I am a Boston Bull Terrier.
I can jump over three feet to my carrier.
I strut around with poise and attitude
I am rough, tough and most of the time rude.
I love to play and be very silly.
I will even go out when the weather is chilly.
I beg and beg for my master to throw the ball.
Competing with my big brother who is very tall.
The food is tasty upon my lips.
And I just love when they feed me potato chips.
I am fearless of the big hairy cat.
I pounce upon the mouse as big as a rat.
I sit close by mom’s side with my head on her knee.
Yet when she picks me up I am ready to flee.
It is my say so when I want to give love.
But most of the time I would rather chew on dad’s glove.
I raise cane and nibble on my sister Annabelle.
Until she starts barking and my master starts to yell.
“Gabby, you better leave Annabelle alone.”
As if I really care, so I go chew on my bone.
I sleep soundly in their bed at night.
They know better than to wake me before it is light.
Despite my bold outlook and communication barriers,
My parents love me because I am a Boston Bull Terrier.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Hawk Roosting
I sit at the top of the wood, my eyes closed.
Inaction, no falsifying dream
Between my hooked head and hooked feet:
Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.
The convenience of the high trees!
The air's bouyancy and the sun's ray
Are of advantage to me;
And the earth's face upward for my inspection.
My feet are locked upon the rough bark.
It took the whole of Creation
To produce my foot, my each feather;
Now I hold Creation in my foot
Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly-
I kill where I please because it is all mine.
There is no sophistry in my body;
My manners are tearing off heads-
The allotment of death.
For th eone path of my flight is direct
Through the bones of the living.
No arguments assert my right:
The sun is behind me.
Nothing has changed since I began.
My eye has permitted no change.
I am going to keep things like this.
1. Find three observations the hawk makes about its world that a human would probably not make. What do these remarks tell us about the bird’s character?
The air’s buoyancy and the sun’s rays are advantage to the hawk, my manners are tearing off heads, the allotment of death and the one path of the hawk’s flight is direct. These remarks tell us that the bird is a mighty hunter and nothing is going to get in his way of attacking and killing his prey.
2. In what ways does Ted Hughes create an unrealistic portrayal of the hawk’s true mental powers? What statements in the poem would an actual hawk be unlikely to make? Do these passages add anything to the poem’s impact? What would be lost if they were omitted
Hughes creates an unrealistic portrayal of the hawk’s true mental powers because he makes the hawk sound as if he is above God, the Creator and that no matter what he is going to get his feast. I believe the hawk wouldn’t recognize where he came from so the statement, “It took the whole of Creation to produce my foot, my each feather; Now I hold Creation in my foot” (Kennedy 654) seems to be unrealistic. This statement has a big impact on the poem because it makes me as the reader think that the hawk thinks he is the supreme being. However, if these statements didn’t exist, then the interpretation of the hawk as a “God” like being would be omitted and the character would lose his portrayal of being strong.
The Hawk Roosting is a poem that portrays a hawk with arrogance and power. The hawk is a vicious predator and he seeks his pray. He believes is the highest point of Creation and those below him on earth are his for the taking. The hawk thinks he is even above the sun when he says, “No arguments assert my right: The sun is behind me. Nothing has changed since I began.” The sun is below him and can’t compare to him. In the end he said that he wanted to keep things like this, who wouldn't want to keep things like what the hawk was saying, with the power in your hands but that is an illusion, like many leaders today they do not have the power to do anything without the approval of those lower than them and in the hawk's case somebody else will replace him and those weaker than him (like the public) may just start defying him.
Inaction, no falsifying dream
Between my hooked head and hooked feet:
Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.
The convenience of the high trees!
The air's bouyancy and the sun's ray
Are of advantage to me;
And the earth's face upward for my inspection.
My feet are locked upon the rough bark.
It took the whole of Creation
To produce my foot, my each feather;
Now I hold Creation in my foot
Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly-
I kill where I please because it is all mine.
There is no sophistry in my body;
My manners are tearing off heads-
The allotment of death.
For th eone path of my flight is direct
Through the bones of the living.
No arguments assert my right:
The sun is behind me.
Nothing has changed since I began.
My eye has permitted no change.
I am going to keep things like this.
1. Find three observations the hawk makes about its world that a human would probably not make. What do these remarks tell us about the bird’s character?
The air’s buoyancy and the sun’s rays are advantage to the hawk, my manners are tearing off heads, the allotment of death and the one path of the hawk’s flight is direct. These remarks tell us that the bird is a mighty hunter and nothing is going to get in his way of attacking and killing his prey.
2. In what ways does Ted Hughes create an unrealistic portrayal of the hawk’s true mental powers? What statements in the poem would an actual hawk be unlikely to make? Do these passages add anything to the poem’s impact? What would be lost if they were omitted
Hughes creates an unrealistic portrayal of the hawk’s true mental powers because he makes the hawk sound as if he is above God, the Creator and that no matter what he is going to get his feast. I believe the hawk wouldn’t recognize where he came from so the statement, “It took the whole of Creation to produce my foot, my each feather; Now I hold Creation in my foot” (Kennedy 654) seems to be unrealistic. This statement has a big impact on the poem because it makes me as the reader think that the hawk thinks he is the supreme being. However, if these statements didn’t exist, then the interpretation of the hawk as a “God” like being would be omitted and the character would lose his portrayal of being strong.
The Hawk Roosting is a poem that portrays a hawk with arrogance and power. The hawk is a vicious predator and he seeks his pray. He believes is the highest point of Creation and those below him on earth are his for the taking. The hawk thinks he is even above the sun when he says, “No arguments assert my right: The sun is behind me. Nothing has changed since I began.” The sun is below him and can’t compare to him. In the end he said that he wanted to keep things like this, who wouldn't want to keep things like what the hawk was saying, with the power in your hands but that is an illusion, like many leaders today they do not have the power to do anything without the approval of those lower than them and in the hawk's case somebody else will replace him and those weaker than him (like the public) may just start defying him.
Friday, November 13, 2009
My Poetry Analysis
For a Lady I Know - Countee Cullen
1. What is Cullen's message?
The message that Cullen is trying to convey is that the person, a woman who is most likely white, believes that even in heaven the black people are servants to the white people.
2. How would you characterize the tone of this poem? Wrathful? Amused?
The tone of the poem from the white person's point of view would be amused. The woman is amused at thinking that even in heaven, the situation is the same as it is on earth.
For my Daughter - Weldon Kees
1. How does the last line of this sonnet affect the meaning of the poem?
The last line reads, “I have no daughter, I desire none,” and it is confusing compared to the rest of the poem because he is talking earlier of his daughter. The text does not say, “I had a daughter,” but rather, “I have no daughter.” The text is in present tense leading one to believe he has lost his daughter and never wants another child and it brings the bleak and sad situation to a bitter end.
2. “For My Daughter” was first published in 1940. What considerations might a potential American parent have felt at that time? Are these historical concerns mirrored in the poem?
During 1940, parents had very little or no services available for hospital care. Doctors had very little means or methods regarding diseases in the 1940 to be able to cure them. These historical concerns are portrayed in this poem, watching helplessly while the child is sick and there is nothing that can be done. It had to be the worst feeling in the world.
3. Donald Justice has said that “Kees is one of the bitterest poets in history.” Is bitterness the only attitude the speaker reveals in this poem?
Bitterness is not the only attitude revealed in this poem; compassion, hopelessness, sadness and hurt are also attitudes that are apparent in this piece of work.
1. How does the last line of this sonnet affect the meaning of the poem?
The last line reads, “I have no daughter, I desire none,” and it is confusing compared to the rest of the poem because he is talking earlier of his daughter. The text does not say, “I had a daughter,” but rather, “I have no daughter.” The text is in present tense leading one to believe he has lost his daughter and never wants another child and it brings the bleak and sad situation to a bitter end.
2. “For My Daughter” was first published in 1940. What considerations might a potential American parent have felt at that time? Are these historical concerns mirrored in the poem?
During 1940, parents had very little or no services available for hospital care. Doctors had very little means or methods regarding diseases in the 1940 to be able to cure them. These historical concerns are portrayed in this poem, watching helplessly while the child is sick and there is nothing that can be done. It had to be the worst feeling in the world.
3. Donald Justice has said that “Kees is one of the bitterest poets in history.” Is bitterness the only attitude the speaker reveals in this poem?
Bitterness is not the only attitude revealed in this poem; compassion, hopelessness, sadness and hurt are also attitudes that are apparent in this piece of work.
Doo Wop - Kevin Young
1. What is the tone of this poem- comic? serious? both at once?
Both at once. The poem seems serious to me, about a man that has been wronged by a woman.
2. How many instances of plays on words, and playing with the sounds of words, can you find in the poem?
I think every line is a pun or a play on words.
3. Beyond the author's exuberant delight in language, what do you think "Doo Wop" is about?
I think "Doo Wop" is about a man who had a lovely woman and either the woman was from Alabama or the women and a man from Alabama were writing to one another and the women ended up breaking her lovers heart by going with another man.
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