Lesson 2: Favourite poet

Lesson 2: Favourite poet

Choose a poet by going online to a couple of the internet sites such as Poets.org ( Academy of American Poets website) or American Poetry Online. Blog on your favourite poet. Your entry should be approximately 400 words. You should include the following:

-Ask yourself why you chose this particular poet. Why is he/she intriguing? Begin with an interesting fact, quote from a literary critic, an interview with the poet, etc. and move on to a thesis (yes, a thesis) which is not just a statement of fact, such as Sylvia Plath is a deeply disturbed woman. Think about what you feel about the poet's work after having done the research; create a claim or opinion about him/her and let the reader know in the thesis what exactly you will be covering in the paper.

-Background and historical context. Biographical information is fine, but make sure that it provides insight into the writer and his/her work

-Three poems by the poet

-All outside source material or links must be cited.

The poet I choose is Shel Silverstein, I choose this poet since I came to like his poems since young as he had a laid-back and conversational style of writing and his poems were also easy to understand despite the amount of slang used. Besides, Shel Silverstein was very successful in his many careers which includes: An author, a short story writer, a poet, cartoonist, songwriter, playwright and screenwriter.

Shel Silverstein was born in Chicago (Illinois) in 1932. Shel Silverstein never planned to be a writer or poet when he was young as quoted from an interview "When I was a kid - 12, 14, around there - I would much rather have been a good baseball player or a hit with the girls. But I couldn't play ball, I couldn't dance... So, I started to draw and to write. I was... lucky that I didn't have anyone to copy, be impressed by. I had developed my own style, I was creating before I knew there was a Thurber, a Benchley, a Price and a Steinberg. I never saw their work till I was around 30."

My three favorite poems written by Shel Silverstein:

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends

And before the street begins,

And there the grass grows soft and white,

And there the sun burns crimson bright,

And there the moon-bird rests from his flight

To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black

And the dark street winds and bends.

Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow

We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And watch where the chalk-white arrows go

To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,

For the children, they mark, and the children, they know

The place where the sidewalk ends.

Messy Room by Shel Silverstein

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!

His underwear is hanging on the lamp.

His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,

And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.

His workbook is wedged in the window,

His sweater's been thrown on the floor.

His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,

And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.

His books are all jammed in the closet,

His vest has been left in the hall.

A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,

And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!

Donald or Robert or Willie or--

Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear,

I knew it looked familiar!

The Little Boy and the Old Man by Shel Silverstein

Said the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon."

Said the old man, "I do that too."

The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants."

"I do that too," laughed the little old man.

Said the little boy, "I often cry."

The old man nodded, "So do I."

"But worst of all," said the boy, "it seems

Grown-ups don't pay attention to me."

And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.

"I know what you mean," said the little old man.

Sources:

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/6166/ss/ssbio.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shel_Silverstein#Bibliography

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/shel_silverstein/poems

Lesson 1: Figurative Language

Lesson 1: Figurative Language

Watch the video at the following URL for more information on figurative language.

An Introduction to Figurative Language in Poetry

Search for your favorite poem or song lyrics on the internet or at this website http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/

Copy and paste the poem/ lyrics on your blog and answer the following questions:

1. How are the figurative language used in the poem? Give the specific word(s), explain what type of figurative language it is and why the poet chose to use this figurative language?

1. Tell us why you like this poem in no less than 100 words.

Question 1

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends

Alliteration is used in which constant sounds are repeated as shown in bold in the above poem.

Question 2

I like this poem as the author is very desciptive and always puts for example does and adds the desciptive of that action at the end of the line as underlined in the first stanza. In the second stanza, the author describes the movement of the subject as underlined in the stanza. In the last stanza, the author repeats the action words twice to emphasize the meaning.

Inspirating tips

As i was browsing through some basketball websites yesterday, i came across a blog started by a coach who gave wome tips on how to pull up your team by putting in your own effort. The blog stated that as part of a team, you must be very good at the position that you play, such as a "Centre" who specialises in taking rebounds and shooting close shots. If you are only average in that position that you play in, you must push yourself and work harder so as to pull up your team as a whole. A player should never be average, but exceptional.

Similarly, this can be applied to our real life where we are for example during group work, we should never put in sub-standard effort but put in our best, in this way we can pull up the group together.

uh oh... 2nd post reflection of the holidays

Half of the holidays are gone and it's just about two weeks before school reopens.

During school days, we would usually get back quite late and to the extend of doing our homework until late at night. On the other hand, during school holidays we would have more free time to complete the work that is due and to work on other extra ACE projects.

However, I feel that we are more work efficient during schooling days as we will feel the pressure to complete te work that is due tomorow and hence would not procrastinate. However during the holidays we do not feel that pressure and hence tend to procrastinate. Thus i feel that we should not procrastinate our work and try to complete it as soon as possible.

Bye!!! Off to do my homework.

The holidays start!

As we have been told, we would have to post a total of 10 posts for term 3, therefore i've decided to start posting regularly now instead of rushing all my posts in a week.
Another term has passed and the next one is soon to come, although a month of holidays might seem quite long, time flies... with all the homework that we have to do coupled with my CCA trainings every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
As my results for term 2 aren't satisfactory, I plan to work harder for term 3 by putting in more effort in my work as well as paying more attention in class. during the holidays i will revise on the subjrcts that I am weak in to pull my grades up.