Gerontion

In Gerontion by T.S. Eliot, I was most struck by the stanza on history. He describes history as “someone” with all of these things to hide from us, like a house with secret passageways. Furthermore, he also talks about how we as people are unable to learn when history has a lesson to teach us. According to the poem, History only gives us knowledge when we aren’t able to pay attention to it, or when it is too late for us to do anything about it. Eliot also claims that history confuses us more than it gives us clarity sometimes.

I think that Eliot makes a fair point in this portion of the poem. We always talk a lot about learning from history, using history to our advantage to make the world a better place in the future. However, history does repeat itself, despite the warnings that Eliot describes in the poem. I disagree with Eliot in that he blames History for humankind not being able to learn from it though. Instead, I think it is our own fault that we forget what happened, or that we cannot see a piece of information if it is given to us too soon.

Racial and Socioeconomic Divides in Sutpen's Early Life

I want to start off this post by saying that I by no means intend for this post to be overtly controversial; however, I felt as if race played an important part in Chapter 7 and needed to be discussed. Race and class in Absalom, Absalom! are prominent themes in the book, but not predictably so.

In chapter 7, Quentin and Shreve imagine what Sutpen thought about race growing up, which is also filled in by stories that Quentin has heard from General Compton and it raises some interesting points. Faulkner notes that Sutpen probably learned about race subconsciously, that there was a different way of defining a man in terms of race instead of in terms of general worth. He describes as Sutpen learns the difference between white people who have things and those that don’t, and he also writes about when Sutpen begins to realize that even as a very poor white person he is considered above non-whites by society. I think this is best described on page 186 when Sutpen tells General Compton, “(you knew that you could hit them, he told Grandfather, and they would not hit back or resist.)”

            However, what is more important in the novel is Sutpen’s perception of class. It is when he is fourteen that he is yelled at by a black servant at the plantation his family is working on, and is appalled and embarrassed that he is not even allowed to enter the front door. This is a pivotal moment in Sutpen’s life because it is when he decides to run away and create a name for himself; his goal is to be seen as an equal to those that have plantations. It is interesting to me how fine a between being white, which is a clear advantage at this point in US history, and yet he is so poor that he cannot go in through the front door, he must use the back door like he is help in a white man’s house.

Dickinson's Structure Choices

            In all three of Dickinson’s poems, I found that she uses really unusual capitalization and italicization, and yet methodical structure in her poems. For one, I am just as intrigued about the words that she capitalizes or italicizes. For example, in 1172, she uses personification in capitalizing “Cloud,” but “Backs” is also capitalized. I did not understand the context of using “backs” as a proper noun. Another example is when she capitalizes Tombs in the same poem but unlike the other proper nouns in the poem, the line is written passively. The italicization is seen in 237, where it almost seems as if random words are italicized for emphasis. I wondered why there was so much variety in what she did italicize and what she did not: some are nouns, some are expressions, and others are verbs, it goes on. I wonder what the purpose of her italicizing the words that she does is in her writing.

            Contrary to the personification and emphasis that was discussed above, Dickinson’s poems have significantly more structure than the Whitman poem that we analyzed on Tuesday. There is a natural cadence to her writing that I did not find in reading Whitman by myself. All the stanzas have four lines, and there is a clear pattern and repetition in the rhythm of the poems. There is even a rhyming scheme (ABCB) for many of the stanzas. I wish I knew why she was so organized in her structure and yet so seemingly sporadic with capitalization and italicization in her poems. 

Melville's Word Choice

As I read this novel, I am struck by the tone of Ishmael or the author. Although we talked about the diction and the sound of Ishmael’s voice at the end of class of Tuesday, it goes further than that and the technique is one of the fundamental techniques that Melville uses in the novel. I find that the sound of his words is important to him. He is not purely driven on plot or even a random literary device. It sees that he has carefully laid out his words, even at slow points in the book; it seems to me that every word was meticulously chosen by Melville.

            I have also noticed the type of words that he tends to choose in his writing. While some of the words may be long or too advanced for the average reader to understand, I think there is something precise in his word choice. Melville may not have written a concise book, but the vocabulary that he used allowed him to accurately describe all the on goings of the Pequod and Ishmael’s adventure pretty clearly. At times it does make me feel like I’m reading a narrative about something as opposed to reading a novel with a first person point of view, but nevertheless Ishmael is a successful narrator in that he paints any scene unfolding in front of him accurately.

There is Justice in Love

As I finished the novel, I was struck by the abundance of romance in the plot. Call me girly for noticing it, but while the main plotlines are about racial tensions, the romantic tension between Hope and Everell also sticks out in my mind. Their relationship seems to be Sedgwick’s way of continuing the relationship between Fletcher Sr. and Alice, which I found to be a continuing thread between the two generations.

            I also find it interesting that the relationship between Everell and Hope ends happily. It seems most obvious that things are going to end well for the two when Sedgwick writes, “… But no language could have been so expressive of their mutual love and mutual resolution, as this silence.” (pg 348) This is a stark contrast to the relationship between their parents, which was torn apart by religious conflict and distance. Instead, it is Ester that ends up crossing the Atlantic and returning to England, allowing Hope and Everell to be together. The theme or rather motifs of romance seem to echo the theme of justice in a way. While it may not be as literal as justice in terms of life or death, there is some justice to me in that at last Hope and Everell are united in the end. 

Abby Winn

My name is Abby Winn, and I am a sophomore Biology and Political Science double major with a Chemistry minor. I currently live outside Philadelphia, but have also lived in Charlotte and Boston. I plan to attend med school once I graduate (I hope). When I’m home, I work at a local country club waiting tables and I genuinely enjoy spending time with my family.

In my free time at Carolina, I participate in the United Nations Organization; I am currently planning the annual high school Model UN conference on UNC’s campus. And when I’m not cheering for the Tar Heels, I try and find time to cheer for my other sports team love: the Red Sox. At the top of my bucket list is to visit every major league ballpark in the country, and so far I’m up to three. I decided to enroll in English 128 because I wanted to be exposed to more American literature. In addition, I’m looking forward to further developing my writing skills. I am looking forward to this class because I don’t get to read for pleasure much at school and I’m excited about many of the books that we are reading this semester.