American Literature Comparing and Contrasting Essay

3.4B: Collage Description

Lines 118 & 119: "Home is the place where, when you go there, / They have to take you in."

These two lines are by far the most compelling lines of the entire poem. It is here that the importance of what home is, truly comes out. Home is the one place that seems to be the safe haven regardless of the adventures that one chooses to partake in. It is welcoming, safe, secure, and always present. Despite the many twists and turns that may be taken by someone, it is at home that one can always go back to without the fear of being judged.

The collage would be designed as follows:

Cut out from felt fabric, the center of the collage would be a house. The house itself would be a red square with little yellow squares for windows and a gray triangular roof top. The particular fabric chosen is to represent the warm, fuzzy feeling that is felt when going back to the one place that will always take you. There would be a black string circling the house itself to represent it being in a bubble, a safe place. Outside of the circle, there will be a variety if things going on. Cut out from magazines and newspapers, there would be different pictures of roads, streets, and simple landscapes to showcase the different routes taken in life and the adventures that has been had. All these pictures however would be cut rigidly to present the picture that not all the adventures have been pleasant. Pictures of clocks would be surrounding the outskirts of the "bubble" in which the home is enclosed in, to signify the passage of time, and the past. The clocks themselves are going to be cut out from magazines, hand-drawn with the different writing utensils such as pens, multi-colored pencils, different colored markers, and crayons. Each different writing utensil can be seen as the different stages in life. The chaotic arrangement that will become of all of the materials will be a direct contrast to the circle in the center with the felt-fabric house which will stand out and be the first thing that will catch a person's attention. The collage will clearly show that home will be the place to go to in order to find clarity and peace.

3.5B: Dramatic Monologue

Streamers here and balloons there

Mounting everything with meticulous care

Knowing that she will see

Every effort done for thee

For today is the day

For which we celebrate

All the things bad and great

That you have done till this date.

My daughter, it is for you that this is done

To enjoy life while you are young

To cherish everything that you can

And know that my love for you will never end

This powerful force that I feel

Is never-ending, so surreal

And on your birthday, I want to say

That my dedication to you, won't go away.

I am so sincere with my words

Remembering everything that has occurred

So true a gift, that you are

Couldn't stand to see you far

And if you ever asked

Whether this will forever last

I must admit, I'll always care

It is me that will always be there.

3.6A: Introduction for Poetry Reading

Thinking about the special people in a person's life, the first person that always comes to mind in someone's mother. There is no other person that could be deemed more special, no other person for which one feels more attached to. A mother is the person that can be viewed as being the creator of all involved in one's life. If it wasn't for an individual's mother, one would not have direction in life, and there would not be guidance. As I was thinking about who to write, I found it difficult to find just one person that would be considered influential, or important enough to base a poem on. But when it came down to making an actual decision, the first person that made me feel that they had the most influence in life, was a person's mother. Having that special attachment makes writing a poem about one's mom, that much more special. This could also be a fictional character, but regardless of how this person is described, the mention of one's mother brings warmth and comfort, and it is this that is most appealing about…