JE45 Acrostic

My mind is a river that is drying up.

A word that I can only think of is

Xylophone. A melody of it comes into my mind,

Well harmonized and coordinate,

Enlightens me to another state of mind, where

Lots of joys are found.

Lingering in my own delightful world,

Conventions no longer exist.

Heavenly place is where I belong.

Even a slight dispute is not allowed.

Not in my peaceful world. 

JE44 Barbaric Yawp

            From the Song of Myself number 52, Whitman wrote “I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.” He also described himself as “untamed” and “untranslatable” in the previous sentence. I believe he wanted to send a message to the world. The message might be a little shocking and unorthodox. However, he thought the no one could understand his “barbaric yawp” because of he thought he was unique and untranslatable. It can be inferred that Whitman was not a conformist in his era. He used free verse in his poems, in which was not a tradition way of writing poem. He refused to follow the rhyming and patterns used in the past.

Like the romantic works, the elements of this poem have a strong connection with nature. Throughout the poem, Whitman compared himself with nature. He believed he is an element in nature. The idea is close to the Romantics, who believed they could find the truth within nature. In the end, he wrote, “I stop somewhere waiting for you.” I think it means that they truth is somewhere in the nature and is waiting for people to discover it. The theme of this poem is similar to the poems in Romantic period. 

JE43 What I Hear Singing

            Whitman’s America was earlier than mine. The poem was probably written around the Industrial Revolution, when labor work was largely needed. He described the men singing while working. My first vision of America would be people walking around busily in big cities. People are either going to work in offices or to shop on the street. Taiwan’s society can varied due to regions. Taipei is fully developed and there are hardly any factories. However, in the East and the South, there are more factories and require more labors. The standard of living also depends on the location.

            From Whitman’s time to mine, there have been some historical events that changed the society. After few protests and revolutions, American has finally reached the spirit of equality. Now, people are more civilized and freer. One thing that doesn't change is that people still come to America to seek for opportunities and to achieve their dreams. Due to the variety of ethnic groups and religious beliefs, American practices tolerance. My picture of Taiwan is the balance among nature, cities, and cultural heritage. Taiwan is a developed, free country, but we can still see some historical buildings. Also, Taiwan has a rich ecology. My visions of America mostly come from media sources. I picture it as a huge land and people have many opportunities in the country. It is like a mini-version of the whole world because you can always see people who speak a different language walking on the street.  

JE42 Elements of Poetry

           Elements of poetry include alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, metaphor, simile, rhymes, repetition, and structures. Some poetry such as sonnet has specific rules. In this unit, Whitman and Dickinson abandoned the traditional rules of poetry. Narrative poems, epic and ballads have a plot and tell the story. They are similar to a fiction, which also contains plot. Some poetry also has settings and characters. Both a fiction and poetry can be used to describe an event or to convey a message (theme). 

One of the poetry I have read, The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls, is a perfect example for the similarities between a poem and a fiction. The poem conveys a theme that life is a cycle and it comes and goes after a period of time. This poetry also has a setting. The first stanza was in the evening, when the man was leaving the shore. The second stanza sets in the night. And the third stanza sets in the morning, when the man lost his life. The poem also has a plot, which describes the man’s intention of finding something but finally had an accident. It can be pretty similar to a fiction because it has settings, plot, and a theme. In addition, the poem also has repetition, alliteration, etc. 

JE41 American Poetry Today

In American life today, we can find poetries in books, blogs, advertisements, and on the Internet, etc. However, one of the most popular and common ways of showing poetries is found in song lyrics. When we listen to songs, we don't usually recognize poetry’s existence because most people would focus on the melody of the song. However, when we listen carefully or read the lyrics without music, we can actually find them similar or same as poetry. Some lyrics are even abstract to be understood. Nevertheless, sometimes lyrics are more similar to prose.

            I think poetry is not that important to people nowadays. In the past, people had less source of entertainment thus reading could be considered as a big part of their lives. Today, people have so many other fun things to do rather than reading. Furthermore, people would prefer conveying messages through visual and technological means such as watching videos rather than publishing a story or poetry.

Poetry is important to me because I listen to lots of songs. Few years ago, when my English wasn't as good as now, I actually learned a lot from song lyrics. It is also my first step to embrace English. I appreciate some of the messages that the artists were trying to tell through the lyrics. Sometimes they can be meaningful and inspiring.

JE40 Whitman & Dickinson

             Whitman’s quote was “If you want me again, look for me under your boot-soles.” I think it was implying that he was everywhere and his ideas were prepared for everyone to use. The idea is not hard that you have to look up to the sky to search for it. You only need to look under your feet to find the most basic ideas. Dickinson’s quote was “This is my letter to the world that never wrote to me.” It was implying that no one in the world was paying attention to her message to the world. Both authors were trying to imply a message through their poems. Their message can essentially be the same. However, Whitman seemed to have a more positive attitude that someday people would eventually find his message. And it is easy to get because it is everywhere. Unlike Whitman, Dickinson seemed to be more pessimistic about her poem because she thought no one would ever read it or understand it. I think sometimes my feeling is more like Dickinson’s. I think no one would understand my ideas and me. Sometimes I think the world is crazy and it would be nice if everyone follows my idea. 

JE39 Young Again?

            I think the some people would make the same mistakes all over again if they were given a second chance. Some would probably manage their lives well and do what they didn't do if they had a second chance. For me, if I were given a second chance to be young again, I would actually want to take this chance to do what I want to do but didn't do in the few past years. Few years before, I was still immature and didn't have a clear goal of life. Now, I have a more mature mind with some goals in life and I don't think I would make the same mistakes again. Recently I suddenly feel regretful for some things I should have done when I was younger. I feel like I have wasted many times to do things that did not contribute to my life at all. There were also a period of time when I was not satisfied with my life and I wish I can go back to fix it. However, in other aspects, I don't really want to go back and do all those homework and attend high school again. Maybe it is better to just move on and forget what could I have done better. Second chances are not always being given in life. I think it would be better now to eliminate the chance of making stupid mistakes again.