How I Feel About Poetry

I was right in the middle of the line.  My eighth grade Language Arts teacher had asked to line up according to our feelings about poetry.  "Passionate poets need to stand near the door," she explained, "If you hate it, position yourself along the cabinets."  Completely bewildered, I walked aimlessly about for a few seconds while the classroom became a writhing mass of students all fighting for the spot they wanted.  Just as the chaos began to die down, I quickly slid between two people near the center of the line.  My teacher assured us that we would all be standing near the door by the end of the semester.  Despite her promise, my spot in line settled comfortably in the middle until Poetry Out Loud.
 

When Mrs. Gilman told us we had to memorize a poem and recite it to the class, I was only slightly unhappy.  But when I saw the criteria and read the 24 line minimum, I was horrified.  It wasn't until I began practicing that I warmed up to the idea.  I chose to learn Solitude by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.  Memorizing and reciting poetry gave me a chance to impersonate someone else and forget about the stress of school and my other homework.  When the day arrived that we were supposed to present, I got nervous.  I didn't want to forget my poem and look like I hadn't tried...But I didn't want to try too hard and look like an idiot in front of my friends either!  I had a dilemma.  As soon as I got on the little makeshift stage, however, I had fun with it.  I lost myself in the words and just pretended I was in my living room again, practicing with my dad.  When I did well, I loved it!  When I hear the word 'poetry' mentioned, it sparks excitement and also nervousness.  The nervousness is because I know that writing poetry requires pouring onto paper my secret thoughts and feelings which scares me.

Conflict

In act 3, scene III, a very important conflict arises.  Romeo says,

"There is no world without Verona walls,
But purgatory, torture, hell itself.
Hence-banished is banish'd from the world,
And world's exile is death"

Romeo is a very dramatic man, and he is comparing banishment to death.  Because being banished means a life away from Juliet and, from his romantic point of view, no life at all.  This brings out how foolish love makes people.  Shakespeare primarily uses Romeo as a tool in this not-so-subtle suggestion.  This inner struggle also exhibits Shakespeare's use of religion.  It is a common occurance for characters to compare a bad situation to being banished to hell.

Obviously, teenagers aren't banished from the city walls these days.  But they do have inner conflicts that could be life-changing.  Teenage suicide is so common these days that the statistics are heartbreaking.  Like Romeo, young men and women see no way out of a bad situation.  They fail to look to the future and realize that life will always get better.  Instead, they see death as the only option and end their life. 

Romeo and Juliet--A Classic Brought Back

My little sister loves watching American Idol.  It is incredibly annoying, but sometimes I listen absent-mindedly while I'm doing something else.  As I was sitting in front of my computer staring at a blank screen and wracking my brain for something in modern culture that had to do with Romeo and Juliet I realized that what I needed was right there.  The off-key distraction was finally helping me.  I realized that on American Idol, no matter how talented the artists are, the ones who win are the singers who fit perfectly into a mold.  They are the ones who are exactly like the people before them.  If a singer is fantastic--but unique--they will likely fail and be doomed in their career, just like in Romeo and Juliet.  (Only the stakes are much higher in the play) 

When Romeo and Juliet fall in love, it isn't accepted.  A Montague and a Capulet?!  It just ISN'T done!  In the play, "The fearful passage of their death-marked love, and the continuance of their parents' rage/Which but their childrens' end/Naught could remove" is a rare occurrance.  Their romance does not fall neatly into line with all of the other preplanned marriages of Capulet and Capulet, Montague with Montague.  I think that Shakespeare is suggesting that when people don't follow 'the rules,' they are doomed forever.