JANICE BOELK

William Carlos Williams believes that “the reader must complete what the poet has begun” since the poet often times depends on readers to put effort into it. I find so much beauty in the idea that poetry is somewhat subjective since William Carlos shares that the “act of completion begins when you enter the imaginative play of a poem”. I understood that poetry can be what readers want it to be by sharing ideas and experiences that might not have been the first impression. In the poem “The Lake of Isle of Innisfree” by W.B Yeats, he writes “Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee; And live alone in the bee-loud glade. And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow”, I immediately imagined a man running away from the busy city life, tired and exhausted and finally being able to embrace his new calm life with nature surrounding him. He started really taking in the beehive, the structure of his new home, the lake. I picture myself there, and seeing and feeling what he feels, everlasting peace.  

My idea of what I believed poetry was about is a combination of rhymes, analogies and personifications that were dumped into a few sentences and didn’t make much sense to me. Although I know that there’s a lot of passion that comes from poetry, I have to say that it’s extremely difficult to understand. After reading “How to Read a Poem” I was intrigued with the phrase “Embracing Ambiguity” which means that people tend to avoid uncertainty and are able to cope with change which offers the opportunity of learning. Often times readers give up on confusing expressions especially in poetry and embracing ambiguity directs readers into letting go of the idea that poetry is boring and let poetry take control without any assumptions or misinterpretations.

The Story takes place in the 19th Century where women didn’t have any rights, where women were oppressed. In “The Story of an Hour” By Kate Chopin, Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state starts off with sadness, grief, and exhaustion. Halfway into the story the illustrator describes Mrs. Mallard quoting, “She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression” which reminded me of this quote in the poem “The wife” by Emily Dickinson “it lay unmentioned, as the sea develops pearl and weed”. The connection I discovered was the repression that was unspoken of by Mrs. Mallard, but it was an obvious observation to know that she was suppressed emotionally and physically. Being a wife meant taking commands and rising to requirements as Emily Dickinson poetically describes a wife. Mrs. Mallard’s emotions became ecstatic when she realized she would be free from the chains of enslavement. In the poem “Dropped the playthings of her life to take the honorable work of woman and of wife”, shows the connection of self-neglect that Mrs. Mallard comes to realize she will no longer possess in conclusion of her husband’s death. All of the excitement and longing for her freedom comes to an end when Mrs. Mallard passes away from a joyful fantasy.

In “A good man is hard to find” by Flannery O’Connor takes us in a roller coaster of emotions where each character plays a role in Mediocrity. The grandmother comes off as stuck in her ways as a manipulative, prejudice, deceitful lady. In the story, it seems as if there’s a hunt for goodness in everyone that the grandmother engaged with or mentioned to base her believes that “good” people do exist. Every character had a basic human positive trait as well as a negative trait since no one is perfect. I perceived the story as everyone trying to prove themselves, especially the grandmother. She judged her grandchildren, but uplifted Red Sammy for doing a kind gesture to customers.  She uplifted The Misfits when she saw her and her family’s life in danger. I believe that by her portraying she saw good in others, possibly others would see good in her. Also, the grandmother bringing in the topic of Jesus to the Misfits showed me that she knew her time was coming to an end and she needed grace. The Misfits were the ones that had to convince the grandmother that good people are very hard to find. This story depicts that no one takes accountability for their behaviors and ways but The Misfits. Even if they were bad, they were the only ones to show self awareness.

Oedipus the king has many emotions and behaviors, one that stood out to me was when Creon was worried that the King accused him of a serious scandal that tarnished his character. He goes on to say that he can’t live with the burden which sounds like a guilty conscience in the moment. Creon goes on demanding evidence for what he is being accused of.  The reaction by Creon made me feel connected to the drama that unfolded. It is normal human behavior to feel offended and request for evidence for such serious claims. I admired that there was so much wisdom and emotional intelligence when Creon asked the King to Reflect on the situation. Creon’s character radiates strength which I admire a lot. The self-awareness that he acquires within shows his maturity and discipline as a person with great integrity.

What is “Araby” really about?    “Araby” in my opinion is about a young boy that experienced his childhood playing with friends, becomes drawn to a crush but also matured shortly and becomes self-aware of adult issues surrounding him. The boy is completely infatuated by his friend Mangan’s sister, almost as if he built an obsession over her in a short period of time. As the story unfolds, the boy begins to fantasize about her almost in an unhinged way. He becomes fixated with the idea of going to the Araby Bazaar for an opportunity to buy her a gift to impress her and for her validation. Towards the end the boy starts to reflect on his desires, realizing he was drawn to the idea of admiration and motivated by pure vanity. He deemed to be a people pleaser and which results in feelings of low self-worth. At that moment he held himself accountable for his foolish ways and blossomed into a mature version of himself.  

In the short story “The Lesson” we learned that Ms. Moore’s goal was to inspire and motivate these young girls but also shed light onto economic inequality going on. It seems to be that without teaching these kids about wealth, they would have never really imagined a life that has more to offer other than living in poverty. I loved Ms. Moore’s as their role model, she is educated, well spoken, patient and very caring. Ms. Moore was determined from the start about influencing the kids, she didn’t lose sight of her goal. Sylvia was a carefree girl that is used to living a limited lifestyle with zero ambition. She doesn’t seem to have much knowledge about the outside world in terms of wealth. Her character changes dramatically from bravery to shame. She felt as if she didn’t belong, she felt threatened about entering such an expensive store that didn’t align with her lifestyle.

The young narrator was different in the beginning because he seemed hopeful and trusting of his elders all describing what one can feel and see when you get saved. They all described seeing a light and something happening inside of them, they expressed how they heard and felt Jesus and so Langston believed them. He believed that he was going to feel the same things everyone felt.   Langston took the “Measures” to be saved, after not feeling Jesus, he thought it was all a facade which led to completely losing his faith. He felt guilt for lying to everyone and losing his Faith to Jesus.

I believe this story was chosen because it shows the deep compassion from strangers coming together caring for another which I believe it inspired readers. The way they placed themselves in Esteban’s shoes and felt the pain they believed he went through. How he must’ve seen himself as a burden because of how big he was compared to the other villagers. It showed immense empathy toward this stranger, and that his death opened a lot of hearts to many villagers. His death changed their lives forever in ways not many can understand. Death always brings out so much passion out of people, it’s astonishing.