Day 104- "I won't be your winter. I won't be anyone's excuse to cry."- Your Winter by Sister Hazel

A white Monday covered in a fresh powder. There is something literary and poetic in there. I can see it, but I'll leave it alone today. Today was my blended virtual class meeting, but I am very happy to see a few of the kids coming into class, not because they forgot we weren't physically meeting, but because they had questions and wanted to discuss the book. This class is doing the best of all my English 12 classes, partly because they are, on the whole, much better students, but also because I think they are working harder on the novel. My other senior classes discussed the beginning of chapter 3 and how the Germans used propaganda films to further their cause in Germany among the people during the war. (In this part of the chapter, Billy is thrown in a bush to reenact his capture, although he was captured in a ditch by farmers.)

In creative writing, the class and I wrote direct address poems. They had to use a literary device, such as allusion, metaphor, simile, etc. in their direct address poem. We listened to Champagne High and Your Winter by Sister Hazel, both of which are direct address and full of literary devices. I had them write two poem, one to an animate object or person and the other to an inanimate object. I modeled this one for the and wrote a poem to my alarm clock. (I realize that writing to an inanimate object is personification, but this was understood and they had to use another.) They seemed to really have fun with this, and I'm looking forward to reading their creativity and seeing who they are with their writing.

My alarm clock poem is below.

Why are you so angry?
Daily, you scream at me
Loud, blaring, beckoning me to touch you
Once my hand graces your face
I receive 10 minutes of reprieve
Then your anger rises again

Why can’t you accept my new love?
We are happy together
She comforts me in a way you never could
She embraces in me her love every night
Yet, with the rising sun
You ruin our tryst with your angry noise

It is time to move on
We need a clean break
I will no longer allow your hatred to ruin my newfound happiness
We are done, so take you jilted love elsewhere
Goodbye, good riddance, and good luck