• "Perhaps the most difficult thing for students and teachers of literature to realize is that their appreciation is measured by the analytical rigor of their own discourse about literature, a criterion that is not primarily or exclusively aesthetic. Yet it separates the sheep from the goats, the consumers from the professors of literature..." This quote stuck out to me because I realized that is it a very true statement. To merely be able to consume and enjoy literature is very different from having the faculties to analyze and deeply understand the structure of the rhetoric on a deeper level. A surface level appreciation stops at "this book made me feel _." A scientific approach to digesting literature breaks down the exact components of the writing that provide reason for why it made you feel that way, and specifically what methods were used to do so. To merely appreciate the aesthetic nature of a piece of writing doesn't allow room for a deeper analysis, which is what lies at the core of studying English and literature. Aesthetics are important for consumerism of a piece, but the truest artful qualities of writing must be uncovered through a science-like dissection of the literature to figure out the ways in which the writing achieves its goals in encapsulating the reader.

In this moment the father is described to be sort of self-sabotaging himself by ineffectively poking away at the seedlings. In mentioning that he is "blindy" prodding at places where he "senses" the roots to be shape his character as one that potentially lacks the mental stability needed to find the true root of a problem, contrary to his occupation as a lawyer. Perhaps this is because of his closeness to the case. Since it is his wife who has been attacked, its more personal and confusing for him. The effects of his blind poking and prodding of the situation may be foreshadowed in the next half of the sentence, wherein he is "surely making convenient holes in the mortar" for the next year of seedlings to come and infiltrate. This moment was significant to me and made me wonder about the father's nature and what type of role he will play within the story. I think its fantastic symbolism and potential foreshadowing.

The speaker's description of himself is proven correct to the reader who eventually learns about how many times he plays along with Bartleby's odd requests and tendencies. The speaker's passive-aggression is apparent in his dealings with Bartleby, as well as his three other workers who all have their quirks and bad habits. Just as the speaker admits to "never addressing a jury," he similarly never fully addresses conflict within his workplace. Any poor behavior made by his employees is excused for by times of the day and seasons of temperament. The narrator reveals his character to the reader right at the beginning of the story so that they will have time to focus on the analysis of others' personalities for the rest of the piece.

The speaker admits to the reader that he is still very much in the dark about the complete history of the character, Bartleby. Building upon the sentiment that Bartleby was "the strangest (scrivener) I ever saw or heard of", Melville creates a suspenseful tone within this first paragraph. This effect serves to hook a reader who now has begun to wonder more about this ambiguous character.

Mellville introduces the name of Bartleby within the title of the short story. This signifies Bartleyby's importance throughout the rest of the piece.

The pole is first referred to as "a kind of crucifix" within Sticks. The crucifix is a a religious structure of a cross. Going deeper into it, I looked up the verb "crucify" for historical reference and found on OED that its "an ancient mode of capital punishment among Greeks, Romans, and other peoples" to kill people by nailing or fastening their bodies to a cross. The author's decision to chiefly introduce the pole as a crucifix automatically evokes negatively charged religious connotations, foreshadowing both the father's ill temperament and future religious practices with the pole. Its as if the father is using the pole as a means of expression, at first, strictly for holiday celebratory reasons, and then later on in a more symbolic way, such as "death" after the passing of the mother. The father is described to be unnecessarily strict towards the children, hovering over and yelling at them for insignificant problems, such as when they would pour too much ketchup, or leave an apple slice uneaten. The religious structural reference and the descriptions all paint the father as an evil figure, as if the speaker is making a metaphor to how the dad treated his family, condemning and crucifying them for failing to follow his quirky demands. https://www-oed-com.libproxy.clemson.edu/view/Entry/45141?redirectedFrom=crucify#eid

Ratified in 1791, the Second Amendment was one of ten amendments that make up the Bill of Rights. I personally think that we, as a nation, should break away from reciting and promoting such outdated literary works. The complex life of the modern human is so vastly different than an individual from this era, and our nation's documents should reflect this development as well. Words such as, "militia", "security", "bear arms", and "infringe" have completely different meanings in the 21st Century than they did in the 18th century. The human species if different than it was back then, yet, we all hold on to the past's political writings as if our government and population has not changed alongside of us, the individuals.

Who determines the standard of which the militia is regulated?

This poem takes on a haunted tone as the singer reminisces about the past and how certain experiences have led her to be who she is today. In recalling the past, she begins the second stanza with the line "I don't know when you got taller" and the fourth stanza with "I don't know how but I'm taller." I interpreted "taller" to symbolize an inner growth, rather than a literal external growth in height such as how the adjective is typically applied in the descriptions of objects. The message of growth also reconnects to the title "Garden Song" and the nature references of water and roses. The speaker grew “taller” internally as a result of past experiences with the unnamed character. Just like the rest of the poem, there's a different meaning to the diction to what initially meets the eye, creating an illusory tone. Furthermore, the person Phoebe is singing about must have grown before she did, explaining why she first mentions their growth in verse 2 before going on to point out her own in verse 4. Her growth is an effect of the nameless individual's growth as she claims that "it must be something in the water" that influenced her personal development.

The 1534 and 2016 versions both use the word "love", whereas the 1611 version refers to love with the word "charity." This difference in word choice immediately caught my attention in reading through the different translations. From OED, "charity" is defined as "a Christian love" and also as "God's love to man." As a 21st Century young adult, charity evoked imagery of volunteering and organizations meant to aid others. Despite my interpretation being slightly different, the word choice of charity instead of love makes sense now that I've done more research into the word. Charity in my terms in selflessly giving your time and energy to others as a means of uplifting them, which is the same general message of what "love" should be. From the 2016 version love is defined as something that fuels the act of giving yourself up to others. Although slightly confused at first, I think this translation makes sense and was probably an effect of the translator desiring to keep the diction closer to the original version. Charity is "a word representing caritas of the Vulgate, as a frequent rendering of ἀγάπη in New Testament Greek". A translator with an intent in keeping the language of the Bible as pure as possible would see this replacement as an effective way towards quickly defining how love should be enacted onto others, as the writing then reveals in further lines through explanations of what it should and should not be. doesnthttps://www-oed-com.libproxy.clemson.edu/view/Entry/30731?redirectedFrom=charity#eid

At this point there is a shift in the poem from a back-and-forth dialogue into a direct address to Hamilton, marking Washington's decision to call upon Hamilton and also Lafayette's successful persuasion. The majority of the poem is dedicated to building up the credibility of Lafayette, clearly emphasizing how valuable of an asset he is in the revolution. Once the credibility is established, Lafayette works on encouraging Washington to call his "right hand man", Alexander Hamilton, which is made apparent in this shift to a stanza in which Washington solely addresses Hamilton. This address mirrors the beginning of the poem in which Burr started off by giving a synopsis of the present moment and introducing the speaker, Lafayette. The finale of the poem parallels this effect with Washington's plea to Hamilton. This finalizes the song in a way that very clearly displays to the reader that the goal has been accomplished through the mirroring of the first and last stanza.

Yeats employs alliteration in this line: "lake ... lapping ... low". I understand the effect of this to be reminiscent of the sounds of waves, which is exactly what the poet is describing within the line. This adds a calming effect to the phrase, emphasizing the tranquility that the speaker feels when thinking about the lake isle of Innisfree. This is another instance of a three-part structure, such as I mentioned in my other annotation.

Yeats imagery of the glimmering midnight, the purple glow of noon, and an evening sky full of flying linnets (a type of bird similar to a finch) combine to evoke a dreamlike landscape. This quality of dreaminess is hinting to the final stanza's admission that the speaker isn't literally going to Innisfree, but rather is recalling the environment's beauty in his head while surrounded by the grey environment of a city. The three-part repetition is also connected to the poem's three stanza and three sentence structure. I'm interested to hear what you all think the significance of the triplet structure is all about.

Also from etymology online, rubies are a rich-red variety of corundum, which is almost of the same hardness level as a diamond. The muse is described in this sentence as being unique and transient, as well as steadfast in the artist's work. Although she plays a different role in different paintings, the artist can always depend upon her as a muse.

From etymology online: "mineral like quartz but without crystalline structure," 1590s, from Middle French opalle (16c.) and directly from Late Latin opalus (Pliny), supposedly from Greek opallios, which is possibly ultimately from Sanskrit upala-s "gem, precious stone."

Opal's are known for their iridescent and transitional colors. When held up in light, opals display a spectrum of colors, as if there were rainbows embedded within the mineral. The poet's choice in describing his muse as a queen in opal explains just how special she is. Additionally, the transient nature of opals is related to the shifting nature of the muse in the painter's work. At times she's a queen and other times she's a nameless girl to others who are unaware of her significance in the painter's life.

Jimi Hendrix enlisted in the Army in 1961 as a means of avoiding prison time over a run-in with the law over stolen cars. An alleged ankle injury from a parachute jump gave Hendrix an easy out with an honorable discharge. This event is alluded to in lines 11-13 of the poem, "Jimmy Hendrix left jumpschool / with bad ankles & a cheap guitar." https://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/career-advice/military-transition/famous-veterans-jimi-hendrix.html

"Wresting" is a transitive verb, taking the objects of the boys in the grass. This word choice is specifically peculiar because the spelling creates an optical allusion. The definition of wresting by OED is "to subject something to a twisting movement." But, at first glance, I thought that the spelling of this word was either "wrestLing" or another way to spell "resting." I believe this choice in diction was meant to evoke these confused feelings within the reader just like how the speaker seems to be torn on how they feel about their baby brother being a part of the Army and jumpschool, which are both potentially dangerous institutions. https://www-oed-com.libproxy.clemson.edu/view/Entry/230639?rskey=7ZqlTm&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid

Despite Keats' describing the brook and evergreen tree in a positive way, he is obviously envious of their experiences of life in comparison to his own. The forever babbling brook and constantly green evergreen tree both can withstand the dreariness of the Winter, something Keats is unable to do. Keats expresses that he thinks those unchanged by the melancholic cold season of winter is considered to be "too" happy. This form of too expresses excess of something.

Keats chose to describe natural objects that are not subject to the harshness of changing seasons. In this first stanza he chooses to write about some sort of evergreen tree. When I read the word "prime" I wondered, is that a rhyming clue that he's describing a pine tree?

The Oxford English Dictionary's definition of fretting is "To rub, chafe. Also with away. Causatively: To make pass by rubbing." Keats is describing the movement of the water particles to be rubbing past each other in constant motion, of which causes crystal-looking reflections when light bounces off of it. Here's the link: https://www-oed-com.libproxy.clemson.edu/view/Entry/74563?rskey=q8yj4S&result=4&isAdvanced=false#eid

This first hyphen was very powerful in my first reading of this poem. In combination with "Cleaving", I felt as if I were visualizing an actual cut of the brain. This goes to show how impactful the arrangement of a poem can be in conveying imagery and tone.

Oftentimes, death is remarked as humankind's biggest fear in life. The speaker reminisces on a past wherein they did not contemplate death in regard to their loved one. Something about the woman was unearthly so as to not even slightly evoke the mortality of humankind within the speaker.

There is alliteration within the title and repeated first line of this poem with "s" sounds. The "s" sound functions to create a dream-like, flowing phrase, which works perfectly with the word "slumber". Think of how different his poem would sound if it began with hard "c" sounding alliteration.

Adding onto other people's description of this Romantic-era poet, Wordsworth was infatuated with the natural world. Although this adoration for nature may not be exceedingly apparent within this particular poem, I think it's important to note the way the Earth lovingly decomposes the woman. The Earth rolls her around with rocks, stones, and trees, the three different elements that are a large part of the soil ecosystem. The decomposition is happening in a gentle, rocking way, which is cohesive to Wordsworth's vision of a benevolent natural world.

Pound connects the industrial and natural world by drawing a comparison between the faces of train riders to a dying/decomposing plant’s petals. I think that this comparison is meant to bring awareness to the dreariness of city life, in which people are constantly running from place-to-place in search of something. No one ever goes into a train station to relax and hangout, but rather to leave their current location in hopes of reaching another place. The ghastly tone of the poem reminds me of the nickname of cities as a “rat race,” full of people desperately searching for happiness in industrialized places wherein natural joy is hard to come by. In comparing the lost souls in the train station to wet, decomposing petals Pound is explaining that the patrons he sees around him are not full of life and energy despite being in a bustling environment.

The choice in diction conveys a certain resistance to his own infancy. Rather than snuggling into his fathers hands, of which many believe to be a strong and safe place, he struggles against and rejects them.