"The world is too much with us"

Victoria Anderson

Mrs. Jernigan

English IV AP

23 February 2010

Response: “The world is too much with us”

            William Wordsworth uses fourteen lines, each beginning word capitalized capturing the sonnet's flow progressing from “The world is too much with us; late and soon,” to “Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.” On the other hand, the author brakes the proper sonnet rules by adding an extra syllable or two to six of the lines, therefore adding to this somewhat edgy and rule breaking theme. Also, each line, with the exception of line nine, use some sort of punctuation mark (commas, colons, semi-colons, exclamation mark, and the ending period) to end each line.

            These characteristics are testimony to the authors title “The world is too much with us.” He breaks up the story with the correct use of punctuation marks. In this sense he validly uses sentence structure. However, By breaking the syllable rule, he basically says that we create these specific rules to make something like a sonnet be a sonnet, therefore adding difficulty to the way of life making us “a pagan suckled in a creed outworn.” The appearance of this poem identifies with a sonnet, but in reality, it break the rules that complicates the world. 

Response #3

Victoria Anderson

Mrs. Jernigan

English IIV AP

8 February 2011

Poetry Response #3

In this poem “Hazel Tells Laverne,” the speaker sounds nearly illiterate and uneducated. Slang words are persistent throughout and her thought processes seems short and choppy, but to the point. It also seems to mock princess fairy tales, here an opportunity comes knocking on her door to become a princess through kissing the frog and she simply flushed it down the toilet and “has ta flush/ the toilet down three times.” It’s actually pretty humorous, what girl wouldn’t want to live in a fairy tale and marry prince charming. Also it becomes evident that this girl had more of a rough upbringing. She doesn’t believe that she could be special, chosen for something important and having good things happen to her life. 

The speaker chooses not to address the details of the frog’s appearance by stating “but sohelpmegod he starts talking/ bout a golden ball// and how i can be a princess...an he says/ kiss me just kiss me/ once on the nose.” It seems as if she is overwhelmed and frazzled, which makes sense, but on the other hand she doesn’t even bother with asking the frog what he is doing and what is all the talk about a golden ball. All she wants to do is flush the frog down to toilet, to remain comfortable in her miserable little life and experience nothing new or exiting. Then she ends by saying “me/ a princess” and continues on with her predictable life.

Glogster

http://torytime1981.glogster.com/glog-house-of-atreus-/

A Sunset of the City

Victoria Anderson

Mrs. Jernigan

English IV AP

1 February

Response #2

            Make sure you identify the speaker, the person addressed, the circumstances, and the character traits of the speaker.

       This story reflects the thought process and actions of any middle-aged woman. Worn out by the inevitable changing seasons and the lackluster that comes with marriage of age, she feels like the “marbles and dolls” that her children play with. Days shift, seasons change, but the raw loneliness of depression still remains. In the end, she clings onto the hope of something more; something that will fill the hole. However, she finds the foreboding truth, “Somebody wanted to joke.”

       In my opinion, the speaker in “A Sunset of the City” could be one of two people, either Gwendolyn Brooks used Kathleen Eileen as pseudonym for herself or the reflections of a woman the author knew knew. The intimate details reflect the every thoughts of a hidden woman, one who speaks real only to herself. Through the display of this usually unseen emotion, the author gives the reader a chance to identify with the woman of struggle. I found myself identifying with the protagonist in her solemn pain of finding worth. I immediately noticed her beat-down, ragged, and seemingly defeated demeanor as her thoughts flowed from stanza to stanza. The author humanizes this character with her contemplation of “Whether to dry/ In humming pallor or to leap and die.” Therefore, she tells the reader to abandon loneliness and find life. We are not alone in our thoughts.