Rachel Baack

Summary: In this poem, an old sailor tells the story of how he killed an albatross and then suffered all kinds of bad luck and strange occurrences at sea.

Summary: This poem was the result of a dream that Samuel Taylor Coleridge had. It describes a place called Xanadu, where Kubla Khan lives. It goes on to describe a vision that the speaker had and then Kubla Khan himself.

Summary: This unfinished poem follows a young woman named Christabel. One night, she goes into the woods to pray and meets a woman named Geraldine who claims to have been the victim of a kidnapping. At first, Christabel believes her, but it soon becomes apparent that something is not quite right about Geraldine.

I have read the following poems included in this book (listed with ratings below):

• “The Latest Decalogue”: This poem is Cough’s observation of the perversion of the Ten Commandments that he saw during his time. Rating: 4/5
• “Say Not the Struggle Nought Availeth”: Clough wrote this poem after the fighters in the European revolutions of 1848, which he had supported, were defeated. The poem charges its readers not to believe that their cause is lost and offers a hopeful outlook for the future. Rating: 4.5/5
• “Spirit’s Song” (from “Dispychus”): The speaker revels in his wealth and love of its effects. The poem draws attention to the corrupting factor of wealth. Rating: 3/5

I have read two poems included in Through the Looking Glass (listed and rated below):

• “Jabberwocky”: This is a poem from Lewis Carroll’s book Through the Looking-Glass. It includes a bunch of nonsense words that tell a surprisingly decipherable story. The poem is an interesting tool for revealing the nature of language and grammar. Rating: 4.5/5
• “The White Knight’s Song”: This poem recounts the bizarre interaction of the speaker and an old man. The speaker repeatedly asks the old man how he lives but fails to listen to the odd answer in favor of pondering equally odd thoughts. Rating: 2.5/5

I have read the following poems by Matthew Arnold that can be found in this work (listed alphabetically with ratings):

“The Buried Life”: The speaker talks about the human inability to express the true inner self except in very rare occasions. A profoundly relatable piece of writing. Rating: 5/5

“Dover Beach”: A description of a beachfront that turns into a contemplation of reality, faith, and love. Rating: 2.5/5

“Growing Old”: The speaker offers a picture of what it means to grow old that is both profound and melancholy. Despite my disagreement with the poet about the nature of aging, I enjoy the poem’s depth. Rating: 4.5/5

“The Last Word”: The speaker notes his audience’s exhaustion with their striving but charges them to fight until the end. Rating: 4.5/5

“Memorial Verses”: This poem mourns the loss of William Wordsworth, whom Arnold considers to be “the last poetic voice.” The speaker praises Wordsworth’s ability to make his readers feel. Rating: 4/5

“Palladium”: The speaker considers the protection that the Palladium, a wooden image of Pallas Athena, protects the city of Troy, even if the citizens of the city don’t fully recognize it. Rating: 4.5/10

“Philomela”: Arnold draws on the myth of Philomela, who was raped by her sister’s husband and subsequently had her tongue cut out. She was able to communicate what had happened to her sister by weaving a tapestry, and her sister, Procne, killed and fed her own son to her husband. Before the husband could kill both women, all three people were turned into birds. In Arnold’s poem, the speaker sees one of the birds (whose identity is ambiguous; it could be Philomela or Procne) and reflects on its eternal sorrow. Rating: 2/5

“The Scholar-Gipsy”: This poem tells the story of a young man who left Oxford because he couldn’t afford it, joined a band of gypsies, and said that, once he had gained a full understanding of the “secret of their art,” he would share it with others. For many years, people report sighting the elusive young man. Rating: 4/5

“Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse”: The speaker visits a Catholic monastery and speaks about his loss of faith, the uselessness of the loud mourning of the poets before him, the quiet melancholy of his own age, and the glimmer of hope for the future. Rating: 4.5/5

“To Margarite—Continued”: The speaker notes the separation and aloneness that people feel, as well as the longing to end that separation. Rating: 4/5

I read one of the essays in this book ("Roots of Honor"). In this essay, John Ruskin calls into question the theory of political economy, which asserts that people should get as much out of their workers for as little pay and energy as possible. Instead, Ruskin suggests (with respect to the manufacturing field) that masters treat their workers with kindness, that wages and employment be constant, and that “merchants” take part in their business selflessly.

I read a single chapter of this book ("Of Individuality") in an anthology. The chapter argues in favor of personal liberty and freedom to express one’s individuality. Mill gives several reasons that freedom and individuality should be allowed to flourish.

I Have a Dream: In his most iconic speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspires his audience to continue to fight for racial equality and to hope for a better future.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail: ”: In this open letter, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. responds to a public statement made by several religious leaders expressing the sentiment that Dr. King’s efforts to advance civil rights in Birmingham are “unwise and untimely.” With exceeding rhetorical skill, Dr. King argues in defense of the kind of public nonviolent resistance characterized his activism.

Summary: In his most iconic speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspires his audience to continue to fight for racial equality and to hope for a better future.

Summary: This non-fiction essay by Henry David Thoreau outlines the author’s argument in favor of disobedience to immoral laws. It was written during the time of the Mexican-American War.

Summary: John Lewis tells the story of his experience working in the civil rights movement to bring about racial equality in the U.S.

This is a truly captivating read that really brings history alive.

Summary: Michelle McNamara lays out the facts surrounding the crimes of and investigation into the Golden State Killer (a name the author herself gave the criminal who had been known as both the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker before DNA evidence revealed that these were, in fact, the same person).

Summary: This nonfiction work explores the personality discovery tool known as the Enneagram. It looks at 9 different personality types, explores the strengths, weaknesses, and “deadly sin” of each, and offers the reader help in living more successfully within his or her personality type within a Christian framework.

This book is a great tool to help you become a better friend, family member, and member of the community at large.

Summary: Linguist and cognitive scientist Benjamin Bergen explains what “foul language” and our use of it can uniquely reveal about the brain, language, and social science.