My Poems Connections

      After searching the Poetry Out Loud Website and researching through the Poetry Out Loud book, I finally have decided on presenting the poem "Up-Hill" by Christina Rossetti.  This poem is a conversation between two people.  The first person tone sounds insecure and unsure while the other calmly answers all his/her questions.  To me, the meaning seems complex.  There is a young gentleman or lady that is unsure about taking the journey of life.  He/she is unsure about what it will be like or what will happen when they get to the top.  While the second person seems older and experienced on what the journey is like. This speaker says that yes the journey will be hard, but once your journey ends then you will have a good place to rest or stay. (The resting place means Heaven).  
    My connection - what I like about this piece is that it really applies to me right now.  I am at a point where, yes, college is a reality and it is fairly close.  I, like the first speaker, am not sure about the journey ahead.  I know that it won’t be easy, there will be little rest and more fatigue, but once I get to the top I hope that I am happy about how that journey went.  It will be hard traveling "up-hill", but I know that I will learn and grow from the experience.
      I am thinking that I will demonstrate this meaning mostly by changing the tone of my voice.  I am going to try to portray what the authors characters sounded like.  For every question from the first speaker, I will sound unsure or uneasy, and with the second speaker, who is always responding, I will be confident.  I want to articulate certain words and make sure that it is not too loud, but not to quite.  My hands will be to my side the most of the time except for a few subtle motions such as when I say: "Yea, beds for all who come."  This is the plan, however; when I am standing in front of a whole bunch of people I really don't know if I will end up doing it.

Poetry Out Loud

PURPLE= Sections
BLUE= Questions
ORANGE= Comments/ Answers


Part one:
1. Read a poem that begins with the first letter of your first name. "Remark on poetry and the Physical word."
2. Read a poem that begins with the third letter of your last name. "Altruism"
3. Read a poem that the person sitting next to you suggests your read.  Suggest a poem to a person sitting next to you read. "Happiness"
4. Choose two more poems to read. "A Boat beneath a Sunny Sky" and "Fairy-tale Logic"
Part two: What do you think?
1. What poem out of the five did you liked and why?
Out of the five poems, I liked "Altruism".  I thought it was really cheerful to read and it kept my attention from the first verse to the last. 
2. What poem did you not like, why?
I didn't really like "Remark on poetry and the Physical word" because it was hard to follow.  It also did not capture my attention as well as some of the other poems.
3. If you had to choose one of those five poems, which would you choose?
I would choose "A Boat beneath a Sunny Sky".
4. Explain how you PERSONALLY CONNECTED WITH that poem.
Well, I think the connection is dreams.  I know that it's something that we can all connect with, and I liked the rhythmic flow that the author wrote.  He even mentions an allusion that refers to the novel Alice Wonderland.  Just thinking of some of the old movie classics that I watched as a kid helped me connected with some of the kids in the poem.   
Part three: Scoring Criteria
1. Which two criteria will be easiest for you and why?
The easiest for me will probably be Voice and Articulation, and Evidence of Understanding.  Voice and Articulation will be a little easier because I have pretty good eye contact.  Evidence of Understanding will also be easier for me because I am not afraid to ask any question if I don't understand! :)
2. What two criteria will you have more difficulty scoring higher and why?
The two that look difficult would be Physical Presence and Dramatic Appropriateness.  Both of them involve stand up in front of a group of people, which I am not good at.  I am always SO nerves, so looking confident and natural will not be ease!  I am sure I won't go over the top with Drama, but I may not add enough.
Part four: Videos
1. Write which poem you watched and analyze to see if it was a successful performance.
Pied Beauty
I thought that she executed the poem perfectly!  She had great articulation, speed, and it seemed like she was relaxed and enjoying herself.
The Man-Moth
This poem was also recited beautiful.  I really liked how he paused before some sentences so that you could catch up to what he was saying.  Each person had great articulation dramatic and a good voice. 
Part Five: Summary
The Poetry Out Load website had a lot of variation of poems and a bunch of different styles that I liked.  For our class competition I know that it will be amazing, because each person has done excellent with all the projects so far.  For me, I am very nerves to see if I can reach the standers.  I will be memorizing "A Boat beneath the Sunny Sky". I choose this because it was simple enough to be easily understood.  However, I am really looking forward to analyzing the poem, because I know that there is a deeper meaning then just the superficial words.  

Literature(EC)

  English, English, English....From reading poems to writing a letter to the Crayola Company, I have learned so much since the first day of Honors English.  The most important skill that I have learned thus far, would probably have to be learning how to analyze a small piece of literature.  With this skill, I can look through a piece and identify irony, imagery, satire...etc. 
     There was more than one assignment that helped me apply these "English skills" to a piece of literature.  One that I think helped the most was the Satire, Tone, and Point of view assignment.  We went around in groups to each table and analyzed for specific elements of satire, tone, and point of view.  By going through with a group, it gave me a different outlook on what others thought verses my own opinion. 
     A lot of people may ask, "Well, why is that important?"  In a way, it helps you uncover the author’s perspective and what their actual take on the piece was, rather than your own. By picking small details out of the big picture, you will be able to grasp some of the little details that others may not perceive. Every detail that you can distinguish will make literature that much more interesting!

The Building Blocks

Poetry is the part of English in which I fail to completely comprehend.  By analyzing the three poems in class, and along with the class discussions, I found it easier to find the literary and symbolic meanings.  If you glance through the poem "Lobsters" you would find that the author builds the poem with essential "building blocks" (such as literary elements: imagery, irony, descriptions etc.) that make the poem tie together it's relevant meaning.  Before the discussion, I didn't know that I was missing such an important "building block".  The question brought up was about the colors that the author used to describe the lobster's appearance.  What I didn't recognize was that the colors were not coinciding with the actual color of the lobster.  The colors were all shades of violet.  The violet was to represent blood and death.

Sooooo what did I learn?  How was I enlightened?  I realized the author not only focused on the "big" ideas, but they went as far as representing the theme - death, in the Lobster's description.  Now that I know this, it is easier to see that the poem is more about death then about the innocence of a Lobster.  The author’s simple word choice can build the theme and meaning to give the poem depth.  However, if you miss one of the building blocks you can miss a major part of the poem.

Step, by step to THE Five Part Paragraph

            In fourth grade you learned how to properly write a topic sentence and elaborate a little on your topic.  In fifth grade, you know how to write a five paragraph essay which includes transitions, topic statement, concluding sentence, etc.  Now...in high school, you are taught the 5 Part Paragraph Format.  In English, each year the curriculum advances, and as it advances so does the expectations.  When one is faced with the big FIVE PART PARAGRAPH FORMAT you need to focus on taking it one step at a time.  If you do your paragraph this way, then the "do's and don'ts" are a little easier to follow.  By taking it step by step it is easier to include the necessities such as: a topic sentence, effectively using concrete details, and developing insightful commentary.  It will develop into a perfect paragraph!  I think that if you grasp how to write the topic sentence, concluding sentence, and embed your quotes the 5 Part Paragraph will be strong.  Especially the topic sentence, I think that as a class we had a hard time with trying to say what was going to be prove through the paragraph instead of stating a few facts about the novel.  Without this small piece it is a little harder to get into the quotes and commentary.  Also, embedding the quotes was another struggle because it was hard not to include plot summary.

Besides for that...I think everyone wrote really well and good quality paragraphs.  However, I know that I have a lot of space for improvement.  I tended to include plot summary instead of putting in my own words.  I also need to reread my paragraph VERY CAREFULLY because there were a few miss spellings...OOPS  It may take more than one time to get this Five Part Paragraph into perfection, but if you take little steps it may come faster than you think.   

The small things-thick or thin?

       When you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, do you prefer to have your toppings spread thick or thin?  Do you like it with crust or without crust?  This may be a little preference, but I find that the little things that happen during the week can either make it or break it in terms of having a good or a bad week.  When I think of my weeks, I think of the usual routine contentment: getting up early, going to school, stressing over how much homework I have, hang out with my friends, and coming home with still more work that has to be done.  It seems that every day I never have enough time. 
       Besides for my routine, something very exciting happened.  It was a little thing, but it made the week all that much better.  On Wednesday Courtney Thomson attended OHS volleyball practice and helped work with the varsity players with the exception of the setters from each team.  You may be thinking..."Who?"  Well...Courtney Thomson is a volleyball player who was the 3 year starting setter at UW, including in 2005 when they won the NCAA title and even back in high school she led Kentlake into three straight state titles!  She is now is training with the USA Women's National Team in hopes of a spot on the next Olympic team!  So as a volleyball player...this was a big deal to me!  I didn't get to practice, but just sitting in the gym and watching was enough for me.  I did not want anything more than just to sit and listen to what she said... I tried to take it all in, but I just keep on thinking..."COURTNEY THOMSON!"  One of the aspects that I learned is that you can achieve almost anything with the right mind set, and that you don't fully know how much you are capable of achieving until you do. 
      Well... that was the highlight of my week.  It was a small thing...just like how much peanut butter and jelly is spread on your sandwich, but if you focus on the little things, it makes it that much better!

Pride and Prejudice

       When you are reading Pride and Prejudice it is almost like you are walking through the world of literature.  Pride and Prejudice has been dearly loved ever since its publication in 1813 by Jan Austen.  I think that once I get into the novel's plot and conflict that it also will capture my heart.  Right at the moment, you are receiving bits and pieces of information about the different characters and their personality's.  The novel is very good in the respect of its detailed description and the authors writing style.  Even describing some of the flat characters you get a sense that they are real people living in the that time period. (20) "Mary had neither genius nor taste; and though vanity had given her application, it had given her likewise a pedantic air and conceited manner..."  I also love that the author chose to write the novel in the third person, so that you could find the different characters perspective and know what is happening when the main characters are not involved.  
     When you are reading a novel, each individual always looks at the novels facade and the title.  You start thinking of allusions and what they may be referring to.  The title "Pride and Prejudice" was not the initial title of the novel, but it was changed a few years subsequent to its publication.  The original title was "First Impressions."  The novel, from the very beginning has started to elaborated on the point of the different characters pride and how each one makes a differed "first impression."  I think for my project that I would go into detail about the characters.  They are truly the main focus of the novel and have intrigued me to continue my reading.  Elizabeth Bennet, the second oldest, shows a cleverness that her sisters are lacking.  Mr. Darcy started to notice her, "uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes." (18)            
     This novel reminds me of Romeo and Juliet because of the love story that is following.  In both of the novels, the characters are described slowly, but once you get into the novel you love it.  The writing is somewhat similar. 
     At this point, I have little idea on what my project will be because we haven't gotten far enough in the novel for me to formulate a big enough perspective to think of such a major project.  Maybe, a drawing of some sort?  We haven't had a chance to really think of all the possibility that await. 

The NOVEL and YOU

    When you are reading a novel, do you put sticky notes all over to mark "important sections" in the book; are you listening to music, texting, and reading; or are you one who sits in your room and dives into the novel?  Just as there are different ways to read a novel, there are many different themes or connections that each individual has in order to form their perspective of the novel.  Pertaining to To Kill a Mockingbird specifically, I felt that my connection was strong.

    No, my father isn't a lawyer, but the concept of the hypocrisy that Scout experience’s really was what grasped me. 

     On page 267 Scout talks about why she prefers her tom boyish ways, "But I was more at home in my  father's world.  People like Mr. Heck Tate did not trap you with innocent questions to make fun of you; even Jem was not highly critical unless you said something stupid.  Ladies seemed to live in faint horror of men, seemed unwilling to approve wholeheartedly of them.  But I think them.  There was something about them...there was something about them that I instinctively liked...they weren't 'Hypocrites, Mrs. Perkins, born hypocrites,' Mrs. Merriweather was saying.  'At least we don't have that sin on our shoulders down here.  People up there set' em free, but you don't see 'em settin' at the table with 'em.  At least we don't have the deceit to say to 'em yes you're as good as we are but stay away from us." 

    Scout saw that a lot of the women in Maycomb were as hypocritical as the people "up there".  They were saying how others were hypocrites when really they were doing the same thing.  They were thinking that they were "higher in the society" than they were, but that they weren't "better than them" just more privileged.  They wanted no part with them.  Just like they discriminated against Tom Robinson’s and the injustice they wanted no part in it. 

    I know that we, as humans, are all hypocrites at some point and time, but when you are standing, witnessing the hypocrisy it makes you cringe a little to see what's happening around you.  Hypocrisy is one of my pet peeves, even though it happens all around you; you wouldn't want to have the label "hypocrite".  I sympathies with Scout because when I hear myself or someone say something hypocritical I always wish I could get away from it.  As Scout grew up throughout the novel, so are we.  With each day, it changes a new chapter of our lives, and we want it to be the best life story one has ever had.  You want others reading it to connect in some way and feel that your story impacted them.  I know that even though To Kill a Mockingbird wasn't a really story, it impacted me and my way of thinking.   

 

  

Facing your Boo Radley

     Ring, ching, ring, ding, ding... What makes this sound?  A clock? A bus? A plane? No, it’s the sound of a five year olds worst fear...a bike.  Wait...Daddy...are you positive I HAVE to ride on this... Are you REALLY SURE!  Everyone has there own "Boo Radley".  Whether it is a five year old, scared to get on a bike, a ten year old scared to jump off the diving board, and even a fourteen year old nerves going into high school.  Each person is different, each situation varies, but each one of us has our own "Boo Radley".  For Scout, it was a man a few doors down, someone who she saw as an evil, malevolent phantom.  Not until she stood in his shoes did she understand who he really was. 
  
    My "Boo Radley" was the first time I went snow skiing.  I though... "You want me to go down that!!!!"  "So you want me to ski down THAT MOUNTIN!!!! Ahhhhhh... I don't think that is possible!  I could DIE!"  At age seven, I stood at the bottom of White Pass, shaking in my ski boots, looking at everyone walking to and fro.  I tried to shuffle as fast as my little legs could carry me, but with puffy ski clothes, I felt like a clumsy snowman barley able to walk.  By mid afternoon I knew how to stop, start, and how to travers.  Not long after, I was able to successfully ride the Platter Lift.  The Platter Lift had a small disk that you hold between your legs that took you up the hill, and then you skied down.  I had so much fun, but it took a little while to conquer my "Boo Radley".

     Just like Scout, when you meet your Boo Radley straight on, you find that it was a lot different then what you originally thought. I thought that going skiing was going to be the worst day of my life, but as Scout realized that Boo was not what he was said to be, so was my experience with skiing.   
   
    

Words make the world go around!

     Welcome to Rachel's Blog! Wait... before you skip to the next blog because you think mine is to long...just keep on reading!  As you get to know me... you will find that I always try to do my best in everything that I do.  So as a follower I hope that you will be satisfied with my different comments and opinions in the world of literature.  I am really looking forward to hearing from everyone.  I know that each of you have a ton of great ideas, just from our small discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird in class.  As different assignments are posted, I hope to bring excitement and enthusiasm to the "on-line world".  The purpose of using a blog was to help us in English, by making it interactive and fun.  Here are some of my answers to the following questions:
     "What is the meaning of English class?"  English class is meant to help you grow to your fullest potential in both reading and writing.  It also helps you to develop some of the fundamental skills for your everyday success.  So then... "Why is English a four-year requirement for college bound students?"  Well, as I said, reading and writing is a skill that you use in different aspects in any college career you take.  For example, you have to apply to get a job and if you don't have writing skills your employer may discard the application and look for someone else with more experience.  The more proficient at writing you are, the better!  With reading, you do to some extent each day, whether it is your next facebook entry or reading the Olympian. 
    I can't wait to hear the different responses! I will see everyone on Monday.  Have a great weekend.
Rachel