Throughout the play The Importance of Being Earnest, written by Oscar Wilde, a physical journey such as the journeys Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff both of whom lived in Hertfordshire, continuously traveled back and forth from the country to the city in a dangerous pattern.  The men ultimately created double lives that symbolized not everything is what it appears to be. This journey from city to country and vice versa gives a critical insight to the Victorian era. Jack, the main character, is known as Jack to all of Hertfordshire but shifts his identity to be "Earnest" in London, as ironic as it is considering he is the antonym of the word earnest by lying to many people about his real identity. This double life of his complicates many relationships that he holds. He feels as though his lover Gwendolen Fairfox only loves him because of the name Earnest. Not only does this show how gullible people in this era were, but the hypocrisy of this time period. Typically if someone is characterized as earnest they are trustworthy, honest, and a serious person. This is even stated in the title- the importance of being earnest. The title itself is hypocritical due to it is important to be Earnest considering Gwendolyn only loves Jack because she fell in love with the name, but also because lying always comes around to the truth, hence why it is always important to be honest to begin with. 

The ironic name choice of Earnest is a representation of the shallowness of the Victorian age. Both Jack and Algernon become acquainted with the fake identity of Earnest, but yet they use him for shallow and selfish reasons. They use Earnest as something to spice up their lives and add excitement. They create a whole new identity and lie to many people that grow dear to them for their own personal enjoyment.  The fact that the women Gwendolyn and Cecily fall in love with the two men before they even figure out that they have a whole other life far away shows how much first impressions impact their society.  The men are capable of creating such an in depth lie about who they are, but yet they are so shallow to the point where they argue over meaningless things such as cucumber sandwiches. The society puts so much pressure on these young ones, the women too, to live an exciting jealous life. They are expected to be above everyone else to the point where they feel forced to lie about it to extreme extents. Cecily even says this in relation to her diary, how it contains things that really happened mixed in with things that she wish had. This ties back to the physical journey that Jack took between London and Hertforshire. He felt as though he was nothing compared to others in his society and therefore created a more exciting fictional character to add up to society's measures, just like Gwendolen and Cecily had felt also.

The process of "Bunburying" was also made up as an excuse while Algernon entertained himself. This only emphasized the society's flaws. The most hypocritical part is at the end when it turns out Jack himself actually does have a brother and his real name is actually Earnest. The irony of the whole situation is incredible considering that Jack spent a good portion of his time completely lying to people close to him but yet somehow all is forgiven and he actually turns out to be "Earnest." The irony of the name is also emphasized again with this revelation. The drama of this novel is exaggerated to bring out the major flaws and shallowness of the Victorian time period . The mocking tone of the play also ties back in with the continuous back and forth movement from city to country and country to city. Wilde used the exaggerated drama to satirize the Victorian era and depict that even the people who made up the higher society felt pressured to take drastic measure to create an extreme life when it was them who had created it in the first place. 

A Light Exists in Spring

Page 281

Poem Number 214

In this poem, Emily Dickinson uses the "light" as a metaphor to which is actually the heavens

"A light exists in spring 
Not present on the year 
At any other period" 
We know that this reference to light is a religious symbol because of the fact that Dickinson says it only appears in the spring. Rebirth is often portrayed as spring time.Spring is also religious in literature because it only happens once and it is when the earth comes alive again, in contract to winter which represents death. Dickinson also says, in lines 7 and 8, "That science cannot overtake But human nature feels" - She is saying that this specific light cannot be explained by science because it is what people feel within themselves, much like how in present day science often tries to explain religions. Imagery is also used in this poem. For example when she says,  "A color stands abroad On solitary fields." The reader can envision this light overcoming the darkness to make the surroundings vibrant. This emphasizes the reference to religion and how illuminated the speaker is by this light. I interpreted this poem as a reference to religion and how reliant people are on believing in a greater being. It was in comparison to spring and how a season can change the earth just like the light of heaven can change a person. 
On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High by D.C. Berry
Page 273
Poem Number 203
In this poem, D.C Berry uses  one metaphor that's carried throughout the poem. The metaphor of coming to age, like fish being unfrozen in a pond. The first stanza initially describes his classmates as frozen fish. They are all listening, but not completely engrossed in the poem. The fact that they are described as frozen instead of dead concludes that they are present but not interactive. In the next stanza the students gradually become interested, but their interest is not recognized, "till it reached my ears". The third stanza is when the audience is completely emerged in the poem. The reader assumed he was "drowning" them  with his poem, but they became apart of it, "opened up like gills..and let me in". "Together we swam around the room", is a good example of the imagery within the poem. This paints a picture of the fish finally coming to life and together as one they absorbed the information given. I liked this poem because it was a different perspective. Since being a high school student myself, I am normally the frozen fish giving the blank uninterested stares back at the speaker in front. But this poem took the difficulty it takes to make students interested in what they are saying and puts it into words the feeling of watching a sea of people come alive to your poetry. 

The Handmaid's Tail by Margaret Atwood

a. Theme: The power of language
Gilead's society it based off of the fact that men have all control. The handmaid's have been stripped of the right to speak and to be heard. Gilead has no room for the opinions of women and have morphed their language into a form of power, or in women's case, another thing that was whisked away from them. Not only was speech taken away, but their names were replaced with titles. They are no longer a person, they are a woman who is there to serve a purpose. Women are specifically designated for their gender roles, such as a Handmaid or a Wife. This is contrary to the definition of men by their military rank. The society transfers their individuality to a system of titles and categories. By depriving the women of their names, it transforms them into an inhuman figure that is easier to take advantage of and use them for their "purpose." Gilead also gives terms to women who are of no use to society such as "Unwomen" and when a certain woman gives birth to a child with a deformity, something out of their control, they are given this title along with the baby being labeled at "Unbaby." Gilead uses language, and lack of, to maintain control over a women's ideology, individuality, and their body.

b. "Every night when I go to bed I think, In the morning I will wake up in my own house and things will be back the way they were. It hasn't happened this morning either" (199).
This quote from Offred in chapter thirty-two provides her with an illusion of hopefulness that Gilead will be terminated. It shows Offred's mental perseverance to keep her hopes up even though day after day she wakes up to reality crushing and containing her within the constricted walls of the society. Hope is the only weapon Offred has against Gilead and is vital to her being. She continuously keeps her hope strong and reinforces it with her mental capability to not give up. Although the obvious answer is to simply give in to the rules of society she still hangs on to the little sliver of hope that she has left. Offred not only refuses to smolder her memories and feelings, she does not get manipulated into being hopeless even after she is always defeated by the harsh hit of reality. 

c. I personally liked this book because it really opened my perspective on feminist views and had an impact on me. Whether it was the same gender as me or if it was about the mistreatment of males, the novel made me realize that this society is not as far fetched as we would like to believe. Certainly we do not have the handmaid's or other twisted rules and regulations such as women being only used for their bodies and forbidden to be able to have a job, but we do have the same discrimination and expected gender roles in our society. Although we are not as extreme, our society still stereotypes women into specific roles such as women only belong in the kitchen or the bedroom. I do not like Gilead, but I like the message that the novel gets across that women are unfairly treated differently from men and that this needs to change in society. My favorite thing about the novel was the ending because I liked how the historical notes gave a closing to the cliff hanger that we were left with after Offred was taken away. It did not finish Offred's specific story, but it completed the tale of Gilead and although the novel was about a handmaid, the real story was about the society of Gilead which tied into the abuse of women. The historical notes was a different ending than most novels, but I think it was necessary to answer a lot of questions that were formed in the process of reading. Overall the novel was very well written and got the feminist message across clearly and was an  impact on saying that society need to change the discriminating roles of women.