Friday, December 8, 2017

Due Tuesday, December 12th - Poetry - Tone

Directions:  Please read the following poems.  All the poems connect to the thematic elements of A Doll House and Ghosts.  Please respond to the 1-2 poems in a response.  Think about theme, form, and the use of tone.

Poems:

Marge Piercy, Barbie Doll
Richard Wilbur, A Barred Owl
Billy Collins, The History Teacher   
Taylor Mali, Like, Totally Whatever
Jan Heller Levi, Not Bad, Dad, Not Bad      
Theodore Roethke, My Papa’s Waltz
Eric Pellerin, Death of a Timeshare Salesman



Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy

This girlchild was born as usual
and presented dolls that did pee-pee
and miniature GE stoves and irons
and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You have a great big nose and fat legs.

She was healthy, tested intelligent,
possessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.

She was advised to play coy,
exhorted to come on hearty,
exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.
Her good nature wore out
like a fan belt.
So she cut off her nose and her legs
and offered them up.

In the casket displayed on satin she lay
with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
a turned-up putty nose,
dressed in a pink and white nightie.
Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.
Consummation at last.
To every woman a happy ending.



A Barred Owl by Richard Wilbur

The warping night air having brought the boom
Of an owl’s voice into her darkened room,
We tell the wakened child that all she heard
Was an odd question from a forest bird,
Asking of us, if rightly listened to,
“Who cooks for you?” and then “Who cooks for you?”

Words, which can make our terrors bravely clear,
Can also thus domesticate a fear,
And send a small child back to sleep at night
Not listening for the sound of stealthy flight
Or dreaming of some small thing in a claw
Borne up to some dark branch and eaten raw.



The History Teacher by Billy Collins

Trying to protect his students' innocence
he told them the Ice Age was really just
the Chilly Age, a period of a million years
when everyone had to wear sweaters.

And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age,
named after the long driveways of the time.

The Spanish Inquisition was nothing more
than an outbreak of questions such as
"How far is it from here to Madrid?"
"What do you call the matador's hat?"

The War of the Roses took place in a garden,
and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom
on Japan.

The children would leave his classroom
for the playground to torment the weak
and the smart,
mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses,

while he gathered up his notes and walked home
past flower beds and white picket fences,
wondering if they would believe that soldiers
in the Boer War told long, rambling stories
designed to make the enemy nod off.




Totally like whatever, you know? by Taylor Mali


In case you hadn’t noticed,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you’re talking about?
Or believe strongly in what you’re saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)’s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences?
Even when those sentences aren’t, like, questions? You know?

Declarative sentencesso called
because they used to, like, DECLARE things to be true, okay,
as opposed to other things are, like, totally, you know, not—
have been infected by a totally hip
and tragically cool interrogative tone? You know?
Like, don’t think I’m uncool just because I’ve noticed this;
this is just like the word on the street, you know?
It’s like what I’ve heard?
I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions, okay?
I’m just inviting you to join me in my uncertainty?

What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down
with the rest of the rain forest?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society become so, like, totally . . .
I mean absolutely . . . You know?
That we’ve just gotten to the point where it’s just, like . . .
whatever!

And so actually our disarticulation . . . ness
is just a clever sort of . . . thing
to disguise the fact that we’ve become
the most aggressively inarticulate generation
to come along since . . .
you know, a long, long time ago!

I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you,
I challenge you: To speak with conviction.

To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks
the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You have to speak with it, too.



Not Bad, Dad, Not Bad by Jan Heller Levi

I think you are most yourself when you are swimming;
slicing the water with each stroke,
the funny way you breathe, your mouth cocked
as though you’re yawning.

You’re neither fantastic nor miserable
at getting from here to there.
You wouldn’t win any medals, Dad,
but you wouldn’t drown.

I think how different everything might have been
had I judged your loving
like I judge your sidestroke, your butterfly,
your Australian crawl.

But I always thought I was drowning
in that icy ocean between us,
I always thought you were moving too slowly to save me,
When you were moving as fast as you can.




My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke

The whiskey on your breath  
Could make a small boy dizzy;  
But I hung on like death:  
Such waltzing was not easy.

We romped until the pans  
Slid from the kitchen shelf;  
My mother’s countenance  
Could not unfrown itself.

The hand that held my wrist  
Was battered on one knuckle;  
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.

You beat time on my head  
With a palm caked hard by dirt,  
Then waltzed me off to bed  
Still clinging to your shirt.




death of a time share salesman by eric pellerin

how do timeshare salesmen smile at home

is it the same as when
eddie came
up to me during the final moments
to tell me that he was not going
to sell me
anything
to thank me
for stopping by
that i just do not love my children

enough 

most people work too hard
die
leave their children
nothing
that i can spend my money
on anything i like
that this is the best time to buy
his thick southern drawl
jokes about liberals
usa pin on his lapel
betraying his fear of border jumpers 
gays
obama

he smiles

i want to smile back
but i only stare
at the floor
a small child
who peed his pants
he mentions my children
again
it is somehow connected
to time sharing

he smiles

i look at him hard
he returns the glare
still smiling
an old ken doll
in a dream house
full of naked barbies
with snarly hair
no names
no vagina

i think of his children

his daughter telling him
that she is getting married
to a special someone
from massachusetts
liberal
black
native
american
and her name is tanya

i hope she smiles

and tells him
that she is not trying
to sell him
anything
that she will have a child or two
that he can share time
with his family
and love them
if he chooses to take a risk
for once in his life
and give his consent
right
now




                                      

31 comments:

  1. The poem “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins reminded me of themes addressed throughout A Doll’s House. Collins talks about the idea that shielding the truth from people is easier than telling them what's really going on. He describes a History teacher teaching his students about wars and other sorts of history topics that are difficult to talk about by making up lighthearted stories about them. In one part of the poem, the teacher claims that the Ice age was a “period of a million years when everyone had to wear sweaters.” This poem has similar ideas to A Doll’s House since characters like Torvald and Nora’s father often shielded her from the truth, and never really explained important things to her. That was one reason why Nora doesn't see any harm in illegally taking out a loan, because she didn't understand the consequences that could come from that.

    The poem “Not Bad Dad, Not Bad” by Jan Heller Levi has similar ideas to the play Ghosts. Ghosts analyzes how past experiences and people affect our present day lives. The poem is comparable to this idea since it describes a relationship between a father and child, and how the child regrets how they treated their father in the past. There is a remorseful tone throughout the poem, especially within the last lines, “I always thought you were moving too slowly to save me/ When you were moving as fast as you can.” The relationship seems to haunt the child, and how they were never able to understand their father until it was too late. So far throughout the novel, similar themes and tones have been present; the past never leaves us.

    Cat

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  2. The poem “Barbie Doll” was really upsetting. I think what made it so uncomfortable was that the tone was oddly sarcastic and guilt-inducing. It might be the form of the poem and it’s syntax/diction that makes it sound weirdly happy, even though it’s such a sad poem. In my opinion, the difference between the tone and the devastating theme/topic is what makes it so chilling.
    The theme can be connected to A Doll’s House, because it plays on the idea of society roles and appearances that are supposed to “fit” those roles. Like Nora, the girl feels trapped by what she’s supposed to be, what she’s supposed to look like, and how she’s supposed to act. She isn’t seen as the wonderful human being she is.
    I also liked the poem about “The History Teacher”. I immediately connected with it on a pretty superficial note, as my dad once had me believe that the Bubonic Plague was when everyone would yell “Boo” at people until they got so scared that everyone died :). Anyway, I thought it connected well with A Doll’s House, as it points out that even if delusion is the easier path to take, but it leads to misunderstanding and an inability to fully experience the world. The tone is pretty funny, due to all the misinterpreted historical events, but by the last two stanzas, it makes you really stop and think about delusion and innocence in your own life and its effect in the world around us.
    Sosha

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  3. I thought that “The History Teacher” really connected to A Doll’s House because it related to the idea of ignorance. The syntax/diction of Billy Collins’ poem is simple as if to make history seem simple to the students learning about it; the teacher is trying to protect the students’ innocence as they somewhat recreate an innocent world and tell impressionable children who tend to believe everything the teacher says. I agree with Sosha that the tone is somewhat humorous because of the false interpretations of the events until the last two stanzas. This connects to A Doll’s House because in the beginning, Nora does not know anything beyond her husband and children because that was all she knew and therefore all she valued. Society expected Nora to be nothing more than a good housewife and to not have her own thoughts or opinions about certain things; Nora is led to believe that this is her life and nothing more up until the moment she realizes that she has been wronged and in order to find meaning, she must look beyond the disillusionment of society and find herself on her own without anyone manipulating her ignorance.
    “A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur reflects a dark tone in the beginning when it describes the “warping night air” and the “owl’s voice” heard by the child in her bedroom. The tone then changes to somewhat comforting when the parents come into the child’s room and ease her, then it changes back to dark at the end of the poem when the poet refers to the owl as some unknown predator. The poem seems to flow like a conversation between the child and her parents as she grows scared of what might be outside her bedroom. The syntax/diction of the poem is simple and there is a rhyming scheme. The theme is that people fear the unknown, but this fear can change based on one’s point of view; the girl is scared until her parents use words to tell her that the owl is innocently asking her “who cooks for you” causing her to forget her fear, relieved, and go back to sleep. This poem relates to A Doll’s House because in the end, after seeing that Torvald was not the man she thought he was, she is not fearful of the unknown, what will happen to her after she leaves, because she knows that whatever happens, she will find the self that she never had the chance to explore on her own in her life before.

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  4. I also found the poem "Barbie Doll" to be chilling, but I blame that mostly on the fact that it was so honest. I could relate to all of the things being said-- being given a doll as a child, automatically being put in the role as a caregiver and seeing dolls viewed as perfect, yet knowing I would never amount to that perfection of my favorite Barbie; hitting puberty overnight and suddenly it was okay to be objectified in "positive" and "negative" ways (the fact that I can say I was objectified in a positive way is pretty messed up itself, thinking about it). But boys are subjected to this too. Overall we are taught that we need to look and act a certain way in order to be loved and appreciated. The girl in "Barbie Doll" never got a chance to learn this. She cut off the features people didn't like about her, kept her head down, and only in death did people look at her and call her beautiful. The theme of outside appearance being the most important thing in life is prominent in A Doll House as well. To me the most remarkable difference was that Nora was able to figure out that she did not need to conform to what everyone around her was telling her to do. She broke free, and even though she will probably be poor and looked down upon by society, she at least will know that she is finally becoming herself.
    It took me a few reads of "My Papa's Waltz" to find an understanding. This could be off track, but I took the poem as the blinded, sort-of puppy dog love we have for our parents as children, before we are able to grow up and form ideas and opinions for ourselves. The narrator in the poem is discussing the deeds of his alcoholic and seemingly abusive father, yet he ends the poem saying that after all this, he would still be "clinging to [his father's] shirt". This reminded me of Nora's adoration for her father and how it shifts throughout the play. At the beginning, Nora is clearly fond of her father, so much that she is willing to defend him to Torvald. At the end of the play, however, Nora states that her father, along with Torvald, has done her a great wrong in the way he treated her like his own personal doll. But like the narrator of the poem, before Nora had her realization on the way she was being treated and what was really going on, she would cling to her father for support and love.
    I also really liked the Taylor Mali poem:)

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  5. I really related to Totally like whatever, you know? by Taylor Mali because I have noticed with other people as well as myself that we often lack conviction when we talk. However, I disagree with Mali’s statement that is “has somehow become uncool to sound like you know what youre talking about” I think that the reason we lack conviction is that we are fearful of being judged by others around us. We are fearful that if we answer a question confidently then others will think we are trying to be smart or show off our knowledge. I think that we also are fearful of getting the wrong answer when called upon. I see this a lot in math class when people will answer a question with a question like “Is the answer 2?” rather than just “2”. Mali is correct in saying that it is perfectly ok to be right. I enjoyed how Mali uses a sarcastic tone throughout the poem. He actually uses the things that annoy him in his poem which really helps to drive the point home. The poem would not be the same without all those “you know”s, “like”s, and question marks. The poem also has a form to it in that it starts out with normal speech and then gradually gets more and more disarticulate. Then, suddenly, the poem goes back to be normal, confident speech in the last two stanzas.
    I connected this poem to A Doll House in the way that Nora, Torvald, and Dr. Rank were all so secretive and misleading with their speech. If they could simply have spoken confidently with one another about their inner thoughts and feelings than so much conflict could have been avoided.

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  6. The poem “Barbie Doll” was sadistic to me. Reading it made me feel like I was one of the people laughing at her. I think that it was because of the light and almost humerous tone that Piercy wrote it in, and I think that she did that on purpose. She made it easy to join in on the joke and made it easy to just go along with it. I had to read the poem a second time to understand how dark it really was. I feel like the girl in the poem is inside every teenage girl at some point in time. Everyone is insecure about something: I personally think that my nose is too big and resembles that of a witches a little too much for my liking, so maybe thats why I was touched a little more by this. But unlike this girl in the poem, I have been able to push past what I think, knowing that my superficial appearance is not what defines who I am. Too many teenagers and young adults focus too much of what other people say. Everyone believes that the deciding factors of being liked is how pretty you are or whether or not your jeans are the new $75 pair from American Eagle. But this is a two way street and boys are also put down for not being muscular enough or not beign able to grow facial hair. Kids are too often put down by how they look to the point where many of them believe that suicide is the only answer. The trouble with being liked is that people want you to stand out and be yourself, but not too much or else you’ll be weird, and people want you to blend in and act cool, but not too much or else you’re being fake. There’s no happy ground other than what the general public of the group your trying to conform into decides is cool. In relation to “A Doll’s House”, Nora was stuck in this whirlpool of what do I do. She knew that if she left she would be able to finally be happy and find herslef, but then she would be a terrible mother and wife and would be publicly humiliated. But if she stayed then she knew that she would regret not taking the chance to broaden herself, but she would just continue on being a trophy wife and a spend thirft. There is no happy ground.

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  7. The poem Barbie Doll strongly connects to the thematic elements of A Doll House and Ghosts. In the beginning of the poem, the girl is “presented dolls” and other toys that only girls will play. Girls are told what to do and what to be like by the society from the start. The girl is normal, but then someone judges her because she isn’t the definition of beauty. Again, she is “advised to play coy”, to become this other, more beautiful person. The girl is just an object, a display for people to point fingers at, and judge whether she’s pretty or not. As if that is the purpose of life--- to live up to the expectations that others enforce on you. This sentiment is shown in the women from the two plays. Nora has to follow the standards of women as set up by the society. She is a female, who can only be a wife and a mother. No other options. Regina isn’t expected to earn much money by working in an orphanage, so her father insisted her to be prostitute, which most women in the 1800s did.

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  8. Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy was a disturbing read, but one that I think can resonate with anyone who has been criticized for something superficial. I remember being told in elementary school that my legs were too hairy, and throughout my life I have been told that my hair is too crazy or that I’m only pretty with straight hair. I’ve learned to ignore these comments, but not everyone can. This poem connects to A Doll House because Nora constantly lives trying to please others. She takes what others say to heart, and so instead of being herself, she changes herself to fit what others want to see.
    A Barred Owl by Richard Wilbur also has themes similar to A Doll House. In the poem, the parents lie to the child to make her feel safe and unafraid. Just as the parents deceit the child, everyone in the play hides information and lies to one another to avoid conflict and to not make others uncomfortable. I think this is something everyone does time to time, and in the poem it is harmless, but when this behavior is carried in every facet of life such as in A Doll House, then problems arise.

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  9. All people, and on a grander scale all societies, whether intentionally or not, try to simplify their view of the world to something simple and sanitized and impose that view on others. I don’t think it is something most people do maliciously, rather it brings more peace of mind to believe that the world around you follows simple and understandable rules to which all society should conform to. It's always nice to see the world around you as calm and orderly rather than complex and violent. Both the play “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, and the poem “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins show this societal trend of pushing simple yet strict worldviews and the dangers they bring. In the poem, a teacher, wanting to preserve the innocence of the children he teaches, sanitizes his lessons, removing all of the struggles, death, and violence history contains, and replacing them with more comfortable lies that harken back to their suburban life. The students listen to the teachers lies and leave the classroom to torment the weak and the smart. The children believe in a world less complex and harsh than it really is, a world that they believe reflects the peace, familiarity, and comfort, of their own suburban lives, as their false history has been inundated with references to happy aspects of their real lives, with the clean driveways and gardens that the teacher letter passes on his walk home. But without the moral complexity and lessons that real history brings, the children have no reference to critique or be introspective about their own behavior. They assult the weak because the non violent and non confrontational history they have absorbed hasn’t taught them any moral lessons about right or wrong, only that history validates their beliefs in a simple happy world and because of this validation those who don’t conform, like the smart children who might contradict their egregiously false sense of history and ideals, are always wrong and should be punished. An non confrontational and simplistic believe system, where the believers accept that their world is perfect, is also a system that facilitates strict and uncompromising conformity, cruelty in order to push that conformity, and a total and complete lack of serious introspection. We see the same attitude of the children in the character of Torvald in “A Doll’s House.” Like the students, Torvald accepts a simple set of ideals, that simplify the world around him. He believes in strict gender roles, roles that for him and the society he lives in, are considered “wisdom” and not questioned despite being fundamentally flawed, much like the children who believe the blatantly false stories of their teacher because they make the world feel more comfortable and validate their views. Also like the children, when being confronted about the fallacies of his beliefs he lashes out and refuses to accept it, insulting and calling Nora insane when she begins to talk seriously about the failure of their marriage. In addition, because self validating world views don’t give much consideration to the groups of people they do not validate, those who staunchly believe in them act cruelly towards those who don’t fit in them; the children are taught a stupid history that doesn’t concern matters of oppression or the weak so they have no compunction about hurting the smart or the weak, Torvald believes in a set of gender ideals which does not allot any consideration to the desires of the female so he doesn't believe that his wife could have any desires outside her role. Both works reveal how societies peddle falsehoods as universal truths to people and how those people accept them without question because of the comforts of simplicity, validation, and assurance they get from believing in them, and how this belief always spurs pushes for conformity and cruelty because of the uncompromising nature of applying simple and one sided rules to life.

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  10. The poem The History Teacher by Billy Collins was interesting to me because it seemed like as he was trying to protect the students from the harshness of the world, he was doing them a disservice because really they were less aware of their actions. He softens the blow of major wars and battles to make sure to not scare them are make them upset, but what he does not see is that after class “the children would leave his classroom for the playground to torment the weak and the smart”. By omitting the ugly truth of our past, he is not giving them the true lessons on how to treat eachother equally and fairly to prevent more ugly things from happening. The poem Not Bad, Dad, Not Bad by Jan Heller Levi reminded me alot about A Doll’s House because the speaker is talking about not appreciating his dad in the moment, much like how Torvald did not appreciate Nora until she leaves him. The speaker criticizes his fathers awkward and funny manner of swimming, but does not appreciate that he was swimming to him no matter how funny he looked. The line, “I think how different everything might have been had I judged your loving like I judge your sidestroke”, reminds me of how Torvald and Nora’s relationship would have been much different had Torvald focused on Nora’s love and his own love for her and working on their relationship, instead of focusing on taking her for granted and expecting her to always be there. The same could go for Nora, had she judged Torvalds treatment of her more than his ability to provide for her, the outcome would have been much different.

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  11. Totally like whatever, you know? by Taylor Mali was my favorite of all the poems because it reminded me of another spoken word poem by Melissa Lozada-Oliva commenting on the same thing but with the focus of women resorting to that kind of language because of male dominance. The poem flowed very smoothly and, whereas I can't speak for the men that have watched this performance, I found the style and message very relatable because that's how I often speak. I've learned from conversations and observations that I'm not expected to include confidence or straightforwardness in my speech because I'm a woman that usually expresses intense emotion and that means I'm not as intelligent or can't be taken seriously. It's a difficult thing to explain, but I know for sure I'm not the only one who has experienced that feeling of defeat and a need to resort to likes, uhms, and other declarative sentences ending in question marks. I also thought the poem connected well to Nora's character throughout A Doll House because her speech was often limited and made the equivalent of what Mali wrote about. By the end of the play, she challenged herself "to speak with conviction."
    I thought Not Bad, Dad, Not Bad by Jan Heller Levi was a good piece to connect with Ghosts because it adds a new perspective of Regina's relationship with her father. Sure, on the surface it looks like she doesn't care for him at all and he just wants to use her but there's a father-daughter connection that can be explored further. I struggle with the same situation with my dad; we are very surface-level with each other and our relationship is as basic as it could ever be but there's an unspoken dynamic between us where we feel detached and like neither of us can ever reach each other. From what we've seen of Regina and her father, I'm sure there's a deeper understanding that can be found in the progression of the play. Also, I enjoyed the form of Levi's poem because the simplicity juxtaposed the concluding message beautifully and didn't add fluff or overwhelming details.

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  12. Responding to The History Teacher

    Torvald and Nora's relationship is comparable to this poem. There are layers of deception, however well-intentioned, in both pieces. While I was reading the poem, I wondered if the author would include the inevitable ending, in which the students figure out the truth and their perfect world unravels. It's a moment every person experiences, at some point in their early adolescence, when they realize that the world is full of terrible things they don't understand. We don't talk about it, because we assume that everyone else has already reached this point. We can't understand why everyone else wasn't as impacted as a particular news story or tragic event that occurred as we were. However, the poet leaves this moment out of the poem. The author shields the audience of the loss of innocence of students, just like the teacher. Similarly, Torvald figured he was keeping Nora safe and protected by not allowing her to have any access into the "real world". In fact, it was Nora protecting him from the dangers of the real world and the truth of her actual self. At the same time, though, the teacher and Nora were protecting themselves. Nora didn't want Torvald to see the truth because she knew he would blame her for everything, just like how the students would blame their history teacher for not preparing them for the truth. In both cases, the reader or audience is the only person with a clear view of the situation. While we know that the truth, in both situations, would be painful at first but would soon resolve itself, the characters are too focused on the immediate effects of their actions.

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  13. While reading Totally like whatever, you know? by Taylor Mali, I was urged to recognize a betrayal we all do to ourselves. I admit that I also fake my opinions and I have seen it around me all the time. Saying something with confidence appears to be a gateway for judgment to many people, yet the reason is unclear. Reading the poem helped me realize that people tend to stay within the margins of the common view. This idea is central in The Dollhouse, especially for Nora. Saying something remotely dramatic could place her at the center of attention and judgment, making her the outlier within society. Afraid of being singled out, Nora instead learns to muffle her opinions. She blends her independence and individuality to look just like the common housewife she is expected to be, ignoring herself. In fear of being abandoned by Torvald, her children and society Nora plays on as a doll made just for Torvald. She does as she is told and lives a life of deceit all to be part of a blur of limitations. The amount of influence that the fear of judgement has is certainly too high, calling for a change in Nora’s world and in ours.

    Kaby Maheswaran

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  14. With My Papa’s Waltz, the title portrays one meaning while the poem itself portrays another. In the title, waltzing would appear to breed positivity; perhaps the father is teaching his son, the author how to dance. Such as in Ghosts, from the surface, Mr. Engstrand, is perceived by Manders as a man who is “like a helpless child and accuses himself and confesses his frailty.” This opinion Manders holds of Engstrand is restrictive, as he fails to see the true volatility that Engstrand is filled with. The author is implying that his father abuses him yet, he uses the word “waltz” to obscure the ferocity of such action. This theme of Stockholm syndrome also roughly translates to “A Doll’s House” with Nora and her early troubles with being unable to outright confront Torvald, but instead, blames herself for how she handles the situations. The tone of intensity which, in correspondence to the poem, tapers off at the end with a subtle yet strange final stanza such as how dancers finish off their routines with a strong conclusion. This being that both types of endings are desired to be continued to see what else may occur.

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  15. As I mentioned in my comment on Skylar’s post, I have seen in many instances people express their opinions on a woman's appearance, regardless of whether they were asked or not. I think that the problem of people judging women for their appearance as if they were barbie dolls, is an epidemic that is affecting every woman. Ibsen, in A Doll’s House, highlights the importance that people and society place on women’s appearance. Placing such a value on beauty makes people think they are entitled to providing their unasked opinion believing that it is the most important thing in a woman’s life and the most of her concerns. We can also clearly see this attitude in magazines that target women. Their covers, very often, include tips and remedies on how to lose weight or make yourself beautiful according to the society’s expectations. It is almost as if we have the mean girls that were described in Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” constantly taunting us in every store we visit, every corner we turn, to remind us we are not perfect. When the girls in the poem Girls made fun of her “great big nose and fat legs”, their opinions were completely unasked for, unwanted, and unneeded. When magazines or people choose to make or mention such comments, they are making beauty the main and only criteria that defines a woman. Instead of commenting on her personality, her intellect, and traits that are more meaningful, they choose to comment on something so superficial. This importance placed on appearances can be dangerous, as girls and women may fall into the trap that the girl in the poem fell into, which is constantly apologizing for not fitting into the ideal standards of beauty.

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  16. (2/2)

    On another subject, just like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I have met people who have preconceived ideas about my Middle Eastern background, based on some stories they have heard. Due to the representation of Arabs in movies, books, and television, I have been asked, multiple times whether my grandma wear “that thing” on her head?”, or whether we ride camels in Lebanon. I have also been asked once, “Do you guys have stores in Lebanon?”. As in Collin’s “The History Teacher”, in which the teacher was trying to protect his students from the world’s tragedies in order to preserve their innocence while, in reality, they are already aware of the hatred as they “torment the weak and the smart” proving that ignorance is unavoidable. Nevertheless, when we are ignorant and assume we know who people are, how they live and what they aspire to, we are not truthful to who they really are.. Unless we see something first hand, or most importantly with an open mind and heart, nothing we think is the full, indefinite truth. The same way the teacher did not teach his students the true historical events, when we look at the Middle Easterners form one single perspective, it robs these people of their true identity, of everything they are. When Adichie says, "The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete," it really hit home for me since I think it perfectly describes the divisive political climate in the U.S. today, due to the fact that some people are trying to create “one story” for others. By not providing the students with the information needed based on the theory of “ignorance is bliss”, the teacher is in reality preventing them from being educated on matters they can, one day, be presented with leading them to make uneducated judgements. Instead of teaching his students about the tragedies behind the historical events, and explaining to them why they were wrong and what could have been done to avoid them, he is leaving them in total ignorance. This can also be connected to Ibsen’s works as when we are reading “Ghosts”, we have to keep in mind that the priest, although he represents the traditions and beliefs of some Norwegians in the 1900s, he does not represent everybody. After reading “A Doll’s House”, we should not allow it to paint the whole picture for us, and we should not assume that all fathers in Norway are abusive and that all husbands are belittling based on a single story perspective.

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  17. "My Papa's Waltz": This is a classic for me, personally. I think it was sometime in late middle school or early high school that we first read it in class, as part of a poetry unit much like we are having now. There are two things about it that I've always admired the most. The first is how the poem can be interpreted in two different ways, depending on how you choose to interpret the tone of words. Is it a story of a tipsy father and son dance? Or a snapshot into a drunken beating of the child? At first glance it would appear to be the latter, the last two stanzas especially, with its jostling word choices like "scraped" and "battered". But what if the father is just so tipsy that he cannot keep up with his son's dance moves? Is the mother frowning out of fear or innocent maternal disapproval? In the context of Ibsen's works, the abuse stance is probably the one that must be considered, but by itself the intentional uncertainty with which Roethke writes make the poem more dynamic and multifaceted. The second reason I like it so much is its rigid dedication to 6 syllables a line, only straying from this pattern for added effect. This is more of a personal flair, admittedly; I like prose and poetry that conforms to a standard meter.

    "Totally like whatever, you know?": Taylor Mali is so incredibly funny onstage. His stage presence, facial expressions, and way he says things are perfect fits for the content of his works. This poem is no exception. I prefer listening to and watching the video over reading it, though, as I believe it is more slam poetry meant to be performed than traditional written poems like Roethke's. But still, it's interesting to note the punctuation he chooses to use in the written form, where he places commas, dashes, ellipses, and ALL CAPS. He transfers it over perfectly into the video for an effective comedic and thought-provoking effect. If only all of us could be blessed to speak with as much conviction as Mali does.

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  18. Totally like whatever, you know? by Taylor Mali was the poem that most resonated with me, because I feel like I fall into this pattern of unsure language constantly. More worryingly, I think that this pattern translates into my writing, causing me issues with formatting strong arguments and thesis statements. Therefore, I may be subconsciously self sabotaging myself from the minute I open my mouth, or start writing. This stems from the fear of being criticized for saying the wrong thing, or being ridiculed for having an opinion that may not be agreed with. The way to combat this epidemic of "interrogative tone" is one, recognize when you start to infect your speech with uhms or "i dont knows". Secondly we have to start projecting more confidence, even if we dont necessarily have it.
    Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy was my other favorite. The use of third person made this "girlchild" into a character that almost any girl can project onto. The last line really got to me, and effectively summed up the horror tone of the poem. This poem also connected to "Totally, like whatever, you know?" with the line "She went to and fro apologizing". This girl is under scrutiny from the world, and she has crumbled under this criticism, apologizing for her personhood.

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  19. Out of this selection of poems, I was must intrigued by “The History Teacher” and the spoken word poem “Like, Totally Whatever”. Both of these poems relate to A Doll House and Ghosts in a similar way. Each poem have different forms and themes but share the same tone. They both have relaxed and joking tones, appearing not to be about anything too serious. However they both have deeper meanings. “The History Teacher” shows how children are overprotected and not told the real and important details. “Like, Totally Whatever” shows how people are veering away from proper language and from having confidence in themselves. They have very different forms, because one is a spoken word poem while the other is in the traditional written style. I feel as though both poems relate to A Doll House. “The History Teacher” relates because it represents Nora’s life. She went from living with her father to her husband, never having to face the severity of the real world. “Like, Totally Whatever” relates to the childlike behavior both Nora and Torvald show throughout the work.

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  20. In response to the first poem posted, I'd like to note the obvious connection to both gender roles and the subsequent divide between livelihood of men in contrast to that of women. In a man's world, often physical presentation doesn't take precedent in the daily routine, or in daily discourse. While it may be a factor in the rejection of some men, the difference between the expectations of what a man must do to fit in and what a woman must do is tremendous nonetheless.
    On a similar note, I feel as though the connection between the student and the literature (In the case of The History Teacher in particular) is also disconnected and alienated from reality. Just as Nora and Torvald had tried to rewrite their histories, so too does the teacher who silently changes history by admonishing the truth so as to protect the children from the harsh realities of a cold unfeeling world.

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  22. I sincerely enjoyed reading "death of a time share salesman" because of the connection that is created between the timeshare salesman using rhetoric as a means of closing a sale and his personal life. Eddie’s efforts to sell timeshare, which included employing the kids of his customer and harsh humor, made him seem so deceptive and dishonest, making me ask the exact same question that you used to preface the poem: “how do timeshare salesmen smile at home.” I saw a connection between the salesperson and Torvald in Ibsen’s "A Doll’s House", as they both utilize manipulation as a means of getting what they want. While Torvald impairs Nora’s identity by objectifying her, The salesman uses techniques that are similarly disingenuous to convince the customer to buy more timeshare. Behind the man’s smile and facade lies a liar, deceiver, and a con-artist. The end of the poem was also deeply intriguing, as it encompassed a potentially hypothetical situation in which the salesperson’s daughter were to marry, “a special someone / from massachusetts / liberal / black / native / american” (Pellerin). In my opinion, the final lines of the poem suggest that Eddie, who is evidently a staunch conservative, must conform to his daughter’s desires, which will help him realize how inherently malicious his profession as a timeshare salesman is.

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  23. I think that both "Not Bad, Dad, Not Bad" and "Barbie Doll" relate to and reflect Nora's character in A Doll's House. To me, "Not Bad, Dad, Not Bad" is an example of someone else who, like Nora, struggles to raise his children correctly and give them the love they need, even if he is trying his best to raise his son. Similarly, Nora tries her best to be with the children and rear them, but realizes at the end of the play that she simply doesn't have the capacity or maturity to raise herself, never mind a child. I think this touches on Ibsen's concept that not everyone is perfectly suited to fulfill their biological or social roles.

    "Barbie Doll" touches upon the social pressure experienced by women in our society. It details a girl who clearly has great attributes, including intelligence and strength, but doesn't conform to the narrow mold of beauty that our culture prescribes. Similarly, Ibsen prods the ideals of female servitude and male superiority present in Western culture by looking at Nora, who may have great attributes but isn't fit to live the way a Norwegian woman of the time "should."

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  24. The poem The History Teacher gave me chills. I thought back to last year when I had wondered why APUSH was so much different from elementary and middle school history. Back then, history had primarily revolved around key American figures, major wars where the U.S. always seemed to win, and of how our government was supposed to work. Then high school started and U.S. history became something entirely different- topics like slavery, modern-day politics, and the Ku Klux Klan emerged. The fact that our educators have made the conscious decision that our children needed to be sheltered from our own nation’s history was very eye-opening.

    In many ways, Nora follows a very similar path through a Doll’s house. She begins the play as an almost-childlike character blindly following Torvald’s lead. She does not see how unfairly her society treats women or of how she is being suppressed by it. However, as the play progresses and Nora is exposed to more unfavorable events, she begins to see reality with increasing clarity and declares that she “can no longer content [herself] with what most people say or what is found in books.” With that, Ibsen reveals how far Nora has come and how much farther she can go now that she has dedicated herself to seeing and understanding reality.

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  26. The poem “Totally like whatever, you know?” I found very amusing and sad. This is a topic I have talked about in to past english classes after reading Politics and the English Language by George Orwell and a topic that always enhances my belief that we are in a total intellectual dark age. As Orwell said, when our speech becomes sloven so do our thoughts. If you are unable to simply take the time to think about the words you're going to say before you start speaking, allowing the thought to develop from simply abstractness into clear and concise thought maybe there would be like, a point in like, anything you say? The tone the poet takes is one of contempt and sarcasm, creating a satirical yet truthful narrative throughout the poem. This poem reminds me of Nora’s inability to have a clear and concise thought as she flighted around nervously throughout the entirety of the play up until she comes to terms with the fact that “the most wonderful thing” is never going to happen and she must leave her house and her children for her own and their own benefit.
    “My Papa’s Waltz” is an ominous poem that’s message is not direct as it is coming from the perspective of the poet looking back on his life as a young child but the scene still comes across clearly as the poem procedes and then ends. The voice of the poet is a reflective, looking at the situation his father would create. A situation that, if the father were not drunk, would have been a very warm childhood memory but became tainted with the smell of whiskey and dirt caked hands. This poem reminds me of Nora’s reflection upon the fact that she had been severely wrong by both Torvald and her father who had tainted her own opinions with their own

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  27. The poem “Barbie Doll” is one that touches on the social norms that women are held to in our society. Like we discussed in class today Barbie is not a real image, and it is wrong to compare women to this. The poem almost seemed happy to read, which made me a little uncomfortable as it is a very serious and concerning topic. The tone of the poem was completely different from the seriousness of the topic it was portraying. The poem references a girl who is intelligent and beautiful, but feels the restraints of the narrow image that is “beautiful”. Sadly this is the case for many women today. In the terms of the tone and topic of the poem, I related it to Nora in “A Doll’s House”. Not so much does Nora feel the confines of beauty standards but she feels the confines of gender roles. She feels trapped by what she is supposed to be, a kind and caring mother and wife. This stress is what leads to Nora’s revelation that she is so much more than what others make her out to be.

    I believe that the ignorance and almost innocence displayed in “The History Teacher”, is what most connects it to “A Dolls’ House”. In an effort to protect the ones we love we shield them from real and scary solutions. This is how Nora and Helmer’s marriage is. One is trying to protect the other, but in reality they are both just deceiving each other. Our attempts to keep people from knowing the harsh truth we end up hurting them. This is what happens in the play to an extreme. After revealing her secret Helmer is furious with Nora. This decitis what aids in the demise of their marriage.
    Colleen

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  28. All these poems were interesting and elegant in their own ways, but there were two that stuck out to me in particular:

    First, the poem "The History Teacher" really resonated with me. I feel like it was quite relevant to the play "A Doll's House" as well, because analogous to how Ibsen depicts these societal norms where characters must act as if everything is always going well and joyous (even if they are far from this) simply to give off a good impression to others in society, "The History Teacher" delves into how sometimes in academia, particularly in younger classes and grade levels, concepts tend to be widely sugarcoated, and while some regard this as "protecting the innocence of children," this is far from true; in reality, it sets up a dangerous juxaposition between reality and fantasy, where children are unable to tell the difference between the two. I can relate to this as well actually, as I had recently read an article regarding how certain textbooks in some Southern states entirely whitewashed the coercion, murders, and rapes committed against Native Americans, glossing over them naïvely, as if to say they never even occurred. Another news piece as well debated the removal of a statue of Christopher Columbus, who some still consider to be a "classic American hero," when the truth is quite the opposite. Also worth noting: in North Korea, all students are taught that North Korea is the best and most powerful country in the world, which has repeatedly defeated the United States in numerous battles. That doesn't necessarily deem it to be true.

    Another poem is "Totally, Like whatever, You Know?" which was very unique in its structure and the topics it had to do with. In a nutshell, the poem had to do with uncertainty in speech. This, without a doubt, relates to "A Doll's House," as it parallels the tendencies of characters to refrain from speaking their minds, afraid of what might come of it. I think though, there are discrepancies as well, as being unsure of what to say and being hesitant of speaking are two wholly different concepts. In the poem, Taylor Mali writes about issues that are quite relatable, I presume to many students. I personally enjoy writing, and wording and articulation isn't necessarily something I struggle with, although I do know others who are a lot more mathematically-minded than I am, who have amazing ideas but tend to struggle with finding ways to transform their ideas into concrete statements. It was refreshing to read this poem, as it was a form of reassurance, of sorts, to know that this is a universal problem.

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  29. I felt that the poem “The History Teacher” related most to the themes portrayed in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. The idea of ignorance and “protecting” someone from the truth are things we see Nora struggle with throughout the play. Whether she should tell Torvald the truth and how it will affect both of their lives. In both works the audience realized why Nora and the history teacher are lying are deciding not to be truthful , because it is easier to do so than to see someone suffer from the truth. Personally, my biggest pet peeve is being lied to and ignorant people. During my reading of both Ibsen and Collin’s work I was yearning for the main characters to just tell the truth instead of taking the easy way out and lying. Although it much harder to tell the truth it is considered the right and respectful thing to do. I also believe this gets into the manipulating nature of Nora and how in some instances her little white lies were able to get her what she wanted. Similarly in The History Teacher the narrator was manipulating the children into believing something that was untrue. However it seems that the history teacher didn't directly have anything to gain from manipulation like Nora did and instead did it out of a more selfless place as he tried to protect the children's innocence. Though both poems display similar themes we see that such themes of manipulation and shielding the truth can be used for different things, both selfish and selfless adding a moral dilemma to a topic previously seen as bad.

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  31. A Barred Owl by Richard Wilbur was an interesting poem due to the similarities it has with The Doll’s House. One of the similarities I thought it shared was the change of tone both pieces had. In the beginning of A Barred Owl, the child is originally frightened by the voice of the owl and she vocalizes her fear to her parents. However, the parents simply state that the owl is just trying to be friends and is asking her questions which drastically changes the tone from fear to innocence. The Doll’s House mimics this change of tone through the character development of Nora. In the beginning of the play, Nora acts childish and somewhat irresponsible until we learn more about the plot. As the plot thickens we see Nora mature as she goes. Like a child, she wants the problem that Krogstad creates to disappear and for Torvald to never find out about the loan. However, as the play progresses she matures and eventually becomes an adult. After Torvald scolds her and she realizes that her marriage never had any love, it causes Nora's tone to greatly change. Instead of acting like a child she has a conversation of reason with Torvald. The words used by Torvald and the parents played a role in the tones changing in both pieces. In the poem, the tone changes from fear to innocence and in the play the childlike tone Nora once had transforms into one of maturity.

    Rayhan

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