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.

Romeo and Juliet: 4/30

I can personally relate to Benvolio. Benvolio is more carefree than Romeo, and is always having to console him after each of his lost loves.  He tells Romeo, "Be ruled by me.  Forget to think of her./By giving liberty unto thine eyes.  Examine other beauties."  He doesn't get involved in the dramatic conflicts of love.  I have a few friends who feel like time is coming to a close when a certain guy doesn't return their affections.  My other friends and I are constantly comforting them and telling them that it will be alright.  These romantic friends are like Romeo in that they are shortsighted.  They do not see that one heartbreak-causing boy in 9th grade will mean absolutely nothing to them later in life.

Reading Romeo and Juliet has been interesting.  Certain scenes are very easy to read and understand, while others may as well be written in Greek.  I have found that the most helpful resources are the footnotes on the left side pages and class discussions.  I feel like I would understand everything more if we had ungraded socratic seminars more often without being prepared with questions.  If it weren't for the "grade" fear, I think people would talk more which would liven the discussion and increase understanding.  The most difficult things in the book for me to understand are puns.  I never, ever catch them!  The words are rarely used, the jokes discreet.  I hope we discuss more of the puns in class--I worry that I am missing a huge chunk of the book without catching the puns!

Wrapping up Great Expectations

Appearances and status do not equal happiness and contentment.  In Great Expectations, everything that falls apart is based off of appearance and money.  The central theme suggests that life filled with simplicity is the key to happiness.  In life, friendships should be built off of a connection with someone's inner personality.  In society, things are very different.  Many friendships are developed for the sole reason of raising one's own "status."  People are drawn to those with money, talent and good looks.   Is this ingrained in our minds, due to human nature?  Or is it a habit that evolved over time, fed off of by a need to feel important?  Unhealthy friendships occur because of this twisted sense of companionship that places so much importance on competition and appearances.  Every person is unique, yet somehow society manages to corral people into groups and smack labels onto their foreheads.  The most twisted part of it all is that the pens of people have nothing in common on the inside.  They have a few physical similarities.  They are trapped together, barricaded from others by invisible walls ten feet thick.  There is a lot more to people than what can be understood at first glance.  At the grocery store, good food comes in all colors and shapes of bottles and cartons.  People should base opinions not on what someone is born with, but what they do with themselves.

Thoughts on Great Expectations

I was not thrilled by the end of the book!  It was boring, inconclusive, and overall just an unsatisfying close to a very long story.  I am sure that everyone hopes that Pip and Estella will fall in love at the end, just as I do.  Despite my disappointment, I enjoyed reading Great Expectations, and I feel like it helped me grow and evolve as a student.  While reading certain sections, I had trouble putting it down.  Other times, however, I had to force myself to sit down and read.  The storyline was a great one, one that we can all relate to.  As small children, we take things day by day and enjoy every minute of life.  As we grow older, we look forward to things in the future and expect more.  We are less easily satisfied with our lives.  It is a sad but true fact, one that Dickens captures perfectly in Pip.  Pip's life story was one with many turns!  I have to admit, I didn't guess the answers to any of the mysteries before they were revealed.  I was surprised by every outcome!

Reading Great Expectations wasn't a chore, but it wasn't always enjoyable.  I usually ended up reading late at night after I had finished my homework, so I didn't absorb as much as I would have reading with an alert mind.  Each time I sat down, I would force my eyes along the page so that I could finish and go to sleep.  Only when I reached an exciting part did I get lost in the story.  I wish that we could have read less each night.  It would have made the reading easier and less tedious.  It was all very achievable unless I didn't understand something.  I tried looking on Sparknotes, but the site  doesn't add details and is sometimes wrong.  I would end up forgetting what I didn't understand, which would lead to further confusion later on.  Another thing that slowed me down was annotating.  I strongly dislike having to stop reading every 45 seconds, get out my pencil, and shove a little sticky note into the book.  It required so much hassle that I would usually lose my place and have to start at the beginning of the page again.  I began simply writing in the book with pencil--I am not looking forward to erasing it all!  I understand that it is important to mark important events in our books for later reference, but it reduces what I absorb during my reading sessions!    I wish there were another way to keep track of certain places in the story without distracting myself and making it impossible to get lost in the Pip's world.

Photo Post

I feel that this photo accurately represents Great Expectations.  Each and every character says one thing, and does another.  Although actions speak louder than words, they are usually only a shadow masked by a false exterior.  Miss Havisham leads Pip to believe she is his benefactor.  Compeyson acts like a smooth gentleman; when in actuality he is a mischievous, evil conman.  Pip grows ashamed of Joe, someone who truly loves him.  Betrayal is a common motif in Great Expectations, and this picture depicts it perfectly.