What I Liked About American Literature

When I signed up for classes, I really didn’t need another English class because I have taken all of the required classes plus some. A fellow classmate of mine and my academic advisor talked me into signing up, claiming I would enjoy it. I honestly would want a class that is face-to-face because I like to listen to people’s input and understanding of a piece of literature. An online class isn’t my first choice, but oh well.

This class broadened my knowledge of literature. I read some literature that I wouldn’t have otherwise read on my own. I’m thankful that we had a section for poetry because my other English classes didn’t touch that subject much. I do have a new favorite poet because of this class. I loved reading E.E. Cummings’ work.

I especially enjoyed the second pod that was work written by women. My favorite author was Kate Chopin because she definitely wrote ahead of her time where in her story the woman doesn’t have to stick to the traditional role of being a housewife. I know men like Mark Twain wrote some stories ahead of their time, but not women. It was empowering and refreshing to read.

The discussion boards over some of the literature were helpful and enlightening to see how some people think. The instant message class chats were even better; I’m glad I could at least do one that was scheduled on a different day.

I would suggest this class for other classmates that need an elective or just really love English in general. It’s unreal that the semester is over. It was nice to meet everyone (virtually) and I hope you all have a wonderful summer!

Childhood Stories

The other day my co-worker (and friend) Chloeann was working on a grant for the library, typing up a document to send out. I asked her what she was doing and she explained the grant and the content. She read some of her material to send out and she kind of reminisced on childhood books that you as a kid would remember, or what story/book it was that stuck with you throughout your life. The books that you read as a kid that you remember somewhat remind me of dreams that you remember, almost as vivid as a memory; but this started to bring out some memories that had stuck with me since I was in middle school or younger. Chloeanne and I reminisced about our childhood stories, exchanging what they were about and what we remember about them. I wanted to share some that sparked some nostalgia for me.

I believe the books that pushed me into reading were The American Girl book series when I was in the 3^rd grade. In this particular book series there were series within a series since there were stories of multiple girls with multiple adventures. I only had a few favorite American Girls that I liked to read, and they were Felicity, Samantha, and Molly. If you haven’t read the American Girl books all of the girls live in different time periods. Felicity lived in 1776, right at the peak of when the Declaration of Independence was created. Samantha lived in 1904 during the Edwardian time period, and Molly lived in 1944 of the later years of World War II. I’m not sure of a specific reason why I liked these particular books of the American Girls, maybe it was the writing style or adventures. Or both, either way I enjoyed them thoroughly. Somewhere in there and earlier I remember reading a bunch of The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I’m not sure if I even finished a complete series by Wilder, I just know I read a bunch of her books out of order.  

In 4^th grade I remember reading more American Girl books and another book I particularly liked was Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith. The book was about a boy addicted to chocolate where he eats chocolate every day in almost every meal, later becoming sick from eating so much of it. Later in the story he finds a new flavor he’s addicted to: vanilla. It was a cute book!

Onto 5^th grade and so on, I remember reading The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine. It’s one of my favorites actually where two sisters go on an adventure, protecting their kingdom from gryphons, ogres, etc. It was action packed with mythical creatures and sword fighting. I remember the battles mostly, it was well written in detail. The book was my ideal story to read because it was literally all of what I love!

Then there was the book Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix, a retelling of Cinderella. Pretty much the retelling is that Cinderella doesn’t really find Prince Charming charming at all. It had a nice twist to it.

I also really enjoyed Carolyn Meyers’ book series The Royal Diaries. All of the books are historical fiction; most of them are about the England royalty like Queen Catherine of Aragon, her daughter Mary, etc. My favorite book out of the bunch was Doomed Queen Anne, which was about Henry VIII’s second wife.

There are many books that I grew up with that just stuck with me and enjoyed. What were your favorites? I’d love to know!
  

Book Recommendation: Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days) by Susan Ee

Since this semester is winding down to a halt, I cannot wait to start reading for enjoyment again. Before the semester started I read a book that I didn’t expect I would encounter or let alone read. This is a recommendation if anyone wishes to read this book. I suggest it if you’re big on fantasy or even the apocalypse.

Anyway, the book I’m suggesting is called Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days) by Susan Ee. It is going to be a trilogy! The second book is already out and is already on my reading list (most likely going to be read once this semester is over), and the last book doesn’t come out until later this month. I work at a library so if no other patron has it on hold I get first dibs!

A little about Angelfall, and I don’t want give out too much detail, is that angels are taking over the Earth and creating an apocalypse (or “The Last of Days”). Angels are pretty much being casted out of Heaven and cannot return for unknown reasons. There are even gangs of angels. My assumption is that they are all “Fallen Angels” like Lucifer was, but in the story it doesn’t say, everyone is just clueless and trying to survive finding food and shelter. Everything is in ruin (just imagine an apocalypse for a moment, think of how ransacked buildings would be and deserted), and food has become so scarce, dare I say, humans reduce to cannibalism.

The beginning the narrator lets you know that the Earth has been under turmoil for six weeks since the angels fell. Penryn, the narrator, is seventeen-years-old and watches over her sister Paige. (Honestly, this sister and sister relationship reminds me of Katniss and Primrose from The Hunger Games). Penryn’s sister is kidnapped by an angel and throughout this trilogy trying to find her, doing all that she can to survive during this disaster occurring. Penryn comes across a fallen angel named Raffe and ends up saving him, in return she asks for him to take her where her sister is. I’ll go as far as that because I feel I’ve already revealed too much of the excitement!

Susan Ee put the mixed the right amount of peanut butter and chocolate together. There’s adventure and fantasy with a touch of romance, and it’s presented in a new and different way of the apocalypse compared to the constant zombie one people mainly recognize with. (Thank you, Walking Dead—even though that is a good show, but it’s tiresome after a while when more books come out like it). This book also gives the reader a mixture of emotions of joyous, anger, sad… it kind of tugs at your heart and I like it when an author can win my heart by putting me in the story. 

"Two Kinds" of Intrigue

I wanted to do a little argument on the short story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan because I found this story relatable when I first read it, and I can see how others would feel differently when reading this. Amy Tan is one of my favorite authors, she writes beautifully and if you haven’t read her yet, I suggest you do!

As children, we are raised to believe that our mothers know what is best. As we grow a little bit older, some of us begin to believe the notion that our mothers just want to control us. In the short story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, a mother and daughter both emigrate from China to America. Both seek promise in The Land of the Free. The mother is seen as controlling by her daughter, but is it a misunderstanding her seeing potential in her child?

          In the beginning, the mother mentions to her daughter that she could be a prodigy just like her cousin. The mother seems a bit brash with her daughter as they watch Shirley Temple movies together, poking her arm and say, “Ni kan”, which means “You watch” in Chinese. By the mother poking her daughter’s arm and ordering her to watch the movie, this is perceived as controlling. The mother pushes a bit more on her daughter after reading magazines filled with articles of astounding, talented children. The mother challenges the daughter with tests, a new one every night. The daughter mentions her mother questioning her, “What’s the capital of Finland?” after she had read an article of a little boy who knew all of the capitals in the United States and some foreign countries. This appears as the mother expecting too much of her daughter, pressing her daughter to be a genius. Later the mother watches The Ed Sullivan Show, entranced by the music of a young Chinese girl playing piano. Although she had criticized the little girl on the television, the mother told her daughter that she would have piano lessons a few days later. By pushing her daughter to play the piano without her having a desire to play, it shows that the mother is forcing her daughter into something. 

          However, the mother pushes her daughter; it does not diminish her true intentions of wanting the best for her daughter. The mother is certain of her daughter when she says, “Of course you can be prodigy, too.” She continues and says, “You can be best anything. What does Auntie Lindo know? Her daughter, she is only best tricky”. The mother speaks of the potential she sees in her daughter. Later, as the mother is watching The Ed Sullivan Show, she criticizes the little Chinese girl playing the piano. The daughter defends the little girl, claiming she was trying her best. The mother remarks back, “Just like you. Not the best. Because you not trying”. The daughter then proves that she was not trying like her mother repeated over and over. The daughter mentions that her piano instructor is too slow to catch on that she was playing the wrong notes during her lessons. She admits that she was not trying when she says, “If I hit the wrong notes because I hadn’t practiced enough, I never corrected myself”. When the daughter grows up, the mother surprises the daughter by giving her the piano she use to play when she was young. The daughter is taken aback by this act and asks her mother if she is sure about giving the piano to her. The mother tells the daughter that it is her piano and that she is the only one who can play. After the daughter replies that she probably would not be able to play anymore, the mother responds, “You pick up fast. You have natural talent. You could been genius if you want to.” Even after the mother repeats of her daughter’s potential, the daughter still denies, “No I couldn’t.” The mother still replies, “You just not trying.”.

          Amy Tan shows both sides of the mother in “Two Kinds”: the one side where the daughter views her as controlling and the other side where the mother expresses her support and belief in her daughter. The mother must indeed be two kinds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blackout Poetry, the Movement

 Since we have started our session of poetry in American Literature, I have been on this crazy kick forming my own. I believe my inspiration first came from E.E. Cummings and the modernism movement, and then it sprouted into researching a few ideas on Pinterest. One form of poetry stood out to me called (newspaper) Blackout Poetry. Blackout Poetry is taking an article of writing, like from a newspaper or magazine (even books), and crossing out most of the sentences or words and leaving a few selected words showing to form a poem. Very interesting concept, right?  Apparently it is popular on the internet, if you’re hunting for it like I was. I have never seen it before, but there is much more history with it than I had originally thought.

            I thought this had recently been discovered in the last ten years or so by a man, but this form of poetry dates back to 1916 and is called Dadaist Poetry (or simply just Dada) that was founded in Zurich. The founder of this form of art was Romanian-born French poet and essayist Tristan Tzara, and like many of the modernism poetry was taken place it was during World War 1. In a way Dada was a form of protest for artists and writers against the very concept of art (or what society expected it to be). This kind of art forged a revolution and began to gather people at night clubs, listen to classical and dance music, and read poetry (some of it nonsense poetry). They would criticize the war and western civilization.

            To make Dadaist Poetry is very similar to the Blackout Poetry. For Diadaist Poetry, you cut out words from newspapers or magazines and put the slips of words in a bag, and then you shake them around and take them out one by one. The words you pulled out structured the poem for you.

            It is truly amazing and refreshing to learn that there are more genres of poetry out there, and I have yet to discover most of them it seems like. Before learning about Tristan Tzara, I checked out a book from the library titled Newspaper Blackout by Austin Kleon. It is filled with all of his newspaper poems and the introduction of this book said that he randomly started marking the newspaper to form a poem one day. So, it makes me wonder if Kleon even read or heard of other poets like Tristan Tzara that created this genre of poetry. If not, then in a way he started his own kind.

 

            I started doing my own blackout poetry about a week ago and have been posting my poems on Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr. I am blown away at the turn out at how many people click “Like” and comment on how much they love it. I have so far been posting one poem a day and gathered more followers on Instagram and Tumblr.

            Here is a couple to show my inspiration of this century old movement.

"I live, once. I Finally said I'm ready to run - I'm ready to leave. you Smiled along with me"

"He thought For a brief moment she'd one day be his....."

E.E. Cummings, Poetic Genius

          I recently discovered the poet E.E. Cummings thanks to my American Literature class. I believe I have heard of him somewhere, but I am not sure. I never had read anything of his, nor have I seen any of his artwork until our recent pod assignment for poetry.

          Out of all of the poets I have read, even Edgar Allan Poe (and I adore Poe), E.E. Cummings struck a chord with me. I can see why he became so famous! Maybe it’s the simplicity of the lower case letters and assigned words that form a much deeper and complex message; or it could have been the way he structured his poems by aligning the words far apart and capitalizing certain letters for emphasis. I can tell how Cummings wanted his readers wanted to appeal to them, and that is through sight and sound. In the brief blurb about Cummings it stated, “Cummings’ verse is characterized by common speech and attention to the visual form of the poem—that is, the poem as it appears on the page as distinguished from its sound when read aloud” (952). What is interesting to me is that he never really titled his poems, so most of his poems are titled what he wrote in the first line. I wonder why he would never title his poems.

Maybe because he thought his poem spoke for itself and did not need one, or the title may have overshadow the poem. It is a mystery.

          My favorite poem by Cummings is “anyone lived in a pretty how town”. When I first read this poem, I thought of anyone (like a nobody) living in a small town (much like me). I must have read that poem aloud ten times in one sitting, soaking in every syllable and absorbing the meaning. The more I recited it aloud, the more I understood that the poem signified the passing of time. Compared to the first time I read it, it did not really relate to anything of a small town.

I wanted to post a link that had Cummings recite his poem. His voice sounds like he crafted the poem into a song, and it sounds like a dream. I hope you appreciate it as much as I do!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTuClB9Xh6w

 

 

References

Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. Print.