Imitation Poem of What Was The First Sound

A seven-month-old child,
one of the lucky ones,
born outside Kuwait.

This tale has enlightened me,
for the past two decades.

Everything was black and white,
and all shades of grey.

As if I stepped into “Singing in The Rain”,
but it was raining burning oil and ash,
days turned into nights.

Music can be heard,
the instruments were guns and tanks.


This is describing the 1990 Gulf War, which has influenced Kuwaitis around the world. This happened to my family and me when I was only less than a year old.

Reading Like a Writer: Blood Dazzler

Assignment for May 24th
From Patricia Smith's Blood Dazzler

Question: Find specific examples of abstract (ideas and concepts) and concrete (specific details, sensory, implications) language. What are the effects?

Through out the first half of Blood Dazzler, Patricia gives plenty of poems, which all related to one subject that is Katrina Hurricane. She is kind making daily experiences for Katrina with different aspects and examples of abstracts. Patricia Smith Blood Dazzler chronicles the human, physical and emotional toll exacted by Hurricane Katrina that has lasting spiritual and political impact.

Blood dazzler has some abstracts about the Hurricane Katrina. For example, in the Won’t Be But A Minute poem, she gives the concept of (fear) that New Orleans people had. Also, the idea and descriptions of the moment of horror, and how everyone just wants to get him or herself out of the disaster by leaving the dog tied to the cypress. That indicated when she says “You heard the man, he said go, and you know white folks don’t warn us ‘bout nothing unless they scared too.”

In addition, in Only Everything I Own poem, from its title it kind gives us the introduction and the implication at the same time of that poem. She talks in short sentences. Also, nearly every sentence ends with comma or Punctuation. This kind of tool she uses to make sensory language and emphasize her emotions about her house and beauty of it, and how it was everything in her life even the cobwebs.

Three 50- word "snapshots"

Snapshot 1
There was a soccer match being held in the heart of London. The stadium looked very bright and I could hear the screaming of the fans from everywhere, one of them shouting, “SHOOT!” and another screaming, “PASS!” But later on, a loud whistle sound came from the referee to end the match because of freezing temperatures and heavy snow.
Snapshot 2
Cold icy weather, white sand (snow), a lonely tree in the middle of that snowy dessert, a long day after school, and the weather makes me want to jump on my overly-sized cradle. This is my situation everyday when I am done with my classes in spring semester.
Snapshot3
The time is passing hurriedly. I could not keep up with the seconds. I wish I had the power to stop the time and stay more. This is the moment when I was in the airport with my friends and family waiting for my flight to come to the U.S.

Reading Like a Writer: "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver

Question: What are the major themes in this piece? Are there any minor themes as well? Is there any kind of “subtext” in this essay? What kinds of murmurs run below the surface?

The poet gives fairly straight forward idea about that every organism will die at last. He starts with saying “Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear?” then he talks about the grasshopper in details such as how it flies, how it moves its jaws back and forth, and how it snaps its wings open, and floats away. I believe he uses that tool of giving details about the grasshopper to show the similarities of the way of life between the grasshopper and the human.

He uses subtext to support his poem and make it more interesting. For instance, after he finished giving details about the grasshopper he starts to bring the idea of living and dying to the human being by the use of talking about himself “which is what I have been doing all day. Tell me, what else should I have done?” Next, the poet brings the readers to the truth of death at any time without expecting the death even to knock your door. This indicated when he says “Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild precious life?

Map Assignment

I chose this map because it was a tool that I utilized on a day-to-day basis for a significant period of my life. I used to study in London, England and this map was my guide to go from one place to another. This map is a schematic diagram representing the lines and stations of London’s rapid transit rail system “The London Underground.”

The map is not a geographic map, so it only shows the positions of stations with their names and the relative connection between them. The lines are labeled with different colors, which help the users of the underground to easily transfer and know which direction or path to take. This basic map design has been extensively adopted for other transportation maps around the world.

I would like to present this map differently by showing a small image of one landmark or tourist attraction within walking distance from each station. For instance, putting a small picture of London Bridge for London bridge station, for Piccadilly Circus, a picture of Eros Statue, and so on. Having a picture of a landmark or tourist attraction for each station would make it easier for underground users to find their destination and therefore, save time. This would be beneficial for both tourists and citizens of London.

Reading Like a Writer: The Ninemile Wolves

Question: What specific details stay in your mind? Why? How do these small details lead to larger ideas?

A detail that Rick Bass described was the brutality of wolves at the beginning of his writing, how he pictured the way of their killing to their prey such as deer, elks, and cows. For example, he said “that the dear or moose calf, or young dumb elk is still warm (steam rising from the belly as that part which contains the entrails is opened first), is now dead, or dying.” He also said “they eat everything, when they kill, even the snow that soaks up the blood,” and his more description in the second paragraph on page 761.
How these small details leaded to larger ideas are that they demonstrated that he is with the people who are “against” wolves, but after reading the subject we discovered that he is actually with the people who are “for” wolves and that confirmed when he said “not just ranchers and wolf-lovers are following them, but men and women in suits-politicians, and worse-and scientists, too, with all sorts of drugs and needles and electrical equipment” etc. Furthermore, by using this tool, Bass wanted to clarify how people can see that kind of violence by wolves are very dreadful, without looking at themselves first. Also, he wanted to point out that this is a lifecycle can happen between any organisms to save the balance on earth.

100 Words Photograph

I have chosen "A dead bird", number 54.

I see it laying on the ground with its feathers covered in oil. I see it struggling with the waves crashing behind it with the black sand caused by the oil spill off in Santa Barbara. Its dead body burning by the heavy mid-day sun. Behind it lays in the horizon a wooden harbor with the ocean, polluted with oil, around it. My heart aches from the scene in front of me. Pollution is like a fire in the middle of a forest, it kills everything that it touches, even this innocent bird.

Reading Like a Writer: From Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and place

Question: Break the piece down paragraph by paragraph (or section by section). How does each piece act as a "Building Blocks"? How does the writer create dramatic tension or interest through these building blocks?

The sections are well organized by the writer, but at the same time I think she takes so many sentences and paragraphs to explain the object of her subject. For instance, at the beginning of her writing, she talks about the Great Salt Lake and gives a lot of information about it; she explains the location of the Great Salt Lake with all its details, its features, and the environmental affects that act on the lake. In my opinion, that kind of descriptions could make the context a little bit boring. After that, she clarifies the image of the River Migratory Bird Refuge and birds that this refuge contains. She talks about the refuge and how the rising waters of Great Salt Lake can destroy this refuge.

The writer creates dramatic interest through these building blocks by using dialogs. I think these dialogs have the great outcomes to make the writing interesting and can bring the readers attentions.