Evening Concert, Saint-Chapelle: Response

         After reading this poem for the first time I appreciated the descriptive language and the images it created, but I didn't really understand where it was all coming from. Ana presented this poem to the class and gave us some background knowledge on Saint-Chapelle and I learned that it was a very elaborate and detailed cathedral in Paris made up of stained glass walls with mostly blue and red colors. I further researched it later and learned that it was created during the height of the Gothic architecture movement in the medieval era. Which was known for some of the most detailed and beautiful buildings ever created, even to this day. Then Ana also played music by Vivaldi and Brahm. I'm not a huge classical music listener so this really helped to understand the poem as well, and imagining what it would've been like to be in that cathedral.

          Then after reading it a second time it all came to life and I understood a lot better. I believe that the the thick black lines are symbolism for the lead that holds all the stained glass together. When he says, "in shapes of shield and cross and strut and brace, that held the holy glowing fantasy together" I picture blue and red stained glass in the shapes of shields and crosses with light shining through down onto the orchestra and the music bringing the image and glass to life for the listeners.

         This poem just shows how much a little research and background knowledge can really help to understand sometimes difficult poems. Ana did a really good job at creating an image and by the end of the class discussion I think that almost everyone had an idea of what this poem was about and understood the point that John Updike was making.

(Word count: 303)

The Great Gatsby

           The book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about a man named Nick who moved to New York and experiences "The American Dream" but soon realizes all the scandals that come with it. Nick lives in a wealthy, but unknown area, with the exception of his neighbor; Gatsby who throws well-known parties every weekend in his mansion. His cousin, Daisy, lives with her husband, Tom, in a neighborhood nearby where Nick traveled one day only to discover the tangled love web between the couple. Tom was having an affair with Myrtle, who lives in a lower neighborhood on the way to NYC and Nick meets a woman named Jordan who he begins a relationship with. She later talks to Gatsby after they were invited to one of the parties and learns he has a long term love for Nick's cousin Daisy and has been trying to impress her for years. Nick agrees to arrange an environment for them to meet only leading to more disaster after they fall in love again. Tom can tell that Gatsby is in love with his wife and, though hypocritical, confronts Gatsby about the affair convincing him that him and his wife will stay together because of their past together; which Daisy agreed to. On a car ride home Daisy, ironically, crashes her car into Myrtle, killing her. Gatsby takes the blame and then is later shot by Myrtle's husband. Nick ends up leaving New York to get away from all the lust and greed that is found in the wealthy area and learns it's not worth it.
         This book was a little confusing just because there were so many characters that were all connected in some way. It helped to code the text as reminders of who's who and how they are connected. This book was filled with irony, which makes the story as known and famous as it is today. The language was much easier than the Heart of Darkness, which was nice, but still made me have to think about what was behind the text and what Fitzgerald was really trying to convey. I didn't really have any prior knowledge to what the book was about, and i didn't think it would be half as interesting as it was, so that was definitely good, and it surprised me the whole way through which kept me interested.

The Kite Runner

         The book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, was the depressing story a young boy named Amir raised by his wealthy dad, Baba, in Kabul, Afghanistan who grows up being friends with their servants son, Hassan. After a kite flying tournament Hassan "ran" the kite (went to go find it after the string had been cut) he was cornered and raped by a young boy who was also wealthy. All of this happening while Amir was standing behind a wall watching and did nothing. Over filled with guilt he staged that Hassan had stolen from him and Hassan and his father left the family. Amir and Baba traveled to America after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan put them in danger. Amir made a life for himself and got married after Baba's death, and traveled back to Afghanistan one last time on behalf of his fathers friends request. Upon arriving he heard the news that Hassan had been shot by a soldier leaving his son an orphan and Amir was asked to go find his son, Sohrab, who was in a bad area and bring him to safety. After traveling the dangerous journey he found the boy in the care of the man who had raped Hassan all those years before, and after a fight rescued the boy. Throughout a long process, and the resistance of Sohrab, Amir brought him back to America where him and his wife adopted the young boy who became depressed and didn't say a word until one afternoon Amir taught him the joy of kite flying.
           I loved, loved, loved this book! Even if it was really depressing, with hardly a happy ending, I couldn't put it down the whole way through. I even thought this was a true story, until I read the acknowledgments, because he writes with such detail over every single event it makes the reader really connect to the characters and sympathize for them. It's amazing to me that someone can create a story with that much detail without it being a true story. The events that happened and are happening in Afghanistan aren't really talked about in detail much, so it was really interesting to hear what happens to people everyday and how one moment can affect the rest of their lives. It was a lot like the Holocaust in Germany, but just not as widely known. These people went through just as much, if not more, and it's good this book brought awareness to it. 

Heart of Darkness

         The book, Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, was written over 100 years ago about a man named Marlow and his struggle with the morals behind imperialism and how the natives were treated when he took a job in Africa as a captain of a steamboat. As they were waiting for the boat to be fixed he noticed the natives that they had enslaved were malnourished, under paid, and over worked. As soon as the boat was fixed they ventured up the Congo River to meet a man named Kurtz, who was a respected and powerful man in the business, to find out he was slowly dying. He later learned one of his main goals was to wipe out all the natives, or as he called them "brutes", which were his last words before dying. Although this book was difficult to read and understand, I liked the story behind it. It's rare to hear stories of white men who showed any sympathy towards the natives and imperializing their land; especially someone who had some authority like Marlow did. 
           "No. I don't like work. I had rather laze about and think of all the fine things that can be done. I don't like work-no man does-but I like what is in the work-the chance to find yourself" was my favorite quote because it seems that most of the other white men in the book dedicated their lives to their work and didn't care who they stepped on or hurt to get a level higher. That's what made Marlow unique; he saw the bigger picture of getting life lessons out of his work and not just a pay check and also learned the value of a human. Not saying he accepted the natives completely and saw them as equal, but just seeing them as more than an animal.
            I could make a lot of connections between the books I read in class last year and to this book. I also got an edition where there were other respected writers and people who wrote their views and thoughts on the book. After reading a couple of those it helped me understand the book a lot better, mostly because it was more modern language. Even though it was a little hard to understand at first I loved all the details and different styles of descriptions he put into this book. It helped create a picture and understand what it was like back then. I had to re-read over and over but in the end I think I got the main idea and point of this book.