Journal 47: Diamante Poem

Think of a subject for your poem. Start with a noun (a person, place, thing, or idea). Then think of something that contrasts with it or is opposite to it. Once you have these two parts, you are ready to write a diamante poem. The poem is called diamante because it is shaped like a diamond. The lines are arranged like this:
1. One word (your subject)
2. Two words (adjectives that describe line 1)
3. Three words (action verbs related to line 1)
4. Four words (nouns: first two relate to line 1, second two relate to line 7)
5. Three words (action verbs related to line 7)
6. Two words (adjectives that describe line 7)
7. One word (the word that contrasts with your subject)
Write at least three diamante poems (this is a bargain—only 48 words instead of 200!).

LIGHT VS DARK

Light :)

Bright, Good

Warming, Glowing, Shining

Heat, Hope, Horror, Hatred  

Threatening, Lurking, Obscuring

Menace, Evil

Dark :(

SNEAKERS VS HIGH HEELS

Sneakers :)

Comfy, Cute

Walking, Running, Jump

Sports, Shoes, Pain, "The Plastics"

Limiting, Numbing, Hobbling

Scary, Stupid

High Heels :(

ME VS MY SISTER

Me :)

Awesome, Smart

Chat, Read, Play Sports

Jeans, T-shirts, Dresses, Tiaras

Scream, Giggle, Show off

Girly-girl, Not Awesome

My Sister :(

Journal Entry 46: Acrostic

Today you will write an acrostic poem. Start by writing the letters of your first and last name down the left margin of your paper. Then use those letters to start short sentences or phrases about yourself. When you finish the poem about yourself, write another one about someone else using the same form. Choose anyone you want, real or fictional.

MY NAME:

Just simply awesome.

Absolutely the best student ever!
Never mean to her friends :)
Energetic when she's not tired.
Talkative in Algebra because she thinks it's very boring.

Likes to watch movies and shopping.

Impossible to be mad at, because she is just so awesome.

Near-sighted, but wears contact lenses (at night).

ANOTHER NAME:

Just simply gay.

Unbelievably, he has a LOT of fans.

Seventh place for the "most popular female on Earth"
"Terrible singer, he is," people say.

I don't think he's that bad.

Not his fan though, even though he's not that bad.

Beliebers follow him around everywhere.

Is dating Selena Gomez now.

Entertains people.

Believed to be gay by a lot of people.

Exactly the kind of guy a lot of people hate/love.

Really annoying sometimes, because I DON'T WANT TO HEAR HIS SONG ON MY RADIO!!!

Journal Entry 45: List Poem

In the last journal entry you made a list. Your job is to take the words in that list and use all of them to write your own poem. Your poem can take whatever form you want, as long as it has all the words from the class list. Use your knowledge of poetic elements (figures of speech, rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance, etc) to connect the words on the list.

My last journal entry includes the words:
Chocolate Cakes :)
McDonald :)Snacks a few minutes before bed :)

Reading novels while writing homework :)Going back to sleep after my alarm goes off on schooldays :)

Wake up at 12 on weekends :)

Checking Facebook
Chatting on Skype
Gossip magazines :)
TV :)
Shopping.
SUPER-long showers
Buying things I don't need

Fat McDonald food and

all those chocolates cakes I can't withstand.

With some "fat snacks" before bed:

a couple cakes, candies, and chocolate-cream-filled bread.

Ignore my homework and my alarm's screaming,

Wake up at twelve in the "morning".

Watch TV, read magazines,

and staring at my computer screen.

Shopping for things I don't really need,

and checking Skype and my Facebook feeds.

And what's better than taking showers

that last an hour?

Why do things we shouldn't do,

are always the things we love too?

I can't even begin to guess,

but honestly I couldn't hare less.

Journal Entry 44: My List

Think of something you can make a list of. Then write at least ten things that can go on your list, but don’t write the title of the list. Go to at least two of your classmates’ blogs and try to guess the title of their lists. Write your guess as a comment on their blog.

1. Chocolate (cakes, especially)
2. McDonald
3. Reading fiction while writing (not really) homework
4. Checking Facebook
5. Chatting on Skype
6. Gossip magazines (online too)
7. TV shows (online... so that means a LOT of episodes)
8. Snacks a few minutes before bed (not good for you... not at all)
9. Shopping.
10. Wake up at 12 on weekends (rarely happens, though, sadly...)
11. Going back to sleep after my alarm goes off (on schooldays too :P)
12. SUPER-long showers
13. Buying things I don't need. :)

Journal Entry 43: Elements of Poetry

When we talk about stories, we use words like “plot,” “character,” “setting,” “conflict,” and “resolution,” among others. In order to talk about poetry, we need to understand what it is made of. Aside from “words,” what are the elements of poetry? Do they share any of the same elements that we find in fiction? Explain giving specific examples from stories and poems you’ve read.

Some elements of poetry are metaphors, similes, imagery, and some poems also have plot, character, setting, conflict, and resolution just like any other stories. Although some poems like narrative poems and ballads have a story so they have elements story also have, but some poems like odes and lyric poems aren't stories. Instead, they are poems that expresses the author's thoughts, so most of the time, they don't have some elements that stories have. But, poems usually do have some things like metaphors and similes to make it more interesting to read and most poems have a beat to them, just like songs, and some also have to rhyme. Like the poem I read in seventh grade before, "I'm Nobody" by Emily Dickinson (which is a narrative poem) doesn't have characters or plots and other elements that fiction has, because it wasn't telling a story, instead, it's talking about how the author feels. In that poem, there was some similes in the poem, like "How public, like a frog...", and the poem also rhymes.

Another poem that I've read before when I was seven (I think) was "The Cat In The Hat". The poem definitely has a story, so it also has a plot, character, setting, and resolution, just like a fiction. But fiction, unlike poems, almost never rhymes. Whereas poems often rhyme, and rhyming poems usually have a rhythm to it too.

Journal Entry 42: Ode

An ode is a lyrical verse written in praise of, or dedicated to someone or something which captures the poet's interest or serves as an inspiration for the ode. You can write an ode to just about anything: your mother, happiness, toast, or a pair of old socks. Think about what you might want to write an ode about. Write down everything that you can think of about your topic. Try to come up with strong descriptive words that make clear images (colors, shapes, smells, tastes, sounds, and emotions). Don’t worry about writing complete sentences or paragraphs, just let the ideas flow out of you.

I think I'd like to write an ode to my mom. I'd talk about how she yells at me and my sister, and how mad she gets when we don't get a perfect score, or when we make careless mistakes. How she can change within a matter of seconds. Like one second, she'd be screaming the her head off, then, when a phone rings, she'd be like, "Hey! Yeah! Uh-huh! Ahh, can't wait. Cool... nice... See ya then!" And she can also not talk to me for a whole day, then the next day, she acts like nothing's happened. She's truly a fashion expert though. I seriously have no idea how can she be so fashion-forward (well in the casual style, not like a fashion diva kind), and sometimes, I think her fashion sense might even be better than mine! And, aren't teenagers supposed to be better at fashion and stuff instead of parents? But my mom can actually be quite nice, and even though her scolding is very annoying, I have to admit that it has helped me a lot. Without her yelling and "correcting", I would've been a really stupid kid who know nothing now (I think), so I'm actually very thankful that she yells at me a lot. So, I'd probably start of my ode being all sarcastic and funny, but then it would become serious and nice and thankful and stuff. So, I think that's be  a nice ode. A bit funny and a bit heart-warming (ha-ha).

Journal Entry 41: Poetry

How are poems different from other forms of writing? Do poems have any similarities to other kinds of writing? Can a poem do the same thing as other forms of expression, such as a story or song? How can a poem do things that other forms of expression can’t? Are there some things that a poem can’t do that can be done in other forms of writing? Do you see poems or poetic language in the world today? Where? What are they used for?

Poems usually have a rhythm to it, and most of them are quite hard to understand. Poems are very artistic and because of their poetic elements, they're often times easier to remember. Poems and other kinds of writing can all be any length they want and they all have different genres. All writings can express thoughts and most are quite enjoyable. Poems can express the author's thoughts and can tell stories too. But, poetry is often harder to understand, while stories are more specific. Stories are also mostly fiction, but poems can be either fiction or non fiction. In other forms of writing, thing's are mostly written in paragraph forms, but poems are usually lines of words broken down into shorter sentences, sometimes not even a full sentence. People can surely still see poems or poetic language in the world today. We can still see it in some songs and a lot of advertisements too. Songs usually rhyme and they most definitely have a rhythm to them (most of the time). Advertisements also use poetic language, because poetry is a lot easier to remember since it has a particular rhythm to it and are usually quite short. Poetry can sometimes be jokes or even sound like things Picasso drew. People can have different views of the same poem and they might all be right! So, I personally think that reading poems are just like trying to understand a drawing. It's all about guessing what the author meant and what the piece of art means to you.