Curiosity

=Curiosity by Alastair Read (pg. 652-653) =

may have killed the cat; more likely the cat was just unlucky, or else curious to see what death was like, having no cause to go on licking paws, or fathering litter on litter of kittens, predictably.

Nevertheless, to be curious is dangerous enough. To distrust what is always said, what seems to ask odd questions, interfere in dreams, media type="youtube" key="R-5Ia4q8ziw" width="420" height="346" align="right"leave home, smell rats, have hunches do not endear cats to those doggy circles where well-smelt baskets, suitable wives, good lunches are the order of things, and where prevails much wagging of incurious heads and tails. Face it. Curiosity <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">will not cause us to die-- <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">only lack of it will. <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">Never to want to see <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">the other side of the hill <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">or that improbable country <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">where living is an idyll <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">(although a probable hell) <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">would kill us all. <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">Only the curious <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">have, if they live, a tale <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">worth telling at all.

<span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">Dogs say cats love too much, are irresponsible, <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">are changeable, marry too many wives, <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">desert their children, chill all dinner tables <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">with tales of their nine lives. <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">Well, they are lucky. Let them be <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">nine-lived and contradictory, <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">curious enough to change, prepared to pay <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">the cat price, which is to die <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">and die again and again, <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">each time with no less pain. <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">A cat minority of one <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">is all that can be counted on <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">to tell the truth. And what cats have to tell <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">on each return from hell <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">is this: that dying is what the living do, <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">that dying is what the loving do, <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">and that dead dogs are those who do not know <span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">that dying is what, to live, each has to do.

=<span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">Alastair Reid =

<span style="color: #333633; font-family: Georgia,Verdana,serif,'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px;">

Born in Galloway, Scotland on March 22nd, 1926, Alastair Reid is a poet and scholar known for his South American literature. During wartime, Reid served in the Royal Navy and later left Scotland to live in a variety of different countries. Later in his life, in the 1950s, he became a traveling correspondent for //New Yorker// magazine where he explored various parts of the world, fulfilling his curiosity.


 * Analysis**


 * T**heme: In order to to live life to the fullest extent, a person needs to take risks.
 * I**magery: "Curiosity" starts with the popular idiom "curiosity killed the cat" and is an extended metaphor that utilizes symbols to express the theme of the work. A cat portrays the type of person that is adventurous and takes risks, so that they may experience life to the fullest extent. A dog, on the other hand, symbolizes a person that is content with life or lives in fear of death as a consequence of risk. Finally, death can be taken both literally and figuratively in this poem. In the figurative sense, according to Reid, people who do not take risks are not truly living because "Dead dogs are those that do not know that dying is what, to live, each has to do." Allegory is also used in this poem since, on the surface, it appears to be comparing the lifestyles of cats and dogs. However, there is a deeper meaning that explains the idea that people who do not take risks are not living life to the fullest.
 * M**eter: This poem is free verse, so the meter is inconsistent and also contains some rhyming that is in no particular pattern. The speaker of the poem is the author, Alastair Reid.
 * E**motion: "Curiosity" is a satirical poem because of the authors apparent criticism of dogs or the people that dogs symbolize. The poem begins in a lighter tone, but becomes more dark by the final stanza when it is clear that the author is on the cat side of the argument. Reid praises the good qualities of cats while saying that dogs are mostly dead before they even die, because of their lack of curiosity. There is a serious tone that is consistent throughout the poem while the author expresses his views on life and taking risks.

1. What do cats symbolize? a. Love and affection b. People afraid of taking chances c. Purity d. Risk takers e. A common household pet
 * Questions**

2. What is the attitude of the poem? a. Melancholy b. Satirical c. Depressed d. Questioning e. Upbeat

3. What deeper meaning does the poem express? a. Live life to the fullest b. Cats and dogs greatly differ in character c. Life is like a roller coaster d. Life is unpredictable e. Life is about staying with what is familiar

4. "Prepared to pay the cat price" is an example of what? a. Syntax b. Hyperbole c. Metaphor d. Alliteration e. Assonance

5. What symbols are utilized in this poem? a. Cats and dogs b. Cats, dogs, and life c. Cats, dogs, and death d. Cats e. Cats, death, and time

a. Be a risk-taker b. Risks result in death c. Life is pain d. Never say never e. YOLO
 * Extra Credit: What is the speakers opinion on life?

p.s. The extra credit question is not AP English exam material and should not be utilized as an intellectual or inspiring question based on the responses given.

Works Cited "Alastair Reid." //Poetry Archive//. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://www.google.com/imgres? imgurl=http://www.poetryarchive.org/cache/images/cms/poetryarchive/cmsattach/2230_REIDL.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoet.do? poetId%3D11917&h=144&w=144&sz=1&tbnid=RSmA5- kEyfDkOM:&tbnh=144&tbnw=144&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dalastair%2Breid%2Bbirthday%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=alastair+reid+birthday&usg=__vjyPwzbfOgyC3p D3TVBo_KyJBGg=&docid=3XLi23fk0n2bMM&itg=1&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QK4uUZTtGqzK0AH53IHQAw&ved=0CG0Q_B0wCw>.// Literature Matters //. British Council, 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://literature.britishcouncil.org/alastair-reid>. // Poetry Talk //. NeonGecko, 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://poetry-talk.com/article/alistair-reids-curiosity>. // YouTube //. N.p., 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-5Ia4q8ziw>.