These responses should be at least 150 words. Reply to them as if you were me.

Erik

All,

My name is Erik and I am working my way through a BS in the Information Security field. Obviously this is one of the courses somewhat outside the core requirements, but I like to read so it should be an interesting run and hopefully I can pick up a few interesting things along the way.

I currently work just West of the DC Metro area, and have been in the Army for approximately 17 years. Along the way I have spent time as an Infantryman, Special Forces Communications Sergeant, and most recently a Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant for the past 4 years.

One of my favorite books has been The Fountainhead by Rand. One of the reasons I found the book interesting is that I picked it up in high school probably around 15 and read it simply as a story. I obviously could somewhat identify with the underlying themes of the book but had no idea of Rand's philosophies in her writing or some of the political ramifications of her writing. When I was 27 or 28 and in Iraq, back around 2010, I found a new interest in her writing and "Randian Objectivism" in general due to political discourse in our country, and managed to put Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, and a number of her other short works down in about 1 week. Pretty bold stuff she proposes through her writing, especially if not tempered in it's application.

I recently read House of the Dead by Dostoevsky and found that to be a very compelling book as well, so far much more interesting of a read than Crime and Punishment, my current endeavor.

I look forward to seeing what this course has to offer.

Jordan

Good afternoon class, I am Jordan Jones and have been in the U.S Army for the past 7 years. I am currently stationed in Kaiserslautern, Germany where I live with my wife and daughter. I am pursuing a degree in Military History and have not really looked at this era before aside from the occasional reading. This being said I am very much interested in learning something new.

This is only my second online class so I’m still very new to this whole online stuff and the way to navigate the websites but I’m learning. I chose my degree plan because I’m very much interested in the military of the past and maybe its also to help me as leader to have the experience of times that has come and gone. In my free time I enjoy watching movies with my family, working out and exploring Europe.

Sadly, I am not an avid reader and never really have been, which made schooling very interesting for me and everyone involved. Once I decided on my degree plan and got more indulged in the military I’ve began reading some first hand account books on people who were actually in the military and in combat. This being said I’d have to say one of the books I’ve enjoyed reading over (not the whole thing ) was Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose.

Like I’ve said before I’m new to this online stuff but am very much looking forward to getting involved and learning with each and everyone of you. Good luck to you all!

Matt

Hello,

My name is Matt Guerrieri and I am currently stationed in Tucson, Arizona. I live with my girlfriend and our dog and my hobbies include going to the movies with her and just an occasional outing. I have been enlisted in the Air Force going on five and a half years now. I am 12 credits shy of my Bachelors in Criminal Justice and trying to get back into the swing of things and get the rest of my classes done. I work in Logistics in the Air Force, but one day would like to pursue the Criminal Justice side of life as I have more of a passion for that than I do anything else.

I haven’t really ever been a person that is into literature, but I have read a handful of books and there are a few that stuck out. Recently, I was able to finish Pet Sematary by Stephen King, which was a book I just couldn’t put down. I really like the horror feel to a book and also the crime genre. I still am trying to find another good book to start to capture myself into it. After reading the book, I watched the movie and was able to compare the book to what was put in the movie which is always a fun thing to do. I ended up liking the book more than the movie, which I think most people tend to agree with when movies are made based on books. There are always small details left out that people found to be an important part of a certain book.

When all is said and done, I would like to work in Law Enforcement. I am not exactly sure where I want to place myself in with this field, but as of right now the military is working out for me and I don’t want to throw a good thing away when all is going well. I can’t say that I wanted to take a literature class, but I am open to what this class has to offer and I am going to do my best to stay on top of it all.

Jill

After reading the lesson this week, compose a paragraph of 'reader response' to the Dickinson poem and one of the Whitman poems. One paragraph each! Remember, 'reader response' asks that you connect with the poem in some personal way.

After reading “I’m nobody! Who are you?” by Emily Dickinson, I was saddened by how much I understood her words. When I was younger I was painfully shy. The more my family made me crawl out of my shell, the more I recoiled into my shell. I have since grown out of that, in order to survive. I imagine that Emily was a shy young girl who had a friend that was equally shy as Emily. When she asks “Are you nobody, too?”, it made me feel like she was thrilled to meet another likeminded person. So, if Emily’s family was like my family, then perhaps being shy was not a desirable trait. Then she says “don’t tell”, as if it is their secret that they are socially different. I can’t tell in the poem if Emily likes to be isolated, or if she dreams of being free from her shyness.

I chose “Song of Myself, 50” by Walt Whitman to respond to. As a Christian, I immediately connected to this poem. The beginning line of “I asked no other thing, There is that in me… I do not know what it is… but I know it is in me”, reminded me of God’s promise to always be with us and to never fear. What I love about Whitman’s words, is that he didn’t once speak of religion, but the undertones of Christianity are there. He explains that feeling of eternal love from the Lord as “I do not know what it is”. I think that is genius, because do we truly know what it is? Each person’s interpretation of God’s presence is completely different from the next persons. Whitman goes onto say “it is without name… it is a word unsaid, It is not in any dictionary or utterance of symbol.” Again, I believe some experiences do not have an earthly description or symbol. As a nurse I have had a few patients that could speak right before they died. Some of them had a faraway look in their eye, staring into space. Others would point while staring at nothing. But they saw something I couldn’t. One in particular said “do you seem them? They are dancing!” Whitman says, “Do you see O my brothers and sisters?”, I believe at the time of his death.

Part II: Find another internet resource ( this might be a text-based website or a Youtube video or a journal article)that provides some additional insight or helps you understand any of this week's poems. Share the link and describe what the resource is and how it helped you.An article by Herbert Levine in the Modern Language Quarterly, circa 1987, was limited to what I could read but helpful. The name of the article was “Song of Myself as Whitman’s American Bible”. Levine writes “While he was working toward a third edition of Leaves of Grass, during June 1857, Whitman wrote himself a note that is often quoted but rarely used as a guide to reading his poetry: the Great Construction of the New Bible”. The article goes on to say that Whitman’s ambition is to provide a religious foundation for American democracy on a biblical basis. One hundred and sixty years later, his words are still resonating. What little I could read from the article helped me to understand the writer a bit more from a spiritual viewpoint. Whitman’s simplistic word choice have heavy Christian undertones. Below is the hyperlink to the article.

https://read.dukeupress.edu/modern-language-quarte...

Part III: What lines from "Song of Myself" describe, in your view, something important or unique about American identity? Copy and paste the lines here and then discuss your reason for selecting them in a paragraph.

The line “Something it swings on more than the earth I swing on, To it the creation is the friend whose embracing awakes me”, describes Americans and their quest for more/purpose. I think that no matter what we believe in we can all come to agree that there is more to this life that what we see with our eyes. Whitman says “something it swings on more than the earth I swing on”. I think that he means that there is more out there than we know. I think that Americans can identify with having a greater purpose than the moment that they are in. Whatever that purpose is, Whitman says “to it the creation is the friend whose embracing awakes me”. Finding a deeper meaning in life and having your aha moment, may feel like a friend hugging you. I think that what is unique about American identity, is that we are all reaching for something more.

Edi

Part One

Emily Dickinson

To understand I’m nobody! Who are you? One must understand the life of Emily Dickinson. She never married, nor did she want to, in fact, she had several suitors. By all accounts, she was a recluse. She stuck firmly to her poems and she was contempt with just that. Her communication with the world was mostly done through the correspondence of letters. She discusses in her poem how dreadful it would be to be known, to be a somebody. This can be confirmed by the account that she requested her sister burn all her letters upon her death. Though, notably, several of her works were published anonymously. She says in the poem, “How dreary to be somebody! - How public, like a frog - To tell your name the livelong day - To an admiring bog!” She does not want to be screaming to this dreadful world who she is, as the frog does in a bog. A bog is a wetland accumulated with dead plant matter. Maybe this is the bleak way she views the world and why she doesn’t want to be “somebody” in it. I find it hard to understand her extreme introversion. She must have experienced something tragic in her life that affected her dearly. Maybe she had severe anxiety or agoraphobia.

Walt Whitman

A NOISELESS Patient Spider

The poem sincerely speaks to me, as though I am that spider. Ever so blindly moving forward, reaching, grasping, in the perpetually expansive world. Never stopping and never truly knowing the meaning of why. However, firmly moving forward, continuously. It is as though the spider does not know why it moves and explores, just that it has to.

Part Two

This is a short animated video. It helped me understand a bit more about Emily Dickinson. Context of a writer’s background and surroundings can be extremely important in dissecting their works.

This next one is a YouTube link where three different animators animated, Walt Whitman’s, A NOISELESS Patient Spider. The animations on this video gave me a visualization of the poem that helped me contemplate its meaning.

Part 3

“One of the Nation of many nations, the smallest the same and the
largest the same,
A Southerner soon as a Northerner, a planter nonchalant and
hospitable down by the Oconee I live,”

This extract of the poem is uniquely American. The Civil War was an extremely turbulent time in American History and brought the country to its knees. This poem represents a time of healing and how we are all the same. One nation of many nations. It can seem like the country is divided into many cultures but in the truest sense, we are the same. To see past these difference and to rebuild is an American theme, especially during this time.

Tim

Part 1

For the Emily Dickinson poem, I could be missing something but if I relate it to today’s celebrity-obsessed, Ista-famous, braindead society, I’m reminded that I’m nobody. But proud to be nobody and couldn’t imagine a life in such a limelight. However, I feel like I could be missing something.

Now when I read A Noiseless Patient Spider by Walt Whitman, I can confidently say that I’m missing something and I have no idea what he means or what he’s eluding to. Could he be explaining the feeling of exploring a new place? It’s the only thing that strikes a chord for me, I don’t think I’m very good at this poetry stuff.

Part 2

The resource I found was on the web, Cumming’s Study Guides (www.cummingsstudyguides.net), and it analyzed A Noiseless Patient Spider by Whitman and after reading their analysis I realized that I wasn’t so far off but couldn’t fully articulate my idea. They described the poem as a human’s desire to construct bonds to its surroundings.

Part 3

Alone far in the wilds and mountains I hunt,

Wandering amazed at my own lightness and glee,

In the late afternoon choosing a safe spot to pass the night,

Kindling a fire and broiling the fresh-kill’d game,

Falling asleep on the gather’d leaves with my dog and gun by my side.

I’m not saying that this is the most American thing about the poem but this small excerpt from Song of Myself reminds me of a cowboy or a gold rusher in the mid to late 1800’s, free, living off the land and eating only what he can catch, kill or trap. A man that headed west in search of fortune and adventure, living an American Dream.