Frankenstein- 6

"...but when i heard details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased, and I turned away with disgust and loathing." pg. 84

I find this quote to be very ironic and hypocritical. The creature learns of the cruelty of man and murder from the book, Ruins of Empires. He finds bloodshed and murder to be so grotesque and despicable. I don't understand how he can transform from that line of thinking to the rational of being satisfied with murder. I know that the creature has endured a large amount of hardships, but I don't think one's mind can change that dramatically. I think this is and issue of nature vs nurture. The creature was naturally born innocent, but the circumstances he encountered through life altered his thinking. He claims that the human race made him this way, therefore, his nurturing and upbringing changed his life immensely. I am so surprised by the effect nurturing has on the outcome and personality of the creature.

The Glass Menagerie- 3

"The play is a memory." 1236

Compared to the Shakespeare plays we have read recently, this play was enjoyable to read. I am a very realistic person, so the fact that everything was explicitly stated made this much easier to understand. The realism was very apperent through the dialouge. It wasn't written in proper sentences, let alone iamic pentameter, like Othello and As You Like It. Throughout this play, I noticed each family member had a complex relationship with eachother. Tom and Amanda often didn't see eye to eye. They refused to see eachothers point of view on many things. Amanda worried that Tom was going to turn out like his father, and he did. The ironic thing about that is, Amanda tried to prevent this from happening, but that is what caused him to leave. By pushing and criticizing Tom, Amanda drove him away just as she drove away her ex-husband.

The Glass Menagerie- 1

Amanda. "You can't put in a day's work on an empty stomach." pg. 1251

In my opinion, Amanda is a terrible mother. In one sense she is completely dependent on her son for financial support. But, she still thinks she has room to criticize him. I find this to be very ironic. I don't see how Amanda can yell at and lecture Tom when he basically gives up his hopes and ambitions to support her and Laura. She complains that he is selfish and doesn't work hard enough. I can't even fathom how she has the nerve to do that. If she feels like calling someone selfish she should look in the mirror. She does nothing to support her children. She is so superficial and fake that she thinks finding a husband for her daughter is more important than supporting her family. She is so lazy and selfish that she is unaware of how much tom sacrifices for her.

As You Like It- 3

"Truly, shepherd, in respect of itself, it is a good life; but in respect that it is a shepherd's life, it is naught." pg 35

Throughout Shakespeare's As You Like It, there is constant comparison between country and city life. This motif is ironic in the way that each one lends itself to the characteristics of the other. In a normal realm of thinking, the city would be thought of as hardworking and peaceful and the country as lazy and savage. However, in this play, the city is portrayed as a combative and lazy place. There are brawls in the streets, and there is entitlement in positions. In the country, people are hardworking and respectful if each other. For people that live in the city, city life is ideal, and for those that live in the country, country life is ideal. Those that prefer the city feel that country life is dirty, lonely, and improper. But, what these city people fail to realize is that the customs of the city do not fit in with the country lifestyle, and vice verse.

Potpourri 2 - The Drunkard

"You were his guardian angel." pg. 351

This story was full of irony and humor. The humorous part was the drunk 12 year old. He found beer to be completely disgusting, but wanted to experiment. The irony of the story is that the mom refers to her son as a guardian angel sent from God. This isn't the typical reaction of a mother when finding out her 12 year old got drunk at a bar. The mother was angry with her husband for letting the 12 year old drink, but was so glad that that prevented the father from drinking. When dragging his drunk and obnoxious son home through the streets, the father was embarrassed. That is ironic because he is usually the one being dragged home because he's so plastered. The father doesn't realize the error of his ways, so he probably continued to go on drinking binges.

Potpourri 1 - Popular Mechanics

"I want the baby." page 2

Although it was very short, this story left me with many unanswered questions. Why was the couple breaking up? Why did they physically fight for the baby? Was the baby their child? Why were no quotation marks used? I find ironic that the title of the story is "Popular Mechanics," yet many grammatical mechanics were omitted. Also, I have a thought as to why the couple is breaking up. I think the man may be abusive. This probably would explain the woman's irrational behavior when the man wanted to keep the baby. If the man is dangerous, she would not feel comfortable leaving the baby in his care. I think that the style of the mechanics may coincide with the theory that the man is abusive. Maybe the lack of quotations is supposed to reflect that the man is uneducated. Uneducated men are more prone to abuse than educated men.

Theme 4- Once upon a Time

"The alarm set up wailing against the screams while the bleeding mass of the little boy was hacked out of the security coil with saws, wire-cutters, choppers, and they carried it--the man, the wife, the hysterical trusted housemaid and the weeping gardener--into the house." pg. 236

This was not your typical fairy tail children's story. It was full of violence and irony. The man and wife were so paranoid about danger. They purchased all kinds of security systems that eventually led to the death of their child. It is ironic how their paranoia of danger is what ended up killing their son. I think that it is strange that the parents held security as such a high priority. There was never any significant danger near them, and nothing had ever happened to them. They didn't even pay that much attention to there child. Also, the alarm falsely triggered so regularly that it wasn't taken seriously. Why buy all that security if you aren't going to use it? I guess the moral of this story is not to let paranoia get the best of you.

Characterization 2 - Hunter's in the Snow

"They are not doing him any good," Frank said. "We might as well get some use out of them." pg. 201

The irony in this story is reflected through the initial characterizations of Tub and Kenny. At first, Tub is characterized as the helpless victim. He is unable to stand up to Kenny's jokes. He also faces insecurities about his weight and over indulgence issues. We see Kenny as a bully who picks on others to make himself feel better. Even when he can sense Tubs attitude, he keeps it up. However, mid way through the story their roles are completely reversed, but to a more drastic measure. Kenny is truly a helpless victim. He is left to die in the freezing cold. Tub becomes the real bully. He leave his friend to die without attempting to help him. I think that throughout the story, Frank provided the stable, non hectic attitude. He never over reacted to either Tub or Kenny being a bully. He seemed to want to stay out of it.

Characterization 1 - Hunter's in the Snow

"They had taken a different turn a long way back." pg. 201

I found this story to be completely strange and ironic. In the beginning, I thought Kenny was a huge jerk. He constantly made fun of Tub and never knew when to quit. I also felt really sympathetic towards Tub. He was fat and lonely and let all of Frank and Kenny's jokes get to him. Then, out of know where, Tub shoots Kenny. At that time, I didn't even know what to think. I thought it was ironic how Tub, who was depicted as the victim, turned out to be the real jerk. He shows absolutely no concern for his friend that he just shot. Tub and Frank leave Kenny, who is dying from a shot wound inflicted by Tub, in the freezing cold snow while they go have a heart to heart. This made me really hate both of them. I don't feel sorry for Tub for being fat at all. He brings it on himself. He needs to learn some self control.

Plot 2. How I Met My Husband

"So I said yes, and I went out with him for two years and he asked me to marry him, and we were engaged a year more while I got my things together, and then we did marry." pg. 146

I was very surprised by the way the story ended. I found it very ironic that the title is "How I Met My Husband," yet she describes him and their encounter in two paragraphs. I know that Edie's desire to receive a letter from her former lover, Chris Watters, was the reason she met her husband, but I thought the excessive detail of their meaningless fling was irrelevant to her meeting her husband.  The structure of the story provided suspense for the reader. I didn't know what was going to happen. I certainly didn't predict that she would meet and marry her husband within the last page. If we had known that Edie wouldn't end up with Chris, I wouldn't have been as engaged in the story. Because the story is told retrospectively, it makes sense that she wouldn't end up with Chris. As a young girl, she  fantasized about her dream husband, Chris. Now, based on Edie's tone, looking back at herself, she sees how foolish and naive she was. She realizes that logically she needs to be with a normal, nice guy, like Carmichael.

Plot 1. A Rose for Emily

"One of us lifted something from it, and leaned forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair." pg. 289

The purpose of the structure of this story is to create suspense. If this had simply been told in chronological order, the suspense wouldn't have been as effective. To begin the story, Emily is depicted as a victim. She was hassled by the police and imprisoned by her father. So as a reader, I am thinking to myself, poor Emily, as do the people of her town. But, in the end we discover Emily isn't really so helpless. She is in fact crazy. Ironically, Emily turns out to be the so called villain. She has been storing a dead body in her house and laying with it night after night. I think that Emily's change in physical appearance, from thin and pretty to fat and ugly, alludes to the change in how the reader sees her. When Emily is young and beautiful, no one suspects she could be crazy or harmful, but as she begins to age and let herself go, the suspense of what she did begins to build. It is not until she loses all her beauty and youth that we see the true, insane Emily.

Pattern 4: Delight in Disorder

"I see a wild civility; Do more bewitch me than when art is too precise in every part" lines 12-14

This poem was written sometime in the 1600's. During this time period, women were expected to look a certain way. Everything they wore had to reflect proper and modest behavior. It also had to be arranged in a precise and orderly fashion. Women were not aloud to stray from these fashion guidelines like women can today. That is what makes this poem so ironic. The speaker describes a woman that is dressed in chaos and disorder. This woman's time would have never accepted her "ribbons to flow confusedly," and "careless shoestrings." But, the speaker is enchanted by the way she looks. He finds her disorderly dress to be more attractive and appealing than the other prim and proper women.

Pattern 3: Lonely Hearts

"Can someone make my simple wish come true?" line 1

This poem seems to be very fitting with its title. These are a series of want adds or advertisements. In each one, it is clear to see the persons dilemma in finding the type of person they're seeking. It is very hard for people in the gay community to find love for many reasons. They may be ridiculed or disrespected for the way they are. Also, the single mother may have trouble meeting people since she is always taking care of her child. Each one poses a rhetorical question that inspires a sense of hope. The first question says that these advertisements are "Personals." I find this to be very ironic because each one appears to be anonymous. If it were truly personal, it would reveal much more than a single line description.

3. Barbie Doll

"Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs." line 11

This poem expresses the shallow nature of society.  The ironic, "magic of puberty," makes all people go through awkward phases. But, this "healthy, tested intelligent," girl was being compared to the "perfect" body image of a plastic barbie doll. It is clearly unrealistic to expect all women to look like an unproportioned plastic doll. This poor girl, despite her good personality and intelligence, was only seen for her looks. Society was unable to see past her ordinary looks and discover who she was as a person. This pressure to be "perfect" led the girl to suicide. She "cut off her nose and her legs" in order to live up to the perfect body image. The pressure this girl, as well as many others, face is what is wrong with our society. As a society, we need to be able to find the good qualities within people to prevent the deadly paths women take in order to become "perfect." I think this poem is cautionary to young girls. The drastic overstatements throughout the poem  convey to girls that it is normal to not look like a barbie doll. The poem encourages women not only to accept the way they look, but also like it. It also warns society what dangers come from criticizing the looks of others. It can lead to anorexia, bulimia, depression, and in this case, suicide.

Imagery Poetry 4- The Widow's Lament in Springtime

"Sorrow is my own yard." line 1

In this poem, the woman is clearly grieving the loss of her husband. In her mourning, she fails to see the beauty in her garden. It is like without her husband, nothing is as it was. I really feel bad for this woman; she seems to be very distraught over the situation. Because of her misery, she is unable to take pride in her garden like she used to. The bright yellow and red flowers appear bland to her now. I think this poem is sort of ironic in a way, because of the way the poet so vividly describes her garden. But, the women can only see a bland memory that has escaped from her. The beauty in her garden is masked by sorrow. Then, the woman's son makes some suggestion about "heavy woods in the distance." the poet doesn't describe this setting near as vividly as the garden. However, the woman sees this meadow as a clear path she must take. It seems to be the only thing she knows for sure. I think that the "distant meadow" represents the woman going to be with her husband. She thinks that it would be better not to live than to live without her husband. I think the irony is that what we, the readers, see so vividly is what is so unclear to the woman, but what is unclear to us, is what seems to be clear to her.