Analysis of "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden (Blog #8)

"Those Winter Sundays"

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he’d call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love’s austere and lonely offices?

The title suggests that the poem will be about Sundays during winter, specifically a certain type of day that the speaker is looking back on (good, bad and the ugly). In a other words, the speaker talks about their father getting up early on Sundays as well, getting dressed in the cold darkness. With weary and overworked hands, father built a fire with no thankful words towards him. The speaker would awake to the cold easing, waking to his father's call that the house was warm. Slowly, the speaker would get ready and rise, fearful of the tension on the household. Without regards to father's kindness towards the speaker (warming the house, cleaning the speaker's shoes), the speaker questions his understanding of love and its sorrow.

Hayden uses strong imagery, point of view, and metaphors to emphasize the meaning on his poem. Imagery like "cracked hands that ached" and "hear the cold splintering, breaking" brings the story to life. It creates sounds, images and solidify the reality of the speaker. The first person point of view makes the story personal and meaningful. The indifferent speaker analyzes their father carefully and without bias. However, the first person point of view brings the situation to close proximity. The attitude is clinical, oddly detached. The relationship is close and personal, but the speaker is unaware of the depth of the situation.

After closely reading the poem, the title suggests that the speaker might be recalling a memory and have a different reflection on the situation than when they actually lived it. The speaker appreciates their father for being so kind and caring and thoughtful to the family. I think the overall theme is something about how later self reflection contributes to a altered perception of your past.

I find this poem to connect to my life so passionately. I'm looking at a current situation and reflecting on how I could have, should have, and would have acted differently if I knew then what I know now. It's therapeutic to find peace and a new sense of justice after your self reflection is altered. The past is in the past, and we can only move forward to make a difference. For the speaker, they can appreciate their father in the future. For me, I can say no more easily.

Analysis of "To The Virgins, To Make Much of Time" by Robert Herrick (Blog #7)

The title suggests that the poem might be a letter or an address to virgins in general. The speaker is offering advice to utilize their time wisely. Virgins could also be interpreted as young folk, maybe as children, and the poem/poet is advising them to be cherish their time as young people. In its most basic form, the poem can be paraphrased as: Collect your rosebuds now, old time is still passing, and this flower may be in bloom now, but tomorrow it will be dying. As the sun rises higher, the sooner it is setting. Youth is great and new and wonderful, but time damages youth. Don't play and use your time, marry now while you still can, because you may regret not doing so once you age greatly.

The poet uses metaphors, imagery, symbolism, and personification to amplify the meaning of the poem. "Flying time" and "glorious lamp of heaven, the sun" are metaphors that solidify and strengthen the message of the poem (utilize time). "Gather ye rosebuds" and "glorious lamp of heaven" (again) are great uses of imagery that help the reader to imagine the images the speaker has in mind when delivering their message. The imagery stimulates the sense of sight so that the reader is submerged into the poet's mind. The language revolving around the sun, "the glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, the higher he's a getting, the sooner will his race be run, and nearer he is to setting" is symbolic to the sun's phases throughout the day. The sun becomes more human because the language personifies it (running a race). 

The speaker is very matter-of-fact, almost as if they know what they're saying to be absolutely true. Their message to virgins is important to them, and important to the person(s) they are addressing it to. The speaker is almost indifferent to time and aging, they just accept it as a fact of life. I think there might be a shift in the final stanza, "then not be coy, but use your time". It serves as a final piece of advice to reiterate the depth of the message (USE YOUR TIME WISELY!). 

After closer examination, the title could be to anyone who is still young and naive, who doesn't believe that time will catch up to them. The poem is a warning, and strict message, that emphasizes the importance of utilizing youth and time, The poem is about good things coming to an end (nature, the sun, youth). Time is precious and shall not be wasted.

This is a poem I wish I could send my younger self. Freshman Sarah wasted a lot of time doing homework, school work, and worrying about things that didn't need the extra thought. I wish I would have spent more time with my grandparents before they died, I wish I would have spent more time with my friends before I went to high school, I wish I would have spent more time enjoying my time than worrying about it. Carpe diem, seize the day. 

Close Reading of Gerard M. Hopkins poem "Spring and Fall" (1880)

I looked up several versions of this poem. At the top of each one, underneath the title, were the words, "to a young child". This tiny clarification changes the whole meaning of the poem for me. Naturally, it drastically affected my paraphrasing of each line, and certainly altered the answers to my close reading questions. A few things I'd like to touch upon: 1) it doesn't matter if this poem is about the loss of innocence and growing up or about the changing leaves of spring and autumn, both interpretations further develop the human obsession with innocence, 2) I think my attraction and affection towards this poem strengthens when it's intentionally addressed to a young child, 3) my close reading became deeper when it became personal (my likeness for the poem). I think I have a ton more appreciation for poetry and poets after doing this exercise. Poetry is extremely difficult, more carefully thought-out than a staged scene, more critically evaluated than a Shakespeare play. It takes lots of skill, patience, and imagination to write a poem, and even more talent to evaluate it.

How to Analyze Literature

AP Lit in general has taught me how to analyze texts and gain an overall understanding of their meaning. Through learning about the different tools that writers use, I am now able to clearly identify techniques and how they contribute to meaning. I've also learned how to effectively answer questions or evaluate a text. My explanations are more concise and well thought-out. More recently, I've learned that structure contributes greatly to meaning. I never really thought that literary techniques connected to structure, but they'd have to because they are the structure (language, syntax, point of view, etc.)

I need to learn how to apply the literary techniques correctly. I fear that my application when writing my own work doesn't always implement the techniques accurately. I also feel that I often argue with myself over author's intentions vs. what the text says. Shouldn't we take in to consideration the author's ideas about their own work?

Finally, I believe that I'm really good at writing the open-ended essays. I'm good at identifying what the question asks, how to answer it, and how to further develop my own thoughts. I know my classmates struggle with the prose part of AP Lit, so I feel that I could absolutely help my peers out in improving their writing skills. I know they have the ideas, they just may not have the skills to express their ideas. We're all in this together, and I'm here to help.