PC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe This week, we read a poem called “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe. This poem is now one of my favorite poems of all time because of how unique and interesting the diction is and the story that’s lies within it. Edgar Allan Poe is not an unfamiliar author to us. We have previously read a thrilling horror story called, “The Tell-Tale Heart.” The short story and the poem have some similarities but very big differences. The theme of “The Tell-Tale Heart” is horror. It is about a psychotic man who kills a man he loved, a man he adored. It is a very descriptive story about how he killed him and what he did with him afterwards. After killing the poor helpless man by putting a mattress over him and suffocating him to death, he cut apart each of his body parts and placed them under a loose floor board. The entire story takes place at night as well as “Annabel Lee.” But, the poem’s theme is about forbidden love. It was a love so great that seraphs coveted both of them. It was a love so great that the angels in heaven above envied their love. It was a love so great that nothing could tear them apart, except death. The speaker believes that the angels took his sweet, precious Annabel Lee from him. In class, we came to the understanding that he is going crazy. He is becoming psychotic similar to the man in “The Tell-Tale Heart.” At the end of the poem, the speaker is coming to the end of his life and is happy because he will be reunited with his beautiful Annabel Lee.
Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite authors because all of his stories and poems are so unique and always leave you with a question. They always have mystery hidden within the story. What is unique about some of Poe’s works is that they tend to include a psychotic character. I find them very interesting because of these traits and that is what separates him from other writers. Photo by: ejphoto.com This week in class, we read the short story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst. I observed in the story that Doodle, who I believe is the protagonist, is the Jesus like figure in the story. A Jesus figure in a story is a character who is usually sacrificed or dies for the sins of other people. Doodle dies for his brother’s sins. His brother sins because everything he does for Doodle is really for himself and not for the benefit of Doodle. He is ashamed of his crippled, disabled brother so he teaches him to walk; one thing that his disability restricts or makes it hard for him to do. He wants Doodle to be normal. He tries to “fix” him but then betrays him when Doodle really needed him so he could save himself. The brother betrayed Doodle right before he dies like Judas betrayed Jesus the day he was crucified. Since the brother put himself first and ultimately sinned, he lost his brother.
Doodle reminds me another character from a short story we previously read called “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. This was the first time I had learned about what a Jesus figure was. Tessie Hutchinson is sacrificed in the story and therefore was the Jesus figure. She died for the sins of her small town but also for her sins. These two stories are very different in some ways. Doodle is like the light and the innocence in the story, whereas his brother is very self centered and cynical. Tessie Hutchinson is the complete opposite if Doodle in the story. She is more similar to the brother. She feels very important in her town and she is overly confident. She is sacrificed for the good of the town. On the other hand, Doodle was not sacrificed. He died because his brother wanted to save himself instead of saving both of them. Although Tessie is not the light in the short story, she is still the Jesus figure because the whole town has sinned for having the lottery. She also died to save herself from more sinning. . source of photo: http://www.searchquotes.com/quotes/about/Lost_Love/ This week, I noticed a theme in the literature pieces we have read this week. We read two poems this week along with one short story that all have a similar theme: love that is lost. What I mean by this is someone's love for another person is so strong but then they will never be able to be with that person because of occurring incidences. Although each person lost their love in different ways, they still lost them.
The first poem we read is called "A Red, Red Rose." This poem is about young love. The rush of an inexperienced person's love for another is so great and so strong that they truly believe their love will last until the end of time. The speaker in the poem says that he will love her "Till a’ the seas gang dry And the rocks melt wi’ the sun." The speaker is inexperienced with love because we discovered that this is his first love. The speaker refers to his love as a rose "newly sprung in June." June is in the summer and summer means that you're a young adult. You're just beginning to feel what love is like. This could be just a summer love that doesn't last. According to the speaker, the love is like a rose. But that rose will eventually die. Although he says he will love her until the end, the speaker is going to leave her. They can not be together since the speaker is leaving. He lost his love. In the second poem we read, "Sonnet 30," is about unrequited love. The narrator and his love are opposites. He is fire and she is ice. Although his love for her is so great, she does not love him back. The more he loves her the more she doesn't love him. Even though he is the fire and she is the ice he can not melt her meaning he can not get her to love him back. The poem is one big complaint about how she doesn't love him. But in the end decides he is still going to love her because he says that the power of love can make you go crazy and do crazy things. In the short story, "The Lady, or the Tiger," the love in this story is torn apart by a "semi-barbaric King" who loves his daughter so much that he doesn't want to share her. The princess and her lover were happily in love until the King discovered it. He immediately put him on "trial" where he had to choose between two doors; one with a ferocious tiger behind it, the other with a suitable new wife for whoever was to pick between the two doors. The princess had discovered what was behind each door and she despised the girl behind one of the doors. The princess had a choice to make to tell the love of her life which door to pick. She had already lost him. Whether it was to the lady or the tiger. He was already dead to her. Each of these literary pieces are very realistic. In life, you don't always get a happy ending to your love story. You could loose your love in different ways. One could also fall so deeply in love it could make them do or think crazy things. These things could realistically happen to anyone. Anyone could have to leave their first love behind but still have hope that they will be together forever. Anyone could love someone so greatly but not have the other person love them back. Anyone could have their love torn apart from to make you feel as if they are dead. In life, no one will get their perfect love story just like each of these characters. |
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April 2015
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