Nose to the Grindstone

I am wondering about how this year will go. Life doesn't always go according to plan, and that just makes everything more complicated. All of the obstacles I have to overcome are going to be different and difficult. That makes me think about what I actually can do to make the road a little less bumpier. Just one decision that I make can change my entire story. Just like in the "Three Girls," what if they never helped out Marylin Monroe? How would the story have changed? Better or for worse? And in "Richard Cory," if he made a different decision, at least his story would have continued for a little while longer. The decisions we make are our character. Without our character where would or induviduality be? How could anyone survive without standing up for something they truly believe in?

The Upcoming Adventure

I was in Ireland this summer for a family reunion, and on the way back to the Dublin Airport we stopped to see William Butler Yeats' grave. I was expecting something elaborate, considering how well known he is. The grave was simple, and there was a small evergreen plant right in front of the headstone. There was a small statue in front of the graveyard, but it doesn't count because Yeats' skeleton is not lying underneath it. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture because my camera ran out of battery due to the difference of plugs in Ireland. I don't remember ever reading any of William Butler Yeats' poems before "The Second Coming", but when I did in class this week the poem seemed to have more importance because I have seen his resting place. There were crows all over the shady graveyard and the ground was soggy with mud so I had to jump around to avoid stepping on a grave or mud puddles. The dark, foreboding tone of "The Second Coming" was an inside look into how Yeats' thought about all the turmoil of his time. There will be turmoil in my life in this last year of high school due to all the stress and studying, but it will be worth all the hardwork. I want to be in Ireland again.

The Wanderer

The man in "The Wanderer" seems to be confident and doubtful at the same time. The man seems to be confident because of the way that he is standing at the edge of a cliff. He also seems to be doubtful about his life, looking over the ocean. Maybe he is questioning his purpose in life? The way the man is dressed also gives an onlooker an idea about where the man stands in society. The man is well dressed, and is probably part of the upper class. "The Wanderer" relates to our senior class because the man is unsure about his future, as most of the seniors are, and because the seniors are on the edge of stepping into a new life represented in "The Wanderer" by how the man is just on the edge of the cliff.