tvryb-blog

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Braiding in Ms. Marvel

Though Kamala’s powers can be used throughout her whole body she often chooses to embiggen her hand. We believe this is a common theme because the hand symbolizes strength, power, and protection. 

-Samantha, Kenia, Daci, Arisdeysi

[tvryb-blog]

Long Way Down

Responding to Katelyn Papadopoulos

    Jason Reynolds utilizes concrete poetry in his verse novel, Long Way Down, to communicate the protagonist’s own sense of confusion and need for guidance. After Will, the protagonist, loses his brother to gun violence, he believes that he must avenge his brother's death. Will argues that he is simply following the rules of his neighborhood, but this inherited cycle of violence in his society is challenged through the use of concrete poetry.     After his brother's death, Will shares, "I'VE NEVER BEEN / in an    earthquake... but the ground / defi    nitely felt like / it o    pened up / and    at me" (13). This poem is literally split, forcing the reader to focus on the gap and the impact it has on the pronunciation of the poem. The empty space between the words mirrors the void that Will now feels. Reader's see the separation and are led to fill the gap with their own assumptions about the way that Will must feel and why he chose to present that poem in such a way. This concrete poem functions to break the cycle of violence in our society by allowing readers to visualize emotions felt by protagonists and fill the gap with their own judgement about particular situations. Katelyn Papadopoulos, I agree that the poems mirror content, especially when it comes to the time frame.     The entire narrative takes place in a little over a minute, meaning that time is moving very slowly for the reader. Verse novels allow authors to compress time, such is the case in Long Way Down. Poetry functions to break the cycle of violence, because it serves as a mirror for the convoluted thoughts of our protagonist. By expressing Will's experience through poetry, the reader gets a sense of how rapidly he has to make a decision and how fast things are really moving. Readers are put in the same state of confusion, forcing them to think about the harsh reality of violence.