Contrasting the Natural and Mechanical Worlds in Hathaways Oh, Oh Essa

Contrasting the Natural and Mechanical Worlds in Hathaway's Oh, Oh      Ã‚   The French poet and essayist Louis Aragon, in his Paris Peasant, wrote that "light is meaningful only in relation to darkness, and truth presupposes error--we only exist in terms of this conflict, in the zone where black and white clash" (Aragon 18).   Aragon noted that the world is full of contrasts, and it is through those contrasts that we live and understand who we are and why we are here.   Without an understanding of light, Aragon argues, we cannot understand what darkness really is.   Or, without an awareness as to the concept of truth, one cannot possibly error, for the act cannot be defined.   In William Hathaway's poem "Oh, Oh," the poet uses language, word choices, images, onamatopoeic descriptions, and even the title of the poem to define the intrusion of the mechanical harshness of the world into the carefree land of nature.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The images, content, and focus of the poem change with the intrusion of the train.   Before the protagonist's girl notices the train, the two characters are concerned with the cows, grass, and simply ambling down a country lane.   But, as soon as the train approaches, and as it passes, the characters are no longer concerned with nature.   Rather, they suddenly begin dreaming of "being president" (11) and of "wonderful, faraway places" (14).   This switch from the serenity of nature to the dreams of the world finally ends with the poems last line -- a punishment or at least a warning.   The tranquil and peaceful nature suddenly becomes filled with "fifty Hell's Angels" (17).   But, more than simply motorcycles waiting at a railroad crossing, Hathaway has personified the motorcycles creating the mechanical Hell... ...orld where two universes are defined through their contrast.   Through his world choices, images, and even his title, we are transported to a picturesque country landscape with "moo cows chomping daisies" (2) and "maple dappled summer sunlight" (7).   Standing at a stark contrast to this land is the "lit headlight" (8) of a passing train and "growling [...] Hell's Angels" (17).   Hathaway, through his firm grip of language, has recorded a poem that, through contrasts, gives us an understanding of both the natural and mechanical world in an attempt to show us how we can "look / eagerly to the road ahead" (16-17).       Works Cited Aragon, Louis. Paris Peasant. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1926. Hathaway, William. "Oh, Oh." The Bedford Introduction to   Literature: Leading, Thinking, and Writing. Ed. Michael Meyer. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford, 1996. 593-94.      

Syliva Plath

â€Å"Sylvia Plath's poems open up a world of mental anguish for all to see. † Do you agree with this assessment of her poetry? Write a response supporting your points with the aid of suitable reference to the poems you have studied. I agree with this assessment. Before studying Sylvia Plath's poetry I understood mental anguish only as it's definition, â€Å"sustained, dull, painful emotion. † After studying Plath we see mental anguish really applies to her. We see mental anguish appears as anger in â€Å"Poppies in July† and inadequacy in â€Å"Morning Song†.We see Plath being effected by her mental anguish in all of her poems in nearly all of the emotions she shows us so honestly. It's her honesty that attracts us to her and her suffering of her mental anguish. I first came across Plath's mental anguish in â€Å"Poppies in July† which was inspired by the affair her husband had at the time. We see her mental anguish in her anger in this poem. She u ses fiery imagery and places the color red dominantly in our minds. An example of anger in this poem is when Plath says â€Å"Little poppies, little hell flames†. Plath's reference to the â€Å"Little poppies† as â€Å"hell flames† shows her anger by the imagery it gives.The use of â€Å"Little† suggests that Plath is being condescending towards the poppies. Also the reference to the poppies as â€Å"hell flames† says that only Plath sees the seemingly harmless poppies as being what they truly are. Mental anguish is also seen in frustration as well as anger. Frustration is noticed when Plath says â€Å"Little bloody skirts†. In this quote â€Å"little† is used again adding to the condescending feel in the repetition. Plath also says â€Å"bloody† which shows her anger and frustration. The use of â€Å"bloody† also keeps the colour red in our minds reinforcing her sense of anger.After seeing Plath's intense emotions of an ger and frustration she loses these feelings and becomes numb which shows another side of her mental anguish. She feels nothing, just empty, â€Å"dulling and stilling†. As well as the numbness Plath feels hopeless, â€Å"But colorless, colorless. † After feeling her strong emotions the red we felt is gone as she becomes numb and hopeless. From this we can see Plath's mental anguish in her strong emotions and by the way she portrays her words in such an aggressive way in â€Å"Poppies in July†. â€Å"Finisterre† links in to â€Å"Poppies in July† by it's intense atmosphere.Plath shows her mental anguish in her pessimistic outlook of the place which reminded her of a holiday with her ex-husband who we know from â€Å"Poppies in July† had previously an affair. We see her pessimism where she speaks of the deaths of the sailors and their shipwrecks at the cliffs of Finisterre, â€Å"Whitened by the faces of the drowned.. Leftover soldiers from old messy wars†, here Plath speaks darkly of the soldiers who died at the cliffs. We see that she relates to the soldiers and because of her mental anguish she feels like one of them, â€Å"I walk amongst them, they stuff my mouth with cotton. When they free me I am beaded with tears†.Plath also speaks of the mist, â€Å"souls, rolled in the doom-noise of the sea†. The mist represents the souls of the lost sailors who died when their ships struck the cliffs of Finisterre. She says that the sailors live on in the seas mist on the cliffs. As the poem goes on Plath's mental anguish intensifies as the landscape of Finisterre gets darker and becomes quite scary. Plath describes the landscape as the â€Å"sea exploding†, â€Å"messy wars† and â€Å"no bottom†, which creates a disturbing and very threatening image in our minds. The poem becomes less intense but remains dark as the feeling of despair arises.Plath describes the waves of the sea, †Å"They go up without hope like sighs†. At the end Plath's closing line, â€Å"These are our crepes. Eat them before they blow cold†, emphasizes the darkness of the poem by how trivial it is. The last line is so innocent and light it contrasts with the rest of the poem which is dark and intense. From â€Å"Finisterre† we see mental anguish in the intense pessimistic emotions and how Plath relates to the sailors and feels like one of them. We also see mental anguish in the switch of her tone in the last line which suggests deep mental anguish by the instability of the mood.When reading â€Å"Morning Song†, we see it relates to â€Å"Finisterre† by Plath's pessimism. She doubts her ability of being a mother and doesn't feel bonded to her child. We see Plath's mental anguish when she gives birth to her child and doesn't feel the bond they had from pregnancy. We see that she and her husband, Ted Hughes, feel inadequate, â€Å"we stand around blankly as walls†, we see that they are unsure of what to do with the baby and that the baby becomes the main of everyone as Plath and Hughes are as blank â€Å"as walls†.Plath expands more on how she doesn't feel like the baby's mother, â€Å"I am no more your mother than the cloud that distills a mirror†, we see how this really effects Plath from the negativity of the quote which shows us more of her mental anguish. Also the first line of the poem, â€Å"Love set you going like a fat gold watch†, shows how Plath feels towards the child. The word â€Å"fat† which comes across as a harsh strong word, wouldn't usually be associated with ones child which hints how Plath is really being effected by her mental anguish as another person would use â€Å"chubby† or â€Å"cuddly† which is a kinder description rather than â€Å"fat†.From â€Å"Morning Song† we can conclude that Plath's feeling of inadequacy is a result of mental anguish. Her mental anguish forces her to doubt herself and feel pessimistic on a the day of her child's birth which should be one of the happiest days of her life. Again we see pessimism in â€Å"Black Rook in Rainy Weather† like â€Å"Finisterre† and â€Å"Morning Song†. From the title of â€Å"Black Rook in Rainy Weather† a descending mood is already set. In this poem Plath is looking to be inspired to write poetry, but cannot find anything to be inspired by.Her mental anguish keeps her from being inspired and we see her become hopeless. â€Å"I do not expect a miracle†, here we see Plath has given up on hope and her mental anguish grows. We see the mood deteriorate even more as it goes on. She sets the descending mood when she says â€Å"Leaves fall as they fall†, the leaves from this quote represents the falling mood and the image stays with us as we read on. We see Plath become scared and fearful that because of her mental anguish she won't ever b e inspired to write poetry again. In the poem she is â€Å"trekking stubbornly†, hoping to be inspired but cannot.In â€Å"Black Rook in Rainy Weather† mental anguish plays a big role in Plath's life as it keeps her from finding inspiration which affects Plath very much. We can see she her deteriorate as poetry plays a big part in her life but her mental anguish stops her from writing. As well as seeing poetry being affected in â€Å"Black Rook in Rainy Weather† we see Plath's child being affected in â€Å"Child† which is another big part in Plath's life. In â€Å"Child† we see Plath at her absolute worst. We see how her mental anguish truly worsened and took its toll on her.Plath admits to herself that even though she really wants to, she cannot look after her child the way she should. Plath feels hopeless on a larger scale than ever, â€Å"This dark ceiling without a star†, she feels trapped in her mental anguish as if trapped in a dark ro om with no doors, windows or a way out. Plath wants to give her child the best life possible, â€Å"I want to fill it with color and ducks†, but knows that she cannot because of her â€Å"troublous wringing of hands†, and her mental anguish. In Child she realized that she cannot look after her child because of her mental anguish and feels that the child would be better off without her.From these references to Plath's poetry that I have studied we can conclude that Plath did suffer from mental anguish and her poems are evidence of that. We see how mental anguish effected her emotions and her abilities greatly from feeling like an adequate mother in â€Å"Morning Song† and developing writers block in â€Å"Black Rook in Rainy Weather†. We also see in Plath's poems the rollercoaster of emotions she feels due to mental anguish such as in â€Å"Finisterre† where it begins and progresses with a dark and intense atmosphere but ends erruptly in a light and trivial way. This is how Plath's poems open up the world of mental anguish.

Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay - 1382 Words

Introduction Should College Athletes Be Paid? This question has the propensity to cause much commotion within the various collegiate athletic divisions; e.g., NCAA, BIG 10, MEAC, and CIAA. The complexity involved in flushing out an answer to this question coupled with our status as college students may have played a direct influence in the decision of the group Long Term Money’s (L.T.M.) choice to use this topic as an interest for group assignment. A â€Å"student athlete† is a participant in an organized competitive sport sponsored by the educational institution in which he or she is enrolled. Student athletes must typically balance the roles of being a full-time student and a full-time athlete. Due to educational institutions being colleges, they offer athletic scholarships in various sports; therefore, the proverbial question of which came first, â€Å"the chicken or the egg?† comes to mind. Are the individuals who would be directly affected by such an action, considered s tudents’ firsts, or athletes, and if they are athletes, should be they be considered employees governed by significant employment and labor laws eligible for pay? If they are now employee, how will this affect their pursuit of the educational process, eligibility for scholarships, classes, study, etc.; what changes that must take place for the plan (if granted) to be carried out, would it be consistent across the entire country. So, with so many unanswered questions, we ask again; â€Å"Should College Athletes BeShow MoreRelatedShould College Athletes Be Paid?1578 Words   |  7 PagesAshay Mehta Nou Per 8 Should College Athletes Be Paid? One of the hottest debates in the sports industry is if college athletes should be paid. If you want to pay these athletes, how would the college determine the dollar amount that should be paid? Should the basketball team make more than the football team? Should the the soccer team be paid as well? Cheerleading? Chess team? Should everyone on the team get a salary? What if your college is good at football and your basketball team is awfulRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1398 Words   |  6 Pagesbelieve that college athletes at the highest performing schools are better treated than others. Although they do not get paid, they do receive some benefits for being athletes that other students would not get. One advantage for playing a sport is access to scholarships that some schools reserve for their athletes. Depending on the school and the athlete’s performance, money towards tuition is often given. Only some schools are willing to grant â€Å"full-ride† scholar ships for certain athletes. AccordingRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1289 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout the years college sports have been about the love of the game, filled with adrenaline moments. 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