The Snow Man

In "The Snow Man" the main characters are only the reader and the author. It is a message.
The message is easy to understand, I know the poem since I read it and I am aware of the images and scapes it references, so I think I know enough about it's message to understand it.
This poem is advancing a thesis on understanding and experience that can be applied to almost anything in life. I can imagine hundreds of different scenarios where "The Snow Man" message would apply and have merit.
I think this poem is accurate in many ways. I believe the message is that: without personal experience, one will be slow to understand a particular circumstance or event, in the case of the poem, winter is the experience. I think many other events could be exchanged with winter in the poem. Winter is a particularly good example so I am not surprized that Stevens chose it.
For me right now the poem does not call any emotional responce. I do not see it as emotional, I think it is a submission of thought on the role and merit of experience; a thesis on what one is missing if they are unconcious of it's existence.
I think this poem happens to all of us. It is inevitable that all of us will be in circumstances where we are inexperienced sometime. Everyone is missing an appreciation for something.
I can't see this applying to me right now. I am doing what I think is right. At the end of the poem there is a message on being able to see more than what is immediatley present in the winter season.

Sonny's Blues

The main characters in "Sonny's Blues" are Sonny and his brother the narrator.
I am in the dark with this story. It is about drug use, music and growing up under hard circumstances; I do not have any personal experience with these things. The story easily gives the reader all necessary elements for understanding. The sorrow of life in Harlem, the dangers of drug abuse and the power of music.
I think this story does require the reader to use imagination. I for example have never used heroin, so there is some gap created when the story attempts to describe the feeling of heroin and it's correlation to some other feelings. Generally though I think the story tries very hard to create the feelings that the narrator is experiencing. There is very creative usage of verbs and adverbs to transmit what is going on with the narrator, so I do not see the imagination being very called on here.
I think that this is a pretty sad story. It seems to be all about pain, from the death of the narrators daughter to polio and the death of his uncle to circumstance, to his brothers incarceration and addiction. The whole story is a primer on the tough life of Harlem and in general.
I feel sorry for the narrator and people in general. Some of us seem so adapted to shouldering life's burdens while others among us seem unable to bear the strain. I think the emotion rampant throughout this work is simply sadness; that seems to be its primary concern.
I don't know of anything I am driven to know more about here. I am not in any desire to learn more about drugs, I am too poor to be a drug user and my predisposition to wild and unleashed thoughts makes me a bad candidate for using substances that promote more of such leanings.
If these events happened to me I would probably be even tougher on Sonny than the narrator. Ultimatley the facts of the story are: Sonny is an ex-con, former drug user, is unemployed, and now is staying with me and my family. That naturally would be very troublesome for me. Traditionally people have done some very bad things on drugs, many times those things are directed towards those that are closest to the user. Sonny provides quite an antithesis to myself and I am pretty set in my ways, I don't know that we could get along. I probably would turn my back on him and let him find his own way, rather than run the risk of someone getting hurt.
The relation to me is the relation to my thoughts on drugs. I think drugs should be legal because of my affinity for liberty in civilization. This story creates arguments for and against drug legalization. I cannot help but feel that Sonny is addicted and will eventually turn back to drugs. The story seems to suggest this. It could be used to shake ones thoughts on the subject of legalization as it calls on the insidious nature of addiction which must be taken into account.
Probably my favorite part of the story is when Sonny plays for his brother in the bar. This is when the story turns around. I think the whole story sheds Sonny as being wrong and in the end he seems to be right. Our discussion on drugs and music is one that I have had before. It is very thought provoking. Any investigation on this connection would be difficult because of the fact that people regularly lie about drug use as it is illegal. The results still would be useful, and interesting. Are drug users attracted to art created by drug users? / are non users attracted to the art of non users? I suspect any trends would be weak. There does seem to be an understanding that artists are typically users though.
I would recommend this text primarily because it is clear and well written, it sounds like it could be based on some true events. The events in it are things that have happened many times.

The Death of a Salesman, Act 1

The main characters are Willy, Linda, Biff and Happy, Bernard, Uncle Ben and Charley.
I know nothing about this story. The story quickly reveals the important events, feelings, relationships and desires that the reader needs to understand what is happening.
I think I imagine the appearances of the setting and characters. The story seems straight forward, there is no need for one to use too much imagination.
I think the story is interesting, it seems to explore some traditional problems that family members encounter as they mature, such as communication, aging, money, and relationships.
I feel very sad when reading this. It is depressing. The hopes everyone in the family had did not materialize, dissappointment is known by all members. I wonder where the true culprit is? Was Willy wrong to allow the boys to only develop their athletic/physical potency? Why did Willy's company pull him down to commission only? Was it greed, or did he fail in some way and deserve this demotion? Ultimatley I see some flaws in Willy, he seems to treat his family and friends with disrespect and cruelty. It could be his dementia, or just his real personality. He also seems to place too much value on some things and not enough value on other things. The fact that he is suicidal indicates that he is in a very bad place.
The things that are taking place in this story are unfortunate. Sales is a very tough endeavor. If I found out that my father was suicidal, I would do everything I could to help. Sometimes there is no helping. If I was in my sixties and a salesman: I would probably be just about like Willy is: suicidal and delusional.
I think I can relate a bit to Biff, he is indecisive and not on any valid path to a good career that will financially serve him, and he is too old to still be floundering.