Blog 5 Assignment

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Blog Assignment

“Both the Holocaust and 9/11 were events that demanded retellings…The accepted versions didn’t make sense for me. I always write out of a need to read something, rather than a need to write something. With 9/11, in particular, I needed to read something that wasn’t politicized or commercialized, something with no message, something human.” – Jonathan Safran Foer

Explanation of the assignment:

·         Select a meaningful passage (at least one sentence) from the novel, and create a visual illustration which demonstrates the meaning or essence of the selected passage.

·         Part of your evaluation is based on your selection of an appropriate and significant passage.

·         Explain your visual illustration in 250-400 words.

Requirements for the assignment:

·         The visual may be an original drawing or photography.  You should be to scan the document, though, if the original is not digital.

·         The illustration must include the quote.  Your 250-word explanation must follow the quoted passage.

·         Everything must be posted on our blog by Sunday, March 13, by midnight. 

Blog 4 GDP

I did the response to Lauren Epperson’s Found Poem blog; I liked hers the most because it was about the after math of the Pentagon. The story offered a different perspective than most. I also really like Lauren’s story, if I am telling the truth, because it has a happy ending. So many stories ended with depressing endings. September 11^th was such a sad day that it is nice to hear someone writing about how they found their spouse.

Her poem starts off describing their day; the husband is caring for their child while watching cartoons. This makes me smile because I could imagine this child being like me or any other child, some kid staying at home that day watching the early cartoons. Even the first line seems to reflect what everyone else thought that day; September 11^th would be no different from any other day.

Then the poem progresses into caustic and jarring fragments, much like day. The fragments seem like racing thoughts, some like broken memories. Almost like the husband was later piecing together the events after the attacks. His mind was racing but trying to focus on what was important, his wife. His most distinct memory that bothered me was him being able to smell the pentagon. I have smelt burning wood before but I guess this seems different to me somehow. Maybe knowing that the pentagon was deliberately destroyed for a hateful reason makes the smell a lot worse.

The end of the poem reminded me of the days after the tragedy. Hearing about the various people arguing about whether or not America deserved the attacks or if it was Bush’s fault was everywhere, one could not escape the conspiracy theories or arguments. The repeating images seemed to terrorize the survivors and make the rest of us numb to the events.

The last line of the poem is “America would still be free.” I like to think that the husband said this line as an opinion in response to the people he overheard arguing but I think he included this for reasons other than that. The line kind of has this double meaning. Not only could this be the patriotism felt throughout the country after September 11^th but the line could also be taken as the husband trying to remain grounded. September 11^th changed so much in America and the world that it would never be the same. The ramifications of the attacks would drastically affect people decades after. “America would still be free” is almost a testament to the few things that would remain the same. A comforting thought that might have eased some people’s minds when it seemed like the world was falling. But maybe this is the sentimentalist in me that hope the husband just wanted to comfort himself, his fellow citizens and his wife, but I like to think he really wanted to remind himself that tomorrow his freedoms would still be there. The last meaning that can be found in the sentence is that America would not be destroyed over this and though the twin towers are destroyed America isn’t.

reponse to Found Poem

The poem, “A Little Numb” really stuck out to me as I read it. I feel like this didn’t have to be just about someone who was trying to escape the towers before they collapsed. So many people felt the same way after the attacks, a little numb. Just after the attacks there were a lot of people that didn’t quite feel for anyone else around the world, just other Americans. A specific line that was repeated many times throughout this poem really stuck to me, “Keep moving.” In seems like the meaning of the term changes throughout the poem. At first it’s kind of like saying that you just have to keep moving forward so you can get through the day. It’s just another day and the more you keep moving the faster the day is over and you can go home. In fact everything just seems like a simple normal day until the planes hit and things change. After they hit “Keep Moving” doesn’t just mean keep moving to get through the day, it means to keep moving or you are going to die. I particularly liked the way that the poem was structured. It wasn’t one full sentence that just kept running on and it told the story in the form of what was going on in someone’s head as it was happening. Even the imagery stood out to me, it was a little disgusting and stomach turning when we see this squashed head with no body, but it makes it so much more real that way. She didn’t sugar coat it and try to make it seem like it wasn’t that bad. It was bad and it was horrific and she stuck to it. I liked the aspect of putting the time of day in there and I don’t know if it was intentional or not but there is no time from 8:44 till 3:08, it’s kind of as if time just disappeared as this great tragedy was happening. I felt as if time was the least important of all things going on at the time. Overall I think this poem was well put together, the story was well planned and the message was clear. Good Job

Blog 4

Out of the poems posted, I chose to respond to "What Made." This poem questions what - what happened, what made them do it, what were they thinking, our fear - what were WE thinking. I like that it questions everything. The imagery creates a sort of chain reaction, starting with the day of 9/11, what people were doing and thinking, both on our side and the terrorists. And then it goes on to question what we are thinking now, what we are doing today, what all those patriotic acts meant then, as opposed to what they mean every anniversary.
The last paragraph questions America's acts of heroism, patriotism, and pride - what they meant. Then at the end: What makes us? I think that's a very profound statement...that this is American, 9/11 is America - all the heroism, all the pride, all the death for something greater, all the fighting for family and country...that is what makes America who we are. Yes, we're selfish and lazy and ugly and fat - but that didn't make a difference on that day. Tragedy hits us hard, but I think that's what really defines us: what we do when tragedies occur.


-LRM

Blog 4 Response to Found Poems

Response to I fell Asleep with the TV on

The thing that I most liked about Lindsey’s poem is the fact that the poem achieves a dream like state. She really made the illusion that the event was unreal like when we have dreams. I have always felt that when hearing the news of September 11th that it was so surreal like the world of our dreams. Like many dreams they are non linear and never really seem to make sense. I felt like Lindsey did this in her poem because it covers the whole day of September 11th but only in moments that stand out in your mind. When I read the poem the first thing that comes to my mind is a person that’s world has just fallen down around because of this tragic event. I can only associate feeling and words such as these it have person ties, someone who worked near the site of the World Trade Center or possibly in the building itself. I draw this conclusion because the poem says “They came to my apartment…. My mother stayed with me… my jaw dropped”.

The poem also talks about how easily the pain can be felt when you are blindsided by a tragic event. In the poem there is a reference. I liked the reference to Pearl Harbor because it is only of the only previous national crisis’s that can come close to comparing to September 11th. It was another example of a direct attack on American soil that turned our world upside down. One of the similarities between Pearl Harbor and September 11th is that it put things in perspective for most Americans it brought things from the dream world to reality. As the poem says” we are all a little American… they also realized… they learned”. Both events reminded people things they had lost or let go of. It restored our American identity. It called the American people to think about what they really are and who they want to be. The only thing that I do not understand why does it always take a big climatic event to change? Why do not want to change before this point? What is the next event when we are going to go through this again? Everything is a cycle.

Lauren Epperson

Response to Gillian's Found Poem

What strikes me the most about Gillian's found poem is the fact that the story reflects about the self and the confusion of who one is. It's interesting to note how the poem begins: "I don't know who Khalilah is." Personally, I was led to think that the writer was simply trying to investigate on the character of another being, however it is much deeper than that; Khalilah is herself. She seems to be searching (and evening questioning) her own belief and religion...possibly even her own being.
After the events of September 11, I shamefully forget how Islam was originally viewed. Was it really considered as "the religion of the Devil" before this tragedy? Was it more accepted?
Aside from the speaker's own feelings about the stance, the physical setup of the poem is also interesting to note. Most of the significant words claim their own line. The found poem also seems to create a flow of speeding down the page. Personally, I get a sense of panic or an overflow of ideas and thoughts. Perhaps this is what is being conveyed. When one further analyses individual lines of the poem, one can notice that most lines can interpret an idea each individually. Words like "difficult", "alone", and "all Muslims" convey their own message. The line "all Muslims" itself connotes a generalization or a stereotyping. Of course, not all Muslims are the same. The nation just seems to now generalize it out of anger toward the specific groups involved.
Another interesting thing to note is the image included. It stands simplistic like a typical family photo on a day trip to the park. Nevertheless, the photo portrays something deeper. To me, it brings to mind many thoughts. One can easily see feelings and emotions. There is also sense of enjoyment and relaxation. The photo brings about a sense of belongingness, humanity, and family.
Though simple and short, this works convicts my perceptions on other religions and discrimination particularly against Muslims over one particular event. We not only degrade the individual, but the family as well.

Read the original found poem by Gillian.

- Karl Abordo

Blog 4

The poem that I enjoyed was “We Pray” by Karl Abordo. His poem is about prayer and how his poem was about a little kid that didn’t know what was going on and his teacher had to explain to him that the other world trade center just got hit and they didn’t know what to do. I liked it because we were like those little kids and didn’t understand what was going on and we needed to have someone to explain us what was going on. The reason why I chose this poem is because of the simple fact that individually we didn’t know what to do and we couldn’t decide on whom to trust and every time we turn around there is something either blowing up or just something was going bad and didn’t know how to handle the situation. But as a whole the only thing we can do is pray about it and ask God to help us in this time of need. Although we have those adults that know what to say and do but at the same time they were more scared than we were. Me personally that’s what I did when I was little it was me and my mom watching the news and at first I was confused about what was going on and my mom told me that the Twin Towers got hit by a plane. It took me a few minutes to really think about what she said and it hit me because my cousin worked in NY and I tried to call her to see if she was ok. Good thing that she was on her way to work and she heard about what was going on and she turned around, that made me extremely happy, but I still prayed for others that lost someone and didn’t know how to cope with it. This poem symbolizes how much 9/11 affects the human mind and how they react during tough and difficult situations.

Blog 4

Branden Stevens 2/11/2011

The poem I chose to analyze was Leah Kouchel’s her poem made me think a lot, and it was quite interesting. Most of the poems I read were eye witness accounts from the average American citizen’s eyes. The fact that Leah’s poem was from the eyes of a Muslim American citizen is what truly got my attention. People tend to forget that although our great nation known as America suffered dearly from the after math of 9/11 we also put a lot of innocent Muslim’s through pain and suffering as well. The moment 9/11 occurred people instantly looked for someone to point the finger of despair at as Leah acknowledged in her poem. Most American citizens don’t understand that the acts of one select group of people should never affect the overall outlook of a ethnicity as a whole. For example the columbine incident, those kids were a group of rogue misunderstood young Caucasian Americans who killed and hurt several people in a school shooting. However, we as Americans are not judged off of that select incident in our history so why is it fair for us to prosecute and exile another race for a similar incident, give or take clearly on a larger scale. Leah’s poem was also incredibly well written I liked her choice of vocabulary it made me visualize how things went for that particular person at that particular point in time. I also thought it was very interesting how she included dialog in her poem, most poems don’t include people talking. Over all as a whole I found Leah’s poem to be quite educating, and eye opening as well however I feel as if her ending was a little stale it left me wanting a tad bit more, but overall as a whole still and amazing poem.

The poem “Firefighters” by Lucas Wheeler was interesting in that certain words were highlighted by the way he ordered his lines. The poem highlighted the firefighters in New York who had immediately responded to the distress calls from the Twin Towers and also to those who had given their lives in the line of duty. The story he picked was obviously showcasing the talents and may have even been written by one of the firefighters from Westchester that had arrived as backup on the scene of devastation. I think it is nice that Lucas chose a piece on firefighters since they put not only their lives on the line to save others, but also put their all into their work even if it meant sacrificing themselves and emotionally crippling their families. One of the things I really liked was how he ended his poem because it placed a great emphasis on September 11^th and also leant itself to leaving the reader with a sense of purpose and tragedy. The spacing of the words in the poem gave it an aura of wistfulness and sorrow with a hint of hope and justice. Even though the poem is short and concise, the reader still receives the full message that Lucas was trying to get across: that all those who died in the September 11^th attacked should be remembered, especially those who were only doing their job as civil servants. I really liked the picture as well since it helped emphasize the importance and meaning that those firefighters who perished held in both their workplace and their families’ hearts. I also liked the fact that it was black and white, since it leant a sort of starkness to the whole image, and helped give the poem greater meaning in its few words. Overall, the reader is left with a sense of duty and honor even in the midst of a tragedy.

Response: What Made

One poem that really caught my attention was “What Made”, by Branden Stevens. The format, each line starting with “what made” was intriguing, and the fact that the entire poem consisted of questions was thought-provoking. This poem doesn’t just describe 9/11, it ponders the events that occurred on September 11 and the results. These are unanswerable questions, questions that people asked in the aftermath of the attacks and are still asking. Some of them don’t seem to need to be answered – for example, the penultimate line “What made this sudden yet apparent sense of American spirit that never existed before?” is questioning the surge of patriotism that swept the country after the attacks. Everyone accepted that the natural thing to do was to rally behind the country and wave the flag, instead of questioning why we should do this and what America did to provoke the attacks. The statement “What made the news rerun the footage repeatedly again as if they were the scenes of a bad car commercial?” reminded me of the media frenzy surrounding 9/11. For weeks, the newspaper and television was full of images of the place crashing into the World Trade Center, the Towers falling, the rubble, bodies. The event almost became a spectacle, something to entertain instead of a tragic event. This line just made me ponder the obsession we have with tragedy – the news is full of kidnappings and murder and horror, even where there isn’t a major even like 9/11. The line “What made our country increase security and make me feel so much safer?” made me ponder not why America increased security, but why it made me feel safer. What, really, has been done to protect us? As the final line says, “What makes us… think it couldn’t happen again?”

Blog 4

I enjoyed reading Briana’s poem. Her poem intrigued me because it described this man’s day at the office on September 11^th and how his day proceeded at first as just a normal day at work where he felt safe and content knowing that he and his family were safe. This was his reality until he heard someone in his office discussing how the World Trade Centers had been attacked. He couldn’t believe it at first and then rushed to his office to find on the internet that this terrible tragedy was true. This feeling of seeing this event happen but having it not really sink in and become a reality like this man experienced on this day, was an experience felt by most, if not all, Americans on this day. We were shocked to think that such a disaster like this could happen and happen out of the blue.

I really enjoyed reading Briana’s poem because it brings attention to the fact that this average American man was like so many Americans on this day. We couldn’t believe that it was true and when the reality of this event actually sunk down into our heads and we processed the information, we were scared to death. We ran to make sure that our families and everyone that we cared about was alright and safe. We speed dialed like crazy, sent e-mails, and scurried about frantic and in hysteria to make sure that everyone that we cared for was safe and sound and hadn’t been a part of this tragedy. But once we calmed down and figured out that everyone we cared for was okay or not okay, we came to the realization that things in America would never be the same after this day. We wouldn’t be so nieve to think that because we are a great superpower that no one will challenge us and we will always be safe because we trust in our government and our systems of belief. We believe that we will be protected from any radical suicide bombers or any terrorist. We were wrong. We were very very wrong. This poem expresses how we felt on this day and how we couldn’t really come to terms with what had actually happened until the day was over or much later on.

Blog 4

For my blog 4, I chose Brandon Stevens' poem to analyze. I really like how he starts off each question with "What Made...". Also, it really stuck out to me that he generalized the questions in the beginning, and gradually led them up to specifically describe 9/11. It creates a sense of mystery in what he is talking about and makes it way more dramatic. Using "What made..." in every question make you want to know what actually made those things or feelings happen, even though you already know. What really stuck out to me was the ending though. When he says "What makes us... think it couldn't happen again?" The Ellipsis creates a pause while reading which makes the reader believe the author is trying to convey the idea of being very sad and emotional. I really liked this poem the most and this is why I chose to analyze it.

Blog 4 - Response to "A Little Numb"

I love the way this poem was structured; the short, concise lines kept me reading, wanting to know what happened. The line that really struck me the most was the one that said " "don't look up" / (don't look back)." I don't know why this one line stood out to me so much, but to me it just really conveyed what a horrible reality it must have been for the people present during this event. I also liked the repetition of the line "keep moving" even before the towers were hit because that thought seemed to remain with the narrator the entire time. It started out as him just trying to get through the work day and quickly evolved into him trying to escape and survive. This one thought is just a basic human instinct; whatever else may happen, you just always have to tell yourself to keep moving and not to look back. I was really impressed with how this poem was put together, and I thought it was really effective with the use of time stamps. It really helps the reader know exactly when each thing is happening during the narrator's day.

Blog 4

I really loved Brittany Clark's poem, "A Little Numb." The poem goes chronologically through a World Trade Center worker's day on September 11. It starts out early in the morning with this man sipping on coffee and getting things ready for the day. It moves on to him going to a meeting that was interrupted by a loud "boom." Although he wasn't aware if this was some type of earthquake or not, everyone evacuated the building. As everyone was exiting down the stairs, Brittany posted the time moving forward.

I really liked how Brittany wrote this because it gives you a great concept on how fast everything happened. At 8:44, Brittany says the businessmen were all evacuated, and at 3 they are in a different city, and the buildings they were just standing in were collapsed forever. Brittany does an excellent job adding in fine details, as well. Brittany states "lines of fire fighters fully outfitted extra equipment...walk with purpose (keep moving)." In just a few words Brittany gives the reader a great image of what is happening with this evacuation.

The poem's ending gets very graphic when Brittany writes that the man seeing a large puddle of "something," which was blood. The blood was near a human head that was detached from it's lost body. Brittany says that the man saw the head "squashed on impact." This story she retrieved this from is really amazing. As I read this poem, I was waiting for this man to be killed, but he makes it out alive. It makes you wonder, however, if he wished he hadn't after the scarring experience. Brittany's poem is really awesome, she did a great job!

BLOG 3

What Made.

What made me blemish my attendance record that day by missing school?

What made me so physically and mentally exhausted that could have kept me asleep that day till 6:30

What made me wonder so aimlessly into the living room of my ranch style house?

What made my father ask me to bless him among the couch with my presence?

What made the news rerun the footage repeatedly again as if they were the scenes of a bad car commercial?

What made me so absorbed into the news my eyes were fixated as if they were made of glass?

What made September 11, 2001 such a day to remember in American History we would add it to the very textbooks I had avoided reading in school?

What made those men hi-jack a plane simply to throw away their lives as well as many other innocent civilians?

What made a Bowing 767-223ER airplane crash into the World Trade Center?

What made those people leap from a window accepting death as their only fate and life as a thing of the past?

What made me so terrified?

What made those men and women risk there life save other men and women they had never met before?

What made ever lasting memories so deep in my cerebellum that a laser couldn’t even remove them?

What made my family find so proud to be a righteous, law abiding, patriotic, AMERICAN citizen?

What made it so urgent for every American house hold to add an American flag to their décor?

What made our country increase security and make me feel so much safer?

What made this sudden yet apparent sense of American spirit that never existed before?

What makes us… think it couldn’t happen again?

Click Here To See The Original Article I Used For My Found Poem.