Stephanie Romich's blog

When having to make the decision to take an English class here on campus, I was seriously dreading it. My schedule is so hectic already, let alone adding on several books to have to read and writing papers. When I walked into our class, I knew it was right for me. Being able to use many types of creative outlooks to express our interpretations and understanding of literature really made my semester a lot more interesting! I have always wanted to have the opportunity to learn more about the computer and all the things it can do, and this was the perfect place to do it. After I left the first class I even called my mom to tell her about it. When she heard the details she was so excited that she asked me all about it so that she can try to do something similar for some of her classes.

I think one of the key aspects to this class was being open-minded about new things and new interpretations, which I definitely strove to accomplish. I think that getting the chance to take works of literature and turn them into something as comprehensive as a collage or video was much more beneficial that just a class discussion and a paper. Projects like the playlist about a character, made me really stop and think about all the aspects of the person, and what they might think, say, or like, to be able to make an effective outlet with which to express them. It took interpretation to a new level and really challenged the mind to think outside the box. The collages that we were asked to make about a character in a book and about a poem were very intriguing. This caused me to have to look into a specific character and find things that would define them from the story as a whole. I also had to look into the character and think of things that would define their outlooks and thoughts with something as simple as a one-dimensional picture. I also had to interpret a poem as a whole and try to figure out what images would best represent the mood, tone, and theme. I had always remembered discussing these things in my English classes and never really taking them to heart. But by actually having to come up with my own interpretations as well as having to find a way to express them using images, was a whole new ballpark. The podcast brought together several students to create an interpretation and present ideas on the subject of the "family" from the early 1990's into the 2000's without any visual aids. We made a mock radio show, which we had to plan out, yet still remain spontaneous as we talked. And finally the video compiled all the ideas from the previous projects, such as photo arranging and music protraying an idea, into an interpretation of one of my favorite books, Fahrenheit 451, using a visual and musical form. I had to truly think about what the author wanted the audience to gain from reading his book and how he truly felt about the subject in his life. Both of the latter projects required me to think about the topics in-depth and present them with a unique new-age media representation.

One of the things I loved the most about our class is that it was a very open and welcoming environment. Everyone got the chance to voice their opinions and to discuss how they felt about each aspect of the readings. We had the chance to see and comment on each other's posting, which allowed us to get new and better ideas for our revisions. This class has also allowed me to realize how important revisions can be. I have gotten so used to college being a place where you turn in your work and things are taken and graded as is, and when you’ve finished it, you were done with it. After I get a grade on things in school I would rarely ever go back and look at them again. Here, I have gone back many times whenever I had a spare moment or wanted something to take my mind off other things, and been able to work on things like adding a new image to my collage, or re-reading the stories to make sure that I had represented all aspects of it. I have learned to not always be happy with your first project and through the help of those around me I continued to make my projects better and better.

There have been many useful skills that I have gained from just being in this class. I have been able to take one of my favorite books, Cold Mountain, and really get to the bottom of its meaning and be able to relate to one of the characters, Inman, on many different levels. By reading many new poems, such as Denver and the Emily Dickinson poems, and having to interpret them, whether for the collage or for the annotations, I really have gained some valuable skills on how to understand and appreciate what the author wanted to get across to the reader. The podcast was one of the best group projects I have ever been involved in. I was given the opportunity to work with other classmates to be able to create something that was unique and fun. It's really rare when a group of strangers can come together to make something and have everyone just as excited as I was to work on it. We all were challenged to find something we could all agree on, take each others ideas and opinions to heart, find something in literature that was on all of our levels, and produce something that was cohesive, yet spontaneous at the same time. The video about one of my favorite books, Fahrenheit 451, was the one project I was constantly talking about and re-excited every time I thought about working on it. By having to take the time to think about what the author wanted the audience to know and learn from his work, while find pictures and songs to represent his idea was an amazing challenge. I even got to incorporate one of my other loves, classical music, into this creation. All the while I was getting the chance to continue to learn and grow in my English skills and critical reading, as well as continually editing and playing with new programs that I had never even seen before in an attempt to learn better outlets of expression.

This is one of the only classes I could say I absolutely loved going to. I didn't miss a single class, not because I wanted to be able to have perfect attendance, but because I always had the work done and was excited to see what each day and class has to offer me. I was so worried that one day we would learn something new or get to work with a new device and I would sorely regret not being able to be a part of it. Not only was this class was one of my favorite classes I have come across at Carolina, but the environment which we worked in was helpful, cooperative, and instructional on a different level than any lecture hall could ever be. We had an amazing teacher who was truly helpful in all aspects of the class. He helped me to open my eyes to a new side of English and to appreciate it once again, and for this I am truly thankful. This class has brought English alive in ways that I never fathomed possible and put a new twist on how I feel about the suject as a whole. I came into the class timid and full of doubt and have left with an amazing new friend and a bond with people I never would have expected. I have even found myself using these programs and this knowledge in many other aspects of my life, (I used the photo editing program to make a Christmas card for my family.) It’s truly sad to see this class draw to a close and have to wrap up our projects we have been working so diligently on. I'm appreciative for such a wonderful experience and I hope that at some point everyone can say the same things about a class that they have been fortunate enough to come across.

Character Playlist
The playlist for a character in a book was very interesting to create, yet very challenging at the same time. It forced me to try and think in new ways, and truly get to the heart of what the character was thinking and feeling throughout the book. I chose Inman from Cold Mountain because I remember reading this book and seeing the many sides to all the characters and thinking about how versatile and emotional they all were portrayed to be. It was hard to take what was written on the page and find the deeper meaning, as well as to be able to translate it into a song that the character might have wanted to listen to. I think that the many sides and emotions to Inman were easy to think of songs for, but to find the right one for the progression of the playlist was challenging. This assignment really taught me to think deeper about what I was reading to be able to interpret it on more of a meaningful and representative level instead of a strictly literal interpretation. I really enjoyed being able to do something new with English that still shows you understood the point of the story and the identity of the character after reading the book. Being able to collect different forms of media and group them into something as unique and current as a playlist you might find on an IPod was a really interesting twist. I really felt like I could get into the project because it encompasses many things that I really like doing, such as reading and music. I liked being able to take many sources, such as ITunes and YouTube, and be able to compile something that you would think someone else would want to listen to based on their character analysis. I feel like I could truly represent Inman through songs that might mean more than just words could. Also, to see what other people had chosen and their song choices and preferences were interesting to compare to my own and see what they came up with versus what I might have chosen. I think that being able to use not only words and lyrics to define the character in the song, but tone and flow of the songs was an important aspect I developed with this project. When I was going through and doing my editing, the main thing I did was take out the personal comments and make it more of a formal presentation of ideas. I also made sure that the grammar I used was proper and cleaned up.
Original Playlist
Revised Playlist

Collages
The collages were very challenging, once again, because they require you to take things from a page and represent them in a different form. Trying analyze an entire book and focus on the main theme and story line, while trying to focus on one characters feelings and thoughts about it, then trying to turn all these things into one standstill image was a pretty big challenge. The first thing that I tried to do with both the character and poem college was read through them and get a general feel for the mood. I then tried to take that mood and set it as the overall background of the collages. I did this with the picture of Cold Mountain, which was both Ada and Inman’s sole representation for happiness, and the dimly lit bar image where the poem Denver might have taken place. For the character collage I took the two characters which I wanted to focus on and thought about a single image or idea that would define their character, for Inman I chose the picture of the tattered flag in battle, and for Ada the picture of the barn house to where she is confined and becomes a woman. Then I took the central them and idea of the story and represented that in the middle with things like the path and the images on the path. In Denver I broke down the poem into three interpretive stages and ideas and put them on shot glasses that you would find on a bar in a progressive manner. I think the hardest thing to do was to pick images that would define your ideas the best, and then figuring out how to edit them and fit them into your collage. The colors were hard to blend and work with when figuring out what should go on top of the other and how to make certain things stand out more than others. I tried to think about an image that the author might have put on the cover of their story or poem that incorporated the main ideas and capture them in my image. Each of the specific meanings of the objects in the collages can be found in the links.
Original Cold Mountian Collage
Revised Cold Mountian Collage
2nd Revised Cold Mountian Collage (Final)
Original Denver Collage
Revised Denver Collage
2nd Revised Denver Collage (Final)

Emily Dickinson Poem Annotations
The annotation project was really interesting because it was a good opportunity to really interpret some poems that are considered a big part of today's society. Emily Dickinson is a well-known poet, which makes our Wiki site something that can be very useful to others. It allowed the class to collect their thoughts and feelings about the poems in one place and then build and help each other around them. I really enjoyed this project because I really enjoy Emily Dickinson's poetry, and this even introduced me to a few poems that I hadn't had the opportunity to read yet. I think the fact that it was done as a class was really helpful because there were several situations where someone else's interpretations were helpful to me as far as understanding the poem and making my own conclusions. It was also interesting, once again, to see everyone’s different thoughts about the poems and to read the discussion section to see the different interpretations. I think that being able to look all over the internet at what other people had said about these poems, as well as seeing what my classemates thought, made this assignment very interesting. I also really enjoyed being able to put my computer skills to the test and learning about something as helpful as Wikipedia. This project really opened my eyes to what a great resource this site can be, and I really like knowing that we are helping to add to this extensive database of information.
Emily Dickinson Annotations

Podcast
The podcast was one of the more interactive projects we have done this semester as well as one of the more interesting ones. When we were paired up into our groups I was really excited because I knew that the people in my group would be just as dedicated and excited to get going as I was. We began by decided what we were going to focus on and getting out ideas in order. Everyone was very excited to put their thoughts and ideas into the mix and we all began rolling on the project pretty quickly. Everyone was willing to take some of the assignment home with them to be able to have the most productive class periods we could manage. We had our script done by the second day and were excited to get to practice it with all the advanced technology as the microphones and mixing equipment. After hearing ourselves on the practice run we all got together to decide what would make us sound better and have a better outcome, then worked that out by the time we recorded the final product. I think the best part was sitting at the table and recording in front of the class, but still having a good time with it. We were all able to laugh and flow together as a solid group, yet shine in our respective roles on the podcast.
This project allowed me to get to know some of my other classmates and for all of us to be more open to helping each other. It was, as always, really interesting to get to take everyone's input on the same subject and be able to make it flow into one cohesive project. It even surprised the people in my group when we started looking into the material for the project that there were such drastic changes in the media examples of “a perfect family” from the early 1990’s to the more current shows of the late 90’s and early 2000’s. I also really liked how we all came together and enjoyed each other’s company when we all have come from different backgrounds due to the diversity in our ages and media experiences. We decided to do something that would be interesting and wasn’t stiff and rigid in the way it was delivered. By modeling ours after a radio program we were able to have more leeway in things like a caller and an MC who directed the show instead of just talking back and forth. We didn’t have any fights or disagreements; instead we just focused on making it the best we could and finding things that would contribute to the group and our project. I was really happy with the way it turned out, and through getting to know the ladies in my group we have been able to help each other in other aspects of the class.
I learned that group projects don't always have to be something where one person does the brunt of the work while the others simply look on. Most of my previous group projects have consisted of stangers who truly didn't care about the project doing as little as possible just to get by. I also learned a little more about the people I had been in class with for so many weeks and barely knew by name. I got to learn a little about their strengths and weaknesses, as well as information about how families have been presented in the media and everyones view of the subject.
Final Podcast

Movie
When we finally got to the movie aspect of the class I knew that the semester was beginning to draw to a close, but after hearing about the project I was just as excited to get started as I was all the other aspects of the class. It took me a while to try to come up with a good theme for the video because I wanted something that wouldn’t be too broad, yet not too narrow either. I also wanted to pick something that I felt not a lot of people would think about. I began by thinking about all the books I had read over the past few years and thinking about all the ones that had made a big impact on me. One of the first novels that came to mind was “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury. I think that he is one of the more important American authors that I have studied so far because he really took aspects that most American don’t think about and shed light on them in the States. I decided that the most important aspect of the book he wanted to reveal was the idea of Censorship.
The first thing that I did for this project was start looking through pictures, and the more I researched, the more the flow of the video came to mind. I found some interviews that had been done with Ray Bradbury a few years ago and they really sparked my interest in him even more. I spent a lot of my time searching for pictures that would be appropriate for the movie and ones that would flow together to get the desired effect I was looking for. At first it was just a jumbled mass of photos, and the more I worked the interviews into the movie, the more it came together and I let this guide my video. The instrumental music was also a challenge for me because I love the sound of it and I feel like almost all emotions can be expressed through music, (I have played an instrument for 8 years). I spent a lot of time looking for bold, dramatic music that would convey how passionately I think Ray Bradbury felt about the horror involved in the burning of such important parts of society and history as books.
This project really helped me to think about the meaning and point of the story in a new light and be able to get it across in things like music and pictures, instead of in words. I spent a lot of time on this project and felt myself really getting into the idea of it. Everyone around me could tell when I had fit something interesting in, or been able to figure something new out because I generally expressed my excitement aloud or shared my most recent classical music finding. I also found small pleasures in things like coordinating the intensity of the photos to the intensity song or interview being played.
I learned how to use something as unique as a movie maker to express how I felt the author would want his ideas and meanings to be displayed, which brought the deeper meaning and spirit of the book alive to me. I also learned more about Censorship and banning, such as the Nazi book burnings in the early 1900's, which I had no clue had happened until researching for this project. This project also sparked a new interest in some of the other great American authors that I have simply overlooked up to this point, such as Ray Bradbury. I really enjoyed being able to take many aspects of my life, like reading and music, and put them together in something as enjoyable to the senses as a movie. Also, using something useful like a movie maker will be helpful in other aspects of my education to be able to break away from such formal presentations as papers and simple PowerPoint productions.
Censorship/Ray Bradbury Movie
Censorship Movie Links

Blog Postings
The different explanations about each blog are under the link to get there, but this has been one of my favorite parts of the class so far. I have enjoyed, while tedious sometimes, getting the opportunity to put my feelings about the things we read online. I think this is a helpful way for me to express my feelings and not worry about being judged, or going against the grain of the class. I also really like getting to read and hear the other student’s opinions on the same topics. I think it's an awesome opportunity for all of us to express our feelings and even have some debate on what we think each story means. By having them online we can go back and read the story, maybe a few days later, and have a different feel for it and still be able to see what classmates had said. This way gives you time to actually think about what you want to say and to write it all down instead of having to answer debate questions off the top of your head. I think this also encouraged everyone to read, watch, and listen to what the other students had done and make helpful comments.
Blog Collection

Emily Dickinson Annotations

Posted October 9th, 2007 by Stephanie Romich

"Because I Could Not Stop for Death" - Civility

"Because I could not stop for Death" - We

"Because I could not stop for Death" - Surmised

"Because I could not stop for Death" - Discussion: Death has no hurry

"Because I could not stop for Death" - Discussion: House

"I heard a fly buzz when I died" - Last onset

"I heard a fly buzz when I died" - When the king

"My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun" - ***

"My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun" - Vesuvian

"My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun" - Mount Vesuvious

"My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun" - Emphatic

"I’m nobody! Who are you?" - **

"I’m nobody! Who are you?" - To tell your name

"This World is not Conclusion" - Sagacity

"This World is not Conclusion" - Crucifixion

"I started Early -- Took my Dog" - Too

"I started Early -- Took my Dog" - With Pearl

"I started Early -- Took my Dog" - Discussion: I think its much deeper

"I started Early -- Took my Dog" - Discussion: No Man moved me

"The Tint I cannot take -- is best --" - Dominion

"The Tint I cannot take -- is best --" - Guinea

"Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning" - Vitality

"Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning" - Peradventure

"A Light exists in Spring" - Not present on the Year

"A Light exists in Spring" - It passes and we stay

"He fumbles at your Soul" - Before they drop full music on

"He fumbles at your Soul" - Paws

Chapter 12 - Writing about Art

Posted September 10th, 2007 by Stephanie Romich

As I read through the different poems for the very familiar photographs, it opened my eyes to new things about them. I have seen the photo of the "Mona Lisa" thousands upon thousands of times, as I'm sure everyone else has, but to stop and read the poem that followed and analyzed it, opened many new doors for me. To read how one person brought life to this photo and it made me go back to see what the author was talking about. It then led me to try to come up with my own ideas about the different photos in the chapter. I also found the "Girl Powdering Her Neck" poem interpretation to be very moving and interesting. It makes me wonder why I have passed over such photographs time and time again and never thought to stop and see what they meant to me. It also makes me pretty excited to dive into the collage project.

1 comment

Hills Like White Elephants

Posted September 10th, 2007 by Stephanie Romich

I think that this story was a very interesting one. While reading it, I spent the entire time trying to figure out what the two charaters were discussing. At first I thought they were talking about sex and how it would change things, then at the end, when I figured out they were talking about abortion, it made the whole story much more clear. I also found this to be an interesting story because you could see the internal conflict going on through the spoken words of the characters. I also found it interesting because abortion these days this is such a deep conversation with heavy consequences, but in the story is taking place in such a public place. I also find it interesting that the woman who is currently pregnant is drinking alcohol. This makes me wonder what time this might have been set to know if the discovery that alcohol is bad for the baby has been made yet.

5 comments

Portfolio Blog Collection

Posted September 9th, 2007 by Stephanie Romich

Blog 1 Discussion of "Hardware" and how it made me think about my own father in relation to how the writer might have felt. Small discussion on mood and tone as well.

Blog 2 Comment on "Traveling Through the Dark" with some personal interpretations as well as asking a few questions that came to my mind while reading it.

Blog 3 Interpretations about the poem "The Women Who Clean Fish" with some discussion of symoblism and underlying meaning.

Blog 4 A few interpretations where I talked about the flow, title, and tempo of the poem "The Race."

Blog 5 A few added comments to the discussion of "Denver" where I talked about the meaning and elements of the song.

Blog 6 Bringing up the idea of how drugs could have played into the ending of the story "Cathedral."

Blog 7 I presented a few ideas and questions brought to mind after reading and re-reading the story "Hills Like White Elephants."

Blog 8 After reading the ideas and information in Chapter 12, especially the section on writing about art, I posted a few ideas and realizations that I came to afterwards.

Blog 9 My comments on the playlist to Martin Luther King Jr. with a few suggestions.

Blog 10 A few comments and suggestions on the "Fight Club" playlist.

Blog 11 My comments on the story A Death In Texas from the reading about the change that I saw in the characters.

Blog 12 Comments about deciet I found in the story A Good Man Is Hard To Find.

Blog 13 Ideas on the the similarities found in the stories "Girl" and "Sweat."

Blog 14 Comment on Erika's ideas on "Sweat" and "Girl".

Blog 15 Blog on work and idenity in the stories "I Stand Here Ironing" and "A & P" for discussion

Blog 16 Comments and discussion about Erika's ideas on the poem "Hard Rock"

Blog 17 Ideas on the important factors between the stories "The Lesson", Betwixt and Bewildered", "Rites of Passage", and "Advice to My Son."

Blog 18 Comments on Christine's Editied Lord of the Flies Collage

Blog 19 A few comments and ideas on the edited John Nash Collage

Blog 20 Ideas and comments reflecting on the Podcast project

Cold Mountain - Inman

Posted August 30th, 2007 by Stephanie Romich

Playlist

"Charles Frazier's first novel, Cold Mountain, is a thrilling adventure and tragic love story. The National Book Award-winning novel tells the story of two people trying to find each other in the midst of the Civil War. Inman, wounded in the battle of Petersburg, sneaks out of a Confederate hospital and begins a long trek home across the war-torn South to Cold Mountain and Ada, the woman he loves. He encounters kind people who feed him and lend him a bed, as well as a few ill-willed personalities. He is constantly hunted by the Home Guard and nearly loses his life at least three times."

"Cold Mountain'' takes its title from a forested tower, Inman's destination, where the novel reaches its heartbreaking climax. It speaks to the reader with candor and honesty, without flamboyance, or literary tricks, pulling us ever deeper into the thoughts of Ada and Inman as they move irresistibly and fearfully toward one another.

Frazier has set out a story of love between two people, each wounded, who hardly know each other, but who desperately need not to be alone. Until the very end of the book, they are far apart."

"Hotel California" - The Eagles

"At the first gesture of morning, flied began stirring. Inman's eyes and the long wound at his neck drew them...So he came to yet one more day in the hospital ward. The window was tall as a door, and he had imagined many times that it would open onto some other place and let him walk through and be there. The window apparently wanted only to take his thoughts back. Which was fine for him, for he had seen the metal face of the age and had been so stunned by it that when he thought into the future, all he could vision was a world from which everything he counted important has been banished or had willingly fled."

"Hotel California" is a very fitting song for the opening of the book and the introduction to Inman. We first see him as being stuck to the hospital bed wanting nothing more than to be somewhere else. He sits and reads his book that takes him away to a better place and stares out the window wishing to be back home. The calming sounds of this song send the mind wondering and just put the body in a relaxing state. It's very easy to get taken away in the soothing beat of the song where the singer is talking about going away to the "Hotel California" which is "such a lovely place, such a lovely face." Both the singer, and Inman, are trying to escape reality and go back to a better place where there is a lovely face waiting for them.

"Chop Suey" - System of a Down

"He calculated that his days of traveling had put little distance between himself and the hospital. His condition had required him to walk more slowly and to rest more often than he would have like, and he had been able to cover only a few miles at a time, and even that slow pace had been at considerable cost...And the weather had been bad, hard rain off and on through the period, sudden downpours with thunder and lightning, both day and night...Each farm had two or three vicious hounds set to go off at the merest sound, rushing barkless and low out of the dark shadows of roadside trees to rip at his legs with jaws like scythes...The dogs and the threat of the Home Guard out prowling at the gloom of the cloudy nights made for nervous wayfaring."

"Chop Suey!" really describes most of Inman's journeys because he had gone from the lazy days of just sitting around in the hospital bed recovering, reading, and thinking, to having to overcome one challenge after another just to stay on his trek home. When he singer shouts "WAKE UP!!" at the beginning of most of the phrases of the song, this is what is going through Inman's mind as he is trying to keep battling and keep going strong. This upbeat and hectic tempo makes me think of a time when Inman is beating off the attacking dogs or having to duck into the closest bush hoping that the Home Guard doesn't happen to find him.

"Bodies" Drowing Pool

"Inman jerked the scythe form the smith's hands and used it as it was intended, making long sweeping strokes close to the ground. He went at their feet with it, mowing at them and making them drop back before they were cut off at the ankles...his strokes were hard, hoping as he was to strike a bone. In the end though is was adequate, for he eventually smote the three down to their knees in the dirt of the street...then he kept at it until they all lay prone and quiet, faces down. Ha gave up and beat the man about the head with it and flung it onto the top of the building and walked away."

"Bodies" Lyrics

Let the bodies hit the floor
Let the bodies hit the floor
Let the bodies hit the floor
Let the bodies hit the floor Beaten why for
Can't take much more

One - Nothing wrong with me
Two - Nothing wrong with me
Three - Nothing wrong with me
Four - Nothing wrong with me
One - Something's got to give
Two - Something's got to give
Three - Something's got to give

Now
Let the bodies hit the floor
Push me again
This is the end
Skin against skin blood and bone
You're all by yourself but you're not alone
You wanted in now you're here
Driven by hate consumed by fear
Let the bodies hit the floor

This song would fit Inman very well because, like the scene above, there were many times when Inman found himself needing to battle someone or something just to survive. He had come from the war where all he saw around him was dying and bloodshed, and when he was attacked in the village he didn't hesitate to attack the men who were after him. He even tried to let some of them walk away with only injuries that would have temporarily stopped them, but he was "pushed again" and finished them off. The feeling of this metal, rage song would feel like the thoughts that rage through Inman's head in times of fighting.

"Hey There Delilah" - Plain White T's

"And then he thought of Ada and Christmas four years ago, for there had been champagne then too...It seemed like another life, another world. He remembers the softness of her, and yet the hard angularity of her bones underneath. She had leaned back and rested her head on his shoulders, and her hair smelled of lavender and of herself...He said, I've been coming for you on a hard road. I'm never letting you go. Never."

"Hey There Delilah" Lyrics

Hey there Delilah
I've got so much left to say
If every simple song I wrote to you
Would take your breath away
I'd write it all
Even more in love with me you'd fall
We'd have it all

Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me

A thousand miles seems pretty far
But they've got planes and trains and cars
I'd walk to you if I had no other way
Our friends would all make fun of us
and we'll just laugh along because we know
That none of them have felt this way
Delilah I can promise you
That by the time we get through
The world will never ever be the same
And you're to blame

This song is very fitting for Inman because there were several times on Inman's journey when he felt like all hope was running out, but there were little things that reminded him that all of his time will be well spent when Ada is in his arms again. "A thousand miles seems pretty far...I'd walk to you if I had no other way," these are very telling lyrics to describe how Inman feels about going home to Ada. He has times when he is just stuck in a daydream thinking about being with her again and knows deep-down that things will work out if he can just get home.

"Numb" - Linkin Park

"For several days Inman walked tied at the wrists to the end of a long rope with fifteen other men so that they went strung together like tailed coats. When the line started or stopped he was yanked forward and his bound hands flew up before his face like a man in sudden need of prayer...Like the vast bulk of people, the captives would pass from the earth without hardly making any mark more lasting than plowing a furrow...They walked therefore bent, as if bearing the burden of lives lived beyond recollection. Inman hated being sutured up to the others, hated going unarmed, hated most moving retrograde to his desires. When the sun rose full in his face he spit at it, having no other way to striking out."

"Numb" Lyrics

This part in Inman's journey is where all his trials seem to be worth nothing. He is tied together with all the other prisoners and is degraded to walking with them, being treated like scum, and loosing valuable miles. "I've become so numb I can't feel you there, I'm becoming this all I want to do, is be more like me and be less like you," is a good way to describe how Inman feels about being dragged down. The feeling of the song is also one that seems to show the singer feeling down and broken, which is how Inman feels during this long journey.

"Pardon Me" - Incubus

"Inman set the pistol down on his bedding, for he had taken upon himself to vow a bear, never again to shoot one, though he had killed and eaten many in his youth. The decision came as a result of a series of dreams he had over the period of a week in the muddy trenches of Petersburg...In that manner of life, (living as the bear did), he thought there might be a lesson in how to wage peace and heal the wounds of war into white scars...He awoke the last morning feeling bear was an animal of particular import to him, one he might observe, and learn from, and that it would be on the order of a sin for him to kill one no matter what the expense, for there was something about the bear that spoke to him of hope...Inman took a step to the side and the bear rushed by him and plunged over the high ledge that she never saw in the gloom...Shit, he thought. Even my best intentions come to naught, and hope itself is but an obstacle. The cub in the fir bawled out in its anguish."

This would describe a turning point that was noted by Inman after his run-in with a bear. He had made a vow to himself about something that he needed to place importance on. He decided that he was going to respect the bears and maybe that they were a sign of hope. After this encounter where his vow was broken to save himself, he really starts to reanalyze his situation and realizes that "even his best intentions come to naught." I think that the line, "Cause lately I've been thinking of combustication as a welcomed vacation from the burdens of the planet earth, like gravity, hypocrisy, and the perils of being in 3-D, and thinking so much differently" would exemplify how Inman is feeling at this time. The song has a theme of being lost and wanting to give up because everything has changed, and this is a point in Inman's life where he has been stuck during his whole journey.

"My Paper Heart" - All American Rejects

"When the trail turned upward, snow started falling again. The tracks began fading off like twilights the slow filled them. He walked fast, climbing to a ridge, and when the tracks started to disappear he broke into a run...No matter how fast he ran, the footprints disappeared before him until they were faint, like scars from old wounds. Then like watermarks through paper held to window light. Then the snow lay even all around, unmarked...Finally he stopped in a place where the hemlocks stood black around him and made a world undifferentiated, with no compass degree preferable to another and with not a sound but snow falling on snow, and he reckoned if he lay down it would cover him and when it melted it would wash the tears from his eyes and, in time, the eyes from his head and the skin from his skull."

"My Paper Heart" Lyrics

So bottle up old love,
And throw it out to sea,
Watch it away as you cry
A year has passed
The seasons go

Please just don't play with me
My paper heart will bleed
This wait for destiny won't do
Be with me please I beseech you
Simple things, that make you run away
Catch you if I can

Waiting, day to day it goes through
My lips, are sealed for her
My tongue is,
Tied to, a dream of being with you
To settle for less, is not what I prefer

So bottle up old love,
And throw it out to sea,
Watch it away as you cry
A year has passed
The seasons go

Please just don't play with me
My paper heart will bleed
This wait for destiny won't do
Be with me please I beseech you
Simple things, that make you run away
Catch you if I can

This defines the hopeless feeling that Inman is starting to have towards ever reaching his goal of being with Ada again. He has come so far, and gotten so close, yet can't ever seem to reach his goal. As he is trying his hardest to finally reach her, all hope seems to be lost, so he finally decides to give up. The lyrics to this song show how his emotions played with him as he ventured closer and closer, yet if things didn't work out then he would be crushed and feel like he had strained over an unachievable goal.

"It Feels Like Home" - Chantal Kreviazuk

"He looked at her in the eyes and knew it was here and was overcome by love like a ringing in his soul...Firearms standing between me and everything I want...Tears started in her eyes, but she blinked once and they were gone...Inman thought her about as handsome a sight as men are allowed to see, and he was momentarily taken aback by it...He held her tight and words spilled out of him without prior composition. He told her about the first time he had looked on the back of her neck as she sat in the church pew. Of the feeling that had never let go of him since...Ada and Inman lay under covers for some time entwined and talking, the fire low and the door to their hut open, letting a brilliant trapezoid of cold moonlight project onto their bed. "

"Feels Like Home" Lyrics

Somethin' in your eyes, makes me wanna lose myself
Makes me wanna lose myself, in your arms
There's somethin' in your voice, makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts, the rest of my life

If you knew how lonely my life has been
And how long I've been so alone
And if you knew how I wanted someone to come along
And change my life the way you've done

It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from
It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

When Inman is finally back in the arms of the one and only woman that he truly ever loved he is finally happy. It had been four long years since he had been able to say that there was nothing on his plate other than what was in front of him. I feel like this song truly encompasses his feelings that he has when he is with Ada. He is happy and finally "home where he belongs." I think that the lyrics are very vital to Inman's inner feelings and thoughts. The mood and tone of the song also seems very fitting to what would be a happy ending to this love story.

"I Will Remember You" - Sarah McLachlan

"A pair of lovers. The man reclined with his head in the woman's lap. She, looking down into his eyes, smoothing back the hair from his brow. He, reaching an arm awkwardly around to hold her at the soft part of her hip. Both touching each other with great intimacy. A scene of such quiet and peace that the observer on the ridge could avouch to it later in such a way as might lead those of glad temperaments to imagine some conceivable history where long decades of happy union stretched before the two on the ground."

"I Will Remember You" Lyrics

I'm so tired but I can't sleep
Standin' on the edge of something much too deep
It's funny how we feel so much but we cannot say a word
We are screaming inside, but we can't be heard

But I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

I'm so afraid to love you, but more afraid to loose
Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose
Once there was a darkness, deep and endless night
You gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light

This song shows how Inman felt at the close of the book. As he is dying, he has finally reached what he wanted and was truly able to be happy one last time. I think that in some ways he chooses to give up in Ada's arms because there was no reason to fight anymore, he had found his love. He dies while being in the arms of his one and only true love. At the end, he looks at her one last time and knows that he will remember her forever. She watches him slip away, and takes in her last glimpse and knows that the love like theirs will never die, the memories won't fade, and that they had truly "given each other everything they had, and gave each other light" on their darkest days.

3 comments

Hardware

Posted August 27th, 2007 by Stephanie Romich

I think this poem really hit hard for me because it embodied an image that I have of my own father. I always had my dad telling me how to do "manly" things because we didn't have "pansies" in our house. When we got injured, if it wasn't bleeding and they couldn't see any bone then there was no whining. I also was never going to be left out of things because my brother and father were having bonding that that I wasn't included on. So he would build things and tell me the names of stuff that I knew I would never remember, yet cherished the times I got to spend with him. He seemed to be an endless fountain of knowledge, which it seems like the father of the poem is being compared to. Yet, the end of this poem seems to be showing that the father had passed away, and as the child, who is now grown seeing as how it was forty years later, is packing up their father's tools, they are doing it with a heavy heart. These were probably opportunities for the author to be with the father and learn life lessons which will be missed, as seen in the quote "Pay attention...and you'll learn a thing or two." The end symbolizes the end of that time together and shows the emptiness that the author is feeling when they say that their "hands and heart are full of doohickeys and widgets, watchamacallits, thingamabobs." The mood had completely changed by the second stanza and represented a gloomier look on things.

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