Literary Question: Amy's Question #7

7. What is the author trying to convey when he states "We have everything we need"?

The author is trying to remind the readers that when we were children we didn't need any material objects  to makes us happy because nature was our everything; it was our playground and our pastimes. But as we got older we forgot what made us happy causing us to invest our time trying to find some material object that would bring us happiness again; when all we have to do is use our imaginations and the world around us to enjoy ourselves. The author uses aphorism to prove the truth of our childhood.  

Running After Antelope

Little League Haiku

by Scott Carrier

1. Why does the author refer to himself as the "Monster Man"?

2. What is the significance of having "the offense respect and fear us" at the moment of the play?

3. Why is it that the defense team is always spacing out? Why is it important?

4. What is the importance of bringing up Bruce Seymour?

5. What is the meaning of the haiku "The wing brings dry leaves, enough to build a fire"? How does it relate to the the game?

6. Why does the captain of the defense team order his players to "dance around, stand on your head or do whatever you want"?

7. Why did the defense stand around and not follow their captain's orders?

8. Explain why the coach intervened when the captain recited the haiku. What motives did he have for doing so, if he hadn't coached them before?

9. Why was it important for the captain to follow through with his idea?

10. Why  was he captain of the defense team and not the offense?    

Full Moon

 As I watch you from my rooftop I shiver and think to myself, "Why the heck am I up here? I'm freezing my butt off for an assignment that I can make up!", but then I get a flashback to my childhood. I remember my dad always telling me to appreciate nature because one day when it's all gone, I'm going to regret that I didn't take the time to observe all the beauty that surrounded me everyday. I don't mind being cold and alone up on my roof anymore because I know that it's worth it. You have what everyone desires, undeniable beauty no matter what color or shape you are. You and the rest of Mother Nature's wonders are the closest things we have to magic. And as I sit here admiring your face, I think about all the people who take you for granted. I picture the wolves looking up at you, serenading you for your brightness. You are quite an incredible sight that anyone not looking at you is a fool.

A Winter Walk

Beware, beware the myths they swear. Find out yourself to become aware, if somehow they do prevail. It is said that on a winter's night, the tired bodies drag themselves out to the middle of the woods to take one last stroll. One by one they walk twenty-two gruesome miles to reach the place where the ghosts of youth gather. They are not to be feared for they seem to be kind and gentle like a child. They circle and dance around the ancient while luring them to their final destination. A place that no one knows of, except only those that go. So beware of the winter's night that calls all who are vulnerable and weak to the heart of the woods to disappear completely from the face of the Earth.

Song Lyrics and Poetry

Ain’t No Reason

by Brett Dennen

There ain’t no reason things are this way
It's how they always been and they intend to stay
I can't explain why we live this way,
We do it everyday.

Preachers on the podium speaking of saints
Paupers on the sidewalk begging for change
Old ladies laughing from the fire escape, cursing my name
I got a basket full of lemons and they all taste the same
A window and a pigeon with a broken wing
You can spend you whole life working for something,
Just to have it taken away
People walk around pushing back their debts
Wearing pay checks like necklaces and bracelets
Talking 'bout nothing, not thinking 'bout death
Every little heartbeat, every little breath
People walk a tight rope on a razor’s edge
Carrying their hurt and hatred and weapons
It could be a bomb, or a bullet, or a pen
Or a thought, or a word, or a sentence

There ain't no reason things are this way
It's how they always been and they intend to stay
I don’t know why I say the things that I say,
But I say them anyway

But love will come set me free
Love will come set me free, I do believe
Love will come set me free, I know it will
Love will come set my free, yes.

Prison walls still standing tall
Some things never change at all
Keep on building prisons, gonna fill them all
Keep building bombs, gonna drop them all
Working your fingers bare to the bone
Breaking your back, make you sell your soul
Like a lung, it's filled with coal, sufficating slow
The wind blows wild and I may move
But politicians lie and I am not fooled
You don't need no reason or a three piece suit, to argue the truth
The air on my skin and the world under my toes
Slavery is stitched into the fabric of my clothes
Chaos and commotion wherever I go
Love, I try to follow

Love will come set me free
Love will come set me free, I do believe
Love will come set me free, I know it will
Love will come set my free, yes.

There ain't no reason things are this way
It's how they always been and they intend to stay
I can't explain why we live this way,
We do it everyday.

The song lyrics "Ain't No Reason" has rhyme as most songs do. What makes this song a poem is the consonance ("Prison walls still standing tall"), the similes ("Wearing pay checks like necklaces and bracelets"), the parallelism ("Keep on building prisons, gonna fill them all"), and the hyperbole ("Working your fingers bare to the bone").

Poem for Anthology

Trees by Joyce Kilmer
I'm picking this poem for my anthology becuase I like the truth conveyed within the poem.
I love the personifying description the author gives to the trees and how she gives great and
honorable meaning to the them.

Metaphor and Testimony

Metaphor

Quicksand is a ravenous ocean with a craving for incautious prey.

 Testimony

I have been Berenger when I was in high school. I watched some of my closest friends change into people that I would have never thought they would have changed into. I contemplated for a while to change my ways of being in order to maintain their friendship, but after really thinking about it I figured that I didn't want to be like them. I was conformed with myself.