April 30th "Thou Blind Man's Mark"

"Thou Blind Man's Mark" is a reflection on a lesson that has been learned by the speaker. Written with a syntax of short almost choppy segments, much like a memory, the poem reflects on the valuable lesson that had been learned concerning desire.

At Least Two Essays

"To Helen" and "Helen" despite being of the same topic have outstanding differences from each other noticeable form even the titles. "To Helen" by Poe most noticeable difference from H.D.'s "Helen" is that the structure promotes a personal point of Helen, while H.D. writes  more of the actual story of Helen.
The syntax and diction from Poe's poem is more direct as if he were writing the poem for a person almost as if it were a letter. The style puts a personal feel, as if the poem were written to Helen rather than as a tribute to her life. H.D.'s poem. The structure of the first poem is different because it uses her name and is direct language to her.
The tone of the poem written by H.D. is solemn "All Greece hates the still eyes in the white face". The tone creates a feeling for Helen and her troubles in life. The poem by Poe has a livelier tone, the tone creates a feeling of personal meeting with the subject of the poem Helen. The livelier tone  helps to recreate Helen's sense of beauty and attractive personality.
The two poems share the same subject however the author's feel differently about that subject. Through their differences in tone syntax and diction the author's show their views of the subject. The form of the poem being written for the subject as opposed to being a tribute to the subject is the strongest point of difference.


1981 Poem "Storm Warnings" Adrienne Rich

The poem "Storm Warnings" by Adrienne Rich promotes the direct message that a storm is approaching along with the theme or metaphorical meaning. The metaphorical meaning is that no matter how much we learn about nature and we understand it, there are forces in nature that we cannot control. Nature is a wild business that despite our knowledge will continue to elude or control.
"Between foreseeing and averting change. Lies all the mastery of elements which clocks and weatherglasses cannot alter." This concrete detail shows the theme of being unable to control nature regardless of the vast amounts of knowledge obtained about the subject. The metaphorical meaning of the poem relates to the title as, no amount of knowledge will let you control the uncontrollable. With knowledge does come power, but not enough to control the entire world.
"What winds are walking overhead, what zone of grey unrest is moving across the land,
I leave the book upon a pillowed chair and walk from window to closed window, watching
boughs strain against the sky". The literal meaning of this poem? A storm is coming. The meaning couldn't be any more straightforward. A storm is coming and to stay safe people stay inside sheltered from what they cannot control. The literal meaning of the poem relates to the title by being just that "Storm Warnings". The sky changing colors the scientific instruments saying that a storm is coming. They are warning of the storm.
The literal meaning and the metaphorical meaning of the poem relate to the title by being a physical warning and a warning about attempting to gain power through knowledge. The poem promotes these meaning though the straightforward and concrete details that are listed throughout the  entire poem.

Practice Poetry Multiple Choice Quetions

Here are my answers to the questions on the blog regarding the poetry. Jason and I worked on these together but I still need help.

Do Not Gentle Into That Good Night

1. B
2. A
3. C
4. C
5. A
   

Departmental

1. C
2. D
3. D
4. C
5. C
6. B
7. B
8. A
9. A
10. E

Groupthink???

In class today with my poetry group we discussed the three poems we read for the previous assignment and gave each other the information about the individual poems we analyzed. The enigma poem apparently is a complement to other accomplished writers with the last two lines regarding Shakespeare as the leader of modern writing. The class period was a big help considering i did not understand the "enigma" poem at all... it was too complex. I gave my short summary of my grid, very short summary. My poem was "Epigram for Wall Street".

The title of this post is ironic because being in a group consists of multiple people and thinking is a self action that does not involve others in a physical way. The act of talking and discussing is not the same as thinking. A more appropriate title for the activity in my opinion would have been grouptalk? that's a little better.

I attempted the poems and the questions posted on the blog, but I don't understand them very well. I would enjoy it if we could go over them as a group sometime as I feel reading them out loud is very beneficial.

Vendler Grid for "Epigram for Wall Street"

Vendler Grid
Meaning:  The meaning of the passage is to show that if you view the world simply and take everything to be shallow and lacking in detail that a simple solution to gaining money is to just “in-crease” (hahaha) the amount of money you have.
Antecedent Scenario: The poem is being given as economic advice. The advice is so simple that it mocks investments and banks.
Structural Parts: the poem has two parts as it is so short. The first part consists of the question that the poet wishes to answer. The second part is the explanation as to why his advice “works”.
Climax: The climax of this poem is when the poet tells of his economic advice to just fold the money in half to double the amount you have.
Other Parts: The beginning of the poem is the question and the ending explains the solution to the problem. It is structured similar to a sonnet in this regard. There is a question, then a switch and the answer.
Skeleton: The beginning of the poem is somewhat serious as it deals with money and things such as banking and investment. Then it switches to a childish answer to the problem. The tone changes from serious to mockingly childish.
Content Genre-games: The poem is one that gives advice to people. It is also satirical in its approach.
Tone: Throughout the poem I would say that the overall tone is that joking and toying with people wishing to increase their monetary wealth easily.
Agency: The agent of the poem is the people listening to the poet’s advice. Since it is written in Second person the subject is the reader. The poem uses the noun “you”.
Roads Not Taken: I believe that the poem is written in such a short structure to mirror the poem’s message to the reader. Just because something may be short or appear to be less difficult doesn’t make it a solution to the actual problem or more convenient.
Speech Acts: The speech act is an advisory statement.
Outer and Inner Structural Forms: The rhyming structure of the poem is a,b,c,b,d,e,d,e. The first and the third lines are the only two to not rhyme with each other in the pattern.
Imagination: The memorable aspect of the poem is its satirical aspect. It is a humorous  poem that tells a very simple message.

Seventh Reading

My group chose to read three poems written by Edgar Allen Poe. The three poems that we chose are:

Epigram for Wall Street

Eldorado

Enigma

Alright so the first poem "Epigram for Wall Street" is straight forward and simple took me a few minutes to read seven times. "Eldorado" is more complex but still has a straight forward theme, it has a little bit more detail and depth to the wording than "Epigram for Wall Street". The last poem... well lets just say I read it seven times and it doesn't help. The poem is a lot more complex than the other two poems.  It is very detailed . Talking about this poem out loud would be beneficial and I believe that this would be a useful poem to go over and discus as a class. I will be making a Vendler Grid for the "Epigram for Wall Street" poem.

Life of Pi Literary Questions?

I fished with a variety of hooks at a variety of depths for a variety of fish, from deep-sea fishing with large hooks and many sinkers to surface fishing with smaller hooks and only one or two sinkers. Success was slow to come, and when it did, it was much appreciated, but the effort seemed out of proportion to the reward. The hours were long, the fish were small, and Richard Parker was forever hungry.

It was the gaffs that finally proved to be my most valuable fishing equipment. They came in three screw-in pieces: two tubular sections that formed the shaft - one with a molded plastic handle at its end and a ring for securing the gaff with a rope - and a head that consisted of a hook measuring about two inches across its curve and ending in a needle-sharp, barbed point. Assembled, each gaff was about five feet long and felt as light and sturdy as a sword.

I fished with a variety of hooks at a variety of depths for a variety of fish, from deep-sea fishing with large hooks.

1. Which of the following literature terms is used in the above quote?

a. personification

b. alliteration

c. anaphora

d. peanut butter

e. indirect characterization

2. What is the purpose of this passage?

a. to explain in detail how professional fishing is done on the deep sea

b. how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

c. to better explain how Piscine was able to obtain fish for himself and the tiger

d.  to describe the extent of man's madness

e. to create an instructional manual for fishing  

3. What point of view is this passage told from?

a. 3rd dimensional spectator ;) 

b. 3rd person

c. 3rd person omniscient

d. 2nd person

e. 1st person

4. The phrase "The hours were long, the fish were small, and Richard Parker was forever hungry" best implies that?

a. the tiger wishes to make love with the small Indian boy

b. the boy is dependent on the tiger's hunting skills for survival

c. Piscine had to consistently provide Richard Parker  with fish to quell his hunger

d. that the tiger refused to eat the food he was provided

e. the days never ended

 5. In this passage the narrator reflects on all of the following except?

a. the description of a gaff

b. the constant need to gather food

c. the species of fish caught 

d. the different types of hooks used at different depths

e. the fulfillment of each fish caught

The same part of my mind that had rebuked me over my fishing fiasco scolded me again. "What exactly do you intend to feed that tiger of yours? How much longer do you think he'll last on three dead animals? Do I need to remind you that tigers are not carrion eaters? Granted, when he's on his last legs he probably won't lift his nose at much. But don't you think that before he submits to eating puffy, putrefied zebra he'll try the fresh, juicy Indian boy just a short dip away? And how are we doing with the water situation? You know how tigers get impatient with thirst. Have you smelled his breath recently? It's pretty awful. That's a bad sign. Perhaps you're hoping that he'll lap up the Pacific and in quenching his thirst allow you to walk to America? Quite amazing, this limited capacity to excrete salt that Sundarbans tigers have developed. Comes from living in a tidal mangrove forest, I suppose. But it is a limited capacity. Don't they say that drinking too much saline water makes a man-eater of a tiger? Oh, look. Speak of the devil. There he is. He's yawning. My, my, what an enormous pink cave. Look at those long yellow stalactites and stalagmites. Maybe today you'll get a chance to visit."

1. The phrase "My, my, what an enormous pink cave" is an example of?

a. alliteration

b. personification

c. metaphor

d. simile

e. epigram

2.  This paragraph contains which of the following literary elements?

a. paradox

b.  personification

c. satire

d. romanticism 

e. all of the above

3.  An example of colloquial language is?

a. he'll last on three dead animals

b. eating puffed putrefied zebra

c. speak of the devil

d. this limited capacity to excrete salt 

e. look at those long yellow stalactites ;)

4. The purpose of this passage is to?

a. describe Patel's split personality

b.  describe the tiger's drinking habits

c.  to describe his  strict personality toward mistake

d. to inform the reader of the ocean's salinity

e. to explain a new means of aquatic transportation through the use of a tiger's thirst

5. The narrator's attitude towards the passage could best be described as?

a. strict

b. regret

c. comical 

d. joyfulness

e. a and c

1. Which three religions does Pi become a part of?

2. Which language do the reporters speak in to one another?

3. How did Piscine get his name?

4. How did Orange Juice get her name?

5.  Which animal broke it's leg in the life boat?

6. Was Pi terrified by the lightning strike or amazed by it?

7. What drink does the Christian priest give Pi?

8.  Does the tiger suffer from sea sickness?

9.  Did the sailors on the ship try to save Pi or did they use him to protect themselves?

10. Do bananas float? Yes or No? Explain your answer in great detail or else you will get run over by a large school bus full of tigers suffering from seasickness induced by improper diet consisting of only spoiled banana peels. 

Justin Thompson and I came up with these literary questions feel free to post you responses or ask for the answer key.

ANSWER KEY