Poetry Blog Post

alright, the poem I have chosen to educate you all with is this lovely poem by my personal favorite: shel silverstien.

Where the Sidewalk Ends
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Analysis:
This poem, though written in a children's poetry book can have a much deeper meaning than I understood when I first read the peom in the 20th century. When reading the poem, one almost feels as if they are leaving the world behind them to walk off the edge of the sidewalk. A sort of chasing the rainbow concept. These two children (as illustrated in the book) are following signs of their imagination where they believe the sidewalk ends. The end of the sidewalk also signifies the edge of the world. To walk of the end of the sidewalk is to step into a world unknown. A sort of inbetween step into the street and the life of an independant, one with responsibilities. "Where the chalk-white arrows go" (11), even the doodlings of toddlers point to the future.

A daunting future it would seem, "And we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow"(16). The measured years of the lives of children pass very slowly, but eventually, the path will lead you to the end of the sidewalk. This poem was placed as the very last poem in the book. Once you finish the book, you are at the edge of the sidewalk and street and should be ready to cross onto the tar to finish your life as a child (or so shel thinks). But by walking off the end of the sidewalk, one "leaves this place where the smoke blows black/And the dark street winds and bends" (7). The ignorance of childhood can finally be left behind when one takes the tiny step onto the street.

Quarter 1 post

Finally, quarter 1 is done.
I did well in this class and am proud of my grade, I learned a lot about writing effective thesises and how to successfully support them in my essays. I also learned a lot about movie direction and how to analyze photographs. That was very interresting. I am still struggling on how to organize a body paragraph and how to write topic sentances that aren't repetitive. The class environment is excellent. It's fun and the way the desks are set, you can see everyone. To further stregnthen my learning in class, I can get more effective peer reviewing and actually listen to thier advice to improve my writing. For quarter 2 I want to get a perfects score on my essay and and make my thesises less listy.
Overall, things went pretty well. During the first few days of school I was a wee bit overwhelmed by my lack of knowledge on essay writing and the expectations that Mrs. Froehlich had, but now that my skills have improved I am ready to write the 12 paragraph essay that is due next quarter.