Blog 11 Live Life To The Fullest Tina Radstone

The poem, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night", by Dylan Thomas, is a poem that is a called villanelle; which is a highly structured poem consisting of 19 lines of 5 tercets and a concluding quat6rain. Thomas uses this structure to shed an emotional feel to the reader that one should never give into death; that one should be strong to the end fighting and holding on to one's life. Thomas uses the first line of stanzas 2-5 to show his father using words such as: "wise men", "good men", "wild men", "grave men" and finally addressing his dad, "my father" that no matter how he lived his life he should embrace the good with the bad and never give up. This tells the reader that the speaker who is Thomas, that this was a personal experience of his father dying and how much he meant to him. It's interesting how the author connects his key words from the first line to the second line starting in stanza two through stanza five. Here are some good examples, wise men-words had forked (2.4-5), good men-frail deeds (3.7-8), wild men-learn to late (4.10-11), grave men-blind eyes (5.13-14), and my father-curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears (6.16-17). The second line of each tercet has use of metaphors to accentuate the actions of what the different men "could have" or "might have" done to save themselves from the fight of dying. But in this case, I believe that the speaker uses those words to express to the reader that death is inevitable and one should never take life for granted.

The two rhyming sounds are the very last words in the first and third lines of the tercet. The author uses night, light, right, bright, flight, sight and height for the rhyming sound words. The main two rhyme words are "night" and "light" in which "night" is significant for "death" and "light is significant for "life". The two refrains are, "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "Rage, rage against the dying of the light", which alternate in the third line of tercets two through five to give some sense of urgency that living and dying are a part of the human life, that there is very little that divide the two.

Then last four lines are called the quatrain. In the quatrain Thomas throws in a line that isn’t in the poem until line 17 which reads, “Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.” I feel that this line sounds negative but yet also positive. He puts “curse”before “bless” insinuating that no matter what if his father curses him or blesses him, he [his father] is going to die anyhow so put off any feelings of anguish or resentment and move forward onto the next life.

 

 

Blog 10 Romping the Beat Tina Radstone

"My Papa's Waltz", by Theodore Roethke, can be interpreted in two different ways. I feel that most people will think that this poem is about a young boy dealing with abuse from his alcoholic father, but this poem can also be interpreted as a young boy having a dance (the Waltz) with his father. Roethke's use of sophisticated word choice, gives the reader the option to interpret the poem in two different ways. In lines 1 and 2, the speaker is talking to his dad and states, "The whiskey on your breath/Could make a small boy dizzy", which can be interpreted that his dad is a heavy drinker, possibly an alcoholic or it can also mean that the speaker's father just had a drink which wouldn't be unheard of considering that some people have a drink after work or before dinner. I can understand how a small boy can become dizzy from his dad's whiskey breath because the smell can be overwhelming and make a small child's head turn, but on the same token that can also make a grown man's head turn as well. The young boy speaker refers to his father's waltz as "not easy" (4) because he "hung on like death" so he won't fall down. Lines 3 and 4 can be interpreted, like most readers do, that the boy is holding tightly onto his drunk father because dancing with him is difficult whereas it can also be interpreted that it isn't easy to waltz with his father because he is just a little boy and he may have to stand on his father's feet and hold his hands or waist in order to dance with him. This can be uneasy due to the fact that his father is responsible for guiding him through the dance.

It can be quite confusing to determine if there is child abuse going on because Roethke uses words like "papa" and "romped" that don't reflect negative connotations. For example the speaker refers to his father as "papa" in the title which connotes that the young boy has a deep love for his father. Whereas it could be different if the young boy is abused by his father, then he might call his father something negative because he may resent him. Another great example is Roethke's clever use of the word "romp", creating a vision that this young boy is horsing around with his father or maybe Roethke means that the boy is aggressively being tossed around.

In line 13, in the last stanza, the speaker states that his father "beat time on my [speaker] head". This is also very clever of the author to do this because usually the word "beat", especially used in this, line gives the reader the idea that the young boy's father physically assaulted him. But it can also be interpreted that figuratively speaking, the father is keeping count of the beats from the music that they are dancing to. So when the speaker says that his father "beat time into his head", perhaps this means that this counting of time is repetitious and the boy learns the musical beats so that he won't dance off beat.

I really liked this poem because I can understand how Roethke's choice of words can be interpreted in a negative sense to make us believe that the young boy is a victim of child abuse from an alcholic father or these choice of words can be positive and make us believe that the poem is of  boy that waltzes with his father even though it seems that the father's dancing is a bit reckless.

Blog 9 Blake's Lamb and Tyger Tina Radstone

         
First I would like to start this post by stating that reading these poems and then picking them apart is very difficult to me.

I chose to do William Blake's poems, "The Lamb" and the "Tyger". Both poems are about the speaker questioning who their creator is. The difference is that in the poem "The Lamb", the speaker is questioning the Lamb in a Godly spiritual way. Although the speaker asks the question, "Little Lamb, who made thee?" ("TheLamb", 1); it's almost like he is making a statement like, "You are such a precious being, somebody or something of a higher power had to create you." On the other hand in Blake's other poem, "The Tyger", the speaker questions who the Tyger's creator is because the Tyger is ferocious and strong and gives the impression that the Tyger's creator could only of been someone or something that is as fearless as the Tyger.

In "The Lamb" the speaker gives a heavenly and cheery impression of the Lamb with the usage of positive words to describe it. For example:

          Gave thee clothing of delight,
          Softest clothing wooly bright;
          Gave thee such a tender voice,
          Making all the vales rejoice! ("The Lamb", 5-8)

The words delight, bright, tender voice and vales rejoice, are beautiful and positive. The speaker says that the Lamb's voice is so tender that all the vales (a place full of sadness) rejoice. Even the sad or unhappy places on the earth are brought together.

In "The Tyger", the words are not so vibrant and happy. The words to describe the Tyger are strong words. A great example is, "Tyger! Tyger! burning bright" ("The Tyger", 1) and "Burnt the fire of thine eyes?" ("The Tyger, 6). The words burning bright and fire aren't happy cheerful words, they aren't necessarily negative; they are strong words to describe the Tyger. The speaker even asks, "In what distant deeps or skies" ("The Tyger", 5), implying God or Satan could have created something so magnificent and fierce.

The speaker of "The Lamb" and "The Tyger" are the same speaker because in "The Tyger", the speaker asks the Tyger, "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" He's reverting back to the other poem, "The Lamb". The author William Blake intended for these poems to have a connection. I don't think that the reader would think twice as hard to who created the Lamb had he not added the Tyger to the occasion.

Blog 8 Collins & Mueller Tina Radstone

I happened to be drawn to the poem "Schoolsville", by Billy Collins. I liked it because it was easy to read and the story was clear; I didn't have to read into it. The poem didn't have a rhyme scheme, but I found that to be alright. This poem doesn't have to rhyme in order the reader to understand what is going on. I felt that it was a little mini story of a teacher who reflects on his career and speaks negatively of the students that he has taught. Perhaps, Collins might be speaking about his own life. His negative description of the students gives the reader that some didn't care about his class and maybe some of the students didn't graduate. A great example of Collin's negativity is when he speaks of the girl “brushing her hair like a machine" (19). This is a great way to express to the reader that there is quite a bit of repetition and the girl lacks interest in the class. He even says that he forgot all of their "last names first and their first names last" (13-14), but he knows of them through their actions in his class. Collins shows a clear example of remembering his students through their actions by stating, "the boy who always had his hand up...and the girl that signed her papers in pink lipstick" (15-17). I can't say that I absolutely love this poem but I can say that I do like it because it is so easy to read. On the other hand the poem that I don't care for is "Hope", by Lisel Mueller. I was fooled by this poem because the title clearly states what the poem is about and I obviously didn't catch on to that until after I had read the whole entire thing. I was thinking to myself, what the heck is this about? The title of this poem is deceiving because the content of the poem doesn't specifically say the word "hope" throughout the body; it just gives physical descriptions so that the reader ends up forgetting what it is that they are reading about. Mueller gives a great example by stating that, "it sprouts in each occluded eye/ of the many-eyed potato/ it lives in each earthworm segment/ surviving cruelty" (9-10). He is trying to convey that hope opens the eye of people that are blind to the things that they are scared of or maybe blind to what they are confused and feared by. Earthworms don't have sense of sight so they have to dig and find their way through. The point that I am trying to make is that I didn't understand what the poem is about until after I read several times through and then of course referring back to the title is when the light bulb blinked profusely. Maybe to some other people, they might like this kind of approach with poetry but it utterly confused me.

Blog 7 Hey Batta, Batta, Batta Tina Radstone

In the play Fences, by August Wilson, big-league baseball plays an important role. It is important because in 1957 Major League baseball segregated African American players from all the other players so thus forming the Negro League. Troy Maxson is a player in the Negro League and misses the opportunity to play in the Major League baseball because he is too old. African Americans were recruited into the league during the time that Troy becomes too old (40 years old) to be a player that is considered viable. Troy misses his mark for playing in a big league because he "came along to early". Troy's wife Rose clearly tells him that, "Times have changed since you was playing baseball, Troy. That was before the war. Times have changed a lot since then" (1.1.70). This implies that changes weren’t made to the Major League until after he comes “to old” and then retires from the Negro League. Troy undoubtedly is angry and argues back:

There ought not never have been no time called too early! ... I done seen a hundred niggers play baseball better than Jackie Robinson. Hell, I know
some teams Jackie Robinson couldn't even make! What you talking about
Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson wasn't nobody. I'm talking about if you
could play ball then they ought to have let you play. Don't care what color
you were. Come telling me I come along too early. If you could play ...
then they ought to have let you play. (1.1.74 &78).

Troy is merely trying to get his point across that he didn't come to early, that he is a good player and he knows that there are many other good players that are better than Jackie Robinson who shouldn’t be discriminated against because of the color of their skin.

Troy's connection with baseball is that he was an outstanding baseball player in the Negro League. Another connection that Troy has with baseball is how he uses it in conversation to reveal and justify his actions. I never understand why he would bring up baseball but then it became clear that he doesn't know how to effectively communicate so he uses "baseball" talk to express himself. A great example of this is after he admits to his wife Rose that he has been unfaithful to her, he tries to give her an explanation and says, "Rose, I done tried all my life to live decent...to be a good husband to you...you born with two strikes on you before you come to the plate...You got to guard it closely... always looking for the curve ball on the inside corner" (2.1.104).

Josh Gibson was known as the best batter for the Negro League and like Troy Maxson, Gibson never made it to Major League baseball. Troy knows of him because he and Josh Gibson have the same outcomes of never getting the chance to play in the Major League. Troy feels as though baseball didn't get him anywhere and he says that to his friend Bono, "What it ever get me? Ain't got a pot to piss in or a window to throw out of" (1.1.69). He also feels that it didn't get Josh Gibson anywhere as well because he comments on Gibson's daughter's shoes, "I saw Josh Gibson's daughter yesterday. She walking around with raggedy shoes on her feet" (1.1.76). Josh Gibson's career represent symbols of winning and losing. He is remembered for being discriminated against (losing) and for his own personal achievement as the best batter in the Negro League (winning). Like Josh Gibson, Troy ends up dying as well maybe even from alcoholism. Both men were great at baseball but were never given the chance to make it big at the next level and both had voids in their hearts because they weren't able to live the dream.

 

 

Blog 6 Creepy Claudius Tina Radstone

 
  In my opinion I feel that Claudius has flawed personality traits but yet is evil for the act of planning and committing murder on his brother the former King Hamlet. Claudius has a vision and that vision was to kill his brother, take his brother's wife for his own wife and be heir to the throne. In order for Claudius to kill King Hamlet Sr., he has to have a plan in which he does. Claudius' plan is premeditated and he plots to kill his brother with some poison that he pours in his ear while sleeping. The premeditation and the physical act of killing his brother is what makes Claudius an evil person. Claudius clearly shows the reader how evil he is when he tells his nephew Hamlet to be a man and get over his father's death. Claudius asks Hamlet, "Why should we in our peevish opposition take it to heart?" (1.2.100-101). Claudius asks his nephew why are you resisting and taking this to heart. This isn't something that a normal human being would say after murdering his nephew's father in cold blood. Claudius shows that he is going to get what he wants even if he has to kill his own brother.

     When I think of a flawed human being, I think of certain character flaws that most human beings possess. Here are some character flaws: argumentative, dishonest, conceited, self-fish, narrow-minded, being the victim, etc.. The list goes on but the point that I am trying to make is that Claudius possesses some of these character flaws as well, which makes his character more of a human being to the reader. He has somewhat of a heart and acknowledges that murdering his brother was wrong and wants to be forgiven for it. Claudius admits to God:

            O my offense is rank, it smells to heaven,
            It hath the primal eldest curse upon't,
            A brother's murder. Pray can I not... (3.3.35-37).

The play could also be called "The Tragedy  of Claudius, King of Denmark", but wouldn't be as interesting to the audience as Hamlet's tragedies are because Claudius' character never changes and he never goes through any real tragedies, he is one that is causing the tragedies to happen. Hamlet fits the play because he is the one that goes through all of the changes in the story and is the main character that has to endure all of the tragedies that are bestowed upon him.

Blog 5 Betrayal Tina Radstone

Hamlet is a story that has dilemmas to which Hamlet encounters when he returns home to Denmark. He finds out that his father has been murdered by Claudius (Hamlet's uncle) who then takes over his father's throne. He also learns that his uncle marries his mother Gertrude. Hamlet wants to seek revenge for his father's death but isn't strong enough to do so. In the beginning of the story Marcellus and Horatio have seen the ghost of Hamlet's father and tell Hamlet that this ghost looks just like his father. Whether good bad or indifferent, Hamlet wants to go and see the ghost of his father. He learns from the Ghost that in fact he is the spirit of his father. The ghost clearly states this, "I am thy father's spirit..." (1.5.9). Hamlet is shocked but wants to know more and learns that his father's death is not only a murder but a dreadful one as well. His father's spirit explains to him, "Murder most foul, as in the best it is, But this most foul, strange and unnatural" (1.5.27-28). This tells the reader that Hamlet's father's spirit is explaining that his death was that of murder and it was absolutely horrible and unnatural at its best. The word unnatural describes to the reader that he didn't die naturally implying something out of the ordinary happened and wasn't an accident. Hamlet is distressed over his mother's marriage to his uncle who killed his father. He is affected by his mother's behavior because she married so quickly after his father's death and out of all people she married his uncle. Hamlet informs us that his mother is lustful and moved on to quickly, "Must I remember? why, she would hang on him as if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on, and yet within a month...a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer..." (1.2.143-151). From this quote I feel like his mother was lusting Claudius for a long time and she knew well what she wanted to do. Futhermore for a woman that just lost her husband she didn't mourn for her husband for a long time. Although Hamlet wants revenge on his uncle, his sanity gets in the ways of his decision to take his uncle's life. He question's his own abilty to kill his uncle and feels that he is a coward. He says with emotion, "A damned defeat was made: am I a coward?" (2.2.545) I feel that Hamlet is weak not because he is a "weak" person but because he wants to confirm that his uncle murdered his father by looking at his expressions. Hamlet describes how he will prompt his uncle:
           For murder, though it have no tounge, will speak
           With most miraculous organ: I'll have these players
           Play something like the murder of my father
           Before mine uncle, I'll observe his looks,
           I'll tent him the quick, if a' do blench... (2.2.557-560).
He just has to see this for himself. He starts to distrust everyone and goes somewhat crazy maybe for the purpose that he didn't want anyone to know what he was doing.