Critical Thinking Blog #4

The simplicity and yet utter complexity in William Carlos Williams’ poems are what make them intrinsically beautiful. Through a quick glance at any of his poems, one can take them for their strictly literal meaning, however, after careful reading and thoughtful interpretation their deep meaning can be discovered. However, the meaning is ultimately left up to interpretation, which provides various and interesting perspectives and takes. An example of this in Williams’ work is “This Is Just to Say.” The imagery and depiction of this poem allow the readers to place themselves within this situation and evaluate their reactions to such an occurrence. While we spoke in class about the numerous meanings of the text, the one that is the most interesting to me and seems to be the most logical is the concept of forbidden fruit. While it is not necessarily about adultery, there is certainly the aspect of knowingly committing an act that is sinful in nature and one’s inability to deny temptation and give in to what they inherently know is wrong.. There is obviously no remorse by the speaker since they never apologize, but also they show no emotion in committing this act. Since it is described as “cold,” there lacks any sort of connection and is merely for the pleasure of enjoying the “sweet” and “delicious” fruit. Thus, the sex aspect comes into play because adulterous sex can oftentimes be just for the physical intimacy devoid of an emotional connection, which makes it cold.

Critical Thinking Blog #3

While Frost does not necessarily utilize modern occurrences, such as war and technology, he emphasizes the concept of individuality and exalts the everyman. Therefore, Frost uses imagery to depict common everyday life. Frost illustrates various aspects of human nature in his work, similar to other Modernist writers, but he utilizes a more classic format. Through his rejection of the more free verse and innovative formats of other Modern poets, Frost showcases the variances in Modernism and the more opened ended aspect in which the author uses the style of their choosing. In “Mending Wall,” Frost portrays the labor in building a wall and the difficulty in getting along with others, more specifically, one’s neighbor:

We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of outdoor game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is pine and I am apple orchard (1390).

In comparison to the likes of Whitman and Eliot, Frost uses less open verse and sticks with a more conventional format. More so than other Modern writers, Frost highlights the individual, which is evident in his depiction of the speaker in “Mending Wall” and their troublesome relationship with their neighbor. He glorifies simplistic and fairly mundane situations in which many people encounter and therefore reveals characteristics of human nature through imagery.

Critical Thinking Blog #2

The culmination of “Maggie: Girl of the Streets” in which the mother “fergives” Maggie is implicitly immoral because it lacks any sort of self-awareness of the fate that she and Jimmie dubbed Maggie. Instead, she finally forgives her supposed demon spawn for being so horrible after her fateful death. Since she and Jimmie do not stand up for Maggie or even try to question her endeavors, they are partly to blame for her fall from grace, but fully responsible for her inability to recuperate from it. Once Peter rejects Maggie for Nell, she attempts to return home, but is kicked out without given any chance to explain herself ( Crane 991-992). When Maggie actually is alive and attempts to return to what she has considered her home since infancy, she is fervently turned away devoid of any chance to accept or receive forgiveness. However, since her passing, it is incredibly easy for her Mother to blame Maggie for the tumultuous deals of her life.

Crane’s authorial perspective depicts the stifling nature of being born into various classes and the influence of a parent’s treatment of their children and there in by how that effects them as an adult. Jimmie and Maggie are born into an impoverished, tough family and, no matter Maggie’s longing or efforts to overcome her predestined life, she is unable to overcome it. Maggie is not taught or given an appropriate example of how to act around men and therefore her ability to handle a relationship with Peter is lackluster. Since Jimmie and Maggie lack any sort of viable parental figures in an extremely rough area, they do not possess the skills to overcome the class in which they were born.