Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Class Discussion on The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock
In class we all clarified each individuals observations of the poem. Our discussion covered how the poem was a love song in the imagination of the character. We discussed how this is not a typical love song that we see everyday, but that the author of this poem so the poem as a love story in his imagination. Another thing we discussed was how the man was getting old and he was alright with that, but he was realizing that he hadn't done much with his life, which was the reason for his depression and sadness. This plays into the significance of time and how the man realizes he doesn't have a lot of it left so he needs to make a change now if he plans on making the change. The significance of the name seemed to be that it indicated some type of royalty, which just added to the story in that he hadn't lived up to the standards of royalty throughout his life. He seemed to be socially awkward and indecisive, whereas royalty is usually the opposite. The man wants to be more than he is, which seems impossible for him giving way to why he sees this as a tragic love song. This also plays into the idea that the man can't have what he wants due to his lack of personality. The cool thing about our class discussion was it started as a big group, then went off into little side conversations and then finally brought back to a big group again, which I thought was really interesting.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Literature Analysis #3
1. Exposition: Amir and his father Baba live in Kabul and are very wealthy and well-known. Amir’s mother died while giving birth to Amir, but they have a Hazara family that lives with them and is their servants. These servants are different then typical servants because Baba grew up with Ali, who is the father, his entire life and sees him as his brother. Ali has a son Hassan, who is also a servant, but treated extremely well due to the close relationship between his father and Baba. Amir and Baba follow strict tradition and it is not acceptable to be so close to Hazara, so they must be careful in public. Amir and Hassan become very good friends and hang out every day. Hassan’s mother ran away a week after giving birth and never once held her child; she gave the family a bad reputation because of this. Amir becomes very jealous of Hassan because Baba pays more attention to him and connects with him easier. Although Amir is jealous and often shows it, Hassan will do anything for Amir no matter what the circumstance is.
Rising Action: Hassan, Amir, and Baba have been preparing for the annual Kite fight. Amir really wants to win, so that he can be accepted by Baba and become closer with him. Amir and Hassan start the fight and are cutting all the other kites. They cut all of the other kites and are the last one standing, now Hassan (the best kite runner around) will run for the last kite cut. Amir runs after Hassan after seeing his father’s reaction. When he comes across Hassan he is in the alley being held by one of the trouble makers Assef. Assef says that Hassan will give him the kite or he will pay for it and Hassan refuses to give him the kite. Amir is still watching when Assef takes Hassan’s pants off and rapes him; Amir never steps in to help Hassan.
Conflict: Amir must live his entire life dealing with this guilt that constantly weighs him down. He does anything he can to get rid of Hassan and Ali and one of his plans finally work, but instead of Baba telling them to leave, they choose to leave on their own. Baba and Amir move to the United States, due to the unsafe conditions in Kabul, living a very poor life. Amir goes to school and works with his dad, in which he meets Soroya. Baba gets cancer and is terminal, but before he passes he asks Soroya’s father if his son can marry his daughter. The men agree and Baba’s final months are spent seeing his son get married and being cared for by his son and his son’s new wife. Amir still lives with the guilt and never tells Baba nor Soroya. Rahim Khan, one of Baba’s long lost friends, calls one day asking Amir to go back to Kabul because he is dying. When Amir gets there he finds out that Hassan married and had a child, but that Hassan and his wife were killed and their child was an orphan somewhere in Kabul. Rahim tells Amir that he can find justice if he finds that boy and brings him back.
Conflict: Amir goes to the bad parts of Kabul to find Sohrab, Hassan’s son, and finds out that one of the Taliban has him. Amir does not give up and decides he will go and meet this guy. First, he has to go to the stadium and watch the soccer game and find the man. When he goes to the game, the man is the person who stones the couple that was in trouble and kills them. This frightens Amir, but he meets with the man anyways. When he meets with the man, he finds out that the man is Assef and he has been sexually abusing Sohrab now. Assef and Amir are to fight with no body guards in the room and Sohrab is to watch, who ever wins gets to keep Sohrab. Assef is brutally beating Amir to the point where Amir is almost dead, but Sohrab steps in and slingshots a ball into Assef’s eye. Amir and Sohrab escape at this point and Sohrab is saved as well as Amir from the brutal beating.
Falling Action: Amir is taking to the hospital and is in and out of consciousness for a few days. He starts to interact with Sohrab when he gains his consciousness back, but Sohrab is very timid. Amir is very hurt, but needs to get far away from where Assef is, so that he does not get found by the Taliban. Sohrab and Amir leave once Amir can walk again. They stay in a hotel for awhile and try to find the parents who were supposed to take Sohrab, but it turns out their was never any parents for Sohrab. Rahim Khan had only told Amir that and Rahim was gone now. Now Amir does not know what do, but is seriously considering bringing Sohrab home with him to America.
Resolution: Amir works extremely hard to legally adopt Sohrab, but it is very difficult given the circumstances. Amir promises Sohrab that he will never put him in an orphanage again, but the adoption agency says the easiest way to adopt Sohrab is to put him in an orphanage temporarily and the process will be easier. When Sohrab hears this he becomes very angry and cuts himself in the bathtub while Amir is sleeping. He bleeds so much that he almost kills himself. He is rushed to the hospital and survives but is in critical condition. Meanwhile, Soroya has worked with a Sharif that they know and have made plans for Sohrab to get a temporary visa so he can come to America and the process will be much easier. After Sohrab gets out of the hospital, he goes back to America and lives with Amir, but in complete silence. He only gives a smile in the last scene of the book.
The author is able to fulfill the purpose of the story because he bases this entire story off tradition and not willing to break it. This family seems to have a chain of bad deeds that were done and never owned up too or resolved, but finally Amir is able to resolve his problem and make peace with himself by saving Hassan's son. This shows this purpose of breaking tradition to do what is right and the best for yourself.
2. The theme of this book is redemption because the entire story Amir is dealing with this guilt that affects everything he does throughout his life. In the end Amir can finally get redemption because he returns the favor and saves Hassan’s sons life. He knows that this doesn’t make what he did to Hassan right, but this takes it off his shoulders because he told Soroya and has finally returned the support to Hassan. He was going to get Hassan’s son even if it meant him being killed. He would have done anything to get Sohrab into his hands, just as Hassan would do anything to save Amir or make him look good.
3. The tone of this story was tender, unflinching and confessional. The book has a confessional tone because throughout the story Amir is going through confessing about his sins and how he did Hassan wrong. Rahim Khan confesses the sins of Baba and everything seems to be confessed whereas in the last generation everything was kept a secret and held in. There is an unflinching tone to this book too because there is many brutal and disturbing scenes that seem like nothing to the characters. As a reader reads the story, they are horrified by what is happening, but the characters treat it as if it is normal, which seems even more disturbing. The tender tone is seen between the relationships. Although there is rough patches in each of the relationships, we see this tenderness between Baba and Amir before he dies. Another tenderness between Ali and Baba as Ali is leaving.
"Don't worry about that for now. I'm fine. Really. Soroya, I have a story to tell you, a story I should have told you a long time ago, but first I need to tell you one thing." Page 325 This excerpt shows confession.
"Assef knelt behind Hassan, put his hands on Hassan's hips and lifted his bare buttocks. He kept on hand on Hassan's back and undid his own belt buckle with his free hand. He unzipped his jeans. Dropped his underwear. He positioned himself behind Hassan." Page 75 This excerpt shows unflinching in which Amir never stepped in.
"Just before midnight, Baba asked us to help him into bed. Soroya and I placed his arms on our shoulders and wrapped ours around his back. When we lowered him, he had Soroya turn off the bedside lamp. He asked us to lean in, gave us each a kiss." Page 173 This excerpt shows tenderness.
4. a) "After all, didn't all fathers in their secret hearts harbor a desire to kill their sons?" Page 29 This quote shows a rhetorical question, which shows the relationship between Baba and Amir for most of their lives, until the very end.
b) "At parties, when all six-foot-five of him thundered into the room, attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to the sun." Page 13 This is an example of a simile and shows how respected and well-known Baba was in Kabul as well as in America.
c) "Looking back on it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975- and all that followed- was already laid in those first words." Page 11 This is an example of foreshadowing and shows what event will truly change the story.
d) "'And where is he headed?' Baba said. 'A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything.'" Page 22 This is an example of oversimplification and shows how Baba feels about Amir and his disappointment towards the person he has become even though it is not bad.
e) "Never mind that we taught each other to ride a bicycle with no hands, or to build a fully functional homemade camera out of a cardboard box. Never mind that we spent entire winters flying kites, running kites. Never mind that to me, the face of Afghanistan is that of a boy with a thin-boned frame, a shaved head, and low-set ears, a boy with a Chinese doll face perpetually lit by a harelipped smile." Page 25 This is an example of anaphora and shows how significant and important Hassan was to Amir's childhood.
f) "I wished I too had some kind of scar that would beget Baba's sympathy. It wasn't fair. Hassan hadn't done anything to earn Baba's affections; he'd just been born with that stupid harelip." Page 46 This is an example of Ad hominen and shows the jealousy that Amir has towards Hassan and ultimately leads to his bad decision in the winter of 1975.
g) "Strangely, I was glad that someone knew me for who I really was; I was tired of pretending." Page 106 This is an example of irony because Amir was this horrible person for what he did and someone had finally discovered him and he liked it, which is weird because you wouldn't want someone to know the bad things that you have done.
h) "Summer meant long school days sweating in tightly packed, poorly ventilated classrooms learning to recite ayats from the Koran, struggling with those tongue-twisting, exotic Arabic words. It meant catching flies in your palm while the mullah droned on and a hot breeze brought with it the smell of shit from the outhouse across the schoolyard, churning dust around the lone rickety basketball hoop." Page 108 This is an example of imagery and shows the setting of the story.
i) "As words from the Koran reverberated through the room, I thought of the old story of Baba wrestling a black bear in Baluchistan. Baba had wrestled bears his whole life. Losing his young wife. Raising a son by himself. Leaving his beloved homeland, his watan. Poverty. Indignity. In the end, a bear had come that he couldn't best. But even then, he had lost on his own terms." Page 174 This is an example of a metaphor and shows Baba's struggles that he has gone through all throughout his life, but also his strength that he has held through them all.
j) "But he would not. He said it was a matter of ihtiram, a matter of respect." Page 208 This is an example of motif. There is a motif in this story, which is tradition. Tradition is carried throughout the entire story no matter where they are who they are.
Characterization:
1. An example of indirect characterization is "He motioned to me to hold his hat for him and I was glad to, because then everyone would see that he was my father, my Baba. He turned back to the microphone and said he hoped the building was sturdier than his hat, and everyone laughed again. When Baba ended his speech, people stood up and cheered. They clapped for a long time. Afterward, people shook his had." Page 15 This shows that Baba had a good sense of humor and was also well liked by everyone around him, respectable man. Another example of indirect characterization is "But despite Baba's successes, people were always doubting him. They told Baba that running a business wasn't in his blood and he should study law like his father. So Baba proved them all wrong by not only running his own business but becoming one of the richest merchants in Kabul." Page 15 Baba was hard working and didn't let anything bring him down. He would do anything to be successful no matter how many times he got knocked down.
An example of direct characterization is "My smile broadened. That was another thing about Hassan. He always knew when to say the right thing- the news on the radio was getting pretty boring." Page 37 Hassan was very supportive and would always comfort Amir no matter what the circumstances were. Another example of direct characterization is "He turned his eyes to me. 'We Afghans are prone to a considerable degree of exaggeration, bachem, and I have heard many men foolishly labeled great. But your father has the distinction of belonging to the minority who truly deserves the label.'" Page 140 This shows how people truly respected Baba and that he was an honorable man to anyone with Afghan decent.
The author uses both direct and indirect characterization to ensure that the reader has a clear view of each character, whether it is the perceived or accurate view.
2. When the author is talking about Hassan, he uses admirable diction, like "Hassan does no wrong." Hassan is more admired throughout the book because he stayed honest to everyone including himself. When the author was talking about Amir there was a use disappointed or ashamed diction. This is seen when Baba said "You bring me shame. And Hassan...Hassan's not going anywhere, do you understand?" This helps develop the overall role of both characters throughout the book.
3. The protagonist is Amir and he is a dynamic character because he goes through a lot of inner change throughout the story. In the beginning he is filled with hatred and jealousy, which leads to his guilt that he holds with him his entire life. He also holds this cowardice within him. Throughout the book Amir loses his guilt through redemption and becomes a brave soul that would do anything to help Hassan's son. Amir is a round character because it takes the entire book to explain the person he was and is to the person he becomes through tragedy and guilt. Amir is developed throughout the story and is a very complicated character who experiences a lot of emotions throughout the story.
4. The author does a really good job at explaining each character in depth because I walk away from this book and feel like I have met every character and know their true character. The author does not present these characters like real characters, but rather as human beings that I can compare and connect myself too. "I gave him a friendly shove. Smiled. 'You're a prince, Hassan. You're a prince and I love you.'" Page 30 In this excerpt I feel as if I am also one of the friends and experiencing a really touching moment. This is something real human beings do with their friends, not characters in a story.
Rising Action: Hassan, Amir, and Baba have been preparing for the annual Kite fight. Amir really wants to win, so that he can be accepted by Baba and become closer with him. Amir and Hassan start the fight and are cutting all the other kites. They cut all of the other kites and are the last one standing, now Hassan (the best kite runner around) will run for the last kite cut. Amir runs after Hassan after seeing his father’s reaction. When he comes across Hassan he is in the alley being held by one of the trouble makers Assef. Assef says that Hassan will give him the kite or he will pay for it and Hassan refuses to give him the kite. Amir is still watching when Assef takes Hassan’s pants off and rapes him; Amir never steps in to help Hassan.
Conflict: Amir must live his entire life dealing with this guilt that constantly weighs him down. He does anything he can to get rid of Hassan and Ali and one of his plans finally work, but instead of Baba telling them to leave, they choose to leave on their own. Baba and Amir move to the United States, due to the unsafe conditions in Kabul, living a very poor life. Amir goes to school and works with his dad, in which he meets Soroya. Baba gets cancer and is terminal, but before he passes he asks Soroya’s father if his son can marry his daughter. The men agree and Baba’s final months are spent seeing his son get married and being cared for by his son and his son’s new wife. Amir still lives with the guilt and never tells Baba nor Soroya. Rahim Khan, one of Baba’s long lost friends, calls one day asking Amir to go back to Kabul because he is dying. When Amir gets there he finds out that Hassan married and had a child, but that Hassan and his wife were killed and their child was an orphan somewhere in Kabul. Rahim tells Amir that he can find justice if he finds that boy and brings him back.
Conflict: Amir goes to the bad parts of Kabul to find Sohrab, Hassan’s son, and finds out that one of the Taliban has him. Amir does not give up and decides he will go and meet this guy. First, he has to go to the stadium and watch the soccer game and find the man. When he goes to the game, the man is the person who stones the couple that was in trouble and kills them. This frightens Amir, but he meets with the man anyways. When he meets with the man, he finds out that the man is Assef and he has been sexually abusing Sohrab now. Assef and Amir are to fight with no body guards in the room and Sohrab is to watch, who ever wins gets to keep Sohrab. Assef is brutally beating Amir to the point where Amir is almost dead, but Sohrab steps in and slingshots a ball into Assef’s eye. Amir and Sohrab escape at this point and Sohrab is saved as well as Amir from the brutal beating.
Falling Action: Amir is taking to the hospital and is in and out of consciousness for a few days. He starts to interact with Sohrab when he gains his consciousness back, but Sohrab is very timid. Amir is very hurt, but needs to get far away from where Assef is, so that he does not get found by the Taliban. Sohrab and Amir leave once Amir can walk again. They stay in a hotel for awhile and try to find the parents who were supposed to take Sohrab, but it turns out their was never any parents for Sohrab. Rahim Khan had only told Amir that and Rahim was gone now. Now Amir does not know what do, but is seriously considering bringing Sohrab home with him to America.
Resolution: Amir works extremely hard to legally adopt Sohrab, but it is very difficult given the circumstances. Amir promises Sohrab that he will never put him in an orphanage again, but the adoption agency says the easiest way to adopt Sohrab is to put him in an orphanage temporarily and the process will be easier. When Sohrab hears this he becomes very angry and cuts himself in the bathtub while Amir is sleeping. He bleeds so much that he almost kills himself. He is rushed to the hospital and survives but is in critical condition. Meanwhile, Soroya has worked with a Sharif that they know and have made plans for Sohrab to get a temporary visa so he can come to America and the process will be much easier. After Sohrab gets out of the hospital, he goes back to America and lives with Amir, but in complete silence. He only gives a smile in the last scene of the book.
The author is able to fulfill the purpose of the story because he bases this entire story off tradition and not willing to break it. This family seems to have a chain of bad deeds that were done and never owned up too or resolved, but finally Amir is able to resolve his problem and make peace with himself by saving Hassan's son. This shows this purpose of breaking tradition to do what is right and the best for yourself.
2. The theme of this book is redemption because the entire story Amir is dealing with this guilt that affects everything he does throughout his life. In the end Amir can finally get redemption because he returns the favor and saves Hassan’s sons life. He knows that this doesn’t make what he did to Hassan right, but this takes it off his shoulders because he told Soroya and has finally returned the support to Hassan. He was going to get Hassan’s son even if it meant him being killed. He would have done anything to get Sohrab into his hands, just as Hassan would do anything to save Amir or make him look good.
3. The tone of this story was tender, unflinching and confessional. The book has a confessional tone because throughout the story Amir is going through confessing about his sins and how he did Hassan wrong. Rahim Khan confesses the sins of Baba and everything seems to be confessed whereas in the last generation everything was kept a secret and held in. There is an unflinching tone to this book too because there is many brutal and disturbing scenes that seem like nothing to the characters. As a reader reads the story, they are horrified by what is happening, but the characters treat it as if it is normal, which seems even more disturbing. The tender tone is seen between the relationships. Although there is rough patches in each of the relationships, we see this tenderness between Baba and Amir before he dies. Another tenderness between Ali and Baba as Ali is leaving.
"Don't worry about that for now. I'm fine. Really. Soroya, I have a story to tell you, a story I should have told you a long time ago, but first I need to tell you one thing." Page 325 This excerpt shows confession.
"Assef knelt behind Hassan, put his hands on Hassan's hips and lifted his bare buttocks. He kept on hand on Hassan's back and undid his own belt buckle with his free hand. He unzipped his jeans. Dropped his underwear. He positioned himself behind Hassan." Page 75 This excerpt shows unflinching in which Amir never stepped in.
"Just before midnight, Baba asked us to help him into bed. Soroya and I placed his arms on our shoulders and wrapped ours around his back. When we lowered him, he had Soroya turn off the bedside lamp. He asked us to lean in, gave us each a kiss." Page 173 This excerpt shows tenderness.
4. a) "After all, didn't all fathers in their secret hearts harbor a desire to kill their sons?" Page 29 This quote shows a rhetorical question, which shows the relationship between Baba and Amir for most of their lives, until the very end.
b) "At parties, when all six-foot-five of him thundered into the room, attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to the sun." Page 13 This is an example of a simile and shows how respected and well-known Baba was in Kabul as well as in America.
c) "Looking back on it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975- and all that followed- was already laid in those first words." Page 11 This is an example of foreshadowing and shows what event will truly change the story.
d) "'And where is he headed?' Baba said. 'A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything.'" Page 22 This is an example of oversimplification and shows how Baba feels about Amir and his disappointment towards the person he has become even though it is not bad.
e) "Never mind that we taught each other to ride a bicycle with no hands, or to build a fully functional homemade camera out of a cardboard box. Never mind that we spent entire winters flying kites, running kites. Never mind that to me, the face of Afghanistan is that of a boy with a thin-boned frame, a shaved head, and low-set ears, a boy with a Chinese doll face perpetually lit by a harelipped smile." Page 25 This is an example of anaphora and shows how significant and important Hassan was to Amir's childhood.
f) "I wished I too had some kind of scar that would beget Baba's sympathy. It wasn't fair. Hassan hadn't done anything to earn Baba's affections; he'd just been born with that stupid harelip." Page 46 This is an example of Ad hominen and shows the jealousy that Amir has towards Hassan and ultimately leads to his bad decision in the winter of 1975.
g) "Strangely, I was glad that someone knew me for who I really was; I was tired of pretending." Page 106 This is an example of irony because Amir was this horrible person for what he did and someone had finally discovered him and he liked it, which is weird because you wouldn't want someone to know the bad things that you have done.
h) "Summer meant long school days sweating in tightly packed, poorly ventilated classrooms learning to recite ayats from the Koran, struggling with those tongue-twisting, exotic Arabic words. It meant catching flies in your palm while the mullah droned on and a hot breeze brought with it the smell of shit from the outhouse across the schoolyard, churning dust around the lone rickety basketball hoop." Page 108 This is an example of imagery and shows the setting of the story.
i) "As words from the Koran reverberated through the room, I thought of the old story of Baba wrestling a black bear in Baluchistan. Baba had wrestled bears his whole life. Losing his young wife. Raising a son by himself. Leaving his beloved homeland, his watan. Poverty. Indignity. In the end, a bear had come that he couldn't best. But even then, he had lost on his own terms." Page 174 This is an example of a metaphor and shows Baba's struggles that he has gone through all throughout his life, but also his strength that he has held through them all.
j) "But he would not. He said it was a matter of ihtiram, a matter of respect." Page 208 This is an example of motif. There is a motif in this story, which is tradition. Tradition is carried throughout the entire story no matter where they are who they are.
Characterization:
1. An example of indirect characterization is "He motioned to me to hold his hat for him and I was glad to, because then everyone would see that he was my father, my Baba. He turned back to the microphone and said he hoped the building was sturdier than his hat, and everyone laughed again. When Baba ended his speech, people stood up and cheered. They clapped for a long time. Afterward, people shook his had." Page 15 This shows that Baba had a good sense of humor and was also well liked by everyone around him, respectable man. Another example of indirect characterization is "But despite Baba's successes, people were always doubting him. They told Baba that running a business wasn't in his blood and he should study law like his father. So Baba proved them all wrong by not only running his own business but becoming one of the richest merchants in Kabul." Page 15 Baba was hard working and didn't let anything bring him down. He would do anything to be successful no matter how many times he got knocked down.
An example of direct characterization is "My smile broadened. That was another thing about Hassan. He always knew when to say the right thing- the news on the radio was getting pretty boring." Page 37 Hassan was very supportive and would always comfort Amir no matter what the circumstances were. Another example of direct characterization is "He turned his eyes to me. 'We Afghans are prone to a considerable degree of exaggeration, bachem, and I have heard many men foolishly labeled great. But your father has the distinction of belonging to the minority who truly deserves the label.'" Page 140 This shows how people truly respected Baba and that he was an honorable man to anyone with Afghan decent.
The author uses both direct and indirect characterization to ensure that the reader has a clear view of each character, whether it is the perceived or accurate view.
2. When the author is talking about Hassan, he uses admirable diction, like "Hassan does no wrong." Hassan is more admired throughout the book because he stayed honest to everyone including himself. When the author was talking about Amir there was a use disappointed or ashamed diction. This is seen when Baba said "You bring me shame. And Hassan...Hassan's not going anywhere, do you understand?" This helps develop the overall role of both characters throughout the book.
3. The protagonist is Amir and he is a dynamic character because he goes through a lot of inner change throughout the story. In the beginning he is filled with hatred and jealousy, which leads to his guilt that he holds with him his entire life. He also holds this cowardice within him. Throughout the book Amir loses his guilt through redemption and becomes a brave soul that would do anything to help Hassan's son. Amir is a round character because it takes the entire book to explain the person he was and is to the person he becomes through tragedy and guilt. Amir is developed throughout the story and is a very complicated character who experiences a lot of emotions throughout the story.
4. The author does a really good job at explaining each character in depth because I walk away from this book and feel like I have met every character and know their true character. The author does not present these characters like real characters, but rather as human beings that I can compare and connect myself too. "I gave him a friendly shove. Smiled. 'You're a prince, Hassan. You're a prince and I love you.'" Page 30 In this excerpt I feel as if I am also one of the friends and experiencing a really touching moment. This is something real human beings do with their friends, not characters in a story.
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
This poem is interesting to me because I can also be a very indecisive person. I am no where near as bad as he is, but I know how it feels to be down to the last minute and trying to make a decision, even a decision that is by no means life-changing. The decision can be as simple as which phone case I want or what I want to have for dinner, yet it takes so long to make the decision. Time is constantly ticking in this poem and Prufrock is running out of time to change his indecisiveness to confidence. Prufrock is letting the time pass, when he really doesn't have that much time left if he wishes to make a big change to his life. My indecisiveness is very different from Prufrock's. I can decide the big things that I want to do in life or life-changing decisions, but when it comes to the small things that really mean nothing, I can never make the decision which should be quick and easy. The allusion to Hamlet is important because Hamlet and Prufrock both hold this hesitancy and lack of confidence. The difference is that Hamlet overcomes this and follows through, but Prufrock never does as far as the poem goes. Elliot uses a lot of allusions and repetition in this poem that help the reader understand Prufrock's state of mind. This poem is a very interesting poem that I can personally relate to.
Poetry Remix
In our remix, we each got a puzzle piece and got to design it however we wanted. This showed how each person has different style and is unique in their own way. We brought our puzzle pieces together to show that we shape the world, but that the world shapes us as well.
My puzzle piece represented the network that we all live in. There is the outside world, each school, each classroom, and each student, yet we all work together to be successful and help shape each other.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Poetry Essay
Poems are never alike. Each author has their own unique style and experiences that define the content of their poem, which is why all poems are different. Although all poems are different, there will always be one similarity. Creativity. Working Together, by David Whyte, and Everything is Going to be Alright, by Derek Mahon, are two poems that are extremely different though still hold some similar characteristics. Working Together is a poem that shows how every individual is impacted by the world around them, yet by working with each other a person can shape who they want to be. Everything is Going to be Alright is a poem that shows many negative endeavors that a person will go through, yet in the end life will move on and things will be alright again. These poems construct to totally different feelings and move in opposite directions, fighting through the surroundings or accepting what is happening. Both poems hold this pulsating shift from negative to positive and focus on how the surroundings impact a person, yet contribute entirely different themes and tones of reality compared to optimism.
These poems resort to a common idea of surroundings and what they do for a person. The authors from both of these poems use surroundings, but interpret them in an entirely different way. One author uses this feature to shape the character of someone, even if that person can use other surroundings to change their character. The other author uses surroundings as a measurement to the person's destination, whether they will be alright or not. Perspective is another idea that both authors cover, yet one author focuses on one perspective which is this content feeling after everything is said and done, while the other author looks at many perspectives and questions what is happening rather than accepting it. One unique similarity between these poems is how the author uses the end of the poem to summarize their main point or what they are trying to get the reader to understand. One ending sums that “Everything is going to be alright.”, while the other poem ends with “…by forming it well to the great intangibles about us.” Although both others use the end to summarize, their points are completely opposite in that one author chooses to accept what is happening and move on, where the other author takes on the challenge and makes the world shape itself around them.
The tones and themes of these two poems are found on opposite sides of the spectrum. The author of Working Together uses a reflective tone and looks back on the past, where the author of Everything is Going to be Alright uses an optimistic, sensitive tone. Tone relates to the theme in these poems. Mahon uses an optimistic tone and prevails a theme of always finding the positive and looking at the bride side of things. Whtye embeds a reflective tone that connects to a theme of looking at both sides and using their influence as a force to fight against the negative things. Mahon and Whyte both incorporate a shift that vacillates between negative and positive. An example of this is when Mahon mentions that everyone will experience death, yet everything is still going to be alright. Whyte does the same by touching on how the world shapes us, but in the end we, as humans, make the world shape itself around us. These two authors use the same structure and ideas, but take them in to different conversations and interpretations.
Poetry defines a person and allows a person to express their true emotions in an active and creative way. Each person will think differently and experience different things, which is why poetry can never be alike. In Working Together and Everything is Going to be Alright, Mahon and Whyte both use the same concept, but their minds travel in different directions. The ability to imagine and discover defines poetry. Mahon’s perspective is that no matter how many bad things happen, life will go on and people will get through it and find happiness some day through their surroundings that impact their lives so much. Whyte focuses on this idea that people are taking action and not letting the negative things that surround them shape who they are, but are taking these things and using them as an inspiration to work together and make a change. Poetry is where everything connects and the reader can decide which mind they will follow.
These poems resort to a common idea of surroundings and what they do for a person. The authors from both of these poems use surroundings, but interpret them in an entirely different way. One author uses this feature to shape the character of someone, even if that person can use other surroundings to change their character. The other author uses surroundings as a measurement to the person's destination, whether they will be alright or not. Perspective is another idea that both authors cover, yet one author focuses on one perspective which is this content feeling after everything is said and done, while the other author looks at many perspectives and questions what is happening rather than accepting it. One unique similarity between these poems is how the author uses the end of the poem to summarize their main point or what they are trying to get the reader to understand. One ending sums that “Everything is going to be alright.”, while the other poem ends with “…by forming it well to the great intangibles about us.” Although both others use the end to summarize, their points are completely opposite in that one author chooses to accept what is happening and move on, where the other author takes on the challenge and makes the world shape itself around them.
The tones and themes of these two poems are found on opposite sides of the spectrum. The author of Working Together uses a reflective tone and looks back on the past, where the author of Everything is Going to be Alright uses an optimistic, sensitive tone. Tone relates to the theme in these poems. Mahon uses an optimistic tone and prevails a theme of always finding the positive and looking at the bride side of things. Whtye embeds a reflective tone that connects to a theme of looking at both sides and using their influence as a force to fight against the negative things. Mahon and Whyte both incorporate a shift that vacillates between negative and positive. An example of this is when Mahon mentions that everyone will experience death, yet everything is still going to be alright. Whyte does the same by touching on how the world shapes us, but in the end we, as humans, make the world shape itself around us. These two authors use the same structure and ideas, but take them in to different conversations and interpretations.
Poetry defines a person and allows a person to express their true emotions in an active and creative way. Each person will think differently and experience different things, which is why poetry can never be alike. In Working Together and Everything is Going to be Alright, Mahon and Whyte both use the same concept, but their minds travel in different directions. The ability to imagine and discover defines poetry. Mahon’s perspective is that no matter how many bad things happen, life will go on and people will get through it and find happiness some day through their surroundings that impact their lives so much. Whyte focuses on this idea that people are taking action and not letting the negative things that surround them shape who they are, but are taking these things and using them as an inspiration to work together and make a change. Poetry is where everything connects and the reader can decide which mind they will follow.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
INTRO TO POETRY
Working Together
By: David Whyte
1. The significance of the title is that working together shows us how our surroundings and the people around us truly shape who we are. The title introduces this new idea that even though the world and our surrounding shapes who we are, we can work together to find who we really are.
2. This poem has a reflective poem. It seems as if the author is reflecting on the nature of human beings and the cycle they seem to go through. He is almost looking back and giving his opinion, in a general manner, about what humans go through and how although there is a negative, there will always be a positive to follow.
3. When I read this poem, I rated it a 10 and my meaning behind this was simply truth. There was truth to the poem that connected to my daily life and something that I do everyday, collaborating. This realization came to me after reading this poem because I was able to connect so easily and reflect on my personal experiences as well.
4. This poem shifts work as a pulse. It seems that the first part is true, but expressed in a negative way and then the author follows it with something a little more positive. The author does this all throughout the poem, as if it is going in and out with its shifts.
5. The overall theme of this poem is this flow of influence and how we are influenced by so many different things that surround us. In this poem there is this contradiction, yet also a harmony. Everything connects because people are influenced by the same or different things.
Brainstorming about this poem and going through this question helped me look at it in different ways, which was ironic because the poem itself was telling you how people can view things from so many different perspectives. Talking about this poem in my group also helped me because, as I was looking at it one way, my classmates saw things that I completely missed. I was able to find other ideas and clarify what the tone and theme of the poem was so that I can use the information to write my essay tomorrow in class.
By: David Whyte
1. The significance of the title is that working together shows us how our surroundings and the people around us truly shape who we are. The title introduces this new idea that even though the world and our surrounding shapes who we are, we can work together to find who we really are.
2. This poem has a reflective poem. It seems as if the author is reflecting on the nature of human beings and the cycle they seem to go through. He is almost looking back and giving his opinion, in a general manner, about what humans go through and how although there is a negative, there will always be a positive to follow.
3. When I read this poem, I rated it a 10 and my meaning behind this was simply truth. There was truth to the poem that connected to my daily life and something that I do everyday, collaborating. This realization came to me after reading this poem because I was able to connect so easily and reflect on my personal experiences as well.
4. This poem shifts work as a pulse. It seems that the first part is true, but expressed in a negative way and then the author follows it with something a little more positive. The author does this all throughout the poem, as if it is going in and out with its shifts.
5. The overall theme of this poem is this flow of influence and how we are influenced by so many different things that surround us. In this poem there is this contradiction, yet also a harmony. Everything connects because people are influenced by the same or different things.
Brainstorming about this poem and going through this question helped me look at it in different ways, which was ironic because the poem itself was telling you how people can view things from so many different perspectives. Talking about this poem in my group also helped me because, as I was looking at it one way, my classmates saw things that I completely missed. I was able to find other ideas and clarify what the tone and theme of the poem was so that I can use the information to write my essay tomorrow in class.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)