Management of Grief Response

The old couple (they do not have names)

We cannot get out of this tiny apartment. Here is the only connection of life we have with our sons. We are running out of tea to give to the lady that hands us papers. I do not want to sign. I do not know these people or what they will do to me. They promise us a pension and money, but I don’t understand what this has to do with our sons who have died in a plane bombing. I feel if we leave this apartment and go back to Punjab they will take advantage of our son’s deaths. They wave papers at us like this is some sort of custom when people die. She keeps rambling on about legal jurisdiction, but I don’t understand the concept of it. I want to go back to India and live in peace there. My son’s death is very horrific and complicated and I want to know what I have to do properly for a spiritual burial. The other lady that comes to visit us is very nice and she speaks Hindu. Though I fear I am selling my sons for two airline tickets to a place I’ve never seen. This place called Ireland where there plane exploded nearby. The only thing that is clear to me is I don’t what obligation the country of Canada will have to me after I sign these papers. Will they ship me off to some other foreign place like Ireland? I want to go home to Punjab and bury my sons in a place they deserve to be buried.

An Ounce of Cure

I believe the title uses satire and irony for the statement that it’s better to face potential problems before they become actual problems. In this story it might not always be the case and they are trying to contradict that. That is why it’s called an ounce of cure not a metric ton of cure. An ounce of cure because in the story she drinks alcohol which can be served in shots (ounces). It’s taking an ordinary saying and using It metaphorically speaking how statements and facts in life can’t be summed up in sentences. The title of the story was changed because they needed a shorter title than the original title. Also they need the title to be original with a side of theory and irony about a common phrase. This theme is explored by showing how the girl in this book believes she’s solving her problems though she is not. She's trying to solve a potential problem of her ex-boyfriend ,but ends up with an actual problem of the ruining her reputation infront of the whole town. She is the protagonist in the novel that in the end get’s humiliated to the point of no return. In the end of the story everything works out and the cycle will repeat. How she believes she is solving a problem but a bigger problem is coming from a result of that.

Happy Endings Response

Margaret Atwood’s Happy Endings was very intriguing. The idea that I enjoyed the most about this short story was the possibilities of the short story. The reader could understand the concept of what was going on and make up their own story along the way. Each paragraph was so short and unimaginative that it actually made the short story so much more interesting. Short and unimaginative actually made the story much more appealing because the reader can fill in the gaps themselves therefore creating a twirl of events. Every sentence opened a door to an endless amount of opportunity. A small amount of constructive criticism I could give to Margaret Atwood is to make the syntax of the story more formal. There is no need for comments in between paragraphs because this makes the reader go off topic. It makes them become uninterested in the doors that were opening from each peculiar paragraph. The story is so overwhelming interesting that there is no need for weak and pathetic humor in between paragraphs. Overall I enjoyed the story because it was quick to the point and extremely thought-provoking compared to other stories I have read.

Solitude

I would like to start off my review saying that this was a horrendous poem. Never have I been so bored by english literature. The reason I believe this is because we just wrote a poem about sensory experience and this seems like the exact same repetetive poem. What I look for in a poem is creativity of an object or idea I would never come to terms with before reading it. This poem has dull imagery, “How still is it here in the woods.” If I could make one suggestion to the author it is too stop making sentences so tedious and boring. Make it more exiciting, outgoing, and unique. It can also be a little weird ,but that’s what makes a good poem. A good poet is like a car salesman. The audience is not buying the car there buying what you say. This poem could be the greatest poem ever written ,yet it doesn’t appeal to the audience making it a casualty upon my review. Try making a topic about a poem no one has ever heard of before,and are flabbergasted by the idea of it. This is the key of writing a good poem.


Solitude
Archibald Lampman
How still it is here in the woods. The trees
Stand motionless, as if they did not dare
To stir, lest it should break the spell. The air
Hangs quiet as spaces in a marble frieze.
Even this little brook, that runs at ease,
Whispering and gurgling in its knotted bed,
Seems but to deepen with its curling thread
Of sound the shadowy sun-pierced silences.
Sometimes a hawk screams or a woodpecker
Startles the stillness from its fixed mood
With his loud careless tap. Sometimes I hear
The dreamy white-throat from some far-off tree
Pipe slowly on the listening solitude
His five pure notes succeeding pensively.

Campbell’s poem


I would like to say it was a very well written poem. I like how the poet incorporated "I feel something different” because it is very smart and witty to repeat a line across to the readers. Other words such as “Light powder on the beach” are very imaginative that I believe you should include in your poem more. When I hear the word “light powder” it is a sense of imagery which is very forceful. Those two words allows the reader to dive into the poem like diving into a snow bank. Though, the rest of the poem is not entirely descriptive. I don’t understand what the poet is trying to say when they say I feel something different. “But on these cold days the lake shore feels different” You’re not explaining thoroughly your thoughts and ideas. The foundation of the poem is there, but from what I’ve read there doesn’t seem to be a deeper meaning. That is the whole point of a poem the deeper meaning. The end is not entirely strong with grammar mistakes, but the poet will be able to fix that. You should come up with a rhyme that will really catch the reader’s attention to finish off your poem. Whenever someone reads a poem they always remember the end. How it left them feeling at the end. If you have a strong finish at the end of your poem it will greatly increase the satisfaction of the reader. It can make or break a poem. These are just some of my ideas and thoughts and I hope you put them to good use.

As the wind brushed my cold cheeks
And as the snow crunches by each step I take
I feel something different
The Canadian winter is incredible

I have walked there in the summer
But on these cold days the lake shore feels different
Although the winter looks calm the creatures of the forest are still near by
The rabbit’s foot steps are lying in the light powder on the beach.
I feel something different
The forest still feels warm to me

As I walk along the beach I breathe in the fresh air
I feel the cold as the snowflakes fall upon my hair
I can only imagine the warmth of the hot chocolate I will drink later
But for now ill bask in natures great changes
I feel something different
I winter is such a different place
I could stay there forever

Snow Crunching
By: Paul Hudson

The snow outside silently is stepped on
Until all that quiet and tranquillity is gone
The air is heavy but a good breath in
As we all snuggle warmly avoiding the snot coming down our chin
The geese scream loudly as we say shut up you lot
Though through this beautiful and unique landscape we are the ones that need to be taught
Limb through limb we keep out of the cold
Believing if we do not blow on our hands we will turn into mold
Though the landscape is right in front of us and we do not see
That the devil inside of us will leave us to be

Dwarves

Sonnet

The wind is a colored face amongst the faceless faces
Who sees not the Gust he has portrayed by the look of peoples laces
Unlike these minion dwarves the wind keeps blowing long
Some believe napalm him like our fellow Vietcong

For thou is the way the book has been read for many a year
To us a minion dwarf he is just another of our nearest fear
Where has the white rose been picked on top of that far hill
Until we find the secret whose shoes will it fill?

The wind sits on top of us waiting for the smoke to clear
The rain does what it can to stop this maddening cheer
The white rose has been lost over the hill it goes
Minion dwarves on trial pleading this it is not what I chose

At last it comes to the end when all is said and done
The question is will you stand up and let them have all the fun