"All This and Heaven Too" by Florence + the Machine

In this song, there are a lot of poetic techniques used. For example, the first line she says,
"And the heart is hard to translate,
it has a language of its own,
it talks and tongues and quiet sighs and prayers and proclamations,
in the grand days of great men and the smallest of gestures,
in short shallow gasps."
In these lines, she personifies her heart as if it were its own person with a personality. She also uses a lot of consonance in the same line. She uses the t, pr, and g sound. It puts emphasis on what she is saying, and makes you pay attention to sound. She is using symbolism here. She is saying that the heart is hard to understand, and that we don't always know what it wants, so it's hard to understand what love is at times.

In the chorus, there is more consonance. For example,
"But with all my education,
I can't seem to commend it,
and the words are all escaping me,
and coming back all damaged."
In these lines, she constantly repeats the c sound, giving it a certain sound and repeated rhythm. She also personifies the words, like they are actually leaving her body, and becoming damaged. This gives the poem a bit more personality, and more symbolism. She is symbolizing how she doesn't really understand how love works when she writes it down, and how it can't be taught, it just comes naturally. How it is a strong feeling that would make her want to give all the heavens just for the one she loves.

One of the most common patterns used in this song was consonance throughout the whole song. There were consonance in almost every line of the song.

13 Reasons Why

This week, I read Thirteen Reasons Why. In this book, a girl named Hannah has committed suicide. Before she dies, she makes cassette tapes for 13 different people to tell them why they are the reason she died. The story is told from Clay's point of view, who is one of the people who receives the tapes.

After reading this book, I will admit, I actually got a little depressed. I will warn you this book is very sad since it is about suicide. It also makes me think how life is precious, and how sometimes people don't realize when they're actually hurting someone. It relates to me because there have been times where I have been made fun of, and so has everybody else.

Author: Jay Asher
Reading Time:
3/26 - 30 min - 29 pages
3/27 - 30 min - 31 pages
3/28 - 30 min - 27 pages
3/29 - 30 min - 30 pages
3/30 - 30 min - 31 pages

"Fifth Grade Autobiography" by Rita Dove

"Fifth Grade Autobiography" by Rita Dove

I was four in this photograph fishing

with my grandparents at a lake in Michigan.

My brother squats in poison ivy. 

His davy Crockett cap

sits squared on his head so the raccoon tail                    5

flounces down the back of his sailor suit.

My grandfather sits to the far right 

in a folding chair,

and I know his left hand is on

the tobacco in his pants pocket                                     10

because I used to wrap it for him

every Christmas. Grandmother's hips

bulge from the brush, she's leaning

into the ice chest, sun through the trees

printing her dress with soft                                           15

luminous paws.

I am staring jealously at my brother;

the day before he rode his first horse, alone.

I was strapped in a basket

behind my grandfather.                                                20

He smelled of lemons. He's died-

but I remember his hands. 

      This week, I analyzed the poem called "Fifth Grade Autobiography" by Rita Dove. I chose this poem because to me, it seemed like the author would talk about their childhood and the great memories in it. I also thought that it would have reminded her of an actual fifth grade biography. It also reminded me of the many memoirs we had to do in middle school of some good or bad memories. 

     In this poem, the author likes to use enjambents in her poem. In almost every other line, there is a break between sentences. I think the author does this for emphasis on the sentence. It helps the author have a certain rhythm to the poem. It breaks it up to show the different scenes of the poem. This shows how she thinks of her memories of her family.

    Something I noticed is that she talks a lot about her family in this poem. She talks about her brother, her grandmother, and her grandfather. It seems that she never talks about her parents though. She talks about her greatest memories with her family as the simplest ones. I also noticed that she liked to talk about clothing and textures a lot. Whenever she describes her family, she always describes them with some sort of object. 

     The author also talks a lot about body parts. She talks about the hat sitting on top of her brother's head, her grandmother's hips bulging, and her grandfather's hands. She seems to personify the parts of their body as though they were not attached to the body. 

Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging

I'm reading the same book as last week. For those of you who didn't see my blog last week, you might think the book is very inappropriate, but I promise it's not. The title is a bit misleading, and so are most of the titles in the series. The books are good though. They talk about the life of a teenage girl named Georgia. She struggles with what most teenagers struggle with, insecurities, boys, and school.

On the part I stopped at, Georgia has just met a boy that she considers to be the most handsome boy she has ever seen. She immediately becomes smitten. It's almost like love at first sight. I think this book definitely is realistic to teenage girls nowadays. It is relatable, and can help girls when they feel like they are in a slump. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Author: Luis Rennison
3/19 - 23 pages - 30 min
3/20 - 27 pages - 30 min
3/21 - 21 pages - 30 min
3/22 - 24 pages - 30 min
3/23 - 25 pages - 30 min

Nervous Conditions Project

Today, me and my group presented our Nervous Conditions project. Our project focused on examples of double meanings in the text. Most of which I noticed had come from Nyasha. Most of the time, it is about her not wanting to eat in order to stay skinny.

Overall, I think our project was pretty good. We made our points clear, so people weren't confused on what we were talking about. I think our presentation was well planned and executed. Overall, I think we all did good. I felt very proud of my project and hope to get an A on it.

Spring Break

I know how I said I was ready for summer, but spring break is definitely coming sooner. I cannot wait! I think I'll be going on vacation with my mom, and my new stepdad to this cool place called WaterColor. Not sure if I'm going, but I know it's this really cool spa place, and it's just what I need. School is really starting to stress me out, and I'm pretty sure at this point, everyone wants a break right now.

For the most part, I'm ready to be on the beach, and getting ready to tan. That's probably one of my favorite parts of vacation. It's almost like a momentum. But I'm also excited because I think I get to visit my other relatives who I don't see very much. It's always good to keep your family close because they are always there for you.

Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging

I know what you think. From the title of my book, it may seem a little inappropriate. I promise it's not. Or it doesn't seem to be so far. The book is called Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging. It's the first in a series of books that are the confessions of Georgia Nicolson. In this book, Georgia faces the normal troubles of a teenager: feeling insecure, questioning why she's still single, and dealing with everyday teen problems. In the beginning of the book, it's weird, but she shaves off her eyebrows, and refuses to leave her house.

I can definitely relate to this book. Part of being a teenage girl is stressing over guys. For the most part, there is definitely a lot of insecurity involved. I like how the book deals with this in a humorous way though. It teaches us that sometimes we need to stop, and laugh at the moments in life, because everyone has those embarrassing moments.

Author: Luis Rennison
3/12 - 30 min - 21 pages
3/13 - 30 min - 26 pages
3/14 - 30 min - 24 pages
3/15 - 30 min - 20 pages
3/16 - 30 min - 22 pages