"Cold Coming"

The poem combined the images of war with the ideas of brith and death by being descriptive with how the battles and how war are. The author says words like 'bomb-blasted" and 'charred Iraqi", these words are very descriptive and put images in your head. It goes with birth and death because during war thereis death and bad things happen but in other places there are new babies being born. The author uses the sperm bank and it makes the war look bad like those men will not be coming back so they need to put there sperm in a bank. I think that it is important that the Iraqi is talking to a poet rather then a journalist because a poet can put words into more of a meaning when a journalist is just looking for a story.

A Cold Coming

This story talks about the soliders freezing there sperm so that they can leave a legacy ehind if they die. It tells you how the Iraqi solider feels and how he wants forgivness. It talks about the bad things he has done under Saddam. This story was alright it showed you some different views of how the soliders react.

Journey of the Magi

This storywas good, I like how they described the journey I could really picture where and what they were doing. The author says in the story, "The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter." This gives you the idea of how cold and how they are struggling no this trip. I thought the story would have a happier ending but he seemed to be depressed and not happy.

She Unnames Them

This story was very confusing, I did not understand it. I like how they talked about the animals names but I did not understand why really. I just thought this story was to confusing. Was the lady naming these animals.

In the interview you find out why she writes how she does. She goes back to a lot of her childhood and does not think that names mean as much as people think they do. The interview helps you understand things better.

I get what he is saying but I did not have the same feeling. That view is interesting but wasn't what I thought.

My definition for a lion would be they are big, strong, smart animals. They are the king of animals and are good hunters, lions are very aggressive and people should not try to be around them.

Lioness
Is a female lion. They are very good hunters and are smart.

"So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans" Topic Proposal #3

I chose this poem because I find this topic to be very interesting and something that may affect my life in the future. I believe in hard work and fare work so I am kind of torn between whether or not it is right to let illegal immigrants work or not. The United States and Mexico have always had problems with illegal aliens, and those illegal aliens taking jobs away from American workers.
I reasearched this topic on illegal aliens coming to the United States and learned about NAFTA and how illigal immigration became very popular in the 1980's. That is significant because in 1986 Public law 99-603 Act of 11/6/86 was passed to help control this. This poem talks about many problems about Americans views on illegal aliens and how they treat them, this poem is not only about stealing Americans jobs but it is about the life style and way that this illegal aliens are viewed in the public eye.

Margaret Atwood "Siren Song"

This poem I thought was about death the first time I read it, but the more I read it, I changed my mind and it seemed like just a poem that was about a person who wasn't happy and was asking for help. They seemed like they did not like the position in which they were in and were beginning to become crazy. They wanted help from someone and thats why they sang that song.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson "Ulysses"

This poem was good I liked hearing abou his journeys and how he wanted to come back to his family but to find that his wife had changed and his son was different. This poem was good because I liked how it talked about his life and how he was so eager to keep taking on the world and that he would never be satisfied.

William Butler Yeats "Leda and the Swan"

This poem was confusing to me but I took it as a girl dieing in a mans arms. She was dieing in a strange mans arms that she did not know. It is talking about her lsat moments before she died and what was going on when the man was holder her. That is what I took the poem as.

The poem I chose to write about was “So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans”, written by Jimmy Santiago Baca. The reason I want to write about this topic is because it affects everyone that lives in America today and it has affected Americans in the past. Illegal immigrants want to work and they will work for cheap unlike the American worker, this causes concern for the everyday worker which is why there are so many problems with illegal immigration.

Susan Glaspell "Trifles", "A Jury of Her Peers"

When reading this story I enjoyed the play version better. The reason I enjoyed this better is because of the detail of the play. I like that they describe the scenery and what is going on during each scene, this makes it easier for me to picture. When picturing what is going on it is easier to understand what is going on. The story verision was also good but I just enjoy hearing what is going on and what the scenery looks like. The disadvantages with the play are that you can get lost switching from each character and having to read some of the play over again. You can get mixed up with each character and what they are saying, in the story version it is just there for you but you have to use your imagination more, to picture what is going on. In the play version I was abel to understand the time period better. It seemed like it took place in a older time, with how they describe the house, and what is in the house. How the author describes what is in the scenes makes you think that the time period is taking place in the past rather then the present. Hearing about the quilt and the fire and how they needed the fire to keep warm maeks you think it is not present day.

Miss Brill

The historical context of the theme is Miss. Brill and how old she is. She grew up in a different time period then the younger period that she watches. The cultural background is a town outside of in a park where Miss. Brill is listening to people's conversations, it is taking place in a modern time period. The cultural background is familiar to me it seems like a normal background with people having conversations and an old lady listening it does not seem to differnt. Some cultural views in the story are the two girls who are dressed in red to meet two soldiers who were dressed in blue which shows the regualr culture in America, with how sailors look and how the girls meet them. Two peasent ladies walk by with straw hats and the straw hats are significant because they are associated with peasent you do not here of to many rich people wearing them. This story is big on showing the difference between elderly people and younger people. Key words for finding signifcant culture and historical knowledge are, sat, swooping, laughing, pattered, young, and elderly. I want to see how the young people interact with the elderly people.

Battle Royal

When reading this story you really see how badly African Americans were treated. It is ashame that people treated other humans like they were animals. When I read this I pictured a lot of old rich white men smoking cigars in a dark room with a lot of smoke, then I pictured a lighted up stage with all the African Americans up there being made a fool of. This story shows how cruel humans can be to one another.

Becky

The main theme of this story is that people discrimante aganist people who are different. Becky had a black son which was different and the white people looked at her in a negatvie way as did the black people. The setting is a small town with a house set off by itself on an island. Not an island in water but inbetween the railroad tracks and the road, this is signifcant because it shows how becky is different from everyone else.

Becky

Her house is located between a railroad track and a road kind of its own island this represents how she is serperated from the town being a white women with a black baby. The white people talk about her badly and so does the black community. I think this takes a major toll on her life, and how she lives.

America

This poem was not clear to me. I think the author is talking about someone who hates the women he is with but still can not seem to leave. It talks about how eventually with each day things will get worse and things will finally become to bad to handle.

If We Must Die

This poem is talking about how we you die you don't want to just accept it you want to fight back and even when you do die you still want to kepp that fight. You want to die nobly not just accepting death, you want to be brave and stay honored.

How to date a browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie
This was an interesting story, the narrator of the story seemed like he understood the girls he was asking out pretty good. He understood how they would act, what they would say, and how there parents would be. It seemd like the narrator asked a lot of girls out and went out with different types of girls from different areas. I think where he grows up has a big part of how he talks about the girls he goes out with.

Cultrural/Historical Inventory
The cultural history in this text is reflected by how the author brings up the different time periods and areas that people live in and how it can affect their culture. Yes this does help explain the text, it makes you understand that even if you live in the same country people still live in different areas and have different cultures. No it does not effect my understanding of the text I thought it was easy to understand.

The Soldier
I thought this was a good poem, it makes me think about people going to war and how there family's and friends are affected. This poem makes you think of the otherside of war, not just the battles but the other effects that war has on society.

Anthem for Doomed Youth
When reading this poem I thought about how war makes people just look like they are animals and not cared for. The first line when is what makes me think of this, and when I kept reading I just kept thinking about how in war people are killed and it is accepted as being fine because it is war.

Dulce et Decorum Est
This poem describes war very well, you can picture bombs going off and the horror of what is going on in the battle field. I thought about how the soldiers must be going threw so much suffering and pain, you can tell the passion when reading this poem. When the author talks about the gas you can just picture the panic of the soldiers and the fear they must feel. You can picture bombs going off, men dieing, shots being fired, blood, explosions, and seeing soldiers running. This poem describes war in a very good way and gives you a good picture of what it would be like.

Glory of Women
This poem describes the opposite side of war, what the women are going through when there men are gone. This poem shows how people may be thinking one thing but not ever know what is going on at war. The lady knitting socks for her son, not knowing that he was already killed at war, shows such a reality that family's go threw during war.

They
When reading this poem you don't think about how the soilders will react to what they have seen, and how they will change, but in this you read that the men will change and not be the same. They go through problems when they saw horrific things at war, the bishop talks about how god works in strange ways and that is the case in this poem when they talk about how the soilders will be different.

Jarrell was a native of Nashville, Tennessee and graduated from Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt, he was acquainted with poets of the Fugitives group. Jarrell followed critic John Crowe Ransom from Vanderbilt to Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where Jarrell wrote a masters thesis on the poetry of Alfred Edward Housman, and roomed with poet Robert Lowell. He taught at Kenyon College, the University of Texas, the University of Illinois, Sarah Lawrence College, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was married to second wife Mary von Schrader from 1952 until his death.
On October 14, 1965, while walking along a road in Chapel Hill near dusk, Jarrell was struck by a car and killed. The coroner ruled the death accidental, but Jarrell had recently been treated for mental illness and a previous suicide attempt. In 2004, the Metropolitan Nashville Historical Commission approved placement of a historical marker in his honor, to be placed at Hume-Fogg High School, which he attended.
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro has an extensive Randall Jarrell Collection which "includes over two thousand manuscript items and books relating to one of the mid-20th century's most important American poets and critics."[1]
Recently, community activists proposed to name a new elementary school in Greensboro in honor of Jarrell, but some parents protested. The name change was defeated 7-2 by the school board, and the schools was named Northern Elementary instead.

Randall Jarrell's experience I think helps with his poetry, even though was not able to fly he still saw some horrific things I am sure. Knowing his backgorund I think it would help with writing a paper for this poem. I believe his background helps with his poerty and makes them better, he has personal expreience which makes things good.

After reading the poem again It is a lot clearer. I can picture the situation he is in now which makes it easier to understand. It is more specific now with detail and makes the poem make sense.

My strongest association with the term World War II is that it was a horrific war, and many people were killed. World War II is a word that is frightening knowing that the whole world was involved in this.