POETRY #1

1. The poem that is used in the Levi's commercial is called "The Laughing Heart" by Charles Bukowski.

2. This poem is quite ironic in the Levi's commercial due to the fact that the objective of the commercial was to convince the viewers to purchase their products! By advertising to the public, the Levi's company is trying to get people to buy their products in order to make a profit. This poem is about living your life and not letting others dictate your actions. An example of this is "your life is your life", which encourages individuals to live the life they always wanted and to make their own choices. In addition, the poem also states "be on the watch", which means that there are others trying to control your life and you must not allow them to tear away your personal goals or dreams. The Levi's company is trying to take a hold of your life in order to convince you that their jeans are fantastic, which is the irony presented in that commercial.

3.  Charles Bukowski faced various challenges both mentally and physically in both his life and when trying to be published. He was turned down many times by different publishers, but that didn't stop him from trying. "It may not be much light, but it beats the darkness" shows his drive and perseverance on his journey to achieve success, which actually connects to our journal topic today in class. Our journal topic was based on a story about Thomas Edison that showed the importance of making mistakes and having failures in order to achieve success. Failures are lessons to learn and grow from that allow you to find the path to success. Bukowski failed many times, but was able to beat the challenges he faced. The line that expresses this is "your life is your life. know it while you have it." because it expresses that he took those failures and used them as tools to achieve what he wanted.The poem encourages the readers to do the same. Bukowski also dealt with illness, alcoholism, and bullies, which is shown in the poem such as "you can beat death in life, sometimes,". In addition, the poem is quite pessimistic and depressing at some parts ("you can't beat death") due that fact that he foreshadows what is to come, but that doesn't mean there isn't going to be an opportunity to change it or learn from it.

4. I found #1 by searching the title of the commercial on Dr.Preston's website, Go forth 2011, which led me to a poetry website that showed the rest of the poem, the title, and the author. I researched Charles Bukowski on various websites such as http://bukowski.net, http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/charles-bukowski, http://www.poemhunter.com/charles-bukowski/, and http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/394. These websites were great sources of information on both his personal life and his life as a poet.