My Father, it is surely a blue place,
And Straight. Right. Regular. Where I shall find
No need for scholarly nonchalance or looks
A little to the left or guards upon the
Heart to halt love that runs without crookedness
Along its crooked corridors. My father,
It is a planned place surely. Out of coils,
Unscrewed, released, no more to be marvelous,
I shall walk straightly through most proper halls
Proper myself, Princess of properness
Copyright
© Unknown
ABOUT
THE POEM:
meaning:
At one point in their lives, everyone gets the painful feeling of being
out of place, disparate or divergent to the environment in which they live
in. Here, the reader experiences the feelings of an individual with an
ambiance of displacement or an intense misbalancing in her world that cannot
be fixed. The poem ideally focuses on a world where one can “fit in,” a
marvelous haven or utopia. This manifestation of domicile relates to the
exact covet of the common man. Everyone has once in their life desired to be
in a more perfect would, a profound place in which they could genuinely
harmonize and be accepted as the ideal.
symbolism:
It is interesting to observe the symbolism of the word “crookedness.”
In it’s context, it stands for the normal state of being in which the speaker
lives, the feeling of being out of congruity with the outside, and the
already assimilated environment. The usage of the world “right” is
compelling as well. The word “right,” by definition, means “accordance
with fact, reason, or truth.” In the poem, the speaker has a dire desire to
simply fit into the true perspective of things. In this perfect place, she
is seen without her crookedness and therefore in her indubitable state. The
word “Corridors” is also symbolic. Corridors are openings or passageways,
and in this poem the speaker seem to communicate the idea that if only one
could journey through the corridors of the “crookedness,” there will lie an
uncoiled world in which the sincere truth will be exposed.
In contrast to the word “crookedness,” the words “straight,” “right,” and “
regular” stand for the mundaness which we all try to cohere to, the ardor one
shows to fit into this “normal” image which has been perpetuated upon us
since in the early years of our lives.
Normalcy means love, it means strength and stamina. Here, the speaker
rehashes a fantasy of dwelling in an unblemished, flawless world she im
agines, where, in the absence of her crookedness, for once in her life she
shall walk proud and tall and feel as if she belongs, as if she is the
apotheosis. The potent tone evoked during the last two lines of the poem is
especially moving; it regards the impact of which this phantasm has had on
the speaker.
setting:
On the topic of setting, the author would like to portray the image,
using the word “blue”, of a far distance, an unknown place. When thinking
of blue, most people contemplate of the clear sky and it’s endless,
remoteness and expansion. In the poem, we read about an obscure place in
which one can be free and unimpeded by people’s ignorant observations or
previously conceived notions and immersed in truth.
book:
The poem intensely appertains to the famous play, The Glass Menagerie.
In the play, a girl experiences true “crookedness” and is forced to dream of
a utopia with precision and absolute conformity to the heaven produced by the
“Hunchback Girl.” Attributes of both the speaker in the poem the main
characters in the play are extremely similar and both evoke a sense of
sadness for the speaker. While the poem tends to be a bit abstract, the play
can clarify all the sentiments that are attached to a dream and it’s reality.
analysis written by Daniella
ABOUT
THE PAINTING:
the
artist:
Leonardo da Vinci is a well-known historical figure, not only as an
artist but also as an inventor and a scientist. Leonardo was born
in 1452, in Vinci, Italy, just outside of Florence. He got his start
as an artist in 1469 as an apprentice for Verocchio. Verocchio was
a specialist in perspective, which was just beginning to be a popular
aspect of painting at that time. As a Renaissance painter, he offered
a fresh approach by painting realistically as opposed to the elaborate
religious paintings of the time.
The scientist in him realised that objects in the real world were not composed of outlines, but of an intricate play of light and shadow. This technique, known as chiaroscuro, gave his paintings lifelike quality. Leonardo also used (and further perfected) a technique called sfumato, which emphasizes the change in color and detail as an object recedes in the distance.
the
painting:
Painting the Mona Lisa, da Vinci made use of the sfumato technique. As most people who have tried their hand at drawing know, a lot of the expression in a face lies in the details: the corners of the eyes and the corners of the mouth. These parts are purposely left smudged in this particular painting. This is why nobody can really tell what mood Mona is in.
Scholars have also noted that Leonardo has played around with the perspective aspect in this painting. Upon close inspection of the painting, you may see that the two sides do not quite match. Not only is Mona herself a little unbalanced (on the left side of the picture she seems taller or more erect), but the background is too. The landscape behind Mona has a horizon which seems lower on the left side than on the right.
the
subject:
There are plenty of theories going around about Mona herself. Not only about who she is supposedly smiling at but also if she really is the likeness of a lady named Mona. There was a Mona Lisa who was married to Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanoli del Giocondo, who could be the model for this painting. But Leonardo (being the scientist he was) kept meticulous records of his hours in his studio and the names of models. Allegedly no record can be found of a Mona Lisa posing for da Vinci.... For more information on this mystery of Mona Lisa, check out the links at the bottom of this page.
LINKS:
GWENDOLYN BROOKS:
University of Illinois
UI's English department's Gwendolyn Brooks page. Some bio information, some interviews, and some notes on her writings.
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brooks/brooks.htm
Poets.org: Brooks, G.
Biographical information on Brooks, as well as a bibliography and a good collection of links.
http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=166
College of Wooster
Great biograhical info and a nice interview with Ms. Brooks herself.
http://www.wooster.edu/artfuldodge/brooks.html
Longman Publishers: G. Brooks
Nice biography, and some great all-around links about women writers, writers of color, and such.
http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/...
MONA LISA:
Louvre, Paris
The Louvre's page on Mona Lisa. The Louvre is the museum in Paris where Mona Lisa is currently being displayed
http://www.louvre.fr/anglais/collec/peint/inv0779/peint_f.htm
Mona Lisa Mania
Trivia about the famous model, as well as loads of information on everything Mona, including the various theories that are out there. (Check out the gift section too!)
http://www.monalisamania.com/
Mona Lisa Images for a Modern World
Nice site with a huge variety of strange, odd, nice, and downright weird Mona Lisa images and information. Apparently some people were very inspired by her smile...
http://www.studiolo.org/Mona/MONALIST.htm
Why is the Mona Lisa Smiling?
Great ThinkQuest site with information on yet another Mona Lisa theory, suggesting there was no Mona.... and Leonardo actually painted himself.
http://library.thinkquest.org/13681/data/link2.htm
RANDOM:
Women Writers of Color
Great University of Minnesota site about their "Voices From the Gaps" Project. Nice set of links.
http://voices.cla.umn.edu/
National Women's Hall of Fame
A leading distibutor of documentary film and video. Wonder if they have any footage of
the actual disaster?
http://www.greatwomen.org/
