Sonnet Analysis (Draft #3)

Shakespearean Sonnet 018
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date://
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,//
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed://
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,//
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.//

A Poem of Eternal Life

Shakespeare is arguably the most famous English poet and playwright, as well as a genius at using rhyme schemes and polysemy. He is especially well known for his sonnets, 14 lines of iambic pentameter, which employ 3 quatrains and an ending couplet. One of his most popular sonnets, sonnet number eighteen, is a lover's poem about everlasting beauty. It explores the secret to immortality: explaining how a lover’s sweetheart will evade death and aging. The sonnet also talks about her beauty, the quality of it, and how it will last forever.

The poem starts off with a question from a lover asking his beloved, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” He chooses the comparison of a “summer’s day”, because the summer is bright, beautiful, and warm. His sweetheart, presumably, has all of these qualities. A summer’s day is also one of the longest days of the year. This can relate to the love for his sweetheart, because it is long lasting as a summer’s day, as opposed to length of a winter’s day. Then, answering his own question, the speaker concludes that she is, "more lovely and more temperate" (2). The word Temperate, meaning that his sweetheart is gentle, warm, and self-controlled.  Supporting this conclusion, he points out that a summer’s day is only as beautiful as the elements allow it to be. For example, if the day is very windy, it detracts from the beauty of that summer day, “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May” (3). In addition, he points out that summer is far too short. Even though summer is the longest month of the year, it always has to end, giving way to autumn.

     In the poem, the next thought tells us that the summer is not as perfect as his sweetheart. In the same way that harsh winds take the beauty out of a summer's day, if the sun glows too brightly, it will also ruin that day. The sun can glare and make summer unpleasantly hot, “Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines”. Shakespeare's choice of “eye” in reference to the sun is a good example of personification. This pertains to the myths of how humans were created by “father sky” and “mother earth”. In addition, this thought points out that while the sun’s “gold complexion” dims, his sweetheart’s beauty will not.

The next two lines outline the concept that all beauty at some time will fade, with the exception of his sweetheart’s beauty. It starts with the idea that beauty is not everlasting, a beautiful person's good looks will at some time diminish, as "every fair from fair sometime declines" (7). This may happen purely by chance, for example, if one is injured in an accident and is grossly deformed.  But usually, beauty fades because of old age, because of "nature’s changing course untrimmed" (8).The word Untrimmed, meaning that nature’s changing course, the cycle of life, will not change. “Nature’s changing course” pertaining to the cycle of life in which one is born, grows into a beautiful young being, and then gets old, withers, and dies.

The speaker goes on to talk about all the ailments that can affect beauty: accidents, death, and old age. However, his sweetheart's beauty will not grow dull, nor will she lose possession of her good looks. His sweetheart will also never die, meaning that death will not be able to brag of his possession of her spirit, “Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade” (11). This is because she grows in "eternal lines to time" (12), meaning time has no effect on her. Shakespeare uses the word eternal, never ending, and this implies that time has an end. When Shakespeare was living in the 16th and 17th centuries, the average life expectancy for a person was about 40 years of age. With people dying so young in their lives, their time on earth would end very quickly. By saying that his sweetheart can avoid death, old age, and the loss of good looks, you might  think that the lover is talking to a goddess or immortal being.

The ending couplet is about how this sonnet will keep his sweethearts beauty preserved. The lover goes on to say as long as people are alive, "so long as men can breathe or eyes can see" (13), then this poem lives on, and will allow you to live, “so long lives this, and this gives life to thee”. By ending the sonnet this way, Shakespeare makes me think that maybe his sweetheart has died and this is his farewell to her. It could also mean that he is writing to his sweetheart while a far distance separates them. Either way, it definitely seems as though something negative has happened, and the lover is reassuring his sweetheart about her fears of death.

The idea that writing a poem or piece can give someone “eternal life” is intriguing. People have always wanted to be remembered forever.  When Achilles, the famed hero of Greek mythology, was offered the choice of "a short life with eternal fame or a long life as a nameless nobody," he chose eternal fame. People want their lives to be looked back upon; they want to feel their lives were worth remembering. Who would think that the secret to eternal life, something that would be worth millions, could be something as simple at writing a poem? This sonnet is a perfect example of how writing could be the secret to immortality. The sonnet was written in Shakespeare's lifetime, five centuries ago, and it lives on through today. In this sonnet Shakespeare reveals the secret to immortality, and the sonnet itself, is all the proof he needs.

Bibliography

Harry, Tim. "Who Was Achilles and What Do You Know about Him? - by Tim Harry - Helium." Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. Jan.-Feb. n/a. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. <http://www.helium.com/items/1381048-who-was-achilles-and-what-do-you-know-about-him>.

N/A, N/A. "Shakespeares Sonnets." Poetry. n/a. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. <http://poetry.eserver.org/sonnets/>.

N/A, N/a. "Various Words." Oxford English Dictionary: The Definitive Record of the English Language. July-Aug. n/a. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. <http://www.oed.com/>.

Nelson, C. "The Early Days: 2800 BC - 1700 AD." A Brief History of the Apocalypse. 3 June 2003. Web. 12 Oct. 2010. <http://www.abhota.info/end1.htm>.

Reflection On Strengths and Weaknesses

Revised 10/26/10

IDEAS: I think all my ideas are strong and fairly complete in this paper.
ORGANIZATION: I would say this is probably the easiest part of this paper for me to complete.
VOICE: I think my voice is fine.
WORD CHOICE: My only worry is that I might sometimes use more sophisticated words in the wrong context.
SENTENCE FLUENCY: This is one of the areas I know that I struggle in, but I do think that I put my best effort into it.
CONVENTIONS: Also a big area where I struggle, I’m hoping I caught everything.

Free Choice Reading Cycle 6 Blog Post

 Princess Ben, Catherine Gilbert Murdock. Cycle 6 FCR, pg. 167-344 (rest of book)

Brief Summary:

            Where we left off Princess Ben was hurtling out of a tower window, most certainly plunging to her death. But, she figures that by focusing of light it will help her to keep her broomstick aloft. Guards taking her as a witch, aim arrows in her direction causing her to lose her sense of direction and fly into the side of the mountain. She destroys her broom, it shatters into hundreds of pieces; and she is knocked senseless. She awakens and discovers her missing fathers death chamber, in a crystalline hollow in the mountain.

 She makes her way down the side of Adenine (the mountain) and is shot in the arm by Drachensbett soldiers.  So begins her life as a prisoner of the Drachensbett army where she is made the cooks servant. While toiling around the kitchen and soldiers camp, she learns of their plans for a sneak attack on Montagne. They gained entrance to Montagne by a new discovered passage and this could be their one chance to finally overthrow the city.  These stop when the Prince Florian the son of the King of Drachensbett ride into camp announcing there will be no need for war. Evidentially, a witch has cast a sleeping spell on Princess Ben, and the prince who wakes her with a kiss will be her hand in marriage.

Now the alive and conscious Ben must figure a way to get back to the Castle before Florian, so that she can escape a fate that seems worse than her current predicament.  The reason for her worry is that Florian was predicted to "One day awaken a princess and win her hand." As her status in the camp grows from assistant cook's boy, to healer she worries on how she will make her way back to the castle.

Finally the time comes for Florian to go awaken the sleeping Ben, and on the way there Ben escapes from their camp. As she races against Florian, she shimmies her way back into her double just before the Prince is about to kiss her. Uttering a "Don't you dare" before the Prince can actually kiss her. The princess astounded, leaps back and recognizing her from the soldiers camp runs as fast as he can from the room.

Since the Drachensbett did not win Montagne with a kiss from their Prince, they proclaim benevolent succession. This is an ancient practice that comes into effect if the heir to a ruler is not fit to succeed the throne. In which case a third party will come in and decide if the heir is really not worthy. Queen Sophia manages to hold it off for a couple months, in which Ben works the hardest she has in months. She now makes up for what she previously so determinably refused to learn. While also realizing that food is "not love itself, but an emblem of devotion; leading to Ben losing her initial "rotund" stomach.

Finally the deciding ball comes, and Ben shocks the Drachensbett King with her newfound social skills. The event is a success, but Florian now is convinced Ben is a witch and has put his father under a spell. A couple days after the ball, the king of Drachensbett has a dream about Bens missing father and asks the allowance of Queen Sophia to visit her husband's grave in the company of Princess Ben, and his son Prince Florian. On their visit, Ben and Florian hear cries of agony within the forest, and charge after the source. They track it to a dragon. Yes, the legendary dragon of Adenine that no one had ever seen before. There, Ben and Florian battle the dragon together and Ben cleverly kills it with her Dopleshlafen (double). But, not in time to prevent Florian from obtaining a deathly head wound. As she stitches him up she realizes that since the dragon is real, her mother and king where not assassinated by the Drachensbett.

She now knows the truth, the only problem being that Florian has died. As she ponders how to save him she finally comes to the realization that she loves him; with that she know how the story ends and rushes down to save him. There she requests a last look on him and the king agrees. The coffin is lowered and opened, and as she looks of him she weeps. Then feeling the king's agitation for her to leave, she bends down and kisses him, as she has in her dream. She kisses him for the way he forced her to mature into the princess she has become, and for how he will never know that. She kisses him for the harsh words she had spoken to him, and not had a chance to mend. As miracles happen, she feels his lips moving beneath hers, and kissing her in return, he is revived.

They of course end up getting married. But, a shocking phenomenon happens when Florian's day, the king of Drachensbett purposes to Queen Sophia. Though Ben herself says that it wasn't technically a "happily ever after" as every fairy tale ends. Because relationships are a working progress speckled with sweet times, it sure seemed like perfect end to me.

Diction and Rhetorical Devices:

            This book is full of a wide variety of words. I have heard some of the words listed below before, but I don't know their exact meaning. One of Catherine Murdock's strengths is her wide vocabulary. It adds more vivid pictures to the story, and makes reading a learning experience.

****All definitions obtained from the Oxford English Dictionary.****

Providentially (adv.): With foresight; providently, prudently

Tumult (ous (n.): Commotion of a multitude, usually with confused speech or uproar; public disturbance; disorderly or riotous proceeding.

Abhorrence: The action of abhorring or shrinking from with horror; the feeling of detestation, repugnance, or utter dislike.

Malodorous (adj.):  Having an unpleasant or nasty smell; foul-smelling

Smote (n): A spot, stain, mark, blot

Onerous (adj): Of the nature of a burden; burdensome; troublesome, tiresomely difficult.

Dastardly (adv): Like a dastard; in a cowardly manner

Vertiginous: Of persons, the head, etc.: Affected with, suffering from, vertigo or giddiness; giddy, dizzy.

Debauchery: Vicious indulgence in sensual pleasures.

Salacious: Lustful, lecherous; sexually wanton.

Vernal: Coming, appearing, happening, occurring, etc., in spring.

Caricature (n): In Art. Grotesque or ludicrous representation of persons or things by exaggeration of their most characteristic and striking features.

Regicide (n): A person who kills a king, esp. a subject who kills his or her own king; a person who commits the crime of regicide. Also in extended use.

Ribaldries (n): Ribald behaviour; (originally) immorality, wickedness, vice, licentiousness; (later in weakened sense) coarse behaviour, esp. of a sexual nature; debauchery, dissoluteness. Now somewhat arch.

Cacophonously (adv.): With bad, harsh, or unpleasant sound.

Tonsorial:     Of or pertaining to a barber or his work; often used humorously, as ‘a tonsorial artist’

Sagacity: Acuteness of mental discernment; aptitude for investigation or discovery; keenness and soundness of judgement in the estimation of persons and conditions, and in the adaptation of means to ends; penetration, shrewdness.

Obfuscated (adj): Darkened; rendered obscure or unclear

Adroitly (adv):    In an adroit manner; with ready skill; dexterously, cleverly

Ebullient: Of energy, feelings, influences: Gushing forth like boiling water; bubbling over, overflowing, enthusiastic. Constr. with.

Creative Critical Reflection:

In the end of Princess Ben, at the culminating chapter, Princess Ben narrates that every couple she has ever known, has never lived a happily ever after. She tells you that a relationship takes effort from both parties, and while it is filled with blissful stretches it is never a trouble-less time. But, I would say that Princess Ben does live the equivalent of a, "happily ever after: For starters, she kills the dragon that killed her mother and king. She can do magic, and FLY on a broomstick. She saves her country from battle. She turns from a caterpillar into a butterfly in a manner of say in a couple months. And after everything, she gets to marry a super hot, rich, prince. How is that not a "happily ever after"?

Free Choice Reading Cycle 5 Blog Post

Princess Ben, Catherine Gilbert Murdock. Cycle 5 FCR Response, 63-165 (chap. 5-10)

Brief Summary:

Princess Ben has had trouble adjusting to palace life. It has been bad, but it takes a change, a change for the worse. From the beginning of Ben's life at the palace Queen Sophia made it clear that royalty, "were not beggars at a banquet." To the diligent hawk eyes of the Queen, Ben is never served more than half a portion at every meal. None-the less, her girth does not lessen. With her secret hampers of food delivered on a regular basis, Ben accepts the queens restrictions without any protest. However, this raises the Queens suspicion and the basket is found. Ben is then forced to move rooms, to a cell placed above the Queen's room. The entrance to Ben's new prison is in the ex-room of the Queens chambers, and is locked on a daily basis. Thus starting an even darker chapter of her life.

            Finally Ben loses it. One night after the usual dull talk between Queen Sophia and Lady Beatrix, the plates are about to be cleared away. Ben notices Lady Beatrix's tart is barely touched, and suggests that the chef might be offended to see his food slighted so. Once again Queen Sophia tells her not to dwell on food, and Ben reaching over, snatches the tart and gobbles it down. As punishment the Queen immediately beats her hand with a leather strap. It takes all Ben's will to not flinch or start to cry while welts form instantly on her hand. After the beating they commence with dinner as though nothing has happened; the Queen consuming more wine than usual. At last, in an attempt to get Ben to participate the Queen suggests that she joins in on the conversation saying, "A queens greatest responsibility is to learn the art of speaking well, while saying nothing." Ben replies with saying that she thought a queen's greatest responsibility was to bear her husband a child. As Queen Sophia could not bear a child, this is a grave insult. It results in the wiping of the other hand, and this time even harder.           

After the dinner in her room alone, finally Ben allows herself to cry. Her fingers are so swollen that she cannot even undress herself, and in her agony she flings herself against the wall. Only to be scared out of her wits when her arm disappears into solid stone. After investigation, Ben finds an ancient chamber of wizardry covered in dust. She sees a book that the dust magically is not resting on, and here marks the start of her lessons in enchantment.

            The book is tedious to read because of the slanted script of the writer, but she perseveres. Also, she can only study during the night, because she still has her planned curriculum to learn. Eventually over the months she gets the hang of staying up all night, and sleepwalking through the day. She makes elementary steps such as producing fire, water and air. Then, one night after weeks of cleaning the room up, she discovers a new passageway that leads out of the chamber into the castle. She figures that the castle was made out of wizards, and that the ex-rooms serve as entryways to a secret system of passageways. On one of her nightly strolls to the kitchen she overhears her Aunty talking. Evidently the threat of war has been creeping closer and to prevent it, Ben will have to be married to the son their enemy or a very strong alliance. Queen Sophia is planning to throw a ball in Bens honor, so that she may meet all her suitors.

            At the ball, all powdered and primped, Princess Ben suffers greatly. (Though she does take pleasure in stepping on her suitor's feet while they attempt to dance with her.) Finally she has had enough, and disappears into a secret passageway leading to her room. She performs the doubling charm so that it appears as if her clone is asleep, while she prepares to fly on her broomstick out of the castle grounds. As she is getting ready to leave the Queen comes in looking for her. She sees the sleeping Ben, and a clocked figure standing by the window with a broom in hand. Queen Sophia quickly orders the guards after what she thinks to be a sorceress. As the guards reach out to take hold of the conscious Ben, she barley makes it out the window, and starts to plummet to the ground…

Diction and Rhetorical Devices:

            ****All definitions procured from the Oxford English Dictionary****

Penitence: The undergoing of a discipline or exercise as an outward expression of repentance and expiation of an offence, either voluntarily or as imposed by an ecclesiastical authority; a penance.

Incontrovertible: That cannot be controverted; incontestable, indisputable, indubitable

            Controverted: Subject to controversy

1.     Made an object of contest; disputed

2.     Made an object of controversial discussion

            Indubitable: That cannot be doubted; perfectly certain or evident.

Reticence (n): Reluctance to speak about something or to express personal thoughts and feelings freely; maintenance of silence; the state or quality of being taciturn or reserved in speech; an instance of this. Also fig.

Myopia: fig. Lack of imagination, foresight, or intellectual insight.

Vernacular (adj): That writes, uses, or speaks the native or indigenous language of a country or district.

Victuals: foodstuffs, rations, chow, provisions, cuisine, and fodder. (got this from computer thesaurus)

Euphemistically:  Pertaining to euphemism; of the nature of a euphemism; containing a euphemism.

            Euphemism: That figure of speech which consists in the substitution of a word or expression of comparatively favorable implication or less unpleasant associations, instead of the harsher or more offensive one that would more precisely designate what is intended.

Interminable: That cannot be bounded or ended; boundless; endless. (In mod. use freq. exaggerative, implying impatience or disgust at the length of something.)

Veritable: Of a statement, etc.: That is in accordance or conformity with the truth or verity; true. ?Obs.

Lector: Eccl. An ecclesiastic belonging to one of the minor orders, whose duty originally consisted in reading the ‘lessons’.

            Ecclesiastic: Of language (esp. Gr. or L.), words, or senses of words: Characteristic of ecclesiastical writers; opposed to classical or secular. Obs.

Inexorable: Incapable of being persuaded or moved by entreaty; that cannot be prevailed upon to yield to request, esp. in the way of mercy or indulgence; not to be moved from one's purpose or determination; relentless, rigidly severe.    a. Of persons, their actions or attributes.

Soporific (adj.): Inducing or tending to induce sleep; causing a person to sleep or slumber. 

Creative Critical Reflection:

            THE EDITOR

            If I was the editor of Princess Ben

            I would tell Catherine to take out her pen

            The initial plot of the book is intriguing

            But the emotions of Princess Ben need rethinking

            Her feelings are not complex, but are immature

            Not like the feelings a teenage girl would procure

            It's a fun read don't get me wrong

            The ideas and diction are very strong

            It's just that it could be more realistic

            If the character weren't so very simplistic