Animal Farm Poem

Rebellion.
The word filled them with pride.
Finally, freedom for all
But still no rules, only fearless leaders
They needed rules, to keep things just.

Snowball, with a brush in his hoof, wrote
Each rule, one by one, until complete.
the rules read:

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol
6. No animal shall kill any other animal
7. All animals are equal.


entitled the Seven Commandments, and so they would be forever and ever.

Napoleon and Snowball bickered and clashed, each one knew what was best.
one day Napoleon came with dogs
Fierce, cruel, ruthless.
Snowball gone forever
order at last.
However the pigs were sleep deprived
Too smart for hay bales
And slept in beds without sheets
The rules, after all, stated clearly
No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.

Farmhouse life was good for pigs
Food, comfort, wealth
But they wanted more.
Whiskey. Found in the cellar.
Maybe just a few drops
The rules did say
No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.

Then the fateful day arrived.
Into the yard they came.
Each one came, but they could tell
Anyone could sense it.
As Napoleon spoke, fear grew
Snowball a traitor. A spy. A liar.
There were others too.
First came pigs. Some hens were next.
One by one the animals confessed.
And were killed.
Shocking. Unbelievable.
But the rules did say
No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.

Life went on. Not much changed.
The pigs got fatter
The animals got thin, cold, hungry
Working too much to notice
the rules had changed.
One single rule remained
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Poetry Out Loud Performances

I watched several Poetry Out Loud performances from 2009 and the one I liked the best was Stanley Jackson reciting "Sympathy" by Paul Lawrence Dunbar. What I really enjoyed about this performance was that he seemed to really grasp the meaning of the poem and he put a lot of emotion into the way he spoke. His performance was very dramatic, but it was a very dramatic poem so his dramatization worked well. Stanley also had excellent voice and articulation throughout his entire performance.

To me, this poem is about never giving up. The poet understands why a caged bird still sings after it has tried time and time again to escape from its cage, and he has sympathy for the caged bird. I think that the message that the poem is trying to portay is that even after you have tried to get a better life many times, you should never lose hope, and continue to "sing". In the poem, the poet shows the caged bird's sadness and grief, but how he still continues to sing and try again. Stanley Jackson showed the extreme sadness of the bird by putting a lot of emotion into his performance. I can definetely see why this performance was chosen to be in the finals.

Mockingbird Motif

Before reading To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, my understanding of a motif was very different. I thought the motif was almost the same thing as a theme, and I didn't understand the difference. However, the motif of a mockingbird in this story helped me to come to the conclusion that a motif is more like a reoccuring symbol in a piece of literature.

The mockingbird motif comes up many times throughout the course of this novel. It is first introduced to the main character Scout, by her father Atticus, when he tells the children to "never kill a mockingbird". The mockingbird is also referred to after Tom Robinson's death, when Mr. Underwood, the newspaper editor, relates Tom's death to the "killing of innocent songbirds". Finally, at the end of the story, Scout seems to have grasped this idea of not killing a mockingbird when she tells Atticus that bringing Boo Radley to court would be almost like killing a mockingbird. All these quotes are examples of the motif of an innocent mockingbird. To kill something so innocent and naive is almost like killing a mockingbird, because mockingbirds never do anything wrong, and have no reason to be killed.

Life Lesson

Some of the best advice I have ever been given is something that my mom told me in second grade. My best friend and I had been fighting for a while, and I came home almost every day upset about what had happened at school, asking my mom what I should do about it. One day after school I was describing the events of the fight that day, and how horrible it had all been. My mom listened patiently to what I had to say, and then she told me to "let it go, and move on". I wasn't satisfied with this answer at all, I wanted the problem to be solved, and I wanted the last word.

It wasn't until a few years later when I realized the importance of this advice. It is important that you don't hold onto things forever, eventually you have to just let it go in order to move on with your life. Carrying worries and grudges with you everywhere burdens you and weighs you down, making it harder for you to move on. This simple piece of advice helps me almost every day of my life, and I am so glad I was taught this lesson.

Characterization- My best friend

hmmmm... my best friend... well I have never really been the type of person to have just one best friend, I have a lot of really good friends.So I will write about the friend that I have know the longest... my friend Shana. Some of my earliest memories have been with Shana, and she has been there for as long as I can remember. Even though she lives far away on Lummi Island and I live here in Olympia, we have managed to keep up our friendship, despite the distance.

My friend shana has blondish, light brown hair, is around average height (but of course taller than me), and is very strong and in shape. She is 11 months older than me, and is almost like an older sister. She always knows what to do, what movies I should see, and is great at giving me advice on life. Shana would never attend a school dance or game, and rarely shops at the mall. She is an excellent ski racer, and could do almost anything athletic.

Shana is a very spunky opinionated person, and she doesn't care what others think of her. I admire her greatly for this, most people are not as confident as Shana is. She is also very independent and sure of herself. Maybe the reason that we have stayed friends for so long is becuase we make up for each others weaknesses. We are nearly opposites! Shana is very adventerous and athletic, while I am more cautious and acedemic. But yet we always find something fun to do when we are together. I think that Shana and I will always be friends, despite our differences.

My Earliest Memory

From the time I was born until I was almost three, my family and I resided on Lummi Island, a beautiful island off the coast of Bellingham, Washington. There were a close knit group of infants and toddlers living on the island when we lived there, and once or twice a week a different parent would care for a few of the children besides their own.

A lot of the time, I would go to my friend Shana's house while my mom ran errands and such. At the time, Shana and I were very much into baby dolls, bottles, and teddy bears, and Shana always had the best baby toys. She had a real pacifier, a bottle with cows on it, lots of dolls, and my favorite; a pink teddy bear that played music. I always wanted to play with the pink teddy bear, but she always told me that it was her "special" toy and I couldn't play with it. I distinctly remember her mom having to carry her off kicking and screaming because she wouldn't share her teddy bear with me. Whenever I get to see Shana, we always laugh about this incident, and to this day, she still has her special pink teddy bear.

A Separate Peace- Motif

In "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles, the main literary element is by far motif. Over and over again the symbol of war occurs in Knowles' writing. In occurs in many different ways and forms. The main plot of the story is about the war between the main character (Gene) and his best friend, but while this war is happening, World War II is also a very big part of the boys' lives. Everyone is tangled in this web of war, and in almost every paragraph there is something mentioned about "The war". The story also revolves around Gene's inner war within himself. He wants to be a better person, and be more like his best friend Phineas, but he struggles with what he really believes, and who he really is.

Another major part of the story is the horror and consequences of war. You really begin to realize how terrible war is when one of Gene's friends goes crazy from being in the war. Also, you see how misunderstandings can lead to fighting and wars. Over the course of a year of Gene's life, he learns how wars are caused by the ignorance of human beings, and he begins to understand why people should not hate one another. He finally grasps the reason his friend Phineas was so remarkable; because he never hated anyone, and was not ignorant enough to start any wars.

Outside Reading

When I read the first page of "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles, it captured my attention right away. The first chapter takes place when the narrator has been out of school for 15 years, and is revisiting Devon School; the private boarding school that he attended. This flashback made me want to find out what his high school experience was like, and what brought him back to see it again. The second and third chapters weren't as exciting... they were just background information to let the reader know what exactly was going on. But I managed to get past these somewhat boring details, and into the meat of the book. I can't say that this book is the best I've ever read, but it is fairly good, and I am enjoying it.

The main literary element at this point in the book is either imagery or tone. It is hard to decide between them, since they both are pretty prominent. Imagery is a huge part of the story because the author is constantly providing images to enhance the events taking place. The story is written through several seasons, so imagery is very important to let the reader know the current setting. However, tone is also a key part of "A Separate Peace" because a main part of the story is the somberness of the situations and plot. It is necessary that the author uses these literary techniques so that the reader can begin to see what the theme is, and what we can learn from the story.

The tone of this novel is somber and emotional. Gene, the main character, has feelings and thoughts constantly running through his head, and a lot of the plot is based on emotions. For the most part, the tone is dreary and solemn. In a few chapters, mostly towards the beginning of the book, the tone is bright and cheery, but as the characters mature, the tone becomes much more serious, and you can begin to grasp the meaning of the story.

Reading

Reading is a powerful thing. I can still remember the feeling of extreme achievement I had when I first learned how to read. I felt like I had become part of a special club, that my parents and relatives had been part of for as long as I could remember . Reading is one of those things like riding a bike. Once you learn how to read, you never have to learn again, its always there. Forever! Its a pretty amazing thing.

When I first open the cover of a book, I take a deep breath and begin to read. I always pay special attention to the first page of a book because most of the time it lets you know whats going on, where the book is taking place, and you can start to get a grip on what the author's tone is. Often, the first page of a book doesn't really grasp my attention, and I have to keep reminding myself that "this book was recommended, it must be good," or "it will get better soon." But sometimes books just don't get more interesting. When that happens I have to force myself to read and suffer through it until the bitter end. After reading an extremely boring or difficult book though, I always reward myself by reading an easy fun book, and everything turns out fine.

Sometimes I am forced to read in loud, crazy environments, and I have to adapt. Usually I try to block out the distractions and get totally into the story, but sometimes this method fails. But what always works for me is to blast classical music on my ipod (yes I know, classical music is lame but it works!) so loud that I can't hear any of the other noises. Classical music is the only type that works because it completely drowns out everything without being distracting itself. Try it sometime, you'd be suprised at the results.

After I begin to understand what is going on in the book, I become fully absorbed in the fictional world the author has created, and I can read the book anytime, anywhere. That is why I read. So that I can get that feeling of comfort and excitement that you get when you become completely wrapped up in a good book.