Poetry journal #1

Modern Edifices by Maria Holod (p. 220 - Imprints 12)

In concrete, in iron,

up the stairs of stone,

between escalators

and elevators

in blinding neon

my world lost its way

Smoky windows,

Smoky sky

for my world.

Artificially cool

air soaked

in metallic smell

spins around my world.

My paper world

my world in machines

my world in digits

my world, my world

At one time

my world was

in the sun

in the sky

in trees and birds

and in human beings.

http://www.nabiarts.com/06/rochegova/citylife.jpg
this is a picture for her world as it is now and the next picture is for her old world.
http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/n/images/nature_durer_largeturf_lg.jpg

The peom "Modern Edifices" by Maria Holod is about the change of the world in relation to technology.I chose this poem because it is related to our century and makes us think about all the things that are changing. We sometimes have the feeling that we can't live without cell phones or computer, but there were times that people lived without it and they didn't miss anything. They didn't know all the technology and so they didn't need it. The poem makes me think of my childhood. All the technology as we know it today just developped. The PC's as we know them today in every household just came a couple years ago. This is the same way with cell phones. Nobody even knew what a cell phone is exactly, and today, everybody has one. As soon as I forget my cell phone at home I feel like I lost something. I never know what time it is or what time I am going to meet somebody. It feels like I lost a friend. Years ago, the people had to be better organised, because they couldn't just call somebody and ask where he is. Today people take the car or the elevator whereever they are going instead of taking the bike or the stairs.

The poem is a contrast itself. The speaker starts talking about her world today and then she remembers how it was before all the technology came and changed everything. Her world today is smoky, hectic and bright. Her world before this "new world" on the other hand was fresh, clean, and pure. The new world is full of "escalators and elevators" ,the old world was just the "sun", "sky"and "human beings".The new world also has "smoky windows and smoky sky", the old world has "trees and birds". All the words and images are in contrast to each other, the same as the two worlds that the speaker describes.

She also has a lot of repetition in her peom. She keeps on saying "in my world" to show her special way of view.

The girl with a baby

The Novel “The girl with a baby” by Sylvia Olsen is about a 14-year-old girl that is pregnant and gives birth to her baby. Jane, the main character is very interesting. Her life changes from on day to another completely, but she can’t do anything against it. She has to deal with her new situation. Considering Jane is only 14 years old, she is responsible, incredibly strong willed and confident.

The birth of Jane’s daughter Destiny brings a big change in her life and now she has to be responsible for more than just herself, “[She has] to be Destiny’s mother…” (p. 93).
Everything that she is doing is not just affecting herself; it is also affecting her child.
She cannot go to parties and hang out with friends all the time; she has to be there for her baby. She has to feed and play with the baby and change its diapers whenever needed.
Nevertheless, her child is not the only thing she has to take care of. After Jane’s mother died, she had to take over the role of her mum. She has to take care of her dad and also of her two brothers which are the opposite of her, undependable and always in trouble.

As well as being responsible, Jane is strong willed. She WANTS to be a good mother for her child; she WANTS to be there for the rest of her family and she ALSO WANTS the leading role in a school play. Jane is working very hard for all of these things and she does not want to give up on anything.Her grandmother supports her a lot by telling her how strong Jane’s mother and great-grandmother were. “I [Jane] am going to audition for the part of Sandy. I’m going to put my name on the list, first choice Sandy, second choice Frenchy…” (p. 110).
This quote shows good how resolute and determined she is. She wants to try as hard as she can to get the leading role in the play, no matter what is going to happen. Even after her life went into a totally different direction as she planned, she still wants to make the best out of it and she is not going to give up.

Her dream to play the leading role in the school play also shows that she is very confident. As soon as she is on stage every single feeling of fear just disappears. She is only singing and everything around her seems not to exist.
“…that is going to be too bad for her, because I know who’s going to get the leading role.” (p. 113) shows once more her confidence about what she is doing.
Especially in those conversations with Vanessa, an extremely snobbish girl, Jane always knows how to act without getting herself down. Even if Vanessa makes her feel like she has not the tiniest chance, she either ignores her or she shows her the opposite.

Jane’s character is completely different than a stereotypical character of a 14-year-old girl. She is a fulltime mother and student simultaneously. Whenever one thing is done, another one is already waiting. Only her strength and responsibility help her, and without her confidence she would never have got the leading role in the play.

On the Bright Side, I'm now the Girlfriend of a Sex God

My novel " On the Bright Side, I'm now the Girlfriend of a Sex God" is about a 14- year old girl that fell in love with a 17-year old "Sex God". The boy has a problem with the big difference of age and dumbs the girl, that is now terribly unhappy. The book is written in a diary form and shows the girls life. The problems in her family, the life with her friends and all the unavailing tries to get the love of her life back. Her life is very stereotypical for her age. She feels like nobody likes her and her whole life is a tragedy.
I really liked this book, because it was relaxing to read and it reminded me on my situation when I was in her age. It happend exactly the same thing as in the book, and I felt misunderstood. Everything was meaningless and I just felt like my life was ruined. I could never imagine to feel better some day. But now I know that it is just the way that you feel for a while and then you get over it and go on with your life. I thought the book was very funny, because even if the girl was in a bad mood, she could still be sarcastic and laugh about herself.
She made everything worse than it actually was. She felt like nobody cared about her and everybody was just interested in their own lifes, but it was actually her that was just thinking of her own good.
I liked the perspective that the story was told from. The diary form showed all the girl's feelings and I felt like I am the person that is experiencing everything. The girl is a round character.
It was also funny to see how often she actually wrote in the diary and how her thoughts were floating in her head ( " 2:05 a.m. ...." and "2:05 and 30 secs...." ).
She changed her opinion on things very quickly sometimes and you can see all these thoughts in a funny way all the way through the story ( "1:06 a.m. - Oh I love him, I love him." "1:10 a.m. - I hate him,....").