In Class Essay 3

In Class Essay 2

                Sir Philip Sydney’s “Thou Blind Man’s Mark” creates a mood of caution. It is evident within the poem that when dealing with desire one must be careful and strong willed. This warning of caution lets the reader know that Sir Philip Sydney feels that desire is dangerous, evil, and a monster. His attitude towards desire is conveyed through techniques such as structure and figurative language.

                The structure of the poem is divided into three different parts that allows the reader to grasp the author’s attitude effectively. Each part has a specific purpose to address how he feels about desire. Lines 1-4 (Thou blind man’s…whose end is never wrought) describes desire in a way that allows the reader to see how Sir Philip Sydney feels about desire. Words such as “snare” and “web” describe desire as a trap that one cannot easily escape. Lines 5-11 (Desire, desire…thy smoky fire) tells the reader the effects of desire once caught in its trap. Desire causes one to chase fruitless and unyielding dreams. It causes one to be distracted from his or her true goal. Lines 12-14 (For virtue…how to kill desire.) is where it tells how to deal with desire. By focusing on one goal or reward you can overcome desire if that goal is to “kill desire”. This three part structure fulfills the author’s purpose in letting the reader know how he views desire has something evil and to be vanquished.

                Figurative language is actively used throughout the poem to convey the overall mood and feel of the poem. Phrases such as “Thou blind man’s mark, thou fool’s chosen snare” and “Thou web of will, whose end is never wrought” uses comparison to describe desire in the views of Sir Philip Sidney. These phrases imply that desire is a self-made trap that one does realize he or she is trapped in hence the phrase “Thou blind man’s mark, thou fool’s chosen snare”. The phrase “Thou web of will, whose end is never wrought” implies that since it is a “web” created by yourself it is inescapable because you don’t realize you’ve been caught.  This use of figurative language leads to thought that this evil entity desire born within you turns you into a monster that has woven your downfall.

                The way Sir Philip Sidney depicts desire as an evil entity shows his true attitude towards desire. His use of structure and figurative language builds desire as character itself within the poem and the way he builds desire as a character lets the reader know how he feels about desire. He sees desire as an evil entity and an enemy that is nearly impossible to defeat unless one’s desire is to “kill desire”.

               

In Class Essay 1

                The Poisonwood Bible introduces a well civilized family into a completely new and drastic change in environment. Moving from their comfortable homes in the United States to the hostile and extreme environment in Congo, Africa the family has been significantly impacted on how they grow and develop. The overwhelming change in environment pushes the characters to change and the environment itself molds the characters as the story progresses. It’s not only the physical surroundings and geographical surroundings, but also the cultural environment that shape the characters throughout the novel.

                The harsh physical and geographical surroundings of the African village pushed characters to change and come to sudden realizations about themselves. Adah, a crippled teenager, had a dim and backward view on her life and for the most part did not get involved with society or with others unless it was absolutely necessary. She exiled herself from society seeing herself as not fitting in or of being any use. Africa’s physical and geographical surroundings changed her psychological state of mind. One day while walking with her sister a Lion appears out of nowhere. Adah is abandoned and put into a life threatening situation but is able to survive despite being crippled. This event causes her to value her own life and to become not so detached from the world. It is this event that pushes her to become a active and involved scientist. The state of her psychological thinking was turned completely around due to her physical and geographical surroundings.

                The cultural environment of the African village caused a character named Leah to change her moral views. Leah at first is absolutely devoted to the ways and views of her Christian Father. She shares all the same views and beliefs on what is right and wrong with him. The cultural environment wears down Leah’s faith in her father and her religion. The political and social state of Congo causes Leah to feel compassionate towards the Congo independence movement. She falls in love with the African culture and marries and African man. She drops her shared moral views with her father to pursue her own moral views in justice and freedom. The remainder of her life she fights for Congo independence.

                The extreme change in geographical and cultural surroundings has caused characters in The Poisonwood Bible to change and mold their psychological state and moral views.  Adah and Leah’s complete change throughout the novel illuminates the author’s work as a whole. The introduction to an alien environment can cause one to grow and realize who they are and what they want to do.

Poetry Essay Question 2

                Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” clearly shows an inner conflict within the main character, Hamlet, that tears him between two choices. His choice between live for revenge or death is what drives the theme and plot of the play. He is often portrayed as a mad man throughout the play as it fits his mental instability brought by these conflicting choices. Through Hamlet’s inner conflict Shakespeare is able to convey his theme of revenge.

                Due to a series of events Hamlet contemplates between the choice of life and death. His father has died and his mother remarried to his uncle. He wonders if life is still worth living and considers suicide to be an escape. He finds purpose when confronted by the ghost of his father who reveals that it was Claudius who murdered him. Hamlet seeks to carry out an act of revenge which gives him a reason to live. Despite finding purpose Hamlet still considers suicide to be a viable choice. The option of suicide gives birth to an inner conflict in Hamlet. He could carry out his act of revenge and possibly feel inner peace at the end or he could just end his life where he stands and be rid of his nightmare. Hamlet’s indecisiveness leads him to becoming mentally unstable and causes him to carry out rash actions of revenge.

                The choice of suicide is what offer Hamlet an escape which for Hamlet is an attracting choice, but the thought of his uncle going unpunished for his crimes drives him towards a mad plot of revenge. The looming choice of suicide is present throughout the play. Hamlet wants to end his suffering in an instant but can’t due to his plot for revenge. The thought of suicide clearly shows Hamlet’s state of mental instability and Shakespeare uses this to drive the plot of the play

Poetry Essay Question 1

This passage from The Crossing does not give much information about the man or the wolf, only the man’s deep feelings towards the wolf. As the man looks upon the wolf he develops great feelings of admiration and respect. These intense feelings are conveyed to the reader through techniques such as tone, imagery, and figurative language.

                The tone set by the passage conveys the man’s feeling of awe and praise towards the wolf. The tone reaches a level of praise from lines 40-46 (He squatted over…running in the starlight). The tone is so engrained into the text that it gives the reader the same feelings. This tone is evidence of the man’s intense feelings and emotions that he experienced through this event. These mixtures of tones shows the impact the wolf had on the man spiritually and emotionally.

                McCarthy’s use of imagery is extremely effective in correlating the man’s emotions and his senses.  Lines  40-44 (He squatted…her bloodied forehead) shows the man’s actions expressed in a physical form, “sat by her and put his hand upon her blooded forehead and closed his own eyes”.  The emotions expressed through his actions shows that the man is intrigued and indulged by the wolf’s cold dead body.

                The figurative language used throughout the passage created feelings of admiration and respect. It is the vivid descriptions of the wolf in her natural habitat that creates these feelings. For example the description of how the coyotes react to the wolf in lines 52-54 (Where she ran… was fear and marvel) shows how majestic and powerful the wolf was. Lines 55-58 the wolf is compared to a flower that eats flesh. This comparison enlightens us to the beauty of the wolf.

                To what degree the wolf has impacted the main character is made clear through the man’s thoughts and actions throughout the passage. The wolf enlightened the man through her beauty and power. By using these literary techniques the author has created a mood of admiration and respect that is reflected in the man.

GRIDLOCK (A Lemon by Pablo Neruda)

Meaning: Pablo Neruda is expressing the deeper layers in everyone and everything. Including a lemon. He is illustrating how as you delve deeper you find deeper meaning and more surprising things.

Antecedent Scenario: Well if I had to make an educated guess I would say that Pablo Neruda was studying a lemon to great extend before writing this poem.

Tone: The overall tone I got from "A Lemon" was admiration and passion. Now that might seem weird to have admiration for a lemon but what I believe Pablo Neruda was going for was the lemon's great qualities and how it can be applied to everyone and everything.

Agency: The main agent in this poem is the lemon. The lemon does not change throughout the poem. The lemon only gets described in more detail as the poem progresses.

SEVENTH READING

So I read "A Lemon" by Pablo Neruda seven times. Honestly every time I read it I had a different insight. At first I thought Pablo Neruda was just trying to paint a vivid picture of a lemon with words and for the most part he succeeded. But by the time I got to my seventh reading I had a different view. I began to think this was talking about Earth and how the juices flowing down might be like the rain and the trees are the nipples. It is talking about how giving Mother Earth is and enriches the Earth with its nourishment.