Coming Next Week- Debate 1:"Battle of the Sources!!"

Dear Students,

Next week we will be embarking on our preparations for our first formal debate. Things are sure to get heated as we battle it out in search of the "best" research source.

Get ready to rumble!

Response from Benny

Love That Cat
Response By Benny Freedman

I can’t directly connect to this poem because I don’t have a cat or other pet. I can relate to the speaker because I share the same kind of passion but for different things such as baseball, basketball, and music.
The depth, to which Stoltz loves the way his cat looks and interacts with him, is the same depth to which I experience a deep emotional connection with sports and music. I love the fast pacing of basketball both in the speed of the sport and the way the points climb up quickly. The sound of the ball bouncing on the gleaming hardwood floors keeps me connected to the game. Baseballs strategic plays keep my attention. For example stealing bases and double plays are very exciting. With music, too, I experience a deep connection on many levels for example the intelligence of the solos and how the riffs and verses are so well thought of.

-Benny F.

6B Homework!

Extra: Write poems, respond with helpful responses to other people's work, book reviews, etc....

6A: Books for display

Hi 6A,

Yael in the office would like to make a display of your hardcover books. They will be locked in the glass cabinet at the front of the school. Please bring them to school tomorrow if you are interested.

-Mr. G.

Response on Love That Cat/Man and Dog

I once had a cat, her name was Sasha. She was a Persian cat, with long hair. Only I can't really connect because she was our cat when I was 3 years old, so I don't remember her very well. We had to give her away because she scratched and peed on everybody.
This poem had a lot of sensory images, here I list some:"velvet-black fur," "creamy couch," "white tipped paws," "glowing eyes," "I stroke his soft coat." However there wasn't a lot of similies/metaphors. The only alliteration was:"creamy couch."
There was no rhyme scheme in Love That Cat. The poem was free verse, and had 1 long stanza.
I can imagine the love between Stoltz and his cat because of the ending.
Now about Man and Dog. Man and Dog is when a man and his dog are sitting in the park, and Sasoon writes how it's only him and his dog.
I can't connect at all to this poem because I have never been alone in a deserted park with anything.
There was very few poetic devices, however one good sensory image is:"alone with stone and grass and tree," I can imagine myself in a park alone with a dog.
There is a rhyme scheme, line 1 and 2 rhyme, and line 3 and 4 rhyme. This poem is free verse, and has 3 stanzas. The lines were mid-sized. There is excellent cadence.
The cat poem and the dog poem were similar because they were about their love for their pets. They were also different because one was about a cat, the other about a dog.
The cat poem is a 4.5/5, the dog poem is a 4.95/5.

-Bram 6B

p.s. Please comment on this response.

From Vanessa

hey guys, I found something interesting in the last stanza of
"Dog In Bed" this might me helpful for extra notes!

" This is how it is with love.
once invited,
it steps in gently,
circles twice,
and takes up as much space
as you will give it."
(last stanza)
recaps the whole meaning of why Joyce Sidman wrote this poem.
Not only can this relate to dogs, it can relate to humans too, in many ways.
I like this last stanza because you can read it and make your own interpretation of it and it will always be right.

-Vanessa