Universal Teen

Holden's thoughts and actions are easily related to those of the young adult readers who are assigned his story to read. For one, Holden's depression truly shows how lost and confused he is, while being relate-able to those who are reading about him. Themes that include anger toward his parents, friends, strangers, and others, are all similar to anger felt by adolescence. The whole idea of this "tunnel vision" I feel is strongly developed throughout the novel. Holden can only see the negative, the darkness. He focuses in on the faults of those around him and the negative situations he seems to find himself in, as well as place himself in those situations.

For example, Holden's relationship with Ackley and Stradlater, from the beginning of the book, and then how it's turned around in the end. After describing Ackley's unfortunate physical features, "And not only that, he had a terrible personality. He was also sort of a nasty guy. I wasn't too crazy about him to tell you the truth" (Salinger 19). Holden, like many teens, seems to judge simply because of jealousy, or for reasons totally unrelated to that person whatsoever. I feel as though Holden took his frustration with his failing school work and loss of Allie, out on those around him. After Stradlater asks Holden for a favor, "You take a very handsome guy, or a guy who thinks he's a real hot-shot, and they're always asking you to do them a big favor" (27). Stradlater may be a little conceited, but I still think he's being judged pretty harshly. Finally, however, at the end of the novel, he comes to a realization. "I sort of miss everybody i told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley..." (214). His ability to grow up and mature throughout the novel seems to be the driving force that can be compared to the journey that young adults take through high school, finding their niche in society.

Mac Vs. Big Nurse

The characters that Ken Kesey creates in his novel are multi-dimensional. This quality allows them to have conflicts with each other, which only continues to develop the characters. The two characters in the novel that seem to "butt heads" the most are McMurphy and Big Nurse. The two of them are very head-strong and very confident in there ability. Neither has been made to back down from their "post" so to speak, so when they meet, all the stops come out.



Big Nurse is in charge of the whole ward and she makes sure everyone is aware of that. She clearly reigns over all of the attendants and even the Doctor; while in most hospitals, the Doctor is in more control than any of the nurses.

"Then... she sights those black boys. They're still down there together, mumbling to one another. They didn't hear her come on the ward. They sense she's glaring at them now, but it's too late. ... She goes into a crouch and advances on where they're trapped in a huddle at the end of the corridor. ..She's going to tear the black bastards limb from limb, she's so furious (Kesey 10,11).

The way that even her staff are terrified of simply her presence, shows that she can instill fear in anyone on her ward.

McMurphy on the other hand, has one thing that sets him apart from the other patients, he's confident. He may also have the fact that he's not crazy, but his confidence in himself sets him apart from the rest. Referring to the third paragraph, in it's entirety on page 84, it truly shows that everyone not only sees the difference, but has accepted it. When Big Nurse is after McMurphy for brushing his teeth, singing, and any other rules he was breaking, you could start to see her "machine" like qualities start to break down.

"Her lips are parted., and her smile's going out before her like a radiator grill, I can smell the hot oil and magneto when she goes past. ...Then as she's rolling along at her biggest and meanest, McMurphy steps out of the latrine door right in front of her, holding a towel around his hips --stops her dead!" (Kesey 87)

McMurphy is turning out to be quite a force to be reckoned with on this ward, and he wont let Big Nurse, or anyone else for that matter, forget it.

In the end of the novel, some may say that Big Nurse has won, because she ended up indirectly killing McMurphy, by performing a lobotomy, however, I feel like this is when Mac triumphs the most. Like in one of my favorite movies, and also spoken by Babe Ruth "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die (Sandlot 1993). A hero is only remembered by those whom he or she has touched, but a legend's story is passed on through years and years of retelling. Mac is a legend because he used himself as a martyr for these people who he barely knew coming into this. Big Nurse lost because she couldn't do her job and control this man, she had to rely on using a machine because she wasn't strong enough to take down the force that was McMurphy.

Poem 239 Page 301

"The Riddle" by William Heyen is a strong poem with a powerful message. It effectively takes the subject of the holocaust and shows it in an accusatory and critical way. The use of repetition is all over the piece. "Not I", "and some", and of course that probing query, "Who killed the Jews?" are all lines that are seen over and over again throughout. All of the repeating lines are denying their involvement, accusing involvement, and simply asking who's fault it all was. The repetition emphasizes the blame and how it travels from one person to a group to a situation. It never settles on one thing that caused the killing of innocent people in the masses. From line 14 to line 26 the list of people and things that were involved in the killing of the Jews is long and seemingly never-ending. Everyone played a part, but no one admitted it. The assumption was most likely, the more we deny, the more probable it is; and that is the reason for the repetition.

The rhyme scheme is ABCB until lines 15-24, where the list of the guilty is. The use of a rhyme scheme in poetry lets the reader have an idea of what to expect as each stanza is read. This pairs with the repetition. If the line" Who killed the Jews?" is used at the end of each stanza, it is expected that it will be present. The second line of four of the stanzas rhymes with Jews, therefore the repeated line is anticipated. This predictable line is there because of the rhyme scheme and the repetition. It helps stress and highlight the power of the poem.

I really felt something from this poem, even though it is an upsetting subject matter, the power of it makes it great. The lines 9-11 show a personal perspective to connect the speaker. The imagery of the fourth stanza is so effective and shows the ignorance of the soldiers; how they didn't help these suffering people. The answer to the riddle, who killed the Jews, is silence. The silence of the prisoners who were not allowed to speak, the soldiers who were ordered to obey Hitler, those who smelled smoke but never cried fire, all remained silent when asked the question "Who killed the Jews?". Their inability to admit their involvement caused a massive footprint, not just in the history books or burned into the minds of the survivors, but the whole universe is affected by this sadistic horror that occured. The stars, the sun, the moon, will all remember and carry this impactive event forever, specifically the freedoms taken from the prisoners "gold, shoes, skin".

Poem 203 Page 273

The poem I selected from Sound and Sense was "On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High" by D.C. Berry. Nothing in particular drew me to it except flipping through my poetry book. The basic idea is basically in the title, reading a poem aloud to this person's classmates at his high school. The feelings of nervousness and being unsure of what the speaker's audience will think. The structure of this poem greatly adds to the overall effect and emotions that the speaker is feeling throughout the poem. The first line, "Before" and then it goes to the next line to continue it. This pause, or line break makes the reader go through it slower and a little choppier. This shows how the person reading his or her poem is nervous and taking their time because they are unsure of the reactions they'll receive. This occurs throughout the entire poem and especially at the end where a line stands alone as a stanza.

The entire poem is one huge metaphor that's carried throughout. The metaphor of coming to life, like fish being unfrozen in a pond. The first stanza describes his classmates as frozen fish; they are all listening attentively but not engrossed in the poem. The fact that they are frozen is saying that they are alive, but not interactive, not relating quite yet. However, gradually, in the next stanza, the students started to become interested, but the reader didn't realize their interest at first, "till it [the water or the interest level] reached my ears". Moving to the third stanza, the audience is completely absorbed into the poem. The poem-reader thought he was overwhelming them ("drowning") with his poem, but they became apart of it, "opened up like gills..and let me in". "Together we swam around the room", this is my favorite line of the passage. Everyone is intertwined and becoming part of the poetry. Then the bell rings, letting all of the water and fish out into their next classes; letting the energy and the students out of class. The speaker's high continued until he was home when his cat licked him, and he came back down to reality. It's similar to "pinch me I'm dreaming". The reader was so euphoric off reading the poem so successfully that he couldn't even feel.

What I enjoyed most about this poem is the journey that it takes the reader on. It begins frozen and as it thaws it fills with energy and then calmly yet abruptly brings us back to reality. Reading or presenting is a fear that I can relate to and this is a positive experience that is rather encouraging. The excitement that the speaker felt is so great and as the reader, you kind of cheer on the nervous poet. The fact that its rewarding is simply a happy ending and that's always positive. The crescendo of the poem when everyone is in one big fish tank swimming amongst each other, is amazing and I can only imagine the unity felt throughout.