Poetry Analysis

"As I Walked Out One Evening"~W.H. AUDEN

• PARAPHRASE:  This poem is about the narrator taking a walk down Bristol Street and listening to the lyrics of a song that start off of eternal love. However as the song goes on the lyrics turn depressing and talking about how time is going to move on but love fades. How time has a harsh effect not only on love but life as well.
• PURPOSE: The purpose of this poem is to state the fact that time will turn things into less even the strongest love there is said to be. How time really does impact relationships and love you nurture with other people.
• STRUCTURE: Fifteen Four-Line stanzas
• SHIFT: The shift happens at line twenty-one where the mood of the song changes as well. The lyrics become more depressing and then the last four lines where the tone is still down but the poem goes back to the narrator.
• SPEAKER: The speaker of this poem is undefined due to the fact there is no characterization to him, the other voice in this poem however is the lover singing under the railway.
• SPELLING/GRAMMAR/DICTION: There is definitely characterization where time is being made into a character. Made into a person like thing that is going to destroy those relationships that are. There is also a lot of imagery from the diction used.
• TONE: At the beginning of the poem, say the first twenty lines or so, the tone of the poem is full of love and happy. Very optimistic however, there is a split into where the poem turns sad and cynical.
• THEME : Love and Time are two of the most obvious ideas however optimism I believe is a third. The interpretation of topics.

"Those Winter Sundays" ~Robert Hayden

• PARAPHRASE: The narrator is going back to the old memories he had of his father. About the fact that his father did many things for him and all his duties without receiving anything in return. The fact that he is upset he didn't treat his old man differently or did something that would have made a difference for him.
• PURPOSE:I feel the purpose is to show others that we have to value what we have because sometimes we don't and in the end we are only left with memories of those that mean the most to us.
• STRUCTURE: This is a free style poem with three stanzas and no type of rhyming what so ever.
• 'SHIFT: In line thirteen he comes to acknowledge the fact that he didn't know what love was and how he could have changed anything to make his dad happy.
• SPEAKER: The speaker is the child however the identity could be the author.
• SPELLING/GRAMMAR/DICTION: Nothing special used except for imagery.
• TONE: Sad and regretful
• THEME: Unspoken feelings and love

"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" `Dylan Thomas

• PARAPHRASE: This poem is basically telling men to fight to the last moment they have of life. To not let life just take them with no energy. That they should not be vulnerable and let the light end as it pleases but to resist it.
• PURPOSE: The poem is basically about how you can live your life, however it addresses the father as well as the readers to tell them that no matter how inevitable death is you should not just give up but continue to fight until the last moment of life where you can no longer.
• STRUCTURE: Three line stanzas with ABA pattern
• SHIFT: The last stanza changes the feel of the poem because the author takes it to a more personal level and addresses his father.
• SPEAKER: Do to the connection made with "my father" I would assume that the author is the speaker in this poem.
• SPELLING/GRAMMAR/DICTION: Metaphors and aggressive diction
• TONE:Sad and depressing but aggressive in the choice of actions described
• THEME:Death and mortality

"Dulce et Decorum Est"--Wilfred Owen

• Paraphrase: A poem written during World War I; it describes the horrible conditions that British soldiers had to endure (losing their boots and having to walk long, arduous marches while bloody and exhausted); it then describes chemical attacks on the soldiers and one mangled soldier in particular: his face is practically melting and he is choking in the gas attack, stumbling around blindly...It ends with a line from Horace: Dulce et decorum est/Pro patria mori (it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country)
• Purpose: Owen's own opinion on the atrocities of war
• Structure: I read in one place that it is two sonnets that are linked together by a couplet, but it doesn't quite fit the exact requirements for a sonnet...it has three stanzas and a couplet dividing the first two from the last
• Shift: The shift might be at the very end, when he mentions the Latin line (which is when he turns it into a lesson), but the actual might also come at the second stanza, as Owen shifts away from just a description of the soldiers' conditions to the panic of chemical warfare
• Speaker: A (WWI) soldier
• Spelling/Grammar/Diction: Owen includes the Latin line from Horace; he uses very powerful, nightmarish language in the third stanza, and his diction/syntax in the second stanza conveys a sense of terror and confusion
• Tone: It begins (first stanza) miserable and melancholy; the rest is nightmarish
• Theme: The horror of warfare

Lit Terms 1-5

1. Allegory
A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Well let me start with a familiar piece we read last semester...ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE!
When we did the sonnets on the cave and so on we looked at the further message into the Allegory itself. READ INTO THINGS! Many times in literature authors right with a central focal message they want you to see in the end.




2. Alliteration
The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.



BASICALLY REPEATING A LETTER OR SOUND OVER AND OVER AGAIN!^^

3. Ambiguity
~Something uncertain as to interpretation!~

Just like you might see a face...I see a guy playing a saxophone~! There is nothing on the picture that specifies the image we are looking for therefore it is open to interpretation. Being as it is open to interpretation there for illustrating ambiguity!

4. Anachronism
A thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, esp. a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned.



MADE ME THINK OF THE POWER PUFF DAYS! Full of ANACHRONISMS!! Basically the...WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? DIDN'T YOU GO EXTINCT?! :O

5. Analogy
Comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them!

Great lesson!!! ^^ I couldn't really understand at the beginning but this video= amazingness! ha

SPRING SEMESTER PLAN 1

My plan is to go to Fresno be a successful music major. For this to be able to happen I need to pass my music auditions of February the 9th. For this to be able to happen I need to dedicate at least two hours of practice every day in order to learn the pieces of music I need to perform at my audition. This is a very challenging goal seeing as it is short term but for this semester that is my biggest focus. As well as passing the English AP Exam as well.

AP PREP POST 1: SIDDHARTHA

Although I can not answer these questions myself there is a couple free responses on this website!

Also all the responses are in the comment section by students.

Here are two more questions from this website. Great for study questions.

What are some examples of the “4 Nobles Truths” found in this novel?

Suffering is universal.
The cause of suffering is desire (material things).
The cure for suffering is to eliminate desire.
To eliminate desire following Eightfold Path.

What are some examples of Siddhartha following the 8-fold path?  Give at least 3 from the novel so far.

Right conduct
Right speech
Right means of livelihood
Right knowledge
Right intention
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right concentration

I also found student made questions here

Is Siddhartha wise? He's clearly adept in studying different spiritual creeds, but his arrogance and impatience are still major parts of his personality. Is his drive for spiritual enlightenment enough to make him a wise person? When (if ever) did he cross the line between a precocious young adult to a wise man?

This question reminds me of one that was on the English exam last year. They try to play mind games with you and through you off track, However reinforcing your knowledge of how wise he is by making certain decisions in the story like leaving to move forward instead of back where he doesn't belong is a great example. Sure he has his moments of uncertainty and arrogance but that is a trait of those who have see the world to such an extent others have not. 

Fall Semester Reflection

Do you read your colleagues’ work online?  How often? What is it like to read their work? How does being able to see everyone’s work online at any given time change the way you do your work?
- I read my colleagues' work often because I like seeing how the thought process my classmates are going through is different from mine. I also have a lot of trouble structuring my work a lot of the time so I look at    my classmates work for structure purposes. I usually like to be a person other people can check for to do work so I like to be more on top of work...Except this assignment obviously. 
How has the publicly and always visible course blog made this course different from one without a blog?  How would the course change if the course blog disappeared tomorrow?
- I feel that since our course blog is visible to the world its a lot easier to keep students under control as to their attitude toward an assignment or to the class in general. I feel since we know it is open to the world everyone is worried about putting in their best effort (or at least a lot of us). I feel that if the course blog disappeared there should be enough information on our personal blogs to reconstruct most of it and really move forward. Since we are creating this course as a class I feel what happened yesterday in class will not affect tomorrow because we have each others blog and our brains to go through the process.

Has publishing your work for the public to see changed your approach to completing an assignment? How so?  How would your feelings about the course change if you couldn’t publish your work that way?
- Not only to the public but publishing our work to other classmates is really the hardest part about this course. Cruising other people's blogs and really seeing the material others work with is different. At the same time I feel that it is something that really pushes all the students to do better. To fully complete an assignment and not be lazy to leave something only half way done like when you turn in something written to a teacher.

Has your experience of the physical classroom changed because of the open & online aspects?  Where does your learning actually happen?  
In class or online it's all part of learning. I don't think my learning has actually changed just my approach to the resources I use. The learning I do happens in discussions I have with classmates about certain assignments, especially in this class.

How do they respond when you describe the brave new world in which you’re working?
What do their responses mean to you?  What effect(s) (if any) do they have on you?
-Responses I get from most people are,Oh! how inconvenient or, WOW it should happen that way since our era is moving forward in the digital world so fast. I really don't have a personal feeling that effects my response to  the course because in general I just really enjoy this new way of learning.

What's In This For Me?

I would like to improve my communication skills. I know what I am thinking and I have all the right ideas I just don't know how to get it across properly.

Being as English is my second language I have a lot of trouble expressing myself properly. Especially while writing on certain topics in essays. In order for me to be able to write an acceptable paper I usually have to first write all my ideas in Spanish and then translate. Which in the process causes me many headaches and it still comes out wrong because there are certain expressions used in one language that do not really exist in the other. 

My goal this semester is to be able to write a paper without having to go through a worthless draft. To be able to write my pre write and then just edit it for my final. The reason I have so much trouble is because my thoughts are not very organized because I am more focused on the write spelling and correct grammar. Being in an advanced course for a person's second language is not easy! Being as the language I use at home is completely different and it has just always been a challenge. Anyways this semester I am determined to work hard and improve! I am sure this course will help a lot since I have notice progress already! (SAT scores!) hehe 

Happy New Year to everyone! The only way to get your resolutions done... is to not be lazy! Know the only way you will accomplish your work will be putting in the hard work! ^^

Lit Anal #5 No Exit

1. This book, or short story, is about three people that end up in hell. These people are two women, Estelle and Inez, and Garcin the male. These three people suspect of each other to be the torturer that will make them suffer but truly none of them are. As the story passes we realize that they are living hell for each other because they hate everything about each other. It seems they can not agree with anything and they just want to kill and get rid of each other. 

2 I feel that the theme of the play is kind of like karma. In the end you will end up receiving what you really deserve. These people where making others suffer in the real world so it is their time to suffer in hell is it not? Living an eternity with everything you hate about yourself and others must suck. However when you make it as so for yourself then you really can not change it.

3. The tone is depressing and at the same time philosophical. There is a lot of anger and sadness thrown around in this story but the characters also do a lot of self studying to understand what exactly they are in hell for and why they ended up with the two people they did. The depressing part of "...being a coward." and not being able to live that way is sad and at the same time it took him a lot of philosophical thinking about himself.

4. Simile : "Oh just look at her face, all scarlet like a tomato."

   

 " And presently we shall be naked, as new born babies"

Repetition:  When Garcin keeps saying over and over and asking if he is a coward. Towards the end of the play.

Imagery: "A man's drowning, choking, sinking by inches, till only his eyes are just above water."

Rhetorical question: "And what use do you suppose I have for one? Do you know who I was?"

Anaphora: "No, I wasn't joking. No mirrors, I notice. No windows. "

Characterization:

1. Direct Characterization

 Garcin tells us exactly the kind of person he is, he is a wife beater "I'm here because I treated my wife abominably." Inez doesn't hold back either and calls herself “a damned bitch." They really have no shame in stating exactly who they are.

2. Indirect characterization

You can tell this play was written in a different time because no one speaks like this "What’s the point of play-acting, trying to throw dust in each other's eyes? We're all tarred with the same brush." People will just telling you "Stop bull$hittng me and tell me why you are really here in hell?" As far as the syntax, this is a play and the entire play consists of non-stop dialogue. Syntax does not change as you change from character to character but diction obviously changes because people have different things to say. Inez will bluntly tell it as she sees it. When she was scribing herself to the others, she called herself a bitch. She saw through everyone's b.s. that they had committed crimes and weren't here by accident.
3. There is no real protagonist. All three characters in this one act are equally important in the play. I think they are static characters because they don't really change by the end of the story. The whole purpose of being placed in that room is not to learn a lesson but to suffer from one's mistakes. Not one of the three characters repented or regretted what they had done. They merely talked about committing the crime and even then it was like pulling teeth trying to get Estelle to admit to what she had done. They don't change, they merely wish they had been placed with other people.

 4. I really do feel that I actually met the characters of this play because they had really realistic characteristics about themselves. They were not some kind of magic powered fairy that could do miracles but real people. The people that sometimes we know are in our life and they have every trait that we hate about ourselves and therefor we hate them. I did feel many emotions like annoyance when I was reading this play. Overall a great read and a very interesting way  of thinking about life.