The Good-Morrow Commentary

In "The Good-Morrow," John Donne establishes a compassionate mood to demonstrate his love for his lover through his use of diction. This includes his use of repetition, catalog, personification, and connotation throughout the poem. 

Donne uses repetition in the second stanza for emphasis. He repeats the word "worlds" four times to emphasize the idea at the time that every person is a part of their own world and that his world and his lover's world are separate but they found each other's world and therefore belong together. Donne also uses "love" twice in a sentence in the second stanza to put emphasis on their love for each other and that they are consumed by their love for one another. He contrasts "one little room" to "everywhere" to further emphasize that love gives everything a more meaningful existence. 

The diction Donne uses in the first stanza give insight to his life before his lover. The words "weaned" and "childishly" make Donne seem as if he were  immature before he met his lover. Donne's use of the word "sucked" shows that he was lustful before he met his lover and now she has matured him and he appreciates her for that. He also personifies souls in the second stanza as he states "good-morrow to our waking souls" which contributes to the compassionate mood.

Donne develops the theme of love rather than lust as he shows his compassion and love for his lover. He believes that he belongs with his lover because she is his other half. Donne believes they are "mixed equally" and therefore shows his deep feelings of love for his lover. Donne's use of language helps establish this compassionate mood.

Actively Resisting Cruelty!

DON'T BUY PUPPIES FROM A PET SHOP!
Pet shops buy puppies from puppy mills to try to make as much profit as possible. To further profits, the dogs at the puppy mills are used until they can no longer breed or give birth to more litters, they are given inadequate amounts of food, water and care, they are kept in small wire cages for their whole lives, and they suffer health issues such as rotting teeth and ulcers in their eyes. Many puppies that come from puppy mills have health problems or genetic disorders because of the poor conditions.
Every time you buy a puppy from a pet store, you are most likely supporting the puppy mill that dog came from and therefore supporting the abuse and exploitation of thousands of dogs.
Patti, Claire, and I greatly dislike puppy mills. To protest, we borrowed Claire's neighbor's dog (whom was adopted from a shelter), put a sign on him that said "Adopt a puppy," and walked around Claire's neighborhood informing people of the puppy mills and the better alternative of adopting from a shelter.
I have very strong feelings on this subject partly because I have a dog and I love him very much. I feel that dogs are like babies in the sense that, in the human world, they are helpless and need our support to survive. Therefore, when humans take away the right for a dog to live comfortably, i feel that that is as bad as treating a baby poorly. No one would lock up a baby in a wire cage for the rest of his or her life, would they? if anyone did do that, the person would be locked up in jail. Why shouldn't dogs be held on the same pedestal? They are as helpless as human babies. Just because an animal's life is "less significant" than a human's life does not give people the right to openly abuse animals. I understand that, if in a life or death situation, the human comes first. But when there is the luxury of treating both existences equally, what would prevent you from doing that?
I don't know of many pet stores around here that sell puppies (if you know one, tell me please:]) but next time i plan to go to one of those stores and inform the customers about puppy mills if they plan to buy a puppy. I want to be able to make a real difference.

Lysistrata Blog 10

This play was considerably happier, less morbid, and funnier than the house of bernarda alba and Hedda Gabler.
You've got the women in Lysistrata; thinking about sex, abstinence, and the right thing to do for the greater good. they took action and did something positive. Hedda and Adela took action too, but that ended badly. And the women in The House of Bernarda Alba and Hedda Gabler were portrayed almost negatively. The women in Lysistrata were headstrong and willing to do something good. The women in the House of Bernarda Alba were constantly bickering with each other, gossiping, and off being scandalous. The women in Hedda Gabler were either your typical motherly woman type, obedient wife type, or socially defiant crazy type who goes and kills herself in the end.
Overall, Lysistrata was positive in both categories: The way women were portrayed (slightly sex-addictive but we'll forgive aristophanes for that one) and the ending. The House of Bernarda Alba and Hedda Gabler epically fail in those categories because the other characters continue as if nothing happened which means Adela and Hedda died for nothing.

Lysistrata Blog 9

Was it ethical of Lysistrata to use Peace (the girl) as a sacrifice to negotiate the treaty?
First of all, how old was this girl?? I hope she wasn't like 16. That's just wrong. But i have a feeling that she was unusually young.
Did she consent? you can't just offer other people as a "gift" for the men to ogle at. well, i guess she wasn't really a part of the treaty, she was more of a distraction. but at what price? it's kind of dehumanizing and humiliating. whoever this Peace girl was, she had a lot of influence. Probably partly because she was naked. but anyway, on page 101 Lysistrata asks Peace to lead the Spartans and the Athenians close together. Here comes the pun again. Peace was able to bring the two opposing forces together as well as peace, the concept. Since the two sides were at war, the only way to stop it was to have peace. Peace was calming and was able to effectively lead them close to Lysistrata.
She also never talks. That makes her seem as if she was just an object; something pretty to look at. How could Lysistrata do that to a fellow woman? wasn't that sort of demeaning sexism she was fighting against? She only supported it. I'm disappointed in you, Lysistrata.

Lysistrata Blog 8

"She left our home, and happiness went with her. Now pain is the tenant. Oh, to enter that wifeless house, to sense that awful emptiness, to eat that tasteless, joyless food- it makes it hard I tell you. Harder all the time" Kinesias says this when trying to get Lysistrata to send Myrrhine down(81).
Does Kinesias say this because he truly loves and misses Myrrhine?
I don't believe he does. His last statements back up the fact that he only wants to see his wife so he can have sex with her. And it also backs up Myrrhine's assumption that Kinesias does not want her love.
It's interesting that Kinesias would approach the women in this manner. He tries to seem approachable and agreeable; willing to compromise just to see his wife. It's almost sweet, if it wasn't so fake. Apparently men can't fend for themselves. They can't cook or even change a baby's diaper on their own. And the house seems "empty" and sad without a woman which would be really touching if he didn't mean that now he couldn't have sex.
But maybe it's not fake. Maybe Myrrhine really is Kinesias' happiness and soulmate. and this also allows insight into the lives of the people at this time. Men today can cook but men back then would starve without women, i guess. and babies will go without baths or food.

Lysistrata Blog 7

Why did Lysistrata bring the girl Peace along when meeting with the Spartans and Athenians?
I think it was to distract the men but also keep them focused at the same time. as crazy as that may sound, i think it might have worked. The men were after Peace, not the concept. but if Peace were not there, the men might not have wanted to compromise to get peace. This pun is almost too perfect to explain.
Peace might also have distracted the men from what they actually wanted to compromise for. The men were desperate for sex and they agreed to everything. So Lysistrata distracted them to keep them focused.

Lysistrata Blog 6

I think this play had just too much happening in such a short time. First it starts with the men and women fighting. then they get along. Then the fight again. and then they make up. And i think it's outrageous that it was ONLY A DAY!! oh my god, these people don't wait for much, nor can they. they needed sex and that's why they compromised so fast.
It was quite comical though. But there were a lot of random things happening. maybe it was the translator's fault. it was shocking that he said he put in metaphors to make up for the ones he took out and stuff like that. doesn't that change the whole meaning and purpose of the play? imagine how much we might have missed because we couldn't read the original copy. That's just a little disappointing. Language jokes are the funniest but you can't fully understand those jokes unless you really know the language.