Metaphor

While reading Sylvia Plath’s poem, Metaphors, I became interested in her choice of words as well as the structure of the poem. Knowing that there are nine lines, each with nine syllables, I thought that despite these restrictions that better words could have better defined a woman’s pregnancy. What I mean by “better” is that the words she had chosen are not happy words. To compare a woman’s pregnant body to an elephant or a ponderous house, in my opinion, is not meant to be lighthearted, and it doesn’t describe someone who would be enjoying her pregnancy. The poem just struck me as being sorrowful, and each time I re-read it, I kept trying to understand how she felt during her pregnancy. I wanted to know more about Sylvia Plath.
In searching for information about her, I was not surprised to find that she suffered from depression and ended her own life. The saddness of this poem now is that the child she had carried for nine months within her no longer has a mother. Sylvia Plath left behind two young children at the time of her early death.

Submitted by Natalie McCann

Shakespeare

I very much liked the poem "Let me not to the marriage of true minds" by William Shakespeare. I like this very much because it talks about real true love. I am one of those people that believe in true love. Yes it is very very rare but it is possible. And when you find it that love will never die and your heart will never stop pounding. Even as time passes you by you will still have that strong passionate love you have for each other when you met forty years ago. And when things around you change and no matter where you are if you have lost each other you will never lose that love it will stay forever strong and find your way back into each others arms. I am a hopeless romantic so that poem makes me smile inside. :)

Submitted by Sherry Marshall

A Few Thoughts on "To Build a Fire"

“He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances.”
(London p.115)- The narrator asserts that this was the man's true problem, of which he was unaware. His ability for awareness and self reflection only grow and developed the closer he gets to his end, and the essential end of the story.

Yes, the descriptors of the Yukon were cold, and beautiful - well written and vivid. What I found to be really interesting though, was how stark and cold the inner monologue of the protagonist was; a suitable parallel to the story in many ways. This simple thought process though, is what brought about his downfall. He made many, many mistakes; he was making mistakes long before he ever went out that day.

One instance that really struck me was when his hands were frozen, and his first thought was to kill the dog by brute force after tricking it to come to him. -It simply never occured to him to do things an easier way. He had never been kind to the dog, and so the dog did not trust him. He wanted to gain warmth by putting his hands inside the carcass of it's body, but he might have been better served had he curled up with, and been willing to be close to the dog.

The thing about the Yukon that differs from the protagonist is that the Yukon is far more complex, and fierce than the man expected. The man was a simple, and yet often overly confident to his own detriment. Ultimately I suspect the way in which he succumbed to the winter was probably the most graceful moment in his life.


If this story were to be set in Greece, I think it would have most of the markings of a true Aristotelian tragedy. -For example, there was the reversal of fortune brought about by hamartia, and his growing awareness throughout the story. "To Build a Fire" is a story filled with hamartia and hubris, and contains a catharsis in the conclusion where the protagonist meets his end.



The ways in which I believe this does not necessarily fit the tragedy is that the protagonist was not in a stately position to begin with, and the story was simple in it's complexity. Ultimately I think that if Greece was cold, and the man were a king, we might be able to get "To Build a Fire" to fit the mold of the Greek tragedy.


I really enjoyed "To Build a Fire" by Jack London,and I've discovered this semester that I have a great love of tragedy as well as third person omniscient narration. I like to see the bits and pieces of a work, as well as seeing the bits and pieces of the inner-workings of the characters in a given story.

Here are links to interesting websites devoted to all things Jack London: http://london.sonoma.edu/ and http://www.jack-london.org/main_e.htm

Submitted by Katherine McGondel-Wininger

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frosts poem the road not taken was an interesting poem. Out of all the poems assigned i thought it had the most meaning. Robert Frost uses two paths in his poem to talk about decisions people make. The two paths are good symobols to use for the decisions. Robert Frosts other poems were also really good. He doesn't just throw words together and try and rhyme. He writes his poems with meaning and all the poems that I read by him are meaningful and symbolise something. I reccomend his poem The Road Not taken as well as his other poems. Robert Frost is a great poet and deserves a lot of credit for his work.

Submitted by Alex Klier

Survival 101

Besides poetry, I really enjoyed Jack London's "To Build a Fire". As a child, I read White Fang, which became a favorite of mine for many reasons. The way London devotes so much of his work to describing the setting is amazing, and he does it in a way that the reader does not become bored. He keeps you following him, allowing you to immerse yourself into the story, to see the images he sets up. I was not once bored of reading "To Build a Fire", which no offense, can happen often when having to read an assignment for a class. Don't get me wrong, I love reading, but reading what I WANT to read and reading what I HAVE to read are totally different subjects. I really enjoyed this story, though, and found myself speaking out loud, becoming frustrated at the man's ignorance to the cold. Although it is "just a story", I wanted to jump through the pages & ask him why he did not listen to the advice of others! In my case, hating the cold, I'd never be there anyways, but if I was, I would heed the advice of others, and maybe take a Survival 101 class :)

Submitted by Nicole Mason

Sonny's Blues

James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues," is a very insightful story about the personal effects from drug use and recovery. This story gives a very interesting perspective of a brother trying to figure out his brother's psychological state after he goes to prison on drug charges. Over the course of the story we see how music keeps Sonny stable and allows him to express his pain and fear more safely and easily. To see this kind of personal development presented so well is rare to find. The level with which Baldwin delves into the person, rather than the entire "situation," as you see in a lot of anti-drug literature draws parallels to one of my favorite television shows, "The Wire." Just as "Sonny's Blues," explored the pain and suffering of a recovering user, "The Wire," looked at how drugs and crime in Baltimore affected specific individuals from all walks of life. I find this kind of personal perspective on such a taboo topic to be fascinating and I wish there was more literature like "Sonny's Blues."

Submitted by Anthony Cirurso

Processing "Sonny's Blues"

I very much like Baldwin's short story "Sonny's Blues. In part that is likely because I had never read anything by Baldwin before taking this class.I had previously read the other assignments for one reason or another over the years but this was new to me and so it was interesting even before opening the book. I did already know about Baldwin and for some reason had written him off as angry guy with a chip on his shoulder. There is plenty of work by angry people around so I hadn't felt the urge to make the time to read more propagandistic rants by yet another person who felt them selves to have been put upon.
But Sonny's Blues isn't like that. It is a superb description of what actually making art is really like. I didn't think that could be done. Ask any musician, visual artist, or writer you know what they think of the last page or two of this story and I bet they will tell you that it's right.

Submitted by Martha Oldham