A Streetcar Named Desire
Even though I read this story in high school, I noticed more subtleties and felt like I obtained a better understanding of Williams’ purpose the second time around. Williams addresses the sometimes unhealthy relationships between men and women and seems to be acknowledging the fact that every romantic relationship suffers at least one flaw. He illustrates this idea with the characters Blanche, Stella, Stanley, Eunice, and Steve. The two married women in the story experience physical abuse from their husbands. The only woman not married, Blanche, cannot seem to overcome her intense loneliness and “need” to be loved by someone else. She tries to compensate for these overwhelming feelings by sleeping with anyone who will have her. I found Tennessee’s main themes to be personal insecurity and the negative effects of lustful relationships. With these two themes in mind, I find it extremely hard to believe that Stella and Stanley or Eunice and Steve are actually in love with one another. Stella and Eunice probably continue pursuing their marriages because their insecurities cause them to fear being alone. Stanley and Steve, on the other hand, seem to be more into the physical aspects of their relationships and most likely stick around for the sex. Through my own personal experience, I understand how easily girls can get caught up with verbally or physically abusive guys. I also know how hard it can be to escape from the situation. Unlike the two aforementioned women, Blanche is forced out of her marriage when her homosexual husband commits suicide. Like Eunice and Stella, she seems to suffer from insecurity (and probably many other psychological problems), because the loss of her husband causes her to sleep around. She is so afraid of being single—alone—that she demands attention from anyone who will give it to her, regardless of how negative and unhealthy that attention might be. While the somber and uncomfortable tone of this story makes it somewhat difficult to enjoy, I think women who suffer from physical or mental abuse would gain a better understanding of their own conditions and perhaps be encouraged to take action simply from reading its content.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Richard Wright and Langston Hughes
Richard Wright
“The Man Who Was Almost a Man”
In this story, Dave struggles with his vulnerability and insecurities. He wants more than anything to gain respect and be regarded as a man by his family and community. His approach to achieve this goal, however, unfortunately, causes these significant people in his life to respect him even less. Is Dave’s decision to fire the gun in an unsafe place a reflection of his maturity or intellect? Should a person be respected as an adult when he reaches a certain age or when he is capable of thinking as an adult? I think the latter suffices. Perhaps, the conditions in which Dave grew up in—constantly working in the field and being treated like a child—kept him from maturing intellectually. Just the fact that he “needs” a gun to be a man shows that he is not quite ready to make that forward step into adulthood, but would he have ever been under the said conditions? In my personal opinion, Dave’s final decision to run away from home and become independent from his family and opinions of his community was the first positive step to becoming a man. While he still seemed attached to the gun at the end of the story, I think that by escaping from the people that instigated and sustained his insecurities, he would realize his power as an individual apart from his weapon.
Langston Hughes
Hughes does an excellent job portraying the condition of blacks in America during the early-to-mid 1900’s. All of his poetry, in some way, expresses the frustration of blacks and their united hope that one day they would truly obtain freedom. One of my favorite poems of Hughes is “Mulatto.” His usage of dialogue between the young boy and the white man interested me. I also thought that he effectively used descriptive scents and images to describe a black woman’s body and its insignificance to the slave owner. “I, Too” was another poem that caught my attention. The optimism that the speaker of the poem uses reminded me a lot of Booker T. Washington’s positive outlook on blacks in American society. Like Washington, the speaker in “I, Too” realizes that change cannot occur instantaneously with the declared freedom of his race; however, he looks confidently and calmly into the future, and, despite the pain that America had caused him thus far, he still ends the poem stating, “I, too, am America.”
“The Man Who Was Almost a Man”
In this story, Dave struggles with his vulnerability and insecurities. He wants more than anything to gain respect and be regarded as a man by his family and community. His approach to achieve this goal, however, unfortunately, causes these significant people in his life to respect him even less. Is Dave’s decision to fire the gun in an unsafe place a reflection of his maturity or intellect? Should a person be respected as an adult when he reaches a certain age or when he is capable of thinking as an adult? I think the latter suffices. Perhaps, the conditions in which Dave grew up in—constantly working in the field and being treated like a child—kept him from maturing intellectually. Just the fact that he “needs” a gun to be a man shows that he is not quite ready to make that forward step into adulthood, but would he have ever been under the said conditions? In my personal opinion, Dave’s final decision to run away from home and become independent from his family and opinions of his community was the first positive step to becoming a man. While he still seemed attached to the gun at the end of the story, I think that by escaping from the people that instigated and sustained his insecurities, he would realize his power as an individual apart from his weapon.
Langston Hughes
Hughes does an excellent job portraying the condition of blacks in America during the early-to-mid 1900’s. All of his poetry, in some way, expresses the frustration of blacks and their united hope that one day they would truly obtain freedom. One of my favorite poems of Hughes is “Mulatto.” His usage of dialogue between the young boy and the white man interested me. I also thought that he effectively used descriptive scents and images to describe a black woman’s body and its insignificance to the slave owner. “I, Too” was another poem that caught my attention. The optimism that the speaker of the poem uses reminded me a lot of Booker T. Washington’s positive outlook on blacks in American society. Like Washington, the speaker in “I, Too” realizes that change cannot occur instantaneously with the declared freedom of his race; however, he looks confidently and calmly into the future, and, despite the pain that America had caused him thus far, he still ends the poem stating, “I, too, am America.”
Monday, October 15, 2007
Mark Twain and Ambrose Bierce
Mark Twain
“The Art of Authorship”
I both agree and disagree with Twain’s view on the human mind. I agree that people are sometimes incapable of understanding certain concepts; however, I also believe that people often choose not to comprehend what they do not naturally understand. Without constantly exercising one’s mind, a person can easily become lazy and want only to think about what is already known or what is easily understood. Twain believes that the mind decides for the person what it wants and does not want to learn. I disagree with this thought. When he states, “Yes, and likely enough when the structure is at last pretty well up, and attracts attention, YOU feel complimented, whereas you didn’t build it, and didn’t even consciously superintend (407), he implies that we as humans take credit for our brains when we did not create them and have no control over them. Perhaps, Twain implicitly refers to God in his beliefs. In this case, I would agree with him more fully. Overall, this work encouraged me to think and solidified some of my own beliefs on the human mind.
“How to Tell a Story”
Through a series of humorous explanations and comical sample stories, Twain explains to the reader the dos and don’ts of telling a story. He describes the significance of the pause and stresses the importance of not laughing before the story is over (which is definitely something that I tend to do). I admire Twain’s humbleness when he states, “I do not claim that I can tell a story as it ought to be told (408). Just the sample stories that he chose as examples were funny enough. His choice of wording and overall style almost made his writing sound out of the page. I could easily imagine him telling the story with pauses and intonation. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this work and might actually consider his advice!
Ambrose Bierce
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
Bierce definitely tricks his readers in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” The descriptions of the scenery and emotions felt by Peyton Farquhar are so exact and realistic that it is hard to believe that most of the story is comprised of mere hallucinations. With such incredible talent, Bierce’s imagination and thoughts on the moments right before one’s death seem almost empirical. Almost every idea that Bierce supplies on the topic makes perfect sense; however, I am not sure that I would have been able to originate these thoughts and images on my own.
“The Art of Authorship”
I both agree and disagree with Twain’s view on the human mind. I agree that people are sometimes incapable of understanding certain concepts; however, I also believe that people often choose not to comprehend what they do not naturally understand. Without constantly exercising one’s mind, a person can easily become lazy and want only to think about what is already known or what is easily understood. Twain believes that the mind decides for the person what it wants and does not want to learn. I disagree with this thought. When he states, “Yes, and likely enough when the structure is at last pretty well up, and attracts attention, YOU feel complimented, whereas you didn’t build it, and didn’t even consciously superintend (407), he implies that we as humans take credit for our brains when we did not create them and have no control over them. Perhaps, Twain implicitly refers to God in his beliefs. In this case, I would agree with him more fully. Overall, this work encouraged me to think and solidified some of my own beliefs on the human mind.
“How to Tell a Story”
Through a series of humorous explanations and comical sample stories, Twain explains to the reader the dos and don’ts of telling a story. He describes the significance of the pause and stresses the importance of not laughing before the story is over (which is definitely something that I tend to do). I admire Twain’s humbleness when he states, “I do not claim that I can tell a story as it ought to be told (408). Just the sample stories that he chose as examples were funny enough. His choice of wording and overall style almost made his writing sound out of the page. I could easily imagine him telling the story with pauses and intonation. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this work and might actually consider his advice!
Ambrose Bierce
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
Bierce definitely tricks his readers in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” The descriptions of the scenery and emotions felt by Peyton Farquhar are so exact and realistic that it is hard to believe that most of the story is comprised of mere hallucinations. With such incredible talent, Bierce’s imagination and thoughts on the moments right before one’s death seem almost empirical. Almost every idea that Bierce supplies on the topic makes perfect sense; however, I am not sure that I would have been able to originate these thoughts and images on my own.
Cummings: Selected Favorites
“in Just-”
While all of his poetry seems to speak of nature, “in Just-” contained just the right wording and style to capture the excitement of springtime. Cummings uses playful words to illustrate the life and joy that Spring ignites in children (and adults, for that matter). Appearing to skip randomly across the page, his words (i.e. “puddle-wonderful” and “mud-luscious”) seem simple, yet evoke the same anxiousness that exists when Spring arrives in the reader.
“somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond”
Before glimpsing at the length of the poem, the reader can already predict that strange spelling and punctuation will follow simply be looking at the title. In this poem, Cummings relates his love interest to the blooming of a rose in the springtime. He compares almost everything that he mentions, whether significant or insignificant, to the coming of Spring. I favored this poem over many of the others that we read, because it has the potential to relate to people on a more personal level. With delicacy, Cumming’s word-choice was very honest and touching.
“anyone lived in a pretty how town”
His usage of paired contradictions to express his overall view proved not only unique but intriguing, as well. I interpreted this poem as saying that no matter how different people may seem, they are essentially indistinguishable in their general goals. The careless way he, more than likely, purposefully wrote this poem makes me think that he deems people as predictable and simple. He uses a complicated strategy to reveal the simplistic and similar though process behind every human despite any meaningless differences that exist.
“O sweet spontaneous”
Out of all the words that Cummings could have capitalized in this work, he choice the first word, “O.” Aside from the very words in his poetry, perhaps Cummings was trying to prove another point. His random capitalizations and punctuation might symbolize his thoughts on the spontaneity of nature. In this work, he almost seems to be mocking scientists who analyze the patterns of nature. He states that the earth is spontaneous and insinuates that those who try to understand nature are naïve. I enjoyed his final comments in this work: “to the incomparable/ couch of death thy/ rhythmic/ lover/ though answerest/ them only with/ spring.”
While all of his poetry seems to speak of nature, “in Just-” contained just the right wording and style to capture the excitement of springtime. Cummings uses playful words to illustrate the life and joy that Spring ignites in children (and adults, for that matter). Appearing to skip randomly across the page, his words (i.e. “puddle-wonderful” and “mud-luscious”) seem simple, yet evoke the same anxiousness that exists when Spring arrives in the reader.
“somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond”
Before glimpsing at the length of the poem, the reader can already predict that strange spelling and punctuation will follow simply be looking at the title. In this poem, Cummings relates his love interest to the blooming of a rose in the springtime. He compares almost everything that he mentions, whether significant or insignificant, to the coming of Spring. I favored this poem over many of the others that we read, because it has the potential to relate to people on a more personal level. With delicacy, Cumming’s word-choice was very honest and touching.
“anyone lived in a pretty how town”
His usage of paired contradictions to express his overall view proved not only unique but intriguing, as well. I interpreted this poem as saying that no matter how different people may seem, they are essentially indistinguishable in their general goals. The careless way he, more than likely, purposefully wrote this poem makes me think that he deems people as predictable and simple. He uses a complicated strategy to reveal the simplistic and similar though process behind every human despite any meaningless differences that exist.
“O sweet spontaneous”
Out of all the words that Cummings could have capitalized in this work, he choice the first word, “O.” Aside from the very words in his poetry, perhaps Cummings was trying to prove another point. His random capitalizations and punctuation might symbolize his thoughts on the spontaneity of nature. In this work, he almost seems to be mocking scientists who analyze the patterns of nature. He states that the earth is spontaneous and insinuates that those who try to understand nature are naïve. I enjoyed his final comments in this work: “to the incomparable/ couch of death thy/ rhythmic/ lover/ though answerest/ them only with/ spring.”
Monday, October 8, 2007
Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot
Ezra Pound’s “The River Merchant’s Wife” and “The Cantos”
Out of the two works by Ezra Pound that we were assigned, I favored “The River Merchant’s Wife.” Not only was this poem much more straight forward, but it was also easier to relate to on a person level than “The Cantos.” I enjoyed how the content of “The River Merchant’s Wife” guides the reader through the speaker’s youth. At first, the speaker recalls meeting an anonymous person while playing outside. The next stanza reveals that the speaker is fourteen years old. In the third stanza, he’s fifteen and then sixteen. Finally, in the last stanza, he awaits the return of his loved one whom he met at the very beginning of the poem. Everything is tied together through the timeline of the speaker’s life. I also thought that Pound did a beautiful job with his usage of details at the end of his this work. Because I have not read Homer’s Odyssey in six years, I had a difficult time following “The Cantos.” I did not have a personal reaction while reading it for this reason.
T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” “Sweeney Among the Nightingales,” and “The Hollow Men”
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
This poem interested me the most out of everything that we read this week. I have always enjoyed reading modern literature, especially anything dealing with introspection and the human psyche. In “The Love Song,” the speaker struggles socially with women. The seemingly impossible task of speaking to a woman he does not know appears to have tainted his ego. This minute task weighs so heavily on his mind that any action toward accomplishing it might “disturb the universe.” A quote in this work that stood out to me the most was “In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.” This statement is applicable to life in a variety of ways, especially when dealing with big decisions. Because I am a junior, I think more and more about what I want to do when I get out of college every day. I can empathize with the speaker’s frustration and indecisiveness.
“Sweeney Among the Nightingales”
Even after reading the introductory explanation, I did not get a whole lot out of this poem. Eliot’s references to rape seem very subtle to me. Every action or progression in the poem seems carefully written, almost discrete. Toward the end of the work, Eliot does an exceptional job describing Philomela’s transformation into a nightingale.
“The Hollow Men”
This work by Eliot stood out to me as one of his most conclusive and meaningful works that we read. To me, Eliot is stating that people tend to hide their true selves from others. I found his final statements regarding this shameful tendency to be quite powerful. He writes “This is the way the world will end…Not with a bang but a whimper.” Perhaps, the visage that we, as a human race, put up every day to protect ourselves from the scrutiny of our own kind will eventually cause our inevitable destruction.
Out of the two works by Ezra Pound that we were assigned, I favored “The River Merchant’s Wife.” Not only was this poem much more straight forward, but it was also easier to relate to on a person level than “The Cantos.” I enjoyed how the content of “The River Merchant’s Wife” guides the reader through the speaker’s youth. At first, the speaker recalls meeting an anonymous person while playing outside. The next stanza reveals that the speaker is fourteen years old. In the third stanza, he’s fifteen and then sixteen. Finally, in the last stanza, he awaits the return of his loved one whom he met at the very beginning of the poem. Everything is tied together through the timeline of the speaker’s life. I also thought that Pound did a beautiful job with his usage of details at the end of his this work. Because I have not read Homer’s Odyssey in six years, I had a difficult time following “The Cantos.” I did not have a personal reaction while reading it for this reason.
T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” “Sweeney Among the Nightingales,” and “The Hollow Men”
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
This poem interested me the most out of everything that we read this week. I have always enjoyed reading modern literature, especially anything dealing with introspection and the human psyche. In “The Love Song,” the speaker struggles socially with women. The seemingly impossible task of speaking to a woman he does not know appears to have tainted his ego. This minute task weighs so heavily on his mind that any action toward accomplishing it might “disturb the universe.” A quote in this work that stood out to me the most was “In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.” This statement is applicable to life in a variety of ways, especially when dealing with big decisions. Because I am a junior, I think more and more about what I want to do when I get out of college every day. I can empathize with the speaker’s frustration and indecisiveness.
“Sweeney Among the Nightingales”
Even after reading the introductory explanation, I did not get a whole lot out of this poem. Eliot’s references to rape seem very subtle to me. Every action or progression in the poem seems carefully written, almost discrete. Toward the end of the work, Eliot does an exceptional job describing Philomela’s transformation into a nightingale.
“The Hollow Men”
This work by Eliot stood out to me as one of his most conclusive and meaningful works that we read. To me, Eliot is stating that people tend to hide their true selves from others. I found his final statements regarding this shameful tendency to be quite powerful. He writes “This is the way the world will end…Not with a bang but a whimper.” Perhaps, the visage that we, as a human race, put up every day to protect ourselves from the scrutiny of our own kind will eventually cause our inevitable destruction.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Frost, Williams, and Sandburg
Frost
As I said in one of my discussion posts, Frost’s talent to write poetry never ceases to amaze me; however, some of his poetry seems, dare I say it, thoughtless and oversimplified. For example, his poem “The Pasture” seems too direct… almost meaningless. On a more positive note, poems such as “Mending Wall” really spark my interests and exercise my mind. “Mending Wall” focuses on the way we as people struggle to trust one another. Putting up visages, people are cordial and polite when speaking to another; however, Frost explains that everyone has his trust and privacy issues. Do distance and/or separation really make a “good neighbor” though? If you’re anything like me, you always think of a neighbor as being a confidant or a friend—someone that you can depend on when in need. In this poem, Frost speaks of a neighbor as someone selfish and sequestered. Being an only child, I can definitely understand Frost’s views on needing privacy every now and then. I am not sure that I agree with the ever-so trite saying that a good fence makes a good neighbor. I think that the masks that we shield ourselves with are what cause people to have trust issues in the first place.
Williams
Williams’ poetry focused on death and proved to be much more depressing and somber than many of Frost’s poems. His poem about burning the “Christmas greens” interested me. He compares the contrasting colors of the Christmas tree and the fire. He describes the color green representing solace and a promise of peace, while the red symbolizes violence and life. He speaks of the white ashes at the fire’s termination as being the color of rebirth. I enjoyed his description of the people feeling lost after the burning ceased. Perhaps the burning was so intense and filled them with such emotion that when it was over, they were emotionally confused. Why did it feel so right to burn the tree? Or did it even feel right?
Sandburg
Like some of Frost’s poetry, a few of Sandburg’s poems seemed oversimplified. His poem “Fog,” for example, is just way too straight forward. He uses a powerful analogy when comparing the creeping tendencies of fog to cat feet; however, the poem seems to have little to no meaning. I guess my view of the way poetry should be is slightly tainted. Reading poetry in high school and college, I have always thought of poetry as challenging to understand. I am now beginning to realize that poetry can also be about images and the simplicity of everyday life.
As I said in one of my discussion posts, Frost’s talent to write poetry never ceases to amaze me; however, some of his poetry seems, dare I say it, thoughtless and oversimplified. For example, his poem “The Pasture” seems too direct… almost meaningless. On a more positive note, poems such as “Mending Wall” really spark my interests and exercise my mind. “Mending Wall” focuses on the way we as people struggle to trust one another. Putting up visages, people are cordial and polite when speaking to another; however, Frost explains that everyone has his trust and privacy issues. Do distance and/or separation really make a “good neighbor” though? If you’re anything like me, you always think of a neighbor as being a confidant or a friend—someone that you can depend on when in need. In this poem, Frost speaks of a neighbor as someone selfish and sequestered. Being an only child, I can definitely understand Frost’s views on needing privacy every now and then. I am not sure that I agree with the ever-so trite saying that a good fence makes a good neighbor. I think that the masks that we shield ourselves with are what cause people to have trust issues in the first place.
Williams
Williams’ poetry focused on death and proved to be much more depressing and somber than many of Frost’s poems. His poem about burning the “Christmas greens” interested me. He compares the contrasting colors of the Christmas tree and the fire. He describes the color green representing solace and a promise of peace, while the red symbolizes violence and life. He speaks of the white ashes at the fire’s termination as being the color of rebirth. I enjoyed his description of the people feeling lost after the burning ceased. Perhaps the burning was so intense and filled them with such emotion that when it was over, they were emotionally confused. Why did it feel so right to burn the tree? Or did it even feel right?
Sandburg
Like some of Frost’s poetry, a few of Sandburg’s poems seemed oversimplified. His poem “Fog,” for example, is just way too straight forward. He uses a powerful analogy when comparing the creeping tendencies of fog to cat feet; however, the poem seems to have little to no meaning. I guess my view of the way poetry should be is slightly tainted. Reading poetry in high school and college, I have always thought of poetry as challenging to understand. I am now beginning to realize that poetry can also be about images and the simplicity of everyday life.
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