assignment 5

John Ashberry
"They Only Dream in America"

I did not understand this at all.
So I looked it up on modern American poetry's website and their analysis said..

"‘They Dream Only of America’" is one of the most clearly structured poems in The Tennis Court Oath, possessing essentially a traditional double plot. The story of the children and the murderer reflects the shadowy story of the narrator’s friend, whose journey to lose himself in America, driving "hundreds of miles / At night through dandelions," becomes more and more terrible, as he takes everything that happens for a "sign" (presumably of impending evil, the broken leg mentioned in the last stanza). He ends, like the children earlier, paralyzed between alternatives of ecstasy and destructiveness: "There is nothing to do / For our liberation, except wait in the horror of it."

First off, it claims this one the most clearly structured poem? I didn't think it was clear at all! and even after reading several pages about a child and a murder I re-read the work and STILL did not get that analysis.

I overall just do not like his work, Street Musicians was all over the place and I have a hard time following the flow of his work.

Philip Levine
"Animals Are Passing From Our Lives"

I take this poem as literally as it sounds. "Animals are passing from our lives."
The immediate mention of "ivory toes" make me picture an elephant being used for their feet/tusks. But later we discover it was referring to a pig, which is also the speaker. The ending of this poem brings pride to the pig in which the rest of the poem dooms him. He seems to dig in his heels from this cycle and finally say 'No.'
I like his work, and especially this one because you have to love the "don't tread on me" attitude.

Adrienne Rich
"Aunt Jennifers Tigers"
I have actually read this one before, and was glad to revisit the discussion.
I remembered her wedding ring was the key of our discussion and seems to be a major factor in the story. The way it is described as weighing heavy on her hand leads the reader to believe she is not happy with her life and uses the quilt to escape her mediocre lifestyle.
At first her hands are described as "fluttering" which displays the image of "light" like a butterfly flutters and that her ring is a heavy weight on her hands as she sews. finally, in the last line that the tiger "will go on prancing, proud and unafraid" seems to run a parallel between Jennifer and her artwork.

Magaret Atwood
"Happy Endings"
This was so much fun. The web all the characters spin is absolutely hilarious. As well as the ending.. whichever ending you choose (although in someway it all ends the same) No matter what end after end after end the characters have, it always has a happy ending. Even though the story may be less than happy, in the end someone is getting married or falling in love. My favorite part about this is the realistic drama the story holds, it is all about happy endings, but it is not all about happy lives. The characters love triangles are very much relatable in a real life aspect. I loved it, I laughed as i was reading it and hoped for certain charters success.. although it never ends quite the way you'd like it to.

Raymond Carver
"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love"
This one really got me thinking. I loved how the whole thing seems to be comparing new love to old love.. and it seems to be very one sided.
As the two couples sit and drink their gin before dinner you begin to see the drastic differenced between the newly weds and the 2nd marriage couple. Compared to "Happy Endings" the realisitc perspecive is certainly there as well.