"To Kill a Mockingbird"

I thought this movie was really entertaining and I think it did a good job of portraying the main parts of the book.  I saw that a couple of other details were not added into the movie which I think might of given each character more depth.  Such as Scout's Aunt visiting and hounding her about being a lady, Scout's relationship with Ms. Maudie as she matures, and Jem's relationship with Mrs. Dubose which could have shed more light on what kind of person/ character Mrs. Dubose was rather than just having her appear as a grumpy old woman.  Also they should have added Scout and Dill's budding romance.

One thing that I noticed was that the story was being told by an older Scout, I'm not sure whether I noticed this while reading the book or not, but it made me want to see and meet the older Scout.  I don't think the book features a part about Scout being older and looking back at the end.  I just remember reading about Scout walking Boo Radley home and finally realizing that you don't know a person until you step into their skin and walk around in it.

My favorite part of the movie was when Scout finally met Boo Radley.  To me it seemed like the climax of the story because in that moment it showed how much she had matured.  At the end of the movie she finally understands what it means to walk in someone else's skin to understand who they are and what they are going through.  Overall I think the movie was good, but unlike the book, the message of the story doesn't seem very clear.

"Precious"

At first I thought the movie was too dramatic for me, with the vivid scenes of Precious' abuse and rape.  I felt confused on whether or not I should have spoke up that I couldn't watch it.  But at the same time I thought that it would be wrong to do so because that would be refusing that that really happens in reality and I was choosing to ignore it.  When is it okay to refuse?  Is it ever okay to refuse to see a movie like that?  Now after watching the movie, I'm glad that I didn't back out because it's a movie that carries such an important message, especially for girls.  In such a harsh reality I don't think many of us realize just how precious we are and this movie really helped me appreciate what I have even more, to love myself more, and to empathize with everyone because you can't tell what a person is going through through their physical appearance.

Throughout the movie I was really disgusted with Precious' mom, but towards the end of the movie I felt a bit of reluctant sympathy for her.  She seemed to need some kind of psychiatric help when she started to repeat over and over that it wasn't her fault and to give her baby back at the end of the movie.

One thing that I was confused about was the man that Precious always daydreamed about.  Who is he and why does Precious like him?

"Monty Python and the Holy Grail"

I thought this movie was really funny but a little over the top when it came to certain scenes.  When the men were collecting the dead and another man was trying to hand off an old man who wasn't dead yet and in the end someone knocked him out, I felt that was a bit cold-hearted even though the situation made it seem funny.  Another scene was when King Arthur came upon a dark night that fought him until he was nothing but a torso, I'm a bit squeamish when it comes to blood so seeing all his limbs fall off and the really fake blood spurting out, I couldn't help but cringe a bit.  But I think overall the movie was humorous.
My favorite part in the entire movie is when the king pretends to ride a horse and his servant makes the sound of a horse's hooves with coconuts and in the background a really adventurous song is playing.  Also when King Arthur comes upon a man who at first he believes is an old woman and then this man exclaims that he is being repressed.  But is there an overall point that this movie is trying to convey?  The story line didn't really seem to be really clear.  Also the setting of the story was confusing because at first it seemed as though it was set in the past when kings did rule.  But then there were a couple scenes that showed people from modern society.  Then at the end the police arrested King Arthur.and it was brought to attention that the camera man was a person present when the police turned off his camera.  Were they all just role playing the entire time?  Or was it intentional to have two different times at the same time?

Poetry Response 8: "To the Virgins, to make much of Time" by Robert Herrick

The narrator seems to be a man because he is talking about a woman's beauty.  He is telling the young women to gather up their beauty or they will lose it because they are getting older by the minute, "old time i still a-flying."  The beauty that these women may have today could be gone tomorrow, "tomorrow will be dying."  Women are usually  compared to flowers which is why it can be inferred that the narrator is a man and is talking about women.

The sun, which is heaven's light, won't always be around forever as well.  As the sun gets higher in the sky, it is half way towards it's end.  Similar to how women reach a "prime" at a certain age and afterwards their beauty starts to fade, "the higher he's a getting."  The sun will have to dim and begin to vanish just like how the women's beauty will also start to fade away like the sunlight, "the sooner will his race be run, and nearer he's to setting."

The age that is the best is when women are young and energetic, "that age is best which is the first, when youth and blood are warmer."  But when they start to get older and experienced, such as working, worrying, and upholding responsibilities, the beauty will begin to diminish and time will be harsher by escaping from them, "but being spent, the worse, and worst, Times still succeed the former."

So in order to make your beauty long-lasting, don't be flirtatious and waste your time.  The narrator is instructing women to use their time wisely to be able to extend the life of their beauty, "then be not coy, but use your time."  If they have the opportunity to, to go and get married because once your time of beauty is gone, you might stay in the same place forever, "you may forever tarry."

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,

   Old Time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today

   Tomorrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,

   The higher he’s a-getting,

The sooner will his race be run,

   And nearer he’s to setting.

That age is best which is the first,

   When youth and blood are warmer;

But being spent, the worse, and worst

   Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,

   And while ye may, go marry;

For having lost but once your prime,

   You may forever tarry.

Poetry Response 7: "Ozymandias" by Percy Shelley

The narrator meets a traveler who describes a statue that he saw, stating that there were "two vast and trunk less legs of stone."  It seems that this statue was alone and half buried in a sand desert because the traveler describes it as "on the sand, half sunk a shattered visage lies."  The face of the statue is broken and partly buried beneath the sand.  The face is that of a dictator because the lip is turned into a "sneer of cold command."  This may hint that a dictator was overthrown and it has been long since he had been defeated because his statue is covered in sand.  The next line comments that whoever created the sculpture must have understood the passion that the sculpted had felt, "tell that its sculptor well those passions read," because he or she was able to sculpt such an expression.  Through the sculpture the feelings and beliefs of the person who was sculpted continues to live on because it has been made permanent on stone for everyone to see.  The sculpture is an exact replica of the dictator with its mocking gestures, "stamped on these lifeless things, the hand that mocked them."

The pedestal on which the sculpture stands on states that he is "Ozymandias, king of kings," proving that the sculpture was of someone who had power over others.  He commands his people to admire him and everything that he has and will do and wants them to fear him, "look on my works, ye mighty, and despair."  But nothing remains except ruins in which the statue now lays which represents how the dictator, after being overthrown, is now living a hard life that has many hills and the level sands are unreachable to him, "the lone and level sands stretch far away."

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Poetry Response 6: "Rites of Passage" by Robert Duncan

I think the narrator is the father of a son who is growing up and becoming a man.  He realizes that something is changing in his son, he describes his change as being something similar to a devil, "horns thrust upward from the brow."  Meaning that his son's change isn't what he wants or is something bad because having horns can represent his son's new stubbornness or likeness to the devil.  His son's feet turn into hooves which beat impatiently which could mean that his son is no longer someone who he understands because he has changed into a completely different species.  The next line describes how his son is no longer youthful or innocent and any innocent view that he still possesses isn't genuine, "your innocent regard is cruelly charming to me now."  It can be inferred that his son is growing up because the narrator can no longer show affection towards his son, he doesn't dare to because his son would move away, you bristle where my fond hand would stir to stroke your cheek."

The narrator and his son are no longer "the same" because their hearts are no longer aligned.  Meaning that they don't understand each other anymore, "irregular meters beat between your heart and mine."  The narrator notices that his son is growing up because he is starting to take over his position and taking on a challenge without his help, "you take the heat and scan the lines you take in going as if I were or were not there." The next line the narrator reveals that he does see that his son has become a man.  When he said, "where it seems but yesterday I spilled the wine," it means that just yesterday he remembers entering adulthood himself because he was still clumsy and unable to hold his wine.

Although the narrator is reluctant to admit that his son is growing up, he accepts it and allows his son to overtake him.  He states, "my longing to sing grows full.  Time's emptied me," which means that he is getting old and can no longer be a "man," someone who is strong, courageous, and fearless.

Where the narrator has lost his manliness, his son has gained, "where my youth was, now the sun in you grows hot."  The narrator states that everything he has done was for his son and now he is willing to back down and let his son take charge of himself.  But I'm not sure what the last line means when it mentions a "she."  I think it might be referring to his wife who he also doesn't have power over, rather she has power over him, and now his son also overpowers him.

Something is taking place.

Horns thrust upward from the brow.

Hooves beat impatient where feet once were.   

My son, youth grows alarming in your face.

Your innocent regard is cruelly charming to me now.   

You bristle where my fond hand would stir

to stroke your cheek. I do not dare.

Irregular meters beat between your heart and mine.   

Snuffling the air you take the heat and scan

the lines you take in going as if I were or were not there

and overtake me.

And where it seems but yesterday I spilld the wine,

you too grow beastly to become a man.

Peace, peace. I’ve had enough. What can I say   

when song’s demanded? —I’ve had my fill of song?   

My longing to sing grows full. Time’s emptied me.

And where my youth was, now the Sun in you grows hot, your day   

is young, my place you take triumphantly. All along

it’s been for you, for this lowering of your horns in challenge. She   

had her will of me and will not

let my struggling spirit in itself be free.

Poetry Response 5: "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden

The narrator's father never rests because the poem starts out by saying that "Sundays too my father got up early."  So even on Sundays, a day of rest,  the narrator's father still continues to wake up early.   Also from the title it is revealed that it is winter which must mean that the early mornings are still very dark.  In the next line of the poem it proves that the winter mornings are dark, "blueblack cold," and very cold.  So it must be hard to get out of bed, but the narrator's father still gets up despite the cold weather and dark weather.  His father is a hardworking man because his hands are cracked and aching from the labor of the week.  He wakes up every morning to start a warm fire but the narrator notices that no one ever thanked him for doing so.

In the next stanza, the narrator recalls how his father would call for him to wake up after the rooms warmed up and he would get up slowly afraid of the cold still lurking in the house.  Then he would speak to his father, who had gotten up early to make sure the house was warm before he got up, without any feelings or gratitude.  His father did so much for him; besides preparing the fire, he shined his shoes.  But the narrator was ignorant to everything that his father had done for him which is why he says, "What did I know."  The narrator claims that he had no idea of the love that his father bestowed upon him, the love that was unnoticeable to him.  Making his father's love lonely by not seeing it in the things that he had done for him, "love's austere and lonely offices."

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he’d call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love’s austere and lonely offices?

Poetry Response 4: "Death, be not proud" by John Donne

Death should not be proud of himself even though many see him as so because he seems almighty and fearful.  But he is not everything that people say he is and the people who do think of him as weak, he kills.  Death is pitiful because I'm not going to die yet and death can not die either.  Only in sleep can death find pleasure because that is where he can meet with his victims and then take their lives.  Not only does death take their life, their bones and soul go as well.  But Death is a victim as well.  He is a slave to fate and chance because those events many bring Death closer.  Kings and desperate men bring death as well and death is forced to do his job.  Poison, war, and sickness all bring death.   Poppy and charms are better than letting Death take my life.  But once death takes my life, we become immortal.  Then death will die and be no more.  Meaning when human kind dies off, death will then be released from his duty and finally be able to die himself.  So death can’t be proud of himself because of his job.  He shouldn’t be feared because he is only doing what he is appointed to do.  Death, although he is not completely a person, he needs to rest as well.  Death has no choice and he is controlled by humankind, but humankind sees him as the powerful one.  The title, “Death, be not proud,” makes the poem seem like a letter to death letting him know that the narrator realizes what he goes through and declaring that he should not be proud of his job.  Make death realize what his job means and that in actuality he is pitiful.

Poetry Response 3: "Pass/Fail" by Linda Pastan

From the title I thought the poem would be about taking a college course "pass/fail," where if you have above a C you pass the class and otherwise you would fail.  It's almost like taking the "safe" way because you don't know how well you've done.

The poem starts out by saying that we will never complete and achieve our dream of higher education, "blue books."  It doesn't matter if you are successful in waking life because when you are asleep your doubts are waiting to haunt you.  When you dream, it calls to you with two pencils that are not sharpened, meaning that from the beginning you are not prepared for success, but failure.  Then it says that you haven't even taken the class yet.  That shows the anticipation of starting something new but not knowing how and what to prepare.  The next sentence means that opportunity is not available to you, "the book closes in your face when you reach for it." Everything that is happening is wrong and nothing is going well.  When you wake up, you realize its a dream but your doubts still haunt you and you continue to drown in all the things you still need to learn and do.  Applying the title now, I think it means that in life you will both fail and pass at the same time by overcoming your fears.  You will believe that you have failed, but in actuality you have passed but not as spectacularly as you have hoped, wished, and prepared for.  The theme of this poem is to continue to strive and learn because you never stop learning in life which is why at the end of the poem it says that, "you will still smother in all of the feathers that have to be learned by."

Poetry Response 2: "To my dear and loving husband" by Anne Bradstreet

From the title it can be inferred that the narrator loves her husband very much and she cherishes the things he has done for her because it says “loving.”  The narrator, the wife of the man, claims in the beginning that if "two were one," that would be them.  Which means that she believes they are a great couple, they are meant to be together.  She is telling her husband that if any man were loved by their wife , it's him and if there was a wife that was happy with their husband, it's her.  She is no comparison to any other woman because she prizes his love more than riches and gold.  Even the rivers are not enough to satisfy her need, nothing but love from him can compensate.  She believes her husband's love is something she can not repay.  She prays that the heavens will reward him a lot.   So while they live in love, they should continue to work hard to be together so that even after death, their love could still live forever.  I think the narrator’s husband is dead because the title begins like a letter and the poem was in past tense.  Also towards the end the narrator mentions about heaven rewarding her husband for what he has done for her, so maybe she hopes that in his death he will be treated kindly because of his actions toward her when he was living.   The narrator also mentions that she could never repay him, maybe because it was too late which is why she is writing this letter to let him know of the feelings she couldn't convey to him earlier.  I think the theme of this poem is love takes effort from both sides, it is something that does not die even if the people who have created has passed on.  

Poetry Response 1: "The Colonel" by Carolyn Forche

 I thought this poem was interesting because of the ears that were still alive, that were able to still hear but not be able to talk about what they hear with others.  From my analysis I found that the poem was a memory the narrator was recalling and telling someone about.  As if it was a miracle that she survived such an event.  The memory started out as if everything was normal, the daughter was filing her nails, and his wife was preparing tea.  But then when the narrator states that the walls in the house had glass embedded in the walls, it started to shed the Colonel's true personality because when I first looked at the title I thought it meant a man who is dependable and trustworthy; someone who protects others for good.  But my initial thought of the Colonel changed after I read the poem.  When the narrator said that the glass was there to "scoop the kneecaps from a man's legs or cut his hands to lace," the Colonel's image changed to a tyrannical man who is after power and is someone who does not care about anyone.  The image that the narrator describes about the glass is so grotesque which makes the Colonel seem like a monster.  But then the Colonel provides the narrator with a lavish dinner which I thought contradicted his character because he's so ruthless.  When the Colonel brought out the sack of ears after dinner, I was really surprised because it was unexpected especially after such a lovely meal.  But then what was even more bizarre was the fact that the ears were still alive and were listening to his voice.  I think that represents how the "dead are listening."  Meaning no secret will go untold, what the Colonel did to those people will be heard some way.  I think the theme of the poem is that death is not deaf, murder and unfair treatment will be heard.

"The Colonel"

1)      Reading this poem for the first time was fascinating.  All I remember are the ears at the end, especially the part where the colonel dropped one into a glass of water and it came alive, I wonder what the author is suggesting.  At first the colonel didn't seem like a bad man, but towards the end when he brought the sack of ears out he seemed like a monster.  I don't understand what the colonel meant regarding the rights of the narrator's "people."

2)      After reading the poem for a second time I'm still unsure about the meaning of the poem.  I know that the Colonel is not a good man and is someone who is feared because the narrator was warned to not say anything in response to his actions, his dangerous home that has glass shards embedded in the walls, and the sack of ears.  I think the author is trying to suggest something through the sack of ears because ears can't carry life by themselves.  The ears could be a representation of the people in the narrator's country where some ignore what is going on and others want to face it.

TP-CASTT Reflection: Mirror

1)       When I first read the poem I thought it was easy to follow along because of the language used.  But I didn't really understand what was going on with mirror and how it connected to humans and it's reflection.  I had thought that the mirror was telling a story of it's own, explaining it's part of the story.  After reading the poem a second time using the TP-CASTT, I started to pick up on more details about the mirror, such as it's claim that it only reflects the truth.  But I was still confused about the second part of the poem where the mirror became a lake and always looked forward to seeing the woman that always looked in.  At the end it revealed that the woman had drowned a young girl which I think is her and the mirror said that it could see her age day by day.

2)      Most of the questions were really confusing but mostly because of the way they were worded.  The questions that I understood asked about the tone of certain lines in the poem, what a word means based on the context, and what a certain line suggests.  Anything that asked about the relationship between two lines, purpose of repetition, or addressing the structure of the poem, I was unsure about.  I definitely need help on understanding the language used in poetry and similar problems that address the purpose of repetition and structure.

3/26/15: Spring and Fall

It was really tedious to do a close reading on the poem.  There were so many variables to look out for, but at the same time I couldn't find many.  Some parts of the poem were hard to understand but when I said it aloud many times in different ways by giving more emphasis on certain words, it started to make more sense.  But even after doing the close reading, I'm even more confused about what the poem is about than before because I think I might have interpreted a line wrong by giving emphasis to the wrong part that changed it from the rest of the poem.  But I do feel that I have a better sense as to how to "unpack" a poem.  Now it's just learning how to take those individual packages and see how and why they fit together.

Although it was hard to analyze the poem, I did enjoy trying to pick it apart.  It was like trying to solve a puzzle because some parts you need to look ahead at the other pieces in order to figure out the one that you are looking at.

3/25/15: Reflection

What I've learned:

• How to annotate properly, although I'm still not perfect at it
• Writing a structured paragraph, which is a mini essay
• Short stories are a lot bigger than they seem, especially in meaning

Questions:

• How can I write an outline fast enough to also write an essay within the timed limits?
• How to skim?

Skill:

• Analyzing the meaning of a symbol in a story