As my first response journal comences, I can't help but question what I shall right about. Should I write about how the information so far in the class has been too boring to get me fully engaged? Should I write about how I think my skills as poet have not yet evolved in any way, shape, or form throughout the handful of opportunites we have had to display them so far in calss? Or shall I discuss how I believe there is no real purpose to this assignment that I am doing right now? Ok, maybe I'm just being over critical since I am in my 4th term of my senior year. Nonetheless, I believe it is the teacher's and the class' responsibility to present interesting and valuable information to me as a means for properly engaging me. I understand completely that the first week is introductory, so please don't take this too personally. All I wish to convey is that I expect big things for the remaining weeks of this class, otherwise I will be severely let down. Thank you and good night, Mrs. Cardona.
Response Journal #2
The form of a poem is a very important aspect to consider when writing or reading a piece. Structure, rhythm, meter, and line breaks are all devices used constantly in poetry and can give emphasis to certain words, provide extra meanings that the words alone simply could not, or even make them more exciting to read. A specific example of rhythm and meter used in a poem to provide more to the meaning would be pretty much every children's nursery rhyme. "Old King Cole was a merry old soul/and a merry old soul was he/He called for his pipe in the middle of the night/And he called for his fiddlers three./Every fiddler had a fine fiddle/and a very fine fiddle had he/Oh there's none so rare as can compare/With King Cole and his fiddlers three." As you read it you can feel the rhythm that is intended by the writer and it gives the poem a childish feel. This is what the kids love about the poems, not as much the content and the words.
Response Journal #4
The famous poet I am researching over the next couple of weeks is Sir William Wordsworth. I'm not really sure if anyone ever called him "Sir" William Wordsworth back in the day, but it sounds much more regal with it added in so I will continue to refer to him this way. Anyway, Sir William Wordsworth is most famously an English Romantic poet who helped launch the Romantic Age in English literature. He was also England's Poet Laureate from 1843 until 1850 when he passed. A truly prestigious title for any poet. Here is a poem by this wonderful poet...
THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US
by: William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
HE world is too much with us: late and soon,- Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
- Little we see in Nature that is ours;
- We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
- This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
- The winds that will be howling at all hours,
- And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
- For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
- It moves us not. -- Great God! I'd rather be
- A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
- So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
- Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
- Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
- Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.
Response Journal #5
When a reader decides they are going to pick up a Dr. Dre....i mean Dr. Seuss book, they know what they are getting in to. He just has this certain atmosphere that he pulls you into as you begin to read the first line of any of his books. Many readers do not understand just quite how to describe such an experience however, and that is where I come into play. I shall now attempt to explain to all of you the secrets of Dr. Seuss' mystical powers...
First and foremost, Seuss LOVES to rhyme. He does not restrict himself to any specific rhyme scheme at any point, but be sure when you see one of his books that somewhere in there, there are a handful of quirky rhymes. Some of the most common patterns i have found him using are the "a-a-b-b" and "a-a-b-a" schemes. Another important aspect of his writing is his diction. You can often find made-up words in Seuss books, many of them being onomatopoeias for actions illustrated on the page. He also loves to use all sorts of different rhythmic patterns, never commiting to just one. Commonly we can see either iambic or trochaic tetrameter in his pieces, suggesting that maybe these were his favorite to use.
Hopefully my analysis of a great literary figure can provide insight as to why you appreciate his work so much. And if not, then I can only hope that you are reading this journal entry to praise me for being a mighty critical sage among carefree men who just read without a cause or care in the world. Either way, I hope this has impacted each one of your lives in one way or another. Farewell, for now.
Response Journal #7
What can I say Mrs. Cardona. It's been quite the ride. You have taught me so much in the past couple weeks that I just don't think I will be able to say goodbye on Thursday. From Terza Rima to Trochaic Hexameter, you've been there through it all. And even though I bet you got pretty sick of me at certain points of the term, I know you love me. Not like a son, certainly not like a boyfriend or a husband. But as an apprentice is loved by his sensei. I hope I have made a lasting impression on you and you remember me as I will remember you. A knowledge, kind person who knows a thing or two about poetry.
