Intro to English Major

In William Shakespeare's sonnet "[My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun]" there is a strange comparison used between what is truly beautiful in his eyes. This poem seems to emulate that the beauty he finds in this particular person is all very natural and that the comparisons of beauty should not be so dramatic. He seems to disagree that someone should compare blushed cheeks with roses and eyes like the golden sun. However, in this poem, Shakespeare states that the comparisons are just not enough and that "I think my love as rare  /  As any she belied with false compare." He says throughout the poem that his mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun, her cheeks and lips are not red like coral, and that she does not smell of "more delight." This seems sweet to think that he does not want to compare this persons beauty to another object; that their beauty is its own breed, yet I don't think that this comes across the reader at first. Shake

In the poem "Last Night" by Sharon Olds, she tells a story of a woman's sexual encounter the night before. She uses great symbolism and sexual innuendo throughout this work to describe her reflection of the experience. I believe that the woman in this poem is having a Love VS. Lust conflict within, and cannot decide whether it was a good experience or not. Olds writes "Love?"- questioning what love is and how "love" should be understood. She also writes a few times "I close my eyes when I remember" which could come across are being embarrassed or uncomfortable with the experience that had occurred the evening prior. However, there are moments in the poem that I believe that there is a conflict with the man she is with. Is it a one night stand? Someone she has been recently dating? or someone that she is in love with, but something has changed within their relationship. Olds writes, "Did I know you?" which could be a question of if s

Death of a Salesman is a remarkable work written by Arthur Miller. I really enjoy Millers plays, especially this one, however when I read the play I have to admit I was extremely lost in parts of the story because of Willy's memories/ hallucinations. The story is very straight forward with its manner about working for a living, and in this case, as a salesman. Willy seems to be very proud of the work he has done in his life, but his mental state has taken a turn for the worse and becomes a burden upon his family. As I read the play, the stage direction are very clear and laid out to the audience so that everything flows together, but I just can't say that it makes sense all the time. I wonder how some playhouses may interpret his stage direction in their versions. Between the hallucinations and the craziness of the set, it is understandable to I was lost in certain parts! There are many different conversations that happen at the same time throughout this work and these convers

Alfred Hitchcock directed the film Rear Window and has a strict fascination with controlling audiences' focus from the male perspective. In the film, Jeffries (the main character) is watching his neighbors from his rear window of his apartment building. He is stuck in a wheelchair and cast from an accident while he was taking photos for his journalism. One could say that this is a response to his job and not being able to go out and watch others as usual, but it is quite concerning that he resorts to stalking his own neighbors to have some fun. While he is watching he comes to learn that his neighbor murders his wife and it becomes a big thing and eventually Thorwald is caught and all is well. But that isn't what this blog is about... I find it very interesting that Jeffries is watching his neighbors, more so with a camera lens and binoculars! It's creepy. I do understand that in the time frame of which this film was released that people are more trusting of each other an

I just have a question... Why do men in many of the stories I am reading for English need to be in control of women? Or why do they have to have a side woman to satisfy their ego? In a reading I did for class called: "The Lady with the Dog," this Guvor decides that he just needs to have casual relationships with other married women because he pretty much hates his wife. He meets this woman with a dog and her name is Anna and they decide that they both want to have this fake relationship that isn't actually a relationship because they are both married, and they agree that it wouldn't go any further than sexual relations, but yet in the end of the story, Guvor just has to go and stalk this woman and find her because he can't stop thinking about her and Anna is like, no please leave even though she also thinks about him a lot. They then end up seeing each other at the same opera house and decide that she will meet him in Yalta (where they first met) and then she

AHHHH!! Has anyone else read Raymond Carver's "Cathedral?" After reading this short story for my English class, I have to say I'm not a fan of how the narrator speaks in the story. I truly disliked this work until the last page. In the story the narrator, whoever it may be, just seems so uninterested in telling the story, which makes me as a reader feel like I don't want to read the story! While, the narrator speaks as though he is truly talking to a friend, I just cannot get behind the way he views things and how he speaks/ tells stories. However, by the end of this short story, his eyes are opened (while they are shut) to a different viewpoint. In this work, the husband is the main character, and no he doesn't have a name so I shall call him "the husband." But the husband seems to have no friends according to his wife, and he seems very close minded about her friend coming to visit. Her friend just so happens to be blind, and the husband also d