Funeral Blues

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

W.H. Auden
My analysis:
I like this poem because it provides a really sad feeling. It is a mix between missing someone, regret, fear of change and sadness due to loss of a lover. There is a little bit of imagery in phrases like, "he was my north, my south, my east and west, my working week and my Sunday rest, …" These are set in the poem to show a picture of how things were and why now it is different it’s the human fear of change. Some objects and colors are used to set a feeling of silence, sadness and fear. This is seen in stanzas like the first one that has phrases like "stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone"
And silence the pianos and with muffed drums" or in the second stanza "let the policemen wear black cotton gloves." This poem has a lot of great examples of all kind of features of poetry.

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

by Lord Alfred Tennyson

My analysis:

I enjoy this poem because of the picture it sets in your head. It is very beautifully written. The imagery of the eagle is amazing, when you think about phrases like "he watches from his mountain walls, and like a thunderbolt he falls." There is no special message that challenges you to become a better self but that is also not always necessary. Imagery can be very powerful too, giving you a picture setting you in exactly that moment the writer wants you to be. This is what this poem does to me. It is written so clear that I can see the eagle on the crag in exactly that scene.

'Totally like whatever, you know?' analysis

I like this poem because Tailor Mali wants to get us thinking about what has happened with society. This poem makes you think, it gives you a critical perspective on the society of today. How we are not able to form real sentences and we seem to be inarticulate. How we can not be cool by being smart but by not expressing your thoughts. He wants us to speak without 'Instant messenger language' with repeatedly using words like, like, whatever, you know after each sentence and totally. These words have no real meaning to Taylor Mali because they have no weight and no backup. Taylor wants, well actually challenge, you to speak with meaningful words, to say your thoughts and speak up because with what has happened to us and the world around us we need more people with meaningful speeches and meaningful ideas.

In our blog

I think that there is no problem in sharing our outlines because it gives us the opportunity to see "live" other student models for us to compare and reflect. On the other hand I think that some people might use that to their advantage in an other way, and copy or just rewrite someone else outline and show it as their own. Just that if their is any similarity that the teacher should notice then the person that had the outline up first that gets the credit so actually their is no point of not setting it onto our blog for our benefit. I think the teacher wants us to put them on so we can help ourselves instead of cheating ourselves to some rewritten outline. I am not dying to write anything except a new song and personally I would love to not do anything.

My Protagonist

My Protagonist is called Jimmy. This hero wears his clothes depending on his feelings but he prefers to wear black. He loves to eat, eat anything and is thankful for what he has. His hobbies are karate, archery, fighting and writing music. The hero is defined as a special person with great generous qualities, is this hero a hero? One who wants to save the world, one who does barely care about his own life but if he could he would save the world. This hero is different from superman he has no super power he saves no one beautiful girl but he wants to save the world, he wants to heal all wounds and fix all places. He loves to hang out with his friends and is very popular, he loves to drink and have fun with women, and he has a love for motorbikes and fights. He believes that musicians have so much influence that they can save the world. That is what he wants to do, as many have tried. He is a musician and wants to spread his music all over the world, and influence people to learn from his words to stop racism stop prejudice and stop all hate and conflict. However, before he gets to that point he needs to save himself, break out of his cage, solve his own conflicts with himself.
The call: The call is when the protagonist gets the opportunity to start his journey into the unknown. My character is introduced into a world of music and producers unknown to what he has done in the past, and needs to develop new skills to get through this separation from his own familiar world.
The threshold: Now he is fully over an imaginary wall separated from family and friends, his skills are now needed to get him through without the help from friends and family. He is now under pressure not to do any wrong step and do what is asked from him but at the same time use his own ideas. Not to lose himself. The threshold guardians are his band members to secure his behaving and steps.
The Challenges: Challenges come up like inner and outer conflicts that keep him from succeeding in some tasks and he now has to work up what was lost which brings more pressure.
Into the Abyss: The abyss he reaches here is different, then a giant three headed monster that’s not to die. But it is a fight for friendship, a fight not to lose him and reach his goal.
Transformation and Revelation: My Protagonist has now reached his goal made up his work and not gotten rid of his problems but learnt to work them out.
The Atonement: He has now found out that no one can change the whole world but with his efforts he can be a good influence for part of the people and send messages out in his own artistic ways.
The Return: Well this character does not fully return from his journey, because this journey has now become part of his life. The unknown is not unknown anymore and his is on his way to greater levels within this now known world.

What about the world you live in makes you uncomfortable?

In the world today there are many social, economic and environmental problems. Each problem has its impact on the future. How we resolve, if we can, these problems makes the future, if we oppress or ignore the problems they get worse.

This leads to my first problem, how we change our mistakes, problems and miscommunication and our be able to without ruining something else. One of our biggest problems today is our dependency on oil and energy. We still use oil to crate energy although our oil supplies are about to "run out of fuel". However there are many other ways to create energy such as wind, water and light. These are all supplies that will never run out, and they will not damage the earth, even if we need more it will secure our energy with no harm. More power supplies will give more jobs which would be very fortunate because parts of the world are starting to overpopulate.
It makes me feel uncomfortable to see miscommunication or unreasonable hate such as racism, and miscommunication in business, private life, the world outside your four walls and politics.
Racism is everywhere; this is a deal of miscommunication, a lack of correct education and prejudice. Bad vibrations are seen everywhere, it is a tension formed when someone’s shoulder bumps into yours at the train station, or when your parents don't allow you something that might be fun and is new to you because of prejudice. It might be a miscommunication verbal, physical, mental or through eye contact. It might not seem that bad but sometimes many little things add up to one huge problem.
There is so much more that bothers me these days but I don't want to bore you with a whole novel.

When the Goddess of Harvest mourned for her lost daughter, the Earth withered.

Persephone

One day Aphrodite the goddess of Love and Beauty, was sitting on a mountainside playing with her son Eros when she saw Hades ride around with his Black Horses and she told her son, “Show that Black Monarch what it is to feel love.” So Eros shot his sharpest arrow at Hades and it went right through his heart.
Hades has never been in love however now he felt warmth in his veins and he went on till he came into a blossoming valley where the daughter of Demeter the goddess of Harvest was picking flowers. She was Persephone, and as Hades saw her, immediately he fell in love and was never to stop loving her. So with one sweep of his arm he picked her up and rode away with his black horses.
She screamed for her mother, she screamed for help but Hades Horses were too fast. They were out of sight at the River Cayne. Persephone tried to run, she tried to wiggle herself out of Hades strong grip but she was not able to free herself. Then he struck the earth with his trident and the earth swallowed them.
Demeter looked all over the world for Persephone, she was nowhere to be found then she arrived at Sicily at the River Cayne where Hades had taken her to the Underworld, there was a river nymph which had seen the whole happening but she was so scared of Hades that she kept silent. Demeter felt so miserable and angry that she decided not to give the earth any favors anymore she made all crops fail and for one year so many humans died of starvation.
Then one day Zeus said, “This cannot go on, I have to intervene.” He sent all gods and goddesses to plead with Demeter but she had the same answer for all which was: “Not until I see my daughter shall the earth bear fruit again.”
Zeus knew very well where Persephone was but he did not want to take his brothers only joy from him, but he now had to. He told Hermes to go to the Underworld and bid Hades to release his bride again. Hermes went to the underworld, to the Dim Palace of Hades and to where Hades had his thrown, Persephone beside him pale and joyless. When Persephone heard Hermes message she smiled and her face was filled with joy. However she could not leave the underworld anymore because she had sucked sweet pulp from four seeds of a pomegranate. However when she and Hermes arrived at the Temple of Demeter all her bad memories turned into Happy Tellings.
Actually Persephone would not have been allowed to leave the underworld ever again but Zeus had arranged that she stay for four months in every year. It is to this day, that Persephone has to spend those four gloomy months in the underworld and always then Demeter is sad and does not allow any harvest to mankind in that period of the year.

When Persephone arrives in the underworld she has no expression, she feels cold. She is devastated that Hades is keeping her next to his thrown. However she has no choice she must eat but due to that she is obliged to stay in Hades World.
Hades->Hades falls in love with Persephone.
Demeter-> Demeter is sad and mad so she stops all harvest for the humans.
The three children of Chronus, they all want the sky.
Persephone is sad and scared to go to the underworld with Hades.
This myth explains the four seasons. During summer and winter Demeter is unhappy because Persephone has to live in the Underworld.

Nyambi The Creator

In the beginning Nyambi lived on earth with his wife, and his doughter, which he both created. For he was god he had to created all animals, fishes and birds and he did. However one thing he made diffrent was man.

The first man's name was Kamonu. This man copied all that nyambi did. He followed him all over and did all that Nyambi did. Man Copies god, that is what happens. One day Nyambi forged Iron tools, Kamonu forged iron tools as well, but kamonu thought that these sharp utensils were weapons. That is where it started, kamonu went out to kill with these weapons, and he killed and killed.

So Nyambi thought it was enough, he had to flee, kamonu was bothering him to much. So nyambi flead over the river, and kamonu came over with a raft. So nyambi and his family went up on the highest mountain, after two years kamonu reached them on the top. So Nyambi went to a seer, he said "You have to find spider he'll show you where to go, after you have to take out his eyes." So Nyambi went to spider and spider made a thread from earth all the way up to heaven. Nyambi stabbed out the spiders eyes so no one could find him and he and his family went up the thread up to heaven.

kamonu tried to get up to heaven. He and man built a huge pile with loggs and dirt and it almost reached heaven but then it fell together and Kamonu gave up. But now at every sunrise he greats nyambi. "There rises Nyambi, Our god has come!"

How does Mark Haddon use to the elements of voice to create a unique character?

Mark Haddon creates a unique character, Christophe, by making the character not able to understand all that is being told to him. He has almost no clarity about social aspects such as just hitting people because he feels like it. As in the book, “The Policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me on to my feet. I didn’t like him touching me like this. And this is when I hit him.” Pg8-9 The Problem of this character is that for him the normal does not seem normal and this makes him loose himself, “I rolled back onto the lawn and pressed my forehead to the ground again and made the noise father calls groaning.” Pg8-9

Mark Haddon also creates a unique character by giving the speaking people different vocabularies. As by Christophe he gives him a very small vocabulary to make him use the same words in different ways all the time. This creates a slight atmosphere of misunderstanding of other characters behaviors. Christophe mostly speaks very simple but when he speaks about maths or sciences he gets a complete different voice to let this aspect of him stick out more than the rest he talks about, this is to prove his intelligence in one way but make him slow minded in other areas, “And I thought about this and said ‘215,864’. Because it was a really easy sum because you just multiply 864 x 1,0000 and which is 864,000. Then you divide by 4 and that’s 216,000 and that’s 259 x 864.”