SATISH MAHARAJ
ENGLISH
ESSAY 2 Choices 1
A poem from our reading that I choose which stood out to me was “Alzheimer’s” by Kelly Cherry. From the time anyone reads this poem it can be taken to be a very sad one. The tone that is set from the beginning to the end as sad. Also his word choice in this poem also shows signs of sadness for example he uses words like “pretends, crazy, slung.” Firstly according to the Alzheimer’s website the definition of it states that “is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks.” Going to my doctor, Doctor Robert Chavez, Internal Medicine, I asked him a question about Alzheimer’s and I quote, “Alzheimer’s is a very difficult disease to live with, for the reason that it affect the memory in the brain functions, and also there is certain times where clarity in memory is there which is when the disease becomes dormant, however the dormancy of this disease only happens for a couple minutes and then comes back affecting all memory.” Kelly Cherry usage of Alzheimer’s as a heading which is very ironic. The poem is ironic because this poem talks about an old man coming home from a hospital and having flash backs of his life.
The irony in this poem is at the beginning to the end of the poem where the old crazy man walks in his home. The poet describes his odd possessions such as a book that he pretends to read, showing memory lost. If we continue to the middle of the poem, the old man seems to remember a lot of his younger days, the home he built, the garage, and also the music he likes also. The line in the poem that shows this is “This is his house. He remembers it as his, Remembers the walkway he built between the front room And the garage, the rhododendron he planted in back, the car he used to drive. He remembers himself, a younger man, in a tweed hat, a man who loved Music. There is no time for that now. No time for music, the peculiar screeching of strings, the luxurious Fiddling with emotion.” In this little excerpt a vocabulary that I looked up was “fiddling” which I taught was very interesting, hence by definition from the dictionary is “a little (or small) matter.” Very interesting how the author uses this word choice of fiddling because emotions to this crazy old man is not important, because he keeps forgetting what reaction he has. According to a website I searched “enotes.com” a blogger describes this part in his way. He states “he remembers his past and the improvements he had made to the property. He remembers himself as a younger man and recalls loving music, but once again he is drawn back into a state of confusion.” I agree fully which “mkcapen1” with his interpretation because the old man is drawn back at a state of confusion cause of the disease of long term and short term memory lost.
Following the poem, in the last couple lines of this poem he states, “Other matters are now of greater importance, have more Consequence, must be attended to. The first Thing he must do, now that he is home, is decide who This woman is, this old, white-haired woman Standing here in the doorway, Welcoming him in.” At this point in the poem it seems that he has memory lost again because before everything was clear and he remembering his house and now he is trying to figure out who the white hair woman is. Alzheimer’s disease affects us with short term and long term memory. In this poem, I believe the old man has short term memory lost, because he can remember his past and having some clarity to it. And the next point he is gone, doesn’t know anything and anyone as pointed out in the last line where he is trying to figure out who this white hair woman is which is his wife. Vocabulary that I had to look up on this was “consequence”, I feel as though the author confused me by using the word consequence, or maybe it was one of her effects to make us feel the effect of Alzheimer’s. When you have Alzheimer’s you would be confused and wouldn’t know who is who or what is what, therefore it just a great effect in the poem. The second vocabulary I looked up in the above except above is “welcoming” which by definition from the dictionary states that it is being “Received with pleasure and hospitality into one’s company or home.” Very Interesting way of the poet usage of welcoming, it shows that his wife even though he is sick brought him home with love and still loves him even though he cannot remember. The word choice of welcoming in the last line gives and shows a lot of personality to his wife.
In conclusion, “Alzheimer’s” by Kelly Cherry is a very sad story, as attached in the bibliography is a video with Kelly speaking about the poem. She claims that her father was the one who had Alzheimer’s disease and she wrote this in tribute to him. She used to look at him at his points of clarity and then in a minute, all his memory would be gone. This poem is very touching also because in a way shows the steps in life. Which is, when the we as children just born and looking to take our first steps, for most times it is our parents who guide us, and when the parents gets old, the children guides the parents, which is a cycle of life. Therefore “Alzheimer’s” by Kelly Cherry is a very nice, but sad tone where a father has Alzheimer’s and has certain points of clarity of his life, and then it all change when the disease comes back into effect and he doesn’t know anyone or anything and trying desperately to figure out who that white haired woman really is.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CITES
craft talk with Kelly cherry
http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp
alzherimers definition
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=rhododendron&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1280&bih=699&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=tuS_mWTRpAzIoM:&imgrefurl=http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/flowers/wa_rhododendron.htm&docid=p40ot6ydB0Al5M&imgurl=http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/flowers/images/pacific_rhododendron.jpg&w=300&h=300&ei=a3-PT8-tDIaa0QGo88moBQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=95&sig=117641943091754855803&page=1&tbnh=143&tbnw=169&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:139&tx=69&ty=85
picture of rhododendron
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fiddling
definition of fiddling
http://www.enotes.com/arts/q-and-a/what-interpretation-this-poem-alzheimers-by-kelly-121815
usage of source ( taught is was a good source, cause she is a teacher)
DR ROBERT CHAVEZ (INTERNAL MEDICINE)
24 EAST 12th street, suit 604
In person interview
ANNOTATION
Annotation 1: “This is his house. He remembers it as his, Remembers the walkway he built between the front room And the garage, the rhododendron he planted in back, the car he used to drive. He remembers himself, a younger man, in a tweed hat, a man who loved Music. There is no time for that now. No time for music, the peculiar screeching of strings, the luxurious Fiddling with emotion.”
It is a man who is affected by “Alzheimer’s disease.” It is a disease that affects the brain, directly to the memory gland. At the beginning of this annotation, the old man just got back into his home and looking around he sees the front room, garage, plants, drive way and is reminded of his young days. .” One such vocabulary I looked up was “rhododendron” which is a type of flower and looks close to what a rose looks like. Attached in my bibliography is a picture of a rhododendron. The second word in this little excerpt that I looked up was “fiddling” which by definition from the dictionary is “a little (or small) matter.”
Annotation 2: “Other matters are now of greater importance, have more Consequence, must be attended to. The first Thing he must do, now that he is home, is decide who This woman is, this old, white-haired woman Standing here in the doorway, Welcoming him in.”
In this paragraph the author gives us a feeling of how Alzheimer’s disease affects us. At the beginning of having the clarity of his life, now he forgets everything. He is trying to remember who the white hair woman is. In my opinion, the white hair woman is his wife. . Vocabulary that I had to look up on this was “consequence” which is defined in the dictionary as “an act or instance of following something as an effect, result, or outcome.” I feel as though the author confused me by using the word consequence, or maybe it was one of her effects to make us feel the effect of Alzheimer’s
