Poetry Response

Stephanie Garcia                                                                 Due: 2/24/14

808                                                                                    ELA Poetry RR

            In 1921, Russia had a terrible drought. Millions of people died due to starvation. The poet Sharon Olds looks more deeply into this subject by writing the poem “Photograph of The Girl.” She discusses the horrible events due to this drought in this poem. Sharon Olds focuses on negative things using allusion, imagery, and similes to give this poem a hopeful ending.

            Olds uses allusion throughout this whole poem. This whole poem is based off of an actual photograph of a girl from the time of the drought, hence the title. You could really tell that this is based off of an actual photograph because in one line of the poem, it says; “The caption says / she is going to starve to death that winter / with millions of others (Olds 12-14).” When Olds says “the caption” she is talking about the actual caption from the photograph. By talking about the negative, it gives a lot of suspense for the hopeful ending. 

            There is a lot of imagery used in this poem as well, which helps the reader to imagine the picture in your own head. Some examples of this is “The girl sits on the hard ground (Olds 1),” “…stunned / eyes closed, mouth open, / raw hot wind blowing / sand in her face (Olds 3-6),” “She leans on a sack (Olds 7).” All of these lines are setting up an image of the girls surroundings. Some other examples in this poem are; “Hunger and puberty are / taking her together (Olds 6-7),” “… layers of clothes fluttering in the heat / the new radius of her arm curved (Olds 8-9),” “Each day she grows thinner, and her bones / grow longer, porous (Olds 11-12).” These examples let us set up an image of what the girl actually looks like. By using imagery, Olds gives many negative images, giving a more suspenseful and hopeful ending to this poem.

            There is only one simile in this poem, but this poem gives so much hope for the end of this poem. The simile is; “Deep in her body / the ovaries let out her first eggs, / golden as drops of rain (Olds 14-16).” This simile is giving so much hope at the end of the poem, being the last line, by comparing her eggs to golden drops of rain. Because by saying this, Olds is saying that even though there is so much death happening around her, this girl has the ability to give life. And by comparing it to drops of rain during a drought gives it that much more of a hopeful ending.

            This poem goes from a terrible situation in the beginning, to one of the most hopeful endings I’ve ever seen in a poem. This poem being based off of an actual event from the past makes it that much better. So, after reading this poem, I realized that even in horrible situations, there is always hope in the end.

Non Fiction RR (Upfront Magazine)

     In the article "Rethinking Juvenile Justice" by John Schwartz in ("Upfront Magazine" issued 12/9/13), he discusses the debate on children going to juvenile hall or going to prison. He discusses both sides of the issue and why it is being brought to our attention. The author does a good job at explaining why this is an important issue.
     One way he explains why this is an important subject is in his introduction. He talks about a 17 year old boy killed himself when he was sent to county jail instead of juvenile hall. The author writes "His death was one of two suicides by young people in Colorado jails that helped spur a significant change in states laws last year..." This is a good example because he backs up one side of this issue by putting facts and evidence for why people should pay more attention to the issue.
     Another way he explains why this is an important issue is by adding quotes from people who know about this subject. One quote is from a psychology professor, and he says "'Ninety percent of teen offenders do not become adult criminals.'" This is a good example because he is getting professional opinions on the subject instead of just people who have been effected by it and his own opinion.
     After reading this article I have come to understand that children shouldn't go to prison, but to juvenile hall. There is a quote in the article that has made me think this way from Martha Levick who works in the Juvenile Hall Center in Philadelphia; "'Now we ensure that kids are protected, we have to recognize that they are actually different from adults.'" Although I don't know much about this subject, this article has made me more interested in Law and I might look more into this subject. 

Independent Reading Response

     In the book "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth, it focuses around the topic of love and what people would do if they really loved someone.

     One part in the book that centers around love is when the main character, Tris, sacrifices her life so that her whole faction could live (a faction is a group of people that are similar to each other. There are five factions in total). She might not have loved many people in her faction being that shes only been in it for a few months. But she did love some people such as the friends that she has made. And she knows that everyone loves someone, and knows that they will be so hurt if their loved one dies. So she steps up to the plate and offers to die in order for them all to live happily. This is a good part of the book that focuses around love.

     Another part of the book that centers around love is when Tris' boyfriend, Tobias, decides that if she dies, then he dies to. when she sees him they talk to each other. "'What did you do?' [Tris] screams. 'You die, I die to.' [Tobias says.]" This is another good part of the book that centers around love.

     Another part of the book that centers around love is when Tris finds out that her brother, Caleb, has betrayed her to work for the antagonists in the book. Tris was so confused on why her only remaining family member would betray her and let her die in the hands of the antagonists, knowing that this isn't something that someone that actually loves someone would do. This is another good part that centers around love.

     The "Divergent" trilogy so far what I've read is really good. There is romance, but also action, which reminds me a little bit of the "Hunger Games" trilogy by Suzanne Collins, another dystopian series of books. I can't wait to finish this book and start the next one.

Argument Essay 1st Draft

            Banning books from schools. It has actually come to people, adults, banning children from reading! Children and teenagers, such as me, are not always happy or satisfied with some of the books that schools provide and would like a wider range of book selections. I love to read and hate that the types of books that I like to read most are banned or on their way to being banned. Such as the book “Divergent” by Veronica Roth. I’ve recently read this book and have come to really enjoy it. But it may be banned from school libraries. Well, I think that the book “Divergent” by Veronica Roth should not be banned from school libraries because it teaches important lessons and also teaches about bravery.

            One good lesson that the book teaches people is to stand up for yourself and your loved ones. One example of this in the book is when the main character, Tris, stands up for her friend, Al, because her and everyone else can obviously sees that he’s scared because the antagonist, Eric, is making stand in front of a dart board while another main character, Four, throws knives at him. In the book it says “I look from Al’s wide eyes to his shaking hands to the determined set of Fours jaw. Anger bubbles in my chest and bursts from my mouth.” Tris was scared, but she didn’t want her obviously depressed friend Al to be even more upset if people made fun of him for this stunt of him being scared. This is an example of a good lesson that the book teaches its readers.

            One good example of this book teaching its reader about bravery is when a bunch of people in the book have to jump off the roof of a building and into a dark place and people are kind of scared to do it and people are really doubting that Tris could do it because of the way she was born and raised, but she sucked it up and jumped first. The book says “I look at the hole again. Goosebumps rise on my pale arms and my stomach lurches. If I don’t do it now, I won’t be able to do it at all. I swallow hard. I don’t think. I just bend my knees and jump.” This is an example of bravery that the book teaches its readers.

            People think that if they ban this book then children and teens will stop reading it. But in the article “The Banned Books We Have Loved” by Jen Doll, it says “Here’s the ironic and wonderful thing that the book censors don’t seem to realize: banning books doesn’t in fact hurt them much at all. In fact, it might spire more interest in them and sometimes sales to.” So this shows why it would not be helpful to ban this book in the first place.

            This topic is important to me because a lot of the books that are being banned are books that I really enjoy or would like to read. I like YA books and would be sad to see that a lot of them have been restricted for people to read. I really find that “Divergent” was an appropriate book for schools, even though most of the books being banned are not, so I don’t even think that this book should be banned. This is why I think the book “Divergent” by Veronica Roth should be banned from school libraries.

Monday Muses- Childhood

     The best Christmas of my life was also a sad one.

     It was awesome because I was 6 years old and still believed in Santa Claus. So I woke up at 3am and snuck downstairs and saw a HUGE pile of present’s waiting for me and my brother. So I ran upstairs as fast as I can and threw myself into my mom’s bed. I shook her and yelled “Mommy mommy Santa came let’s go!” She looked at the clock and saw how early it was but she didn't care. She got up and told me to wake up my brother. So I threw myself onto his bed and shook him awake. His eyes lit up when I told him that it was time to open presents. So almost the whole family went downstairs and gathered around the Christmas tree with all the lights off and the Christmas lights on and we put a Christmas CD into the music player and listened to it while we opened presents.

     Almost the whole family.

     Me and my brother loved all of the presents we got from “Santa” and our eyes lit up with excitement and joy as we opened each present. But my mom’s eyes lit up even more than ours when she saw our reactions. Me and my brother took turns opening presents so that my mom could focus on only one of us at a time since she was the only one watching us open them.

     She was the only one.

     Where was my dad?

     He wasn't here, was all I knew at the time. And that’s actually still all that I know about the situation now. A lot of people think that their issues about their parents not getting them the things that they wanted and not getting the coolest things.

     But no. An actual problem is when one of your parents isn't even there to see their children open their presents. An actual problem is when back then you actually had money to make “a Christmas list for Santa.”

     Those are real problems. 

Theme- Divergent

     In the book "Divergent" by Veronica Roth, the book so far is revolving around making choices and choosing your own life style and what you want to do with your life. I think this is an important theme in this book.
     One example of choosing your own life style is the aptitude test. The aptitude tests are test that will help someone think more clearly about what faction you will want to live in. The 5 factions are Candor, Euridite, Amity, Abnegation, and Dauntless. Abnegation is the main character Tris' birth faction. Abnegation are people who hate selfishness ad selflessness. Tris hated it there because she thought that life was to boring and she didn't like that life style. But she was going to stay there because she did't want to disgrace her family and make them feel bad. But she decided that she would be miserable if she did that, so she choose the Dauntless faction, the faction that hated cowardice. This is one example of this theme.
     Another example of choosing your own life style is when Caleb, Tris' brother, choose the Euridite faction, the faction that hates ignorance. This is and example because everyone thought that Caleb was going to stay with Abnegation. But Caleb didn't care if everyone in Abnegation hated him for being the first in the choosing ceremony to leave that faction. And he didn't care that Abnegation and Euridite were supposed to be natural enemy's, he choose what life style he would be most happy with. This is another example of this theme.
     Another example is Tris' decisions that she made during the aptitude test. She decided to question the test  and not do what it told her to do,which caused consequences. And even when the test gave her another chance she decided not to do what it said. This caused her to be Divergent, a person whos aptitude test can not choose on one faction that the person would be best for. This is according to the book very dangerous so Tris can't speak about her being Divergent to anyone. This is another example of this theme.
     At first, this book seemed a little slow for me, but it quickly changed after the 1st chapter. I can't wait to finish this book and move on to the 2nd book.

RR- "Dark Souls" by Paula Morris

      In the book "Dark Souls" by Paula Morris, Miranda Tennants and Her brother Rob Tennants were in a car accident 6 months ago which caused their friend Jenna to die. Ever since the accident, Mirandas parents have been so worried and protective about them, but they don't really seem to care as much as their parents do.
      One example that they're over protective about them even though they don't really want their parents to worry is that in the book, her fathers boss, Lorde Poole, talks about the death of a famous person in York, the town they are visiting, named Magarette Clitherow. Poole talks about how she was crushed to death, and immediately her parents got very anxious since Jenna was crushed to death in the car during the accident. But when her parents told Poole that they had to get back home Miranda kept asking questions about her death because she was really interested about history. This shows that she didn't really mind the fact that it was about death.  
      Because of this, I don't think that Miranda is as fragile as her parents think that she is. Because in her parents head they probably think that both of thier kids are about to have a mental break down if they're exposed to anything that'll remind them of the accident. But really to the kids it's just a horrible memory that they'll never be able to get rid of. That's why this shows me that Miranda is stronger than her parents think she is.
      I think that what her parents should worry about is how Miranda can see ghosts. But they don't know this because Miranda is to scared to tell them because she doesn't want them to be more worried about her and possibly send her to a mental hospital. Miranda honestly thinks more about her parents sake of mind than her own.
      I think that one theme in this book is that sometimes you should pay more attention to someones feelings than their actions.