Journals

"The Good Life by Tracy" K. Smith

5 September 2017

Prompt #8 - What is the theme (central idea) of this poem?

The theme of this poem is that money is not worth everything in the world. The speaker talks about how they were once very poor and hard to work for every thing they had. The speaker emphasizes how for a long period of time they would have to do much labor to even afford a single meal. I believe that this speaker learned many important lessons from being poor compared to the lessons they would have learned if they had enough money to pay for whatever they wanted. The author even names this poem "The Good Life" because it was a good worth while time in their life where they learned many priceless lessons. Many people wonder how one could have an enjoyable life when they have few possessions and money, but this author shows that through their struggle, they learned to appreciate the simplest pleasures in life such as some chicken and cheap wine.

"Do You Have Any Advice For Those Of Us Just Starting Out" by Ron Koertge

26 September 2017

Prompt #2 - Who is the speaker in the poem?

The speaker in this poem is an aspiring writer who is in the very beginnign of there career. The speaker is expresses how they are struggling to find a good place to write. They feel that theys hould not write in a place where "three or more people are wearing turtlenecks" because they feel as though that place would be far too fancy for them. This shows that the speaker has a very casusal style and does not have much experience with professionalism. The speaker expresses how their favorite place to go to write is at the library because that is where they receive the most insiraption. For example, the speaker references a child building a tower of books and knocking it over repeatedly in one of the aisles. The speaker uses kind words of love to descrive this scene, which is wuite uncommmon for this situation. Many people would be irritated in this environment, but this speaker thinks its sweet and entertaining which shows that they have a kind heart and positive outlook on life. In another instance, the speaker mentions how they tend to buy cheap notebooks with spaceships or kittens on the front which shows how they enjoy very childish things that could imply that they are of a pretty young age and even in their teenage years. To conclude, the speaker in this poem is very hopeful and seeks for the more goofy and enjoyable things in life.

"At the Un-National Monument Along the Canadian Border" by William E. Stafford

03 October 2017

Prompt #8- What is the theme of this poem?

The theme of this poem is that, as a society, we should honor places for good things and not just for tragedies. The place in the poem is described as calm and beautiful , yet is not a well remembered monument. It is just oneof those fields that people drive past everyday and ignore. It is not recognized for being a place where something miraculous occurred, it is just there, which makes it that much better. Because nothing amazing has happened there, it is a blank sate. It has so much potential to be something great or a fascnating attraction. The narrator wants the reader to recognize the small things in life that are sweet and little blessings. They seem to put an emphasis on how a place or experience does not have to be huge or life changing in order to remember it.

"Did I Miss Anything" by Tom Wayman

17 October 2017

Prompt #3- What is the speaker's tone?

The author's tone in this poem is quite sarcastic and humorous. The speaker in the poem is a teacher who seems to be irritated with students who ask the meaningless, almost idiotic question "did I miss anything?" . Instead of writing a poem about the normal response, the author chose to write what is going through the teacher's mind, which turned out to be extremely sarcastic. The narrator doesn't really mean that they did "everything" and still did "nothing" during class. The narrator jokes that they saw an angel who gace them complete knowledge while the student was gone, but does not mean this literally. The narrator is poking fun at the student who asked the question because they obviously missed something because the weren't there. Therefore, the speaker in the poem is very sarcastic and has a quite dry sense of humor.

The Farewell by Edward Field

7 November 2017

Prompt #4 - What heavily connontative words are used?

In this poem, the author's word choice plays a huge role in it's meaning. The narrator of the poem repeats the word "forced" very often. Usually forced has a negative, violent connotation, but in this poem it is used in a different manner. In this poem, the narrator isn't literally being "forced' onto the ice. but rather makes the choice to walk out on the ice. The narrator is rather convincing themselve than forcing themselve to believe that their peers are telling them the truth. I believe that the narrator keeps repeating the word "force" because they don't want to put the blame on their peers for making them walk out on the ice. In reality, the narrator made a choice to believe them because they were so easliy manipulated by their peerfs and had no sense of true self worth.

Wheels by Jim Daniels

28 November 2017

Prompt #5 -What images does the poet use?

The author starts off the poem by painting an image of his brother playing with cars when he is little and emphasizes his brothers love for cars and motorcycles. The author continues by telling the reader of his brothers different stages of life. In each stage of his life he has a new car and is depicted waving to his brother in each new car at each new state of his life. This allows the reaader to feel a connectrion with the bother in the poem because the reader feels as if they've been wiht them through these eventful times of the brothers life. In the last stage of the brother's life, the brother is seen ridinh off on his motorcycle without a helmet on. He waves this time but not as a greeting but as a cry for help after getting in an accident. This time there is no brother there to save him in this situation.

Poetry by Don Paterson

11 January 2018

Prompt #6 -What figures of speech are used? How does it contribute to the tone and meaninfg of the poem?

In the poem, the author uses similes and metaphors to help the reader understand the deeper meaning and beauty in poetry. The use of figurative language shows a tone of respect and love of the art of poetry. The author compares poetry to diamonds and some of the most precious and beautiful things on this planet. He talks aboutthe poet, himself, and compares them to a ballroom singer, boasting their voice loud and proud while staying elegant. The use of simlies demonstrates how the author wants tthe reader to understand and feel how he feels about poetry. The author compares poetry to things everyone has seen, heard of, or experienced themselves. The author demonstrates how every moment in our lives can be poetic.

Walking Home by Marie Howe

30 January 2018

Prompt #1 -Can you paraphrase the poem?

"Walking Home" is about a mother and child walking home, talking about the deep things in life. This poem portrays two people talking about reincarnation and death in sucha playful, casual manner. They make some of life's biggest questions like "where do we go after we die" or "is there life after death" seem like its no problem to answer. This poem shows clearly the bond between a mother and her child and how they can find joy in the simplest of occassions, despite their situation. Theses people in the poem are good examples of how people should go through life; carefree and finding joy in the little things.

“”Hand Shadows” by Mary Cornish

8 February 2018

#5- what images does the poet use?

The author tells a story about the time she went camping with her father and try made shadow puppets on the side of the tent. She identifies each creature that he father makes as if it were real. She uses her imagination to express how these animals would appear. This shows how the author loves her father and looks up to him. In reality, his shadow puppets are probably hard to identify and definitely do not look like this motion picture that she depicts. But because her father made the puppets she thinks they are perfect.

“She didn’t mean to do it” by Daisy Freed

13 February 2018

#4 why heavily connotative words are used?

In this poem by Daisy Freed, she repeats many words. First she continually repeats how “sad” a girl was. I believe the narrator chose to repeat this word to use it as an excuse for what the girl did. There are much stronger words that the author could had used to convey this thought to the reader, but she chose “sad” because it is a word that everyone understands and has felt in some way. The next word repeatedly uses is “thrills”. She talks about how thrill-seeking can swallow up one’s life until they become nothing but there thrills.

“Nights” by Kevin Hart

8 March 2018

#8 - what is the theme?

The theme of this poem is that there is always a brighter future ahead of us, even though it may be hard to see it. The author speaks of a pretty moderate, regular life, but is a poor in some aspects. The poet has a very positive outlook on things because they see their work and broken dishes as a lesson learned. This allows a new renovation of the person's life. The author recognizes that their path has been set out for them and based on the decisions they have made, their future is bright. This displays that life gets better and when the moment is right one will recognize it.

Fault by Ron Koertge

#1- Can you paraphrase this poem?

This poem is about a person leaving on a trip to California. Their mother worries about the san Andrés fault which causes this person's mind to wander and daydream. They go into their vast mind and conjure up a stereotypical movie scenario concerning the San Andreas Fault. The story includes villains heroes, twists and turns within a matter of two stanzas. This shows how complex the narrator's mind is. The narrator must be an experienced dreamer.