Week 7 Robert Frost

My Reflections on the poetry of Robert Frost

            I remember reading many of these poems from the time I was in middle school. In fact, I remember memorizing Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening as I read through it again with this assignment. The last repetitive lines of that poem always made me feel silly when I recited it.  My three favorite poems out of the ones that were in the reading were: Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, Fire And Ice, and The Road Not Taken.

            Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening was a familiar poem and that is why it was one of my favorites. It is very easy to read. It flows very well. Throughout the poem, the reader will find the first, second, and fourth line rhyming. That is what makes the poem flow so well. The poem seems to talk of a journey that the speaker is taking. Maybe he is looking for someone that he knows as he goes through the snow.

            Fire and Ice is a poem I have read before as well. Robert Frost is a popular poet it seems for each English course I have taken over the years. It also has a unique rhyming pattern. The theme of the poem poses an interesting question as well. The world ending is often a subject that many religious people discuss. No one really knows how the world will come to an end. It could be fire or ice just as the poem states. The reader can tell that Robert Frost is of a more current time when subjects like this have been in the media and minds of people.

            The Road Not Taken is another one of Robert Frost’s poems that I found interesting. It is another one of his poems with a unique rhyming pattern that always presents a nice flow to the poetry. I think the subject of the poem relates to the many roads one can take in life. No one really knows where each path may take them and the less traveled path may be the one to take.

Week 6 The Other Two by Edith Wharton

The Other Two by Edith Wharton

          My Reflections on the short story, The Other Two…

          When first seeing the title, The Other Two, I really had no clue as to what it meant. It could really mean anything. So as I read more into the story, I saw that it meant the other two ex-husbands. That seemed a little intriguing.

          The story mentions the characters of Mrs. Waythorn, daughter-Lily, Mr. Waythorn, Mr. Haskett, and Mr. Varick. As the story begins, Mrs. Waythorn and Mr. Waythorn were married and her daughter Lily was from Mr. Varick. Mrs. Waythorn’s first name was Alice.

Alice didn’t seem to feel like her husband wanted her to associate with her ex-husbands. Mr. Waythorn did seem to mind if she talked to them though, so she was right.  When he found out that she had talked to one, but had not told him, he felt a little angry. It seems like he didn’t have much self-confidence if he minded her talking to the ex-husbands. When children are involved, parents must communicate. Lily was sick. So, it seems that they would need to communicate even more.

As the story moves, Mr. Waythorn seems to be around the other two husbands more and more often. They seem to confide in him about things that have to do with his wife. Mr. Varick doesn’t like the current governess that takes care of his daughter Lily. He also wants to see his daughter more as well.

          As the story ends, Mrs. Waythorn seems like a carefree young woman. As all the men have been waiting on her and being all serious, she breezes in talking about tea. Before any business can be done, she feels like everyone should just have a glass of tea. She seems to delight her husband with this.

Week 6 Open Boat by Stephen Crane

Open Boat by Stephen Crane

     My reflections on the short story, Open Boat…

     This week, we read poetry and this short story by Stephen Crane. He mentions the sea in his poetry and this is a theme found in his story Open Boat as well. While reading this story, it felt like a battle. As the men constantly battle the sea, it reminded me of a movie I have seen before called The Perfect Storm. After watching that movie where the men constantly battled the sea, but to no avail, it left me feeling physically drained. I don’t really care for movies or stories like that.

    The men in the story did not want to drown, but were trapped out in the waves of the sea. The story seemed to drag on. I thought it would mention more about being hungry or thirsty. It did mention how tired everyone was. The description left a gloomy feel to the story. I love the water, but being trapped out in doesn’t sound like a fun time.

   I thought the parts that mentioned seeing other people were a little strange also. I am sure that part of the story represented seeing things when you are in a dire situation like that and your senses make you see things.

    When the end of the story came, I was relieved since it was so repetitive. It was nice to see that the men made it to shore. Who could blame them for never wanting to see another oar again?

    I felt like this was a gloomy story. It wasn’t that hard to read, but did take more time than I anticipated. I enjoyed reading it, but I like stories with more drama or excitement. Stories with lots of description or light and airy stories are more enjoyable to read as well.

Week 6 Poetry- Stephen Crane

The Poetry of Stephen Crane

     For this week’s readings, I read both poetry of Stephen Crane and a short story from his work. I enjoy reading poetry a little more than the short story. It takes less time to read, but it is also fun to figure out the meaning. It sometimes took several times to read to understand some poetry. He mentions God, creatures, sky, sea, and universe often in his poetry. His poetry inside the book had no titles, so another person did add them to them. A Man Feared That He Might Find An Assassin was a poem that I found humorous. It was only a three line poem, but it had a comical tone at the end. Do Not Weep Maiden, For War Is Kind was a poem with an ironic tone. War doesn’t seem kind because killing is involved. A God In Wrath is a poem with great detail. The detail helps to describe the “wrath” of God mentioned in the poem. Crane does this by using words like thunderous blows. Black Riders From The Sea was another poem with very descriptive writing. The last line of the poem talks about the ride of sin. The poem seemed to be describing this all along. The term black along with sea does emit a spooky type feel. On The Horizon The Peaks Assembled is a poem that describes the mountains. The poem seemed to talk about the view of the mountains and how they carry on. In The Desert was a funny poem to me. Speaking of eating hearts and calling it bitter just seemed comical. Stephen Crane’s poetry didn’t seem as dark as I thought it would be. I had a preconceived notion that the poetry I would read would be very dark in tone, but there were a few that I thought were funny or light-hearted.

The Flu is no Joke

Sorry for those following my blog and to our instructor. 4 of my children had the flu/strep throat. Then, I caught it too. It seemed to be a lot harder on me and I was in bed for most of the day for 2 weeks. The flu is no joke, so I hope everyone stays healthy. I will have my blog updated soon....


Emily

Poetry by Emily Dickinson

Poetry by Emily Dickinson
    
      I always enjoy reading poetry. Some of the poems by Emily Dickinson were very short while others had many stanzas. Many of them had no titles also. It seemed like Emily Dickinson really enjoyed writing poetry, but was never really noticed until after her death when her poetry was uncovered. That may have been why so many poems were without titles. I picked three poems that I enjoyed for this discussion.

     One of the poems that I liked was number 67. A good title may have been Success for this poem. I felt like the poem discussed the aspect of the things one could learn from war.  Success is discussed in the beginning of the poem which turns to description of a “war-like” time. Those who consider themselves the winner don’t always win. There is a deeper meaning of success.

     Another poem that drew my attention was poem number 441. A good title may have been My Letter to the World. This poem seems to describe the lonely feeling that Emily Dickinson may have felt. This seems like a sad poem to me as well. It sounds like the character may have died in the poem. It seems many of her poems discuss death.

    The last poem I choose is another one that mentions death. A good title for poem 712 may have been Death Waits for No One. I thought the first line was really clever.  Even though one may prepare, no one is ever ready for death.

     It does appear that Emily Dickinson may have been lonely and talked about death a lot in her poetry as she became a hermit later into her life. She withdrew from society and may not have felt accepted. Her bio mentions that many of the love poems were written for her sister-in-law.