Brave New World / Aldous Huxley / chapter 18

“He flung himself against them, he embraced, not the smooth body of his desires, but an armful of green spikes,” (Huxley 252).  John has resorted back to the ways of his old life.  His old life rejected him but her still found it more appeasing than a life of no worth.  He tries to run from the modern world but it still finds him.  John said he could take more pain that the puny boy they used to beat on the reservation and he was right although he was now beating himself.  The controller said he wanted the experiment to continue and so john tried to flee.  This did still fulfill the experiment.  It was just observing what a savage would do in the modern world.  A savage would go insane and kill himself.  The people see the video of John beating himself and think it is entertaining.  They don’t seem to recognize what he I s actually trying to do.  I think if the world ever came to be in such a state it would mean the end of the world.

Brave New World / Aldous Huxley / chapter 17

“’But God doesn’t change.’ ‘Men do, though.’” (Huxley 231).  It is interesting how much they have to restrict science to make their culture work.  The controller also claimed that it was science that had made this society possible but also science that could easily bring it all crashing down again.  It is interesting how the controller acknowledges that their may be a god.  He realizes that he may have existed and still might but their society does not head him.  Older civilizations needed a god to make their lives worth living.  The new world does not need god be cause they are already happy.  I find thins very unsettling. They may all be happy but they live lives that are not worth much.  Why don’t the controllers just let the world crumble bake into non existence?  Which out a god what do the controllers live for other that to keep a meaningless society alive.

Brave New World / Aldous Huxley / chapter 16

“And it’s what you never will write,” said the controller. “Because, if it were really like
Othello nobody could understand it, however new it might be. And if it were new, it couldn’t possibly be like Othello.” (Huxley 220).  He people of this society do not know what they are missing.  You cannot introduce them to it either because they are trained to not understand.  Most every person is to dumb to understand what john would try to tell them.  They are also conditioned to not find anything similar to what john would like to be normal or accepted.  Helmholtz even does not fully understand what John was trying to tell him. The islands which Bernard was so afraid of being sent to, are actually places were he would have been happier living that if he would have stated in London.  It is interesting that he brought back John as a way to save himself from leaving but in the end he still is going to and island. It is interesting how much the controller actually understands about what they are doing but also still accepts it.  They are sacrificing full lives for the ability to be happy all the time.  Without ever really knowing what they have done.

Brave New World / Aldous Huxley / chapter 15

“Yes, but let me get on with my distribution, won’t you? There’s a good fellow.” (Huxley 211).   John finally snaps.  He tries to visit his mother in the hospital but is bombarded by twins and loses his control.  He gets really depresses afterwards and when he leaves and runs into a crowed of deltas.  He sees their sameness and finds it revolting.  They are lined up to receive their daily ration of soma.  The distributor treats them like children to get them to behave.  John seems to get and idea that he should try to save these people.  They really don’t understand what he tries to tell them and ends up just making them all mad.  Their decision making skills are at the level of children so they just find it unfair when he steals their soma.  It is interesting that how they quell the riot is to make everyone happy and basically just lull them into sleep. 

Brave New World / Aldous Huxley / chapter 9 and 10

“A public example,” he was saying. “In this room, because it contains more high-caste workers than any other in the centre,” (Huxley 147).  The director is going to publicly shame Bernard.  Bernard however ends up shaming the director instead.  Before leaving Bernard is worried about being sent to Iceland as a punishment for his unorthodox behavior.  I believe this is his motivation for bringing Linda and John back to London.  He portrayed his actions as merely be for a scientific look at his reaction to civilization but it is pretty obvious he has ulterior motives.  John seems very eager to leave his home on the reservation.  John is as eager to leave as Bernard was to come.  It is very much like the idea that the grass is greener on the other side.  Linda seems to have in a way been affected the savages because she seems to care very much for the director.  All the people in the factory have the same reaction to Linda’s ugliness al Lenina had. It is also interesting how much of revulsion they have to the words father and mother.  But they have and stronger reaction to mother that they seem to father.

Brave New World / Aldous Huxley / chapter 8

“The magic was on his side, the magic explained and gave orders,” (Huxley 133).  John has lived his life as an outcast.  Bernard has also lived like and outcast.  Bernard is very interested in learning from John what his society lived like.  He has felt alone is his society so he seems to want to learn about another society to compare his life with theirs. Both Bernard and John seem to share a lot in common even though they live in two different societies. They both are different and have paid for their uniqueness.  John has lived in the shadow of his mothers conditioning.  He is always criticized by the other kids for something that is not his fault. When John learns to read he seems to find a new outlet for his frustration.  He reads Shakespeare which then sends him into a weird state of mind.  He is portrayed to be conditioned by Shakespeare’s works just as much as Bernard and Lenina are by their conditioning.

Brave New World / Aldous Huxley / chapter 7

            “But cleanliness is next to fordliness,” she insisted. “Yes, and civilization is sterilization,” (Huxley 110).  Bernard seems to be more interested in the reservation than Lenina.  She immediately thinks of how dirty the place is and cannot seem to focus on anything else.  Lenina finds everything the savages do to be very offensive.  She cannot seem to rap her mind around what they are doing.  It is interesting to read about the characters repulsiveness to a life style that is somewhat similar to ours only more primitive.  We have had history lessons and parts of the world still are similar to the reservation but Lenina has nothing to compare it too.  Bernard is also repulsed by the conditions but he seems to still be interested in how they think and live.  Linda’s life since she was left in the reservation has gone extremely wrong.  Her ideas completely clash with their society.  She try’s to live like she did but they then reject her and scorn her for it. 

Brave New World / Aldous Huxley / chapter 6

“I know you don’t and why we went to bed together yesterday—like infants—instead of being adults and waiting,” (Huxley 94).  Bernard has seen the flaw in the new world’s ideology.  He realizes how childish their society its.  Bernard is an oddball in their world.  He is too small for his class so he feels like and outcast so he actually becomes and out cast.  His ideas and actions separate him from his fellow range members.  Lenina seems to like Bernard and she thinks he is sweet but she still finds him just as odd as everyone else.  She finds his plans to be alone with her to be very boring and antisocial. Bernard is actually pretty antisocial.  Bernard seems to realize that they are all trained not to grow up.  They are stuck in a child like search for pleasure and never have to wait for gratification.

Sorting Laundry / Elisavietta Ritche

“A mountain of unsorted wash could not fill the empty side o the bed,” (Ritchie 842).  This poem describes something that everyone has experienced.  Each stanza tells a truth.  It is comical because everyone can relate. Papers disappear but money always remains. How many papers would it take to clog the drain?  There are always things in the pockets.  The laundry with ruin some clothes but when it could possibly make something else better it never actually does. The laundry plays such an important part of our lives. Many people think about what they will weir every day. Laundry is never done because even while we are doing it we are creating more.  In the end all the hassle that could be saved if her husband would leave would not be able to make up for his lose. 

Batter my heart, three-personed God / John Donne

I really liked this poem.  “Take me to you, imprison me, for I, except you enthrall me, never shall be free,” (Donne 840).  This is a very religious poem.  It reflects the more religious based culture of the time.  It is filled with irony.  The person loves God but is betrothed to the devil.  He wants to be with God but cannot get to him by himself.  In the end it says to be freed he mush be imprisoned.  This sounds backwards but it is also true.  To be saved from the devil the person must be prevented from returning to him.  He cannot resist himself but if God would stop him he will be safe.

I taste a liquor never brewed / Emily Dickenson

“Inebriate of Air—am I,” (Dickinson 797).  This poem praises nature.  It compares the glory of nature to the power of alcohol to influence and dazzle someone.  It describes the effects of alcohol but using parts of nature.  The speaker gets drunk on air.  The speaker drinks liquor that was never brewed.  The third stanza shows how dedicated the speaker is to “drinking” this liquor.  He will continue even after the natural nectar drinkers have finished.  He values nature greatly.  Another part that shows that the liquor is not actual liquor is that the saints approve of it.  The speaker states that no vat along the Rhine could have brewed such a real alcohol to match nature.

The convergence of the Twain / Thomas Hardy

“And as the smart ship grew In stature, grace, and hue, In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too,” (Hardy 779).  The convergence of twain is a difficult poem to understand unless you understand it is about the titanic.  This also is surprising that it was written so soon after the titanic sank.  I would find it hard to believe it would have the same meaning it did then as it does now.  Now it is like a legendary story and figure in history.  Then it was more like a major catastrophe and was fresh in people’s minds. This line shows how destiny or God lead the titanic to its doom.  It shows and inevitability in their meeting.  It also shows how they both were being created at the same time.  On is made by man and the other by fate to meet it in the ocean. 

To His Importunate Mistress / Peter De Vries

“And would have, lacked I not the pelf to pleasure also thus myself,” (Vries 13-14).  Love is a fickle thing.  It may come and go at its own choosing.  This poem is the opposite of “To His Coy Mistress”.  The man would love her but it is too difficult to do so.  It is not time however that is the cause.  The world is the cause.  He can not afford a mistress.  He tells her to look for a richer fellow to go after because paying for her pleasure and his wife and life he can’t afford it.  He finds a mistress to be a foolish think for a middle class person to have.  It causes his expenses to double and he then need to incomes. 

To His Coy Mistress / Andrew Marvell

“But at my back I always hear time’s winged chariot hurrying hear;” (Marvell 804).  Time is the problem in this poem.  The mistress’s coyness would not affect the man if it were not for time.  He would spend all of eternity studying her.  He would spend from the flood to Jesus 2000 years trying to woo her.  She could refuse him millions of times over ad he would still chase her.  His love would grow only stronger over time weather she would accept him or not.  Time stand in his way though.  Because of time he does not have from the flood to the conversion of the Jews to wait for her. Because of time he must her beauty will fade and his love will stop praising her. His love would be stopped by death before he would stop loving her but his live time would not be enough time to woo her.

A Jury of her Peers / Susan Glaspell

“No, peters,” said the county attorney incisively; “it’s all perfectly clear, except the reason for doing it,” (Glaspell 424).  The story is very interesting because the one who should no how to look for evidence don’t find it and the women who are not trained do find the evidence.  The men are portrayed to be condescending of the women.  They think they are just looking at Mrs. Wright’s stitch work.  They are partially right.  The women are really just looking for the thinks Mrs. Wright asked for.  They do happen to find more then they were looking for though.  By showing most of the story showing the women finding the evidences by sympathizing with Mrs. Wright it creates sympathy in the reader.  The story show what the women’s life was like.  In the beginning of the story it eludes to disorder giving Mrs. Wright away because Mrs. Hale Does not want to leave her chores half done.

Hunters in the Snow / Tobias Wolff

“‘You’re kidding!’ Frank leaned forward considering ‘that Kenny what a card.’ He laughed and so did Tub,’” (Wolff 201).  They are all irresponsible.  They are not taking Kenny being shot serious enough.  They shot Kenny in the first place.  They hunt terribly and how are they going to sneak up on a deer if they are so loud themselves.  The deer will hear them first and run away before they even get close.  Each character has their own vice which they are ashamed of.  Tub eats continuously and that is the reason for his fatness even though he claims it is his glands.  Tub also hides food at his office and in his car.  Frank is in love with a fifteen year old.  She baby-sits for him and he thinks is the world. They may start to share their feeling sin the end of the story and it seems like they could be more mature but they still do not take proper care of Kenny and are heading in the wrong direction to take him the hospital. 

Othello, the Moor of Venice / William Shakespeare / Act V Scene ii

“Nobody, I myself. Farewell. Commend me to my kind lord. Oh farewell,” (Shakespeare V.ii.123-124).  Desdemona tries to save Othello even at her death.  Emilia is the witness to just about every noteworthy aspect of this play.  She knows how to disprove that Desdemona is a whore and she witnesses her death.  This ending scene proves both Othello’s and Desdemona’s love for each other.  Othello admits he has killed her to ensure she does not get any blame. Desdemona tries to save Othello by claiming that she has killed herself.  How is it that the one man who Iago was trying to blame does not die?  Cassio lives.  Cassio realizes that Othello might kill himself but did not realize he had a sword to do so with so he does not stop him.  Iago in the end is caught because of his wife and Rodrigo’s note in his pockets.

Othello, the Moor of Venice / William Shakespeare / Act V Scene i

“I have no great devotion to the deed, and yet he hath given me satisfying reasons,” (Shakespeare V.i.8-9).  Roderigo is the smartest of them all because is the first to suspect Iago of being untrustworthy. He also though is the one who has probably trusted Iago the longest.  Iago has stolen all his money to do something he has not actually done.  Iago is quick thinking to be able continually pull the wool over Roderigo’s eyes.  Women seem to be the down fall of the all the men in this play.  Roderigo hopes to win Desdemona’s heart but ends up losing his life because of it.  Iago has skillfully used Roderigo to distance himself from the crimes he has planes.  Iago then kills Roderigo to cover his tracks. Roderigo should have confronted Desdemona himself and he would have avoided all of his problems.  How did Iago become trustworthy is he is actually so deceitful.

Othello, the Moor of Venice / William Shakespeare / Act IV Scene ii

“she says enough. Yet she’s a simple bawd that cannot say as much. This is a subtle whore,” (Shakespeare IV.ii.20-21).  Othello finally asked someone else about his wife.  She claims most fervently that Desdemona is not having an affair.  There is more misogyny portrayed in Othello because he does not believe Emilia. Emilia is Desdemona servant and is with her most of the time so one would think if something was up she would know about it. Iago did not think about her testimony enough in his planning although it still does not help save Othello from his fears.  In the end of the scene Emilia and Desdemona talk.  They blame men for women’s unfaithfulness.  I would think that they together could figure out that something was up.  

Othello, the Moor of Venice / William Shakespeare / Act IV Scene i

“Now will I question Cassio of Bianca…He, when he hears of her, cannot refrain from the excess of laughter,” (Shakespeare IV.i.91-97).  Iago is at it again.  He uses Cassio’s own feelings against him.  How does Iago come to know so much about everybody?  Just because he is considered honest how many people would trust him?  Iago frames Cassio without even giving him a hint that he has done so.  Bianca ends up perfectly helping Iago as well without even realizing it.  Why does Othello trust Iago so much without making better queries of others who might have seen their betrayal?  Why does Othello not find it odd that Bianca has such and interest in Cassio.  Iago can twist so many people to get what he wants without implicating himself. 

Othello, the Moor of Venice / William Shakespeare / Act IV Scene i

“Now will I question Cassio of Bianca…He, when he hears of her, cannot refrain from the excess of laughter,” (Shakespeare IV.i.91-97).  Iago is at it again.  He uses Cassio’s own feelings against him.  How does Iago come to know so much about everybody?  Just because he is considered honest how many people would trust him?  Iago frames Cassio without even giving him a hint that he has done so.  Bianca ends up perfectly helping Iago as well without even realizing it.  Why does Othello trust Iago so much without making better queries of others who might have seen their betrayal?  Why does Othello not find it odd that Bianca has such and interest in Cassio.  Iago can twist so many people to get what he wants without implicating himself. 

Othello, the Moor of Venice / William Shakespeare / Act 3

“I do not like the office. But sith I am entered in this cause so far,” (Shakespeare III ii 411-412).  Iago is once again lying through his teeth. He says it pains him to tell Othello this but he is lies in what he says and in that he is pained by what he says. Iago would be an excellent poker player.  Iago tricks Cassio into asking Desdemona to help hi get his position back wile Iago is actually using this to frame him.  Desdemona wants to help Cassio and this as well falls into Iago’s plans.  Othello causes Desdemona to lose her handkerchief which is really iconic.  He claims it has caused him grief that she lost it but he actually is causing his own grief by believing lies. Cassio actually has a woman of his own which he give the handkerchief to which is really weird. How is Iago going to frame Cassio is he does not possess the handkerchief?

Othello, the Moor of Venice / William Shakespeare / Act 2

“To suckle fools and chronicle small beer,” (Shakespeare II i 159). Iago is once more a terrible person.  He thinks all women are untrustworthy and manipulative. He also thinks women should only stay in the house and have children.  Iago does not treat his wife very well either.  In this act there is lot more dramatic irony as Iago continually plots and schemes.  Iago tells one person something then tells another the exact opposite.  He convinces Roderigo to sabotage Cassio because it will win him Desdemona.  He portrayed Cassio as a drunkard right after saying he was his friend.  He then portrays loyalty to Cassio and Othello when he is actually planning both their downfalls.

Othello, the Moor of Venice / William Shakespeare / Roderigo

“Put money in thy purse,” (Shakespeare I iii325-247).  Roderigo is a fool.  He is too trusting of Iago.  Everyone is too trusting of Iago.  Othello is a trusted general and is very calm when accused of using magic to attract Desdemona.  Why does Desdemona have to separate so totally from her father?  The people are racist even when they try not to be. The Duck hold Othello in high regards and wants him to lead his troops into battle against the ottoman fleet. Why is a moor fighting the Turks?  In the end of the act Roderigo wants to kill himself but Iago talks him out of it.  Iago does so in what seems to be a normal way but his advice of what to do with the rest of his life seems to be very manipulative.

Othello, the Moor of Venice / William Shakespeare / Iago

“Nine or ten times I had thought to have yerked him here under the ribs,” (Shakespeare I ii 4-5). This is a start to the open evilness of Iago in the play.  Iago tells Brabantio that the moor has stolen his daughter but then runs to Othello and warns him of Brabantio’s coming.  It shows dramatic irony that the audience knows Iago is the cause for Brabantio’s chasing of Othello.  Roderigo is portrayed to be at the mercy of Iago because Iago holds his purse strings.  He is talked into in part to help startup Brabantio.  The country is raciest witch is why it seems so unlikely to Brabantio that his daughter would marry a moor.  Roderigo likes Brabantio’s daughter which is why he is so sad she is married.  That is also what motivates him to wake up Brabantio. So far all the characters seem to be against Othello. 

Popular Mechanics / Raymond Carver

“In this manner, the issue was decided” (Carver).  What in the world wee the parents thinking.  That is a terrible way to treat a baby they should have known better.  They must have both been deranged.  The babies screaming should have made them think but apparently it did not help.  Did they rip the baby apart or did one parent finally win and run away.  The author leaves then ending up to the reader’s imagination.  Popular mechanics is a very odd title for this passage.  It implies a story involving mechanical parts but it only involves human parts which are partially mechanical.  The title implies also somewhat what happen to the baby.  This story reminds me of the story of King Solomon and how he dealt with two women trying to claim a baby.  He proposed to cut it in half and give each half but the real mother offered to give up the baby instead of have it be killed.

The Story of an Hour / Kate Chopin

This story is extremely ironic.  “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills” (Chopin).  She is first sad as she should be but then become happy when she should not be.  In the beginning of the story they allude to the ending by saying she has a heart problem.  The family tries to save her but ends up killing her. She was truly loved by her husband but she often hated him.  He tried to tell her what to do but she wanted to live her own life.  She was originally fearful of a long life.  Next she became hopeful for a long life. Then finally she dies after a very short life.  The husband does not even know he was thought died or that there was an accident as well.

The Apparition / John Donne

“When by thy scorn, O murderess, I am dead, and that thou thinkst thee free” (Donne 889).  The man blames his death on his wife.  He has not died yet though.  He is thinking of warning her but realizes it would only save her from her deserved fate.  She sounds like a cheating woman.  She is not giving him any love.  After he is dead he plans on haunting her.  He claims she will soon marry someone else after his death.  She will think she is free but she will be uneasy as she sleeps because of him.  Her uneasiness will cause her to try and find comfort with her new husband but he will thin she is annoying and ignore her so shill will feel the same discomfort as he was caused by her.

You’re Ugly, Too / Lorrie Moore

Zoë is a nut case. This story makes love sound like a hopeless cause.  Zoë is a lonely woman living in Illinois.  She teaches a history class but really does not teach her students much of anything she really just uses them as a backboard for her venting.  She is really only holding her position because the collage needs a woman teacher.  Her life is very boring she writes books and watches TV.  The closest person to her is a cab driver and she does not really notice him.  Her sister is close but she is thinking of getting married and has passed up Zoë in life and is now trying to help her along instead of being helped.  All of Zoë’s boyfriends have not been interesting enough for her.  The man her sister sets her up with is boring and does not under stand her then she tries to push him off the roof. Her miss fit life in this world is like the moons light on a lake. “If there were a lake, the moonlight would dance across it in conniptions,” (Moore 370). 

Delight in Disorder / Robert Herrick

“Do more bewitch me than when art is too precise in every part,” (Herrick 979). This last sentence connects to the first.  The two sentences are connected and could almost be one sentence if they were connected.  The middle of the poem is describing the articles that he sees that are in disorder.  The diction of the passage makes it sound like he is praising one person. He is describing what he likes about her appearance.  It could be construed that he has seen her across a room and is commenting on her to a friend.  It also sounds like he is trying to alleviate her embarrassment about her dress.  He finds the small mistakes more attractive than a perfectly dressed woman.  Every two lines rhyme.  It is a very rhythmic poem.

Bright Star / John Keats

“No—yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,” (Keats 792).  The man wants to be a star.  He wants to be eternal and everlasting.  The first half of the poem describes everything the star does.  It watches everything on the earth but it does not get to touch any of it.  There is a metaphor comparing snow on a mountain to a mask.  The second half of the poem tells what the man actually wants to do.  it is ironic how he spends over half the poem describing something he actually does not want.  The man only wants to be close to his woman forever.  He wants to be eternally hugging her and never have to leave even if it does kill him. 

Eveline / James Joyce

 “Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition,” (Joyce 222).  Eveline cannot escape her family.  She cannot escape herself either. Her childhood friends played in the fields and always were on the look out for the owner of the property.   She has a lonely life. Her one brother is died and the other works in the country all the time.  Her father I not a kind man and has violent tendencies.  The story has a disconnected tranquil tone.  Nothing actually happens.  She almost leaves but at the last moment cannot.  Her life has slowly eaten away her will.  She feels a need to stay and look after the kids but wants to leave the town and live her own life. 

How I Met My husband / Alice Munro

“I’m wondering, if you know what being intimate means. Now tell me. What you think it meant,” (Munro 144)? Edie is young and naive.  She does not actually know what she is doing and the full impact that it will have.  The narration of the story is by Edie multiple years into the future.  This narration gives a slightly detached feel to the story.  Multiple times through out the story the narrator mentions how naive she was at the time.  Chris is a flighty Pilate which has a stoker for a fiancé. He must have a somewhat boring life. He is continually running from his fiancé and having to make small talk to all the different passengers he takes on flights.  Mrs. Bird is very much like a bird.  She invites herself over a lot and trying to figure out as much as she can about what is going on in the house. It sounds like from the amount of time she spends visiting the neighbors that she would be neglecting her children.