Author: Ivy Guan

From the poem, “What Kind of a Person Are You?” the poet bears the difficult aspects of human life by being apathetic about them. In this poem, the narrator defines his position in society as someone who doesn’t stand on mountain peaks and working in tall buildings that gaze on people that are in a lower position. He is also not someone who hides in places with low altitudes where people are disregarded because they’re not important. The narrator has his own standards and he only cares for his own standards because a person’s life is timed rather than spending time worrying about the criticisms, he only needs to be clear with what he wants. He is neither constraint by God or by society’s standards. “[He] can stand here for nothing, free” (Amichai). 

This poem’s first line is “One must have a mind of winter” and I thought Stevens was going to explain how one can survive the cold, harsh winter instead he describes the scenes one would see in the winter. And these scenes can only be noticed and seen when one is still like a snowman or only a snowman would be able to notice these little things. Although the title already gave away that the poem would be about a snowman I thought the poem would be about a man that lived through long, cold winters since the snow and man were separated instead of being together as one word. It also becomes clearer that the poem is about a snowman when it mentions one is “not to think of any misery in the sound of the wind”. The irony is it is not that the snowman is not thinking about the misery it is the snowman is unable to think about January’s sun because the snowman is nonliving. But Steven treats the snowman as a living object it is able to see, to think, and to hear. And this is the beauty of Stevens’ poem giving a nonliving object a reality.

How and why does Hurston incorporate the process of giving great value to seemingly small things (e.g. gifts, personal foibles or tendencies, inside jokes, games) into the story?

Hurston incorporates the process of giving great value to seemingly small things into the story by describing Joe and Missie Mays’ happiness through their little “fight”. “Shouting, laughing, twisting, turning, tussling, tickling each other in the ribs; Missie May clutching onto Joe and Joe trying, but not too hard, to get away”. Missie May is going through Joe’s pockets as if trying to rid him of all his property yet Joe enjoys this moment and lets her take everything. They are able to “fight” each other freely knowing the other person is enjoying the moment because this is like a tradition to them. Although little is given and taken what matters is the moment of happiness shared. Because the characters are not well off so they are easily satisfied with a little something, not only easily satisfied but they are happy just to have each other’s company. Although each person has their own level of satisfaction, readers can easily relate to their happiness of receiving a gift from a loved one and the gift gives the characters something to look forward to together making their life more interesting.

What does the story tell us about Chekhov’s beliefs about people’s capacity for self-knowledge?

From “The Lady with the Dog”, the story tells us that Chekhov believes people’s capacity for self-knowledge is not what it seems. Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov was “attractive and elusive which allured women and disposed them in his favor” and he knew that. To him, relationships were simple and it can come as easy as it goes. His interest in one woman was never long or at least that’s what he thought until he met Anna Sergeyevna. “He was impatiently passionate, he would not move a step away from her” and even when they have parted ways Gurov couldn’t resist his longing for her. Although Gurov was so positive that he can easily forget this woman and move on he couldn’t deny his own feelings. And towards the end of the story, “In moments of depression in the past he had comforted himself with any arguments that came to his mind, but now he no longer cared for arguments; he felt profound compassion, he wanted to be sincere and tender”. One can say Gurov has changed and he also acknowledges this change for he doesn’t go against what his heart wants, to comfort the person he loves. If one were to ask Gurov if he would comfort a woman tenderly with love before he met Anna Sergeyevna I’m pretty sure he would’ve said no. Most of us would be confident in saying we know ourselves, but we wouldn’t be so confident when new people enter our social circles or when new circumstances come up in our lives. A person’s self-knowledge capacity really depends on whether the individual is able to realize and accept the changes happening around him/her.

What does Wharton want us to consider about the ways in which we do or do not know certain people in our lives? E.g. friends, lovers, family.

I think Wharton wants us to reflect on our ways of treating those we care about and so to prevent us from making the same mistakes the main characters made. “The flame of her wrath had already sunk, and she wondered why she had ever thought there would be any satisfaction in inflicting so purposeless a wound on her friend” (Wharton 31). Mrs. Slade’s honesty seems to be one that is meant to hurt Mrs. Ansley; however, I see it as a confession. When friends know each other for a long time there tend to be moments where one would have the urge to confess about something he/she did in the past. Similarly, Mrs. Slade confesses about writing the letter because she feels guilty about lying to Mrs. Ansley and after confessing a sense of relief washed over her. But this sense of relief was soon replaced by “a strange sense of isolation, of being cut off from the warm current of human communion” (Wharton 31). Mrs. Slade feels isolated because she is afraid; afraid that she will lose this friend of hers. Through this confession, Wharton wants us to think twice before we act on our emotions especially when our actions may leave a scar for those we care about.

Do you consider Wordworth’s poetry optimistic or pessimistic or some combination of the two?

In Tintern Abbey, Wordsworth starts his poem with reminiscing the location he had once been in and the terms he uses to describe the scenery is often positive such as “soft inland murmur” and “these beauteous forms”. Although it has been five years since he last came to this place, he still appreciates and uses an optimistic tone to describe the changes of the place. As he travels the area he is not only pleased of the memories he had in the place but also enjoys the moment he is in, thinking that his experience with nature now would help him become a better person in the future. Not only is he able to become a better person, but he believes his sister would too with the help of nature. He says, “Let the moon shine on thee in thy solitary walk…thy memory be as a dwelling place for all sweet sounds and harmony.” Through this poem, Wordsworth poetry can be considered optimistic.