Why is the novel so important?
In my humble opinion, novels teach us that we are not alone. Through narration we see into the minds of other people. Authors must have great empathy; setting their views aside in order to understand the characters they create. Their characters will represent real people.
Jane Austen not only pushed the boundaries of how society views women, but also men in her novels. This conversation connects to how we define "self." It is not something born in isolation. Self is defined from infancy through the context we are born into. There is no clean slate. Or is there? Sharon Olds investigates this idea in her poem "First Hour."
Directions: Read the following poem by Sharon Olds, and briefly respond to her complicated notion of self. Please use direct lines from the poem in order to explain how she made you feel about the idea of self.
First Hour
Sharon Olds
That hour, I was most myself. I
had shrugged
my mother slowly off, I lay there
taking my first breaths, as if
the air of the room was blowing me
like a bubble. All I had to do
was go out along the line of my
gaze and back,
feeling gravity, silk, the
pressure of the air a caress,
smelling on
myself her creamy blood. The air
was softly touching my skin and
mouth,
entering me and drawing forth the
little
sighs I did not know as mine.
I was not afraid. I lay in the
quiet
and looked, and did the wordless
thought,
my mind was getting its oxygen
direct, the rich mix by mouth.
I hated no one. I gazed and gazed,
and everything was interesting, I
was
free, not yet in love, I did not
belong to anyone, I had drunk
no milk yet—no one had
my heart. I was not very human. I
did not
know there was anyone else. I lay
like a god, for an hour, then they
came for me
and took me to my mother.
James Kiladis
ReplyDeletethe speaker is a new born baby that doesn't know anything. she was most herself because there was no one else could judge her because she knew nothing at all and nothing brought her down. she was herself nobody else. nothing stressing her out she felt like an emperor. she had nothing that made her sad no one you want to be better than no one judging what she does she hated no one.
Rene Roustand
ReplyDeleteThis poem was heartwarming to read.
Sean Wilen
DeleteYes it was
Julia Campbell
DeleteI agree with this
Mitch Keamy
DeleteI found it very heartwarming aswell.
Frankie Huntress
ReplyDeleteThe idea that you are most like your self when you know nothing else becuse you dont know how to act by how other peapole act you act how you want to act.I hated no one. I gazed and gazed,and everything was interesting, I was free, not yet in love, I did not belong to anyone.
This is similar to what I said
DeleteDrew Wachtel
ReplyDeleteThe poem made me feel like being just born is when you will feel the happiest in your life because there is nobody out there that will judge you on how you may look. There is no one that will hate you and go out of their way to make your day worse. There is no drama with friends or relationships or there is no homework or school to stress over. Here is a quote from the poem that explains how just being born is the least stressful thing in your life. “ I hated no one. I gazed and gazed and everything was interesting, I was free, not yet in love, I did not belong to anyone, I had drunken no milk yet and nobody had my heart. I was not very human. I did not know there was anyone else.” Overall the poem had a great view on how just being born is the least stressful time of your life.
Sean Wilen
DeleteI agree with when she was born she just lived had no stress of school and friends she just lived the "happiest live"
Lucas Kaufman
DeleteIt's almost funny how being born can be one of the least stressful times for a baby, but one of the most stressful times for the mother or father.
Davis Blanch
DeleteI agree that when we are born that we are not stressed about anything like school or grades and social life.
Lucas Kaufman
ReplyDeleteThe speaker is reflecting on when she was born, and at that point her identity really hadn’t formed yet. So many parts of who you are are made by life experiences, and the speaker, having just been born, hasn’t been through any of it. Viewed in this way, babies are almost a clean slate that can be molded into any type of person you want.
Jayden Cho
Delete9/20/18
I like your analogy about how babies are a clean slate and can be molded into any type of person. I agree that they can be molded, whether for the better or worse, and I think that society and the news can shape up and influence the "molding process."
Davis Blanch
ReplyDeleteThe poem made me realize that when we are born we are born you are very innocent, you don’t see the bad in anything you see everything as being new and interesting to you. I hated no one. “I gazed and gazed, and everything was interesting, I was free, not yet in love, I did not belong to anyone, I had drunk no milk yet—no one had my heart. I was not very human. I did not know there was anyone else.”
I agree with when you said that when you are born you are very innocent.
DeleteThat was Drew Wachtel
DeleteI agree because you won't care if someone is making fun of you
DeleteJulia Campbell
ReplyDeleteOne line in the first hour really stuck out to me, “I was not very human. I did not
know there was anyone else.”. I think that reflects on how we gain parts of ourselves from other people and that it's only human to do that. I also believe that her saying “I had not belong to anyone” adds to that and how parts of her didn't belong to anyone else and that she was her truest self in that first hour.
Jayden Cho
Delete9/20/18
I like your explanation on what your second sentence was, and how parts of herself didn't belong to anyone and that she was true to herself only. A good analogy to think about this is of a white canvas, and how you are true to yourself, yet other people add their own colors onto the painting and the finished product makes and defines a human being.
Jayden Cho
ReplyDelete9/20/18
Sharon Olds makes me think about self in multiple ways. To me, what I think self means is that when you are just born, you are carefree, and almost undamaged in a way. As the years go on however, you become to have more and more traits that define a human. Without these traits, like jealousy, hate, selfishness, etc, you become a perfect being. This can be shown when she says, “ I was not very human. I did not know there was anyone else. I lay like a god, for an hour…” This can also be explained about all the different traits a human being has, like hate, and also says this is the poem, “I hated no one. I gazed and gazed, and everything was interesting, I was free, not yet in love, I did not belong to anyone…” What Sharon Olds overall says about self is that when you are just born, you have no personal identity to yourself, you’re just a little perfect being that has no emotions, no ambitions, and more. This reminds me a lot of the Giver, where the Dystopian society have some similar things she talks about. However, as the years go by, emotions, ambitions, jealousy all come to you and make you imperfect, which basically defines a human being. This is what I think what “self” means in the poem.
Peyton Levental
DeleteI agree with the idea of the baby being a "perfect human" because they do not have any personality traits and no absolutely nothing yet.
Ben Worthley
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of being the most yourself when you are born is a good example. In the poem the Author said that “her heat has not belonged to unbody yet”. The person that has just been born has not been obligated to love someone yet. She has not “drunk any milk”. The Author has not been with some yet so she is with yourself. The author has yet to been loved or obligated to love someone. The author has been by herself and not with someone yet. I think this is a great example of being the most yourself.
Sean Wilen
ReplyDeleteI think that she was talking about being born and a sense of being free from the mother she explains ever thing so deeply that you almost get deja vu. The author also talks about you being yourself and the beginning of something new."Then they came for me and brought me to my mother" that was the last line it just shows how she knew that it was her mother and she was safe. This poem was very nice overall but also showed that she was kinda lonely until she meet her mother
This is really good you described it very well. I loved the part about getting deja vu.
Delete^^ sophia lakos
DeleteLucy Elerath
ReplyDeleteIn the poem the speaker is a newborn baby, and is thought to be most like themselves because she is so young that she hasn't had any influence on her, no pressure and no knowledge of anything. She is just her, like a blank canvas. She doesn't even know her family yet. Yet she says she doesn't feel human because she knows she has not experienced anything. She was able to lay there for that one hour and have no care, worry about anything, she might feel like that was the best hour of her life.
Evan Brenner
ReplyDeleteThe poem “First Hour” by Sharon Olds talks about the birth of a new born baby. This made me more aware of what’s going on in the world because sometimes you think your the only person and you think you can say whatever you want. For example, she wrote “ I did not know there was anyone else.” Sometimes you don’t realize that what your saying could hurt others.
Peyton Levental
ReplyDeleteIn the poem "The First hour" by Sharon Olds, it takes place in the hospital where a child was born. This poem made me think when this sentence occured "I hated no one". The innocence of a child is strong especially when they are first born. They have not experienced anything yet and do not know what the world has. They do not know anyone but themselves so they hate no one. Another part of the poem I liked was the line," I was free, not yet in love, I did not belong to anyone," Once again, this shows how a child has yet to experience life. They are free and can now live.
Gannon Sylvester
ReplyDelete9/20/18
Freshmen English
First Hour Response
I think that what Sharon olds means by having a general understanding of “self” is knowing how your mind works and how you think and communicate with others. In her Poem, “The First Hour”, she says “The air was softly touching my skin and mouth, entering and drawing forth the sighs I did not no was mine.” This shows that she is feeling very calm and like she's floating and doesn't have a care in the world. I think this has to do with self because you have to understand someones certain personality to understand what they are feeling.
*know*
DeleteSophia Lakos
ReplyDeleteSharon Olds poem was very descriptive, it made me feel like I have to be more observant. She really captured how new everything is. When you are first born you are not yet exposed to anything, it is all an adventure. When the author said, “I was not afraid. I lay in the quiet and looked, and did the wordless thought, my mind was getting its oxygen direct, the rich mix by mouth” It really captured a moment of just looking around and taking it all in. Her poem is different than most even her writing style.
When your born you have positive mind set
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletei agree
ReplyDeleteThis poem makes me feel that when you are a baby there is no stress no one can judge the way you act or the way you look. Also you won't have a bad day just from one word that a person said to you. When you are baby you always have a positive mindset not a negative one. The baby is in the hospital and it is peaceful no babies crying.
ReplyDeletethis was Abhi Sharma
Delete