Follower
My father worked with a horse plough,His shoulders globed like a full sail strungBetween the shafts and the furrow.The horses strained at his clicking tongue.An expert. He would set the wingAnd fit the bright-pointed sock.The sod rolled over without breaking.At the headrig, with a single pluckOf reins, the sweating team turned roundAnd back into the land. His eyeNarrowed and angled at the ground,Mapping the furrow exactly.I stumbled in his hobnailed wake,Fell sometimes on the polished sod;Sometimes he rode me on his backDipping and rising to his plod.I wanted to grow up and plough,To close one eye, stiffen my arm.All I ever did was followIn his broad shadow around the farm.I was a nuisance, tripping, falling,Yapping always. But todayIt is my father who keeps stumblingBehind me, and will not go away.
Commentary:
In "Follower" by Seamus Heaney the author uses an extended metaphor to compare his dads labor to that of a sailor. Heaney manages to create a mood and sense of admiration by doing this. The poem carries the overall effect and impact that this idea on the mind of the son throughout the entire poem.
On the opening lines of the poem Heaney choses to compare the hard working farmer dad to a sailor. By doing this he constructs this picture of admiration and the pride as seen from the eyes of his son. This is because the son views the hard labor of his dad as a heroic move from his part which ellaborates on the idea of a role model which in turn connects to the presentation of the task that the father accomplishes as a set example and role figure for the child to follow.
Sailors are often seen as brave and very attrective figures in the eyes of many. To a small child a sailor or the dream of being like on is just too amazing to even comprehend so the child or speaker of the poem uses this picture and idea to associate it with his father and his ability to do all this hard work.
As the poem comes to a conclusion we see that the author mentions that it is his dad that is now doing the following and we comprehend the idea of this trasitional circle of life that the author is tryinf to represent in this poem.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Heany Blog 1
Mid-Term Break
Mid-term Break
I sat all morning in the college sick bayCounting bells knelling classes to a close,At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.In the porch I met my father crying--He had always taken funerals in his stride--And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pramWhen I came in, and I was embarrassedBy old men standing up to shake my handAnd tell me they were "sorry for my trouble,"Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,Away at school, as my mother held my handIn hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.At ten o'clock the ambulance arrivedWith the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops And candles soothed the bedside; I saw himFor the first time in six weeks. Paler now,Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple,He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.A four foot box, a foot for every year.
Commentary:
In Seamus Heany's "Mid-Term Break" the speaker uses diction to show the theme of separation between the speaker and his family. The first instance in which this theme is shown is in the title of the poem. "Mid-Term" represents the interruption of the lifestyle that the narrator has felt so far from his family. "Break" show the separation that the narrator or speaker has with his family.
The word choice that the author uses and his constant reference to time add to theme of separation because the use of these elements create an atmosphere of disconnection and separation that the narrator is in. Word such as sick, crying and hard also add to the effect that the diction used by the author is trying to convey on the reader.
The theme of separation is also seen in the line in which the speaker claims to feel embarrased by old men stading to shake his hand and telling him they were sorry for his troubles. This portionm shows the separation between the narrator and his family in two different ways. First the use of the word embarrased shows his discontent to be at the funneral of his younger brother and thus making him feel a disconnection with his family. The second interpretation could be that he feel embarrased to be given sympathy from those around him because he feels as if he wasnt part of the family.
Once more the diction shows his separation as one line says "my mother held my hand in hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs." This line show this theme because we see that it is his mother who is reaching for his hand and not him who is and she also cries angry tearless sighs which shows his moms discontent with his separation from the family. As the poem comes to a conclusion the narrator says that he goes up to see his brother for the first time in six weeks which once more illustrates the theme of separation as he hasnt been around for a long time and seems as if he didnt mind that. Overall the wording and the concluding thoughts of the poem show his disconnection not only physically but also emotionally from his family.
Mid-term Break
I sat all morning in the college sick bayCounting bells knelling classes to a close,At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.In the porch I met my father crying--He had always taken funerals in his stride--And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pramWhen I came in, and I was embarrassedBy old men standing up to shake my handAnd tell me they were "sorry for my trouble,"Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,Away at school, as my mother held my handIn hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.At ten o'clock the ambulance arrivedWith the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops And candles soothed the bedside; I saw himFor the first time in six weeks. Paler now,Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple,He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.A four foot box, a foot for every year.
Commentary:
In Seamus Heany's "Mid-Term Break" the speaker uses diction to show the theme of separation between the speaker and his family. The first instance in which this theme is shown is in the title of the poem. "Mid-Term" represents the interruption of the lifestyle that the narrator has felt so far from his family. "Break" show the separation that the narrator or speaker has with his family.
The word choice that the author uses and his constant reference to time add to theme of separation because the use of these elements create an atmosphere of disconnection and separation that the narrator is in. Word such as sick, crying and hard also add to the effect that the diction used by the author is trying to convey on the reader.
The theme of separation is also seen in the line in which the speaker claims to feel embarrased by old men stading to shake his hand and telling him they were sorry for his troubles. This portionm shows the separation between the narrator and his family in two different ways. First the use of the word embarrased shows his discontent to be at the funneral of his younger brother and thus making him feel a disconnection with his family. The second interpretation could be that he feel embarrased to be given sympathy from those around him because he feels as if he wasnt part of the family.
Once more the diction shows his separation as one line says "my mother held my hand in hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs." This line show this theme because we see that it is his mother who is reaching for his hand and not him who is and she also cries angry tearless sighs which shows his moms discontent with his separation from the family. As the poem comes to a conclusion the narrator says that he goes up to see his brother for the first time in six weeks which once more illustrates the theme of separation as he hasnt been around for a long time and seems as if he didnt mind that. Overall the wording and the concluding thoughts of the poem show his disconnection not only physically but also emotionally from his family.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Donne Blog 2
THE BAIT.by John Donne
COME live with me, and be my love,And we will some new pleasures proveOf golden sands, and crystal brooks,With silken lines and silver hooks.There will the river whisp'ring runWarm'd by thy eyes, more than the sun ;And there th' enamour'd fish will stay,Begging themselves they may betray.When thou wilt swim in that live bath,Each fish, which every channel hath,Will amorously to thee swim,Gladder to catch thee, than thou him.If thou, to be so seen, be'st loth,By sun or moon, thou dark'nest both,And if myself have leave to see,I need not their light, having thee.Let others freeze with angling reeds,And cut their legs with shells and weeds,Or treacherously poor fish beset,With strangling snare, or windowy net.Let coarse bold hands from slimy nestThe bedded fish in banks out-wrest ;Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies,Bewitch poor fishes' wand'ring eyes.For thee, thou need'st no such deceit,For thou thyself art thine own bait :That fish, that is not catch'd thereby,Alas ! is wiser far than I.
Commentary:
In "The Bait" by John Donne, the author uses diction to concentrate on the shifting of the sentiments that the speaker has towards love. Donne uses this poem to portray the idea to the reader that love can be something that is at firs very attracting but in reality is nothing but an illusion of what love truly is.
Through the opening stanzas of the poem Donne uses nice and sweey words to establish a romantic mood towards his lover. The initial format of his stanzas connects his ideas and help express his thoughts. Also the established rhyme scheme serves as a platform for the pattern that the author uses to focus his spectrum on love and its deceitful ways.
Without any doubt the speaker is speaking to a lover or a potential one at that. He is asking the lover to be his and in a way he becomes aware of the deceit that love has. As the thrid stanza comes to an end there is a shift in the authors tone towards the idea of love. He goes from using words such as "amorously" to words like "treacherously" to show his realization that what he believe was so beautiful and pure is nothing but a big lie, in a way.
Donne brings the poem to conclusion when he mentions that "That fish, that is not catch'd thereby, Alas, is wiser far than I" which in my interpretation means that the men that are not attracted to all the glamour and beautiful deceit of the bait are so much better than what he is as he is unable to catch that and escape from it.
COME live with me, and be my love,And we will some new pleasures proveOf golden sands, and crystal brooks,With silken lines and silver hooks.There will the river whisp'ring runWarm'd by thy eyes, more than the sun ;And there th' enamour'd fish will stay,Begging themselves they may betray.When thou wilt swim in that live bath,Each fish, which every channel hath,Will amorously to thee swim,Gladder to catch thee, than thou him.If thou, to be so seen, be'st loth,By sun or moon, thou dark'nest both,And if myself have leave to see,I need not their light, having thee.Let others freeze with angling reeds,And cut their legs with shells and weeds,Or treacherously poor fish beset,With strangling snare, or windowy net.Let coarse bold hands from slimy nestThe bedded fish in banks out-wrest ;Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies,Bewitch poor fishes' wand'ring eyes.For thee, thou need'st no such deceit,For thou thyself art thine own bait :That fish, that is not catch'd thereby,Alas ! is wiser far than I.
Commentary:
In "The Bait" by John Donne, the author uses diction to concentrate on the shifting of the sentiments that the speaker has towards love. Donne uses this poem to portray the idea to the reader that love can be something that is at firs very attracting but in reality is nothing but an illusion of what love truly is.
Through the opening stanzas of the poem Donne uses nice and sweey words to establish a romantic mood towards his lover. The initial format of his stanzas connects his ideas and help express his thoughts. Also the established rhyme scheme serves as a platform for the pattern that the author uses to focus his spectrum on love and its deceitful ways.
Without any doubt the speaker is speaking to a lover or a potential one at that. He is asking the lover to be his and in a way he becomes aware of the deceit that love has. As the thrid stanza comes to an end there is a shift in the authors tone towards the idea of love. He goes from using words such as "amorously" to words like "treacherously" to show his realization that what he believe was so beautiful and pure is nothing but a big lie, in a way.
Donne brings the poem to conclusion when he mentions that "That fish, that is not catch'd thereby, Alas, is wiser far than I" which in my interpretation means that the men that are not attracted to all the glamour and beautiful deceit of the bait are so much better than what he is as he is unable to catch that and escape from it.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
John Donne Commentary (1)
THE GOOD-MORROW
by John Donne
I WONDER by my troth, what thou and IDid, till we loved ? were we not wean'd till then ? But suck'd on country pleasures, childishly ? Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers' den ?'Twas so ; but this, all pleasures fancies be ;If ever any beauty I did see, Which I desired, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee.And now good-morrow to our waking souls, Which watch not one another out of fear ;For love all love of other sights controls,And makes one little room an everywhere.Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone ;Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown ;Let us possess one world ; each hath one, and is one. My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears, And true plain hearts do in the faces rest ;Where can we find two better hemispheres Without sharp north, without declining west ?Whatever dies, was not mix'd equally ;If our two loves be one, or thou and I Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die.
Commentary:
In "The Good Morrow" by John Donne, the author uses diction to express to the reader the idea that he has found the love of his life. Through his language choice Donne furthers his central idea and emphasize his tone and the mood that the poem tries to establish. The repetition of key words and elements as well as the rhyme used help further develop the poems intensity and emotions. Donne chooses to allude to biblical images when he mentions the Seven Sleppers in the opening stanza of the poem.
Also, the timing of the poem and the tenses used throughout it add to the unique diction that identifies this poem. The poem itself can be viewed as the transitional story of a love-filled soul that has found his true love after having "sucked and country pleasures" and that now sees the "good-morrow". The transition that is stated beneath the surface of the poen add to its value as it is through diction that the authors sense of change shows his maturing into a passionate lover.
The last stanza shows more examples of his use of diction to emphasize his happiness. He talks about the two lovers becoming one and goes on to say that "where can they find two better hemispheres". He concludes by expressing his true feelings when he mentions that "Love so alike that none do slacken, none can die." which is a clear reflection of what he feels for his loved one as he knows that no matter what the love between the two is unbreakable and will forever go on.
by John Donne
I WONDER by my troth, what thou and IDid, till we loved ? were we not wean'd till then ? But suck'd on country pleasures, childishly ? Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers' den ?'Twas so ; but this, all pleasures fancies be ;If ever any beauty I did see, Which I desired, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee.And now good-morrow to our waking souls, Which watch not one another out of fear ;For love all love of other sights controls,And makes one little room an everywhere.Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone ;Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown ;Let us possess one world ; each hath one, and is one. My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears, And true plain hearts do in the faces rest ;Where can we find two better hemispheres Without sharp north, without declining west ?Whatever dies, was not mix'd equally ;If our two loves be one, or thou and I Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die.
Commentary:
In "The Good Morrow" by John Donne, the author uses diction to express to the reader the idea that he has found the love of his life. Through his language choice Donne furthers his central idea and emphasize his tone and the mood that the poem tries to establish. The repetition of key words and elements as well as the rhyme used help further develop the poems intensity and emotions. Donne chooses to allude to biblical images when he mentions the Seven Sleppers in the opening stanza of the poem.
Also, the timing of the poem and the tenses used throughout it add to the unique diction that identifies this poem. The poem itself can be viewed as the transitional story of a love-filled soul that has found his true love after having "sucked and country pleasures" and that now sees the "good-morrow". The transition that is stated beneath the surface of the poen add to its value as it is through diction that the authors sense of change shows his maturing into a passionate lover.
The last stanza shows more examples of his use of diction to emphasize his happiness. He talks about the two lovers becoming one and goes on to say that "where can they find two better hemispheres". He concludes by expressing his true feelings when he mentions that "Love so alike that none do slacken, none can die." which is a clear reflection of what he feels for his loved one as he knows that no matter what the love between the two is unbreakable and will forever go on.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Blasphemy!!!
Exodus 20:7 says “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.” A very strong statement, don’t you think? Well I do.
As I approached my timeline to create an act of resistance, I was truly running out of ideas!!! I was drawing on a blank, I didn’t have an idea on what to protest. And then Ahong came along with a very clever idea. She wanted to protest the use of God’s name in vain, so I decided to jump on that wagon and join in her in the cause.
At first I really wasn’t sure where this was going to get us to. Don’t get my wrong, I loved the idea, but I really didn’t know what was going to be outcome of this. Ahong planned the activity and we all agree to wear a shirt, which Ahong made, to school on Monday. The shirts said “Don’t offend my God, I don’t offend yours”. Though simple, the message was very direct and to my believe very powerful. I had more than a few of my fellow classmates what the shirt was all about.
Once I came home I had to go and get a hair cut. So I just dropped my book bag off at home and drove myself to the barber shop. When I got there, it was pretty empty, but nevertheless my shirt was still intriguing to the few people there. I began to explain the idea behind it and they thought it was pretty neat that we all took some of our time and dedicated it to fight for what we believe is right.
If I was given the chance to do this again I think that I will probably dedicate more time in being involved in the creation of the shirts and also I think I will like to make this act of resistance more public and recreate it on a larger scale.
I personally believe that the act of resistance was very impacting, although it’s not going to be an overnight change, I believe that this has raised awareness about this topic. I think, better yet, hope that people will take more consideration in respecting the sensibilities of others when it comes to things like using God’s name in vain. I will most definitely like to continue with acts as this, and I think it will be really cool if we all did one as a class. Got any ideas?
As I approached my timeline to create an act of resistance, I was truly running out of ideas!!! I was drawing on a blank, I didn’t have an idea on what to protest. And then Ahong came along with a very clever idea. She wanted to protest the use of God’s name in vain, so I decided to jump on that wagon and join in her in the cause.
At first I really wasn’t sure where this was going to get us to. Don’t get my wrong, I loved the idea, but I really didn’t know what was going to be outcome of this. Ahong planned the activity and we all agree to wear a shirt, which Ahong made, to school on Monday. The shirts said “Don’t offend my God, I don’t offend yours”. Though simple, the message was very direct and to my believe very powerful. I had more than a few of my fellow classmates what the shirt was all about.
Once I came home I had to go and get a hair cut. So I just dropped my book bag off at home and drove myself to the barber shop. When I got there, it was pretty empty, but nevertheless my shirt was still intriguing to the few people there. I began to explain the idea behind it and they thought it was pretty neat that we all took some of our time and dedicated it to fight for what we believe is right.
If I was given the chance to do this again I think that I will probably dedicate more time in being involved in the creation of the shirts and also I think I will like to make this act of resistance more public and recreate it on a larger scale.
I personally believe that the act of resistance was very impacting, although it’s not going to be an overnight change, I believe that this has raised awareness about this topic. I think, better yet, hope that people will take more consideration in respecting the sensibilities of others when it comes to things like using God’s name in vain. I will most definitely like to continue with acts as this, and I think it will be really cool if we all did one as a class. Got any ideas?
Monday, November 17, 2008
Finally!!!
Now that I have posted all that i wanted I really wanna talk about wheter i liked to book or not....welll in this case its really hard to decide that, because I feel that there are too many factors that I have to consider to make a decision.
First of all I really did not like the overall and general depiction of both sexes, by that i mean i dont like how men were seen as sex crazy animals and women as not bright individuals. But then again you have Lysistrata who is very very very smart and did a fantastic job leading the revolt.
Another thing about this play that i would have changed was the setting, I feel that the adaptor of the play should have had changed not only the language and formated to modern times but they should have also formated the basic setting of the play so that the main concept was more clearly undestood by the reader.
Finally I wanna say that I have enjoyed blogging but i missed writting the papers (motifs, chatracter analysis...) : (
Until next time!!!!
First of all I really did not like the overall and general depiction of both sexes, by that i mean i dont like how men were seen as sex crazy animals and women as not bright individuals. But then again you have Lysistrata who is very very very smart and did a fantastic job leading the revolt.
Another thing about this play that i would have changed was the setting, I feel that the adaptor of the play should have had changed not only the language and formated to modern times but they should have also formated the basic setting of the play so that the main concept was more clearly undestood by the reader.
Finally I wanna say that I have enjoyed blogging but i missed writting the papers (motifs, chatracter analysis...) : (
Until next time!!!!
UWM!!!!!
We had 3 very bright and intelligent individuals come in to class and give us some great information about college english courses. The presentation was well planned and they all had a strong argument to complete and really seemed real when they spoke. They all had very good presentations and knew what they were talking about.
One of the things that really shocked me was that they were all very young and were pursuing their doctors degree. Another thing was that they have similar teaching styels but they are diverse in a way and also how different these courses are then what we are used to in high school, sucks for us because its gonna be just like TOK!!!!!!!!
One of the things that really shocked me was that they were all very young and were pursuing their doctors degree. Another thing was that they have similar teaching styels but they are diverse in a way and also how different these courses are then what we are used to in high school, sucks for us because its gonna be just like TOK!!!!!!!!
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