Blog Entry #1

Upon first reading "Original Sin: A Short Story" by Robert Penn Warren, I was completely confused. Not because it uses words that are foreign to me, but because I never really understand a poem until i fully analyze it piece by piece. After reading a couple more times I came to the conclusion that maybe the poem is about the speaker leaving home when asked not to. The speaker tried to escape his reality and leave to a place where he could start fresh and new. However, the speaker could not get ride of his past that easily. It always came back to haunt him like a ghost. The speaker explained so many occasions when his past haunted him and compared it to so many things. For example, "It acts like the old hound that used to snuffle your door and moan"(line 5). Warren was comparing an old hound sitting around waiting for his owner to recognize it just like the past was waiting for the speaker to acknowledge its presence.

Blog Entry #3

Tupac Shakur was born in Brooklyn, Ny on June 16, 1971. His birth name was Lesane Parish Crooks, it was later changed by his mother as a tribute to Incan revolutionary Tupac Amuru. Both of Shakur's parents were members of the Black Panthers according to nndb.com. Tupac was a poet, lyricist, and actor. Shakur was favored by many, especially those of the hip hop community. In the year 1996 on September 16th, Tupac Shakur was murdered in Las Vegas. Before Shakur died he'd written numerous songs and poems that are still favored to this day. One that particularly stood out the most was "The Rose That Grew From Concrete."


In "The Rose That Grew From Concrete" by Tupac Shakur, there was one specific symbol that was the  focus of the poem, the "rose" (line 1). The poem was essentially speaking about how the rose grew from a crack in concrete. Throughout the poem Shakur explains how the rose proved natures law wrong by growing from such a hard location. Shakur states "Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet"(lines 3-4).  Further explaining how the rose still prevailed after growing from such a difficult spot. It didn't bloom from a beautiful location, it grew from somewhere gritty and hard and struggled to become the beautiful rose that it was.


The denotative meaning of the  rose would be that it was just a flower. According to Merriam-Webster.com , a rose is "a flower with a sweet smell that is usually white, yellow, red, or pink and that grows on a bush which has thorns on the stems. " Also according to Merriam-Webster.com, "concrete"(line 2), is "relating to or made of concrete." These are just factual definitions of the symbols, however its meaning go far beyond that.

Upon first reading one may just think that this poem is just about someone prevailing in a harsh situation when odds were against him. Even though that would be a correct assumption, with further analysis I believe the poem goes a bit deeper than that. When a black male is born in a tough location, odds are already against him. When that male succeeds in life he has proven societies laws wrong, much like the rose in the poem. I believe Shakur was relating this poem to his life, how he was not born in an amazing location and still overcame so much. Shakur Became famous and successful when so much was against him and even though he met a tragic end, Shakur was still a rose.

Sources

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concrete?show=0&t=1379898341
http://allpoetry.com/poem/8574649-The-Rose-That-Grew-From-Concrete-by-Tupac_Shakur
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rose
http://www.nndb.com/people/548/000024476/

Blog Entry #2

I chose a part of Carrie Underwood's song "Temporary Home."


The song deals with death and how our existence on earth is timed. Underwood uses little stories about how people are dealing with their daily struggles. She  helps them cope with singing to them that living on earth is just temporary. The part that spoke to me the most was the very last part with the old man and how he wasn't sad to die. The old man was not afraid  because he believed that there was an afterlife and that he would see his family again someday.  My reason for choosing this song was because I strongly agree with the lyrics. I do believe that we are all just passing by on our way to something bigger after life.

This is our temporary home, it's not where we belong
Windows and rooms that we're passing through
This is just a stop on the way to where we're going
I'm not afraid because I know
This is our temporary home

Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers
"Don't cry for me, I'll see you all someday"
He looks up and says
"I can see God's face"

This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through
This was just a stop on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know
This was my temporary home

This is our temporary home

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