A Work by Aldous Huxley

I went searching for a poem and came upon one entitled "Love Song," which is found in Aldous Huxley's second book of poetry entitled The Defeat of Youth and Other Poems.

"Dear absurd child--too dear to my cost I've found--
God made your soul for pleasure, not for use:
It cleaves no way, but angled broad obtuse,
Impinges with a slabby-bellied sound
Full upon life, and on the rind of things
Rubs its sleek self and utters purr and snore
And all the gamut of satisfied murmurings,
Content with that, nor wishes anything more.
A happy infant, daubed to the eyes in juice
Of peaches that flush bloody at the core,
Naked you bask upon a south-sea shore,
While o'er your tumbling bosom the hair floats loose.
The wild flowers bloom and die; the heavens go round
With the song of wheeling planetary rings:
You wriggle in the sun; each moment brings
Its freight for you; in all things pleasures abound.
You taste and smile, then this for the next pass over;
And there's no future for you and no past,
And when, absurdly, death arrives at last,
'Twill please you awhile to kiss your latest lover."


Although somewhat morbid I enjoy the ending because this isn't an ordinary love poem, rather it depicts what will one day occur to all of us, death. In a way it reminds me of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," in the sense that it isn't really a love song either. I did a bit of research after reading this poem and found the following information, which explains a bit of symbolism and imagery.

"“Love Song” is spoken by a rejected lover and addressed to a hedonist whose soul is made “for pleasure, not for use.” She is associated with a cat, as her soul  “rubs its sleek self and utters purr and snore,” and with an infant, still trapped within the realm of the sensual.  There is something diabolical about this child, however, as its eyes are “daubed [with] juice / Of peaches that flush bloody at the core,” and the succession of lovers will conclude with “death.”  This is no Baroque memento mori, but is characterized by the recognition of the absurd throughout – the word “absurd” actually occurs in the first and second-to-last lines of the poem.  “Love Song” is thus an indictment of the attitude toward love as something purely pleasurable, sensual, and fickle (“You taste and smile, then this for the next pass over”); such an attitude is both threatening and patently “absurd.”"

Hedonism: a school of thought that argues that pleasure is the primary or most important intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure (pleasure minus pain).

Memento Mori: Latin 'remember (that you have) to die') is the medieval Latin theory and practice of reflection on mortality, especially as a means of considering the vanity of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. It is related to the ars moriendi or “Art of Dying”

Surprising Book Facts!

Lit. Terms #5

parallelism - noun similarity by virtue of corresponding
parody - noun humorous or satirical mimicry; a composition that imitates somebody's style in a humorous way
pathos - noun a quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow); a style that has the power to evoke feelings
pedantry - noun an ostentatious and inappropriate display of learning
personification - noun the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas 
plot - noun a secret scheme to do something; the story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc.
poignant - adj. keenly distressing to the mind or feelings; arousing affect
point of view - a particular attitude or way of considering a matter
postmodernism - noun genre of art and literature and especially architecture in reaction against principles and practices of established modernism
prose - noun ordinary writing as distinguished from verse; matter of fact, commonplace, or dull expression
protagonist - noun the principal character in a work of fiction
pun - noun a humorous play on words
purpose - noun an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions;the quality of being determined to do or achieve something; what something is used for; verbreach a decision; propose or intend
realism - noun the attribute of accepting the facts of life and favoring practicality and literal truth; (philosophy) the philosophical doctrine that physical objects continue to exist when not perceived; (philosophy) the philosophical doctrine that abstract concepts exist independent of their names; an artistic movement in 19th century France; artists and writers strove for detailed realistic and factual description
refrain - noun the part of a song where a soloist is joined by a group of singers; verb resist doing something; choose not to consume
requiem - noun a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person
resolution - noun finding a solution to a problem
restatement - noun a revised statement
rhetoric - noun study of the technique and rules for using language effectively (especially in public speaking); using language effectively to please or persuade; loud and confused and empty talk; high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation
rhetorical question - a question asked for effect that neither expects nor requires an answer
rising action - a related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest interest.
romanticism - noun impractical romantic ideals and attitudes; a movement in literature and art during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that celebrated nature rather than civilization
satire - noun witty language used to convey insults or scorn
scansion - noun analysis of verse into metrical patterns

setting - noun the context and environment in which something is set; the state of the environment in which a situation exists

AP Resources

Looks somewhat doable. With a lot of writing practice I may be able to accomplish this. But then again, I did score a 3 on last years AP English test. But, I do doubt myself a lot, or so I've been told. The good thing is that I am still willing to push myself, to work hard to get my writing to where it needs to be and to push myself to write an amazing essay in the time that is alloted. As for the questions, I tend to be really good at the readings that are followed by questions. I just hope to keep learning literary terms to expand my vocabulary for my essays, as well as being prepared for multiple choice questions that include literary terms. 

Meatless Mondays

Imagine this, one day a week for all Americans could potentially save the lives of so many animals. 

Now imagine this, laws are now being set up to punish those attempting to rescue these mistreated, misfed, and suffering animals. AG-GAG LAWS. In some US states these laws have made it illegal to record the mistreatment of animals, illegal to expose the cruelty that millions of animals are forced to go through. 

Imagine this though, you are constantly being fed this abused and tortured meat.. By abused I do not only mean hit and beaten, but many animals are actually physically abused. Many are kept in constant fear, kicked, pulled, whipped, slammed.. 

I am not saying to completely discontinue eating meat, rather to educate yourself, and figure out where the meat you purchase is coming from. And know that just because it is considered "free range meat" does not mean that it was not mistreated. Free range being defined by the following: (of livestock, especially poultry) kept in natural conditions, with freedom of movement; "Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day. On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, thereby technically making this an enclosure, however, free range systems usually offer the opportunity for extensive locomotion and sunlight prevented by indoor housing systems. Free range may apply to meat, eggs or dairy farming.")  Rather the packaged meat may only be barely meeting requirements.

It is time that something like Meatless Mondays actually gets going, it is time that we end the senseless abuse that continually occurs in our "farms." It is time that we take into consideration the animals that help maintain our population, because even though they are meant just for food, they have a right to an abuse-free life.

A Quote From Alice Walker

Lit Terms #4

interior monologue - a form of writing which represents the inner thoughts of a character; recording of the internal, emotional experiences of the individual
inversion - noun  the reversal of the normal order of words
juxtaposition - noun a side-by-side position to contrast
lyric - adj. expressing deep personal emotion noun a short poem of songlike quality
magical realism - juxtaposes everyday with the marvelous or magical
metaphor - noun a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity
metonymy - noun substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in `they counted heads')
modernism - noun practices typical of contemporary life or thought; genre of art and literature that makes a self-conscious break with previous genres; the quality of being current or of the present
monologue - noun a (usually long) dramatic speech by a single actor; a long utterance by one person (especially one that prevents others from participating in the conversation); speech you make to yourself
mood - noun verb inflections that express how the action or state is conceived by the speaker;a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling; the prevailing psychological state
motif - noun  a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work
myth - noun a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people
narrative - adj. consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story; noun a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
narrator - noun someone who tells a story
naturalism - noun extreme form of realism
novelette/novella  - noun a short novel
omniscient point of view - knowing all things, usually the third person
onomatopoeia - noun using words that imitate the sound they denote
oxymoron - noun conjoining contradictory terms (as in `deafening silence')
pacing - noun walking with slow regular strides;(music) the speed at which a composition is to be played
parable - noun  a short moral story (often with animal characters)
paradox - noun (logic) a statement that contradicts itself