Updike and Walker

We discussed the two works “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, and “Flight” by Updike, today in class. They are both stories that deal with family struggles, as well as themes of identity.

“Everyday Use” is a 20th century story about an impoverished black family living in the rural south. The story is centered around the mother and her relationship with her daughter Dee, who has come home from college for a visit. Dee now goes by a different african name, and thinks more of herself than ever. She is now making it her mission to take the family heirlooms that she had previously turned down, which include and old butter churn and and old quilt, both made and used by previous generation before, that hold a lot of significane and meaning that Dee can not comprehend. Dee now wants them because it is the “in thing” in society to have objects that are associated with the past, and she thinks that she appreciates her roots more than her dim witted sister, Margie. The irony in this is that Dee does not appreciate her roots as much as she thinks. Another them in the story is the theme of social status. Education as heightened Dee’s social status, while also further alienating her from her family.

Updike’s story “Flight” also touches on family issues. The main character is Allen, a middle class high school boy, who is struggling with the grevences of his family, and the resentments that each generation has toward the prior. He also struggling with his sense of identity. Everyone in Allen’s life wants him to “take flight” by leaving town and doing great things. Allen himself is not sure if he wants to. This is shown through his relationship with Molly, an upper class girl who comes from a family that his mother can’t stand. Not only does Allen’s mother fear that she will tie him down, but the towns people also try to break them up.

What is Writer’s Block?

We discussed a few different section’s from the book “Deepening Fiction” in my writing fiction class today. One of the sections we discussed was “Writer’s Block”. The sections was gave a good insight on what writer’s block is, and where it can come from.

Writer’s Block can come from either external or internal forces. The external forces include but are not limited to:

• Too much work
• Family problems
• Busy schedule

Some of the internal sources may be:

• Self doubt
• lack of skill
• lack of motivation

I enjoyed reading this section because I often lack motivation to write. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I am not cut out for writing. It many be since there is a lot going on in my life I can not find the time or energy to think of good stories.

One other concept that I found note-worthy yet kind of confusing is the difference beweens writer’s block and the typical struggling with writing. Writer’s block stems from some of the sources that I listed above. Writer’s struggles is just that struggling with writing a work. It could be that a writer is frustrated with the work, can keep on track, or just needs a break. Sometimes a writer should take a break from writing for a week or two if it is not going anywhere. This does not fall under the category of writer’s block.

We discussed this issue of distinguishing between the two in class today. My professor says that it does not matter that much, as long as you recognize that you do need a break.

Confessional Poetry

We are continuing the study of confessional poets in American Literature this week. We started with one of the most popular confessional poets, Robert Lowell. My homework for tonight is to read the work of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. They were both modern confessional poets.

I have enjoyed this semester of American Literature. Last semester I had American Lit to 1900, this semester it’s been 1900-present. I do like reading a lot of the older great literary works, but it is refreshing to be reading more modern work after having three courses where all we read was work from the 1800’s. I can relate more to the recent works than I could to stories that were written around the revolution, and the civil war.

I am kind of liking this confessional poetry genre. Thinking about it, much of the poetry written today can be seen as confessional poetry. Confessional poetry is really just when the poet writes in the first person(he or she is the narrator) and writes about subject matter in his or her own life. Most of the subject matter is depressing, which is why it was coined confessional poetry, because they are revealing things that most people would not reveal.

I don’t think that today it is really seen as confessional poetry when people write about the tough issues in their lives. These poets that I’ve been studying were the ones that broke the barriers. Now that they are broken, more and more people have been writing “confessional poetry”. This can be seen as positive of negative. In one aspect, more artists have the courage to express themselves. On the other hand, it may not be seen as brave anymore to reveal traumatic events when everyone else around you is also doing so.

Robert Lowell

We discussed the poetry of Robert Lowell in class today. Much of his poetry is categorized under “Confessional Poetry”. This is a particular sub-genre where the poet expresses much about his or herself, and often refers to himself rather than a narrator in poems. The subject matter is often bleak if not depressing. This style is sometimes seen as whiny, but it also wildy appreciated as transmuting emotions into art.

Lowell himself is a transitional figure. He often travels between confessional and impersonal. His poem, “Walking in the Blue” is definitely a confessional poem. This is a poem about Lowell’s stay at a mental institution. In the poem, he describes his feelings of isolation from the world, often relating them to some fish imagery. He describes himself and the other patients of “ossified young” meaning people who have become forever stuck in the mind-set that they were when they originally became mentally ill

Lowell’s poem “Skunk Hour” is also a confessional poem. In it he describes his own decline, as well as the decline of New England. On the surface things appear to be functional, but as we delve deeper we can see that they are not as they appear to be. Sea and fish imagery appear again in this poem, also describing Lowell’s isolation.

Lowell’s poem “For the Union Dead” is the most impersonal of all three of these poems. It is not confessional because of the distance between the reader and the speaker. The title suggests a elegy. This poem is about the tackiness of the modern world, and the questioning of the pasts sacrifice. There is a big contrast between the past and present, which gives it a sort of “Waste Land” quality. The content of the poem is the speakers sadness over the tearing down of an aquarium that he loved very much when he was a child. This shows the modern world as being physical and precarious. Lowell sticks to his fish imagery, giving connections to the emotions he is feeling. In the end the aquarium is turned into a parking lot, which states a lot about the present human state.

Reading, Living

So I couldn’t make it out of my driveway today. Lucky for me my professor canceled the class and is showing the video for today again tomorrow. That means I’ll have to get up early to view the first showing, so technically I’ll have four classes tomorrow, plus work until ten at night.

I did the reading for American Lit tonight. It wasn’t a whole lot, just random poetry, nothing remarkable at this time. I also had to read the handouts, one of which was quite interesting. It was the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale. The main story line was just how a remembered it being, but all the details were almost creepy. The diction is pretty wacky, it reminds me some what of Alice in Wonderland.

Between the multiple handouts and poems I managed to get the reading done in about a hour, and also had time to spare for reading the new course requirements for the Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in English. My professor told us that credits will be pretty much the same, but courses are going to have different names and focuses, as well as some of them being combined. However, it almost looks as if the list of requirements has lengthened. Not only that, but now the senior projects are called internships. I am not sure if this means that I am going to have to find a place to intern, or if it is going to be an in class thing.

These are more things that I need to discuss with my advisor, something I’ve been putting of doing. I really should meet with her soon before the list becomes too terribly long!

American Literature

So I only got a B on my American Literature Midterm. I talked to the professor after class today, and she says that I generally do well on the essay questions, but really need to take the time to study for the short answers. This has pretty much been the story of my life.

Today we discussed “The Magic Barrel” a short story by Bernard Malamud. It is a 20th century story about a Jewish rabbi, Leo who wishes to form a congregation. Before he can from the congregation he must first get married. He calls upon the services of a match maker, a man names Salzaman. The theme is about Leo’s self discovery, and also his inability to love. The first women the Salzaman sets Leo up with represent everything that is wrong with Leo. Like the women, life had past Leo by. He is searching for something in these women that he can not find within himself.

The matchmaker is a very ambiguous character. It is not entirely clear whether he is a sick old man, or perhaps even a ghost. His motives are also unclear. Salzaman says that he does not think that his daughter, Stella, is a good match for Leo, and yet he still puts her picture in with the others. It seems that Salzaman knew all along the Stella and Leo would work well together, but waited until Leo was ready for love. This is why he had Leo date the other women first, letting him grow as a person.

Relieved

I am finished with my American Literature midterm. There was a couple short answers I didn’t know, and one or two short essays I struggled with, but overall I think I did alright, I’m guessing I’ll get a B, but I’d love and A! I think I did well on the essay section. I compared and contrasted Jake and Charlie for “The Sun Also Rises”, and “Babylon Revisted” commenting on their struggles adapting to life after the depression and the war. By next week I should have my grade.
Now I can start focusing on writing my story for Writing fiction, which is due next week. It needs to be atleast nine pages, double spaced, and I can use past stories to develop into this one. The hardest part is to start writing. Once I pick a subject and characters it shouldn’t be too difficicult to develop a story, but sometimes it can take work to get my creative wheels turning, expecially when theres a deadline. I hate deadlines. If anything deadlines make me put off my work more than if there were no deadlines at all.

Cramming for American Literature

I’ve finished reading “The Sun Also Rises” by Hemingway, as well as “As I Lay Dying” by Faulkner. I’ve reviewed “Babylon Revisited”, “The Waste Land”, “The Other Two,” and the Robert Frost poetry. In short, I am tired.

My procrastination lead to a large amount of reading in a short amount of time. The fact that I read each work quickly has most likely taken away some of my understanding and appreciation of the works. That is not to say that I skimmed over them. It’s just that  I think that literature should be read at a leaisurely pace.

I am tired of cramming. I promised myself at the beginning of the semester that I would stop putting things of until last minute. I am sure that this is what a lot of students tell themselves, but I want to be better than that. I want to take as much as I can out of each class. What is the point of paying the tuition of I am not going to absorb the knowledge?

I am frustrated and tired, and have myself to blame. On the bright side, atleast I have finished the reading. It’s only halfway through the semester, so I have nest two months to make improvements. After making Dean’s List last semester I wanted to hold myself to a higher standard than I ususally do.

It’s Over

Spring Break is over. Time to get back into the regular sway of things. I’ve really enjoyed the time off and the extra sleep, so hopefully it won’t be too hard getting back on track.

I have stories to read tommorow and a midterm to study for, not to mention my everyday classes. Then I also have poems to read and comment on.

On the bright side I don’t have to work tommorow, so if I work hard and focus on my tasks, I will be able to get them done. The tasks themselves aren’t particularly hard or complex, just time consuming. The most time consuming part will be reading the short stories for my writing fiction class. I’ve started them, but have a lot more to read. For each ten page story I need to write a ten sentence critique, which isn’t that much work.

I am done with the reading for American Literature, so now it is time to reveiw the past readings thus far. This is what I did last semester, and it helped a lot for the short answer segment of the exam. We are given quotes and then asked to cite the work, author, and significance of the quote.

The poetry critiques are not due until class on Tuesday, so I am not too worried about getting those done. Plus, I have plenty of time between class to work on them.

I can do this, I’m motivated, and ready for class to start!

Midterm on Tuesday

Spring Break went by fast. 

I still haven’t finished reading “As I Lay Dying” by William Faulkner. I have a midterm in American Literature on Tuesday, and I work three shifts at JcPenney’s before then. It’s my own fault for procrastinating so much on the reading.

After I read “As I Lay Dying”, I still need to complete “The Also Rises” by Hemmingway, a novel that shows the affects that World War 1 had on society. Hemingway started “The Lost Generation” Literary movement. It focused cynical attitude toward life and mortality.

I have done the other readings, including “The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot, “The Other Two” by Edith Wharton, and many works from Robert Frost. I am going to review “The Waste land” because it is so complex. Eliot is a master of allusions, and it shows in this poem. I feel some what confident about the exam. I took American Literature 1 last semester with the same professor, and she is designing the exams in the same format. Essays are usually my strong point, but I am worried a little bit about the mulitple choice.

I don’t work until 1 PM tommorow, so I should try to get some reading done tonight. I’ve never been one to pull all nighters, and I doubt that I ever will. However, in situations like these where I have a lot to do in a short amount of time it couldn’t hurt to put in the extra effort.

This is my first midterm of the semester, so maybe that’s why I am stressing out so much over it. As a matter of fact, I don’t think that any of my other course even have midterms. I have done a couple of exams in Physical Science, which are comparable to the work in a midterm, except we have five of them a semester. We are getting into the workshop portion in my Literature class, but my story is not do for a couple of weeks. There are no tests in Poetry. We are expected to do a sufficient amount of work throughout the semester, which I find appropriate for the type of class.

Then of course there is my Weblogs and Wikis class. This blog is comparable to a midterm and final wrapped into one. It can take a lot of motivation, but I think that is good for me as a writer to get my feelings out “on paper” so to speak. Putting time and work to review what I am learning also makes me take a step back and look at what I am doing wrong. When typically slacking off, it is easy to repress of forget about your studies. You can’t slack off when working on a blog that documents your coursework.