Retrospective Paper

Looking back on the course this semester, many of the readings and assignments had a noticable influence on me. Probably my favorite reading and discussion was of the poem "Nothing in Heaven Functions as it Ought." It really got its point across well and this reading was definitely the most influential on me. I even went so far as to share it with my parents and one of my friends. It helped me to realize that perfection, uniformity, and efficiency are not as great as society makes them seem. One other reading that really influenced me was Ivan Illych. Tolstoy made a great point about life and society's victimization of it in this piece. I find myself arguing in agreement to Tolstoy in many different things now and I have, several times, realized this mid-thought.
After this course, many ideas in literature and themes seemed to link closer and closer together. I feel like I am developing a better understanding for the world because of that. Seeing relevance between two totally different stories and seeing how the two main themes interact can teach people a lot about the world. I am thankful I took this course in conjunction with another English course (271 Mythology). Mythology, I came to find, was highly philosophical in its principles, and I was able to connect ideas from these two courses together throughout the semester.
Something very interesting happened just the other day. I was reading Chuck Palahniuk's famous book- Fight Club. On page 201 the narrator refers to one of the poems we read! He says: "I am Ozymandias, king of kings" during the time when he is getting beaten into a pulp by an entire fight club. I would have not understood this reference whatsoever and probably just not worried about it- Now, though, I see the perfect relevance to his situation. This great empire of life that he has built up will be turned to dust and emptiness just like that poem portrays. In a sense, that poem gets across the exact same point as Fight Club's main theme. One of the things the professor mentioned was that poetry is so great because it gets a point across so well in so few words. Knowing poetry just gave me an added appreciation for Palahniuk's book. I learned a lot this semester and I can already tell I will profit from the knowledge I acquired.

Oedipus

Oedipus is the epitome of a tragic figure. I don't think that there is anybody in any story or anywhere in history that dies a more horrible death than Oedipus. He is even more tragic because according to what knowledge he had, he had no idea he was doing anything wrong. He felt he was defeating the prophecy of killing his dad and marrying his mom and that he earned his kingship by defeating the Sphynx. His greatest weakness is his weakness to piece things together before they are blatantly obvious. Killing a group of men by yourself is not something one forgets and I can only imagine that if I had done that, it would be considered first when dealing with a dilemma, especially if I had no idea who I killed. Needless to say, most people would have figured out their crimes a lot earlier than Oedipus did. It would not have necessarily stopped his and Jocasta's deaths from occurring. However, there is a slight possibility that making less of a fool of himself by saying the things he said may have led him to a more rational response. I myself would probably prefer not to live much longer, either though.

A Doll's House

One theme we have encountered earlier in the semester that is portrayed in this play is the male-dominance theme. John, in "The Yellow Wallpaper" plays a similar character to Torvald in "A Doll's House." Both men feel intellectually superior to their wives in the two stories and that ignorant superiority and patriarchal idealism leads them both to their downfalls. Torvald leads himself to believe that Nora is a mindless drone and a cute little decoration while she seeks to cover up the illegal loan she took out to save his life, but when that goes up in flames, he realizes how much she had sacrificed for him. Only when it is too late did he treat her like an equal. John didn't realize his wife was going more and more insane but his ignorant opinion on her treatment renedered her totally insane. The theme's in a Doll House definitely take on a more realistic appearance. It definitely is much more convincing and makes things like this seem much more plausible. It is difficult to imagine somebody as ignorant as John- willing to lock his wife up and not communicate with her as if that will make her sane.

"Goodstudent Plays"

The most difficult part of this play as far as structuring was to make it consistent as far as character formation. In order to differentiate between the concept of a party and the literal existence of a phone for text messaging made it difficult to just call them by names when one is an idea and the other is a thing. It definitely took more time to write a very short story like this than if we had just written a narrative. At the same time, though, personalities are much easier to express by just acting. It definitely adds another dimension to the writer's arsenal and can definitely be used to persuade the audience much more. Personifying themes and representing them in a more humanistic manner makes things more real and believable. Narratives have to work extra hard to do that in most cases- but, like movies, it takes away some imaginative abilities for the audience as the director's imagination is in control.

Most Difficult Poem: The Chimney Sweeper

I found this poem very difficult to understand. The rhyme scheme is very traditional going AABB CCDD EEFF etc. The most I could get out of this poem was that even those faced with impossible adversity can be visited by the "Angel who had a bright key." The first-person narrator in this poem is "sold" away by his father as an infant and he grows up sweeping chimneys with truly no opportunity to seek his own explanation for life or find a religion to believe that would find him a "Heaven." The narrator makes another point towards this with the hair predicament. The white hair of Tom can be seen as the unscathed religious canvas that is painted throughout a person's life. When his father removes this "canvas" before it can be painted and "spoiled" by the worlds "soot," it takes away any chance for them to choose the wrong religion or wrong path in life. His dream finally leads him to conclude that all he has to do is do his job well where he can not be spoiled like his hair would have been by the world's "soot."

Miniver Cheevy

This poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson could be seen as an attack upon the "dreamers" of society vs. the livers. Mr. Cheevy has made the choice to live his life wishing he was part of an age that is no more; one which is glorified through fictitious myths and stories. These stories, in Mr. Cheevy's case, are many of the reasons which are cited for why he should live in these times. So basically, his life is being wasted away drinking alcohol wishing he lived in a time that nobody is sure even existed.

Richard Cory

Edwin Arlington Robinson's poem is a perfect example of the well-known theme that money does not buy happiness. It can also be connected with the theme of society's perfect vs. the individual's perfect. All the townspeople want to be Richard Cory because he is societal perfection epitomized; however, this perfection obtained can only bring sadness as those "perfect" people realize how empty this life is. Those people who are struggling and fighting to survive in society who are viewed as unfortunate can be seen as naive or happy. Naive if they want what Richard Cory had, or happy because they are pursuing authentic lives.