Sound and Sense Chapter 9: "My Number" and "I had heard it's a fight"

            In the poems “My Number” and “I had heard it’s a fight”, the authors discuss the idea of death. Billy Collins personifies death and describes death eventually finding the speaker, even in a secluded place. Collins illustrates that death is inevitable, and that a person cannot hide from death. At the same time Collins balances the complex idea of death with humor at the end of the poem: “Did you have any trouble with the directions? I will ask, as I start talking my way out of this” (Lines 16-17). The last lines are humorous because of the thought that a person can talk their way out of death. Edwin Denby differs in the way he talks about death, because he focuses on the moment that a person is about to die. The speaker in the first stanza is basing the experience of death on what other people have told him. His tone switches in the second stanza when he is describing the afternoon when he experienced a feeling of death and decided to make changes in his life. Denby comments on how dying happens quickly: “The crazy thing, so crazy it gives me a kick: I can’t get over that minutes of dying so quick” (Lines 13-14). Denby’s last line adds more humor to the poem because he is realizing how a near-death experience that lasted him only a few moments, still is scary to him. 

             

             The tone in Denby’s poem is very casual, and makes death less meaningful because the diction is colloquial. The common diction makes the reader visualize the experience that the speaker went through and as a result, death appears to be farther away from the reader. The poem is specific to the reader, and does not make death appear to be around every corner. “My Number” is more real in the actuality of death, because of the personification used. Collins shows that death can be anywhere and the description makes death feel closer to any person’s home.

The Picture of Dorian Gray #4

“As soon as he had left, he rushed to the screen, and drew it back. No; there was no further change in the picture. It had received the news of Sibyl Vane’s death before he had known it himself” (Wilde 76).

             

                Dorian has just heard the news about Sibyl Vane’s death and Lord Henry has just left. Dorian confirms that the picture has changed as a result of Sibyl’s death. The beauty of Dorian has changed and as a result the painting has changed, because the painting is supposed to exemplify Dorian. The previous night at the theater Dorian had explained to Basil and Lord Henry that when “the curtain rises, and you will see the girl to whom I am going to give all my life, to whom I have given everything that is good in me” (Wilde 60). Now that Sibyl had passed away everything that is good in Dorian is gone, because he gave everything great to her. Dorian can no longer be the person he wanted to be, because he does not know what that person looks like without Sibyl in his life. It appears that Dorian has given up on the life that he believed he wanted.

The Picture of Dorian Gray Reading #3

         Lord Henry reveals to Basil that Dorian Gray is getting married. Immediately, Basil shows concern about Gray’s engagement, while Henry remains neutral to the engagement. Lord Henry argues that “the real drawback to marriage is that it makes one unselfish. And unselfish people are colourless”. The foundation of the argument is that everyone is already selfish and that they care only about themselves. When a person gets married they are dedicating their life to somebody else, and life is no longer about the pursuit of things that gives the individual pleasure, but what creates happiness for the couple. Lord Henry views marriage as a problem because if a person becomes unselfish they become boring, because society can no longer be as aware of the individual’s wants. Society now sees not the individual but the couple.

The Picture of Dorian Gray Reading #2

         Lord Henry and Basil are attracted to Dorian Gray because of his youth and innocence. In chapter three it is revealed that Dorian Gray’s childhood is not as picturesque as one would imagine: “The mother snatched away by death, the boy left to solitude and the tyranny of an old and loveless man”(Wilde 26). Gray was faced with adversity at an early age which makes Lord Henry and Basil’s idealistic view of him surprising. Gray is also intrigued by Lord Henry because no one has ever been as honest to Gray as Lord Henry has. Basil is now pushed aside because Basil sees Gray as everyone else does, and Basil does want to ruin Gray’s apparent innocence. Meanwhile, Lord Henry seeks to corrupt Gray and be upfront to him about his opinions and what he views as the truth.

Sound and Sense Chapter 8: My Son the Man

My Son the Man

Thesis: In the poem My Son the Man, Sharon Olds uses allusions to the magician Houdini to describe her son growing older and eventually being able to do things on his own. Olds also uses descriptive diction and a metaphor, to illustrate her son’s wonder of trying to find his way out of his sleeper and relates this to him growing up and becoming a man.

Allusion:

Olds uses the allusion to Houdini to express her son turning into a man by discovering how to complete tasks on his own.

“Suddenly his shoulders get a lot wider, the way Houdini would expand his body” (lines 1-2).

Olds references Houdini to show that just like Houdini would change shape quickly, her son is also growing just as quickly in her opinion. To a mother a child may seem to grow up in a matter of minutes when in reality, growing up takes a long time.

“Now he looks at me the way Houdini studied a box to learn the way out, then smiled and let himself be manacled” (lines 14-16).

Houdini is referenced again as the son is trying to find a way out of his sleeper just like Houdini would try to figure out how to escape. The mother realizes that her son has not grown up to be a man yet, and he still needs help escaping from his sleeper.

Descriptive Diction:

“It seems no time since I would help him put on his sleeper, guide his calves into the shadowy interior” (lines 3-5).

Olds illustrates the affection that the mother expresses towards her son, and how her actions are maternal. The lines illustrate the son’s need to be helped.

“zip him up and toss him up and catch his weight. I cannot imagine him no longer a child, and I know I must get ready” (lines 5-7).

The description in these lines expresses the innocence of her son, and that she cannot imagine her son growing up.

Metaphor:

“to learn the way out, then smiled and let himself be manacled” (line 16).

The sleeper represents the son being trapped like Houdini was in chains. In this line the mother sees her son just as a little boy who not only wants his mother’s help but needs it. At first the son is trying to escape, but he soon realizes that he cannot find a way out of his sleeper by himself. This change is expressed when he smiles and realizes he is stuck in the sleeper.