Hang 'Em High by Philip Gerard

I found this nonfiction meaningful because of the memories it brought to me of my own childhood and the childish things I would do for entertainment. I used to run around the town without any worries or thought about the consequences that my curiosity and actions could have brought to me or my family. While I read Gerard's nonfiction it absorbed my attention as to how the story would play out and whether or not the narrator would get seriously harmed because of the game that he and his brothers were playing. It made me laugh in relief at the end when the neighbor saved the child whilst they did not understand her panicked state.

http://www.creativenonfiction.org/brevity/pastissuestwo/brev38/Gerard38.html

Conformed and Berenger

I have conformed into the pressures of pleasing others in order to feel belonging. It was during high school and I was sixteen years old. I was with a group of friends, we had just finished watching a movie and decided to have dinner together. We where headed to a restaurant however I disliked the food from that specific restaurant. I decided to conform in order to fit in with my group of friends, whom I had just meet a couple of weeks before hand. I forced the food down to my stomach and ended up having to stay up all night from the stomach aches. It was a horrible experience that after this incident I will not go near the restaurant.
I have been a Berenger during my senior year in high school when I was a part of the Constitution team. My coach, who I respected and admired, had a completely different point of view on a subject. He had told me to recite the answer he had assigned for me to answer; but as much as I wanted to please him, I refused. It took me courage because he was the one who taught me all of the basics and even went as far as to help me improve on my enunciation. During the competition a judge asked the same question, I hesitated answering the question but I refused to give a half-hearted answer. In the end, we won the competition and my coach had no hard feelings. He felt proud, despite going against his ideals, that I could speak my mind with confidence despite the pressure of disappointing him and the rest of my teammates.

Raymond Carver "Little Things"

"Little Things" had an unexpected ending. I did not expect for the couple, unknown whether married or where they live,  to fight over the child, which I believe is both of theirs, and end in such a tragic form. Carver uses imagery to emphasize the feeling of having a child swept out of your hands by someone stronger "She caught the baby around the wrist and leaned back... He felt the baby slipping out of his hand and he pulled back very hard." Carver also used ambiguity to end his short story. He did not state or hints as to who ended up keeping the baby; instead he ended the story by simply stating "In this manner, the issue was decided." I found the short story to be depressing, leaving the reader without any comfort. I liked the short story but it did make me feel a bit sadden because the parents, rather than think about the child's well being, were both focused on making one another feel pain at the risk of the babies health, emotionally and physically. 

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I took this picture during a trip to San Fransico with some friends. The scene reminded me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" because the birds flying off into the distance reminded me of when the old man was finally able to fly into the distance. The birds felt as if they could represent the angel flying away from the people who had used him and into his freedom, which is left unknown.

Song Lyrics

Against me! "Trash Unreal"

1  If she wants to dance and drink all night
2  Well, there's no one that can stop her
4  She's going till the house lights come up or her stomach spills onto the floor
5  This night is gonna end when we're damn well ready for it to be over
6  Worked all week long, now the music is playing on our time
7  Yeah, we do what we do to get by, and then we need a release

8  You get mixed up with the wrong guys
9  You get messed up on the wrong drugs
10 Sometimes the party takes you places that you didn't really plan on going
11 When people see the track marks on her arm, she knows what they're thinking
12 She keeps on working for that minimum
13 As if a high school education gave you any other options, you know
14 They don't know nothing about redemption
15 They don't know nothing about recovery
16 Some people just aren't the type for marriage and family

17 No mother ever dreams that her daughter's gonna grow up to be a junkie
18 No mother ever dreams that her daughter's gonna grow up to sleep alone
19 No mother ever dreams that her daughter's gonna grow up to be a junkie
20 No mother ever dreams that her daughter's gonna grow up to sleep alone

21 She's out of step with the style
22 She don't know where the action's happening
23 You know the downtown club scene ain't nothing like it used to be
24 You reach a point where there's not a lie in the world
25 That you could use to make the boys believe you're still in your twenties
26 But they keep getting younger, don't they, baby?
27 She's not waiting for someone to come over and ask for the privilege
28 She can still here that rebel yell just as loud as it was in 1983, you know
29 There ain't no Johnny coming home to share a bed with her, and she doesn't care

30 No mother ever dreams that her daughter's gonna grow up to be a junkie
31 No mother ever dreams that her daughter's gonna grow up to sleep alone
32 No mother ever dreams that her daughter's gonna grow up to be a junkie
33 No mother ever dreams that her daughter's gonna grow up to sleep alone
34 No mother ever dreams that her daughter's gonna grow up to be a junkie

35 And if she had to live it all over again, you know she wouldn't change anything for the world

Against Me!'s "Trash Unreal,"written by Thomas Gabel, contains ambiguity, rhythm, and allusions, therefore, it may classify as a form of poetry. Ambiguity is found throughout the lyrics from the tittle to last line. It is unknown whether the woman, whose story is being told, is living a truly happy life or is under the illusion that it is happy but is actually a disappointing life. Rhythm is clearly present in the chorus but also throughout the stanzas, such as lines 21-22 she's out and she don't know flows out smoothly. In lines 8-9 "You get mixed up with the wrong guys/You get messed up on the wrong drugs" both lines are written using similar sounding words in order to have a continuous rhythm. Allusion is present when Rebel Yell (line 28) is mentioned. Rebel Yell was written by Billy Idol in the early 1980's, Thomas Gabel refers to this specific song because it was a big hit in the past, which would mean the younger generation would most likely not be able to recall this specific song.  

The Enkindled Spring by D.H. Lawrence

This poem caught my attention/interest because the poet uses words such as flame, fire, and smoke to describe spring. Spring is usually described as something that is warm and growing, not burning. It was written differently than most poems, that I have read, written about about spring.

Pablo Neruda "Ode to Things"

Excerpt:

"...Mankind has
built
oh so many
perfect
things!
Built them of wool
and of wood,
of glass and
of rope:
remarkable
tables,
ships, and stairways.

I love
all
things,
not because they are
passionate
or sweet-smelling
but because,
I don’t know,
because
this ocean is yours,
and mine: ..."

I like Pablo Neruda's "Ode to Things" because he brings attention to things that have been easily overlooked. While most people write poetry about their love for nature Neruda writes about his love of things, not for materialistic purposes but for the creativeness that goes into building this objects. Neruda does not disregard nature but rather wants to show his love for human made objects. He describes how each object has "the trace of someone's finger."