Louise Gluck

Her poems were very well organized almost like song lyrics and the language is simple and easy enough to understand. I got the feeling these poems were derived from her own family or childhood experiences even though she only uses first person in a couple of the selections. For example, in "Penelope's Song" I had mixed impressions about this one because one one hand is it talking about her own experience as an adult when her lover was to return, but in some ways I think this poem could be referring to a child who has been bad and anticipating their father's return in order to apologize. For some reason these sequence of poems look to me like they might showing me a layout of her life from childhood to adult because of the choices of words she uses in each poem. Like in the "Reunion" I thought this may have been a return from a husband or lover who might have left or maybe had an affair only to return 20 years later. I thought that way because the context of "Circe's Grief gave me the impression there was turmoil in her personal life.

Sherman Alexie

I enjoyed these poems because it was something different from the normal stuff we read so far and because I've always had an interest in Native American culture. Each one of the works were interesting in there own ways but one thing they all had in common was the mention of white people or as some refer to the dominant culture. In "Evolution" I got the idea this was referring to the way Indians were constantly giving away there land and worldly possessions to the white man and when nothing was left to give but their lives we took them too. What gave me that impression was the pawn shop references and Buffalo Bill being the white man in charge. The only impression I could get out of "Scalp Dance" was a direct reference to Indian cultures because the woman in the picture seemed to be telling me about the culture of Indian life. "How to Write" gave me a distinct idea he was referring to the mingling of races between white women's desire for Indian men and Indian men's desire to have a Indian women. The word hero is the key word used in the passage because Indians believe a hero is a white/Indian mixed person meaning they would be brave and noble and not suppose to cry in front of anyone, but themselves. I was surprised by the reference of Indian women who love Indian men must be half breed from horse culture; therefore I thought that was a rather harsh statement about the women from your own race.

"Sea Oak"

I must say that was a rather bizarre story, but I thought it took a little to long to develop. I didn't really know which direction the story was heading until Bernie was back from the dead. I'm assuming that Bernie was communicating with her family from the grave and not so much from the living room. They had troubled life prior to Bernie's death, but I was glad to see they aspired to do better with themselves afterwards. I guess Bernie knew their potential to make a better life for themselves, but they obviously needed some motivation to get them going. I thought Bernie must have been a unselfish person because it seemed like she spent her life always doing for others especially since she never married or had children of her own. I also got the impression that the family didn't really appreciate who Bernie was or how much she meant to the family until she was gone. The was without a doubt a strange story, but I can appreciate the message delivered in the outcome.

T.S. Eliot

I also realized I never wrote about T.s Eliot and so not wanting to steal any body's ideas I went back to re-read the material. After reading Eliot's poems it was clear he was very much a part of the modernist poets and highly regarded for his works. Just from reading the poems I got the sense Eliot focused on writing about both cultural and religious changes. From the two selections we read "Journey of the Magi" and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" I took away different thoughts. In the Love Song I felt like this man wished so badly to be noticed and important, but in reality that just wasn't the case. It looked like he was envisioning himself being able to be social and well received by others, but in reality he was really so lonely inside because none of his visions he believed was ever going to happen. He obviously believed he would die a lonely old man with no one even noticing he is gone. In the "Journey of the Magi" the only thing I could get out of this poem was that the "Magi" perhaps represented Bethlehem and the poem was based on the birth of Christ. All the details and descriptions led me to assume that was the message of this poem. Some examples of references were lines 5,11,13-17,and 27; however I think this poem would be a representation of Christ's life and death too. The poem could also be a desire for spiritual rebirth through the faith in Christ. I think it could be said that Eliot was a powerful poet who was highly respected by other literary critics.

Eudora Welty

This was another story I skipped by mistake. I found "Why I Live at the P.O." to be rather peculiar read simply because of the way things unfolded during the story. What was suppose to be a 4Th of July celebration turned out to be nothing, but family turmoil and heartache for those involved. I never really understood the significance of the hat though and why the discussion even came up about Shirley T being adopted. I kind of wondered if maybe Shirley may be considered the outcast of the family. This may be a weird observation, but I wondered if there might have been a bit of incest involved in this storyline and perhaps Mr. Whitaker never really existed. Some of the phrases or comments led me to think that way even though I think Mr. Whitaker may have really existed in the first place. With Shirley going to live in the Post Office maybe that was a place of peace and refuge from the turmoil she has faced within the local community and her family. I thought her family was incredibly rude and disrespectful to Shirley; therefore even if the child is adopted or not why was it made into such a big deal anyway. I think this story would definitely fit a couple of categories as we discussed in class such as, loneliness, betrayal, treatment of women, and moral conflicts.

Tillie Olsen

I skipped this story by mistake, but after reading it I found it to be a good read because I'm sure there are plenty of single mother's who could probably relate. Emily seemed like a child that had rather ordinary desires and just loved her mother very much. Not having children of my own I can only believe that most children cry when their mothers leave them to go off to work during the early years that would seem natural to me. I'm sure her mother only went to work because she had to provide for the two of them being a single mother. Emily obviously commanded a great deal of attention, but I guess she felt frustrated with her mother somewhat for not being available more often to spend time with her. Then when her mother remarried and another child came into the picture that really didn't sit well with Emily, which happens with many children at least at first that's true. I could be wrong, but I can't put the entire blame on her mother for the strained relationship they had because I think Emily could have been a little less bitter about the situation. I thought it was clear that both of them really loved each other very much. I think maybe between her mother working, the birth of Susan, and housework duties Emily may have felt like the forgotten one in the family. I've known guys and girls who have actually gone through similar scenarios in their families too. I'm sure this type situation could have a psychological effect on a child when feeling forgotten or left out from within the family circle. I felt like throughout the story it seemed like her mother felt a since of guilt for the way things had happened, but I'm sure she did the best she could. I would hope in a situation like this that maybe Emily would come to understand everything during her adult years and maintain a good relationship with her mother not bitterness.

Raymond Carver

This story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" was a good read. The four of them brought up some interesting points while they talked. The concept of love can be different to each of us of coarse. Like Terri's relationship with her ex-husband isn't really that unusual, but that's not really the kind of ideal love we think of naturally. Unfortunately, there are both men and women who do think of love in that way even though its not an ideal relationship. I've known men and women who really think like Ed did even though its not morally right doesn't mean Ed didn't love her he just took the wrong approach. Mel's relationship with his ex-wife is probably more common because that is usually the way people feel after a divorce especially if their spouse has the children and house. I imagine that every man or women loved their spouse at first even if the end result was divorce I know I did and just like Mel I found myself wondering what happened or where things went wrong.Then the story about his father's accident was inspiring to because he loved his wife so much that it pained him so much not to be able to look at his wife I would call that genuine love. I took from story the lesson to be learned was that despite how every one shows their love in different ways because not everyone knows how to love through affection and sheer passion for the other. Some take things to far through jealousy and rage, but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't love their mate.