Vincent Millay

Great poem! One of my favorite literary works that has been discussed this semester. I thought that the poem was similar to some other works that we have read this semester. I felt the undertone of the poem was sort of a "carpe diem" or seize the day mentality. Love and death are both inadvertently discussed in the poem. Sex is also very prominent in the poem as there are several references hat are sensual and erotic. Millay was a very respected poet who lead a unique lifestyle and I really enjoyed reading her works.

I liked the poem and wish we would have read a few more like it.

The Raven

The Raven is a truly classic tale of literature that I have studied many times. The allegory takes a man who is rather calm and has a great feeling of loss and makes him a frantic panicking man who is very grief stricken. The man continues to ask the Raven questions even though he knows the Raven will only say "Nevermore". This poem has a very basic rhyme scheme. This tale has a few different refernces tied into, such as the bust of Pallas or some bible references. The Raven starts off very slow and by the end of the tale is quite exciting and has the reader on the edge of their seat. I really enjoy Thr Raven everytime I read and look forward to discussing it in class.

The Sick Rose

This poem was brief and to the point. It was about a rose that has neared the end of its lifespan as winter nears. If you look deeper into the poem you will find that it is also talking about life, death, and love. There many strange references that can be interpreted in different ways. The worm, the crimson joy, and the howling storm. I believe that the poem is more life and love, and if you do not love someone while you are living your life then you will die alone, old and lonely.

I thought the poem was interesting, but a little hard to interpet and could be read in many different ways depending on the reader.

To His Coy Mistress

I thought this poem was fantastic. A bit lengthy, but with a good message. Carpe Diem, seize the day, was the overall message of the story and it hit close to home. I thought that the boy in the poem was a realist and he knew that if the women did not decide soon if she loved him or not then it would be too late. Although, most people in their youth do not usually think like this, the fact that this character does is what makes him unique. His mentality that promotes living each day to the fullest is a breath of fresh air in comparison to some of the characters that we have been introduced to lately.

My Papa's Waltz

This brief poem was short and left much room for interpretation. I thought that the rhyme scheme was unique and that the poem painted a good picture overall. I am not sure about whether the poem was about child abuse or just a boy and his father bonding. It seemed like it could have went either way. A well written poem.

Streetcar Named Desire

This latest story, Streetcar Named Desire, I thought was fairly interesting. I never really knew what was going to happen next and found the ending to be both devastating and fantastic. The characters were all very dynamic. I thought that the male lead, Kiwalski, was very profound with his speech and his high testosterone gave the story some added excitement. I felt bad for Blanche, in sequences she seemed pathetic, but overall she had been through a lot after being basically kicked out of the last town she was from.

Trifles

I found this story pretty droll and boring. I had to reread a few times to totally understand what had happened at the end of the story. Apparently, the women had been abused and that had pushed her over the edge and led to her killing her husband. The story was , somewhat, dramatic but was not quite exciting enough to keep me on the edge of my seat. The characters seemed very calm and one dimensional throughout the story. All in all, I found it to be very mediocre.

In The Lake of The Woods

This story for me seemed complicated. A boy has an abusive father who eventually kills himself and the boy slowly becomes a man. He falls in love in college and soon finds out that his girl was cheating on him. Eventually, he gets drafted and heads to Vietnam. Where he see's horrific images of violence and death that severely plague him. Upon his return to the United States he is labeled a war hero. Once he is settled back in the states he runs for the Senate and loses. Feeling depressed and alienated he moves out into the woods to a small cabin near a lake. Shortly thereafter, his wife goes missing and many suspect that it was him. He flees the area and the story ends very unfinished.

Symbolism

A hunger Artist was a good story that I found very enjoyable. It was about a man who fasted for absurdly long periods of time. He fasted for forty days and then when it was done he desired more attention and joined a circus where he fasted until his death and his cage was then replaced by a Tiger. The Symbolism in the story that I noticed was the main character was meant to depict the everyday artist. The everyday misunderstood artist that seeks the approval of others while not wanting to be forgotten after they have achieved something. The main character showed the loneliness of artists and the quest for meaning and accomplishment.

The second story by Hawthorne was similar to the other works of his that I have read. It was about a man who was tempted by the devil to the woods and was intent on joining some type of unholy alliance. On his way out to the woods he has some second thoughts, upon his arrival he see that he is among several of members of his town inclduing his own wife. As he and his wife prepeare to be intiated he yells out to the heavens and everyone disppears and for the remainder of his life he is unsure if the events actually happened. He never is able to trust again. The man's trip in the woods with the devil is a symbol for the search and discovery of evil and all of the towns people being there already is a symbol for the inner thoughts and inner nature of the everyday curious human being. The sinful nature of all is shown in this story.

Irony

In Poe's piece the only Irony that I noticed was the lack of motive for killing Fortunado. It mentions that he is very upset and intends on humiliating him but never mentions why and what this revenge is for. Another part that I found a tad bit ironic was the fact that nearly 50 years later the main character is not the slightest bit regretful for what he has done and will most likely never get caught or charged with any wrongdoing.

The Jewlry had far more irony in it then did the first tale. The main irony in the story was how when he was happiest in his life his wife was unfaithful and some sort of a prostitute. The days he considers to the happiest days were those when he has little money but instead had the love of a beautiful whorish women. Upon her death he changes completely he is more focused on selling her precious jewels in order to become rich and he remarries another women very quickly. Although this women is most likely a much more honest women, he has never been miserable in his entire life as he is when the story ends.

Recitafif/ Arabi

The first story I really didn't like. It was dull and hard for me to follow. The women were vastly different and as time passed they seem to grow farther apart. They were originally innocent and young but society seemed to change them and they outlooks/opinions. As far as characterization goes, Roberta seemed to live more on the edge and liked to think of herself as part of the worlds upper class and Twyla had to work for everything she ever had. They both ended up living meaningful lives but will remain in argument about their pasts until the end of both of their lives.

Araby was slightly better than the last story but still fairly uninteresting. The boy was hitting puberty and was infatuated with this other boys sister. He builds her up to be this supreme goddess , but when he meets her he can't really spit out the words. She mentions a bazaar and he jumps on the opportunity to impress her. He goes and is very disappointed and then it basically ends. The main character is the only one who we know the feelings of. He is the average teenage boy and is lovestruck. The girl is fairly shallow and their is not much too her.

The lady with the Dog/ Rose

The Lady with the Dog has many different settings in the short story. It starts in Moscow with the male adulterer, when he vacations to Yalta he meets a women and they take several trips to nearby Oreanda. When he returns home to Moscow again he realizes that he may have fallen for this female adulterer. He then becomes obsessed and travels to her hometown while in nearby St. Petersburg. Upon meeting her he finds that she also has fallen for him and the two meet again in Moscow to discuss their future. The story manages to pack many settings in a small tale.

A Rose for Emily was an odd and dark story. The setting is simple , as it only takes place around the town of Jefferson and at The Griersons house. Emily was seen around town when she was younger but as she grows up she is never really seen. She is recluse and upon her death her house is invaded by curious townsfolk. When they arrive at her house they see that she poisoned her long time boyfriend and may have been having intimate experiences with the corpse. This story's setting is really simple in comparison to The Lady with the Dog.

Girl/An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge

The definition of plot ,in my opinion, is simply the sequence of events that take place in a story. In Girl, the plot was hard for me to follow. As the only events that actually took place were the different types of advice that the mother would give to the girl about growing up and becoming a women. There was the occasional childish interuption from the little girl but that aside, not a whole lot was accomplished in the narrative. The second story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, I really enjoyed. I had seen it on televison in the form of a Twilight Zone. The plot was complex and was difficult to understand when reading it the first time because it went out of sequence. The most simple version of the plot was this: man is tricked by enemy soldier to destroy bridge, man is caught and sentenced to death, man believes he escapes but really just fantasizes about it seconds before his death. The ending gave a nice twist.

Recap

Hills Like White Elephants is about a couple who are set to have a child but are considering have an abortion. The women is very confused about what she wants and would just like to make her husband happy. The husband thinks that getting an abortion would be best and if the women got one then things could go back to the way they were before. The plot is fairly simple. They are preparing to travel somewhere in Spain and are basically just debating what they should do about the baby. The reference to hills looking like white elephants is meant to symbolize a look similar to that of a pregnant women.

A Good Man Is Hard To Find surrounds a family traveling to Florida. It comes down to a women who when her life is in question realizes that she has not lead a very good life. During the story she is very negative and complains the entire trip. However, at the end when she comes with terms to the fact that she achieved nothing in her life she attempts to reach out to this outlaw and make him change his ways. She proves to be unsuccessful and is killed. The plot starts very dull and has sveral stories within the story that do not really seem to tie into the plot.

Ths Story of an Hour

Sorry this is late. I guess I was confused on what we were expected to do after the reading , but nonetheless here it is.

When I first read the story I thought of the women as being someone who I should have felt bad for and may have been neglected or treated poorly by her husband. I thought that for her to show such excitement over his death that she must have been treated very poorly.

The second time that I read the story I saw the women as more of a selfish and spoiled type. Throughout the short story it is never mentioned that her husband treats her badly at all. In fact, it mentions how he lovingly looked at her at times. I found the womens response to the death inappropriate and very selfish.

I am not sure on the theme. If I had to choose something then I would say that it has to do with how if someone is selfish and acts/behaves that way then they may be punished.