I will start this blog post with an excerpt from my new favourite poem:

“Sssnnnwhuffffll? Hnwhuffl hhnnwfl Hnfl hfl?” – The Loch Ness Monster’s Song by Edwin Morgan. 

Hello there, and welcome to another blog post! We just finished the final project of the semester. I can’t believe half the year has already flown by? 

Well, time flies when you’re having fun (…and doing homework apparently.)

Anyways, today I’m going to reflect on our latest Humanities endeavour: “Working with Words.”

Let’s get started!

If you couldn’t tell already, this project was all about poetry!

We also tackled the idea of worldview again, which we did in our previous project; How it Started/How it’s Going.

We were assigned to create a little poetry book reflecting our worldview, filled with multiple different techniques (like haikus and onomatopoeia.)

Also, we were going to preform these poems during a “Coffee House Performance”. However, due to the Covid situation, we had to switch to an online session. 

Personally, I didn’t know what to expect. I had dabbled in poetry in past years, mostly associating it with Grade 4 and the owl haikus I made. 

However, it was interesting to see what I could create with my worldview. I actually learned many things about myself. I also realized that poetry is a great form of expressionism and healthy escapism. 

Anyways, this project was very enlightening, and I learned many things. Even though I was somewhat sceptical of poetry at the start, I’ve discovered that I enjoy it, and may write more in the future! 

We learned about poetry through analyzing and reading examples. I enjoyed looking through many interesting poems. As we looked through these poems, we made our own using similar techniques.

Thanks to the power of technology, we were able to easily annotate these poems within an app called “Notability.”

I even discovered my new favourite poem!

During these activities, we learned that there is a process to properly analyzing and reading poems.

The first time you read this poem, you must fully immerse yourself into it (whether that means closing your eyes, or using the force; it’s up to you.)

Then you find your immediate responses. Did you like it? What parts did you like? Are you completely lost and have no idea what it means? Why don’t you like sand? Is cereal a soup?

The next step is to analyze. Take out your shiny Apple Pencil, and start annotating. Look for poetry techniques (like similes and metaphors), or highlight words you don’t know. 

Finally, read it one last time, and try to see what the full impact of the poem is. Was it relatable? Do you understand it? Did it help you see through the lies of the Jedi? Does it make you want to bring peace, order, and justice to your new Empire?

Personally, I found this very helpful. To be honest, I can be very disorganized at times, and not know where to start. Sometimes having a clear process really helps in understanding things in a more sophisticated way.  

We also learned some new vocabulary for this project. Although I knew some of them, others were completely new to me. 

The unknown words included:

Juxtaposition: two things being seen/placed together with contrasting effect.

Alliteration: the repeated sound of consonants.

Assonance: the repeated sound of vowels.

Onomatopoeia: words that sound like they mean.

With these new vocabulary words, we completed a test in class. I, as always, am extremely nervous when I have to take a test. When I sit down in that chair, all the answers just disappear from my mushy brain, and I panic. 

However, I am improving with my test taking skills. I felt more confident while taking this test, and it was a lot easier than I expected it to be. 

And with this established knowledge about poetry techniques, we started making our poetry book!

We assembled all of our poems in Book Creator (although I insisted using Canva a bit so that I could use some fancy fonts.) However, there was something missing… complementary texts and meaning statements! 

Out of everything, I found the complementary texts to be the most difficult part of this project. They took the most amount of time to make, and I just had to make them look somewhat aesthetic (or else I will panic).

I started making them with high expectations, somehow thinking that every single one of them would be “da Vinci perfect” and absolute “bangers.” However, that wasn’t the case, because teenagers somehow need 8-10 hours of sleep everyday (according to a video we watched in PE… but it seems legit.)

I’m not too happy with a couple of them, but overall, I’m really ecstatic with how the book looks as a whole. Here are some sketches that my favourite complementary texts started with…

Surprisingly, my favourite part of this project was making the “meaning statements.” I loved reflecting back on my poems, and being able to explain them in detail. 

I’m super proud of the meanings behind my poetry. I really tried digging deep into my worldview, and defining it. My poems are all very personal to me.

Anyways, now that we’ve completed all aspects of our book, we were ready to publish. 

If you didn’t check it out before, here’s my poetry book!

With our poetry book done and published, we were ready for the Coffee House Performance!

“How might I construct text that shows who I am right now?”

Through my poetry and diving deeper into my personal worldview, I’ve discovered more about myself than ever before. I’ve realized that writing poetry, as a form of expressionism, helped me find my own voice.

This project made me think about what makes me a unique individual, and discover who’s impacted me along the way. I’ve realized that we are very complicated beings with so many interesting traits and emotions.

In conclusion, I believe expressionism (in many other forms as well) allows me to discover who I truly am, while productively constructing and creating interesting texts. 

Positive Personal and Cultural Identity:
Profile 5: I understand that my identity is influenced by many aspects of my life. I am aware that my values shape my choices and contribute to making me a unique individual.

At the beginning of this project, we individually chose competencies that we would aim to achieve. I believe I’ve somewhat accomplished this competency.

Through this project, I’ve learned that the many aspects of the life around me, influence me deeply. These people, places, and things contribute to my individuality and my own worldview. 

I am everyone I’ve ever met. Yet, I’m still something completely new. 

This project was pretty short compared to our other ones, but we still had a lot of work to do! I’m really happy I finished it to the best of my ability!

Now… it’s time to sleep.