Tuesday Night Homework Club - 4/10/12

Post - Modernism...it's kind of like irony...it's hard to define. 

(It took me 2.3 seconds to find this picture By Munch.)

It seems that PM is philosophical by nature, but has a realist twist. The idea of the "HyperReal" a concept established by Jean Baudrillard, makes complete and utter sense.  In fact, the rate at which this HyperReal phenomena is occurring, seems to be speeding up at an incomparable rate because of the Internet. 

If an idea pops into your head, it takes Google 3 seconds to find it. And not only do you get what you were searching for, you get things you didn't even know you wanted to know. That's right!

Back in the day, like in Picasso's day, you were the source. If you wanted to know something or see something, you researched it, or painted it. There was no instant gratification was there?

I personally find myself getting overwhelmed really easily in this day and age because there is always some form of media bombardment in our daily lives. The second I wake up in the morning, 13 decisions flood my brain about the day. Instead of living reality as it comes, I live it through false "make believe" ideas   in my mind, and then I'm disappointed when they don't come true. 

I think I will finally take my parent's advice and "drink heavily," it's going to be a bumpy ride. 

Post-Modernism For Real...

We begin our Post-Modernism week with three extremely important writers, Robert Hayden, John Berryman, and Ralph Ellison.  I found the short Bio's on these writers interesting because they seemed to have alot in common.
Here is a quick reminder:

Robert Hayden: 


Born: 1913
Died: 1980
Adopted when he was 18 months old.
Poor background/ Traumatic childhood
Studied Music
Read modern poetry (Hughs, Cullen)
Grew up in Detroit


John Berryman:


Born:1914
Died: 1972
Father commit suicide, mother remarried.
Traumatic childhood
Studied Poetry
Taught at Wayne State in Detroit
Multiple Marriages

Ralph Ellison: 


Born: 1913
Died: 1994
Father died when he was three
Also read modern poetry (Langston Hughs, Cullen)
Awarded Music Scholarship, but switched to poetry
Multiple marriages

Out of the readings this week, I was most confused by The Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison.

I was trying to read the story with my irony goggles on. Searching for some hope that the plot in this story was just a sick joke and not in fact actually taking place.

I think one of the most important parts of the entire story is the opening scene in which the grandfather is on his deathbed. The grandfather, who the boy takes after, is a trickster figure. He even tricks his own family. After Reconstruction when the South was a terrible place for African Americans to live, the grandfather did what he had to do to survive. He was polite and made sure not to cause any trouble. But this was a lie and he even calls himself a "traitor." And the most important thing is to keep up this tradition of undermining the white folks. This idea is what haunts the protagonist his whole life.

Throughout the story, words and ideas of Booker T. Washington are echoed, and this is another important theme. The second paragraph brings up the idea of "separate like the fingers of a hand." And the bot even calls himself a "neo-Booker T. Washington." But he mentions that it was in his "pre-invisible days." This is what leads me to think that invisibility equates to trickery.

Fast forward to where he is in the fighting ring and he finally figures out that his blind fold slipped and he could see. He is using a trickster move to dodge the other boys and have others take the blows that were aimed at him.

When he is trying to figure out whether or not to win against the "big boy," and he is conflicted about his moment of humility, he catches a blow to the head and is knocked out. This moment is pivotal because he starts to realize his grandfathers words very much a part of him.

The last four pages give me a stomach ache when I read them. I have a hard time interpreting what the protagonist is actually thinking.

I'm waiting until after class to finish this post. I will have to follow up.

TBC.

WORD TO THE ENGLISH CLUB!

On March 23rd, the CWI English club presented the first Word reading of the semester. Despite the fact that it was held on a Friday night on the eve of Spring Break, there was a full house. I too had nothing else to do on a Friday. (Did I type that out loud?).  But Seriously, it was worth the drive to Nampa.

There were a total of six brave speakers including our classroom's very own Nathanael! The line up included poets, non-fiction writers and even a songwriter. The array of images made for an eclectic palette.
I apologize in advance for forgetting some or most of the names of speakers, my notes are hard to decipher.

From the first speaker, a dark and twisted non-fiction story, maybe not suited for the young children in the room. All I can say about that one is that I would have never thought I would hear cinnamon and blood, used in the same sentence.

Next, a young writer with a small cache of poems. My personal favorite was his last poem in which he took a humorous approach to stereotypes. Although, by the number of uncomfortable faces looking around, I'm not sure if it was a fav. of everyone. (Welcome to Idaho.)

Next was our Musician friend, solo without guitar. I always find lyrics interesting when they are being spoken. For some reason, they lose a dimension in translation. I think the writer was extremely passionate and brave for sharing so many of his songs.

Next, a semi-autobiographical poet/writer, who reminds me of someone..but I can't put my finger on it..hmm.
I appreciated the realism in his writing. Often we forget that life is full of poetic moments all on their own.

Nathanael Peterson was our next poet. I didn't realize she was the same poet who wrote "Learning Korean" in the second edition of Caliper, which happens to be one of my favorite poems. She was full of witty epigrams that for me was a high point. There is nothing better than a great epigram.

The faculty speaker of the night, Kelly Ford, was definitely worth the wait. Her short non-fiction story "You will miss me when I burn," was a little gritty and passionate western. She proclaimed to borrowing the title from a Bonnie "Prince" Billy song, which I had no idea who that was. I googled him and that is a whole other blog in itself.
I really hate to compare writers to other writers because I feel like every writer should be their own thing. But this story really reminded me of the contemporary writer Annie Proulx. Ford's writing style is organic and comes off natural and easy to visualize, which is also a trait of Proulx.
Fav, quote from the story, "A beautiful girl, like a good horse, can change the world."

Great end to another successful Word.

Tuesday Night Homework Club

Aside from the fact that it feels like forever since I sat down to write a blog (or anything for that matter), I'm trying to refresh my spring broken brain. 


I'm thinking of a thought that was brought up about The Wasteland and I was curious about it as well, as I was re-reading my last blog. 


Who was T.S. Eliot writing for? His poem requires the reader to have a wealth of knowledge at their disposal, and yet then he provides notes. 


This seems to contradict the purpose. 


But what is the purpose?


AND ANOTHER THING.....


The original title, HE DO THE POLICE IN DIFFERENT VOICES: part I, could have been a hint that Eliot was using different speakers in his poem, which I didn't really catch onto at first. 


Which raises another good question, what constitutes a speaker? 


I believe for the sake of argument, a speaker can be anyone or thing that is speaking or having a thought that is not the original speaker's thought. So in the case of The Wasteland, stream of conscious and imagined characters count. 


It becomes hard to differentiate where the speaker changes, especially after the first section. The sections following one, seem to be a narration and they include multiple speakers. 


I still stand with my first initial thought and will need to read this poem at least 20 more times. 

THE WASTE LAND - T.S.ELIOT

If I thought understanding Walt Whitman was going to be my hardest task this semester, I thought wrong. Hello T.S. Eliot.

This is only the second time I’ve attempted to read it,  so I don’t feel too bad that I’m struggling to understand it.

I want so badly to understand this poem and I think it will take at least another 20 reads to grasp it.

I got the post WWI theme that is present throughout the poem and the move towards the apocalyptic end of the world.

There is a blend of high society and low class culture. This is in the second section with the high-class woman sitting on the throne, and then the women in the bar-“In rats’ alley.”

There seems to be many emerging themes that are constantly being tested.  Aside from the obvious them of death, there is also a theme of resurrection and the cycle of life.

This is seen in the references to decay. Especially in the last 8 lines of section one, where the speaker asks,

“That corpse you planted last year in your garden, has it begun to sprout?”

With this line in mind, and the opening line, 

“April is the cruellest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land.”

These two references to death and gardens, brings to mind the cycle of life and decomposition. We all die and we all become dirt. This can seem cruel – breed as lilacs.

The poem’s form is also hard to pinpoint. It seems to slip in and out of various styles. There is free verse, iambic pentameter, end rhyme, couplets, repetition, and so much more.

I think Eliot uses these different forms to his advantage. Rather than having one solid form throughout the entire poem, he changes the form to match the tone of the action. (Or that is my theory at least.)

The more times I read this poem, the more I understand it. Or the more I think I understand it. Can’t wait for class discussion. 

Thursday's Blog

Hemingway's Big Two-Hearted River, draws the reader in, and just when your hooked, it's over.

Things I liked:

The narrative structure - I believe there are only two instances where there is dialogue. I felt that this type of structure worked well with the overall theme of the story. Which leads me to the next point, the theme.

The theme seemed to be about human interaction with nature and how how even though the town had burned and the luxury of convenience was gone, one could survive off the land.

Things that were curious:


On page 981:  "Nick's heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling" (981).

I felt a tension between Nick and the river at this instance, but the story gives no clue as to what the old feeling is.

A paragraph later we find out that "Nick felt happy. He left everything behind, the need for thinking, the need to write, other needs..."(981).

It doesn't seem to matter that the town of Seney is burnt, Nick is more focused on what isn't burnt, the river.

I guess my question is: Is this just a story about a guy going fishing, or is Hemingway asking the reader to read between the lines?


I also find it interesting that Nick is so damn happy. He gets off a train at a burnt town, has to haul his heavy baggage up hill in the heat, camp along the river, and he is happy. Even when he burns his tongue, he is happy!

When Nick starts to remember his friend Hopkins, there seems to be another glimpse of tension. Nick's reminiscence of the Black River trip seems to be important to him and maybe it is part of the old feeling that he brings up in previous thought.

This is the only real reference to a past. The rest of the story or narration is of life in the moment. All the action takes place second to second. Hemingway also emphasizes to great detail the small, fleeting moments, for example:

"Then he walked up to the tent. The hoppers were already jumping stiffly in the grass. In the bottle, warmed by the sun, they were jumping in a mass. Nick put in a pine stick as a cork. It plugged the mouth of the bottle enough so the hoppers could not get out and left plenty of air passage" (986).

This is just a small example but the entire short story is filled with these small moments in great detail. Even the dew on the grass seems significant.

Just as I began to think this really was just a story about fish, the last line:

"There were plenty of days coming, where he could fish the swamp" (992).

This last line leads me to conclude that this is more than a fishing trip. I think Nick is escaping his past, finds solitude in the peaceful river, the swamp is a metaphor for his past, and there will be plenty of time to deal with that..in the future?  Maybe..... This scenario even seems too simple.

What am I missing? IS THIS STORY ABOUT FISH?

“Black Woman” by Georgia Douglas Johnson

A Mother is talking to the child she doesn’t have, but wishes she could. She is telling the child about the ugly world that is filled with cruel men and that is the reason she will not have this child.

Close Reading

1)    The title is interesting because it was originally titled “Motherhood” but then was changed to “Black Woman.” I would agree that the title should be Black Woman because it emphasizes the underlying meaning of the poem, racism. There are no clues in the poem that would lead us to believe the poem is about racism, so the title is it! I think once you read the poem, the title has a new meaning.

2)    For once, I actually understand all the words in a poem. This is extremely rare!

3)    Knock and not, In and Sin, You and Cruel, Bear and ear, Pain and Again, Earth and Birth.  Some of these sounds are rhyming, and some are more alliterative. I think the flow of the poem is smooth and the sounds help to emphasis emotion.

4)    A Black Mother is literally talking to a child that she is not going to have. There aren’t any other characters present that we know of. The poem doesn’t really give any hints as to where this is taking place. My perception of the action is changing and I’m starting to think that this woman might be having an abortion?

5)    A knock at the door, a cruel and sinful world, bear the pain, Monster men, precious child, birth. All of these images are working to create a picture in the reader’s mind that the mother is not to blame for whatever is happening; the cruel world is to blame.

6)    The speaker is a woman. She thinks the world is cruel. She does not want a child. She cannot bear the pain of ignoring her child. She is Black. She believes the world is full of monsters. She thinks if she gives birth, the child will live in a horrible world. Her heart can’t handle having a child. She thinks she will reunite with the child in eternity? The speaker is alone. (I hope I got that right.)

7)    (Cruelty, sin, still, eternity, heart, pain, monster, precious, men, birth.)

These are a few words that help set the poems tone. The speaker seems angry towards the ways of man and the world that she doesn’t want to bring a child into it. But I think this poem goes beyond racism. The tone is partly remorseful that she, the speaker, doesn’t want to be the child’s mother.

8)    The poem does follow a structure. There is internal rhyme and end rhyme. The poem has repetition of lines and sounds, which helps to emphasize the emotion.

9)    The tension is between the speaker and the unborn child, and also between the cruel world.

10) “I cannot let you in”

“I cannot bear the pain”

“be still, be still, my precious child”

When I first read this poem I simply imagined a Black woman talking sweetly to herself about why she doesn’t want to have a child. After a closer reading I got a completely different image. Possibly a Black woman, who is disgusted with racism, that she decides to have an abortion because she doesn’t want the child to suffer like her. I’m not sure if this is accurate, but I feel like there is something else going on this poem.