 Now that you have read and analyzed the poem, "Facing It" by Yusef Komuyakaa, select 3 strong images from the poem and discuss their literal AND figurative meanings. Finish your response by explaining how these images and their metaphorical meaning helps your understanding of the theme of the poem (hint: revisit the title of the poem).
PLEASE ADD WORD COUNT AT END OF EACH BLOG ENTRY! Primary Blog Entry Expectations (respond to the prompt above): 200-250 words, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the assigned "pen name" given to you in class. Due by 11:59 pm on Friday night (2-20-2015). Secondary Blog Entry Expectations (read everyone's first responses, select two that interest you, and respond to their ideas): 100-150 words EACH, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the assigned "pen name" given to you in class. Due by 11:59 pm on Sunday night (2-22-2015). (3 total blog entries for this assignment)
12
2/20/2015 06:01:12 am
In Facing it Yusef used very good imagery. In the first fifth line he said “I’m stone. I’m flesh.” In literal terms he was staring in to the memorial and his reflection was really stone. He is flesh because his body is made from flesh. But in figurative terms; when he says that he is stone, he is referring to the outer shell of his body wish is hard but when he says he is flesh, he figuratively means that he has a soft spot on the inside and he can show emotion. Also in Facing it he says “I see booby trap’s white flash.” Literally I feel like the sun just glared in his face off the shiny granite memorial. Figuratively he has a flashback of his friend mentioned earlier in the poem named Andrew Johnson that died walking over a land mine and blew up. Lastly, in Facing it Yusef says “a women’s trying to erase names: No, she’s brushing a boy’s hair.” Literally he is seeing a reflection of a lady brushing a boy’s hair in the memorial. Figuratively he see’s the lady trying to brush names off to either try and forget the death of the loved one or she is brushing away hoping it can bring the loved one back. It helps me understand the poem better because imagery is a big part in understanding things and when you can put an image in your head you can better understand it.
1
2/20/2015 09:08:30 am
I agree with you he was crying and got upset at his self for crying. He wanted to be strong but realized he was only human for crying like any one would if they lost someone in the war. Or if they were right there in combat then they would feel the pain all over again. His flash back of his friend came up as soon as he saw his friends name in stone. He pictured as clear as day like he was standing right in the middle of combat and his friend was being blown up once again. The women was only brushing a boys here but in her showdown she did seems as if she was trying to erase the pain of whoever died take back his or her death so he or she can live again. Like maybe she wanted he love one back again like everyone else there but it was a simple thing as brushing a boy’s hair.
3
3/2/2015 06:18:43 am
I agree with this statement it is very straight forward and talks a lot about the topic. This is a very great point of view.
4
3/2/2015 02:31:30 pm
I totally agree with what you're saying. He was very upset at the fact that he was crying, this man literally felt like he should be in this stone too, like he should've died in that battle field too, but he also admitted that he is a human being just like any other that could break and cry because he's not made of stone. He sees his friends name carved in the stone and it gives him a flash back and it's a very realistic flash back making it almost feel realistic. When he sees the reflection of the woman on the stone he basically says that she leaves and goes on with life but the people that are carved to this stone will always be there, life is literally done for them and there is no turning back.
15
2/20/2015 06:06:59 am
In the poem “Facing it“ the former fighter returned to the memorial and had a flashback. By reading the poem I can picture a few things taking place. When he says “my clouded reflection eyes me like a bird of prey, the profile of night slanted against morning“ I picture him looking and reading the names as the sun is coming up. Another sentence I can picture is when he states “I said I wouldn’t, dammit: no tears” I see him looking at the memorial starting to cry and tear up. One last sentence I can picture is when he said “I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby traps white flash” I picture him thinking bout the war how his friend was blowed up by a trap.
1
2/20/2015 09:14:58 am
I agree with you. His flash back of his friend came up as soon as he saw his friends name in stone. He was having a flash back of his friend getting blown up as if he was there again. He had at that very moment relived the pain hurt and have an image of his friend dying right in front of him by just looking at a name. He fought side by side with his friend and to see his name on this stone made something inside him jump and realized hey this is for real I saw my friend die right in front of me I watched him get blown up. When he was crying he was pissed at his self for crying for these soldiers that had fought and died with honor and here he was just crying. But then he realized I should be stronger then this but I am going to cry cuz im just human that’s all I am human and anyone else would cry just like me.
14
3/2/2015 03:09:22 pm
You do have a valid point he has flash backs but probably doesn't see the clearly because of he can see his reflection for most of the flashbacks.
3
3/2/2015 06:21:37 am
I also strongly agree to this statement it is very much so on the topic talks a lot about the story and the author point of view. And what's the author is trying to say.
4
3/2/2015 02:45:57 pm
I agree with you very much. As soon as he saw his friends name on that stone he had a flash back. He was having a flash back of his friend and how he died just as if he was there again. By just looking at that name he relived all that pain and suffering withing seconds. He fought side by side with his friend and seeing this stone with his name engraved in it just made him realize that he could've easily been also carved in this stone and be very well dead. When he was crying he was pissed at his self for crying because he just didn't want to cry but he realized that he is not made of stone, he is human and he can also cry. It must not be easy at all to live with memories like these, losing important people and you thinking that you could've easily been dead too or you could've saved that beloved person but you didn't, it's just hard to live with.
6
2/20/2015 06:07:08 am
In Facing it Yusef used very good imagery. In the first fifth line he said “I’m stone. I’m flesh.” In literal terms he was staring in to the memorial and his reflection was really stone. He is flesh because his body is made from flesh. But in figurative terms; when he says that he is stone, he is referring to the outer shell of his body wish is hard but when he says he is flesh, he figuratively means that he has a soft spot on the inside and he can show emotion. Also in Facing it he says “I see booby trap’s white flash.” Literally I feel like the sun just glared in his face off the shiny granite memorial. Figuratively he has a flashback of his friend mentioned earlier in the poem named Andrew Johnson that died walking over a land mine and blew up. Lastly, in Facing it Yusef says “a women’s trying to erase names: No, she’s brushing a boy’s hair.” Literally he is seeing a reflection of a lady brushing a boy’s hair in the memorial. Figuratively he see’s the lady trying to brush names off to either try and forget the death of the loved one or she is brushing away hoping it can bring the loved one back. It helps me understand the poem better because imagery is a huge part in understanding things and when you can put an image in your head you can better understand it.
9
3/3/2015 02:20:50 am
I agree with what you said its really straight to the point for a reader to understand
10
3/3/2015 11:54:35 am
I strongly agree with this person's response because it was so detailed and well though out in my opinion
5
2/20/2015 08:22:55 am
Three images that stand out to me are sentences 11, 13, & 9. These images stand out to me because they are important to the theme. The image that stands out in sentence 11, a plane has been struck by an anti-aircraft mortar and has caught on fire. The plane could be on its way to a crash landing and couldn’t make it to another airfield. That’s the metaphoric picture that got painted in my mind. The literal meaning of that sentence is that a red bird cut across his line of view. Another image that pops into mind is in sentence 13. The image might be of a slow moving bomber dropping Agent Orange from its bomb bay doors and the Vietnam foliage dies instantly. The jungles of Vietnam instantly gone and the animals that once inhabited those jungles are all lying helplessly on the ground gasping for air. The literal meaning of that sentence is that there was literally a plane in the sky that could have just been passing by or even bringing another platoon of infantry in all from a flash back from the war. Lastly, in the 9th sentence, the metaphoric meaning of the sentence could mean a lot of different things. To me it could mean that the victim, Andrew Johnson, was killed from a bouncing Betty and the flash from the explosion is the white flash. The literal meaning is that Andrew Johnson died from a booby trap with a white flash.
1
2/20/2015 08:57:09 am
He says “I said I wouldn’t no tears dammit: no tears. Im stone. Im flesh.” This means he was mad at himself for crying. Crying in front of those who was strong enough to die with honor and here he was crying in front of them. He says he is stone because he wants to be strong but he says im flesh means he is just human for crying he has emotions. He says “there is over 58,022 and he half expected to find my own name in letters like smoke.” This means he was looking and he thought he was going to see his name cause he did fight in the war right beside friends and family and they were dead why wasn’t he as well so when he saw all the names there then he expected to see his there as well. He also says “I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap’s white flash.” Here he was fighting side by side with one of his friends and when he went to the memorial he saw his dead friends name and started to have flash backs of when he died like he was right back in the war right there watching his friend die. Then he says something interesting “Names shimmer on a women’s blouse but when she walks away the names stay on the wall.” This means people come and go all day see love ones and walks off go home and have this only as a memory until it fades in their mind maybe they will start to forget. No matter what you do or say and think those people who died will still be dead and their names will forever be on that memorial. All these images gives me a understanding or a soldiers perspective you will fight for ur country and come back with honor but will always have the memories and pain of those you fight with that died memory in your mind.
4
2/20/2015 09:00:09 am
1. “Brushstrokes flash, a red bird’s wings cutting across my stare. The sky. A plane in the sky.”
10
3/3/2015 11:46:31 am
I agree with what this person's response because they used the same quotes as I did and they had better wording than me.
8
2/20/2015 10:19:58 am
In the poem "Facing It" by Yusef Komunyakaa he/she used really good imagery. The first piece of good imagery that stood out to me was when he/she said "I said I wouldn't, dammit: No tears." that imagery made me go back to the title "Facing It" it made me think how maybe the author or somebody he/she knew was facing something, was trying to b strong but couldn't so they had shed some tears proceeding to say "I said I wouldn't, dammit: No tears. The next imagery is "Names shimmer on a woman's blouse but when she walks away the names stay on the wall." This actually had me imagining a women walking by the wall remembering loved ones as the names glide across her blouse. The last imagery is " In the black mirror a woman's trying to erase names: No, she's brushing a boys hair. I imagined a women walking by the wall with her son looking at the names as she brushes her son's hair but the shadow on the black mirror shows her "trying to erase names." These imagery's help me understand the poem better because as I'm reading it I'm actually imagining what's happening while there describing what's going on.
7
2/20/2015 02:09:53 pm
Yusuf was facing his past his regrets, his future he's says I'm stone as in he is strong but after all he is only human when he says I'm flesh and doesn't forget he is mortal, this poem shows how he feels and what he has felt.names shimmer on a women's blouse as the woman walks away, the names never leave the wall they will never be something to anyone but a name and a legend. In the beginning he say his face fades in the black granite not just cause of his color but figuratively saying that he belongs on the wall with the 58,022 names on that wall as he says I hoping to see my my name like smoke, those names can never leave the wall and some veterans can't leave it either they are one with wall as well they are bound by emotion and brother hood and honor to the wall they will also be forever a part of that wall.
9
2/23/2015 02:38:27 am
In the poem “facing it” the poet Yusef Komunyakaa describes what he faced during the war all the guilt and sorrow he experienced but then at the same time he is having a flashback of everything he also uses good imagery in the poem. Like in the sixth and seventh line when he says “I turn this way the stone let me go, I turn that way I’m inside the Vietnam veteran memorial which means figuratively that when he turns t face the other side it leads him to the way out but when he turns the other way he faces the middle of the memorial hoping to find a name in the 58, 0022 names listed on the wall. He then has a flashback of his friend mentioned earlier in the poem named Andrew Johnson that died in the war and how he felt guilt what happened to his friend which takes him back to the battlefield. Lastly, in facing it Yusef says “a woman’s trying to erase names but then goes to say No, she’s brushing a boy’s hair.” Figuratively his trying to say that the woman might be brushing or erasing the names in order to forget her loved one or maybe or just trying to make sure the name doesn’t show each them they get there to visit the memorial.in the poem I learned that in order to overcome our fears we must have to face the problem before we get solutions to solve cause in life no matter what happens you have to face to be able to move forward to were you heading.
9
3/3/2015 02:22:21 am
the statement was really straight forward
3
2/25/2015 03:00:24 am
In the poem "facing it" by Yursef komunyakaa talks a lot about people facing war and guilt and sorrow. the experience and flashback that brought this poem to good imagery.in the article in one of the lines where she talks " no she is bruising a boys hair". explains a lot about this great poem. And how things a well said.
14
3/2/2015 03:05:37 pm
In this poem it was about all the soulders and that the man came across a certain name and I was like Andrew Johnson and that he started seeing things and having flashbacks and things like that. It was like he was trying to see thing that really hasn't been clear because he said that he seen the woman tryin to wipe the name off and said oh wait she's bushing a boys hair. And this line is tricky because not most people sit and think about them and try to take the meaning to explain or try to understand the concepts of the poem. Honestly in this poem I think that not all of the lines waa greatly appreciated because it was about dead people.
10
3/3/2015 10:37:30 am
When Yusef says "My Black face fades,hiding inside the black granite. I feel he is saying that he isn't as important as the monument that he is standing in front of. Yusef also says " Names shimmer in a woman's blouse but when she walks away the names stay on the wall." What he was saying figuratively that no matter what you do the names will always be there you can add names as the bodies are found but the names that are already there will stay. Those men are dead and there is no way to bring them back from the dead or to rewind the past to bring out a better outcome. Yusef said "In the black mirror a woman's trying to erase names: No, she is brushing a boys hair." This quote brings me back to the point where no matter what you do the names aren't going anywhere. Everyday you go back the same names are going to be there, some names might be added but the same people died for their country. Comments are closed.
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