Life's a Journey

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Tell Wiliam Immediately That Matrimony Was Unwise

Tell Wiliam Immediately That Matrimony Was Unwise

Tell wiliam immediately that matrimony was unwise; ludicrous and stupid,

Girls and sluts, will lay with others perpetually; -

“Ladies” we see in Novels traumatically illusion oxpeckers;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

Though some think boobs help brain technical troubles melt;

those wild thoughts will badly hinder an amazing hug,

Also athletes usually-grown north like smelling farts;

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

This essay, written by Jonathan Swift, is a satirical piece that criticizes and pokes fun at good manners and superficial behaviors. Analyzing the essay, I would start off focusing on the fact that at the beginning of the essay, Swift begins writing in a very literate and ornate manner. His vivid and elegant diction make the reader admire his way of writing. He starts off talking about good manners and how important and complex they are. Then I would talk about how through the essay, he contorts his and the readers view of manners. He uses irony and imagery when giving examples in order to make the reader realize how simpleminded the whole notion of good manners existing truly is. Towards the end of the essay, he flips his view and ultimately says that good manners don't really exist. He uses a sonnet-like flip that opens the reader's mind to the author's true beliefs. I would try to connect this with the Canterbury Tales which we learned about and how there is a parallel in how both authors use the target that they are criticizing as a method of criticizing it in a very Don Quixote-like manner.

SPUNK

If I were to analyze this novel I would first of all focus on the language that Hurston uses. She uses a heavy Southern vernacular when she writes the dialogue of the characters in the novel and normal standard english when she describes what is going on in the novel. This is similar to how Twain uses the way that the characters talk in order to describe the novel and give the characters more personality and life. The tone of this novel is didactic. It is a narrative short story that tries to express the complexity and dangers of communication itself. By creating the characters of Elijah and Walter, the two men who discuss what is occurring in the novel, the author shows how dangerous talk is because it can act as the spark which many times spurs human action. The novel also criticizes the social construct of criticism and gossip. Another topic which I would go into is the role which women play in spunk. For the men in the shop and for both Joe and Spunk, Lena is just an item. They treat her as if she were some type of prized bitch (dog) and dehumanize her. Also, the whole notion of weddings and marriages and commitment is played with in the story. The characters do not show that they believe in many of the laws that govern matrimonial relationships such as fidelity and they use weddings in order to cover up and fix the way that people look at them. An example of this would be how Spunk and Lena were going to get married because they were tired of people treating them in a weird way. I believe that through the plot and the use of dialogue, Hurston is able to create a story which teaches a lesson about morals.

Monday, May 2, 2011

DIS POEM

For this poem I would first of all start by saying that the language used in the poem (the diction and spelling/grammatical choices) are very interesting because they give the poem a somber tone. The author uses repetition and enjambment to create a sense of fluidity within the poem. The poem also begins uncapitalized and ends in ellipsis. This further creates the sense that the poem does not have a beginning nor does it have an end. This poem is about the history of Africa and the author uses these literary techniques in order to create a patronizing, didactic, and somber expository poem. The last lines in the poem are very intriguing. The author repeats "in your mind..." three times. This creates a sense of unfinished thought which makes the reader really try to connect what he or she has just read with what the reader has in their head. The poet criticizes the poem itself many times saying that the poem needs to be written, that it has no poet, that it is irritating, and that it will not be amongst the great literary works to just name a few. By doing this, it is showing how the history of Africa itself has not been the most coveted.

COMING BACK OWER THE BORDER

COMIN BACK OWER THE BORDER

For this passage I would first do is focus on the language itself. The poem is written in either some type of old english jargon or it is the language that a slave or uneducated person would use. Then I would talk about how the poem starts off talking about "Coming back ower the Border" (line 1). I would go into detail talking about how this uneducated person perhaps has crossed some type of border and may have experienced liberty and wealth. The narrator shows excitement when he writes that "It isna jist the biggins" (line 3). In the second stanza, the author uses rhyme and consonance in order to highlight the emotions that the narrator is experiencing when talking about this new place that the narrator is describing. In the second and third stanzas, the narrator talks about what the "North" (line 9) is "nae" (lines 5 and 9). The last two stanzas have A-B-C-B end rhyme and start off with the words It's/The/The/The. The Author uses these similarities in structure to once again show the level of knowledge which the narrator has been exposed to. In the final stanza, there is a clear reference to phonetic differences that the narrator has experienced such as the "'O'" (line 14), the "'R'" (line 15),and the "'wee this' see thon' Och, gonnae'" (line 13). This poem is about how vocabulary and communication especially the phonetics are one of the things that are most impacting. This person that has clearly been freed from his or her normal life and has been exposed to a new way of seeing the world and the most impacting thing has been the manner of speaking.