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Thursday, May 2, 2013

Magnetic Poem


Eternity
I bleed desire & brilliant life
As broken marble flowers die
All time and thing must melt
Yet never open the wild sky
Only let decay linger like perfume
Breathe in the fire & the universe
Whose vast heart heals all and kisses
Dirt & makes eternity


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Fellow Students Poetry Response


Garrett Kitchen
May 1st, 2013
For You by Kai Ishi
For You by Kai ishi is a happy poem from the perspective of an abstract noun. Ishii uses a lot of imagery and describes many concepts and objects using colour. Ishii’s noun talks a lot about giving nice things to people, and performing nice acts for them, so I think his poem is probably from the perspective of happiness or generosity. Another reason I think it is generosity is Ishii capitalized every “Y” in you or your. This adds importance to the reader, and not the one giving. Ishii doesn’t follow a rhyme scheme, and only rhymes in four different places if you count the approximate rhyme. Ishii’s rhymes add a lot of flow to the poem, but the approximate rhyme seemed unintentional, “times when the radio plays Your favorite song and when the bullies at you’re school are gone...” Ishii uses a lot of alliteration in the poem, which adds flow and energy. For example, “The cupcakes and sugary sweets and slides and swings are all from me..." Ishii’s poem is a great example of imagery with all the colouration description and just the plethora of describing words he uses, “The beautiful butterfly’s and white doves and the pink gum you chew...” Overall I think Kai Ishii’s poem is very happy and grand, and it was very generous of him to write it with so much imagery and personality.

the Days are the nights by Kate Mcleod is a deep, moving, confusing poem that is from the perspective of an abstract noun. I think this poem is from the perspective of fear or anger, because the poem is fairly creepy, and written so mysteriously it leaves the reader in an awe inspired fear. Additionally, The name of the poem is: “the Days are the Nights” If I  literally experienced a day being a night I would be  very confused and scared. The title could also be figurative, it could mean that when one is consumed by fear during the day it is so awful it is like day being night. This poem also has many elements of poetry. It has alliteration “poison powder drop..” It also has a couple oxymorons. For example, “Holding on to letting go...” Which is also an example of assonance in the poem. Mcleod also put a metaphor in her poem, “The night is my waitress, the shadows my kitchen, and The chef I become.” Overall this is a phenomenally written poem, and portrays fear very well.
           

Braggin' Rap


Garrett Kitchen
May 1st, 2013
I am the Greatest
Yo I am the man
I spit the illest rhymes in all of the land
Sicker than you when you barfed
In that trash can.

Hopped on this track
Right out the back
Of the rhyme factory
And that’s a known fact.

People think I spit bad rap
Cause I can’t keep a beat
When my fingers go snap
Don’t need my mommy
Sit on my own lap.

I don’t need the fame
I own this rap game
Other rappers are lame
And even you say the same.




Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Limericks


Garrett Kitchen
April 29th, 2013
There once was a boy from McKoo
Who accidentally bought some shoes
He wore them a lot
But one day he forgot
When he took them off and drank too much booze.



There once was a man from LeBass
His humor was truly quite crass
He told many jokes
At the expense of most folks
One day they made him eat grass.



There once was a kid from the sky
Who knew how to fly quite high
He caught many birds
Who took many turds
But that’s not true it’s a lie.






Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Poetry Response #3

Garrett Kitchen
April 24th, 2013
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost is a poem about how The Author came upon a time in his life when he had to choose which path, or what he would do and be like, in life, and he chose the on less taken. The poem is one giant metaphor for subconsciously making the decision of what to do in life. This poem doesn’t have too many elements of poetry that actually relate to letters and syllables, but it has very good imagery and lyricism. This poem has the rhyme scheme ABAAB, and Frost strictly follows the scheme throughout the entire poem. I think the Frost put a strict rhyme scheme in such a serious poem, because he wanted to show that serious things can be playful, but also to make the poem flow better, and to lighten the mood a bit. This poem also has some assonance using double “l”s, “ I shall be telling this with a sigh”. Additionally this poem has some repetition in a few places, the first line repeats as the eighteenth line, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,”. The difference is after the first line Frost talks of how he has to make a decision and he is sorry he cannot travel both, but after the eighteenth line it talks about how he took the path less traveled by. Because the Author made the title of this poem: The Road Not Taken, I think it is about not just choosing which path to take, which the bulk of the poem seems to be about, but also about wondering what taking the other path would’ve been like, because if you take one path then there is another path left not taken. Frost uses certain words that help the poem flow, but also make it seem more meaningful, as if he wants to show the poem is worth using seldom used words to make the poem sound important. For example, “In leaves no step had trodden black.” also “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” Frost could’ve said Two roads split in a yellow wood, but he said diverged, and that flows better, and sounds more intelligent and special.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Seasinal, Nature, and Technology Haikus

Garrett Kitchen
April 23rd, 2013
The warm summer sun
Starch white clouds and blue skies
Nature is freedom



A small black spider
Catches an obnoxious fly
He is not that bad



My cellphone vibrates
Or is it the Mighty Earth,
I answer my text

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Abstract Noun Poem


Garrett Kitchen
April 18th, 2013
I have seen the tendrils of fear slowly constrict man
Consuming him until he is a babbling idiot,
The whole human race amidst my world
One flick away from utter and complete anarchy,
The brutal cleanse of my wrath,
The truth of my ironic immortality.
I send my plagues on currents of wind,
To help me on my life’s purpose,
To purge the world of hateful people, of evil in human form,
But I can never be a hero
The truth of humanity is my beauty.
I’d rather be like the rain, cleansing the world peacefully,
Wanted in most places, as simple as supple survival and nourishment
Like ambrosia for the Gods,
I’d rather be like emptiness, hurting no one, but
Always present everywhere, existing with everything,
I’d rather be harmless than a power that grips all.
I know not what every meaningless opinion of mortality’s slaves
But I do know the pettiness of combating me with frivolous opinions
Thinking “I will be different, I will not conform to unwritten laws
That bind and contort beauty to a muttering old creature
And make all things peaceful in the end.”
I say I come to perform an evil dance
With devils or angels it does not matter
For hiding from perpetual truth, and unavoidable occurrence
Is not a challenge but an impossible task
Don’t they know I only wish to experience my unbeing and eerie existence in peace.

Poetry Response


Garrett Kitchen
April 17th, 2013
in a middle of a room by E. E. Cummings
in a middle of a room by E. E. Cummings is a sorrowful poem about a man’s last moments before suicide. At first I had trouble understanding with all of Cummings’s odd uses of punctuation and in some place the lack or replacement of a word. For example, “The is blond with small hands” Cummings didn’t use the word man even though that is what I interpreted what he meant. he possibly didn’t use the word man, because he wanted to convey that he man is about to take his life and cease to exist, so he is no longer a man. Cummings also replaces the word “the” with the word “a” in the first line of the first stanza, “in a middle of a room” And in the last line of the first stanza he replaces “himself” with “a” again. “smiling to a self.” “stands a suicide” instead of saying stands a man about to commit suicide or stands a man, Cummings chose to call the man a suicide. This could possibly stick with the theme that the man is about to become nothing, and even now minutes before he takes his own life he is not a man but a suicide. in the third line of the poem it says: “sniffing a Paper rose” I think Cumming capitalized paper because he wants to emphasize that the rose is not real, but made of paper. In the second and third stanzas of the poem, which comes closely after the paper rose line, the man speaks about the how and why the rose is paper.
"somewhere it is Spring and sometimes
people are in real:imagine
somewhere real flowers,but
I can't imagine real flowers for if I

could,they would somehow
not Be real"
(so he smiles
smiling)"but I will not

everywhere be real to
you in a moment"
The man not only speaks about: how the flower isn’t real, but somewhere it is spring, so imagine real flowers. Following the imagine real flowers line the man talks about how he can’t imagine real flowers because if he did they wouldn’t be real. This line shows how sad and depressed he is, because even if he imagined real flowers, they would somehow not be real, and that is because he imagined them. Additionally, he says “but i will not...” and the stanza ends. I think Cummings put this at the end of a paragraph because he wanted it to be a part of the “for if I could,they would somehow not Be real” part, so it goes they would somehow not be real, but I will not. The reason the quote doesn’t end when the stanza ends is because it is a part of another one. “but I will not everywhere be real to you in a moment” What the man is saying is that the flower imagining doesn’t matter because he is about to become not real, like the flowers, in a moment. At the end of the poem Cumming puts this:
“(a moon swims out of a cloud
a clock strikes midnight
a finger pulls a trigger
a bird flies into a mirror)”
Once again the author uses “a” instead of “the”. More importantly it is like the poem ends, and the parentheses signify that this is an action not narration or the man speaking. The man stops talking, and then this happens and so I think as soon as he finishes talking he kills himself. I think this because of the “a finger pulls a trigger” part of the final stanza. The ending of this poem is very eerie, because in the same second the man kills himself it turns to midnight, a moon shows by coming out of the clouds, and a bird flies into a mirror.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Noun Poem


Garrett Kitchen
April 18th, 2013
Abstr(a c t)
Happiness is vibrant purple bumpin’ bass
Success is explosive gold paint on a blank canvas
Dreams are confusing green enchanted forests in an alternate universe
Loneliness is empty white space
Envy is dense black storm clouds
Sorrow is dull gray skies forming storms
Fear is painful black serpents twisting knots in your stomach
Death is brutal red Armies slaughtering each other

Monday, April 15, 2013

Poem Response: "i sing of Olaf glad and big" by E. E. Cummings


Garrett Kitchen
April 11th, 2013
Poem Response: i sing of Olaf glad and big by E. E. Cummings
        “i sing of Olaf glad and big” by E. E. Cummings is a poem about a kind man named Olaf who was disgusted by war, and spoke out against while in the army and was beat for it, but kept talking badly about it and was tossed in a jail where he died. I think the military men beat him so brutally for speaking his mind because they were afraid that his beliefs were accurate. It seems as if Cummings was fond of Olaf for he had sympathy for Olaf in the way he wrote the poem. Also E. E. Cummings didn’t capitalize any letters in the poem including I, but he capitalizes the “O” in Olaf and that could partially be because it’s a name but I also think it is to honor Olaf. Also the when Olaf was speaking in the poem the “I”s were capitalized, but when it went too E. E. Cummings’s narration the “I”s were lowercase. I observed that in many of Cummings’s poems he plays around with capitalization, word and letter placement on the page, and different uses of grammar and punctuation, but in this poem he doesn’t tamper with much at all except to emphasize Olaf. I think Cummings did this out of respect for Olaf. He didn’t play around with grammar or punctuation much, but in the third line of the poem he puts a hyphen in the word objector. “a conscientious object-or” I think this means that Olaf is a conscientious objector of the military and its views or he is just a conscientious object, that means to the government and system he is not a person but an object among many other expendable objects. This poem tells the story of Olaf, but also is bias in his favor and because of this promotes nonconformity to an extent. This poem gets very gruesome at times which I think the author used to his advantage so that he could convey how brutal Olaf was treated. “unless statistics lie he was
more brave than me:more blond than you.” this was the conclusion to the poem, which was eye opening in the sense that speaking one’s mind against a powerful force can end up in bad things happening to someone. After reading this poem a few times and digesting it, I realized that this poem must be a true story of the poor Olaf, or it could be a fictional story made up to show the power of the government, and speaking one’s mind. But as long as the reader interprets it the way they want, and takes something important away from the poem, what does it matter.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Vs. Poem




Chaos
Vs.
Order
Drunk
Vs.
Sober
         Gangsters        
Vs.
Lawyers
Gangs
Vs.
Law Firms
Crime
Vs.
Law
Anarchy
Vs.
Control
Ignorance
Vs.
Knowledge
Nuclear War
Vs.
World Peace
Nuclear Fallout
Vs.
Pollution Free World
Scratched
Vs.
Smooth
Dirty
Vs.
Clean
Stressed
Vs.
Calm
Broken
Vs.
Working


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

List Poem



Garrett
Kitchen
Things That Never Die
The Vastness Of The Universe
The Power Of Energy
The Products Of Culture
The Knowledge Of Information
The Sting Of The Truth
The Emotion Of Stories
The Rawness Of Words
The Malevolence  Of Thoughts
The Pureness Of The Soul
The Nostalgia Of Memories
The Many Faces Of God
The Rush Of Life
The Emptiness Of Eternity
The Peacefulness Of Death



Thursday, March 14, 2013

Ender's Game revisit Anticpation Guide



Garrett Kitchen
March 5, 2013
“Lying is Justifiable if it's for the greater good.”
After reading Ender’s Game my opinion on lying hasn’t changed. If anything, reading Ender’s game has helped strengthen my arguments and opinions against lying. Although if the only way to save the world, in Ender’s case, or to benefit the greater good is to lie then it may be okay, but still no very justified. If one lies they must be prepared for the anger of the people they lied to. “He began to get angry…dodging their congratulations, ignoring their hands, their words, their rejoicing.” (296-297) This quote is from the part of the book where Ender kills the planet in the game, and Mazer tells him that he was actually commanding the third invasion. The fact that Ender was lied to about such an important even, even to save the world, angers and upsets him, and he pushes away his peers and acquaintances.
“Sometimes violence is the only way to solve a problem.”
I rated this a two for my last anticipation guide because “usually there is a way around solving a problem using violence, although it is harder to accomplish your goal and can take more effort to solve the problem nonviolently.” Reading Ender’s Game has changed my rating to a four, because I agree with this statement. In certain situations when an enemy is hell bent on destroying you, the only way to solve the problem is to act violently. “If I’m to walk away from here, I have to win quickly, and permanently…This time it will be my body that breaks, unless I break him first.” (209) This excerpt from the book is when Ender is realizing, after trying to talk Bonzo out of it, that the only way to walk out of the fight is to brutally beat Bonzo, violently. The only time that one is going to solve their problems violently (when that is the only way) and it can be avoided. Is when the bullied or victim in the situation is going to confront their enemy, and they’re the one coming to their enemy, they can talk to them and try to remedy the situation in non-violent ways.
“It is okay to kill someone in self-defense.”
Before reading Ender’s Game I rated this statement with a four, and after reading the book I rate this statement with a four. In the past I rated this as a four because “…if someone is trying to harm and maybe kill or molest you, and you can stop them, they usually deserve to be killed and if you're okay with the moral and legal consequences then it is okay.” My views and reasons for agreeing with this statement haven’t change much, although another reason it is okay to kill someone in self-defense is on accident, obviously if one accidently kills someone then they were probably being pretty aggressive, and in their heart of hearts they had the intention of killing their assailant. If anything Ender’s Game has taught me this philosophy. “Ender knew that at this moment he might be able to walk out of the room and end the battle. But the battle would only be fought again…The only way to end things completely was to hurt Bonzo enough that his fear was stronger than his hate…I didn’t want to hurt him!” (211-213) Even though Ender was claiming to not want to hurt Bonzo, that killing him was an accident, his heart’s true intention was to cripple and possibly kill Bonzo. During the fight he knew he had to be brutal and vicious towards Bonzo, it is simply the nature of human preservation.

“Words are stronger than fists.”
In the past I rated this at a four, because I thought that fighting could be avoided in almost every situation and replaced with words, but my opinion has shifted to the view that the remedy to a problem really depends on the situation and the people involved, therefore I rate this statement a three. For example when Ender sent a message out that read “I love your butt. Let me kiss it.”(51) Using Bernard’s name instead of fighting him, because Ender knew he could solve his problem with sabotage instead of physical violence. Although during other situations Ender acted violently because he knew that in that situation it was the only way to solve his problem. “This would not have a happy ending. So Ender decided that he’d rather not be the unhappiest at the end…Ender kicked out high and hard, catching Stilson square in the breastbone. He dropped.”(7) This excerpt from the book is when Stilson and his pack of cronies are harassing Ender, so he decides the only way to solve the issue of never being bullied again is to beat up Stilson, using violence.
“Bullies hurt others because they have low self-esteem.”
After reading Ender’s Game my opinions on this statement haven’t really changed. I would still rate this a three, the only thing that really has changed is that the book gave me more alternative reasons to why Bullies hurt others. I rated the statement a three, because bullies do hurt others because they have low self-esteem, but they also hurt other for a plethora of different reasons. Bullies can hurt others because they enjoy making others suffer, or because it is the only way they know how to communicate with others, or the way they were raised could have given them that nature, or because the bully has too much honor. “You’re such a genius, you figure out to handle me.” (209) This quote is what the bully character, Bonzo, said to Ender before they fought. It is an example of how Bonzo has low self-esteem, so he is mocking Ender about how smart he is, when really he is jealous of Ender. Bonzo also has copious amounts of honor, so because Ender was four years younger than Bonzo, but still better in everything he did, it threatened his honor. At one point in the book, at the part where they are about to fight Ender taunts Bonzo and it really makes him angry. “Your Father would be proud of you. He would love to see you now, come to fight a naked boy in a shower, smaller than you, and you brought six friends. He would say, Oh, what honor…Shut your mouth, Wiggin.” (208-209) Bonzo gets so angry because Ender made him realize that the way he was acting gave him less honor, and that his father would be ashamed of him.
“Only the best and brightest students should receive the best education to become a nation's leaders.”
In the past I rated this a four, but after reading Ender’s Game I rate this a three. My views on this topic didn’t change because of what was in the book, they changed because I had more time to consider how I felt about this, and to realize my past opinion was a bit arrogant. I rate this a three, because I think that the people who have proven themselves best fit to lead nations should receive the education for it.  It seems as if a lot of the people fit to lead will be the best and brightest, although there are always people who aren’t the smartest, but are some of the best leaders the world ever has.
“Revenge is never justified.”
After reading Ender’s Game I rated this two, just like before I read Ender’s game. I disagree with this statement, because I think Revenge definitely is justified in many situations. Although there are contrasts in every opinion, especially this one.  I think that revenge isn’t always justified, and if one is taking revenge on a relative of their tormenter just because the actual tormentor is gone, well that is not justified or humane. In my first anticipation guide I said “A Jewish person wanting to get revenge and hurt the modern day, 2013, Germans isn't justified because they weren't there for the holocaust it was their ancestors, so they didn't make that decision. They don't deserve the harm the person might inflict on them.” In the book when Ender kicked Stilson in the chest to get revenge for and make him stop making fun of him (7).
“Crying is evidence of weakness.”
I rated this statement a one before reading Ender’s Game, because I strongly disagreed with it. After reading the book my opinion hasn’t changed at all, except that I disagree with this statement even more. One can cry out of joy or sorrow, not because they’re week, but because crying is a way to express and feel different emotions. If crying was evidence of weakness, then having emotions and expressing them would be week. If someone one was close to died, they cry because they want to show they cared about the person, and that they’re sad that the deceased person is gone. “…tears seeping out of his closed eyelids and disappearing in the water on his face… I didn’t want to hurt him! Ender cried. Why didn’t he just leave me alone!”(213) Ender was crying after he unintentionally killed Bonzo, because he needed to convey that he didn’t want to hurt Bonzo, and he was sorry he did. Additionally, the crying showed that Ender was unhappy that he cause more pain and suffering.
“Any action is acceptable in war.”
In the past I rated this a one because I completely disagreed with this statement. After reading Ender’s Game, I rate this a three because I think certain actions that wouldn’t be justifiable in regular life would be justifiable in war, but certain actions aren’t even justified during war time. If a solider goes to one of the civilian’s homes of the enemy’s country and then tortures his family in front of him because they’re enemies, that isn’t justified. It’s disgusting and inhumane, and even if it’s war time and there’s chaos, that doesn’t make it okay. “Of course we tricked you into it. That’s the whole point, said Graff. It had to be a trick or you couldn’t have done it.” (298) I picked this quote, because it is a good example of actions that are justifiable and not justifiable in war. Lying to a teenager to get him to perform better during war is justifiable. But lying to a teenager in war to get him to cause the genocide of a race is not justifiable. This is because; stopping one from making the decision that causes the genocide of an entire race is sickening and inhumane.
“Teenagers need discipline and rules because they can't control themselves.”
In the past I rated this a three, because “teenagers need discipline and rules, but not because they can't control themselves. I think they need rules and discipline because they're learning how to function in the world, and without rules they would go crazy with their freedom.” And after reading Ender’s Game I will continue to rate this statement a three, because it really depends on the teenager’s personality and their intelligence. It can go either way. In the book Peter beats up Ender and terrorizes him, which causes part of his life to be miserable, but if their parents disciplined Peter, Ender’s life could’ve been better. Also Ender doesn’t need very much discipline or very many rules because he is son intelligent and controlled that he sets his own boundaries, and doesn’t make amateur mistakes.
“Only through personal sacrifice can someone create positive change.”
Before reading Ender’s Game I rated this a two, because I disagreed with this statement. After reading the book I rate this three, because there are other ways to create positive change. One doesn’t have to sacrifice very much to create positive change, in some cases all they have to sacrifice is a little bit of personal time. In other cases time, money, and emotional fire is sacrifice to create positive change. In the cases with more sacrifice more change is created. In the book Ender personally sacrificed a lot to create the positive change of the Buggers being gone. This is an example of if you sacrifice more the change is greater.
“Generating compassion for your enemies is the only way to create peace.”
Before reading Ender’s Game I rated this a five, because I strongly agreed with it. After reading the book, I agree with my statement. As long as your enemy is left over from a war, they will still be your enemy. The only way to create peace with your enemy besides generating compassion for them is completely killing every last one of your enemy, even the women and every single child of theirs, and all their allies or semi-allies. After being the major participant in the xenocide of the Buggers Ender generates compassion for them. “..always Ender carried with him a dry white cocoon, looking for the world where the Hive-Queen could awaken and thrive in peace.” (324) Ender hunts for a place to rehabilitate the Buggers, to create peace with them.