Author: BARRY QU

How does the poet bear witness to tragedy or more difficult aspects of human life? E.g. in Amichai’s case, the most obvious example is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; in Walcott’s, it’s the long aftermath of imperialism, colonialism, and racism on the Caribbean.

In Yehuda Amichai’s poems, Amichai highlights his journey through difficult experiences faced. Amichai focuses on the theme of nostalgia and losing loved ones. In his poems, “The School Where I Studied” and “Try to Remember Some Details”, Amichai focuses on the past and theme of nostalgia by making us experience his past through vivid descriptions such as “Try to remember some details. Remember the clothing of the one you love” and “I’m still studying it, I’ll go on studying till the day I die. I stood near the school building and looked in. This is the room where we sat and learned. ” These poems focused on the theme of nostalgia but aimed at reminding us that the past is the past and we should continue on with our lives to create new memories. Also in his poem, “What Kind of a Person Are You”, Amichai says the phrase “Arrows do not direct me. I conduct My business carefully and quietly Like a long will that began to be written The moment I was born” which aims to send a message that life shouldn’t be followed with strict directions, you should follow your own path and create your own trail.

Respond to McKay’s vision of urban life as he depicts Harlem and in New York more generally

In Claude McKay’s poem, “Harlem Shadows”, he describes Harlem and New York in a generally negative light. He describes the setting in this poem with  young women walking through Harlem as the day ends and the life of the sky degrades. In the 3rd stanza, he writes “Ah, stern harsh world, that in the wretched way Of poverty, dishonor and disgrace,” describing NY and Harlem as a disgusting city and it highlights the setting of New York during the time when this poem was written. McKay was born in Jamaica but lived most of his adult life in the US. A lot of McKay’s work highlight the contrast between his calm life growing up in Jamaica vs the racist and mostly unpleasant life growing up in early 1900s US with a racist society. Despite the racist environment of NY/Harlem at the time, African-americans still persevered and continued to live in NYC despite the racism. This idea still applies today but not in relation to racism. Some people would still describe NYC as a disgusting city riddled with poverty, honor, and disgrace but we choose to still live here despite the negatives.

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.

In Edith Wharton’s short story, “Roman Fever”, 2 old friends Grace Ansley and Alida Slade meet up for a lunch at a restaurant and reminisce about their past. They discuss a previous trip to Rome where Alida had wrote a fake love letter from Delphin (Grace’s husband) confessing his love for Alida and requesting that they meet at the Colosseum. During that trip Grace had intended to disappoint Alida and make her lose feelings for Delphin who had confessed that that she did have feelings for Delphin. However, Grace’s plan backfired when Alida responded to the letter and Delphin answered Grace’s response and met up with her at the Colosseum. In their discussion, Grace revealed the truth that she had in fact wrote the letter pretending to be Delphin and Alida revealed the truth that Delphin responded and met up with her that night. Alida then revealed the fact that Barbara, Grace’s daughter, was biologically hers as a result of that night at Rome. This story is meant to show us that no matter how well you think you know the people around you, you will not truly know everything about them. In this case, 2 close friends had hidden the truth about the trip to Rome to each other and only confessed years after when Grace, Delphin and Barbara had lived a whole life as a family. From Grace’s perspective, her husband and friend had betrayed her and left it a secret for years. This highlights how you don’t truly know the people close to you even if they’re your family or close friends.

 

Consider the symbolism (or various symbolisms or meanings or emotional or psychological values) of the gilded coin in the story.

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, Gilded has many definitions but the 2 that are most notable in this story are “to overlay with or as if with a thin covering of gold” and “to give an attractive but often deceptive appearance to.” To provide some background into this story, Missie May and Joe are a happily married African-american couple living in the southern US in the 1930s. Otis D. Slemmons, an African-american from the north arrives in town and meets Missie May where Missie May commits infidelity with Slemmons. The gilded coin is important because the coin was given to May by Slemmons and is a symbol of Slemmons himself. On the outside a gilded coin is supposed to be a thin covering of gold meant to reflect a royal appearance and that is what Slemmons does in the story, arriving in town flashing fancy clothes and gold. However, this was just a facade and Slemmons wasn’t a wealthy/respectable northerner but a fraud. The 2nd defitintion of gilded if reflected here, where Slemmon’s appearance was a deception. He was faking his image of wealth flashing his clothes and gold when in fact he wasn’t wealthy at all.

How does Joyce change your expectations as a reader throughout the story? e.g. your idea of what the story is about and what kind of story you are reading might have changed at a few points throughout the story. 

I was initially expecting a relaxed mood in the dinner party but the play ended with a sad mood. When the party was described in the beginning it was described as “a great affair, the …Never once had it fallen” showing a fun environment where we wouldn’t expect anything sad. Later on into the story, a few noticeable changes that shift the mood include the snow pouring down on them and a few characters opening up about how they live a very routine life without purpose. The characters live very mundane lives and cant escape them. Another important mood shifter was Greta opening up about mourning over an old childhood love. All these subtle and obvious changes shifted my experience of the story from light-hearted to gloomy.

The Romantics believed of that children were products of their surrounding environments and adults. In “Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood ” the author states “Shaped by himself with newly-learned art …And with new joy and pride The little actor cons another part”. The use of the words shaped and con another part show the idea that children were influenced by their parents and shaped to be just like them. The author also says “That life brings with her in her equipage; As if his whole vocation Were endless imitation” highlighting how the purpose or role of childhood was to imitate adults and become the adults they grew up with. The adulthood would have been the model to replicate according the ideas of the Romantics.

 

equipage-the equipment for a particular purpose.

vocation-a strong feeling of suitability for a particular career or occupation.