Found Poem Blog

Found Poem-

Miles off into open country, 

Summer,

Winter,

Silence approaching, 

Her end, 

Said, 

Time over.

        This Found Poem has a theme and message. The theme in this poem is silence and loneliness that a girl faces. It says that a journey will be coming her way along with silence.  When there is silence there is most of the time loneliness. This journey is death because it says that her time is over. The message of this poem is that death is very harsh. When you face death it is like you are facing miles of never-ending years and silence.

         The main point of this poem is that a girl dies peacefully. In the picture it shows a picture of a girl facing her fate. She doesn't look scared, she looks like she is confident and ready for whatever comes her way. Many times people die in vain, but in this case she dies with willingness. She just let fate do what it had to do.

Spine Poem Blog

Spine Poem-

The Story of My Life,

Journey to America,

Unbroken,

100 Battles,

Code Talker.

         This poem has a theme and message in it. The theme of this poem is the path of your life. This means that the poem describes the life of the person the poem is about. This specific person fought in 100 battles, took a journey to America, is described as a code talker, and was not broken. The message of this poem is that there can be many different things that occur in your life. Not all of it might be physical things but mental things that you have to overcome mentally too.

        Along with a theme and message this poem has a main point also. The main point is that this person that the poem is about, has a lot of different things that describe them. Four of these books has a certain meaning that adds to the "life" of the person. The first book is like an umbrella that holds all the other books together. All of the other books describe this person's life in a different way.

Where I'm From

Commented on: Yazmin's Blog, Evelyn's Blog,and Jude's Blog

Bronx Masquerade Compare And Contrast

         The book Bronx Masquerade is about different teenagers points of views on life and poetry. The book includes poems that multiple teenagers write about different problems that they face. Along with poems it has chapters of their lives told from them. There are many different people in this book. Most of their problems are very intense and they are actual things that really happen in real life. This takes place in the rough part of Bronx during the early 2000s.

         There are a few characters who have similar points of views in the book. Some of these characters are Wesley and Tyrone. Both of these characters think that they are going to die. They think this because they live in a very dangerous neighborhood. There are gangs everywhere and making it alive is an accomplishment to them. These boys aren't just afraid of being killed, they also don't care much about school. I feel like school isn't their top priority because they are consumed with other things, such as being afraid of dying.

        Along with some characters being similar there are some that are different. Some of these characters are Raul and Devon. Raul expresses himself without a problem, he doesn't care what people think of him. He paints and draws pictures. However, Devon likes to read poetry, but he hides it from everyone. He is afraid to be himself because he thinks others won't like it. Raul is comfortable being himself, but Devon is afraid people wouldn't accept his true self.

        All in all, I really like this book. I feel like many people can relate to this book because it talks about real problems that many people face. It is a very touching story so far.

Poetry Response Blog

         This poem "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, is about freedom and liberty. The author uses a caged bird and a free bird to explain the differences between how they feel. I think that the author wasn't really meaning to talk about birds. I think that it explained a person's soul and body instead of a bird. It says that a caged bird, a soul, wants something it never had but wants it more then anything. It envies the free bird because is has something that it doesn't, freedom. While the caged bird rages, with his feet bound and his wings trimmed, the free bird flies through the open sky. The caged bird sings because he longs for freedom and cries out for it, it isn't for joy. 

         I think the author wrote this because she wanted the world to know that people should be free. She talks about how horrible life is for the caged bird and wants us to sympathize for it. When we start to feel bad for the caged bird, she brings up the free bird's happy feelings so we can compare two. Once we see the differences we want the caged bird to have the same freedom as the free bird. This inspires people to want other people to be free. People put themselves in the birds shoes and they would want to be free. She had the intention of making the world a better place.

         This poem reminds me of the movie Tangled. It reminds me of this because the main character , Rapunzel, is held captive by her "mother". She is miserable and wants to be free, like the bird from the poem. She sings for freedom instead of joy. I first thought of this Disney movie when I read that the bird dreamed of freedom that it never had. This is similar to the movie because the main character wanted to be free from her tower because she had dreamed of what it felt like. The bird and the main character of the movie Tangled are very similar.

This is the poem "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou:

A free bird leaps on the back

Of the wind and floats downstream

Till the current ends and dips his wing

In the orange suns rays

And dares to claim the sky.

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage

Can seldom see through his bars of rage

His wings are clipped and his feet are tied

So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill

Of things unknown but longed for still

And his tune is heard on the distant hill for

The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

And the trade winds soft through

The sighing trees

And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright

Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams

His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

His wings are clipped and his feet are tied

So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with

A fearful trill of things unknown

But longed for still and his

Tune is heard on the distant hill

For the caged bird sings of freedom.

This is a drawing of what I visualize when I read the poem.

I think about this because it shows a free bird and a caged bird. The caged bird is singing like it says it does in the poem. The area of the free bird is light, while the caged birds area is dark. They are separate and not in the same dimension.

Commented on:
Yazmin's Blog
Evelyn's Blog
Amilee's Blog

Reflection of 2nd Quarter

Reflection

Prompt 1: In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts?

Prompt 2: What is something you have accomplished since the new year that you are proud of?

Prompt 3: What has been the most challenging part of 2nd Quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

Prompt 4: Of the books you have read this quarter, which was your favorite? Why?

          The area that I think was my biggest improvement in ELA was time management. I think it was time management because now I know that I should split my work up into groups and not do it all at once. I have learned that if I do it all at one time then I could become frustrated and the quality wouldn't be adequate enough. By learning how to manage my time I have improved in scheduling my day efficiently. When my day is scheduled efficiently I am able to get work done.

         Something that I have accomplished since the new year is that I finished my CBL project. My group and I have been working on it since the beginning of the 2nd quarter. I am very glad that it is finished because it took a lot of work and time to create it. Almost all the CBL classes had something to do with the project.  We got a good grade on it and I am very proud of the overall outcome of it. 

         The most challenging part of the 2nd Quarter was balancing school and sports. Some days I would have a lot of homework but I had after school sports. Sometimes it would be very hard to finish my homework and still have time to go to my activity. To help overcome this I could have one day that is devoted entirely to school. This could help me because I wouldn't have as much work for the other days and school and sports could be somewhat even.  

          One of my favorite books that I read this quarter was The Help by Lauren Stocket. This book was my favorite because it had many feelings towards it. Sometimes I would be feeling sad then I could be feeling relieved. The book had a lot of emotions in it. Also I liked the book the best because it took place in the 60s so it was interesting to see the difference between then and now. The way people lived was a lot different back then, compared to now. 

The Help Book Talk

Transcript

The book that I have chosen to talk about is The Help by Lauren Stocket it is realistic fiction. This book takes place in Jackson, Mississippi 1962-1963.  There are three main characters in my book. Every other chapter a new character tells their point of view. The main characters are Minny, Aibileen, and Skeeter. Minny is a black maid who has a hot temper and is an amazing cook. Aibileen is a black maid too, but she is much older and has a way better patience. Skeeter is a young white woman who is awkward looking and is trying to be a successful writer. Throughout the book the characters have to overcome racism, fear, and the wrath of the Mississippi men and women. Skeeter thinks up of a way to change the views of everyone, but many are afraid to do it. The mood of this book was pity. As I read the book I felt so sorry for people who had to suffer through the racism and torment that the characters had to experience. It wasn’t just racism that was hard to read. Another thing was that Minny’s husband abused her and Skeeter’s mother falls very sick. While I read the book I felt so bad for the main characters. One of the themes of this book is courage. It is courage because in almost all of the main events the characters had to act courageous. One of these events was deciding if they should write a book about what life is like being a maid for a white family. This was very courageous because if people found out that the main characters wrote this then they could be sent to jail, killed, or worse. I’ve learned that you have to be brave in order to get what you want because things are not always handed to you.    

I liked this book because it made me see what life was like for women during the 60s in the south. I was surprised to see what the difference was like from then to now.  What I remember most about the book was the fear that the maids had from the villain, Hilly Holbrook. She was a very powerful woman who could manipulate anybody and people believed anything she said. The maids were afraid of her because she could tell bad things about them to other people that weren’t true, and the maids would get fired or beaten. I would recommend this book to older viewers such as teenagers to adults. These ages can fully understand the meaning of it and they could cherish it. I wouldn’t recommend it to younger people because some of the content might be a little bit too intense and they might not understand the message. Someone should want to go out and get this book because while you read it you would never want to put it down. This book will make you see through the eyes of the help instead of the “powerful figure”. You will never see or hear maids and segregation the same way again.

Book Talk