In Nikki Giovanni’s Poetry, I really enjoyed all three of these poems. The first one, “Nikki-Rosa,” is apparently a poem about herself and her childhood. But this poem brings up some very good points. Usually when people have hard lives, they usually complain and end up being bitter in life, but with this poem she is trying to show that overall her life was her life and to her it was a good one. This poem shows strength, hope, love and pride in being in the skin the good Lord gave you. This poem gave me a pleasing feeling and I was actually glad to read something positive and uplifting. It was a change compared to some of our readings this week.
Her poem of “I’m Not Lonely” seemed to a poem about a little girl trying to cover her fear of being left by a parent; probably her mother. She appears to trying to convince herself that she isn’t afraid and that she is old enough to be alone. There is also a recognition of previous bad dreams, but I think that when she states that she doesn’t have these bad dreams anymore, it’s really her way of saying they are no longer dreams, they are her reality.
The poem called “Poem for Black Boys” seems to be about what people perceive black boys should play in the way of games since they are black. However, she is using sarcasm to the fullest extent! She is stating that just because the boys are black, they must somehow just play the things that show ignorance since they are black, and games that teach them and enhance their life of crime and indecency. She is basically pointing at white people to show their ignorance about black people.
I was really impressed with her poems because they were easy to follow and they really just made sense. They left you with the feeling of knowing you just learned something about what a good decent person can experience in life through difficult times and end up surviving and succeeding in life.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Ron Rash – Serena
First let me say I LOVED THIS BOOK! This was definitely one of those books I could relate to and actually visualize….. literally! The setting being set in the mountains of North Carolina was wonderful. Ron Rash is a very talented writer and I was very impressed with his knowledge of the surrounding area and of logging.
Serena was a very interesting character. Her personality was a hard one at first to unveil, but her true self was slowly peeled away. At first her drive was mainly focused upon their business of logging. She was very knowledgeable about logging and at first everyone was impressed and envious of her. This became the center of her and Pemberton’s lives.
In the beginning of the book, it was first made known that Pemberton was just arriving back in the NC Mountains from Boston and he brought with him his new bride, Serena but awaiting him was a young pregnant girl named Rachel Harmon with her father. Rachel was just 16 years old while Pemberton being somewhere around 50 and she was pregnant with Pemberton’s baby. When Rachel’s father approached him, he revealed he came to kill Pemberton, but in return, Pemberton kills Rachel’s father. Rachel is now alone and left with trying to raise her son alone and she struggles and longs for Pemberton to return to help her and take her for his own.
When Serena becomes pregnant, she continues to live life like she is invincible but eventually she ends up losing the baby for reasons unknown. When this occurs, she also loses her ability to ever have any more children. While Serena was having issues with her pregnancy just before losing it, she goes to Dr. Cheney and he just brushes her off and tells her it’s probably just gas and to eat some peppermints. Later after she recovers from her miscarriage, they find the doctor dead in a bathroom stall with his tongue cut out, holding a peppermint in each hand. This is when Serena starts knocking people off more rapidly.
Galloway was working and training someone and when he accidently got his hand chopped off, Serena helps save his life. Galloway and Serena become partners in crime at this point and he begins to follow and assist her in deeds of murder and deceit. They kill several people who get in their way and Pemberton kills one of his partners, Buchanan, himself. Galloway and Serena stalk Rachel and Galloway tries to kill her, but she manages to escape, but he does kill the Widow Jenkins who has been a mentor to Rachel and has helped her with her son.
Pemberton manages to get a picture of his and Rachel’s son and he also gives the sheriff $300.00 to give Rachel, but she never finds out where it comes from and she uses it to runs off to Seattle where she and her son lives the rest of their lives. Pemberton and Galloway go off hunting one day seeking a mountain lion they have been looking for since they first arrived. This is when Pemberton is told by Galloway that Serena (who has already bought her husband's coffin) has put poison in the sandwich he just ate, he also just got bitten by a snake, then he fell off an embankment, then eaten by the mountain lion.
Then the story jumps into the future to the spring of 1975. Serena has spent the past 45 years in Brazil and Jacob has come to seek his revenge. He first kills the one hand man sleeping on the floor next to Serena’s bed (assuming this is Galloway), then Jacob, Rachel & Pemberton's grown son, planted the knife that was used to kill his grandfather into Serena's stomach and she walks out on the veranda and dies.
The ending was a little surprising, but I was glad Serena finally got what she greatly deserved!
Serena was a very interesting character. Her personality was a hard one at first to unveil, but her true self was slowly peeled away. At first her drive was mainly focused upon their business of logging. She was very knowledgeable about logging and at first everyone was impressed and envious of her. This became the center of her and Pemberton’s lives.
In the beginning of the book, it was first made known that Pemberton was just arriving back in the NC Mountains from Boston and he brought with him his new bride, Serena but awaiting him was a young pregnant girl named Rachel Harmon with her father. Rachel was just 16 years old while Pemberton being somewhere around 50 and she was pregnant with Pemberton’s baby. When Rachel’s father approached him, he revealed he came to kill Pemberton, but in return, Pemberton kills Rachel’s father. Rachel is now alone and left with trying to raise her son alone and she struggles and longs for Pemberton to return to help her and take her for his own.
When Serena becomes pregnant, she continues to live life like she is invincible but eventually she ends up losing the baby for reasons unknown. When this occurs, she also loses her ability to ever have any more children. While Serena was having issues with her pregnancy just before losing it, she goes to Dr. Cheney and he just brushes her off and tells her it’s probably just gas and to eat some peppermints. Later after she recovers from her miscarriage, they find the doctor dead in a bathroom stall with his tongue cut out, holding a peppermint in each hand. This is when Serena starts knocking people off more rapidly.
Galloway was working and training someone and when he accidently got his hand chopped off, Serena helps save his life. Galloway and Serena become partners in crime at this point and he begins to follow and assist her in deeds of murder and deceit. They kill several people who get in their way and Pemberton kills one of his partners, Buchanan, himself. Galloway and Serena stalk Rachel and Galloway tries to kill her, but she manages to escape, but he does kill the Widow Jenkins who has been a mentor to Rachel and has helped her with her son.
Pemberton manages to get a picture of his and Rachel’s son and he also gives the sheriff $300.00 to give Rachel, but she never finds out where it comes from and she uses it to runs off to Seattle where she and her son lives the rest of their lives. Pemberton and Galloway go off hunting one day seeking a mountain lion they have been looking for since they first arrived. This is when Pemberton is told by Galloway that Serena (who has already bought her husband's coffin) has put poison in the sandwich he just ate, he also just got bitten by a snake, then he fell off an embankment, then eaten by the mountain lion.
Then the story jumps into the future to the spring of 1975. Serena has spent the past 45 years in Brazil and Jacob has come to seek his revenge. He first kills the one hand man sleeping on the floor next to Serena’s bed (assuming this is Galloway), then Jacob, Rachel & Pemberton's grown son, planted the knife that was used to kill his grandfather into Serena's stomach and she walks out on the veranda and dies.
The ending was a little surprising, but I was glad Serena finally got what she greatly deserved!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Randall Jarrell - Poetry
Randall Jarrell was an excellent language teacher who once stated, “If I were a rich man, I would pay money for the privilege of being able to teach.” He served in the U.S. Army Air Force from 1942 to 1946 and while serving, he wrote and published a volume of poems. His writings seem to reflect his experience in the military as well as the classroom.
In his poem “Losses,” Jarrell writes about war and death that war brings. He also states that death that comes by way of war is like any other death. He also talks about being in an airplane and coming to death by way of plane crash and how it wouldn’t be an accident, but a mistake. He gives a few details as to the air planes, and the medals they receive, their maps, and the cities they destroy. He is showing how death by war has a lesser importance because these types of deaths are looked at as being casualties.
The poem “The Death of the Ball Turrett Gunner” made no sense to me. I do not know what his intent was with it. They only thing I can make of it is it refers to death again. However, “The Girl in the Library” shows how a girl is in a library and has fallen asleep. The narrator shows her depth of sleep and what she may be dreaming about. The writer sees the sleeping girl as making an excuse for herself stating that she isn’t really asleep and she is really just sitting there studying. I think overall he is saying that her time in the library is insignificant. I am not sure why he thinks this way, unless he feels as a woman, her real place in life doesn’t focus on getting an education, but that she should be focusing on something more because her dreams of a real education is just a ridiculous thought. I think this poem is mainly a focus on how woman shouldn’t dream too much, because as a female, her dreams should only be just dreams because some things are just an impossible concept for women.
In his poem “Losses,” Jarrell writes about war and death that war brings. He also states that death that comes by way of war is like any other death. He also talks about being in an airplane and coming to death by way of plane crash and how it wouldn’t be an accident, but a mistake. He gives a few details as to the air planes, and the medals they receive, their maps, and the cities they destroy. He is showing how death by war has a lesser importance because these types of deaths are looked at as being casualties.
The poem “The Death of the Ball Turrett Gunner” made no sense to me. I do not know what his intent was with it. They only thing I can make of it is it refers to death again. However, “The Girl in the Library” shows how a girl is in a library and has fallen asleep. The narrator shows her depth of sleep and what she may be dreaming about. The writer sees the sleeping girl as making an excuse for herself stating that she isn’t really asleep and she is really just sitting there studying. I think overall he is saying that her time in the library is insignificant. I am not sure why he thinks this way, unless he feels as a woman, her real place in life doesn’t focus on getting an education, but that she should be focusing on something more because her dreams of a real education is just a ridiculous thought. I think this poem is mainly a focus on how woman shouldn’t dream too much, because as a female, her dreams should only be just dreams because some things are just an impossible concept for women.
Sylvia Plath - Poetry
Sylvia Plath was an unusual poetry writer. Her views of life and suicide are evident in almost all of her writings. Death apparently stayed on her mind constantly as her writings were full of horror, isolation and entrapment. By the time she was seventeen, she had published her first short story and poem. She received a scholarship and entered into Smith College where she graduated with honors, but while in college she had a mental breakdown and was hospitalized and underwent psychiatric therapy. She later when to Cambridge University and received her MA degree and in 1956, she married the British poet Ted Hughes. On February 11, 1963, she committed suicide.
In Sylvia Plath’s “The Bee Meeting,” she tells of a group of people meeting up for some reason. She first questions if they are there to meet her. The writer is paranoid to the way she is dressed because she worries that she isn’t dressed right and fears that the bees are going to get to her and hurt her. She is worried and scared about everything around her with the voices of the people changing, bean flowers, and she thinks the bees are trying to make her one of them. She fears this consumption. She attempts standing very still so the bees will think she is cow-parsley so they will leave her alone. It is obvious that the writer is expressing her fears through this poem. She even makes mention of the queen being up against the virgin bees who plan to eliminate her. I think with this part of the poem, she is referring to herself and the way she sees how the world is around her.
In Lady Lazarus, the writer is first stating that she is doing something she has attempted before and it is evident she is once again referring to dying. She talks about a cat having nine lives and that this is her third so apparently she is talking about suicide. She also states the first time was an accident, but the second wasn’t. She sees dying as a theatrical art and she does it well and her attempts at dying give her a charge. All of her writings are quite depressing and Plath seems to have enjoyed being depressed. I wonder if she ever wrote anything uplifting. If a person read enough of her writings, I could see the reader getting depressed. She is not my favorite writer and to be honest, I could do without ever reading anything else written by her again.
In Sylvia Plath’s “The Bee Meeting,” she tells of a group of people meeting up for some reason. She first questions if they are there to meet her. The writer is paranoid to the way she is dressed because she worries that she isn’t dressed right and fears that the bees are going to get to her and hurt her. She is worried and scared about everything around her with the voices of the people changing, bean flowers, and she thinks the bees are trying to make her one of them. She fears this consumption. She attempts standing very still so the bees will think she is cow-parsley so they will leave her alone. It is obvious that the writer is expressing her fears through this poem. She even makes mention of the queen being up against the virgin bees who plan to eliminate her. I think with this part of the poem, she is referring to herself and the way she sees how the world is around her.
In Lady Lazarus, the writer is first stating that she is doing something she has attempted before and it is evident she is once again referring to dying. She talks about a cat having nine lives and that this is her third so apparently she is talking about suicide. She also states the first time was an accident, but the second wasn’t. She sees dying as a theatrical art and she does it well and her attempts at dying give her a charge. All of her writings are quite depressing and Plath seems to have enjoyed being depressed. I wonder if she ever wrote anything uplifting. If a person read enough of her writings, I could see the reader getting depressed. She is not my favorite writer and to be honest, I could do without ever reading anything else written by her again.
Sonny’s Blues – James Baldwin
This is one of those realistic stories that I really enjoyed. It was a story I could relate to and feel the emotion that the writer was trying to depict. James Baldwin is noted as being one of the most important American black writers of the 20th century. He was born and raised in Harlem, NY and it shows in his story of “Sonny’s Blues” which takes place in Harlem. The narrator who is unnamed is an algebra teacher who has a brother, Sonny, that is a heroin addict. The narrator is married and has a daughter while Sonny has neither. This shows the extreme difference of the two brothers.
One day, the narrator sees in a newspaper that Sonny has been arrested for selling heroin. This troubles him, but he tries to ignore it, but while the narrator was finishing up a school day at work, he sees and recognizes one of Sonny’s drug buddies waiting on him. The narrator realizes he is high, but in frustration, he walks and talks with him. This man is telling the narrator of what will happen to Sonny with jail and rehab, but that he will eventually be out again. The narrator is anger, frustrated and confused. While Sonny is in rehab, the narrator loses his daughter to polio and he writes his brother to tell him of it. After Sonny is released, he comes to live with his brother temporarily. The narrator gets his wife’s parents to let Sonny come stay with them while he goes back to school and practice his piano playing, but soon, Sonny is skipping school and is hanging out in jazz bars and Sonny’s brother is constantly suspicious of his brother doing drugs again. Sonny asks his brother to come watch him play in one of the clubs and he agrees to. At first, Sonny has difficulty playing, but eventually Sonny becomes a part of the music and he ends up playing beautifully. Then for the first time in years, they briefly have a bonding moment and all is well.
This story uses flashback to give meaning to a few of the circumstances the narrator is involved in. The mood changes from time to time, but only slightly in variation. I think that this story is a reflection of the writers life and the experiences he had and seen in his life. In this area of location, drugs are a prominent aspect of life for many as well as the varied lives of the people. Some succeed while others do not.
One day, the narrator sees in a newspaper that Sonny has been arrested for selling heroin. This troubles him, but he tries to ignore it, but while the narrator was finishing up a school day at work, he sees and recognizes one of Sonny’s drug buddies waiting on him. The narrator realizes he is high, but in frustration, he walks and talks with him. This man is telling the narrator of what will happen to Sonny with jail and rehab, but that he will eventually be out again. The narrator is anger, frustrated and confused. While Sonny is in rehab, the narrator loses his daughter to polio and he writes his brother to tell him of it. After Sonny is released, he comes to live with his brother temporarily. The narrator gets his wife’s parents to let Sonny come stay with them while he goes back to school and practice his piano playing, but soon, Sonny is skipping school and is hanging out in jazz bars and Sonny’s brother is constantly suspicious of his brother doing drugs again. Sonny asks his brother to come watch him play in one of the clubs and he agrees to. At first, Sonny has difficulty playing, but eventually Sonny becomes a part of the music and he ends up playing beautifully. Then for the first time in years, they briefly have a bonding moment and all is well.
This story uses flashback to give meaning to a few of the circumstances the narrator is involved in. The mood changes from time to time, but only slightly in variation. I think that this story is a reflection of the writers life and the experiences he had and seen in his life. In this area of location, drugs are a prominent aspect of life for many as well as the varied lives of the people. Some succeed while others do not.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
A Raisin in the Sun
This 1961 movie’s primary focus was on Walter Lee Younger. He was a 35 year old man who is searching for his place in life as a black man. Walter, his wife, Ruth and son, Travis, live with his Mama in her apartment that she has lived in for over 40 years. He lives by his Mama’s rules because she is considered the head of the family. Walter’s struggles begin with his need to be able to financial support his family and to be the family head. A few months prior, Walter’s father passed away and they are waiting for a $10,000 insurance check that is coming in the mail to Mama. Walter and his friends want to open a liquor store with the money and Mama refuses to allow it to be used for that. Walter has himself under so much pressure that he is going out drinking a lot. At one point he finds out that is wife, Ruth, is pregnant and due to their rocky marriage, she contemplates having an abortion and even makes a payment on it and schedules it. When Walter finds out about Ruth’s pregnancy, he shows no care or emotion to stop her. This becomes a real determining factor for Mama when she goes and takes part of the money to make a down payment on a house. Everyone is happy but Walter. But Mama realizes that and gives the rest of the money to Walter for him to put back some for his sister’s education and to put the rest in a checking account and be “head of the house.” After they find out that the house Mama has bought is in a white neighborhood, they are little uneasy until they see it. But Karl Linder from the homeowners association comes and offers to pay them to not move into a white neighborhood, but they refuse his offer. Walter’s sister Beneatha is in college to be a doctor and she is a liberated black women who is eager to find her own way in life. She dates a Nigerian man named Joseph Asagai who asks her to marry him and go to Nigeria. Beneatha is a free spirited woman and it doesn’t seem likely that she will actually do this, but anything is possible. The money Mama gave Walter, he actually gave all of it to one of his friends for the liquor store license, but the guy runs off with it and the whole family is devastated. At this point they seem to have been losing faith but in the end, they still go ahead and move into the new house. This is when Walter finally finds himself and becomes a man.
I really enjoyed this movie. I actually read this play a few semesters ago and greatly enjoyed it. I was impressed with the movie because even though there were a few acts from the play that were not in the movie, the parts of the play that was in the movie were quite accurate. That really impressed me. Many times you go and see a Hollywood movie that is based on a book and the differences make the movie very disappointing, but this wasn’t the case with the 1961 version. I am curious as to how the new version would be. I have watched a couple of trailers on it and some parts seem similar while others appear to be very different.
I really enjoyed this movie. I actually read this play a few semesters ago and greatly enjoyed it. I was impressed with the movie because even though there were a few acts from the play that were not in the movie, the parts of the play that was in the movie were quite accurate. That really impressed me. Many times you go and see a Hollywood movie that is based on a book and the differences make the movie very disappointing, but this wasn’t the case with the 1961 version. I am curious as to how the new version would be. I have watched a couple of trailers on it and some parts seem similar while others appear to be very different.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Powerhouse - Eudora Welty
This was a very odd story to me. I really did not understand the point of it nor did I find it interesting at all. It was boring and really had no meaning. It told of Powerhouse who was black man and was singing to mostly white people who have no interest in him. He was singing lyrics with no real meaning and they just rolled around with no direction. He does sing and tell of his wife being dead. The only emotion he makes while making that statement seems to be in fun and he is degrading and talking ugly about his own wife in her death which seems strange. They must not have been close and maybe not even together anymore. Powerhouse does mention a few times about the name at the bottom of the telegram he received telling of his wife’s death. He doesn’t know the name and ask if anyone else knows the name. Uranus Knockwood was the name and he seemed more concerned about the name than what the telegram actually said.
It is once again apparent that this story was written to show difference in black and whites and to show injustice to blacks. I see that there is suppose to be an emphasis on the music and the soul that is felt through music that blacks felt that the whites didn't. However, if I had written this, or been involved in its writing, I would have focused more on the story’s plot and theme and focused less on inserting lyrics in the writing.
Eudora Welty seemed to be an educated woman and while reading her biography, I thought I would have read something with a little more feeling that would have related to more people. She must have also had a great love for music. The musical lyrics would have just been better and easier to follow if they had all been put together and not scattered with in a story line. I hope that if I have to read anything more by Welty within this class, I hope it something with more depth and structure.
It is once again apparent that this story was written to show difference in black and whites and to show injustice to blacks. I see that there is suppose to be an emphasis on the music and the soul that is felt through music that blacks felt that the whites didn't. However, if I had written this, or been involved in its writing, I would have focused more on the story’s plot and theme and focused less on inserting lyrics in the writing.
Eudora Welty seemed to be an educated woman and while reading her biography, I thought I would have read something with a little more feeling that would have related to more people. She must have also had a great love for music. The musical lyrics would have just been better and easier to follow if they had all been put together and not scattered with in a story line. I hope that if I have to read anything more by Welty within this class, I hope it something with more depth and structure.
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