Jada Boyd AP Lit (1st Hr) 9/26/2016 Poetry Response #2

Jada Boyd

AP Lit(1st Hr)

26 September 2016

"Twas once was warm like us" by Emily Dickinson is an eye-opening poem about death. She describes in detail what happens to the physical features of a body once it is dead. This poem touched me because if you have ever been to an open casket funeral, you know what she means. The body is frigid and pale. The facial expression is undisturbed and indifferent. It is disturbing to imagine that it was once a warm living, breathing person like us.

One stanza that really tugged at my heart was stanza two. The narrator states, “The Forehead copied Stone- / The Fingers grew too cold / To ache- and like a Skater’s Brook- / The busy eyes- congealed-” (6-9). This stanza struck a chord because it perfectly what I thought at my Uncle’s funeral. He looked nothing like himself. He looked sickly thin and pale. His face was waxy and pulled taut. Luckily, I didn’t see his eyes. I think I would have collapsed if they were congealed like Dickinson mentioned in this stanza.

Overall this poem is something we can all relate to. It is unnerving to see a dead body. This was literally a person that had a family and a life. Dickinson concludes the poem with a stunning realization, “Twas lowered, like a Weight- / It made no Signal, nor demurred, / But dropped like Adamant.”(15-17). It was at this point that I realized everybody will die one day. Every single person will meet their end. We don’t know when or how but we will one day be stiff and cold with congealed eyes and indifferent faces. We will be Waiting to be put to rest by our loved ones.

Poetry Response #2

Piper Furman
Ms. Locano
AP Lit & Comp
24 September 2016

Poetry Response #2

          In the poem "The Eagle" by Alfred Lord Tennyson , the speaker talks about a eagle and when it is flying. The speaker describes the surroundings where the eagle is flying and how its wings are. The speaker paints a very vivid picture when saying: "He clasps the crag with crooked hands;" (1), we all know that eagles don't have hands. Comparing the eagles wings to hands made me think about my mother and when she goes to work. Her "crooked hands" would help people every day. It makes her happy, just like I believe flying, in the poem, makes "The Eagle" happy. 

          Another aspect of "The Eagle" that I feel is close to me is the shift right before the end. The speaker is addressing the diving part of flying in stanza 2: "The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; / He watches from his mountain walls, / And like a thunderbolt he falls." (4-6) The bird is not only falling in a literal sense, but diving into something. I dive into new things everyday at school, by learning. It's a choice to fall or dive. That's what the poem is conveying to me. That is why Tennyson structured the poem how he did. This is why I like this poem, it gives a sense of power. 

Poetry Response #2

Kyannah Harris
Locano
AP Literature
26 September 2016

In the poem "Suicide's Note," by Langston Hughes in chapter 1 of Sound and Sense the speaker talks about death. When Hughes writes "the calm,/" (1) I think this was meant to have a bigger impact on the audience than it did. The speaker is about to kill him/ or herself and is calm about it. Meaning that this was  premeditated and maybe even that the speaker had thought of killing him or himself before. Maybe more than just this once. The speaker then goes into depth of where he or she chooses to end his or her life in the following line. Hughes writes "Cool face of the river/" which I think isn't a  coincidence. When someone dies their body becomes cold and the speaker here is referring to the river as cold because soon it is where his/ or her body will lie. And finally when Hughes writes "Asked me for a kiss." This is it! No turning back now for the speaker. His or her mind is made up that this what s/he wants to do. In that final moment the speaker is ready to die and will no longer have to deal with the pain of this world. This poem was definitely one of the shortest poems I think I'll ever read but I think Hughes does this on purpose. I think he made the poem short just like this speakers life (although I don't know the actual age of the speaker... it was cut 'short,' when s/he decides to ends its life.) Very brilliant. Hughes is a genius.

Poetry response #2

Dana Cogshell
Locano
AP Literature
26 September 2016


In the poem "I had heard it's a fight" by Edwin Denby in chapter 9 of sound and sense The speaker talks about naivete or going against your better judgement . When Denby writes" The afternoon it touched me  /  It sneaked up like it was a sweet thrill " (5-6) . This shows misguidance I think The speaker thinks this thing is good and nice ,at first thrilling but they are mistaken. This (mistake) is shown in the following lines" So I let it come just a wee  / Mite closer, Though I knew what it was , hell  " (7-8). These lines show the speaker knows subconciously this thing that they are accepting into their life or their arms as Denby puts is bad but still they are tempted to trust so they let it gain entry little by little but they know deep down this thing they are accepting is bad. I also think this poem shows blindness we are blinded by our thoughts and our beliefs ultimately if we want to believe something is good we allow ourselves to look past all the bad it does. When Denby writes the words "I had heard it's a fight " (1), It makes me feel as if the speaker was blinded that they had heard it was a fight but didn't conciously know they were involved they were blinded so they can't feel being beat down and all the bad it's doing to you because you are on this high as if this thing is so magnificient that you literally cannot make the observation for yourself so you are left with hearsay of people watching as you sit idly by as this thing beats you down. This is ultimately why I like the poem it speaks of something so human. It speaks of our process of accepting things that ultimately cause pandemonium and disaster. We want to believe lots of things are good and want to ignore all the bad it has done. I also love this poem for the way it is written the imagery used and the use of fragments and random capitalization makes it eye catching making it easier to understand and feel what Denby is trying to convey as he wrote it.

Poetry Response #2

After reading "Ending" by Gavin Ewart, I realized that there is a strong connection between the meaning of the poem and me, the words being shared and me. Line 14, "Romance, expected once to stay, / has left a note saying GONE AWAY." This line stays with me each time i read this poem, as i have recently experienced the feeling these words are expressing. It's as if the memories come rushing back just from reading that line and that's why has such a strong affect on me and why I love it. In addition to the connection I made with the poem, my reaction was very shocking yet I was in aw about how much this poem expressed some feelings I had. Each time I would read this poem, my reaction would change, I get less shocked and more in aw because of the strong connection I get with every word said.

The Greatest Love Of All - PR#2

Ariana Towns
Ms. Locano
AP-Lit
26, September 2016

"Love"

There's the wonderful love of a beautiful maid'
And the love of a staunch true man,
And the love of a baby that's unafraid--
All have existed since time began.
But the most wonderful love,, the Love of all loves,
Even greater than the love for Mother,
Is the infinite, tenderest, passionate love
Of one dead drunk for another.
                                                                               Anonymous
                                  



                                                        The Greatest Love Of All


                  "Love" by an anonymous poet is a poem that lays out a platform for different views of love until it concludes to the ultimate one. This poem idolizes the idea that no matter the kind of love one has the greatest love is of those who can't get enough of each other. The poet provides a tone of innocence and familiarity in lines three and four, the poem says, " And the love of a baby that's unafraid-- / All have existed since time began". This shows us that true love can be compared to the innocence of an unafraid baby who is pure. It is familiar because since the beginning of time love has been known and given in different forms. The speaker in the poem finds love to be best known when one is truly connected and consumed in another. I like the way the speaker deciphers the confusing way of true love through a poem of eight lines.

                     No matter how one feels about the concept of love no one can deny that this poem exemplifies the beauty within the different stages of infinite love. One stage being in lines seven and eight where it states, " Is the infinite, tenderest, passionate love / Of one dead drunk for another". This doesn't mean one is completely wasted on alcohol but to be so in love that you are in love with something bigger than love because you are drunk off of the person. The speaker forces you to understand that there is nothing more powerful or sadistic than love.  
                  

The Truth About Poetry Poetry Response #2

The Truth About Poetry

"Ars Poetica" by Archibald MacLeish is a wonderful poem. In the poem MacLeish explores the world’s perspective on poetry and how it is not true. The poem is made up of 12 short stanzas. In these lines the speaker made a lot of sense. This poem actually gives me a better understanding of poetry. In my opinion this poem means poetry does not always have to have a meaning or a purpose. Sometimes a poem is literally exactly what is says, without a deeper meaning.

In stanza 8 lines 1 & 2 the speaker says “A poem should be equal to: / Not true.” I feel this is the most powerful lines within the whole poem because it shows how someone is trying to put a label on a poem, quickly correcting it by saying that is not true you don’t have to believe that.

I’m one of the people in this world that thought the purpose of a poem was to give this life changing message, which now I know is not true.

Who's The Fairest of Them All? - PR #2

                                                       Who's The Fairest of Them All?

       "Mirror" by Sylvia Plath is a poem that really made me think about the complexity of a mirror. The speaker showed me that a mirror is more than an object. This poem includes personification as the speaker indirectly mentioned two possible things a mirror could be. In the first stanza, the speaker shows the mirror to be a person, "I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions" (1). In the second stanza, the mirror is metaphorically a lake, "Now I am a lake" (10).
       This poem seems to refer to seeing your true self. In the beginning of the second stanza, a woman is introduced to the poem. She's trying to see her true self by looking at her reflection in the lake. "A woman bends over me, / Searching my reaches for what she really is. / Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon" (10-12). The woman can't see herself by the lighting of the moon or candles because they don't show her actual face, only an illusion. Plath uses imagery to show how long the woman looked at her reflection in the lake, "In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman / Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish" (17-18).
   

Lament and Liberate: PR2

Suicide's Note

The calm,
Cool face of the river
Asked me for a kiss. 

Langston Hughes

Suicide’s Note by Langston Hughes is extremely beautiful. It is simple, being comprised of only 3 lines, 1 stanza; and it is expressive.

Hughes provides imagery in lines one and two, “The calm,/Cool face of the river”. This shows us how it isn’t ugly. Suicide is something that is considered ugly by society. And the speaker in Hughes poem instead sees suicide as something liberating. The speaker sees it as something to jump into. I enjoy how the speaker in the poem implies that what we see as voluntary is irresistible and inevitable.

No matter a person's personal feelings about suicide, it can’t be denied that this is a wonderful poem. On a multitude of levels. One being Hughes play on water. A river contains water. And water is usually associated with rebirth. An example being a christening. Which is why it is ironic that someone would choose to kill themselves in a river.

If you removed the title of this poem, it would seem like a basic and happy poem. Someone at peace with themselves and at peace with nature. But add the title and a sharp contrast is drawn. However, we must ask ourselves, should it be?

Hughes poem forces you to rethink suicide. Since suicide can be brought on because of a depressive state, many see suicide as a last resort, a sad thing. Something to be mourned. Suicide being the final option, a final destination. But the speaker suggests, that it doesn't end in death

… it instead ends in liberation.

Leaving you wondering, if it’s the living we should grieve.

-Sonya Williams 

Poetry Response #2

Mycah Mattox
Ms. Locano
AP Lit- 4
25 September 2016

The Smell of Wilted Roses

In the poem "Ending" by Gavin Ewart, he explores the exhilarating spark of love going out eventually in a relationship. We are all victims of time, nothing is ever the same in one moment or the next. A rose will wilt as soon as it's plucked resulting in a painstakingly beautiful death. A death that is enjoyed until the rose becomes ugly and meaningless. The love that one may have felt growing wildly can disperse gradually without them ever noticing.

 I really like this poem because of how simplistic it is. The speaker has realized they have fallen out of love. The tone is resigned, but nostalgic of all the moments that were spent in love. In lines 11-14, the speaker says. "The parts that then transmitted joy / are now reserved cold and coy. / Romance, expected once to stay, / has left a note saying GONE AWAY." Ewart beautifully examines the intimate parts of a relationship with a lovely rhyming scheme that almost distracts the audience from the fact he's talking about loss of excitement with a significant other. 

This poem reminds me of the poem "Storm Warnings" by Adrienne Rich, that we read in class. The speakers in both works are talking about the grey area that will eventually come with falling in love. You would think that love should be glamorous, eternal and flawless in its entirety, but the harsh reality is that, like love, in time, the most divine rose will become dull and lifeless in its immaculate vase. 

   

Peaceful Nightmare - PR#2

Jennifer Medrano
Ms. Locano
AP-LIT 4
24 September 2016

Peaceful Nightmare

"Suicide's Note" by Langston Hughes is the shortest poem that I've ever read that mandates such a grand amount of thought. This poem constructs a long list of questions after allowing your mind to grasp the main idea of the literal story. Hughes orchestrates the poem with the tone of such sadness so great that it almost feels peaceful.
Although we do not know the length of the Speakers life, we know it must have been tragic due to the whole suicide...experience he or she is having. The entirety of the poem says, "The calm, / Cool face of the river / Asked me for a kiss." Lines 1-3 consist of the 'peaceful' death of the Speaker. We ask, "What made this character desire such an ending for their life?"
The elements that add to the beauty of the poem is white space and imagery. Despite the fact that few words were used to create this work, the image is clear and profound. The white space that Hughes uses also allows his readers to wonder why he placed his quotations where he did. I believe his placement is the magic to the spell and completes the work with astonishment.  

Trying Something New!?

As I begin my 17th year at Oak Park High School, I think it's about time to embrace technology even more than I already have. I'm always looking for more opportunities for my students to express themselves through writing since that is one of the purposes of a lit and comp class. Unfortunately, finding time to read all of this writing is always going to be a challenge. I learned years ago that I should not be my students only reader. So, why not find a way for students to not only have more opportunities to write, but also have more opportunities for feedback from others? Why not try blogging?

Can I really ask my students to blog when I've never tried it? Here's my first attempt. Nothing big. Just a quick experience to see how easy or difficult this is. Next I can figure out how to share this with others and how to allow others to give me feedback. So here we go, wish me luck...publish!