Entry 53: Slanted Truth

Refer to p. 396 of your text and read Dickinson’s “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant.” The title of this poem may reveal Dickinson’s method of survival as well as the essence of her own poetry. What do you think it means to tell the truth “slant”? Is it the same as telling a lie? Also, examine the poem and look for its literal meaning, as well as figures of speech, rhyme, and other poetic devices.

• The title of the poem "Tell all the Truth but tell it Slant" reveals the methods of survival as well as the essence of Emily Dickinson's poetry by twisting and distorting the whole, complete truth to make it fit certain purposed and circumstances. To tell the truth slanted means to twist  and distort the truth that that it is acceptable by others. Sometimes people do this to prevent further chaos from occurring, because sometimes the truth hurts. Telling the truth slanted may also mean that the person is omitting some crucial information, which is another way of twisting and distorting the whole, complete truth.
• Telling the truth slanted is similar to lying, in some ways. Both of them mean that one does not tell the complete, whole truth. However, lying usually means to create and tell someone else a completely false version of what the "truth" is. Telling the truth slanted, however, means that one tells it in a version based on the real version of "truth", changing some messages and meanings of the original truth.
• I believe that telling the truth slanted is always better than telling a lie. This is because even if people found out that you didn't tell the complete, whole truth, you told them the basis of the truth. Another reason is that maybe the person might understand why you didn't tell the whole truth.

Entry 52: Hopes?

In Dickinson’s “If you were coming in the Fall,” the speaker indicates feeling some kind of hope. Do you think the hope expressed in this poem are fairly common, or are they rare and odd? Given the general pessimism of Dickinson’s work, does this poem stand out as showing some optimism, or does the attitude toward the hope and its likelihood of being fulfilled keep it consistent with her other works? What experiences have you had in life in which you hoped for something but had no way of knowing if it would ever happen?

• I believe that the hope expressed in this poem is fairly common. Many literary works include the aspect of hope, and the feeling of hoping for something, because the majority of the people will always hope for something good to happen, even if they are pessimists or realists. This poem, though generally pessimistic, has some optimistic attribute within it. However, this doesn't make it stand out. Why? Because the attitude towards the hope and its likelihood of being fulfilled is consistent with the other works of Emily Dickinson.
• There have been some instances in life in which I hoped for something but had no way of knowing if it would ever happen. For example, the lottery. Even if I buy a lot of lottery tickets, I will never know if I will win it or not until the results come out. So I speculate about what might happen, what could happen, and what would I do with the money if I actually win it. But in the end, I still don't know if I will win the lottery or not, so basically, all of my speculations were useless. This is very similar to Emily Dickinson's poem "If You Were Coming in the Fall".

Entry 51: Pessimism

Many of Dickinson's poems deal with topics like loneliness, isolation, or death. Given what you know about her life, as well as what you know about women's place in society at that time, discuss why you think she might have felt that way. Do you ever feel pessimistic? If so, why? What experiences have you had that might lead you to feel like Dickinson?

• I believe that Emily Dickinson felt the way she felt because of the circumstances that she were in. First, women during her time had no freedom, or if they had any, very limited freedom. For example, they were expected to stay home and do the housework and the chores. They were also ordered around and expected to complete tasks that were given to them. They couldn't complain, because they were in no place to complain to others. It was basically their role in society, and if they didn't conform to it, they would be condemned. Also, Dickinson felt extremely pessimistic, lonely, and isolated because she couldn't be with the people she loved; she was rejected even before she was able to communicate her feelings because the men she loved were married (in most cases of her stories, since we do not know the exact circumstances and situations). All of these together caused her seclusive nature.
• I do feel pessimistic at times. For example, when I have a lot of work to do, because I feel extremely tired. Also, I feel pessimistic when I have problems that cannot be solved. When I'm angry, I also feel that way, because I look at the negative side of everything. Another example is lottery. I bought many lottery tickets, but I have never won money, and this caused me to think that I won't win, so why bother to send money and buy lottery tickets?

Entry 50: The Soul

Dickinson’s “The Soul selects her own Society” is about making choices and the instinct that leads each one of us to prefer certain things and cherish some people about others. Dickinson implies that this instinct is not of the rational mind, but rather comes from the spiritual part of us called the soul. How do you think most people select their friends—with their minds (thoughts), with their soul (feelings), or with a combination of the two? Or is there some other answer? What about you? How do you select your friends? Give examples.

• Most people select friends with a combination of both the mind and the soul. How? When people are selecting friends with their mind, they are at the same time observing and evaluating and a person's doings, actions, behaviors, point of views, morals, and attitude towards certain things. People decide whether the other person is doing something wrong or right, and then decide whether the person is worthy or being their friend or not. When a person is using the soul to identify and decide if a person is worth being a friend or not, he or she usually use their initial feelings about the person. This makes first impressions extremely important, because one's first impression is what gives other people feelings - whether the feelings are comfortable or uncomfortable.
• I do the same to select my own friends. But, I am basically friends with almost everyone. There are only certain cases when I feel extremely uncomfortable with a person or when I dislike a person's attributes and characteristics so much that I wouldn't want to be friends with them. When there are actually these cases, I would try and stay as far away from these people as possible, so I don't necessarily break off all my ties with them, just in case I ever have to interact or work with them.

Entry 49: Tanku Poem

The Tanka poem is very similar to haiku, but Tanka poems have more syllables and they use simile, metaphor and personification. There is no rhyme scheme, and it is written in free verse, which is to say there is no specific pattern of stress, feet, or meter. It has very few distinct rules or boundaries. The only rule with a Tanka poem is that it has to have five lines and the five lines have to have the correct number of syllables.

Here is an example of a Tanka poem:

Line one - 5 syllables	Beautiful mountains
Line two - 7 syllables	Rivers with cold, cold water.
Line three - 5 syllables	White cold snow on rocks
Line four - 7 syllables	Trees over the place with frost
Line five - 7 syllables	White sparkly snow everywhere.

Tanka poems are written about nature, seasons, love, sadness and other strong emotions. This form of poetry dates back almost 1200 years ago.

It is important to use sharp, concrete images in your Tanka. Look at the example above: cold water, white cold snow on rocks, trees with frost, white sparkly snow. All of these are concrete images that really make you “see” the picture being described. The one fairly weak adjective use is “beautiful.” Beauty is an abstract idea, and it can mean different things to different people. It is also a rather general term, so it doesn’t tell us much. It is better to show what is beautiful about the mountain than to simply tell us that they are beautiful.

Please write three Tanka poems. Choose themes from above, or come up with your own theme. When you write your Tankas, try to make a very clear picture of something, some place, some event, or some person in your mind. Really visualize it—its colors, sounds shapes, motions, smells, and any other sensations you can remember. Don’t start to write until you can see a picture in your mind.

Tanku 1
Sky blinking yellow
Strangers walking on the street
Trees shaking lightly
Over the crowds of people
I look up towards the sky

Tanku 2
Sitting on the grass
Feeling the cold breeze pass by
Watching the kids play
Under the scorching bright sun
I sit in silence, thinking

Tanku 3
Hearing Sarah talk
Makes me want to laugh out loud
She likes to act smart
Making her very nerdy
She's the nerd of juniors

Entry 48: Haiku

Haiku is a poetic form and a type of poetry from the Japanese culture. It often revolves around nature and natural things in the universe. Haiku combines form, content, and language in a meaningful, yet compact form. Haiku poets, which you will soon be, write about everyday things. Many themes include nature, feelings, or experiences. Usually they use simple words and grammar. The most common form for Haiku is three short lines. The first line usually contains five (5) syllables, the second line seven (7) syllables, and the third line contains five (5) syllables. Haiku doesn't rhyme. A Haiku must "paint" a mental image in the reader's mind. This is the challenge of Haiku - to put the poem's meaning and imagery in the reader's mind in ONLY 17 syllables over just three (3) lines of poetry!

The pattern for Haiku is the following:
Line 1: 5 syllables
Line 2: 7 syllables
Line 3: 5 syllables

Please write three Haiku for today’s journal entry. 

Haiku 1
Sarah is a nerd.
Yes, she's a junior nerd.
Oh! Nerdy Sarah.

Haiku 2
Sarah likes to lie.
Sarah likes to lie to friends.
She's a big liar.

Haiku 3
Sarah likes James Lai.
She is all over James Lai.
She's James Lai's lover.

Entry 47: Real or Romantic

In Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing,” a feeling of acceptance or even contentment runs through many of the voices. Considering the long hours and low pay of laborers in the nineteenth century, would you say that Whitman is romanticizing or idealizing the lot of workers? Or do the songs express a realistic and positive aspect of American life at that time? Would workers now be more or less likely to express the kinds of sentiments that Whitman celebrates? Explain your response, using specific examples from the text.

• Considering the long hours and low pay of the laborers in the nineteenth century, Walt Whitman is both romanticizing and idealizing the lot of the workers just by writing down his impressions of the different workers (and he may not be fully aware of what the workers do). He writes his poem in this way because he has never experienced the hardships of a worker (since he was a writer). The ideal society that Walt Whitman described in his poem "I Hear America Singing" is a society that Whitman hopes to see. However, the poem may still depict part of the realistic and positive aspect of American life at the time because of religion - everyone sincerely believes that they must work hard and be a honest and optimistic person in order to reach salvation and  go to heaven when they die, and not go to hell. The workers nowadays are less likely to express the kinds of sentiments that Whitman celebrates because the majority of workers are becoming less and less religious, and not really accepting their fate of always being hardworking. They no longer feel the feeling of acceptance. To sum it up, the workers are generally becoming more pessimistic.