Quote Response #5

I had to remember this one in 8th grade so I thought it would be appropriate since there was always one line I never forgot. I read The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost for this blog entry. The last stanza is the most important and two lines specifically, "I took the one less traveled by,/And that has made all the difference." This just shows that you need to think carefully with every choice you make in life, and not just the big things, but also the little. By taking the road less traveled by it means that maybe it wasn't what everyone else was doing, but that it was best in the end. These words are important to remember because it proves that you will always have choices to make and that you will remember them forever. I think that it's an important poem to read, and it gives young adults insight into many of the challenges they will face. This quote specifically reminds me that I have made some good and bad choices but they have all made a difference in how I am today.

Poem Paraphrase--"Counting the Beats"

I read the poem Counting the Beats by Robert Graves. I really enjoyed this poem, I find it to be romantic and it makes a person stop and think about their lover. This poem is about a man and a woman who are "counting the slow heartbeats" of each other while laying under the open sky and enjoying the moment together. They don't want to stop and think of anything else, they just enjoy the peace with each other and want to focus only on that. The stanza I find most important is:
Not there but here,
(He whispers) only here,
As we are, here, together, now and here,
Always you and I.
I think that this stanza shows the connection the two people have to each other and it makes the reader have a feel good moment. I think this poem is great for those bad days because it will lift your spirits and make you feel better.

Quote Response #4

I read Alfred, Lord Tennyson's The Splendor Falls on Castle Walls. I found this poem lighthearted and fun. One line I found most interesting was "Our echos roll from soul to soul,/ And grow for ever and for ever." I find it fun that Tennyson wrote of the echos around the world to grow from each person and to never perish. I like the idea that hills, mountains, and plains all have their own "voice" and we each get to experience that.

Song Quote Response

I am doing a response to my favorite song of all time, it is "Miss America" by Something Corporate. Here are the lines that always seem to jump out of the song at me:
"And I don't care if you don't love me
And I don't care if you don't change
And I could live inside the shadow that I cast for you
If it meant that you would stay"(McMahon)
I think these lines are critical to the song, these words show how much the person cares about their lover and that they would do anything for them. It is a sad song, but I think its important because it shows the truth in a real relationship...people lie, cheat and cry. These lines specifically just show that despite the hell from all those things, a person will still bend over backward for the one they love. I like this part of the song because I think that it shows how dependent we can be towards the people we love, but not in a bad way. I think that if a person loses who they love, they will do or say anything to get their love back regardless of how much it could hurt them in the long run. This is only a bit of the song, and the whole song is amazing. I would love to ask why Andrew McMahon wrote this, what caused him to come up with the lyrics and what he personally thinks of this song. It has been the song I turn to when I feel happy or sad, it is my favorite song and I am greatly appreciative that it was made!

Haiku!

I am doing a Haiku for this blog...I'm not a great poet, but I will try.

From light between the
Trees within the forest night
Oh beautiful bright

Yes, cheesy poem...but I tried, and it's way harder than what it looks!

Poem Paraphrase--"A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM"

For this blog I read "A Dream Within a Dream" by Edgar Allen Poe. This poem is about a person at the beach realizing that all can be unreal. That maybe the things you have in your hands will perish and be lost forever. The lines that make me say this are:
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
You can see that the person in this poem has realized that life is short and that even if you do the best you can, somethings cannot be changed or saved. So this person realizes that everything is like a "dream within a dream", it's all so wonderful but can be gone in a flash.

Quote Response #3

I absolutely LOVED the story The Gift of the Magi. One quote that jumped out at me most was, "Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first" (O Henry). This quote just shows how much he loves Della too. The whole story is about Della doing whatever she can to get a present for Jim, and then he comes home and has been doing the same for her. I think that this quote is special because he tells her that it doesn't matter what she looks like, he will always love her. It's romantic and I really enjoyed the fact that Jim went out of his way for her as well.

Freestyle #2

I am currently reading a book called The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery. This book was something that caught my eye one day at Barnes and Noble, its a little more eclectic than I normally read and that was what drew me in. One of the main characters is a hotel maid in a very ritzy hotel in Europe. She is very intelligent but chooses to remain silent about it because she doesn't want the people living in the hotel to wonder why she is poor. I find this so odd. If I were as smart as she is, I would want to flaunt it all over! The other main character is a child whose parents live in the apartments inside the hotel, she too is quite intelligent for her age. She writes in her journal, and it is no secret from the beginning of the book, that she is choosing to commit suicide. I haven't finished it yet, so I'm still unsure if she does fulfill this task, but I don't quite understand why someone so young would already have those thoughts, (she is 12). She says in one entry, "say what you want, do what you will with all those fine speeches on evolution, civilization and a ton of other "-tion" words, mankind has not progressed very far from its origins: people still believe they're not here by chance, and that there are gods, kindly for the most part, who are watching over their fate," (Barbery, 52). This is a very intriguing quote especially for her age. She has so much wisdom and such profound thoughts that it amazes me that she is so miserable. I think that is is possible that she has no beliefs in anything and this causes her to feel as though there is no point in existing. I do like to think that my life has more to it than just speeches and "-tion" words, however I must agree with her thoughts on people wanting to put so much into the belief of someone watching over them. Just such interesting thoughts for someone of her age. I am quite excited to finish this one.