By: Frosty Boi

(Be warned this is super dense and probably not even that good of a blog post. Don't be mad at me, I'm trying to get back into writing blogs again.)

     Okay so let's start by saying poetry is hard; about as hard as Scalia's ax-helve is for English. However, it definitely has become easier, little by little. So what makes a good poem? Honestly, I'm not sure. But for the most part, I think it's all about how the poem makes you feel and how well the author can get you to understand the reasoning behind certain actions. A tad cliché right? I know I'm not the person you would expect to get all emotional, but as I was I trying to decide on which of Robert Frost's poem I liked the best, the only one that kept coming to mind was "Home Burial". Let me explain:
     It all started when we were reading the poem in class. I was frustrated that I didn't understand it. Jenna was frustrated that she had to do the presentation. Scalia was frustrated that I wasn't listening. Everyone was frustrated. I will admit, I was only 1/4 listening throughout most of the presentation. However, my attention was fully engaged when we reached the halfway mark. For those of you that don't have the poem in front of you, the halfway point is where the couple begins to talk about how they speak to one another. This one stanza allowed me to understand the entirety of the rest of the poem. Really. I'm not kidding.
     Up until that point, I both did not care about what was happening in the poem nor did I understand why it was happening. Let's be obvious here: the poem is about a grieving couple trying to cope with the death of their newborn. Easy right? Simple enough. So. Let's get to the real question: why is the couple so detached from one another? The general idea of the poem may be about how the couple is arguing and trying to grieve in different ways. However, the main point I believe Frost is trying to make is that the couple just is not on the same field. We can understand this when Frost uses the stairs to show how the couple, emotionally and physically, is not on a single level. I really love the whole focus of the poem and I wish the blog post was to just write about our favorite poem but it's not so let's get back on topic.
     So what makes this poem good? To me, it's the emotional core that surrounds the main idea. If a poet can create a connection between the reader and the poem, then understanding the meaning behind the poem becomes immensely easier. I understood what the husband was trying to say with: "My words are nearly always an offense...". I get it. Weirdly enough, I get it. Talking to people is hard. We take spoken words for granted but they are extremely powerful. One slip up can destroy someone's whole image of you. Talking to strangers is hard because you don't quite know them or what to really talk about. But talking to someone you care about or even love is the hardest thing anyone can do. Because that truly matters. You have a purpose when talking to those you care about and you care about the outcome of the conversations you have with them. The man in this poem is trying his hardest, a sincere effort, to understand his wife and how to communicate. But she's shutting him out, she's refusing to help him and blames him for not understanding. No matter what he does, nothing is "up to snuff". Suddenly I was able to understand the emotional core of the poem.
     Obviously you are not going to personally identify with every single poem you read. And just because you don't, does not necessarily mean it's not a good poem. An author does not have to write a poem that everyone can relate to; however, I do believe every poem should be about something understandable to the audience.
     So what makes a poem truly good? Say it with me now: it's all about the human condition. If a poem is just about being human, no matter how complicated the diction may be or how dense the dialogue is, everyone can understand it eventually. Motives become clear and actions become believable. In the simplest terms: the poem has to mean something to people. If it's just fancy words on a page with complex meaning then it is not a good poem. Frost writes most of his poems with the human condition in mind and I think that's why he has become such a famous poet. His poems are relatable and they hold tangible weight to the emotions they are trying to express.
     Now that I've rambled on for way too long, let's talk about the ugly. What makes a poem bad? I think that's simple if I just contrast my previous answer. A bad poem means nothing. This is going to be hard to explain over writing but I'm going to try my best anyway. When looking at poetry I think it's important to look at who it was written for. Most of Frost's work was published in collections making them accessible by anyone with access to a bookstore. While his poems may not have been written directly for the general public's reading pleasure, he definitely had the masses in mind when writing each and every word. Going back to my answer: a poem is bad if it means nothing... to the intended audience. Nothing is a strong word but I think it serves its purpose well. I mostly just wanted to say that for the cool sounding effect. I really mean that if the meaning is so hidden and convoluted to its intended audience then it might as well mean nothing.
     So which poem was my least favorite? And the winner is (drum roll)... "The Ax-helve"! While not poorly written by any means this poem is just not good in my opinion. Who is this poem even meant for? Frost's family? Creepy neighbor? Local priest? Mike Pence? The meaning is so shrowded that there is simply no good way to understand it. It might as well mean nothing. The poem also drifts from Frost's normal trend of writing about the human condition. While the story is about companionship and new discoveries, the ideas of human emotion and struggle have taken a backseat.
     I really don't have much to say about this poem in particular. I mostly just didn't like it but I also wanted to a pick a poem that I could give a reason for it being bad. I could have just picked a poem that I had issues understanding and analyzing but that doesn't mean the poem is bad, so I decided not to take that route when picking my "bad" poem. I think overall "The Ax-helve" does everything right. The structure is nice and the diction is superb but it just was not good. The meaning is still a mystery to the class as half the people are not completely convinced its what we originally thought. Scalia just likes anything to do with ax-helves so he's happy with the analysis I guess. If I'm being honest I'm not completely sure about the meaning but that's a story for another day because that is not what this blog is all about.
     If you've made it this far through this terrible rant you deserve an award, but let's conclude. Good poetry has connections to our humanity; it has understandable issues. Bad poetry lacks relatable moments and meaning to its intended audience. Well, at least that's my opinion.

I'm so tired right now but this rhetorical analysis isn't that bad

“Kiss Me” By Sixpence None the Richer 

Kiss me out of the bearded barley,

Lightly, beside the green, green grass

Swing, swing, swing the spinning step

You'll wear those shoes and I will wear that dress

Oh, Kiss me beneath the milky twilight

Lead me out of the moonlit floor

Lift your open hand

Strike up the band, and make the fireflies dance

Silvermoon's sparkling,

So kiss me

Kiss me down by the broken tree house

Swing me, upon its hanging tire

Bring, bring, bring your flowered hat

We'll take the trail marked on your father's map

Oh, Kiss me beneath the milky twilight

Lead me out of the moonlit floor

Lift your open hand

Strike up the band, and make the fireflies dance

Silvermoon's sparkling,

So kiss me

Oh, Kiss me beneath the milky twilight

Lead me out of the moonlit floor

Lift your open hand

Strike up the band, and make the fireflies dance

Silvermoon's sparkling,

So kiss me

So kiss me...

So kiss me

        Kiss Me written by Sixpence None the Richer is a romantic song that utilizes smooth diction, vivid imagery, and light tone to exclaim the singer’s lover to her presumed lover.
        There are many different ways to write out song lyrics to create a piece a music. However, lyrics are not the same as music. If anything lyrics are like poetry. The words of the song are able to come together fluidly and smooth to create this sense of comfort and aloofness. There are no hard breaks or unexpected turns in the lyrics. Nothing too exciting or new is used in order to make the audience feel comfortable and welcomed. The structure is quite uniform throughout the entire piece. Unlike many other songs, the chorus is repeated three times and there are only two unique verses in the entire song. This specific choice to only allow certain flow and structure adds to the calming nature of the song. In the chorus, the singer asks her presumed lover to “kiss [her] beneath the milky twilight”, the word milky in this sentence is an extremely smooth word and since it's in the chorus, the part of the song repeated the most often, the audience becomes the most comfortable with this line as it is also the first line in the chorus. The writer’s choice of diction effectively gives the song a calming and welcoming nature.
        Imagery in songwriting is the most prominently used and most important component of figurative language. Without descriptions of feelings or events songs will feel empty and emotionless. The songwriter here uses the description of a night sky and atmosphere. The fireflies are out and the "moonlit floor" of twilight. This specific time of night is considered the most romantic, especially when sitting in the moonlight. As this is a love song the writer needs to be able to create a very romantic atmosphere for the audience to latch on to and feel emotion. Which brings us to the writer's appeal to pathos.  A good love song needs to be able to get the audience emotionally invested in what the singer is saying. If the song doesn't tug at your heart strings then the song isn't accomplishing what it set out to do. "Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight." is what I would consider the most romantic line in this song. It uses very smooth and calm diction to exclaim the writer's love for her lover. Without creating the proper atmosphere the appeal to pathos would not work the way the writer intended for it to.
        The tone of the song is meant to be warm and romantic. A tone is the combination of all the author's use of rhetorical devices and appeals. The writer is able to achieve this through their diction and use of imagery. Kiss Me is aimed at the writer's lover and trying to convince them of their love and desire. If the author had come across angry then the appeal to pathos would have been lost. The tone of a good love song is inviting and emotional. Without proper diction the author would have failed in this case. The lyrics are quite simplistic in certain cases, when the singer tells her lover to "kiss [her]" the writer is being blunt and straightforward, but that is not what the song is necessarily about. The writer is telling the audience the details of how she wants it to happen, not just what she wants.
        This song is a beautiful expression of the writer's love and devotion to her lover and how she wants him to make her feel. None of this would have been possible without the proper diction, imagery, and tone the author tried to achieve and succeeded.

What are you doing? I'm writing an open letter to incoming freshmen.

Dear freshman,

Welcome to the next four years of your life.

You are now entering the mystical realm of high school. Now you’ve seen the movies, you’ve read the books, you’ve heard the stories but you’ve never experienced anything quite like this before. Congrats on graduating middle school by the way. If you’re expecting high school to be similar. Well, you’re wrong. High school isn’t just middle school with harder classes. This stuff will prepare you for your future. Life starts getting right about now. Trust me, I’ve been there. And don’t think for one second that you can halfass your whole time here. It’s time to buckle down and work hard because what you do here can affect the rest of your life.

First things first. Do your homework when it’s assigned, or as soon as possible. Work piles up so much faster than you could ever expect. Do it before it gets out of hand. Trust me I’ve been there. Weeks of overdue homework piling up on my desk and computer. It causes more stress than you could possibly imagine. No matter how much fun you’re having while not doing work, waiting until the last minute is so much worse. Put some time aside at home to do homework, whether it be immediately when you get home or when you’re relaxed on your couch or in bed at night. Long story short: don’t procrastinate, you’ll only regret it.

Now that’s not to say you can’t have fun while during your time here. Don’t be the person who just goes home after school never to be seen until the next day. Have a life. Coming from someone who’s had an extremely active social life and an almost non-existent one heed my advice: find a balance. School should be taken seriously, whether you want to learn it or not the lesson is probably useful. Pay attention. However don’t take it so seriously that you lock yourself away in your room just to do work. You don’t want to find yourself constantly sitting home at night just watching Netflix and eating pizza all alone, but you also don’t want to never have time to do anything for yourself such as homework or some peace and quiet. You should learn quickly that finding a balance between fun and work is key.

Don’t get too stressed out. It’s not worth the effort. Many times throughout my high school career I’ve wanted to cut off all my hair and run away to a different state. Don’t make the same mistakes I did. Sure, you should take your work seriously but don’t stress yourself out. I’ve seen what it does to people and it's not pretty. If you ever feel overburdened just stop what you’re doing and take a breath. (I know that’s pretty cliche but I’m not done yet) If you’re in a situation where you just have too much work and you don’t know how to handle simply make a list. Write it on your hand, type it on your phone, put it wherever. Make a list of everything that needs to get done right now. Writing everything down clearly so you can see it in front of you will allow you to focus and realign yourself.

Above all do what you love. Find your passion and run with it. High school is the time to make big decisions and everyone knows it's a stressful. Don’t worry everyone has been there and everyone has gotten through it. Take one step at a time and work through it. And just a little advice: don’t start any drama. No matter how much you like watching it on TV, real life drama is no game. But remember have fun and look forward to the end.

Sincerely,
The guy you probably wouldn’t listen to if I was saying this in person

Next year I'm a senior and writing this gave me anxiety

First Day:

         As the school bell rang a wave of students made their way to their first period class. The halls were bustling with noise and loud chatter. Each student filling in the others with what they did over the summer. Mouths ran fast with story after story rushing past everyone’s ears. All the students looked happy even though this was the start of a long journey to the end of the school year. On the first people tend not to really worry about the future, it's the only day of the year that people live in the present and just have fun.
         The school as a whole was exactly the same as it was last year. We come to expect the school to change in one way shape or form from year to year but for some reason nothing was different. The same gloomy paint job, the same narrow hallways. Even the teachers were all the same for once. As students made their way to their classes, everyone began to split up to find their first period. Large groups have kids shooting off of them like missiles as they ran to class. With schedules in hand, the freshmen looked as if they were on a tour at Disney world. Not on their way to class. Their eyes darted across the campus searching for old friends and sometimes fresh starts.
         The second bell rang and now the halls were all but empty. A few stragglers were still searching for their classes but one by one disappeared behind the heavy metal doors of the classrooms. No one was saying but everyone was thinking it: “I can't wait for the rest of the year.”

Last Day:

         People were sitting in their desks tapping the pencils on the metal frames. Their eyes were fixated on the clock waiting for that magical number 3:15 to appear. Legs bouncing up and down to try and contain the excitement everyone was feeling. The teacher had put on a movie earlier in the period, they weren’t going to even attempt to grab the kids attentions on the last day of school. It had been a rough year with its ups and downs but everyone was now looking forward to either college or summer vacation. Everyone was looking towards the future and what it had to hold.
         It was 3:10 and people were walking around the halls. Yelling and screaming and yet quiet. That’s when people realized nobody was talking. Everything was silent save the movie and the ticks of the clock. Students were just too preoccupied with their futures to even worry about starting conversations with people they only sort of liked. At the end of every year people get sick of each other. Too much interaction throughout the year caused too much drama and too much hatred (Don’t worry, everyone with forget everything bad that happened next year).
         3:14. It was almost time. People grabbed their bags and leaned forward in their seats. Everyone could taste the freedom right in front of them. The teacher began packing everything up and wishing their students a happy summer break. Again no one was listening. Although, one person did say “you too!”. The bell sound radiated throughout the halls and everyone raced out the doors. Summer was finally here.

I Don't Understand the Title of this Blog Prompt

        I stood there gazing at the wall of the memorial garden. Its concrete bricks layered on one another, each painted a different design in order to create a larger picture. The sun’s powerful rays pierced the day sky, pushing past each cloud to make its way to the nape of my neck. It was one of the hottest days all year. I welcomed the soothing winds to cool my head and arms off, as every other part of my body was covered in clothing. Birds chirped and sang in the background creating a wonderful symphony for my enjoyment. I looked down to my feet noticing the stone slabs were chipped and rotting. They were covered in dirt and mold (which honestly could be gotten rid of with a quick power wash), showing their age.
        The calm and quiet area was only disturbed once due to a single car passing by the connecting road. The sun was strong but when in the heart of the garden, the large tree in the center of the path cast its shadow onto the Earth. Bugs zipped around me looked for a feast. Mosquitoes, in particular, were a great nuisance. I swatted several away before we began to move to our final destination. My group walked slowly, our energy was draining fast due to the scorching sun's rays. Our walk came to an end as we saw Scaliwag in the distance. Cars raced past us, most likely unaware this was even a school. The gushing wind of the active road was a godsend on my sweltering body.
        I came to the end of the sidewalk to a large bush concealing the electrical system for the school I presume. Dozens of bees covered the grassy field in front of me, each playing its part in nature. Buzzing past each other the bees made their way down the field, periodically landing on flowers to pollinate them. I started to think about the Hollywood masterpiece, The Bee Movie (no joke). But when you really think about it Bees really shouldn’t be able to fly. Their wings are too tiny to get their fat little bodies off the ground. However, Bees really don’t care what humans think is impossible. But Bees are more similar to humans then you may think. They have to commute from their hive to work and put in a daily effort just like everyone else. Their lives revolve around servicing a single entity, the Queen Bee, just like our lives revolve around servicing a single entity, the Government.
        The flowers blew in the breeze aided by the zooming cars. My bushy leg hair soaked up the sweat that dripped down my legs, small sweat stains dappled my poorly-chosen sweatpants I adorned today. Small wet spots were speckled all across the thicc, grey prisons. Birds flew over my head chirping with their sweet symphony of happiness and joy. While I’m stuck in this prison these birds are enjoying the most amount of freedom possible: flight. I walked back inside to the immediate welcome breeze of the AC.

It's Hot as Ballz Outside

        Sitting down I begin to look at my surroundings. A few birds chirping, some trees plotted here and there, tons of sand and bushes. The wind on the left side of my face is welcomed as it is probably one of the hottest days we've had in a while. As I sit there boiling up a sweat, I look down to my feet. Ants. I quickly dart my feet away from them in fear of them being bitten. As I am color blind, every ant I see has the potential to be a red ant. I continue to look at the pile of ants scurrying around like mindless drones. One climbing over the other scampering around the hill trying to get out. Some ants caught my attention over a little to the side. They didn't look like the ants that were on the hill I was previously observing. Their color was a little darker and they look slightly bigger. These new ants weren't wandering around without a care in the world. They were on a mission. Walking side-by-side toward the pavement, I got up to make way. The ants neither were startled nor did it seem like they cared at all about my movements. They simply went along with their goal and continued to strut across the road. What a life.

Get Your Complaints Out of My Eyesockets

To the MIA School Board and Administration,

        No matter where you go you will find issues with every school. There is no “perfect” place. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t look at the problems we have and try to fix them. While there are several specific issues I wish to address, I will only be covering the three biggest that I believe have the most adverse effect on Marco Island Academy.
        When it comes to mentoring I understand the point of it. I believe it was originally created in order to prevent an overflow of students in the lunch pavilion due to increased student population and school popularity. However, now it has become something that traps students to one room in the school, preventing them from taking a proper break in the day. Many students also simply say that there is not enough time during the lunch segment to actually eat their lunch. While I do not experience the same problem, I do see why they may have this issue. I believe that there should be on large open lunch period where students are allowed to do as they please during that time. They could either eat lunch, go to a club, or receive extra help from a teacher of their choosing. This allows everyone the freedom to choose and make their own decisions, which is a valuable skill in the workforce and adult world. It may also prepare us for college as there students are offered almost unlimited freedom in designing the academic timetable of their education. If MIA claims to prepare students for college and beyond then it needs to start  preparing us with freedom of choice and giving us the respect that we deserve to make our own decisions.
        Personal freedoms is a common complaint with MIA. The “caging of the cell phones” is the most widespread complaint with this institution. This is the most blatant disregard of student’s freedoms. I do not believe that the misdeeds of a few should result in punishment of the many. We should focus more on attempting to reprimand students whom abuse the policy of personal device usage, rather than simply taking the easy way out and simply banning them in the classroom. I repeat, how can this school claim to prepare its students for the outside world when the students are treated like they can not be trusted. A new policy should be put in place where students are trusted instead of immediately punished even if they did nothing wrong. We should allow students to keep their phone on their person and only use it with the permission of the teacher. If the student is caught using the phone improperly then they should be punished with however the teacher deems necessary. Allowing the use of cellphones and giving students the responsibility of trust and honesty is the best way to prepare students for the “real world”.
        My final recommendation is one that I thought about excluding from this letter but decided to include due to its importance. The students of MIA are some of the most kind and caring I have met in my entire life. However, there are a select few students that should simply not be attending this school. At Marco Island Academy there is a huge drug and alcohol problem within a large portion of the student body. These problems are all but ignored and really hinder the public view of the school. Many students that do not attend MIA know this and refer to MIA as a rampant drug school. The administration of this school needs to deal with obvious student offenders in order to better show the public we are to be respected.