Most Important Skill

I've learned a lot over the course of the school year so far. Not always being such a great writer and not being able to understand pieces of literature affected me in a lot of ways before. Poems were like trying to sing like Beyonce. Both challenging and nearly impossible. Poetry to me were rhyming words scribbled on to an seemly endless page. I would only read what was spread across the paper, not the thoughts within the ink filled letters sunken into the page. So when Mrs. Gilman introduced us to our assignment, it was like the Nightmare Before Thanksgiving. I wasn't very thrilled. At all.

After spending time on dissecting poems, finding satire, irony, symbolism, and theme, I finally started to understand what the authors message was. I might have miss interpreted the poems completely; but even from that I was able to learn valuable lessons. Our very first poem we started on was "The Knife." My first thoughts after reading it were, "Okay, so he cuts people with a knife." As the class began to explore the authors symbolism, my mind started to explode with provoking ideas. I had never thought of poetry in such a wondrous way. I may not be able to write beautiful poems or even rhyme for that matter, but I can finally pick up a piece of poetry and extract a meaning, a story,  a lesson.

The Flame Beneath the Pot

In piece full of passion, life, and lobsters we were asked to find the true meaning behind what was written. During the discussion many ideas were brought up, but one struck me the hardest. Someone had said that the "flame beneath the pot" could symbolize our deaths. But what many people seemed to look pass was the part about the flame the boils the water.

With such a simple comment, my mind began to burst with new ideas. I began to think of how we wait for the water to boil and in the same way it is like us waiting for something cruel underneath us, that eventually over time with bring us to our deaths.  I from then on understood that it wasn't just the flame that had the meaning behind it, but it was what the flame put into action that portrayed the true meaning of the poem.

Critiquing is Critical

With shaking hands and quivering lips, you stand there in front of all your peers hoping that you'll be able to please them with your written piece. No one really knows how much meticulous work you did, or didn't, put into it. The compliments are nice, but then comes the critiquing. It's hard to know what is to be expected; but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. After reading my paper everyone gave me a lot of fresh and sparkling ideas that could help improve my unique writing style. To have a good paper, you need to have the skill of making your paper different from the others. It is critical that you follow the format for your writing piece, and relate to the topic in a way that is understandable but still different from others.

As a writer I tend to throw in words that can ripple the flow of my paper. I have also learned to be more creative in my writing, and still have the reader be able to relate to it. When I write a piece that is important to me, I want the reader to feel what I felt when writing it; have the same thoughts running through their mind as I did. I'm hoping that as this year progresses, my writing will strengthen and grow to the best of my abilities.