Medusa

Extremely interesting poem. I like how the poem gives the reader a sense of how the narrator is feeling. You almost feel bad for the narrator because he explains how he will forever be still. It's kind of a sad tone. One thing I didn't like was that the poem left you guessing the fate of the narrator. Does he die? Or does he live on in stone and just see the world through his eyes?

Cathedral

Upon reading the title "Cathedral" my first thought was "this is going to be one boring story." I figured it would have some sort of dark gothic theme present. But the turn out actually wasn't to bad. As I read I became more engaged into the story and actually didn't mind reading it at all. You would never think you would be reading about people that are hanging out, drinking, and getting high with a title like "Cathedral". What was mosting interesting to me was the moral of the story, and how the author uses the symbol of a church to portray his message. 

"The Yellow Wallpaper"

After reading "The Yellow Wallpaper" some may argue that they now feel crazy. After a deep analysis into the connection between the short story and the life of it's author, it becomes clear that she wrote the story to tell the world about her own story. A lot of the story was based on factual events that Gilman experienced. As in the story, she herself suffered from nervous breakdowns was put to bed by a reputable doctor. She was also advised not to write again, and just as it happened in the story her illness worsened. The events of "The Yellow Wallpaper" also had roots to what she can remember of her mothers life. The woman in the story was a "prisoner" to her husband. That analogy also implies that the story has a theme of female isolation. I found it very interesting that Gilman was able to say so much to her reader in this story alone. Ideas of her concern for other women like herself are raised, ideas of her childhood and her parents marriage are raised, even ideas of gender inequality are present.

Cinderella by Anne Sexton

I definitely liked reading this poem compared to most other poetry I have read simpley because It was easy to read and comprehend. A lot of the sarcasm was easy to catch and to interpret, which makes reading fun. Sexton also brought a lot of modern ideas to the story in her opening stanzas. That helps bring reality and truth to the moral lesson of the "Cinderella" story. I feel as if Sexton is also almost mocking or undermining the famous fairly tale because of the way she opens the poem in the first few stanzas. All in all it was a pretty cool version to the tale, very close to the original Grimm version, which shows a nice darker version of the tale. 

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost

 The poem is a very short poem with a total of 8 lines. Within those 8 lines a great story is told. While reading the poem a few times over I was able to pick up on a few key points. Just to mention one, the poem starts off by saying "Nature's first green is gold," Implying spring and it's first leafs, and the richness off it all. Gold represents wealth, thus the speaker can be trying to say that nature's green is worth just as much as gold. Many argue that money can't buy happiness, and that love for material objects will never bring "true happiness". As gold symbolises materialism it wont last for long and it will give us “fake happiness”. That is pretty much what I think the message of the speaker is.

The fish

I'm the farthest thing from a fan of poetry, but I must say I do have a new found respect for the genre. After reading "The Fish" multiple times I found myself enjoying the challenge of trying to figure out the authors message. I wrote essay #2 based on this poem and I thought I was going to have a nightmare trying to find the literary techniques used by the author. When I begun my search by analyzing the essay it became very clear that the poem was full of different literary elements. I must admit it actually was much more simple than I thought. I think I  will spend a little more recreational time reading and analyzing poetry. I think it may help with cognitive development by forcing me to think in new ways.  

"Tell-Tale Heart"

As I read the short story "Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe I actually enjoyed myself. The reading was fun, that's  something I can't say about a lot of other things I have read. I captivated such an interest in the story that I spent the rest of that evening researching the author. After reading some of Poe's other works, I think it's safe to say he is one of my "favorite" authors thus far.