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

To a Daughter Leaving Home

This poem, (215) is really interesting because the title suggests a parent saying goodbye to a daughter leaving her childhood behind to go to college or get her own place, but the subject of the poem is about a parent watching his or her daughter learn to ride her bike.                                                                                                                                                The author uses lines purely about bicycle riding to suggest something completely different. In fact, this is a good example of how to do our journey poems from earlier this year. The poem is full of metaphor, and never directly mentions a child leaving home, except in the title. Pastan, (the author), certainly did a better job than I did with it. "I kept waiting for the thud of your crash as I sprinted to catch up, while you grew smaller, more breakable with distance" After reading the title, this is easily relatable to a parent fearing for their child as they become more independent and leave home. The parent can hardly believe that they could make it on their own, waiting for them to fall. But clearly, the child is competent and happy. "pumping for your life, screaming with laughter, the hair flapping behind you like a hankerchief waving goodbye."

Dickinson Isn't All Bad

I never saw a Moor on pages 153 &154

I like this poem because it answers the question "how can you believe in something that you can't see?" Dickinson explains that she has never seen ceartain things but still believes in them, "I never saw a Moor- I never saw the sea- Yet know I how the Heather looks And what a Billow be." These lines are helping to prove Dickinson's arguement that you don't have to see something to believe in it.
Directly after this poem in Perrine is Dickinson's poem "Faith" is a fine invention. This poem suggest that there is another form of seeing rather then with your eyes or scientificall instruments. To be able to see faith you have to look beyond using your eyes.

Theme for English B

This Poem by Langston Hughes is on page 373 of Sound and Sense

This poem caught my eye because it is the subject of an essay for the application to the University of Chicago. The prompt for the essay only includes the italicized print of what Hughes' teacher asked him to write, and then I am supposed to write something that comes "out of me." Though I chose another essay option for the application, I did comtemplate how I might respond to such a prompt. Seeing how Langston Hughes did it in quite enlightening. I wonder if I could have written some free-verse poem for my essay, because obviously that's what they had in mind.

L.H.'s answer to the question intrigues me int he fact that I believe it is a very true statement about identity. Identity today is not a simple matter. No longer is a person solely male or female, black or white, rich or poor. I think it is important to include our surroundings, our evironment, in the definition of who we are. This may even include the people around us. There are some facets of our Identity that we must associate with others, like being American. as for someone who loves jazz music and a pipe at Christmas time, those are more personal traits.

I'm not sure about the last few lines of this poem. I hate to admit that this poem ends with a racist sentiment, but it really is staring me in the face. In his own eyes, Hughes, after all that he is, is still less than another man.

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. 

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.

The Dangling Conversation

On Thursday of last week we had that in-class impromptu comparing Emily Dickinson to Robert Frost.  After going through the poems in class, we kind of decided they were saying very different things about night or darkness. 

Well, I noticed this weekend that in Simon and Garfunkel's "The Dangling Conversation", it's a funny coincidence that they not only mention these two poets, but compare them as well:

And you read your Emily Dickinson
And I my Robert Frost
And we note our place with bookmarkers
That measure what we've lost
Like a poem poorly written
We are verses out of rhythm
Couplets out of rhyme
In syncopated time
And the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs
Are the borders of our lives

The song seems to be about two people who are so different:  "We are verses out of rhythm / Couplets out of rhyme".  And they choose to read Dickinson and Frost, who write two very different types of poetry. 

I think it is interesting how they use poetry in this song to get across this idea of two clashing people.  And these comparisons made here are familiar now (because we just did this one in class), and as a result, more easily understood.

*ding* Another applicability of what we are doing in class -- Put it on the board!