Ezra Pound "Busted and sent to the Pound"

I know we didn't study Ezra Pound in this class, but I am reading some of his works in another class and I came across this picture.

I title it "Busted and sent to the Pound". I guess it makes the people we read about human to me when I see them caught doing something bad rather it be moral or socially against society. When you read some of these stories and poetry I forget about the people who wrote them and how they may have things going on in their lives other than literature.

Toni Morrison

I always looked upon the acts of racist exclusion, or insult, as pitiable, from the other person. I never absorbed that. I always thought that there was something deficient about such people.
Toni Morrison

I don't think a female running a house is a problem, a broken family. It's perceived as one because of the notion that a head is a man.
Toni Morrison



No one put the memo out that this is not a book to read before you go to sleep at night. Unfortunately that is the only time I have where someone will not be reading over my shoulder questioning my reading material. After reading the first fifty pages, I drifted off to sleep having some pretty wicked dreams.

So here is the memo : Read the book some time during the day so you have enough time to get the images out of your head before you go to sleep or you will have wicked dreams.

other than that the first fifty pages are interesting to say the least.

The next fifty pages were building up the four main characters mention in the story. Sethe a hard working ex slave that has been through hell to find her heaven in a hunted house she shares with her daughter, Paul D and Beloved. I learned more about Amy Denver in this section and I am not quite sure what her place in this story. She is almost like Sethe's angel in the woods, but she is a weird character. Beloved is another strange character I get a feeling later in the book I will learn she is something other than a beautiful girl making her way just so she can watch Sethe cook some rutabagas.

100-150
The book is beginning to become repetitive. I am not sure the purpose behind it, but I am slowly losing interest in the book. Sethe and Baby Suggss are my two favorite characters. Sethe is such a strong woman and Baby Suggs, even though she is dead, is continuing to be a strong moral character in the book. The Beloved is a twisted character I am quickly growing tired of her creepy ways of watching Sethe and seducing Paul D. I understand the book is named for this character, but I see no good use of the name or person in this book other than putting her out on the street.

150-200
Beloved is still a strange character. Pulling out a tooth like it nothing and being able love someone, but sleeping with her "man" is just shady. I still like Sethe even after I have learned she killed her own child. She did it out of fear. Fear her children would be taken back to Sweet Home and beat until nothing is left but shallow skeleton of human. When Sethe arrived at 124 that is all that was left of her and it is understandable she would do anything to keep that fate from her children. Even if sending them to heaven is the solution to having them go to Sweet Home.
I think it is ironic the one place everyone hates the most is called Sweet Home.

201-250
This section of the book is very confusing if not on the edge of being annoying. I can see why Sethe and Stamp Paid look back at the past because it helps tell the story of the present. I sometimes have to stop and think about what they are saying and then try to relate it to the earlier parts of the book.
One thing that really jumps out at me is on page 236 Sethe is talking about killing her baby and she says,"Why I did it. How if I hadn't killed her she would have died and that is something I could not bear to happen to her." What?! She kills her baby because she doesn't want her to die. Sethe character changes to into a completely different character after I read this line. School teacher was not after her children, he was after her. The question of did Sethe kill her child to save her own life comes into my mind. She is a loving mother, but people do crazy things when it comes to their own life.
We also find out why Denver never lives the house. She believes whatever caused her mother to kill her sister lives out in the yard. She also believes Beloved is her sister who has come back from the dead. Sethe and Denver both are turning into weird characters.

251- end
I am not sure I enjoyed the ending as much as the beginning. Beloved become so much more than just a ghost. She turned into a disease that plagued the house and everyone in it. The only good thing that came from Beloved living in the house was Dever finally got the courage to go and get help from the town's people. I am not sure Paul D. why he comes back to the house and then decides he wants to still be with Sethe.
The only part I didn't get was when I read the Beloved section. I didn't understand if she was talking about being in a coffin or seeing dead people. I thought when she was buried no one else was buried there.
It was a strange book. I am not sure I liked it. I was glad at the end Denver got out and made something of her life.

T. C. Boyle

"To be a friend of the earth, you have to be an enemy of man."
— T.C. Boyle (A Friend of the Earth)


"First you have nothing, and then, astonishingly, after ripping out your brain and your heart and betraying your friends and ex-lovers and dreaming like a zombie over the page till you can't see or hear or smell or taste, you have something."
— T.C. Boyle

"Chicxulub" what a cool story. Comparing a huge meteor to the death of their little girl makes sense to me. I am not a parent, but I could see how losing your child could destroy their world. The parents in this story are very laid back and smoke weed while the daughter is out with her friends. They mentioned they never thought she would know the smell of pot. I think telling us about the pot may suggest the parents don't have very many restrictions on their daughter.

I see a message in this story about parents and how they raise them. I even see how the story would tell a parent to spend more time with their child.

George Saunders

"Humor is what happens when we're told the truth quicker and more directly than we're used to."
— George Saunders

"The generalizing writer is like the passionate drunk, stumbling into your house mumbling: I know I'm not being clear, exactly, but don't you kind of feel what I'm feeling?"
— George Saunders

The story's title through me off guard. I was under the impression it would be about a sea side shore. I am well aware now the story is was not about any sea oats. Strippers, whores and a dead aunt tell the story of something completely different. I enjoyed reading it. Sometimes it nice to read something weird to keep life interesting. I am not sure where the title comes from, but maybe Saunders created a title to through people off guard.

I notice how this authors give such a vivid detail of everything they right about. As the class has progressed through the different time periods of writers, I realized the writers usually relate the material to what is going on in society or directly around them.
Are these writers telling us that society is giving us to many details about life?

Martin Espada

"Never pretend
to be a unicorn
by sticking a plunger on your head."
— Martin Espada

"A poem is not a pop-tart."
Martin Espada


The Skull Beneath the Skin of the Mango

Espada uses great imagery in this poem when he describes the mangoes. Mangoes are such a delicious fruit, but now thinking about a mango having a skull in it makes me want to pass on future fruit cups. I am ignorant on the pain the American government inflicted on these people, but as with many government plans I am sure the angry in the poem has a valid reason behind it.

Adrian C. Louis

"Tears upon the dry sponge of heart
do not prove I am Promethean."
— Adrian C. Louis
Dust World

This poem reminds me of Winder, GA. Trashy girls on a old car with dropouts working at the video store. Most people look high or drunk whenever the weekend rolls around. I know that is mean, but seriously go to Winder at 9pm on a Saturday and you will see what I am talking about.

Without Words
I see the silent cries of an alcoholic person who has no reason to stop drinking. "Decompose into a different flavor" reminds me of how whiskey changes flavor the older it gets. But unlike whiskey, men don't get a better flavor they just decompose.

Sherman Alexie

"Life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community."
— Sherman Alexie


"The world, even the smallest parts of it, is filled with things you don't know."
— Sherman Alexie

Evolution

Does he imply that the Indians pawn their lives to by liquor because the poem mentions the location of the liquor store is so close to the pawn shop? I wonder why he wrote this poem. Is it because he believes Native Americans have sold out their culture and the only ones who have true authentic Native American items are the collectors? The poem sounds like he is disappointed by the behavior of Native Americans.


Scalp Dance

To me the Spokane woman felt the artist was taking advantage of their hospitality and she did not like him. I could understand why. If I had someone wanting to paint me while I was in morning I would probably have done worse than slap his hand away. I understand the artist wants to paint a picture of the true spirit of the Native Americans, but I also think he is exploiting the Natives in the tribe.