poetry response 3

The Sick Rose by William Blake

a poetry response by Drew Bradley

 A peculiar poem indeed, a perplexing juxtaposition between a lover and a flower and the parasites that destroy both. A CHEATER he claims this women. As she is sick and in need of care, for "the invisible worm" has tainted her flower bed. This is a very enlightening poem on the simple and inevitable destruction of a rose and of relationships. So fragile and joyous the flower does seem, but so easy to manipulate, to overpower it seems. William shares a hint of anger and remorse over his wilting flower. Using an exclamation point in the first stanza indicates a dramatic reaction. Reference to a worm is the hint that lead me to believe it is also a reference to a bride or lover being wronged or violated, "found out thy bed" is a good representation of laying with the "worm" or the contracting of an illness. Such a peculiar poem to represent feelings of anguish or sorrow. I find it interesting, "his dark secret love" as he calls it, almost as if there was passion behind being overpowered by this worm. "Does thy life destroy" the hurt hes is feeling for his tainted flower, is a fine lie between the worlds of a simple rose and a passionate lover.

Overall i believe this poem to innate Williams relationships with women, more importantly a lover or bride, and the deceitful  natures of "worms" trying to taint his precious rose. A sad poem of heartbreak really.

poetry response 4

You Fit Into Me

By Margaret Atwood

Poetry Response

This wonderfully simple to the point poem gives a very blunt and fruitless description of when two people are simply not meant to be. The lines "you fit into me like a hook into a eye" not a pleasant comparison by any means. With such a simply spoken 4 line poem Margaret manages to convey her feelings toward an individual it such a dry and clear feeling towards another individual.

This form of simplistic writing is almost a flaunting of poetic skills. Using very little to emphasis a powerful feeling is a very hard skill to master. But I also believe Margaret did this intentionally as almost a show of how cut and dry her feelings are in this poem. Not wishing to go any further into the subject because she cares so little for the idea of it. Her distaste rings true in this poem; almost as if shes staring into your face rudely explaining why she doesn't like you. A very bland poem if you ask me, but bland is by no means tasteless, this poem is absorbed like a saltine cracker, salty quick to eat, not a whole lot to hide behind.

Then again from a completely different standpoint the phrase "you fit into me" could very well be literal. Bringing in some questionable gestures indeed. But a totally viable viewpoint. Margaret seeming almost very straightforward and rather gritty person could easily use suggestive descriptions in a painful and morbid manner.  This phrase could almost be an enticing allure in a very strange way; The wording of the second stanza using" a fish hook an open eye" to over emphasis the already described event, could give this a taunting or strained desire for a reaction. And since tension can be broken in the best of two ways in a face to face encounter, i can imagine Margaret getting ready to either slap the reader or kiss them furiously. 

I rather enjoy this poem. On the surface it looks like nothing more than the ramblings of a bar drunkard, but in a deeper understanding this can tell Margaret's manners, personality, way of handling situations, and even relationships if you had the evidence. Its far from being the simple shell of a poem it appears to be.    

Blog Post 21

In watching the short clip of "Apocalypse Now" i can see a number of parallels to the "The Heart of Darkness" such as the severe lack of care for the natives as the men fire at the beach. This as well as the mens attitudes towards the natives, watching them run, laughing, as if it were a sport. The colonels name Kilgore is a play on words referencing to his cruel and ruthless nature. As this is a depiction of "The Heart Of Darkness" it is to be expected, but the haunting visuals and clear misunderstanding of the two cultures is just as the book describes

Blog Post 24

Well i cant say Ive done the best in this class over this first semester, but i have learned alot and grown a great deal as a person, i have learned my limits and that confidence can only get you so far in life, as well as the fact that you cannot carry the world on your shoulders and an insane amount of stress just causes mental and physical illness. The best way to live and learn though is through trial and error(at least for me that is) and i faced my trials and ive better myself because of it. I just hope my errors and desire to grow up too fast dont take too large a toll. Starting next semester with an open mind and an open body im going to do my best and straighten my priorities after all if i dont pass school im not going to be able to accomplish as much as id like in the coming years.

Blog Post 19

The Great Gatsby was a great travel down memory lane as i read it in the eighth grade. But so much more was opened up to my understanding as I have grown older. This book has so many valuable lessons on life, and how easy it is to slip up and make a mistake. Through Gatsby i have learned to be careful of the past for it may repeat itself. As well as to pursue happiness and not those objects which are often filled in its place. Money,power,beauty, all so easy of a temptation,but so easily misunderstood;so easily misused by those seeking to fill a void. I plan on reading this book many more times in my life, and each time i will learn something new, for life is a never yearning for knowledge and understanding.

Blog Post 15

History is bound to repeat itself if we as humans do not learn from our mistakes. Gatsby is a clear example of this, his use of persuasion and manipulation described in the events of page 116. Gatsby uses his false past in order to appear as a quality person in order to get what he wants. This follows deep into gatsbys desire for daisy which he is repeating from the past and trying to follow a path that has long since been gone.

Blog Post 12

Gatsby chapter 3 read along Gatsby and his fabulous parties are the talk of the town. Nick is invited to Gatsby's most recent extravagant event. The party is a circus of drinking and entertainment, elaborate masks tailor the faces of uninterested guests. The party appears to just be a event for escape with the heavy references to drinking and escape Fitzgerald weaves into the event. Nick then meets Gatsby the man of mystery, the party guests have been referencing him all night as to build up the anticipation of his arrival to the reader. As well as the earlier party for Tom juxtaposed to the completely different party of Gatsby in order to even further emphasize its extravagance. As the party dies down people begin to leave with a single drunk gentlemen driving his automobile into a ditch, this uncomfortable situation sheds more light onto the idea that these people are still not happy and still go through everyday struggles being rich and famous. This idea that the American Dream is not bought is very prevalent in this chapter.

Blog Post 14

This is my new favorite website!!!!!!!

Blog Post 10

From the Socratic seminar on Dubliners, I finally found my strengths in the class(well at least with public speaking) and understood the analysis on a much deeper level when i openly spoke about it; i need to figure out how to incorporate this into my overall writing. But progress is good so I'll take it.

Blog Post 9

Briuana Mittans "Blog Post 23" analysis of "Those Winter Days" by Robert Frost is a very well organised analysis that better helped my organization and formatting problems. While also being a very informative and unique perspective of Robert Frost. By organizing the response into sectioned paragraphs of the poems analysis helps me to better understand how to format. While also taking on a very different approach to Robert Frost; but such is the life of Biuana Mittan.

Blog Post 8

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1viop-lS4rpzNbsaeF_OBRXhxL1_vBD6HvDON5J4bCgA/edit?usp=sharing

This is the link to my literary terms donw with briuana mittan

Blog Post 7

My College Essay

Over the course of my young life we have taken tumbles and triumphs, pecks and slaps, and been everything from a clown to a king; but the most important lessons have always revolved around believing in yourself no matter the odds.

What could possibly be better than a smile? You get a new bike for your sixth birthday; red ribbons chrome finish and just like dad tells you “It's fast so be careful.” You take it down the warm pavement, spring kissing your stride, riding your brand new freedom machine. Fingers tingling and heart ablaze you ride down the big hill on Cherry St; even though mom said stop you were suspended in the moment, this all new feeling that life was taking you somewhere. Still the hill’s always bigger than we think it is and that new adventure is in a  million pieces against old man Frank’s Volkswagen, but your heart’s cries outweigh those skinned knees; after all, the fall is always so much harder when it hurts that which we love. But no worries it won’t matter in 10 years right?

It’s ok to fail; no matter the peril, no matter the sorrow, no matter how you look at it; failure does not mean defeat. Everyone has fallen to the ground scraped an elbow, broken a heart, and lost something dear. Some turn to anger to find peace, some turn to drugs to find clarity, some love another in hopes to love themselves. But the true triumph in defeat, is learning to accept and learn from your mistakes.

You have to pick yourself up, you have to want to be happy. 9th grade just started and you’re going to ask out the new girl that lives next door, silky blonde hair,sky blue eyes and that gorgeous smile that rivals the setting sun. The whole day is planned, velvet roses, a ten times rehearsed speech, and pride on the tightrope you give it your all. But Colten was always more good looking than you and big surprise when she jumps into his arms and gets in the limo he rented. But that’s ok right? Because it’s not going to matter in five years right?

11th grade comes around the bend heavier with every stride. Dad loses the family business, mom doesn't love the new hubby, your best friend broke up with Mary Jane and is hitting on the Snow fairy. And you still have the constant ever wavering idea that you'll live together with all your friends and loved ones by gumdrop lake; with every twist and turn your brain flips upside down because you just realized Santa claus isn't real and there is no god. It's just not fair now is it? But everything will be just fine when you become an adult right?

It’s ok to fail; no matter the peril, no matter the sorrow, no matter how you look at it; failure does not mean defeat. Everyone has fallen to the ground scraped an elbow, broken a heart, and lost something dear. Some turn to anger to find peace, some turn to drugs to find clarity, some love another in hopes to love themselves. But the true triumph in defeat, is learning to accept and learn from your mistakes.

Reflection

This essay took alot of what kind of writing style i like to use and did pretty much a trip down memory lane. I had to take a step back and format this correctly though(which has always been my biggest problem.)

Blog Post 6

This class is rather challenging, but I'm really enjoying it. Its testing my strengths and even more so my weaknesses, poetry responses and poetry analysis is proving to be my favorite part of the class. Id like to get better at the essays my formal written analysis gets too distracted i just need to take my speech and put it into words on paper......surprisingly harder than i thought it would be. Just need to not be so paranoid is all.....

Blog Post 2

A Rose For Emily

This story intrigued me on the values and depictions  of a woman hitting one brick wall after another.  After the death Mrs. Roses soon to be husband she descends into this almost coma like being of a person. Foul smells from her home, staring out the window at night, completely away from civilization. Its maddening to think what she must be going through and gives the characters of the story a somber feeling of pity upon poor Miss Rose. She then begins to lose her mind, seeing her father again, her will as she becomes very ill, and her appearance as she cuts her hair and gains a ghostly complexion. The line "Poor Emily" is used throughout the story as an almost blatantly stated pity from the town too Miss Rose. As she died out slowly, lengthily, and painfully. like watching a beautiful rose slowly dry out from lack of water and sunshine.  

Blog Post 13

A Work of Artifice by Marge Piercy; is a beautiful little poem on the qualities that relating to holding someone back from there full potential in order to appease someone else. The poem begins with a bonsai tree, a bonsai tree is a decorative plant often given as a gift that holds great value. This plant if left in the wild could grow "eighty feet tall" just as the poem describes. But it never reaches that point, its cut and pruned to be exactly what the gardener wants, "small and cozy, domestic and weak;" The writer is using this story as an analogy for women who are made to be exactly what a man wants, regardless of their own wants. Marge furthers this idea when she talks about how "to dwarf their growth" by using terms like "bound feet" and "hair in curlers" to relate with the bonsai tree in having to live a life chosen for them by others. This is a wonderful poem speaking about the oppression of women and the forceful and proper role they play in Asian cultures.

Araby

This beautifully written short novel by James Joyce gave me such a riveting pull of diverse instances i hardly new what to love and what to hate. But one clear motivated motif was the appearance of light and dark both in the overall description of the environment and the flavorful descriptions, of a boy coming to terms with reality; The young boy of the story has well rooted feelings for his friend Mangans sister. This symbolizes his hope to one day be with this girl; as a dream to brightens his future. But there is a constant juxtaposition between this child's dreams and his reality. James Joyce carries this idea through the scenery of the story; describing moments of his dreams as heavenly,bright, and beautiful. While the moments of reality are described as bland,boring, and repetitive. It gives this almost haunting feeling of this boys future as he goes from following his wildest fantasies to having them crushed in a very simple yet strictly blunt manner. His follows the overall theme between light and dark and how even with that glimmer of light in someone's world, until it's so easily snuffed out just as the little boy has the lights go out ok the bizarre and he does not get the gift he wait for so long to go there for. It is a tale that gives meaning to not always getting what you want and how the light of your dreams can make you do incredible things, it can also be burnt out so easy by the swelling darkness

poetry response 1

The Coming of Wisdom With Time

By William Butler Yeats

The simplest poems can have the most advice. This poem is short,stale,and sad and i absolutely love it. People often overlook simplicity because it doesn’t look appealing on the surface, but once you crack open that egg shell it’s a warm golden verse of life.

This poem is, as it states, about time; though it’s focus is on our time in life and how different our perceptions are as we age. A young man could so see many things as right, but an old man has lived through the times of right and knows which ones are wrong. To flaunt, to show, and to want are our “leaves and flowers” with young eyes and primd faces our realities and understandings are so limited by our simplistic attractions. The saddest part of that reality is we “wither” and come to face the cruel realizations of our reality.

Though we may change in shape and size; speech and tone; body and mind; our “root” will always be our heart and soul. No matter the regrets we bear our the tragedies we try so hard to hide we grow from the experiences and the knowledge self we hold from each blow we take. but just as the hardships are there so are the good, William even knows of his blinded youth but he still “swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun;” just as we should, though age has its told let us not forget the fond memories, the kindred friendships, or the long nights talking to the person of your dreams.

William did an astounding job with so few words and such a complex analogy, an amazing author that ever drives me to continue following poetry and the many different styles and interpretations.

By Drew Bradley

Blog Post 3

I'm really enjoying the class, the college essay is giving me a lot to work with in my very own writing style in a very free format. I love talking about life revelations or good learning experiences, I believe that pushing yourself past the hardest obstacles in life is how you develope as a person. It gives me a lot of indenture to write about life goals and the persut of happiness after all I LOVE MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!no matter how hard it gets

Blog Post 1

Relating Things fall apart to our own American culture is the simple identity of  tragedy in trying to do whats right. Over the course of history there are countless figures who take there cause to the grave believing what they did was right. Okonkwo is no different; his cause was noble but it was too such an extreme that he destroyed most if not all the relationships in his life. His brawn was bigger than his brain so to speak, rather than understand the world around him Okonkwo tried to best the world in his eyes the only way he thought he could, with violence and dominance.