English & Writing & Grammar, Oh My!

Hello, class! I hope that this finds you well, if it finds you at all, that is. I just wanted to take a moment to give you all a review on our time in this class. No, I will not be discussing course content, but would you honestly expect anything else? I will now proceed to detail some of my favorite moments of our time together. Firstly, remember how crazy we all got fighting over a single word in "Rockabye Baby"? And our dramatic readings were to die for. We had a short-lived panic when we realized we all had different versions of the textbook. We sat around the big table for the first time and bonded over crickets, kelp, and small dogs in Yalta. We bonded even more when a few of the nobler student *hem hem* had some very intelligent things to say about The Princess Diaries . We were all so sad when Walter left for D.C. and so excited/begrudged when he fixed the projector. We fawned over Austin's dance video. Aubrey drank probably a million iced coffees. Dr. Reed, prefe

"The world is too much with us" centers around how industrialization and consumerism continue to ruin what Nature provides us with. I'm minoring in Environmental Science, so I (presumably) know at least a decent amount about this kind of issue. For many years, the majority of people seemed to hold a primarily biocentric worldview. This means that the world revolves around humans more than anything and our needs are the most important. However, we have thankfully entered a time where people hold a far more ecocentric worldview, meaning that they care primarily about the Earth. This poem is incredibly honest about the issues with people ignoring and even destroying Nature. I'm so unbelievably lucky to be part of the generation that cares so deeply about the environment, and I really think that this poem fits the current political climate quite well.

I think that poetry can often be interpreted similarly to art. I think that this can be agreed upon for many reasons, but you likely aren't thinking of the same reason as I am. For this explanation, I think the best possible example is "The Red Wheelbarrow". Imagine-- you go to an art gallery and hope to see something unique and innovative. You walk around relatively unimpressed. Then, you round a corner to see a crowd of people surrounding a new display: a fork in a box. There was no description or explanation provided, so spectators discussed the endless possibilities of what it could mean. You leave utterly impressed. Later that week, you see in the newspaper that the fork was placed in the box as an experiment proving that the commentary on art has become hyperbolic. It wasn't real art; it was a fork in a box. "The Red Wheelbarrow" is a fork in a box. It seems like it has some deep meaning, but it is what it appears to be. I think it is important not to

When I think of poetry, I think of words that sound like music although they're merely spoken. I think of a gorgeous piece with some profound meaning. When people liken things to poetry, these are the qualities they are likely referring to. This poem is unrealistically beautiful. Every time I read it, I am overcome with emotion. Finding the appropriate words to describe such an intense feeling as traumatic loss is not easy; this poem perfectly captures what it feels like to lose all sense of existing when someone you depend on is no longer there. To feel that not even time itself can possibly continue without this one person just shows how much they're valued. I can't even imagine creating something as genuine and incredible as this poem by Auden.     If you enjoy this poem as much as I do, I highly suggest watching a clip of it being performed in Four Weddings and a Funeral . It makes me emotional every time I watch it.

So, Hamlet obviously didn't end as the majority of the characters were hoping, i.e. they mostly died. Young Fortinbras certainly did well, but he's just about the only one. All of this resulted due to Claudius' grab for the throne. Even with him killing Hamlet Sr., that didn't guarantee him the throne. So, I think that it would be interesting to think about if Gertrude had taken the throne.      I personally think that it would be absolutely amazing, an it'd at least be better than Claudius. Firstly, if Gertrude had the throne, she'd have forces behind her. She could put all of the men in their places, and Hamlet likely would've felt secure in revealing Claudius' actions to her. She could have prevented many deaths, and Denmark likely would've benefited greatly from a female monarch, especially given the place of women in the Middle Ages. I think that Gertrude would be a phenomenal ruler, and Hamlet undoubtedly would've gone much differently ha

I have a deep and undying love for The Princess Diaries, and I will go to my grave insisting that they are great feminist works. This may be difficult for some to understand, but I will do my best to convince them otherwise.          If you're unfamiliar with the movies, I'll provide a quick rundown. In the first movie, Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) is a nerdy high school student who is entirely blindsided when told that she's a princess. She struggles with this fact throughout the movie, but decides that she will accept her royal responsibilities at the end of the movie. In the second movie, she is told that she must become queen of Genovia in her grandmother's (Julie Andrews) place. However, to do so, the law states that she must be married. She decides to marry a royal that she has absolutely no romantic connection with and begins to form a relationship with Nicholas (Chris Pine), who is trying to get the throne due to his uncle's persistence. In the end, she c

Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" is secretly about Cotton-Eyed Joe. We often talk about how poems resemble songs, so why can't the plots of short stories do the same? In the case of "Bartleby", I think that he as a person can easily be likened to our dear old pal CE Joe. We don't know where he came from, we don't know where he went (in the biblical sense). He has an air of mystery about him. He messes with the narrator's personal life. I know that this is silly, but I think it's fun to relate things that you don't necessarily enjoy to things that you do. If anyone can think of other parallels between the two, please feel free to comment them below.

I have decided that William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" is undeniably amazing and I will not be convinced otherwise. Let's look at the plot: Emily is a "middle-aged" (yeah, okay, sure) woman who needs to pin down a man because everyone says she does so obviously that means she has to. Her dad dies, so the town is like, "You know what, Em? Taxes? Don't even worry about 'em! We got it COVERED!" Then they come back and they're like, "Hey, remember how we specifically told you that you didn't need to pay taxes? We take it back. Jk, jk... unless...." And Emily's like, "Ha, hilarious that you think I'm about to pay you because I'm definitely not gonna do that." Then this Homer guy comes around and EXPLICITLY TELLS PEOPLE that he's gay, and they all talk about how hopefully Emily can "change his mind". Now, we don't have time to unpack how wrong that is, so let's move on. Emily buys H

Chekhov's "The Lady and the Dog" reminds me of "The Pina Colada Song", and I will tell you why. In "The Pina Coloda Song" (which will now be known as PCS), both people in a relationship decide that they are unhappy. Rather than voice this discontentment or break up with each other, they simply decide to cheat on each other. Then one publishes an ad in the newspaper to get a date (which is weird enough in itself) and the other responds to it. When they realize that it was each other all along, they laugh about it and revive their relationship so they don't have to face the fact that they both tried to cheat on each other. In "The Lady and the Dog" (which will now be known as LAD), two people in different relationships decide to cheat on their significant others with each other. After initially agreeing it would be short term, they decide to try to make the relationship work. PCS and LAD both have the ethical issue of cheating and hiding it

This week in class, we discussed Kawabata's "The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket". Last week, we discussed a poem about kelp. In both cases, relationships/people are compared to these mundane creatures. This begs the question: how do you know if you're a cricket or kelp? Essentially, a cricket is something truly special; it's the end all be all person that you've been searching for and are lucky to have. Kelp means you allow someone to take what they want from you, leave, and come back as they please. Basically, kelp=doormat. But, how do you know if you're being treated like this? How do you know when you're a kelp when you think that you've been giving yourself freely but you've really been "being gathered" in a way? And what if you spend all your life thinking you're a cricket but you're actually a grasshopper? Or vice versa? And which would be worse? What if you really are a cricket and you end up with a grasshopper that t