"I Thank You God"

This poem gave me such wonderful feelings and made me think of home in so many ways. I grew up in a home where going to church every time the doors were open was necessary if you want to live in my mother's house. She required us to praise God and pray to him everyday giving thanks for all that he had done.

In Cummings view of praise, he thanks God for all that is natural and what is in nature. He thanks him for the day at hand that was not promised the day before as well as the trees and sky that God has graciously put here on Earth that is amazing.

He then goes on to ask how can God can be so close and dazed the senses yet some do not still believe. He clams he is alive once again by asking forgiveness. This to me is showing how he repented and excepted God.

"(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)"

He can now see the truth and hear God's word. This poem is jaw doping and to me takes a leap of faith in poem where most of our previous poets haven't.

Dream Boogie

I really enjoyed this short poem the Dream Boogie by Langston Hughes. This poem really made sense to me I understood the way he placed every world in this poem. Its about a person dreaming of a dance that they had in their dream. By reading this poem if it have not had the title Dream Boogie or dream deferred in a verse of this poem you would have thought it was really true. or maybe the Dream Boogie is real and this person is trying to get her dad to dream about the boogie dance. this person is probably telling there dad about this because of there experience of the boogie dance as well. This dance is probably a dance that all the people who grew up in Harlem knew this dance unless you were a blues dancer and you liked to a Harlem night club. But this poem is a classic it really explained the rhythm that people in Harlem in the 1940's and 1950's use to move to Hey, pop! Re -bop! Mop! Dream Boogie. I really think this poem will show and help the readers who doesn't understand how the people of Harlem showed how they had a good time and where true soul of the blues came from the streets and clubs of Harlem New York.

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

River have been a powerful force thoughout human history. Many earaly mythologies made the river a symbol of both life and death. It is easy to understand the reason for this since most of the gteat early civiliization grew up in river valleys. The Euphrates, which is the first of the rivers mentioned in the poem, helps to form Mesopotamia. The Nile, too, played a central role in early civiliztion.It ensured Egyptian prosperity.It can be a allusious to deep dusky rivers, the setting sun , sleep, and the soul, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is suffused with the image of death and, simutaneausly, the idea of deathlessness.I notice that the soul of the Negro in this poem goes back to the Euphrates , it goes back to a pre-" racial" down and a geography far from Africa that is identified with nethier blackness nor whiteness.

Song for a Dark Girl- Cobb.

"Song for a Dark Girl," wrote by Langston Hughes, talks about a time in history that was about racial inequality, and it was also during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a time period of intellectual movement for African-Americans through poetry, literature, and jazz, or the Blues. Langston Hughes, along with Claude McKay, pressed this movement forward with works like "Song for a Dark Girl." This poem talks about Whites being abusive mentally and physically towards the African-Americans of that period. In the first stanza, it talks about the hanging of the speaker's black lover. It just shows an example of racial discrimination that was happening in that time. In the second stanza, the speaker talks about another "bruised body high in the air." Once again, it talks of inequality, as well in the final stanza. The last stanza mentions that love is a shadow. This makes one think that all African-Americans had in that time was love, and that was the most important thing for them. It also says that love is naked and hanging on a "gnarled and naked tree." These last two lines are moreso of an oxymoron. In most's opinion love is beautiful and worthwhile, however, this states it is hanging from a gnarled tree. The word gnarled to me is more of a grotesque word. In that one word, it describes the people of that time period who supported racial discrimination.

the negro speaks of rivers

in this short poem Langston Hughes talks about the many rivers the character has seen and about how is soul has become deep like the rivers. from this poem it seemed to me that Langton Hughes character was talking about the history of his race since one the rivers dates back to the beginning of time and about how he has known rivers that are older than the flow of human time. from this poem i thought about how the soul can be deep like rivers an i thought that it meant that he and others has endured alot of hardship an turmoil that have made them better people much how rivers become deeper an more expansive as erosion over time deepens and widens the river bed.

Harlem

When I first started thinking of which poem I wanted to write about I immediately went to Harlem. The reason is it reminded me of the poem The Red Wheelbarrow. These poems both ask a question and also create amazing images in your mind when you read them. Harlem is a little longer but now much and still accomplishes the same objective that The Red Wheelbarrow did. The first thing that Langston Hughes asks is “What happens to a dream deferred”, it’s the first sentence of the poem and I find myself already having to answer a question. Then he begins to create images with the Sun, Sore, and rotten meat. Just like in The Red Wheelbarrow the reader is either attracted to the questions or to the images that Langston Hughes is trying to create. I paid more attention to the Images that were created rather than the question that was asked. There is also another question asked at the end of the poem, “Or does it explode” which I didn’t pay any attention to at all. There is one thing for certain though; this poem definitely makes the reader think. This defiantly goes down with The Red Wheelbarrow as being one of my favorite poems.

Numero Cinco

William Carlos Williams wrote "The Great Figure" in 1919 and it was later published in 1921. The speaker talks about how one rainy evening he sees a golden number five on a red fire truck moving by quickly with the sirens howling and the gong clanging. I really don't find this to be a very deep work of literature but I see it more as a person recalling an experience that could have changed their life. For all we know after seeing this sight the speaker decides he wants to be one of te brave and become a fire fighter. Maybe the speaker wants to be the one getting looked at as he cruises by in a big red fire engine with the sirens blaring. Maybe this changed nothing about the speaker. It's possible it could just be a memory and had no effect on what the speaker did or wanted to do. We've all seen emergency vehichles fly by. I don't know about you but they don't change what I want to do, but I do remember seeing them on their way to do their duty to their community and not having any doubts or fears.

Dirty Underwear

In "Washerwoman" Sandburg is telling a story in a few lines. This is about a woman working for the Salvation Army. Her duty is to wash the laundry. It compares people to the dirty underwear and compares Jesus to the suds. As she sings her songs of rejoice and washes the clothes it's as if God is washing away sins and the wrongs people have done just like she washes the filth off the underwear. He does the hard work washing away our sins and bad conduct knowing that more will come and he will once again have to clean us up. The washerwoman has decided to give back to the community and try to correct some of her own wrongs and give back to the community. She is trying to do God's will and earn his respect so she will know when it's her time she'll be waiting in line at the pearly gates. We should all strive to be like the woman depicted and earn our way in, not just do a lot of wrongs and expect our records to be wiped clean every now and then and actually be productive people.

Road Not Taken

In this poem the speaker comes to a fork in the road and doesn't know which route to travel. He takes some time to analyze both roads and notices that both roads were grassy and wanted wear. He then thinks about going one way and then turning around and venturing down the other just to see where they both go, but doubted he should ever turn around and come back. He then stated that he would tell his tale ages later, possibly to grandchildren. He finally decides to take the one less traveled. In the end it seems he has made the right decision since it has made all the difference. This is a great life lesson. A lot of our peers come to forks in the road everyday whether it be drinking, drugs, sex, etc. Most are overwhelmed with peer pressure and end up doing whatever it is. The road less traveled is the smart and sober way. One incident could make all the difference in being a successful adult providing for your family or spending all your money on drugs and end up living on the streets.

Sandburg's Fog

To me it seems like he is comparing for to the cat. When he states that the fog comes on little cat feet it seems like he is talking about it creeping up as a cat would it's prey. While the fog sits it's like the cat is setting there mid prowl watching his target and observing. As the fog moves on it's as if the cat's prey either got away and the cat continues like nothing happened or like when after a cat catches his prey and is done playing with it or eating it the cat just leaves what is left lying there and continues on with it's life like nothing happened. I suppose this could be related to other things in life. I think it could also compare to love. When you do finally find love it creeps up on you like the fog. If things go bad and you break up then it sets there for a while and you feel in the dumps and it slowly fades away, as fog does, and you move on to the next thing like fog would move to the next city.

Class notes online

You can access the class notes here: http://sites.google.com/site/cptoreillymmi/

"Sunday Morning"

This poem is lengthy and if you are not out to find the true meaning of it you probably won't. I had to look up most of its meaning of articles written on the internet. These sources gave me a deeper look and meaning on the message Stevens is trying to sell to the reader.

In my opinion the poem had a masculine voice as well as a feminine one as well. The female was trying to justify her reasoning behind not going to church and believing in the same old way her forefathers had in the past. She asked the question when will this time of religion come to an end? Why does my soul have to live here on Earth and experience all the pain and love? She is finally answered by a masculine voice saying that it will always be there and her predecessors are the ones that mad these laws that we follow today.

To me Stevens is seeding the answer for truth and defines it in his poem by separating religion and desires; separating God and Palestine. It is as if he is saying that there is nothing wrong with desires as long as they do not effect, in a negative way, others around you.

In the end he some how finds the truth but still leaving the question if religion is the right answer, then what about faithful followers of previous religions? Are we all not going to end up living in the same after life in a similar heaven?

Stevens did a great job at making a reader not question his own religion but instead try to prove our faith. If we can all justify our love for our religion than it will lead us all to great deeds as just men.

The Red Wheelbarrow

The poem is simply amazing. I love how just a few lines of words can set a Hugh image in the readers head. This is very easy to read seeing how William Carlos Williams never really exceeded three syllable words. I say that because he separated the words "Wheelbarrow" and "rainwater". In my opinion the poem is straight to the point. I think when the author says "so much depends upon a red wheelbarrow" he is referring to the different jobs that it can be used for. When I first thought about it, the words never really caught my eye but after reading it again it finally clicked. It’s pretty cool how those few words can make your mind wonder as if the poem was actually longer than it really is. The poem can also be looked at as only having the purpose of describing an image. Either the reader can wonder what depends on a red wheelbarrow, or the reader may just use the red wheelbarrow and the white chickens to set an image in their head. It’s also amazing to see how so little words can become such a famous poem. This will always be one of my favorite poems.

Adventure

Sherwood Anderson in this Short Story discusses the life and times of Alice Hindman. I beleive the main point that Anderson was trying to get across was there is no such thing as one perfect match or true love. In the story Alice waste her whole life just for her chances of being with Ned again. This in turn ruins her. She becomes lonely, scared, and crazy. But on the other hand Ned was living a ful-filling life distant to Alice. He had no ties to Alice after a couple years after that departure but he moved on and had made himself a succesful and good life. Alice has boiled down to a person with no feeling and is useless to society with no friends or family left to rely on. That is why it shows that there is no true one person you are meant to be with. When they were still young, Yes, alice and ned could of been together, but there are plenty of males and females out in the world to make a family with. If you spend your whole youth looking for this special person you may never find them and ruin your chances of having a good life, or pass up all the other good people that tried to come in your path, but you denied them. This story seems to be a huge theme in modern day movies where people turn down many people just to find that perfect someone. I know this seems weird that i watched this movie, but in 27 dresses, the main character passes up this guy the whole movie trying to find Mr. Right, but it takes a drastic measure to find out the guy she was loooking for was there the whole time.

blog 3? or 4?

The fisher king
this was an interesting one and had a unique feeling to it. the story seemed a little medieval cliche to me not saying that it wasnt good or have a good meaning behind it just that it had a played out feel to it. i know this isnt really what the blogs are suposed to be like but this is really the bigest thing that stood out about this story it dose have things fix them selves in the end but there wasnt any thong to deep out outstanding about it

Love song

this is an interesting yet weird short story about man an his quest for love or just looking for someone to be with for awhile. in the story prufrock talks about going to parties and cheap hotels and feeling unintellectual with everyone talking about Michelangelo. in this part of the story prufrock to me is describing his short coming and belittling himself, to me if he just tried to engage in the conversation he might find that he knew what they were talking about or at least made a friend to take home. also throughout the story prufrock complains about his outward appearance and about how people talk behind his back about his hair balding. to me this is just him worried about others think and not about what he thinks or what he can, as long as he was confident in himself he could have found the girl of his dreams or that one person to be with for at least a night.

Adventure- Sherwood Anderson

This short story is about Alice Hindman, and the effect that love has on her. She starts to date Ned Curry, who she loses her virginity to. But Ned has to leave. He leaves, but Alice remains faithful, even though Ned was gone a long time. through this time, she begins to need, want another person's contact. So she takes an adventure- she runs naked in the rain at night. After this, she feels changed, as in breifly liberated, but she has stopped being social for her fear of not staying faithful to Ned Curry.

One of the main phrases that stands out to me is, "many live and die alone." I, honestly, think she let this get to her head, and she became grotesque as one might say. She blocked off all social contact and became crazy it seemed like. Sherwood Anderson did a good job at explaining his meaning of "grotesque" in "The Book of the Grotesque." I think one of the meanings interpreted, such as virginity, can make people change.. a lot. I think Alice took the meaning of faithful to an extreme when she cut herself off from civilization. This short story seems to have a deep meaning past love hurts... I think Sherwood Anderson wanted a story that connects with readers about moving on and living life.