Peter Leuthold Leuthold 1
En101.31
Dr. Ellis
Reading Analysis

The poetry for this week has in some ways changed the ways I view America and my approach to living my life to the fullest. In “The Cask of Amontillado” and “My Last Duchess”, revolve around the murders of two different people while “Ode to American English”, and “America” talk about the importance of our American society and how we are viewed by others.
In “The Cask of Amontillado”, Edgar Allen Poe uses the imagery of murder to show how Montresor takes his revenge on Fortunado. Montresor plans to murder Fortunado while he is drunk and chains him up to a wall to die. Poe uses mysterious language to show that this tale is not only about murder but about figuring out why Fortunado is left on a wall, chained to die. This poem can be compared to “My last Duchess”, because it demonstrates the love that the narrator has for his dead wife. The narrator has a portrait made for her and he keeps her picture behind a curtain so that she can only smile for him. The narrator is giving a tour of his house and uses this picture to remind him of his last wife who made him so happy. Both of these poems use dramatic language to show how murder can ruin one’s life while also showing the importance of living happily.
The views of America are portrayed in the poems “Ode to American English”, and “America”, because both describe how different Europe along with the rest of the world varies from where we live. Americans take many things for granted. Both poems also offer different views of American life and culture because in “Ode to American English” the narrator describes how she misses the American ways and life which are a part of the culture like “the Tarzan cry of Johnny Weismueller, Johnny Cash, and Johhny B. Goode”. In Hoagland’s “America”, a different view about America is displayed. The thought that advance technology might take away from the real opportunities given to us in America.
Thus, in all four poems, Jesuit values are shown because all use the ideas of practicing a religion to approach each day in life. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, and “My Last Duchess”, the ignorance to not resolving problems is used. On the other hand, in “Ode to American English”, and “America”, both narrators view our country as superior to all others and Jesuit values are incorporated to show how important it is to use religious beliefs as a way to living your life.