Theme of “World in Hounding Me”

The theme of the poem is that the people in the world usually value outside appearances more than the inside values. They care more about what they look like, or what other people look like, rather than what they have on the outside. “How can it harm you if I choose, astutely, rather to stack my mind with things of beauty, than waste its stack on very beauty’s claim?” This sentence was from the poem lines two to five, I think this sentence most clearly described the theme of this poem. I think the poem’s theme is based on the author’s frustration and annoyance at how the world works. She may be annoyed by the fact that many people are shallow. I only slightly agree to her point of view, because the world has many people, not just the people who judge people by their appearances. If I were to write a poem on a similar topic, my theme would probably be a little similar to the author’s, but not as extreme.  

How Effective is the poem’s title?

The title of the poem “World, in Hounding Me” seems to express the writer’s annoyance for the world. Hounding means “to pursue relentlessly”, the writer must have felt prosecuted by the world if she chose to use this word. The speaker’s attitude towards the world can be seen in the title of the poem. She felt annoyed and irritated by the world, when the world appreciated her outside appearance more than her inner beauty. I think the author’s attitude towards the world is similar to mine, because I will become frustrated and irritated when the world only cares about our outside beauty, and not our inner beauty. The title of the poem is pretty effective in conveying the writer’s feelings towards the world. 

Hounded by the World

When I see the words “Hounded by the World”, I think of someone being looked for all over the world. “Hound” has the meaning “to pursue relentlessly”, so “Hounded by the World” most possibly means to be looked for in everywhere. People that are possibly hounded by the world are probably international criminals, or celebrities. The poem “World, in hounding me” turned out to be very different then I thought it would be. The poem talked about how the writer only valued the treasure in her mind, and does not care for the treasure and wealth. I didn’t really get what the title of the poem has to do with the poem’s content. I thought it would be a story of how she is pursued relentlessly by someone else. 

My Personal Disaster

I went up to the stage,

The audience was pitch black

I was all alone

With no one at my back

I looked at the microphone

And I started to speak

But none of the words came out

I looked at the draft

And my hand started to tremble

The words on the paper

Looked like carvings on a cave wall

The words looked like they’re moving

The words looked like they’re alive

Finally my eyes fell upon

Some words that I knew before

I cleared my throat quietly

I opened my mouth once more

I told the story on the paper

It was about a man who doesn’t like his voice

The audience began to snicker

The judges begin to laugh nervously

It must’ve been my voice

That made the audience scoff

Finally the script came to an end

And I hurried off the stage

The experiment was terrible

It was bad and not too good.

Guilt

Everyone feels guilty about something they did. At first, I didn’t think I have anything to feel guilty about, but then I thought about the first and only time I’ve bullied someone. I felt guilty about a time I bullied a girl. I was bullied at that time, too, so I know how she must’ve felt. After that, I never tried to bully anyone, because I know how it feels. I didn’t feel guilty right after I bullied the girl, so I didn’t apologize. When I didn’t apologize, I lost the chance because I’ll never see her again. Having to do a bad thing to someone is not the worst you can experience; the worst is to lose the chance to apologize. I hope I’ll be able to apologize to her someday 

Puritans and Possessions

The Bradstreet’s poem talked about the writer’s house burning down. The puritans believed many things happened because the god made them happen, this religious belief caused the poem to be interesting. In the poem, she thinks it’s the gods will that the house is burning, instead of thinking it as natural causes. The writer paid respect to god for taking her possessions, instead of getting mad at her unfortunate encounters. She said the god had given her house, and now god is taking it away. She feels sorrow for the things she lost, but she thanked god for taking. If people in the modern society saw their house burn down, their reactions would be very different from the writer. Instead of feeling thankful, people would just be mad at the world and their unfortunates. The puritans believe that god can control everything, and people cannot control their faith. The writer in this poem believes god has done something right in taking all her possessions, and she thinks she has enough even if god’s taken her possessions.  

Hester's Punishment

The first few chapters of The Scarlet Letter talked about Hester Prynne’s unfortunate encounters. Hester Prynne was accused of adultery and was punished for it. She was forced to wear a piece of cloth with a big A (stands for adultery), and stand next to a pillory as her punishment. I think the punishment is unjustified. If Hester has a baby as the result of an affair, there must be a father. The father should be punished, and more severely than Hester, because it’s more likely that the father started the “action”. It is highly unlikely that Hester made the man have an affair with her; it is more possible that the man forced Hester to do what he wanted. The villagers should realize the fact that Hester couldn’t have controlled what happened to her, only the man can. I think Hester showed great courage in taking the blame to herself. She probably thinks revealing the father’s name would ruin his reputation as a minister. On the other hand, the man showed great cowardice in not facing his punishment.

Material Possessions

Lots of materials in our possession are essential to our daily life. We use them every day, and we are so used to them that sometimes we don’t think about their existence, but our life won’t be the same without them. Many people never imagine how they will live if their house burns down, and only after they lost their possessions they realize how important they are to them. My computer, for instance, is a very important possession that I have. Without it, I won’t be able to do homework, and all the entertainment it gives me will be gone. If my house ever burns down, I think the things that are hardest to lose are my computer and violin. One reason is that they mean a lot to me, and another is because they’re expensive. On the other hand, my possessions that are easiest to lose are mostly replaceable things. Things like my books and my old clothes. There are a lot of things we can live without, like the piles of books stacked in the attic, but when we lose certain things, we will experience a big change in our life. I think something that I can’t live without is my computer, because people’s lives in the modern society are closely bounded with electronic devices. For many people, living without a computer is like living without oxygen, and one day without checking Facebook feels like two days. 

Puritans and Rationalists today

In the old times, Puritans worshipped god, and their life was developed around the religious beliefs. They believed god had created the universe, and god will control their life. The Rationalists also believed in god, but their beliefs differ from of the Puritans. The Rationalists also thinks that God created the universe, but they believed god will not control the lives of human. Unlike the Puritans and Rationalists, many people in the modern world don’t believe in gods. They believed the universe was created by natural phenomena, and they think people should be able have their own beliefs. Like most people, I believe in science, and I think the universe is created by natural causes. People in the modern world are not prosecuted by their beliefs; the diversity of beliefs in the world is a proof of the freedom of beliefs.