Reflection

Here I sit, with a massive caffeine withdrawal headache, typing my tenth and final blog post for the class. I've taken many college English courses, but this simple little mini was one of my favorites. The class had a great vibe, and I felt like I could share my opinions without being judged too heavily. This was not the case in some of my pretentious classes at Hiram. *eyeroll* My favorite part of the class was when we discussed the short stories and dramas rather than the poems. I love poetry, but I really enjoy psychoanalyzing characters in a story. I also genuinely liked everybody in the class, which was a new experience for me. Overall, a class that I thought was just a throwaway to fulfill a requirement turned out to be really fun. I'm going to miss this class. 

I hope to see all of you around campus sometime, and maybe other English classes in the future! 

Romantic Poetry

Two famous romantic poets, William Wordsworth (left) and John Keats (right).








I have been in the library for almost three hours now studying for our final exam. I spent some time studying the different literary eras and who the famous writers were at the time. I have discovered that while I have an affinity for Victorian literature (for some reason, aesthetics maybe), Romantic style poetry is probably my favorite. The Romantic poets wrote about the beauty and truth in nature, imagination, and self expression. These components usually make for a pretty poem with an equally pleasing meaning.

William Wordsworth's "I wandered lonely as a cloud" is a perfect example of a Romantic poem. In the work, the speaker experiences The Sublime. This phenomenon is basically an out of body experience, or a really exhilarating and almost frightening feeling of awe. The speaker of the poem experiences The Sublime at line 3: "When all at once I saw a crowd / A host, of golden daffodils" (3). The daffodils are breathtaking, and therefore leave the speaker in a state of awe. He continues describing the flowers in the next stanza: "Continuous as the stars that shine / And twinkle on the milky way, / They stretched in never-ending line / Along the margin of a bay" (7). I think the language here is beautiful, and it creates a wonderful image of nature in the reader's mind. I believe this was the goal of a lot of Romantic poets, to make us appreciate the spectacle that is nature.

John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is another classic Romantic poem. It even has a few famous lines in it, for example: "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter..." (11) and "Beauty is truth, truth beauty--that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know" (49). While some might argue that the second line I mentioned is ironic, it perfectly captures Romantic ideals. It implies that there is truth in beauty, and nature is beautiful, therefore, there is truth in nature. One theme of this poem is imagination, as the speaker of the poem is making up stories about the figures on an ancient urn. Another theme is permanence. In the second stanza, Keats writes "She cannot fade, though thou has not thy bliss, / For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!" (19). There is another good example of permanence in the third stanza: "More happy love! More happy, happy love! / For ever warm and still to be enjoyed, / For ever panting, and for ever young;" (25). The two themes I mentioned are what make this poem a great example of Romantic literature.

Digging

My favorite poem that we read for today's class was "Digging" by Seamus Heaney. It is an interesting poem about continuing traditions. He writes about how his father was a digger, describing the sounds he hears from below his window. Lines 3-5 of the poem say "Under my window, a clean rasping sound / When the spade sinks into the gravelly ground: / My father, digging. I look down" (3). Heaney describes the hard labor his father does, and how his grandfather used to do the same work. He writes: "By god, the old man could handle a spade. / Just like his old man" (15). Heaney then says that he wants to follow in his father and grandfather's footsteps, but he doesn't quite want to do manual labor. He has a passion for writing, and he believes that's what he should be doing with his life. Line 28 captures all of this by saying "But I've no spade to follow men like them" (28). Heaney is basically saying that he's not cut out for a life of digging and planting. The final three lines of the poem are when the reader learns that Heaney's passion lies in his writing. He writes "Between my finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests. / I'll dig with it" (29). Heaney is doing his own kind of digging by writing and analyzing. Therefore, he can tell himself he's following in his father's footsteps, even though he really isn't. I liked this poem because of its simplicity.

Shakespeare's Anti-Love Sonnet

William Shakespeare's "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" is a classic love poem that I have read for many English classes throughout high school and college. It describes a woman that he loves, but in a not so flattering way. He doesn't compare her cheeks to roses, in fact, he says he sees no such roses in her cheeks. He doesn't say she has a sweet smell about her, instead he says "And in some perfumes is there more delight / Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks" (7).  In class on Monday, we had a debate about whether "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" is a good love poem or not. Most of the class agreed that if they were given this poem by a lover, they would be insulted. However, Dr. Reed told us he thinks it's a beautiful love sonnet. To be honest, my opinion is somewhere in the middle. The beauty of poetry is that you can create wonderful images and develop a pleasing aesthetic. Shakespeare kind of does this and kind of doesn't in this sonnet. He sees the beauty in his lover's imperfections, but at the same time, he blatantly points them out. I think it's kind of a pretty poem, but I wouldn't be flattered if my love compared my hair to black wires.

Dover Beach

In our class, I was the second to last person who got to pick a poem for our oral presentations. Therefore, the list of poems was picked over and heavily tattooed with my classmates names next to their chosen poem. We had only the title of the poem to base our decision on. I saw Dover Beach at the top of the page with no name next to it, so I chose it because it sounded slightly familiar. I ended up loving the poem. It is beautifully written and full of wonderful imagery. I liked the poem so much that I actually enjoyed giving my oral presentation, which is unusual for me.

As the title would suggest, the poem is about the calmness of the sea, and the message it gives to the speaker. The "grating roar" (9) of the pebbles on the shore is repetitive, and it reminds the speaker of the poem of how life can also be repetitive. To put it simply, life is really just going through the motions every day. If all we do is the same routine every day, then what is the point of living? Is all faith lost? Is it possible to have hope in this repetitive lifestyle?

The speaker points out that he once saw the world as a  "Sea of Faith" (21) full of opportunity and hope. But his point of view on the world has changed, as is evident when he states "But now I only hear, Its melancholy long, withdrawing roar..." (25). It's almost as if something happened to the speaker that made him realize that the world is not as warm of a place as he once thought. Overall, this poem describes what it's like to question the meaning of life, and even though the tone is bleak, it's beautifully written and reads smoothly.

Trifles as a Feminist Play

Trifles is a very interesting play by Susan Glaspell, based on a true event she witnessed while working as a journalist. The story examines Minnie Wright's murder of her husband John. The two women characters, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, are actually the ones who find all of the evidence that Minnie is guilty. Most importantly, they find the beaten up bird cage and the bird with its neck snapped. I think the two ladies choosing to hide this crucial piece of evidence from the men on the case is a power move. All they need to prove Minnie guilty is a motive, or a reason why she would have strangled her husband. The two women have found the motive, but instead hide it from the men, leaving the whole case in their hands.

I also believe the bird that was killed represents Minnie. It is stated that John Wright and his wife didn't always get on very well, and in addition to this, he preferred that women remain silent. The women mention that Minnie was a wonderful singer. This means that the bird, with its own songs, represented Minnie in that it had its own voice and didn't want to be quiet all the time. This annoyed Mr. Wright, and he wrung the bird's neck. It was this that drove Minnie over the edge, almost as if he had killed a piece of her.

Rear Window and Voyeurism

Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" (1954) appears to be a film about films. There is the recurring theme of voyeurism throughout the movie. Jeffries is always watching his neighbors for entertainment while he is stuck in his tiny apartment due to his injury. The different apartments are almost like different TV channels for Jeffries to watch. He even gives each tenant a nickname. He watches Miss Torso, the beautiful woman who is always dancing. He also watches Miss Lonelyheart, a desolate woman who has pretend dates and sits by herself in dismay. And although he takes the matter very seriously, the murder of the salesman's wife is almost like Jeffries' own personal thriller to watch. There is lots of viewing in "Rear Window", which is why I came to the conclusion that it is a film about films themselves.