"You're Ugly, Too" by Lorrie Moore

" 'Just kidding,' she said. 'I was just kidding.' But he gazed at her, appalled and frightened, his Magic Marker buttocks turned away now toward all of downtown, a naked pseudowoman with a blue bracelet at the wrist, trapped out on a balcony with - with what? 'Really, I was just kidding!' " (page 370).

I feel that Zoe is so eccentric because she is insecure with the person that she is. She is self-conscious during uncomfortable situations that she tries to get the attention off of herself. This makes her more sypathetic as a character because I truly feel bad for her not feeling comfortable in her own skin. I feel that the costume party is significant because all of these people are putting on a mask. They are trying to hide the people they really are. Zoe, for instance, never comes up with her own sentences. She uses jokes that she has already formulated in her mind. She cannot come up with her own work. It all is kind of sad. It all stems from the fact that she is uncomfortable with the person she is. She is self-conscious of her chin and her speech impediment. She needs to take off her mask and be herself. Jokes are important to Zoe because she is afraid to be serious around others. She would rather have others enjoy her presence and her jokes than know her on a deeper level. She is trying to disguise the person suffering from life itself underneath all the humor. Zoe speaks both sarcastically and ironically. It is kind of difficult to distinguish the difference between the two. Men in the story have a trouble of really getting to know Zoe. However, she kind of does this to herself because she doesn't really let people in.

"The Drunkard" by Frank O'Connor

"I was still thirsty. I found if I stood on tiptoe I could just reach Father's glass, and the idea occurred to me that it would be interesting to know what the contents were like. He had his back to it and wouldn't notice. I took down the glass and sipped cautiously. It was a terrible disappointment. I was astonished that he could even drink such stuff. It looked as if he had never tried lemonade" (page 347).

There are many sources of humor in this story. First off, the boy starts off the story acting as if he is annoyed with his father's drinking. I find it funny that the boy ends up drinking himself. Irony fills this story. For instance, on page 345, the author states that "The father was stepping out like a boy, pleased with everything." I just find it ironic that the father acts like a boy at time, and that the boy acts like an actual drunkard. It's as if they switched roles. It is also humorous when the boy yells at ladies who laugh at him. He cusses. It is also funny who the twelve year old boy "thinks deeply about life / death." It's just an interesting story. THe humor arises from distortion of life because everything is kind of out of whack. There are also undertones of pathos. For instance, the mother thinks that the boy drank because he was trying to protect his father. The mother is proud of him, even though this really wasn't the case at all. The boy was just curious. It shows that he is human. I feel that the central theme of this story is that parents definitely influence their children to act a certain way. However, everyone is given the choices to live justly and accordingly. The title refers to the boy. At first, I thought that the title was referring to the boy's dad. Then I realized that this is probably also talking about the son. Maybe it is like that common phrase: "like father like son..."

"The Lottery" By Shirley Jackson

"Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. 'It isn't fair,' she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head" (page 271).

After reading this story, I really tried to figure out the significance as to what the 'lottery' was. After much thought, I realized that the 'lottery' is actually something that people don't want to win. If a person receives the lottery in this story (aka the black dot), then that person is to be killed. I find this incredibly ironic because in real life, people WANT to win the lottery. Here, it is casted as a terrible thing. When I first read that the story was title 'The Lottery,' I expected a person to win the lottery and to have a happy ending. I honestly am not very surprised. These short stories are killing me because I am a hopeless romantic who loves fairytales. These short stories that we've read over the past couple weeks are crushing my dreams of fairytales, and this just makes me sad. A scapegoat is an innocent being who is blamed for another person's fault. Tessie is the scapegoat in this story because she did nothing wrong, but the town decided to kill her nonetheless. This story kind of reminds me of the story of Jesus. Okay, yes, I always tie things back to my faith, but my faith is the one thing that I love to talk about. Jesus was the chosen one. He came into this world as a human, like everyone else. Even though He didn't do anything wrong, He still was chosen to be killed. It is sad, but He had to live a painful death. Was it fair? No, but He had to do it for the benefit of all. I don't know what the probability was for someone to die in this story, but I am just upset that Tessie had to be innocently killed. (It also freaks me out that her name is very similar to mine, and she was stoned to death.... I do not like these tragic ends to short stories! I want a cute love story where everyone lives happily ever after!)

"Popular Mechanics" by Raymond Carver

"She would have it, this baby. She grabbed the baby's other arm. She caught the baby around the wrist and leaned back.
 But he would not let go. He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard.
In this manner, the issue was decided" (page 345 [handout]).

The story's final lines hold symbolic meaning. Yes, I think that the author is leaving this up to interpretation whether who got the baby. However, I do think that maybe the baby was pulled so hard in both directions that the baby simply died. Neither parent deserved the child, so maybe that is how the issue was "decided." Perhaps the answer lies with the author of the piece, or maybe like the story that we read about last week (I think it was "Eveline"???), the author is leaving the answer up to the reader's imagination. The few details in the description of the story establish the tone. First off, the story is set in the end of the snowstorm. The snow is melting, and it is now "slush." In the winter, it is really dreary without the sun being out all the time. I simply think of winter as kind of a dark, dreary time. That's why we always put up lights and such to add light to this darkness. Or maybe that's just me, I don't know. However, the literary elements also add to the tone. When the mom and dad are yelling at each other, there is no quotation marks. Everything is just simply stated. It's almost as if the parents' words do not deserve true punctuation. The child, for one thing, does not deserve to be hearing these things. It's just kind of sad though because children are what generally hold a family together. One would think that these two parents would make their relationship work for the benefit of the child. However, even their this moment, greed comes out of the parents and neither can give it up. How could a parent do this to his child?! I don't like this. The words are harsh and the violence is worse. In this case, actions truly do speak louder than words.

"Miss Brill" by Katherine Manfield

"But today she passed the baker's by, climbed the stairs, went into the little dark room - her room like a cupboard- and sat down on the red eiderdown. She sat there for a long time. The box that the fur came out of was on the bed. She unclasped the necklet quickly; quickly, without looking, laid it inside. But when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying" (page 186).

One of the questions after this passage said "What do you think Miss Brill looks like?" After reading this story, many descriptions came to mind. I kind of envisioned her to look like a person who wants to be all prim and proper but cannot pull off the facade. For instance, she is characterized as a person who wears a massive fur coat. Perhaps she is just someone who wants to be the fairest of them all but just does not fit into society. I'm not really sure. The fact that we do not know Miss Brill's first name also fits in to her characterization. This shows that she doesn't want society to know who she really is. Maybe she is insecure in some way. Also, this hinders society from knowing her on a deeper level. Society in this story never takes the chance to get to know her. She is merely just someone there, like a shadow. Miss Brill's observations about the people she encounters reveal that she is a lonesome, nosy person. For instance, everyone she mentions is mentioned with someone else. Couples are everywhere in this story. The only thing that Miss Brill matches herself up with is her coat. Maybe this shows some significance because perhaps Miss Brill cannot find someone herself. I feel that she watches other couples to live vicariously through them. I also feel that she is single. If she was widowed or divorced, she might be called Ms. Brill. The fact that she is called Miss Brill, though, just makes me think that she always has been single. The conflict of the story is that Miss Brill is unaware that people don't let her in. She simply only stares and watches other people's lives instead of living one herself. The antagonist of the story is the people involved (society) because they are annoyed with Miss Brill's way of living, or should I say "not living" her own life.

"Once Upon a Time" by Nadine Gordimer

"Anyone who pulled off the sign YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED and tried to open the gates would have to announce his intentions by pressing a button and speaking into a receiver relayed to the house. The little boy was fascinated by the device and used it as a walkie-talkie in cops and robbers play with his small friends" (page 233).

At the beginning of the story, a writer is awakened by a frightening sound in the night. The cause for the sould that is the more significant cause for fear is the fact that it could be a murderer. She also thinks that it could be mysterious footsteps. These too create an emotional background for the 'children's story' she tells because it starts with a creepy, dark undertone. The writer is setting the tone for a scary child's story. The beginning just starts eery, and this tone remains until the end of the story. The stylistic devices that create the atmosphere of children's stories is that first off, it is titled "Once upon a time." Also, the story begins with a background story before it dives into the story at hand. Also, "one evening" and repetition of characters bad judgments is integrated throughout the story. I can somewhat fix the blame on the child's fate on his parents because the parents were warned from the beginning. Also, they allow their son to play with the buttons on the "YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED." Obviously, the son is too young to realize that what he is doing is wrong. His parents could have warned him to stop playing. Also, the boy climbs a ladder. Come on, parents! Why aren't you watching your son?! It's also to be expected because of the foreshadowing. The YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED is repeated three times. It's just an accident waiting to happen. The audience obviously knows that someone will be punished for going against the wishes of the witch.

"A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty

"Then she went on, parting her way from side to side with the cane, through the whispering field" (page 225).

After reading this story, I tried my best to discover the theme of it. However, I was drawing a blank. This lady just seems crazy to me. She travels through the forest, talking to herself and other animals. I feel that she is characterized as an innocent, old lady who really does have a passion for life. However, like any other old lady, she's kinda crabby. What does the part of her forgetting to get her grandson medicine symbolize? Does she even have a grandson or is she losing it mentally? I don't know. The story doesn't really have a purpose. It just kinda starts and ends. Nothing really gets accomplished and the story just kind of rambles on. However, once I got to the end, I noticed something of significance. Throughout the story, the old lady is travelling "uphill." She may be crazy and losing her memory, but she knows the way of the forest. She knows the path. Then, the story ends with her traversing downward. The very last sentence is "her slow step began on the stairs, going down." Maybe this symbolizes her life. Her life was going uphill for a while, and once she reached her destination, her life just went downhill. I don't know, maybe I'm reading too far into things. However, this just makes sense to me. Also, there are many obstacles along the way. This is similar to a person's life. We all have final destinations and the desire to make the final quest. However, obstacles arise along the way and hinder us from reaching our destination in a timely manner. In my religion class, we discussed that the journey is more meaningful than the destination because it forms a person's inner being. Maybe this is the case here.

"Eveline" by James Joyce

"She sat at the window watching evening invade the avenue. Her head was leaned against the window curtains and in her nostrils was the odor of dusty cretonne" (page 218).

I feel that this is an image that constantly is integrated throughout the story. For instance, Eveline is one of those characters who is constantly waiting on something or reflecting on life. She's pondering life at the beginning of the story. She looks out the window when her mother is dying. She looks out the window, thinking of Frank. At the end of the story, she looks across the railing as Frank leaves her. It's constant. She constantly is the person reflecting on things, but she fails to do anything for herself. This makes me believe that Eveline is a static character; she doesn't change much throughout the course of the story. Eveline's father is characterized as an angry person. He was always slightly mean to her, and he is characterized as a gruff character. I wonder if he is abusive at all to Eveline. I feel that the author wants the audience to sympathize with  Eveline. For instance, her mother died, her brothers died, her father is mean, and she has to earn a living to support her brothers. However, I feel that there is a word in the end that best describes Eveline. The word used is "helpless." Eveline does so much for other people, but she cannot do anything for herself. I am still trying to figure out why she did not run off with Frank... I mean, it makes sense that Eveline cannot date him because Frank is a traveller, but still. The entire story seems to lack substance. Maybe this also parallels with Eveline's life. It's there, and it's interesting. However, the story lacks substance and meaning, just like Eveline's life.

"Bartleby the Scrivener" by Herman Melville

"Men have committed murder for jealousy's sake, and anger's sake, and hatred's sake, and selfishness' sake, and a spiritual pride's sake; but no man that ever I heard of ever committed a diabolical murder for sweet charity's sake" (page 666).

This story was annoying beyond belief. Bartleby would not tell his boss why he would not obey him. He just kept saying, "I would prefer not to." And why would he hide in the the office itself? Was he homeless? Does he act this way because he's lonely? He is deranged psychologically? I don't know; I am just so confused... However, it is a wonderful feeling to know that Bartleby cannot ever be asked to do anything; he just does things out of the goodness of his heart. He does things because he wants to, not because he was asked to do so. Maybe this is how we as a society should live. We should live to do service to help the benefit of others. We should do things because we WANT to, not because we were forced or asked to do so. Our works become so much more meaningful when we do them without getting recognition. I think that this is how Bartleby is. He works very hard for the benefit of the company, but he does things because he wants to. The company represents society and how we must work to benefit the needs of others before the desires of our own. I also think that it is significant that Bartleby works behind a screen door. We are called to serve without having others notice what is going on. We should live like no one is watching us, like no is going to give us praise or recognition for what we have done. Our works then seem twice as heart-felt and meaningful when we do not care who gets the credit.  I feel that I might have interpreted this entire the wrong way, but this is how I took it.

"Hunters in the Snow" by Tobias Wolf

" 'That's the worst part of it: the lying. Having to lead a double life like a spy or a hit man. This sounds strange but I feel sorry for those guys, I really do. I know what they go through. Always having to think about what you say and do. Always feeling like people are watching you, trying to catch you at something. Never able to just be yourself" (page 200).

I chose this quote because it not only describes the character of Tub very well, but it also describes society. Tub kind of embodies the average person in society. He has a huge a heart, but he gets annoyed with people very easily. He acts on impulses instead of thinking out his actions before he does them. He also is very secretive about his life and lies to hide his flaws. However, all of this gets the best of him after awhile, and he comes clean. I feel that Tub was incorporated into the story for a reason. All three of the characters have meaning to add to the story, but I have yet to find out what those meanings are. After reading the story, i was kind of disappointed that all of the story led of to a state of vagueness. Did Kenny turn out alright? Did Tub eventually lose the weight? Did Frank end of getting with the babysitter? Nothing is clarified. I feel that Frank is the most sympathetic out of all of the characters because he understands why Tub shot Kenny. Frank is concerned that they get Kenny to the hospital. Finally, once Tub comes clean about being obsessed with food, Frank buys him a full meal and makes sure that Tub eats without any insecurities and eats until he is full. Frank never chastises Tub in the story, although he probably should. He does not chastise Tub for shooting Kenny. He even allows Tub to eat instead of encouraging him to be healthy. Frank knows that Tub eats because food is what he lives for. Frank respects that, and maybe Frank allows Tub to eat because Frank called Tub fat. Whatever the case, Frank is the most sympathetic out of all of the characters.

"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker

" 'What happened to 'Dee'?' I wanted to know.
'She's dead... I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.' " (page 177).

This is probably the biggest insult that Dee could say to her mother. Dee is ashamed to be associated with the lifestyle in which her mother and sister Maggie live in. Dee is ashamed of the person she was before. I feel that the mother's being 'hooked in the side' while milking a cow symbolize that her mother worked her whole life to provide for her family, but she still faced many challenges along the way. Perhaps it also represents the fact that no matter how much she worked, it still would never change the lifestyle in which she lived. And further still, I think that it represents the fact that she worked so hard to provide for her daughters, and yet Dee is ungrateful for what her mother had done for her. I think that Dee's refusal to accept a quilt when she went away to college represented her refusal to stay with her lifestyle at home with her mother and her sister. It symbolizes that Dee is ungrateful for the hard work and service that people provided her with all of her life. Dee's name and costume represent that facade that Dee puts on. She is entirely fake, but she is ashamed of her past. So, she puts on a costume to disguise the girl the world around her knew before. I think that the mother's refusal to let Dee have the quilts indicates a permanent change in character because the mother says, "When I looked at her (Maggie) like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet." This defining moment of seeing Maggie differently would impact the way the mother looked at Maggie from then on. Of course the mother would be more sympathetic toward Maggie from that point forward.

"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker

"When I looked at her like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet. Just like when I'm in church and the spirit of God touches me and I get happy and shout, I did something I never had done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero's hands and dumped them into Maggie's lap. Maggie just sat there on my bed with her mouth open" (page 181).

After reading this story, I struggled to think of its central theme. I believe that maybe it has something to do with justice. Dee was always living on the high end of life, even though she just took everything for granted. Maggie, on the other hand, was always too afraid to show people who she truly was and felt undeserving of anything given to her. Perhaps the theme is not to do with justice but rather humility. It's kind of like that saying in the Bible: "The first shall be last, and the last shall be first." As a reader, I felt it was a sense of accomplishment for myself to find out that Maggie received the quilt in the end instead of her sister. It just showed that we must try to be humble in order to get what we want instead of just expecting things to happen for us all the time.

I feel that the differences in characters was also important. Dee was the outgoing one who always cared about how she looked. She was fortunate in all aspects of life, not only with looks and confidence but also with intelligence. However, she took everything for granted, and people disliked her. Maggie was always the shy one, who tried her hardest but struggled at succeeding. She always felt unworthy and lived in her sister's shadow. She did all things unnoticed. Dee's hatred of the old house is reflected in her present actions because she tries to be someone she's not. Because she got rid of the person she was in the old house, she changed who she was entirely. She wanted to dress more properly and change her name to get rid of the person she was before. Dee also was able to "stare down any disaster" because she felt that she was invincible and that no one could say no to her. Maggie's burns from the fire symbolize that she allows herself to get hurt in situations. She cannot stand up for herself, and she constantly is suffering the aftermaths of other's actions.

"How I Met My Husband" by Alic Munro: Thoughts..................

"I wasn't even old enough then to realize how out of the common it is, for a man to say something like that to a woman, or somebody he is treating like a woman. For a man to say a word like beautiful. I wasn't old enough to realize or to say anything back, or in fact to do anything but wish he would go away. Not that I didn't like him, but just that it upset me so, having him look at me, and me trying to think of something to say" (page 135).

When I first read this story, I could not help but think that this story is so typical of how society is as a whole. So many of us are just living to find that one person to love. And even when someone comes along, we look at them as potential. For instance, when Edie first met Chris, she was reminded with the guilt of how he saw her when she put on Mrs. Peebles' dress. This caused her not to like him because he made her worried. However, she became lost in the moment with him at the tent. Even though she did kind of like him before, this moment was icing on the cake. She was now attached to him because someone showed interest in her. She waited and waited on that letter, even though Chris was not the perfect man for her. Chris was not faithful to his fiance; why would he be faithful to her?! Nevertheless, Edie still felt strongly for him. As a reader, I really wanted Edie to be with Chris because the entire story is basically centered around him and the title is "How I Met My Husband." I just assumed that it was all leading up to Chris and Edie falling in love. However, the story took another turn and she ended up falling in love with the mailman. I couldn't help but think that Edie just settled for this guy. She didn't really want to be with him, but she went for him when she lost all hope in Chris. The mailman was her second choice. It's not to say that Edie didn't eventually fall in love with the mailman because there's a high chance that she did. All that I'm saying, though, is that we, as a society, must fight for what we love in order to be happy in the end. We might not be able to achieve what we want, but we should at least aim high and not settle for less than what we want.

"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner

"We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will" (page 285).

This story does not have a specific order. Everything is kind of jumbled into one. Also, the story is kind of centered around a big gossip wheel. For instance, the town assumes that Emily bought arsenic to kill her husband; however, the story does not explicitly say that she did such things. We never really get Emily's perspective. The story is told from a first person plural point of view, and Emily is already casted as a crazy, creepy person. The story does not allow room for sympathy towards Emily's character. Perhaps she just is emotionally unstable and has a problem with letting go of the men in her life.  She needs serious help, but the people in the story just look down upon her because she's different. I'm still trying to figure out why she was so attached to her husband when he was "not the marrying type." Obviously, the two are not meant for each other, but the town seemed to know that the two would get married. However, I think that the structure of the story parallels with the fact of the gossip wheel. People are not really sure about what really happened to Emily and what went on in her life. Because of this, the story cannot be told in all factuality and order since her story is not even really known to the narrator(s).

"Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri

"When she whipped out the hairbrush, the slip of paper with Mr. Kapasi's address on it fluttered away in the wind. No one but Mr. kapasi noticed. He watched as it rose, carried higher and higher by the breeze, into the trees where the monkeys now sat, solemnly observing the scene below" (page 166).

The central conflict in this story is that Mr. Kapasi becomes wrapped into a dream that he and Mrs. Das would be perfect together, but she is oblivious because she misinterprets what type of interpreter he is. Mrs. Das views Mr. Kapasi as a man who could fix her internal problems; however, Mr. Kapasi only knows how to interpret external issues. The entire story is a pun. Yes, Mr. Kapasi is an "interpreter of maladies," but he mainly just guides the doctors into knowing how to help a patient with his external illnesses or pain. The monkeys in the story pointed to the odd boy out (the boy that wasn't Mr. Das's real son). Perhaps this was to open up the fact that Mr. Das should figure this out about his son. Or rather, maybe the monkeys were put into the story to allow Mrs. Das to finally feel grief or sympathy towards this son. The note falling out of the purse and Mrs. Das not realizing it parallels the fact that Mrs. Das is oblivious Mr. Kapasi showing interest in her. The note also represents Mr. Kapasi's hope that a relationship will last with Mrs. Das. The fact that it blew away represented the crashing and burning of his dream about one day being with her.

"How I Met My Husband" by Alice Munro

"As for me, I put it all out of my mind like a bad dream and concentrated on waiting for my letter. The mail came every day except Sunday, between one-thirty and two in the afternoon, a good time for me because Mrs. Peebles was always having her nap. I would get the kitchen all cleaned and then go up to the mailbox and sit in the grass, waiting" (page 145).

The plot structure of this short story is kind of told as a flashback. The story goes in chronological order, but it takes awhile for the narrator to get to her points. She goes into so much detail, almost detracting from the story. Also, the story is filled with so much suspense about how the narrator met her husband. As a reader, I truly felt that the story would be about how Edie met and fell in love with Chris. She focused so much on how she met Chris and their random conversations that I naturally felt that the story would be about him. The diverting plot structure matches the overall theme of the story because the narrator tells backstories to get to her main purpose: how she met her husband, the mailman. Yes, the ending threw me for a loop, but it just goes with the overall theme for the story. Everything led up to how she met her husband; it just took me awhile to finally comprehend that her husband was NOT Chris. The minor characters like Loretta Bird and Mrs. Peebles help advance the plot because their accusations get the truth out of Edie. Because Edie comes clean, the whole fiasco happens and eventually Edie meets someone else. I feel that they also add some comic relief and maybe a breath of fresh air. They bring Edie to her senses and open her eyes to how the world really is instead of her own little bubble.

"Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not Dead" by Andrew Hudgins

"He thinks that when I follow him hi'll wrap me in his arms and laugh, the way he did when I arrived on earth. I do not think he's right."

This poem is interesting. I think that the speaker elegizes his father if the father is "not dead" because the father is near death. I think this because of the fact that the speaker said that "He's ready." This means that his father is ready to die. Maybe the father is on his death bed, or maybe the father just is comfortable talking about "the world beyond this world." Who knows? Also, the speaker's view of immortality is different than his father's. This is because his father is ready to die and thinks that heaven is similar to a family reunion. However, the speaker is very adamant in his opinions that "he doesn't think so." Also, the central theme of the poem is that the speaker's father is ready to die and views the afterlife a certain way, but the speaker is afraid of death and is not ready to go yet. The tone of the poem is kind of cocky. The speaker believes that his thinking of the afterlife is the best way to view the issue. I also think that the poem is somewhat satirical. The author is making fun of the way his father views heaven, thinking that they will embrace like old times and say, "Welcome back."

"Lonely Hearts" by Wendy Cope

"Can someone make my simple wish come true? / Do you live in North London? Is it you?"

First off, I love this poem. I feel that this poem describes the vast majority of society. The central purpose is simple, really. So many of us go on through this world, and the only thing we are living for is that special someone. We just keep searching and searching and searching. Each person carries a key: the key to someone's heart. However, each person tries to make other people's keys fit into their heart (their keyhole), but sometimes it just doesn't work. So we keep trying, keep meeting new people and hoping that their key is the perfect fit. We try to force their key into matching our keyhole, but it doesn't work. We can't force love; however, the openness that the speaker is portraying is important. The speaker keeps trying to be compatible with every person she sees fit in her life. However, this speaker doesn't really have standards. She's kind of open to just about anyone. This speaker represents the vulnerability and desperate attitude showcased by many people in the world. I believe that this poem is satirical because the speaker is making fun of anyone who just lets any person into her life. We all want our wish of falling in love "to come true." We just have to find the person who holds the key to our hearts because they will be the people worth fighting for.

"Death, be not proud" by John Donne

"One short sleep passed, we wake eternally, / And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die."

Wow. I've never read a poem about a person standing up to death before. This speaker genuinely is staring death right in the face and is claiming to rise above death's threats. This is somewhat contradictory to the majority in society because most people fear death more than anything else in the world. The central theme of this poem is that the speaker is certain that he will overcome the obstacles that death is putting in front of him. The tone of the poem is persistent because the speaker is adamant that he will win the battle against death. This tone is conveyed due to the speaker's diction. The speaker uses series a lot in this poem. For example, the speaker says, " some have called thee mighty and dreadful." The speaker uses more than one adjective to describe death. Also, the speaker says, "Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men." Here, the speaker is saying that death gets the best of fate and chances. Death also gets the best of kings and desperate men who get too involved with fame or other desires to realize what truly matters in the world today. The poem flows in the sense that every other line rhymes; however, these lines of rhyme all contain much depth and insight. I also sense some irony in this passage because he says that "death shalt die." Is this possible? Can death die?

"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas

"Do not go gentle into that good nigh, / Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

When I first read this poem, I was ultimately extremely confused as to what this poem was trying to say. After reading it again, I realized that the central theme is centered around death. The tone of the poem is kind of bitter. The speaker is upset that good people are dying so early. He says, "Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright their frail deeds might have danced." This is symbolizing that good men die off early and are unable to say goodbye. Also, people are sad that the good person's light didn't last longer. How often do we wonder this about our loved ones? Many of us wonder why the good people die young, or why God takes the good ones off first. Many of us often say that good people who die had so much ahead of them. This speaker falls into this boat. He has "rage against the dying of light." It's almost like an oxymoron because most people represent death as darkness. Here, the death is darkness, but the goodness in people's hearts represents the light. The author also is upset that the light is dying out. His diction includes words like "rage." He is genuinely upset as to the concept of death. Also, the speaker is very repetitive of phrases to showcase his point. He repeats "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "rage, rage against the dying of the light." Maybe "Do not go gentle into that good night" symbolizes that if we ARE to die young, we should die with everything we have. We should not "gently" die; we should die trying to fight for the passions in our lives. Maybe? I don't know. I'm somewhat confused, but I think that is somewhat correct.

"That time of year" by William Shakespeare

"As the deathbed whereon it must expire, / Consumed with that which it was nourished by. / This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, / To love that well which thou must leave ere long."

This quote truly has a lot of meaning to the poem. I recognized the central theme of the poem as a person telling his lover that this life is old and dreary, but the two must make the most of life. The imagery in the poem is very colorful. For instance, the speaker begins the poem talking about "yellow leaves." Yellow typically symbolizes happiness and newness. So maybe the yellow at the beginning represents the hope of life but "few do hang." (There is not much hope in the speaker's world at the moment). Then, the poem goes on to talk about the "sunset fadeth." Again, the hope is fading away. After that, I noticed that the imagery became darker: "which by black night doth take away." This makes it seem that darkness is taking over. Finally, the in the last stanza, the spaker says "death's second self seals up all in rest." I felt that this symbolized that a person's inner sadness is the ultimate thing that kills a man inside. The turn at the end of the poem is very intriguing though. It's almost a turn-around; the entire poem is dreary until this point. The quote that is listed above is symbolizing that we must not be "consumed" with the things that "nourish" us. Rather, we should allow the world to nourish us and love the things on earth while we still can.

"Hazel Tells LaVerne" by Katharyn Howd Machan

"But sohelpmegod he starts talkin bout a golden ball an how i can be a princess me a princess."

Ah, the fairytale poem at last! However, it's a little bit different because of the dialect and sentence structure as a whole. First off, nothing is capitalized or punctuated, so it was confusing to know when to pause. Secondly, everything is written with a southern dialect. I don't know if this is style of the speaker or of Katharyn Howd Machan. However, all of these southern-sounding words remind me of Princess and the Frog. I feel that the central theme of the poem is to showcase that each of us are royalty to someone. We don't have to be princesses or princes, but deep within, we really are someone special. Hopefully we will find the person to make us believe that we are "a princess, me a princess." But isn't this difficult? To find someone who looks at us for our inner beauty instead of our exterior looks? I feel that the frog represents love as a whole. Some of us are terrified of opening our eyes to love because throwing ourselves out there frightens us. Some of us are just shocked because the person that God brings us is not always who we expect. But we have to look past all of this and give them a chance. We have to take chances in order to see what we really want in life.

"Getting Out" by Cleopatra Mathis

"Finally locked into blame, we paced that short hall, heaving words like furniture."

After reading this poem, I couldn't help but think that this world is filled with so much hatred. It kind of makes me sick. The second stanza contains a lot of nouns and not many verbs. It's kind of confusing. Also, after reading this, I'm getting the sense that maybe the central theme is focused around divorce or the end of relationship. The theme, at least how I saw it, was all about getting angry, saying hurtful things, and eventually everything will work out. This couple has their love constantly fluctuating because of the making of amends. At least I think they made amends. That's what I thought of when I read the phrase "taking hands we walked apart, until our arms stretched between us. We held on tight, and let go." I feel that there are scars weighing down their relationship, but they will always be a part of the others' life. The poem doesn't have a set rhyming pattern, which actually makes it flow a little more instead of being the choppy rhyme scheme. Perhaps the "unshredded pictures" represent that they are not mad at each other. However, I just wonder if feelings were mutual because they "heaved words like furniture" at each other. I guess that we all just say things when we are upset. The tone of the poem is kind of indifferent. It's kind of a rollercoaster of emotions about how they had "tightened hearts" and "blamed" each other, but it ends with parting with a sense of longing. I feel that the speaker doesn't really know how he feels about the situation; he is just telling the story of their lives together.

"Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold

"Listen! you hear the grating roar.... again begin, with tremulous cadence slow, and bring the eternal note of sadness in."

After reading this poem, I couldn't help but think that the central theme is to show how sad life can be, but through it all, we must cling to the things we love most. The tone of the poem is very melancholy about sadness taking over life. For example, the first three stanzas are embellished with dreary diction, with words such as "sadness" "distant" and and even "naked." Later it becomes more uplifting, but the tone is demonstrated through the attitude of the words infused throughout. I'm starting to think that the mood is actually bittersweet. Also, the imagery is all about describing actual pieces of nature. For example, he describes the "sea" "tide" "cliffs" "bay" "land" and "waves." I feel that the speaker describes physical aspects of nature in order to symbolize the emotions of a human being. Our emotions go in and out like the "tides", but we must control our mindsets to pull in the optimistic outlooks instead of the depressing ones.

"Crossing the Bar" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

"I hope to see my Pilot face to face / When I have crossed the bar."

This poem definitely is one of those poems that speaks more truth than simply words. The meaning behind every line is so profound. For example, this poem uses a lot of imagery about night time. The terms "sunset" "evening star" "asleep" and "twilight" are sprinkled throughout. At first, I just thought that this poem was about, well, night time. However, the meaning goes deeper. When the poem starts to talk about "hoping to see my Pilot face to face," I realized that the symbolism is stronger. These "nighttime" words more symbolize death. When we think of death, we think of being "sound asleep." So, I think that the author is using these terms to represent going into a deep slumber, and meeting the Pilot. However, I strongly believe that the Pilot represents God. Also, I believe that "crossing the bar" refers to "crossing over into another life." So maybe this poem is all about sleeping, but I am convinced that the central theme of the poem is that we should live life to the fullest while we are alive ("awake"). Then, when we do die, we will have the chance to meet the Pilot. Why does Tennyson use the term Pilot? I think that this term symbolizes that God is steering us toward Him in our lives and that we must trust Him completely in order to meet Him at the end of our days.

"My Mistress' Eyes" by William Shakespeare

"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red..."

After first reading this poem, I was initially confused as to what the central theme of the poem is supposed to be. I believe that the speaker is trying to say that nothing is more beautiful than the features of the woman he loves. However, something is telling me that the speaker is trying to say that his mistress' eyes are dull compared to the sun, that her lips her bland compared to coral. All of this imagery has gotten me confused. Is he more captivated by the beauty of creation or the beauty of his mistress? Or both? The tone of the poem is almost overreaching. The speaker seems to be grasping at a beauty that he cannot possess himself. Also, the imagery of the poem is decorated with colorful language. For example, Shakespeare scribes specific words such as "red coral" "white snow" "black wires" "white and red roses", just to name a few. This imagery allows the colors and descriptions to be even more vivid. The sense of sight is essential to this poem, and these visual pictures depict the exact images of the mistress and creation behind her. I'm just confused about the purpose and theme of the poem.

"Mr. Z" by M. Carl Holman

After first reading this, I noticed a lot of implied imagery and descriptions in the first stanza. For instance, this man "Mr. Z" had a mother with "skin with error" and he dressed "the perfect part of honor." He "won scholarships, attended the best schools... chose raceless views of each situation..." Basically, the first stanza is trying to state that Mr. Z "had it all." Also, I noticed that every two back-to-back lines rhyme. Usually, I think that rhymed poems are choppy, but this poem had a nice flow to it. However, the tone shifts in the second stanza because this stanza is bland. I believe that this symbolizes that Mr. Z's life is bland, even though he has all of these accomplishments. Not only is his life bland, but his diet is too. In this stanza, Holman uses a lot of food imagery, such as "pork" "vintage wines" "sauces" and "salads" just to name a few. I feel that the central purpose of this poem is that everyone knew Mr. Z as a wonderful man, but they didn't really KNOW him. Yes, they knew of his accomplishments, but accomplishments mean nothing if a person doesn't have a personality. The world didn't know Mr. Z underneath his "perfect" life. The theme is trying to allow us to look past what people "do" and to look at people for who they truly are.

"APO 96225" by Larry Rottman

The central purpose of this poem is that honesty can be a bit much for people to handle. For instance, in this poem, a soldier is writing to his parents, telling them details about being overseas. The letters at first are vague but become more graphic due to their request. Honestly, this poem kind of how relationships are. We sugar coat things from our loved ones to protect them from the truth. Which is better? A sweet lie, or the bitter truth? The tone of the poem simply realistic. The tone is achieved by the diction. For instance, when the soldier is being honest with his parents, he says, "Today I killed a man. Yesterday, I helped drop napalm on women and children." This phrase is truly what soldiers do for our country. I don't know how they keep a positive attitude through life. Maybe this poem also has a deeper symbolism. We all try to be optimistic human beings, but the world wants us to know "truth" and "pain." Why does the world try to weezle out the pain and honesty? I'm still trying to figure this out. I'm also trying to figure out which is better: truth or pain. I believe that both are essential to life, but there is a time and place for each. Also, the sentence structure has a lot of dialect and conversation between the soldier and his family. This makes the poem more personal and informal.

"Sorting Laundry" by Elisavietta Ritchie

While I was reading this poem, I noticed that the poem is written in three line stanzas. At first, I thought that this might be several haikus mixed into one poem, but then I realized that I was wrong. The simile "like tablecloths for the banquets of giants" is used. This simile is effective and appropriate because it describes how big the bedsheets are. At first, when I read this poem, I thought that this person was obsessed with what she put in her laundry. But after finishing the poem, I realized that I was kind of right. She IS obsessed with her laundry, but she is more obsessed with the person who left her with the laundry. The central purpose of poem is that the speaker is reminiscing over the times she had with her lover, hoping he will one day come back. The tone is very bittersweet, but there is a sense of longing infused throughout. For instance, the author scribes, "if you were to leave me, if I were to fold only my own clothes... a mountain of unsorted wash could not fill the empty side of the bed." This symbolizes that the speaker would give anything to have her love back in her life. Allusions are also used throughout, especially when the speaker talks about "Noah's ark." This is to show that the socks all had a match, just like the animals in Noah's ark had a mate. I wonder if the speaker had her lover literally leave her or if he passed away.

"Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God" by John Donne

Before I say anything, I just wanted to point out that the verbs infused throughout the poem truly add dimension to the poem's message. For example, the second line of the poem has "knock" "breathe" "shine" "seek" and "mend." I think that the author does this to showcase the act of living out the motions in life. Toward the end of the poem, the speaker indicates that he has turned away from God. To me, his diction infused with verbs symbolizes that he is going through the motions every day without God beside him. He is just doing action after action but has no life behind the actions' meanings. This poem is confusing, but the sentence structures don't help either. For instance, "me should defend." At first, I read this and thought of cavemen speaking. Then, the more I thought about it, I started to realize that this symbolizes that the speaker is talking to God. Everything that the speaker says is on a lower level than God's power. This inadequate speaking style, to me, does serve some purpose. It's to show that the speaker is unworthy of God because he has turned away from Him. Also, rhymes are used throughout. Finally, I was struck by the simile "like an usurped town." To me, this means that the speaker is broken and cannot ever return back to his Creator. The tone of the poem is based off of repentance because the speaker deep down wants God to rescue him from his despair.

"Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy

I think that the central purpose of this poem is that the speaker is trying to raise awareness about girls' self-esteem and self-image. Society tells people that they should be a certain way; so since people become wrapped in pleasing others, they fall into the tide of society's wants and desires. However, I believe that the speaker is trying to tell the "barbie doll" that she should not change herself for someone else. She died on their terms of beauty, but society doesn't know what beauty really is. Society thinks that beauty consists of revealing tops, lots of make-up, orange skin, and plastic surgery. This is not beauty: this is being fake. Beauty is a beautiful light that comes from within, but society made the girl's "beauty" light burn out.

The tone of the poem is mournful over the girl's death. It's also kind of condescending towards society for doing this to the girl. The diction is melancholy towards how wonderful the girl's life once used to be. As the poem goes on, the speaker uses words that are almost disappointed that the girl was not strong enough to be her own person. For instance, the writer says, "she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up.... she lay with the understaker's cosmetics painted on, a turned up nose, dressed in a pink and white nightie." Yes, the writer is using diction that the woman looks beautiful but in a different way. The woman basically caved in to the wants and desires of society by cutting off her nose and her legs. A symbol in the poem is that the "cutting off of her nose" represents the material desires of the world that drown the heart of society. I found it ironic that the girl "was healthy and tested intelligent" when later she lay in the casket, completely sick from the temptations and destruction of society.

"February" by Margaret Atwood

First off, this poem is very cleverly written. It starts out with the importance of "winter." The poem begins with a negative undertone. Typically, when one thinks of winter, we usually think of a state of being dormant and restless. However, by the end of the poem, the narrator talks about how anxious he is for "spring." He says, "make it be spring." This just changes the tone of the poem altogther. Spring represents hope and awakening. Perhaps the excitement of spring and "celebrating increase" have helped the narrator lose the anger and resentment shown at the beginning of the poem.

When it comes to symbolism, I am convinced that the cat represents out thoughts and conscience. So many of us are distracted when it comes to actually doing our work. So many of us are living for the wrong reasons, such as sex, recognition, territorialism, and possessions, just to name a few. We don't focus on what positive things lie in front of us until they are gone. In the winter, we can feel a sense of being trapped. Sometimes we even are overcome with a sense of depression because in the winter, we never see the sun. That's why I think the author incorporated the line that that the cat jumps on top of the narrator " to tell whether or not I'm dead." Also, I love the incorporation of the hockey in this. It's almost as if the narrator is talking to me while watching a hockey game. That's why the author includes the phrases of  "he shoots, he scores!" Personally, I feel that the author did this to showcase how distracted human kind is. We are blind to what is good in our lives. We are blinded by the beauty of God's creation because of society misses what's important in life because the world's focuses are on "sex," "hockey," (sports) and other "possessions."

"The Joy of Cooking" by Elaine Magarrell

This poem is slightly disturbing. I read it and was utterly repulsed by it. However, when I reread it, I realized that it was infused with symbolic instead of literal meaning. The narrator, or shall I say the "cook," is using cooking terminology in order to get back at her siblings. For example, the narrator says, "I have prepared my sister's tongue, scrubbed nad skinned it, trimmed the roots, small bones, and gristle." To me, I think that this means that the narrator's siblings are getting on her last nerve. She wants to hurt them and "plots" against them. Personally, I think that she is secretly planning plots against them in her head and not in real life. The narrator has a different motive: she is trying to let us in on her siblings true personalities.

For example, when the narrator says that her sister's tongue "will probably grow back," the narrator could be implying that his sister has an incredibly big mouth. In the second stanza, the narrator is talking about his brother's heart, "which is firm and rather dry." This implies that the narrator's brother has a strong heart (strong-willed, maybe?). However, the brother could be self-centered and selfish because of his "dry" heart. Also, the narrator says that "although beef heart serves six, my brother's heart barely feeds two." This is showing that his brother has no passion behind what he does. His brother doesn't have heart, and maybe the narrator was just having an off day. I am concerned, though, for the safety of the narrator's siblings. I just hope that this person is kidding because cannibalism is just disgusting. Serving a person's siblings skin and bone with "sour sauce" is unethical and disappointing that his relationship with his siblings is not substantially true love. This is the case for many siblings, for if they were not siblings, they would not even be acquaintances.

"Dream Deferred' by Langston Hughes

This poem is very simplistic but very profound at the same time. There is not a real sense of form or pattern to the poem. Hyphens and questions are woven throughout, and similes take up entire lines for themselves. This structure allows the reader to ponder the analogies even more because of the emphasis on them as to how they were written. The common them of the poem is that we, as humans, sometimes have no idea what to do with dreams we cannot have. However, we always want what we can't have. Those things which are unavailable to us just seem that much more intriguing to possess. But really: what do we do with dreams we cannot have? Do we move on? Do we try harder? Or do we simply explode?

These all have to do with the overall tone of the poem: questioning. The poem consists of six questions; almost every other line contains a question. This means that out of the eleven written lines in the poem, more than half are questions. The questioning causes the reader to be just as involved in the poem as the author is. Asking these rhetorical questions causes the reader to stop and think about what happens when we are deprived of what we have been seeking and how to handle it. The tone is also somewhat depressed. There is no uplifting undertone in this poem. For example, negative terms are infused throughout such as "dry up" "fester like a sore" "stink like rotten meat" "sags like a heavy load" and "explode." There are two positive lines "crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet." However, with all the other negative lines, these positive phrases just seem out of place. Perhaps that's the point. I think that this symbolizes that when our hopes and dreams crash and burn, we become so absorbed in the the negative aspects of the situation. Yes, there are a few positive things that we ponder, but for the most part, it just seems impossible to move on. However, we do what we can to be mesmerized by that tiny glimmer of hope in order to see life from a new perspective instead of exploding and giving up on opportunity.

"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" By John Donne

The central theme of this poem is that two lovers are saying farewell. The two people have to figure out how to move on with their lives without the other. For example, Donne scribes "as virtuous men pass mildly away, and whisper to their souls to go, while some of their sad friends do say, the breath goes now, and some say no." Basically, Donne is trying to say that sometimes, our friends must tell us goodbye. Some of us leave with sad departings, while others see farewells as positive new experiences. The narrator is trying to say that he says goodbye to his love with a bittersweet attitude. The tone of the poem is uplifting and inspiring because it gives hope for the lovers to still live on. This is achieved through the author's diction. Donne states that " we by a love so much refined, that ourselves know not what it is, inter-assured of the mind, care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss." This is uplifting because it embodies that even though the narrator is parting from his love, their love will never be forgotten in the memories of his eyes, lips, and hands.

When Donne says, "and though it in the center sit," I believe that this symbolizes that two people sit in the center of the other's heart. The two are the center and meaning of the other's life. The poem ends right back at the circle. Perhaps this symbolizes that love is a never-ending cycle that everyone in society wants to be running around in. The form of the pattern is iambic pentameter. Every other line rhymes, which means it follows an ABAB format. Punctuation is used throughout, but the sentences are very long. I feel that perhaps the narrator is not sad about leaving behind his lover. Maybe he does not feel the same way for her, but this just makes me think of a famous quote. "If you love someone, let him go. If he comes back to you, he's yours. If he doesn't, he never was." Maybe this man will return to his lover with a deeper love than he had for her before.

"Pink Dog" by Elizabeth Bishop

This poem by Elizabeth Bishop is more metaphorical than literal. For example, in the second stanza of the poem, Bishop scribes, "Oh, never have I seen a dog so bare! / Naked and pink, without a single hair... / Startled, the passersby draw back and stare." Initially, the reader is going to think that the poem is about an actual dog, but I believe the central theme of the poem to be about society. Yes, the poem begins by talking about a dog, but as the poem continues, the poem is more directed at people in general. For example, at the end of the poem, the poem takes a different turn. Bishop writes "a depilated dog would not look well. / Dress up! Dress up and dance at Carnival!" The central theme of the poem is that we, as people, walk around as hideous creatures with painful pasts. We are the bare, naked dogs. However, no matter how difficult our lives can be, no matter what we have going on, we must dress up for "Carnival." And perhaps this poem is not asking us to dress up for "Carnival;" maybe this symbolizes that we should look forward to what's in store in our lives no matter who we are. "Carnival" symbolizes that each of us are worthy of getting into heaven, no matter who we are. We need to look forward to what's in store for our future in heaven.

The tone of the poem is encouraging. This is achieved through Bishop's use of diction. For instance, maybe this is best defined in the following quote: "In your condition you would not be able to even float, much less to dog-paddle. Now look, the practical, the sensible solution is to wear a fantasia." This is just one example of how the narrator is trying to bring the character out of despair and show him that he deserves happiness. The imagery is infused with terms dealing with the Carnival. Yes, the imagery also uses animal terms throughout such as "rabies" and "a nursing mother"; the Carnival imagery, however, includes "fantasia" and "mascara"  to excite the reader about the festivites of Carnival. The form of the pattern is that every line for three lines in a row rhymes. However, it is very confusing because of how the lines are broken up to fit the rhyming pattern. The broken sense of the poem causes it to be choppy, and it does not flow well. It took a little getting used to, but I think that the broken yet cohesiveness also adds to the theme of the poem. We all are different and have our own scars, but we all deserve to enjoy a night out at Carnival. 

"Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden

This poem reminds me of bitterness we show to those who help us. We hate school because we hate being pushed to be all that we can be. We hate listening to our parents because they make limits and boundaries. But ultimately, these people work so hard for us and want us to be as happy as can be. We take them for granted just like the narrator of the poem did to his father. He is bothered by his father's work ethic and is always so annoyed with him. How true is the fact that we never appreciate what we have until it is gone! We are bitter and arrogant until life  strips us of our desires. Only then do we humble ourselves and become more tuned in with who we are supposed to be. Once there's something missing though, we become more bitter about what was lost than we were before.

What I'm trying to say is, Hayden says, "my father got up early.... and worked with cracked hands that ached from labor.... no one ever thanked him." He starts out the poem by just simply stating the facts. He's not bitter, but this is how his life was. We, as a society, are so selfish. We are only concerned with ourselves and hardly ever acknowledge the work of others. The questioning at the end of the poem is almost like an invocation to the heavens. He's so concerned that he was not true to his father. He wishes he would have changed. The ending simply shifts the focus to about his father's work ethic to be about how the narrator misses him and wishes he would have lived differently. This change of focus changes the tone. At first, I thought the poem was about bitterness. In a way, it is. But after reading it and rereading it, I realized that the poem is really about change and being grateful for what we have in life.

"Spring" by Gerald Manley Hopkins

This poem makes me happy; it makes me think of hope. The poem almost brings me back to my days of being a little girl, pretending like the world is mine. It's almost like spring is like earth's awakening to heaven. "The ear" is the human's response to sounds in nature. For example, people become attuned with the sound of birds chirping when they're outside. And I love how the pear tree leaves' "brush" is like the whishy-washy sound of leaves rustling in the wind. We ruin the beauty of creation with our sins. Spring is the "innocent mind" of creation. It brings out our inner childlike side, and apparently spring is more than a season: it's a gift from God.

With all the references to God, I am getting the vibe that the author is a devout Catholic author. "Thrush" is apparently some type of blackbird, although I have never heard of this before. I love how "juice and joy" are incorporated into this poem. And I feel that it's within reason, too. For example, when I think of juice, I think of fruit and seeds and whatnot. Fruits flower in the spring, and from these fruits come delicious juices and even joy. However, the author is kind of adamant that spring is the best aspect of life, for he says "nothing is so beautiful as spring." This is kind of a matter of opinion. The "descending blue" is obviously the beautiful sky. God has definitely blessed us with the most beautiful wonders of creation, and these are evident during spring time. However, we ruin and "sour them with sinning." I think that the poem is asking us to change our ways order to preserve the goodness of God.

"London" by William Blake

In the first stanza of the poem, William Blake scribes "mark in every face I meet / Marks of weakness and marks of woe." This symbolizes that our world is submersed in self-pity and emptiness. We're always looking for something more, something of utmost desire. The second stanza reminds me of God calling His people of suffering out of despair. And the last stanza speaks of a corrupt youth in society, unable to change society's weaknesses. Perhaps none of us are capable of changing the world. Perhaps we all are. But that's why only a small few are willing to change people's ways and pull the world out of darkness and despair. The fact that it is called "London" symbolizes that perhaps it is told from someone's point of view who's against the Church of England. The phrase "marriage is like a hearse" shows the division of society.

The central purpose of the poem is to show that everyone deserves sympathy and understanding for their way of life. For example, when Blake is writing about the "Harlot's curse," he is showing some sympathy for the prostitutes in town. Also, the tone of the poem seems to be that Blake is not happy about how things destroy marriage. Perhaps this symbolizes that the greatest marriage of all is the marriage between the Church and with God. The fact that this is getting destroyed symbolizes the turmoil in society. And the "marriage hearse" could also symbolize King Henry's marriage. Perhaps the main imagery in this poem is about destruction. For example, the words "weakness" "woe" "cry" "fear" "manacles" "appalls" "black'ning" "blood" and "curse" all symbolize within themselves despair and agony. The central theme, in one sentence, is that people's lifestyles keep becoming distant from God; therefore, society is bleeding from it's own personal desires and destruction.

"The Panther" by Rainer Maria Rilke

When I first read this poem, I thought it was about an animal. But then, once I reread it, I thought that perhaps it is about a person. Let me explain. Just like the Emily Dickinson poem, this poem is about how we are all trapped inside our minds. I think that the "constantly passing bars" symbolizes the constrictions of society. "As he paces in cramped circles" represents the man pacing his thoughts in his mind. Finally, the "image that enters in" represents a thought that keeps recurring in the mind that he overanalyzes and digests. This is what I took after reading the last line "an image enters in... and plunges into the heart and is gone." The central theme of the poem is that people are trapped not only by the conformity of society, but also the destruction of our minds. The tone of the poem is one that seems kind of depressed. Terms such as "weary" "bars" "cramped" "paralyzed" "arrested" and "plunges" are all in here. The words themselves kind of represent defeat in some way.

The form of the pattern of the poem is a somewhat rhymed format. The words don't all rhyme, but they all are kind of stuck in the perameters of the rhyme two lines ahead of it. The imagery in this poem is all about movement and vision. For example, it starts out talking about "vision" and later goes on to talk about "pupils" and an "image. These all correlate with the sense of sight. The imagery of movement includes "passing" "movement" "strides" "ritual dance" "paralyzed" "rushes" and "plunges." Although the person is trapped, the movement is essential to the poem because it represents the the person (or being) is still living and moving. Although he is trapped, he is still functioning and breathing. We constantly are trapped in this world behind the bars of the world's vision of how we should live our lives. We pace around, hoping life will change. But then more people judege and watch us, so we feel forced to life life based on the limitations and guidelines of humanity.

"I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson

I believe that the poem's central purpose is to showcase a person's insanity. The "Funeral in his Brain" symbolizes the inner war between a person and his mind. The "mourners" represent his conscience, hoping that he will make the right decision as how to find happiness. But the character cannot because "that Sense cannot break through." I also think that the "mourners" represent the person's heart. His heart is bleeding in the sense that he cannot find inner peace. This is why I think the "Drum" is referenced that "kept beating- beating" because the person's heart continues to beat, even though he is not alive mentally. I think that the abruptness at the end of the stanzas represents that the narrator cannot finish his thoughts because his mind is all over the place. The tone of the poem is stressed, frenzied, and negative. There is no hope for the person to get out of this mess. The "funeral" continues to keep getting worse. I just think the "funeral" as a whole symbolizes a person dying mentally, even though his body continues to be alive. And the "Boots of Lead" represent this person not being able to run away from his issue of insanity. It has corrupted his life entirely.

It's almost like there is no beginning or end, and it's like the narrator doesn't believe in her problem ending himself. I'm slightly confused by the random words capitalized, but I'm thinking the capitalized words are the actual symbols in the poem. The words "Heavens were a Bell" were well chosen because when we die, death tolls. This is like a bell ringing, or God signaling us to come His way. There are so many metaphors and symbols infused throughout to prove that the person is not actually insane; rather, he is clever in his analogies. They make sense. If he were insane, the poem would be confusing. But everything stands for something else, which just makes his case more valid for having a funeral in his brain. He is confused and haunted by his own thoughts, but they make sense to other people. He just has to come to terms with himself. It's tricky to interpret at first, but we just have to see life from a different perspective in order to have even insanity make sense.

"The Nature of Proof in the Interpretation of Poetry" by Laurence Perrine

" 'A symbol,' writes John Ciardi, 'is like a rock dropped into a pool: it sends out ripple in all directions, and the ripples are in motion. Who can say where the the last ripple disappears?' " (page 5)

I really like this quote; I think that it has a lot to say about life. To me, this means that symbols are given to us, but many people take the symbol in different directions when it comes to interpretation. When it comes to poetry, there really is no correct answer when it comes to interpreting a poem's meaning, but it does have to stay within boundaries of the context. I do agree with Perrine's approach to determining "correct" interpretations of poetry because he made me realize that there really are different ways to understand poetry. To me, though, this kind of bothers me. I am one of those people that I like to know what the correct answer is, and then I move on. With all of these "open to interpretation" things, life just gets more confusing. I just wish that the writer's would display their true meanings of their works. Life would be less confusing. But alas, I have to read the poetry incorrectly and analyze it through another perspective in order to understand the correct meaning of the poem.

The article changed my view of poems because they really are more complex than just words. I am a lyricist, so many of my songs consist of poems. Being the writer, it is invigorating to come up with my own symbolic meaning of my words. Yes, some people will interpret my words differently, but having the liberty of having no other person think like me is very exciting in a way. I do agree with the article in the sense that we have to interpret the poem within the boundaries of the text. But sometimes, how I interpret the poem is far off the poem's actual meaning. For instance, I read those poems the other night. My interpretations were no where near close to the actual meanings. I guess I just misinterpreted the poem's symbolism, and I took it an entirely different route. But sometimes, I have to read things more carefully in order to grasp what the writer is trying to say.

Thoughts on Brave New World as a whole..... My very last blog of the summer. I can taste sweet victory! =)

"I ate civilization...It poisoned me; I was defiled. And then... I ate my own wickedness" (page 240).

After reading this book, the only thing I can really say is wow. I did not expect John to kill himself. WHAT??????? But it only makes sense, doesn't it? He submersed himself in the tragic writings of William Shakespeare. It totally makes sense that John ends his life with a tragic end. Personally, it's just sad that civilization drove him mad. I liked John's character. It added a lot to the story as a whole. And the worst part is, nothing changed. In fact, things became worse. I wish that the clone world would have come to their senses. I wish that they could have changed the way in which they forced people how to live their lives. Did people change? No. They laughed at John. They enjoyed his pain. To be honest, I view John as God's heart. He poured out his love to nature and those around him, but people refused to see his love. Some refused to let him in. And when he sees what evil human kind has done, he tries to reach out. However, this is no use because people live for themselves instead of purpose.

Purpose. What would our lives be without purpose? What would our lives be without punishment? Without sin? Without love? Without structure? The world needs to be a mix of structure and freedom. This book showcased extreme societies: a clone world and a native world. We need to have a happy balance. We need to know how to communicate, first off, in order to live in society. We need to listen and have open eyes for those who are different from us. It is essential that we care for others and help them in their times of need. This book has made me realize that our world needs a lot of work in order to be the place it was created to be. We need to change as people. We need to be accepting of others because an intolerance of differences DOES lead to suicide. People who are made fun of for being different DO harm to themselves because they feel that they are not good enough. This needs to stop. Finally, we need to look at God's beauty and find our happiness through him. We will never find happiness in our own luxuries, in our own material things, in our own forced knowledge. We have use our talents and give back to Him or the world will become corrupted. We musn't live for ourselves; rather, we should live for others. Maybe if that happened harm would not occur. The world has potential to be a better place; we just have to open our hearts, minds, eyes, and ears in order to see the world for all of its greatness and wonders.

THE END FOR MY SUMMER BLOGGING. THIS IS TRULY A HAPPY MOMENT IN MY LIFE! =) Thanks for reading!

Chapter 18 Brave New World; Thoughts so far.......

"Then, in unison, and on a slow, heavy rhythm, 'We - want - the whip, ' shouted a group at the end of the line. 'We - want - the whip.' " (page 256)

I couldn't help but read this quote and think of Jesus. John was an innocent man, but the people enjoyed mocking at him because they did not understand what he prophesied. This scene was almost like when the people shouted "Crucify him! Crucify him!" It's simply just sad that we glory in other people's pain. Take America's Funniest Home Videos for instance. We laugh hysterically when we see people seriously hurt themselves. Isn't this just sad? Why can't we put an end to this people ask? Well, we continue to act immaturely because we, as a society, love to feel superior to other people. Acknowledging that we are laughing at them, we feel that we are better than they are. We feel powerful, and we enjoy watching them suffer. This. Is. Just. Sick. We just need to grow up. Our laughter can seriously destroy a person emotionally. Our laughter can leave permanent scars. And even when we apologize for laughing and apologize for our actions, those people whom we hurt are never truly going to forgive us. They are never going to trust us again because we seriously trespassed against them. And they shouldn't let us back into their lives if we've done serious damage to their emotions. But the laughter should stop now. The comments should cease, and we all should start acting like the human beings we all were created to be in order to make this world a better place.

Chapter 17 Brave New World; Thoughts so far.............

"We are God's property. Is it not our happiness thus to view the matter? Is it any happiness or any comfort, to consider that we are our own?" (page 232)

This quote holds much truth to it. As a Catholic, this chapter truly spoke to me. So many quotes that were sprinkled throughout ring true for me. And I completely understand how John feels. He standing up for his beliefs, trying to make others understand his way of life. We do this all the time in our society. We try to have other people understand our point of view because we think that it is correct. I am quite surprised, however, at how calm John is handling this. Because he is a savage, I just thought that he would be angry and persistent that the other party see his side as the correct viewpoint on the situation. Personally, I side with John one hundred percent because I do believe in God. I do believe that we are on this earth to serve him. I don't really understand how a world can be happy without knowing God. This quote just struck me: "God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness" (page 234). This, honestly, is very true. We care so much about ourselves! God has given us all of these resources; He has graced us with knowledge and we use them for our own purposes. All the machinery at This Place could be used to find cures for cancer; rather, they are used for their own personal research in their own messed up world. We need to change the way we see OUR world. We need to stop focusing on material things and turn our viewpoint back to God.

Chapter 16 Brave New World; Thoughts so far.............

"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery" (page 221).

This quote truly speaks to me. After just reading it, I simply had to sit back and reflect on it. How many times in our lives do we try to replace our misery with happiness? The term happiness means different things to different people. To some, it means hours of playing video games. To others, it's a closet full of Italian and designer shoes. Still more, to many it's happily ever after to the one a person's been waiting their entire lives for. Everyone is searching to attain their own personal happiness in life. That's kinda why they decided to make This Place at all: to experience their own kind of secret happiness on earth. It all sounds kind of silly, but happiness is longed for. Some people are angry that they cannot achieve their own happiness so they live out of anger either toward themselves or to other people. Now THAT is just ridiculous. But if you think about it, each person really does live for their own kind of personal happiness. We all are living for something. Seriously, think about it. And that something we are living for is our own inner happiness.

This chapter says a lot about happiness, and how others go to achieve a taste of it. But I also truly loved this quote as well: "Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can't" (page 228). This is so true. Happiness does not live on the surface. It does not live in beauty. I don't care how rich and famous people are in their lives. They just don't seem happy. They're living for reasons other than I have time to figure out. Beauty is not only an exterior thing: it's much deeper. Beauty truly correlates with happiness, but society has changed what beauty is all about. In my opinion, beauty is being happy with who you are. It's not showing other people how much weight I can lose or how tan I can get my skin. Why does society tell me that I need these things to be happy? No. Happiness is something learned and achieved, not bought. John understands this. Hopefully the messed up clone world he's living in can come to grips as well....

Chapter 15 Brave New World; Thoughts So Far..............

"Hesitant on the fringes of the battle. 'They're done for,' said Bernard and, urged by a sudden impulse, ran forward to help them; then thought better of it and halted; then, ashamed, stepped forward again; then again though better of it, and was standing in an agony of humiliated indecision- thinking that they might be killed if he didn't help them, and that he might be killed if he did...." (page 214).

All that I could think of when I read this quote was Jesus. This little excerpt reminded me of when Jesus was speaking to crowds and all of the Pharisees and Sadducees despised it. They all thought that the man had gone mad because he was teaching things in which they did not understand. In today's society, people tend to hate what they cannot explain or comprehend. So, everyone wanted the madness to stop and wanted Jesus killed. And the people associated with Jesus: oh! They were frightened to be killed themselves! They cared too much about their own status, their own lives. They just refused to help out their dear friend. Isn't this story the same as Jesus'? Isn't this just so fascinating how the two correlate with one another? Why do we care so much about ourselves? Why are we afraid of our own fate? It's just so silly, isn't it? Similarly to Jesus, John preached his inner thoughts even though the people didn't understand what he was talking about. He wanted to make a difference in their "world" because he hated the lives they were living. In today's world, we need to change the ways that we are living our own lives and live for purpose in order to make a difference. We must live how we were called. We must love how we were called to love.

Chapter 14 Brave New World; Thoughts so far...........

"The look she gave him was charged with an unspeakable terror- with terror and, it seemed to him, reprouach. She tried to raise herself in bed, but fell back on to the pillows. Her face was horribly distorted, her lips blue" (page 205).

This quote just seemed eerie to me, almost too real. It just really struck out at me. It's almost as if Linda saw an inner demon inside John and that's what killed her. I don't know, that's just how I interpreted it. She raised her son to be a decent young man, and what she saw before her scared her. It was almost as if he had lost his innocence and saw the world for what it truly was, and the future evil of the world terrified her. By far, this was the most intense chapter. John is just changing everything about This Place. John reminds me of Tarzan. No, really, he does. Even the story line is very similar. I'll explain after this:

Tarzan is not accepted by his family because he is different, but his mother loves him very much. Then he falls in love with a civilized woman, but this brings out his inner anger. The civilized society takes advantage of him and wants to know him for their own benefits. But when his family come into danger, he wants to do all he can to rescue them. However, society kind of destroys the unity between his family. Now that Linda is dead, I can't help but see the similarites between Tarzan and John. Okay, yes, they're both savages, but their stories correlate with each other in more ways than one. Also, Tarzan and all Disney movies are simply amazing, so of course I'm going to do all I can to find similarities.

Chapter 13 Brave New World; Thoughts so far......

" 'But in the intervals I still like him. I shall always like him' " (page 188).

This quote reminds me of Romeo and Juliet. It's so overdramatic. Again, Lenina barely knows John at all, but she's openly expressing her love. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this chapter. Both people, I guess, were trying to show the other person how much they cared based on what they do to express love in the context of their own cultures. And both were repulsed at the other person's love. I wanted them to be together, and now all I can think of is "WHAT?!" I don't know. It's just kinda interesting. Lenina kinda reminds me of a girl in an abusive relationship. Girls in abusive relationships always blame themselves for not getting the guy, and then they allow their boyfriends to hit them because the girls feel they deserve it. I don't know, but it's kinda pathetic. I just have a feeling that Lenina is going to keep coming back to John, even though he breaks her heart. If Lenina had any sense, she would fall for John. What he said was so sweet! But maybe I only think that because I understand where he's coming from. I see the world through his perspective. I live in a world where marriage is ultimate symbol of love. We share the same virtues in regards to love. A couple should love each other, get married, and then have intercourse. That's just the way the cycle goes in my mind. I am not a fan of premarital sex, and I too was appalled by Lenina's acts. But then when I saw it from her perspective, it did make sense. Still. I see both sides, but this overdramatic love is deteriorating my brain. Why can't everyone just get along and see each other for the individuals they are? Sigh.....

Chapter 12 Brave New World; Thoughts so far.............

"Lenina alone said nothing. Pale, her blue eyes clouded with an unwonted melancholy, she sat in a corner, cut off from those who surrounded her by an emotion which they did not sahre. She had come to the part filled with a strange feeling of anxious exultation" page 173.

After reading this quote, all I could think of was love. I love the word love. Quite frankly, I love everything about love. Everyone does. It's what we yearn for. So many girls dream of their wedding day. Why? Because a marriage is the ultimate symbol of love. Love love love. It just makes me happy. And the most intriguing love is the love in which we cannot attain ourselves. "We always want what we can't have..." as the saying goes. In this case, Lenina is yearning for John, but he is not paying her the attention in which she is desiring. This miscommunication problem is kind of bothering me because I predict that assume that John doesn't like her anymore. So, she decides to be with other guys to fill the deep hole in her heart. And when John will see her with another guy, war is gonna go down. But that's just my prediction. I'm not entirely sure, and to be honest, I'm wrong most of the time. Think about it though, it is a likely cause....

Okay, back to what I was saying before. We always want what we can't have. So many guys have their eyes on Lenina, but she only wants John. She barely knows him! She only wants him because he's not acting interested in her. I don't know, but this is so typical in society itself. We are so greedy for more. We are blessed with so much, but it's never enough because there's always ONE more thing we need. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this Lenina John situation. On one hand, I want them to just figure out the truth that they both like each other. On the other hand, I like reading about the pursuit. I love romance. This book is getting much better. Why? Because love is being incorporated. Hey, I'm a girl, and love makes me simply giddy. Like I said before, the world loves love. And I am sure that love is going to cause this book to get even more complicated......

Chapter 11 Brave New World; Thoughts so far...............

"Drying her eyes, Lenina walked across the roof to the lift. On her way down to the twenty-seventh floor she pulled out her soma bottle. One gramme, she decided, would not be enough; hers had been more than a one-gramme affliction. But if she took two grammes, she ran the risk of not waking up in time to-morrow morning. She compromised and, into her cupped left palm, shoot out three half-gramme tablets" page 171.

Personally, I have absolutely no idea what soma is, but these people are all sickly addicted to it. The drug seems to be a way of escaping the world's problems. The Director, how I see it at least, created this place to be a perfect world, but obviously, these people cannot handle life's problems on their own. They turn to drugs. At least, I think that soma is a drug... But seriously, what kind of world is this?! As a society, we are taught to confront our problems because that's the only way they're going to go away. If we stay home to "fake sick" for an exam that we don't want to study for, we're going to have to go to school later and take the much dreaded test. We just cannot escape from our problems. They're simply inevitable. Okay, so many people turn to drugs, alcohol, and even food to not think about pain, but they're going to have to face the world eventually. Why do these people like soma so much? It's kind of dumb. It may ease the pain for a little bit, but the problems in life are still going to arise. People in this book, and society in general, need to stop running from their problems and go out into the world and seek what they're looking for in life, whether it be love, happiness, or whatever. Personally, I think that we are all capable of achieving our dreams, but maybe that's just my inner Disney fanatic that's shining through. Whatever the case, Lenina CAN get John. And John likes her! I just wish that they all could see just how perfect life could be. They need to take off their blindfolds and open their eyes to what's in front of them. Personally, the entire world needs to do this as well because God has blessed us with so much. We just have to open our eyes and enjoy all that life has in store.

Chapter 10 Brave New World; Literary Term in Use: FORESHADOWING

"Murder kills only the individual" (page 148).

So, even though I have not read the entirety of this book, I am convinced that someone is going to die. Personally, it would be much more reassuring if I was reading a Nicholas Sparks book because I am absolutely positive someone dies in every single one of his books. But that's beside the point. Personally, I don't positively know what this quote means, but I am more than willing to take a stab at it. I think that it means that no matter the murder, no matter how gruesome death can be, murder only kills a person's body. It does not kill a person's soul. The soul, in a nutshell, lives on forever. Unless, the person commits suicide. Then, that person's soul would pretty much be dead, but still. I am not an expert when it comes to death, and only God can decide who goes to heaven and who goes to the place that shall not be named.

Also, I am just seriously confused. Tomakin and the Director are the same person?! But this would mean that the Director started this "institution" as a means of something entirely different than the place he lived before.... This is so confusing. Why would he want a place where there are no mothers, where there are no families or love? What is he thinking? This just threw me for a loop. Hopefully I understand more furthre as the story goes on...........

Chapter 9 Brave New World; Thoughts so far..........

"There, on a low bed, the sheet flung back, dressed in a pair of pink one-piece zippyjamas, lay Lenina, fast asleep and so beautiful in the midst of her curls, so touchingly childish with her pink toes and her grave sleeping face, so trustful in the helplessness of her limp hands and melted limbs, that the tears came to his eyes" (page 143).

I am so captivated at the sense that the world is so mesmerized by beauty. Think about it. Beauty, love, and money seem to make the world go around. People do anything to attain beauty. Thousands of girls struggle with bulimia, anorexia, and so much more. For this novel, John's first glimpse of beauty was when he saw Lenina. He just was so captivated and awestruck by her beauty. But then it became lustful and he had to hold himself back. Why is it that this is a common theme in today's society? Why are women raped all the time? Because people are greedy, and they want things for themselves. God has given us so much beauty, and so many times we destroy it. Oil spills in the ocean, forests being destroyed, animals becoming extinct.... Seriously, the list goes on and on. Why? Because people don't know how to handle beauty, and they tear it to shreds. This is a common theme in society itself. Think about how common obesity is in today's world. God has blessed us with the bodies he has given us, and we throw it all away when we stuff ourselves with food. We tear apart the beauty of the world. I can seriously list off a thousand things in a sense of how we destroy beauty, but the number one thing I can think of is rape. When I think about rape, I think about the book Speak, which has forever left it's mark on my mind. But I cannot put the book into words. I have tried to explain the book to people, but it just doesn't do it justice. When I read this quote: "Then suddenly he found himself reflecting that he had only to take hold of the zipper at her neck and give one long, strong pull... He shut his eyes, he shook his head with the gesture of a dog shaking its ears as it emerges from the water. Detestable thought! He was ashamed of himself. Pure and vestal modesty....." (page 145), all I could think of was temptations. Sometimes, we let ourselves give in to temptations, which not only hurts ourselves but others as well. The best way to tie this all in is a movie clip. Watch it. It will make sense with everything I am talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y4t7HLIkN0&feature=watch_response

Chapter 8 Brave New World; Literary Term in Use: ALLUSION

"He picked it up, looked at the title-page: the book was called The Complete Works of William Shakespeare....

'Nay but to live

In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,

Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love

Over the nasty sty...' " (page 131).

Personally, I found it humbling that John turned to Shakespeare throughout his youth. I also found it utterly disturbing. Shakespeare wrote a wide range of powerful literature, but tragedy is common on his list of works. John is getting advice from made up stories of people who kill each other? Okay, this is just going too far. Yes, it is amazing that he is advanced in the sense that he can read, blah blah blah. But I don't want him reading this! It's encouraging him to do bad things! It's almost similar to how technology in our world can inspire us to do harm to society. Take the media, for instance. It used to be incredibly crude to speak cuss words, but since it's funny on television, people think that it's okay to speak like that. People play Grand Theft Auto, where they become accustomed to the feel of destruction, and now we have tight security everywhere. Why? Because crimes are now commonplace, and personally, I think that it's because of the media. Just think about what Facebook has done to the world. Okay, I have a Facebook myself, but people spend hours just creeping on each others' business! Since when was this okay? Personally, I don't care when people are going to bed or when they wake up! People no longer keep things to themselves anymore. I don't care who is going to King's Island. I don't care about the new pictures uploaded on a person's summer album to prove to the world they had a life this summer. Cool. Put the pictures on your desktop and spend your own time admiring how cute your pictures are. No one needs to be creepin' on your stuff, so don't let them. It's just so dumb. The point is, John was encouraged by the Shakespeare book to do harm to another person. And, maybe not. People in the town did stone him all the time, so maybe he was raised around violence, but still. Many things inspire us in this world to do harm or do stupid pointless things, and quite frankly, it's not what we were called to do. I don't care what world we live in, whether it's a utopian world or not. It's wrong, and quite frankly, it's dumb.

Chapter 7 Brave New World; Literary Term in Use: ANASTROPHE

"Twice, thrice, four times round he went" (page 115).

This sentence is inverted. In most cases, a person would say, "He went around two, three, or four times." Huxley does this many times in his novel. He inverts sentences, and I'm still trying to understand why. It just makes reading these sentences even more confusing. Maybe that's what he's trying to do, but sometimes I just don't know what his motives are.

This chapter was where everything became interesting, though, I have to say. Now, I am introduced to extreme societies: the society of the clone world and the society of the Natives. And thank God, too. These clones need to be emersed into the world of how it was supposed to be. It's kind of a backwards way of thinking of it, though. In our world, the Natives were discovered first, and then the civilizations and technology came afterwards. In this book, the technology and clone worlds are shown first, and then the knowledge of the Natives come afterwards. It's just kind of interesting. This book reminds me of Pocahontas. The clones have an intolerance towards the Natives, and they basically dislike what they do not understand. This is similar to the world trying to colonize in America, and they simply had an intolerance towards the Indians. The clones are just disgusted with the Natives. It reminds me of the song "Savages" because they kind of dehumanized those who were different from themselves.