The Grass Is Always Greener

The grass is always greener

When those whom take a peek

Decide a deeper color

Is worthy of a seek.

Be careful what you wish for

You just might get a heap

Should you try to give it back

Might learn it's yours to keep.

Former grounds looks so divine,

You ponder as you pass

You wish you'd never left it

Never seen a greener grass.

This particular parody is of the poem “Success is counted sweetest” by Emily Dickinson. To be honest, none of the poetry we read this semester connected with me in the way that Dickinson's had and I was excited about the opportunity to parody one of her poems. I really appreciated her approach and the message conveyed in this poem. The whole idea that “not having increases our appreciation or enjoyment of what we lack” was so eloquently expressed in the lines of this poem (Melani). I wanted to take my parody in a similar direction, but instead expressing the human nature to want what we can't have and often overvalue that which we lack. I feel that these two desires are related and fueled by a similar and inherent human quality. This parody is meant to be a modern take on the "keeping up with the Jones" mentality of life in the suburbs and, but I suppose it could probably be applied to almost any era.

The first thing that I wanted to mimic was the rhythm. The “rhythm is organized into specific, regular patterns in poetry, [so] it becomes meter” in this particular case (Creel). The meter is very defined by a seven syllable, six syllable, seven syllable, six syllable per stanza beat. I liked the flow to the poem and felt it really captured my attention through it's sustained pattern. In my poem I imitated this particular pattern and, in doing so, I felt that I was actually able to write the poem (something I have very little experience with) much easier. Leaning on the rhythm helped me to write the words, which may be a bit pedestrian or make it of “nursery rhyme” caliber, but I felt I succeed in emulating an important characteristic of the poem in this way.

Dickinson's use of metaphors is another characteristic that I wanted to be sure to incorporate into my parody. Even though “she seems to leave out so much with her elliptical style and remarkable contracting metaphors”, I really enjoyed analyzing and deciphering the meaning she embedded with in her poems by doing so (Woodlief). In reading some of her poems, I noticed that she is very good at utilizing this tool and this poem was no exception. There's a great example in “Success is counted sweetest” when she writes, “As he, defeated, dying,/On whose forbidden ear/The distant strains of triumph/Burst agonized and clear!” (Dickinson ll. 9-12). She uses the word distant “metaphorically in not being part of his experience” and I think that it is metaphors like these that showcase Dickinson's poetic abilities (Melani). I liked the way that the use of this word made sense within the poem both literally an metaphorically. In my parody I used the words “grass” and “grounds” metaphorically to a similar extent. In the final stanza of my parody when I wrote, “Former grounds looks so divine,/You ponder as you pass/You wish you'd never left it/Never seen a greener grass.” (Widuch). The use of these words represent the perceptive beauty of the one's previous situation in the metaphorical sense and the lushness of the grass in the literal sense.

Narrative of an American Renter

Mr. Bellerus was a middle-aged man who was a perfect fit for his position as the Board President. Unmarried, organized, and thorough in his approach to all matters. He paid close attention to detail, and was extremely adept at keeping all building issues in line. Especially renters. He looked a bit young for his age and he acted in much the same manner. He was quite oafish, wore glasses, and was very awkward in his social interactions. I experienced this for myself immediately upon moving into the building. That morning, in the late summer of 2009, I pulled my moving truck up to the condominium building just off of Clinton Avenue in the neighborhood of Steven's Square. As I entered the lobby, he met me with a handshake and a smile that one would have a very hard time believing was genuine. “Oh, so you're the new renter?”, he said. I would quickly come to understand that the word “renter” was considered a four letter word around here. “The rules for you guys are a little bit... different. I'll explain.” I would come to find out that, while unit owners were allowed to have pets, use the party room, and the work out room, renters were strictly forbidden from enjoying these privelages. His stern tone made me realize that this was not a joke. He told me that as long as I play by the rules then we would not have any problems going forward. If I were to break and of these rules, then I would pay a very severe price. Approximately fifty dollars per violation.

After about month of settling into my abode, I quickly found my place in this new community. I learned to stay clear of the owners' amenities and mainly interacted with the other few renters in the building. We would often talk about what it might be like to be an owner one day. The dream seemed so far off to most of us, but we knew that there was a glimmer of hope. The recent housing market crash and the tantalizingly low interest rates made us believe that maybe our goal was acheivable after all. We would gather in small groups and discuss ways of breaking free from the shackles of our landlords and one day walking into the workout room and sweating with the owners. As time went on we learned about everything from FHA financing to first-time homebuyer incentives and even began socking away money for down payments. The days were dark, but the future was beginning to look brighter. Our opportunity was coming, but we were uncertain if we would be able to withstand the payment shock of these newly aquired mortgages. If we were to have a chance, we knew that we would have to fight through these types of fears.

This second parody is of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave by Frederick Douglass. One thing that I wanted to be sure to capture when writing this parody was the tone that Douglass uses throughout his autobiography. To me it was a tone the reflected a bit of hope, frustration, and a desire to be respected by the reader as trustworthy and as a peer. I believe that this tone was used effectively in his story because the slave narrative was often used to “attempt to arouse the sympathy of readers in order to promote humanitarianism” and it is much easier to arouse such sympathy in this when using this tone (Campbell). There is a great example of this tone when Douglass writes, “It was a common saying, even among little white boys, that it was worth a half- cent to kill a "nigger," and a half-cent to bury one” (Douglass). Through his words we can feel the pain and frustration that surrounds even having to repeat such terrible words, but we can tell that he does it for the sake of the reader's understanding of just how awful the treatment was. I tried to parody this tone and situation (albeit to a much lesser degree) in my story when I write about how the Board President refers to me as a “renter”. Hopefully you can tell through the tone of my writing that I am both offended and taken aback at the audacity and lack of respect with which I am being treated.

I found that Douglass seemed to use the slave narrative very effectively as a “propoganda weapon during abolition” and one of the main reasons that I think he accomplished this was because his autobiogaphy was written from the perspective of an intrusive narrator (Campbell). He often “inserts his opinions and beliefs into the story” and this does a fantastic job of steering the reader's perspective in the direction that Douglass desires very quickly (Creel). While this is often done while telling gruesome tales of slave abuse, he actually does it to empasize the good at times too. In one instance, when describing the goodness of Ms. Auld, he writes, “Her face was made of heavenly smiles, and her voice of tranquil music” (Douglass). This paints a picture that would not be as easy to express in a non-intrusive narration. In my story I tried to parody this characteristic of Douglass' writing by interjecting my opinions on Mr. Bellerus' ability to interact socially. By sharing this opinion, I give the reader an impression about his demeanor and character that might not have been able to be expressed otherwise. How I feel in turn effects how the reader percieves this man and may even end up changing their perception entirely.

While escaping the bondage of a lease for the “freedom” of a mortgage is a far cry from what American slaves went through, I felt that it was a fun way to parody this story and touch on some of the literary concepts that we learned this semester.