"General Review of the Sex Situation"

When reading the question on page 727, I immediately interpreted an “audible voice” in poetry as something that I can understand, that I can “get” easily, and I know exactly where the speaker stands. Flipping through the book I fell upon “General Review of the Sex Situation” by Dorothy Parker. I read through it and it was quite simple. The speaker says what she feels in a very straight forward way. She feels as though women live completely for love and men have no time for it. She praises women throughout the poem and makes derogatory comments towards men. As the reader you know exactly how the speaker is feeling and where she stands on this matter. In line 7 and 8, the speaker tells the reader “With this the gist and sum of it, What earthly good can come of it?” These lines show that there isn’t much to it. It’s pretty simple to understand-even though women want love and live for it, they would be better off not loving the man because men are incapable of love.

Fire and Ice

"Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor 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."

Line 1: Talking about the end of the world, this line shows us one point of view on how it will end.

Line 2: This shows us the other point of view on how it will end.

Line 3: This line shows us how man has lots of desire, and how desire might bring man down.

Line 4: This line shows the poets opinion.

Line 5: If the world were to be destroyed twice, he wouldn't know which to choose.

Line 6: The world is full of hate, and it has proven itself to the poet.

Line 7: If the world were to end by ice...

Line 8: ... There is a good possibility for that ending also.

LIne 9: Either way, the world coming to an end will happen.

The Eagle, Line by Line

The first line, He clasps the crag with crooked hands: We know "he" is an eagle. He is sitting upon a roughly surfaced rock. Crooked hands refers to the grip he takes upon the rock. It indictates the surface is not firm. Close to the sun in lonely lands, the second line implies that he is up on a mountain top close to the sun where there is no one. Ringed with the azure world, he stands, the third line noting the blue sky that surrounds him (the azure world). The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls. This line represents reinforces the idea as to how high the eagle sits. the roaring sea so far below appears only to be crawling slowly. He watches from his mountain walls, and like a thunderbolt he falls. The eagle looks at his surroundings, and then does not actually fall, but takes off from his place with speed.
This poem is about a place so serene that only eagles are able to reach.

Stop all the Clocks, cut off the Telephone

This poem is being expressed by someone who has recently lost a loved one. The speaker is suffering from severe sadness and feels as if nothing else matters besides the one he has lost. The speaker emphasizes that everyone should be thinking of his lost loved one when he says “prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone” and “let the traffic policeman wear black cotton gloves”(Auden). The speaker seems to think that the death of his loved one is a worldwide crisis. For example, when a hurricane is near everyone knows about it and prepares for the hurricane. The speaker expresses that everyone should be preparing for the death of his loved one. The speaker remarks “he was my North, my South, my East, and West” (Auden). This line tells us that this man was very close to the speaker; maybe a father or a grandfather. One idea that crosses my mind when I read this poem is that the speaker seems to be suicidal. He feels that not only is his loved ones world gone, but like his is also gone. In the last line of the poem he says “for nothing now can ever come to any good” (Auden). This tells me that he doesn’t seem to have a reason to live anymore. . .

"Stop All the Clocks, cut off the telephone"

"Stop All the Clocks, cut off the telephone" by W.H. Auden is a poem that the speaker uses imagery to set the tone for mourning of a loved one and wants life to stop. In the first line alone the speaker uses words like stopping the barking dogs and silencing of the pianos (2-3) to show the importance of silence as the coffin is brought out (4).

The second stanza the speaker implies that his loved one should be honored by having the airplanes fly over, doves wearing bow ties and the policemen to wear cotton gloves. The speaker wants is loved one to be honored and his death to be remembered.

"He was my North, my south, my East and West" (9) tells the importance of this loved one, he was everything to the speaker. The speaker also portrays that he was always there for him and now he gone.

The Last stanza describes how mad and angry the speaker has become. He shows hatred toward God the creator by putting out the stars, getting rid of the moon and sun. How can any enjoyment come from life now that his loved one is gone. Why not just be done with life all together.

Poetry-A Soulful Expression

Poetry is fascinating in that it is playing with language. It is acceptable in many forms allowing creative patterns, progressions, schemes. It can derive feelings, thoughts, ideas, understandings, confusion, concern, in a reader or writer that may have never came to awareness if it had not ever been read or written. As you write poetry you can discover things about yourself or others with clarity and depth through your playfulness, focus, and search for depth, as well as different perceptions and relations between subject matters. I think that poetry is yet another soulful release just as artistic and creative measures of any sort, dancing, music, or anything in which a person intentionally decides to look a bit deeper into themselves and pull something out into the open, often taking a risk. Knowing yes, not everyone will understand or accept this part of me I am offering/ sharing, but some one will or may and it is true to me and I am willing to show it in this unique and authentic way. The unique ways people can express themselves is a gift in which we should be willing to share, and the more we are willing to do so the better we will become at it and the more we will see we are able. Poetry is form of expression in a world which has many.

"Stop All the Clocks, Cut Off the Telephone"

In the poem “Stop All the Clocks, Cut Off the Telephone,” by W.H. Auden, the speaker tries to stop the world after losing a loved one. The speaker uses the word choices, such as “…muffled drum…” and “mourners come” (3-4), to give the reader an audible sound that is dark, hollow, and echoing; like the feeling of death.

The speaker is serious, sad, and uses a somewhat relaxed, formal diction. The speaker’s diction is formal, yet it is not too elaborate or complex for the everyday reader. It suggests that the speaker is smart, yet not proper more so than an average person. The tone conveys that the speaker has a mournful attitude towards the man who died. There is no shift in tone, showing that the speaker attitude is solid, confident, and unchanging, which may mean that the man who dies has been in the speaker’s life for a long time.

This grieving speaker wants to make the man’s death into a huge affair; hinting that this person may have been greatly important to not only the speaker, but also to many other people. In line 1, the speaker commands that all of the clocks and telephone lines be cut off. This is an unrealistic idea, one that shows the speaker may be so upset over this death that he or she is not thinking clearly.

The images in this poem also help to further a reader’s understanding of the situation that the speaker is going through. The image of traffic policeman stirs up the thought that so many people will be coming that traffic police will be needed, indicating that this person is important and well known. The white doves suggest that the man who died is a pure and kind person. The statement “Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead” (5) suggests that this man may have been in the military, in which case the man could be given an honorary fly-by for heroic actions. The images of the phones not ringing, the clocks not ticking, the dog not barking, and the pianos muffled by a drum gives the reader an auditory sense of immense silence.

In line 12, the speakers says “I thought that love would last for ever; I was wrong.” This statement leads me to believe that the speaker is a woman, upset over the death of her male lover. “He was my North, my South, my East and West” (9) confirms that the female speaker is talking about her male lover. It seems that this male who died is an important person, or may just be very important to the speaker. She uses lines 9, 10, and 11 to show how important this man is to her. Using so many lines of a short poem to make the speaker’s immense love for the man clear emphasizes how important it is for the reader to know that the speaker cared immensely for this man.

The speaker seems to be realize that, without her lover, there is no reason to live and no happiness in life. She wants everything in the world to stop, because she has no one to share the wonderful experiences of life with. The last line, “For nothing now can ever come to any good,” sums up the message that this poem is suggesting; life means nothing without someone to love and be loved by.

An audible voice in "Suicide Note"

In “Suicide Note” by Janice Mirikitani, she wrote the suicide note of an Asian-American college student, who jumped out of her dorm room window to her death, into a poem. In the student’s actual note, she apologized to her parents for not maintaining a 4.0 GPA. Mirikitani made the student’s words audible. She was able to take the suicide note and write it as a beautiful, yet tragic, poem. A way the poem develops a sense of “an audible voice,” is that it is written in the first person perspective. It tells how “I apologize for disappointing you” (5-6), and “I will drop bone by bone, perched on the ledge of my womanhood” (30-33). The student’s true feelings are emerging in her note, and in the poem it is almost as thought she is reading it to me. I can exactly identify the thoughts she had when she wrote it. Because the words of the poem are a reflection of the student’s actual suicide note and suicide, it is chilling to imagine her reading it, though I can the sadness of it. Mirikitani did a great job taking the personal nature of the poem and making it relatable for other readers to “hear” the words as well.

Poetry Blog

My thoughts about this section are:
I'm not a huge fan of poetry. When it comes down to it, I simply do not understand the whole form and outline of poetry and how it works. The story "The Raven" does not seem like a poem at all, but more like a horror story. I think that for its' time, this poem was very well written, although it seems like more nowadays, its in the form of songs, lyrics, etc. On the topic of rap music, it seems like most songs- not only rap songs- have "poetry" based lyrics. There seems to be a lot of different types of "poetry" and all in different forms. I think it depends more on how the individual person sees poetry than how a book sets the standard for poetry.

The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy

The poem "The Man He Killed" by Thomas Hardy is located on page 710 of our textbook. I chose this poem because it is has both an audible voice and I can actually visualize what is occurring which makes it easier for me to understand. The audible voice in this poem seems to to be speaking with the man he killed. If they had met at some other time or place, other than in war, they could have been friends. But instead they are at war against each other. They don't know why. He kills the man because he is his enemy because of war. I like line 13 "He thought he'd 'list, perhaps, Off-hand-like-just as I". This show that he is feels he is no different than the man he killed. They both enlisted and are now a victim of their circumstances. I also can hear in the tone of this poem, regret. In the last stanza "Yes; quaint and curious war is! You shoot a fellow down You'd treat if met where any bar is, Or help to half-a-crown." This tells me that he may not agree with war. He is killing people that he could have just as well been sitting in a tavern having a drink with if there wasn't a war.

Poetry Blog Unit 8

I am not a huge poetry fan but I did enjoy "Digging" by Seamus Heaney. The descriptive type of writing he used made me visualize what his father is doing. I could see him in the garden digging up potatoes. His description also allowed me to smell the turf and the potatoes. I could relate to this poem, because growing up we raised a large garden and it rekindled memories of working in those gardens. Also, while reading our assignments, I did not realize how many types of poems there are. In my opinion, it almost seems like it would be easier to write a short story than to write a poem. "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe was very difficult for me to follow. I had to read it a couple of times to somewhat understand it. I still don't think I "get it".

Backlog

I'm posting these three entries for Jeannie, who experienced some technical difficulties:


Monday, February 4, 2008
Conflict in A Rose for Emily

In A Rose for Emily, the conflict is Human vs. Human, Human vs. Nature, and Human vs. Self. I feel that the conflict of Human vs. Human is when Emily is talked to by the people of the town. It is also when she is faced with the death of her father and also with Homer Barron. The conflict of Human vs. Nature is of the fact of the events that lead in her life, for example, her fathers death, the order of her life, what leads her to kill Homer, etc. The conflict of Human vs. Self is that she is fighting with herself as to why she has no man in her life who truly loves her. She is alone and feels that there is no one there for her.

Monday, February 11, 2008
I Stand Here Ironing

In the story, I Stand Here Ironing by Olsen, the events that are described could very well occur today. I do believe that they do exist today. There's nothing different in our world today when it comes to poverty, single-parent care, children homes, etc. I think that our economic status is different now than it was back in the '30s. We aren't living in the Great Depression and people do have jobs. I believe that many people who do not have jobs today are because they are either retired, too young, disabled, or too lazy. I believe that all other changes are still closely the same as they were over 70 years ago.

Monday, January 28, 2008
A Rose for Emily

I must admit that I'm still confused about the order of the story. I tried my best to put it all into order.Miss Emily's father dies and around that same time she teaches the young women how to china-paint. After her father dies, Mr. Homer Baron comes to town to fix the roads. While he is in town, he and Miss Emily are quite content together. Also while Mr. Baron is town, Miss Emily's cousins from Kansas come to visit. When done with the work in town, Mr. Baron leaves for awhile until after Miss Emily's two female cousins leave. Homer Baron then returns back to the town to visit Miss Emily. Right before Homer Baron returns, Miss Emily buys the poison. When Homer returns to her, she poisons him. She then poisons Homer to keep him from leaving her alone as her father did. Miss Emily then goes out to town to buy some items to make it appear that she gets married to Homer. As the days, months, years, etc. go by, she becomes older and bigger. She then has her taxes remitted and the stink around her home starts to smell. The aldermen then come to Miss Emilys house to take away the smell. A little while after that, Miss Emily dies. After Miss Emily dies, the townspeople come to the house to pay their respects and to check out what had happened.

The Lottery

The world is full of evil things going on. This surely is evil. I was appalled when I came to the end of the story and finally realized what was happening. People do not end this barbaric event because they are deep into there traditions. (P. 406) “The black box now resting on the stool had been put to use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born.” Both traditions, and change are occurring as themes through out the entire piece. (P.410) ‘Old Man Warner said clearly, “People ain’t like they used to be.” ’ I would guess that people are probably afraid also to speak against something like this in a place where it is acceptable to draw a name and than stone a person. Millions of people on the earth are making decisions constantly, therefore there will constantly decisions which are being made toward the wrong. What about taking your business overseas to the poorest countries so that you can make for yourself a lot more money while paying the poorest of people to make your products allowing them to hardly earn a living wage. I am sure we all know this is wrong. Yet we all buy from these companies, do we not? People justify that things are right because it has “always been that way.” We don’t want to look at the obvious “It’s wrong, so we should not do it.”

"The Lottery"

In the story, " The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, the people of the town all meet together for a ritual.
I think that people can do these rituals year to year because people fear change. Because people do not like change, they keep things the same to avoid scaring people. Also, the older people seem to have more say in the actions and 'rituals' of a society. I would have to say that rituals that people do have nowadays would be like children saying "the pledge of allegance" and those such things. People do not seem to care about the difference between right and wrong these days so people do what the majority does so they aren't considered different, weird, or abnormal.
Rituals are a faded thing, but in some societies and some types of settings, these rituals are still practiced.

The Lottery

This story seems to take place in a time where people lived in villages and the villages were governed by one person only. This lottery is a tradition in this village and others that surround it. No one has moved to terminate the lottery because there is comfort in numbers. The idea is that if the townspeople are cruel enough to continue the lottery, what would they do to the person trying to stop it. As the villagers are gathered, they discuss the fact that others surrounding villages have quit the lottery. Mr. Summers quickly pipes up with remarks as to how they're crazy and the idea of quitting the lottery is preposterous. These comments reinforce the feelings and beliefs that no one is to suggest quitting the lottery. What's silly about this lottery is that every other part of it's tradition has been long forgotten and the stoning activity in addition to the villagers gathering in the square are the only events left to the lottery that are consistent. No one seems to remember what the purpose is. The black box is sometimes stored underfoot and other times stored on a shelf.

I compare this to my job in a way. We have frequent call ins at work, and it's always the same people who call in. The rest of us who are dependable get mandatoried for an additional four hours upon our already twelve hour shift. Yet, no one says anything. They just keep letting these people miss work, while everyone else makes up for their irresponsibility

The Lottery

I believe that the ritual like the one that occurs in Shirley Jackson's short story, The Lottery, is allowed to take place year after year because it is what people are used to. "...over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery." (408). This proves that some people must be against the outcome of the lottery, which is death by stoning. One man's response to the lottery ending was, "Pack of crazy fools. Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enouch for them...." (408). Then a woman replies, "Some places have already quit the lottery." (408). Old Man Warner's response to this is "Nothing but trouble in that." (408). I think the reason that this "lottery" has gone on for so long is just because it is a tradition that everyone is used to, and some people really don't like change. I think there are many modern-day counterparts to this. One that I think of is student "hazing". Alot of times to get into a fraternity or sorority you have to go through a hazing process, which often includes being beat up. This is not right, but there are many people that still do that to this day. I really don't understand why people do this. The only thing that I can think of is that it is a tradition, and most people really don't like change!

Allegory in "A Worn Path"

The journey Phoenix takes in “A Worn Path” definitely fits the mold of a quest allegory. Phoenix has left her home and travels to town in search of medicine for her grandchild. It seems she only ventures out in order to obtain the medicine. She knows that society is unkind to her people. She is not right in the head, referring to a two headed snake she had to sneak by in the summer. Also, she hallucinates when she sees a boy who hands her a piece of cake. When she goes to reach for the cake, there is nothing there. This makes her journey more difficult. Along the way she meets a man who refers to her as “Granny”. He is discriminating when he says, “‘I know you old colored people! Wouldn’t miss going to town to see Santa Claus!’”(pg. 452) He shows his superiority by pointing a gun at Phoenix, although she is not afraid. She makes it into town and again is referred to as “Grandma” by a passing woman who ties her shoe for her. She is seen by society simply as an old, black woman who deserves very little. This is again shown by the attendant at the desk when she says, “’A charity case, I suppose’”(pg. 453). She is very old, saying she was too old to attend school when General Lee surrendered (pg 454). She has seen many things and has had a hard life. She accepts that she is looked upon as inferior and continues on with her “journey” of life, taking the hardships as they come. She knows what her purpose is, to love and care after her grandchild.

"The Lottery"

The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is about a tradition that takes place every year in the town square. Resident of the town assemble on the appointed date and draw slips of paper out of a worn out black box. At the end, the person with the slip of paper that has the black dot on it is the winner of the lottery. The award for this particular lottery is to be stoned to death by all the resident of the town.

Over the years the lottery has become a tradition that has lost its meaning and some residents are wondering if they should even continue to practice their outdated ritual. Nobody remembers the origin or reason for the lottery; they only participate because it’s what they’ve done for generations.
“They do say,” Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner [. . .] “that over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery.”
Old Man Warner snorted. “Pack of crazy fools,” he said. “Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them [. . .] There’s always been a lottery[.]” (Jackson 408)
Remarks like this illustrate the difficulty involved with changing an outdated tradition. The younger generations begin to realize the absurdity of certain practices and would like to change them, but don’t because they might fear retribution or being different from the crowd.

A modern day counterpart to the lottery and one that has been occurring for centuries is racism. Everyone knows that racism is unacceptable, and yet there are still people who do it. And like the children in “The Lottery”, racism is usually learned from their parents and because of this it is difficult to stop. The children hear their parents make a negative comment about people who are different and the children grow up believing that this is acceptable. People are also more accepting of racism until it is aimed in their direction. In the story Mrs. Hutchinson was a willing participant in the lottery until her family drew the slip of paper with the dot on it. At this point Tessie Hutchinson was no longer willing to participate, “It wasn’t fair,” Tessie said. (Jackson 409) When you are the one being singled out you realize how unfair the practice really is.

I Stand here Ironing

I believe the events that occurred in “I Stand here Ironing” could still occur today but wouldn’t be as bad. There are many young mothers still today, and it seems like the numbers keep increasing. Today I believe that the mothers of these young mothers help out more financially than in the 1930’s. One sentence in “I Stand here Ironing” is her mother talking to her and saying “Even if I came, what good would it do”(283). Today, mothers would usually jump at the chance to help out their children raise their own grandchildren. I know my mother would be there for me and my children. Today there are also facilities that will pay for the baby’s food and formula such as WIC. Young mothers can get finical help and other help such as medical assistance. Back in the 1930’s they had no government programs to help young mothers make the best life for their young children since the depression was going on. I believe our government has become more involved with young mothers compared to the 1930’s.

A&P~

In the story A&P there are many different kinds of conflicts represented. The first kind of conflict is human vs. human. This conflict is represented when Sammy disagrees with his boss Lengal ‘s opinion about the way the three girls are dressed that walk into the store. Sammy quotes “You didn’t have to embarrass them” (223). He believes that the girls were dressed approximately for the occasion. The second kind of conflict is human vs. nature. I believe this is represented by the way the three girls are dressed in only their bathing suits and the conflict that makes arise when Lengal sees them. Lengal says “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” (223).Lengal believes the girls are dressed inappropriately, but naturally the girls believe they are not doing anything wrong. The third and last type of conflict displayed is human vs. self. This type of conflict is shown when Sammy decides that is willing to quit working at the store because of his beliefs. Sammy shows how one can argue with themselves whether or not they make the right decision. After Lengal tells Sammy that he doesn’t think Sammy knows what he is doing, Sammy replies with “I know you don’t, but I do” (223). Sammy gives everyone the impression that he is going to stand up for his beliefs.