Introduction: 

Exercise can have both positive and negative effects on immune function (and susceptibility to minor Illnesses). Many studies have reported that part of the immune cell functions are temporarily impaired during prolonged heavy exercise, and those athletes appear to be more susceptible to minor infections.During intense prolonged exercise there are increased levels of stress hormones that cause reducing in leukocytes capacities. During exercise exposure to airborne pathogens is increased due to depth of breathing.

Several Longitudinal Studies: 

Several Longitudinal Studies have monitored immune function in high-level athletes such as cyclists, swimmers and footballers, during a competitive season.In a recent study of American football players, the incidence of UTRI was increased during intense training.Another study monitored a cohort of elite Australian swimmers over a 7 – month training season in preparation for the national championships. The results indicated significant depression of resting serum and salivary immunoglobulin concentrations in athletes, associated with long-term training at an intensive level.

Chronic Effects Of Exercise Training On Immune Function: 

During cross-section studies it has been found that levels of leukocytes in athletes, after more that 24 hours resting are almost the same as sedentary individuals. Thus in the resting state, immune function appears to be almost similar in athletes and non-athletes.New studies showed that the Immunoglobulin levels in athletes are higher than in non-athletes, else if the athletes are in periods of very heavy training.While athletes at a periods of very heavy training, they have a dysfunction in the immune system, but it does not put them in danger of serious illness, but it increase their risk of picking up common infections such as URTI, or Influenza.

Is It A Small Price To Pay For Long-Term Health Benefits? 

Extreme exercise stress may impair immune function and increase the chances to get infection, but this may not be entirely bad for the athlete and by reducing immune activation and subsequent inflammation, be one of the mechanisms through which regular exercise benefits long-term health.Period of chronic exercise training can cause a post-exercise immunodepression and higher susceptibility to get infection, this may be a small price to pay as, over long term, a decrease in TLR expression may represent a beneficial effect, because it decreases the inflammatory capacity of leukocytes, thus altering whole body chronic inflammation and possibly reducing the risk of developing chronic disease.

In Summary: 

Heavy exercise cause a temporary depression of immune function, that lasts 3-25 hours after exercise, depending on the intensity of the exercise.Periods of intensified training, last one week or more can result immune dysfunction for longer time.Individuals do not need to perform heavy training in order to achieve the health benefits of exercise.

Existentialism is all about the individual, choices than an individual makes, and the consequences of those choices.  Existentialism claims that existence is “both freedom and despair” (Cotkin).  The phenomenon of existentialism is experienced when an individual sees the world without meaning or purpose and realizes that one is completely free to act and choose anything.  The individual makes choices and not acting is also considered a choice.  An individual cannot escape making a decision.   The result of having this complete freedom causes a person to experience despair and “most individuals are afraid to confront the responsibility entailed by radical freedom” (Cotkin).  Existentialists argue that this despair is a necessary evil that everyone must experience in order to overcome it and grow as a human being and find meaning in one’s world.  When an individual has overcome the despair and found meaning in life, that person is said to be authentic.  An authentic person knows what his or her meaning in life is.  An unauthentic person does not know what his or her meaning in life is and is still in the state of despair and distress, searing for the meaning of life (Swanson).

Existentialism started in France and started gaining ground in Europe after World War I (Cotkin and Bell).  Existentialism also has beginnings that can be traced back to Russia, Denmark, and Germany.  One of the greatest contributors to existentialism was French intellectual, Jean-Paul Sartre (”Jean-Paul Sartre”).  Sartre attempted to combine the ideas of Marxism and existentialism.  Sartre believed in Marxism and communist ideas however, refused to officially affiliate himself with the communist political party (Bell). Sartre proscribed capitalism and democracy, affirmed atheism and communism, and contradictorily, called for “personal freedom and moral duty” (”Jean-Paul Sartre”).  Sartre was subject to a horrid life in Paris, living under the Nazis and their oppression.  Sartre believed that “everyone is responsible for what he or she does and for what he or she becomes or makes of oneself, no matter what the conditions, even in war and in the face of death.  Sartre later insisted that he never ceased to believe that in the end, one is always responsible for what is made of one” (Solomon).  This is the basis for all of what existentialism is today.  William Faulkner, an existential writer, often wrote about situations in his fiction that Sartre experienced in real life.  Faulkner wrote about people in “dire circumstances-his characters were often on the verge of disgrace, insanity, despair, or social or financial ruin” (”Existentialism in Literature, 1930-1950″).  Along with Sartre, Søren Kiekegaard greatly contributed to existentialism. 

Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher that, like Sartre, greatly contributed to the philosophy of existentialism. Kierkegaard’s father, Michael Kierkegaard, was greatly respected by the public.  With the standing of Kierkegaard’s father, Kierkegaard was under strict rules and was shielded by many things that normal people experience, especially considering how weak Kierkegaard was because of various illnesses.  Kierkegaard’s father was friends with many teachers and professors and many of them were at their house at any given time.  It is said that “discussion and debate were as familiar as the furniture” (”Søren Aabye Kierkegaard”).  Kierkegaard’s father worked with him on a regular basis and made sure that Kierkegaard’s imagination was exercised and well developed along with writing skills.  Kierkegaard was always encouraged to express his opinion and he took up writing.  Kierkegaard had always wondered why his father was so depressed and on his twenty second birthday he found out and it shattered Kierkegaard’s earth.  Now, his father is not who he always thought of him to be, he was not the perfect man that did no wrong.  Kierkegaard found out about his non-biological mother, that she was actually a mistress to begin with.  This drastically changed Kierkegaard and contributed to the negative attitude that he took on life.  Kierkegaard when on to study philosophy later in life and developed his writings about philosophy and existentialism that were eventually translated by a minister in the United States after Kierkegaard’s death (”Søren Aabye Kierkegaard”). 

Walter Lowrie, a retired minister, started working diligently to bring existential thought to America in the late 1920s.  Lowrie looked up to Kierkegaard, a Danish religious thinker and began translating his writings.  By the late 1940s, Lowrie had translated most of Kierkegaard’s writings (Cotkin).  It is ironic that Lowrie took such an effort to translate the works of Kierkegaard because during Kierkegaard’s lifetime, his works were not popular.  Kierkegaard paid for the publishing of his works with his inheritance and his works received virtually no response or interest from the public. Even though his work was not popular in his own time, his work ended up being extremely influential in the twentieth century. If it were not for Kierkegaard’s writings, existentialism may not ever have become what it was in the twentieth century (”Søren Aabye Kierkegaard”). 

The translation of Kierkegaard’s works greatly impacted the way and the speed that America caught onto existential philosophy (Cotkin).  Existentialism became popular in America after World War II largely because the mood of existentialism matched how Americans were feeling at the time.  Many Americans were depressed not only from losing family and friends in the war but the country was also stricken by depression, chaos, and poverty.  The Cold War and nuclear age were large contributors to the mood and feelings of the people of the world, not only Americans which caused “French existentialism [to become] a worldwide vogue” (Cotkin). Another reason for existentialism’s popularity was the desire for a new way of looking at things.  After the war, the world just wanted a new start, a new way of life (”Existentialism in Literature, 1930-1950″).

Existentialism concerns itself with many parts of society such as ethics, philosophy, literature, religion, personal values, and the meaning of life.  Existentialism stresses the importance of individual and personal responsibility.  Although many existentialists such as Sartre are atheist and “seem to avoid ethics,” they are among the “most moralistic [and] moralizing philosophers of modern times” (Solomon).  Existentialists claimed that Western ethics and morals are “slave morality” (Solomom).  This may be because the main existentialists did not believe in institutional ethics, only individual ethics, which makes sense because existentialism is all about the individual.  Martin Heidegger, another major contributor to existentialism, stated that “existentialism was not an ethical philosophy” (Solomon).  For Heidegger to say existentialism is not a moral or ethical philosophy contradicts the entire idea of existentialism, which is personal responsibility.  Not all existentialists are atheistic, Kierkegaard subscribed to Christianity, claiming that not all choices in life can be rational. Kierkegaard was not sure why he chose to follow Christianity. Kierkegaard claimed that there were no rational reasons for him to choose religion, for which it is purely for one’s “personal necessity” and “desire for passionate commitment” (Solomon).  Existentialism does not throw out religion and many of the main contributors were religious.  Existentialism is present in many writings whether the author wants the writing to be considered existential or not.  If a fictitious literary work focuses on a character overcoming a challenge and finding one’s inner self, also known as becoming an authentic person, that work can be considered existentialist.  There are many examples of authors and works that are considered existentialist.  Ernest Hemmingway and Albert Camus are among the most popular writers that can be considered existentialistic.  The Catcher in the Rye, The Guest, The Stranger, Bartleby, The Sun Also Rises, and even The Wizard of Oz can be considered existentialistic works (Sawnson, “Hemingway as Existentialist”, and Meyers).

Albert Camus is an author that expressed his existentialistic ideas through his literary work.  Camus’s work addresses absurdities in life.  Most of Camus’s work was published after World War II, during the time that existentialism was becoming prominent in the United States.  Some of Camus’s most popular work is The Stranger, The Guest, and The Myth of Sisyphus (Solomon).  Camus is notorious for portraying double meanings, paradoxes, and reversals in his writings.  “The original French title of this story, ‘L`Hôte,’ means not only ‘the guest’ but also ‘the host.’ There is no English word that conveys the double meaning of the French word” (Powell).  Camus creates tension that cannot be resolved easily and ambiguity that exists as a reference to the uneasiness felt by individuals experiencing the phenomenon of existentialism, which is when one realizes they are completely free and responsible for choices made (Powell).

Ernest Hemmingway is another author that has existentialist tones in his stories and works.  Although Hemmingway did not call himself an existentialist, many critics have considered his works as existentialist because of the writing style and the unusual journeys that his protagonists go through in order to find their meaning and reason for existence (Swanson).  Hemingway’s works portray “themes of disillusionment, futility, despair and the inevitability of death. His heroes are usually tragic ones; his exotic settings often host scenes of violence and brutality, and his spare writing style is often notable for the anguish it leaves unexpressed” (”Hemmingway as Existentialist”).   Hemmingway sends his protagonists through profound journeys, battling beasts, armies, and self indulgence in order for them to find their “meaning, happiness, and peace” (”Hemmingway as Existentialist”). 

Gabriel Marcel is an existentialist writer and thinker.  Marcel’s most known works are his three essays regarding existentialism, “On the Ontological Mystery,” “Existence and Human Freedom,” and “Testimony and Existentialism.”  “On the Ontological Mystery” is an overview of Marcel’s philosophy.  “Existence and Human Freedom” is a critique of Sartre’s work and philosophy.  Lastly, “Testimony and Existentialism” is a description of Marcel’s thoughts on existentialism.  These essays were written between 1933 and 1946.  The first essay, “On the Ontological Mystery” describes the difference between what Marcel believes to be problems and mysteries of life.  According to Marcel, “problems are questions that are, at least in theory, resolvable.  However, … the sense of being is not a problem, but a mystery” (Bankston).  In “Existence and Human Freedom,” Marcel agrees with Sartre’s idea of choices being made in freedom.  Marcel claims that there is no reason for one to make one choice over the other because “there is nothing inside of things or behind them, and this is what gives existence its quality of provoking vertigo and nausea” (Bankston).  Since there is no reason to choose one thing over another, there is no foundation for evaluating or critiquing the choices that others have made.  In Marcel’s third essay, “Testimony and Existence,” Marcel expands and elaborates on his own personal thoughts of existentialism.  Marcel continues to compare himself to Sartre.  For example, Sartre had a negative view on other humans and felt as if other humans were out to destroy each other.  Sartre felt that “a gift is a strategy to possess and ultimately destroy others” (Bankston).  Marcel viewed a gift as a symbol of friendship and friendly human interaction.  The two thinkers have their differences but the two both agree on the fundamental values of existentialism such as personal responsibility and liability as well as self-control and personal morality.  (Bankston).

In summary, existentialism is a philosophy that was started by European thinkers, first in France.  Existentialism was contributed to by three major thinkers, Søren Kierkaarg, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Gabriel Marcel.  All three had lives that consisted of tragic events or twisted turns that greatly transformed their way of thinking and eventually led to what existentialism is known as today.  Existentialism is a philosophy that states an individual is totally and wholly responsible for all actions and decisions that are made.  An individual is responsible for making the best of one’s life situation and an individual is ultimately responsible for what has been made of oneself.  The philosophy became prominent in Europe after World War I and then popular in the United States after World War II.  Existentialism has had an enormous impact on the way that people think and existentialism has had a profound impact on literature in the time period that it was popular.  Whether agreed with or not, existentialism is an important part of American and world history and should not be overlooked. 

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Works Cited

Bankston, Ill, Carl L. “The Philosophy Of Existentialism.” Masterplots II: Christian Literature (2007): 1-2. MagillOnLiterature Plus. Web. 18 Apr. 2012.

Bell, Vance. “Existentialism.” St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 2. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 50. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 17 Apr. 2012.

Cotkin, George. “Existentialism.”Dictionary of American History.Ed. Stanley I. Kutler.3rd ed. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003. 279-281. Student Resources in Context.Web. 12 Apr. 2012.

“existentialism.” Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1995. Academic OneFile.Web. 12 Apr. 2012.

“Existentialism in Literature, 1930-1950.” Historic World Events. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Student Resources in Context. Web. 2 May 2012.

“Jean-Paul Sartre.” DISCovering Authors. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context.Web. 12 Apr. 2012.

Meyers, C.D. “‘If I Only had an Essence!’ Existentialism and The Wizard of Oz.” The Midwest Quarterly 53.1 (2011): 95+. General OneFile. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.

Powell, David. “The Guest.” Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition (2004): 1-3. MagillOnLiterature Plus. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.

“Sartre, Jean Paul (1905-1980).” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. General OneFile. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.

Solomon, Robert C. “Existentialism.” New Dictionary of the History of Ideas.Ed. Maryanne Cline Horowitz.Vol. 2. Detroit: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2005. 761-765. Student Resources in Context.Web. 12 Apr. 2012.

“Søren Aabye Kierkegaard.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale Power Search.Web. 12 Apr. 2012.

Swanson, Roy Arthur. “Existentialism In Literature.” Identities & Issues In Literature (1997): 1-3. MagillOnLiterature Plus. Web. 18 Apr. 2012.

Aidan King

Sylvia Plath Analysis

On: Daddy & Lady Lazarus

            Sylvia Plath, though a talented student and a virtuosic poet, spent the majority of her life combating severe depression, leading to her successful suicide at the tragically young age of thirty. One of the roots of this mental and emotional instability, as seen in Daddy and Lady Lazarus, can be attributed to Plath’s destructive relationship with her father and the years of despise towards society’s patriarchal figures.

            Plath masterfully uses the first person perspective in these two semi-autobiographical poems. As the victim, she uses “I,” evoking sympathy from those who also associate themselves as victims. She refers to the antagonist – and the reader – as “you,” which also produces feelings of remorse, pity, and even guilt. Her confessional hatred in “Daddy,” with the phrases “You bastard” (80) and “Brute heart of a brute like you,” (50) attack the reader as if to compare you to her father. She even italicizes “you” in the line “I have always been scared of you” (41), further adding to the comparison.

            While “Lady Lazarus” contains much subtler references to the Holocaust than in “Daddy,” it does however draw a stark connection between the experiences of Nazi-enslaved Jews and her own suffering. “A sort of walking miracle, my skin / Bright as a Nazi lampshade, / My right foot / A paperweight, / My face a featureless, fine / Jew linen” (4-9, Lazarus). Here, while again describing herself as objects – lampshade, paperweight, linen – Plath details the suffering surrounding her attempted suicides and equates it to the pain that Jews endured at the hands of the Nazis.

The pain she experienced was caused by her very own “Nazi:” her father. “I have always been scared of you, / With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo. / And your neat mustache / And your Aryan eye, bright blue. / Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You -” (41-45, Daddy). In these lines, Plath refers to her father’s time spent as a tank operator, and the trauma it inflicted on him over the years. This trauma was in turn passed along to her, who was not even ten years old at the time. She symbolizes this with her innocent and childish references to ‘Daddy’, ‘gobbledygoo’ and ‘Achoo’. The rationalization of her concentration-camp-Jew comparison is much more believable when told through the lips of a traumatized eight year old.

Plath sees Nazis the same way she saw her father: sadistic, controlling, and manipulative, and she connotes these traits with those of all men. Examples can be drawn countlessly from both poems. “Lady Lazarus” captures how men view women as aesthetically-appealing objects, showing little concern for any internal flaws. Plath refers to the men as “The peanut-crunching crowd” (26) observing “the big strip tease” (29). This is a criticism of the male obsession with women as sexual objects.  “I am your opus, / I am your valuable” (67-68). After her failed suicide, she felt as though she were merely seen as a specimen of sorts, rather than a real human being – an equal – with severe, distressing emotional problems.

In “Daddy”, Plath uses Nazism and her father as a metaphor of the oppressive force of men. “I thought every German was you. / And the language obscene / An engine, an engine / Chuffing me off like a Jew. / A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen. / I began to talk like a Jew. / I think I may well be a Jew” (29-35). Plath sees all men (Germans) as her father, each one hoping to cause her suffering (Chuffing her off to Dachau). After enough time had passed, and she had been treated like an insignificant pest (like a Jew) for long enough, she began to believe it to be true.

Both “Daddy” and “Lady Lazarus” serve as great examples of Plath’s intricate and intense metaphorical writing. Without directly chronicling her autobiographical history, she successfully is able to depict her distrust and distaste for men, her father, and the Nazi regime, fitting it into one big analogy.  “Every woman adores a Facist,” (48, Daddy) serves as her mockery towards the men who do in fact believe that one must act like a hegemon to live a fulfilling life. Her father acted that way, the Nazis acted that way, and the men in her life did as well. And although her predisposition may have hastily clumped all men together, it’s undeniable that Plath, who fought a bout of depression as extensive and painful as any, had just-cause to spite the patriarchy surrounding her, and “Eat men like air.” 

Aidan King

Sylvia Plath Analysis

On: Daddy & Lady Lazarus

            Sylvia Plath, though a talented student and a virtuosic poet, spent the majority of her life combating severe depression, leading to her successful suicide at the tragically young age of thirty. One of the roots of this mental and emotional instability, as seen in Daddy and Lady Lazarus, can be attributed to Plath’s destructive relationship with her father and the years of despise towards society’s patriarchal figures.

            Plath masterfully uses the first person perspective in these two semi-autobiographical poems. As the victim, she uses “I,” evoking sympathy from those who also associate themselves as victims. She refers to the antagonist – and the reader – as “you,” which also produces feelings of remorse, pity, and even guilt. Her confessional hatred in “Daddy,” with the phrases “You bastard” (80) and “Brute heart of a brute like you,” (50) attack the reader as if to compare you to her father. She even italicizes “you” in the line “I have always been scared of you” (41), further adding to the comparison.

            While “Lady Lazarus” contains much subtler references to the Holocaust than in “Daddy,” it does however draw a stark connection between the experiences of Nazi-enslaved Jews and her own suffering. “A sort of walking miracle, my skin / Bright as a Nazi lampshade, / My right foot / A paperweight, / My face a featureless, fine / Jew linen” (4-9, Lazarus). Here, while again describing herself as objects – lampshade, paperweight, linen – Plath details the suffering surrounding her attempted suicides and equates it to the pain that Jews endured at the hands of the Nazis.

The pain she experienced was caused by her very own “Nazi:” her father. “I have always been scared of you, / With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo. / And your neat mustache / And your Aryan eye, bright blue. / Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You -” (41-45, Daddy). In these lines, Plath refers to her father’s time spent as a tank operator, and the trauma it inflicted on him over the years. This trauma was in turn passed along to her, who was not even ten years old at the time. She symbolizes this with her innocent and childish references to ‘Daddy’, ‘gobbledygoo’ and ‘Achoo’. The rationalization of her concentration-camp-Jew comparison is much more believable when told through the lips of a traumatized eight year old.

Plath sees Nazis the same way she saw her father: sadistic, controlling, and manipulative, and she connotes these traits with those of all men. Examples can be drawn countlessly from both poems. “Lady Lazarus” captures how men view women as aesthetically-appealing objects, showing little concern for any internal flaws. Plath refers to the men as “The peanut-crunching crowd” (26) observing “the big strip tease” (29). This is a criticism of the male obsession with women as sexual objects.  “I am your opus, / I am your valuable” (67-68). After her failed suicide, she felt as though she were merely seen as a specimen of sorts, rather than a real human being – an equal – with severe, distressing emotional problems.

In “Daddy”, Plath uses Nazism and her father as a metaphor of the oppressive force of men. “I thought every German was you. / And the language obscene / An engine, an engine / Chuffing me off like a Jew. / A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen. / I began to talk like a Jew. / I think I may well be a Jew” (29-35). Plath sees all men (Germans) as her father, each one hoping to cause her suffering (Chuffing her off to Dachau). After enough time had passed, and she had been treated like an insignificant pest (like a Jew) for long enough, she began to believe it to be true.

Both “Daddy” and “Lady Lazarus” serve as great examples of Plath’s intricate and intense metaphorical writing. Without directly chronicling her autobiographical history, she successfully is able to depict her distrust and distaste for men, her father, and the Nazi regime, fitting it into one big analogy.  “Every woman adores a Facist,” (48, Daddy) serves as her mockery towards the men who do in fact believe that one must act like a hegemon to live a fulfilling life. Her father acted that way, the Nazis acted that way, and the men in her life did as well. And although her predisposition may have hastily clumped all men together, it’s undeniable that Plath, who fought a bout of depression as extensive and painful as any, had just-cause to spite the patriarchy surrounding her, and “Eat men like air.” 

Aidan King

Robert Frost and Dorianne Laux

“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” vs “The Life of Trees”

            Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” displays a simple conflict: the battle of a traveler’s attraction to the woods and a responsibility he must keep elsewhere. “The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, // But I have promises to keep,” reads Frost (lines 13 and 14). The poem is rooted strongly in the many seductive qualities that nature has, how those qualities can affect rational decision-making.

            Frost uses soft, beautiful images to convey the attraction of the woods. Phrases like “easy wind and downy snow” and descriptions that detail the silence and solitude of the location draw the reader in as much as the traveler. We’re drawn to the same harmonious, peaceful place. We want the traveler to explore more. We want the traveler to venture into the woods, to discover and show us the infinite beauty of it all.

            The woods can be seen as a doorway to freedom for the traveler. A means of escaping responsibilities and obligations. Those responsibilities are the products of society; a society he wants to be rid of. He sees this part of the woods as a crossroads. In one direction lies the fulfillment of his “promises to keep” and “miles to go before I sleep” (15). In the other direction, he is faced with the lovely, dark, and deep woods. In this poem, society, the village, duty, responsibility – they all represent the same thing. A tiring task that the rider must accomplish, but for what reason, that much is unclear. Society would frown upon the rider’s decision to stop in the woods. With important things to do, it would be disappointing and he would be letting someone – or many people down. Frost uses the traveler’s horse to show this.
“My little horse must think it queer // to stop without a farmhouse near” (5/6)
Those horse – and society would frown upon his decision to stay.

The fact that it takes place in the middle of the winter makes his decision one of life and death, as well. There is no shelter, no warmth, no place to rest. If he journeys into the woods, he may very well succumb to the cold if he rests for too long. This would in turn rid him of his responsibilities, though. He would reach an ultimatum. The burden would be lifted, but only if his willpower is broken down enough. This pulling force, although it originates from the calm, beautiful forest, has a sense of evil to it. It is “The darkest evening of the year” (8). The word “dark” can be interpreted as both “not light” and “evil.” This darkness, the mysterious force of the forest corrupts his rationale. It draws him to what may ultimately be his frigid death. At the very least, it pulls him away from his duties. The mystery of the woods, the hidden beauty that lies behind the trees is what draws the traveler and the reader further and further in, like a siren call luring sailors to their doom.

Dorianne Laux unravels this mystery in her poem “The Life of Trees.” The poem draws a line between human life and arboreal life, represented by the societal obligations and the alluring qualities of the woods in Frost’s poem.

“I want to sleep // and dream the life of trees, beings // from the muted world who care nothing // for Money, Politics, Power, // Will or Right, who want little from the night” (12-16).

These lines explain the mysterious attraction that the woods have on Frost’s traveler, and the things that make them different from society. Frost, like Laux, wants to be a part of the trees. He wants to forget about the money, politics, and power of society. He wants to forget about all the complexities of humanity that emerge within civilization. The trees represent a free existence, while humanity represents an enslaved existence, one ruled by monotonous tasks and rules.

Laux’s final line, “breathe, and breathe again” (46) captures the desire for freedom perfectly. Breathing is necessary for life. To breathe is to live, and Laux envies that quality that the trees have. No responsibility, no fear.

“Sun. Rain. Snow. Wind. They fear // Nothing but the Hurricane, and Fire,” (30/31).

The trees just exist, like the woods that the traveler passes by. They remain there in harmony, separated from the world around them. Frost’s rider craves for this utter freedom as well. He envies that life.

Frost depicts a scene in which the appeal of peaceful and mysterious woods tempts the lonesome traveler. The reader doesn’t know exactly what it is about the forest that draws us in. Only the fact that the dark, snow-covered woods are silent, peaceful, and away from society. In her poem, Laux makes sense of the forest. She describes the envious qualities of the trees. The qualities that don’t exist with humans in society. These traits can only be accomplished by being in nature, which is the core of Frost’s traveler’s desires. Society is a dreary place; one that confines its inhabitants. Nature, in its purest form, allows for near-infinite freedom. It is an enviable destination, at the very least. 

Aidan King

Blue Winds Dancing

            In any story, the repetition of a word, theme, or symbol typically     marks that thing as important to the author and reader.  It reflects the message of the piece as a whole. In Tom Whitecloud’s Blue Winds Dancing, the word in particular is “home.” It represents more than where he grew up; more than just a birthplace. “Home” means family. It means friends, love, comfort, and protection. “Home is where the heart is” so the saying goes, and for Whitecloud, this couldn’t be any truer. Home is the most beautiful place in the world, and it’s so important to him, he uses the word fifteen times in all.

That land which is my home! Beautiful, calm – where there is no hurry to get anywhere, no driving to keep up in a race that knows no ending and no goal. No classes where men talk and talk and then stop now and then to hear their own words come back to them from the students. No constant peering into the maelstrom of one’s mind; no worries about grades and honors; no hysterical preparing for life until that life is half over; no anxiety about one’s place in that thing they call Society. (P. 276, para. 5)

            Home means more than simply being nostalgic when being away; it’s more than getting excited when it’s time to return; it’s host to your closest friends, kindest neighbors, and fondest memories. Whitecloud attempts to capture the true essence of “home” in this piece. Not only “beautiful” and “calm”, home is a place for freedom.

Home is all these things, and being away in the world of bankers, politicians, and lawyers has taught Whitecloud that. At one point in time, he may have hated his home; hated his family, and all the familiarity and lack of change, but he learned that you truly don’t know what you have until it’s gone. All his life, his keys to happiness and comfort were right in front of his eyes: Home. A place to escape the drudging monotony[1] of “the thing they call Society”, where you work, buy, consume, and die.

While Blue Winds Dancing is truly a reflection on “home”, Whitecloud also shines a critical light upon society, calling into question the legitimacy of life and humanity as we journey through it daily. It’s not just a place to work, settle down, and have kids until the day you retire, implies Whitecloud. It’s where you belong. For him, life is about the “ring of axes in deep woods, the crunch of snow beneath my feet. I feel again the smooth velvet of ghost-birch bark. I hear the rhythm of the drums…” (para. 6).

For the majority of others, however, life is about living in squalor and lavishness, working the same jobs that were worked generations before simply because they were worked by generations before. And despite the state of existence that Whitecloud longs for, he can barely escape the cycle he’s in: Going to school, nodding his head to his teachers and classmates with a smile on his face, and sleeping until it’s a new day. The longer he stays in the cycle, the deeper the rut goes. Society has been twisted and tainted for years and years, and Whitecloud himself shows just how tiring being a member of sophisticated life truly is.

“I am tired. I am weary of trying to keep up this bluff of being civilized. Being civilized means trying to do everything you don’t want to, never doing anything you want to. It means dancing to the strings of custom and tradition; it means living in houses and never knowing or caring who is next door. These civilized white men want us to be like them – always dissatisfied – getting a hill and wanting a mountain.”

Those in a sophisticated niche view any who refuse to conform to the confines of society as outcasts; social pariahs. They’re inferior: less wealthy, less successful, less happy, and less intelligent. “Hobos and prostitutes and criminals are individuals who never adjusted, he [his sociology professor] said. He could learn a lot if he came and listened to a bunch of bums talk. He would learn that work and a woman and a place to hang his hat are all the ordinary man wants. These are all he wants, but other men are not content to let him want only these. He must be taught to want radios and automobiles and a new suit every spring.” (Para 12)

What started as an ode to home, family, rolling green hills and trees blowing in the wind, suddenly turned into a critique of the average human existence, and how pitiful and despicable Whitecloud sees it. The tone shifted, almost to uplift the reader, making him reflect on his own home, and then pulling him back down to reality. Whitecloud is scornful of society, and treated his time amongst “civilized” people as both painfully monotonous and a learning experience at the same time. But he’s almost home, almost free of the “white man’s world” as he puts it.

He closes the story in his home, with his family, friends, elders, and peers. “I watch eyes, and see now that the old people are speaking to me. They nod slightly, imperceptibly, and their eyes laugh into mine. I look around the room. All the eyes are friendly; they all laugh. No one questions my being here. The drums begin to beat again, and I catch to invitation in the eyes of the old men. My feet begin to lift to the rhythm, and I looked out beyond the walls into the night and see the lights. I am happy. It is beautiful. I am home.” (Para 33)

Despite his contempt for society, Whitecloud ends with a pleasant note. Bringing the reader’s mood up, down, and up again with a heartwarming crescendo of sorts. You are a product of your home. It birthed you. It raised you. Nurtured you. It showed you how to succeed within yourself, and taught you how to fall as well. Home is…simply that. It’s just home. Like love, words alone do not have the power to describe it. You just have to wait until you’re there before its meaning can reveal itself.

[1] Not sure which is right. ‘Drudging monotony’ or ‘monotonous drudging’

Living in Spanglish. Since I have been reading books ever since I was a little kid, I have always been surrounded by beautiful language. And I always valued language and “speech/literary expression” style. Basically I kinda think “in words”. I can’t think in colors (for example), can’t think in sounds (much), I can do visual, I can do smells, but I like words best. I guess I think as a writer: when one writes a story, one creates images with words (at the end, it is visual but the reader consumes it in words  and “visual”, in this instance, is the picture constructed in reader’s mind by words. The actual picture doesn’t exist (it is different for everybody), there fore the words are important by themselves (even if the reader will not get the picture, the beauty of language may concur his heart). Literature is more than just meaning. Beauty of words is its own power.  So since I have always read, this pleasure was always there for me. For the last decade, in two different languages! Now I don’t read anymore. But I still love words, so I pay a lot of attention to the way people use them. Man, man, man, spoken language is so primitive! It is SAD.  Are people loosing this ability since its not as necessary as before? (text & inet slang is “what’s up” now) Probably not, I just haven’t been paying as much attention before.  One of my very favorite writers is still alive. He does off-life interview (people post questions, he gives answers). Been reading it for 15 years. His language is beautiful. It is even better than mine (lol). (I never really paid attention to my language, lately I do, and it seems to be quite excellent

(lol), well above average (like George Carlin’s)). The writer uses a bit too many foreign words, for my taste, but his language is  a true beauty. His he an expert. He even knows Russian words that I don’t (its a pleasure to look them up). Wish I could talk to Carlin… Sometimes I watch c-span just to listen to proper English, some of yo-all can speak. lol.  Life could be made a bit more beautiful by better speech, and it has to have a good effect on the mind.
 And so I wonder as I wander around NYC in a winter jacket, wool hat and sleepers with no sucks….

The United Kingdom needs more libraries. If adults and children are to educate themselves and succeed in life, our country should supply and build libraries of enormous sizes as well as universities. The word University implies intelligent, and not everyone feels intelligent especially with the way our schools and some parents lack the ability to encourage learning.

These places should be friendly and co-operative with those having special needs. Universities tend to require students of higher qualifications, too scary for those lacking specified requirements

Even at shopping centres, the big ones, there is not a single place to go read or learn like a drop in centre. Books should be everywhere and yet all that is advertised is gaming consoles, fashion, restaurants, take-aways, and movies. Some people have never even stepped inside a library, maybe due to embarrassment of lack of education or are too nervous to make their first step. 

Britain have made it too easy for certain citizens and even their children to disrespect good education and English Literature; which is why a lot of British people are illiterate and struggle with reading and writing.

Teachers haven’t the time to teach those struggling with the basics. They have to keep up with the curriculum and school rules despite a child not being able to read or write properly when they reach the age of leaving infant school to begin secondary.

So, certainly, there should be more places available, in walking distances to those unable to travel. These places need to speak out and advertise and speak louder than WORDS themselves. Libraries need to stick out and become alive, just like a cinema does, or a gaming room

It’s true, it is easier to pick up a DVD or game console than read a book. That’s why the government should spend more on libraries, because they’re less threatening and frightening than universities.

I would love to see more reading rooms, places, cubicles where you can sit and read in your spare time undisturbed and free. I call it Library Land.

Living in Spanglish. Since I have been reading books ever since
I was a little kid, I have always been surrounded by beautiful language. And I always valued
language and “speech/literary expression” style. Basically I kinda
think “in words”. I can’t think in colors (for example), can’t think in sounds (much), I
can do visual, I can do smells, but I like words best. I guess I think as a writer:
when one writes a story, one creates images with words (at the end, it is visual but the
reader consumes it in words  and “visual”, in this instance, is the picture constructed in reader’s
mind by words. The actual picture doesn’t exist (it is different for everybody), there fore the
words are important by themselves (even if the reader will not get the picture, the beauty
of language may concur his heart). Literature is more than just meaning. Beauty of
words is its own power.  So since I have always read, this pleasure was always there for me.
For the last decade, in two different languages! Now I don’t read anymore. But I still love
words, so I pay a lot of attention to the way people use them. Man, man, man, spoken
language is so primitive! It is SAD.  Are people loosing this ability since its not as necessary as
before? (text & inet slang is “what’s up” now) Probably not, I just haven’t been paying as much
attention before.  One of my very favorite writers is still alive. He does off-life
interview (people post questions, he gives answers). Been reading it for 15 years. His language
is beautiful. It is even better than mine (lol). (I never really paid attention to my language,
lately I do, and it seems to be quite excellent (lol), well above average (like George
Carlin’s)). The writer uses a bit too many foreign words, for my taste, but his language is  a true
beauty. His he an expert. He even knows Russian words that I don’t (its a pleasure to look them
up). Wish I could talk to Carlin… Sometimes I watch c-span just to listen to proper English, some
of yo-all can speak. lol.  Life could be made a bit more beautiful by better speech, and it has
to have a good effect on the mind.
 And so I wonder as I wander around NYC in a winter jacket, wool hat
and sleepers with no sucks….
with beautiful language in MY mind…

What an utterly powerful and captivating novel! I did not stop reading until the very end. In 3 days I had gone from hating reading to a complete book worm, I was entwined in a story so incredible I wasn’t able to leave it even when I put the book down. My every thought was about this novel and every conversation I had lead back to it’s fascinating story.

How the writer got the idea of the novel

The writer – Suzanne Collins says that she got the idea of “The Hunger Games“ by channel surfing by flicking between a programme about children competing to a news report on the war in Iraq, these 2 ideas began to mix in a bizarre way. Thus “The Hunger Games” was born!

So what is the story?

The Story of “The Hunger Games” series

The Hunger games is set in a post apocalyptic world where only one city survives “Capitol”. This City is the only form of civilisation that exists in the country of Panem which lies in the the place of where America use to be. The Capitol is controlled by a corrupt government where the districts that exist around the capitol (Districts 1-12) are forced to give all of their wealth to the Capitol. As you begin to discover the story you find out that there used to be 13 districts but the 13th district was destroyed as a punishment for a previous uprising also to punish the districts that still exist the Capitol takes one boy and one girl between the ages of 12-18 to take part in the annual “Hunger Games”. These games involve throwing all of these children together and forcing them to fight to the death on national TV. Why? Just because the Capitol can. However these games are causing a political unrest that will lead to further uprising and a powerful force that not even the Capitol will be able to control.

I won’t reveal any more details about the story as the real thrill comes from the shocking events that twist the story at the end of every chapter, you won’t believe what you’re reading and will only crave more. The writer Suzanne Collins really needs to be credited for this amazing novel, and I would like to thank her personally for rekindling my interest in reading, she really is my Mockingjay.