Zora Neale Hurston

Since I decided to read Their Eyes Were Watching God, I wanted to find out more about the author so I could maybe connect some of the experiances in the book to the author. I found out some really interesting things about her life

• Born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama; however, she grew up in Eatonville, Florida. She considered it her real home.
• Eatonville was a black township with five lakes, three croquet courts, three hundred brown ckins, three hundred good swimmers, plenty guavas, two schools, and no jailhouse.
• She had a relatively good upbringing. Her mother was the main influence of her ambitions and her father was a preacher.
• Her mother died in 1904 when Zora was only thirteen years old. This began her thinkings of life.
• Her father quickly remarried to a girl that Zora almost killed in a fistfight.
• She eventually joined a Gilbert & Sullivan traveling troupe as a maid to the lead singer.
• At 26 she still hadn't finished high school. So in order for her to appear young so she could recieve free public schooling, she took off ten years of her life, saying that she was born in 1901. Always presented herself as ten years younger than she was
• She was a "handsome, big-bones woman with playful yet penetrating eyes, high cheekbones, and full, graceful mouth that was never without expression"
• Had a sense of humor
• Graduated from Barnard College in 1928
• by 1935, she published several short stories and articles, as well as a novel, Jonah's Gourd Vine, and a well-recieved collection of black Southern folklore, Mules and Men.
• Published Their Eyes Were Watching God in 1937.
• Never recieved the financial rewards she deserved. The largest sum of money she earned from her book was $943.75
• Died on January 28, 1960 at 69 from a stroke.
• Buried in a grave that remained unmarked until 1973.

I'm really looking foward to reading the book and I will post soon to tell you what I think of it!

Works Cited

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: HarperCollins, 2006.

A Poem

We haven't done a poetry reading in a while so I decided that I would do one right now! I chose "The Young Housewife" by William Carlos Williams

At ten A.M. the young housewife
moves about in negligee behind
the wooden walls of her husband's house.
I pass solitary in my car.

Then again she comes to the curb
to call the ice-man, fish-man, and stands
shy, uncorseted, tucking in
stray ends of her hair, and I compare her
to a fallen leaf.

The noiseless wheels of my car
rush with a crackling sound over
dried leaves as I bow and pass smiling.


My interpretation:
negligee- a dressing gown or robe, usually of sheer fabric and having soft, flowing lines, worn by women.
The girl is standing outside of her husband's house with wooden walls. I get the impression that she doesn't have a very good relationship with her husband. It seems like she's maybe pushed out of the way by her husband.
The man, to me, seems like he is blown away by this girl. He watches her and he doesn't want her to see him. It's almost like he is stalking her; however, I don't get a creepy vibe from it. It almost seems to me like this guy might be in love with her.
It then goes on to say that the woman is outside to call the ice-man and the fish-man. Is she in a city? Why is she alone? Why would she be on the streets to get fish? The man compares her to a 'fallen leaf'. When I think of a falling leaf, I think delicate and fragile. I can see the woman being fragile. Maybe she is going through a hard time and the man wants to help her but he is afraid to.
The man then passes the woman with his 'noiseless wheels', however, there is the 'crackling' sound of the leaves. Did the woman notice him? It then says that he bowed and smiled at her. Do they know each other? Maybe they are secret lovers?
I'm not too sure but this poem has a very mysterious tone to it. I just imagine a girl alone and a guy trying to reach out and help her; however, something is holding him back.
I really like this poem. I wonder what my classmates will say!

Frankenstein Part 3

Wow! What an awesome book! I really enjoyed Shelley’s writing style and how she created a realistic sci-fi book. Even though you know that could never really happen, Shelley put a realistic sense to it. I also like how the ending was not a happy one. Sometimes happy endings are almost hard to believe.
There’s one question that I have been pondering a lot ever since I finished the book. Is the monster pure evil or did he have some good in him? I feel like the times when we read the story through the monster’s eyes, I often felt sympathetic towards him and I understood where he was coming from. However, towards the end when we were reading it through Victor’s eyes again, the monster just seemed cruel and insane. I don’t think it was necessary for the monster to threaten Victor and go around and kill all of his loved ones. The monster even goes so far as to threaten Victor on his wedding day, saying “I will be with you on your wedding-night!” (Shelley 203). The one day that could bring happiness to Victor and the monster threatens to kill him on it! I thought that was really cruel. I also thought that the monster forcing Victor to see all the deaths of his loved ones was also really harsh. I couldn’t imagine having to go through that pain. At the end of the book, however, we see more human qualities in the monster. He basically apologizes for the murders and realizes that they did not do him any good. He explains that, “For while I destroyed [Victor’s] hopes, I did not satisfy my own desires” (Shelley 240). Then the monster vows to take his life in order to ‘finish his work’. The monster asks himself, “where can I find rest but in death?” (Shelley 242). I would have to agree with the monster for wanting to take his life because in a lot of ways, the monster is like another Victor. And since Victor died, the monster should die too because it is Victor’s creation. However, we never know for sure if the monster kills himself. It really makes you wonder and I can’t wait to discuss this in my lit circle!

Works Cited
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Hertfordshire, Denmark: Wordsworth Classics, 1993.

Wife of Bath

Here is what I found out about the Wife of Bath. It's actually really interesting once you tear everything apart!

Gap-toothed
Back then, gap-toothed usually represented a prostitute or a whore
Face was bold, handsome, ruddy; a worthy woman
Ruddy- having a healthy reddish color, ‘ruddy liar’- (she’s a gossiper)
Bold- courageous and daring; not hesitating to break the rules; imaginative; flashy showy
Worthy- a person of eminent worth, merit or position. However, she is of the lowest rank. Maybe Chaucer the pilgrim is sympathetic towards her.
Somewhat deaf, ‘which was a shame’
Her mouth is bigger than her ears meaning she loves to gossip and only listens to the things she wants to hear.
Chaucer the pilgrim’s comment could mean that he felt pity for her.
Chaucer the writer could be criticizing her. Maybe he is being sarcastic.
Wore a hat- as broad as buckler or shield
Wore handkerchiefs on her head- weighed 10 pounds.
Covered her ears. The handkerchiefs show that she is very showy.
Wore scarlet red hose- laced tightly
Red often represents sin. The fact that they are laced tightly could mean that she is passionate.
Laughed and gossiped well
Goes along with the fact that she is deaf. Likes to talk a lot, and not necessarily listen.
Wore sharp spurs on her feet
She’s controlling
From near Bath
Bath- a town or resort visited for medical treatment by bathing; a spa. A city in Avon, Southwest of Bristol in England. Famous for its Georgian architecture and its hot mineral springs. Maybe she is a person of renewal.
Well-whimpled
Wimple- to veer. She is in control of herself. Goes along with her being a wanderer.
A wanderer- went on many pilgrimages before. Went to Jerusalem three times. Also went to Rome, Boulogne, the Shrine of Saint James at Galicia, and Cologne.
Maybe she has sinned and goes on these pilgrimages to seek forgiveness. From this you can tell that she is somewhat religious.
Had 5 husbands. Chaucer does not say anything else about her husbands. ‘but of that there is no need to speak now’
Wife
Goes back to the idea that she ‘gets around’. She might have used her husbands for money in order to go on her voyages.
Who is she a wife of?
Sat ‘easily’ on an ambling horse
Ambling- (of a horse) to go at a slow pace with the rider’s legs on both side.
Had a talent for making cloth ‘of the finest fabric’ and surpassed the weavers of Ypres and Ghent.
Ypres and Ghent- prosperous cities.
Talented. She is of some use.
She knew the remedies of love and art’s old dance
Got around. Goes along with her having 5 husbands.
Foot-mantle was lose about her hips
Mantle- a loose, sleeveless cloak or cape.
Of the Urban Rank; however, Chaucer does not mention that. Chaucer also does not give much physical description of her.
Maybe she is overlooked as a slut, but inside she is really more than that. I think Chaucer the pilgrim is sympathetic towards her.

My Biggest Fear

The other day in art class we had to journal about our biggest fear. No monsters came to mind, nor spiders or snakes or any of the usual things that scare people. To me, my biggest fear is time. I'm always worried that I'm going to run out of time and I will not be able to finish what I was meant to do on Earth. This reminded me of the poem I wrote last year and I just thought I would share it:

Time is a fear
That wraps around you
And rips away timeless memories
It hurts you and haunts you
And makes you never want to look back

Time is age and length
It beats like a strong drum
Creeping up behind you
Like a murderer in the dark of night.

Time runs out
And soon you realize
What you have
And what you don’t.

Time is like poison
It turns love cold
It will hurt and tear apart lives
Time will be the death of love.

Time does not care
It changes thoughts and opinions
Along with passionate feelings
Time makes even best friends grow apart

Time is the Devil’s work,
Slowly slipping people away from life
If He had His way, time would not exist
Life would live on forever

Time creates loss
Feelings are hurt and emotions run wild
Life becomes empty
Like an endless pit of sorrow

Time is disgusting
It should disappear like the switch of a light
It is evil and wretched
Time is my biggest fear

The Canterbury Tales

So i've just read the first part of the Canterbury Tales, and here are my first impressions:

• I love how Chaucer describes every character in detail; however, you have to read between the lines to really get what he's trying to say about this character.


• He's funny! Not only are his descriptions sarcastic, but I skipped ahead a little bit and read a part from the Miller's Tale and I laughed out loud! Chaucer is no middle english nun!


• He's trying to say something, and I love when authors have a hidden agenda. From what I learned in class, he is trying to poke fun at the classes that were made up during that time.


• You can relate to it in a way. The social classes he is talking about in the tales are alot like the social classes we have today. The rich, the middle class, the poor. His aren't as straight foward but still! I think alot of the characters, if modernized, could deffintely fit into our generation.
• The structure of his poem is mind-blowing. I think it is so interesting that he did this for fun even though it's so wonderfully structered! This guy must have been really brilliant.

I can't wait till we read more and discuss the tales in class! :)

Monster Project

I thought our monster projects were actually really good! Everyone was really creative in their presentations and I got some more insight on people's different takes on monsters. I think we agreed on somethings like that there can be no universal monster. A monster is different for every person and things that are scary for me may not be as scary to other people. We also agreed that the unknown and darkness is an important part in making a monster because as humans it is scary when facing the unknown because we do not know what is going to happen. Even though monsters can be inhumane, like grendel or frankenstein, they still have human qualities. Like they are sensitive and they have feelings and a sense of humor. They are greatly misunderstood and they are outcasts. Even though monsters are scary they are necessary. They teach us things about ourselves and in the end they make us better people. Woo hoo for monsters!!!