Writing prompts- week 6- pg. 206, 229, 230

• p. 206 # 2, 4

       Personally, I have little argument for the used clothing business in Africa. It gives the African people the luxury of choice, and it clothes them- but at what cost? They are being sold, at high prices in their country, things we have given away for free. Charity items. These items flood their markets, and from the moment they come off the boat, their journey causes tension. People pay far over what these "junkie" items are worth. Which to us, is nothing. What a sad state of affairs. These clothes have created jobs, but have killed cultural norms. It has killed the tailor trade in Africa. And without these clothes, would the African's know how to make their own still? Maybe the older ones, but certainly not the younger generations. We have this problem too, here in America. Sometimes charity breeds complicity.

• p. 229 # 2, 3 bottom of page

      I have already answered these questions somewhere....but since I cannot recall where that was, I will answer them again. Since this feels a bit redundant, and I cannot seem to find my other entries regarding these poems, I am going to keep it short.

I enjoyed Auden's version more, because I found myself better able to visualize what the narrator was trying to show. It just moved me more than Williams's version. Poetrty that moves the reader should always be the reader's selection!

Auden's explanation for the lack of attention paid, basically seems to be that people were busy with their own lives, or uncaring. If the ship saw him fall out of the sky, but did not investigate because they had somewhere else to be, this implies a certain level of uncaring. Williams's speaker barely considers it at all, and does not seem to find it "amazing".

• p. 230 # 3, 4  

  3. In Williams's poem, I find that it mostly doesn't rhyme- and where it does rhyme, it seems to do so unintentionally- Pageantry and Sea. This reflects Williams's rather nonchalant approach to what is happening in the painting. 

In Auden's poem, we have a rhyme scheme!  Wrong/along, waiting/skating,forgot/spot, course/horse, away/may,  cry/sky, green/seen. I have to tell you though, besides these being end rhyme, I am having trouble deciphering the meter. It seems random! This fits Auden's writing style, as he seems to focus on the random outer details of the painting.

Hamburger's poem is my favorite. It rhymes! End rhymes throughout the piece. The first line leads to rhyme on the third line, the second on the fourth, and so on throughout. This very organized style, lends itself to Hamburger's organized thoughts on the paintings. Each section is like a tiny portrait the writer paints for the reader. The fisherman, the sailor, the sheep, the shepherd, Icarus himself. Beautiful!

4. In Williams's poem, Icarus's fall is an afterthought. It tells us the wings melted, and there was a splash, and Icarus drowned rather directly, lacking details. In Auden's poem, he relates to Williams's in saying that the splash was unnoticed and that everyone was concerned on with their own tasks, but it departs from Williams's piece when Auden's states that it was "amazing". Hamburger's poem references the ploughman,and people concerned with their own tasks, as did Williams's and Auden's. His however goes into far more detail about the fall itself, unlike the other poets.