Batter my heart, three-personed God

Paradox is one important and notable element in the poem Batter my heart, three-personed God by John Donne. The speaker, being "betrothed" to evil, seeks God to change themself, and the only means to do so, according to the speaker is imprisonment. "Take me to you, imprison me, for I, except you enthrall me,  never shall be free,"(Donne, lines 12-13, pg. 840). The paradox of imprisonment is used to show the speaker finds it necessary to put them in jail in order that they may be free. This seemingly contradiction  in fact shows some truth. God should lock them up so as to be with God and imprisoned from the evils that plague them. Imprisonment yields freedom from sin, temptations, and evil. Furthermore, the last stanza is also paradoxical: "Nor ever chaste, except you enthrall me,"(Donne, line 14, pg 840). The speaker will not be chaste if God does not grant them renewal and new form.The speaker wants God to ravish them into being one with God, and for God alone: chastity. There is a somewhat double meaning to this ravishness, the speaker being seduced into wanting God and on the flip side, being taunted and lured into sinfulness.

The Convergence of the Twain

In The Convergence of the Twain by Thomas Hardy imagery is used to convey the deep vain of the tremendous Titanic ship, marked with a lifestyle of wealth and taking immense form on the glassy sea, summoned by force to meet a terrible fate. Stanza IV depicts the showiness and wealth the ship is a symbol of: "Jewels in joy designed, to ravish the sensuous mind,"(Hardy, lines 10-11, pg.778). The speaker in the poem condones such a lavish lifestyle of jewels and riches and in a way, through the use of imagery it is understandable how the speaker sees the titanic in a picture of grandiose, pride, and vanity. "The smart ship grew in stature,grace, and hue,"(Hardy, lines 22-23, pg 779). The imagery evoked by these lines further the idea of the extravagance and huge the appearance of the ship and how it can be portrayed as being vain in it's greatness. Furthermore, the speaker goes from the opening stanza, the ship in solitude, standing lone in the sea, to meeting it's fate of ultimate consummation: convergence with an equally extravagant and vain structure, the iceberg, perfect that they are united to the same fate of coinciding together. Just as "The Immanent Will" or "Spinner of the Years" prepares this outcome, the force commands the result in the final stanza: 'Now!' Though, who The Immanent Will is or Spinner of the Years is unknown, the imagery of such a force or creature is shown as having stronger or more ultimate control over the fate of the Titanic, willing it to crash and sink.

Barbie Doll

When first glancing at the poem Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy, I knew the topic center around the unrealistic and superficial emphasis others might place on women, and women might place on themselves, to look so much like that plastic figure us girls all played with at one point in our lives. Upon reading, the poem is divided into stanzas, which first state the normality of a girlchild fawning over figurine dolls and all things girly. At the end of the first stanza however, there is a transition to a more harsh line: "You have a great big nose and fat legs." This diction chosen by the author suggest the often harsh commentary of others when one doesn't meet their expectations. Others have the vision of perfectly pretty barbie doll in their mind and will pick at girls who have any "flaws." The irony of the poem is that the girl is actually very intelligent, but may be weak enough to succumb to the pressures from society to conform and adapt as they would like her to. Doing everything she could she even would "exercise, diet, smile and wheedle," (Piercy,836). The idea that society can eat one alive and impact someone enough to change themselves is seen clearly when "her good nature wore out like a fan belt,"(Piercy,836). This simile shows the complete transformation in her entire personality, her character wasting away until all that is left is what others have made her to be. In the final stanza, the girl has given up herself to conformity, sacrificed herself for a false "ideal" image. This, ironically, causes her "death." This death is not literal but more referring to a death of her old self identity, and uniqueness, even that which was ridiculed. "She cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up,"(Piercy,836). Ironic that the characteristics that people think would make her more acceptable and better, in a sense kill her. Only is she pretty to others when she is not even herself. The final tone of this passage, marked by the line: "Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said." shows the irony that she isn't beautiful in others' eyes until she has "cut off her nose and her legs." 

Hunters In The Snow

Hunters in the Snow by Tobias Wolff follows the hunting expenditures of three "friends" who think friendship is about insulting one another, being rash and crude, and even shooting each other? Initially, the short story was to me like reading about some unclassy hick folk who get their laughs making childlike and immature jokes. However, the story does get more meaningful and the characters do reveal themselves rather in a more respectable light with their more honorable actions and treatment of each other as the book goes on. Both Frank and Tub both go through what I think to be a slow but sure development and turnaround, proving to be dynamic characters. Having before teased each other rudely, now they share more mature feelings and talk more intelligently, the sensitive topic of love is actually conversed seriously when Frank asks: " 'Tub, have you ever been really in love...I mean really in love...with your whole being,' "(Wolff,197)? They feel comfortable enough with one another to talk like adults and share their innermost feelings, what true friends do and what I had thought Frank and Tub were incapable of. They even consider themselves real friends out loud: " 'Frank, when you've got a friend it means you've always got someone on your side, no matter what. That's the way I feel about it, anyway,' "(Wolff,198). Frank responds: ' "You don't know how good it feels to hear you say that,' "(Wolff,199). This furthers the idea that wherever they used to be along the line of friendship, now the relationship is more secure and the realization of how cherished it is is made known to both Tub and Frank. Over the course of just a short read, both characters seemed to have evolved immensely into a more loving friend to another, their personalities still silly but seemingly much more developed and changed due to their time spent together really sharing and talking with each other.

My Mistress' Eyes

William Shakespeare's poem: My Mistress' Eyes is ultimately about the speaker criticizing the lies of most love poetry and it's characterization of women, and the truth of his lover so contrasting from the perfect descriptions his ears have been fed. I found the poem to have a disappointed and somewhat harsh tone up until the final lines of the work. Throughout the gist of the work, the speaker describes his mistress as having "coral lips" over red, "dun breasts," "no roses in her cheeks," and "eyes nothing like the sun,"(Shakespeare,885). However negatively the mistress is portrayed thus, suddenly there is a shift symbolized with the words "and yet" which turns to the females side and womens' possible let down realization that men may not be who they thought either. I came to analyze the last two lines as meaning this because of the text: "And yet, by heaven. I think my love as rare as any she belied with false compare,"(Shakespeare,885). This shows the common similarity that men and women often share high expectations and are taught lies which reality cannot live up to. I found that men and women must share this same downfall led on by this belief.

A Jury Of Her Peers

A Jury Of Her Peers, a short story by Susan Glaspell followed townsfolk in their search for evidence concerning the murder of John Wright and the likely suspect his wife, Minnie Foster. Initially, Minnie was portrayed as the obvious murderer, seemingly heartless for her motives, unaffected, unfeeling, and not in the least bit sorry for her gruesome actions of hanging her husband. Although, Minnie is completely responsible for her actions, later in the book I understood her motives more clearly and sympathized more strongly with her. The novel mentions Minnie's once pride in her appearance, dazzling while singing in the choir, all of which faded upon her marriage to John. So, it was no surprise she wanted a bird, one to sing like she once did. Mrs. Peter's notices this of Minnie saying: "I should think she would've wanted a bird,(Glaspell,420)! Personification is even used to compare Minnie to a bird: " '..She was kind of like a bird herself. Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery,' "(Glaspell,421). Minnie was like a bird in her nature but also there is a connection between the fate of the bird and her husband. Just as John likely wrung the bird's neck, she did the same unto him, feeling like he may as well have did it to her, a bird too. Overall, I noticed this irony of the fate between the two and how Minnie felt John killed her, in that she never was the same after her marriage, changed by him, she got her revenge and killed him too.

Othello: the end, Othello's love for Desdemona?, happiness to die

In Act V Scene II of Othello by William Shakespeare, some reasoning is revealed for why Othello doesn't wish Iago to be killed once he finds out of Iago's lies. I had thought that upon the characters finding Iago out, that like throughout the novel lashing out in fighting would occur, one would want to kill another, and thus the play would assume the tragedy that it is. However, Othello says: "If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee..For in my sense, 'tis happiness to die,"(Shakespeare, V.ii.286&289). Othello sees Iago's dying as an easy way out, why not have him suffer through life, being detested, and a known criminal, then just be slain like the other characters. I honestly thought Iago was going to be one to not make it out of the play, but turns out that is Othello and many others, I think Othello wise in his desire for Iago to bear the punishment of living. Though, Othello himself must want the happiness of death, for he takes his life out of grief for having taking Desdemona's. I am only left pondering, so did Othello really love Desdemona and is this confirmed by his regret for killing her, thus feeling compelled to end his own life? Or, is Othello's love for Desdemona quite confused, considering he did feel angry enough to kill her to begin with?