For my free response this week I want to look back at the poem Harlem by Hughes. I feel this poem is very deep but we didn't have enough time to dive fully into it. In this poem I really want to look at the first line. “What happens to a dream deferred?”. I feel this line is very hard to grasp. The author is asking such a hard question and one with no possible way of solving it. We can only use are imagination to picture what would happen. Would a dream deferred be positive or negative? Could it mean that a better more promising dream took its place or is it simply filed away waiting to be rediscovered? Another question is why did the author use deferred in the sentence? Why not forgotten, postponed or delayed? I feel that these questions can only be answered by the reader and each reader will uncover a different answer. There is no right or universal answer.
Later in the poem the author describes a dream deferred as a negative instance. “fester like a sore..... stink like rotten meat?” line 4. He compares the deferred dream to a sore and rotten meat. His descriptions make the reader think that maybe a dream deferred is a bad thing. I feel like the author wants the reader to think about his past and all the dreams the reader once had but now has to give up because of the practicality of those dreams. I feel that the poem Harlem brings to light an often looked over aspect of maturing. As we get older and undertake more of the responsibility of being a member of society we tend to forget what we once dreamed of.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Parody! Listen to the Force
Listen to the Force
Chosen the path
i have
the darkside
cannot win
cutting
off my hand lets me
mature
into man
Skywalker
is my name i am
so sweet
and so cool
Star Wars is the theme in my parody of William Carlos Williams’s poem “This is Just to Say” I chose to imitate the form of his poem while changing the overall theme. My poem is a tribute to Williams. It shows the usefulness of Williams form in conveying messages. This form is perfect for everything from the mundane to the heroic. William’s poem successfully tells a story of a person eating plums from a refrigerator. My poem successfully tells the story of a maturing Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars series. Like Williams poem my poem also shows the character flaw of the speaker. In Williams we get the sense of insincerity, which makes us question wether or not the speaker is actually sorry. In mine we get the sense that the speaker is full of himself and is overconfident.
Because I wanted to demonstrate the effectiveness of William’s form I followed his form faithfully. Like Williams poem, my poem contains 3 stanzas. Each of these stanzas contain 4 lines and match William’s use of syllables per line. His 5,4,2,3,3 ,2,5,2,3, 3,5,2,3 style. Williams form is a very effective form to deliver any kind of message.
Chosen the path
i have
the darkside
cannot win
cutting
off my hand lets me
mature
into man
Skywalker
is my name i am
so sweet
and so cool
Star Wars is the theme in my parody of William Carlos Williams’s poem “This is Just to Say” I chose to imitate the form of his poem while changing the overall theme. My poem is a tribute to Williams. It shows the usefulness of Williams form in conveying messages. This form is perfect for everything from the mundane to the heroic. William’s poem successfully tells a story of a person eating plums from a refrigerator. My poem successfully tells the story of a maturing Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars series. Like Williams poem my poem also shows the character flaw of the speaker. In Williams we get the sense of insincerity, which makes us question wether or not the speaker is actually sorry. In mine we get the sense that the speaker is full of himself and is overconfident.
Because I wanted to demonstrate the effectiveness of William’s form I followed his form faithfully. Like Williams poem, my poem contains 3 stanzas. Each of these stanzas contain 4 lines and match William’s use of syllables per line. His 5,4,2,3,3 ,2,5,2,3, 3,5,2,3 style. Williams form is a very effective form to deliver any kind of message.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Digging because of love
In the poem Digging, Seamus Heaney uses similes and metaphors to show his love for his family. He compares his father and his grandfathers tradition of farming to his love of writing. Seamus Heaney shares his desire to excel in what he does just like his fathers excelled in what they did.
The overarching comparison is between farming and writing. Heaney starts the poem with images of his father farming. “When the spade sinks into gravelly ground: My father digging. I look down” line 4. I picked this image of a man and his farm because I felt it best showed the mental image that Heaney was trying to paint. Through this picture you not only see the literal, Heaney’s father and his farm but you can also feel the love that Heaney is trying to show. Heaney takes pride in his fathers work and the land his father owns. He sees his fathers dedication and hard work and wants to emulate his father’s dedication in his writing.
Just like his father and his grandfather Heaney wants to excel in what he does. This next picture represents the tools and space that Heaney will use to ply his craft. In the poem Heaney states “But I’ve no spade to follow men like them. Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests. I’ll dig with it.” line 28. His father and his grandfather both had spades and land to ply their craft. This image shows Heaney’s spade, his land and the fruits of his labor. Heaney’s spade is his pen, his notebook is his land and the ideas and literary works are the fruit of his labor. Like his father and grandfather Heaney is proud of what he does and wishes to excell and carry on the tradition of excellent that is part of his family legacy.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Shakespeare
After reading the assigned poems for the week I began to wonder, “Why Shakespeare? What makes him one of the most popular and thought provoking poet/play writer of the 1600 century?” Shakespeare’s ability to appeal to the common man in his poems and plays has allowed him to cross the centuries and connect with readers today.
Shakespeare, unlike most 1600 century writers has been able to connect to the common audience. Though Romeo and Juliet was written about two upper class families the themes of love, loss and misunderstanding enable the common people to connect with the story. The power of these themes and there connection with humanity as a whole, allow Shakespeare to connect with audiences today, though he wrote the play over 400 years ago. Each of Shakespeare’s plays contain universal themes that still enable the story to tug at the heart strings of the modern day audience.
In addition to Shakespeare’s plays, his poems also contain similar qualities. Sonnet 73 Shakespeare writes about the universal theme of death. His ability to connect his work with universal themes and his literary skill in conveying his images and thoughts in a manner that is timeless itself, allows his work to continue to be appreciated today.
Shakespeare, unlike most 1600 century writers has been able to connect to the common audience. Though Romeo and Juliet was written about two upper class families the themes of love, loss and misunderstanding enable the common people to connect with the story. The power of these themes and there connection with humanity as a whole, allow Shakespeare to connect with audiences today, though he wrote the play over 400 years ago. Each of Shakespeare’s plays contain universal themes that still enable the story to tug at the heart strings of the modern day audience.
In addition to Shakespeare’s plays, his poems also contain similar qualities. Sonnet 73 Shakespeare writes about the universal theme of death. His ability to connect his work with universal themes and his literary skill in conveying his images and thoughts in a manner that is timeless itself, allows his work to continue to be appreciated today.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
BLOG 1 Sonnet 73
Poetic form can help convey images and messages unlike any other type of literary style. William Shakespeare uses poetic form in the second quatrain in Sonnet 73 to help convey his message; without poetic form and its means of conveying images, tones and feelings Shakespeare’s dark message would be totally lost.
“I see the end of the day after the sun sets which the night replaces. Which is like death because it makes people sleep.”
When the second quatrain is translated into prose it loses all its meaning. For instance, the first line “In me thou see’st the twilight of such day” line 1, is in poetic form, it carry’s images and tones. Through Shakespeare use of poetic form we can see the dark and foreboding imagery present in the line. When comparing line 3 “Which by-and-by black night doth take away” line 3, and the prose form “which the night replaces” the sad tone and death like image can only be found in the poetic form version. Though prose form easier to understand, when a message is conveyed in such a form it loses its thought provoking qualities. Finally the last line “Death’s second self that seals up all in rest” line 4, can only be understood in its poetic form style. The images of death, sadness and the comparison between death, night and sleeping can only be grasped through the structure and image building qualities of Poetic form. Poetic form enable pieces of writing to become something more. It accomplishes in a short series of words what pose form could never match in the same amount of writing. Image creation and tone development are only possible through the structure and qualities that Poetic form enable.
“I see the end of the day after the sun sets which the night replaces. Which is like death because it makes people sleep.”
When the second quatrain is translated into prose it loses all its meaning. For instance, the first line “In me thou see’st the twilight of such day” line 1, is in poetic form, it carry’s images and tones. Through Shakespeare use of poetic form we can see the dark and foreboding imagery present in the line. When comparing line 3 “Which by-and-by black night doth take away” line 3, and the prose form “which the night replaces” the sad tone and death like image can only be found in the poetic form version. Though prose form easier to understand, when a message is conveyed in such a form it loses its thought provoking qualities. Finally the last line “Death’s second self that seals up all in rest” line 4, can only be understood in its poetic form style. The images of death, sadness and the comparison between death, night and sleeping can only be grasped through the structure and image building qualities of Poetic form. Poetic form enable pieces of writing to become something more. It accomplishes in a short series of words what pose form could never match in the same amount of writing. Image creation and tone development are only possible through the structure and qualities that Poetic form enable.
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