Final Essay

For the final essay, I plan on writing a poem. I would typically either lean towards writing the research paper or a short story, but I think I’d like to try writing a poem. The poet I intend on imitating is Yusef Komunyaka and his style in the poem Blackberries. The reason why I chose this poet is because out of all the poems we have read in class, this poem stuck out the most. I really like how he brought up subliminal themes of economic status and boundaries within an explanation of picking blackberries. I also like how the poem made me think of childhood memories similar to apple picking and other activities of the sort. The most critical aspect of Komunyaka’s poetry that I would like to incorporate into my own poem will be his descriptive details. The way he describes the scenery and context makes the reader imagine themselves picking blackberries, and I think it would be interesting to see if I could also have my audience experience that. I think for the topic of my own essay I will discuss an experience from back at home in Boston. In the description of my topic I will make it a point to emphasize imagery. The context of the topic will consist of a winter night, so it will be interesting to describe details such as weather, scenery, and setting. Hopefully I will be able to cause my audience to visualize my poem as Yusef Komunyaka did for me in his poem Blackberries.

Antigone

The Greek Tragedy’s way of dealing with violence is to not show it onstage, yet imply what has happened after the fact or through dialogue. This technique was clearly utilized in the play Antigone. Haemon’s death nor his mother’s were shown onstage, but the messenger reports back the news, informing the audience of what happened. By using this technique, the audience is able to know the events that took place, but with less of an emotional impact. If the deaths had been shown on stage, the audience may have been more engaged seeing the pain and agony the characters endured. I also think by not showing the violence on stage, it almost allows for a small amount of leeway for Creon. After hearing the news, Creon declares his sorrow and his guilt. He continues to claim how sorry he was and how now that his wife and son are gone he has nothing. This almost allows the audience to be more sympathetic towards him because he now “realizes” his wrong-doings. I think that if the audience had seen the torment his family went through and the actual physical violence they willingly placed upon themselves, Creon would receive no sympathy.
I prefer the way modern television portrays violence directly on stage. I think being able to visualize not only the physical act of violence, but the emotions leading up to and the resulting emotions afterwards helps the audience to process the events in a different way. By not directly showing violence, it allows for the scenes to be open for interpretation for the audience, however I think the director (play or movie) has a certain intention by creating the circumstances within the scenes. For example, in the movie Boondock Saints, one of the main characters, a friend of the two brothers Rocco is murdered. The events leading up to the scene leaves the audience in anticipation and because the two brothers were present for the murder, you could see the emotional impact the act of violence had on them. The brothers were absolutely crushed and if the audience had not seen their reactions and the murderer’s reaction that scene, I don’t think the scene would have been as influential. As I read the play Antigone, after reading of the murders, although I felt sorrow for the situation, I think I would have felt more involved if I had seen how the characters were affected directly in the moment.

Second Essay Topic

For my second essay, my topic will be concerning the first question of comparing the two unjust and gruesome traditions in Shirley Jacksons “The Lottery” and Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony”. After reading both stories I found many similarities in the themes of tradition. There were many comparisons in the characters and settings in each of the stories. For example the officer in the Penal Colony to me resembled Old Man Warner and the soldier in the Penal Colony resembled Mr. Summers. I think the comparisons amongst components and themes of the two traditions is very evident, however depicting the language and imagery will be more of a challenge. The officer’s argument against the new Commandant and almost blame as to why the machine was unable to work properly reminded me of Old Man Warner’s declaration in the Lottery. The procedure of the execution and specific machine parts reminded me of the village member’s strict system in the Lottery. In the Penal Colony, the parts of the machine (Designer, Bed and Harrow) each contributed towards the final execution similar to the specific procedure in the Lottery. Each execution had designated individuals to participate as well as material items (box and machine) that were expected to perform as a part of the tradition. There also seemed to be an emphasis on the children in both of the stories contributing to the traditions. For my essay, I will have to explore the imagery more and language used to make comparisons. I intend on using the language of the Officer in the Penal Colony to compare to the conversations that members of the village had in the Lottery. The imagery used in the Lottery depicted a village full of people gathered around the execution of Tessie Hutchinson will be helpful to compare to the Officer’s recollection in how the old tradition of the machine took place in the colony. The imagery made by the description of the machine in the Penal Code was also very specific so perhaps certain components will symbolize village members in the Lottery. There are many similarities in the two stories and after further exploration in imagery and language will be helpful towards my comparisons.

Tradition

In the Lottery, there was a blatant theme of tradition displayed by the village members. The tradition of gathering in June to have every member select a piece of paper and determine who would be stoned was a commitment that every individual made. As they gathered, every person knew where to be and what to do because they had done it for so many years as Old Man Warner explained. One tradition that my family has continued for years has been one around Thanksgiving. It may have not been as intense as stoning another member of the family, however after eating Thanksgiving dinner all 10 members of my family gather in the family room to uphold the tradition we do every year. We all line up with five people on each side facing each other and proceed to play rock, paper, scissors shoot. Whoever loses in that round has to clean the dishes while the others go to watch football. Although around my grandparents time, with my own parents they dealt cards to determine each other’s fate, the tradition has been going on for years now. Not once has one member of my family ask why we do this, or volunteer to help to do the dishes. It is always assumed that whoever loses will do the dishes. No one has ever argued against the method or suggested a new one because of the simple fact it is a tradition. After reading The Lottery I wondered why not one of the members of the younger generation fought against or argued with the tradition of their village. Although losing in a simple game and having to do the dishes pales in comparison to being stoned to death, it remains a tradition every Thanksgiving.

Writing Exercise 1

After reading the first short story The Use of Force by William Carlos Williams, I initially sympathized with the young child. I remember dreading every time I would have a doctor’s visit as a child. I especially understood the girl’s fear of having a stranger poke and prod at you without knowing who they were. After reading further into the story, I began to sympathize with the doctor because I felt his frustration in trying to perform his job with all the obstacles in his way. He had people depending on him to cure this young girl while he had to be successful while maintaining the situation with the parents and forcefully opening the girl’s mouth. The doctor was trying to help the child while she was doing everything in her power to fight him. I felt almost proud of the doctor because he was so determined to examine the young girl’s throat and did not give up. I was even more indebted to the doctor when he was able to successfully determine the cause of the young girl’s illness.
After reading A Visit of Charity by Eudora Welty, I initially disliked the young campfire girl Marian because of her intentions in her visit. It was evident that Marian only was going to visit the elderly in order to receive three points towards her campfire girl score. She had no desire to be at this institution, and repeatedly says that her visit will only last a short while. After reading further, I was actually quite frightened by Addie and the other older woman. These women acted extremely bizarre and it almost seemed as though they were purposely trying to s care Marian. Addie had initially wanted Marian to stay and warmly welcomed the flowers Marian brought. The other older woman however made it clear that Marian was not welcomed and encouraged the strange behavior. I got the impression that these women were in a mental institution and from my experience in visiting an elderly home, I had no idea how bizarre it could be. I have visited my nana in a nursing home, but all of the nurses seemed to know the patients very well and were kind and welcoming. The whole interaction between Marian, the nurse, and patients seemed uncomfortable and peculiar to me.
After reading Sleepy by Anton Chekhov I immediately sympathized with Varka. Varka was struggling with working every day all day and never receiving sleep. Because I have insomnia, I can somewhat understand how painful sleepless nights can be. I, however, have never had to answer to a cruel master and wife or listen to a screaming baby all night. Varka’s repetitive dream of dark clouds, liquid mud, and her mother all seemed to be symbolic of the life she was living. Clearly Varka was still young and required to continue working in order to support herself because her mother was unable to. Throughout the entire story, Varka’s life was portrayed to have the audience sympathize with her, and even towards the end after Varka kills the baby, I of course sympathized for the infant, but also for Varka. Loss of sleep can lead you to insanity, and the story Sleepy clearly shows the depths of which a sleep deprived individual can go.

Making Comparisons

After reading the poems “Dover beach” by Matthew Arnold and “My Husband’s Back” by Susan Minot, I Immediately noticed the influence of gender that created differences amongst the poem. Due to the circumstances of the speakers in the poem, and the issues discussed it seemed clear to me the masculinity of Dover Beach and femininity of My Husbands Back. For instance, in the poem Dover Beach, Matthew Arnold was for a majority of the poem, discussing the pressing issue of modernism that was taking place in society at the time. Arnold compares the concept of society rapidly changing to the physical aspect of the sea which represents masculinity. It Is only in the last stanza that Arnold introduces the concept of love, as if it were an afterthought to deal with a world that “hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain”. It seems as though the central message Arnold was getting across in his poem was the damage modernism had brought upon his society instead of the emotions and feelings incorporated with love.
In her poem “My Husband’s Back”, Susan Minot primarily represents femininity solely based upon the title. This poem was clearly dedicated to her husband, and Minot progressively makes that clear to the audience throughout the rest of her poem. In the first stanza, Minot articulates problems that typically women would experience such as cooking and taking care of the children. She describes “Weeping into a pot of burnt rice” and “the baby flushed with the flu asleep on the pillow” which are typical concerns that a women would have. After stating the circumstance of the speaker, Minot continues to describe her as sitting back and admiring her husband almost to a point of dependency. She describes his back as “firm and compact like a young man’s back. And the giant world which swirls in my head stopping most thought suddenly ceases to spin”. In the poem, Minot expresses the experiences of admiration and dependency in a feminine mindset.

Song Choice

I had a difficult time choosing which song I would like to analyze for poetic style, but I finally decided on “What I Got” by Sublime. I have always enjoyed listening to Sublime, but because of the message, word choice and rhythm, What I Got is my favorite song. The words that sublime chooses to use in the song are simple, logical but also meaningful. I think the message of being grateful for what we have and not to constantly stress out about things that are out of our control is important and evident in this song. I think this song is a poem because it has a rhyming scheme and also a structure that flows accordingly. I also believe this song is a poem because the various hidden messages can be interpreted in many different ways. I am looking forward to further analyzing this song and writing the first essay.

In Creve Coeur, Missouri

In the poem In Creve Coeur, Missouri, Rosanna Warren facilitates the use of negative imagery, similes and specific vocabulary to describe the attempt of a heroic firefighter to save a nameless young girl. Warren starts off introducing the evidence of the circumstances by means of  a photograph taken by a photographer on the scene. The poet describes the victim as a “rag of body” describing her as too soon from the line and too pale. Not once throughout the poem did Warren name the victim and this leads me to wonder if it was because she did not survive. It led me to question whether it is easier for the public to accept the fatality because without a name, the circumstances become impersonal. Without a name, the public knows nothing of her family, her friends, what school she went to or what her favorite color was. On the contrary, Warren does at a later point in the poem almost plead that the firefighter “tell us that she will stand again, quarrel and misbehave”. By denoting the young victim with qualities of a child misbehaving and quarreling, made me feel sympathy for this young girl because I was able to relate those qualities to a younger cousin.

          Throughout the poem, when Rosanna Warren describes the firefighter she consistently used words that caused me to put all dependency on the firefighter to save the young victim. She described the fireman as a strong man, almost commanding him to save the victim by stating “you’ve done it again and again”. She also describes the victim putting her fist onto his “professional” chest giving him status. Throughout the entire poem, I was convinced the firefighter would save the victim and she would survive, so when she didn’t it was a surprise. Towards the end of the poem Warren determines that the snapshot won a surprise yet subtly mentions that the victim could not be revived. The ending made me reflect back to the beginning when Warren named the photographer an amateur, and whether there was a sense of bitterness and sarcasm in her tone.   

Aimee

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