Experimental Poem

A few
      Childhoods were great:
There aren't any kiddies
      that are screwed up.
They are calm and quiet,
      Will take advice.
But -- leave --
      Most turn out naughty --
If not worse
      Than us, no better.
Happy non-begetter,
      That is the verse.

Prose Poem - Unknown Houses

     I get in my truck and go. I study the address, one I don't know. Will they be nice? or not? What was the address again? I forgot. I'm mad I can't see their address. I'm more mad I can't see their neighbors' addresses!
     I find the house and walk to the door. I work for tips and nothing more. They give me some money, I reach for their change. I want to keep it I don't want to exchange! Don't they know it's cold? I'm not wearing a coat! It's live 5 degrees out here, I'll get a sore throat.
     I give them their change and walk to my truck, thinking in my head they should go and get... a job.

John the Baptist Reference

In line 82 Eliot says "Though I have sen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter," This is a reference to John the Baptist, who was a prophet and the man who Jesus followed. This is why Prufrock said "I am no prophet" on line 83. John was also said to be the man to baptize Jesus. As for the reference of the head on a platter, a woman named Salome was granted a gift by Herod for her dancing. She could choose anything she wanted, so she chose John's head on a platter.

Does Poetry Matter?

I agree with Dana. Poetry is an after thought in our society, a way-after thought if you ask me. The only personal exposure I have had to poetry was in a literature class I took at my junior college and in this class. When you ask me who the great authors are I don't know if I would have listed a poet before this class. I also had no idea that poets hardly get any attention. It really stood out to me when Dana talked about how it took Henry Taylor receiving a Pulitzer Prize to get his poem reviewed. It was also surprising to me to read that Congress and 25 states have put the position of poet laureate in place. I believe that poetry deserves a spot in our society, if not a big one, at least a bigger one than it has already. Thinking about the many people going to college to get degrees in creative writing who are probably not expecting to do much with their work is sad to me.

Iambic Conversation

In listening to everyday conversation, I definitely notice a great deal of iambic conversation. Obviously, it is not all pentameter as some people do not have as much to say as others, but mostly iambic nonetheless. Thinking back, I actually cannot remember a conversation that did not at least have iambic lines in it. However, I was not able to remember any word for word conversations when I got home. So, I decided to write down some lines on a documentary series I was watching called "The Blue Planet."
 /     u    / u     / u   / u   /    u /
 Arctic foxes also rely on polar
    /      u    /     u     /    u   /
 bears to hunt on their behalf                                   Trochee

      /       u     /   u     /   u     /       u
 They're the jackals of the north and
   /     u       / u /          u      /
 scavenge whenever they can.                                 Trochee

 u    / u      /     / u       /
In winter and early spring,
    u / u / u / u /
hey're wholly dependent on bears.                          Iambic

   / u   /   u     /    u      /       u    /    u      /
 Only in the summer when the sea ice melts,
   /     u     / u / u      /        u     /     u       /
 will they regularly catch prey for themselves.           Trochee

       /       u      /      u   /      u    / u      / u      /
 They're not strong enough to tackle adult seals,
   /    u     /  u    /   u       /    u       /      u     /
 but can certainly take newborn pups or birds.         Trochee

   u     /   u    / u / u /   u   / u    u   / u    /      u
 This canny individual is going to bury it's prize,
 /    u      /     u   /  u     /   u  /     u      /      u  /
 it may need it during the uncertain times ahead        Iambic and Trochee

In this documentary, at least in this section about arctic foxes, the narrator uses mostly trochee pentameter. However, this may be because he is british. I don't remember hearing anything in class, though, that english speakers from other countries use something other than iambic pentameter.

The First Date

My palms sweat with nervousness, But she has enough confidence for both of us.

Point-by-Point Comparison

One difference between the boss in A & P and the boss in Bartleby is the fact that one boss is in control and another is out of control. The boss in A & P is in control of his store. He will not let the customers of his store dress in skimpy outfits. This is evidenced when he says “We want you decently dressed when you come in here.” The boss in Bartleby, on the other hand, has almost no control over Bartleby. Bartleby will not do anything the boss asks because he “would prefer not to,” but the boss lets this happen for days. Based on this evidence, I think these bosses are almost polar opposites in the way they run their business. In A & P, we are supposed to understand that the employees are young and not very mature from their interactions. We get this first when Sammy is thinking to himself about women: “Do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?” The immaturity is also shown in the dialogue between Sammy and Stokesie when Stokesie says “Oh Daddy, I feel so faint.” When he is talking about the girls in the store, to which Sammy replies “Darling, hold me tight.” These two are judging customers by what they are wearing, which shows their immaturity. What we are supposed to gather from the interactions between the employees in Bartleby’s office is that none of the co-workers approve of Bartleby. When the boss asks the employees what they think of Bartleby preferring not to work, Nippers thinks they should kick him out of the office, and Ginger Nut thinks he is “luny.” However, in both of these stories, there is no effect. They still get their work done in A & P, and the boss is too passive to do anything about Bartleby in that story. I think that in both of these stories, the value of their job is quite different. The two boys in A & P hardly value their jobs at all. It seems like they are just in it for the money or because their parents made them get a job. When Sammy quits, he is more afraid of his parent’s wrath rather than the fact that he does not have a job anymore. In Bartleby, on the other hand, I believe that a job is of great value to Bartleby. Although he “prefers not to” do any work, this job is all that he has other than his savings that he keeps folded up in a cloth.