Saturday, April 18, 2015

Bria Jourdain                                                                                                   4/18/15
Reading Response Heart Poem                                                                       812

“God is perfection, God is protection, God is love, but most importantly God is gay.”  One of my favorite lines because of how compelling and the depth it has. I found my heart poem by learning about a YouTube channel from a friend.. So one day when I was bored I came across a poem called “God Is Gay”. I just wanted to see the reactions in the comments. In addition the title caught my eye. But it turns out the poem was very interesting and powerful. It made very good points that I agreed with and I was just enjoying it. The main thing that I learn from the poem is to be a stronger writer and to convey a compelling story. The poem has so much depth because it has symbols and speaks of the world today.
One of the strongest parts of the poem is where it writes about society, Elliot Darrow recites, “For we have become blinded by bigotry. And forgotten that God gave us the rainbow.” Darrow makes a really good point here. He’s not only relating to religion but to the society that we live in. We tend to be bias and look over things that we should pay attention more to. What he is also pointing out here is we should go back to the original source like a parent, a book, or things in your daily life because that’s where the answers lie. It makes me feel we as people do a lot of things wrong. He also recites, “But if you have hate in your heart say it don’t pray it.” This is a very confusing line but what I make of it is don’t believe in hate. Praying can be having a conversation with God and by praying hate your believing that’s what God is. And by saying it your letting it out and it’s out there. This can relate to society by simply not believing in hate and letting it be out there. I feel like our society is based on hate and we spend a lot time pointing out things that we hate.
One of the key components of this poem is how personal it is. Darrow recites, “Or do you think they would reread the scriptures they say they swear and survive by.” Like a lot of people we don’t practice what we preach so we don’t have a right to judge anyone. Furthermore we don’t have a right to judge what we read (the bible) because by doing so we are making a inference. And that inference shouldn’t be put on someone or something. I feel a lot of our life is based on inferences on others and we never really get to know a person. He also recites, “Picking passages for my purpose which is in short to show you it’s very possible God is gay.” This is one of the lines that I read over except for the part where it writes “God is gay”. However, it proves the point that we make inferences of the things around us. And shows that we easily judge things that go with our mindset. We aren’t understanding what it can do to the things around us. Which makes it really personal because we have to think of others. I feel as if we forget how personal life is and it’s actually something that is real.

This poem came at the right time because I just discovered how to enjoy to write poetry. I was able to be inspired to write about conflicting things on my own time. “God Is Gay” really shows what needs to be in a powerful poem. Personal connections, power, conflicts, etc. And by having this in poem shows the out looks on life.



Bria Jourdain                                                                                                   4/15/15
Extra credit poem                                                                                            812
           
In The Morning                                 
8:46
In the morning
I can see
A slight breeze
Running through the trees.
A awakening sky
That breaths.
And clouds scattered to be gone.
Up above there’s a sun that’s
Breathing our day.
When I put my ear against the window the loudness
Of peacefulness are hollering throughout the streets.
Except for the birds that poo and sing.
8:53
In the morning
Planes are always flying
To highest of beings.
And the cars roam with a gentle hum.
And I like to say I like to wake up early
Just to know that I’m not alone.
Even if the branches of the trees have no leaves
It shows promise to the birds that perch.
And even if the wind is harsh
And gives a glumness of cold
The people who take whatever steps they do
On the uneven streets and sidewalks
It’s a part of life
When it’s
9:00
In the morning.


The Briar Kids

Based on the accounts in Sweet Briar College

A Enchanted land
Where people came to celebrate
And embrace newfound beginnings.
They populate a place with a
A brighter sun,
Greenest of grass,
And the tallest of trees.
The Briar Kids,
Found history hidden in the creases of the new
Hoping for new futures to become their shoe.
The kids dance, sing, and rode together with the horses in the spring.
Together they found secrets hidden beneath
The tallest trees,
The greenest of grass,
With a bright sun behind them.
There’s more to discover with each breath and step
They take.
With mysteries of the past
And the forgotten that had a clashed.
There’s a sickening truth behind it all.
But that did not frighten the Briar Kids.
Because that’s what they forbid.
Something then detached from the Briar Kids
Something that lips can’t explain.
A humming of shunning fell over the people who helped them.
And the Briar Kids had lost it all.
With a shock that it had happened like this.
The Briar Kids hissed,
 “Who has corrupted this loving land? Where we will forget the rustling of the trees. And the buzzing of the bees just because of the disgust of these!”
And they pointed at the adult’s that hid new beginnings in a sea of lies.
That gave a burden to the enchanted land for it to never to rise.
So the celebration abruptly came to a end.
As the Briar Kids whisked away from the seams of the trees,
And the spite of the sun,
And the pride of the green.
They left with more than flame with a tang
But the dignity of those who have fell with a bang.
And now
The enchanted land allows
New history that stores in the creases of the land
The tears of the Briar Kids.

I was inspired to write this poem because I enjoyed working on Sleep Will Come. It took me a long time to write it because I was interested in the rhyming. Yet, it was fun writing about the setting because I got to put my own twist on it.

Sleep Will Come
Poem Inspired by Sam Wolfe Connelly’s Painting ‘Sleep Will Come’

I look into nowhere
As sit in nowhere
Forever waiting for nothing.
But I keep looking.
I have to
I need to.
I want to see more
I have to see more.
But even a open window
Can’t help me
See to the
Future.
So I look into nowhere
As nowhere stares back at me.
I feel it.
The cringing of its smile.
A face full of darkness.
The darkness that is me
That’s in front of me.
It feeds off the pain that it
Ignites
With the sparks below me.
Those orange flicks of light
That can do so much
As they creep up.
I taste the life I once had
Through the veins in my legs.
A great tension builds into my hands
Letting my fingers grow to be part of my
Thighs.
Whatever
It
Is
It’s sticking to the back of
My head.
It’s part of me,
Half of me,
Me.
So my body twists into stillness.
Then I feel it.
The connection with the part of
Me
That wants to give up.
To forget the forgotten
Future.
With a easy twist of the head
I lose.
So I keep looking into
Nowhere
Because without it
It wins.

I was inspired to write this poem because of the oil painting by Sam Wolfe Connelly. I also got pointers from my peers, which made me have more fun writing.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Reading Response
Bria Jourdain                                                                                                    2/11/15
812                                                                                                                    ELA   
Teenagers can be easily influence by the peers around them. In graphic novel Peanut by Ayun Hailliday is about a teenage girl named Sadie who fakes a peanut allergy to fit in her new school. Throughout the story Sadie learns the battles that are faced keeping a lie from home and school. Later she learns there’s more to people than telling them what they want. Sadie's changes who she is based on the benefit to fit in with others.
Sadie's 'peanut allergy' becomes more than fitting in but influencing certain actions. Earlier in the book, Sadie had a incident where she almost ate something that contained peanut oil. Her new friends reacted anxiously while Sadie acted wary. On page 131 she's discussing the event with her friend David. The text stated, "The reason I didn't use it [Epipen] in the cafeteria is I didn't need to." Sadie is learning that there's more to keeping this 'peanut allergy' under control. It's affecting her choices and relationships with friends. In addition Sadie realized that her idea (having a peanut allergy) is more than just happening in school. The text stated, "If I'd thought things out in advance, it might have dawned on me that it's not so easy keeping home and school separate."(147) Everyday things that Sadie thought could be separate are becoming difficult. For her to lie to her mother and friends is becoming burdensome. Also being able to keep track of lies between home and school are inferiors in her life. Sadie is changing her actions based on what others aspect of her.
Sadie believes without the influences on others she won't be able to have an influence on them. Sadie talks to her mother about the equipment for having a 'peanut allergy'. Although, she is using her mother in a selfish way. The text stated, “Wait, mom do you know anything about a EE-PINE-FRINE?"(96) Here Sadie is manipulating her mother to be more impressive in school. Furthermore, she is also lying to her mother by using her for something that she would be against of. Without making the 'peanut allergy' an influence at home she wouldn't be able to make it an influence in her school. Much earlier in the text she influences her classmates with information about her 'peanut allergy'. The text stated, "…Until then, I'll live life to the fullest…Aware that any moment could be my last."(47) Again Sadie is influencing her classmates. Yet, that won't help in the future. If Sadie can’t accept herself how can she make others accept her?
Sadie learns that there is more to being who you are. Throughout the book Sadie keeps up her ‘peanut allergy’. Yet, it gets out of hand when some calls 911 because she supposedly had consumed a peanut. Her life turns dreadful once everyone finds out who she really is. The text stated, “People go out of their way to ignore me.”(188) Sadie learns that people didn’t care about her ‘peanut allergy’ until it affected them. They cared more about who she is as a person instead of having something that sets her apart from others. Furthermore, Sadie learned there’s many ways that people can notice her. The text stated, “Maybe if had it to do over again, I could try a different angle. People make friends any number of ways, right?” Sadie realized making an impact is simple as stepping inside a room. Plus she should enjoyed experiences with others than being the center of attention. She learned being yourself should be enough for others.
Peanut is a book that all students can relate to. It’s about the dangers of changing for others to fit in. Many students do crazy things to set themselves aside from others to be able to fit in. Yet, many do not understand that doesn't allow them to become the person they want to be. Do things for yourself and not for others is the way to live life. Your perspective is can be yours and not others.
Works Cited

Halliday, Ayun, and Paul Hoppe. Peanut. New York: Schwartz & Wade, 2013. Print.