7-10-07

* Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wall-Paper"

- One particular piece of imagery that I appreciated in this short story is the following:

"One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin." (p. 43)

I liked the imagery in this quote for one specific reason, it made me think of my childhood home and my parents. They had some scary fashion ideas early on in their marriage, and it was revealed most in the kitchen. The kitchen was re-wall papered every year with some new and disgusting print. And not just any print, but a very loud busy one at that. The above quote reminded me of that kitchen and my parents horrible taste in wall paper. The image doesn't really remind me of any other work we've read so far, but I really was moved by it so I picked it anyways.



* Sojourner Truth, "Ain't I a Woman?"

- The image that I found interesting in this poem was the following:

"If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!"

I chose this quote because it's true. Women today and as far back as anyone can remember have been seen as something less then men. Not quite equal. This quote made me think of the Feminist Movement, and the Civil Rights Movement, and all the other movements and marches in the pursuit of equality, among races and genders.



* Sylvia Plath, "Lady Lazarus"

- The image that I picked in this poem was as follows:

"Out of the ash

I rise with my red hair

And I eat men like air."

I chose this quote of imagery, out of the MANY that were in the poem, because it stirred in me. It was almost like an empowerment of women. Rising from defeat, coming back for more, not buckling under pressure, regaining life, and so on. This poem reminded me of Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman." They both spoke of being women, not inferior to men or others, and not backing down or staying down. They thrived in the pursuit of defeat and were strong individuals to look up to.



* Nellie Wong, "When I Was Growing Up"

- The image that I chose from this poem was as follows:

"... when I was growing up, I felt dirty. I thought that God made white people clean and no matter how much I bathed, I could not change, I could not shed my skin in the gray water."

I chose this section of the poem for two reasons. One, it was heart breaking to think that a little girl would long to be so much different then what she is what she was born. Forsake her race, her culture, and change just to fit in. And secondly, because it hit home. Everyone longs to fit in and be like others. I never fully realized how easier my life has been simply because I am white. I appreciate the struggles that other races go through and I long for the day when we can truly say that everyone is equal, and everyone in every part of the world will believe and act that way. I would compare this passage to the poem "Queen Anne's Lace." Both speak of whiteness in a sense of being clean and pure, and being desired and wanted.



* Lucille Clifton, "The Thirty Eighth Year"

- I chose the following imagery:

"The thirty eighth year of my life plain as bread round as a cake and ordinary woman. an ordinary woman."

I chose this piece of imagery because it was such a stark contradiction to Sojourner Truth's and Sylvia Plath's poems. They praised their role as women in the world, and empowered themselves because they were female. Lucille Clifton seems to just exist. She longs for more from her life, and doesn't think she's anything special. She's just plain, and ordinary, just a woman. Very contradictory from the other two authors. I did however find her take on life and her role as an "ordinary woman" to be interesting and easily comparable with. I sometimes look at myself as just an ordinary woman, wondering what happened to all the goals I had for myself. But that's only sometimes, most of the time I realize I'm just getting started. (That was my disclaimer for my previously depressing statement.)