2005 The Chimney Sweepers Outline

Through tone, symbolism, and religious lenses, William Blake successfully distinguishes the similarities and differences between the children's abilities to hope for happiness in the poems called "The Chimney Sweeper".
         
            
         Both poems exhibit examples of color symbolism that distinguish innocence and purity of happy childhood from the darkness of being a young chimney sweep. This contrast is established through the use of white and black. In the first poem, the speaker mentions a child whose white hair was "curl'd like a lambs back" (6) was shaved, causing the boy to weep. The cutting of the white locks symbolizes the child's detachment from innocence, as he is then forced to become a chimney sweep. The dream Tom then has clearly separates their current state of darkness from heavenly purity. The "coffins of black" (12) that encase each of the children represent the soot that constantly dirties their freedoms, as well as the health risks that come with breathing in soot daily. When they are released from them by an Angel, they are released from the blanket of darkness. They become "naked and white" (17), and only then are they able to experience the joy of carefree childhood. This whiteness further contrasts how they "rose in the dark" (21), back in the reality of adult responsibility. A similar contrast of color is explored in the second poem. The first line established the very difference: "A little black thing among the snow" (1). The child sweeps chimneys and is therefore blackened, in contrast with the purity of the snow that surrounds him. Similar to the coffins, the child expresses how he is clothed in "the clothes of death" (7), referring to the dangers of working in the chimneys. The dark clothes also represent the death of childhood, like the in the first poem. This despair contrasts the happiness the child feels when he "smil'd among the winter's snow" (6), before being forced to clean the hearth and the chimney. When he among the whiteness, he experiences youthful joy, but it is dragged down and expired by the dark clothes.
             Though the use of color symbolism is parallel in the two poems, the religious perspectives vary immensely. In the first poem, God and Heaven are looked to as a source of hope and salvation from the hell of chimney sweeping. In the dream, the Angel unlocks their chimney responsibilities and frees them by bringing them to heaven. Tom's told by the Angel that "is he'd be a good boy, / He'd have God for his father & never want joy" (19-20). The promise of heavenly protection from harm and despair causes Tom to awake "happy & warm" (23) despite his unchanging responsibilities. The promise, though given through a dream, is one that gives Tom hope and perseverance to continue with his duties to be rewarded in the end. He gets a taste of paradise, which motivates him to make this decision. Contrastingly, in the second poem, God is condemned by the child for letting him live such a miserable life. The child has feigned happiness, which then makes his parents believe "they have done me no injury" (10). The parents then believe God to be praise-worthy, when really, the child sees any higher power, including God and the Priest and the King, to be responsible for creating "the heaven of our misery" (12). The child is left feeling hopeless from salvation of this state of despair, therefore casting a perspective of negativity on the passiveness of God.
             Through the lenses of color and religion, distinct tones are created in the poems. The first, given the promise of heavenly salvation and the chance to become clean from the dark soot gives the children and the reader a feeling of hope. When they awake, "Tho' the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm; / So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm" (23-24). The warmth is characterized by this hope, that one day there will be light and joy. The hopeful tone however is only established by the second half of the poem. At the beginning, the tones of both poems seem to match. There is despair in hopelessness is exhibited when the speaker's pitying situation is described: "When my mother dies I was very young, / And my father sold me while yet my tongue / Could scarcely cry '' weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!'" (1-3). At so young, the child is forced to live a life of an adult. The second poem starts the same way, as the child cries the same chimney sweep call. However, the tone of hopelessness never shifts. The child is little and helpless, stuck in his "heaven of our misery" (12). His parents are unable to notice his agony and God seems to ignore his pleas for salvation. Never is he given a sign of hope or change, as he stays in his pitiful curled-up state in the snow, weighed down by his black cloak.
                Both poems identify the feelings of children forced to be chimney sweeps at shockingly young ages, and both muster pity and sorrow for their miserable states. The first appeals more to the innocence of hope without being able to realize the impending and unchanging despair. The second explores a child who has realized the depth and permanence of his blackened childhood, creating a more heart-wrenching mood in the reader.

Pride and Prejudice 10

               The scandal regarding Lydia and Mr. Wickham strongly highlights the priorities and expectations of the time. Upon first reading about their scandalous runaway, I immediately thought the characters were worried for young Lydia's safety from Wickam's scheming ways. However, I came to realize that their worry was nearly entirely stemmed from reputation. Her having not yet married Wickham before their adventurous escape is the prime reason for stress, for if word was to get out of her impropriety and foolishness, Lydia's reputation, and thus her ability to marry later in life, would be entirely terminated. Along with her own, the reputation of the Bennet family would be equally at stake, and they would be looked down upon by society forevermore. Thus, news of the marriage to take place between Lydia and Wickham comes as a great relief. Mrs. Bennet becomes the most exited of them all. Elizabeth notes the disconnect and so sudden transition between dissaproval towards Lydia to rejoicing of her marriage: "'How strange this is! And for this we are to be thankful. That they should marry, small as is their chance of happiness, and wretched as is his character, we are forced to rejoice!'" (258). The clear priority in the Bennet household and in society at the time is to prevent scandal from permanently ruining reputation, even if it means marriage to a man known to have scheming and manipulative tendencies.

Pride and Prejudice 8 & 9

                 As Elizabeth goes on reflecting on Mr. Darcy's revelations in his explanatory letter to her, she begins to perceive the world slightly differently. In a conversation with Mr. Wickham, she takes in the information of his scheming ways and hints of the information she has been given. When asked of Mr. Darcy, she makes note: "'When I said that he improved on acquaintance, I did not mean that either his mind or manners were in a state of improvement, but that from knowing him better, his disposition was better understood'" (200). Her statement illustrates how though he has acted favorably towards her in their latest acquaintances, she does not perceive his behavior as being improved. However she does begin to view him differently. With the explanation of the iniquity of Mr. Wickham, Elizabeth is able to correct one of her false notions of his selfishness. Following her statement, she still resists loving feelings toward Mr. Darcy, even when they manage to make a presence in her mind. For the moment, she likes him enough to trust his word against Wickham's, which is a start to a hopefully full acceptance later.

Pride and Prejudice 1-5

             Pride and Prejudice has a title that adequately fits its content. As the story progresses, it is clear that each of the characters are concerned with status, marriage, and courting. Many focus on appearances, forming quick judgments and basing their feelings off of them. Mrs. Bennet only cares about affluence when it comes to finding husbands for her daughters. She is very superficial in this way--she would rather her daughters be financially stable and high in class than emotionally or romantically content. Much of the conflict in finding partners is the struggle to keep a family's pride and title. Bingley's sisters are very judgmental with Elizabeth, mostly because she receives more attention from Mr. Darcy. The entire storyline is focused on first impressions and maintenance of class, following social expectations and fulfilling gender duties.

          Upon reading Mr. Collins' proposal to Elizabeth, I better understand the tone of it. Throughout his stay, Mr. Collins has shown his overwhelming sense of self-importance and arrogance. He takes the time to perform speeches, and is always unaware of how his surrounding audience get easily annoyed by his words. Since he is inheriting the Bennet property, he seems to show a sense of entitlement to choosing whichever Bennet daughter he finds suitable. In his actual proposal, he never once appeals to Elizabeth personally. He speaks of being a clergyman, wanting to add to his happiness, advice from Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and inheriting Longbourn. He never uses typical courting appeals and he never mentions her happiness. The entire second half of his proposal is solely to do with financial issues and his inheriting the house after Mr. Bennet's death. He believes that by appealing to this dilemma, he will persuade her hand inn marriage. Little does he realize how arrogant and long-winded he sounds.

Poetry Slam Poem 1 (group)

"Dear Cliche High School Bully"

Dear cliche high school bully,
You, the one who redefined the term,
You, who doesn't steal lunch money, but hopes and dreams,
You, who uses logic and cunning instead of fists and wedgies,
You, the painting of innocence, a face without a heart--
You're boring me.
This game you play isn't one I asked to be in,
Much less when it involves trying to make me cry,
Especially when the objective is to break me.
You can't stand that I can stand and smile,
You can't stand how I won't stoop as low as you.
I'm the perfect target, we both know that:
Awkward speech impediments, lack of conventional hobbies,
My childish interests aren't as womanly as your Cosmo and Vogue
And maybe my vocabulary consists of more 'likes' than actual words,
And maybe my Facebook wall isn't cluttered with people I don't know,
And maybe I have no idea what in the world a Twitter is.

But I do know who I am, and I ain't trying to please you.
I'm not sorry your friends abandoned you
When you used and abused them, believing you could subdue them,
Believing you had some kind of power over their will.
Who do you think you are, pulling the trigger of the gun of judgment
When you've got it pointing the wrong way?
I don't know if you've heard, but there's a difference between dignity and pride.
Swallow the latter and up the former, because you can't seem to get over
The delusional idea that you deserve better,
That you deserve more,
That maybe manipulation and backstabbing will make you happier.
I mean, you got what you wanted, right?
All the fame without the glory,
All the praise without the sincerity.
Rid the cloud of denial from your bleary eyes
Because you sure ain't fooling anyone/
I mean Shakespeare summed it up pretty well--
Heaven truly knows that thou art false as hell.

And I just wanted to say "thank you."
Thank you for staring,
For shifting your gaze up and down, side to side,
Silently judging and ridiculing,
Taking the time to spot my flaws and give them value.
Thank you--for wasting the effort.
Behind the curl in your lips and the cold in your eyes
I see your criticisms,
Circling around your head and propelling my way,
Armed with weapons of malicious intent--
I smile.
Your grin fades and your eyebrows raise
As your insults scurry and dance hectically,
Falling to the ground,
One by one,
Shattering soundlessly.

You're the reason my defenses are so strong.

Sincerely,

No longer inferior

Poetry Slam Poem 2 (group)

I'm Not Sorry

Why can't you say my name as it was intended
Before your harsh tongue butchered it with English,
Spitting it back at my face,
Disgracing my culture, belittling who I am,
Erasing my identity because I don't matter
So long as you can stomp on the inkling of hope I manage to hold onto

Does my skin scare you?
Does this complexion constitute as an unspoken crime?
Does my skin tone stand as a denotation for intellectual inferiority?
Does the make-up of my pigment demarcate my verbal capabilities?
You act like my coloration is a handicap,
Like I should be ashamed of this sun-kissed hue.

Is my wild mane too animalistic?
Or should I be rocking a perm or a weave?
Because I'd be looking like Chewbacca otherwise,
Because my hair should be monotone, structured, lifeless.
Is it wrong that I am what I represent, not who I should represent?
Or am I not to be what's withing?
Supporting a cause, destroying my voice,
Leaving me colorless on a blueprint backdrop.

Color me with the brilliance of chaos
Because lacking a color is a burden,
Because being achromatic means being a racist,
Because I can inflict pain, not bear it.
I can't have pride or else I'm oppressice
But I'm not my ancestry,
Don't define me based on history
When we're speaking in the present tense.

Oh, the horrors of the cruelty of man.
Oh, the beauty of the aftermath of a storm
I'm not sorry; I won't apologize for being a palette of majesty,
I won't pretend I am worth nothing more than a puddle of diversity.

I am oppression, I am liberty, I am tragedy, I am independence.

Hamlet 5: Discussion with Mother

               Throughout the entire play, there are instances of King Claudius and Queen Gertrude try to spy on Hamlet in order to determine his state of madness. Each time, Hamlet is too wise to be fooled, discovering the trickery being committed. When the prince storms into his mother's room, he quickly discovers Polonius spying on their conversation. In the scene before, the king and queen send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to bring Hamlet to England to isolate him from his murderous plans and to then kill him. The deception and trickery always backfires due to Hamlet's quick-witted and skillful role-play. However, in his encounter with the Queen he loses control, letting his emotional fury take over. It is here when his mother thinks him mad, though he is not embodying a prepared role of madness. She feels his hurtful but truthful remarks: "These words are like daggers enter into my ears" (III.iv.108) and "thou has cleft my heart in twain!" (III.iv.177). Hamlet makes the most emotional impact when unleashing his overpowering emotions to his mother. Yet even with the emotional confession and accusation, Gertrude does not seem to take Hamlet's plea to not "spread the compost on the weeds / To make them ranker" (III.iv.172-173). Gertrude does not stop Claudius' wrath from taking control of her, of Hamlet, and of Denmark with corruption and deceitfulness. She does not pursue the King and simply regards Hamlet as being mad beyond recovery.