The Yellow Wall-Paper
The Image:
“It makes me think of English places that you read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people.”
The part of her describing the beautiful house that she was staying at stood out to me because for it to be described in such detail was not in flow with the rest of the beginning of the story. It went for talking about her husband and her illness to talking about this beautiful house, so it perked my attention a little. The part where she talks about the gates with locks and the separate little houses made me think of my old house as a child. I grew up in an older house that was filled with a lot of separate rooms, it was not a open house like what is popular today. In our back yard we had a pool with a little shed/pool house that us kids loved to play and make it our “house” and her saying there were a bunch of little houses for people made me think of it.
Ain’t I A Woman
The Image:
“… he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.”
Not only did this part of the poem jump out at me when I read it, I absolutely love it. This was such a old “in your face” kind of moment that I wish I could do so many times after reading a text from men that is totally wrong. I am a very blunt and out spoken person and so this defiantly reminded me of all the times that I did stand up for my self and I was correct, even though this also reminded me of all those times that I opened my mouth and I wish I wouldn’t have. But all in all I love this part of the poem.
Lady Lazarus:
The Image:
“Peel off the napkin
O my enemy.
Do I terrify?--------“
This poem was a very powerful poem that almost stopped me in my tracks when I read it. Reading the whole poem gave me a vivid image of a young Jewish girl that went through the Holocaust and grew up to be this strong, powerful character. This image above stood out to me the most because it reminded me of the movie, “Enough” with Jennifer Lopez. In the movie, the women character was getting abused by her husband that she didn’t know was a powerful con-man-like guy, she took it for a while because she didn’t know of any other options and finally she decided to run away and change her identity. When she was finally sick of living in fear, even though she has changed her identity, she trained so that she would be able to fight him herself, because she knew that was the only way to really get him gone. She caught him off guard at his house by himself with the lights on and he didn’t know it was her until she turned the lights on and she was kind of throwing it back in his face like in this poem. She is saying, “peel of the napkin” and then saying do I terrify you, almost mocking the Nazi’s.
When I Was Growing Up:
The Image:
“I was dark and I believed my own darkness
In the mirror, in my soul, my own narrow vision
When I was growing up, my sisters
With fair skin got praised
For their beauty, and in the dark
I fell further, crushed between high walls.”
This image was something I could personally say for myself. This woman felt like she wasn’t good enough, nor could be as good as her sisters and so on and for a long time guiltlessly wanted to be like them. I think a lot of girls with older sisters can probably relate to this image, and if not, I know I can. I always secretly wanted to be like my sister, the girl next door cheerleader that always seemed to do the right thing, and as much as I wanted to be like her I let myself be the one that put me down and I made myself feel like I couldn’t be like her. Like the image said “I believed my own darkness”, and I really did.
The Thirty Eighth Year
The Image:
“I have dreamed dreams
For you mama
More than once.
I have wrapped me
In your skin
And made you live again.”
This image is absolutely reminded me of my grandma, that’s why it stood out to me. My mom’s mother was very close to me, my sister and my mom. My mom was her only daughter so they had a connection that no one else had with her. When she died we do things all the time for her, like she was living, to remember her, and have her still in our life. For example my grandma loved and was obsessed with humming birds and had feeders and little nick-nacks all over her house of them. For this mothers day I got my mom her very first humming bird for her to hand out her kitchen window so that in moments that grandma might not be directly on our minds, we can see a humming bird and know that she is still there. We are making her live still.
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2 comments:
I liked the quote you used from "When I Was Growing Up" and the comment you wrote about it. I have an older sister too and always secretly wanted to be like her when I was growing up. I always felt like my parents gave her more attention and she always did everything right while everything I tried to do right got me into trouble. She's my parents first child and is a whole different person than me so I had to realize that too.
I loved reading about your personal connection with the Thirty Eighth Year. That's the wonderful thing about poems, stories, and literature in general. Sometimes the best part about them is the way they can fit into your own life and make you recall memories or situation that are a part of you. I know that when my grandma died, we bought a little windchime for our back porch. Now, everytime the breeze comes through, you can hear the faint tinkle of the chime. It's the same as the bird feeders;
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