Similarities

I'd like to comment on what I've seen so far throughout the poetry that I've read. What is "wit" was the first initial question I wanted to venture into for this project. Well, so far I have realized that "wit" is using the reader's standards to sort of gearing them to believe in the author's particular purpose or message about a particular work. The thing is, the authors manipulate common usages of speech or things that are commonly accepted in society and morphs them around a particularly mocking or cold tone to make a point. I know this is a generalization but these are the similiarities I've found so far. I have a few more TPCASTTs that I'll be posting in the next few days which help to further reinforce this general idea about wit. As for how we respond to it as readers...I'm not quite sure yet WHY we respond to it. What makes it stick out to us even if we are not analyzed the diction, syntax, and tone as I am trying to do. Is it the way she mocks society? I have yet to grasp the answer to this question. This is far more difficult than I thought.

Notes.

Hello. Sorry I haven't blogged in ages. I have a lot of notes to sure though. Be prepared for a very long entry =p

Ballade Of A Talked-Off Ear

Daily I listen to wonder and woe,
Nightly I hearken to knave or to ace,
Telling me stories of lava and snow,
Delicate fables of ribbon and lace,
Tales of the quarry,
the kill,
the chase,
Longer than heaven and duller than hell
-Never you blame me, who cry my case:
"Poets alone should kiss and tell!"
Dumbly I hear what I never should know,
Gently I counsel of pride and of grace;
Into minutiae gayly they go,
Telling the name and the time and the place.
Cede them your silence and grant them space
-Who tenders an inch shall be raped of an ell!
Sympathy's ever the boaster's brace;
Poets alone should kiss and tell.
Why am I tithed what I never did owe?
Choked with vicarious saffron and mace?
Weary my lids, and my fingers are slow
-Gentlemen, damn you, you've halted my pace.
Only the lads of the cursed race,
Only the knights of the desolate spell,
May point me the lines the blood
-drops trace
-Poets alone should kiss and tell.

L'ENVOI
Prince or commoner,
tenor or bass,
Painter or plumber or never-do-well,
Do me a favor and shut your face
Poets alone should kiss and tell.

Title: I honestly chose this poem because at first glance, it seems difficult to interpert just from the title. The title graps the reader's attension because it isn't very clear what exactly this poem is about. Is the author going to tribute an ear? The "ear" is being personified as well here because it has been "talked-off". Who did this to the ear and why was it done? It seems the author is trying to tell the reader that someone has taken away the ear's privilage to talk or listen for that matter. It's odd how Parker uses personification in this sense. Already, I ask, is she trying to mock those who took the ear's privilage away or is she mocking the ear itself and what it listens to? I think the title already demonstrates some form of wit through its sharp yet simple diction. Also, "ear" has a connotation of something being listened to, gossip, or secret that is not meant to be heard. "Talked-off" seems slightly curt and negative.
Paraphrase: The speaker listens to wonder and woe every day, and every night she listens to a dishonest person or to a very close friend, who tells her stories of lava and snow, and delicate and fragile or personal tales of ribbon and lace, tales of the fights, the kill, the chase, that were longer than heaven and duller than hell-you shouldnt blame me, those who cry at my story..."Poets alone should kiss and tell!" Sumbly she hears what she really shouldn't know, gently she calms those of pride and grace. In a happy minute, they go, telling the person's name and time and place. Leave them your silence and grant them some space who leaves an inch shall be raped of a year. Sympathy is what they want to give you; poets alone should kiss and tell. Why is she so tithed at what she never owed. Shocked with the things people now know. Her weary lids and fingers are slow-everyone, damn you all, you've messed up the pace of her life. Only the people who are part of this race, only the knights of this horrid spell, may point to her on the page and the direct lines that refer to her which are covered in blood, poets alone should kiss and tell.
*I'm not sure if this second part if supposed to be part of the first half of the poem but it seems (according to many referances) that they belong together.
L'ENVOI...rich or poor, high voice or low voice, painter or plumber or anyone of any occupation, do me a favor and shut up, poets should kiss and tell.
Connotation: Wow, I just realized after paraphrasing how intense the word choice she uses is in bringing about the tone and the general mood of this piece. Parker is sharp, thats for sure. There are many highly connotative words in this piece...
"Talked-Off": people overdid the gossiping, ect (please see referance to "title")
"Ear" gossip, to lisen to something, (also see referance to "title")
"Daily": This is such a simple world yet quite a powerful way to begin her poem because the speaker is trying to emphasize that she can not escape the words and things other people tell her thus when she starts off with this word, it gives the reader a vibe that the speaker is stuck in this choas of gossip and people's words.
"wonder" and "woe": the juxtaposition of these two words is quite interesting..,normally you wouldn't see these words side-by-side because "wonder"brings abotu a strong sense of amazement and a positively moving experiance but at the same time, "woe" has a strong negative connotation because it implies strong sadness or distress.
"hearken": I honestly had to look this word up (which is one reason why I think Parker chose to use it in this poem). The entire poem is demonstrating the rights of poets and what they should share throughout their poetry. Parker uses the word "hearken" which means to listen to show that poets have the right to play with words as they have the right to pick and choose what they wish to express to their readers.
"ace": In the literal, denotative sense, this word means a "close friend"...but if you analyze the connotative usage of this word, it can imply gambling or playing with the cards...a skilled person or someone who can defeat their opponents in a witty way. Is Parker referring to the gossipers?
"Lava": hot, heat, fire, someone powerful, raging, fierce
"snow": cold, innocent, blank, empty
*note: she juxtaposes the usage of these two words as well. Why? To show the fierce contrast between the gossip she encounters and possibly the affects it has on others.
"delicate": brings about an image of a child or a polcelin doll..interesting how she uses this word to compare this gossip because it shows how vicious it can become.
"lace": feminine, fragile, "perfection" in a sense because many in the Victorian ages, lace was associated with the rich and their clothing.
"quarry, kill, chase": representing certain situations in our daily lives. Very vague words yet reflective of human nature and our day to day situations but in an uncivil portrayal. She's referring back to our primative nature as animals rather than civilized human beings.
"blame": such a straightforward and an "in your face" word...if you notice, she goes from very vague and abstract language (many of which are metaphorically or highly connotative) to a very curt and straightforward word to emphasize her point.
"Dumbly": Implies her reluctance but it seems she has no choice. Implies the small-mindedness or the fact that she is stuck in such a word where she can not escape the gossip.
"pride"/"grace": Quite a strong connotative contrast. Pride implies the evil side to human nature, the one that is looked down upon and grace has a highly positive connotation because it is something many wish to achieve. Grace is positive and can also imply religious grace which is something people wish to achieve.
"counsel": why did Parker choose to use this word here? If you take this word out of context, the first thought that comes to mind is a group of people meeting to discuss something which goes back to her main idea about how people continuously gossip and talk about unnecesery things.
"boaster's brace": This phrase really reinforces her sneering attitude towards those who gossip in the way in which is contains alliteration and the word "boaster" here is used in a sarcastic way because in a sense, the phrase is ironic to the entire poem's meaning.
"raped": very negative. stripping something does not belong to them. powerful usage.
"chocked": negative to show how shes trapped in this world.
"weary": gloomy. they are wearing her down.
"Gentlemen"/"Knights": Interesting how through the entire poem she is mocking those she is referring to yet she usages this word which is given to highly respectable men as well as the knights. They are treating her the opposite of how society expects them to act which creates even more of the irony because shouldn't the people be gossiping about them to?
"prince/commoner": Uses the contrast between the connotations of "rich" and "poor" to make a statement that this affects everyone.
Attitude: As mentioned in the connotation section, she sneerful towards the subject and very cold towards society.
Shift:The second stanza--> gets more personal and she brings herself into how this gossiping is affecting her yet in the first she is stating how it affects those in society as a whole. in the third, she gets even colder and begins to become ironic. in the forth--> again she is stating how it affects everyone. Highly affective because she goes fromvery general and how it impacts everyone to how it specifically impaced her to how again it affects society as a whole.
Theme: People will talk about you know matter what, it's part of life.
Title: Parker thinks it's neceserry to stop this cycle of slander.

Another Update.

I read a lot during the down time of my debate competition today so I'm posting a LOT tommorow. I think I can say I've seen a common technique used in witty poetry and stories. You'll find out tommorow :)

News Item: TPCASTT

"News Item"
Men seldom make passes
At girls who wear glasses

Title: News Item. This title implies that the speaker has discovered a piece of common information or fact that is universal or well known.

Paraphase: Men really don't look at girl who wear glasses.

Connotation:
"item"-I thought this word played off the less commonly used definition for being a couple or being involved in a relationship. Maybe to introduce, subtely to the reader, what the theme or purpose of the poem is reflecting.
"men"-interesting contrast between how the speaker uses this word in comparison to when he uses "girls"; symbolizes maturity and different interest. Somewhat mocks manly attributes.
"seldom"-it's interesting how this word is used due to its change in formality. The rest of the diction used is more colloquial which makes this word stick out; almost uses the diction and level of formality that would be seen in a newspaper articule
"girls"-makes them seem immature; not ready to take on a relationship or haven't even reached the age where it's ok to have one. (See referance to "men")
"glasses"- metonyme usage here because I assume that "glasses" stands for a person of intellectual rigor which clearly is not what "men" are looking for in a female (yes, I said this in a sarcastic manner-please note =p because quite frankly, the speaker is trying to portray the exact same attitude as I have just stated)

Attitude: Mocking. I can not find a better way to describe this. This is built up through the diction and the way the "men" and "girls" are portrayed and the fact that the only reason men dont go for certain girls is because they are intelligent.

Shift: After the first sentance, which goes from an introduction to what men look for in women (you'd think it would express somethign positive or at least optimisitic and the reader would assume this because news articles don't usually state or slander the behavior of men) but takes an unexpected turn to reflect upon a hasty generalization that men do not go or look for intellectual women.

Theme: Men are superficial and are not interested in women who have high intellectual rigor. (Maybe this theme plays a part in what was going on in society at the time. I'd have to research more because there is no background information)

Title: I think the title is what creates the attitude and wit of the poem because the speaker is making his/her opinion sound like a fact although it truly is his/her own personal opinion.

TPCASTT time :)

Hello fellow readers! More TPCASTTs by none other than the famous Dorothy Parker.
The first poem, "Unfortunate Coincidence" is one of my favorites by her.

Unfortunate Coincidence

By the time you swear you're his,
Shivering and sighing,
And he vows his passion is
Infinite, undying--
Lady make a note of this:
One of you is lying

Title: This title is pretty interesting. When I first read it, I thought there would be a situation that took place that revealed to another that an upsetting coincidence,hurting both people involved. I also thought there would be some irony involved in the poem because the title made me think of the story where a woman sells her hair for a watch for her love and her love sells the chain for a bow, I think it was, and so they both gave each other presents relying on the fact that they had the other component that goes along with it.

Paraphrase: I think it is pretty straightforward here: By the time you swear you are his, upset, and he reveals that his passion is so strong that it will last forever and never burn out, Lady, keep a mental note: one of you is lying.

Connotation: Although this is a short poem, there are many connotations used to give the poem its affect and set its tone.
For one thing, "unfortunate" is negatively connotative although when it is used, it usually brings to mind something of high importance or value. It's used in somewhat of an ironic sense because Parker basically slanders when two people reveal that they love each other. This topic is generally not of very much imporance but Parker presents it to be so gigantic in intensity.
"coincidence": I'd like to point out the irony Parker displays by using this word. The situation that Parker describes (two people revealing and stating their undying love for each other..although it seems as though the man is leaving her with the way in which she describes when she reveals her feelings for him) is something that can take place based on the control of either party. The woman and the man have a choice to reveal their feelings to each other or not. So why then does Parker use this word? My guess, irony.
"Swear": I honestly think this word is way too negative to use when referring to someone revealing their emotions towards an infatuation. It almost seems as if the women is begging the man to love her back or begging him to stay. This is further reinforced when Parker places it before "shivering" and "sighing" to complete the full effect.
"Shivering"/ "Sighing": This word is negatively connotative. It usually implies or brings about an image of rape, or something cold. Why then, does Parker decide to use this in describing the woman as she reveals her feelings for the man? It seems as though she is begging him to stay or that she is revealing her feelings reluctantly.
"Infinite": Honestly, this word reminds me of how astronomers describe the universe. Parker uses it to mock how many percieve that they will last forever with his or her lover.
"Undying": The connotation of this word almost seems ingenuine. Its blunt nature makes the reader question why Parker would chooce to use this word over any other. Again, she is mocking the perception of those in love.

Attitude: Mocking and it almost seems like she's laughing pitifully about those who act and feel this way. It's created by the connotative language.

Shift: "Lady make a note of this: One of you is lying". Wow, Parker really uses In Your Face like statements. She creates a shift in which she goes from referring to the situation between two lovers revealing their feelings towards each other (although it doesn't sound too nice as we've stated before) but then goes to bluntly state her perception about true love and its longetivity.

Theme: The fact that in society, people believe that true love exists but in reality, passion fades and it will not last forever.

Title: As I've stated before, I find the title to reflect the ironic nature of the poem and the fact that people have a choice whether or not to involve themselves in situations with lovers about their "true" feelings towards each other.

It's getting late so I'll blog again later today with the other two short poems that slightly went along with this poem.

some TPCASTTs...

I'm finally done with my poetry section! yay. Anyways, I'll be posting up all my notes this week.

A Well Worn Story by Dorothy Parker

In April, in April,
My one love came along,
And I ran the slope of my high hill
To follow a thread of song.
His eyes were hard as porphyry
With looking on cruel lands;
His voice went slipping over me
Like terrible silver hands.
Together we trod the secret lane
And walked the muttering town.
I wore my heart like a wet, red stain
On the breast of a velvet gown.
In April, In April,
My love went whistling by,
And I stumbled here to my high hill
Along the way of a lie.
Now what should I do in this place
But sit and count the chimes,
And splash cold water on my face
And spoil a page with rhymes?

Wow, I haven’t blogged in a while. I’ve finished my poetry section so stay tuned for a LOT of TPCASTTs. Ok, what I have found from all the poems I have read by Dorothy Parker is that she uses highly contrasting connotative diction that creates an image in the reader’s mind and then ends her poem with a snarling, sarcastic comment. Title: First off, the title itself seems to indicate or imply that the poem is going to poke at a particular issue because the phrase, “well worn” indicates that the speaker knows how ingeniune this “story” is and how she is going to portray her reasons for this. Paraphrase: The first sentence is about a female (it seems) speaker that has a particular affection towards her “one love” so she ran up a hill to follow him. The speaker then begins to describe her “love” as being “terribly” mesmerizing and she could not help but be engulfed in his presence. They both “trod” together and seemed to have had an affair or romance without the fear of walking into “the muttering town” and were not at all shamed for their actions. The speaker explains to the reader how she wore her heart like a stain on a beautiful velvet dress. Her lover left her as she stumbled to hold her head high. She explains her confusion in indecisiveness as to what she should do now that this event has occurred and snarls that the only thing left is to sulk about it and write it in a poem. Connotation: This poem has so many connotations in it which creates its general tone.
First off, “well worn” as I’ve stated before, sets the speaker’s tone as being sarcastic and almost exploitive of the nature of overused “stories”. It prepares the reader to look for this attitude throughout the poem and sets the general mood of it as well by indicating the speaker’s attitude.
“In April, in April” is repeatedly used throughout the poem. I find the connotation of the month, April, to be very interesting in how Parker uses it. When one thinks of this month, they either picture spring or rain. With the image of spring comes flowers and happiness which creates a general vibe of the synthetic happiness the speaker feels when in love as opposed to the speaker’s genuine and underlying attitude. April can also imply a rainy season because of the phrase “April showers”. The speaker is subtly presenting her attitude despite her “happy” emotions of being in love. ”one love”: I know this isn’t referring to its connotative meaning but I wanted to note that the word “one” seemed to imply that those who are blinded by love sound pitiful.
"high": the way in which Parker uses this word is creatively placed due to the fact that it implies several things. For one thing, "high" can be associated with something that is unable to be attainable and can also bring about an image of heaven because it refers to something so high up and angelic.
"hill": I find it interesting how Parker combines this word with "high" because she implies to the reader a negative vibe because she is basically indicating that this love of hers is unable to be reached (the hill can be taken as the final product of a struggle; a desired goal because in literature, the climbing to the top of the hill is usually the goal of whomever is climbing somewhere).
"slope": brings about a connotative implication of something steep or a struggle to go up against "thread": although it does not look negatively connotative, in context, it definitely makes its point about our speaker's dreams of romance. The speaker implies she is chasing after something so thin, as a thread, knowingly that it is unlikely to occur.
"hard": I found it slightly different how she explains the man to be this way. I'm guessing it’s an indirect metaphor referring to the man's heart. When I first read this word in the context of the poem, it reminded me of stone or rock that is unbreakable.
"slip": implying that it was by mistake; uncontrollable
"silver": the use of this word is interesting because with silver comes the implication of rotting or oxidizing with changes silver to rust which hints at what happened to their love because the man seemed to tolerate his "love" up until he lets her go (when his "emotions" rust)
"muttering": I just find it a bit comical when Parker uses this word in her poem. I mean, the speaker knows that the entire town is speaking of her yet she admits it openly and does not care. This word is pretty negative in context which again subtly brings out Parker's attitude and mockery towards the speaker of the poem.
"wet": this word is used to describe the heart of the speaker. When "wet" is used, it usually means that something was recently caused to make it to be in that state and also implies that it has not died out yet and is still a fresh sort of pain to the speaker.
"velvet": usually I associate this word with the upper class or something very fragile. She uses this word in contrast with "wet stain" which strikes the reader because of such a contrast in level of diction (wet and stain are such standard words which velvet is more formal and descriptive) which indicates that even something so simple as expressing one's emotions to another can have and the drastic affects it can cause on others.
Attitude: As I mentioned many times before, I definitely believe that Parker is snarling in some ways at those who fall in love so easily despite the warnings of others, get their hearts broken, and frivolously decide that there is nothing else to do but sit and mope about it and write about their ailment. Parker demonstrates this through the diction she chooses and the last stanza which changes completely in style to indicate her underlying purpose.
Shift: I'd say the shifts of this poem are after every stanza. She first begins talking about how she is oh so passionately in love, shifts over to describe the difficult and almost cold nature of her lover, refers to how she did not listen to others and had a romantic relationship with this man despite the warnings of others and how her heart was broken and then to the final stanza which reveals Parker's attitude more than the speaker about the fact that there is nothing left to do but sulk and write about it.
Theme: This poem has two themes: In life, often times we tend to follow our hearts instead of rationally listening to others' opinions that sometimes end up being true.
The second is that: when things happen against what she wished them to turn out to be, we must hold our heads high and not do what the speaker of the poem does.
Title: Parker uses this title to indicate that this situation never gets old and the fact that it occurs quite often yet people never learn from the experience. Wow, this was long. I guess I'll type out the rest of the TPCASSTs in the next entry or two. I'm still trying to think though, why do we as readers react to wit? I mean, I can pick up on a lot of wit used but why does it strike me and is it more effective to demonstrate one's purpose? I'm still trying to get my grasp on the answer to these questions.

TPCASTT: Of a Woman, Dead Young

Hello =] Ok, brace yourselves…this is going to be a long entry. I finally have some time to blog what I've been taking notes on in my notebook while reading. I'm almost done with the poetry component so I'll be posting all of the notes I've taken on it. Explaining "wit" is harder than I thought. From the poetry by Dorothy Parker, I've found that she's witty by the way in which she presents her attitude to the reader and the particular connotations of certain words. First poem: "Of a Woman, Dead Young"
TPCASTT (I've honestly found this strategy the most useful with poetry. I started out doing SOAPSTONE but found TPCASTT a lot easier when dealing with analysis.)
T- Title: First off, I would like to comment on the inverted syntax here. Why does Parker deliberately choose to place "Dead Young" subsequent to "Of a Woman"? She possibly did this in order to stress the fact that she may be going to make a generalization or observation about the traditional roles of women in society. The placement of the words, "dead" and "young" is an interesting combination. "Dead" is usually associated with age, deterioration. It is somewhat negatively connotative. It is very curt and straightforward. "Young" tends to have an opposite sort of connotation; usually one pictures a porcelain doll with rosy cheeks when hearing this word.
P-Paraphrase: If this woman had been beautiful or wiser than the women around her, or moved with more poise or made a statement, if she had sons by her side like many other women had, did she have better or was she just waiting? If They had seen a flower on the floor amongst the great mountains and rivers in the world, they would've stepped on it, unnoticed. C-Connotation: This poem is filled with many highly connotative diction to emphasize the coldness and heartless of others.
-"She"/"They": I know this is not connotation but I wanted to comment on the use of this pronoun throughout the poem. This pronoun is not reinforced by any names. These unspecific pronouns may be used to make a generalization about how mankind interacts with each other.
-"Beautiful": This word is highly positive. Beauty is usually associated is nature or something in its pure form. This word is somewhat ironic to be placed at the beginning of the poem when the speaker is expressing how "if this woman was more beautiful" than maybe she would have been accepted. Parker is definitely witty in using this word to show society as contradicting.
-"moved" and "defiance": I found it very interesting how these two words are used together in terms of their connotation. "Moved" usually is a conscious action and in this case, Parker is encouraging women to be defiant although she jokingly means the opposite. Wit is used here because of the contrast in connotation.
-"eviler": usually is meant to portray something negative but she adds an "er" to the end for comic affect.
-"blast": Interesting how Parker uses this word because it implies that things have gone out of proportion. -"trample": very negatively connotative word when expressing someone stepping on a flower. Brings to mind someone crushing the world. It is used to blow up the situation.
A-attitude: The attitude of Parker in this poem is most defiantly comic and mocking. First off, the contrast in diction between simple, straightforward objects incorporated with complicated, overly connotative words exemplifies the fact that often society blows situations out of proportion that are not within the normal traditions. S-Shift: The shift takes place during the second stanza where she brings in the extended metaphor involving nature which has nothing to do with the woman above. In the first stanza, she makes it seem like it is the woman's fault for dying unnoticed but when the reader reads the second stanza, it is quite evident that she is mocking society in the first stanza and further exemplifies her views using the metaphor of the flower (such a small and different aspect of nature as opposed to the large mountains and rivers) and that it is "trampled" due to society's ignorance and emphasize on the obvious rather than paying attention to the different aspects of life rather than being one sided.
T-theme: Society always blames those who are different than themselves due to their incoherent views but in reality, it is society's fault because they are the ignorant ones.
T-title: The title makes more sense now emphasizing the anonymous woman mentioned in the first stanza who did not conform to society's expectations of her. Because of this, she is seen as "dead" because not many in her presence seem to notice her due to her lack of conformity to the social norm. "Young" portrays the fact that she is a young woman with much potential that will now go unnoticed because of society's stupidity. I find this is where Parker uses her wit the most. She mocks society through the connotation of the title throughout the poem which really stick out to the reader once they have read it.

I still haven't exactly put my finger on how to define "wit" in the poems I've read so far. I know they're witty because I can pick up on it but I'm still not sure why I percieve them to be so.
I'm going to post two or three more TPCASTTs on seperate poems but seperately because it'll get too confusing if I post them all in one post. Stay tuned. =]