At the end of the story I was not in total shock about what had happened to Mr. Gatsby or Wilson but more in shock about what happened with Tom and Daisy. In the end, the two disappear without any information left of their whereabouts. What shocked me the most was how Daisy just picked up and left without a word to Gatsby. She was supposedly leaving Tom and in love with Gatsby. This changed when while reading we find out she does not even acknowledge the fact Gatsby was shot.
“I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all—Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly inadaptable to Eastern life.”
This quote is what struck me the most at the end of the book. It gave me great thought as I realized in Nick’s mind people were characterized as either from the West or the East. The people and way of life was very different in his eyes. He believed the gruesome lifestyle of the east shaped the behaviors of each and every character. What also caught my attention was the part in the book where Nick and Tom encounter each other. He finds out Tom told Wilson about Gatsby which draws Nick to the conclusion Tom and Daisy are rotten people who escape their past by the walls of their money for protection. The end of the book is where everything comes together and we realized not every story has a happy ending. I think this is what I liked most about the book. Not everyone gets what they want and some are left unhappy. We never really find out whether or not Daisy left with Tom by choice or if she was forced and deep down really wanted to be with Gatsby. This unanswered question made the ending all the better.

After reading the first chapter of The Great Gatsby I was left in somewhat confusion. All together it was a pretty good beginning; I just hope it gets better as the book goes on. We are introduced to Nick Carraway. He moved to the “west egg” of New York. In this chapter he goes to visit old but not very known friends. They are Tom and Daisy Buchanan. It was there we learn that Tom is cheating on his wife. We also learn that they have a daughter but she is never seen. That leaves you with a bit confusion of what the lifestyle is really like when no one is around. After Nick leaves he goes home and that is when we are introduced the first time to Mr. Gatsby. He appears to be trembling and then he disappears into the darkness. That left me with a lot of suspense and eager to read on. Many questions were left after reading this chapter. Like why was he trembling? Also, I am eager to find out what is going to happen with Tom and his affair.

William Stanley Merwin, an American poet was born on September 30, 1927. He is most famous for his anti war poems during the 1960’s. Throughout his writing career his writing’s shifted from many different themes. He wrote about mythological themes, and also showed interest in Buddhist philosophy and deep ecology. During his writing career he received many awards for his poetry. Some included the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the Tanning Prize. One interesting fact about Merwin is that he is also a translator for Latin, Spanish, and French poems.
The poem I have specifically read for this poet is called “For the Anniversary of My Death” is a description of Merwin’s vision of what his death will be like. In the first part of the poem he talk about what goes on when he is alive, but by the second part he refers to everything he talks about in past tense, meaning this is what happens to him when he died. One part that caught my attention was when he says “when the last fires will wave to me.” The fire could be a metaphor for many things. In my opinion the fire is people that are alive. When we die our bodies are cold, but when we are alive our bodies are warm like the flame of a fire. So this line means that when the last people wave goodbye to me.
The last three lines in the first stanza are also metaphorical. He sees death as something quiet, and after he passes on his soul will travel on forever. It will never get tired. “like the beam of a lightless star” is a metaphor because many of the stars we see in the sky today are dead or millions of years old. This shows that even though they are “dead” they carry on forever. In the last stanza he realizes what he has lost now that he passed on. He will no longer feel the love of a woman, or the “shamelessness” of a man.
The last line in the poem is the most powerful. “Bowing not knowing to what.” While we are alive, people have many beliefs of their god and what it is. We have visions of what they look like or what heaven and hell represent. The fact is, we will never know what will happen until we actually pass on. His last line infers that once he gets to that higher place, he is unsure of what it is.
After exploring more of Merwin’s poems I came across another that caught my interest. “When You Go Away” is about a person who has lost someone dearly. In my opinion they were the cause of that person leaving. It is not the same type of loss like a death. It is more toward the loss of a partner. His poems seem to be about experiences that a person comes to face at one time or another throughout their lifetime. Based on the poems I have read by him I don’t think his writings really characterized any type of specific American way. The ones I have read were all about feeling and experiences that all people feel.

link to poems by W.S Merwin
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-you-go-away/
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/for-the-anniversary-of-my-death/

Over the course of this week I have been introduced to two different pieces of writing by the author Willie Cather. The first story was called “A Wagner Matinee” and the second was called “Consequences”. These two stories were different in their themes but had a similar characteristic. They were both written during the time of the American Realism. In previous weeks we have been introduced to American Romanticism stories as well. These two types of stories are very different from each other. The American Romanticism focused its stories more about nature and the outdoor surroundings. These stories were also very spiritual and focused on people’s relations to nature and the afterlife. For example in the story “Walden, or Life in the Woods” written by Henry Davis Thoreau, he portrays nature in an amazingly vivid way. Some might perceive it as what we experience after we pass on. Others may perceive it as just someone who shares an extraordinary love for nature. Writing’s of the American Realism time are much different. Stories from this time are based more on fact and experiences. They are also based more on realistic situations rather then those of faith. They explain situations that could possibly happen, have happened, or even stories about certain behaviors one can experience. Over time American Romanticism shifted to American realism. I wouldn’t consider this a progression only because both these types of writing had exceptionally great authors and titles. Instead I would just call this a shift in the themes.
The two pieces of writing I read by Cather were very different in their meaning and storylines. The first story “A Wagner Matinee” is about a man who is visited by his aunt and takes her to see an opera that has significant meaning. This woman had a desired love for music and the theatre. In her early life in Boston she was devoted to music. Since she moved to Nebraska with her husband she was unable to hold her tight bond with music and it slowly disappeared. When she returned to the city and was taken to the opera it reminded her of a German composer she once knew. This was the significance of the title “Wagner”. The composer she knew was Richard Wagner. This discovery brought tears to her eyes and after it ends she does not want to leave, realizing she will have to go back to reality without music. The author might have a desired love for music which could be the reason why she wrote this type of writing. This person so wrote about could even be based on a past experience. Whatever the case, Cather must hold a deep desire for music to be able to write such a strong piece of work surrounding this fine art. In consequences her topic of writing shifted. This story focused on the topic of suicide. Her main question was, “is suicide something that is noticeable?” throughout the entire piece she makes the reader think of this question. What made this story interesting was that the question was never really answered. These two pieces of writing did not have much to do with politics, which makes me think her interest was not so much in the government.
In the story consequences, Cather in my opinion is writing to make the readers expand their thinking levels. This was a powerful piece of writing even though it was presented through a story. Suicide is something that in my opinion cannot be explained. Like in the story so many cases of this are unclear to the naked eye. Many of the different people discussed in this story have committed suicide without leaving any evidence leading up to this act. Cather wants you to realize that sometimes the truth isn’t always what you see, but it lies deeper. This piece of writing was definitely my favorite between the two that I read by this author. The first story, “A Wagner Matinee” was hard to follow and made me loose interest easily.
On the other hand, “Consequences” held my attention throughout the entire story. Reading about the human mind and human behavior interests me deeply. So when I found out that her story was about suicide I was eager to read it. At the end it left me with many questions. Was Cavenaugh insane? Or was there really a stalker that killed him? These questions will remain unanswered. In my opinion, his descriptions of this stalker remind me of someone who suffers from schizophrenia. No one other then he has reported seeing this stalker, and he appears out of nowhere knowing every memory from Cavenaugh’s life. This leads me to believe that he really did shoot himself because of the visions of this man he was seeing.

Does writing have the power to enact social change?


Writing is the most powerful form of communication. Everything we perform or speak about has come from a piece of writing. It is a very powerful thing. People everyday writes about their opinions and their beliefs. Some pieces of writing are so amazing that they have the power to change the way people think and feel about a certain issue. Writing also has the power to influence different people into just about anything. There are so many writers today that have influenced the lives of many that if it weren’t for them, no change would have been done. It is important while reading a piece of writing to think about the influence and change it has put on the people reading.
One very important writer we know of today that changed an entire society was Martin Luther King Jr. His writing’s are still being talked about and read today and will continue for years to come. They were so powerful that this one man’s writing was able to change the issue of segregation for the United States. His writing influenced people to think about his aspects and follow him. His writing even started and entire Civil Rights Movement. One man and one man alone became a leader for millions during his life.
Another writer that was able to change society was Adolf Hitler. Although his writings were not in a positive way he was able to have millions of followers in Germany. His speeches were so powerful and persuasive he was able to turn many countries into his idea of a society. Stop and think about this. In the beginning all Hitler did was talk. He made speeches that he shared with millions of people. From this, he was able to brainwash and kill millions of people for many years before any action was taken. So before you say writing is just words on a piece of paper, remember that one mans writing turned almost an entire continent to his ruling. At first Hitler used nothing but his voice to persuade people of his perfect society. From this he gains millions of followers and supporters.
The poet June Jordan is another person who has very persuasive writings. Her one poem called the Bombing of Baghdad is talking about how she believes this war is something that can’t be won. After reading it her writing left an impact on me. She made me think of the situation in her eyes. From her writing I realized that we are merely doing what Baghdad did to the U.S. this means that this strategy is not going to change the situation. Fighting fire with fire only gets you burned. “a city of 5.5 million human beings we bombed radio towers we bombed telephone poles we bombed mosques we bombed runways we bombed tanks we bombed trucks we bombed cars we bombed bridges we bombed the darkness we bombed the sunlight we bombed them.” Isn’t this what the terrorists did to us? Did they not bomb building killing thousands of innocent people? How could anything be accomplished of we are acting as the terrorists did. This is what she is trying to tell her readers. That bombing in return for an attack will not fix the problem.
In conclusion, it is impossible to say that writing does not have an influence on the way people think. It has been proven that with persuasive writing you can make anyone believe your ideas. Even if the piece of writing has an impact on one person, the writer still made an impact and influence. If it wasn’t for these writers and speakers our world may be a very different place.

After reading “The Price of a Child” the meaning of the title changed for me into a complete new direction. When the story first starts we learn that Ginnie Pryor (whose name later changes to Mercer Gray) escapes from slavery with her two children. Although her youngest child is left behind, back in slavery. The impression I gained up until about the last page is that Mercer would never see her child again. Giving up her youngest boy was the price she had to pay to give her other two children and herself the chance at a free life. She left knowing her son was still back in the south, but this did not stop her. A part of her felt she would return to claim her son, but in the back of her mind she knew that day may never come. Mercer was going to live with this guilt for the rest of her life to see her other two children have an opportunity at freedom. This, in my opinion was the “price” of a child. This reasoning of the title has much moral to it, and has evidence.
Although once the last page of the book is read, my philosophy was completely changed. A mere one line changed my entire perception. That sentence was “Folded into a separate sheet of paper were five slightly charred one- hundred- dollar-bills: the price of a child Bennie’s age.” This line made me realize the story’s title was a misconception. In my opinion, we are supposed to think she is giving up her youngest child for her other children’s freedom and for hers. But when we reach the end of the story we are suppose to take the title literally. She was handed a ticket to happiness, which was five hundred dollar, or as she reads it, the price of getting her youngest son Bennie back into her arms and into freedom. When the title is looked at now, I realized this was literally the price of a slave child. Could you imagine having to pay to be with your own son or daughter? To us, that is preposterous, but to Mercer, it is all of her finally being free. She was not able to appreciate the full joy of being free unless her only family, her children, was there to experience it with her. All of her internal pain can now be uplifted because she finally has enough to pay for her son.