Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery

Lost

Sinking ships bellow the surface
are like the fallen soldiers.
Fallen in the line
of active duty.
Lost forever in the tides
of change in the world.
Those who are not strong enough
 get left behind.
But they don´t get a choice whether
they want to live or die.
They can never be recovered.
There may be others that
rise to take their place,
But never to be the same again.



This poem reflects Kay Ryan´s work in many ways. It is about a problem in the world that needs to be fixed. The one I wrote about was deforestation. It uses strong similes and metaphors to represent the problem. The poem also has very stark and maybe hard to understand the issue that is being disused. It also is written in the same style as Ryan with the short sentences split into short lines of the poem. 

Analysis of Kay Ryan

Poetry is a form of writing that is much more passionate and real then just writing a book. Poets need to first find something that they are passionate about and care about that they can write about. Whether is is love or war, it becomes a recurring subject they write about that they feel strongly about and this becomes their sore subject. Kay Ryan is a prominent poet with her own beliefs and passions. The core subject of Kay Ryan's poetry is that of her opinions of society and the change of civilization which she shows using symbolism.

Upon reading Kay Ryan's poetry for the first time it seems very confusing with sort words and sentences. However once you reading through it and look at it the real meaning is it is easy to see what she is really writing about. In most of these cases Ryan writes a lot about issues that she cares about. In the poem “Sharks Teeth” there is the issue of people becoming almost too civilized and not caring about the simple and the quiet anymore. Each part of the shark represents peace that is not found in the busy lives of people in this day and age and that is what Ryan is trying to get across. One of the things that is important to Ryan is being great as America and civilization which is disrupted by business of everyday. J.D. McClatchy said "Her poems are compact, exhilarating, strange affairs.” By this he means that Kay Ryan has a view that focuses on subjects that she finds important that not many write about. For example the line from “Sharks Teeth” that says, “Sometimes a bit of a tail or fin can still be sensed in park” shows how she is speaking about the quietness of simplicity that is only left inside certain places in civilization. These simple parts are shown using the symbol of the shark.

Which brings the next piece of her core subjects. Mostly to show the subject she uses great symbolism to give her intangible idea something tangible for the audience to understand it by. In “Sharks Teeth” she uses the shark, its teeth and other body parts, to get her point of simplicity of life across to the reader. This is not really a type core subject of her but it is a repeated pattern that she uses to get her point across to her readers. An example in “Sharks Teeth” is “Noise gets its zest from the small shark's-tooth-shaped fragments of rest angled in it.” where it is clear to see the symbolism used. It can also be seen in her poem “Nothing Ventured” with this example, “Nothing exists as a block

and cannot be parceled up”.  Many people have written on this and commented on it. Critic Meghan 

O’Rourke has written this of her work: “Each poem twists around and back upon its argument like a river

 retracing its path; they are didactic in spirit, but a bedrock wit supports them.” This is very  true of her

 writing that it is an argument where Ryan states her opinion and tried to get her audience to understand. 
Along with her subject matter of going back to the simple in life she also carries a great theme of 

keeping our ties with earth and nature and the consequences of that. This is the more social problems of

 her poetry. These poems are more the side of her poetry where she discuses what she sees in the world

 and how we as one race are treating it. In her work “Nothing Ventured” this point is made very clear. 

She writes, “How they'll drain the big tanks down to slime and salamanders and want thanks?” This 

line from her poem really shows her point of view and how she uses her words to tell her opinions 

about societal issues like draining lakes in this example. There are many other poems were she states 

her opinions which become most of her subject matter. Another great one is “A Certain Kind of Eden”

 where she makes this statement, “It seems like you could, but you can’t go back and pull the roots and

 runners and replant.”. In this poem of hers she is speaking about taking over the land and people

 needing to go back to original land. She wants the earth to be clean and in its best state. She cares 

about the environment and states this in many of her poems. 
 Kay Ryan is a award-winning poet who has many great poems that she has written. Many of them are

 about her opinion on many subjects. These subjects are talked about in her poems and are talked about

 using useful metaphors and similes to allow her audience to understand her point. Her subject matter 

mostly consists of her opinions on social and civilization and it influence on the world and the earth. 

So why did he write this?-Grapes of Wrath Chapters 25-30

In that last chapters and as the book was ending I began to wonder what Steinbeck's real purpose was for writing this novel about the Great Depression. During The Grapes of Wrath the story of families and the description of hardships are a main part of the story. However it wasn't toward the end of the book when I really saw what the novel was maybe written about. Towards the end of the book there are several chapters that really get into the political side of the Great Depression. Steinbeck has been known for his Marxist views but for my opinion they have been kept out of his writing, in this book anyway. There were many political and economic things that were wrong with how the Great Depression was treated and we start to see Steinbeck's views come out in characters and especially in the chapters in between the Joad's plot line. Starting in chapter twenty five when the destroying of the crop and how the people were kept from it, we start to feel and Steinbeck artfully guides us to take his side of things. The injustice described in that chapter is a stark difference from the rest of the novel because it depicts it so well and completely. “A million people hungry, needing fruit-and kerosene sprayed over the gokden mountains. And the smell of rot fills the country”(448). I believe that the whole book was used to get the reader and audience to empathize with the migrants, and then to join the cause as the injustices were described at the end of the book. I also see another angle, an angle of hope for the future. Steinbeck wrote this book in the middle of the Depression were he could still see its effects and his world. At the end of the chapters a strong image of green grass growing up after a hard winter is very hopeful feel toward the situation. “Tiny points if grass came through the earth, and in a few days the hills were pale green with the beginning year”(556). This end of the chapter is very hopeful for a new future without hardships and a new earth to live in.

Roseasharn of the Trail-Grapes of Wrath Chapters 18-24

In the chapters the family goes a lot with their arrival in California. They are unable to find any work and a goof place to live. They are short on food and the local law enforcement is not on their side. All through this the characters stay strong and fight through the obstacles and help each other out. To me one of the strongest characters is Roseasharn. Sometimes while reading it is easy to forget the pregnant girl in the back just struggling along with everyone else. She endures the hard journey and all the suffering and heartbreak while being pregnant. She can be related to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Like Mary, Roseasharn has to endure a long and trial filled journey while carrying her child. She has to face no places to stay and people all around not being kind. Mar is a symbol of strength to many women in the world and I think Roseasharn embodies that same strength. She comes across very clean and virtuous. “ 'I like dancin', squar' dancin'.' And she added virtuously, 'I never done that other kind' ”(396). Here the word virtuously is even used to describe her actions, making the image stonger. “Rose fo Sharon sat down heavily on a box and regarded her wedding shoes, black patent eather and tailored black bows. She wiped the toes with her finger and wiped her finger on the inside of her skirt. Leaning down put pressure on her growing abdomen. She sat up straight and touched herself with exploring fingers, and she smiled a little as she did it”(395). Her it is seen that she is happy with her decision to marry and to become pregnant. Like Mary she accepts her role on the journey and what she must do, but she never looses sight of what is important to her.

Roadkill-Grapes of Wrath Chapters 11-18

It seems to be a reoccurring thing in this book so far that animals wander to the highway and either get killed or an attempt is made to kill them. It was first done with the turtle who tried to cross the highway in an earlier chapter of the book. The driver deliberately tried to run over the turtle as it was trying to cross the road. In Chapter 13 the Joad family dog wanders into the highway as the family is stopped at a gas station. It goes into the road, route 66, and there gets run over quite grotesquely. “The big car slowed for a moment and faces looked back, and then it gathered greater speed and disappeared. And the dog, a blot of blood and tangled, burst intestines, kicked slowly in the road”(166). The scene where the dog dies is very distinct because it is the start of deaths in the family as Grampa, the dog, and soon to follow, Granma. What is more prominent to me is the fact that the drivers of these cars don't care about what they hit on this trip. The drives of that car didn't even stop after they hit the dog. What drives these people is to find a new life and nothing stands in their way. Later on the is a scene where a cat in the road almost gets run over only this time it is deliberate. The driver sees the cat and swerves to hit it. The cat makes it out of the way, but it still makes me wonder. What is driving these people. Two animals have had an attempt to kill them on purpose. The people traveling to a new life have forgotten all else and gone on. For the kids who saw the death for the first time it is a shock. “...he rolled over quickly and vomited down the side of the truck. When he sat up his eyes were watery and his nose was running. 'It ain't like killin' pigs', he said in explanation”(168). The kids have to get used to this new way of life and this just shows a part of whats to come.

Spring Break Nonsense

When my spring break plan was down on paper and being discussed it seemed a lot more fun and exciting. Touring the east coast for colleges and hanging out with cool people and seeing the sites. It didn't really fill my expectations for it.

Friday mourning when we left it was down pouring. It took us two days to get to Boston Massachusetts and when we got there it was busy and traffic jams and tons of people everywhere. And of course my dad had to run around to every place he went to when he was there and that would have been fine but we didn't just visit his old houses and offices and other things. We were at this one grocery store for about half and hour because my dad remembered going there are looking to buy something, but he couldn't remember what it was he was buying. So anyway after that we checked in to our hotel. On Monday we visited Wellesley which is a beautiful campus and everyone was so nice there. I met up with some people and we all went to dinner and it was really fun. The cool thing for me was that the people weren’t just from Wellesley they were also from Harvard and MIT and I got to talk to people from everywhere. In Tuesday we went to Tufts which I didn't really like as much but it was still a very nice school. And later that day we stopped by Brandeis for a quick info session, which I have come to dislike a little bit. Wednesday was spent driving down to Maryland. It was much nicer laer in the week which made it a little bit easier to be walking outside for a couple hours. We went to John's Hopkins which was a super nice campus and I would love to be there. On Thursday my dad had me visit the Air National guard for an interview just in case I was interested but I think that he wants me to do it more than I do. On our way back home we stopped at Washington College in Delaware. I really liked that school as well. I basically liked one college from each state. Driving back I got to drive over the Chesapeake Bay bridge which was pretty cool for me. We got back Saturday afternoon.

Besides running around, sleeping, and eating subway for every meal, we got some reading in. I read Grapes of Wrath, of course, but I also spent some time re-reading the Hunger Games books for which I recently saw the movie for. Always great books and I recommend them. And that it what I did over spring break.

This Land is Your Land-Grapes of Wrath Chapters 1-10

In the book The Grapes of Wrath the land plays a big part in the story. The land is used by the author, Steinbeck, to tell the passing of time, describe the time period, and set the mood for scenes and passages in the story. The main family, the Joads, define themselves with the land by relating the land to their history. Their land held for them their family so in a way, the Joad family was a part of the land. hat plow, that harrow, remember in the war we planted mustard? Remember a fella wanted us to put in that rubber bush they call guayule? Get rich, he said¨(111). In this quote the Joad family is sort of remembering all the good times with their farm before they leave for California. All of their history and memories are linked with this land and they are very connected to it. Leaving is very hard for them. ¨But you can start. Only a baby can start. You and me-why, we´re all that´s been The anger of a moment, the thousand pictures, that´s us. This land, this red land, is us; and the flood years and the dust years and the drought years are us. We can´t start again¨(113). This quote really solidifies for the audiences understanding as the family states it. This family is the land were they have lived, fought, and grown. The land is the center of the story and the characters. It is like the Native Americans that have lived on the American land then before any other group of people. They were and are very much a part of the land. They relay on it and it is their history and their livelihood. They were forced to leave and it really caused problems for everyone. Writers such as Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman have also grasped onto this idea. They put land above all of their other topics knowing that it is the most important things in life that we depend on. Since Native Americans to American writers to the Joad family, the land is an important part of everyone´s life and like the Joads, becomes part of the history and life.

The End?-Hamlet Act 5

Out of all the themes that are present in this book the one that is the theme of Madness. Obviously it is mentioned several times in the play and it is acted by the characters whether by choice or by circumstances. These are the obvious instances of madness. Ophelia becoming crazy after her fathers death and Hamlet and his actions of madness and deliberate madness are just some of them. However there are many instances were I got an underlying feeling of madness from the writing. Especially in the fifth act there was a ruched and crazy feeling. I felt like he last scene was madness. There are people dying all over the place and fighting and yelling and I felt everyone had gotten a touch it at the end. The whole plot to kill Hamlet did not go as to plan and everything felt like a tower collapsing. In one moment there was sword fight going on between Laertes and Hamlet and I'm reading one word lines, and in the next moment the queen, king, Laertes, and Hamlet are all dead. But I don't just think that it is a cool way to end an action driven tragedy. I think that it is part of Shakespeare's genius. As we read on throughout the act we feel a sense of urgency and madness ourselves. The change in dialogue exchanges and action sequences with everything going on at once, we feel as though it is harder and harder to understand and we start to loose focus on what is going on. The madness came through in the play and we got a taste of it as well. That to me makes the theme that much understandable.

"To be or Not to Be" Crazy-Hamlet Act 4

As the play progresses we start to loose the line between Hamlets play acting and actual madness. We start to see some actions that actually show forced and acted madness. But in other situations, Hamlet says and does things that lead us to question whether he is still acting. Some people we can see that Hamlet is really play acting. When he talks to Polonius we can see right away that nothing he says really makes sense and it feels very forced. However it feels the opposite when we see him talking to Ophelia. Nothing he does or says makes sense and the things he does seem out of his character from the first three acts. We start to see a real conflict within his character especially in this act. We see him want to keep being crazy to follow out with the plan, but we see him start to loose it to desperation. I think Hamlet is starting to get mixed up in too many emotions. His want for revenge for his father, his love for Ophelia, his need to act, and his want to keep his family together. Between finding a way to kill his uncle and avenge his father and keeping his relationships alive, Hamlet is stuck between acting and real life.

Exstacy and Madness-Hamlet Act 3

Act three is the climax of the play as all of Shakespeare's play are written. In act three the is the first death, the death of Polonius. Polonius is killed while he is trying to listen to the conversation between Hamlet and his mother. The theme of death has been put on hold since before the play started as the king was killed before the first act. In this play I think the themes of madness and death overlap each other. As the madness increases, the deaths increase. The madness and death started with the Claudius's madness to become king which ended in death. The madness of war began before as well which resulted in more death, even the death of King Fortinbras. As we watch Hamlet throughout the last three scenes we see him pretending to be mad to fool everyone. But in act three as I was reading I saw less and less of Hamlet trying to deceive and more of Hamlet jut being crazy and me not understanding his intentions. With his killing of Polonius I saw that as an act of Hamlet, not an act of him trying to be crazy. Of what I know of him from the first act he doesn't strike me as a type to kill someone even if they were caught listening into royal conversations.

The Games of the Mind-Hamlet Act 2

Though it does not seem like Hamlet is really that connected to Ophelia from the first act, she is the first one to see him as his mad self. It is probably the most odd scene yet in the play the description of Hamlet entrance to Ophelia's room and doing what it was that he did. Which was to stand there saying nothing while holding her wrist and then walking out he door while keeping his eyes back at her. As the theme of madness starts to play its role in the play, I think that it was very smart for Hamlet to start with Ophelia to begin his reputation as crazy. First, Ophelia's father is Polonius which is right hand to the king and also someone who is likely to tell the king right away whatever his daughter would tell him. Second, if Ophelia believes, than everyone will believe. Doing this also gives some insight to Hamlet. We know that he was told by the Ghost of his father that he must get revenge without putting his own soul at stake. We see that Hamlet is actually very smart in his choices and he knows what he is doing especially the choice to become mad. As Act 2 unfolds we see Hamlet's mind in a new way as he becomes crazy, or smart.

"Father" versus Son-Hamlet Act 1

The first act in Hamlet really does it's job of setting up the characters and their relationships. One of themes of this book is family relationships. We can see right from the get go that Hamlet is a person who cares about his family and will stand by them. The play opens up with his father having just died and his uncle has married his mother to become king. Almost immediately it is seen the distaste hamlet and his uncle have for each other. His uncle thinks he is a pussy and is grieving for his father too long even though its only been two months. Hamlet thinks his uncle is a lying thieving man who should not be king or married to his mother. It really sets the stage for many more disagreements in the future. On page fourteen King Claudius tells Hamlet that he is disgracing his father by mourning and that he is disgracing himself and heaven. This will give way to Hamlet having bad feelings toward Claudius in the future. Hamlet later empresses in his soliloquy how he feels about his uncle. It also here introduces the theme of imbalance throughout the play. Hamlet describes the situation as “things rank and gross” on page fifteen. Hamlet puts out the themes for play here and relationships.

What I'd do if I could

Everybody has one of those crazy dreams about something that they'd wish they could do in their life. Whether it was inspired by watching a great film with stars all with the talent or jealous rivalry with a sibling, everyone has some talent they wish they could share or have the time to learn. Mine of course is something I can't really do at all so naturally it is something I would want to do. I wish that I could break dance. I know it seems like everyone picks that one, but it is something that I wish I could do. If I were to find my self in a tight situation and on a dance floor, I would have to worry about making myself look like a floor because everyone would be too astonished by my skills. So if I had the time that is what I would do with it.