. 

Discussion Questions for Traveling through the Dark by William Stafford

1. The author uses very calm and gentle descripting words to describe the car as if the entire process of the dying deer was a very ritualistic and spiritual one.  The lights on the car could represent a type of higher power that is coming to rescue the deer from her pain.  The author uses symbolism when describing the recent killing and the warmth in her belly to show how a part of her was still alive even though she was not.  Maybe the author is trying to hint to readers about how a tragic event may kill you inside but there is always a part of you that is still alive to be grateful.
2.  The speaker's tone is very calm and spiritual. The speaker seems very callous and kind yet not too upset.  The author states that he pushed her over the edge into the river, yet is trying to take away the baby fawn's suffering.  It's as if the author believes he is doing a greater good by forever killing the deer and her fawn, to get her out of the road so that she is not run over. 
3. The effect is that the poem ends at a very climatic time, which is the author's purpose.  His purpose for this change in structure is to show how his decision, after thinking about it, was very short just like the death of the deer.  He wanted the deer's burial to be in a happy place rather than in the middle of the road so that it's memory was not disgraceful and nonoffensive. 
4.  The title is very appropriate in how it describes the travel of the author.  I think the author represents this title to how we only have out sights (the lights in this situation) set on certain paths for our lives, yet sometimes an obstacle (the deer) can come out in front of us last second to where we have no choice but hit it head on.  The obstacles make us who we are in life, such as this one for the author.  When the speaker states that he "thought hard for us all", he was thinking of the other problems the deer could cause to others if it was left in the middle of the road.  This relates back to the obstacles that get in your way in life.  Sometimes you just have to experience a bad time or hard time so that others can prosper with your help.

Class Discussion
The word of "dark" in the title represents confusion and the unknown.  In the first stanza, the deer represents pure spirit, the road represents a cleansing and renewed experience, the canyon represents a grave.  The second stanza includes the glow of the tail light which mimics the faint light that the fawn has inside the dead deer.  The car may represent a predator.  Large in the belly tells us that it is a large pregnant female deer.  The third stanza shows the caring the speaker has for the deer , "fingers touching her side".  In the fourth stanza says that the hood "purred" which references a cat, or possible predator.  Red represents evil and blood and death in the air, such as the death of the deer. In the last stanza, he pushes her over the edge so that tells the author doesnt have much connection with the deer, and wants to make sure no one else gets hurt by this.  The river is a place of cleansing and renewal where he wants the deer and her child to rest. 

I think this poem is trying to convey how much thought goes into deciding to take the life of something or keep it alive.  The fawn in the doe could be referencing abortion or even possibly a person on life support.  The decision to keep or take life is an important and hard one to make, especially with people around you watching.  Sometimes taking away the person or animal's life will be more beneficial in helping the organism yet it sometimes may be very hard to do so. 

next to of course god america i by E.E. Cummings Poetry Analysis

The title of this poem shows the order of importance of faith, patriotism, and himself in the "land of the pilgrims" (line 2).  The poem quotes the national anthem to represent the patriotism he has for his country, yet does not capitalize any line or word in the poem.  This shows how unimportant he believes grammar is when compared to god, america, and himself.  He uses alliteration of a "g" sound when saying words "jingo, gee, gosh, gum, and glorious" which shows made up words, for which he does not care to use.  In lines 9 and 10, he talks about a person who can be no more happy than one who has died for his country.  In lines 14, he talks of "he" which may represent the man who is talking about all fo this death and patriotic dying, yet has not died himself. It seems as if the author is mocking the man speaking, for he really does not know truly what he himself is talking about, but only speaks to look good.  He uses alliteration again in lines 9 when saying heroic happy dead.  Its like a play on words because it shows the order of someone can do something heroic and be happy, but then those decisions usally lead to death.  The last line shows how the poem was written through a second person and how he was so nervous and excited after finishing his speech, that he needed a drink of water to calm down.

AD by Kenneth Fearing Poem Analysis

This poem was very interesting and used a lot of persuasive techniques.  The poem was very satirical and used death very jokingly.  In my own opinion, the author was very against war and used a rhetorical situation to explain his thoughts.  This rhetorical situation was the fact that the poem's title was "AD" and even though it was built in the same structure as an ad for war, it was very negative and against war in its stanzas.  This rhetorical title was more of an ad against going into the war, rather than support for joining the army.  The first line "WANTED: Men" shows the purpose of the ad.  Throughout the poem, words are capitalized such as WANTED AT ONCE, YOU ARE THE VERY MAN WE WANT, TAKE A PERMANENT JOB IN THE COMING PROFESSION, and DEATH.  He uses excited words like 'NEW, TREMENDOUS, THRILLING, GREAT' to use sarcasm to be excited about joining the army where "No skill needed; No ambition required; no brains wanted and no character allowed" (lines 11-12).  This line uses satire since the author's purpose is to rhetorically show the nonperks of joining the army while giving an ad of the army.  His purpose is to create humor in such a serious topic as death and war. In lines three and four, the author uses repetition in the beginning of each sentence to get readers to focus on the words he is saying here. The author is trying to show people how the war is a scare place and how they want men who don't have any heart or soul.  Line 9 is the most confusing sentence in the entire poem.  It says "WANTED: A race of brand-new men" which could possibly show how the army wants a brand of men who are not physically realistic.   In line 12, it states that the army favors "no brains wanted and no character allowed" showing how the army is such a serious topic in the eyes of recruits, yet how they have no perks to joining the army besides being a place to kill. The last line states "Wages: DEATH" which is exactly how the author feels about war.  It is a place of death and soulless soldiers with no personality, character, or brains.  He is obviously against the army and war, and wants world peace.

Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen Poem Analysis

This poem was very sad but turned to be very patriotic by the end. The poem has almost an exact ababcdcd rhyme scheme throughout the entire poem. The meaning of "Dulce et Decorum Est" translates exactly into "it is sweet and right". THis foreshadows into what the meaning of the poem will turn out to be by the end. The first stanza is full of imagery when using statements like "old beggars", "knock kneed", and "coughing like hags". This explains to the reader that there is a difficult situation within the poem already. There is irony in the first stanza when the author states "men marched asleep", becuase the author is referring to how sleepy the men were. Throughout the poem, the author refers to men and indirectly states that they are in some kind of army during a war.
In the second stanza, the author talks about a poisonous gas that chokes and drowns men. THe author uses the word drowning twice to end the sentence, which tells that he wants to make a point into the reader about the actual process of drowning from poisonous gas. He uses feared diction and death-related words such as drowning, choking, guttering, plunges, and helpless to explain the state of mind that the army men were in. He is trying to explain what it is like to be so helpless and trapped from fresh air into the readers minds.
In the fourth stanza, Owen uses alliteration when saying the phrases "sick of sin". Also Owen uses a repeated line structure of defining the subject with 2 nouns and two adjectives. Two examples of this are "Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud" and "incurable sores on innocent tongues" in lines 23 and 24. This creates easy understanding for the author to picture the image the author paints.
The last four lines of the poem tell the most about the author's thoughts and give an overview of what the poem was intended to explain. "My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori" (lines 25-28). The last line "dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" translates dirctly to "it is sweet and right to die for one's country". With this translation, the author is telling readers that even if one is desperate for glory and righteousness in war, it is not right to lie and say that it is always sweet and right to die for one's country. Just like in the example the author gave with the gas, the sights of one choking and suffering were absolutely not sweet.

Fat is not a fairytale by Jane Yolen Poem Analysis

This may actually be one of my most favorite poems i have ever read. I love how the author uses such wonderful puns and visual imagery to relate the serious social issue to the public.  As the poem may seem harsh at some points throughout the lines, i see it as being very satirical in its thoughts.  The first stanza introduces readers to Yolen's ideas of having a fairytale with the main character being "round and having fingers big as sausages".  The author names several spinoff fairytale ideas to create a picture in the mind of the reader, who is already familiar with these popular children's tales.  In the second stanza, she goes on to further describe what the main character would look like, and some of the bigger assets he or she would acquire.  The third stanza is the most interesting yet, explaining how such a fairy tale has not and will not ever be written.  The author digs deep into the social issue of physical appearance and how everyone always wants to look good.  The author explains how these fairytales with perfect model-like princesses play right into the hands of our shallow, wanna-be society.  The author goes on to explain how this type of fairytale is not yet written and or doesnt even have an author in mind to conceive the poem.  Jane Yolen ends the poem by telling us that the world is not in favor of this kind of plump poem just yet.

allusions with all character references
hyperbole in "fingers plump as sausages"
satire in fake character ideas and names
wasp-waisted is alliteration to put emphasis on wasp waisted'
flinging herself down the stairs?????
"that is not yet written......for a world not yet won" love this quote, relates back to influence the public and fairytale writers to think about giving this kind of poem a chance in the modern world (influence)

Ode to American English by Barbara Hamby Poem Analysis

This poem was quite interesting and confusing, yet very intriguing and makes me want to have a class discussion to discover what some of these phrases mean to the author now.  It opens my eyes to literature and language and how speaking English has changed even greatly in the last decade or so.  It seems as if the author did not originally speak English and must have learned it over time since she talks about the difficulties of the diction and natural accent involved when speaking English.  Most people would not think twice about a southern accent or how there are two different meanings/spellings for the word some/sum.  The first couple lines talk about how difficult English is to learn.  The next couple talk about how English language has evolved over time into what it is today.  The last couple lines talk about the unhappiness and boringness the author is becoming after getting used to the evolutions of English over time.  THis creates the poem's argument that the English language needs to be updated, evolve, and given some interest to keep speakers happy and fresh.  Overall this poem was greatly interesting and i would enjoy to read other works by this author.


The anglo saxon reference is an allusion
Alliteration throughout such as beach blanket, bible belt, fetuses floating, fragmented fandango
Diction when saying New Joisey and howaya
"yearning for James Dead to jump my curb" maybe means that he wants a spark like james dead to come and interest things back into the learning of language
"fetuses floating on billboards" ????? WHAT THE HECK maybe using hyperbole to describe the nonsense written on billboards nowadays and how it should be classified as not english but inappropriate

Introduction to Poetry Blog Post-Billy Collins

Introduction to Poetry-Billy Collins

• Is it trying to personify the idea of poetry itself?
• Is there a certain audience for this poem? or is it directing to everyone? younger readers? Authors? Poets?

This poem was very persuasive and made me want to read and understand every kind of poetry.  The author did a great job using metaphors and personification to relate the idea of poetry to the everyday of poetry's readers and writers.  It showed the characteristics of what all poetry can hold for a poetry-illiterate person like me.  The poet's use of metaphoric language and detail helped to create very familiar and picturesque images in my head which helped me to understand the meaning of this poem.  The author's meaning to readers of this poem is to dig deep inside of a poem and work at it, along with the help of other references and resources, to fully understand the poem's meaning and message.  The author's main message is for simple readers, like myself, to not just sit there and look for the clues of a secret message hidden within the text, but for simple readers to put themselves into the story to be able to relate the words into their very own lives.  

Overall, this has been one of my favorite poems I have read in my career thus far.  This poem helped me to create an interest in poetry to where I want to learn more about the different kinds, and change my ways of being a simple reader to a more complex, diverse, and universal poetry reader.  I hope we are able to dig deep in discussion during class time to help deliver the full message of the poem to classmates.

Class discussion: Author is a sort of teacher or instructor.  He says "them" which applies to students. "press an ear against its hive" means to listen closely to the sounds the poem makes".  "walk around the poems room and feel the walls for a light switch" means that you may be in the dark until you walk around, trying to find the knowledge of the poem, until you finally find the light switch ( the key to understanding the poem) to turn the poem on in your head.  "waterski across the surface of a poem waving at the authors name on the shore" refers to a ocean or beach, suggesting that the author is trying to relate joyful things to poetry to get his students interested.  The author hints throughout the poem that the kids are somewhat ungrateful and just want to be told the meaning of the poem without any kind of trying to figure out what the poem means or any work on the poem. "torture a confession out of it" hints that the kids just want to go the easiest route (beating the poem and torturing it) instead of trying to find the real problem or understanding of the poem, and spending time to figure the real meaning out gently yet thoroughly. 

Those Winter Sundays Blog Post-Robert Hayden

Those Winter Sundays-Robert Hayden

• Was the author from a female or male standpoint?
• What does "love's austere and lonely offices" mean for the author? Does it have any significant meaning or underlining symbolism? 
• Is the author trying to create a more regretful or hopeful tone in the passage?
• What was the father's determination to provide the best for his children?

Personally, this poem was one of the easier poems to understand, and even though I had some questions, I could grasp the author's main points throughout the reading.  During the first couple of lines, I felt a kind of determination for the father and how he always wanted the best for his children.  Maybe a tragedy occurred such as the loss of a loved one or family member... I loved the great detail and picture this author put into his poem because it helped me to imagine if I was there myself.  Although the author finds winter Sundays lonely, sad, and full of regrets, I find them very peaceful, relaxing, warm... watching the snow fall while drinking a nice, warm cup of hot chocolate while wrapped in a fuzy blanket as the cold winter breeze hits your blood boiling face.  SOUNDS LIKE PERFECTION TO ME!  As I described earlier, I felt a sense of loneliness from the author's character.  This could be from the fact that the author's father was never around because he was working hard to make end's meat for his family.  This could relate to why, later in the poem, the author is thankful for his father's hard working ways, when he or she stated "what did i know, what did I know of love's austere and lonely offices" (Hayden).  The speaker of the passage seems to coincide more of a young, lonely boy who grows up to see the reason behind his father's ways.  

Overall, this poem was a great selection to read, and I enjoyed reading and picturing the great detail put into Hayden's work.  Harsh, yet impactful words were used throughout the three stanzas and helps to create a significant meaning to the reader such as myself.  I would enjoy discussing this poem even more to discover what I failed to see about the poem while analyzing it.

After reflecting in class, I feel truly comfortable with the poem and feel like I truly know what the poem is about.  I can see the regret that the author has and see how the author now knows how much his father loved him.  Through his father's hard work, he saw his love for him and that was something he regrets that he didnt see earlier.