Billy Collins

I had to miss class last Thursday due to the inclement weather, so I'm making up the quiz by doing this blog post. The poems we read and discussed were "Forgetfulness," "I Chop Some Parsley While Listening to Art Blakey's Version of "Three Blind Mice"", and "The Night House," all by Billy Collins. He writes about practical things that most people can relate to, whether they have experienced the situations firsthand or been close to someone who has. He describes simple things or even everyday happenings in an eloquently easy-to-understand way. These poems, most notably, would not make a very exciting movie. In fact, they wouldn't even make one scene of a movie very noteworthy. Still, the familiar becomes deep and satisfying under his words, and that makes Collins's work much easier to analyze.

"Forgetfulness"

This poem is obviously about the things that the mind loses over time. We can't retain everything we learn, everything we see, or every memory we would like to keep. It is just a fact of human life. That is the most simple way to put this poem, and it was pretty obvious when the reader just takes a glimpse of the title. After the second time I read through, though, I took it in a deeper way: nothing lasts forever, and Billy Collins wants us to know that. He talks of learning new things all the time, and with each one, losing another. We can't possibly keep all the skills we learn (like swimming or riding a bike), and it especially gets harder the older we get. It is not just about the mind in this situation, very obviously. Though this poem shows a slight bit of dwelling on the humanity of such things, it isn't all doom and gloom. In fact, it has much of the lightheartedness that Collins's poems often show in their conversational style. He uses imagery to create the story that isn't really there in the sense of a story line, but rather something you can see progress.

"I Chop Some Parsley While Listening To Art Blakey's Version of "Three Blind Mice""

Here, Collins takes a child's poem and makes it mean something while doing the simplest of everyday tasks. Much like his poetry, at first glance, it was just that - a daily activity while a man listens to music. With each of Collins's poems, you have to read more than once. The complexity certainly comes after the second or third time, and appreciation with the understanding. So after realizing just how deep in thought the speaker was, it became a story to tell. The man is a thinker, deep in thought to occupy his mind as he does his hand. He analyzes the song, making us realize that it's obviously not just a simple tune. This, again, is applied to his work: if we take it just like we see it, we completely miss the importance or the depth. One of Collins's quotes go as follows: "walk inside [a] poem’s room and feel the walls for a light switch." We don't have to analyze it to death! Just like that poetry scenario, in the poem, we accept the child's song like it is when we are young, but the man who is doing his adult chores has become a cynic and must search for the answers within.

"The Night House"

This poem proves to be one of Collins less lighthearted ones that I've ever read. Though it's read with a certain fluency, it obviously has a deep connotation the first time you go through it. Here, Collins attempts to personify the elements of the human experience. He does this by the day (when we are awake) and the night (when we are asleep), and he makes no mistake with what each part of humanity is doing. The heart is "restless," as always, being the emotional part of us. The mind is working even when the body is not, reading a book and staying awake. The conscience is perhaps the most telling, as it "roams from room to room in the dark, darting away from every mirror like a strange fish." Just like a conscience, who knows the body's every mistake, everything It tells us not to do, it refuses to see what it has allowed the body to do by looking into the mirror. And the soul stands on the roof, wild and free, always the part of us that cannot be contained. Again, Collins has shown us to the parts of ourselves that we can relate to - we know our body best, and though we are unique, our parts work in the same way that everyone else's does, and this poem seeks to connect us in that manner.

Statistics: Blog 6

Separating - John Updike 
There are few things in this world that are constant. Among the foremost of those remains to be your family. Friends, lovers, jobs, material possessions - it can all fade away in an instant. You cannot refute blood and though it's possible, it's rare that those so close to you would ever turn their backs on you. When it does happen, even in the slightest of terms, it is a devastating experience. Divorce doesn't necessarily mean abandonment or that love goes missing; it just means that the love is redistributed or re-homed. Regardless, that change is a huge one. In Separating, each individual character attempts to deal with this readjusted love in their distinct ways, demonstrating the very separate internal struggle that each has to overcome. Classically, one child simply can't deal and begins to act everything but himself (John). Judith, the eldest, attempts to ignore, or at least pretend that she is ignoring the horrible circumstance. Dickie, though outwardly strong, definitely shows his emotional turmoil when he finally breaks down and asks the question: Why?

The sad truth is that Richard, the father, after putting his kids through the beginnings of this awful situation, does not know why, or at least he has forgotten. We have all experienced situations where we thought we were doing what we wanted to do, but the consequences proved to be worse than the joy we got from the decision. It's regret. His conflict is understandable, but that's not always the case with divorce. Personally, I had to go through my parents' divorce during my senior year of high school. It was supposed to be an exciting, busy time, but for the first semester, it certainly felt like one of the worst things that could ever happen. No matter what I was doing, I just couldn't find joy knowing that life was going to be so different at home. I was already going to be going through so much change with the ending of colorguard, drama club, band, high school, friendships - how could my parents put me through this change at home too? But it turns out it was for the best. My parents are individually much happier, more productive people, and they have remained friends. I know that's not a typical divorce, but I feel like it has been one of the most ideal ones. That doesn't change that it was a rough experience to go through nor the fact that divorce is, and should be, taken very seriously. You cannot expect to have a good divorce and you can't marry someone with the mindset that if it doesn't work out, you can just go off and get a divorce. 

However, as the year go on, people seem to be taking it much like that. Divorce has become like modern society: easy. We have evolved almost everything we make to be disposable and the media and industries are teaching us that we have to constantly be tossing out our stuff and getting something better. I find this to be completely disturbing, but the facts are definitely there. According to divorcerate.org, in the year 2012, following were the top 10 countries with the highest divorce rates:

1. Russia: 5
2. Belarus: 3.8
3. Ukraine: 3.6
4. Moldova: 3.5
5. Cayman Islands: 3.4 
6. United States 3.4
7. Bermuda: 3.3
8. Cuba: 3.2
9. Lithuania: 3.1
10. Czech Republic: 3.0

The divorce rates mentioned are as per 1,000 population.

It isn't as astonishing as it should be. It's not just an overwhelming number, but it is large. It's something to be aware about; it's a lesson. Don't get into marriage with the knowledge that you can just quit if it gets bad. Don't be a statistic. You may end up in a situation like Richard Maple, unable to explain why you threw it  away instead of fixing it.

Defender of the Faith - Philip Roth

In another story about struggle and hardships, Sgt. Marx is having to decide which of three internal conflicts he is going to tackle. Nathan Marx is recovering from the duty he'd done for his country - that is, fighting in the war. He was a great soldier, but now he is serving as a First Sergeant for boys who are acclimating to their first battles. Unstable with his internal struggles, he immediately becomes an easy target for a big external one: Sheldon Grossbart. The boy manipulates him and tests not only his temper, but also his values and responsibilities. It is after he realizes that he is getting played by this soldier that Marx knows he must decide what he is defending: his humanity, his sergeant duties, or his piety. Sheldon Grossbart, in many different ways, tests each of these thoroughly. That's not an easy thing to decide. How do you choose what is most important when the contestants are being a good person, your job, or your religion? 

Among this hard decision that Sgt. Nathan Marx has to make, the beginning argument of the short story is somewhat dropped. We are first presented with a conflicted Marx, a man who is reeling from war. As he meets this kid who gives him present troubles, that stress he was feeling seems to be dropped along the way. In no way do I think this was purposeless from the view of Roth - I think it was a nod to the psychological trauma the man was really going through. It is no surprise that soldiers, after they come home, are changed forever. Their mindsets are totally changed after experiencing things that we, as humans, aren't preconditioned to to see or go through. Mutilation, mass murder, and the gruesome deaths that those men and women must face everyday is not normal and it will change a person forever. Marx says he had been "fortunate enough to develop an infantryman's heart which, like his feet, at first aches and swells, but finally grows horny enough for him to travel the weirdest paths without feeling a thing." Research supports that statement, saying that PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, often associated with people who have experienced war) is developed by exposure to prolonged trauma that alters the brain chemistry. The numbness that Marx is feeling is definitely not a normal way of thinking, evidencing that he could possibly be suffering from this disease of the mind.

Here is more evidence to the situation of Marx from the above linked website.

The estimated risk for developing PTSD for people who have experienced the following traumatic events is:

• 16.8% serious accident or injury
• 15.4% shooting or stabbing
• 14.3% sudden, unexpected death of someone close
• 7.3% witness to killing or serious injury
• PTSD may develop following exposure to extreme trauma.
• Extreme trauma is a terrifying event or ordeal that a person has experienced, witnessed or learned about, especially one that is life-threatening or causes physical harm. It can be a single event or repeated experience.
• The experience causes that person to feel intense fear, horror or a sense of helplessness.

It is evident that Marx's original conflict could be classified as PTSD. He writes letters to old girlfriends looking for solace; he has become less motivated to rely on his religion as a safe place; he has eventually become so numb, he does not even "mind the trembling of the old people, the crying of the very young, the uncertain fear in the eyes of the once arrogant." I think that this says a lot about Sgt. Marx in this story because he so easily gives into Grossbart's manipulation. Before the war, would he have been stronger in these things - his humanity, his religion, and his values? Would that have changed the way he dealt with Grossbart throughout the story? Statistics point to the affirmative.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue - Gloria Anzaldua 

The author of this story is in a struggle much different than those from the previous stories. She is not in a war and she is not experiencing a familial separation. She has lived with her struggle since the beginning of her life: she is the owner of a hybrid identity. She is a mix of more than one ethnicity and culture, speaks many languages, and may be confused even as far as race. The speaker says, rather correctly, that those are the things deeply rooted in us - they are the beginnings of who we are. The entire story is about the accommodations she must make in her daily life when faced even with simple encounters with other people. I can say that I definitely sympathize. It would be extremely hard not to know who you are, truly, at the very base of yourself. 

While reading the story, I thought to myself: "Why is this such a bad thing? Why is she so down about this?" I figured it was definitely something to question and maybe be down about during pivotal times in life, but it seems like it would be something to just overcome and accept. After all, we make ourselves to some extent - we are not solely who we are born for the rest of our lives. There is the element of nurture, not just nature, to take into account. I even went as far as to make an example:
I understand she is going through somewhat of an identity crisis. BUT, if you took a man from Ireland, a man from Great Britain, and a man from the United States, who could all potentially have the same hair and eye color and do have the same skin color, wouldn't they all three look very similar? Would it be offensive to them for someone to think they were of the same ethnicity or culture or race? I didn't think so, and if they did, they would probably just correct the onlooker and move on.

Then I thought about how the speaker's main argument had to do with the languages spoken. She spent a lot of time correcting and explaining the Chicana's way of speaking and where it was derived from. Assuming that she lived in America (because of various evidence that is not my central point), I was forced to think about the languages we speak here that we claim are "native." We spoke in class that we are all immigrants to this country - is English the official language? I honestly can say that I don't understand why there is such hatred about the various languages being brought to America, especially if they can speak multiple ones like the speaker in Wild Tongue; but after thinking about that, I can definitely see her struggle with her many languages and the appropriate times to speak which, especially with English. English is, in my opinion, the hardest language in the WORLD to learn. It isn't necessarily derived from anything and the logic behind the language... well, there isn't much, which is very different from Spanish, where conjugations make everything pretty easy to understand and very fluent. To make my point, I just think that at first, I didn't enjoy the story and didn't understand her frustration. After examining the language of my own, I can derive how hard it is for those who have tried to learn our language and become an accepted part would have a hard time deciphering how and when to use it. To demonstrate and end this post, I will paste part of a poem below:

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes, we find
that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea
pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig...

Noncomformity: Blog 5

Good Country People - Flannery O'Connor
"Good Country People" is a story about a young woman and her family and the things in life that define them. Though her family is not very traditional with just her mother and an old maid, that's exactly what they represent: tradition and the old way of life. They are the "good country people" in the title. The daughter, however, represents the new and upcoming ways of the world and is a true killjoy (yes, it's true, the fact that she changed her name from Joy to Hulga is no coincidence). The unappealing Hulga claims to have faith in absolutely nothing. The idea of nothingness is hard for anyone to accept, but that is how she is defining herself. Being that nothingness is so hard to accept as a person and as a reader, we are forced to realize that maybe there is a deeper meaning behind Hulga that we are not quite understanding. Hulga has a fake leg, which she also defines herself by. It is what some may call her "prized possession." Instead of letting herself be judged negatively by her shortcoming, she puts all her pride and... faith into it. She believes in something. Though by her standard, she puts forth that her disability is "nothing." Interesting? I'd say so. Therefore, I'd like to dive into some more symbolism in Good Country People and some of the common meanings of the symbols recurring in literature.

• White - Before Hulga goes off into the barn with Manley Pointer, she's wearing white. When she finally runs off with him, she's wearing white again, but this time O'Connor makes a point to say that her shirt is stained. White is the most common color referred to when talking of purity and innocence, both of which she is prepared to lose as she crosses the gate with Mr. Pointer. Even if she tries to play off that she doesn't care too much about these things, she still partly possesses them.
• The Gate - The gate, in conjunction, represents the fencing in of the good country people from the outside world -- a world where the deceptive Mr. Pointer came from and lures Hulga into. When she decides to cross the gate with him is when she truly lost herself before she lost the physical part of her that she recognized. In literature, gates often symbolize "entrances into new worlds, a new life, or a protecting/guarding aspect."
• Mrs. Hopewell - She is just as her name suggests: she hopes in a well manner, a positive manner. She is the source of "willful blindness" to the imperfections of life. In the story, on more than one occasion, when forced to acknowledge the unpleasantness of her daughter, she responds: "nothing is perfect," and continues on her cheerful way. She is the literal meaning of "ignorance is bliss," especially in the way of her daughter, who she accepts is going through a phase with this outside world nonsense and says is "still a child." 

(From Big Sur) Chapter 12, 13, and 14 - Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac lived in the time of train hopping, poetry, extraordinary things, sexual revolution, and most importantly, the "Beat" movement. It was a time of free souls seeking to stop being degraded by the "Man" and finding a deeper meaning to life. It's quite liberating to read just how... well, free, these kids lived, in my opinion. There have been many times in my life where I have wished to have no priorities, no needs, and no obligations. What I wouldn't have given to be able to pick up and move to the coast and start all over some times. Still, I see where there would be problems to come with that. To be a train-hopper included the loneliness of a constant drifter and the worry and fear of not knowing if you will have a job in the morning when you wake up. Still, to think that teenagers (and many others) lived in a time where this rebellion and free-spiritedness was rather commonplace, I can say that I am a bit jealous. With this inconsistent lifestyle that was a continuous gamble of on-the-move and alcohol, it is easy to see how the movement of "problems" came about. When I say problems, I mean conditions such as a rise of outcasts, depressed people, and PTSD from the homecoming soldiers. As a Psychology major, this is something I am particularly interested in.

The culture was based around accepting that not everyone was equal and not all was well, so people began to realize the things that made them different, especially the things that qualified as not the same as everyone else or necessarily good. They recognized the oppression of being lower class and of the personal consequences of choosing to be a drifter and sometimes unemployed. They dealt with very real things like depression, something people weren't used to being prevalent because they never recognized personal problems, especially mental, as being a real possibility. Now, depression is a problem that is very prevalent in today's society. Here are some statistics:

• An estimated 1 in 10 U.S. adults report having depression.
• Persons with less than a high school education are more likely to be depressed.
• Persons aged 18-24 are among the highest affected.
• Americans share 30-36% of the estimated 121 million people who suffer.
• States with higher depression rates have these common health factors: Obesity, heart disease, stroke, sleep disorders, lack of education, and lack of medical insurance.

All of the above can definitely point to many supporters and participators of the Beat movement. Interesting? Again, I'd say so.

The Starry Night, Sylvia's Death, and Little Girl, My String Bean, My Lovely Woman - Anne Sexton
In Anne Sexton's poetry, it is easy to see inside a mind that suffers from mental pain, such as the depression mentioned above. Sexton tends toward traditional love elements of poetry but takes a dark turn on the sorrowful endings of it. Her poems most spoke to me because of this unconventional stance on life. She was willing to delve deep into the things many people want to turn a cheek to. Like my previous blog where I stated the macabre often lures people in, the same is true here. Many people like/are attracted to Sexton's work because of her brash and truthful representation of sadness and grief, even in her undertones. I think I am more attracted to it because it is something I understand. It is what I want to study more of in my lifetime. People who have this kind of pain are most often the deepest, most beautifully expressive minds of the world. It's my hope to work with people like Anne Sexton, who committed suicide after suffering from severe depression almost her entire life. It is my view that if someone could have picked up on the issues with her mental health in the time period, they might have been able to save her. Below, I will add some signs of depression so maybe you can help your loved ones or anyone in your life that may be enduring this kind of pain. Don't let people suffer in silence.

• I feel sad.
• I feel like crying a lot.
• I'm bored.
• I feel alone.
• I don't really feel sad, just "empty."
• I don't have confidence in myself.
• I don't like myself.
• I feel guilty.
• I can't concentrate.
• I'm so tired, no matter how much I sleep.
• I feel life isn't worth living.
• I feel ugly.
• I feel self-conscious.
• I feel my life has no direction.
• I don't have fun anymore.
• My appetite has increased - I could eat all the time.
• I'm clumsy.
• I don't want to go out with friends anymore.
• I feel "different" from everyone else.

Note from the website: It's normal to feel some of the following symptoms from time to time, but experiencing several or more for more than two or three weeks may indicate the presence of depression or another depressive illness. Remember, you must seek a professional for an accurate diagnosis of depression. This checklist is provided only as a tool to help you talk with your doctor or treatment provider about your concerns and develop an action plan for successful recovery.

Rip Rap, August on Sourdough, A Visit from Dick Brewer, Beneath my Hand and Eye the Distant Hills. Your Body - Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder had a much more optimistic view on life than many of the authors we've studied in American Literature thus far. He had a connection to nature that seemed to bring him peace and a simplistic outlook on the way he lived and in his day to day events. This definitely flowed through to his writing and poetry. He was romantic in a "man's man" kind of way. He was a transcendentalist - someone whose core beliefs was the inherent goodness of both people and nature, of which he was very connected to. He was about getting back to God and noticing His touch in the little things - a view to be admired. He embodied something in each of these poems, be it love, His great love, peace, or even friendship. He tended to take intangible things, feelings, relationships, and personify them in nature, in people, and in events. Though he would be called something like a "hardworking hippie" today, he was really just a different kind of person back in the time period that he wrote most of his works. He is still alive and would probably best describe himself as a kindred spirit to nature.

With a little research, I found that Gary Snyder's work is commonly being put into art of today's time. In fact, he is heading most of the reconstruction. With the movement toward a more "GREEN" society, something that we desperately need in this world, a touch of one of nature's biggest advocates could definitely promote this cleaner and more in-touch environment we so desperately need. The Gary Snyder Gallery contains many artists that are quite abstract in the way they try to pull Snyder's poetic vision through paint and even more 3D art. On the website, they state: "Co-founded by Gary Snyder and Garth Greenan in September 2011, Gary Snyder Gallery focuses on mid-twentieth-century American art, with a particular emphasis on artists who emerged during the 1960s. Snyder opened his first gallery in New York City in 1991. Gary Snyder Gallery is an evolution of Gary Snyder Project Space, located at 250 West 26th Street." If you have time, definitely check out some of the work presented there so you can get a better feel of what Gary Snyder is all about --- The Gary Snyder Gallery.