The first packet that I read was the Evenson one from Contagion. The thing I enjoyed most about this story is how sane, and normal the narrator seems. He seems to go about his task for Dr. Rauch with a curious interest, despite the fact that he acknowledges how unusual, and morally questionable, what he is doing may be.
The first assignment he receives from Dr. Rauch, and the Dr.'s general attitude make you suspicious of him. He seems overly eager to apply his concepts of personality to everyone, which are seemingly so numerous that no real conclusions could be drawn from them anyway. Despite all this and the fact that no other interns have to do anything remotely similar, he carries out the Dr.'s absurd task. After this the story jumps to the narrator's new mentor, Kagen, who is a Dr. with a crazy brother as well. I remeber Rauch's initials were B.K., and I am not sure if Kagen is actually Rauch, but it would seem unlikely that two doctors would have a crazy brother, and have their intern spy on him. As the story progresses the narrators mental stability apparently deteriorates, and it appears that he is being observed, leaving doubts to his sanity.
After thoroughly enjoying the Evenson short story I then turned to the Field story, expecting a story on par with Evenson; unfortunately I was very disappointed. The only thing that really interested me in this story was the narrator's vow of silence while with the psychiatrist. The narrator took their silence as a victory over the psychiatrist, even though still paying for their "services". Judging from this stance, and what was implied through the other nonsensical stories, the narrator is seeing the psychiatrist due to a court order. The self imposed silence during these sessions either implies an unwillingness to change from the narrator, or the sentiment that they don't belong in counseling.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Response to City Eclogue
1. My first point of interest is how the tone of these poems seems to be bipolar. A lot of them he starts out describing a tree, with a sense of beauty and awe, then changes to intense disgust about how the tree is planted. The city trucks are a frequent target of his vehement disgust.
2. Another topic that seems to crop up in his writing frequently is the difference in how colored people, and white people, are treated. The way it is addressed makes me think this is about modern racism, probably in a large city, perhaps in a primarily segregated part.
3. The author seems to have a seething anger directed towards the cities trucks, or any type of modern equipment. Maybe Ed Roberson is a Primitive Anarchist.
2. Another topic that seems to crop up in his writing frequently is the difference in how colored people, and white people, are treated. The way it is addressed makes me think this is about modern racism, probably in a large city, perhaps in a primarily segregated part.
3. The author seems to have a seething anger directed towards the cities trucks, or any type of modern equipment. Maybe Ed Roberson is a Primitive Anarchist.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Response to Poetry Packet
I enjoyed the first two poems tremendously, the first one seemed to be a personal battle over becoming desensitized, and the second poem gave some clues as to why the author might be feeling as though they're "scared I won't feel a damn thing.'' While acknowledging this change is happening, the author feels compelled to fight it but simply can't.
The next poem appeared to be someone delving into a series of uncomfortable childhood memories. Starts out about her Father coming back from war, assorted views on innocence, her mean uncle. Just an odd bunch of vignettes of childhood memories.
The four page long poem seemed to be another series of vignettes, described with an innocence, and distance from the topics, which seemed very eerie. Some of the most unusual were the story of the pilot who had to search for the hidden airport. Or the story about how her mom broke her arm by packing down the garbage. I think they were told in a manner which purposely made the author seem distant, and never really connects any of the tragedies to her self in any format. She starts off rather mildly, pointing out the the cows "heat their own barn." When reading this one can't help but wonder how cold the cows get. Then later on is the brief story about the pilot who we must assume ran out of gas looking for the hidden airport. The author never touches on the victims of these scenarios, or informs us of how they turned out.
The next series of poems appear to have been written by an African-American poet in America prior to the civil-rights movement of the 60's. There is a series of sing-song poems that reveal a difficult existence, which morals and social conventions followed by whites at the time don't fit into.
The next poem I found interesting was "And What Do You Get." It starts out with a series of contradictions, created from removing sylllables from some common words. I thought that these plays on the words were very interesting, and rather enjoyed deciphering their meanings.
The next poem appeared to be someone delving into a series of uncomfortable childhood memories. Starts out about her Father coming back from war, assorted views on innocence, her mean uncle. Just an odd bunch of vignettes of childhood memories.
The four page long poem seemed to be another series of vignettes, described with an innocence, and distance from the topics, which seemed very eerie. Some of the most unusual were the story of the pilot who had to search for the hidden airport. Or the story about how her mom broke her arm by packing down the garbage. I think they were told in a manner which purposely made the author seem distant, and never really connects any of the tragedies to her self in any format. She starts off rather mildly, pointing out the the cows "heat their own barn." When reading this one can't help but wonder how cold the cows get. Then later on is the brief story about the pilot who we must assume ran out of gas looking for the hidden airport. The author never touches on the victims of these scenarios, or informs us of how they turned out.
The next series of poems appear to have been written by an African-American poet in America prior to the civil-rights movement of the 60's. There is a series of sing-song poems that reveal a difficult existence, which morals and social conventions followed by whites at the time don't fit into.
The next poem I found interesting was "And What Do You Get." It starts out with a series of contradictions, created from removing sylllables from some common words. I thought that these plays on the words were very interesting, and rather enjoyed deciphering their meanings.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
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