Well class. I went through all the blogs of last week and there are a lot of people who failed to post. You know what that means.
This week in class we will look at an article in the October/November issue of Northwords. I also want to review the poetry that we have looked at since the beginning of the school year. Your poetry assignment for this week will be to choose one poem, read it over, study it and come up with something new that you did not realize before in the poem. Post your new and brilliant insight on the blog - make sure you give the title of the poem and the author.
The article in Northwords will be the editorial "In Other Words". Your assignment will be to write a letter to the editor of no more than 150 words agreeing or disagreeing with that article.
No Language Power this week for reasons that will become clear as the week progresses.
Since there will be no posting next week, I wish you all a very blessed Christmas as you remember the birth of our Lord and Saviour. And may the Lord shower you with as many blessings as He did in 2008.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Siebenga
45 comments:
Alright, i will take another look at the shortest poem we have studied, the red wheelbarrow poem by William Carlos Williams. My first reaction to this poem, oh so long ago, was one of dissappointment and unappeasement at the little sense it made. But since then i have matured into an even more intellectually capable being, and now i have an assumption. Through these short sentences the author is discretely telling something dear to him. Although it is never said, I now realize and agree with the statement, "so much depends upon". Yes, it is a good poem whose style can be used for many situations. This idea is reinforced by that book we read, when the child wrote about the dirty car. It all relates to importance in one's life. CRAZY!!!
Dear God
As i re-read this poem i realized that Sarah Machlachan's mind is lost. The first time i read the poem i thought Sarah was completely frustrated with God especially because of her tone of voice in the song she sings on the poem. She is confused as to why God lets all the bad things to continue to happen. But we have to realize that we are the ones who control how much sin occurs. But we have to look to God for help. We can not do it alone.
Big Yellow Taxi.
I never realized that the poem did not really have too much to do with the yellow taxi. I realized that the poem was more about how the world is turning into industrialization, and how everything is turning into buildings and paved roads instead of the lush green forest and people having nice green lawns and rocky dirt roads. In the title it says big yellow taxi and it is called “big” because it is a very big problem in the world today.
I decided to take it upon myself to view “The Yellow Taxi” once more. At first sight, this song rang “hippy” to me. As I looked over it once more, I could really start to sense a deeper more emotional feel to it. This song actually views many parts of our growing world, and reveals it to the public, allowing everyone to realize what is happening. The song has lead me to comprehend more deeply about our changing world, and ultimately lead to a reaction which will be positive to our ever changing technology. We do not want God’s beauty to be swallowed up by our Selfishness and Greed.
The Road Not Yet Taken
I really liked this poem because it is one that is so true for us in our lives. Many times we are faced with these tough decisions of which way to go, or how to do something and we always need to remember that God is there to help us through whatever we need. If we are struggling with something in our lives we can always look to God for help. As our Lord and Sabiour he is more then willing to help us. So I find this poem very comforting to me as a believer.
The Red Wheelbarrow
William Carlos Williams
This poem could refer to the job that the author has on the farm. His job was to go around the farm doing many different activities. One day he gets up early to begin his work only to find out that it is pouring rain The once half enjoyable job just became the worst job in history. On the list of things to do was the worst job possible, cleaning the stalls out. As he begins this job in the rain continues to pound down making everything muddy and even less enjoyable. Finally to make the day even worse the white chickens never stop making their annoying noise. This poem may be written to show his hatred to the one terrible day he had.
i think that the statement "cold hands,warm heart" is not true. Lots of the time when we are cold we have a cold heart too. We see other people working outside and we SHOULD think about the people with harldy any shelter or warmth and what they are doing.We dont do anything to change things. We just think to ourselves "oh i feel bad for them but oh well, they'll survive". We take everything for granted way to quickly.
Although if you really think about it, the statement could be asking "if you are working hard to help a community but your hands are cold does that mean you have a warm heart?" In this case i would say yes. So the statement can go either way it depends on how you view it.
"The Red Wheelbarrow"
There’s more to this poem than meets the eye. William Carlos Williams got the idea for his song while he was tending to a sick girl in New Jersey. In a glance of despair he looked out the window to see the chickens and the red wheelbarrow. This is where the inspiration for his poem
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
So you see, just because a poem looks short and lame, it isn’t always. There is usually some basis to the poet’s seemingly absurd and crazy writings. We just have to look a little bit deeper and give it a chance.
Cold Hands, Warm Heart?
I agree with the editor because, the weather is beginning to get colder and colder. In the past week, it has become extremely cold outside. I find myself bundling up more now, as others are doing too, to try and keep warm. In the morning, my house was freezing, just another sign of the cold winter weather catching up with us. You get people that come and visit us up here from down south and they are saying how cold it is up here. Sure, we think that this is cold, but when its only minus five outside and they say that it is cold, we think that they are crazy! And it also works the other way, when we go down south in the winter we think that it is surprisingly warm outside. And to them that’s normal. So I would have to agree with what is being said here.
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
I can almost guarantee that no one will do The Road Not Taken so i will. Let’s try something very original. There is more to Roberts’s poem than meets the eye. :) I think that Robert is looking back on life and what would happen if he had not become a Christian. If the poem is of any representation of his spiritual state then he is a Christian because the road less traveled by is Christianity. The poem is referring to his choices in life, namely conversion, and how things would be different if he was still a non-believer.
Big Yellow Taxi
The poem “Big Yellow Taxi” is a poem that I agree with because it is a poem that is true about the world. The poem says “Don't it always seem to go, That you don't know what you've got, Till it's gone, They paved paradise, And put up a parking lot” is saying that you lots of stuff in life we all talk for granted and every one in this world can think of one. It also says “They paved paradise” which mean that many people cover up all the awesome creation in the world that God has created.
The Poem: The Cross
Hannah Duzan
December 15, 2008
In this poem it kind of reminds me of the holiday Easter that happens every year. In Easter we remember the death of Jesus Christ. There is a movie that reminds us of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It paints a picture in our head how Jesus died. In the 3rd line it says a violent death. I would totally agree that it was a very crucial death that Jesus had to suffer. He did it because he wanted to do it for us. He did it to die on the cross for our sins that we commit day after day.
Cold hands, warm heat?
By: Eric Jaarsma
In the editorial the Cold hands, warm heart story to me did not make to much sence. But I agree with what they say. But I don’t really know what it is really trying to say. I know that it is saying that when it is only about minus 5 degrees out side the coldness is very mild or wet. But if it is minus 20 it is a dry cold which is easier to handle than a moist coldness. A dry coldness you put on lots of clothing and stay warm but with a moist coldness your clothing gets wet and than your body gets even colder. So if that is what it is trying to say than I guess I do understand what it is trying to say but if this is not what it is trying to say than obviously I do not understand.
Alright, i am going to do the song that we have studied. Dear God poem, i absolutely loved the poem and the song. I thought there was so much depth in the poem and song, she had so much emotion for God and his love. My first thought on the song and poem was oh my!!!! Now that i look at it agian, i absolutely love it, it makes so much more sense if you give it a second thought and a second look.I think that she had so much depth of love and respect and so much hurt in so much.
Cold Hands, Warm Heart
An analysis of that title by Hayden Vandenberg
To me I have difficulty understanding what this is explaining. At first the article goes off to explain the difference between dry cold and wet cold, and how it affects you. Being wet and cold makes you miserable no matter where you are but dry cold leaves you be when you go indoors, so the warmth is inside. Is this an analogy? I can’t tell. Later on in the article the issue of being green comes in, saying we are doing well to keep the motto going. In this way we are keeping warm hearts contradicting how numb our hands are. I think the article praises us who live in the north, we are supporting of each other and care, so through the cold we share, help and bring kindness and warmth to one another. I Suppose this is just another way to say we have very cold hands from the weather, but our hearts remain untouched from the cold.
This Is for the Article
I took it upon my self to read a certain article called “Cold hands, Warm hearts”. I began to read it in a positive mood, and becoming quite fond of the first few lines. However as my eyes leave the first paragraph, I begin to read senseless writing. I try to run the words over and over in my head, and I simply can not comprehend what she is trying conclude in this article. I personally believe that she comes to a point of which no one goes into discussion. I would like to further point out that indeed, a good article is one which is unique, and causes our minds to become involved, yet this article fails implement anything to cause such a reaction. I believe she is does not come to a point, and is rather making a blatant statement of cold dry air to wet cold air. I would agree, seeing it is more common sense then anything.
The Big Yellow Taxi
As I reread this poem I realized that the poet, Joni Mitchell really cares about the looks of creation. She seems to be a Christian in parts of the story but not really in others. She seems to be a Christian because she seems to care a lot about what God’s creation looks like and how it is taken care of. She notices what is missing once it is gone. She needs to look better at the creation of the world and realize what’s there.
Seasons Greetings Mr. Bill Dejager.
"Cold hands do not necessarily mean a warm heart" Do I agree with this statement...well I don’t know. In order for me to fully comprehend what the author is trying to say I would have to understand what she saying in this article. My best guess at what she's trying to portray is that even though it's cold outside, we have no need to be cold toward eachother. We should be and are still happy to be around eachother and are cheerful regardless of the temperature. If this is what the meaning of this article is than yes, I do agree with it.
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
From a Christian perspective I think that the two roads diverging in a yellow wood are the choice between following God and following the ways of the world. We know that we have to follow God but the ways of the world are so appealing. The choice is so difficult, but it is a choice that we have to make on our own. If we find ourselves on the road of the world, we say one day when I’m older I’ll go back and take the other, less traveled road, but that is not so. We find ourselves out of time and too late. In the end if we decide to travel ‘the one less traveled by’ and we will find that ‘that has made all the difference’. Our lives have been blessed and we are forever grateful. Our human nature complies us to wonder what would my life been life like if I had followed the ways of the world. Who would I have been? What choices would have made? Still the choice of that defining moment in the woods that autumn day has left no regrets.
The Last Night of the World
by Bruce Cockburn
When I first looked at this song it caught my attention. It was well thought through. In one of his lines he portrayed that he was self conscience as a kid. I never notice that until now. He says “ I learned as a child not to trust in my body. I’ve carried that burden through my life. But there’s a day when we all have to be pried loose.” Like was that suppose to mean some one taught him to be that way.. Who knows. Anyways. In this songs chorus it talks about how you would spend your last night?. Really it seems hard, but in the long run I think its pretty easy to decide what you would want on your last night. I think from my point of view all of us would want to at least spend it with some one you loved dearly.
The Last Night of the World
Bruce Cockburn
Brendan Leffers
"that was the straw that broke me open"
This phrase was a very clever use of the original and very famous quote, "the straw that broke the camels back".In the verse he says, "I've seen the flame of hope among the hopeless
And that was truly the biggest heartbreak of all
That was the straw that broke me open". He is saying that he has seen so many heartbreaks and this one finally did him in. I wrote about this phrase because I never thought what the phrase meant but it is very interesting.
the poem that i would like to reconsider is the One Tin Soldier. This song is very dear to me because of its message. the valley people wanted the treasure of the hill people so bad they wanted to bring war on them to have it. When the hill people denied them the valley people came in and killed them all, and when they found the treasure, "Peace on Earth" was all it said. This is touching because it is a true treasure, but not what the valley people wanted because of their greed. Another thing, though i cannot understand, is the Tin Soldier, i still do not understand the meaning of this phrase. Perhaps it is God, walking away from us because of our greed. Dunno.
In the article, Cold Hands, Warm Heart, it talks about both the cold and what we up northwest are doing about it. the article first talks about the extreme cold were experiencing, yet even though were cold, were all loving to one another. Hence the cold hands, warm heart. We up here are nice people, and the cold doesnt stop it. Hence, again, the cold hands, warm heart
As I read your comments on the poems, especially now that you are looking at them for the second time, I am very pleased with what I read. I am also pleased with the variety of poems that you are choosing to write about. I do find it interesting that so many of you chose to write about the some of the songs we studied. Maybe they mean more to you (in the corporate sense of the word).
If any of you read this before tomorrow (Wednesday), I will give you time in class to work on your responses.
Connector Committee - I have a special guest for you.
Mr. Siebenga with warmest regards.
The Road Not Taken
By Robert Frost
For most of this poem you cannot decipher what the decision he is describing is about. You assume that it is something he has experienced but you do not know what it is. However near the end you discover what it could be and just how enormous of a decision it is. In the last paragraph he says he took the road less traveled and here we now find some biblical parallelisms. In the Bible, Christianity is described as the road less traveled and so now we see where that expression comes from. The jury is still out on whether Robert Frost was a Christian, but if you were to look at this poem it seems as if he was.
In the article cold hands warm heart the author, Joanne Campbell, talks about the weather that we have here. At this time it is very cold and we are all bundled up and we all start our cars so that we stay warm as much as we can. This week has defiantly given me the chills but just because our body may be cold, we can still show love to others. We can do this because we have a warm heart. Sometimes we can become grumpy because of the weather, but we have to get through that and be cheerful people, helping others to the best of our ability.
I am not seeing any thing to respond to except the point of pointlessness. If you have cold hands then you would certainly have a warm heart because as you get colder your blood vessels constrict in your extremities to preserve heat in you organs. But everybody knew that. So I do not see the point of revisiting this issue.
Cold Hands, Warm Heart
The statement.... Cold hands and warm heart. I don’t believe with this statement. You can have a cold hands and a warm heart. Or else you can have cold heart and also a warm heart. I know some people can have a cold heart and cold hands. I am on both sides. I kind of agree with the editorial but I don’t. There are some topics in this editorial that I don’t agree with.
"Cold Hands,Warm heart?"
In this article it is unclear in which way they are talking about this. When its cold outside we like to bundle up and stay inside but if a neighbour we are to get dressed up warm and go outside to help them with whatever work needs to be done. but instead we would rather stay inside, nice and warm.
"Cold Hands Warm Hearts"?
Wow, i really did not know what to think of the artical! I was pretty much confusing! But it mostly talked about the weather and how dry and how damp it is, and people complaining about the weather. Theres not much i can say about it, cause it was really unclear and didn't make much scense to me. But it was a good artical.
Cold hands, warm heart?
When its cold out you will get cold hands unless you wear gloves. When its a dry cold its easier to manage even if its colder than when its when and cold. When its wet and cold it seems almost impossible to warm up. Having cold hands doesn't mean we have to be grumpy and mope around until the weather gets warmer we can easily be nice and have a warm heart to other people.
“The Road Not Taken”
Robert Frost
If I were to interpret the poem “The Road Not Taken”, by Robert Frost, I would admit most of it puzzled me, and no clear meaning was established in my thoughts. Frost mentions two roads in which I devote my thoughts to a metaphor of life. It is not till the
last line,
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference,”
were my predication seems to make sense. I applaud the author on this, for the road less traveled tells me that he took the one I would take on my Christian journey. I could follow the ways of the world, which seems to be easier at first approach, but take the second, less traveled, and in the end win, it’s the difference of eternal life.
“The Road Not Taken”
Robert Frost
If I were to interpret the poem “The Road Not Taken”, by Robert Frost, I would admit most of it puzzled me, and no clear meaning was established in my thoughts. Frost mentions two roads in which I devote my thoughts to a metaphor of life. It is not till the
last line,
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference,”
were my predication seems to make sense. I applaud the author on this, for the road less traveled tells me that he took the one I would take on my Christian journey. I could follow the ways of the world, which seems to be easier at first approach, but take the second, less traveled, and in the end win, it’s the difference of eternal life.
Cold hands, warm heart?
Do I agree or disagree with the statement cold hands, warm heart? Like the editorial says that metaphorically it is most likely true. No matter what the weather is like out side, I think that out metaphorical hearts are always warm with love, especially now in the Christmas season.
Literally are heats are always warm, if it gets cold then we would die.
Campbell starts off by arguing that cold hands do not necessarily mean a warm heart. IO don’t really understand what she’s trying to say by that. Does she mean that even though our hands are cold, some people might have a grumpy, stone cold heart, during the winter season. Or is she saying that the temperature gets to be so cold that we feel that the cold has reached are insides? This I shall ponder some more.
Dear God
The first time that I read and heard this song I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I guess you could say that. I didn’t really agree with it though. But, I do see how this girl must being going through an extremely rough time and I feel for her. Something must have happened in her life that she didn’t agree with, perhaps some sort of tragedy. I believe that after this tragedy that happened to her or someone that she held close to her heart, every little thing set her off. After someone bad happens then every little thing that goes wrong can just be another reason to be mad at God. I kind of get the feeling that this might be what has happened.
I like my other response to this poem much better though. :)
“Cold hands, warm heart” is a title that does not really apply with the short story except the beginning, where it is talking about your toes getting cold. The rest of the story talks about how you would die if it was minus 20 instead of minus 5 and if the weather was a dry or wet weather. So I do not exactly agree with the short story but it does have a lot of true stuff but not about cold hands and a warm heart.
Cold hands, warm heart?
This editorial talked about how it is getting colder and colder out. I find my self agreeing on what the editor is saying. Through the past month of December I find it’s been freezing out. It’s been the coldest yet, and I do agree that when it’s like -20 out and you have a ton of warm clothes on it would be better then if it was -5 and it was all wet and milder. So in this case I do agree with the editorial.
Cold Hands Warm Heart
I disagree and agree with this editorial. First I will say what I disagree with. In this editorial it talks about if your outside is cold then your insides is warmer. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! When it is nippy out there, your whole being is saturated with cold. It is even worse when there is a cold wind blowing, then it is absolutely impossible to stay toasty warm. However there are two parts of this editorial that I think are true. The first is that a wet cold is so much worse than a dry cold. When it is moist and cold then you are perpetually cold, even indoors, as the author said. The other part I agree with is that we Northerners are nice people. It is because we all usually come from smaller communities. You will find us always way more willing to help people out. It is just the way we are, and we are great.
The Alter: By George Herbert
In this poem that speaks about Jesus’ death and great sacrifice for us, it speaks about tears that cement the alter. These tears may have been Jesus’ tears as he wept before he was crucified and condemned by his own Father for 3 days and by us for all time. I didn’t see this the first time maybe because I didn’t think deeply into who’s tears it is speaking about.
A Letter to the Editor
I mostly agree with the author of “Cold Hands, warm Heart?”. One part that I especially like or agree with is the third paragraph where she says that the colder it is outside the warmer it seems inside. That is good reasoning for me wearing shorts all the time. On other parts of the editorial, I think that the author is also right on her idea about the north and the south. Her thinking makes total sense and on the few days when is was around 1 or 2 degrees, I was the coldest. I got all wet. All the melted snow turned into puddles that I couldn’t avoid and therefore I got miserably wet.
Cold hands, warm heart?
I really don’t have any clue what this whole article is really trying to get across. Yes, it is cold in the North, what more is there to say? What’s the cold got to do with warm hearts? I do think that the paragraph about how you bundle up to go outdoors but then when you get to the mall to shop its really warm was really funny. It’s very true. It’s the worst when you dress up in so much clothing and then when you get to where you have to go its soooo hot in the stores. That is probably the only thing that I really got out of this whole article.
Cold hands, warm heart?
As Northerners we tend to find this weather normal for winter, yet the bitter cold still creeps up on us. Heading into the winter season we could definitely grumble at the weather, leaving our toes cold. I do not think that just because our hands are cold it also means our heart’s are! This cold season may bring some misfortunes, but it also leads us through a festive time of the year and eventually to the Christmas holidays! The article goes on to mention that we have neighbors that take charge of good organizations, which is excellent, perhaps the cold weather does come with a warm heart, but who knows!
Cross by Lucy Shaw
The poem cross is about a cross on a necklace convicting the author of being in the mob of people yelling "Crucify him!" Then as if she finds out that Jesus was the son of God she says "I did not mean to do it; I did not know" because she knows Jesus died for her. We all need a reimnder like that now and then to tell us how much Jesus gave up for us and the punishment he suffered for us to help keep us thankful for this amazing gift.
"Cold Hands, Warm Heart"
What is the point? Could it be that the author is trying to congratulate us for our attempt to be more green, or is she just rambling on about clever thoughts she has had lately. Yes it is true that the northern cold is dry, and the southern cold is damp, which I willl admit, is the worst and most miserable. We however are used to our long winters of cold, dry climate. However, one issue the author did not assess is the freezing vehicles we plop ourselves into if we choose to go green. Does this mean we shouldn't start our vehicles in the morning because of global warming? I'm okay with warmer temperatures. So after proof-reading my letter, I realize that I wrote very much like the author, all scattered. So I'm sorry, have a good day, from my "warm" heart, as i try to thaw my frozen fingers.
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