Phenomenal Woman questions

1) How does "Phenomenal Woman" not subscribe/substantiate the perfectionism for females lauded in society?

  In our society we have a clouded judgement of what makes a women beautiful and phenomenal. We think size and looks are what makes a person beautiful just like the models in the magazines. In this Poem by Maya Angelou she doesn't talk about how beautiful she is but in fact the opposite as we see in line # 2 she says "I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size" this line is talking about how she is not beautiful or skinny like a model but it's who she is as a person and whats inside that makes her truly a phenomenal women.




2) The repetition is apparent with each stanza. How does Angelou create self-assurance in both "Still I Rise" and Phenomenal Woman"?

  In Still I rise Maya Angelou creates repetition at the end of each stanza with the words "still I rise" or "I'll rise" This creates a sense of her self-assurance to be able to over come and rise up from adversity. furthermore, we also see repetition at the end of each stanza in Phenomenal Woman. Angelou finishes each sentence with "Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me." This also
ties in with the trend of self-assurance that we saw in Still I Rise. We definitely see a lot of self-admiration and almost a bit of conceit in her wording.


3) What would you say the crux/main focus of this poem is? Why?
          

The main focus in the poem Phenomenal Woman is to show that it's not the way you look on the outside but the things that you do,the attitude that you have,and the little individual things about you that add up and truly make you phenomenal.


4) Charisma, charm and self-confidence cannot be shown or described to someone else. Even if it is somewhat determined, one person's allure doesn't fit another. What literary techniques do you see contributing to a certain theme of individuality?

 Angelou uses different literary techniques to contribute to her theme of individuality. She used tone to show her perspective on what makes a woman phenomenal. Overall this poem has a confident and prideful tone. Angelou also uses a lot of personification showing how inanimate individual to her come to life in her character.
   

      

Hearts with one purpose alone

Through summer and winter seem

Enchanted to a stone

To trouble the living stream.
The horse that comes from the road.
The rider, the birds that range
From cloud to tumbling cloud.
Minute by minute they change;
A shadow of cloud on the stream
Changes minute by minute;
A horse-hoof slides on the brim,
And a horse plashes within it;
the long-legged moor-hens dive,
And the hens to moor-cocks call;
Minute by minute they live:
The stone's in the midst of all.

     - reference to nature

     - alliteration

      - rhyme pattern ABAB

      - reference to animals


In the poem Easter 1916 by William Butler Yeats he writes about the Easter rising. The Easter rising is the Irish Revolution against the British government in Ireland on April, 1916. In stanza 3 Yeats uses a lot of references to nature to symbolize how nature is always changing just like the people in Ireland during the revolution. there is a lot of repetition in the line "minute by minute they change" Ireland in in a state of change in their government. The last line of the poem saying that "the stone in the midst of it all" is saying how Ireland is in the middle of all of this change and how they continue to change and evolve just like nature.

1) What do you think the piano lesson is?

The piano lesson symbolizes more than the obvious. It also means the lesson that the piano taught the Charles family. In this play Berniece is the character that is most significant to the lesson that the piano teaches. In the end, when Berniece finally plays the piano and calls upon her dead ancestors for help she is really in a way finding peace and closure. Now we see Berniece finally coming to terms with her her dead ancestors. Also, the piano reminded her of the deaths in her family that she would rather forget. When she plays on the piano she is getting closure on those deaths.

2) Why did August Wilson choose this title?

August Wilson choose this title because it makes us think about what is going to happen in the play. Although, by the end we find out there is a completely different meaning than we might have first thought. As we learned in class, August Wilson gets his inspiration for his plays through blues music. He feels a tie to the music and he listens to it to hear the problems going on in the black community at the time period in which he is writing. His love for music especially the blues may attribute to why he chose this title.

3) How is it that Boy Willie comes to understand the importance of the piano in the finale scene of the play?

One of the biggest reasons why Boy Willie felt justified to take and sell the piano was because it wasn't really in use. Once boy Willie saw Berniece play on the piano he realized how important the piano really was to his family and that it was a piece of their family legacy. I think Boy Willie realized that the pianos sentimental value outweighed any monetary value that the piano could give him. So he leaves and lets Berniece keep the piano.

4) What is significant about her calling out the names of her dead family members?

In the last scene when Berneiece is calling out the names of her dead ancestors it's significant of her finally letting go. It shows how she is acknowledging her past and coming to terms with her burdens. In the play Berniece makes it clear that her dead ancestors were a big burden on her. Since she was able to say their names out loud in a way, she was letting in her past, realizing it, and letting it go. This is a big step for Berniece and it leaves us feeling like things after this are going to be okay for her.

5) What purpose does this serve?

It shows that although Berniece's family went through hard and trying times. If you can except things that are blocking your success you will come out a better person for it. By saying the names she is no longer letting her ancestors define who she will become in the future. She no longer is letting the burdens of her past control her. Berniece's breaking free from her past and moving on to her future. This letting go of her burdens and living life to the fullest solves part of the conflict in the play. So with that we take the lesson from this book, don't let your past define who you will become.

scene one from the piano lesson

Predict what function ghosts serve so far in the play?

 

so far in The Piano Lesson the lesson, August Wilson brings the mention of ghosts into the first scene quite often. The ghost of the yellow dog is one way that the mention of ghost is displayed through this scene. We don't know much about the ghost of the yellow dog yet though all we know is that it has something to do with the railroad and that it's responsible for many peoples lives. Also, the ghost of Sutter is calling Boy Willies name. This leads me to to believe that the function that the ghost serve so far in this play is to be a remembrance of the past.

What is haunting the Charles family metaphorically (abstractly, meaning not seen) and what is haunting them literally?

Literally, the ghost of Sutter is haunting them. Bernice sees Sutter and they believe that he has some unfinished business with boy Willie. Metaphorically their past is haunting them. Bernice can't get over the death of her husband, Lymon is running away from the law, and Boy Willie has done something to Sutter to make him want revenge.

Identify one example of foreshadowing, motif and symbol from act 1, scene 1. Post these responses on your blog by tomorrow's class





forshadowing: how Boy Willie keeps talking about how badly he wants to sell the piano. This makes us feel that later in the book he will sell it. (maybe without approval?)



motif: one motif in this book so far is the ghost of the yellow dog because it is perpetually used throughout this first scene.





symbol: The watermelons are a symbol in this book they symbolize Boy Willie finally making enough money to make a living of his own, be independent, and buy his own land.

First coding assignment

Ralph looked at him dumbly. For once he had a fleeting picture of the strange glamour that had once invested the beaches. But the island was scorched up like dead wood- simon was dead- and Jack had... The tears began to flow and shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, The darkness of mans heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called piggy.

yh - mood

njj - alliteration

hjh - alliteration

Italics- personification

This passage talks about what emotions and thoughts were going through Ralphs head as they were being rescued. It has a sad mood to it because Ralph is realizing all of the things that he lost on the island that he will never be able to get back. There was a lot of personification used in this passage with sentences showing ralphs emotion. When it says that "he gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island" It's a great way to see how strong Ralph was really trying to be for all of the other kids. Now that an adult is on the island though Ralph feels free to relinquish his responsibility and burden of having to grow up too quickly.