Richard Wright

My first impression was a bit of shock.  It occurs in the first three lines where Richard Wright writes the word "niggers".  As can be guessed, shock would be the first word to come to mind, simply because I do not usually use that word everyday.  After I continued to read, I got a sense that this was very realistic of southern America.  I am not sure what to make of it but it is interesting.

Alfonsina Storni

I decided to focus on the poem Squares and Angles because at first glance, this one stuck out to me. I noticed a lot of repetition within the opening lines and wondered why. Only turning the page and finishing the poem did I have an idea, and understanding, I'm not sure of what. But it starts with an idea of conformity with the line, "Squares, squares, squares/Houses in a row./ People now have square souls,/ Ideas in a row". This idea of conformity seems almost too true when it comes to any sense of how conformity works. You want everyone to be the same, respond the same, even look the same. It is an odd little poem, Squares and Angles, but it seems as if the speaker of the poem is the one trying to rebel against this. The speaker could even possibly resemble Storni herself, as she was the first woman writer excepted in Argentina.

Yehuda Amichai

In Of Three of Four in a Room, it seems very insightful of people who are thinkers. Amichai explains how of three or four people in a room, one will stand by a window and is a great thinker. This one seems to be able to see the evils of the world and see the people who are kind and those who are evil. This one knows most things and understands how things work in the world. I enjoyed this piece particularly because it seemed to fit me more than the other pieces.

Dario

At first reading, I just enjoyed the readings.  But upon further reading, I noticed that the image of a swan appeared in all but one piece. I did some quick research online and found from Answers.com that a swan symbolizes balance, commitment, festive, grace, loyalty, majesty, and protectiveness. In Sonatina, it would seem that the swan would symbolize majesty and protectiveness exclusively. The sadness felt from the Princess seemed to call out for her prince to come and save her from misery. The protectiveness would be coming from the prince who is symbolically present in the swan. The majesty is more of her own, as for the fact that she is royalty.