Alone

Edgar Allan Poe is very well known for his mystery short stories and poems. He is seen as one of the founders of science fiction along with publicising detective-fiction. This poem seems to be very different from that type of theme. Poe grew up not really knowing his mother or father which I think he is touching on when he says,
"From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were-I have not seen
As others saw- I could not bring..."
As a child, your days are full of parenting and getting to know the people in your family. Poe never got to experience that. He was unofficially adopted by the Allan's but always felt alone. He died at the age of 40 from an unknown cause but people think it was due to drugs and alcohol.

As for the poem's structure, I really like the traditional musical rhyme scheme it has. It makes it flow really well but almost contradicts the "alone" theme in my opinion.

Untitled

After talking about this poem in class, I agree with the general idea of what everyone thought the poem was about. It reminds me of someone at the end of their life looking back on everything they have done and all of the memories that they have. When the creature takes a bite of his heart, he admits that it is bitter but is okay with that. It is like he understands that everything that happened may have caused him to be bitter and he might not have been the best person through it all, but it is still him. There is nothing that he can do about that and accepts it. Stephen Crane is more know for his novels and short stories than he is poems. However the poems that he does write have themes such as fear, spiritual cries, and social isolation. In this poem I feel a sort of spiritual cry. He is having a sort of epiphany and closure. Crane also believed in realist ideas, naturalism, and impressionism.

Hamlet Act II end of scene 2

Polonius enters the room anouncing the arrival of the players who then follow him into the room. Hamlet then askes on of them to give a speech on the fall of King Troy. He then invites them into the guest room and tells them he will be giving a speech on The Murder of Gonzago the following day. Leaving the room, Hamlet becomes very upset thinking about the players speech full of passion and love towards dead people he knew nothing about while he can't even take action for his father. Hamlet decides to find a way to make Claudius watch a play that has a similar plot to the one of him killing King Hamlet. If Claudius is guilty of the act, it will be visible in his actions and Hamlet will have hard evidence against him.

Hamlet Act I

While standing guard outside Elsinore Castle in Denmark, Bernardo (a watchmen) and Marcellus (another watchmen) try to convince Horatio (a friend of prince Hamlet) of a ghost haunting the castle. The ghost is thought to be King Hamlet who has recently died. The 3 men suddenly see the ghost and watch it vanish. Horatio confirms the King Hamlet look alike and believes it is a warning of impending misfortune for Denmark-military. He thinks Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, is ready to attack. They want to tell the Prince hoping the ghost will talk to his son. The next morning, King Claudius (King Hamlet's brother) announces his marriage to his brother's widow. The rumor of Fortinbras appears to be true. Laertes decides to go back to France. Claudius bashes Hamlet for still mourning and urges him to stay home and not go back to schooling. Hamlet is upset and especially with his mother's marriage. Hamlet is then told of his father's ghost. Laertes warns his sister Ophelia of falling for Hamlet. Polonius wishes his son Laertes good bye and echos Laertes advise to Ophelia. Hamlet and the men see the ghost at night and the ghost beckons Hamlet to follow. Hamlet follows and the men watch over him. The ghost claims to be his father's spirit and tells Hamlet of his murder-Claudius poisoned him. His father tells him to seek revenge and be easy on his mother.

It was a dream

The author of this poem, Lucille Clifton, was born in New York in 1936. While growing up, Clifton was taught a lot about African American heritage and traditions. She carries this aspect of her childhood into her poems a lot of times. She also touches on feminist ideals with the female body in it as well. Throughout this poem specifically, the words her and she are used 6 times. If she is referring to herself or someone else I am not sure.

Another interesting thing Clifton often speaks about is the fact that the girls in her family are born with extra fingers. Clifton had her two extra fingers amputated at a young age and refers to them as her "ghost fingers." In this poem Clifton says, "...with her extra finger whirling in a gyre of rage at what my days had come to."

Much madness is divinest sense

The thing that I have noticed the most about the writers we have encountered lately is their lack of formal writing. From McCarthy, we saw zero punctuation and little care towards a formal duologue. That is exactly what Emily Dickinson reminded me of. She gets her point across in as little formality as McCarthy. Dickinson is known for her short lines in her poems and her lack of titles in all of them. She is also very known for her nontraditional punctuation and capitalization. This even becomes obvious in the title of her poem. As for the content, it reminded me of writers in general. Not very often do you see super "normal" writers. There is always something different about them which in my mind makes them more creative and better writers. Dickinson says "Much madness is divinest sense To a discerning eye, Much sense, the starkest madness." Dickinson was known to lock herself in her room for days on end without letting anyone know. She was also a very private person which added to her "madness." Even her own sister didn't know about her love of writing until after her death.