Response to T.S. Eliot

Blake Fletcher

AP English

T.S. Eliot “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock” Response

            “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot is a poem that displays many different subtle messages hidden inside the text. It is very complicated but here is what I got out of it.

            J. Alfred Prufrock is debating on whether or not to go to a party. He is self conscious about himself in several different ways. He is worried people will notice that he is balding and talk behind his back. He is also worried that people will judge him for how thin he is. I also think that Eliot repeats the line “In the room the women come and go talking of Michelangelo.” To show his insecurity possibly, maybe it is his way of comparing himself to greatness or showing resentment against someone who is famous and has completed a lot. Maybe he wishes girls where talking about him. J. Alfred also has this odd way of talking about women, it seems he is almost appalled by them. When he talks about the women’s arm hair he says it as if he is disgusted.

            Also, J. Alfred Prufrock says something very interesting when he says “I grow old… I grow old… I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled” This section just reinforces my original idea that he is self-conscious about his age. The thought of himself aging seems to be lingering on his mind.

            In the end of the poem it seems that his depressed thoughts seem to be brought to the public by the last line “Til’ human voices wake us, and we drown.” This seems to be a rather depressing ending for a love song. Then again, I guess this poem wasn’t much of a love song to begin with, just a poem about some old guy being depressed about people judging him.

Response to "Not My Best Side."

Blake Fletcher

AP English

Period 1

Not My Best Side Response

            I think that the main idea of this poem is to make fun of the traditional Knight saving fair Maiden from the evil Dragon story. I say this because each section shows the opposite characteristics of what the traditional character would have. For example, the maiden is supposed to be very pure and be eternally grateful to the knight who saves her, but in this poem the maiden falls for the dragon for all the wrong reasons. Such as his looks, and his strength. The knight is also very arrogant and believes more in just slaying dragons then actually caring about the maiden. That is not the traditional saving the fair maiden story.

            The different point of views make the story much easier to follow because it gives us insight into each of the speakers minds. This allows us to get the full background of how each speaker is feeling. That is a bonus because if this story was told from one persons perspective we might know get the full impact of the humor. We might not understand that the dragon just wanted to look good in his picture, that the knight was very task oriented, or that the maiden was very shallow.

            In conclusion the main idea of this poem is to make a joke out of the traditional knight saving the maiden from the dragon story. One way this is easily expressed is through the different characters point of view.

Poem Response

Blake Fletcher

AP English

AP English poetry Questions

1.     1.)This poem shows a man who feels he has let his life waste away. We see that he is very much so taking in the surrounding and the scenery and that time is passing like when he talks about the cowbells. The speaker also talks about the sun which suggests that it is at least late spring.

2.    2.) I know that the person in the hammock is upset about wasting his life away because he says he has wasted his life away. I also know that the man in the hammock is alone because he talks about the abandoned house. He is a man on a farm that isn’t his that is lonely and feels like he has wasted his life away. I would say he is probably also depressed.

3.     3.)The conclusions I have drawn come from the overall mood of the poem. Before they added the last line it could have been just some lazy guy chilling in a hammock but now with the last line intact the overall mood of the poem just becomes depressing.

4.     4.)The title of the poem kind of slides in the idea that the poem we are about to read is about a guy who doesn’t own a farm. Not only that but a guy who may not have accomplished much if he is just lying in a hammock at William Duffy’s farm in Pine Island, Minnesota.

5.     5.)The descriptions in this poem struck me as kind of setting the mood for a chill day on a warm breezy summer day. After I read the last line the descriptions just seem upsetting. They make me think this guy must really hate his life because who really has the time to pick all these details out. Someone who is thinking about killing himself that’s who.

6.     6.)The Feeling that I mostly see in this poem is Depression. Depression jumps out at me not as much leading up to the ending but after you read the ending the whole poem jumps off the paper and slaps you in the face to tell you that the speaker is having a ruff time with his life right now.

dj #2-35

Blake Fletcher

AP English

Dialectal Journals

3.) line (175-188) “Sometimes at pagan shrines they vowed offerings to idols, swore oaths that the killer of souls might come to their aid and save the people….”

This portion of Beowulf brings up several questions about the content. This is a pagan story but this portion of the text goes on to have a very obvious Christian undertone. This is defiantly a place where the Christian author really steps into the text. I would like to see a version of Beowulf or hear the original story told before these Christian ideals pretty much copy and pasted into it. Would the story change or would it still be similar? It is hard to tell but I think the original would make more sense because Christianity and paganism are two very different concepts that don’t mesh all to well so there is really no benefit to these introjections.

4.) line(293-295) “I’ll order my own comrades on their word of honor to watch your boat down there on the strand”

This section of Beowulf shows how the warrior lifestyle kind of works. This man sees Beowulf and his men in all of these very honorable things with swords and shields and this shows how these things are important to your acceptance into this lifestyle. Beowulf is a great warrior and it shows with all of his accessories. Therefore he gets respect where respect is due.

5.) line(380-381) “A Thane, they declared, with the strength of thirty in the grip of each hand.”

This is a parallel to the fact that Grendel took 30 men the first night. They are pretty much saying that Beowulf is stronger than Grendel right now.

6.) line(392) “he knows your ancestry.”

During this time not only was your fame or failures are not just credited to you they are also credited to your father. The same with your father’s failures and fame are passed on to you. So if someone says they know your ancestry then it can mean the best or the worth either they respect you or they don’t at first impression.

7.) line(397-398) “But shields must stay here and spears be stacked until the outcome of the audience is clear.”

This is saying that even though Hrothgar knows and respects Beowulf he does not trust him enough to have weapons around him incase Beowulfs intensions where not pure. Im sure this is common procedure I just found this interesting with Hrothgar knowing Beowulf’s dad and all.

8.) line (438-440) “hand to hand is how it will be, a life and death fight with the fiend.”

Beowulf sees that weapons for some reason do not work against Grendel so he chooses to fight him hand to hand. In my opinion Grendel can not be killed by weapons because he is a descendant of Cain and god doesn’t want Cain to be killed by man because he wants him to suffer for what he did. So maybe because he is a descendant of cain a man made weapon can’t kill him because god doesn’t want him killed by man either.

9.) line (499-502) “From where he crouched at the kings feet , Unferth, a son of Ecglaf’s, spoke Contrary words. Beowulf’s coming, his sea braving, made him sick with envy.”

Unferth is nothing a warrior should be. He is envious of Beowulf’s success and is a kin killer. Why he is able to speak at all I don’t know. He was a kin killer and had never done anything in battle. Everything was to show what a warrior should not be.

10.) line (603-604) “Then whoever wants to may go bravely to mead”

Beowulf is making fun of the people who fear Grendel when he says the because he is making a joke out of drinking and boasting because it doesn’t take bravery to go get drunk and say how great you are.

11.) line 654 “hall warden”

Hrothgar names Beowulf the hall warden or protector of the danes hall when he is not a dane. This is showing great trust and is a way to pay back Beowulf for freeing his people of Grendel.

12.) line (659) “Keep in mind your fame”

When Hrothgar tells Beowulf this it isn’t really necessary Beowulf’s main concern is always his fame. So why is it necessary to say this. I think this might be foreboding to the fact that Beowulf’s pride and addiction to fame may lead to his death.

13.) line (665-666) “The king of glory (as people learned)”

I thought it was odd that the author would refer to god in the story as the king of glory. Then immediately after say that they didn’t quite know yet by saying “as people learned” I just think that the usual tone of the author wasn’t present in this particular part.

14.) line (677-678) “When it comes to fighting, I count myself as dangerous any day as Grendel”

Beowulf says this the night of the battle to show that he is not afraid of Grendel and that is why he chooses not to fight him with a sword. This is his pride. He believes that even though no person has killed Grendel even with a sword he believes that his hands alone are good enough to kill him. Arrogance.

15.) line (798) “Through the strength of one they all prevailed”

I can’t tell if in this section the author is referring to God or if the author is referring to the strength in Beowulf’s arms. If he is referring to God then this is just another sermon mid poem.

16.) line (749) “The captain of evil”

The author refers to Grendel as the captain of evil in this passage. When he says captain of evil I see religious value I see captain of evil as descendant of Cain. Or hell spawn sounds like a fair way to describe Grendel. So is the term “the captain of evil” a referance to satin? I think yes!

17.) line (755) “Devils litter”

I think this just further supports my speculation of the fact that Grendel is related to satin in some way. Like I said in the previous paragraph all of these terms could be related to satin.

18.) line (761) “The dread of the land was desperate to escape”

I think it is ironic that the very land that he was exiled from the very land that drove him to kill all these people is the land in the end that he can’t escape. Maybe if his dread had not brought him to be this terrible thing then he would not be desperate to escape with his life.

19.) line (785) “A God cursed Scream”

The way god chose to exile Cain was to make it so he couldn’t speak. Grendel carries the same trait being a descendant of Cain. It is odd that the last thing to be said is that he let a “god cursed scream” go and everyone felt it. Without the inability to talk maybe he could have been accepted to the society. Grendel is a prime example of how different point of views can drive people crazy.

20.) line (836) “as I’ve heard”

This line shows a different voice from the author. Through most of this story he has only told the story and that is all. In parts he has interjected his Christian ideals but generally he kept his same tone accept for right here.

21.)  line (846-851) “The bloodshot water wallowed…”

This section says that hell claimed Grendel’s heathen soul when he tried to get back to his home under the lake. This section makes me think that maybe Grendels home is hell. It makes a strong argument in the descriptive nature of the quote and says that hell claimed him. Is it plausible?

22.) line (967-968) “The lord allowed it, my lock on him wasn’t strong enough”

This doesn’t strike me as something Beowulf would say. He is far to into fame to give some to god. He is pagan and believes in a warrior society so this must be something the author interjected. Beowulf’s fame is the most important thing to him, not the spreading of the lord so he wouldn’t care to give some of his glory away.

23.) line (1017-1018) “The shielding nation was not yet familiar with feud and betrayal.”

I believe this is foreshadowing to something bad happening in the future. I think Grendel kept other nations at bay from attacking the danes because they didn’t want to attack a place that wasn’t pleasant to live. Who would want to deal with a demon?

24.) line (1019-1022) “The Halfdane’s son presented….”

The gifts that where given to Beowulf as a reward show that the time period the warrior life style was very material based. With extravagant weapons and shields came more respect.

25.) line (1240-1241) “One man lay down to his rest, already marked for death.”

This is a Foreshadow to Hrothgars death.

26.) line (1251-1288) “They went to sleep. And one paid dearly…”

This section talks about how Grendels mom wants revent for how they killed her son. She has every right to be mad and this is her version of wergild she wants blood for her sons blood and she wants to take his arm from that roof. One pays dearly because she gets her revenge.

27.) line (1289-1291) “She came to Heorot….”

Grendels mom comes to Heorot to get her revenge. The only difference between her and her son is that she isn’t as strong as he is but she uses a sword to slaughter all of these people.

28.) line (1302-1303) “She had snatched their trophy”

Grendels mom did not want her sons arm to be used as a trophy of the Danes triumph. She got even and then some by taking the rest of her son back to his resting place.

29.) line (1321-1331) “Then Hrothgar, the sheildings helmet….

Hrothgar lost a dear friend and comrad and wants revenge. The man Grendels mother took was his best friend and he is taking it as his responsibility to make Grendels mother pay for what she did, with her own blood.

30.) line (1383-1396) “Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, spoke:…”

During this paragraph we see a very Pagan speech. When Beowulf says “Let whoever can win glory before death” that is very unchristian he is pretty much saying the most important thing is to be famous before you die. That is very ani-christian. One of the few places so far in the text where we get to see a real pagan view.

31.) line (1484) “Let the lord of the geats gaze on that gold”

Beowulfs main concern in his death is that he makes his lord happy? This is a true warrior, everything Beowulf does, doesn’t just make him famous and rich it also pleases his king which is one of his main concerns throughout?

32.) line (1534-1535) “he would have to rely on the might of his arm.”

It seems as though human weapons never really seem to work for Beowulf possibly could go back to the idea that god didn’t want these mosters killed by a man.

33.) line (1557-1569) “Then he saw a blade that boded well….”

It is odd that Beowulf’s man made swords never work for him but he finds this giant sword on the wall that with one swing he kills her. Is it fate that he has the strength of 30 men to swing this sword?

34.) line (1570-1590) “a light appeared…”

The idea of mutilating a dead body is very unchristian so this must be a pagan idea that is a very strong idea that I am extremely surprised the author kept. There is no Christian meeting and no underlying tone. Suprising.

35.) line (1607-1611) “Meanwhile the sword….”

Does the sword melting possibly symbolize the last of Cains line dying off because the sword no longer needs use or could this be showing that cutting a dead body’s head off is wrong and so the sword will no longer work for Beowulf?

"The Wanderer"

Ok this is not the start of my essay just a disclaimer. I forgot my backpack and I don’t have a copy of the wanderer now so I am going to do my best on this essay with the lack of materials.

The short and fleeting period of life, the transitory nature of the world, often appears as a major theme in many works. Looking at symbols, motifs, diction, tone, imagery, write a well-developed essay in which you explore this theme in the Anglo-Saxon poem, “The Wanderer”. You will be graded on the following: hook, thesis statement, order of development, proof from the text and analysis of text (the last part is worth 40 and the rest 10 pts each). Note that just plain summation will lose points from the analysis section of the scoring. You can compare “The Wanderer” to BEOWULF in your analysis.

The Wanderer

Ever feel like walking, in no particular direction, just walking for the sake of walking, because you feel the need to constantly experience different things and be by yourself? Well, if you answered yes then you are in a similar boat to the main character in the poem The Wanderer. The big difference is that your people where not all murdered along with your king, president, or leader, and you are not left alone exiled and lonely to think about your thoughts. This Anglo-Saxon poem deals with a similar time period to Beowulf; it also deals with some of the same ideals.

The first thing that jumped off the page to me was the question of why did The Wanderer survive when everyone else died. The conclusion I came to was that he ran away from the fight. The reason I jump to this conclusion is because this poem shows The Wanderer as sort of a depressed lonely guy who is searching for a new king and talking about how guilty he feels and how upset he is that his “gift giver” is dead. This compares fairly well to the end of Beowulf when all of his warriors abandon him when he goes to fight the dragon. The reason this compares so well is because The Wanderer has the opposing view of the situation from Beowulf. Now, instead of seeing the abandonment of a king through the eyes of the king we see the aftermath of the split second decision through the eyes of The Wanderer. Through the eyes of The Wanderer we almost see regret or remorse. The thought of not having a king to give him gifts and provide for him gets under the wanderers skin. He wants that person their to lead him, to give mead to him, and to be the gold giver. The Wanderer talks about finding another king, because in my eyes he needs the attention. In a warrior/fame based culture a warrior who runs is frowned upon and never to be let back in to civilization. Whether the warrior was being smart by running or not it was more honorable to have died in the fight than to come back without a king. The warriors who run from Beowulf must have had to face this same feeling of being shunned or being the outcast.

The Wanderer talks about boasting in a very negative way. When he says that boasting should not be done if you cannot back it up on the battlefield I believe he is talking about himself. This shows his remorse. For someone to be able to say “I was to confident” takes a lot and there are two ways it can be said. The first is thinking back over the incident and having remorse or wishing you could take it back. The second is if you where talking to someone and admitting you where wrong. The thing is the Wanderer was by himself so it had to have been remorse. In Beowulf, Beowulf boasts A LOT, but he always seems to back up his boast. He comes through when it is most needed, and always seems to rise to the challenge. This is the opposite from a warrior who would boast of their abilities in battle and then run when the opportunity arises.

In conclusion,  \When you think of The Wanderer you have to wonder, was he a noble warrior or did he run and is now left to wander by himself for the rest of his time with no gold or gift giver, no mead provider, no time to boast, and no pride left. Is this how it feels to be a failed warrior?