Poetic analysis

Ariel analysis:

In the poem Ariel by Sylvia Plath we are shown the emotions of first time parenting. The poem Ariel begins in total darkness. The girl, Ariel while riding her horse sees another woman riding on her horse and calls her God’s lioness. She feels the power as her  horse and her unite into one. She feels this through her heels and knees tangled. The field she is riding through splits and vanishes behind her. Continuing to ride she notices black berries “casting dark hooks.” “something else” hauls her through the air, she describes this as thighs hair and flakes from her heels. She hears a child’s scream but ignores them. she is now the arrow and has “flies suicidal.” She then rides into the morning sun and  calls it the red eye.

Morning song analysis:

In the poem morning song by Sylvia Plath a mother is introduced to parenting. She is new at mothering and seems to be overwhelmed or exhausted by the emotions. When the poem first starts during the birth of her child. “our voices echo magnifying your arrival” this is during the birth of her child. “we stand round blankly as walls” this indicates everyone is filled with emotion, not knowing what to do or say or how to act. As the poem continues emotions do not fade but excitement does. Emotions and exhaustion begin to unite to create a very stressed mother  “One cry I stumble from my bed” tells us she is on alert because it is her first time parenting. It also shows us the exhaustion from parenting the baby. This poem is about the depths of new motherhood.

Applicant analysis:

In the poem The Applicant by Sylvia Palth it shows inequality against women. She has an a man who wants to find the perfect applicant for his perfect product. As he interviews a person he asks many question even personal that sarcastically hint to politics and social issues. As he asks his question it shows society against women. As society begins to When the poem further develops it shows that women are treated as a servant. It implies that society thinks women should be prepared to wait on their husbands hand and foot and also do whatever their husbands ask of them. They begin educate people to continue this by acting as though it is  correct. It unites women with society to make it seem like a normal occurrence. This seems to worry the author as she expresses throughout the poem in a more subtle yet very loud way.

The Book Thief Markus Zusak

On a train in a small town called Molching.
Death came knocking.
When stepping out of the train
Liesel felt nothing but pain
Until one day her saving grace came
It came in a form no one expected
A form some may have even rejected
And then she knew with just a look
Someday she would learn to read this book.
But not by herself, not at all
But with the help of someone she believed knew it all.
His name was Hans he taught her skills
Such as reading and writing
It was all so exciting
But a boy named Rudy taught her more
He taught her love and how to adore
Her passion was reading she knew from the start
And even through death they would not part.
For death saved her finished book
And she had one last look
A look at the book that saved her from trouble
A look at the book that was found in the rubble
When she needed it most the book was there
To guide her through all the scare
And for the last time the book guided her through another journey
This time she glided along on a gurney
But she was not scared
She had lived through much worse
She was ready to rest
She had survived life’s great test

What reading means to me

When I was younger and first learning to read, I often tried to avoid reading. Mostly because I wasn’t very good and I’d rather be playing softball or practicing cheers because that is what was most important to me at that time. When I started sixth grade we moved and I started at a new school. When I did this I didn’t do any extra curricular activities, so I had extra time on my hands that I wasn’t really sure what to do with. We had to do a book report for our English class and when I went to the library I decided to get the first harry potter book. I started reading it because I had to, but then I began to really love the way the books were written and how they painted a picture in my mind. After I read the Harry Potter series I read other books mostly fiction.

When I went into the summer of my 8th grade year, I quit reading as much books and switched to articles. Most of the articles I read were just on my phone and revolved around politics. This definitely helped me form opinions for my 8th grade history class. I’ve never really been one to read in my free time, except for a brief time in middle school. My reading currently consists of articles about congress, the justice system, current day politics and also books for school. As much as I know I should read more books, my interests for reading are occurring presently, which is why I turn to articles.

Song that is meaningful to me

Many songs tell a story or share a meaningful message. When you hear these songs you can often be inspired to do better, or change. The song I believe gives a very powerful message is man in the mirror by Michael Jackson. The song is about a man who knows in order to make the world a better place he must better himself and change his ways. In the song Michael Jackson sings about things  that impact him such as seeing kids in the street. He also sings about wanting to change the way he views and even judges the world and people. This song talks of self reflection being key to truly changing.

The writer uses personification in the beginning of the song. He writes “This wind is blowing my mind” this tells us that he is not effected by the wind physically however he is mentally by seeing everything around him during this time. In the winter you often see children without coats due to lack of money, Jackson emphasizes how this impacts his reason to change his outlook on the world. Using imagery the song says “A summer’s disregard, A broken bottle top, And one man’s soul/ They follow each other on the wind ya’ know.” This talks about during the summer how people are often going on vacation and are absorbed in their own lives, they often disregard the needs of other people. This use of imagery is repeated throughout the song. All these forms of literature are used to give the main message in this song. Which is knowing that the only way to truly change the world is to change yourself, and the only way to do this is to self reflect.

Thoughts on Maria Popova’s podcast

Maria Popovas’s podcast talk about many ways to start a successful blog. The point I found most powerful was, writing for yourself. First, in her podcast she expressed how important it is to write for yourself rather than writing for other people. Then Maria stated, “The second you begin to write to or for a so called audience you’ve lost the long game.” I interpreted this as saying the only way you will truly be happy, and inspire others with your own writing is if you write to please yourself and not others. When people read something you’ve written often times they feel, inspired, the same, or just understand where you are coming from. When people look to your story that could relate to their own it often gives them hope, or looking forward to the future instead of how bad things were in the past. If you are writing to try to relate to someone often the real mutual feeling fades. Personally when I have written things in the past for teachers and heavily relied on their opinion when I wrote. If I knew the teacher disagreed I might have written an essay surrounding their opinion rather than my own. My writing would tend to not sound as convincing because it was not my true belief. However when I write about my true opinion I carry on my opinion of the topic.   This is the reason I agree with Maria that it is important to write for yourself and contribute your true feelings rather than writing what you think others want to hear.