TSAR ch. 13

"As we started along the road he turned and walked back toward the inn." (pg. 135)

Harris does what no one else in the book seems able to do. He keeps from going into town with Bill and Jake. This is probably because he has never met Brett so he doesn't feel compelled to always be around her. She seems to be the reason why most of the characters in the book are unhappy. She causes men to do things that they wouldn't do under normal circumstances. I suppose that all of the alcohol in this book is like Brett. The men kind of like her, but once they are under her effects, they can't get out.


"The steer who had been gored...did not attempt to join the herd." (pg. 145)

The steer could be a symbol of Jake and his life. He has been injured because of the war, and because of that, he can't be truely close with women. And, it also makes him different from most men. He is completely separated from the herd, but in his case, there's nothing that he can do about it.

TSAR ch. 12

"Fake European standards have ruined you...You spend all of your time talking, not working." (pg. 120)

Bill is accusing Jake of doing all of these things that he says are the European standard, but Jake is probably the only one in the book so far who doesn't do any of these things. He does drink a lot, but he's not an alcoholic. He's not obsessed with sex because he can't be, and he knows it. And, he is probably the only one in the book who we actually see going to work and getting things done.


"The trees were big, and the foliage was thick but it was not gloomy." (pg. 122)


Up in the mountains, when he is away from Brett, Jake isn't as depressed as he is when she is around. She is not right in front of him flaunting her affairs at him and because of that he can have way more fun than he usually would. Being in the mountains and away from everyone else, except Bill, Jake relaxes and does things that make him happy, like going fishing.

The Big Two-Hearted River

1. To me it seemed like the trout in the story would represent the soldiers who were being fought. Nick takes plenty of time getting ready to go fishing which would symbolize all of the waiting that was done in the trenches between the fighting. Then, when Nick is actually catching a big fish, he feels excitement, representing the adrenaline rush that would come with battle. Hemingway also talks about the burnt landscape before Nick gets to the stream which would be old battlefields where everyone is already dead or gone. I think the brown grasshoppers are a representation of the people who haven't seen much of the war, so they aren't very affected by it. The black grasshoppers are the people who are very affected by the war, but they have found a way to adapt it into their way of life. To me it seemed like Nick was trying to start over somehow. He started out traveling and seeing how far he could go, then when he found a suitable spot, he seemed to settle down and was content just to set up camp and go fishing.

2. This short story would be a good introduction to "The Sun Also Rises" because both are about WW1 without directly seeming like they have anything to do with them. In both stories, you can tell what the author is trying to say about WW1 by what the characters do.

TEWWG

76. "She pulled in...come and see." (pg. 193)

Janie expanded her horizons with Tea Cake and saw a lot of the world. She saw how much better it could be to not live with much and how she could be much happier. And now, since she already knows what it is like to have such huge freedom, she is going to find out what it is like to live under rules. Her own restrictions.

TEWWG

75. "The seeds reminded Janie of Tea Cake more than anything else because he was always planting things." (pg. 191)

In a way Tea Cake planted Janie. He was the beginning of true life for her. He didn't hold her back, but rather helped her to push forward and grow. He taught her new things, even some things that people thought a woman doesn't need to know (checkers, fishing, how to shoot, etc). Janie's life revolved around Tea Cake.

TEWWG

74. "So the sun went down." (pg. 188)

This is a symbol of what Janie's life is after Tea Cake is gone. The sun has gone down, so there is no light left, no reason for her to keep on going. This is the end of a stage in her life. Everyone knows that the sun will come back up again and Janie knows that she will continue to live in her way of freedom, but there will always be a hole that Tea Cake needs to fill.

TEWWG

73. "It was not death she feared. It was misunderstanding." (pg. 188)

Janie doesn't care if she is sentenced to hang for killing Tea Cake, but she doesn't want people to think that she killed him because she just didn't want to be with him anymore. She loved him, and she knows that deep down everyone else knows that too. They are only being judgemental because at the time it seems to them like the right thing to do.

TEWWG

72. "Tea Cake was gone." (pg 181)

Tea Cake hasn't physically died yet, but his personality is dead. He has gone mad and now he is not himself. He is dangerous to Janie now because he no longer has any attachments to the world. He is starting to get violent.

TEWWG

71. "It's too late to get hold of de dawg's head." (pg 177)

The doctor is telling Janie that there is nothing that they can do about Tea Cake's condition. He caught something from the dog when he tried to keep it away from her in the water during the storm. She has to be careful taht he doesn't come after her like the dog did.

TEWWG

70. "Somethin' got after me in mah sleep, Janie." (pg. 174)

This could be a foreshadow that something bad is going to happen to Tea Cake. There is a lot of talk about death in this chapter, and we alread know that he is getting sick, so it is possible that he is dying from something that he got during the storm.

TEWWG

69. "But you come 'long and made somethin' outa me." (pg. 167)

This sentence reinforces the idea that Janie's life didn't actually begin until she met Tea Cake. He is the one who helped her find her freedom and helped her to find true happiness, and he is the only one of her husbands who she has actually loved.

TEWWG

68. "Hurrican coming." (pg. 154)

This could be interpreted as a foreshadow. It could suggest something that is coming that will ruin the seemingly perfect lifestyle that Janie and Tea Cake are leading together. Some pessimists might say that they have been too happy for too long.

TEWWG

67. "Mrs. Turner beamed on Tea Cake." (pg. 151)

Tea Cake shows a little bit of respect for Mrs. Turner and it appeals to her pride so she is nice to him. Her feelings on the darkness of his skin go away so this suggests that she doesn't really feel as strongly about it as she acts like she does. She might just be so oppinionated for the attention it brings to her.

TEWWG

66. "Ah can't stand black niggers." (pg. 141)

It is amazing that Janie can be friends with someone who is so down on her race. It suggests either that Janie is snobby too deep down inside of herself, or she has so much of herself to give that she will be friends with anyone no matter what they are like.

TEWWG

65. "Janie learned what it felt like to be jealous." (pg. 136)

It really says something about Janie's life that she has never been jealous before. She's always been in the position where everyone else is jealous of her, and that is not healthy. But now, no one has a good reason to be jealous of her and she's way happier than she's ever been.

TEWWG

64. "But all day long the romping and playing they carried on behind the boss's back made her popular right away." (pg. 132)

The place where Janie and Tea Cake live in the Everglades is like a new life for Janie. No one is holding her back, so she is able to be herself and because of that she is happy. She finally gets to laugh play and have fun.

TEWWG

63. "So her soul crawled out form its hiding place." (pg. 128)

Janie was set free by the world, or the people in the world when Jody died, but this is the first time that she is actually setting herself free and trusting herself with her feelings.

TEWWG

62. "Let the old hipocrites learn to mind their own business and leave other folks alone." (pg. 126)

Janie has lived her whole life conforming to the ideas of society and what other people might think whether we believe it or not. What they might think or already do think decides how we go about our way of life. We don't like to be looked down on by anyone else.

TEWWG

61. "If you didn't have de power...Ah can't help mahself." (pg. 121)

Tea Cake comes back and he tells Janie how much he loves her. He can see that she thought that he was gone and that he had taken her money too so he tries to reassure her that he would never do something like that.

TEWWG

60. "She had waited all her life for something, and it had killed her when it found her." (pg. 120)

What happened to Annie also happened to Janie. They both ran off with men that were younger than them only to find out that they were after money. But, Janie is too strong to let something like this kill her. It will take time, but it is something that she can get over.

TEWWG

59. "That was when she found out her two hundred dollars was gone." (pg. 118)

The disappearance of the money to Janie symbolizes a huge betrayal from Tea Cake. She thinks about how he was true to his name and he was sweet, but that sweetmess was only there for a little while and now it is gone and she ca do nothing about it.

TEWWG

58. "Ah done lived Grandma's way, now ah means tuh live mine." (pg. 114)

Janie is still trying to establish with others that she plans to make her own rules for her life. She doesn't want the thoughts of others to influence her decisions in any way. She doesn't want to have to do what society thinks is right, she wants to be free and happy.

TEWWG

57. "Some uh dem very mens wants tuh do whut dey claims dey skeered Tea Cake is doin'." (pg. 111)

The whole idea that Tea Cake is trying to sweet talk Janie to get her money is something that is put into the other men's heads because they have been planning to do the exact same thing. It makes them jealous that he beat them to it so they start getting judgemental.

TEWWG

56. "He could be a bee to a blossom - a pear tree blossom in the spring." (pg. 106)

Bees and blossoms are something that go naturally together, something that, if you walked past them, you wouldn't give them a second thought. Janie is considering how Tea Cake could be her bee.

TEWWG

55. "He's just saying anything for the time being, feeling he's got me so I'll b'lieve him." (pg. 105)

Janie has become so untrusting of men since her marriages to Logan and Jody didn't turn out very well at all. She thinks that all men just use words to get women right where they want them, then, when they have what they want, they change for the worse. She's not used to the truth, so when she hears it, she suspects it like she would a lie.

TEWWG

54. "He tipped his hat at the door and was off with the briefest good night." (pg. 99)

Tea Cake is not like the other men who have been coming around to see Janie. He isn't too pushy, and he doesn't try to tell her what she supposedly needs and doesn't need. He doesn't try to praise himself to make her think that he is exactly what she needs.

TEWWG

53. "But you got good meat on yo' head." (pg. 96)

Tea Cake is the first person to ever tell Janie something that she actually wants to hear, and something that she hasn't heard before from every other man she knows. Maybe she even needs to hear that she is smart. This might be why Tea Cake is the first one to catch Janie's interest.

TEWWG

52. "To my thinkin' mournign oughtn't tuh last no longer than grief." (pg. 93)

Janie never had any real grief over Jody's death. She was too busy being happy that she finally has freedom for the first time in her life. She doesn't have a husband or a parental figure to be telling her what is best for her. She thinks she shouldn't have to go through traditional mourning when everyone knows that she isn't sad that her husband is dead.

TEWWG

51. "Joe ain't been dead two months. Ain't got settled down in his grave." (pg. 91)

Janie uses Jody's recent death to get rid of the marriage proposals of men who she knows wouldn't give her a second thought if she wasn't rich. If she knew that they weren't after her money it would be a different story because Jody didn't really mean all that much to her in the long run.

TEWWG

50. "These men didn't represent a thing she wanted to know about. She had already experienced them through Logan and Joe." (pg. 90)

Janie knows by now that men will act sweet and nice when they want something, but then, when they get what they want, they start to change and women start to see what they have really gotten themselves into.

TEWWG

49. "It was like a wall of stone and steel." (pg. 88)

Stone and steel are materials that are usually used to make barriers that either keep things in or keep them out. In this case, it could be the support that Janie needs to keep her emotions in, or it could be the barrier that is keeping out the thoughts of the townspeople.

TEWWG

48. "Janie starched and ironed her face and came set in the funeral behind her veil." (pg. 88)

Janie is keeping her face like a mask. She is showing no emotion. Everyone else can read whatever they want to into her face because there is nothing there. They can say she is still in shock, or that she just doesn't care that Jody is dead.

TEWWG

47. "The Little Emperor of the cross-roads was leaving Orange County as he had come - with the out-streched hand of power." (pg. 88)

This reinforces the idea that Jody was a kind of ruler rather than a leader of the town. He held a power over everyone else, manipulating them so that they were afraid to cross him because of what he could do.

TEWWG

46. "She tore off the kercheif from her head and let down her plentiful hair." (pg. 87)

This is one of the first things that Janie does after Jody dies. it symbolizes the freedom that she now has. It marks a new beginning for her in a life where she can be the controller, not the controlled.

TEWWG

45. "You changes everything but nothin' don't change you - not even death." (pg. 86)

Janie knows Jody really well from living with him for so long, so she knows exactly what is going on. He will never change. He will always think of himself first. he still thinks that Janie is lucky to get to be with him and she should worship him like a servant does a king.

TEWWG

44. "So Janie began to think of Death...waiting for the messenger to bid him come." (pg. 84)

Every one knows that Jody is dying and many of them are trying to get on his good side to get something out of him before he dies. But, his death will have a very big impact on their town and things will have to change after he is gone.

TEWWG

43. "Janie had robbed him of his illusion of irresistible maleness that all men cherish, which was terrible." (pg. 79)

Jody's plan to take attention off of his condition and put it on Janie backfired and, since she has access to all of the information she needs by being his wife, she knows exactly will bring him down and hit him where it hurts.

TEWWG

42. "Then too, Janie took the middle of the floor to talk right into Jody's face, and that was something that hadn't been done before." (pg. 78)

This is a turning point for Janie. She has decided to stop taking every insult that Jody throws her way and do something about it. This adds to the idea taht Janie is different from everyone else. She is the first one to go against Jody.

TEWWG

41. "One day she noticed...fearing for her to see." (pg. 77)

We see again how Jody doesn't have any confidence in his marriage with Janie. He knows that he isn't treating her like he should, so he tries to keep her from seeing it by distracting her with imaginary faults of herself.

TEWWG

40. "She was a rut in the road. Plenty of life beneath the surface, but it was kept beaten down by the wheels." (pg. 76)

Janie is the rut that is getting beaten on, but that doesn't mean that she isn't doing anything about it. Ruts also cause a lot of bumps for the person who is driving the car.

TEWWG

39. "No matter what Jody did, she said nothing." (pg. 76)

It is usually the ones who seem to be able to take the most abuse for the longest time that have the worst snapping points. I think Janie will snap, and when she does, it will be bad.

TEWWG

38. "Janie did what she had never done before, that is, thrust herself into the conversation." (pg. 75)

This action symbolizes the change that is coming about in Janie after Jody hit her. She is letting him know in her own way that she is not planning on taking it anymore.

TEWWG

37. "It was her image of Jody...drape her dreams over." (pg. 72)

In this part, there is again the idea of Janie's dreams being dead or broken. This dream about Jody she held onto for a long time, but I think that deep down she knew that it was dead along with the rest of them.

TEWWG

36. "All you got tuh do is mind me." (pg. 71)

Jody Starks is stating plain and clear how he really feels about Janie. He treats her like his own personal servant and if anything goes wrong, he immediately passes the blame off onto her. He uses her to keep the attention off of his own faults.

TEWWG

35. "The boys had to act out their rivalry too. Only this time, everybody knew they meant some of it." (pg. 68)

This is the way it is in real life for the people in the town. They seem like they are just joking around with each other, but underneath, they really mean it. It is a way of telling the truth and lying at the same time.

TEWWG

34. "They know it's not courtship. It's acting-out courtship and everybody is in the play." (pg. 67)

This is a make-believe relationship, but there is a contrast between it and Janie's marriage. Here, everyone's happy and laughing and getting along., but in Janie's marriage, Jody just uses her as one of his pawns to get richer. He treats her like one of his posessions rather than as his wife.

TEWWG

33. "Whut is it dat keeps uh man from gettin' burnt on uh red-hot stove - caution or nature?" (pg. 64)

The red-hot stove symbolizes Jody. Everybody is careful not to get on his bad side and get "burnt" by him. Some don't know any better (the "babies") so everyone else looks out for them so they don't get too close.

TEWWG

32. "Everybody can't be lak you, Jody. Somebody is bound tuh want tuh laugh and play." (pg 62)

Janie doesn't say it directly, but she hints that she wants to be one of the ones who can laugh and play. Her marriage to Jody has put her on a pedestal, so even if he did allow her to laugh and play, there wouldn't be anyone to do it with.

TEWWG

31. "But de mayor's wife is somethin' different again." (pg. 60)
""Everybody enjoyed themselves to the highest and then the mule was finally left to the already impatient buzzards."

Again there is the hint that Janie is different from everyone else. She is isolated because of it and that makes her lonely. When the mule dies, Jody makes her stay and mind the store so she doesn't get to share in the fun and happiness with everyone else.

TEWWG

30. "A little war of defense for helpless things was going on inside her." (pg. 57)

Janie feels the need to defend things that can't help themselves. This tells us something about her character. She is compassionate in a way that suggests that she is helpless too. She is not helpless though. There is something she can do about her relationship with Jody, but she is like the people of the town. Instead of thinking about what she could gain, she is afraid of what she might lose.

TEWWG

29. "That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was." (pg. 55)

Jody might be jealous of other men because he knows how disrespectful he is to Janie and he thinks that if other men show an interest in her, then she would see how badly he treats her and leave him. He tries to make up for his harsh treatment by getting her expensive gifts.

TEWWG

28. "But Joe kept saying she could do it if she wanted to and he wanted her to use her privileges. That was the rock she was battered against." (pg. 54)

Jody gets Janie to do things that she doesn't want to do by making it sound like she is very lucky to get to be doing them. This is probably the same technique that he uses on the residents of the town, and why they are all so scared to cross him. by making them sound lucky, he is making them do the things because they are afraid that he will take away the things that they are "lucky" to get to be doing.

TEWWG

27. "She had come to hate the inside of that store anyway. That Post Office too." (pg. 54)

This is another sign that Janie is not happy in her marriage to Jody. His possessions are making her angry and unhappy. He is always forcing her into things that she doesn't want to do, and the store and the post office are a reminder of the overbearing power that he has over her.

TEWWG

26. "Ah often wonder...'cause he's uh man dat changes everything, but nothin' don't change him." (pg. 49)

Jody likes control and nothing is going to change that. Sometimes things that can't or won't change get worse with time. His control-freak ways could push the town, or him to the breaking point. He is going to have to change at somepoint, or else something is going to have to happen to him so the town can grow.

TEWWG

25. "But any man who walks in the way of power and property is bound to meet hate." (pg. 48)

This could be a foreshadow to something that will happen to Jody because of his excessive power over the town. The town will eventually come against him (and maybe Janie) and either take over, kick them out of town, or just make their lives miserable.

TEWWG

24. "There was something about Joe Starks...made the thing more tangible." (pg. 47)

Here, ther is again the idea that Jody has to be in control of everything. Now that he's mayor, he expects everyone to listen to him and do what he says. Because he is mayor, everyone does exactly what he expects. They are all too afraid of what he has the power to do to come against him.

TEWWG

23. "A feeling of coldness and fear took hold of her. She felt away from things and lonely." (pg. 46)

Janie isn't necessarily afraid of Jody. She is afraid of what it means for her to be with him if he continues to be mayor. She is isolated from everyone else by his wealth and, if this keeps up, she is also isolated from him by his work. She doesn't want to be alone. She wants to be happy and surrounded by friends, but the way they live won't allow it.

TEWWG

22. "I god, naw." (pg. 44)

Jody has a habit of saying "I god." Either he is meaning to say by god and make his words seem like they are more important and hold more weight with the people, or it is his unconscious way of saying that he thinks he is god. He is gathering more and more power in the town and it is starting to go to his head.

TEWWG

21. "Unh hunh, it is uh little dark right long heah." (pg. 44)

There could be a double meaning behind Janie's words. She is literally talking about how the road is dark, but underneath that she is talking about what just went on at the town meeting. She just found out that Jody isn't quite like she thought he was towards her. She might even feel a little bit like he doesn't trust her, and that might make her question his real reason behind marrying her.

TEWWG

20. "Thank yuh fuh...her place is in the home." (pg. 43)

This is the first hint that we see that Jody Starks doesnt' have the respect for Janie that he has seemed to have all along. He is not letting her voice her own opinion. The situation shows us his need for control and might even be an indication of things that will come up later in their life together.

TEWWG

19. "Jody gave one of his big heh heh laughs and stood back." (pg. 41)

This sentence suggests that this is Jody's regular way of laughing. To me it sounds like it is either forced or nervous. It makes it seem like Jody is just laughing to get people to like him. He wants them to think he has a sense of humor as well as respecting him for his accomplishments.

TEWWG

18. "Us colored folks is too envious...Us keeps our own selves down." (pg. 39)

Coker is putting words to why the people of the towns are so judgemental. They don't like to be topped by anyone, so they come up with things to bring each other down. They get jealous easy, so they spread rumors to try and make themselves feel better about there being someone who is better at something than they are.

TEWWG

17. "It troubled him to get used to the world one way and then suddenly have it turned different." (pg. 34)

There is a contrast here between Hicks and Janie. The same thing that attracts her to Jody makes Hicks not like him. His ability to make change. To Janie, change is good because it is like starting over, but to Hicks, change is bad because it means that something is being fixed that was fine in the first place. To him things will probably turn out worse if you try to change them.

TEWWG

16. "Janie took...kind of portly like rich white folks." (pg. 34)

Janie has a kind of fascination with white people, or she is comforted by Jody seeming like a white person. It is what she is used to. Her most impressionable years were spent living with a white family and playing with their children. To her, Jody is a reminder of her youth, as well as a promise of better things to come.

TEWWG

15. "From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything. A bee for her bloom." (pg. 32)

Springtime brings about the idea of youth and new beginnings. Because Janies is young, she is able to make decisions for herself that will help her to start over. She is starting her life over when she decides to run off with Jody. The bees are something that pollinate flowers, so they help them to spread and grow in different places (again the idea of Janie growing).

TEWWG

14. Joe "Jody" Starks (pg. 28)

Jody is a well off, and he is a little bit of a sweet talker. Janie is instantly attracted to the glamor of his life. He wants to buy land so he can have power instead of white men. This could tell us something about his character- he likes to be in control meaning he won't tolerate anything Janie does to get out of hand. He likes sweet things (like syrup in his water)- he finds it bitter when someone else has power over him, and he doesn't like that.

TEWWG

13. "Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman." (pg. 25)

In our youth, we are all naive because we are protected by our families from what is really going on around us. This allows us to build up hopes and dreams that we would never have if we were adults and knew the real possibilities. It is a good thing that we have the ability to dream when we are young, the only problem is that when we become adults, those dreams can be crushed. Dreams are a symbol of the safety of youth.

TEWWG

12. " When she gained the privacy...A month later she was dead." (pg. 24)

Janie's grandma loved her so much that one of the last things that she ever did in her life was to pray for Janie. All she wanted was for Janie to find happiness and she knew that she would never be happy being married to Logan when she wasn't in love with him. But, Nanny was the one who wanted her to marry him because she thought it would be best for her, but she later finds out that she was wrong.

TEWWG

11. "Janie and Logan got married...3 cakes and big platters of fried rabbit and chicken." (pg. 21)

The food could be a symbol of the people at the wedding trying to satisfy Janie with something other than love because they know that she doesn't really love Logan. They know that she's not in love, but they think it is best for her because he is well off and he will be able to take care of her and keep her well fed.

TEWWG

10. "Put me down easy, Janie, Ah'm a cracked plate." (pg. 20)

Even though her grandma has seemed so strong through out her childhood and has been doing everything she can to take care of Janie and keep things going well for them, she is really very fragile and vulnerable underneath. There are certain things that she wouldn't be able to take. It wouldn't take much to break her.

TEWWG

9. "You know, honey, us colored folks is branches without roots and that makes things come round in queer ways." (pg. 16)

The "colored" people don't have anything to support them because they have no roots and they can't grow and move on without roots. It could mean that Janie is somehow different because she is the pear tree. She is the only one with roots and other branches coming off of her.

TEWWG

7. "Ah was wid dem white chillin so much till Ah didn't know Ah wuzn't white till Ah was round six years old."

This piece of information might explain why Janie acts the way she does. It could tell us why she seem unaffected by the judgement of the others. She either considers herself above them, or she has gotten used to the ridicule of others by having so much of it at such a young age.

TEWWG

6. "Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with things suffered , things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches." (pg. 8)

Trees are something that are always growing and always changing. Things that are new (the leaves) are important for a while, but as time goes on, things change (the leaves die) and something that seemed unimportant before will come into the light. The things that are undone can change.

TEWWG

5. "He'd tell 'em so too, if he was here. If he wasn't gone." (pg. 7)

This could be a foreshadow. Something happened to Tea Cake and he isn't with Janie anymore. Her tone makes it seem like he is dead, but maybe he had to leave her behind for some reason. Or, she had to leave him behind.

TEWWG

4. "Well, Ah see Mouth-Almighty is still sittin' in de same place. And Ah reckon they got me up in they mouth now." (pg. 5)

Janie gives the people of the town something more to talk about. She is a mystery to them so they can be as judgemental as they want without having to wonder if what they are saying will fit in with what really happened. The fact that Janie calls them Mouth-Almighty suggests that they think they are the ones who will be deciding people's fates. It is also possible that their talking does decide the fates of people as far as society goes.

TEWWG

3. "She's 'way to old for a boy like Tea Cake."

Tea Cake is the name of the man that Janie has been going with. Tea cakes are usually something that are only enjoyed for a short amount of time. They aren't as fulfilling as a whole meal, but are just something to tide you over until you can eat something more. Again, the people in the town are judging the lives of others.

TEWWG

2. "They sat in judgement." (pg. 1)

The idea of judgement is mentioned twice already, so I think it will have a major part in this book. It is probably a theme. Before, it mentions that the dead have "their eyes flung open in judgement" so this suggests that it is not just that people are being critical of others (they notice every little thing that a person does and are judging them, but don't even think about their own lives), but they are being judged too.

TEWWG

1. "The dream is the truth." (pg. 1)


This suggests either that the women want their dreams so much that it becomes truth to them, or it means that the women have no dreams. Life's experiences have taken them away so, the only thing they live for is the truth and reality replaces their dreams.

Walden pg. 289-end

There is a bit of a focus on beginnings in these chapters. Thoreau tells us how spring is his favorite season, probably because it marks the beginning of something. Spring is also a time of awakening and recreation. He describes about how, in nature, you are not really alone because of all the things around you, so you are not lonely. But, in society, there is so much competition that you are lonely. There is a reason put to why people like to travel, and Thoreau thinks it is because it is easier and less scary than exploring our minds and finding out what we are capable of. Thoreau doesn't want to explore old places, but places where he has never been before. The last chapter of Walden encourages the individual to wake up and not to look down on others because of different views.

Walden pg. 262-288

This part of Walden also has a focus around nature and simple living. To Thoreau, the sights and sounds of animals are his entertainment and music. He likes to witness how little it takes to feed so many little critters (just a few ears of corn). There is a contrast between Thoreau, who is becoming more a part of nature, and the hunters (society) who are destroying it. Thoreau notices how people come in contact with nature all the time and don't notice it very much, so they can't become a part of it. Society is taking away from nature in this section when the train brings many men to take the ice from the top of Walden Pond.

Walden pg. 228-262

This section of Walden followed mainly along the theme of living simply. Thoreau tells us how he likes to get his food from nature and be heated by the sun rather than by fire. He has a one roomed house where it is simple to get from one place to the next because there is no separation. There are many references to nature being like a treasure that should be respected. Thoreau tells us about the bricks that he uses to build his fireplace. They are a symbol of the individual being covered by society. The longer they are covered by society, the harder it is to get out. He also tells about the bubbles under the ice in the pond and how they are prettier when they are individual than when they all come together. Thoreau tells us about his connection with fire and how fire makes his house seem less lonely, like there is someone else there. This section also focuses a lot on how we don't leave much behind when we die, just memories. And most of the memories are only recognized by a few people.

Walden pg. 194-228

This section of Walden has the two major themes of society and nature. Thoreau tries to show others how to escape from society and live simply in nature. He shows us how America is not really free because there is too much society. Thoreau's freedom is in nature. He feels that he is a part of nature. Even though he doesn't like to hunt, he encourages young people to hunt because it brings them closer to nature and farther from society. Each year that Thoreau spends at Walden Pond, he becomes more a part of nature. He feels that he is living closer with nature because he doesn't like to eat meat. The animals start to accept Thoreau as a part of nature, an this suggest that he is becoming like an animal himself by living simply. The war between the ants is a symbol of the war between the individual and society (conquer or die).

Walden pg. 168-194

This chapter also fits into the theme of society. The chapter tells us that as long as we are in society, we can't develop the individual. To him the pond symbolizes protection and safety from society. The surface of the pond is a mirror that can't be broken: the things on the bottom are untouchable. That is what Thoreau wants, to be untouchable by society. The things that live in Walden Pond are different from the things everywhere else, even though they are the same species. Thoreau wants to be like those animals. He wants to be different. Walden Pond is a symbol of purity to Thoreau. The pond is the center of his world, an he goes fishing on it at night showing us how he is awake while everyone else is asleep (spiritually).

Walden pg. 135-168

These chapters focus mainly on society. First, it talks about the difference between how society treats visitors versus how the Indians treat their visitors. In society, you only provide for your visitors if there are less than twenty of them, but the indians provide for them no matter how many there are, even if they almost don't have enough to feed their visitors. For Thoreau, living alone at Walden pond means less visitors and less of society in his life. Thoreau's Canadian friend is very happy because he is an individual and is away from society, but he is intellectually asleep. When Thoreau does have people who come to visit, he tries to encourage them to think.
Society also has an influence on the way that people plant fields, but Thoreau has his own ideas on how it should be done. He takes it slow and is always planting. Thoreau is like his field because he is the connection between nature and society. For him, the things of society are at a distance so they don't have much of an effect on his field. Planting the beans in his field is something that he does as an individual, so it is something that he feels good about. The beans are like the individual: in order to grow they have to keep out certain things (woodchucks-society). When Thoreau goes into the town that is close to the pond, he has to be careful to not stay for too long because society is a danger to the individual.

Lit Elements

Understatement- saying less than one means.
Example: pile a lot of food on your plate and say "this looks like a nice snack"

Allusion- a reference to something in history or previous literature.
Example: the Waste Land-Burial of the Dead= allusion to the Book of Common Prayer & the burial rights of the Anglican Church

Tone-the writer/speaker's attitude toward the subject, reader, or him/herself.
Example: "For a Lamb" (line 1) putrid lamb- lambs are usually thought of as innocent, this doesn't make it seem like it.

Alliteration- repetition of initial consonant sounds
Example: tried and true/ rhyme or reason

Assonance- repetition of vowel sounds
Example: mad as a hatter/ free and easy

Consonance- repetition of final consonant sounds
Example: odds and ends/ short and sweet

Internal Rhyme- one or more rhyming words are within the line
Example: there's strange things done in the midnight sun

Slant Rhyme- rhyme that's not perfect (usually in vowel sounds)
Example: body/bloody : horse/hearse

The Waste Land

The Waste Land- Burial of the Dead: first speaker

This section starts out speaking of spring being cruel, when usually it is a happy month. Everything is given life in the spring, but in this poem, winter is considered less harsh because it is a time when you can hide from things that have happened. The speaker talks about the lilacs mixing memory with desire (lines 2&3). This could be suggesting that the speaker at one time was growing and flourishing at one time, but now isn't anymore. The speaker wants to be like that flower and have something to live for. This section gives us a memory of when the speaker was happy, and something as little as holding on tight could give her a sense of comfort and freedom (lines 16&17). Now the speaker has grown old and doesn't have the same sense of fun and freedom in her life. She feels that there is no hope and she has nothing left to live for (line 18). She has no friends and no hope- no reason left to live.

My Blues Poem

Blues Poem


Woke up this mornin' with the rain pourin' on my head,
Yeah I woke up this mornin' with the rain poundin' on my head,
'Cause when it poured on me this mornin' I wasn't in my bed.
You kicked me out last night and I landed on my head.

Painful, so painful this gravel on my feet,
I said painful, so painful this gravel on my feet.
'Cause I had no shoes when I was booted to the street.
Now I'm just walkin' down the hurtful, rocky street.

Ya'll think ya got rid of me,
I said ya'll really think ya got rid of me,
But I'll be back like a pesky stinging bee,
Ya'll can't truely get rid of me.

Now I'm headed to get on the train,
I'm just gonna go get on the train,
But don't worry 'cause I'll be back again.
For my leaving I won't be the one in pain.


Fielding...I need way more time to think about a poem. Please tell me we don't have to write one for the AP test!!!

My poem

Shoes

So many choices, so many shoes,
Stillettos, boots, flip-flops, wedges,
How is a girl supposed to choose?

Should I wear heels or flats today,
My mind between the questions edges,
So many choices, so many shoes.

This selection my shoulders weigh,
I really want to wear the wedges,
How is a girl supposed to choose?

To pick the wrong ones, I'll surely pay.
It's like a catalog with pages and pages,
So many choices, so many shoes.

Beautiful shoes would make my day,
But in my mind one question dredges.
How is a girl supposed to choose.

How will I for these shoes pay,
Without making any wages?
So many choices, so many shoes,
How is a girl supposed to choose?

The Heights of Macchu Picchu

This poem is about the difficulties that the people on Macchu Picchu faced. The speaker feels that there is no purpose for their life. He feels that "The human souls was threshed out like maize in the endless granary of defeated actions,". He thinks that their souls have no purpose because all they are doing is adding to the things that can't be done. The city that he speaks of has become a place of starvation and murder "the man was besieged by the bread or by the knife". He talks about how the people felt like they couldn't keep going on with life, but did "to the very edge of endurance, and beyond". He tells of how the people suffered everyday and didn't want to keep on living ("everybody lost heart, anxiously waiting for death..."). Many of the deaths in the city came through the insects ("a tiny death with coarse wings"). There was no discrimination in the deaths, no way to know who would live and who would be lucky enough to die ("the cattle dealer: the child of sea-harbors, or the dark captain of the plough,"). The people started to accept the bad luck that became a part of their lives ("like a black cup that they drank, with their hands shaking"), but they were still scared. This poem makes you feel very oppressed, like there is no hope. You had a way of life and then, all of a sudden, something changed to start killing off your people and there's nothing you can do about it. No nice thing you do or help you give can save your people. There is a feeling of loneliness that goes with the death in this poem, like when the people died, they died alone, dirty, and helpless ("a light flicked off in the mud at the city's edge"). The fact that the speaker mentions "endurance" suggests that the people put up a fight with this oppression while they could, but soon lost their strength to keep going. The light flicking off in this poem could symbolize either a life turning into a death, or all the hope going out of the city.

English/Italian Sonnets

The English Sonnet- also called the Shakespearean sonnet, composed of three quatrains and a couplet, rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg.

Example:
Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,
But sad mortality o'ersways their power,
How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower?
O how shall summer's honey breath hold out,
Against the wrackful siege of batt'ring days,
When rocks impregnable are not so stout,
Nor gates of steel so strong but time decays?
O fearful meditation, where alack,
Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back,
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?
O none, unless this miracle have might,
That in black ink my love may still shine bright.

The Italian Sonnet- also called the Petrarchan sonnet, composed of an octave and a sestet, octave rhyme scheme of abbaabba, sestet rhyme scheme of either cdecde, cdccdc, or cdedce.

Example:
I find no peace, and have no arms for war,
and fear and hope, and burn and yet I freeze,
and fly to heaven, lying on earth's floor,
and nothing hold, and all the world I seize.
My jailer opens not, nor locks the door,
nor binds me to hear, nor will loose my ties;
Love kills me not, nor breaks the chains I wear,
nor wants me living, nor will grant me ease.
I have no tongue, and shout;
eyeless, I see;I long to perish, and I beg for aid;
I love another, and myself I hate.
Weeping I laugh, I feed on misery,
by death and life so equally dismayed:
for you, my lady, am I in this state.

Literary Term

Connotation: the connotation is what a word suggests beyond what the actual definition of the word is. It is the overtone of the word.

Example: "Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy. My sin was too much hope of thee, loved boy." (On My First Son lines 1-2)

Function: Connotation of sin in this poem perhaps makes more meaning in this poem than the real definition (to offend against a principle or standard). It is not actually a sin to hope for good things to happen to a person, but in this case, the speaker feels that because of his having too much hope, that he was only let down even more when he lost his son. "thou child of my right hand..." suggests that his first son was the one who he had planned to follow in his footsteps. To do all the things that his father had done, and even more. The speaker had hoped for him to have a better opportunity to do all the things that he himself hasn't done, and profit from them. The father feels that by hoping too much that he violated what was truely planned for this son. He feels that he has sinned by expecting too much from his child, and possibly even blames himself for his son's death.

Still-Birth Pantoum

The speaker in this poem is a mother who lost a child while giving birth. Later, down the road of life, the mother is speaking to the dead child in a way that isn't that uncommon. Many have been known to talk to lost loved ones in a way that could be helping them to get over their grief (how can you be dead, why did you have to leave me, etc). The speaker feels that she has to speak to her dead daughter because, while she is at the train station, she hears someone calling "No, Laetitia, no." (probably a mother calling to a young child to be careful around the train tracks). Laetitia is the name of the daughter that the speaker lost many years ago. And, in her grief at losing her daughter, she feels she has to talk to her. The speaker knows it wasn't her time to have a child ("It wasn't my train- the doors were closing."), but whether she accepts that is a different story. The speaker's grief has slowly eased up over time ("Some griefs bless us that way, not asking much space."), but it will never completely go away.
If you look at the words at the end of each line (name, no, closing, face, you, thirty-two, chosen, attached, space), they can probably tell us more than we would catch by just reading the poem. The name that was called out on the platform at the train station is what triggered the mother's memory of her dead baby and makes her want to seek out her child. "No" could be read to suggest the mother's denial at first that her child is dead, and possibly her denial even now. "closing" could be the speaker's grasp on reality. She is slowly losing her mind over the grief of losing something that she lost so long ago. The face of her still-born child is what is haunting her every waking moment and it is what she is looking for now on the train. The speaker looks for the face of her child in a woman on the train, but she doesn't find what she is looking for. The use of "you" in this poem suggests that the speaker could have been one of those mothers who lost their first baby, and even though she had others after that, she could never quite give them the love that she had for that first dead baby. "Thirty-two" tells us the age that the speaker's child would be now and it also tells us for how long this mother has been grieving for her lost daughter. The speaker had already "chosen" the name for her daughter, but what she didn't choose was a life without the daughter that she had prepared so long for. The use of "attached" in this poem tells us that the speaker didn't follow the advice to not get attached, and because of that, she feels a "space" in her life that has never been filled by anything else. It has just stayed empty.

Lying in a Hammock...

Lying In A Hammock At William Duffy's Farm In Pine Island, Minnesota

1. The speaker is relaxing in a hammock and observing all the different sights and sounds of a farm.

2. The person in the hammock is a guest on the farm. He is very observant, and knows a little bit about how the farm works and what is going on. This person didn't grow up on a farm, but never the less has learned a few things from just being there.

3. I arrived at the conclusion that the speaker is a guest on the farm from both the title ("...William Duffy's farm...") and the fact that this person is relaxing in a hammock. Having a farm involves a lot of work, and the people who own/run the farm get as much work done as they can throughout the day. As for my conclusion about the speaker being observant, he notices things like the color of a butterfly (bronze) and the color of the trunk that it lands on (black). He hears cowbells and recognizes that they are going into the distance, and he notices even something seemingly insignificant like horse droppings. The person knows how the farm works because he knows the house is empty, and everyone is out working. He also knows that the cows are being put out to pasture for the night ("The cowbells follow one another; Into the distances of the afternoon."), and that the horse droppings are from last year, which is something a lot of people might not notice.

4. The title tells us what the speaker is doing (lying in a hammock), where he is (Pine Island, Minnesota), who he is visiting (William Duffy), and what kind of setting he is in (on a farm).

5. The speaker is very tuned in with the nature around him. He notices the colors of things, and what they remind him of. Instead of saying the butterfly is fluttering its wings, he says it is "blowing like a leaf in green shadow", and he says the horse droppings "blaze up into golden stones."

6. In this poem, the speaker is not only describing what he sees and hears, but he is also conveying what he feels through these sights and sounds. When he talks about "blowing like a leaf" it could be a reference to how his own life is unsteady. He speaks of the ravine and the empty house which could also be connected the way he feels about himself. By definition, a ravine is a gully that has been hollowed out by passing water. It is possible that something that the speaker had and has since passed him by has left him feeling hollow and empty like the house. When the speaker ends the poem with "A chicken hawk floats over, looking for home.", it could be telling us how the speaker is feeling about himself, like he doesn't feel that he fits in, and that is where the connection is. The speaker is looking for a place that is right for him.

Sestina: Altaforte

In this poem, the speaker is telling about how he loves to fight. He thinks it is more honorable to be fighting than to be wanting peace (which he calls "womanish"). It makes him happy when the ones who want peace are killed in battle. He feels that the battles should have all the power of a storm for killing peace ("when the tempest kills the earth's foul peace"). "The lightning from black heav'n flash crimson" is a refference to the swords that are covered in blood. The speaker feels that not even wine is better than a good kill in a battle ("there's no wine like the blood's crimson!"). He feels that those who call out for peace in the middle of a battle are just trying to save their own lives and don't deserve to live anyways ("May God damn forever all who cry 'Peace!' ").

Villanelle-"Do not go gentle..."

Do not go gentle into that good night-
How the villanelle in this poem reinforces the meaning depends on how you interpret it. The repetition of the lines "do not go gentle into that good night" and "rage, rage against the dying of the light" reminds me of when someone is sitting on the edge of the bed while someone is dying and trying to get them to fight death off and go on living. "do not go gentle..." sounds like the speaker is telling this loved one to not let death to get the best of them, but to keep fighting it: don't give in. "rage, rage against..." usually rage is something that makes you keep going. Either it gives you adrenaline, or you are so angry about something that no matter what you won't let it get the best of you. By one definition, rage means to proceed, continue, or prevail with great violence. In this poem I believe that the speaker is repeatedly telling the person who he/she is speaking to to prevail over death.

Questions

Traveling through the dark-
1. The speaker in this poem has a dilemma about whether to push the dead pregnant doe into the river and kill the still living baby inside or leave it on the road and hope someone else who comes along can do something to help it. I think the speaker did the right thing to push the deer over the edge rather than risk the deaths of many more people who are driving down the road and swerve to avoid the body laying on the shoulder. the fact that the speaker calls his hesitation his only swerving suggests that he didn't have to swerve to get out of the way of the deer, but stopped and got out to see what he could do to help. He calls his hesitation swerving because because he is going back and forth in his head trying to decide what to do about the deer.

2. Tactile imagery- "she had stiffened already, almost cold...her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting". The contrast between the stiff and cooling body of the doe and the warmth that is coming from the unborn fawn inside of her is something that would have made me hesitate too. Auditory imagery- "under the hood purred the steady engine." I could almost hear the car engine and feel the exhaust. The fact that the speaker left the car running shows us that he wasn't planning to stand there for a long time debating what to do about the deer. He was just planning to push her over the edge.

3. It could be argued that there is similarities between the 2nd and 4th lines in every 4 line stanza. It could also be argued that the 1st and 3rd lines of stanzas 2 and 3 work together to give you a better picture as you are reading the poem. The end of the concluding couplet gives me a kind of depressing outlook on the poem. The end of the second stanza doesn't really fit in with the rest. The ends of the other stanzas talk about death, and the hesitation of the speaker. In one line it says "...i could hear the wilderness listen." meaning that the speaker felt the pressure of nature even wondering what he would decide. And the last line speaks of him pushing the doe into the river, choosing for the unborn fawn to die.

Counting Out Rhyme-
Fielding, I looked in the whole poetry section and this poem isn't in there.

Tone

"The Telephone"
The tone of this poem is just a little bit hopeful. From the first stanza "when I was as far as I could walk from here today" it sounds like the speaker is leaving, but then they find a flower. The flower gives the speaker an excuse to go back to where he came from, because he says he heard "someone said come". This is exactly what the speaker wanted because they didn't want to leave in the first place.

"Love in Brooklyn"
Fielding- I can't find this poem

"The Flea"
Most people kill bugs. They are pests, but the tone in this poem suggests something else. The speaker is envious of the flea because it has done something that he wants to do. He wants to join his life (his blood) with the woman's. Most of us would think nothing of killing a flea, but the speaker of this poem feels that it is three sins, not only killing the bug, but him and the woman too.

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.

The age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Time still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time;
And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.

The Road Not Taken

1. No the speaker in does not feel that he made the wrong choice. The sigh that he makes isn't one of regret, but instead a sigh of satisfaction that he made a difference. What the speaker does regret is not being able to take both of the paths.

2. There will be a big difference because the road that is less traveled would be a completely different experience than the road that is more traveled. It would have a kind of untouched beauty that wouldn't be on the other road where people have already left their mark on the path. On the road less traveled, there would be a thrill of leaving your own mark without having it blotted out by those of other people. And, the fact that the speaker will walk a fresh path on the road not taken might cause others to follow the same way he chose until the path that is more traveled becomes the path that is less traveled. Then if the speaker came back to the same place a few years down the road, he could still take the road less traveled and go on the road that he didn't get to walk on the first time around.

I think this poem is about a person who came to a time in their life where they had to make a decision. The choice is between doing the same thing as everyone who has gone before him, or stepping out of the box and doing something new and exciting. When the speaker says that taking the road less travelled has made all the difference, he is not neccessarily talking about himself, but also of the others who would have followed his example and benefited from the experience of something new and not just conforming to society.

After Apple-Picking

1. auditory imagery-the rumbling sound of load on load of apples coming in. Olfactory imagery- essence of winter sleep is on the night, the scent of apples. Kinesthetic imagery- my instep arch not noly keeps the ache, it keeps the pressure of a ladder-round. To me, the imagery in this poem created a feeling of being tired of and bored with the job of apple picking.

2. The speaker in this poem feels that his work isn't that important, and because of this he has done his job poorly (empty barrels and apples on the boughs that weren't picked). He finds the work tedious and isn't happy with its results.

3. I think that the speaker shifts to the present tense because he is experiencing what he thinks he will dream about. Not nessecarily the magnified apples, but the feel of the ladder rungs and the sound of the rumbling apples. The speaker has experienced the apple-picking so much tha he feels he will dream about it.

4. Later on in the poem, the speaker talks of the woodchucks sleep (its hibernation). I think this is what the speaker means when he is talking of sleep. He wants to have that same sleep that the woodchuck does. To be able to go into a dreamless sleep after a lot of hard work and preparation (the harvest). The speaker has an attitude of envy because he wants to be able to go into that long sleep and wake up later when all the hardships are over. He doesn't fear it and in fact looks forward to it. The speaker expects to have a dreamless sleep.

5. a) the ladder- it is two-pointed representing what the speaker wants and what will probably happen to him. b) the season of the year- autum is the season of preparation and stocking for the winter, and the speaker thinks he hasn't gotten anything by working atapple-picking for the harvest. c) the harvesting- the preparation for the long months ahead. Like the woodchuck storing up on food and getting fat to prepare for hibernation. d) the "pane of glass"- a sheet of ice that was on the water trough. Something that distorts the world if you look through it because it isn't perfect.

6. The woodchuck's sleep is different from just some human's sleep because it is long. A woodchuck hibernates and it is a sleep where they aren't haunted by dreams of things that they have done often. If the woodchuck had human sleeps, it would most likely wake up as often as we do from the dreams.

I think this poem is not noly talking about the picking of apples, but about how the narrator feels about life. He feels that if you miss a few things that you were intending to do (the missed apples on the branches) that it is not something you should make a huge deal about. And he also feels that if you life is not as full as you think it should be (the empty apple barrels), that isn't a big problem either. The narrator still feels that you will be tired when the time comes for you to sleep.

Imagery for The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

the fog/the smoke- the fog in this poem is metaphorically conected to cat. Some cats can be considered an omen, so the fog could be an omen to the narrator of this poem to not go to the party. Fog and smoke are both things that go away quickly. For example, all it takes for fog to disappear is the sun or a little bit of wind shifting it in another direction. The fog and smoke could symbolize to the narrator the shifting satisfaction of actually going into the party (his wondering of "is it really worth it").

the color yellow- by some definitions, the color yellow means cowardly. The way the color yellow is used in this poem could be telling us that the narrator's indecision to go to the party is actually the fear of rejection from the woman who the poem is for. Yellow can also mean jealous or envious, meaning that the narrator is not necessarily jealous of people being at the party, but that they get to socialize with the woman the song is for and he doesn't.