M'Alyssa Bundy's question #7

What is the slice of pizza on pages 42-43?


The slice of pizza proves to be a significant part of this story because it symbolizes that the lady has a mental illness. When Carrier is interviewing this woman he looks around the room and "two feet away from the light, near the television, a slice of pizza is lying upside down in the carpet" (42). While interviewing her, she does not show any signs that she may be harboring any mental instabilities. This one slice of pizza is the only sign to continue on and ask the questions from the test. Any mentally stable person would haves picked up the spilled food up immediately. By noticing this slice of pizza, Carrier is able to uncover that the women is harboring extreme mental illness, because she tells him she is sleeping with Archangels.

10 Questions on "Test" from Running After The Antelope by Scott Carrier.

1. Why does Carrier use the grotesque to convey that the patients and his self have possibly mental disabilities?

2.How does Carrier use irony to show that he, himself, may harbor some mental instabilities?

3. How does the use of imagery help convince the reader that the patient has some case of a mental disability?

4. What does the pizza symbolize? how is it significant?

5.What is the significance of the woman having a sexual relation with archangel Gabriel and Michael?

6. Why was the prostitute seeing zombies and and smelling dead boys behind the hospital? is this a bigger connection to her mental illness, possibly death itself?

7. What is the significance of Carrier's wife and kids leaving him?

8. Do all of the patients cases have a symbolic link to Carrier's own life?

9. What is the man trying to see through his crystal? could this be his coping mechanism to his mental disabilities?

10. Why does Carrier feel that the Navajo teen is trying to torture him?

Full Moon

as i stand in my front lawn gazing at the moon, i see the face, and i see the lights of the stars. and i start to contemplate on how the moon and stars would be brighter if i was in a more rural and less polluted area. as i am thinking of different locations that i wish i was, i see a moving light, a shooting star! then i notice the red and blue blinking lights and remember i live right by the airport...oh sometimes the irony of industrialization. haha!

A Winter Walk

As I walk through the snow, with winter's cold breath breathing down my withered body. Bracing my life upon a cane and holding my only possessions. I see life's omens beckoning my soul to leave with them. They float around waiting for my soul's passing, with their white as snow overlays and dark as an abyss underneath. I contemplate their request and decide for the best...I must go.

Mumford And Sons - Thistle & Weeds

Spare me your judgements and spare me your dreams,
Cause recently mine have been tearing my seams,
I sit alone in this winter clarity which clouds my mind,
Alone in the wind and the rain you left me,
It's getting dark darling, too dark to see,
And I'm on my knees, and your faith in shreds, it seems.

Corrupted by the simple sniff of riches blown,
I know you have felt much more love than you've shown,
And I'm on my knees and the water creeps to my chest.

But plant your hope with good seeds,
Don't cover yourself with thistle and weeds,
Rain down, rain down on me,
Look over your hills and be still,
The sky above us shoots to kill,
Rain down, rain down on me.

But I will hold on
I will hold on hope, but I will hold on, I will hold on hope, and I will hold on I will hold on hope, but I will hold on I will hold on hope, I will hold on I will hold on.

I begged you to hear me, there's more than flesh and bones,
Let the dead bury their dead, they will come out in droves,
But take the spade from my hands and fill in the holes, you've made.

But plant your hope with good seeds,
Don't cover yourself with thistle and weeds,
Rain down, rain down on me.


this is one of my favorite bands, i listen to their cd constantly, there is always a copy in my car. i feel that this is not only a song, but a poem. it has personification "The sky above us shoots to kill," symbolism "thistle and weeds,"  irony "Let the dead bury their dead," and others components. i feel that this song is a great poem warning people not to let themselves make bad life decisions.

Darkness By George Gordon Byron

i decided on this poem because i like the post apocalyptic feel of it. i like the dark scary feel of the end of the earth he writes about.

Rhinoceros

i would be a Rhinoceros, i change with the times and trends. i am not saying i am supporting wrong or harmful ideas, but as a society things change, trends, music, clothes, pop culture, technology, etc. all of it evolves and changes with the times and as a society they must go with it.