She spent at least a quarter of an hour on each baller-dancing figurine.
She said “Years ago” so the domestic violence has been an on-going issue. Maybe she polishes the figurines because they represent hope, her childhood dreams, or maybe innocence?
I meant to say I am sorry Papa broke your figurines, but the words that came out were “I’m sorry your figurines broke, Mama.”
The wording here is important because she’s not apologizing for her father or excusing his actions. Instead, she is apologizing to her mother for her loss. She’s showing her mother that her feelings matter, especially since her mother immediately tries to down play the situation.
Where the hills are the colours of a child’s eyes, where my children are distances, horizons:
This is personification, it’s almost as if the land (Ireland) was her child too.
At night, on the edge of sleep, I can see the shore of Dublin Bay. Its rocky sweep and its granite pier.
So she’s an immigrant from Ireland and she’s homesick.
This is personification, it’s almost as if the land (Ireland) was her child too.
The colonizers wanted them to assimilate to their culture and attempted to mold them into what they deemed acceptable. It’s strange to her because she feels that their culture pales in comparison to hers
Borrowed images willed our skins pale muffled our laughter lowered our voices let out our hems dekinked our hair denied our sex in gym tunics and bloomers harnessed our voices to madrigals and genteel airs yoked our minds to declensions in Latin and the language of Shakespeare
This is a statement on identity. The colonizers silenced their voices, controlled what they wore, replaced their schooling to that of European history, and made them feel like they had to straighten their natural hair and bleach their skin to conform to their beauty standards. Now she doesn’t even know who she is.
Africans will fight
Very similar to Marx in the sense that he wants the oppressed group to revolt or fight for their freedom
good over evil
He sees the conflict that creates war as good vs. evil. He thinks these clashes reflect an absence of peace and are basically a result of class conflict, racial inequity, oppressive and corrupt governments, and slavery.
If you listen by that grave, in sun and shower, With your ear down, little Alice never cries ; Could we see her face, be sure we should not know her,
Little Alice is dead, such a sad situation. Yet the author is putting a positive spin on it here. I feel like this emphasizes just how miserable their life is, to be able to find solace in death.
But, no !” say the children, weeping faster, ” He is speechless as a stone ; And they tell us, of His image is the master Who commands us to work on. Go to ! ” say the children,—”up in Heaven, Dark, wheel-like, turning clouds are all we find ! Do not mock us ; grief has made us unbelieving — We look up for God, but tears have made us blind.” Do ye hear the children weeping and disproving, O my brothers, what ye preach ? For God’s possible is taught by His world’s loving — And the children doubt of each.
The children don't have a relationship with God because they no longer believe in him. They are tormented all day but god doesnt anwer their prayers. People tell them that "man is made in the image of God" but that would mean that their masters (who oppress and abuse them) are made in his image as well. This leaves the children to wonder whether or not "God is good" at all. They don't believe they'll experience heaven, they were taught that good is real because the world is loving but since the world has never been loving to them they doubt his existence.
cerement
A waxed cloth used for wrapping corpses
Alas, the wretched children ! they are seeking Death in life, as best to have ! They are binding up their hearts away from breaking, With a cerement from the grave. Go out, children, from the mine and from the city — Sing out, children, as the little thrushes do — Pluck you handfuls of the meadow-cowslips pretty Laugh aloud, to feel your fingers let them through ! But they answer, ” Are your cowslips of the meadows Like our weeds anear the mine ? Leave us quiet in the dark of the coal-shadows, From your pleasures fair and fine!
The narrator of the poem is advocating for the children but they are addressing two different points of view, that of the children working in the mines and factories, and that of their adult oppressors/ society. Here the adults are criticizing the children for wanting to die. They seem very dismissive and lack empathy and awareness of the childrens suffering. Theyre telling the children to go play, laugh, and pick flowers in the meadow and in response the children are basically saying that those pleasures are inaccessible to them because unlike their oppressors they dont live a life of privilege, and instead, Their needs go unnoticed in the dark of the coal mines.
For all day, the wheels are droning, turning, — Their wind comes in our faces, — Till our hearts turn, — our heads, with pulses burning, And the walls turn in their places Turns the sky in the high window blank and reeling — Turns the long light that droppeth down the wall, — Turn the black flies that crawl along the ceiling — All are turning, all the day, and we with all ! — And all day, the iron wheels are droning ; And sometimes we could pray, ‘O ye wheels,’ (breaking out in a mad moaning) ‘Stop ! be silent for to-day !
They work in the factories all day. They turn the wheels til they are sick and everything appears to be turning and they pray that it would stop.
.
Frost formed on cold objects by the rapid freezing of water vapor in cloud or fog.
ears
I want to understand what the author is trying to convey in regards to the preoccupation with sound ( bells sing a sound, blind man hears, warble, chimes, etc.)
Persephone
Greek God that is used as symbolism for the change of the seasons
The tongue stuck in my jaw. It stuck in a barb wire snare.
There's a lot of Holocaust imagery In this poem. It seems as if she resents her father for being overbearing as well as being a nazi, but is torn because at the end of the day he was still her father and she lost him.
used to pray to recover you.
She contradicts herself. Above she says "Daddy, I have had to kill you." As if it was something done out of need, yet hear she says she used to pray to recover him. She seems conflicted
In ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebeians, slaves; in the Middle Ages, feudal lords, vassals, guild-masters, journeymen, apprentices, serfs
Marx is referencing social ranks of the past so that the proletariat's can be hyper-aware of their oppression and lack of power. He wants them to Identify with these lower social classes, feel outrage at their situation, and inspire them to revolt against the bourgeois.
The Manifesto also serves as an outlining and solution of the struggles between the Bourgeois VS Proletarians AKA the Capitalist VS the working class
Karl Marx believed that in order to understand human history you have to see it as a series of conflicts between the rich and the poor. He wanted to overthrow capitalism and create a classless society so he made the Communist Manifesto to appeal to the proletarians
And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim,- In the old times, before he threw away his knees.
The author is probably anti-war. They keep comparing his present life to his past life (as well as positive imagery vs. negative imagery) which further accentuates how dreadful his current life is.
He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark, And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey
Immediately the author uses color to set the mood of the poem.
My view along my studies, then, is as follows: In addition to our immediate consciousness, which is of a thoroughly personal nature and which we believe to be the only empirical psyche (even if we tack on the personal unconscious as an appendix), there exists a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals. This collective unconscious does not develop individually, but is inherited. It consists of pre- existent forms, the archetypes, which can only become conscious secondarily and which give definite form to certain psychic contents.
We have our conscious which is personal and based on experience (nurture) and we have another mental system which is identical in all people and inherited (nature)
So basically, the collective unconscious is not something we obtain through our experiences but rather something we inherit.
Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
This makes me think of the phrase "bury my head in the sand" which means that someone either trying to avoid or ignore something or pretend a situation doesn’t exist. Maybe the author is insinuating that this king was in denial or too self-important to see the truth about something
Ozymandias
Ozymandias was the Greek name for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II
In Breughel’s Icarus, for instance:
Here he uses Breughel’s Icarus as an example to support his idea regarding the nature of human suffering
About suffering they were never wrong, The old Masters: how well they understood Its human position: how it takes place
I feel like the essential idea of this poem is that human suffering was perfectly understood by past artists
I cannot understand. Like Picasso— Why he always show A man with funny shape Head and body all mixed up? I think It is all nonsensical.
Ross Hamilton is his favorite artist because his words are filled with meaning and he says he can’t understand Picasso’s art because to him its nonsensical. Maybe that is why he likes music, because he tries to find a significance in everything. There are rarely hidden implications in music, words deliver a message and the rhythm, beat and tempo further support that message (or set that “mood”). It delivers a pretty clear message as opposed to poetry and art which are more likely to have veiled meanings.
I don’t like poetry Very much. I like music.
He doesn’t like poetry because it doesn’t evoke the same sentiments and excitement that he experiences with music.
“What is our life so full of care We got no time to stand and stare?”
He likes the rhythm of music hence why the poetry that he actually does quote, is poetry that rhymes (rhyming gives it rhythm, like a song)
He seems consumed with his pain. Did his wife pass away? It seems like he either played a role in her passing or he is guilt ridden about something he did to her during her lifetime
This doesn’t feel like a love poem to me. I feel like it’s almost like a plea to god. He feels wounded about something relating to his wife and wants his penalty to reflect his inner turmoil.
As my days pass in the crowded market of this world and my hands grow full with the daily profits, let me ever feel that I have gained nothing
He doesn’t want to forget his loss. He seems to feel guilty about something and is intent on punishing himself for it
we grow into smaller bodies, my breasts disappear.
Her mother died, her father suffered from substance abuse and there is mention of sexual abuse. It seems like her violent family past has left her living in the past. It feels like she’s regressing and retreating into herself.
I’ll rewrite this whole life and this time there’ll be so much love,
I feel like the author wants to reverse time and rewrite their whole family history.
You won’t be able to see beyond it,
The title of the poem is “backwards” and the poem repeats itself as if going backwards
“You are old, Father William,” the young man said, “And your hair has become very white; And yet you incessantly stand on your head – Do you think, at your age, it is right?
In this version of the poem the elderly man is childish and silly. I think Lewis Carroll is poking fun at how prim, proper, and boring Victorian society is.
How cheerfully he seems to grin How neatly spreads his claws
This poem asks how does the little crocodile improves its tail. Perhaps its insinuating that the little crocodile is vain or self-serving. It mentions how it grins “cheerfully”, a quality that shows goodness/ kindness. However, it is also simultaneously spreading its claws (something that can be perceived as a threat, which makes the smile a deceptive or misleading action). He welcomes little fishes with his smile, presumably to eat them. Overall the poem is depicting the crocodile in a negative light.
In the days of my youth, Father William replied, I remember’d that youth would fly fast, And abused not my health and my vigour at first That I never might need them at last.
This poem is told from the perspective of an elderly man and a young boy. The elderly man is telling the boy to cherish his childhood because he regrets not doing so. He’s suggesting to the boy that he should take advantage of all the advantages of youth.
In works of labor or of skill, I would be busy too; For Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do.
It seems that this poem is about a hard-working bee whom takes pride and great care in its work. The author is emphasizing that those who don’t work, are up to no good. It ends with the thought that a day is good only when it is spent reading, working, or in a way that’s beneficial to oneself.
‘I had not!’ cried the Mouse, sharply and very angrily. ‘A knot!’ said Alice, always ready to make herself useful, and looking anxiously about her. ‘Oh, do let me help to undo it!’
Word play again: the mouse says “not” and Alice confuses it with its homophone “knot’
‘Mine is a long and a sad tale!’ said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing. ‘It is a long tail, certainly,’ said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse’s tail; ‘but why do you call it sad?’ And she kept on puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was something like this:— ‘Fury said to a mouse, That he met in the house, “Let us both go to law: I will prosecute you.—Come, I’ll take no denial; We must have a trial: For really this morning I’ve nothing to do.” Said the mouse to the cur, “Such a trial, dear Sir, With no jury or judge, would be wasting our breath.” “I’ll be judge, I’ll be jury,” Said cunning old Fury: “I’ll try the whole cause, and condemn you to death.”’
Carroll is one again playing with language here. The mouse says he has a long sad tale (in reference to a story) and Alice misunderstands and glances at the mouse’s “tail”. Carroll then plays with the content and form of the poem by making it a sad (very sad, especially considering it’s about an adult topic like death) tale in the shape of a tail.
I’ll soon make you dry enough!’ They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon. ‘Ahem!’ said the Mouse with an important air, ‘are you all ready? This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! “William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria—“’
Here Carroll utilizes the Homonym "dry" as a language trick. He recites “dry” or boring literature in an attempt to physically dry the wet animals.
‘Well!’ thought Alice to herself, ‘after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they’ll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn’t say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!’ (Which was very likely true.)
Carroll disguises an adult theme in there with some humor. “Which was very likely true.” implies that she wouldn’t say anything about it because if she fell off the top of the house in real life, she would be dead.
Laura bow’d her head to hear, Lizzie veil’d her blushes:
This quote foreshadows the events of the poem. Laura’s curiosity and coyness puts her in the position to be tempted by the fruit of the goblin men and Lizzie's self-control and demure nature kept her safe from their temptation.
“You have much gold upon your head,” They answer’d all together: “Buy from us with a golden curl.” Image 2 by D.G. Rossetti She clipp’d a precious golden lock, She dropp’d a tear more rare than pearl,
The use of gold in this poem represents purity. The girls have golden hair in the same way angels have golden halos. When Laura clipped her golden hair and gave it to the goblins. She gave a piece of herself (her purity) to them.
Then fell with the first snow, While to this day no grass will grow Where she lies low: I planted daisies there a year ago That never blow.
This is a warning to women to be abstinent. Jeanie indulged in her sinful pleasures (she ate the fruit of the goblin men) and died. Lizzie planted daisies at her grave but they didn’t grow because daises are a symbol of purity and innocence. Jeanie died impure because she did not practice premarital chastity, and therefore the daises couldn’t grow.
Like two blossoms on one stem, Like two flakes of new-fall’n snow, Like two wands of ivory
These are all things that are affiliated with each other. This implies that the two sisters have a strong bond or connection.
When I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain, Before high-pilèd books, in charactery, Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain; When I behold, upon the night’s starred face, Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
This poem is similar to "the living hand now warm and capable" because they are both a bit gloomy and are centered around death, however this one appears less angry. This one seems to be saying that he fears dying before he can write all his knowledge on paper and before he experiences love.
So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood So in my veins red life might stream again, And thou be conscience-calm’d–see here it is–
Here I think he is saying that even if he were dead he would haunt them and that they would wish that they were the one dead, so that he could be alive and their conscious would be clear.
That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood So in my veins red life might stream again, And thou be conscience-
This makes me wonder if they betrayed him. Did he have to die so they can stay alive? Its emanating an eerie, morbid, treacherous mood.
This living hand, now warm and capable Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold And in the icy silence of the tomb, So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
I think he is saying that his hands are alive and capable of touch, but that he would make contact with the person even if they were cold and dead in a tomb.
“They are both gone up to the church to pray. Because I was happy upon the heath, And smil’d among the winter’s snow, They clothed me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe. And because I am happy and dance and sing, They think they have done me no injury, And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King, Who make up a heaven of our misery.”
He is aware of how church ,state and his parent have failed and exploited him. He isn't blissfully looking to religion for strength. similar to "The Tyger" The chimney sweep has lost his innocence, and no longer trusts god.
As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight! That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack, Were all of them locked up in coffins of black; And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he opened the coffins & set them all free; Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run, And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.
despite his horrible life, religion gave Tom Dacre hope. I see parallels with "The Lamb" who also put its hope and trust on god. It shows the same sense of naivety and innocence.
And water’d heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
the child is asking how god (who made the innocent and pure lamb) could make the evil scary tiger) seems like he is questioning if god is good. It shows he is losing his faith in god.
I a child & thou a lamb, We are called by his name.
He has faith in god
Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
This shows innocence because the child is questioning how the lamb was created. the child is lacks knowledge of god and is trying to understand him or inquiring about him
Tyger
In the bible: the tiger symbolizes cruelty, treachery and martyrdom, evil
Lamb
Although Blake hated organized religion, I am keeping in mind that he studied the bible.
In the bible the lamb signifies innocence, purity, goodness
stingless drones
Drone bees do not have stingers because they do not gather nectar or pollen, as opposed to the rest of their colony. Shelley is insinuating that the bourgeois, or in this case the drones, do nothing while the proletariat's act as worker bees and do everything.
statute
Statute: A written law passed by a legislative body.
Men of England, wherefore plough For the lords who lay ye low? Wherefore weave with toil and care The rich robes your tyrants wear? Wherefore feed and clothe and save From the cradle to the grave
I noticed a pattern with the rhyming in this poem. The last word of each sentence rhymes with the last word of the following sentence. Example: plough-low, care-wear, save-grave, etc.
The seed ye sow, another reaps;
Shelley is referring to bourgeois who get rich off the labor of the proletariat's.The working class do all the work, but the wealthy are the ones who benefit from it.
One day, when I was oppressed by cold, I found a fire which had been left by some wandering beggars, and was overcome with delight at the warmth I experienced from it. In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain. How strange, I thought, that the same cause should produce such opposite effects!
The fire could symbolize scientific exploration. Overall it is a good thing but too much of a good thing is bad (hence why he burns his hand).
Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with and acquire knowledge from beings of a superior nature, but I was wretched, helpless, and alone. Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me
So he longs for a relationship with his creator similar to that which Adam had with God. He wants to speak to and acquire knowledge from Frankenstein like Adam did with God. He feels helpless and alone and relates to the devil as opposed to Adam because he is envious of everyone else's happiness.
Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel
This is a bible reference: God created Adam and Eve in his own image. Their purpose was to live a happy life on earth. (Genesis 2:15)
The fallen angel is reference to Lucifer (the devil)
dæmon
A dæmon /ˈdiːmən/ is a type of fictional being in the Philip Pullman fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials. Dæmons are the external physical manifestation of a person's 'inner-self' that takes the form of an animal. Dæmons have human intelligence, are capable of human speech—regardless of the form they take—and usually behave as though they are independent of their humans.
(in ancient Greek belief) a divinity or supernatural being of a nature between gods and humans.
The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep.
This was surprising to me because he showed such great perseverance during the conception of his monster, but displays such cowardice upon its arrival. So far there are not many positive characteristics assigned to his personality.
I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet.
The lecture mentioned that Shelly knew of experiments that animated corpses using electricity and that she formulated her plot at a time when modern science was developing. Perhaps the negative characteristics she assigned to Victor Frankenstein is a projection of her own beliefs on scientific experimentation and those who carried them out.
Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay? My limbs now tremble, and my eyes swim with the remembrance; but then a resistless and almost frantic impulse urged me forward; I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit.
It is interesting that he is self-aware and recognizes that his actions are morally reprehensible, yet doesn’t allow that to deter him.
. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs.
It is very apparent that Victor Frankenstein was extrinsically motivated. His goal was not to feel self-accomplished, but to be praised and recognized as creator of a species. This quote is an ideal example of his narcissism.
Exalted by their inferiority (this sounds like a contradiction) they constantly demand homage as women, though experience should teach them that the men who pride themselves upon paying this arbitrary insolent respect to the sex, with the most scrupulous exactness, are most inclined to tyrannize over, and despise the very weakness they cherish.
I see her point. Many women make due with being admired for their beauty rather than working towards a life of equality. They are often glorified for being "submissive" or “weak” because it is synonymous with feminine charm. But the same men who praise these qualities tend to simultaneously bash them and habitually regard women as inferior to them.
let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.
This is a bible verse (Corinthians 15:32) It basically means to "just be content with what you get, because it will all be over soon". In this context we see it being used as the self-deceptive rationalization of an oppressed group.
why do women, I write with affectionate solicitude, condescend to receive a degree of attention and respect from strangers, different from that reciprocation of civility which the dictates of humanity, and the politeness of civilization authorise between man and man? And why do they not discover, when “in the noon of beauty’s power,” that they are treated like queens only to be deluded by hollow respect, till they are led to resign, or not assume, their natural prerogatives? Confined then in cages, like the feathered race, they have nothing to do but to plume themselves, and stalk with mock-majesty from perch to perch.
My interpretation of this is that women allow themselves to be patronized and spoken down to in an effort to receive attention and respect from strangers, but it is not the type of respect and civility that would transpire between two men. They are treated like queens because of their attractiveness, but are not truly valued. They are led to give up their natural rights (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) and instead are locked away at home with a false sense of importance and nothing to do except primp and concern themselves with outward beauty.
obsequious
Obsequious: Obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.
Every time I am home I am confronted with the usual sources of irritation for most Nigerians: our failed infrastructure, our failed government, but also by the incredible resilience of people who thrive despite the government, rather than because of it.
I like how Adichie abides by the lesson she is trying to deliver. Despite her home visits being an unpleasant reminder of all the ways Nigeria is stereotyped, she concedes to the fact that their government is failing. However, she also acknowledges the resilience of the people who have succeeded by their own will. Definitely no single story there.
when we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise.
In my opinion this quote is expressing that when we view life through filtered lens we are not embracing it in its wholeness. When we let go of the typecast that we assign people (often as a result of medias agenda-setting or our own preconceived stereotypes), we can find satisfaction in our acceptance of the truth.
I wrote exactly the kinds of stories I was reading: All my characters were white and blue-eyed, they played in the snow, they ate apples, and they talked a lot about the weather, how lovely it was that the sun had come out. Now, this despite the fact that I lived in Nigeria.I had never been outside Nigeria.We didn’t have snow, we ate mangoes,and we never talked about the weather,because there was no need to. My characters also drank a lot of ginger beer, because the characters in the British books I read drank ginger beer. Never mind that I had no idea what ginger beer was.
This is exactly why diversity is so important! Lack of representation leaves children feeling isolated in their experiences. Inclusion validates the reader and communicates that their skin, their culture, and their struggle, is valued and not exclusive to just them.
If I had not grown up in Nigeria, and if all I knew about Africa were from popular images, I too would think that Africa was a place of beautiful landscapes, beautiful animals, and incomprehensible people, fighting senseless wars, dying of poverty and AIDS, unable to speak for themselves and waiting to be saved by a kind, white foreigner. I would see Africans in the same way that I, as a child, had seen Fide’s family.
I definitely think shes appealing to logos here. In her self-reflection she finds parallels in how she viewed her own domestic help and how her roommate perceived her.