The Importance of Being Earnest

In The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, the movement of the two main characters, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, from the city to the countryside plays an important role in the literary work. Both of these men partake in two opposite lives as individuals. Through these characters, of Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, synonymously Earnest, and their journeys, the hypocritical and contradicting standards and attitudes of society are revealed.

            Jack Worthing is a respectable figure in Hertfortshire: he is guardian of his niece Cecily. Jack Worthing is viewed as a mature man, and to escape the constant stress and expectations that coincide with this “picture-perfect” stereotype, he morphs into Earnest whenever he travels to London. In London, Jack lives vicariously through the alias of Earnest, loving Gwendolen Fairfax, who lusts after the name Earnest. In order to upkeep the validity of his double life, Jack lies to his niece and his love, misleading Cecily to believe he is taking care of his younger brother Earnest in London, and misleading Gwendolen to believe that Jack himself is indeed Earnest. His travels end up blending together into a pool of contradictions, and when confrontation results, his situation can be translated to the manners and hypocrisy of the Victorian period, with persuasions and misguided identities and the urgency to fit in.

            Algernon Moncrieff is Jack Worthing’s best friend, and also goes by Ernest in different situations. He is a "Bunberry." The persona of Ernest provides him with a relief from his stresses of the Victorian period and also allows for him to have a relationship with Jack’s niece Cecily who has fantasized of this character of Earnest. The travels that both Jack and Algernon endure throughout the literary work play an important role to the meaning of the work as a whole, as they highlight the faults of the Victorian period. There are contradicting values of falseness, with the lies that both Algernon and Jack tell and there is also the necessity to fit in to impress another person. 

Reflection of Poems

The poem "Good Times" by Lucille Clifton is a simple poem, yet it has a strong and important message. The repetition of the phrase "good times"  multiple times throughout the entirety of the piece initiates the audience's first realization of the narrator's optimistic outlook on her situation and life. After listing a few hardships the family has experienced, such as insurance problems, electricity issues, and financial troubles, which are all referred to through the poet's language: "My Daddy has paid the rent/ and the insurance man is gone/ and the lights is back on," the narrator states "and they is good times/ good times/ good times." This person is overwhelmingly grateful for the overcoming of her obstacles and is appreciative of the positive aspects of her life. This can be assumed by the narrator's reflection on the celebrations that are occurring as results of this good news. The giddy imagery in the second stanza clearly portrays her happiness. The poet includes images that are regularly associated with pleasantness: "everybody is drunk/ and dancing in the kitchen/ and singing in the kitchen." From these common related images, the family can be perceived as happy and in a state of content.
My personal interpretation of this poem was that the family had recently faced some common troubles that are normal for an average family to stumble upon. They faced them, and were able to get over them and they had probable cause for celebration as it would not have been an easy task to overcome those issues. I thought that Lucille Clifton included interesting imagery with simple diction to portray her overall message that the outcome will be worth it, and to be proud of your accomplishments is a beautiful experience. (p.277 #209)

The poem "On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High" by D.C. Berry contains multiple literary devices to portray the ultimate message of the poem. The simile of the students "as orderly as frozen fish in a package" shows the obedience of the students, but can also show the lack of interest the students hold. The poet also includes the allusion of the classroom being an aquarium. The poet describes "and then I heard the sounds/ of fish in an aquarium/ and I knew that though I had/ tried to down them/ with my words/ that they had only opened up/ like gills for them/ and let me in." in the third stanza. The poet relates the commentary, or lack thereof, of the students to the 'sounds' of fish, where in reality fish make limited noise. The poet refers to the teacher's attempts at a lesson as the drowning of the fish, the students. There is also personification in this poem. The bell is given human characteristics, "till the bell rang/ puncturing/ a hole in the door" which can be perceived as the students anticipation to escape the classroom. There is also another allusion of hands as fins in the final stanza: "my cat met me/ and licked my fins/ till they were hands again." This allusion can be translated into two different atmospheres and two different, altering personalities of the teacher.
My personal interpretation of this poem was that the allusions referring to the classroom and to the hands of the teacher compare two different personalities and the differences of those. One is a normal, average life, a classroom and the hands, while the other is an unusual situation of an aquarium and fins and gills of the students. I think the poems ultimate message was that a person does not have to be black and white and this world includes a rainbow of different shades and it is never a clear, clean cut situation. (p 273 #203)

Reflection of The Handmaid's Tale

A symbol in Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale, is the ceremony. "The ceremony" refers to the act of sexual intercourse between the Commander of the household, the handmaid, and the wife. This is a monthly reoccurance that is supposed to not contain any emotion or feelings pertaining to the Commander, the handmaid, or the wife. Handmaid's in this society are only valued for their uterus and whether or not they can become pregnant and have a child. The ceremony is considered such, because it is not an intimate act between two emotionally attached people who have strong feelings towards each other, as sexual intercourse is perceived to be, in any society but that of the Gilead, but it is a required, necessary act that signifies their loyalty to the society. The ceremony is often awkward for the participants, as there is not supposed to be any speaking involved, because that could possibly indicate a connection between the three people, which is prohibited. The handmaid is strictly a uterus, in the eyes of the society, while the wife and the commander are the people who are attempting to conceive the child and raise it as their own. Most times, the wife is incapable of these duties, so that is why the handmaid, a younger, usually fertile woman, is involved because she was assigned to the Commander's house to have a child. The symbol of the ceremony represents the act of awkward sex for a potential child, and represents the standing of the handmaids in this society, which is strictly a uterus.


My favorite passage from the novel is:

        "Night falls. Or has fallen. Why is it that night falls, instead of rising, like the dawn? Yet you look                east, at sunset, you can see night rising, not falling; darkness lifting into the sky, up from the horizon, like a black sun behind cloud cover. Like smoke from an unseen fire, a line of fire just below the horizon, brushfire or a burning city. Maybe night falls because it's heavy, a thick curtain pulled up over the eyes. Wool blanket. I wish I could see in the dark, better than I do.

Night has fallen, then. I feel it pressing down on me like a stone. No breeze. I sit by the partly open window, curtains tucked back because there's no one out there, no need for modesty, in my nightgown, long-sleeved even in summer, to keep us from the temptations of our own flesh, to keep us from hugging ourselves, bare armed." (Atwood 191)

I admire this passage because I think it is skillfully and delicately crafted. Margaret Atwood hints at the extremities the handmaids have to endure in this society: their nightgowns having to be long-sleeved because the society does not want the handmaids to have the sense of freedom and vulnerability that accompanies touching one's own skin, the short phrase "no breeze" indicates their is no change of heart, and no getting away. It is always routine for the handmaids and there is no getting carried away by a breeze, they are forced to stay.

This is what the handmaid's are prohibited to do, because of their own bare-arms.

This is what the handmaid's are allowed to do, because there shirts have long-sleeves.

I enjoyed reading this novel. I thought the diction was simplistic but contained many metaphors and symbols throughout it, keeping the audience on their toes all through the novel. It was not a particular challenging read, but discussed multiple mature topics, which I thought were presented in admirable notions.