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Valor lies in bed listening to the rain.
Even Death has nothing to do but mend his cloak and hood,
and all their props are locked away in a warehouse,
hourglasses, globes, blindfolds and shackles.

Even if you called them back, there are no places left
for them to go, no Garden of Mirth or Bower of Bliss.
The Valley of Forgiveness is lined with condominiums
and chain saws are howling in the Forest of Despair.

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''For five days I lie in secret,
Tapped like a cask, the years draining into my pillow.
Even my best friend thinks I'm in the country.''
I think this line from the poem I picked connects to the book because the author is explaining how the years are passing by it feels like while she was in the hospital and the protagonist in my book had to spend time in the hospital

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Kaylyn Ly:  "Hold It Down" and "Cell One"

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Kaylyn Ly:  "Hold It Down" and "Cell One"

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"Before I moved, before I

got sick, before I unfriended you on Facebook, before I decided I no longer loved you, before New York, before college—thinking back to childhood when we could run fearless through the neighborhood at night, when

we didn't think about the future, when we loved our country because we didn't know better."

Both the poem "Hold It Down" by Gina Myers and the short story "Cell One” by Chimamanda Adiche commentate on the prominence of police brutality in America and Nigeria, respectively, and describe the common societal response to such abuses as forced acceptance and ignorance. In Cell One, Nnamabia's parents concede to the police by offering them bribes and accepting their unjustified actions and arrests as, “what the police do all the time”. Similarly, the excerpt from “Hold It Down” illustrates the narrator’s desire for ignorance as she recounts her childhood, wishing to return to a care-free and fearless time where “we loved our country because we didn’t know any better”. In both works, the authors highlight the need for reformation in not only the justice system but society, as well.

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"I can feel my soul [...] Wise and wounded, healed and broken again. Becoming tougher and more layered much like the act of crafting an authentic samurai sword."
In The Thunderhead, one of the main protagonists, Rowan, is beaten over and over again, and loses many of the people closest to him. He remarks that those experiences have broken him down, but they ultimately built him up and only strengthened his resolve.

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"Out there, we've walked quite friendly up to death"
ln my novel, "All Quiet on the Western Front" Death is a character which one must adapt to in the front. Death can happen at any moment, and it is prevalent in all areas.

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"When some people talk about money
They speak as if it were a mysterious lover
Who went out to buy milk and never
Came back"
In the short story Puppy by George Saunders, Callie does not have a good relationship with money. In fact, she barely has a relationship with it at all. Unlike Marie, the other main character, Callie does not have much in life, and she prefers not to talk much about money for this reason.

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I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness

My novel, one flew over the cuckoo's nest is based around madness and those who don't truly suffer from it. One of the actions in the book is the idea of the sane being driven insane by the sane, an action that causes the downfall of both parties.

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The nature of good and evil,
Is more than black and white.
They are the darkness in our souls,
Likewise they are the light.

In Frank Herbert's "Dune" the nature of duality as it exists in humanity is readily explored through the mystics who can control certain aspects of it. The novel stresses how both sexes control one aspect of the destructive and constructive aspects of the world and how these manifest in human emotions: The Bene Gesserit (an all-female organization) represent the maternal and can tap into the constructive side of the universe which manifests in humanity as compassion and charity. The Kwizatz Haderach, a special male capable of Bene Gesserit powers and more, is able to tap into the paternal and destructive force of the universe which manifests as greed and derision that the Gesserits cannot. The novel, like the poem, discusses how darkness and light are more than mere external concepts and they exist and become manifest in the world through human action.

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”Boom!”

The war started,

bringing problems and issues

to people in different countries.

-In Four-Four-Two, the story happened during WW2 after Japan bombed the Pearl Harbor, starting from that time, Americans started to see Japanese Americans as spy and started to isolate them.

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"He meets many other souls
Who comes to be
Unfit for the lonely soul"
In East of Eden, Adam Trask's good hearted nature is surrounded by those of with an evil and conflicted nature, which allows for Adam Trask to develop feeling of isolation as the story progresses.

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"Arms, angels, epitaphs and bones,

These (all the poor remains of state)

Adorn the rich, or praise the great;"
In Graveyards Full, Kira Higurashi is refused a funeral because of the way she lived her life. Similar to how the poet describes tombstone ornaments being reserved for the rich or powerful, Kira's death isn't honored nearly as much as others.

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"I don’t know why I chose as I did;
Souls in torment can never explain."
This line is part of the inner monologue of a character that has thrown himself off of the twin towers during 9/11, and the sentiment hat "Souls in torment can never explain" parallels Scott Staley's experience with his survivor's guilt. He can't explain what's happening to him with the objects showing up in his house because it defies all reality.

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"I am but waiting for you.
For an interval.
Somewhere. Very near.
Just around the corner."

In my book many characters die and this part of them poem explains that the people on the other side are still there with you and they are watching over.

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"It pursues the spiraling course of truth
but truth remains constantly elusive."

In Cat's Cradle the paradoxical nature of science is explored, similar to how here, "it" refers to science pursuing truth, though it cannot be found. Both the poem and my book discuss the contradictions within science, as in Cat's Cradle people are told to trust it, but science is what destroys them, and in the poem, the poet notes that science is a pursuit of the unknown that can never be found.

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Thomas Truong: "Grateful Dead Tapes" & The Perks of Being a Wallflower

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Thomas Truong: "Grateful Dead Tapes" & The Perks of Being a Wallflower

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"In my greatest period of disorientation, the Dead, like death, seemed best avoided.
Yet I was the sort who might admit a simplifying affection like the Dead."

In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Charlie, the protagonist, explores his adulthood and mental development. Throughout the book, the author utilizes music in order to represent the current mood. The usage of songs is further shown during stressful moments, where Charlie listens to specific songs that correlate to dramatic events.

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"he slit his leader's throat
and cried aloud for his suicide," in this line we see a killer blaming his victim for the act which was inflicted upon them, a thought pattern reflected in both Dodd and Stillison in "The Dead Zone" - both villains rationalize their own actions through victim blaming.

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Michael Fimble: “I, too “by Langston Hughes, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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Michael Fimble: “I, too “by Langston Hughes, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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“I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.”

In The Hate U Give, the people of their community need to realize how they can change racial injustice and the unrealized bias against other races. The white people in the book only stand up for what is right when they feel like it, and don’t change their ways because it’s not beneficial to them. The main character Starr has to preach over and over how black people should be appreciated and respected just as every other person in America. The poem also relates back to this book because it talks about how the writer of the poem is darker skinned and faces hardships similar to my book.

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(i do not know what it is about you that closes

and opens;only something in me understands

the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)

nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

In the Great Gatsby, the love Gatsby has for Daisy, though only rekindled, is passionate and all-consuming. It is completely unlike the familiarity and mundanity of the Buchanans' marriage. Despite his facade of mystery, he "closes and opens" at her behest. He is willing to go to extreme lengths to please her, including engaging in a bootlegging scheme to become rich and "worthy" in her eyes.

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"Your eyes where nothing is revealed
Of bitter or sweet,"

In The Salt Roads, Jeanne is with Charles for his financial support for both herself and her mother, and she holds no sweetness nor ill will against him. Charles understands the basis of their relationship, but still finds himself deeply captivated by Jeanne, still wanting to understand her while she reveals little about herself.

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"The nature of good and evil is more than black and white."

The general theme in the The Lord of The Flies was about human nature. This quote tells the reader the characteristics of good and evil are not limited to their definition. The book dives into the aspect of human nature and analyzes if human's fall back to their evil or their good sense of heart. With this quote we see all humans are capable of doing both, but the novel shows how powerful the forces of evil doings are.

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"And loved them for the stubbornness that clings"

In All Quiet on the Western Front, the German soldier, Paul Baumer, forms a relationship through admiration with Stanislaus Katzcinsky, characterized opposite to that of Baumer, to cope with the terrors of his company. The adventure of the war also makes light, of the war-bonds between each individual character to Baumer.

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"Weightless, unhinged...we'll drift

In the haze of space, which will be, once and for all, scrutable and safe."

-In Pet, the citizens of Lucille believe they are safe from criminals because they are TOLD they're safe, and they WANT to believe that; but there is still danger lurking all around them, just like the eerie image of drifting through space, "unhinged."

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"a gift from god refused,"

I have read the memior "A child called it" over the summer and I believe that this quote from the poem I chose can be connected to my novle because my story is about a child that has been abused by his parents over the years predominatly his mother. This quote can be interparited as "A gift from god" = child "refused"= neglect. To show how the parents refuse to take care of their child which is what happens in the book to the point where they call him "it" rather than by his name in order to make his feel less than nothing.

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Daniel Montes: "Temporary and Permanent" & A Temporary Matter

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Daniel Montes: "Temporary and Permanent" & A Temporary Matter

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"Know who those people are. And love them the way they deserve. Not everyone in your life is temporary. A few are as permanent as love is old."

-In "A Temporary Matter," Shoba and Shukumar's relationship prior to the stillbirth of their child is healthy and they genuinely love each other. However, after the tragedy, they find themselves isolated from each other and wallowing in grief, ultimately unable to rekindle their relationship despite temporary reconciliation. This line in the poem is like an arrow to the heart for Shukumar, as he lost two people (his child and his wife) to the temporary nature of life as opposed to this permanence the poet discusses.

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"has happiness become a forbidden fruit,
or is our true goal to keep sorrow sustained,
every smile simply a ruse."

This is the most important line because it shows how people are not perfect/happy but rather chase to hide the fact they aren't. Just like Golding was trying to say In Lord of the Flies, with how the boys would wear the mask then become savages, hiding behind the mask rather than showing their true selves.

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"Back of my back, they wag their chins,
Whinny and bleat and sigh;
But better a heart a-bloom with sins
Than hearts gone yellow and dry!"

This part of the poem is most like by novel in the way that the people surrounding the speaker are judging them and talking about them behind their back, just like how the people surrounding Anita are judging her for her life choices when she runs away with Jose and involves herself with war. However, Anita would rather this than a boring life, just as the speaker would rather "...a heart a-bloom with sins than a hearts gone yellow and dry!"

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Kevin Huang: "Rememeber" & Huckleberry Finn

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Kevin Huang: "Rememeber" & Huckleberry Finn

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And you will see what I mean for you to see—

The white hand:

The thieving hand.

The white face:

The lying face.

The white power:

The unscrupulous power

- In Huckleberry Finn, Huck helps Jim, a runaway slave escape, but watches him almost die by a white mob even after he almost saved Tom Sawyer, a commentatory on how African Americans will contiuned to be oppressed by the "white hand."

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And he was rich--yes, richer than a king--
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

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Alana Dawson: "Differences" & "The Bride" 

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Alana Dawson: "Differences" & "The Bride" 

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"Few are those who will accept
The differences of all mankind.
The uniqueness making each one special
Is not the quest most seek to find."

-In the short story, "The Bride", the narrator's sister regards her culture as unimportant and unworthy. She doesn't accept the differences of her culture; instead, she chooses to harshly judge her culture's uniqueness. The narrator's sister is one of the people who are not looking to admire the uniqueness of cultures. In contrast, the narrator IS one of the few who do "accept the differences of all mankind".

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Aubrey Williams: "Dover Beach" & Fahrenheit 451

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Aubrey Williams: "Dover Beach" & Fahrenheit 451

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"The world, which seems

To lie before us like a land of dreams,

So various, so beautiful, so new,

Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light"

-In Fahrenheit 451, everyone appears to be happy because there are endless amounts of distractions to occupy their attention and prevent negative thoughts. However, the exact opposite is true and the general public is numb with no individual thought or true human connections. This quote highlights how utopia can essentially be illusion where everyone is suffering in silence.

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"We have not wings, we cannot soar;
But we have feet to scale and climb
By slow degrees, by more and more,
The cloudy summits of our time"

-In "The Burning Maze", Apollo does not reach his final goal easily, but rather is forced to go through many smaller obstacles and trials that lead up to his final trial. This connects to the poem because the poem discusses how large goals aren't met quickly, but instead are usually worked towards in small steps at a time.

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Lynna Nguyen: "Remorse" & The Kite Runner

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Lynna Nguyen: "Remorse" & The Kite Runner

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"Remorse - is Memory - awake - Her Parties all astir -"

In The Kite Runner, Amir fails to protect his servant and friend, Hassan, from danger, instead watching idly as his friend becomes traumatized. Much like how "Remorse - is Memory - awake," Amir regrets not taking action in this moment to protect his friend and thinks about this guilt and how he can make up for it for the rest of his life.

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"I see the serious mental and physical damages
That this cancer has done throughout the ages"

I believe this is the most moving line in my poem because it compares racism to an incurable disease that has left society in shambles due to its everlasting damage. The mental and physical damage caused by it relates to the physical damage in Griff's murder, but also the mental pain  the rest of the students live with knowing that he is gone and they cannot do anything about it.

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Hannah Kuecker: "The Death King" and A Tale of Two Cities

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Hannah Kuecker: "The Death King" and A Tale of Two Cities

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"Death will be the end of fear..."

In A Tale of Two Cities, the common people of France live every day in fear. They fear of hunger, poverty, and sickness. This fear is so pervasive and worrisome that some see death as salvation - the end of their fear and struggles.

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"I took the one less traveled by"
This line connects to my short story "Navigation" in the way that the narrator in my story chose to quit their job and learned to find happiness, which was the path they would have never considered at the beginning of the story, but it made all the difference for the narrator.

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"by the strong and mighty who feast upon
the weakest of all men.
And so the world we are living in
is just like the lion's den."

-In the Testing, Cia's survival in the last test depends on her willingness to cut down those who stand in her way, a path that she refused to take. The Testing officials that compose her government is the "lion" who encourage Testing candidates to "feast upon the weakest of all men."

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"I'm proud to say

I lost with you."

This line portrays the significance of friendships in our everyday life. It is always valuable to be alongside someone, even if you may not always come out successful together. This line connects to the novel, The Vanishing Season, because they both show the true significance of teamwork and friendship in our everyday life, as in the novel, two kids fight for their lives with the help of each other throughout.

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"Our economy is our religion."

-This line shows that the value that our modern society has for wealth. We pressure after money religiously, spending all our time and energy trying to gain more wealth.  It has become the most important thing in our lives, becoming even more important then religion.

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"But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream"

-In The Match, the reform academy segregates blacks from whites. Although all boys were abused, black males got it worse, and even died from certain punishments. Through boxing, black males had a chance to achieve their singular dream, to win. This was all they dreamt of, yet, it was taken away from them and given to the white males. Their only dream was dead before they even realized it.

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"For shade to shade will come too drowsily, And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul."

-This line in particular relates to the book I read, Blindness, because it provides commentary on coping, and finding relief in times of sorrow. In the novel, the victims of the blindness pandemic are subjected to a huge adjustment in which running away from will do no good to their mental state. This is just like the speaker in the poem indicates here, suggesting that it is perhaps better to drown in sorrows than hide from them.

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"And take the hope of dreams in trust
To keep us day by day."
This quote stood out to me as the most related to the book that I read, The Alchemist. An important point that the author Paulo Coelho constantly pushed was the idea that you should follow your dreams to their completion. And this line in the poem states that the opportunity your dream presents can hopefully continually motivate you every day as you strive towards it.

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"I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me."

In this line, the speaker reflects upon how others perceive him as he yearns to approach a woman. The negative, pessimistic thought process of the speaker parallels Holden Caulfield's in The Catcher in the Rye, who tends to restrain himself from his desires and limit himself--despite his potential--due to his nihilistic and cynical perspective.

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"There is still something good despots cannot imprison"

-This connects to my novel, Starlight, because even though the human race is imprisoned, they are going against their imprisoners by living and fighting back. The despots, tyrants, may have physically placed them in a prison, but they cannot imprison their souls aka "something good."

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Allyson Lopez: "yesterday and tomorrow" & A temporary matter 

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Allyson Lopez: "yesterday and tomorrow" & A temporary matter 

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"Let me once retrace my steps,
From these roads unpleasant,
Let my heart and mind and soul
All ignore the present."

- In A temporary matter, a man attempts to revive his failing marriage. Much like the poem, he wants to rewind and relive a happier time with the one he loves. He tries to connect with her and talk to her more. In the dark as they talk, the couple can ignore the unhappiness in the present. They can act like a loving couple again just like the poem yearns for. But ultimately, they cannot.

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So shall my life path diverge and change. Sometimes the changes feel random.
And I wonder if I am lost.
I search my heart,
am I really right where I should be?
- These lines resonate with my book because the two narrators in the book and poem are discontent with their path and struggle for personal growth. Eventually with the help of others they gain courage to want to make a change.

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"Still in our minds the battles
No freedom is not free!"

This line addresses one of the same paradoxes that is addressed in 1984: freedom is slavery. In the novel, this paradox is intended to be used as a method of control by the government. Their argument is that in true freedom, the will of the most powerful is exerted over all, therefore making it favorable for a watchful government to insert itself at the top of society to avoid this danger. In the poem, the same paradox is conveyed that in making the country "more free", those who fought to make it that way are shackled in the chains of their own mind, and therefore less free than when they left. Though they do so in different ways, these two works convey the same central paradox.

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"I am not so very robust,
But I'll do the best I can;"
And the seedling from that moment
Its work of life began.

In my book, QB1, Jake Cullen must live up to his father's and brother's legacies and emerge from their shadows as a football star; however, Jake must give it his all and prove himself through determination to earn the starting quarterback position first, just like how the seedling must try its best and persevere through tough conditions to grow into a flower.

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"My mother does not know I am lying with a man who is darker than me..."

In Wuthering Heights, the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff is criticized and condemned by the others in the house, similar to the way that the speaker in the poem feels like if her mother were to find out about her relationship, she would be very upset and critical.

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"Turn and hide my face,
You can't handle these tears, "

- In "A Temporary Matter" Shoba understands her relationship is toxic and learns that she cannot be herself anymore, her joyful loving character is nonexistent. She hides her feelings and emotions away from her husband, Shoba is under the impression that her husband cannot help her so there is no point in trying to open up about her heartache.

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So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

This section of my poem leaves the reader in awe. Richard Cory is described to be a wealthy and most educated man who everyone admires and who men want to be, however wealth and status are rendered useless as he kills himself. This poem primarily utilizes irony to communicate wealth and status doesn't ensure happiness.

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Audrey Granmayeh: "Love is a Temporary Feeling" & A Temporary Matter

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Audrey Granmayeh: "Love is a Temporary Feeling" & A Temporary Matter

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"Love comes but lasts too short like a flower
You enjoy the beauty as long as it is there."

-In A Temporary Matter, Shukumar and Shoba have been through a tragic loss and instead of confiding in each other they shy away from their loved ones, there is a fading of their love as the short story progresses as their love is temporary like the loss of power.

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Braden Millikin: "Crimes Committed on Winter" & The Andalucian Friend

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Braden Millikin: "Crimes Committed on Winter" & The Andalucian Friend

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"The way   old people

Are dissolved"

-This connects to The Andalucian Friend through its subject of death and time. In the novel, most of the plot is centered around the new wave of crime bosses rising up as the older generation slowly dies off and becomes irrelevant and being "dissolved" is a great way to describe that process.

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"Courage is having fear
But still staying strong"

This line connects to the novel I read titled The Maze Runner. It reflects similar themes of the book in that the main protagonist of the story is constantly faced with challenges that he's had to overcome; even while being fearful. Despite facing these dangerous obstacles, the protagonist would remain strong in the face of adversity.

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Adrien Prouty: "They Gave Us a War that Nobody Wanted" & Cat's Cradle

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Adrien Prouty: "They Gave Us a War that Nobody Wanted" & Cat's Cradle

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"We’ll forget the destruction and horror implanted/
But remember the soldiers and statesman enchanted"

-In Cat's Cradle, there is a ceremony in which the people of a small nation remember the lives of 100 of their citizens they lost in WW2; although these soldiers did not fight in any battles. As with the line in this poem, the horrors of war are forgotten (Hiroshima, Nagasaki), but the soldiers are glorified for dying.

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Vennila Satheesh, 1984, "If We Must Die"

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Vennila Satheesh, 1984, "If We Must Die"

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Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

This line connects to my novel, 1984, because the characters in my book fight against the corrupt society placed by The Party. They believe that instead of adjusting to the Party's laws they must fight back and die with honor. This quote highlights how in the face oppression one must fight back.

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Jana Albustami: "Still Life with Toy Gun" & "When Violence Is The Answer"

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Jana Albustami: "Still Life with Toy Gun" & "When Violence Is The Answer"

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“if everything
we missed during the years we grew tired trying not to die

found its own body right then, right there in the center
of campus, what difference could it make now
that we have already mastered the rule book, the protocol
we learned before we learned to slow
dance, or smooth talk, or scream
the lyrics of a favorite song in a group
of two or more & not feel ashamed
of all the noise a black body can make
while it is still living”

Throughout Tim Larkin’s “When Violence Is The Answer”, the nature of violence is explored though the incentive of either the elevation of one’s social hierarchy or the complete destruction of and harm to another person. The novel emphasizes the use of violence only when it is vital for one’s survival and highlights the importance of training and practice when faced with a life-or-death situation. The author of the poem, like that of the novel, questions the moral and purpose behind the utilization of violence and expresses his concern for lives affected by it. He discusses the ineffectiveness of any prior knowledge to a life-threatening situation without the proper practice, training, and implementation of said knowledge.

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Antonio Ramos: "More Dangerous Air" & "Ready Player One"

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Antonio Ramos: "More Dangerous Air" & "Ready Player One"

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"Each air-raid is sheer terror, but some of the city kids giggle. They don't believe that death is real."

-In Ready Player One, the main protagonist Wade does not believe he is in danger when he beats the first gate; it is not until his home is blown up with his aunt inside that he begins to realize that he is always in danger, which is similar to the way the children don't believe in death in the poem.

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"Science and Religion"
Religion, quenches the soul of mankind. I too want my name in a history book But, not as an idiot!

This line from the poem Science and Religion relates heavily to the novel I have been reading, Cat's Cradle. The novel Cat's Cradle is a satirical comedy about the absurdity of religion, and Vonnegut uses a made-up religion called Bokononism to mock religion as a whole. In this religion, the foundation is built on the concept that the entire religion is made up of lies and false hope to give its followers a purpose. This line from the poem calls religious figures idiots, for they are not writing real history like historians and other famous figures have done. This is a jab at the higher-ups in religion who allow the tomfoolery to occur. By tomfoolery, the author and I mean that religion is all made up of lies and made to be used as a security blanket. therefore these religious leaders are idiots compared to the real historical legends.

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"'sweet are the uses of adversity’ – for there’s music in our souls"

In The Bronze Horseman, Alexander and Tatiana are separated not just by Alexander's relationship with, Tatiana's sister but also a war. This quote is saying that we should not let our troubles get the better of because we have hope for the future. From what I can tell in the book so far, there is not only a general public hope that the war will be over and Hitler will be defeated, but Alexander and Tatiana both have an unspoken hope that the obstacles separating them will soon yield.

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"They theatrically express deep feeling in their in-
adequate performances"

-In Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, the town of Shaker Heights is described as perfect, but the resident's day to day lives are merely bland and boring. Although it appears to be an ideal society, there is no individualism in the town, so in actuality the residents are deprived of crucial life components: emotion and original thought. This causes a sense of underlying chaos as some residents are dissatisfied by the adequacy of the town and desire a richer sense of accomplishment. This connects to the poem because Shaker Heights "performance" of perfection is inadequate since residents can't reach a strong level of individualism. While they may appear to be expressive, it is a facade, covering their true oppressive nature.

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"And I went singing on my way;

On, on into the dark.

But in my heart still shone the day,

And still—still sang the lark."

In this part of the poem, he's passing the young woman, almost saying goodbye. He said that the world was dark without her "on, on into the dark" but he will remember her in his heart, where "still shone the day". I thought this was pretty moving because he'd never spoken to this woman before yet he was so enamored that life without her would be bleak. This also reminds me of my book, Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Darcy was perfectly happy before he met Elizabeth. Once they met, however, it was torment for him to not be with her. It's almost like 1+1=2. They're whole on their own, but together they're better; life is better.

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"Time is such a weird thing,
we're oblivious to it's passing"

This line from the poem I picked relates to the story I read because it talks about how we can be oblivious to being in a fun time that we think will never end especially as a child and not recognizing the reality of growing up and eventually dying. Like in my book "Barn Burning" where the man was completely oblivious to the situation going on around him involving the disappearance and death of his friend and her boyfriend being a serial killer.

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"So many holding the reins of power not spiritually aware"

-Heinous treatment towards those who are racially different utterly exemplifies a lack of morality. In "The Match," many students attending the abusive school are being controlled by powerful racists who clearly lack a spiritual or moral foundation. This can be seen as the institution's authority beats, tortures, and commends brutal, violent competition between whites and blacks. Furthermore, the line above from the poem "Racism is Around Me Everywhere" illustrates a notable connection to "The Match" as it demonstrates how a lack of spiritual awareness is a key component to the darkness of racism as a whole.

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"From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring." - Alone, by Edgar Allen Poe

This line from renowned poet Edgar Allen Poe greatly relates to the book I've been reading, All American Boys by Jason Reynolds. In the line from the poe, Edgar Allen Poe expresses his life as something no other kid or person could honestly relate to. Poe looks at life from an outside view, as he has lived a life of negativity and loneliness, that many people around him could not simply understand.In terms my book, the main character, Rashad Butler feels this pain of not fitting in due to negative experiences in life. No boy Rashad's age has experienced police brutality and the unwanted  attention that has followed after such a tragic and racially oppressive crime. All Butler wants is to be a normal teenager like he once was, but understands now he is a symbol and will never live the same simple life like his peers ever again. Overall, this line of the poem contains very saddened undertones, much like All American boys, and describes the reality of an abnormal and sorrowful upbringing due to personal experiences.

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"Nothing in the universe last forever,
The day breaketh when thy troubles shall cease,
As springtime proceeds the freezing winter,
So shall the summer of peace overtake thy suffering."

This quote from The Champions Mindset by Dave Dafes resonates a state of balance, to live in the now. It tells us that no matter how horrible the situation may be, that it will always be better. It accepts that bad things can and will happen, and that good things can and will happen, but that neither last forever. This is much like my book, Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, in that the main character, Switters, isn't affected by much of anything. He accepts what may, may not happen, and what has happened and keeps moving forward. Both the quote and Switters believe in trying for success, but accept failure if it comes and keep moving in the direction and hope of  achieving something better.

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"We wear the mask that grins and lies"

-In Caught, the society surrounding the main character, Wendy, all expect her to wear this so called mask and pretend like evil isn't prevailing in the community. They are all content with living in the lie that Dan Mercer has kidnapped these kids and now that he is dead the problem no longer exists so now they can go back to being the perfect peaceful community. Wendy refuses to accept this and to smile through the pain of framing an innocent man but searches for the truth.

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"From childhood's hour I have not been As others were"

This line relates to a book I read, "The Phantom of The Opera", Erik, the Opera Ghost, had seemingly lost his childhood when acid was thrown in his face, completely disforming him. His mother, disgusted by his face, gave him to the circus where he was abused and teased. This line quite literally relates to Erik, with the entire poem being about feeling like a misfit in our world. Throughout the novel, Erik is alienated by people in his past, and people in the Opera house.

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"This is a love colored with iron and lace."

This is a line from the poem This Is Not a Small Voice by Sonia Sanchez. This one line stuck out to me in particular because the way the author described love was unconventional. Iron is not something I would normally associate with love, but lace is. Iron is cold and hard, while love is supposed to be warm and gooey feeling, which is why I found it odd that the author used iron to describe the way love was colored. This line resonated with me because the author used 2 seemingly opposite things to describe the same thing.

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And the world closed its doors—anvils and hammers against the sleeping
men—the doors of the heart, cities everywhere and little lead soldiers."

This line resonates as it feels as though it could be spoken today as the world feels as though it is very cold and closed off. Everything feels as though the it wants to leave others out.

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"Thanksgiving comes late

in this museum of childhood,

flower painted at the bottom

of a porcelain teacup:

cracked saucer, no sugar, no milk."

-In "Museum", the people are in a war with little supplies in their home. they know that its getting worse and they want to find what distracts them from the real truth. It connects to my Novel, All the Light we cannot see as there is both a time of war and mysteriousness that leads to hidden truths of the past.

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And the world closed its doors—anvils and hammers against the sleeping
men—the doors of the heart, cities everywhere and little lead soldiers.

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"And before you can buy alcohol, you have to want your psychological state to be altered.
And before you can want your psychological state to be altered, you have to recognize that your current psychological state is unsatisfactory."

These lines connects with my book, "Looking For Alaska". In the novel, alcohol and cigarettes, although addicting and problematic, were seen as fun and strengthened the bonds between Miles' and his friends. On the other hand, in Alaska's case, substance abuse becomes a way for her to escape her "current psychological state" of being heavily traumatized by her past which she deems "unsatisfactory".

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The lines "No dust on your body no wound on your body no breath on your body no word on your body no fat on your body no arm on your body no tongue no shadow no rupture no breath no thought no cage no exile no word no code no silence," connect to my book by saying that in death we have nothing. The characters in the book "Bird Box" have a strong will to live in the limited world they have because of their fear of having nothing (losing their minds and dying).

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Fist, fixed in ice, of a naked old man: the power's undone in his hand. I've sampled death in all guises. Nothing surprises.

This is the most resonant line in the poem "Frozen Jews" by Avrom Sutzkever because it shows how desensitized he has become to death and murder in the Jewish ghettos he lived in during WWII. Although in the previous lines of the poem Sutzkever mentions the image of his deceased wife and son corpses frozen, this line is considerably impactful as the repeating images of unprovoked violence have made Avrom emotionally numb to the injustices he sees around him,

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"I walked around the garden of poetry with fragrance of mystery,
I saw a poem in her distinctive beauty ruling my mind’s eye."

This line from my poem "Why Does Mona Lisa Smile?" relates to my book "We Were Liars". I think this line from the poem relates to my novel due to the imagery in this sentence. In my novel the main character would often find beauty in all the negative things, similar to this poem. In my novel the main character would also explain how she felt about her surroundings, explaining everything in detail. This line from the poem stood out to me because it has a lot of detail and shows the person's emotions towards their surroundings.

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"I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering" (Maya Angelou, Alone)

In "The Chemist" by Stephanie Meyer, protagonist "Alex" can trust absolutely no one and can rely on only one fact: she is being hunted. Because of the high profile hunters that are after her everything is threat. This aligns perfectly from this line from Maya Angelou's Alone in which she claims the only things she knows is that "a storm is brewing".

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Ava Long: “My Past is Becoming My Future" and An Abundance of Katherines 

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Ava Long: “My Past is Becoming My Future" and An Abundance of Katherines 

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"if i can slow down or even stop my past becoming my future"

In An Abundance of Katherines, Colin spends most of the novel obsessed with his past, leading his future to revolve around it.  This quote connects to my novel because Colin's past is becoming his future because he cannot stop obsessing over his child prodigy label and failed relationships.

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"But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple. "

In this quote in the poem "Warning", jenny joseph describes her belief that todays society judges too much on appearance. Instead of respecting the fact that our clothes keep us warm, or cover us up, she understands that many people look down on those who do not wear clothes that are "acceptable" in the present. Jenny then describes that she feels the need to begin dressing how she physically needs to, so society does not judge her as she gets older.

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"But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

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"I look at the sky now, I look at it for you." - this connected with my book because after Jo lost her sister Beth whom she was extremely close with Jo begins to live her life in remembrance of her. She constantly thinks of Beth and how proud she would be with how Jo is living her life and following her passion.

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"I think I know enough of hate"
It connects to my book because This Book is Full of Spider attempts to explain a sort of segregation, or at least community division, which, in the context of the book, is fueled a lot by fear, but the actions of the characters indicate that the fear is expressed through hatred and division. All that culminates in several parties, mainly the Anti-Zombie club and the civilians of Undisclosed, wanting to assist the military in the "cleansing" of the quarantine, which uses a lot of fire power.

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Harleigh Eason: "Haunted Houses" & The Haunting of Hill House

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Harleigh Eason: "Haunted Houses" & The Haunting of Hill House

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"The spirit-world around this world of sense
Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere
Wafts through these earthly mists and vapors dense
A vital breath of more ethereal air."
-In the Haunting of Hill House, what makes the house so mincing is it's atmosphere. When Eleanor first arrives at the house she immediately wants to leave, and gets a terrible feeling of inescapable dreed. The air is "dense" and everywhere, the whole house has this intense feeling to it.

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"What happens when rules are shed, no longer respected or obeyed?"

This is connects to my book, A Clockwork Orange because the main character, Alex, commonly breaks the law. The whole reason that the narrative ends up the way it does is because him and his friends don't respect the law. So the fact that the poem questions what happens when rules are no longer followed relates it closely to my novel.

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"It must be I want life to go on living."

This final line from Robert Frost's "The Census-Taker", summarizes the attitude of its narrator. The melancholy and drab tone shown throughout the poem is used by Frost to describe the narrators human struggles. The census-taker himself is shown to regret the passage of time and the abandonment of things once held dear. Rather than simply coming across as inhuman because of his disinterest.

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what I have let an appetite for love do to me.

In Wasted, Marya Hornbacher sometimes refers to her eating disorder as developing from excessive wanting--she was an ambitious student, and became so overwhelmed with her mental capacity that an eating disorder seemed justified and necessary.  I think this line, as it mentions an "appetite" for love, depicts really well what Hornbacher means to covey about eating disorders.  This appetite has adverse effects, as mentioned in both the poem and book.  Hornbacher's "appetite for love" was so strong that she thought the only way to satiate it was to starve herself.  Just as wanting can lead to losing, people assume that deprivation will somehow lead to fulfillment.

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"And all my nightly dreams

Are where thy grey eye glances"
--Edgar Allen Poe

This line, while not the most significant within the poem, really struck me. In my novel, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, there was a point where the main character, Humbert Humbert, described Lolita's eyes as a dulled, glassy, almost numb grey. He said this is what here eyes looked like after he raped her. In the poem, Poe's describes the grey eyes of his lover with devotion and care, which directly contrasts Humbert's abuse of Lolita.

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Evan Link - "The Hate U Give" and "Nightstick [A Mural for Michael Brown]"

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Evan Link - "The Hate U Give" and "Nightstick [A Mural for Michael Brown]"

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"A finger
is a gun—
a wallet

is a gun, skin
a shiny pistol"

This line emphasizes the negative impacts of police brutality and the danger of systemic racism for people of color. By painting these harmless objects as "a gun," it shows how quickly those in power will seek to justify an unnecessary use of force. This is also analyzed in "The Hate U Give," when the police officers blame a comb for looking like a gun when attempting to justify the murder of Khalil. These two works both depict the unjust nature of police brutality and the excuses made by those in power for their actions.

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"all her books about the cruelty of the loveless lover"

I'm reading "All My Friends are Going to be Strangers" by Larry McMurtry, which follows a variety of different characters who have little to no affection for their lovers, and how that negligence affects them.

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"But I ain’t got a million,

Fact is, ain’t got a dime—

So just by if-ing

I have a good time!"

The line of this poem conveys how the poet does not need material items or wealth to be happy and he makes the most out of what he has. In The Selection, America's family is considered lower class; however, America believes that becoming part of the upper class will not make her any happier.

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Stars by Sara Teasdale
"And I know that I
Am honored to be
Witness
Of so much majesty."

I connected the final stanza of Sara Teasdale's Stars with a book I finished reading over the summer, Noam Chomsky's "What Kind of Creatures Are We?" In Chomsky's book he plays with the theme that humans are so incredible to have risen from the dirt and rocks of primitivism to the heights of modern civilization's complexity, and all as a result of language. This theme of being part of something bigger than yourself reminded me of my favorite poem, Sara Teasdale's
"Stars". Specifically the final stanza in which the reader can infer Teasdale is torn up by the majesty of the Universe, how everything is connected, and how she is part of something so much greater that she can't really comprehend.

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"One need not be a chamber to be haunted,
One need not be a house."
This line connects to my novel, The Haunting of Hill House, because the main character, Eleanor, finds herself to be possessed by the spirit of the house. The hauntings of the house only take on a physical form through her, and by the end, she seals her own fate as the true ghost of the book. Like the poem discusses, Eleanor is not a house, yet she is haunted by her own mind as if she is one.

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"I stripped a branch
and struck the earth,
in time, begging it to open
to admit me
as he was
and feed me honey from the rock."

This line from "Captivity" by Louise Erdrich resonated with me because I feel that it most strongly epitomizes the speaker's shift in perspective. In the beginning of the poem, the narrator is taken captive by the Wampanoag, and she fears her captors. However, as the poem progresses, she begins to see the world from the Native American's point of view. Irony is seen in that her capture and exposure to nature was an instance of freedom, and her return to white civilization is a return to captivity. Experiences with nature from the Native American perspective haunt her.

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"Spare us all word of the weapons, their force and range,

The long numbers that rocket the mind;

Our slow, unreckoning hearts will be left behind,

Unable to fear what is too strange". - Richard Wilbur, Advice to a Prophet

In Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut satirizes and criticizes religion in the backdrop of the Cold War and the threat of nuclear devastation. Vonnegut's use of the fake religion Bokononism illustrates his argument that people turn to religion as a painkiller or distraction from the terrors of the real world, particularly the post-war era. "Advice to a Prophet", also written in this era, is very similar. The speaker asked to be spared from the discussion of weapons of mass destruction, as mass society fears them and does not truly understand their purpose. This reflects Cat's Cradle, as the religious characters openly admit that they do not understand "science" (being the man-made causes of human destruction, i.e. the atomic bomb) and they turn to religion for answers instead.

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"Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask."

In The Great Gatsby, many characters in the book indulge in a world of vices. This quote expresses that although seemingly everyone struggles with something, everyone is also working hard to cover it up. Throughout the book, F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes many symbols to display the mentality that is commonly endured upon a sudden gain in wealth. Much like the mask symbolizes hiding a person's true colors, the Valley of Ashes in The Great Gatsby represents those vices that are being hidden. Although anyone has access to the valley, it's not seen by very many.

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"I cling to it like its thorns
are not cutting deep into
my skin, my flesh, my self"

-In It Ends With Us, the main character Lily has found herself in an abusive marriage similar to that of her parents. Although she knows how hostile the relationship is, she continues to stay while in denial about her husband's abusive tendencies.

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"Get up, get out, and start living,"

In Deadly Little Secret, Ben is having trouble moving on and escaping his past. Throughout the book, he tries to make steps to move on but repeatedly gets sucked into the view others have of him. He doubts himself and whether he can ever be anything more or better than he is. But by the end of the book, he's helped people more than he's hurt, and he feels somewhat redeemed. Though he still feels like he needs to leave town again to get a fresh start and move on from his past image.

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In this part of the story I am the one who
Dies, the only one, and I will die of love because I love you,

the quote above is basically stating how toxic love often hurts the innocent in the relationship and also conveys how toxicity is not easy to break away from. In " salem's lot" the main character start off on a romantic connection however towards the end one of them is hurt badly because of their connection. Although they did not necessary have a toxic relationship, the events and people around them forced their environment to be toxic for their relationship.

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'Bullets are packed with bloody circumstance'!
'Without man, I am innocent metal! '
In the novel "Underwater" the main character, Morgan, has to deal with the trauma of surviving a school shooting. This quote on its own is very powerful as the fear of guns is moreso of the humans behind them, but becomes even more impactful in reference to Morgan. Morgan is unable to leave her house because of her intense fear, but never once in the story does it say that Morgan is terrified of guns, rather she is terrified of the bad intents of the people around her.

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"Put the small one out relieved
Then turned around to see the real monster..."

In Sleeping Beauties, the town of Dooling, many of the people only acknowledge the disease as an issue, neglecting the much larger monster at hand, their individual turmoil.

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"But forgives him because she has him back And doesn't have to sleep alone."

This line from "Sexism" is stating the differences men and women feel and how easily women forgive in order to feel wanted. In my book the main character does the same thing, she forgives him without question after he commits multiple crimes.