Assignment 4, Striving and struggling solving a sonnet.

All across the rolling cuboid landscape
A land of trees, rivers, pigs and creepers
Where one has the means to change the squarish shape
And carve your home despite frightful creatures.

Upon wits aloe one must rely
And the myriad tools you can construct
With which you dig the riches that bely
Though honestly one must rely on luck.

Beneath the earthen crust you must go
Through caverns dark lit by molten lava
Gather your wits, explore the depths below
Even when it's all programmed in Java.

But Minecraft is a game quite creative
It's just best not to upset the natives.

Whilst writing a sonnet I struggled with the content, being much more focused on the structure. Though once I got one started, it started to flow quite easily after I decided that it was going to be tongue in cheek and referential to a favorite game of mine, Minecraft. I did my best to prove that one can write about anything, and find beauty in a simulated landscape.

Assignment 3, haiku and limerick

Along it's path, courses
Cuts through stone and us alike
Time waits for no man

A man late for his usual mass
Worried where he might end up in the last
Well he shrugged and he said,
As he crashed into bed
Sleep is just too good to pass

Writing these, I found that it was actually easier to write a haiku than a limerick. The strict rules on syllables force me to think more creatively in the content, to really play with the words to find the right composition to fill the syllables and the meaning alike. Meanwhile, the adherence to a rhyme scheme is something I struggle to apply whilst writing a limerick, a similar challenge, but harder to fulfill. In the time it took me to write a single Limerick, I had written a handful of different haiku.

A cool wind blows east
Speeding the change of seasons
Winter is coming

A leaf on the wind
Carried along 'cross the ages
Watch how it can soar

Assignment 2, Musical poetic analysis

For my second blog post I have chosen to analyze the song "Limelight" by Canadian power trio, Rush. (The greatest band in the world.)

Living on a lighted stage           A

Approaches the unreal             B

For those who think and feel     B

In touch with some reality         C

Beyond the gilded cage.           A

Cast in this unlikely role,          A

Ill-equipped to act,                   B

With insufficient tact,               B

One must put up barriers          C

To keep oneself intact.             B

Living in the Limelight,              A

The universal dream                 B

For those who wish to seem.    B

Those who wish to be               B

Must put aside the alienation,   C

Get on with the fascination,      C

The real relation,                      C

The underlying theme.              B

Living in a fisheye lens,             A

Caught in the camera eye.        B

I have no heart to lie,                B

I can't pretend a stranger          C

Is a long-awaited friend.            A

All the world's indeed a stage,   A

And we are merely players,      B

Performers and portrayers,       B

Each another's audience          C

Outside the gilded cage.          A

The song describes the author as uncomfortable with adoration, finding it hard to deal with being put up on a pedestal. He explains that he feels unprepared for the attention that he's getting from his fame, and he's walled himself off to keep it from getting to his head, from losing himself. The fourth stanza especially tells us how he can't seem to relate to his fans, or the press, that he won't put on a show for people just because they recognize him.

The rhyme scheme is relatively consistent, ABBCA, except for the chorus which has it's own longer pattern of ABBBCCCB, and the second verse, which changes the last line to rhyme with the second.

The author is trying to give the audience a glimpse of what his life is like: a series of stages, the gilded cage he says he plays on and the world he sees beyond it, how he still has to try and act a part even when he isn't performing. It really sets the tone that the author regrets his fame, and how it's changed his perception of the world beyond the stage. How he yearns for a simpler life where he doesn't have to worry about being accosted by anyone who wants his attention.

Assignment 1, Myriad Approaches to Literary Criticism

Of the different approaches to interpreting literature presented in the textbook, the one that appealed to me the most is the Mythological, or Archetypal approach. It appeals to me the most because it examines common themes and techniques used in writing fiction, and the reflection of our myth, legend and history that is present in our creative works. With an Archetypal approach, I can identify characteristics in characters that fit certain roles such as "the untested hero" or "the wise tutor", and also identify common metaphor. With such context, it makes it easier for the reader to relate to the characters and their adventures, as each role can appeal to different readers, thus giving the stories a universal quality.

Putting this approach to practice reading "The Lamb" by William Blake (p.409) we can see the use of lamb as a metaphor for a powerless or innocent being, unawares of the world around it. The use of 'lamb' in this way is common in many religions and cultures, particularly a Christian background, and use of the metaphor gives any reader with these backgrounds a good idea of the author's intent in the use of the word.