Blog #15: Final Three-Paragraph Reflection

     Over this past semester of AP English Literature, I grew my skills as an analyst of literature as well as an essay writer. In the beginning of the year, I felt in over my head attempting to write high quality essays. I initially realized I needed a lot of work to improve my ability to critically analyze both poetry and prose passages. I also needed practice developing my thoughts into an essay in a very brief amount of time.
     The major portion of this class that has helped my development has been our group presentations. With these projects, I have been able to work with my peers to develop conclusions of literature that I would have never seen by my lonesome. The complexities between binary opposites and other motifs would have been muddled without these group projects. From fairy tales to myths, my group variety of different passages that shed light on the complex attitudes that can be found in literature.
     In general, what I really appreciated about 6th Bell AP Lit was the community that was formed within the class. Analyzing difficult passages did not have to be an individual thing. Not only with the small groups, but also with the entire class, many different minds and perspectives came together to look at literature from all angles. This immersion gave me a better understanding of literature, and I will carry with me a better understanding of how to look at devices such as symbolism, purposeful diction, and extended metaphors and the results of using these many devices. I have certainly improved quite a bit in my semester in AP Lit, and I hope to continue this journey as the AP Test approaches.

Blog #14: Paired Poems Group Presentation

First Draft Essay:

2008B

In both poems "Golden Retrievals" and "Hawk Roosting" the authors, Mark Doty and Ted Hughes, view life from the perspective of an animal to contrast the differences between action and inaction. Each poem discusses the allures of either being content with the present or hurrying forward into the future. By using the unique animalistic perspectives and
juxtaposition of life and death, each poem argues why people should either live for consistency or strive for change.

In "Golden Retrievals", Mark Doty takes the perspective of a dog to contend that people need to move forward in life. The speaker– the dog–describes his owner as struggling to move forward in her life. It is likely that the owner has experienced a tragic event that has her "off in some fog concerning– tomorrow" (10). The dog, on the other hand, lives life carefree, not being dragged down by any negativity. The speaker even proclaims, "My work: to unsnare time's warp" (11). Although time tends to drag us all down, Doty argues we should not be disheartened by today's struggles. On the other hand, in "Hawk Roosting", Ted Hughes contends the opposite. In this poem, the speaker embodies a hawk, pleased with his life, content with living in the present. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker remarks of his life, "Inaction, no falsifying dream" (2). He views his simple life as perfection. The speaker sees no point in trying to move froward when he is satisfied with what he has. Put directly, "I am going to keep things like this" (24).

Both poems juxtapose the essence of life and death. In "Golden Retrievals", the speaker says, "muck, pond, ditch, residue of any thrillingly dead thing" (5,6). Specifically, Doty's imagery of "thrillingly" indicated that the speaker does not fear death, but rather sees it as a new adventure to undertake. This reinforces the general message of the poem to not fear the future but to anticipate it. In "Hawk Roosting" the speaker once again takes a different perspective, declaring, "I kill where I please because it is all mine" (14). In this poem, the hawk illustrates death as weak, a characteristic of prey. Ted Hughes contends that life should be sacred and lived out as fully as possible. These two poems use illustrations of life and death to make two different arguments about the correct approach to life.

Through these animal perspectives and the contrast between life and death, each of these poems makes an argument on how to live life to the fullest.