Sonnet 19:

After analyzing the poem Sonnet 19, I think it is powerful and felt a strength in connection towards God. Joseph Milton is a sophisticated author that likes to connect his personal life and intertwine it to his poems. Something I like about Milton’s writing style is the unique diction used back in his time. He likes to use words like “ere” and “o’er”. I think it adds to the originality and classical aspect of writing and provides insight on the lingo used during that time period. Milton incorporates plenty of figurative language, including personification. Milton states “And that one Talent which is death to hide / Lodged with me useless” (Line 3-4). This line includes personification, as the talent described in the line is “lodged” him. This reflects struggle as talent can be refered to as a sentinent presence, and it conveys to the speakers duty. Milton also includes imagery, as he states “And post o’er land and ocean without rest” (Line 13). This line creates imagery as it emphasizes the speakers feeling due to his blindness. His blindness is a signinficant symbol throughout the poem, as it is one of the main focuses for the poem. Milton shapes his blindess around his faith in God, his patience, and makes up a part of his mood. An experience when I felt “blind” was during basketball season last year, when I wasn’t getting in the rotation for basketball. I wasn’t playing in the games let alone practice, and I didn’t know what to do. I would jsut sit around on the sideline watching everyone during practice waiting patiently to sub in. When I would sub in, I would have spurts, but would also underperform due to lack of experience and nerves. So I decided to have a talk with the assistant coach on what Coach K is looking for, and gave me some advice. I started to do what he told me, and saw my playing time increase. It was truly a gamechanging move by me to go and talk to him about what I need to do better, and altered my season this year. I’m so grateful I did it and would tell anyone struggling in my situation to do the same thing I did.

By Steve Henn

After analyzing the poem “Losing My Shit,” I think it is quite amusing what the author thinks about his emotions when his is losing it. Steven Henn is a comedic, yet sophisticated writer that knows how to properly put his thoughts to words. Something I liked about his style was his change of tone that he incorporated in lines 3-4. Henn states “How does it feel? How does it feel? You tell me”. In the first sentence, he is putting a dramatic emphasis on the does, dragging the readers pitch on the vowels for each italicized word. The title’s significance is reflected in line 4 and the bottom 2 lines. Henn creates a hostile yet humorous atmosphere when the speaker was asking about how it felt when he sat in the pink pile of Himalayan salt, he fiercly responded by stating “You tell me”. The sarcastic tone reflects Henn losing his shit, as we established the emotions of the atmosphere. Henn also states in the bottom 2 lines “I hate when I’m losing my shit, and some faux-Zen phony tells me to “just breathe”. Henn establishes the feeling of aleady losing it by stating it in the line itself. He provides an example, creating more of a agitated and mood-killing atmosphere rather than a hostile enviroment. While reading over this poem for the second time, I spotted a good piece of figurative language in lines 22-23. The line states “It’s the only reverse cigarette I’ve ever heard of!”. The metaphor in this poem reflects back to the statement where Henn mentions that a good ‘whoa-woah’ adds years onto your life. Smoking ciggaretes causes lung damage and will take off years of your life, essentially the opposite of what Henn states above. In short, the metaphor implies something that works in an opposite way from what is expected. A good personal experience of me losing my shit is when the team I am rooting for loses. I take passion in rooting for my teams, and will stick it out until they rise to the top. A phrase that stood out to me was the term ‘sadgasm’. My definition of the word ‘sadgasm’ would be an expression of emotions in a bittersweet moment. It is a combination word that expresses what his 2 emotions are: neutral and breaking the sound barrier. Breaking the sound barrier meaning anger in his pitch. He uses a comical example above, but a better example to put on the internet would be watching a nostalgic movie scene. This emotional release is deeply tied to empathy and the connection to the story or experience, resulting in a mix of sorrow and gratification. A prime example would be when Ohio State missed the game winning field goal kick against the Georgria Bulldogs. This game meant more than just a game. It was the game to advance to the National Championship, which ultimately would have been against Texas Christain University. I was super bummed because Georgia is a powerhouse and has been at the top on and off with Alabama for years on end. Ohio State has not made it to that level since 2015, when they took down the Oregon Ducks to win the national title. In that moment when the kicker missed the field goal, I was super upstet. Plenty of emotions and words that should most likely not be said were said, I was close to breaking multiple items, and was super upset. Nothing worse than me being upset, and I get multiple texts talking about how my team sucks, or even worse, ‘better luck next year’.