The Glass Menagerie

This play is about a seemingly dysfunctional family consisting of a mother and two children. The mother, Amanda, has high hopes, dreams, and wishes for both of her children. Accordingly, she also has very high expectations. Her husband left her and that leaves Tom in the position as the head of the household. I feel as though this is a set up for disaster from day one because they do not have a "normal" life without a father. Though I am the only child in my family, my mom has been divorced since I was only three months old. Since I didn't have a brother, I have always been held at the highest expectations to succeed and help my mom with literally everything, and this includes things that women don't typically do- especially as a nineteen year old. I see my situation relating to that of Tom's because he is held responsible for things the mother would need from a companion and male. On the other hand, I can also relate to Laura because the mother is so bent on finding her a mate. My mother has always laid great importance on me finding the perfect man to complete my life so that I am better off then she is now, but the pressure is just too much. I am so happy with my current boyfriend, and yes she approves, but it is pretty recent. The pressure that she places on my relationship is unreal and definitely not fair. If I was Laura I would feel uncomfortable with my mother looking for my future mate. I don't see too far into this play as far as the importance of "The Glass Menagerie" but I feel as though it has something to do with the music, disasters within the family, and the glass animal figurines. I'm sure as I read more it will become more clear and will also make more sense as I try to understand at a more analytic level.

Blog #3 "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid

Let me start off by saying I was thoroughly relieved at the site of a short story as apposed to a poem! I can understand the short stories a tad bit easier then the confusing, multi-meaning poetry that we had to blog about last week. When reading “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid for the first time, I felt really sorry for the daughter who was being talked down to the entire time. I obviously do not see why the daughter is being called a slut on multiple occasions; the first time being “on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming.” Not only did this bother me as a daughter myself, it also bothered me that any mother would find it reasonable to accuse one’s own daughter of such. A daughter most likely has traits that resemble that of their mother so she is practically accusing herself of the same faults. I thought this short reading was very demanding and strict of the parent to say to the child, and it was certainly handing out a lot of rules for just a young girl. I am assuming the girl is only in grade school because the writer states, “don’t’ sing benna in Sunday school;” which means she has to be young enough to still attend that. Benna, according to an online dictionary, is a genre of Antiguan and Barbudan music and is a calypso-like genre, characterized by scandalous gossip and a call-and-response format. Knowing that, benna is yet another term that is not endearing or motherly.The assertions, directions, and suggestions that the mother informs her daughter of are mostly going to be useful at some point in here future but the constant repetition about her being or becoming a slut really throws me off. The voice in this poem leads me to believe that the speaker is not friendly nor very emotionally attached to her offspring because she is so forceful and not exactly nice. The relationship is depicted a little differently at the end when the mother switches to talking about love and failure. She says, “this is how to bully a man; this is how a man bullies you; this is how to love a man; and if this doesn't work there are other ways, and if they don't work don't feel too bad about giving up; this is how to spit up in the air if you feel like it, and this is how to move quick so that it doesn't fall on you.” These lines all show me that the mother must not totally and honestly believe in love or acting like a completely socially acceptable woman either, as much as she acts like she is perfect and all-knowing of appropriate behavior in the earlier lines. I enjoyed this short story and by comparing it to my own relationship with my mother, I realized just how good I have it!  My mom definitely does not talk to me like that, and teaches me in a very different manner than this mother decided to teach her daughter. It makes me realize how I should probably parent, at least a little bit, like my mom!

Blog #2- Wednesday January 19

“In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

Petals on a wet, black bough.

Ezra Pounds “In a Station of the Metro” is just a short poem so I will use that as one of my quotes this week. This poem, though short, is thought-provoking and required me to do a little research of my own. I found the definitions of both apparition, meaning a ghostly appearing figure, and bough, meaning a tree branch. After applying these definitions I sense fear and discomfort in Ezra Pounds emotions when speaking of this experience. The simple fact of seeing a ghostly figure among the crowd in a metro station would be nothing short of discomforting. To be honest, I have difficulty understanding the second line in reference to the first, but I can still piece together very uncomfortable feelings.

The second reading for this Wednesday is “Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year” by Raymond Carver. This poem is rather depressing and a sad view of this boys father as a 22 year old. I feel that the author is comparing himself now to his 22 year old father. The second line, “I study my father’s embarrassed young man’s fan;” leads me to believe that he is not impressed by his fathers actions. As I read farther down into the poem, it says “Father, I love you, yet how can I say thank you, I who can’t hold my liquor either.” This line made the entire poem much clearer, showing the similarities and shortcomings of both the father and the son. I can certainly see this same situation happening in father son relationships today because alcohol is a problem in our society.

Letter of Introduction (Week 1)

     I am a sophomore transfer student at Clemson this year, so all of my previous writing experiences are from other schools than Clemson. In high school, I remember reading novels and doing maybe one unit on poetry, but that about sums it up. I was always in advanced math and reading classes, but the work never seemed to be in depth when it came to analyzing pieces of literature. I enjoyed reading novels because the stories were long, and I was able to understand the jist of things after completing the reading. I recall doing the poetry unit and hating it; the many readings and interpretations that arose from one simple poem was both confusing and frustrating for me. However sad it might be, I do not have one particular author or poet that I prefer or loathe. I did like reading The Scarlett Letter and remember it, so that is a start. 
     As much as I complain about the analyzing and interpreting of literature, I love to write and express my own thoughts. In grade school, I wrote a short story that was entered into a contest and won runners’ up recognition. In high school, I had a ninth grade teacher who I not only feared, but did not like at all the first month of class. I was sure I was going to fail the class or need to be switched out immediately. I stuck it out, and managed to learn the most this year than any other in my high school English career. I owe it all to my teacher, who made it a priority to read every story, a couple times, to understand it completely. This leadership, I feel, is very necessary to literature at an advanced level. At my previous university, I took two English classes which centered on analyzing and writing papers about questionable articles. Last semester at Clemson I was enrolled in a speech communication class. As for formal writing, the speeches, short stories, and essays are what I have done for school work. Informally, I am definitely involved with the online language because of instant messaging and I also write my fair share of love notes. My boyfriend attends Virginia Tech so I will sometimes spend time writing nice notes to send him because everyone loves getting mail! I am strong believer that the instant messaging and email world do have an affect on one's writing in the formal setting. Because most online writing is done informally, people are apt to use short abbreviations and not spend as much time correcting mispellings, etc. As guilty as I am, I will still use both email and instant messaging often but I would like to make an attempt to correct my shortcomings when I do use these techniques of communication.
     Finally, I am enrolled in this class as my literature course requirement for my major. As it is necessary for my degree, I feel like it is very important to my overall knowledge as a human being as well. The analytical aspect of this class will be challenging for me but it will be beneficial to learn and understand famous pieces of literature from the time period in which I live. I am a Nutrition major here at Clemson and I plan on graduating in 2013. This class is one of the many obstacles I have to overcome before I graduate with my degree. This will be my first real literature course and I’m both nervous and interested to see what the semester holds for me.




My Time At Clemson
Transferring may not be fun,
But coming to Clemson was worthwhile.
When all is said and done,
I'll be happy and graduating with style.


Courses are challenging but required,
and this Nutrition major is certainly hard
I plan to graduate and never get fired,
Excelling in my career and never turning into lard!


So far I've attended more than one football game,
and joined a sorority full of amazing girls.
Though my studies have taught me how to stay tame,
and my sisters taught me how to dance and do twirls!


Only a few more years left before I'm done,
and I can't say I'm excited to leave.
I'll be out in the real world and in the sun,
But not without English to percieve!