"next to of course god america i" by: E. E. Cummings

The form of this poem is rushed and there is little punctuation. The punctuation that is present serves an important purpose. The quotations at the beginning of the poem and the end of the first stanza serve to tell the reader that this part of the poem is a quote from an unknown speaker. The last line that is not in quotations serve to give the view of the speaker of the poem.

This poem serves to satirize patriotic people who speak out about their county and patriotism without really thinking about what they are saying. They don't actually care about people in the country and the speaker lets this view be known when he says "he spoke." He is proving the fact that the quoted speaker is like the people he is complaining about. He makes fun of people who try to say that they are patriotic people, but really they don't care about anyone but themselves.

"Much Madness is divinest Sense" by: Emily Dickinson

When I first read this poem, I was extremely confused (as is the case with ALL Emily Dickinson poems). Now, I realize that this poem contains multiple paradoxes. One that the speaker uses is "much madness is divinest sense." Here, the speaker is saying that in order to be sane, one must be mad. They must go against what the majority thinks and think for himself in order to be sane. This paradox functions to show the difference between what the speaker thinks and what society thinks. The speaker is telling the reader that in order to be sane, they need to go against the norm and think for himself. I agree with the speaker because if a person always follows society and the majority, they will never be able to think for himself.

"Barbie Doll" by:Marge Piercy

When I read this poem, it seemed to mirror closely the way in which I often view society and the way I sometimes feel. In this poem, the main purpose is to show how society negatively effects the body image of women. It is also to show how society requires women to conform to a certain "Barbie Doll" image. I have personally felt this strong "requirement" that society puts on all woman. They set standards for all girls to meet, but these standards are unrealistic. Like in the poem, often times women will change their personal appearance and image to fit societies standards. The speaker alludes to the young woman cutting off her nose and her legs. While most woman do not go so far as to have plastic surgery (although some do), they do go on diets, dress differently, and act differently in order to fit in to society. I agree with the speaker that this is utterly ridiculous and definitely not a happy ending for women who are forced to change.

"February" by: Margaret Atwood

February, by Margaret Atwood is one that at first, I was confused by, but now, I feel that I can relate to it in some ways. This poem has one main symbol, the cat, which the speaker uses to symbolize herself. At one point in time, the speaker says that "some other tomcat... has been spraying our front door, declaring war." Like the tomcat, girls often try to "mark" their territory and if another girl attempts to take over, they are declaring social war. After this, the speaker makes a shift from the cat to people in general. She seems to be somewhat pessimistic about love especially when she states that "it's love that does us in." She seems to have had some kind of a negative experience with love. The title of the poem, February somewhat validates this belief because February is a month associated with love, and she seems to dislike this month strongly. At the end, the speaker tells the cat to stop her greedy whining and to get up and have some optimism. This is a call to action for herself as well. She is telling herself to stop being so pessimistic and to go out and find love.

"Pink Dog" by: Elizabeth Bishop

This poem was confusing to me, but so far, I have my own thoughts of what it could possibly be about. I believe that the ill treated dog is symbolic of poor and homeless people around the time of Mardi Gras. Stanza 3 talks about people being afraid of the rabies that a stray dog may have and this is symbolic of people being afraid of the homelessness because of their sickly look. People avoid the dog/poor instead of helping them like they actually should. When the time for the carnival/ Mardi Gras comes along, the people of the city will either throw out the poor and needy or they will dress them up and hide them during the carnival. The last stanza says that the carnival is always wonderful. This seems to me to be from the point of a wealthy person who does not care about the trials of the poor and homeless. In the end, the speaker gives the "pink dog" a warning that they better dress up, or they will just be thrown out.

"Bright Star" by: John Keats

In this poem, the speaker uses many contradicting phrases in order to make his comparison between what he wants his life to be and what a star's life is. He states that he wants to be steadfast (staying in one place and never changing). In the same sentence, he says that although he wishes to be steadfast, he does not want to be left alone, lonely in the night. The next sentence, he states that he wants to be patient, but not sleepless like a star. Later in the poem, he ties his wishes for his life into that of a star. He says that he wants to remain forever with his lover, listening to the rise and fall of her breathing. He says that like a bright star, which lasts for millions of years, he also wants to live forever. He wishes to either live forever with his lover, or die at the peak of the relationship.

"Dream Deferred" by: Langston Hughes number 2

Back to the poem dream deferred again, but this time, I am going to focus on the tone of the poem. I think that the tone is one of urgency. The speaker is pleading with other African Americans so they will build up a drive to fight for their civil rights. He tells them they must do this before it is impossible to gain what they have always been dreaming about. This poem is a call to action for all people so that they will fight for rights and basic liberties. He is telling people that they must act now before their window of opportunity has passed and their goals will never be achieved. He believed that the most crippling event would be if the dream is deferred for so long that it eventually "explode(s)" and is completely gone. He says taht if this happens, African Americans will never be able to gain rights and they will be stuck in their current state of despair forever.