This Post (Due Wednesday evening by 7:00 p.m.)
Read the poem which appears below the questions carefully; answer ALL of the questions:
1. In your opinion, what is the subject matter of the poem? Why do you think so? Provide evidence from the poem itself and explain it.
2. What is the theme of the poem? What gives you that idea? Explain and provide proof from the poem itself. There is not one correct answer to this question. There are several possible answers to this question, so please do not write the same answer as others. I will not give credit to answers that are the same as previous ones.
After the Movie
by Marie Howe
My friend Michael and I are walking home arguing about the movie.
He says that he believes a person can love someone
and still be able to murder that person.
I say, No, that's not love. That's attachment.
Michael says, No, that's love. You can love someone, then come to a day
when you're forced to think "it's him or me"
think "me" and kill him.
I say, Then it's not love anymore.
Michael says, It was love up to then though.
I say, Maybe we mean different things by the same word.
Michael says, Humans are complicated: love can exist even in the
murderous heart.
I say that what he might mean by love is desire.
Love is not a feeling, I say. And Michael says, Then what is it?
We're walking along West 16th Street—a clear unclouded night—and I hear my voice
repeating what I used to say to my husband: Love is action, I used to say
to him.
Simone Weil says that when you really love you are able to look at
someone you want to eat and not eat them.
Janis Joplin says, take another little piece of my heart now baby.
Meister Eckhardt says that as long as we love images we are doomed to
live in purgatory.
Michael and I stand on the corner of 6th Avenue saying goodnight.
I can't drink enough of the tangerine spritzer I've just bought—
again and again I bring the cold can to my mouth and suck the stuff from
the hole the flip top made.
What are you doing tomorrow? Michael says.
But what I think he's saying is "You are too strict. You are
a nun."
Then I think, Do I love Michael enough to allow him to think these things
of me even if he's not thinking them?
Above Manhattan, the moon wanes, and the sky turns clearer and colder.
Although the days, after the solstice, have started to lengthen,
we both know the winter has only begun.
1. The subject matter of the poem is the conflicted meanings of love. I believe this because of the numerous ways in which both characters say you can love someone and the ways in which we love them "love can exist in the murderous heart" and "when you really love you are able to look at someone you want to eat and not eat them".
ReplyDelete2. The theme in my perception is that love is control and love somehow gives you control over actions even though "love is action". When the character can't get enough of the tangerine spritzer, it is like lust, the practice of falling in love and then the perceived messages of that kind of control over someone and what they think of you, or what you think they think of you, when they say "Do I love Michael enough to allow him to think thee things of me even if he's not thinking them?". It says to me we give control to people over us when we love them.
1. I think that the subject matter of the poem would be love. I believe this because the poem is a narrative of a conversation about love and its meaning after a couple's night out. Love is mentioned several times throughout the poem, as well as at the end, when the narrator questions whether or not she 'loves' Michael enough to let him think a certain way of her.
ReplyDelete2. I think that the theme of the poem would be determining loves meaning. The couple are debating over what love actually means. The narrator states "love is not a feeling," but insists, "love is an action," and disagrees with Michael, who believes that "you can love someone and still be able to murder that person."
Alex Cruzado
ReplyDelete1. The subject matter of this poem and what it means to this person. I think this because in the poem the two people are talking about a movie they recently saw and how they each perceived it differently. Just like all of us will perceive this poem differently. They say love in the poem a lot and that is why I think it is about love.
2. I think the theme of this poem is that everyone loves differently and love means different things to different people. The thing that gives me this idea is in the poem they are arguing about if you kill someone you still love them and this leads me to believe that they both perceive love very differently. For example when one of them says that "love is a feeling" and the other says "love is an action." Those are two very different beliefs.
1. The subject matter of this poem is love because it is the topic of discussion in the characters’ conversation, the topic of each quotation, and therefore, the topic of the entire poem.
ReplyDelete2. I think that the theme of this poem is that life without love is unfulfilling, but life with love can be painful.
If someone doesn’t love another completely – if she only loves the idea or “image” of love, than she cannot move forward or backward within her relationship, or even within herself. She is “doomed to live in purgatory” (line 27). Therefore, by not allowing herself to fall in love completely, she will never be able to live life to the fullest. But when someone does love another completely, she gives a “little piece of her heart” to that person (line 24). By doing this, she puts herself in a very vulnerable and likely position of getting hurt.
When the narrator can’t drink enough of her tangerine spritzer, the author is metaphorically saying that people cannot get enough of love even if it does hurt them. They continue to go back to love again and again. Each time, they drink from the hole in their significant other’s heart that was made the minute they fell in love.
At the end of the poem, the narrator wonders, “Do I love Michael enough to allow him to think these/ things/ of me even if he’s not thinking them?” (lines 37-39). She is wondering if she can stay in the position of being safe and unfulfilled for not loving Michael to her fullest potential, or if she can really fall in love with him and risk getting hurt.
Steph
ReplyDelete1. I believe that the poem is about how someone depicts the word love. It can mean many different things and to one person it may not mean the same to the next. I see this because the two people in the poem talk about how they have thier differnt opinions and each express that as well as what other people have thought love to be, like the singer. Take another piece of my heart.
2. I believe that the theme of this poem is love is complicated. The fact that she doesnt know wether to correct him from thinking the thoughts that he does about her or let it go. That she doesnt know if it is worth it and doesnt know what to do aobut the way that she think she feels. "Then I think, Do I love Michael enough to allow him to think these thingsof me even if he's not thinking them?" Its complicated to understand how another person thinks. Do they love me do they not? Reacting to someone else's definition of love and understanding your own is a complication that needs time to think through and. In order to understand the way someone else loves, you need to understand your own first.
1. The subject matter of this poem is the various meanings of the word love. The two characters in this poem argue the meaning of the word love. Both have a different perspectives and meanings behind the word. This is seen in these lines of the poem, "I say that what he might mean by love is desire.
ReplyDeleteLove is not a feeling, I say. And Michael says, Then what is it?"(lines 15-16).
2. I believe the theme of this poem is love is not easy, it is something that can cause someone a lot of pain but at the same time it can be rewarding and bring someone a great deal of happiness. This is seen when the poet talks about how complicated love is. "Michael says, Humans are complicated: love can exist even in the
murderous heart." (Lines 13-14).
1. In my opinion, the subject matter of the poem is showing how a lot of people have different meanings for the word "love." I think that's the subject of the poem because clearly, Michael and the woman don't agree that love is when "a person can love someone and still be able to murder that person." Personally, I don't believe that the above line defines love. If you love someone, why would you think about murdering them? That doesn't seem sensable to me as the reader of someone who is a lover.
ReplyDelete2. The theme of the poem is love and it's several meanings to different people. In the poem, it only shows two people explaining their meaning of love so obviously all people have different definitions for the word. Throughout the poem, as the reader, you can tell the narrator is "falling" for Michael either in lust or love.
1. I think the main focus of this poem is the love. Both continue to speak upon love and have different views of it and feel that love means different things which allow you do or not do certain things. For example he says, He says that he believes a person can love someone and still be able to murder that person. I say, No, that's not love. That's attachment."
ReplyDelete2. The theme of this poem may be each individuals perception and representation of of how love is diffused. For example it say, "Michael says, No, that's love. You can love someone, then come to a day when you're forced to think "it's him or me" think "me" and kill him. I say, Then it's not love anymore.Michael says, It was love up to then though." Also,"Maybe we mean different things by the same word. Michael says, Humans are complicated: love can exist even in the
murderous heart." Though love is one word, it has several meanings that can be interpreted that different from person to person.
In my opinion the subject of this poem is love in general. The fact that people can have different definitions of love and controversial it is.
ReplyDeleteThe theme of this poem is the ability to say you love someone and yet still be okay with murdering them. "You can love someone, then come to a day
when you're forced to think "it's him or me" just shows that you can love someone but realize that you have to put yourself first, but love them none the less. The other person argued that "when you really love you are able to look at
someone you want to eat and not eat them." He was arguing that if you love someone so much you would have the will power to not eat them no matter what.
1. The subject matter of this poem is, simply, love. On a more complex manner, it is an argument over love's limits.
ReplyDelete2. The theme is that what people expect from love, from a relationship, is never the same. This imperfection is what makes every relationship somewhat flawed. Once people realize that their relationship is not balanced, an issue of trust comes to surface. We se this in the lines "What are you doing tomorrow? Michael says.
But what I think he's saying is 'You are too strict. You are
a nun.'"
After the failure of trust, the poem ends with a sense of bitterness, impending doom, "Although the days, after the solstice, have started to lengthen,
we both know the winter has only begun."
I have a roommate who is way to romantic, and tells me he beleives in "unconditional love." I tell him that people deceive themselves with that, and that most people should go into a relationship the same way they are going skydiving: it will be fun, it will be intense, it will leave some awesome memories, but what about when you land? More importantly, what happens if your chute does not open?
1. I think that the subject matter of the poem is about feelings. I think this because at first the two people are talking about love, then it changes to attachment, then back to love, and then to desire. "I say that what he might mean by love is desire." I see it as just the two people trying to explain one feeling, but end up describing other feelings.
ReplyDelete2. I think that the theme of the poem is about how different people see feelings in different ways, and describe them in different ways. Like in the poem the two characters keep going back and forth about what love is and what it means, and then at the end when the narrator is saying good night to their friend, she assumes that her friend means something bad when he asks what she is doing tomorrow, and then thinks about if she loves him enough to not get mad even if he actually is thinking those things about her, which she doesn't even know if he is or not.
"But what I think he's saying is "You are too strict. You are
a nun."
Then I think, Do I love Michael enough to allow him to think these things
of me even if he's not thinking them?"
I believe the subject matter of this poem is love, and the true meaning of love. I believe this because both characters speak on he subject matter throughout the entire poem. These two can not come to an agreement of what love is, they both have different opinions. I disagree with Michael when he says "You can love someone, then come to a day
ReplyDeletewhen you're forced to think "it's him or me"
think "me" and kill him." If you truly love someone then you would choose their life over yours.
I believe the theme to this poem is that love is a confusing struggle, but in the end it is beautiful. I think it seems confusing from this poem because Michael said "Humans are complicated: love can exist even in the murderous heart." To the human mind these two idea can seem very contradictory.
1. In my opinion the subject matter of the poem is love. Throughout the poem both people how love exists in many forms.
ReplyDelete2.The theme of this poem is love is an action. In the poem it states “you are able to look at
someone you want to eat and not eat them.”. Throughout the poem, each person discusses actions that show love. Whether its to kill one another, dine together, or images.
1. I think the subject matter of the poem is love. Love is mentioned many times through out the poem while the couple is discussing the movie on their night out.
ReplyDelete2. I think the theme of the poem is "how do you what love truly is?" The narrator and Michael are comparing their views on what love really is, and at the end of the poem the narrator contemplates whether she loves Michael. This poem shows how the feeling of love is different between individuals because everyone experiences it differently.
1.) I believe that the subject matter is love and how people have their own perspective. For example: "He says that he believes a person can love someone and still be able to murder that person.
ReplyDeleteI say, No, that's not love. That's attachment."
2.) I think that the overall theme of the poem is trying to find out, or define what love truly is. There are people that use the "L" word without really having the true feelings or meaning behind it. I feel like like it doesn't have the same meaning as it once used to. Then again, life experiences may have caused that for certain people to feel a certain way about love.
"Love is not a feeling, I say. And Michael says, Then what is it?
We're walking along West 16th Street—a clear unclouded night—and I hear my voice"
It's plain to see that people don't even know what love is anymore.
The time has come to call time on this post. Tomorrow is slam day! Practice, practice, practice please.
ReplyDeleteA little late but I wanted to post this for any credit.
ReplyDelete1) I believe the subject matter is love."Love is action, I used to say
to him." In this line they are going back and fourth trying to explain how different people can love and the ways in which they can truly love like how the character felt for her husband.
2) The overall theme I think is insecurity of the human heart. The ways we fall in love and sometimes the feeling is indescribable but that same indescriable love becomes painful if it is not a lasting relationship.
"Meister Eckhardt says that as long as we love images we are doomed to
live in purgatory." I think this line explains how we as humans sometimes view love and how different it can be to each individual.