A Cold Coming

This poem combines the images of war with the ideas of birth and death by using imagery. When the author speaks on sperm in his poem, he is speaking on both death and birth along with the war. When I think of war, I think of a bunch of people surrounded by air, fighting and dying so fast. One minute they're here and the next minute they're not. Birth an death are like the same way. When one person dies, another person is born. Then the author also states, "the sperm in one ejaculation equals the whole Iraqi nation". I'm not sure exactly what I want to say about that, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with war, birth, and death. I think the author uses this line to combine sperm banks and procreation to war. I think the author does this because he is trying ro explain to the readers how simple, yet life changing and tragic war can be. There are millions of sperm that gets released during ejaculation, but millions of them don't make it to their destination. War is just like that. Millions of soldiers go out their to fight, but millions of them don't make it to the end. I think it is important that the soldier is talking to a poet rather than a journalist because a poet could put the experience into perspective and create a sentimental type of feeling rather than a journalist who will put the experience into statistical perspective.

More: She Unnames Them

I have no idea what we are suppose to be doing right now, so I'm going to take a shot in the dark at this. Names are names. It is what it is. I believe every name has a meaning behind it, however, it doesn't describe who you are. Just because your name might mean kind and motherly for example, doesn't mean you have to grow up to be that person. My name, on the other hand, does describe how I am. That's a coincidence though.

Response: She Unnames Them

I really liked this person's work. I thought it was very interesting and it kept my attention. I really liked the quote the author used in the beginning of his work. When I was reading the story, I did notice that quote and I found it rather eye-catching. However, I did not find his response to be nothing like mine. I like it though. I like the idea that he stated, "See, I really don't like generalizations, stereotypes and prejudices". I think this was a great way to start off a paper if he wanted to go further with it. At first, I wasn't sure why he put that in his response, but after thinking about it, I realize that it makes perfectly good sense.

Lions vs. Lionness

Lions are very large male animals. They have a 'tanish'/orange fur. They also have lots of fur on their bodies and a mass amount of fur around their neck. They are fierce and dominant animals. I think it's also a symbol for a zodiac sign, (leo or libra).

A Lionness is a large female animal. A lionness also has tan/orange color fur on its body. The only difference is, a lionness is smaller than a lion and is also very dominant. I like lions/or lionness.

A Cold Coming

I have to say that this poem was a very strange poem. I'm not sure what the reading was even about. I did notice as I was trying to read the story that there was a few words I didn't understand, charred and Plasticine. I want to say that Plasticine is just a fancy word for plastic, but I'm not sure. I also wondered why the author put the words record, gotcha, sun, rewind, and play in all caps? But the part that confused me the most was why did the author compare the whole Iraqi nation to sperm? I guess what the author was trying to say was that a bunch of sperm get released, but in the end, a bunch of them don't make it to the egg...? I guess!?

Journey of the Magi

At first when I read this short story, I thought it was kind of hard to pick up on what the main idea was. It started off kind of basic, meaning the author was describing a cold winter. However, the more I kept reading the more I started to realize that the story started focusing on religion. It seemed to me like towards the end of the story, the author stated to explain judgement day. I'm not sure how I feel about this story. Its neither here nor there with it. I just want to know how the author went from talking about a winter day to death?

She Unnames Them

I found this reading to be very interesting. I often used to think what did animals really think of their names and how did they know how to respond whenever that name was mentioned? I imagine if animals could talk, it would sound a lot like what the author wrote. I thought it was a funny story. However, I found it kind of difficult to understand at times because there were so many big words that I didn't know the meaning to such as: alacrity, anonymity, ubiquitous, and ephemeral. So I looked them up in the Encyclopedia Britannica Online. I also became really curious as to what my name means. Monica is possibly greek for "solitary" or Latin for "to advise". It also can mean alone. I love the meaning of my name. It really describes a lot about me. I do like to be in alone for the most part and I am going to school to be a psychiatrist. Isn't that coincidence? I love it!!!

Leda and the Swan

It is so amazing how the short poem describes the Greek mythology in a different and more interesting way. I had a feeling that in the poem a girl was being raped. After I did my research, I realized that this is one freaky story. Leda was admired by Zeus. Zeus disguised himself as a swan and raped her. How in the world does a swan rape a human? If I remember correctly, she had or should I say laid two eggs. What kind of mess is that? I thought that the story was interesting, but weird as...! After reading all of that, I just had to go back and read the poem over again. I can't believe this! It really was a swan. In the first line the words-great wings. In the last line the word-beak. At one point, it seemed as though she was actually enjoying messing with a swan. This is one strange poem, but I can't stop reading about it!

Ulysses

I've heard this short story several times before, but I haven't heard it in awhile. The concept of this story was very familiar. However, this story relates or ties into the "siren song". Actually, if I am not mistaking, the "siren song" is a segment or part of what happens in Ulysses. What I didn't know was that another name for Ulysses is Odysseus. Other Greek mythology that relates to Ulysses is Penelope.

Siren Song

I really like this poem. After I researched Greek Mythology, I realized that I liked this poem more than I thought. Atwood's version of the poem, to me, was about a song that trapped anyone who listened to it. I liked the title that was chosen for this poem because it related to the poem and made it easier for me to understand. Once I read what this short story meant in Greek mythology, I learned that the sirens were some type of mystical creature that was part human, part bird. These mysterical creatures resided on some type of island and released beautiful melodies that caught the attention of anyone that was passing by, more specifically sailors. The sailors would follow the path of the music, which resulted in a terrible ending. I thought this was a pretty cool poem. Not the fact that a disaster happened in the end, but I believe that there is a moral to this story: What sounds good and looks good on the outside, might not be what it is cracked up to be in the end or don't fall for the hype! Related stories or Greek mythology that is similar to Siren song is Harpies.

SWA#8-9

SWA#8-9

Fasting girls: the emergence of anorexia nervosa as a modern disease
Author: Brumberg, Joan Jacobs
Publication Information: Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988

In this book, Brumberg believes that despite the fact that this disease occurs in many young females either in middle/grade school or even the earlier years of college, this disease was around way longer than the current phenomenon that exists today.

Anorexia and bulimia: anatomy of a social epidemic
Author: Gordon, Richard A.
Publication: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: B. Blackwell, 1990

In this book, Gordon approaches anorexia nervosa from a psychological aspect. He also combines historical and cultural perspectives about anorexia and also adds his clinical views.

Eating disorders: Decade of the Brain
Author: Hoffman, Lee
Publication Information: Rockville, MD: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health; Washington, DC 1993

In this book, Hoffman will provide very useful information relating to young woman who are suffering from an eating disorder. This book not only helps the victims, but also provides information to friends and family members and anyone who is trying to get someone help. In addition to the above, this book also provides information pertaining to causes, treatment, and getting started with recovery.

Endorphins, eating disorders, and other addictive behaviors
Author: Huebner, Hans F.
Publication Information: New York: Norton, c1993

In this book, Huebner touches on information that pertains to the history of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, both of which are serious eating disorders. The author also talks about obesity and biologic basis of bulimia.

Anorexic bodies: a feminist and sociological perspective on anorexia nervosa
Author: MacSween, Morag
Publication Information: London; New York: Routledge, 1993.

In this book, MacSween explores different ways in which women who suffer from anorexia are simply trying to control their bodies through what they consume. This book also reveals information about how to oppose thoughts of what people would say is a “desire less body”.

From fasting saints to anorexic girls: the history of self starvation
Author: Vandereycken, Walter
Publication: London: Athlone Press, 1994

In this book, Vandereycken approaches modern eating disorders, such as anorexia from a psychiatric standpoint. In which she will deal with the disease in a professional manner.

SWA#10 and Extra Credit

SWA#10

Topic Proposal
The essay that I have decided to write about was Anorexic by Eavan Boland. The reason why I chose this essay is because I wanted to know more about this disease. Eavan Boland lived in London since she turned six (Famouspoets.com). I’m pretty sure this poem was written in London. I thought it would be interesting to find out what Anorexia was like in London around the 1960’s when this poem was written and compare it to what Anorexia was like in the United States during the 1960’s. I also thought that it would be interesting to research if anorexia is more common in females than males and if the results are true, then why. I also thought about taking on a psychological approach to this assignment and try to depict what goes on in the mind of an Anorexia Nervosa victim.

Extra Credit
Everything that one consumes is a person’s diet. However, when one is not consuming any food into his/her body, this is considered being anorexic. Anorexia Nervosa, or Anorexia for short, is an eating disorder where people starve themselves. Author Eavan Boland was born in 1944 in Dublin and lived in London for most of her life. She is a well established Irish poet who wrote a poem called Anorexic from her An Origin Like Water: Collected Poems in 1967-1987(1996). Anorexia is a harmful eating disorder and affects many people, young people, in and out of the United States. In Boland’s poem, this disease is mainly demonstrated by young females and demonstrates self-mutilation by not only physically harming oneself, but mentally and internally harming oneself.

Famous Poets and Poems.com

Trifles and A Jury of Her Peers

First and foremost, the short story version of this play is much shorter than Glaspell's play. The advantage of having a short story is it can keep the reader's attention. It will allow the reader to become more engaged in the reading and a shorter version of this play went straight to the point. However, just because the story is shorter, it doesn't always have advantages because of that. Some of the disadvantages of having a short story to this play is it didn't give much details and description of what was actually going on. In Glaspell's play, at the beginning, there was a vivid detailed desription of where the scene took place and what was going on in the scene at the time. Another disadvantage is that, sometimes rushing into the point might not always be the best thing. The whole idea of play's are to capture moments and rushing into them will not be as effective. I think the play would be easier for a Cultural/Historical analysis. The reason being is because the old woman was left out of the short story. That's not the main reason though. The reason is because it's longer, so it gives the reader a better chance to find more cultural things to analyze.