When I think of something that holds immense power in a poem, I think of “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by W.B. Yeats. The introductory lines he writes that explain the glade’s scenery have a peace-inducing feel to them that entices almost anyone reading to want to stay in an area like it: “And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made: Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee; And live alone in the bee-loud glade.” A small cabin made from the local land, with a small garden of beans growing and a hive of bees being the loudest thing in the surrounding glade. It’s a scene many have probably seen, with some exceptions (such as not seeing a beehive but seeing a cabin), whether it be in their local woods as a child or on hikes that they may have taken later in life. However, the power of Yeat’s word and imagination can go farther than any experience one may have.
Jonathan Garcia
The article from Flannery O’Connor, on her own story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” had one detail I didn’t think about regarding the Grandmother. She may be considered a bad person, even I considered her one, but she isn’t completely one. O’Connor mentions a time when a teacher was pushing the narrative that the Grandmother was a bad person. At her core, she is a good person but can’t understand some things, just like some older people now. It took her getting to what ended up being the end of her life to make a character-changing realization about her morals, but when she did she spread it to the Misfit, who had a seed of doubt, in what he saw in himself, planted in his heart because of her. Her actions and views aren’t right in the slightest, but that still doesn’t make her an outright bad person (especially with the somewhat redemption by the end).
I would say my ability to read poetry hasn’t changed, if it did then only slightly, within the past couple of weeks. However, my experience with Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening did help me when I had some issues understanding what “A blight is on the fruitful plants of the earth.” could mean or who “a God that carries fire, a deadly pestilence” could be. I had to think about what each line had to do with each other in Oedipus the King, the same way I had to think about what the line “And miles to go before I sleep,” had to do with stopping in the woods to watch the snow fall, which was that the context clues from the surrounding text would help figure out what was being talked about. I ended up realizing the god who carries fire and pestilence was Apollo and the pestilence he brought was towards the crops.
My experience with our first essay was realizing I should trust my honest thoughts on whatever I’m reading. In the student’s essay, I saw more than a few things wrong at first but I started writing about how good it was. Then I edited what I wrote to somewhat reflect what I actually thought but I didn’t want to ridicule the work too harshly and ended up leaving out important mistakes, like how it was formatted, or not touching too much on the ones I did mention, like how all the quotes weren’t real. In the future I need to write my honest thoughts, whether they are good or bad, so my essay better answers the question/topic.
If I were to write an essay on “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, I would probably write about childhood development and how it’s affected by different aspects. The title would be ” A Journey Through Childhood Development”. The introduction would give a quick idea of how someone’s childhood could have effects on a person’s current, and future, way of life and how it relates to the story. Each body paragraph would focus on how various interactions and thoughts affect the children differently, such as how Miss Moore tries to teach them in varying ways, the children’s view on her lessons (and each other) throughout the story, and how the children begin to change by the end. I would include certain parts from the story, like how the children realize how the world works, how they all want their piece, and how Sylvia starts to think through what she was being taught and how that could affect her future.
My understanding of the prewriting assignment’s purpose is to help make our essays stronger. One way that is done is by reviewing a sample student’s essay on “The Most Handsome Drowned Man”. Doing this allows us to see what past students did on the assignment, which can paint a clearer outline of what is being looked for versus what is not, while showcasing others’ perspectives on the subject we’ll be writing about. Another way it would help make our essays stronger would be a refresher, or introduction, on the correct usage of different aspects of the essay such as formatting, whether it be paragraph structure or the usage of quotations (shown in their video and PowerPoint, respectively), and how to properly write a thesis and its purpose in the essay (shown in its own PowerPoint). Lastly, the overview helps develop a further understanding of the novel, while also strengthening our use of sample student’s essays by adding more information to work with.
