Blog 11 - "A Slumber Did My Sprirt SeaL"

It was difficult for me to choose any one line, as each line in this poem adds important information and meaning to the whole. "Rolled round in earth's diurnal couse,/With rocks, and stones, and trees." (Wordsworth, 539) are the lines I will choose because of it's simplicity and extravagence to me. After reading through this poem multiple times, and still not convinced I am entirely grasping what Wordsworth was intending, I see a man at his passing being introduced to wind. These lines are important, because it gives a bit of a description to this "she" persona. "She" is there every day, throughout the earth and along the journey. Rolling, crashing, and being, it seems as though from the beginning of time, but now it has all stopped. After the storm (or life), all is calm.

Blog 8 - Those Winter Sundays

This is my attempt at paraphrasing Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays" (Page 413):

"My father gets up on Sundays, just as every other day, and gets dressed in the dark cold. Without so much as a "Thank you", he started the fire to warm the home before I got up. Once all was warm, he called for me to get up, and slowly I would get out of bed and dressed. Without understanding unconditional love and the loneliness it can have, I talked to him without respect for all he did."

Blog 7 - An Interesting Day!

Although I have already discussed this issue, I bring it up again (apparently it is a HUGE struggle for me!) The past four years or so I have heard oodles of people encouraging reading - fairly specific reading material, but reading none the less. There is one book that has been discussed in many gatherings, and I have always heard of it and thought, "Hey, that sounds like a great thing to read. I'm going to try it one day!"

Well today we went to a camp out (we just went for the day) and participated in the raffle and some fun and games. This book was one of the raffle items, and I dumped a good portion of the tickets into this one item. I won a book, today, and I am actually excited to read it. I don't like reading, but there is a catch with this one. I can relate to it.

The topic was discussed quite a bit this week, and it really ties into most literary discussions, I believe. But what is the purpose of reading? Why on earth would someone sit down and read a book? And the only answer to that I have is: To learn something.

I'm excited to read this book because what I hear about it is my life. I just opened it up and read a page and it is describing the start of such a wondrous revolution (mind you, this is a revolution for me, and my life - in a very literal way) There is conflict that is still discussed daily, 75 years later. It is amazing to me, learning about something that has changed my life, and I am truly interested. Given the time and quiet to do so, I can see myself sitting down with this book for a day and reading it cover to cover. But it's me within the covers of this book. I get some history of my way of life, I get others experience that is so similar to my own, and I get to learn how they worked through it through their lives in order to help me get through my own! Without reading, there is just so much lost in life.

Yet tell me to sit down and read something else and I'll probably complain, maybe even suddenly develop narcolepsy. Weird - all because I know beforehand that I can relate.

Week 3 - The Gift of Magi

"The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them." (Henry, 161) The end of the story goes on to explain the magi brought wonderful gifts, "no doubt wise ones" O. Henry states. While explaining the silliness/foolishness of these gifts and the sacrifice each gave, he ends with stating these are the wisest of givers.

I really enjoyed this story for personal reasons because I have long been disliked around gift giving time. If I couldn't find something that JUMPS out at me, screaming your name throughout the past year, sorry, you didn't get anything. I refuse to make a quick run to the store for a t-shirt, and only if there is a good reason behind it would I get a gift card. Past the personal connection, I also like how O. Henry forms another (smaller) conflict. As if saying "Oh yes, the Wise Men are wise and wonderful, but there is nothing like an entirely sacrificing gift." Afterall - Why give anything is your heart isn't in it? It isn't as though you are fooling anyone around you...

The Lottery

"Pack of crazy fools. Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be waitng to go back to living in caves... Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' There's always been a lottery." (Jackson, 217) Said the oldest man in town- Old Man Warner. To me this, along with the last sentence of the story, describes what I take from this story. It is probably all about where I am in my life right now, but I see a need for growth, but only when it is all too painful to bare witness to. Old Man Warner's experience isn't described in the story, so it is unknown if anyone was lost in his family due to the lottery, but he is steadfast it is the only way to be, basically because it is the way it has always been. "It's worked this far, why wouldn't it continue to work?" type of attitude. To me, a lot of people that age have that same feeling, don't fix what isn't broken.

But then there are those with a hope of "different". It means different things to different folks, which is what makes the world go round. At what point does it mean it should be tomorrow the way it is today? At what point should society settle for what has always been, rather than taking a moment to step out? Only when the pain is great? (although there are some people who say that's the only time for change) This story, to me, is a fight between generations - the auther obviously feels as though something needs to change. Mrs. Hutchinson feels the same way, but only after the lottery has moved from a community even to a tragic personal experience for her. " 'It isn't fair, it isn't right,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed" (Jackson, 218)