Because I Could Not Stop For Death by Emily Dickinson

Because I could not stop for Death – 
He kindly stopped for me –  
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –  
And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility – 

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –  
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –  
We passed the Setting Sun – 

Or rather – He passed us – 
The Dews drew quivering and chill – 
For only Gossamer, my Gown – 
My Tippet – only Tulle – 

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground – 
The Roof was scarcely visible – 
The Cornice – in the Ground – 

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads 
Were toward Eternity – 

In this poem by Emily Dickison she expressed what she thinks of life by using literary devices and other ways to get her point across. Reading this poem right off the back I think her view on life is to get through life taking your time and enjoying it instead of it passing you by. Some of the devices she uses is personification, such as the word Death. When she says, "Because I could not stop for death; He kindly stopped for me." This is saying that she was able to get a second chance and an eye-opener for her. No one can stop for death because every day its getting closer and closer, and if you take life for granted, running through it as if it has no importance, your time will be up before you know it. All together she wrote this poem trying to warn everyone that they should enjoy life while they can because its passing you by without you even noticing.

Senior Memoir

As I was looking through my senior memoir book it made me realize the things that were most important to me during the years. It also allowed me to see how close graduation is and how things are beginning to get real. Throughout my four years of high school I’ve had my ups and downs, but I’m grateful my ups dramatically outweighed my downs. A few key things that made my high school experience great is meeting my best friend, playing basketball, and enjoying the feel of the REAL high school life. Even though in school was a great experience, my experiences outside of school were even greater. In the mist of these years I began to grow as a person and gain knowledge inside and outside of school preparing me for the next level in my life. The senior memoir project is great for the seniors because it gives them the chance to look back and see what have made them become the person they are today. Making my next step to college will be one of those life experiences that I will never forget, and I think we should all be looking forward to grow mentally and physically in life hoping for the best. On that note I wish all my classmates a well and successful journey in life.

The Help

In this novel The Help by Kathryn Stockett there are many important messages that I came across. I personally loved the novel, except the fact that it is EXACTLY like the movie. Even though this is so there’s many things to get out of this novel. As I read I realized that it stressed the morals of fighting for what you believe is right no matter what the consequences are. In this novel the character Skeeter was considered the hero and the one to be different. From the beginning she was always the rebellious one. For one she wanted to be a writer instead of a typical wife and also tried to help African-American maids which was definitely the wrong thing to do in Jackson, Mississippi at the time. After finishing this novel I learned one important thing and that was to trust. The maids had to trust in Skeeter because what she was doing wasn’t normal. But they got over the fear of trust and understood that not everyone is the same and there are some good people out there who’s just trying to do the right thing. What I got out of this novel is not to have a guard up against people you think are bad because you never know how they are capable of helping you and what type of person they really are.

Sociological/Philosophical

Recently we have been doing a few assessments on sociological/philosophical views and how the differ from each other. In the beginning I thought this task would be hard but found it to be rather interesting. I’ve learned the difference between the two and how to use them both on any novel or poem. While learning about the two I find it easier to view it in a sociological way. Sociological to me meant the meaning of the subject through the eyes of your novel or poem. It could have a deeper meaning but only what the read thinks it should be. On the other hand philosophical meant what the object means as a whole. It has something to do with the outside world, not only in the novel but also how u would analyze it in general. After assessing a poem and a novel on this subject I found it much easier to understand and get a better feel on when, how, and why you should use these two views. Overall both are great views and they have totally diverse meanings allowing you to have different ways to assess things which only makes you a better thinker/writer.

invisible man

In my novel, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, he time period is going through racist relations which makes everything more complicated. I can relate to this novel because some of the same stereotypical events have happened to me. Even though today is passed those times everyone, not only African Americans, have been through some type of racial problem.

Throughout the entire novel the narrator finds it hard to establish who he really is. He sees black on the outside but wants to know his true identity. Furthermore he wants to figure out his purpose in life known as a black man in society. In my opinion the reason why he is called “narrator” instead of a name is because of his missing identity.  Eventually he finds a type of rebirth and joins a “brotherhood”, which makes him feel as though he’s apart of something where he belongs. Later on the narrator finds out that white cops had murdered an African male which was the start of stirring up problems between the two races.  This angers him and he decides to get his community together to act upon the racial situations that were going on. The crazy part is that the “brotherhood” that he was supposedly in turned their back on him because of him trying to act alone. One of the main problems in this novel is people fighting stereotypes with stereotypes. For example when the narrator tried to get in to the brotherhood they questioned if he was black enough. How are you supposed to be a certain type of race? Now a days there is so many different categories under one race it doesn’t make any sense. The authors point was it doesn’t matter what race you are, you can be who ever and whatever you want to be and not have to be impacted or persuaded by anyone else but yourself. Also not to go against a certain race just because they don’t act like the stereotypical person you think they should be.