List of words I like to use in poetry.
Nature
Love
Brave
Bright
Calm
Charming
Confident
Courageous
Funny
Happy
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Critical (2) 1/15/2010
BFF?? By Mr. and Mrs. Parks
Noone seems to understand how I really feel inside,
Myself I have to hide,
To be what you want me to be,
But maybe that’s not me,
And maybe I don’t always want to fit in,
When it’s such a suffocating mold I have to get in,
And I just want to be myself,
And put this mask back on the shelf,
And can you handle the real me,
Can you swallow the things you would see,
Maybe you would think I’m insane,
But who gets to say what’s normal for the human brain,
And maybe you would find I’m gassy,
And you don’t think that’s very classy,
But I say class is just a societal invention,
Then maybe we could be friends,
And we could start to end,
This cycle of hate,
Maybe we could all just relate,
And that’s what I would like to do,
But you won’t do that-will you?
After reading this poem, since I am a history major I automatically thought of the minstrel shows. Minstrel shows were created by Thomas Dartmouth during the 19th century. Doing the shows Dartmouth paints his face dark black and performs a song and dance routine imitating a crippled black slave. The characters associated with minstrel shows were ignorant, racist and portrayed negative stereotypes regarding black people. The Minstrel shows was a success and eventually black people started to work in the minstrel shows during the mid 1850s. To keep the minstrel show traditional, blacks darkened their already dark skin and performed racist comedy routines. However, after the show blacks were not allowed to go to the after party with the white cast members, because they were black.
Now with the history of the Minstrel show out the way, the lines that made me think of this were lines 2, 6, 8, 9, 15 and 19. All these lines deal with the hardship that black actors faced during this time. By wearing the mask they were equivalent to whites and by taking the mask off they became inferior.
This poem teaches me that a simple middle school poem like this can portray a deeper meaning depending on the reader.
Noone seems to understand how I really feel inside,
Myself I have to hide,
To be what you want me to be,
But maybe that’s not me,
And maybe I don’t always want to fit in,
When it’s such a suffocating mold I have to get in,
And I just want to be myself,
And put this mask back on the shelf,
And can you handle the real me,
Can you swallow the things you would see,
Maybe you would think I’m insane,
But who gets to say what’s normal for the human brain,
And maybe you would find I’m gassy,
And you don’t think that’s very classy,
But I say class is just a societal invention,
Then maybe we could be friends,
And we could start to end,
This cycle of hate,
Maybe we could all just relate,
And that’s what I would like to do,
But you won’t do that-will you?
After reading this poem, since I am a history major I automatically thought of the minstrel shows. Minstrel shows were created by Thomas Dartmouth during the 19th century. Doing the shows Dartmouth paints his face dark black and performs a song and dance routine imitating a crippled black slave. The characters associated with minstrel shows were ignorant, racist and portrayed negative stereotypes regarding black people. The Minstrel shows was a success and eventually black people started to work in the minstrel shows during the mid 1850s. To keep the minstrel show traditional, blacks darkened their already dark skin and performed racist comedy routines. However, after the show blacks were not allowed to go to the after party with the white cast members, because they were black.
Now with the history of the Minstrel show out the way, the lines that made me think of this were lines 2, 6, 8, 9, 15 and 19. All these lines deal with the hardship that black actors faced during this time. By wearing the mask they were equivalent to whites and by taking the mask off they became inferior.
This poem teaches me that a simple middle school poem like this can portray a deeper meaning depending on the reader.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Critical (1) 1/14/2010
Dreams
By Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow
This poem was written by Langston Hughes in 1926, it refers to the agonizing treatment that African Americans encountered during the 1920s regarding segregation and prejudiced laws. My favorite line in this poem is line three. In line three, Langston Hughes figuratively compares life to a bird. The phrase broken-winged bird implies that the bird has suffered some type of misfortune. This misfortune has crippled the bird and left it powerless. The bird wings exemplify a human’s ability to dream. Similar to the bird, people who are unable to dream are powerless. If a person does not dream, they are unable to develop. This makes life pointless, so in order to thrive in life people must dream.
I choose the poem, because this gives people a better understand of me. I think in order for people to know where they are going it is critical to know their history.
What I can learn from this poem is how specific words are chosen to make an argument or thought more concrete. I believe Langston Hughes choose a bird, because a bird symbolizes freedom and independence things people associate with dreams.
By Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow
This poem was written by Langston Hughes in 1926, it refers to the agonizing treatment that African Americans encountered during the 1920s regarding segregation and prejudiced laws. My favorite line in this poem is line three. In line three, Langston Hughes figuratively compares life to a bird. The phrase broken-winged bird implies that the bird has suffered some type of misfortune. This misfortune has crippled the bird and left it powerless. The bird wings exemplify a human’s ability to dream. Similar to the bird, people who are unable to dream are powerless. If a person does not dream, they are unable to develop. This makes life pointless, so in order to thrive in life people must dream.
I choose the poem, because this gives people a better understand of me. I think in order for people to know where they are going it is critical to know their history.
What I can learn from this poem is how specific words are chosen to make an argument or thought more concrete. I believe Langston Hughes choose a bird, because a bird symbolizes freedom and independence things people associate with dreams.
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