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I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you—Nobody—Too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d advertise—you know!

How dreary—to be—Somebody!
How public—like a Frog—
To tell one’s name—the livelong June—
To an admiring Bog!

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Dickinson’s poem “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” is like a light in a dark room, as it promotes individuality and breaking societal stereotypes/pressures. Society places a great deal of pressure on people to look, act, be, etc. a certain way, and trying to reach/become the standard causes people to lose themselves. People’s lives are full of family and friends placing pressure on them to be a certain way, which is already exhausting. But in our modern world, we also have social media reminding you everyday to be perfect. Social media opens the door to comparison and wanting to be someone you’re not. With all these different aspects of life telling you to be a certain way, it is easy to lose yourself and your uniqueness. As Dickinson’s poem promotes the idea of simply being yourself, I find it to be a beautiful reminder amidst the pressures of life. Her poem is freeing, as the idea of being “nobody” allows people to express themselves and be carefree.

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In Dickinson's poem "I'm Nobody! Who are you?", she promotes the idea of individuality. She praises the idea of self expression, despite what society says/thinks of you. This image precisely represents society's reaction to someone who is different than the standard; someone who is not what they are expected to be. If you are not who society wants you to be, you are judged and a spotlight is placed on you. Dickinson describes this by saying: "Don't tell! they'd advertise" (Line 4). This image aligns with Dickinson's statement and analysis of society's judgement, by placing a person in the middle with everyone analyzing him. The spotlight placed on this person who is different adequately describes the idea that people are judged for self expression.

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One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

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In Wallace Stevens’ poem “The Snow Man”, he describes the emotions humans may experience throughout their journey in life, and the emotional maturity one needs. He presents the idea that one must have a “mind of winter” (Line 1), to be able to get through life. I believe he is essentially saying that humans must be able to be numb to emotions at times in order to be able to survive through life. There are many hardships and heartbreaks people experience throughout their journey in life, and in order to keep living, people have to accept the misery and keep going.  I feel like Stevens’ perception on life is a good reminder, because as I continue to go through the journey of life, I have realized that hardship is how I grow as a person. For example, in my sport I constantly feel like I’m not good enough and want to quit, but I push these emotions away and keep going. The ability to keep going and ignore the feeling of wanting to give up has allowed me to grow as a skater and as a person. In Stevens’ poem “The Snow Man”, I feel as though he is applying the same concept; the idea that you must be “cold” in order to get through life and grow.

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Where is the Jim Crow section

On this merry-go-round,

Mister, cause I want to ride?

Down South where I come from

White and colored

Can’t sit side by side.

Down South on the train

There’s a Jim Crow car.

On the bus we’re put in the back—

But there ain’t no back

To a merry-go-round!

Where’s the horse

For a kid that’s black?

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1. In Langston Hughes poem “Merry-Go-Round”, he addresses the discrimination that African Americans have experienced due to societal racism. He specifically discusses Jim Crow laws, which forced African Americans to use different bathrooms, trains, buses, schools, etc. than the rest of society during the 20th century. He describes the experiences and the impact that Jim Crow laws have made on his, and other African Americans’, lives: “White and colored Can’t sit side by side” (Lines 5-6), and “Down South on the train There’s a Jim Crow car” (Lines 7-8). And although we do not have Jim Crow laws in our modern day, racism still sadly exists. Hughes describes the constant cycle of racism by comparing it to a merry go round. His comparison is sad, but true, and is a reminder that the issues of our past still exist to this day. Hughes’ poem, “Merry-Go-Round” is a wake up call to me, as it exposes the issues of racism, and makes me feel like I have a duty to educate myself on the issue and ensure that it does not happen in our future. Hughes’ poem is sad, yet empowering to me, as it exposes the truth and causes me to face reality.

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The anguish of the earth absolves our eyes
Till beauty shines in all that we can see.
War is our scourge; yet war has made us wise,
And, fighting for our freedom, we are free.

Horror of wounds and anger at the foe,
And loss of things desired; all these must pass.
We are the happy legion, for we know
Time’s but a golden wind that shakes the grass.

There was an hour when we were loth to part
From life we longed to share no less than others.
Now, having claimed this heritage of heart,
What need we more, my comrades and my brothers?

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Siegfried Sassoon’s poem “Absolution” describes the guilt and psychological tormentation soldiers experience through fighting in war. He describes how the innocent desire of wanting to protect their country turns into the realization of the cruelty of their actions. Sassoon was a homosexual World War I veteran and poet. Initially when he was drafted for war, he was extremely aggressive. He was excited at the idea of war and fought his heart out, but after a few years he started to hate war. He wrote poetry about his hatred towards war and was sent to a shell shock hospital, where he was displayed as having a mental illness. Society blamed his hatred towards war on mental illnesses, while in reality his hatred towards war came from his realization that war is blatantly cruel. The slap of reality that Sassoon faced is similar to the experiences of growing up, as you realize that not everything is the way it seems. Although Sassoon’s war experience does not compare to my experiences, I enjoyed reading his poem as it sheds light on how innocence can be drained from you after experiencing adventures.

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Siegfried Sassoon explores the loss of innocence in his poem "Absolution". Sassoon was a WWI veteran who developed a hatred for war after fighting for multiple years. The loss of innocence is something you can never get back; you can never go back to being the person you once were. Like this bucket, once it is poked and water (innocence) starts leaving, you cannot stop it, nor can you fill it up again. The innocence you once had cannot be retrieved again. Sassoon describes this by saying: "Time's but a golden wind that shakes the grass" (Line 8). He realizes that you cannot reverse time and gain back the innocence. Time is always in motion, like the wind and leaking bucket, and once it passes, you cannot grasp it again.

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Langston Hughes' poem "Merry-Go-Round" explores the idea that racism is a constant cycle in society . Hughes presents the idea that racism exists in different ways throughout centuries, and specifically explores Jim Crow laws in the 20th century: "“White and colored Can’t sit side by side. Down South on the train There’s a Jim Crow car” (Lines 5-8). In our present world, we don't have Jim Crow laws, but we have different forms of racism, which is where the symbol of a record ties in. A record has sound wave patterns engraved into grooves on the surface, and in order to play sound, it spins in a circle. The idea of racism has been engraved into our society, just like the sound wave patterns in the record. Additionally, the act of racism goes in a never ending cycle in our society, just like the record spins in a circle. Until the needle is taken off the record, the music keeps playing; until a change happens in our society, racism will still occur.

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Wallace Stevens' poem "The Snow Man" explores the idea that you must be "cold" to get through life. He states that you must have a "mind of winter" (Line 1) to understand and push through life. Sometimes you have to ignore your emotions and just keep going through life. The horse displayed in the image above has blinds to make sure that it does not get distracted and run off. The horse has the blinds so that it just keeps walking forward. And just like this horse, sometimes humans have to be able to ignore the distractions and perceptions surrounding them, and just keep walking forward. This horse represents the mindset and toughness humans need to get through life, which Stevens describes.