In Blackwater Woods~ Mary Oliver

The poem "In Blackwater Woods" by Mary Oliver is about the blackwater woods, and the things you find there- no surprise there. The poem is composed of  nine stanzas, with each stanza having four lines. the first stanza talks about the look of the trees, just the look of them. The second stanza is more about the smell of the trees, with the last line hinting at something more. The third stanza is about cattails, both how they themselves look and how they look against the backdrop of the water. The fourth stanza  is about the pond, though not much is said to describe it in this stanza. The fifth stanza is where a shift occurs, she goes from describing things in the Blackwater Woods to talking about why any of it matters to her. This stanza is about time and amount of knowledge and life. The sixth stanza is starts to relate the blackwater woods to her life, though in this stanza it is with a feeling of despair. The seventh stanza continues on from the sixth, with a more hopeful tone. The eighth stanza holds the beginning of the conclusion, where she finally has clear meaning. She speaks of three things you must do, though only reveals the first two. The ninth stanza contains the third thing, the conclusion, and is the longest stanza, at least by word count.

Still Memory~ Mary Karr

 The poem "Still Memory" by Mary Karr is composed of 9 stanzas, each containing 3 lines. The poem centers on memory, as the title suggests. It does not, however, focus on one memory in particular, as many poems do; but focuses on the constants in her childhood, the things that were once normal. The first and last stanzas are seemingly removed from the memory, serving the purpose of introduction and conclusion. The intro stanza speaks about dreaming, using a dream as a natural lead into memory. The middle stanzas describe some of the consistencies in her childhood; which range from the house to the individual activities of mother, father, and sister, to the town and the house's heating, or lack thereof. The final stanza speaks about how the speaker writes about her life when she was that age, and how even now she writes.

Blackberries for Amelia~Richard Wilbur

This poem, entitled "Blackberries for Amelia" by Richard Wilbur tells the story the name suggests, the story of the blackberries. The poem consists of five stanzas, each containing four lines with a abba rhyme scheme. The first stanza talks about the bushes before the berries have appeared. The second stanza talks about the flowers on the blackberry bushes, which will eventually become blackberries. The third stanza introduces a more encompassing metaphor, comparing the night sky, sans stars, to the blackberry. In the forth stanza we are finally seeing an actual blackberry. It first, however, seems to negate the metaphor of the prior stanza, the speaker instead choosing to focus on the berries beginning to ripen. The fifth and final stanza speaks of the end of the life of the berries on a bush, completing the life cycle the speaker has hinted at throughout the poem/ It talks about the time to pick the berries before the birds get to them, as well as what the speaker brings along to this seemingly annual excursion to pick blackberries.

The Kite Runner: Khaled Hosseini

        I enjoy his writing style. He never really over or under explains things. He does not make things obvious. He is very good at telling the story, as apposed to rambling or ranting.I found the intro information to be helpful. I was impressed that the intro was clear and concise, without being dull, useless, uninformative, over explained, or just plain irritating. Bad introductions are one of my pet peeves. It is rare to find extreamly good introductions, and I am pleased to say that this is one of them. I also enjoyed the uniqueness of the characters. They were not cookie cutter in the sense that the author didn't only include the ones that had huge roles, but all the ones that played a part in the story. I also enjoyed the contrast of religion, an issue that is hard to broach, one that many are afraid of. I admire the fact that he is not afraid of it, but rather lets it be a natural part of the story.