Poetry Out Loud Poem

     I chose the poem "Invitation to Love" which is by Paul Laurence Dunbar.  I absolutely love this poem.  It's not so much the fact that I relate to it.  I do relate to this poem a little bit, but mostly I like the idea behind the poem and the imagery it contains.  The poem is pretty straight forward.  I personally believe that the speaker is a young, lonely girl.  As can be assumed from the title, this poem is her invitation for love to come to her.  She doesn't care what time, what season, what day, etc.  She only wants true love.
     As far as this poem's relevance to my life, there was a point in time when I really wanted a boyfriend.  The whole idea of "love" seemed so fantastic and magical; that's what I wanted.  When I finally started dating someone, I found that it's a whole lot more complicated and difficult than it first appears.  Real life is nothing like the movies.  There are hardly any happily ever afters in high school relationships.  I know how the speaker feels in a sense, but I also think it's ironic this girl wants love which is so difficult, complex, and eventually heart-breaking.
     During the make up competition (since I will be missing the real one in December) I am going to definitely use facial expressions to convey the longing this person is feeling.  I want people to see the longing and almost borderline desperation on not just my face but even in my eyes.  The other thing I want to portray to my audience is the speakers adoration.  She describes love as sweet, soft, peaceful, and delicate.  She views love as something perfect, and that can be portrayed through facial expressions, voice inflection, and even a small gesture here and there.  In conclusion, I simply love this poem, and I can't wait to perform it.

Poetry Out Loud

Part One:
1.  "So This Is Nebraska" by Ted Kooser
2.  "Not Guilty" by David Rivard
3.  "Onions" by William Matthews (Suggested by: Kayla)
4.  "A Birthday" by Christina Rossetti
5.  "Golden Retrievals" by Mark Doty

Part Two:
Of the five poems above, I liked "Golden Retrievals" and "Not Guilty."  I liked these poems because they were interesting but still simple.  I also think that they accomplished what poetry is supposed to accomplish: they took something I already knew and said it in a way that I had a hard time understanding.  The poets took the obvious and viewed it in a new way.
I didn't particularly care for the poems "So This Is Nebraska," "Onions," and "A Birthday."  I didn't like these poems because they were too confusing, and they were about things that I had no relation to.  They did not interest me at all, and I would not choose these poems.
If I had to choose a poem I would probably pick "Golden Retrievals" because it is a poem that I like, but it is shorter.   I think, however, that I could do a good enough job performing the poem to make up for the missed points for difficulty.
I connected with that poem because I have a dog, and I have often wondered what she was thinking.  This poem is written from the mindset of a dog, and I found that very interesting.  The poem in general appealed to me, and I really enjoyed this poem (unlike the other poems I had read).

Part Three:
It will be easy for me to have good accuracy.  I am good at memorizing and I will not need to use the prompter at all.  Voice and articulation will also be easy for me.  I do drama so I know how to project, and I can articulate very well.
Physical presence and evidence of understanding will be the two hardest categories for me.  When I get nervous I cannot stand still.  It will be hard for me to appear calm while performing.  I also don't understand poetry very well.  Unless I have help, I will probably not be able to understand the poem I pick, and I cannot convey that while performing.

Part Four:
Jackson Hille recited the poem "Forgetfulness."  This was a successful poem because he really connected with the audience.  He articulated well, and he clearly understood the meaning of the poem and it's satirical tone.  He was able to portray that to the audience very well.
Shawntay Henry performed the poem "Frederick Douglass."  This performance was successful because her dramatic action and voice really shows her understanding of the poem.  She recited her lines slow and deliberately which gave the poem a somber tone.  Her stage presence demanded attention, and that is why people want to hear her speak.  That is why her poem was so successful.

Part Five:
I am going to memorize the poem "Invitation to Love."  I chose this poem because I love it.  I feel like I can relate to the poem really well, and I also like that the poem rhymes.  I thought the website was extremely helpful.  It has all the "grading" criteria and good performance videos to watch.  That really helped me a lot.  I am looking forward to the make-up competition in January.

Something Interesting

     During the discussion, a classmate of mine made a very interesting comment about the poem, "Lobsters."  They said, "The author isn't comparing lobsters to humans.  He is comparing humans to lobsters."  These very simple words gave me a completely different perspective on this poem.  It completely changed my views about the meaning of the poem.  It gave it a deeper meaning.
     As to how my view about the poem changed, I understand better the meaning the author was trying to portray throughout the poem.  It seemed that the author was saying that lobsters are like humans in that they merely sit and await death.  The author was, however, comparing humans to lobsters.  The lobsters are just an analogy.  It helps us to understand the theme on a deeper level.  The switching of the comparison truly made a difference in the way I view this poem.  It's amazing how those simple words can completely and totally alter one's view on a subject.

5 Part Paragraphs

     While writing the 5 part paragraphs, I started to realize that there are quite a few things required in writing a good, quality paragraph.  A writer must start a paragraph off with a good topic sentence.  This sentence must include the book name, author of the book, and a point to be proven.  A hook may also be included but is not required.  Concrete details (CD) are the next important part of a paragraph.   There must be 3 CD's in the paragraph, and these quotes must be embedded.  This means they are introduced before-hand and cited with a page number afterwards.  Following the quote, there is commentary (CM).  The CM must be based off of the writers own ideas; it cannot include plot summary.  It should also relate back to and support the idea(s) in the topic sentence.  As the class was reading the paragraphs aloud, there were many times that plot summary was an issue in their CM.  Most people need to include more original ideas that support their theme statement in their commentary.
     In my 5 part paragraph, I think I did pretty well.  One of the things I did well was I had a good topic sentence.  It set out to prove something which I did throughout my paper.  Also, my CM did not have plot summary.  I tried to make my ideas original.  One of things I could work on, however, was my quote choice.  My first quote didn't fit into my paragraph as well as I originally believed it would.  I think my word choice was a little repetitive at times, and that is something I can definitely work on for next time.  Overall, I think my first "Olympia High School 5 part paragraph" was fairly good.

Informal or Low Diction

     This week, I went hunting with my dad.  We were supposed to get up at like, 5:30 in the morning, but we wanted to sleep in so we didn't get up till 6:00.  After I got up, I got dressed, and stuck my gun in the car.  I couldn't wait to get up into the woods.  We went hunting in Brooklyn, and it took like forever to get up there.  I fell asleep in the car because I had to get up early which is uber wierd because I get up that early for school anyway.  Once we were up there, though, I wasn't going to go to sleep because I was focused on findin' a deer.
     We went hunting on what's called the F Line.  (I'm not quite sure what that means exactly, but that's what it was called).  We stopped to glass over a clearing, but we didn't find any deer there.  We decided to keep driving, and eventually, we came to another little clearing off to the side of the road.  We stopped there and looked for deer, and we found one.  My first thoughts were, "Oh my gosh!" and "awesomtastic!"
     I got out of the car, and loaded my gun with 5 bullets.  I found the deer in the binos first, and then found him in my scope.  He was standing there, and I saw him lookin' right at me.  I took aim with my gun, and I shot a round at him.  I could tell it hit him because he was stumbling around and trying to get his footing and stuff.  We waited until he fell, and then we went down the side of the clearing to get him.  It was super hard trying to drag him up a steep hill for about a hundred yards, but we managed.  Overall, this was an awesome experience.  I love hunting, and I am super stoked that I got my first deer.

Wuthering Heights

     Wuthering Heights is an interesting book.  I like the way the author complicates the plot by naming the characters similarly.  For example the men have names like Hareton, Hindley, and Heathcliff.  The novel is also more complicated because Emily has related almost all of the characters either by blood or marriage.  I think the book is a wonderful story, almost like a mystery, but it is hard to understand.  The book was written in old English, and that writing style is not common among novels of this time period.
     In my creative project, I want to focus on the characterization of people in the book.  Characterization has been greatly used in the novel thus far.  As previously mentioned, characters have similar names and are mostly all related.  Not to mention, the story is being told through the eyes of two people.  Mr. Lockwood, the man who wants to be a tenant for Wuthering Heights, starts out as the narrator for the story.  Now that the story has progressed, the servant named Nelly is narrating the story of Heathcliff and Cathy to Mr. Lockwood.  Emily has intertwined the characters in such a way that the novel becomes much more interesting.
     I think this novel relates to the play Romeo and Juliet because it is about forbidden love.  Romeo loves Juliet, but their families are enemies which means they can never be together.  Cathy loves Heathcliff, but they come from different worlds.  She can't marry him because she is a proper lady, and Heathcliff is more of a carefree ruffian.  Cathy then marries Edgar Linton which really makes her love for Heathcliff impossible.  To complicate it more, Heathcliff marries Isabella Linton which means he and Cathy are now, by law, siblings.  The theme of forbidden love is present in both of these literary works.
     At this point, I don't really have any ideas for my creative project.  I know I will come up with some as the book progresses, but I don't know enough of the story to base a project off of.  The plot gets more and more in depth as the story goes, and I am excited to see what will come out of it.

Extending the Theme

     My life relates to the theme of To Kill a Mockingbird because I was sort of discriminated against when I was little.  At times I have been ashamed of my parents because they were more strict than all of my friends parents.  I hated it when all of my friends could go to this movie or read that book, and I couldn't.  I can relate to Scout because her friends were discriminating against her because of what her father was doing.  In my case, I was rejected because of what my parents weren't letting me do. 
     I have learned so much from To Kill a Mockingbird.  I learned that it is O.K. to be different.  Like Scout, I was ashamed of my parents, but like Scout, in the end, I was proud of my parents, not ashamed.  I also learned from the novel that things learned can apply to more than one aspect of life.  The theme of not killing a mockingbird applies to life not only literally, but it applies theoretically as well. 
     I think To Kill a Mockingbird is a great story, but it is more than that.  The novel has extreme insight into real life.  In my life, I "killed a mockingbird" when I yelled at my parents because I was mad with one of my friends.  Even though my parents had done nothing to me to make me mad, I took my anger out on them.  This novel has also taught me a lot about discrimination.  I knew it was wrong, but I never really understood that there was more than one level and more than one kind. 
     I think that this novel is a classic English class novel because it explores so many new ideas about so many old, used-out topics.  That is why To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my all-time favorite books.

Boo Radley

     When I was little, high school scared me.  I had watched those cheerleading movies that show school as an extremely exclusive environment: If you don't fit the criteria for our group, well then you better find another because there's no way we would be caught dead sitting with you.  I also saw one of my best friends enter high school, and she was always doing homework, even in the summer.  I was scared that I would have so much homework that I wouldn't be able to have a life.  This is, metaphorically, relating to Scout's fear of Boo Radley.  Scout is afraid of the unknown; she has never seen, met, or heard from Boo Radley; she has only heard stories.  I had never been a high school student; I had only heard rumors.
     At the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout realizes that Boo Radley was nothing to be scared of.  He was kind, and he watched out for her and Jem when they were growing up.  She finally understood that she never thought about the fact that what she had been told may have been false. 
     I realized that high school is so much different than what I had been told by Hollywood.  I understand that there are cliques, but they aren't super exclusive.  I also know you want to find a core group of friends to hang out with, but it's O.K. to step outside of your comfort zone, and hang out with someone new.  Homework in high school really isn't all that bad.  I have a fair amount of homework, but when I was younger, I thought I would never be able to do that much.  Now that I am a freshman, I can see that high school is nothing to be scared about.  Is it a big change from middle school or elementary?  Yes, but when you get to a highschool age, you are ready to take on that kind of challenge.
    Scout and I both had something in our life that we were scared of.  We both realized, in the end, that there was nothing to be afraid of.  I think that this proves Atticus' point: you never really understand a person (or thing) until you walk around in their shoes (or halls). 

Introduction to Our Blogs

     I am a dedicated English student.  I love to read, write, and be a part of discussions in class.  If you are following my blog, you will see that I don't write very much unless the assignment is long.  I don't like to add a lot of "fluff" in what I write; my writing is straight to the point.  I want to give the online world a new perspective on literary works.  When I write, I don't want to give typical, expected answers.  I want to make people think about things in a different way.
     The meaning of English Class is learning.  One is taught how to read better, write better, and expand their vocabulary.  One is also taught how to be more grammatically correct when writing.  English is a four-year requirement for college bound students because, without good English skills, one will have a much harder time getting a good job, not to mention getting into a good college.  A person has to have a good grasp on the English language and how to use it before they try to enter the world of careers.
     By excelling in English, I will definitely grow academically.  I will be able to write good, grammatically correct papers, in high school and college.  It will help me in all of my classes, and after school, it will help me in the work force.  Excelling in English, I will also grow personally.  I will be able to read books with a better understanding of what goes on.  I love to read, so this will be a particularly useful skill later on through school, and even after. 
     English is a great all-around subject that is important for everyone to be a part of.  There are so many practical uses for English unlike some things learned in school, such as Greek mythology.  I think everyone should strive to do well in English because it will be a useful tool for the rest of their lives.