Pride & Predjudice Review

Review of Pride & Predjudice
Cheryl L. Currin

Set in the 1800’s in England comes a love story between a simple woman and a wealthy man who takes the viewer on a journey of family, love and honor.
Mrs. Bennet, mother of five daughters is obsessed with marrying her daughters off to a wealthy man and all have agreed to attend a local ball where royalty is present. Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) encounters a young handsome lad at the ball who catches her eye. Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfayden) is mysterious with so much arrogance about himself that Ms. Bennet is not in the least interested.
Mr. Darcy is a man of wealth who is prideful and is perceived as an arrogant man. He shows no emotion throughout the movie but there is an aura about him that Lizzy finds alluring. Matthew Macfayden captures the mysteriousness of Mr. Darcy is in tall, dark and handsome appearance.
I can’t think of a better actress to portray Lizzy as Kiera Knightly has done. Her innocent, fair and humble look about her brings Lizzy alive on screen. Lizzy is a feisty beautiful woman who is not afraid of who she is or where she came from.
A love affair between Lizzy’s older sister Jane and Mr. Darcy’s best friend pulls Lizzy and Mr. Darcy into a web of honor, betrayal and love.
Director Joe Wright sought out to capture the human spirit of a man who had integrity, honor and pride. Even though this movie was set in England, the scenes were not what made the film. Mr. Wright captured the love story by using dialogue between Lizzy and Mr. Darcy and nothing more.
This movie flowed timelessly. The director was able to engage the viewer from the first scene when Lizzy walked through the field with book in hand to her house to Mr. Darcy touching Lizzy’s hand at the ball. From that moment, the viewer is on the edge of their wanting to know what will happen next between Lizzy and Mr. Darcy.
Overall, a must see movie that the male and female gender would appreciate.

Chapter 14 Poems

Countee Cullen

What is Cullen’s message?
I believe the message is that born a slave, die a slave.

How would you characterize the tone of this poem? Wrathful? Amused?
Amused.

Doo Wop

What is the tone of this poem-comic? Seruiys? Both at once?
I think this tone is comical.

How many instances of plays on words, and playing with the sounds of words, can you find in the poem?
Three

Beyond the author’s exuberant delight in language, what do you think “Doo Wop” is about?
I think this poem is about a man talking about his girlfriend, who he is in love with. Then at the very end of the poem he’s been duped. I think it also shows that the man had gotten over his girlfriend because the tone seems too light hearted to be about someone mourning the loss of a relationship.

For My Daughter

How does the last line of this sonnet affect the meaning of the poem?
I think this last line affects the poem by changing the tone from sad to disgust and hate.

“For My Daughter” was first published in 1940. What considerations might a potential American parent have felt at that time? Are these historical concerns mirrored in the poem?
Absolutely. It was not proper for a young girl to be promiscuous . Most parents would be embarrassed and want to ship their child away. I do think these concerns are mirrored in this poem. The line that reads “Bride of a syphilitic or a fool” shows discontent.

Donald Justice has said that “Kees is one of the bitterest poets in history.” Is bitterness the only attitude the speak reveals in this poem?
I think there is despair and grief in this poem. Despair because the parent knows he/she is going to lose his/her child and there is nothing that can be done. Grief because death is inevitable for their child.

Luke Havergal

Who is the speaker of the poem? What specific details does the author reveal about the speaker?
I think the speaker is God. I think the details would be that he says to go the western gate. I interpret this to mean the sunset, which is bright. Go to the light. Many people claim to see the light before they go to Heaven. The line that speaks of “out of a grave I come to tell you this” would also lead me to believe God is the speaker.

What does the speak ask Luke Havergal to do?
I think the speaker is asking Luke to kill himself. But then again if it is God speaking, he would never ask someone to commit suicide. I guess the speaker could also be the Devil.

What do you understand “the western gate” to be?
It could be a church.

Would you advise Luke Havergal to follow the speaker’s advice? Why or why not?
No. I think this poem can be interpreted in two ways. God or the Devil speaking. I am leaning more toward the Devil speaking. He speaks of crimson vines and being struck like flying words. I think the Devil is trying to entice Luke to commit suicide and I would never advise that.

Monologue for an Onion

How would you characterize the speaker’s tone in this poem? What attitudes and judgments lie behind the tone?
Resentment is the tone I see in this poem. I see the onion making accusatory statements to the person chopping the onion. The onion interprets the chopper person to be heartless and uncaring.

“I mean nothing” (line 2) might be seen as a play on two senses of mean – “intend” and “signify.” Is the statement true in both senses?
Yes.

Suppose someone said to you, “The whole point of the poem is that vegetables have rights and feelings too, and humanity is being rebuked for its arrogance and insensitivity toward other species.” How would you argue against that view?
First I would laugh and then say “are you serious?” Vegetables come from a seed and need nothing more than water and oxygen to grow. Unlike humans, we need more than a “seed.” Vegetables do not have a brain and they cannot feel anything.

The speaker is obviously one tough onion, cutting humanity little or no slack. To what degree do you think the speaker represents the author’s views? Explain your response.
I think the speaker represents the author’s view by crying while chopping the onion. Also by peeling away the onion layer by layer may show some compassion on the part of the chopper.

A Glass of Beer

Whom do you take to be the speaker? Is it the poet? The speaker may be angry, but what is the tone of this poem?
I don’t think the speaker is the author, but a disgruntled drunken man. The tone is annoyed.

Would you agree with a commentator who said, “To berate anyone in truly memorable language is practically a lost art in America”? How well does the speaker (an Irishman) succeed? Which of his epithets and curses strike you as particularly imaginative?
I don’t believe berating anyone is a lost art. It is however, memorable to say the least. The Irishman succeeds very well. The most imaginative line would be “The High King of Glory permit her to get the mange.” Who would wish that upon anyone?

Her Kind

Who is the speaker of this poem? What do we know about her?
The speaker is a witch who has passed on. We know that she has the same experiences as the witch she is speaking of.

What does the speaker mean by ending each stanza with the statement, “I have been her kind?”
I think the speaker is reiterating that she knows what it is like to be a witch and wants the reader to know that she truly understands the witch.

Who are the figures with whom the speaker identifies? What do these figures tell us about the speaker’s state of mind?
The speaker identifies the worms and the elves. The state of mind would be very magical and dark.

The Unknown Citizen

Read the two-line epitaph at the beginning of the poem as carefully as you read what follows. How does the epitaph help establish the voice by which the rest of the poem is spoken?
The voice is nostalgic. It sets the tone of compassion.

Who is speaking?
I think the child of the deceased citizen is speaking.

What ironic discrepancies do you find between the speaker’s attitude toward the subject and that of the poet himself? By what is the poet’s attitude made clear?

In the phrase “The Unknown Soldier” (of which “The Unknown Citizen” reminds us), what does the word unknown mean? What does it mean in the title of Auden’s poem?
To me the word unknown means an unsung hero. A person that was an upstanding citizen and did he duty to society and his family. One that didn’t seek attention or glory. In the title, unknown means a person without a name. A person that isn’t particularly famous.

What tendencies in our civilization does Auden satirize?
We take for granted life and accomplishments people can achieve by just being a normal person.

How would you expect the speaker to define a Modern Man, if a CD player, a radio, a car, and a refrigerator are “everything” a Modern Man needs?
Today, a “modern man” would need a laptop, cell phone and microwave.

Rite of Passage

What is ironic about the way the speaker describes the first-grade boys at her son’s birthday party?
She describes them as older than six year olds. She looks at them like they are grown up and getting ready to fight.

What other irony does the author underscore in the last two lines?
That even though the boys are kids they are acting like grown men.

Does this mother sentimentalize her own son by seeing him as better than the other little boys?
No I don’t think so. I think she is just reflecting on the day.

Elements of Fiction

I chose the point of view element of fiction for the story, “A Rose for Emily.” The narrator was a nonparticipant type. I believed the narrator to be a community member, possibly someone as old as Emily. I say this because this person knew of Emily from young adulthood through her death.

In my photographs, I chose a picture of Susan B. Anthony. I felt this woman looked like Emily. Emily was elderly with graying hair and steely eyes. This story was at the turn of the 19th 20th century. I believed Emily to be of wealth and upper class. Emily believed all along that she did not have to pay taxes, which gave me the impression that she felt she was better than other people in the community. Below you will find a younger and older version of Susan B. Anthony who I believe to resemble the character of Emily.

When the story mentioned the home of Emily I did some research on the internet for houses built in the late 1800’s in the south. I first thought of a plantation style home, which is below.
I then did some driving around Lewiston and found a home that I thought would resemble the one Emily lived it. It seemed to me that the house was not kept up as Emily aged. I didn’t get the impression that Homer did as much home repairs as he did running errands for Emily.

Below is a photograph of a home in Lewiston that characterized the home of Emily.

I chose the Setting element for the “Cathedral” story. I felt this story was set around the 1970’s. It had that peace and love theme to it. The husband and wife are casual in their drink and illicit drug activity that it felt like the era of this story would not be in 2009. I think this story was about a man overcoming his inability to understand a disabled person. He openly admits that he has never met a blind man. I think the husband was jealous of the relationship between his wife and the blind man until he got to know him.

If I were the scene director for a screen play of this story I would have set the living room up with a console television and 1970 style furniture. Below are a few pictures of what I felt the scene resembled.

I chose the Tone and Style element for the “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” I felt the tone was sympathetic in nature. It was narrated from the attitude of the older waiter and the deaf man. Heminway’s style was more minimalist and diction. There was not a lot of imagery in this story, mainly factual.

This story reminded me of the Cheer’s sitcom. Not necessarily the drama of the characters in the sitcom, but rather the bar. It was always clean and bright. Sometimes there were a lot of customers and sometimes there was only one.

I chose the Character element for “Miss Brill.” I found Ms. Brill to be a people watcher. She was also a loner. Ms. Brill went to the park every Sunday to observe and to feel less lonely. The story even mentions that Ms. Brill read to older gentlemen, whom she wouldn’t have known if he was dead or alive while she was reading to him. This tells me that she did things routinely, such as reading to the elderly man and attending the park every Sunday. I took photographs of some elements in the story that were key to the story line. Below is a park bench.

This bench is centrally located to a street. A bench is park would quite work in this story. The bench needed to be located near a street where Ms. Brill could watch a parade, which would on a street.

Here is a view from the bench to a main road that Ms. Brill could observe the parades or people passing by.

You can find this essay at Blog Spot by clicking on the following link:http://cherylcurrinsenglish150class.blogspot.com/

Torn - Original version

She sat in the small plain visiting room like she had done every Sunday for the past year, waiting and wondering if she would be able to see her son this week. It was his birthday today and she wasn’t going to miss another one. As she sat there staring at the clock on the wall and watching moms and dads come and go behind the locked door she wondered if he had done something wrong again blowing her chance of seeing him. Anxiously waiting for her visit, she receives a phone call phone from her daughter who just got in a fight with her boyfriend begging her to come get her. The door opens and the guard walks out and says, “Mrs. Jones, come this way.”

Cheryl Currin