William Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper"

Joanna Mira

William Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper"

1.) I think that Blake's poetry did have the power to enact social change. In the first poem "The Chimney Sweeper from Songs of Innocence," children are forced to work. They work hard and do not complain in hopes that when they die they will be rewarded. The children really had no say in their lives. They just did what they were told and did it the best they could. In the second poem "The Chimney Sweeper from Songs of Experience," the child answering the question is very bitter. He recognizes that even though his parents are praying for him and care for him, they are also the ones who sold him into a life of labor. When reading poems like this and hearing what children are going through, you start to feel bad and little by little a change happens.

2.) I think the editors included the parliament transcript to give readers a better understanding of what was actually happening to those sold into a life of labor. Throughout the entire transcript, you learn about the pain and suffering children went through. They were treated poorly and were not taken care of if they were sick. After a few hours in bed, they had to get back to work. After reading this, I understand better how in Blake's writings he really focuses on the unhappiness and terrible conditions people were faced with.

Jonathan Swift Prep Work

Joanna Mira

Gulliver's Travels

A) The questions I came up with for Gulliver's Travels were:

- How did Gulliver end up on the Lilliput's island?

- Why did the Lilliput people keep Gulliver as their prisoner?

- What was it that kept Gulliver from trying to escape?

- Was Gulliver overwhelmed at any time while being their prisoner?

Ecerpts:

(1) "I thought it the most prudent method to lie still, and my design was to continue so till night, when, my left hand being already loose, I could easily free myself: And as for the inhabitants, I had reason to believe I might be a match for the greatest armies they could bring against me, if they were all of the same size with him that i saw. But fortune dispose otherwise of me."

* If Gulliver was able to easily free himself, what made him just sit there and be a prisoner? He claims to be a little scared that there might be worse armies to face if he were to escape, but wouldn't he have seen them when he first came to the island? He was already halfway free at this point so was getting the rest of himself untied really that much work?

(2) "Whereupon I once more thought of attempting to break my bonds; but again, when I felt the smart of their arrows, upon my face and hands, which were all in blisters, and many of the darts still sticking in them, and observing likewise that the number of my enemies increased, I gave tokens to let them know that they might do with me what they pleased. Upon this, the Hurgo and his train withdrew, with much civility and cheerful countenances." 

* Gulliver keeps saying that he wants to escape and he almost does, but when he thinks about the Lilliput's arrows and weapons and how much they hurt, he fears it too much to escape. All they did were give him blisters or little scratches. It's not like he was in any real pain. I think he would have been smart to just break free.

B) The project in general was interesting. I think the preparation to teach another group was somewhat hard but my group and I were able to work through it. I didn't really like the story however, because I thought at times it was difficult to understand. Overall I learned that teaching may not be as easy as it seems.

C.) My group understands this assignment better now then before. I think when working in small teaching groups again, we will work better and find the assignment a little more easier to do.

1984

Joanna Mira

English IIII

Mr. Fiorini

 

Symbolism and Themes of 1984

 

             The story 1984, written by George Orwell was composed of multiple symbolic meanings that may not directly affect the plot, but still have a large impact on the deliverance of the story. These symbolisms Orwell uses improves the reading experience for the audience, as well as takes the mind of the reader into a new dimension filled with a wide range of questions keeping the reader intrigued.

             In reading 1984, One form of symbolism that stood out to me personally was his portrayal of the singing prole women, who was an aspect of future rebels. She was used in the story to signify the overthrow of the party of the working class. Another symbolic event that ties into the party overthrow was the St Clement’s Church picture. This event portrayed the complete power the party contained, as well as its betrayal of humanity. Another symbolic meaning I found the St Clement’s Church picture to contain was to show a part of his past with Julia. Winston’s paperweight is another symbol he used to signify the past.

            In closing, my observations of the book and the writing style of George Orwell was that symbolism was an extremely large part in the portrayal of the story. This symbolism was a great way to show the past of Winston which led to my belief that the theme of this story was that things always have the possibility of changing.