Randall Jarrell

Randall Jarrell was very well known for his amazing pieces of poetry, I enjoyed reading his poetry most when being compared to Sylvia Plath. Randall served in World War II, which I believe is where he came up with his imagination as well as own experiences to present his poem called “Losses” although it seems a little confusing when reading the poem because he contradicts himself several times, saying “It was not dying, Everybody died.” I found that a little hard to understand but I perceived it as the many things that he seen out in the war that it wasn’t him so much worrying about his death anymore because he was so used to being exposed to his friends deaths as well as his enemies, so when it came his time to die it was a part o the nature. Overall I think that his poems were very real when you read them it is like the characters come alive in his short stories/poems.

Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath has stated herself these exact words about her poetry, "I think my poems immediately come out of the sensuous and emotional experiences I have, but I must say I cannot sympathize with these cries from the heart that are informed by nothing except a needle or a knife." With that being said it is very apparent that Sylvia had several issues throughout her life, shortly after her father died Sylvia begin to become depressed and even attempted suicide. She wrote down her thoughts and emotions in her poetry as you may be able to see when she wrote her poems that we have read. In her poem "Daddy" it sounds like she relates her poem to a nursery rhyme called "the old woman who lived in a shoe" because she uses the words "Blacks hoe in which I have lived like a foot." With this particular nursery rhyme the mother whips her children and sends them to bed, I think that is a relation to the kind of relationship she had with her own father because they didnt have that kind of close relationship together, which may be why she went down hill from the time her father died and later on.

Sonny's Blues

Sonny’s brother was a math teacher in their old town of Harlem. Sonny himself was a drug addict on heroin and spent a good deal of time in his drug rehab. One of Sonny’s old friends shows up to tell sonny’s brother that Sonny was sent into rehab, and it rekindled memories from the past. Of course when it deals with your siblings whether it be a younger/older sister or brother you always feel that protectiveness over one another. The two brothers hardly talked or communicated at all throughout the years but as time went out they begin to make that same connection that they once had as a young child. When it says “Blues” in the title of the story I feel like the “blues” is the emotional rollercoaster the two brothers experienced with one another, as well as the rekindling of their relationship as two brothers that have taken different paths in life. The music in the story plays a big role in their life as well, I think at this point when they were hearing the music at the Barbeque joint the brother begins to listen to Sonny and his troubles. Anyone with a drug addiction it’s extremely important for that person to have some sort of support from either a family member or friend, to have someone there to listen to you and talk with you about your sufferings. I feel that is exactly what sonny’s brother did towards the end of the story is he found a place where he could sit and listen to Sonny’s hurt and pain that he was feeling why going through this terrible addiction he had started.

Powerhouse

Powerhouse seemed to be a story comparing the differences between the blacks and whites. I think the story was probably written around the time of when being prejudice was a major issue in society at the time. In this story it focuses a lot on the music and bands playing. White folks did pay to come and see this particular musician. When everything was said and done though, the blacks had to go to their side of the streets where they had their own restaurants, stores, homes, and everything else involved. As well as the white people had their side of town. I don’t agree with this at all, I feel that everybody is equal no matter what color, race or religion they are, I guess that is the complete difference between society now and they way their outlook was back then. This was my least favorite short story that I read this week.

Native Son

The Native son is probably one of my favorite short stories that we have read all semester. Bigger was living in a small one room building with his mother and siblings, he wanted better for himself so he went out to seek a fine job. Mr. Dalton offered him a great job chauffeuring his family around to different places, paying him a great deal of money and giving him a nice place to stay. Bigger took the job and had all intentions to work his hardest and do the best he could to please everyone. Mr. Daltons daughter gave him issues right from the start, she called him out on things making him uncomfortable. Bigger was ordered to take Mr. Dalton’s daughter to the university that evening, but that was all about to change. Mary was taken towards to college, but she had different plans for her agenda. Mary had Bigger take her to meet her boyfriend and spend the rest of the afternoon, something her parents would never agree upon. Bigger didn’t know what he had gotten himself into, Mary and her boyfriend had alcohol in which they all proceeded to get drunk in the backseat. Bigger thought that if he did as well he wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable being with them so he did as well. That night when going back to the house he had to carry Mary up to her room where he was almost caught by the owner. Mary ended up dying, I’m not sure if she died from drinking too much or for some other cause. Bigger never planned on killing the young girl, which I don’t feel it was his fault to start with, although if he had taken her to where she suppose to go then it would of never happened to start with.

Flight

John Steinback was raised in California where he spent most of his life, he wasn’t very big on traveling with his works of writing as much as other writers you may come across. The story flight is of a mother and her children living in Monterey on a farm. Her son Pepe was sent into town to fetch some medicine in case they would need it. Mother always would talk about how Pepe was “becoming a MAN” especially since his father had already passed. When Pepe went into town he came across someone who was calling him names so Pepe decided to take it into his own hands and ended up killing the man. Pepe hurried home to explain to his mother that he must leave immediately. While Pepe was on his journey he was followed my someone who wanted justice for the crime he committed. Along the way Pepe ended up losing his food and jug of water along the way, he was left for dry basically. His horse ended up dying due to the fact that Pepe didn’t take very good care of it as well, so he was to walk the rest of his way. I think Pepe should stayed home instead of running from his problems, I don’t think he would of suffered a infected arm or possibly wouldn’t of even been killed if he had stayed home. I think Pepe did a fine job at attempting to keep his self alive, he dug the ground to soak up water to drink from, and found things he could eat, although that still wasn’t enough because he was killed in the end anyways.

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes is very well known for his African American writing in his poetry. I think the poetry that was assigned for us to read was pretty straight forward and easy to read. One of my favorites would be "The Weary Blues" it seems as though the man that is playing the piano is sad about something going on in his life. It talks about how he plays this piano underneath a spot light and he is swaying back and forth to a "mellow croon". It talks about how his sway was so mellow and gentle, that you can just tell that he is a easy going, "mellow" person himself.