05/04/15

“Richard Cory” and “The Unknown Citizen” are both compelling and influential poems that show how people misinterpret appearance. Edwin Arlington Robinson’s short poem describes the life of a particular man, Richard Cory, through the eyes of people who envy and idolize his greatness. However, Richard, not feeling great, is filled with sorrow and emptiness that the people can’t see because they are blinded by what seems to be real. In the same way, W. H. Auden’s poem describes a particular man, who is modern and average to Government eyes, but in reality has no scope to develop his identity. Society is ridiculed into thinking that mental obedience, the status quo, and enslaved routines are what’s right. Both poets illustrate their ideas of appearance through the similarities of the poem’s theme, through society’s perspective, and the characterization of Richard Cory and the unknown citizen.

Both poems express the idea of misleading the reality of appearance, which allows both poem’s themes to be similar. In Robinson’s poem, people admire the handsome and wealthy, Richard Cory, to the left and right they idolize in awe, blinded from the real person he is. For example, people wished to be, “in his place,” because, “he was rich — yes, richer than a king.” people desired to become who they think he is, because they, “thought he was everything.” Society’s idea of who Richard is, by his looks, wealth, or supposed happiness, does not show what he truly feels. The poet suggests that appearance is misleading to those who don’t view the inside and understand the materialized man. In addition, in Auden’s poem, the unknown citizen is serving the Government because of his loss of individuality. The citizen, someone who is seen as he, “had everything necessary to the Modern Man,” and was seen as nothing more because of his personality to obey in mental slavery. The poet implies that the man is so indifferent to society that they don’t see the true person inside, like Richard Cory. Both Robinson and Auden have related themes because they both believe in the same idea of a true understanding of individuality.

Another similarity between the two poems is society’s perspective of both men’s misleading appearance. Robinson’s poem is told from the perspective of someone who idolized what they thought was the true Richard Cory. For example, the community observed the royal and admirable, Richard, as, “a gentleman from sole to crown,” and his identity to be, “schooled in every grace.” However, the community has missed the chance to ever know the real person inside that was broken and disconnected from reality. The poet expresses the dissatisfaction of Richard and his loss of freedom because of what society didn’t see when they looked at the envied Richard Cory. In the same way, Auden’s poem is told from the perspective of the Government, who are blinded by what they see as a “Modern Man.” For example, The Federal Bureaucrat describes him as, “a saint, For in everything he did he served the greater community.” The Government has derided society into thinking indifferently of the unknown man. They believe that the average person should want to be a slave to routine, the government, and the community. The poet emphasizes how society views “average” citizens, and how the superficial world doesn’t take emotions into consideration. Both poems show that society’s perspective of the “materialistic” man and the “modern” man mislead people into not looking at a true person because of what they see and believe to be true.

Richard Cory and the unknown citizen are both characterized in similar ways, because they are classified as modern and materialistic men. Robinson’s description of Richard Cory is visual and unreal at the same time, because no person can truly be all that Richard is without at least one flaw. For example, Richard, a man who is, “clean favored, and imperially slim,” but what is hidden underneath the fancy clothes, happy demeanor, and undying wealth, is emptiness and depression. The poet characterizes Richard to emphasize the real person he is underneath the appearance and labeling of just-another-rich-guy. He is a man who, “put a bullet through his head,” because he was unsatisfied with a life of sorrow and isolation. In addition, Auden’s poem characterizes the unknown citizen by classifying him as an average man who serves the Government. The citizen, a normal man to society’s eyes, because, “he served the Greater Community… he worked in a factory and never got fired… he paid his dues.” To society, all this meant was that he did what he was “ordered” to do, so it characterized him, basically, as a slave. No man ever thought differently towards the citizen because of his loss of individuality and passion. Auden presents the characterization of the citizen to show how people categorize and classify ordinary people without knowing who the true person is. Both poets characterize Richard Cory and the unknown citizen by showing that people shouldn’t classify or label people because of what they believe is someone’s true character.

“Richard Cory” and “The Unknown Citizen” are two similar poems that present the importance of appearance through what is underneath and hidden from the naked eye. Both poems showed the similarities through the theme of appearance versus reality, society’s perspective, and characterization of the two men. Robinson emphasized idolization blinding people from reality, while Auden distributed the modern man being misunderstood. Through the many similarities of the two poems, people understand how to see people for who they truly are inside, and not by appearance.

Word Count: 924

02/18/15

The reason for finding similarities of the two pieces of literature, Ray bradbury’s novel Dandelion Wine and William Shakespeare’s poem Sonnet 73, is to help the reader understand the relationship between the two works. The authors both symbolize the memories of one’s past, changes in season, and processes of the world that undergo the author’s perspective in life. The similarities showcase the direction that both authors believe all paths lead to, death. Both Bradbury and Shakespeare believe in death, aging, and loving. The similarities in theme between Sonnet 73 and Dandelion Wine is that they both present the idea that mortality is real and that the younger self once inside, dies from age, life is inseparable from death, and showing the fact that love conquers all.

Shakespeare and Bradbury symbolically relate their ideas to emphasize the reality that life is inseparable from death. Shakespeare uses metaphors of of sunsets, and the consumption of death to state his belief that life will end. In Sonnet 73, Shakespeare depicts a sunset to showcase the day coming to an end, “after sunset fadeth in the west.” The sunset’s used as a metaphor to show how death takes over. Shakespeare relates death to have another chance at life by living for eternity at rest, “Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.” Also, Shakespeare allows his beloved’s to perceive his exact thoughts towards the reality of death, by showing that death has, “Consumed with that which it was nourished by.” Death, in many ways takes over, death takes the life that has given life itself through the showing of reality. Shakespeare has related his poem to symbolize the reality of death through metaphors that show that life ends. Similarly, Bradbury uses chapters in his novel to emphasize the reality of death through Douglas’s great-grandmother, Great-Grandma Spaulding, an ancient, perfect old woman, who’s happy with who she is and happy with the world she lives in. In Dandelion Wine, Great-Grandma Spaulding explains to Douglas that she’s, “tasted every victual and danced every dance; now there’s one last tart I haven’t bit on, one tune I haven’t whistled.” She explains how it’s her time to go, and it’s her time to have her sun set like in Sonnet 73. Bradbury presents a sense of stubbornness in Great-Grandma Spaulding when she tells Douglas, “Death won’t get a crumb by my mouth I won’t keep and savor.” Bradbury’s novel shows death through through his ideas to inflect the reality that life doesn’t last forever. Like in Sonnet 73, death was consumed by it’s nutrients in other words killed by what made it alive. In Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine, Great-Grandma Spaulding has finally let go to where, “the sea moved her back and down the shore,” the sea being a metaphor like the sunset in Sonnet 73. Therefore, both authors represented death becoming reality due to the similarities in both author’s ideas through metaphors and the death of loved ones.

Both authors share a similar idea by symbolizing the process of aging through their works. Bradbury represents the process of aging through an elderly woman, Mrs. Bentley, and Shakespeare represents aging through changes in season, which all “die in their own way, in “that time of year… when yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang.” Shakespeare uses fall becoming winter to depict the tree’s age and emphasize the leaves changing color. Then there is no more leaves because fall has aged away. He infers the fact that aging can come and take away the sense of life. Shakespeare refers back to his younger self when he sees in himself, “the glowing of such fire, to where he could understand how much he’s grown as a person from age. He sees in himself “the ashes of his youth,” which lie on a “death-bed whereon it must expire.”  Shakespeare can look onto his younger self, that will become his older self, that has put out the fame that once glowed inside. Similarly, in Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine, he relates his idea of aging through Mrs. Bentley, an elderly woman who keeps memories of her past and  love collectables. Bradbury presents aging through Mrs. Bentley’s realization that she isn’t young anymore, “I’m old enough and cold enough; the hottest day wouldn’t thaw me.” Like Shakespeare, Mrs. Bentley refers back to her younger self, “Needless to say, I was ten myself once and just as silly.” Mrs. Bentley remembers her past life as a child and has realized she has aged sixty years, and her younger self has died like Shakespeare’s poem.  Like Shakespeare, Bradbury  realizes through his characters that the youth  will die after old age has taken over. Mrs. Bentley’s realization shows the vastness of how truly old she is, “she may have been a girl once, but was not now. Her childhood was gone and nothing could fetch it back.” Bradbury has related to Shakespeare by taking a woman and making her realize that she is not young anymore. Therefore, both authors have related their ideas of the process of aging by symbolizing the realizations that people can’t live forever and age takes over.

Shakespeare and Bradbury present their ideas symbolically through their works to support the embodiment of loving. Shakespeare shows through his poem that if possessions are taken for granted, people miss what’s truly important in life; love. Shakespeare distributes this idea towards the end of his poem when he perceives the true reason for possessing any symbol of affection, “which makes thy love more strong.” Shakespeare depicts the thought that anything can go away sooner than thought, so it’s important, “to love that well,” because, “thou must leave ere long.” Shakespeare supports the embodiment that love is worth cherishing through a presentation of his perspective towards the idea of love. Similarly, Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine relates to Sonnet 73 by using Helen Loomis, a ninety-five year old woman who had an adventurous life, to share her beliefs of the love that she shares with Bill Forrester, is the greatest love. This is a love that can only be cherished with the little time they have left. Mrs. Loomis explains to Bill that because of their age difference, that he can’t live past fifty, “because there is no telling when another Helen Loomis might be born.” Bradbury represents the embodied symbol of love to emphasize the little time that they have left together, “if you lived on to be very, very old and some afternoon in 1999 walked down Main Street and see me standing there, aged twenty-one.” Mrs. Loomis knows that she has to cherish her little time like in Sonnet 73, because it will be taken away when Shakespeare and Mrs. Loomis die. Therefore, Shakespeare and Bradbury unify their ideas by distributing their symbols of love that are shown through Shakespeare and Helen Loomis.

    Thus, both authors represent their similar ideas through their literary works that help the reader understand the author’s point. Death, love, and age, all symbolize the direction of what the author’s want to lead to. Due to the fact that both author’s theme; mortality is real and that the younger self dies inside the old, because life is inseparable from death, and love being the strongest of all nature; is so close in relation, it helps to unify the two works as one, to perceive the similarities. Through the death of Great-Grandma Spaulding and the metaphorical sunset, fire, and second-self, death is known to always take over life. Through Shakespeare’s and Mrs. Bentley’s realizations of the reality in their youth being destroyed, they realize that aging will occur no matter what. Through Mrs. Loomis’s and Shakespeare’s relationships, love can beat any force from its power, but it must be cherished because it’s quick to disappear. The two works of literature came together as one, and allowed reader to understand the author’s point, life and love can be taken away in an instant, savor the time because aging can also be the consumer of death.

04/09/15

The Twilight series shows the adventures of Bella Swan and her want to become a vampire, while battling werewolves and who knows what else. Bella yearns to live forever and fall in love with the dreamy Edward Cullen. However, in our world today there are no vampires, werewolves, or immortality for that matter. Living an extremely long life has many advantages because of more experiences, but can be a disadvantage due to the loss and exhaustion from living that long.

Living forever or even living an extremely long time is an accomplishment itself, but there are other advantages to living a long life. For example, my great-great-grandmother lived to be a whopping one-hundred years old! She always told so many stories of her memories growing up, like during her service in the war, or memories of her mother teaching her to bake. Too often, people believe that a long life is terrible. However, my grandmother was able to see and do so much more than she ever could have if she only lived to be fifty. Her extremely long life proved to be an advantage because of her memories and experiences. In addition, having immortality would also allow someone to see the world grow to progressing new heights. For example, a girl named Lisa was given the gift of immortality by an old, crippled, gypsy, fortune teller. Lisa was born in 1800’s, and has been able to live and see the world grow bigger and better every day. She saw the world during the World Wars, during the poodle-skirt-50’s, and during the crop-top-80’s. Lisa’s eternal life allowed her to experience true immortality and live life to the advantage of experiencing new moments in history. Both my great-great-grandmother and Lisa had the chance of a lifetime, literally, to live life experiencing more than other “ordinary” people.

There are many disadvantages to living a long life, but loss and exhaustion seem to be the most effective in people’s lives. For example, in a popular television series “One Tree Hill”, one of the main Characters, Peyton Sawyer, always makes the point come across, “people always leave”. Peyton lost her birth mother, adoptive mother, and her first love. Through all her tragedies, she realizes that people will always leave, even if we don’t want them to. To a person who would live a long life, this would be a disadvantage because of the amount of loss and tragedy that a long life provides. The loss that Peyton suffers is terribly exhausting and presents one of the true disadvantages to living an extremely long life. In addition, people don’t tend to want to live a long life because of exhaustion. For example, Julie is eighty-four and can’t catch a break from being tired all the time. The kind of tired that is like the Sunday-evening-feeling of not wanting to go to school the next day. Julie’s exhaustion from her long life is affecting her day-to-day schedule. She can’t take time to do her daily chores without wanting to take a nap. As a result of Julie’s misfortune, her disadvantage of living long has caused her tiredness. Both Julie and Peyton are examples of disadvantages because of Peyton’s suffrage from losing loved ones and Julie’s tiredness from old age.

Bella’s hope to become a vampire and live forever with the love of her life, is just one example of living an extremely long life to its advantage. However, because of the amount of loss that a long life provides, living forever would be a disadvantage from the tragedy and exhaustion.

4/22/15

The novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, was a unique and interesting book. However, there were many parts that, I believe, could have been more entertaining. In the same way, the movie version of the book was just as thrilling, but like the novel, could have room for improvement.

Negatives

• The movie begins in Chapter 10 of the novel, which can lead someone who has read the book, like me, confused about the director’s vision.
• The transformation from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde, in my opinion, was extremely weird and frankly uncomfortable to watch. I know that it was supposed to be an unnatural change among Dr. Jekyll, like the book described, but I felt ‘out of place’ while watching that particular scene.
• Stevenson was able to express the transformation better than the director because of emphasis of how odd and misshapen Mr. Hyde was.
• In the movie, Dr. Jekyll was killed by Dr. Lanyon to save others from the horrific two-sided man. However, I felt that in the novel, when Dr. Jekyll killed himself to escape the empowering Mr. Hyde, the scene was more powerful and effective than Lanyon shooting him.

Positives

• Both the director and Stevenson depict what they believe true evil is. They both show their vision by making Mr. Hyde evil in the same way, but different as well.
• The director decided not to put Mr. Utterson in the movie, which allowed people to see Dr. Jekyll’s point of view, which I thought pulled in more viewers because of the different perspective.

Overall, I believe, that the movie was worth watching, but if I had the choice, I wouldn’t watch it again. Stevenson just grasped the idea better than the director, which was more entertaining than the movie. As a result, I would read the book again to feel the thrill and fright of Mr. Hyde.

Comparative Career Essay

04/24/15

you may think I’m just

a puny freshman-girl

with brown hair

and hazel eyes

but I know I am more than that

I’m no fish nor fig

nor peacock nor pig

a Firework,

a Loud Outburst of Color

but when I am ready to Flash

I am a Bomb waiting to Explode,

Chaos trying to unravel,

and Pyrotechnics Popping to amaze

but when I perk up

my Fuse Ignites,

a Dance of Color emerges

I Shoot between the Stars

people watch in Awe

and gaze up at my Insanity

I Illuminate the Sky with Beauty

Spreading Spectacular Blasts

I will never stop the Glow

until the Celebration passes,

the Explosion stops,

the Fuse Burns out,

and the Sky darkens at my Flashing ends

then I start over

start over my Burst

start over my Explosion

start over my Insanity

start over my Illumination

the puny freshman-girl

with brown hair

and green eyes

is a Firework

a Loud Outburst of Color

that Dances through the Sky