Literature Circle Blog - "Trouble"

My essential question was "Is it better to avoid trouble or to deal with it?" In the book the author states "If you build your house far enough  away from trouble, then trouble will never find you." Based on the book I do not agree with this. For example in the beginning of the book Franklin is a bully because he is mean to Henry. Henry does not want to see that Franklin is a bully so he avoids that matter. Henry's family also looks up to Franklin because Franklin is a good athlete and he does good in school, but they are also trying to avoid that Franklin is a bully just like Henry is avoiding it too. Even though they avoided trouble it still found them because Franklin died and they realized he was a bully. At the end of the book Henry accepts that Franklin actually was a bully. When Henry deals with this he is able to climb the mountain to show Franklin he is strong.

For my topic I am focussing on the separation of races. According to the article "Donald Trump's campaign cancels rally as protesters pack the crowd" Donald Trump is for the separation of races, but the protesters are against Trump, they are against racism. The main point of the article is many people are protesting what Donald Trump says. For example, the author states "Trump has a problem, though. Many leaders of his own party do not like him. They and many others say Trump is spreading hate. They say he is making his supporters turn against Hispanics, blacks and people from other countries." In this quote it is showing that Trump is trying to make people turn against other races but people do not agree with him. The author of this article takes the issue of separation of races and shows that it is wrong.

In the book Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt, Chay's Parents believe that different races should stay separate, and the other characters in the book support this belief. For example in the book, Chay's parents state, "Remember you were Cambodian before you were American... And you don't fall in love with American girls." In this quote it is showing the characters'
support for the separation of races. The author of the book takes the issue of separation of races and shows that the characters believe in it.

The article and the book both relate because the main topic for both is about racial hate, as I said in the paragraphs. The authors use this information differently because in the book the characters believe in the separation of races, but in the article protesters do not support Trump's belief in the separation of races. 

Poetry Reflection Blog

Poetry is important in my life because I can connect to poetry. I can connect to poetry because sometimes poems say what I am thinking. For example in the Shel Silverstein poem titled "Nope," it talks about a person that looks into things a lot. This can relate to me because I always look very closely at things and sometimes think too much about them. If I find out too much or think too much about things, it starts to stress me out, just like the person in the poem. When I connect to poetry, it makes me feel like I am in the same shoes as the person in the poem. This is important because it makes me not feel alone. I think poetry belongs to everyone because I think that everyone can connect to poetry. When people connect to poetry, they feel as if they are not alone. Also poetry can belong to everyone because everyone can interpret poetry differently.

The life of a poet affects what they write about because their life experiences show through their poetry. For example, a lot of poems are about love. If the poet falls in love in their life, or they have an experience with love, they will write a poem to express their feelings. In the book Bronx Masquerade, the kids talk about their struggles in life. They do this to express their feelings.

I am choosing my "Where I'm From" poem to analyze for the one I wrote, and Zorro for the one I read. The "Where I'm From" poem is structured so each line begins with "I am from" and is an aspect of my life. This contributes to the meaning of the poem because the poem is supposed to be all about where I came from and my background in life. It is structured to show all the important things in life that make me who I am. The lines do not have to rhyme but you have to always say where I'm from in the beginning of each line because it's about your background. The words and phrases that I chose have an impact on the poem because I chose specific words that would really tell my story. These are things that I remember from when I was little. These were the important things in my life. 

 The poem "Zorro" is in first person, and that makes it seem like you are reading a personal experience. Also, the poem is in the shape of a Z, and because of that, it shows Zorro's personality. In the beginning of the poem, the poet uses words like "On cue", "As expected", "I understand my role" to show that he is doing everything that everybody wants him to do. People expect him to act a certain way because of who he is. In the middle of the poem this changes. The poet uses words like "But I'm done", "Lose the cape", "Step off the page" to show that now Zorro is being who he wants to be. He is no longer being who everybody wants him to be. The poet compares being an actor to people expecting you to be a certain way. Then at the end, the poet says "Put down your camera. Second, give me your hand." This means he wants people to see him for who he really is.

Nonsense Poem

"The Boy That Was Forced Into The Taliban" (A.O.W poem)

"The Boy That Was Forced Into The Taliban"

You were praised for your bravery,

Just like a superhero,

You were shot,

Just like they shot the man in the top hat,

And you left behind a mother, two younger sisters and three younger brothers

It is tragic how they had no sympathy for you,

They didn’t even try to,

You were a very intelligent boy,

Just like albert Einstein

You were forced in battles against the Taliban,

You fought in war,

Just like the soldiers,

And you attended school.

Inspired by this article: "11-year-old Afghan boy, hailed as hero for fighting Taliban, killed by militants"

Bio Poem - Diondra

Diondra

Tall, student, artist, poet

A character in the story Bronx Masquerade

Lover of  art, drawing, poetry

Who notices people making fun of her, people making fun of her height, and her dad making mean remarks

Who feels sad, happy, in the middle

Who learns to stand up for herself and show her true colors

Who used to think she was worthless, but now knows she has values

Major character in Bronx Masquerade

A book that shows students that slowly learn to accept themselves

Character Development

 The book Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes is about a group of teenagers that are all facing different struggles. Their teacher Mr. Ward introduced something called "open mic Fridays" where they all share a poem on Friday. The main character/narrator of this book is a character named Tyrone. I am going to pick Diondra as a character that changed.

In the beginning of the book, most people thought since Diondra was so tall, that she liked sports, but she really didn't. What she did like was art, but her father had a problem with it. At the end of the book Diondra says "If I can get into an art school, I'm going." This shows that she accepted who she really was

I think one element of the story that effects Diondra is her father. Her father is always telling her that she can't do this or she can't do that, but in reality her father is just tearing her apart. When her father says those things, it makes Diondra feel like she can do nothing. She cannot show her ture colors because her father does not approve of it