Infant Sorrow & Joy comparison

       Both poems “Infant sorrow,” and “Infant joy,” is written by William Blake. Infant sorrow deeply astounds on the birth of a child born into a dangerous society. In this poem, it seemed as if the newborn child was confused on why he/she was brought into this harmful world. However, the meaning behind this poem is that when a baby is born, they are entering a world that is unfamiliar to them and is full of dangerous things around them. The child seeks for safety and comfort by the sulking of the mother’s breast. Blakes structural pattern of this poem strongly implies that, childbirth is not always joyful and exciting but it brings pain and sorrow. However, as the child is young, he/she will be protected and nurtured by their parents forever.

       The poem Infant Joy astounds on the two day old infant who seemed to have an unadulterated happiness. Even though the child has been only two days old it seemed as if it had already connected itself with its surroundings. This poem shows the imaginary conversation between the mother and the newborn child. Throughout infant joy, their are many words used to describe the newborn child to express thoughts and feelings of both the mother and the father. However, both poems gives different messages in the same form and fashion of a poem. Both poems Infant sorrow and Infant Joy are two companionable poems that share the same context. In conclusion, both poems extracts the truthful meaning on the precious emotions the parents have bringing a newborn child into this dangerous world.

Reader Profile

Reading is something that i am very passionate about. It brings visions to my mind of how and what a certain person or character has been through in a certain situation and how they have over achieved it. I value more of mystery novels more than the rest. Mystery novels gives more of a cliff hanging type of vision because you become so interested that you feel like you were there as if you can guess what will happen next. However, one of my weaknesses in reading is natural science based novels. Due to science being my weakest subjects, i have a hard time understanding the types of information and history being given. Prose fictional novels is also my weakest point in reading. With prose fiction i have a hard time with finding rhetorical devices and comprehending them as well. My strength is poetry because i love the way people express themselves in a rhythm like feeling. I am very good at breaking down poems and summarizing them. My purpose for reading is to enhance my reading abilities and expand my way of summarizing novels as well. Lastly, to make sure that I practice my reading skills and learning to improve on my weaknesses i will work hard to overcome those problems throughout my 12th grade year because i know that i can fulfill anything successfully with any and everything i love doing.

Rock-Pile Reflection

       The Rock pile is a pile of rocks occupying the empty space between two houses. The two boys, John and Roy, are forbidden by their mother, to play in the rock pile. More specifically, it is Roy who is directly forbidden because the mother knows that John would probably not take the risk anyway. Therefore, each Saturday morning, the boys sit on the fire escape of their home and longingly watch other boys playing on the rock pile. Their mother, Elizabeth, usually sat in the room behind them and sewed or helped their younger sister Delilah, or took care of the baby boy Paul.

       "The Rock pile" shares several parallels with Go Tell It on the Mountain, but it also deviates from the novel in its portrayal of the character of Elizabeth. The story recounts in concentrated detail the incident of Roy's fight and injury which, in the novel, takes place on the Saturday of John's birthday. Baldwin apparently found the story form too constricting in what it allowed him to accomplish in the development of Gabriel's character as well as Elizabeth's. They both have features similar to those they have in the novel, but the background information on how they came to be as they are cannot be handled very effectively within the story. For example, Gabriel is presented as an angry man

A Worn Path Reflection

       The main character of the story is Phoenix Jackson, an old and poor woman who tracks through many different settings on her way to town. Phoenix undergoes many different character changes as the story progresses. The changes in Phoenix Jackson are visible as she walks through the pine trees, crosses the stream, and while sitting at the doctor's office.She shows her determination as she struggles along the trail. She walks side to side in a manner that would suggest quickness in her step, maybe a little quicker than she would normally be maintaining. She needs to return home before the sun goes down with the medicine for her little grandson. Phoenix knows the trail very well and walks with confidence, not even looking at where her feet are landing. Along the way she stops to warn the foxes and other small animals to stay out of her way saying, "Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons, and wild animals! Keep out from under these feet, little bob-whites .Keep the big wild hogs out of my path. Don't let none of those come running my direction. The tone Phoenix uses suggests that she means business and must finish what she set out to do. .
            
       As Phoenix approaches the creek, and it becomes obvious that her character changes to that of a child. She takes a large first step raising her knee high, walking onto the log resembling a child marching, while holding the small cane straight out, as if to point the direction as other children follow her. This image of Phoenix is one a person would most likely associate with children. As she crosses the creek, she sits down to rest and finds herself hallucinating.

A Lesson Before Dying Reflection

       Throughout the book “A Lesson Before Dying,” i felt that jefferson never wanted to engage on fighting for his life. He knew that he was accused of something he did not do even though he did not do what he looked like he did during the crime. However, every since his lawyer viewed him as a hog , Jefferson has played the tole of a pathetic creature than to fight for his own life. I believed that Grant  tried his best to help Jefferson but he was too stubborn to realize it. Grant struggled to help Jefferson die as a man because Grant had trouble with knowing how to be a man and truly finding himself as one. Gant was so busy focusing on the racist society and his fears of becoming his old teacher that he could not focus on helping Jefferson fight for his life. Although Grant wanted to hwlp, Jefferson seemed to not care for his life due to what people viewed him as.

      Grants experiences shows how a racist society is racist even in its smallest interactions. throughout the chapters, Jefferson starts to take steps toward recovering his dignity by voicing and acting upon personal desires. He starts to realize how his life was going to end, even at a young age. Additionally, he eventually thanks Grant because he helped him realize his true self-being. Since he acknowledged his intelligence as a human action, he seem to be relinquishing his tendency to deny his humanity. Both Grant and Jefferson took a pivotal change in their life. They both realized how hard it is to die a man and even become a man. In conclusion, Grant and Jefferson was brought to reality on how cruel the world can be and how racism can change the lives of blacks as a whole dramatically.

A Letter to Grant

Hello Grant, I see that you are caught in an very rough situation. Here's what you should do: you should gather everyone together as you go and visit Jefferson. You should be honest and tell his godmother the truth and explain to both of them what you want to do to help Jefferson prepare for his death as a man. You should take control of the situation you are putting yourself in. You and I both know that once you tell Jefferson's godmother the truth he is going to be distraught about it but you have to gain control over the situation and have a man to man conversation and look at it on both sides.

The Sorrow of War (Assignment 5)

       The novel Sorrow of War, has shown me how cold hearted a person can be. This novel not only explains the ruthless things people can do to a person it also taught me the true significance of love and war. However, fighting in the vietnamese war can be a bit complicated due to not be connected with the real world and how one can not trust other people. One has to work hard everyday just to fight for their lives only to live another days worth of fighting and killing. Although kien and phuong were really close back in their time, they suddenly drifted apart as if kien never thought that it would happen to them. This novel also taught me how friendships can suddenly change over time ruining the memories of what one might have with one another. This novel not only teaches one how to survive, it also teaches people how soldiers during the war fought hard and mostly died just to save their country. While reading this novel one can gain huge amounts of knowledge about many things: friendship, love, and how to survive.


       The novel Sorrow of War, was written to acknowledge the mind of readers and to influence them about the real world and What one can go through. This novel also teaches the life of war and what soldiers go through to either survive or be killed. Throughout this novel, kien is one of ten survivors who tries to deal with his real life and the life of a soldier all at one time. He struggles with his love relationship because of how complicated phuong made it. He didnt know whether if he wanted to continue living the horrible life he was living or to push on. However, even though he stuggled he felt as if he was living in hell due to soo many tragic events occurred in his life.