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Male and female relations in "Pygmalion's Bride" and "Mrs.Aesop" (Dec 13, 2020)

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Male and female relations in "Pygmalion's Bride" and "Mrs.Aesop" (Dec 13, 2020)

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While Duffy's poems mainly revolve around the story of a marginalized female character, some of the poems follow the relationship between that women, and a man.

In Pygmalion's Bride, a greek artist creates a beautiful sculpture of a women, Galicia, and falls in love with her. He prays to the gods to bring her to life, and the gods grant him that wish. Once Pygmalion has his "bride" he try's to sleep with Galicia and she keeps rejecting his advances, this angers Pygmalion and makes him even more determined to sleep with her. Nearing the end of the poem, when Galicia gets tired and wants to get rid of him, she accepts his offer, and once he's gotten what he wants he leaves and never sees her again because he has gotten bored of her.

When representing the male and female relation in this poem, Duffy makes the relationship seem just focused on the sexual aspect of it. She shows how men in relationships are demanding and inconsiderate of their partners needs and feeling, and will do anything just to get to the sex. It also shows how men will use their strength to force women into sleeping with them as the poem says "I heard him shout", "his nails were claws", "his fingers (sank) into my flesh". The man also try's to bribe her with "pearls", "rings", and "necklaces", but the persona didn't fall for it because she wasn't "dumb." These acts show how men view women in relationships, they deem them less than them, and shallow enough to desert their wants and dignity for pretty things and satisfy them. Finally, the poems shows that men are creatures that get bored easily and are afraid of commitment. All it took for Galicia to get rid of Pygmalion was to sleep with him-give him what he wants-and "(beg) for his child" which inferred commitment and both acts made Pygmalion leave and never bother her again.

Moving on to the women in the relationship. Galicia here is depicted as a women with extreme strength a will power, she's also very smart. She rejects Pygmalion's advances for so long and "(laid) still" when he touched her, "drowned him out" when he talked, "didn't shrink" when his advances increased, "didn't bruise" to satisfy his need. All because she was hoping he would get the hint and leave her alone. When he didn't she "changed (her) tack" began to "moan, got hot, got wild" "begged for his child" and when she did it, she "(hadn't) seem him since" that. The actions of the Galicia in the relationship proves how women in relationships may sacrifice what they want in order to satisfy the man or get rid of them. In order to get away from him, Galicia had to do the one thing she didn't want to do. This relationship represents one type of relation between a male and a female. The male is selfish and uncaring, he is afraid of commitments and is fickle, and the women has to endure the pain of the relationship before finding a way out of it. Also, the relationship is manly lustful and sexual and doesn't involve an emotional connection such as love.

Another representation we can find about male and female relations is in Duffy's poem Mrs. Aesop. In a similar manner to the previous relationship, the women is unhappy and the man is uncaring. In this case Mr.Aesop isn't ignoring his wife on purpose, but has reached a point where he doesn't think about his wife's happiness any more, he's not good in bed, so he tries to compensate with his words, but Mrs.Aesop has had enough. She finds his stories "tedious"

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Women Representation is Thetis and Salome (Dec 13, 2020)

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Women Representation is Thetis and Salome (Dec 13, 2020)

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The World Wife is a collection of poems by Carol Ann Duffy that represent women, their struggles, and the way their place is viewed in society. The representation differs from one power to another, which echos the main goal of Duffy's poems, which is trying to counter and refute the characteristics and and personality traits that women are "supposed" to have, as a result of societies expectations, particularly men's.

The first poem were looking at is Thetis. Thetis is one of the only central characters that Duffy uses in her poems. She's a shapeshifter, who spends the entirety of the poems trying to flee from a man's grip. The men in the poem don't hold special significance in the personas life, meaning they're not all related to her, but they are just men present in the world that she lives in. This reasserts the idea that women are constantly being pressured by all the men in society to be one thing. The stanza are written in free verse which echos the idea of a shapeshifter, yet is a sestet to manifest the idea of conformity and how women in the end will almost always have to conform with society standards because men end up outwitting them. Every time Thetis shape shifts into a different form, mainly animals, there is always a man at the end of the stanza that tries to kill or capture her, which leads her to change forms once again. For example, when she was a "bird" the man captured her and "(squeezed) his fists", when she was an "albatross" the man aimed his "crossbow", when she was a "50 Ib" vicious animal, the man took out his "gun". The women that Duffy is repressing here strong willed women that are doing their best to not give up easily, when things get hard they-shape shift-adapt to their situation and try to move on. However, even after doing all of that, men or society end up succeeding in having these women conform with society norms, as the last line of the last stanza says "thats how I felt when the child burst out." Comparing her defeat to having a child is used to emphasize her loss of freedom because having kids is one idea that society forces on women. So here she says that she had given birth and therefore, was unable to break free of the chains society and men put her in, essentially giving up.

Moreover, when looking at the next poem, Salome, the women representation here is very different. In the biblical story, John the baptist deems Salome's mother an adulteress, as she married her late husbands brother which was wrong at the time. To get revenge Salome asks her uncle for Johns head on a platter, as revenge for what he said about her mother. The latter part of the story is the significant bit as it's referenced in the end of Duffy's poem. In the poem, the persona is a wild and unhinged women. She loves drugs, alcohol, and sex. This mirrors the stereotypical behaviour of a man in the society we live in. Duffy chose these character traits for the persona to represent women in a different light. Showing that women can be as wild and carless as men and don't always have to be the maternal, caring, weak, gentle figures that society wants. In the beginning of the poem the persona wakes up with a strange man in her bed, yet ignores him and starts to rethink her life choices, she mentions she's had several partners in the past, which reasserts the idea that women can be just like men, weather that be good or bad, and decides she wants to stop the fooling around, the drugs, and the alcohol. However, towards the end of the poem we realise that the men beside her was actually dead with his "head on a platter." Some critics believe that the persona is actually a serial killer seeing as how she reacted to the dead man beside her, which is extremely significant. Most people would think of a man as a serial killer, women are too nice and too gentle to ever be serial killers. Thats exactly Duffy's aim, to represent women in a different light. The representation doesn't have to be positive as a serial killer, whether male or female, is bad. However, the idea that a women is capable of this counters society view of women and gives the reader a sense of a women's capability.

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Reflection on “The 7 Concepts” (Oct 31, 2020)

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Reflection on “The 7 Concepts” (Oct 31, 2020)

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Communication:

Writing is used as a tool to communicate ideas and messages to people from all across the globe. Writing is an effective tool to communicate with a variety of people, however, sometimes, the writer must assume that the reader has some knowledge about the topic prior to reading, or must explain everything from the very beginning depending on the audience. Also, the language and structure used helps engage a certain segment of the audience and communicate the desired message. For example, when looking at The Picture of Dorian Gray a novel written by Oscar Wilde, the novel starts off by Basil, an artist and painter, pondering over the purpose of art, and what art should be. Basil came to the conclusion that “all art is quite useless” and that a piece of art should never include too much of the artist because art just serves an aesthetic purpose. Basil's point of view is quite significant because Wilde himself was apart of the aesthetic art movement in the 1870’s that promoted that art shouldnt contains hidden messages and promote ideas but just be aesthetic. While the aesthetic art idea is communicated through Basil to the audience whether they know that piece of information about the author or not, it’s much more significant if they do, and helps them understand the idea and plot of the novel better.

Creativity:

Writers almost always have a purpose for writing. There is a message, idea, or theme wanting to be expressed. Authors may use their imagination to creatively communicate their purpose through text. This use of imagination and creativity also often leaves room for the audience to interpret the meaning according to their understanding of it, while the purpose may be the same, there are small discrepancies between different readers' interpretation. For example, in Odyssey, the main idea was the many obstacles people may be faced with in life, and in order to move forward, you will always have to find a way to get past them one way or another. However, through these creative and unrealistic immortal obstacles the audience could deduce many different ideas or themes throughout. For example, hospitality, self-restraint, deviance, glory, honor, leadership, fate, and choice.

Perspective:

Texts we read often provide us with a new perspective that seemed foreign to us not too long ago. The beliefs that the characters in a novel have prompt the audience to reflect on their existing beliefs. A perfect example of that would be The Alchemist by Paulo Ceolho, a novel that focuses on how every individual should spend their life achieving their own personal legend. Getting over the obstacles that get in their way such as influence, love, fear, and lastly realizing our dreams, as portrayed in the novel, to find our story and what our life should be. This journey that Santiago, the main character, goes on offers the journey of life in a new light, and makes the reader contemplate about what their purpose in life really is.

Representation:

When looking at this key concept, an important question to ask is “Can fiction represent reality?” The answer is yes. Often time, authors may use fictional situations, characters, or even allegories, to represent or provide their perspective of a reality their living. For example, Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegory to the Russian Revolution. Using an animal farm, with pigs, horses, cats, and chicken, Orwell managed to represent reality in a fictional way. These animals represented the people apart of the revolution depending on their characteristics and what they were known for. By reading this fictional novel, the reader is given the truth in the perspective of the author about reality, and real life situations.

Identity:

Texts can reveal several aspects or beliefs about the authors identity as well as the readers. Oscar Wilde portrayed his perspective on art and sexulaity by the beliefs and relationships between the characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Making one of the main characters depict his perspective on art, “useless” and purley “aesthetic”, as well as making two of the main characters queer, was his way of expressing his identity through art. However, the concept of identity can also be applied to the audience, characters in texts always have factors of identity similar to the readers. While not every single reader can relate to the same character, part of what makes reading and analyzing a text for the audience compelling, is their striking resemblance to us. Feeling a connection to a character in a text makes the reader reflect on themselves as well as the actions of the character.

Culture:

One of the main concepts that can really influence text, is culture. The culture of the author and the society they live in, often affects their perspective in texts. After all, it's safe to say that all of us are a product of our environment. For example, Carol Ann Duffy, a raging feminist, wrote The Worlds Wife as a rebuttle to womens oppression throughout the years. While gender inequality, female oppression, and sexism is an issue beyond borders, it's present in almost all societies today, and it was clearly present in the society that Duffy lived in. Which means that these poems about female empowerment, female struggles, and gender equality are not the only thing affected by culture, but the readers are too. Females around the world reading these poems are almost all affected by these issues and they can all relate. While males, depending on the culture they live in and how misogynistic it is, may argue about Duffy’s poems and how true they are. This is exactly the effect of culture on text, the text represents the culture, and the culture affects the interpretation.

Transformation:

Texts that readers are exposed to can aid in transforming their beliefs, identity, and way of life. The ideas communicated, the language used, the extent of the creativity, the influence of the culture can all assist in the transformation of the reader. To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee, covers the issues of racism and prejudice. The dramatic irony present in the novel helps emphasize the injustice that occurs towards the black people in American communities in that time. Personally for me, growing up I was always taught the hardships that African-Amaricans had to endure, but after reading To Kill a Mockingbird I felt like it was my personal responsibility to stand up to racists, sexists or any discriminatiors, because all it took in the novel was one person to look past the prejudice of society to find the truth and help an innocent man, and if every individual in our community did that today, we can have a much stronger impact on the issues of racism or inequality.

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Global Issue in Red Riding Cap by Carol Ann Duffy (Oct 31, 2020)

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Global Issue in Red Riding Cap by Carol Ann Duffy (Oct 31, 2020)

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Red Riding Cap is a poem by Carol Ann Duffy that tells the tale of a young women's experience with her first love who was much older than she is. She spent 10 years in the relationship, feeling as if she was stuck in the "woods" and imprisoned by her first love. A global issue that appears in the poem is women empowerment. Not too long ago women were expected to sit at home and care for their house and husbands, keeping their opinions to themselves and following their spouses orders. However, in this poem Duffy challenges that idea by portraying a young women who goes through a relationship that murders her soul and imprisons her mind, yet, manages to escape on her own in the end.

This is mainly where the global issue appears, and is manifested in the language of the text. For example, when the persona expresses that it "took ten years in the woods"-the woods as in the dark, mysterious, and scary relationship-"to tell that mushroom stoppers the mouth of a buried corpse", she's highlighting that even when she felt like she was buried by the toxic relationship, and the controlling man whom she usually refers to as the "wolf" because of his controlling and sneaky nature, she remembered that mushrooms are able to grow from the ground through the mouth of a buried corpse. She's finally has enough energy and power to revive herself all on her own, which is a form of women empowerment, reassuring women that no matter the hardships they go through in a relationship, their always strong enough to revive themselves once again and come "out of the forest" with "flowers, singing," "alone."

Another very important example that clearly manifests the global issue is towards the end when the persona "(takes) an axe to the wolf as he slept", cut him open, and sees "the glistening, virgin white of (her) grandmothers bones," then "(fills) his old belly with stones", and stitched him back up. This act symbolizes the liberation of all the abused and oppressed women from "wolfish" men, including herself, and setting them free. The global issue of women empowerment can clearly be seen in the acts and language of the persona, and helps Duffy highlight it throughout the poem.

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Reflection on the process of writing the first Paper 1 (Oct 30, 2020)

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Reflection on the process of writing the first Paper 1 (Oct 30, 2020)

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After annotating multiple texts and trying to write small paragraphs to get a feel for how a Paper 1 should be written, it was time to attempt at writing a complete and summative essay. Looking back at the time I had spent working on it, I feel like there are multiple aspects I can adjust to be able to produce a better essay, in less time. I spent 35 minutes annotating the text, and 3 hours waiting the whole essay. While annotating, there where many devices I thought were there, but I wasn't able to put my finger on what they were exactly or what the device was called. I doubted a lot of comments and annotations I had made, so I did a lot of rewriting which was what mainly what slowed me down. I think that if I do a little more reading and brush up on the general devices used in writing, it will be much easier for me in the next Paper 1 to pinpoint what I want to comment on faster. Also, I think that if I had just annotated everything I wanted to, then later, while writing edited out the things I didn't want to include, that would have saved me a lot of time and made the annotation process more effortless.

Another challenge I had faced and something I found interesting while attempting to write my essay, was my struggle with the structure. While I knew what I had wanted to say after annotating, it took me almost an hour and a half to settle on the structure I should be using. While writing I kept on finding better ways to structure what I was saying, therefore, had to rewrite what I had written about three times. Also, the fact that this was handwritten and not typed made the process a little more tedious. Because after realising I had written to long of a paragraph, I could just go back and press enter. Thus, I think that if I had taken just 10 minutes to completely focus on my points and how I wanted to structure them, I wouldn't have to rewrite my paragraphs and wouldn't have issues with the length of the paragraphs later on, because everything would already be planned out.

Something else I believe is worth noticing is that while my annotations on the text included analyzation and I knew what I needed to write in order to analyse my points properly, when it came to writing the final draft of the essay, I may have been a bit too narrative. I didn't include all the analyzation I should have and know, and just ended up describing certain devices or ideas to an extent. Therefore, I feel like this is a very important point that I need to focus on next attempt because I really would make a difference in the quality of my essay.

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Reflection on Paper 1 Exemplar (Oct 20, 2020)

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Reflection on Paper 1 Exemplar (Oct 20, 2020)

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I think that the exemplar Paper 1 was over all well written and organized. The student who wrote it managed to annotate and deduce many techniques and devices present in the article that were not very clear. The paper was organized, every paragraph covered a topic which made it to follow along. However, because of the nature of the text, the paper was a little too narrative and not analytical. Many references were made to the article, but not deeply analyzed. I think the main points in the rubric were achieved, and I feel like the paper was very helpful to look at. Since I personally get stuck when writing sometimes regarding the structure and the annotation of the elements in the text, this paper was a perfect example of what I could do in the future when I'm stuck. The way it was structured and the emphasises on all the techniques and devices, even the very minor ones, I think helped award this paper a higher mark than if it had just contained obvious techniques.