Anthology Project: Introduction

For my anthology I chose to make my theme poems about heaven. Heaven is defined as the dwelling place of the Deity and blessed dead but it can also be defined as a place or condition of utmost happiness. If you watch the news you have probably seen stories about people who, while temporarily dead, claim to have visited a place of peace, serenity, and happiness. Whenever these stories occur there always seems to be a team of scientists rushing to the scene to explain away the phenomenon as a simple delusion or hallucination caused by failing systems. I was always curious as to the motive behind these scientists, what reasons did they have for striving to disprove the existence of a place that by concept can't be disproved? Was it because the description given didn't seem like their idea of paradise? Even if they firmly believed this place was just a myth why did they feel they had to destroy the faith of those who did believe? Even so my fascination with this place grew. With the recent celebration of Easter I thought a lot about heaven and what it might be. I own seven songs in my iTunes library with heaven in the title and I hear about it almost every Sunday at church, but I never gave my thought to what it actually is. Instead I, like most people, have seemed more concerned about how to get there or if it even is real at all. Perplexed, I spent a great deal trying to figure out what a dimension and existence would be like without a body or constrains on my mind and what in my opinion would be a perfect existence. After much thought I tried to find out what other people thought on the matter and if it was at all similar to my ideas. Heaven is commonly referred to in popular culture in movies, songs, books and everything in between. With the greatly changing world and increased competition for resources (Jobs, colleges) it's nice to think of an escape- a constant place where existence is good and everyone's happy (well maybe everyone's happy depending on what you think on the matter). But although Heaven is referred to often it rarely is described in detail. Perhaps this is because song artists like to leave it open to interpretation or what they're idea of heaven is may be too intimate for them to be comfortable sharing with a public audience. Songs, movies, and shows always deal with getting to Heaven but that's where they usually end- right at the abyss. Perhaps this may also be due to the fact that how can we comprehend what we experience without the only thing we use to gauge experiences with in this life- our bodies. Heaven or a form of it appears in almost every religion, and it means something different to everyone. One person's vision of heaven may greatly differ from someone else's. I figured the best place to find others interpretation of paradise may be in poetry as poets often devote themselves to explaining less concrete and scientific concepts like love, hope, and enexplained human phenomenon. I discovered that poets have been writing about heaven for years- from William Blake's the Marriage of Heaven and Hell to Dante's interpretation of heaven after the poets famous trip through the inferno. What differ's people's interpretations isn't only what heaven is, but who ends up there and it's role in their religion. In picking my poems I first tried to find a variety of different types of poems from different ages to different formats to help people think from a variety of different perspectives. By experiencing different perspectives of heaven from poems written in different styles, tones, and ages perhaps we can further our ability to understand what heaven may be to our own friends/ family. My anthology however doesn't contain just interpretations of what heaven might be- it includes anything related to the topic. Upon reading my anthology I hope my readers can begin to imagine what heaven is to them, why heaven is that way for them, and how their thoughts might differ from their friends and family. 

Anthology Project: List of Poems + Poem Video

Below is a list of 10 poems about heaven:

By John Donne

Holy Sonnet VI: This Is My Playes Last Scene

Neo-classical/Enlightenment Period- Sonnet

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173368

By Gerard Manley Hopkins

Heaven Haven

Victorian Period- Sestina

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/heaven-haven/

By William Shakespeare

They That Have Power To Hurt And Will Do None

Renaissance/Elizabethan Period

http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-sonnet-94.htm

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Brahma

Romantic Period- Free Verse

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/brahma/

By Robert Frost

The Peaceful Shepherd

Modernist Period

http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/robertfrost/12139

By Fay Diane Kilday

Where is Heaven?

Post Modern Period- Elegy

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/faye_diane_kilday/poems/22882.html

By Kari Morris

Heaven: A Letter to God

Epistle

http://epistle.us/poetry/heavenalettertogod.html

By Josiah Rudder

Rapture's Light

Ballad

http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/raptures_light_505959

By Christine Phillips

About an Hour

Dramatic Monologue

http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/about__an_hour_659950

By John Squires

Land Of No More Light

Villanelle

http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/land_of_no_more_night_654451

Below is a link to my poetry video:

Enjoy and thanks for reading my blog!!!!

Magic Realism and Axolotl

Magic realism is a concept that encroaches movies, literature, paintings, etc. basically any form of art. Magic realism is when a completely mundane and normal (rational) world gets invaded by something abstract, out of the ordinary or magical (or when in an otherwise normal enviroment there is one aspect off that is treated as normal as well). A perfect example of magic realism occurs in Axolotl. The world the narrator lives in is completely normal, the zoo, everything (granted he seems to be a little different socially). But as the story progresses and his obsession with the axolotls grows his day to day routine begins to seem otherworldly. Although we can explain it as some sort of cognitive problem the ending throws us for a loop. How can he view himself as the human as the Axolotl? Did the Axolotl actually steal a piece of his consciousness, or did he actually become the Axolotl? Are all axolotls in this condition? A normal world of humans viewing marine animals in zoos is distorted and a certain kind of magic is evident. There are a lot of examples of Magic realism in literature and movies. Harry Potter introduced the concept of wizards to an otherwise normal world as did Percy Jackson with demigods. I believe a part of what makes Magic realism so common and popular among the modern culture is that it is easier to imagine one thing changed in a normal everyday world. You can see something magical happening to yourself while the world around you stays constant. The call to adventure seems way more conceivable and way more possible.

Southern Modernism

Southern Modernism is a genre of southern literature very closely related to modernism. It is a period of time in which poets/ authors begun experimenting with forms and interpreting and reacting to new technologies and ideas that were developing in the early twentieth century. Authors began moving away from traditional southern themes like community and family. Traditional pastoral (country) themes were combined with new modern viewpoints and authors reacted the souths usual traditions with modern breakaways from such traditions. Authors like Faulkner dealt with modern mans breakaway from nature and community and new forms and ideas that were very modernist. Some characteristics of southern modernist writers such as Robert Penn Warren and Walker Percy include disruption of chronological order, multiple viewpoints, and an internal thinking and brooding first person. Also the idea of time as an enemy became popular. Modernists were reacting to events of the time period such as the horrors of World War I and were also reacting to and rejecting many of the ideas of the enlightenment period. Southern modernist writers were doing the same things as modernists (implementing new forms and new ways of thinking about things such as evolution etc.) except they were reacting them with the souths strong traditions and way of life as well.

Existentialism and Literature

Existentialism is the philosophical belief that us as humans have complete free will in a basically meaningless and random universe. We come up with what is right and wrong on our own (as individuals not a race) and what is important to us, and have to add meaning to our own lives. Although existentialism is generally an atheistic principle I couldn't help but connect it to Timshel in East of Eden. Just like timshel gives you the ability to lead a life of good or evil despite how u feel you've been predestined (basically saying there is no predetermined destiny), existentialism says you can come up with your own values and life meaning despite what society says. In A Modest Proposal  too, besides lots of satire you can also view it from an existantialist viewpoint. If you didn't have your predetermined society  influenced views on what is right and wrong his idea of eating Irish babies might seem fully logical and a very possible solution to the over population of the poor. Luckily (well if you share my viewpoints) just the mere idea of this seems completely absurd and therefore you have the ability to see Swifts satire and not think he's a complete psycho. It's in this way that I must point out that it's only natural for humans to have very nonextentialist views. As social creatures through and through the majority of us are born with the ability to symphasize with others and establish meaning and code of conducts off of the reactions of others and how their reactions make us feel. That is why the majority of societies throughout history share very similar ideas on what is right and wrong. The only character we've read about in class whose behavior and character I believe completely reflect an existential viewpoint is Catherine. She's comes up with her own system of what is right and wrong and what makes her life meaningful. Logically this turns into what gives her personal gain. Although it can be argued that you can come up with "helping others" is important on your own, I don't fully agree. We'd have to base our opinion on what is "helping" others on their reactions and then it wouldn't fully be as an individual. Generally I don't feel like having a non existential viewpoint is a bad thing (although you shouldn't completely conform). Similar ideas of right and wrong are what caused us as a species to evolve into what we are today and flourish. Not to allow any religion, society, or other individuals to influence your viewpoints simply isn't human and I feel is represented well in Catherine from East of Eden. Beside from her appearance something is just plain wrong and inhuman with her. "Warped" (what most people feel are warped) views seem to stem from existential principles and make up the characteristics of the villains in many pieces of literature and culture.

Bathos and Rape of The Lock

Bathos is a dramatic change in style from the exalted to the commonplace. Bathos can often create a humorous effect and can be described as mock heroic or burlesque. Knowing this the definition of bathos, there is no better example of it than in Rape of the Lock. The whole poem is mock heroic following the actions of Belinda to retrieve her lock of hair from her male adversary. "Here thou great Anna! Whom three realms obey, Dost sometimes counsel take-- and sometimes tea." The transition between the greatness of Anna- commander of three realms- to women Anna drinking tea is very mock heroic and humorous. The transition from great power to tea parties is so vast that our only reaction is to laugh. This is only one example from a poem filled with transitions such as these. The whole concept of a trivial object like a lock of hair floating up and becoming an eternal star is also very humorous and is an example of bathos. The role of bathos in the text and mock heroics doesn't only make fun of women but it helps bring out the original purpose of the poem. Pope wrote this to end the feud in a family when someone cut a girls hair. By placing a situation very similar to theirs close to grand and awesome things allows them to see how petty their agreement is and allows them to get over it. It also provided them with a good laugh. Bathos happens to be a very popular form of comedy in today's world as well. Many examples of bathos can be seen in South Park. How underwhelmed the characters seem over awesome spectacles and how overwhelmed they are with petty things is an often used humorous device and is bathos. The devil in South Park manifesting himself in a huge spectacle for the sole purpose of talking to Stan about his problems is mock heroic and a great switch between epic to commonplace. This is a just one example of bathos on the show and, when used right can, be pretty funny.

Ontology and Dante's Inferno

Ontology is the the philosophical study of the nature of being, reality, existence etc. as well as relations of being. Dante's Inferno, as a poem about the divine and the relationships between our earthly actions and the effects they have in our afterlife as well as the different states of being which humans go through can be analyzed very effectively through the view of an ontologist. First off the perspective which The Inferno creates for us of the relationship between this life and the next is relatively simple and hard to grasp. Like from a physics viewpoint our actions in this life have an equal and opposite reaction on our afterlife. The evil we do in this life is balanced out by the evil done to us in the next life. Although things might not seem fair, as fortune doesn't always favor the kind, fortune is fleeting- random- and only remains in life. Divine justice will have its way in the end. The nature of our being is more difficult to explain. Although it seems like our souls are basically our bodies but in a different dimension, we hear from the tree that our bodies will be returned to us during the reaping. This begs the question, what differs our souls from our bodies? Besides being able to reform (from getting cut in two etc.) and being immortal there doesn't really seem to be a difference. We can still get injured, feel pain, and everything else. Perhaps this is only the reality in hell- part of the eternal punishment. This varies greatly from the viewpoint of ghost whisperer (had a hard time thinking of any other example). In ghost whisperer ghosts seem to be free from divine punishment unless they are not sorry for their past wrongdoings and unwilling to repent. This goes along with the modern teachings of the church more so than Dante's Inferno seems to as well. Modern church teachings is that if you are truly sorry- even on your dying breath- that you are forgiven. Perhaps the harshness of The Inferno have to do with Dante's reasons for writing it. He was trying to write it to warn people and make them change their ways, almost like a scared straight program. Also ghosts in ghost whisperer are free from painful feelings associated with the body.