Theme and summary

I read a poem the other day, I have been thinking a lot about it lately. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. This poem is about leaving behind a bad place, and going into the unknown. 

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

I think my favorite part of this poem is where it says "let us leave this place where the smoke  blows black" I think that is saying that you have to let the past be in the past and not worry about it, you have to move on and forget about it. The real life issue illustrated in this poem is showing how it may be hard to leave the past, but you have to keep moving forward and keep your head held high. I think it is also saying that we follow the path that is marked out for us, because we don't know any different. We are taught to go where we are told, so that is what we do. The poem has an underlying meaning that is saying "don't go with the forsaken path." Or in other words, it is ok to go where ever you want in life, and make your own future. But in real life, people are afraid to make their own choices, so they follow the ones that are already set for them.  

Characterization

A book I have recently read is Evermore, by Alyson Noël. I'm going to talk about characterization in this book. The characterization was written amazingly. The main character, Ever, was a dynamic character. I know this because in the beginning of this book, she did not care for a new student at her school at all. She said she hated him in fact. Then at the end of the book, she was actually the new students girlfriend. So you can see how her perspective on him changes if she starts dating him. Some quotes to support my idea is on page 74, the beginning of the book. "I don't like him! I mean, how else can I convince you I that? Just tell me and I'll do it!" In this part of the book she was talking to her friend who liked the new student Damen. Her friend thought that Ever liked him, when she didn't. That's happened in the beginning of the book. "'I love you,' I whisper. 'And I love you.' He smiles, his lips seeking mine. 'Always have. Always will.'" That quote came from the very last page of the book, 301. From the first quote to the second quote, it shows how Ever's though changed about Damen. Because in the beginning she did not like him, then by the end of the book she was saying she loves him. That shows Ever is a dynamic character, because she changed throughout the book.

short story meanings: characterization, diction, analysis

I have recently read a short story, it is called it all started with a dance. The way the writer picks his words was amazing. every word was perfect for the situation, and they were thrown in elegantly. He picked his words as if a teenager were really speaking, but he used big words. words that the main character might have learned from studying for the SAT. I found the short story very, the whole meaning behind the story was that if you wait to long for something, it can be gone in the blink of an eye. The underlying message was very clear, it was just not as implied as some might think. The whole time I was reading it, I was thinking that the main character should not have waited as long as he did to tell the girl he loves her. Then when he finally does, the girl accidental gets lost in the city, and ends up running into a drive by shoot out. She gets shot and dies about 2 hours after the main character confessed his love for her. I didn't really like the ending to it, but the message behind it is a very important one to learn. In my personal opinion, there is no reason to wait, if you wait then you may regret it, and if you don't wait, there is no time for regret. Throughout the short story, i was thinking about how little detail there was, everything in the story just moved so fast. The author had some detail, but only the most important things. There was no room for any smaller detail than what the characters look like, or how the think about other characters. The story had a nice meaning behind it, but it just did not seem realistic with the limited amount of detail and the restricted view into the setting. The author was never told outside of the story, but i am pretty sure that it was a man. He was the narrator, and his name was never ever said. I found it quite interesting how a "love" story could be told without the lovers saying names. In the end, I did not care for this short story. Yes, there were some good parts, but the book was so ephemeral and the details were so scarce. I think the author should go back and reevaluate his writing. I'm sure he had a cause in mind, and wanted his story to be told, but his writing skills were not all that great. The characterization of this story was not well thought out. The narrator kept switching, it was nice to get more views and input, but it was very confusing.

poems

I recently read a poem, the poem was about being alone.  here is the poem if you want you can go read it, but I cant control what you do. Being alone is a hard thing for people, because you will have no one to fall back on, no one to catch you when you fall. It feels like everyone hates you, but you know that's not true. I think the author wrote this piece to show how hard it can be when you are alone, as the poem says:

Imagine yourself
Alone in your head
You're hanging, dangling
From a silver thread

Empty, alone
With the monsters within
Internally screaming
You just want to give in

I think the way this part of the poem is written, the author is trying to say how hard life can be for the people who have no one to turn to, no one for them to talk to when times get hard. the poem talks about how it is to try and tell someone, but they don't listen. It tells what it is like to watch all the people you use to have, leave. sometimes understanding the true meaning of a poem can be hard, but the message in the poem is very loud, and very clear. The poem is saying that when you are alone, life can be hard, extremely hard. Everyone needs someone to help them get through the hard times in life. Everyone needs someone.

The interlopers

Today we read the interlopers, by Saki. My partner, Julia Allen, and I were not satisfied with the ending of the story. We rearrange the story line. We cut up the story and placed the different parts in a random order, trying multiple different orders, until we found one that suited us. The order we finally chose was 2,3,7,6,4,5,1. We imagined Ulrich Von gradwitz dreaming if what might happen if the two men actually met in the woods. We found this a better ending for the story, even if in the end they are still not friends. We added different sentences that made a clearer transition into the story. In the end we were satisfied with the story line we created.

CPR book

A book that I have recently read is Bad monkeys, by Matt Ruff. The theme in this book is along the lines of deceiving roles. I was very confused at the end of the book, because the main character is almost like a double agent playing a double agent. I was getting very confused, even after I read the ending about 10 times. The theme of the book goes along with telling lies, also. When you lie, in the end nothing good will happen. In the end of the book, the main character is forced to lie again, just to get out of the current situation she is in, and she's ends up getting killed. We then found out that all along they had been testing her, to see how the life of a double agent would effect someone. So to sum it up, the main character thought her whole life was really happening, but it was actually just a big lie. The thing about lying is, that in the end nothing good ever comes out of it. Even if you think something is real, you always have to look at true messages and realize that there will always be something in your life that is not real, whether it be love, or your personality, something will be there. Some people do not realize this until it is too late. I think the message of this book is saying that you have to open your eyes wide enough to realize what is going on around you and see that anything in your life could be fake. In this book, I dont think the main character saw this, and because of that fact she was not aware of how fake and unrealistic her life was. She was only concerened with how she completed 'missions' or how she could get promoted. Because she was so unblisitly consumed by her job, she failed to reakize that her job adn lie was completly utterly fake. I feel that if you just take time to stop and realize what is going on every once in a while, you can stop something before it has the chance to reach out and hurt you.