Blog Entry 11

"Sir Patrick Spens" and Dudley Randall's "Ballad of Birmingham" both contain the same type of form and content. They both are a narrative ballad. The poems tell a story that can also be sort of a song. When reading "Sir Patrick Spens", it was almost as if it was a ship song that a bunch of drunk sailors or pirates would be singing while riding the seas in their ship. I even started to feel like i was singing it also while reading it. It did however take a few readings in order to understand it but it was really interesting. I found that "Ballard of Birmingham" was simpler to read and more interesting because it was something that happened in our century.
The rhyme scheme is XAXA then XBXB, so every other word in a quatrain rhymes with each other. There are four lines in each stanza which is in both of the poems. They contain the same type of form so in a sense the poems are very much similar in the way they were written, the form, and style that each author chose to write them in. "Sir Patrick Spens" is about this person who was sent by the king and ordered by him to go out to sea in the middle of a huge storm that was very deadly. "Sir Patrick Spens" knew that he was going to die out there at sea but was still loyal to the king.
"Ballard of Birmingham" really touched me. That this little boy wanted to walk in this march four our country, but his mom said to go to the church where it will be a lot safer. Instead, a bomb was dropped at the church where the little boy dies. I was able to connect to this story more than "Sir Patrick Spens" because it easier to read and more understandable. It was from a closer time period so it was more relate able.
Even though these poems are from a different period in life, they contained some very interesting simiarities. I believe that the theme in each poem contained loyalty. "Sir Patrick Spens" was being loyal to the king even though he knew that he was going to die out at sea, he was still faithful to the king who was said to be blood thirsty by "drinking the blood-red wine" in line 2 of the poem. In "Ballad of Birmingham", the boy wanted to be loyal and faithful to two things. He wanted to be faithful to his country and to his mother. They both however die in the end. They also contained ironic endings where the ladies would wait for their men to return from sea even though they knew they were going to die, and the mother waiting for her son to come out of the church. The little boy went inside the church ordered by his mom and he ended up getting killed.
In a way, both the characters fought for their loyalty but in different ways. I also believe that they had loyalty for something that ended up killing them. The king was the one who made the order for him to go out to sea where he was going to die in the storm. The little boy followed his mothers orders to go to the church instead of the march where he ended up facing his death.
By being loyal, they both ended up in a tragic ending. 

Blog Entry 10

When I first read the poem, "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke, I wasn't sure what the two meanings could be. One meaning really stood out to me the most, but as i read it a couple of times, I figured out what the second meaning of the poem could possible be.
The first meaning I got right away was that the speaker was that the speaker was being abused by his father. The first stanza to me just stood out the way he was talking about smelling the whiskey coming off his breathe and saying "But I hung on like death". Even saying that the kind of waltzing that his father did wasn't easy, the thought of abuse came into my mind. I also think that because of my past and certain situations that have happened that I had that biased point of view so I continued reading. "My mother's countenance/could not unfrown itself" I interpreted as that the mother wasn't happy of what the father did to him but she didn't do anything about it. The last stanza really hit me hard. The whole poem to me was just sad and depressing because I got the impression that his father was a drunk and would beat and hit him until he would take him to bed. But I did read it a couple times more to find another meaning.
The speaker's choice of words had me thinking of another meaning of the poem. The way the speaker was hanging on and "still clinging to your shirt", I took it as that even though he was an abusive father,he still had hope and love for him despite everything that was happening. That maybe he knew it was the whiskey that was making him like that and not him actually that the whiskey changed his personality. Because he still loved his father that that is why he was describing the abuse as a sort of dance.
The title "My Papa's Waltz" right off the bat can suggest that the speaker believes it is his father's abuse is a dance. "Waltzing wasn't easy/every step you missed/ then waltzing me off to bed" are some word choices that uses dance as a way him and his father were with each other. Him and his father have this routine that they have that they are with each other just like how a dance is a routine. That the abuse happens all the time and is repetitive and a routine just like how learning steps to a dance is. Maybe the boy blocks the image of abuse with his father and sees it as they are doing a dance together. The third stanza can suggest that its a small boy dancing in front of his father by the line where it says that when he missed a step his ear would scrap the buckle as if he was as tall as where his belt buckle was and would hit him when a step was missed.
To me this speaker was expressing a lot of emotion and mixed feelings. That even though he had to deal with his father being drunk and abusive, he still has a lot of love for him by not letting him go and holding on to him. He to me was a scared boy and blocked out the image of being abused as the time with his father being a dance. It was an interesting poem that really hit me and understood the meaning of this poem.

Blog Entry 8

One of the poems that hit me emotionally was Herrick's "Here a Pretty Baby Lies". When I first read the title, I thought it was going to be a joyful and peaceful poem. Its rhyme scheme was an A A B B scheme. When I read the first two lines I thought it was talking about a baby that was sleeping and the lullabies were being sung by the mother who was trying to have her baby fall asleep. That poem at the end really shocked me. "Th'easy earth that covers her" (645) really got me and that's when I realized that the baby was in fact dead.
This poem was only four lines long with a small rhyme scheme, but it really hit me emotionally. It was short but powerful. It had a lot of meaning in those four lines. The way Robert Herrick used the words that could mean one thing but meant another. Like how the baby lying was the baby dead in a coffin and not a baby sleeping in a crib. Or the earth that covers her was the baby being buried. It really got me because not many people write or talk about babies dying or burying of children. Its something that most authors don't write about or something that becomes famous for. Whether the reason was for the baby dying, it was a tragic ending and it really touched my heart.
Another poem that really hit home to me was Billy Collin's "Schoolsville". One of the things that I realized while i was reading this was when he said "Glancing over my shoulder at the past I realized the number of students I have taught" (642). My dad being a teacher tells me stories of all the students he has taught over the years and it makes me appreciate the teachers I've had a lot more. There are some teachers out there that don't care about their students, but some really do remember their students they have had and it made me realize about the teachers that do love their job as being a teacher.
Also, the poem made me realize and think about my youth, It was a little long of a poem but it didn't contain a rhyme scheme. It was right to the point about school and him teaching. The scenes he portrayed in the poem are both real and amusing to read like when he describes "The A's stroll along with other A's The D's honk whenever they pass another D." (643). It really amused me and at the same time spoke to me . It reminded me of when I was younger and in middle school where it was such a small school that everyone knew everyone and it brought back that time of innocence. Another thing that I found funny was when he was describing that students will come back for help on the papers. I will to this day will go to the teachers that I still keep in contact with and ask them questions on assignments I need help on. My friends will even go to my dad when they need help with any math problems.
Even though these poems contained differences such as "Schoolsville" having a laughter amusing feel and "Here a Pretty Baby Lies" having a sad deep feeling, they both contained similarities. They were powerful poems that engaged us as the reader to relate to the poem. I really liked the poems and it showed me that poetry isn't always about rhyming or love or even flowers, but can also be realistic and mean so much to the reader than expected.

Blog Entry 7

There are many things in the story that caused the characters to not be able to do certain things due to a barrier or a fence. There are situations or accomplishments that the characters wanted to do or desired to do and love to do but couldn't because of other priorities that were at hand.
Troy was supposed to be a professional baseball player. He was in the Negro League but was unable to join the Major League. Being a black baseball player at that time wasn't being accepted especially in the Major League. That was a fence that Troy had to experience. He wasn't able to play in the Major Leagues because of the fence that was put between whites and blacks. The community and society as a whole built up this fence separating white people and black people. Being segregated with whites going to a different school as blacks or drinking from a different water faucet was making this fence stronger so Troy was not able to pursue his dream due to this barrier or fence. This fence even brought trouble to his job where he couldn't be  a garbage man and driving a truck instead of handling the trash. He did win the case however which broke one of the fences that was built.
There is a fence that separated Troy and Cory being father and son. Cory is in the process of being recruited by a college to play football. He wants to continue playing high school to be recruited but his father Troy isn't allowing it. He wants to have Cory continue working at the grocery store which he currently quit working at so he could play. Troy even says "Your first chore is to help me with this fence on Saturday" (1, iii, 25). To me, Troy doesn't want his son to be able to do things that he wasn't able to do himself. This fence is getting into their relationship as father and son but it is also conflicting with Cory's future which he has a great deal of succeeding at. I believe that Troy is jealous of his son. That Cory is given this opportunity of succeeding and living the life that Troy wasn't able to do. Troy feels this resentment and jealousy over his son. But it also could be where Troy is so used to having this fence up of segregation with society so he believes it will always be like that and his son will not be recruited because of his color and is therefore making sure that his son is working so he can make money. Rose also sees this change of when society back in Troy's lifetime is different from Cory's current one by saying. "Times have changed from when you was young, Troy. People change. The world is changing around you and you can't even see it" (1, iii, 118).
I also believe the meaning of fences in the play comes from Troy and Bono building this fence for Troy's wife Rose. She admits that she is building the fence to keep her family close. She knows that her family is being torn apart and she is doing everything to keep this family together even by raising the baby that Troy had with another woman who passed away during childbirth. This family is dealing with my fences and that fences for this play's title suits well.

Blog Entry 5

Hamlet comes home to hear of his father's death. He is so shocked and surprised because his death was very sudden. He thought highly of his father, the King of Denmark, and said he was a beloved king. Once Marcellus and Horatio tell him that he has seen a ghost that looks like the late King of Denmark, Hamlet immediately wants to know more. He wants to go and visit this ghost whether or not it is a good ghost or a demon. I wouldn't want to go see any ghost if i was put in Hamlet's situation but he wants to go and see it. Hamlet goes and speaks to this ghost that is in fact the ghost of his dead father and learns that his death was a murder. "Haste me to know't, that I with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love may sweep to my revenge" (I, v, 29-31).
He finds out that his father was poisoned by his uncle while he was sleeping in the garden. The ghost tells him to kill his uncle to revenge for his death but Hamlet isn't sure if its the right thing to do. "And shall I couple hell?" (I, v, 93). Couple in this text means to engage in a contest against. So Hamlet isn't sure if he should be in competition in a sense with god and kill his uncle or wait for what hell will bring on to him. Maybe in fact his father's death was meant to be due to the sins he did while alive. Hamlet didn't want to interfere with heaven or hell. Hamlet also brings up another dilemma saying "Ill wipe away all trivial fond records all saws of books, all forms, all pressures past that youth and observation copied there" (I, v, 99-100). To me, Hamlet is looking back in his youth and childhood and is realizing that if he avenges his father's death, he will no longer be a child. The innocence of being young will be wiped away and forgotten once he fulfills this act. He later does promise to the ghost that he will kill his uncle.
Hamlet is dealing with a lot right now including his mother's actions and behaviors and how it affects him. He disagrees with the marriage of his uncle and his mom saying it is too soon after his father's death. He even says that the marriage is based on lust comparing his uncle to a satyr which is an animal of part man part goat which is known as a symbol of lust. His mother, the Queen, went from loosing her husband, crying and mourning his death to rejoicing and celebrating her marriage with Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet when talking to the ghost gets angered and describes his mom as "A most pernicious woman! O villain, o villain, smiling damned villain!" (I, v, 105-106).
Hamlet seems to be going delusional. He is saying things that don't make sense and is just completely changing his demeanor. He is having difficulty being able to kill his uncle. Hamlet i believe is putting on a show. He is having people believe he is indeed going crazy and insane as a result of all the events evolving around him. I think he is doing it to throw people off so when he does kill his uncle, then it would be a shock to Denmark that the newly king got killed.  

Blog Entry 3

Irony is when an unexpected outcome takes place. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour", there was a big  twist in the story that I didn't expect at all. When it was first describing the character Mrs. Mallard and how they were trying to find an easy way to give her news of her husband's death due to her heart illness. I thought the story was going to be way different. I felt bad for Mrs. Mallard at first, having a heart disease and then having to hear about your husbands's death would be a hard thing to experience. But then as I continued in the story, something happened that I didn't expect. "Free, free, free.. but she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely" (338).  When i read this, I was surprised. To me, it was as if she was happy that her husband had died in the accident. So it made me wonder whether something was happening in the household that we as the reader didn't know about. Maybe she was being abused by Mr. Mallard or that she was always under his control and that was her only escape from his hands. It was very ironic to find out that the husband showed up at the house alive and to find Mrs. Mallard had died. She was so happy of being free that she passed away before she could even be free. I was defiantly not expecting that at all. In Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado", I thought it was going to be a somewhat of an upbeat and encouraging story. The character talks about his friend tells Fortunato. He tells hi that he has an Amontillado that he wants him to look at to see of it is in fact the real thing. They travel to the cavern and then he tells Fortunato that it is too cold from him to go and that he can ask someone else to look at it. The way he kept asking and persisting that someone else look at it and not him showed me that he was concerned about his friend's health and was looking out for him. However, one comment that he made in the story me question his motives and made me a little suspicious. "How long have you had that cough?" (526). But when he had replied saying, "My poor friend found it impossible to talk for minutes" after Fortunato coughed, made me think that my suspicion was incorrect and that he really does care for his friend. But i was still wondering about that comment in my mind. The ending was a complete one eighty of what I would have suspected. But after looking though the story a second time, the comments that he made to Fortunato made complete sense and he had planned to kill his friend the whole time. Authors use the use of irony for many purposes. They want to throw the reader off of what the reader suspects will happen. This technique was able to throw me off completely with both stories. Having an ironic ending makes the story to the reader memorable and unique from other stories while keeping the reader entertained. These stories were very interesting in reading and shocked me to the max.

Blog Entry 2

Authors when writing a story choose to either write from a first person, second person, or a third person point of view. In a first person point of view, the narrator tells about the events that they have personally witnessed or describing. A great example would be "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Gilman. Throughout the whole story, she talks about her disease or illness that she has. She is confined in this room that she says doesn't mind her but the wallpaper. "I'm getting really fond of the room in spite of the wallpaper. Perhaps because of the wallpaper. It dwells in my mind so!" (568). The author choosing to use first person gives us as the audience a good look at how being confined in a room or to bed rest and not being able to do anything can really mess with a person's mind. It added tension and doubt because it shows how the narrator relies on John as company even though he is not always there due to work as a physician himself. She also creates doubt of whether or not they do like or not like the wallpaper. It is intriguing the more she looks at like, the more she stares at it, the more she wants to figure out the pattern and actually says in the story that she doesn't want to leave just yet so that she can solve the pattern of the wallpaper. To me, the narrator gets crazier the more she is confined in the room. The method in my opinion hurt her more than helped. Second person point of view is considered the least known and more difficult to use. It can almost considered a first person point of view telling the listener what they have done before. "How to Become a Writer" by Lorrie Moore, uses the idea of second person point of view. The speaker in a sense is telling the audience what they should do or giving advice on "How to Become a Writer". The narrator frequently uses "you" as a sense of saying, "you should do this". "Take all the babysitting jobs you can get. You are great with kids" (198). "Tell your roommate your great idea, your great excuse for imaginative power: a transformation of Melville to contemporary life" (150). Even though the narrator is giving advice and using you, they use their own experience in the story to get the point across as for example, when they describe their parents getting divorced or even loosing their virginity. It is still considered second point of view. "The Lottery" uses a third person point perspective creating suspense and drama. It was like as if we were there watching the whole lottery unfold in front of our eyes. It showed what the other characters are doing to prepare for the lottery. It was suspenseful because while reading it, I thought it was actually talking about winning money. The more the narrator was describing what was happening and the characters reactions, I realized it wasn't that at all. The story described the kids grabbing the smooth and rough stones before the lottery and the suspense of each family drawing from the black box. Each author creates its own point of view to suspense, drama, and tension in their stories.