Modernism Assignment 3: Modernist Poetry

1. Richard Corey

The poem describes the admiration of the workers for the life of Richard Corey,
"We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown" while expressing displeasure with their own; "So on we worked, and waited for the light, And went without the meat, and cursed the bread". They wished that they were in Richard Corey's place, because what he had was what they had been told would equivocate to happiness. This is proved untrue, "And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head." No one, was in fact, happy. This reflects themes of disillusionment, as they were disillusioned from the idea that unhappiness could be overcome by material advancement.

2. Mending Wall

I like the lines " Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun; And makes gaps even two can pass abreast" The idea of ownership is discussed here, particularly of the land and imaginary boundaries. These are ingrained in civilized society, Frost asks what we are trying to keep out. We have a country chopped up into millions of shrinking imaginary squares, boundaries of polite society. This expresses disillusionment, perhaps asking how free are we within the cell blocks of our private property?

3. A Dream Deferred

Hughes contemplates what happens when people are given a dream that the society in they live in has no intention of fulfilling. While they may "dry up like a raisin in the sun" or "crust and sugar over" for a time,, they do eventually erupt. The term explode is very open ended, probably intentionally. The cumulative of all these explosions probably equivocates into change and reformation, as when an old star explodes and a new one is slowly formed from its remnants. The most obvious and immediate target here is the American dream, expressing disillusionment.

4. The Negro Speaks of Rivers

Hughes compares his soul to the deep rivers. The river flows by with seeming impermanence, loose and fluid, as the solid structures of societies rose and fell around it. "I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it." The soul is similar in comparison to the physical; the soul is ultimately the more permanent of the two. We look at a forest and say it has been there for hundreds of years, though the old trees have died and new ones grown. It isn't the physical things themselves that remains, but the idea and spirit of them. This is part of the writing that came from the Harlem Renaissance, it also contains themes of self exploration which came about in the psychological movement.

5. Incident

Its interesting that this is all he remembers from his time in Baltimore, negative events in childhood seem to be remembered more distinctly. His reaction at this point would probably be more confusion than anger, and would have a larger influence. This reflects the inequality in America at the time that was being exposed in the Harlem Rennasiance. The idea of one child looking down on another "Now I was eight and very small, And he was no whit bigger,And so I smiled, but he poked out His tongue, and called me, "Nigger." shows them both to be very much the same in the simplicity of childhood, and displays the unjustification of racism.

Modernism Assignment 2: Soldier's Home

After returning home from the war Krebs seems disinterested in life. He continually says that he wants life to go smoothly, and isn't inclined to put effort into anything. He doesn't pursue girls because he comes to the conclusion that over all they aren't worth the effort, they were complications, he would have to talk to them and bother with "the intrigue and the politics." Instead he sits on his front porch and observes them walking by. He likes to watch them walk by while he is observing them from the detatchment of his porch, but he doesn't like seeing them in the socially interactive setting of the ice crean parlor.

He isn't particularly interested in any vocation. His mother tries to persuade him to get a job, saying that God has work for everyone to do, and that there are "no idle hands in His Kingdom," at which point Krebs states that he is not in "His Kingdom". This adds to the sense of aimlessness in his character. He tells his mother that he doesn't lover her, that he doesn't love anyone. He seems to resent his father, who is portrayed with vague distance throughout the story. He seems to like his younger sister best out of the family, maybe because she is innocent and looks up to him.

He talks about how life was simpler in Germany and he didn't want to come back. This displays disillusionment in that it attacks the idea of America as a great nation of freedom and happiness, Kreb was happier in Europe. This probably reflects Hemingways feelings ont he subject. Kreb says that things are more complicated in America, illustrating this he uses the subject of girls, saying that "He liked the look of them much better than the French girls or the German girls. But the world they were in was not the world he was in. He would like to have one of them. But it was not worth it." This could possibly be used as a metaphor for America in general, superficially better to look at, but lost in complications and less substantial.

When Krebs wanted to talk about the war people in his town were uninterested, having "heard too many atrocity stories to be thrilled by actualities." People were interested in hearing things that affirmed their view of the war and its horrors. Krebs says that "His acquaintances, who had heard detailed accounts of German women found chained to machine guns in the Argonne and who could not comprehend, or were barred by their patriotism from interest in, any German machine gunners who were not chained, were not thrilled by his stories." People were resistant to the idea that those on the other side had felt the same about the war as they did. They wanted to view their country as the conquering saviour, disregarding the fact that whether or not they initially supported the cause or reasoning behind the war, once you begin invading their country and destroying their homes it makes very little difference.

Modernism Assignment 1: Disillusionment

Disillusionment intererest me because it is something that I see as immediately relevant to society. We are all somewhat within an illusion in this country, however the thick layers of fake gold spray paint soaking America are chipping. I expect that the literature reflecting this will show the realization coming about in that time period that the promises of the new technology and progression into an onward and upward society were not entirely true, if at all.

Realism Assignment 3: Modern Example

Hotel Rwanda is a modern example of realism. The film illustrates a true story of the violent conflict that took place between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups in Rwanda, which ultimately resulted in a genocide of the Tutsi people. Paul Rusesabagina, the primary protagonist is the owner of a five star hotel in Rwanda, who uses his hotel to house and protect Tutsi civilians against the Hutu militia while waiting for foreign intervention. Roughly one million Tutsis were killed in under three months while the United Nations and other groups ignored the situation and failed to give aid, only evacuating tourist and journalist from the hotel. Paul attempts to dissuade and bribe the Hutu leaders out of attacking the hotel until he eventually is able to use his political connections to get an evacuation party sent for the refugees in the hotel. The film captures the shocking brutality of the events. In one scene while Paul is driving back to the hotel after attempting to bargain with Hutu leaders, he begins to hit what appear in the darkness to be ruts in the road. On getting out of the truck he realizes that that the road is littered with the corpses of massacred Tutsis, stretching in every direction. The film is meant to expose viewers to the horror of the events by meticulously detailing the massacre.

Realism Assignment 2: The Battle with Mr. Covey

After being severely mistreated by Mr. Covey, Douglass specifically details his reasons for going to his master to ask for his interference. He writes that after becoming sick with exhaustion while fanning wheat, Covey ordered him to get up, and when he failed to do Covey "then gave me a savage kick in the side, and told me to get up. I tried to do so, but fell back in the attempt. He gave me another kick, and again told me to rise. I again tried, and succeeded in gaining my feet: but, stopping to get the tub with which I was feeding the fan, I again staggered and fell. While down in this situation, Mr. Covey took up the hickory slat with which Hughes had been striking off the half- bushel measure, and with it gave me a heavy blow upon the head, making a large wound, and the blood ran freely; and with this, again told me to get up." At this point he resolves to walk to his master, even though he is in an extremely weak condition, nearly dies in doing so, saying that he was only saved by his hair matting enough to stop the bleeding. His maser however remains mainly uneffected even by his pathetic state, and sends him back to Covey. This leads to his resolution to fight Covey in desperation when he attempts to whip him.

The social issue which Douglass was writing against was, clearly, slavery. He describes the process of his degredation from a man being to a slave. His mindset and very being seems to change at this point, he is not simply a man who is a slave; slavery has filled and flattened his entire being, altering him from a human being to a uniform unit of labor. He describes alteration writing that "Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute! " He stays in this state until he resolves to excert his freedom on the most basic level as a human being and fight Mr. Covey when he attempts to tie and whip him. After this point, though still a slave, he regains his humanity.

Douglass wrote this with the intention of forcing people to look at the horror of slavery. At this some disagreement had been taken over the issue for a considerable time, and the discussion of the issue had largely fallen for many into the category of tea time politics. This is comparable to the issues today that we watch on the news, breifly think about how awful they are and that "someone" should do something about it, then proceed with our lives and frozen dinners. Writings of experiences such as Douglass's forcefully brought these issues to the forefront in a uncomfortable and therefore unignorable way.

Realism Assignment 1: A Story of an Hour

In the story Mrs. Mallards actions on the surface would appear very similiar to any other wife who's husband has died. However in the details it is shown that she is actually relieved that her husband is dead, not from malice against him but relief that her life would now "be her own". Chopin writes that "She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance." and then "She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body."

The story displays that although grieving she was also joyed by her husband's death, as she would now no longer be under his will, Chopin writing "There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature." This is realism because it is a somewhat unpleasant truth that she would feel this way about her husband's death, and is illustrating a feminist by showing the extreme extent to which she felt inhibited and restricted by her marriage.

Dark Romanticism Assignment 6: Edgar Allan Poe

Poe's father left the family within a year of his birth, and both of his original parents were dead before he was three. He was taken in by John Allan, a Scottish tobacco merchant, and grew up in the Allan family. Because of this he traveled considerably as a young child, studying in England and Scotland for brief periods of time. He briefly attended the University of Virginia but ran out of money after a year, partly as a result of gambling; and his step father refused to pay his debts. At 26 he married his cousin, Virginia Clemms, she was 13 at the time.

Poe was probably very jaded by all of these events. This comes across in his writing, as he had a somewhat uneffected air through out his grotesque detailing of events, This is displayed in his story "The Black Cat", when he he is deciding how best to handle the corpse of his wife who has just killed for interfering with his murder of the cat which he hates; and afterword he is too pleased with the fact that he has rid himself of the cat to regret the murder of his wife. Poe never knew his parents and generally did not seem to get along well with his step family, he was never very close to anyone other than his wife, who died, because of this he was probably somewhat of a misanthrope.

Dark Romanticism Assignment 5: The Raven

The poem is expressing Poe's feeling over the death of his wife, and probably his sense of loss in general. There is a sense of mortality throughout the poem, illustrating life through the lens of impending loss. Poe views life as a passing parade of thoughts and individuals, everything eventually fades into the distance. The raven, "nevermore" to some extent symbolizes things gone past, or more directly his remembrance of this, which is the human condition of loneliness. Poe writes "This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er, But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er, She shall press, ah, nevermore!" establishing the connection between the loss of his wife and the raven.

The poem repeatedly emphasizes the word "nevermore" concerning Poes regret at the loss of his wife, expressing the idea that there is nothing more in the death, or the end, of things. This goes against the core idea of transcendentalism that there is something more, and higher, in life, the poem displays life as a progression towards inevitable death.

Dark Romanticism Assignment 4: The Black Cat

The story is somewhat disturbing. Poe's character is the opposite of the transcendentalist idea, as he begins with a good nature, but gradually grows, within his natural instinct, in an averse direction. He says he hung the cat simply out of perverseness, to do what he knew was wrong, and that this is inherent to human nature, saying that "I am not more sure that my soul lives, than that perverseness is one of the primitive impulses of the human heart - one of the indivisible primary faculties, or sentiments, which give direction to the character of Man." This ultimately leads to the killing of his wife, not in premeditated murder but simply in an irritable reaction to her blocking his swing at the cat.

This contradicts transcendentalism completely, the human nature is expressed within the story is impetuously cruel, vengeful, and somehow fragile. The character began describing himself as being noted for the "docility and humanity" of his disposition, which is through the course of events completely contorted. There is something in the nature of the character that is understood and recognizable, yet these are put within the context of something revolting and grotesque. Poe frames these things with an almost intentional naivety, as if luring the reader to identify with the horror and contortion of the characters madness.

Dark Romanticism Assignment 2: Dark Romanticism or Transcendentalism

I'm somewhere in the middle on this, I don't entirely agree or disagree with either, though I have some inclinations towards Dark romanticism. Humanities thoughts and intuitions may to some extent be influenced by a higher power, but they are influenced by other things as well. I can look at my mind without much introspection and state that I am not inherently good. The answer to the question of inherent goodness is fairly obvious, we have only to look at the world around us, is this the creation of an inherently good race? Dark romanticism however seems to focus somewhat strongly on the negative, humanity is imperfect but not without potential, however low the probability of its fulfillment may seem at times.

Dark Romanticism Assignment 1: Authors

1. According to transcendentalist philosophy, mans thoughts and intuitions are the voice of God. Hawthorne would have disagreed with this, as whatever led the people of Salem to begin having each other killed under the presumption that they were witches was clearly not the voice of God. These people were weak minded and easily influenced, their thoughts would not appear to be the channeled from some divine power but handed to them by the authorities and religious officials.

2. In transcendentalist belief humans are born inherently pure. However this can hardly be argued for a cannibal society, as they did not turn to it by growing corruption over time, but generation after generation was born into it and accepted it as the natural flow of events, entirely on the contrary to their inherent goodness. Melville had to work on a ship at an early age, in a navy which often times provided less than favorable conditions, because of circumstances beyond his control. This would clearly have a major effect on his life and perception. Because of this these things he probably came to the conclusion that man is not born inherently good; instead that he is largely shaped by the society and circumstance which he is born into.

3. Poe in all likely hood rejected transcendentalist ideas because of the darkness he saw and felt in his own mind, along with that in the world which continually seemed to collapse around him. While they may contain some inner goodness as well, he saw that humanity had an undeniable inclination towards selfishness and cruelty which in his life seemed be the more prevalent.