Dear Ms Clinch(last blog!),

The Harlem renaissance was a time of great cultural and artistic growth. The music and arts got much more popular especially what the African Americans produced. It was also respected a bit more by both cultures. There were great musicians such as Louis Armstrong and poets such as Langston Hughes who wrote “A Dream Deferred” about what happens when you loose a dream? “Does it fester like “A raisin in the Sun?”-or does it explode?” This line of the poem was the basis for the great play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. Her life was similar to the family in the play. This play was the first time that African Americans had leading roles in a play. It broadened broadways fan base. Another main topic this semester was the great depression and the roaring 20’s. We read a novel called The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this novel all the characters are careless and wealthy. They are just livin’ it up with all the wealth. There is east and west egg and the valley of ashes that separates society and represents the social standings and the types of people and how they act. All of these literature and historical movements are represented through the books we have studied. Through reading these books I have not only grown in my abilities but I have also learned about the progress of America through so many different peoples point of views. Whether it is twain, Fitzgerald, Hughes, of Hansberry I can be sure that I am going to get some sort of interesting cultural insight. So, with this being the last blog I feel that I must say some parting words. First off, thank you for being a great teacher and helping my mind grow. Also, thanks for making the class interesting for a change. Second, you are the best grammar teacher I have ever had. Usually I fail everything we do with it each year. My mom was pleasantly surprised with my grades on those. YOU ARE AWESOME!!! I hope I get you for AP lang :)

Beneatha

From what we have read in "A Raisin in The Sun" we have come familiar with Beneatha, Ruth, Walter, Mamma, and Travis. Travis is Walter and Ruths young boy that is being sheltered form the harsh reality of money struggles  and tough times. Walter and Beneathas mother is named Lena but everyone calls her Mamma. Beneatha wants to be a doctor and Walter wants to own a liquor store. Mamma has money and the whole family is curious as to what Mamma will do with the money. Beneatha is youthful and invisible or so she thinks. She is beautiful. She is pretty headstrong. She knows what she wants and she aims to get it. The one she is not sure about is love. She is interested in Joseph Asagai and George Murchison. Joseph is her love interest from school and he has come back from Nigeria. From all this I feel like I show the most interest in Beneatha because she is complex and outspoken. So far she has not really let much get in her way. She is highly feminist. She is upset and feels outnumbered because the rest of her family does not feel like she can succeed in the doctor world and workforce. You can she her start to stand up for herself in scene one. She wastes no time trying to get what she wants. I am really really excited to see what she has to say in the scenes to come in the future.

YOU'RE REALLY ASKING ME TO PICK A FAVORITE POEM??? WHAT?

Before I write this I just need to say. Thank you for not being a sucky teacher and having us read poetry that actually means something. I could write about Shel Silverstein and say the jump rope poem is my favorite like everyone says, but that would be lying. I like poems with meaning and several different meanings and interpretations like poems from poets such as Henry Longfellow.. My favorite poem of all time, thanks to you, is “A Psalm of Life” by that Longfellow guy. Seriously. Almost everyday the line “Art is long and time is fleeting” -pops into my head like clockwork. It reminds me to just live because "there is a lot of art in the world, and only a short amount of time to discover it." Meaning don’t let things tie you down there is so much left to see. Though the whole poem is beautiful, my favorite stanzas are these two.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !

 I always think about this poem and how it totally changed my views on everything. I used to be negative. Now I aim to be positive. I try to be a light in others lives instead of being the dark. It reminds me to live and grow no matter what the struggle may be. I need to live a happy meaningful life.  My life has changed, thanks t this poem. So yea, I’ll admit it- I’m a nerd  and I like poetry.

poetry

Before you even tried to convince us that poetry is awesome, I was already convinced. I think poetry is a beautiful art form that often gets overlooked and skipped. The fact that a poet can say so much in just a few lines is completely amazing. It’s like a photograph or a painting. It can tell a meaningful story with such a small palette. Poetry is not like a novel that has three thousand words to get the point across. A painting has a person’s first glance to catch the viewer’s eyes, a photograph has on image, and a poem has a couple lines. Anything that can say so much out of so little is absolutely wonderful.

“There pipes the woodlark, and the song-thrush there
Scatters his loose notes in the waste of air.”- Thomas Gray

This poem could just be saying literally what ut says or it could be saying something far more. I think the poem is saying that each animal has its contribution to society but not every contribution is ever actually seen or heard. I could be wrong. You could be thinking something else. But hey, that’s why poetry is so beautiful. Everyone sees it differently.

The idea that so much can be said in just two lines is far more amazing than I can even describe. I really really enjoy poetry. Hi! My name is Marie Krikorian and I actually like when my teachers teach poetry! – I’m a dork J If liking poetry means being a dork, then I am proud to be a dork.