Project Action Plan Week 14

Project Action Plan 

Week 14 

Anna Akhmatova 

• For this final project I was going to do my project on the poems from author Anna Akhmatova and use the topic of exploring the relationships between certain elements. The example they gave that I can also use is how does the setting influence character development and the setting plays a huge part in the development of the character throughout all the poems. 
• In the poem I will focus on is Requiem and it is a big poem that consist of separated parts named like Dedication and prologue and etc. Anna was effected by her setting immensely because she lived in Russia during the second world war and experienced many tragedies in her family and even her friends fell victim to the destruction of the country at the time. 
• I will explain how accompanied by some back ground information Anna is the perfect example of her setting influencing her because in the poems she was character in reality. Then I will explain how in an even more deep conclusion that this tragedy was not only happening to her but to women all over her country so it was important for her to explain the character in the poems was just a general sorrowful mother. 
• The whole page is the quotes I will use and then explain how those back up the claim to show how the setting influenced the sorrowful mother in the poems. And for my luck the poem is flooded with examples of this because Anna is such a poet that uses imagery and tone to help readers feel. One great example I will use first is "Mountains bow down to this grief, Mighty rivers cease to flow, But the prison gates hold firm" There are many of these so I am set and juts have to stay focused and used evidence and back it up with clear analysis and plan a success. 

Literary Analysis Week 14

Literary Analysis 

Week 14

This week for my analysis I chose to focus on the poem from the author Leopold Sedar Senghor ,"Black Women". This was a poem that caught my attention because of the imagery it gave from the descriptions of black women and just how beautiful they are. Just from the depth that Senghor goes into saying "And your beauty strikes my heart like an eagle's lightning flash"(pg.680). This comparison of how black women's beauty is so powerful it is compared to lightening and helps me as a reader understand how much the beauty affected the narrator in the poem. I wonder why the author related "Naked women black women or dark women" because was it to magnify how he believed black women were disrespected and just subjected to their beauty only. The tone it also is giving off with the repeating of those lines is black women beauty is the way to determine their value and also the poem continues to show the degrading actions happening to these "black women". Senghor writes, "Moaning under the hands of the conqueror, Your deep contralto voice is the spiritual song of the Beloved, Naked women, dark woman"(pg.680-681). The poem goes on to explaining how the "black woman" had to experience being raped by her conqueror and he wasn't able to resist her beauty. Making it even more clear how all of this imagery of how beautiful "black woman" are is true and they get even more credit for being strong by being able to bear all of these trails being made transparent in this poem. Senghor poem had me interested the whole time and the shortness of the poem made me want me especially because I don't understand fully of how it ended. For example
"I sing your passing beauty and fix it for all Eternity, before jealous Fate reduces you to ashes to nourish the roots of life". In my opinion it sounds like the "black woman" losers since it says she was reduced to ashes but I hope I am wrong on my guess. 

Reading Notes Week 14 Part A&B

Reading Notes 

Week 14

 Part A&B

• James Baldwin was an African American novelist that lead the rest with his prose stylists during the twentieth century. His most famous work included poetry laced with "the classics of English literature and the tones of biblical prophecy, combine personal reflection with a wider view of social justice"(pg.735). 
• As a youth Baldwins stepfather was a preacher and he was very involved in the church at a young age and was some way shunned because of his later involvement in secular literature. Although he did stay in close relationship with several churches over time and even preached when he was still a young man. 
• Also don't let me forget he was one of the icons of the civil rights movement. 
• In 1943 he was expected to go take care of his mother and siblings when he received the news of his fathers death but instead he moved to Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan to work as a writer and met other older writers and here in the place he "became aware of his homosexuality"(pg.735). 
• Leopold Sedar Senghor a poet who was also the founder of the movement Negritude and the first ever president of independent Senegal. His main subject was the personal and social conflicts between Europe and Africa. 
• A part of the poem "Black Women" is you could feel the pain in the words of the poem and the repeating of" naked black women" was used to further the point of the disrespect shown to black women and how they were subjected to that image only being naked. "Moaning under the hands of the conqueror, Your deep contralto voice is the spiritual song of the Beloved, Naked woman, dark woman"(pg. 680-681). 
• Very moving line because it showed how the black woman was the strongest through this whole poem because of the trails told. Also the disgust of the imagery of someone who conquered you and your people and they take advantage of you because they see you as "a black woman and beautiful" 

Topic Brainstorm Week 13

Topic Brainstorm 

Week 13

Project Work 

For my first topic I could use this question: Choose a reading selection. Explore the relationship between elements of the selection. For example: how does setting influence character development?   With this question I would use the poetry from Anna Akhmatova and explain how her poetry was influenced very much by the setting she was in at the time. She was writing during the second World War and inner country many things were going wrong for her family and she points this out specifically in her poetry. Anna's husband and son were arrested and her friends were thrown into prison camps to die. Further into the poetry we understand the character is not specified but Anna is though to be the character she is focusing on central but truly the character is a grieving mother that is only separated from the other mothers because of her poetic skill. 

For my second topic I could use the question: How does the work reflect the period in which it was written?  With this question I could use the same poem and then just look at how doe Anna's poetry reflect on the time she was in. I would say it reflected pain and a sense of helplessness since her family and friends were being either killed or locked in prison and her government was the one doing it. 

For a final topic I could use the question: How are class differences presented in the work? Are characters aware or unaware of the economic and social forces that affect their lives?  In using this question I could talk about a lot especially since the economic factors of war and the social forces of her country leading the war cared nothing about their citizens and had harsh rules for them also. For example in the introduction of Anna it explains how she had to at a time suppress her books because "they didn't fit the government approval of literature" and also in1921 her ex husband was executed by the government because of his "Counterrevolutionary activities" and that clearly shows the dictatorship Anna was under and her poetry expresses this. 

Literary Analysis Blog Post Week 13 Close Reading

Literary Blog Post

Close Reading 

Week 13 

For my close reading I chose to do Anna Akhmatova "Requiem" and focus mostly on the first and second page because the imagery she uses is amazing to give insight. Through her words alone you knew the danger she was in her country and how the conflict going on during the 1930's was ripping apart the country. It is interesting reading the introduction then connecting that to the reading and seeing how Anna had to overcome her husband and son being arrested and also friends dying in prison camps. Anna delivers imagery that just helps readers see the oppression that her poems conveyed by saying "Mountains bow down to this grief, Mighty rivers ceded to flow, But the prison gates hold firm, And behind them are the "prisoners burrows" And mortal woe"(pg.598). Right away the main topic is given to readers the feeling of grief so much that "mountains bow down" a metaphor that helps readers understand the superfluous amount of stress. Also referring to both her son and husband being behind bars that Anna describes as "firm" which shows the hope she had for them getting out soon. It is also hard to ignore all of the times Anna compared her situation to those in other parts of the world who are living it up. Anna explains "For someone the sunset luxuriate, We wouldn't know, we are those who everywhere, Hear only the rasp of the hateful key"(pg.568). The author is in a country in shambles and it is hard to be in such distress when you know there are people living in peace. In the text I also sense a feeling of tiredness of all of the violence and the mistreatment of the citizens over the country's chaos was wrong and her family and friends suffering in result. 

Reading Notes Part A&B Week 13

Reading Notes 

Part A&B

Week 13

• Modern poetry era was one where modern poets believed that all poetry was good poetry and the embrace of your feelings for the overflow of power. Although modernist weren't too solid with that mindset instead they swayed more towards the facts things more clearly answered. Modern Poetry introduction gives the feeling of when poetry began to be more free and writers wrote true feelings in word form and even though there were those who didn't believe or agree the movement of this type of literature grew. 
• William Butler Yeats is know for his outstanding imagery and for me as a reader this is always great to know about writers because I love imagery and seeing the picture the author is trying to paint. Yeats went through a lot of personal problems since he was in Europe around the chaos of World War One and to cope with of the pain he created a "private mythology". 
• Thomas Stearns Elliot or aka T.S. Elliot was a factor in the impact on modern poetry in the world. And was know mostly for his memorable poems linked with "spiritual and intellectual conflict" and Elliot also was in Europe during the First World War and this inspired his poetry as well as Yeats. 
• Anna Akhmatova is one of the greatest Russian poets in the twentieth century and her poems were personal and told in a poetic voice to enhance the voice of a "lover, mother, and wife". 
• One thing I can say about all of the authors poetry is that it had emence imagery to give feeling to the poem and to help readers understand their grief in this moment in time of war. 
• My favorite section of text from one of the authors has to be from Anna Akhmatova  when she says "For someone a fresh breeze blows, For someone the sunset luxuriates. We wouldn't know, we are those who everywhere, Hear only the rasp of the hateful key, And soldiers tread."
• It is profound how Anna compares the settings of people around the world and how there are people living good right now while she was in a place of hate and the only sound was of soldiers boots gives superfluous imagery to me as a reader. 

Literary Analysis Week 12

Literary Analysis 

Week 12

"From a Room of One's Own"

The story I was choosing to do my analysis on is a piece from Virginia Woolf named "From a Room of One's Own" and it was truly intriguing and hooked me instantly as a reader. That is one technique I noticed right away and it is something I try to do when written my essay's. Woolf continues in the text by making her stance clear on women and how they are mistreated for not being made equal as men. It is clear that in the beginning of the writing you can see how Woolf mocks men by recreating the moments before they wrote the fiction they had in literature about women. Then she described the famous Oxford and Cambridge University had a library that had a rule of "Only Fellows and Scholars " which basically meant no women allowed. Woolf say's "was a Beadle, I was a women. This was the turf; there was the path"( pg. 340 ) meaning that the men had a library that was supposed to be famous but how could this library be filled with knowledge but not enough to understand that women and men should be equal. I also believe it is real insulting that the men walked around being referred to as scholar's while women were barely being able to be educated. Also Woolf exposed how in the library they had books on women but written by men which is all wrong and the book should be listed under fiction since a man can't tell a women story. At that point all women had dislike of the library and its narrow minded views in terms of sex and who has certain rights. Woolf writes "That a famous library has been cursed by a women is a matter of complete indifference to a famous library"(pg.342). This text continues on describing the injustices this library has and the disconnect it shows by being men only. 

Reading Notes Week 12 Part B

Reading Notes 

Week 12 

Part B

• James Joyce helped shape modern literature by conducting experiments with the narrative form to begin a new literature movement that in the end would become popular during the twentieth century. 
• Joyce with the help from Marcel Proust and Virginia Woolf the group helped followers of literature to understand the mind. 
•  Joyce came from a big family of about ten children and another three who died as infants but he was the eldest surviving child. 
• A theme I see with a lot of these english literature writers who helped changed history they come from wealthy family 's most of the time when the introduction tells the back story of the writers life. Basically like education is the same now too then because more money better schools and better opportunities. 
• The text says for Joyce to support that large family " His father held a well paid and and undemanding post in the civil service and the family was comfortable until 1891" His father end up losing his job in 1891 and he refused to get another job and decided to live off a small pension. 
• Going from well paid to no work Joyce's family began to drop down the economic ladder and his dad which became what he described as " a praiser of his past, a drunk, tax gatherer, and a bankrupt"pg. 174 
• From this description I can tell that Joyce wasn't happy even at his young age of his dad just giving up on living well-paid to live where you barley have anything. Also what could have sparked this frustration is since his father lost his job at the age of nine Joyce was taken out of his well known Catholic prep school because they could not afford his tuition anymore. 
• Joyce proving that he was meant to be chosen to be read in this history book today, let two years past and Joyce was admitted into another rigorous well know Belvedere College in Dublin on a scholarship furthering that education.
• I appreciate Joyce's life story and his never give attitude where he is presented with a problem but instead chooses to run right around the challenges with a fight about himself.  
• Also his story "The Dead" has an interesting concept saying being a "dream of a better life against a dismal improvised background and since it was fiction but had so much realism incorporated this became a new wave. 

Reading Notes Week 12 Part A

Reading Notes 

Week 12 

Part A 

• In the introduction to Modernity and Modernism the beginning of the text explains how in the start of the twentieth century the world became more connect in ways of technology. Inventions like the automobile and plane allowed people to travel covering much land in record speed with all of the new advancements. The revenue from all of these new creations and the world becoming smarter health care became better and a random fact that was interesting was infant mortality went down and the population began to increase. 
• The world population was able to triple in the era going from under two billion to around 6 billion people. The improvement in human life was apparent from the transformation in technology that allowed us as humans to adapt even further to our environment. 
• Although the advancements also occurred when it cam to the military and new weapons that were effective and destructive once in action. 
• Even though our world was improved with size the twentieth century was one of the most bloodstained in our history as humans with as many as 200 million people died. "died in wars, revolutions, genocides, and famines. 
• I appreciate hoe on pg. 6 and pg. 7 they give readers a map of the world at 1913 with the old labels to help us further understand the climate at this particular time. I can see that the names are different for countries like "Dominion of Canada" and Russian Empire"or "French West Africa".
• This map is helping me understand that the world was power hungry in these days and it was all about who had the biggest arms and ruled over the most people with their "power". Everyone had their own "empires" they ruled over. 
• Then the text begins to tell the story if Virginia Woolf and how she was one of the great modern novelist and she was a known feminist who used her essay's to explain women in their  society and gender differences. And also the "predicament of the women writer" 

Project Submission Week 10

Imagery and Clarity 

Project Submission

Week 10

Imagery And Clarity 

Poetry is a form of writing that can be interpreted many different ways given the person reading the poem. Their could be a poem that talks about a bird but the next person might interpret that the poem is referring to a plane. And that's one of the confusing things about poems, the interpretation could be different which can begin to confuse readers on the topic or point of the poem. Although authors Walt Whitman and Ghalib both have poems that are up for interpretation but laced with imagery and clarity to keep readers intrigued with the meaning of the poem. Both authors use of detail create different images with different readers while allowing both to grasp a smilier message after reading. On the other hand the clarity of the writers also made understanding their message even more simple; their work could touch generations because the message was universal. Examining the work of Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" and Ghalib's "Couplets", will show a clear picture of the similarities in the use of imagery and clarity in message. In reality both poems also do have differences that are interesting. 

Ghalib is one of the most quoted poets in the nineteenth and twentieth century in Indian and Pakistan, where people remember his work by heart. Allowing his poetry to become apart of their everyday lives and routines. Ghalib's poetry was powerful enough to touch different generations as it says in his introduction "his words and emotions are on the lips of young and old lovers everywhere on the subcontinent". Ghalib used his poetry  to give wisdom to the lovers out there reading and this message was very clear in his poetry. First he begins the wisdom filled poem by saying "Ghalib, it's no use forcing your way with love"(pg.594,Couplets). Just by saying this Ghalib is telling readers love can not be forced and most important he uses his own name in the poem. Allowing readers to see the connection that even though he is the author he also needs the wisdom he is supplying. Showing that this advice of not forcing love is not only for readers but for him as an author as well. Ghalib continues his poem with imagery to drive home the message "it's a form of fire that doesn't catch when lit and doesn't die when doused"(pg.594). The image of love being a fire helps readers grasp further understand of the poem and promotes clarity. When you are reading and the message is clear the more you connect with that text and this is the style Ghalib used to gain his recognition.

Walt Whitman also was an accomplished writer that ushered in a new era in American poetry and created a new lane for poets similar to himself. His poetry was instrumental in giving a voice to those in writing that went unnoticed and his poetry cemented his astonishing legacy. Whitman was not a fan of politicians but President Lincoln was an exception from the dislike and evil feeling Whitman had of the others in the government. Whitman's poem "O Captain! My Captain!" he gives a short beautiful piece from an unknown character giving an ode to his dead Captain. Whitman say's "My Captain does not answer, his lips pale and still, My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will, The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done"(pg.465). The imagery Whitman uses in the poem gives clarity on the setting and even feeling of melancholy while reading. With the use of "The ship anchor'd safe and sound" makes you feel the true irony of the ship making it back safe but the Captain dies. Even in the poem it describes the voyage the ship made it through was not elementary instead it was an honors college course compared difficulty. Whitman explains "From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won". As the crew member states in the poem the voyage was fearful yet the ship was victorious against all odds. While gaining the victory you can read the anguish in his voice "But I with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead"(pg.465). Consequently, he should be happy to be safe back to shore but this character has to mourn his dead Captain leaving little room for celebration. 

To look more in depth at the differences of both poems each of the poems had different messages,Whitman's message was the Captain unexpectedly died after a long voyage and this was the crew members feelings. In the poem from that characters perspective he was safe with the ship and alive, yet his Captain dies. In addition Ghalib showed the same technique in his poem by giving advice about love while at the same time talking to himself since he was the character in the poem. As the character he explains the dangers of love and how to approach love but it turn into a prayer to God. Both poems have a message that is clear but they are different one is an ode to the dead, while the other is a self reflection of advice on love. The characters in both poems are quiet different, for example Whitman's poem the characters were unknown the crew member talking or the Captain who had died. Ironically the Captain was supposed to symbolize Abraham Lincoln because that was Whitman's only politician he approved of his work. If you just read his poem and instead made him the crew member and Lincoln the Captain the poem would make even more sense. On the other hand Ghalib's poem was more direct on the characters like Ghalib himself and the most known God. They continue being different in the way they both use their remarkable imagery gift in different ways. Ghalib uses his imagery to paint a picture of love as an object and Whitman is using his imagery to express the sorrow he has with his lost Captain. Briefly Whitman also does use imagery to explain the setting of this scene when the character is grieving his Captain. Finally both poems have even more differences but the similarities are superfluous when compared.

In closing, both poems are my favorite so far they are both laced with imagery and so clear that it relates to me even though it was written so long ago. I appreciate the riddle in Whitman's piece and how I had to read the text all the way check for clues after to even find out who the Captain was in the poem. And the advised laced poem of Ghalib telling me how I couldn't not force love. I understand why he is one of the most quoted of the ninetieth and twentieth century.

Growth Mindset Week 11

Growth Mindset

Week 11

Extra Credit

I was going to write on the 3rd growth mindset challenge and the experience I had once sharing my information with my girlfriend. The conversation went well because she knew about the concept already from learning about it from another class. We focused on the growth mindset with children and how we must actually talk to the children and see the hard work they put into an assignment or hobby. Instead of just telling them good job and not taking time to actually see the work that actually put into what they are showing you. 

Literary Analysis Close Reading Week 11

Literary Blog Post

Week 11

Close Reading 

The section I chose to do for a close reading was from the story "Hedda Gabler", on pg. 790 in the middle of the first paragraph there is writing in italics that is describing Mrs.Elvsted. This section is rememberable because Ibsen describes in a style that makes me as a reader see the actors acting out the scene in my head. Ibsen says things like "Her eyes are light blue, large, round and slightly protruding"(pg. 790).  This sentence is so descriptive I can picture the ladies eyes just by reading this and makes reading the theater script even better. I can also imagine that this from the actors perspective is greatly appreciated because the scene is described in so much detail, that it makes it easier for them as actors to do their job. The section describes even the characters expression calling it "one of alarm" given more context into how this scene will look and feel as a reader or actor. This section all around is so attractive to me because it describes a women and makes me think how I would describe my girlfriend pointing out every beautiful feature. I really appreciate the part where it say's "Her hair is remarkably, almost a white gold and exceptionally rich and full". Bring the words to life and making the image of the theater spectacle is given also through reading Ibsen's work which makes it easy to understand he was one of the legendary writers. Especially when the novel was losing interest he applied his writing to theater and made a new lane which he dominated through his imagery and special effects. I understand that this section was necessary to give insight on the scene making his work not only for actors to read but for fans of Ibsen to read his script for the amazing theater they just witnessed making his work immortal. 

Reading Notes Week 11 Part B

Reading Notes 

Part B

Week 11

• Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) was a man who wrote in an era that writing was becoming a secondary rate of occupation and used theater to mark his territory in literature. 
•  Ibsen in the nineteenth century used the new technology theater into a further spectacle by investing money into improvements like special effects and the latest stars to impress audiences all over.
• Ibsen's writings portrayed real life issues and painted a picture for the audience which shocked them to noticing the genius of his theater show. Also he captivated audiences by the perfectly draw characters and well rounded dramatic scenes to keep the people coming back. 
• Ibsen was well know for the revival off theater and made a good case for the "originator of modern drama" 
• Ibsen at a young age of twenty years old changed the way theater was approached rather than complicated plots and action filled Ibsen went a different direction with his first two pieces "Brand" and "Peer Gynt". He wrote both of these for dramatic poetry and was not made to be read as a theater play. 
• Ibsen introduced theater to realism and this was such a big deal because this had been done on the level of writing a novel involving realism but no one yet used realism in theater until Ibsen decided to exposes audiences on how to understand emotion and moral truth. 
• Interestingly enough Ibsen's work the text is focusing on is the theater play of "Hedda Gabler" and how the story is of a daughter of a general marries a man named Tesman. Although the couple of Hedda and Tesman as a read as soon as I begin to read I notice that things are uneven in the relationship. 
• Tesman has a positive outlook on life and is ready to being his life with his new trophy wife not really knowing that she was basically mean and only truly married to Tesman for odd reasons. She would leave him but is trapped by marriage. She is unhappy because she is used to upper middle class and Tesman was from the lower bottom class and can not please Hedda finically. 

Reading Notes Week 11 Part A

Reading Notes 

Week 11

Part A

• In the introduction to writer Leo Tolstoy the text uses many adjectives to describe him like a womanizer and aristocrat which means he was a gentle person to the highest rank and had his way with women. 
• Also he was a vegetarian which made me think even being born in 1828 and passing away in 1910 it is surprising people born in that time period had the idea of no indulging in meat.
• It was very ironic that he was famous for his knowledge on the topic of marriage but struggled in his own marriage. 
• Leo was known for his reflection on how to live the best way on this world and how you should handle the temptations of guilt, pleasure, war, money, and sex. 
• He wrote once "Blame me and not the  path I tread" making me think intensely on the lessons given in the bible of how God can judged us as humans but he choses not to blame the past things you have done to stumble in your walk of life. 
• With the examples of great novels like "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" Leo was able to convey to readers many stories of humanistic pursuits , military fights, and love and marriage. 
• The story that the text focuses on is "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" which is a story of an ordinary middle class man who recently finds out that he will die soon. And this direction the story is going in is automatically interesting because Leo I know was born in a time where they wrote a lot of stories of self reflection and this is exactly what  the character in the story struggles with after finding out this disturbing fact. 
• It is interesting when the story begins on page 740 the author jumps straight into the story although I feel it would have been even more helpful to give background on who Ivan is and how did he die. 
• Reading this text leaves me with questions but I can say this is a very detailed story so in continuing to read you understand further where the author is going.