Lobsters

            The author Howard Nemerov uses a comparison between lobsters and humans in a very satirical way. One idea that caught my attention was how lobsters have many different colors. "Mud red, bruise purple and cadaver green...This is their camouflage at home." In my discussion we decided this was his attempt to show his audience that humans are all different colors and most of us tend to blend into our surroundings, not wanting to be seen or discovered.

 When I first read this poem, I thought it seemed very literal, but as I started to annotate and discuss it with other students I realized it was about much more than just lobsters. The more time I spent with this poem, I began to see the symbolic meaning. One main point the author talked about was death. He talks about how lobsters wait around in a glass tank, waiting for a human to pick them and take them home to eat. Throughout the poem, the main message was that we cannot escape death. This symbolic meaning made this piece of literature very dark, one without hope.

So Many Pargraphs, So Many Skills

Over these past few weeks we have been reading our five-part paragraphs out loud in class. One area of weakness has been in the commentary, whether the writer had too little information, or didn’t completely explain their main topic. To begin a five-part paragraph one must have a focused topic, one that will be elaborated on through the entire paragraph. After that three concrete details are needed in the paragraph. These are quotes and must be introduced thus embedding them. Following the concrete detail is the commentary. This is where the student will explain to you in their own words what that certain quote meant to them and what they thought the author was trying to convey through the quote. Once that has been completed the paragraph is finished with a concluding sentence that wraps everything up.

With this being my first five-part paragraph I felt that I did well. However my paragraph could have had more substance in that it conveyed the general idea but I did not elaborate as much as I should have. I also think that my word choice was repetitive. I felt I understood this project and I believe I did quite well.