Poetry #1

1. From what poem/author does this commercial borrow (without credit)? 
        The commercial borrows its poem from The Laughing Heart by Charles Bukowski

2. Why might the use of this poem by a corporation be considered ironic? 
        This use of the poem may be seen ironic, as the poem is meant to uplift the people who feel that they have absolutely nothing to live for, which are usually poor or depressed people.  The poor people would not be able to afford Levi brand jeans, as jeans are extremely expensive, and Levi is a well known brand, and the depressed people would not care about something as trivial as name brand jeans.

3. Does the poem reflect the reputation of the author? Why/why not? 
        No, the poem does not reflect Bukowski's reputation at all, because he was known as the "laureate of American lowlife" for writing about the lives of poor Americans, such as alcoholism, relationships, and the hardships derivative of work.  He did not write about name brand luxuries meant for people of the middle and upper classes.

4. How did you find the answers to #1 & #3? Describe your research process and your sources in detail.
        Well, after I watched the video, I typed in "your life is your life" into google, and clicked on the first link that happened to be this: http://thebestamericanpoetry.typepad.com/the_best_american_poetry/2008/11/the-laughing-he.html.  After reading the poem, I answered questions one and two, and then typed in "Charles B" into google, and looked at the google suggestions.  The third suggestion was "Charles Bukowski," so I clicked on the link, and then clicked on the first link: http://bukowski.net.  After reading this page, I decided to read Bukowski's Wikipedia article (and if you are anti-Wikipedea, the site is actually well managed, and the staff prevents and deletes misinformation on the site), and after reading that, I had enough information to answer question three.