Culleen- heritage

This poem was much more interesting to read than "yet do I marvel". Colleen explains what Africa means to her and I think it's a great poem. From her writing I can get a sence of what Africa is like. The 6th stanza was my favorite to read. It reminded me of "yet do I marvel" because she talks about god. The very last line when she mentions human greed asks god to forgive her caught my attention. She seems to be comparing a good and evil part of herself throughout the stanza.

Yet do I marvel- culleen

The first thing that came to my mind when I read this poem Was the fact that it was very religious. The first line mentions that god is "good, well meanany, kind". The author did confuse me when she mentioned "tortured Tantalus" but I can assume it is biblical reference. I am also confused about the awful brain that compels an awful hand.

comment- Emily Sharpe

I tried to comment on Emily Sharpe's Prufrock post but I could not get it to post so here it is:

I agree with you that Eliot want to be understood but I'm not sure if he is actually frightened by it. the yellow fog stumped me too at first.  I would have never guessed he was talking about pollution

Eliot- prufrock

This poem by Eliot was just as difficult to understand as the last one. I Noticed the poem began with a quote written in Latin I think.

The first part of the poem talks about women coming and going, talking to michelangelo. I'm assuming their in a hotel or some kind of inn. I was stummped when Eliot mentions yellow smoke and fog. Then he talks about losing his hair. I think he is trying to look good for someone but he is getting old. Maybe this is a poem about getting older in life and trying not to have any regrets. Eliot seems to be reflecting on his life asking "was it worth it" throughout the poem.

T.S Eliot- wasteland

The Wasteland by T.S Eliot was by far the most difficult poem I have ever tried to read. The first time I read through it I had no idea what to blog about. It was obvious that this poem is very dark, almost depression and I can understand that since WWI had just ended when this was published. This poem is so chaotic I can't keep up.

After our class discussion I learned a lot and somewhat understood Eliots writing. The purpose of this poem was to get the reader to have a sence of chaos. Eliot was a existentialism which means the study of your own existence. He wants the reader to question there own existence.

I was confused about all of the sexual episodes Eliot wrote about. Why would he write these things? I guess it did give us a sence of American life. For example: line 140 when the two low class girls were talking about not having teeth or getting an aborstion. You can see that the duty of a women back then was to look good for her man and have children.

War prayer 2

In our class discussion about the war prayer we pointed out this writing is very sinicle. When you read this it is very obvious. This writing tells a story about praying to win the war but it also gives you another dark perspective. When u pray to win the battle you are also praying for the destruction of other people. Mark twain tells you about the fatherless kids and the widows that are consequences of war. I thought this was interesting because I never thought about it this way.

the war prayer

I really liked this writing by Mark Twain.  It is very clear and straight to the point.  this writing seems to be about the feelings of a town in a time of war.  It shows that churches played a big role.  From this writing you can see that church and religion gave pelople a sense of security much like it does in todays society. 

the paragraph that starts with "I came from the throne" is my favorite section of this entire writing.  Mark Twains examples are very clear and his point is easy to understand.  Mark Twain says "If you pray for the blessing of rain on your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse on some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it".  He wants you to think before you pray. Know the whole situation and full consequences of your prayer.