40 Minute AP Timed Writing - Siren Comparison

Homer's Greek epic poem Odyssey and Margaret Atwood's poem Siren Song both portray the Sirens - Greek female mythological creatures who sing songs that lead passing sailors to their deaths. When compared, the two poems both portray the Sirens differently, using different forms of expression and differing songs, but both poems use the same kinds of poetic devices to portray the song itself.

The two poems express the Sirens differently. The Odyssey has the point of view of Odysseus while Siren Song is from the point of view of a Siren herself. The Sirens are never given any visual description in the Odyssey, only their "ravishing voices" are described (Homer 19). The voices of the Sirens are all that Odysseus can think about, for the sound is filling his ears and causing him to want to go to the Sirens. He is overcoming a large obstacle on a journey, and this is what the Sirens are meant to represent. Describing only the voice of the Siren focuses on their most well known feature and, in this case, the conflict currently happening in the poem. In Siren Song, the Siren describes herself as wearing a "bird suit," for it is noted that Sirens are often described as birds with the heads of women (Atwood 12). The Siren also describes herself as "picturesque and mythical," giving her the allusion of mystery and beauty that Sirens are known for (Atwood 15). She also describes her and the two other Sirens as "fatal and valuable" (Atwood 18). This again states how Sirens are known to be deadly to those who pass by.

The song of a Siren is their most fascinating aspect, for it is what pulls men to their deaths. This cause and effect poses the mysterious questions of why and how this could happen and what exactly the song says to pull the men in. The Odyssey interprets this song as a call to an individual: "Come closer, famous Odysseus - Archaea's pride and glory" (Homer 14). The Sirens try to use the fatal flaw of their targets - such as Odysseus' hubris - to lead them to their demise. By flattering Odysseus using the adjective "famous" and calling him the "pride and glory" of a place, his pride takes a hold of him and causes him to wish to go towards the sirens. The Sirens also sing that those who hear their song sail on as "wiser [men]" (Homer 18). This statement is false when taken literally, for the men all die, but metaphorically it can represent how the men's deaths make them wiser after death, knowing that they were pulled in by their fatal flaw. The Siren's in Siren Song use a more subtle approach than calling out their targets directly. They act helpless, singing out a "cry for help" to those passing by (Atwood 22). They tell their passersby that they are "unique" and that only they can help them be free, making the passerby feel needed and special (24). The Sirens state that, if the man helps them, he will learn the "secret" of the song that Sirens sing, but in fact the whole cry for help is the song, for it is stated at the beginning that "This is the one song everyone / would like to learn"   (Atwood 1-10). The Siren ends with: "Alas / is a boring song / but it works every time" (Atwood 25-27). "Alas" implies that she finds her job "boring", however the "but" acknowledges that  the satisfactory end result of the man's inevitable death keeps her singing.

The two poems do share a similarity in how the songs are visually portrayed on the page. In the Odyssey, the five lines of the Siren song flow together as one sentence is spread over a few lines. This is equivalent to how the Siren's song pulls in listeners by having them hanging on to hear the rest of what they have to say. Siren Song also does this, bringing the concept even further by continuing lines into new stanzas, visually stringing the reader along.

Pride and Prejudice - P&P #8 and 9 - Confusion About Pride

Many people take Mr. Darcy to be a man whose disposition is one of excessive pride; However, Elizabeth is starting to unravel that Mr. Darcy is not like this at all. Mr. Wickham says that Mr. Darcy "[assumes] the appearance of what is right" (198). This is the impression that has been spread about Mr. Darcy around where Elizabeth lives. When Elizabeth goes to Pemberley, she and her aunt and uncle meet the housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds, who only has propitious words to say about Mr. Darcy. She has known him since he was four and states that how she talks about him is "what everyone will say that knows him" (207). Mrs. Reynolds states that "some people call him proud; but I am sure I never saw anything of it" (208). This description would infer that what Mr. Wickham has spread about Mr. Darcy was being false and his good actions and kind manner was simply a pretense. Of course, people can be viewed wrong, such as is the case with Miss Darcy. She is quite shy and it is written that her shyness "would easily give to those who felt themselves inferior the belief of her being proud and reserved" (223). Mr. Darcy can also be viewed this way, for he does not really know how to handle himself in front of others sometimes and this can be viewed as being overly proud. All in all, the prejudices are starting to be put aside and the truth of the matter is coming to light.

Pride and Prejudice - P&P #1 - #5 - Title Application and Mr. Collins' Proposal to Elizabeth

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is a novel whose title relates to its text's main topics, pride and prejudice. Pride is defined as "a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether ascherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc." (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pride). So far, many characters have spoken about the pride of other characters in the novel. At one point it is mentioned that "vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride - where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation" (Austen 51). This is to say that it is not bad to be a bit proud as long as one does not become haughty. Mary Bennet says that "pride [...] is a very common failing [...] that human nature is particularly prone to" (19). Eligible young men are supposed to be prideful of what they have, but not overly so. One should have pride in their family standing. Prejudice is defined as "an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason" (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prejudice?s=t). The society of the novel is superficial and judgmental. Sometimes one's character is marred by supposition before one can even speak for themselves. Jane is the character who is least prejudiced. She is always one to try to think from more than one mindset as to why someone is the way they are. Elizabeth is the opposite of this for she tries to tell her sister that she is too nice to people who seem to be rude. Mr. Darcy is viewed with prejudice because Elizabeth hears only one side of their story from Mr. Wickham.

Mr. Collins' proposal to Elizabeth is anything but cordial. While he seems polite, he is thinking only of his own wants and needs. His first reason for marriage is that "[he thinks] it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances (like [himself]) to set the example of matrimony in his parish" (92). This statement may make Mr. Collins seem sincere, yet he is simply trying to become a role model while also promoting his wealth. He then says marriage will "add very greatly to [his] happiness" (92). He speaks nothing at all about how Elizabeth would feel while being married. He also feels like it would be a nice offer to be able to give one of his five cousins their house again when their father dies. Yet he knows that this is a reason they should want him as a husband and uses it as a tempting part of his offer. He didn't even care which daughter he was to try and marry, for he originally wanted Jane, then mindlessly switched to Elizabeth once learning of Jane's prior affections. Mr. Collins says that he has "violence of [...] affection," yet nothing about his long, windy speech speaks at all to the idea of love (93). He only wants to believe he loves Elizabeth, yet he does not really love her at all. When she rejects him, Mr. Collins does not accept it as true. He becomes even more bothersome and only ceases to be when Elizabeth's friend says yes to his proposal of marriage a few days later. This proves that he never cared about Elizabeth like he wanted everyone to think.

25 Minute AP Timed Writing - 1973 Prompt

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel whose ending concludes the story appropriately. The ending of this novel has two main parts to it, the first being that the main character, Jay Gatsby, is shot while relaxing in his pool by a man named George Wilson, who then shoots himself. Gatsby's death is a needed part of the story.  Gatsby originally came from a farming family in the Midwest but ran away from home to try to build himself the American Dream. James Gatz turned into Jay Gatsby, an idea of a man who was brought into being from the mind of a seventeen-year-old boy, who then acquired the fortune to live out his childish dream of fortune and excess. Gatsby worked hard to get his fortune to try to win back the love of his life, Daisy, who decided to marry Tom Buchanan, a man of old money who was richer than Gatsby. Yet he is not able to win her back, for Daisy does not decide to leave Tom for Gatsby. After the altercation where Gatsby knows he will never have Daisy, everything that Gatsby owns and all the money that he has made means nothing to him. Not too long after, Gatsby is shot and killed. His death is necessary because his American Dream is shattered, for Daisy's love was a contingency for Gatsby's happiness. Without her, he did not have a purpose in life, and in the book about his life, he was simply left as a loose end that needed to be tied up. His death fulfilled that job.

The second part of the ending is that one of Gatsby's only friends and the narrator of the story, Nick Carraway, realizes that he no longer wishes to live in New York City. He decides to move back to the Midwest where he grew up, feeling that his life will be better there. Nick has seen how corrupted and materialistic the East is and wishes to once again go West. He realizes that, form his observations, people from the West have some sort of deficiency where they cannot seem to live happily in the East. While the novel began by reminiscing about how Nick decided to go to New York, it is only appropriate that it is ended with Nick speaking of returning home. Yet he is still hopeful that the American Dream is in reach, ending with a view that he will continue on in life, never forgetting Gatsby's tragic story and remembering to never become what Gatsby became.

Poetry Slam - Individual Poem - The Figurehead

I taste the salted sea spray on my lips and

Feel its sting in my ever-vigilant eyes
As once again I oversee the Sun as it
Falls over the edge of the world.
I gaze upon the continuous waves on the horizon that
Dance as my ship passes through them,
Never stopping on its way to new lands.
The sounds of voices puncture through gusts of wind
Which cool my skin that's weathered by its constant touch.
My motionless face is evermore turned towards the unknown, and I
Keep one steady hand over my heart as a steadfast vow of
Protection for those who dare to brave the
Callous, ever-shifting sea.
Whether it be days, months, or years,
This body of mine, bound to this ship,
Will perform its duty, and it shall perform it well.
Until my pine has rotted away or until this ship is sunk,
I will be what I was made to be:
The figurehead positioned on the prow,
The sentinel of this ship, and
The overseer of the Sun as it
Falls over the edge of the
world.

Hamlet - Hamlet 6 - Hamlet and his Mother (Act 3, Scene 4)

In Act 3, Scene 4, Hamlet goes to his mother, Gertrude, who has asked for him to have a talk with her. When Hamlet asks what there is to discuss, his mother replies: "Hamlet, thou hast they father much offended" (III.iv.12). Hamlet replies by stating: "Mother, you have my father much offended" (III.iv.13). From Gertrude's perspective, Hamlet's "father" is Claudius, yet from Hamlet's perspective his father is still and will always be the late King Hamlet. Both of them see that the other has committed some sort of fault against these fathers. Gertrude is upset that Hamlet staged the play while Hamlet is upset that his mother married his uncle so soon after his father's death. The conversation continues with Gertrude chiding: "Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue," and Hamlet replying: "Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue" (III.iv.14-15). These sentences are structured the same way, but differ quite noticeably when it comes to the words used. This juxtaposes Gertrude and Hamlet's viewpoints. Hamlet then stabs Polonius, believing him to be Claudius, and makes the point that Gertrude has done just as worse a deed when she "[killed] a kind and [married] with his brother" (III.iv.34-35). Hamlet then speaks to the duality of pure and impure, using the example of "[taking] the rose / From the fair forehead of an innocent love / And [setting] a blister there" (III.iv.51-53). The rose represents purity and beauty, while the blister, an open wound, is impure and grotesque. After pointing out just how much better his father was than Claudius, Hamlet finally gets his mother to admit her guilt as she states: "Thou turn'st my eyes into my very soul, / And there I see such black and grained spots / As will not leave their tinct" (III.iv.100-102). Gertrude sees the impurity, the "black and grained spots," that stick on her soul. They will not fade away no matter what she does, for the sin is too far gone. Gertrude later asks Hamlet how to repent and he tells her not to go back to Claudius.

Poem - Chapter 16

I taste the salted sea spray on my lips and
Feel its sting in my ever-vigilant eyes
As once again I oversee the Sun as it
Falls over the edge of the world.
I gaze upon the continuous waves on the horizon that
Dance as my ship passes through them,
Never stopping on its way to new lands.
The sounds of voices puncture through gusts of wind
Which cool my skin that's weathered by its constant touch.
My motionless face is evermore turned towards the unknown, and I
Keep one steady hand over my heart as a steadfast vow of
Protection for those who dare to brave the
Callous, ever-shifting sea.
Whether it be days, months, or years,
This body of mine, bound to this ship,
Will perform its duty, and it shall perform it well.
Until my pine has rotted away or until this ship is sunk,
I will be what I was made to be:
The figurehead positioned on the prow,
The sentinel of this ship, and
The overseer of the Sun as it
Falls over the edge of the
world.