Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Defend Your Pick of the Week
What makes your choice the best? Defend your answer, looking at at least three specific details of the poem: the imagery, the content, the diction (word choice), the line breaks, stanzas, etc. What is your favorite line of the poem? Why do you like it the best? Why should I include it on the syllabus for future students to read?
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The Sorrow Of Sarajevo - Goran Simic
ReplyDeleteAnd stand by the window to watch my neighbor
Who stands by the window to watch the dark
You can understand what it feels like to be a civilian in a war.
I can relate to this poet because I am from the same neighborhood with the exception that I am a woman.
ReplyDeleteI was not only raised but I still live in this area and there have been days where I hear gunshots and have lost friends to either a shooting or have been victims to an assault with a knife.
I have buried close friends through out the years and as hard as it has been its something that with time in a many ways prepares you to confront hardships like losses or transitions that maybe other people in better neighborhoods might not go through.
A Lower East Side Poem
ReplyDelete"So let me sing my song tonight
let me feel out of sight
and let all eyes be dry
when they scatter my ashes thru
the Lower East Side."
This stanza struck me and made feel the poets emotion, how it seems that yes there were terrible times in life living in the Lower East Side, however don't let that overcome all the good times experienced. One could take that and relate it to anything in life.
In addition to my post the line that stood out to me was "I'm standing at the grave of a just- buried friend".
ReplyDeleteI feel that my pick is the best because its describes a typical scene in New York City. I love how the poet describes people sitting on the train and to always have those people in mind. My favorite lines of the poem is the entire third stanza when he is describing how every person has their own life and problems for example "Why is that old man crying." I feel that this poem should be included in a syllabus for future students because it helps to show students that an inspiration for a poem can be as simple as taking a train ride
ReplyDeleteEmilee Persaud
Riding the D-Train
Dread
ReplyDeleteCornelius Eady
I like this poem because the poet shows his experience in life. he used real details about what is life in New York. he used rhythms and the poem its really dark, emotional.
My favorite was Linton Kwesi Johnson's poem "inglan is a Bitch" is my favorite because I can relate to that poem. Leaving Jamaica sometimes when you have it all just to think that somewhere else has it better, then when you reach there you realize that you had it way better where you came from. Life is not what you expect it to be sometimes
ReplyDeleteChoice:Dread
ReplyDeleteMy Choice is the best because it is real to me. The words jump out and express how coldhearted this world really is if its not the person in front of you killing you its the person behind, and this poem expresses it.
The imagery made me believe i was inside this poem. The content was eye opening and real. the stanzas were broken up into another mini paragraph of how sick and cruel this world truly is.
My Favorite line: You can ask for a glass of water All you'll get is turpentine.
I feel i like it the best because I have witnessed such things . include it for other students because I feel many can relate to it and it opens up a world of reality :)
I like Ingland is a bitch the best because I feel as if the poet is of Jamaican herritage. I like the way the poet expresses themself through the way they naturally speak and does not worry about proper english. I also like how the poem is broken down into many stanzas. My favorite line in the poem is "inna disya facktri all dem dhu is pack crackry". I like this because he is explaining what he thinks about the stuff they pack in the factories.
ReplyDeleteThe reason i chose "A Lower East Side Poem" is because the way it was written. The poem is not written in a way that goes on and on, it has stanzas; having a little break instead of written as a novel or something. The words used are common words used in New York (5 boroughs).
ReplyDeleteThe line that caught my eye was in stanza 6 line 53, "to belong to survive you gotta be strong" living in New York, you learn how to be tough, you learn how to carry yourself by yourself. You should defiantly include this poem in the future because many people feel the same way.
i liked my choice because the author is making an observation of his surroundings. the imagery is great because the author painted a picture in my head. i felt like i was there. my favorite line from the poem is "notice the rooftops, the wormeaten brooklyn buildings" i like the poem the best because i can relate to it.
ReplyDeleteDread - Cornelius Eady because I liked what the Poem was about. I could relate to certain things and at the same time, other things created images in my mind as if I were there, experiencing them myself.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite poem is "A Lover East Side Poem" by Miguel Pinero.
ReplyDeleteThis poem shows the harsh reality of the "lower east side" with out demeaning the community. Also the way the writer takes you for walk in his shoes with out him actually taking you to his area. Finally, I liked the repetition of the phrase "the lower east side."
My favorite line is;
i wanna be near the stabbing shoting
gambling fighting & unnatural dying
-Shaey
M y choice is the best because I feel that this poem was the strongest poem out of them all you can understand how he feels about where he is from because he expresses it. although it is a poem you can get the picture image in your head.My favorite line of the poem is "I am a Philosopher of the criminal Mind".I feel that was deep when I first read it that line stood out.I think you should include this in the syllabus for future students because it is a great poem very deep and I know they would enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteI believe "Inglan is a bitch" is the best poem. Why? The imagery in the poem makes you feel what the speaker is feeling. for an example "mi use to work dig ditch w'en it cowl nuh bitch." The repetition of the stanza reminding you what the poem is about. The different language in the poem makes it more captivating. Favorite line is "fus dem rab it wid dem big tax rackit."
ReplyDeleteA Lower East Side Poem by Miguel Pinero
ReplyDeleteThe second to last stanza
"So here i am, look at me
i stand proud as you can see..."
That whole stanza struck me deeply because I've seen people grow up and really forget where they've come from. Also how they forget where they got they attitude, style, strength and courage from. I am proud of where i came from and the struggle that I've overcome thus far.
A Lower East Side Poem - Miguel Pinero
ReplyDeleteI chose this poem because it does a great job of depicting the persons perspective of the world, as well as where they fit into the grand scheme of things. Also, I like how the poet places emphasis on certain lines by making thoughtful use of line breaks.
Favorite line: I want to climb up on a tenement sky to dream my lungs out till I cry.
I like this line because it is such a freeing statement. It should be included on a future syllabus because it is a good example of poetic inspiration.
My favorite poem was Riding the D-Train because I can relate to the poem. When I am on the train I'm very observant to the people around me and it's funny to watch other peoples reaction to things going on around them. This is a good poem to have in your syllabus because a lot of people can relate to it.
ReplyDelete-Danielle
London - William Blake
ReplyDeleteI really liked this poem.
In particular I really liked
" And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe."
and
" And the helpless Soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls."
The first 2 lines make me picture a
person walking down the street... seeing
everyone's face marked with sadness. Or
the town has been marked by war.
I really liked the next two lines
because of how the author said it.
It gives me a mental picture of
soldiers dieing ... so that the
establishment can pay for their
luxuries.
Riding The D-Train
ReplyDeleteI had the experience in taking the subway when it comes to the poet mentioning "the man in a business suit whose shoes don't match." " Everything is important: that thing girl, for instance, in flowered dress, golden high heels. How did her eyes get scarred? these lines are my favorite lines because when i was on the number 7 train sometimes there would be a man in a business suit and sometimes his shoes wouldn't match his suit. I would also see sometimes a girl wearing a flowered dress with golden high heel shoes and her eyes scarred. I should include it on the syllabus for future students because the poem Riding the D-train relates to the experience of New York City and how people carry themselves as they live in NY.Sarah A.