Poem Interp, 4: I Wandered as a Lonely Cloud by Wordsworth

I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud

 

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.The waves beside them danced, but they

Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;

A poet could not be but gay,

In such a jocund company!

I gazed-and gazed-but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

 

Analysis

The speaker “wandered lonely”, having no company since he was “float[ing] on high o’er” the other people he was around. The speaker feels as if he has better knowledge and understanding, and since he feels that he is so high, he is “as lonely as a cloud”. “A host of golden daffodils” catch his eye because they are not the same as the monotonous and rolling green “vales and hills” that he had been floating over.

The speaker begins to admire the daffodils, noticing how far they have spread around. There are “ten thousand that [he] saw at a glance”. Such a huge group of these flowers was a pleasant thing for him to see. These lively flowers are constantly “fluttering and dancing in the breeze”. The speaker compares their movements to the “twinkling on the milky way” and “sprightly” dances, showing the reader that he sees them in a somewhat magical light.

The bright and yellow daffodils have his full attention. He describes the flowers as gleeful and believes that any person could look at such joy and “not be but gay”. The speaker himself is totally filled up with the  beauty of his “jocund company”. In his elated state of mind, he is not thinking about “the wealth” of the scene he stumbled upon.

When the speaker goes back to reality, he will feel the dread of being alone again, lying on his couch. However, seeing the daffodils has caused a change in him. From this point on, anytime the speaker is “in vacant or pensive mood”, he remembers the sweet pleasure of the flowers and imagines “dancing with the daffodils”. Not only is he able to remember the time he had with his “sprightly” friends, but he can now have joy while being alone. He has the “bliss of solitude”.

Poem Interp. 3: Ispahan Carpet by Elizabeth Burge

Ispahan Carpet

 

Rough timber gallows on which the carpets are woven

By a silent, sallow, dark-eyed Persian family

Fills the room, bare but for blackened pots and jars

In the cavernous hearth. A flickering fire

Lights on the sensuous jeweled arabesques

Shadowing the makers of the webs.

 

Eight-year-old girls sit sparrowed on a plank

Rope-rising with the pattern, their unsupported bird-bones

Bent like old women. Only such little fingers,

Following the guides of coloured wool upon the warp

Left by their aunts and sisters,

Can tie such exquisitely minute knots-

One hundred to the square centimeter, says the guide proudly-

For the most desired Tabriz or Karmenshah.

 

One hundred knots in the space of my thumbnail

One hundred heartbeats of a young child’s growing

One hundred hours for the space a foot will crush down.

 

O, eyes whose whole horizon is the carpet

And it’s traditional beauty! Who can unravel

The world’s weaving?

 

My swollen hand is gentle on the greenstick shoulder

Her large eyes look back at me with a speaking darkness

 

Analysis

The poem is set in a Persian rug-making facility. Throughout the entire poem, the speaker uses deathlike and cadaverous images to describe the world around them. The speaker is a tourist who is observing and questioning the reason for the conditions in which these people’s souls are.

The speaker refers to the looms, which the eight-year-old girls use, as “rough timber gallows” that are used to hang people. The whole family acts as if they are strangers, being “silent, sallow, and dark eyed”, like all of the life has been sucked out of them. The room is naked, all except the bleak look of the “black pots and jars”.

The only colorful descriptions in the whole poem are about the fire in the hearth and the carpet that the girls are working on. The speaker only describes what the “flickering fire” light does to the carpet. Nowhere does it say that the people were warmed by it, or that is showed the hope in their eyes. It actually does the opposite, casting a shadow on “the [carpet] makers”. The fire seems as if it is there only to make the “sensuous jeweled arabesque” carpet more and more beautiful. Since everything else in the house is bleak, it is easy for the reader to assume that the life has already been taken from them to improve the look of the woven and “coloured wool”.

The speaker correlates the image of colors with life. In doing this, the speaker has made it seem as though the colorless “girls sit sparrowed on a plank” that belongs to the gallows. As they continue in their carpet weaving, the “rope [rises]”, putting them nearer and nearer to death. Soon their bones are “unsupported” and they resemble old women. This change could be analyzed with a literal approach; all of the hours of labour turn the girls' youth into a form resembling “bent…old women”. Approaching it as a metaphorical statement, their souls are hung and become decrepit, “bent like old women”. Either way, the girls themselves had been tying “exquisitely minute knots” for their own nooses.

Though the guide is proud of the work that the Persian family has done, the speaker questions the morality of the situation. The whole third stanza is the speaker realizing how unimportant the making of these “most desired” rugs are. The speaker questions the carpets beauty. “Who”, they wonder, “has decided what is beautiful and what is not? Is a human soul not as beautiful as a rug”? She simultaneously questions the tradition of the carpet makers. She wonders why they, as human souls, would ever ask themselves “who [is capable] of unraveling the world’s weaving”. Why would bad traditions have to be kept?

The speaker lays her “swollen” hand on the fragile girl’s shoulder. The reader can see that the speaker is disgusted with her full and plump condition in comparison to the Persian families’ condition when she describes her hand as swollen; it is something unnecessarily large. The girls' souls are doomed because they are following a beaten path and no one sees the harm in their carpet making. When the speaker does show their kindness and sympathy, all they get in return is a gaze filled “with a speaking darkness”.

Song Interp. 2: Sister Disco by The Who

 

Sister Disco

As I walked through that hospital door

I was sewn up like a coat

I got a smile from the bite of the wind

Watched the fresh fall of snow

 

I knew then that my life took a turn

I felt strong and secure

And with adhesive tape over my nose

I felt almost demure

 

Goodbye Sister Disco

With your flashing trash lamps

Goodbye Sister Disco

And to your clubs and your tramps

 

Goodbye Sister Disco

My dancing's left you behind

Goodbye, now you're solo

Black plastic; deaf, dumb and blind

 

Bye, goodbye Sister Disco, Now I go

I go where the music where the music fits my soul

And I, I will never let go, I'll never let go

'Til the echo of the street fight has dissolved

 

I will choose nightmares and cold stormy seas

I will take over your grief and disease

I'll stay beside you and comfort your soul

When you are lonely and broken and old

 

Now I walk with a man in my face

Ooh, a woman in my hair

I've got you all lookin' out though my eyes

My feet are a prayer

 

Goodbye Sister Disco

With your flashing trash lamps

Goodbye Sister Disco

And to your clubs and your tramps

 

Goodbye Sister Disco

My dancing's left you behind

Goodbye, now you're solo

Black plastic; deaf, dumb and blind

 

Analysis

In this song, disco is personified as a troublesome woman. The narrator has had a coming to, realizing that he doesn’t like disco anymore, because it’s bad. Though some may see disco music as something that’s good, he feels that it encourages “grief and disease” with its “black plastic” characteristics. To the narrator, disco is simply a thing of the past. When disco is mentioned in this song, the term refers to the whole disco style of living as well as the music.

The song starts out with the narrator entering a hospital. When he says that he “was sewn up like a coat”, the reader can assume that he went into the hospital because he had some bad wounds. Right in the first stanza, the narrator refers to the happy feelings he got “from the bite of the [changing] wind”. He also describes his observation of the “fresh fall of [white, pure] snow” inside of a hospital. He is reflecting on the change that is going on within himself.

He “knew then that [his] life took a turn”. Even though he had just been hurt, he “fe[lt] strong and secure…almost demure”. The reader understands why he feels this way when he next mentions that he has “left [sister disco] behind”. He hates disco’s “flashing trash lamps, clubs” and whores. He is glad to leave her solo. When the narrator says, “my dancing’s left you behind”, the reader can get a mental picture of the situation. He is dancing in his joy towards the music that “fits his soul” (rock and roll), and in so doing he leaves sad disco all alone. He hopes to stop all of the “street fight[ing]” that disco had created. A street fight may have been what put him in the hospital.

Further explaining his dislike for disco, the narrator “choose[s the] nightmares and cold stormy seas” that would come with soul reflecting music rather than choose the fake and evil disco. He feels he is better for not picking disco since he will be able to “stay beside [it] and comfort [it’s ignored] soul” when everyone else chooses not to have disco, too. He is now complete; he has sense and expirience “in [his] face” and understanding love “in [his] hair”.

Song Interp. 1: Silas Stingy by The Who

Silas Stingy lyrics

Once upon a time there lived an old miser man

By the name of Silas Stingy

He carried all his money in a little black box

Which was heavy as a rock

With a big padlock

All the little kids would shout

When Silas was about

 

[Chorus:]

Money, money, money bags

Money, money, money bags

There goes mingy Stingy

There goes mingy Stingy

Money, money, money bags

Money, money, money bags

There goes mingy Stingy

There goes mingy Stingy

 

Silas didn't eat, which was just as well

He would starve himself for a penny

He wore old clothes and he never washed

'Cause soap cost a lot

And the dirt kept him hot

All the little kids would shout

When Silas was about

 

[chorus]

 

In the back of his head

Was a voice that said

"Someone will steal it all

You'll be lying in the gutter with an empty box

The thieves will be having a ball"

 

[chorus]

 

He bought a safe to put the box in

And a house to put the safe in

And a watchdog on a chain to make quite sure

And his face was very funny

When he counted up his money

And he realized he hadn't any more

 

Analysis

From the very first words, “Once upon a time”, the reader can tell that this song will tell a story that is meant to teach a lesson, just as all stories that start out with those same words do. The writer uses the name of the “old miser man” to describe his characteristics, since the reader is likely to see the character in that light if his name describes him that way. The fact that the children, which have long been depicted as symbols for purity, happiness, and livliness, recognized and taunted Silas because of his strange habit makes him seem a little sinister. The image of a “black box” and the fact that he “didn’t eat” add to his sinister appearance, raising images of evil, sin, and secrets into the readers mind. These are all very story-like, sing-song attributes.

The alliteration used makes the fact that “Silas Stingy” is stingy more obvious. The reader is also told that he puts every bit of “his money in a little black box”, which is a very stingy act. The box he stores his money in is as “heavy as a rock”, which allows the reader to assume that he had a lot of money in the box. The box also has “a big padlock” to keep out “the thieves” hand and possibly his own, since he is stingy.

He never took care of himself, even though he could; “He would [rather] starve himself for a penny”. Because he “didn’t eat…wore old clothes and never washed”, others, like “little kids”, feel fine calling him “mingy Stingy”. Since Silas has replaced his love for people with his love for money. Silas Stingy can help his appearance but chooses not to since his love for money is so severe. This act almost encourages their jokes; “he would [ruin his name] for a penny”.

The reader never observes any words spoken to Silas other than the name-calling that the children do, and that is most likely because he is socially awkward. In this poem, he has no relationships with other people. If this is true, then the reader can understand why he would only harbor feelings of paranoia toward people. His paranoia has “a voice [in the back of his head]” telling him he will lose all of his money to the people he hates, and they “will be having a ball”.

In his state of paranoia, he buys many different objects for his money’s security, “realiz[ing] he hadn’t any more” only after he had counted it. Money can be used as a very loose symbol in this poem for anything material. The moral of this poem is that being “stingy” does no good, especially when it makes a person crazy enough to ignore their own morals.  I have no idea what the social implications were that might have inspired this poem. I do know that 1967 was the last year that the American dollar was actually worth a dollar, and that everyone (in any decade) meets a stingy person.

Cultural Arts Event 3: Talent Show

Summary of the Fort Dorchester 2008 Talent Show

They called us from our classes to head to the gym. The gym. When I bought the ticket I was totally ignorant of the fact that the talent show was in the gym. I still can’t believe that they would stuff all of us in such a close space. When I got to the gym, I was looking around for a familiar face in that huge crowd. When I finally found someone, we went and got a seat.

We sat there for a long time before anything started, and we saw the tail end of the practice section that the first group performing was going to do. Little did I know that that first sign of repetition was going to foreshadow a whole two plus hours of the talent show. The music signaled the beginning of the show.

The next part is sort of hazy to me. My want to leave was distracting me from listening to the whole thing. There were a couple of dance groups that went first. It was group dancing, and  remember that the boy group did something strange with their red ties, laying them across their eyes.

There were other groups, too. This one guy did some break dancing by himself, and that was pretty cool. There were only a handful of performances that stood out, all of the rest just blended together in a stew of wagging behinds, sexual movements, and heavy base tones. Periodically, the audience would be blessed with the presence of some hot MTV or rap star.

 

Analysis

I have never really enjoyed talent shows or pep rallies, and I’ve given them a fair shot, too. I have been to at least three of them the whole time I’ve attended Fort Dorchester. The only reason students go to the pep rallies and the like, unless they need a cultural arts event, is to get out of class. The students that get a ticket to get out of class are typically rambunctious. When someone gets a whole bunch of people like that together, its very noisy, super rowdy, and not my scene.

This go around was bothersome, particularly because I was forced to listen to the same thing over and over again. Most of the performers were either hip-hop dancing or singing a song. I was expecting to hear at least a little diversity, but when any new genre or style came to be played, I couldn’t hear them.

Don’t get me wrong, the first couple of songs that had been played or danced to were great. At the beginning of the show, the blasting base tones in the rap music made my heart vibrate. The first couple of dances were kind of cool. Later though, was when the sight became repititious and boring. When the crowd would start talking to each other when someone they didn’t know of didn’t want to hear came on, I found it incredibly rude. I wanted to listen to them, but I couldn’t hear the new things above all of the background noise.

There was a girl who tried to play an acoustic guitar, Kim and her friend sang a song, but I could barely hear the tune for the other noises and the reverb on the microphones. I was only able to hear Jerry’s rap song. Any other acoustic guitar playing, pop, or hard rock songs just floated above the audience and into barely anyone’s ears.

The dancing on average, like I said, was only moderately entertaining. The repetition makes the memory I have of the whole thing less fond, but there was another thing that bugged me about the dancing. I believe that dancing is a form of expression (I think many would agree) and only a couple of the dances were expressive. All of the other ones were generic dances that I could watch by better performers on MTV.

I saw many people leaving early, and I would have followed them if my ride had been at the school. Before the names of the winners were announced, I, along with fifty other people, headed for the double doors. When I was only five feet away from the exit, the doors started to get blocked by administrators, trapping me inside. When I was in line to buy my ticket, there was a boy standing in line in front of me looking for an extra quarter. Instead of giving him the extra cents to buy his own, I should have just said, “Here you go man, just take my ticket”, simply because I already knew better. As soon as I bought that little red sucker, I regretted it. I don’t even know who won the talent show.

Cultural Arts Event 2: The Wizard of Oz

Summary and Analysis of the Wizard of Oz, presented by Fort Dorchester High School

 There is a young girl, named Dorothy, who lives on a farm in Kansas. A big tornado sweeps through her home, taking the house that she’s in off of the land and into the sky, miles and miles away from where it was picked up. Dorothy’s house stays in one piece and ends up landing in a place called Munchkin town right on top of the “wicked witch of the east”. The town is inhabited by little “munchkins”, and they graciously thank Dorothy for helping them get rid of the witch. The witch’s sister, the “wicked witch of the west”, comes to take her sister’s magical ruby shoes and avenge her sister’s death. An ironic situation arises when Dorothy herself puts the ruby shoes on, binding herself to them, stopping the remaining wicked witch from getting anything she wants. Dorothy must go to the Wizard of Oz to get home, and she meets some new friends on her way. We all know the plot.

 When I bought the tickets for the play, I thought it would be pretty similar to the movie. I set my standards too high, expecting the acting, singing, set, and script to be up to par with the film. I guess that was a little silly of me to do, since high school plays don’t usually match in quality with feature films. I was deeply disappointed in all of the said areas simply because I know that our school has the potential to put on a better show.

 First off, I have to say that I was astonished that there was no singing. Zip. The times that it was attempted, the audience received an earful of flat chant that made us want to stop them from going off to see the wizard. But it’s fine, we didn’t have to stop them ourselves. The guy in charge of sound control did it for us.

 That poor Toto. I heard that half of the time spent on getting ready for the play was used in casting for the perfect dog. Too bad the audience couldn’t tell how much the school liked the dog when he’d yelp in Dorothy’s arms or get pulled by the leash attached to her wrist that was reaching for her boquet of flowers. The owner was furious, and I’m sure Dorothy was, too. Toto could carry his voice louder than she could with hers.

 Munchkin town was thoroughly disappointing. There was nothing aesthetic, or even stimulating, about the set. The munchkins were adorable while they tripped over their hideous flimsy mushroom field that symbolized their whole city. I think that someone in the set department got “munchkin” and “smurf” mixed up. And where did the two other evil characters come from, Hocus and Pocus, or whatever? Their purposeless lines weren’t even funny, and neither was the ballerina tutu. If I was any one of the many, many children attending that show, I would have been very confused by the end of the play.

 There was one thing that I liked about this play. When the play started to get really boring and limp, there was a little mishap on the set. I was sitting there with my cheekbone on my elbow, slowly dozing off, when all of the sudden I see the most phenomenal thing that ever happened in all of the school plays that I’ve gone to see. The gates of Oz start to crumble, and it was an event just as delectable to me as the crumbling walls of Jericho were to the chosen people. Finally, after all of the bad and awkward acting from the main characters, there was something that connected them to the audience. Everybody, cast, crew, audience, was laughing. And they played it off so good, too. The Wizard of Oz himself made a reference to the set problem, blaming Dorothy for coming down and tearing up his city. The cover-up was so good that there were some older children who were asking their parents why everybody had started laughing.

Cultural Arts Event 1: "Hollywood Movies"

Summary and Analysis of “Hollywood Movies”

I left my house at 6:54 to head to my little sister’s school, ten minutes away, where a dance performance was starting at 7:00. Needless to say, when I got into the cafeteria it was jam packed with almost no standing room left. Parents and younger siblings filled the entire place. I shimmied my way through the crowd to find a less dense area to stand in and I waited a total of 27 seconds before the performance started.

I had come to one of these shows last semester for Christmas, and I remembered how long the head of the dance department had talked before the show (though I don’t remember anything she said). I was glad that I had missed it, even though she was wearing an afro-wig and I was curious as to why she had it on her head. I came just in time to hear the first song. This show’s theme was Hollywood movies, so all of the music and set-up had to do with Hollywood (maybe that’s what the wig was for?). They had used the same scheduling as the last time I came; the show would start off with a rendition of some famous song on guitars, then the dancers would have their turn to perform. That pattern would repeat itself the whole night. The guitar club players were all squished together in their tightly packed bleachers, laughing at the awkward position they had to lay their arms in to be able to strum. It was funny to watch.

Too bad I couldn’t hear them. I guess they were playing along with a recorded beat to keep their tempo, but the tempo was so much louder than their playing. Every now and then I could catch a little grinding sound, but that was about it for the first song. The first dance was up next, and as the dancers began filing up the stairs and onto the stage, my eyes started adjusting to what they were wearing. Their costumes were huge, bright-red t-shirts, thick wristbands, and long, rectangular American flag shorts. When they were all aligned and waiting on the “cue music”, their faces made expressions that I couldn’t help but pity. They were either so upset wearing the costumes that they were or they were upset that they had to dance in them (how, I don’t know).

The whole time they were dancing, that upset and nervous look never came off of their faces. That was pretty much how every dance performance was. The costumes were all slightly ridiculous, ranging from pajamas to scanty ice-skating outfits to what looked like a River Oak hoodlum. The dancers rarely looked like they were having fun; most were looking down at their feet, biting their lips, or flinging their stiff arms around self-consciously.

In every group of dancers there were a couple of people who were having fun. My sister was having a blast having everyone watch her while dancing on a stage, and so was another girl, in a different group, with the face of a 24 year old. All of the dancers did walk off the stage smiling though, happy with what they had just accomplished. I was glad to see that. For the rest of the night I would watch the dances, but it was almost like watching half time, or the super bowl game, for me. I was much more interested in the crowd of people that stood and sat to my left.

From the place I was standing, I was omniscient. Directly in front of me was the dance teacher. As each group was headed on stage, she would inspect them over. They would get all lined up on stage and she would stand there with both of her arms wrapped around her clipboard, putting it to her chest. When the music would start, she would start to shake her hips and wiggle her legs in a pattern that was very similar to the girls’, but not quite so obvious. It looked really funny. I asked my little sister about her later, and apparently the dance teacher does that regularly, incase a student found themselves stupefied by the crowd and needed help. I wish I would’ve seen her doing that the last time I was there!

In the middle of the show, the guitar club leader decided to ditch the drum tempos they had previously been using. The lady who was the head of the dance department started singing the lyrics to the songs that were being performed. She has a very full voice, and though it is not the best voice I’ve heard, it was very warm and strong. She would add little “whoah’s” and “umhmm’s” into the lyrics too, making people in the crowd start to nod their heads and tap their feet. It was a great thing to see, scanning the bobbing crowd in its entirety. Sometimes my eye would rest on someone’s curious or admiring face that was wondering why she hadn’t been singing earlier.

The lady who was standing next to me was doing the same thing as I was. There was a little girl with a pacifier, at about a 45-degree angle from my face, who was constantly moving. She was either dancing to the songs, kicking her feet up and down during the dances, gawking at the person with the blinking earphone behind her, or jumping up and down to try and get a view of her brother who was playing a guitar. She was so adorable. The lady next to me would laugh and giggle at the things she was doing at the same time I would. Any time she did something cute we would both turn to each other and smile. She was the one who tapped me and brought the dancing teacher to my attention.

The whole experience was enjoyable. Even though I noticed how the parents would start to head out the door right when their child had finished performing, I had a fun time. Even with that group of smart alecks that sat on the floor in the front of the cafeteria, whooping and hollering during the performance, I had a fun time. The event was no longer than it needed to be, I got to go and see my younger sister do her thang, and the people around me were so interesting.

Persuasive 3: High Treason

Summary

This is a movie review on the film Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, a sequel of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. The writer, Dana Stevens, says, “Everything you need to know about the difference between [the two films]…is right there in the titles”. She talks about the original movie being a “flop” on the big screen, only getting recognition from a small group of people after it came out on DVD. Dana talks about the plot of the first movie stating the possible themes: “tribute to friendship, spontaneity, racial tolerance, and the problem-solving properties of weed”. Dana attributes the first movies popularity from the “cult following on DVD” (one can only guess what she meant by cult) to these themes of high, brotherly love. The tone in the sequel is “far more serious”, touching on “racial profiling and the war on terror”. The writer is unimpressed with the themes of this movie since those themes have been heavily and frequently touched on, “render[ing the films point] completely banal”.

Dana runs through the plot of the sequel, talking mostly about the parts that she didn’t like or the ones that were very close to being funny. Apparently, the sequel is a direct continuation of the first film, starting with “the first of the many scatological gags”. Even with heavier themes, this film’s humor “is too shallow to constitute real satire”. Dana feels that the sequel totally ruined “the spirit of the stoner comedy” that was built up in the first movie.

 

Analysis

There is only one time when she appeals to the ethics of the reader. She refers to the part in the movie where George Bush gets high with Harold and Kumar. It is ridiculous to her that they happened to find themselves in that spot, but also that they show the president “getting blazed”. It doesn’t make sense that the guy who is “responsible for Guantanamo” would be able to enjoy the pleasures in becoming “a high-fiving bro…betraying the spirit of stoner comedy”. Is it ethically sound that the ultimate antagonist would get to have the same fun that the protagonists have?

It is strange that Dana uses logic to show most of her opinions on this very irrational and illogical movie. Often times, she gives her own opinions as facts in her logical arguments, making them seem a little weak. The best example of this is when she calls Neil Patrick Hariss’s future “a puzzling downer”, when some people might not have been feeling that way while watching the movie. She also talks about the poor impression that James Adomian gives of George Bush, making a subjunctive statement for her argument that's not factual at all. Her point is that, logically, if you weren’t a stoner (or you didn’t enjoy that type of humor) and you still had plans for seeing the movie, you aren’t missing anything. She says that all of the events that drive the movie's plot are predictable from the title, again encouraging people no to see it. Even though she warns that this movie could ruin the good parts of the first film, her warning is not strong enough to sway some readers from their want for more frat-boy humour.

http://www.slate.com/id/2189889/

Persuasive 2: Prince Valiant

Summary

The main argument in the article by Christopher Hitchens is that prince Harry should not have gone to fight in Afghanistan. He starts out his article by calling Harry’s removal from the front-line “hasty”, almost mocking the fact that “everybody seem[ed] to assume that it was the only right thing to do”.  He then points out the illogical points about Harry joining in the combat inside Afghanistan.

It is silly to him that Harry was taken out because of the threat of increased danger for him and his comrades. He says that everyone fighting in the area where Harry was already is a “bullet magnet”. He thinks it was silly for people to imagine that Harry’s activation would “be of any operational use” to jihadist who doesn’t really care about British royalty. The writer starts to tattletale on the chief of British defense staff for being the one to freak out and secretly remove Harry from the war. He says that it could have been a little “encouraging for the Islamist gangsters” since the act could have been mistaken as a retreat. He refers to a time when Condoleezza Rice went to Afghanistan and “was not announced in advance” then questions “our obsession with security”.

He wants to know why the British government agreed to letting Harry go in and fight when there was no point to it. It doesn’t show the valiant character of Britain, and it just gives a bad example of leadership when he didn’t “stay in the same trenches as his fellows”.  He then makes his point with Shakespearean quotes.

 

Analysis

 Hitchens uses mostly logical appeals in his article. He starts to make them when he invited the reader to “examine the nonlogic that supposedly underlies this decision”. He questions the logic that was used, if any, in okaying this sort of move. By making fun of the British governments actions, he makes his own opinions seem validated and more right-minded than those of the chief of the British defense staff. A hasty generalization fallacy in this section is evident when Hitchens decides to make fun of the chiefs name; its unrelated evidence that shows he’s trying to get personal, and he almost tries to make the reader draw a conclusion about the guy before we even fully understand everything he’s done..

He makes fun of the words “bullet magnets” that were used to describe the potential dituation of the unit Harry was a part of. The fact that only a few of the soldiers in the active military could be in danger of attracting bullets is all just “piffle”. He thoroughly explains his statement, and though he doesn’t back it up with cold hard facts, he still proves his point. When it comes down to the nitty gritty, the enemy is just going to shoot at whoever they see, whether or not they are able to recognize Harry’s red hair and freckles.

He feels that it was to no ones advantage that Harry left for the front-lines. Hitchens does do a good job of showing both sides of things. He doesn’t fail to mention that Harry was “disappointed” when he had to leave. There is a faulty analogy in this article. Hitchens tries to correlate two things, and though he mentions that he’s aware that the connection is only by name, he proceeds to correlate them. The faulty analogy and the information he gathered on the subject made this article a very interesting read, and the reader is persuaded to see the situation as the writer does.

http://www.slate.com/id/2186186/pagenum/2/

Persuasive 1: Will Miley Cyrus Become the Next Britney

Summary

 The writer doesn’t think that Hannah Montana or Miley Cyrus are impressive. She “get[s] that this show is wildly popular with teens [and]…that her 3-D movie made $29 million in its opening weekend. That doesn’t mean its good”. The writer isn’t bad-mouthing Miley Cyrus, she even says that “she’s cute and personable and she has a pretty good singing voice”. What the writer does not like is how engrossed everyone, and their mom (literally), is in “Hannah Montana”.

 The writer doesn’t even think that all of the hype is worth it. She is disgusted with “all the public talk of virginity” and the way that characteristic has been used to encourage the public to like her more. She calls the act hypocritical too, saying that Miley “proclaimed her virginity” while dressing rather scantily. The writer starts to compare Brittany Spears image to Miley’s drawing a correlation between the two. The writer believes that “there is only one point to dressing sexy”, so it’s a little “insincere” to do that as a young girl who has “pledged [her] virginity to [her] father”.

 The writer again compares Miley’s star-studded youth to the lives of previous child stars that “children idolize[d]”, coming again to the conclusion that Miley’s road to fame could lead to a disastrous future. That, along with the hypocrisy promotion of lacking morals, are reasons she feels children shouldn’t idolize these young stars in the extreme way that they do.

 

Analysis

 The writer makes appeals to the audience’s ethics, logic, and emotion. The ethical appeals call into question the character of Miley Cyrus. The author does this by slyly making the readers mind connect the image of Miley with the notoriously vulgar images of Britney Spears, the guy who “dated Pamela Anderson”, and the like. She even goes as far as to say that Miley “ripped a page from Britney’s handbook” (diary?). This connection makes her look guilty by association (though she never has been known to associate with any of them).

 She uses logic to support her argument. She tries to show the hypocratic side of Miley with the whole “virginity shtick” and the 30 dollar fan-club membership that the parents pay for but get nothing from.. When she alludes to other movie stars gone bad, it makes the reader believe that path could logically be taken by another, potentially Miley. Her statement towards parents that encourage their kids to “blow off an important obligation” to see Hannah Montana is also an appeal to logic.

 Logically, a good parent wouldn’t let their kid eat “chicken nuggets” all the time. The problem with her logical appeals is that they are all slanted. She only provides stacked evidence, building a case up against Miley. The one time she says something good about her, she follows it up with a “But fascinating? Only insofar as she is the next most likely teen star to go Brittney Spear’s on us”. This is also an appeal to the emotions of the readers, most of whom are adult. They read about the parent’s behavior and see it as shocking that parents could be so inept. The problem with the emotional appeals is the writer’s assumption that these things concerning Miley and her pseudonym will lead to yet another "tween" sliding down a slope.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/PMG/teenidols?GT1=7701

Free Choice 4: Nicaragua Mission Trip Letter

April 25, 2008

 

 Hey Guys,

  I’m graduating this year! On June 26^th this summer (my first summer out of high school!!), I am going to be taking a week-and-a-half mission trip to Nicaragua along with other members of the Summerville Church of Christ with the international Mision Para Cristo group heading us up. I am really looking forward to traveling to Nicaragua and meeting with people from a totally different culture than my own. It will be an enriching experience to encourage and show love to people in God’s name.

            Since this will be my first mission trip, I only have a rough idea of what to expect. I have talked to some people who went on the trip last year, and they filled me in with some of their experiences. On one trip, there was a small feeding program that they worked in, feeding large families for only a couple of U.S. dollars. On another trip, they took a school bus full of kids and treated them to lunch and much-needed play time.  There are many different ministries to work in while we’re there, so I’ll be busy the whole time. A couple of ministries that I’m really looking forward to helping with are the ‘Hope for the River’ ministry and the ‘Smile for a Child’ program. We will also be able to help in the schools, churches, and medical centers in whatever ways we can.

            To go on this mission trip, I need to raise $1,550 by June 10^th, and to do that I need donations from anyone who is willing to give them. Checks can be made out to Summerville Church of Christ. If a money donation is just something that you cannot fit into your budget, then please donate in a different way. We can use anything that you can give, whether it’s clothes, blankets, or a product that can go into action to raise money. Any contribution you could make will be appreciated. This is a chance for you to help. Thank you so much for reading this letter, and I hope you have a great day!

 

Love Ya,

                                    Jordan Washington

Free Choice 3: Poser

This goes with Picture 2 at the bottom of the screen.

I helped this little fella get out of a scrap with my cats. I guess they were chasing him for a couple of minutes before he finally found a place to hide. When I found him, he was cowering between two creases in a towel, waiting for the perfect moment to head back outside. I picked up the towel and I realized I had exposed him. So, because of the guilt I felt for ruining his getaway and the strong sway of human duty, I put him back outside into our wisteria bush. He thanked me by posing for my picture. He didn’t even blink when the flash went off.

It would be fun to indulge myself by pretending I have a little Snow-White fantasy relationship with the animals of the wild south, but I don’t. Sure, I can help them out, but they won’t remember or pay me back. One time we brought a hurt bird home and helped it get better, but it didn’t come back after we let it go. The same thing happened with this lizard. While I was taking him back outside, he was squirming in my hand, trying to get out. I think he was just watching me take this picture because he thought that I might try to eat him.

Free Choice 2: "Budding Future"

This goes with Picture 1 at the bottom of the screen.

I’ve had an orchid plant for two years. These flowers are investments that you have to take care of with more effort than a regular houseplant. This flower is not only sensitive to the amount of water you give it, but also to it’s surrounding temperature and the amount of nitrogen and acids in the soil. The care that is supposed to be given to this plant would be year round, even though there is no flowery yield in the winter.

I was sitting at our kitchen table one springy Sunday morning and I saw a bloom like the one in the picture. The look of the bloom scared me. If you look at it, it looks like the face of a medieval sea-creature with slit-like eyes and a tiny sucking mouth with very sharp teeth. To make the picture look a little more intimidating, I took a picture of the bloom in front of darker glass, messed with the focus, and played around with the colors and sharpness level.

In this picture, I see my fears of the future. I have invested many years in my future. I am a senior in high school who is still debating on which university to attend. I am behind in everything, and I (like most everybody) am unsure about where I am headed. This bud is scary, just as my unknown, ‘unopened’ future is. After all the work I have put into helping this flower, my future, will it start to open? Will it be a pretty blossom? I am sure now, though, that once the bud is open, it won’t be scary at all, and I won’t be able to help but enjoy it. At least, that's how I felt when the orchid bloomed last year.

Free Choice 1: Awake

This has been happening for a couple months. I wake up, turn to my window, and just glare at that stupid blue lamplight that keeps me from going back to bed. It must not have been there when they built the house. If it was there, it’s funny to me to think that the guy who drew the plans never took into consideration the most uncomfortable feature of the house. That’s the only thing that bugs me in this whole place. He totally ignored the streetlamp, and now I can’t.

            But I'll be fine. Tonight’s been a little different. I still woke up too early, but when I turned to look out the window, I saw that beautiful blonde head lying on her hand that’s spread out on my chest. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her, and there she was, just laying on me with her unconscious face facing mine. I start to look at her.

            She’s got the prettiest face I’ve ever seen, even with her eyes closed. Her symmetrical features looked so adult and refined in the blurry light we were in. Her womanly brow kept furrowing every half-minute or so. It was weird watching her in this state, having not seen her for so long. I got to look at what her insides were feeling without her even knowing it. What should we do tomorrow? I couldn’t just leave a note for her in the morning telling her I’d call when I had the chance.

            Work is going to be so busy tomorrow. With all the blueprints I have to draw between the meetings and the sight I have to oversee for the new condo building. How would I be able to focus now at work, just knowing that she was back to see me, maybe for good?  What would she be okay with? I’ve asked myself these questions before. I guess I’ll have to ask her. It’s pretty clear to me, especially since last night, that what little I remembered about her has changed. I know I still love her though.

            I still love her. That decision has been one fact that hasn’t changed. All the others have. There is no rule, no absolute except for my love for her; not one thing that has been half as true. My marriage was factual until it became false, but I guess that was my fault. My job, I have always questioned it, in every aspect, and come up with unreliable rebuttals to ease my piece of mind. My dog decided that he wasn’t even mine. I can’t even say that she’s been mine, all I know is that I’ve loved her all this time, and I am so glad she’s lying here.

            I attached so many wishes to this house. When I drew it, I thought it was a fact that I would be living in it forever with my wife. My dreams were faulty, just like my plans. Ever since that big change, my sleep has been interrupted by the blue light from that streetlamp. But now my little lady's back, and when I helped her carry her hello-kitty bags into the house yesterday, she smiled. After I read to her last night, she hugged my neck and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and she wasn’t scared to ask me for my company after she had a nightmare.

            Her blonde hair hits her small, round shoulders when she’s standing up, but right now its fanned it’s way across my chest like her fingers have. I get to sit here and watch her. Her tiny head moves up and down with my breathing. As she moves, her skin shimmers beautifully in that blue lamplight that's kept me up. If it wasn’t for that light, I wouldn’t be able to see her glowing now, in the most natural and gorgeous state she’s ever been in. Her little ears were lulled to sleep by that strong drum-pulse that comes from in between my ribs. She doesn’t know yet that she’s the drummer.

Literary Devices

From The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy

1) “the tangled bine-stems scored the sky”

            When Hardy uses imagery to describe the view from the coppice gate the way he does, the reader can imagine the way the shrubs cut their image into the view of the sky.

2) “The Century’s corpse outleant”

            This is an example of diction. Instead of simply saying that the 19^th century was over, he describes it in the way he feels about it. To him, the century is dead and gone.

3) “The weakening eye of day”

            Hardy is giving the day human characteristics. The day really has no eyes, but it was to the narrator’s advantage to personify the day with eyes. The bad time he is going through has effect on everything else as well, and this is made clear by the dimming of the portals to even the day’s soul.

4) "blast-beruffled plume”

            This is another example of imagery. It describes the thrush’s feather colors in a way that makes him seem lively, even with his gaunt body.

5) The thrush is a symbol for hope. The times in which the narrator is writing are unhappy and lifeless. He is outside, observing everything, even nature, as bleak and scoring. The thrush, who has been through tough times himself (assuming by his age and scruff), is able to sing a song that makes the narrator hopeful.

 

From the novel Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

6) “Le Chiffre is getting into deep water” (page 10).

            “Getting into deep water” is an exaggeration, a hyperbole, because even though Le Chiffre is in trouble like he would be if he was in deep water, he is really not in that situation. He is just in a situation that is a little hard to run out of.

7) “In nearly all respects he is an admirable agent of the USSR, but his gross physical habits and predilections are an Achilles heel” (page 10).

            “Achilles heel” is both a metaphor and an allusion. Achilles was an ever-victorious warrior who had only one weakness that could cause his demise (his heel). The quote alludes to this legendary Greek character dually serving as a metaphor for ‘weakness’.

8) “He seemed undisturbed when not more than a mile separated the hare from the hounds and he even brought the car down from eighty to sixty miles an hour” (page 119).

            In this passage, James Bond is on a high-speed car chase (of course) trying to catch Le Chiffre. The phrase “separated the hare from the hounds” refers to the situation in which the two opposing parties find themselves. “The hounds” refers to James Bond who is chasing tracks belonging to “the hare”, Le Chiffre, in hopes of killing the hare himself or giving his location away to the hunter ( MI6).

9) “Like snow in sunshine his capital had melted” (88).

            Snow melts quickly in sunshine, and that is why Fleming used this simile to describe the speed at which his money was gambled away. It helps the reader understand how fast he was losing.

10) “The two cards came slithering towards him over the green baize…which was no longer smooth, but thick now, and furry and almost choking, its color as livid as the grass on a fresh tomb” (89)

            This is a great example of imagery because in it there’s a hint of symbolism. The way the felt and cards are described is so easy to picture, and the reader can imagine this unwanted snake making its way closer through the grass. In that image, the change in Bond’s view towards the playing table would symbolize his change in view towards the game he is playing- he is now scared that the ‘slithering’ game will get the best of him.

Poem 4:Little America

I knew so much when I was five,

I had 10 pennies

And I knew how to dive.

 

When I was fifteen

I grew my own mind

Though a combination of my peers

I thought my own seed-thoughts I aligned

 

Had that cup been filled before

When the water o’er the edge did flow

Or had I just been a reckless envoy

Making the swells and crests grow

 

We knew so much in 76

With our Common Sense, Articles, Declaration

Coming from English stock

We had small trouble with equal representation

 

We had the money

To go into debt

And we had the great fathers

And our diving cadets

 

Onward and up with power and fame

The peacemaker with atoms

The force behind NATO

The butt of EU jokes now our name

 

Had that cup been filled before

When water o’er the edge did flow

Or had we just been reckless

Making the swells and crests grow

And grow

And grow

And spill out.

Poem 3: Retrospect and Wrinkles

These eyes do not see

As they saw in their youth.

Now spending their time

Finding falsified truths.

 

Those young ears are gone

With that patience, unmet

Replaced now with holes

Filled with sawdust and sweat

 

These lips have no strength

And to this mind’s crooked hand cede

Leading those cynical proverbs

To cause this tongue to bleed

 

Those hands that were once

Content with a fond, loving touch

Recoil to rough, slipp’ry work

That’s been relied on too much.

 

It’s false appeasement,

Only digression has been achieved.

And it’s self-induced

But it’s comfortable, being deceived.

 

So the good won’t return

Since ill stance can ne’er restore

The better, now lost

Though in abundance before.

Poem 2: The Game

Daddy! Daddy! You must come quick!

She is doing this all wrong.

She put his hand with her hand

right there, where yours belongs.

 

That is no match,

as you well know.

All the card-games you played

helped you learn that’s so.

 

Yours and hers, a pair,

The King and Queen of hearts.

Red for love and hearts for love-

Or is love only when it starts?

 

Do something, please! He’s a Jack of spades,

he doesn’t fit at all.

And little me,

the number three,

can’t do much ‘cause I’m too small.

 

Daddy! Daddy! Pick me up

and set me on your knee,

for I have never ever seen you

lose a game of rummy.

Poem: How it Comes

I hear an army charging

Racing on their horses that tick

Sweeping nations, minds, bodies

Turning every stone

Killing every king

Leaving a brand new scent on the grass

Changing the way the colors feel

Spinning the world in the opposite direction

Having no regard for the past

 

My eyes eat

My ears see

My mouth understands

My hands believe

 

I’m approaching, unafraid, to solve the riddle.

Was I ever to learn

Without the push of change?