Poetry #1

A Tear Fell
By Marge Tindal
I shed a tear today
Silently, I felt it fall
You caught it
shared it
held it
felt it
then
suddenly
it wasn't
so big
after all

In the poem A Tear Fell, by Marge Tindal, personification is used to compare a teardrop to pain. A Tear Fell is a short poem that simply explains what a true friendship should be like. Marge Tindal uses first person to describe her tear, “I shed a tear today,/Silently, I felt it fall” (1-2). This line basically describes the teardrop through the way it felt. After that, Tindal tells how the friend helped the situation, “You caught it,/shared it,/held it,/felt it” (3-6). Now we become familiar with how a friend should react to someone else’s pain. In the last few lines the author learns, “it wasn’t,/so big,/after all” (9-11). This presents the idea that after tears are released so is the pain. Through Tindal’s comparison she shows that tears can minimize the amount of pain.

I found this poem compelling because of its deep meaning. I really felt connected because I have many good friends, so this poem is relevant to my life at times. I thought she used short simple words that made this poem meaningful. Her set up also made the poem very different from the others I read. Her comparison of tears to pain made it seem as if she had experienced this before. Marge Tindal really showed how a simple tear could make your problem seem that much smaller. Overall, I really enjoyed this short but sweet poem!

Quarter One Reflection

Overall, I did well in this class. I feel like I wrote pretty good papers for just getting back into the swing of things. I learned a lot about writing. Specifically on how to write a meaningful thesis for analyzing novels. I also learned about analyzing photos and videos. Some different camera techniques I learned were low, high, and flat angles. I learned how leading lines can tell a lot about the meaning of the photo. I also didn't realize how much thought is put into photography or film making. Coming into tenth grade I wasn't very confident with wrting my thesis statements but now that a quarter has passed, I feel like I can write a strong thesis easily. I think I'm struggling with the MLA style formatting process. I never seem to know if I'm doing it correctly. Sometimes I make dumb mistakes when citing novels even though I know how to do it. I should try to get it right the first time because I know I can do it. My class environment is a good fit for me. For the most part, I don't feel intimidated by anyone in my class. In small groups I'm fine with talking and dicussing with other classmates. I feel that I get a lot out of my classmates, they are very helpful and have good ideas. To further strengthen our learning community I feel like I can participate more. To expand on that, I can share more of my ideas with others. Often, I don't like my ideas so I don't share but maybe now I can get more feedback if I share. My main goal for quarter two is to bump up my grade from last quarter. I would like to try a little harder and get better grades on my quizzes and such. Hopefully I am able to meet my goal and set a higher one for third quarter.

A Million LIttle Pieces; Post Five

How is this novel similar to other pieces of literature that we have studied in class?

A Million Little Pieces is similar to the few novels we have studied, this memoir deals with struggles or conflict like many other works of art. I think the novel most similar to this memoir is Extremely Loud and Incrediby Close for a variety of reasons one being the major conflicts the main characters struggle with throughout the story. In both novels we are able to see that the characters have many issues to deal with in their daily lives. In Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar has to live with the guilt of his father's death everyday. In James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, James has to live with the fact that he is an alcoholic and drug addict. These novels are similar in the sense that Oskar and James deal with their problems in certain ways that which most people wouldn't go about dealing with them.

For example, both characters feel the need to ease their pain by injuring themselves. Oskar's guilt from not answering the phone leads him to give himself bruises. Most people like to take it out on someone else rather than making themselves feel worse. The same goes for James, he does not like his life so he decides he wants to end it. James says before he leaves the dining hall for the last time, "Have a nice life, Leonard" (101). This is the first clue to us that James needs help and isn't dealing with his conflicts properly. Usually people want to fix their life rather than end it immediately when they become frustrated. Another way in which these two books are similar is how both Oskar and James don't feel like talking to anyone about their problems. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close near the beginning we find out that Oskar doesn't have a real good relationship with his mom and he doesn't like to open up to her. James is the same way, his parents worry about him and he's not willing to open up and share with them what's going on.
"My mother speaks.
'Are you getting better? '
'I don't know.'
'Do you feel any better?'
'I don't know'
'Are you learning anything'" (135).
We can see the similarities between the two characters from different novels. They aren't willing to "talk it out" and they deal with pain in abnormal ways.

A Million Little Pieces; Post Four

How does going through these conflicts help the characters to learn more about themselves?

Throughout the memoir, A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, many learning opportunities are presented to James. Because James has been drinking since he was seven and doing drugs since he was twelve, there are many things he is able to learn about himself. One major aspect of James' life he learned about was that he doesn't want to be who he is. "I don't know what happened or how I ever ended up like this, but I did..." (131). James so badly wants to get better. Coming into the facility, he doesn't realize what he's getting into. After James is going through treatment, he figures out that it's much more difficult then he thought, "Everything's fixable. That's easy to say, much harder to do" (131). James gets easily dicouraged and makes himself believe things aren't fixable. He knows he has many problems that need work but he's unsure of how to go about re-creating his life. "I don't know if they're fixable. I don't know if I'm fixable" (131). Really anything is possible, James just needs to believe in himself. The reader and James learn that he doesn't have the faith and courage to get help.

A Million Little Pieces; Post Three

What are the major struggles and conflicts that your characters encounter? How do the characters face the conflicts?

The main character in A Million Little Pieces, James Frey encounters many conflicts and struggles througout this memoir. James, as mentioned in an earlier post, is an alcoholic and drug addict. He began drinking at age seven and has not been sober for six years. As you may already notice, James’ major struggle in this novel is alcoholism and drug addiction. At the beginning of the novel James is put in a treatment facility to overcome his illness. So at the start his main problem is trying to live without drinking and doing drugs. His four days of being sober bring us to the middle of the story where we learn about his second problem, wanting to commit suicide.

For many hours James contemplates leaving treatment and in the end he decides it’s time to die. He becomes extremely frustrated with his life, to the point where he has planned to leave the facility, “I step out from beneath the cover of the door and I start walking” (104). In this case, we see that James has decided to face his conflicts by leaving the facility. The day before James leaves the center he finds out that, “The first is that you are lucky to be alive. The second is that if you ever have another drink or use any type of hard drug again, there is a good chance that you will die” (92). This is how James plans to escape his struggles of alcoholism and drug addiction.

A Million Little Pieces; Post Two

What is the main character's personality and what motivates them?

In the memoir A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, like I said in my first post the main character is James Frey. So far, James' personality hasn't completely shown through. Because James is going through treatment he is often on medicines and extremely tired. Most of the time he isn't feeling well because he is so used to being high which makes him sick. From what I have read in the memoir I can tell that he is pretty laid back, polite and motivated. James tries to go with the flow, when he is asked to do something he does it without complaining even if he doesn't feel well. Another personality trait that he shows is politeness, he seems like a tough guy on the outside but on the inside he's kind. When the doctors in the facility help him through his hard times, he makes sure thank them and treat them right. The last trait James portray's leads into the next part of the question. James is motivated.

He shows this through a variety of actions in the beginning of his memoir. Motivation is portrayed when James says, "I think about the ruin, devastation and wreckage i have caused to myself and to others. I think about how and why and what happened..." (26). I believe this shows that he is motivated to get back on track and take control of his life. One other thing he mentions is, " My life is Hell, has been Hell for too long. If I keep going I'm going to die. I'm not sure I want to be dead yet" (30). This really demonstrates that James doesn't want to die. He's ready to be a different person and keep living life, differently that is.

A Million Little Pieces; Post One

I am reading the novel A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. This novel is about a 23 year old man named James who wakes up on an airplane. He does not know where the plane was going to or coming from. James doesn’t have any memory of the past two weeks. He awakes to find, “My front four teeth are gone, I have a hold in my cheek, my nose is broken and my eyes are swollen nearly shut” (1).

James is an alcoholic and abuses drugs, “Pills, acid, mushrooms, meth, PCP and glue” (9). Shortly after waking he checks into a facility for treatment. As the novel moves on James’ appearance gets fixed, the hole in his cheek is sewn, a dentist fixes his teeth and a doctor re-breaks his nose in order to grow properly. Basically, we learn about the beginning of James’ recovery and what he is going through.

He works with many doctors and nurses to figure out how they will repair James. They take many surveys about how much drinking and drugs he does per week. Along with the surveys he is required to take certain antibiotics each day. Along with the doctors he becomes acquainted with he also meets a few new people who are going through treatment too. He comes across a bully, a woman named Lilly and his roommates, Larry and Warren.

Black Boy; Post Three

People write memoirs for a variety of reasons. In my case I have only written memoirs for English class. Other authors write memoirs for a living. The reason memoirs are written is to share with the reader more about the author. You can gain a lot of knowledge from reading someone’s memoir. Another reason why we write memoirs is for pure entertainment of certain moments in life that are memorable. One last reason why memoirs are written are to shares with others the lesson the author learned from their experience. For example in Black Boy, he wrote about the time he accidentally burned his house down because it was something he learned from and wants to remember what he did wrong.

The power in writing memoirs about our lives is voice. In writing memoirs we are able to share our side of the story. Through memoirs we are able to write exactly what we want and readers will know that it’s you telling the story. Voice is such a powerful thing in writing and I really think that it shows through in memoirs especially. By showing your voice through writing you are given the power to show different sides of your personality, which makes your writing well… yours!

Black Boy; Post Two

One specific thing Richard hungers for throughout this novel is simply food. During the book Richard often shows he feels hungry, we know this because he bluntly tells us and his father, the primary supporter of the family, left. His family is poor and early on in Black Boy his mother becomes very ill. This leads to moving in with the grandparents, which means more people need to be fed. The outcome of Richard’s hunger brings about many effects, both positive and negative. One positive effect of Richard being hungry for food is that he is determined to obtain a job, in order to sustain his hunger. He searches for jobs that his grandmother approves of which sometimes meets his need of hunger. Richard’s hunger leads to negative effects, which produces negative attitudes. Obviously, a negative effect of Richard’s hunger for food is being hungry all the time. His family cannot provide enough food to satisfy everyone, so hunger brings tension into the household. One example is early on in the book when Richard has been ordered to go to the market for groceries, he is so determined to get what is mother asked. His hunger leads to him bashing the bully’s skull so he can get the store without being mugged. This is an extreme negative effect that goes along with feeling starving.

Throughout the first eight chapters of Black Boy we see Richards increasing hunger for knowledge. His constant need for more hunger starts on page one and grows rapidly as the story goes on. In chapter seven and eight we see that in order for Richard to continue his schooling will do go to any extent. Richard begs for a job and finally is able to get one. Richard struggles to find respect, wage, hours, boss or work. He is often in and out of jobs. We realize that most of these things are unrealistic to find in a job. Richard goes against his whole family to overachieve his goals. Richard pays for clothing and books for school. He also walks for long distances through rough conditions to get there. The positive effects are that Richard will be very well educated and he will get a decent if not good job in order to work himself. This may also help his family get out of poverty. The negative effects are Richard’s struggles with his family and money in order to get the schooling he needs. Richard describes himself as being separated from his classmates, due to his deep interest in schooling and writing. Richard works through the struggles and strives to be more than his family.

Black Boy; Post One

The author of the autobiography, Black Boy, Richard Wright, makes many mistakes and gets blamed for them immediately. I think that there should be a difference between blaming someone directly or the environment. Many people get confused, when blaming someone; they don’t realize that there is a difference in the consequences when blaming the person instead of the environment. I don’t think that Richard is a bad boy; he grew up in an environment where his parents weren’t ever home to teach him properly. When someone does something out of line, many people jump to conclusions that the person knew that their actions were wrong and they still decided to take them.

Readers realize that Richard is always blamed for his mistakes before the blamer thinks about the situation, throughout the first chapter. At the beginning of the novel Richard was forbidden to make noise and he must stay inside all day because of his sick grandmother. Because of Richard’s boredom and curiosity he lights his home on fire. In this particular situation he is too young to realize that his actions of lighting the house on fire were wrong. After the house is well…gone, Richard gets beat by his father because he is so frustrated with his son. This is a situation where the person immediately gets upset with the young child when really the environment sparked his actions. Towards the end of the chapter we come along a situation where Richard has learned swear words at school so he decides to write these naughty words on his neighbor’s windows with a bar of soap. His mom beats him. This is an example where Richard was rightfully blamed because he was aware his actions were wrong yet decided to do it anyway. A time when you should be blamed and not the environment is when you know what you’re doing is wrong yet you do it anyway.

About Steph

My name is Stephanie but most people call me Steph. I am in Ms.F's Enriched English 10 class, this will be my second year in the enriched language arts course. I'm part of a six person family and two dogs. I am very involved at my church, St. Patricks in Edina, I love the community and being there makes me feel welcome! That's a little bit about me to get my blog up and running.