Poetry Response 3/26/15

            The importance that poetry has in my life in that I am able to relate to it, and it makes me realize that poetry is not as boring as I thought it was. Reading all of these poems made me realize how much my life can relate to them. There was one poem called "The Road Not Taken". I was able to relate to that poem a lot because of the extended metaphor in the poem, which was making a choice. I have had to make a lot of choices in my life so that is how I was able to relate to the poem. Before writing and reading poetry I thought it was discombobulating and boring. Doing the found poem, spine poem, and the nonsense poem made me realize that poetry is fun once you understand it.

             I think poetry does belong to anyone and I know that because I think that anyone is able to relate to poetry. If someone doesn't think poetry belongs to them, I think that is just because they haven't found that one poem they can relate to. There are hundreds of poems out there and it is open to anyone. Before starting this unit I didn't think poetry was for me, then we started to write poetry and found out that it was fun and easy for me to do. I also read poems that related to my life. Me changing my perspective on whether or not poetry belongs to me, proves that other people can do it too.

              The life and experiences of the poet can affect the poems he/she creates because they can write a poem about something that happened in their life, or they can write a lot of poems with the same connotation because of how they lived their life. If the poet has a happy memory from a child, he/she might write a poem with a positive connotation. If the poet lived a melancholy life, they might write a poem with a negative connotation. One example would be Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe had a rough life because he was homeless for a while and was also broke for a while. Having that bad/negative life influenced him to write poems with more of a negative connotation.


-Extended Metaphor Poem
-Bio-Poem of a Literary Character
-Where I'm From Poem
-Two-Voice Poem
-Spine Poem
-Found Poem 
-Nonsense Poem

"The Wicked Pickles" Nonsense Poem

"Run While You Can" Found Poem

"Black sky, she breathed deeply several times, tension crowding her heart. Ready for a fast departure, hurrying up, she made a sharp right. It was dark. Tumbling, breath catching, breaking a fence. Lights shining show a full side of a tall, muscular man on the other side. Waiting."

            This poem is mainly about a girl being chased by an extra-terreseral person, making the poem scary and mysterious. The girl first starts off by being scared and having "tension crowding her heart". Then, she starts to run, "made a sharp right", and then fell and went "tumbling". While she was tumbling, she caught her breath and broke a fence. Then, that is when the shining lights show a full, one side of a man that is on the other side of the tree. He is waiting. I was hoping that by having that man there waiting, it would make the poem more scary.

"Don't Give Up On Your Hidden Talents" Spine Poetry

                                   
          "Hidden talents, great expectations, have a little faith, hope was here, never fall down, start something that matters."
         
          This poem is about not giving up on whatever hidden talent you have. It's about people expecting great things from you when you are not ready to reveal it yet. Then, as the poem go towards the end it says to reveal that hidden talent when you are ready. I did this poem because I wanted to create positivity towards somebody who is not ready to reveal a "hidden talent". I was hoping that the person would "have a little faith" and "start something that matters".

Two Voice Poem

                              











Thomas:                                                                           Ben:

I am the newbie                                                               I’ve been here longer than him

                                               We are stuck in the maze

I don’t remember anything                                                        I remember everything

                                               Are the memories true?

I don’t think I did anything wrong                                               It’s all his fault

                                                The creators put us here

People are blaming me                                                              He has to take the fall

                                                       The end is near

I can help them escape                                                         He is going to cause damage

                                          Things will no longer be the same

He tried to kill me                                                                  He deserves to die

                                                  The creators did this

He is out of his mind                                                                   I only know the truth

                                               Is the truth fake? Or real?

I wonder what is going                                                                I am going to die

   to happen to him   

                                                    The collar awaits

Where are they going                                                        I am going to be forced to stay out there                           to put him?                       

                                                    The maze awaits

I didn’t do anything!                                                                      He put us here!

                                                 The creators did this 

Thinglink Poetry Interactive

3rd Quarter Reflection

          We have already reached the end of the quarter! It went by so fast and I can't believe the school year is almost over. I hope that this quarter will be just as good as the others. 

         In English Language Arts, I think I made the biggest improvements in writing. I can now write better than before. I now know to use a topic sentence and support details. I also got better at writing the objective summaries. I also got to work on my argumentative writing by writing the letter to the governor. 

         The most challenging part of the 3rd quarter for me was grammar. I was putting commas after the conjunction. It was a habit to put them before, but I know now and try hard to put the comma before. I also was having some trouble with FANBOYS. I now have had the practice with them and have really progressed with them. 

         Something I have accomplished since the new year that I am proud of is that I read 4 books for the Battle of the Books in about a month and a half. I read the Black Duck, The Testing, Trash, and The Wall. I never thought that I would be able to read that many books in a specific time period. 

         Another thing that I have accomplished since the new year is my diction. The weekly vocabulary tests played a major part in that. I was learning a lot of exciting new words that mean the same thing as the plain and boring word. Instead of saying "I'm confused", I can now say "I'm befuddled" or "I'm discombobulated". 

         A strategy that benefited me was the making sure that I have a topic sentence and supporting details. Before I used to only put a lot of sentences (that would relate to the same topic) together. I never thought that they would all have to tie into the very first sentence, and that the rest of the paragraph would have to support it. 

Weekly Blog 3/9/15

Ruben

Strong, Curious, Brave,

A character in Mr. Hart's story

Lover of Marina, the Black Duck, and the curiousness of the liquor smuggling. 

Who notices the slightest change in Jeddy, the half $50 bill, and the different but familiar voices

Who feels curious, the acceptance Jeddy has on his father, and the pain that was caused by getting into the smuggling of the liquor

Who learns that a half simple bill can mean a lot and to never trust the people you don't personally know

Who says, "She's come back at last!"

Who used to think that the Black Duck was exciting and cool, but now knows it could lead to trouble

Major character in The Black Duck

A book that taught Ruben the consequences of being caught doing the wrong thing

Extended Metaphor Poem

Two Different Positions

Two different positions in soccer:
Defender or midfielder
I was used to playing defense
But playing midfield would be an exciting experience

 Defending was comfortable 
So it would be easier
Midfield was new
So it would be harder

What if I was bad at playing midfield? 
What if I am good?
Should I play it safe?
Should I play it exciting?

Two different positions:
Defender or midfielder
I chose not to avoid risk
I chose to do both