Good Critical Thinking About Charles Reznikoff

Reflection

I am very pleased and humbled to be in this class. I have enormous passion for poetry and literature in general. Thus, being in this class is a great opportunity to learn in great depth the world of poetry and literature. It is a reminiscent of a dream coming to reality sooner than I had anticipated. Thus, I expect to learn and develop a deep knowledge on poetry from getting to know the rules of poetry, how to interpret every line in a poem to have the ability to write my own poems. Additionally, I expect to learn the culture of different countries and people around the world through discussion of different poems in this class. The only challenge I anticipate is able to learn and understand the old English that is mostly used by veteran writers like Shakespeare. I have not been able to have a grasp of Shakespeare’s’ language up to now. However, I am hoping by the end of the semester I will master it and compose my own poems.

Charles Reznikoff (1894- 1976)

He was a distinguished American poet who got a lot of respect due to his work such as the testimony and Holocaust (Bernstein, 2014). He was born in 1894 to Jewish parents Sarah and Nathan Reznikoff at Brooklyn, New York. His parents migrated from Russia looking for greener pastures and a better life where their safety was guaranteed. His father established a successful business where he sold hat. Reznikoff passion for poetry can be traced back to his grandfather who was a poet back in Russia although his work was not published. By the time Reznikoff graduated from Brookline boy’s high school, he was already young poet with several poems under his name. The poems were mostly about his family and his Brooklyn neighborhood. He attended Missouri University where he studied journalism for a year. However, he dropped the course and join New York University where graduated with a law degree. He practiced law as he writing and publishing his own poems (Hindus, 1984).

After I Had Worked All Day

 What do you notice about the title of the anthology (TVTIGWU)? 
The title indicates that the poet regrets the events of the day. As he reflects on the day’s activities there is seems there is nothing to write home about. The title has a sad tone as someone who is not satisfied by the events of the day and what he has been able to accomplish by the end of the day. The poet seems he is tired and wants nothing more but to relax and forget about the day.

What do you think the poet is trying to say in the poem?

The poet through the poem shows that he is not satisfied. Although he has received payment for working during the day he feels that he has neglected his personal work. He is tired and he has no energy left to do anything else. However, after a soul searching he decides to give a try on his personal engagement. Interestingly he regains his energy and enthusiasm to work on his personal work. The poet basically through the poem is trying to show the struggle of balancing personal engagement and formal employment (Hindus, 1984).

References

Bernstein c. (2014). Charles Reznikoff's "Amelia": A case study by Richard Hyland. Retrieved from acket2.org/category/commentary-tags/charles-reznikoff
Hindus M. (1984). Biographical Essay on Charles Reznikoff. Retrieved from http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/reznikoff/bio.htm