Blog for 1-28-13 Late due to lack of computer access

In the poem The School Children, Louise Gluck explores the relationship between moms and teacher and reveals the constant power struggle through a loss of a mother’s control.

The first aspect that stuck out to me was Gluck’s vivid imagery. Mothers continually struggle for the advancement of their children, “All morning the mothers have labored to gather the late apples.” Using the word labored instead of simply working exaggerates the tedious activities that she has been doing. Gluck also did not specify on how long she was doing the task. He describes it as advancing through all morning; this is significant because it shows the great extent to which mothers dutifully act. Then there is the depiction of the apples. The color red has a negative connotation, usually one would think of evil; moreover, the color red appears after scars and markings  Apples are also used in this to symbolize the children’s innocence. As they go forward to receive knowledge from their teachers there is the malignant force from the mothers struggling to keep power over them. I feel another negative connotation in the color cold. Though it is enticing to wealthy people and help stimulate trade it can also lead to greed and tyranny. Both images of the mom holding onto these apples work to create an instantly possessive atmosphere. Next, the presentation of the teacher’s power gives the reason behind the mother’s feelings of being threatened. The teachers are depicted as gods; “on the other shore are those who wait behind great desks to receive these offerings.” The fact that they’re on a whole other shore where they are the head of operations puts them on a pedestal. This separation highlights a disconnect between the mothers influence and purpose over the children’s lives and the teachers goal. The mother wants to guard the children from the all-powerful teachers because then she loses control. The fact that the teachers receive offerings depicts the mothers as servants or people who are lesser than. Gluck has them stationed behind great desks, great meaning big and wise. They receive the offerings similar to how a god receives offerings from their followers. As the mothers see their children head off to be taught by such knowledgeable teachers while they dutifully gather apples, they see how easily susceptible they are to the teachers will. The final image that drew my attention was found in the last stanza. It is as if by losing their children’s innocence the mothers loose vigor and life, “and the teachers shall instruct them in silence and the mothers shall scour the orchards for a way out drawing to themselves…” This shows that the closer the teachers get I relation to their child the more of themselves that they lose. It is as if the mothers are simply playing a submissive role when dealing with their own child. The mothers are seen as slave and less than human as they “draw into themselves”. They have reverted back to sulking children in this manner and the teachers have risen as Gods ordering them around.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker Blog

The Colored Purple Blog

This week we were given the chance to choose outside reading novels of our choice. I was undecided if I would have the time to sit down and read the renowned novel A Thousand Splendid Suns and so I chose to begin focusing on The Color Purple by Alice Walker. This novel began extremely heavy, depicting a struggling character Celie having been raped and mother dying not truly believing her complaints. My interest was first sparked in the way Walker stylistic set up the novel. Each page gave further development on the last in a diary like format. By doing this Walker was able to grasp my attention because I was able to see the jumbled thoughts and struggles that Celie faced every day. This was seen when Celies’ sister that she believed was dead wrote her a letter talking about becoming a missionary. She directly mentioned their struggles during sisterhood when they where little running from their dad. Walker managed to make anyone with feelings empathize with these women even if they never personally went through it. Having worked with poems earlier that week I was on the lookout for these literary devices and I saw vivid imagery present here. I found it interesting when Nettie described the contrast between the white English to the Africans, “I was struck by the English people’s teeth. So crooked, usually, and blackish with decay. I wondered if it was the English water. But the African’s teeth remind me of horses teeth, they are so fully formed, straight and strong” (149). To her even when the white men are nice they still fail in comparison to the strength of Africans. The fact that Walker examined teeth is extremely significant because teeth and smiles are what you see first when meeting someone. A failing tribal community in Africa would be imagined to have dirtier teeth in poor a state, so presenting them as better than those of the white people makes me picture Africans as symbolically capable of overpowering/ overcoming them. It would be less effective if she mentioned something obvious such as the arms of the Africans being superior because I would already think tribal people are stronger than that of “civilized” everyday white English men. I love to read and have to make inferences. I was on the edge of my seat while reading this novel; moreover, it has become an engrossing mind numbing experience. Every other line personifies some action and evokes emotions in me never before experienced. The movie did not do the novel justice. The factual aspect of this novel is the last component that I thoroughly enjoyed. They were able to tell me what was going on during that time period such as beating by the mayor and separate bathrooms for colored and whites. It struck me as harsh and respectful how the ugliest character Celie is so self-disciplined that she strives to earn an education despite the disapproval of everyone including her husband. Even the husbands in this novel treat their women less than their animals though they demand respect from the white men. All in all this novel is one I would recommend to any aspiring writer.

in Just poem reflection

This blog allows me to reveal my personal ideas on the poem we read in class recently. My thesis statement was In the poem “in Just”, e.e. cummings explores the relationship between the old man and the children, and reveals the loss of innocence of the children through religious symbolism and imagery in the poem.

 This outline utilizing a “mad lib” type structure allowed me to have a centralized idea and focus. Before I could write this I came up with essential questions. I saw religious symbolism in the last stanza which tied the whole poem together. Describing the old man as goat-footed creates an almost inhumane, sinister, creature-like figure in our mind. I believe cummings was comparing him to the devil, because the devil is able to appear in many disguises. This led to the unanswered question of why he is depicted as a crippled old man, but also as queer and able to attract children so easily. The old man is strong and powerful for such an “old man” almost God-like and calling the children to their death. In order to fully understand his poems you cannot bind yourself to one literary device.

I began to reread the poem and take notes on the structure. The first three stanzas use a slight separation, but the final stanza is completely broken off. I noticed the constant repetitions of statements such as “whistles far and wee” and “the close proximity of the children’s name such as “eddieandbill and bettyandisbel”. This represented a common bond between them. The reader could physically see that all the children all had the same result when dealing with the balloon man. Their identities like the name mentioned before them blurred into one as they lost themselves coming into contact with the balloon man. The whistle is the curse luring them into the faraway place even death. The fourth stanza is pointing downward as if leading into hell, so that confirmed my thesis and I had data to refer to for support.

In conclusion, I took detailed notes in class over which taught me to look at the moment of life that the author is trying to present. Taking this into consideration I turned my attention to how the depiction of this man, his actions, and the militant response of the children and how unnatural it is. It makes sense that children would be drawn to interesting noises but the grossly depicted man throws the story into a sinister twist. Cummings also uses several contrasts such as spring, mud luscious and puddle wonderful world to show irony. Usually spring time has a happy connotation due to the fresh life and renewal this period brings about in nature; however when having the old crippled come and attract youth it seems to interrupt the flow of their lifestyles. Having him enter their lives in a time where the world is mud luscious is interesting as well. To me it seemed as if he gave their adolescence an unclear meaning which is going to harm them in the future. Lastly, He also enters the picture when the world is puddle-wonderful. Contrasting to the mud-luscious imagery here he wants to create a false sense of peace and enjoyment to attract the children and I believe he succeeds in taking their innocence away. They never talked throughout this whole poem because to the old man they were only seen as objects for him to play with. I enjoyed reading e.e. cummings poem in Just and look forward to gathering further research on him.