Monday, October 6, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Robert Frost's "Design"
In Robert Frost’s poem Design, the image of white is used repetitively. The word itself appears five times in this fourteen lined sonnet and the color is implied twice more through the description of the “snow-drop” spider and the flower comparable to “froth.” The significant images highlighted in white are the spider, the moth, and the flower. The other substantial, yet contradictory, image in this poem is that of death.
Frost uses opposing images in his Petrarchan sonnet Design to prepare the reader for contemplation of an ethical question. Design begins with the vivid description of a “dimpled,” “fat,” “white” spider. The words chosen here are intended to evoke the images of a baby and of innocence. In the next line Frost describes that the spider is located on a “white heal-all.” A heal-all is a flower, normally blue in color, fabled to possess the ability to cure any disease. Atop the heal-all is a white moth, rigid in death. This scene is an anomaly in nature, the unusually white flower failing to heal the moth and the innocent white spider preying on the dead white creature. In the second quatrain, Frost uses adjectives with a happy quality to contrast dark reality. The “snow-drop” spider, the light and airy “froth” of a flower, and the wings “like a paper kite.” The reality is of a spider weaving an unseen net of destruction, a flower aberrantly changed, and a moth rigidly dead.
In the sestet Frost begins asking questions about this event. In lines 9 and 10 the poet questions the aberration in the flower. Why is the heal-all white instead of blue? In lines 11 and 12 he ponders what led the spider and moth to it. In line 13 he asks if a design were revealed in this event, is it only a design of darkness to “appall” or horrify us? In the final line he reflects on the poem in its entirety and society itself by writing “If design govern in a thing so small.” If design exists in events as minor as the one so eloquently described in Frost’s poem, then it also must impact the lives of humans. However, if this event was just a coincidence, then there is no greater design dictating the course of human life and what occurs is merely happenstance.
Frost uses opposing images in his Petrarchan sonnet Design to prepare the reader for contemplation of an ethical question. Design begins with the vivid description of a “dimpled,” “fat,” “white” spider. The words chosen here are intended to evoke the images of a baby and of innocence. In the next line Frost describes that the spider is located on a “white heal-all.” A heal-all is a flower, normally blue in color, fabled to possess the ability to cure any disease. Atop the heal-all is a white moth, rigid in death. This scene is an anomaly in nature, the unusually white flower failing to heal the moth and the innocent white spider preying on the dead white creature. In the second quatrain, Frost uses adjectives with a happy quality to contrast dark reality. The “snow-drop” spider, the light and airy “froth” of a flower, and the wings “like a paper kite.” The reality is of a spider weaving an unseen net of destruction, a flower aberrantly changed, and a moth rigidly dead.
In the sestet Frost begins asking questions about this event. In lines 9 and 10 the poet questions the aberration in the flower. Why is the heal-all white instead of blue? In lines 11 and 12 he ponders what led the spider and moth to it. In line 13 he asks if a design were revealed in this event, is it only a design of darkness to “appall” or horrify us? In the final line he reflects on the poem in its entirety and society itself by writing “If design govern in a thing so small.” If design exists in events as minor as the one so eloquently described in Frost’s poem, then it also must impact the lives of humans. However, if this event was just a coincidence, then there is no greater design dictating the course of human life and what occurs is merely happenstance.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Naming My Blog
Choosing a title for my blog posed more of a challenge then I had anticipated. Having no experience with blogging, I had no idea what an appropriate name for a blog would be. I did a google search for “what to name your blog” and discovered that blogs should have more creative and descriptive names than “Ashley’s Blog” or “My Blog.” A blog’s name is ideally unique and possibly symbolic so I chose to name my blog after my pets.
D.R.V.T are the first letters of the names of my four pets. They are listed in the order by which I acquired each animal. “D” stands for Deedee, a six-year-old golden retriever who has been my buddy since she was eight weeks old. “R” is for Rocket, my horse of two years. Vanya and Tux are kittens I adopted this past summer from a feral cat colony living on the property where I was working.
My pets are an important part of my life and have greatly impacted many of the choices I have made. I chose to live at home and attend Junior College for the first two years post high school because I could not imagine leaving Deedee behind and because I wanted to own a horse after many years of caring for those belonging to others. By going to a JC I was able to keep my house/pet sitting business for two more years allowing me to purchase and care for Rocket while still completing all of my lower division science courses and almost all of my general ed classes.
My experience with horses led me to pursue a degree in animal science with plans to enter vet school after graduation. The experiences I have had as a result of owning Rocket taught me that I would be better suited for a career as a physical therapist then as an equine veterinarian.
The name “D.R.V.T” was also appealing to me because it is unlikely to appear on searches. Although it is an acronym for Downsized Remote Video Terminal, “D.R.V.T” should shield my blog from some unwanted visitors.
D.R.V.T are the first letters of the names of my four pets. They are listed in the order by which I acquired each animal. “D” stands for Deedee, a six-year-old golden retriever who has been my buddy since she was eight weeks old. “R” is for Rocket, my horse of two years. Vanya and Tux are kittens I adopted this past summer from a feral cat colony living on the property where I was working.
My pets are an important part of my life and have greatly impacted many of the choices I have made. I chose to live at home and attend Junior College for the first two years post high school because I could not imagine leaving Deedee behind and because I wanted to own a horse after many years of caring for those belonging to others. By going to a JC I was able to keep my house/pet sitting business for two more years allowing me to purchase and care for Rocket while still completing all of my lower division science courses and almost all of my general ed classes.
My experience with horses led me to pursue a degree in animal science with plans to enter vet school after graduation. The experiences I have had as a result of owning Rocket taught me that I would be better suited for a career as a physical therapist then as an equine veterinarian.
The name “D.R.V.T” was also appealing to me because it is unlikely to appear on searches. Although it is an acronym for Downsized Remote Video Terminal, “D.R.V.T” should shield my blog from some unwanted visitors.
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