Wednesday, April 29, 2009

My Entire Essay on the theme of "Happiness"

Amita Bose
English 8
Mr. Salsich
April 29, 2009

A Shifting Sun:
An Essay about the theme of “Happiness”

Sometimes the bright, golden sun is obscured by a thick cover of dreary, grey clouds. The sun disappears behind these clouds without warning, and leaves us cold and desolate, longing for its warmth and comfort. But we can seek solace in the fact that eventually these clouds while float away, and our sun will shine upon us once more. In the poem “Happiness” by Jane Kenyon, Kenyon describes how we must let happiness go and trust that it shall eventually find us again, just as we must let the sun go, trusting that it will return.
TS Artfully hidden among the beautiful phrases and graceful truths of Jane Kenyon’s poem “Happiness”, the message that happiness shall return, lives. SD Kenyon likens happiness to the prodigal’s son, who returned home after “[squandering] a fortune away”. CM The prodigal’s son left his birth place to see the world and returned a man with little money, but he gained wisdom during his travels. CM Likewise, happiness shall go as it pleases, but we must realize that it will always return. CM The comings and goings of happiness teach us to appreciate the feeling of bliss while it graces us with its presence, just as the prodigal’s son learned about the world when he stepped beyond the walls of his home. SD Also, happiness will “[inquire] at every door until he finds you asleep . . . as you often are during . . . your despair”. CM We need not seek happiness, for if we try to, we will find that it is ever elusive. CM We must trust that happiness will eventually find us, even during our darkest hour. SD This message proved true when my grandfather passed away when I was seven years old. CM The grief was stunning, and I couldn’t seem to sense anything but the crushing feeling of sorrow. CM I remember that I ran to the window, wildly hoping that I would see my grandfather’s soul floating among the snow laden branches, but as I stared out the window, I saw two small children tumbling about in a snow drift. CM I could faintly hear their shouts of laughter and joy, and as I stood there, feeling my excruciating sorrow, I was suddenly touched by the children’s happiness. CM They were floating in their own world of pure bliss, and knowing that they were so happy raised my spirits as well. CS Happiness shall come and go as it pleases, but we must put our faith in the fact that it shall always return, no matter who we are, where we are, or what our lives have brought us.
The sun disappears behind an impenetrable wall of clouds; happiness leaves our minds, bodies, and souls. The sun breaks through the wall to shine once more; happiness searches high and low until it finds us. The sun sheds it light onto every person and things on this earth, just as happiness is experiences by every person and thing. Whether you are a little boy playing in a driveway with your trucks, an old woman watching the world, or the pencil on a student’s desk, you shall now what it is like to have happiness, to lose happiness, and to have happiness find you again.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The Body Paragraph of my Essay about "Happiness"

Amita Bose
English 8
Mr. Salsich
April 28, 2009
TS Artfully hidden among the beautiful phrases and graceful truths of Jane Kenyon’s poem “Happiness”, the message that happiness shall return, lives. SD Kenyon likens happiness to the prodigal’s son, who returned home after “[squandering] a fortune away”. CM The prodigal’s son left his birth place to see the world and returned a man with little money, but he gained wisdom during his travels. CM Likewise, happiness shall go as it pleases, but we must realize that it will always return. CM The comings and goings of happiness teach us to appreciate the feeling of bliss while it graces us with its presence, just as the prodigal’s son learned about the world when he stepped beyond the walls of his home. SD Also, happiness will “[inquire] at every door until he finds you asleep . . . as you often are during . . . your despair”. CM We need not seek happiness, for if we try to, we will find that it is ever elusive. CM We must trust that happiness will eventually find us, even during our darkest hour. SD This message proved true when my grandfather passed away when I was seven years old. CM The grief was stunning, and I couldn’t seem to sense anything but the crushing feeling of sorrow. CM I remember that I ran to the window, wildly hoping that I would see my grandfather’s soul floating among the snow laden branches, but as I stared out the window, I saw two small children tumbling about in a snow drift. CM I could faintly hear their shouts of laughter and joy, and as I stood there, feeling my excruciating sorrow, I was suddenly touched by the children’s happiness. CM They were floating in their own world of pure bliss, and knowing that they were so happy raised my spirits as well. CS Happiness shall come and go as it pleases, but we must put our faith in the fact that it shall always return, no matter who we are, where we are, or what our lives have brought us.

The Body Paragraph of my Essay about "Happiness"

Amita Bose
English 8
Mr. Salsich
April 28, 2009
TS Artfully hidden among the beautiful phrases and graceful truths of Jane Kenyon’s poem “Happiness”, the message that happiness shall return, lives. SD Kenyon likens happiness to the prodigal’s son, who returned home after “[squandering] a fortune away”. CM The prodigal’s son left his birth place to see the world and returned a man with little money, but he gained wisdom during his travels. CM Likewise, happiness shall go as it pleases, but we must realize that it will always return. CM The comings and goings of happiness teach us to appreciate the feeling of bliss while it graces us with its presence, just as the prodigal’s son learned about the world when he stepped beyond the walls of his home. SD Also, happiness will “[inquire] at every door until he finds you asleep . . . as you often are during . . . your despair”. CM We need not seek happiness, for if we try to, we will find that it is ever elusive. CM We must trust that happiness will eventually find us, even during our darkest hour. SD This message proved true when my grandfather passed away when I was seven years old. CM The grief was stunning, and I couldn’t seem to sense anything but the crushing feeling of sorrow. CM I remember that I ran to the window, wildly hoping that I would see my grandfather’s soul floating among the snow laden branches, but as I stared out the window, I saw two small children tumbling about in a snow drift. CM I could faintly hear their shouts of laughter and joy, and as I stood there, feeling my excruciating sorrow, I was suddenly touched by the children’s happiness. CM They were floating in their own world of pure bliss, and knowing that they were so happy raised my spirits as well. CS Happiness shall come and go as it pleases, but we must put our faith in the fact that it shall always return, no matter who we are, where we are, or what our lives have brought us.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

A Poem about the Vietnam War Memorial

A Poem Written after Visiting the Vietnam War Memorial (April 16, 2009)
See the names, wonder what the people were like.
Were they young and married?
Or old and alone?
Did they have a house full of brothers and sisters?
Or did they grow up in an empty room?
You see the names and try to make faces
Black hair, green eyes, blonde hair, brown eyes, red hair, blue eyes, brown hair, hazel eyes
Which combination?
Tall or short?
Lean or muscular?
See the names, imagine the people.

A Poem about the Vietnam War Memorial

A Poem Written after Visiting the Vietnam War Memorial (April 16, 2009)
Stand and see the names,
silver on black,
they seem to sparkle,
seem to call to you.
Stand and touch the names,
bumpy, smooth, bumpy, smooth.
So many names in each row;
row by row they spill down the wall.
The black slabs stretch on forever, into the bright sky and beyond.
Stand and hear the names,
hear them laugh, cry, shout.
Hear the names fight for you, die for you.
Sense the names.
And let them come alive.

A Poem about the National Mall

A Poem Written on the National Mall (April 16, 2009)
The Washington Monument and the Capitol stand tall at either end,
the clouds swirl by in the blue, blue sky,
and the carousel thinkers along.
The pigeons peck at the grey walkways,
the tourists with cameras click away,
And the wind blows gently through the green, green grass.
The cherry blossoms open to reveal pink bursts
The flag stands proud and ripples in the breeze,
and I feel at peace.

Haiku on the Holocaust

Haiku after the Holocaust Museum (April 15, 2009)
the unthinkable
too many innocent souls
the bird still flies though

Collaboration Poem with Maddie Denison

Collaboration Poem (April 15, 2009)
long, long bus ride,
sitting, sipping Starbucks,
listening to hundreds of songs,
going "around the bend" of the road,
all smushed together in the back of the bus,
laughing, smiling, and stories that are sputtered through the giggles,
long, long, long bus ride!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Paragraph about "Expostulation and Reply"

Amita Bose
Mr. Salsich
English 8
April 8, 2009

No Matter What:
A Paragraph about the Theme of “Expostulation and Reply”
TS When we are sitting in a classroom, when we are playing outdoors, or when we are reading magazines, we are always learning essential facts and skills. SD In the poem “Expostulation and Reply” by William Wordsworth, it is stated that “we can feed [our minds] in a wise passiveness”. CM This means that we can learn by sitting and observing, and we do not always have to actively partake in an activity to learn. CM Sitting back allows us to perceive the world around us through different eyes, and we can discover a new dimension to our world if we study it from afar. SD Further more, in a world of “things forever speaking”, we need not look far to find knowledge. CM Our surroundings are always teaching us, whether we realize it or not. CM Our surroundings are always laying out facts for us to stumble upon, so we have no need to endure arduous journeys to gain knowledge. SD Finally, if we study our world, we will find things that cannot be put into words, things that cannot be recorded in books. CM Books are written to teach us solid facts, but some parts of this world cannot be defined by words or phrases. CM A person cannot describe the magic of a cool stream running peacefully through a grassy field while butterflies flit overhead. CM A person cannot capture the amazement of watching the sky turn from the dark of a starless night to the light of a breaking dawn. CM For these things, we must watch our world and accept the knowledge that rushes towards us from every direction. CS We, the people on this earth, are learning through every breath and step we take, through every glance we cast, and through everything we read and touch. CS We are always learning, whether we realize it or not.