Found Poem

I felt wobbly
It was the fear, mostly
I had a sinking sensation
I kept waiting for the pain to hit

I didn't complain
I missed the adventure
Even the danger
It's a hard thing to explain

The presence of death and danger
It has a way of bringing you fully awake
It makes things vivid

When you're afraid, really afraid,
You see things you never saw before
You pay attention to the world
You make close friends
Part of a tribe
You share the same blood
You give it together
You take it together

I'm sure things would've worked out fine
But it hurt

Incident

Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee;
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me, "Nigger."

I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That's all that I remember.

Analysis:

The imagery of this poem includes a small African American child enjoying himself on the bus. There is also another young white boy on the same bus. The reader can hear the white boy speaking badly to the African American boy. The setting on the bus is not significant to the author, the important part is when the white boy said his rude comment to the author. This situation was very important in the life of the author because it showed the cruelty of the young white boy.

There is only one big sound device in this poem and it is rhyme. In every stanza, the second line rhymes with the fourth line. The rhyming of the poem helps the poem to flow better. It makes the poem easier to read and it ties together the ideas of each stanza.

The last stanza has several hyperboles in it. The author exaggerates his experiences in Baltimore by saying that they were all insignificant compared to what had happened on the bus. For the eight months that the author was living in Baltimore, this incident was very important in his life and that is demonstrated by the hyperbole in the last stanza.

Michael Jackson, Modern Transcendentalist

     

     I think that Michael Jackson is an example of a modern transcendentalist because he has an appreciation for nature, a belief in strong individuality and non conformity, and valuing of imagination over reason and logic.

      In Michael Jackson's song, "Earth Song" he sings about the problems that our earth has. He sings about how the world needs to help the planet and not abuse what it gives to us. He specifically sings about animals, elephants, the oceans, and our forests in "Earth Song." This demonstrates that he cares a lot about protecting the environment and he appreciates nature.
   
     Another way that Michael Jackson is a modern transcendentalist is the way he was an individual and did not let people change who he was. Michael Jackson did not let people's rude comments affect him when he would behave differently and dress himself a little crazy. When he changed his skin color, he was not afraid of people judging him and he accepted himself and did not try to change himself for anyone.

     Michael Jackson was an imaginative person who liked expressing his flashy personality in his clothing and his music. His imagination is expressed in his music that focuses on emotions and feelings instead of logical music. Michael Jackson's creativity is what led him to create new dances like the moonwalk and the robot. His different personality and individual singing voice made him a very dominant figure in music.

Gatsby Question

What is it about Gatsby that makes people make up stories about him, like that he killed a man. Is it fair of them to do this?

Before this poetry unit, it was very difficult for me to enjoy poetry. This is because I could not always understand what a poem meant, or because I was forced to over analyze the poetry I read in class. Before this unit, when we learned about poetry we mostly focused on tearing the poem apart to find the theme, figurative language and tone. Learning more about terms in poetry has helped me understand poems better because I can understand why a poem is written the way it is. I also did not like having to break down a poem to try to understand every detail of the poem and why the poet wrote something. After this poetry unit I find it easier to understand what a poem means just by reading it. I like to follow the stories of the characters in the poems I read. I found that I can enjoy a poem more when I can read it for my own enjoyment instead of reading it to analyze it. Even though I do not prefer analyzing poems in class, reading it first without over thinking it makes it less difficult to understand and that makes it more enjoyable to read. I am happy that now I find poetry more pleasurable to read and that I can understand poems and therefore appreciate them more.

On our way to the swim meet (:

     In my opinion the American Dream is to be successful in whatever you do. For me, that means to do well in high school and to go to a good college. After that I would get a well paying job and start a family.  I would raise my children to be better than I was so that they will make society better in the future.
     My idea of the American Dream is similar to what most people think of the American Dream. The general idea of it is to make a lot of money and to be successful in life. My idea is different from the usual American Dream because usually people will do whatever they can do to get to the top. I think it is better to be fair in order to be successful and not to be selfish and only think on myself. The main idea of the American Dream is to do well in everything you do.