Lost in the Literature

“We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. Poetry, beauty, romance and love, these are what we stay alive for. The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"  -  Dead Poets Society            Many would say that music is a form of poetry. Each piece of work displays specific emotion and tells a story or shares an experience with their audience. There’s certain theme’s and tones within the song and poem that set the aesthetic and create the atmosphere for the listener/reader. The poem’s “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone” by W.H. Auden and Alzheimer’s by Kelly Cherry have common tones and themes to the song Afire Love by Ed Sheeran.             Ed Sheeran released his song Afire Love in 2014. He wrote it about his late Grandfather who was suffering from memory loss, as well as a dying illness. The theme’s found in th...

Martin Luther King once said, “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” This quote relates to many things that have happened throughout American history, especially in many pieces of literature. Martin Luther King is saying that oppressed people must fight for their freedom because it is never just simply given to them. Egalitarianism is defined as “a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs.” This can be applied to gender, race and social status. These quotes and concepts are relative to having equality among every human, no matter what circumstance they are a part of.              Both concepts can relate to “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman. In this short story, the narrator, who is a woman, is silenced by her partner because she thinks something is wrong with her, but he doesn’t believe there is. He tells her friends and fa...

In “A Streetcar Named Desire”, there is a common theme of illusion and the inability to accept truth and reality. Illusion is there to cover up the harsh reality in which people are too afraid to face. It’s an unfortunate coping mechanism that people use because in the end it isn’t real and it can blind us to what is actually going on in our lives. This theme is shown a lot within Stella and her perception of her reality. When Blanche comes to visit Stella and her husband Stanley, she takes no time to criticize the way things are in her sister’s environment, including her husband. Blanche isn’t Stanley’s biggest fan, and she lets Stella know that from the start. Stella disregards everything her sister is telling her about her husband, because Stella wants to believe that he’s a good man and that he’s the man of her dreams, and that’s where her illusion of this perfect guy begins to arise. Stella has high expectations when it comes to Stanley because in her fantasy, Stanley is the p...

There is always a silent conflict people in society usually deal with, and that’s to obey either the written law or your own moral law. The written law is there to enforce rules among a community, country, etc. and protect the people in them. It is logical to follow them because they are put in place for a reason. But, many people go against the written law because they may not agree with it or think it’s right, so they decide to follow what they think is morally right and follow their own laws. The argument of written law vs. moral law is shown in Antigone. Creon, the current ruler, has ordered his people to not bury Polyneices, Antigone and Ismene’s brother, because Creon felt disrespected by him and his actions, and doesn’t want to honor him with a proper burial. Antigone doesn’t like this law at all, because she feels obligated to her own blood, and wants to honor Polyneices the way Eteocles, their other brother, was honored when he died. Antigone says, “… for those two brother...

The lecture about egalitarianism was a very educational and interesting lecture that I enjoyed very much. Egalitarianism is "a belief in human equality, a social philosophy that promotes for the removal of inequality among people - this can be relative to race, gender or social status and can be applied to that of the four major social institutions." Professor Brady then started to discuss oppression and the various forms of it, such as silence, marginalization and disenfranchisement. These forms of oppression were common themes in "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, and "A White Women of Color" by Julia Alverez. It was interesting to learn about the different kinds of oppression people face based on their skin color, or their hair, or their gender, and how these authors took their experiences and thoughts of oppression and put it towards their writings.

The lecture about perception was very eye-opening and interesting. Professor Brady talked about how perception is how we see the world, and how others see us. How we behave is in response to how we see the world and how the world see's us. This lecture was related to "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, specially towards the character, Blanche. In this story, Blanche's reality is full of misfortune and sadness, but she chooses to live in a fantasy where everything is better than it actually is. Sometimes people create fantasies in order to survive and to make themselves feel whole, and this is what Blanche was doing because she didn't want to live in her reality. I believe if we see our world how it truly is and accept it, we could begin to make our lives better and live in a reality we create for ourselves, instead of settling for the one in which we aren't happy in.