From Spades to Scribes

This is my introduction paragraph on one of the stories we have read so far this year.

Authors, such as Seamus Heaney the writer of the poem  “Digging” are able to use a variety of tools including symbolism to display the main ideas in their texts. Symbols are able to create opportunities for a different or greater meaning in the words. They allow for the author to demonstrate their idea without making and explicit statement. Heaney is able to use symbolism to demonstrate that one must not always follow in their family’s footsteps but instead find and create their own paths.

Link to Digging

Out of its Time

Have you ever wished to be someone else, some place else or even to exist in some other time period? In Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem “Miniver Cheevy” we find just that man.

In one of the first lines of the poem Robinson writes, “he wept that he was ever born.” Miniver is clearly unhappy with his life and as the poem continues we gain more incite into the reasons behind his sadness.

Later in the poem, we find that he “mourned romance” and that he also “loved the old days,” but “cursed the commonplace.”  Miniver despises this era in which he exists. He fantasies over the past, making it nearly perfect and expecting it to be leaps better than his time. In the poem it says that he “missed the medieval grace.” He missed something from the past even though he had never lived in that time period. Over and over we are reminded of Miniver’s hatred modern and contemporary thoughts.

Near the end of the story, we find that Miniver became so depressed and unhappy with his life that he eventually drank himself to death, something I found particularly unbelievable. Ultimately I believe that Robinson is telling us that we should be happy with what we in out lives and live our lives to their full potential.

Miniver Cheevy Poem http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174244

Barbie Doll, Barbie Fall

Irony is a word people typically associate with the exact opposite of what is expected.  Irony can be presented in several different forms, weather it be verbal or comical or sarcastic, it impacts our outlook on the story. Authors are able to use this tool to display their main idea without directly telling the reader.

People like Marge Piercy, the author of “Barbie Doll,” are able to use irony to manipulate our expectations and ultimately deepen the plot. For example, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word Barbie Doll? Is it beauty? Do you think of perfection? Do you see it as happiness? I know, I do. This is exactly what Piercy wants and expects. She is able to manipulate this image of a perfect Barbie Doll and also provide the reader with false expectations of a perfect story where everything goes according to plan.

Piercy introduces this verbal irony early in the poem saying “a classmate said: you have a great big nose and fat legs.” Someone that is physically unattractive is not usually called and seen as a Barbie Doll.  This image that every girl sees, this beautiful picture of a Barbie Doll, has now been distorted by Piercy’s words.

Later in the poem, we are again shown irony when we find that this woman tried so hard to be one with society and to be beautiful that she “cut off her nose and her legs.”  Which ultimately resulted in her death. At her funeral many people said “ Doesn’t she look pretty?”  This is absolutely crazy! This woman is lying there, dead because she tried to be the exactly like Barbie Doll that society expected.

In the last line of the poem it says, “to every women a happy ending,” but this story certainly did not end happily. Piercy again uses her verbal irony, now nearly sarcastic, to show what people are willing to do to conform to what society defines as beautiful.

Link to Barbie Doll

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/barbie-doll/

The Fatal Knot

Hi everyone. My name is Kimya and this is my new blog for school. Hope you enjoy my first ever post!

My favorite text form the summer reading is “ To the Ladies” by Lady Mary Chudleigh. I love how this poem is able to excite me as a reader and force me to look deeper into each line and obtain its true meaning.  Although it was difficult at first to find the meaning behind the words, deciphering the poem later provided me with a rush of adrenalin and enticed me to continue on my search. I particularly enjoyed the diction used throughout the poem. Line three for example says, “ for when the fatal Knot is ty’d.” The use of the word fatal is contradictory to what one would expect marriage to be, a positive impact on life, but instead the speaker appears to have a negative outlook on marriage.  The word fatal can also reassemble the death of women through marriage. Again showing marriage to have a negative impact on a woman’s life. I found this to be surprising because I had always expected a woman’s wedding and ultimately her marriage to be the best day of her life, and for the couple to live happily after in their union.  But this was clearly not the case in “ To the Ladies.” The speaker seems to tell this story from experience and does her best to instill confidence in women by saying, “ Value your selves, and Men despise.” I found it shocking that she is telling women to not get married especially in the time period that this poem was written in. She is empowering women to take pride in their independence.  Writing this poem was certainly an audacious move by Chudleigh, ultimately giving me a new perspective on women in the 1700s.

To the Ladies Poem Link