I taste a liquor never brewed

Well, there's nothing like reading a poem about nature written by a woman who would not even leave her room in the later part of her life. Again, Dickinson creates an extended metaphor. This extended metaphor compares nature to being drunk. Maybe Ed Sheeran took a little tips from Emily Dickinson when writing the song "Drunk." Dickinson writes, "Not all the Vats upon the Rhine yield such alcohol!" This is line is, first and foremost, an indication that the speaker is not talking about getting drunk on alcohol. My understanding is that the Rhine is a river near Germany, and Germany is really big in the brewing industry, so this is not a type of alcohol that people drink. Typically, people enjoy drinking alcohol (I assume that is why people do it anyways). Alcohol is something people can become addicted to, and Dickinson makes a comparison to this trait of alcohol as well. Dickinson writes, "I shall but drink the more!" This line makes the speaker appear to be an alcoholic, except an alcoholic of nature. The speaker gets so much joy from nature and its beauty that she enjoys it more than being drunk. Then of course there is the last stanza that talks about the seraphs and saints that rush to view the drunkard. I interpret this to mean that people pretty much say "good for you for being drunk on nature and enjoying God's creation."

Sorting Laundry

Throughout Ritchie's Sorting Laundry, the speaker is, well, folding laundry. The speaker compares the various pieces of laundry to her relationship with her husband. Ritchie creates an extended metaphor throughout the entirety of the poem that compares this action of folding laundry to their love. For example, Ritchie writes, "pillowcases, despite so many washings, seams still holding our dreams." The pillowcases, which of course are from the couple's bed, symbolize their relationship, and this single line provides many details about the couple's relationship. These pillowcases embody all of the intimate moments that the couple has had together ("...still holding our dreams."). Additionally, their relationship is still strong since "the seams still holding...". The relationship between the speaker and her husband has been a long one as well since the pillowcases have been through many washings.

Then, the last three stanzas shift to more serious and worrisome tone. The speaker talks of the shirt of a previous lover. Personally, I believed it was the shirt of the speaker's previous lover, and I had not even thought of the possibility of it being the shirt of her husband's previous lover. However, my support for this theory does not come from the text. I just thought that men do not take and wear their girlfriend's shirts, that just does not happen. It makes far more sense for the shirt to be the speaker's because she would have been the one to wear her previous lover's clothing.

To His Importunate Mistress

Peter de Vries makes me laugh with To His Importunate Mistress. I think this response to Marvell's poem is hilarious. This is like the exact opposite of Marvell's poem. The guy in the poem is saying that they should stop having sex. I just think this would be a hilarious conversation to listen to when a guy tells his hooker that they can't get it on anymore because he can't afford her anymore. The speaker makes a fairly valid argument that he would need to work another job in order to afford her, but his hooker still laughs at him for saying it. However, the speaker mentions his conscience at the end in saying, "His conscience may remain unriven." I think unriven here means that the man's conscience is not divided. He no longer wants his affair with this woman to be an exception to his good morals. I think he chooses not to make a point about his conscience because giving a hooker a talk about morals would not be all that effective. Deep down, I think the speaker wants to stop because he thinks it is not right to be doing this. Let's be real, how effective of an argument is morality to a hooker?

To His Coy Mistress

Well I am going to be real about my interpretation of To His Coy Mistress. My understanding is this, so there is this king (maybe) of some sort. I think he is probably a Persian king because the speaker says, " by the Indian Ganges' side...by the tide of the Humber..." My understanding is that these rivers mark the ends of the Persian empire. Now, this king is getting old and probably about to croak, but this man is like the forty year old virgin or something like that. This king is in love with this beautiful girl who has these breasts that take two hundred men to appreciate. The king wants to get it on with this girl, but she is being "coy." So that brings us to why he wrote this poem. The king is using poetry to seduce this girl into sleeping with him. His ultimate reason for getting this girl to sleep with him is that when they make love it's going to be hotter than the sun. Marvell makes it pretty clear in this poem that this guy really wants this girl, really badly.

A Jury of Her Peers

Throughout A Jury of Her Peers, the men think women are dumb, but they still play along with whatever the women are doing (they got to keep the wife pleased). Most of the time, what the men say or do is ironic but slightly true. An example of this would be when the men talk about how women just worry about little things and then Mrs. Hale thinks, "With all Mrs. Hale's emotions came the fear that maybe harry wasn't dressed warm enough-they hadn't any of them realized how that north wind did bite." The men stereotype women, but this stereotype turns out to be true with Mrs. Hale because she spends a majority of the story worrying about seemingly unrelated things like leaving her flour half done or whether her son is properly dressed for the weather. Despite this stereotype, the men think the women are not very intelligent, but the women hide all of their revelations from the men. The men think the barn will give them clues about the crime that occurred in the house while the women continue looking in the place that would actually make sense to look.The women find the clues of the bird and the quilt, but they again fall into the men's stereotype that the women are "true to their own sex." The women do not give the men the evidence for her motivation. Thus, the title is explained: A Jury of Her Peers. The evidence is known only to the people who can sympathize with her, so there will be no evidence to show the court for her motive.

Hunters in the Snow

They killed Kenny! I think there is a striking similarity between South Park and Hunters in the Snow. Maybe Trey Stone and Matt Parker got some tips from Tobias Wolff. In all seriousness, shall we examine the similarities. First of all, Kenny dies, and no one really cares all that much. Also, none of the "friends" actually get along. Then one of the friends is fat, and everyone else makes fun of him. Like in when Frank says, "Tub...you haven't seen your own balls in ten years." Then of course there's snow in both Hunters in the Snow and in South Park (this is the most important similarity). Oh Tub also reminds me of a movie: The Human Centipede 2. Tub is like the main person in the Human Centipede 2. People make fun of him, he's fat, and then someone says they are going to kill him, and then he snaps and kills a man. This connection is a bit of a stretch though.

Aside from comparison to shows and movies, this is an interesting story. I think it is funny that they are all immature and crude. This may be why  Frank is in love with a fifteen year-old girl because Frank is like a child. Then someone has to get shot in order for Frank and Tub to reconcile and become good friends, sort of. I think it is also ironic that Frank says he does not like to put people into categories, but then he turns around and calls Tub a fat moron. I think Frank and Tub are fairly similar. Frank is disgusting because of his love of a fifteen year old, and Tub is disgusting for his ridiculous eating problem.

Othello DUN DUN DUN

Now here comes Emilia saying Desdemona was definitely innocent and Iago is a liar. Good timing Emilia. When describing Iago Emilia says, "He lies to the heart." Finally a character besides wimpy Roderigo comes out right and says Iago is a liar. I'm not sure if Othello is surprised that his wife was innocent or that Iago is a serious liar. I have decided to retract what I said in one of my earlier blogs about Emilia being worthless. At the time, I thought Emilia was not contributing anything to the play, but she proves to have an important role in the resolution. After reading the play, I think Emilia is my favorite character. Emilia is the only one in the final scene that doesn't go crazy and wants to kill someone. Emilia proves to be a dynamic character because her character has developed throughout the play. When she first appeared, she had something like two worthless lines. By the end, Emilia develops into the character that is smart enough to figure everything out and help piece things together for the reader.

Things work out well when Roderigo conveniently kept notes about his plans with Iago. Now there is real incriminating evidence against Iago. Othello decides it's time to end his own life now and dies kissing Desdemona; it's a little late for that Othello. Then Iago panics and stabs his wife because Iago is a psycho. Poor Emilia died and I cried a little bit. Cassio is over here like it's just a flesh wound, and Lodovico is standing there thinking what the heck did I just see? Then the play ends. That's my kind of ending.