"Field Below" Response

In the poem "Field Below" by Regina Spektor  she is in a crowed city where she can't enjoy the things she once did, like a rooster crowing or a big open field below her house. Her tone in the poem is depressed that she can't enjoy everything she once did even though living in a big city should have better things to look forward to. I fell the author is trying to portray to us that living in the big light of a popular city isn't all its cracked up to be .

In "Field Below" the song I felt that she did sound depressed even more so than in the poem. But the mood is still the same feeling sorry for her living in a big city and not feeling right about where she is living. This shows that the way you interpret isn't always right, we don't know if she is truly feeling depressed about where she lives or if she is depressed about something else.    

"Big Yellow Taxi" Response

In the poem "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell the author is expressing her feeling towards what is happening in her paradise. Her tone for the poem is depressed that her paradise is being destroyed for concrete jungle that will last only as miserable memory instead of a positive memory. I feel the author is trying to portray to us that what we think of a big city as cool and a big rush of fun isn't what we think, and being simple and peaceful is what the ideal life is like.         

In "Big Yellow Taxi" the song I felt that she was more happy than sad compared to the text of the poem. But the mood is still the same feeling sorry or sympathetic for her living in the destroyed paradise she once loved. This shows me that the way that you listen or read something can effect the way you think of something or someone. It is strange that one version she is sounds happy and joyful and in the other she sound depressed and angry, which to me is confusing. 

How Free Were They?

Authors Note: This is a research essay about whether the free blacks in the North were really considered free.

            When the wealthy white men brought slaves over from Africa they never thought that they would try to become like the whites. Well in the 1800’s they did just that, they wanted to be able to do what the white man was able to do and not be treated like they were incompetent. So how free were the black slaves in the north? Although they were able to overcome slavery I still don’t think they were free.

            One reason why I don’t think they were free is they all had restrictions, they couldn’t go from town to town without a pass and they had to sit away from the whites during church. They had so much discrimination that most of them thought that it would be better to be a slave rather than have so many things they couldn’t do. Also the free slave weren’t even allowed to vote on who they thought would be a good choice to run the country to be president.  

            Another Reason why I don’t think they were free is they didn’t have any rights that that were held throughout all the northern states. In some states they were allowed to marry whites, vote, file lawsuits, and sit in on juries. Even when the law allowed them to do these things the white majorities outlawed them from happening. In 1795 when law in Massachusetts allowed black to vote, Judge James Winthrop and Thomas Pemberton wrote “that Negroes could neither elect nor be elected to office in that state.”

            Although the Blacks were not allowed to vote in some states they were allowed to represent the country in joining the army. This is just strange because if you are allowed to make a decision on who you want to represent in battle then I think you should be able to vote for who you would want to lead you in battle. Even when the slaved black became free because they helped their country win a war they were still not granted the right to vote.

            In conclusion even though they were granted the right the whites were and they were hardly free at all they still had a better life than the slave in the south. But if the right for them to vote was actually enforced in the states then they might, but probably not, have had a black president sooner than we did. Although the white men were able to vote the white women weren’t able to vote either, so in a way the white women had as much say in politics as a freed black man.

Sources:   "Northern Exclusion of Blacks." Slavery in the North. Web. 07 Mar. 2012. <http://www.slavenorth.com/exclusion.htm>.

  

I am Sorry Ricky

I have stole the bullet
That was in the store
So I could show you
That yours was fake

And which
You were probably wanting
For your war collection

Forgive me
I wanted to be right
So you could be wrong
so I stole the fake bullet.

This is the part of the story when Bobby stole the fake bullet from the gift shop because Ricky claimed that he had found a really bullet from the war many years ago so it is Bobby half apologizing to Ricky. This poem is in Bobby’s point of view and he is saying it to Ricky. The tone is that he is feeling sorry but not really sorry because he is talking how he just wanted to prove him wrong. The mood is sorrow and anger because Ricky is still mad even though he left the note.   

Mother to Son

Authors Note: This is an analysis of the poem Mother to Son by Langston Hughes.

In the poem Mother to Son by Langston Hughes, he describes trough poem what life was like for a person living in the Harlem renaissance. In the poem he uses this metaphor “Life for me ain’t no crystal stair”. In my head it sounds like it was a tough time to be going through and it was hard to enjoy the wonderful things happening with their culture. I think the author put this in the poem because he was one of the people that were in the Harlem renaissance and he knew what it was like and how hard it was to enjoy everything, but he never gave up and was able to persevere through all the tough times.  

Jayson Williams

Authors Note: This is a descriptive piece about Jayson Williams in the book Loose Balls.

              

               Jayson Williams is a pro basketball player who played 9 seasons in the National Basketball Association.  He is as tall as a tree and a very muscular person how could crush anybody in a heartbeat, which he often does. Jayson like most basketball players can have a little temper, he could be like a bull in a china shop, or he could be as peaceful as a butterfly. He went to school at St. Johns University but he didn’t finish all four year because he left early to go to the NBA. Jayson has had some trouble with alcohol in his past he has gotten in trouble many times because of drinking.

               Jayson can sometimes have an uncontrollable temper and that got him in trouble once when he pop, pop, popped a limo driver with his gun and then he was sentenced to jail time.  Even though he is in jail doesn’t mean that he is always a mad person. During his NBA time he was very good with being charitable throughout the cities he played in. Jayson is overall a nice and kind person he adopted his late sisters children and has taken care of them ever since.