Adrienne Rich

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers

The part of this writing that hit me the hardest was the descriptive words about the ring on Aunt Jennifer’s finger. I have had friends that were married for a long time and they went through a lot during those years but had never thought about their rings’ weighing heavy on their finger, hmmmm, that made me think a little deeper on this one. It seems she wanted us to know that life goes on even though someone dies, “The tigers in the panel that she made will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.” Whatever she had been through, Rich wanted us to realized it followed Aunt Jennifer to her grave. I wish she had written more but that is what makes a great writer, when the reader is left wanting more.

My thoughts...

My thoughts...

I am glad I do not have to choose my favorite time section for this class because I have found one is just as powerful as the another. I love history and reading these author’s works has been very intriguing. I know I will use some of these in the future when I teach. I feel it is so important for the students to enjoy learning and showing them different types of literature can open up a new window for them, it has for me. Each week we have read new authors, and each week my window has become open further. Only with a few exceptions, I have liked what I have read and I have felt challenged.

Go Espada

“The Bully,” by Martin Espada is a piece of historical criticism. This piece brought the past into the present with the use of cultural criticism. I love history as I have blogged before and this piece was added to my, “I Like Collection.” Espada’s description of the school was excellent. Espada put a lot of feeling into his writing. He was born of Puerto Rican parents so I feel this could possibly be classified as biographical criticism, what do you think? When reading this I kept thinking about the little guy getting the prize at the end of the race. It may have been a small thing to some but was tremendous to those who disagreed with what took place during and after the Spanish American War. I could write a small book on this issue, anyway, as it turned out there were territories that became American Territories. These people wanted their freedom from Spain but did not want to be controlled by another country. Theodore Roosevelt was viewed as one of the leading forces of this movement. In this writing the school began as a school named after Theodore Roosevelt for his heroic ride to free Latin America from Spain. There was a statue in the school that had remained there since the beginning. As time passed the school received a new name, Hernandez. Espada wrote, “Puerto Rico has invaded Roosevelt with its army of Spanish-singing children in the hallways, brown children devouring the stockpiles of the cafeteria, children painting Taino ancestors that leap naked across murals.” Wow, if that is not pay back at it’s finest. I know there are those that would disagree but it seems that our country has at times in the past taken away the rights of the minoritys who were not strong enough to stand by themselves. This piece has a strong political statement, good job Espada!

Scalp Dance

Scalp Dance by Spokane Indians

When reading this I could feel negative energy from the speaker. She seemed to be angry at how the Spokane Indians were treated by the artists that came to paint them. It reminded me of how it had always been with the Indians. White man swoops in gets the good stuff and leaves them empty handed. She shows her anger when she says, “When you see me now in that painting dancing with the scalp, you must realize that I didn’t have a husband, that I never danced without a smile, that I never sat still for Kane.” Kane only painted her from memory but to this day people look at the painting and believe she was an angry Indian woman whose husband was killed and she danced with the scalp of those who killed her husband, when it was so far from the truth. Alexie brought out how the speaker wanted the truth to be known. The way Alexie wrote made me angry. I know how the Indians were treated but had never heard or even thought about this type of mistreatment. I found it very odd that Kane was the last name of the artist and the name of the Indians were the Spokanes, so did they feel that this was something else that was taken away from them???

Adrian C. Louis

Adrian Louis’ Dust World, is about a forty year old man visualizing his surroundings and seeing it as it really is. The first thing that stood out to me in this writing was the TBird. Indians viewed the Thunderbird as strength, powerful, and energy of a thunderstorm. Louis chose the man in the writing to drive a Thunderbird because it gave the man power, “...I suck in my gut and lay some rubber.” Throughout this piece he keeps referring to the dirty, ugly, welfare world. The “three teenage mothers,” he keeps refers to are symbolic of ones who preferred to party than to work and make something of themselves. He makes a point of talking about how they flirted with the man even though he was forty years old. Louis mentions, “This is the land that time forgot,” which tells me he thinks of it as desolate or isolated away from civilization. “Here is the Hell the white God gave us,” to me this is saying the white man took everything that was good and left the dirty and bad for the “redskin.”

I like reading Adrian C. Louis’ works, I could see what Louis was describing through out, Dust World.

Evolution by Alexie

Evolution by Sherman Alexie

Sometimes the truth hurts, in this writing it is full of truths. We tend to think about the African Americans and how they were treated when their ancestors were brought here from African to be slaves in the new land, but do we really think about those who were already here when England and other countries sent their ships full of people for a new beginning? Alexie did a wonderful job using Buffalo Bill and a pawn shop in Evolution. The Indians sold their possessions many times to buy what they needed. So much of the Indian’s stuff was taken and not sold buy the Indians. I found it ironic how Alexie used, “The Indians pawn their hands, saving the thumbs for last, they pawn their skeletons, falling endlessly from the skin and when the last Indian has pawned everything but his heart, Buffalo Bill takes that for twenty bucks closes up the pawn shop, paints a new sign over the old and calls his venture THE MUSEUM OF NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURES charges the Indians five bucks a head to enter,” the Indians lost it all to the white man and then in the end to see their ancestor’s possessions, they have to pay a museum to enter, how sad. Not sure how others will view this one but I see it as tragic.

Gluck

Louise Gluck is another one of the poets I have not encountered before. I read Penelope’s Song and was pulled into what Gluck was saying. I felt drawn to the words in this poem. I envisioned someone who had a life with secrets tucked away and the narrator is finding out the truth. The use of the spruce tree, I thought was exceptional. I had not looked at a spruce the way she was describing but they do have shelf-like branches. I felt this was a descriptive way of telling the reader about the sentry or look-out. Does this person gather information? Is it in the best interest of the person to continue what they are doing?I think this person must think highly of themselves because she writes,You are not completely perfect either; with your troublesome body you have done things you shouldn’t discuss in poems. Wow, if it could not be discussed in poems, it must have been something regrettable or something no one should know about. So, I wonder what it was? There is passion with in this poem and the mention of demonic appetite makes me wonder in what direction this is going in. She uses the tree again at the end of her poem, ...you must shake the boughs of the tree to get his attention, and... but carefully, carefully, lest his beautiful face be marred by too many needles. I can not wait to discuss this one. It seems so full of possibilities. I found another poem I liked that Gluck had also written, The Fear of Burial , I found it very open with honest type feelings. I really like the way she wrote this. It is sort of sad how the spirit just sits beside the body. I sat for a minute after I read this and shut my eyes to see what she was saying. I noticed at the end she wrote about the heaviness of the door, milk, and bread. I was thinking of the sorrow the ones who were left behind were feeling. I really like her style.

The Fear of Burial

In the empty field, in the morning,
the body waits to be claimed.
The spirit sits beside it, on a small rock--
nothing comes to give it form again.

Think of the body's loneliness.
At night pacing the sheared field,
its shadow buckled tightly around.
Such a long journey.

And already the remote, trembling lights of the village
not pausing for it as they scan the rows.
How far away they seem,
the wooden doors, the bread and milk
laid like weights on the table.

from Descending Figure. © 1980 Louise Glück. Online Source