Colors Charlotte mixing in with the sailors, is like a drop of gold paint in a
bucket of gray paint. Under all the pressure she must feel faint. No other drops
of gold paint to accompany her. Only a fraud. Gold on the outside, but hateful
clear on the inside. A fraud, trying to be a good captain, but less than the
sailors. Since the golden drop of paint is all alone, it blends in with the
gray. This relates to when Charlotte is coming aboard the Seahawk. Also it
relates to how she becomes one with the crew. This poem is modeled after my
poet’s work because Molly Peacock would use metaphors in her poems. She would
compare two things together to make one. Revenge For each sailor a flag has
fallen and surrender was pleaded, for each sailor a country was overpowered, for
each and every sailor a kingdom was conquered. Pain was planted into their
hearts and minds. A plan for revenge has just been born. Captain Jaggery has
made his last wish. His death wish... This relates to what happened after the
Rebellion, all reactions that became one. Everyone wants revenge! Rebellion The
captain worked them day and night for he had no mercy, because of this they had
a fight though hungry and very thirsty. In that fight two men had died or at
least it was thought to be when they found out one was alive they went on
happily. They tricked the captain and two of the crew into thinking that
Zachariah was dead, but all that was thrown overboard was some cloth in a
hammock bed. Because the captain thought he was dead his secret was very big.
Every day the sailors would bring him food while he was hiding in the brig. This
poem relates to the part of the novel when there is a big fight and two are
thought to be dead. It tells what happens before, during, and after the fight.
Captain’s Triumph The captain’s musket was once useless until the crew
became ruthless. Aiming at all insight, he pulled the trigger with all his might
After thinking he stole two people’s lives he collected the sailors’ swords,
pistols, and knives. Now that he has a scar on his face, he thinks Miss Doyle is
a terrible disgrace. The captain’s rage was at a boil, because of the action
of Miss Doyle. Since she hated the captain and he hated her too, She became a
member of the Seahawk crew. This poem relates to the rebellion. It also relates
to the relationship between Charlotte Doyle and Captain Jaggery. Maximum With
fire in their eyes, regret in their minds, and doubt on their faces, they put
her to the test. Can she climb the royal main mast up and down? In one whole
piece. All in one test. Can she sail with the best, live with the men, rough up
her hands and try it again. This relates to when she’s becoming one of the
crew. Also it relates to the test Charlotte has to pass. Struggle It’s the
struggle to get to the top, do not look down or you might drop! Choose to shimmy
up the mast or take the ladder, both ways are fine, neither one is faster.
I’ve reached the top! I feel like a bird about to fly, either that or a human
about to die. This is the test that Charlotte had to take, climb up there and
put her life at stake. This relates to the part of the story when Charlotte
Doyle has to take the test to become one of the crew. She was Struggling but she
made it in the end. Truth On this day a stark truth came to her, she was where
no proper young lady should be. With nobody of her proper station here, She had
felt very queer. Since the captain was very mean, she knew not from good and
bad. So she didn’t sail as a Miss, she sailed as a Lad. The poem relates to
when she became part of the crew and became a mister in the captain’s book.
Hurricane Brig Charlotte Doyle would never give up, but when the hurricane came,
Charlotte took a drop. She hardly got any sleep and was accused of murder, so
now she is in the brig talking with Zachariah. Now knowing that her friend was
alive, she was very happy, but since she was still mad at the captain, her
attitude was very crappie. This relates to he hurricane scene in the book. This
also relates to the murder accusation scene in the book. First Night Though the
first night she felt very sadly, when offered some tea felt delighted and happy.
When given a dirk by the kitchen’s cook, she felt very scared. Although, she
soon discovered it was only for her to bewared. After a few days rebellion is
what she feared. And to be a part of it she never dared. This poem relates to
her first night on the Seahawk. Then goes on to the other days in that week.
Murder Query Who had stolen the knife? Who was where at the time of the crime?
Who decided to take Mr. Hollybrass’ life? Who is to blame? All suspects are
the same. The Captain is to blame. The Captain is an animal untamed. He tried to
pin it on Doyle, ‘cause his anger is at a boil! This poem relates to when
Charlotte is accused of murder. It also relates to when they have a trial to
discover if she is guilty or not. TAKE HEART Poems By: Molly Peacok Blank Paper
This poem is about a girl who’s inheritance is just blank pieces of paper. On
the paper her name was not mentioned like other names of family members. She
said the blank paper has the life she tried to restore after feeling like a
nobody. She thinks the true gift of inheritance is to recreate her past. She is
going to “re-blanken” her life and fill it in with the right life
experiences. I think this poem is fantastic. It is creative and well written and
is also realistic. I like the way that the poet expressed so much in such a
short poem, she had a problem and a solution. I think it takes a great writer to
do something like that. I also liked the way that she entitled her poem because
the title “Blank Paper” means the paper might as well be blank to the poet
because her name has been excluded, it also means that her life is like a blank
slate that she must now fill in. The Valley of the Monsters This poem is about
the author’s life experiences. She is comparing a fictional valley of monsters
to her childhood. The fictional valley of monsters is a place where rocks form
into monsters’ shapes. In her real life experience it was the minds of her
family that were formed into monstrous shapes. Both the stone statues and minds
of her family were very permanent. When she wrote this she was comparing the
monsters to shapes in the clouds that people pointed at and made fun of. She
said that the rocks that form the fictional valley of monsters are statues meant
for tourist attractions, but the valley of monster she grew up in was tough
slice of life that became part of her normal existence. The monsters in her life
were “two dinosaurs... guzzling beer and crushing the cans with their scaly
thumb-equivalents.” This poet is creative in the way she compared fictional
and non-fictional matters of consequence in one poem. I like the way that this
poem is partly realistic and partly unrealistic. If you really think about the
poem it is very sad, especially since it is partially biographical. I liked the
way that she used so many metaphors to compare the two subjects. It was kind of
like a mystery to figure out what she was trying to say. That is why I did not
understand the poem at first. I have never read a poem that was more original.
THE BOOK OF LIGHT Poems By: Lucille Clifton Thel This poem is about a landscape
called Thel. The author said that it was her first landscape, probably meaning
where she was born. She described it mahogany as the clay of Georgia. This is
also about a woman who has sweet attic of a mind, a safe place to keep of old
songs. There was music inside her; she would sit down, shy as ever, humming
alone among broken promises and among sweet broken bodies of birds. This is the
type of poem known as “short and sweet.” This poem is one of the shortest
written in The Book of Light. Although this poem is short it is quite sweet. It
is as if Lucille Clifton’s words just make you imagine what is happening. Even
though this poem is beautiful and short, I bet if she added more details and
story line, then she would have just as beautiful a poem. Imagining Bear This is
a poem basically about imagining things about somebody. It seems to be a bear,
but could possibly be a human. In this poem the author is imagining him too tall
and too fat to enter into the parlors. She imagines his hide as tough and his
walking clumsy, with his grown filling the wind. “Give him an old guitar, give
him a bottle of booze,” she said. The author gets you to imagine his children
and his wife sighing and laughing. We imagine him singing and his granddaughter
remembering him in poems. The first time that I read this poem I thought that
this poem was about a man. I thought this poem was about a man. I thought this
because in the poem she always addresses the character as him. Also she would
mention his children, his wife and his granddaughter in the poem. She said
“Give him an old guitar, give him a bottle of booze.” Those are thing that
men use! The second time I read the poem I thought the author was comparing a
man to a bear. The words that she used in her poem are what made me think that.
She would say things like “imagine his hide gruff, the hair on him grizzly
even to his own hand.” Or, “Imagine him lumbering as he moves. I imagine his
growl filling the wind.” Alas, the third time I thought it could be a man or
bear and that the poet wanted to demonstrate the similarities in both. Bibliography1. Avi (1990). The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. New York: Avon Books.
2. Peacock, M. (1989).Take Heart. New York: Random House. 3. Clifton, L. (1993).
The Book of Light. Port Townsend, Washington: Cooper Canyon Press.