The Rainy River

On the Rainy River was a story that was inside of Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried. White reading On the Rainy River, I felt as if it was a true and honest writing of how the young boy felt and all that had been happening. The boy was 21 years old who was working in a meat packing plant. When he came home one day he had a letter for him that was telling him that he was chosen to be drafted in to fight in a war. He didn’t have a choice and it wasn’t what he wanted to do. He took a long few weeks to think about his options and what he could do, but he chose to run off to Canada where they couldn’t make him go fight in the war. He left one evening after work and didn’t tell anyone. On his way to Canada, he stopped at this lodge near the border of Canada, where he met an older man. The older man that he met helped him make up his mind on what is the right decision to do. This was such a heart-

 felt story and while reading it, it made you feel like you were actually there. 

  

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http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-obrien-tim.asp

Compendium of Last Objects & Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting

Kevin C. Powers

Nicole Cooley

The felt like the poem Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting by Kevin C Powers was a very meaningful poem. While I was reading the poem from start to end, I could feel the meaning that it was trying to communicate. I felt like this poem was about a soldier that was fighting in a war, who wrote a love letter to the one he loved. It seemed as when the one he loved opened the letter, she could smell the burned powder. This poem reacted towards me the most because I felt as if I could relate to it. Like I said above, the poem seems to be about a soldier writing a letter to the one he loved. I didn’t receive a letter from a soldier, but I have in the past went through cards and letters that I   have received from my dad before he passed away and can remember the specific scent on the cards and letters, such as the one he loved could smell the burned powder on the letter. 

The other poem that I reacted to the most was the one called Compendium of Lost Objects by Nicole Cooley. When reading this poem, I felt like it was confusing until I read the end when it said the hurricane hit. Once I read that line, I understood the entire poem. The poem was talking about how everything used to be before the hurricane hit the little town. I felt that the poet went into great detail on describing how everything looked and seemed after the hurricane. I feel that the reason why this poem reacted to me was because it made me think of when I first moved from the little town that I grew up in. It made me feel like everything around me was being destroyed. 

I thought that both of these poems were very meaningful, and that the poets took time and thought into writing them. 

Pictures URL:http://www.poetryfoundation.org/images/poets/KevinPowers.jpg

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WEBSITE:http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/

Sam Hamill- "Necessity to Speak"

February 2, 2011

While reading what Sam Hamill wrote, there were things that I agreed with and there were also things that I disagreed with. Sam Hamill did mention how writing is a form of human communication. I absolutely agree with this! I feel that when we write, we are expressing our own individual emotion. If anyone has ever researched history about certain authors, you can find out which authors write their novels on personal experience from the past. By the authors that write from experiences in the past, they are expressing their emotion through writing novels. Not only do I notice that when reading books you can tell that authors include personal experiences, but when I write little stories or essays, I also base them on my own personal experience. Sam Hamill also mentioned how poetry can be embarrassing for some people. I also agree with this. I find poetry to be something that an individual comes up with. When reading the poems, I felt as if i could tell what the author was trying to communicate through the poem. 

Sam Hamill also stated that every individual should speak up. I feel like this is a great way to inform people about consequences. If others don’t always speak up then not everyone will know what is right or wrong. When others speak up to others, they could be giving them positive and negative feed back in ways that it can help an individual. 

One thing that Sam Hamill mentioned in his writing that I partially agree with and partially don’t agree with was when he started talking about violence. He made it sound like when individuals see violence happen in their own home or surroundings that that individual will carry that with them where ever they go. I agree with this to a point. I have heard and seen people who were treated with violence at a younger age, grow up to where they treat everyone with violence. But, I have also seen people who have been treated with violence when they were younger, but realized that it was not right and rarely showed violence towards others. All in all, I feel that Sam Hamill had stated many good ideas in his writing with well reasonings to back up his ideas. 

Website I got the image above from :https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVpN5rgj3b2c5w_onjhujNctr2CdkTlRAxIJuCsfv-LEYJpUvpVvX3Qmr0b6_9dAzx3AynBTsJTl8OwfnvTqsDDEo_9y9yZGchjKMHG-W3j7AlJvlkRRx0DSzzO9tKpsm-zb1_0pghl8l/s1600/sam_hamill.jpg

About Sam Hamill: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/733