JerryLiang

Mirror of the Corn Grows Up.
 * 1. **** Select one poem of the four provided and write another poem mimicking the style and syntax of the first poem. You can change the topic and words, but the rhythm, number of syllables, sentence structure and poetic elements (such as repetition and figurative language) have to be mirrored in your poem. You may write on any topic you like. **

Students The work adds on. The student in the night writes more, more. The work lessens The student in the night has managed time, time The homework lessens. The student in the night snores, snores The sun comes up. The student in the night wakes up, up.

2. Select two poems (must be different than the one you picked for #1) and write two short paragraphs that compare and contrast the poems. Your paragraphs can focus on different elements of the poems, including subject, theme, tone, use of poetic devices such as repetition, imagery, and any progressions that you notice in the poems (for example, you might notice that the images get stronger in each line, or the detail gets more specific). Be sure that (a) you explain how the elements contribute to the message or feeling of the whole poem and (b) that you don’t just talk about one poem and then the other. You have to first talk about the comparisons (similarities) and then the contrasts (differences). So you have to think about the structure of your paragraphs before you write them.

There are a lot of differences between the two poems: I have killed a dear and The Hunting Song. In ‘I have killed a dear’, the author uses words such as kill, crush etc… but overall, the mood is more peaceful than ‘The Hunting Song’. ‘I have killed a dear’ is talking about the cycle of life, how the hunter kills the creature from nature, but when he dies; Comparison between the Hunting song and the I have killed a deer. Both poems talk about hunting, and subjects were all related to deer. Narrator seems to all be hunters, I have killed a deer it focused more on the animals it had kill and talked about the cycle of life. “When I died I must give life To what has nourished me. The earth receives my body And gives it to the plants And to the caterpillars To the birds And to the coyotes Each in its own turn so that The circle of life is never broken.” Where as The Hunting song was talking about the process, the wait, of catching a deer. Despite the mentioning of death in The Hunting Song, it sounded quite cruel, luring the deer into a trap and then killing it. But I guess that is the way of life. Repetition was also used in various places where as none was used in I have killed a deer. In I have killed a deer, it gave off more or less of the same mood. The author mentions, “In my life I have needed death So that my life can be.” Death was mentioned upon both poems, but compared to the hunting song, I have killed a deer did not paint as much of a bad picture in my mind as the hunting song.

**3. Read the short story called "The Navajo Origin Legend". Answer the following questions:** **a. What did you like about the story?** It gives some depth to the native American culture, story was put in chronological order which made I clear to understand. **b. What did you dislike about the story?** Kind of dull, no literary devices were present, too bland. **c. What was the image that was most powerful or interesting for you?** The most powerful image the story gave to me was “When this ceases to blow we die. In the skin at the tips of our fingers we see the trail of the wind; it shows us where the wind blew when our ancestors were created.” **d. The Native Americans who wrote this poem are similar to other pre-colonial societies in that they write about the materials of their everyday lives in their myths. Food, nature, and animals are some such materials. Identify all the specific materials that appear in the story that would be common in the everyday lives of the Native American culture. For each material that you identify, explain briefly what is happening to it in the story.**  Corn- the seed of life, turns into human.  Eagle feather- used during the ceremony  Buckskins- turns into human throughout the ceremony  Wind- helps the materials turn into a human  Grain- covering the ear of corns ** e. What can you tell about the culture of this people based on the materials that appear in this story and they way that these objects are used? Do you notice any patterns in how these materials are depicted? **

The The story demonstrates that the Native Americans are extremely religious, the belief in spirits. They paid a lot of attention to detail, there were specific direction and place for each object. The materials used were all products of the nature and so are the natives.

 ** 4. The speaker in "I Have Killed a Deer" talks about death and killing in an unusual way. How would you describe the way he talks about death and killing? Why does he talk about it this way? Do you think he feels sorry for killing living things? What single line is a turning point in the message of this poem? What is the overall message of this poem, in a single short sentence? **  The author of “I have killed a deer” believes strongly in the life cycle. The killing and death was depicted as something “normal”. Because of the way he talked about death, he did not care much about death, he did not feel sorry. He did not even mind dying “When I died I must give life” this was also the turning point of the poem. The authors gives off a message that it is part of the chain to kill, to survive you must kill, but when you die you must give back to give back to earth what you once got, like debt to mother nature. The sum it up, nothing comes free, you must honor/ return what you once got.