allyssamickey

Part I
Icarus “isn’t sorry” that he flew into the sun. Flying into the sun melted his wings, and caused him to fall into the sea where he drowned. According to this poem though, he didn’t regret flying into the sun. He enjoyed the free fall that followed the burning of his wings, and could only think of what he would do next time.

Part II
Dystopia refers to something in a very controlled and repressed state. Dystopia as literature would be very controlled literature, keeping ideas repressed. The heroes are very rarely outsiders, like is common in much literature. Dystopian fiction also usually reflects a moral that is important in a Dystopian society in which the literature is written.

This poem “Persephone Falling” by Rita Dove is about when Persephone first gets taken down to Hades’ Underworld to be his wife. This story is used as a warning for children to stay away from molesters and other dangers, and to stay in groups. It is said that Dove wrote this for her daughter.
Persephone is lured by a beautiful flower, “one narcissus among the ordinary”(1), and Hades takes this moment to take her away and “[claim] his due”(6). This represents a child being lured by promises of a stranger, such as candy or other nice things, and then they are at the mercy of this stranger, just as Persephone was at Hades’.
Dove presents her point first through the story of Persephone, but then goes on to explain it in a modern way.
“Remember: go straight to school. This is important, stop fooling around! Don't answer to strangers. Stick with your playmates. Keep your eyes down”(9-12).
This means literally what it states. That if you stick with your friends and don’t talk to strangers, the age old safety cliché of our childhood, then you will be safe.

Like Dove, Bolan is also using the story of Persephone to tell us something about her daughter. She is using it to explain her daughters fleeing childhood, and how she is becoming a woman. She is herself is Ceres, and is “ready to make any bargain to keep [her daughter]”(16) because her daughter is growing up and leaving home. Just like Ceres mourned when her daughter Persephone was taken away from her to the underworld to be Hades wife. The mother wonders if she should “warn her”, but decides against it, because just as Ceres had to allow Persephone to make her own choice and eat the pomegranate in the underworld, the mother in this poem must let her daughter make the decision to taste danger and make her own decisions, as that is a part of growing up.

Both these poets use the story of Persephone to illustrate a meaning about life, and about their daughters. They do it effectively with great word choice, well chosen breaks and both use free verse. They are both excellent poems, and convey their messages very clearly.

Part I

I believe Antigone and Creon both meet the criteria of a tragic hero. Antigone obviously feels very strongly about the burial about her brother, and very nobly goes forth to give him the proper burial rituals. This ends in a terrible death for her. She hangs herself in her own bridal veils, but she openly accepts death in the moment she choose to make this decision.
"And even if I die in th eact, that death will be a glory. I will lie with the one I love and loved by him"(486). I feel pity for her horrible end, and honor her for her brave actions.
Creon on the other hand is a less obvious tragic. He has the tragic flaw of hubris, and he allows this to get completely out of control in his life. This is what leads to the decree that ends Antigone's life, which in turn ends the lives of his son and his wife. His wife's dying actions were to blame all these deaths on him, and he accepts the blame.
"I murdered you, my son, against my will-you too, my wife... Wailing wreck of a man, whom to look to?"(520) He realizes the mistakes he's made and is tortured with pain. I feel pity for this poor man, who would probably have taken death as a better fate.

I feel more pity and horror towards Creon's pain then towards Antigone's because I feel more attached towards Creon. He seems like a horrible, stubborn man, but overtime it becomes clear that he only wants to do what he thinks is right and just in the moment, and that he mostly comes to these decisions out of fear. He has many flaws, but is the character we spend the most time with, and that I attached to the most.
I think this play could easily be called "Creon" because we follow his story and opinions more closely than Antigone's.

Part II

In Antigone the extended metaphor of the Greek Gods and Legends were used to represent what was happening within the story.

Part I

The racism in the story doesn’t necessarily need the context of the Japanese internment to be understood, but to truly understand and emphasize with the grief of the family it is vital.

“The men who rioted against you were not the enemy. The Vancouver alderman who said ‘Keep BC White” was not the enemy”(7)
This quote clearly shows racism. We know without the context that the Uncle is Japanese, and so stating that there are riots and people trying to “Keep BC White” clearly shows the racism that existed at the time.

“In the framed family photograph…[t]hey all look in different directions, carved and rigid with their expressionless Japanese faces and their bodies paste over with Rule Britannia”(4)
This shows clear pain within the family. They are ashamed of who they are, due to the influx of racism in North America at this time. They look away from each other, afraid to face the pain and see it in each-other's faces, and they are expressionless to prevent the others in the family from seeing this in their own faces. They are wearing British clothing so as to assimilate into society, perhaps in an attempt to avoid the racism, or because they don’t have a choice.
In contrast to this sad photograph there is “the picture, not framed, not on display showing Uncle as a young man, smiling and proud in front of an exquisitely detailed craft…. not an ordinary yacht-a creation of many years and many winter evenings-a work of art.”(4) Here the Uncle has found something that brings him joy, something that his own father had done before he had crossed to North America and faced the racism of the country. Unfortunately this symbol of joy is taken away from them when the “voice of the RCMP officer [says] ‘I’ll keep that one,’ and laughing as he cuts through the water…the other boats are towed away and left to rot. Hundreds of Grandfather’s boats belonging to hundreds of fishermen.” The authorities in North America tear away these boats that bring them joy. Their property and rights are not considered, because they are Japanese, and during these times Japanese were the enemy and not treated kindly in North America.




Part II

I really admire the depth that some of the other students are able to see into the writing. I can get the general context, but I’m not very skilled in analyzing deeply, and I would really like to improve this skill. I’m hopeful that this course will help me with this at least to some degree, if not a large improvement.

Part I:


It is very clear from the way the narrator describes the work places of her parents which place she prefers.
"It seemed to me that work in the house was endless, dreary, and peculiarly depressing; work done out of doors, and in my father's service, was ritualistically important.”
She clearly thinks her father’s work place is much more interesting, and she holds it in higher regard then her mothers work within the house. She describes the fence surrounding the foxes as “like medieval town”. She continues this simile throughout her description. A medieval town is something fanciful, adventurous and delightful to children, and this is how she sees her fathers work environment.
The narrator is very clear that she is much less fond of her mother’s work place, She states clearly that she “hated the hot dark kitchen” and that her mother was “plotting now to get [her] to stay in the house more, although [her mother] knew [she] hated it”.

The narrator’s bias towards the place where she and her brother sleep is very clear, though she uses little description to make this clear. She describes the upstairs room where they sleep as cold. She describes the stored objects that are left in this unfinished room, but she describes them with detachment: “a soldiery roll of linoleum, standing on end, a wicker baby carriage, a fern basket, china jugs and basins with cracks in them”. There are no words here that indicate her fear towards this room, but she simply states that her and her brother “were afraid of the inside, the room where [they] slept”. We can understand that the narrator doesn’t feel kindly towards this room, without any negative connotations in the description at all.

Part II
Eustacia Vye is a very flawed, and (for the times) a rather sinful woman. She dies running with away with a married man, from her disastrous marriage and life. They drown in a storm as they flee to Paris. She is a very surprising heroine for Hardy to choose, for most at his time were virtuous woman.
Moby Dick is the story of a captain, who lost his leg to a sperm whale, risking everything to have revenge on that same whale, Moby Dick.
Ham resided in Yarmouth where he built boats. He is often described as simple and kind hearted, and is often compared to David as David’s lesser, though David admires his gentle nature. Ham Peggoty dies trying to rescue people off a boat.