Day 1

Monday January 5th.


Day 1 of Intro. to the English Major and already lots to do. Lots of the poetry assigned so far I've read for other classes including Happiness IDST, American Lit., and Intro. to Creative Writing. Tonight's assigned works include "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud";"We Real Cool";"I Celebrate Myself, and Sing Myself"; "Exchanging Hats";"My Papa's Waltz";"Because I Could Not Stop for Death" and "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner". I've read all of the above listed, save for "The Death of Ball Turret Gunner". When I think about it, I'm kind of glad that I haven't read it before. I look at how I analyzed the poem today in comparison to how I analyzed the other poems from last year, and I realize that how I approach the works has changes. Where I used to judge the poem after one reading with haste, I now read it through at least three, four times. I recall reading "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" in Dr. Riley-Brown's American Literature class last year. In reading it, I gave it a thorough once over and then was done with it. There was little to analyze, in my opinion at the time. I recall my mind picturing a lazy field of daffodils, and then being done with the poem. In reading it this year, my analysis is much deeper. Now, I attempt to draw meaning, where I used to simply draw an image or feeling.