Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Blog #4: Likes/Dislikes in Poetry

Which poem did you find most difficult? What questions do you have about the poem? Which poem did you find most accessible?

My favorite poem read in this class so far is "To his Coy Mistress" solely because of the last two lines:

Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.

I love it :) Perhaps it's because im female, and like mooshy lines like this, but I remember that when I read this poem the first time, I reread it a second time over because of those last lines and how they pulled at my heartstrings.

The most accessible poem however, was "The Chimney Sweeper." The theme of the poem was easily identifiable and the overlaping imagery of darkness and light was evident throughout the entire poem. I might find this poem the easiest to read because I always used to watch cartoon shows when I was younger, and the cartoons always dealt with good versus evil; evil being dark, and goodness being light. Since I always watched these cartoons, I am used to associating characters as either "good" or "bad," and it turns out that this poem has many of the same elements in the poem.

The most difficult poem for myself was "Cinderella." The poet changes up the entire story line of cinderella, having the prince cover the steps in "cobbler's wax" and the evil stepsisters cut off their toes and feet in order to fit into Cinderella's shoe! I understand that the poet is trying to convey the typical, perfect, fairytale in a different light, but I did not like the method he used in order to get his point across. Taking a child's fairytale and presenting it to an older generation does not seem very sophisticated and classy of the poet. It does not convey any puns or ironic twists that truly make the readers think about the poets message. This poem seems like a high schooler could of been the poet! Or maybe I'm missing an even deeper alegory in the poem? If anyone has anything to comment on "Cinderella," please do so!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Blog Post #3: Working In Small Groups

Blog Post #3: How did your understanding of the short stories change during the process of drafting, revising, and working in small groups?


     When working in small groups, we are able to focus on eachother's essays and what each group member is trying to incoorporate into his paper. This proves very useful since this cannot beachomplished in a large class discussion, where more broad and general ideas are discussed. Having two or three other group members critique my work in depth is a great method of strengthening my paper because I am able to see a subject from another person's view point, which, in turn, will lead to new ideas and a stronger, more supported paper.

     For example, when discussing "The Chrysanthemums" in groups, I noticed one of my group members had a very similar point of view on the story as mine. After discussing both of our similiar views, we began stating important supporting facts that could back up our colaborative view point. However, once we began listing our supporting details from the text, we realized that our views on the short story were not as similiar as we first thought. My view point did cover the general idea of my group member, but both views were actually quite different and could be argued in diverse ways with contrasting evidence from the text.

     These small groupings helped clearify my own view points as well as my supporting arguement backing up my supportive evidence. Furthermore, the groups allowed me to build up my paper's defense against other people's views and ideas that may prove my arguement false. 



Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Blog Post #1: "The Yellow Wallpaper"

How does the 1st-person narrative point of view affect
your experience of reading "The Yellow Wallpaper?"


Blog Post #2: "Rose for Emily"

2nd Blog entry--What is the significance of "time"in "Rose for Emily?" How does it fit into the theme(s)of the story? How does it work in the narration? What is your sense of time as you're reading the story?

In "Rose for Emily," time is another element that Emily Grierson wishes to control. Emily is a proud woman who is seen as an "idol," placing herself on her own pedistool, and carries her own air of importance. Emily heavily controls her own life by subjecting those around her under her will. For example, when the entire neighborhood was given individual mailboxes Emily simply refused to have one stationed in front of her house and thus she didn't receive a mailbox. Another example is when Emily buys poison and refuses to state the reason for her doing so, even though it is required by law to state your reason.
 
Emily wishes to control time just as she does with everything else in her life. Emily gets a "girly" haircut in order to project herself as a younger woman since her youth was robbed from her when she was a child living with her father. Emily even poisoned her husband in order to prolong her wedding night for eternity. Emily does achieve control over time, and this ties into the timeline of the short story.
 
"Rose for Emily" is narrated from a third person point of view and has a fragmented time sequence. Different events in different time periods are sporadically placed in the narration. This unchronological time sequence fits into Emily's character perfectly. Emily controls her own time, placing events where she wishes them to be, just as the narration is done. The irregular timeline allows readers to look further into Emily's character and enhance her personality of wanting absolute control of her life.
 
As I read "Rose for Emily" I disregarded the exact dates of events. Trying to piece together the events in a flowing timeline seemed too challenging to mentally prepare. In the end, after I read through the entire story, I created my own timeline in order to correctly list the sequences of events in the short story.
 
The narrators timeline:
CHAPTER 1
-Emily's funeral
-1894 Colonel Sartoris remitted Emily's taxes
-Colonel Sartoris dies
-A generation later, Emily is asked to pay her taxes (she refuses to pay, of course)
-Talks about China painting lessons 8 years previously
CHAPTER 2
-Explains how her house smelled 30 years previously
-2 years after her father's death people complained about her smelly house
-Went further back in time to days after her father dies
CHAPTER 3
-Emily meets Homer Barron the summer after her father's death
-Emily buys poison
CHAPTER 4
-Emily's relations in Alabama visits Emily and stays for a while then left
-Emily vanishes for years
-Emily is now seen as fat with gray hair
-Years passing, her hair is turning more grey
-Emily refuses mailbox
-Emily dies
CHAPTER 5
-Emily's funeral
-Found Homer Barron dead in bed
 
Correct timeline:
-Emily's father died
-Remitted her taxes
-Meets Homer Barron
-Relations come to visit and leave
-Emily buys poison
-Kills Homer Barron
-Stays cooped up inside
-China Painting lessons
-People come to make her pay taxes (she declines)
-Emily dies
-Emily's funeral
-Find Homer Barron dead upstairs