Nathalie Rohling
Engl 101
Andrea Johnson
1 November 2007
Poems usually don't make very much sense to me. I have to really analyze them and even after that, the images and thoughts that I create in my mind from the poems are not very accurate. Poems are very complex and are open for interpretation but some kind of understanding of the topic is needed by the reader. It is usually hard for me to read a poem and understand anything that is going on in it though. This is a major problem when reading poems, however, when TV shows like the Simpsons do a satire of the famous poem "The Raven," I can understand the poem because of the imagery used by the show. I really like the way that they did this so I tried to rewrite one of the poems that we had to read in English class, "A Smart Cookie." I hope that I can so as good of a job as the Simpsons without being able to use a visual aid.
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I could have been someone you know; famous, everyone could have known ME, I could have signed autographs, and gone to famous restaurants. My mother rants on as she does every morning. She has lived in the same place her life but knows nothing of the normal routine of things. She can speak different languages, she can sing opera, she can dance, she can tell me what to do, but she doesn't even know how to ride the subway. The same subway that has been there her whole life, her whole life of living in the city. I have to hold her, comfort her as we wait for the subway to arrive.
She used to draw me complex, beautiful pictures all of the time. Now she only draws with a simple needle and thread. Someday she would like to go to the ballet. Someday she would like to see a play. Someday she would like to go here, go there. It is always about someday with her. She can merely borrow an old opera record from the library and sing along. Someday she would like to go to the opera, someday.
Today, she sings as Madame Butterfly, while cooking me oatmeal, until she sighs and points the wooden spoon at me yet another time. I could have been someone, you know; famous, everyone could have known ME, I could have signed autographs, and gone to famous restaurants. Hun, please go to school, she pleaded with me. Study hard. Madame Butterfly is a fool, don't be her. She went back to stirring my oatmeal. Perhaps thinking more of Madame Butterfly. Look at my friends, all of them. Izaura whose husband has left her and Yolanda who husband has died on her. Shaking her head back and forth, she sighs again. Take care of your own.
She yet again blurted out another phrase; shame is bad you know. It keeps you down. I quit school out of shame, shame of my clothes. Though I had no nice clothes I had brains I did.
I could have been someone you know; famous, everyone could have known ME, I could have signed autographs, and gone to famous restaurants. Yup, I was one smart cookie then.
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I kept a lot of the same ideas as the original poem and even some of the same lines but I think that the tone may have changed a little. As I rewrote this poem, I really analysed the lines that were in the original copy. I think that this activity has really helped me understand the poem more and what the author was trying to portray to his readers. I really liked going back and trying to focus on the meaning and interpretation of the poem.
Everyone in the class may not have as hard of a time understand poems as me, but I think that this assignment can help everyone out a little. Any further understanding of poems can always help the reader out. Especially when poems can have so may different meanings behind one idea. This activity was a lot of fun and I think that it can benefit the whole class.
Engl 101
Andrea Johnson
1 November 2007
Poems usually don't make very much sense to me. I have to really analyze them and even after that, the images and thoughts that I create in my mind from the poems are not very accurate. Poems are very complex and are open for interpretation but some kind of understanding of the topic is needed by the reader. It is usually hard for me to read a poem and understand anything that is going on in it though. This is a major problem when reading poems, however, when TV shows like the Simpsons do a satire of the famous poem "The Raven," I can understand the poem because of the imagery used by the show. I really like the way that they did this so I tried to rewrite one of the poems that we had to read in English class, "A Smart Cookie." I hope that I can so as good of a job as the Simpsons without being able to use a visual aid.
-----
I could have been someone you know; famous, everyone could have known ME, I could have signed autographs, and gone to famous restaurants. My mother rants on as she does every morning. She has lived in the same place her life but knows nothing of the normal routine of things. She can speak different languages, she can sing opera, she can dance, she can tell me what to do, but she doesn't even know how to ride the subway. The same subway that has been there her whole life, her whole life of living in the city. I have to hold her, comfort her as we wait for the subway to arrive.
She used to draw me complex, beautiful pictures all of the time. Now she only draws with a simple needle and thread. Someday she would like to go to the ballet. Someday she would like to see a play. Someday she would like to go here, go there. It is always about someday with her. She can merely borrow an old opera record from the library and sing along. Someday she would like to go to the opera, someday.
Today, she sings as Madame Butterfly, while cooking me oatmeal, until she sighs and points the wooden spoon at me yet another time. I could have been someone, you know; famous, everyone could have known ME, I could have signed autographs, and gone to famous restaurants. Hun, please go to school, she pleaded with me. Study hard. Madame Butterfly is a fool, don't be her. She went back to stirring my oatmeal. Perhaps thinking more of Madame Butterfly. Look at my friends, all of them. Izaura whose husband has left her and Yolanda who husband has died on her. Shaking her head back and forth, she sighs again. Take care of your own.
She yet again blurted out another phrase; shame is bad you know. It keeps you down. I quit school out of shame, shame of my clothes. Though I had no nice clothes I had brains I did.
I could have been someone you know; famous, everyone could have known ME, I could have signed autographs, and gone to famous restaurants. Yup, I was one smart cookie then.
----
I kept a lot of the same ideas as the original poem and even some of the same lines but I think that the tone may have changed a little. As I rewrote this poem, I really analysed the lines that were in the original copy. I think that this activity has really helped me understand the poem more and what the author was trying to portray to his readers. I really liked going back and trying to focus on the meaning and interpretation of the poem.
Everyone in the class may not have as hard of a time understand poems as me, but I think that this assignment can help everyone out a little. Any further understanding of poems can always help the reader out. Especially when poems can have so may different meanings behind one idea. This activity was a lot of fun and I think that it can benefit the whole class.
1 comment:
Nice parody, Nathalie. The lines you added flow into Cisneros's words really well.
I like how your additions have slightly changed the vignette, because the speaker feels more powerful with the repeated "ME."
I'm glad this exercise helped you understand this story better. Reading, re-reading, and figuring out how to re-present someone else's words requires understanding. Good job with this exercise.
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