Animal Farm Project

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Poetry Out Loud: My Poem

The poem that I chose is called Invitation to Love by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This is a beautiful poem and I have loved memorizing and trying to develop a deeper understanding. The main meaning of the poem is that love is everywhere; all we have to do is open our hearts to it.

I did not necessarily connect with the poem on a very personal level, but what did speak to me was imagery. The author does an amazing job at painting a picture with his words. He shows that love can come in any form, place or time. What is special about this poem is any person can relate to it. The poem could be about two lovers, friends or a family. This makes this so versatile and allows it to touch that many more people.

When I present this poem I want to articulate the words well. I also will try to pause at certain places to give the audience time to picture what the author is trying to tell them. I am going to try and stay as relaxed as possible and not talk very fast. This way my audience will have a better  time listening and hopefully find a connection with my poem.

Extra Credit Blog

In my To Kill a Mockingbird paragraph I realized that my quotes were not embedded very well. Another element of the 5 part paragraph was the commentary. I had the right amount of commentary but I did not elaborate and that caused my paragraph to be very short. One of the last things I realized needed work on was my concluding statement. My concluding statement needed to be stronger and wrap up the overall idea of my paragraph better.

In The Knife by Richard Seltzer I believe that I embedded my quotes better and that the overall project went smoother this time. I tried to elaborate more and I feel that this will add more depth and understanding to my paragraph. This time my concluding sentence wraps up the entire paper summing up the meaning of the paper.

Poetry Out Loud

Part One

1. Mezzo Cammin by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

2. Dreamers by Siegfried Sassoon

3. Invitation to Love by Paul Lawrence Dunbar

4. Piano by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

    Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas

Part Two

Of these five poems I thoroughly enjoyed Invitation to Love and Piano. Both of these poems described scenarios and the inner most feelings of the writer. I related to both of these poems which made me want to read them over and over again. I did not enjoy reading Mezzo Cammin and Dreamers because they were depressing poems. Poetry is supposed to show feeling but I felt like I did not relate well to either of them. Of these five different poems I would be interested in studying Invitation to Love the most. I feel like this poem shows love and that connects with me in many different ways. I also really enjoyed the way he almost van paint a canvas with his words.

Part Three

Two of the criteria that I believe will be easy for me are physical presence and evidence of understanding. I am very good at giving presentations and reciting different things in front of people. I also have very good comprehension skills which helps me understand what I am reading. I feel like I will have more difficulty with dramatic appropriateness and accuracy. I am not the most dramatic person and I hope that I do my best at conveying my feelings about my specific poem to my audience. I can sometimes rush when speaking and that could possibly impact my accuracy.

Part Four

I watched Writ on the Steps of Puerto Rican Harlem by Gegory Corso and Forgetfulness by Billy Collins. Both performers had slightly satirical poems and did very well with the dramatic appropriateness. They thoroughly understood their poems and that was noticeable throughout the performances.

Part Five

I feel that Poetry Out Loud will be a very good experience. I liked being able to read different poems and hear different opinions about the same poem. I think the competition will be fun and that we will all learn from it. I feel that I will do well, I enjoy memorizing different things. The poem that I will recite is Invitation to Love by Paul Lawrence Dunbar. I chose this poem because I felt have a connection with this poem and I enjoy reading it, I want to share that same enjoyment with my classmates. The website was extremely helpful in trying to find different information quickly and effectively.