Lina ♥

                                     
                                                         Lina
                                 I hate the way people look at her
                                 I hate the way people make weird faces
                                 I hate the way little kids just stop and stare
                                
                                 I love her smile
                                 I love how she always brightens up my day
                                 I love the way she spits when she gives you a kiss
                                 I love when she tries to look at her nose
                                 I love her hugs
                                 I love it when she hits you and she says sorry right away.
                                 I love her cute crooked teeth
                         
                                 Whether or not she has down syndrome -
                                 My love for her is unconditional.
                                                            ♥

                       
                            

I like how ... ♥

Sometimes  when it's raining
I go outside and take a long  walk.
Because it's the only time I could cry
cry  without anyone knowing.

I like how the rain
fogs up my glasses
I like the coldness
of the millions. Of. Tiny. Rain. Drops
trickling
                d
                   o
                       w
                           n  
my face.

Response on the poem The Starry Night

          This poem was really confusing to me. At first I thought Anny Sexton wants to die badly. But then I had second thoughts. In my mind I was like why would she commit suicide ?Then when Ms. Galang told the class that Anny Sexton did commit suicide I was like oooh. The poem she wrote actually had to something to do with death and dying. Like when she said "up like a drowned woman into the hot sky" or "This is how
I want to die" - this literally says that she wants to die. I actually want to know why she commited suicide, I'm curious now.

           This poem made me feel weird, scared, creeped out, and nervous. It made me scared and creeped out because Anny Sexton used such strong powerful scary use of vocabulary that honestly got me a little scared ; and she also said she wanted to die a lot of times. It got me nervous because reading this poem kind of made me feel like I'm reading a story. Like I didn't know what was going to happen next... It made me feel like I was at the edge of my chair about to fall. I feel as if Anny Sexton did a really good job on making this poem very personal, and filled with lot's of different emotions. It was very intresting to re-read the poem many times and try to dig deeper into our thoughts about what she meant by some of the metaphors or some of the lines in her poem.

            I think Anny Sexton made her poem really connect to the painting Van Goh painted. It connets because they both ( the painting and the poem ) have a scary, sad, vibe tone to them which I thought was really creative and scary. I honestly think she didn't wana die just to see the Starry night ; I think that she just said that to make the poem ABOUT the painting, or else there would be no use in making the poem. But I do like the fact that the poem connect a little back to her life, and her thoughts.

          I love how the poem includes many different things or themes. One thing is death. Death is a theme in this poem, obviously because she says she wants to die 2 times. And she uses the word 'drowned' so that goes with the theme death. Another theme is religion. Religion is a theme because she adds the excerpt in the beggining of the poem. It says "That does not keep me from having a terrible need of -- shall I say the word -- religion. Then I go out at night to paint the stars" And also in the poem, it says the word 'god'  which goes back to the theme religion.

Painting Observations

Observations - black backround and there is a white dove in the middle. The dove is flying and speading its wings. The whole picture is black and white. The birds head is held high.

Inferences - To make the dove pop, or to show that the dove is important the artist made it white. To show freedom and peace. I think black and white photos are really powerful. I think he kind of drew the dove with its head held high and not low, to give off the message that you should always keep your head held high.

Interpretations - To show contrast between the white dove and black backround. To symbolize freedom. To show contrast and balance between the two different colors. Symbolizes the fact that in bad situations, always keep your head held high.

Draft of authors note

        In the 1960's blacks and whites could not attend the same schools. The only black student who entered an all- white school in that time period was Ruby Bridges.
        The city of New Orleans had to integrate public schools because it was an order. Ruby Bridges took a test with a group of other black students, to see who would be the first to integrate into an all- white school in September.
       
        In the summer, Ruby's family found out she's out of the 5 people who passed the test, But, when everyone in New Orleans found out that Ruby Bridges is integrating into an all- white school, everything went downhill. Her father got fired from his job, the family couldn't go into a grocery store owned by white owners, and Ruby's grandparents were asked to leave the land they had share cropped for 25 years. Which I think is wrong and messed up.
    
         I think that Ruby Bridges is a brave confident young kid. I think that even though Racism was a big, big problem in the past - it still is a problem right now ; but no one is doing anything to change it. I noticed that people are not opening their eyes wide enough to see the issues and all of the racism going on in our country.

Extra credit. The End.

              The End

I'm driving on bumps and cracks

making my way to the end

waiting patiently,
I've been though up's and down's.
Rights and lefts,

corner to corner ; I slowly pick the right way and take it.

I've been through crashes and accidents.

But somehow, I always stay alove and somehow I keep going.

Green light tell me - Go and live your life.

Yellow lights are saying - Slow down and take it one step at a time.

Red light are saying - STOP, your making a bad choice !

LIVE YOUR LIFE TO THE FULLEST !

Extra credit. Reading response for Hurricane Song by Pual Volponi.

        In the beginning of Hurricane Song, Miles and his Pop ( Doc ) weren't that close. Pop cared about his horn more than he did about Miles. But, by the end of the book, their relationship got better.

        In the middle of the book, Miles says " It wasn't a big space between us, but it felt like it was from one end of a football field to the other," I think what Miles is trying to say is that even though Miles is sitting right next to his dad, their relationship feels farther away. I really like it when Miles says that because Miles is the kind of person who keeps their feelings bottled up. And it is nice to hear that he is expressing his feelings, but I was disappointed when I realized that he didn't say it to his father. And when he says it, it tell me he wants things to be better between him and his dad.

        At the end of the book, when Miles is hugging his dad he says " There wasn't any space between us, and for once every part of me felt close to him," I think what Miles is trying to say is that a hug was all Miles needed to see that his Pop actually cared and loved him more than his music.

        Another way Miles knew that his dad loved him more than his music was when they had a fight with the looters. In the fight, Pops horn got bent and messed up ; but when the looters ran away Pop didn't care about the horn, he asked Miles if he was okay.  That really shows to Miles and us the readers that Pop is really loving and cares about Miles more than his music.

        Overall, Miles now knows that his dad really cares about him. Through out the book both Miles and his dad changed. I was hoping that at the end of the book Miles will tell his dad his feelings about his dad and his music ; but I guess he didn't need to because everything got solved.