338 Matching Annotations
  1. May 2021
    1. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

      The door representing opportunity and wealth with the word gold, and the lamp representing hope for the future or light in the darkness for the immigrants to escape their places of imprisonment and poverty in Europe

    2. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

      She is trying to help her people, which are Jewish from anti Semitism

    3. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

      The people who were against her, which I recognized as being the people who had anti Semitism, when she was in Germany and Russia

    4. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

      The many desperate immigrants leaving Europe becasue of the many crisis, in search for opportunity

    5. With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

      The calmness of the liberty statue to that of the giant statue of Rhodes

    6. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

      Here this remarks the cries of anti Semitism which she was met by Russia and Germany against her people becasue she was Jewish

    7. The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

      The bridge refereed here would be the Brooklyn bridge

    8. Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

      Beacon of hope and freedom for all

    9. Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

      The exiles representing the immigrants

    10. Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

      Does the lightning refers to Zeus who was another Greek god, which was the leader of all greek gods, and ironic how she displays the statue of liberty as imprisoning's this lightning

    11. A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

      The contradictions to a god, to a normal person, which is represented through the Statue of liberty

    12. Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

      Refers to the statue of liberty

    13. With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

      How the ideals shared with the Greek statues differed that of the Liberty statues, as the Greek one emphasized imperialism and conquering, which contradicts the Liberty statue

    14. Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

      That the statue of liberty, will hold different meanings than those of the Greek statues in Greece

    1. The label, the labor, the color, the shade. The shirt.

      All of the things that make up a shirt

    2. Printed in black on neckband and tail. The shape,

      Here, I see how he describes the shirt with that quality and class

    3. The buttonholes, the sizing, the facing, the characters

      How every aspect of the shirt was made with precision

    4. Down to the buttons of simulated bone,

      How the shirt turned out to be perfect and well fitted

    5. Both her and me. We have culled its cost and qualit

      This shows how both people enjoy the shirt and how it was made of good quality.

    6. And feel and its clean smell have satisfied

      A customer satisfied with the product of the shirt

    7. And she inspected my shirt. Its color and fit

      Is Irma selling a shirt or checking the shirt for a potentional consumer

    8. Lady in South Carolina, her name is Irma

      Irma, working in these hot conditions, that would happen to slaves throughout colonialism

    9. George Herbert, your descendant is a Black

      Herbert was a famous Welsh-born poet, he was born around the time that colonialism took place

    10. As slaves in calico headrags sweated in fields

      Compares the workers in sweatshops to that of slaves

    11. Sweating at her machine in a litter of cotton

      The long hours and tiring conditions in which workers work in

    12. The docker, the navvy. The planter, the picker, the sorter

      The different roles and how all of it connects to make the shirt

    13. Weavers, carders, spinners. The loader,

      Describes the different roles in the workers that work to make these shirts

    14. To wear among the dusty clattering looms

      The consumers that buy and wear these shirts made in these sweatshops

    15. Bailey, MacMartin. The kilt, devised for workers

      A type of clothing being made

    16. By a fabricated heraldry: MacGregor,

      Another type of fabric

    17. To control their savage Scottish workers, tamed

      How the containment of these factories with their strict rules are used to keep the immigrant workers in check

    18. Invented by mill-owners inspired by the hoax of Ossian

      Shows the relationship between the shirts and the laborer's who made them

    19. Houndstooth, Tattersall, Madras. The clan tartans

      The type of fabric and patterns in those fabrics

    20. Or a major chord.   Prints, plaids, checks,

      I like how he used the word chord, as if it correlates to music.

    21. Corners of both pockets, like a strict rhyme

      The strictness of how the clothing is made and how it is always in uniform

    22. Across the placket and over the twin bar-tacked

      Describing the building and the floor he is falling on

    23. Wonderful how the pattern matches perfectly

      The repeat of people jumping out of the building

    24. Like Hart Crane’s Bedlamite, “shrill shirt ballooning.

      The word ballooning, describes how the shirt is being expanded becasue of t he wind as he is falling

    25. Air filling up the legs of his gray trousers—

      The air of him falling going into his pants

    26. And fluttered up from his shirt as he came down

      Oh is this him stepping of the edge of the building to escape the inferno

    27. He stepped to the sill himself, his jacket flared

      He walked into the inferno himself

    28. Her into space, and dropped her. Almost at once

      Did she die ?

    29. Around his neck and kissed him. Then he held

      Being grateful?

    30. A third before he dropped her put her arms 

      She was happy at being alive

    31. To enter a streetcar, and not eternity.

      The death that was occurring at the factory and the death of people falling

    32. And then another. As if he were helping them up

      Fire department helping ?

    33. Away from the masonry wall and let her drop.

      The terrible situations of people leaping of the building to escape an inferno

    34. Up to the windowsill, then held her out

      The people from the factory trying to escape an inferno

    35. Who watched how a young man helped a girl to step

      I'm assuming the young man is either a firefighter, or a sweatshop worker

    36. The witness in a building across the street

      Shows how people witnessed the event, but could not help ?

    37. On the ninth floor, no hydrants, no fire escapes—

      Here goes again with the lack of safety regulations

    38. One hundred and forty-six died in the flames

      These were the people who were trapped in an inferno becasue of the sweatshop lack of safety regulations

    39. At the Triangle Factory in nineteen-eleven.

      This was a historical event, that occurred in 1911, which led to the many reforms of the period to better factory workers rights and regulations

    40. The treadle, the bobbin. The code. The infamous blaze

      This describes how the workers work in a hostile environment, with the work being considered vigorous

    41. The wringer, the mangle. The needle, the union,

      The noise and racket that goes on in the sweatshop

    42. Of cuff I button at my wrist. The presser, the cutter,

      Goes into details the extent of how the shirt is made

    43. This armpiece with its overseam to the band

      Referring back to the making of the shirt in the sweatshop

    44. Or talking money or politics while one fitted

      Another daily thing the workers discuss

    45. Gossiping over tea and noodles on their break

      The daily life and routine of the workers

    46. Turned in a sweatshop by Koreans or Malaysians

      Those shirts are created by the Koreans and Malaysians

    47. The nearly invisible stitches along the collar

      The makings of a shirt

    48. The back, the yoke, the yardage. Lapped seams,

      Is this some sort of factory?

    1. Some of us were craftsmen in the old world, good with our hands and proud of our work.

      How , in their previous country they were proud of themselves, but within a new country with no knowing of how the people are here, they are working in jobs that many immigrants never fathomed of working in.

    2. Some of us were craftsmen in the old world, good with our hands and proud of our work. Others were good with their heads. They used common sense like scholars use glasses and books to reach the world.

      The diversity within immigrants, like how not all of them were blunt labor workers, but were filled with scholars and very intelligent people as well as people who had previously worked in trades

    3. we will now live in. We take tests.

      Another part of the naturalization process that immigrants go through

    4. where counselors orient us to the new land

      How immigrants are thought the laws and way's of life in the new country they are in

    5. Then we gather in another room

      The process of naturalization for immigrants

    6. We are given shots and doctors ask questions.

      This show's us how he had to accommodate with life being behind bars

    7. and we are given overalls like mechanics wear

      How prison, will usually have their inmates wear clothing, that were made for the use of them to be able to work labor jobs in them

    8. our old clothes are taken

      I guess you can take this, like how they make you abandoned your own culture to assimilate

    9. At the gates we are given new papers

      The movement of people between borders, where many immigrants have to pass through

    10. looking for better days ahead.

      Wanting to leave the troubles of the passed behind him

    11. We are born with dreams in our hearts

      Makes me think of the American dream, that many immigrants believe in, and is their reason for coming here to the us

    1. driven by a godawful wind.

      How the wind carried the smell of death in which he could not escape

    2. She burns like a burning bush

      Burning bodies, that surrounded him

    3. to my nostrils.

      Stench of death

    4. She rises like dragonsmoke

      Another beacon for hope

    5. at the edge of a rain forest.

      The setting in which this is based of off, which is Vietnam.

    6. She burns like a field of poppies

      Again with the fire, which in Vietnam was very prevalent with the use of napalms

    7. She burns like a shot glass of vodka.

      Since vodka, is a strong liquor, he might be referencing to how all the death around him stung like that of a vodka drink

    8. at nightfall.

      When ambushes would happen

    9. A tiger under a rainbow

      How the scenery in Vietnam is pretty, but behind it all it was filled with death and misery

    10. silent as quicksilver.

      The deadliness of the Vietcong

    11. of a banker's cigar,

      The butt end of a cigar is usually black and crisp

    12. She glows like the fat tip

      The remains of a body in ash

    13. dipped in gasoline

      Is this refereeing to the burnings that happend in the Vietnam war, with the American napalm bombs

    14. She burns like a cattail torch

      Another image for hope maybe

    15. She burns like oil on water.

      Is he scared that by being with her would be a bad idea

    16. like a sack of dry ice.

      Regret ??

    17. while she burns

      Is this that hope he sees, but does not pursue

    18. hanging at our sides,

      How both are away from one another, like he is scared

    19. We stand with our hands

      Is this him being passive and not pursuing her

    20. dances around herat dusk.

      The setting of the sun, represents beauty and love.

    21. A skirt of flames

      Is this a beacon of hope ?

    22. in a thigh-shaped valley.

      His warmth for embracement

    23. She burns like foxfire

      She emits a light , in his life

    24. she burns like a piece of paper.

      He doesn't want to lose her like how a piece of paper is lost to a fire

    25. inside my head. At daybreak

      Doesn't go a day without thinking about her

    26. belongs to a girl still burning

      His regrets for a girl he still loves

    27. The cry I bring down from the hills

      I take this as a sign of regret, or depression

    1. Or does it explode?

      Spurs of violence regarding the civil rights movements, this is what this line reminds me of.

    2. like a heavy load.

      Heavy load, represents the powerful connotations of the civil rights movement, but also how it brings it self down because of it

    3. Maybe it just sags

      Maybe this is to show, that maybe the civil rights movement, does not lead to equality and instead just sits in dormancy.

    4. like a syrupy sweet?

      I'm assuming, that when the poet used the word syrupy, he refers to how the process of granting equal rights freedoms for African Americans is a long enduring process

    5. Or crust and sugar over

      Is the civil rights movement going to live up to it's dream and provide this equality?

    6. Does it stink like rotten meat?

      Is the dream gonna have a bad taste to it afterward, in a sense of figuratively

    7. And then run?

      What would it be running from?

    8. Or fester like a sore

      Does the dream turn into the thing it sought to go against?

    9. like a raisin in the sun?

      Emphasizing the civil rights movement on being forgotten to how like a raisin gets dried up and useless.

    10. Does it dry up

      The civil rights movement, being left behind and forgotten because of the overshadow of other movements

    11. What happens to a dream deferred?

      Is this referring to the dream of equal rights for African Americans?

    1. Pick the Mac up, told brothers, "Back up, " the Mac spit

      He was protecting his family, as to why he says back up, and the mac spit meaning he fired

    2. And lamp like Capone, with drug scripts sewn

      Referencing Al Capone who was a very popular and dangerous gangster in New York

    3. I ran like a cheetah with thoughts of an assassin

      That he was going to be back for the person who almost killed him

    4. Once they caught us off-guard, the Mac-10 was in the grass and

      That living a life of crime/gang violence's , you are always on the edge of death.

    5. Time to start the revolution, catch a body, head for Houston

      Represents gang violence, that he is exposed to.

    6. Negroes be running through the block shootin'

      How he is exposed to this violence that influences his rap

    7. Reminiscing about the last time the Task Force flipped

      Maybe he is referring to a time where there wasn't violence in rap maybe or in his neighborhood

    8. G-packs get off quick, forever negroes talk stuff

      There are rumors about him, and people talking behind his back

    9. Laughing at baseheads trying to sell some broken amps

      Him mocking the people who are living life in a miserable way instead of pursuing music like him

    10. Or either on the corner betting Grants with the cee-lo champs

      Maybe referring to gambling out in the streets in New York city

    11. I keep some E&J, sitting bent up in the stairway

      What is E&J?

    12. Y'all know my steelo with or without the airplay

      I get the sensation that he likes to brag about his wealth, or his money

    13. Hand me a nine and I'll defeat foes

      When he refers to a nine, I think he means a Glock nine which is a type of pistol, that is a common sidearm for civilians to own

    14. Bullet holes left in my peepholes, I'm suited up in street clothes

      There is violence in his life, but he is always ready

    15. Holding an M-16, see with the pen I'm extreme, now

      The cultural that surrounds rap songs that usually include violence in them, or people always relate rappers to violence

    16. Of pain, I'm like Scarface smelling amphetamines

      Is Scarface another rapper ?

    17. I be kicking, musician, inflictin' composition

      That he is directly affecting and changing the music industry with his rap?

    18. Rappers, I monkey flip 'em with the funky rhythm

      His bars are so good that he compares his competitors as jamming with him becasue of his beat

    19. I don't know how to start this stuff, yo

      Reminds me how rap is generally associated with it always including the word yo in it's songs

    20. Where fake negroes don't make it back

      Where do they not make it back from?

    21. (Word, it's time negro?)

      Some bars are about to be said

    22. Yeah, it's time man (aight negro, begin)

      Start of a rap song

    23. Straight out the friggin dungeons of rap

      Like the start of an old school rap songs, that remind me of Tupac

    24. Yeah yeah, aiyyo black it's time

      Grabs my attention, since it seems like it's directed to the reader

    1. floating perfectly through the net.

      That even with his doubts he was still able to succeed in his life and decisions he made

    2. and swiveling back to see an orange blur

      But he then realizes that even with his doubt, there is still hope, as the orange blur represent the basketball

    3. for the game he loved like a country

      This shows his deep passion, and that without it he would not be where he is today, as many people see sports as a means of life and accomplishment

    4. with a wild, headlong motion

      This shows his emotion, and I take the phrase "headlong motion, as him reflecting upon something

    5. inexplicably falling, hitting the floor

      That even with all the training and having a well organized team, you can still fall down

    6. but losing his balance in the process

      That he goes for the layup, but falls short, showcasing how society sees him

    7. against the glass for a lay-up,

      With the word glass representing the backboard

    8. by himself now and laying it gently 

      Implies the gracefulness of his jump

    9. in a fury, taking the ball into the air

      That all of the teamwork and passes among his teammates led up to this moment for him to take the stance and go for the dunk

    10. while the power-forward explodes past them

      The confidence is really implied here, especially in context with the phrase "explodes past them"

    11. and commits to the wrong man

      Shows how the author is confident, as he suggest that the player made a mistake by taking him on

    12. until the guard finally lunges out   

      The defensive player taking action on the author, as a guard in basketball is a defensive position

    13. a single bounce hitting the hardwood

      With teamwork, the ball does not have to touch the floor as the players pass it to one another

    14. between them without a dribble, without 

      Show's how he is show correlated with his team that they pass it to each other with out the ball even reaching the floor

    15. together as brothers passing the ball

      In order to be successful in a sport you need to have confidence in your team to come out on top

    16. and filling the lanes in tandem, moving 

      This is in correlation to the various places you can shoot your shot in basketball, like a 3 point shot, or a 1 point shot

    17. the way that forwards should, fanning out

      He looks up to the forward, which is a position, and usually people who are forwards are one of the teams important players as they are the ones to make most of the shots and are usually the most powerful players

    18. both forwards racing down the court

      I think this corelates to how people chase their dreams

    19. like a coach’s drawing on the blackboard,

      The coach acting as a means of the choice he was given, and how his life is in comparison to a black board, as it has already been layed out and planned out

    20. in slow motion, almost exactly

      This is a reference to how he just takes in life by the moment and cherishes it.

    21. letting the play develop in front of him

      This showcases how he just lets his life happen, and just goes along with it. Instead of regretting his past choices he just goes with the flow

    22. of a high, gliding dribble and a man 

      Refers to how the crowd perceives the players, as graceful and how he misses and opportunity

    23. in the wrong direction, trying to catch sight

      That maybe the author regrets some of his past decisions in life, and is tying to catch a glimpse at what could've been

    24. who looks stunned and nailed to the floor   

      He is surprised that he was able to achieve his goal, but is still held down by society

    25. scissoring past a flat-footed defender

      Scissoring in literature may have to do with an emotional trauma that requires healing

    26. an underhand pass toward the other guard   

      The corporation of basketball between teammates, and how teamwork is key in the game of basketball

    27. to the outlet who is already shoveling

      The outlet could mean that big decision that his is trying to overcome

    28. and spinning around to throw a strike   

      This represents how he is ready to make his move in his life, so he takes his chance

    29. from the air like a cherished possession

      That if he does not make this shot this could means his career, and by using the word cherished and possession it shows the importance of basketball

    30. perfectly, gathering the orange leather

      How players will be moving around the court together as a team, and orange leather representing the basketball

    31. boxes out his man and times his jump

      He timed his play with accuracy, as in basketball players usually wait to strike for the best moment to get a dunk or take a shot

    32. and for once our gangly starting center   

      Gangly- means a tall and thin and moving person with a loose-jointed awkwardness.

    33. hangs there, helplessly, but doesn’t drop,

      Someone not being able to let go

    34. A hook shot kisses the rim and

      The author expressing his love for basketball, in reference in them taking action

    1. I call for you

      Her advising or telling the inmates some wisdom

    2. long blows that you want to give and blows you are going to get.

      Well, now I can interpret this as her trying to say that by being good and showing kind acts is greater than restoring back to criminals ways of doing things. As this is her talking to the inmates in the cell

    3. Where it is dry.

      She uses this phrase again to showcase the significance of dryness, which I took it as boredom, which I can see how being in a cell can be really boring/dry

    4. in the chalk and choke

      is this referring how someone could feel claustrophobic from being in a cell, or how one feels lost or pressed down from being confined

    5. in the many many mornings-after;

      How prisoners serve long sentences, and those sentences can be seen as ongoing repeating days, kind of like Deja vu

    6. in the non-cheering dark,

      refers to the confinement of the darkness and sadness of confinement in a cell

    7. I call for youcultivation of strength to heal and enhance

      Here again the author creates the sense that this person is once again calling for help to redeem themselves and begin to be a better person.

    8. Overwhat wants to crumble you down, to sickenyou.

      The confinement of a cell creates this sensation of depravity and sadness that can overcome a person.

    9. Over

      Since she uses this twice, I take it that this means that the person is trying to overcome something?

    10. cultivation of victory Overlong blows that you want to give and blows you are going to get.

      Here she references how she is trying to overcome a challenge

    11. I call for you

      She needs help of some sort

    12. Where it is dry.Where it is dry.

      Does this mean that they are saying that they are bored, in sense with the word dry usually being used to express boredom, or not descriptive

    13. Under the wolves and coyotes of particular silences.

      Wolves in literature usually symbolizes danger or destruction, it can also mean courage, strength and loyalty

    14. in the hot paralysis.

      That there is going to be conflict

    15. in the vertigo cold.

      A time where they are confused or lost

    16. Dark gardening

      That all of her good aspects in life are swallowed in darkness or negative aspects

    17. I call for you cultivation of strength in the dark.

      I interpret this as the author wanting to acquire strength through difficult times.

    1. Nor any Placard boast me ‑Itʹs full as Opera

      Even though, her talent isn't showcased in postcards, she still gets an audience to her shows

    2. Nor any know I know the ArtI mention ‑ easy ‑ Here ‑Nor any Placard boast me ‑Itʹs full as Opera

      That she doesn't brag about how she is talented, and because nobody knows of her art

    3. Till I was out of sight, in sound,The House encore me so

      She returns back to her world, away from crowds and people.

    4. And though I had no Gown of Gauze ‑No Ringlet, to my Hair,Nor hopped for Audiences ‑ like Birds ‑One Claw opon the air

      That even though she did not have the things to enhance her beauty, she worked with what she had and was proud, therefore reflecting how she is self independent and does not rely on others opinions

    5. That had I Ballet Knowledge ‑Would put itself abroadIn Pirouette to blanch a Troupe ‑Or lay a Prima, mad,

      If she was able to dance, she would dream of it, as she references how she would put itself abroad.

    6. No Man instructed me ‑

      She is her own person, and no man will have influence on her, showing how she is independent and does not rely on anyone

    7. I cannot dance opon my Toes

      When I read this, I guess this shows how the author is not self confidant and maybe struggles with some kind of insecurities

  2. Apr 2021
    1. , the team received immediate backlash. Head coach John Sung extended his apology for the team’s actions

      in order for us as a society to move forward and progress, it first comes with stopping the usage of a word that in it's infancy had such a negative connotation, idk why we still use it today.

    2. “Freaky Friday” by Lil Dicky featuring Chris Brown, which uses “n-----” in the lyrics. The song tells the story of a white man, Lil Dicky, who switches bodies with a mixed man, Chris Brown, and then asks if he can say the N-word now since he is black.

      I see this as spreading awareness of society double standard and what we as society believe

    3. Clearly, those on the far-right and neo-Nazis

      There are still people that use the word in its racial sense in todays world, there is no escape from that reality, as racism will never fully disappear, but we can still try to make the world better.

    4. “N-----” is, undoubtedly, offensive.

      Why is the word still being popularized in music and within the black community?

    5. He asserts that white people have been raised in a society whose laws and culture communicates that “everything belongs to you

      This statement seems to be very one sided, and that if we really see the lives of both blacks and whites, how we live really isn't that different, and that in the end we are still both humans, that we know for a fact.

    6. He argues that white people can’t seem to accept this because of white privilege.

      I do not think this is the case, as I think most people are good natured and mean well

    7. The normalization of the word in pop culture has led to some white people also saying the word

      That by normalizing the word, I see that we in society are progressing backwards in terms of using the N-word and racism.