Freewrite

I thought the topic sentence in the first paragraph about Shiitakes was the beginning sentence. I felt that there was a lot of extra information about how to cook these mushrooms, unless the topic sentence was turned into something that details how to cook these mushrooms.

In the second paragraph I think the topic sentence, which is the first sentence needs to change and describe what vegans do to try and help the environment by what they eat. I just thought that the rest of this paragraph was a persuasive argument that did not relate to the beginning of the paragraph.

Tony Harrison "A Cold Coming"

This poem deals with birth because the soldier talks about other soldiers having offspring even after they die. The images of death are seen in the death of the soldiers. The author focuses on the idea of sperm banks and procreation in the portrayal of the atrocities of war because it shows how inhuman war is. I think Harrison is stating that it is a shame that war causes men to have to put sperm in sperm banks because they may not make it. This can be seen as inhuman because it is not at all natural. The Iraqi soldier is speaking to a poet rather than a journalist because poets can morph words and disguise his words with words that sound differently where as a journalist can only directly quote people or paraphrase what has been said.

Response to Interview

My interpretation of the story was similar to hers, but I felt hers was much deeper. In the interview she basically discusses that names should be chosen more carefully. I also found it interesting that she actually has personal experience with naming things due to different characteristics and not calling them the same thing. I did not realize that she did not mention the Bible in this interview until you posed the question. I find this interesting also. I think she used the story of Adam and Eve because it is something that most people know.

Tony Harrison “A Cold Coming”

I thought this piece was fairly blunt. The Iraqi soldier discusses US soldiers that froze their sperm in case they died in the war. The Iraqi soldier is not at ease with this decision because he did not think that he would have been put in the situation that he is in now when he went to war. He never thought that he would die this way and wants to send a message to the warring nations. He is basically saying that war solves nothing. It was interesting that he wants the reporter to portray him as a person that is okay with the situation. I think this helps to justify the point that war is unjustified.

T.S. Eliot “Journey of the Magi”

This poem is about the birth of Christ. The last stanza discuss a Birth and a Death. The Birth is Jesus being born and the death is the Magi no longer believing in pagan gods. The speaker was not at ease in his Kingdom because he realizes that Christ is real. I think personal religious beliefs have a lot to do with how one perceives the meaning of this poem. People with different religious beliefs feel differently about Jesus. When I was reading the questions following the poem it states that the narrator is neither Christian nor Jewish. I think he is contemplating his religious beliefs due to what he witnessed.

Ursula LeGuin “She Unnames Them”

This story discusses the generalization of names and how sometimes they do not fit a personality. I found it interesting that she discussed how the different animals feel about their names. The story came together for me at the end when I realized the speaker was Eve. I realized this when she called the man Adam and mentioned his father. The animals prefer Eve because she does not give them general names, but names that correspond with their personalities. At the end she realizes that words are powerful and should be chosen carefully.

William Butler Yeats “Leda and the Swan”

After doing my research I found that this was one of the most interesting poems. Zeus was king of the gods in Greek mythology. He changed into a swan and raped Leda. However, she went along with him. I think part of this poem has to deal with wanting the unattainable. I think Leda liked the idea of being with Zeus, but in reality she was with a swan. I think the last stanza of the poem puts it perfectly. Leda got caught up in the moment and did not process everything clearly.