Blog Entry 5 Essay 3 Preview

1)what you understand the assignment to be asking you to do, 2) what you are confused about, 3) what you need to know to complete the assignment, and 4) what you think you might want to write about.

For the third essay, I have to show my ability of analizing and understanding a poem. In the classs, so far, we learned important components of a poem such as sanza, symbolism, motif, theme, rhythm, and tone. I understand that this new assignment requires to explain those terms by analyzing a poem of my choice. This essay has to include basic information about the author, a summary of a poem and a thorough analysis of the poem using varies sources.
I am not sure if I have to choose a poem regarding supernatural or from any subject. I also did not understand what the "syntax affect" is.
To complete the assignment, I have to know what kind of symbolism, tone, and mood are used in the poem that I choose. I am going to use the same poem that I used for the essay 2. It seems like essay 3 will be very complex and will need a very deep analysis but essay 2 will help me to do that.

Blog Entry 4 : Reflection

Until the first day of ENG 102, I was very nervous about this new English class. Since English is not my native language, I'm still not comfortable writing essays in English. However, this class is somewhat different from my previous English classes in the past. For the first time, I learned how to make my own blog where I can post my writings and get feed backs(so far I love it :] ) Working with blogs may be challenging but is the most exciting activity in this class. I think it's less pressure to write essays on my own blog than to write in microsoft words! Another good thing about blogs is that I can read other peers' work whenever I need. This helps me to get some ideas when I'm working on my homeworks and to get to know each other faster(thanks to the professor Smith). I'm considering to keep my blog even after this class finish.
My first essay in this class is still on process, but I looking forward to getting more responses from other people. I like the topic that I am working on now; It is about greek mythology, specifically about "Medusa." I am not sure if this class is going to be working mostly on poems but I'm sure more exciting activities are waiting for us.

Essay # 2 Tone and Symbolism in "Medusa"

Poems are unique writings that encourage readers to vividly imagine the stories and words that a writer presents. The poem, “Medusa” written by Clark Ashton Smith describes a world where a female monster named Medusa exists. This figure turns people into stone if they see her face directly and leads the world into darkness and destruction. The author, one of the famous American poets, had written series of poems on fantasy and horror, and science fictions. This poem came to my attention because it is based on Greek mythology which I loved to read about for many years. I was able to see how the author utilizes tone and symbolism to describe our own world in connection to this mythological story.

One characteristic of a poem that expresses a writer’s emotions or feelings is tone. For example, in “Medusa,” the overall emotion or mood of the poem is depressing and hopeless. Clark Smith uses many words that bring up the images of death and darkness such as “glooms,” “livid dawns,” and “murkiness.” The author emphasizes that there is no hope in the land where Medusa takes control of. He said, “The land is claimed of Death” This means that people are dying by looking at Medusa’s eyes and all the creatures in the land are being cursed. There is no hope to keep Medusa from destroying the land and the people. Death became their destiny.

Symbolism is another technique that a poet uses to describe objects or living things beyond reality of themselves. Understanding symbols in poems helps readers to perceive what the true meaning of the words is and what the author is really trying to say in his or her writing. Clark Ashton Smith also uses a lot of symbols in his poem. The general definition of the “sun” is the star that shines in the sky during the day but Smith might be actually referring it to hope or good future. Moreover, Medusa who is an actual character from Greek mythology might rather symbolize something that makes us stone or despair in our own reality such as poverty, ethnic wars and diseases. Therefore, in poems, most words could carry different meanings beyond themselves.

In conclusion, “Medusa” is not just a creepy, scary poem about a horrible being from Greek mythology. This poem may reflect on Clark Ashton Smith’s own life or the society he had lived in. He had suffered from psychological disorder and was poor for most of his life. Based on his experience, he might want us to think through what are some of the factors that lead us to failure or even death.



(Works Cited)
http://www.blackcatpoems.com/s/medusa.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Ashton_Smith
http://www.webwinds.com/thalassa/medusa.htm

quick source for the essay #1

Here is a link that might help you to analize a poem

http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/on-line/lit-poem.html

Medusa by Clark Ashton Smith

As drear and barren as the glooms of Death,

It lies, a windless land of livid dawns,

Nude to a desolate firmament, with hills

That seem the gibbous bones of the mummied Earth,

And plains whose hollow Face is rivelled deep

With gullies twisting like a serpent's track.

The leprous touch of Death is on its stones,

Where, for his token visible, the Head

Is throned upon a heap of monstrous rocks

Rough-mounded like some shattered pyramid

In a thwartly cloven hill-ravine, that seems

The unhealing scar of huge Tellurian wars.

Her lethal beauty crowned with twining snakes

That mingle with her hair, the Gorgon reigns.

Her eyes are clouds wherein black lightnings lurk,

Yet, even as men that seek the glance of Life,

The gazers come, where, coiled and serpent-swift,

Those levins wait. As round an altar-base

Her victims lie, distorted, blackened forms

Of postured horror smitten into stone—

Time caught in meshes of Eternity—

Drawn back from dust and ruin of the years,

And given to all the future of the world.

The land is claimed of Death: the daylight comes

Half-strangled in the changing webs of cloud

That unseen spiders of bewildered winds

Weave and unweave across the lurid sun

In upper air.

Below, no zephyr comes

To break with life the circling spell of doom.

Long vapor-serpents twist about the moon,

And in the windy murkness of the sky

The guttering stars are wild as candle-flames

That near the socket.

Thus the land shall be,

And Death shall wait, throned in Medusa's eyes,

Till in the irremeable webs of night

The sun is snared, and the corroded moon

A dust upon the gulfs, and all the stars

Rotted and fallen like rivets from the sky,

Letting the darkness down upon all things.

I was interested in searching for poems on ancient Greek Methology. While I was searching about this topic in google, I found a great website called "Black Cat Poems" that offers varities of poems. This website categorizes poems by subjects and poet so it is convenient to find a poem that you are looking for here.

The poem, "Medusa" written by Clark Ashton Smith is about a female monster from Greek Methology. Her head is covered with snakes and whoever sees her eyes directly would become a stone, meaning death. In the poem, Medusa who was originally beautiful, is a extreme, evil like being and the land she belongs to is very dark and has potency of death. Everything, even the sun, fears of her and leads to unfortuante ending. I think this poem describs the vivid image of Medusa very well.

This is the link where I found this poem from

http://www.blackcatpoems.com/s/medusa.html

This link gives little bit of background information about the author, Clark Ashton Smith

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Ashton_Smith

You can read more detail story about Medusa from this link

http://www.webwinds.com/thalassa/medusa.htm

http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Medusa1.html

about me

Welcome to my blog! My name is Sohyun Park. I'm from South Korea. You can speak to me either in Korean or English:D If you like to eat spicy food and to go to SOHO, you can definally be my friend~