Dj's 36-56 their eyes where watching god

Blake Fletcher

AP English

DJ’s 35-56

DJ’s 36-56

36. pg 61 “The Parson sat motionless in a dead pine tree about two miles off.”

The parson is sitting in a tree waiting to go eat a dead mule. I just think that this has a slight connection to the symbol that the tree has something major to do with life. Janie always talks about beauty in trees but this Parson is about to go eat a dead mule. How is that beautiful? I guess it could relate to the fact that the tree and animals rely on each other like a marriage? The parson needs the mule to survive.

37. pg 84 “And then if he hadn’t, the next morning she was bound to know, for people began to gather in the big yard under the palm and china berry trees.”

This is talking about Jody’s death. The fact that everyone gathered under the tree like the parson sat in the tree waiting for the mule is interesting. Maybe trees are not just a symbol for beauty but a symbol for death as well. Possibly finding beauty in death somehow?

38. pg 84 “And then too, Jody, no Joe, gave her a ferocious look.”

Jody was a term of affection from Janie to Joe. Jody loves her but does Joe? I think it is interesting that Janie sees two people in Joe. One with affection and one who possibly hates her?

39. pg 87 “A sound of strife in Jody’s throat, but his eyes stared unwillingly into a corner of the room so Janie knew the futile fight was not with her”

This is Jody dying. Janie is in the middle of yelling at him and then he makes a noise and his eyes stop moving. He dies with not resolution between Janie. Janie feels pity for the first time in a long time for Jody. But now he is gone.

40.  pg 87 “She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair”

She is free!!! She no longer has to keep her hair pinned up to make Jody happy. This is showing her freedome. The first step to becoming herself again. It also shows that she has the power in her life again. Very important because Jody was very controlling.

41. pg 89 “She hated her grandmother and had hidden it from herself all these years under a cloak of pity.”

She finally admits to herself that she despises her grandmother for taking her youth away. This is important because her nanny is the first person to take away her freedom. She has this idea about love that she can now explore because no one is controlling her.

42. pg 90 “She had found a jewel down inside herself and she had wanted to walk where people could see her and gleam it around.”

This is her taking power of her life. She found that beautiful person she was before her first husband and she wants to exploit it. She wants people to see her hair and her inner beauty. She wants to see her own beauty. She is in control.

43. pg 106 “He could be a bee to a blossom”

Remember back to when she was sitting under the tree in the beginning. Her understanding of a good marriage was a bee and a blossom. Also, this is odd because she said the same thing about Jody. Could be taken as foreboding but I think she means more when she talks about Tea Cake because he is so different.

44. pg 106 “ Thought ah’d try tuh git heah soon enough to tell yuh mah daytime thoughts.”

He is making an effort to show her that his feelings are with good intentions. He doesn’t just want to take advantage of her and take her money which is something she is really worrying about at this point.

45. pg 110 “Tea Cake making flower beds in Janie’s yard and seeding the garden for her.”

This is important because Jody would have never worked in the garden for her because it would have poorly affected people’s views of how manly and how powerful he is. Tea Cake is a better man than Jody.

46. pg 114 “Dis is uh love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, Now Ah means tuh live mine.”

It is time for the bees and the blossoms! She wants to experience love the way she always dreamed about it. She tried to do right by her grandmother but it didn’t make her happy. So she despises her grandmother for making her marry so young. She now sees her opportunity to be happy and she is going to take it.

47. pg 116 “The train beat on itself and danced on the shiny steel rails mile after mile. Every now and then the engineer would play on his whistle for the people in the towns he passed by. And the train shuffled on to Jacksonville, and to a whole lot of things she wanted to see and to know.”

Janie is really excited to start her new life and is finding beauty in everything. It sounds like music and everything to do with the train is so nice and surreal. She wanted to see what real love is and now she has the chance to experience it.

48. pg 120 “But ah God, don’t let Tea Cake be of somewhere hurt and Ah not know nothing about it.”

Even though Tea Cake just stole from her she is more worried about his well-being. This shows how much she cares about him because she can push through her worries and deep down be worried about him.

49. pg 124 “He had done found out how rich people feel and he had a fine guitar and twelve dollars left in his pocket and all he needed now was a great big old hug and kiss from Janie”

He spent all but twelve dollars of Janie’s 200 just to experience what it was like to live like that and now he is over it? He says he still was always thinking about Janie so maybe this was a good thing. Now the only thing he needs to make him happy is be with Janie.

50. pg 130 “Tain’t no need uh you not knowin’ how tuh handle shootin’ tools.”

No other man would have taught Janie to shoot a gun but Tea Cake sees not problem with it. This shows that Tea Cake is really different then most other guys. It shows he doesn’t believe in the traditional role of women for the time period that is a pretty big deal.

51. pg 131 “Dancing, fighting, singing, crying, laughing, winning and losing love every hour.”

This shows how crazy this love is for Janie. Life is a struggle. But with the struggle comes with many good things. The fighting, crying, and losing love every hour is cancelled out with the dancing, singing, laughing, and winning love ever hour. It balances out but it is not perfect.

52. pg 133 “Ah gits lonesome out dere all day ‘thought yuh. After dis, you betta come git uh job uh work out dere lak de rest uh de women.”

Tea Cake is asking Janie to come work with him not for him because he misses her during the day. His concern isn’t with making money but he wants to be with her all day every day. This is true love.

53. pg 133 “ Then Tea Cake would help get supper afterwards.”

Jody never helped prepare diner. This is a big deal because Tea Cake and Janie can really count on each other like a bee can count on a blossom. This is a real marriage.

54. pg 137 “And another thing, Tea Cake didn’t seem to be able to fend her off as promptly as Janie thought he ought to.”

Janie is getting jealous. This is odd because Jody got jealous and it lead to the fall of their relationship. She needs to be careful because Jealousy can drive you crazy. This could be the start of fighting or this could bring them closer together.

55. pg 141 “Naw, mah husband didn’t had nothin’ but hisself. He’s easy tuh love if you mess round ‘im. Ah loves ‘im”

This is Janie expressing how much she cares about Tea Cake. This is important because this is after she shows her jealousy. They are getting through this together. I think that this is a good sign.

56. pg 141 “He kin take most any lil thing and make summertime out of it when times is dull. Then we lives offa dat happiness he made till so mo’ happiness come along.”

This relates back to her thought of marriage. The bee and the bloom are most active in summer time and can rely on each other during summer time like a proper married couple should. So Tea Cake being able to create summer time is a big deal because that is allowing Janie to rely on him like a bee relies on a bloom.

DJ's 21-35 Eyes were watching god...

Blake Fletcher

AP English

DJ’s 21-35

DJ’s 21-35

21. pg 27 “The noon sun filtered through the leaves of the fine oak tree where she sat and made lacy patterns on the ground.”

This is interesting because as soon as her husband leaves, she is back to the tree. Relaxing enjoying herself in the shade of the tree. The tree could possibly symbolize her dreams, like she can’t do this while her husband is home but she does it as soon as she leaves. She is not happy and that is clear, so this is where she finds happiness.

22.  pg 27 “It was a citified, stylish dressed man with his hat set at an angle that didn’t belong in these parts. His coat was over his arm, but he didn’t need it to represent his clothes. The shirt with the silk sleeveholders was dazzling enough for the world.”

This is a big deal because just a day or so ago Janie and her husband got in a big fight and he said sarcastically that she probably wants one of those city slickers and here comes one walking down the road. Maybe when her husband said that she wanted someone like Joe Starks it was foreboding to this and I just missed it.

23. pg 30 “There! Janie had put words in his held-in fears. She might run off sure enough. The thought put a terrible ache in Logan’s body, but he thought it best to put on scorn.”

This passage shows that yeah Logan may be a dick to Janie but he really does care about her enough to feel sick at the thought of losing her. Her saying that she might run of justifies his fears and makes them real for him. Now he can either try to change to keep her or possibly lose her.

24. Pg 32 “From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything. A bee for her bloom.”

This passage relates back to why she kissed Johnny and this is her comparing Joe starks to her wonders and dreams when she was younger under a pear tree wondering about love. She says Jody is her bee because she sees him as her perfect match. Someone she can rely on and be happy with.

25. pg. 43 “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home.”

This is a big change in Janie’s opinion of Jody. She really thought he was perfect and now she kind of really sees his first flaw. Janie didn’t really want to give the speech but it would have been nice to have the opportunity.

26. pg 46 “A feeling of coldness and fear took hold of her. She felt far away from things and lonely.”

This is showing the first signs of Janie being unhappy. That is a big deal because she just ran away from one failed marriage that she wasn’t happy for a man who she thought was “her bee to her blossom” this is maybe her admitting to herself that he isn’t this man.

27. pg 47 “They had murmured hotly about slavery being over, but everyman filled his assignment.”

This is important because all of the towns people are starting to realize that he runs them like slaves. His house resembles a rich white persons house. Ironic? I just feel like he kind of owns them with his power.

28. pg 49 “Whut make her keep her head tied up lak some ole ‘oman round de store?”

This is important because the reason she has to wear her hair up is because Jody is making her. This just shows a flaw in Jody and Janie’s relationship. The flaw is Jody’s jealousy and his inability to be satisfied with the work he as already done. He is working himself to death.

29. pg. 51 “When the people sat around on the porch and passed around the pictures of their thoughts for others to look at and see, it was nice.”

I think it is weird that in the beginning of the novel Janie hates the porch talk. She wants to take no part in it. Though she finds this interesting now and wants to play a part in it? I just think this is interesting.

30. pg 53 “ Janie loved the conversation sometimes she thought up good stories on the mule, but Joe had forbidden her to indulge.”

Again, I think this shows a change in Janie as a person from the beginning of the novel to now because In the beginning she makes a big deal about not stopping and talking to the women on the porch but now she wants to indulge?

31. pg 54 “She had come to hate the inside of that store anyway.”

This is just progression for her. She keeps getting angrier and angrier and more unhappy this is just another piece of evidence to put on her failing marriage. This is a downward spiral.

32. pg 54 “He wanted her to use her privileges.”

Jody really thinks of working at the store as a “privilege” while Janie is beginning to hate it more and more. This is bad. They need to communicate to make this work or this is all going to become one big fight.

33. pg 56 “They oughta be shamed uh theyselves! Teasin’ dat poor brute beast lak they is!”

This is important because Jody over hears Janie say this. That is a big deal because he does something about it to try to make her feel better. That shows that he still does care about Janie even though they are fighting. This is where Jody makes an effort.

34. pg 58 “Didn’t buy ‘im fuh no work. I god, Ah bought dat varmint tuh let ‘im rest.”

This is a big deal because I think this is Jody trying to make Janie see that he is trying. He says this deliberately in front of her because he knows how she feels about the mule being teased and worked so hard. At least it is an effort.

35. pg 59 “But way after a while he died. Lum found him under the big tree on his rawbony back with all four feet up in the air”

I think it is odd that Janie seems to be most happiest when trees are involved. She sees something beautiful to do with trees. Maybe the fact that he died under a tree which is generally a symbol for happiness for Janie means that he will be happier now that he is dead?

DJ's 1-20 Their Eyes Were Watching God

Blake Fletcher

AP English

DJ 1-20

DJ’s 1-20

1.     pg. 1 “Now women forget all those things they don’t want to remember…”

The way that this paragraph is written makes it sound like it is the womens job to forget and remember what is important and not important. Would this apply to like if they where hit, is it their job to forget the abuse and move on with life? Or is it their job to remember recipies for diner. I just don’t understand the word choice in this section.

2.     pg. 1 “The people all saw her come because it was sundown. The sun was gone, but he had left his foot steps in the sky.”

This section shows that the power still may be with “the bossman” because clearly they can’t talk about things they want so this shows that maybe the class system is messed up and possibly racism is still in effect. Why should people have to wait until the sun goes down to be able to talk?

3.     pg 2 “It was weapon against her strength and if it turned out of no significance, still it was hope that she might fall to their level some day”

This quote shows that the speaker seems to think that she is above or better then these ladies who sit on their porches and talk gossip. She really hopes that she never falls to their level. She is above the porch talk. Her overalls show how she is different then them.

4.     pg. 6 “Ah don’t mean to bother wid tellin’ ‘em nothin’…”

This is another section that shows she is above the gossip talk that the other older ladies partake in. She tells her friend to say what she feels is necessary. Other than that she has no interest in being like them. She doesn’t see any benefit in talking about people behind other peoples back about them.

5.     pg. 7 “Time makes everything old so the kissing, young darkness became a monstropolous old thing while Janie talked.”

This quote shows the significance of time. The time they are taking to talk is long. As shown by the young darkness becoming a monstopolous old thing. This means a great amount of time has passed since the beginning of teling the story.

6.     pg 8 “Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches.”

The fact that Janie sees herself like a great tree is an interesting idea. Trees live long great lifes generally and depending on the tree blossom in the spring. This could be interesting because maybe the spring is like her getting married or growing up in general.

7.     pg 9 “’Aw, aw! Ah’m colored!”

This quote is interesting because it shows that it is still thought of badly to be colored. She spent some much time with white folk that she truly believed or wanted to be white. It must be hard to realize that you are black just by seeing yourself in a photograph.

8.     pg. 9 “Us lived dere havin’ fun till de chillun at school at school got to teasin’ me ‘bout livin’ in de white folks back-yard.”

This shows that racism is still a problem. The children pick on her for living around the white folks. Maybe because they are jealous. Janie really benefits from living there because she gets clothes a safe place to live, food, etc. It really wasn’t that bad of a thing to have people pay for everything for you and give you a place to live. But the children obviously had a problem with it.

9.     pg 10 “Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the back-yard”

The blossoming could be a symbol of Janie coming into her own as a woman. She is thinking about love and marriage and is starting to grow up at the same time as this tree is blossoming into a beautiful pear tree. This is a pretty strong image showing the curiosity and the wonder and the beauty that is developing as a young adult.

10. pg 11 “She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom;…”

This is a good passage that shows her wondering and discovering as a young adult. She is looking for answers and she sees them everywhere. She sees marriage at the end of the rest of that passage. This is a big deal especially because she is growing up and soon enough she will be married. Mostly I see that Janie is wondering about love. She sees all of these different parts of nature working together to create harmony. In order to grow each of these small pieces of the story whether it be the bee or the blossom she sees the role they play for each other and thinks “this is marriage”.

11. pg 11 “Oh to be a pear tree- any tree in bloom”

She sees the beauty in nature and the “marriage” the blossoms have with the honey bee and she is envious. She is a young lady and she is ready to face the struggle and the hardships of life and love and it just isn’t happening yet so she is envious.

12. pg 12 “That was before the golden dust of pollen had beglamored his rags and her eyes”

This shows that all this envy and excitement and discovery has clouded her judgment of this boy who before she thought was rather plain, now she sees him as exciting and tall and lean. She has kind of a set of beer goggles but it is more like wonder goggles.

13. pg 12 “Nanny’s head and face looked like the standing roots of some old tree that had been torn away by storm…”

Again trees come up. This time in a little darker of a situation. At the same time as Janie is blossoming like a pear tree in bloom her grandmother is looking more and more like an old weak tree that could be torn down at any minute. This could be a foreshadow to possibly her getting sick or dying.

14. pg 12 “Ah wants to see you married right away”

I didn’t see a lot of meaning in this quote I just think it is very odd that her grandmother is telling her to get married. She is single and doesn’t really have any experience with dating but her grandmother wants her to get married. Clearly there is more going on here.

15. pg 13 “He look like some ole skullhead in de grave yard.”

This shows that clearly Janie isn’t very excited with her grandmothers proposal. She sees all of the discovery, magic, romance, love, and excitement fall behind as her grandmother is telling her she has to marry this man. She is a young girl who wants love and is instead getting forced into a marriage.

16. pg 14 “The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree.”

This further supports my idea of Janie seeing all of her feelings and hopes just kind of torn away from her because she is being forced into this marriage. She clearly does not love this man and she sees her idea of marriage being thrown out the door.

17. pg 14 “De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see”

This is Janie’s grandmothers reasoning for pushing her into marriage. She sees hardship and men who beat women and lack of money and racism. So she worries about her granddaughter because her daughter made many mistakes and she doesn’t want Janie to make the same mistakes. This makes sense although I do think she is going about it the wrong way.

18. pg 15 “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, its protection”

The fact that her grandmother admits that she really doesn’t care if it was this Logan Killicks or some other gentle men who will treat her right really shows that her main concern is strictly Janie’s well being. She knows that it may not be true love but at least she knows that Logan Killicks will provide for Janie.

19. pg 23 “cause you told me Ah was gointer love him, and, and Ah don’t”

Janie sees the feelings that she wants to have when she thinks about sitting under the tree. Then she has the feelings she doesn’t want to have and she is trying to find a way to love Logan. She doesn’t see her marriage like the “marriage” between the bee and the blossom. It bothers her.

20. pg 25 “So Janie waited a bloom time, and a green time and an orange time. But when the pollen again gilded the sun and sifted down on the world she began to stand around the gate and expect things.”

This section relates back to why she kissed Johnny Taylor. My 12^th DJ states that the pollen somehow changed her feelings about Johnny. Maybe she was confused or excited or something, but this isn’t happening for Logan. There is no change when the pollen falls. She does not feel any different about him no matter what and this bothers her. So she waits and waits, but the change never comes. 

The wasteland Section 2 REDO

Blake Fletcher

AP English

Summery

The Waste Land II. A Game of Chess

The second section of The Waste Land is about failed or failing relationships. The section opens to Cleopatra sitting on her throne. Of course Cleopatra’s husband Mark Anthony killed himself after hearing a rumor that Cleopatra had killed herself. That is clearly a failed relationship. Cupid peaks into the scene and hides his face. Could this be an anti-romance illusion? The fact that the speaker refers to the women’s perfume as drowning the person in perfume makes it seem like maybe she is trying to hard to find romance but not succeeding. Finally in the first stanza of this poem comes the song about rape referring to paradise lost the “Fall of man kind.”

The next section of the poem shows a couple. The nagging women seems to be upset because The man wont speak. He responds with dark and gloomy thoughts but does not say anything. He seems to either be waiting for either death or reincarnation. He is clearly unhappy and it doesn’t seem that this relationship is going to last much longer if the women clearly is upset that he doesn’t respond and he is despising the repetitive nature of their everyday life.

The final section is set in a bar just before closing time as we can tell by the bartenders constant reminders to the people remaining in the bar that it is closing time. Despite the fact that it is clearly late the speaker is deep into her story about her friends husband coming from war and how her friend needed to be ready to give him a good time or someone else would. This could be foreboding to an affair. She seems to be speaking looking down on her friend like I gave her advice and she should have taken it and look what happened because she didn’t. We don’t find out what actually happened to the couple but it is safe to assume that the relationship didn’t work out. 

The Waste Land Section 5

Blake Fletcher

AP English

The Waste Land Section 5

The final section of “The Waste Land” is split up into two sections. The first section shows the fall of many major cities near Europe. It is kind of like the end of the world like an apocalypse where not just the world but the church is failing. People are losing faith, which is symbolized by the old church falling apart. The end of the first section I think that everything seems to get better. There is no real savior though, no hero, things seemingly get better at random. The second half of the final section seems to be more closely related to the title “What The Thunder Says”. The meaning of “What The Thunder Says” is related to a Hindu fable that says that “Thunder” symbolizes speaks and controls through the noise it makes. 

The Waste Land Section 4

Blake Fletcher

AP English

The Waste Land Section 4

            The fourth section of “The Waste Land Death By Water” is exactly what it sounds like. The speaker died I assume by drowning. He is becoming more and more distant from what his life was as he is devoured by the sea? Or the creatures within it. The thing I found interesting about this section is that it is made up of four rhyming couplets. This seems to be not only the shortest section but also the strictest formed section of “The Waste Land”. Also, I think that the speaker is trying to urge to everyone to know their limits maybe. Or in other words that everyone can die. No one is immortal.

The Waste Land Section 3

Blake Fletcher

AP English

The Waste Land Section 3

The third section of “The Waste Land” happens to be the longest of all the sections. Not only is it the longest but it might have the craziest form. Also, this may be the most provocative section of the poem. This whole section seems to have a very anti love theme. Also it starts out kind of dark and gloomy.

This section opens describing a riverbank which has rats scattered on it. Kind of a gloomy thought that doesn’t really set the mood for a romantic poem. Also, the colors used describe the banks are kind of off putting “The BROWN land” When I think romance I think white sand beaches. Also the discription of the rat walking along the riverbank is rather off putting “A rat crept softly through the vegetation Dragging its slimy belly on the bank.” The term slimy belly doesn’t really set the mood as a nice cruise down the river.

Now to the juicy part of the section, Tiresias shows up! Tiresias was the most famous ancient Greece prophet. He became a prophet because he at one point in his life had experienced what it was like to be a man and at another time in his life he had experienced what it was like to be a women. So Zeus and Hera called upon him to ask who experienced more pleasure in sex. Tiresias sided with Zeus and Hera got mad and cursed him blind. Zeus could not cure his illniss so he gave him the power of being a prophet.

It is odd that Tiresias, became a prophet because of his knowledge of sex and now is having visions of a girl possibly being raped. Tiresias being at one point man and at another point women clearly is not the find one person to love forever type which really matches the tone of the section of the poem.

Another place where the lust shines true is when Mr. Eugenides tries to pick up the speaker around line 210 when he asks the speaker to a hotel for the weekend. Is that really how you find love? Ask a random stranger to a hotel for a private weekend? I would have to say that this idea would have to be strictly lust.

In conclusion, I think that the main idea of this section of the poem could possibly be the lack of love in the world and that there is to much casual sex and rape.(the last sentence may be a tad extreme.) Althought the idea that somehow this is connected to Buddha somehow makes everything seem like there must be a deeper meaning to the words. Help?

The Waste Land Section 2

Blake Fletcher

AP English

The Waste Land Part 2 Summary

            This portion of “The Waste Land” is split up into two parts. The first half of the section shows a beautiful rich speaker who seems to be waiting for a partner. She starts to get impatient or maybe she is just throwing a hissy fit. The lines seem rather wild as she does this. The last few lines of the first half seem to mellow back out. The second half of the poem shows 3 friends in a bar kind of talking smack about their friend who refuses to get her teeth fixed????? Also, it one of them had an abortion because it would have possibly killed her to have another child? The conversation comes to a close because the bartender is closing the bar.

Waste Land part one

Blake Fletcher

AP English

The Waste Land Part 1

I am having trouble understanding this first section but I will do my best.

The first section of “The Waste Land” is set up with four Vignettes. Each Vignette shows a different speaker. The first Vignette reveals a woman who claims to be German. The second vignette reveals a man and his journey into an apocalyptic waste land. The third Vignette seems to be about a man recalling things to do with a girl. The last Vignette is the most creepy. The speaker in the final section seems to be walking through a town that is full of ghosts. He gets specific about a man whome he had fought next to in a war.

The problem I have with this first section is I can’t find a connection with the different speakers. Each section even seems to have a somewhat different tone to it. This is very confusing.

The form allows many different speakers to be shown. This is probably very effective if you understand the connection between the different speakers. Other than that the different speakers gives us a lot of insite into what is happening. It seems to me like maybe this is the time after a big war while everything is down and maybe the waste land could be a old war zone.

So to sum up, The first section of “The Waste Land” is set up with four different vignettes with four different speakers. The picture this presents seems to me as four completely different things. I need your help…

Fern Hill

Blake Fletcher

AP English

November 13, 2011

Fern Hill

The poem Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas seems to be about the difference between being a wreck less child and an adult with responsibilities. The poem opens to a worry free child whose only concern seems to be having fun. The colors and sense of time seem to play a large role in this as well and help support the theme of aging. The end of the poem reveals the dark truth about having responsibilities.

The first line of the poem is “Now I was young and easy under the apple boughs” this puts the image of a kid hanging out in the shade casted from an apple tree. The word easy doesn’t refer to his age it refers to that he was relaxed. This means that he was actually young and relaxing under an apple tree. Thus showing that the speaker in this stanza at least is a young boy or possibly an old man remembering his childhood.

The colors that describe the speaker in this poem mean a lot. For example in the second stanza “Golden in the mercy of his means” The color gold symbolizes purity and innocence. While in the final stanza “Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days” white is a symbol for death or winter which is also a time where everything seems to die apposed to spring where everything is “green” and growing.

In the beginning of this poem it shows a young boy who spends his days playing and relaxing. Time seems to be his friend and the days seem to last forever. In the end the grown man sees the days as short possibly not long enough to get all his work done. He constantly sees the moon and maybe dreads the day because all he does is work.

The saying “you can’t outrun your childhood” applies directly to this poem. Remembering how it seemed like days lasted years and you could just play and play and never run out of time when you where playing is fantastic. Now as an older person the speaker realizes how short the day actually is and is overwhelmed with the tasks at hand. He doesn’t seem to think he has the time to get all of the work done and it haunts him.

Death, Be Not Proud

Blake Fletcher

AP English

November 7, 2011

Death, Be Not Proud

1.     I think that the main figure of speech that the author uses is it seems like he is talking to death as if death is a person. That is kind of an odd image talking to your death?

2.     Death should not be proud because because even though many have called him powerful and mighty he is not. Because he can not kill the speaker. He should only take the readiest men. His arguments seem like insults at first and then towards the end of the sonnet it almost seems like it turns persuasive.

3.     The speakers tone does not strike me as religious. He says to take the readiest person. That means he is saying kill someone else not me. That really isn’t a religious idea. I agree with the second idea I think that the speaker of the poem is more trying to reassure himself that there is nothing to fear in death.

4.     Death be not proud more goes by the rhyme scheme of the Italian sonnet but has the turn in the final couplet so im not sure which that connects to because in my notes I don’t have the turn labeled for the Italian sonnet but I think that this poem may be a mix of English and Italian sonnet with more connections to the Italian sonnet.

Death, Be Not Proud Explication

The Hybrid Sonnet “ Death, Be Not Proud” shows a speaker who is possibly facing death and having to come to grips with the fear he is facing. He seems to be in denial early in the poem. The last few lines reveal a turn in tone that seems for the better for this distraught man.

In the first 8 lines of this Petrarchan sonnet it reveals the speaker trying to defy death. “Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me” this quote is a great example of his outlook on death. He sees death as a person who is facing like in a fight and that death is not quite strong enough to take him. It is literally a fight for his life. He says that there is much more pleasure left in his life, this shows that he isn’t quite ready to give up yet.

The last 6 lines reveal a different tone from the speaker, He seems to be coming around or understanding that death happens to everyone. “One short sleep passed, we wake eternally,” I think this means that he knows now that there is more out there then just dying. There is an afterlife he can have faith in. He knows that when he dies it is like taking a nap, but when he wakes up he will be eternally alive. The more positive ending seems to leave me with the feeling that he went peacefully. No one can escape death or fate. When it is your time it is your time and the speaker seemed to have a better understanding of that in the final sestet.

The Petrarchan sonnet “Death, Be Not Proud” has much meaning to everyone who reads it because it is near to everyone. As the speaker comes to realize death cannot be escaped by any soul. Everyone tends to fight the idea of dying, but in the end just as the speaker did they usually come to grips that everyone has their time. The understanding puts people at peace and settles them for their final rest. The speaker is struggling in the beginning to fight the natural course of life but seems calmer after the Volta.

Sonnets

Blake Fletcher

AP English

November 5, 2011

Sonnets

I. The Italian (or Petrarchan) Sonnet:

The basic meter of all sonnets in English is iambic pentameter although there have been a few tetrameter and even hexameter sonnets, as well.

The Italian sonnet is divided into two sections by two different groups of rhyming sounds. The first 8 lines is called the octave and rhymes:

a b b a a b b a

The remaining 6 lines is called the sestet and can have either two or three rhyming sounds, arranged in a variety of ways:

c d c d c d

c d d c d c

c d e c d e

c d e c e d

c d c e d c

The exact pattern of sestet rhymes (unlike the octave pattern) is flexible. In strict practice, the one thing that is to be avoided in the sestet is ending with a couplet (dd or ee), as this was never permitted in Italy, and Petrarch himself (supposedly) never used a couplet ending; in actual practice, sestets are sometimes ended with couplets (Sidney's "Sonnet LXXI given below is an example of such a terminal couplet in an Italian sonnet).

Example:

"Sonnet LXXI"

Who will in fairest book of Nature know

How Virtue may best lodged in Beauty be,

Let him but learn of Love to read in thee,

Stella, those fair lines, which true goodness show.

There shall he find all vices' overthrow,

Not by rude force, but sweetest sovereignty

Of reason, from whose light those night-birds fly;

That inward sun in thine eyes shineth so.

And not content to be Perfection's heir

Thyself, dost strive all minds that way to move,

Who mark in thee what is in thee most fair.

So while thy beauty draws the heart to love,

As fast thy Virtue bends that love to good.

"But, ah," Desire still cries, "give me some food."

II. The Spenserian Sonnet:

The Spenserian sonnet, invented by Edmund Spenser as an outgrowth of the stanza pattern he used in The Faerie Queene (a b a b b c b c c), has the pattern:

a b a b b c b c c d c d e e

Here, the "abab" pattern sets up distinct four-line groups, each of which develops a specific idea; however, the overlapping a, b, c, and d rhymes form the first 12 lines into a single unit with a separated final couplet. The three quatrains then develop three distinct but closely related ideas, with a different idea (or commentary) in the couplet. Interestingly, Spenser often begins L9 of his sonnets with "But" or "Yet," indicating a volta exactly where it would occur in the Italian sonnet; however, if one looks closely, one often finds that the "turn" here really isn't one at all, that the actual turn occurs where the rhyme pattern changes, with the couplet, thus giving a 12 and 2 line pattern very different from the Italian 8 and 6 line pattern (actual volta marked by italics):

 Example:

"Sonnet LIV"

Of this World's theatre in which we stay,

My love like the Spectator idly sits,

Beholding me, that all the pageants play,

Disguising diversely my troubled wits.

Sometimes I joy when glad occasion fits,

And mask in mirth like to a Comedy;

Soon after when my joy to sorrow flits,

I wail and make my woes a Tragedy.

Yet she, beholding me with constant eye,

Delights not in my mirth nor rues my smart;

But when I laugh, she mocks: and when I cry

She laughs and hardens evermore her heart.

What then can move her? If nor mirth nor moan,

She is no woman, but a senseless stone.

III. The English (or Shakespearian) Sonnet:

The English sonnet has the simplest and most flexible pattern of all sonnets, consisting of 3 quatrains of alternating rhyme and a couplet:

a b a b

c d c d

e f e f

g g

As in the Spenserian, each quatrain develops a specific idea, but one closely related to the ideas in the other quatrains.

Not only is the English sonnet the easiest in terms of its rhyme scheme, calling for only pairs of rhyming words rather than groups of 4, but it is the most flexible in terms of the placement of the volta. Shakespeare often places the "turn," as in the Italian, at L9:

Example:

"Sonnet XXIX"

When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,

I all alone beweep my outcast state,

And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,

And look upon myself and curse my fate,

Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,

Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,

Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,

With what I most enjoy contented least,

Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,

Haply I think on thee, and then my state,

(Like to the lark at break of day arising

From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate,

For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings,

That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

The Sonnet Format: Petrarchan and Shakespearean

.......The Italian poet Petrarch (1304-1374), a Roman Catholic priest, popularized the sonnet format. Other famous Italian sonneteers were Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Italy's most esteemed writer, and Guido Cavalcante (1255-1300). A Petrarchan sonnet consists of an eight-line stanza (octave) and a six-line stanza (sestet). Generally, the first stanza presents a theme, and the second stanza develops it. The rhyme scheme is as follows: first stanza (octave): ABBA, ABBA; second stanza (sestet): CDE, CDE. 
.......The sonnet form was introduced in England by Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547). They translated Italian sonnets into English and wrote sonnets of their own. Wyatt and Surrey sometimes replaced Petrarch's scheme of an eight-line stanza and a six-line stanza with three four-line stanzas and a two-line conclusion known as a couplet. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) adopted the latter scheme in his sonnets. His rhyme scheme was ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG. The meter of his lines was iambic pentameter. After his sonnets were published in a 1609 collection, the English sonnet became popularly known as the Shakespearean sonnet. 

Example: Anthem for Doomed Youth

By Wilfred Owen

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? 
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle 
Can patter out their hasty orisons. 
No mockeries for them from prayers or bells, 
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs— 
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; 
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all? 
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes 
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes. 
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; 
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, 
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.