Blog post 26 (read along)

Mentor text #3

 "You can't handle the truth":a formalist perspective of Heart of Darkness

• creative title quote 

• emphasizes the merit of the book

•Mirrors true life Conrad

• diverts away from other lenses 

• brief summary of book

• points of books structure in novella analyzed 

• direct quotes used in beginning of third paragraph

• this quote is block text 

• describes a frame narrative ( a stories retelling)

• has clear focus on the character marlow

• emphasizing Marlows attention to small details

• no clear description of the formalist lens is seen

• very brief short analysis 

• no sign of formalist description yet

• description of the power of Marlows story telling

• second block text used for the description of the natives 

• describes the focus of detail to further emphasize Marlows effectiveness of story telling

• third set of block text to show Marlows admiration towards Mr. Kurtz

• leads into Marlows distaste for lies

• essay keeps a clear focus on marlow and his intentions

• Marlows hatred of lying emphasizes the furthering point of his attention to detail leading back to key points of the essay

• clear abrupt ending 

• ending with an analysis of a formalist lens

• uses only the book as citations

• clear objective and a path guided through the story to tell it

• astounding 

Blog Post 25/ Poetry Response 5

The Dance 

By William Carlos Williams

In Williams "The Dance" the Kermess find the elegance of life that is breathed into dance by the thumping tune of festive melodies. Two grand forms of art blended elegantly, collaborating in a partnership of give and take. It is as though the music carries the dancers "a bugle and fiddle tipping their bellies" a symbol for the harmony in this great life of Breughel. With vivid descriptions of the dancers every motion, every sensitive movement enacts a reaction "their hips and their bellies off balance to turn them." This rather short poem formed in a circular platform shows the art of dance from beginning to revolving end of "Breughel's great picture." But this seemingly perfect description of a night of dance seems almost a dream, something Breughel has conjured up to the perfect imagination of his mind.

  This poem grows very euphoric as it progresses seeming to be too good to be true. With " Kicking and rolling about the fair grounds." A dream for a future for this to be an everyday occurrence. This leads me to believe the authors reality if very dull or almost melancholic, a desire for the life to dance with beautiful women in this snow globe vacation away from his world of boredom. Drinking and partying also play their roll in the dancing "(round as the thick-sided glasses whose wash they impound)" hinting at the lavish boozing that incorporates into the night. Williams envious tone with this give the euphoric sentiment a almost faint begotten joy emitting from the poem. A happy memory of the past long forgotten or of a dream fading with the waking of morning.


Overall this is a lovely poem very blended with the varying emotion portrayed by Williams. Puts me right in the mood to dance my sorrows away and envy that which i wish i could live in for eternity. If only our realities worked as the ones you envisioned Beurghel.

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.