Stein's prose is rather staccato. Its effect is uneasiness. It feels as though she does not have a complete grasp on reality.

You are what you eat

Brush up on your American history and watch The Men Who Built America

Cows are perhaps the most important domesticated animal human civilization has ever known. For thousands of years they have offered mankind meat, dairy products, fertilizer, and manurer and are glorified in Hindu religion. With the absence of cows I figure Frost signals readers to some void, in which humanity cannot successfully thrive.

Fences are designed to demarcate territory, protect one's property, and keep unwanted things out. A good fence is only but a matter of subjectivity.

Having "the power in the village" seems like the result of a utilitarian argument to me. Extinguishing variety in the interest of what-is-good-for-all does the village no good as Masters argues later in the poem. Ultimately, nobody is more aware of this disservice and flawed thinking than the village's outcast(s).

The patterns Masters writes about embody the concept of intertextuality. Written works become letters from writers to other writers and audiences, and the topics they explore are rooted in mankind's common stream of consciousness—whether the experience accessible to the skilled wordsmith or the reader alike.

A popular thought in philosophy maintains that everything exists in a relationship, and when we participate in a relationship—whether we are willing, conscious of it, or not—certain power dynamics are at play. Here, is it not one's strength that depends on exercise, or one's appetite depending on food? With John's subtle aid, Gilman convinces herself of their relationship as John would like it.

If we assume the wallpaper a covering, or veil, masked over the walls of the estate underneath, then perhaps this is a metaphor depicting some twoness similar to Du Bois. Gilman can only assume stories of the estate's past from what she is seeing; perhaps she is mad, but she writes of her own vocation and sense in secret, unbeknownst to John. The mansion with its many rooms becomes a mystery as puzzling as their relationship. What then would we make of a greenhouse? Perhaps it is a symbol for complete transparency, and personal growth. Furthermore, since they are "all broken now" perhaps Gilman considers herself forever in a state of double-consciousness, where she must hide her writings and true thoughts away.

Religious transformation never truly became of the American people as it had their European ancestors. In that particular day and age where religion left off, the dynamo took over.

Levine was raised in a Jewish household, and his father died when he was only 5. The metaphor of the pig can play as an ode to his Jewish upbringing, as the animal's meat is not considered kosher and is abstained from. Furthermore, perhaps Levine is illustrating his father's early death, suggesting it a result of working conditions dangerous yet reserved to Detroit's working class. Are workers only but a means to an end? And under whose control are these workers only but pawns and swine?

Consider here, Philip Levine's background). The writer grew up in Detroit, Michigan to a father who owned an auto parts business and a bookseller-mother. Detroit's most recognized moniker is likely that of the Motor City as most of the local economy revolved around the automotive industry in the city's heyday. Levine himself worked at Chevrolet and Cadillac, starting as early as 14. Needless to say, he did not find these jobs the least bit fulfilling.

As the industry moved towards consolidating business and employing advancing technologies, many of Detroit's people were left in a state of poverty as the city, too, suffered damages as a result of the Riots of 1967.