Thanks for finding your way to this blog. As you know, you've been asked to compare and contrast two of the works (poems and/or short stories) we've examined in class in Unit One. Choose a focus question from these two options:
1. With the rise of Modernism, we see a heightening of social criticism in art. Identify the social criticism offered in two works, compare and contrast the ways it is expressed, and evaluate the effectiveness of the writers' techniques. Please offer quotations in support of your assertions.
2. Modernism strives to reproduce in art the confusing, disorienting conditions of modern life. Compare and contrast the ways that these conditions are reproduced in two works, and evaluate the effectiveness of the writers' techniques. Please offer quotations in support of your assertions.
Good luck! And don't forget to respond to someone else's post (2-3 lines)!
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"The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock-by:T.S. Eliot"- is a poem based from the writer expressing his own opinions about his dull, boring lifestyle due to his lack of confidence and optimism for meeting new people, especially women. "Let us go then, you and I"- (first stanza after epigraph on page 75) the first stanza explains how he is telling to himself, to be optimistic about making a change in his social life, which involves being in a sexual relationship. He is afraid of being rejected from asking the attracted women, to become more than just friends. ”To wonder, “Do I dare?” and “Do I dare?” (Page 76 stanza 3 for first paragraph. Eliot. T.S. The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock)- confuses and questions the readers and himself about how he should present himself towards the woman that he wishes to be his wife. It leads him to insecurity about his appearance of his bald spot from the middle of his head. This poem by J.Alfred Prufrock explains how modernism affects our behaviour from our individuality towards him/herself or presented towards others in our modern society.
ReplyDeleteThe second poem- “The Covergence of the Twain-by:Thomas Hardy”- reflects the poem about “The Titanic”, which drastically affected the tragedy and loss of the famous gigantic ship. “And as the smart ship grew In statue, grace, and hue, In shadowy silent distance grew the Ice berg too.”(stanza 8) The poet used imagery and rhyming scheme to describe the appearance of the devastating incident from how the incident occurred. “Alien they seemed to be; No mortal eye could see The intimate welding of their later history.”( stanza nine. Hardy, T. “The Covergence of the Twain”) The poem is connected to modernism because it involves hearing the disappointing truth about the greatest ship being sunk into the great oceans for a long history.
"The Fly" by Katherine Mansfield and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot are modern literature pieces that can best be understood as social criticism. Both protagonists are realizing that their golden days are behind them and they have a sense of unfulfillment. "The Fly" expresses the anguish and sadness associated with this stage of our life through the form of a discontinuous narrative, whereas "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" does this in a more poetic manner. Modern literature tends to have unusual connective patterns missing and at times it seems riddling. Both pieces are uneasily understood due to the unpredictable nature and the interpretation of multiple narrative points of view. The mild depression depicted by the respective protagonists in the stories is conveyed through literary devices. In "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", an allusion is made to culture, "In the room the women come and go talking of Michalangelo." This line describes a social setting where Prufrock fails to act upon the presence of women; therefore he’s portrayed as an anti-hero. In "The Fly", a metaphor is used in the form of a fly to show how regardless of how much the protagonist has accomplished there will nevertheless be a sense of unfulfillment due to his son's death. In conclusion, social criticism is efficiently portrayed in both works and the writers’ style and viewpoints offered conveys the central ideas effectively.
ReplyDeleteThe Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock I and Spring Song
ReplyDeleteThe poem “Spring Song” expresses different meanings depending on how you read the poem due the way it’s formatted. If you read the poem left to right it continuously repeats words and stutterers as if it’s from frustration of the frogs piping. For example: “The Stone it splashed splashed a big slash and the piping and the sounds of the frogs the frogs piping stopped.” While reading the poem left to right it also expresses the poem to be more confusing and ridiculous to read.
Another way you can read the poem is Left down/ Right down, which expresses the poem in a crueller manner. Reading the poem this way focuses on the person in the poem in a raw format.
Appose to reading it left to right, it brings appears to be ridiculous and humorous because of the format of the text. For example: “I picked up the stone and threw it into the pond. The stone splashed and the piping of the frogs stopped.” Compared to “I picked up I could not see a stone any frogs and threw it I threw a stone into the pond into the pond.”
The poem "The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufock" expresses time and self confidence throughout the whole poem. For example in the third stanza time is repeated about 8 times in one stanza to indicate importance of time. An example of self confidence is, "I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me." Why would the writer say they hear mermaid singing, and come to a conclusion that the mermaids won’t sing for the writer. Also throughout the poem (yet again) a lot of words, phrases and sentences are the same or almost identical. For example: The yellow fog that rubs it back upon the window-panes, The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes."
Both writers' techniques are similar because they used imagery, rhyme, metaphor, simile and repeats of words numerously. The way "Spring Song" is formatted is extremely effective because there are more then just one way to read the poem hence there is no real direction on how to read the format, which leads to different outcomes. The Love Song is effective also because the writer throughout the whole poem kept repeating words of importance and leaves the reader with dashes for a train of thought (to leave the reader thinking).
In the years of modernist works, art and literature have become a way to display social criticisms to a general audience as shown in the two poems the “Convergence of the Twain” by Thomas Hardy and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen.
ReplyDeleteThe convergence of the twain is a poem about the Titanic meeting its final destiny the day it crashes into an iceberg. I believe that the underlying message of the poem, hints at our inability as humans to look past material goods, beauty and pride to foreshadow future events. The beginning of the poem speaks of how the ship is now “deep from human vainty”, safe from the cockiness of human civilization. The poem describes the many jewels used to “ravish the sensuous mind”, the “vaingloriousness” of the ship and how “no mortal eye could see the intimate welding of their later history”. The many jewels are used to appeal to our sense of what beauty is, so that we can be proud of our creation. Hardy is describing how vain and over confident people were about the success of the Titanic, that even the thought of the ship crashing was alien to them.
Dulce et Decorum Est, is a more straight forward and to the point when explaining the message of the poem. Owen speaks of the overrated glory of war and reaches out to the reader with vivid imagery, so that we can understand the hardships and depression of war. Sentences such as “I saw him drowning”, “He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning”, make this poem more personal and the reader can almost imagine the horrors of war. After describing the mans death, Owen gives the reader a bit of advice, saying “My friend, you would not tell with such high zest, To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori”. Here he describes how going to war is about the glory that comes with fighting for your country and that losing your life is not worth the glory and praise.
Although both poems speak of different subjects, each poem has a similar underlying message of human vanity and glory, how all we as humans want is to be proud, if not of ourselves than of what we have created. Hardy uses a more subtle tone when addressing his message compared to Owen who states his message clearly and effectively with the use of vivid imagery.
-Hojin Park
ReplyDelete(Topic 2. comparing: The Convergence of the Twain, "next to of course god america i")
In "next to of course god america i", the audience can see that the author talks about Pilgrims' in the second line. And notice how the author has put a possesive apostrophe on the word, maybe to specify the origin of people that have settled into America. The author seeks to push the audience one direction than shortly after throwing them off by writing "by gorry by jingo by gee by gosh by gum", in the 7-8th line. The author of The Convergence of the Twain, tries to show a "godly figure" within the poem by introducing "the Spinner of the Years". However, the author is very vague on why this "godly figure" sinks the ship (coincedence? Or destiny?). Thus, by introducing such characters as: Pilgrims' and the Spinner of the Years these poets try to show a trivial understanding to clarify the poems (the beginning of "next to of course god america i", and the ending of The Convergence of the Twain). Once the reader grasps the existance of these characters. It is much easier to "ken" a big part of the poem (such as the last stanza of The Convergence of the Twain). This is my contrast of the comparison of these two poems.
-H.J. Park
As Modernism rose to popularity at the turn of the century, social criticism was more accepted and artists could better express themselves with less fear of being criticized. One of the topics that was heavily scrutinized at the time was war and the ethics of sending hordes of troops abroad to engage in battle. “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, and “'next to of course god america i” by e.e. cummings, are two poems that speak of war and war-related issues.
ReplyDelete“Dulce et Decorum Est” has an ironic title because while the poem translates to “it is right and fitting (to die for one's country)”, it actually criticizes the mentality of sending troops to fight in wars. “'next to of course god america i” offers criticism towards the same topic, but simultaneously mocks American patriotism and nationalism. Overall, both poems are centered around war as the main theme.
In “Dulce et Decorum Est”, Owen tries to get his point across by placing the reader in the shoes of an actual soldier, then questioning if it really is right and fitting to die for one's country. This poetic structure is effective because it makes the reader feel guilty without dancing around the subject. To begin the poem, he combines a grim reference to warfare with elaborate diction to invoke disturbing imagery in the reader's mind, as seen in the quotation “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, / Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge...” (lines 1-2). This brings about a sense of both empathy and sympathy for the soldiers because they are the ones who are fighting, not the reader. Owen then drowns these feelings in a pool of shame when he exclaims that if one had witnessed the unfolding events of a war, they would have refrained from sending their children to fight:
“My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.” (lines 25-28)
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ReplyDeleteThe delivery in “'next to of course god america i” is much less in-your-face, but rather choppy and cacophonous. To express his disgust for warfare and patriotism, e.e. cummings alludes to various nationalistic symbols and either mocks them or puts them down, while simultaneously confusing the reader by means of unusual poetic structure. A good example would be his reference to the American national anthem: “love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh / say can you see by the dawn's early my...” (lines 2-3). By leaving the national anthem unfinished, cummings is mocking patriotism and leaving the reader bewildered. Likewise, by leaving the words “god”, “america”, and “i” in lowercase form (line 1), he is yet again putting down reoccurring symbols in American society.
To deliver the final blow, the poem meanders no more and questions the idea that sending troops to war is good: “why talk of beauty what could be more beau- / tiful then these heroic happy dead / who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter...” (lines 9-11). The word “beautiful” is chopped in half to keep the rhyme scheme, but it also suggests that the American citizens see these “heroic happy dead” as beautiful people, when rather they are gruesome and lifeless. In doing so, cummings is bashing the American people for making something that is completely morbid seem so just and honorable. However, because the poem is detached and jumbled, it is a struggle at first to understand what the poet is trying to convey at first.
Although both poems accomplish their goal of downgrading the controversial concept that is war, it is apparent that Wilfred Owen will have much more luck in getting his opinion across because his poem is more structurally sound and easier to comprehend. However, it can be said that e.e. cummings' poem has more depth because of its abstract layout, opening a whole new world for speculation. For example, the majority of the poem is condemning nationalism, but the last line hints at an outside speaker who take a brief pause after delivering his lines: “He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water” (line 14). Nevertheless, that is a different matter that is up for review.
Modernism, that emerged during the 19th century granted freedom of expression and modern thought. With this, Social criticism became a prominent characteristic in literary creations. Two such examples are the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen and “The fly” by Katherine Mansfield. Both of them directly criticize the early misconception; it is right and fitting to die for one’s country.
ReplyDeleteIn his poem, Owen vividly portrays a real life and death struggle of a soldier in World War I. His straightforward use of language to bring out the pain and suffering as seen from his own eyes is extremely effective to overwhelm readers emotionally. Also in the end he says, “you would not tell with such high zest, to children ardent for some desperate glory The old lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori”; and rejects this cultural norm. Similarly in the short story “The Fly”, the boss is mourning over his only son, who was yet another victim of the World War I. He had brought him up with the hope of handing over his business, but the son had joined the army instead. The reason as to why he was sent to war, even if he was making a good progress in business; is not mentioned. But I think as the story continues reader is left with clues. When the boss is watching the efforts of the fly, he thinks, “That was the way to tackle things; that was the right spirit. Never say die; it was only a question of…….” The sentence is left unfinished to indicate that the boss is suppressing his own memories. Thrilled by the myth at the time, like many other parents, he might have also decided to send his son to war (the right way instead of business) so that he (son) too can get a status of a glorious hero. But it was too late when he realized the truth, and now he was eventually transforming into a cold hearted man regretting the decisions he made years ago. Likewise, Mansfield is also criticizing the same belief that Owen mentions, but her information is given indirectly through the prospective of a young soldier’s parent. The reader needs to imagine the missing pieces to get a clear idea. But in my opinion what they both try to convey through criticism is that pride and honor is nothing compared to love, family and of course, life.
Tom Lee
ReplyDelete(Response to topic 2)
In the poem, next to of course god america i, the space that separates the last sentence ("He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water"), gives the reader a riddle-like curve ball to indicate a pause in the narrators quotation, or perhaps there was a sequel that was untold.
The first stanza of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", "S'io credesse che... D'infamia ti rispondo", questions the reader indirectly. This phrase from an alien plot may have the audience thinking that it may have an impact on the meaning of the poem.
The both poets used these techniques in a way that would make the audience to be confused.
next to of course god america i is a poem written by E.E Cummings. This poem is about warm the soliders that sacrificed their everything, for example their life, without being selfish and how everyone, including the “deafandumb,” should understand the soilders’ reasoning for fighting and the sacrifices they made. In this poem, the overall mood is very depressing. The author has written this poem in a way that I do think is effective. Although this poem has no consistent proper punctuation, such as capitals or periods, I think it makes the poem more effective to understand. With proper consistent punctuation, such as periods, it gives the reader a chance to pause and further evaluate each sentence. With no proper consistent punctuation, such as the poem has, it makes the reader want to go back and take a second look at the poem, re-read it and have more of an understanding of the poems content. Some readers might find this poem disoriented due to the lack of punctuation.
ReplyDeleteSpring Song is a poem written by W.W.E Ross. This poem is about someone taking a walk along the railroad track in spring, along with a description of the actions this person is doing. The majority of this poem contains no punctuation. Therefore I can compare this poem to the one above because of its lack of no punctuation. This poem can be read different ways, for example, left to right or up and done which can give the reader a better understanding of its content as well as a more dramatic tone and effect while reading this poem. This is different from the poem above because the above poem can only be read, left to right. I believe the writer’s techniques are very effective. The way some of the words are repeated, emphasize the words which make the poem and sentence more powerful and understanding.
In these two poems, the social criticism is death because when we read the poem "The Convergence of the Twain" (title), it says "consummation comes and jars two hemispheres" (Stanza 11 and line 33). Here we get the idea that the titanic ship had sunk. The "two hemispheres"(Stanza 11 and line 33) can mean that the person who had left their families or friends from Belfast and the other families or friends who are waiting for their arrival at New York, but they do not know about the bad news, how the titanic ship has been drowned into the ocean. This poem is mostly based on death. Also, when you read the poem "next to of course god america i" (title), here it refers to the soldiers who were fighting for their country and did not even worry about their life and what could happen to them. For example, where it says, "why talk of beauty what could be more beautiful than these heroic happy dead who rushes like lions to the roaring slaughter"(line 9-11). The author could be saying that the soldiers are more beautiful than heroes running to their death, but death can’t be beautiful it’s just scary. The people who were in the titanic ship did not know what was going to happen with their lives. Also, the soldiers did not know what was going to happen to them. Instead, they kept on fighting until they were alive. And when the ship broke into two parts, the people swam until they were able to. These two poems are sad and unexpected to what could happen to each person or soldiers live.
ReplyDeleteRaqash Shahid
Written less than 10 years apart, the poems "next to of course god ameria i" by E.E. Cummings and "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen share many similarities in relation to social criticism. In next to of course god america i, the line “thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gory” seem to be referring to the young Americans who are influenced by society to defend the glorious name of America on the battlefield. The poem as a whole however, criticizes this ignorant need to rush off to war in order to prove loyalty to your country. Those who died in the war were considered to be the “heroic happy dead” because they had given their life in their country’s name. Similarly, "Dulce et Decorum Est" challenges the view that “it is right and fitting to die for one’s country”. Unlike E.E. Cumming’s poem, it creates the environment of war in the reader’s mind and specifies the feelings of a soldier. This evokes empathy for the soldiers and it is highly unlikely that one would agree with the saying “dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” after reading of the misery and horror the soldiers went through. In my opinion, Wilfred Owen’s poem is more effective than E.E. Cumming’s because it creates a vivid picture of the destruction of one’s humanity in war which induces the reader to question the validity of the statement “it is right and fitting to die for one’s country”. "next to of course god america i" has a more abstract writing style and personally, I feel the poem hints at the lack of soldiers’ ability to disown society’s rules through the lines “they did not stop to think they died instead then shall the voice of liberty be mute?”. The writing style of enjambment creates confusion in the poem’s focus, especially in the initial reading and with lines like “by jingo by gee by gosh by gum—“which seem to have no contribution to the focus of the poem.
ReplyDeleteWhat both “next to god america i” and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” strive to do is characteristic of Modernist literature- they critique the expectations imposed upon members of a Modernist society. While “next to god america i” explores the relationship between a man and his country, “Prufrock” explores the relationship between a man and his presumed lover.
ReplyDeleteThe theme of attempting to reconcile modern life with meaning is prevalent in both poems. Cummings uses enjambement to collate patriotism and prose, “thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gory/by jingo by gee by gosh by gum.” This technique, along with the lack of punctuation and upper cased letters, leads the reader to place equal importance on all words, rendering even the most patriotic of discourse almost meaningless. Similarly, the melancholic imagery abundant in “Prufrock” relates the title character’s fruitless attempts to live a meaningful existence, “For I have measured out my life in coffee spoons/I should have been a pair of ragged claws/Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.”
Cummings’ satirizes the speaker, presumably a politician, by contrasting clichéd political phrases against a fragment of the American anthem, “next to of course god america i love you land of the pilgrims/oh say can you see by the dawn’s early” . The fragmentation suggests that patriotism and politics are imperfect concepts; although widely accepted by Modern society, their veracity is subjective, particularly when viewed through the eyes of a politician. Likewise in “Prufrock”, courtship as a societal norm is taken into question, as Prufrock’s sense of inadequacy renders him unable to ask “the overwhelming question,” perhaps a metaphor for opposing the societal standard of marriage.
At first reading, ‘next to god america i’ and ‘Prufrock’ seem to be both thematic and stylistic opposites. Prufrock chronicles the neurotic impulses of a middle aged man, while ‘next to god america i’ is a satire exploring political patriotism. However, the content of both poems is dedicated towards exploring the idea that a Modern society has no absolute standards- that each norm and value should be closely considered. Thus, both Cumming’s soliloquy-esque poem and Elliot’s dramatic monologue were successful in artfully critiquing the social norms of the Modernist revolution.
Modernism in poetry is dreary, fragmented, depressing and not easily understood. The two modernist poems I compared are Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen and “next to of course god america i by E.E. Cummings, both of which criticize the idea of going to war for America during WW1. Wilfred Owen describes life in the trenches during the war. The reader immediately gets the sense of dreariness from the description given in the first two lines of the poems “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, | Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge”. He continues to give very vivid images throughout the poem as he describes the soldiers lives in the trenches and were effected by poisonous gas. “As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. | And watch the white eyes writhing in his face | His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin”. Wilfred Owen concludes by saying how the young citizens were eager to rush out to war. “next to of course god America i begins quite differently, with subtle praise for the United States and then a slight sense of patriotism with a line from the United States national anthem “love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh | say can you see by the dawn's early rise”. He begins to criticize fighting for the war by talking about the men who wanted to fight for America's glory. He talks about the dead soldiers in a sarcastic tone as he compares them to animals “why talk of beauty what could be more beau- | tiful that these heroic happy dead | who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter”. He splits the word beautiful into two at the end of the ninth line He concludes the poem by saying that their thought that war would be quick and easy and he then asks if they will stop telling the men to die for their country. He ends the poem by capitalizing “He” showing that the speaker in the poem is an important person reading out this poem “He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water” Wilfred Owens describes the reality of how horrid war actually is and the mislead idea that it is fitting and right to fight and die for one's country. E.E Cummings gets the same point across by using strange grammar, a particular style and lighter descriptions than Wilfred Owens poem. As his lightly mocks patriotism and the soldiers. His lines are layered with subtle criticism of fighting in the war for ones country. Both are definite examples of modernist poetry.
ReplyDeleteThe Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy and Prufrock by T.S. Elliot are rife with the modernistic ideas of social criticism and the rejection of beauty.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, these two poems are similar in their disdain for the world around them. I felt lifeless and drained after reading The Darkling Thrush which described the landscape as “spectre-gray” and “sharp” with “The tangled bine-stems…Like strings of broken lyres” conjuring images of a dreary and dead landscape. The same can be said for Prufrock where the “patient etherized upon a table” suggests that the night is silent and lifeless. T.S. Elliot even went as far as comparing the streets to “a tedious argument of insidious intent” in order to show that there is only negativity.
With Modernism’s self-consciousness, a poem can display its emotions to its full potential unlike poems of past movements where a third person delivers the narrative like a lifeless monologue. For example, I felt an exceedingly strong sense of pessimism and loss of hope after reading Prufrock. The entire poem is a pathetic man telling his pathetic story. Him stating “I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across the floors of silent seas” is a perfect example of his negativity and lack of confidence. In the end, he states that “I do not think that they [the mermaids] will sing to me” depicting his utter hopelessness. The narrator of The Darkling Thrush is alike in stating that “Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew and I was unaware.”
One thing I’ve noticed from the readings is that the effective use of literary techniques contributes significantly to getting a point across. I found that the wide array of metaphors and particularly the personification of “The yellow fog that rubs its back on the window-panes…” added to the vividness of the settings in both poems.
Confusion and disorienting conditions of modern life are apparent in both Spring Song and The Fly. Though both works raise confusion in different aspects, the perplexity did not take away from the apparent sad and perverse undertone seen in the individuals.
ReplyDeleteSpring Song is confusing as it is written in what looks like 2 columns/pillars. Interestingly, three possible versions of the poem can be read smoothly. The confusion arises as we are unaware of the reason that the individual “picked up a stone and threw it into the pond” where the frogs are “piping” since they do not seem to annoy him. As we read this poem in its third version the instability of it leads me to think that he may be deranged or may simply feel the need to disturb nature. However it is interestingly noted that the power of language in this version, that is to say his use of repetition and wording – for example, “From it…came incessantly/ sounds…sounds/ or frogs…frogs piping/piping…” – still provides us with a sense of structure.
After a more in depth reading of The Fly, I realized how fragmented the thought process really was as it went from talking about Mr.Woodifield, then the boss mourning over his son and finally killing a fly. I find it obscure how the boss, “For the life of him [he] could not remember” what he was thinking of before killing the fly. Though in modern life we move at a fast pace and may not always remember why we do certain things or what we had been thinking of beforehand, it is unsettling and somewhat depressing that he could not remember he was thinking of his own son.
I think in both poems, the individuals may seem to have little agency over some aspect in their lives, and by disturbing nature it seems as though they are subconsciously trying to retrieve a sense of control.
Modernism is a style written as a passage or phrase that is characteristic to modern life. Modernism appears in books, plays, movies, and other sorts of media. It can be confusing and mind – boggling which definitely forces readers to think twice about what they are reading. However, the twists and turns do eventually get grasped by the reader as modernism is a type of art which allows readers to think outside the box. For example, the poem “Spring Song” coils one’s mind due to the outer appearance of the poem. It is written in 2 columns; 5 cm spread out from each other. The poem can be read in either the horizontal or vertical direction, and forces the reader to identify how the poem should be read. Another example of a confusing modernist art, is the poem “next to of course god america i” which by the title already gives the reader a well thought assumption of how puzzling the poem can be. In the poem, the author mentions “heroic happy dead” which can mean many things. After reading it ample amount of times, I came to a conclusion that it can be talking about the heroic soldiers that died for America during war.
ReplyDeleteBoth these poems relate as they confuse the reader, force the reader to think many times before concluding a meaning to the poems, and unsettle the brains of the readers by the appearance of the poem such as the first line, the title, or the whole image of the poem. In my opinion, the writer’s techniques in writing and constructing the poems was successful and well thought of as it portrayed how modernism can be confusing and disorienting.
“Dulce et Decorum Est” and “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock” show us modernist confusion. In both of these poems the confusion and disorientation of war is shown at two levels; that of the individual and the group. The experience of war is obvious in "Dulce et Decorum Est" in the striking imagery the poet uses. In the fourth stanza of the poem, Owen says "If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood / Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, / Bitter as the cud / Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues." He describes in gory detail the pain and suffering of war. These lines show how the effects of war have left a damaging impact on the survivors of war, and created disorientation and confusion in their once normal lives.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock”, instead of group confusion, we are met with the struggle of the individual. Eliot describes the struggle of a lonely man. Prufrock’s thoughts are fragmented, and the poem appears quite choppy at first. However, once you begin to read his thoughts some more, you see that the choppy stanzas are simply a way for Eliot to express the confusion and disorientation of the modernist era. Prufrock as a character is very confused. He begins with a quote in Italian, then continues with “Let us go then, you and I...Let us go and make our visit” in the second stanza. He then introduces the repeated lines, “In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michaelangelo.” Prufrock’s confusion comes across throughout the poem with the fragmented stanzas all the way until the end. The poem ending with the word “drown” seems to have some significance as we are “drowned” in the confusion of this poem.
Modernism attempts to reproduce in art the confusing, disorienting conditions of modern life. Many types of modernism art affect literature, the English language and different sorts of poems in this case. The poem “next to of course god america i” composed by E.E Cummings has a unique twist to the style in which it is written. After reading the poems numerous times, I understood that I had to figure out each line/ stanza and process what exactly the author was trying to say or get across. These modernism readings can confuse the best of us; however the beauty of art is incorporated within the readings. While reading the poems, after the third time I realized there was absolutely no use of punctuation, grammar or proper use of literature used. For example “in every language even deadanddumb” and “by jingo by gee by gosh by gum” are quotes from the poem which made myself as the reader think things such as what context it’s used in, or what time period did this certain poem take place. On the other hand, a poem such as “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” composed by T.S Elliot, takes on a different sort of approach in which the poem should be well comprehended. This poem is indirectly required to break down each stanza to easily understand the meaning behind it since it is a lengthy poem; it would be difficult for one to know what exactly is going on in one whole reading. The poem by E.E Cummings and the poem by T.S Elliot both are similar due to their confusing and baffling use of words and literature and both poems have a profound meaning to it. The writer’s techniques evidently showed that different modernism poems can be extremely confusing leaving one flustered with many different thoughts. In general one wouldn’t be used to such types of grammar; however this is the use of modernisms art.
ReplyDelete‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen and e.e. cummings’ ‘next to of course god america i’ both work towards providing the reader with an education on the old ideas and harsh new realities of the way patriotism is being used to manipulate.
ReplyDeleteOwen and Cummings both want people to be aware of “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est/Pro patria mori.” due to the vast number of lives being senselessly led towards a seemingly “glorious name” under the illusion of patriotism. Owen vividly describes and de-glorifies these acts of war through his description of soldiers that “limped on, blood shod” as a man slowly dies of mustard gas “..floundering like a man in fire”. The sudden change to present continuous tense in the second stanza plunges the reader right into the battlefield and establishes a more intense mental image of war’s atrocities. This allows Owen to then lead into his warning that the realities of war are haunting and that he is unable to shake the images from “all my dreams” those images of “..guttering, choking, drowning” and the “high zest” of war stories are simply untrue.
Cummings uses a more convoluted means of portraying his anger towards society’s use of patriotism as a tool. The speaker in “next to of course god america i” is nervous as he streams one though into the next and becomes noticeably more frustrated through the jumbled alliteration of “..by gory/by jingo by gee by gosh by gum”. As if he is unable to express his true feelings. Here, the rhyming scheme starts to break off and the speaker begins to place opposites next to each other in his descriptions of the “heroic happy dead”. The description of those “who rushed like lions” forms images of greatness and courage but is then starkly contrasted by “..to the roaring slaughter” to instantly negate those feelings of heroism.
Cummings and Owen portray their strikingly similar opinions on the misuse of patriotism in two different perspectives. Cummings chose to highlight the senseless loss of life through the subtle and sarcastic musings of a nervous speech maker while Owen delivers his message as a vivid first-hand description of war. Both, however, are warnings that a blind sense of patriotism has already lead towards the loss of countless lives and that society be aware of its self-destruction.
2. The poems "Dulce et Decorum est" and "next to of course god america i" definitely take part in reproducing the conditions of modern life. In “Dulce et Decorum est”, modernism is shown through the past. The lines "In all my dreams before my helpless sight He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning." shows how horrible war truly is. This line shows a very realistic approach to poetry and captures the raw emotions of being in war. Furthermore it conveys the fact that this person is going through post traumatic stress disorder because he has nightmares about the war which is as well another moment that confirms the purpose that there is indeed modernism in this poem. Also the lines "My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori." rebels against the idea that being in war is glorifying and patriotic. It takes a modernistic approach and shows the readers that war is actually a horrible place to be and that you destroy your life in the process and that there is nothing truly glorifying to talk about because you most likely going to lose your life in the end or you live a life of regret and dread.
ReplyDeleteIn “next to of course god america I” the author uses sarcasm to show modernism in the poem. The lines “why talk of beauty what could be more beautiful than these heroic happy dead who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter they did not stop to think they died instead” convey the sarcasm because you can clearly tell that the author is making fun of the idea of patriotism because he states that it’s beautiful that these men happily rushed to their deaths, which is truly not. Also the line “rushed like lions” makes one believe the courageous tendencies of the people because when one thinks of lions they think of words such as brave and courageous; But once you read “slaughter” that image gets completely erased and turns into something awful. What these two poems have in common is that they both send the message that war and patriotism is not something to be proud of nor should it be heroic or glorifying in any way. This view is very different compared to the views back in the day when they believed that war and patriotism was one of the most heroic things one can do. You were deemed ‘a man’ if you had gone to war and those who ever rebelled against that idea, were looked down upon.
I chose the poems “The Convergence of the Twain” by Thomas Hardy and “next to god america i…” by E.E. Cummings because I understood them the most. The poems had a lot of similarities yet even more differences. “Next to god america i…” was different because it has things in it that poems don’t usually have: the title is strange and makes your mind wonder about why the author did not use proper punctuation or why he did not use capital letters at all. This poem was difficult to understand; it has a line from the US National Anthem but why? Was he trying to be sarcastic or show patriotism? As for “The Convergence of the Twain,” I thought that it was, also, very hard to understand but it was even more hard to wrap your head around all of the ideas packed into the story such as: questioning if god exists or not or if destiny is what caused the iceberg to grow and the ship to crash into it even though people thought that the ship could never sink. These two poems both have a lot of emotions and ideas fit in to it and both have sarcasm too, such as the line “Why talk of beauty what could be more beau-tiful than these heroic happy dead,”in the poem “next to god america i.” The poems talk about two different things, “The Convergence of the Twain” talks about miracles, destiny, and hope; “next to god america i” talks about patriotism and sarcasm. The writers’ techniques were very effective because in both poems, there are specific details like punctuation, and joining words to make the audience understand what the author really wants to say. An example would be a line in “next to god america i” where three words were joined as one when E.E. Cummings used “deafanddumb” and put different people in one category. In the poem, “The Convergence of the Twain” the line that the author uses was simply questioning destiny, “Or sign that they were bent by paths coincident on being anon twin halves of one august event.” After reading these poems, I was shocked at how many techniques there are to explain what the author is trying to say.
ReplyDelete(answer for question 2)
ReplyDeleteI chose ‘next to of course god america i’ and ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ as a demonstration of modernism. The poem “next to of course god america i”, expresses modern life by fragmented sarcasm to show a break from traditional literature. The lack of punctuation and correct grammar created an unsettled flow to the poem. In line 5, “deafanddumb” was written with no separation in between the words. Also, e.e cummings displayed sarcasm from line 9-11, “why talk of beauty what could be more beautiful than these heroic happy dead... to emphasize heroes happily dying. This also ties with the second poem ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ as it breaks away from traditional romantic poetry. This being said the author portrays modernism by using self awareness and despair as fundamentals, instead of creating a cheerful and enjoyable environment for the reader. The author states “this is not what I meant at all. That is not it, at all.” Displaying T.S. Eliot as an apprehensive individual who is cautious of showing or stating his love for the women he cares for. Also when the author states “I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think they will sing to me”, presents despair, saying how even in his fantasy he is enable to find the love that may or may not be exist.
With the rise of Modernism, there is a heightening of social criticism in art. The two poems “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen and “next to of course god america i”, by E.E Cummings are two works which contains much social criticism. The social criticism expressed in the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” is the false glory and common perspective of war and how that differs from the actual horror of war. This social criticism is expressed through vivid descriptions and disturbing imagery and further through repetitive rhyme scheme. The quote “blood comes gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, bitter as the cud of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues” utilizes such gory detailed images which encourages the readers to be horrified at the suffering of soldiers. The reference to words such as; blood, froth-corrupted lungs, vile and incurable sores implies the presence of incurable disease and sickness which awakens a sense of fear and dread in the reader, which in turn is highly effective since the reader is forced to confront the horror of war and to question the old lie that it is right and fitting to die for one’s country.
ReplyDeleteThe poet uses rhyme which takes the following form: each last word of a line rhymes with the last word of each other line.
Here the poet through a repetitive sounding rhyming pattern imitates the marching of soldiers which involves the reader more intimately into the experience of war, making this writing technique effective. This continuous rhyming pattern can also remind the readers of the continuous fatigued march of the soldiers and of the drudgery of war that verifies that serving one’s country even if it is “right and fitting” does not add up the glory of war.
The social criticism of the poem “next to of course god america i” is somewhat similar to the previous poem as this poem criticizes the necessity of going to war and of keeping traditional practices of life. This is expressed in this poem through satire, humour, and from the structure of the poem. This poem is written in a formless method which string phrases and words into continuous lines with no punctuations. First of all, by not using any punctuation and not following the rules of the English language, it seems as though the poet is disrespecting the English language and is almost rebellious to bow down towards any rules laid down by the rest of the world. This illustrates the poet’s defiance to the traditional ways of life and by utilizing this method; from the absence of punctuation he forces the reader to interpret the poem in any way. This technique is effective since this formless and un-punctuated poem shocks and forces the readers to read or see things in a different light. The writer uses satire by inserting a part of the American National Anthem randomly in the poem which demonstrates his disrespect towards patriotism; “and so forth oh say can you see by the dawn’s early.” By also inserting the phrase “and so forth” in front of a part of the anthem, he labels the anthem as something to dismiss without giving it any significance. In the quote “why talk of beauty what could be more beautiful than these heroic happy dead who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter”, he uses sarcasm to illustrate his distaste for the nation’s enthusiasm for war. This is sarcastic because there is nothing beautiful about the slaughter which occurs in war; it is tragic and horrible, however because of his bold opinion, this writing technique allows the social criticism to be effective as the readers are outraged and shocked into reading his poem as it degrades what the nation holds sacred.
These two poems are similar in their social criticism as they both deal with issues of war that refer to death and glory. However, the techniques used for expressing these criticisms are dissimilar. The tone of the first poem is serious and uses disturbing images of war and very graphic details to bring out the realistic aspects of war, while the following poem’s tone is humorous and sarcastic
Lalit
ReplyDeleteModernism strives to produce in art the confusing, disorienting conditions of modern life. I chose to compare "next to of course god to america i" and "The love story of J. Alfred Prufrock." In the poem "next to of course god america i" I found this poem very confusing and difficult to understand. “oh say can you see by the dawn’s early.” I chose this quote because the poet uses a part of the United States national anthem, which I found very unpatriotic because the poet does not put this part in quotations. “He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water ” In this quote the poet does not end his poem with any punctuation. Also “He” is the only word in the poem which is capitalized, which I found much wired. I think the writing style of E.E. Cummings is very interesting because it makes the reader think about the poem. The other poem was “The love story of J.Alfred Prufrock.” This poem I find very interesting and not as difficult to understand like the previous poem. “No! I am not prince Hamlet, nor was I meant to be.” In this quote T.S. Elliot talks about how J. Alfred Prufrock is an anti-hero and he also makes reference to Shakespeare. T.S. Elliot makes reference to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet which is about price Hamlet trying to avenge his father’s death and in the end succeeding, while Prufrock in the end would not succeed. Both authors used very recognisable work as quotes, which I think helped in understanding their poems. Both poets have different styles of writing E.E. Cummings combines everything into one sentence or question, while T.S. Elliot takes the more routine way of writing poems. I think both poems were well written and enjoyed reading and analyzing them.
~Lalit
Comment on Vanessa's Post:
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that confusion in modernist literature and art are a means of expressing the confusion found in modernist times. Every poem that we studied was confusing to some degree, but the confusion was meant to help us understand the disorientation of modernist living. These two poems show that confusion can be found in many modernist settings such as war or in an individual’s life. Therefore the confusion in these poems is not necessarily to trick us but a method of attempting to describe the many confusion parts of modernist life.
Comment on Sameer’s post:
ReplyDeleteI agree that both “Dulce et Decorum Est” and “next to of course god america i” have the idea of social criticism and characteristics of modernism. Many modernist literatures have characteristics of confusion, dreariness, fragment and depression. We can sense the dreariness and confusion when both two poems criticize the idea of going to the war.
Comment on Dylan's post:
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that both “Dulce et Decorum Est” and “next to of course god america i” offer criticism concerning an overtly-patriotic society. Dylan took it one step further by labelling the poems as warnings directed to the citizens, their messages clearly stating that excess patriotism will lead to self-destruction. This was different from what I wrote about because I focused more on establishing the conception that the poems were seeking to degrade patriotism by referencing to various national symbols, such as the war and the national anthem.
After reading through Olivia’s response, I felt that I very much agree with her point of view on social criticism found in the poems "next to of course god amercia i" and "Dulce et Decorum Est". It is certainly true that the use of strong diction, vivid imagery and excellent similes (ex: “guttering”, “chocking”,”floundering like a man in fire or lime”) in “dulce et decorum est” compels the readers to ponder the statement in Owen’s perspective. These techniques not only add to the effective description of the soldier’s suffering, but are also extremely manipulative that Owen’s attempt of striking readers emotionally to make them agree with him is a near success. On the other hand, “next to of course god america I” is more confusing as Olivia mentioned, and it is harder to comprehend the hidden sarcasm and irony directly.
ReplyDeleteResponse to Amna's post:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your insight when e.e cummings states "why talk of beauty what could be more beautiful than these heroic happy dead", that it can be interpreted that the heroes died happily. However I interpreted this as if e.e. cummings is using sarcasm to patronize the idea of war by saying that the dead are happy and beeautiful, when in reality death is distressing and dreadful.
Comment on Olivia’s Post:
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that both those poems share many similarities in relation to social criticism. Both the poems state some ideas on the soldiers who fight and die for their country. Even though the lines may seem to compliment the soldiers, it can be observed in many different ways. The poem “next to of course god america i” as a whole, outlines the fact that it is unnecessary to prove your loyalty to the country. Overall, both these poem share many qualities in terms of social criticism.
Comment of Ricky's Post:
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that the writers’ style and different viewpoints offered conveys the ideas of modernism well. The viewpoints are there for us to be able to try and understand what the writer/poet intended in their story/poem . The odd style seen in "The Fly" and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is there to for the confusion seen in modernist literature.
Reply to Heckel’s post:
ReplyDeleteI would have to respectfully disagree, in that I don’t think either The Darkling Thrush or Prufrock express disdain to the world around them. The Darkling thrush seems to be more about the horrors of the past century, and yet the trace of hope to be found in a new one, represented through the “blast beruffled” and yet persistent thrush.”Prufrock”, albeit a chronicle of the nuances of a neurotic man, is an eloquent expression of the loneliness experienced by an intellectual who did indeed love another, yet was too indecisive and self deprecating to be able to express his feelings. However, as Heckel pointed out, the metaphors and symbolism used in both poems were highly effective, especially the description of the passing century, “The land's sharp features seemed to be/The Century's corpse outleant/His crypt the cloudy canopy/The wind his death-lament."
Response to Tom's Post:
ReplyDeletei do agree that both poets used confusion as their modernist approach. You assume one thing when you're reading the poem, but by the end of it you start to second guess yourself and the meaning. I guess that makes a bit sense because modern life in general has a lot of confusing aspects. Nothing is set in stone and one thing can lead to another.
Comment on Lalit's Post: As modern literature is difficult to interpret, one must indirectly analyze the poem by each respective stanza to vividly establish the meaning. I think that you were a little thrown off as it's very easy to misjudge a poem. At times there could be unusual connective patterns missing due to a discontinuous narrative. In the poem "next to of course god to america i", multiple narrative points of view can be shown. The poem is in fact very patriotic as the speaker makes references to nationalism and politics.
ReplyDeleteResponse to Amna's Post:
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with your statements about both poems by T.S Elliot and E.E Cummings. I noticed that we both had chose the same choice of poems, however, had somewhat of a different opinion and approach to the them. I liked when you said that the poem by E.E Cummings "expresses modern life by fragmented sarcasm to show a break from traditional literature" and T.S Elliot's poem "it breaks away from traditional romantic poetry". These two poems evidently show a different twist to it as one is more confusing with the lack of punctuation etc, and the other sets a certain mood for the reader while reading the love story. Looking beyond the meaning of them, many readers clearly were baffled by both these poems as the art of modernism is applied to them to describe the disorientation of the poems.
Comment on Eaman’s post:
ReplyDeleteYes, I, also, think that in “The Love Song” of J. Alfred Prufrock, he is terrified of being rejected by the women that he adores and it seems like he has an extremely low self esteem and too many insecurities about himself because he doesn’t know how he should present himself which is surprising.
I felt that “The Convergence of the Twain” by Thomas Hardy was all about destiny and questioning God. You put excellent quotes in your post from this story. It’s astonishing how even though, everyone believed that the ship would never sink…it still did. In my opinion, I think God has control of everything and that’s why the Iceberg grew so big and the ship crashed into it. This story has a lot of complicated words and incorrect punctuation to get us to understand what the author is trying to explain and it's hard to read but it's still beautiful.
Response to "_stephy":
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how you compared the structurally fragmented nature of “Spring Song” with the emotional or thought fragments of “The Fly”. The ideas trying to be convened by both poets are similar in their sacrifice of nature (the fly and the frogs) for a seemingly unknown or subconscious reason. I think it may be playing on the modernist themes of loneliness/ frustration and how the way some people are dealing with their emotions is destroying the natural world around us.
Comment on Ishanka's Post:
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting how you made the point that perhaps the boss sent his son to war because it was the "right and fitting" thing to do. What if the son had gone off to war to seek adventure knowing that the rest of his life was going to be working in his father’s business? I agree that the two works of literature critique the social norm of dying for your country and patriotism however modernism focused and emphasized on the confusing and depressing aspects of life. Therefore, I do not agree that these works are meant to relate to love, family or life and instead intentionally point out the opposite.
In response to Ricky's post...
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with your idea that both The Fly and Prufrock offered readers a sense of unfulfillment. I feel that "unfulfillment" is the perfect link between the two literary pieces. In the boss' case, the death of his son represents the hole in his heart that nothing can fill up. On the other hand, Prufrock longs for a women, but will never be able to obtain her due to his inability to act. Ultimately, both men are left unaccomplished and unfulfilled.
“Next to of-course god america I” by: e.e cummings and “The love song of J. Alfred prufrock” by: T.S Elliot both portray a rebellious, negative nature and therefore depict social criticism. “Love you so on and so forth land of the pilgrims and so forth” (pg.108 2nd line) when the author says this line people often think of pilgrims as the early English settlers who came and colonized North America and in turn also made it to be the way it is today. Similarly when T.S Elliot says “When the evening spread out against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table” he portrays that the evening sky is like a patient who has been put to sleep or etherized so as not to feel any pain. In this occurrence he is talking about J. Alfred Prufrocks’s pain of being lonely and how it unlike the night sky is unable to become ‘etherized’. “Why talk of beauty when one can talk of the happy dead” (pg. 108 9th line) in this quote e.e cummings is depicting how the propagandists said that the men who went and died in the war, died happy because they fought for there country and were heroes not to be considered ‘cowardly’ when in truth the men who died may have died sad knowing that they were leaving loved ones behind. On the other hand when J. Alfred Prufrock says “That is not it at all, That is not what I meant at all.” He shows that he is socially considered a coward because he cannot bring himself to ask the question of if the girl he dreams about loves him back. Similarly it also implies that he is going to die lonely because he cannot confess his true feelings to this girl. The authors writing techniques in the love song of J. Alfred prufrock was both excellent and sad. The poem was excellent because the author, T.S. Elliot, timed the rhyme scheme perfectly for maximum effect on the audience. Similarly Elliot also called the poem ‘love song’ so the audience thinks its something beautiful, however when we read it we see that it is not at all beautiful but instead depressing. On the other hand the poem “next to of course god America I” by e.e cummings was completely jumbled. The poem in whole was not straight forward but instead completely confusing and unorganized. Its title was the first sentence of the poem which leads individuals to believe that there was no title to begin with. Also it was grammatically incorrect because he does not end quotation marks when he uses them. In conclusion both poems of modernism portray negative emotions of doubt, pity, death, and loneliness which is what modernism is all about. However they are also both different in terms that one talks about war and the death of ‘heroes’ or a large group of people whilst the other talks about the loneliness, love, and life of a socially inept individual.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with Eaman Choi because I also believe that in “Love story of J. Alfred Prufrock” the author is trying to emphasize his lifestyle through poetic literature. However, I would also like to respectfully point out that I believe J. Alfred Prufrock was not insecure about his identity but instead may have been socially inept which may have lead to his insecurity of his age and appearance thus diminishing his confidence level.
ReplyDeleteComment on Ishanka’s Post:
ReplyDeleteI agree with the facts that love, family and life is more important than pride and honour because pride and honour can fade away anytime but love, family and life will always be with us no matter what happens. Also the text affects the reader’s emotionally by explaining the suffering of the soldier’s son. Also some sentences were incomplete leaving the readers with clues. Overall honour and pride should not be valued over family, love and life.
Comment on Olivia’s post:
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with the fact that Wilfred Owen’s poem demonstrated more of a visual aspect compared to E.E Cumming’s poem. Also both “Dulce et Decorum Est” and “next to of course god America i” come across the reality of war. These poems use descriptive words to create dramatic aspect and images allowing readers to recognize the setting illustrated in the poem.
Comment for Tom's Post:
ReplyDeleteI agree about how poets use a variety of techniques to present their work to the audience with confusion. But respectfully speaking, most poems may be interpreted differently for certain readers/audience. The targetted audience who would read these two poems would get the message clearly; others wouldn't understand the context behing the poet's techniques.
The rise of Modernism in poetry has changed the way viewers criticize this complicated way of art. Modernism is thought-provoking and most poetic themes tend not to make of sense. The stanzas are usually fragmented and modernist poems like to jump from one topic to the next.
ReplyDeleteAn illustration of modernist poems would be ‘next to of course god america i’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est.’ God america i is a confusing short poem written by E.E. Cummings. It is based on Patriotism and how many Americans take advantage of it so for example, “Next to of course god america i love you land of pilgrims,” is implying clearly at the patriotism used by the United States. Also, sarcasm is used by Cummings in line 10 when he mentions “The heroic happy dead and lions rushing to roaring slaughter.” He uses this technique to get his point across and to emphasize his points to the reader. On the other hand, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ is poem written by Wilfred Owen during World War 1 and is also based on war. He uses disturbing imagery in the third stanza like “Gas! Gas! Quick boys,” to put us reader’s right into the moment. Owens showed the brutality of war, rather than represent to us that war was heroic.
In conclusion, I decided to compare and contrast these two modernist poems because they both discuss the negativity of war and how many people do not benefit from it in the end.
Comment on Sameer's Post:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sameer and the fact E.E Cummings writing techniques were successful with writing and constructing “next to of course god america i.” Also, Sameer mentioned that the poem confuses the reader and may need to read it a couple of times in order to process the conclusion of the disoriented poem. I acknowledge his point due to the fact Cumming’s poem is a Modernist one with use of purgatorial suffering and fragmented stanzas. Modernism is known to be thought-provoking and perplex and is usually confusing so the author can get his point across to his readers.
-Hojin Park
ReplyDeleteIn Response to Tom's Post:
I agree with Tom's post, for I see the connections between the "riddle-like curve ball" shown by the way the author of "next to of course god america i" has written (or not written) the space which separates the poem into two parts, and the vague meaning behind the foreign language which starts off the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". However, I believe the two authors of these poems purposely used methods in which Tom's posting as suggested to "blindfold" the audience in making them seek out their own meaning behind the poems.
Lalit:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alyhash because modernism thrives on the confusion of the reader. By confusion the reader, the reader now has to take time to re-read the poem very carefully to fully understand the ful meaning of the specific poem. This is the situation in which e.e. cummings looks forword to. E.E Cummings and the poem by T.S Elliot both are similar due to their confusing and baffling use of words and literature and both poems have a profound meaning to it.
In response to Ricky:
ReplyDeleteI must agree that the poets’ use of different viewpoints and techniques are very effective and interestingly used. I believe that through these different viewpoints the authors try to help us understand their story; however it is also written in a manner that leads readers to let the reality of their mind fill in any incomplete thoughts. Also due to the fact that the ideas are rather fragmented in both poems, it is the reality of the mind that helps readers connect ideas together. Through these techniques the poets' truly create an intriguing read.
comment on Hojin Park's post:
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with Hojin Park's Response on the topic, because i also believe that the poet of "next to of course god america i" brings out the Pilgrims' as the origin of people that have settled in to America to bring the readers focus from one side to another side by mentioning "by gorry by jingo by gee by gosh by gum"; however, Hojin could have specifically described how "by gorry by jingo by gee by gosh by gum" exactly pushed the readers focus onto another direction.
I also liked how hojin described "The godly figure" in "The Convergence of the Twain" as a vague character, because nobody actually knows who "the godly figure" is , nor knows how the ship sank.