Journal #44- Movie in Post Modernism

The movie that I chose is the movie Twilight that is based on the novel Twilight written by Stephanie Meyer. I really enjoyed this movie, and I know a lot about it so I figured that it would be easy to identify and analyze all of the different parts of post modernism that are in it.

Twilight is a big book in this time, and it is the first out of four books in the Twilight series. The first book is Twilight, second is new moon, third is eclipse, and the last one of the series is Breaking Dawn. I read the whole series, and I loved every book, and new moon is probably my least favorite. I decided to go with the twilight book to analyze it's movie, because it is the main one that everyone knows about and it is also where it all started, so it is the most important in my eyes.

The Twilight series is mainly about love. In the movie Twilight, it is pretty much the book that starts it out and describes the main girls life, Bella, and describes and tells us about how she is moving into a new town with her dad. She meets the guy, Edward, that she falls in love with at this new school in her dad's town. I think that this movie has quite a few examples of post modernism in it. I think it shows me a lot of the American Dream. The movie is all about a couple falling in love, and this is a lot of the American Dream. Everybody just wants to fall in love and start a family with this person. I also think that there is a hero in this book. I think the hero is Edward, because he is always trying to help Bella and save her when she is clumsy. We see a lot of heroic characteristics with Edward. We also see another point that is nature. Bella and Edward spend a lot of time outside together and are always doing crazy things outside because of Edwards skills as a vampire. There are more points, but these are the main things I see that remind me of modernism.

Society vs. Literature

Any Human to Another

Black Boy

Aspects of Modernism

Reflection: Analysis of a Dickinson Poem

I did not mind analyzing any of Emily Dickinson's poems. I like her poems, because they seem to relate to that of all the stories that can go along in a young woman's life, or any age for that matter. I think she reminds me a lot of Taylor Swift, because she writes her poems on things that are going on in her life. She does not try to get around anything, she just says it how it is and lets it all out. I really liked reading her poems. I decided to pick the poem called He Touched Me, So I Live To Know. Honestly, I just picked it because it caught my eye and it seemed interesting to me.

He touched me, so I live to know
That such a day, permitted so,
I groped upon his breast --
It was a boundless place to me
And silenced, as the awful sea
Puts minor streams to rest.

I think the first stanza is the most important one. I think she is talking about a guy here. I think that she was in love with this man, and dreams about him a lot. At this moment she was talking about, he somehow touched her and she can not stop thinking about that moment. She can not wait for the day to come again that he is hers, and she gets to touch him and his breast anytime she wants. I think she is thinking when she gets to be with this man it will be the end of worries, and when she is with him she will not think of anything other than what is going on with him.

And now, I'm different from before is the phrase that starts the second stanza. I think that she thinks that she is a totally different person that what she was before now that she has this dream guy. She thinks that she has changed her. I think she is obsessed with this dream guy in the poem, and wants to be with him all of the time.

I think this poem is a good poem, and one that relates to a lot of women these days. I think that women get a dream guy pictured in their heads and they can not wait for the day that they get to be with him everyday, and they think that life is going to be perfect with this guy. They want to be with him all the time, and when they are with them the rest of their life just stops. I think that some people find this kind of guy, but not all women do. I think it is normal to be like this, and it is nice to see this poem and see that a women struggles with this too. I like when you can read a poem that relates to your life and the things that you go through in it. This poem was a good choice, and I think Dickinson did good with this work.

Reflection: Modernism vs. Realism

"Realism is the attempt to depict life as it actually exists, not as the author wants it to be in the present or the future, or imagines it was in the past" (Werlock). Modernism has the determination to dispense the past, and was a response to the change in thoughts and beliefs that were precipitated by intellectual developments and discoveries (Quinn). I started this reflection off by defining these two, because I think these definitions separate them from the very beginning.

In the realism time period, they talked about how life really was because a lot was going on during this time. We were getting more states, gaining more lands around Pacific, more businesses and industries, and our economy was just growing, so we had a lot going on around us. Realism writers did not want to just ignore what was going on around us, and encouraged people to open their eyes and see the real world. They wanted people to be honest and just share what was really going on. Even though there was a lot going on during this time, you really could not do anything about it. I think realism writers realized this, and instead of trying to change what the world was, they just accept how things are and know that they can not change it. They are real and just happy with what is going on.

Modernism, in my opinion, is way different than that of the realism writings. I know that there were only about 10-15 years in between the two, but they were in totally different times in the world and were not similar at all to me. In the modernism time, things such as women rights and African American views were starting to change. I think that the things going on in each time were a lot different. I think in the modernism period views were changing the most. The "American Dream" was changing and that was what the modernism writers did not like. I would consider the modernism writers to almost be rebels. I think they are rebels, because they were trying to change everything so that the dream got back to normal. They changed things like writing style but even went as far as to changing their clothes style. That is the biggest difference between modernism and realism, because realist writers just accepted how things were and wrote about it, instead of changing it like the modernism writers.

I think that modernism writings and realism writings are a lot different. I like realism writings better, and if I had to pick a certain one to read I would chose realism. I like people to be honest with me and tell me what is really going on, instead of trying to change everything and make it be something that it is not. Realism writers knew they could not change what was happening because it was out of their control, so they wrote about it and tried to go along with it.


Quinn, Edward. "modernism." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gfflithem0508&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 15, 2011).

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0575&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 15, 2011).

Journal #43- Jazz Music

I do not like jazz music. I thought while listening to it in class it was too distracting. I can not barely think when I am listening to jazz music. I think that it is just too much for me. But maybe that is because I have not ever really been exposed to it.

When I listened to this jazz song that Alex had playing on his computer, I got a little bit of image. When I hear jazz music, all I really think about is someone playing a saxophone. I imagine them playing their sax and sitting in an alleyway for some reason. Also, I think that it is a guy playing and he is trying to entertain people that are walking by in the night time. He gets very into his music, and you can tell by the way he plays that music is his life. I think that he is thinking that if he plays really good that he will be able to earn some tips. He is going to play hard because he wants to make money to treat his woman. I think he is a single guy that is just trying to make a living. The woman that I am saying he is trying to please it just random women that he decides to take to dinner.

Also, when listening to this kind of music I think of Olive Garden for some reason, because this is the kind of music that they play. I do not know why I think of this but I do. At restaraunts this music is not that bad, because they do not have it that loud and it is just a song playing lightly in the background so it is relaxing.

One last thing that I think of when I am listening to this jazz song is someone running around that has a lot of things to do. I think they are very busy and when the song gets louder or speeds up they are getting frustrated with all of the things that they have to do. Then, it slows down and they are relaxing because they got a few things done.

Job Shadowing :)

Job shadowing was really a great experience for me. I really had a great time, and was very happy that I got to do it.

I job shadowed at the veterinary clinic in Petersburg. I job shadowed Dr. O' Brien and Dr. Stout that day. I really liked Dr. O' Brien, and watching him for a day really taught me a lot. I started out the day with going out on call with Dr. O' Brien. We went out to a horse farm and I saw things that will really help me in my future. I got to see him do things that not all kids get to see before going into vet school, so I really enjoyed being able to see it. After we got back to the office I saw a really cool dog surgery. I will not go into detail, but the dog was all opened up and getting part of his spleen removed. I was happy to be able to even see something like this. I was talking to Dr. O' Brien and he said that I would not even get to see something like that in Vet School, so being able to see him do it is good. I also got to see a lot of little things that all added up to a lot. I saw three animals be put down, and I saw little things like animals coming in for a simple check up. I experienced a lot that day that taught me a little of what I would have to be doing when I started working in the veterinarian field.

Job shadowing at the Petersburg Veterinary Clinic was really a great experience, and it really just made me want to be a veterinarian that much more. I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian, but actually seeing Dr. O' Brien work made me want to have something just like him when I was older. I think that this will also be something that I would enjoy doing the rest of my life. I get a lot of experience from owning my own animals that will help me when I become a veterinarian, and experiences that will put me ahead of most kids going into veterinarian school. I even liked the Petersburg Clinic so much that I sent in an application to work there. I can not wait to be able to reach my dream of becoming a vet, and I am glad that our school offers this job shadowing experience.

Journal #42- Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman??

So, we had to go back in time in this journal and pretend that we were in the time period of when Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman were writing their poems. After we were imagining the time period of their writings, we had to decide if we would rather of read Emily Dickinson's writings in that period or Walt Whitman's writings.

I think if I was alive during the time that Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman were writing, I would like to read Emily Dickinson's writings more. I think the Emily Dickinson has more relevance in my life than Walt Whitman. I think I can relate to some of her poems, and all of her poems have different meanings that I think a lot of teenagers can relate to. I like Emily Dickinson writes about love a lot, and I do not know why, but I love reading about love a lot. I think it is probably because I am a girl, and I like to hear about love stories..probably just a girl thing. <3 I also liked Emily Dickinson's writings, because she was just honest, and I do not think she was writing for anyone other than herself. She was just writing about her life, and what made her happy. Her poems were later titled and numbered after her death, so that shows you that she did not care if she became famous because of them. I also thought that it was cool how she did not title them, because she did not have to have a title, because she knew them in her heart and they had special meaning. I think she is just a good writer.

I think Emily Dickinson is kind of like a Taylor Swift, because each of her poems were different events that went on in her life. I mean I know Emily Dickinson was not a singer/ songwriter, but she had some great hidden meanings in her poems, like that of Taylor Swift, and I love Taylor Swift. They also both talk about love a lot. <3

Journal #41- Emily Dickinson "Success is Counted Sweetess"

I read Emily Dickinson's Success is Counted Sweetest. I decided to read this poem, because it was the very first one that was listed on her poem page, and it also grabbed my eye. The word success is what really grabbed me. I am a very big fan of success, and it is something that I strive for every day. I think success is something that everyone strives for. America teaches us that success is a big thing, and if you are successful in life, you will have more things and you will go farther in life. I want to be successful with my grades, at home, cheerleading, FFA, and events that I partake in out of school.

I think that Emily Dickinson also wanted to be a successful person. I think there was a reason that this poem was the very first poem that she put on this list. I think she wanted to start off with what she wanted and success was what she was striving for in all of her poems. In the first stanza of the poem, it is saying to us that everyone needs to experience success, and the ones that have experienced it no how sweet it is. "SUCCESS is counted sweetest By those who ne’er succeed. To comprehend a nectar Requires sorest need" (Dickinson). Everybody needs to experience it so they can really feel what she is talking about here, and I think that at some point everyone has felt successful at some point in their life whether it is big or small, we all have. Also, the last stanza of this poem shows us that when you try to succeed and something and you get defeated, it is not a good feeling. As he, defeated, dying, On whose forbidden ear The distant strains of triumph Break, agonized and clear" (Dickinson). I think it is okay to feel defeat in life, because we need to know that it does happen.



Dickinson, Emily. "1. “Success Is Counted Sweetest.” Part One: Life. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. .

Journal #40- Personal Self

Defining self in your own eyes seems like something that would be easy, but when you start thinking about it it is a lot harder then what you would think it would be. I think when I try to define self of myself, I look at the things that I believe in and the things that I go by in life, and also the things that mean something to me in my life. I think self for me is my religion and the beliefs that go along with that. I believe things like once saved always saved, you can be forgiven for all sin, all sin is the same, and also things like you can not live with the one you love until you are married. I live by these beliefs, and even though I am not perfect I try to do my best. I also try to make sure that I live by the statement that I said earlier that says that all sin is the same. I think this is a hard thing to live by, because we as humans always think that when others do something really bad that it is always way worse then the things that we do wrong. It is hard to think when someone commits murder that God looks at it the same as when I might fail to stop at a stop sign. I am usually quick to judge also, which is not really a good thing to do either. I think that my "self" is not something that should judge. I think that we should look at people and be nice to them first before we judge them so fast like I do. Another thing that I see in my self, is doing good in all that I do. I want to do good in a lot of things such as school, work, family and friends. I get mad at my "self" when I do not perform in the way that I think I should. I have high expectations for myself, and I let myself down when I do not reach those.

Journal #39- Whitman- Everyman America in Bardic Symbols

You can guess what Walt Whitman's poems are going to be about before you even start to read them. So far, the poems that I have heard or read about by Walt Whitman are about self and there is usually also ties to religion too. I think that that would get boring after awhile, and I do not think that I could continue to right about the same things. Whitman has done pretty good at it though, and most of his writings are actually pretty good. This poem called Bardic Symbols is one that was still the same, but one that was very confusing. Whitman says in this story that he does not think that he will ever really know what society means or what this world means, which I think is weird, because he was always talking about things he knew and how he was so smarts. So, surely he has to know what this is too.

I think that when the poem talks about the ocean he is trying to represent his mom. He was showing family and love and self here. I also thought that what he meant by dirty twigs was children because as a child we are dirty and we do not have God in our lives yet, and we are not as important when we are young. Children roles have changed from the time that he wrote this till now. Children have more roles now- a- days, where in this time children were just to be seen and not heard as the saying says.

Another line that showed us a lot of symbols was when he talked about his father kissing him. I think what he was trying to show us here was religion. I think the father was God, the holy spirit, and he was touching him, not necessarily kissing him. I think that he was a big believer in God, and we could pick out a lot of religion details in this story. He had a lot of things that took on the personification of God, or the trinity all together.

Are You The Person Drawn To Me?- Whitman

I read the poem Are You the Person Drawn To Me by Walt Witman, and I thought it was a very interesting story. I really liked this poem because it was different then all of the different poems that I had read of Walt Witman's. I think I liked this poem, because it was one that I could break down and understand myself. Also, I think that I can relate to this poem, because I think as you read this you realize that he is talking about what people think of you and wondering if you ever meet people's expectations for you.

ARE you the new person drawn toward me?
To begin with take warning, I am surely far different from what
you suppose;
Do you suppose you will find in me your ideal?
Do you think it so easy to have me become your lover?
Do you think the friendship of me would be unalloy'd satisfaction?
Do you think I am trusty and faithful?
Do you see no further than this façade, this smooth and tolerant
manner of me?
Do you suppose yourself advancing on real ground toward a real
heroic man?
Have you no thought O dreamer that it may be all maya, illusion?

Are Your The Person Drawn To Me is a poem about how Whitman was questioning someone and asking them if he was really what they thought he was. I think he was wanting to know if that person that he was writing this poem to really thought that he was who they wanted him to be. I really like what Whitman was trying to say here, because we always wonder what people are thinking of us, and we of course wonder if what we are is good enough for them or if we reach their expectations. I think that this is also showing us an example of self, which is what Whitman is always writing about. He is wondering about his self and wondering if what he is is good enough to that people, or at least what those people are expecting from him. "To begin with take warning, I am surely far different from what you suppose;: (Whitman). I think that this statement that starts of this poem really says a lot, because he is stating that he can not really believe that what he is inside and out is really the self that the people he is delivering this to are expecting. I think I could relate this to something that might be about a love relationship. I think this might be something that someone would say that is not expecting to be in any kind of relationships. He can not believe that the way he is is really going to be good enough for anyone. Because then he later says "Do you think it so easy to have me become your lover?" (Whitman). He therefore thinking that it will not be easy for a guy like him to fall in love.

Whitman had good points in every line. Each one of those lines we think of at some point in our lives. I think we all want to be the close to perfect image for other people's opinions, and we always want others to like us.

Whitman, Walt. "ARE YOU THE NEW PERSON DRAWN TOWARD ME? (Leaves of Grass [1891-1892])." The Walt Whitman Archive. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. .

Whitman Reflection

I found a poem called Excelsior by Whitman, and decided that I was going to read it. I thought it was a very interesting poem, and one that kept me interested the whole time. I found that I liked this poem a lot, because it showed a lot of self confidence, which is something that we do not see or hear a lot about anymore these days. I think that Whitman was mainly trying to show his self confidence so that others would want to be like that too. He was trying to show us that we should not give up, and eventually it will all work out for the better for us. He wants us to know that we can succeed in the things we do, if we just put forth effort. I think this poem was good for me to read, because I need to realize that if I try to make things work and actually put forth a lot of effort, then things will get done and done nicely. I really enjoyed this poem.
I try to do my best in all that I do. Whether it is cheerleading, FFA, or showing pigs and cattle, I try to do my very best and give it my all through everything I do. I think think that the character in Whitman's poem was a very confident person, and really thought that they were the best. He was not afraid to show his confidence or talk about how great he was. He said in the poem how he is the most just, gone the farthest, been the most cautious, most happiest, lavished all, firmest, proudest, bold and true, benevolent, projected beautiful words through the longest time, received the love of the most friends, possesses a perfect and enamored body, has the amplest thoughts, and who has made hymns fit for the whole earth. I think that it is fine to think that you are good at things and brag on yourself every once in awhile, but I thought this was a little too much. Just by reading that one part you can really learn a lot about the character in the poem.
I think that everybody should have to read a poem like this. I think that some people need to gain confidence at times. I think there is a difference between being confident and just being a cocky, over confident person. I think that everyone should be a little confident at times, because we all have things in our life that we are good at that we should be proud of. I think we can all use Whitman as a good example and we should all try to be a little like him at times, just not to the extreme that he takes it to.
I enjoyed reading this, like I stated earlier, and I really got a lot from reading this poem.

Journal #38- Whitman...again:(

We read As I Watch'd the Ploughman Ploughing by Whitman in class for our Journal #38.

AS I watch’d the ploughman ploughing,
Or the sower sowing in the fields—or the harvester harvesting,
I saw there too, O life and death, your analogies:
(Life, life is the tillage, and Death is the harvest according.)

After reading this poem, I could pick out things about God. Whitman was known to right about religious things, and I could pick out details in this writing that led me to believe that he was writing about God. I thought that the three words ploughman, sower, and harvester were all nouns that were describing God in my eyes. I think that God was the ploughman, sower, and harvestor. The ploughman version of God was when he started the earth and he got everything ready for the life of the world. The sower of God was the for of Jesus that was actually living on earth, and trying to lead people to him and continue the great works of the trinity. The harvestor of God is the end of the trinity that you see at the end of your life that determines if the way you lived your life was acceptable and he determines if you will be going to heaven or hell.

At the end of the poem when it talks about life is the tillage and death is the harvest according, also showed me another religious detail. I think that what he is trying to say here is depending on the way you live your life determines your harvest. Your harvest is the end of your life and whether or not you will be going to heaven or hell. If you had good tillage during your life and you did things according to God you will have a great harvest. If you were too have a bad tillage during your life, then you will not have a good harvest. I think that we should try to have good tillage and not have regrets or things we think God will not like, so that we can die with a great harvest that affected many people.

Whitman, Walt. "210. As I Watch’d the Ploughman Ploughing. Whitman, Walt. 1900. Leaves of Grass." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. .

Journal #36- Vivid Desciption of My Favorite Meal

My favorite meal is probably horse shoe pizza from The Corner Pub and Grill. It has not been my favorite meal for forever, because I just discovered it about two years ago. I discovered it first when I went with a friend to corner pub to meet up with some friends and those friends were eating what I know call my favorite meal. I now love horseshoe pizza, and I am craving it all the time. The whole meal consists of a Mountain Dew, the 16 inch buffalo chicken horseshoe pizza, and also a friend or my family with me, because I can not eat it by myself. The pizza is just amazing, when it first comes out you just look at it and it looks absolutely delicious. You smell the strong buffalo sauce, to the point where it almost burns your nose. I love that smell, and after smelling that your stomach really gets to rumbling. I always know which pieces of the pizza that I want, and I make sure to go in for the grab. I love the corner pieces and I also love any other outside piece, but I am not trying to take away from the middle of the pizza, because really the whole pizza is just amazingly great. After I get my pizza pieces on the plate, I make sure that I have the fork to cut it and the ranch to dip it in. I have to have the fork, because the pizza has so much on it and it is so hot, that I do not want to bite through it. I have to have ranch to dip it in, just for the extra flavor. It tastes so good when it hits your mouth, and different flavors bounce everywhere, like the amazing buffalo chicken or the fries that The Corner Pub seems to cook to perfection. It does not take very much to fill me up though, and before I know it I am full and my craving has gone away for another two weeks or so.

Journal #35- Reporter During the War

I do not like reporting the way it is, but I could not imagine trying to be a reporter during any kind of war. I can not handle any kind of human blood. I always feel like when I see it I am going through the pain, and I would really not like that. I think the things that I would be seeing in the war every day would be way to graphic for me to handle. I think I am good with just hearing about it and learning about what went on during the wars. I think that it is great that there are men and women out there that are willing to fight and risk their lives every day for everybody else, and I have so much respect for people like that. I think that what they do is amazing, and they have so much courage and I thank them for that. I just do not think that I would be able to stand there and watch what they are doing and be able to seriously report about all that was going on. I think that I would first off get distracted to easily from my reports, and second I would be so awe struck by what was going on and probably freaked out that I would not even remember half of the stuff that I had just seen. I think I would be better at reporting if the soldiers just came to me in my little tent and kept me updated about everything that was going on and every little thing that they did, and that way I would not have to see it all. I do think that seeing a little bit of what they go through would not hurt me, and to be honest watching what they do for us every day is something that every American should probably watch and write about. I think it would really make us realize that we do not need to take some things for granit.

Jack London- To Build a Fire

To Build A Fire by Jack London is a short story, that I thought was pretty good. It was very long though, and was not one that you could just read real fast. You had to read the story, then take it all in and think about what you just read, and then at times you had to skim back over to see if you knew what was going on. This short story is about a man on the trail in sub zero weather trying to survive in the best way possible. I could pick out naturalism the most in this story. I thought what was going on in this story was pretty crazy though. This guy was trying to survive in these crazy temperatures of almost negative seventy- five. Naturalists were also the ones to believed that we were dominated by economic, social, and natural forces ("Regionalism" 487). I think that this defintion does show up in To Build A Fire by Jack London. In this story, Jack really talks about the natural forces that are going on that are affecting him on his way. He had to deal with the terrible temperatures, and all of the thick ice that at times was very unbearable.I mean that is just not good. I thought that when he brought his dog, that was kind of a good idea, but it reminded me of the movie Eight Below where a bunch of dogs got captured in the snow and those awful temperatures.“The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice.”

Also, I noticed when I was skimming through at the end, that the there were some mean things going on too. People were making it harder it seemed like, “They were traps. They hid pools of water under the snow...” (London 601-614). I think that shows us realism, because I think that the author, Jack London, wanted us to know that on top of everything else he had to go through a bunch of crap, because people did not care. "Empty as the man's mind was of thoughts, he was keenly observant, and he noticed the changes in the creek, the curves and bends and timber-jams, and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet. Once, coming around a bend, he shied abruptly, like a startled horse, curved away from the place where he had been walking, and retreated several paces back along the trail. The creek he knew was frozen clear to the bottom,—no creek could contain water in that arctic winter,—but he knew also that there were springs that bubbled out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top the ice of the creek" (London 601-614). Right here in this previous passage, I noticed just a little bit of the scary things that he had to deal with, especially water. Water is not a fun thing when its cold, especially if it is not safe. I think this is showing realism, because he was giving details of just exactly what he was going through.

Jack London's writing was not bad, and over all a pretty good story. I thought it was interesting to read the terrible things he had to go through, and in that time it was not adding anything good on top of what our country was already going through. The character must have really been struggling. I enjoyed reading this story overall though.

London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 601-614. Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0575&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 25, 2011)

Edwin Arlington Robinson – Richard Cory and Miniver Cheevy

I thought the first poem, Richard Cory was actually a pretty good poem overall. I was interested the whole time and even though it ended in a very shocking and crazy way, I still thought that it was a great poem. I really do not like suicide, and it is not a subject that I like to talk about because it almost makes me uncomfortable. I always think that it is crazy that the people that usually commit suicide are the ones that have everything going for them and they have everything they want, just like it was in Richard Cory. Richard Cory had everything that he wanted or could ever have, and all of the people in the town looked to him and adored him. I think that he was the "hero' in this town at the beginning, because everyone looked to him and adored him. "Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentlemen from the sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim" (Robinson 575). You can see that everyone here looked up to him and just knew he was great.

I think that I see realism the most in Richard Cory. I think that the man in this story had a great life, and just like other people was willing to give it all up because he was selfish. "And he was rich- yes, richer than a king- And admirably schooled in every grace" (Robinson 575) I think that this statement right there shows us realism, because his life depicted was really a great life, and he had everything that he could ever want.

The Miniver Cheevy was another interesting poem, and one that was also very depressing. I thought it was depressing because Cheevy, instead of enjoying life, was always wishing that he had never been born, because he wanted to be born in the medieval times. "Miniver loved the days of old, When swords were bright and steeds were prancing" (Robinson 576). I think that this was kind of weird, but at the same time he was using a good imagination. I just do no think I would want to be born during that ttime.

Miniver Cheevy and Richard Cory were both over all okay, but they were both depressing kind of. I think they both shared realism, and in both stories the main character was not happy with the life that they were living. In Richard Cory, he had everything in the world and everyone looked up to him, but he was still unhappy enough about something to commit suicide. We never found out why he committed suicide, but he did for some reason. In Miniver Cheevy, he was just being weird and wishing that he was not alive, because if he was alive he wanted to be alive during the medieval times. I thought that in Miniver Cheevy, the main character really seemed childish, because he wanted a life with swords, and I mean that is just really not realistic.

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Miniver Cheevy" American Literature Textbook. Columbus: McGraw-Hill, 2009. 576. Print.

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Richard Cory" American Literature Textbook. Columbus: McGraw-Hill, 2009. 575. Print.