Fla-Vor-Ice

I chose the short story "Fla-Vor-Ice" by Jean Guan because the title immediately stood out to me. I used to eat Fla-Vor-Ices all the time as a child. I found the story humorous, but slightly difficult to comprehend. It took me a few reads to fully understand. Overall, I enjoyed the story.

Why Don't You Dance

"One man's trash is another man's treasure" came to mind when reading Raymond Carver's "Why Don't You Dance". However, I thought of it in reverse terms "one man's treasure is another man's trash". It seemed as if the overall story was really detailed then the ending came with confusion and surprise.

The Paper Butterfly

"Death Beyond Constant Love" was the inspiration for my photograph. A calendar folded into a butterfly represents the magical butterfly in the story. In the story, a politician folds a calendar page into a paper butterfly, he lets the butterfly go and it flies around the room and out the door.

The Rhino in Me

Pondering upon the idea of how I relate to a rhinoceros caused great confusion for quite some time. I finally realized that my whole high school career I could have been compared to a rhinoceros. Like most teens, I went above and beyond to fit in with the crowd. I did whatever I could to please those around me. I changed the way I dressed, the way I talked, and even who I "liked" just to feel like I fit in. I soon realized that by doing this I was only hurting myself. I am like Berenger in many ways. The main reason I relate to Berenger is because I second guess a lot of things. I am never completely sure of myself.

Awake My Soul

 Awake My Soul

How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes
I struggle to find any truth in your lies
And now my heart stumbles on things I don't know
My weakness I feel I must finally show

Lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all
But lend me your heart and I'll just let you fall
Lend me your eyes I can change what you see
But your soul you must keep, totally free
Har har, har har
har har, har har

awake my soul...
awake my soul...

How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes
I struggle to find any truth in your lies
And now my heart stumbles on things I don't know
My weakness I feel I must finally show
Har har, har har
har har, har har

In these bodies we will live,
in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love,
you invest your life

In these bodies we will live,
in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love,
you invest your life

awake my soul...
awake my soul...
awake my soul...
For you were made to meet your maker

awake my soul...
awake my soul...
awake my soul...
For you were made to meet your maker
You were made to meet your maker

-Mumford and Sons

Mumford and Sons' "Awake My Soul" is, in my opinion, definitely poetry. The first and most obvious reason is the definite rhyme scheme. The song also has forms of repetition in lyrics such as "in these bodies we will live" and "in these bodies we will die". Mumford and Sons also has hints of synaesthesia. This literary device is exemplified in lines such as a "fickle heart" and "woozy eyes". Symbolism is also found in the song in lines such us "lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all". Overall, based on the literary devices used in the song, I do think it identifies with poetry.

 

Spring is Here

Spring

Nothing is so beautiful as spring—
     When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
     Thrush's eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
     The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
     The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.
What is all this juice and all this joy?
     A strain of the earth's sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden.—Have, get, before it cloy,
     Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
     Most, O maid's child, thy choice and worthy the winning.

- Gerard Manley Hopkins

I chose Gerard Manley Hopkins's "Spring" because it is very pleasant to read. The reason why it is so pleasant is due to the use of alliteration. The author does them justice- there is not an over abundance that takes away from the pure and simple beauty of Spring. The author's detailed descriptions create a vivid painting in the reader's imagination. The poem is very easy to understand and lacks ambiguity, which I was particularly grateful for. Spring is my favorite season, so ultimately I just enjoyed reading the poem.

An Ode to Clothes

Ode to Clothes

                             

Every morning you wait,
clothes, over a chair,
to fill yourself with
my vanity, my love,
my hope, my body.
Barely
risen from sleep,
I relinquish the water,
enter your sleeves,
my legs look for
the hollows of your legs,
and so embraced
by your indefatigable faithfulness
I rise, to tread the grass,
enter poetry,
consider through the windows,
the things,
the men, the women,
the deeds and the fights
go on forming me,
go on making me face things
working my hands,
opening my eyes,
using my mouth,
and so,
clothes,
I too go forming you,
extending your elbows,
snapping your threads,
and so your life expands
in the image of my life.
In the wind
you billow and snap
as if you were my soul,
at bad times
you cling
to my bones,
vacant, for the night,
darkness, sleep
populate with their phantoms
your wings and mine.
I wonder
if one day
a bullet
from the enemy
will leave you stained with my blood
and then
you will die with me
or one day
not quite
so dramatic
but simple,
you will fall ill,
clothes,
with me,
grow old
with me, with my body
and joined
we will enter
the earth.
Because of this
each day
I greet you
with reverence and then
you embrace me and I forget you,
because we are one
and we will go on
facing the wind, in the night,
the streets or the fight,
a single body,
one day, one day, some day, still. 

-Pablo Neruda

Before reading these poems I had never heard of Pablo Neruda. I really enjoy his style of poetry. Of the odes to choose from I particularly liked "Ode to Clothes". The ode really makes you think about clothes and how important they really are. It also exemplifies how much we as humans rely upon clothing. Neruda's ode gives a somewhat magical essence to clothing that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.