Retired Greyhound II

I wanted to write about one of the dog poems this week since I have yet to, so I chose the poem about the abused dog. People sometimes do not think about animals' thoughts and feelings because animals cannot talk to express them, but that does not mean that they do not exist. I like this poem because it gets inside the dog's mind and shows the reader that how humans treat animals has more of an impact on them than the human may think. The dog in the poem remembers being abused, and still cringes when a human raises their hand. The poem even compares the dog to its human companion who was attacked by a dog. I love the irony in this poem. The dog fears all humans (except the woman) because it was abused by humans. The woman fears dogs (except the dog in the poem) because she was attacked by a dog. Yet they still lean to each other for support and understanding. I think this scenario can be applied to multiple parts of life. Something hurts you, but you still go back to it because you need it. If anyone has any examples of this that they would like to share, I would love to hear them.

We Real Cool

This poem was...different. It was definitely easy to understand. It seemed like something I could have written myself, which gives me a little confidence because if a poem that simple can become famous, then I could also write poetry worthy of fame. I have always considered myself quite bad with poetry. This poem fooled me though. When I was reading it in my head, I was reading it in the form of sentences that would be grammatically correct. I am sure I am not the only one that has fallen for that trick. When we heard the woman that wrote it read it in class one day, she read it completely differently than how I had. After I heard her, I went back and read it again, and realized that how she read it was how it was written. My mind had moved some words around for it to make sense in my head. It gave the poem a new rhythm for me. I think a lot of people could relate to this poem. I hope never to. It is kind of depressing when you really think about what it is saying, and that it sums up many lives.

The Road Not Taken

This is actually one poem that I do not mind reading. I think it is because I have read it so many times by now that it is familiar to me, and therefore I am comfortable with it. I think that is my problem with poetry. It is not always an easy read, making it out of my comfort zone, which is the reason I do not like it. It is kind of hard to like something when you do not understand it. Going back to this particular poem, however, I not only like this poem because I understand it, I also like its message. It is saying not to be like everyone else. You should not be afraid to be different and take chances. Robert Frost is encouraging you to take that road less traveled. My favorite lines in this poem are the last three of the final stanza. They are the ones I have memorized after having read this poem all of those times. Every time I have some decision to make, whether it is big or small, I think back to those lines. And I have to admit, they have influenced quite a bit of my decisions.

The Rape of the Lock

I think this poem is a bit ridiculous. It is so crazy that the whole time you are reading it, and trying to understand it, you are also trying to find metaphorical meanings to it because it could not possibly be about something as simple as it actually is. The rape of the lock is a lock of a girl's hair that was cut off. I do not think I would go so far as to call that rape. Nor would I attack someone over it. Do not get me wrong, I like my hair, but it is just hair. It will grow back. Belinda, whose hair was cut, came across as very conceited. She thought so highly of herself, she could not bear the thought of being imperfect. Which is why she freaked out when her hair was cut. The Baron, who cut her hair, was a jerk. You do not just chop someone's hair off for a good time, especially if you know that it will make that person very upset, or in Belinda's case, angry. I guess what I am getting at in this blog is that the poem was very exaggerated.

Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane

I am not a huge fan of poetry because, most of the time, I do not understand it, but I thought this poem was actually kind of interesting. From what I understood, Hard Rock was a bad guy, so he underwent a lobotomy to try to change that. Everyone thought it was a success since he stopped doing bad things, when really it mentally impaired him. This poem had to have taken place a long time ago because people do not get lobotomies anymore. We know the consequences of them and that they do not work. Even though it creeps me out, I find all the stuff that they used to do in the hospitals for the criminally insane fascinating. To think about some of the things that they used to do to people just blows my mind. It almost seems stupid to us now that they actually thought they were helping people by doing that stuff. Then again, it also makes you think about what if people in the future find some of the things that we do stupid because we are not actually helping anyone or anything. I am sure they will, but we learn from our mistakes.

The Mums

I am going back to a story we read quite a few weeks ago because we have not read anything new the past couple of weeks. This week I want to talk about "The Mums". I felt bad for the woman in this story. Her life seems pretty crappy. I think on the inside she knows this too, but she just tries not to think about it and keeps it bottled up inside. Seeing her mums on the side of the road, though, was the final straw. She just kind of broke down and let her true emotions show somewhat (she still did not let her husband see her crying). I hope I never end up, unhappily married, like her. I wish she would have tried to voice her opinions and feelings sometimes. I think that could have made a difference because her husband seemed like a nice guy that would at least take her words into consideration. Whether or not he acted on them, would be another story. Maybe if they made some changes, she would not feel the need to try to feel up a stranger's leg. I still cannot believe she fell for that guy's lies.

The Glass Menagerie (Part 2)

Now that I have finished reading this play and we have discussed it in class, it makes more sense. So I wanted to blog about it again this week since I understand it more, and I have a different perspective on it. Apparently, the title The Glass Menagerie is not necessarily referring to Laura's collection itself, but to the characters in the play as the glass menagerie. They are fragile like glass. This is not what changed my perspective on this play, however. What really changed my mind about it was when I started thinking about it as a memory play. Tom was just thinking back to all of that stuff happening. Sometimes you remember things differently than how they actually were. Therefore, Amanda may not have actually been that annoying, and Laura may not have been that crippled (both in the physical limp and shy sense). Also, he was not even in many of the scenes, so how did he know what really happened? I thought this made the play more interesting because it was no longer just a simple play about a family and their problems. It became a story with possibilities. It got me thinking...