Ap Lang @nicholasb9 - Tumblr Blog

Posts

In my process of choosing a book, I received many recommendations from Mr. Kreinbring. I will not lie that I am trying to make the project process as easy as possible, but I still want to read a book that I will enjoy. After narrowing down the recommendations to "high wind in Jamaica" and "blood meridian," I had a choice to make. I chose these 2 because they had an exciting plot and a lot of criticism on them. Each book fulfilled my desire to read something with action and conflict. I read into each book to find the one that I was most interested in. High wind in Jamaica is a story of pirates and adventures in the Caribbean. I like this type of account because I feel a connection to the setting and storyline. I play a game on Xbox that follows a character through the Caribbean on a pirate ship so this felt similar. Blood Meridian is a story of the United States' westward expansion in the 1800s. I am interested in history and western stories like this. History to me, is very interesting and provides an excellent source of knowledge. I chose the book "Blood Meridian" because of the style and "genre" that the story encapsulates. Not only that, but it has a lot of criticism on it, so I will not struggle in finding quality sources. I know this book will be very interesting and fun to read, which will motivate me to learn more about the book and the author.

#aplit20choose

Replica of The Thinker- Matthew Olzmann

In my opinion, this poem is not very useful, I don't see myself thinking or really addressing much of what he says. I flat out think the poem is dull. I say this with caution because maybe I don't understand the poem entirely, or perhaps I am just looking at it from the wrong angle. There is a portion of the poem that I liked because I was able to connect with it. I connect with the idea of filling your parents’ shoes and living up to their expectations. I find this to be an authentic and challenging thing in society today. I can relate because my parents are both very successful, and I hope I am on track to be the same, but I know it won’t be easy.

The poem's title has very little significance on me because I see it just describing the poem. It doesn't add any special meaning or way to think of the poem. I say this, but I still like the title. It just doesn't belong with this poem. I wish the title were something like: "The Thinker of the Replica." This is similar, but in my mind, it creates a mysterious and more profound effect.

There is a shift in this poem after the line "my newspaper and blank stare.” This shift goes from a recollection of the past to action in the present. “The Replica” is doing precisely what a replica would do by copying and recreating a picture. The shift creates a cause and effect situation and a then and now effect.

#aplit20livingpoet

Still Life With Heart Extracted From The Body of A Horse - Matthew Olzmann

The structure of this poem really affects the way the reader interprets the meaning because he uses italics to separate different portions. The italic parts are the real-world situations and “evidence” or “events” he uses in the poem. he talks about a horse that always wins because he has such love for the game. he makes the reader think by asking questions like how do you measure heart? I replied in my mind with “work ethic, determination”. Olzmann may agree but he took a more literal approach. The Secretariat's heart was over 3 times the size it “should” have been. He takes this as his way of measuring heart, true size. I think this sheds light on his style and perspective of the world.

Olzmann talks about the differences in horses “made” here, “the gorses the kids make, here, are different.” This is him calling out Detroit, for good or bad, about its differences and place in the world. He even talks about how Detroit doesn't commonly see horses like Secretariat. He seems to allude to the socio-economic status of many people in the area. He also talks about running, how horses are always running. He then ties in the thing that the kid's horses are running from.

#aplit20livingpoet

_You whom I could not save,_

“Letter Beginning with Two Lines by Czesław Miłosz” by Matthew Olzmann

The first thing I notice when looking at this poem is the structure. It is consistent the whole way through and it creates an odd effect. Every stanza is 2 lines and there are no special breaks. if you read each stanza and then pause before going to the next stanza, the last few words create a connection to the previous lines even though they are part of a sentence in the next stanza.

“Today, there’s another shooting with dead kids everywhere. It was a school, a movie theater, a parking lot. The world is full of doors.”

when you read “The world” it made me think it was part of the previous sentence about where a shooting could take place. This adds to the whole effect of the poem and adds to the meaning of previous poems he has created. He writes about the world and its problems and its flaws and this is just another example of him expressing that.

The title of this poem is very interesting because it directly relates to the structure. The first part, “letter” I took as him saying this is me writing to the world to discuss my concerns. Olzmann likes talking about the world and people and the problems so it makes sense he would do this. Next, “beginning with two lines” I see it as him explaining his first to lines: you whom I could not save, Listen to me.” which are in italics. This is his callout to his audience. the people who he really wants to get to and change. I think the first to lines means he regrets not being a big enough voice in society or gun violence and other certain social issues. I really appreciated how he started the poem off because it gave a cool meaning behind it all.

#aplit20livingpoet

My Invisible Horse and the Speed of Human Decency - People always tell me, “Don’t put the cart

I like this poem; it an amazing metaphor of society and its problems. I see it as the horse representing the person or thing that pushes for change. The cart is the content that they want to change. This poem shifts from being about how he doesn't have the power to create change to what he sees society needing. This shift happens at the line, "I'm not asking for much.". I think he establishes this shift to highlight the differences between him and society. Society has many issues, and he shows one of them as being lazy: "LOL, says the world. These things take time, says the Office of Disappointment. Change cannot be rushed, says the roundtable of my smartest friends." he says that the government offices have been unable to please society and unable to create change when it's needed. I like his confidence in creating this metaphor because it makes the topic a much more complex idea. I didn't understand the poem until I got to the second half of the poem. I thought he was talking about a cart and a horse, but when he included the government policy and change, I realized what he was saying. I like that I was able to understand his metaphor early but not know what it applied to because it makes you think and wonder what he is talking about.

#aplit20livingpoet

Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years from Now - Most likely, you think we hated the elephant,

As I'm reading this it is very interesting to see the forecasting of what he thinks the future will hold. For example, “We still had the night sky back then, and like our ancestors, we admired its illuminated doodles of scorpion outlines and upside-down ladles.” These lines are assuming that the future won't have beautiful blue skies and cool star constellations. This really reminds me of the real world because even though these things are not directly talked about today, the climate is still a big topic, so I believe that this poem talks about the results of climate change and the way we treat the world. I really liked this poem because it really connects to my life. In 50 years I hope to be alive and I would like to see how accurate he is. I think the title of this poem wraps up the whole idea, I like how mystical it makes the whole thing feel. I think this allows the reader to really embrace the ideas that he is proposing making the poem even more interesting.

#aplit20livingpoet

Astronomers Locate a New Planet - Like the universe’s largest engagement ring, it twirls

I read the poem “Astronomers Locate a New Planet” by Matthew Olzmann and I really liked this poem because it was not an easy read and it had me wondering what a lot of it meant. But one passage:

“Things grow everywhere, and so much is possible,

but on the news tonight: a debate about who

can love each other forever and who cannot.”

I can understand this passage much more and it really stuck out to me. this passage talks about how love is flowing and always starting and ending everywhere but the public always undermines it with their views and creates a stigma that people get behind. One big thing that I really disliked about this poem was the openness and wonder that all the lines create, I think it creates a cool effect but it makes the poem a million times harder to understand. When I first read this poem it made me think of a time when I was younger when I didn't understand the world, and I didn't know how what certain things meant. I was up at my cottage and I was sitting outside on the lawn, late into the night, watching the stars hoping to see something far far away. I remember my mom telling me “do you see the milky way” and I just stared and stared until all the stars became one.

#aplit20livingpoet

Replica of The Thinker - By the doorstep of The Museum,

Matthew Olzmann was one of the few poets that I looked at but he was the one that stuck out the most for me for 2 reasons. He is from Michigan, and his work is very natural. In his poem “Replica of The Thinker” he really connects with me because he writes with unfeared bluntness. Also, I connected with this poem when he wrote about the idea of filling your parents' shoes and living up to their expectations. I find this to be a very real and challenging thing in society today. I can relate because my parents are both very successful and I hope I am on track to be the same but it won't be easy. One drastic thing that many people may overlook when reading Matthew’s poems is that they are not always easy to understand. He uses very complex word combinations and intricate sentances that create a confusing story. This is not necessarily a bad thing but it is just something that can trick people if they are not careful.

#aplit20livingpoet

tommyiscool26

My Mentor Poet- Ben Wilkinson

Ben Wilkinson really caught my eye when he had recently written a poem on a sport that I really love. Wilkinson’s poem on tennis was an instant draw in for me as it’s one of my main sports. Aside from tennis, I also saw that some of his poems were related to life and everyday concepts that apply to everyone. Some of these poems include “The Catch” and “Days.” He describes concepts that really opened my mind to rethink the little aspects of my life that have a significant amount of importance. Looking at some other poets such as Chase Bergunn and Steph Burt, I really couldn’t connect aswell or have as much interest as I did with Ben Wilkinson. The genres and the topics that Ben Wilkinson writes ultimately influenced my decision on choosing him as my mentor poet. Below is his most recent poem titled, “The Champion” which relates to the intensive nature of tennis. He scales down to the simple forehand shot but exaggerates the complexity and the necessary aspects a player must have for success.

The Champion

Because what I love best is the sweat,

swift force of will supplanting strength,

forehand cross-court with enough spin

to take your head off. Watch the racquet

warp above his glare, fighter pilot’s

propeller throttling on the ascent,

dent after dent in his opponent’s

confidence, winners he’s no right to hit.

Who wouldn’t want to watch that, grit

and graft above effortless grace?

Beauty’s for amateurs; success a story

of setback, repetition. Persistence

makes the moment you’ll watch again

and again, a burst of chalk or clay

as time and space bend to make way.

nicholasb9

Tommy, I really like how you talked about why you were drawn in, you didn't just say, “I really liked his writing” you gave good specific reasons why you liked him. I read his poem “Days”(linked here), I really was attached and attracted to his parallel sentence structure, I think it adds to the story of the poem and makes it more connected. Overall I really like this Poet and I think I will be reading more of him in the future.

#aplit20livingpoet

It's not just billionaires who are benefitting from runaway inequality.

#united states #economic inequality #middle class #working class #social class #aplang19secondary

John Cochrane explains how America should focus on growth, not economic redistribution.

#aplang19secondary

Income inequality is bad enough, but wealth inequality is way worse.

This article will help me articulate the difference in class and wealth in America. I hope that I can use this article to illustrate the details that are necessary to this topic.

#aplang19secondary

It’s 30% more expensive to be middle class than it was 20 years ago, according to a new book.

As you can see, this article takes a strong position in saying that America’s middle class is being destroyed. This article will assist me in explaining about wealth and the economy. I believe that this source gives me good information about our economy. I chose this source because it really stuck out, with how it was taking a huge stand behind this idea.

#aplang19secondary

briacampbell3

Secondary Sources for Becoming By: Michelle Obama

https://www.vogue.com/article/michelle-obama-december-cover-interview-first-lady-white-house-departure I found this interview that Michelle Obama did with Vogue Magazine and I think that in this interview, for me at least, I could feel the emotion not because it was all emotional necessarily but because it was nearing the end of the Obama occupancy of the White House and I think that with all this reflection Michelle Obama realized that change is happening which she acknowledges multiple times stating “It’s enough. Because it’s important to have one foot in reality when you have access to this kind of power,” which I think shows that she is accepting and ready for change.

nicholasb9

Bria, I think you have chosen a very good secondary source here because it can expand and extend on many ideas that are already in your book. Your secondary source will help you a lot with connecting and discovering deeper thinking

#aplang19secondary

briacampbell3

When I read this passage what stood out to me the most was the bluntness of the tone that she was using here. She is very straight forward in what she is trying to say and the lesson or point she wants to prove in this passage. What really stood out to me though were the last three sentences because they reminded of some of the gender role discussions we had earlier in the year. I liked this because it shows change not only in gender roles, but how she is accepting the change in her family life, because it’s so often that the Mom would cook dinner and wait for the Dad to come home from work and they all eat together, however I like how she gives it straight here. She is saying that she doesn’t want her own daughters to be stuck in some sort of patriarchy when they have their own families she is saying that it’s okay not to wait, it’s okay to move on because there has to be change at some point or another.

nicholasb9

This is very interesting because tit shows the great independence of Michelle Obama. This also shows how her personality is very organized and defined by herself and not others. This is a good trait to have and she knows it, so she uses it to her advantage. The idea that she is happy even with the hardships she was put through is very strong and hopeful to the people who were not as lucky as her.

This passage is really interesting because it shows how many Americans aspire and dream of having more but they don’t actually take the action to get there. This connects to class in America because for the most part the people who are in need of more money are on the lower class obviously so this shows that people who are in the lower class have prejudice that they deserve more than anybody.

#aplang19reading

This secondary source by the NYT is really good because it explains and extends the idea of money and class.

#aplang19secondary

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Ap Lang