The Locket

It may be strange, but I was drawn to this poem because of the title since I wear my grandma's locket everyday and am extremely attached to it. However, while my locket brings back fond memories of my grandma, John Montague's poem "The Locket" is quite different. While the poem is also reminiscing about someone from his past, it is a compilation of very sad memories of his mother. The first stanza begins the somber tone of the poem since it seems to be speaking of his mother's passing when the opening lines say, "Sing a last song for the lady who has gone." The next stanza continues the sad tone as it begins to explain his mother's ill feelings towards him as a child since he was "coming out both the wrong sex and the wrong way around," which was "Not readily forgiven." I thought the lines in the next stanza "'when poverty comes through the door love flies up the chimney' your favourite saying" were also extremely sad and showed the poor mother-son relationship Montague had.
The opening line in the fourth stanza, "Then you gave me away," addresses the theme of emigration. I found it very interesting that Montague experienced the reversal of what most Irish immigrants did since he was born in the US, but was then sent back to his parent's homeland of Ireland. Doing further research about Montague, I learned that his story becomes sadder because at the age of four he was sent back to Ireland to live with his two aunts since his parents could not afford to keep him and his brothers in the US during the Great Depression. The fact that he went to live with his two aunts reminded my of both Joyce's The Dead and The Cripple of Inishmann.
The final stanza in the poem finally explains the significance of a locket to Montague; "you wore an oval locket with a old picture in it, of a child in Brooklyn." It seems to add a happy tone and ending to the poem and Montague's relationship with his mother since it suggests that while his mother sent him away to Ireland, she always loved him but had a difficult time showing it. Even though I thought this poem was sad, I enjoyed reading it and it was my favorite out of the other poems.

The Locket

I was touched by “The Locket” by John Montague in its harsh depiction of a mother-child relationship. The poem was one of the easiest to read in terms of telling the reader what is happening in the poem, but it was packed with many of the poet's complicated emotions towards his mother. The poem opens at Montague’s mother’s death when he says “sing a last song for the lady who has gone.” The language is powerful, specifically when Montague states that his mother considered his gender and his birth a “double blunder.” Further, he says he was “not readily forgiven.” Both of these lines suggest his mother is resentful towards her son’s existence and birth. Lines such as “You never nursed me” and “then you gave me away” tell the reader that the mother was extremely distant woman and did not play much of a role in Montague’s life. The poet touches on his mother’s happier youth when he talks about her “young wild days, which didn’t last long for you, lovely Molly, the belle of your small town.” He contrasts his mother’s youth with her adulthood when he talks of her “cocoon of pain.” The poem concludes sadly, when the poet realizes that his mother wore a locket with a picture of him around her neck, which is the strongest image in the poem. The locket suggests that despite her many flaws, Montague’s mother was still attached to her son in some way. 

The Cage

When I was reading "The Cage" I kept thinking about one of our first days of class when we talked about Irish stereotypes and how everyone was a little bit hesitant to mention drinking. And I think this poem is definitely the opposite, blatantly making the connection between a "traditional Irishman" and drinking "until he reached the only element he felt at home in".

I also thought it was interesting how he makes drunkenness a place, an even further, a cage. He makes it seem as though Brooklyn is such an unhappy place, at least for his father, that he would rather put himself in a cage than actually just "be" alive there. I thought that was really interesting, especially in regards to how we have been dealing with the concept of place thus far in the semester.

Fond Memory

This poem is about a young boy who fighting to retain his Irish culture in a world dominated by anglo ways. He knows that he would be better off if he just accepted the anglo culture and became one of them, but he always seems to hold onto to his original culture and fight off the powers of conformity.

In this poem a number of things figuratively represent the conformity of English culture. The woolen clothing and rationed food all represent the conformity of English culture. The most significant example of English conformity in this poem is when Boland speaks of the magna carta and the Hanoverians. The Magna Carta was an agreement between the English monarchy and the English aristocracy limiting the powers of each respected branch. It was meant to keep the English crown from becoming to powerful. The Hanoverians were the house of English Monarchs who ruled from the 18th century to the early 20th century. They were extremely powerful and extended colonial english rule throughout the world. The juxtaposition of these two historical references in the poem implies that the English crown gives false promises to its subjects and ultimately the power of monarchs and injustice in general will out itself in English culture.

While there are example of English conformity in this poem, there are also examples of the survival of Irish culture. When the protagonist goes home and listens to his father sing the hymns of the famous Irish poet Thomas Moore while intoxicated, this represents the survival of Irish culture. But there is also a hidden warning at the end of the poem to all Irishmen who yearn for independence from England. The last stanza speaks of the collective pain that Irishmen share and the power of this collective pain to unite Irishmen. He states at the end of the poem that Irishmen must do more than feel sorry for themselves in order to gain independence from England, they must better themselves.

Westering

Seamus Heaney's "Westering" begins with a detailed description of a map of the moon, comparing its color to that of a frog's skin and its craters to pores, giving it a human quality. The speaker, initially narrating in present tense, then reminisces on his last night in Donegal, not giving us any more information than that, as though the reader is supposed to know where Donegal is and what its significance could be. He then speaks in past tense of an ambiguous "her," describing his shadow on a nameless woman's skin. I took this to most likely be a lover, the way he mentioned his shadow falling across her "bony shine," conjuring images of the two lying beside one another in the moonlight, hearkening back to the opening image of the map. The fourth stanza tells us that "summer had been a free fall / ending there," perhaps referring to their relationship running its course during the summer and ending that last night in Donegal. The next two stanzas show us the two walking, then driving through the town, eventually reaching a church where they constitute only "a dwindling interruption," illustrating their insignificance in lieu of the goings-on at the congregation. Here the poem takes a turn into the religious, referring to the "studded crucifix" and ending by equating the moon with Jesus, giving it "stigmata" and describing "Christ weighing it by his hands" on the moon, the "it" referring either to the "untroubled dust" or the "loosening gravity," or both, in the preceding lines. The present tense also comes back, with the reader saying "I imagine untroubled dust" rather than "imagined."

The unifying symbol of the poem is that of the moon. In the beginning, it is given to us in the form of a map, then the moonlight is employed in the description of the speaker and the woman in Donegal, ending with the moon as a religious symbol, perhaps representative of Jesus himself. The religious tones are more apparent upon the second or third time reading the poem. It starts out with the speaker looking up at the moon and in doing so, presumably looking toward heaven. The moon blankets the speaker and his woman on their last night together, further emphasizing the significance of their connection, as though they were being watched over by God. Good Friday is mentioned, an obvious reference to Christianity as it is a religious holiday. When he refers to the two of them as that "dwindling interruption," it gives the inconsequential feeling associated with being compared to the vastness of the universe, both in a religious and a celestial sense. And finally, Heaney ends with the clear connection between the moon and Christ, cementing it as a religious figure.

The title of the poem is important to consider as well, and how the poem fits into a group of works about emigration. "Westering" implies a move westward, both physically and internally. The speaker refers in the fourth stanza to "the empty amphitheatre / of the west," taking the speaker to another place. If we assume that Donegal is in Ireland, Heaney is discussing the summer he spent there with this woman and how it had to end upon arriving at this amphitheater (as we western Americans would spell it) in the west. But from then on, the poem is still describing the couple--as signified by the use of past tense--and how they went around the town and encountered this religious happening. To me, this could signify the religious turmoil in Ireland, perhaps implying that the speaker left Ireland to escape it. The change in tense, particularly at the end when he returns to present, could signify that the speaker is now in the west, away from Ireland, reflecting on everything that he left there, invoking the image of Christ as another tie-in to the theme of religion.

These Poems Are A Bit Odd

None of these poems really struck me the first time through, but after a little more examination, there are two in particular to which I kept coming back.

"The Locket" is a very peculiar poem to me because it kind of goes against what I was expecting to find in this category of "emigrant" poems--I was expecting to hear something along the lines of a James Joyce/Bono "let's find somewhere else besides Ireland to dazzle us" kind of attitude, but in this poem, John Montague seems to express a deep respect and love for his mother, despite the fact that she did not give him the love that a good mother would give. (I assume that his mother is a native of Ireland, thus associating his respect for his mother with a respect for his Irish heritage, and I gather that he was born in Brooklyn from the poem.)

What's particularly interesting/potentially on the verge of disturbing is the way he seems to romanticize/eroticize his mother with lines about how he came back to court her and about "teasingly untying [her] apron." It's almost as if, because Montague didn't receive motherly love, he doesn't know the way a relationship between one and one's mother should be, and so he tries the best he can to express his love to her.

It's possible that the lines with romantic/erotic connotations are supposed to be symbols of something, but I don't really understand why he would choose to use those kinds of symbols.

The other poem that resonated more with me as I reread it was "Fond Memory." What I gather from the poem is that Boland is speaking of a certain sense he gathered during his childhood (I presume in Ireland?) that, although there has been a great deal of suffering and striving in the past to work out the kinks of human civilization, everything is pretty much smooth-running now, we've pretty much got it figured out. Thus the children cried for the death of the British King, because the king is a part of a system that is good now, when, actually, as Boland finds out later at the end of the poem, he was wrong, there's a lot of conflict that is still ongoing.

This, at least, was how I perceived the poem, because I feel like this was my attitude for a great deal of my childhood, learning about people like Martin Luther King Jr. and thinking that after all of the amazing things done through the movement he led and inspired that racism was like ancient history, only to grow up and realize that race issues are still all over the place.

I could be completely off on a lot of the stuff I said and assumed...so don't hold me to any of it..ha ha!

A Sons' Love

The thing that struck me the most after reading this poem is the fact that Montague does not once question his mother about her actions or show any sign of resentment towards her. The tone of the poem is very melancholy, but instead of wallowing in the pain that his mother presumably caused, he gives us the sense of understanding that he has towards his mother's plight. He does not criticize her decisions, but has more of a deep compassion for what she herself was forced to endure and the difficulty of the choices she was forced to make.

The poem is a story, in 2nd person, of his mother's life as an immigrant and how her relationship with him reflected the impact that relocation had on her internally. He describes what ultimately happens to his family when he says "when poverty comes through the door love flies up the chimney". At first glance I think that it would be very easy to assume that poverty caused Molly's attention to shift from loving her son to her desperate situation. However I think the point being made is a lot more complex than that. Montague reveals at the end of the poem that his mom really did love him and think of him, to the point where she wanted to carry him with her. "I never knew until you were gone, that always around your neck you wore an oval locket with an old picture in it, of a child in Brooklyn.

Perhaps Molly's love for her son is not shown in the fact that she gave up her child, but in the fact that she loved him so much that she gave him up because she knew she didn't have much to give him. She had to force herself to ignore her innate feelings of love for her child, "I start to get fond of you John, and then you are gone". This suggests that for some reason she felt as though she didn't have the option of becoming attached to her son; as a child probably because she was too poor to care for him, and when he grew up because she was "resigned to being alone". Montague describes her as a "mysterious blessing". I believe that his approach to the situation is the ultimate expression of love. He does not blame her for what she did, he is not discouraged by the fact that she didn't want him when he was born, and he makes the decision to seek her even with the threat of possible rejection. He looks past the things about her that are negative and finds something positive to say, "lovely Molly, the belle of your small town". His love for his mother never wavered, and it turns out that her love for him did not waver either.

The Locket

This poem takes a look at immigrant life in America. The poet's mother seems to have had a fun life in Ireland which she trades for a life of poverty in Brooklyn. She regrets the way her husband treats her, and the fact that her child came out "both the wrong sex/and the wrong way around." All of these things make her grow cold and distant, she seems to forget her family and even her own sun. Molly attributes this to her new impoverished life in America claiming that "when poverty comes through the door/love flies up the chimney."

The poet seems to regret his lack of closeness with his mother, and makes an effort to "court" her. He is rebuffed in his advances, because, he claims, his mother has reisgned herself "to being alone." ALthough, at the very end of the poem it is revealed that Molly always wears a locket around her neck that contains a picture of a baby boy from the Brooklyn (presumably the poet).

As I said earlier, this poem depicts the America met by new immigrants. Newcomers to this country have a difficult time finding steady work and suitable living arrangments. Many end up living in slums not far from where they entered the country. This is likely the case with the poets family as most Irish immigrants stayed in New York. Once deep American povery has taken its toll on the family unit, the family falls apart. The poet's father turns to drinking (see "The Cage") while the mother becomes dispondant and isolates herself from her children. The poet seems to feel the pain of this isolation and makes an effort to seek out his mother's approval by listening to her stories of the old country and trying to emphatize with her.

Unfortunately he is pushed away. But I beleive that he is able to make some sort of peace with his mother by recegnizing the locket that hangs around her neck. This suggests that somewhere within her she cares about her child and may have the desire/capacity to act as a more suitable mother figure in a different enviornment. I beleive the locket allows the poet to see this and enables him to understand that his mother has treated him as she has not necessarely because of who she is but because of the poverty and harships she faced upon entering America.

Making the Move

This poem struck me because of its allusion to Homer’s classic tale, The Odyssey. The narrator walks along his bookshelf, analyzing his own life through his descriptions.

There is a daydreaming tone in this poem. The narrator remembers some of his favorite stories, wishing that his life contained the adventure and excitement that he read about in them. He feels that his life is lacking the romance that Lord Byron wrote about or that he has not made a great contribution to society like Blaise Pascal. He feels that his own life seems meaningless and uninteresting in comparison with these literary and scientific giants.

The narrator returns to reality in stanzas five and six when his wife comes to mind. He still longs for another life, but his bookshelf full of classics suggest that he is well-read, which also indicates that he has been successful in life, at least financially. A common theme in this semester’s readings has been dissatisfaction with life accompanied by an inability to leave; this poem also describes the narrator as being tied to the place he has made his home even though he wants something more from life. He does not have a clear goal in mind, which is why he refers to the greatness of others, as opposed to presenting his own dreams. The narrator then becomes critical of Ulysses’s decision to keep his ties to his homeland and wife. Where Ulysses left his bow with his wife, the narrator would have taken it with him. This says that if the narrator had the chance to leave, he feels that he would have broken all ties with his former life.

The Cage

Note: I was confused about how short this poem was, since it's only 2 stanzas in the copy of the poems that I downloaded, so I looked it up on Google. It's actually a lot longer, so I'm just going to give the full length I found the benefit of the doubt and base this post on it.

In a literal sense, John Montague's "The Cage" tells the story of a boy and his father living in Brooklyn. The father works underground and is said to be a notoriously unhappy man, drinking by the fire and reminiscing about Ireland. The parts of the work I found to be the most striking, however, are more subtle, dividing not only the father and son but Ireland and the United States.

With its quietly synpathetic yet distanced tone, the poem describes the relationship between the narrator and his father. It's clear that the narrator understands his father's pain and feels sympathetic, pointing out his "pallor" appearance and "ghostly forehead". He also recognizes that he's clearly unhappy, longing by the fire for life in Ireland before these "lost years in Brooklyn". He also shows an understanding of how chilling of a place Brooklyn is, commenting on how the subway "shudder[s] the earth". Even with this sympathy, however, a disconnection between the two is shown later in the poem. Even though they walk together in Ireland, for instance, the two don't smile together because they recognize it's only a dream. This suggests that like the walk in Ireland, a full connection between the two is actually an idealization. The ending scene also shows the narrator's distance despite his sympathy towards his father's situation. Sure, he notices how "ghostly" his father looks while descending into the subway, but the two are standing on different side of the booth's bars. He's an outsider looking into the pain of his father, not actually there to console or share it.

The divide between the United States and Ireland, too, is illustrated by the poem. Through his use of imagery, for instance, Montague suggests that Brooklyn is a cage, trapping the narrator's father as a solemn, hopeless prisoner. This is first evident when the father is described as having a look of "pallor" from working underground. He's pale and sickly from being confined in a dark, gloomy area, away from other people and daylight. The last stanza also solidifies this idea, as the narrator comments on seeing his father's head behind bars of the subway booth. The top of his bald head is scarred by a car accident, showing how vulnerable and damaged he is by the industrialization. Brooklyn seems to be holding him captive, locking him up in its dirty urbanization.

Ireland is characterized by the poem as well, but in a free and beautiful light. Though this is just a flashback, the narrator describes the open fields and plants in the town, his father even smiling at villages while walking by. Since this image follows the one of Brooklyn's sallow underground tunnels, the freedom and beauty of the green fields is obvious. The fact that he's traveling on a road also suggests freedom. Here, he can take control of the road and walk where he pleases; the Brooklyn subway, moving passengers according to its own route and confining them underground, controls the father. Since the father is "locked" in the Broolyn cage, though, his only escape to Ireland is through alcohol and his dreams.

Living the American Dream inside "The Cage"

Firstly, this poem deals with an Irish immigrant who came to America to work, but he is obviously in horrible working conditions; the author writes "My Father the least happy man I known". I think this sort of resembles the George Moore story. Though America is thought of to be this wonderful, beautiful place, there is always this sort of paradox of the American Dream in Irish writing. think this is the Irish writers saying be content with your own Country. This poem deals with that image greatly, especially when he refers to it as "the lost years". Because the poet reveals to us this image, we understand that the lost years are something important. Possibly, it could be the years spent in America or the years spent working such a horrible job.

Another important thing that I notice was the tone, in particular the father-son relationship. The son seems to be angry or at least not pleased with his father's choices. The tone suggest that maybe the two weren't close and evidence for this is the fact that the language seems to separate the father and the sun. For this poem to be about family, pronouns 'we' or 'us' are not used, but it is always 'he'. Another thing to look at is what the author titles the poem: The Cage. For a poem to be about his father, and to name it the cage, it is suggesting animal-like behavior, or at least an animalistic environment. In the authors simple description of his father, he chooses to describe his father as an pale, underground worker, which I believe hints at the animalistic environment, or even the culture.

This poem deals with stereotypes as well. The author refers to his father as a traditional Irishmen, and in turn is saying that traditional Irish people drink and are drunks. With this, I do not believe that he is being 'honest'. Obviously, the author does not like America, which means that he has to like Ireland. Therefore, I think the author is now dealing with his father's drinking habit, but he isn't comfortable talking about it, so he is stereotyping and being sarcastic as a way to bring it up.

The Geography Lesson

This poem is about people, or in this case, animals and resources, emigrating to new lands. "...small and wild/ Against a map of the known world" gives this image of insignificant people compared to the world at large. A group of guys, who cannot read or write, stand in front of a map. It may be inferred that they may not even be able to identify with it, let alone read it.  "internal exiles at the age of thirteen or fourteen" tells us that these boys graduating in the class of '61 were away from home at a young age, or have had the idea that they needed to get away. 

The ladybirds are caught from Lefty Lynch just as they  "touch down from africa." The banana's that were not ready in color, still green, were picked and shipped over in crates, and when they arrived, they were golden. 

Muldoon talks about these people, animals, and fruits as emigrants to a new place, at a relative young, and premature age. The boys are unable to read and write, yet (i think....) they leave their home, or at least want to leave their home at the young age of thirteen or fourteen. The bananas are packed and shipped when they aren't even ready to be eaten, and a ladybird is caught just as she touches down from Africa. 

This poem talks about the journey of of people, animals and resources, whether it be "as some explorer", in a box ripening on it's way, or taken into captivity just as it arrives.  

This could be completely out of left field, but i've just spent an hour trying to think what graduating young men, ladybirds in a match box, and bananas have in common... and i am still not sure about the title of the poem. Geography lesson, perhaps depicting how and where certain things come from that we see everyday, like people walking the street, ladybugs in the bushes, and bananas in the supermarket. 

Fond Memory

Though the word "Fond" in the title of the poem "Fond Memory" suggests the writer is going to address a memory very dear to the young boy, the poem seems solemn and in a way sad. The boy talks about school as having a sense of sameness. He describes the children as a group, rather than as individuals, also placing himself into this group when he states "I dressed in wool as well, ate rationed food, played English games and learned how wise the Magna Carta was....". I think the fact that he brings in outside cultural issues and relates them to children is also interesting as normally we don't associate children as crying when someone of importance, like for example the King, dies.

After his day at school, when he travels home, he describes the more minute details of his father playing the piano in the corner, " trying not to weep at the cigarette smoke stinging up from between his fingers ". However, here I do not think he actually means crying from sadness, as cigarette smoking often burns the eyes and makes them water. Home, though solemn, seems to be a safe place for the boy.

The song appears to remind him of his country, however, it is a different country than England. He's referring to the country of his birth, and seemingly longing to go back there. It is possibly a song his father plays about his country. When he says "this upward-straining song made to be
our safe inventory of pain" it makes me think that this song is a way in which they can go back to a feeling or place of safety, in a world that they aren't familiar with.

"When Poverty Comes Through The Door, Love Flies Up The Chimney."

John Montague's poem The Locket tells the heartbreaking story of his (or the speaker's) relationship with his mother. It starts off with "Sing a last song/for the lady who has gone," so we are aware right away that this "lady" has died. After the first three lines, I thought perhaps it was going to be about a relationship with his lover, who died during child birth. Instead, it's about this very complicated relationship with his mother, Molly. We find out she had always wanted a girl and instead had a boy, and she never forgave him for both being "the wrong sex" and coming out "the wrong way around." 

The tone of this poem is very melancholy and bleak, and I think the setting of Brooklyn has something to do with that. Although the place is never explicitly described in detail, we know that they are living in poverty, and as a result, Molly gives her son away.  There seems to be this distinction again from the home land of Ireland, where everything revolves around family, and once they have to settle in Brooklyn, there's a sense of helplessness, and the need for money is more powerful than the strength of love. The quote that defines Molly's character, and this story, is that "When poverty comes through the door, love flies up the chimney." I love that Montague gave us that glimpse into Molly's thoughts--it's a harsh and cold thought, but it's a reaction to a hopeless situation, and while some subscribe to the logic of "love conquers everything," Montague confronts us, though Molly, with the counter-argument: what if it can't? 

The second half of the poem talks about how he seeks out his mother so that she would know him, despite her desire not to. He uses the simile of "courting you like a young man, teasingly untying your apron," which shows a son trying to reconnect with her, despite her neglect of him. He finds out about her "wild young days" and I assumed she grew up in Ireland. He referred to her as "the belle of your small town," which for me represents the power and contentment she felt at home. I see her home and Brooklyn as disparate worlds. We see words like "cocoon of pain" and "constant rain" which I think apply to her current life, and the misery she feels in such poor conditions with such little money, and a son who both added to the expenses and wasn't what she wanted. 

I love how Montague again uses dialogue to show how she tells her son to not come around, because "I start to get fond of you and then you are gone." He describes her voice as "rough," and yet when he says she is "resigned to being alone," I think all readers feel a twinge of sympathy for her. We don't know the specifics of what happened in her past and why she had to leave her home and live in Brooklyn, but we know she has made the choice to be alone becaus she has no other choice.

The last stanza is heartbreaking, and so subtle. He calls her a "Mysterious blessing," I think the fact that the poem is using 2nd person and therefore referring directly to her is even more powerful. Somehow a reader is able to feel even more impacted by the words than if it were in third person, and it read "I never knew until she was gone that always around her neck she wore an oval locket..." The poem being addressed to his mother directly strengthens the deep sense of emotion and longing attached to it. I think one of the most beautiful parts of the poem is that last stanza, and specifically the last 3 lines, that, even without much specific description or detail, I still finish the poem with a distinct visual of exactly what that locket looks like. I finish the poem and in my head I see a half open oval locket, where I can peek in and see a grainy black and white photo of a young child. I think I use the term 'peeking in' because that's what most of this poem is. It's a small glimpse into a life that is so much more complex than seven stanzas could express, and yet even through a small glimpse, I as a reader feel all kinds of different emotions for Molly and her neglected but always loved, son. 

Passion of Ireland

In Eavan Bogland's "Fond Memory," a young Irish boy writes of his experience of going to school in England and his longing to be back in Ireland. His words are passionate, as he says "I stood there trying not to weep at the cigarette smoke from between his fingers." Crying and weeping occur twice in the poem, and he also mentions pain and an "upward-straining song." Essentially the poem is about how much the boy misses Ireland, when he says, "I thought this is my country, was, will be again, t his upward-straining song made to be our safe inventory of pain. And I was wrong." 

 To me, California is kind of like my own country, because the US is so big that the states do differ a lot from each other. Sometimes I feel like crying just like the boy does, because where we come from really does in a way shape us. I do miss California, and sometimes I do feel alienated when I am away from it, just like the boy does when all the students cry over the death of the King and he feels no remorse. I dont know if his passion is strictly because he is from Ireland, or if he writes of simply what we consider "home" in general.

Blog Post Three

Read through the poems on the Ctools site (Poems of Emigration). Choose at least one and write about it. What images strike you? What's the tone? What is happening literally in the poem, and then progress to the more abstract or figurative happenings.

UMMA

For my second paper, I chose to write about UM's Art Museum. I chose it because I visit often and feel a connection to the place. However, this has become problematic because I am having a hard time separating myself from the place and viewing it as an outsider. When I observed, the museum was fairly empty---there were only a few older couples, the guards, and the students working at the front desk. I started writing, but I am having a hard time finding some direction for the paper. I began writing about the crowd in the museum and its sterile-looking interior. I thought I could explore the crowd that comes into the museum and their motives for being there---what pieces or artists attract them/if they come often or are visiting for the first time/if they are students or not students, etc. I don’t think satire will be a huge problem for me in this paper, there isn’t much to satirize about an art museum. Basically, I think my problem is mainly lack of direction in the paper.  

Mojo

I must confess, that, as I've been pretty busy lately, basically all of the writing I've done so far has been, a la Ignacio in Nacho Libre, IN MY MIND. But that's usually how I write these things anyway.

What I've found interesting is that it's almost as if my subconscious (and my really busy schedule) have led me to be eating by myself in the last week more than I ever have before--I am definitely getting a taste of what it's like as an outsider at Mojo. Mojo is kind of like a big city--the more people there are, the more you feel alone. It also always feels as if everyone else has a homing device on where the people they know are and everyone ends up finding someone else even if they didn't come with anyone.

Since I chose Mojo as my topic, I've even been discovering things about it I didn't know before, so I can simply go back to my recent state of mind to see things as an outsider (I didn't know that there was ever hot food like chicken wings at the salad bar area, I didn't know that there was ever any fruit besides apples, oranges, and bananas).

Projecting my memory back further, I can remember a lot of awkward things about my first few experiences at Mojo--swiping my card the wrong way every day, not knowing that the servers don't typically set the plate right on your tray, not having the restraint to not get everything you see because you don't realize how many options there are, etc.

I guess it is kind of hard to define what exactly it will be that an outsider observes. Because if you're an outsider, you're more likely to notice the details of things than if you know people, because if you know people, you'll be talking and paying less attention. I'm going to have to find a better way to define this in my mind before I get cracking for real.

Diag

Brainstorming for this next piece has been very intangible for me so far. I've been going out of my way to use the diag more than I usually would. I've been trying to look at it both as a whole and by examining individuals and small groups of people.

Lately, it's been pretty cold, so there are mostly just people with their heads down walking as fast as they can against the wind. It's interesting when a huge amount of traffic comes seemingly out of nowhere from one direction.

I also have noticed the people that recognize familiar faces and stop to talk and catch up with their friends. There are also people on the opposite end of the spectrum that are rude or just in a hurry and cut people off or are annoyed of the crowd.

One problem I think I'll face when writing is trying use my memory in an unbiased way, especially of what the diag is like in warmer months. It's really a different place now as compared to how it is during other times of the year, so I think that will be a challenge.

Stall Conversations

My next paper will be about the things that students write in the stalls of public restrooms around campus, preferably the UGLi. In order to get a real start on my paper, I have to do some research to answer a few questions that I had about these writings. For example "What do most people write about?", "What kinds of people seem to have the most presence?", and "What is the driving force that causes people to write their life stories while squatting over a toilet. Are these "entries" simply artistic expressions, cries for help, or a way for one to feel as though they have a voice, even if a small one, in their short getaway from the hustle and bustle of their day. I think that it will be relatively easy for me to write without using satire because there is so much to talk about, in reference to people's lives and how they are displayed in these "writings", that I don't have to focus on humor to present something really meaningful.
I would like to relate the themes that I find on campus to the rest of the world and the part that they play in stall conversations, because these conversations are not limited to this college campus. What does this behavior say about Americans, people in general, and how we tend to express ourselves. Are we so starved for honest expression and sincerity, for someone to listen to us that we are drawn to jump on the first opportunity we find, even if in a public facility? Or are we so afraid to be truthful with ourselves and those around us that we are forced to release our thoughts in a place where no one will ever know that they were our thoughts? These are the themes that I would like to explore about this topic, unless I get better ideas once I actually begin to take a closer look at what goes on in these stalls.

Squirrels

I have decided to write this post based on the second prompt, about the topic for the paper. I have decided to analyze the peculiar relationship that Michigan students have with the campus squirrels. Everyone loves the squirrels. They are looking particularly plump as of now, so the Squirrel Club must be taking good care of them. I plan to attend Squirrel Club this weekend, but this is a weather-dependent event, so I will have to find some other way to write this paper if it does not meet. That would be a bit harder, but still manageable, as there are many squirrels and people on campus.

Another direction this paper could go in is simply the odd behavior of the squirrels. Throughout the week I have been observing them, and they have exhibited some interesting behaviors. A few days ago outside of Stockwell there were 4 squirrels evenly-spaced in a semicircle around a tree just staring at each other. Then, I saw a couple squirrels look both ways before crossing the street on North U. I am sure there will be more stories to tell after feeding them this weekend.

It will be a little difficult writing this paper in a way that is not satirical and does not sound like an episode of "The Crocodile Hunter," but I will do my best to imitate Synge's style of writing.

Michigan Myths and Traditions

One of the things I like best about Synge's work is his incorporation of some local stories popular on the Aran Islands. For my peice of our travel log, I'm going to tell some stories or "legends" that are popular at U of M. The three I'm planning on tackling are, not stepping on the M, not kissing someone under the arch (unless you wish to marry that person of course), and the necessary acts of indescent exposure required to dispel either of the former legends effects.

I know all of these stories very well, but I have two concerns about writing on them. First, I know that we are supposed to take on an "outsider's perspective" when writing our sections of the travel book. Some people were able to do this by writing about some aspect of campus life/culture to which they were themselves outsiders. However, these legends are something that everyone on campus is exposed to (usually at orientation). Therefore I am not sure how an outsider would view these myths. I think though, that stories like the one's I am writing about are somewhat analagous to campfire stories told at summer camps. So an outsider may view them in that way.

Also, I am very worried about satirizing these stories. I am naturally a very cynical person and I like to make light of or even mock certain things. Hopefully I will be able to simply tell these stories in a way that reflects their true character. One thing I may try, is framing these stories, like Sygne does, in the voice of a local storyteller. I suppose in the case of the not stepping on the M story, that would be an orientation leader or a jumpy freshman on the diag.

The Michigan Union

After much consideration in class, I decided I would write this paper about the Union. Decision-making is not exactly my strong suit, to put it extremely lightly, so the fact that I even chose somewhere to write about was major progress toward the assignment. I feel pretty confident in my choice because I think there is a fair amount to examine when it comes to the Union, but I'm afraid I'll be overwhelmed by all the different aspects that could be explored. I find the contrasts within the building to be of interest. The downstairs restaurant area is a place for people to study or chat, a generally relaxed and marginally noise-filled environment. The study rooms on the first floor, however, are completely the opposite: stone silent, so quiet that I even tiptoe when wearing loud shoes so as not to make noise. Nobody talks. Nobody whispers. If you cough, it echoes, and you feel awkward because it makes people glance in your direction. Compare that to Amer's, where people congregate as with any other coffee shop, some studying and some socializing. Then there are all the different events that happen in the Union, both habitual ones like UMix and one-time events for student groups. There are offices upstairs for various student groups and such. There are study rooms tucked away next to stairwells. Finally, I want to include something about the outward appearance of the Union. It has always struck me as very collegiate, tall and brick, with ivy growing on the walls and the iconic block M flag flying on top, perfect for orientation brochures and the university website. I was thinking this might be a good way to start the paper, from the outside, giving a physical description of the way the building looks before venturing deeper.

I'm not quite sure how I want to go about the actual construction. Should the narrator be traveling through the Union and commenting on these various contrasts? Should I try to focus on one or two areas? I know it's not realistic to cover the entirety of what goes on in the Union in 2-4 pages, but I don't want to leave out anything important. But would it be more effective to focus on a specific place within the broader context of the Union? I'm also concerned about making it too guide-bookish. Should I try to stay away from more obvious places in favor of lesser-known ones, or would that not provide enough material to discuss? I just really want to get at something meaningful.

Which Way to the Gun Show?

I was going to use the first prompt for this blog post simply for the novelty of being unique, but on second thought, writing about bulky men lifting weights in tight tank tops is irresistible. My topic is the CCRB, and while I'm there almost every day, I haven't yet seen the heavy weight rooms. Like everyone else, I'm still in the research stage of my paper and am slowly working enough courage to even step inside.

Since I'm too timid to venture in alone, I've chosen a guide to help me. His name is Patrick and he claims he's the usually the biggest guy lifting weights at the CCRB. While I seriously doubt this, it will take an insider like him to give an outsider like me access to a world of so much testosterone and brawn. He’s not, of course, going to walk me through the entire process; it will be more of an emotional support type of relationship. As long as I have someone to walk in with I’ll be able to do my own workout routine and interact with the natives. He’ll be like Synge’s Michael, minus the pen pal relationship afterwards.

I’m actually not as worried about using satire in my writing as I thought I’d be. I think my paper will sound more awe-inspired than anything. It takes, after all, a lot of muscle to lift those weights, something I’m not used to seeing when I look in the mirror at the CCRB. The challenge is going to be describing my experience without my genuinely impressed tone falsely coming off as satire. That, and physically entering this intimidating section of the gym. My workout guide is free Monday afternoon, so we’ll see how it goes.

Michigan Football

 To be 100% honest, Michigan Football is why I decided to come to this school. Academics...yeah, I guess that's important too. But I live and die sports, and I wanted to experience it at a University level. One of the biggest points of interest for me is how I kind of feel like an outsider at these games, even as a student here, which makes it slightly easier for me to observe as Synge did. The reason I feel a little on the outside of the tradition of Michigan football is because I'm not actually from Michigan, and in order to fully understand the importance and impact these Michigan football games have on people, I think you have to be from the state or from the midwest. I'm from the East Coast, and yes, we're passionate about our sports, but in a very different way. In the Midwest, college sports are the ultimate, whereas in the East, it's professional sports, and the fan-bases, especially in New York, can be ruthless at times. A Michigan football game is completely different, and it's very interesting to explore that contrast. There's this sense of unity. You see the student section, with kids who go (even though many have no idea what's going on), because it's the main event of the weekend. But once you move on from the student section, you see the real reason why the football games are so meaningful--the loyal Michigan alums who have gone to every Michigan game since they went there. The babies wearing Michigan gear. The eight year olds and eighty year olds singing 'The Victors 'at the top of their lungs in perfect unison.

 I'm hoping to explore the atmosphere of the entire stadium,  because if I just focused on the student section, it would be incredibly difficult not to make it satirical. Any thoughts/further ideas are welcome as to how I can communicate to others the sense of community that exists at  a football game without sounding too corny/cliche as an attempt to avoid satirizing certain aspects of it. 

North Campus.

So, i just came back from "exploring" North Campus no more than an hour ago. Initially, of course I was glad I was not living there, though I began to realize how quiet and peaceful it seemed. Despite getting lost and disoriented for a few minutes after stepping off the bus, i found my way to the Pierpont commons, which was just as artificially lit as the downstairs area of the Union. 

I am going about this essay by describing my trip up to north campus as a mystical journey to an unknown land.... so to speak, because realistically, north campus is not so much of an exotic place. The basis of my paper is going to be me describing and analyzing waiting at the bus station, the bus ride, and lastly getting off the bus and immersing myself in a "culture" so very new to me. I feel this will be fun to write because in a general sense is it very similar to Synge's experience of exploring a new land. 

I noticed that in the midst of the whole process of making my way up to North Campus, i saw many people sitting alone, walking alone and enjoying themselves. They seemed more tame, calm and a little more collected than people i see running out of mojo, or around Markley. Is it a ridiculous stretch to say those north campus-ers are more cultured? 

My trouble is that i am not really sure how far is too far, and if i am being satirical without really even realizing it. Also, i have only heard people say that, "Oh, it's alright" about living up on North campus. So, it think it's going to be just my insight and that could go in a very interesting direction.... we'll see. 

Any thoughts? 

UGGS

For the second essay, I chose to write about the Ugg Boot fad and basically why it hasn't disappeared. For me my obsession with Uggs started in high school, I got a pair for Christmas and they have been my one and only pair since then. However, I know many girls who have them in every color, height, etc. If you really think about it, they really aren't that attractive, they're usually incredibly dirty, they have absolutely no traction in the snow, and they cost over $100 dollars. So why does literally every other girl have pair? Is it for warmth, comfort, or for a way to fit in? I know that Ugg boots are stereotyped to belong in Sororities and worn with black leggings and a black Northface, however, that really is not the case. I know many girls who aren't in sororities that have them, I've seen fake Uggs, or "Fuggs" as they are called, which is basically the same boot without the label. Personally for me, Uggs used to be cool, but now I hate when everyone looks/dresses the same. Too conformist for me. I just like them because they keep my feet warm.

I feel like its important to find the reason behind wearing Uggs to write this paper, but it seems that its going to be difficult to find differing views and not to satirize it too much. Although they seem to imply that specific type of girl or a specific type of personality wears Uggs, its not really the case. I don't really know if I should like ask girls why they wear Uggs because I feel like I'm either going to get a lot of dirty looks, blank stares, or an "I don't know because I like them" response. Would it be better to just observe a few girls who wear them?

Law Quad

Law Quad
Although I haven’t started writing it yet, I’ve come up with a number of topics that I want to cover in my paper. One topic is the types of people who study in the law quad and their behaviors when they’re in the library. It will be difficult to take a completely subjective view of the people in the law library because we have such preconceived notions about them (for example, if you sneeze or even drop your pencil everyone gives you the stink eye). Next I’m going to compare the architecture of the law quad to the adjacent architecture of the Ross school of business and describe what feelings I get from the two. Do I feel more comfortable in the gothic setting of the law quad or the post-modern setting of Ross? I will also describe the general feelings that I have as I explore the quad and the library.

My main problem is what style I should put this “guidebook” in. Should it be in first-person form of Synge’s “Aran Islands” or should I develop my own style to fit my specific descriptive needs? Should I interview employees of the library to get a real insider’s view of the library, or should I simply stick to my feelings about it? I feel like if I don’t incorporate an insider’s view of the law quad then I won’t be able to convey my “displacement” to my readers. Maybe I should just describe the ways of the “natives” by simply observing them.

Where do I start?

For my paper, I have chosen to write about campus life in the summer vs. campus life in the fall. Because there is so much to cover about the two, I am not sure what exactly to write about. I want to write about the differences in the students groups present, the difference in social life, and of course the difference in classes. These things all seem alright but I do not think they are interesting enough to visit. Also, because I am writing about two different time periods on campus, I’m not sure where to place myself. If I am the tourist vesting the University of Michigan, am I visiting in the fall or am I visiting in the summer or did I visit both. I was thinking about writing as a transfer student who’s decided to take classes during the fall/winter term but decided to stay at Michigan for the summer term. The problem with this is that I am not playing myself but a character, so is this okay to do?

I think the biggest problem is going to try not to be satirical or judgmental of this environment. Now that I think about it, it’s very hard to write without about a place that you have already experience and not have anything to say about it. Also, to even stay at the level of description even seems complicated to do!

My Writing Process

I must be honest, I have not started actually writing essay number two for this class. However, I have put a lot of thought into it, and it sounds like it can be really fun essay to write. My topic is "attire versus the weather." I actually suggested this topic, and it was in direct reference to the clothing (or lackthereof) that girls wear to go out at night, despite the recent sub-zero temperatures. I must admit, I am very guilty of wearing dresses, skirts, and tank tops, even in this climate. I believe I will write it in first person, basing it off of my own experience of getting ready with other girls in preparation for going to either a frat party or a bar night.

My only fear is making this essay to satirical-it would be so easy to make fun of others and myself. How do I go about doing this???

Blog Post Two

Hi everyone:

For this post, I'd like you to choose ONE of these prompts.

* Choose a passage from The Aran Islands in which Synge makes the transition from pure description to interpretation. Try to figure out how he does it--where is the transition? What is he arguing through his interpretation? How subtle or obvious is it? Is it effective? Convincing? Think about how you might imitate his stylistic choices as you write your own place descriptions.

* Discuss where you are in your own writing process for the next assignment. Where are the major hurdles or challenges? (Or what's fun about it?) What questions do you have about your piece? What have you discovered so far? Feel free to share sample sentences or paragraphs, and remember that your classmates will be reading and responding.