Favourite poet

I like a particular poet named Billy Collins. I like this poet as I think he is extraordinary from all the other poets. He can deeply express his feelings in the poems. He also was a finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize; Questions About Angels (1991), which was selected by Edward Hirsch for the National Poetry Series. This makes me curious on how good he is. I went to view his poems and found out that his poem is really very good and well written. This makes me want to find out more about him.
Thesis
I feel that Billy Collins so that people can know where he is in the poem, but not where he is going. It can tell the reader what he is feeling and expresses it in his poem. He does hide things in the poem. I think he is deeply troubled also as his writes poem like The Art of Drowning, The Trouble with Poetry
Biography of Billy Collins
Billy Collins was born in New York City to William and Katherine Collins. He attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains and received a B.A. degree from the College of the Holy Cross in 1963 and received his M.A. and PhD in English from the University of California, Riverside. He was a student of Victorian Scholar and poet Robert Peters at Riverside. He is a distinguished professor of English at Lehman College in the Bronx, where he joined the faculty in 1968 and has taught for over thirty years. Billy Collins was named U.S. Poet Laureate in 2001 and held the title until 2003. He served as Poet Laureate for the State of New York from 2004 until 2006. In 1992, he was chosen by the New York Public Library to serve as "Literary Lion". He has conducted summer poetry workshops in Ireland at University College Galway, and taught at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence, and Lehman College, City University of New York. During the 1990s, Collins won five such prizes. The magazine also selected him as "Poet of the Year" in 1994. In 2005 Collins was the first annual recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for Humor in Poetry, bestowed by the Poetry Foundation (Poetry Magazine). He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in 1993, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Collins served as judge for the 2005 Brittingham Prize in Poetry.
Examples of his poems
Ballistics (2008)
The Art of Drowning
The Trouble with Poetry (2005)
References
http://poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/278
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Collins
http://brianstumbaugh.net/blog/2008/08/billy-collins-poetry-for-end-of-summer.html

Poem analysis

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.


1. The poet used mostly simile in his poem, he is using the poem to tell people that he will still rise no matter how hated by people he is. The poet uses it to elaborate on how he will still rise.
E.g. 1.like dust I’ll rise
2.'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
3. Just like moons and like suns, with the certainty of tides, just like hopes springing high, still I'll rise.
4. Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
5. 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own back yard.
6. Like air, I'll rise.
7. I dance like I've got diamond at the meeting of my thighs

2. I like this poem done by Maya Angelo due his constant using of simile to elaborate on what he is writing on and making the poem sound fun and exciting. The poem also rhythms so it sounds very creative, it is just like music in my ears. It also tells people that people that we should not have negative feeling just because you were being dreaded by people, we must still continue with life and still rise. The use of simile is also creative in how he describes how he will still rise. I also think it is extraordinary than other poems. So this is why I like this poem is better than the other.

Preference of country rat or city rat

I prefer to be a city rat to a country rat. The country rat has to face constant number of difficulties and hardship. Country rat also has a disadvantage over the city rat. Country rat is not well-educated, only good in strength, having tanned and square hands, good for doing works that most people would not like. Whereas a city rat, they have advantage over country rat in knowledge. The city rat also does not need to work very hard to cope with life. They also do not need to face much hardship in their journey in life. They also have more knowledge, knows more stuff. The country rat is confined to a small amount of knowledge, knowing little. Despite how good to be a city rat, country rat could be quite good too as they are more caring to their family and more bonding with the family, but city rat are too busy, they do not have time to bond with their family. However, I still prefer city rat.

favourite character of VBTS

Hari is my favourite character as he is a very responsible and mature boy for his age. He takes care of his sisters as best he would, he helps his family by plucking coconuts to sell and earn a little money. He is responsible enough to tend the small piece of land the family owns and went netting for food. He is not easily defeated by troubles and constant difficulties in his life but he worries constantly about how to provide for their immediate needs and also to improve their future. He tries to make practical plans for the future when he considers the different ways he might get work – on Biju’s boat, in the new factory, or in Bombay. Despite his own problems, he is a comfort to his sisters, and is able to console them just by listening to their troubles. He bravely copes with the strangeness of Bombay by avoiding the pitfall of associating with thieves and beggars. He cares for Jagu’s wife and family. So Hari is my favourite character.

like best about VBTS

When Mr. Panwallah brought Hari to the Worli Sea face to see the approach of the monsoon over the sea. The continuous rain makes life very difficult in the city and the damp atmosphere affects the health of the people tremendously. As Mr. Panwallah falls ill and no longer comes to the shop. Hari has to stay in the eating house day and night, but Jagu’ wife did not welcome him. Furthermore, Hari is very upset when he heard on the radio that fisher from his home area are leaved dead. He feels very homesick and misses his life in Thul. I like this part because it brings to mind that Hari is not a heartless boy as he still cares for his own family and misses home. It also hints to the readers that Hari will go home to be with his parents and sisters. He still cares for family no matter how dysfunctional the family and how much he hate it. So I like this part the best.

Is progress necessarily

The conflict between old and new is seen in the differing altitudes of the people, which make progress necessary but difficult. In order for progress to be made, the way of life and the livelihood will be destroyed. This can upset the local people a great deal. There are projected harmful effects of transforming Thul and its neighbouring villages into a giant industrial complex. The city people see the factory as a dangerous source of environmental pollution. This is a necessary step to achieve progress but it threatens the means of survival of the village people. The resignation and fatalism of the other village in obvious a negative impact of progress. The people may also dislike the progress and opposes against it. This may cause a lot of trouble and negative feelings against the government. It could also be cruel to the resident as they were being forced in the progress, like giving up their land. So I think that progress is unnecessary.

New virus infecting the world!!! H1N1

Recently,there are many cases of a viral infection called H1N1. The world has been infected with this new virus. About 450 over cases have been confirmed here in Singapore while the virus is continuously spreading across the world. About 100 people is getting the virus per day since last few days. There are many affected countries like Mexico, U.S.A., Australia, Spain, U.K., Argentina, Chile, Hong Kong, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand. The Ministry of Education and Health elaborate on closing the schools due to the new virus. People are being quarantined if the temperate is 38.1 ^C and above. Unnecessary events which allows crowds to be gathered like camps, school outing, co-curricular activities are to be cancelled. They also want the children to take their temperature two times per day in school and cancelled the morning assembly. Schools have to prepare e-learning for the students when not in school. The virus has caused a lot of trouble in the world, so we should be more careful to this matter. We must play a part in preventing the virus from spreading.

Worst case of Food posioning in SG!

There is a recent case in SG about an Indian rojak stall at Geylang causing 2 deaths, 1 miscarriage and over 100 of people had food poisoning. This is the greatest food poisoning case ever in SG, similar to the posion milk case in China which affected almost the worldwide. Now we should be more aware of what we eat and whether the place cleanliness is good. So we got to be aware of everything we eat for nowadays to avoid getting poison or even death.

poisonous food

Nowadays, food is running out and scientist discover genetic engineering, which is a big help for mankind, this can increase the food productivity. However the food we eat may be poisoned, so watch out. There are many cases that Japanese people die because they ate fishes that had consumed mercury either from the waste from factories. So we better watch what we are eating.

This article is a character driven story as the article tells us about what people usually say when calling 999. The people in the article called the police for the situation, not related to the police, calling for information or when there is not even such thing happening. These pranksters are making the job of the policemen hard. These pranksters can also cause a logjam and when real crime is happening, the victim cannot contact the policemen resulting in troubles. There had been 1.5 million of calls last year and almost more than fifty percent of the calls are nuisance calls. From such incident, we can conclude that Singaporeans are inconvenience and do not think of other’s feeling. They should think,” what if they were the policemen working in night shift and they were continuously receiving nuisance calls, after awhile, they will surely be very irritated by the nonsense.” They should also not call for small matters as they can handle these matters by themselves, if another more important incident happens at the same time, which will cause trouble. Calling to find out the telephone number is also inappropriate. I think that these peoples should stop the pranks and think of the policemen’s feelings. This way, Singapore can be more peaceful place.

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