Author: Michelle Tong

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 the poem “The Diameter of the Bomb,” Yehuda Amichai expresses the impact of war. War may be a temporary event that takes place for a certain time period, but Amichai observes the it is an endless impact that affects humanity. At the beginning of the poem, Amichai simply describes a bomb in a detached, mechanical manner by stating the statistics of the bomb being “thirty centimeters” with a range of about “seven meters/with four dead and eleven wounded.” These statistics undermines the capacity of the bomb and makes it seem almost harmless as it further elaborates the limited casualties that it caused. However, Amichai’s past experience with war gives him a deeper perspective of what the true aftermath is. The poem then proceed to talk  about a young woman being killed despite being “more than a hundred kilometers” away. The extensive impact of the bomb is not what it seems and extends further than expected. This seemingly implies that the circle of impact is gradually expanding, further spreading the grieving and pain caused by the war. This implies that people and places are connected and it will impact everyone in some way. Amichai also present the harsh facts and the paints the heart wrenching situation that is caused by the war with descriptions of the emotional loss of the man and the cries of orphans. In addition, the constant repetition of the word “circles” emphasizes the ongoing, endless cycle of pain and suffering from the war. With the description of the horrific aftermath derived from the actions of humankind, Amichai brings up the question of whether war is really worth the pain and loss that consumes the living.

Is McKay’s vision of urban life unremittingly bleak or is there some more optimistic or redeeming aspect to it? Does the speaker’s apparently melancholic or depressive state in some of the poems reflect McKay’s perspective or is he more at a distance from it? How do you know?

In certain poems by Claude McKay, he depicts urban life as unremittingly bleak and emphasize the poverty stricken setting that plagued New York. In his poem “Harlem Shadows,” he described what is currently happening in the “shadows” of Harlem. He expressed the extent African Americans have to go through to provide for themselves. Young girls are seen going from street to street in order to find customers to sell their bodies for money. The struggle and the extent people are willing to go to, as McKay classify it, has brought his race to the lowest level in order to survive in such a cruel society. In poems such as “Harlem Shadows” and “Subway Winds,” they reflect McKay’s perspective. “Subway Winds” describe McKay’s yearning for his homeland and how New York/Harlem is simply a trap. He describes in the beginning of the conditions of New York with “sick and heavy air” and “pale-cheeked children”. Towards the end, he goes into details about his memories of home, which elicit his longing. In both of these poems, it can be concluded that New York provide false promises of a better life and is instead filled with setbacks such as racism. 

How does Joyce depict the differences between Gabriel and the other characters in the story? How are they similar and different? 

In “The Dead,” Gabriel Conroy’s behaviors and thoughts label him as a man of authority and caution. The description of Gabriel demonstrate that he’s wealthy and comes from a highly intellectual background. He’s a man of status and even his attire is nothing short of it with his “polished lenses” and “hair parted in the middle” (3). From the interactions of Gabriel, it seems as though he lacks social skills. This could be seen with his interactions with Lily. He decided to engage in small talk with Lily and she suddenly became defensive when asked about her love life. As a result, Gabriel ended the conversation immediately and compensated Lily with a tip. This goes to show that there’s this class distinction between Gabriel and Lily. Gabriel is unable to connect and relate to others such as Lily and he tries to compensate in his own way, which in this case was to rely on his wealth. He immediately seeks comfort in his education and wealth to rectify unexpected situations that occur. Similar to his aunts, he doesn’t know how to respond and accept “back answers”. It puts him in an awkward position and doesn’t know how to respond, which is seen in his interactions with Lily and Miss Ivors. Also, Gabriel doesn’t seem like he interacts much with anyone unless he absolutely has to. In the story, he’s mostly seen thinking to himself and worrying about his own thing rather than engaging in the party that’s currently happening. Instead of interacting with guests, Gabriel is busy worrying about his speech and what others will think of him. Even when he’s engaging with the party activities, he’s the odd one out. For example, when everyone’s gathering for desserts, Gabriel is seen eating celery as opposed to the pudding. All of his characteristics points to social isolation and unable to interact normally with others.  

How does one reconcile Gurov’s apparent misogyny with his newfound of love of Anna Sergeyevna?

In the beginning of the story “The Lady with the Dog,” Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov’s character is the embodiment of a misogynist. He is a married man with 3 children but still proceed to seek affairs. He labels women as “the lower race” and always “spoke ill of women” (1). His mindset denounces women and brand women as objects that he could use to his disposal. It is also described that Gurov has a way with women, which makes it easier for him to use women for pleasure and discard them afterwards. However, the affair with Anna Sergeyevna seem to change Gurov. He, himself, believed that his affair with Sergeyevna is like the other affairs that he had before, but it was not. Gurov believes that his memories of Sergeyevna will soon dissipate and that he can continue his everyday routine, but it was the complete opposite. Soon after their affair ended, he begins to reminisce about their time together. As the days pass, his memories and desire for Sergeyevna “glowed more and more vividly” (6). As a result, Gurov travels to Sergeyevna and confesses to her. Towards the end of the story, when Gurov meets Sergeyevna again, there’s this epiphany moment where Gurov “understood clearly that for him there was in the whole world no creature so near, so precious, and so important to him; she, this little woman, in no way remarkable, lost in a provincial crowd, with a vulgar lorgnette in her hand, filled his whole life now, was his sorrow and his joy” (7). Despite how ordinary Sergeyevna is, she’s still the apple to his eyes and he loves her nonetheless. This is a huge change from the beginning of the story from his negative and judgmental view of women to describing Sergeyevna as precious and important. Gurov started off the story seeking pleasures from women to keep his boredom at bay to trying to find a solution to be with Sergeyevna permanently.

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

In the story “The Gilded Six-Bits,” the gilded coin represent deceit. In the beginning, Joe and Missie May were exposed to Otis D. Slemmons’ wealth and were awestruck by his “five-dollar gold piece for a stickpin”, “ten-dollar gold piece on his watch chain” and his mouth filled with “gold teeths” (3). At this point, the gold present status and wealth that is not attainable for Joe and Missie May. They are in the working middle class and based on the description of their life, Joe and Missie May’s life could be described as not lacking. They have a house and Joe is able to provide enough to live a humble life with enough to fill the table. However, Missie May mentions that the only way for them to get to Slemmons’ level of wealth is only by chance of finding it on the streets. By establishing that Slemmons’ wealth is unattainable for them, it becomes enticing for Missie May to sleep with Slemmons in exchange for the golden watch charm, which I dont think it’s because of greed. However, the golden watch charm was simply fake (gilded coin) and all Slemmons’ wealth was a lie. The gilded coin is a symbol of how money does not necessarily lead to happiness or make life more satisfying. Joe and Missie May’s life was pretty good before Slemmons came into the picture. They would rely on making the marriage fun and enjoyable rather than focusing on the materialistic factor. They would banter with each other and have these personal games to keep their marriage authentic. Joe was also doing decent in providing for the family. Towards the end of the story, it was stated that they were able to save up a decent amount of money for a child as well as being able to indulge in gifts and ice cream every week. In the end, what saved their marriage was not money but rather the small gifts that Joe and Missie May indulged in before the affair. 

 

Why do you think Shelley chose to write an ode to the wind? Does the wind represent some larger concept?

In “Ode to the West Wind,” Shelley conveyed the message that he would like his poems and works of art to be able to spread and scatter to every corner of the world. He emphasized that desire by describing the powerful nature of the wind and the effect it has; the ability to drive away the dead leaves, carry new seeds and plant them in the earth, and the ability to bring thunderstorms and awaken the oceans. Throughout the poem, Shelley portrayed the West Wind to be an agent of change. Shelley wished that he could have a spirit as fierce and robust as the West Wind that can enable him to affect people on a wider scale. Also, there seemed to be a function for the seasons that he mentioned throughout his poem. In the beginning of the poem, it stated that, essentially, autumn brings upon winter that is filled with decaying, dead leaves, which I believed to be his comparison to society. This implied that society, during that time, may not be as functional as it seemed and desperately needed to be changed, which is why Shelley appealed to the west wind to make him powerful enough so that he can spread his ideas and thoughts across the globe.