The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot is interesting to say the least.
I had a few questions as I read this.
What exactly is the author trying to get across in this poem? To me it just seems like a bunch of J. Alfred Prufrock's random thoughts.
Prufrock seems very indecisive and confused about what he should be doing. He talks about visions and revisions. I feel all in all Prufrock is a man who is unhappy with his life, and who he has become. He seems a little lost.
Who exactly is the you he is talking to in the poem?
Where is there yellow fog?

One Art

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop really puzzled me. I am not sure what exactly the whole point of the poem is. I feel she is trying to say that losing something isn't hard but realizing it isn't a disaster is what people struggle with. I know that if I lost my keys I would spend hours looking for it, and I would definitely consider that a disaster. Bishop is right though it really is not a disaster, its not the end of the world. Even larger loses are not a disaster. I almost feel that Bishop is telling her readers to chill, a loss is not the end of the world just be happy with what you have and move on. Everything will be ok.

I am interested to see what we discover about this poem tomorrow in class, and see what we decided the main message is to it.

The Book of The Dead

If find the opening of this short story interesting, i like that the author starts off with Annie sitting there talking about her dad being missing. The way Edwidge Danticat wrote the story definitely made the story. Leading the readers through the story with the beliefs of Annie adds to the reality of the story. Annie really has a strong connection with her father, looking to him as a sort of muse for her art work. As soon as she finds out that he actually was a guard at the prison and he lied to her she looses all trust in him, and all connection to him.

I can not help but to parallel this to A Foot in Eden. Just like Annie, Issac lost all connections to Billy when he found that he had lied to him about actually being his father. The only difference is that Issac actually in the end chooses Billy. Even though Billy lied to him he still realizes how much Billy loved him and ultimately chooses Billy over the truth. Annie on the other hand cannot forgiver her dad, she feels he has scarred her with the lie and as the final line says ", but those who carry the scars must remember." This final line also parallels her to her own father who cannot forget his past life as being a prison guard.

Apology

Just a simple apology for not keeping up with my blog. I am planning on staying on top of this from now on!

-Stacey

8/31

Chapter IV and part of V of No Country For Old Men:

I find it interesting that again in the opening part of the chapter Sheriff Bell is talking about his wife. Bell certainly puts her on a pedestal. I find it endearing, but I think it could be his ultimated downfall in this book.

Chigurh on the other hand, just keeps himself at a far distance. He doesn't ever say much to anyone unless he is thinking about killing them. I feel the bird in this chapter is just a visual of how Chigurh just doesn't care. I feel it shows that he really isn't worried about the money. He is just after Moss for the fun of it. Just like he shot at the bird for the fun of it. Point blank, Chigurh is a unique and crazy man.

Moss in my opinion is an idiot! He should have shot Chigurh, or left the hotel room when he found the tracker. I feel like Moss will be able to survive though.

8/30

Chapters II and III of No Country For Old Men:

Well I feel like we are starting to get our feet a little deeper into the water. All three of the main characters are starting to cross paths indirectly. A few things in these two chapters really stand out to me. First of all i am really curious as to why Chigurh is after Moss. Was he in on the drug run, and that was why he was in Jail? I also want to know why Chigurh feels it is necessary to be so rude to the proprietor? Chigurh seems to be the main one who catches my focus. I feel that i am more drawn into his story.

I am also wondering why in the world Moss buys a shotgun and deforms it? why doesn't he just buy a hand gun? The only reason i can think of is so that tracing it would be more difficult. I am hoping that Moss can make it out of this situation alive. He seems to be pretty street smart.

8/27

Chapter I of No Country For Old Men:

Lets start off with my initial thoughts of each character. I really had a lot of trouble understanding Sheriff Bell in the first chapter. The grammer and the writing style Cormac McCarthy chooses to represent Sheriff Bell really seemed to agitate me. It took me forever to just read two pages. The two pages felt like 20 or 3o. Overall my impression of Sheriff Bell is he is a very southern, home grown sheriff. When I think of Sheriff Bell my thoughts directly connect to Andy Griffith. They are both out for the good of their town.

Chigurh on the other hand is insane! How in the world can you murder a man, and calmly stare at the corpse before you leave? I had a really hard time trying to picture Chirgurh as I was reading. I couldn't connect a large man with an emphysema tank and a stun gun. Point blank Chigurh is beyond the ordinary criminal.

Finally, Moss. Moss really surprises me. I was not expecting him to return to the vehicle with water. Why exactly would he do that when he knows people are going to be after him? I feel like Moss is very smart when it comes to survival, but not so intelligent when it comes to common sense, or his safety.

8/25

As I began to read "Harrison Bergeron" I felt as though I had heard something similar to this story before. My English IV and V AP teacher really liked futuristic social satires. So originally, I thought it was just similar to another story I had read. As I was reading the part about the ballerina being so beautiful she was being forced to wear the most hideous mask it hit me. I have read this before! Knowing that i had read this before intrigued me, I wanted to read it again. This time as I read it I was thinking "wow, why are the methods they use to equalize everyone so inhumane?" Hanging abnormally heavy masses around a person's neck seems barbaric. Obnoxiously loud noises forcing a person's thoughts away. Really who would do that? How does that make some one equal? Another thing that amazes me is that this is set in 2081. With the technology we have now we should be able to equalize people in more humane ways. Things better than weights hanging from a neck, ear pieces that sound horrible noises every few seconds, and terrible ugly masks. So this posed the question how long ago was this short story written? Out of curiosity I googled the publishers date. I found that it was written and published in 1961. One hundred and twenty one years before the setting. Now the barbaric ways of equalizing people makes sense.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading "Harrison Bergeron". The fact that Kurt Vonnegut could imagine and create a world like that for the story amazes me.

8/23

Today we were expected to read "Snow White" and "Cinderella". As I was reading the material I was surprised at how well Anne Sexton depicted the original Grimm tales in short easily read poems. The whole moral lesson of the tales were also carried through her poems. To be honest reading the poems reminded me how much the Disney version is altered from the original versions. The Disney version of "Snow White" only has the step-mother come to the seven dwarfs' house one time; not three. In the Disney version of "Cinderella" the prince does not chase Cinderella three nights in a row before he steals her shoe. Cinderella loses the shoe on the first night at the ball. Also, the Disney versions are much less gruesome. I feel, Anne Sexton is trying to depict both Cinderella and Snow White as unintelligent women. They are oblivious to the danger around them, and the obvious betrayal. The step-mother in "Snow White" is obviously trying to kill Snow White, while Snow White seem unconcerned about her safety. While the Prince in "Cinderella" has clearly got a few screws loose in his head. I say this because he takes an ax and proceeds to chop open a door just to see her, and lays wax on the steps of the castle just to steal her shoe. Is Cinderella unconcerned about his mental stability? Or is she so happy to have his attention she doesn't care?