My Poem

 The poem I'm reading tomorrow is called Difference. At first I chose this poem because I like things about the mind; psychology is really interesting to me. I thought it was about the different parts of one persons mind or was just really trippy at first, but after reading it several times I saw that I was wrong. The author is comparing two people's minds, his and anothers I'm guessing.
 I connected with the poem a lot once I figured this part out, and then decided to make it mine. I see it as comparing a mind like mine that has seen ugly destruction and heard things no one wants to in it's past, and how those memories affect everything I see now verses a fresh, innocent mind like that of a baby who knows nothing but of beautiful discoveries and love.
 As far as my presentation goes, I don't want to plan out every single voice or movement I'm going to be doing, because I don't really want it to look rehearsed. I want it to look like it comes from me without me having  to think about it too much, because that's what makes a person understand a poem. Or at least how I come to understand one.

Poetry... Out Loud

Part Uno:
1.Keeping Things Whole By Mark Strand
2.Broken Promises By David Kirby
3.Eating Poetry By Mark Strand
4.Full Moon By Elinor Wylie, The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Part Dos:
Out of the poems above, I liked "Eating Poetry" best because the way Sara read it was really funny. Which would probably be offensive to the author but it's just the truth man. On a serious note, "The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls" was a keeper because I felt like I could relate to where the author was coming from.
I probably should have read the sheet prior to making my list of poems, because I tried to choose ones I liked. Out of them, though, I would say "Broken Promises" was my least favorite. It was kind of weird for the author to randomly scream, "you bastards!", and made me think of the poem as a joke.
I accidentally read question 3 from part one wrong, but I showed my dad the poem "Differences" by Stephen Vincent Bene't when he asked me why I was using the printer. Anyways, I'm going to perform this poem because it was published in 1918, the same time as WW1. I really like looking at poems or song lyrics and trying to find hidden meaning, and it seems like there's hidden meaning in this poem.
I personally connected with this poem because people's minds and how they work or how they view certain things is absolutely fascinating to me, and this poem let's me see inside the authors mind, because the poem is written about the different aspects of the author's mind.
Part Tres:
I think Understanding of the poem will be easiest for me. He refers to the "dark side of the moon", and I was curious whether he was making a reference to Pink Floyd or if he was actually using the expression, so I researched when the poem published. (1918) From there I realized WW1 was either happening or had just ended, which made the poem make more sense. There is no way Bene't's life didn't have an impact by the war, so history had a lot to do with the meaning of the poem.
I'm not really sure what the criteria is but I have a feeling memorization might be a problem. I don't always have the best study habbits.
I don't have knowledge of the criteria other than when you showed us the chart in class.
Part Cuatro:
Well it's kind of late and I don't want to wake everyone up by watching videos, so I understand if you dock me points on this section. But I'm sure they're all really good. The readers did go to nationals.. they're not going to be bad it's just common sense.
Part Cinco:
The Poetry Out Loud website had a lot of poems so I don't think choosing a different one than my classmates will be easy. Again, "Difference" is the poem I will be reciting. I'll do my best, which should be just fine.

Discussing a Discussion

Personally, I was absent the day we discussed "Lobsters", therefore don't have much to say about it. None-the-less it meant more to me than "The Knife" did.
To be honest, "The Knife" really grossed me out. I don't do well with blood, or anything too descriptive on gory subjects, so as it was being read aloud I was pretty much gagging to myself and not paying much attention to the poetic view of the piece. I don't remember much of the discussion, aside from the fact that I should have said more.
In the make-up discussion for "Lobsters", I plan to introduce my theory that the author used "bruised purple" and "cadaver green" as the lobsters colors to express their nearly lifeless bodies; for they're destined to die in a short matter of time.
"Lobsters" made me realize that every day is a blessing, but everything could be taken away in the blink of an eye. Just like the lobsters that anticipate their death in our local Albertson's. Bless them.

5 Part Paragraphs

Throughout the many, many days we've had to listen to this god-awful paragraphs, I've definitely learned what sounds good and what doesn't. Although commenting on a simple quote sounds like it would also be simple, I found that it was what most of my classmates struggled with. Instead of having insightful commentary, many instead produced their paragraphs on plot summary; something that wasn't supposed to be used at all. Another problem with a lot of the papers was that the transition sentences and the embeddings of the quotes were combined. This is an issue because it draws the attention away from the main point being made, and the reader loses focus.
Personally, I am one of the writers who has to come in before school to be critiqued because there wasn't enough time for me. It's been awhile since I wrote my paper, so I'd be lying if I said what I thought what was wrong with it. I truthfully don't remember, but I'm excited to finally get it over with and move on!

Extra Credit

An assignment almost every little kid has to do is write about their favorite place. This is my favorite piece of writing I've ever done.
While everyone else wrote about Disney Land and Hawaii, I wrote about Grandma Dode's backyard. Her 99 acres had everything a adventurous kid could dream of. From the beach to a "mountain", you could explore for days.
I wrote about the pack of odd coyotes my grandma and I would see when she would babysit me, strolling down to the barn like it was no big deal. My cow who my cousin Morgan and I fought over whether her name was Suzy or Sally; how she fell in a pot hole and died a few days after we finally agreed on one(I don't even remember which one we chose now). I mentioned how the hill of our playhouse turned red with the apples it's trees produced in the fall, and how the bay reflected the orange leaves on cold, sunny fall days.
The quality of my paper wasn't astonishing, but for a second grader it was pretty good. It was my favorite assignment because when I read it to my grandma and grandpa, they just smiled and their eyes glowed. I knew it made them happy, and it was that reaction that made writing the piece worth it.

Extending the Theme

 Even though this part of the story may have passed over many people's heads, I was fascinated with the father-daughter bond between Atticus and Scout. I love the way Atticus treats Scout like she's her own person, not a descendant of him. This perspective made me view my dad in a different light as well. I see him more as himself now, not just as my dad.
 Another one of the little things that caught my eye was the childish relationship between Dill Scout and Jem. They reminded me of My older brother Willie, my cousin Gabe, and me when we were younger. Gabe would come over to our house every night and we would stay up until 4:00AM playing poker where the loser would have to drink a secret potion or run to the end of the backyard in the dark, or something silly like that. Although we all got along, Gabe would often make fun of me to impress Willie, like Dill did to Scout when he and Jem would go off and play by themselves.
 Relationships between others was what I liked most about the story. Although the main plots were suspenseful and exciting, I looked most forward to the excerpts during summer so I could reminisce about my childhood.

Outside Reading, The Catcher in the Rye

 To be honest I chose to read this book because my dad had been talking about it a few nights before the project was introduced. I wanted to read about something he liked so I could try to relate to him more. So far The Catcher in the Rye has been really good. I love the sarcastic tone J.D. Sallinger has created, and how clearly Holden Caulfield's personality is made through his words.
 In seventh-grade we read The Outsiders as an in-class story. These two books relate because they're both about troubled teens who are prone to violence. They also have a similar tone on life, but The Outsiders was a little more depressing.
 Since I'm not too far into the novel yet, I haven't come to a very clear distinction of what my creative project will be. Although they will probably change, my thoughts right now are that I will make a poster or some visual representation of the book showing the theme.

Fritz; My Boo Radley

As a little girl living in a little cul de sac, I always wanted to exceed the boundary of the mailboxes at the top of the street. Thinking no one was looking, the neighbor girls and I would race to the stop sign only to hear the dreadful phrase, "What do you think you girls are doing?" Coming from our ancient neighbor, Fritz.
Since my family and I lived in the same house my mom had been raised in, our older neighbors knew her almost as their own. Fritz and Jackie had been around the longest, and their daughter Donna was my Auntie Sam's best friend. When I was six-years-old, Donna got very sick. Two years later, before she had even turned 40, Donna died on an flight to Texas where everyone had hoped she would be able to recover.
I was always afraid of Fritz. He made me eat extra vegetables and never let me get away with a white lie. Fritz is my Boo Radley. I never understood why he used his scornful voice on us until he lost his daughter. Looking from a different perspective, I realized that Fritz was a good guy. He might have seemed rough on the outside, but he loved us kids. I now know that all the times he got us in trouble was for our own benefit, he just never wanted to see us get hurt.

Introductory Blog

Like air, English is something we use everyday. Whether it be to write an essay, read a book, or even talk to a friend: we apply English in our everyday lives. Although it's sometimes a struggle for me to sit down and open a book in my free time, once I get into a story I often have trouble putting it down; therefore reading is something I enjoy doing. As well as admiring others work by engaging myself in it, I also like creating my own stories and poems. In class I have a harder time focusing on assignments, and throughout years of school I've come to the conclusion that I work more efficiently at home. Other students who take the time to visit my blog will probably be reading things about my little brothers, because I personally find them hilarious. As much pressure as it may seem to en-lighten the internet, I think my posts on this blog will brighten the cyber-society with a different point of view than it's seen before; mine.