Sylvia Plath's Poetry Response

"Admonition"
- I really liked this poem, however it was really dark. All three stanzas consist of an 'if and then' situation. Each have to do with hurting a living object and what the effect would be. For example, the first stanza says that if you cut the tongue of the bird, you will hurt their vocal cords. The one that moved me the most was the last stanza in which she says that if you attempt to cut out a person's heart, you will stop the syncopation of two hearts. Overall, I really liked the structure and the point of the poem :)

"The Applicant"
- From what I understood in this poem, it seems to me like Sylvia is trying to say that if she changes herself and empties her mind out (in other words, being dumb), would a guy marry her. She talks about having fake body parts and she talks about having empty insides. This poem for me depicts reality because today, girls go through great measures in order to find 'love.' I also liked this poem because I could easily connect.

"April 18th"
- Uhh....This one was kinda confusing too, but I kinda thought that it was about her wanting to forget about something or somone in the past. She says that no matter what happens, like pregnancy or constipation, she would still not remember what happened in the dreadful memories from before.

"A Better Resurrection"
- I really liked this poem for some reason. I'm not sure what stood out to me but maybe it's just that I like what the poem was about. From my understanding, it was about her wanting to be born again because life at the moment for her wasn't going the way she had planned...or the way she expected or maybe wanted. It seems to me as she is fed up with everything and has no emotion left to show the way she feels.

"Mad Girls Love Song"
- I kinda liked this one too. She seems to be explaining how when she shuts her eyes, every bad thing in life seems to just go away, as if her eyes were doors to the world and she could block them out. And for some reason, when she says "I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead", I kind've believe that she thinks she's 'pausing' the world. But then again, that's how I think about it when I read this poem :)

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

In the first chapter, the character of Esther is introduced. Esther is a college student working in New York as an editor for a magazine. Here, Esther worries too much, it seems. She does not seem to enjoy all of the luxurious clothing, parties and free trips, and in the very beginning of the chapter, she worries about the electrocution of the Rosenburgs. In New York, Esther stays at an all girls hotel named the Amazon with eleven other girls. Her main companion seems to be Doreen, a beautiful and carefree, young woman. When Betsey, another girl who stays at the Amazon with them, comes and asks Esther if she wants share a cab with her and she declines because Doreen tells her to. They then take a cab together and while Doreen and Esther are stuck in traffic, a man named Lenny convinces them to get out of the cab and have a couple of drinks with him and his friends. Doreen and Esther accept and soon Doreen and Lenny are flirting while Frankie is attempting to occupy Esther. Esther ignores him for the fact that he is extremely short and she hovers over him like a giant. Frankie leaves, noticing that he is there for no reason. Esther lies and says her name is Elly begins to order random drinks, hoping to find one that she likes. Soon, Doreen and "Elly" leave with Lenny. Well, that's how far I've gotten so far so...Bye :)

Unsettling America Poems Response

In my opinion, "Mnemonic" by Li-Young Lee, it was a bit confusing. I didn't quite grasp the meaning of the poem. I also felt that the poem wasn't exciting, resulting in me not being interested in paying attention to the poem. I couldn't relate to the poem, due to the fact that it was about a boy who praises his fathers blue sweater. I think O.o "English Speaking Persons Will Find Translations" by Michael S. Glaser depicts the way Americans view the Holocaust. Glaser also mentions how tourists crowd around as to not miss a thing, and they crowd around to take pictures with the ovens at Dachau. We should be ashamed of the reactions, but we aren't. Glaser also speaks of a movie that the narrator watches in a hotel room where Americans so inappropriate things to Native American women. In this poem, I believe that Glaser attempts to point out how we go on with our daily lives as if everything were okay, but we don't realize how difficult it must have been for those who were apart of a crisis. We only see that crisis as an "important piece of history", but we shouldn't be so insensitive and only look at it that way. Glaser beautifully succeeds in portraying this idea.

Betsey Brown by Ntozake Shange- Part 3

I'm now on Chapter 8 and I still have to say that I am enjoying this book. The most important scene to me so far is the scene in which Charlie got in a fight with the whites at his new segregated school. This I feel will drive the rest of the story or at least it will drive the conflict of the story. I think that Jane is changing the most throughout the story because she seems to be paying more attention to the children and seems to be taking on the responsibility of having and maintaining a family. Also, I think That Betsey Brown is moving ahead of herself. She seems to be in a great rush to grow up which leads her to run away from home. She thinks she's got everything planned out but in reality, she has no clue what awaits her. I've left off on page 125. And I don't really know what else to say about the story so I've gotta go read some more.

Betsey Brown by Ntozake Shange- Part 2

I really have to say, I'm starting to really enjoy this book. So far, I'm only up to chapter five and Shange is really developing the characters very well. I can most identify with the scene of Betsey's first kiss. I can feel the emotions as her lips first meet Eugene Boyde's lips. It reminds me of all of the feelings that flooded over me when my first kiss occurred. I would want to spend time with Betsey Brown the most because she seems extremely responsible for her age and very mature. Jane really bothers me because she seems to load all of her responsibilities on her oldest child, Betsey, and even has favoritism towards her. I think that Shange plays with the English grammar so that the reader can get a better feel for the characters as well as the time period. Overall, this book is becoming more intriguing throughout the chapters.

Betsey Brown by Ntozake Shange

To be honest, so far, I don't like this book at all. I'm guessing that this is one of those books that start off REALLY slow, and the farther you read, the better it gets. Well...that's what I'm hoping. So far, I know that it's about this girl named Betsey who has a lot of siblings...I'm not really grasping the point of the book; If there is one so far. One thing that confused me was why the kids were calling their parents (Jane and Greer) by their names. From what I'm understanding, the children are still very young and I don't understand why the kids seem somewhat intimidated by their parents. Well, this post looks long enough and plus, this book is kinda confusing so far so I don't really have THAT much to say. Bye :)

"The Good Thief" by Hannah Tinti

In my opinion, The Good Thief was a little slow to kick off and actually get interesting. As I started to read farther into the book, I became intrigued and the story was extremely detailed. The gruesome events such as when the man in the red gloves cut off the bartenders hand. Or when they described the image of Benjamin after being beaten by Pilot and the other men. The descriptions of the setting were very realistic as well, and I think that the reason that I enjoyed this story so much was because when reading the novel, it seemed as if the story was pulling the reader in. I also think that the plot was interesting because very rarely do you ever read books about criminals using a child's disadvantage to their advantage. Overall, the book was great. Kudos to Hannah Tinti! :)