Blog Post 6: A Little Cloud by James Joyce

In this post I am going to try and interpret the title of this story. "A Little Cloud". First off I believe that the part of the title come directly from the text. The word little was used a repeated amount of times. His name, "Little Chandler", "..idea of being a little man" "a little house" etc. So in my opinion in the title "little" comes directly from Little Chandler, or even the fact that he is little compared to his old friend Gallaher. Now, the real interpretation kicks in with the cloud. And I believe Gallaher is the cloud. In the story, Joyce explains Little Chandler as a man who is content with his life, he has a wife, a house, a kid, well mannered etc. Little Chandler, however is very excited for his meeting with Gallaher because he is big on the London Press. At the bar the fellas share some whiskey and cigars and Gallaher proceeds to tell Little Chandler somewhat to loosen up, maybe travel the world, and have some bachelorettes.  Little Chandler seems inspired by his words because Gallaher is big and successful. When the meeting is over Little Chandler goes home and notices a picture of his wife. His wife is not like the exotic women Gallaher described and Little Chandler begins to question his marriage. Little Chandler hears his son crying and try's to calm the child, however the child doesn't stop. Little Chadler then becomes very angry because too many things are running through his mind because Gallaher has provoked it along with a screaming child. His wife thankfully arrives home and snatches the child before things could have gotten worse. She scolds little Chandler and Little Chandler feels remorse. So, I think Gallaher was the cause of that meltdown, he was a cloud that covered the sun in Little Chandlers life. However the meltdown was small and he feels guilty, so this cloud will pass and the sun will once again shine on Little Chandlers content life. 

Blog Post 5 Araby

Previously, In room 547 Mr Allen's class proceeded to engage in a close reading of Araby by James Joyce. The students flipped to page 15 and were asked to highlight words that reminded them of light and words that reminded them of dark. In my personal book by "light words" were gazed, free, lamps, garden, glowed, ect. My "dark words" were blind, detached, brown, dusk, sombre, cold, muddy, etc. All these words fell in paragraph one and three of Araby. There wasn't necessarily a pattern within them just that both light and dark words were intertwined within. I feel as if James Joyce did this with a purpose. And his purpose was somewhat a foreshadow of the overall short story. Throughout the story we find the narrator being positive or happy, and other times we find him disappointed or angry all with Mangan's sister in mind. He appears happy when she talks to him about the bizzare, but before the boy had many fears that he could never gain the courage to express his feelings to Mangan's sister. So even here we see a dark to light contrast within the boy. So overall the imagery of light illuminates (hah get it) the theme of "life has ups and downs." Light in the story represents positive things in his life, so I guess "life" is represent in this story as Mangan's sister. The dark things refer to fear and anger in his life. The boy in the end at the bizzare is so so angry, and James Joyce ends the story with the boy standing in darkness. This darkness is a low point in the boy's life. 

Week 3: Free Post

Previously in Mr. Allens room 547, we were asked to read, The Role of Interdepence in Strategic Collaboration and asked to ingage in discussion. Myself, being so shy did not ingage in discussion. I actually found this article quite interesting, well for being a business article. One part that particularly stands out to me is when Preston talks about Darwinism. A quote from Charles Darwin, "A plant on the edge of a desert is said to struggle for life against the drought, though more properly it should be said to be dependent on the moisture. " Preston takes this quote and applies it to businesses and says, "How many executives and companies are deploying their resources to fight the drought when they should be looking for ways to attract the moisture.". I loved this because it made me compare it to everyday life, all the energy many people use to bring others down to make themselves look good can be used positively to just bring themselves up. It's kind of the opposite of "defense wins games", stop wasting time defending yourself from others, use that time and energy to bring yourself above. Attract moisture don't just fight the drought. 

Blog Post 4

Lily Sale

Those Winter Sundays By: Robert Hayden

Before reading this poem, its structure stands out to me. The pattern of lines in each stanza 5,4,3, and 2. The stanzas with less lines create more impact because there space is somewhat limited compared to earlier ones and the purpose has to become clear in less words. The further down into poem you reach the more you get to know the author. As it seems in this poem he is writing to reminisce about his childhood. Hayden explains his father as a hardworking man, getting up before the sun, with cracked hands from the weeks’ labor. His father awakes before him and starts a fire to warm the house before he awakes.  All of these "chores" his father does seems to be for the benefit of his son. The turning point in the poem is when the author states, "speaking indifferently to him the one who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well." This serves as a turning point because before it talks about the father and what he does for his son, at this point it displays the son's' reaction to it: indifference. All of the things his father does for him he speaks to him like he doesn't care. Hayden ends with two questions, "What did I know, what did I know of love's austere and lonely offices?" These questions were obviously to reflect on his actions toward his father. By using "what did I know?" it offers that he is blaming his youth for his indifferent actions toward his father. This poem is definitely to recall his past, however I do not think he really regrets acting the way he did. He simply said "well what did I know?" not really "apologizing" just somewhat brushing it off. This poem attempts to be regretful and reminiscent, however I only think he is reminiscing, his attitude towards his father stays the same. 

Week 2: A Rose For Emily

We were asked to "highlight beautiful language and or imagery" the wise words of Mr. Allen room 547. In a Rose for Emily I highlighted a sentence that I could clearly see in my head and feel with the prove of some goosebumps. "As they recrossed the lawn, a window that had been dark was lighted and Miss Emily sat in it, the light behind her, and her upright torso motionless as that of an idol. They crept quietly across the lawn and into the shadow of the locusts that lined the street." This I see clearly. I see this clearly because growing up I would drive down my street and when it was dark the third house down had a room. The red room I'd call it. This guy would put on his hood, and stare out the window with a red light in the background. My mom would always make sure to drive extra slow by his house just to scare me even more. The same creepy feeling is get everytime I drove by the red room I got when I read this sentence from A Rose For Emily.