wrapping up the semester

I really enjoyed the readings this semester even though at times I found them difficult. Loy, Stein, Williams, and Zukofsky all taught me many different aspects on how to read and interpret literature. I believe all of the author's share some similarities as well as differences. All four are boundary breaking writers who have helped to push the modernist movement greatly.

i believe that Loy and Stein write more for the ear than their male counterparts. Their vocabulry is ofter challenging and confusing. Stein's "autobiography" was a fairly new concept and I think it was one of the best pieces of literature that I have read.

Williams and Zukofsky are writers that write for the eye. Their images are so vivid and I find it easy to create pictures in my head from their writing. They both describe things that the reader might not normally think twice about. They seem to make insignificant objects important and worth writing about.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed these readings and believe that I have taken a lot away from this class. I thiink these writers have helped me to obtain a better understanding of literature as a whole.

HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS EVERONE!!!

Zukofsky

I am really enjoying Louis Zukofsky's "A". When I first read it on my own, I was confused because there are so many ideas being thrown at you at one time. When we were assigned to categorize these things in class they became a lot more clear to me. I like his ideas and the way that he portrays them. Zukofsky seesm to be extremely interested in religion. I noticed ideas from Catholicism and Judaism. I also think that he is interested in immigration and assimilation. When i really started thinking about what he was trying to do with all of these different images, I began to see a collage of American ideas. Zukofsky brings up things that have taken placer in our history as well as ideas of the present. I see his work as a collage of everything and everyone in the United States. I don't know if I am reading this wrong but this is what I see when I put all of these thoughts together. Everything seems to fit to create this feeling. I think that this is the main reason that I really enjoy his work.

Gertrude Stein

I don't know if anyone else is having as much difficulty with Stein's writng as I am, but I can hardly stay awake. The portraits were very difficult for me to get through with all of the repetition. I feel as if I am reading the same sentence over and over again-I'm sure she had some reason for this-hopefully someone can point this out for me.

The one work I was interester in was "Melanctha." Thank God this actually had a story line to it. Yes, it was repetitious as well, but at least she was getting somewhere. The characters were also interesting even though I felt that at times the characters were somewhat similar.

Anyway, I guess I'm just looking for some feedback so that I don't think I'm the only one totally confused with her writings. I was looking on line and there are tons of websites dedicated to her work so I know that something has to be working there-I just hope I can find it soon!!

Mina Loy

Mina Loy is by far one of my favorite poets that I have read so far this semester. At times, her vocabulary can be viewed as extremely erotic, which was a bold career choice for any woma at this time. Her writing gives the reader a sense of forward motion, while making up her own words where no other word could possibly fit. At times I know these words are made up, but they just seem to make perfect sense. Loy also seems to wrestle with social conventions. In "Apology of Genius" she uses the term "sarcedotal clowns." You do not often here of priests being referred to as clowns, but Loy does so in order to challenge our ideas of what is "normal." I believe that Loy is encouraging the reader to use their brains to think of other possibilities, rather than what everyday society forces upon them.

William carlos Williams

William Carlos Williams wrote about the beutiful, often overlooked, images that sttod out in his life. He wrote about things that other people might look at as non essential to literature. I believe that "Spring and All" is the exact thing that Williams was looking for in modern poetry. The poem "In Passing with My Mind" begins with the speaker seeming to be apart from the rest of the world. This is noticeable when he says, "In passing with my mind on nothing in the world." The speaker seems to notice little things that would not normally be noticeable-he seems detached from and in awe of regular, everyday occurances. I believe that Williams is trying to recreate moments in time for the reader's imagination. This is the main reason that I really enjoy Williams' poetry.

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