Type of Poetry: Free Verse
The days are numbered
classes are coming to an end.
As I look back, I wonder
where the semester has gone.
It went so fast but seemed,
to drag on forever.
I’m proud to have made it through this class
I’ve worked hard and learned a lot;
about myself and literature.
It’s time to move on and
begin another journey.
I decided to write a blog on the topic we discussed in class on Friday. I thought the Awakening the Heroes Within book was useful throughout the semester. After taking the Heroic Myth Index test, my three dominant archetypes were Lover, Creator, and Sage. I used the Awakening the Heroes Within book to read more in-depth about my dominant archetypes. On my journey, I have seen the Lover archetype most often. I still feel that the lover is still dominant in my life and on my journey. I took the Heroic Myth Index test again and Lover, Creator, and Sage are still my three dominant archetypes. I sometimes see other archetypes in my life now; such as, the caregiver, but my dominant three are shown in my life a lot. I also thought this book was useful because it gave a lot of examples and text about each archetype.
Type of Poetry: Etheree
You
are not
the same as
me. I am not
the same as you or
them. We are different.
I’m differing from the norm.
I can make my own decisions.
Please don’t control, we can be equal.
Stand beside me and we will make it through.
Over the years, there has been many changes in how people think about men and women. Many societies have social roles that are to be played out by men and women. My first English 101 professor, had us make lists of what societies used to deem as only masculine characteristics and feminine characteristics. For the men, we had such things as; bread-winner, hero, strong, and ruler. For the women we had written down; caregiver, sensitive, loving, and submissive. By looking at the lists, it shows how much times have changed. Yes, men may be strong and heroic; however, women are also strong and heroic. I feel that although some women are still submissive to their husbands or significant other, women stand up for themselves more today than they would have in the past.
I thought that this tied into how feminism and queer theory are related. With the definition of queer theory as “differing from the norm,” we can see how much things are different from how they were in the past. The women taking the chances and taking on more masculine roles would reflect the queer theory. We saw this in The Color Purple, when Celie gets the strength to stand up for herself against Mr.___. Also, what I have read so far in Middlesex, I can tell that queer theory is going to be shown throughout the book.
I found a poem that I thought showed queer theory and feminism both. What I took from the poem, is that the “norm” was being shown and what really happens today is what is differing from the norm. The poem is That Women Are But Men’s Shadows by Ben Jonson. I thought that the women being men’s shadows was like talking about them being submissive to them or behind them. What women are fighting and looking for is not to be behind men but to be beside and equal to them.
Follow a shadow, it still flies you;
Seem to fly it, it will pursue:
So court a mistress, she denies you;
Let her alone, she will court you.
Say, are not women truly then
Styled by the shadows of us men?
At morn and even shades are longest,
At noon they are short or none;
So men at weakest, they are strongest;
But grant us perfect, they’re not known.
Say, are not women truly then
Styled but the shadows of us men?
If you did lyrics they are due on monday but make sure they are posted to your blog.
In class today, we discussed 3 questions.
1. What is feminist theory and how does it play out in the color purple?
2. How is the feminist theory responsible for the development of queer theory?
3. What is queer theory and how does it play out in your life?
We discussed these questions in our small groups and then as a class. Our group just decided to write a blog and a poem on these topics – feminism and queer theory, and how they relate. We also touched on the term hegemony – meaning the majority ruling over the minority.
I completed the bonus of rewriting the lyrics, but I won’t be in class on Friday to read them. I just decided to post them on my blog. Some of the lyrics are the same, because I thought they fit well with the theme.
Lessons Learned
Carrie Underwood
There’s some things that I regret,
Some words I wish had gone unsaid,
Some starts,
That had some better endings,
Been some bad times I’ve been through,
Damage I cannot undo.
Some things,
I wish I could do all all over again,
But it don’t really matter,
When life gets that much harder,
It makes you that much stronger,
Oh, some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were,
Lessons learned.
And every tear that had to fall from my eyes,
And every day I wondered how I’d get through the night,
Every change, life has thrown me,
I’m thankful, for every break in my heart,
I’m grateful, for every scar,
Some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were lessons learned.
There’s mistakes that I have made,
Some chances I just threw away,
Some roads,
I never should have taken,
Been some signs I didn’t see,
Hearts that I hurt needlessly,
Some wounds,
That I wish I could have one more chance to mend,
But it don’t make no difference,
The past can’t be rewritten,
You get the life you’re given,
Oh, some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were,
Lessons learned.
And every tear that had to fall from my eyes,
And every day I wondered how I’d get through the night,
Every change, life has thrown me,
I’m thankful, for every break in my heart,
I’m grateful, for every scar,
Some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were lessons learned.
And all the things that break you,
Are the things that make you strong!
You can’t change the past,
Cause it’s gone.
And you just gotta move on,
Because it’s all
Lessons learned.
And every tear that had to fall from my eyes,
From everyday I wondered how I’d get through the night,
From every change, life has thrown me.
I’m thankful, for every break in my heart,
I’m grateful, for every scar,
Some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were lessons learned,
Oh, some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were lessons learned,
Lessons learned.
Lessons learned.
Lessons Learned
My version
“At the bottom of the abyss
comes the voice of salvation.”
My journey is at a stand still
The darkness is overtaking me
I cannot turn back now
Some things,
I wish I could do all all over again,
But the past has gone away
This journey keeps on movin
This is the life I’m livin
Oh, some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were,
Lessons learned.
And every mountain that
I had to climb
Every day I wanted to
give up my fight
I can, see the light
The future keeps on comin
This is the life I’m livin
Some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were,
Lessons learned.
There are choices I could’ve made
Some paths, I turned away from
Some roads,
I never should’ve taken,
People always helping me to see
That this was all within me
I wish,
That I could fix the damage done
But the past has gone away
This journey keeps on movin
This is the life I’m livin
Oh, some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were,
Lessons learned.
And every mountain that
I had to climb
Every day I wanted to
give up my fight
Oh, I can see the light
The future keeps on comin
This is the life I’m livin
Some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were,
Lessons learned.
And all the darkness
that gets to you
It’s your fight that makes you strong
The past has gone away
And it’s now
Your time to look ahead
Because it’s all,
Lessons learned.
And every mountain that
I had to climb
Every day I wanted to
give up my fight
Now I can see the light
The future keeps on comin
This is the life I’m livin
Some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were,
Lessons learned.
Oh, some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were,
Lessons learned,
Lessons learned.
Hope Abides by Sri Chinmoy
Hope abides; therefore I abide.
Countless frustrations have not cowed me.
I am still alive, vibrant with life.
The black cloud will disappear,
The morning sun will appear once again
In all its supernal glory.
Type of Poetry: Quatrain
This has been a very long journey
I can finally say, This is me!
Along the way I was filled with fear
But, I’m proud to say I’m here
I just let you do whatever before
You cannot put me down anymore
Not anymore because I know me
I am finally set free
I can admit to myself, I am beautiful
I can stand up against the push and pull
You can say what you want, but I’m alive
I am me; happy and free, and loving my life.
A poem about the change in finding yourself
Type of Poetry: Haiku
The darkness is gone
The weight of the mask has left
The light is shining
One of the themes in The Color Purple is finding yourself. For this entry, I wanted to write about how Celie found herself and who helped her on her journey. I also wanted to write about when I found myself. Add a poem and discuss the similarities.
As I stated above, one of the themes in The Color Purple is finding yourself. Throughout most of the book and thus far in the movie, we see Celie’s struggle of finding out who she is. Celie went through so much in her childhood, that she was forced to mature early. I thought this contributed to her having to find herself.
In the movie we are visually able to see the changes in Celie. At the beginning, when Nettie was forced to leave Mr.’s house, everything was always dark and depressed looking. When I saw how Celie reacted to Nettie leaving, it was as if everything she had ever known was ripped away from her. Nettie was the only one who loved Celie. What I took from the both the movie and the book was that everything Celie knew about herself and life revolved around Nettie. When Nettie left, I think Celie lost what little she knew about herself.
As the movie continues, when Shug Avery comes, we see a change in the lighting of the movie. The movie becomes colorful and we see a change in the weather too. While Celie is taking care of Shug, we see a change in Celie’s attitude. She seems a lot happier since Shug is there. She has heard so much about Shug, so she couldn’t wait to meet her. After Shug sings Miss Celie’s Blues and Celie and Shug go back to the house, I thought this was the point where Celie starts to see who she is. Shug asked her why she was always covering up her smile. So, Shug made Celie look at her smile in the mirror and I could really see a change in Celie. Celie started opening up to Shug and is finally happy for once; since Nettie left. Even after Shug left, I saw that Celie was hanging on to what she learned from Shug.
There was a point in my life when I really found who I was. Throughout high school, I had a group of friends that I hung out with and we did everything together. After being with my boyfriend for a while, I realized that I was a different person when I was with him. When I am with him, he makes me feel so comfortable and I can just be myself; the person I truly am. I realized that when I was with my friends, I was being who they wanted me to be. It was such a great relief to find who I truly was and not have to conform to what my friends wanted me to be. I have often thanked my boyfriend for helping me find the true me and also for loving and letting me be the true me.
I found the poem Living A Lie written by Chris Stallings. I thought this poem had a lot of similarities to both Celie’s and my life. With everything going on in Celie’s life, she was lost and couldn’t find who she was. Everything for most of her life was chosen for her. In my situation, I was conforming to what my friends wanted from me and masking the real me. “Because living a lie is a sacrifice,” made me think about it being a struggle to find who you are. Both Celie and myself became to use to what we were given as ourselves that we had to work to unmask who we really were.
Walking around forcing a smile
wishing someone could walk a mile in my shoes,
talking about
every things alright,and appear to someone else to be living the life
Trying to fit in, want to be me
scared of the possibility
that they won’t except me for who i am
now i lost my identity
and don’t know who i am anymore
Because I’ve been living a lie
trying to survive losing most of myself
saying goodbye to it sounds so right
but it’s not easy as it seems
because living a lie is a sacrifice
but no more
I’ve gotta be my self now
Talking things over in my head
how do i find the part of me that’s dead
because this mask that others see
finally i want to shed
Trying to fit in
want to be me, but afraid of the possibilities
that they want except me for who i am
but no longer am i afraid
gonna show the world
let it be heard that I’ve been
I’ve been living a lie
trying to survive losing most of myself
saying goodbye to it sounds so right
but it’s not easy as it seems
because living a lie is a sacrifice
but no more
I’ve gotta be my self now
Sources:
Living A Lie http://www.helium.com/items/985069-poetry-finding-yourself
