Araby- A Battle Between Light and Darkness

In Araby, Joyce writes these sentences, but they become to have some larger purposes than describing the story. These sentences have become to have connotations have light and darkness. 

With the light, Joyce seemed to have almost all to deal with Megan's Sister. These give you a sense being light, not in your weight, but in your soul. His writing give you the feeling of being in love, but at the same time the actual text is giving off the idea of Magan's sister is pure and innocent, with the juxtaposition of the light in darkness. Joyce describes Magan's sister as a " figure defined by the light from the half-opened door... Her dress swung as she moved her body and the soft rope of her hair tossed from side to side" Joyce describes her as if she is emitting light. 

Joyce included the contrast of the light with darkness. He places these sentences with the feeling of darkness when describing where the story is in, Dublin. Joyce describes his home as a "uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbors in a square ground." Joyce included words with darkness connotations, such as blind and detached. These thing pertain to broken, or useless things, which is how I felt he is describing the city, as a useless place of destruction. 

Joyce ends the story with the character at the bazaar, looking up to the dark sky, and wishing to be somewhere else. Joyce, throughout  The Dubliners commented on his feelings of it being a dark place, but in Araby he uses the contrast between his wants,his dreams, which are symbolized as Magan's sister, as relating to some kind of lightness, whether it be a actual light or a feeling. He then contrast that with the descriptions of his currents state, his reality, which is the dark descriptions of the town and life there. 

A Rose For Emily, A Reflection

I feel sorry for Emily. Living a lonely, secluded life where people saw you an an obligation, and not a duty or a responsibility. Personally for me, that would be hell. I am a social person, and if I was Emily, I just have no idea what I would do. I have respect for her, not like the men in the story, but as actual respect for surviving as long as she did.

Faulkner is very interesting with the ideas and writing he used for this story. He is not very nice when describing women. He is, at some times, very savage and almost personally attacking them. It reminds me of the burn book in Mean Girls  and how the plastics wrote hate filled things about these women and they seemed to be personally attacking them as people.

I enjoyed  A Rose For Emily. I loved the dark and Gothic feel of this story. The somber tone made the concept of isolation very powerful, but there are parts that bother me. Emily tried killing her husband with rat poison because she had no more feelings for him. In this time period divorce was frowned upon, seen as a sin. But there are other, less illegal options to get away from people with out getting a divorce. Running away seems to come to mind. But  I guess you do what you were taught.

Another thing that bugged me about the society Emily lived in is that she was not found until days after her death. I mean, yes she as a recluse and yes no one actually cared for her, but one person would had to have noticed her not rustling around in her house.

A Rose For Emily was an interesting and enjoyable read. I enjoyed it very much.

A Rose for Emily

A Read Along

I love how Faulkner start off morbid. It feels as if he is describing something that had been dying for, what I can assume by the full capitalization of WHEN, what feels like forever. 

A monument? The men come to pay their respects to a fallen monument. maily must have been a very old, and respected woman. 

I do not like the women. They show up just to see what her house looked like? Assuming Emily is a recluse, I get the curiosity, but then after they see the house all they do is cause drama, and whit a dead woman too. Do these women have no shame?

Emily seems to begin to not seem like she was a respected woman.No one knew what her house looked like, and she seems to have the beginning stages of hording. 

Who describes a woman as an obligation. If anything, a woman should be described as a necessity, if someone shall swing that way. 

I just do not like the idea that because of what your father did, it completely dictates how you will be treated. This reminds me of the character Caroline on the television show 2 Broke Girls whose father ran a ponzi scheme and cause her to loose all her wealth and receive a terrible reputation. 

Whoops! Colonel Santoris (Almost typed Sanders) is not the father (SOME ONE CALL JERRY SPRINGER) hes just a man who Emily's father helped. 

"It smelled of dust and disuse" I really enjoy that line. Not the whole idea of something smelling of dust, but the idea of something smelling of disuse. Its like an abstract smell, like a smell that isn't something you can pin point, but it gives you a felling. I really enjoy the phrase "They smell of desperation" -2 Broke Girls

Man, Faulkner is viscous to women. Describing a larger woman as if she a dead body soaking in water, which for all you that do not understand and are still innocent, is that this woman looks bloated. 

Im about done reading for the night, but I wanted to end describing the comparison of Emily to the angels in stain glass windows. Its such an interesting idea,comparing a sick woman to angels that looked "sort of tragic and serine" I really enjoy this comparison, and how Faulkner used a church, a place to where in those times people go to play for health as medical technology isn't very developed. 

An Interview With Chinua Achebe

"The story of Okonkwo is in a way the story of our culture; he pays a price because he places too much emphasis on strength and manliness"

It is absolutely true. This story, one that revolves around a man that puts too much emphasis on manliness in his society. Throughout Things Fall Apart Okonkwo is constantly remind the men and boys among the village that they must be the strength. He reminds them that they do the heavy lifting, the fighting, the hunting, the protecting. 

This idea continues to be relevant in present day society. Media is always saying the men do the heavy, hard, and dangerous things while the women stay home and do the child care, the cooking, cleaning, the unappreciated chores. In today's society, while it is slowly changing to the idea that woman can do the manly stuff too, its still expected to be the responsibility of the man to be the breadwinner, the provider for his family.

Along with that, society dictates what is manly and what is not. In today's, and most likely in Okonkwo's village, the idea of a man is a strong, muscled man who does not show the feeling that as humans we all have. Mainly in today's society, men cannot like certain colors, or certain songs or movies or books. Even as there is a shift in those feelings, it is still a prevalent burden that has happened among all men. We sometimes get attacked for liking certain things that go against the status quo.

In the novel, this idea is more pronounced and brought up, while in the present times, there is the idea but its hidden inside media and everything that is connected to it.  Whether or not, the idea of man is something that should not be universal to be generalized to all men. It should be something individuals dictate for them selves, and maybe its time for society to change for the better.  

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer By Walt Whitman

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer

By Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman is becoming one of my favorite poems, and this is my favorite one of his. “When  I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” describes someone, possibly Whitman, in a lecture given by an astronomer. The narrator then “gets tired and sick” and leaves and goes to stare at the stars. Whitman isn't just describing someone leaving a lecture, he is saying that sometimes it is better to leave things as a mystery, then to have them be explained as a something scientific and, in this case, as “charts and diagrams”.

Whitman describes the lecture as a place where “the proofs, the figures, were ranged, in columns”. I see that as the place where imagination died, creativity and the mystery of everything is sucked out and everything is explained. Whitman had the narrator “wandered off by myself” as a symbol for ignoring the facts. The narrator wanders off because he doesn't want to give in to the idea that space, the universe, the entire idea of existence to be explained. The narrator, and Whitman want to keep some mystery and creativity and imagination in their lives, and that  is why  he “looked up at the perfect silence of the stars” or looking up to a place where mystery and creativity and imagination flourish and continue to cultivate.

This poem uses the idea of an astronomer, a person who whole purpose is to study the 

stars and everything around it as metaphor for the answer to a question, but with what 

Whitman is saying, it's sometimes better to leave the question unanswered, than to have an 

answer because mystery is the best way to cultivate creativity and imagination.

A Noiseless Patient Spider By Walt Whitman

Nick Osbahr

A Noiseless Patient Spider By Walt Whitman

This poem has become one of my favorite poems. At the start , you learn about a spider, silent and patient, waiting and trying to figure out how to explore his surroundings. Whitman then begins the second stanza with “And you O my soul where you stand,” and everything starts to become clear. Whitman creates this metaphor of this miniscule spider in the enormous world, which has only gotten bigger since he had written this poem. Whitman continues with “Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,”continuing describing that our souls are surrounded by empty, isolating space. Whit then writes that our souls are “Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,” explaining that the loneliness our souls have to endure is because we are just trying to find the one special person who we belong with, or in this case our actual soul mate. We just have to continue living life until things fall into place and we can finally connect, or at whitman states “Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,” and when we can create this moldable foundation that can hold us together through anything.

Whitman finishes the poem with the line “Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.” bringing in the whole spider analogy back into play . He uses the idea of the spider as a representation of the soul to emphasis the idea of the isolated soul inside a huge world, but he could have easily used something smaller, for example , and ant. Whitman uses the spider because they are so misunderstood. Spiders like love and destiny, are very important to life and the world, but at the same time they are sometimes hated, and sometimes oppressed, unwanted and killed.

Whitman created an amazing love poem that at first glance seems to not even be close 

to what people view as a love poem, but in deeper meaning is one. Whitman created a 

misunderstood love poem; he created a spider.

My life as a Legal Runaway

Describe a meaningful event or experience and how it has changed or affected the person you are. 250-500 words

I have become who I am today like a select few of my peers. I grew up without a father,I more places than i can count on one, make that two, hands. I grew up dealing with the normalities of elementary school: being the new kid, having to make friends, being alone at recess for a little bit, several times throughout my grade school years.  I have grown and strived to become the me that I am today, and the problems I have faced are what have given me the courage and drive to live on. But throughout all these events, one thing was constant, I constantly wished for a normal life. I constantly wanted to have the normal life I saw on the TV, and in the lives of the many people who were once my friends. I wished to live with my parents, to have a father that I knew the identity of, to not have to wait for a supervised visit to see my sisters. I wanted to live in one city, in one house, go to one school, to not have to say goodbye to all my friends and restart again. It made me wish for something stable.

My childhood was always filled with uncertainty. I never knew when I would be onto my next move, which always made saying goodbye even harder. They would always start the same. My alarm clock,an egg shaped and glowing blue, sits on the floor going off. I rise from my single air mattress leaning against the wall on the floor; we didn't have enough room for a real mattress or a frame (we could only have what could fit in the truck bed). I would put on my clothes, grabbing my shirt from the closet and my jeans from a tub on the floor. Made my way through the dawn lit living room to the kitchen. I heat up some french toast sticks and syrup,eat and head to the bathroom. I grab my mint toothpaste, brush, and rinse with my bubble gum mouthwash. I run a brush through my thick curly hair, grab my backpack,and head for the door. My grandpa follows behind, closes the door, hops inside the truck, and starts it. I struggle in, get my seatbelt, and close the door. We pull out of the driveway of our rental house, and drive to the school. I look out the window watching the houses pass by. We pull into the school drop off area, and he looks at me.

“Nick, give this to your teacher today. We have to move in two weeks.” he says.

“But I like it here. Can this be the one where we stay? Please?” I plea.

“The job’s over.I do too good of a job.” He chuckles. I get out of the truck, and head to my classroom. My teacher is at her desk when I enter. I walk up to them, and give her the note. They read it and turns to me.

“Well, what a shame that I have to lose such a bright student like you. Do you really have to leave us?” They ask.

“I want to, but I just can’t” I always respond.

She makes the announcement two the class, and everyone gets sad.

Two weeks pass by, and it's the last few minutes of school. I am bombarded with hugs and gifts for my friends, like a homemade treasure box, and goodbyes. The bell rings and I try to hold back the tears as I walk to the truck while they all scream goodbye as I enter. We are all packed up and we drive off. I start sobbing as we pull onto the interstate. And the whole thing start over again. Every one of these moments has caused me to become who I am today.

Because of my childhood I'm a person who is socially adapted at being the new kid, who can make friends easily. I have transformed for a shy introvert, to an outspoken extrovert who is always ready for change.I am a person who is in constant need for adventure. I used to believe that my whole life was just one big mess that I wish I could have changes. But as an adult, I now realize that I wouldn't change it for anything in the world, well maybe for a cheesecake; I am a cheesecake addict - I guess that's better than meth.

****************************************************************

Well, wasn't this an experience. I enjoy writing, but for some reason I dreaded writing this. Even though I really did not want to write this essay,which might determine my future, I am proud of the final product.It conveys my story, and most off all it conveys me,who I am. I only wish I had incorporated the humor more through out the essay,but overall it is something I would be proud to hang on my fridge with a golden star.

How I Feel When Reading The Great Gatsby

Poetry Response 2

Nick Osbahr

You Fit Into Me by Margaret Atwood

At first glance, the poem seems to be just an image of a needle hooking inside a human eye, an image any horror movie lover would love. But after a few more reads, the poem becomes something completely different. You Fit Into Me is a poem about finding the one piece that gives you a purpose, a usefulness.

Atwood begins her extended metaphor with a simple phrase, “ you fit into me”, that everyone can relate to. We as human beings all have some person who we know that they will not be out of our lives. She uses this as a basis for her metaphor, but continues the poem with a simile. Atwood continues  with  “like a hook into an eye” creating some disturbing images for most of the people who read this today. Atwood is actually using this analogy with a  hook and an eye to push the idea of usefulness.The hook and eye is actually the type of closure on certain clothing items, primarily on women's clothing. The purpose of the eye and hook is to close the item, keeping them connected. She uses this as a vessel to continue here extended metaphor that finding the right one helps you fulfill your purpose, whatever that might be.

Atwood finishes her poem with a two line stanza. She writes “a fish hook/ an open eye” to finish her extended metaphor. This seems to be out of place, but in actually it fits right in. Atwood uses another example of two independent object that when connected become something useful, and they can finally fulfill their purpose, in this case catch fish from a fishing line.

Atwood creates this beautiful metaphor of finding your other piece to become 

something useful with just a few words. She creates an idea that , as human,  should be 

known to all. Atwood created  this wonderful idea that could change things if people knew, 

because love is universal.

Poetry Response

Nick Osbahr

The Coming of Wisdom with Time

William Butler Yeats

This poem, though with a short length, is filled with a powerful meaning. It discusses that everyone is told lies in their youth, and as we mature, and enter into adulthood,we understand that these are just lies we were told.  The poem compares the trivial ¨truths” that we are told as leaves to as  plants, and that as we mature, the leaves fall off, so ¨Now  I may wither into the truth.¨ The poem uses the truth as a metaphor for adulthood, and that all the childish things we are told just ¨wither” away as we enter and live among others in the real world.

The poem declares that ¨though leaves are many, the root is one;¨ which I felt as if it is explaining that there are many ¨truths” we are told. and with these truths, there is always one spot to where we get this information, and that is from someone who we trust. Along with that,  Yeats uses an extended metaphor of a flower as the life of a person emerging into adulthood. Here he uses the flower as a beautiful lie, while he uses the root as the ugly truth.

Yeats also addresses the stereotypical idea that older people are the wises. He explains throughout the poem that peoples youth is wasted due to the lies, and safety net of beliefs, people place on and around their children. He also explains that as the years of youth wither away, the truth is slowly revealed, causing older people to be wser than the youth, because there is no rose colored glass causing the world to be viewed differently than it already is.