Response to The Starry Night By Anne Sexton

If a poem could so closely represent a painting, it would be this and The Starry Night. I can't tell if Anne wrote this as herself in a state of desperation and depression or as Van Gogh during his time of anguish, either way I seem to understand what she's trying to get out, though it's somewhat hidden. It took me a while.

            Like anything, this poem has two sides. The poet uses harsh and aggressive words to describe her feelings yet what she is describing appears peaceful and quiet and beautiful. The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars… an old unseen serpent swallows up the stars; beautiful words just bursting with rage.

            If you think about it, the painting is beautiful yet filled with anger and depression, which makes me wonder how different Anne and Van Gogh really are. Both are incredibly deep and they seem to think the same way. They recognize how stunning and dazzling the world is, the sound of the wind, the glow of the stars. Yet they want to leave and throw away their sadness and weight. Anne’s poem reminded me of a suicide note. I wasn’t shocked to later find out she committed suicide. They’re not so different at all, really.

            So maybe suicide was their only way to get what they truly, ever wanted, freedom and beauty.

           

See that’s what happens when you dig a little deeper, you find yourself coming to a major realization and you know what they’re saying. You get the poet or the painter or the writer. You get it and you get them.

Of course we all think differently, our interpretations could be completely wrong. But I don’t think it really matters because after coming to this realization, you may realize something about yourself and knowing yourself is more important than anything. 

Observations and Interpretations of Art

 The Scream, Painter: Edvard Munch

Observations: The colors blend together to make the back of the painting look soft, almost one. The lakes or water are painted with many different colors. It’s somewhat hard to tell the lake from the ground. You can make out small gondolas it the far back of the painting. The sky uses vibrant colors (orange, red). The sky looks a bit like waves; you cans see the brush strokes. In the middle of the back of the painting, there is what looks like a shadow of a man. The screaming man looks abnormal, bald, squiggle shaped. He looks a bit like an alien. In the far left of the painting there is a “normal” man wearing a suit. Boardwalk is also a few different colors, has some white mixed in. The screaming man is looking to the left.

Inferences: The blending colors shows beauty or simplicity. The many different colors in the bodies of water show how different the parts of the world can be. The orange/red wavy sky represents more beauty but calmness especially with the gondolas in the lake next to it. The harsh brush strokes represent how the world is seen in different ways and the world has imperfections. The man represents the outsider, the person who is different and shows it and the other humans behind represent our “normal society”. The shadow might represent darkness in the peaceful world.

Interpretation: I’ve been observing this painting for a little more than an hour now and I’m beginning to realize that it isn’t simply a picture of a man screaming; I think it represents the world and its many forms. I think it shows how outsiders are portrayed: as aliens like the screaming man in this picture. The outsider’s features are different, like their clothing, and their actions. This alien man is how society looks at people who are diverse. As for the other part of the painting, the beautiful colors blended to make shades show how peaceful the world can be if we let it.  But there is always a dark patch; something preventing us from achieving our goals; the shadow. It’s small, almost hidden; if you glanced you would not see it, but it’s there, always.

What Is Poetry?

A poem is a rainbow

because a poem is different 

Different like colorful

Different like us

We've got stories to tell

Poems are those stories

Whether you realize or not

Experience is a poem

"Write What You Know"

How can you not,

really

Our universe is complex

Like a poem

A meadow is simple 

So is a poem

A poem, a reader works hard to decode

A poem, the poet understands with ease

Sometimes it's hard to describe, 

with the world full of unique perspectives and all

I do my best.

Authors Note Edited

The Great Depression occurred from 1929 to 1941. It is a time period that is now called “the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world”. It brutally affected Chicago, IL. Along with this depression, the stock market crashed and worsened Americans’ confidence. One of the main causes of the Great Depression was how weak the banking system became. Banks gave out loans that were unwise, some to struggling farmers and stock market investors. When the stock market crashed, people could not repay their loans and the bank lost their money. Everything came spiraling down. During 1933, more than 24% of Americans were unemployed. (Stoff 703-705).
            Having lived during a recession myself a few years ago does not even compare to the life others had during the Depression in the 1930s and 40s. Wanda Bridgeforth currently lives in the “Black Metropolis”, an area Bronzeville in Chicago, IL. She recalls her experience. She says, “One house we lived in- there were 19 of us in a six-room apartment … [They] told me that this was the way it has to be, we either survive or we don’t.” Bridgeforth’s story was part of the inspiration for Dawn Will Break.

The other part was my connection to the Kit American Girl Doll Series. From a young age I’ve been fascinated by them. Kit lives in the time of the Depression. I used to spend the summer in my country house sipping lemonade and reading; I didn’t need the beach, I had Kit. Her audacious adventures and her bravery during hard times inspired me and she became one of my heroes.

In this story, I gave Maya Grace some of that bravery and personality that Kit contained. Dawn Will Break tells of her difficult time during the Depression but later shows her techniques for getting through it all, her biggest technique being her family’s companionship.

It’s important for children to learn how vital a loving family is so as they get older, they won’t push them away right as they need them most.

Works Cited

Stoff, Davidson Castillo. The American Nation. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:            Prentice-Hall Inc., 2002.

“Survivors Of The Great Depression Tell Their Stories.”            http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97468008. NPR, 2010.            Internet. Nov. 12, 2010.

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Research Assignment 2

Series of Poems/ Allegories of Children with Learning Disabilities

In Their Point of View

I went to school and I couldn’t read

I thought it was temporary.

While others reached to higher levels.

I stayed struggling.

I thought,

This will pass like anything else.

My teachers gave no support.

They continued to fail me,

Like this was my fault.

But the worst part?

For the longest time I thought it was.

Turns out, I had Dyslexia.

And then they felt bad.

They gave me those looks.

Those sympathetic looks,

They felt sorry for me.

I hated them for it.

I kept thinking it would all blow over.

I waited and really still waiting.

I can read and write now

An improvement,

But I’m in Sixth Grade.

I learned in Fifth.

Sometimes my parents don’t even talk to me

It’s sad, yes, but I can’t say I don’t know why.

I do badly.

I mean I’m bad at everything.

I get in trouble with the teachers, my friends

Though sometimes my friends don’t talk to me either…

It’s probably because of the fights I get in.

I’m not so great at school.

When I should know the answer

I blank.

So I try to cover it up,

By being a wise mouth.

I’d rather be known as “bad”

Than stupid.

What’s wrong with me?

Everything should be easy

Like it is for everyone else.

It’s far from easy.

Don’t tell anyone I said any of this, though.

I wouldn’t want it getting out that I’m dim.

Math really isn’t my strong point.

I can’t grasp it.

Sometimes I get so close to understanding.

Soon enough it slips from my fingers.

I’ve got dyscalculia.

But I’m not ashamed.

Some bullies make fun of me.

They say I’ll never do anything with my life,

If I can’t learn math.

I don’t let ‘em get me,

Because I know that’s what they want.

I won’t give it to them.

I know I’m different,

And I’m kind of proud.

I guess it makes me unique.

I’ve always craved to be distinctive from others.

It’s in a not so great way,

But I got what I wanted.

Someday math won’t be hard though,

But I’ll still be an individual

Because of dyscalculia.

The Great Depression

I choose this topic because I find it so interesting and intriguing I can only imagine how much so this would be for young children. It’s funny, because I act like this time period was just something to talk about. I tend to forget that this actually happened, people lost their homes, parents lost their jobs, families lost everything. “It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world.”

I first got the idea when I was thinking about some of my favorite childhood books. I figured if I could find an interesting topic from one of those, I could turn my story into something different and new, but also interesting. I thought of the book series “Kit: The American Girl Doll”. I used to read these series over and over, I’d sit for hours. Kit lives in the time period of the Great Depression, I learned from a young age about the this time and it fascinated me. I decided that I wanted to fascinate others.

I also found this topic appropriate being in the economical state the U.S. is in right now, we are “recovering” from a year long recession. I think if I turned a story about the Depression into an allegory, children would better understand what’s really going on in the world, they won’t have it thrown on them like it was thrown on me.

Sure, through picture books I learned about the environment and how to collaborate; plenty of things I could use later in life. But I knew absolutely nothing about the government or how harsh the world can be. I really couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that my parents weren’t rich. I couldn’t believe that the economy actually does affect me, I couldn’t believe the things that did happen were that extreme. That’s why a book about the economy- the Depression- could really benefit children if not get them curious and get them wondering. They need to wonder about things. I know from experience, living in a bubble, really is not ideal. 

Research Assignment #1

Great Depression:
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/about.htm

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97468008

Kids with Disabilities

http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/learning_problem/learning_disabilities.html

http://aacap.org/page.ww?name=Children+with+Learning+Disabilities&section=Facts+for+Families

Read and respond to a song and/or poem on social problems

 Song: Imagine

Artist: John Lennon

Lyrics:

“Imagine there's no Heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one”

I’ve always loved this song. When I first heard it, I was young and I liked it for it’s soft melody, the way it seems to comfort the listener. As I grew older, I began to appreciate this song for it’s lyrics. I liked the way Lennon didn’t hold back; nothing was simplified for the people; what’s there was straight up and true and I believed him, I believed his every word.

Lennon spoke about so many social issues in this song, but he spoke to one main one, the most important: what this world is coming to. How we have become so greedy and ignorant it’s hard to even imagine life without our possessions and with nothing to die for. It saddens me that only in dreams, did Lennon believe this world could live as one. And only in his dreams, does the world begin to understand the concept and idea he is trying to get across though this song.

Now, in order to get this message across, in order to break through the thick skulls of some, Lennon touched on other social issues like greed and hunger. Although he doesn’t go into detail, with a bit of knowledge on the subject it’s easy to grasp what he’s trying to say. If we all did our part and let go of the anger and selfishness we keep trapped inside, the world could be a better place.

Then, John Lennon did a very brave thing, something I’m sure people don’t agree with. He spoke about religion and how we don’t need it. It’s such a delicate topic; I know I couldn’t have done something like that. He speaks of a world where there are no thoughts about heaven or hell so there’s nothing to stress or worry about. He knows, and I know, everyone knows that so many conflicts and wars are started because of the claim that “there is only one correct religion”. Fights go one and we still refuse to believe ours is “wrong”.  John Lennon looked above this and he wrote this song. He wrote it about peace. It’s harsh but we needed to hear it, we all needed to hear it. And maybe one day we’ll stop wondering and start doing; because if we don’t well, I just don’t know what will happen; I can only imagine- disaster.