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.