Medea, Euripides 431 BCE // English

Medea, daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, an enchantress with magical capabilities, and possibly one of the most controversial women, and story, of Greek Mythology. Many consider Medea to be a representation of women, however, it may be that Medea is a representation of the way Greek people used to perceive women, not how they […]

Unit 1/2 – On The Rainy River, The Things They Carried // English

Discuss how Tim O’Brien presents power, politics, and justice in the passage from On The Rainy River (850 words) In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien develops and explores stories set in the Second Indochina War, 1968 Vietnam, alongside stories set in his hometown. O’Brien appears as a protagonist in many of the stories, who […]

Reflecting on The Great Gatsby // English

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald is a book that considers the ‘American Dream’. In my opinion, this book is simultaneously very clever, yet a miserable read for many reasons. Primarily, I find that this book is very accurate in representing the hypocrisy of the American Dream, and the idea that if you work […]

CAT #2: How Does the Poet use Specific Objects to Portray Considerations About Time? // English

Rewriting my Introduction for CAT #2 on Museum by Szymborska: In Szymborska’s poem ‘Museum’, Syzmborska uses specific objects to portray her perspective on the superficial, materialistic, and dismissive nature of humans towards historical objects or history in general. She also considers how the truth may fade or change over time, and how the stories behind […]

Response to Szymborska’s Nobel Lecture 1996 // English

I want to respond to Szymborska’s quote that “Most of earth’s inhabitants work to get by.” I think this is true to an extent, yet completely false simultaneously as there are many aspects of this quote that mean many different things. She, a world-renowned poet, has a responsibility to inspire and nurture those who look […]

The Flea // English

While working with ‘The Flea’ by John Donner, I found myself amused and intrigued by the poly meanings (not sure if that’s a word) behind poetry, and how different people will perceive and interpret poetry. Poets views on the world are significantly more specific through their poems, as they are able to articulate their thoughts […]

Dear John by Tony Hoagland // English

Dear John by Tony Hoagland is a supplementary poem we worked through in class. It was very interesting to see how once we found out the poet was male our perceptions of the poem changed. This raised a few questions regarding readers and their connections to poems through poets and how identity plays a part […]