What is Happiness? Some People Just Don't Get It..

     Reading and understanding "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumba Lahiri, was no easy task, but I will admit that I did remain fairly interested the entire time. The irony of Mr. Kapasi dreaming of a future friendship with Mrs. Das and then her basically telling him everything about her because she needed a friend was actually surprisingly entertaining to me. I cannot say that I saw it coming. Mr. Kapasi just looked like a big idiot to me when he was planning a secret step-by-step plan in his head of a future with the woman. Then she dropped a bomb on him with the fact that one of her sons was not even the son of her husband! Additionally, she continued to recap her entire history with her husband all to a man who had other motives than being the advisor. All in all, I just thoroughly enjoyed the irony of it.
     Another thing worth noting is the imagery that Lahiri uses that is very effective in creating her visions and scenes that she wants the audience to connect to. Lahiri writes, "She was a short woman, with small hands like paws, her frosty pink fingernails painted to match her lips, and was slightly plump in her figure,"(Lahiri). This paints a picture for readers, not only of what Mrs. Das looks like, but the way that Mr. Kapasi sees her, which holds more importance later on.

Ladies and Gentleman.. The Antagonist! ("Everyday Use")

    Studying the short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, I was puzzled by the character of Dee. The point of view is from her mother, which is why the beginning was so confusing! At first, I get the impression that the mother is envious of Dee, but later on it becomes more and more clear that Dee is the problem. She dropped everything and ran the second she got the chance, changed her name, showed her selfishness, and showed incredible rudeness to her family. I think these things describe an antagonist.
    The most obvious example, and the moment when I think we see Dee's character come out the most, would be the incident with the quilts. Dee is used to getting what she wants, and clearly manipulates her family whenever she gets the opportunity. "' This churn top is what I need'","'And I want the dasher, too'" (Walker) are a few of the examples of the items in her mother's house that she wants and takes. However, when she is told no to the quilts, it was obvious she was not used to not being given what she wants. She accused her sister of being able to appreciate the quilts, and not putting them to the right use, when actually it's the opposite. Maggie would use them and give them the love they deserve, while Dee only wants them for show. Lastly, when Dee accuses her mom of not knowing her own heritage, it shows how truly self-centered she is, and completely oblivious to the feelings of those around her.

Who the heck is Mr. Z?

    In all seriousness, "Mr. Z" by M. Carol Holman was a well-written, insightful poem. What I don't understand is why the author decided to give the main character a name in the title at all if he was not going to mention it or use it in the poem at any point? Is there an underlying meaning that I'm not picking up? If so, what is it?
    However, besides my hang-up on the name, I actually found this poem interesting to say the least. One of the first details I picked up on was the fact that the character was black. "His mother's skin was the sign of error," (Holman) being in the first line, must mean that his being African American was important. And as we see in the remainder of the poem, this turns out to be true. He worked hard at everything, hoping that one day, it would all pay off. He married a former Jewish women, which to me says that it was probably out of love- that was probably the kind of thing that could ruin both of their reputations. Then, in the end, though he may not have gotten very far in society at that time, he did become "'One of the most distinguished members of his race'"(Holman). I feel like that last line speaks volumes. Even though he sought after his ambitions, worked hard, and never gave up trying, the majority of people will never realize it because they cannot see past the color of his skin. It's utterly disappointing, and yet completely true.

Simile Mania! "Dream Deferred"

     Five similes has got to be important, right? Well, I think so. In "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes, the literary technique of similes is incredible. Who knew that using the word "like" could be so effective? Hughes is showing us, through these similes, the different dreams we have and how we remember some and forget others, depending on what it is about. We are given the line, "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" (Hughes). I take this to mean that this is the kind of dream that we forget the minute we wake up because it bears no real significance. Also, we are shown, "Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet?" (Hughes). This line, for me, paints the picture of a dream that we love, and we want to cherish and keep forever.
     Lastly, I also wanted to note the breaks he uses in the poem. Hughes starts and ends with a question, and this holds some importance, I believe. Really, I think both are rhetorical, because even though he attempts to answer the first one, there is no one definite answer. And clearly the last one is posed just to get us thinking. With more analysis, I'm sure I will understand the meaning behind it.

Analysis on Hazel Tells LaVerne

     For the poem "Hazel Tells LaVerne" by Kathryn How'd Machan, I decided to answer and elaborate on the first question following the work. In my mind, the setting of the poem is clearly stated through good imagery throughout the poem. I see this scene taking place in a bathroom at night. Clues like "last night im cleanin out my howard johnsons ladies room.." (Machan) and "has ta flush the toilet down three times.." (Machan) allow me to make the assumptions about the setting. Picking up on those key words was so important in envisioning a maid and a frog and their awkward bathroom encounter.
     This revision of the fairy tale "The Frog Prince" was interesting to say the least. It definitely gave a new twist to the story, considering how the endings are completely differed. I am not sure that I liked this so much though. The language and vernacular of the poem made more difficult to understand, and I don't really know what the purpose of that was yet. Also, I am not a big fan of changes to good things, and I do like the original story, so changing its ending was not going to please me.

Perrine Poetry Post! (Bonus Points for Alliteration?!)

        I'm not going to lie, I may have began reading this six page article, The Nature in the Interpretation of Poetry, with the wrong intentions. Before reading this article, I have always believed that any interpretation of poetry that makes logical sense, should be considered an acceptable interpretation. Who has the authority to tell me that what I think about a poem is wrong? Well, reading this article by Lawrence Perrine has given me a whole new perspective on the subject! I cannot say that my mind is completely changed because I still believe there should be room for discussion on different interpretation. However, many of the points he makes, I understand and agree with- especially the way he comes up with the most sensible interpretation. Also, I had never considered some of the things he said about the authors and how they may have trouble explaining the meanings of their own poems. Perrine makes the statement, "He cannot say, 'What I really meant was...' without admitting failure, or without saying something different (and usually much less) than what his poem said." This makes complete sense to me because it would no longer e a mystery waiting to be solved, which is sometimes the beauty of a poem, but instead it becomes an image that the author just describes in a creative way.
        Now the main piece of this article that I plan to utilize in guiding my study of poetry in this class would be this: "Of several interpretations, the best is that which fully explains the details of the poem without itself being contradicted by any detail." This statement made in the first page was a profound one, though I may not have realized it until I saw the few examples he gave, using poems we had read last week for an assignment. Perrine presented the poem by Emily Dickinson, and explained the difference between what his students had written was the subject of the poem and what he believed to be the subject of the poem. Interestingly enough, most of the students' interpretations coincided with most of my own class's interpretations. Most people in my class thought it described a meadow, just like Perrine's students; although, we did have a few that said the poem described a sunset. A sunset is believed to be the correct interpretation according to Perrine, and some other external proof that the poem was published in earlier years under the title, "Sunset". Even so, Perrine goes into detail explaining how those who interpreted the poem as a garden, failed to account for some of the details in the poem- like the Wharf. Therefore, I was struck by how true the statement I originally mentioned turned out to be! Knowing this, I will go about the study of poetry knowing that every detail is important, and if I'm not accounting for each one, I am not doing it correctly.

Yes, My Nose Is Literally In the Book..

Yes, on our fun trip to King's Island, Joey Wolf and I decided to whip out the Great Gatsby and show off our awesomeness. People wish they were as cool as us, sort of. Either way, I was so scared to drop it, and have to redo all of my annotations, that he had to hold it and I checked on it whenever I wasn't screaming! But it was safe and even after 2 tries, my face is still not visible. But there it is!