Poetry Journal #7

Cesar Sanchez

AP Lit.

February 22, 2007

Contemporary Poet: The Computation

S: Someone who did not necessarily value what they had and unfortunately died.

O: Being dead but wanting to finish what you left behind.

A: People who know what it feels like to lose a life.

P: To see that one may die without expecting it, therefore love is not guaranteed.

S: Losing love because of death.

Tone: Reflective.

For The Last Time- By Cesar Sanchez

The first time I looked at thou,

I did not see what other saw nor did I believe thou were true.

The complexion of thou face,

I only dreamed to embrace.

But I did not speak with my heart,

And never gave us a start.

When thy wanted to be with you,

Thy couldst start the love thy wanted to pursue.

Yet now thy know that I,

Could of loved thou before I died.

I wrote this poem with similar structure to “The Computation” because I felt it would be easier to understand the poem in regard to its meaning. I used the same pattern for my end rhyme as John Donne did because it puts an emphasis on words that have an important meaning. In addition, just by reading the last word of each line, one can get a sense of what the poem is about therefore proving that the last word play a huge role in the poems overall message. I also used a variety of economy of words because one can see that I included a type of Shakespearian language. (Thou, thy, etc...) Last but not least, I made sure it contained the same amount of lines as the poem by John Donne because I wanted to make it short, yet informative at the same time.

Poetry Journal # 4

Cesar Sanchez

AP Lit.

February 15, 2007

Comparative Critic: It may not always be so; and I say

S- Someone who let go of the one they loved, so she could be happy.

O- It can be a wedding, or also a place where you lose the one you love.

A- People who can relate to the feeling of losing a loved one.

P-So people can see how much someone may be in love that they are willing to let go of their loved one so they can be happy.

S- Letting love go.

Tone- Losing love.

Poem I connected it too: “Come and Go” by Steve R. Shirk

So fitting are the melodies
Softly playing in your heart.
Think of moment's beauty lift
Until the second we must part.
Fascinations' running wild
Option's open wide all gates.
Longing's for that gentle sway
Given to the one who waits.
Leaping into desolation
Reaching out with lonely eyes
Seeking long awaited answer's
Fighting through emotion's lies.
Loosing all constructed pride
Now giving in to chance
Fame once more this sleeping love
Awaken our long lost romance.

These two poems have the common theme of losing love. They both describe how one may love, but it is never guaranteed. Love can quickly fade away; therefore keeping it is a challenge itself. Both of the poems have end rhyme, which adds a deeper meaning to the word love. The end rhyme itself could be a separate poem because the economy of words used describes how love can be easily lost. Although the second poem has a speaker was unable to actually love the person they cared about, Cummings actually writes to someone he loved, but let them go in-order to see them happy. By comparing and contrasting these two poems, one sees that love is complicated and may not always be the best feeling in the world. Especially when you lose the one you love.

Poetry Jourbal #4

Cesar Sanchez

AP Lit.

February 8, 2007

Personal Response: “I am accused of tending to the past” by Lucille Clifton

S- Someone who is reminiscing about the past and how they had a child.

O- The occasion could be giving birth to a child.

A- The audience is someone who can relate to the poem and how having a child has affected them.

P- The purpose is so people can see how the past and having a baby affects a human being.

S- The subject is how the having a baby will affect not only ones future, but the baby as well.

Tone- Reminiscing about having a child and how it affects individuals.

This poem relate to my life because I have to live with the past of my family. A past that not only haunts my life, but makes it harder for me to understand why I had to mature at a very young age. My mother was not supposed to have me, but an unexpected pregnancy lead to my existence. I was not the last to come out of my mother womb, but I was the one who suffered while she maintained a job to support six children. I may not have been attended by my mother every minute to make sure I was fine, but I was able to understand that she was not ready to have a fifth child at that time of her life. Now that I am older, I have noticed that amongst the Latin culture many girls are getting pregnant without realizing the consequences. They are unsure of how they will manage a child, but they are quick to decide if they want to have one. The circumstances they try to raise a child are not always the best, but they do create a stronger character out of the child and the mother. Together, they may learn that life is not always easy and one must work hard to be able to live another day. In addition, I also believe that the poem describes how the past of ones parents affects our future. We are not able to decide the actions are parents make before we are born, but we are capable of being placed into certain circumstances. Especially if the past is not something positive, rather negative, that will affect a child for the rest of their lives.

Poetry Journal #3

Cesar Sanchez

AP Lit.

February 8, 2007

Forgetfulness: Contemporary Poet

S- Many individuals who forget about incidents or moments in their lives.

O- The occasion could be at any setting or moment in someone’s life.

A- The audience would be people who are very forgetful and can relate to the poem.

P- So people can relate to being forgetful.

S- The subject of the poem is being forgetful and getting older.

Tone- Reflecting on incidents or moments that can be easily forgotten.

Letting Go by Cesar Sanchez

At birth, one comes into a world full of mysteries and secrets,

that are quickly forgotten when the path of life leads one into a certain direction.

Our first steps become the beginning of our new lives,

which suddenly distinguishes who we are and what we will become.

The interest one had for a toy car no longer is important,

Nor the kiss one’s mother gave before the first day of school.

Next thing you know you are receiving a diploma wondering how you got their,

And what will become of your life.

You give no importance to what you have been through,

And forget about everything you cared for.

Suddenly, you let go of what made you unique,

And let society corrupt the mind that set you apart from everyone else.

I decided to write a poem using the same style that Billy Collins used in, “Forgetfulness”. I liked the structure he chose, which made his poem convey its message in a manner that one understood everything he wanted to convey clearly. I tried to include a wide range of words that gave the poem a stronger meaning of forgetting about where one came from.

Poetry Journal #2

We Wear the Mask by Paul Lawrence Dunbar: Literary Critic

The speaker of this poem can be not only an individual, but a group of people who go through life acting a certain way, even though they may want to be something else. Through the masks, the individuals hide all the pain they have suffered. The occasion of this poem could be anywhere at any time. The audience seems to be people who know what it feels like to have to live life a certain way, even though one may be very unhappy. The purpose of the poem is so people can realize the suffrage and unhappiness that many individuals have. They try to hide this unhappiness, but inside it is killing them. Because they wear the masks, no one realizes all the pain they have gone through. The subject is those who go through life trying to conceal something that is causing pain. The tone of the poem is unhappiness, because although one may try to hide all the pain, it is killing them.

I believe the author is effective in conveying his message through out the poem because his use of words creates a strong imagery. It is easy to visualize what the people have gone through, which makes the poem very strong. The rhyming also adds to the message of the poem, because it gives it a flow in which one can understand what is going on. The fact that the line, “We wear the mask”, is repeated through out the poem many times only emphasizes how the group of people act as if nothing is hurting them. Through the masks, they hide all of the pain that they feel and act as if nothing is wrong. I feel like a strong connection to this poem would be how slavery changed the lives for many individuals. They suffered so much pain but had to live with a certain mask on so that no one would see how much they are hurting. Through the connection to slavery, it makes it easier to see the message of the poem. To see how far people are willing to go to hide all the pain they have suffered and do not want many to know about.

Poetry Journal #1

Minstrel Man by Langston Hughes: Personal Response

The speaker of the poem can be any individual who goes through life without expressing their inner thoughts. There is no specific age limit, because any individual has times where they feel hurt inside. The occasion can be at any time of the day because people have ups and downs at any moment. In this case, the audience is people who can relate to the poem. It most likely represents individuals who holds feeling inside and act as if nothing is bothering them. The purpose of the poem is so that others can see how people may act a certain way to hide the fact that they are hurting inside. The subject is any individual who knows what it feels like to try and hide something that is upsetting them. In addition, the tone of the poem is not only sad, but also secretive. So many people go through life holding all of their feelings inside, which only ends up ruining them in return. The poem is short in length, but their so much meaning within the words expressed. The diction provides an image that makes it easier for the reader to experience what is going on in the poem.

This poem connects to my life because I live life like this everyday. It is hard for me to express how I feel, therefore I hold everything inside. I am the type of person that will act like nothing is wrong, even though I am hurting inside. I feel like many individuals through out the world, are similar to me. Nobody wants to be seen weak or vulnerable if they express their emotions out loud. I do not express my emotions and hold everything inside because I am used to it. I have been keeping everything to myself all my life, which is hard to change it all of a sudden. I feel like everyone at some point in their life can relate to this poem. Nobody is able to express how they feel every single day, so they may act otherwise to hold back problems that are occurring in their lives.

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Life is too short to reminisce about the past,
Knowing that nothing will remain the same or even last.
Living life to the fullest is all i am going to do,
Because i do not want to end up being shot or looking like a fool.

Tomorrow is never promised but i will not have regrets,
Because I will not end up like my brother, I will be a success.
My life is changing as time passes by,
But i wont live life asking myself why?