Everyday Use--Respond Under This Post

Hank Lazer Poems -- Respond Under This Post

(Blog will not allow for original typography)

Selected Poems from Days
71
3/3/95

good god bob
you're the one
of course who
made loveable &
why the fuck
not in such
a tight span
these twists of
thinking specific
to an instant

commentary : creeley the bob, days in part a case study of thought's torsion, the short line, collisions & collusions possible, the shifts in direction, heavy staccato "good god bob" splat, to sweet assonance, one, loveable, fuck, such, the delight in the twists, a tight span, in instants, the lyric as collision chamber

74
3/11/95

i sing the body
eclectic uh defective
icing the bawdy
directive rodin to young
rilke "toujours travailler"
all words & no fray
makes yack a dull
"stable & precarious"
rose on licorice er
icarus' wings

commentary : talk in tongues, trane's sax honks, i sing as icing on the cake, a bellyfull, stammer, stutter, the play's the thing, of course work hard the too earnest though ugh, dad's leukemia woven in everywhere, my young son's mishearing heard it better as rose on licorice wings, and why not

77
4/1/95

her virtues i
know thus far
verbal which
what think you
when wind across
key principle
forms of distance
love the
reckless irritant settled
athwart the hips

commentary : days, in part, playing with an erotics of writer/reader relations; last line, the single word "athwart" definitely a whitman-clinker; loving throughout as irritant AND joy; the wind of saying, a poem being taken up and said

81
4/11/95

you put them
there & fix
their place in blocks
& in columns
as you will
& then they have
quite apart from
you relations
all their own
with which you are amused

commentary : a compositional practice, you do put them there by hand i know you do, the poem's existence in time, as it becomes necessarily strange to the writer too, possibly amusing, of necessity so as the poem disconnects from its immediacy of compositional inception, is initially placed & put, but then . . .

83
4/15/95

yes & then
a little less
two blue
& white striped
chairs & the means
of enumerating
sudden content
ment heart in
sists its history is now
& thus not history proper

commentary : rarely, but here, instance of actual immediate surroundings, two specific chairs, as the first line: often poems in the affirmative (though, "& then"), words broken being both: content, and content-ment; the heart moves in, thus insists, a different site of action than some will allow into "history proper"

84
4/15/95

slow to slogan
voracious to
veracity amen
to mendacity
flesh to pleasure
legs to legendary
costly to apostle
mesh to measure
& i wake up
next to you

commentary : by musical extension, made extant, a tent, rolls on & off the tongue, a fleshy pleasure, to be beside you, juxtaposition, awakening to & into that fact, flesh to pleasure, such words so

88
4/21/95

speaking the first
law of economy
you yawn song sweeps
upward & across water's
surface not contra which
would only be two dictions
but each point a hub
radiating infinite spokes
persons tense in shifting
pulse processional

commentary : redundant in e-space to point out, hell yes, more than two dictions, thematized older poetries fond of binary structurings, poems now portals multiply open, from any given point an infinity of directions, made so perhaps with some of the energy, energizing, galvanics of early Williams and later Olson's "projective verse" these too "in shifting/ pulse processional," parading by, the radiating, the pulsing, the transfer of energy, instant by instant, for you to say

126
6/22/95
monk's joy &
studied exuberant
wrong notes infinite
rhythmic insistence
exactly slapped silences
trane's quest question
chaotic divine emily's
compressed
from you (love)
crucially direct address

commentary : recaps sources & muses, quick riffs, monk the first, the joy of right-wrong, the infinite possibilities of rhythm attended to & heard precisely, not the yay-or-nay of binary dumb metrics stressed or un- (how damned inadequate!), to trane, to emily d, to "you" who must be there, otherwise how to address directly

A Woman Is Talking To Death

Author: Judy Grahn was born on July 28, 1940 in Chicago. She lived in New Mexico Town near West Texas. At the age of twenty five she wrote most of her stories and poetry. She has written many lesbian/feminist works.

Basic Passage: "I wanted her as a very few people have wanted me - I wanted her and me to own and control and run the city we lived in, to staff the hospital I know would mistreat her, to drive the transportationsystem that had betrayed her, to patrol the streets controllling the men would murder or disfigure or disrupt us, not accidentally with machines, but on purpose, because we are not allowed out on the street alone-"

Correlate: This author wants women to run the world and be in control. Because she thinks that the men that are in control are going to hurt and harm the women around them.

Tragedy: This poem is a tragedy.

Discussion Questions:
1. In the quote by Ellison, from "The Invisible Man" the character talks about acting a certain way because it was expected of him. Another quote tells more about racism. "We mean to do right by you, but you've got to know your place at all times. All right, now, go on with your speech. I was afraid. I wanted to leave but I wanted also to speak and I was afraid they'd snatch me down." This quote from "The Invisible Man" shows how the blacks were treated by the whites. Racism expressed in "The Invisible Man" is similar to the feminism expressed in "A Woman is Talking to Death" because both of these ideas tear people down. We are all a part of humanity and God created us all equal, both black and white and male and female.

2. In this poem the author talks about women being the weaker gender. The author feels that women are being put down and men and are treating them as lower class people.

3. During the years 1974 - 1980 there was great support for battered women. Support groups were appearing all over towns across America. It was a time when research was done by men for men and biological sex determined an individual's role in society. This first wave sought to include feminist voices and to give a new meaning to the science of feminism, sexuality and gender. In this poem "A Woman is Talking to Death" the author shows a symbolism towards denigrating women who respect men and a feministic approach towards society. While the author of the poem "The Invisible Man" discussed the topics of racism, religion, indivduality, and freedom, and their effect on society.

4. In the segment "A Mock Interrogation" the character is conducting an interview asking if a woman is a lesbian. Every time she answers the questions she twists the meaning around. The questions that they ask her try to infer that she is a lesbian. She turns the answer around to where it doesn't talk about being a lesbian - but talks about being kind to women.

5. The American Dream is a subjective term usually implying a successful and satisfying life. Perceptions of the American dream are usually framed in terms of American capitalism, and the freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Bill of Rights. The term is not easily defined, and has subjective meaning to many who claim it. The term is used by many modern Americans to signify success in life as a result of hard work. If you are limited by class if will be hard to pursue this dream because you are torn down emotionally, physically and financially.

6. Yes it does matter. I don't agree with this lifestyle. She is writing from her own perspective and this give her impression of the culture around her a different slant.

Judy Grahn - Respond Under This Post

A Woman Is Talking to Death

One
Testimony in trials that never got heard

my lovers teeth are white geese flying above me
my lovers muscles are rope ladders under my hands

we were driving home slow
my love and I, across the long Bay Bridge,
one February midnight, when midway
over in the far left lane, I saw a strange scene:

one small young man standing by the rail,
and in the lane itself, parked straight across
as if it could stop anything, a large young
man upon a stalled motorcycle, perfectly
relaxed as if he’d stopped at a hamburger stand;
he was wearing a peacoat and levis, and
he had his head back, roaring, you
could almost hear the laugh, it
was so real.

“Look at that fool,” I said, “in the
middle of the bridge like that,” a very
womanly remark.

Then we heard the meaning of the noise
of metal on a concrete bridge at 50
miles an hour, and the far left lane
filled up with a big car that had a
motorcycle jammed on its front bumper, like
the whole thing would explode, the friction
sparks shot up bright orange for many feet
into the air, and the racket still sets
my teeth on edge.

When the car stopped we stopped parallel
and Wendy headed for the callbox while I
ducked across those 6 lanes like a mouse
in the bowling alley. “Are you hurt?” I said,
the middle-aged driver had the greyest black face,
“I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t stop, what happened?”

Then I remembered. “Somebody,” I said, “was on
the motorcycle.” I ran back,
one block? two blocks? the space for walking
on the bridge is maybe 18 inches, whoever
engineered this arrogance, in the dark
stiff wind it seemed I would

be pushed over the rail, would fall down
screaming onto the hard surface of
the bay, but I did not, I found the tall young man
who thought he owned the bridge, now lying on
his stomach, head cradled in his broken arm.

He had glasses on, but somewhere he had lost
most of his levis, where were they?
and his shoes. Two short cuts on his buttocks,
that was the only mark except his thin white
seminal tubes were all strung out behind; no
child left in him; and he looked asleep.

I plucked wildly at his wrist, then put it
down; there were two long haired women
holding back the traffic just behind me
with their bare hands, the machines came
down like mad bulls, I was scared, much
more than usual, I felt easily squished
like the earthworms crawling on a busy
sidewalk after the rain; I wanted to
leave. And met the driver, walking back.

“The guy is dead.” I gripped his hand,
the wind was going to blow us off the bridge.

“Oh my God,” he said, “haven’t I had enough
trouble in my life?” He raised his head,
and for a second was enraged and yelling,
at the top of the bridge—”I was just driving
home!” His head fell down. “My God, and
now I’ve killed somebody.”

I looked down at my own peacoat and levis,
then over at the dead man’s friend, who
was howling and blubbering, what they would
call hysteria in a woman. “It isn’t possible”
he wailed, but it was possible, it was
indeed, accomplished and unfeeling, snoring
in its peacoat, and without its levis on.

He died laughing: that’s a fact.

I had a woman waiting for me,
in her car and in the middle of the bridge,
I’m frightened, I said.I’m afraid, he said,
stay with me, be
my witness—”No,” I said, “I’ll be your
witness—later,” and I took his name
and number, “but I can’t stay with you,
I’m too frightened of the bridge, besides
I have a woman waiting
and no license—
and no tail lights—”
So I left—
as I have left so many of my lovers.

we drove home
shaking. Wendy’s face greyer
than any white person’s I have ever seen.
maybe he beat his wife, maybe he once
drove taxi, and raped a lover
of mine—how to know these things?
we do each other in, that’s a fact.

who will be my witness?
death wastes our time with drunkenness
and depression
death, who keeps us from our
lovers.
he had a woman waiting for him,
I found out when I called the number,
days later

“Where is he,” she said, “he’s disappeared.”
“He’ll be all right,” I said, “we could
have hit the guy as easy as anybody, it
wasn’t anybody’s fault, they’ll know that,”
women so often say dumb things like that,
they teach us to be sweet and reassuring,
and say ignorant things, because we don’t invent
the crime, the punishment, the bridges

that same week I looked into the mirror
and nobody was there to testify;
how clear, an unemployed queer woman
makes no witness at all,
nobody at all was there for
those two questions:......what does
she do, and who is she married to?

I am the woman who stopped on the bridge
and this is the man who was there
our lovers teeth are white geese flying
above us, but we ourselves are
easily squished.

keep the woman small and weak
and off the street, and off the
bridges, that’s the way, brother
one day I will leave you there,
as I have left you there before,
working for death.

we found out later
what we left him to.
Six big policemen answered the call,
all white, and no child in them.
they put the driver up against his car
and beat the hell out of him.
What did you kill that poor kid for?
you mutherfucking nigger.
that’s a fact.

Death only uses violence
when there is any kind of resistance,
the rest of the time a slow
weardown will do.

They took him to 4 different hospitals
til they got a drunk test report to fit their
case, and held him five days in jail
without a phone call.
how many lovers have we left.

there are as many contradictions to the game,
as there are players.
a woman is talking to death,
though talk is cheap, and life takes a long time
to make
right. He got a cheesy lawyer
who had him cop a plea, 15 to 20
instead of life. Did I say life?

the arrogant young man who thought he
owned the bridge, and fell asleep on it
he died laughing: that’s a fact.
the driver sits out his time
off the street somewhere,
does he have the most vacant of
eyes, will he die laughing?

Two
They don’t have to lynch the women anymore

death sits on my doorstep
cleaning his revolver
death cripples my feet and sends me out
to wait for the bus alone,
then comes by driving a taxi.

the woman on our block with 6 young children
has the most vacant of eyes
death sits in her bedroom, loading
his revolver

they don’t have to lynch the women
very often anymore, although
they used to—the lord and his men
went through the villages at night, beating &
killing every woman caught
outdoors.
the European witch trials took away
the independent people; two different villages—
after the trials were through that year—
had left in them, each—
one living woman:
one

What were those other women up to? had they
run over someone? stopped on the wrong bridge?
did they have teeth like
any kind of geese, or children
in them?

Three
This woman is a lesbian be careful

In the military hospital where I worked
as a nurse’s aide, the walls of the halls
were lined with howling women
waiting to deliver
or to have some parts removed.
One of the big private rooms contained
the general’s wife, who needed
a wart taken off her nose.
we were instructed to give her special attention
not because of her wart or her nose
but because of her husband, the general.

As many women as men die, and that’s a fact.

At work there was one friendly patient, already
claimed, a young woman burnt apart with X-ray,
she had long white tubes instead of openings;
rectum, bladder, vagina—I combed her hair, it
was my job, but she took care of me as if
nobody’s touch could spoil her.

ho ho death, ho death
have you seen the twinkle in the dead woman’s eye?

When you are a nurse’s aide
someone suddenly notices you
and yells about the patient’s bed,
and tears the sheets apart so you
can do it over, and over
while the patient waits
doubled over in her pain
for you to make the bed again
and no one ever looks at you,
only at what you do not do

Here, general, hold this soldier’s bed pan
for a moment, hold it for a year—
then we’ll promote you to making his bed.
we believe you wouldn’t make such messes

if you had to clean up after them.

that’s a fantasy.

this woman is a lesbian, be careful.

When I was arrested and being thrown out
of the military, the order went out: dont anybody
speak to this woman, and for those three
long months, almost nobody did; the dayroom, when
I entered it, fell silent til I had gone; they
were afraid, they knew the wind would blow
them over the rail, the cops would come,
the water would run into their lungs.
Everything I touched
was spoiled. They were my lovers, those
women, but nobody had taught us how to swim.
I drowned, I took 3 or 4 others down
when I signed the confession of what we
had done together.

No one will ever speak to me again.
I read this somewhere; I wasn’t there:
in WW II the US army had invented some floating
amphibian tanks, and took them over to
the coast of Europe to unload them,
the landing ships all drawn up in a fleet,
and everybody watching. Each tank had a
crew of 6 and there were 25 tanks.
The first went down the landing planks
and sank, the second, the third, the
fourth, the fifth, the sixth went down
and sank. They weren’t supposed
to sink, the engineers had
made a mistake. The crews looked around
wildly for the order to quit,
but none came, and in the sight of
thousands of men, each 6 crewmen
saluted his officers, battened down
his hatch in turn, and drove into the
sea, and drowned, until all 25 tanks
were gone. did they have vacant
eyes, die laughing, or what? what
did they talk about, those men,
as the water came in?

was the general their lover?

Four
A Mock Interrogation

Have you ever held hands with a woman?

Yes, many times—women about to deliver, women about to
have breasts removed, wombs removed, miscarriages, women
having epileptic fits, having asthma, cancer, women having
breast bone marrow sucked out of them by nervous or in-
different interns, women with heart condition, who were
vomiting, overdosed, depressed, drunk, lonely to the point
of extinction: women who had been run over, beaten up.
deserted, starved. women who had been bitten by rats; and
women who were happy, who were celebrating, who were
dancing with me in large circles or alone, women who were
climbing mountains or up and down walls, or trucks or roofs
and needed a boost up, or I did; women who simply wanted
to hold my hand because they liked me, some women who
wanted to hold my hand because they liked me better than
anyone.

These were many women?

Yes. many.

What about kissing? Have you kissed any women?

I have kissed many women.

When was the first woman you kissed with serious feeling?

The first woman ever I kissed was Josie, who I had loved at
such a distance for months. Josie was not only beautiful,
she was tough and handsome too. Josie had black hair and
white teeth and strong brown muscles. Then she dropped
out of school unexplained. When she came she came
back for one day only, to finish the term, and there was a
child in her. She was all shame, pain, and defiance. Her eyes
were dark as the water under a bridge and no one would
talk to her, they laughed and threw things at her. In the
afternoon I walked across the front of the class and looked
deep into Josie’s eyes and I picked up her chin with my
hand, because I loved her, because nothing like her trouble
would ever happen to me, because I hated it that she was
pregnant and unhappy, and an outcast. We were thirteen.

You didn’t kiss her?

How does it feel to be thirteen and having a baby?

You didn’t actually kiss her?

Not in fact.

You have kissed other women?

Yes, many, some of the finest women I know, I have kissed.
women who were lonely, women I didn’t know and didn’t
want to, but kissed because that was a way to say yes we are
still alive and loveable, though separate, women who recog-
nized a loneliness in me, women who were hurt, I confess to
kissing the top a 55 year old woman’s head in the snow in
Boston, who was hurt more deeply that I have ever been
hurt, and I wanted her as a very few people have wanted
me—I wanted her and me to own and control and run the
city we lived in, to staff the hospital I know would mistreat
her, to drive the transportation system that had betrayed
her, to patrol the streets controlling the men who would
murder or disfigure or disrupt us, not accidentally with
machines, but on purpose, because we are not allowed out
on the street alone—

Have you ever committed any indecent acts with women?

Yes, many. I am guilty of allowing suicidal women to die
before my eyes or in my ears or under my hands because I
thought I could do nothing, I am guilty of leaving a prosti-
tute who held a knife to my friend’s throat to keep us from
leaving, because we would not sleep with her, we thought
she was old and fat and ugly; I am guilty of not loving her
who needed me; I regret all the women I have not slept with
or comforted, who pulled themselves away from me for lack
of something I had not the courage to fight for, for us, our
life, our planet, our city, our meat and potatoes, our love.
These are indecent acts, lacking courage, lacking a certain
fire behind the eyes, which is the symbol, the raised fist, the
sharing of resources, the resistance that tells death he will
starve for lack of the fat of us, our extra. Yes I have com-
mitted acts of indecency with women and most of them were
acts of omission. I regret them bitterly.

Five
Bless this day oh cat our house

“I was allowed to go
3 places growing up,” she said—
“3 places, no more.
there was a straight line from my house
to school, a straight line from my house
to church, a straight line from my house
to the corner store.”
her parents thought something might happen to her.
but nothing ever did.
my lovers teeth are white geese flying above me
my lovers muscles are rope ladders under my hands
we are the river of life and the fat of the land
death, do you tell me I cannot touch this woman?
if we use each other up
on each other
that’s a little bit less for you
a little bit less for you, ho
death, ho ho death.

Bless this day oh cat our house
help me be not such a mouse
death tells the woman to stay home
and then breaks in the window.

I read this somewhere, I wasn’t there:
In feudal Europe, if a woman committed adultery
her husband would sometimes tie her
down, catch a mouse and trap it
under a cup on her bare belly, until
it gnawed itself out, now are you
afraid of mice?

Six
Dressed as I am, a young man once called
me names in Spanish

a woman who talks to death
is a dirty traitor

inside a hamburger joint and
dressed as I am, a young man once called me
names in Spanish
then he called me queer and slugged me.
first I thought the ceiling had fallen down
but there was the counterman making a ham
sandwich, and there was I spread out on his
counter.

For God’s sake, I said when
I could talk, this guy is beating me up
can’t you call the police or something,
can’t you stop him? he looked up from
working on his sandwich, which was my
sandwich, I had ordered it. He liked
the way I looked. “There’s a pay phone
right across the street” he said.

I couldn’t listen to the Spanish language
for weeks afterward, without feeling the
most murderous of rages, the simple
association of one thing to another,
so damned simple.

The next day I went to the police station
to become an outraged citizen
Six big policemen stood in the hall,
all white and dressed as they do
they were well pleased with my story, pleased
at what had gotten beat out of me, so
I left them laughing, went home fast
and locked my door.
For several nights I fantasized the scene
again, this time grabbing a chair
and smashing it over the bastard’s head,
killing him. I called him a spic, and
killed him. My face healed, his didn’t
no child in me.

now when I remember I think:
maybe he was Josie’s baby.
all the chickens come home to roost.
all of them.

Seven
Death and disfiguration

One Christmas eve my lovers and I
we left the bar, driving home slow
there was a woman lying in the snow
by the side of the road. She was wearing
a bathrobe and no shoes, where were
her shoes? she had turned the snow
pink, under her feet, she was an Asian
woman, didn’t speak much English, but
she said a taxi driver beat her up
and raped her, throwing her out of his
care.
what on earth was she doing there
on a street she helped to pay for
but doesn’t own?
doesn’t she know to stay home?

I am a pervert, therefore I’ve learned
to keep my hands to myself in public
but I was so drunk that night,
I actually did something loving
I took her in my arms, this woman,
Until she could breathe right, and
my friends who are perverts too
they touched her toowe all touched her.
“You’re going to be all right”
we lied. She started to cry
“I’m 55 years old” she said
and that said everything.

Six big policemen answered the call
no child in them.
they seemed afraid to touch her,
then grabbed her like a corpse and heaved her
on their metal stretcher into the van,
crashing and clumsy.
She was more frightened than before.
they were cold and bored.
‘don’t leave me’ she said.
‘she’ll be all right’ they said.
we left, as we have left all of our lovers
as all lovers leave all lovers
much too soon to get the real loving done.

Eight
a mock interrogation

Why did you get in the cab with him, dressed as you are?

I wanted to go somewhere.

Did you know what the cab driver might do
if you got into the cab with him?

I just wanted to go somewhere.

How many times did you
get into the cab with him?

I dont remember.

If you dont remember, how do you know it happened to you?

Nine
Hey you death

ho and ho poor death
our lovers teeth are white geese flying above us
our lovers muscles are rope ladders under our hands
even though no women yet go down to the sea in ships
except in their dreams.

only the arrogant invent a quick and meaningful end
for themselves, of their own choosing.
everyone else knows how very slow it happens
how the woman’s existence bleeds out her years,
how the child shoots up at ten and is arrested and old
how the man carries a murderous shell within him
and passes it on.

we are the fat of the land, and
we all have our list of casualties

to my lovers I bequeath
the rest of my life

I want nothing left of me for you, ho death
except some fertilizer
for the next batch of us
who do not hold hands with you
who do not embrace you
who try not to work for you
or sacrifice themselves or trust
or believe you, ho ignorant
death, how do you know
we happened to you?

wherever our meat hangs on our own bones
for our own use
your pot is so empty
death, ho death
you shall be poor

Respond as usual then answer the questions:

Discussion Questions

“When I was praised for my conduct I felt guilt that in some way I was doing something that was really against the wishes of the white folks, that if they had understood they would have desired me to act just the opposite, that I should have been sulky and mean, and that that really would have been what they wanted, even though they were fooled and thought they wanted me to act as I did.”

From Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

1. In the quote above, the narrator alludes to the concept that when one in power denigrates another, that person also denigrates his or her own humanity. Do you see such a concept in “A Woman is Talking to Death” or do you see what feminist critic Christina Hoff Sommers calls the ‘corrosive paradox’ of feminism: waging war on men while at the same time denigrating the women who respect those men? Another way to put this question is thus: do you identify with the speaker or not? Explain your answer and include references to the Invisible Man and/or Fences.

2. What is the relationship between gender, race and class in this poem? In order to answer this question you will need to know the definition of gender.

3. The poem was published in 1974. What makes it important for its time, in the way Invisible Man was important for its time?

4. How does Grahn reverse and “disempower” conventional expectations in the segment A Mock Interrogation?

5. Which might be considered worse in terms of the “American Dream”: being limited by class, by race or by gender? In order to answer this question, you’ll need to define the “American dream.”

6. Does it matter that Grahn is Lesbian? Should it matter? If it does, then why?

Fences - by August Wilson

Author: August Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel in 1945, in Pittsburgh, PA. He was the son of Frederick August (a baker) and Daisy (a cleaning woman. He cofounded andwas the director of Black Horizons on the Hill, theatre company in Pittsburgh, PA.

Basic Passage: "I ain't got no extra money. Gabe done moved over to Miss Pearl's paying her the rent and things done got tight around here. I can't afford to give you every payday," says Troy. Lyons, "I ain't asked you to give me nothing. I asked you to loan me ten dollars. I know you got te dollars." Troy says, "Yeah I got it. You know why I got it? Cause I don't throw my money away out there in the streets. You living the fast life...wanna be a musician...running around in them clubs and things...then, you learn to take care of yourself. You ain't gonna find me going and asking nobody for nothing. I done spent too many years without."

Correlate: This is a pattern for Lyons as he continually begs for money throughout the play. He always manages to get it somehow. This pattern will not easily be broken. His dad tries to discourage him from begging for money and wants him to not be a musician but get a job and succeed in life.

Difficulties: I did not have any.

Tragedy: The tragedy is thatTroy feels that society is not fair and struggles with this idea.

1. Answered in comment.

2. Cory has become a Marine Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corp. At Troy's funeral Lyon's ends up being just like his father and is put in jail for cashing other people's checks. He has become what his father warned him he would be.
But Cory has made a better life by joining the Marines.

3. Troy believes that times have changed dramatically and society has become poorer and more people have become homeless. What he doesn't understand is that society is really changing for the better and trying to eliminate poverty.

4. Troy begs for money from Lyons after his payday loans and normally gets ten dollars. Troy is a user and is deceiving himself. He makes a liar of himself. This is wrong by most people's standards today, unless you are willing to pay someone back.

5. Cory is singing about the dog named Blue because he reminisces about a time when his papa, Troy, sang the song to him. Gabriel sings this song as a reminder of Troy after his death and wishes him farewell.

August Wilson -- Fences -- Comment Here

Answer the following questions, then respond as usual.

1. Cite a place in place where you see the notion of the cyclical pattern of family, that is, the idea that the sins and virtues of one generation are played out again in the next. How powerful is this pattern, and is there any real hope to break free of it?


2. What is significant about the occupations or situations of the members of Troy's family in the final scene of the play?


3. To what extent is Troy wrong about how American society has changed during his lifetime? To what extent is he right?


4. Troy talks a great deal about the important of independence and self-reliance, but he is also a user and manipulator of others. Does this make him a liar? self-deceptive? something else?


5. Towards the end of the play, what is the significance of Cory singing the song “Old Blue” that Troy sang earlier in the play?- What happens to Gabe at the end of the play?

The Glass Menagerie -- Post Review Here

Here are some sites to help you get started.

How to Write a Movie Review
http://www.spiritofbaraka.com/how-to-write-a-movie-review.aspx


Lab Movie Review Site
http://www.ucls.uchicago.edu/students/projects/1996-97/MovieMetropolis/howto.html


How to Write a Movie Review
http://www.ehow.com/how_2002071_write-movie-review.html


Another suggestion: pick up a few popular magazines and read some reviews or look through library journals. The review should be no more than 700 words and should contain no mechanical or grammatical errors.

Ralph Ellison-Comment Under This Post

This richly symbolic, ironic, and often surreal novel describes a quest much like Ellison’s own to invent an identity independent of that imposed by society. Winner of the 1953 National Book Award, Invisible Man thrust Ellison not only into prominence but also into the vortex of the battles raging over the role of literature and art in politics, and specifically over Ellison's rejection of the "protest novel."

Symbols Exercise - Responses

Humankind Need for Symbols

• 
  
  I wouldn't alter the commandments or the pledge...they are original ideas to be observed. It would be like changing the Cantebury Tales or Shakespeare's texts--dirtyrugby shirt.

• 
  
  All symbols change over time--Taylor Rich

• 
  
  Symbols define us and they define the meaning of what they are a symbol to...Nobody should be able to change the ten commandments because that is what God gave to his people so they can obey him and do good for his kingdom--Brittany Henderson

• 
  
  Christ tried to changed the law and was crucified for it--the professor

• 
  
  Why mess with perfection. If it ain't broken don't fix it. Tradition should mean something. This is something that is the pillar of life, life's foundation why would anyone want to mess with that or even consider it?--Jim Wilkerson

• 
  
  About the commandments--I was raised in a Christian home and I've decided to follow in that faith. The Ten Commandments are God's law. It's biblical. However, the conservatives often expect everyone to respect and follow the commandments because they're supposed to. However, right or wrong--not everyone agrees that the commandments deserve respect. Christians shouldn't be daunted by this though. Personal faith isn't decided by culture--Rachael Nicholson

• 
  
  ...Symbols should be permanent and never change. This is our culturel background given to us by God and our nation. I do believe in change, but not changing something that deals with our culture and we have believed in it forever. If these symbols were changed, it would be like what we were believing in was wrong all along. Things do change, but your culture and how you were raised will always stay with you--Brook

• 
  
  These symbols are important and probably will be around forever, but that doesn't mean that they should be taken as literally as they sometimes are. I am not saying there is anything wrong with these symbols, I am just showing another point of view.

A few examples:

Commandment: You shall not bow down to them or worship them for I am a jealous God,

But some worship and bow to the nation, the ideas and behaviors that make up society, capable of good and evil. In protecting the good, the protect the evil in society. There's nothing wrong with believing in the nation and in society. I don't want people to misunderstand my point.

Pledge--liberty and justice by whose standard?

The symbols should not be taken so literally. The thoughts and intentions behind them are more important--K-Dub

• 
  
  Defiling them (symbols) by making up other things in their place is wrong--Christopher Currie

• 
  
  I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light. What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's las gleaming light. Why is this not day why is this not night, why is this not good bad wrong right--Daniel O. Wise

• 
  
  These things (symbols) are sacred. They have been in practice and should remain. Even though often defied, God's commandments should govern your life andthe choices you make. With people losing their lives everyday for the U.S. you should respect. I don't necessarily care for the U.S. and it's feeling of superiority, but I do live here. So it should be respected--Chiante.

• 
  
  I would not like to change them (the commandments) because they are the words of God; or messages and teachings from God--Pheurbel

• 
  
  The commandments should be left alone...the word of God is God inspired--meaning God himself told Moses what the commandments were--and if God says not to (change them) I will not.--VC-Guitarist

• 
  
  There is no reason to change these symbols. The Ten Commandments, Pledge of Allegiance, & National Anthem were all created to show honor and respect to God & our country, respectively. Yo may not fully agree with any or all of these things, but they should still be respected--Maggaly 0326

• 
  
  The Commandments, Bible & Cross are symbols of Christ's sovereignty--Shanna Meadows.

• They shouldn't be messed with or defaced. The pledge of allegiance is a symbol of patriotism. Whether you agree with administrations or not, you should be patriotic...Brett

• Middle View

These symbols are not only meaningful but also historically important. These symbols should not be attacked and viewed as a bridge to the past. These do not necessirly have to be your belief and should be able to coexist with emergent cultue as long as neither view is imposed on the other. America is supposed to be a place where different cultures coincide. Even though it may not always happen, that is the goal we should strive for.--Nathalie Mena

Powerhouse -- Respond Under This Post

Eudora Welty Plays Jazz with Words


Powerhouse is a riff on racism, power and signifyin(g).
This shortstory told by an unreliable/white narrator delineates cultral strata:

• Reactionary Culture
• Conservative Culture
• Emergent Culture

Billy Collins - Respond Under This Post

Another Reason Why I Don't Keep A Gun In The House

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.

He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark

that he barks every time they leave the house.

They must switch him on their way out.

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.

I close all the windows in the house

and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast

but I can still hear him muffled under the music,

barking, barking, barking,

and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,

his head raised confidently as if Beethoven

had included a part for barking dog.

When the record finally ends he is still barking,

sitting there in the oboe section barking,

his eyes fixed on the conductor who is

entreating him with his baton

while the other musicians listen in respectful

silence to the famous barking dog solo,

that endless coda that first established

Beethoven as an innovative genius.

Cathedral - Respond Under This Post

In addition to your regular response, answer the following question regarding Raymond Carver's short story Cathedral.







The term "epiphany," coined by James Joyce, has been used frequently in 20th century fiction to describe moments of "revelation" in a story where "everything becomes clear" to a character. The critic Malcolm Cowley defines epiphany as "that sudden reaching out of two characters through walls of inarticulateness and misunderstanding."

To what extent does "Cathedral" end in an epiphany? How do you know?



Please do not forget to use headings:

• A Title for your response "Be Creative"
• Basic Passage
• Correlation
• Difficulties

I am looking for complexity in the correlation--a surprising or new angle.

Please separate each section.

For example:

Title: Diet Coke Is The Reason

Intro to author: We, as readers, know very little about Billy Collins from the small amount of information the book entails. Billy Collins was born in 1941 in a New York City hospital he claims William Carlos Williams worked as a pediatric resident. He earned a Ph.D. at the University of California at Riverside in which he specialized in the Romantic Period. Now, he teaches at Lehman College of the City University.

Basic Passage: “and even now as you memorize the order of the planets, something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps, the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.”

Correlation: I can definitely relate to this! I believe I am the one person out of all my friends around me who has the shortest memory. I feel like I am on the same level as my grandmother who is in the later stages of Alzheimer’s disease. No, I don’t forget my name or the names of my family and friends I see often. But as it says in the passage, I believe I forget a piece of information or a memory every time I study, learn something new, or create a new memory. I believe this “forgetfulness” of mine is related to my obsessed addiction to Diet Coke. Maybe if I start taking Gingko Biloba, it’ll counteract the Nutrasweet that leads to memory loss. But all joking aside, this poem demonstrates how valuable the present moment is. The knowledge that we will forget make "now" all that more important. We must surrender to this knowledge, this loss. This poem is bittersweet. It is about both
loss and life in the guise of forgetfulness.

Difficulties: I had no problem reading or understanding this poem.

Required questions:

Identify the cause of human suffering—Tragedy
How can the tragedy be turned into a comedy?
Identify the cause of joy or happiness—comedy

Baraka -- Comment Under This Post

A photograph of Amiri Baraka, activist, poet, (Racist?) and the photograph that spurred Abel Meeropol to write the poem "Strange Fruit" which was later song by Billie Holiday.



Notes on "Biography"

Another look at "Strange Fruit"Below are the lyrics to Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit, 1939, written by Abel Meeropol, New Yorker, Jewish schoolteacher, American Communist:

Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
The scent of magnolia sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
for the sun to rot, for the tree to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop


In Walked Bud
(Listened to CD in-Class)

Audio File of "In Walked Bud"
When you go to Salon type the title of the poem in the search window.

http://www.salon.com/ent/audiofile/index.html?item=/ent/audiofile/2005/10/31/listens/index.html



Backstory on the Theolonius Monk Piece "In walked Bud " "As the musicians were packing up their instruments after the show, the police stormed the club and went after Monk. He refused to show his identification, and was forcibly arrested. A fan barred the door and challenged the officers. They tried to push him aside, but he wouldn't budge. 'Stop,' he yelled. 'You don't know what you're doing. You're mistreating the greatest pianist in the world!' At this point a nightstick came down on his head like a lightening bolt. The young fan was Monk's best friend, Bud Powell. He was dragged along with Monk, and thrown into jail after his injury was superficially treated at the hospital. After his release Powell complained of alarming headaches. He eventually checked into Bellevue Hospital, then spent three months in Creedmore Hospital. There he was treated with various psychoactive drugs and shock therapy. His artistic career had barely started, but henceforth he would be bedeviled by psychological problems. Monk was aware that Powell's intervention had saved him from a similar fate. For his ill-starred protege, he wrote 'In Walked Bud', '52nd Street Theme', and 'Broadway Theme', otherwise simply known as 'The Theme.' The numbers were intended to be Bud's property alone, and Monk never recorded them."

KINCAID "Post One" Respond under this post.

Key points:

• Jamaica Kincaid often writes about the longing for maternal love and a childish bewilderment with the adult world.

• She seems to hold resentment toward her mother and her homeland.

• Kincaid is outspoken.

• Girl's voice only appears twice within an enormous list of "how-to's"

What is the effect of the list?

• Some of the instructions involve social mores. One big question you might tackle is whether or not you think these mores are essential.

In addition to your own correlation, please relate/synthesize the following into a paragraph of at least 50 words:

1) Kincaid's unforgiving rage at both her mother and homeland
and
2) "Everything passes through the self"

Big two Hearted River By Ernest Hemingway Post 2 by Daniel Wise

Soupbone 4 discussed in his or her comment on The story Big Two Hearted River, that Nick was trying to escape from the problems and sense of anxiety becvause he traveled home from War and found his home burned to the ground and was remorsefull for comming back but wished to seek sollitude by going somewhere pleasant that he remembered such as the river nearby. I would agree with him or her that they were thinking right that this caused his stress and emotional problems to build. But I have also in times of my life wished that I could just get away from my stress band problems, the frequent headaches and go somewhere peacefull. When at home I frequent a fishing lake nearby for peacefullness and its quietness because it is a place where I can think about my problems and relax and spend some time fishing for fun. But There have been times when I have felt just like Nick when I have gotten home and felt like it really wasn't there any more such as the time when my family had to move from an old house to anew one. This caused some of my anxiety and depression for several months after moving into the new house. I soon found this lake to be aplace of refuge and serenity.

Big Two-Hearted River "Post One"

Comment under this post for Hemingway's story "Big Two-Hearted River"


Don't forget to use headings in your response: Title, Basic Passage; Correlation; Difficulties.

When correlating, be sure to relate the story to yourself--your response should not sound like something from the internet.


Themes we discussed in class include: Resistence, Stoicism, The paradox of strength coming from destruction and sterility, Movement = Happiness; non-movement = Sadness.

That Evening Sun

That Evening Sun - by William Faulkner

Wiliam Faulkner was from New Albany, Mississippi. He was born in 1897. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1949 and in 1925 he met Sherwood Anderson in New Orleans to discuss publishing some literary works. He published many literary works such as poems and both fiction and non fiction/

"I scared of the dark," Nancy said. "I scared for it to happen in the dark." "When yawl go home, I gone." Nancy said. She talked quieter now and her face looked quiet, like her hands. "Anyway, I got my coffin money saved up with Mr. Lovelady."

This passage means that Nancy was afraid of Jesus and that he would kill her when she went home at night. The setting of the sun represented the end of the day and in this story represents Nancy being afraid of the dark and of being afraid of dying.


"And then about half of the time we'd have to go down the lane to Nancy's cabin, and tell her to come on and cook breakfast. We would stop at the ditch, "because father warnwed us not to have anything to do with Mr.Jesus, because he was a short black man with a razor scar on his face and father disliked him. And we would go down and throw rocks at Nancy's cabin untill she came out."

In this passage it is obvious to see that Dilsey's father is very strict about them not hanging around Mr. jesus or Mrs. Nancy's house. But the children disobey their father. This applies to my life because I too once was told not to associate with someone but disobeyed my parents instructions. The Bible teaches us that we should not be afraid of our enemies but that we should pray for them, and that the first sinner should cast the first stone.

No I do not think that people would accept Dilsey's or her friends behavior towards Mr. Jesus and Mrs. Nancy. I wish that they had learned to be cautious of Mr. Jesus instead of throwing rocks at his doorstep.

Yes a life lesson about how to be cautious and stay away from unfriendly or mean people is an important lesson which can be usefull for a person and his or her career.

The cause of human suffering was when Nancy was thrown in jail and beaten by the guard while she was pregnant. This act showed the cruelty of whites towards blacks during an era when slavery was present. It showed a sense of moral prejudice and anger which would set the stage for Nancy's fear of Mr. Jesus.

This tragedy can not be considered a comedy because the act that Nancy endured was severe and inhumane treatment for a pregnant woman to face and there was nothing funny about it or her sense of fright of Mr. Jesus.

The cause of joy and hapiness in this story was the family's time spent gossiping around the breakfast table each morning. And the funny but rude jokes made by Nancy and Dilsey. such as when Nancy said ":I ain't studyin my breakfast," I got to get my sleep out," I bet you're drunk," Dilsey said.

That Evening Sun "Post One"

Here is the Professor's post for this week's story. Simply comment on this post for this first trial run in blogging. Don't forget to follow the format as shown in this blog.

The key points we went over Monday:

• The title "That Evening Sun" is from a blues-gospel song.

• Gospel incorporates call and response.

• Jesus is the "Trickster" or outsider.

• Ritual/common acts are passed through culture: the type of work you do, clothes you wear, whether or not you brush your teeth.

The following are the Lyrics from Van Morrison's Version of "When That Evening Sun Go Down"

I want you, be around
When that evening sun goes down
I want you, be around
Keep my both feet on the ground
When that evening sun goes down
I want you, understand
Little girl, take me by my hand
I want you, understand
I wanna be your loving man
When that evening sun goes down
If it's nice, we'll go for a walk, a stroll in the clear moonlight
Singing a song, won't take long
Everything gonna be alright
And I wanna hold you oh so near
Keep you, darling from all fear
I wanna hold you oh so near
Nibble on your little ear
When that evening sun goes down
If it's nice, go for a walk, stroll in the clear moonlight
Sing you a song, won't take long
Everything gonna be alright
And I wanna hold you oh so near
Keep you, darling from all fear
I wanna hold you oh so near
Nibble on your little ear
When that evening sun goes down
When that evening sun goes down
When that evening sun goes down..

Welcome

This is the Reading Response Forum.

You will read a story, poem or play in class every Monday.
After class, you will come to this site and will post a response to that reading.

On Wednesday, in class, you share your response. Go back online before midnight that day and write a reaction to someone's reading response.

On Friday,
One person brings a response for everyone to read in class. Everyone else, writes an on-line reaction to a peer's post.



Use the Following Structure for Responses:
The ABC Reading Structure

A Title – Fill in the title field.

• State the author’s Name

• Summarize the author’s life/work in at least three to four sentences.

Basic Passage - Choose a passage: sentence or lines (no more than three) which include a

central meaning. This passage should connect with the title.

Correlate – Write about how the passage applies to you, to someone you know, to a group or to society. Here are some questions that might help you. See what connections you can make and explore:

• Are there any passages in the reading that you, because of your life experience, are especially able to understand and appreciate? Write about one of those passages and show how it relates to your experience.

• Choose a passage from the reading, and tell what it helps explain about an experience you have known. After you have said as much as you can, consider this: does the passage exhaust the meaning of the experience, account for the experience you have in mind?

• Would a person who accepted this character’s ideas choose the same paths in life that you have chosen or that you have seen others choose? How would the ideas for this reading alter your life or the life of someone you know well?

• Are the writer’s or character’s ideas useful to a person in a certain lifestyle or profession? What difference would these ideas make for someone living that lifestyle or practicing that profession?

Required questions and goals for Reading Responses and In-Class Discussion

1. Identify the cause of human suffering—Tragedy
2. How can the tragedy be turned into a comedy?
3. Identify the cause of joy or happiness—Comedy

Difficulties - Write down passages, sentences or lines that raise any questions in your
mind as you read the passage or answer the questions.