Heart of Darkness #2

In the next section of reading HOD, we begin to see Marlow’s consuming obsession with Kurtz, who is sick. He is made out to be an icon, an idol, and was the company’s biggest asset for having the most successful trading post. Marlow expects he will be meeting Kurtz but soon finds other problems get in the way, like his damaged boat. Marlow suspects it was intentionally damaged as a diversion from meeting Kurtz.

I felt the damage to Marlow’s boat was really quite unfortunate. He looks to Kurtz as a model for how one can succeed in the darkness, or at least he use to until a new light is shed upon him. After Marlow spoke with the brick maker his opinion altered negatively toward Kurtz. Marlow started to see the reality of who this man really was. I found it to particularly ironic for Marlow to associate time as a reference point with Kurtz because it paralleled to his feelings changing over time.

Heart of Darkness #1

Oh Heart Of Darkness. I’m just going to throw it out there and say, I'm not a fan of this book. It’s extremely difficult to read as I can’t seem to grasp the language, the changes in narration, and most importantly the plot very well. It’s a tough one to read if you don’t devote a long amount to time to, i.e. reading HOD in study hall doesn’t work for me personally. Hopefully sitting down this evening to reread all that we have been assigned will help.

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Over the first ten pages, the men aboard the Nellie sail down the river and Marlow tells a story. The journey they are about to embark upon is characterized as very deselect and adventurous by the narrator. There's a large fabrication of foreboding on the Nellie.

From that point forward, there were many references to darkness and light. The darkness and light symbolize heading from the known to the unknown with the journey. I thought it was very scrupulous to give the feeling of gloom, a word repeated at least fifty times, to represent the darkness and fear. The sense of it is like fog hanging over the men, which contributes to the building of mood and foreboding.

Symbolism and color seems to be very prevalent in HOD, and it should as it ties with the title of the book. Specifically, black and white are used to denote evil and good, as well as indicating purity and death. Take for instance when Marlow sees two women kitting black wool in the Company’s office. He describes the experience as, "…A dead silence, grass sprouting between the stones, imposing carriage archways right and left, immense double doors standing ponderously ajar…as arid as a desert, and opened the first door I came to. Two women, one fat and the other slim…knitting black wool” (p. 10). The women are made to seem as the gatekeepers of darkness. And it took me a little while to grasp this idea, but it makes sense: the women act as fate; they are spinning the wool like a yarn of life. Keep in mind though the wool was black, and so it seems they beckon the darkness.

P.S.

Are my postings too long, or is everyone else's too short?

Poetry Response #3

In Blackwater Woods

Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars

of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,

the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders

of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is

nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned

in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side

is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world

you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
—Mary Oliver

"In Blackwater Woods" by Mary Oliver is a poem about a fire that destroys a forest. Oliver uses different literary elements to convey the destruction of the fire. The clear imagery about the features of the land paints a lasting picture, the word choice creates a rhythm and smoothness, and the duties we are told to have as a humans makes this poem very meaningful. Oliver is able to convey the emotional loss she continues to carry around since it burned, and that caused me to really enjoy this poem.

In the first stanza, Oliver grabs the reader’s attention by saying, “Look the trees are turning their own bodies into pillars of light”. She beings with the verb “look” emphasize the importance of the forest burning to her. I loved how she describes the fire climbing up the trees and how it made them look like burning pillars. The image of a pillar caught on fire to describe the trees adds a bit of a shock value to the poem. She also uses personification when referring to the trees as bodies and alliteration with trees and turning to create flow.

One of Oliver’s strengths throughout the poem is the descriptiveness of the stanzas. She describes the scent of cinnamon the trees give off as they burn and paints a picture of the cattails bursting into flames and being taken away by the pond. In the third stanza Oliver writes, “…Bursting and flowing away over the blue shoulders of the ponds, and every pond, no matter what its name is, is nameless now”. Her clear imagery contributes greatly to poem and conveys how the forest completely lost its identity after the fire.

In the last four stanzas, Oliver expresses her sadness and connection to the forest. She lists out the duties we as humans must be able to do: we must “love what is mortal”, meaning we must respect all living creatures, and “hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it…” Oliver writes if the time comes and you have to let it go, the best thing to do is let it go; remember the memories and let it go because that’s all you can do. I thought that was a great way to conclude the poem

Mary Oliver has a deep, personal connection to the Blackwater Woods that was destroyed. What made me really like this poem was how she painted a picture of her memory of the event and was able to let it go at the end. She took us through the process of seeing the trees catch on fire and the forest losing it’s identity completely, and then taught the reader about the duties we must be able to do to live in this world. Doing that caused the poem to make an impact on the reader and created a sense of meaningfulness.

“Eveline” by James Joyce

“Eveline” by James Joyce is a short story about a girl being stuck in dead life and her fear of change.

Level 1 – What is the name of the character in love with Eveline?
Level 2 – Why does she not leave?
Level 3 – Have you ever felt yourself to be in a state of paralysis? Explain.

I really enjoyed this short story much more than “Araby” by James Joyce. It brought out a reaction and made me feel for the character, Eveline. I felt bad for her being stuck in such a dead life. Eveline didn’t have a very good childhood and is unable to understand what love is. Although she does have a man, Frank, who loves her, she doesn’t know how to return it.

What struck home with me about the story was Eveline’s state of paralysis and fear to leave the home she knew. I myself have had many thoughts of leaving this high school before, but have been too scared to leave what I am familiar with. The thought of going to a new school would be a drastic change in my life and I have never been able to take the final step.

After reading this story, I found myself relating to Eveline a lot more than I thought I would. Frank offered her an entirely new life in Argentina, but the shock and thought of leaving scared her. This fear of change is an underlying theme throughout the entire story. Eveline took the steps to leave with Frank and convinced herself change would be a good thing, but she becomes paralyzed once she was about to leave. Eveline had a desire to stay because of the familiarity and only had a disposable person, Frank, to push her. It was not enough and that is why Eveline did not leave.

“Araby”

“Araby” by James Joyce is a short story about a teenage boy’s love for Mangan’s sister and his disappointment when he cannot buy her something from Araby.

Level 1 – Why does the boy feel for Mangan's sister?
Level 2 – What kind of role does the uncle play in the story?
Level 3 – Have you ever found yourself in a situation like the boy? Have you ever felt a loss of hope? Explain.

This short story was amusing to read. At first glance, I wondered why Joyce had written the piece with one sentence quickly following another. For example in this paragraph Joyce writes, “…I watched my master’s face pass from amiability to sternness; he hoped I was not beginning to idle. I could not call my wandering thoughts together. I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child’s play, ugly monotonous child’s play.” It feels rushed and does not leave time for the reader to digest. I then realized after reading the story a second time through that the author is mirroring the feeling the teenage boy has with this girl. He is infatuated and fantasizes about her; she is constantly on his mind.

The story moves on to a quest for the boy, which leads to the theme of the story of escape and fantasy. He wants to see the bazaar at Araby and views it as an opportunity to win her over; he fantasizes about bringing her a gift from the bazaar as a way to capture her heart. He promises her a gift, however they’re several obstacles that get in the way, the most prominent being money.

Asking his uncle for money to go to the fair that night, he seems less than interested and returns home later without it. The uncle does not care that he has disrupted the boy's fantasy. This angers him and so he gathers what little money he has in his pockets and runs off to Araby. After facing the cost of the train and the admission price though, he is nearly broke and cannot afford a gift for the girl. This upsets the boy quite a lot and becomes hopeless. He acknowledges that his stay was useless and leaves Araby with “anguish and anger”. Kind of sad, but the boy had to face reality at some point.

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find”

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is short story about an escaped convicts murdering of a family during their vacation in Florida, and how ultimately you should listen to those around you.

Level 1 – Where is the family heading?
Level 2 – What happens every time Bobby Lee and Hiram take someone into the forest?
Level 3 – What can be said about the grandmother going everywhere the family does, and them dying? What could this kind of technique be called?

Let me start off my saying that this story took me for surprise! There are many unexpected turns and I think I’ve come to realize that all the stories we have read in this AP English packet are about death - and you know, that's not depressing at all...

O’Connor used a couple of narrative techniques that made this story captivating. One of which is writing from the perspective of the grandmother and in third person. As a reader we are able to see what is occurring and go into the mind of any character. This made it somewhat difficult to understand the point of view of the story, however it allowed us to see the story unfold.

The story kicks off with the typically family that is challenged by the family member that doesn’t want to go on vacation – in this case it is the grandmother. The reason she does not want to go is because she has read about an escaped murderer named the Misfit who is heading for Florida. Unfortunately every one in the family, except for June Star, ignores her… and at the end the Misfit kills all of them.

I think the theme of the short story was to listen and cherish those around you and maximize the opportunities in life that you are given. I thought it was interesting the grandmother warned the family about the Misfit, got the family lost, and then was eventually killed. There is a fair amount of foreshadowing that leads into the violence at the end. Had the family listened to the grandmother in the beginning, they would all probably still be alive.

“The Rocking-Horse Winner”

D. H. Lawrence's “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is about a family who lives in style but lacks in money, and their son’s answer to the solution through the rocking horse.

Level 1 – What could the mother and children read in each other’s eyes that no one else knew?
Level 2 – Why does the house whisper?
Level 3 – Why are eyes referenced throughout the story? Is this important?

I found D. H. Lawrence's “The Rocking-Horse Winner” to be slightly confusing at first, but had a great flow throughout the story. Paul wants to help his ill-fortuned parents make money. He is pressured through the house whispers to him, “There must be more money! There must be more money!” Paul soon learns about the relationship between luck and wealth, and wants to fix his mother’s problems.

What confused me was why Paul wanted to help his mom, Hester, when she did not love him. He knew this and set that factor aside to try and fix the problems. Hester was unable to love her children and was constantly thinking about the need for more money.

What also befuddled me was why during a conversation between Paul and his mother about luck that he told her he had luck when there was none to be found until after the magic of the rocking horse was found. The order seems backwards; I felt he should have known the rocking horses powers before he said anything to his mom. It seemed kind of strange that the rocking horse spoke to Paul and that, through placing bets on the horses his rocking horse gives him, the rocking horse was the answer to fixing his troubles.

However, when Paul drove himself to his death the cliché part ended. I thought that was a great twist to the story and made me realize the theme to the story more clearly – which was that money can not fix a person’s problems. His mother was never going to be satisfied and the house continued to whisper about getting more. This ultimately ended his life.