I am really questioning whether this was a story or not. It was a conversation between a young married couple going to there honeymoon. All they did was fight, and it never went anywhere, it was the same arguments, presented in the same way, with the same answer everytime. "Here we are, aren't we?"
Not just in reference to this story but also to the previous story, there seems to be much reference to racial tension, and prejudices and dividing racial barriers. There is also mention of death in both stories. The ending with the bull is a little confusing. What exactly happens. I know that Mr. Greenleaf kills the bull but does she die? And who is talking to the dying bull, Mr. Greenlaef, or Mrs. May?
I had a harder time with this one. The southern accent is always harder to read. I understand what happened, but I really don't understand what happened. The moon was an evil omen, but was the song coincidental or a preminition of what was to come?
My question is a simple one, asking why there is mention early on about the musical "The King and I" then no further mention of it in the short story? By a quirk of fate, I performed in the pit orchestra for a production of "The King and I" six years a go. It just seemed strange that twice that particular musical was mentioned, with an illusion given to some importance then, never mentioned again.
Set it New Orleans in the 1920's. Fitzgerald really must have liked jazz. It is at least a subliminal theme in a few of his works. The characters and their conflicts are intriguing to say the least. Blanche relentlessly clings to her ways of the past and the money and status that she once had, even though she is just as poor as the others, she still looks down on their living conditions and way of life. She has almost no real solid grip of reality. She also displays much contention for her sister Stella and her sister's husband Stanley and their relationship. She refers to him as a "Polack" and often degrades him yet in the same turn, she is jealous of the Stella and Stanley have. There is no real decency among the characters. They are always "stabbing each other in the back." There are even references to future betrayals that are to come. Lastly, the physical streetcar named Desire is both ironic and important to the story.
This is a first for me, I have never done a blog portfolio, so I hope that it is satisfactory. I noticed other people included a little information about themselves. I am a grad (post-baccalaureate) student here at Seton Hill, working on my music education certification. I am a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts in general music, minor in History. I have to say, five years of college is enough, that and I think that 22 credits is catching up to me.
Blog Entries
I don't know if I have a set of great blogs. I just hope that they are acceptable. Here are a few links to my best work.
Bernice Bobs Her Hair
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/ChristopherParfitt/007220.html
A Jury of Her Peers
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/ChristopherParfitt/007222.html
The Great Gatsby (Chapters 1-6)
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/ChristopherParfitt/007401.html
The Great Gatsby (Chapters 6-End)
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/ChristopherParfitt/007618.html
Compare and Contrast Pound and Crane
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/ChristopherParfitt/008155.html
Compare and Contrast Lehman and Plath
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/ChristopherParfitt/008156.html
I found these two stories to be a bit disturbing. The Lehman poem over the World Trade Center is a bit ironic, probably not so at the time it was composed but in the current light it is. I do agree with his conclusion after he realizes that the World Trade Center symbolized American greatness, even though the architectural style was not as ornate as the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings. The Daddy by Plath was definately disturbing to me. I may be way off the mark here, but it seems that the narrator is talking to Hitler, at least I think. I was a bit puzzled, because I don't think Hitler had a daughter. She spoke of killing and mentioned the suffering of Jewish people in the concentration camps. I also see a reference to Dracula in this poem, especially when she says about vampires and then at the end states there is a stake in the big black heart.
Comparisons of these stories, I find that both authors use a tragic events to make their points, the Holocaust and the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Both make reference to the fact that they were wrong and then changed their opinions.
Contrasts of the stories include, the relation of the author to the story. Lehman was a passive observer, while Plath's character was an active participant, related to the Nazi party. Lehman speaks of a building, while Plath speaks of the German Air Force, torture, death, and destruction. Far more graphic and violent.
Sorry for the delay, finally got the computer problems fixed. I hate computers yet they are so ingrained into every day usage that I can't do without it.
I find that "In the Old Age of the Soul" by Ezra Pound to be a very short story about the yearning of an old warrior for an age gone by. He is not content with being a an old man, an advisor. He wants to directly take part in the action.
"To Brooklyn Bridge" by Hart Crane is a longer and more modern poem. There being the first contrast that I will make, the refernce of time. The Pound poem has no time setting, it could describe one from thousands of years a go almost to a present time. The Crane poem mentions specific objects, namely the Brooklyn Bridge as in the title, but also of modern activities such as cinema and also modern luxuries such as using an elevator or traffic lights.
Personally, I am not a poetry person, so reading each of these poems generally leaves me asking what on earth are they saying. but a few general comparisons that I noticed, come from the tone of the poem, both have a sad sort of somber feeling. The writer conveys a sense of sadness and yearning. They both desribe going places, Pound describe aging, while Crane dercribes going to the Brooklyn Bridge. A main difference then arrises from that statement, where Pound si describing a moving of time, Crane is discribing a moving of place.