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.