Carnival Post (Free Admission!)

We began the unit with poetry from Robert Frost and Wallace Stevens, and already some themes emerged. First of all, poetry doesn’t seem to be our class’ “thing” for the most part (though there are obviously exceptions, as some even wrote their own poetry.) Only about half or less of the blogs mentioned Frost or Stevens, which is a telling theme in itself.  Many of us are apparently either uncomfortable writing about poetry or simply prefer literature. Those who did write about Frost and Stevens lend credence to the former, as nearly everyone who wrote about them remarked on the complexity or strangeness of the poems. Perhaps we all struggled with understanding their poetry, but only some felt comfortable attempting to do it anyway. It’s worth noting that our general difficulty in understanding the poetry didn’t necessarily mean we didn’t like it, as indicated in this post.

                The next round of readings provoked quite a variety of posts, but there were still some common elements. Generally, those who wrote about “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” had something to say about the relationship between Harry and his wife, none of which was positive. The treatment of women, in general, is a consistent theme throughout this unit. This is, of course, a consequence of the feminist movement that was gaining traction throughout the time period we covered.  Some of these readings were filtered through that lens, so it’s only natural that it would surface in our blog posts. The feminist elements in general and the specific contempt for Harry’s character both feature in this post. The other two readings, “A Rose for Emily” and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufock”  were also discussed in a fair number of posts, most of which pondered the town’s significance in the former and the strangely unromantic nature of the latter. Both trends can be seen in this post.

Moving on to Their Eyes Were Watching God, it didn’t take long for trends to emerge. Most of us initially found Zora Neale Hurston’s writing style a bit off-putting, yet were willing to give it a chance based on the actual content. This post embodies that perspective perfectly.  Generally, we were rewarded for our patience, as most indicated that they enjoyed the novel at some point—some a little more emphatically than others. Other common topic of discussion was Janie’s growth as a woman and as a mature human being. Finally, there was a general sense of scorn for Janie’s first two husbands, and a healthy dose of skepticism for Tea Cake in response.

The last round of readings for this unit was poems from Langston Hughes. There have been only a few posts about his poetry thus far, but everyone that has discussed them in their blog posts appreciated them. Interestingly, it seems Hughes’s poetry was preferred to Frost and Stevens, at least partially because we had an easier time understanding it. This post was especially exuberant about Hughes’s poetry. Those who posted about Hughes were particularly enamored with “I, Too” and “Theme for English B.” One post was even dedicated to the poignancy and personal implications of “I, Too.”

But of course, the theme of this unit is not to be forgotten, and our class didn’t. Several posts searched for connections between modernism as a literary movement and the stories we read. Some analyzed the poetry of Frost and Stevens through a modernist lens to arrive at a greater understanding of the poems, as in this post. Others did essentially the same thing for Hemingway, Faulkner, and Eliot, as in this post. Modernist literature can be fairly ambiguous, but savvy bloggers used their understanding of modernism to help guide their interpretations and engage more fully with the readings.