Liberation

The lord commanded that on the tenth day of the present month, every man was to sacrifice a lamb for God. He also went into a long explanation of how to prepare the lamb and eat it. ("This is how you are to eat it; with your cloak tucked into your belt.") The lord also said that he will pass through Egypt and kill every firstborn. The lord advised all his followers to spread blood on their door so he will not bring the plague among them. Moses spread God's message to the elders of Israel. Later that day God killed every first born including the Pharaoh's son. The Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and told them to take the Israelites and leave Egypt to worship their Lord. "Give us, us free." This quote is from Amistad (1997). One slave stands up and yells this as he sits on trial, in chains. The white man demands that he sit down and be quiet, but the other black Americans in the court admire his bravery. It's difficult to discuss liberation without immediately thinking of slavery in America. slaves were treated like savages, tamed under the power of the white man and surpressed, their basic needs barely being fulfilled. In modern day, liberation is the ability to control and direct your life without having to yield the majority of your respect to a central power figure. This left over respect you can use for personal growth and innovation. The industrial revolution occured primarily due to the liberation of the American people from Great Britain. Without having to channel their energy into respecting a government that restrained them, they were able to flourish and create technology that created an easier lifestyle for them. Personal growth is the product of liberation. The railroad, the cotton gin, airplanes: examples of the growth of humans. As long as we are not chained to authority, the growth we see out of humans may know no bounds. Unimaginable to us right now, and so close for us to create. Without liberation the only thing we have to look forward to is satisfying our biolgical needs and desires. A slave's only reward is the food he eats, water he drinks, and wife he sleeps with. We have the freedom to grow.

Marks

Out of all the poems I read, I enjoyed this one much more. I thought it was very funny and it kind of relates to my family life.

T The tone in this poem is kind of depressed and sardonic. It is depressed because she seems a little upset that her family gives her arbitrary rankings to measure her value. Instead of mentioning her love and kindness, the husband and kids mention her dinner, how she was in bed, and laundry. They say she is passing the class of being a mother and wife, but there is still room to improve. It is sardonic because she jokes that she is dropping out of being a mother/wife. She is irritated and tired of her family taking her for granted, but is sarcastic and comical about it.

W The word choice is very effective in relating her performance to school work. A, B plus, incomplete, average, improve, Pass/Fail, and dropping out all relate to grades and school. Pastan shows that she does some things well and others not so much, just like students do in real life.

I There is not very much imagery in this poem. Although I can picture her family acting like teachers giving her grades on being a mother and wife, there are no vivid scenes crafted with details. The details just show what her husband, son, and daughter think of her performance.

S As for style, there is little rhyme scheme or patterns that I can pick out. Every four lines it switches perspectives. It goes from husband to son to daughter and each of these sections are ended with a period. These are the only periods in the poem and separate it into 3 obvious sections. The only commas in the poem are for lists and appositives. They help the poem flow better and make it grammatically correct.

T The theme of this poem is the unfair judging of mothers in family life. Mothers and wives are expected to be the cooks, maids, and sexual partners of the husbands. They must help their kids with everything and aim to please their husband. This poem perfectly captures that because the family is giving the mother grades on how she is doing her duties. She is valued on what skills she brings to the table as a mother and wife, not who she is as a person.

I can kind of relate to this poem because my mom is similar to this one. She gave up her career after my brother and I were born to focus on being a mother. Although she is doing more things now, for a long time her job was to take care of my 2 brothers and myself. She drove us to school, practices, and games and she cooks and cleans just like many mothers. Besides that I don't really relate to this poem. I often help out with the cooking and cleaning in my house, but my mother still takes the main role. I kind of grade her on her performance by telling her when I don't like the food she makes, but that is the extent of it. I just really enjoyed this poem, so I picked it.

B plus in Blog

T- The tone of the piece is matter of fact and sarcastic. She views the idea of being graded as a mother and a wife as ridiculous and not worth her time or effort. This is clear by her matter of fact method of stating her grades as well as her assertion that she's "dropping out".

W- She uses very loaded words in depicting the grading system. Words like "average" and "pass/fail" emphasize the emotional detachment of a grading system inside the family. Also her word choices continue the extended metaphor of school.

I- The only detail in this poem is the specification of certain activities. It refers specifically to her ironing, cooking, and bedroom activities.

S- Pastan repeatedly uses enjambment. She also uses caesura in the line before last. Both emphasize the matter of fact nature with which she portrays her marks. Caesura is used when she states that she passed. The statement isn't qualified it is just stated. In addition the enjambment makes the poem more fluid.

T- This poem depicts household inequality and the objectification of the maternal figure. The mother's value lays not in whom she is or her membership in the family, but rather in a direct correlation to her performance in the household.

This poem exposes the unfair gender roles of the household. Mothers are valued because of how they work and the things they do. My connection to this poem comes in a few ways. I could relate because my mom much like this mother is responsible for most of the cooking and cleaning in our household. That being said we don't grade her on her performance and we often put in a helping hand. In addition I'm currently going through a leadership program that required me to conduct a deficiency interview in which I sat down and someone made me aware of some of my personal character flaws. My main flaw was pride, something I've always struggled with. This often manifests itself in how I establish personal value. I link my value as a person to my performance as an athlete, student, son, and friend.

 

Red and Black

So after quite a lot of deliberation, I've finally settled on one of my favorite songs from Les Miserables, Red and Black, which is sung by the "barricade boys." Along with all the other songs from Les Mis, it was written by Alain Boubil, and Claude-Michel Schönberg. 

The time is near...
So near.. it's stirring the blood in their veins!
And yet beware...
Don't let the wine go to your brains!
For the army we fight is a dangerous foe
With the men and the arms that we never can match
Oh, it's easy to sit here and swat 'em like flies
But the national guard will be harder to catch.
We need a sign
To rally the people
To call them to arms
To bring them in line!

Marius, you're late.

What's wrong today?
You look as if you've seen a ghost.

Some wine and say what's going on!

A ghost you say... a ghost maybe
She was just like a ghost to me
One minute there, then she was gone!

I am agog!
I am aghast!
Is Marius in love at last?
I have never heard him `ooh' and `aah'
You talk of battles to be won
But here he comes like Don Ju-an
It's better than an opera!

It is time for us all
To decide who we are...
Do we fight for the right
To a night at the opera now?
Have you asked of yourselves
What's the price you might pay?
Is it simply a game
For rich young boys to play?
The colors of the world
Are changing

Day by day...

Red - the blood of angry men!
Black - the dark of ages past!
Red - a world about to dawn!
Black - the night that ends at last!

Marius:
Had you been there tonight
You might know how it feels
To be struck to the bone
In a moment of breathless delight!
Had you been there tonight
You might also have known
How the world may be changed
In just one burst of light!
And what was right
Seems wrong
And what was wrong
Seems right...

Grantaire: [mocking...]
Red...

Marius:
I feel my soul on fire!

Grantaire:
Black...

Marius:
My world if she's not there...

All:
Red...

Marius:
The color of desire!

All:
Black...

Marius:
The color of despair!

Enjolras:
Marius, you're no longer a child
I do not doubt you mean it well
But now there is a higher call
Who cares about your lonely soul
We strive toward a larger goal
Our little lives don't count at all!

All:
Red - the blood of angry men!
Black - the dark of ages past!
Red - a world about to dawn!
Black - the night that ends at last!

Enjolras:
Well, Courfeyrac, do we have all the guns?
Feuilly, Combeferre, our time is running short.

Gavroche:
Listen!

Enjolras:
Grantaire, put the bottle down!
Do we have the guns we need?

Gavroche:
Listen to me!

Grantaire:
Give me brandy on my breath
And I'll breath 'em all to death!

Gavroche:
Listen everybody!
Listen up!

Gavroche:
General Lamarque
Is dead!

Enjolras:
Lamarque is dead...
Lamarque! His death is the hour of fate.
The people's man...
His death is the sign we await!
On his funeral day they will honor his name.
With the light of rebellion, a blaze in their eyes.
From the candles of grief we will kindle our flame!
On the tomb of Lamarque shall the barricade rise!
The time is here!
Let us welcome it gladly with courage and cheer
Let us take to the streets with no doubt in our hearts
But a jubilant shout
They will come one and all
They will come when we call!

So this song occurs at a point in the musical when we are just getting acquainted with the barricade boys, and we see them planning their student revolution. We see the contrast of opinions between Marius and Enjolras in this song. Enjolras is overwhelmingly focused on the revolution, getting irked that not everyone else (namely Marius) is as completely invested in it as he is. 

The chorus that Enjolras sings has imagery about fighting in the revolution while Marius sings about all this love crap. Enjolras talks about the "blood of angry men" as well as "a world about to dawn/ the night that ends at last." With these lines, he is anticipating the coming revolution and how they hope it will change France for the better.

Meanwhile Marius is being a  blockhead and using a different meaning of the color red. While Enjolras used it to represent blood, Marius uses it to mean looove. Namely his love for Cosette. He's a bit of a drama queen as well. Case and point: "Black: my world if she's not there." Come on Marius, you met the girl a couple hours ago and just stared at each other. There's more important things to be thinking about, like I don't know, a revolution! Enjolras sums it up well with "who cares about your lonely soul."

The song has some obvious light/dark themes running through it, with the constance of the word black representing the dark times in which the people of France have been living. Enjolras uses the contrasting brightness of the color red to signify a hopeful future for France. Marius also borrows some of this light imagery for his description of Cosette. He calls her a "burst of light." That sums up the characters pretty well. Enjolras' light is a new and better France, while Marius' is a lousy girl.

Here's the movie version of the song because in my opinion, you can just feel the annoyance radiating off of Enjolras.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me7DMpMaKI0

Does this mean the blog is done?

The Airborne Toxic Event "Does This Mean You're Moving On?" And the funny thing is, it has no end I try to call you up, at 2am In a crowded bar, your ringer tones Grab my mind I can see you through the phone, The phone, the phone And I'm wide awake at home At home, at home So I think I'll see my coquette And hope you don't catch The bourbon on my breath My breath, my breath Catch a cab outside on Seventh Street And the cars fly through the Bowery I come to your door and I hear a moan Then another voice, so Christ, she's not alone Alone, alone And my heart sinks like a stone A stone, a stone And the tears won't even come I feel so numb So swept aside, so dumb So dumb, so dumb When the words are wrong And my patience gone Will you tell me Does this mean you're moving on? From the balcony, you call my name I see you standing in the rain Your words so dry, your face so wet Said I broke your heart, But it hasn't happened yet I'll bet, your friends all hate me now I get the strangest looks, From that bitchy crowd And though, they must think They have every reason to I guess I'm still not quite yet over you When the words are wrong And you're hanging on Another guy's arm Does this mean you're moving on? www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch1deS_6J18 In the song the speaker uses the contrast of dry words wet face to impress the pain he feels in the song. The loss of the girl is etremely painful which can also be seen through his imagery of the girl standing on the balcony and the word choice of dark words such as numb to describe the lack of feeling he has without her. The large amount of enjambment helps the speaker to demonstate how all these things are happening gquickly and his mind feels disconnected without the girl.

"Let Her Go" - Passenger

"Let Her Go"

Well you only need the light when it's burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low

Only hate the road when you’re missin' home

Only know you love her when you let her go

And you let her go

Staring at the bottom of your glass

Hoping one day you'll make a dream last

But dreams come slow and they go so fast

You see her when you close your eyes

Maybe one day you'll understand why

Everything you touch surely dies

But you only need the light when it's burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low

Only hate the road when you're missin' home

Only know you love her when you let her go

Staring at the ceiling in the dark

Same old empty feeling in your heart

'Cause love comes slow and it goes so fast

Well you see her when you fall asleep

But never to touch and never to keep

'Cause you loved her too much

And you dived too deep

Well you only need the light when it's burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low

Only hate the road when you're missin' home

Only know you love her when you let her go

And you let her go (oh, oh, ooh, oh no)

And you let her go (oh, oh, ooh, oh no)

Will you let her go?

'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low

Only hate the road when you're missin' home

Only know you love her when you let her go

'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low

Only hate the road when you're missin' home

Only know you love her when you let her go

And you let her go

"Let Her Go" by Passenger is a song about love and not knowing what you've got till it's gone. He starts out with the chorus in which he lists things that you don't realize how much you love/need something until it is absent. Throughout the whole song Passenger uses end rhyme to keep the song flowing, unlike in poems, if songs do not have some rhyme scheme, they do not sound or flow as well. Passenger uses passive voice by using the pronoun "you" throughout the entire song but the situations he describes in each verse seem to be very personal leading the reader to assume that these are things he has personaly gone through in the past. this assumption is further proved when he uses rhetorical question in the end of the song asking "Will you let her go?" he does this to say that this has already happened to him but you do not have to let go of the one you love. 

Apple Blossom

http://youtu.be/J8N739hJHu0

hey little apple blossom
what seems to be the problem
all the ones you tell your troubles to
they don't really care for you

come and tell me what you're thinking
cause just when the boat is sinking
a little light is blinking
and i will come and rescue you

lots of girls walk around in tears
but that's not for you
you've been looking all around for years
for someone to tell your troubles to

come and sit with me and talk awhile
let me see your pretty little smile
put your troubles in a little pile
and i will sort them out for you
i'll fall in love with you
i think i'll marry you

This song by the White Stripes depicts a man attempting to, as simply put as possible, woo a girl. The tone of the song seems almost playful as he calls her names such as "Apple Blossom" and uses rhyme to give the song an upbeat and attractive melody. The rhyme scheme is altered constantly throughout the song, changing after every stanza: AABB-AAAB-ABAB-AAABBB. As I said before, the rhyming makes the song sound playful to the girl as if he's trying to lure her in. He also manages to tell the girl multiple times that she is all he needs and that he can solve all of her problems, so she doesn't need anyone else. At one point he uses a metaphor to make this clear: "cause just when the boat is sinking/ a little light is blinking/ and i will come and rescue you". This metaphor is saying that when she is starting to break down (sinking), that there is hope (blinking light) because he solve her problems (rescue her). 

Though I don't think it is intended to be, the more I listen to this song the more I envision a middle aged man trying to attract an underaged girl by saying all the same things an internet predator might. I hope this is not the case, but telling her others don't understand her... he is the only person she needs... and constantly luring her in with sweet talk sounds like something out of the internet safety videos we've had to watch every year for the past 4 years.

However, if you don't look at the song as an act of internet predation, it does just sound like a sweet song that a guy is singing to a girl as she's going through a rough time.