The Importance of Being Earnest

In Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest, Jack Worthing lives a double life; in Hertfordshire, he is Jack; while in London, he is Ernest. Jack endures a physical journey throughout the play, going from Hertfordshire to London whenever he pleases. This journey contributes to the author’s ridicule of the Victorian time period. Jack’s jumping around from town to town made it difficult to keep his identities in check with the relationships he had made in either town. Jack’s alias, Ernest, holds a great amount of irony and symbolizes how hypocritical the Victorian time period was. Jack and Algernon are anything but earnest in the play, as they lie and take absolutely nothing seriously. During the time period of the setting, the main importance of their society was manners and politeness.

Because Jack and Algernon both use the name Ernest as an alias, the women that they had courted had eventually caught on to their lie. These women had only desired the two “Ernests” solely for their name. These girls only care about appearances and titles, or things that cannot be controlled or even matter. For instance, Gwendolen’s mother, Lady Bracknell, dislikes Jack because of his background of being found in a handbag before he was adopted. Her forbiddance of him to see Gwendolen demonstrates the ignorance and ridiculousness of Victorian customs. None of these preposterous demonstrations of Victorian attitudes in this era would have happened if it weren’t for Jack’s physical journeys between Hertfordshire and London. His physical journeys created these problems for him in his interactions as well as from an emotional standpoint because it caused him difficulty in finding a spouse.

Sound and Sense

-"Siren Song" by Margaret Atwood
342-343

The speaker in Atwood's "Siren Song" uses an allusion to Greek mythology. According to legend, three Sirens were creatures that were half women and half bird. These Sirens' songs lured countless mariners to  their island, but the alluring tunes only brought the mariners to their death from the island's rocky coast. Atwood uses this allusion to create a foundation for the story of the poem, making the Siren seem distressed and sad, so it requires help. The Siren then lures the mariner by appearing to need assistance. She tries to lure by singling out the man by saying, "Help me! Only you, only you can, you are unique," (Atwood 19-21). The other prominent technique used by Atwood is the secretive tone. The sirens attempt to draw the listener of their song in, so they can eventually be killed. They use phrases like, "the song nobody knows" (Atwood 7), and "I will tell the secret to you, to you, only to you. Come closer" (Atwood 19-21), to draw the man in with temptation, curiosity, and secrecy.
I believe this poem exhibited a bit of humor in its display of irony; especially when the Siren pretends to be in distress saying, "This song is a cry for help: Help me!" (Atwood 21-22). Here she appears to be the one who needs saving while the mariner is the real one in danger. I truly enjoyed the whole ironic aspect as well as the emphasis of the small-mindedness of men. While the Siren states, "it is a boring song but it works every time" (Atwood 26-27). The Siren is bored with her singing, but she continues because it never ceases to be entertaining and effective. All listener's of this song inevitably come to their demise and they have no control over the matter, making this poem so interesting while at the same time, so humorous.


"Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt" by David Bottoms
347

In David Bottoms' "Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt," the speaker uses symbolism throughout the poem when introducing the art of the sacrifice bunt. Bunting is a symbol for a life lesson taught by the speakers father. He always stresses the importance of practicing bunts."I admired your style, but not enough to take my eyes off the bank that served as our center-field fence" (Bottoms 9-11) . All the speaker wanted to do was hit the ball over the fence; it was the only thought that crossed his mind. The lesson that was being stressed was that when a situation presents itself in which sacrifices have to be made to win the game, someone has to not be a hero and lay down a bunt. This can be applied to everyday life and the speaker finally understands his father's lesson as he grows older and matures. While baseball ended long ago, he can take the lesson of the sacrifice bunt and use it in real-life situations.
Bottoms also uses simile to emphasize the importance of the lesson his father taught the speaker. When he said, "Like a hand brushed across the bill of a cap, let this be the sign I'm getting a grip on the sacrifice" (Bottoms 21-23), the speaker referred to when a sign for a bunt is given from a coach to the batter. In baseball this is normally a simple sign like the hand brushing against the bill of the cap, but Bottoms uses simile to give it a deeper meaning. He uses the sign to show that he is learning the real meaning of sacrifice. In baseball, he has to sacrifice the chance of hitting a homer or getting himself out, for the advancement of one of his teammates. In life, it contributes to the idea that a sacrifice for the greater good triumphs over the fame and bragging rights.
This whole poem brought up a coming of age theme, using sacrifice bunting as a life lesson. The idea of sacrificing an out or a deep shot to the outfield for a teammate to get into scoring position gives the speaker a lesson in teamwork, trust, and selflessness. One player cannot win a game alone, so they must trust in each other to make the correct decisions and handle the ball properly. This lesson applies in life when referring to a job, schoolwork, or everyday situations. The father is not only a coach of baseball to his son, but a coach of morals and ethics as well.

The Handmaid's Tale

Theme: The absence of feminism in Gilead

• Offred's mother was a strong advocate of feminism judging by examples in the text like when she was burning pornographic magazines. She resembles everything that the creators of Gilead are against in having in their society.
• Gilead's supposed purpose is to protect women from being disrespected as they were in "the time before", but in reality it is degrading women and antagonizing the idea of feminism. It is forcing the females into taking on traditional roles such as reproduction, cooking, or nursing children.
• The character, Moira, is a lesbian feminist. Her purpose in the novel is to symbolize female independence. Gilead crushed her potential of pursuing her dreams because they did not believe she could be able to, so she was put into the Red Center. After escaping there, she was then caught and punished by putting her into prostitution.

Favorite Line: "I go to the window and sit on the window seat, which is too narrow for comfort. There's a hard little cushion on it, with a petit point cover: FAITH, in square print, surrounded by a wreath of lilies. FAITH is a faded blue, the leaves of the lilies a dingy green. This is a cushion once used elsewhere, worn but not enough to throw out. Somehow it's been overlooked" (Atwood 57).

• There is no faith in the society anymore. The print and the lilies are worn, symbolizing the past times of Gilead. The faded cushion is a symbol for how their society is in despair. Individuality, hope, religion, and especially faith are lost.
• The phrase "worn but not enough to throw out", is a metaphor for faith because the people know of faith and what it is, but they no longer recognize what it means and it is not practiced anymore in Gilead.

Thoughts: The novel, "The Handmaid's Tale" by Magaret Atwood, is bizarre. I personally do not enjoy stories about utopian societies or science fiction novels. But, I understand Atwood's attitude and reason for writing the novel. She attempts to use it as a warning to society and traditionalist views so our own society does not go into a downward spiral, ultimately moving in the direction of the extremes in the society of Gilead. Having one gender controlling a whole society can never turn out well or in every ones favor.