The End of My Blogging Career!

     For my final blog post I decided to do my overall opinion of the course CM1120. It definitely was an adjustment from grade 12 English!! We had 10 months to hand in assignments in grade 12 English, and only 4 months to hand in assignments in CM1120. I promised myself I wouldn't procrastinate this year, but I did the opposite. We had 4 months to do this blog, and I waited till the last minute to do it. I didn't realize how fast the time would fly, I kept saying "oh well, i'll do it tomorrow", but tomorrow would never come! I definitely learned my lesson for next semester! The stories we read this semester were really good as a whole. A lot of them dealt with death...I didn't like that too much but the themes and messages that were hidden within them were really powerful. Some of the poems were really thought provoking and I really enjoyed that because it allowed us to take the deeper meaning beyond the figurative meaning...if that makes sense. I think my favorite story that we studied was either "Stones"-Timothy Findley, or "The Red Convertible"-Louise Erdrich. They both dealt with war; I found them incredibly powerful and they were two stories that will stay with me forever...I know that sounds cheesy but it's the truth. My favorite poem we studied this semester is probably either "The Woman in This Poem", "Eleanor Rigby", or  To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time". They all share the same theme of Carpe Diem but in different ways. The in class essays were really good also. My first essay was just me warming up to the teacher and her methods of correcting. My mark wasn't the greatest and I was really upset by it, but when i wrote my second essay I boosted my mark up drastically. I really enjoyed how she gave us several different options on what to write our essay's on, and it was our choice on which one to use. Overall, I think CM1120 is a really good course and I recommend anyone to take it! You won't be disappointed, trust me!

My Papa's Waltz - Theodore Roethke

The whiskey on your breath 
Could make a small boy dizzy; 
But I hung on like death: 
Such waltzing was not easy. 

We romped until the pans 
Slid from the kitchen shelf; 
My mother's countenance 
Could not unfrown itself. 

The hand that held my wrist 
Was battered on one knuckle; 
At every step you missed 
My right ear scraped a buckle. 

You beat time on my head 
With a palm caked hard by dirt, 
Then waltzed me off to bed 
Still clinging to your shirt. 


     This poem is very thought provoking which is probably why i enjoyed it so much. This poem can be looked at by the father and son just playing around and having some fun, or it can be looked at by the father beating the son. I personally do not know which side is right and I do not know which side I am on. "But I hung on like death:/Such waltzing was not easy." This could mean that the father and son were playing to roughly and it wasn't easy to keep up with his father, or it could mean that his father was beating his son and it wasn't easy to hold onto him. Also, the final lines of the poem say "Then waltzed me off to bed/Still clinging to your shirt." This could mean that the father and son finished playing around and the father brought him to bed. Or it could mean the father finished beating him and he took him to bed while the son is still clinging onto his shirt, afraid to let go. But at the same time, when it says "The hand that held my wrist/Was battered on one knuckle;/At every step you missed/My right ear scraped a buckle." This makes me believe that the father held the sons wrist and punched him, and every time he missed him, the sons ear scraped his buckle. I really don't know which perspective is right and which one is wrong, I guess it's just your interpretation of it. As for me, I am stuck in the middle, I really don't know if they are playing around or if the father is beating his son. All I know is, I really enjoyed this poem because there is no wrong answer. I recommend you read this poem and think about what I have said. What do you think this poem is about ?

         








        OR

Dead Men's Path - Chinua Achebe

     I found this story really interesting and I found myself to really enjoy it. Michael Obi is the new headmaster at Ndume Central School and he has high expectations and he is very outspoken. There was a path from the village across the school compound to the bush on the other side. Michael Obi looked out the window one day and saw a "woman from the village hobble right across the compound, through a marigold flower-bed and the hedges." He was amazed that teachers who had been working there for three years had let the villagers make use of the footpath. The teachers said that the pathway was important to the villagers, but Obi said "And what has that got to do with this school?" Michael Obi decided to close off the pathway with heavy sticks and barbed-wire. Three days later the village priest called the headmaster to talk about why he closed off the pathway. The village priest is an old man that walked with a slight-stoop. He tried to explain to Michael that the path was there before he was born and before his father was born. The whole life of the village depends on it. He tried to explain that relatives depart by it and ancestors visit their family by it. He also explained that the path was for children coming into the world to be born. Michael Obi didn't agree with him at all. He felt that the whole purpose of a school was to learn, he felt that "Dead men do not require foot paths."Michael wouldn't budge, he felt that the school compound could not be a thoroughfare and it was against his regulations. Two days after their conversation, a woman died during childbirth. When Obi woke up the next morning the school was ruined. The beautiful hedges were torn up near the path and right around the school. The flowers were trampled and one of the school buildings was torn down. 
    The village priest is a foil to Michael Obi. They both symbolize different things. Michael Obi is all about the new ways; technology and modernity. While the village priest is all about the old ways; culture, tradition, the path and the people. At the beginning of the story Michael Obi was characterized as stoop-shouldered, deep set eyes and he looked down upon people who were less educated. The word "stooped" means that Michael Obi is going to turn into the old man because he too is stoop-shouldered. He is aging beyond his years. 
    I would recommend this story because it is thought provoking. It requires the reader to find the figurative meaning and not just the literal meaning. All in all, I genuinely enjoyed this story.

A Worn Path - Eudora Welty

     I did not fully understand this story and after reading it over a second time, i'm still unsure of it's point. The story takes place in the Southern States on an early frozen morning in December. Phoenix Jackson is an old woman with ragged clothes, untied shoes, and walks with a cain. The story starts off with her taking a journey into town, a trip in which she has made several times. She appreciates everything! It's like she has  a deep connection with the environment. The entire story talks about her journey; she crosses a creek, goes through a barbed-wire fence, sees a scarecrow, goes through a field, sees abandoned cabins, sees a dog and a man. The man put a gun to her face but she doesn't react to it. This shows us that Phoenix as been through heartache in her life which has transformed her into a tough individual. She is de-sensitized. The man dropped a nickel from his pocket by accident and the dogs distracted him while the woman picked up the nickel. The woman carries on with her journey and she ends up in town. The entire trip took one full day. She went into a big building and went up a tower of steps. The nurse asked her why she was there and she said her grandson was sick and she came for the medicine. The attendant said "Could I give you a few pennies out of my purse?" and Phoenix said "Five pennies is a nickel", so the attendant gave her a nickel. Than the woman makes her way back down the tower of stairs and begins her journey back home.   
     This story isn't horrible but it does not serve any purpose in my eyes. I don't understand it but I didn't hate it either. I wouldn't recommend this story but just because I didn't thoroughly enjoy it doesn't mean you won't.

The Woman in This Poem - Bronwen Wallace

     I would have attached the poem to this entry but seeing how it takes up 2 1/2 pages, it would have made this entry really long. But here is a link that brings you right to the poem--> 

http://www.oocities.org/sorrenti888/thewomaninthispoem.htm

     This poem is about a woman who lives in the suburbs with her family. She constantly thinks about her duties as a mother and as a wife. She feels like she has to fake her way through supper while her thoughts are elsewhere. The woman wants to run away with her "lover". "Come to me he pleads/I need you and he woman/reaches for the phone/to dial the airport/she will leave this afternoon/her suitcase packed/with a few light clothes/But as she is dialing/the woman in this poem/remembers the pot-roast". The woman wants to meet up with her lover but when she attempts to go through with it, she remembers her family. She remembers the pot-roast that is for supper and she thinks of her husband's face, and she thinks about her children's piano lessons and dentist appointments. Whenever she goes for the phone, she stops. "She stops dialing and begins/to chop onions for the pot-roast".  The woman sits at the table and "all through dinner/her mouth will laugh and chatter/while she walks with her lover/on a beach somewhere". The woman puts on a mask, she wants to make everyone believe she is happy when she really isn't. She is just like Eleanor Rigby! They both put forth a false personality. As the woman "stands there/in the middle of her spotless kitchen", she is growing old. The "spotless kitchen" symbolizes emptiness. Her kitchen is perfectly clean, there is nothing to do in it. It symbolizes her perfect life on the outside, but it is not perfect on the inside. The woman wishes for something to happen, she wishes for excitement in her life. 

     This poem was published in 1987, when women were feeling trapped by the private sphere. The woman in this poem needs to realize that she is not alone. She is not the only one dealing with this. She needs to act on her feelings and do something about it. If she doesn't, she will turn out just like Su Lin from Falling in Place, she will commit suicide. I personally believe that the woman should run away with her lover and be happy because living the life she is in now is not good for her. She is not happy, it's clear that she wants to run away with him, and all she is doing is causing harm to herself. She needs to follow through with her feelings, otherwise all she is doing is digging herself an early grave. 

     I personally really enjoyed this poem!! I love the theme Carpe Diem. It is just like the poem "To the Virgins, To Make Much Of Time".We are not guaranteed tomorrow, so live life as if there was no tomorrow.

Eleanor Rigby - John Lennon and Paul McCartney

I look at all the lonely people!
I look at all the lonely people!

Eleanor Rigby 
Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been,
Lives in a dream,
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door.
Who is it for?

All the lonely people,
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people,
Where do they all belong?

Father McKenzie,
Writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear,
No one comes near. 
Look at him working, 
Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there.
What does he care?

All the lonely people,
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people,
Where do they all belong?

Eleanor Rigby 
Died in the church and was buried along with her name.
Nobody came.
Father McKenzie, 
Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave,
No one was saved.

All the lonely people,
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people,
Where do they all belong?

         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaRNrDaoMqw

     This song really stood out to me. Eleanor Rigby works at the church by picking up rice where weddings have been. She wants to meet a guy and get married. She no longer wants to be the one who pick up rice at weddings, she wants someone else to pick up rice during her wedding. "Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door." Eleanor wears a mask, she puts forth a personality that isn't true to herself, she hides her loneliness. Eleanor "Died in the church and was buried along with her name./Nobody came." Father McKenzie writes the words to a sermon that no one hears and he also lives alone and he wasn't saved either. If Eleanor had looked right in front of her, she would have seen Father McKenzie and they could have saved each other. Eleanor was too busy dreaming of a guy that never came, when she should have just looked right in front of her. This song made me realize that true love could be staring me right in the face but I would be too oblivious to see it. I need to learn to see everything and not just my own wants and desires, because what i've been looking for could be right in front of me. 

To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time - Robert Herrick

 GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may, 
    Old time is still a-flying: 
And this same flower that smiles to-day 
    To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, 
    The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run, 
    And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first, 
    When youth and blood are warmer; 
But being spent, the worse, and worst 
    Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time, 
    And while ye may go marry: 
For having lost but once your prime 
    You may for ever tarry.


      I really enjoyed this poem. It displays a lot of really good themes; don't waste time, make the best of life, carpe diem, don't live with regrets, and innocence and experience. The speaker of this poem is an older much wiser person who is speaking from experience. The audience is youth, younger generations. The speaker is trying to warn and prepare younger generations to not waste time, to live their lives to the fullest. He says "And this same flower that smiles to-day/To-morrow will be dying." These two lines sum up the entire poem. Flowers are young, beautiful, fresh and new. They are symbolic of a new beginning, of new life. That same flower that is young and full of life, could not be like that tomorrow. The speaker is telling younger people to seize the day, to make the best of life because we are not guaranteed tomorrow. The final lines of the poem are "For having lost but once your prime/You may for ever tarry." "Tarry" means to linger in expectation. The speaker is once again speaking to younger people and telling them that if they do not seize the day and make the best of life, they will forever tarry. They will live in expectation forever. 

     This poem made me realize that time does not last forever. We are given today, but not guaranteed tomorrow, so don't waste time. Live life to the fullest and experience every bit of it before it is taken from  you.

Falling in Place - Eugene McNamara

I did not like this story at all! I thought it was poorly constructed and I got lost during the first two paragraphs. It was confusing due to the shifting narration; omniscient, first person, third person, and objective. In the beginning of the story there was a girl that left a hospital, than there is an apprentice machinist driving, than there are passengers boarding a train. From there the story switches to a man standing in line at a supermarket and than to a poet speaking "gibberish". Than it speaks of the weather conditions for that day, and than it speaks of "several factors involved in braking". It also speaks of other factors involved in acceleration and deceleration. The passengers now board the train and the story shifts back to talk about the girl, Su Lin. She was studying music at a university and she had fallen in love with her boyfriend. The machinist slams on the brakes to the train. "Locked steel wheels grind and shear." 


This story still makes no sense even though I read it over again. When we reviewed it in class, the teacher said that Su Lin had a breakdown which is why she was in the hospital, and she commits suicide by laying down in front of the train. Her boyfriend hears the news of his girlfriends death by overhearing someones conversation in a coffee shop. The machinist feels the most grief and regret over her death. I honestly had no idea that Su Lin committed suicide. I did not catch on to that at all. And I have no idea why the author chose to use so many different perspectives. I don't understand why there are so many characters in this story. 


I didn't learn anything from this story, all it did was frustrate me. I do not recommend this story unless you are in the mood to get frustrated and irritated. And the title does not tie in with the story at all, at least that's my opinion. 

The Red Convertible - Louise Erdrich

     At first I thought this story was literally about a red convertible. I read the title and I immediately thought, "oh great, here we go another stupid and pointless story." But once i got half way through it, my opinion changed completely. I absolutely loved this story!!

      One thing i loved about this story was the several different symbols that the car stood for. It is not just a hunk of metal and wires, but it symbolizes a brothers bond. It symbolizes the relationship Lyman and Henry have, before and after war. And it also symbolizes Henry's untimely demise. 

      Before war, Henry was happy, incredibly funny, and so full of life. Henry "went up to the chair and said, 'Jump on my shoulders.' So she did that, and her hair was flung out from side to side. 'I always wondered what it was like to have long pretty hair,' Henry says." Lyman, Susy and Henry all had a laugh when he did that. Henry would also love to "sit still in the afternoons, never moving a muscle", but all of that changed...

     When Henry returned from war "he was very different". He was quiet and he was very uncomfortable sitting still, and he always had to be up and moving around. He wouldn't joke, he wouldn't laugh, infact, Henry was just "jumpy, and mean." Lyman and Henry were in the living room watching TV one night and Henry had bitten through his lip, blood went everywhere. Lyman was furious and went over to him, but Henry got up and shoved him against a wall.

     Lyman wanted to salvage their relationship. Henry hadn't noticed the car since he was back, so Lyman decided to take a hammer to it one day to try and get Henry's attention. It took Henry over a month to notice the car, but when he did he was furious. He spent every day and night fixing it up. This shows Henry's commitment and dedication to fixing their relationship. Lyman was hurt because he just wanted his brother back; it used to always be "Henry and Lyman". Now Henry was just a loner. 

     At the end of the story when Henry jumps into the river, Lyman takes the car and drives it into the river as well. Lyman watches as "The wires short out", until "It is all finally dark." This symbolizes the end of their relationship. The car was the glue of their relationship; when the car became part of the river, the glue washed away with the current, as did the remains of Henry and Lyman's relationship. 

     This story reminds me of Stones - Timothy Findley. Both display characters that went to war, but did not fully return. As i said in my previous blog post, I am so appreciative of soldiers in the army because they put their lives on the line for people they don't even know. They protect everyone; bullies, drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, murderers, thieves, woman beaters, cheaters, and even child molesters. That is why I praise them, because even though the world is filled with horrible and degrading people, they still risk their lives to protect EVERYONE! 

~~~~~~~ I personally would like to give a great big Thank You to the army, and every single soldier who dedicated their lives in the service. You are beyond courageous and I thank you. Because of what you did for our Country, future generations won't have to go to war.  

   In Flanders fields the poppies grow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place, and in the sky,

The larks, still bravely singing, fly,

Scarce head amid the guns below.

~John McCrae 

Stones - Timothy Findley

The story "Stones" by Timothy Findley is truly a remarkable piece of work. This story really caught my attention and I learned a lot from it. It displays a really powerful theme that evokes emotion. The theme I am speaking of is War. 

War is defined in the Websters Dictionary as a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air. In the story Stones, Findley displays a character David Max who went to war, but did not return. His physical body was present, but he was not the same man. Before war, David was happy and he loved his family. He bet Mister Schickel (the butcher) a bet of roses that he could not cook an egg on the sidewalk. So Schickel took on that bet and put an egg on the sidewalk and they both watched as it sizzled. David "slapped his thigh and whistled" and sent his daughter Rita inside to get the flowers. David joined the army for his family; to protect them. He joined so his sons Ben and Cy would not have to become soldiers. His relationship with Ben was a desired one....until he came back from war.

"Our father's wounds were greater than we had been told. There was not a mark on his body, but- far inside- he had been destroyed. His mind had been severely damaged and his spirit had been broken. No one had told me what this might have made of him. No one had said he may never be kind again. No one had said he will never sleep again without the aid of alcohol. No one had said he will try to kill your mother. No one had said you will not be sure it's him when you see him. Yet all these things were true."

When David Max returned from War, he was a completely different man. He was drinking more in every waking hour, he tried to get arrested by wearing his greatcoat over his civilian clothes, he tried to kill his wife with a hammer, and he even broke his son Ben's collar-bone by throwing him onto the floor against a bureau. War can either change a person for the good, or it can completely destroy a person. In this case, it destroyed David Max. His guilt ate away at him from the inside and out and he could not return to the person he used to be. His motto was, "Whatever you can hide does not exist." He tried to hide his guilt to disguise the fact that he was carrying a burden, but in reality he was carrying that guilt on his sleeve for the whole world to see. 

What really stood out to me in this story was a sons unconditional love for his father. Ben Max stood by his father until the day he died, when neither his brother Cy or sister Rita would do so. Everyone deserted David...except Ben. Even though his father tried to kill his mother, tried getting arrested, broke Ben's collar-bone, swore a lot, left his mother and drank the rest of his life away in bars, Ben still stayed with him. When David asked for his ashes to be placed among his fellow soldiers that died in Dieppe, Ben took on the task and did it for him. He did it when neither Cy nor Rita would, they said "Gone, Good riddance." It's what David had wanted, Ben couldn't refuse him. This just really stands out to me because Ben has so much love for his father that it brings tears to my eyes. 

I also really love the symbolism of the stones. Stones are cold and lifeless, just like David after he returned from War. He wasn't the same man when he returned, he was different and not in a good way. Ben said, "I would have loved a stone." If David had let someone in, if he had just let Ben love him, maybe he would have returned slightly to the person he once was. Maybe then he wouldn't have drunken his life away. David wanted his ashes to be placed with his dead soldiers in Dieppe, "a stone among stones." The stones are treacherous. But they are also beautiful." This is symbolic because David was treacherous; he was an attempted villain and an alcoholic, but at the same time he was a beautiful human being. He defended his country even though it destroyed him inside. No matter what, he was a courageous and honorable man. He did what a lot of people fear to do, he went to War. 

This story made me appreciate soldiers a lot more. They fight for us and they defend us not because they are asked, but because that's what they want to do. They put their life at risk, they leave their families for months at a time, and they risk not returning as the same person they left as. They are incredible people and i appreciate everything they do for us.