Technology

Online learning is different than learning in person in many ways. Probably the biggest difference is that it is much easier to not do your homework with an online course. This is because you do not see the teacher and do not have to face to consequences or questions as to why you did not do your homework. Basically, you can just ignore, and that gets you nowhere. Also, online learning is a self-motivating class meaning you have to motivate yourself to do the work and finish the assignments in on time. I would not say that online learning is harder than learning in person, I know that I would never take an online math class because I am a very visual person and I need to see examples set out in front of me before I understand. I liked this class a lot because it was based on your own pace, we had a week to do each assignment and you could either do it early or on the day it was due.
The technology that we used that was most beneficial to me was the purdue owl learning. I really learned a lot from the examples about commas. I know that I do still mess up, but it was really helpful information to refresh some concepts I used to know. Another was the blog, I’ve never written a blog or thought I would ever have a blog, but it was actually a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the blogs that let us create a poster or video, because I like doing things and creating them myself. (Like the blog posters, that was really fun.)
I am going to use these in any of my other classes that allow me to be creative. If I take another online course I will remember these sites that allow me to create awesome posters and slide shows. Also, the purdue owl website taught me about cover letters and how to create that. So I know that the website will help me with other aspects of English that give me a tough time.
Learning online is not as hard as I thought it would be, it just really takes motivation. I enjoyed learning this way.
My link is to the Purdue owl about commas: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/02/
My picture is from: http://www.neoterictechs.com/

Final Presentation

Reflection of the Course

This semester was really fun and I know that my writing skills have greatly improved because of the paper requirements we had. I have met the learning outcomes for this class by working a lot on my thesis statement this helped me focus my attention to the main point and help me convey to others what my main point is. By improving on my thesis I also think that creating an original thesis helped my voice come through my papers. I tried to create a new way to look at the writings and use my ideas to show my voice. To hone in on my thesis I also focused on how important it is to organize my papers with an introduction paragraph that slightly tells what I will cover, then making sure I re-cap it in the final paragraph. I always have a hard time with fragment sentences which sometimes I think are okay to use for emphasis, but then sometimes they do not make much sense to the reader. Overall, I think that my final paper was one of my best written and I think I really improved in all my aspects of writing.
What I learned from doing the final paper, is that it is not as hard as you think it is, once I finally got started it was easier to finish than just thinking about it. I can apply this to every class I take that requires me to write a paper, I just need to start on it and not put it off, even if I just write a few sentences that could get me going the next day.
I think I enjoyed the readings more than other classes because there was not many things to read, the poem, Frankenstein and a few academic papers but that made it easier to focus all my attention to one thing and therefore I think I put a better effort into understanding and writing about it.
I think that now my writing process has grown to more of a structured creation, before I would just write and write and not really care about the conclusion, but now when I write my conclusion I will re-read my introductory paragraph and start writing, then when I run out of ideas I begin to re-read the rest of my paper to make sure that my conclusion is tying my paper up as a whole. I never used to do that, and I think that will help my audience understand my thesis also. Before I also could not convey my thesis to anyone properly but I do think that I am on my way to doing so in my writings now.
My biggest challenge in this class was the final paper, and that is because I was really putting myself down about it. I kept thinking I was not going to be able to find any secondary sources and I just did not seem to be enjoying Edgar Allan Poe as much as I thought I was going to. Then when it came time to turn it in, I was not finished, so that stressed me out even more and I just left the paper alone for a long time. That was probably the biggest challenge, and to overcome it I just had to start the paper and I had to trust in myself that I was capable and that I could write a good paper about Poe that made sense to me. Once I got started the secondary sources were really easy to find and everything fell in order, and it turns out it was not as hard as I was making it out to be in my mind.

Zombies

I had no idea that zombies could and do play such a significant role in symbolism. I never thought that any sort of “zombie craze” would happen after major tragic world or country events. This paper really opened my eyes and my mind even if that sounds cliché. It can be proven that movies after events such as the Vietnam War and September 11th led to the creation of zombie apocalyptic movies. The question is why?

The article described that after such events people are more inclined to watch zombies movies because of the idea of horror, people liked being scared, and when there is fear of terrorists, the film industry thinks of ways to create their own “terrorist”, and the terrorists they chose was in the form of zombies, but why? The article described that zombies are a more frightening being than any vampire or ghost, because zombies are known as the living dead. Vampires are normally portrayed as being very sexually attractive, take Dracula or Edward Cullins, the girl always seems to fall in love with the vampire. Zombies however are dirty, ugly, probably smelly, and want to eat your flesh. So the film industry created a “zombie-terrorist” because they are usually someone who you knew but is now infected or bitten and turned zombie. Finally, they are already in your territory, what better type of terrorist than one that is already living in your neighborhood? I enjoyed this article a lot. I did not know that a zombie book has never been written. Most other monsters i.e. Frankenstein or vampires, first rose to stardom after the publishing of a book, but not zombies; their whole creation was from death, of no one knowing what they were, to life, in their movie roles, and I feel that is very appropriate in the sense of who they are. The living dead.

My link is to a symbolism of zombies website: http://www.umich.edu/~engl415/zombies/zombie.html

My picture is from my favorite game!! Plants vs Zombies!! http://www.download-free-games.com/pc/plants_vs_zombies.htm

Annotated Bib.

Beidler, Philip D. “Mythopoetic Justice: Democracy and Death of Edgar

Allan Poe.” Midwest Quarterly 46. 3 (Spring 2005): 252-67.

This is an academic database article, it gives details on the strange death of Edgar Allan Poe, but most importantly to my research it gives light into the strange world that surrounded Poe. The article goes on to state that it is unknown how Poe really died. Some suspect Poe just being a drunk or sick, and the most shocking, murder. Poe’s strange murder and life ties directly into the theme of my paper, the strange writings, life, and death that contributed to peoples’ feeling towards Poe are great points that I could bring up to connect Poe’s life and writings. This article is helpful towards understanding Poe’s life; it does not directly give criticism of his writings so it might not be very helpful on that aspect of things.

Canada, Mark, ed. "Edgar Allan Poe." Canada's America. 1997.

http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/17841865/lit/poe.htm. (October 2011, 28).

I found an educational website that is not a database but had some very useful information. I do not think I will use any of it thought, because it does not seem as a reputable source as a database or encyclopedia. This site did tell me about other writings that Edgar Allan Poe has completed and it had some very thought invoking questions that I do think will be helpful to think about while reading Poe’s writings. Questions such as, “What other elements in this story and Poe’s life suggest that “The Cask of Amontillado” has autobiographical elements?” Not only does this question get you to think deeper but it also means that the author, Mark Canada, does think that Poe used his life experience in some of his writings.

Poe, Edgar A. and Greg, Hilderbrandt. Poe: Stories and Poems. New

Jersey: The Unicorn Publishing House, 1886. Print.

This is my primary source; it contains 26 poems and short stories that were written by Edgar Allan Poe. I have read the whole book but I am only planning on using a few of his works to point out the theme of imagination, horror, and trauma. The poems Alone, Eldorado, and The Raven are a few that I have chosen to specifically talk about in my paper. This book does not contain any information about Poe; it only has his writings so I am going to have to look for other sources to learn more about him and what people have said about his writings.

Walker, I. M. Edgar Allan Poe the Critical Heritage.

London: Routledge, 1997.

This is the best secondary source that I have found so far, it has criticism of Edgar Allan Poe’s writings, but it also contains some contemporary along with older criticism. It was also from a library database source, so I know that it is credible. This critical book is also 400 pages long and contains many different sources of criticism. I am going to use this for the main bulk of my secondary source. It analyzes letters, poems, and short stories written by Poe. This book also contains and introduction to Poe and his life, describing his meager beginnings and life as an author. What I found very interesting about his book is that it contains criticisms that are anonymous, and there are many different opinions, some who state that he was a poetic genius and others that disagree. Having such a wide choices of criticism will help me create a clearer thesis and prove my ideas to my audience.

Final Proposal

I am planning on completing Option #1 because I do not really know what I would do about monsters; I do not really understand anything that they could mean, like vampires or zombies. I also plan on writing about either Edgar Allan Poe or Shakespeare, which means the short stories from both of the authors. Plus I find both of these authors to be dark and tragic, in a way these authors also create monsters in their writings.

I hope to accomplish a clearer thesis, and I hope to finish 5 pages, haha, and I hope to learn how to better analyze literature. I plan on using the library databases, searching criticism and also searching main theme ideas. I know what my main ideas are for both of my choices of authors, but maybe to find some ideas that are complete opposites of my own.

My link is my favorite website about Edgar Allan Poe, because it really shows off who Poe is, http://www.poemuseum.org/index.php

Mid-Term Letter

Dear Ms. Cline,
I was very hesitant about taking an online course. I have watching many people try and fail, and have had many people recommend to me that it would not be a good idea, but I have found this class to be great! It has really kept my interest up and I think that is why I enjoy doing the work.
I would have to say that the biggest challenge for me so far is keeping up on the homework and writing, because I am a full time student and full time worker. Sometimes it is hard to maintain both and I must stay fully attentive because I could easily fall behind, so my procrastination has been on the decline. From a writing standpoint I think that what I need to work on most is clearly bringing my ideas to the table, sometimes I find it easier to have what I want to say, but I am unable to bring the message across, that is also understandable to my audience. I feel that my weakest points in writing are always my thesis and conclusion paragraphs. I never know the best way to end a paper, so sometimes I find that I do so very abruptly and without a clear ending.
My biggest success would be the blog posting. My favorite assignment was when we got to use the blog poster idea, I was really proud of my poster and the comments that I received from my classmates. I think that a blog is very helpful for an online English class because it does allow us to see what our classmates came up with on different themes and ideas.
I was bummed when I saw that I would have to purchase Frankenstein because I honestly had no intention of reading it. I had such a negative mind-set about the book because of the many movie versions that have been created that I really did not want to read about a “stupid” scientist, but I am very glad to now have had the pleasure of reading it. It was very compelling and played out like a good movie in my mind. I enjoyed it so much that I have talked to my family and co-workers about the book. I started asking them questions and what their opinions have been, and I have never done this with any book I have ever read, unless opinions from outside sources were required.
I have done a little literary analysis in my last English course, which I took when I attended NAU. Their English class combines 101 and 102 to create a mixer of both, which is quicker and less effective obviously because I still have to take it at Yavapai. I honestly do not remember much from that class except for the “Extended Bibliography” assignment which we turned in with our final portfolio at the end of the class. It was an awful creation that was so time consuming, and I learned nothing from it.
My goals for the second half of the semester would probably be to keep up on my assignments and not fall behind. What I hope the most is to improve on my thesis statement writing. I hope that I can clearly express my thoughts on a subject so that others can fully understand my message and point. I know that I have a lot of fragment sentences. I have always struggled with that aspect in grammar, but I hope that I will improve.
So far I have really enjoyed this class, and I am very proud of myself for sticking to the work. I have a lot to learn and hopefully I will learn it in this class. I have enjoyed the readings, especially Frankenstein, I am still unsure of my final project choice, but I cannot wait to get started!

Sincerely, V.S.P.

Draft of Essay #3

Chance: A Masterpiece, Not a Monster
Ugly, grotesque, frightening, blood-curdling, hellish, putrid…words that describe a monstrosity, the main theme in Frankenstein. What exactly does that mean? A monster is scary, unknown, sometimes violent, and most of the time stumbled upon by chance. This leads directly into the second underlying theme in Frankenstein, chance, the absence of any cause of events that can be predicted. I believe that the theme of chance in Frankenstein is the most important, because if it were not for the many strange events in Mary Shelley’s life, the novel would not be as thoughtful as the one we have today. Frankenstein is a very well known piece of literature. Known by many, admired by many, and often hated by many. From its first birth critics have had wide and varying opinions because it is such a revolutionary writing for its time, because it was written by a woman, it was frightening and graphic, and because it contained many modern scientific ideas.
I enjoyed Frankenstein much more than I first believed that I would. It is true to not judge a book by its cover. My first impression was very poor, I had a mental picture of a mad, crazed scientist, with a hutch-back and possible a limp, scooting around his laboratory in the tower of a castle, creating this giant monster. In my mind he wore a white lab coat, his hair was silver and wild like a forest, and he was old and dirty. Then when he finally created the monster “Frankenstein” he did so, on a cold, dark and raining night, and the monster came to life because lightning struck the peak of his tower and jolted the monster’s heart into pumping. After reading the book my whole opinion was transformed, this was a very creative, realistic, in a way, book. Mary Shelley captured many themes in this novel. Of course we have the theme of monsters, but the one that I interpreted differently than many other critics and stuck out to me the most was the concept of chance.
Every event in Frankenstein was that of chance, which really developed, for me, a strong sense of who Mary Shelley was as a person. Shelley believed in events that befall upon a person, without any reason or purpose, very similarly to the many occurrences that happened in her life. Beginning with the letters that Robert Walton wrote to his sister, Shelley brings to light the theme of chance. In the second letter written by Walton he describes to his sister the need of a friend, “But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy; and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil. I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavor to sustain me in dejection. I shall commit my thoughts to paper, it is true; but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling. I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me; whose eyes would reply to mine.” (Shelley, page 10). Then the first event of chance occurs, “I said in one of my letters, my dear Margaret, that I should find no friend on the wide ocean; yet I have found a man who, before his spirit had been broken by misery, I should have been happy to have possessed as the brother of my heart.” (Shelley, page 15). The first event and displaying of chance is the happening of Walton meeting another man on the desolate ocean. This event of chance is also the largest one, because it leads directly into the story of Frankenstein.
I believe that Shelley included this event because it paralleled her life; critic Ellen Moers wrote a criticism entitled, “Female Gothic: The Monster’s Mother”, from this article I learned that Mary Shelley wrote in a journal, much like Walton’s letters, telling of her troubles and strife, with the deaths of her children. Similarly, in Frankenstein Walton describes that writing on paper is poor way to let the true feelings show, feelings such as depression and anxiety, which are probably the same feelings that Shelley felt after the devastating events unfolded in her life. In her journal Mary wrote, “Find my baby dead. A miserable day.” (Moers, page 221), Shelley does not have any one to console in, so she consoles with her journal, “…a poor medium for the communication of feeling…” (Shelley, page 10).
As the novel continues Frankenstein describes to Walton several events of chance. One main event of chance was that Frankenstein stumbled upon the very “scientific” books by Cornelius Agrippa and Paracelsus. He described the books as visionary genius of the natural sciences, just as Mary Shelley “…learned from Sir Humphry Davy’s book on chemistry and Erasmus Darwin on biology…she sat by while Shelley, Byron, and Polidori discussed the new sciences of mesmerism, electricity, and galvanism, which promised to unlock the riddle of life,” ( Moers, page 219). The events that led both Mary Shelley and Frankenstein to their peak of information to creation were so similar, and by chance, that it seems almost without uncertainty that Shelley was using her life events to construct the novel of Frankenstein. Critic Christopher Small wrote an article titled, “[Percy] Shelley and Frankenstein” which states, “It was the conversation between Byron and Shelley about “the principle of life” that gave Mary her starting point.” (Small, page 205). Many critics agree that it was events in Mary Shelley’s life that gave her the fervor to create Frankenstein.
The last event of chance that is pivotal to me was the beginning of the creation of the monster itself. Mary Shelley describes the beginning of the eye-opening birth of the monster to Frankenstein with detailed emotion, the strong emotion that could only be described by someone who has felt such emotion before, “My attention was fixed upon every object the most insupportable to the delicacy of the human feelings. I saw how the fine form of man was degraded and wasted; I beheld the corruption of death succeed to the blooming cheek of life; I saw how the worm inherited the wonders of the eye and brain. I paused, examining the analyzing all the minute of causation, as exemplified in the change from life to death, and death to life, until from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me…” (Shelley, page 30). Ellen Moers informs in her article that Shelley wrote in her journal the sadness and fascination with death, “Death and birth were thus as hideously mixed in the life of Mary Shelley as in Frankenstein’s “workshop of filthy creation.” Who can read without shuddering, and without remembering her myth of the birth of a nameless monster, Mary’s journal entry of March 19, 1815, which records the trauma of her loss, when she was seventeen of her first baby, the little girl who did not live long enough to be given a name.” (Moers, page 220).
The unpredictable event that occurred to Shelley shaped the way the creation of Frankenstein’s monster would unfold. Shelley was unable to give her baby and creation a name, while Frankenstein was also unable to give his creation a name, because the day of his monster’s birth would also lead directly into its death. Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley in an attempt to create and show that many events that occurred in the beginning of Shelley’s life shaped who she was, and that events that Shelley could not control would not control her in life. She raised above it all and created a not a monster, but a masterpiece.

Frankenstein Critique

The criticism that I choose to summarize and reflect upon was titled “Female Gothic: The Monster’s Mother” written by Ellen Moers. Her article was written over a century and a half after the publishing of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, around 1974. Ellen is mainly focused on the gothic and monster themes that show through in Shelley’s story. First she states that it was a very unique book written during these times because the main character was not a woman, even though it was a woman that was writing it. Ellen then goes on the give a little background/history of Mary Shelley’s life. Ellen tells of the horrific love life that Shelley had beginning at the age of 16, with the death of her babies and illegitimate relationship with a married man, and deaths in her family. Ellen connects the tragedy in Frankenstein of the “monster” that Frankenstein created and ran way from to that of Shelley’s life. Ellen wrote this article because she enjoyed the book and agrees with many that it is an original piece of literature that deserves a lot of positive praise.
Ellen did read this book differently than me. I do think this is because Ellen did some background research on Shelley and found out the gruesome facts of the deaths in her family and of Shelley’s own babies. I did not make the connection that Frankenstein, as he quotes things about creating something from dust that death has taken away, could possibly connect to the way that Shelley felt about her own babies dying, one even without a name. I did learn the about the early life of Shelley, that she was a mistress to a married man, who ended up marrying Mary. I did not know she was 16 when she was pregnant and only 18 when she began writing Frankenstein, I knew she was young, but not young. This criticism was a little hard to follow in parts; Ellen began talking about many other authors and pieces of literature, and it became hard to follow the connection. I think she just used too many outside sources in trying to create a connection. I am going to use the article in essay #3 because it really helped me understand another side of the story, a point of view from Mary Shelley herself.

My link is to an exerpt from Mary Shelly’s journal/diary that Ellen refers to quite a lot in her article http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=71208348

My picture is of Mary Shelley. From http://www.nndb.com/people/245/000044113/

Revisions

When I began writing my essay I first had trouble deciding which poem I wanted to analyze. Many of the poems that I read did not make any sense to me, and that really discouraged me. What really stood out to me in the “Goblin Market” was close to the end of the poem. It talks about the love and strength between sisters, and I am very close to my older sister, she is pretty much my best friend, it really just touched me and that is ultimately why I chose this poem. At first I was disgusted about the idea of reading it AGAIN, because it is 500 lines, but once I made the connection to the Bible and the story of temptation idea began to form and it became fun to write.
I do not usually revise, because most of the papers I write turn out to be pretty good or at least I think so. I do always go over them again, but do not make many major changes. I know that I should do a lot of revising to this essay. I began writing and it came out very naturally, but towards the end I got bored and impatient and just wanted to be done writing, so I know that my last few paragraphs could use some revising. From others’ comments I read that a few of my last paragraphs were also very long. I think I will go back and cut a few up. I tend to keep going on and on, but I need to remember that a paragraph is really one item/detail and a description/analysis of that one idea.
I think that revising is important because once you let a piece of work set for a few days and re-read it, you may have new ideas or concepts that you did not think of earlier in your writing process. Revising can show you what you need to improve on; like I always have a hard time with the end and closing paragraphs. Like I said before, I get impatient and just type until the paper is finished, and generally only do what is required of me, rarely do I write more than what is the minimum.
I do think that analysis is a hard thing to do. It is very easy to lean into writing summary, because while you are writing your audience could be someone who may have not ever read the poem you are analyzing, and you want to give them a low-down of what has happened. Once I start writing in a summary-type manner, though, I find it hard to switch back to analysis. It is hard for me because I want to explain to people what is going on, not what the author was trying to convey in a deeper meaning. It is easy to say my poem was about sisters, and one gets tempted into eating fruit from goblin like men, and she becomes poisoned, then her sister saves her life by ultimately sacrificing herself. The hard part comes when you ask yourself the why? Why did her sister sacrifice herself? Was it easy? Did she ever have a second thought? What if she had failed and had also been tempted? Then her and her sister would be “dead”, no longer feeling the joys of the world around them.
I plan to mainly focus on strengthening my conclusion and last few paragraphs. I want my essay to flow smoother, like the “How to revise a College Essay” video said. When people are able to read things without stumbling over a tricky sentence, then I think the meaning of the essay as a whole comes out clearer.

My image and my link are from the same website: http://web.gccaz.edu/~mdinchak/101online_new/assignment3revising.htm
I found this website really helpful, I think it is from anther class/school, about ideas for revising.

Frankenstein

“I then thought that my father would be unjust if he ascribed my neglect to vice, or faultiness on my part; but I am now convinced that he was justified in conceiving that I should not be altogether free from blame. A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind, and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility. I do not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this rule. If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections, and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possible mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind.” (Shelley, 33).
First off, I began this novel with the idea of a mad, crazed scientist who creates a monster by powering it up with lightening, like from the movie, and picture that I posted. That was not at all what the book was about. I actually really enjoyed it. My passage is from Victor Frankenstein himself as he is relaying his life to Walton on the ship. This passage is very important, I believe, because it is before the revealing of the creating of the monster and is a foreshadowing of the life that Walton could be falling into if he lets himself. Frankenstein spent all of two years night and day creating the monster and it was not until after he stepped back and could see that what he was creating was also turning him into a monster. His father would think so, and when Frankenstein looks back, he has to agree, that the consuming lifestyle led him into a state of that similar to psychosis. Frankenstein tries to give Walton advice that if you let something consume you, you will forget about the simple things that had once brought you great pleasure, like the autumn leaves falling, changing of season, and the comfort you get from human companionship. Walton has already felt the loneliness and sadness of being without a companion, as he writes to his sister in the first pages, “I have no friend, Margaret,” “…I bitterly feel the want of a friend.” (Shelley, 10). Walton does realize the importance of companionship, and he also lets it be known that he is not a very educated man, “Now I am twenty-eight, and am in reality more illiterate than many school-boys of fifteen.” (Shelley, 10). Walton is quite the opposite of Frankenstein, he seems as though he is more into adventure, while Frankenstein was always interested in learning and reading more and more, as seen in his childhood studies, and the way he approached his professor seeking other resources. This ties into the theme of “monster” Frankenstein created one, and also became one in his life, this passage is sort of a revelation of the fact that he was pulled in so deeply, that he was not even able to enjoy the simple things. Which are what make life so enjoyable.

Shelley, Mary, and J. Paul Hunter. Frankenstein: the 1818 Text, Contexts, Nineteenth-century Responses, Modern Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. Print.

My link is to a page about Mary Shelley the author, I find it curious that she looks so gentle and created such a monstrous book, and she was only 19! http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/shelleybio.html


The picture is of the “crazy” scientist who created the monster http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2007/nov/12/americaisnotamusedtwo

First Draft, Poetry Analysis

Temptation: A Beating Drum

The “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti is such a tempting read. She uses short and quick to read lines, to create the affect of a beating drum, the chant of the feared goblin men. This brings to light the poem’s main theme. The theme, that all are tempted and many fall short into the hands of temptation and somehow, some way, a hero, a savior, a sister, is needed to help the lost, and good can conquer evil. Along with the main theme of temptation comes the religious tone of the poem: the evils’ of the goblin men, their deceit, the innocence of Laura and Lizzie and the other girls that were tempted before them, and finally a savior, to overcome the goblin men, leaving them angry, malicious, and un-wanting.
Christina Rossetti immediately begins the poem with the song of the goblin men. The first 31 lines, catches their chant. This technique is the first glimpse of the temptation she puts onto the reader. Reading further into the poem and it becomes a slow and lulling chant that rhythmically beats along. “Wild free-born cranberries, Crab-apples, dewberries, Pine-apples, blackberries, Apricots, strawberries;--” (Rossetti, lines 11-14). Each line only contains a few words, eight at the most, to keep the beat and maintain the idea of an “easy read”. An easy read leads to an easy listen, as the goblin men chant “Come buy, come buy.” (Rossetti, 31). Rossetti uses this technique to show first-hand how the other girls are easily tempted, because it is easy for the girls to hear, to listen, and become tempted and entranced.
Rossetti uses one simple line to explain why it is so tempting to want to eat the fruit of the goblin men. “Sweet to tongue, and sound to eye;” (Rossetti, 30). A vivid description alike to the one given in the Bible by Eve, when she finally had looked upon the forbidden fruit, “...the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye,” (Genesis, 3:6). Although Rossetti only uses seven words to describe the fruit, they are powerful. This line is before Laura has even tasted of the fruit, but she already knows that is will be sweet, because it is “music to her eyes”. I think the meaning of this is, that it was as pleasing and soothing to Laura as a lullaby is to a baby. How can something so pure and beautiful be any harm? Especially something that sounds so luscious and goblin men with voices like doves (Rossetti, 77).
Laura, like Eve in the Bible, is tempted by an evil. The goblins represent the evil of Satan, which has a powerful, yet seemingly helpful cause. This is shown when the goblin men finally meet her at the glen and coax her again to “Come buy, come buy.” (Rossetti, 90). Laura tells them that she does not have any money, but the goblin men disagree, “You have much gold upon your head,” (Rossetti, 123), “Buy from us with a golden curl. She clipp’d a precious golden lock,” (Rossetti, 125-126). This seems as though the goblins are doing Laura a favor, being kind, but their true intentions are that of deceit and maliciousness. Laura also gave them a lock of hair as payment for their fruit, and the cost of it was painful, causing Laura to shed “…a tear more rare than pearl,” (Rossetti, 127). This was because, I believe, the lock of hair meant more to her than money, because it was a part of her, a piece of her beauty. The goblins did not have to take money from her. They took more from her than just worldly possessions; they cut into her life and have taken her soul.
Once Laura becomes entranced and tempted, she becomes consumed. “Laura stretch’d her gleaming neck” (Rossetti, 81) “Like a vessel at the launch, When its last restraint is gone.” (Rossetti, 85-86). Now Laura will stretch as far as she needs to so that she can see and hear the goblins marching towards her. She is so consumed that she will do anything for the taste of the fruit, because no matter how much she ate, her “mouth waters still;” (Rossetti, 166), and in her fallen temptation and consumption she has the false idea in her mind that she will buy more (Rossetti, 167-168), but there is no more to be found. The goblins’ malicious and key ingredient for their fruit is the painstaking conclusion that once the juice of the fruit has been tasted, the want and need for more has been established, the temptation is taken away, and the goblin song cannot be heard again. “But Laura loiter’d still among the rushes, Listening ever, but not catching, The customary cry, Come buy, come buy,” (Rossetti, 226, 230-232). This parallels with the punishment given to Eve after she tasted of the forbidden fruit and God throws her out of the Garden of Eden, never can she live in a paradise or look upon the fruit. Laura also is condemned by the goblin men to be searching forever for their cry and never hear it, because she was tempted.
The evil of the goblin men began to turn Laura into an evil herself. “Then sat up in a passionate yearning, And gnash’d her teeth for baulk’d desire, and wept, As if her heart would break.” (Rossetti, 266-268), Laura paid the price by giving a piece of herself to the goblin men and therefore began to lose herself completely. Her life on earth became a living hell; a hell full of pain, gnashing of teeth, and utter despair. When she gave the lock of hair, she opened up a gateway to her soul. When that gate opened the evil goblin men took hold of Laura and her life. Slowly as the days dragged on, her light in her life, the fire she used to have, began to decay (Rossetti, 279-280).
Laura needed a savior from the evil that had her bonded. That savior became her sister Lizzie, who watched Laura as she slowly fell deeper into the grasp of the goblin men. Lizzie approached the glen and finally listened for the cry. Spying Lizzie the goblin men came rushing to her, laughing because they had finally tempted the strong sister. More than anything the goblin men were searching for weak souls to devour. They searched for the souls of young and beautiful women, because women have the largest hearts, and to them, the easiest to break. They treated her with kindness, kissed her, caressed her, (Rossetti, 348-349), but her mission was unlike any they had encountered. Lizzie asked for fruit to take back with her to her sister. The goblin men began to physically beat her because they could not torture her if she would not taste of their fruit, “Held her hands and squeez’d their fruits, Against her mouth to make her eat.” (Rossetti, 406-407). When Lizzie would not eat, the goblin men considered her trash and left her beaten. The evil wanted nothing to do with the savior and strong-will that Lizzie possessed. The savior Lizzie was above the rest, golden and strong, angelically represented, but humble in her return home. She did not gloat about braving the goblin men, but instead humbled herself before her sister asking her to be proud and look at her with love, “Eat me, drink me, love me, Laura, make much of me;” (Rossetti, 471-472), but since Laura was so intoxicated by the evil that the goblins had cast upon her, Laura only wanted to know if Lizzie had joined her in her consumed life. “Lizzie, Lizzie, have you tasted, For my sake the fruit forbidden?” (Rossetti, 478-479). Ultimately Laura does not care that Lizzie was beaten by the goblin men, she only wants to know whether her sister will be joining her in a soul-less, lifeless world, same as the one she is living in, because she was tempted.
Temptation was the key ingredient to the goblin mens’ evil plans against the innocent, once the temptation was felt, the evil was capable of consuming the soul and ultimately leading to the death of the young women. Even in death, light can be seen, and a savior to seek out the lost, which is what Christina Rossetti explains in “Goblin Market”, good will conquer evil.


My only question is whether I did a summary of the poem? I think I started to summarize towards the end?

Temptation

What a tempting read. The author showed one of the major themes of the poem, temptation, by creating each line, short and quick to read. This technique of using easy to read words, tempts the reader to go on. It seems easy to fall into the trap of the merchant mens' chant, "Come buy, come buy". The rhythm of the poem fits well into the chants that you can imagine in your mind, "Come buy, come buy". In the end, Laura was tempted by the merchant mens' fruits.
The speaker is an observer. An observer of both Laura and Lizzie. The language that they use, is in favor of Laura and Lizzie, in line (408) they describe Lizzie as "white and golden", normally words used to describe an angel, and they use very derogatory language when talking about the goblin men.
The tone of the poem is a religious tone. I think the goblin men are used to describe an evil sort of Satan character. The merchant/goblin men are always tempting for others to join them in their trickery, and they tempted only women. Exactly like in the book of Genesis in the Bible. Satan tempts Eve, the woman, with tasting of the forbidden fruit. He is successful. Many times successful in the poem, and when they are successful, the men rejoice in their trickery, they quirk a smile when they finally see Lizzie peering at them through the brush. Going along with the religious tone, you can see that Lizzie is the "savior" in the poem. She is able to conquer the temptation of tasting the fruits, withstand the brutal beating and humiliation that the merchant men put her through trying to force her to eat of the fruits, and when she runs home to her sister telling her she has braved the men and is covered in the mouth watering fruit that will save Laura's life.





My picture is of a glen. Which is where the merchant men met Laura and Lizzie. I got the picture from http://www.geneseelandtrust.org/o-corbetts_glen.html

My link is to the poem that I chose www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174262

Summary and Analysis

"Good Readers and Good Writers"

In “Good Readers and Good Writers” Vladimir Nabokov writes that a good reader possesses imagination, memory, an insightful diction, and artistic ability. He proceeds to say that a good reader is also a re-reader. This simply means that while people mundanely scan through a book, they are not able to fully appreciate an author’s artistic flare. Nabokov explains this concept further by comparing it to viewing a painting; while standing in a gallery focused on one painting at a time the viewer is able to concentrate meticulously and scan without the metronome effect of the back and forth reading of lines in a book. Ultimately Nabokov is challenging us to become good readers.


I do agree with Nabokov on a few of his good reader qualities. I agree with him when he states that a characteristic a good reader should have is imagination which ties into artistic ability. I do not, however, agree with his re-reader concept. Many times I have been so engrossed in a great novel that I go through the pages like they are on fire. I see no need for re-reading something I know I have already enjoyed. I think that re-reading is necessary, for me, when I’m reading a stale science text book or an article called “Good Readers and Good Writers”.


I would consider myself a good reader. If I do not understand something that I have read I will re-read it until I can comprehend the meaning. My imagination is very vivid; while reading a book I always play the scenes out in my head. It’s almost like I’m viewing a movie in a private theatre.

My link and picture is from a facebook page type blog about what others think make good writers:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150173982098719&comments

Introduction Video