“The Flea;” from Amiri Baraka

“The Flea;” from Amiri Baraka

John Donne’s “The Flea;” from Amiri Baraka, “Somebody Blew Up America; (Amiri Baraka lost his Poet Laureate of America for this poem)” from Pablo Neruda, “The United Fruit Co.,” from Mahmoud Darwish’ “Identity Card,” and from Carol Ann Duffy, “Queen Kong.”

Using your analysis handouts for writing critically about literature/poetry, choose 2 poems from 2 separate authors.

Discuss the arguments in each poem. What tools did the poets use to argue? What tools did they use for persuasion? Were you persuaded?
Post 1
By/ I’tiana

The Flea by John Donne
I was able to do some research on John Donne and find out what type of writer he was. He was considered a metaphysical poet who usually wrote love poems and sonnets. Many of his writings had a sensual style to them. The Flea is a love poem in which the speaker seems to be trying to talk his girl friend into having premarital sex. He is using the analogy of the flea to try and help his cause. The main point of the argument seems to be that both of their blood is already mixed together in the flea and that sex would be no big deal because of that fact. The poem seems to have some humor in it as the speaker tries to talk his beloved into premarital sex. Donne says, “This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is.” The speaker is saying that the connection is already there so the physical act is no big deal. The beloved squishes the flea in hopes of putting the pressure aside. The speaker did not get what he wanted in this love poem. The debate is as old as time. One lover trying to coerce another into the physical act of intimacy is a theme that has been seen throughout history. I was not convinced nor was she in the poem. I did find it amusing and funny. I give him credit for trying and I applaud her for seeing through it.
Works Cited
Poetryfoundation.org, “John Donne”, Web 30 May 2014

The United Fruit Company by Pablo Neruda
The poem by Pablo Neruda seemed to be very direct and fairly easy to understand. I believe his goal was to bring attention to how bad the exploitation was by American companies in South America. Neruda is angry and he does not like the aftermath of capitalism. The cynical nature of the poem makes it obvious that there is a dark side to American capitalism. The flies seem to represent something gross or disgusting. Neruda says, “Indians fall over, buried in the morning mist, a body rolls, a thing without a name, a fallen number.” This indicates that there are casualties of the business world. People are often exploited to keep costs down and the profit margin up. The poem was very real, accurate, and sad.
Works Cited
Pablo Neruda, “The United Fruit Company”, Web 30 2014
Post 2
BY/ Collin S
“Identity Thief” By Mahmoud Darwish

In this poem the author is trying to elicit his personal feelings for how Palestinians are treated. He feels that they are not socially acceptable and it is evident through many parts of the poem, “Im nameless
And patient despite my anger. I struck roots here Long before the olive trees and poplars. I’m a descendant of the plow pushers; My ancestor was a peasant; My home is a hut of mud” (Darwish). This example also shows how history is important to the author’s message and is clearly referenced throughout the poem. The author does a good job of using life examples as reasons for his anger and ultimately why he feels he is being mistreated.
“United Fruit Co.” by Pablo Neruda
This poem hits on how he feels South America is exploited by North America. He uses corporations as his main building block to support his argument, “When the trumpet sounded everything was prepared on earth, and Jehovah gave the world to Coca-Cola Inc., Anaconda, Ford Motors, and other corporations.
The United Fruit Company reserved for itself the most juicy piece, the central coast of my world, the delicate waist of America” (Neruda). Starting the poem off this way sets the stage of the anger towards U.S. businesses that exploit foreign countries for their own benefit. I agree with Neruda’s message in that it is wrong but there are no restrictions that really will prohibit this from occurring in the future. Unfortunately this is a case like many others where money talks.
Work Cited
Darwish, Mahmoud. “Return to Haifa/”Identity Card”” Behind the Lines: Poetry, War, & Peacemaking. N.p., 20 July 2007. Web. 26 May 2014.
Neruda, Pablo. “United Fruit Co.” ‘Stone Soup’ N.p., 6 July 2004. Web. 26 May 2014.

Discussion 2 question
In Unit 5 you studied several argumentative and persuasive poems. For your Unit 6 Discussion, discuss 2 of the questions from Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants.”
Post 3
By/ I’tiana

Hills Like White Elephants

2. Should the father and mother have equal say when it comes to having an abortion? Does the fact that the women’s body is involved, while the man’s is not, factor into your opinion?

My opinion is that the father and mother both have a voice in the decision making process. However, I do feel that the woman is the most influential of the two because it is her body. The man can be sensitive and listen and give advice. In addition, the man’s role should be to be supportive and loving and affirming. I think that the girl in this story seems to want to keep the baby. The American is persuading and pushing her towards an abortion. The white elephants symbolize her unborn baby. She is full of questions and concerns. This is shown when she says, “And you think then we’ll be all right and be happy?” She is searching for clear direction and the comfort of knowing that things are going to be ok.

4. Is the story relevant today? We know that the story is set in Spain, but if you didn’t know it was written in 1927, could you place it in a period of history? If so, when?

The story is as relevant today as it was in 1927. In fact, it may be even more relevant because of technological advances and the rights of women in today’s society. There will always be unplanned pregnancies and the debate over abortion is never ending source of controversy. This story could easily be in 2014 with two teenagers debating whether to keep a baby or not. I can just imagine the dialogue. The man is trying to do away with the problem and the woman is becoming emotionally attached to the idea of the pregnancy. It is a very interesting debate and I sympathize with the young girl. She is drinking while pregnant and the man is trying to manipulate her. He has no idea of the emotional scars she may carry with her if she is not convinced the procedure is the right thing to do. This sense of helplessness is shown when she says, “Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me.” This seems very sad to me.

Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills like White Elephants.”1927.

Post 4
BY/ Abdulhadi Almuhana

1. Would you feel differently about the story if the roles of Jig and the man were reversed, that is, if Jig wanted the abortion and the man wanted her to marry him and keep the baby?
Yes, definitely the story would be more interesting if the roles were reversed. Jig is madly in love with the man and she can do anything for him and can go against her wish as she was ready to abort her child for the man’s sake. Jig’s character in the story is very weak. She is a bit confused and uncertain about what she wants and gets convinced by the man easily. She is in love with the man and wants to do anything to make him happy even if she does not like to do it. As she asks him, “And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me(Hemingway)?” On the other hand, the man’s character seems to be very influential, strong and convincing.So, if the man wanted to have the baby he would have easily convinced Jig and she would have changed her decision of abortion in favor of having the baby. Naturally, women are more eager to have a family and children than men. So, with time Jig would have automatically settled down with the man’s decision and their lives would have been fine once they would have had the baby.

1. Should the father and mother have equal says when it comes to having an abortion? Does the fact that the woman’s body is involved, while the man’s is not, factor into your opinion?
Father and mother both should have an equal say when it comes to having a baby, but in case of abortion, decision should be taken by the female because she has to undergo the process, take the pains and lose lots of energy. But, she should also take consent from the father as the baby belongs to him as well. So, if a woman wants an abortion she should discuss the matter with the man and should then, take the decision and if she does not want to have an abortion then again should take the man into confidence. And a man, being a partner, should understand the matter sensibly and support and comfort the woman in both the cases as the man in the story does.”I don’t want you to do anything that you don’t want to do(Hemingway).”

Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills like White Elephants.” 1927.

Discussion 3 question
I would like you to chronicle what you have learned in this course. In addition, I want you to discuss your own revision checklist.

Post 5
By/ I’tiana
English 102 Overview
English 102 has been extremely helpful in a variety of ways. I have been exposed to various pieces of literary works that have been inspirational and informative. The broad range of topics covered has kept it interesting and fresh. I have been challenged to think and research more than I have ever done before. In addition, I have also enjoyed learning from my classmates. Many of the students have very interesting insight into the discussion segment of the class. I have also really enjoyed the research for my Title IX paper. I have grown in my appreciation of the fight that women had to go through to enjoy the equality that we enjoy today. I have also become much more disciplined and aware of my writing style. The MLA format is becoming more comfortable to me and it is the first time that the structure actually makes me feel more confident. My revision checklist has also evolved in the process. I am becoming much more aware of the incorrect use of pronouns. In addition, I learned how to make headers. I know that that sounds simple, but I did not know how to do it before. Parenthetical citations were a foreign language to me but now I understand the meaning of them.
My checklist of revisions start with looking at the overall MLA structure. I then look at my works cited page. After that, I read every sentence to make sure I do not have any incorrect grammar. I am also developing a better sense of a thesis statement and how that gives direction to the remainder of the paper. The use of pronouns is something that was very new to me. The way that you revised my papers gave me very clear direction that I could build upon for future use. I appreciate all of your hard work and the time that you invest in making your students better writers.
Post 6
By/ Sada Alkhaldi

This was a great class. I feel like it went really well and I’m proud that I was able to complete it. I like that the research paper was broken down into small assignments that led up to the final paper instead of it all resting on us to complete it by a certain date. It made the assignment very less stressful and actually fun to do. I wish all classes were like this!
I learned about poetry and new terms we discussed. I learned a lot about the national drinking age in America and I learned about what airbrushing does to women who read magazines.
My checklist is very simple, but it helps me to cover all the bases during revision.
Checklist
• check for introduction
• check for thesis
• enough body paragraphs to support thesis?
• Transition words?
• Check for conclusion
• Check works cited and citing in essay
• Check formatting- is it MLA?
• Check spelling, grammar, punctuation
• Proofread entire essay- does it read well? Make sense?

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT 🙂