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.
Jacob Moore
ReplyDeleteI think we define self by someone having something that defines them from everyone else.in the poem it defines self when you are first born you are the most yourself because you haven't learned anything and your life could go in any direction but in that moment you are the most you.
I don't really understand what you mean by "why novels" but i think its good way to get something to be heard because people like to read.
Michael DiCenzo
ReplyDeleteIn the poem she says it defines self when you are first born you are the most yourself because you haven't learned anything and your life could go in any direction but in that moment you are the most you.
I agree with this because you haven't been exposed to the real world and you haven't been told anything so its just you being yourself.
In the poem she talks about the birth of a baby. It talks about how it shows your true personality shines because you don't no anything but yourself. Also how it has no hate because it knows nothing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this because it shows the babies best qualities and how it's true self is great.
Yasmiin Ali
ReplyDeleteIn the poem the author talks about how when you a baby your not anyone but yourself. As a newborn you don't have to think whats wrong and right. The line "i hated no one" really stood out to me because as a baby you don't have/ remember who you hate or if you ever hated anyone.
I agree that when you are a newborn in the hospital your first experiences are interesting and new. Also being your true self with no one to judge.
Dylan Brenner
ReplyDeleteIn the poem Sharon olds talks about the birth of a baby. The poem describes how you are your true self when you are first born because you don’t really know anything about the world around you. For example, she wrote “I hated no one”. You can’t really hate anyone or have relationships with anyone as a baby because you haven't been open to the world yet.
Suhani Karki
ReplyDeleteThe theme of the poem reflected the life of a baby; a baby that has not yet seen the world or has been influenced on by the bad or kind of the world. When we are first born, we do not understand that there are other people in this world, just that we are existing and alive.
The author made me look at my life from a whole different perspective. The sentence "I lay like a god" this sentence made me think that a baby is at peace with itself and doesn't need anything to make themselves happy and that they can just watch the world (like god). This poem made me realize how we truly are ourselves when we are just born.
nick Entner
ReplyDeleteIn this poem it talks about how a baby is born from the perspective of the baby later in there life. The idea was to say that you are yourself once in your life until you are told by your parents things that are true and sometimes not true.
Celia Hoffman
ReplyDeleteIn this poem, the author is describing how a new born baby is just a being, nothing more yet. She explains how the baby doesn't love or hate and she says "I was not very human" because the baby is brand new to the world and hasn't gained knowledge or experienced anything unlike humans.
Evan Lin
ReplyDeleteIn the poem, the author said that she "hated no one", that she "was free, not yet in love, and that she "did not belong to anyone". These phrases send a message that your "true self" can't exist unless you haven't been influenced by anything or anyone. You can't be your "true self" because you have already been influenced by the music you listen to, the people you interact with, etc.
Sean Curtis-
ReplyDeleteI think the poem defines self when you are first born because it is the start to a new life. You do not become influeced by anyone else when first born because you dont understand anything. Like how people are influenced by popular trends.
Jillian Boyer
ReplyDeleteI think that the notion of self is all about your environment. As a child, everything you learn about the world is learned through other people, and so you can be easily affected by any opinion. As she says in the poem, before she meets even her mother, “I hates no one.” this is usually not a bad thing though, it isn't exactly a losing of self, but more a gaining of self. And it isn't as if everything people are telling you are lies, it's just informing you of the world outside of ‘self’ to expand what it actually is we call ‘self’.
Shruthi Saravanan
ReplyDeleteIn this poem, Sharon Olds describe how it would feel like being a newborn baby. A type of experience we’ve all been through but don’t remember. She brings many descriptions that a newborn might feel due to it being the baby’s first minutes in the real world. Such as when the baby took its first breath or when it had wordless thoughts all something we can imagine a newborn doing at first. As a newborn, you would barely know yourself to even realize there are other people. So you be the best of yourself then and that’s the poet mentioned in this poem by saying I hated no one cause you would need to know someone to have any chances of hating them which was something the newborn didn’t experience.
Olivia Dionisio
ReplyDeleteWhen your born you have no idea whats happening or where you are and you have no memory at all. You have no opinions on anything so everything is chill and new.
Luke Newton
ReplyDeleteIn the poem the author describes being a newborn baby, this is an experience everyone has been through, but no one can remember. If you could remember your early childhood what would change about us as people?
Anthony Dimuzio
ReplyDeleteIn this poem the author is writing about when she was a new born baby and she doesn't know how the world is and she cant hate because she doesn't know anybody and she has the whole world to explore. 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. When I read the poem for the second time I realized that she was writing about being a new born baby because of that line.
Robbie Mahlebjian
ReplyDeleteWhat really speaks out to me in the novel "First Hour" she talks about being herself in the first hour in her life. The line that spoke to me and I found the most significant of being yourself is "I gazed and gazed, and everything was interesting, I was free, not yet in love" this line was the best to describe yourself because you are not bound to anything like school, job, family, love.
Being born is one of the most important moments, and you don't even remember it. You are a clean slate. You have no biased or opinion. No views. You are unimpressionable for that brief moment. But as you grow up you become impressionable and vulnerable.
ReplyDelete