Blog #13~Quote Response

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

"And both that morning equally lay
In Leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back." (Frost 633 11-15)

To me these lines are symbolic of choosing a path and never looking back. By path, I don't mean literally the type you walk on. What I mean is making a choice, knowing that it will change things for you forever and continuing on that path, knowing you could have chosen differently, but didn't.
In the last line of the poem "And that has made all the difference." (20), what difference did it make? It sounds positive to me, but I wonder if it's possible that the choice wasn't a good one. It would still make a difference, as all choices do-but in what way?
I have always loved this poem because of what it means to me: I do things my own way-I don't follow what everyone else is doing just because the road is better traveled.

Blog #12~Paraphrase

"Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part" by Michael Drayton

Since we've done all we can, let's kiss and say good-bye. I'm done trying; I'm not staying with you anymore. I'm really glad that I can leave knowing I did all I can and that I'm really done and can be free. We'll just shake hands, call it done, and when we meet on the street, it will be plain on our faces that we don't love each other anymore. Love, Passion, Faith and Innocence are all dying, but someday might be able to be brought back to life with the help of the right two people, but not us.

Freestyle Reading~ "Naming of Parts" by Henry Reed

I came upon this poem by accident, actually. I was going to read another on page 803, but somehow ended up on this one. I'm wondering why poetry gives me more questions than answers!
This is a very interesting poem. When I first started reading it, I immediately knew it was talking about a rifle's parts (I am a hunter, after all!). But then, at the end of each stanza, there is a reference to gardens, flowers, bees. The fourth stanza is the only one that really makes sense to me in regards to comparison between the rifle & nature.
"And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring." (Reed 806 19-24)
The play on words with regards to spring and the bees with the flowers makes sense to me, but the other references in the poem are a bit confusing.
I wonder why he chose gardens, flowers, and bees to compare with the rifle. It seems such a "soft" comparison since rifles are "manly" and "hard".
Another poem that was easy for me to read, and therefore, I liked it! Even if every reference didn't exactly make sense, the overall "point" of the poem was evident.

Blog #11~Quote Response "Resume"

The title is "Resume" as in what you submit for a job...but I don't know how to put those (') things in there :) Anyway:

"Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live." (Parker 581)

I chose this poem primarily, to be perfectly honest, because I understood it. I'm having a really hard time with rythm, and meter, and such. So, this poem is very simple, easy to understand, and a bit funny. Not that suicide is a funny matter, but we should be able to laugh at any situation, I think.
My thoughts: I wonder why she chose the title she did. "Acids stain you" (Parker 581). What does that mean? Stain as in the way a scar is discolored? Some of the lines in the poem state the obvious such as the river, gas, and nooses, but guns aren't unlawful in most places and I'm not sure about drugs giving cramps. The message at the end is a bit comical. It says to me "whatever it is that's your problem, the alternative is worse". Notice how she doesn't take the lecturing, guilting or damning route. Sometimes people respond better to a light-hearted message, I guess. Did she intend it to actually help someone possibly considering suicide?Interesting how such a simple, short poem can cause me to have so many questions, yet in ways makes complete sense.
Does any of what I said make sense, though? :o)

Blog #9~ Haiku

Love melts ice in hearts
slowly thaws and warms inside the mind
water running to quench thirst

I've never done a Haiku before-that may be obvious from the one above! :) Interesting how just a few words can hold so much meaning and thought-at least from the writer's perspective. Anyway, enjoy!

Blog #10~Song Quote "One Friend" by Keb Mo

"All I need is one friend
To get me through the day
One friend
That never goes away
Only one friend
To understand
And never let me down" (Moore,Zonneveld)

This is one of my favorite songs. It's about being hurt by people and going through life's up's and down's and being able to do it with the help of one good friend. The words that continually leap out through the poem are "one" and "friend". This poem is all about being able to count on just one person (sometimes even that is hard to find) to help you through everything. Possibly the reason this poem is so imporant to me is that I relate to needing just one good friend. That one that is always there, no matter what. Tells you the truth even if it hurts, hugs you when you need it and lets you be when you need space. The one you can tell anything to, knowing it goes no further. The one who "gets" you like no one else ever will. Some people say they have lots of friends. I can't say that, but what I can say is that I do have one good friend, just like in the poem, and that's worth more than anything.

Blog 8~Paraphrase

A Paraphrase of "The Victory" by Anne Stevenson 1974

I really wanted a child and thought I had everything I wanted when you were born. Giving birth was hard on me and you. You cry a lot, and the sound of your cries makes me angry. I grow tired of listening to your crying that makes my ears hurt. When you're hungry you make angry faces. I don't know why, after all these things that you do to me, I still love you. You have my heart, but I don't know why.

From "The Victory"

Freestyle Reading~Blog 7 "Girl"

For my second freestyle reading this week I chose "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid. This story is a bit funny, a bit disturbing and just a little confusing.
I find it funny the way the story is written in that it's just like a mom to go on and on about things you should do and how you should do them. Of course there has to be plenty of don'ts in there too. I presume it's the mom telling the girl all of the do's and don'ts of life and the way she rambles from one to the other with the occaisional side-note of why thrown in is amusing.
I was a bit disturbed by the continued reference to the fact that she thought the girl was going to be a slut. What kind of mother says that to their daughter-even if they think it? Why they would think it is another question that comes to mind. She went from "..the slut you are so bent on becoming" (Kincaid 366). To "..the slut I have warned you against becoming" (Kincaid 366). That just seems such a mean thing to say to a girl.
The confusing part comes at the end "..you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?" (Kincaid 366). Does that mean she thinks after all the advice she has given the girl is still going to end up a slut? Or is there some other meaning there? Did bakers really not let certain kinds of girls near bread? :)

Freestyle Reading~"Look on the Bright Side"

I chose this story based on the title and then after reading the author's description, my choice was solidified.
I can relate to the author in many ways. He's a blue-collar worker, been through tough financial times and has a blunt "realness" about him that I really enjoyed. His writing style is very to the point, almost rough and very honest.
This story is comical to me. I'm thinking it's supposed to be, but who knows-sometimes I just have a sick sense of humor. The fact that his character just goes on making one bad choice after another, hoping that things will work out on their own with no action on his part is both funny and frustrating. I know there are people out there who are actually like that. People who could actually do something to help themselves, but choose not to. People who do nothing about their current situation and watch it get worse and worse. Why didn't he look for work quicker? Why did he go on vacation, and more to the point, why did he think he "deserved" it? I completely understood the border guard on that one. Although I did think it really wasn't any of his business.
The ending of the story reminded me a lot of "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place". The irony at the end is very similar to the waiter in that they both make light of their circumstances to hide the true severity of the situation.
"..-and I scooted over and nuzzled my head into that stack of newspapers and tucked my legs into my chest. I shut them good this time and yawned. I didn't see why I should fight it, and it was just until the library opened" (Gilb 340). My guess is that's exactly where he'll stay-on the bench with the newspapers and the other homeless people, and I think he knows it too.

Quote Response~Week 3

"Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled" (O Henry 168). I chose this quote from "The Gift of the Magi" largely because I wonder exactly what Jim is thinking. I suppose he is musing at the irony of the entire situation. He buys combs for his wife's hair by selling his watch. She sells her hair to buy him a chain for his watch. What are the chances of that, really? I was actually surprised that neither of them got angry. Jim was at first dumbfounded, then seemingly amused. Della's emotions ran the gamut, but neither of them ever seemed to land on anger.
So, what was Jim thinking when he sat down and smiled? My thoughts are somewhere along the line of "you've got to be kidding me", but that's just me.

Freestyle Reading "The Camel and His Friends"

I have always loved fables and parables, so having the opportunity to read a couple in this class was great!
I loved this fable and the moral of the story. The camel being taken in by "friends" in his time of need only to be betrayed in the end. Although the moral given was "Be careful in chosing your friends", I think another may be "No good deed goes unpunished". The camel in trying to do the right thing, so selflessly, is taken advantage of by who he thought were his friends.
Unfortunately, such is true in life all too much.

"The Lottery"

As I read this story I could not help but wonder over and over again: what is the purpose? Why have a lottery at all? It is obviously not a population control sort of thing. Is it a game? Some sort of random punishment that falls on one unlucky person each year? There is no distinction among the villagers as to age, gender or race (although race is never mentioned).
The first paragraph in the story was a bit shocking "...the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner" (Jackson 216). How cold! Go stone someone to death and then go home and eat lunch like nothing ever happened. The mentality of the villagers is incredibly complex and very dark.
Having said all that, I actually enjoy the story very much. I'm just not sure why exactly.

"Miss Brill"

After reading about characters, and whether "round" or "flat", this story is such a great example of a "round" character. The amount of detail into the thoughts, actions and appearance of Miss Brill; was very interesting to me.

The detail that stood out most to me was in the beginning of the story on her way to see the band. "The air was mtionless, but when you opened your mouth, there was a faint chill, like a chill from a glass of iced water before you sip, and now and again a leaf came drifting-from nowhere, from the sky" (Mansfield 84). Maybe this was particularly interesting to me because of the recent change in weather, and the recollection of being in the mountains feeling that very same thing is still fresh in my mind. Whatever the reason, the amount of detail and the description that is so vivid and accurate caught my attention.

The ending of the story is very interesting in that the tables turned on Miss Brill. After all the evesdropping she had done, and the judgments passed on others, she got a taste of what it was like to be on the receiving end. As is true for most of us put in that position; she did not like it.

Freestyle Reading Story "The Five-Forty Eight"

I must admit, it wasn't so much the story that caught my attention as the biography on the author, John Cheever. What an interesting man! Anyway, after getting my attention, I had to read the story to see if his seemingly troubled soul came to light in his story-it did!

The thing that stood out to me over and over was his character, Blake, seeming to be obsessed with everything around him being beneath him, that he was so much better than everyone else. "He had spent a lot of time in the sloppy rented house where the Watkinses lived" (Cheever 320). He has observances throughout the story of the city's slums, the way the other people are dressed shabbily in comparison to him. He seemed to hold himself in higher esteem than every other character in the story. All the while it was he who seemed to be lacking in character. He used Miss Dent, he was less than nice to his wife and had no respect for any of his neighbors because of their "shortcomings" in his eyes.

I was surprised a little in the story by Miss Dent. At first I thought her "illness" would be a rather obvious-a pregnancy. However, as her character unfolded, you come to realize she suffers from mental problems. I found it interesting that she only wanted to torture Blake a little for her own enjoyment, and closure. The fact that she didn't kill him was intriuging. Why didn't she kill him? Maybe making him get down in the dirt on his face was symbolic to her in some way?

"Real" Literature

Something that concerns me about reading is the thought that there has to be certain criteria met in order for a book to be considered a "literary work". What I call "book snobs", seem to believe that not just any book has literary value. Some also believe that only certain types of books should be taught from or about. There are even some who believe books that don't meet certain criteria shouldn't even be read!
My boys were slow starters in reading. They didn't like it, at all. My oldest fought tooth and nail to avoid reading. Finally, I convinced him that if he tried a book that was written about something he enjoyed or was interested in, he would like to read. He eventually chose "Where the Red Fern Grows" and loved it. That sparked interest in some other similar books, and he was off! Is it a piece of "classic" literature? I guess it depends on who you ask. What I do know is that it's not meeting the criteria of a set of "rules" someone made up that makes a book great. Labeling a book as a certain thing doesn't make it so. Doesn't necessarily make it anymore enjoyable to read, or any more thought provoking.
Last year my son's 5Th grade teacher said that she didn't care what the kids were reading, as long as they were reading. What a great concept. She recognized that some kids won't start to read for enjoyment, and reap the benefits that reading offers, if they don't like the subject. In that regard, I think as long as you're reading (whatever it may be) it's a great thing!

"A Rose for Emily"

"She carried her head high enough-even when we believed that she was fallen." (Faulkner-pg .32)
This passage stood out to me because it seems some things never change. People have a tendency to pass judgment on the worth of an individual. This passage seems to me to indicate a surprise by the townsfolk that Emily would dare still hold her head high. Like she was supposed to know that she was fallen-simply because they thought or said so. As if she was supposed to know that she had lost all dignity not only in their eyes but in herself. I admire that she still recognized her own worth & dignity regardless of what others thought or said, and refused to let others sway her belief in herself.
I've often wondered why we (and yes, most people do) find it necessary to question the worth of an individual largely based on their attitudes, opinions or experiences being different than ours. "Then some of the ladies began to say that it was a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people." (Faulkner-pg. 33) The fact that Emily had a "suitor" was at first a great joy to the town. Then people began to talk and possibly assume things about Homer Barron that made him unacceptable.
This is another example of the feeling of entitlement of being able to say what is or is not acceptable behavior. Simply because someone has different values than your own, does that mean yours are right and theirs wrong? Who gets to determine who is right? Is there a need for only one "right" answer? Maybe their values are different due to the way they were raised, or their environment. It's possible that in their world their values are right and someone else's more "conventional" values would be wrong.
Shouldn't the choices that one makes in their own life be their choices, not what others think they should be? We should all be able to hold our heads high in our choices as long as we believe they are the right choices for us.