Gunter

Edgar Allen Poe  “ Annabel Lee”  Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe’s parents died when he was very young so he went to live with a foster family. After attending The University of Virginia for a year, and then trying to join the Army, Poe began writing full time. He worked for several literary journals while working on masterpieces such as “The Raven” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Poe is best known as a writer for his mystery stories and dark themes present in his works. In 1835 Poe married Virginia Clemm, his first cousin. She died at the age of 24 of tuberculosis, which I believe was the basis for the character of Annabel Lee. Poe died in Baltimore on October 7, 1949, most likely from the effects of alcoholism. “Annabel” Lee is my personal favorite of all of Poe’s works in our book. It has all the commons elements of a traditional Poe poem, such as death and loneliness. It also tells a great, tragic love story, which is what makes it special. Edgar Allan Poe is famous for his writings of terror and the supernatural, so up until I read this I did not know he was capable of writing so well about the most recurring literary element, love. This poem is even more special because it was the last complete poem that Poe ever wrote. The poem begins by telling about how the narrator fell in love with a girl named Annabel Lee when he was a child. I believe they lived close to the sea because it is mentioned throughout the poem, with Poe calling the setting a “kingdom by the sea.” Annabel Lee and the narrator share a strong and passionate love. Then one day suddenly Annabel Lee died. The narrator believes that the angels in heaven took her away from him because they were envious of the love between them. Although she is dead, the narrator remains deeply in love with her. He loves her so much that every night he sleeps by her tomb so he can be with her. I believe the writing for this poem was perhaps inspired by the death of Poe’s wife. According to Poe’s biography he met his wife when she was a child, which is why I believe he included the line “I was a child and she was a child In this kingdom by the sea; But we loved with a love that was more than love…” I found several examples of alliteration in the poem. “The moon never beams without bringing me dreams” is a wonderful example of alliteration. I also found one example of internal rhyme. The narrator says the wind came out at night “chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.” That line leads me to believe that perhaps Annabel Lee died of something like pneumonia or hypothermia. “Annabel Lee” is a heartbreaking love story. The first thing that I thought of after reading it was the song “Last Kiss” by Pearl Jam.

   

Langston Hughes “Democracy”  Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri on February 1, 1902. His parents divorced when he was a child, so he went to live with his grandmother in Kansas. His grandmother is credited with giving Langston a great sense of racial pride, which would become one of the most important aspects of his personality. After graduating from high school, he worked a serious of odd jobs until he decided to attend Lincoln University, a historically black college in Pennsylvania. After graduating, he moved to New York and began writing full time. He published his first poetry book, __The Weary Blues__ in 1926 and his career took off. He became one of the most successful and notable writers of the Harlem Renaissance. “Democracy” is a poem about the social climate of the U.S. during the Harlem Renaissance. The poem is pointing out the fact that African Americans were not getting the freedoms that were promised to them in the Constitution. Despite the abolishment of slavery, they were still treated as second-class citizens. He is telling people to rise up and take a stand now, and not just sit around and wait for things to get better. Hughes is trying to bring about significant social change quickly enough so that his generation would be able to enjoy it and see the fruits of their labor. When he says “I do not need my freedom when I’m dead. I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread” he is pointing out that if people simply sit around, nothing will change, and future generations will suffer. The message of the story is to get out there and make a difference because change is possible; you just have to fight for it. I do not believe there are any ambiguous parts of this poem, Hughes wanted to be straight forward so people would understand him and seek change. I really like this poem in the sense that he so publicly called attention to major social issues and sought to help make a change. The only poetic device Hughes uses is rhyme. The vast majority of the poem rhymes in the traditional way. I believe that the song “Blowin in the Wind” really goes with this poem. When the song says “how many years can some people exist before they are allowed to be free” it reminds me of trying to treat others equally.

   <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/si6YqIYH6u4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344">

Robert Frost “Fire and Ice” <span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; white-space: nowrap;"> Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, California in 1874. His father died when Frost was only 11 years old, so the family moved to Massachusetts. Frost published his first poem in his high school’s newspaper. He attended Dartmouth for 2 months, but left and worked odd jobs such as paper delivery and factory repairman. Frost eventually married Elinor White and took over his grandfather’s farm in New Hampshire. After an unsuccessful stint as a farmer he moved to England where his writings began gaining popularity. After WWI he moved back to the U.S. where his success only grew. His most noted works include “After Apple Picking”, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Birches.” Death and darkness are prevalent themes in Frost’s works. This is because he lost multiple family members. His father died when Frost was 11, leaving the family only 8 dollars. His mother died of cancer, his sister died in a mental hospital, and his wife died of heart failure. Also he lost 4 of his 6 children during his lifetime. During his lifetime Frost won 4 Pulitzer Prizes. In “Fire and Ice” the narrator is discussing the end of the world. He says that it can happen 2 ways, either by fire or ice. The entire poem rhymes in the traditional way. The narrator seems to think that either the world will be burned and all will be burned alive, or a second ice age will come about and we will all freeze to death. I believe the poem is very ambiguous, Frost uses fire to represent desire and ice to represent hate. I believe that he is saying that if people desire too much, the world will end in fire. I believe this could represent a country being too greedy and the world erupting into war. Frost is telling us that if we are “icy” towards each other and do not help each other out, then the world will end. If countries interacted and are willing to help each other however, there would be a lot less hatred in the world. I believe “the world” could mean the world itself, or any relationship between 2 humans. If 2 people feel hatred towards each other or desire what the other one has, it can end very badly.

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Anne Sexton “The Starry Night”

<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; white-space: nowrap;"> Anne Sexton was born in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1928. She spent most of her childhood in Boston and attended the Rogers Hall Boarding School. She later attended Garland Junior College. In 1948 she married Alfred Sexton, though she was not faithful to him. In the late 1950’s she began attending poetry workshops. She was promiscuous because she had low self- esteem. She had major psychological problems and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She tried taking her own life multiple times and had several stints in mental hospitals. She is seen as the modern model for the confessional poet. She frequently wrote about her depression and other things such as adultery. Her most notable works are “Sylvia’s Death” and “Live or Die.” She received a Pulitzer for “Live or Die” in 1967. She lost her long battle with depression and took her own life in 1974. In “Starry Night” the narrator is telling us about her interpretation of the paining Starry Knight by Vincent Van Gogh. She brings the painting to life, describing the painting in the first few stanzas. She ends each stanza with “ This is how I want to die” which shows us the delicate psychological condition she was in at the time she was writing this. She refers to the “serpent swallowing up the stars” which literally refers to the darkness extending over town. I believe she meant it as evil descending upon the town and ruining the perfect image, just as the serpent brought about evil in the story of Adam and Eve. In the last stanza she expresses how she wants to be “sucked up by that great dragon, to split from my life with no flag.” I believe she is again likening the serpent to darkness and is wishing for darkness to envelope her. I believe “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” by Bob Dylan is an appropriate song for this poem. I found one example of alliteration in the poem, it is "The old unseen serpent swallowing up the stars." The narrator is contemplating death and dying so she is “knocking on heaven’s door.” Another great example is in the song when it says “it’s getting dark, too dark too see.” This could be related to the expanding darkness in the picture, and the narrator’s fall into depression.

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Adrienne Rich “Storm Warnings” <span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; white-space: nowrap;"> Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 16, 1929. Her father was a professor at Johns Hopkins Medical School and her mother was a concert pianist. She developed an interest in poetry as a child. She attended Radcliffe College and primarily focused on poetry. She received the Yale Younger Poets Award for her first volume of poems, __A Change of World__. She received the Guggenheim Fellowship and traveled across Europe. Upon her return she married Harvard Professor Alfred Conrad and had 3 sons. In 1966 she and her family moved to New York City, where she began teaching at Columbia University while still working on her writings. In 1970 Adrienne and Alfred separated and he committed suicide shortly after. In 1963 she published “Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law” which showed a more feminist position. She continued writing over the next 3 decades; some of her more notable works are “Diving into the Wreck” and “Dream of a Common Language.” In “Storm Warnings” the narrator is talking about physical signs that a storm is coming. If the poem is taken literally it simply is giving signs such as a blackening sky and “watching boughs strain against the sky.” The narrator is taking the necessary means to protect herself and her house from the coming storm. I believe the poem is ambiguous and it is not a physical storm coming, but an emotional one. The narrator is preparing herself emotionally to battle coming trials and tribulations. When the poem says “Weather abroad and weather in the heart come on regardless of prediction” I believe the narrator is saying that things in life come up unexpectedly and we must prepare ourselves to deal with them in the best manner possible. There are several literary devices present. An example of alliteration in the story is “what winds are walking overhead.” There also is the metaphor of likening the actual physical storm to an emotional storm. I believe “Thunder Rolls” by Garth Brooks is a good song for this poem because it uses weather imagery, while there is also a storm of emotion going on.

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