Poetry Out Loud: Unsociable Family by Elizabeth Hands

    The poem I chose is Unsociable Family by Elizabeth Hands. I don't know anything about the poet but I really like this poem. It talks about how humans are alone even though  we are surrounded by each other each day and how when in need our plans aren't to comfort others but to please our selves. I chose this poem because I can connect to it because it makes me realize how we all do things only to please ourselves and don't care to know about others and help them.
    I intend to convey the meaning of the poem by reading the stanza's to show that I understand the reason of the poem. My voice will be informative, my face serious(hopefully), and no gestures. I want to really try to show that I get the poem and do a good job on reciting how humans are selfish and do things for themselves.

Poetry Out Loud

 Part one:
1. Read a poem that begins with the first letter of your first name. Dog By Lawrence Ferlinghetti

2. Read a poem that begins with the third letter of your last name. On the Lawn at the Villa By Louis Simpson
3. Read a poem that the person sitting next to you suggests. Echo By Daryl Hine
4. Choose two more poems. Keeping Things Whole By Mark Strand. On An Unsociable Family By Elizabeth Hands
Part two:
The poems I liked the most out of the five above would be Dog by Lawrence Ferlinghetti because this poem is really good and I like poems that are kind of about life and society. Keeping Things Whole by Mark Strand because I like how confident it is and how it also explains how we all have reasons of moving. On An Unsociable Family by Elizabeth Hands because it's deep and it shows how helping each other is never our plan but to please ourselves.
I didn't really like On the Lawn at the Villa by Louis simpson because it's kind of boring and not something I can connect to. And Echo by Daryl Hine because again it's not something that i can connect to and not very interesting.
The one that I am most interested in doing is Dog by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
I think that i personally connect with this poem because it's about society and how we speak what we want and throw in our own opinions.
Part Three:
The two criteria that will be the easiest for me will probably be evidence of understanding and physical presence because I'm usually okay at finding the meaning of a poem if it's not too difficult.
The two criteria that will be harder for me will probably be voice and articulation and dramatic appropriateness because I get nervous in front of a large crowd and don't like being center of attention.
Part Four:
I watched "write on the steps of Puerto Rican Harlem by Gregory Corso. This is a successful performance because he uses dramatic appropriateness, good physical presence and very good voice and articulation. The second one I watched was forgetfulness by Billy Collins. This is a successful performance because his use of voice was just right for the poems tone and really captured the meaning of the poem.
Part Five:
I think that Poetry Out Loud is a really cool website, I hope I do well on my performance and don't mess up. I feel confident but nervous, so hopefully all will go well.

Thanksgiving Break Extra Credit

      The most important assignment so far this school year would have to be the summer assignment. Reasoning being how much i learned from the questions and requirements for the project. before the summer assignment i didn't know at least half of any of the vocabulary words such as motif, assuaged,  types of characterization etc. The whole assignment helped me to learn a lot, that was my first time annotating a book and actually sitting down to identify all the different aspects of the book.

       I think that this project was so helpful to me because it was sort of a practice on annotating and analyzing literature because i wasn't really familiar with the whole thing at first but this really helped me to become comfortable with it. 

       I think this was the most important because it was the most beneficial so far. Not looking at how hard it was or how long it took me but how it all helped me in the end.

Formal vs Informal Diction

I reckon the other week I went ta vistit one of them stores that gots all those neat fridges n stuff. I went with my ma n recall getn some food not too sure what it was but i can tell you it took us as long as a old sheep chompn' a bug to get through one of em lines they got there. I got one of them watya call its in the candy Aile, darn tootn good i can tell ya that partner. I did some of that old homework too ta lighten up the stack. Then i hit they hay to start my morning early the next day, thats how its gotta be done around here so i can get my edumacation at the old school grounds. well I best be goin' to bed now n' you should be too you now ya' hear.

Outside Reading

      I am reading Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and so far I think this book is very unique from the characters to just the whole way the story is going right now. The main character Holden Caulfield has a very weird outlook on everything, i really think he has a different way of looking at things in general. I don't think I have read enough of the book to make a likely guess of why Holden is the way he is and why he thinks the way he thinks. But one question about the book that has been bothering me this whole time, on the very first page he starts talking about his parents but stops because both of them are "touchy as hell" when it comes to saying personal things about them. That has gotten my attention all this time and I am very intrigued to find out the answer to this, because I have no clue why his parents are that way, he gives vague details so it makes my mind wonder all over the place from the fact that there are so many possibilities to everything he leaves me hanging on.
      One literary element that I would choose to reflect on in my creative project would have to be the main character so far but it may change as I read further on in the book. I don't know what it is but the main character Holden really hooks me in because there are so many possibilities as of what makes him think the way he does. I think that Holden plays a huge role in the story, but not just because he's the main character and all if that's what you are thinking but because he really builds the story, I know in a way that every little thing has something to do with the way he acts; for example his little brother died of leukemia so I bet that had a major effect on his behavior, his parents seem to be up tight so I can relate to how that could make him react, and he feels that everyone around him is phony so there has to be a missing piece to why he believes that everyone is fake.
       If I had to relate this novel to another, I wouldn't know what to do. I've never read anything with a character like Holden, I read allot of books about vampires and mystical creatures and stuff so I'm not sure on that bullet point. I've never read a book that gives so little details about so many things like in the beginning of the book he starts to say stuff about his parents, he tells what happened to his little brother but he doesn't say how the death affected him. The only idea that I have come up with to why he doesn't elaborate on his thoughts is because I believe J.D. Salinger has written this in a way to show that sometimes things don't need to be said, that maybe something has affected someone so much that they don't need to explain themselves, that after time maybe people just begin to realize how someone acts can give away the story behind it all. I'm not sure if that makes sense but in my head it does, it's sorta hard to explain some of the possibilities that run through my head during certain occasions.
      So far I'm thinking of doing a poster for my creative project. Possibly Holdens name in the middle of the poster and main details from the story that creates Holden, so that it would be reversible; if you start from the middle at his name and work your way out it would show how Holden creates the story, if you go from the outside in it would show how the story creates Holden. But I'm not sure yet, it could change by the time I finish the book.

Extending The Theme

     The novel To Kill A Mockingbird has taught me a lot. There are many lessons and points made throughout the story reflecting on society. The main thing that this book has taught me is that families will hurt anyone that is an outsider to keep their families reputation, which is really disappointing to realize because everyone wants to think that most people wouldn't care and stick up for Innocent people being harmed by society, but a majority of people don't. Also i realized how much African-Americans had to try to fit into both groups like Calpurnia when she talked with perfect grammar towards Atticus's family but when she was with her friends she talked like the rest of them.
     I couldn't really relate to the book because my parents aren't lawyers, I'm not from Alabama and I'm not all old and country, I'm an Olympian which is far from people from Alabama. Pretty much the whole novel was completely different from my life so that made the book more interesting for me because it shows how much different life is all over the world. So in a way the book did mean something different to me than the author intended but my special meaning of the book didn't have anything to do with being able to relate to the characters but just the curiosity of reading about life back then and seeing the chances over time.

My Boo Radley

       I'm not sure who or what my Boo Radley would be, I've had a lot of things i didn't understand as a kid, i mean no kid understands everyone or everything they meet or see. All i cared about was playing outside and having fun, i didn't question the things around me i mostly just went with the flow. But as a kid i never fully understood who i was, i couldn't understand fully what we were all here for and why we were here or if it was by choice or not. Still to this day i don't know what all of our meaning or intentions are. I'm not sure if that really relates to Scout and Boo in the story but it's the closest thing i can think of. In a way i guess it does kind of sorta relate because Scout didn't know Boo or what his intentions were or what the story was behind him, she just herd rumors.
       My Boo Radley would have to be the world in my case and i would be a stereotypical Scout in this case. Like Scout i never fully understood a person or thing until i walked around in his shoes. But unlike Scout i can still say that I've never got to understand the big mystery in my life at the time.

Introduction To My Blog

I love reading, I'm not too picky when it comes to book, but i don't really like writing but i manage. I love fiction books the best obviously, from drama to thriller, they all interest me in their own way.  I think i am a pretty normal English student but i didn't know we were categorized. Someone who follows my blog should expect to see great blogging and just plain awesomeness. I shall enlighten the on-line world with my reaction to the literature that we study in class by blogging of course. I think the meaning of English class is to help us understand what other people write and how to view what they meant at the time. I think English is a four-year requirement for college bound students because English helps us allot out in the world by showing us how to analyze literature. Excelling in English will help become a successful person personally because you as an individual will understand others words more easily than other people, academically it will help you in other classes with essay's, creative writing ect.