Week 12

5 Onion Style Headlines

1. KOBE BRYANT "ASSISTS" LAKERS IN WIN OVER MINNESOTA.
2. LINDSAY LOHAN GETS FOR D.E.A. IN LOS ANGELES.
3. MCILROY RETIRES ON NIKE CONTRACT, EQUIPMENT TO HARD TO USE.
4. MCDONALDS SALES INCREASE ON FISH-O-FILET, DROPS BIG MAC FROM MENU.
5. COURTNEY COX JAW HIT'S FLOOR DUE TO LATE BOTOX INJECTION.

Week 10

1. The light blue room glows as the bright light shines through the window. To the left stands a big cherry red dresser with six drawers and gold old fashion knobs on each. The dresser has a huge mirror on top that reflects almost the entire room when you look at it from the doorway. On top of the dresser there is anything a girl can dream of, 12 or 13 perfumes all in line, each smelling beautifully of different scents of summer. There is also pounds upon pounds of makeup, mascara, eyeliner, foundation, you name it. At the back of the room sits a tall double cherry sleigh bed with a big blue fluffy comforter that matches the walls. The comforter has brown circles on it which matches the pillow cases and a blanket that lays at the end of the bed. On top of the 5 pillows there are 3 teddy bears, one big, one medium and one small sized. Next to the bed there is a small square shaped cherry night side table with a black and white reading lamp on top. Next to the lamp there is two tv remotes both small in shape and a half eaten box of chocolates. On top of the box of chocolates is a photo frame with a picture of 5 girls in it. On the other side of the bed there is a tall cherry dresser with 5 drawers and gold handles on them. A small flat screen tv sits on top of this dresser with a fibre op box. The floors of this room are a tan brown with little lines of dark brown inside, it's smooth and cold. At the front of the room next to the door there is a wide four door closet with two big white knobs. The closet is filled with dresses and shirts of a variety of colors and textures. Last but not least behind the door there is a hanger with a bright pink cotton robe and a few blue and red sweaters.

2. As you walk in the light from the window brightens the light blue room. In the room there is a double bed with a night side table and two dressers. One of the dressers is tall with a tv on top and the other has a mirror and a bunch of makeup and perfume. All the furniture is old fashion and cherry color. Next to the door there is a closet filled with clothing. Behind the door there is a hanger with a robe and a few sweaters hanging from it.

3.  As you enter through the big white door the light shines through the window on the light blue walls. At the back of the room sits a big cherry sleigh bed with a comforter and pillows to match the light blue walls. At the end of the bed sits a brown fuzzy blanket that matches the comforter. Three teddy bears sit on top of the bed. To the side of the bed there is a small square nightstand with a reading lamp and chocolates on top. The room also consists of two dressers, one tall and skinny, the other short with a mirror on top. Both dressers have old fashioned golden handles. Next to the door there is a wide white closet with two handles. Once you open the door the closet bursts with colorful clothing. On the back of the door there is a handle with a few sweaters and a big pink cotton robe hanging from it. This room is clearly meant for a teenage girl as the room is filled with bright colors that match and big fuzzy blankets.

Week 9 (2)

1. Ernest Hemingway's "Hills like White Elephants" is a short story illustrating talking versus communication.
     1. The couple doesn't actually communicate, they use small talk to get through there trip.
             1."That's all we do, isn't it-- look at things and try new drinks?"
             2.  The couple uses small talk about scenery to try and put of the conversation about abortion.
     2. The american man attempts to communicate with the women about abortion but they have different           opinions
             1. The man tries to persuade the women into getting an abortion, he thinks its best.
             2. The women is indecisive and thinks the relationship will not be happy after an abortion
     3. The couple never understands each others point of view.
             1. The couple doesn't try to listen to each other, they basically have their own conversations with                                   themselves.
             2. The man continuously persists to talk about having an abortion, as the women tries to get him to stop talking, neither realizes what the other actually wants.

Week 9

1. "Dead Men`s Path" by Achebe is a story about the conflict between animist beliefs and modern ideas.
         1. The headmaster doesn't understand the cultural views of the villagers
                 1. The headmaster closes the villagers sacred path without understanding the importance of it.
                 2. "I don't suppose the ancestors will find the little detour too burdensome."
         2. The priest doesn't understand the headmasters modern ideas.
                 1. The priest explains the tradition of the path and tells the headmaster to keep it open.
                 2. "this path was here before you were born and before your father was born.
         3. The villagers protest against moving the path
                 1. "But I remember there was a big row some time ago when we attempted to close it."
                 2.  When the headmaster closed the sacred path the villagers destroyed the schools property.

Week 8

IPhone 5 Review, is it really that much better than the 4s?

The Iphone 5 was released in September of 2012 and was said to have many excellent changes from the 4 and 4s. In December of 2012 I received the Iphone 4s and my friend bought the 5. Upon getting these phones we observed the differences. The most visible changes in the Iphone 5 is the taller screen and the thinner, lighter body.  I noticed that holding the 5 was sort of uncomfortable since its thinner its probably more easy to break. Unfortunately when observing the 4 and 5 I noticed the battery life is approximately the same which is crap, and unlike what was announced the Iphone 4 and 5 have approx. the same speed when using apps. Although the camera is more clear, the phone is lighter, and its supposed to have a faster 3G speed I feel as if purchasing the Iphone 5 if you already have the 4s is a waste of money. I also think that Apple should have waited until they find LOTS of excellent changes before making and releasing the 5.

Week 5

The Dark Day

We're all dressed in black

And its pouring down rain.

My mom is sobbing in the back

We're all going insane.

How could this happen?

Nobody knows what to do

Yesterday he was talking 

But today he just didn't come to.

We all knew there wasn't much time

Though we wished the doctors lied

But we didn't expect it to be this soon

Today my Grandfather died.

The poem "The Dark Day" is 12 lines, 3 stanzas with the rhyme scheme abcb. The speaker uses the form and rhyme scheme of this poem to contribute to the tone of the poem which is sad and serious. The speaker wrote this poem from her memories of the day her grandfather died, while she was on the way to the hospital. The content of the "The Dark Day" such as "We're all dressed in black and it's pouring down rain" contributes to the very serious and sad tone of this poem.

Week 4

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke the speaker is that of a grown man who speaks about his childhood with his drunken father. The attitude of the grown man seems to be ironic therefore giving this poem an ironic tone. The poem's tone is ironic because the title portrays that the poem will be upbeat while the poem is about a grown man remembering bad memories of his drunken father.

Throughout "My Papa's Waltz" there are many different lines showing the audience that the speakers father was harmful which contributes to the ironic tone of the poem. For example when the speaker says "The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle;" which shows the readers that his father was abusive and his memories were not pleasant. This contributes to the ironic tone because at the same time the father and son are "waltzing" which is supposed to be a dance of love.

Week 3

Uni Life

University has been pretty hard for me,
Lots of new faces, little time and no money.
The change is not what I expected it to be,
My boyfriend tries to tell me "it'll be alright honey".

My grades dropped, theyv'e gotten low,
It has made grade school seem like a big joke.
I miss the friends I used to know,
And pizza Wednesdays with a large coke!

My level of stress has gotten high,
Between all of these assignments and written tests,
I wish this semester would just fly by,
Please MUN just give it a rest!

Maybe if there was more time in a day,
All these troubles I would not have to say.

I started this poem by writing the first line of each stanza and figuring out what to rhyme each line with. I knew the direction of the poem once I finished the first 3 lines 'a,b,a'. I didn't really use much poetic language in the poem, I just focused on trying to get the poem to rhyme correctly. I tried to fit in a form of poetic langauge by using imagery. For example I used auditory imagery when I wrote 'my boyfriend tries to tell me "it'll be alright honey".'

Week 2, Friday

'We Real Cool' Gwendolyn Brooks 

This poem contains 4 stanzas with 2 lines each, every line ends with the word 'we' excluding the last line. Every sentence in the poem starts at the end of the line. Gwendolyn uses poetic language such as alliteration; "Lurke late" and "Strike straight" are both clear examples. 'We Real Cool' is a poem describing the lives of a group of friends. Most likely these friends are into trouble since it says things like "We Lurke late" and "We Left school". The poem ends with the phrase "We Die soon." This phrase relates to context and form. It is the only line that doesn't end in we, which shows we are at the end of the poem. At the same time the phrase could mean that the group of friends get into so much trouble that they realize the won't live much longer.

'landscape: 1.' bp Nichols

Nichols created this poem with no punctuation, not even spaces. The poem is one line long and underlined. The poem has just one phrase, it says 'alongthehorizongrewanunbrokenlineoftrees'. The content relates to the form because each letter represents a tree on the horizon (the underline) and since there is no spaces in the poem, the trees are in an unbroken line.

Week 1, Friday

Song choice: Ed Sheeran - The A Team

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0dnp5E8FMo

 The song "The A Team", written by Ed Sheeran, has many forms of poetic language including figurative language. One example from the song where figurative language is used is when Sheeran says "Slowly sinking, wasting, Crumbling like pastries", in which Sheeran is comparing the woman's face in the song to a pastry because of the way they crumble using a simile and visual imagery. Obviously the woman's face is not crumbling but it is in fact slowly wasting away due to the life she has and what she puts herself through. The simile helps the listener visualize the woman's face wasting away. Another form of poetic language used in the song is metaphor. For example, when Sheeran says "and sells love to another man." In reality the emotion of love of is not something you can just "sell", it is something within us, but the way Sheeran uses it in this song is to show to listener that the woman in the song is a prostitute who in fact sells her body for money and not actually her love. 

The song is written with 5 stanza's and is un-rhyming. There is no periods throughout the song until the end. Sheeran does this to intertwine the form with the context of the song because over the course of the song he uses the phrase 'angels fly' quite a few times but then the song ends with 'angels to die'. This symbolizes the death of the unfortunate woman as well as the end of the song.

Week 1, Wednesday

In my opinion the most appealing critical approach McMahan explains is the formalist approach. Although all of the others are important, formalism appeals to me the most because I feel it is the most clear and concise critical approach that McMahan explains. I liked this approach the most because I usually take this approach when reading such as poems, stories, etc. I feel that all the other approaches McMahan explains are focused on one topic only while formalism covers everything. For example, the historical approach only focuses on the history of the poem and looking at the piece of literature as the original audience would have. Unlike the historical approach, formalism deals with the poem as a whole. Formalism deals with trying to connect all the separate features in the piece of literature.

The poem I chose to analyse with formalism is: 'Blues' bp Nichol 

This poem is a free verse. Nichol uses no punctuation and just 4 letters to make up the entire poem: l,o,v and e. If you read the poem from the bottom up you will realise it is the same as reading the poem from the beginning. The poem is in the shape of a crossword puzzle and if you look at different angles, love is always the answer.