I feel like the repetition here serves a specific purpose of illustrating the state of insanity his friend is devolving to, The repetition creates a rhythm as we read on and watch the friend descend into madness, in a way I felt that the friend was actually thinking, rather obsessively, that Ginsburg was with him in Rockland. Striking and moving, I'm unsure of its exact intent.

Out of this entire second half, I feel this is the first time we are reading his words as he means them, plain and simple and conversational.

surprising and somewhat nonsensical

I think he is using Moloch as a placeholder for sacrifice in an attempt to wage the same level of power over words that the Bible has

very lyrical. This sentence stands out to me because it illustrates how all people are at the mercy of time

i feel he is encapsulating the sweetness of escapism that most people want to feel. To hallucinate hopefulness where there is none makes me think of a desperate situation these people are trapped in. Maybe an entire population of generation trapped in the hallucinations of hope,

wondering why Denver?

Second favorite line of poem - The imagery coupled with this abstract notion of time and the outrageous idea of alarm clocks falling on heads for a decade. There is just so much to unpack in this statement, but I also feel as if he is criticizing a generation who is inattentive, sleepy, and unconscious of time.

I feel he is eluding to something that is no more and is melancholic over this fact. That the memories were sweet and he writes about it with sentimentality.

Depicting a population who behave like wild animals and live their lives dictated by feeling, and who make everything a cause and purpose that needs to be turned into chaos. I envision a pack of wolves running down the street, turning over trashcans, incessantly barking and disturbing and awakening the masses.

Probably one of my favorite lines of the poem due to the rhythm and the term "grandfather night" I think this phrase really highlights both the musicality within the poem, with the repetition of "boxcar" as well as the depth within the language: "lonesome farms in grandfather night" is a term with imagery and emotion.

I feel like the narrator is also saying that while she imagines the child calling to her, she also must turn a deaf ear to her own instincts to be a mother - to essentially ignore her biological clock for practical reasons - to spare her child the pain. This sacrifice is an act of love that haunts the woman as she accepts she will never bring a life into this world at a time when women are completely defined by motherhood. She is essentially sacrificing her identity in order to spare her unborn child the same cruel fate of being born black.

Although this poem has a tender melancholy to it, I also felt somewhat frustrated by the narrator - who accepts the world as it is, without trying to make it different for future generations. She is essentially saying "this place sucks so stay where you are" and I think that, obviously this attitude is influenced by her life as an oppressed black woman, but it also, and I think more importantly, highlights to hopelessness the black woman feel's during this time - that to even think of raising a child or continuing on is simply not worth it as she has no control over her own life or destiny.

Pain and suffering is universal and this is the narrator's plea to people to connect through their suffering - to build bridges connected by pain. I think the narrator is saying that suffering can bring people together and form a bond stronger than most because you can see your own suffering through the suffering of other's and it can be a shared experience and provide an opportunity to transcend race, time, and fear.

I'm not sure if this highlights the narrator's curiosity or his narrowed view of black people - very much stereotypical and somewhat ignorant. I think it stems from our need, as a people, to put people into a box, and label them for our own comfort, and when someone doesn't fit into the boxes we've constructed for them, we tend to feel fearful about the person - and I think that this is the narrator's attempt to categorize and label the dancing man in order to make sense of what he is witnessing.

it is easy to dismiss someone if they check a box - but the way this character acts and dances and moves in direct opposition to how people would expect a black person to dance and act, intrigues and mystifies the narrator leading him to contemplate this man as an individual rather than one of a race.

I was struck by the way the narrator began changing the moment he saw his face - rather than wondering about why he is acting peculiar, he began to think about where he comes from and how his movements would match, and be accepted in another place and time, I t illustrates the pressure society has on people and how it restricts individuality, to the point of oppression.

This concept of using song as a way to story-tell and preserve the heritage with the permanence of song is explored. The idea that they have been denied a right to history and culture, and therefore have created one through song which they hold in such high reverie is lost on the untrained ear unencumbered by the pressure to disappear or betray their truth. I think that "singing the heart of the race" illustrates how the very idea of "soul" music permeates society to this day, and illuminates the idea: when one is stripped of everything, including identity - all that is left is song and, like a weed growing through cement, their identity is formed and nurtured through song.

Again i see this concept of an identity that is hidden - the true nature of the character's again hidden away, presenting a divide between us/them and identity/persona. I find it interesting that the narrator writes from the standpoint of recognizing that minstrel smiles perpetuate stereotypes, yet there is an undercurrent of rebellion - an "we do it but we do it in silent confidence and pride of our heritage"

She writes of waiting for something, the way jars contain something to be used eventually...but when? This is the root question - the narrator warns of patience and stillness until the time is fit for use.

I read this poem aloud and it has such a more impactful effect on me reading in the character's voice and it coming out sounding like a true character. I felt sad reading this poem, I can't understand why, maybe because this last passage indicates to me that this character knows he belongs nowhere really - no place is meant for him or his people because of the indirect roll they've played in the "devil's" antics. I don't know why but I felt that the narrator is saying that black people have been tricked all their lives, and continue to fall for it, and for that, they must pay a price of never having a place for them - no place is safe. This poem left me feeling sorry for the character but more so because the narrator just accepts this world of evil as reality that they are tethered to.

This lead me to instantly think about how, at the root of any division, there is this fear due to the unknown. I feel the narrator is saying that the fact that the white man cannot understand why the black man smiles and laughs, despite his situation, leads the white man to feel confused which then causes resentment and fear, leading to anger and frustration, and ultimately hatred.

I feel this was more symbolic than realistic. Like the voice of Ma Rainey singing their suffering is transcendent - it lifts them up out of their misery, briefly, and allows them to escape the reality of their lives, which is that they are caged by their skin color. This idea of singing the blues, is directly traced to slavery when the slaves had no control over their own lives, so they sang in the fields, and they sang of what they knew - suffering. I see major similarities here with the narrator describing why he watches Ma sing and how it affects his people.

It is interesting to me that, even today, we celebrate artwork that "transcends race, religion, etc" which is just a fancy way of saying that it is just enough to have an edge without making us uncomfortable as a society. I thought of the broadway play "Hamilton" and how celebrated it is for being a work of art that is "blind to race" as he cast a plethora of races in the play centered around white history. I wonder why Americans are celebrating this (I love Hamilton) and not questioning why they don't respond this way to other works of art that push the envelope. Why is there backlash when a Disney character is remade into a black princess, a la Ariel, or why there was so much discussion around a black James Bond. I think the answer lies somewhere in between, we want newness as Americans, we embrace it...but not too much newness....we do not want to feel uncomfortable so when the white majority feels they are being eclipsed, the fangs come out and the oppression kicks into gear.

I think this idea of "whiteness" as superior is subconsciously ingrained in us as Americans. This video of Muhammad Ali discussing white bias over black bias - even down to angels and angel cake being white and devil's cake being black is a thoughtful commentary of how black people are repeatedly reminded that the color black is less than. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZQenvJ7znE&t=1s

The idea of a collective identity (American) dominating the individual identity of being black is something we still grapple with today. You can even argue the collective identity of politics trumps (pun intended) the individual identity. "You are a republican or democrat, that's all i need to know about you to know you" is a mentality that Hughes is disussing as it pertains to race in America.

I often wonder why he chose the word "deferred" but the phrase a "dream deferred" and the alliteration of it also creates a musical element that sticks in your head easier. His jazz background shines through in this poem, as his word choices are intentional and critical in providing movement to the poem. A "dream deferred" rolls off the tongue easier and can be committed to memory better and I also think the words appear casual and harmless, when, just like a dream that is deferred, it's impact lies beneath the surface.

Again, the rhyming makes an appearance as well as the colorful imagery he uses to describe the scene. Not to mention he is writing about a scene with literal music in it, the music echoes in his rhyming and pacing of the words. "Sad raggy tune" is rich in description which contains a musical element to it. The casual words combined with the vivid imagery through the word choices give this piece something deeper in feel and movement.

Not only is this rhythmic in the equal length of words for each phrase and the rhyming of "night" and "light" at the end of each phrase, but it also has its melody in its content. "Down on Lenox Avenue the other night" is so informal and simple, it's as if Hughes is talking to a friend. HIs voice shines through in his style. "By the pale dull parlor of an old gas light" sounds like something a song writer would jot down for a potential lyric. It's romanticism and sentimentality in the descriptive language creates emotional depth behind the words, linking it to musicality.

The fact that dew indicates morning, and with it an uplifting, hopefulness. Life waking up to the world, from the morning sunrise, to the flowers blooming. The poet indicates that the dew will be gone, foreshadowing an uncertain sadness I can’t quite define yet. Something that, just as the dew will evaporate, so too, will the hope that the possibility of morning brings.

Dust, which is made up of dead things, indicates a lifelessness, something discarded and dirty. The words “dusts that blow” indicate and helplessness, like dust that is carried with the wind, these men have no control/force in their lives, destined to become nothing.

Often times, subliminally, we are conditioned to think that love is the ultimate healer, the answer to our vast problems, however, these lines have a gritty realness to them -somewhat grotesque imagery that cannot be smoothed over. The idea of blood, and broken body parts, and death is in direct contradiction when we think of love, which is usually synonymous with life, for example, blooming flowers, or a blossoming princess. I chose a Disney image because it is the ultimate example of how we idolize the fairytale, and at the core of each fairytale is the idea of love being the cure for all things ugly, or complicated.

It seems that this sentence should be read as if it’s society speaking. The exclamation mark and the demanding language and call to action indicates a bully-type mentality making me think of a crowd of people. This sentence along with the last line, “Provide, Provide!” Is not coming from the narrator himself, but rather what he is hearing and thus, feeling - this stressful and frantic need to survive. It seems callous, unfeeling and just very ruthless in tone and feeling. I get a sense of a person feeling these demands and struggling to “make it” in their world.

This sentence struck me as it is the first hint of regret/doubt in the narrator’s decision to take the path. He seems to be indicating that, regardless of the decision, the consequence of ANY decision is sacrifice. I get a sense that Frost has this “fear of missing out” mentality, where he wonders what the other path would be/look like, but because he must choose, he cannot know. “I doubted if I should ever come back” is a sentence filled with longing and melancholy. He knows that the paths do not intersect, but lead away from eachother. He must choose, and choice in itself is a loss.

Here I think the narrator is indicting that there is an unknown separate-ness (a “darkness” to the neighbor) that already divides the men (preventing the narrator from being able to see/understand the reasoning of the neighbor). The narrator watches the neighbor from a distance and seems to be troubled by the fact that he cannot understand the neighbor’s desire for a fence. In a previous line he refers to his neighbor as a “savage” further indicating the degree in which he feels apart from his neighbor, even as a human being. Frost does an excellent job showing the many divisions that exist between the men - the differences - and in doing so, makes the idea of a fence petty and ironic as they are two men who already seem to be worlds away from one another. The fence essentially acting as a distinguishing symbol of their divide.

I can’t help but suspect that the light is not meant literally, but figuratively. The narrator references the small space that holds “as much as he’ll ever know” leading me to conclude that light and knowledge is intertwined here. He is attempting to see and know - light is a way to uncover and indirectly express a revelation.

The idea of him being above and the rest being below, this physical elevation of his body seems to have a more figurative connotation. His awareness is elevated as he writes of the others in the town, among the trees, and he is able to see what they cannot. This double vision is reminiscent of Du Bois but in a vastly different context.

I think the narrator is expressing a sense of community within their feelings of failure and inadequacy. As time ages them they remain just as aware of their failures and disappointments, which is a cruelty that binds them together, they can see eachother in eachother’s faces. This not only enforces their experiences as an inevitable part of being human, but it connects them to each other, hence a “shop-worn brotherhood.”

It’s interesting and quite ironic that the author is describing, in detail, the complexity of life in the village, yet he proceeds to write how little he knew of this life. It brings up the idea of a half-life, which we discussed in W.E.B. Du Bois’ Spiritual Awakenings essay. The idea that one can see life without actively participating in it is contemplated and used as a source of alienation from others, which then creates a unique enlightenment. Life is happening around him, yet he is not a participant.

Here I see a resemblance to “The Yellow Wallpaper” where gender roles are assigned and in place creating identity issues with the narrator. She writes of anger and discontent later in this passage and I wonder if this is due to her self-imposed duties, such as cleaning, that she did not strive to break out of her gender role, which is the root cause of her discontent.

This passage reminds me of the Henry Adams piece where he contemplates the usefulness of knowledge. Does increased knowledge lead to increased understanding? Or is it the opposite? The idea of knowing creates a confusion.

Not only is the woman utterly dependent on her husband to provide physical support and reason to calm her nerves, but she has basically surrendered to his assessments of her. He thinks he knows what’s best for her and is controlling the situation, ironically though, the very room he is taking her to, and his methods to make her well, is actually causing the insanity. Also, the fact that he is a doctor plays into the entire irony of the piece. His scientific approach to her unraveling is furthering her madness.

It seems to me that the roles have switched between the husband and the wife, as the woman is now trying to calm the husband down, whereas before and throughout the story, we’ve seen John comfort and calm the woman with very little emotion and tenderness. John has been the stoic, confident husband, and now he is struggling to make sense of the situation, however the wife is in full control and very confident rather than the hysterical woman she has been throughout the story.

It is ironic that now she is becoming attached to the very thing she dreaded most: the wallpaper. Conversely, she is pushing her husband away - as she grows fonder of the wallpaper, he grows less credible and interesting to her. She seems to rely on him less for her comfort and security, and instead is relying on her own perceptions, despite the fact that we, as readers, see her dissent into madness.

I could be totally wrong but I do see a similarity where, as Adams believed that more education would ultimately lead to a merging of science and art, rather than a contradiction, Du Bois is advocating for a merging of perceived oppositional forces - that once there is an acceptance there will be an understanding, which is highly optimistic considering when this is written and his experiences with the white world.

The separation of theoretical worlds, the black identity opposing the identity that the “other” has crafted for their narrative.

Just as Adams gleaned more information from focusing on the effects of the dynamo on his fellow man, (watching Langley/St.Gaudins study the dynamo rather than their actual assessments) Du Bois is also attempting to illustrate that the valuable information, the identities his people search for, are the WAY in which they attempt to define themselves rather than the actual definition.

I see a similarity between Adams and Du Bois when it comes to relying upon a perceived certainty that will give them relief to their intellectual struggles. They think if they can follow this theoretical road, they will wind up at the destination that gives them the answers they seek. There is an irony in that the paths they take only lead to further questions and less answers. An “unenlightenment” for lack of a better word.

Just as Henry Adams describes alienation of the self through his writing, the educated self versus the believing self, we see that Du Bois is also struggling with the concept of self and the sense of alienation from his consciousness, which creates an inner duality. Interesting to see how he explains this duality through the perception of others. It seems to be his own consciousness struggling against his consciousness that is being created through the perception of outsiders.

Here, I see a relation between Adams and Du Bois, specifically when it comes to the idea of two opposing forces. Much like Adams’ articulation of two forces (science versus art) and the dynamo creating an oppositional force to his mental capabilities (understanding) Du Bois articulates the two opposing forces, (black consciousness versus the other consciousness (white or mainstream) that, in turn, creates an inner split of conformity.

Adams juxtaposes religion and science, almost as enemies. To me, this illustrates a perceived threat - challenging Adams’ intellect and creating an uncomfortable space where Adams cannot rest peacefully in the comfort of his intellect, or his ability to come to an understanding.

Again we see the concept of force brought up. It seems to indicate Adams is well-aware of a force, or something propelling him into a future which is uncertain. This uncertainty is at the root of his dilemma. Adams seems to indicate that the shifting of his consciousness is causing him to lose grasp on what he prides himself on most: his intellect, and I think this foreboding is Adam’s highbrow way of saying he is scared because he knows he is powerless over forces which he cannot understand.

This intense pressure to categorize or define the unknown as the known is driving the narrator to find a measure of similarity between the ambiguity - which cannot be found. This is not the first time he uses force to categorize the drive to answer his own questions - the need to understand seems to be the “force” here.

This last powerful sentence concludes the poet’s ability to characterize power. The fact that the poet chose to use a lion to illustrate the forces which we cannot control, while keeping the weak, powerless characters relatively vague allows for an openness to the poem. He doesn’t say exactly who the powerless are, but he crafts an emotional and visceral plot line of imbalance, fate, and inevitability.

This is the first time the author switches to first person narration which creates an emotional tension as he concludes the poem. The poet’s ability to transition the reader’s lens and “get closer” to the poem by writing in first person drives the storyline of helplessness and the theme of being powerlessness. Just as “they” are powerless to feeding the lion, we as readers are powerless as we are introduced as secondary characters.

Personifying Earth introduces a secondary character within the poem. I think this also provokes the reader to see the world through a wider lens - the lens of a personified Earth.

This especially specific, tangible, vivid description of things (drive shafts, wooden dollies), and then transitioning into a short, vague yet impactful sentence referencing “they” and “lion” is interesting and seems to give the shorter sentence, the power and tone.