AA Lit 2019

One blatantly obvious theme in Beloved is the supernatural. One of the first things we as readers are introduced to is the idea of a haunted house. The idea that an inanimate object can be imbued with a spirit is usually associated with the horror genre, voodoo, or other "scary" things. After reading the first few chapters of Beloved , I assumed that the house was haunted and that it represented something that would come back to bite the family someday. I was unable to recognize that the supernatural in Beloved  not only represents pain but also rememory. We see that Beloved's appearance begins to unravel the painful memories repressed by Sethe, Paul D, and later Baby Suggs (Even though she is dead). Among all these negative feelings, we also see the supernatural being associated with positive things, for Baby Suggs in particular. Throughout the most recent chapters, Baby Suggs has been painted as sort of a "holy" character, with magical healing abilities and s...

"Now" by Christopher Gilbert was a very unique poem. Unlike many other poems in the anthology, it had a very happy and light mood to it. The poem begins on "the first day of summer", describing seemingly personal experiences such as the orange sky, a street party, inspiring a general sense of celebration. While reading such vivid imagery, I felt like I could connect to the narrator's feelings, even though we didn't share the same experiences. In the next stanza, the scene shifts to the winter, as the narrator reminisces about an experience looking into a store window. The author's description of his surroundings contrasts white flakes and darkened windows, giving a bleak but beautiful outlook on winter. Previous to this poem, I never really thought of winter as beautiful, just cold and unforgiving. The narrator points out that "everything is perfect" which is a productive and happy outlook on winter. The next stanza could be either fall or spri...