Friday, February 23, 2007

Journal #4

Title: Community
Author: John Donne
Style: Personal Response
S: Someone who is represents the voice of the community
O: To state responsibilities
A: The World
P: To present as alternative direction to life
S: Working to together to overcome obstacles
Tone: Direct and informative

Response:

In the poem “Community” by John Donne I can make connections to my daily life in the most interesting way. The poem’s message is hidden in the shallow walls of its structure; that is some what similar to how I write poems but author goes a step farther by adding end rhythms. The end rhythms causes me to fall off track a little while I read the poem, so I read it over and over again and each time I read it I felt like I was understanding the poem more and more. When I first read the poem it reminded of the bible because of the first two lines in the poem, “GOOD we must love, and must hate ill, For ill is ill, and good good still”. The way I try to look at life for the most part is by having a positive aspect on the way the environment I grew up in, seems to be much safer place to live than some of the other areas in the bay. I know a lot of violence occurs in the area of this 2.4 square mile city; the violence never impacts me in away to a point where I want to go out and start harming people. I found the more positive thoughts I conjure up, the more positive my day will end up going. In the first two lines of the second stanza, “If then at first wise Nature had Made women either good or bad, Then some wee might hate and some choose”. These lines are significant because as a child was to always taught to be good and most times punished for being bad. In the bible neither Adam nor Eve knew the difference between good and ill, until, the persuasiveness of the snake caused woman to fall from grace who slowly but surely took the first man with her. The message within the poem gives readers the chance to consider more than one origin for how life came to be and if the readers believe people were born good or ill. The poem just has many sections complex enough to keep readers drawing on many different views of life and I believe that is interesting because the ambiguousness of the poem caused me to make numerous connections that can or cannot be valid.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Journal #3

Title: i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
Author: E. E. Cummings
Style: Contemporary
S: Some one in love
O: Confessing his unrestrained love
A: The world (most important his or
her lover
P: To express heart felt emotionsS: Spreading love
Tone: Soft

Response:

I carry your essences on the back of my soul
I do not ever want to put it down
I dream
Of happiness
I need
Your presence
And that’s all that can make me whole confessing
And no matter the when you come back ill always
let you back in

here is where you want to be
in my arms love will secure you from the evils of the
world
so come back as soon as possible because I need you

I carry your essences

Explanation:

I choose to respond to this poem because it reminded me of the poetry that I write. The poetry that I write is never read the same way by two people not unless he or she knows me really well. Each time I write a poem I mainly focus on the arte of trying to get through to an individual who probably knows me better than I know myself or in most cases think she does. With this I created to respond to the author’s message I tried to keep the way the poem is structured similar and the way main theme the seem. I tried to make the poem in to something more realistic to my nature by using the word “essences” rather than heart. The respond is just to someone that has wondered off the trail to love and looks like the she needs help finding her way back.

Journal #3

Title: you said Is
Author: E. E. Cummings
Style: Literary Critic
S: The essences of love
O: To question love’s origin
A: Anyone who considers
themselves to be in love
P: To reassure a lover’s loveS: Love
Tone: Soft

Response:

In the poem “you said Is” by E. E. Cummings, I think the message of conveyed is effective because it draws out love in many different forms out of people. It can cause a reader to feel sad because the reader could have been in a relationship with a person who continuously professed his or her love only to find out that the person did not really love them. It can make a reader feel a sense of hope in a relationship he or she is currently trying to mend. It can be taken in many different ways depending on the mind set on the individual who reads it. I took it as the essences of love because I believe the poem refers to phase that can be caused by love. The diction used in this poem helps me conclude that there is a natural state of love where everyone no matter the race or gender can experience the same degree. That may make it possible in away for a person to have more than one true love. The poetry devices used to convey the message within the poem are end rhyme and euphony because they add a form of security to people who found love after struggling to maintain the relationship they believed in. The poem gives people that are currently in love reassurance and that is good because everyone needs that once in awhile. For people who reject love because they have been hurt; the poem can help them to revaluate their relationship. Most times people are not in love but instead develop desires to spend time with people who they feel attracted to; that comes from assumptions and miscommunication. Through my short live, I seen a lot of people claim they were in love because of lust rather than actually developing love and I admit I had indulged in a few relationships that were out of pure lust as well. I got to the point where that was not enough for me, I needed to experience full blown love; I did with a very special girl and our relationship fit the description of a modern day fairy tale. Basically, love can be a achieved but it must be nurtured to be significant.

Friday, February 9, 2007

Journal #2

Title: My Wicked Wicked Ways
Author: Sandra Cisneros
Style: Comparative Critic

S: A baby concealed within the womb
of its mother
O: Stating the reasons for its future actions
A: People who question the motive of the
baby’s future action
P: To help explains the future of the child
S: Wickedness
Tone: Harsh

Title: Song at Midnight
Author: Lucille Clifton
Style: Comparative Critic

S: A voluptuous woman
O: Search for love
A: Single brothers
P: To raise awareness of the utilities
offer when involve in relationship
with a big woman
S: Seeking championship
Tone: Humorous

Response:

The nurturing phase of an individual is unique to every individual because every individual develops at a different rate; which sets the bar for coping with different issues unique to an individual. In the poems “My Wicked Wicked Ways” and “Song of Midnight” the authors Sandra Cisneros and Lucille both have speakers who are marred with lack of love given to them in their nurturing phases. Although the nurturing phases occur at separate times the effect of their past causes a painful future. For instances in the poem the “My Wicked Wicked Ways” the baby concealed with the woman’s womb does not literally witness the aggressiveness of her mother or her mother’s hostility towards the baby’s father but senses the tension because she is connected with to the mother. The emotions created within the mother trickles down to effect her unborn baby without the consent of the mother. All the negativity that is absorbed by the baby will be transmitted into the pessimistic future actions by the baby concealed with the womb of its mother. In the poem “Song at Midnight” the voluptuous woman was not fat and unattractive all her life to brothers, but at some point during her nurturing phase she became over weight. Her nurturing phase occurs between the times before her birth up until the age of 18 years old. By being a big woman her search for love seems harder than normal through her eyes because most single brothers prefer woman who fits the media’s description of beauty. However, the lack of love can be viewed as harsh or as humorous depending on the context it is presented in, meaning there is always two ways to tell a story. The way an individual turns out based on their ability to cope with their surroundings is

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Journal #2

Title: i am accused of tending to the past
Author: Lucille Clifton
Style: Contemporary Poetry

S: A female historian
O: Reminiscing on events that happened on the past
A: Everyone
P: To raise awareness about people’s actions
S: History repeats it’s self
Tone: Harsh

Response:

“why i was not accused of tending to the past”

why i was not accused of tending to the past
as if i do not have the ability to make it
as if i do not have the ability to construct it
backed by the hands of my blood soaked ancestors, i could have.
this past could have been birthed by me
why was i passed up in the suspect line
i am capable of constructing a soil soaker
and i with my father’s switch
could of tormented it to the point of no return
and named it
“History”.
he is more of a devil now,
practicing killing everyday
remembering poverty, masters and boats
when he is tired of being locked up
on his own, lives will be taken, he will spire nothing.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

A reapproach to Grace

LIFE although there are experiences that cause the sweetest soul to corrupt, dont change just grow, grow as a woman, grow as an individual, grow as a Lover of your own self because maybe than will your heart be taken seriously.

inspired by the life of Hale

-Adam

About Me

Im here but Im not. I love but I dont. I care but I reject. I dont get much but I do get myself for the most part. Thats ok I guess but its like there is more to me than that which is visible to the world. I am an individual, so different in theory and logic. Yet I allow myself to restrict my mind to flow with the rest of society's perceptions which bleaches out the essence of my soul. Most people have a hard time realizing whats evident but only if they look hard enough can they see what really matters. Once that stage is breached a higher degree of greatfuliness will developed. I still love you im waiting at the 50 yard line, when you make it here we can touch down together.

-Adam

Poetry in it's essence

Everyday life can be expressed through poetic language to draw out the irony that has been developed within an individual or at least make the individuals emotions apparent. Most times emotions are not visible because an individual has created multiple masks to cover up what is concealed within. After a while of covering up the response becomes normal, making it difficult for the individual to show any type of emotion that would expose the agony that lies within. In the poem titled “Woman Work” by Maya Angelou, the author does a great job of converting agony into poetic language by way of releasing the agony and crying out for a savior; to rid the pain that burdens the hardworking.
The speaker of the poem is of the black working class; her voice speaks for all black working class women in the in the early 1900s. The title “Woman Work” leads any reader to draw upon numerous connections between how a woman’s work is more of a job imposed on her rather than of free choice. Once a woman enters the working field she receives low wage and little to any benefits, leaving no room to advance from the preordained position. This is evident based on the transition from stanza one to stanza two. There is a sense of never ending torment in stanza one, but in stanza two the woman still has this sense of hope for a better tomorrow. The woman says “I gotta clean up this hut. Then see about the sick and the cotton to pick…Shine on me, sunshine. Rain on me rain” (Angelou 11-15). The woman is trapped in a lifestyle to where she is programmed to complete tasks assigned to her. It is evident she does not want to be in the place she is in based on her cry for freedom.
The woman speaks to her unknown savior of the agony the duels within her weakened frame. The woman’s dismay is made evident by the tone the author choose to list the work set out for the woman in. The author uses consonance and end rhyme in the first stanza to get the list to flow and impact its readers mind spontaneously. The author starts off with, “I’ve got the children to tend. The clothes to mend. The floor to mop; the food to shop” (1-4). Just by reading those lines a sense of imposed agony can be concluded about the speaker of the passage. Through use of poetry devices messages can be comprehended by reading any two to four lines in this poem. In stanzas two, three, four, and five the poetry devices that are used to convey the messages of the author are cacophony and consonance. The development of rhymes occurs in every other sentence because the agony begins to be for forgotten in the moment while the woman seeks refuges from her state of being. As her agony lessens the poetic language begins to disappear in some sense. The emotions used to create poetic language fades for that moment in time causing the “unpleasant arrangement of sounds”.
The poem “Woman Work” is a great example of the effect emotions has on the use of poetic language. It causes readers to draw connection based on the language used within. The black culture is represented through the uses of slang terminology; which is very effective in helping the reader understand the message without having to seek after outside sources.

P.S. I did not have internet access for the whole end

Friday, February 2, 2007

Journal #1

Title: We Wear the Mask
Author: Paul Lawrence Dunbar
Style: Literary Critic

S: People who realize they are continuously
assimilating
O: People tired of assimilating
A: The world
P: To raise awareness
S: Hiding emotions
Tone: Gloomy

Response:
In the poem “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, I think the message presented is effective because many people can relate to the situation. Not every one would let them selves be open to the judgments or the elements that are consisting within the minds of people that are critically categorizing everyone. The diction used in the poem helps me realize the complexity utilized to create the message of not wanting to be naked to the judgmental world. The mask is used as projection from anything that seems as a treat to the wearer. The poetry devices used to present the message are end rhyme and euphony because together they create a shield of protections.By writing with his certain voice the author is able to shield more than his writing because he conceals a secret message within the poem presented. Poetic language entraps its readers by making them believe they have the ability to unlock the author’s complete message without having a personal connection.

Journal #1

Title: Minstrel Man

Author: Langston Hughes

Style: Personal Response

S: Any human being

O: Tire of hiding the he or she feels

A: People who believe that person
is truly happy
P: To raise awareness of a person’s
inner being
S: Reality

Tone: Sorrow

Response:

I believe this poem represents the conscience of everyone in the world when they are in certain points in their life. Most people who see me laughing probably assume I am such a happy guy but they do not seem to realize I am crying inside. It would be easier for me to walk around with my head down but then people would try to give me advice that I would not take heed to. It is also easy to make everyone believe that your stress free too but then I would start to feel worse because all I would be doing is stuffing my emotions into a closet. An individual’s hardships are sometimes meant to be endures by that person alone outside help only bandages the wound but cannot help it heal. In the poem “Minstrel Man” the author Langston Hughes uses diction to develop a deeper meaning by simply using words that are reader friendly. Every word in the poem is words I already know. In the both stanza he uses alliteration and assonance to create the in dept meaning of the voice being portrayed within the poem. He does use any type of rhyming that would cause his poem to fall into the traditional form of poetry. I think his use of the poetry devices enriches his poem rather than diminishes it because the devices help to preserve the tone. He asks questions in the poem that are rhetorical not to feed off the blindness of people on the outside looking in, but to raise awareness. One’s emotions or state of being cannot be assumed by the way one presents his or her self in public.