Madness

“A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.”(Poe).

Poe’s short story, “The Cask of Amontillado” presents the revenge plot of main character Montresor against Fortunato. The story is told through Montresor’s first person point of view, making the account very untrustworthy. His account is sketchy partially because of his unwavering hate towards Fortunato, as well as his obviously psychologically damaged demeanor.
In the beginning of the story, Montresor lays out his plans for revenge against Fortunato , yet he does not state what it is exactly he did to warrant revenge, only going as far as to say he “ventured upon insult”. Without this piece of knowledge, the audience does not know whether or not his attack is merited. Yet is death really a suitable punishment for whatever Fortuanto did?
Montresor’s psychological damage is evident by his rash decision to kill Fortunato. First he manipulates Montresor to going into the vault, by telling him of the amontillado that lay within and telling him that he does not want to trouble him by going down there. He even falsely seems to care about his welfare “It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with which I perceive you are afflicted.” Montresor even seems to grow crazier as he continues through the catacombs as his “own fancy [grows] warm with the Medoc.” As he lays down the masonry to kill Fortunato, he shows no remorse in his actions, and continues to build the wall. He even lets him suffocate underneath the masonry, as Fortunato cries out for his life. These actions show the true unreliability of Montresor’s character and that his actions are clouded by his evident madness.
Yet a hint of humanity is exposed at the end after Fortunato’s death, when he says “ In pace requiescat!”. He wants him to rest in peace, signaling the fact that he no longer wants Montresor to suffer for his misdeeds.

Introduction

“Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”(Thomas 18-19).
The scene is depressing: a son sits and watches as his father slowly loses his fight to live, descending into death. Dylan Thomas’ poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” relates to his own experiences, as he watched his father on his deathbed, urging him not to give up on life. Death or a “dying of a light” is a tragedy especially if one loses a loved one as a result. Many even encourage their loved ones to not let go, and Thomas especially uses this villanelle to convince his father to continue to “ rage against the dying of the light”. Throughout the poem, he uses many images to describe death’s fixture in everyone’s life. Thomas uses images such as “lightning” and “meteors” to illustrate the natural appearance of death in everyone’s life. He even uses four types of men: wise, good, wild , and grave to convey that, his message applies to every man out in the world. Each type of man lives their life in a different , but converge similarly in their need to fight as they reach the end of their life. In the end, he transitions to how they all connect the same with his father’s current situation, illustrating his despair.
Thomas uses a strict style of poetry, the villanelle, to show that even life itself follows a strict cycle of life and finally death. Yet why does Thomas describe death, an image which everyone should fight against as a “good night”? This brings up the feeling that even though one should fight against death, in the end it still brings one peace. As his father’s struggle to live both “curses” and “blesses” Thomas, as he knows that his father is still painstakingly fighting. From this, Thomas conveys the message that everyone must not give up in the fight against death because in the end life is too short not to fight.

Save Me Spiderman

Note: This was posted on time but the poem wasn't viewing correctly, so i had to edit it..

Save Me Spiderman

By Kelsie Valone

Spiderman take me far away
Cries me, the fair Mary Jane
Save me from these horrors, I pray

Take me up into your web, where we can lay
Up high where we can feel the rain
Spiderman take me far away

Trapped and tortured I am not okay
As villains bring my life pain
Save me from these horrors, I pray

So I cry and wait for the day
When you’ll come make my life sane
Spiderman take me far away

In the darkness of New York City I stay
With the Green Goblin running up the lane
Save me from these horrors, I pray

Without you my skies area bleak gray
Life without you I cannot sustain
Spiderman take me far away
Save me from these horrors, I pray

I decided to write this villanelle about Spiderman because I was inspired by Bucky Sinister’s poem to write about a superhero. I just recently got into watching the Spiderman movies, and was watching them while I created this poem. Mary Jane’s character was especially inspirational to me, so I decided to write this as a love poem from her perspective.

William Blake's "The Tyger"

Blake’s poem “The Tyger” offers up many contradictions and paradoxes with Blakes view on industrialization . The tiger is a figure that he is enamored with throughout the poem,. describing it as " burning bright".He seems even more interested with god’s creation of his tiger rather than the lamb, in a sense questioning his existence. He poses the question “Did he who made the lamb make thee? The lamb a symbol of innocence and purity is something considered “good”. Yet on the other hand the tiger is something created by a “hammer” and “chain”, a product of industrialization. Yet Blake worships this product of industrialization rather than the pure lamb, conveying people's preoccupation with technological advancement over nature. The poem also contains with it a figure of a limp robotic tiger, almost to show the consequences of industrialization, and how people like the tiger are loosing themselves to it.
The poem is in trochaic tetrameter, creating a rhythm similar to a child’s nursery rhyme. Rhyming couplets also make it as if almost the poem like many other nursery rhymes is created so children can easily repeat it. He also includes the same repetitive questions throughout the poem, much like the insistence of kids in asking adults the same questions. The ending paragraph also serves as a repetition of the first paragraph, furthering the poem’s simplistic structure. Yet within it the poem also asks complex questions, seemingly coming from the mind of Blake himself. Overall, "The Tyger" seems to serve as a cautionary tale for children, coming from the mind of Blake to try warn future generations of the consequences to industrilization.

"In a Station of A Metro"

Ezra Pound’s poem “In a Station of the Metro” supports modernism on one hand, yet refutes it with the other. On one hand the poem sees the modernist movement as positive. In his first line, “the apparition of faces in the crowd”, gives an otherwise negative image, a crowd, and gives each person a face, allowing them to become human. He compares the faces in the crowd to petals on a tree, transforming them into beautiful nature. The tree is otherwise barren and dark, except for these petals, which are a symbol of beauty. This creates an image of the first few flower petals emerging in late winter, light emerging from a period of darkness. This can further infer the sense that modernization can help lift some places out of a metaphorical darkness brought upon by a lack of technology.
Conversely, “In a Station of the Metro” also holds in it an argument against modernization. Pound's first line "The apparition of these faces in the crowd", carries a negative connotation. His choice of the verb “apparition” creates a sense of surprise and shock, making readers feel as if the crowd suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Urbanization often accompanies modernism, forcing many into a crowded urban lifestyle. Pound then uses an image from nature, as in his second line he uses the image of “petals on a wet, black bough”. This image is reminiscent to one of wintertime. His choice of the color black signifies the death and destruction that occurs with modernization .The “wet” bough symbolizes tears, which convey a feeling of sadness amongst the crowd. This is often coupled with modernization, as many times native cultures and individualism is lost when people conform to modernism.
Yet in the end I believe Pound intended his poem to serve as ambiguous, in between both movements, not completely siding with either.

My Interpretation of Diving Through the Wreckage

Adrienne Rich’s “Diving into the Wreck” primarily uses the image of a diver diving into the ocean and exploring a wreck. Her journey begins with a “book of myths” that the speaker goes on the “dive’” to explore and uncover the truth, which recurs throughout the poem. The “black rubber flippers”, “diving mask" used to cover herself as she dives deep, are also recurring images, which propel her in her journey. The air color is another image, as it changes from blue to black, yet it is a more subtle image. A final image is one of the wreckage itself and its "fouled compass" and "water-eaten log".

Upon researching Rich’s background, I found that she was a strong feminist, which hints that the poem could possibly be based on the feminist movement. One major image throughout the poem indicating such is the wreckage which the diver journeys to seeking truth. I believe the wreckage represents feminism, which the speaker must uncover to find for herself, and see what went wrong in the past, so she can recover her feminism. Inside the wreckage, the “fouled compass” represents her loss of direction in life without her identity , and the “half-destroyed instruments” represent her current lost state in life.

The color of the air is another major image. First the water is a blue, and then it turns to green, and finally a deathly black. The color begins as blue to represent health, but then transitions to green to portray a sense of sickliness, as the writer begins to lose her identity . Finally, the air turns black, symbolizing the speaker’s feeling that she has lost her struggle with finding her identity. Yet after she blacks out, she is saved by her mask, which drives her to continue on further on her journey. This image seems to represent the struggle, and the need for a rebirth of a new kind of feminism.

Another prominent image is of the speaker meeting the mermaid and merman at the wreckage site. As she meets the man and woman she joins hands with them bridging the gap between the sexes. The speaker says “I am she: I am he”, symbolizing her confusion and androgyny. She has seemingly lost her identity as a woman. From these images, I can interpret that poem is pointed towards the need for women to retrieve their feminist identity.

Entry 1

The title "All Work and No Play" embodies my current situation as a full-time student with a part-time job. In addition to attending UC Davis, I also work at Washington Mutual/ Chase as a teller. My whole schedule revolves around working and attending classes, leaving little time for extracurriculars or even fun. Any extra time I get pretty much is spent in the library studying or doing homework. Yet I honestly do not mind having little time to myself, as I am passionate about learning, and even enjoy working with coworkers that are good friends. So, all work and no play definitely does not make Kelsie a dull girl.