Comin Back Ower The Border: The Scottish Poem

In her poem "Comin Back Ower The Border", Mary McCabe conveys the sentimental value that the scottish hold for their accent. Through structure,writing format and tone she provides us with perspective, proving hat the importance of coming home is truly set in the accent rather than the place.

In order to follow the quatrant structure of her stanzas, McCabe uses periods to define and categorize her ideas. In her first sentence, she establishes that it's not the "biggins" "caurs" or "corries" what matter when you come home. The enjambment after "cleughs" creates a visual effect of an actual cliff which ultimately creates more depth and importance to the content. By stating that "It's nae" the urban description in the first sentence, McCabe suggests that it's not the city that matters. In the second sentence the use of words like "pastels" and "wind" paint a naturesque picture, which alludes to the Scottish pastures. However, she, again denies their importance and closes them off with a period. Lastly, McCabe describes minuscule details that make the Scottish accent unique like " the 'O' sae straucht an lang" and "wee this."

McCabe's writing format aids the position taken by the poem in regards to the accentual value. By strategically writing the words semi-phonetically, McCabe makes the reader read them in the way they are said in the accent, hence further emphasizing her argument.

What Growing Up Is All About

I finished, and as I was wrapping up, I kept in mind the formerly listened to interview. Particularly, her description of Pecola, the sixteen year old. I think this book is about society… clearly; however, I think Toni Morrison focused on the dangers of growing up. Morrison's description of being sixteen as "vulnerable-and imaginative" because to a young woman the world is "open and threatening" is exactly the sense that she is trying to convey in The Bluest Eye. Particularly, I think she uses the various characters' profiles to allude to the different dangers that society holds, specifically those very accessible in the journey of identity search that is being a teenager.

Geraldine and Junior- Geraldine, a self-hating black woman who obsessed over cleanliness and despised blacks. Her obsession for cleanliness is metaphorical for her adoration of whites, which therefore, suggests that blacks are dirty. Her poised behavior has stemmed from her lever of restriction on herself and her emotions which make her cold and distant from her family. She can only open up to her black blue-eyed cat which is again a metaphor for what she (and Pecola) long to be: a beautiful, semi-white-because-of-her-blue-eyes black person. Because of his mother's indifference, Junior not only hates himself for being black but holds a grudge towards his mother for forcing it on him by not letting him play with other "niggers" and things of the sort. He is then reduced to scapegoating which is clearly not a healthy behavior. Geraldine and Junior's behavior warns against self-hatred, or low self esteem, and misdirected emotions and the importance of affection.

Cholly Breedlove- This man suffered abuse throughout his whole life. From his mother's abuse to his fathers abandonment, the lack of love and sense of belonging starts what will later create a problematic man. His aunt, being the only person to express affection towards him, was indirectly the rock keeping him grounded. After her death, he suffered the embarrassment of having the very private experience of losing his virginity becoming forced and public. After this loss of dignity and the pressure by his wife to get money, Cholly recurred to drinking, which I think is because he mis-associated it with a cure because a type of liquor was his aunt's medicine before her death. His antisocial behavior signals his dangerous freedom because of his indifference and resentment towards society. Cholly warns us of the importance of love, strong character and coping with tragedy in growing up.

Pauline Breedlove –Pauline's from small town to big city story is he metaphor for the situation teenagers are in. We're all of a sudden thrown from our child-like lifestyles to adulthood. Paulie's need to fit in caused by her susceptibility to media warns of such behaviors in growing up as the need for economic independence and lifestyle surge.

Soaphead Church- A light skinned pedophile of mixed man obsessed with dirt and decay. The fact that he is a minister who didn't really want to be a minister in the first place and deliberately lied to Pecola for his own gain fake to Pecola, is Morrison's  critique towards religion. The falsehood and sense of insecurity created by this character suggest that religious figures, and ultimately all authority figures are to be questioned because truly, who has the authority to be completely right? Who can we really trust?

Lastly, Pecola- symbolizes us as readers because we have to be taught/warned about the dangers and quirks of growing up properly according to Morrison. Pecola, by being a child with an adult mentality is the very basic description of an adolescent. This makes vulnerable to society's abuse, and Morrison by having her be assaulted, tricked, and abused by the formerly mentioned characters, illustrates the blows society takes on a young adult.

*The lessons taught by each character are in italics*

“Brown Eyes”

I was right. Sort of. This girl (Pecola) must have severe Self-esteem problems. First of all, she is ugly. But not ugly, like simply put ugly, no. She comes from a family of uglies, all of which give a function to their ugliness. She, for one, hides behind hers. I feel she really feels ashamed of being black, of her brown skin and her brown eyes. The fact that when she went to go buy mary janes there was something peculiar to the look the man gave her, "Somewhere in the bottom lid is the distaste. She has seen it lurking in the eyes of all white people. So. The distaste must be for her, her blackness." (49) She feels that somehow her misfortune is linked to her physical appearance, to which she blames her eyes. At one point she claims that " those eyes of hers were different, (beautiful)" (46) her parents would think to protect them from seeing the horrible things that they did. The kind of mental abuse that she suffers at home from her parents abusive relationship, and at school by being confined to an integral solitude must tear this girl into pieces.

Maybe that's why this novel is written so maturely. These girls were forced to grow up. To be held responsible for housework, for their families, all out of fear of possible physical reprimanding. This motivates me to question: what will happen to Pecola? That kind of solitude and segregation isn't healthy. This has been proven many times, for one, Jane Elliot proved with her eye-color segregation experiment A Class Divided, in which we can see the emotional burden that comes when a child, specifically, is treated lesser and the possible repercussions. The fact that this poor girl asks herself what it feels like to be loved, and how to be loved, and if the sound of her parents doing sexual actions is what it sounds like. Frankly, I wonder if she will commit suicide or become unstable or what role this will play in the rest of the novel.

Eye Spy... Segregation, Maturity, And Memory

As I started reading The Bluest Eye, the cover struck me as if the book were going to talk about the various differences and emotional harms of racism; specifically in the time of heavy segregation. I plotted a whole story out about the jealousy and the resentment a young black girl had towards her white counterparts. That she (the narrator) may even have a white friend. I'm pretty sure this topic may come up further in the novel, to which I will relate Jane Elliot's brown vs. blue eyes experiment.

The second thing that stood out to me was the juxtaposition in the beginning with the child-like prose that went faster and faster which was then proceeded by a very educated extended metaphor. I didn't quite understand why the author did this at first but later upon reading "I learned quickly, however, what I was expected to do with the doll: rock it, fabricate storied situations around it, even sleep."(P.21) I think I understand. This child is not an ordinary child. She has what people would call an "old soul" because her descriptions are so vivid and colorfully described.

Lastly, the structure of the novel seems to mimic a person reminiscing. The inconsistency from one paragraph to the next separated by a gap suggests a loss in the train of thought; something that tends to happen to those who suffer from alzhimers. (This supported by the fact that the beginning of the following paragraph shows little continuity.) Also, the narration (nun) starts in first person but then makes its way to third person.

That's what I have so far. I guess I'll just have to keep reading.

There's Something You Should Know

This was bugging me today... I hear someone (a classmate) say unconscience over and over again and it got on my nerves...

Conscience:the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action. A.K.A., the little people who stand on your shoulders.


Conscious: aware of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts,surroundings, etc. think of what being UNconscious means







Look at the pretty picture!

Too Much? Maybe.

Upon my starting of  The Heart Of Darkness, I found myself excited beacuse, well come on! Conrad just throws you into the situation. All the imagery had me in a bliss... until I hit the second page. Happiness didn't last very long. I found myself struggling to follow along, my attention simply wouldn't cooperate.

When thinking about the description in the novel, I only think to say that it may even have too much.  I wouldn't go as far as to compare it to reading 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea again (needless to say I hated it) but still... I don't mean to sound ignorant because clearly it's a very dense piece and the description is mostly part of the many metaphors and key to the imagery, but at times I'd like a mental break. Thusfar, it goes throughout the whole novel. To say, "The sun set; the dusk fell on the stream, and the lights began to appear along the shore." (4) is fine, but to follow it with: " The chapman lighthouse, a three-legged thing erect on a mudfalt, shone strongly. Lights of ships moved in the fairway- a great stir of lights going up and going down." (4-5) is a little much; especially when the descriptions are like that for most of what happens.

I actually think this would be a perfect novel for a film maker to try. It would make it really easy for the director to re-build.

The Last Electronic Stop

I find it extremely ironic how we could've technically done this online but we went to the EVL during lunch, took turns with the magazines choosing a piece we liked and taking a picture/ photocopying it. Here's what happened. I take The Atlantic and choose my poem, right? I take a picture, read and start analyzing it. I want to post the original poem but have trouble reading off my cellphone and typing. Google the poem..." Oh there it is! (looks at webpage) theatlantic.com... WOW... nice." So here it is, and where you can look at the original:

The Last Stop

                                  By Adam Zagajewski

The tram rumbled past red houses.

The wheels in mining towers whirled

like carousels in fairgrounds.

Roses dimmed by soot grew in the gardens,

wasps raged in pastry shops

above cakes strewn with crumbs.

I was fifteen, the tram moved

quicker between the housing projects,

in the meadows I spotted marsh marigolds.

I thought that at the last stop

the meaning of it all would stand revealed,

but nothing happened, nothing,

the driver ate a roll with cheese,

two old women talked quietly

about prices and diseases.


I'll just list my thoughts:
- funny last lines
- narrative poem
- can identify with narrator... I've thought about what it all means and been dissapointed whe nothing is  revealed.
- I thought this was a war poem because it was in the middle of an article about war...I guess it could be a soldier on his way to war pondering about life and the meaning of it all...right?