Blog Post 4: Where I'm From

Where I'm From

I am from court shoes

I am from nets and poles

I am from uniforms

From the heart of the court

I am from practicing hard

From blood, sweat, and tears

I am from practice makes perfect

From believing in success

I am from hard fought victory

From Huron Perth Gold

I am from taking it further

I am from WOSSAA GOLD

I am from belivieving in yourself

From teamwork and leadership

I am from a team of champions

I am from volleyball

Blog Post 6: My Own Poem "Warzone"

Warzone

Bullets are like rain to us

Explosions just like clouds

My father told me when I joined

You’re in the army now

They warned me it’s a living hell

But to me it feels like home

Soldiers are like family

I will never let them go

Death is not to be feared

Death is part of life

The only thing I really fear

Is missing my dear wife

Grenades in our packs

A gun by our sides

We hold the key

To who lives and who dies

 Our only real fear

Becomes fear itself

When it’s all over

We know we’ve done well

Some would say that those

Who fought in the war

When it was all done

Their brains were no more

Despite the shell shock

And bombs from above

After we were done

Our brains can still love

Blog Post 5: Media Portayal of Soliders and the Nature of War Response

In the poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" the author portrays war exactly how it is. The author is trying to get a point across about the reality of being a soldier, and says basically the exact opposite of what the media says. The media portrays war as a good thing; basically you get to travel the world, become a hero, and get a good pension. This poem should be read to every person on the earth who thinks that is true. There are so many kids out there who want to join the army and become heroes, and that's why a lot of men were soldiers in World War II. They were told that they could see the world for free and come home a hero. This is even in the poem when it says "My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori". This is saying that if you had to experience war, you would not tell those glory-hungry teenagers that "It is sweet and right to die for your country" because that is a lie, and war is not what it has been portrayed to be by the media. The poem describes some of the horrible things you must go through as a solider, such as "Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots but limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots." This line describes what kind of condition the soldiers are in. It says that many men limped on without boots, just trying to survive. Blood had been shed, many men were injured (lame) or blind. Drunk with fatigue describes how tired the men are, and they are even deaf to the sounds of shells flying through the air (hoots). The way the media portrays soldiers and the nature of war and the way war is portrayed in this poem is strongly related to the following song.

Blog Post 3: Imagery Response from "The Charge of the Light Brigade"

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

When I read this line of the poem, I pictured the image of a large army of men charging forward on their horses. This picture accurately demonstrates what I saw in my mind.

Blog Post 1: The Meaning Behind "The Bleeding Drops of Red"

The name of my blog, "The Bleeding Drops of Red", refers to Walt Witman's dramatic poem "O Captain! My Captain!" written in 1865. Witman wrote the poem about Abraham Lincoln's assassination right after it happened. The poem is about a large ship on a fearful trip, which loses its captain. The ship symbolizes the United States, its captain is Lincoln, and the fearful trip refers to the American Civil War. The crew members (the American people) are devastated when their captain (Lincoln) is killed. I found this poem very interesting because I am interested in war. Lincoln is a role model to me because he was such a great leader, so reading such a metaphorical version of his assassination was very intriguing. The largest reason I am interested in this poem is because of the positive portrayal of Lincoln that is given. I am a huge Lincoln fan, so I'm happy that the author portrayed him in a positive light. Lincoln was a genius, he had a completely different way of thinking than everyone else. Some of his quotes that I have read, as I analyze them I get chills down my back because of how insightful they are. It is like Lincoln could understand people better than they could understand themselves, which made him an incredible leader, which was fitting for the President of the United States.

Blog Post 2: Response to "The Raven"

Why do you suppose Poe's narrative poem, "The Raven", has stood the test of time? What do people find so frighting about this poem 166 years after it was first published?


I think "The Raven" has been able to remain frightening to people over 166 years because of the word choice that is used. People nowadays have a much different vocabulary than people did 166 years ago. The strong and complicated language that is used in the poem is extremely descriptive; therefore it is easy to frighten the readers today. I think that the deep, horrific descriptions in the poem such as “And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming” are what make the poem frightening, even 166 years later. Edgar Allan Poe is very able to create a scary image in the readers’ heads with his strong descriptions. If the author’s descriptions had been weaker easier to understand, they wouldn’t be as frightening. The fact that his descriptions are so complicated that the reader has to stop to think about what they mean, and then as they figure it out, it creates a haunting image in their head.

       I also think that the topic of the poem is what helps the poem remain frightening to people as time passes. One of the scariest things, in my opinion, is insanity. The thought of the man literally going insane because of the bird’s repetitiveness is actually very disturbing. I can’t imagine what it would be like to go through what the man in the poem did, and that’s what makes it frightening for me. No matter what time period it is, people will always be disturbed by the thought of going crazy, so that’s why the poem is still frightening today.