Final paper due date

Dear Students,

Please email me your final papers at miriam.atkin@gmail.com by 5pm on December 22nd. Please don't send your papers late. I have a very short time for grading between your due date and my own deadline for turning your grades in.

On a lighter note, have a wonderful vacation full of friends and family IRL and many holiday smiles rather than neutral facial expressions. It was a fantastically enriching experience for me to get to see your own unique perspectives this semester on the texts I know and love well.

Have a happy one,
Miriam

Tomorrow's class

The following students are scheduled to give presentations tomorrow:
Adebola Adegoke
Joellysa Alvarez
Yvette Benson
Hilda Boamah
Shajje Cuevas
Tinisha Edwards
Averio Falette
Judelys Francisco
Rossy Garcia
Isatou Gumaneh
Destiny Jackson
Erick Lascaibar

As I mentioned, the presentations will be five minutes long. Make sure you bring a USB drive containing the PowerPoint document (or comparable program) with you to class.

Attendance is very important for everyone. Make sure you are there to support your fellow students. I will be handing back your rough drafts at the end of class.

See you tomorrow,
Miriam

Dear Students,

On Monday there will be a substitute teacher who will come in to conduct a peer review exercise in response to your rough drafts. You’ll be turning in your rough drafts to him at the end of class. Bring four copies of your rough drafts with you to class on Monday. Please make sure that you arrive to class on time because when students come in late, group work becomes very difficult.

As you're composing your drafts over the weekend, make sure to include a thesis sentence even if you don’t plan to write an introduction until later. In this case, you can simply state your intended thesis sentence at the top of the first page of your draft.

Please note that even though you’re only turning in four pages, you must follow all of the MLA specifications listed on the style sheet and other documents I’ve given you. Before class on Monday, read through the style sheet closely, in order to make sure that you’ve fulfilled the requirements stated there. The only part of the style sheet to disregard for now is the requirement that your paper include an introduction, body and conclusion—we haven’t gotten there yet.

I will see you on Wednesday for the first day of student presentations.

Miriam

CLASS CANCELED TODAY

Dear Students,

I have an emergency and have to cancel class today. Please continue working at home on your rough drafts according to the steps I outlined for you on Monday. Your rough drafts are due next class, on 12/8. On that day, we will do a peer review exercise, which means you will be sharing your rough drafts with your fellow students in small groups. Please make sure to bring 5 hard copies of your drafts with you to class next week.

I've posted to the Box.com site 3 important documents for you to look at. Firstly, there is a handout describing what you need to do for your presentations. The handout also lists who will be presenting on what day. I've ordered it alphabetically. Note that some of you will be presenting next Wednesday (12/10), so it's important that you start preparing your presentations this weekend.

I've also posted an MLA style sheet and a sample MLA paper as references for you to look at while you're composing so that you can make sure you're formatting properly. Again, always refer to Purdue Owl, to check your formatting before you turn in your drafts.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Miriam

Assignment for Wednesday 12/3

Complete procedure #5 from the "Composing Your Final Paper" handout. Apply this step to two different quotes from your paper. Print a copy and bring it with you to class.

Fun with Technology Day!

Dear Students,

Tomorrow's class and possibly Wednesday's will be set aside for some guided research and drafting work toward your final paper. I'm requesting that everyone bring in their internet devices tomorrow--whatever portable device you use to compose papers--laptops, tablets, etc. I'll have you look up sources in class so that you can run them by me in order to ascertain whether or not they're the right sources for a literary analysis paper. We'll also work on polishing your thesis statements and gathering ideas for your rough draft.

Miriam

I- Towards a Definition

I actually write poetry myself, I have had writes block for quite sometime now. It has been a while since I have written a poem but reading "Mystery of Small houses" by Alice Notely has really inspired me to write again. I love being able to read good poetry and get the motivation to creat art of my own. I absolutely fell in love with her poem entitled " I- Toward a Definition" something about this poem drew me in. I wanted to make sure i picked the shortest poem to read. I was skeptical that the lengthy poems might be intimidating so I read this poem first and it was the best choice to make. I have never felt the grief of loosing someone, yet reading this poem I felt as if I could identify what loosing a loved one might actually be like. Her way of turning her own auto-biography into a poetic piece is something I aspire to do one day.

This book concentrates on this balance of her own memory and her biography. What she remebers is then carried out by her ability to tap into her own imagination from her personal experiences. She takes us form her childhood in New York City to being a college student, then being a East Village poet in the 1970s in a scene of growing friendships. To being a mother of two sons and loosing her husband. Which leads us to her current life in Paris. Each poem plays like a scene in a movie and you can feel that the poems are coming from within Notely's core and we are able to get a glimpse of her emotional, artistic, and spiritual personality. At the end of the poem she is stripped of her past restrictions and seems to be aware of her true nature of ones self.

C'81

Out of all the poems, this poem brought the most attention to me. This poem illustrates the idea of inequality among the rich and poor. Alice Notley, the author, brings a sense of togetherness in the poem where she often uses the term " us." I noticed that when Notley began to list the differences between the rich and poor she didn't separate the terms by commas. Perhaps, she didn't use them in order to emphasize each term. " They're crazed resentful struggling paranoid excessive anxious about their faded rickety possessions and their stoops their patches of sunlight or shade on stoops their children going wrong and all the disorder of garbage cans everyone else boringly has clean cold spaces new things privet schools self-filled conversations." Notley states "... they think it all goes for"pills." This sentence really stood out to me because it shows an immense contrast in society. A contrast which I believe stems from of course the higher class vs, the lower class. But also, exists with in the lower class in itself. There are different levels underneath the general term of "lower class." For example, I do not consider myself to be rich, however, I do consider myself to be wealthier than a homeless person with no stabilized income. I feel like I can relate to this poem the most because often times when random people on the train ask me for money, I immediately judge them based on their appearance and social status and assume they will use it to buy drugs. Notley mentions that she had guilt from borrowing but never guilt from having something. This sentence also stood out to me because this showed a sense of pride that I believe to be innate, Everyone is somehow born with a sense to want to own and have something that belongs to only oneself. Hence why many people migrate to the U.S. to seek a better future, and to have something they can call their own," the American Dream." Notley suddenly touches base on many political topics.

C'81

I did a little research on Alice Notley and found out she reconstructs the mysteries, and emotions of her past in this collection of poems that charts her growth from young girl to young woman. She erects structures of image and feeling to house the memories that swirl around her in the present. Her poems mirror and transcend the times they evoke. In the book, she explains the stages of her life and to the identities she has assumed which is as child, youth, lover, poet, wife, mother, friend, and widow. Mysteries of Small Houses is kind of an autobiography of her life but the intention was to explore the concept of the self, and explore the concept of the “I” pronoun through the exploration of her life.

            I decided to choose “C.81” as well because it was the most relatable poem in the book. I come from a really poor family so the fact that Notley elaborated on this idea of poverty and struggles in her life made me admire her very much. I have seen my family struggle to have a plate of food in their table day by day and its something harsh to experience. The first stanza of the poem, “People with more money than us don’t seem to trust us… we’re always looking to borrow five ten twenty dollars… they think it all “goes for pills” how much do they think pills cost. We have no expensive habits, clothes travel, no checking account” These lines made me a bit sentimental and upset at myself at the same time. We should feel fortunate that we have a roof over our heads, food in our tables, and not much but some money to survive and live a more or less decent life. Sometimes I see bums in the train stations or even in the middle of the streets asking for money, and people just walk by and not even look at them. I personally always give them a dollar, I don’t know what they use it for but I feel good with myself knowing I did not ignore them. Poor people struggle a lot and those that can help I believe should not hesitate in giving a hand to those in more need that you are.

C. '81

    In the peoms Mysteries of Small Houses by Alice Notley, I noticed a pattern in these poems with the mention of pills and the name Ted. I did a little research and discovered that Tom was the late husband of  Notley. Ted Berrigan died from cirrhosis of the liver. Ted like his wife was a poet. Ted was supporting his family by writing papers for Columbia students, then tried assorted odd jobs, and finally taught at various universities.

    I did a close reading on the poem "C. '81", I chose this poem because of the struggle her family went through. I would probably classify her poetry as an autobiograpy. This poem seems to tell a story of her hardships and struggles she faced, from having no money, and having to borrow money from people. Notley struggled to raise her two sons alone while continuing to develop her poetry. She seems to feel that people with more money than her family look down on her: "People with more money than us don't seem to trust us we're always looking to borrow five ten or twenty dollars we only want to have just enough money, today they think it all "goes for pills" how much do they think pills cost we have no expensive habits I mean as in other people's worlds clothes, travel, decor, entertainment we do buy books we dont have a phone for seven years, no checking account"

   When I seen the mention of pills in this poem what I got from it was the medication her husband was taking for his disease before he passed away, but when I looked further into it, Ted's illness went untreated, because there was no treatment really; and they couldn't afford  doctor visits. Looking back at the history of their lives they seemed to be struggling poetry writers trying to make ends meet with two children living in the lower east side of New York City.

"C. '81"

"C. '81" written by Alice Notley focuses on the lives of poor individuals throughout society. She states, " We're always looking to borrow five ten or twenty dollars, we only want to have just enough money today." While reading this quote, I made a comparison to my own live. I experienced many times at work where people will come to my boss to ask to "borrow" money: $1, $3, $10, it does not matter how much but they will always ask. I never understood why though. I believe that Notley is trying to show us the issue of equality, where the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer.
This poem focuses on political issues, making it different from the other poems. One similarity between all the poems is that Notley always refers to a guy name Ted. I believe Notley is trying to tell the readers a biography through this poem, and that money will always have power on people

Reading Response: “April Not an Inventory but a Blizzard”

          In “April Not an Inventory but a Blizzard”, Alice Notley, the poet of the book Mysteries of small Houses, uses similar characteristics with her other poems in the handout. Some of these are included: sound, theme, structure and vocabulary words. All of her poems have similar themes which involves her life and her family, especially her husband “Ted”. Each of the poems helps to create one picture that portrays her life time. The poems are generally arranged in chronological order from meeting her husband that lived in Iowa City to living in New York after her husband's death. Even though “April Not an Inventory but a Blizzard”, in my opinion, did not have a lot of poetic sound compared to some other poems. It did have some rhythms, beats, and emotions like the other poems. Similar to one another, the readers can feel Notley’s emotions through each of her poems. As for structure, “April Not an Inventory but a Blizzard” has the same poetic structure with other poems included “Towards a Definition” and “The New York Human”. These poems are formed like a paragraphs but broken into a stanzas. For vocabulary words, Notley tends to use words that illustrate setting, colors, imagery and emotions such as the words  Iowa City, Chicago, blue, black, pain, and grief. Some of her words are simple; however, they have a deep meaning. She also writes in first person narrative as she used the word “I” in all of her poems.  In my opinion, “April Not an Inventory but a Blizzard” does not have a lot of technical sounds that can be observed. This poem has rhythm because every line has a beat in them. However, the sound did not go smoothly because of the way Notley forms her structure. For overall musicality, the tone and emotions of this poem is portrayed as happy and yet erratic because Notley’ emotions seem to be unpredictable which depended on her mind. Notley structures her poem with stanzas that can be view as a broken paragraph lines. One of the main ideas of using stanzas is that it makes the poem easier to read and understand. However, Notley’s structure impacts her sound as the poem does not sound smooth and feels kind of rough. In this poem, Notley uses allusion as her poetic technique when she mentions people, movie and etc., that included Raquel Welch and James Wright, Grease, and Tarzan. She also used repetition of the words “at” in her first stanza when she states, “…at two parties at the same house/ at the first…/…at girls that nigh; at the second/ …at an Arthur Murray’s (1-5).
          “April Not an Inventory but a Blizzard” is a poem portrays that Alice Notley and Ted Berrigan’s relationship as a lover. The beginning of the poems illustrate the beginning of their love life as they met and danced “fox-trot with dipping” (4). As the poems progressed, they illustrated the development of their love life which included her feelings, ted’s personality and their activities. Since Ted is older than the poet, he had experienced in life. The poem states: “He…takes pills/I take some a few months later and write/ he warns me about pills in a slantwise way See this/ nose? He say It’s the ruins of civilization /I notice some broken capillaries who cares” (23-28). This stanza indicates that both Alice and Ted were using drugs such as cocaine during their writing process. Even though they know the consequences of using drugs since it can ruin their health and life, they still used it as a way to get high and be alert so they can continue to write more works. This also foreshadows Ted’s death because he died from Cirrhosis of the liver which caused from overdose of drugs. The narrator also feels mindless and lack of self-identity since she doesn’t feel like who she used to be. Different than other people included me, the narrator wants to breathe and stay alive because of her wanting to write. She continued to live in a happy love life with ted and she even gives him “Dutch brooch Delft blue and white” which can be symbolized as her heart. The poem comes to an end when Ted went away to Europe and left a key to his library stores. Inside the room, the narrator can feel all the writing experienced in this room which finally led the narrator to create her own poetry. The text states: “…in Ted’s library/ which finally makes poetry possible for me but I’ve/ not read a voice like my own like my own will be” (43-45). The narrator feels that she never read other people works that is similar to her. Her work is unique and has her own voice. I think this topic is important to Alice Notley since this is an autobiographical poem. The poems are about her and the path the she has faced during her life time. The poems portray her love for her family. They also illustrate the feeling of love, struggle and pain from the perspective of a girl, wife and a mother. This poem portrays the social and philosophical implication. For the social implication, the poem illustrated the bad influence of people on using drugs as a gate way to achieve goals. As one can see, because of Ted’s influence, the narrator uses drugs as a gateway to continue with her writing. Even though their writing may be fuelled by the addiction to drugs, it took away the narrator’s self- identity and also Ted’s life. For philosophical implication, this poem taught me to learn from and be inspired by older people through their experience. Older people, like Ted who is older and already successful, can serve as role models for the narrator as he guided her to success. I also feels that famous people like many poets, authors, musicians, and artists tend to have a downfall, at some point in their lives, that can be a result from drugs. However, many people can find success in life despite failures.

About choosing a one-on-one meeting date

Since it seems students cannot edit my post, I will simply bring in a sign-up sheet tomorrow. So please don't worry about choosing a time slot on the blog.

Reading Response 11/19,

In Mysteries of Small Houses by Alice Notley, I took a special interest on “I – Towards a Definition” despite one of being one, this spoke to me deeply. “Grief isn’t empty it’s black and material I’ve seen it,” the persona stating that grief is visible, it’s not an empty entity you feel inside you, it’s something you feel outside. Meaning, one could spot a person in grief and identify that, that person is in grief. “It is Black” meaning it's a dark thing to encounter. "It's a force, independent, and eats you while you're sleeping," the persona is saying that grief has energy and it's self sufficient, grief has an effect in your sleep such as nightmares, or sad dreams. Notley thoroughly personifies grief in this poem.  The remnant of the persona's husband, Ted remains in the apartment. Even though Ted had died, his belongings in the apartment bring grief into the persona's life hence her saying "whirled around me like burnt paper" meaning that the grief surrounds her. After time awhile, the grief is starting to shape the persona's life. "Could hardly stand up some days that year because of it" and feels like she is losing herself in the "sea of grief it's a battle." She mentioned that dealing with grief is like a war, and her past feels like grief because of her current condition. The persona continued to describe grief as a war, "and to accept her after such war, after the tears of/ myself as a general have hardened into semiprecious / ivory or coral, is sad and/ defeating no victory" she went deeper in her battle describing more how influential this grief over Ted's death. However she seems to be moving on from this grief when she acknowledged that "the universe is ruled by love and countervalent sorrow" meaning that where there's life there's death, where there's love, there's sorrow. Then she mentioned again that "Grief is visible, substantial, I've literally seen it" after repeating herself that grief is not just emotional, but also physical she said she had "seen" it which is a past tense, which leads me to think that she had moved on from this grief, but a little part of it will stay in her heart forever like a scar. (Done)

rip. Ted. c.'81

Out of all Alice Notley’s poem, C. ’81, was the one I was able to relate the most so I decided to do a close reading of this poem. The poem is very sad and sort of angry at the same time as Notley explains her view of poor individuals. One quote that caught my attention when reading this poem was the last line, 

“I’m fucking lazy unskilled and you deserve your money”, the ‘I’ in this line being the poor individual.  I believe that Notley is doing a comparison between poor and rich people as she mentions that poor people normally look into borrowing money to buy pills while rich people have a habit of clothes, traveling, décor, and entertainment. I do not know if Notley was trying to imply anything when she said that poor people normally ask to borrow 5, 10, or 20 dollars and that rich people believe it’s to buy pill and she responds that pills is an expensive habit so I think that she is speaking about marijuana as those are the common prices of marijuana and is very accessible and inexpensive in the poor societies. Notley also through me off when she said that “I think of ’81, ’82 as rather ugly years casting cold shadows black against the sky of a sun disappearing” so I decided to research what if anything happened in those years and it turned out something did happen. Apparently Notley was married to Ted Berrigan, a poet like herself, who was dying of cirrhosis of the liver during those years which could be a reason why she states that years 81-82 were rather ugly. Ted Berringan died on July 1983. If this is the case it makes me wonder if this poem could actually be about her considering that if your loved one is in need of medical attention one would probably do and spend whatever it takes to make them better and because of this Notley probably because poor and ultimately having to work for the rich individuals. Nonetheless, her poems seem to tell a story as they all seem to be reflecting some sort of past. I believe the past she is reflecting is her own but that is up to interpretation. 

rip ted.

C. '81 Response

Christian P.

        I favored this poem by Alice Notley and chose to do a close reading because it simply delivered an impact. The several opening lines drew me in immediately and also conveyed the theme of the entire poem as well as the topic at hand: "People with more money than us don't seem to trust us (not strictly true). We have hardly any, ever. Maybe they shouldn't trust us. We're always looking to borrow five, ten or twenty dollars". This quote spoke to me in a political sense as Notley is almost directly spearheading the issue of inequality. In my opinion, it also tackles the immigrant situation where the poor are often reliant on the higher-ups for money and welfare.
        Throughout the poem, there are instances where events are described in a first-person context, as if this had been written by Notley to portray the thoughts of a person who has seen better days. For example, this quote in the fifth stanza: "I'm being self-righteous so I can own my own past again" and the sixth stanza: "of course I'm not right I'm never right. I'm fucking lazy unskilled and you deserve your money". The former quote seems depict that this person is the seeker of salvation from the past and is trying to make things right. The past maybe even caused this person such misfortune as if it was just retribution that followed. This may also just be the personal emotions of Notley but choosing to convey it poetically.
        As I stated previously, this is a poem that confronts certain political issues. This is one of the distinguishing aspects in this poem that separates it from the others in Mysteries of Small Houses. On the other hand, there is a striking similarity between each poem. The character of Ted appears and is mentioned is all poems. It gave me a surreal sense of continuity where Notley is trying to tell an unconventional biography through this stylistic, poetic format. Upon reading, the thought the poem highlighted the idea of money being power. All I could ponder was that "money is power only when nothing is free".  

Assignment for Wednesday

Read from Alice Notley's Mystery of Small Houses (posted to Box.com). Conduct a close reading of one poem of your choice, following the same instructions as last time. Post your close reading to the blog by 8pm tomorrow (Tuesday).

RIP TOM. Frank Sanchez

This is one of the stories that I most enjoyed this semester. Amiri Baraka’s short story, “Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine”, has a very unique style of writing as the narrator is speaking to his grandfather who passed away.  However, the way the narrator tells the story it seems like if he was actually present when he speaks about his grandfather’s story which make it seem like he did much research in his grandfather’s life. I also enjoyed how much advice the narrator kept giving his grandfather and seemed to have small conversations with him although he wasn’t getting any responses. One more thing I enjoyed about the style of writing was that the narrator was not specific on what was going on. In other words, he said what happened but left in the air for interpretation for example when the narrator describes the burning of the store he doesn’t directly says who but lets the reader figure out who is “they”. I interpreted “they” as white supremacists that were probably trying to run black people out of their town.  Personally I enjoyed how, despite the changes of places and business, Tom (the grandfather) never gave up and always got up despite the vibrations. I started to analysis how the narrator kept describing every location his grandfather had moved to and stated if there was a vibration in the town or not. If we look at the first couple vibrations occurred were in the South and as Tom migrated north the vibrations started to minimize as once he reached Pennsylvania there was no longer any vibrations. The mention of each city that his grandfather migrated goes to prove that the South at time was not a place for African-Americans to live and that freedom was easier in the North. This novel reminds me much of Henderson’s poems about African-Americans struggling in the Lower East of Manhattan. Nonetheless the political structure of the country at the time mirrors Henderson’s poem, the kid, because just as the authorities were harassing the guy walking down the block it shows how society was harassing Tom as he tried to succeed.

Reading Response 11/17

Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine is a short novel by Amiri Baraka which uses the perspective of an unborn narrator who recounts events that occurred to his grandfather Tom Russ. One thing that stood out was the vibrations that occurred throughout the story and from class we concluded that repeating certain words or phrases means that it was such of importance, repeating the words or phrases signified the importance. I might be way off here but I can't help but think that the vibrations had to do with music. Not literal vibrations felt like with earthquakes. There are music with sounds that you might like and some that you don't. I interpret the situations experienced by Tom Russ to be something along those lines. It started in Dothan, Alabama in 1898 which was typical of the time having heavy anti African American sentiment with Tom being beaten up, having his store burned down. Later in the story, it talks about Tom moving north, "go to hunt them vibrations down. Got to find out where the music goes when we don't hear it no more" tells me that the vibrations are tied to music. Later in Newark, NJ, Tom has a store "Russ Produce-Super General Store,' 'Music While You Shop." I can't help but interpret the vibrations as sort of like music in which there are so many, some you can't interpret, don't understand and don't like. You eventually look for music that you might like.

Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine

Amara Baraka’s Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine is a short story about Tom Russ, who is narrated in the perspective of his unborn grandson. The way that the story is set up, the grandson is speaking to his grandfather, asking questions as if trying to understand and make sense of the “vibrations”. Im not exactly sure what he means by that, but it is repeated multiple times throughout the story and it’s something the narrator constantly wonders about and it seems to be an important issue.

The story itself is like the title—a time machine, because the narrator travels back to the past through the stories he is telling. He takes the reader to different places and dates, first to Dothan , Alabama, 1898, where the vibrations seem to be related to slavery. The narrator states, “ You are a Negro who has felt the ground vibrate, and you are trying to interpret the vibration” (1), and “They have burnt your store,Tom. What does it mean? Is the burning another vibration? (1). The narrator then takes us to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, 1917, where Tom lives with his wife Anna Russ and two children George and Anna Lois. The narrator states that there are no vibrations, due to the fact that they are living a good life, so he finds himself forced to move to hunt them down. Here, the narrator mentions music as something that they needed to find, and similar to Blues People, music seems to be an important aspect of their life. In Greystone Sanatorium ,1943, the vibration happened when Tom got hit in the head by a street lamp, and was bound to a cane and a wheelchair. And finally Newark, New Jersey, 1925, the last vibration happened with Toms death. I found that his death was written about in a weird and kind of innocent way, as the narrator states, “ Why are your hands to pale, Tom? You must be doing a lot of heavy thinking to be so quiet” (3). Overall, the vibrations in this short story are depicted as the unfortunate events that happened to Tom Russ.

Reading Response: Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine

           “Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine” by Amiri Baraka is a short story that illustrates the life of Tom Russ and is narrated by his grandson’s perspective. The author writes the story in a way that the narrator is speaking to his grandfather. Baraka uses a technique style that is similar to lenses. The reader understands the story through the mind/lenses of the grandson who is looking back to family history events. The narrator also collaborated with other characters through his perspective including his grandfather. Throughout the story, the author uses repetition to emphasize the word ‘vibration’. The word vibration can be interpreted in various perspectives. The story is told in a time line events with different settings. The first setting of the story was in Dothan, Alabama in 1889.The reader can see the southern resistance towards African Americans through Tom Russ’s life. During this time period, Tom had a difficult time because people tried to force him and his family out of the town by burning his store multiple times and attempting to kill him. At first, I thought the meaning of vibration is about racial violence. However as I continued to read the story, the meaning of vibration is changed. The text states: “If I were you, Tom, I would have cried. Did you cry, Tom? No, I suppose not. Not with the vibration still moving the ground in front of you” (1). From this passage, the meaning of vibration can be changed to hope, dream and self- determination. The word self-determination can be connected to Baraka and his other book The Blues people. In The Blues people, Baraka was talking about how African Americans changed their mindsets from the freedom after death to the idea of self-determination and hope for self-identification after the Emancipation Proclamation. The setting of this story is in 1898 which was 35 years after this event. Many African Americans were searching for self-identification, similar to Tom’s case, through migration to other places.
          Next place is in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania during 1917. Despite moving to an opposite part of the country and having a good life, Tom feels unsatisfied and wants to migrate to a different place. The text states: “No vibrations here…We’re going north, Anna. Got to hunt them vibrations down. Got to find out where the music goes when we don’t hear it no more…Gonna make a myth for my unborn grandson, who’ll surely like to know” (2). After reading this passage, the meaning of vibration started to shift to something that can be related to music as he cannot find in Beaver Falls. Vibration, in this case, can mean music. Perhaps, something that can be associated with the Blues or Jazz as he wants to created a myth for his grandchild. The next setting helps the reader to understand this vibration is about music. Tom and his family moved to Newark, New Jersey in 1925. This is a place where Tom found his vibration as the text states, “‘Music While you shop,’ George Russ on the piano, rags and stomps, victrola requested played if possible. It’s nice here, one vibration can carry a man a long way if he knows just how to handle it” (2). Tom feels accomplished because he found a place full with music and he can tell a myth to his grandchildren. However, it seems that his dreams are shed away when he got hit on the head and becomes paralyzed which led to his death. Despite the fact that tom has died, Tom’s life story still continues, with us, by becoming part of the narrator’s mind.

History marked by oppression

 "Suppose sorrow was a time machine" by Amiri Baraka is a dramatic monologue.  This fictional short story is narrated in second person point of view.  The narrator is Tom's Russ unborn grandchild.  Baraka's experience is incorporated into the story; he lived through times of oppression and discrimination towards African Americans. Baraka is a witness, and in his writing he is looking into the past and the present.   He uses repetition to emphasize the importance of the time frame, it starts in Dothan, Alabama 1898. During this time Jim Crow laws were active to prevent whites and blacks from interacting or having equal rights.  The aggression towards African Americans was severe, they were lynched, castrated and burned by white folks. White folks rejoiced in witnessing this atrocities, it was like going on a picnic.  African Americans sorrow remained Tatted into their existence.  They were forced to migrate due to racism.

Baraka uses a paradox in his story.  He states "let your unborn grandchild know what his death, whistling grandfather thought of the Burning". This seems odd, he  personified a corpse.  The violent death of Tom has an impact in the future, "your grandson'll be back to correct your grammar and throw stones in your wells" . He states that fifty years ain't so long and even after the fifty years they will still face "vibrations".  These repeated vibrations represent the assaults, government laws and everything that opposed their freedom and threatened them.  Baraka uses binary opposition by stating "how obscure is enlightenment" thus creating an imagery of hopelessness.

Both the "Blue's people" and "Suppose Sorrow was a time machine" talks about transition in time. The "Blues" is is a broader topic on history while this story links directly to personal experience.  They both represent the struggles Africans have faced and show the political implementation which have limited their growth and freedom.

Time Machine Response

Christian P.
Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine by Amiri Baraka

        Amiri Baraka's novel Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine, was some kind of story of the past transgressions in a time period where racial inequality was prevalent. The title itself can be interpreted almost literally and still give some insight into what the story is about. To clarify, in my opinion, the definition of sorrow can shed light on the particular hardships the colored race would face in the past and how it differed as time progressed. The "time machine" may refer to the amount of their suffering and how it can clearly help differentiate between the past and present. Specifically, as referred to by Baraka, the first page I believe depicts these unfortunate events as "vibrations".

        These situations are foretold with a narrative point of view where a yet unborn grandson communicates to the reader, who is Tom, his grandfather. From referring to Tom as "you" often, it is also told in second-person. Early on, Tom's grandson alludes to the fact that even he can feel the vibrations. This may be one way Baraka tries to legitimatize the sense of scale and urgency in his story. The end of the first page is where the grandson explains that all he knows of Tom is the "insane intensity of your vision" shows that this man is resisting these adversities pretty well despite what he has witnessed: "So they burned this one too, and said they were going to run you out of town. And just to spite them you knelt back down in those ashes and scraped the black off again, and built again." (2). I chose this quote because it gave a clear depiction of what Baraka wanted to convey in this story. When Tom faced the "vibrations", he resorted to a non-violent method where he resisted through rebuilding his store. Baraka demonstrated that that alone is enough to resist the oppression. Furthermore, I believe he wanted to emphasize that commitment and perseverance is what allowed them to overcome in the end.  

Suppose Sorrow was a Time Machine

Suppose Sorrow was a Time Machine , written by Amiri Baraka takes us back African American history, during the late 1890's, when the faced racial violence.  He presents to us his grandfather, Tom Russ: "Say that your are Tom Russ. It is Dothan, Alabama. U.S.A, 1898. You are a negro who felt the ground vibrate. You are trying to interpret the vibration, and what it means in 1898 Dothan. I know you Tom. You are my grandfather. Baraka frequently repeats the word "vibrate/vibrations" throughout the story and therefore he wants to put an emphasis on what the actually vibration is. My interpretation what the vibration is the ambition, obstacles, determination that Russ had, or any other African-American had. We are told the Russ had a store, which was put to fire. he had the ambition to rebuild it again (1). No matter what Russ may have faced in that city. he did not want to leave the city nor give up. He eventually had to leave the city when it built the store the second time, and it was put on fire again. On the second page, Baraka states: " One vibration ain't the world. Your unborn grandson says leave this pisshearted town, Tom. Pack up and move on, Tom. Vibrations are like anything else- there's more wherever you go." His family is trying to tell him that wherever he goes, he will still have vibrations along with him. He will succeed no matter what as long as he has the dedication and determination to do so: "A vibration can carry a man a long way."
Throughout the story, we are given a timeline of the family's history. They first lived in Alabama, moved to Pennsylvania, and eventually landed in New Jersey. Following the timeline, we can see that Russ did not give up at all and continued his best to succeed.

This story can be interpreted like the poem "Sun Goddess" by David Henderson. One similarity between the two works is that the authors wrote in prose, using short blunt rhythms in the beginning of the paragraphs. Both works also reflects on the authors own personal lives. "Sun Goddess" focuses on the struggle a single mother had to face, but still having the ability to overcome them. Likewise in "Suppose Sorrow was a Time Machine", grandfather Tom Russ had to face obstacles in a certain town, but with vibrations such has determination and ambition, he also was able to overcome the struggles. No matter where you go, or who you are, and the obstacles you may face, always remember to have determination and dedication in order to reach your goals, dreams, and to succeed

Reading Response 11/17

The short story, Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine, written by Amiri Baraka, begins in Dothan, Alabama, USA, 1898. The narrator is the grandchild of the man in the story. The man’s name is Tom Russ. Tom Russ is a Negro who has felt the ground vibrate and hasn’t a clue where it came from. So Tom sets out to interpret this vibration and its meaning so he can tell his grandson at a later time in life, because the grandson/narrator has also felt the ground vibrate.The ground vibrating without knowing the reason why is a traumatizing situation that can make a person feel hopeless for the near future. Tom Russ has this feeling and is determined to figure it out. Doing so Tom becomes an affluent man in his community, now that he has gained experience during times of hopelessness. 

Tom Russ owns a store that has been burnt down because of the racist mindset of America. Tom unafraid of his aggressors decides to build the store back up. He does this with much zeal to show his aggressors that he is not afraid, but because he does this with so much passion, the aggressors burn down the store again and threaten to run him out of town. However, this does not bother Tom, he begins the rebuilding process again, and the result being the “biggest funeral parlor in the county.” Naturally, this does not sit well with the racist people who have previously burned down his store, and so they burn it down again. The Narrator asks, "Is the burning another vibration?"

what he really might be asking is the burning of the store connected to some previous part of the story.  

Tom Russ, his wife Anna Russ, and his two children George and Anna Lois move to Beaver Hills, Pennsylvania. In Beaver Hills, Tom Russ opens up shop, selling eggs, produce, and has the best liquor in the county. Tom Russ sends his daughter off to college, so she can know about these vibrations too. When they talk about the vibration in Beaver hill Pennsylvania he says “no vibrations here,” meaning that they were fine there, no problems, things seemed like to be running smoothly. He sent his daughter off to college not to get a formal education, but an education on “them vibrations.” Anna Lois was sent because Tom knew she would encounter certain problems as a Negro in America, and that understanding these problems is paramount to a Negros survival in the country. Also, since things were running smoothly I think that bothered Tom because, he seemed to be motivated by the ground-vibrating situations. He needed answers to his questions as to why all those things happened to him back in Alabama. Which results in his decision to search for answers further north in Newark, New Jersey.

Finally, Tom makes it to Newark New Jersey where he attains great success. Tom now owns a Super General Store and has a position in government. He is a very affluent man in 1929, and that might be the reason why their was an attack on his life. It's as though he understands the game and is able to manipulate it in his favor. Making him very dangerous in the eyes of racist America.

Tom Russ was eventually hit the head with a street lamp causing him severe brain damage. He was restricted to a rocking chair next to a wooden fire. In this state of health, Tom Russ, was not able to tell his grandson what he had figured out about the vibration. The sole purpose of figuring out what the vibrations were, according to the narrator, was for Tom to tell his grandson all about this vibration, that he felt back in Dothan, Alabama. 

At the death of Tom Russ, the grandchild is watching him lay still waiting to tell him what the vibrations were all about. Unfortunately, because Tom is dead he can not tell his grandson about the vibration he had felt back in Dothan, Alabama. Tom never had the opportunity to tell his grandchild about his learning experiences of the vibrations and where they came from. The death of Tom without him being able to tell his grandson about the ground vibrating was a hopeless situation for the grandson. Several years later the grandson understand that the hopelessness he felt at his grandfathers passing is the same that his grandfather had all along.

Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine

"Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine" by Amiri Baraka is quite the interesting read. It narrates his grandfather's life through a unique point of view. Its like he's speaking to his grandfather Tom Russ but at the same time about him. He speaks about a certain vibration he felt about 34 years before being born. When I heard that I thought of maybe an earthquake or some form of destruction because he also talks about how Tom's store was burned. It turns out some people who want him out of town burned it down. However, through his tenacity he managed to rebuild it again, and again it is burned down. I think what Baraka is trying to do is show us how much racism was prevalent. He did this by starting out the literature by saying "You are a negro who has felt the ground vibrate, and you are trying to interpret the vibration". I am honestly still not quite sure what the vibration is. It might have been the struggles they were facing, because a physical vibration is often linked to a disturbance or interruption, but on the other hand, a non physical vibration is linked to creativism, like music.

Reading Response 11/17

In the short story, “Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine" by Amiri Baraka the word “vibration” recurred constantly throughout. Vibrations could be symbolism for music, because the sound frequency the musical instruments tend to cause vibrations, the term “vibe” is also an emotional state that people often get from listening to music. In this second narrative point of view, the “you” refers to persona’s grandfather Tom Russ, which was introduced in the beginning. In this short story, finding love for music while escaping racism was the main goal for Tom. The story started out in Dothan, Alabama a southern state, which in 1898 is considered a hostile area towards African Americans. Tom's store was burned down and he was beaten down by the "unholy bastards" and despite Tom building the store back to the ground it was also burned and was threatened to be ran "out of town." Yet with Tom’s persistence he built a funeral, but this time it was successful, and the racists didn’t mind a bit because it was where dead African-American go to, until the noise bothered them and then burned in down again. Tom then moved towards north to escape the racial violence, then the persona said "His grandson'll be back to correct your grammar and throw stones in your well" (3). I found this interesting because he's saying that he himself will come back to Alabama and continue his journey as his grandfather's predecessor, picking right where he left off. Tom and his family then moved north in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania in 1917. However it felt as if Tom wasn’t satisfied with selling eggs, produced, and liquor, hence "No Vibrations here." was acknowledged. With the lack of vibrations Tom proposed to Anna to go  further north to find the vibrations, "Got to find out where the music goes when we don't hear it anymore" (4). This clearly indicates that the vibration does symbolize music throughout this short story. But a specific type of music is what they're hunting for. Baraka made a decent description of music "Three Negroes, 2 with horns, the third with a battered drum. Tah tah, tat, tah, yippeee, hoorah.” (4) This made even more clear what music the vibrations indicate, Tom is looking for Blues.

Suppose Sorrow was a Time Machine

“Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine,” by Amiri Baraka envisioned his own family's history as an emotional time loop knotted by racial violence against African Americans. The story follows a timeline of events his grandfather Tom goes through regarding acts of violence.

I think these first two paragraphs marks the impact of the story, is in the witnessing, the looking back, the looking forward, the emptiness of loss, and the fullness of knowing. Baraka was a witness. It is through witnessing and experiencing that we provide history that has value.

The story's second paragraph introduces us to the "you" of the narration enacting the tense of the title “You are a Negro who has felt the ground vibrate, and you are trying to interpret the vibration. You are trying to interpret the vibration, and what it means in 1898 Dothan. I know you Tom. You are my grandfather. I am not born yet but I have felt the ground vibrate too.” The author becomes the not-yet-born child. He opens a passage between himself and his absent grandfather, which the same vibration goes from one generation to another. I feel like the present is translated into the past to interpret. "Let your unborn grandchild know what his dead, whistling grandfather thought." The ‘vibrations’ the unborn child senses through the womb of his mother is the maternal passage connecting grandfather and son.

Tom Russ was a shopkeeper whose store was burned down by racists. He rebuilt it, "knelt back down in those ashes and scraped the black off again, and built again" (2). The black ashes and the image of flames in this sentence show to me images of brilliance and savagery.  I didn’t quite completely understand what the word vibrations meant in the story.  At some parts of the story I thought the “vibration” was referring to his struggles but at others I felt like it was referring to the music inside of him or his determination. When I think about vibrations I think of natural disasters for example a tornado or a hurricane, the vibrations represent tragedy, negative impacts. The fact that Tom’s store was burnt down 2 times and he rebuild it back up shows the reader he is not afraid and he will overcome these harsh racists acts.  In Blues People, Baraka repositioned African American music in the U.S. as a technology of cultural evolution and secret resistance.