P7 Poem Discussion. by Stephanie Faucette

Abby, Audrey R, Lanie, Avery, Madeline, Amelia A

steph_faucette — 2024-04-10 13:28:58 UTC

Baleigh, Grace, Audrey L, Blanche, Elise

steph_faucette — 2024-04-10 13:28:58 UTC

Laura, Maddox, Jolie, Emma, Celine, Sarah B

steph_faucette — 2024-04-10 13:28:58 UTC

Lillian, Lauren, Rocio, Clara, Amelia B

steph_faucette — 2024-04-10 13:28:58 UTC

Maddox

2024-04-10 14:05:13 UTC

I really enjoyed the poem and the message it is trying to convey about being in doubt. The author sounds like she speaks from expeirence, and she is teaching her reader about how to go about different things, big and small, when you are in doubt. I especially like the lines " when in doubt/absorb biographies to avoid life's major mistakes./ .. make life's major mistakes," because she is saying you can try to learn from the wiser to help you avoid the mistakes they made in their experience, but also sometimes you have to make mistakes in order to learn and grow (9-12). I also like the postive and uplifiting tone of the poem, giving the reader advise and ending with how we are all in this life together trying to figure it out. She is very relatable and it brings me comfort knowing how life is a game and we all struggle with knowing what to do, and she says that its ok to doubt, we just need to do the best we can, and in the end there is no "winner" in life, its just as good as we can make it.

Audrey

2024-04-10 14:22:02 UTC

I really enjoyed how the poem "Quilts." focuses on the challenges of growing old and how we come to miss the small things we were able to do when we were younger. This poem explains many of the things that a new quilt is able to do, and this "old" quilt can no longer do. I also really liked how at the end of the poem the author just wants to be remembered by the younger generations. The author uses the phrase "Like a fading piece of cloth I am a failure" (line 1-2) to express how the "quilt" is feeling, but in reality, the quilt did a great job at what it was made for. As we age we feel that we failed at past things that we did, but we can not do everything.

Audrey L

2024-04-10 14:34:20 UTC

I liked the overall message of "Dirge Without Music" because I liked the bluntness of it. I think this poem is about the ways that death is undefeatable and takes the best from people. I personally liked how Millay illustrated the death of others in the line, "quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave". I specifically liked the way she used the word "quite", because it furthers the idea that death is not opposable, but rather inevitable and suggests that people are almost numb to the reality of all that death takes away.

Elise

2024-04-10 14:45:55 UTC

I really enjoyed the message conveyed in "Dirge Without Music" and how the author criticizes the inevitability of death despite it being unavoidable. She references how death takes the best of people indiscriminately and her disapproval for these great losses. She says we can remember people, have pieces of them left with us on earth, "but the best is lost" (Line 8). She knows this phenomenon happens to everyone, but she refuses to approve it because of how cruel and permanent it is. Just because death will happen to everyone, it does not mean we do not have a right to be frustrated by how callous it is.

Celine

2024-04-10 16:28:22 UTC

I really liked the message of the poem, because it is giving advice of what to do if in doubt. I liked the repetition of the phrase "When in doubt" because not everything in life is perfect, everyone will be in doubt in situations where we do not know what to do but she shares with us to never give up because it will happen. Line 29 was interesting to me, where she said "When in doubt,/make life's major mistakes.", telling us to never feel bad about bad choices we have made because that is how life works.

Abby

2024-04-10 16:48:11 UTC

I enjoyed the poem, "Quilts", because of its complex emotions about aging and how aging involves good and bad experiences. I also like the poem's structure because it takes the reader through a memory then, at line 12, shifts to the present so we can see the speaker's acceptance of their aging. This section contrasts the beginning of the poem by expressing gratitude for aging instead of an aversion to it. My favorite lines are "The tasks I can no longer complete/ Are balanced by the love of the tasks gone past", because they exemplify a true embracing of what it means to grow old (Lines 14-15). The speaker of the poem realizes aging does not make your life useless, but different in beautiful new ways.

Grace

2024-04-10 17:36:46 UTC

I enjoyed the last two lines, "Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned" (Line 15 -16) I liked these lines because it reminds us that death is the end for everyone, even the innocent and those who have done nothing but good for the world. The line, "I do not approve," displays the unfairness one feels when their innocent loved one dies. The poem extends the saying of dust to dust.

Jolie

2024-04-10 17:56:10 UTC

I liked the overall purpose of the poem, which was to offer advice and encouragement. The way the author writes normalizes being in doubt, and this may also be due to her repetition of "when in doubt". I enjoyed reading this poem because it felt like it had a very uplifting and positive tone. I liked lines 35-37, where she said "there is no start./ No finish./ everyone wins". I think this is a great way to end the poem, because it makes everyone feel like a winner, which is something everyone strives to feel. Even when in doubt, everyone wins, and I think that is a great message to portray to the world.

Laura

2024-04-10 18:03:01 UTC

I really liked the poem, specifically, I liked how it presented a different, more positive approach to life. Throughout the poem, Cisneros repeats the phrase "when in doubt" but follows it with a positive concept or idea. For example, Cisneros advises to "err on the side of generosity," "greet everyone as you would Buddha," and "thank everyone twice" (lines 4, 6, 19). I think the poet realizes that we are living in a world where people are more guarded and see life as a competition, but she suggests that instead of this approach, when you don't know what to do, do the nice thing. This poem really felt like a breath of fresh air, and I especially liked the ending when she says that in life "everyone wins" (line 37).

Madeline

2024-04-10 18:42:23 UTC

I enjoyed the poem "Quilts" because of the different techniques the writer used to convey the complex feelings and experiences that accompany aging. I liked how the poem opened with a simile comparing the speaker to a quilt, "Like a fading piece of cloth I am a failure" (lines 1-2), but then in the next stanza, the poem switches point of view as if the speaker is the tablecloth. The speaker explains various feelings that surround aging mainly focusing on the feelings of not being as strong or as helpful as they once had been through this extended metaphor. I also enjoyed how they kept the same connection of cloths throughout the poem when the speaker later says they hope they are put in a quilt after they pass which is a comparison to even after we die, we still live on through memories.

Sarah

2024-04-10 19:10:35 UTC

Overall, this was a great poem. It made me think about how everyone is living very different lives, however, they are all living. I enjoyed how it focused on the small, irrelevant aspects of everyday life and told the reader to focus on that. It essentially starts with wear whatever you want, be generous, and be kind to everyone. The repitition of "When in doubt," showcased how doubtful life truly is. It showed the reader what to do when they feel doubt creeping up on them. It's easy to become caught up in what's around you and this poem seems to create a grounding atmosphere. I loved how the poem ended with "everyone wins" because many people seem to treat life as a competition when being alive is the prize. We all start and end in different places, so why focus on that?

Avery

2024-04-10 20:08:27 UTC

In the poem “Quilts”, I enjoyed how the author describes the complex emotions of aging by using the symbol of cloth to represent the beauty and importance of aging. In the beginning of the poem, Giovanni describes the subject as feeling useless and lonely due to their age, but as the poem progresses, the subject discovers the value in the process of growing old. My favorite line is towards the end of the poem when it states, “When I am frayed and strained and drizzle at the end/ Please someone cut a square and put me in a quilt/ That I might keep some child warm”. These lines beautifully describe the subject coming to terms with aging and recognizing that just because they are growing old, does not mean that they have no purpose. It also portrays how the subject wishes to comfort and be of use to somebody else in hopes of making the most out of the aging process. Aging is demonstrated in this poem as something not to be feared or ashamed of, for there is beauty and usefulness in growing old, proving that everyone has a purpose in every stage of life.

Rocio

2024-04-10 20:20:20 UTC

My favorite part about Jericho Brown's poem "Crossing" was the small phrases or words that he uses to punctuate some lines. Although I am still a little confused about the message of this poem, I really enjoyed the stubborn tone that he uses throughout, which allows the reader to learn something about the author's character. The line, "I'm not crossing/ To cross back. I'm set," is an example of the author's headstrong attitude towards life because he expresses how he has set his mind on something and plans to keep his word. There is also the recurring symbol of water and the vastness of the ocean, which I think is supposed to symbolize life and how it is all we may ever know.

Blanche

2024-04-11 02:11:32 UTC

I enjoyed the poem "Dirge Without Music" because I liked how the author walks the reader through her emotions and thoughts while coping with the death of a loved one. "Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve./ More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world" (lines 11-12). I especially liked this line because it is sweet and shows the author's attempt to be more optimistic about death but naturally struggling to "approve" that their loved one is gone. This line shows how much death affects humans because our connection with others is more valuable than anything else. Overall, the poem reveals how brutal yet equal death can be because nobody can escape it not even the ones closest to you.

Amelia

2024-04-11 02:23:22 UTC

I enjoyed the broken language and run on sentences. The first time reading, the punctuation seems abrupt and irregular, but rereading, I can tell that it is intentional. The repeating words of "thing, walk, water" replay the monotonous imagery (monotonous routines in life). The diction begins off objective, then the speaker comes to the conclusion that they are different. Instead of walking the same bridge, or doing the same things in life, only to be glad that the day is over, the speaker wants to make their walk mean something. Make their life mean something!!! They are not walking to cross, (living to die), they are walking to to keep going!! I love the hopeful ending and the overall message of the poem.

Lauren

2024-04-11 11:03:35 UTC

I absolutely loved this poem. The author's choice of including, "rising just to find a way toward rest again," (line 5) stuck with me. This line resonated with me as it called out the brutal truth that our days are sometimes seen as tasks. With the struggles of life, comes exhaustion. Our days begin to blend together and seem never-ending. Brown's inclusion of this harsh reality causes the reader to make a self-evaluation and analyze how they are approaching each day. Are you approaching it with thoughts of it ending or are you approaching it with confidence and optimism?

Clara

2024-04-11 15:50:02 UTC

Something that I really enjoyed about this poem was the message of breaking out of established patterns and daring to move forwards rather than repeat the same steps that others have repeated for centuries. I specifically enjoyed how the line "I don’t march. I’m the one who leaps." adds to the message of the poem by alluding to how the author is breaking an established pattern of "marching" in favor of "leaping". The idea of marching is associated with control and conformity, while the idea of leaping is associated with individualism and enlightenment, which is why the use of those two words contributes well to the message.

Amelia

2024-04-11 17:15:29 UTC

I really like how this poem balances the happiness and sadness of growing older. The author writes about how as we get old, we are not able to do as much and we feel almost useless, but also analyzes the beauty of life before we have aged. The author also shows her desire to be made useful and leave her mark and legacy on the future generations. The title "Quilts" is sweet and gives the reader a warm feeling that even when we are gone from this life, we will make an impact and be important to the future in ways we may not imagine.

Emma

2024-04-11 17:47:46 UTC

I loved how the poem expressed positive way of thinking about life. The speaker constantly saying how you should find the good in life when you are in doubt. The constant repetition of "when in doubt" helped express how easy it is to be positive in life as well as excepting your faults. "when in doubt/Make life's major mistakes" Making mistakes is a natural part of life and we should be okay with that.

Lanie

2024-04-11 17:55:36 UTC

I loved this poem with its message of appreciating the past as the end comes near. I really like how the author used a quilt to represent aging as a human, growing old and unable to do things they could previously do, "The tasks I can no longer complete, Are balanced by the love of the tasks gone past." (lines 14-15). It shows how with age you have to find an appreciation for your past. I also really like how the author showed how you can still have a purpose later in life through the quilt, like keeping a child warm or giving an "old person" company. It shows that even though time has passed and your original uses in life have gone, you still have a purpose in life.

Baleigh

baleightreuil — 2024-04-11 18:08:54 UTC

I really enjoyed this poem. i think that it was mainly about death and its inevitability. i also think the author, Millay, was trying to help someone, the reader, understand that fact as well. She lists the types of people who die, "the beautiful, the tender, the kind,....the intelligent, the witty, the brave." showing how EVERYONE dies. she also is saying how she is not resigned to the idea of death, however she is not ready for it and is not ready for anyone she cares about to die.

Lillian

2024-04-11 18:13:33 UTC

I loved this poem especially the lines "I'm not crossing/ To cross back I'm set". It shows how the poet is set in continuing on in life and not regretting past actions. He wants to have a meaningful life as he conquers what life throws at him. The repetition insinuates the poet's stubbornness as he repeats the term "walk" displaying how he wants to continue forward and not regress.