As I Lay Dying

In the novel As I Lay Dying William Faulkner, the author describes Darl as a typical middle aged child that feels separate from the rest of his syblings which is ironic because of the fact that physically Jewel is the sibling most separate from the others.

Of all of the narrarations in the story, it is Darl's percpective that we see the most. In the story, he appears the most educated, and has very strong opinions of people and ideas. He longs to be loved by his mother, and is seen as one of the more positive and uplifting characters in the beginning of the novel.

He was clearly the most observent person in the novel noting that Dewey Dell was pregnat, and spotting Vardaman's issues early on. The fact that Darl was so observent, perhaps led to others turning against him. Dewey Dell wasn't to happy that Darl knew he was pregnant, and Jewel wasn't very happy with Darl either throughout the course of the entire book. I believe that Darl and Jewel were constantly competing for the mother's love and that is what led to their disgust for one another.

A little over half way through the book, the other characters notice the real Darl through his actions. When the family is going to Jefferson to burry Addie, Darl appears to want to lead the family, but gets jealous and angry when Jewel steals the show.

Overall, Darl is a character that feels caught in the middle of many situations, for example Addie's death, and Dewey Dell's pregnancy, and he just doesn't know how to handle all of the built up internal conflict within him. In the end, most of the family didn't want anything to really do with Darl and had no feelings for him.

Atwood Plog: The Sad Child

"Your sad because your sad. It's chemical." These are the words that the speaker uses that really sums up an important piece to this poem. This is because the poem is about a young lady that just experienced her first step into puberty becoming sad because she views herself as no longer a child and no longer under that protective shadow that her parents once cast over her. In the poem "A Sad Child" by Margaret Atwood, the speaker uses images of a bathroom and destruction, as well as diction to tell a story about a girl growing up. The speaker also comforts the girl and explains that every womyn before her has gone through the same situation before.

The structure of this poem is very interesting because there are five stanzas and all of them are the same length except for the third stanza. I believe that Atwood did this to physically show a build up and resolution to her piece. The first two stanzas are more general and describe sad childeren and that some move past it and others dwell on the sadness.

The third stanza is arguably the most important stanza in the poem because it explains and describes so much and can be interpreted in two different ways. The first way to interpret the story is literally and believing that a girl spilled ice cream on her new dress at a lawn party, and that she went into the bathroom to wash it out and starred into the mirror saying that she wasn't the favorite child to herself. That is the basic way to read the poem and, which ever way you decide to read the story, both come to around the same general idea.

The second way to interpret the story is that a girl is experiencing her first time of the month as she matures and moves in to that specific stage of puberty. Perhaps some of the blood gets on her dress and causes her to feel embarressed and no longer the favorite child because of the fact that she isn't a child and now considers herself an adult. The reasons why I came to this interpretation of the story was because of images and words used such as "age, chemical, flushed, bathroom, sulky, pill, and psychic."

Overall, which ever way the reader decides to interpret the story, the reader is still sad and the speaker is attempting to cheer up and explain why she is sad. Both stories make sense and I believe there is enough evidence for either interpretation. (I also really hope i get this poem for my oral)

Storm On the Island Plog 4

The poem is about a group of people on an island getting ready to withstand a ferocious storm. The poem "Storm on the Island" by Seamus Heaney (happy alex?), is a narrative that uses imagery, and personification to convey and add to the overall tone and theme of the poem.
The poem is one stanza long and is literally about a speaker preparing for a storm. The poem begins talking about the supplies the people have, and goes on to discuss the fact that there are no trees on the island and that when the storm acutally arrives that one inadimite object, that can't be seen or captured, can turn all material and physical objects against the people. This object is air and wind. it can rip things apart and destroy lives without ever being caught or punished. The poem ends with the author saying that it is ironic how everyone is so afraid before a storm and the thing that the people fear the most is just one big blob of nothing.
The personification in the poem is a device that cannot be overlooked and adds to the overall tone in the poem of fear and uneasyness. In line 15 the speaker states, "The very windows, spits like a tame cat turned savage." This shows how the wind can break and bend windows to do whatever it wants because of course windows can't really spit. In this poem the wind is the biggest piece of personification because it is in acting in control and with powers.
Overall, the poem sends a message that no matter how powerful or safe you think you are, there is always something much bigger and stronger that is ready to take you down a notch. I believe that the wind was that bigger force in this poem. The personification helped unveil the air's true identity and power because it gave the air human characteristics and put them into play.

Mid-Term Break Plog 3

In the poem "Mid-Term Break" by Hanney, the author uses mood and imagery to depict a sad story of life. The poem was written to show the sadness of everyone except for the author until the end when he realizes that even though he might not have known his brother very well, he still was his brother and felt grief for him.
Some of the images that occur are ones such as his father crying, and mother holding his hand with angry tearless sighs. This image shows that the mother was so upset that there were no tears left within her. The father crying that a strong man can be brought to tears. The corpse is stanched and bandaged by nurses which shows that that the way that the victim died was not pleasant. Throughout this entire beginning the author isn't sad just quiet.
The speaker wasn't sad just possibly in shock or indifferent to the events occuring this could be because he hardly knew his younger brother because he was gone at college and the little boy was only 4 years old. Also before this the boy was anticipating getting out of school to go on a nice break but is suprised to find that the case is opposite.
In the first part of the poem the speaker is refering to his brother only as "the" bedside and "the" room, and in the end of the poem the grief and depression of the entire situation strikes him and as he mourningly reflects he refers to the brothers things as "his" bed and "his" room.
Overall, this poem was very touching because of the fact that it was narrative and told a story as well as maintained good flow throughout the piece. The mood and tone were definately the most important aspects to this poem and it is what made the poem so sucessful.

A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning (Plog 2)

The poem "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne is about a man speaking to his loved one telling them not to be sad about death and that it is just another part of the great cycle of life. The poem begins with a more general understanding of death, and gradually becomes more direct and hints that in the end the reader is possibly dieing. In "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning", through the use of imagery and diction we can see the speaker's underlying messages to his lover.
There are a few key images to note while reading the poem. The first image is the entire first stanza, and in this the speaker seems to be saying do not make a big deal out of death because there will always be strength in our love. The other important image is towards the end of the poem when Donne paints the image of a compass in the readers head. Although the two are apart at the feet they are forever together in the center. The speaker is saying that their love is so much more than physical and that it is more mental than anything presenting the idea of a new refined and true love.
This poem carries very strong diction as well. Some important words within the poem are words like: souls, love, circle, compasses, joys, fears, and innocent. All of theses words tie back into the poem and its theme.
Overall, the speaker is trying to say not to worry or be sad when we are apart because mentally and emotionally we will be together forever. He says to be happy for the time they spent together and to celebrate. Through the images their love makes a circle where the two are together forever in a continuous cycle of love.

The Good-Morrow Commentary

The poem "The Good-Morrow" by Donne shows a story of love. There is a love connection that two people share for one another that is developed and reflected upon throughout the poem. Throughout the poem entitled "The Good Morrow" by John Donne, the setting of time and time of love is established and focused on in each stanza through the past, present, and future.
In the first stanza, the author addresses his love for his soul mate, and reflects upon the past and how different his life would be without her in it. He is appealing to his soulmate, and also reflected on a promise he made to her once upon a time and how it would have been without him making the promise. The author uses examples such as partaking in childish activities and never really growing up.
The second stanza is powerful and shows what he is thinking right now in the present and how his life is currently with his soul mate. He is saying that he is now more powerful than he has ever felt before in his life with love. He is acknowledging that he has made many new discoveries, but that he still has many more things to discover and do.
In the third and final stanza, the author is looking to the future, and questions what life will be like. He is questioning if their opposites will bring them closer together, and if they were truly ment to be. The author ends his poem saying that as long as the couple is together, that their love will never die.
Overall, the poem is all about love, and the love of all ages. The author believes the two to be a perfect match.

Act of Resistance

Now that i think of it and since it didn't have to be a public act of resistance... I have done several things over the weekend alone. However the thing i was intentionally doing was boycotting shopping completely on Black Friday, as well as the sales that followed on Saturday and Sunday (these were at places like Macy's, Boston Store, Kohls, and Target) So although usually throughout the past 4 years of my life that weekend and Friday especially were the days i did all of my holiday shopping as well as shopping in general i decided to take a stand this year and wait until a little later.

At first i didn't think that i would be able to pull this off mainly because of the fact that everyone else in my family was doing shopping but i managed to stay home and avoid all temptaions of deals too good to be true. I feel good about being able to make a stand and break away from conformity and the trend. I also believe that by protesting this it was a way of saying the stores couldn't control my lifestyle and i found better things to do with my time on the weekend. Many of my friends and people i am aquainted with thought i was crazy for not taking advantage of the sales but respected my opinion and choice of "sticking it to the man" or (womyn)

If i did this again i would probably write a letter to a manager or maybe even to Herb Kohl himself since he owns the stores, and explain my side and rationale for my protest. otherwise if i did this again i would most likely just Boycott all of the major stores in order to help the smaller businesses out and support them and help stimulate the economy on a microeconomic level.

I don't believe that me alone especially since I am only a high Schooler without a good paying job and because i wasn't able to persuade my family to boycott the companies that i made a significant impact but by writing this for anyone who desires to read and by at least putting the idea out there, that i did do a small part to protesting somthing much higher beyond me at the moment at least.