Farewell at Nightfall

                                                                         Nightfall,
                                                                         She to the left,
                                                                         Him to the right,
                                                                         Farewell at last.


                                                                         He opened the door knob,
                                                                         She pushed through the gate,
                                                                         He looked back, and so did she,
                                                                         "Farewell, sister!", he yelled.
                                                                         Then opened the door and,
                                                                         Walked in. 


                                                                         Sister laid there,
                                                                         And took the knife,
                                                                         Put it through her chest,
                                                                         She dropped.
   
                                                                         Looked out into nightfall,
                                                                         "Farewell brother, farewell."
                                                                         

Stories I Ain't Told Nobody Yet.

Stories I Ain’t Told Nobody Yet
By: Jo Carson

Mountain people
can't read,
can't write,
don't wear shoes,
don't have teeth,
don't use soap,
and don't talk plain.
They beat their kids,
beat their friends,
beat their neighbors,
and beat their dogs.
They live on cow peas,
fatback and twenty acres
straight up and down.
They don't have money.
They do have fleas,
overalls,
tobacco patches,
shacks,
shotguns,
foodstamps,
liquor stills,
and at least six junk cars in the front yard.
Right?
Well, let me tell you:
I am from here,
I'm not like that
and I am damned tired of being told I am.

Observations:

• In the poem, I noticed that she wrote in a very interesting format. She wrote in a way, like she was trying to get to the point of what she was trying to assert. The poem was organized in a way where there was a lot of rising action, or tension until it was shown at the end. Because at the end, she really gave a lot of feeling/emotion toward the subject. 
• I also observed that in the piece, the author used a lot of repetition. For each section, if I could break it up she used the same word for the beginning of each line (for the most part) like; "can't, don't, beat & they". If you were to break up this poem into a couple of stanzas, there would be 5. One for each part.
• Lastly, I noticed that she didn't use many descriptive words, her piece actually sounds like a draft. It sounds like she's telling a person her story. Because she just keeps going in the beginning, without stopping. But then at the end, she stops a little to ask for almost an opinion? And then says what she thinks, which is not good. She's, "... and I am damned tired of being told I am." She really showed how she felt on how people treated her or reacted. 

Interpretation:
  After persuing this poem a couple of times, I can conclude some things. The title, it's called 'Stories I Ain't Told Nobody Yet' maybe it actually means she didn't tell anybody yet. Deeper, maybe it means she's been bottling up the feeling of hurt/tough times for so long, and she never told anyone how she felt, that it was the first time. She decided to tell someone about it in poem form. 

 After reading the poem for the last time, before typing this. It left me with a deep feeling, too. I guess the whole purpose for the poem was to tell people how Carson was feeling when people told her how mountain people are, & it left me feeling about how I grope when someone says stuff about me or a group of people when I feel it's untrue. Like for example: When people say Muslim people do this or do that, when really look I'm Muslim, but I don't do those things. 

I can tell she meant to say stop being so stereotypical because that's not how everyone is. Like the image I get; when I read the ending about her being so upset is how I feel sometimes. Also, when she kept using the repetitive language in the middle of the poem, it gives the image of a mutual feeling, something that keeps coming back to bite you. But a bad thing. 

Further thoughts:
I think that the way Carson stated her feelings into the poem was very unique. She told the readers what happened, and then said how she felt about it. Which I think is always good. She didn't jump to any conclusions or accusations, but gave her thoughts on it. I think that nowadays, there's a lot of problems with stereotypical groups of people that target another group. And really, people don't usually solve the problems the way Carson did. The real way to solve things is to talk it out, not to hurt/hate. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this poem. I was introduced to it last year in ELA. I think it really shows a true message, & it's just well written!

*Black, underlined words are for the Writing Challenge.
 

Too Much.

I'm in the midst of reading this frivolous, comical yet touching novel called Slam by Nick Hornby. Just saying now, basically what this book is about is; sex, skateboarding and family. Anyway, it's about a blasé, adolescent boy named Sam. He likes to talk to his Tony Hawk poster in his room everyday, and Tony actually responds back to him! The characters in the book are really his two, divorced parents, Andrea and I forgot his Dad's name, Alicia and well that's it... for now. Alicia is his girlfriend. And this girl, I swear is a nymphomaniac. She is obsessed with sex! You know, a lot of people would feel weird about writing about sex on a school blog, I mean I am kind of but this is one of the most important topics & problems in the book.Grr, the way she acts bothers me so much, like she's a girl, she's not the boy who's supposed to be preoccupied with that kind of stuff. Whatever. I'm not really deep into the book, like 60 pages? So I can't say much. But I do expect things to happen.

In the story, Sam's mother is a young woman, "she’s only three years older than David Beckham, and four years younger than Jenifer Aniston," he likes to say. I think in the book, if not already, Sam's mother, Andrea becomes an important figure. Sam and his relationship with Andrea isn't all that great especially because of the divorce with his father. And also, because she had Sam at 16. That fact is really important to Sam, it seems because he keeps bringing it up, he always mentions that he was a "mistake". The part i'm up to right now is mostly about how Andrea feels about sex. She asked him if him and Alicia were sexually active and he was too uncomfortable to answer especially because of his Mom's "mistake". I wonder why his Mom cares so much? Like it was her mistake, and he could do whatever he wants. Maybe she's looking out for Alicia, what do you think? And they are sexually active too, just because Alicia's crazy, sex-driven chick. (Seriously, she wanted to have sex on the 2nd date... weirdo.) I predict that something really bad's going to happen to them, as a couple. Either they break up or i'm just so sure Alicia gets pregnant, or even both! I mean it would be predictable now, for girls to pregnant. But there's just something, i'm just more lenient toward the break up, because he did mention that they might so yeah. This book's kind of a lot to take in.

Basically, this is a very interesting story and everything that happens is just a page turner! I hope I actually get to finish (probably will). I recommend this to anyone, more to boys cause I think it'd be more relatable but if you're a girl or just any teen that wants to read this, then they should cause it's about adolescence. Oh and also, since the author, Nick Hornby is British (research) it has some British words like "bloody hell", etc... so if you like those kinds of books, definitely give this a try!

Even though it sounds too focused on one topic, I think it will show an important lesson in the end, I just don't know what. Mystery, mystery...

I hope you find this post as funny as I did when I was typing it! :D

If you want a better summary/overview, you should read the review from The New York Times here.

*Black, underlined words are for the Writing Challenge.  

Yours truly, 

Zarrin S Class 813. [: