Close reading of a passage

Stephen Cook

Eng. 102

Cline

September 25, 2011

  The passage I chose to write about comes from the very first sentences of chapter 3 of volume 1.  “From this day natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry, in the most comprehensive of the term, became my sole occupation.” (Frankenstein, Mary shelly, p.29)  I’m not that far into the book at this point, but it seems that this is sort of a theme that’s upcoming in the story.  This might not be the most meaningful quote in the book so far, but in order to do something severely special in the area of science one must be most dedicated.  This passage made me to personally want such a sense of purpose as this.  When I read this, I immediately thought of Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton, people that I admire and who devoted their lives to the purpose of scientific discovery. For me, this really gave me, as the reader an emotional relation to the narrator in this passage.  This specific passage clearly shows that there was a necessary motivation to devote ones life to the area of understanding this “science”.  These kind of statements are generally made after a dramatic and emotional event that makes a person want to be more dedicated or rededicated to a certain area of life.  There has already been a number of times that the author has touched on the idea of devotion and purpose.  I have a vague idea of what frankenstein is about and have guesses of what the story is leading to.  This could be another way of establishing the importance of  dedication in the story. Maybe even an unhealthy amount of dedication that leads to obsession.


Here is a link to some quotes about devotion by Albert einstein.

Essay #2 Draft

Stephen Cook

Cline

ENG 102

18 September 2011

A Seemingly Hopeful Expression of Despair

“The Second Coming”, by William Butler Yeats, (1865-1939), is an expression of the authors concern for the current social state of his nation.  The poem was written in 1919, shortly after the events of World War I, and in it he describes a very dark, unstable and violent society.  There is a strong tone of hopelessness, and I think the main theme of the poem is distrust in humanity.   

The first stanza is mostly about how there is such disorder and after setting a strong tone of despair, he then, in the second stanza, introduces the idea of “The Second Coming”.  The author feels that the current situation is presently hopeless and goes on to consider the idea that the world is ending.  I’m forced to consider the possible spirituality of the author when thinking about his intentions in writing such a poem.  In order to speak so strongly of these religious ideas,  it would seem that the author must believe in the religious prophecies that tell about the second coming of christ.

There is no consistent rhyming scheme or meter in this poem.  In a poem of this sort, a meter or rhyming scheme could add a kind of cheery tone.  The author is obviously trying to avoid any positive feelings or images.  The imagery is very dark.  The tone is full of disgust and frustration.  

The title of the poem begins to tell the reader what the meaning of the poem is.  The first line of the poem expresses a slight uneasy feeling.  “Turning, turning in the widening gyre”; a gyre being a sort of vortex in the ocean.  This has a lot of content for such few words.  The reference to nature being restless gives the reader a sort of premonition that there are bad things to come.  The second line tells us that something is wrong.  The third line states, “Things fall apart: the centre cannot hold.”  Next he tells how there is a state of anarchy.  This again expresses a feeling of chaos from the author.  Each line of the first stanza gradually escalates the sense of disorder and darkness.  I find this interesting, because this structure of the content is very organized and the way the author eases the reader into the emotions of despair is clearly done on purpose.  By the time the reader gets to the last line of the first stanza, there is an overwhelming sense of fear.  

The author does do a great job of describing a time of despair.  Although he doesn’t give any real examples, he uses symbolism and vague descriptions.  For example, in line numbers 5-6 it reads, “The Blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere / The ceremony of innocence in drowned”.  I know the poem was written in another place in time, but in my experience, the word loosed is one that is usually associated with an evil presence.  In stories and movies, it’s usually a sort of monster or devil that is loosed.  Then the phrasing in the next part of the line is an attempt to be slightly more dramatic.  The first time I read the poem, I could sense that there was going to be sort of rebuttal to the feelings expressed in the first stanza.  It could’ve been in the tone of the first stanza, or the choice of words, but more likely it’s the title that gives away what is coming next in the poem.

After painting a very clear picture of darkness in the first stanza, he is quick to offer an idea of hope in the first two lines of the second stanza.  The ideas in each are very different, yet he uses the first stanza as a set up to the emotions expressed in the second stanza.  I’m not sure if the second stanza is supposed to be describing a personal vision or dream of the author, or if he is making a religious teaching seem personal.  Either way, he first offers the idea of the second coming as a relief from the depressing ideas of the first stanza.  

As quickly as it seemed that he was offering a rebuttal to the darkness he is envisioning , the author again retreats to a dark and awful description.  In lines 12-13, he expresses that he is troubled with the sight of Spiritus Mundi.  Spiritus Mundi, being in reference to something of the sort of the general spiritual state of society.  This reiterates his disgust and frustration.  He vaguely describes the coming of creature in lines 14-15 that has a lion body and the head of a man.  The creature has a pitiless and blank gaze.  This is the part of the poem where the reader realizes that the “second coming” is not a good thing, but the most horrible of things. 

The author maintains a tone of hopelessness throughout the poem.  After reading and analyzing this poem over and over again, I’ve drawn the conclusion that the poem is meant to express the severity of how dark the times were when the poem was written.  The author feels that it is so bad that it can’t get any worse.  

In the third and final stanza, the author references the town of bethlehem.  I have to think this is a reference to the birth of christ.  Another reference to christ is the “twenty centuries of stony sleep”.  He also designates this sleep as being “vexed to nightmare”. He tells how this “rough beast” he described in the second stanza, “it’s hour come round at last, slouches toward bethlehem to be born?”.  These are three very strong references to religious prophecy.   

William Butler Yeats, in this poem titled “The Second Coming” has accomplished what he set out to do.  He has made the reader feel the strong emotions of disgust and frustration he must have been feeling when writing the poem.  Also, he has possibly caused the reader to be frustrated with the author himself for expressing such emotions of hopelessness and doubtfulness in humanity.  

Works Cited

Yeats, William B.  “The Second Coming.” PotW.org.   http://www.potw.org/archive/ potw351.html.  Web.  18 September 2011.

Blog Post #3 - Poetry Response

The Second Coming

Stephen Cook

Cline

ENG 102

11 September 2011

I chose to write on the poem "The Second Coming", by William Butler Yeats.  I'm not yet exactly sure what He is describing or the setting that the poem is written in.  It is clearly intended to describe a time of darkness.  In the sixth line he states how innocence is drowned.  This is the most intense feeling of despair.  His use of the town of bethlehem makes it clear that he is indeed referencing the return of christ.  The main reason that I chose this poem is that he describes a great sense of terror then immediately jumps to idea of the second coming.  In my opinion it is very frustrating to witness someone expressing such a great sense of despair.  The idea of a second coming is for those that have lost all hope in their situation.  I'm sure thats his purpose for writing it but it still is very aggravating.  I'm pretty well familiar with biblical prophesies and people use them for a number of reasons.  I will have to do more in depth research on the authors background and the history of this poem before I criticize it too strongly. 

This poem is very well written.  I want to make it clear that its the content that I'm frustrated with.  Sometimes people are very quick to jump to the idea that the world is close to it's end.  In reality we as humans think that the world will eventually end but have no real evidence to suggest that the end is near.  I'm hopeful that after I research the author and history of this poem I'll find that it was actually written with the purpose to express despair.  In this day and age, its hard to take people seriously that jump on the bandwagon with these type of ideas.  My main concern with the promotion of the idea of a "second coming" or "savior" is what one must think of their surroundings in order to accept such an idea.  One must view their surroundings as hopeless, hurting their ability to succeed and set goals.  I'm pretty sure the authors purpose in writing this poem was out of feelings of hopelessness and discouragement.  I look forward to doing the research to truly find the authors intent and the poems impact on its audience.

The idea of the second coming of christ is one that brings great debate.  In the following drafts of my analysis of this poem I will be focussing on the techniques and styles of the writer.  I will also look into and address the intentions and influence of this poem.  

Here is a link with some interesting statistics on the belief in the second coming of christ.

Summary vs Analysis

Summarizing is when you tell what the original writing contains.  Summarizing is generally needed in order to analyze the writing.  It can sometimes be easy to over summarize.  We want to look at the writing styles, information sources and other critical information within the writing during analysis.  This information is used to draw conclusions about the author and his or her motives in writing the material.  During analysis we can find symbols and hidden meanings behind the main plot of a story.  Once we’ve found some backup information for a conclusion we’ve drawn we can make an argument about the writing.  In analysis, we can determine what kind of paper it is. It could be a pursuasive paper, a commentary, or a love novel, etc.  This will affect the ways in which we analyse the writing.  If its a pursuasive paper, we can study what kind of pursuation is being used.  If it's a love story, we can find and learn from the ways the writer is able to draw us in emotionally.  At this point in my education, I will be using what I've learned about analysis in order to find what techniques and skills I lack in becoming a good writer.  Summarizing other peoples work can be useful when describing the content of the writing to another person if they aren't able to read the writing themselves.  It is also used by students in school to show instructors that they have read the assigned material.  It is very important to understand the differences between summary and analysis.  It is also important that I be practiced at both of these so that I may do better on future assignments in all of my classes that require these type of assignments.

Here is a link to a site titled "Using summary wisely".