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January 31, 2006

The World Trade Center

Lehman, ''The World Trade Center'' (1996) -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)

This poem by David Lehman seemed to me to be of lesser quality than the Frost poems we have reviewed. It is like Lehman just jotted down his feelings about something without putting great thought or detail into what he was writing. The first thing I thought about this poem was that you do not realize the true value of something until it is almost taken away or gone. Then as I read it for a second time I realized that maybe he did not truly learn to appreciate the value of the world trade center but because it became a more popular building and more famous after being bombed, he was now following the opinions of others as his own. He starts the poem saying,
"I never liked the World Trade Center..."
and In the middle claims...
"Until that Friday afternoon in February
When the Bomb went off and the buildings became
A great symbol of America..."

It seems like the speaker of this poem now says he believes that buildings to have some value because everyone else is "Ooohing and Awwing" them after they had been bombed. Does he really believe now that those buildings are as meaningful and valuable as all the other great monuments he rattles off at the end of the poem?

Posted by TerraStumpf at 9:34 PM | Comments (1)

January 30, 2006

Mending Wall Blog

"Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or what I was walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense."


This quote from Mending Wall, makes me feel like the main character in this poem wants to help his neighbor repair their wall between properties in hopes that he will find out why the wall needs repaired year after year. The main character looks at this time of year as a possible chance for answers on why, "Good fences make good neighbors." Is it something that the main character had done in the past that offended the neighbor and this is why the wall continues to be repaired? Is it because the neighbor enjoys extreme privacy? Is it because the neighbor feels more secure and safe with the walls protection? But protection from what or whom? The main character looks toward the spring mending time in hopes that as they mend the wall yet again more questions about this process will be discovered.

Posted by TerraStumpf at 2:53 PM | Comments (5)