I think Zoe needs to get out more just as starters. I think she has been couped up in her house all alone. She is becoming used to being alone and it seems to me that she is now trying to find fault in people and pushing them away or not trying to find anyone at all. Her story about love and the violinist is just disturbing. Is that really her few on love, becuase it is such a disturbed and biased few. She seriously needs to open her mind more and try to live life and stop living in her movies and songs. Life is not a fantasy unless you go out and make your dreams come true.
"Blood-Burning Moon"
"The full moon in the great door was an omen" and some omen it was. It is some moon if people are sing the following about it:
Red nigger moon. Sinner!
Blood-burning moon. Sinner!
Come out that fact'ry door.
These lines don't sound too fun to me. It sure was a "Blood-burning moon" this night. We see the blood of one man and the burning of another. We can see the hatred between the races in this story and how Tom did not like to see a white man involved in any way with one of his kind. He thought Louisa was his girl and that Bob Stone had no business getting involved with her.
"Here We Are"
Talk about bickering like a married couple. I mean really, should these two really have gotten married. These twp need to calm down and stop jumping to conclusions. It seemed to me that they were both really jumpy and avoiding the topic of sex, though it was on both of their minds. They were trying to find falut in each other because they were nervous and didn't know how to act now that they were married. I felt like i was watching my two friends fighting on spring break one year, man did that bring back some annoying memories. I think they both need to get a life.
The bull and bitter
Mrs. May was not a happy camper. I think she kept waking up on the wrong side of the bed and she has herself to blame. She didn't treat anyone that good and it finally did her in. The bull visiting her at night while she slept almost reminded me of "A Christmas Carol" in which she was visited three times at night. In this case however, she did not change her ways. She was sick of all the bull, literally and figuratively. She was a closed minded person who was stuck in her ways, and she thought she was better than everyone else because her husband worked for all she had. In the end, it was her fault because she could have gotten better help that would of done the job right the first time. She was too cheap to do so. She thought she was able to handle everything but she was wrong.
I have not finished this book yet, but Blanche is some character. She is out for number one and is all about money. At least that is what she seems to me so far. I didn't understand why she kissed the young man who was collecting for the paper. It seems to me that she has failed at everything but her teaching career. Well maybe she is good with the guys, and not long term either. I have to keep reading to find out about that. Well I will have to add to this once i finsih the book.
It took me awhile this year to get the hang of this blog thing. This is new to me and I think i am catching on slowly. I have to start by reminding people that I am not a big on take Lit classes, but this class isn't too bad. It seems that is this class everyone is allowed to have their own opinion and their own translation of a reading. In my opinion, different lives translate into different experiences, and different experiences lead to different translations. I don't know much about literature, but I do know things from other different backgrounds. These allow me to bring different things to the table. When you get a lot of different backgrounds, this allows for some good discussions.
I know the first few blog entries didn't seem to go over too well with anyone. I didn't know what I was to say and no one commented, But now it seems like there is a lot more to talk about. I have to say that I think my best blog entries have come with this last group of poems. They have seemed to touch a few nerves and get the blood flowing abit. "The World Trade Center" hit a sensative spot for me because it changed my life and forced me to grow up and mature overnight. This would be the blog entry that has the most meaning and feeling behind it. I really don't know what category to put it in. To me, it falss under everyone that there is. It sparked many comments from others, and it recalls stuff that was gone over during a presetation in class. There isn't any research behind it except my own personal experience, and that is the best kind if you ask me.
The following entries are the ones i will include in this portfolio; "In the Old Age of the Soul" ; "Daddy" ; "The World Trade Center" ; Gatsby, Take 2 ; and Machinal
To be honest, I don't think any of my other blogs show enough to even place on this. They don't show much contribution to the class or to much discussion. I could put them on but I don't believe they deserve to be on.
I also have made some comments on some of my fellow students blog entries and I would like to include some of them if i may. I am not sure how to do that except for linking you right to their sites if it works. Kayla Turano, Tiffany Brattina, and Karissa Kilgore These three have sparked conversation between us on different topics. I have learned severl things from there comments or blogs and they havve commented on mine and have hopefully learned something from mine. I believe these should take care of my xenobloging.
This man no longer wants to dream, for it brings back so many memories. A once proud and strong warrior, now is not allowed to fight anymore. It appears that he is now a leader of some kind for he says,
"Forgetful that who rules doth no more battles".
He can not help it but think about his past; of how he ment and how much he did. In the end though it appearsthat he still is dreaming. He says,
"So doth he flae again toward valiant doing."
It appears to me that he says he shouldn't dream because it just makes him yearn to be young, but he still dreams because he cannot bare the thought of growing old and useless. When you give up on your life and the belief that you are still useful, you lose all life and meaning and you just tend to drift away a little at a time. He doesn't want to drift away and be forgotten. He still believes that he can be useful; he is still young at heart.
I have read many opinions on this poem, and there is going to be one good discussion in class about this. After reading a lot of the comments, i am confused on my own view now. The one part of the poem goes
With my gypsy ancestress and my wierd luck
And my Taroc pack and my Taroc pack
I may be a bit like a Jew
During WWII the Germans tried to get rid of all the Jews and Gypsies. Both were seen as inferior to the German population. Many gyupsies were sent to concentration camps along with jews. According to http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/gypsies.html
perhaps 250,000 gypsies were killed. In my opinion she did not kill her father, it seems to me that he was killed during the war. It seems that her mother had a fling with this guy and she was the product. Once the war started, he turned them in as being gypsies and didn't say anything. It states, "the villagers never liked you. . . they always knew it was you"
Lehman, "The World Trade Center"
The World Trade Center really got to me. I think this is the first reading that really sparked something deep inside. The writer starts out by saying that he never liked the view of the towers. They were "ugly monoliths" he said. Then he said how the bombing in 1996 changed his view of them. What they stood for and how proud he became of them. A lot of people take for granted things that they have just grown accustomed to until they are almost taken away.
We spoke last class on how poems can lose something over time and through translation, but this one is the total opposite. This has gained so much after Sapt 11, 2001. They are no longer there and now all of you that didn't notice them have changed your view. They stand for so much more now than before. They serve as a reminder for those you lost their lives going about their own everyday routine. They stand for our freedoms that does not come easy, and that is threaten everyday by those that don't understand it or just want it and can't have it. It is a hole in our heart, but a hope for our future. It is a painful end, but a brand new start. It was a coming together to form a stronger nation and overcoming the hope of tearing us apart.
I never got to see those towers in person, but they mean so much to me. They changed my life drastically; they changed all of our lifes. This poem has gained so much since it was written, and i wish it didn't. What is stood for before sept. 11, is not the same anymore. It took on a new meaning. You shouldn't start noticing something or someone when they are almost taken away, because you might just drift right back into your same routine. And before you know it, it could be threatened again, and this time it might really leave you for good. They did stand as a symbol for liberty, and they still do. But now that picture is much stronger and it is etched in our hearts. Freedom doesn't come free, and liberty will always stand true in my heart.