#3 Movie Blog

I’ve never read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, so I was clueless as to what the movie was about before watching it. I liked the theme that seemed to be repetitive: Don’t hurt something that does nothing but lives their lives without harming anyone. Atticus said that people should not kill mockingbirds because all they do is make music for us humans to enjoy. I felt that another example of this was the blatant acts of racism towards African Americans speaks true to this theme; Atticus defending a black man who seems to be wrongfully accused was being penalized by his peers because he was a “n***** lover”.  Racism, unlike a mockingbird, does nothing but harm people, and should be dealt away with/killed. I think the movie does a good job at portraying that kids are not born racist, they are raised that way. Atticus’s two kids, Scout and Jem, were raised to respect African American  as they would any other human being. Their own maid is black, whom is treated greatly by their whole family (Atticus’s family). For a movie that was made in 1962, it was well made, and portrayed everything without any bias; the people watching did not have to chose one side or the other, but could watch the movie and have a whole other image. Overall, I’m actually interested in reading the book now that I like the movie; movies based off of books usually leave out a lot of detail they do not think is important, but what they don’t understand is that every detail counts.

#2 Movie Blog

Precious was always a movie I wanted to see, but never have until now. I think it was a good portrayal of what some overweight people have to deal with, and not just the insecurity because Precious dealt with more than her everyday insecurity. For the most part, I hated seeing that the name-calling and teasing made her basically transfer schools. Her home life was not a comforting zone either so coming home from a harsh environment to another harsh environment definitely caused Precious to feel worse about herself overall. She has been abused in all aspects of her life (her father, mother, and fellow students), so I actually applaud Precious for not putting herself down (she does, but not as much as you would think when it comes to this much abuse). The strongest character would be Precious, and the new teacher Blu Rain sees this and her potential. I think this potential has always been inside of Precious, she just needed a mother figure she never had to shine on that potential, and let it through. To actually believe in yourself when nobody else does is a hard task, especially if you have such a horrible past, and people constantly putting you down although you try to go above and beyond. When Precious told her mom she was going to school to get an education at a different school, her mom just called her dumb and told her education was nothing, that she should be taking herself down to the welfare office. This just comes to show how easily someone who was not determined could have just gave up on what they wanted because their mom was not supportive; without a support system, some people do not work well. Precious on the other hand, worked to better herself with much doubt from her mother, and without a support system. Also, the absence of a father figure in her life (because someone who is supposed to be your dad does not rape you) causes Precious to feel the need for a boyfriend, and makes her daydream about having one because of the fact she has never really had a male role model. Precious, as a mother figure, is much better than her own mother; she leaves her mother and the house when she drops her new born baby. Sometimes, a realization is all it takes to make a difference. Precious realized her mother was never really there, and only liked having Precious around because it made her feel in control, and needed someone to do things for her. Overall, I hope society views this movie and learns we should be teaching kids from a young age that obesity is not something we should be making fun of, it should not be something to face with ignorance, and it is not something we should shame people for.

#1 Movie Blog

The movie Rebel seems to be true to life of an adolescent. I like how it touched base on multiple scenarios a person can be going through, although it may not seem like it. The main character had trouble dealing with his overbearing parents, who did not seem to care much about his well being, but were only worried about his absent mind. The other character (male), seemed to be disturbed in a way; writing about killing kittens only proves how emotionless this human being can be. The character of the girl seemed to be passive aggressive, a girl who was almost always following what her boyfriend said, and did not want to be her own independent person. These characters complimented each other; they were different, sure, but the contrast of their backgrounds and struggles really shined through the movie itself. The difficulty of dealing with school in conjugation with social, and internal issues that may not be apparent on the outside. I think teens in their adolescent years are so underrated. They are seen as misguided people, who are not adults, but have to deal with adult issues and situations. Since hormones are drastically changing, we blame their poor decisions on this, and choose to think of them as human beings who are always wrong, and incapable of thinking for themselves. This movie only proves my point further; although we make it seem like teens are not strong this is not true. The fact that they deal with alot of things going on inside of their bodies, along with people always underestimating them, and having to make life-changing decisions only proves that adolescents might be the hardest stage to go through; this is where people build their strengths. This stage in life is very difficult, and the movie’s title “Rebel” does not mean these teens are rebels, but that they may seem like they are, when truly they are only trying to find a way to cope with things they have difficulty dealing with.  

To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet (Poem #8)

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me ye women if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay; 
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let’s so persever,
That when we live no more we may live ever.

I liked how this poem was written overall. She’s comparing the love she has to riches, that she prizes their love more than people would prize many mines of gold or any riches. She is explaining that her love cannot quench a river because there is too much of it, that there is no way to make it stop. The narrator knows that this love has no price tag, so it cannot be repaid. She is hoping that no matter what, their love with continue through, in which the author said, “Then while we live, in love let’s so persever”.  All of these things make the poem very interesting to follow, and easy to understand how much she may love her husband, which is implied to be endless. It’s weird though because it almost sounds like she is implying that she will never love him as much as he loves her. The narrator also mentioned this idea, “If ever two were one, then surely we,” which indicates they are like ‘two peas in a pod’, always on the same page, with the same mind set; it’s interesting she didn’t outwardly say this, but from this quote, the reader can interpret what the narrator was trying to say between the lines. It’s also interesting the fact that the narrator is speaking of her love as an object, rather than a feeling in itself. She’s describing love as something that cannot quench thirst, and something that is better than gold itself; when we think of these things, we think of an object, but when we think of love, we do not think of an object.

When, in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes by William Shakespeare (Poem #7)

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 myself 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.

It sounds like the narrator is not satisfied with who he is. He would rather be like the people around him, which is implied by one of the lines, “Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope”. He seems to be jealous and not content with the life he is living. He says that he remembers what wealth brings, so he changes who he is because he wants to be like a king, with such wealth and nobility. I like the fact that the narrator fails to explain why he is feeling down, and what has caused his anguish. Maybe it could be the fact he is comparing himself to the people around him; he might believe they are better at doing something that he wishes he was better at. I like the ambiguity of the poem, and the fact that the narrator is very vague about any of the causes to his feelings forcing the reader to try to figure this out through the information he is presenting. I think at the end of the poem he is saying he has sweet love, “For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings that then I scorn to change my state with kings,” but that wealth may bring more happiness for him; that he feels worthless when it comes to wealth, and wishes to change himself to become more like a king to feel no more disdain. Even though this poem was written a long time ago, it can still be relatable in some ways, like in the way some people feel worthless without power and wealth just like the narrator does.

On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley (Poem #6)

'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,

Taught my benighted soul to understand

That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:

Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.

Some view our sable race with scornful eye,

"Their colour is a diabolic die."

Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,

May be refin'd, and join th' angelic TRAIN."

I really liked this poem, and I believe I’ve read it before somewhere as well. I think the narrator is really trying trying to emphasize that when he came to Africa, he was not welcomed; there was still racism and inequality, and he could not understand why. If they had the same religion, why were they seen as so different? Their color was seen as evil, as the narrator has quoted (what has been said about his race), “Their colour is a diabolic die.” What the narrator is trying to comprehend is why their color is seen as evil, when they believe in a religion like everybody else, a similarity they all have but are seen as different. Just because they are black does not mean they do not still join the rest of the whites on the same religion, which is referred to as an ‘angelic train’ by the narrator. The fact that the narrator used the word ‘sable’ to describe his race is implying a bigger meaning; the definition of sable is a marten with a short tail and dark brown fur and is valued for its fur, similar to how their race was only valued for slavery. Also, the narrator described his own soul as ‘benighted’, which means ‘overtaken by darkness’, which is probably what the racist people thought of them overall. I really liked how this poem implied so much more than a reader would think; it explained how they felt when they were rejected, and explained what the whites depicted them as.  

Death, Be Not Proud by John Donne (Poem #5)

I personally liked this poem and what I thought it was trying to say. Overall, the narrator is talking about death as a whole, and saying that it is not as big of a deal as people make it out to be. The narrator is talking about death as if it were a person, and saying that although people have thought death is scary, and dreadful that it is not any of that at all, so death should not be proud of it’s wrath. Death is similar to sleeping, so it should not be something people fear because everyone is familiar with sleep. I think it is saying that death does not kill us, but life does. At the end of the poem, the narrator is saying that one will sleep, and wake up eternally (when a person dies), and when people realize this, then the idea of death will die, and that ideology will not be existent. Once people think of death as not being so powerful, then death will not be as scary as ‘war, poison, and sickness’ as the narrator mentions in the poem, most likely to show contrast on how much more worse poison, sickness, and war are than death is. I liked that the narrator mentioned this because it proves a good point. The theme is that sometimes we make things more worse than they are just by over thinking it, instead of trying to make things like death easier to think about, deal with, and cope with.

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarrell (Poem #4)

I was confused by this poem; I did not know what the narrator was talking about. The narrator is talking about his/her fur, but it would not make sense since they are human. I think maybe the narrator was using personification, and pretending to be in an animal’s perspective. It’s like an animal thats wished his life was different, like a dream as it says in the poem, “Loosed from its dream of life,” the animal was loosened from his/her dream of life. It seems like the animal woke up in a nightmare, maybe the last place he’d ever want to be. A turret is a tower-like place, so when he/she died, he was just washed out of the tower, with a hose implying that the narrator was unimportant to anyone around. When the narrator died, it did not seem like anyone mourned him/her, but that it was easy to get rid of him/her. Obviously the narrator felt upset about his death being nothing to others. I felt like the theme was the fact that we are born into life, in a harsh or easy environment, and we leave noticed, or unnoticed. I liked the poem’s implicitness, and how  it was simple and short. Alot is implied or implicitly said through just five lines, which is a very interesting way to write a poem. Since it is short, we as the readers must read it over and over again to really attempt to understand it and what it is trying to say.

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer by Walt Whitman (Poem #3)

I did not understand the poem much. I think the narrator learned about how one becomes an astronomer. He also learned things involved he had to study to do what he wanted to do, which was become an astronomer. After hearing about how difficult it was through the lecture he/she  listened to, and the math involved in astronomy, he/she grew sick and tired of trying to become one. He just like wandering around, looking up at the silence of the stars, instead of learning how to really study them. The narrator seemed to like the simplicity of the stars in the sky, not the complications in studying them to become an astronomer. The narrator did not enjoy learning the depth of astronomy, and did not seem to find it interesting in any way. The theme is that sometimes, we as humans, like things that are simple, and do not like the complications of the actuality of something. The narrator makes this clear by ending the poem with looking up at the stars, instead of talking about what he learned that day. He/she was so engrossed with the sky and stars that what he learned and heard at the lecture did not fascinate him, only the view did. The view is what seemed to push the narrator to want to become an astronomer, but when it came down to it, he did not enjoy learning about it’s specifications.Not everything is what he seems; the study of space was not just the view of the sky, but a very complicated study that the narrator was not anticipating.

This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams (Poem #2)

I really liked this poem because of what it is implying; that sometimes we like things that are sweet and cold, opposites of each other, that go together perfectly. We sometimes take advantage of something even though we know we should not, just like the narrator said, “I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast.” This shows that the narrator knew that the plums were probably saved for someone else, but could not resist it’s coldness and sweetness. You would think that sweetness is so far from being cold, but that is what makes the plums delicious to the narrator. The narrator wanted to be forgiven, even though he/she enjoyed the plums. If someone is too much of something, it is not good, that means there is no balance whatsoever. If someone was cold (cold-hearted), and had no sweet tendencies, than the person would not be enjoyable to be around. If the person was too sweet all of the time, and can not be cold at times, this person would be walked all over, and taken advantage of. If a person can be both when needed, than the person is balanced, just like the plum was. The plum, originally sweet, was put into an icebox, making it could; the conditions the plum was put in made it “so sweet, and so cold”, just like the narrator said. This is true to humans, like I said before, if one is put into a situation when they needed to be cold, they have the ability to do so, just like the plum did based on it’s surroundings which is what made the plum so desirable to the narrator.

Pass/Fail by Linda Pastan (Poem #1)

This poem is talking about constantly having something you are trying to overcome; you will never finish because in your mind, there is always something to be done, always something you want that you cannot have. I read the poem and understood that it is saying whatever you do, personally you will find a way not to get to it, a way not to overcome it. As much as we think we passed, we have finished, there will always be something to do and try to accomplish. It’s saying that the heart will only overcome what it thinks it can handle. The title Pass/Fail, connects to the whole poem because it can be either be a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ for achieving something a person’s heart wants. The poem did a good job in giving examples of the authors idea of something getting in the way of passing or failing, like “when you reach for a book - it closes its door in your face; when you conjugate a verb - it is in the wrong language.” When I read this quote, I thought about how a person thinks they are on track to do something, then something simultaneously happens so that you cannot succeed to pass. You might be on your way to do something, and something little will stop you, unexpectedly and this is true to life as a whole. What I think the poem fails to say is that even though you do not ‘pass’ per say, trying then failing is not the same thing as just straight out failing with no effort.

We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks

The first time reading this poem, I realized that it was short for a reason. I realized the title had something to do with what the narrator was trying to tell us as the readers. The second time I read the poem, I noticed the same things as the first time reading it, but realized that the narrator thought what they did made them cool, that to make them cool, they did not have to do much hence the shortness of the poem itself. Also, I really recognized the last line the second time around reading it because the narrator was saying that they die soon, meaning they die young, not living a long life but it was okay because they were 'real cool' anyway.

Othello

1) When I initially read Othello, I didn't focus on what the narrator meant by telling us that Desdemona's dad loved him. I liked it the first time around, especially since I already read the play before and loved it. The second time reading it, I really focused on what Othello was saying between the lines: he was exaggerating his experiences to seem more appealing to Desdemona's father, and to Desdemona. In those days, being an experienced man was mandatory, and made him a 'knight in shining' armor.

2) Some of the questions were easier than others to answer. I had to put more thought into some questions. The questions I did not find so hard were the ones with the quotes from the poem, asking about what the narrator was trying to say, and another I found easier than others were the questions that asked the definition of a word in the context it was used in the text. The questions I felt like I needed more instruction on were the ones that asked what two lines stated the same idea, and the one that asked about what line the poet introduces no variety into the passages iambic rhythm.

Spring & Fall

Annotating and commenting on the poem seemed to be really easy for me because it was all perspective; what we think the narrator is saying and what it may mean connecting to the whole poem. I liked the poem overall, it had short and choppy lines so it was easy to read. Annotating/writing what I thought was happening was key because breaking it down makes one understand it more. What I was thinking while reading each line was what I wrote down, so it flowed with my thoughts and I could get all my thoughts out and at the end be able to connect them altogether.

3, 2, 1

3 important things I learned or previously learned:

-The use of setting is always useful in reading analytically; a setting is purposefully chosen.

-For maintaining control of this process (reading analytically), us as the readers, need to annotate the text; connecting it to our society, or asking questions that we are wondering about throughout the text.

-Writers invent their own structures to stress what they might be trying to tell the reader.

2 questions that I still have or skills I feel I still need to learn:

-Does the author’s biases/opinions contribute to what they want the readers to see, or infer?

-A skill I still need to learn is how to use or point out high or elevated diction.

1 skill that I feel I know so well I could teach others:

-I think that I’m pretty good at pointing out the details in texts, and how these minor details can contribute to the text as a whole.