Performance Review- David Chen

Importance of Being Earnest at UK, October 2015
The play from the very beginning seemed to match most other plays I've seen, nothing very unusual or eye-catching from the set. The actors were good in the sense they could portray the characters to make the story come alive, although some of the actors were a bit too enthusiastic for my taste in portraying emotions. I remember the casual mannerisms of Algernon were a little too noticeable for the audience as no one in their right mind would flourish their limbs so illustriously. This would have been good for those that weren't familiar with the story and characters but for those that were it looks forced and unnatural. Apart from that, I was able to follow the story with relative ease and could understand most of the scenes that took place after. All in all, most of the acting was quite believable to say the least if not noticing some of the actors' physical appearances weren't particularly descriptive of the character, such as Chausable as an Indian guy. The props of the food that were eaten by Jack and others were actual edible items and the actors incorporated those quite nicely in the act. These food items allowed the characters to pompously eat them to portray pride or the opposite by nibbling.

Sonnet Analysis- David Chen

Sonnets from the Portuguese 43: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

By: Elizabeth Browning

This is a classic petrarchan sonnet example, fitting in as close to perfect as you can get. The poem has an ABBAABBA octave and a stanza of six lines, sestet. The volta switches from depicting what boundaries of love she would go through, into the griefs and sorrows caused by love. Like many other sonnets, love and life is a primary focus as much of human life revolves around the duo. She seems to be solely devoted to this affection as the end tells of her unwavering love that cannot be stopped by death nor loss. 

Sonnet- James Jones

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/249356

          I chose the sonnet "On an Acura Integra," a poem someone wrote as a note to the owner of a car they hit. This sonnet is indefinable because it doesn't follow any of the regular organizations of the other types of sonnets besides having fourteen lines. It has no rhyme scheme that is easily recognizable and is somewhat random which helps make it sound like a note frantically written by someone that dented someone's fender. The volta of this poem is around line nine when the asks the reader to appreciate the writing as a nice little poem not just a simple note apologizing for a screw-up, a that point the writing changes from poetic to straightforward speaking to the owner of the car. I chose this poem because I drive an Acura Integra so I was immediately interested in finding out what the poem was about. I think that the poem (if used as an actual note on a car) asks the reader to appreciate the note that is being written as more than insurance information but also as a kindness done by the author as an apology for the dented fender.

Sonnet- Caroline Totty

When I Consider How My Light Is Spent 

by John Milton

When I consider how my light is spent,
   Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
   And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
   My true account, lest He returning chide;
   “Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
   Either man’s work or His own gifts. Who best
   Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed,
   And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
   They also serve who only stand and wait.”

"When I Consider How My Light Is Spent" by John Milton is written as a Petrarchan sonnet in iambic pentameter. It is divided into two sections of eight and six lines that follow rhyme scheme ABBAABBAC CDECDE. It contains five iambs although Milton wrote some of the lines to not fit the pattern exactly. This poem differs from other Petrarchan sonnets because the volta is not as defined as it normally would be. After line eight the reply that the man is looking for comes, but it is not totally clear cut and defined that it is a reply and instead the sonnet just seems to keeps flowing. 

This sonnet is about a middle-aged man who claims he has lost sight of his goals and can no longer see where he is headed or his vision and is wondering if God needs him to serve him even without having a vision of where he wants to go or who he wants to be anymore. In line 9 a figure named Patience answers him stating that God has servants who run all over land and sea to serve him and he is in no NEED of this man's service. I think the subtle volta contributes to this sonnet because it is Patience interrupting the man before he can say anything more, and the volta helps display that by making it seem as if the man faded out as Patience slowly came in to talk. I chose this poem because I enjoyed the fact that it was a conversation between two people and I just honestly found it to be an interesting poem in the sense of it being about a middle-aged man basically questioning his whole life up until that point.

Acquainted with the Night Sonnet Analysis-Maddie Wheeler

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watchman on his beat

And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;

And further still at an unearthly height,

One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. 

I have been one acquainted with the night.

This sonnet by Robert Frost features terza rima, meaning a rhyme scheme of aba, bcb, cdc, with the last two lines both rhyming with the middle line of the preceding stanza. The meter is iambic pentameter without any instance of substitution. The volta of this sonnet is in the last two lines, as in many sonnets. The general topic of this poem is light and dark, as you would expect, but it also has a lot to do with loneliness and distance from the world. I chose this poem because I really like Robert Frost, and I also really appreciate poems that can be subjective to whatever you want. Any life experiences light, dark, distance, and feeling alone, and this poem allows you to appreciate those things and gain the view point of another. I enjoy poems that are full of metaphor, because you can get anything out of it that you want, and metaphors often lead you to make the decision that you were on your way to making anyway. This poem has done this for me, and I'm sure for many other people. 

Sonnet - Charlie Grimes

Amoretti LXVII - Like as a Huntsman
by Edmund Spencer

Like as a huntsman after weary chase,

Seeing the game from him escap'd away,

Sits down to rest him in some shady place,

With panting hounds beguiled of their prey:

So after long pursuit and vain assay,

When I all weary had the chase forsook,

The gentle deer return'd the self-same way,

Thinking to quench her thirst at the next brook.

There she beholding me with milder look,

Sought not to fly, but fearless still did bide:

Till I in hand her yet half trembling took,

And with her own goodwill her firmly tied.

Strange thing, me seem'd, to see a beast so wild,

So goodly won, with her own will beguil'd.

Edmund Spencer's "Amoretti LXVII: Like as a Huntsman" is a Shakespearean-like sonnet (containing 3 quatrains and an ending couplet), but with a distinct variation on traditional rhyme scheme. Instead of the "abab, cdcd, efef" rhyme scheme, Spenser implements a system where the final line of each quatrain rhymes with the first line of the next quatrain, effectively making the pattern a "abab, bcbc, cdcd" format. The volta occurs in line 7, when the narrator realizes that after all of his tiring hunting, a deer has in fact decided to calmly move towards him: "The gentle deer return'd the self-same way." This sonnet initially drew me in because I love the classic "hunter-hunted" dynamic in literature and poetry, but I was pleasantly surprised by the twist. I believe this sonnet has ties to the common sonnet subjects of love, in the way that the hunter and deer have a moment of brief moment of union and harmony, despite their inherently antagonistic relationship. Nature itself was tamed for just a fleeting, beautiful moment, and I believe this poem masterfully depicted the moment. It recalls tales of unrequited love, but in this instance, the affection is actually returned.

Sonnet--Gabriel Molina

The Craftsman
By Marcus B. Christian 1900–1976
     

I ply with all the cunning of my art

This little thing, and with consummate care

I fashion it—so that when I depart,

Those who come after me shall find it fair

And beautiful. It must be free of flaws—

Pointing no laborings of weary hands;

And there must be no flouting of the laws

Of beauty—as the artist understands.

Through passion, yearnings infinite—yet dumb—

I lift you from the depths of my own mind

And gild you with my soul’s white heat to plumb

The souls of future men. I leave behind

This thing that in return this solace gives:

“He who creates true beauty ever lives.”

By rhyme scheme and location of the turn, I identified this poem as a Shakespearian sonnet, though I do think it's interesting that the stanzas are structured like a Petrarchan one. The dominant rhyme scheme seems to be iambic pentameter, as it should for a Shakespearian sonnet, but there are times where the feet are not necessarily iambic. Words like "consummate" and "beautiful" just read differently and change the rhythm. There are also a significant number of enjambed lines, which also messes with the rhythm and is almost confusing at times. I would say that the volta/turn happens with the last two lines, which kind of sum up the poet's message.

I chose this poem because I just thought there was a lot that was interesting about it. I liked the content, first of all. It fits very well with our time spent earlier in the year about the role of the artist. I, a kind of craftsman myself, like the way he portrays his role. I also like to think of the poem as an application of the content, about what goes into a craftsman's work. The poem itself has so much thought and intentionality put into it, that it reflects the same message it is communicating. I also found that the structure, especially all the enjambed lines, made the poem more interesting to read. The time that I had to spend to understand the sentence structure made me appreciate the craftsmanship of the poem more.