he smiled back.

“Winter”

A poem by Judith Nicholls

Winter crept,

through the whispering wood,

hushing fir and oak;

crushed each leaf and froze each web –

but never a word he spoke.

Winter prowled

by the shivering sea,

lifting sand and stone;

nipped at each limpet silently –

and then moved on.

Winter raced

down the frozen stream,

catching at his breath;

on his lips were icicles,

at his back was death.

I initially selected this poem as a candidate in my search because of its title. I, myself, associate the season of winter with bleak cold that brings darker more depressing times especially in early December and late January. After my initial reading of the poem, I felt that I very much understood Nicholl’s view of the winter months—linking them to sneaky, eerie, and dark images with phrases such as, “Winter crept,” “crushed,” “prowled,” and “nipped.”

I think that overall, Nicholl’s is attempting to personify death as a dark spirit stalking the world, in a sense, as it creeps and prowls forests, the sea, and streams, freezing the life from almost everything it comes in contact with. This makes sense as the images associated with Earth in the winter are iced over, frozen, and utterly lifeless in terms of animals and plants that cannot live as freely as they do in, say, the spring. This common and broad implication of winter playing the role of death thus directly contradicts the associations of the spring season with life.

Nicholl’s personifies winter to further validate the bleak season as a symbol of death.  By describing the winter’s tendencies and actions in a way that portrays it as alive and destructive, focusing solely on its consumption of the living world, Nicholl’s turns winter into death itself, successfully generating a very convincing symbolic representation in her poem.

After browsing the back cover of Song of Solomon, I was intrigued–the book sounded interesting enough with some strange twists perhaps. So I was not surprised in the least bit to come across themes of incest, domestic abuse, and other social ideas that most readers are not exactly comfortable with. Although I feel a bit strange reading about such topics–unable to walk in Milkman’s shoes in most cases–I am very attached to the book and I have not been able to put it down. I have found the plot overall very interesting, and I really like that Morrison continually jumps between topics and side stories as it keeps my attention focused and often follows much closer to my own thought process. Overall, one of the most interesting points to me is the way in which the book begins with the image of Mr. Smith on top of Mercy hospital winged and ready to jump. As I continue to read I have thought back to that many times, questioning the symbolism and the deeper implications that Morrison wishes to create in the reader’s mind, and it is very interesting to now know so much more of the Dead family as compared to the initial portrayal of them in this opening scene.

So far I’m liking Hamlet a lot. Although one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, I had no background knowledge regarding the characters or the plot previous to our in-class reading. I am really fascinated by the labyrinth of confusing interconnections between Hamlet, Claudius the king, and Laertes. Although Hamlet’s sanity, or lack thereof, is both interesting and a driving element to the plot, I think that I am most interested with the character of the king. I found it particularly interesting that even though Hamlet is very aware of his uncle (the king)’s murder of his father and his clearly manipulative and evil tendencies, he somehow finds the ability within to assume that the king is confessing his sins in prayer and pardon his death–for the time being.

Hamlet is naive in this assumption, and passes up possibly his only chance at revenge, and ultimately provides the king with his own chance to construct several plans to kill Hamlet before he is able to tell anyone of the King’s murder of the late Hamlet. After Polonius is accidentally murdered, Laertes becomes involved–easily manipulated by the king. Laertes, filled with anger, rage, and his own similar desire for revenge on his father’s murderer (ironic in that Hamlet commits the same crime that was committed unto his own father and wants a similar revenge) is easily persuaded into the king’s plan. I am extremely frustrated by this–basically all thanks to Hamlet’s naive nature, the king will successfully be able to run away from his guilt, and use Laertes as a scapegoat. Unless… I can only hope…

I have chosen to reread F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby for a few reasons. When I first read this book–sophomore year I believe–I started off hating it, and ended up loving it. I am expecting to remember much of the plot as I continue to read; however, I also suspect that I will notice a lot of new elements in the story that I had not before noticed. I remember being fascinated by Fitzgerald’s characterization of Gatsby and Daisy, while simultaneously falling in love with the relationship between these two characters, hoping for all to work out in the end. So far I have been paying special attention to the symbolism between East and West Egg and the connections between characters and society in the 1920′s. I have just gotten into the story and already noted the great detail that Fitzgerald uses in describing the Valley of Ashes or the slums of the cities, as well as the upper class society members that play more minor roles in movement of the plot. Gatsby “take two” promises to be full of new and never before noted symbolism and thematic elements as I continue to refamiliarize myself with the story….

I am not usually one to sit down and read poems, novels yes, but poems just aren’t my style. Upon reading Love Poem by John Frederick Nims, I was thus confused and quick to judge the work as meaningless to me and hard to understand. But after looking a little deeper into the verse, I fell in love with Nim’s poem. I think that perhaps the reason that I had such a preference for this poem over all others from class is its focus on the subject’s flaws. Oftentimes infatuation or love lead people to think that they have found a “perfect” individual, as proved by the countless love songs, poems, etc. that express the subject as one of adoration because of their undeniable perfection–paying little attention to even the thought of a flaw. Because Love Poem approaches a confession of love in a new and different way, I think that it is more interesting, more heart-felt, and most likely more effective.

I especially like images presented in the author’s choice of adjectives and structure, i.e. “…hands shipwreck vases,” “A wrench in clocks and solar systems.” Such phrases as these provide an image to the reader of the poem, and if this were in fact intended for a specific person, I think that they would be very flattered by the amount of personal and small details that seem to perfectly encompass who they are and just why John Nims is so in love with their flaws.

As Emma’s story progresses, I am beginning to feel more and more sympathy for Harriet. Because Harriet is so naive and unaware of the ways of society, Emma was able to take over her life and micromanage each little detail of it, leading to Harriet’s unhappiness and rejection by Mr. Elton. Had Emma left Harriet to her own accords, Harriet would be happily in love and married to Mr. Martin, free of the repressive grips of social status and what is deemed acceptable and right in Emma’s eyes. It is true that Emma had all the best intentions of helping Harriet to achieve the happiness that Emma believed impossible without her help; however, all that was accomplished was Emma winning over Mr. Elton for herself, leading Harriet to misery because she is not even noticed by the man she was talked into loving. Emma is not a friend I would like to have, and ultimately her matchmaking games can only lead to distress and unnecessary trouble for her friends and loved ones around her.

I am already very intrigued by Austin’s characterization of Emma Woodhouse. Emma is presented as seemingly well-endowed, confident, and conceited, yet we see a weakness emerge in her when her friend and mother-like figure, Miss Taylor, leaves to marry and start her own life. It is interesting to notice the tinge of defeat that emerges in Emma, though well hidden by her. She puts on a smile in an effort to successfully comfort her father, yet she turns away fighting her own sadness and failing to comfort herself.

It is also interesting to note Emma’s joy in crafting a relationship between two people. I wonder why she feels such an obligation and desire to do so–perhaps, despite her claims that she is quite content with her freedom and marital status, she plays the role of match-maker in order to gratify her own self-denied needs for love and infatuation in her own life? I am curious to see how the match of Harriet and Mr. Elton plays out, because I fear that, in agreement with Mr. Knightley, the match seems much too forced and warily agreed to by Harriet. If Mr. Elton is not in fact in love with or in pursuit of Harriet, then not only will Emma have destroyed her new friendship, but she will also have embarrassed and proved herself wrong.

I am pleasantly surprised by the way that the story has unfolded by Act V. The story remains interesting as the web of relationships between characters grows increasingly complex–Orsino loves Olivia; Olivia loves Cesario, who is actually Viola, Sebastian’s sister, disguised as a eunuch, and Viola loves Orsino. In Act V we see false identities discovered and the ultimate happy ending for the lovers, Orsino and Viola, as well as Sebastian and Olivia, who realizes that Sebastian is very similar to his sister. The reuniting of Sebastian and Viola ultimately unravels the convoluted entanglement of relationships and disguises in the play, and allows for a returning grip on reality. I found it interesting that as Act V progressed and Orsino learned of Cesario’s true identity as Viola, he continued to address Viola as if she was still his good friend and trusted companion, Cesario, almost to the point where it seemed as if he is more attached to and in love with Viola’s more masculine side. Overall, I was satisfied with the happy ending which occured for everyone except Malvolio, who was left alone and enraged at his failure to see the trick that Maria played on him. Ultimately, “What you will” proved to be an extremely effective subtitle as it encompasses the broad themes of deceit, mistaken identity, folly, confused relationships, and ambiguity that are found throughout the play.

I think that Twelfth Night promises to be an interesting and enjoyable read. After reading Act I, I found that the conflicts that are beginning to arise and work their way into the threshold of the play will make for an interesting and complex story. I am most intrigued with Viola, who has decided to disguise herself as a man in order to work under the Duke Orsino, yet falls in love with him upon first meeting. After she insists on seeing Olivia even when company is refused, I began to question her true motives–if she loves Duke then she mustn’t like Olivia, so what exactly is Viola up to?  Another interesting element thus far is Shakespeare’s added comedic elements filled with the typical hidden, sexual innuendos as well as several plays on words all found in the prose of the “less intelligent” characters such as the fool and Sir Andrew Aguecheek. This comic relief will work nicely alongside the complex and tangled web of love and deceit that Viola is weaving for herself.

After watching the more recent movie She’s the Man many times, I am finding it extremely interesting and helpful to compare the original idea for that movie and the modern interpretation–the modern perspective provides me with a framework for understanding overall themes and events which will take place in yet another one of Shakespeare’s complex works, and comparing Amanda Bynes’ modern day impersonation of her brother at Illyria high school with the original Viola’s impersonation of a eunuch in Illyria is as unique of a comparison as it is intriguing.

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