First Poetry Response: 1943

This poem really stood out to me just by the name 1943. Being one of Langford's students I knew this was a pretty important year. 1943 was during WWII, and one of the things we learned was that of the American troops, that were involved, many were very young and inexperienced, and that’s what I think the poet was trying to portray. The poem starts off by talking about the high school auditorium and the heavy weight finals, and then quickly transitions into death of one of the heavyweight competitors in Tarawa (place of war in WWII). “In high school auditorium Ed Monahan knocked out Dominick Esposito in the first round of the heavyweight finals, and ten months later Dom died in the third wave at Tarawa.” With that I think the poet was really trying to show how quickly these boys were taken from the easy going life in high school to loosing friends to war in a matter of months. The poet also uses milk as a metaphor for youth too. He compares it to the care free days at home in Connecticut from when they were boys, to the intense scary days on the surf in war with frostbitten feet like milk, still boys, not knowing what to do. When a boy is young, thinking of the good old days with milk is a happy memory, but then when still a boy at war things change, and things aren't so easy-going anymore. Also, about the poet’s style I noticed that Hall used periods only at the end of a statement about war. When talking about home, the subject eventually changes to the war part and that’s when the sentence complete. At the end of the day, the poem was really interesting, and it was nice to read a poem that I had an interest in the subject, and knew the background that went along with it.

The Great Gatsby?

Was Gatsby great? I don’t know? He was an interesting man, but I think he had the wrong idea about life and how it was supposed to be. Money was always a huge factor within the story. Daisy only wanted Gatsby if he had money, Gatsby became rich so he could have daisy etc. it was all just a bad way to live life thinking about money and that’s what I think the intention of the book was. Money determined who the associated with, what their house looked like, and what things they had, but it all came at a greater cost; a life was lost, friends were lost, people lost who they really were.

For this book how I annotated it was looking at the style, tone, etc. When looking at his style I liked it. Fitzgerald made his writing easy to follow. A reader could tell if a character was important or not if Fitzgerald gave more of a background to who the person was. If he introduced some one with just a quick little sentence or two about them it was obvious that they weren’t too important. Sometimes his style was a little jumpy too; he would be on one subject then just change all of sudden. That jumpy style is quite strange and I found my self re-reading a little. Fitzgerald also kind of left little hints along the way to what was going to happen next. They were small things that if I read carefully would catch. For example, that green light, when the reader finds out it’s at Daisy’s house and Gatsby is always starring across the lake it makes it pretty clear he has a thing for Daisy, and the symbol is he is always lingering for her in the distance. On to the tone, his tone was usually pretty clear when people with their noses up in the air it was pretty clear they had that I’m-better-than-you tone (which a lot of people had in this book). Then, when Gatsby was nervous about seeing Daisy it was clear with the awkward statements and stuttering. The annotating for this book was overall pretty easy.

On to the characters…The one character I liked was Nick. Nick was the only real character that didn’t try to be something he wasn’t or let money run his life. Nick was a little confusing sometimes because I didn’t under stand why he would hang with Gatsby, but never really liked him, and it was the same with Tom it said that they went to school together and were friends, but it never seemed like he liked Tom. He just seemed like he was always dragged into the crazy antics that went on. Then Daisy, I didn’t like her character she seemed to just be fake, I knew she didn’t love Tom and she knew about the mistress, so I can only think she stayed with him for one thing− his money. I feel like she did love Gatsby at one time, but in the end, only used him and run away leaving Gatsby to deal with the consequences of her actions! I just don’t find her honorable at all and just an awful person all around. Then Tom he drove me crazy because it was all about the image to him, the cars the nice home, the wife, oh and of course a good mistress. He was arrogant and I wish someone would have put him in his place. I found it funny when he found out Daisy was having a relationship with Gatsby because the tables had turned and all of a sudden cheating on a spouse wasn’t fair to him. The money just made him full of himself, and it was pretty annoying. Finally, Gatsby, his character interested me in the beginning because he was so mysterious and really seemed to be this great and interesting person, but then once Daisy came around he changed and wasn’t an honorable man. I feel like Gatsby got caught up in doing whatever it took to get Daisy, and in the process of stealing her from Tom he lost himself, which was sad and ultimately cost him his life. In the end it was interesting to see all the characters develop, but it kind of stunk when most the characters turned out to be losers.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked the book in the end, and found it interesting, but it just ended weird with all the characters who didn’t value life instead of money screwing their life up and those who did value life (Nick) just moved on? I just don’t know what it was about the ending… it just almost seemed like something was missing something wasn’t complete? So, in the end, was Gatsby great… and I have to say no, he may have lived a great extravagant lifestyle, but no I don’t think he himself was great at all because only the great value life and don’t lose themselves to money.

The Heart of Darkness...

First off all I can say is that was the shortest book out of all three, but it took me the longest… ugh… I am so glad I am done with that book because it was just so confusing, hard to follow, and overall just not my cup of tea! I am always in for a good story but this just was one story that I couldn’t get into or make any connections too to keep me hooked into the story. Maybe that was just because I couldn’t follow it to the best of my liking… I do not know. I would start to understand and then Marlow would just start rambling and I would get lost again. This book was a challenge for me!

The thing that was the hardest to overcome was just his style. I just didn’t like it. My book came with a glossary… I felt like Conrad was just trying to use a lot of big words sometimes to make his writing sound more advanced, and then he would give it up, and then a little later in the book would pick it back up. I also didn’t like how there were so many symbols that had so many things that they could mean, it drove me crazy! I probably didn’t understand most of them, so that was frustrating. I think this just would have been a perfect book to read and discuss with someone, so I could get so sort of different perspective of it from someone else, maybe it would have made more sense.

When it came to characters I found Marlow kind of confusing. One minute he was curious about Kurtz and liked him and the next minute he hated him? I still don’t understand why he did favors for Kurtz when all he did was steal, be selfish, and be dishonest. I hated Kurtz as a character just because he was eerie and secretive… I always knew he wasn’t a good guy. It bothered me how he took advantage of people, and it was like he had no conscience… I guess that what the jungle does to you... Marlow seemed like he was generally a good guy, so I could understand why he saved Kurtz’s fiancé from sadness and pain since she thought so highly of him. But that’s the difference between Marlow and Kurtz; Marlow had feelings. He was upset when people died he didn’t just brush it off, he was angry with people when his boat was broken etc. That was the difference between Kurtz and Marlow one had feelings the other didn't. Kurtz didn't even mind killing Marlow and his crew by putting the wood out and having the natives attack Marlow’s ship. So I still don’t understand why he did any favors for him (taking him when he was crawling through the jungle)? The thing about Kurtz and Marlow is I think they both understood the darkness (not Marlow until the end really) But I think that’s why Kurtz had so much control over that jungle and the whole operation is he knew how to over come the power of darkness. Kurtz knew how to contain the darkness but in the end it took him over when he was weak. Since Kurtz was able to do that that’s why I think he was so well liked and envied, whether it was the other company workers or the natives, some how he was very well liked even though he was a very dark man with a dark soul. I believe the understanding of Kurtz is what helped Marlow over come the power of darkness in the end (but then again I don’t really know if he did maybe just leaving the jungle did it?).

For the annotating of this book I had to mark key words, outline, etc. and what I found was that this crazy word darkness was a key word? Throughout the whole book it somehow was slipped in and had kind of multiple means to it. Fog collaborates with it because of how it confuses and deceives a person. I also found the river to be key too because the way Marlow would talk, he could be on the river with all his crew members but still feel alone in the darkness and fog on the river. The river twists and turns going up and down dragging a person on a confusing frightening ride. In the end, the darkness takes a person to a place they don’t want to go where it’s lonely, can consume a person’s soul, and even make a person go crazy (but then again that sounds like Kurtz so maybe the darkness consumed him instead of him defeating it in the end really… I really don’t know?). This story just makes a person think when put in that situation how do you over come something darkness and not come out insane?

At the end of the day, the book was tough and took a long time to read, but it was a good challenge and hopefully one day I will understand it more. Hopefully what I said makes some sort of sense.

The Kite Runner!

My first thoughts on The Kite Runner from the get-go were it was one of the better books I had read in a long time. When reading books I find the best books to be the ones that tell a good story, and that’s what I absolutely loved about The Kite Runner. Yes, it was terribly sad, but as the reader I learned so much and I was hooked. I loved this book!

The way I chose to annotate it was by making connections, reactions, questions, etc. The annotating really came easy for this book because I really understood it and enjoyed it, and I just had so much to say, so my book is filled with notes. I found that it was hard to make connections to Amir's situation because obviously I have never been in a place like Afghanistan, but I did found I could make connections to the way he felt sometimes. For example, when the people he loved most died I could relate to his feelings since I have had my fair share of loss. When Amir and Hassan would run around causing trouble and having fun it reminded me of me and my siblings when we were younger. My reactions through most of the book were just peer shock! I would tell myself these poor people’s lives couldn't get any worse and they did!? I just couldn't believe the things that happened to them and to see how they struggled so much, but pushed through; it was truly inspiring. Throughout the book I really liked this way of annotating; it really came easy. I loved how every time I made a prediction I usually was right. This way of annotation keeps me so engaged in the reading it helps a lot!

When it came to the characters in the book I was always drawn to Hassan. I just loved his character because he just seemed like such a great friend and person all around. He was caring, forgiving, and grateful. It broke my heart every time Amir thought badly of him, or played tricks on him, and especially when Amir didn’t give Hassan the great friendship Hassan had given him back to Hassan. Hassan gave and gave and rarely did he ever get anything back from Amir. I also found that I made a connection to Baba, he and I have the same beliefs. I don’t really believe in God and for me his stealing philosophy made so much sense to me. I also loved how humble Baba was. Baba was always willing to put his life on the line to help others, and was a very well respected man for a reason. I knew from the beginning that the relationship between Hassan and him was something special, and that it wasn’t just a friendly love, more fatherly love. Then for Amir, in the beginning, his character was okay but as it went on I started to hate him. Just his attitude and how selfish he was bothered me. Once he started to grow up I really began to see him develop into a better person, and that was when I found that he was just being a child and needed to learn from experience like we all do. In the end, Amir touched my heart when he became a better person, and as much as he tried to say he wasn’t like his Baba the more he was like him the better person he became and I liked him more. Amir became humble, forgiving, grateful, and giving; his Baba had taught him well. Overall, each character was amazing in their own way, but these three we just truly great in the end, and were the ones I learned from the most.

One of my favorite parts of the book was when Amir and Hassan were young. I liked it when they were young because they were so care free and happy. It was nice to start the book off with some happiness to get you started because it gave you something to look back to remember that basically their lives weren’t always such a struggle. My other favorite part was in the end when Sohrab and Amir had that special moment with the kites. It was so nice to see that two people who had had so much taken away from them could share one thing that they loved that hadn’t been taken away− there love for kites and the great memories that came with them. It's moments like these that make me stop and think and not take the life I have for granted, and I remember that the one good little thing can make anything bad just fade away for a little while.

Through the whole book I just loved it. It was a true eye opener. I never really knew the life of Afghani, and now that I do I see things differently and I’m glad because my perspective towards them is a lot different. I see that I can not criticize that country as a whole like a used to because there are people like Amir and Sohrab that are normal people and struggle. I do not say this out of pity; I say it with more understanding. I now understand why so many enjoyed this book because it truly is an eye opener to life and the understanding of others.