The Catcher In The Rye

Jennifer Tabasco 11-2
English III
Mr. Fiorini
April 20, 2009

The Catcher In The Rye

After reading The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, I felt as if I was living and experiencing the adolescent life of Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield, the main character focused on throughout the novel, talks to the reader as if he were having a general conversation with one of his friends. Holden mentions the pronoun, “you” a lot, and I think that this pronoun use has a lot of significance throughout the majority of the story because this proves to the reader that he hasn’t forgotten about the reader, and it shows that Holden’s voice tone is generally friendly and directly conversational. Throughout the novel, Holden takes the reader through his experiences after getting expelled from Pencey High School. The cause of Holden’s expulsion was because he failed four academic subjects, and he didn’t place any effort into his academic classes, especially Oral Expression, because he wasn’t up to going deep into the class. Some of those fun-filled experiences that Holden guides the reader through are his constant migration from different hotels in New York, the fist-fight between Ward Stradlater and him over Jane Gallagher, and his adventurous voyage to the Central Park Zoo with Phoebe. Another significant idea that Holden’s character is built upon is that after every statement that has a negative feeling to it, Holden always says that it’s depressing. I’m not really sure as to why he would think that certain statements would be depressing because what could be depressing to Holden could be a positive statement to me. Holden tends to look on the negative side of things so much, and he feels as if he has nothing to look forward to in his life because he’s so unsure as to where his current life is headed, and he’s also unsure of choosing which direction or path to choose in order to become successful later in his life. I think that Holden’s character needs to become more developed by thinking and deciding where his next stage of life is going to be in the next five years.
Speaking of Phoebe Weatherfield Caulfield, I absolutely loved her character. Phoebe reminded me of the little sister that follows their older sibling around wherever they went. Throughout most of the novel, Holden’s mind always wondered back either to Phoebe or Jane Gallagher. Holden thought about his younger sister so much because he believed that she listened to him when he talked to her even though she may be a lot younger than him. As for Jane Gallagher, Holden developed a humongous crush on her ever since they became friends. Holden felt emotionally connected to Jane because they were around the same age, and I think that they understood how each other felt during certain situations, such as the event with Phoebe’s step father. In similar ways, Phoebe looked up to Holden because he was the only other older sibling that she talked to besides D.B. who was in Hollywood, writing books. Phoebe prevented Holden from going out West into the wilderness because of how emotionally attached she felt towards Holden. As soon as Phoebe found out about Holden’s possible escape into the West, she immediately wanted to go, and when Holden persisted that she couldn’t go, Phoebe began to cry because she wanted her older sibling to be by her side, to have someone to look up to for guidance, and to have someone to turn to when things didn’t seem exactly right. In addition to this, I kind of wish that J.D. Salinger would have written the book a little bit differently when it came to the situation with Jane Gallagher, Ward Stradlater, and Holden. I really wanted things to work out well between Jane Gallagher and Holden because after reliving Holden’s experiences with Jane, I think that they seemed perfect for each other. Holden was absolutely crazy, head-over-heels for Jane, and every time he would think about calling her, Holden wouldn’t feel up to actually doing it. If you wanted something or someone so badly in your life, wouldn’t you want to fight to win that person’s heart? As for Ward Stradlater, he seemed way too conceited for Jane, and he idolized himself more than any other person in the entire world. Jane probably just went out with Stradlater that one night because of his looks, not because she really cared for him at all.
In conclusion, I think that The Catcher In The Rye teaches a lot about life, love, and education purposes. This novel teaches a lot about life because we watch Holden grow and express himself through certain situations at an adolescent age. As for the love aspect, I think that Holden should have fought a lot more to win Jane’s heart because she might have been doing the exact same thing for him. Who knows? Nobody knows at all. If he really liked Jane so much, why wouldn’t he call her on the telephone when he had the opportunity? I do have to say that I do admire Holden for physically fighting Ward Stradlater to win the heart of Jane Gallagher even though Ward Stradlater had no absolute clue as to why they were fighting in the first place. In addition to this, the education conflict for Holden was that he never felt like placing any effort into his schoolwork because he saw no real point in placing any lasting effort. Holden always saw his side of the situation, and he was never positive about anything. To summarize this up, I enjoyed reading, reliving, and experiencing Holden Caulfield’s life as an adolescent teen. Holden Caulfield was a very interesting character to read about, and I think that eventually, Holden will figure out which direction his life is going to take him based on everything that he has lived through as an adolescent teen transforming into a young adult.

For My Catcher In The Rye Post:

** Tell me which parts of this essay that I need to improve on, and tell me which parts of this essay that were the most powerful. **

Death of a Salesman

Jennifer Tabasco 11-2
English III
Mr. Fiorini
April 3, 2009

My Thoughts on Death of a Salesman

After reading and watching Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, I believe that the entire book was fully centered around Willy Loman. Willy Loman was an elderly man who hallucinated during certain situations when he would become angry or even excited towards his wife, Linda, or his eldest son, Biff Loman. When Willy sadly passed away at the end of the novel, I was very moved by how Linda, Biff, and Hap all came to Willy’s side after the car accident. Biff and Hap both knew that their father was dying at a slow rate from these hallucinations that he was experiencing on certain occasions, but I think that Linda didn’t wanted to admit that to herself until the incident actually occurred. Every time Biff and Hap would ask their mother about their father’s well being, Linda would just ignore their questions by saying to just leave him alone, and he’ll be okay. It seemed to me that Linda wanted to hide away her pain and anguish that her husband was causing her because she didn’t want her two adult sons to believe that she was unstable or that she didn’t want anyone to see her hidden emotions. People would start to think that she also might be going crazy or hallucinating, as a matter of fact. In the end, though, Linda Loman was a very loving, generous, and caring wife and mother who stuck by her family through everything, regardless of what her neighbors or other people in the town might have gossiped about. She expressed her deep true love to her family by never, ever giving up on Willy and his hallucinations, and she always made sure that her two adult sons had the best possible care whether out on the road or even right at home.
And who was this mysterious woman that Willy had a secret affair with? From the very beginning, I thought that this woman was a real human being, but after finishing the novel, I came to realize that the mysterious woman was just apart of Willy’s hallucinations in his mind. In the movie, the woman was portrayed similar to Marilyn Monroe, someone who had all of the men wrapped around her little finger and who also was a nymphomaniac. Maybe this mysterious woman also had secret affairs with other men in her life that Willy didn’t know about, just like Linda didn’t know about Willy’s secret affair with this woman. Why would Arthur Miller write into his novel about how Willy had a secret affair with this mysterious woman? Didn’t he even come to realize that that affair could potentially destroy Willy and Linda’s marriage forever? But, in the end, Arthur Miller wrote this novel so that Linda would never know about the affair Willy was having behind her back. That’s very interesting and so odd at the same time. It’s interesting because now, since Willy’s dead, he took that affair to the grave with him, and it’s very odd because I believe that Arthur Miller wanted to keep the relationship with this mysterious woman going. Since Willy’s physically dead, the relationship with the mysterious woman could still exist maybe up in heaven because that entire idea was all in his head.
Willy, Willy, Willy. What could I say about this elderly man who tragically died in a car accident? Well, for one thing, I could definitely say that this man meant no harm to anyone. Willy was a business man, searching for a purpose in his life, sort of like a Donald Trump for the 1920s era. When Willy began to hallucinate during the first couple of chapters, I had absolutely thought that this man was going insane. I lost my place throughout the rest of the chapters because now, there were all of these different characters that no one even mentioned before. As each new character came up in the following chapters, I said to myself that this is Willy’s hallucinations, and that this isn’t really happening in his physical being. In addition to this, I noticed that every time that he would become angry or even overjoyed by something, the strange hallucinations would keep coming back into his mind, and Willy wouldn’t even realize it. I believe that these hallucinations all had some meaning to Willy; these hallucinations were things that he desired to have in his life, and I think that Willy never knew how to rightfully express what he wanted to have for himself. Willy had a good, well-mannered heart inside of him, and even though he wasn’t always there for his kids every night to say that he loved them, deep down inside, I know that he loved his kids no matter what. From my personal life, Willy kind of reminded me of my Uncle Al because he would always try to teach me right from wrong, and I knew that he meant well. Very stubborn, my Uncle Al is. My Uncle Al talks with his hands a lot like most Italians do, and I think that just talking to me means a lot to him.
In conclusion, I believe that throughout this whole entire novel, Willy touched every person inside their heart because of how full of life he was. The title, “Death of a Salesman” refers to the elderly Willy Loman and how he lived his life with his family before his tragic death due to a car accident that wasn’t meant to happen. For Biff, Happy, and Linda, I think that they all looked back on how Willy lived his life the way he did, and I think that they’re grateful for even having him in their lives because of how much he taught them even though he was a little rough around the edges to fully understand. Willy just wanted the best for his family, and I think that since he didn’t have a lot of money, he wasn’t able to provide anything for them, which may be one of the reasons as to why he went so insane. On behalf of Linda Loman, I respect her through everything because she remained faithful to her cheating husband, and she worked her hardest to do whatever she could for her family because of how much she loved them. As for Biff and Happy, I think that both of these men had to find their rightful place in the world, and they should do whatever occupation that they want to do. To end this essay, I believe that Death of a Salesman can teach the reader a lot about life, true love, the essence of a family, and the marketing of jobs. All of these ideas and so many others are what Willy Loman really desired throughout his elderly life, and I think that right before his death, he was thinking about all of these things that he never had, but these things are the ones that he hoped to give back to his family through his death.

For My Death of a Salesman Post:

** Tell me if my overall paper was written well with enough developed ideas, if there were any parts that didn’t make sense, and what parts of my paper that were the most powerful or what parts that stuck out to you the most. **

My Third Quarter Reflection

Jennifer Tabasco 11-2
English III
Mr. Fiorini
March 30, 2009

My Own “Blogging” Experience

1. Has blogging been valuable to you as a student, thinker, reader, and writer?
Yes, I do believe that blogging has been valuable to me as a student, thinker, reader, and a writer. As a student, I think that blogging is another writing technique that students can use to compose their writings, and it’s also a writing system where students can freely express their personal opinions and beliefs. I enjoy the blogging web because I can have the ability to say whatever is on my mind in relation to certain scenarios. Blogging is like an outlet for me to say whatever comes to my mind first, and I really admire having that ability to do that for an English class. As a thinker, I can read many of my classmate’s other blogs, and I can think about their own personal statements. Sometimes, when I read my classmate’s blogs, there are ideas that I come across where I haven’t even thought of, and their thoughts allow me to think in a different mindset, I their mindset. As a reader, I also can have the ability to read my classmate’s blogs, and their blogs strengthen my reading skills because there are so many different writing styles that people use depending on the writer. I enjoy reading when it’s not boring or too long; the reading has to make complete sense, and it has to have some supporting detail behind it to make the reading interesting. Finally, as a writer, many creative ideas are constantly being formulated through the blogging, and my writing has also become strengthened through this writing technique. If I want to make any immediate changes to my writing, I can just go on the blogging website, and I can fix the errors that need correcting. I’ve also become a lot stronger with expressing my opinions because I support my opinions with a lot of detail for readers to fully understand what it is that I’m trying to say.

2. How do you feel about doing and continuing to do this kind of work?
In my perspective, I enjoy doing this type of writing skill. Usually, for any English class, you would have to physically hand in papers, and then you would have peer editing in the classroom. But, as for this English class, everything that’s written is in electronic form, so you don’t have to worry about anything being lost on certain occasions. If someone forgot to save their writing, well that’s a whole other different story. The peer editing comes through the comments that other people make about each other’s writing, and I think that this commenting technique is so much more helpful than actually editing paper’s freehand because the writer receives feedback from readers who can actually make suggestions to improve the writer’s paper. I would really like to continue doing this type of work because why would you want to print out papers every week when you can just post it on your blog? Money, time, and the printer’s ink are all being recycled and saved here just by posting it on the blog each week. I really hope that for the rest of this year and for senior year, we will continue to do this type of writing work because blogging makes everyone’s lives a whole lot easier just by posting their writings online.

3. Is this work different from other experiences that you have had in English classes?
Yes, absolutely, this work is different from other experiences that I have had in English classes. For both ninth and tenth grade classes, we would have to do peer editing along with typing and printing out our papers for Mrs. Triolo to read and grade. Right now, I’m taking an English Composition 101 College Course for Community College of Philadelphia on Mondays and Wednesdays, and our teacher also makes up print out and hand in our papers for grading. For this English class, we don’t even need to worry and stress out on all of that. All we have to do is just check the blog each night to keep up with the work that we might have missed or have not done yet, and then once our work is completed, we can post it to our own blogs. I love having the ability to go online and checking our blogs because it reassures me that I have all of my work complete and posted instead of going into class the next day and wasting a whole entire period on peer editing each other’s papers. This writing technique also makes the weeks go by pretty quickly because once the writing for this week closes, then the writing for the next week begins on a whole new topic. In addition to this writing work, I think that writing on our blogs allows us as writers to become more proficient with what we write because writing should be about expressing one’s inner most thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Writing can be about anything that we can say, and our opinions should matter when we write them in our papers for grading.

4. What suggestions do you have for me as a teacher who uses blogging in his English classes?
Well, I don’t think that I really have any suggestions for you on the blogging situation, Mr. Fiorini. Just one thing, this is just my personal opinion: I think that for each upcoming week, you should have a little post about what’s happening for this week’s class so all of your students can read and be prepared for the following class. As a student, this schedule technique helps me a lot because I love knowing ahead of time what’s exactly going to happen for the upcoming week’s class. Maybe that would be too much for you to do since I know that you have grading and other priorities in your life, but that was just one of my suggestions that I was recommending for you. In addition to that one suggestion, at the beginning of the year, I enjoyed how you gave a tutorial lesson on how to use the Google Groups, but since you switched over to Blogger, maybe for the incoming new Juniors, you should give a tutorial lesson for them on how to use Blogger. Through all of your major posts, you seem to really love what you write, and it seems to me that you know exactly what you want to say for any of your posts. The pictures on certain blogs also make the posts come to life so there’s a sense of imagery through those blogs. Other than that, your teaching on blogging is doing extremely well, and I hope that you can continue through with it for the next year.

5. Looking forward, do you have suggestions for how you want to be graded on this writing?
Looking forward, I think that our writings should be graded on if it everything makes sense and if there’s enough clarity in the writing. I mean, if there’s just a bunch of words with not enough supporting detail on a post, then you should question the writer on what exactly they were trying to say based on that post. I’m always worried about if my posts are too long sometimes, so I don’t think that maximum or minimum length should even matter while grading the posts. As for the grammar, punctuation, and spelling, that obviously has something to do with it since this is an English class, and I know that some English teachers (not you) are very strict when it comes to hardcore English editing. I don’t think that everything should be based on all of that English stuff; the grading should all be about if it makes enough sense and if the writing is clear enough to make perfect sense. Opinions are for everyone to have, and no one should be entirely graded on their opinion either. I mean, the opinion has to make some logical sense, but there shouldn’t be a right or wrong answer when it comes to stating opinions on certain situations. In addition to this, I believe that the grading system that you have now is fine with me, but as for some other people, they might have some suggestions that might make it better for them or for the whole entire class.

The Great Gatsby Post

Jennifer Tabasco 11-2
English III
Mr. Fiorini
March 23, 2009

Reflection of The Great Gatsby

After reading the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I think that this novel was written rather well because not only was the book written from a different decade, but because it also opened my eyes on appreciating what you have in life and not worrying about the past so much. Yes, the past does affect who one is today, but the past is there for a reason: to stay in the past because it’s already happened in one’s life. My favorite character in this novel would probably be Nick because he stuck by Mr. Gatsby through his death, and he stayed true to himself who he was coming from the Midwest and then moving to New York City.
“The purpose of a work of fiction is to appeal to the lingering after-effects in the reader’s mind as differing from, say, the purpose of oratory or philosophy which respectively leave people in a fighting or thoughtful mood.” –Letter, June 1, 1934, to Ernest Hemingway. This direct quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald appeals to the novel, The Great Gatsby, because F. Scott Fitzgerald leaves so many unanswered questions at the end of his novel. I still don’t understand as to why Chapter 10 ended the way that it did with the death of James Gatz, also known as Jay Gatsby. When I first read this quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it really made me think of reasons as to why certain authors end their novels the way that they do. Most authors leave unanswered questions for their readers to interpret themselves because everybody has their own opinions on certain novels whether they liked or disliked them. This technique of ending novels by letting the reader “hang on a hook” allows them to really analyze and think about everything that happened during the course of the novel, and it gives them the chance to think about what they might have done in those certain situations. After I’m finished reading a novel, I usually ponder on what I would have done in certain scenarios and how I could apply this interpretation to my life today because when I’m dealing with a real life situation, I tend to analyze it way too much, and I begin to doubt myself because of my thoughts and feelings. As for a novel, I don’t really doubt myself because I know that those thoughts are mine only, and not everyone has the same thoughts and feelings as I do.
“A great social success is a pretty girl who plays her cards as carefully as if she were plain.” –Letter (undated) to his daughter, Frances. Also taken from F. Scott Fitzgerald, this direct quote instantly made me think of Daisy Buchanan. I’m not really sure as to why this quote made me think of Daisy, but I think that throughout the course of the novel, I think that Daisy was careful of who she was seen with and what she was doing because I think that she knew what was going to happen in the end when it came to choosing between Tom and Gatsby. I think that Fitzgerald based the character of Daisy around this quote because Daisy was a beautiful girl who knew what she wanted to do and when it was necessary to do whatever she wanted. At first, I really wanted Daisy to end up picking Gatsby because she waited for him while he went into the army during World War I, but as I read on, I felt content with her choice of picking Tom Buchanan because I knew that deep down in his heart, Tom really did love Daisy for who she was. If Daisy were a real person, I would ask her questions such as “Why did you pick Tom over Gatsby?” “Why did you lead Gatsby on into thinking that he was the one for you?” “Will Gatsby still remain apart of your life even though you didn’t choose to be with him?” “Will Pammy ever find out about your romantic life before you met her father?” These questions are just some that I would have loved to ask Daisy if she were alive today. To end this paragraph on Daisy Buchanan, I think that Daisy did attend James Gatz’s funeral even though F. Scott Fitzgerald didn’t directly mention it; I think that this action was implied for the reader to think about on their own. Why wouldn’t she want to go to Gatsby’s funeral? I mean, she was in love with Gatsby for five long years, or so I thought that she was. Daisy attending Gatsby’s funeral would show a sign of respect and care because this action would prove that she really trusted Gatsby, and that at some point in her life, she really did love him for him.
In conclusion, I think that The Great Gatsby really teaches about real life situations and how people during the 1920s were affected by them. I just wish that F. Scott Fitzgerald would have left out the alcohol situation, but the time period had a lot to do with the image of alcohol and flappers. I’m content with the way that the novel was written with so many diverse characters that all impacted on each other. Fitzgerald’s novel was sort of like a “1920s soap opera” that left the reader wanting more and more. This novel is also kind of like watching your favorite show on TV and then something dramatic happens at the tail end of the episode. You, as the viewer, would probably want to pull out your hair because you don’t want to wait until next week to see what happens in next week’s episode. This comparison was how I felt about The Great Gatsby. I think that there should be a sequel made for this novel because I would really be interested in seeing how all of the characters lives changed since the death of their friend, James Gatz. To end this essay on a happy note, I enjoyed reading this novel, and I really hope a sequel can possibly be made in the near future.

The Great Gatsby - Journal Page - Chapter 2

Jennifer Tabasco 11-2
English III
Mr. Fiorini
March 13, 2009

Chapter 2 - The Great Gatsby - Journal Entry

My Notes And Comments For Chapter 2: PP. 23-38
• Valley of ashes? (An abandoned poorer section of New York, I thought that Fitzgerald was referring to a cemetery for some odd reason.)
• Doctor T.J. Eckleburg- Billboard Nick passes by while going over the drawbridge.
• Nick and Tom travel to New York one afternoon on a train so Nick can meet Tom’s mistress.
• Nick met Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson.
• George B. Wilson- Husband of Myrtle Wilson, In charge of the car repair shop Tom takes Nick to. His shop repairs bought and sold cars.
• The secret affairs between Tom and Myrtle- Daisy and George have no clue about this affair.
• Myrtle’s sister’s name is Catherine.
• Myrtle called her sister and her friends to drink whiskey at her house, basically a party with a lot of people.
• The McKee’s- Myrtle’s neighbors, below Myrtle’s apartment floor.
• Mr. Chester McKee- a photographer.
• Mr. Gatsby’s name keeps coming up in this story! (Catherine told Nick that she was at a party in West Egg at Gatsby’s house a month ago.)
• Kaiser Wilhelm? (PP. 32) Gatsby’s his cousin/nephew? Supposedly, that’s who everybody says Gatsby obtained his money from.
• Catherine- Told Nick that Tom and Myrtle both can’t stand living with the person they’re married to.
• Daisy- Not Catholic? Catherine said that she was (Liar), but Nick, the narrator, points out that she’s not Catholic since Nick and Daisy are second cousins.
• Mrs. McKee- Supposedly George Wilson was interested in her in the past before he met Myrtle.
• Tom hit Myrtle in the nose for repeatedly saying Daisy’s name over and over. (I thought that men weren’t allowed to hit women during this time.)
• Mr. McKee invited Nick out for lunch anywhere at anytime. (I think that this is kind of a random but sincere gesture from Mr. McKee since we didn’t really see Mr. McKee and Nick interact a lot during this specific Chapter.)
• Was this novel’s setting intentionally set before or after prohibition? I’m really curious to figure this question out.

Vocabulary Words: Yes, I included Vocabulary Words in my Journal Entry because for most of these words, I had absolutely no clue as to what they even meant.
• Transcendent - (PP. 23) – Exceeding usual limits, superlative, supreme, incomparable.
• Contiguous - (PP. 24) – In contact; touching; near or next.
• Anaemic – (PP. 25) – Relating to anemia or suffering from anemia; lacking vigor or energy.
• Crepe-de-Chine - (PP. 25) – A light, soft, silk or synthetic fabric with minute irregularities of surface; A silk crepe used for dresses and blouses.
• Muslin – (PP. 27) – A strong, plain-woven cotton cloth.
• Proprietary – (PP. 30) – Belonging to a proprietor, as under a patent, trademark, or copyright.
• Ectoplasm – (PP. 30) – The outer portion of the cytoplasm of a cell; An immaterial substance, especially the transparent physical presence of a ghost or a spirit.
• Hauteur – (PP. 30) – Disdainful pride, haughtiness.

William S. Merwin

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/for-the-anniversary-of-my-death/

(The Website Link For William S. Merwin's Poem, For The Anniversary of My Death.)

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-you-go-away/
(The Website Link Also For William S. Merwin's Poem, When You Go Away.)

Jennifer Tabasco 11-2
English III
Mr. Fiorini
March 9, 2009

William Stanley Merwin

The poet that I chose to talk about is William Stanley Merwin. William Stanley Merwin’s two poems, For the Anniversary of My Death and When You Go Away, are the two poems that I decided to discuss from this contemporary author.
William Stanley Merwin’s life began when he was born in New York City. Merwin grew up looking out over the Hudson to the Towers of New York. Merwin attended Princeton University, where he got a post-grad in romance languages. Shortly after, Merwin hit Europe, traveling to France, Spain, and England. Most of his early writing was done in Europe, before Merwin turned to his roots and started writing with American themes. William Stanley Merwin currently lives and works in Hawaii. All of this biographical information has definitely impacted the two works that I read by this writer because his writing really has a sense of “Americanism” to it just by the way it flows and the certain language that he uses just in these two poems.
Merwin’s most recent poetry has consisted of topics such as the beauty of life, love, and nature. In William Merwin’s poem, For the Anniversary of My Death, he talks about how each day that passes by him, he’s not really sure as to when his death will occur. There’s no real sense of any specific type of structure in this poem; there aren’t any punctuation marks, there are just a couple of divided statements that seem to make the poem unique. After William Merwin dies, he won’t longer find himself lost in his life because then he’ll know what is happening to him. I think that this poem serves as somewhat of an obituary to people who have lost loved ones in their lives, and this poem can serve as one way to remember those loved ones. As opposed to the other poem, When You Go Away, William Merwin talks about how much pain and torture that he experiences when this certain person goes away. He uses a lot of metaphors to make the poem more effective in the way that it flows. I suspect that this person may be a girlfriend, a certain family member, or maybe a son or daughter that he might have had. Once again, this poem has no punctuation marks; this poem has divided statements in each line. I think that if punctuation marks were placed in this poem, I think that the poem wouldn’t flow as easily without the punctuation marks. I really enjoy the way that this certain poem flows easily like the waves of an ocean. This poem really brings the reader into the author’s mind while reading the whole poem together.
Throughout these two poems, there are a couple of ideas about the works of William Stanley Merwin that make them distinctly American. The two experiences that Merwin talks about, death and agony, can relate to his American work because these are just two similar experiences that all people, not just Americans, can relate to in some way. Another idea that makes William Merwin’s poems distinctly American is that throughout these two poems, there aren’t any punctuation marks, only small statements. Yes, I’m positive that other world authors don’t use punctuation marks, but these works are vastly different in that his statements are much longer in length. One final idea that makes this writer’s work distinctly American is that he writes his poem starting with five stanzas. Then, he writes the second part in seven or eight stanzas, creating a longer poem towards the ending. If I could, I would definitely read another poem done by William Stanley Merwin, not only because he’s an American, but because of how his poems are formed and how they all flow so easily when read aloud.
William Stanley Merwin is an American author who writes so wonderfully based on possible experiences that he might have lived through during his lifetime. I admire his creativity by using metaphors to express how much pain he experiences when this certain person goes away, and I also admire the way that he writes about the anniversary of his death even though he’s uncertain as to when that day will ever come. His poems are really unique, and they really stand out from all of the other poems that I read so far in my lifetime. The variety of his poems brought me closer to his sense of writing, and after reading only two works, I’m glad that I chose the author that I did.

My Journal Blog - Willa Cather

Jennifer Tabasco 11-2
English III
Mr. Fiorini
March 2, 2009

My Journal Blog - Willa Cather

While reading Willa Cather’s two short stories during the course of this week, I noticed that the American Romantics and the American Realists were very different to each other in their writing styles and intentions. As for the American Romanticism period, these authors focused on feeling and intuition over logic. They expressed their deep devotion to nature, feeling, and truth throughout their writings. For the American Realism period, I think that these authors told their stories normally, and then the authors placed flashbacks for certain characters in order for the reader to understand those character’s mindsets. It was sort of like being brought into a character’s mind and then experiencing what that character thought, felt, and saw during that certain situation. Willa Cather’s Consequences and A Wagner Matinee are two of the stories that use this flashback technique seen throughout the American Realism period.
In Willa Cather’s, A Wagner Matinee, Clark and his Aunt Georgiana go to see a symphony performance of Richard Wagner. Aunt Georgiana lives in Nebraska, and she has blocked out of her mind all of the musical things that she once loved. After reading this short story, I think that one of the main themes used in this story is a supporting system between family members. Clark and the musical world are two of the crutches that Aunt Georgiana uses to try to overcome the boring, dull life that she’s lived back on her farm in Nebraska. Without Clark, Aunt Georgiana wouldn’t have been able to become retouched by the musical world again. By attending this musical performance, Aunt Georgiana really expresses her love of the music world by telling Clark that she doesn’t want to leave. Her deep devotion to music really prevented her from leaving that door back into the world where she once blocked out all of her love to music. For this certain story, I think that Willa Cather is writing to people out there who want to see others emerge from their shell and to let the rest of the world know who that particular person is inside and out. In other words, this short story is written for all “Clarks” out there who want to support their “Aunt Georgiana’s” by expressing the true “Aunt Georgiana” for everyone to see. In addition to this, I think that Willa Cather wrote this story to show to people that if you really love someone in your family, you can develop all of the strength to bring out the real, true person inside of them that may have been hidden from the rest of the world over many years. This story was very touching because of how much love the reader can see Clark gave to his Aunt Georgiana just by bringing her to the symphony performance of Richard Wagner.
As for Willa Cather’s, Consequences, Henry Eastman and Kier Cavenaugh are apartment neighbors, who sort of have this “father-son” relationship occurring. Both of these men tell each other of previous events that happened to them. Out of nowhere, Kier Cavenaugh commits suicide, and Henry Eastman is stunned by this random act of violence. Throughout the story, it seemed as if Cavenaugh always wanted to tell Eastman something important, but Cavenaugh didn’t know how to tell him the right way. Why would Cather just spontaneously write an event of suicide? To answer this question, I think that Kier Cavenaugh seemed a little eerie from the very beginning because of his responses and of the numerous times he tried to invite Henry Eastman over to his apartment with other guests there. By Cavenuagh not having the chance to really tell Eastman what was happening to him internally, I think that Cavenaugh felt as if he had nobody else to turn to about his situation with “the ghost” and of his internal feelings, and the only way to vent or get rid of those emotions was to commit suicide. The title, ‘Consequences’, makes sense in a lot of ways throughout this story because Henry Eastman didn’t really address, listen, or even understand Cavenaugh’s issues, which caused Cavenaugh to take away his own life. For this particular story, I think that Willa Cather was writing to people who enjoy mysterious endings. This short story ends with a mysterious turn with Cavenaugh’s suicide, and I don’t really enjoy story endings with a lot of unanswered questions: What happened to Henry Eastman after Kier Cavenaugh’s suicide? Did Kier Cavenaugh leave any missing clues behind to explain his motive for suicide? These questions are just some of the questions that I felt as if were unanswered because of this mysterious ending Willa Cather chose to write about. In addition to this, I think that Willa Cather wrote this for people to pay more close attention to others who may be having difficulties in their lives psychologically, mentally, and even physically. These people need all of the support that they can receive from their loved ones, and if people aren’t willing to support them throughout those difficult times, a suicide or any type of violence is most likely to occur.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed reading Willa Cather’s two short stories, A Wagner Matinee and even Consequences. These two stories had two totally different messages being sent towards the reader, and I think that these two stories go together in some way because of the particular structure that they were written. I really enjoyed Willa Cather’s writings for some reason because of how she structures her stories, beginning with a regular story and then bringing up previous events in the character’s lives to go through the minds of the fictional characters. A Wagner Matinee had a more positive message being expressed through Clark and Aunt Georgiana’s time whereas Consequences sent a more dark and troubling message through Kier Cavenaugh’s character. If I could, I would probably read another one of Willa Cather’s stories just to see if there are any similarities throughout her various writings, depending on these two stories.