The Poetry is in the music.....or is it the other way? Due 10-29-10

As I collected your lyric sheets the other day, I was struck by how diverse the song choices were...old ones, new one, sad one, happy ones, ones that really can't be belted out in class because I'd have to "beep" you every two words. The tones were all over the place and I LOVE IT!!!!  After my initial dismay over no one picking a Rick Springfield ditty, I once again realized how music and poetry cannot exist without the other...at least in a really great songs. It's amazes me how words set to music can be so powerful, even more so when my mother says to me " I don't think that Eminem guy should really set his wife and house on fire, but it's great imagery. Very powerful stuff." If my ma, the woman who thinks Barry Manilow is a god, can get the artistic feeling out of a rap song, then it makes me wonder what we can get out of a genre we are studying every day. I've said it before, music is simply the magic of poetry set to a wonderball of instrumental creativity.

This week's activity will require you to analyze one of my favorite pieces. I happen to love Depeche Mode as their instrumentals and lyrics just speak to me. It's one of my 80's crushes that I just can't quit. below, i leave you the lyrics to decipher and chew. Above, I leave you the melodies. Please take note of my trying to kill two birds with one stone: you get to hear the song and learn some nifty new Spanish words.

Lucky Number 7... Due 10-22

Hello,

Few things....

When you post you REALLY need to put down your entire name if you have the SAME FIRST NAME as someone else. Seriously, I know in your heads you are thinking " But this answer is so insightful and screams of my essence that it's inconceivable ( shout out to The Princess Bride and Shawn Wallace) that she wouldn't know it's me!" Well, to all the Amanda named, Alex named, and Sam named people out there....YOU'RE GIVING ME A HEADACHE!!!  ( Are you feeling the red font; are you?)Some of you are getting better at throwing down the last names, but from now on...no last name= no grade! I can barely remember the names of my own children on a daily basis...I can't read through the computer lines to feel your force...I'm not a Jedi...yet....

So, thinking jedis= thinking of Luke= thinking of heroes=thinking "hey, I just gave them a cool mock heroic poem on a skeeter. We should do something with that." (See the train of thought...note that it does end up at the station...sometimes...unless it's derailed by thoughts of food or my new video game.)

What I would like you to do is reread Updike's Mosquito and add your thoughts and feeling concerning the poem. Make sure to read what others have left and comment off the posts before you. Additionally, if you had to create a mock heroic on something usually viewed as insignificant, what would it be?

On the fine wire of his whine he walked

Unseen in the ominous bedroom dark

A traitor to his camouflage, he talked

A thirsty blue streak distinct as a spark,

I was to him a fragrant lake of blood

From which he had to sip a drop or die

A reservoir, a lavish field of food

I lay awake, unconscious of my size

We seem fair-matched opponents, soft he dropped

Down like a anchor on his thread of song

His nose sank thankfully in; then i slapped

At the sting on my arm, cunning and strong

A cunning, strong gargantua. i struck

This lover pinned in the feast of my flesh

Lulled by my blood, relaxed, half-sated, stuck

Engrossed in the gross rivers of myself

Success, without a cry the creature died

Became a fleck of fluff upon the sheet

The small welt of remorse subsides as side

By side we, murderer and murdered, sleep.

Post #6... Part Deux!!!! The Sequel!!!

Hello!

I was flipping through the TV channels and realized how many sequels are out there. Some are awesome (Aliens, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Chipmunks..the Squeekual). However, many are just so baaaaddddd.  Let's see...I Know What You Did Last Summer Again, The Matrix Reloaded, Caddy Shack II, Staying Alive...yes, I realize you have no idea what half of these are, but I have been scarred by the atrocities found within these films and feel it would be an injustice to all to keep quiet any longer.

Getting back to the point, I started to think about books with sequels such as Alice Through the Looking Glass, Harry Potter and such. If some of these sequels turned into such classics, why aren't there more sequels out there?

 I think it would be awesome to read "Boo...My Life as a CIA Operative" where we learn that Boo Radley wasn't really a prisoner in his own house but really a CIA operative stomping out racial injustice throughout the world. The whole gentle giant image was a sham as he was stealthy and killed Mr. Ewell with one fatal blow to the jugular as Scout was rolling around in her ham suit. No one being the wiser, he was the man the presidents called when they needed a hush-hush assassination across country lines.What better disguise than a mild mannered simpleton? Scout in her determination to understand Boo begins to uncover his secret identity and Boo is faced with the biggest decision of his life: kill Scout before she knows too much and blows his cover or bring her into the CIA fold.....OMG..this would be AWESOME!!!!! I would totally read this.

Sorry, I got excited for a moment...anyways...what novel do you think needs a sequel and what would it be about? Be creative as I am testing your levels of creativity and imagination. Dazzle me....you can do it! [Insert jazz hands here]

Enjoy!

I'ma be, I'ma be......post #5...a..be

Inspiration hits me at odd moments. I felt inspired by a thought that popped into my noggin, so I thought I'd share it with you. For a brief moment (super brief..seriously...like a flash) I thought to myself "Self, if you weren't a teacher, whatever would you be?" Welllllll, there's so much stuff to do out there, so after wondering for uno momento, I thought....writer and game reviewer for a magazine or company, such as XBOX, Game Informer, or G4. Okay, actually, I really didn't have to think at all about that. It's my not-so secret love....that and ballroom dancing and NSync, which now is not a secret at all.

So, pick a character in any piece of literature you've read and give them another job. Would Scout be a butcher because she's such a ham? Get it...a ham? You know...because she dressed like one in the play at ...nevermind. What about Juliet? An aspiring actress because of her bouts of drama? I could totally see her on General Hospital....not that I watch that junk or anything. As usual, make sure to back up your choice.

Have fun!

Depeche mode - Precious

So Depeche Mode really has to top off my favorite songs. Whatever song it is, they have amazing beautiful, strong lyrics with great music. They can be upbeat or moody; weird or sensitive; sometimes a combination of all. Enjoy the tone they set because it's a winner every time.

Post Four!

Now that we are in the swing of things I am curious as to what you expect to get from English class this year.

Better writing skills?

Amazing analytical skills?

Is there something you feel you're lacking and want to learn?

Any questions for me that you were too shy to ask before?

What? Tell me....I'm dying to know.

P.S. I might be tired when I see y'all on Monday. I am trying to cram in Season 2 of Fringe....the awesomeness of this show is inspiring.

Post for All...Numero Tres! That's three in Spanish, right?

Good morning..or night....depending on when you read this.

Since we are going to be getting into some AWESOME poetry this year, I feel the need to inspire the masses with song. Don't worry...I will not be breaking out in song (though I did do a mean rendition of the Charleston in the library the other day....you know, the one "made in Carolina"?)  Anyways, songs are poetry set to music, correct?  What better to soothe the savage beast than discussing our favorite songs and how they make us feel.

Sooooo....tell the people your favorite song, the tone it sets, and how/why it sets that tone. Be specific and use backup from the song...you know backup...the stuff needed to prove your points.

That's all, folks!