In class, we discussed in great depth that this poem describes man's desire to build a paradise for oneself.  Specifically, we talked about Coleridge's opium addiction as his attempt to create that paradise. 

This is not the only interpretation of this poem.  Another approach would say that Coleridge's poem asserts that ever since original sin, mankind has longed to return to Eden and the god-given paradise.  Coleridge seems to say that man does this in vain, because Nature thwarts all attempts at this and paradise is forever lost.

Your task:
Consider this alternate interpretation, and locate evidence that could be used to justify its acceptance.  Explain how Coleridge seems to indicate man's desire to return to Eden, and also how Nature always thwarts man's attempts. (Don't forget that human nature might also be considered part of nature.) 

Finally, read and respond to at least one classmate's post.  Make sure your response adds something to the discussion, beyond simply agreeing with or encouraging another student.
Celeste Yahr
2/12/2013 06:22:30 pm

Coleridge's poem Kubla Kahn is definitely a poem left up to interpretation by everyone who reads it. He makes Eden sound like a great place until it was corrupted. "The shadow of the dome of pleasure" (line 31) The shadow could be symbolizing corruption and he is saying that the dome is supposed to be full of pleasure but this dark shadow is there ruining it. Later on in line 36 it is as if there was a day where the corruption didn't seem too bad and he thought it was almost bearable, but it was covered in ice which could be a symbol for confinement. He is saying that this dome of "pleasure" is now corrupted, but the corruption is confining them because they can't break the ice that is holding them. The ice being each person’s personal addiction or worldly thing they are not willing to give up. This is their human nature not letting the world get to Eden again

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Kelti Lorence
2/13/2013 07:33:08 am

I agree with your references to the ice. I pictured a big glacier when I read it, not just a thin layer of ice, which could definitely confine anything caught inside. Ice is often clear, which adds to the power of this illusion by allowing people to see their paradise frozen in the ice, but not be able to touch it.

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Megan W.
2/13/2013 12:20:31 pm

I enjoyed reading your post! Your interpretation of the corruption being the shadow of and the dome being paradise was very wise, and I believe, true. I think that the ice could also represent the hardness of heart felt by people who fall into an addiction thinking that it will fulfill their dreams and bring them to their utopia.

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Tristan
2/13/2013 02:51:38 pm

I like how you brought up the ice reference. Perhaps it could also be taken to mean that the ice is part of the corrupted paradise and is part of what makes it unbearable by tainting it. The ice caves are mentioned in the same line as sunny pleasure so it could be there to contradict the warm sun with biting cold.

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Sam Farmer
2/20/2013 11:28:57 am

I like how you thought the shadow symbolized corruption. That is a great way of thinking about it.

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Kelti Lorence
2/13/2013 07:21:01 am

Coleridge begins his poem describing a "stately pleasure dome... gardens bright with sinuous rills/ Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree" (lines 2, 8-9). In the next stanza however, he illustrates the human nature to sin as "beneath a waning moon was haunted/ By woman wailing for her demon lover!" (line 15/16). The innocent beauty of nature is distorted as people are added to the mixture, bringing "ceaseless turmoil" (line 17) with their unending and unsatisfiable desires. His next lines reiterate the point of the humans sin weakening their grip on paradise as "The shadow of the dome of pleasure/ Floated midway on the waves" (line 31/32). The pleasure once known is being taken away slowly by powerful beings, such as the sea, measureless and uncontrollable. The final stanza describes Eden and how people want to find it again but are forever locked out. The "damsel with a dulcimer" is only in a vision; not a flesh and blood appearance. We can dream of paradise, but not touch it. We "close our eyes with holy dread" , whcih could mean that humans are ashamed of their fall from perfection and now attempt to close their eyes against their sin, but it never really goes away.

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2/13/2013 10:28:27 am

Great ideas. You noted the line between human dreams and reality really well. The sense of something slipping away, such as paradise, is something like the loss of innocence and the gaining of an understanding that we find, in the end, that we do not want. Shame is often the result of such a loss, as we do what we can and simply gain more of that fearful understanding that we cannot make a paradise; not even for our own sakes.

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Mackenzie
2/14/2013 03:58:46 am

The "unending and unsatisfiable" desires of man have a huge impact on the reasons why man could never return to Eden. I also love the way you described mans inabliility to return to Eden with "humans sin weakening their grip on paradise". Good job Kelti.

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2/13/2013 10:21:39 am

Coleridge's mere description of Eden seems to indicate a longing to return to it. In lines 8-9 the speaker says, "And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,/Where blossomed many an incensed tree..." This description shows this as a place of light, growth, and sunlight. However, in the following stanza, chaos ensues. Whether the river is interpreted as time or a reflection nature, the result seems to be similar. As time passes, the river, which gave life to the gardens of Eden, now acts as a destructive force. In line 28 the speaker relates darkly that the river, "...sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean..." This could be used to parallel the fall of man and the loss of paradise. The last line of the second stanza further reflects the following turmoil: "Ancestral voices prophecying war!" The loss that mankind experienced can be seen in lines 31-32, where the speaker says, "The shadow of the dome of pleasure/ Floated midway on the waves..." It must be kept in mind that it is implied that this pleasure dome was first built in Eden. The shadow of it, then, suggests the loss of it: that now mankind can only see a shadow of what had been. In line 36 the speaker relates that the pleasure dome is "with caves of ice." The great contrast between the "sunny pleasure dome" and the caves of ice may reflect the contrast of what once was in Eden with the now fallen nature of man, perhaps touching on some of the Romantic theme of innocence in opposition to experience in the process. Another reflection of man's feeling of loss is found in the last stanza, where the speaker says that "a damsel with a dulcimer" was "singing of Mount Abora." This act of singing of the place where Eden is supposed to have been would have been one of reminiscence and perhaps mourning. The speaker says afterwards rather hopelessly that, "Could I revive within me/ Her symphony and song,/ To such a deep delight 'twould win me,/.../ I would build that dome in air..." (lines 42-44, 46) The first statement suggests that this song cannot be revived, and therefore the dome cannot be built.

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Megan Wall
2/13/2013 11:59:42 am

Coleridge specifically indicates the human desire to return to Eden in the second and the seventh stanzas of his poem, “Kubla Khan.” Coleridge conveys this through his clear diction, such as in stanza two line one when he alludes to, “fertile ground…/and here were gardens bright with sinuous rills/where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree…” With the allusion of “fertile ground” and an “incense-bearing tree” in a garden, it could be interpreted that Coleridge is speaking of the Garden of Eden. Continuing on in the poem, the whole of stanza six seems to support the interpretation that “Kubla Khan” was speaking about the human desire to return to Eden. Beginning in lines one through five Coleridge presents a new aspect of his vision, a lady with a harp-like instrument outside of Mount Abora. The damsel could be viewed as either Eve, who caused the fall of mankind, or the angel that is guarding the Garden of Eden today. Another key to interpreting this poem is researching Mount Abora, which is not a recognized mountain today. However, the closest name to Mount Abora is a mountain found in Ethiopia, where some believe Eden may be. The second half of the stanza Coleridge goes on to describe how happy he would be to hear the song of her harp again, suggesting a supernatural experience. The second part of the theory that Coleridge was speaking about Eden is that he allows readers to deduct that nature gets in the way of people returning to the Garden. He does this by creating the pattern of light tones and images and dark tone and images. The first stanza uses peaceful diction while stanza three is written with tones of darkness and heavy phrases such as in lines fourteen through sixteen, “A savage place! As holy and enchanted/As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted/By woman wailing for her demon lover!” These lines show the predicament that nature presents for those who desire to be in utopia, or the Garden of Eden once again.

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Celeste Yahr
2/13/2013 04:58:29 pm

Megan, I like how you interpreted the damsel. When I looked at that part I thought it might be Even too, but I didn't put it together with the fact that she was the fall of mankind. Also it is another cool way to think of it being the angle.

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Celeste....Again...
2/13/2013 04:59:42 pm

Oops definitely meant Eve not Even...My bad.

Tristan
2/13/2013 02:46:09 pm

In Coleridge's poem Kubla Kahn, there are multiple points that support the interpretation that Coleridge is refering to Eden and that people long to return to this paradise. The description of the pleasure dome is certainly one that could be taken to be describing Eden, "gardens bright with sinous rills... many an incense bearing tree... sunny spots of greenery." The second stanza seems to be describing the fall/corruption of Eden through sin. Lines like line 24 "it flung up momently the sacred river" could be describing the chaos and corruption brought upon mankind and Eden. Stanza four would make sense as being a remembrance of what was lost and stanza five could be an extension of this. Meaning that the speaker could be dreaming of Eden and its sweet music. The Abyssinian maid could be symbolic for Eden and her longed for music the pleasures of the "pleasure dome" that was lost.

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Mary Sine
2/13/2013 04:55:28 pm

Great post. I agree that the second stanza is describing the fall and corruption of Eden through the sins of mankind. Or maybe it could symbolize the corruption of mankind in Eden, and then mankind being banished. I also think that the Abyssinian maid being symbolic of Eden and the longed for music is a really good connection. Great response!

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Mary Sine
2/13/2013 03:48:56 pm

The poem “Kubla Khan” can be interpreted in many different ways because it is a very abstract poem. This different interpretation of “Kubla Khan” that mankind is trying to regain the paradise of Eden, but nature thwarts any chance they may have had to get back to Eden does have evidence in the poem to support it. In the poem, Coleridge creates beautiful images of paradise with lines like, “And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,/ Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;” These lines are describing “Eden” the paradise that mankind wants to return to. But after these lines, the poem becomes darker, describing violent natural processes. Lines 20 and 21 seem to be describing an eruption like a geyser or volcano with, “Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst/ Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,”. This description of violent nature, and then later the sacred river running into, “a lifeless ocean:” These dark descriptions of nature, so near to the man-made “pleasure dome,” could easily destroy the dome, making all of the work of the men, pointless. The violent nature could symbolize the violence in human nature and culture that prevents mankind from ever reaching the paradise in Eden again. In fact, the two different interpretations, the first of the opium addiction and the second of trying to get back Eden could both be combined, with Coleridge’s opium addiction being the way that he was trying to get back to the paradise of Eden. But because of the addiction, he can never truly get to Eden, the addiction both helping and hindering him.

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Jonathon D.
2/14/2013 12:17:26 am

I totally agree with what you are saying. I never thought about nature being a part of this description. I also like how you said Coleridge's opium addiction was both hindering and helping him achieve this paradise. Good job.

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Jonathon D.
2/14/2013 12:16:51 am

The poem Kubla Khan is describing a better place that people can go to when they are done on this planet. In other words Eden. In the first stanza of this poem, Coleridge is using phrases like "And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree." This is describing the place called Eden where everything is filled with pleasure and joy. Coleridge later goes on into detail how this was all destroyed by Satan. The phrase, "But Oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover! A savage place! as holy and enchanted," is saying that hell has ruined this place. Coleridge also says how he wants to bring back this paradise to its former glory. He describes angels that have came down and spoken to Kubla Khan to revive this place. Since this was all a dream, the poem ended so abruptly that we don't know what really happens but it leaves a sense of hope and mysteries along with it.

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Mackenzie
2/14/2013 03:53:46 am

Coleridge could be writing of this other interpretation about mankinds desire to return to the sinless ways of Eden because of the way he describes this paradise. In line eight Coleridge says that "there were gardens bright.." and "here were forests ancient as the hills, Enflolding sunny spots of greenery." Not only does he describe a paradise like Eden but in line 14 it says, " A savage place! as holy and enchanted.." proving to readers that it's a paradise that was once holy but is now "savage". Coleridge mentions the longing for mankind to return back to Eden when he says, in line 31-32, "The shadow of the dome of pleasure/Floated midway on the waves;". To me this says that the desire to return to such a paradise is simply unreachable. In the last stanza when Coleridge talks of rebuilding the "dome" the thought is quickly thwarted by the nature of mankind and his sin in line 49-50, "And all should cry, Beware! Beware!/His flashing eyes, his floating hair!"making it final that man can never return to such a land of paradise because of his own downfalls.

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Kendall
2/17/2013 01:04:59 pm

I really liked your interpretation of the poem, you pointed out good details to support your idea, but do you think that maybe when he says, "The shadow of the dome of pleasure/Floated midway on the waves;" he could be saying that Eden is already halfway there. Like Eden is meeting man halfway and it has already taken its steps to meet us halfway, but we haven't taken ours because sin has tempted us in other directions?

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Emily
2/17/2013 08:09:59 am

Coleridge describes through the entire poem a world that is beautiful and enchanting and sacred, which is how most people imagine Eden. But he also adds that parts of it are corrupt, and those are the parts that mankind has touched with their sins.In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. The stately pleasure dome and sacred river sound nice, but the sunless sea does not. When he describes the damsel with the dulcimer, he says that he would like to revive her song within himself, but couldn't, which is like how mankind would like to go back into Eden but their own nature won't let them because they are too corrupt to go back. Coleridge is also describing what he would build in Eden, but maybe that is what in human nature is keeping mankind out. We always want to build over what's already there, even if it's perfect as is. That being said, we are being stopped from ruining Eden.

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Ariana
2/18/2013 02:21:30 am

You have really good ideas but do you think you could add more quotes to back up your ideas? It would really improve your response and present the evidence to back up your opinion.

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Lacayah
2/19/2013 02:19:21 pm

I like your reference to the damsel's song and how you interpreted that.

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Kendall
2/17/2013 12:57:57 pm

Coleridge creates a pattern of good vs. evil with each stanza throughout the poem. He starts off with stanza one, describing the pleasure dome, "where Alph, the sacred river ran." (line 3) "And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree, and here were forests ancient as the hills, enfolding sunny spots of greenery." (lines 8-11) Here Coleridge describes a place of innocence and purity, a place where man strive to return. The reader can interrupt this place being Eden. The "sacred river" is the river of life for men. It starts of pure, clean and clear and no barriers stopping it direction, but as the river runs on the sin of man creates obstacles that it has to go around to continuing trying to live on. In the next stanza we see a flip in tone from good to evil. Coleridge now illustrates a place of chaos and destruction, this being the nature thwarting the attempts of men returning to Eden. The corruption of the world and the people with in it are the barriers that are standing in the way of man and Eden. "Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail, or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail." "And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever it flung up momently the sacred river." (lines 20-24) He uses the image of rocks in the river to describe how sin can destroy a place that was once sacred. I think Coleridge's over all message is that the corruption of mankind will slow or even stop the river from flowing back to Eden.

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Brady
2/18/2013 04:37:44 am

Do you maybe think that people try and find this place, that it is not destroyed, but nature just gets in their way? This includes human nature as well as just the chaos in the world. Do you think that if human nature changed that this place could ever be achieved?

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Ariana
2/18/2013 02:18:59 am

Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan" has many different interpretaions and one of these is man's desire to return to Eden and the god given paradise. In line ten Coleridge writes, " And here were forests ancient as the hills, enfolding sunny spots of greenery" which describes a lucious garden. In line fourteen he says, " A savage place! as holy and enchanted as e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted by woman wailing for her demon lover!". These lines suggest that Coleridge is talking about Eden because it was once a holy and peaceful place but then it was struck by sin. Also I think it's interesting that he used a "woman" because in Eden, Eve was the one to first sin. In the second stanza Coleridge describes chaos and destruction; "Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hairl, or chaffy grain beneath the threshers flail: and 'mis these dancing rocks at once and ever it flung up momently the sacred river." This chaos repersents the actual chaos of the world and people's crazy actions of trying to be "holy" in God's eyes.

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Jacob Jones
2/19/2013 04:07:50 pm

I agree that Coleridge is describing Eden as a luscious garden and that he is also saying that Eden was once a holy and peaceful place until Adam and Even where stuck out from their sin.

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Carley
2/18/2013 04:24:24 am

If Coleridge intended Kubla Khan to be about a man’s desire to get back to Eden, then it would seem that Alph, the sacred river, refers to time. It ran “through caverns measureless to man (beginning of time)/Down to a sunless sea (present day).” As time goes on, the river passes “by a woman wailing for her demon lover” which is our society’s desire for selfish and unholy things. Not long after, the river “sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean” which could mean present day society, which has no hope, or the end of time. From this “Kubla heard from afar/Ancestral voices prophesying war” which could represent the inner turmoil within society or the apocalypse that comes right before Jesus’s return. The last stanza also has great evidence that Coleridge could be using this poem to represent a man’s attempt to uncover Eden. The fact that Coleridge mentions that this maid with a harp is Ethiopian is crucial. Many people believe that Eden is Ethiopia next to mount Abora that is also referenced in the poem. At this point, the speaker believes he is close to Eden, however, people do not believe and call him crazy, crying “Beware! Beware!” And to “Weave a circle round him thrice/And close your eyes with holy dread.”

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Hannah H
2/19/2013 01:20:54 am

Good ideas Celeste! Do you think that as the speaker is crying, "Beware! Beware!" it is a warning for the endless turmoil Nature creates for those to try to reach Eden, not a warning for the craziness of the speaker? Just a thought. Over all really good ideas.

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Brady
2/18/2013 04:35:18 am

This interpretation does have a lot of merit in the content of this poem. Man's one desire is that of pleasure. No one goes out looking for things to make them suffer. Since Sin, man has longed for this paradise in order to escape the sufferings in life. It says "caverns measureless to man" in line 4 and 27 meaning that this river to paradise flows through caverns that can never be charted or mapped in order to get through them. It also says "With walls and towers girdled round:" in line 7 which gives the impression of this closed area, which could not only mean that it is keeping this fertile place in but keeping everyone wishing to get in out. Later in the poem it says "The shadow of the dome of pleasure/ Floated midway on the waves" (Lines 31-32). This is an image that on this "sunless sea" there is this shadow to pleasure, that in times of suffering and chaos people look towards this dream of pleasure and the garden of Eden. This river leading to the garden has hazards along it in order to thwart the person trying to follow it. There is a "chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething," (Line 17) that is causing chaos. Then it says "Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,/ Then reached the caverns measureless to man," (Lines 26-27). So even after going though the ocean and chasm there are these endless caverns to pass through. This interpretations message is really that people can seek this pleasure all they want but they will never find it fully.

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Carley
2/19/2013 02:00:07 am

I like how you brought human nature into this. It opens up a new side of interpretation to the poem.

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Carley
2/19/2013 02:04:34 am

Based on your interpretation of lines 31-32, do you think that man is constantly searching for unattainable pleasure?

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Jacob Jones
2/19/2013 04:08:36 pm

Coleridge seems to indicate man’s desire to return to Eden in his poem Kubla Khan, even though nature thwarts all attempts to get to this God given paradise. In the fourth paragraph, it says “Dome of Pleasure / Floated midway on the waves.” I think that the dome of pleasure represents the God given paradise of Eden. However, the next line says that it “floated midway on the waves” and that represents nature trying to thwarts all attempts of man reaching that paradise. In addition, the second paragraph is explaining how Eden is a very pleasant place, “five miles of fertile ground” which could explain why man would long to return to Eden. Then the next line says, “With walls and towers was girdled ‘round,” meaning that the fertile ground or Eden is surrounded by walls that prevent man from returning to Eden the God given paradise.

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Sammy Farmer
2/20/2013 11:27:33 am

Coleridge's poem “Kubla Khan”, insists that since original sin was commited, mankind has longed to return to the garden of Eden. This poem's stanzas go from light to dark to light to dark and so on. Line 8 states, "And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills” which portrays the speaker's longing to be in this paradise. Coleridge also wrote of a “sacred river”. These two images create a positive connotation. Then the speaker says that he once saw a “damsel with a dulcimer,” which could symbolize temptation like Eve encountered in Eden. This could be the beginning of sin. As men longed to be in this garden, Nature thwarted their attempts from staying. "Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail”(line 20).

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Mika
2/24/2013 03:31:28 pm

I like how you thought of the damsel as Eve's temptation.

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Mika
2/24/2013 03:08:17 pm

In Colridge's

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mika
2/24/2013 03:32:03 pm

do not know how that got there... :\

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Mika
2/24/2013 03:28:12 pm

In Colridge's "Kubla Khan", he talks of mankind's desire to return to Eden, though nature stops mankind's attempts from doing so. He describes Xanadu as an exotic, "holy and enchanted" place "measureless to man." Coldridge is saying that Eden is untouchable by mankind. Using the narrator as representing mankind's desire, he says, "That dome in air/That sunny dome! those caves of ice!" (thinking before planes) It is not natural for people to fly, obviously. Since the dome (Eden) is in the air, that is nature's way of stopping mankind from reaching Eden. Also, caves can be like a maze made of an unstoppable force of nature (ice) that stops mankind from reaching Eden.

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9/5/2013 03:34:23 pm

I created a weebly blog after seeing how simple it looked.

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10/1/2013 02:16:28 pm

Make sure your response adds something to the discussion, beyond simply agreeing with or encouraging another student.

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