page 766 quickwrite

In “Kubla Khan,” Coleridge presents his vision of an earthly paradise. Imagine your own version of the perfect place. What would it look like?

     Music can always relax people’s mind and make them feel happy, so it is an essential element in my imagined perfect place. Moreover, people should just thinking about having fun without worrying about their works at my paradise. Every day, they can wake up at whatever time they want, eat a variety of delicious food, play video games, watch television and movies, get the latest shoes or clothes, do extreme sports, etc. Moreover, these activities are all free because I don’t want money become an issue. Also, there are different themes of parties everywhere, so life won’t be dull at all. Every night, people can have a taste for diverse kinds of drinks while listening to music, enjoying dancing.

William Shakespeare page388

Think of someone you know or have read about who was in love. Did love make the person see the world more clearly, or did it cloud his or her vision?

     I remembered when I was studying in Canada, my brother had a girlfriend. I think the love clouded his vision because the only thing he cared most about was his girlfriend, not family or academic. Every day, they talked through the telephone for several hours at night. Moreover, no matter how late it was, when his girlfriend asked him to pick her up, he would quickly drive the car to her place, thus he couldn’t stay awake at school the next day. During weekends, my brother would rather spend the time at his girlfriend’s house than having field trips with us. Seeing my brother’s behavior at that time, I finally understood why people always say love is blind. My brother couldn’t see other wonderful things on the world; his eyes were covered up. He even wanted to marry his girlfriend right after he graduated from university. Love is a powerful thing that makes people’s actions become unable to explain.

Let Your Backbone Slide

Poem I like

   Bai Lee is one of the greatest poets throughout the Chinese history, and he is a romantic poet. I like his poem that titles “sending his friend Hao-Rein Mong away to Guangling” because it’s very touching. The poem contains the imagery of rain and a lonely boat sailing away, which adds more sadness of the parting. Moreover, Bai Lee just stands beside the Yangtze River until he couldn’t see his friend anymore. His lonely shadow shows a strong emotion of grief for separating with his best friend.

Sonnets 18, 29, 30

1.      What is the speaker’s attitude toward his loved one in each of these sonnets?

In Sonnet 18, the speaker is prizing for his lover’s beauty; in Sonnet 29, the speaker regains confidence, feels wealthy, and is motivated by thinking of his beloved; in Sonnet 30, the speaker gets back what he lost and ends his sorrow when thinking about his friend.

6.  In the first two quatrains of Sonnet 18, what are the speaker’s feelings about summer?

      In the first two quatrains of Sonnet 18, the speaker’s feelings about summer are that it is beautiful yet more extreme than his loved one, which can be seen from line two to six.

7.  What similarities can you find in the main ideas in Sonnets 29 and 30?

Main ideas in Sonnets 29 and 30 are similar in ways that speakers in both sonnets started out in disgrace, depression, and outcast. However, when they remember their beloved, their conditions improve: they feel worthy again and overcome feelings of loss and grief.

8.  Shakespeare’s sonnets use conceits, elaborate figures of speech that draw a surprising connection between two seemingly dissimilar things. In these sonnets, which conceit makes the most unexpected comparison? Explain.

      Among the three sonnets, I think the conceit of comparing the speaker’s lover to a summer’s day in Sonnet 18 makes the most unexpected comparison because summer symbolizes passion rather than beauty.

Image in Song

   My top 5 favorite songs are “Hotel room service by Pitbull, OMG by Usher, Baby by Justin Bieber, Dynamite by Taio Cruz, and Nothing on You by Bruno Mars.” When I listen to the song “Dynamite,” I get an imagery of lots of people gathering at the dance floor enjoying themselves that they put their hands high in the air and shout out loud, just like in a club. I also picture that an excellent dance expert is in the center of the dance floor who can’t take away the crowd’s eyes. Everyone surrounds him just move with the music, cheer for him, and watch the great solo.

Dynamite (Taio Cruz): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpGgBYeOgi0