Respond to these two forum post 200 words each question by8 pm

PART I:  This week I chose to write about “A Noiseless Patient Spider”, a poem written by Walt Whitman that was written after the Civil War.  The Civil War was from 1861 – 1865, the poem was written in 1876.  Whitman had a brother that fought in the Civil War and would send Whitman detailed letters of his excursions.  The letter were never very exciting and often contained deep, dark, and negative thoughts about what was going on during the war.  Whitman’s brother often wrote about the loneliness he was experiencing during the war and how it affected his mood. This, in my opinion, is what sparked Walt Whitman to compose “A Noiseless Patient Spider”.  The main theme of the poem is loneliness and the experience of the spider becomes a metaphor on behalf of the speaker's attempt to find humanity for his brother.

            PART II:  There are numerous classical references in “Yet Do I Marvel”. I chose to write about the Greek myth of Sisyphus.  Sisyphus is faces with constant struggle during his life.  He was condemned to rolling a boulder uphill for the rest of eternity. It is obvious that this would be a constant struggle, because Sisyphus could never get it to the top before it would roll back down to the bottom.  The constant struggle evident from the association of Sisyphus was similar to that of what Countee Cullen experienced being an African American poet when they were not respected as they should have been. 

            PART III:  Water is very evident in some of the works that we have read so far in this class.  Ernest Hemingway wrote the story of “Big Two-Hearted River”.  This story was based around a river that the narrator used to fish at when he was younger and was now returning to.  Here, the river represents a livelihood that the narrator grew up on and is a sense of peace and calming during tough times.  “The Open Boat”, written by Stephen Crane, is also a short story based almost completely around water.  In this short story, four men are stranded on a lifeboat drifting aimlessly.  In this case, the water represents a very strong figure because it controls where the lifeboat drifts to.  The narrator explains that the water is very rough, tossing the lifeboat around.  The water represents an uncharted place that presents life dangers and can change things in a matter of seconds.  

#2

Blacks from the south began migrating to the north between 1914-1920, which was due to the war and increase in demand for industrial workers in the north (Early, 2016). Additionally, blacks migrated to the north due to white-on-black persecution and homicides. The short poem “Song for a Dark Girl” by Langston Hughes graphically depicts the threat to black lives and the world that they lived in.  “They hung my black young lover/ To a cross roads tree” (Perkins, 185). Around this time, lynching and hate crimes towards blacks was a serious yet common thing that each black had to be weary of.

Part 2:

            One of the classical references in “Yet Do I Marvel” by Countee Cullen is the reference to Sisyphus. Sisyphus is a Greek reference to a man who was sentenced to rolling a boulder up a hill for eternity as punishment from the gods (Camus, 2016). The reason Cullen uses this reference is because during this time period black lives were much like Sisyphus in that they were fighting an uphill battle. This was especially so for black poets who wanted to be heard but were not “worthy” of being heard.  This reference relates to the overall message of the poem by portraying how difficult life was and the odds that were against blacks.

Part 3:

            Water is a symbol in many of our readings thus far in the course. In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, the water symbolizes the descent of African Americans and their lineage. His ancestors bathed in the waters of the Euphrates and his most recent relatives have lived along the Mississippi river (Perkins, 183). Another story that references water is “Big Two-Hearted River”, where the river is used as a therapeutic method of healing for Nick. It was a place he fished prior to leaving for the war and returns home seeking a calming place to regain his humanity. “The Open Boat” is another story that water played a major role in where four men were adrift in a boat for many days. The water in this story represents a strong figure that holds their lives in its hands. Therefore the water symbol in this story plays a role of either providing a safe passage to help or a long and trying struggle to survive for these four men.