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"Let It Be Forgotten"

How do we start picking a poem? How do we go about narrowing down the many thousands of poems available to us to a single piece? I can tell you how the fast majority of us start, we start at the title. If the title sounds interesting then we look at the poem itself. By doing so we are looking at the size, layout, structure, etc. of the poem. If this too is to our liking we dig deeper. We do a quick read of the poem. Is it what I had expected? Does it rhyme? What is it about? What is the overall feel? And finally do I like it? At this point, if the answer is yes, you probably have about 10-30 poems your looking at. You take a step back and read over them again a little later. “Hmm, I can’t believe I actually liked this one,” “this one’s really confusing, I think I’ll pass,” “Wow! I like this one a lot!” Just like that you have brought 30 poems down to about 5. This is where you really analyze. You look for the deeper meaning. Is it actually about what you thought? After a bit you will decide on one poem. 1000+ is now 1.
Okay. This is what most of you probably did. I did too. However it did not help me find “my poem.“ I knew “my poem” the instant I read it, about five minutes before we turned our analysis in in class.

“Let It Be Forgotten” by Sara Teasdale.

Have you ever done, saw, had, or heard something; known someone; felt so strongly and just wished you could forget about it as easily as you forgot what you had for breakfast yesterday? I’m sure you have to a degree, I’m sure we all have. You see, I thought I could stop caring as soon as I tried, as soon as a was given a reason, but I have tried and tried and I have been given reason after reason and yet that only makes me care more. I feel some days that the memory is fading, the desire is diminishing, but then there are those days, those times, those instants that trigger something, a thought, a feeling, a memory, and it all comes back. It comes rushing back wilder and more intense than ever. I do stuff I regret, I over react, and that makes it all the worse. All the more memories to be triggered, all the more feelings to be had, all the more thoughts to be ingrained, only to fade away and then come back reenergized and stronger than before. I wish I could just “Let It Be Forgotten.”

I am walking, a flash of color catches my eye, a flower, more beautiful than anything to behold for an instant. I pick it. I put it in my hair and set it on my dresser when I get home. The next morning I wake. The once vibrant plant is limp and lifeless. It’s colors have faded to a drowned out brown. Its leaves and stem and petal release a sappy puss. As fast as it had woven into my heart it is in the trash forgotten but seconds later.

It is winter. Cold and crisp. The ground is bright at night and blinding in the day. The limbs of firs hang low, pulled down by the weight of the glistening powder upon them. I sit inside, blowing the steam away from my hot cocoa, drinking it by the spoonful to avoid burning my mouth and throat. I gaze into the fire, lost in its color trying to find the beast within. My ears are numbed by the constant rustle and crackle of the flame only to be reawakened by a loud clap or readjusting log. The sounds carry on in a chorus only to fade to a subtle ember b y the mercy of a fleeting prod. Forgotten with the rising sun.

If only it were that easy. If only I could “Let It Be Forgotten.”

A longing glance, a wishful tone, a pleading ambiance.
A hopeful fist, a vanishing wave, a settling touch.
A restful pause, a meaningful hiatus, a regretful sigh.
Fade in time
As a memory
That will be forgotten

Oh just “Let It Be Forgotten.”

The Never Ending 5 Part Paragraph

In my 5 part paragraph blog, I talked about overall class trend high and low qualities and my personal high and low qualities. The mistakes of my peers tended to involve excessive plot summary, broad theme statements, commentary and concrete details not relating to the main the theme trying to be proven, and concluding sentences not serving the intended purpose. My mistakes were: I had two CDs for my first point and I had redundant word choice. In writing this 5 part paragraph , I was sure to check my CDs and analyze my word choice along with making sure I did the same things I did well last time well again. I also made sure that I didn’t have plot summary although that was hard for I was writing about prose/poetry, made sure I had a narrow, specific, unique theme, made sure to have CMs and CDs that related to my theme and a good concluding sentence.

A Whole New World of Literature

I zipped up my coat as a brisk wind danced and twirled around me. I turned my head so that the cool air would not nip at my nose and watched as an auburn leaf played at the tip of a bare limb and finally broke away and sank lightly down to join a crispy golden canvas of foliage on the dew drizzled grass.

Simply an observance of a seasonal prevalence? Or a symbolic message in a literary art form?
For me, I see this simple observance as a metaphor for days passing. As each leaf falls another sun rises, as each leaf joins the others on the ground another moon sets. Already a sixteenth of the leaves have fallen off the tree of my high school vocation.

So far, in ninth grade honors English the most important skill I have developed is the ability to analyze a literary work and be able to pick up and define the greater symbolic message or theme behind the writing. For example, when I first read To Kill a Mockingbird I read about a girl who lived an the racist town of Maycomb who’s father defended a black man against rape charges and who had an odd neighbor. After discussing the book in class I read the book a second time and this time I read the story of innocence being lost due to the harshness and evils of life in the world. I have also learned to analyze poetry and prose to get a very heartfelt deeper meaning expressed through tone developed by word choice and rhythm. Thus far we have done this with The Knife, Lobsters, and Shoulders in class.

I feel this tool will be obliging to me in the years to come of my high school career and much past my graduation as well. I hope to develop this skill into an art form so that when I read I don’t just see words on a page, instead I will see an image leaping out at me, a story telling itself to me, and a message creeping into me through my thoughts and emotions.

Shells of a Dream

During the class discussion on the poem “Lobsters” comment regarding the comparison between lobsters and humans came up. I am not sure as to who made this comparison or what the exact comment was, but I believe it was on the subject of how lobsters were related to humanly positions such as a philosopher, a victim, and a cadaver. Another idea from the poem that was brought up was the description of lobsters describing them as sleep walkers and “shells of a dream.”

I was thinking of these two comments and started thinking about how humans could too be compared to sleep walkers. If you were to watch our everyday lives we do nothing more urgent normally than a sleep walker would. We get up get dressed go to school and sit solitary for an hour. We then slowly we are shoved into the same hallway bumping into one another walking seemingly blindly to our next class, sit for another hour and repeat the cycle again and again and again. Then we go home and sit at home and do homework watch TV and go to bed. Yes, we do occasionally do something more active such as a sport but in totality we are, from a distance, no more than “shells of a dream.”

Paragraph Analysis

Over the past several weeks of school, we have been busy writing and critiquing 5 part paragraphs written on the theme of To Kill a Mockingbird. In doing so, there has been a pattern in the good and bad points each the paragraphs had as a whole. Good qualities most papers had were: word choice; commentary; concrete details; embedding of quotes; and strong theme statements. Things that most people needed to work on were: excessive plot summary; broad theme statements; commentary and concrete details not relating to the main the theme trying to be proven; and concluding sentences not serving the intended purpose. In writing the papers many people focused on small details such as word choice that enhances the paper rather than larger details such as the choice of CDs or meaningful commentary.

In my paragraph, I had some mistakes and some good qualities. I had two CDs for my first point and I had redundant word choice. High points in my paragraph were meaningful commentary, easy to follow and flowing sentences, and an insightful conclusion. I found that the things I did wrong and the things I did right did not follow the general trend of my classmates. In the writing of my next 5 part paragraph, I will be sure to check my CDs and analyze my word choice along with making sure I do the same things I did well this time well again.

Low Diction, High Times

Last Saturday me and my friends had went to a corn maze. But before we went to the corn maze, we watched some scary movies. I went out that morning to get the movies. I had got Shudder Island and The Ring. I had seen both of those movies before but no one else had seen The Ring. So we popped us some popcorn, tossed in the movie, and threw ourselves down on the couches. First we watched Shudder Island. Leonardo DeCaprio was like totally amazing. You know how there’s a big thing goin’ around about how the ending of that movie actually happened? Well me and my friends, ya we figured it out. SPOILER ALERT!! So, at the end, ya know how he finds out he was crazy and then he is sane but then he goes crazy again? Well he was crazy the whole movie, they make him realize that he was crazy and he is sane but then when he’s all like “Is it better to die a good man or live a monster?” or somethin’ like that and then he goes crazy again. Well, he is just acting tryin’ to make them believe that he is crazy so that they will lobotomize him or whatever because he can’t live with himself because he blames himself for the death of his wife and kids. Makes sense right? Ok well after that, we pulled out some candy and my buddy Alena decided it would be a good idea to freeze the bowl of bottle caps, sour patch kids, and nerds. Yeah, not too smart. Anyways, we put in The Ring. It wasn’t as scary as I remember but I did see it when I was like 10 or something. Scary or not, Alena closed her eyes the whole time. Such a party pooper.  After that was done we put on our rain stuff, it was pouring by the way, and headed to the corn maze.

So, we went to the corn maze right? First we go in the spooky corn maze. But, before we go in we wait in line for a while but not as long as most people. You see it was supposed to open at like 7 or something but didn’t open till like 8 but we were in the front of the line so it was all good. It was really scary. I nearly ripped Kyle’s arm of I was holding on to it so tight. Now this is the funny part. The first time one of the chain saw dudes came up behind us we all tripped and fell on top of each other. I was the luckiest I barely got dirty, Alena on the other hand had a face full of mud. Well, anyways after goin’ through the haunted corn maze we went to the real corn maze. Like the one that’s big and all. So we go in and get to like the very center of the maze and the Kyle, the only one with our only map decides it would be smart to crumple it up and throw it into the corn. Smart move buddy. So, we are all wet and freezing and walking around in a crap load of corn with no idea where we were going. All we could think about was the warm fire and hot apple cider and all waiting for us when we got out. So after walking around for God knows how long we finally get out. We sat by the fire with our hot coco and apple cider and such. It was a good night.

The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger, is a refreshing break from the traditional American writing style. With a very sarcastic and harsh tone, the book doesn’t attempt to hide the rougher side of a troubled child. Holden Caulfield is in his late teens, struggling in school and trying to face adulthood. Holden criticizes adults for not having fun, easygoing, childlike attributes. Adults that are sophisticated and, well, adult like are, according to him, “Phonies.” Holden is a bit of a rebel. He is a minor who drinks and smokes, he has dropped out and flunked out of more than one school, he is a compulsive liar, and has a very harsh outlook on the world expressed in the writing.
Another novel I read in previous years was The Outsider, by S.E. Hinton. The outsiders is also a bit of a rough book. Both Ponyboy, the main character of The Outsiders, and Holden are part of a more rough cut crowd, Ponyboy being a greaser and all. Both books deal with children have problems in school and rebellious teens, and liars and cheats. The books have a similar tone, although that of The Outsiders is a bit more sorrowful, both have a crude humor to them and playful sense of irony.
As I near the end of the novel, I to draw a poster reflecting on the setting and tone of the novel. Since I am not far enough in the novel yet to distinguish a specific setting I am not sure what I will draw as of yet but I do plan on giving the poster a harsh mood to mirror the tone of the book.

Boo Radley

She was weird. Or at least that’s what everyone told me. She was mean. Well that’s what my friends said. She was stupid. I just figured they were right. Her name was Sarah. This I knew was true.
It’s the first day of fourth grade, and we had all known each other since kindergarten, except for Sarah. She was new. She was different. She was quiet. She was misunderstood. It seemed she was always off in a corner, isolated from the rest of us. I always thought that that’s how she wanted it to be so I believed everyone when they told me she was weird, mean, stupid, different. I never once stopped to “crawl inside of her skin and walk around in it.” I never once thought to think about how she felt and what she was like. Never once did I get the chance. She didn’t show up to school after the first week.
Three years later, it’s the first day of seventh and we all knew each other, except for this one girl. She was new. She was different. She was quiet. She was misunderstood. The teacher assigns partners for our first project of the year. I was disappointed when I was paired up with the new girl. She told me her name was Sarah. She was like any other girl. She had a lot to say. She is my best friend.
She was weird. Or at least that’s what everyone told me. She was mean. Well that’s what my friends said. She was stupid. I just figured they were right. Her name was Sarah. This I knew was true. Everything else was a lie.

Introductory to English

Hello.
I'm Mackenzie.
If your reading this, your probably following my blog. At this point I thank you for talking time out of your day to read what I have written. Most likely you will read about half of this, "Introductory to English," get bored and write a comment for a grade, or you may have planned on not reading it at all. Either way, I will not be offended, for how will I know the difference? and that is most likely my plan as well.
Forgetting what I just mentioned, i am traditionally a good English student. I get good grades, communicate with others easily, i like to write, i am able to read, etc. etc. Although, i have trouble believing that these qualities make a good student. These qualities are great at faking a good student but not making one. Oh, i am also a good poet. For me, a good student is someone with the willingness to learn, the need to understand and the drive to be the best they can be at everything., all qualities i have... or do i just have the qualities of a fake able student and this is all an illusion? I guess that’s for me to know and you to find out.
If your still reading, I applaud you. Bravo. You have gotten to know me as a student. I’m sure that’s what you all wanted. I hope to enlighten the on-line world, or the 10 plus people who will even look at what i have written rather, with my honest opinion of the books and literature studies we will be doing this year. You, the reader, will find yourself engulfed in a wave of knowledge and understanding when you read my blog. be prepared for straight fact without any unnecessary embellishments. Thank you.
Good bye.