0013

I choose "Tou Wan Speak To Her Husband, Liu Sheng", mainly because it was more interesting to read. This was probably due to the type of medevil and slight macabre tone of the poem, particularly when death is mentioned toward the end. It seems to me the poem is about a wife whom is rebelling against a domineering husband (evident by her reference to him as "my only conqueror" and "my constant emperor", who apparently hasn't been as faithful as he should be ("And a statue of the palace girl your most frequently coveted"). On my second read of the poem, I realized "most frequently" could imply "most recently", meaning the husband has cheated more than once!

When the narrator says "but you're bored." after saying describing a house of "limited chambers" built in his honor, it tells of how he is neglectful to his wife, and must be restrained. The husband and wife's economical status is hinted in the 3rd stanza with the list of things in the "limited chambers": "the two bronze jugs, worth more than a family pays in taxes for the privilege to stay alive, a year, together...". It's apparent they are a very rich couple, and not surprisingly, even though this poem feels like it takes place in an older time in another culture, it is quite common to see marital problems among the rich (if not so all economical classes, the perhaps this poem hones in on just one class). The husband's actions, as seen by the wife, or the narrator/observer, as it may be Dove herself telling her perspective, will devour his being, even if he tries to be right:

"Here, when the stench of your own diminishing drives you to air (but you will find none)".

This line was more powerful when Dove described what seemed to be the nature of things, when she said:

"here

an incense burner in the form of the mountain

around you, where hunters pursue

the sacred animal

and the peaks are drenched

in sun."

Dove makes it seem that the husband has no control over what consequences will become of his actions, that his fate is sealed. What also makes the poem interesting are almost snide remarks that accompany certain lines ("but you will find none", "And a statue of the palace girl you most frequently coveted") add to how insulted the narrator feels.

Both poems seem to share the concept of looking past what either "legend has it" or the facade of something. (In the first poem's case, the facade of legend, and in the second, the facade of a man/husband). To be honest, I had trouble responding to these poems, particularly the first one, "Nestor's Bathtub", as by the 2nd half of the 2nd stanza, where Dove describes what I think is a room (a bathroom, possible, due to the tub mentioned in the 3rd stanza). Again, though, I'm fairly sure the concept of facades, look past what something may appear at first, it a message Dove wanted to convey in each poem (more so the first one as the 2nd one seemed to focus on marriage, faith, and consequence of action).

0012

Langston Hughes "Harlem"

Classroom Response/Discussion

***Spell check and editing pending, lol.

The title intriques me when looking to the first line of the poem:

"What happens to a dream deferred?"

Harlem, taken literally, is of course a city, but the last line:

"Or does it explode"

Made me think perhaps that this is more related to the American Dream. The meaning deferred is to put off (procrastinate), and while plently have achieved what could be called The American Dream, the vast majority of America do not, thus the title American Dream. When huges talks about "Maybe it just sags like a heavy load", this could comment on the whole status of working-middle-upper class of America's economical structure. The working and middle class constantly struggle everyday to try and achieve what several upper class citizens already have, which in many views is the American Dream.

Although many struggle, few do actually rise above, thus the "or does it explode?". It may seem that "what happens to a dream deferred" can also refer to which humans take this dream and hold it as a goal, while others simply brush it aside as fantasy which, when ocassionaly indulged in, provides escapism from the harsh realities of life. Essentially, this poem sounds like a warning towards a possible future where the masses are trapped in endless escapism, endless dreaming; dreaming that if were utilized could be put towards the realities of life and even change reality. Or if not the masses, the concept of higher-ups controlling and contoring the people's dreaming, whom they unconsiously allow the deferrment so that their dreams can be fufilled without the people doing the actual work. This can be seen in the constant worship in fame and fourtune and celebrity and enetertainment. Many will spend hours watching movies, worshipping celebreties in gossip circles, secretly or not so secretly craving the live's they worship.

Yet by doing this, they put off their dreams, due to being caught in a comfrotable loop, a comfortable insanity. Perhaps this could be consumerism, but more related to the time this poem was written, this comfortable insanity could be complacency, or the acceptance of a comfortable future, because the complacent are afraid of a deviant action that could change the course of history. IE, Rosa Parks simply refrusing to get up from her seat in the back of a bus, or the political legislation that grinds and locks without arriving to much of closure or desicion. Either way, or whicever your interpet, this poem's subtle importance, underneath the either-way-which-way interpetations and figurative language, cannot and shouldn't be ignored.

0011

Reader's Response #6

Claude McKay's "America"

I thought the title was the most important part to really comprehend the poem, as the entire poem is a metaphor of "America" or being in America. The pacing of the poem was integral too, if you think about, due to America's reputation for being very busy and industrious, and fast paced (this is most evident in major cities, like New York City). The use of couplets in the form showed this pacing, and helped keep my interest as the poem went along (if certain forms had strengths, rather than just
different techniques), it would the couplet's strength).

The first four lines, I thought, were examples of the order of things in America; specifically the working class, middle class, and upper class socio-economical hierarchy (judging from McKay’s political background, this wouldn't be surprising). It made look at how the system, in many ways, invented itself, with humans in different circumstances simply being the pawns, or representations, of such a system. While that seems odd to say, the system and humans themselves helps perpetuate the system, because in so many ways it works, despite several injustices. McKay suggests that living in America, despite any racial or political injustice, gives you strength to fight back against whatever prejudice that exists. To connect to the earlier lines, it seems he suggests that while American life "steals his breath of life", this very action makes him react and eventually helps him (American life in many ways, is tough love). The injustice can be seen as feedback to a possible force that must rise up in response to this feedback, IE. the civil rights era finally erupting due not only because it was a sign of the times, but because of the era that came before it, the "Negro Literary Renaissance", which obviously helped plant the seed of a resistance to a certain system (in this case, a system of racism and discrimination).

While it may seem with great, but necessary optimism, which McKay speaks of in this poem, the ending lines provide a shift to reality that is also required. Reality is reinforcement for the importance of not only a way of life that is America, but also for the importance such a resistance is to certain aspects of American life. The last two lines, to me, reveal that such a resistance faces dark days in front of itself due to the fact that they within the walls of America (much like the almost paradox of consumers protesting the danger's of mass consumerism, yet, everyone cannot be a consumer in this country). However, with the lines of: “I stand within her walls with not a shred of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.” McKay defiantly proclaims that such resistance cannot cease to fear, hatred, or jest. Such resistance must be absolute and un-wavering, without ceasing to the very factors that perpetuates the oppositions system.

0010

Monday, October 17, 2005

Voice, Tone and Sound

&

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Form and Type

"Song" by Adrienne Rich

It seems as though the narrator is alone, yet not lonely; how, the narrator hints that the scenes of waking up before everyone else, doing things by him/herself are liberating but odd at the same time. I also picked up on a sarcastic tone occasional, or could imagine a sarcastic and/or slightly defensive tone whenever the narrator would say, "You're wondering why I'm lonely.", "You want to ask, am I lonely?", "If I'm lonely" at the beginning of each stanza. Also, these were also rhetorical, which brings about a defensive nature to the narrator's account of his or her loneliness. The form or more so the literal structure of the poem, followed a deteriorating structure in terms of the A, B, C, D, rhyming structure. For instance:

[A] You're wondering if I'm lonely

[A] Ok, then, yes, I'm lonely

[B] as a plane rides lonely and level

[A] on it's radio beam, aiming

[B] for the blue - strung aisles

[C] of an airfield on the ocean

But as it progresses, the above A, B, and C rhyme-lines are used less and less. It might by my lack of memory concerning correct use of these letters in each line of a poem, but it could be obvious that there is no real pattern. If anything, the deterioration of the pattern of rhyming lines backs up a more realistic possibility that the poet just came up with this poem rather than planning. However, if it was by planning, I think it could symbolize the effect the poet might've wanted on the reader: drawing a reader in with the line "You're wondering if I'm lonely". Along with the above deterioration, and what I saw as hints of sarcasm and defensive remarks (Sarcastic: "Ok, then, yes, I'm lonely", although mainly in hindsight, and Defensive: the repeated use of "If I'm lonely"), the poem's form comes to symbolize the increasing awareness the reader may have that this person, perhaps, is not lonely at all.

The grouping of the stanza's, at first, seemed normal, but after going back to view Silko's "Prayer To Pacific", it seems to me that if Rich wanted to portray actual and/or potent loneliness, Rich would've spaced out certain words considerably. However, the absence of such a dramatic play on the shape of the poem may actually give the poem its slight ambiguous charm. Sure, while some could infer that the narrator is admitting that he/she is lonely quite in fact, confirms loneliness, others might refer back to a quote "alone but not lonely". On a side note, a Mary Chapin Carpenter poem, which I found to be pretty good, (http://www.filibeto.org/mary_chapin/mcc47.txt), is titled "Alone but not lonely" and also addresses loneliness. Perhaps I go too far in the inferring department, but Carpenter's poem also uses 4 main groupings of words, utilizes repetition, and in the end, twists a possibility that the narrator is lonely by saying, "alone, but not lonely". However, this post is for Rich's poem, not Carpenter's; one must not leave the post alone in a ocean of straying analyzation.

I choose "Song" more or less after I read it, and instantly related to what I thought was the meaning behind the poem: loneliness is simply not loneliness. You can be alone but not lonely, yet not alone and be the loneliness person in the world. I recognize the concept of some people (including myself) being able to go through long period of seclusion (perhaps in one's room, outside somewhere, etc), and yet not be affected by it in a negative way (in this case, loneliness). One can read, play music, draw; any number of activities by themselves, but not feel secluded from the world, and in fact, more integrated to be able to have space to themselves. A reason why I mentioned Carpenter's poem is because I felt it reflected more of a modern take on "alone, but not lonely", as Carpenter writes:

"Everyday on the street I study their faces

The ones who rush on through the crowd

Towards their own quiet worlds, their separate places"

I instantly remembered many times when I was in a crowd, and I felt insignificant and lonely occasionally, because of the whole rushing of the crowd (especially during a busy shopping season). Yet, when I listen to music, and shut a good portion of the world away, calmness came over me that made me feel more integrated. I was integrated without being swallowed whole; this could also be a comment on consumerism, since I did mention shopping, but that would be a bit of a stretch for a response to either poem. I felt Rich's poem was more in the setting of some few decades ago, or perhaps in the wilderness, where groups of people are scarce compared to the vast, empty land. I'm glad I searched a bit on Google and found Carpenter's poem because I felt it reinforced Rich's poem with a different energy and more modern imagery. All in all, I resonated with both poem due to the quote "alone, not lonely" being what a portion of my lifestyle reflects. Yet, just the same as with "Song's" narrator, I do not share a negative interpretation of the type of "loneliness" others may perceive as me having. Rather, I perceive as simply a character trait that helps define who I am. Besides, If I'm lonely, why would've I smiled while reading the poem?

0009

When I pulled up Google and the usual results, I wasn't surprised to find out that Claude McKay was in fact somewhat of a politician and had never actually been in a war. McKay's call to bravery amidst the lingering threat of eventual defeat, the call to the honor involved in once such "doomed resistance", is too idealistic to what those in the actual war would think. This is where Owen's "Dulce et Decorum" differs with McKay's "If We Must Die"; both are for war, yet Owen is more realistic and addresses how politicians know nothing or next to nothing of realities of war.

*To tie in real life, it can be inferred a certain amount of people are angry about the Iraq War due to the politicians bluntly and sloppily covering up discontent, disagreement and/or opinion of the soldiers by the obviously staged conversation between President Bush and the soldiers:
http://alternet.org/blogs/peek/26955/ (more progressive)
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1014-03.htm (more factual).
Anyways, my opinion aside...

However, the status of McKay as not a solider doesn’t invalidate his opinion of view; McKay was indeed fighting a war, but a war of a different type. Growing up in the early 1900's (born in 1890, the cusp of two different centuries), racism in America was as rampant as ever, with it simply being adjusted for the outlawed practice of slavery. Around, 1912 - 1914 he enrolled at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and met face-to-face with racism. "If We Must Die", while effective as a view of warfare, it also metaphorically viable for the resistance against racism and bigotry. This is evident especially when in the poem, he emphasizes honor, and how the "doomed resistance" would long be relevant. Historically speaking, without the many events, no matter how small they were, in the past concerning civil rights and racism, progress may not have happened either as slow or as fast as it has and/or will happen.

* "If we must die, let it not be like hogs" -
Saw more so as a description for the way blacks were treated by whites.

* "...then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!"-
I saw this more pertaining to warfare, not so much racism as people who are racist tend to stay that way. However, the concept of people being racist simply because it is an accepted norm would apply to eventually honoring and/or perhaps learning to like the people they once hated.

It was also a slight surprise (although not so much so in hindsight) that McKay was a socialist and became editor of The Liberator, as well as writing for various left wing journals. Again, drawing the connection between McKay's experience of the war with racism and actual warfare, Winston Churchill actually quoted "If We Must Die" later on during World War II. Interestingly, he was sympathetic to communism during his stay in Europe (England, Russia and Africa), and this was during the 1930's. It would've been interesting to see McKay's thoughts on McCarthyism during the 50's and 60's, and parallels he might've drawn from racism and McCarthyism.

Going back to what "doomed resistance" McKay spoke of, it is fascinating to wonder if he had also lived long enough to see the Civil Rights Era, in which he was instrumental to help spark the flame upon which it would arrive (James Johnson said that McKay, "was one of the great forces in bringing about what is often called the 'Negro Literary Renaissance.'".) After such re-visiting and re-hashing of the Civil Rights era , it was most refreshing for me to see of the era right before it, the one that was almost in a way preparation for The Civil Rights era.

*** Note: Please see this link: http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/mckay/life.htm
for the source of quotes and background on McKay.


.end post

0008

Sadly, I was beginning to get into the mindset of trying harder for the fiction unit, just as it ends... lol. Procrastination is a harsh mistress. The new unit is Poetry, something I'm a bit more comfortable with since I poetry is what I began with when starting to write. Aside from any usual back entries that will follow this blog post (I'm more or less writing here so I do not absent mindedly forget and then panic), I shall post a poem I wrote a while ago to celebrate the new unit. It is a poem that can be found on my fictionpress.com account (as such it as also copyrighted, please do not steal): http://www.fictionpress.com/~jaupeacecraft.

Once again, I'd appreciate no stealing (even though it's under a user name of mine, I can back up my identity and such).

"One Child Plays"

A child and
A set of
Legos
A clock ticks
Until it runs
Out of batteries

The blinds don't
Hide the twilight
But they hide
The rise of
The sun
The rise of
Tomorrow
For this child

His mother is
At the doorway
She knocks and
Talks
But the child
Does not notice
Only but his
Legos

Every day is
Like this day
From three years
Of age
To kindergarden’s
First day

None could see
The day
When the child
Plays
Outside his legos
When the child
Writes
The account
Of that one
Day's
Foreshadow

Children are meant
To play
But alone they
Lead astray
Wavering
Unless they have
Something
Someone
With to Play

The tunnels he
Made
He won't see
Them ahead
When he's older
And living in
His own head
That's when his
Mother
Will be at
The doorway
Knocking, talking but
He won't notice
A thing
But his legos

They decay, out
In the world
Within; they remain
Either ways
They'll stay throughout
His days

As his only
Friend
His head his
Bricks of plastic
And the window
But he won't
Notice
How many years
Pass

Until he builds
The world
Out of his
Arsenal
Of plastic
He'll notice
It could last
It'll stand still

And he'll notice
None of it
Was real

Fin'

© Copyright 2004 Jau-Peacecraft (FictionPress ID:226656). All rights reserved. Distribution of any kind is prohibited without the written consent of Jau-Peacecraft.

In regards to structure and stuff, I made the lines sorta form an overset of building blocks, and tried to keep lines fairly short, to emulate the child speaking and/or thinking. I would go in more depth, but it's no fun when an author spills the beans on an poem they wrote when A.) Not many people have read it and B.) Telling everything about it gives less to think about and narrows down possibilities.

If I kept with my usual blog posts consistiently, dare I say this could qualify as slight extra credit (end psuedo - british remark).

0007

I read James Joyce's short story "Eveline", after finally finding a story that didn't look familiar. It basically tells the story of a woman, Eveline, reflecting on her past and in order to see if her present choice to leave her home is a wise choice. On the second page, it's hinted that her father was abusive to her brothers, although I couldn't figure out if it was literal or metaphorical, which made the text slightly confusing. Also, that he hadn't started going after her until her mother died. Eveline eventually begins to go out with a sailor by the name of Frank, whom offers to take her along to an unknown country where Eveline believes her life will be better (she'll be treated with more respect, and not like her mother). Her father of course disapproves of this, saying "I know these sailor chaps". Eventually, it's revealed that her current choice to leave is going against her promise to her mother to keep the family together.
Also, Eveline notices that her father had lately been getting "old" and "sometimes he could be very nice". Towards the end, Eveline is in a conflicting state of terror to escape her home and unhappiness to leave that home (" Why should be unhappy? She had a right to happiness. Frank would take her in her arms, fold her in his arms. He would save her."). In a surprise ending, Eveline ends up not leaving with Frank (I’m pretty sure that's what happens, occasionally I got confused with the text, but of course, I also tend to multitask.).

I thought the omnipotent viewpoint was probably the best way to do this short story, but it would've been interesting to see this from one of the character's point of views, perhaps the brothers which are barley mentioned (it would shed more light on the past of Eveline's family from a different perspective). I thought the ending was what made the story standout, other than the slightly murky past of Eveline’s family, which added mystery and a number of possibilities for the causes of certain things: Eveline’s choice to leave but ultimately staying home, the father’s behavior, the brothers, and how Eveline’s friend eventually all died by the time she was older. The ending could’ve easily ended with a convenient or happy ending, but the fact that it didn’t made Eveline a more potent character who made a much more realistic choice (realistic choice being that second thought herself and was in conflict for a majority of the time she had made the choice).

0006

Friday - Oct. 7 Assignment

The most interesting thing I've done in this unit would actually be coming to class most of the time on 5 hrs sleep, occasionally very caffeinated and tired. I joke, yes,
but that is one of the things that makes me amazed I've been able to keep up this well for so long. Although, I don't plan on relying on it anymore, it has proven to be pointlessly difficult on myself.

It's hard to say what was the most interesting thing I've learned from the fiction unit, especially since I'm typically very good at doing what is the basis of most of the class: analysis. I've read rather unique stories: "The Things They Carried", "Who's Irish", and the puzzling wording of Poe's "The Cask Of The Amontillado", which, I could say, were the interesting things in this unit. The most honest answer I can come up with is actually a more or less reinforcement of concepts I already knew, and an unveiling details of concepts I had a grasp on. For instance, I already well knew the whole plot flow thing, I didn't know it was invented by Aristotle and I didn't know the technical distinction of round and flat characters.

When I say I didn't know the "technical distinction", it means more so that most of what I know about writing and how to write is based on intuition and experience, not studying parse. This may explain my shaky confidence in writing, other than the lack of self esteem concept, but I'm not here to analyze myself, I am not a character in a story... or am I ?. This also explains, for the longest time and at times today, my rebellion against the whole concept of rules for writing, except for the general formatting and spelling rules. This is why my first foray into writing centered on fan-fiction, which when I think about now, was probably the perfect way to get into writing.

In fan-fiction, there is a sort of a loose template one has when writing: in most cases, the characters are already established and well known, the story is generally well known as well, and the interactions with characters are too. Of course, this depends on how familiar the author is with the characters and the "universe" from which they come from. This also explains the common belief that fan-fiction is self-serving crap whose sole purpose is to perpetuate any given universe purely for selfish fantasy. While a certain small portion of this general stereotype of fan-fiction is somewhat true (it's certainly a motivation for most fan-fic writers out there), there are very promising amateur writers out in the vast sea of fan-fic arenas on the internet, much how there are a few promising writers in any given genre that may or may not struggle to keep their stories unique among the generic clones of that genre just selling for money.

Anyways, the loose template, I found, helped me focus on other things in a story that would help establish the fan-fic piece as more legitimate. Structures, flow of the plot, even introductions of original characters derived from the same universe were all things I constantly practiced upon writing in fan-fic. Of course, reading fan-fic also helped as well. Just like with any genre, as I read fan-fic, I sub-consciously studied certain elements in each author's story. The only difference is that fan-fic is on the Internet, and therefore, is much more interactive than any type of real life book. Often, authors included e-mail addresses with a plead for any type of feedback, even flames, but in most cases, they asked politely for no flames or fluff; in other words, no ridiculously negative or positive comments.

Throughout the entire unit, I was reminded of the steps I had taken to get serious about writing, from coming with semi-serious flow charts of events of plots that would constantly be revised every 1 or 2 months when I found the papers again, to writing fan-fic yet somehow never really publishing most of it online, then fairly selfish but extensive journal entries of self-analysis, to finally taking Intro to literature before En102, eager to begin writing and get somewhere with it. By now, as I write, I remember when I would sigh at the instruction of reading short stories in high school, but the majorities I've read since arriving at college are much more interesting. I realize that in all my ambition, short stories would most likely be the best way to start out, much like making a movie with a small budget, then increasingly getting better at the process and (hopefully) getting a bigger budget. Of course, I haven't been writing much lately, so I should dig up my old fan-fiction, give it another go with newly acquired knowledge, and just simply write. Besides, it's called writing, not talking, and I've done plenty of talking already with this journal entry. Speaking of, I should probably get busy on catching up on past entries while amnesty allows.