What these pictures Do!!!!!

While reading these poems and being able to look at these paintings it really opened up new veiws on what the writer meant but at the same time I think it did take away from being able to let your own interpretations run wild. I also think that the poem was more based on the painting and not the painting on the poem. If there is anything else that I feel that I would want to add to this I will be right on here, but thanks everyone for bearing with my stupid responses but thanks again.

"Musee des Beaux Arts" and "Before the Mirror"

1. These poems are not merely descriptions of paintings. How do Updike and Auden use the paintings? Why do you think they refer to the paintings instead of writing poems without them?

2. Do you think having the paintings right there to refer to helps you or hinders you as you are reading the poems? Do you rely too much on them, or do they help you to understand the poets' angles of vision? Explain.

3. Discuss the significance of these lines:

They never forgot

That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course

Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot

Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse

Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.

4. What is the "human position" of suffering, according to Auden?

5. "Before the Mirror" is about more than one kind of "reflection." There is the literal reflection in the mirror, but in what other ways is "reflection" important to the poem?

6. Updike uses sexual imagery in "Before the Mirror." Do you think the sexuality is in Picasso's painting as well? And, perhaps more importantly, why is the sexual element in the poem at all?

7. Talk about Updike's poem in terms of the theme of innocence vs. experience.

8. Why does it matter to Auden that it is Icarus in Breughel's painting and not some random swimmer?

9. If Picasso's painting says, "Enter here/and abandon preconception," does Updike's poem say the same thing? Explain.

I'm not requiring a 1-page response. I'm asking you to respond here. See you tomorrow.

"We Real Cool"

Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3GAQCLxICo&feature=channel

really!? that is what you are doing with your time?! really!? wow...

So.... I am a man. And thus, because of this fact I love sports. Pretty much all sports. Although I do not watch: Hockey, Soccer, Womens basketball, or NASCAR. Those sports are the most retarded on television. but, I digress. I like to at least try and keep up with news in the sporting world because the regular news is very depressing, " once again the Dow fell to a new record low..... The war is still going..." I digress....again. So, I sat was sitting here looking at the top stories on www.espn.com and was astounded, outraged, flabber-ghasted ( daniel, is that a real verb or adjectvice), beside my self, perturbed, and stunned ( all at the same time). Why was I so astounded, outraged, flabber-ghasted ( daniel, is that a real verb or adjectvice), beside my self, perturbed, and stunned? Because the geniouses in Washington D.C. who are getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars and get a raise every year ( all while the economy is sinking like the Titanic and Bismark combined) are having a senate sub-comittee meeting to fix the economy? no. the housing market? Ding-Dong.. You're wrong. The war in Iraq? Negatory. Pollution? wish you were right. A Trillion dollar budget? Hells no. What then could they be meeting to fix? THE BCS!!!!!!!!!!! are you freaking kidding?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I wish I was. But I am dead serious. (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4015667 ) there is the link if you want to read the story yourself. Our economy is getting flushed down the toilet like a pile of crap, and congress is meeting to fix the BCS? Does anyone else see something wrong with this? I guess this the the " Change " most of America voted for. What ever happened to the press being the watch-dog of politics? I bet this won't make any news station tonight. and it might...just might get a column in the SL Tribune or Deseret Morning news because Senator Orin Hatch of Utah is sponsoring Legislation to fix this? Anyone want to take a guess on who else is a driving force behind this? President Barrack Obama. yes, the same one who promised change and reform, is a big fan of a NCAA football playoff system. I am just so glad to know the Congress is using thier time effectively. GOD BLESS THE USA!

griping

So I have a gripe to make and figure this is a good place to make it. I don't know how many of you know this but right now the world is currently engaged in the WBC ( world baseball classic). It is like the olympics in the country vs country format. Well... recently Kevin Youkilis of the USA team was bi***ing about how they are playing in the US and the teams from other countries have more support. Well, I am not going to Miami to see them play. So, I watch it on TV. well..... I would if I could. at the same time this is going on the NCAA tournament rejects are playing in the NIT tournament. So, instead of showing team USA play in a game that turned out to be very exciting they showed some crappy teams shoot 33% in a crappy basketball today. And Kevin Youkilis is wondering why they don't get any support.

Don't "Sweat" the Response

Don't worry about writing a response to "Sweat" for tomorrow. But make sure you read it because there will probably be a question about it on the mid-term.

See you tomorrow.

Racism Still Exists

I really liked the story Battle Royal. The conversation we had in class about racism and how it has changed throughout the years. It's sad to know that at point in human existance, that whites treated african americans this way and even worse.

No matter how much anyone says otherwise, I believe racism still exists. Having Barack Obama elected as President shows how far America has come over the years. After reading many articles about the new president, there was one particular article by NBN that stated. "A black man has achieved the highest office in the country. If racism were still prevalent, there is no way that could be possible." That is not true. Obama only covers as a mask to this on growing problem in the U.S. After voting and later having a conversation with my friends, they admitted they voted for Obama because of his race and therefore it makes him "cool". Comparing that conversation to one I had with my grandmother, she wouldn't openly admit why she voted for McCain over Obama when she is democratic. Knowing her personally, I know that she is slightly racist. Other people who let race be a factor in there voting decisions also wont openly admit that there voting decision was based on the candidates race otherwise they would be tagged as a racist. I feel racism will continue to exist even after Obama is inaugurated.

Racism isn't only effecting politics but I feel that it is one of the biggest racial issues America is facing at the time. Slowly but surely our country is seeing a change in this and lets hope that one day, as stated by the Founding Fathers of our nation, that all men truly will be treated as equals.