America/In the Baggage Room at Greyhound

In "America" by Allen Ginsberg, the reader once again sees the recurring theme of how much pressure society puts on individuals to be just like everyone else. But beside this being his main theme throughout most of his poems, another interesting aspect of Ginsberg's writing is his style of writing. Ginsberg's words seem to come alive and are quite vivid. Much of how Ginsberg writes is by heart and very personal, as the reader can see in America. For example, "I don't feel good don't bother me. I won't write my poem till I'm in my right mind.", for Ginsberg to include something like this in a poem is very unique. Ginsberg explains and shows the reader how passionate he is and how he will only write "till I'm in my right mind".
Looking at "America" as a whole the reader can sense a strong resentment against American culture and its values. For example Ginsberg says, "America you don're really want to go to war.
America it's them bad Russians.", here the reader clearly sees how Ginsberg is completely against what America as a government and society is doing. Ginsberg then says "it's them bad Russians", which is likely referring to America as turning into somewhat of a communist country as well. This is Ginsberg main message, he is preaching anticommunism and how conformity in these countries will ultimately be their downfall and how he doesn't want America to fall down this path. Another example of how Ginsberg doesn't want to be pushed into someone he's not is, "I'm sick of your insane demands.". Here Ginsberg refuses to conform into somebody he just refuses to be.
This poem by Ginsberg could be seen as somewhat of a sermon to the American people, almost like it is his duty to speak his word. I personally believe there were lots of people just like Ginsberg in his time they just failed to speak up. "America I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel", here Ginsberg shows that he was tired of keeping his homosexuality a secret. Ginsberg's main message was to show everyone that you can keep your beliefs or way of life and still be proud to be an American. Ginsberg showed that he didn't have to compromise his own beliefs for the sake of society not accepting him as an American and wanted others to do the same.


In Ginsberg's poem "In the Baggage Room at Greyhound", the theme is not so present as in past Ginsberg poems. However it still is a classic Ginsberg poem. He has written it just like Howl. Ginsberg seems to be just ranting about random things yet he shows organization by putting it into different sections. Also another point of this poem, is how vivid and clear his words are for the reader. For most reader's, chances are they have never been in a baggage room at Greyhound, maybe at an airport. And so Ginsberg really shows the reader what he sees, for example,"A swarm of baggage sitting by the counter as the trans-continental bus pulls in.". Any average reader could easily picture this. Ginsberg also mentions a lot of different people in this poem, whether they had an affect on his life, I'm not really sure, yet they must have done something that day to catch his eye.
For example he talks about Spade who unloads buses and reminded him of an angel. "Yet Spade reminded me of Angel, unloading a bus, dressed in blue overalls black face official Angel's work- man cap". Ginsberg remember lots of the details when the baggage room was full of people busying around, "or the millions of weeping relatives surrounding the buses waving goodbye,nor other millions of the poor rushing around from city to city to see their loved ones," now millions of people would be an exaggeration however there must of been hundreds of people there. This statement also clarifies a bit of what Ginsberg's purpose behind this poem may be. He talks about the weeping relatives and the people rushing to see their loved ones, could mean that Ginsberg shows a bit of loneliness. Just as he does in past poems, Ginsberg still feels like he doesn't quite fit right in with everyone else. And if this is true that is why Ginsberg had time to watch and critique what people were doing and pay attention to so much detail as well.

Howl/A Supermarket in California-by Allen Ginsberg

Howl by Allen Ginsberg to the average reader seems like a bunch of random rants yet has three strong organized sections. The three sections almost seem to be very long run-on sentences, if somebody wants to picture it like that. The first section is by far the longest and seems to be the most important.

Ginsberg starts off by stating, "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness", most likely meaning, people that may have been close to him and meant a great deal to him, have left him. Throughout the rest of the first section the reader can see a little bit of what Ginsberg means by "the best minds of my generation destroyed". Ginsberg never really states what happens to these people however he may be implying that socially, sexually, or religiously they didn't meet the standards at that time in America.

Ginsberg also has very, strong imagery, and very vivid details of his sexual encounters and his experiences throughout his younger years. For example, "Who let themselves be fucked in the ass by saintly motorcyclists, and screamed with joy", this statement itself really throws the idea of homosexuality into the readers face, and makes the reader place a judgment on the narrator whether positive or negative. Ginsberg doesn't only talk about sex but really his drug craze as well. "Dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix", here it seems the narrator needs to find a way to escape. He is confronted by society for being different then everyone else, and society is pressuring too much for him to handle sober. Whether the drugs, sex, or whatever else he needs to escape this pressure. However I also think Ginsberg is showing and expressing his troubles with his own sexuality and acceptance with society. The first section asks who the problem is and immediately in the second section Ginsberg expresses "Moloch" is the problem. Moloch is a god to whom children were sacrificed, which overall is not a very pleasant god to be around. Ginsberg shows in the second section how he was trapped and couldn't go anywhere. For Ginsberg this god is the society pressuring, and government regulations, all these issues were so overbearing as if a god "Moloch" was holding him from moving forward.
As far as the last section goes, I couldn't really tell, but maybe Ginsberg has become content with where he stands in society and with the repeated phrase,"I'm with you in Rockland", maybe somebody is there that can help him or save him from the anger and troubles he has had to deal with.

In a Supermarket in California, Ginsberg basically is literally in a supermarket in California and describes who and what he sees. The narrator finds Walt Whitman and Federico Garcia Lorca in the grocery store. However much emphasis is put on Walt Whitman, and what he thinks during his time at the supermarket, "I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys." It seems as if the narrator wants to see the world through the eyes of Walt. Ginsberg goes on to say, "Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes!--and you, Garcia Lorca, what were you doing down by the watermelons?", basically explaining where everyone fits in the grocery store or where they should be based on their social status or being. Here Ginsberg could be showing he doesn't know where he fits in the "Supermarket" or society itself. Ginsberg is lonely, a homosexual and not a lot of people can accept that, and he doesn't know himself which aisle he fits into.
Another interesting point about Walt Whitman is how old fashion he is, and how much Ginsberg is trying to follow in his footsteps but is just about to give up. The reader can see how much Ginsberg or the narrator wants to be accepted and how hard he may have tried yet it seems the "The doors close in an hour." for Ginsberg and he really doesn't know how to face it. Great poem overall full of lots of meaning.

Three Words:

odyssey-a long series of wanderings or adventures, esp. when filled with notable experiences, hardships, etc.

grubber-a dull, plodding person; drudge.

purgatoried-a condition or place in which the souls of those dying penitent are purified from venial sins, or undergo the temporal punishment that, after the guilt of mortal sin has been remitted, still remains to be endured by the sinner.

The Glass Menagerie-Scene 7/The Catastrophe of Success

In scene seven of the Glass Menagerie, the reader finally sees the interaction of Jim and Laura. This is probably the most interaction of the play and probably the reason Williams placed it at the end of the play. The reader also sees many different symbols that Williams throws into the play, to lift the spirit of the play.
For example, take the glass unicorn, which easily could represent Laura. Meaning, the reader sees a unicorn as different and unique, just as Laura is. A unicorn also is part of a fantasy world, and Laura can almost be seen as an fantasy oddity. "Hold him over the light, he loves the light I You see how the light shines through him?" this quote alone shows how involved she was with these glass animals. She talked to them and for Laura they were alive. Another important point, is when Jim breaks the unicorn. Jim dances with Laura and kisses her, yet now the unicorn is broken and looks like all the other horses. When Jim dances and kisses Laura, Laura also feels like she is also like every other girl she feels special. Now it is just like all the other horses.
JIM: It's lost its -
LAURA: Horn!
It doesn't matter. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise.
Laura has finally come out of her shell and lived life a little, its as if she had an awakening of some sort. The reader also learns more about Jim and his ambitions and what he wants out of life. Jim talks about his success and how good things were for him in high-school, and in doing so the audience realizes that Jim is not much different from the Wingfields. The only difference in Jim he has finally gotten over the past and tried to moved on. "My signature isn't worth very much tight now", here Laura wants Jims signature and he would love to give it to her, but the point is he is content with it not being worth much anymore. Jim still feels disapointed at his current status of society. Jim spilling all this information to Laura, could simply be a sign of insecurity.
The whole play boils down to the characters escaping from what the truth really is. Laura has her collection of glass animals,and imagines the world more through her imagination, rather than really exploring. Amanda constantly speaks of her youth, Jim wants his speech class to get a better job, and Tom watches movies to escape from reality and explore.

In the essay "The Catastrophe of Success", Williams discusses his main overview of life and what the ups and downs of his life have been. The title is a literal meaning of the theme in Williams essay. Williams basically uses this essay to portray what his life meant really before his succes and after. Take for example the first line of the essay,"This winter marked the third anniversary of the Chicago opening of “The Glass Menagerie,” an event that terminated one part of my life and began another about as different in all external circumstances as could well be imagined." Here Williams shows that his popularity throughout the world has grown exponentially. One of his most famous playwrights "The Glass Menagerie", basically shot Williams into stardom. He goes on to say that this basically meant he was living hotel to hotel and traveling all around the country.

Williams also explains the hardship he had to go through in order for him to get to this point in his life. "The sort of life that I had had previous to this popular success was one that required endurance, a life of clawing and scratching along a sheer surface and holding on tight with raw fingers to every inch of rock higher than the one caught hold of before, but it was a good life because it was the sort of life for which the human organism is created." Here Williams talks about how much he loved his ordinary life and how humans were meant to live just a normal life, without all the extra attachments. Williams goes on to say that not only did this different lifestyle change his day to day activities but changed his actions and the way he thought and acted around people. "I soon found myself becoming indifferent to people.", luckily Williams has realized what he is doing to people, some never face the facts. Williams goes on to say he lost friends that he use to call daily and now he doesn't even bother. Throughout the whole essay Williams basically explains what changed and how he really didn't want to change but he almost felt like he didn't have much of a choice.

In conclusion, the end of the essay shows a more relaxed Williams, who is content with what his success has given him, ironically. By the end of the essay Williams has basically had an Awakening, and realizes he needs to seize the day. He has lost precious time in just writing, and the reader has lost time reading,"time is short and it doesn’t return again".

The Glass Menagerie-Scenes 1-6

In Tennesse Williams', The Glass Menagerie, the reader first has the Winfield apartment described. The apartment seems to be small and in an urban area. The fire escape and narrow alleys are constantly noted in Williams stage directions. As far as I could see this could come from the fact Tom may be trying to escape the home he is use to, as explained later on. A picture of their father also hangs on the wall, almost like he still watches over them. The audience can also see a collection of Laura's "glass menagerie". Once the play begins, Tom shows himself, and establishes himself as the narrator of the play. The audience learns more of when the play takes place, -the 1930's. Tom describes that during this era war was in Spain, and a new kind of America was unfolding. In other words America was falling apart. "Here there were disturbances of labour, sometimes pretty violent, in otherwise peaceful cities such as Chicago, Cleveland, Saint Louis", the audience gets a direct feel of what the 30's were like. There was lack of constant work, sometimes violence, yet in cities that seemed to offer so much more. At the beginning of the play, Tom also describes the characters, his mother Amanda, his sister Laura, a gentlemen caller and his father.
In the first scene, the audience immediatly feels the tension between Amanda and Tom. Amanda constantly telling him to do something a certain way, whether how to eat a certain way,"..human beings are suppose to chew their food before they swallow it down" or about his attitude, "Temperament like a Metropolitan star". Amanda also begins to tell a story about her past and how she had plenty-gentlemen callers, wanting the same for Laura. This is a reccurring theme throughout the play, Amanda constantly returning to the past. The audience also learns about Laura and how she is "crippled", a very strong word, in which Amanda did not want anybody to say about her daughter. This alone shows Amanada's denial about her own daughter's physical state. Amanda wants a lot for her daughter and wants Laura to find love and happiness, yet Laura is constantly sick and almost lifeless. In scence two the reader begins to see a mother really questioning her daughter's own abilites and her future. In this scence Amanda finds out Laura never went to her classes and dropped out of college. Instead Laura would walk around the park. Once again the audience feels the lack of influence Amanda has on her daughter yet, Amanda insists she is right every time."So what are we going to do the rest of our lives? Stay home and watch parades go by?", here the audience can see Amanda strictness towards laura. Amanda never really questions herself as a Mother, and neither of the children do either. Amanda needs to look and step back a bit and let her children enjoy themselves a bit. The reader begins to feel utter annoyance from the way a mother could bash her children literally every time they sit at the dinner table.
Yet even though Amanda and Laura have tension, Tom and Laura get along very well and are very good friends. That being said, the audience can easily reconginze the real tension is between Amanda and Tom. The whole third scence is dedicated to this fight about a book and how Amanda , brought the book back to the library, and the argument only escaltes from there. Also Amanda begins to bash Tom on how he constantly goes to the movies, and doesn't directly say it but implies, he is living in somewhat of a fantasy world."Nobody goes to the movies night after night. Nobody in their right mind goes to the movies as often as you pretend to." Tom ends the fight with saying he is going to the movies aas well as breaking some of Laura's glass menagerie. This breaking of menagerie could symbolize that nobody is perfect and that Tom wants to break away from the household. Scene four basically shows how Tom and Amanda get over their fight. In the beginning the audience sees more interaction between Tom and Laura, solidifying their friendship. Once Amanda and Tom come to terms, the audience finally sees a mother's heart come forth. She cares for Tom and doesn't want him to abandon the family, for example, "...but it's not good for you. We have to do all that we can to build ourselves up." The reader finally sees them come to terms with eachother and what they want form eachother. Scence five shows Tom doing a favor for his mother in which he wants him to bring someone home for Laura. Tom ends up bringing a man from his work in which, Laura liked previously in high-school. Tom may have done this on purpose, he knew his friend would not remember Laura, but Laura would. In Tom's mind Laura is too shy and innocent to approach his friend. Tom wants his sister to stay innocent and young, yet his mother wants her to grow-up and find a man. In this case Tom plays the father figure, almost everytime he sees his father's picture, or at least he feels abligated to do so. In scene six Laura finds out who Tom plans on bringing, and begins to be shaken up. "All I know is I couldn't sit at the table it it was him!", the audience sees Laura hidding herself from reality once again, and her mother just denying the fact. Once Tom brings Jim home, Laura begins to feel sick and ends up sitting out of dinner.
In these first six scences of The Glass Menagerie, the reader sees almsot a huge metaphor of the lives the wingfield's live and how American society was during the 30's. For example Laura is crippled, this could symbolize immigrants coming over and really not knowing what to do with their lives. The tension between Amanda and Tom could be the horrible times American were facing, the Great Depression.

The Flowers

Alice Walker's short story "The Flowers", at first seems playful and innocent, then transitions to a harsh realization of what life may have to offer. Immediately the reader feels the playfulness and cheerfulness of the little girl right off the bat. For example, "It seemed to Myop as she skipped lightly from her hen house to the pigpen to smokehouse that the days had never been as beautiful as these."(line 1), Walker puts great influence in her description of the playfulness Myop has to offer. Walker's vivid imagery locks the reader in from the first line. The first four paragraphs basically explain and show how much Myop enjoys her peaceful summer. "She felt light and good in the warm sun"(line 6), again Walker uses this peaceful and joyful vivid words to capture the innocence of this girl. However by the fourth paragraph the reader begins to see a more weary girl and skeptical of what she is doing. "She had often been as far before, but the strangeness of land made it not as pleasant as her usual haunts"(line 19), here is the real first sense that Myop may not be so innocent after all.
At this point in the story, Myop's attitude changes as well as Walker's use of innocent words. Walker begans to use workds like, "gloomy", "damp" and "strangeness" to present the fact thatt something is just not right. As the story moves on Myop finds herself "lodged in the broken ridge"(line 23). This is not completly the climax of the story yet this is a pause where the reader sees Myop's playfulness come to a halt, and when Myop ultimately stumbles upon the remains of a man. Walker's description of the man and his surrounding could suggest that lynching was the cause of his death. "Large white teeth, all of them cracked or broken...it was the rotted remains of a noose"(line 28), here Walker vividly depicts what Myop has found.
The reader gets a real sense of sorrow for this poor innocent girl. Myop may have been minding her own buisness and doing what she always had, but then,"Myop laid down her flowers"(line 34), showing a sign of releasing her inoccence. Walker not only shows how Myop gives up her innocence but how society had destroyed it. Walker uses the final line,"And the summer was over", to show the dramatic impact of death or racism can have on a child, and shows how society could care less.

Mending Wall

In Mending Wall by Robert Frost, the reader sees an overall picture of a wall separating two neighbors and their properties. Both neighbors have opposing views on this wall. Mending Wall is a fairly easy poem to read and straight-forward, almost as if it more of a short-story. Its great though. For example, it is real easy for the reader to picture the two men "mending" the wall. The first ten lines are full of very vivid words, even though the whole poem is filled with imagery. For example, "frozen-ground" (line 2),"upper boulders in the sun"(line 3),"yelping dogs"(line 8), point very descriptive pictures in the reader's mind.
Once the narrartor begins talking about the labor of the wall, the reader can fully understand how labor intensive it is. "But at spring mending-time we find them"(line 10), them being the gaps to repair. This quote is at least for the reader, the main starting point of the poem. Now, both men start the tedious "mending" of the wall. The reader really can almost feel how hard it is to fix this wall, due to the vivid description Frost displays. However the reader also begins to see how this wall is really the only thing that these men have in common. The wall brings both of them together at a certain time, leading them to work toghther to fix the problem they face. This coming togther of the neighbors brings us the the most emphasized line of the poem, "Good fences make good neighbors"(line 27). As the poem moves on and the men continue to work on the wall, the reader starts to see the differences in them. "We keep the wall between us as we go"(line 14), the reader can see here there is litterally a wall between them however mentally they think and want different. Another quote to exemplify this difference between the men is "He is all pine and I am apple orchard."(line 24) The poem displays a real sense of segregation, and could be contrasting the idea of segration in society.
In conclusion this poem weighs heavily on the differences of these two mens. One wants the "wall" down while the other sees it as, "Good fences make good neighbors". The narrator is and will not be convinced of this. The narrator sees the wall as a dark-age mentality.


3 Defintions:

Abreast:side by side; beside each other in a line
Whithered:to shrivel; fade; decay: Poem-Birches-line 14
trodden:to set down the foot or feet in walking; step; walk.-Poem-The road not taken-line 11

Photograph of my Father

In Raymond Carver's photography of my father, we see a son looking at his father, and basically describing his father's body language and how it relates to their past relationship. In the first stanza he describes his father's overall look and how his father seems insecure and embarrassed. Carver uses the word "embarrassed"(line 2)and then in the next line uses "sheepish"(line 3), to show how his father was bashful and may have done something wrong to either Carver or his family.

In the second stanza, Carver begins by describing how his father is leaning on a car.Carver shows the reader how he doesn't like the way his father presents himself. His father shows lack of confidence and vulnerability in the picture. Carver seems to be quite disappointed at his father. Carver then goes on to say, "He would like to pose bluff and hearty for his posterity". (line 8) Carver seems here to defiantly show his anger, and wants his father to show his more confident, successful side. However Carver could be reflecting upon his own life. Maybe Carver is the one who lacks success and confidence and sees more of himself in the picture than he wants to. The last line of the second stanza says,"All his life my father wanted to be bold",(line 10) here it seems his father constantly tried to do something with his life but for some reason failed miserably. Once again Carver could be talking about himself and how he wants to lead a more bold, fulfilling life. Overall the second stanza shows the reader Carver's utter disappointment in his father, and this could be from the fact that he sees himself acting more and more like his father.

Even when Carver shows this regret and dislike in his father's attitude, we see in the third stanza Carver's more mellow side towards his father. Carver begins to show love and gratitude towards his father. For example when Carver says, "But the eyes give him away"(line 11), the reader sees a more innocent, loving and caring side of Carver. He sees the love his father gave him, and the effort his dad gave. His father's eyes are his heart, and his passion for his family. In the last stanza, Carver goes on to say,"Father, I love you, yet how can I say thank you, I who can't hold my liquor either".(line 14) Finally Carver sees that even his father a role model to him, is a human. His father may have made mistakes that could have hurt Carver, and his dad feels embarrassed. His father is human just like everyone else, things happen and you have to deal with them. Carver realizes he himself, "can't hold liquor either"(line 14), and seems content with his father and himself.

Letter of Introduction

Most of my high school experience with reading and writing was in depth at least for the last two years of high school. We worked on lots of contemporary poems and short stories, as far as writing we went we worked on some different types of writing, and what it means to have strong diction and syntax, and how to present this to a reader. My favorite type of writing we did in high school was when we were assigned to write a satirical paper. For some reason just the idea and reading of satirical work sticks in my head more then anything. I ended up writing a satirical paper on immigration and how to get rid of the illegal immigrants. The most famous work we analyzed as far as satirical works went was Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal". Poems defiantly are not my stronghold and I dislike most of them, not saying they don't have a lot of meaning behind them but as far as poems go I would rather read lyrics to song. Poems have always been hard for me to analyze. However there are poems I still like such as Robert Frost poems, "Mending Wall" is a good one. My favorite line being "Good fences make good neighbors". Such a simple put line with lots of meaning.

In college I haven't really gone that in depth as far as writing goes. I am a Mechanical Engineering Major and most of what we write are lab reports so more visual representations graphs and charts are more my strong hold. However English 103 was still one of my favorite classes here at Clemson so far. I had Chase Hart, also one of the best English professors. English 103 taught me really how to write and persuade people, and at first I really didn't like it but I caught on to it and ended up really enjoying persuasive writing. I even persuaded Chase for an A what more do you want. We also did lots of blogging in the lab we had for 103. Most of the works we read in 103 were in the book and were mainly persuasive essays not major works so I wouldn't be able to name any. But other than 103 I have not taken any other English classes on a College level. I am also taking English 314 which is technical writing.

As far as going beyond the classroom and writing I haven't really ever experimented with it, I was always involved in school and soccer, I'm not saying I never had time just never interested me. I had a website I made back in highschool in html format but I haven't worked with html for a couple of years now. I mainly stick to emailing and facebook chat to keep in touch with people. I feel like this writing is defiantly non-fiction I feel what I write at least is real, to some people they can use it to manipulate the truth a bit. I am taking this class to finish my general education requirements, I should have taken it earlier but I wasn't sure what I still needed.

Clemson University
Learning, studying, partying,
all part of college life. All are
just as important as the next.
College molds you into you
who will be for the next step.
Life is a indeterminate, things
we will come and go and challenges
arise. College brings you to the next
level, and beyond, it's all apart of college life.