Poetry Response 1/27/16

"Alone" By Edgar Allen Poe

From childhood's hour I have not been

As others were; I have not seen

As others saw; I could not bring

My passions from a common spring

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow; I could not awaken 

My heart of joy the same tone;

And all I loved, I loved alone.

Then- in my childhood, in the dawn

Of a most stormy life- was drawn

From every depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still:

From the torrent, or the fountain;

From the red cliff of the mountain,

From the sun that round me rolled,

In its autumn tint of gold,

From the lightning in the sky

As it passed me flying by,

From the thunder and the storm, 

And the cloud that took the form

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The poem that I chose to write is "Alone," by Edgar Allen Poe. I chose this poem for various reasons. It's unique compared to other poems that I have read, its darker; it expresses so much through the simplest word choice. It mainly makes me question myself and ask what the mystery is behind it that made him write this type of poem. This poem expresses about his feelings/beings alone and I think many people can sometimes relate to that. He says stuff about the difference from what other people (children) saw and were doing compared to him. It's a dark poem, but it's truthful, not all people have happy childhoods and I think that's what mainly gets to me about this poem. 

I think this poem is about his childhood and him feeling alone. It seems to me that his childhood was very dark and thats what made him express intense/dark points of view in the poem. He uses small words, but they give a lot of meaning to the poem. This poem seems like he was different from other children in his time and so when he said "When the rest of heaven was blue...Of a demon in my view, " it makes me think what the demon sort of represented, so it sort of got me thinking that it could be about a parent, family member, or just a person in general. I think the author wrote this poem because he needed to let out his feelings. I think that he was passionate about it and thought that it was better to share it with everyone else instead of hiding it away. Edgar Allen Poe, I believe wrote this poem to sort of send a message of some sort to a person or himself. It shows what is to be alone through an intense concept. 

This poem reminds me of children around the world, who may feel or are all alone. They do things by themselves and what Edgar said, "And all I loved, I loved alone," made me wonder if thats what other people whether they are adults or children feel at times. I think about children mainly in the world because this poem mainly is about his childhood, so others could possibly have the same childhood or similar to his. This poem also made me think of a time when my cousin and I got lost one time when we were younger in a store. We got scared that we were left alone, it was terrifying and was an awful feeling. It made us feel like something bad was gonna happen, so I can of feel like when it says "of a demon in my view," that it sort of represents what he is afraid of. 

I drew this picture because it was what I visualized as I read this poem. I drew it because of the last three lines, which are, "And the cloud that took the form (When the rest of Heaven was blue) Of a demon in my view." Those lines were mainly the ones that got my attention about this poem because it it really "dark" and it kind of makes it harder to understand the meaning of them compared to rest of lines in the poem.  

I commented on Darya's Blog, Sam's Blog, and Yazmin's Blog

2nd Quarter Reflection Blog

Prompt: 1). Of the books you have read this quarter, which was your favorite? Why? 2). In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts? 3). What have you learned about the world? 

         I've read various books this quarter. They were all amazing, unique, and had different lessons within them that have taught me so much. If I had to choose one book that I really enjoyed reading, it would have to be the Time Keeper by Mitch Albom because it taught me the most. It was different from other books because it shows how a man created time without knowing how big of a discovery it was. It shows how even though he made this discovery, it made him pay a price, but in the end he found out that "time" itself didn't matter, but it matters what you do with it. The Time Keeper, is the greatest book that I have ever read in my opinion, it might not be so logical in the end, but it makes you open-minded about all kinds of possibilities. It makes you believe that anything can happen in just a matter of seconds and that makes you even more grateful for the "time" that you do have rather than the "time" that you don't. 

        I think that I have made many improvements in ELA, but the biggest improvement that I have made would have to be in writing narratives. It taught me different ways to write better with using more detail in my narratives rather than not using any at all. It gave me a different perspective that I can write with in order to change my writing style and try something different from what I am use to. It let me explore my mind in order to express myself more. I love writing and being able to learn more about it really makes me want to reach for higher expectations for myself. I want to be a journalist and in order to get there, I need to keep improving more than I have already have to reach it. I hope to improve more in English Language Arts and learn new things as well. 

        I have learned many things about the world, that I didn't know much about before. I am able to understand why certain topics that deal with world is important for us to know because it benefits how we live and the events that will or do occur. I learned many things about gun right laws and some of the crimes that have to do with them. There are various things that I learned, but there is still plenty more to learn as well because the world keeps moving and stuff keeps happening. The world never stops revolving around the sun, it never stops spinning either, but I learned that some of the bad stuff that happens in the world, we can stop. There is so much that we can improve about our society. 

       

Blog for Week 1-20-16

99 Days by: Katie Cotugno

Pages: 1-Finished

Genre: Fiction

       The book that I have chosen for this blog, which I have just finished reading, is 99 Days by Katie Cotugno. The genre of this book is fiction, so it is a made up story. The main character of this book is a girl named Molly Barlow, who used to be kind, outgoing, and had many friends is now quiet, kept to herself, and doesn't have many friends. This story takes place in Molly's tiny hometown, Star Lake. There are various moods that go very well with this book, for example, heartbreak, anxiousness, and excitement, but the main mood that the book evolves around is heartbreak. The conflict in the book is between Molly and three of her childhood friends that are all siblings. Her friends names are Julia, Patrick, and Gabe Donnelly. The conflict they are having all started in Molly, Julia, and Patrick's sophomore year of Highschool, while Gabe was in his freshman year of college. Molly and Patrick were childhood sweethearts, until she cheated on him with his brother Gabe and that is when it all turned for the worst. The theme is mainly betrayal and friendship because of Molly bretraying Pratrick and ruining her friendship with her friends Julia and Imogen. 

      I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked the way the author wrote the book with so much detail about what happened in the past between Molly and her friends. The book 99 Days is the type of book that is very hard to forget, the style, which is written in detail of what Molly did on each day for the 99 days that she is going to be in Star Lake before going to College. The main thing that I most remember about the book is the relationship that Molly has with all her friends throughout and at the end of book. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading books that are filled with intense amounts of details and has a complicated plot to it, that you would need to be open-minded in order to get the concept of it. I think people should go out and get this book because it is something different from other books that have a similar theme and mood. Also I think they should go out and get the book because I really enjoyed it and I think others would to as well. 

I commented on: Brimady's Blog,  Evelyn's Blog, Darya's blog, and Hazelle's Blog

Blog for Week 12/14/15 The Time Keeper

The Time Keeper

Pages: 1 - finished 

Genre: Fiction

        The book I have currently finished reading is The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom. The book is about a man name Dor, who was the first man ever to measure time. Dor, was a young man when he started to be obsessed with the way time works, so he started to use sun dials, sticks, stones, and water to measure when the sun set/rose and if it followed that pattern. As Dor got older, he married a woman named Alli, whom he was friends with when he was younger. He was still obsessed with time, but as he made this discovery, his other friend named Nim, who wanted to use his discovery to try and defeat the gods that he believed lived up in the sky. Dor turned down Nim's idea. so Nim banished him, which meant Alli and him had to leave where they were from and go somewhere else. They traveled far, but eventually found a place to stay and they were sad, but they also made the most of it. That all changed though when Alli got sick and Dor ran back to where Nim banished them to ask for more TIME to get her help and so started to run up one of the tallest buildings. As he was running up the building, something started to happen and he fell, but he didn't die, he found himself in a cave with an old man. He was sent to the cave to listen to people for a century, even an eternity to beg for more time and listen how they discovery. Therefore, this made him Father Time, but he eventually will get out and his mission is to help two very different individuals understand the meaning of time.

 

        The theme of this book, is to never take what is given to for granted because in just one second it can all be taken back. I believe this is a theme because Dor was given Time, but he was so obsessed with measuring time that he never noticed all the other things that were given to him. For example, he was given a wife and kids, but he mainly focused his attention no time. He ignored the other wonderful people/things that were given to him, so it was taken away from him and he was forced in a cave to listen to others beg for MORE time, LESS time, and TIME. He lost everything because he took it for granted. He took time for granted, so when his wife got sick and he wanted more time for her to live, he was taken away from her, which left her all alone . Therefore, you can see that is a very good them for this book.

 

        This book, is one of my favorite books because it gives me a different perspective on the world. This book teaches me so much on how some people think of what is given to them and how they use time for themselves. In this book, there is so many different types of good lessons. For example, it talks about a girl who was hurt by someone and she wanted to shorten her time on Earth, by committing suicide. On the other hand, the book also talks about a man, who is going to die soon and how he wants to increase/have more time on Earth, so he can live. Those two individuals fine themselves in two very different situations, but both involve time, so that is where Father Time comes into the picture and talks to both. I really like this book because it is written differently compared to other books I have read and there is just something about it that drags it's readers in. Its a book about time and how/when it was created, but its also a story about being grateful for what you have and that's what truly makes this story beautiful.

 

 



Nonfiction Blog for Week 12/1/15

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul 3 by: Jack Canfield

Pages Read: 1 - 230

Genre: Nonfiction

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul 3, is a book written by people and their experiences in life that have taught them very good life lessons. This book is truly my favorite nonfiction book because it has multiple lessons that the author focuses on and what's especially amazing about this book is that it written by people our age. This book is filled with real life stories about love, friendship, family, and ect. that is written by people that are in middle school to high school. In the book, so far I have read many stories about love (relationships), friendship, and tough stuff (troubles that people have). 

There are many interesting sections in this book. One of them was, "To my daughter, I will always love you and be with you. The waves come rolling into shore high and fast. And wash the lines away, but not the memories we shared that day, where we have trod this sandy shore. Our traces we left there will be no more. But, wherever we are, the memories will never be far. Although I may not be with you, know that my love for you will always be true. Those memories will last forever, and in them shall always be together, Hold them close to your heart, and know that from your side I will never part." (Paragraph 10, Page 229 -230)  This section was about a girl named Elizabeth Stumbo, and the section is actually something that she found as she was in her mother's hospital room. The section was part of her mother's letter that she wrote to Elizabeth before she passed away of cancer. I found this interesting because of the way she found the letter, which she found inside a sea shell that her mother picked up as they were leaving a beach that they went to each summer for vacation. Another reason why I found this so interesting is because of how her mother wrote the letter, she wrote it so beautifully, and the way she talked about how even if she were to write her name into the sand, it will soon wash away by the water, and no one will know it was there. After her mother died, she did write her name in the sand and watched it wash away.

Another interesting section was, "Her mother was driving her home from soccer tryouts, and the made it hard to see. They were crossing the tracks by your house, and a train crashed into them...Throwing myself upon my bed, sobbing into my pillow, I thought back to the carefree days of our childhood when Manda had tripped on the tracks. 'It's just a little blood. Here, you hop on my back and I'll carry you home.' Only this time, I couldn't carry her home." This was written by a girl named Alison Hamby, Manda was her best friend since they were little. I found it interesting because when they were little, Manda had fallen over a pair of train tracks and started to bleed, so that is when Alison told her that she will carry her home, which she did. I found that interesting because Alison described everything that happened on the day her best friend died, and it was interesting that this really did happen, but instead of never talking about it, Alison decided to share it to be written in this book. 

Most people in life, talk and say things about topics or stuff that they have no idea about. Some people feel as if no one knows what they have been through, whether they feel that no understands their pain or the way think, but reading this book that is filled with these real life stories by people who know one knows, talking about what half of those people are feeling, is truly fascinating. I learned so many things about so many people and even though I don't actually know them personally, I have found myself having a connection of some sort with half of them. Some of the stuff they have talked about I have happened to me.  I learned many things about tough stuff, growing up, and love, which I have all learned by reading this book. 

People all over the world have had something similar happen to them, that also happened to someone in this book. We all have some sort of connection with each other and we can learn from each other as well. We can teach other so many different life lessons and be there for one another. We no longer have to feel lonely or anything else because this book proves, by what these real life people have faced, that out there other people are probably having the same problem as you. That proves that you are not alone. This has to be one of biggest things that I have learned out of this, which is you are NOT alone.

I commented on: Evelyn's Blog, Darya's Blog, and Jude's Blog

11-11-15 Theme Blog

Where She Went by: Gayle Forman

Pages read: 1 - 167

       This is a sequel to the book If I stay. Where She Went by Gayle Forman is a book about a girl named Mia Hall and her ex-boyfriend Adam Wilde. This book focuses on mostly Adam's life and how he has been for the 3 years later since Mia and him broke up. Mia before Adam and her broke up was in a tragic accident that caused her parents and brother to die, leaving her with her grandparents to live with. Adam has been there for Mia during the whole accident and most of after, until Mia kept ignoring him and finally just decided to break up with him. After the break up Adam was depressed, he was madly in love with Mia and he doesn't understand why she broke up with him. Now, three years later he finds himself in New York, where Mia turns out to be as well. They find each other and get to talking about both the past and how they are today. They spend time together, but the question is will they fall in love again? Will Mia want Adam back?

        Where She Went, I think is mainly about love. Love seems to be the main universal theme that this book focuses on. Love is usually the most popular theme for writing, but I think the kind of love that this book is trying to show is amazing. Love in this book shows what it actually is and how it doesn't always turn out good. In the book, Adam finds himself three years later, dating a beautiful girl thats extremely famous, but still he sees that he is still in love with Mia. Adam can't really stop himself from loving her or thinking about her and its been three years since he last saw her. How can one person love someone for that long without being together? The love that this book is showing is truly fascinating and its descriptive what Mia and Adam are feeling.

        Where She Went, I also think has a second theme, which is effects of the past. Effects of the past is sort of like cause and effect. What happened in the past can effect what happens in the future, which I think is a theme in this book. I think this is a theme that is in the book because Mia being in the accident and losing her parents and brother effected a lot of how she is three years later. When Mia broke up with Adam, it caused him to change in many ways because he didn't have her anymore. That big accident caused Mia to break up with Adam, it caused her to graduate early from Julliard, and it made Adam become a big rockstar, those are all effects of what happened in their past. As you can see, effects of the past is a very possible theme for this book because it caused a lot of things to change the way Mia and Adam are to each other, now it has made them think that they don't really know anything about each other anymore, but there can also still be a little bit of hope that they can actually grow to love each other again. Will the past cause them to fall in love again as an effect?

 

I commented on Sam's blog, Evelyn's blog, and Jude's blog. 

1st Quarter Reflection Blog

        During 1st quarter, I learned about the world that we live in. I would have never believed that the world has so many problems, until I actually read about them. I would have never known about the Syrian Refugees, the war with ISIS, and I would have never known about gun laws. I learned about all these topics and more during the 1st quarter and I actually liked learning about all of them.

        I'm on my 4th book for the 40 book challenge. I enjoy the 40 book challenge because it a goal, that I hope to succeed in. The 40 book challenge, really helps with the amount of books that people can read to improve their skills, which is really good because it has helped me read more books in different genres that are out of my comfort zone more. I have actually read some sci-fi books, which is really interesting because I rarely read sci-fi and I have read some realistic fiction books as well. The 40 book challenge has really helped me improve my reading and its fun too.

        First quarter taught me a lot of strategies that benefitted me in many ways. I learned how to organize my research properly, so it could make sense and be easy to understand. I learned how to make citations to organize my websites in alphabetical order, and I learned new strategies on how to write an objective summary. In the beginning of quarter 1, I didn't know how to do some stuff, but by the end of first quarter, I learned a lot that improved my reading skills, writing, grammar, and researching skills.