When I first read my poem, The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy, I didnt understand it at all. I just liked the way it sounded and the way it flowed. I was also looking for a more difficult poem because I was looking for a challenge. After having memorized and said it many times, I have discovered that my favorite stanzas are the first stanza and the last stanza.

The first stanza is all about describing whats going on around the narrator. It also kind of shows you how the author is depressed and kind of thinks that everything is dying. This part also continues on into the second stanza, but I like the way the first one is written best. The first stanza also stuck in my head for some reason. After having read it multiple times, this stanza stuck in my head the most and I cannot figure out why. I hope some day, looking back at this poem, I will figure it out.

I also like the last stanza because the narrator seems to be getting more hopeful after seeing and hearing the thrush sing. I also like the way the author words the way he thinks about why the thrush is singing as cheerfully as he is. The thrush is small and dying, yet it is singing a joyful song. The narrator doesn't understand this, but he wants to so he can be somewhat hopeful to.

1. January, 1975 by Mary Robinson

2. Revenge by Letitia Elizabeth Landon

3. Garden by H.D.

4. Domestic Violence by Eavan Boland
The Death of Allegory by Billy Collins

Of the poems I listed above, the ones I enjoyed the most were January, 1975 and The Death of Allegory. I enjoyed The Death of Allegory because the author seemed to have an interesting opinion about the way justice works. I liked January, 1975 because the author put the truth about how some people are put aside when they are having trouble in life instead of being helped. The only poem that I didn't like was Garden. I didn't like Garden because it did not really say anything to me, and I couldn't grasp the meaning the author was trying to get across. The poem I would choose to study further would be January, 1975 because it seemed to relate to real life more than any of the other poems I read. I am personally connected with this poem because myself and everyone else see much of what the author is talking about every day. The two easiest criteria for me would be the voice and articulation category and level of difficulty. These two will be the easiest for me because I don't have a hard time being loud and articulating and I really am not a big fan of the simpler poems. The two criteria I will have difficulty with are the dramatic appropriateness category and the physical presence category. I will have difficulty with these categories because I am not good at using dramatic pauses or things of that nature and I don't have good posture and I get nervous easily. The first poem I watched was Man-moth. This poem was successful because of the way the person who was reciting the poem was speaking and the emotion he out into his voice drew me in and made me want to hear the rest of the poem. The second poem I listened to was Forgetfulness. This was successful because of the way the person who recited. He put the correct emotion into his voice and he had the correct dramatic effect that made the poem more interesting to listen to. After being on the poetry out loud website, it made me appreciate poetry more than I had before. I appreciate poetry more now because I have found more poems that I like and am possibly interested in.

Outside Reading

I am reading the book Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. So far I have enjoyed this book however strange it might be written. The way it's written may be strange, but I like his point of view on war. The way he makes the Germans view of the English Army is completely correct in the ways that they are bough and yet intelligent and all of them are this way. I would probably have to use setting to analyze the story so far. The setting has changed so much and so often its almost hard to keep up with. Billy, the main character, has been in a flying saucer, in a train in Germany, behind enemy lines, the border of Czechoslovakia, Ilium, and he's been in the YMCA from his childhood. He has changed the plot so many times, that I think he is trying to show what can happen to men after a war or just seeing people killed. I cannot make a connection to another novel because I have never read another novel that can even compare to how this novel is written. I can't compare the plot of this novel to another novel because I have not been able to identify the plot.

When the novel spoke to me, it told me about how wise my parents are despite their age. My parents seem to know so much and help to keep me on the right path. Everyone in the book is always talking about how Atticus is very wise because of his age. My parents are actually quite young and again are quite wise.

To me, the book means, there should always be a place where racism is non-existent. Atticus said something along the lines about the courtroom should be a place where there is no black and white, there is just man. For some reason this just hit me hard. I'm not trying to say that I'm racist, but I have heard of people who are racist that need not to be. I'm not meaning that only the courtroom should be free of racism, but everywhere.

My Boo Radley would have to be my father. I would say that my Boo Radley is my father because he has been instrumental in my upbringing and has been a huge part of my life. He has not been much of a hero in my life because I have never been in that much danger to have to be saved. My father also has great social skills, unlike Boo Radley. It seems to me that my father knows just about everyone.

Something that I find scary and a little creepy is starting something new or being in a new place where i don't know anyone. When I lived in California, I started training at a soccer camp every Wednesday night. It was called the Bridge Soccer Camp and it was run by two Brazilian men. These men's names happened to be Rildo and Naldo. Rildo played on the Brazilian National team and Naldo played on the Los Angeles Galaxy when they won a championship. To me the first night was a terrifying thing, but my dad was there to help me through and more or less force to me to go after my nerves had already told me that I didn't want to go anymore. I went the first time and had a great time and continued to attend this camp until both of the coaches went on a long trip. By the time they had returned I had already moved back to Washington.

My dad is there for me whenever I need him to be and then he's there even when I don't want him to be but he needs to be. He's fairly young for having four kids, but is wise beyond his years and always helps me to make the right decision. He keeps me from the straying from the right path and keeps me striving to be better.

I am not the most creative writer which you will find out if you read more of my posts. In my writing, I am very straight forward and to the point. As a reader, I enjoy reading works that are exciting and keep me entertained. I'm not the biggest fan of of figurative language because I also like things more straight forward. Also, as a reader, I like reading about things of interest to me. Things that interest me a lot of the time are abnormal nonfiction things and many fiction things.

I am the kind of English student who will almost always have the work done. Again, I am usually not the most creative writer so my writing is not as enjoyable to someone who likes figurative language such as metaphors and similes. I am also one of the students who loves to read, but I don't like writing about what I have read as much.

I will enlighten the on-line world with my reaction to literature studied in class by giving my true opinion on the pieces of literature that we happen to be reading in class. For the most part, I like many of the books that I read, so if I were you, I wouldn't be surprised if most of my opinions were positive towards many of the books that are read in the class.