Monday, June 29, 2009 - 7:15 PM
My favourite poet~ Nikki Giovanni
Nikki Giovanni is an African American writing on behalf of the black population. Many of her poems feature the lives of African Americans and some even describe her own childhood. Her poems revolve around the motive of altering the stereotypical mindsets others have on the black population. NIkki started off in Fisk University, working in the School Writer's workshop and editing the literary magazine. She received a bachelor of arts degree and went on to organizae the first Black arts festival before moving on to graduate university. Her first two works illustrated the African amaerican identity.She is my favourite poet because of her willingness to fight against the world's misconception of the blacks despite her having no reason to do so. Secondly, she does not seem to express indignation towards the white population but chooses to communicate her ideas through a gentle and sophisticated manner, through poems.
There was this poem called Nikki-Rosa which featured Nikki's childhood. She showed great depth in moral charater in this poem. Many poeple tend to think that African Americans suffer from poverty during their childhood and are uneducated but Nikki has a different view on the matter. To Nikki, "Black Love" was the greatest wealth. This means that in fact, Nikki was never poor because ahe was surrounded by love from her family and friends.
Poems by Nikki Giovanni
Nikki-Rosa
childhood remembrances are always a drag
if you’re Black
you always remember things like living in Woodlawn
with no inside toilet
and if you become famous or something
they never talk about how happy you were to have your mother
all to yourself and
how good the water felt when you got your bath from one of those
big tubs that folk in Chicago barbecue in
and somehow when you talk about home
it never gets across how much you
understood their feelings
as the whole family attended meetings about Hollydale
and even though you remember
your biographers never understand
your father’s pain as he sells his stock
and another dream goes
and though you’re poor it isn’t poverty that
concerns you
and though they fight a lot
it isn’t your father’s drinking that makes any difference
but only that everybody is together and you
and your sister have happy birthdays and very good
Christmases
and I really hope no white person ever has cause to write about me
because they never understand that Black love is Black wealth and they’ll
probably talk about my hard childhood and never understand that
all the while I was quite happy.
Poem for Black Boys
Where are your heroes, my little Black ones
You are the Indian you so disdainfully shoot
Not the big bad sheriff on his faggoty white horse
You should play run-away-slave
Or Mau Mau
These are more in line with your history
Ask your mothers for a Rap Brown gun
Santa just may comply if you wish hard enough
Ask for CULLURD instead of Monopoly
DO NOT SIT IN DO NOT FOLLOW KING
GO DIRECTLY TO STREETS
This is a game you can win
As you sit there with your all understanding eyes
You know the truth of what I’m saying
Play Back-to-Black
Grow a natural and practice vandalism
These are useful games (some say a skill is even
Learned)
There is a new game I must tell you of
It’s called Catch the Leader Lying
(and knowing your sense of absurd
you will enjoy this)
Also a company called Revolution has just issued
A special kit for little boys
Called Burn Baby
I’m told it has full instructions on how to siphon gas
And fill a bottle
Then our old friend Hide and Seek becomes valid
Because we have much to seek and ourselves to hide
From a lecherous dog
And this poem I give is worth much more
Than any nickel bag
Or ten-cent toy
And you will understand all too soon
That you, my children of battle, are your heroes
You must invent your own games and teach us old
Ones how to play.
My first Memory
This is my first memory:
A big room with heavy wooden tables that sat on a creaky
wood floor
A line of green shades—bankers’ lights—down the center
Heavy oak chairs that were too low or maybe I was simply
too short
For me to sit in and read
So my first book was always big
In the foyer up four steps a semi-circle desk presided
To the left side the card catalogue
On the right newspapers draped over what looked like
a quilt rack
Magazines face out from the wall
The welcoming smile of my librarian
The anticipation in my heart
All those books—another world—just waiting
At my fingertips.
References
-poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19505
-project.caryacademy.org/echoes/poet_Nikki_Giovanni/Samplepoemsnikkigiovanni.htm
Sunday, June 28, 2009 - 4:51 PM
Touched by An Angel by Maya Angelou
Touched by An Angel by Maya AngelouWe, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.
Personification
"love strikes away the chains of fear"-The writer uses this to show that if we want an object, our love for it will make us brave enough to go and get it.
Metaphor
"live coiled in shells of loneliness"-The writer uses this metaphor to express that we tend to keep to ourselves when we feel lonely.
I like this poem simply because what it says is true and the poet is able to express its meaning in a very simple manner. When I read this poem, I thought back to my own personal experiences and found that it is indeed true. If you want something but lack the courage to do so, you will not get it. However, if you want something until the extent of loving it, you will find yourself with the bravery to reach out and grab it. I also like the part "old memories of pleasure" and "ancient histories of pain" because it gives me a subtle feeling. It feels as if the words are echoing in my head. I guess this is one of the many pleasures of poetry. A word within a word. A story behind a story. A meaning within a poem.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 9:35 PM
Change is inevitable but don't let it control you
Book read:Home of The Braves by David KlassQuick Summary- Joe Brickman is the captain of the Lawndale High School soccer team and he is in his senior year. He, however, has no plans for college and hopes to work in his father's carwash for a living. Rich, good-looking and soccer-talented Antonio Silva is a new transfer student who turns down Joe's invitation to the soccer team simply because he looks down on them. There are two sides of the country, Lawndale and Bankside. Years ago, they were at loggerheads with each other. Now, as past animosities are awakened and Antonio charms the girl of Joe's life, Joe has to find the courage to step up to all these changes and take charge of his own life.
When I compare my own life with that of Joe's, I feel a great sense of sympathy. I know how it feels to be surrounded by so many changes and the frustrations of being unable to deal with it. Like so many things in life, chenge is inevitable. You cannot just ask everyone to stay as they are and let you enjoy a peaceful life. Change brings about challenges that you never thought you would ever, ever face in your life before. When I stepped into HwaChong, I tried to stick to old friends and thought that it would last forever. I was wrong. It just seemed to slip out of my grasp. I had to deal with the changes that I faced before it bacame a bane to my life. I knew I could not just indulge in a childhood I would probably never see again. Even if the past was sweet, I had to adapt.
I am going to compare Joe Brickman and Slade Hutchings. In many ways they are similar and in many ways they are different. Joe represents Lawndale and his father while Slade represents Bankside and his uncle. Citizens of both Lawndale and Bankside always hated each other immensely just like how Joe's father hated Slade's uncle. So, in a way, it is history repeating itself again. However, instead of letting himself go with the flow, Joe decided to step aside, unlike his father. He made the decision of adverting disaster. He did not care what others thought of him but he did what he thought was right. Anyway, Joe wanted to fight only because Slade had insulted everything he loved. Slade on the other hand wanted to fight Joe to prove himself superior. He thought naught of morals and consequences. The difference between them is that Joe fought Slade to protect the name of who he loved while Slade fought to prove his supremacy.
This is an excerpt of the story from Antonio Silva's point of view. "I stared around at the four Lawndale High students squirming on the floor. The Bankside boys had encircled us. I knew I could take them but I just could not shake off the trembling in my legs. Without warning, a burly one pounced onto me. I reacted quick and knocked him off his balance. One down. Sorry, guys, but you are on your own. With that, I broke into a sprint. Before I knew it, a pair of muscular arms had grabbed me. I spun around and saw the big, muscular boy. He was fast. I kicked for freedom but it was to no avail. But suddenly, the arms around me let go and there was a loud crashing sound behind me. It was Joe Brickman. He had saved me. I smirked. It was his funeral. Laughing in mirth, I turned away and ran off without any remorse at all."
I think the author chose to write this book to highlight to teens like us that change cannot be controlled but our own lives could. Through his depictions of Joe, Kristine and Ed, he shows that many things happen at one time and it can essentially cause great frustrations for those who cannot control what happens in their own lives. It takes courage and the willingness to change what one had originally set out to do when it turns out wrong that gives one control. Be in control. That is basically what he wants us to know.
Sunday, June 14, 2009 - 3:12 AM
Even in the purest of hearts, darkness always lingers
Quick summary- Jeff, a seventeen year old teenager, is devasted by the expected release of his brother, Troy, from prison. Troy had been convicted of murdering a boy with a knife and had left Jeff's family for a few years. Jeff's life had been hitherto peaceful but everthing starts to go haywire once his brother comes back. People start to treat him differently, some in fear and some in hatred. Troy tries to find his place in the society and his new friendliness gains the trust of many poeple in the community. Jeff on the other hand feels that his brother has not changed a bit. Just when all seems calm, another murder occurs and Jeff is taken in fopr questioning. Everthing that have been happening slowly piece together to show the whole picture of the murder. And soon, Jeff would be faced with the ultimate choice. To kill and forget or not to kill and forgive.
When I compare my own life to that of the Jeff's, I feel a great affinity to Jeff. In the novel, Jeff is the only one who believes that Troy has not changed but no one takes his word for it, because of their own misguided experiences with Troy, where Troy puts up a facade to gain their acceptance. I feel that this has happened many times to me to. In school, teachers are naturally drawn to students who have pleased them. I remember that in Primary school, I had a teacher who liked students who did exceptionally well in their exams but did not seem to spare as much liking to students who were mediocre. Once, I got into a disagreement with one of my classmates who had always been in the top class. Our little quarrel culminated into an explosive episode where my classmate used a pair of scissors to cut a hole in my uniform. I, of course, reported it to this teacher but she looked as if nothing had gone wrong. She merely gave a short discourse about it to my classmate and snap! Nothing had happened! Then, after a few days, it happened again. This time, I went to the teacher with two holes in my shirt. Shocked, she finally took action and changed his seating arrangement. It just goes to show that people assume to much. This teacher assumed that since my classmate was a favourite of hers, he would change once he had been through some scolding. In the novel, everyone except Jeff assumed that since Troy had put on a pleasant and morally-upright facade, he would never be the suspect once he had done his time in jail.
If I were to write an ending to this novel, it would go like this- "I still return to the riverbank occasionally. Standing at the spot that I last saw Troy, I feel a great sense of unrest. The man whom I knew as my brother. What had happened to him? Had he managed to cheat death just like I cheated him? Or was he looking down at me now, laughing at my guilt?" I have changed the paragraph as I feel that the final paragraph at in the story seemed out of place. I mean it did have some literary meaning, since everything returned to normal just like it was at the start of the novel before Troy's arrival. However, I would like to highlight that incidents lke this do not just pass and go as would everday situations. No matter how much Jeff tries to forget this incident, I don't thing it will ever disappear totally without leaving behind a deep scar.
I think that the climax of this book is during the confrontation between the two brothers on the riverbank. Armed with a gun, Jeff could give in to his misery and pull the trigger that would end his brother's cruel life. Armed with a persuasive tongue, Troy could convince his brother to drop the gun and let him escape or fire at him and become a murderer like Troy was. It is during this point of the story where Jeff makes the ultimate decision himself, to judge whether someone who was so evil deserved to live another day or pass judgement by pulling the trigger. Many things would have crossed Jeff's mind. On one side were the misery and shame Troy had brought him. On the other was whether his conscience would allow him to live on as the murderer he himself would have chosen to be. However, Jeff chose neither. He shot injured Troy's knee. Unlike killing Troy or just letting him go, he allowed his brother to choose his own path. Troy could now choose whether to allow the authorities to take him in or die escaping. Jeff managed to cheat Troy in his own psychological game.
The title of the book is definitely a good one. In my opinion, angel refers to Troy while dark refers to the darkness which still resided in his heart. The words "Angel", which is otherwise known as "light", and "Dark" are contradictory. This can represent Troy, who lives throughout the book as a being of "light", but still had the "Dark" murderous self within him. Troy started out as a good kid, as explained in a flashback in the novel. However, by commiting the supreme act of evil, he murdered a young boy. Later on, after being released from jail, Troy acts as if he had changed for the better, acting like an angel in front of everyone but darkness still lingered in his soul. So by naming the book Dark Angel, David Klass is effectively refering to Troy, who lives in both worlds.
Friday, June 12, 2009 - 6:33 AM
Should we be rewarded for our efforts in school?
We have toiled day and night, scribbled through countless sheets of paper, spent long and boring hours listening to a woman's never-ceasing lectures five times a week and try to dig up some enthusiasm during co-curricular activitiy days.So, why shouldn't we be awarded for our efforts in school?
I mean, we should reap what we sow, right? It is a two way street. You work hard and smart, you get what you want. I don't think it is fair for someone who has bothered to study and keep up with their work to get shouted at when the results turn out disastrous. True, it can be that there is a mistake in the way the person is working. However, he has already worked hard and deserves some credit. This motivates the guy.
Motivation leads to willingness. Willingness sprouts into determination. Determination builds into change. Change blossoms into improvement. The whole point of being rewarded for our efforts at school ultimately zeroes in on providing the students with enough strength to improve themselves and not just sit still at where they are.
Then again, we have case-two students. Some students(you know who I mean) do not study at all. Sure, some of them still do well enough but the others will end up with a mess for a report card. This lot of people do not deserve to be rewarded. Anyway, there is no effort put in anyway. Unless the student finds the will to change, he will always remain at the bottom, always looking up at those who have surpassed him. If he does find the will to change, then their improvement would certainly not be left quiet.
All in all, for those who have done their best, they shall be rewarded with satisfication while those who did not shall meet despair and embarassment straight in the face.
Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 5:04 AM
Do we control technology or does technology control us?
Technology. A dream of the past, the reality of the present and the building block of the future. This about sums up the almighty word.Technology is an ally and assists us in everyday life. It has brought us to the twenty-first century. We make use of the technology available to us to raise the standards of our living conditions and even improve technology to better fit our numerous, unsatisfiable needs. But, does it sound too superior of humans to say that we have conquered and are able to control technology? Or does technology still maintain its iron grip on us?
Humans created technology. Or that is what we claim. But that is not the point. We have advanced very much from the stone age with technology as our lapdog. We take advantage of what technology we possess, using it to push the limits of what we thought was impossible. Hence, some might say- Yes, we are the masters of technology.
But, as the masters of technology, why are we still unable to push technology to an even greater level? For example, we are still unable to find a way to unlock the secrets awaiting us in the bowels of the cosmos. Why? It is because of our lack of technology. Even if we want to explore further into space, our insufficient technology has restrained us. We do not have technology advanced enough to succeed in everything we attempt.
So which side has conquered the other?
I would say neither.
Though we have been subdued by technology's limitations, we are still constantly pushing ourselves forwards. Though we may not have total reign over technology, we make use of what we have to satisfy our needs. Technology is both a boon and a bane to us. Come to think of it, it reminds me of the saying, "Fire is a good servant but a bad master", albeit different in many aspects. Humans are ever eager to push the boundaries of technology, unrelenting to the restrain it has put upon them. Maybe one day humans will gain total control over technology. Perhaps technology will eventally prove to be resistant to the efforts we had put in. Only time will tell.
However, one thing is for sure. Humans constant chase for technology might ultimately take its toil on mother earth and what we thought would make ours lives better might bring the downfall we never expected.
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