The Awakening
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Edna Pontellier feels trapped by her life, unimportant, and smothered
She has little interest in marital duties of her children who need to be mothered.

Edna wants to be free to find herself and get her priorities straight.
This, however, is an idea she finds unbearably difficult to communicate.

Robert Lebrun poses an interesting situation.
But he's bound by Creole society to resist temptation.

Edna is an outsider who doesn't always understand their ways,
Their openness and teasing, how they spend the summer days.

She is fascinated by Mademoiselle Reisz who is as free as Edna wants to be.
She wishes to be on her own and paint without responsibility.

And Leonce is as understanding as he can possibly be.
He even goes to her sister's wedding alone to make an apology.

But he doesn't understand his wife.  He thinks her irrational and sometimes rude.
Leonce dismisses his wife's behavior as the result of some emotional mood.

Unfortunately, most do not realize what it will take to make Edna free.
And it is a secret whispered only to herself and the overwhelming sea.


Medea
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After Medea helped Jason capture the Golden Fleece,
She cut her brother and father to many a piece.

They went to Corinth to start their new life.
Medea thought it would be peaceful, but it was filled with strife.

Jason soon fell in love with the daughter of the King,
Medea was banished so she wouldn't ruin everything.

Medea pleaded with the King to stay an extra day,
She was able to carry out her evil revenge this way.

If Medea could get to Athens, Aegeus would provide a home,
He knew that in Corinth she would not be safe to roam.

She convinced Jason to have his wife let her kids remain,
Little did the Princess know, this would be her final bane.

Medea's quest for revenge was immensely strong,
It involved killing her kids, even though this was wrong.

The Nurse tried to convince Medea to not kill,
But she would not listen, it was against her will.

When the King saw, he tried to help the Princess,
He died in the process, also. Oh! What a mess!

Medea was successful; all her enemies were dead,
Off she went in a chariot; a new life she led.

The Great Gatsby
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The Great Gatsby's narrator is Nick Carraway
Who lives next door to a man named Jay

Gattsby, a mysterious and extravagantly wealthy fellow
The light Gatsby stares at is green, and not yellow

Gatsby is in love with Nick's cousin Daisy
Her marriage to Tom Buchanan drives him crazy

Tom and Myrtle Wilson are having an affair
Myrtle lives with her husband George in the middle of nowhere

Weekend parties at Gatsby's draw droves of people, it's a fact
But it's Daisy who he's really trying to attract

The two had once been lovers, as if bound by fate
But Gatsby was poor, and Daisy couldn't wait

So they separated, and just when Gatsby's green light grows dim
Daisy seems willing to run away with him

Gatsby confronts Tom, claiming Daisy's love as his own
But Daisy, under pressure, goes back to Tom and leaves her true love alone

Speeding home from New York one fateful night,
Daisy kills Myrtle, then flees in a fright

The murder had been accidental in Jay Gatsby's car
George, suspecting Gatsby, vows that the man won't get far

So he tracks him down and kills him, then takes his own life
Gatsby had everything, except Daisy as a wife


Metamorphosis
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Mr. Gregor Samsa woke one morn feeling a little weird.
Eagerly he looked down and saw his legs had disappeared

There he now had 6 legs and antennae from his head.
And he found it quite difficult to roll out of bed.

Mother was scared, Greta and Father were too.
Only father threw the apple for Gregor to shoo.

Reality struck and Greta grew weary.
Putting up with a bug can be quite dreary.

Housemates came to live to help pay the bills.
Only Gregor scared them away; had them running for the hills.

So alienated from everyone, of loneliness Gregor died,
Interestingly enough his family did not cry.

So ends the tale of poor Gregor's strife,
A man who had the misfortune to live a bug's life.


The Crucible
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The course of events all occurred in Salem, Mass,
But no one was prepared for what came to pass.

It all started off with an innocent game,
And ended with the town in shame.

The town girls all danced with a black slave,
Pleading with Satan for what they did crave.

When little Betty Paris soon became sick,
Abigail Williams came up with a trick.

To save her name and avoid prosecution,
Blame it all on witchcraft, that's the solution!

She forced the girls into lies and deceit,
For that was the key to pulling off this feat.

Reverend Hale came to town, being so wise
To test if the girls' stories were just plain lies

After much questioning, Hale became suspicious,
Seeing this opportunity, Abigail became vicious.

The accusations began and the town became wary,
While Abigail's attitude was quite the contrary.

This manipulative girl, relishing in her new found power
Now set her eyes on John Proctor, his reputation to sour.

Obsessed and determined to win back this married man
She'll try to ruin his wife, any way that she can.

To survive the trials, forget the conscience's pang
Give in to false confessions, or your body shall hang.

As the final chapter of her deadly ruse,
Elizabeth Proctor becomes one of the accused.

John Proctor is tempted to save the woman to whom he's wed,
But the vindictive and clever Abigail holds lechery over his head.

As John attempts to expose Abigail's evil scheme,
He is thwarted by his own servant and the Lying Team.

Reverend Hale recognizes that the town's a big mess,
To save Proctor's life, Hale urges him to confess.

To Proctor, there are things more important than life,
Like preserving his name to save his children from strife.

A shadow has been cast on this event for all time,
For what took place in Salem, an unspeakable crime.


Slaughterhouse Five
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A man decided to write this book about what he saw in WWII,
In this book a man named Billy, lived inside a zoo.

The zoo wasn't here on earth, but on Talfamadore,
Edgar Allen Poe once wrote, "Quoth the raven-Nevermore".

In a German prison camp the Brits put on a show,
Americans stuffed themselves with food that night, then really had to "go".

On Tralfsmsdore with Billy Pilgrim was Montana Wildhack,
Time on this planet wasn't like ours, there it could forward and back.

While in the war Billy had no clothes, and was thought to be a fool,
Little children are often scared of witches, ghosts, and ghouls.

While in a mental ward Billy read some Kilgore Trout,
"Do not kill those who are well connected," Trout said without a doubt.

Because this story is filled with random thoughts, and jumps from place and time,
We decided to do the same to make the poem rhyme!!


Farewell to Arms
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'Twas a night on the front, when all through the war
there wasn't much stirring, just some drinks and a whore.
Frederic Henry had joined with little care
in hopes that adventure and glory would be found there.

An ambulance driver, he became
while dreaming of fun, excitement and fame.
And in World War I, and in Italy,
a sotto-tenente was what he would be.

When he saw one nurse there arose such a clatter
his friend Rinaldi came in to see what was the matter.
Catherine Barkley was a nurse he met.
He liked her some, but it wasn't much yet.

The moon on the breast of the mountain of snow
gave the luster to the artillery below,
when, what but a shell from the enemy did appear,
blew up Henry's, nearly dead, he did fear.

Henry gets hurt and is taken to care,
but then he finds out he won't stay there.
To an American hospital he is sent.
It happens to be where Catherine went.

Now Rinaldi! Now Priest!
Now, I'll miss you much!
Come over and visit!
Soon I'll walk with a crutch!
Bring me some brandy!
Bring me some wine!
Away from the war, with Catherine!
I'm fine!

They fall in love and they have great nights,
like a married couple, without the fights.
He soon gets better and they go around town,
you'd hardly even know there was a war going down.

One day they'll get married, well perhaps maybe,
and then Catherine reveals she's having a baby.
What will they do?They'll get back together.
But keep away that horrible rainy weather.