Blog # 14

Favorite Memory

　

Babies soft sweet breathe on my chest in the night

A warm breeze on summers day

Sonnet

Mountain Top



Standing here on top of the mountain

Ready for, but afraid of what is to come

Cold and fierce is the wind for some

Yet some how peaceful, serene and plain

Looking for cues to guide me all the same

One board is all that is needed to and from

In one swift movement my song in sung

My thoughts are lost inside my brain



Swift and sleek down the mountain side

Fill with excitement deep inside

Are there many gazing at me

At times it feels like I’m in outer space

So high up face to face with a tree

I’m here again in this amazing place

Sestina

That Time of Year

It’s cold; it’s that time of year
When the leaves are falling
Rust, orange, yellow and red are the leaves
The smells, the sights and sounds are changing
The children are dressed up in a scary costume
This can mean only one thing, it’s Halloween

After it’s over kids look forward to the next Halloween
It’s their favorite time of year
They hunt and search for the best costume
Parents make sure they are safe to avoid falling
Every year there is a new favorite it’s always changing
They also run and jump and play in the leaves

Because there is a endless supply of leaves
Not all countries celebrate Halloween
Maybe that’s changing
We will plan for next year
And wait for the leaves to begin falling
It will be the best one next year, my costume

Will we be too old for a costume?
Maybe we will just be raking leaves
Because they are always falling
That’s a sign it’s Halloween
We look forward to it year after year
I like it that things are changing

It would be so boring without things changing
That’s why every year we get a new costume
But we may be too old next year
It will always be nice to watch leaves
Changing before Halloween
Falling, falling, falling

So many, many leaves falling
It’s autumn and so much is changing
And a big part of autumn is Halloween
Children in a ghost and goblin costume
They can also built forts with leaves
These are the choices for each year

When the leaves are falling it’s time to think about a costume
Because of the changing leaves, it’s telling you something
Its Halloween our favorite time of the year

Ode to My New One

Ode to My New One



Today I saw you for the very first time
Not knowing what to think
Tall dark and strong, you came along
To replace one on the brink

You would fit so perfect in my space
Ready with a cool, cool drink
You hold so many delicacies
So perfect with me, I think

I could not decide you or the other
Shinning steel or black as night
We will meet late in that secret place
A soft light will show what’s right

Within you lies what I need
To get me through the day
Delicious enjoyment, guilty pleasure
I know you’re here to stay

What would I do without you
You keep me safe from harm
Standing strong, cool and still
You fill me with your charm

I have my memories of the one before
And he is past the ridge
New experiences await for me
With my brand new fridge.

Compare A&P and Bartleby, the Scrivener

Comparing the two stories John Updike’s A&P and Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener” one of the most outstanding differences in the two stories is in each boss’s relationship with their employees. In Bartleby the narrator’s descriptions of his employee’s shows, he has more of an interest in these people personally not just as a boss. He describes each one from their ages to what they eat and when it is the best time of the day to get the most work out of them. He spoke of each of their nicknames and how they were respective of their personalities. “These may seem names, the like of which are not usually found in the Directory. In truth, they were nicknames, mutually conferred upon each other by my three clerks, and were deemed expressive of their respective persons or characters.” (pg. 407) Where as Lengel the boss in A & P doesn’t seem to have much of an interest in his employees beyond the need of them as employees, until there is a need to point out something he feels they did wrong. Like when Sammy says he quits in protest of how Lengel treated the girls and Lengel says, “ I don’t think you know what you’re saying” and then Lengel says, “Sammy, you don’t want to do this to your Mom and Dad,” (pg. 603) In this comparison it shows maybe how a boss’s relationship with his employees can make a difference. In Bartleby, the other employees made more of an effort to work and no one quit. Bartleby refused to leave; I think do to the fact that his boss had some compassion for him, and he was a little bit luny, even though he eventually did ask him to leave. In A & P Sammy quit his job, mainly because of wanting to make an impression on a girl, and didn’t seem to care for his responsibility for his job.

Another comparison you can make between the two stories would be the interaction between the employees. In Bartleby, the other scriveners Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut, don’t seem to have much care of Bartleby one way or the other. Until it comes to the time when the narrator asked them, to do the jobs that Bartleby “Prefers not to” then they become irritated. When Bartleby refused to do, his work the narrator looks to his other employees for support. The narrator asked Nippers, “What do you think of it?” Nippers said, “I think I should kick him out of the office.” Then he asked, “Ginger Nut, what do you think of it?” and he replied, “I think, sir he’s a little luny,” (pg. 413) Later the narrator asks Bartleby to compare papers again, and again he says he prefers not to the narrator asked Turkey, “What do you think of it, Turkey?” Think of it?” Roared Turkey. “I think I’ll just step behind his screen, and black his eyes for him!” (pg.415) In A & P there seems to be more of a friendship with the coworkers. Even though Sammy condescends to Stokesie because of his desire to maybe someday become manager at the A & P to support his young family, Sammy also relates to him because they are so close in age and have the same thoughts about these girls. At the first sight of the three girls “Oh Daddy,” Stokesie said beside me. “I feel so faint.” “Darling,” I said. “Hold me tight.” Stokesie’s married, with two babies chalked up on his fuselage already, but as far as I can tell, that’s the only difference. He’s twenty-two, and I was nineteen this April.” (pg.600) The A & P employees had a more relaxed relationship, which could mean that they may have socialized outside the workplace, so I think that Sammy felt somewhat at ease to quit his job because he would still have his friend to count on.

The personalities of the two bosses were quite different. The narrator in the Bartleby story was comfortable in his business. He felt he had a good job in managing it, and he wasn’t an overly ambitious kind of man, as he said, “I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never address a jury, or in any way draw down public applause; but, in the cool tranquility of a snug business among rich men’s bonds, and mortgages, and title-deeds. All who know me consider me an eminently safe man.” (pg. 406) Then there is Lengel in A&P who seems to be a more disciplined, strait-laced kind of man. “He didn’t like my smiling---as I say he doesn’t miss much---but he concentrates on giving the girls that sad Sunday-school-superintendent stare.” (pg. 609) The differences in the two personalities of these bosses could be the reason they decided to go into the businesses they choose. Lengel felt more comfortable with a less stressful job and the narrator of Bartleby was confident in his knowledge of his business to handle customers important papers.

A&P

Females in the sixties were much less involved in society than the males. Although I believe they had a huge underlying influence. In the sixties (1961) which is when this story takes place women for the most part were caretakers of the home and the children. John Updike’s male view portrayed by Sammy a nineteen year old cashier in a local grocery store, was very typical for that time. Although I think the same scenario would take place today. Three scantly clad girls come into the grocery store and two young male cashiers ogle them. The difference from then and now is the fact that it wasn’t as acceptable in the sixties for young women to wear bathing suits anywhere else other than the local swimming pools or to the beach and certainly not in a family grocery store. But the part about the young men ogling them and imaging what they are like could easily have happened today. The manager of the store Lengel was a typical male for that time, he stood for tradition, decency, and store policy. Although he may have had a few thoughts of his own, that he had some conflict about. He takes a stand on the situation by confronting the girls on how they are dressed and demands that in the future, they come in here with their shoulders covered.

Two points in this short story in which the wielding of power switches traditional roles. When the girls mainly Queenie stands up to an older male authority figure, Lengel, which I’m sure was almost unheard of for that time, and when a young teenager Sammy stands up to his boss who just happens to be a friend of the family. Even though Queenie stood up to Lengel saying “We are decent” after his statement “We want you decently dressed when you come in here” she regretted her remark and realized she had crossed the line and then again remembered her place. Sammy also questions his choice of taking a stand against his boss. Quitting his job suddenly because of his boss’s rudeness to the girls may have been a bit hasty and this caused him to contemplate his future.

Updike portrayed typical male and female roles for that time period, with a few exceptions. I think that was his way of making a more interesting story by standing up to society’s norms of the sixties.

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