Blog 5- Hazel Tells Laverne & Literary Techniques

   In the poem, Hazel Tells Laverne, by Katharyn Howd Machan, the author uses vernacular, no punctuation, and allusions to convey the meaning of the work in it's entirety. For example, the use of vernacular, "..but sohelpmegod he starts talkin,"(Machan) helps the reader understand the narrator to be an uneducated lower class woman. By knowing this, it is easier to understand her confusion and doubt that she'd ever become a princess as the frog has stated she would. The author uses repetition in this phrase, "..me, a princess,"(Machan) to show the unrealistic nature of princesses and fairytales ever happening in real life. This also ties into the author's use of allusions, like her allusions to the Frog Prince. Overall, I believe the poem to be making fun of such stories which center around fairytales and fiction. After all, how many people have happenings like those in fairytales happen to them in real life? I believe that is what the author is getting at. Fairytales dont' just happen to average people, like the narrator in the story.

Blog 4- Mr. Z & Literary Techniques

  The poem, Mr. Z, by M. Carl Holman, uses irony to describe the character of Mr. Z, the racism that exists in the poem, and the meaning of the work. It is implied that Mr. Z is a black man who denies his race because he is ashamed of his skin color and his ethnic group, which he tries his whole life to separate himself from. He was said to "seize whatever ground was Anglo-Saxonized,"(Holman). This shows irony in that he doesn't want to be judged as a lesser, but by turning to people of different skin color and race than he, denied his own race and pretty much judged himself as lower. More irony can be seen in the conclusion of the poem. His whole life spent struggling to keep away from people and "places where they (his bride) might be barred," (Holman) turns out to be a waste considering after his death he is distinguished as part of the race which he tried to ignore. I believe the lesson of this poem to be that one can't escape who one is or where one comes from. One cannot go on living who they are not, and expect to not be found out. Mr. Z, although coming from a race which has been largely discriminated against, discriminated his own people by separating himself from them.

Blog 3-Dream Deferred & Literary Techniques

    I've had those dreams where I wake up and wish I could fall back asleep and dream such good things over. Or the ones I subconsciously have, and don't recall having by the time I awake. Or the ones that are so horrible, I awake hoping it never happens. But what is a dream deferred as referred to by author Langston Hughes in his poem, Dream Deferred?
    After reading this poem, I decided that the dreams Hughes describes are the ones in which all people can relate to having at one point or another. The use of similes explain different types of dreams, such as an awful one, "Does it stink like rotten meat,"(Hughes)? Or "crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet,"(Hughes)? This implying the ones that one holds onto after awakening, because they are dreams which one enjoyed. The similes, which all are linked to foods, are dreams which are easy for the reader to understand because they do tangible actions, such as run, or sag. However, the conclusion of this poem signifies dreams that defer, meaning they get pushed aside or procrastinated upon. Thus, as Hughes says, they "explode." Some dreams, or lifelong goals are ignored for the idea that they may be too far-fetched or unattainable, these dreams go away because we put them away. I think Hughes begs us to ask ourselves what we do with our dreams and whether or not we chase them.

Blog 2- Interpreter of Maladies & Literary Techniques

    Upon reading the short story, Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri, the theme of the novel was revealed to me through careful consideration and literary techniques. The author uses imagery and flashbacks to give a better understanding to what the overarching idea and meaning of the work as a whole is. Mr. Kapasi, being lonely and unsatisfied with the way his life has panned out, meets Mrs. Das, who I believe to be equally lost and unhappy with her life. I came to this assumption from reading just at the beginning that "Mr. and Mrs. Das bickered about who should take Tina to the toilet," (Lahiri). This, gives the first impression that Mr. and Mrs. Das are immature parents who act inexperienced and overall, irritated with having children. Even later in the novel, my assumption that Mrs. Das is disappointed with her life is proven in her confiding to Mr. Kapasi about her lies to her husband concerning her children and their biological fathers. Mrs. Das' flashbacks to her past concerning her children's birth, her secret from Raj, and her failed friendships with college friends signify her downward spiral in life. Furthermore, the theme which is realized before this, becomes clear and has more meaning at the end of the novel when Mrs. Das comes to terms with reality and starts to accept parenthood. The theme, "In those moments Mr. Kapasi used to believe that all was right with the world, that all struggles were rewarded, that all of life's mistakes made sense in the end," (Lahiri). In the end, Mr. Kapasi watches his address float away without anyone else's notice and takes a mental picture of the Das', finally a loving family. Life's mistakes, like Mrs. Das' lies and untold secrets, in the end come out alright.

Blog 1- Everyday Use & Literary Techniques

    In the short story, Everyday Use, by Alice Walker, many literary techniques are embedded within the story to assert the theme and meaning of the work. The narrator, for example, is understood to be uneducated and this assumption is further proven with a flashback which explains her lack of schooling. Additionally, techniques such as imagery help describe Dee, for example. Her character, being one that "wanted nice things,...at sixteen she had a style of her own; and knew what style was," (Walker) is understood in how she is portrayed in the novel. "Earrings gold, too, and hanging down to her shoulders. Bracelets dangling and making noises when she moves," (Walker). Dee's pride in her appearance and in expensive fashion makes her stand apart from her seemingly country and old-fashioned styled family. The book suggests that Dee wanted to rid herself of her family's outdated lifestyle and bring in new ideas from present society. "She washed us in a river of make-believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn't necessarily need to know," (Walker). The idea of Dee's modern ways in contrast to her family trying to keep her rooted in old tradition is seen through the end of the novel but in a way contradicted. Dee actually asks to have her mother's antique quilts, a strange gesture considering their a special piece of uniqueness to the family heritage. Why would Dee want something to belong to herself which is connected to the past she denies?

Perrine Poetry Blog

    Upon reviewing Perrine's The Nature of Proof in the Interpretation of Poetry, I reflected upon his assertion that "there are no correct or incorrect readings,"(Perrine) when regarding the interpretation of poetry. Different people have different thoughts on various poetic works, which doesn't mean that their interpretation is correct, but also doesn't mean that it is wrong or too far fetched either. I agree with this. There can be various meanings behind an author's work, and although only one is correct, others might come in the same realm of being close. At times when I have been given a piece of poetry to analyze, I have been clearly off scale in closeness to what the author meant to convey. At other times, I have come up with ideas that make sense in the sense the author wished to portray. What really struck me as interesting in this article was how we will always have to keep guessing on what a poem is supposed to be about. The reasoning for this being that, "No poet, however, likes to be caught in the predicament of having to explain his own poems,"(Perrine).  The article explained my confusion for this statement by justifying that the author, by explaining his poems, would never measure up to the description of the poem itself. Thus, one's questioning and wonderment concerning the poem's topic will always be up for discussion and debate.
    Additionally, a few poems were used as example for poems interpreted wrongly. In this case, sometimes, the most clear message is too thought out creating an elaborate explanation. When breaking down the poem into parts and looking carefully, the meaning of the poem can be much easier to determine. I too agree with this and can relate. I have, when confused with analyzing a poem, looked too closely and come up with an idea that is much more complicated than intended by the author to be. I believe this is where the idea of a "determinable meaning,"(Perrine) comes into place. There is a time when the poem has a deeper more philosophical meaning, and a time when the meaning should be viewed loosely because of it's bluntness. All in all, throughout this article I have agreed with most of Perrine's thoughts and have reflected on many that I have never thought of before.

Blog 15: My overall opinion of the ENTIRE novel

    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a story of old, lost and unfulfilled love, and also of money and status in the roaring 1920's, was an enjoyable classic read. Although, agitated at most times of the book, because of characters and their actions, lessons, which can still apply present day, were noticed. Just like Lily Bart in The House Of Mirth by Edith Wharton, the greedy desire for money presents itself as the only means to ultimate happiness. Still today, people seem to have the idea that money makes the world go 'round. Though, I don't side with this idea, I do back up the lessons of valuing every blessing one has, realizing that lost love may never be regained, and happiness is a choice. I believe the novel also encourages dreaming overboard and to the extent, thinking like a child, being unrealistic, and just seeing what happens. "...his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city," (Fitzgerald,180).. Gatsby doesn't feel as if anything is too far from his reach, or at least he will never come to terms with accepting that some things fly by. Overall, I envy Gatsby's playful naivety and ignorance, and enjoyed the many highlights of this novel.