analysis 3

Nicole Freemyer

10/1/13

EN-101-16

 I Resent That

            Throughout the literary works of Edgar Allen Poe, Thomas Lynch, and John Ciardi, the characters and narrators all struggle with differing forms of resentment.  In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado,” the narrator resents his friend Fortunato for insulting him, and in Thomas Lynch’s poem “Liberty” and John Ciardi’s poem “Suburban,” both narrators resents their societies for the restrictions placed on their personal freedom.  Although all of the characters and narrators of these works feel resentment, each deals with this feeling in his own unique way.       

            In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado,” the narrator feels a strong sense of resentment towards his friend Fortunato and deals with this feeling in a direct and physical manner.  The narrator reveals his resentment in the first line of the story by stating, “the thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could,” which shows that the bitterness towards Fortunato had been building up for a while.   Then the narrator states that when Fortunato “ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge” and from this point on, the narrator devises a plan to avenge himself.  The narrator uses Fortunato’s love for wine to lure him into a vault in search for Amontillado and eventually traps Fortunato inside, leaving him to die.   The narrator’s feelings of resentment are so powerful that he feels the need to take immediate and direct action by getting revenge and killing his friend all because of an insult.  Of the three works, this is the most extreme example of resentment and the actions taken to solve it.     

            In Thomas Lynch and John Ciardi’s poems, the narrators’ resentment is not directed towards a specific person but rather towards society’s restrictions on freedom and the standards set by its members.  In Lynch’s poem “Liberty,” the narrator resents society for altering tradition and for taking away a part of his liberty.  Like the narrator of Poe’s short story, the narrator here also takes physical action against his resentment but in the less extreme form of taking a “piss on the front lawn as a form of liberty.”  He does this as a protest against society’s expectations of using a bathroom and also as a way of recognizing an older way of life.  Similarly, the narrator in Ciardi’s poem “Suburban” is also frustrated with society and is resentful of the behavior expected by him.  The narrator in this poem is blamed from something he did not do and instead of speaking his mind, he simply follows the behavior expected of him by society and complies politely with the old woman.  In this work, freedom of speech rather than freedom of action is being restricted.  Unlike the other two narrators, this narrator does not take any physical action but rather, he approaches his resentment in a very passive and compliant manner.    Although all three narrators feel a strong sense of resentment towards another character or society as a whole, they all go about managing their resentment in different ways. 

            As a teacher’s aid to a second grade class, I felt the slightest bit of resentment towards the young students only because of their carefree and easy going outlooks on life.  Because they are still so young, the daily pressures of everyday life do not faze them and they are still amused by the simplest things.  It is hard to say that I resent the adorable second grade class I had the pleasure of working with, but I do envy them because they have not yet experienced the daily difficulties of life in the real world. 

Event Analysis 3

Katelyn Barone

Dr. Ellis

EN 101.16

October 2, 2013

 

Society: How It Makes and Breaks Us

 

 

Both Thomas Lynch's "Liberty" and John Ciardi's " Suburban" focus on how the norms and expectations of society leave us as individuals feeling unsatisfied while Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" more focus on someone who is in acting in a socially unacceptable way but still finding happiness. Another theme delved into in these works is how each character finds freedom and a sense of content within these strict confines of society. In "Liberty" by Thomas Lynch the speaker takes to urinating outside to express his "freedom" and his clear distaste for the formal expectations he is supposed to follow in his community. John Ciardi's "Suburban" addresses a similar environment to the one described in Lynch's poem but one where the speaker directly shows his annoyance towards the people around him, particularly his holier-than-thou neighbor. Lastly,  Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" is set in an environment where the speaker despises the other character in the poem and has no problem putting these feelings to action in a very gruesome and shocking way.

 

The poem "Liberty" is narrated by a speaker who essentially has no respect for the rules set up by society. When he urinates on his front lawn in a crowded suburb he seems to be literally "urinating" on the norms in his life that he feels are holding him back. However, the majority of the poem we do not hear much about the area he lives but rather about the area his ancestors once lived in. In lines 16-17 the speaker states " Still, there is nothing, here in the suburbs, as dense as the darkness in West Clare" (Lynch, 538). It seems that the speaker yearns for the simplicity and more natural environment of Ireland, where his family members originally came from. Living in the suburbs leaves little room for one to have privacy, in fact it essentially pushes people together often to a point where they have to be somewhat in each others business even if they do not want to be. It makes sense that if the speaker is so in-touch with his family and background he would be disappointed he is living in such an dull environment. This poem alludes that more people than just the speaker feel this same type of dislike to the norms they are subjected to, as seen when the speaker says " For years now men have slipped out the back door during wakes or wedding feasts or nights of song to pay their homage to the holy trees" (Lynch, 538)

 

John Ciardi's "Suburban" has many similarities to "Liberty" in its criticism of the typical white picket fence suburban community that most people usually see as being a sort of epitome of the American Dream. The difference in Ciardi's poem is that the speaker uses clear humor and sarcasm to deal with his distaste with his environment, unlike the speaker in Lynch's poem who displays his opinion in a more blunt way. This poem is directly about Ciardi's own life and experience with a very passive-aggressive neighbor. When she finds dog excrement on her prized petunias not only does she jump to the immediate conclusion that it was his dog even when his dog is not home, she then cannot seem to to lower herself to clean it. We can see this attitude when his neighbor, Mrs. Friar says "I always have loved dogs-but really!" and continues later in the poem saying "Not really-But really!" when asked if the incident had upset her (Ciardi 511-512). As I read this poem I found myself getting annoyed with Mrs. Friar and could relate her back to a few people I have met or dealt with in my own area. In handling this situation with humor and a light heart Ciardi is effectively keeping up appearances, something I am sure he does not want to do but is something that will be helpful in the future. Ciardi is telling the story of someone who has become so used to the stereotypes and routines of a typical suburban life that they have to use humor to get by and feel some type of freedom.

 

Poe's short story also focuses on social norms though he was more concerned with behavior than with environment. The story centers around a speaker who is extremely disgruntled with a snide insult an acquaintance has said to him. The main character says " I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face" a quote I found particularly important considering that type of behavior though frowned upon in society, does happen often (Poe, 1062). However, as the sentence continues and the speaker talks about Fortunato's "immolation" we can tell that he is going far beyond a normal behavior and does not care about the possible ramifications of his actions (Poe, 1062). The speaker in this story believes if he does not defend himself and seek revenge he is letting Fortunato win, which tells the reader that he has a very big ego that ultimately gets the best of him. He ends up killing Fortunato by bricking him in to the walls of a catacomb and leaving him there to die, a very brutal and very unnecessary action considering the small scale of Fortunato's crime. Despite how disturbing this action is, it brings him great happiness and essentially lifts a weight off his shoulders so he feels he can go on with his life . This story was a extreme example of how people that store certain values too close or with too high of an esteem can end up letting these values control their life.

 

Last week I attended the Commitment to Social Justice lecture by Father Brian Linnane. The lecture was extremely stimulating and addressed the role of the humanities in education and the demand for Jesuits and people in the Jesuit community to support and immerse themselves in social justice. Father Linnane made various comments about general society and how we should act as people, especially people in a Jesuit community. He quoted Cicero in saying "We are not born for us alone" and continued to emphasis that we should be women and men others. This connects especially well with Ciardi's work, where he puts the benefits of everyone in mind before what he wants and keeps the neighborhood at a good balance. He also explored more into our society and posed the question of what does it say about a particular society if people act in a sinful way. This can be related to Poe's story where the main character is a very disturbed man blinded by his need to preserve his own image and lets this go so far that it controls him and he ends up hurting someone else. It makes you wonder what people around him believe in terms of confrontation and how he was taught to act when he felt disrespected or if he lives in an environment where violence is acceptable and the norm.

 

Father Linnane's lecture along with the three other works highlight the important role society has on us as people. All three works showed how society and the environment around us can end up controlling our actions and even defining our personalities. Most importantly, the works and the lecture can teach us that our environment can be detrimental if we let it get the best of us.

 

 

 

 

 

blog #3

Julia Kontos

Decisions Versus Society

            In the poems “Liberty” by Thomas Lynch, “Suburban” by John Ciardi, and the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, an idea of the importance of decision-making is evident. In “Liberty”, the speaker chooses to outcast himself in the society in which he lives because he feels more closely connected to a different culture. In “Suburban”, the speaker decides to be polite to his neighbor in order to benefit himself while also fostering a good community. Lastly, in “The Cask of Amontillado”, the narrator goes against what is socially acceptable by committing murder in order to get revenge. Decision-making can be made easier by meditating regularly as it provides one with the opportunity to cleanse the mind and solve internal problems. Thomas Lynch’s “Liberty”, John Ciardi’s “Suburban”, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” and meditation are all centered around the effects that one’s decisions could have on themselves or on society.

            In the poem “Liberty” by Thomas Lynch, the speaker has difficulty identifying himself with American culture, and therefore chooses to go against the social norms that are found in the suburbs of America. The speaker is familiar with the American norms and is asked by his ex-wife to conform to them, yet refuses nonetheless. The speaker chooses to outcast himself, as he would rather stick to the Irish traditions to which he is accustomed than to conform to the American suburban way of life.

            In “Suburban” by John Ciardi, the speaker is wrongly accused of having his dog go to the bathroom on his neighbor’s lawn. Instinctively, the speaker wants to respond with a snide remark; however, upon further thinking, he realizes that he could benefit from the situation by acquiring a natural fertilizer for his garden. By responding politely, the speaker continues to maintain a good relationship with his neighbor while also improving the health of his garden. However, if the speaker had responded rudely, he would not only create a poor relationship with someone he sees daily, but would also not gain anything for himself. By taking the time to think about what he was going to say, the speaker in “Suburban” benefitted himself and his relationship with his neighbor.

            In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”, the narrator craves revenge against his friend to the point where he actually murders his friend. Instead of taking the time to reflect on himself and decide whether or not murder is the right decision, the narrator chooses to plan the death of Fortunato. However, the narrator does not seem worried after he leaves Fortunato to die, he only states that his “heart grew sick – on account of the dampness of the catacombs” (1066). It is clear that the full impact of his decision has not hit him yet. However, if the neighborhood in which the narrator lives ever found out that he killed Fortunato, the narrator would indefinitely become an outcast.

            Meditation can help prevent situations like that in “The Cask of Amontillado” and foster situations more like that of “Suburban”. In other words, meditation provides one with the opportunity to self reflect and clear the mind. This allows one to come to a greater understanding of him/herself and deal with internal struggles that may be faced, like the narrator of “The Cask of Amontillado”. Meditation can help one make better decisions once a person is able to better understand him/herself, therefore allowing one to think like the speaker of “Suburban”. In this way, a person will be able to realize what kind of relationship he or she wants to have with surrounding people and make that happen, instead of automatically snapping or becoming an outcast like the speaker of “Liberty”.  Meditation provides a mode of self reflection that allows one to learn about the type of relationship he or she wants to have inside of society. 

EN101 Blog #3

Matthew Smith

English 101

Dr. Ellis

October 2^nd, 2013

Differences in Perception

            In Thomas Lynch’s poem “Liberty” a man finds it liberating to urinate on his front lawn some nights, against the better judgment of his ex-wife.  John Ciardi, who’s the main character of his own poem “Suburban”, removes dog feces from his neighbor’s petunias even while he is certain his dog was not responsible.  Lastly, in Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” the narrator deceives his adversary into a tomb beneath his house, where he traps him there as an act of revenge.  All of these characters are going against what society might consider proper and appropriate, but they are doing so because of their own perceptions of the situation.

            The speaker in “Liberty” claims he pisses on his lawn “as a form of freedom” and he gains “liberty from porcelain and plumbing” while his ex-wife may be clueless to this; to him it makes perfect sense.  For the speaker it is an act of freedom, and a way to “pay homage” to the trees as he looks up and takes in all that is around him.  To anyone simply passing by they would most likely see a crazy man peeing on his front porch, thinking he must be lost or confused.  That may be society’s perception of the situation, but to the speaker it’s much more than that.  He is not worried about what everyone may conclude, but simply doing what he feels is right.  Those who do not know the story behind it will would have no way of understanding, but with a closer insight it doesn’t seem too crazy to crave some liberty from the “porcelain and plumbing.”

            Perceptions always have two sides to the same story, this is exactly the case with the neighbors in “Suburban.”  Mrs. Friar believes that Mr. Ciardi’s dog has left “a large repulsive object” in her flowers.  Ciardi of course is positive this is not the case, knowing that his dog has been in Vermont with his son, but quickly gets over this fact and goes over to remove the invading object.  This poem shows us how that even if you know something wasn’t even caused by you, there is still no harm in helping out a neighbor in need.  Friar believes she received help because he was obliged to, however he did it out of the goodness of his own heart.  It shouldn’t always matter who is responsible, but actually what is more important is who steps up to help. 

            Edgar Allen Poe’s story is by far the darkest of the three we read, as the main character believes he is due some revenge on Fortunato.  From the beginning of the story we are not positive if a murder is actually going to occur, but through the use of foreshadowing the reader gets a real sense something bad is going to happen.  The narrator states how “there were no attendants at home”, or in other words no witnesses to him and Fortunato.  Additionally when Fortunato first begins to cough saying “I shall not die of a cough” he simply replies “True –true” knowing in fact what waits ahead.  While we do not know what “thousand injuries” Fortunato has given the narrator, the punishment receives was most likely an extreme one.  It is the narrators belief that it was justified, based on his perception of the situation. 

            When it comes to the community of Baltimore, from the viewpoint of an outside like myself, many different things shape my perception.  From what I learn on the TV, to what the school tells me, to just living her for three years.  The major thing I think my service this coming Friday will help to do is change whatever perception I have of Baltimore and the community her around Loyola.  While we hear a lot about safety, and get countless emails of crimes happening nearby, that is by no means an accurate depiction of the people in this community.  By experiencing it first hand I am guessing I will see some similarities to my own community.  It all goes back to the moral from “Suburban” that no matter what the case, we should all help our neighbors when asked. 

            

Analysis 3

Victoria Jamiel

Dr. Ellis

Understanding Literature 

29 September 2013

My Pride and I

            In the poems “Liberty,” and “Suburban,” and also in the short story “The Cask Amontillado,” personal pursuit on one’s own desire becomes evident.  John Lynch discuses the liberating feeling of simply peeing in nature in his poem “Liberty.”  In the poem “Suburban,” by John Ciardi, the speaker follows his desired path to avoid the tedious discrepancies between neighbors. Lastly, in the short story “The Cask Amontillado,” Edgar Allen Poe describes a protagonist whom refuses to stop until he gets revenge. Judgment and orders given by others trigger self-pride and liberation within oneself.

            In the poem “Liberty” by John Lynch, the speaker expresses the importance of natural liberty from manhood that has surpassed generations. When instructed by he ex-wife to stop his improper habit of peeing outside, he responsively stands by his actions and continues to promote them. He reacted with self-pride in saying, “it was gentility envy, I supposed, because I could do it anywhere, and do whenever I begin to feel cumbersome”(Myers 538). It is evident that the opinions of others, especially his ex-wife, do not affect him. If anything, he takes negative opinions, or criticisms to change, as a positive aspect—concluding they’re rooted from jealousy. Doubt and judgment promote his passion from within. The speaker is proud of his actions and believes it is his right, an example of his freedom.

            In the poem “Suburban”, by John Ciardi, the speak deals with his neighbors rash judgments and false accusations by initiating his sense of humor. His neighbor is caught up in the drama of a dog pooping in her garden and automatically blames it on the speaker. His initial thought is, “have you checked the rectal grooving for a positive I.D.?” (Myers 511). He could have easily denied the poop being his dogs, but instead acts upon his humor to dilute the tension with his neighbor. Even though he criticizes the mundane life of the suburbs, he is content with his current state. He is confident with himself and his self-pride restrains him from acting out towards his neighbor.

            The short story, “The Cask Amontillado” written by Edgar Allen Poe, describes the protagonist’s desire to stand up for himself and seek revenge to the man who caused him a “thousand injuries.” Montresor, the protagonist, tricks Fortunato, into joining him to his family’s vault in search of a wine pipe. Once there, Montresor chains him into a small crypt, where he leaves Fortunato to die. Fortunato screams in the name of God for help, and Montresor slyly responds, “Yes… for the love of God” (Poe 5). It is clear that Montresor is happy his plan has worked. He was ashamed and hurt by the acts of Fortunato, and finally achieved a blissful state of revenge. His self-pride and devotion to “payback” encouraged him to continue along his journey.

            On Friday, September 20^th, I attended a Jesuit inspired lecture in Knott Hall B03. Catered food lined the entrance to the room, so I was excited to hear was I was about to endure. The lecture started out rather typical, but then the speaker began reading a poem about Mary, and sacrifice. I was intrigued by the joy and passion he emphasized while reading. It was clear he loved the poem, and was proud to share it with the audience.  Once he finished, everyone starting clapping, and ranting about how wonderful the lecture was. Unfortunately I was not familiar with him or his work so I could not fully appreciate it but I did really enjoyed sharing this moment with a room full of people I had never met before.

            It is often that people pick the common road to avoid confrontation and go along with the crowd. They do not take the risk of putting themselves out there and doing what they truly are passionate about. It is important to make an impact on society based on one’s true feelings and beliefs, in order live a meaningful life. 

Works Cited 

Myer, Michael. Poetry. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.

Event 3

Kyle Gangemi

EN-101-06

10/1/13

Event

Event Analysis 3- Dealing With Conflicts

            In the poems, “Liberty” by Thomas Lynch, “Suburban” by John Ciardi and the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe, the protagonists are faced with conflicts and deal with them in three different ways. The speaker of the first poem, “Liberty” is seemingly rebelling against everything and doing it in a simple yet slightly childish way, The speaker in “Suburban” is facing false accusations over a small matter and decides to take the high road. In the “Cask of Amontillado” the narrator is seeking serious revenge for a perceived insult.

            In the opening lines of “Liberty” by Thomas Lynch the speaker reveals that from time to time he “pisses” in the front yard as a show of liberty. Throughout the course of the poem he lists the reasons for his rebellion and none of which seem to have much merit. The speaker of this poem is upset about how his life has turned out and his rebelling in his own childish way. The speaker says, “Here is the statement I am trying to make: to say I am from a fierce bloodline of men who made their water in the old way, under stars that overreached the North Atlantic…”(Lynch). Later on in the poem it is reveled that the speaker is divorced and living in the suburbs of a town called West Clare. It is not a stretch to imagine that a man descended from great men who is divorced and living in the suburbs would be unhappy with his station in life.

            The speaker in “Suburban” by John Ciardi is facing a confrontation with his neighbor regarding his dog leaving a “large repulsive object” in her garden. This accusation does not hold water however, as the speakers dog was not in the same state at the time. The speaker in the poem is very non-confrontational. The neighbor was not exactly friendly in dealing with the incident so the first thing that pops in to the speaker’s head was a sarcastic response. In his head he said, “Have you checked the rectal grooving for a positive I.D.?”(Ciardi). The speaker does not say this, he does not even bring up the fact that it would have been impossible for his dog to be the perpetrator, rather he goes over to the neighbor’s house with a shovel and removes and buried the substance in question.

            The short story, “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, also deals with conflict, but in this story the narrator takes dramatic action compared to the speakers in the two poems. The narrator, Montresor, takes extreme retribution on Fortunato for an offense that may or may not have occurred. The narrator opens the story by saying, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge,”(Poe). Throughout the rest of the story, the narrator is not once able to give an example of one of the thousand injuries or the insult of Fortunato. It seems clear that Fortunato’s offense could not be proven because rather than go to court, the narrator took revenge into his own hands. Any offense that the penalty is death should be tangible enough to be tried in some type of court.

            The play, Othello, by William Shakespeare also deals with a conflict. In the opening scene reveals that Rodrigo wants to marry Desdemona but she has already been married to Othello. Unlike in the two poems, where the narrators take little to no action, Rodrigo devises a plan to get Desdemona. Rodrigo goes to Brabanzio, the father of Desdemona, and tell him that his daughter has been kidnapped. Brabanzio goes after Othello in response to this. This action is also different than the action taken by the narrator in “The Cask of Amontillado” because the response of Rodrigo was at least somewhat reasonable .

EN 101.16 Blog 3

The Search for Freedom

            Within the two poems, “Liberty” by Thomas Lynch, “Suburban” by John Ciardi and Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, an underlying theme of imprisonment and a sense of being held down by some underlying force is portrayed.  Each of these three pieces of literature focuses on the narrator or speaker’s search for freedom and desire to let go of some underlying idea or object that is holding them back.

            Thomas Lynch’s “Liberty” beings with the lines “Some nights I go out and piss on the front lawn as a form of freedom”.  He feels that he has this ability and does not need to follow the rules of society for no reason other than because he wants to.  He wishes to be free and do what he wants to do when he wants to do it, even if the view that society has on him “pissing on the front lawn” is noted as unacceptable.  The speaker’s ex-wife would say “‘Why can’t you pee in the concert with the most of humankind who do their business tidily indoors?’” The speaker is trying to break free from the negative views of society, which seems to be holding him back from what he wants to do.

            The poem “Suburban”, by John Ciardi, focuses on the lifestyle of suburban areas and Ciardi makes more a joke of the expectations of this type of society.   The speaker describes the fake and forced lifestyle that he has built his life around.  Instead of being witty and sarcastic when his neighbor called to complain about his dog, he played the part of a suburban man because “why lose out on organic gold for a wise crack” (line 11).  Ciardi wants to be free of this forced role of society, but finds it difficult for everyone else around him is playing along with it as well.

            Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” reflects upon the freedom of one’s mind.  Montresor, the narrator, seeks revenge for the “thousand injuries of Fortunato” (1062).  Poe’s story is more dark and twisted compared to the other two poem read this week, but still reflects on the idea of freedom and getting rid of the things, mental or physical, that are holding one back.  In this case, the continuous misfortunes that Fortunato has caused Montresor and his family push Montresor over the edge, causing him to go to extreme measures and end these misfortunes for good, and the only way to do so is to kill Fortunato. 

            Service is easily related to the idea of freedom and letting go what is holding one back.  Often times people fear going out of their comfort zone and helping out those who live a completely different life than them, for the fear of being judged or just fearing the idea of being uncomfortable.  I think that service learning forces people to no longer have this fear, and forces one to gain a new perspective on other people.  Starting school at Loyola, one of the first things I was told was to be careful around York Road.  I held a fear of this area from the start, but when I was given the opportunity to do service learning last year on York Road, I was able to move past this fear and opened my eyes and my mind to different perspectives of life and the different ways that people live.  I think that service learning gave me the freedom to think more openly and be more accepting of different people, and no longer hold back solely because I am afraid of something I have never done before.