"We read to know we are not alone." ~ C.S. Lewis: August 2012

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Identity Unit Post 5

"Interpreter of Maladies"
Jhumpa Lahiri

Number 7

In the beginning of the story, Mr. Kapasi began to admire Mrs. Das. He imagined them having a relationship after she returned to the United States through letters. They felt comfortable around each other. Mrs. Das reveals a deep, guilt-ridden secret to Mr. Kapasi because of the confidence. Although it must have felt good to tell someone her secret, it shoves a barrier between the two. This function is supposed to create a cultural barrier in between the heritage of America and that of India. Although they are both unhappy in their marriages, Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapasi provide different solutions to their predicament. Mr. Kapasi realizes the horrors of American marriages. Having an affair, Mrs. Das's son is not her husband's son: "Raj's. He's not Raj's son (Lahiri, 161)". In the United States, affairs occur many times over affairs in India although they have the right to choose whomever they marry instead of having it arranged. It baffles Kapasi that this event could occur since he has never seen his wife nude. Hitherto, Kapasi wanted a relationship, but now, he wants to create a barrier. He like the readers do not feel sympathy because they see it mostly from the Indian perspective.

Identity Unit Post 4

"Everyday Use"
Alice Walker
Round Character

In this short story, the most striking details were the names that were used for Dee, Asalamalakim, Wangero or Miss Wangero- the round character. These three different names describe three different perspectives in the same person. Ac costumed to obtaining every desire, Dee lived with everything at her disposal. She knew that if she asked and if it was in the mother's power, she would acquire said piece. In this case, Dee demanded something close to Maggie's heart, the quilts of her grandmother. Dee once".. told me they were old-fashioned, out of style (Walker, 180)"; however, they were not too antique for Asalamalakim or Wangero, the two culturally proud perspectives. They wanted the quilts because they were "priceless"- hand stitched and full of beauty. The quilts demonstrated the beauty of their heritage, and the Dee perspective simply must have them. When her mother denied Dee the quilt, she named her "Miss Wangero (180)". This formal name denotes that the mother saw a barrier between her daughter and her. She could not say Dee anymore because she was lost in the fad of the importance of culture.

Identity Unit 3: Post 3

Literary Technique:
"Dream Deferred"
Langston Hughes

Hughes writes many similes and one metaphor within his poem. Each object that he utilizes as a reference is familiar and has an ideal opposite. He likens his deferred dreams to raisins, sores, rotten meat, a crusty sweet, and a load, which all have negative connotations. People would rather eat grapes than raisins typically, fresh meat instead of rotten, and a sugary sweet rather than a crusty one. These images create vivid imagery, which is not very pleasant. When unrealized dreams come to the forefront of a person's brain, he may acknowledge the better opportunities. However, like in this poem, the person excessively ponders his misfortune. He had an idea in the beginning, which in the context is civil rights for African Americans, yet they procrastinated in receiving their rights fully. Their dreams kept being deferred by compromises until the Civil Rights Movement. "Or does it explode" demonstrates that they did explode. They are the dynamite in the situation, finally acquiring the rights they were promised.

Identity Unit Post 2

Literary Technique: structure and syntax

"Mr. Z"
M. Carl Holman

In this poem, the structure attributes greatly to the aspect of culture for whites. They tend to have long, convoluted sentences and syntactical structures. So too, in "Mr.Z", this formation occurs. He attempts to elude his race his entire life. Mr. Z tried assiduously accept the white culture. For example, he marries an Episcopalian woman, ate the right foods of "vintage wines, sauces and salads", and agreed "Whatever ground was Anglo Saxonized.(Holman)." He was very educated due to his utilization of punctuation. This coalition of structure and syntax relays the idea that he determined at a young age to change who he was. However, after his death, he could not stop the writers from saying he was distinguished in his race. Although his education and qualities exhibit the white culture, they would not own him within their community.

Identity Unit Post 1

Literary Technique: repetition ("Hazel Tells Laverne")
Katharyn Howd Machan

Within the poem, "Hazel Tells Laverne", Hazel weaves a story very similar to the legend The Princess and the Frog although Hazel recants the story a tad bit differently. Instead of kissing the frog, she shoves him back into the toilet from which he came. Afterwards, she repeats this line "Me a princess (Machan)". Hazel cannot believe that she could change her life so dramatically and quickly. She shunned away from the change because it was too ridiculous to even consider. Her means of speaking depict a woman with an uneducated background. Coupled with her job at a howard johnsons demonstrates the hardships with money that Hazel faced during her life. She was accustomed to working for her food. She could not accept the fact that kissing a frog, even if it was in a toilet, could alter her world forevermore. This connection of repetition denotes the theme. Sometimes, an opportunity to change one's life rears its head, yet a person denies the chance because it seems too far-fetched to believe or even consider it as an option.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Perrine article

As I read this article by Perrine, I realized what I already knew. My interpretations of the poems differed drastically from what the poets tried to interpose into my mind. I totally missed the Whitman’s piece about the stars. Although in retrospect, my mind acknowledges the poem’s significance, and it seems to be smacking me in the face. I realized two intertwined concepts in every single poem listed along with Whitman’s: detail and word choice. They play a key role in the interpretations. For example, Whitman’s poem, coupled with Melville’s, forces the reader to think predominately of actual war. However, they are completely different through their detail. Melville explains actual war: a loud, confused battle; whereas, Whitman describes the army with their “clarions mute”. This striking characteristic should have lead to alarms because an army could not be mute; there must be some other significance.

Always having trouble with poetry, I find Perrine’s article insightful and helpful. He states plethora things to consider while reading poetry. Firstly, if all of the details do not fit an image or brings in assumptions, the significance created is not the proper meaning. That helps me a lot. I usually assumed details in each poem, such as, the wind in Dickinson’s. Secondly, Perrine maintains that sometimes poetry has one meaning like for Dickinson or many like for Blake. When symbols are utilized, the significance broadens. There are still some definite lines that cannot be crossed, but there is room for movement. In Dickinson’s piece, restricted by the word choice, the image viewed is that of clouds at sunset because all the puzzle pieces fit. Conversely, Blake ambiguously describes a rose and worm. They mean so many concepts, but the worm is always bad and the rose signifies a good idea.