UNANSWERED QUESTIONS FOR BILLY COLLINS

Did you purposely choose to make some of your metaphors ridiculous?
I think Bill Collins deliberately made most of his metaphors ridiculous. He was "trying" to make this new poem better. He was making fun of love poems to prove a point. His point was that love poems are so absurb that people compare love to such nonsense. 


Do you believe your rewrite of this poem was better than the original poem?
I don't think Billy Collins think his poem is better than the originals. He was just rewriting the poem  to poke fun on how absorb the love poem was. I guess he was just trying to give a good laugh to his audience.


What point were you proving in turning the focus of the poem to the speaker himself?
Billy Collins point of the poem was trying to prove that love poems carry a lot of foolish metaphors. His random metaphors were to compare how some other love poems consist of metaphors that are over the extreme. 

All You Can Eat

Compound:

• Saltwater feedlot
• Freshwater runoff
• Ponytail(164)
• Sinking shrimpfleet
• Oldtimer

Playful Combinations: 

• "Gulf shrimpers, the last cowboys of the sea"(166)
• "Skinners as cowboys"(165)
• "Gold rush days"(166)
• "Dumpster dive"(161)

Neologisms:

• Marifarm

Recast Words in New Roles:

• trash...by-catch...juvenile
• Circus of boats(165)
• Boats galloped from one fold strike to another
• They begin devouring one celled algae(164)
• Jumping about on a bed of hot rice

Puns:

• As sharp as cocktail sauce
• Stuck in my craw

Verbs:

• Galloped
• Devour
• Evoked

Moved & Unmoved Sample H

Sample H
Pro:
1. Catchy title
2. Excellent word choice
3. Great background information
4. Taught me a lot about iPods

Cons:
1. Paper is mostly about the Apple Product
2. No character in the paper
3. No opinion on the object
4. Grammatical errors
5. No argument
6. Dull

Don't!

QUESTION 4

Mark each time Lehrers offers a definition. How elaborate is each definition? What does the sequence of these mean in aggregate?

• Carolyn Weisz is a textbook example of a high delayer.(P 49)
• “The East Indians would describe the Africans as impulsive hedonists who were always living for the moment and never thought about the future,” he says. “The Africans, meanwhile, would say that the East Indians didn’t know how to live and would stuff money in their mattress and never enjoy themselves.”(P 51)
• There is something deeply contradictory about Walter Mischel—a psychologist who spent decades critiquing the validity of personality tests—inventing the marshmallow task, a simple test with impressive predictive power. (P 52)
• In adults, this skill is often referred to as metacognition, or thinking about thinking, and it’s what allows people to outsmart their shortcomings. (P 54)
• In the second, known as the Go/No Go task, subjects are flashed a set of faces with various expressions.(P56)

For a few of the words he used, I had to look around the word for clues on what he meant. He uses a lot of metaphors to help the reader understand what he is talking about. Not too many of the definitions are straightforward. He sometimes is more specific with what he is trying to describe. 


Question 5

Have you found any metaphors in this text?  Did you expect to find metaphors or metaphoric language in a scientific text?

 In his writing, Lehrer uses a lot of metaphors. Sometimes it is to define a word or to have the reader become a part of the study. I was not surprised to find metaphors in his writing. I found his writing to be an outstanding way to present scientific facts. It helps to engage the reader. 

The Way I Like It

     My ideal communicative situation would be video. I am a very visual person, and I find that communicating in person is always more effective than communicating through other methods. I like looking people in the eyes when I speak to them, eliciting and analyzing their facial expressions, and listening to their responses. When I watch television or watch a video online, I like the stimulation of multiple senses. I like to hear their voices and see their faces.
     Many businesses or corporations continue to travel to meet international clients to settle deals and present proposals. This face to face contact improves rapport, encourages amicable relations and facilitates communication. Today, some companies hold video conferences to replace such meetings, however the need to visualize your audience (or speaker) is still the key idea. This contact is valuable to a social being like the human.
     If it were up to me, I would communicate through video. It would be faster than other methods, I could easily use my voice to emphasize words or display emotion. My audience would sense sarcasm for example and could sense a change in my tone. Emotion is hard to present on paper. Listening without seeing your object requires more attention. Video should be the prime method of communication, and thanks to today's technology, such a thing may soon be possible.

FREE WRITE

It is 48 degrees today and it doesn't feel like winter. This kind of weather puts a smile on my face. It's the kind of weather where you rather stay inside than outside. It's insane how last month we were off from school because of the snow blizzards and now a month later we are saying how nice and beautiful it is outside. This is the type of weather you can just wear a hoodie.  I can smell Spring coming. Since it's nice out and its a Friday, my friends and I are taking a ride to Little Italy. I'm glad I have a 4 day weekend to relax.

Questions for Billy Collins

1. Do you think the person who originally made the poem thinks yours is better?
2. Why did you make the metaphors difficult to interpret?
3. Why did you make a love poem into a funny love poem?
4. Do you use a lot of metaphor in your own poems?
5. Do you always criticize other poems and remake them?
6.What makes a good poem for you?

Materiality of the Essay

• Heading contains name and date due.
• Title is the logo for the item
• Double spaced
• Times New Roman Font Size 12
• Small paragraphs
• 1'' Margins
• Work Cited page
• Black font
• One sided paper
• 5 1/2 pages long
• White paper
• Portrait

     White paper for essays helps the paper look more clear. It helps the black font color I used to stand out. I chose black because throughout my years in school, I've always been told to write in black font. I suppose the black font makes the paper look more serious instead of using color. I used Times New Roman 12 font to generate interest in my subject. I chose my title because  I found the logo to be very catchy. Double spaced papers helps lets your eyes follow the lines better. I used a work cited page cause I did research and used facts from different sources. I usually like writing small paragraphs because it makes the reader want to read the paper more instead of just going on and on in one paragraph about one idea. In this paper, I did everything for the reader. Tried to make it as clear as possible and magnetizing to read. 

Flying With the Kuala's

      In “Flight With the Kuala,” Don Stap uses a lot of descriptive language to draw the reader in. I’m not interested in learning about birds, however the way he wrote made it interesting to learn about. He gives an explanation using imagery which made everything he said easier to comprehend. He uses metaphors to teach the reader about birds and their environment. Scientists are objective when it comes to interpreting their data, which adds meaning and value. His descriptive information added some flair to otherwise methodical and dull material.

He begins by writing “In February, at 37 degrees 12 minutes south latitude, the sun sets late, but night has fallen and the darkness is thick and close. In the hills to the west I see a few dull globes of light from distant houses.” From the beginning, he caught my attention by already placing me in a journey I was ready to begin. The way he interpreted everything had me feeling as if i was a part of his experiment. The writer wants the reader to envision everything as if they see it with there own eyes. While not a lover of birds, I found his writing to be an excellent way of presenting scientific facts to engage the reader. While informative, his work is also entertaining. This balance of science and art blended in beautiful harmony and enticed me "fly" with the Kuala.

"We can't control the world, but we can control how we think about it."

     This quote interprets to saying we can't control everything thats happening in the world, but our perspective of life and our aspect of the world can be altered. We have control of the choices that we make; either positive or negative. Our actions are a result of our conscience, which reacts to situations that we can't control. We have the ability to control ourselves, just like the kids who prevented themselves by waiting for the marshmallow. Instead of thinking about eating the marshmallow, the kids could control their minds to avoid the marshmallow. For example they can distract themselves by playing with a toy in the room.

"It Gives You Wings"

      Contemporary American society is known for its fast-paced citizens, innovative industry, modern advancements, and creative energy. Our nation is a leader among nations of the world. We are among the top producers as well as top consumers of a multitude of products. We have excelled in various industries worldwide. Our society is always looking for the newest and best products available to stimulate our insatiable appetite for new achievements and challenge our limits. Our nation dances to the beat of a fast drum. The active lifestyle which characterizes the United States is evident by various products which Americans popularize. Red Bull is a great representation of the energy and power that characterizes our society.
      Red Bull is an energy drink that has become increasingly more popular in the United States. The focus of advertising campaigns looking to promote Red Bull among Americans is on energy and speed. Red Bull claims to increase performance and concentration, boost reaction speed, improve vigilance and stimulate metabolism. Its famous motto is “Red Bull gives you wings”. This is a metaphor for the way you are to feel after drinking Red Bull. Advertisers are claiming that drinking Red Bull gives you the energy to tackle anything and gives you the feeling of having enough energy to fly. Red Bull can outdo any other drink because it can supposedly give you the feeling of having superhuman abilities.
      The name itself is an indication of power. A red bull can represent an angry bull ready to charge. This is a symbolic representation of one’s supreme transformation after drinking this beverage. The target audience for commercials and printed ads are for a wide range of ambitious individuals with an active lifestyle and a demanding schedule. Their audience is very broad and their consumers very diverse, just as the composition of American society. Red Bull ads target the studious night owl and the non-stop party-animal. It is appreciated by the overworked truck driver, the athlete in training, the doctor on call and the pressured journalist.
      To appeal to such a diverse society, Red Bull must offer something which all Americans share – the need for energy to keep up with our hectic schedules, regardless of age, sex, religion, race or ethnic background. The producers of Red Bull are informed about the demanding lifestyle of the average American and anticipate the consumer’s need for drive and focus. Producers assume Americans are over-worked, over-stressed, and under-slept. They assume Americans want a quick fix to their energy problems. While eating well balanced meals, drinking lots of water, exercising and sleeping well can all contribute to a greater sense of well-being, energy and focus, Red Bull producers know Americans are too emerged in the hustle and bustle of their busy lives to allocate time to such activities. To get energy Americans need it quickly, and they need it now. With Red Bull, Americans can bypass the long road to becoming energized, and fly their way to success with the help of Red Bull’s wings instead.

Pantene Commercial

     In this commercial, Pantene uses a deaf girl's appreciation for music to show that any disability can be overcome with hard effort. Nothing is impossible if you put effort and practice into it. Even difficulties directly between you and your dream can be overcome; even the loss of an entire sense. It goes to show that your imagination can go a long way to help you envision what is possible. Using her imagination, the deaf girl felt the music, which led her to accomplish her dream.
     Out of the 3 stages of metamorphosis, the butterfly is the one that is the most beautiful. The butterfly symbolizes transformation and freedom. At the end of the commercial, I discovered it was a commercial for Pantene. It took me by surprise when I realized that the whole commercial related to a shampoo product. The only reasonable purpose of the butterfly I could think of was that it served as a metaphor. The butterfly's beautiful transformation reflects the way hair can transform into beauty with the use of Pantene.
     The image of the butterfly was one of numerous scenes of nature portrayed in the commercial. The girl was often shown in an empty field surrounded by trees when she played the violin. This seemed to be a way of conveying her state of mind while playing music. She was alone and totally calm, safe and secluded in her sanctuary. Her music had become a place where she could retreat to, a place where no one bullied or mistreated her. Her music is a place where there was no one to judge her for being different. This sanctuary was also transformed from her imagination to reality when the stage became her natural playing field. On stage she can be alone and transform into a proud object of beauty to be admired by many rather than a shameful object isolated and hidden from the world, much like a butterfly.