Journal #4

Comparative Critic

“My People Are the Color of the Earth” by Alma Luz Villanueva

S: Someone of Mexican descent
O: Revealing her family background
A: Anyone interested in culture
P: Conveying culture or customs of that culture
S: Culture or family
Tone: Revealing, Reminiscent

This poem is about a person of Mexican descent who is reminiscent about her culture and her family. She tells about her aunt who is from Sonora, a state in Mexico. She remembers her interactions with her aunt and reveals her aunt’s family background. The poem is written in three different parts. The first part is the present and has its own form. The second part shifts to the right as it goes down as the author describes the past and her relationship with her aunt. The last part just goes down and tells of her aunt’s background. The poem tells about the aunts culture and her racial identity; also her aunt’s interactions with people of other races. This poem reminds me about a political poem, but about Native Americans. The poem describes the descent and loss of the Native American culture due to their assimilation to the American culture. The poem critiques the stereotype of Native Americans who drink and sell their culture in order to drink and it is sold back to them through the white man. Both poems hold historical context and reveal something about a culture. Although one is more critical, they convey the message about not forgetting about one’s culture and to always hold on to it.

Journal #3

“Forgetfulness” by Billy Collins
S: A person of middle age or older
O: Reminiscing about one’s life or how the mind works
A: Anyone who has had a childhood
P: Conveying the long term effects of aging and how things are learned and forgotten
S: Childhood Memories
Tone: Realizing, Observing, Reminiscent (thinking), Comedic

The author Billy Collins conveys in his poem “Forgetfulness” about the human mind and how as people get older, they forget things they learned. The author writes his poem in free verse and describes the many important things learned in school such as math equations and as adults, those things are forgotten. I really enjoyed this poem because what the author is saying is very true. I am reminiscing all the time about things I learned when I was a child and some things I barely remember. I always have a vague memory of things and I have to sit down and think about things so I can remember them. What makes this poem even more interesting is that many people can relate to this. Anyone who has had a childhood knows what it feels like to forget and remember things. I think mostly because those things seemed so important at the time, but as people’s lives change, so do the important factors in one’s life.
“Wanting To Forget”
The name of that boy would be the first to go
Followed by his phone number, his smile,
The heartbreak he put you through, the entire relationship
Which suddenly becomes just like the last one,
Never again to be spoken of,
As if the next time you will remember exactly what to do
But you still decide to put it away like an unwanted Valentine
From that boy from your second grade class that always picked his nose
It can never be forgotten because long ago you kissed him
You remember how good it felt that he wanted you
And even now you wish he still did

Something else slips away, perhaps those good feelings,
Because you remember how dirty he did you

Whatever it is you are struggling to forget
Just comes and bites you because you can’t forget
It lurks around like Cupid, sneaky and ready to strike

It has floated in the Red Sea of your mind,
That sea now turned black
You want to forget but you just can’t
You would prefer to remember the itchiness of chicken pox.

No wonder you still call him and hope he does not answer
To tell him that you want your stuff back.
No wonder when you go pick up your stuff is when you forget.
Its then you forget the bad, and remember the good.

Too bad for those of you who forget.

Journal #1

Everything the Power of the World does is done in a Circle
Black Elk
Personal Response

This poem seems to be written in free verse. There is no rhyming but the words just flow as they go along. This poem is being said by a Native American who observes the world around him. He sees the world and especially nature, to be round in a circle. The connection between man and nature is emphasized, as it states how a birds’ religion is the same as a human being. Then he goes on to say how the moon is round and so is the cycle of life. Humans go from childhood to childhood, as when elderly people get to a certain age, they are as children in need of care. The author is trying to convey that life has its good parts and then there are the bad parts; the outcome is that we will survive and be here to live. Life is a circle as is nature. Even today, society functions in the same way. We all have our good days and our bad days and in the end we are still here living. This reminds me of a children’s book, tiled Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad day of a young boy who wants to move Australia so that he can stop having such a bad day. His mother reminds him that even in Australia, people can still have a bad day. Even children reading this book today are reminded of the good and bad things in life but we can survive them because that is how the power of the world is. This can include wars, natural disasters, or even as simply getting a bad grade. It is all a cycle that in the end, we come out on top and we continue to live each day.

Journal #2

We Wear the Mask
By: Paul Lawrence Dunbar
Literary Critic

This poem is written in assonance; the last words in every two line rhyme. The poem is also written in iambic pentameter and sounds as if a heart is beating. The main message of this poem is that African American slaves were mistreated. Not only so, but that they had to hide their feelings of agony and smile. The author describes them as wearing a mask to conceal their true feelings towards their mistreatment. The tone of the poem is very serious and you can also feel strength in voice of this person. The author conveys this speaker as having strength because although he suffers, he continues to wear the mask. The author was definitely effective in conveying his message as the tone adds and evokes a lot of emotion. The iambic pentameter also adds that feeling of a heart beat which a person can relate to and actually feel the poem as they are reading it. The language is very strong and writing this in a poetic form adds more to what the author conveys. The lines are short but they are phrases with strong words. Again the language combined with the iambic pentameter adds feeling and evokes emotions of sympathy and wanting to help out. The audience would be someone interested in human rights because this poem really speaks out on the oppressiveness African Americans went through during slavery times.

Voice Poem

I wrote this poem myself and I decided to use it because I feel only the poetry I write expresses my voice.

I have a Desire,
More so over a Deep Wish.
To be everyone’s Friend,
Or at least
Their Friendly acquaintance.

~ Princess Stepha

Poetic Language Reflection

Poetic language is the language used to write poetry. It is the words used and the manner in which they are used that make them seem as poetry. The language overall is meant to convey a deeper meaning. Poetic language is also the tone used which emphasizes the emotion of the poem. Overall, the tone, the words used and the way the words are formatted make up poetic language. It is different from poetry because poetry is the actual composition of the word or words that are written in poetic language. We use poetic language in order to write a poem.