A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man- evaluation:  conveys a message that somehow even through the prostitutes and urine sniffing hit close to home. As a junior in high school it's time to start figuring out where we would like to head in life. A lot of the time the struggle is where you see yourself, where you hope to see yourself and where my mom would like to see me. I found myself intrigued by the bravery of Stephen as he took control of his own life. I could only read and imagine in admiration as he chose to walk the path of uncertainty even through the disapproval of his on looking parents. I myself could never imagine myself being so sure of my future to do as Stephen did. In that sense I felt a connection and a level of admiration of Stephen which attached me to this novel. However, often times i found myself struggling to find this message within the simple confines of the novel. I found myself researching for clues on what I had just read as well as finding out piece by piece through group discussions. I admire the style of writing and think it to be very clever and effective for the message meant to get across. I enjoyed the extremely of Stephen and the rare glimpse into his mind. It was compelling to know his every though. He could not hide, no veil could shield the reader from his most embarrassing and shameful thoughts. At times his thoughts were extremely radical, which is what makes the novel what it is. To be able to follow someone through their journey of self discovery through such passionate thoughts was interesting and provided great insights into the extend of the human mind. All in all, I enjoyed the  overall message conveyed rather than the complex way of telling it.

Overall  message:

The overall theme found in “A Portrait of the artist as a young man” is the struggle of mankind to find one’s true self. In thanks largely to the style of how the book was written. As we are taken through the complex process of Stephen’s various phases of growing up we experience with him the harshness of being different. We feel the tug as he cannot control his urges. We feel the loneliness when he cannot seem to make a connection with his school mates. We experience his inner most private thoughts to recognize the hole left  by the disapproval of himself. The struggle is proved when he tortures himself by inhaling the putrid smells of urine in order to practice self discipline that he feels he lacks. He tortures himself through the night by not scratching an itch, or not changing his sleeping positions. Simple rituals such as these just to grasp a hold of himself. The true self infliction is shown through his interpretation of his priest’s sermon on hell. The imagery conveyed of tortured souls screaming and burning walls opens up a portal of the self loathe he feels. It is not until the fourth chapter that Stephen easies up on himself. His struggle to find himself begins to shine light through his change in thoughts. He finds himself as a more complex man than his colleagues as they splash in the river. He finds solemn in the safety of his own thoughts. His true identity is realized as he breaks away from the religion which has been torturing him and the parents who have been confiding him. He goes off on his own and his self discovery is complete as he finds peace within himself to  be content with his disobedience to his parents and his choice to study at the university instead.  Stephen realizes his role as an artist appreciative of what the world has to offer and has no shame. The shift in the point of view expresses Stephen’s readiness to write his own story instead of other’s dictating it.

Analysis of passage:

“ March, morning: thought this in bed last night but was too lazy and free  to add it. Free, yes. “(270)

Although this passage is just one sentence from a simple journal entry the words written symbolize more than the simplicity of its image. Just a few chapters back Stephen lay awake in his bed torturing himself. His thoughts ran wild with eternal conflict as his head span around with torturous thoughts. He lie awake not moving his uncomfortable positions in hope of obtaining self- discipline. In his own dormitory where he lay awake nights contemplating the legitimacy of his lifestyle. His room where he obsessively dedicated his time to religion just a few chapters back. That same Stephen is now “free”. In the same setting of a casual room. His thoughts had moved on from his own self struggle to thinking about his friends. “free”. The word holds so much impact for a man such as Stephen. For Stephen to be free is for Stephen to be fulfilled. Fulfilled from the guilt especially during the silence that fills our minds with irrational thoughts in the hours of before and after going to sleep. This short little journal entry is just another significant piece of Stephen’s journey of self actualization.

Woman Work

Woman Work

By: Maya Angelou

Page 271

Maya Angelou starts off the poem with the repetition of an idea. Starting off with the word the, she then follows it with a spit fire of all the chores she must accomplish. Such as, “The floor to mop The food to shop the chicken to fry The baby to dry” a feel of rushed over whelming is felt adding to the effect of the poem. The struggle of this women is felt as she uses repetition to show how much she must actually get done in a day. Simply reading all her chores is enough to exhaust the reader. Also, the repetition of the use of natural elements add to this the tale of this poem. IT allows the reader to get to know the woman as connected to nature while giving us a strong sense of the wide open out doors. She speaks of “Sun, rain, curving sky Mountain, oceans, lead and stone” Her repetition of these outdoor scenarios come into great effect because out of all the things she may mention she mentions the freest, broadest places such as the ocean and mountains. She mentions areas where one can get lost; giving us an insight into her conscience.  

 The next literary device is personification. “ Shine on me, sunshine” Angelou speaks to the elements of weather. With this line she shows the strength of woman taking on all that is thrown whether it be the pleasant feel of the sunshine to the miserable rain. Adding to the poems intent to empower the woman. Personification is next used when she speaks to the storm, “ Storm, blow me from here with your fiercest wind Let me float across the sky “Til I can rest again” These words indirectly make us aware of how exhausted this woman is.  She speaks to the storm of just allowing her to float peacefully; get away from all the hard work.

               This poem shows the struggle of a woman who does not have a lot. It shows the struggle of having so much to take care of; and the struggle to maintain a home. Her lines such as “ Star shine, moon glow you’re al that I can call my own” show that she is a struggler. She doesn’t have all the riches and nice things so she must resort to the nature surrounding her.  This poem allows us to feel the amount of pressure and stress that is never recognized. Although she isn’t off doing things such as hunting for food and all, the simple tasks when piled on is draining.  The poem allows us into the mind of a dreamer and the outlet nature provides.

Poem Selection

On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High

By:  D.C. Berry

Page  273

Berry uses imagery and metaphors simultaneously in order to convey his message in his poem, On reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High.  First, he compares students to “frozen fish in a package”.  He uses this image of frozen fish with the metaphor in order to convey the message that these students are a product of the school’s foundation. When thinking of frozen fish, we think of perfectly aligned stiff and a blank stare. This image helps convey the message the author is trying to accomplish. It gives us the message that these students, at first meeting is blank minded, jumping on every word this teacher walking in might have to say. Later on in the poem Berry continues with the theme of fish, “I knew that though I had to drown them with my words that they had opened up like gills for them and let me in.” This imagery conveys a message that these students open up “like gills” could be interoperated as them opening up their minds to him. This is the students soaking up every word he says following his conclusions instead of making up their own. Them “swimming together in a room” makes one think of  a school of fish swimming together; not questioning where to the leader is taking them.  The strong imagery and metaphors of learning and fish coinciding bring forth the feel of a very flowing learning environment so intense as “like thirty tails whacking words till the bell rang”. These students completely allow their teacher into their minds absorbing his words. The teacher becomes so enthralled in this world he is only brought back to reality when “ Queen Elizabeth my cat met me and licked my fins till they were hands again”.  Showing that teachers also become very involved in their classroom sessions.

The use of imagery and metaphors are what makes this poem what it is. It is based off the feelings you receive when imagining the words he lays on paper. The literary devices found in this poem are exactly what make it.  It really speaks of the educational systems influence and the power teachers possess to shape the minds of their students.

This poem seemed to have appealed to an emotional sense. When reading it  I got a euphoric feeling where the words more so jumped off the page than it was text. I took away from this poem, a strong sense of group unity. The metaphor of students to fish provdied a pack mentality of unification and a whole classroom connected on a mental level. The poem conveyed the message of how influential a classroom could be to those students who open up their minds which can be taken in a good way and or a bad way.
A teacher may bend their minds in any which direction they choose because like fish, they just follow their leader. The teacher eventually finds himself sucked in as well, loving the power he holds. IT speaks to the passion this teacher has on what is assumed the subject being poetry by the title.  The poet tries to give us, the reader the carried away feel he recieves. Thus, allowing us into his passionate views of poetry.

"We"

A theme found in "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin is the struggle between two ideas. D-503 struggles between conforming into what his society tells him is right to what he feels. I-330 opens up his mind to an  ulterior mind- set where the world isn't all numbers, there is passion and love. D-503 spends much of the novel so hung up and confused as to what to believe is right he often leaves off his diary entries unsaid. I- 330 will like him to think for himself, but as soon as he starts to feel emotions different from what his society tells him is acceptable he shuts down. He even says how he hates I-303 for showing him these emotions. Ultimately, his society's grip over whelms him and he disappoints us all by allowing himself to be brain washed and watch I-330 be tortured.

"She has taken R from me
She has taken O from me
and yet.. and yet.." 
This is my favorite quote from the novel, "We" simply because just a few words holds such  emotion and opens a window into D-503's mind. I like how the quote ends abruptly because he cannot bare to finish what he is thinking. He is falling in love with I-303 although she is making his life so extremely difficult.  She is opening up his world and his mind and in some ways he hates her for it, or rather he feels he should hate her for it, but all he has is this weird feeling of love in which he has never experienced before. Going along with D-503 and I-303's effect on him is when I-3o3 seduces D-503. I found this scene almost comical because he has no clue what to do. He is feeling things he had never felt before, previously a pink slip was shallow, and un emotional yet here he is consumed in thought about this woman. "She had on a light dress of an old-fashioned cut, saffron-yellow. This was a thousand times more evil than wearing nothing at all." In this scene she has successfully done what she wanted. She wanted him to see a world outside of what he knows, and feel outside of what he knows. Mission accomplished.

I generally found this book difficult to understand and stick with at first. But, i enjoyed the story told and can appreciate the struggle the characters go through. I enjoyed how sometimes D-503 would leave simple...'s for when he could not finish his thoughts where us readers could use our imagination to fill in the blanks. The author did such a great job conveying the emotions and idea that the sentences were not needed to be finished in order to understand the scene as a whole. It was an interesting concept so different from the world in which we all live in that it provided an interesting view point.

Video

A scene from "The Handmaid's Tale" the movie

"The Handsmaid's Tale"

        The  re- occurring theme I found in "The Handsmaid’s Tale" by Margaret Atwood was the idea of loss. Everyone in the Gilead community is suffering from loss. The loss ranges from loss of hope, loss of freedom, loss of a loved one, or loss of self. No matter what range, they all have that in common. With every character we meet the loss varies. Offred's loss is not only her loss of self, but  her loss of her loved ones. As readers we literally feel her heart ripping apart. We feel every little sting she feels as she goes about her day. We feel her miss Luke, we feel her miss her mother, and we feel her miss the daughter she never got to raise.  "I wanted to feel Luke lying beside me. I have them, these attacks of the past, like faintness, a wave sweeping over my head. " We even find Serena Joy at loss. On top of loss of a loved one, it is very obvious that Serena is losing herself  " By that time she was worthy of a profile: Time or Newsweek it was, it must have been. She wasn't singing anymore by  then, she was making speeches. She was good at it. Her speeches were about the sanctity of the home, about how women should stay home. She doesn't make speeches anymore. She has become speechless. She stays in her home, but it doesn't seem to agree with her." It is truly ironic how Serena Joy used to be a high profile activist who was making a difference and now she is not even allowed to be anything more than the wife of a commander. Serena Joy has lost her words above all else.

            Thinking back onto the novel, no other line stuck with me further than the last line, “ Whether this is my end or a new beginning I have no way of knowing: I have given myself over into the hands of strangers, because it can't be helped. And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light.” In this line I get this feeling of total freedom. Although this scene she might have the least amount of freedom within the whole book. I feel Offred letting herself go. I can feel her liberation and her easiness as she lets herself be taken. I would like to think in this last line she is being rescued by mayday, but even if she isn’t her last line “And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light.” Has me believing she has made peace.  What leads me to this conclusion is how she says “darkness within; or else the light” Light usually being associated with good, pure, safe feelings. Dark usually being associated with negative evil, so in retrospect she is saying she is moving beyond the negative and moving unto the light.


            I happened to really enjoy "The Handmaid’s Tale". The journal like writing style really allowed me to connect with Offred. By the end of the novel I felt as though I really knew her, and understood her pain. I found myself rooting for her and wishing for the best outcome. The author really incorporated some deep emotions in this novel, I could feel Offred's longing for Luke; as well as her yearn for freedom and love. My heart would race as Offred snuck around the commander's house to have secret meetings with Nick, or to meet up with the Commander. Out of everything i enjoyed about this novel, the thing I enjoyed the most was being inside Offred's head. The author provided her readers with pure, uncensored thoughts. Such as how Offred feels suicide to be a happy, ideal escape. Or how she feels as she stares at the dead bodies on the wall. The author wasn't trying to be politically correct, or please anyone. She allowed Offred's mind to go off in any which direction someone’s thoughts might lead had they been in her predicament. This aspect is what really helped me forge a connection with Offred and her world.