Final Post: Recapping my Blog and Grade

Final Post

Recapping My Blog and Grade

It has been a very Long and Arduous semester. However I can not help but to feel pleased with all that I have learned. The obstacles that I conquered this semester were immeasurable but all the dedication has paid off.

Of all my work this semester in my first 200 leveled English class I would have to say that I enjoyed almost everything. When it comes to my very first Blog I am astounded when I can look back and cruise through a list of work that even requires me to visit "Older Work."

I think my strongest work in the blog this semester were...

Washington And Du Bois

•  A response on the the two authors works Up From Slavery by Taliaferro and The Souls of Black Folk by William. I was connected to the text and believed in the values I was speaking of when it came to the views on rising up against racial inequality. 

 Villanelle 

•  This has been my first assigned poetry in years. I love writing poetry. Thus the writing was long awaited and I put a lot of time into the Villanelle. I also think I did very well for just learning how to write a Villanelle. Its a good read.

 Close Reading a Poem

•  This post followed the assignment the best out of all my posts. I met all the requirements and even had a chance to fix some critiques. I also loved the poem Apple Picking by Robert Frost. It showed in the depth of the post.
  
  
  These three posts are my strongest blogs for a number of reasons. Earlier in the semester we were still becoming familiar with the scope racial inequality portrayed through our readings.
     
    When we were assigned Up from Slavery by Booker T and Souls of Black Folk by Du Bois I was becoming aware for the first time of the stories that are not taught in our history classes. I was tired of reading on history. Instead what we got were first hand accounts of the people who were rising up against racial inequality, not laws and regulations being passed by the government. This was good for me because I could appreciate the text and not think about it just like an assignment. Because I cared for once about what I was reading the texts became enlightening. I was able to write in a way that truly expressed how I felt about racial inequality after reading both stories. I was able to understand that even though Du Bois was more humanistic the candid voice of Washington was what it took to be heard in those times. All this showed in my writing making it a good blog post.
  
  
  When I read the poem Apple Picking by Robert Frost I immediately fell in love with it. I love poetry and this poem reminded me of when I was a kid growing up in Idaho City. My grandmother Sue used to work at a Bed and Breakfast maintaining everything from the kitchen to the garden. Every year we would make our rounds picking all the different apples for pies and cupcakes and applesauce. At some point and time during the production the place would look just like the scene painted in Apple Picking. Because I was so attached it seemed no task at all digging deep into the poem and finding all the knowledge required for the Close reading. I was able to meet all the requirements of the assignment and that made for a spot on blog post. It was enjoyable. 
  
  
  The Villanelle was also one of my strongest blog posts. Because it was the first time I have been assigned writing poetry in years I was able to put lots of though and love into the poem making a good read that was also great in following the proper structure of the style Villanelle. The only critique I had for this poem was maybe that it could use some work on the stressed and un-stressed syllables.
  
  
  My views on literature have changed considerably since the beginning of this class. Before this class I had not given much thought about literature since my last English class; which was still learning English not surveying literature. It changed my view considerably in the sense that literature is not just something that people created for fun or for education, rather it is a product of the emotions and circumstances of the people writing in their specific time. All the different literary movements we studied were not produced for education, rather they were direct essences of the stressful things that come from developing countries so to speak. I would say that now I can appreciate literature as more than just education, because I have learned how the some styles have been created. 
  
  
  It's been a wild semester taking five classes rather than four. The extra responsibility weighed on my grades and I will admit that I have struggled to stay on top of things. I am an A and B student but this semester there are only going to be B's and C's on my report card. I cant complain however. This is my first year of school completely independent with no family to help and encourage me along because my grandmother passed away last year. I have managed to pay for school and not drop any classes like last semester or failing. This is a huge achievement. Since I have no car I have also managed to stay consistent with my attendance even though I ride my bike miles a day just for class. I also have managed to take care of my dog this semester after she got badly injured in a dog fight with a pit bull. All these things are amazing achievements.
  
  
  In this class I feel, as always, that I could have done better. The only reason that I have a C in this class is because despite my best efforts to stay on top of all my classes, I inevitably forget assignment due dates and in this class, my blog posts. Missing these blog posts have made a huge detrimental impact on my grade, which is sad because I have learned and done well in the class. I managed to make it to class almost every day on my bike through the cold rainy or snowy, or once a blue moon sunny mornings. I paid attention in class, and participated in all the mini discussions we would ofter break into. I participated in the weekly class lecture to the best of my ability by interacting with the class every time I had a chance to voice my opinion or add thought towards something we were discussing instead or remaining quiet. 
  I feel I am a strong student when it comes to participation. When participating in the class you have to know your stuff to add any sufficient thought. I took my readings seriously so that I could add good information for these interactions. I feel I am a weak student when it comes to managing all the time it takes to get all of the reading and computer work done for the class. Because I have the extra class I cant be to hard on myself about what has happened this semester.
  
  
  I deserve a solid B in this class. It is my first English class were, in my own opinion, you apply what you have learned. I did a great job using all of the these things in my writings like simple Simile and Metaphor and essay structure like MLA and APA. It took a huge amount of dedication to make it to class every week given I have to ride my bike through the elements. This is not as easy as one two three. There are a lot of factors to consider when getting to class beings how I never sleep in the same bed twice in one week. Being a good student requires you to be in class, on time, and for the most part I did very well with this. I feel I was a great student in class because I interacted with the class to the best of my ability. To do this I had to know my stuff so I took all the content of the class seriously so I could present it in my own voice when ever I got the chance in class via discussions and small group assignments, like the small group discussion and the small groups we would break into occasionally to interpret texts. I did very well on all the other assignments like the essay and the presentation. My only antidote to a flawless year was missing some of my blog posts. This happened in other classes as well which is why I am not going to be getting any A's this semester. All in all I think a B is fitting towards my performance in class this semester. 
  
  
   
    

Post Follow Up: Pynchon

Post Follow Up

The Crying of Lot 49

This book has began to win my applause now that I finally have my actual hard copy which I received over the last weekend through the mail. I started reading the initial four chapters via the link provided in class that was bad because I struggle to read for a long time on the computer.

Initially I wasn't happy about how long the sentences were in The Crying of Lot 49 but the hard copy has helped a Lot! The sentence that I referenced in my previous Pynchon post was about page two paragraph four were Mucho is being "Back-Storied" involving his emotionally disheartening line of work. I now can appreciate all the mechanical devices he used to make the sentence not a run on. 

Now that I have the hard copy and have been reading past the fourth chapter the plot is still hot and the reader is still being drawn to try and look up all the confusing words. Oedipa is still lost in her disentanglement of Pierce's estate, and now having already met so many people and learned so much about the mysterious  "Muted Horn" so many opportunities arise as to how the story is going to unfold. In the back of the readers mind, you think this whole story is going to turn out that she is really hallucinating all of this. She has found so many symbols however, proving that the Trystero has survived test of time after the great Thurn and Taxis take over. After her conversations with Driblette, she was sparked to investigate the Trystero, after touring the plant and meeting Koteks the reader then kinda puts two and two together and its obvious that this cant be a hallucination because Koteks knows something about the Trystero .    

If its true that the Trystero really still exists, this may be the ultimate reward that Oedipa has been so desperately seeking. Is the Trystero still in existence? Did Pierce buy in with this secretive society and is that why at one point he "lost two million yet had still connections enough to keep the ball rolling," and was Oedipa the only person he could trust to not sell them out after he died unexpectedly?

The reader suddenly seems as if hallucinations might be spot on yet again but its not yet a disentanglement. Facts are starting to become reveled and maybe this is all coming true that the Trystero is going to make a come back. If so that would be big news for Oedipa. 

The Crying of Lot 49

The Crying of Lot 49

Thomas Pynchon

I have a lot of respect for Thomas Pynchon but I have to say there are some very long and extremely dragged out sentences. These were very hard to understand and that's frustrating but the plot of the story makes up for it. Secondly awkwardly eying Pynchon again I would say its a necessity for somebody who has never read Pynchon's The Crying of lot 49 to have a dictionary at bay at all times. I found my self looking up every other word as I read through chapter four.

I was not expecting the story to take such an erotic twist as Mrs Oedipa Maas drunkenly cheated on her semi-rehabilitated car lot junkie turned disk jockey husband. I didn't expect all the explicit  and wild bar talk and drug scandals such as the pot smoking good times at the lake and drinks at the bar, or even the unethical science experiments with unsuspecting patients taking LSD. This style of writing is amazing and draws the reader in because you don't feel as if you are trying to learn something your are being assigned to read, rather from this work you feel like you are getting a chance to read something you want to read for once, or something you decided to read on your own.

I will admit Thomas reminds me of how i used to write back in high school because everything that I wrote had such descriptiveness.  A good example of Thomas using way to long of a sentence, yet still being good in plot with amazing descriptiveness is on page two paragraph four of the first chapter when Thomas is describing Mucho's affair with the lot is

 

"Maybe to excess: how could he not, seeing people poorer than him
come in, Negro, Mexican, cracker, a parade seven days a week, bringing the most godawful of trade-ins:
motorized, metal extensions of themselves, of their families and what their whole lives must be like, out
there so naked for anybody, a stranger like himself, to look at, frame cockeyed, rusty underneath, fender
repainted in a shade just off enough to depress the value, if not Mucho himself, inside smelling hopelessly
of children, supermarket booze, two, sometimes three generations of cigarette smokers, or only of dust and
when the cars were swept out you had to look at the actual residue of these lives, and there was no way of
telling what things had been truly refused (when so little he supposed came by that out of fear most of it had
to be taken and kept) and what had simply (perhaps tragically) been lost: clipped coupons promising
savings of .05 or .10, trading stamps, pink flyers advertising specials at the markets, butts, tooth-shy combs,
help-wanted ads, Yellow Pages torn from the phone book, rags of old underwear or dresses that already
were period costumes, for wiping your own breath off the inside of a windshield with so you could see
whatever it was, a movie, a woman or car you coveted, a cop who might pull you over just for drill, all the
bits and pieces coated uniformly, like a salad of despair, in a gray dressing of ash, condensed exhaust, dust,
body wastesit made him sick to look, but he had to look."

 

     It seems like Thomas uses every literary device possible to keep the sentence going without being a run on, and this works on the readers mind just as hard trying to read it without getting lost and making it sound like a run on to you self as you read it. 

 

     For some reason I become more relaxed and aligned with the tone of the text when it feels like im reading something that is not educational. In a text book you are not going to hear many words like "Cracker" which is now days considered a racial slur. Because Thomas uses that type of personal expressiveness in his descriptiveness, this draws the reader in. Aside from being mentally exhausted by the time you get to the end of the sentence you are still enthralled by what your reading. 

     The descriptiveness Pynchon uses here leaves the reader no room for interpretation given the chance to put a finger on what its like to be in the shoes of Mucho the car sales man, that poor fellow. And later on the plot thickens as you get enlightened by the fact that something is still haunting him about the job; even though he has a new life. 

 

 I did become very confused as to the meaning of the play that Metzgert and Oedipa attended; what has that got to do with anything so far, and why must Pynchon again get the reader so deep into the dictionary and into trying to not get lost in very very long sentences? I must continue on reading past chapter four to find out I guess as I have not been able to understand yet.

 

 

Small Group Discussion Blog Post

Small Group Discussion Blog Post

Notes of a Native Son

Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin was a phenomenal read capturing the contempt, hardship and indignity faced by those living through the race riots of the summer of ninety three. The small group discussion on the essay was a great activity for critically analyzing the text and broadening my learning curve as a student. 

 My thinking on this essay was instantly different than normal readings because I was required to participate in a group discussion about it later. This made me want to set up more time than usual to become familiar with the story, and try and understand it my self in stead of coming to class with questions and waiting to be informed. I researched this essay on the internet searching for articles, blogs, and other cites that had more information than the text book on the essay, and on Baldwin which I usually do not have to do. I never take notes on essays and this didn't change with this essay but I did read it out loud to my self and to an audience at times to better understand it and get others input on some confusing scenes such as when the cops shoots the black soldier with the negro woman.

I read the essay multiple times because it is rather long compared to the poems we have been reading in class. I wanted to make sense of the entire essay my self for once and this required me to be able to read it out loud to my self without any mistakes. In doing this I completely understood all the written material, even if I was still unsure on the figurative and deeper meanings of the essay. I did not write a blog about the essay which made me feel as though I needed to make up for it by reading the essay even more before the discussion. I also read all the questions for the group discussion before and after reading the essay to help get a sense of what I needed to focus my attentions on. I answered all the questions in writing.

I was refreshed on my time management skills with this group discussion. To get all the parts of the project done took considerable planning, so I feel I learned how to be a better student because I was able to discover plenty of unnoticed time between other projects to focus on the assignment. I also learned that reading out loud helps me to understand better. For some reason when I read to my self I tend to think more to my self, and some how I will be thinking to my self and reading at ther same time but the only thing I remember is what I was thinking about. I will find my self a page or two into a text before realizing I have no idea what I just read. So after reading the story out loud a number of times I finally got it.

Lastly I feel that I got a better understanding of the text after the group discussion. Because we didn't have the normal class time to discuss and understand the text, I sought towards the discussion to fill in the blanks for me. Particularly I was unsure as to weather Baldwin actually hated his father or not. As it turns out, he did hate him only to avoid the pain of the relationship, which was not known to me until the discussion. After this project I feel that I understand and can remember Notes of a Native Son better than any other reading I have indulged in in this class previously. 

I think it is because of the entire process that I went through just to learn the story and help lead the class through the discussion that helped me learn. All in all the project was a good learning experience that helped test and strengthen my abilities as a student.

Notes of a Native Son

Notes of a Native Son

James Baldwin

James Baldwin touches the hearts of his audience in his short three part production Notes of a Native Son. Not only does he capture the emotion and realness of the race riots in Harlem during the summer of 1943, he hands over the essence of what it meant to be a "Negro" during the times of great social distress. He gave the reader a peak into the hearts and souls of some of the most ordinary of black folk from the ghetto of Harlem to the uniforms of the armed services. As well he grabbed the reader with sympathy in the portrayal of his father and the death that he was to witness.

     Baldwins uses stainless imagery when describing the scene of the streets of Harlem during a riot that broke out over the rumor of a white police officer shooting a black soldier in the back while protecting a negro woman. You get a look at the flow of the event when Baldwin penned...

From the Hotel Braddock the mob fanned out, east and west along 125th Street, and for the entire length of Lenox, Seventh, and Eighth avenues. Along each of these avenues, and along each major side street- 116th, 125th, 135th, and so on- bars, stores, pawnshops, restaurants, and even little luncheonettes had been smashed open and entered and looted- looted, it might be added, with more haste than efficiency.

 And then the sight of all the mob's hard work...

The shelves really looked as though a bomb had struck them. cans of beans and soup and dog food, along with toilet paper, corn flakes, sardines, and milk tumbled every which way, and abandoned cash registers and cases of beer leaned crazily out of the splintered windows and were strewn along the avenues.

         These two scenes, in succession, within the third part of his text slaps the reader in the face with the all too real sight such a devastating event such as the race riot would have been. Earlier in the text Baldwin provides a glimpse of the inner turbulence felt by the peoples of the ghetto Harlem. 

All of Harlem, indeed, seemed to be infected by waiting. I had never before known it to be so violently still. 

And again...

That year in New Jersey lives in my mind as though it were the year during which, having an unsuspected predilection for it, I first contracted some dread, chronic disease, the unfailing symptom of which is a kind of blind fever, a pounding in the skull and fire in the bowels. 

         This inner turbulence obviously had its impact on the people of Harlem- not just the blacks- and on Baldwin as later in the text he describes a scene after a slew of racial inequality pointed in his direction; he tried to harm a waitress in a restaurant who pushed him past his breaking point by refusing him service; he almost knocked her out with a pitcher of water hurled across the room. 

        These scenes gives the reader an emotional tithe with Baldwin as everybody knows how it feels to reach the point in which you might actually lash out. Through the text is the developing story of Baldwins father and his passing and all of these scenes and the very short dialogue really get the reader emotionally attached. Baldwin lost his father after never knowing him, and only ever even talking to him once for real. In the end, what Baldwins father had for him to have on earth was forever to be unknown. This is in common on what racism had for humanity. Was it nothing but a detriment to society, or was something formed out of all this? The reader is left to interpret this right alongside Baldwin.

 

Villanelle

Climb On

Reach forth and grasp with all your might,

Muscles shredding but no progress lost;

The end, a sight ,don't fear the height. 

Even in raining night,

Or so great of heat that death is cost.

Reach forth and grasp with all your might.

The texture is rough so slippery palms are alright, 

The rock face, sheer and dominant, the dice, tossed.

Reach forth and grasp with all your might.

Your death was unseen in any foresight.

So climbing faster makes your spirit fostered. 

The end, a sight, don't fear the height.

Ascending vertically, a glorious fight.

Again the reaper you've cheated in this final cross.

Reach forth and grasp with all your might.

The crux exhausted, your body is tight.

The last moves up, then viewings  for a boss.

The end, a sight, don't fear the height.

Reach forth and grasp with all your might.

 

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Robert Hayden and The Middle Passage

In regards of another renowned peer post by...

 linzersamples

Lindsay does s great job in recognizing and understanding the imagery used in Robert Hayden's The Middle Passage.

 

“Sails flashing to the wind like weapons,

Sharks following the moans the fever and the dying:

Horror the corposant and compass rose

Middle Passage:

voyage through death

to life upon these shores.” (Hayden 1114).

In this passage by Hayden Lindsay goes to explain how there are two different types of imagery being displayed here. The literal imagery goes...

to a person ripped away from everything that is familiar and perhaps not having ever seen a sailing vessel the sails must have seemed terrifying.  Seeing them rip through the wind for the first time, it would perhaps seem frightening and dangerous…like a weapon.

          This is a very serious image the reader gets. you can feel the anxiety and the fear behind the eyes of the individual upchucking such a visual. To somebody who was unwillingly removed from their complete way of life and thrown into a horrific struggle for survival in a new world all the different from what they are accustomed to, the sight of the sails ripping through the wind and the blood thirsty sharks following the death hungry moans of the dieing would have been most likely memorably noted as a cacophony. This literal interpretation  is appalling and makes the reader grimace in denial that something like this could be allowed to happen. Next, Lindsay point out the figurative imagery of  Hayden's passage as goes...

The sharks could be a metaphor for those capturing people for slave trade, following the cries of those people desperate to escape them.

          You can see the connection Lindsay is making with this observation of figurative imagery. The poor souls caught in the fleeing of the slave trade were relentlessly pursued, like sharks in the ocean; detecting the faintest wafting of its next victims blood. To the reader, through this imagery, you get a keen sense of the inner chaos of the slaves in their helplessness to their persecutors. The reader feels like they are stuck on the ship, helpless and scared; without any means of rescue or help.

         Understanding the different views of imagery here is important to getting at the true meaning of Hayden's work. By taking into aspect the figurative aside from the literal imagery provided, the reader can get a sense of duel emotion. Instead of just watching the events of The Middle Passage go down, you can feel them, and youa re along for the boat ride with the slaves on the ship.
         The reader can see the anger and content of the slaves towards the white slave drivers, and can also feel the sad emotions of depressions, hopelessness and weariness. By drafting such genuine schemes of emotional attachment to the plot, Hayden gets the reader to become the true nail bitter. Lindsay does a great job of showing this to anybody who previously did not realize this!

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Thomas Sterns Eliot

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T.S. Eliot and "The Waste Land"                  

Regarding an enlightening Peer Post by one... linzersamples   

            Lindsay pointed out how Eliot uses a large number of references through out The Waste Land to help the reader understand the text. As Lindsay pointed out 

Eliot had them included when it was published

this is was key to his 1922 publication of his book copy of The Waste Land. Many readers would be lost without all of these references to help clear up any confusion about what Eliot meant in his writings. However the references did not help the reader one hundred percent.

          Lindsay made it clear however that the references did a great job in confusing the reader even more at some times. In the first part of The Waste Land called The Burial of the Dead Eliot describes death. Judging by the title of the first part the reader might guess its going to portray some sort of tithes to death already; but he never directly says it. Never saying it puts even more pressure upon the reader to use the references, and then this is where the reader becomes confused because the reference never directly says what he is talking about either. You get a sort of feel that the protagonist has lost somebody dear to him like Lindsay said,  

it appears that he is referring to love lost

but the read then refers to the references which speak of the tale about Apollo. The Tale about Apollo accidentally killing his friend  makes the reader think that there was an evil thing that caused the death, so now the reader thinks that the death in The Burial of the Dead was caused by the protagonist or some subconscious evil that caused the death. Before that the reader imagines that the loss the protagonist had was like an ordinary death in the family, of perhaps natural causes with nothing anybody could do to help, and not caused by anybody. So this is where the reader becomes confused. Was it like a death in the family  or as Lindsay states

Or is it perhaps hurt we can unwillingly bestow on those we love most 

or was death on the hands of the protagonist now?

Lindsay was unsure how Eliot intended the text to be interpreted. Eliot may have been leaving this text open for many interpretations. Maybe the protagonist suffered from love lost, but he had all the difference the death. This could be true as death is suddenly feared by the protagonist hinting at the guilt and paranoia caused by having been the cause of the death!

       Maybe what is only sound is that Eliot could have done a small touch better job at helping the reader dig up the true meaning of his words using the resources. Or perchance Eliot should have not been so whole hearted and found in using the references to such a degree. This confusion may be a tiny issue with Eliot's work but it is creative and really gets the reader into Dick Tracy mode when investigating the deeper meaning of his work.

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Big Two-Hearted River & Almos' A Man

Another Great Peer Post from One...   linzersamples 

Big Two-Hearted River~ Ernest Hemingway: 

&

Almos' A Man~ Richard Wright

Lindsay does a great job in recognizing the structure of these two works. She mentioned that the use of dialogue was unique in both texts and i agree with this but wonder as to why the authors used dialogue in such a way other than just to give the reader a close up view of what was happening in the story. I think that both authors use their dialogue very carefully as to not just help the reader envision the scene, but rather play it out their self by speaking the part, along with the mental image that is provided. By choosing such passages as

Then something musta been wrong wid ol Jenny.  She wouldn’t ack right a-tall.  She started snortin n kickin her heels. Ah tried to hol her, but she pulled erway, rearin n goin on. Then when the point of the plow was stickin up in the air, she swung erroun n twisted hersef back on it….She stuck hersef n started t bleed. N fo Ah could do anything, she wuz dead’. ‘Did you ever hear of anything like that in all your life?’ asked Jim Hawkins

the reader gets both the mental image and the voice behind the scene. By using this style of writing the reader in my opinion could not get closer to the the text they are enveloped in. Both Ernest and Richard use this style and as Lindsay said

The narrative structure between Ernest Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River” and Richard Wright’s “Almos’ A Man” could not be more different, yet accomplish the same thing.

 

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                       The Passing of Grandison

In Regards To...  A Well Composed Peer Post from one linzersamples 
 

The Road Not Taken~ Robert Frost:  

 

This poem has an influencing message behind its curtains. At first glance one might think that the literal meaning of Frosts work in this poem is to help the reader envision a traveler taking a road less traveled, and simply that; however, given a CLOSE READING of the poem a swath of depth is unraveled! 

 

Lindsay does a great CLOSE READING of Frosts poem and unveils many openly interpreted points. Firstly agreeable, Lindsay states 

I think the poem is talking about life’s journey, and one’s role as the “traveler” in their life. 

The poem indeed describes life as a journey, and seems to enunciate that individual choices are incredibly important factors in the outcome of your life's journey. Frost breaths this thought life by stating,

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Taking the road less traveled was one of those incredibly important individual choices. In the end it made all the difference in the outcome of the journey. 

Later in the CLOSE READING Lindsay does a great job of examining how the title of the poem works with the poems content, how the poem rhymes, and how the poem is structured. The tile of the poem works very well with the content, as the title is directly related to the content, even used in the body word for word; this helps the reader by giving them a shot at something they are familiar with, rather than just going to town in the dark. Lindsay states,

If the poems title were different, I don’t think it would be nearly as authentic in term of the message of the poem.

 The message of the poem is that of the decisions one makes along their life's journey, and because the title introduces this theme, it does add an authentic touch; the reader is informed going into the text. Rhyming in this poem is not something word for word, rather as Lindsay states,

Although each line in the poem does not necessarily rhyme with the next, in a “sing song” way, there is a rhythm and beat to the poem, with a few lines scattered throughout that do rhyme.

This is true as Frost adds a textual sense of rhythm and rhyme diffused through his work. For instance showing in the third stanza of his poem, 

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!

Note how instead of directly rhyming the word "Lay" he waits until the lapse of another sentence to rhyme it with "Day." Structurally Lidsay believes, 

The poem does seem to have formal structure; as to what structure that is, I am not educated on formal poetic structure to convey this.

Agree able is the fact that the poem has some kind of structure, what ever structure it may be. Noticeably the poem is written in the traditional four stanza structure which Lindsay might convey as,

I do however think that structure gives this poem the limitations necessary express to the reader exactly what the author’s intent was and leaves the poem up to some kind of personal interpretation.

These important observations brought to light by Lindsay's CLOSE READING help to reveal the swath of depth in Frosts work.

Close Reading A Poem

After Apple Picking 

By~ Robert Frost

Robert Frost was a honorable poet of his time. His poem After Apple Picking is one of those wonderful pieces of literature that you can savor and maybe regurgitate later! Close reading this poem provides for a better understanding of it and its author.

First Impression:

Frost paints the mystical and congratulatory scene of an apple harvest that is exhausted and tucked in for the winter. The objects from which the harvest is capable cradled into their homes, some still in trees. Apple fragments and aftermaths spread around the harvesting areas grounds and even an apple or two left behind in the bows of a far off tree. One worn harvester seeing the last days work done and finished, seemingly filled up with his share of the harvest, happily tucking him self in for the long winter months to come. Of his dreams an endless commotion of apple picking detail, all the way up to the sound of the thuds given by the piling of apples in the cellar. His sleep, maybe compared to that of the woodchuck, pushed into deep slumber by nothing other than the hustle and bustle of an average year picking apples for a living.

 Close Read Impression:

1.  The poems title works directly with the text by informing the reader about what they are going to read. It immediately gives you the scene of being done picking apples, because its titled "After Apple Picking." You could be easily mislead by the title had it read "Before Apple Picking" because its not about before apple picking its about after.
2. Fleck and russet are two misunderstood words from the text. Fleck means "A tiny mark or spot." Russet means "A dark brown color with a reddish-orange tinge." It helps to understand these words before reading the text.
3.  The Poem rhymes very cleverly. Instead of directly rhyming one word after the other, Frosts rhymes tine in at the end of sentences with the ends of others. repeatedly hear through out the poem are the sounds "ll","ght","ss","ar","red","th".
4. What literally happens in the poem is not so different after the close reading. Basically, there is a man done with harvesting apples for the year, whom has had his fair share. He is admiring his work all tucked up for the winter, and he tucks him self away for the night to sleep possibly as long as a wood chuck after all his hard work. The reader is lead to believe that this is happening on the apple farm, there is nothing to prove or disprove this. maybe even the place is the mans own home. the only person in the poem is the one man whom has finished his apple harvest.
5. there are many different images produced in the readers mind in this poem. Firstly the beautiful apple field. Secondly you imagine the some what disastrous scene of what is left over after the harvest was over. Following is the picture that the farm is tucked up for winter, and everything is buckled down safe and sound for the next season to arrive. Fourth seen is the image of the harvester worn out and fast to sleep and his dreams of apple picking detail. Over all you get the entire picture of the whole Harvest being completed. 
6. The authors name is Robert Lee Frost. He was born in San Francisco, California in 1874 on March 26th. Named after the famous confederate General. Parents of Frost were Isabelle Moodie Frost, and William Prescott Frost Jr. Family separated while Frost was very young. Father died of Tuberculosis in 1885. Frost Published Poems in the high school news paper. He taught school. He worked in a Textile mill. Frosts first professional publication was "My Butterfly." 
7. I believe the over all tone of this poem is of a proud accomplished and finished type. Frost goes to give the reader the impression that all the work of the harvest has been done, and not a second too short. the reader gets the feeling that the harvester is happy to be finished, and that he is proud of his work. you get the sense of accomplishment in this text very strongly. Frost uses enlightening and upbeat words to uplift the tone of the text like:  Heaven, Essence, Scent, Well, Dreaming, Magnified, Bend, Sleep, Done, Winter.
8. The poem has not tell tail formal structure that the reader can pick up on. This is good however because poems can be hard to read because of some structures, and having none here you get the freedom feeling from the flow of the text, it is smooth and doesn't get the reader mixed up. 
9. There seems to be tension in the poem but not from any kind of conflict. Towards the end of the Poem, when the author is describing the dreams the harvester is having of the laborious apple picking, it comes off as intense apple picking detail, which is like the conscience of the person bring back the tension of the apple harvest.
10. Three resonating things from the poem are: "Essence of winter sleep is on the night," "and not let fall. For all," "just some human sleep."

My first impression of the literal scene going on in this poem did not change after the close reading, however my understanding of the author and poem in general did.I did not know all those fact about frost until i looked them up, and I did not know what he meant by "fleck or russet" until i looked it up. I might have noticed a bit of structure after my first impression, but realized there is no structure at all to the poem, rather it as almost just written in simple sentences just as any other writings. the way frost uses rhyming in this poem is clever and unique and is a better way of rhyming when compared to directly rhyming a word one after the other.   

Robert Frost will always be one of Americas best poets. His work is worth studying, and the way he gets his message over to the reader is worth every penny you spent past what you bought. Close reading other poems might reveal subtle changes in their overall generality, might we all have a go at this?  

Washinton And Du Bois

Washington And Du Bois

 Two renowned authors of their time~ RavesZak Arnel 

    Booker "Taliaferro" Washington of "Up from Slavery"                                                                                  

"William Edward Burghardt" Du Bois of "The Souls of Black Folk"           

                      

These two authors help bring understanding to rising up against racial inequality during reconstruction. 

      Du Bois, the far more militant author in his view of how to settle inequality, seemed to be the author I would agree with most when it comes to his writings. I feel as if he may be a little too militant at times however; it comes off the tongue bitter to any awkward eye which would play to his disfavor in his time. I feel Du Bois's opinionated thoughts out weigh humanistic altruism, which was needed most at his time. Justly in his name though Du Bois had great motivation behind his almost, "Now or Never" voice for racial equality that pushed for absolute American liberty for all. Du Bois made his voice herd in a very candid way that stuck with anybody that heard his verbiage.

Washington is the far more conservative author when it comes to his writings. I believe that humanist promotion was key and passive resistance with a soft voice was necessary too, but Washington is so flaccid in his writings it reminds me of Grandison in the familiar story "The Passing of Grandison" by Charles Chesnutt. As we came to find out the great irony behind one of Grandisons conversations with the Colonel; Grandison is forced into acting softly given his situation, and he only goes on to show support of anti-liberty for all. The way Washington relates to Grandisons in that situation only differs in the sense that the supposed roots behind his writings was of pro-freedom seed. I feel if liberty for all was based on philosophy so captured by Washington writings that slavery and inequality would yet relapse, it simply wasn't strong enough potion.

After deeper reflection upon the origins of the men them selves and the states of freedom they were born into, I find a more intricate perspective and rather tactful strategy being deployed in their writings. As Washington was born into slavery yet seems conservative when reforming against racial inequality, I get the feeling he is going with the "Been There Done That" approach. He knows the oppression first hand inequality spawns, and wants to ensure it doesn't happen again by seeming like a threat by coming on too bold to the new reforms across the land. This is Washington's fear, going back into oppression. Du Bois uses the tyrannous militant approach to absolving inequality even though he was born into freedom having never experienced oppression first hand. Lacking this hands on exercise of conformity makes him unwise of it, it is unknown to him. This is Du Bois's fear, going into the oppression, going into the unknown. With that idiosyncrasy of his being so might he razz as much alarm as possible to ensure his fear is never furnished? Were these two men dedicated to making sure their worst fears were never materialized?

These deliberations rise striking controversy in my opinion towards both authors. Importantly, I am fonder of both and can appreciate their contributions to racial reforms during reconstruction with certified appreciation. I might also add that neither approach was either completely upheld or condemned effective in boosting reconstructive actions; so maybe required was an equilibrium of both.

~Political Funny~

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                       The Passing of Grandison

In Regards To...  A Well Composed Peer Post from one linzersamples

 Lindsay describes a great verbal irony from Charles Chestnutt's narrative The Passing of Grandison.

•  Verbal Irony: The actual meaning of speech contradicts the expressed meaning.

 The direct verbal irony characterized in her post: 

"He deserves a leather medal, made out of his own hide tanned."

I agree with Lindsay that this is verbal irony, as she states how it is irony saying, "The irony being that this type of physical punishment would be the opposite of what a devoted servant deserving of a medal would receive." This is a good use of verbal irony because the actual meaning of a medal is contradicted by the expressed meaning. When somebody deserves a medal, this is typically associated with something good they have done, and they are being rewarded for it. Grandison by all means deserves a medal but if the medium used to create it was his own tanned hide, this is no reward, rather, a twisted punishment. 

 

 Through this use of verbal irony the author describes a foes rationality of impatience for Grandison not a praise in which a medal is commonly associated with. Chestnutt's ability to numerously blend verbal irony such as this into his text stands as a testament to his renowned narrative skills and contribution he made to amercian literature.

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Chesnutts Irony: The Passing of Grandison

The Passing of Grandison

 

There are many instances of verbal and situational irony in Chestnutt's "The Passing of Grandison."

Verbal Irony: The actual meaning of speech contradicts the expressed meaning.

•  "The poor nigger could hardly crawl along, with the help of a broken limb." Nobody is helped by a broken limb besides the guy getting paid to break it! The actual meaning of the word help is not typically used to express the affects of a broken leg on a person; when it comes to his mobility that is, and not what he is yelling. This is a good example of verbal irony because the word help is expressed as something that has hindered Grandison along the forwarding of his two way pilgrimage to freedom. 
• "The colonel killed the fatted calf for Grandison, and for two or three weeks the returned wanderer's life was a slave's dream of pleasure." Colonel Owens founded his wealth with hard work enough to fund a land one hundred slaves strong, would he now then in his age butcher such a tender morsel with his own clutches? What Grandison really experienced was the colonel's most hospitable treatment, not a hand slain baby cow, and treatment for weeks to tend his wounds and pamper him back to fine tuned working condition; a great verbal irony example dating back to the days of giants referring to the Parable of the Prodigal Son, commonly found in the bible under (Luke 15:11-33). http://www.realchrist.info/3-13.html

Situational Irony: The outcome of a narrative is the opposite of the expected results.

• "Every night when Dick came in he hoped he might have to wait upon him self, and every morning he looked forward with pleasure to the prospect of making his toilet unaided." This is a good example of situational irony because of what dick wants, and what he should want as a slave owner. Slave owners as know to the public want and need their slaves around for every reason, including help with bedding down at night and waking up in the morning. This is what is to be expected from Dick, is it not? What is being expressed here is the opposite of the expected, because of the situation, Dick wants to be slave free; a great example of situational irony because the outcome of the narrative is the opposite of the expected results.
• "Sleep on, faithful and affectionate servitor, and dream of the blue grass and the bright skies of old Kentucky, for it is only in your dreams that you will ever see them again." In these lines situational irony seems to later on appear, as the outcome of the story is the opposite of what is described here. Dick thought that Grandison would never set foot in Kentucky again, but to his utmost surprise later on Grandison would at last see his home yet again!

Irony is rich in this story and I am exited to learn more about it; irony is all around us. Is it not a little bit of situational irony that I am in this English class?  Two semesters ago I thought I was done with English because I earned all of my required credits, but here I am.....

   The good guys and the bad guys; a theme to be continued on into the future after all it has done for us in the past.
Bierce's short writing "Chickamauga" and Twain's "A Private History" do originally interpret and deliver a telling of warfare of far different types. Resonating over the overall lay of both works does potentially draw out overlapping relevance. These are not two tales of the Civil War on the front line, taking heavy fire and watching casualties of both sides suffer in misery under amber waves of grey. They are not two tales glamorizing the heroism of high ranking generals, or celebrating the brilliance behind war changing battle strategy's! these are not two compilations of verbiage expressing the brilliance of the war, what it stood for and what it accomplished. These are two works of grammar that highlight the gloomy reality of what its like for those who did not fight the war face to face, and these stories do have their importance. These works provide a dramatic look into the lives of those who were indirectly affected by the civil war. The people who did not pay the ultimate price of death, yet suffered a crippling blow to the quality of life they were living before the war. These reading show how the civilian population was affected by the war, which is a battle fought, yet seldom heard. Aside from this over theme that i feel from these works, i can sense a stylistic similarity in the authors ability to paint the visual imagery of woodland scenes in the readers mind. Both stories have parts that walk you through the woods, and both authors did a great job of making you feel like you have been their and done that. There is also a slightly apathetic humor behind both works, which gives all around horrible circumstances a twisted bit of uplift.

      The Freedman's Story is an interesting piece of literature capturing the chaos of the reconstruction period. The reconstruction period was a new beginning for the U.S after the civil war, and its not surprising to hear of the wide spread violence that still persisted because of pre and current slave holders and Ku Klux Klan. The stories of such violence are vastly known, but what is not known are the stories written by groups of people such as "The Secret Special Committee." The bravery shown by those honest men portrayed in the Freedman's Story is something America was build upon, and its always the differentiating factor when trying to interpret a good or bad outcome to some phenomenon! My question looms though as to why these types of stories are not as common as the stories touching purely upon the negatives of phenomenons happening all around the world! In the case of this story alone that type of thinking does not apply, but this is but one story of success when facing great indignity, why are there not countless others? The number of negative stories originating from that time are very high, and we all know what was wrong at the time, but why isn't there just as many stories glorifying the other end of the stick? There are definitely many accounts of acts of government pushing for things such as equal right, but that is on a grand level compared to the daily battles fought and won during those times by people and groups of people who are just the average day individual! Why is the small story overlooked and the big story over glorified?

      Poetry is an amazing form of literature that I have been inspired by since childhood. Emily Dickinson's work provided in the Post-Bellum packet it is great example of renowned poetry, though I'm having a tough time understanding her literal meaning behind it. If I am not mistaken she died, for beauty, and was expanding on her experience of her spirits travels after death, and maybe even the physical remains of her body! She speaks of Death being so kind as to stop and pick her up, and take her for a ride! As well she speaks of visiting another whom died for truth, and having a deep chat in their graves until life consumed the nutrients of their bodies into the living things amongst the environment they were buried in. Some of her remains went toward the beauty of the environment, and as well into a gun forged from that environment that went on to live in the life of another! Am i correct on those last thoughts about her remains living on? Or is she speaking of a deeper meaning that i am not picking up?