Assignment 6

Louise Gluck
"Parable of the Hostages"
I really liked this one since my boyfriend is overseas. It gave me a new perspective to the war.
In this story the soldiers wonder what they are going to do after the war. I wonder if my boyfriend has ever worried about his life and purpose after the war. The soldiers feel that their life will go back to being boring and repetitive after the excitement and unpredictable war zone. This story gave me a new perspecive about the soldiers, and their thoughts about the war. These soldiers felt significant and feared what their existence would mean back at home. I really like this one because the soldiers felt the calling of the war, and then the calling of the world. They used the war to "avoid profound spiritual questions." This left me with a lot of powerful thoughts about every ones existence, and their place in the world. I really liked this one, it meant a lot to me.

Sherman Alexie
"Evolution"
This guy is either a genius, or the worst person ever.
So he opens up a pawn shop and buys the Indians stuff. Sounds okay... I don't really see a problem with that.
But he is putting a cheap price on priceless things to these people, kinda sleezy.. but the name of the game I guess..
THEN he turns the pawn shop into a museum to display his artifacts, no problem..
BUT he then charges the Indians five bucks to see their own stuff?!
OKAY. this raises A LOT of questions to me.
FIRST did the Indians feel forced to see their stuff for money and he took advantage of them by setting up his pawn shop right there on their reservation??
SECOND did he try to be cheap? Did they know he was cheap?? Was he trying to be devious by making a museum??
But its obviously deceiving to then charge them to see their own crap. This guy had some nerve.

Adrian Louis
"Without Words"
This one makes drinking seem profound, like its something to live for and there is a unity of the nation.
I kinda liked it, it seems very powerful.. although its talking about drinking?
A certain word choice makes me put a lot of consideration into this work. He refers to the alcohol as "pure" anyone and everyone would describe alcohol as "poison"
Alcohol can destroy relationships, families, careers, and everything a person stands for.. but he says "we have nothing to live for" so maybe the alcohol has nothing to destroy. Although he recognizes that "each day we drink we decompose into a different flavor"
This work is so interesting because it seems to conflict at the end.. like maybe it has already destroyed us..

Martin Espada
"Bully"
This is very interesting to me.
At first I thought that maybe he was upset about the Puerto Ricans taking over the school. He makes it seem like a plague. Although I found it interesting that the culture adapted to them, instead of the people adapting to the local culture. The way he claims the children "devour the stockpiles in the cafeteria" i picture a swarm of kids coming in and taking over. It also gives you a lot to think about.. why in the end does he claim the "Marines tramped" it doesn't seem to fit.. or make sense. There just seems to be a lot going on in these few lines. Look at the last stanza, look at the first.. the work "nostalgic" sticks out, like pride in the statue.. look at the word "graffiti" things are changing, the times the generation, the culture.. this is very intriguing.