Amanda+Cartagena

In this unit of poetry we have been studying different techniques of writing poetry and many famous poets. We have learned how when reading different poems you can find out how they are different from other poets by different errors or words used in their poems. We’ve also learned different techniques of poetry such as repetition, imagery, and poems with figurative speech used in it. I’ve learned that not every poem needs to rhyme and you can go deep into what you’re talking about using descriptive words. Then we had to choose a poet and study their poems. I’m not a big fan of poetry, but I love listening to poems that have a deep meaning to something that relates to me, or how I feel about something. When we studied a certain poet, I had chose Silvia Plath. When studying Silvia Plath I learned many ways on how she used descriptive writing to explain what she went through during depression. Even though she had committed suicide she still had very great poems and found this as a way of expressing depression.


 * POETRY **

"Poetry is like making a joke. If you get one word wrong at the end of a joke, you've lost the whole thing." - William Stanley Merwin


 * Imagery & Repetition:**

I was 6 years old and it was my first time going to Puerto Rico I was so nervous. My hair flowed down in huge wet curls, and my flip flops making clapping sounds as it hit my feet every time I made a step. I had got so dizzy from the movement in the plane that I ended up throwing up. When the 3 hours had passed we then landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

As we drove through the little streets I gazed by amazement looking at the houses and the beautiful tall trees everywhere. The smell was so delighting and pure, more like a smell of fresh nature. The streets were like hills so you had to have great control while driving.

+ You have nice descriptive writing. + I like the adventure.

? What did you do while you was there? ? Who did you go with?

Amanda, This poem is very honest; I like that. I also love how you made everything very descriptive from the "Flapping noise" of your sandals to the flowing of your huge, wet curly hair. I would just suggest that you maybe revise for grammar overlooks. I also would like to challenge you to play with your words in this poem. For example when you said "The trees were like hills" why not try saying the same things in other words "The seductive curves that my island held made it difficult for foreigners travel about her body." or something like that. Rephrase things in an artistic way. Good work so far! -Natalie

**//Ode to my Laptop//**

The brightness that blinded your eyes, volume that took over your ears, clicking that came from that delicate mousepad, loud tapping on the keyboard, the dark tunnel that sucked up your cd's until you wanted them back, that one button that gave your computer life, the circle that snapped multiple images of your face,


 * Thoughts: (A found poem)**

This work is so stressful Sometimes I just wish things were different People are so sensitive What were they thinking coming out the house like that? Can I be 18 already? People stress me out My parents ask for too much I'm not superwomen, I can't make these sort of changes Why are they so cocky? I hate ignorant people Why are they judging others and haven't even took a look at themselves?


 * I was raised by... (old version)**

I was raised by playgrounds I was raised by being quiet I was raised by having respect I was raised by surroundings of my family I was raised by having humor I was raised by having patience i was raised by trusting very few people I was raised by not judging others I was raised by leading my own dreams


 * I was raised by... (new version)**

I was raised by the screaming kids running through the playground I was raised by never speaking loud, but very quiet I was raised by having respect anywhere I go I was raised by love and care from the surroundings of my family I was raised by never being so miserable, but having humor I was raised by never rushing, but having patience I was raised by not trusting everyone I was raised by accepting and not judging others I was raised by not following, but leading my own dreams


 * Poem...**

We've fallen into the place where everything is music, (Coleman Barks) Sounds surrounding us making beats, Honking from cars, Vibration from speakers, Tapping on tables, Clicking on tongues, Tapping on the floor, Ringing from phones, Dribbling from balls, We've fallen into the place where everything is music. (Coleman Barks)


 * Imagist Poem:**

It's round It's sweet It's as juicy as can be Your fingers get sticky You can peel it quickly It's an orange

Art to go with poem

Silvia Plath is a very good poet. She doesn’t really explain deeply what or how she is feeling but by the tricky words she uses it starts to have you thinking. Silvia Plath died on February 11, 1963 from intoxication of gas. In her poems the words are so descriptive that it brings so much imagery. Words that were used in her poems brought sense of depression, depression that she had from her latest divorce with her husband. As years passed from her divorce her poems started to get more depressing. It was almost as if she used writing as a way to express it. In some of her poems she uses the word black a lot, which may show a side of darkness and shallow from her depression. Silvia had a history of mental illness and depression since childhood, not only from her divorce but from the death of her father. She had attempted suicide twice before her death, which is why she was attending therapy. In one of her poems she also explains in deep description her death in which she had committed afterwards. Another poem called “Lazy Lazarus”, she showed a huge sense of depression. The words that were used shows two sides that she is talking to such as “// Herr God, Herr Lucifer // // Beware // // Beware // ”it sounds as if she is telling both to beware of her when comes after death. As she says this quote is gets you thinking as if she doesn’t know if she’ll go to heaven or hell but either way to be aware of comes their way when she arrives. This quote can relate to another quote that was said in the same poem “ // I turn and burn. // // Do not think I underestimate your great concern. // // Ash, ash--- // // You poke and stir // ”, she explains her ashes after she is burnt. I think she was so depressed that she didn’t care about living anymore, nor did a thought of her children come to mind. She only cared about no longer existing on earth anymore. In the poem “The Moon and The Yew Tree”, Silvia Plath uses a lot of description describing darkness and negative things. This overall explains how she uses darkness from her deep depression and how she let depression take over her.

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