Poetry Outloud: My Poem

  My poem for Poetry Outloud is "Retired Ballerinas, Central Park West" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. This poem describes ballerinas who have retired from their craft dancing through Central Park. During the summer after my tenth birthday my grandma took me to New York City. It was short trip, but very enjoyable. We took a horse and buggy ride around Central Park and I can picture in my minds eye these dancers and their companions, as described in the poem. Though I went in summer, and the poem depicts winter, I can still clearly imagine the poem. Ferlinghetti writes with such great imagery and descriptive word choice it is easy to mentally picture the poem.
  The meaning of my poem was harder to find at first because I just wanted to focus on the great imagery. I found the meaning though. The meaning is about seeing beyond what is right in front of you. It is about finding the beauty in everything. It is about not taking for granted what you have, and recognized what you have while it lasts. I think that this is a really good message, and that it relates to me a lot. I take things for granted a lot, and I forget about all the things that I have. I can be judgemental and I realize that I just need to let go and find something good about everything.
  When I am performing this poem I am going to change my tone of voice throughout the poem to reflect the meaning into the words. I am going to make a few gestures, but this poem doesn't really seem to need any so I'm not going to have too many. I am going to have my face be serious, but still have expressions. During the lines that seem darker I will be more serious, and when there is more whimsical imagery I will be more relaxed.

Poetry Out Loud

Part One: Website Cruising.
1. "Late Echo" by John Ashberry
2. "Retired Ballerinas, Central Park West" by Laurence Ferlinghetti
3. "Mrs. Adam" by Kathleen Norris
4. "Not Guilty" by David Rivard
5. "Chicago" by Carl Sandburg

Part Two: What do you think?
I liked all of the poems I read, with the exception of "Mrs. Adam". I liked "Late Echo" because the description and the serenity I felt that it was meaning. I liked "Retired Ballerinas, Central Park West" because I thought it was a fun poem and it had a lot of cool words and phrases (ie. "It is the final witching hour when swains are full of swan songs") . I liked "Not guilty". It started out slow and with a lot of descriptors, and even though it was sweet, it seemed tough. I liked "Chicago", but I had sort of mixed feelings about it. It was dark, but I liked the rugged part of it. I didn't like Mrs. Adams because I thought it was boring, and the language didn't register with me and didn't interest me. I might choose "Retired Ballerinas, Central Park West" because I really liked that one. I connected with it because when I was ten, my Grandma took me to New York and we went on a horse and carriage ride around Central Park.


Part Three: Scoring Criteria. 
The part I will struggle with, and succeed on is the Physical Presence because I can make eye contact, but I always fidget. I think that Evidence of Understanding will be easy because I can understand what I'm reading pretty well. I am worried about Acuracy because despite lot's of practice, I may miss a word while I recite my poem. I am also worried about Voice and Articulation because I sometimes don't realize how quietly or how loudly I am speaking. Also, I may slow down or speed up during my recition, which doens't keep a good pace and rhythm.

Part Four: Videos.
The first video I watched was of Carolyn Rose Garcia who recited the poem "Pied Beauty" by Gerard Manley Hopkins. I really liked it! I thought she recided the poem really nicely. Her voice was steady, but not too fast and it was easy to understand what she said. She made some movement and gestures, but not too many that it was overwhelming. The second video I watched was Sophia Elena Soberon reciting "Bilingual/Bilingue" by Rhina P. Espiallat. I really like how she used her tone of voice to change the way I thought about the poem. She had good presensce and she had a nice way of talking, with paueses in the right places.

Part Five: Summary.
I think Poetry Out loud is a cool thing. It gives people of all ages to expand how they view poetry (whether they like it or don't), and helps them have a chance to explore poetry. I think the competition is going to hard. I don't expect to win, but I hope that I do well. I am going to memorize "Retired Ballerinas, Central Park West" by Laurence Ferlinghetti. I really like this poem. It's excactly 25 lines, and it has some trick words. I can connect with this poem because my Grandma took me to New York when I was ten (as I said before) and I absolutely loved it. I think this poem conveys the high-energy hustle and bustle of New York City, but also the less busy, more slow parts of the city. I think the website Poetry Out loud has is full of a lot of cool things, but there is so much stuff there, it's hard to find things to focus on.

New Skill In English

   This year in English I have learned a lot; however, by far the most important thing I've learned is how to analyze a piece of writing. Whether it a poem, a five-part paragraph, or a whole novel, I now know how to annotate and make light of what I'm reading. Before I would just read something and not think about a deeper meaning that it might have. I never even considered that there was a deeper meaning. I've learned to find diction, tone, and style. I've learned to delve into the work of writing and find a theme woven into the it. I never even knew what connotation was, and now I can pick it out easily.
   I never thought that learning how to find imagery and detail was going to be such an important part of writing and reading. I have realized that finding all these things while reading make reading more enjoyable. Even when I read for fun outside of class I pick up on these things in the books. I continue to find these little pieces of what makes up literature, and use them to get more out of what I am reading. Even in books like Harry Potter, I am noticing the little things like tone or diction that make for a totally different reading experience. For example, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth novel in the series, the tone is becoming darker. The writing style, the descriptions, the events, the entire way the book is written makes the reader feel like the times in the book have become more dark and dangerous (which of course they have because Lord Voldemort has returned). Events at the beginning like Draco Malfoy breaking Harry's nose foreshadows all the bad things that happen later in the book.
   To be able to use the things that I'm learning in class in my normal day-to-day life, make me feel like I am really learning. I like that I can use things that I have done in class to raise what I am getting out of my reading for fun. It makes me excited to learn more!

Lobsters

       During the discussion of the poem "Lobsters" by Howard Nemerov there were many interesting ideas that came up. One of them that really stood out to me was said by Olivia. She said that humans never really think that they are going to die until it comes right up on them. She said that we imagine ourselves to be almost immortal until something changes and we see that death is really upon us. That really stood out to me and I thought about it a lot.
   The author was talking about lobsters, but in a way that made it about more than sea creatures in a tank. He made the reader think about life, and how short it can be, especially for lobsters, who, once caught, sit in tank and wait to be picked out for slaughter. When lobsters are caught they are marked for death, as many humans. I don't mean all humans are going to be murdered, but we are going to die eventually. People don't really think about death until it has effect on their life. It's something that is really interesting about people: we know things, but until it is important to us, we dont really take notice of it. By using lobsters as a comparison to people, Nemerov creates a new idea for the reader to think about how the people are sitting around waiting for death just like the lobsters in the tank.

Five Part Paragraphs

   Over the last few weeks we have been reading five part paragraphs aloud in class. A common critique that seems to come up is always about the commentary. Whether the writer has too much, too little, too much plot summary, etc. it seems like it is a recurring element in our writing. It's a little bit different for each persons paragraph, but something always comes up about the commentary. I think this can be solved if people start to edit their paragraphs better. They have been good, but if people spend more time on the commentary especially that it will be a lot better. The commentary is something that really makes or breaks a paragraph, so it's important that it's good. If the commentary in peoples' paragraphs improves the paragraphs will be a lot better.  
     One thing that I need to work on is editing. I spend way too much time over-thinking my paragraph. I hated my paragraph and I couldn't figure out what to do. Finally I just sat down and rewrote it. Not completely, but I changed a lot of what I had written. I still wasn't really happy with it, but it was better that what I'd had. I just need to be able to write things the way I really want them the first time. Editing isn't bad, but I just need to stop over thinking my writing. I also write way to much, and it's overwhelming for the paragraph. If there is too much, then the paragraph is hard to process. When I was rewriting my paragraph I took a ton of stuff out and it cleared my head about what I really wanted to write. If I can get better at figuring out what I want to include, then my writing will become better. 

Formal Vs. Informal Diction

      This morning I woke up earlier than I have been this last week. A delicious smell wafted into my room from the kitchen. A few steps in that direction told me that my mother had made blueberry muffins for breakfast. I walked into the kitchen languidly. My mother told me that they would be ready in about 10 minutes, and I should get ready for school until then. I got ready for school, and soon enough breakfast was ready. As a pulled apart my warm blueberry muffin and ate it, warmness flooded through my body. I felt myself wake up for the day. After a brisk walk through the crisp, chilly morning, I arrived at school.
    With a good breakfast, and enough time for me to wake up, my day was much more enjoyable. For one's day to be pleasant, one must have a proper beginning: a smart morning ritual, a healthy breakfast, and something to be engerized about. I find that my day is more satisfactory when I have a proficient morning. Starting a day on a positive note is a reflection on how the following hours will play out because if the day starts out well one's midset is so. One must imagine their day continuing to be as successful as its start. An excellent day starts out as such, and the only secret to having an unsurpassed day is to start it out with outstanding measures!

Outside Reading: The Bean Trees

    For my outside reading I am reading The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. This far I am at chapter eleven, and I really like it. I think the plot is interesting, and the characters are fun to read about. The main character, Taylor, is a really interesting character. When she left her home town in Kentucky she decided she didn't like her real name (Missy) and vowed to find a new name on her trip. I don't really think the name Taylor fits her, but it's a fine name.

    A literary element that is interesting is setting. The book starts out in Kentucky, but Taylor drives across the country eventually stopping in Tuscan, Arizona. The setting of Tuscan is a lot like Taylor's character. Taylor is interesting, funny, sassy, and quirky. I think Tuscan is the same way; it's full of random little things. For instance, "Jesus is Lord Used Tires" the tire shop where Taylor is employed. Tuscan is a great place for the setting because of the feeling it has. It's a sweet place, but at the same time it has a darker side to it. It's something that I  have yet to figure out, just as I have to figure Taylor out.

    This book reminds me of the book called The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. They aren't really that similar of books, but I just keep thinking about The Glass Castle whenever I read The Bean Trees. In The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls's family moves around a lot in SouthWest U.S., and The Bean Trees is in Arizona. Both books are centered around relationships between people. In The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls's father is an alcoholic, and her mother doesn't stick up for herself. They move around living like nomads with little money and few possessions. In The Bean Trees Taylor travels with not much of anything, picks up Turtle, and continues on her way, settling in Tuscan. She makes new friends, and starts a new life. The two books really aren't that similar, but they remind me of each other, so there is definitely commonalities.

     For my creative project I was thinking about doing some sort of map that represents Taylor's trip from Kentucky to Tuscan. I would have little stops along the way representing the significant places she went. I will have an enlarged part for Tuscan because there are so many important places. I don't know where the book is going, so this may not work, but I hope it does. It would just be a representation of how Taylor grows as she moves during the novel.

    I hope you liked this post! Thanks for reading!

Extending The Theme

   In the book To Kill A Mockingbird something that really stood out to me was how much I related to the characters. I related a lot to Scout, but I also related to Jem. Like Jem, I am an older sibling. My younger sister is someone who is very important to me, but who can also annoy me beyond words. That is always how its been. As siblings grow up, they grow up together, and they have no choice but to have interaction. Scout and Jem spent almost every waking minute together or so it seems. My sister and I spent a lot of time together also. I can relate to Jem's feelings that at school, I want to hang out with my friends, and my sister should hang out with hers. We both know each others friends so we did have some interaction when we went to schoo together, but so did Scout and Jem. Jem was a great older sibling for Scout and he was a really supportive brother. Though he was very mood-swingy at times, he did a good job of being there for Scout, and I like to think that I'm a pretty good older sister.
     As much as I related to Jem, I related to Scout, too. When I was younger I hung out with boys a lot. At preschool one of my best friends was a boy. A big difference between mine and Scout's childhoods, is that I had surgery when I was four, and again when I was five, and this resricted me from running and jumping and playing as much as Scout did. Granted, I still got to do a lot of things, and my childhood could have been much more affected than that.
    Another way I related to Scout was during Scout's experience at Tom Robinson's trial. When I was younger we had a babysitter who in recent years was put on trial. My mom took me to the trial so I could watch what was happening. I was older than Scout while she was at Tom Robinson's trial, but I had about as much insight as she did, and I was just doing my best to keep up. I wasn't able to do anything from my seat in the audience and neither was Scout. We both felt a little helpless. I don't know what I could have done to help in that situation, but I just remember feeling really overwhelmed with lot's of things going on. Scout also felt smothered by all the things that were going on that day. As the reality of my babysitter's trial englufed me I realized I couldn't do anything to control the outcome of the jury. Neither could Scout. The trial of my babysitter was much more fair than that of Tom Robinson, but it was a similar experience for Scout and I.
     I have always had the ability to compare myself to characters in books well. Finding a reflection of my self in To Kill A Mockingbird was more difficult for me than in other books, but I still did pretty quickly. As I read the book and got to know Scout more, I found more ways that we were similar, and I got more into the book when I realized that I was like Scout.

My Boo Radley

    I met my Boo Radley when I was three years old. She was just born. My Boo Radley is my sister. When she was born I was so excited. I would finally have someone to play with and someone to be able to be with when my parents were busy. Soon after she was born we moved, to our current house, which was bigger and gave us more room to play together. When she was a baby, I could always make her smile, even when one of our parents couldn't. I could make her laugh, and she loved me. I was her incredible older sister.
    As we got older she began to talk more and express her opinions. My mom told me a few years ago, that when we were little we were playing some sort of imaginary game, as kids often do, I was explaining to my sister all these ideas, and things we could do, and she just said, "No, this is how it's going to be." And she told me. My little sister told me what to do. And I listened. From then on, I have often done what she says. I know everyone says, "What? No, old siblings are the boss." Not in our family; sure I tell her what to do and she listens, but it goes the other way, too. 
     When I was little, I thought that she was better and more powerful than me, so I listened to her. Now I realize that we are equally as powerful. She has good ideas, and I have good ideas, and neither one of us is better than the other one. We both have our bright moments...and our not so bright ones. My misconception about her was that she was better than me, and therefore I had to listen and do what she said, but really neither one of us is better than the other. Of course, we have our days where we just do not get along, but we deal with it, and figure out how to move on. I know we could both tell people horrible things about each other and make life very difficult for the other, but there is some unsaid thing between sisters. It's that no matter what you do to each other, you are still sisters and you have to love each other. You may never get along, and fight and disagree on everything, but you still will have a place in the others' heart. 
     It took me until recently to realize this. Now I try to respect her, and get along with her as best I can. We have both been making more of an effort lately, and it's been really nice to have her there. I wish that I had figured this out earlier, because knowing this before, would have been really nice. Now, though, we just have to make the most of each other and have fun. I'm glad that I know this because having my sister by my side is a really special thing.
    Scout didn't really know Boo Radley very well, and she never really had the opportunity to get to know him, because she only meets him once. On the other hand, I have many years to get to know my sister. I do know her, but I could get to know her so much more, and now that I know how special having a sister is, I can't wait to know more about. She is a very interesting person, just like Boo Radley is very interesting. My sister and I have the rest our lives to get to know each other and this is only the very beginning. I am luckier than Scout, because my sister is someone who shaped my childhood and now I get to know the real her. Unfortunately, Scout doesn't get the rest of her life to get know some one who created fun for her and Jem and Dill as a child.

Introduction to my Blog

Hello World of Blogging-

  This is my blog. I love reading; I have absolutely way too many favorite books to name one here. I also love to write. I think that being able to write is freeing. To be able to create an entire new world, just with words, is incredible. 

    English is one of my favorite classes. It always has been. If you are reading my blog, you should expect to see my personality come through when I am writing. With free writing (even though we have assigned topics) I think that people should really be able to get to know the writer through what they are writing. I do hope that all you readers of my blog do enjoy what I write and you find it interesting. To me, the meaning of English class is to be become more familiar with our language. English is a really important class because you can never really run out of things to teach. There are so many different books to read, and to discuss, it's hard to imagine that there would ever be a shortage of things to do.

   I think that having English for four years is important because later in life it is going to be a make or break it skill. It may be that you need to get into a class in college, or that you need to find a job, and if your English skills are good enough you might not be as eligible for that job. To be successful in life at all, you need to be able to communicate with people. Whether you live in New York City, and deal with many people on a daily basis, or whether you choose to be a hermit, and have someone in a helicopter bring you food once a month, you still need the skills to communicate with those you interact with. Academically, you have to know how to read, write, and communicate. If you can't do that, you can't excel in any area. Whether you like science, math, or history, reading and writing are still parts of those fields. English is something that anyone can be good at, as long as they apply themselves. 

  My blog will be full of posts like this one in a few months time. I hope will come back to read more!