Poetry Chapbook

First Poem

Sunflowers Long, stretching petals holding up strong. Few droopy flowers closing from the outside But they're all still flowers Sunflowers Aging through life Turning bright yellow to dark shades of orange and brown Happy at first but getting sorrow Hanging on Slipping out of life

Reflection: To write my poem, I used the Sunflower painting by Vincent Van Gogh to inspire me. I used mainly enjambment line breaks to slow down the beat of the poem and to emphasize parts such as the ending.

Second Poem

Collection of Haikus Still water             mountains in the back Ready for a swim Cable cars in the air             going in the mountains Get me off! Perched on wood             looking in the water Hunting its prey It's bright outside             glistening water The sun's not out Benches waiting to be sat on             trees waiting to be climbed Where is everyone?

Reflection: To write my haikus, I read traditional Japanese haikus and based it off of them. They were mostly about nature, so I looked at pictures of animals and outdoor settings to inspire me. To also emulate a Japanese haiku, I tried making surprise endings such as a question.

Sonnet:

Life of a Lonely Girl She lived a life full of sorrow and pain Running away into a hole of lies They beat her 'til she was buried in shame They took over her life until she died And when she lived she never showed a smile Telling lies to everyone in her way Keeping it to herself was just her style But this made everyone else feel betrayed Depressed, sad, and lonely is all she felt Having no one to talk to made it worse Regretting not asking people for help So she feels like her life was just a curse The lonely girl who told lies is now gone Except her tragic story still lives on

Reflection: To write my sonnet, I analyzed the Shakespearean structured sonnet, “Another Sonnet for Stephan” and used it as a mentor poem. My sonnet follows a traditional Shakespearean sonnet with 10 syllables per line, 14 lines, iambic pentameter, and a rhyme scheme of a,b,a,b,c,d,c,d,e,f,e,f,g,g. I also tried to tell a story throughout the poem.

My Heart Poem

Incident by Countee Cullen Once riding in old Baltimore, Heart-filled, head-filled with glee, I saw a Baltimorean Keep looking straight at me. Now I was eight and very small, And he was no whit bigger, And so I smiled, but he poked out His tongue and called me, “Nigger.” I saw the whole of Baltimore, From May until December; Of all the things that happened there, That’s all that I remember.

My Inspired Poem: Monster Now I was eight and very small And I was going to sleep Just when I was closing my eyes I remember seeing someone peep I called my mom and yelled "There's a monster under my bed!" But my mom just laughed "Silly you there's nothing there," she said One year later, I moved away I got a new bed. But I know I wasn't the only one that lay.

Reflection: I tried to use the same structure as Cullen did so I used the same stanza size, perspective, and rhyme scheme. I also used an allusion to the poem by using one of the lines to inspire me and start off my poem. Lastly, I wanted to imitate the central idea that memories from your childhood can stay in your life, so I used the monster part to mimic Cullen.

Reading Response

            A negative experience can be like a permanent nightmare that we never forget. The poem, "Incident" by Countee Cullen shows the experience of a person, in their perspective, being called a racial slur. At a young age, Cullen was called a "nigger" and for the rest of her life she continues to remember when she was called it in Baltimore, although spending months there.   

            The typical 4-line stanza poem actually tells a story and shows Cullen's experience and reflection. For instance, her 1st stanza introduced the scene and starts the poem off with a  very cheerful and gleeful mood. Cullen writes, "Heart-filled, head-filled with glee," to set a joyful tone for the rest of the poem. However, I could also foreshadow that something would happen later on to develop something a little darker, thus the title "Incident". The poem takes a turn and shows the mood of the poem change. The 2nd stanza was mainly about when someone came up to her and used a racial slur to address her. It threw her off guard and changed the mood of the poem to surprising because it was a dreadful experience that came out of nowhere. The 3rd stanza shows the author reflecting on her experience. Cullen writes, "Of all the things that happened there/ That's all that I remember." To show hope that is one event sticks in her mind. The poem develops the central idea of how bad memories are the ones that stick in your head.

            Some people judge you based on your color or other things such as at first glance. However, they don't know anything about your background or life, so they really can't judge. This happened to the narrator in the poem and it shows what a terrifying experience being called at can be. This reminds me of the recent controversy of catcalling. Some believe that they have a fit to say something if a women is showing something because they have the freedom of speech. However, others feel that catcalling is harassment especially because they are offensive and sexual. Many women change their routes, behavior, transportations, and or clothes so they won't have to deal with it. Being called something because of your race can be very uncomfortable just like being catcalled at. Therefore, I think using racial slurs to talk to a stranger on the street is unjust and puts the victim in a very disturbing position.

            Many may argue that they have the freedom of speech in the thirst Amendment in the Constitution. However, people may have the freedom of speech, but they don't have the right to verbally harass someone on the street. Rather than taking advantage of this right and using it in an offensive and or sexual way, people should give each other compliments. People say catcalling is a compliment, but it is used in a very sexual way. To avoid a negative incident like in the poem "Incident" by Countee Cullen, people should give each other positive incidents.

If I Stay Reading Response

Life is all about making choices and its no different for Mia Hall. Mia of If I Stay by Gayle Forman was living a normal teen life- thinking of college, boyfriends, and family, but this all changes when her and her family get into a car accident during a snowstorm. However, before and after the crash Mia’s life is all about making decisions. Her choices, much like the ones people have to make in the world, are essentially the hardest things that she has to overcome in the story.

Most importantly, before the accident, Mia had to decide whether or not she will attend Juilliard in New York. There seems like an obvious answer, to go to Juilliard, but it wouldn’t be so difficult if leaving to New York means leaving her boyfriend, Adam. This is shown when Forman writes, “Professor Christie had taken that to mean a guaranteed acceptance. I wasn’t so sure it was true. And I wasn’t 100 percent sure that I wanted to be true.” (7). This shows Mia’s thoughts on the choice of music or Adam. Mia wants to get in, but a part of her doesn’t want to get in because that means leaving her friends and family behind, especially Adam. This decision is one of the hardest things that Mia has to go through in her life because she feels as if she will never have someone like Adam again, considering she is a awkward, classical girl and Adam is a popular, rock guy. On the other hand, she’s been playing cello since she was a little girl and music is in her blood. Choosing between Adam and her future is one of the hard things in Mia’s life, but it is no longer a priority after her accident.

Another significant rough decision Mia has to make in her life, is to choose if she wants to wake up or die. To stay alive seems like the obvious answer because life is a gift, but waking up would mean waking up hurt and in critical condition. However, waking up also means she gets to see all her friends and family. Her thoughts are shown when Forman writes, “I don’t know exactly what’s happened to me, and for the first time today, I don’t really care. I shouldn’t have to care. I shouldn’t have to work this hard. I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard.” (174-75). This shows Mia thinking about what to do. It is especially hard to choose because she can die quickly with everyone in her life being hurt, but if she lives they’ll be happy and she’ll be hurt since she has to work and recover back into her life. This is really hard for Mia because everyone’s happiness is depending on her. She has the power to make everyone ecstatic or everyone miserable, and having this power can be very stressful. The book is told in Mia’s perspective and shows a choice people in comas may have to make.

Having to make decisions is apart of everyday life. Having to choose between school far away and friends and family is very common in people’s lives. Many times it happens when deciding colleges. For instance, my sister is deciding what college to go to now, but she still has to think about the distance away from home and if she is willing to leave for a better education. However, choosing to stay alive or die is a decision that is not yet proven to happen. People don’t know what happens when people are in comas until they have actually experienced being in a coma. The decision to stay alive may happen in real life but there is no evidence to prove it, so it is possible that it actually occurs in real life.

All in all, the hardest things shown in Mia’s life are making decisions. First, she has to decide whether or not to go to New York and leave her friends and family behind. The obvious hard thing is the car accident, but the car accident shows Mia’s responsibility of deciding if she wants to stay alive or die. Mia overcoming the choice is essentially harder for her than the car accident because her decisions show Mia’s vulnerable side. When she was alive, besides deciding on college, she seems like she’s got everything under control, but when she has to choose between Juilliard or Adam and staying or dying, she shows her weaker side and it is sort of a wake-up call that she can’t always be in control. So, maybe a hard thing in life, can really just be a blessing in disguise.

Picture Book Author's Note First Draft

Natural phenomenons and lands are protected by the National Park Conservation Association. It is important to conserve these phenomenons because they are rare and non man made creations that we don’t find everyday. However, natural resources should also be conserved because some are not renewable and once they’re gone, they’re gone. Resources, such as trees and mines, are taken advantage of everyday because of high demands and greedy people. Because of the high demand, there is very low availability. As a result, many argue these resources should be conserved and be taken care of. 

A book that introduced this topic to me is The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. I remember reading it as a child and thinking it was just a children story about the Onceler who cut down a bunch of truffula trees to make things. However, after reading it once more at an older age, I realized the lorax represented the voice to save these resources because it not only affects the environment from pollution, but also the wildlife that lives off it around it. From the second read, I knew I wanted to write a story that has a similar message to the one in the lorax. I was passionate about the idea of not exploiting natural resources and instead invest money to build conservatories for them.

Conservation of natural resources is also crucial because it affects the wildlife around them, shown a little in The Lorax. For example, driving on these lands “can be a death sentence for a young reptile or amphibian, trapped in an overheated puddle with no food or refuge.” (Byers 1). When this continually happens, it can lead to the extinction of many animals. If people would pay more attention to nature and resources and less time on their phones, there would be less species dying out everyday. If we conserve these lands, there may be more animals in the world and less disruptions in food chains and the ecosystem. In addition, driving near or at natural resources can disturb plants and the environment. For instance, when the US reopened 40,000 acres of land to off road vehicles near the Imperial Sand Dunes. However, Cart writes, “Environmental groups called the plan the largest desert conservation rollback in a decade, limiting protected space for the threatened Peirson's milk vetch…” (1). This shows that species like the endangered milk vetch can die from vehicles accidentally driving over them. These lands should be blocked off so accidents like these don’t happen. If more money is invested on the conservation of these lands, then there would be less threats to rare species of plants and animals.

Nerd Camp Synthesis Page

Who has the POWER in the text?

However in the end, Gabe realizes he can be himself around Zack because Gabe helps Zack when they see a snake and Zack realizes its okay that Gabe seems like a nerd. Because of situations like this, people come to the conclusion that they don't have to be the typical stereotype and others will just have to learn to accept them for the way they are, even if they are different. In the world, this is very common, especially with unacceptance of the idea of being gay, and it is times like this when people realize it is okay to be themselves and hiding their true life will result worse than if they would’ve said it in the beginning because they were leading others on about their fake self.

New Understandings: Expressing oneself in their own way, whether or not it is what everyone else expects, is the only way to get people to truly accept you for you. Living honest is much better than living in fear.

Argument Essay

Kaitlyn Duong 

Ms.Galang

English 811

December 18, 2014

       Banning Books: Unconstitutional but Worth Breaking

Freedom of speech is expressed in the first Amendment in the Constitution. No freedom of speech is expressed in the act of book censorship. Carrie by Stephen King has been a frequently questioned book since the time it was published. The story about a girl, that performs a horrific act on her whole town with her telekinetic powers, was written about 40 years ago, yet it is still being challenged today.  Banning books threatens our rights in the first amendment. However, when these books contain content that parents may not like their kids reading, they should have the right to prevent their children from reading it since they have custody over their child. Therefore, banning books such as Carrie should be allowed. Although the text includes informative content for teens, middle school students should not have access to it due to its use of sex and explicit language.

        Most importantly, middle schoolers should not have access to the book because it uses sex in a way that doesn’t express its true meaning- love. It uses sex to show rape and a way to distract people. Sex is so commonly shown, that it doesn’t seem like true love. Books like Carrie have to be taken off middle school bookshelves because “The line between sexuality and pornography must be understood as the difference between the exploitation and sex as a natural aspect of life.” (Rich 1). What this evidence suggests is books containing many scenes of sex are turning into pornography and just exploiting it rather than being used as a natural response to love. What this makes clear is that books like Carrie is turning sex into porn, which parents most likely don’t want their children reading. Specifically, a part from Carrie that shows this is when Chris and Billy begin to have sex on a car after Billy didn’t want to talk to Chris. This doesn’t show affection,  in fact it misuses the purpose of sex, supporting the quote above. Its used as a distraction, rather than a natural part of life and a response to love. Overall, it becomes clear middle schoolers should not have access to Carrie due to its misuse of sex.

        Another significant reason Carrie should be banned is because it uses unnecessary, explicit language. There are other ways to express rage, not just swear words. Gurdon stated “The author makes free with language that can’t be reprinted in a newspaper.” (3) about Lauren Myracle’s books. The same goes for Carrie. A lot of the language can be deemed inappropriate by parents. Some may argue its how teenagers speak, so it is fitting in the situation. However, when it is used frequently in the book, it seems like it’s okay to say things like that. It encourages kids to speak like the characters because they have no consequences. In particular, after reading The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, Maycock says “[a] 6-year-old was suspended for calling a classmate ‘poo-poo’ head” (qtd. in DiBlasio 1). This illustrates how language can affect the way readers speak. In Carrie, the characters say things that parents and teachers probably don’t want their kids reading. It influences kids’ language and their lives because they think there would be no consequences if they do the same, but as shown here there are and potential suspension. The language in the book is censored in movies and rated R, so the same should apply for books. Therefore, Carrie should be censored from teens and in middle schools.

        On the other hand, some may say Carrie should be read by teens because it is informative in that it exposes teens to puberty. Books with coming-of-age content can help kids learn about what happens when they grow up. This can help them so they won’t turn out like Carrie, who was bullied for not knowing about puberty. Some people say, “Objectionable the material maybe for some parents, but it’s not grotesque.” (Gurdon 3). The book is appropriate for kids because it informs kids on puberty without making it unsuitable for kids. This may be true, but the book should not be read by middle schoolers because puberty  should be introduced by their parents. Since it is an important topic, parents may want to discuss it with their kids before they read about it. It may frighten them when it happens, similar to Carrie was when she got her period. Talking to their kids about puberty is a big responsibility for parents and having a book introduce it to their children, may upset them. Their kids may be hurt too because their parents didn’t talk to them about it first. Therefore, books involving puberty and coming-of-age should be reviewed by their parents before kids begin to read it. In other words, books should be censored before kids read it.

        Clearly, Carrie should be banned because it misuses sex and explicit language and includes a topic that should be discussed with a child’s parents first. People may say banning books are unconstitutional and hinders kids from learning about the world and their educational development. However, if movies can have age restrictions, so should books. This doesn’t mean books shouldn’t be read by teens, but that they should have permission from their parents first and be read only when they’re ready. If unconstitutionally banning some books means preventing kids from reading inappropriately deemed books, it seems worth the risk. 

Works Cited

Diblasio, Natalie. "Schools Once Again Face Bind Over Censorship vs. Book Lists." Usa Today 2011 aug 19: A.1 DB - SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://sks.sirs.com>.

Gurdon, Meghan C. "Darkness Too Visible." WSJ. Wall Street Journal, 4 June 2011. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.

Rich, Jake. "Can Book Censorship Save Our Children and Their Innocence?" University Wire (2014 Oct 07): N.p. DB - SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://sks.sirs.com>.

Social Awareness Project

Table of Contents

Media/News Immersion
A daily diary for five days on 1-2 articles from the news

Reading Response on Literary Work

Reading response on “Guess Who’s Looking at Your Facebook Page?”

Original Literary Piece

A poem named "Anne" on bullying

Media/News Immersion

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Article: “Major Reaction in School Allergy Fight” By: Aaron Short and Sophia Rosenbaum

Summary: The article discusses the large increase of Epipen supply in school due to a large concern of students’ allergies by their parents.

Social Issue: This social issue I see present in the article is health. Schools need to be ready if anything happens with someone’s allergies and cannot rely on the student knowing what to do in an emergency. They should not rely on students being able to determine what and what not to eat. For example, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are typical meals at schools and this can increase the Epipen supply because so many kids are allergic to nuts. It makes me think of budget cuts because it doesn’t cost that much to make that sandwich, so that might be why it is so commonly found. Schools need to recognize the allergies of their students and this is seen as a result of the increase in Epipen supply. This doesn’t mean kids should not be aware of their allergies, but they should and schools.

Article: “Kid’s a Duper Hero” By: Bruce Golding

Summary: The article is about a recent viral video showing a boy running through a hail of bullets and playing dead to save a girl behind a burning car in Syria that has been determined to be fake and staged.

Social Issue: The social issue displayed in the article and the video is the heroic personalities of kids in war zones. Kids living in places where war is common have a hard life because they are forced with hardships, such as family loss and destruction everywhere they go. However, this doesn’t mean people serving our country are not heroes. The video is meant to raise awareness to this situation because the spotlight is always on people serving the country, but is also very hard for the kids. It makes me think about how lucky we are because we don’t have to worry about war and bombings everywhere we go. These kids are resilient and brave, where as many of us are spoiled and take advantage as luxuries, such as school and family.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Article: “N.J. Boy, 12, Shoots Sis, 9; She’s Critical” By: Bill Hutchinson

Summary: The article explains an event that took place on the night of November 15th in New Jersey. A 12-year-old boy show his 9-year-old sister with a stolen 9-mm gun when he was playing with it. Their mom was charged for endangering children and charges are pending on her boyfriend.

Social Issue: The article expresses the social issue of gun control through an incident where a girl was shot by her brother. The gun should not be in the house in the first place, especially a stolen one. If there is a gun, it should be locked away securely. Since the boy, was able to retrieve it, the mom was probably not responsible enough to lock it up. Parents need to have responsibility and learn to take care of their kids at all times. Where were their mom? Shouldn’t she be watching them or have someone else with them? It makes me think about how some parents don’t care for their kids properly and when something happens to them they said it was their faults. It seems like very childish manner, whereas she should be watching her children.

Article: “UN: Now ISIS is Killing Kids” By: James Warren

Summary: The article is about how ISIS trains 5 to 16 year olds to kill others. It provides evidence on teen boys from Syria murdering teens from other nations. They are seen beheading and or shooting teens. Kids are not victims of ISIS says the UN.

Social Issue: The social issue is quite obvious- ISIS. ISIS is a big topic in the US currently in which the US are struggling to find a solution for it. The article makes me think about how much Syria hates the US because they train their kids from their youth to fight in combat. It feels really threatening being a teen myself. They are terrorizing the US which seems really hard to fight against. If the US fights back, it seems ISIS will make things worse and continue executing people, possibly even more frequently. This shows me that we are kind of stuck in a situation that we are unable to escape.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Article: “Deja Fool on B’klyn Bridge” By: Caitlin Nolan and Stephen Rex Brown

Summary: The article is about French tourist, Yonathan Souid, who climbed up on one of the Brooklyn Bridge cables around Sunday noon to get the best shots of the bridge with Manhattan traffic under him.

Social Issue: This article shows yet another time someone has gone past the NYPD without any trouble. If they were more careful, he probably would not have been able to get up there. Luckily, he went up there just to take a picture, but what would’ve happened if it was a bomb. Last time a flag, this time a photo, next time a bomb? When it is actually something that can hurt the bridge, will the police finally step in? They should be on guard at all times especially during a busy time like around lunch and at a large landmark and tourist spot. They should watch all of New York as a matter of fact. Although Souid was just taking a picture, he should’ve not been allowed up there. What’s next for the bridge?

Article: “Evil Below Lunatic Pushes Man to Death on Bronx Subway” By: Tanisha Morris, Pete Donohue, Caitlin Nolan, Bill Hutchinson

Summary: This article summarizes the tragic death of 61-year-old Wai Kuen Kwok, who was unexpectedly pushed into the subway tracks right in front of his wife. Kwok was a family man with 2 adult sons and a friendly wife. The one who pushed him in ran away and took the Bx35 bus for 3 stops.

Social Issue: The social issue of the article is subway safety. I feel like this is a very big topic that should be made aware of because the subway is such a large part of the everyday life of a New Yorker. Subway accidents are very common and cause many deaths and injuries in New York. We really need to find a solution to all these subway accident s because Subway has become a part of our culture, and if this continues, we would probably lose count of the number of accidents. This makes me think of my trip to Hong Kong over the summer because when I  was at the train station, I couldn’t help but notice a glass in between the tracks and the platform that only opened with the subway was here. If we had that here, there might be less accidents.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Article: “Ebola Doc Dies in US Hospital” By: Nelson Lampe

Summary: The article explains the death of Dr. Martin Salid, the second Ebola victim in the US. He was treated with the same medications as other Ebola patients. The medications cured some, but Salid dies in Nebraska at 4am on Monday.

Social Issue: The social issue of the article is a big topic in the US these past few months- Ebola. This makes me think of how our country is very advanced because many people diagnosed with Ebola in the US were cured, whereas more than 5,000 people have died in West Africa. The US are able to develop a treatment that helps with curing Ebola. On the other hand, people in Africa hadn’t had all the technology to save many people. This makes me think of all the diseases in history, such as malaria and smallpox, which have wiped out many people. I wonder what causes the diseases to just break out. How come they hadn’t been such a big case earlier?

Article: “Gay Gene Theory Boost” From Associated Press (AP)

Summary: The article describes a study by scientists with nearly 800 pairs of gay brothers to test if genes have an effect on sexuality. It isn’t scientifically proven but the data leads towards a chromosome affecting your sexual orientation.

Social Issue: The social issue is sexuality. When I first read this article, I thought it was just about an experiment. However, when I read it over, I thought why does it matter? Questioning gay people to create a scientific study seems kind of rude because trying to see if genes affect their sexuality is just like asking why there are gay. To me, it just seems a little like bullying. There looks like there’s no difference between this and bullying.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Article: ”MTA Big ‘Bonk’ers Over Backpacks” By: Thomas Tracy and Larry McShane

Summary: The article is about Charles Moerdler, an MTA board member that attempt to backtrack the idea of banning backpacks on subways. This proposal was made because many complain about getting hit with backpacks especially on crowded trains.

Social Issue: The social issue in the article is public transportation. I totally disagree with banning backpacks because as a student who takes the train home, it would outrageous to not be able to bring my backpack home on the train. This ban would affect many people including me because we would’ve have to find other ways to get home. It’s just a little push from a backpack, but that doesn’t mean that backpacks should be banned.

Reading Response on Literary Work

Before clicking that post button, think twice about tweeting about your horrible job and posting the picture of your teacher on Instagram. It may just seem like a joke or taking out your anger, but in the world, it seems like a whole lot worse. Alessandra Potenza expresses that privacy is very hard to find online, especially on social media in her article, “Guess Who’s Looking at Your Facebook Page?” Once it is online, anyone can see it- parents, teachers, and or employers. It is always up there and can never be erased. In other words, the claim Potenza is making is one of the only things you can’t find online is privacy.

            At the start, Potenza shows that there is no privacy online through someone losing their job from a post. Potenza starts off her article by introducing Kirsten Kelly, a waiter in Ohio. Potenza writes, “She posted her Facebook status update on a Friday night in July. By Monday, she was fired.” A customer had shown her manager a post Kelly wrote that complained about the lack of tips she was receiving. This shows social media hurt her because she became unemployed from the post. Online on a public website isn’t somewhere to complain about problems because it can have many consequences. Kelly thought she would just get yelled at most, but after that day, she realized the manager can do anything he or she wants. This part of the text shows me, there really isn’t much privacy online. Sharing personal information on websites is mistakenly thought of as private. However, in reality, there is no security on information online, especially on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Therefore, the example of Kirsten Kelly shows privacy is unavailable online.

            Furthermore, Potenza shows privacy is unavailable online by telling the story of Emma Sullivan. She was a high school senior when she tweeted about Governor Sam Brownback and faced consequences for her actions by her principal, who found it offensive. Potenza writes, “Two years later, the incident is still all over the internet if you google her name. And she worries it might affect her chances of getting a job.” This illustrates how the internet is like haunting ghost. There is no privacy online because her story is still around two years later. Posting things on the internet can permanently scar her from getting a scholarship, job, and many other things she might need in the future. Once it was out, its out, and she couldn’t take it back. She is stuck with for the rest of her life. From one pose, anyone can become famous, but known for something they will probably regret. Just because it is deleted, doesn’t mean it is offline. It is like a heavy burden that will never unload off your back. Emma Sullivan’s story shows posting things online can haunt people because privacy is so hard to find.

            After reading this article, I realized that one small post, picture, and or tweet can turn into a horrible nightmare. This makes me think of labels because on many occasions people get labeled from their online profile. Take Emma Sullivan for example, from now on she is remembered by her offensive comments. Online profiles seem to define us. This has created an interest in social media and thinking before I put something online. This article shows me how social media has become such a big part of many of our lives. Social media is how people get to know each other. However, anyone can get to know anyone. This concludes it, but what I’m still thinking is, is privacy even in the online dictionary?

Original Literary Piece

Anne

Anne once a bully

Then she lived with a burden

Anne is now alone

Process/Problem

            To write this poem, I listed all the social issues I could think of and once I had about 10 I stopped and chose one to focus on. I was kind of stuck on how to write it so, I looked up examples of poems dealing with social issues and read a few. One poem named, “Eric”, really stood out to me because the title was just one name and the short poem described many of his problems while only mentioning his name once. After reading five poems, I decided to write a haiku using the same style “Eric” used in which having a name as the title and describing their problem in a few lines. In other words, I used an example of a social issue poem to help me write my own.

            The social issue in the poem is bullying and how it can hurt you even though you are the bully. When people bully, it is mainly because they are insecure and trying to bring others down to suffer with her. The burden represents Anne’s guilt and how after bullying, people including Anne just feel worse about themselves. The last line shows how bullying just got Anne alone because her actions pushed everyone away from her. All in all, I wrote the poem by making every line a different part of her life and how it progresses.

Works Cited

Saturday, November 15, 2014 News- New York Post

Sunday, November 16, 2014 News- Daily News

Monday, November 17, 2014 News- Daily News

Tuesday, November 18, 2014- New York Post

Wednesday, November 19, 2014- Daily News

“Guess Who’s Looking at Your Facebook Page” by Alessandra Potenza from Upfront Magazine

Mentor Poem: “Eric” by Barry Taylor URL: http://www.poemsforfree.com/eric.html