zBlogging the Literary Life - Period 6/7 - AP College English - 2005/2006 - Oak Park River Forest High School

A Chimney Sweeping Wedding

Well guys, there are several things that I find myself wanting to write about. First off, let's start with the poetry. Several days ago, on our first Perrine assignment, I read a poem that struck me. It can be found on page 119 and is called The Chimney Sweeper. Its about the sad lives of orphaned children forced to sweep chimneys to support themselves. But halfway through, the poem takes a completely different path. It speaks of an angel that comes down to take the sweepers and "set them free; Then down a green leaping, laughing, they run, And wash in a river, and shine in the sun." A few lines later, a little boy by the name of Tom is told by the Angel, "...if he'd be a good boy, He'd have God for his father, and never want joy." I took this as the poetic trying to make the point that we need to be happy with what we have, to be content with are lives, and live them as best we can.

Secondly, I'd like to return to what we watched a few weeks ago - Monsoon Wedding. This film bored me until the end, which finally seemed to come together. Its an interesting look into Indian culture, but I failed to see the point of the movie. It didn't seem to be saying anything or getting anywhere, and I guess that's what bored me out about it. Anybody have any ideas as to its "greater" meaning? Just curious.

Design

The first time I read this peom I didn't really understand it. But then I analyzed it for some reason or another in a previous english class. In Frost's poem he attempts to find order in the universe and critisizes our failure to recognize the order that truly exhists in the universe. The speaker begins by identifying a coincidence:a white spider is sits on a white flower- an all-heal, which is commonly blue- and catches a white moth. Throughout the peom the color white, as it does traditionally, symbolized purity and innocence. However, this is in contrast to the grotseque scene when the spider kills the moth. But Frost does not critisize either the spider, the flower, or the moth for the negative scene described in the poem. Therefore, he is even more puzzed as to how the three being came together. When, near the end, he says, " What but design of darkness to appal?" he suggests that perhaps the coincidence was the effort of an evil force, or perhaps there is no order in the univse at all.

The History Teacher

This poem caught my eye in class when Mr. Heidkamp read it to us.  I think it stands out amongst some of the other poems in Perrine.  The humor in the poem is what attracted me to it.  I can't imagine why a teacher who wants to protect his students' innocence (who are obviously young because they go to the playground and "muss up" nerds' hair) would even bother mentioning historical events such as the War of the Roses and the Spanish Inquisition.  But for some reason he decides to then simplify these events through euphemistic lies to protect their innocence.  I just thought that was strange.  But besides that, it is clever and fun.  The last stanza seems to sum up the entire poem and release the message that the poet it trying to show, but I can't seem to figure out what the last stanza means, especially the last three lines.  Someone help me out. 

CULTURE IS AWESOME

I may not have been in class the whole time in order to see all of Monsoon Wedding, but I must say that from what I did see on the second and third viewing days impressed me.  My grandfather was the son of a missionary and was born in India.  He lived there until he was 18 years old.  He told me stories about India, about the animals and about his experiences and even some of the old Indian fairy tales.  However, he hardly talked to me about India's culture.  Watching this movie gave me a deeper understanding of India and now it may even be easier for me to picture my grandfather's life in India.  Also, I like foreign languages and foreign music.  This movie provided both for me and I must say I was impressed by the music and dancing, although I did not find the music and dance style too different from some of the stuff I see here in the U.S..  To me, the added plus of the music and dancing came from the language used to convey the lyrics and messages.  Culture is awesome.

Facing it and being consumed by its power

I couldn't find a poem in the book that interested me enough or moved me enough to write about so I decided to post about the one we read in class. I don't know how you guys took the poem but personally it moved me and I reflected back to the times I have visited the memorial. The imagery in the poem made it possible for someone who had never been to the memorial to get an idea of what it would be like to see it. The author does an amazing job of setting the tone of the poem to be somber and a time of reflection. The author talks about getting lost in the wall and seeing himself in it creating the idea that to the speaker, part of himself may have died along with the friends that he lost in the war. The speaker also talks about the face in the wall along with the image of a lost friend showing just how powerful the momument is.

I don't know how many of you have been to the monument but it is truly an amazing sight. The power in the monument cannot be matched, it is enough to make people who never lost anyone in the war fall to tears. To think of the number of names on that monument, take the number of students in our school and then multiply that by 19. It is truly something that makes you think about how terrible war is and yet how men and women still put their lives in danger for our nation today. This poem reminded me of how much this monument touched me and how it gave me a new sense of respect for those who fought before my time.

My Number

I enjoyed reading the poem My Number (pg. 158-159). Although some of the references are disturbing "scatter cancer cells like seeds," "loosening the wooden beams of roller coasters," the poem itself is kind of amusing. The description of death driving up to someone's house and taking the scythe from the trunk of it's car helps to humanize death and make it something we can understand. My favorite part was the last stanza, because it makes the idea of death almost like an everday problem that people have to deal with--we are always trying to talk ourselves out of things we don't want to do. This poem seems to suggest that death is more familiar than we might think, so at least less luminous and incomprehesible.

To a Daughter Leaving Home

Linda Pastan’s poem “To a Daughter Leaving Home” (215) is especially relevant since most of us too will soon be leaving our homes to go to college. In her poem, Patson compares life’s movement forward to teaching her daughter how to ride a bike. When the daughter first learned to ride her bike, the mother stayed by her side, protecting and encouraging her. This is much like when we were younger and our parents anxiously sheltered us. Then the daughter began to break away and the mother struggled to keep up. This is analogous to our becoming teenagers and our parents trying to control us, but they finally realize that we were moving on and will have to make decisions on our own. Finally, the daughter becomes a speck in the distance and continues to travel farther and farther away. Likewise, we will leave our homes to go off to college, be on our own and independent. She compares the daughter’s hair as a “handkerchief waving goodbye.” I thought Pastan’s poem was a sweet analogy to children growing up and away.

Delight in Disorder

Robert Herrick’s poem “Delight in Disorder” (Perrine 258) has a message that we should pay particular attention to this time of year.  He creates images to help the readers understand that they cannot always keep things under control.  By describing chaos as a “sweet disorder” and a “fine distraction,” he urges the audience to accept imperfection.  For those of us who are overwhelmed with college applications and holiday preparations, this is welcome advice.

Herrick describes disorder as a scarf tossed casually over one’s shoulders, and as a “tempestuous petticoat.”  He personifies it as a “cuff neglected” and a ribbon that “flows confusedly.”  These images eliminate the intimidating aspects of disorder by making it seem humanlike.  Herrick appreciates chaos more than any piece of clean, precise artwork, and it is notable that this opinion developed during the seventeenth century.  People back then felt the same way that we do today.  We should all take comfort in the things that seem slightly out of place.

Shakespeare

A lot of people I know are daunted by things written by Shakespear. I personally think Shakespeare was a player. He knew all the right things to say, and how to present it. He also left room for the actors to express what they thought a Soliloquy might mean. His comical plays are back breaking if you understand it. Twelfth night was performed last year, and with the right actors it was hilarious. One of my favorite poems by Shakespeare is My mistress' eyes. Here are a few lines from the poem. " And in some perfumes is there delight, Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That Music hath a more pleasing sound.

Creepy Men

Doesn't the creepy man in Monsoon Wedding, I can't remember his name, but he offered to pay for all the schooling for the cousin. I hope that whoever reads this knows who I'm talking about. But, does he not scream Orangedrink Lemondrink Man? I think he does.

This makes me wonder, although I know there are many creepy men in our society, why the people sexually harrassed in the indian culture get almost no sympathy. For example, Ammu unconsciously refuses to see that her child has been molested. And, in Monsoon Wedding, the father is laughing and hugging the guy that (I'm probably sure) molested his niece. Why is this? Don't you think that sexual harrassment in our culture is, by comparison, looked for or sought out? Does this extend to the culture in America, or am I only thinking Oak Park here?

... I know, a lot of interesting questions.