February

February

Margaret Atwood

This poem is basically one long inner monologue. The speaker often skips around from topic to topic, connected each thought with the previous. She begins by observing winter as a lazy time of year, that no one is too fond of. She then focuses on the cat, and how he behaves during winter. The cat jumps on her bed as a "way of telling whether or not I'm dead" (Atwood 876). This changes the tone to focus on death. The speaker believes that winter is death, and we just have to deal with. She then makes a jump to say that love is death. Loving someone or something can makes us forget what really makes us sane, and insanity leads to our downfall. The viewpoint of the poem then cycles through all the previous thoughts, until the speaker finally is fed up with February, and demands that spring comes. But dealing with all the despairs of february and winter makes the spring that much enjoyable. The best things in life are only attained after going through hardships.

WHY IS THIS CALLED Popular Mechanics?!

Popular Mechanics
Carver

These short stories never have happy endings. The tone of this story is very bleak, forcing even more sadness to rain over the reader. The couple is splitting up and they each demand to take their child with them. Emotions are raging, so they couldn't be thinking logically and settle this matter in the court system. Their argument symbolizes their relationship, and how it had slowly fallen apart. "In the scuffle they knocked down a flowerpot that hung behind the stove" (Carver 335). Though it seems insignificant, the flowerpot along with assorted items in the house represent the couple's relationship. It breaking symbolizes their love falling apart, and in the end their love only centered around the child. They hated each other but loved the baby, and that only caused the argument to become more heated. They both wanted to cling onto the last thing that represented their love, which was the baby. And, in the end, the baby suffered the greatest. The ending is vague, yet it leads the reader to believe it was torn apart. The story itself serves as a metaphor to failing love, and warns of the deadly consequences.

Tonight, on 60 minutes

The Story of an Hour
Kate Chopin

Well wasn't that ironic, but everyone is going to blog about irony, so I shall blog about imagery!!! When Louise comes to terms that her husband is dead, she gains a new outlook on life. Not only that, but it's almost as though she gains super powers, and can finally see and hear all that is going on around her. From just opening a window she can taste "the delicious breath of rain" and could hear "the notes of a distant song which someone was singing" (Chopin 326). She knew she would be on her own, and was somewhat afraid, but she was excited to tackle the world in this new way she experienced it. Though death had stolen possibly her closest friend, she remained headstrong in her sense of freedom. The imagery and diction empowered Lousie, depicting her as a heroine ready to travel the world. She triumphantly walked down the stairs once she had understood her new life, only to find her old life rushing back to her. Her husband hadn't died, and her mind and heart couldn't comprehend it. Louise died at the sight of him, perhaps from joy, but more likely from despair. She would have been trapped in her dull, secluded, homemaker role with her husband around, and I don't think she wanted that to be her reality.

Yo mamma so ugly

You're Ugly, Too
Lorrie Moore

There's a reason Zoe is still single, it's because she's terrifying. She had been in some good relationships, but the moment the man acted out of line she cut ties with him. She wasn't very good at flirting, but she made a good effort throughout the story while talking to Earl. Irony is highly present through this story, for even though she wants love, she spends most of her time talking about how love has failed her so many times. Not only that, but such conversations isn't going to catch many fish any time soon, Zoe. She makes up a fake relationship (assumedly to make it seem that shes not crazy) with her long-time taxi driver. It almost makes me feel bad for her, especially when she asks Earl, "Are you involved in a relationship? With a woman?" (Moore 366). She knew he was going through divorce, yet she starts up this conversation for small talk! Either she hates the guy, or she is doomed to never find love, despite he craving to be loved. It becomes clearer at the end of the story that she really dislikes Earl when she nearly pushes him off the balcony. I believe this sums up her destiny of love: she can deal with a man for only so long, until she needs to get away.

eHarmony, match.com, or maybe craigslist

Lonely Hearts
Wendy Cope

If you didn't realize, back in the mid 1900s, the internet wasn't invented. For this reason, poets had to take all their single friends' likes and dislikes and put them in poems, hoping the readers would ask out the poet's friends. If this is the correct interpretation of the poem, then HOLY GORSH MICKEY!!!

More than likely, the poem is to sympathize with the average person who is down on their luck in the love department. There are plenty of simple, ordinary people who just want someone special in their lives, and these simple messages symbolize all these different romantics. Every message is just 3 lines long, yet every message corresponds to a significantly different person. There is a "Gay vegetarian whose friends are few...[and a] Successful, straight, solvent...Jewish lady" (Cope 973). If these two people were in a story, they couldn't be more different, yet they represent the same type of person in this poem. Everyone is looking for love, and they have put their faith into writing messages and hoping someone special will find it. There are always lonely hearts, but as long as the hearts stay open someone will take away the lonely and make it lovely.
EDIT: I think I should forever be less manly for making this blog. I need to remedy this...I'm now a man.

Bright Star

Bright Star
John Keats

Upon reading this my first time, I assumed the other loved women and astronomy. That may be true, but I think he meant for the stars to be a metaphor for the woman he loved. He relates how eternal the stars are, which corresponds to his eternal love for his girly friend (My personal stance is that girls have cooties). Not only does he love her, but herself and her beauty will last forever in his eyes. He briefly comments on the moon and "the moving waters at their priestlike task" (Keats 792). Now he is saying that the "stars" (but really the moon) has a nearly full control over Earth's tides. This relates to his love's control over him, and that he is blown away by how amzing she is. He believes that this girl is so amazing that all of space is barely a good enough analogy to describe her wonder. The metaphor that love is eternal beats within the author's heart as he speaks to this woman. If she were to leave, than the entire universe would crumble around him.

Why did she stay?!

Eveline
James Joyce

She had one decision to make, and she made it a huge fiasco!!! My biggest problem with the story is with how she decided. It would've been fine if she refused to go with Frank because she wanted to help her family. However, the narrator describes Eveline as being afraid, as if she was unsure of her own decision. She had wanted to start a new life with Frank for a long time, despite the few reasons she needed to stay home. Even though her mother wanted her to protect the family, Eveline thought "She must escape! Frank would save her" (Joyce 221). When she ended up not going with Frank, the story seemed unfinished. Her decision was more on the basis of her getting cold feet. In a rush of emotion, she got confused and thought home was safer than being with frank. Now, after the story ended, Frank could've easily got off the ship, had a talk with Eveline, and truly figured out what she wanted...BUT THE STORY ENDED TOO QUICKLY!!! So if anyone decides to write a sequel to this story, I advise you to please tell me about it.

How I Met the side characters

How I Met My Husband
Alice Munro

The main characters in the novel are Edie, Chris, and some may argue that Alice is as well. However, Loretta Bird and Mrs Peebles are definite side characters. Even though they aren't in the story that often, these two side characters have a large effect on Edie. Loretta for one loves to gossip, and her thirst for drama brought Alice into the story. Furthermore, all of her questioning and prodding brought up the relationship Edie had with Chris, and caused the Uproar that changed Edie's life. Mrs Peebles had a more life-changing effect on Edie. She lived her life wanting the Peebles to like her, and needing to not make any mistakes to change that. She was almost paranoid, thinking that "Mrs Peebles might not fire me, when she found out, but it would give her a different feeling about me altogether" (Munro 135). I had originally thought of Mrs Peebles as a static character, but her impact on Edie partly changed her. A dynamic change takes place during the ordeal with Edie and Alice, in which Mrs Peebles defends Edie as if they had become friends. Edie was so convinced that Mrs Peebles would disown her, but she was the only friend that helped her.