Paula's Poetry Anthology

POEM 1: Lyrical Poem: SONNET 18 by William Shakespeare

POETRY ANTHOLOGY on Prezi

I have chosen this poem because I think it is extraordinary the way Shakespeare describes the beloved. Besides, I consider it very interesting how the speaker idealizes the man by using different comparisons. In my opinion, the theme of this poem is love, beauty and youth.
 As regards language, the author uses metaphors to describe this woman/man. The more obvious example is when he compares her/him with a summer’s day and when the speaker describes the sun as "the eye of heaven shines". What’s more, Shakespeare says that this woman/man’s main difference with summer is that her/his beauty will last forever and never die. The explanation for this eternal beauty is given in the couplet where the author says that unlike the temporary qualities of summer, his beloved shall never see his death, and his beauty will live in his poetry: “so long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee”. In this sonnet, there is personification for example when it says "But thy eternal summer shall not fade" and there is alliteration when it says "fair from fair".
Finally, there is an example of hyperbole when the beloved is described as being better than the best summer day: "Thou art more mild and more temperate".
 IMAGES:
1- SUN: this image represent the summer so I've chosen it because throughout the sonnet the beloved is compared with a summer's day.
2- GIRL: She represents the way people enjoys summer and the beloved is described as "more enjoyable". 3- ARROW: I've chosen this image because it represents the decline of beauty throughout time.
4- ROSES: they represent how natural things sooner or later become old and uggly.
5- POEM: it represents the way the beloved will live "forever".
6- MAN READING: it explains how the belowed will live in poems... Provided there is somebody who reads it.

POEM 2: Narrative Poem "The Wife of Bath's Tale" (extract)

Extract from the Wife of Bath's Tale on Prezi


I've chosen this extract from the Wife of Bath's Tale because I think it summarizes the main idea of the story: that the only thing woman cares about is to be in "charge" of the marriage and to be the one who controls the relationship.
As regards theme, I think it is power, pride, humility and love. In my opinion the wife's attitude is the one that shows she is proud of herself when she gets her husbands's humiliation and he lets her be the "ruler" in the house.
I think that the language in this extract only includes words that rhyme at the end of the lines: "Than any queen or empress east or west, Do with my life and death as you think best." but there is no use of metaphors, alliteration nor hyperbole.
IMAGES:
1- KNIGHT AND OLD WOMAN:: I've chosen those images because as the extract I had chosen was mostly part of a dialogue, I thought it would be nice to represent the knight and the old woman with pictures.
2- YOUNG LADY: I think this image represents the change the old woman had.

POEM 3: Lyrical Poem: SONNET 53 by William Shakespeare

I've chosen this poem because the author describes a person who has a real impressive heart which makes him/she be beautiful in every way.
As regards its theme I think it is youth, beauty, love and perfection. In my opinion, those are the main themes because Shakeaspere describes his beloved as perfect. This perfection is a consequence of beauty and youth. What's more I consider that love is present in this sonnet because the writer is obviously besotted with him/her. In the couplet he says that he/she cannot be compared with somebody else and because of this the narrator will forever love him/her. In this poem we can find hyperbole "Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit Is poorly imitated after you". The fact is that Adonis is the God of beauty and desire so it's impossible to be as "perfect" as he is. Another examples of hyperbole are when Shakespeare says that his beloved is even more beautiful than Spring and Helen (Helen of Troy, she was considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world).
IMAGES:
1- SHADOWS: I think that they represent not only her/his beautiful silhouette but also he/she is the only person who can lend his beauty ("shadow") to everyone else.
2- FLOWERS, ADONIS and HELEN: The beloved is described as better or more beautiful than spring (flowers) and those mythological characters that represent perfection.
3- HEART: This image represents the beloved heart, that is his/her most valuable treasure.

Post 3: After reading the whole play- Paula Orozco

I think the most important ideas/themes in this play are:
-Love: Mitch: You need somebody. And I need somebody too. Could it be you and me, Blanche? (p.123)

-Sex: Stanley: ...They locked her out of that high school before the spring term ended and I hate to tell you the reason that step was taken! A seventeen-year-old boy she'd gotten mixed up with! (p.133)

-Death and tragedy: Blanche: I ran out all did! all ran and gathered about the terrible thing at the edge of the lake! I couldn't get near for the crowding. Then somebody caught my arm. "Don't go any closer! Come back! You don't want to see!" See? See what! Then I heard voices say-- Allan! Allan! The Grey boy! He'd stuck the revolver into his mouth, and fired-- so that the back of his head had been-- blown away! (p.126)

-Illusion and reality: Stella: I could't believe her story and go on living with Stanley. (p.180)

-Loneliness: Blanche: I think you have a great capacity of devotion. You will be lonely when she passes on, won't you?
I undestand what that is. (p.125)

-Memory: Blanche: Something's the matter tonight, but never mind. I won't cross- examine the witness. I'll just--[She touches her forehead vaguely. The polka tune starts up again.]--pretend I don't notice anything different about you! That--music again...
Mitch: What music?
Blanche: The "Varaouviana"! The polka tune that were playing when Allan--Wait! (p.153)

In my opinion, the title has two meanings, one that is literal and the other that is figurative. The literal meaning of "Desire" refers to the name of the Streetcar that brought Blanche to the Kowalskis' house and the figurative meaning, refers to different scenes or situations in which desire is involved. These situations are when Blanche had to leave the town because of her fornications in the Flamingo hotel and she had no other choice but to go to New Orleans; when she had sex with a seventeen-year-old boy student of hers and as a consequence she was fired from her job; when her ancestors lost Belle Reve for their epic fornications; when she found her husband having sex with another man and he killed himself; and finally when she was raped by Stanley.

The play made me think about human beings' necessity of having someone to talk, to express feelings, to share experiences. It's true that if we don't have a friend or a relative to talk about some difficult situations, we would feel alone in the world.
What's more, while I was reading I thought of those people who invent an artifical word so as to hide their real personality or lifestyle. In my opinion, that "virtual reality" will be reveal sooner or later.

If I got the chance to ask the writer one question I would ask him why is it that Mitch is alone if he is presented as a gentleman that is actually looking for a woman to get married. 

Post 2: After reading Scene Five- Paula Orozco

After reading Scene Five I was able to confirm that the play involved humor and that it has mystery in many scenes (what makes the plot intriguing). What's more, I confirmed that sex was related to the play. An example of this could be when Blanche informed Stanley that the plantation in Belle Reve was lost because of "our improvident grandfathers and father and uncles and brothers exchanged the land fot their epic fornications".

The character I like best is Blanche. I think I like her because she is unpredictable and has a lot of personality traits to be discovered. So far I can describe her as melodramatic, impulsive, ironical, emotional, superficial, superior and a gold digger.

In my opinion, the stage directions, light and music are particularly important to set the mood of the play. While I was reading it, those descriptions made me feel "inside" the scene and helped me to imagine more detailed the situation.

The quotation I selected is:"Honey, would I be here if the man weren't married?" Blanche. (Scene Four, page 85)
I have chosen this quotation because it reflects some of the most important characteristics Blanche has. They are: superficial and gold digger. She went on a trip only to find a millionaire, no matter which kind of person he could be, she was willing to get married because of money.

Post 1: Before reading- Paula Orozco

The characters mentioned are:
-Blanche: a young English teacher who was raised in Mississippi. Besides, she is described as an unforgivable liar and as somebody who wants to hide her "real" world.
-Stella: Blanche's sister.
-Stanley: Blanche's brother-in-law who is a rough-and-ready mechanic.

As regards the setting, I reached the conclusion that it is in Stella's house, a place which only has two dreary rooms. In the review, it is also mentioned the neighborhood that is described as dirty and unpleasant.

The descriptions given are great and they called my attention. I expect to read an intriguing play with a mix of death, sex and humor!

Assigment No. 1 Part II

Agostina Chiabrando & Paula Orozco

Here is the link: http://www.classtools.net/fb/70/TMLUUe

Post 3 Paula Orozco

-->In mi opinion the most striking moments in the story were both in chapter 7:
1- When Tom cofirmed that Gatsby and Daisy were in love. It's superb when it says "She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded. His mouth opened a little, and he looked at Gatsby, and then back at Daisy as if he had just recognized her as some one he knew a long time ago".
2- I love the row they had at the Plaza Hotel because of the "polite" way they had to fight. But the best thing was when Tom says "I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife".

-->While I was reading the novel as I usually do, I was trying to speculate with the end. But of course, it was completely unexpected! Even though, my last "risky" prediction wasn't totally wrong, in a way Tom and Daisy had gone away the day after the row and the same day Gatsby died.. Besides, I thought of the bad qualities the characters had (dishonest, unreliable, interested only in money) and the way they spent their lives without any objective in life.

-->The text made me think about my own life. It made me reflect on the things I have and especially in my blessings, that it doesn't matter if you are a millionaire but it's necessary to be happy and to have goals in life. I think that if you don't have to fight for anything and whatever you want is on a silver platter, then you don't treasure your possessions or even people that love you.

--> The question I would ask the writer if I got the chance is: Why did you decide to make Daisy so weak in personality? 
I thought she would make a difference... I was not expecting a happy ending but a woman with conviction.

Post 2 Paula Orozco

-->So far, my predictions have been confirmed but they were not too risky... That's why now I decided to be a bit more "adventurer": I think that what will happen next is that Tom discovers Daisy's affair with Gatsby, so he forces her to move far away from West Egg. If that's OK Daisy is the unhappy woman in the cover and my Voice Thread prediction would be completly correct!!

-->The quote I'll select now is:

"They had forgotten me, but Daisy glanced up and held out her hand; Gatsby didn't know me now at all. I looked once more at them and they looked back at me, remotely, possessed by intense life."

I've chosen this quotation because of the way Nick express the intense moment between Gatsby and Daisy as if they feel full of life and love. By reading it, I can imagine how uncomfortable Nick felt there and I understand his decision of leaving them together. I can't say why, but Nick's way of speaking make me laugh! May be it's because of the way I imagine he expresses his feelings. 

-->The changes I noticed were: 

1- We now know about Gatsby and his parties, we also know what people think of him. Then, Gatsby invents a story of his life but finally tells Nick the real one.

2- There's more descriptions about Jordan Baker, she is a golf player, dishonest but anyway Nick is beginning to be in love with her.

3- It's explained why Gatsby lives there and why he gives so many parties.

4- The "romance" begins again between Gatsby and Daisy, so we can see that Daisy is not  so innocent after all...

5- Tom is shown as jealous because he can perceive his wife's affair.

Post 1 Paula Orozco

So far my predictions in the Voice Thread have been quite well, as I said it was situated in the United States,  was related to wealthy families and with dances. But, up to now, nothing is mentioned about a character that is not happy with something!

-->The quotation I've chosen is:
"I lived at West Egg, the- well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them."
I chose it because he made me laugh with that description. I can imagine Nick expressing that idea with a sense of humor and a touch of irony... His poor house was squeezed between two huge places that made it look even more horrible!

-->Characters:
Nick Carraway: the novel's narrator and  member of a well-to do family. He is a tolerant person, a hard worker (in the bond business), a veteran of the war and because of his father's piece of advice, he is declined to reserve judgements.

Daisy Buchanan: Nick's second cousin and Tom's Buchanan's wife. She was described as a charming woman with a thirilling voice, with a sad and lovely face.

Tom Buchanan: Daisy's unfaithful and violent husband. He was a football player at College and member of a enormously wealthy family. He was a sturdy straw-haired mand of thirty, with arrogant eyes and a cruel body.

Jordan Baker: Daisy's friend, well-known for playing a sport.

Jay Gatsby: Nick's wealthy neighbour and the protagonist of the novel.

Myrtle Wilson: Tom's lover under the pretext that she was totally unhappy with her marriage.

-->I think Gatsby and Nick will be very close friends and that Nick and Jordan will part a love story...