Nature

I am a person that really appreciates nature. My grandfather lives in Chatham, so I've grown up on the beach. The water is my favorite place in the world and there are few things that make me happier than the beach can. But, the concept of nature I just focused on is very different, and more physical than in king lear. I think king lear focuses more on nature as in the way things naturally happen. Although they use apostrophes about something physical, there is much more meaning in it than king lear just liking or disliking something. King lear does not seem to take a clear stance on his feelings with nature and flip flops back and forth. During the storm, he seems to accept nature for what it is. He is out in the rain and takes in what everyone believes to be a crazy person. I think at this point, Lear had a moment where he kind of "danced in the rain" as people say. He was able to be a little more accepting of all his issues. However, he does flip flop. His age is only ever alluded to by other people, like his nasty daughters. Lear does not appear to be comfortable with his age nor is he accepting of it. He does not wish to be old and dying. Some people are accepting of the aging process, which must be a hard thing to do. A way in which I can see someone being mad at nature is when it randomly seems to target people. For example, so many innocent people die of cancer. Cancer was a disease "created" by nature and it seems unfair that someone can die so easily. Also, so many people are hit by natural disasters and im sure they often wonder "why me?" Sometimes nature can be nice though. :Like I said, i really enjoy the beach. The reason for this is I cant control anything, like the weather and the tide. A lot of the times we think back and look at how we could have changed a scenario but with nature, theres never really anything you can do and to me this is comforting.

Explication: Gathering Leaves

In Robert Frost's poem gathering leaves, Frost embraces the fall and the cleanup duty that comes along with it- raking leaves. Frost seems to really enjoy fall and nature. Most of the poem we read were either about nature or made many references to it in some way. I really enjoy this about Frost and I think it is what makes his poetry so special and beautiful. He is able to see things that many people do not notice in their daily lives. In the poem, "gathering leaves" he is able to show, what I see, as appreciation for such a mundane task. He calls the piles of leaves he creates "mountains." Also, many people may complain about having to carry bags of leaves back and forth but Frost opens his poem by calling the bags "light as balloons." Another reason that Frost seems to love the fall is that it is a season of harvest. He finishes his poem by saying "And Who's to say where, The harvest shall stop?" This line to me showed that although he has to work throughout the fall, he enjoys it and also needs it. Even when the leaves lose their color, frost seems to indicate that he still may have to work. To most that might have worked outdoors, maybe the leaves falling were a symbol of the work year slowing down. But, for frost, the work year does not seem to have a definitive end. I really enjoyed reading this poem, especially now during the fall. It seems that Frost is always able to give something so simple a different perspective.

King Lear Characters

The most obvious observation in similar personalities is Regan and Goneril. The two sisters are are extremely power hungry. Cordelia seems to truly be the most loyal to her father, king lear, but he is unable to appreciate this. Cordelia and the french prince must have similar motivations because the prince was able to overlook the fact that she didnt have any land. I really admired him for this because the characters in this book seem to all be very power hungry. King lear seems very similar to his two daughters, Regan and Goneril, in terms of their motivations. They seem to be the most motivated by power. I noticed this because just as easily as King Lear was able to give the power over to Regan and Goneril,Goneril was able to quickly turn on her father. Cordelia is very true to herself. She values love over money. When the duke decides he no longer wishes to court her now that she doesnt have any money, Cordelia is perfectly okay with this. She says she wouldn't want to be with him if all he wanted was money anyways. I found this to be an admirable quality in her. I think that if king lear needed, he would be able to go to Cordelia. Kent too seems like a loyal character. I felt bad that Cordelia was banished along with the other advisor. The king seems to make very rash decisions and seems to be very concerned with the ways others view him.

"Those Winter Sundays"

I choose the poem “Those Winter Sundays” because it reminded me a lot of my dad. Like the speaker’s father, my father too works in a job that requires manual labor. The winter is a tough season for many families, regardless of their occupation. The way the father does all these favors and it kind of goes unnoticed. If I had to guess, I think this poem would have been written after Hayden’s father died. The author describes the speaker’s hands in great deal to show his labor and long life. He also tells a story of how his father would take great care of the fire during the winter. He describes the “blueblack cold” he’d have to experience if it were not for his father. In the last two lines it seems that the author truly regrets his inability to appreciate his fathers hard labor. He says, “What did I know, What did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices?” As a child, Hayden probably did not understand what hard work truly was. For most children it is very hard to appreciate what parents do. No baby says thank you for changing a diaper, as a teenager the “thank yous” for rides did not come often, and the lunches packed, and meals made become an expectation. Many people do not realize what their parents do for them until those children become parents and are forced to do those same tasks. The author mostly uses imagery to convey this message of appreciating what you have. 

Characters in Hamlet

1. Laertes: In Hamlet, youre supposed to root for Hamlet but I did not feel that he really lived up to his expectations. Laertes is willing to do whatever for his father. I see him as an honorable character that is dedicated to his family until the death.
2. Hamlet: Although I found myself favoring Laertes over Hamlet, it is clear that from the start young Hamlet has much more on his plate than Laertes. In the end, not only is his father dead but he still has to deal with the fact that a ghost is talking to him and that his mother is married to his uncle. Throughout all of Hamlets indecision I was able to see why he might take so long to decide and act upon things- there are so many different factors to be taken into consideration.
3. Horatio: Horatio is a loyal friend to Hamlet throughout the play no matter the level of his insanity. He always able to put himself above a lot going on within in the corrupt walls of the castle and this is an admirable trait because wealth and power can be very tempting.
4. Ophelia: I truly feel pity for Ophelia. I wish she was able to disobey her fathers commands and be with Hamlet but during the time that would have been an awful thing to do. The reason Ophelia is not higher up is because although I feel pity, I do not seeing her as doing anything admirable within the play.
5. Gertrude: Gertrude is a character that is always changing and is easily swayed by the men in her life. One second she is backing up her son and then the next she is backing up her brother-in-law/husband. I still believe she may not have gone into her relationship with Claudius 100% willingly so this allows me to somewhat excuse her decision to marry him. Had Gertrude been able to remain a more consistent character, she may have been ranked higher.
6. Polonious: I feel bad that he got killed for no reason but in the end he seemed to be a power hungry rat.
7. Claudius: Claudius is a dishonest and sinning man. He knows everything he has done is wrong and although I appreciate his acceptance of these things, his inability to act upon them concerns me.

35/10: Chapter 3 explication

In the poem 35/10 by Sharon Olds, the author shows the relationship between a mother and a daughter unfold. The title seems to be representative of the two characters ages, the mother being 35 and the daughter being 10. The mother seems to be uncomfortable with the way she is aging and refers to her body as sagging and drying in areas. Although she does this with her body, she refers to her hair as “gleaming” a word with both a positive connotation and denotation. Even though the gleaming hair is grey and may stand out, it seems she believes they do in a good way. Like all things, there are two sides to aging. I believe the author separates the hair and the body to show the two sides of aging. While on one side, she sees her aging as maybe a maturation and an “older and wiser” type deal, she also is feeling the negatives of a changing body. While the speakers body is changing, so is that of her daughters. Her daughter is coming closer to puberty while the mother is coming closer to menopause. The speaker compares the daughter to a “moist precise flower” and refers to herself as a pit. The speaker also oddly uses the menstrual cycle to represent life. As the mother ages and has fewer opportunities to bear children, the daughter is just beginning to develop them. These opportunities to bear children could possibly be a reference to opportunities in life, rather than just bearing children. Although menopause is supposedly a very emotional experience, I don’t believe this is what the author or any women would miss the most about being young and youthful. The author also gives a very different perspective on life and family by viewing her daughter as her replacement. Personally, I had never viewed myself as my mothers replacement on the earth, but after reading the poem it is easy to see this perspective. It was hard to tell if she meant “replacement” in a negative or positive light. Although a replacement can be some one that steals the spotlight, it can also be some one that carries on your family history and values.