"My mistress' eyes" by: William Shakespeare

My original thought of this poem from about line 1 to line 12 all I could think was "if this was my boyfriend and he wrote this poem about me, first I would cry, then I would dump him!" The speaker basically just writes about how his girlfriends eyes aren't as bright as the sun, her lips aren't as red as corral, and black wires grow on her hair. Basically, he writes about how imperfect and flawed she is. Unlike most love poems, he does not use cliches, instead, he uses the opposite of cliches. The speaker writes a love poem to his lover, insulting her. By the end though, he redeems himself by saying "I think my love as rare/ As any she belied with false compare." Basically, the speaker is saying, I could say all these things about you that are untrue, but this wouldn't be expressing my true love and feelings. He is admitting that saying all of the normal cliches about women is unrealistic and just lies. He loves her enough to say that she is not perfect, but because of these imperfections, she is more rare than any other woman who is lied to by her lover. I find this to be slightly romantic. For a man to be able to share his true feelings and love with his own thoughts instead of the cheesy cliches is much more personal and heart felt.

"Those Winter Sundays" by: Robert Hayden

To me, this was one of the most understandable poems. I saw the central theme to be the father's hard work during the winter for the family and the families failure to thank him. This poem was more of a narrative poem rather than a figurative poem. I enjoyed it because I like reading stories that are more straight up with a definitive meaning.

I also enjoyed the plethora of imagery: "blueblack cold," "cracked hands," "fires blaze," cold splintering," and "chronic angers." All of these images brought the situation of the speaker and the father closer to me. It also caused me to have some sympathy for the father who worked hard in the extreme cold, with cracked hands until he had fulfilled his duties for his family. It also seemed that all the father did for his family was work. He never shared his love in other ways, which caused tension and indifference toward him. It seems that his work was the only way in which he knew to express his love, but nobody else realized this or thanked him.

Entry #17

"'I'm a goner. I'm mad about the Romero boy. I'm in love with him, I think'" (page 187).

Surprise Surprise! Brett is 'in love' once again. I think that when she says she's in love she is really just infatuated with a man who has caught her attention. She had never even really talked to Romero at this point and she already knew that she was in love.

Secondly, I completely agree when she calls herself a goner. She is definitely not going to recover from her addiction to having affairs. When she can't even resist a man whom she absolutely hates (Robert Cohn) then obviously she has a big problem. I once again have the urge to scream at Jake for still being in love with her and admitting it.

Entry #11

1st Person point of view-

"'Were you ever in love with her?'

'Sure.'

'For how long?'

'Off and on for hell of a long time.'

'Oh hell!' Bill said. 'I'm sorry, fella.'

'It's all right,' I said. 'I don't give a damn any more' (page 128).

Okay so this has been evident from the beginning but just in case anyone missed it this book is written in a first person point of view from Jake's view point. Okay now that we have that settled lets move on. I think that this passage shows how genuine the relationship between Jake and Bill is. Unlike his relationship with Cohn whom he often speaks badly of, Bill and Jake can have a serious conversation about their personal lives. So far, I have not picked up on Jake bed mouthing Bill or vice versa. Jake can share his true feelings about Brett with Bill, even though I believe that he might be telling a little white lie. I believe that he is still very much in love with Brett, but he is denying it even to himself. This relationship between Bill and Jake seems realistic to how a friendship would be in real life.

Entry #8

Okay so Brett/ Lady Ashley (I have no idea what all these characters have so many names!!!) is really starting to anger me! She is a very promiscuous girl. She always seems to be with another guy, even though she is engaged, but in love with Jake instead of her fiance. Confusing right?

'"Don't you think it will be a bit rough on him?'

'Why should I?

'Who do you think I went down to San Sebastian with?' (page 89).

I'm not really sure how many guys she has had during the book so far, but it seems like a lot! She even went on a vacation with one of Jake's friends. In my mind, this would be considered as betrayal, but to Jake it seems to be no big deal. He always accepts her back and expresses his love for her, but she betrays him over and over again. Her own fiance even knows of her ways, but he just acts like it is no big deal and allows her to walk all over him and any other guy whom she crosses.

Entry #12

Dynamic Character- "It was nearly three weeks before she returned. But in a sense she never returned. Not entirely, not all of her" (page 100).



At the beginning of Rat Kiley's story about Mary Anne Bell, he portrays her as a young bubbly kid. She was young when she arrived, only 17. She was in love and curious about the war and ready to learn. By the end of the story, she had changed. Her eyes were like the jungle Rat said. She was rough and no longer in love. She had become foreign to Mark Fossie and to everyone else. This was all caused by the war and what she had seen while out with the Special Forces. This all happened within the coarse of a few weeks. A young woman changed from "bubbly" and energetic to hard and fighting a war.



It is difficult to think that someone my age choose to go out and fight with a group of men. I could not even imagine going to Vietnam if I was in her position, let alone fighting in a foreign place. She was changed for good because of this and her youth would never be restored. Her character shows what war can do to someone, especially someone who is still a child themself. She was out killing people before she even had the right to vote, legally drink alcohol, legally smoke, or live on her own without an adult. It's sad to think that someone who is not even technically an adult was out fighting for our freedom. Although her story may not have been 100% true, there were many young men around the age of 18 who were fighting for our freedom. These people have been changed forever because of a war. A part of Mary Anne was taken by the war, and she would never get it back.

Entry #11

foreshadowing- "Mary Anne Bell and Mark Fossie had been sweethearts since grammar school... They were very much in love, full of dreams, and in the ordinary flow of their lives the whole scenario might well have come true" (page 90).

At the end of Rat's description about Mary Anne and Mark's relationship he gives the reader a hint about what is to come. By saying "might well have come true," he is telling the listener that in the end, their dreams will not come true. Although he does not tell exactly how their love will end he does hint at it. He leaves the listener wondering what exactly will happen to this couple whom seemed destined for forever. Will it be death, betrayal, or just the devistation of war?

He also tells the reader that war can change everything. If it weren't for war, he and his love would have ended up together. It is sad to think that if Fossie hadn't been sent to Vietnam his life could have taken a whole different path. He could have ended up with his high school sweetheart, been spared the pain and suffering of war, possibly have had kids and grandkids. One difference in his life and everything would have changed. It makes me wonder how decisions I make change my life and others.

Entry #3

Paradox, page 23- "He loved her but he hated her."

While this statement may seem contradictory, it does reveal a truth. When i first read this, I was thinking that it is impossible to love and hate a person at the same time, but then I started to ponder about it. Sometimes, a person does things that make you so angry with them and you swear that you will never talk to them again and yet you still go back. People on the outside will have their own opinions and they will think you are wrong, but for some reason, you hate this person for what they do but love them for who they are.

I believe that this is how Jimmy Cross feels about Martha. He loves the image he has of her and the way she makes him feel, but hates her for distracting him away from his work and causing him pain. This paradox is effective because every reader can relate to what he is feeling with this one statement. They know that while he is in love, he also feels a deep hate for her. In a way, it seems that he loves to hate her and hates to love her. His emotions are confused and instead of trying to work them out, he turns away from his fantasies and becomes a soldier again.