Carlie’s Blog

In the poem “Seventeen Funerals” by Richard Blanco he remembers the students who were killed in the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Blanco goes into major detail with his specific details in his poem to never forget this incident and to get justice. 

The title “Seventeen Funerals” is very significant because it gives the reader an idea of what the poem will be about as in regard to that something bad has happened. It gives the reader an exact number and is his way of starting the specifics in numbers and how many died this certain day. 

Blanco’s use of numbers in this poem is extremely important because he uses them in many different ways to remember the ones that died at school that day. For example, he uses “seventeen good mornings” and “seventeen echoes.” But Blanco also uses “one-hundred fifty bullets” and “three-hundred-ninety-three-million guns in America.” He is able to use different uses of numbers in his poem for his audience to remember each and every student that lost their life that day and all the students and their families had to go through.

The first shift in this poem is when Blanco switches from remembering these students and how there will be no more of anything from them to the actual shooting and the actual incident. The second shift occurs from when he is talking about the shooting and about all the things that will happen after and what these students’ families will have to deal with to his last sentence sending justice for gun violence in America.

The structure of the poem is very interesting as well as significant. I think the structure of this poem is all a big paragraph and not sectioned apart because it all happened so fast and so quickly for these students. The repetition of the numbers and seventeen shows how in a split second seventeen lives were taken away so fast. 

When I first read this poem I did not really understand why Blanco split the seventeen names up like he did. He used dashes, periods, and different phrases but still said all seventeen names. As I read it again I figured that Blanco did that to show the reader the complexity and what will be missing every day from now on like “seventeen absentees” or “seventeen empty beds.” Blanco is demonstrating how he can go on forever with all the little things that will be missing from these students not being in the world anymore.

I am comparing Richard Blanco’s poem “Seventeen Funerals” to Emily Dickinson’s poem “Hope is the thing with feathers.” This poem was written in 1861. The reason I am connecting these two poems is because I believe Dickinson’s poem is about how people should never give up hope and to always keep fighting even during the harsh times. She is saying that hope is a bird that lives on the human soul. I believe that Blanco’s poem is all about getting justice and hoping that one day there will be justice or a solution to gun violence in the near future as Blanco uses his descriptive and specific language to get his point across. Both poets hold on to the fact of hope and never let go of that no matter how harsh times can get.

 Blanco wrote this poem to get justice for guns in America. As he said in his last sentence, “seventeen reasons to rebel with the hope these will be the last seventeen to be taken by one of three-hundred-ninety-three-million guns in America.” It was a great ending in his way to get his point across to his audience as well as remembering the students that died in this school shooting. (622 words)

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers-314

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/148210/seventeen-funerals

In the poem “Burning in the Rain” by Richard Blanco it is expressing all the feelings that he cannot get rid of even when he is trying to let go of those feelings but they will always be a part of him no matter what. 

The poem is structured as a whole and not in stanzas or chronological order to be able to throw all of his thoughts into one. Blanco is just focusing on one subject and not switching back and forth toward anything. It is all about trying to get rid of these feelings that he doesn’t want but they will always be a part of him. 

The title “Burning in the Rain” is a paradox because it is mixing fire and water. It makes the audience wonder what the poem could be about if you are mixing the two elements of fire and water together. It allows the reader to become intrigued in how someone possibly can burn something in the rain or what point is the poet trying to make. 

Blanco starts out with describing how he can never be like his dad and he uses the word “desire,” which makes it seem like he always wanted to be like his father but there were too many expectations he could not fulfill for himself. Then Blanco talks about having to “indulge in my mother’s losses,” which are things he could have done for his mother. He never wants to hurt people, especially his friends and lovers. 

There is a shift when he says he tosses all his feelings and another shift when he switches to rain instead of fire. The first shift Blanco goes from all his thoughts that he wished he could get rid of and then he switches to actions in how “today was that day: I tossed them.” He is very descriptive when he is describing the fire with lots of imagery and similes about how the thoughts “burst like winged seeds.” The second shift occurs when he switches from fire to rain and with the repetition of “Today was that day.” Now he is using descriptions of the rain instead of fire. 

The song that relates to this poem is “Can’t Break Up Now” by Old Dominion and Megan Maroney. The song is talking about how the couple knows so much about each other and how  they “have too much history.” The song is talking about relationships and how they can’t just forget all those feelings that they developed and all the memories. While the poem is talking about just the feelings in general and in his life and how they will never be fully gone and will always be a part of you. They both connect by saying that no matter how hard someone tries they will always remember those feelings or memories in their life that meant the most to them. They might be slightly forgotten or damaged but will always have a place in their heart.

This poem is showing that the rain was expressing his flaws that he was trying to erase but they make you who you are and you cannot simply destroy them. They were definitely damaged but never destroyed. Everyone has flaws but you have to find ways to control them and learn from them. (550)

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56067/burning-in-the-rain

In the poem “Since Unfinished” by Richard Blanco it goes through all his memories good or bad in chronological order to be able to show his thoughts as he continues to get older. I love the way this poem was structured to show him advancing in age while he remembers these certain memories. Richard Blanco’s poem “One Today” was too easy because it gave context to who and why he was delivering this speech. He references many things in America that could be fixed or that he appreciates to end the poem with unity and love and how he wants everyone to be together all the time as a country. The reason he says that is because everyone came together on Barack Obama’s 57th Presidential Inauguration. Richard Blanco’s poem “Island Within” was too hard because I fully didn’t understand who he was talking to and what significance he had to Ruth Behar. I was confused on why he just remembered those significant memories with her and why he ended with questions in italics. I chose the poem “Since Unfinished” because I understood the structure and really connected with the idea of memories and the specific ones people remember. I knew his shifts and when he was talking about more sad or happy memories.

The title “Since Unfinished” represents how his poem will continue on and get longer and longer as he continues to age and develop more good and bad memories. People will always have unfinished memories in their life until they die and continue to write their story. The “since” in the title means he will always be writing since each memory happens and his story will always be unfinished until he passes away. 

The structure of the poem is in chronological order from when he was young to his young

adult years and to his old age. It shows his young innocent memories to his more sad and reality memories to his old bones. It is more like a story than just a bunch of random ideas like most poems.

Blanco struggled a lot of his life with not being able to express himself the way he wanted in fear of being judged. So I feel like this poem was a way he could express his feelings and what he went through in his life starting from a young age to his old days.

The shift occurs in the third and fifth stanza mainly the third stanza. It switches from Blanco being young to being a young adult. It was a turning point in his life because it explains how he slept with a woman because if not his father would negatively react since he is gay. Even his grandma called him ugly names and he never thought he could be loved. Blanco says he spent so many years with “men I knew I couldn’t’ love.” He knew that he would be judged for who he loved so he didn’t know what to do. In the fifth stanza it was a peaceful moment in his life talking about admiring nature and he was content in his life.

In the last stanza he expresses his old age and how his “eyes starting seeing less” and how his “knees aching more.” Blanco says how he is content with just sitting on the porch and he pretty much accepts the fact that he is getting old and can’t do much anymore. He will still have more memories as his story continues. (580 words)

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56068/since-unfinished

In the poem “When Mom Braids My Sister’s Hair” by Clint Smith, the title is very specific in what the poem is directly about even around all the other little things that happen in the poem. I think all the words in the title are capitalized because he is referring to his family members and that is just how he wanted it to look.

There is an allusion to Oprah in the poem by showing what was on the tv back in the day and what they watched on the regular day to day life. There is also plenty of alliteration in the poem like “spoon slowly,” “pot, peeking,” or “small sister’s.” He uses this alliteration to show description of what he was doing or physical descriptions of his sister.  This is for the reader to better understand exactly what was happening rather than being normal like other poets.

He uses interesting word choice for this type of poem because he uses scientific references like “hemispheres” or “equator.” He uses this type of language to be able to describe his sister’s hair in a different way and he always loved science and has used this type of language in many other poems. It’s just a different way to express his thoughts and be unique than being so generic 

I love how he compared his sister’s “new braids” to “calla lilies in the wind.” I had to

look up what calla lilies looked like because I knew they were a flower but wasn’t sure why he would compare them to her hair swinging. A calla lily has a twisted, flowy shape just like a braid. 

I can definitely relate to this poem because when I was younger and my parents just divorced my dad would brush my hair every morning and night and I balled my eyes out until he was done because I had a very tender head. Afterwards I was completely fine because I was happy it was over and glad the nappiness was brushed out.

In two parts of the poem he uses italics to show what someone said in replacement of quotes. In this poem it shows what the mom was saying to his sister. I think it gives a better idea of the tone in the poem and how his family acted.

This poem also expresses his thoughts as a young child because he thinks his mom braiding his sister’s hair is the coolest thing as he says she is using “the magician in her fingers.” It shows how even the littlest things as a child can be the coolest things you have ever seen.

The theme in this poem is for people to realize that when you are younger there is always a routine even if you don’t realize and it becomes a daily thing. The whole poem is in regular paragraph structure because it’s just a normal day in his household and it’s a normal happy poem of what it was like in his house. 

One point of view that I took from this poem is that everything will be okay in the end because he explains how his sister “keeps crying” and his mom “wipes the wetness from her face” but in the end his sister is just as happy as she can be like “the pain was never there.”

557 words

Hi, my name is Carlie Marshall and I will be sharing my different interests through my journey of growing up. These are very different interests throughout my years which have been able to spark my curiosity and what I want to do and be in my life. 

When I was a little girl I always played with American girl dolls all the time. I had a huge house for it and every little accessory you could think of. I had a bike, food, backpacks, and even a dog for them. The one doll that I loved the most was the dol

l that looked like me and had brown long hair. I also had a blonde one and her name was Isabella and she was always the one that I did fun hairstyles on because the doll that looked like me had messy hair and I could never do anything to hers. I always dressed her like me and she always did the activities I did when I was younger like do cheerleading and ride bikes. I was always curious and always dreamed of having a house and being independent all the time. All I thought about when I was younger was growing up and what it was like. I always played by myself because I wanted the feeling of doing things on my own and how I would like them. I would always want to be all dolled up like I used to dress them up. When I would go to my brother’s baseball games I would wear a dress every single time and very colorful ones. They made me have a very curious mind on what I wanted to be and how I wanted to be.

When I got a little older I was still thinking about growing up. I used to always play and pretend like I was a teacher. I had a full desk and used to grade papers. My parents would be the students and I would yell at them. I used to love the feeling of being in charge and no one else telling me what to do. I always dressed up like a teacher too and wear jeans with a cute top and even dresses. I even had the lanyard around my neck and made my own name tag for it. I used to pretend I was handing out the graded papers back to the students aka my parents. Sometimes I would pretend my American girl dolls were students. I would grade very harshly but if they did good I would put a little smiley face sticker on their paper. I even got extra school supplies just to play teacher and I would use my old school papers to hand them out. Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be a teacher but once I got into high school that decision changed real quick.

When I first started middle school I started playing county volleyball. I was always so nervous before every game on Saturdays I could barely eat or I felt like I was going to throw up. I used to always eat one bite of a biscuit and throw the rest away but after the game I would be completely fine and eat anything I wanted. I would always beat myself up for messing up and be really hard on myself. Then the people I played county ball with convinced me to play travel volleybal

l. I started playing travel volleyball in 8th grade and loved it especially the more competitive it got. Since then volleyball has always been my sport and I never regret the decision I made in 6th grade. I was always a very easy learner and I could learn really fast with volleyball and I think that is what made me want to continue because I was getting better every day. I always loved getting compliments from other people about my skills and I did a lot when I was little and that is one reason why I kept doing the sport of volleyball. The joy it brings me playing in high school is amazing especially with the crowd we have and all the support. Also, in high school it is so much more competitive and I love it and wouldn’t trade it for any other sport or activity.

In high school I chose to take the dual enrollment and AP classes because I wanted to get all the credit I could to be able to get into the college I want and to be able to challenge myself. It might have been extremely hard, definitely not saying it wasn’t but I am really glad that I did take those classes because I have prepared myself more for college than many other high school students have since they just want to get by. I may not have gotten all of the exact grades that I wanted. I will never regret taking those classes because it made me see things differently and how it feels to challenge myself. In my underclassmen years I thought high school was going to be a breeze because I just needed to take the classes I needed to graduate. Until eventually I found out what an advanced diploma was and all these credits I could get in high school. I remember one night before one of my hardest AP exams I just sat next to my mom crying my eyes out saying I can’t do this anymore. She always reassured me that I have done all that I can do and worked all year for this. I’m not saying it wasn’t a struggle because my junior year with 4 AP classes was one of the hardest years of my life. I definitely learned that even though I may not have gotten the scores or grades I wanted, I worked by butt off to even get an A in those classes. It’s very easy to be so hard on yourself and sometimes you just need to take a breath and reflect and maybe even need some reassurance.

This concludes my main interests through my crazy changing life. I’m sure it will change many many more times throughout my life. I would like to conclude my blog by saying that your life can change in a matter of seconds even if you had a whole plan and some things could change for the better or the worse. Always take things into consideration. 

Hi, my name is Carlie Marshall and I will be sharing my different interests through my journey of growing up. These are very different interests throughout my years which have been able to spark my curiosity and what I want to do and be in my life. 

 

When I was a little girl I always played with American girl dolls all the time. I had a huge house for it and every little accessory you could think of. I had a bike, food, backpacks, and even a dog for them. The one doll that I loved the most was the doll that looked like me and had brown long hair. I also had a blonde one and her name was Isabella and she was always the one that I did fun hairstyles on because the doll that looked like me had messy hair and I could never do anything to hers. I always dressed her like me and she always did the activities I did when I was younger like do cheerleading and ride bikes. I was always curious and always dreamed of having a house and being independent all the time. All I thought about when I was younger was growing up and what it was like. I always played by myself because I wanted the feeling of doing things on my own and how I would like them. I would always want to be all dolled up like I used to dress them up. When I would go to my brother’s baseball games I would wear a dress every single time and very colorful ones. They made me have a very curious mind on what I wanted to be and how I wanted to be. 

 

When I got a little older I was still thinking about growing up. I used to always play and pretend like I was a teacher. I had a full desk and used to grade papers. My parents would be the students and I would yell at them. I used to love the feeling of being in charge and no one else telling me what to do. I always dressed up like a teacher too and wear jeans with a cute top and even dresses. I even had the lanyard around my neck and made my own name tag for it. I used to pretend I was handing out the graded papers back to the students aka my parents. Sometimes I would pretend my American girl dolls were students. I would grade very harshly but if they did good I would put a little smiley face sticker on their paper. I even got extra school supplies just to play teacher and I would use my old school papers to hand them out. Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be a teacher but once I got into high school that decision changed real quick. 

 

When I first started middle school I started playing county volleyball. I was always so nervous before every game on Saturdays I could barely eat or I felt like I was going to throw up. I used to always eat one bite of a biscuit and throw the rest away but after the game I would be completely fine and eat anything I wanted. I would always beat myself up for messing up and be really hard on myself. Then the people I played county ball with convinced me to play travel volleyball. I started playing travel volleyball in 8th grade and loved it especially the more competitive it got. Since then volleyball has always been my sport and I never regret the decision I made in 6th grade. I was always a very easy learner and I could learn really fast with volleyball and I think that is what made me want to continue because I was getting better every day. I always loved getting compliments from other people about my skills and I did a lot when I was little and that is one reason why I kept doing the sport of volleyball. The joy it brings me playing in high school is amazing especially with the crowd we have and all the support. Also, in high school it is so much more competitive and I love it and wouldn’t trade it for any other sport or activity. 

 

In high school I chose to take the dual enrollment and AP classes because I wanted to get all the credit I could to be able to get into the college I want and to be able to challenge myself. It might have been extremely hard, definitely not saying it wasn’t but I am really glad that I did take those classes because I have prepared myself more for college than many other high school students have since they just want to get by. I may not have gotten all of the exact grades that I wanted. I will never regret taking those classes because it made me see things differently and how it feels to challenge myself. In my underclassmen years I thought high school was going to be a breeze because I just needed to take the classes I needed to graduate. Until eventually I found out what an advanced diploma was and all these credits I could get in high school. I remember one night before one of my hardest AP exams I just sat next to my mom crying my eyes out saying I can’t do this anymore. She always reassured me that I have done all that I can do and worked all year for this. I’m not saying it wasn’t a struggle because my junior year with 4 AP classes was one of the hardest years of my life. I definitely learned that even though I may not have gotten the scores or grades I wanted, I worked by butt off to even get an A in those classes. It’s very easy to be so hard on yourself and sometimes you just need to take a breath and reflect and maybe even need some reassurance. 

 

This concludes my main interests through my crazy changing life. I’m sure it will change many many more times throughout my life. I would like to conclude my blog by saying that your life can change in a matter of seconds even if you had a whole plan and some things could change for the better or the worse. Always take things into consideration. 

 

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