Correction 4/ Textbook Work

Correction 4

1. B
2. H
3. D
4. H
5. B
6. G

Prompt

     Stephen Crane's poem, in my opinion, seems relentless, sad, and drastically affluent to a society that belittles its people. Crane writes his poem of war; a very complicated battle that involves physical, emotional, and mental harm. Stephen Crane seems so intrigued by the idea of war, and a supporter to the soldiers who fight in it, but is so discouraged by his own abilities where he claims he cannot be one (he believes he is not strong enough or willing). What seems to be a poem on war and violence becomes a poem of self-belittling and lacks a sense of self-confidence. It's a poem of war but not between nations, but between man and himself. His lack of confidence and his willing to make him smaller than the rest of the soldiers, or in other words "people", causes the reader to understand the insecurity and hopelessness of the author and how weak one can become after a war with himself. Getting into the other poem by Komunrakaa, both poets seem to follow each other's steps and art when it comes to the different aspects of writing such as tone, mood, and theme. Both share a tone that seems less optimistic, more pessimistic, and much more queer and peculiar than most poems due to its strong reflection-of-self and its passion to mirror an image of what the author believes he is or what he should write of (the nature of man). They both write about the natural environment of outlandish behaviors and the anatomy of the human mind and its critical significance to feeling the meaning and importance of one's self and one another.

Correction 3/ Textbook Work

Correction 3

1. C
2. G
3. A
4. G
5. C
6. H
7. B
8. J

Prompt

     Whitman and Baca are both two revolutionary thinkers in the eyes of the poetic/literature world. Whitman, known for his soft and gentle words, collide with the everlasting deep and meaningful rhymes from Baca in this textbook work. The given poems from both poets share similar traits such as morals and rights (existentialism), yet they represent different opinions and beliefs in each other's writing. Whitman, in my opinion, has the upper hand coming forth as the optimist; he writes on society and people as a positive and much more hopeful generation rather than Baca. Baca writes in a more individualistic way; a ballistic approach to how society manipulates its own decisions and causes its own alteration through time. He then seeps his own opinion on natural depletion and natural changes in society through his writing.

Correction 2/ Textbook Work

Correction 2:

1. B
2. G
3. D
4. H
5. B
6. G
7. D
8. J
9. A
10. H

Prompt:

     Both authors and poets Edgar Allan Poe and H.D view different aspects when it comes to Helen. As an avid reader of Poe's art, his usage of similes and analogies becomes apparent when seeing the visual description he has towards Helen's beauty. On the other hand. H.D uses social behavior and awkwardness as a way to describe his point of view on Helen and her own traits. Edgar Allan Poe, as dark as he is, seemingly becomes more lenient and graceful towards the feminine nature and idea of Helen, a beautiful, loving woman, whereas H.D seems to be much more critical and judgmental to the gender. It becomes clear which side Poe and H.D are on the likeness of the subject "women"; Poe shows more grace and appreciation towards his opposite sex while H.D shows structural, stiff critique that represents a strong non-suit towards the sex.

Correction 1/ Textbook Work

Correction 1:
1)A
2)J
3)A
4)B
5)C
6)H
7)C
8)H
9)A
10)F

Prompt:

    The two poems both ingrate a different depiction of one topic: love. Love is a common theme between both poems, yet each one has its different aspects of emotion, writing, and perspective. For example, Bradstreet's poem seem alike to the meaning in Millay's, yet founded in a completely different way and its alternative way of understanding love and romance can become clarified to understanding or analyzing the author and his background. Bradstreet's poem becomes obvious that it is more likely to romanticize and charm the easily understood people and common love, yet Millay's way of thinking to depict or shed his knowledge on love is to use subliminal and hidden meanings that takes more than just reading, but thinking to compensate for such complicated writing.

Don't know why I did it but I did.

It's incredible how can one set of words can be so easy to say, so easily misinterpreted, yet so easily felt. While it is mistakenly one of the easiest things to say, it is one of the most difficult; not physically, but emotionally. Life depicts its meaning in so many different ways: in lust, in stupidity, in naivety, in high hopes. 

It was said too fast, too soon, too early, yet felt so right and so natural.

Nothing like the feelings of discomfort, anxiety, stress, and curiosity---only a few words which can replicate the way one feels with the blue haze of emotions that sought from the amount in which the person means.

It is the feeling of the serpent's venom causing waves of pain and misery towards its victim---a pain that subsides not only within one area of the body, but overcomes the body and mind.

It is hard to escape the treachery; the pain and the suffering, because in the end, the serpent was worth the bite. The thought of the serpent and its fangs can bewilder, yet become so heavenly and angelic. The thought of the serpent can linger for hours or it can sneak itself within seconds, yet in the end, its thought becomes so much more than just a meaningless spot in the galaxy of the mind, but a colorful dream that one carefully examines, one carefully plots, and one carefully hesitates over because it so important, ideal, and essential.
In the end, the pain is worth the bite. And however flesh-eating, blood-sucking the serpent will be, it will still be worth it.

Los Angeles Riots

Los Angeles Riots

Interview of Mother

DON DELA CRUZ~~~~~~~~~~~INTERVIEWED: MOTHER

1) I was living in Los Angeles at the time, in the same home we live in today, in Hollywood. 

2) I remember that I was 9 months pregnant with your older sister when it was happening, and many bizarre moments had occurred when I was around town such as being in the middle of a drive-by shooting.

3) The news and media made the riots sound terrifying and very violent, and focused on the colored people.

4) I knew a local Filipino store that had been looted during the riots and had much of their merchandise and money taken and/or destroyed.

5) Civil Rights should not enlighten the idea of riots because it only causes more problems and death than it first started off with (racism and violence towards colored people)

6) It is hard to believe that all of it happened due to the incident of Rodney King. It was a good thing that people became passionate about their fellow peers, but it should not have reached to violence, theft, and everything else that the colored people are blamed for in the first place (stereotypes, racism, prejudice beliefs).

7) It was just chaos within the Los Angeles parameter. There was loot, theft, assault, murder, and basically a state of emergency in Los Angeles all under the belief to rebel against society. It goes back to the riots of the Civil Rights Movement or even fast forward to the riots in Ferguson. Each lack the ability to cope with an issue head on and without physical harm because we were brought up into a society that shapes our belief to passionately and aggressively fight for our rights.

8) I would like to share that it is completely insane that people will prove their superiors right when they are provoked into violence and inhumane acts due to not being able to control our emotions and adrenaline. Society has produced generations of youth that cannot deal with their own problems and must act out onto other issues without control. 

 And to believe that all this carnage and despair all happened in our city, a place we call "home"