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Walter's opinion about the class

To start off, I would like to say that Emma inspired me to write my last blog about the class.

 I want to admit that I thought I was going to flunk this class as I had never taken any literature class before.  On the first class, I was afraid of making a dumb mistake because I knew all of you were really smart and could laugh at me. And I was not wrong about how smart you are, I was amazed by your willingness to participate since the very first day. I really loved your reasoning and creativity when talking about poetry. But what I loved the most was the fact that you guys were really welcoming to me despite being from a different country. Everybody was so friendly and supportive that I felt like I was at home. I enjoyed every single class, especially the way Dr. Reed teaches, he is so entertaining and knowledgeable. Honestly, I kind of felt that we had too much reading sometimes, but I think it was just me who had the feeling because I hate reading. By and large, I want to say that I had a great deal of learning and fun in this class. It was fantastic to have met you all guys.

If in the near future you want to come to El Salvador, you are more than welcome to my house.

Happy Holidays!

Shakespeare's honesty and simplicity

The message that Shakespeare tries to convey in his sonnet is that there is no perfection in love as others might depict it. He denotes that physical appearance is not everything, but what really matters is loving somebody for who they really are.

In this sonnet, Shakespeare uses a negative tone in the first eight lines (octave) to describe how realistic he is with his mistress’ physical qualities. He says that her eyes are not as shiny as the sun. Then, he compares the white color of the snow, which is perfect, to his mistress’ dun (brownish) breasts. Then, he goes on explaining some other flaws his mistress has. He ends his negative description with line number eight saying that her breath is not one that someone would like to smell, which I find rude.

Nonetheless, in the last six lines (sestet) he changes his tone to a more positive one. He says he loves to hear her even when he knows that her voice is not the best one to hear. He continues by saying that goddesses are never to be seen, yet he knows his mistress walks just like any other woman, which is something believable.  In the last two lines, he shows his strongest point. He states that as rare as his love can be, he prefers being real on how his mistress looks rather than comparing her to something she is not.

A & P

A & P is a short story about Sammy, a boy who worked as a cashier at a grocery store. On a particular day, three girls in bathing suits walked in the store. The way they were dressed caught everybody’s attention, especially Sammy’s.  Sammy was particularly interested in the most beautiful one. She called her “Queenie” as she seemed to be the leader of the girls. At first, Sammy described their clothing in a particular  way; he enjoyed seeing the girls that he even ranged up a customer’s product twice. He had disconnected from his work that he did not even care of the mistake he had made. However, he got upset by the way Lengel, the manager of the store, treated the girls while they were checking out their products. Lengel told them that the store was not a beach for them to be dressed up indecently.  Lengel asked Sammy if he had already rung up the girls’ purchases afterwards. As the girls were getting out of the store, Sammy told Lengel he was quitting. He said it loudly, so the girls could hear that he did not tolerate the way they were treated by the manager. Lengel  told Sammy he did not know what he was doing; he said he could not do that to his family.  Sammy knew the consequences, but he was pissed off because Lengel had embarrassed the girls. He quickly took off his apron and left it on the counter; he rushed to the parking lot with the hope of reaching the girls. To his surprise, they had already left. At the end, Sammy looked through the window that Lengel was already at his checking slot, and he told to himself how hard his life would be afterwards.

In his short story “A&P” Updike shows that sometimes heroic acts to impress others are pointless. It is evident that Sammy was attracted by the girls, especially by the one he calls Queenie. I understand that Lengel should not have treated the girls the way he did, but I think that what Sammy did was really ludicrous. He did not have to quit his job just because of that. He knew that he needed it. I do not know if he did not want to work there anymore, and he found the perfect excuse to get away with it, but he did not care. What I am certain about is that he lost his job, and he could not talk to the girls at the end. From this story, I learned that we have to make wise decisions in life. It is necessary to think about the consequences of our actions all the time. It is not worthy doing things we would regret just to impress others.

The Sick Rose

This poem is formed by 2 stanzas. In the first line Blake applies a metaphor. He uses a rose to refer to woman. Roses represent love, purity, and innocence, but he says that this rose is sick. The rose has been infected or corrupted by an invisible worm which can be linked to a man. The author says this worm flies in the night and in the howling storm in order to describe the evil or bad intentions he has that cannot be seen easily.

In the second stanza, Blake states that the worm has found her bed of crimson joy.  The found bed and crimson joy mean that the worm has been able to gain her love and even her chastity. In the last two lines, Blake describes this love as being secret and dark which is destroying the rose’s life. The darkness can be interpreted as a love that is not sincere. The secrecy means that the rose has been deceived by the worm as she is not the only one in his life. This results in the destruction of the rose’s life.

In the research I did, I found out that this poem also symbolizes a passage from the bible which was really interesting to me. This passage can be found in Genesis, and it mainly talks about how Eve is deceived by a serpent to eat from the forbidden tree, and then she convinces Adam to do the same as well.  

We Real Cool

We Real Cool (link)

Brooks conveys the message behind the poem using 7 pool players. The first lines suggest that these guys are supposedly having the prime time of their lives because they left school. The following lines “We lurk late. We strike straight” can be understood as the negative things done by them. Towards the end of the poem the author explains that the guys do not mind getting into sex and alcohol despite being something inappropriate at their young age. The last line “We Die soon” represents that a lifestyle like the one they decided to have can completely destroy their lives.

This poem reminds me of the consequences young people face when they do not make right decisions. I have known many students who are not really interested in learning or building a career to become successful in the future. Even though they have the support of their parents and all the resources they need to succeed in life, they prefer to live “a fun life” rather than studying. Most of the time, they waste their time and do not think about the future they would like to live. If they drop out of school, they do it just to go out with friends, to party, or to get into groups where they supposedly feel accepted. They do not realize that in the long run these actions will lead them to failure, disappointments in life, or their own death.

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

This poem was so difficult to grasp out at first. I admit that I did not know what a Ball Turret was which made my understanding of the poem a bit difficult. After I did my research, I got more insights on what the poem really meant.

In the beginning, the author explains how he was separated from his mom in order to serve to the states (Air force). He also describes how dangerous it was to be placed in the ball turret (that glass bubble of a bomber aircraft). The author explains that being in that specific place does not guarantee whether you will survive or not. The ball turret gunners are with nothing else but a gun. They are ready to fight the enemies and to kill whoever is around them to survive. At the end, if the ball turret gunner dies, it is just replaced by another one, and everything continues being the same.

I believe this poem may be really sad for many people because of the meaning it has. It provides information about the hardships people in the Arm forces go through which will make it hard to read for those who relate to it.